SAILOR MOON STORY - RISE OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE

Story created by Bryon Payne and Leland Hogan

Original Characters by Leland Hogan and Bryon Payne

Original Story by Naoko Takeuchi

INTRO

“Well, it’s about time I head back home.  Thank you for inviting me to the birthday party.”  

“You are quite welcome, Prince Cephius,” she replied from the throne, "and may you have a good journey.”  

“Thank you, your majesty.”  

He walked out of the throne room, followed by Vega.  

“Well,” Vega asked  

“Why should I have to put up with you on the way home?”

“Because I’m your best friend and you would be bored on the way back,” he answered.  

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Cephius commented.  

“What, don’t you like my company?” 

 Cephius shook his head and kept walking.  

“Hey!  I’m not that bad…most of the time.”  

“Try almost all of the time.”  

“Me, never,” he said as he grinned.  

	The two headed through the main castle gates and proceeded to the launch pad.  Along the way, the Sailor Scouts and Prince Darien encountered them.  

“Heading home,” Darien asked.  

“Yep.  Afraid I must head back.” 

“Hate to see you go,” Darien said, "take care of yourself.”  

“You too,” Cephius said as he shook his hand.  

“We will miss you, Cephius,” Venus said as she hugged him.  

“Ditto,” Mercury said as she hugged him.  

“Thanks.”  

“You will come visit soon,” Serena asked.  

“Of course.  Someone has to keep Vega in line,” he said with a grin.  

A couple chuckles answered him.  

“I’m not that bad,” Vega retorted.  

“Take care of yourself,” Mars said as she hugged him.  

“And you.”  

Jupiter stood behind the group, with tears in her eyes.  

“I won’t be gone long, Jupiter.  I promise,” Cephius said as he took her in his arms.  

“But it’ll be months before I see you again,” she said, trying to fight back her tears.  

“We can always stay in touch.  I’ll contact you every day.”  

“Promise?”  

“Promise,” he replied, then kissed her passionately.  

They embraced one another for several more seconds before they broke off.  

“Take care, Sailor Scouts.  Oh, and you too Darien.”  

“Thanks a bunch,” he replied sarcastically.  

Cephius just smiled and walked towards his ship.  Jupiter ran out towards Cephius, crying along the way.  He spun around and hugged her.  

“I’ll be back.  Don’t you worry.  I’m sure that her majesty might let you and a few of the others stop by.”  

“I hope so,” she said through her tears.  

They kissed again for what seemed like minutes.  

“I love you,” he said as he broke off the kiss.  

“I love you too.”  

	He smiled sweetly at her.  She returned the smile.  He let go of her and headed up the ramp of his ship.  He waved to everyone just before he and Vega entered the ship.  The ramp slowly retracted and the door closed.  The two headed to the bridge and gave the order to launch.  Looking through the view port, they waved to the Scouts and Darien as the ship lifted off the surface and headed for outer space.  

“That was odd,” Cephius said to no one in particular. 

“What,” Vega asked.  

“I got this weird feeling.  Like I’m not going to see them again.”  

“You too?”  

	Both looked at each other, both a bit worried, but soon they shrugged it off.  Little did they know that within two hours, their premonitions were to come true.
	About a half-hour into the trip, Cephius is summoned to the bridge.  

“It sounds urgent, captain.  What is it?”  

“Emergency call from the home planet.”  

“Put it through.”  

	On the viewscreen, a man in armor was frantically hitting buttons.  

“This is General Nardral of the Orion Kingdom army.  We are under attack by an unknown force.  We are taking serious damage here.  Any ships in this sector, we require assistance immediately.  I say again, we are under attack by an unknown force.  We are taking serious…”  

	The communication link broke.  

“Captain, full speed to the home planet.”  

“Aye sir.”  

	The captain gave the order and the navigator increased speed to full throttle.  

“What’s going on,” Vega asked as he arrived on the bridge.  

“My home world is under attack.”  

	Vega looked shock.  

“By whom?”  

