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Shades of Gray
A Sailor Moon Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack
Prologue: One More Day
"It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
And I feel fine..."
- 'End of the World', REM
Text in "<>" is thought or telepathic communication.
************************************************************************
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi, whose creative
talents far exceed my most humble own. Distribution and other rights to
Sailor Moon belong to lots of different companies that I do not own. I
make or imply no claim to ownership of Sailor Moon or its characters.
However, the text of this fanfic and all original characters presented
within are mine, and should not be used without permission. Thank you.
************************************************************************
The Silver Millenium
After five hours, it was over. It seemed anticlimactic for the
culmination of over twenty years work, five years of full scale warfare,
and billions of dead. But, satisfactory or not, it was the end. The
last of the Loyalist warships had surrendered, and the rebel fleet was
at last able to enter low lunar orbit. No ground-based defenses existed
to challenge the hundreds of warships. For centuries, it had been
inconceivable that any force could assault Luna itself, the heart of the
Moon Kingdom, and the few defenses that remained on the surface of Luna
had been destroyed by the youma attacks.
The youma... in the short term, their attacks had been good for
the rebellion, but in the long term they could lead to the destruction
of everything the rebels had fought for. And, most likely, Beryl
thought the same way about the rebels. The leader of the rebellion
bowed his head in thought, caressing the hilt of his broadsword, which
had rarely left his side in over a decade. He had been the first to
defy Serenity, those many years ago in the palace that was now beneath
him, under assault by the largest youma force he had ever seen. So many
things might have turned out differently if he hadn't. He stopped that
line of thought. Now was not the time for regrets. He began to speak.
"Captain Ashiant, get me a communication line to the Queen. I
have to try to end this now."
The thin Saturnian by his side nodded. "Of course, Champion."
Ashiant had once been the Seneschal of Diamond City, the largest
population center in the Saturnian system. That had changed when the
open revolt had begun. Now, he was the captain of the Memory of Juno,
the rebel flagship. Moments later, he turned to his commander. "You are
being put through now, Champion."
The rebel leader stood in front of the ship's crystal globe,
where an image of his former monarch was now beginning to form. He gave
a shallow bow. "Queen Serenity."
"Champion." Serenity's voice was icy, colder than the frozen
wastes of Mercury.
The rebel didn't let that faze him. "As you are no doubt aware,
the last of your fleet was vanquished today. The last loyalists on
Venus surrendered eight months ago, and Mercury has been ours for years.
Terra is nearly overrun by Beryl's forces, as is Luna. Mars and Saturn
have been with us from the start, and Jupiter was liberated in the first
year of the war. The Uranus and Neptune colonies have been taken. In
short, out of your whole domain, only Pluto continues to submit to your
rule."
Queen Serenity nearly growled her reply. "And so you have
called to gloat, Champion?"
The rebel made a negative hand gesture. "I've called to ask you
to let us help. Order the spaceports on Luna and Terra open to our
ships. Let us work together to destroy Beryl. With your magic and our
might, we can preserve our civilization."
"And what do you ask of us in return?" Serenity replied, once
again almost emotionless.
"Merely that you agree to negotiate an orderly transfer of power
once Beryl is dealt with." The rebel silently prayed that the Queen
would see reason and agree to his terms. The alternative was
unthinkable.
His prayers went in vain. The Queen's reply was filled with all
the royal imperiousness she could muster. "Never."
With that, the rebel leader lost his temper. "By the Great
Flame, Serenity! You have no choice! Your Outer Senshi are pinned on
Pluto, and your Inner Senshi completely incapable of saving you now.
You have no fleet, and your army is nearly nonexistent!"
The Queen drew herself up in her throne, brandishing a small
crystal. "The Queen of the Moon Kingdom always has another choice. By
the end of the day, neither you rebels nor the youma will trouble the
Moon Kingdom again." With that, she broke the connection, leaving the
rebel leader to swear at the blank globe in front of him.
"<She can't mean to use that! It will kill her, and likely
everyone else too! Using anywhere near the amount of power she'd need
to somehow stop both the youma and us with this little preparation would
drain the whole solar system's mana for millennia! Everyone would die,
except for whatever remnants survive on Terra. I've got to stop her
before its too late!>", thought the rebel leader. "<It wasn't supposed
to end like this!>"
He knew the orders he must give. He also knew that they would
stain his conscience forever. He would have to order an atrocity that
would have been inconceivable only five years ago. But, along with so
much else, that had changed in the skies over Juno.
