Special Thanks: "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl for editing, good ideas and
                comments, and providing me with Sailor Moon stories to
                enjoy! Thanks Will!
                
                Doug Helm, for coming up with Venus' new attack!
                That Senshi had me stumped, until Doug's excellent
                suggestion. Thank you Doug!
 
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi and all terms, names etc associated
            with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha.
            The Guardians and everything pertaining to the Star Kingdoms are
            MINE!


                   Sailor Moon: Guardians of the Star
           Chapter 12 Love and Thunder: Children of the Storm

Jupiter stood on the tarmac, tapping her foot impatiently. The Airport
was so large, and so busy, that they were forced to split up to cover
it.  They were looking for anything out of the ordinary. Despite the
fact that their enhanced gems gave them the ability to See things others
did not, she had found nothing the slightest bit out of place. They had
agreed to meet near the runways and she was obviously the first to
arrive. She hoped the others would hurry.  The deafening sounds of jet
aircraft taking off and landing, were giving her a headache.

"Hey, Jupiter!" a voice called. She turned and saw Venus and Jadeite
approaching from across the tarmac. She was still surprised by Jadeite's
appearance. Expecting to see him in the familiar gray uniform when he
changed, he had shocked them all when he appeared in dark gray armor and
cape. It was very much like Endymion's, which stood to reason since
Jadeite HAD been one of his Generals. Venus, however, had gone all
starry eyed when she had first seen him in his armor.

"I hope you remembered what you were supposed to look for," Jupiter
remarked dryly with a knowing look at the two of them. Venus blushed
furiously while Jadeite just grinned. "Despite the fact that I had a
lovely little distraction with me, I DID manage to keep my eyes open,"
he returned in exactly the same tone. Venus flushed even more at his
sally. At Jupiter's questioning look, Jadeite shook his head.  "I found
nothing unusual, I'm afraid."

"Nor did we!" They turned as Kreigh and Galen approached. "Are you sure
we have the right place?" Jupiter asked worriedly. Galen nodded.  "The
location on Mercury's computer was DEFINITELY the Airport," Galen
answered firmly.

Kreigh walked a slight distance from the others as they discussed what
to do next. The bright red ponytail emerging from the opening in the
back of her war helm brushed her shoulders as she looked around, warily.
She sensed something. Something here was not right. After another look
around, it finally caught her eye. On the far side of the runways, sat
one of those strange airships that flew in and out of this place.

"Jupiter?" she called softly. Jupiter looked up at her call and came
over to her, the others following. "What's wrong, Kreigh?" Jupiter
asked, putting a hand on Kreigh's armored shoulder. "Is it normal for
one of those airships to sit so far from this `airport' place?" Kreigh
responded curiously. The others turned to look.

Jupiter's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "That's a cargo plane," she said
flatly, "It should be either at the unloading docks or in the hanger."
Galen turned his Sight on it and stiffened. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he
reported, "We have found what we were looking for! That aircraft is
SHIELDED!"

They walked past the runways, watching warily for approaching aircraft,
until they stood at the edge of the shield. "Hmmmm... Interesting,"
Galen commented as he gave the shield a careful scrutiny, "We can pass
through the shield. However, it will warn its caster when we do. I think
he will then increase the shield's power, trapping us inside!"

"Do we have any other choice?" Jupiter demanded. Galen shook his head.
"Not that I can see, no." They passed through the shield, feeling a
tingling sensation as they did. Kreigh immediately turned and reached
out a tentative hand. It met an invisible barrier. "You were right,
Galen," she remarked. When she received no answer, she turned to regard
the others who were staring with stupefied expressions at where the
cargo plane should have been, and wasn't.

Kreigh's eyes widened incredulously. She was seeing something she hadn't
seen since the second Doom War, and it was an impossibility. Where the
cargo aircraft had stood was a low slung cradle, on which rested an
ominous black vessel. Three masts rose, with black sails unfurled. On
the middle sail of the center mast, was the red star sigil of the Dark
Empire. The vessel was almost as large as a 747 with a black hull that,
in shape, resembled that of a terrestrial battleship. Long black wings
jutted out from the hull near the back, while shorter ones emerged from
near the front. Where the gun turrets of a battleship would normally sit
were odd looking things that slightly resembled turrets. They were
obviously weapons of some kind.

