Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Earth Scout Chronicles - Season One ❯ The Battle for Earth ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter 6: The Battle for Earth

Akiyama stood on a small hill, looking through her binoculars for any sign of
an advancing army. She was a little worried about what Prince Endymion and Prince
Ryoku had told her earlier today. She hadn’t felt the dark presence that they had
described to her, but she had no trouble imagining how it must have felt. With an
ominous portent such as that, she was definitely not looking forward to this
upcoming battle.

When she saw Queen Beryl’s forces, she made a quick estimate of their
fighting strength. When she was finished, she was relieved to discover that they
hadn’t increased their numbers by very much. She lowered her binoculars and went
to report the information.

“Prince Endymion, Prince Ryoku, the enemy is approaching,” Akiyama
reported. “I estimate that they should be here in approximately twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes, huh?” Ryoku said thoughtfully. “How’s their fighting
strength?”

“Surprisingly enough, they haven’t increased by much. Only a few hundred
more than last time.”

“Only a few hundred?” Endymion asked, his tone showing a hint of suspicion.

“Yes, Prince Endymion. Is something wrong?” she asked, her expression
becoming concerned.

“I’m not sure,” he replied hesitantly.

“Something to do with that dark presence we felt earlier?” Ryoku supposed.

“Yeah,” Endymion confirmed. “I have a feeling that something’s going to
happen that will take things from bad to worse.”

“Prince Endymion, aren’t the Sailor Scouts supposed to be coming today?”
Akiyama asked hopefully.

“Queen Serenity said that their training should take only a day, so they should
be finished with their training by now,” he told her. “All we can do is hold on until they
arrive.”

“Endymion,” Ryoku said, frowning thoughtfully, “do you think that the Scouts
might have felt the same dark presence that we did?”

“Hmm... maybe,” he replied, frowning as well. “I only hope that it’s nothing
that they can’t handle.”

Akiyama turned to look in the direction of the incoming army. “Prince
Endymion, Prince Ryoku, they are almost here. Shall we have the men prepare for
battle?”

“I guess we’d better get this over with,” he muttered as he, Ryoku and
Akiyama all went to make their preparations.






Quartzite growled to himself as he led his so-called invasion army to battle
the humans. “How can Queen Beryl do this to me?” he shouted in frustration. “I am
the commander of her armies. I may not be a General, but I have always served her
loyally. Why has she made me, of all of her subordinates, the commander of this...
this... mockery of an invasion force?

“I am every bit as good as those pompous, arrogant, incompetent idiots she
calls Generals,” he continued, his tone dripping with contempt. “I should be
commanding a real invasion army, instead of just a diversion force.” He sighed and
shook his head in resignation. “Until Queen Beryl recognizes my abilities and
potential, I have no choice.”

He looked back behind him at the seven dark apparitions that had elected to
stay towards the back of the army. “Hmph. There’s the real invasion force right
there,” he remarked sourly. Even though Queen Beryl had them following his orders
for now, as soon as the battle began they would most likely ignore any orders he
gave them. They were probably going to ignore him altogether. ‘Oh, well. No helping
that. Not as though I care in the least.’

As his army drew closer to the human army, he gave the order to prepare to
charge. At this time, he decided to stand aside and let his forces do the actual
fighting while he stayed apart from the battle. ‘Since it doesn’t matter whether my
forces win or lose, I’m not even going to bother. It’s up to the Seven Shadows to
determine whether we win or lose, and they never lose.’

He gave the order to charge and stood aside as his army of decoys charged
ahead. When the last of his army and the Seven Shadows had passed by, he looked
around for somewhere he could watch the fun.

“It’s almost a shame that it’s going to be over so soon,” he said to himself,
grinning maliciously.






Just as Endymion and Ryoku were about to join the battle, they had spotted
seven dark figures slowly approaching the battle site.

“Ryoku, do you remember when I said that the worst had yet to come?”
Endymion asked.