"<Damn you, Iris. You never were able to understand the
consequences of your actions. Your lack of control doomed our nation.>"
The familiar rage washed over the rebel leader like the flames he
commanded, burning off his doubt. This was the only choice he could
make.
"Forgive me, Phoebe." he whispered, not aware that he spoke
aloud. He bowed his head once more, before speaking in a strong, clear
voice that was tinged with sorrow. "Captain Ashiant, I want a message
sent out to all ships. Order them to commence full power bombardment of
Luna immediately. The primary target is to be the Moon Palace."
The color drained out of Ashiant's face. "Your will, Champion."
He knew that his leader had just sentenced every man, woman, and child
on Luna to death.
"<But if they must die, I will not cower safely above them. I
must join them, and try to save them. If I can.>"
The rebel commander continued with his orders. "I also want a
request sent to the other Champions. I want all of us to teleport to
the palace as soon as the teleport shields weaken, and I want volunteer
squads ready to go with us. We've got to stop Serenity before she kills
us all."
************************************************************************
"Jadeite." The voice was silky smooth, filled with confidence
and power.
Jadeite managed to fight the urge to throw himself at the
speaker's feet and beg forgiveness for his many sins, chief among them
daring to oppose her plans for so long. He wouldn't be able to serve
his mistress if he allowed himself to wallow in remorse.
"My queen." Jadeite finally replied, barely able to keep his
voice steady. Not too long ago, not nearly long enough ago, those words
would have meant a completely different person, one whose evil was so
subtle that he had unknowingly been brainwashed to serve her and command
her armies. But he had been redeemed, brought back to sanity by his
mistress's power, and he had sworn he would follow her in return for
that gift. That thought nearly managed to break through Jadeite's
facade, and he had to struggle to maintain his self-control.
"What is the current situation?" his mistress asked. Obviously
this must be a test, his mistress was all-knowing, all-powerful.
However, it was a factual test, and one he could pass easily enough. He
would please his mistress. Swiftly, he called up the Terran strategic
map on the viewscreen, and a not at all pleasant grin appeared on his
face as he observed the result. Green icons representing friendly
forces far outnumbered the scattered red icons that represented enemy
units still in fighting condition.
"As Your Majesty is no doubt aware, most organized resistance on
Terra ceased with the fall of Crystal City." His grin widened as he
remembered the viscous carnage, the blood splattered all over the
'impenetrable' crystal walls. He continued, "Though several small areas
remain outside our control, primarily in region of the old Urian Duchy,
there are no significant threats to your rule. General Kunzite is
coordinating our efforts there from the city of Uria."
Jadeite switched the screen to the Lunar map, and his grin
weakened. Here, the situation was not as good at the moment, though that
would change when his mistress and him arrived. A large concentration
of green icons surrounded an area that was completely covered in red
icons. Elsewhere, green icons were few and far between, though they
were only slightly outnumbered by the red icons.
Jadeite paused a moment to clear his throat. "On Luna, the vast
majority of our forces have managed to pin down most of the Silver Army,
including the elite Imperium Brigade, inside the Moon Palace. General
Nephrite is currently in command of those forces, and is preparing to
settle down for a long siege. General Zoicite is leading the remainder
of our Lunar forces, with the goal of keeping the Third and Fourth Lunar
Home Guards," continued Jadeite, pointing to the mentioned units, "as
well as the other enemy forces present, from relieving the siege of the
palace."
Jadeite switched the screen to a three dimensional view of
Terran space, and his grin faltered and vanished. A vast horde of red
icons nearly surrounded Luna, and were obviously reaching out to engulf
a thin line of green icons that connected Terra and Luna. Dreading his
mistress's reaction to the bad news to come, Jadeite began to explain
the situation. "The Champions' fleet has managed to gain complete
control of Lunar space, and their ships will be in a position to sever
our supply line in an hour. My calculations show that ours will likely
be the last ship to safely arrive on Luna. After that, teleportation
will be the only way on or off Luna, and the energy costs for that will
be too high to bring in any significant forces. My estimates show that
the fleet contains enough power to easily wipe out what we have
available on Luna, and if they cooperate with the resistance forces,
enough to retake most of Terra."