“Don’t know.  We’ll find out when we get there.”  

	He hit a button on the comm unit.  

“Engineering.”  

“Galas here,” the voice on the comm unit answered.  

“Transfer non-essential power to the engines.  I want to go as fast has possible.”  

“We are already going at full speed…”  

“I don’t have time to argue.  Don’t question, just do it,” he said angrily.  

“Aye sir,” the engineer replied.  

	Within a few seconds, the board read a ten percent increase in speed.  

“ETA:  30 minutes,” the navigator replied.  

	He hit another button on the comm unit.  

“Orion Kingdom, this is the starship Venture.  Come in.”  

	All he got was static.  

“Orion Kingdom, this is the starship Venture.  Come in please.”  

	At first, he got static, but something finally comes through in bursts.   

“...can barely hear…do not appr….under attack…Wiseman is destr…cannot…”  

	The link dies.  

“NO,” Cephius yells as he bangs the console.  

“Cephius,” Vega beckons.  

“What!”  

“Hey, don’t snap at me.  It’s not me that’s attacking your planet,” he replies angrily.  

Cephius looks at his friend and realized what had just happened.  

“Sorry Vega.  Sorry everyone.”  

	The crew nods in understanding.  He hits the ship comm link.  

“Engineering.”  

“I’m given her all she’s got, your highness.”  

“I know.  I’m sorry for snapping at you.”  

“It is understandable.  I’ll see what I can squeeze out of some of the systems I haven’t used yet.”  

“Thank you.”  

	He closed the link.  

“Captain, I’ll be in the meditation room.  Please inform me when we arrive in the system.”  

“Yes sir.”  

	Cephius and Vega walked into the turbolift.  

“Deck six,” Cephius tells the computer.  

“What are we going to do,” Vega asked as they make their way down.  

“I don’t know.  I’m going to meditate on that one.  Perhaps I might come up with an answer.”  

“Okay.  I’ll get the crew ready for a huge fight.”  

“Thanks.”  The lift stops and the doors open.  

“I’ll see you in about twenty minutes.”  

“See ya.”  

	Cephius walked out and headed to the meditation room.

	About twenty minutes later, 

“Cephius, this is Vega.  You’d better come up here,” he said in a serious tone.  

“It’s bad,” he thought to himself as he ran to the nearest turbolift.  

	The doors open and he looks out towards the viewscreen…and is shocked at what he saw.  

“No,” he says to himself as he enters the bridge.  

	On the screen, a planet that was once teaming with life is nothing more that a planet battered and beaten.  Instead of forests covering part of the planet, huge craters dominate the landscape.  If there was anything left alive, it was surely dying.  

“No,” Cephius whispers.  

“Captain,” Vega orders, “scan the planet for lifeforms.”  

“Scanning planet now,” the soldier at tactics replies.  

“Sir, I can’t get a reading.  There is too much interference from the energy fluctuations from the planet’s surface.”  

“I see.  Then prepare the shuttle.  We are going down there…wait up, Cephius.”  

	Cephius was already in the turbolift.  Vega quickly got in and they head to the docking bay.  Cephius wastes no time getting the shuttle ready.  Vega barely had enough time to get on the ramp before it closed.  

“You could at least wait for me.”  

	Cephius ignores him and activates the engines and without waiting, sets the throttle to full power, launching out of the bay.  

“Hey,” Vega says as he catches himself of the co-pilot’s chair.  

	Cephius quickly swings the shuttle and enters the atmosphere at high speeds.  

“Slow down!  What are you trying to do, melt us!"

	Cephius changes course so quickly, the shuttle groaned.  He headed straight for the surface and pulled with only a foot to spare between them and the surface.  

“Are you crazy!”  

	Cephius answers by going to full thrust, pushing Vega back into the seat.  It only took him twenty seconds to reach his destination.  He landed a bit roughly right in front of his home, the Orion Palace.  Or, what was left of it.  It had been demolished like the rest of the planet, but, somehow, part of it still remained.  He flew into the palace and began searching.  