“Let me guess,” Ryoku replied sullenly. “It’s here?”

“Uh-huh. All seven of them. They must have been the dark presence we felt
earlier.”

“No doubt. The army we can handle, but these...” Ryoku paused, searching
for the right words, “shadow warriors might be out of our league entirely. If the Sailor
Scouts don’t get here soon, then we’re in deep trouble.”

“It looks like Queen Beryl is deadly serious, now,” Endymion said flatly. “This
is it. If we lose this battle, then we lose it all. Earth’s freedom depends on our
victory.”

Ryoku’s promise to Haruna echoed in his head. “Then, we cannot fail,” he
said with a grim determination that matched the expression on his face. His grip on
his swords tightened to the point where his knuckles were turning white. “Ready,
Endymion?” he asked.

“Ready,” he replied, his determination matching Ryoku’s. “Let’s go.”

At first, the seven Shadow Warriors held back, not actually engaging in battle,
as if waiting for something. When Endymion and Ryoku joined in the battle, the dark
creatures immediately leaped into action with incredible ferocity. They tore through
the soldiers as if they were made of paper, leaving a bloody mess in their wake.
When the soldiers tried to fight back, the Shadow Warriors merely slipped around
their blows as if they were made of liquid.

The Shadow Warriors continued on their path of destruction, heading straight
for Endymion and Ryoku. Before either of them could get out of the way, the first two
Shadow Warriors leaped at them. Before they could take down their victims, a
couple of voices suddenly shouted in their direction.

“Fire soul!”

A large fireball slammed into the two attacking creatures, knocking them away
from their intended victims.

“Crescent beam!”

Seconds after the fireball hit, a beam of energy blasted the other five Shadow
Warriors, abruptly halting their rampage.

The two princes turned toward the source of the voices and attacks and saw
four figures rushing towards them. Four very familiar and very welcome figures.

“Hey, Endymion,” Ryoku said, feeling very relieved, “it looks like help has
finally arrived!”

“Sorry we’re late,” Sailor Jupiter said with a wink directed at her brother.
“Better late than never, right guys?”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Endymion said, greatly relieved at seeing the Sailor
Scouts arrive.

“Don’t worry about those guys over there,” Sailor Mars said, gesturing
towards the Shadow Warriors, who were now recovering from the blows they
received from the Scouts. “We’ll handle them. You two have your hands full already.”
Sailor Mars turned to the other Scouts. “Let’s go!” With that, the four Sailor Scouts
ran off to face the dark creatures.

“You heard them, Ryoku!” Endymion shouted, hope shining in his eyes. “Let’s
go rid ourselves of these invaders!”

“Right behind you!” Ryoku replied and followed his friend into the fray.






Quartzite’s eyes widened in surprise at what he saw. “Amazing! Those two
girls just blasted the Seven Shadows!” He was quite shocked at seeing the girl in
red throw a fireball at two of the Shadows, while the one in orange threw an energy
beam at the other five. The result was that the seven creatures went flying.

Instead of being angry at the impossible turn of events, Quartzite started
laughing. “Well now, this is going to be one interesting match-up. Obviously, those
four girls must be Queen Serenity’s most powerful warriors. Such a shame to see
such beauty go to waste though....”

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. “Wait a minute. What if these four
girls prove to be a match for the Seven Shadows? I hope Queen Beryl doesn’t blame
me for it....”






The seven Shadow Warriors danced around, as if mocking the Scouts. The
four girls exchanged a look, nodded once and prepared their assault. Sailor Mercury
was the first one to attack.

“Shabon spray!”

A thick mist appeared, making it hard to see. This time, though, Sailor
Mercury had finally figured out how to use her power so that the Scouts could see
through it, but the enemy couldn’t.

After the fog had covered all of the Shadow Warriors, the other three Scouts
began their attack.

“Fire soul!”

“Supreme thunder!”

“Crescent beam!”