"What is that thing?" Venus whispered. Kreigh turned from the menacing
vessel. "It's an impossibility, that's what it is!" she snapped. Seeing
Venus' confusion at her harsh reply, Kreigh relented. "I'm sorry, Venus,
but THAT," she said, jerking her thumb at the imposing ship, "is NOT
supposed to exist! All the Empire's warships were destroyed in the
battle of Taxis Reach! It's a battlecruiser of the `Reaver' class, and I
KNOW that both of them were destroyed!"

"Are you sure you aren't mistaken, Kreigh?" Jupiter asked her
doubtfully, "I mean, that ship doesn't look very destroyed to me!"
Kreigh's eyes narrowed. She didn't like being doubted. Someone was going
to pay for this!

She approached the ship and raised her glowing hands. "By the powers of
Earth," she snarled through clenched teeth, "I command thee to show us
thy TRUE appearance! I banish the illusions which doth shield this
vessel. Let us see thee as thou art, and let Illusion trouble us NO
MORE!!"

At her fierce command, the ship wavered uncertainly, as if fighting her
order. Kreigh clenched her raised fists and they glowed brighter. The
wavering of the ship increased and finally, the illusion collapsed.
Kreigh lowered her hands. "Whoever, or whatever is behind this, is very
strong!" she panted, "That was tough!"

The sight revealed by the breaking of the illusion, was of a wreck.  A
`Reaver' class battlecruiser still, but one that was closer to Kreigh's
description of `destroyed' then it was before. The aft mast leaned
crookedly against the middle mast. The sails hung in tattered shreds.
One of the large aft wings was sheared off and both fore wings were bent
and broken. The hull was pitted and scarred, as if seared by hellfire. A
great dent was gouged down one side. The weapons emplacements were piles
of twisted wreckage, and the superstructure was not in much better
shape.

Jupiter whistled in awe. "Now THAT looks destroyed!" she gasped, "I'd
hate to see the other guy!" Kreigh grinned, her good humor restored.
"You would!" she chuckled wryly, "The Astara looked almost as bad as
this when their fight was over! Still, we didn't do too badly. We lost
half the Fleet, but THEY lost everything!"

"Sounds like there was more going on than our mission to Dark Spire,"
Venus said, subdued. Kreigh nodded. "There was indeed," she affirmed,
"Battles on land, sea, AND in space! Our defeat of the Dark One was the
blow that told. Without guidance from Dark Spire, the Empire was doomed.
But, that's not important now! We need to get to the deck of yon ship.
Ideas?"

Jadeite used his powers to levitate to the deck. "Galen can shift to Kin
form to fly up here and I'll bring the others up," he called down. Galen
quickly shifted to his natural form and joined Jadeite on deck. First
Kreigh, then Jupiter, and finally Venus floated up to join them. When
Venus reached the deck, Jadeite placed his hands about her waist and
gently set her on the deck. He kept his hands at her waist as they
stared, mesmerized, into each other's eyes.

"AHEM!" They turned quickly. Jupiter stood there with a knowing
expression on her face. "The mission, remember?" Jadeite grinned back at
her, unabashed. Venus, however, flushed as red as a rose and Jupiter was
hard pressed not to laugh.

"Why did they cloak this wreck in that illusion, I wonder?" Venus asked
absently as she stared around the wreckage strewn deck. Jadeite frowned
thoughtfully. "Which would you say looked more intimidating: The wreck?
Or the undamaged battlecruiser?" Venus grimaced. "Point taken. Now
what?"

The deck shook violently and everyone grabbed hold of something, to keep
from being tossed to the deck. The ship began to rise, and lurched
abruptly to port. "What are those fools doing?!" Kreigh cried angrily,
"With the portside aft wing gone, the stability of this ship is severely
compromised!" Galen used his Sight to examine the ship, as his claws dug
into the wooden deck to hold himself in place. "The air retaining spells
are still in effect!" he reported, "Could the ship's power source have
survived that battle as well?"

"What difference does THAT make?" she returned, "This is a warship, but
it's also an aether sailor! This universe has void in space, instead of
aether! I don't know what the effect will BE on this wreck!"

They held on and waited as the violently shuddering vessel rose towards
the edge of the atmosphere. When it reached the very threshold of space,
it came to a stop and drifted in place. Kreigh looked grim at the
occasional groan from the ship's hull. "This wreck is barely holding
together!" she said softly, "They must want us BADLY to take such a
risk!"