“Hold up,” Vega said as he joined him, "what are we…”  

	Cephius gasped and Vega knew what he was looking for.  Near the throne lie the king and queen of the Orion Kingdom.  Both were wounded severely.  

“Mother.  Father,” he whispered as he landed next to them.  

“Mother,” he whispered again as he touched her.  The queen moaned and opened her eyes.  

“Cephius, my child,” she said weakly.  

“Shhh.  You’re hurt.  I need to get you to the ship.”  

“No, we are too far gone to be helped.”  

	His father stirred.  

“Cephius.  It is good to see you.”  

“Father,” he said as he clasped the king’s hand.  

“Prince Vega, I see you accompanied him.  It’s been a while.”  

“It has, your majesty,” he said respectfully.  

“Listen, you don’t have much time.  We overheard them talking about an attack on the Moon Kingdom.  You must hurry.”  

“Easy, father,” Cephius said with tears in his eyes.  

“Don’t cry, son.  We are glad that you remain alive and will carry on our heritage.”  

“Don’t speak like that.  You two will be fine.”  

“I’m afraid your mother is right.  We are too injured.”  

“But we have the tech…”  

“Son, technology won’t be able to save us.  We put everything we had into protecting our world.  It was not enough.”  

	Cephius fought back his tears.  

“But there is hope.  You.”  

	Cephius finally broke down and began to cry.  

“It is all right, my son.  We have lived a good life,” his mother said.  

	A noise from another part of the room caught Cephius and Vega’s attention.  

“Diana,” Cephius  says and quickly flew over to his little sister.  

	Her body was beaten and torn, the intense pain obvious in her eyes as she looks up at him.  

“It hurts,” his little sister whispered

“I know,” he said through his tears.  

	He gently picked her up and flew her over to their parents.  He gently laid her down in-between the queen and king.  

“It hurts, mommy.”  

“ I know.  Soon, the pain will stop.”  

“I’m so tired,” the princess said.  

“Then sleep, little sister.  I’ll see you when you wake up,” Cephius said, barely in control.  

“Sleep, little one,” the queen said to her daughter.  

“Good night, mommy.”  

	The little girl closed her eyes…and died.  Cephius broke down in tears.  

“Good bye, little sister,” he said as the tears rolled down his face.  

	Vega couldn’t help but let a tear run down his cheek.  

“Now go, my son.  It is time we left this world.  When the time is right, we will see you in the next world,” the king said with tears in his eyes.  

“I...I ..ca…n’t…leave…you.”  

“You must.  The moon kingdom is in dire need of help.”  

“He’s right, Cephius,” his mother answered.  

“Now go.  We will see each other again, I promise.”  

“There is no pain, only peace,” he said, fighting back the tears as he waved his hand over the both of them.  

	Both the queen and king smiled in thanks to their son and closed their eyes for the last time.  Once the breathing stopped, Cephius completely broke down and wept over their bodies.  Suddenly, out from his very soul, came a scream that echoed though out the planet.  Vega had never seen him like.  Cephius raised his arms into the air and launched all his energy into the twin dragons.  The dragons grew larger and larger and began to cover the palace.  Within a few seconds, the palace was covered and Cephius was drained.  Vega waited for a few minutes before getting close to him.  

“We have to head back to the ship.”  

	At first, Cephius didn’t answer.  Vega placed a hand on his shoulder.  

“I know,” Cephius said quietly.  

	Cephius slowly got up and walked away from his family.  

“Good bye, mother and father,” he said quietly as both slowly headed for the shuttle.  

	The energies that Cephius released still covered the palace, but opened when Cephius and Vega neared the entrance.  Both boarded the shuttle and took off back to the ship.  Upon arriving at the bridge, Cephius walked over the tactical station.  He punched a few buttons and had a lock on the palace.  

“What are you doing,” Vega asked.  

“Supplying the last bit of energy needed to complete the ceremony.”  

	He hit the last button and fired a torpedo.  It quickly made it’s way to the palace and was absorbed by the dragons.  