His mistress frowned, and Jadeite's knees trembled with the urge
to kneel before his Queen and plead for his pitiful life. After a heart
rending moment, she spoke. "Very well. Send out the following orders
over my name. Kunzite is to teleport himself to Luna with as many youma
as he can take along. Zoicite is to gather as many forces as he can and
proceed to the Moon Palace. Once we are all there, we will begin an all
out assault. We don't have much time. This will all be over in a day."
Jadeite's relief at his queen's good reaction to his bad news
was tempered with regret for having not anticipated his queen's desires
earlier. He would worry about that later, however. He had work to do
now. Jadeite bowed low before replying. "Your will, Queen Beryl."
************************************************************************
Senshi Mars was frustrated. She longed to be on the palace
walls, flinging her flame down on the youma armies. Instead, she was
stuck in the war room, guarding her Princess and her Queen. She knew
that this was necessary, one couldn't tell when an assassin, be it youma
or traitor, would strike. But she wished that it had been someone
else's turn to do guard duty.
She watched the situation, as displayed on the crystal
viewscreens lining the room, with a hawk's eye. She felt a deep dread
settle into her heart as the last light representing a loyal warship in
orbit went dark. The traitors now controlled lunar space. There would
be no victory for the Moon Kingdom today.
"Mars?" The quiet voice was barely raised above a whisper.
The Senshi turned to the speaker. "Yes, Princess?"
"What's going to happen?" It was a question a child might ask a
parent. Though the Senshi of Mars and the Moon Princess were of like
age, a bare seventy years old, the Senshi had grown up fast, both in the
deserts of her homeworld and on dozens of battlefields across the solar
system, while her charge had left the Moon Palace only once in her life,
on her journey to collect her Senshi.
Mars frowned briefly, pausing for a moment. Should she tell a
reassuring lie, as a protector, or tell the truth, as a friend? It was
always difficult for her to decide what mantle she should wear. "I don't
know, Princess. I don't know." It was the truth. So much would depend
on what the rebels wanted, how her Queen would react, and on how long
her fellow Senshi could keep Beryl's forces at bay. They could all be
dead in an hour. They... she... could be fighting at the Champions'
side once more by the afternoon. So many possibilities, and Mars
doubted even Lady Pluto knew which would occur. With that, she once
more turned her full attention to the viewscreens, and frowned. That
was odd, what type of formation was that... oh, no. She recognized that
formation. Deinas had taught it to her at the Battle of Vulcan's Gap.
Taught her the hard way.
"<Jupiter!>" Her thought went out as swift as an arrow.
"<What, Mars? I'm sort of busy now.>" Jupiter was, as always,
irritated.
<Redirect as many forces as you can to the Pacific Gate!>, Mars
ordered.
"<Why? There's hardly any youma there...>" Jupiter's
irritation was increasing.
"<They're going to teleport them, you idiot! And if you don't
get some units their now, they'll be able to charge straight through to
the center of the palace!>", Mars shouted mentally.
"<Oh! You're right, I'll get right on it.>" Jupiter broke the
mental connection. And thus was the traitor Nephrite's latest stratagem
to break the defense stopped.
Mars hardly noticed when the call from the rebel flagship came
through, and she deliberately tuned out the all too familiar voice that
spoke. Deinas... it had been almost twenty-one years ago, in the ruined
throne room located somewhere above her, when he had left her. That day
a young girl named Phoebe had died as well, in a sense. Though the
funeral pyre hadn't been lit until only a handful of years ago, at Juno.
The pain hadn't dimmed with time. Instead, it had grown, each
time their paths had crossed, each time the two had met on opposite
sides of a battlefield. And the worst part was that she couldn't find
room in her heart to hate him, nor could she hate her Queen for causing
this. However, in her deepest heart of hearts, no matter all her
denials, she found that she could hate Iris. The whole matter had been
almost a game, a grand chess match, until she had made it deadly
serious. Mars departed from her musings when the call ended, as her
Queen had turned to her.
"Senshi Mars," the Queen spoke with a practiced air of command.
"Yes, my Queen?" was the only response Mars could give.
"Call the other Senshi. I want them to meet us here as soon as
possible. I'm going to need their help if I'm to have a chance to
succeed at using the Ginzuishou."
"Your will, my Queen." Mars bowed as the low thunder of the
rebel bombardment began to force its way through the soundproofed walls
of the war room. Calling back the Senshi would weaken the external
defenses, but if the Queen was going to use the Ginzuishou, it probably
wouldn't matter. One way or another, this would all be over in a day.