The fire and lightning mixed with energy went hurtling into the fog at the
Shadow Warriors. Moments before hitting them, they all jumped away, as if sensing
the attack. Three of the dark creatures suddenly darted in the Scouts’ direction,
heading straight for Mars, Jupiter and Venus. The first creature struck Mars in the
side, while the second hit Jupiter in the stomach and the third gave Venus a blow to
the head.

“Oh, no! Jupiter! Mars! Venus!” Mercury shouted, as her teammates were hit
hard. That’s when she was struck in the back by a fourth Shadow Warrior. Mercury
flew through the air and landed hard next to her friends.

“They pack quite a punch,” Jupiter groaned, as she and the other Scout got
to their feet.

“Yeah,” Venus agreed. “Shall we try again?”

“I’m all for it!” Mars said and prepared to use her powers again. “Fire soul!”

The fireball flew straight for a group of four Shadow Warriors, causing them
to scatter.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Venus said. “Not this time! Crescent beam!”

“Fire soul!”

“Supreme thunder!”

“Shabon spray!”

The four attacks each hit a different Shadow Warrior, knocking them to their
feet. Meanwhile, the other three were charging the Scouts while they were blasting
their comrades. The first one tackled Sailor Jupiter, who immediately countered by
throwing it off her and blasting it with another thunderbolt. The second tried to slash
at Sailor Mercury, but missed as she leaped out of the way. Sailor Venus then
blasted it with one of her crescent beams, which sent it flying to join the first four.
The last one leaped at Sailor Mars, who met it midair with a jump kick followed by a
fireball. By the time it hit the ground, the other six were up and ready to challenge the
Scouts again.

“These guys are tough!” Mercury said with dismay.

“It looks like it’s gonna take everything we’ve got to defeat these monsters,”
Mars said. “Ready?”

“Ready!” the other Scouts replied in unison.

“Then, let’s go!” Mars shouted as she and the other Scouts charged at the
seven Shadow Warriors.






During the battle, Ryoku had lost sight of Endymion. He was beginning to
grow tired of constantly getting separated from his friends during battle. He was
going to have to start paying more attention next time.

He let that thought go, as he was now preparing to face three opponents at
once. At the moment, they were circling him warily, waiting for an opportunity to
strike. Since he was growing a little impatient, he obliged them by dropping his
guard. Just as he predicted, all three attacked almost simultaneously.

He rushed at one of his attackers and parried his blow with one of his swords
while continuing to run past him. Now that all of his attackers were behind him, he
turned to face them. He met the first one by blocking his sword and kicking him in
the stomach and then the head. He then dodged the second attacker altogether and
gave the third one a sword thrust through the middle of his chest while, at the same
time, swinging backwards with his other sword, taking off the second attacker’s
head.

He turned back to the first attacker, who had already gotten to his feet and
was charging at him, and blocked his attack with both swords. He locked swords
with his opponent and was straining to gain the upper hand. Suddenly, his grim
expression was replaced by a menacing grin. Before his opponent could figure out
what was going on, he simply said, “Goodbye,” and quickly spun to one side while at
the same time slicing his opponent’s throat.

Taking a short break to catch his breath, he looked around for any sign of
either Endymion or Akiyama. Turning to his left, he could see the battle taking place
between the Sailor Scouts and the Shadow Warriors. ‘Wow,’ he thought to himself, ‘it
looks like the Scouts are going all out in this fight. But the Shadow Warriors are
taking everything they have to give and then some. I just hope the Scouts can keep
them away from the other battle that’s taking place. The fight’s going bad enough as
it is.’

Suddenly, he spotted a group of enemy soldiers heading straight for the
Scouts. ‘With the concentration the Sailor Scouts are putting into their fight, I doubt
they’ll have any to spare against those minor threats. Endymion and Akiyama can
take care of themselves. I’d better go take care of this little problem.’

He hurried to intercept the group before they could sneak up on the Scouts.
The group was heading for the nearest Scout, Sailor Mars, who was in the middle of
trying to fry a couple of Shadow Warriors with her fireballs.