"Then let's find them and make them wish they'd never started this
mess!" Jupiter snarled, her green eyes furious. "Where does one find the
largest room on one of these vessels?" Galen asked Kreigh. She frowned
in thought as she tried to recall the plans she had seen of the Reaver
class.

"If I remember correctly," she replied slowly, "The room which contains
the Power Core, is the largest by far." Galen nodded. "Let's go then.
You lead, Kreigh." He shifted to his human form as she nodded and led
them into the ship.

As they traveled cautiously down a dimly lit passageway, Venus looked
curiously around the badly damaged interior. "Why is almost everything
here made of wood?" she asked. "The amount of iron needed to make a ship
of THIS size would require much magic," Kreigh answered her, "Except for
a few iron fittings, the entire ship is constructed out of wood. Even
the hull. Iron is also too heavy. Much MORE magic would be needed to
lift the thing.  Aether Sailors are expensive enough when made of wood.
Use iron, and no one could afford to build one!" Venus nodded in
understanding.

Rounding a corner, they came to a junction between two corridors, about
half-way to their destination. They came to an abrupt halt at sight of
what was blocking the junction. "Uh Oh," Venus called back to the
others, "A welcoming committee!" The others moved up quickly on her
flanks. Facing them was a twenty foot Dark Kindred, a squad of four
Killanki and three Shadow Demons.

The Dark Kindred eyed them hungrily. "The blond hatchling is MINE!
Destroy the others." It whispered to the other creatures. With hoarse
cries and guttural snarls, the Killanki and Shadow Demons attacked.
Venus never even noticed when her friends were forced back by the swirl
of battle. She was locked in a contest of wills with the Dark Kindred,
Nightshadow. <<You cannot resist MY power, Hatchling!>> her thoughts
whispered in Venus' mind as Venus struggled to break the mental bonds
Nightshadow had imposed on her. She knew, without asking, that
Nightshadow was the Dark Kindred version of a Shell Twin. Ebonar never
had powers like this! She struggled desperately, as Nightshadow
continued to taunt her.

Kreigh and Jadeite laid about them with their swords, trying to clear
the way to Venus. Kreigh snarled and thrust out a glowing hand. Spikes
erupted from the wooden walls and impaled two Killanki, who turned to
dust without a sound. Jadeite smiled grimly. <A good idea!> he thought.
Concentrating, he levitated two jagged bits of wood and they flew at the
two remaining Killanki. His aim was true and they exploded into dust
with hoarse cries.

Galen's flame, while not as powerful in his human form, disposed of one
Shadow Demon, while Jupiter's Thunder Javelin destroyed another.
"JUPITER THUNDER JAVELIN IMPALE!!" She threw the bolt at the last Demon
as Galen wrapped the bolt with his fire. The Demon shrieked as the fire
encased bolt slammed into him and exploded him into flaming ashes.

Jadeite looked up in horror to see Venus walking closer to Nightshadow.
<She's too close for us to use our powers!> "MINAKO-CHAN!!" he cried
desperately, "FIGHT HER! YOU CAN DO IT!!" He ran towards her, the others
at his heels.

Venus fought furiously to raise her hand as knowledge entered her mind.
Nightshadow briefly glanced up as the others approached. They halted
abruptly as her mind seized them as well. Jadeite fought to free
himself, and being no slouch at mental combat himself. Nightshadow had
to devote much of her effort to holding him immobile. As the Dark
Kindred's hold on Venus' mind lessened, her hand rose jerkily. Sweat
streamed down her face as she raised it bit by bit.

"VENUS!" Her right hand began to glow with a bright yellow light.
"SUNSHINE!" She held her right hand, palm up, in front of her.  "KISS!!"
She blew across her palm and the glow left her hand to form a blazing
ball of energy that flew at her enemy. Nightshadow saw the attack too
late to dodge it. She shrieked as it struck.  "NOOOOO!!" She exploded
into dust.

"Holy cow!" Jupiter whispered, stunned. Venus collapsed, exhausted, as
Jadeite, freed from Nightshadow's hold, went to his knees beside her,
and took her exhausted form into his arms. He simply held her tightly as
the others kept watch against further attacks. That had been TOO close!