“Now what,” Vega asked.  

	The answer came in a brilliant flash of light, radiating from the palace.  The dragons appeared to circle one another, then slammed into each other head first, causing a brighter flash of light.  Vega watched as the entire planet rocked from the explosion.  After the explosion died down, there was nothing left of the palace, just a burn mark in the ground.  

“Why?”  

“So thieves and pirates can’t loot the palace after I am gone.” Vega said nothing in response.  

“Navigator, put everything you’ve got into the engines and set course for the moon kingdom.  Comm, open a channel.”  

“Go ahead,” the comm officer replied.  

“This is Prince Cephius to General Vilos.”  

“I read you, your highness.”  

“Take the troops and head to the safe house.   There, you will put the troops and yourself in cryogenic sleep until awakened.”  

“As you wish, your highness.”  

	The link broke.  

“How did you know…”  

“My mother told me before she died.  I read her mind.”  

“Oh.”  

“Course set.,” the navigator reported.  

“Engage the engines.”  

	The ship quickly changed course and engaged the pulse engine.  

“Open a comm link with the Moon Kingdom.”  

“Channel open.”  

“Come in Moon Kingdom, this is the starship Venture.  Please respond.”  

	No response.  

“Replay that message until you get an answer,” Cephius told the comm officer.  

“Aye, sir.”  

“Vega, come with me.”  Cephius headed towards the turbolift.  

“Excuse me.  I am a…”  

	A glare from Cephius quieted him.  

“Okay.  I’m coming.”  

	Both exited the bridge and headed for the mediation chamber.  

“Let’s get one thing straight.  You do not order me around.”  

“Do you think I care about your pride right now,” Cephius angrily snapped at him.  

“Whoa.  First, I’m not the one to get angry at.  And second, you never order me around like that.  Do you understand!”  

	Cephius stared at him angrily, his fists shaking.  

“Remember, I can knock you out before you could touch me.”  

	Cephius looked as if he was about to take a swing at him, but suddenly calmed down.  

“Sorry.”  

“That’s better.  And yes, I forgive you.  Besides,” he became more serious,” it’s understandable under the circumstances.  Are you gonna be okay?”  

“Yeah.  I’ll be fine.  I just…it’s a reflex action I guess.  When situations get out of hand, I shut down the emotions that are hindering me.  I could become an emotionless robot, as you might put it.”  

“I wondered about that.  Thank the heavens that it doesn’t happen very often.”  

Cephius just shrugged.  For the next fifty minutes, the two meditated, or, at least they tried.  Cephius found it exceptionally hard to enter the mediation trance.  

“Prince Cephius, Prince Vega, please report to the bridge.”  

Both snapped out of the trance and quickly headed for the bridge.  

“What is it,” Cephius asked as he entered the bridge.  

“Sir…I don’t know how to say this, but…the moon has been destroyed.”  

“What,” Vega said.  

“We don’t have visual yet, but the sensors show that…” 

	Vega shoved him out of the way and checked the sensor readings.  

"That's not possible.  The Moon Kingdom is heavily defended.  There is no way…”  

“When will we be within range for a visual,” Cephius asked.  

“Two minutes,” was the reply.  

	For the next two minutes, Vega keep thinking of reasons why the readings were showing what they were showing.  

“On the viewscreen,” the captain said.  

	The entire crew gasped as they looked at the moon.  There was nothing left.  No oceans, no mountains, nothing remained except tons of craters all over the moon.  

“Please no,” Vega whispered.  

	As they approached, it was obvious that there was a war like no other fought on this small planet.  The atmosphere, once rich in oxygen, was slowly dissipating into space.  Cephius quickly checked the scanners.  

“We have twenty minutes before the atmosphere becomes unbreathable.  Captain, get as close as you can to the surface.  Vega and I will take the shuttle.”  