“Sailor Mars, look out!” he called out, just as one of the soldiers leaped at her
with his sword aimed for her neck. She turned around in time to see the blade rush
dangerously for her throat.

A couple of inches before the blade would have sliced her throat, Ryoku
deflected the attack while at the same time impaling the attacker on his other sword.
After sliding his sword out of the body he quickly dispatched the remaining
attackers. “You all right?” he asked, turning to check on Sailor Mars.

“Yeah, thanks Ryoku. I guess I owe you one,” she answered, grinning
sheepishly.

“Don’t mention it,” he replied, grinning back. His grin faded when he saw that
more enemy soldiers were headed their way. “You and the other Sailor Scouts just
take care of those Shadow Warriors. I’ll try my best to keep these guys off your
backs,” he told her as he pointed toward the oncoming group.

She nodded and smiled in appreciation. “That’ll be a great help. I’ll be sure to
let the others know. Especially, Sailor Mercury.” He groaned slightly as he turned to
face the advancing horde. “I’m just kidding, Ryoku,” she said with a laugh.

“Fine time for it,” he muttered, but grinned despite himself.

“Sorry,” she replied, still smiling, and turned to leave. “Take care of yourself,
Ryoku, and good luck.”

“You, too,” he said, as she departed. “All of you.” He took a quick count
before getting ready to repel the enemy’s advance and found that there were more
than he counted last time.

“Uh-oh....”






At first, only a few soldiers tried to attack the Sailor Scouts, but gradually
more broke from the battle to charge the Scouts. Ryoku found it harder and harder to
deal with so many at once. There was also the added difficulty of having to fight in a
thick mist that was constantly appearing, thanks to Sailor Mercury. Fortunately, he
quickly adjusted, using the fact that he knew the terrain better than his opponents
and the fact that he was growing accustomed to the fog.

After taking down a couple of soldiers going after Sailor Venus, he took a
quick look to see how the main battle was faring. What he saw wasn’t encouraging.
A third of the army was gone, while Queen Beryl’s army had lost only a few hundred.
Obviously, the arrival of the Shadow Warriors had made a psychological impact on
the defending forces. As determined to win as he was, Ryoku knew when to admit
defeat.

A quick glance to his right showed Sailor Jupiter preparing to electrocute a
couple of Shadow Warriors. Behind her were a couple of soldiers trying to sneak up
on her.

“Supreme...,” she began, oblivious to the threat behind her.

“Sailor Jupiter, behind you!” he yelled as he ran towards her, trying to
intercept the attackers.

“What? Hey!” she exclaimed as he tackled her to the ground, wincing as he
hit. “What are you doing? I was just about to....”

Before she could finish, he lashed out behind her with his sword. She quickly
turned to see that he had taken down the soldiers who were about to ambush her.

“I’ve got some bad news,” he said as they both stood up.

“Great,” Jupiter muttered, “just what we need. What is it?”

“The army’s being overwhelmed. I think that we might have to retreat to the
Moon for now.”

“What? Are you sure? We can’t just abandon the Earth like that.”

“I know. I need to find Endymion. It’s his call on whether we stay or go. With
the way things are going right now, we might not have much choice.” He clenched
his fists in frustration. “You should let the other Scouts know fast.”

“Right. I’ll go tell them now,” she said.

He nodded and started to leave, but he suddenly winced in pain and stumbled
forward a little. That was when Sailor Jupiter noticed that when he saved her from
that ambush, he wasn’t left unscathed. On his left leg was a small wound, not very
deep, and across his back was a long diagonal gash from his right shoulder to his
left mid-section. Added to the many minor cuts and wounds he had already
sustained, the fact that he was only now starting to show that he was injured
surprised her.

“Ryoku, you’re badly wounded!” she said worriedly, her concern for her
brother evident on her face.

He shook his head as he ignored the pain. “I know, but that’s not important
now. You have to warn the other Scouts and I have to find Endymion. You gotta
hurry!” he said, then turned to go find Endymion.