************************************************************************
A day later, the Silver Millenium was no more. Queen
Serenity's last magic had drained the energy of all nine planets. The
Sunshield of Mercury, the Cloud Castles of Venus, the Water Towers of
Mars, and the awesome floating cities of the gas giants all failed as
the magic that powered them was lost, depriving the inhabitants of the
tools they needed for survival. In weeks, billions died, both from
ecological disaster and the unchecked attacks of the remaining youma.
The few survivors on those worlds would die out in less than a
century. The only remnant of humanity that would survive was on Terra.
The rebel fleet and the youma armies had been sealed away. While the
fleet's prison would hold for eternity, Beryl's magic ensured that the
barriers around the Dark Kingdom would fail eventually. Serenity sent
the souls of her Senshi to that time, to ward against Beryl's return.
On Pluto, a Great Seal was created, to focus the energies of the Queen's
imprisonments, while the Guardian of Time, the sole survivor of the
Senshi, began her long vigil. The keys to the Seal were to be the
swords of the Champions, believed to be sealed away with their owners.
Queen Serenity's wisdom in sending the Senshi to the future
would be proven. Beryl, the Dark Moon Family, and the Death Busters
were all vanquished by their strength. With Sailor Pluto's guidance,
the path to Crystal Tokyo and a reborn Moon Kingdom seemed secure. At
least, until some other souls from the Silver Millenium began to
Awaken...
************************************************************************
The Gates of Time.
Perhaps the most dangerous magical device in the universe, they
had easily survived the long millennia since the Silver Millenium. As
had their Guardian.
Sailor Pluto stared silently at her charge. Her future self had
recently vanished through the Gates, returning to her own time.
Apparently, the Death Busters were not to be the last threat on the
twisting road to Crystal Tokyo. That was expected. Yet... what was
the new threat? She had refused to tell herself even the slightest hint
as to the identity of the new enemy. Apparently, her knowing at this
point would endanger Crystal Tokyo, which likely meant that she was
going to be taking a direct role in the events to come.
The threat wasn't going to come from outside the solar system.
She knew that from previous conversations with herself. Pharaoh 90 was
the only enemy from that source that would come for some time. Nor was
it going to be a time traveling enemy. She would have sensed that
coming a long time ago. But, who could it be? The only major
concentration of evil left inside the solar system was the remnants of
the Dark Kingdom, and even if someone was able to unite the surviving
youma, they were hardly "the greatest challenge the Sailor Senshi have
yet faced," as she had put it.
She had to know of the enemy, since she had had implanted
specific instructions as to what she could and could not tell the Sailor
Senshi and when. Of course, she didn't know what the instructions were,
but this meant that the situation was going to be very delicate, and the
Senshi were absolutely going to have to learn of certain facts at very
specific points, no earlier and no later. And that meant that the
"natural" probability of victory was not very high, and that drastic
measures had to be taken to raise that chance. But what evil could be
that powerful?
For the first time in millennia, Pluto didn't know what she
would be facing. And that scared her as nothing else could.
************************************************************************
Author's Random Ramblings
1) A month ago, if you had told me I would be writing a Sailor Moon
fanfic, I would have laughed in your face. Call me a victim of extended
exposure to the S season while taping the dub for my sister.
2) The basic idea of this story is to explore what might happen is the
Sailor Senshi were faced with a real enemy (as in not misguided,
tricked, coerced, etc.) that was not evil. That really doesn't appear
much here, but will be a focus later on.
3) Despite how it might seem in this prologue, Queen Serenity is/was
not evil in this version of the Silver Millenium. Future chapters will
explore the situation from her point of view.
4) This fanfic is primarily based off of the Japanese anime. That
said, I reserve the right to throw in elements of the manga or American
TV series as suits my whim and/or knowledge.
5) This fanfic will begin shortly after the conclusion of the S series.
SuperS and Stars are considered not to occur. This is for two main
reasons:
a) I haven't seen SuperS or Stars.
and:
b) From what I do know of these seasons, they are either
incredibly silly (SuperS), or mess considerably with the "mythology"
behind the series (Stars).
6) C&C, positive or negative, is of course welcome.
7) My previous fanfic, "The Lion or the Tiger?", and this draft are now
available at http://www.geocities.com/anowack/ .