"She almost had me," Venus whispered, her face hidden against his neck.
"Are you alright, Minako-chan?" he asked, desperately concerned. She
nodded. She suddenly realized what he had called her and looked up
slowly, a question in her tear filled blue eyes. He had no trouble
answering it as he leaned down and kissed her gently on her mouth. He
raised his head and looked into her shining eyes with a gentle smile.
"Now I know why Usagi always looked so spaced out after Mamoru-san
kissed her," she whispered. He choked off a laugh at that. "Maybe so,"
he returned with a grin, "But you're MY princess!"

He helped her to her feet. "Is she alright, Jadeite?" Jupiter asked
worriedly. "I'm fine, Jupiter," Venus answered as she smiled at Jadeite.
Venus was on Cloud Nine.  Jupiter looked back and forth between them and
grinned. "Yes, I guess you are, aren't you?" Venus felt her cheeks flush
and raised her chin, as if daring it to go further. "We have a mission
to complete, I believe."

Jupiter hid a smile and nodded to Kreigh to continue. They moved
carefully through the corridors of the ship until they stopped at a
large set of doors. "The Power Core should be beyond those doors!"
Kreigh warned them.  "It is!" Galen answered tensely, "I can FEEL it!"
Kreigh put a hand on one door while Jupiter grabbed the other. At
Galen's terse nod, they yanked them open and everyone ran through.

A large room lay beyond the doors. In the center, was a column in which
a large crystal was suspended. The crystal pulsated with power. The
damage throughout the ship didn't seem to have reached this room. To
everyone's surprise, only a single female Dark Elf awaited them.

Venus shuddered at the look of madness in the amber eyes. Kreigh stepped
forward and raised a glowing hand. "Let the illusions end, NOW," she
stated without ceremony. The Dark Elf wavered and a twenty foot Dark
Kindred stood there. The look of madness in her burning red eyes,
however, did NOT change.

Jupiter's eyes, however, were drawn to a shielded cage. "Shinozaki!" she
cried, and looking into his eyes, she knew that he knew who she was. She
moved unobtrusively towards her friend's cage.

"I am Nightshade," the Dark Kindred whispered, "You have slain my twin
sister. For that, you will pay most dearly." She closed her eyes in
concentration and the great crystal began to pulsate. The ship began to
shake violently. "She's going to shake the ship apart!!" Kreigh cried.
Venus looked aghast. "But she'll die too!" Kreigh grabbed the door as
the shaking intensified. "She doesn't care!" Kreigh answered grimly,
"Shell twins are linked and she was driven mad when her twin died!"

"We gotta stop her! VENUS SUNSHINE KISS!!" Her attack flew at
Nightshade, and was absorbed by the glowing shield that suddenly
appeared around her.  "She's united her powers with the Crystal!",
Kreigh gasped in shock. She drew her sword and filled it with most of
the power she had left. "NOW, STRIKE MY SWORD WITH YOUR POWERS!!
EVERYONE!!" she cried as she threw her sword at Nightshade.

"VENUS SUNSHINE KISS!!" "JUPITER THUNDER JAVELIN IMPALE!!"

The two Senshi attacks struck the hurtling sword and were absorbed, as
was Jadeite's psionic bolt and Galen's flame. The sword ripped through
the shield and buried itself to the hilt in Nightshade's chest.

She cried out in agony and despair as she disintegrated. With her death,
the crystal began to pulsate irregularly, faster and faster. The ship's
shuddering grew more violent by the minute. "Oh no! The core is
destabilizing! WE GOTTA GOT OUT OF HERE!!" Kreigh cried, "Jupiter?
Jupiter! Come on! You can kiss him later!" Everyone crowded around as
Jupiter and Shinozaki came up. "Join hands! Shinozaki, in the middle!"
Kreigh commanded, "OK, Venus, Jupiter, draw on the power we have left
and get us to the shrine, before this wreck becomes our tomb!"

They nodded and everyone joined hands. "SAILOR TELEPORT!!" they cried,
and they wavered and vanished. The glowing Crystal was now incandescent
as it pulsated so fast, it was almost constant.

The wrecked cruiser floated in orbit, shudders wracking its length.  A
sudden silent eruption of savage white light. When the light faded, the
ship was gone as if it had never been.


End of Chapter 12

NEXT: Chapter 13 Moon times Two: Crescent Power

Starlight Tower, Morgoth knows more than he should, Sailor Moon is VERY
angry! BE THERE!!