	When Cephius had just turned around to go to the turbolift, Vega was already there.  Cephius barely made it in before the door closed.  Cephius thought of saying something, but decided against it.  Unlike last time, it was Cephius that had to make a mad dash into the shuttle before Vega took off.  Cephius quickly belted himself down just as Vega hit the thrusters.  It took them only ten seconds to reach the surface and only another twenty to reach the palace.  There, nothing remained but a few pillars and stones.  At the same time, they both saw a flash of white underneath a collapsed column.  Vega quickly landed the shuttle and dashed out the door.  Cephius quickly followed him, but could not keep up.  Vega arrived and saw who it was and lifted the column.  Cephius arrived and shoved it out of the way.  There, badly beaten, was the queen of the Moon Kingdom, who, only two and a half hours ago, was waving good bye to them.  

“Mother,” he whispered to her.  

“Vega, you arrived,” she said very quietly.  

“Yes, I’m here.”  

“The Negaverse attacked.  It took everything I had to stop them.”  

“It’s okay.  I’m here now.”  

“Thank you, Vega.”  She looked to his side where Cephius stood.  

“Your home was destroyed.”  

“Yes, your majesty.  All were lost, save for some troops.”  

“A terrible waste.  Our kingdoms were such great friends.  I will miss your mother and father.”  

“As will I,” Cephius answered, trying to keep his cool.  

	She looked back at Vega.  

“Listen carefully, I haven’t much time.  I couldn’t save the kingdom, but I was able to save most of the family.  Your sister and the scouts have been sent into the future a thousand years.”  

	She took a slow breath.  

“I was able to banish the Negaverse for a thousand years.  Then, when the time has come, your sister and the scouts will be reborn.  I’m afraid that their memory will be incomplete, if not totally gone.  I’ve sent Luna and Artemis to prepare them for the battle against the Negaverse, which is certain to happen.”  

	She winces from the pain.  Vega, barely in control himself, soothes her.  

“I’ve also put about eighty thousand troops in suspended animation until the time comes.  They are located at the safe house on Earth.  When the time comes, you will awaken them and prepare to battle the Negaverse and the Dark Kingdom.”  

She coughs and Vega holds her closer.  

“Be there when the battle takes place.  They will need your help.”  

“Yes, mother,” he said tearfully.  

	She winces again from the pain.  Cephius kneeled next to her.  

“You feel no pain.  All is calm.”  

	She smiles as the pain subsides.  

“Thank you, Cephius.  Vega, take care of them for me.”  

“I will.”  

“Cephius, take care of him.”  

“I will your majesty.”  

“Good bye, my son.”  

“No, mother, please stay.”  

“I can’t.  It is time for me to go.”  

“No,” he said as she breathed her last breath and died in his arms.  

“No,” he said weakly as he began to weep.  

	Like Cephius before, he roared in pain, letting loose a blast of energy that nearly knocked Cephius off his feet.  The blast wave destroyed any standing structures in the way.  Cephius, looking down at his friend, began to realize that his pain was causing him to increases his power, exponentially, and uncontrollably.  He began to feel the entire moon begin to shake beneath his feet.  Cephius took a few steps back, trying to find footing so as to not be blasted away by the power aura that now surrounded Vega.  Finally, after a few more seconds, Vega stopped screaming his aura dissipated.  Cephius, as Vega did before, waited for a few minutes before getting his attention.  

“We have to leave.  The atmosphere is getting thinner.”  

	Vega stood and carried his mother to where the garden used to be.  The dirt and rocks in front of him moved and opened, creating a burial site.  He gently set her into the dirt of her home world and closed the dirt over her.  

“Good bye, mother,” Vega whispered.  

Both slowly walked to the shuttle.  Cephius took the controls and headed back to the ship.  Once there, they informed the crew as to what happened.  They all offered their condolences to Vega.  He simply ignored them.  

“Captain, set course for the Draco system.”  

“Yes sir.”  

“It is now time to rebuild and wait,” Vega commented.  

Cephius agreed.

Thanks for checking out this fan fic.  Let us know what you think.  E-mail Bryon at ophiuchus1701@hotmail.com or Lee at leland_hogan@hotmail.com