“Be careful, Ryoku,” she said quietly. Almost as if he had heard her, he
turned around briefly, waved, and quickly disappeared, swallowed up by the chaos
that was rapidly unfolding all over the place.






Endymion didn’t know how it happened, but somehow it had. After losing
sight of Ryoku in the middle of the battle, he had his hands full fighting soldier after
soldier. For every opponent he had cut down, two seemed to appear in his place,
until he was now surrounded. Even surrounded, he refused the give up without a
fight. He managed to hold his own for a few minutes, but he knew eventually one of
the soldiers would reach him. Even now, one of his opponents’ swords was coming
dangerously close to his neck....

Before the sword could pierce his throat, a sword suddenly deflected the
attack while another ran the offender through the chest. The owner of those two
swords was someone Endymion was very glad to see. “Been busy?” he asked.

“A little,” Ryoku replied, shrugging indifferently. “You?”

“Not much going on here. You can join in if you want.”

Ryoku made a show of examining the opposition. “Looks like you can handle
it by yourself, but since I got nothing better to do...,” he said while assuming a
defensive stance, “I might as well.”

The fact that there were two targets instead of one should have made little
difference, but since they were both expert swordsmen, the two princes tore through
the horde of soldiers with few problems.

“Hmph. Hardly a challenge. Right, Endymion?” Ryoku asked smugly.

“Yeah. Thanks for your help, Ryoku,” he said gratefully.

“No problem.” Ryoku frowned as he recalled the reason why he had searched
for him. “Endymion, I’ve got some bad news. We’ve got an emergency on our
hands.”

“Emergency?” Endymion asked, growing concerned. “Don’t tell me that the
Shadow Warriors have defeated the Sailor Scouts!”

“No, no, no!” Ryoku corrected quickly. “They’re still holding them off. It’s
about the army, Endymion. We’ve taken heavy losses, while Queen Beryl’s forces
haven’t lost as much as we thought they would. My guess is that they’re being
encouraged by the fact that their strongest warriors have now taken an active part in
their battle.”

Endymion nodded soberly. “That would explain why they’re more aggressive
now than the last two battles they’ve fought in.”

“Endymion, I think that we may need to retreat to the Moon for now,” Ryoku
said in a subdued voice. “I know this sounds like I’m giving up, but I’m not. We’re
losing too many men and the Scouts are barely holding the Shadow Warriors back.
We can’t take much more of this. You know we’re willing to defend Earth to the end,
but right now there’s no chance of winning, barring an impossible miracle.

“It’s your decision, Endymion. Stay, or retreat?”

He was quiet for a long time. ‘If I stay, then it’s likely that I, Ryoku, the Scouts
and all of us will die. If I go, then we will be abandoning Earth to Queen Beryl. Either
way, we lose and Queen Beryl wins.’ He shook his head in discouragement and
sighed. ‘If there is any chance of defeating Queen Beryl, I have to be alive to do it. I
guess I have no choice.’

Just then, Sailor Mercury ran up to them. She gave a small nod to Ryoku,
who returned the favor. “Endymion, we can’t keep them away from your men
anymore,” she said apologetically. “Queen Beryl’s troops are constantly getting in our
way, attacking us. We can’t deal with both at once.”

“I understand Sailor Mercury,” Endymion said. “You and the other Sailor
Scouts did your best. It looks like we have no other choice. We have to retreat.” He
said the last part with an angry growl, clenching his fists in anger.

“The Moon Palace must be defended at all costs,” he continued. “No doubt
that is Queen Beryl’s true goal. Ryoku, I want you to go to the Moon Palace
immediately and inform Queen Serenity of our defeat. I will join you when I can.”
Ryoku nodded. He then turned to Sailor Mercury. “Sailor Mercury, would you and the
other Scouts accompany him? I’m worried that if we start retreating to the Moon
Palace, Queen Beryl might see it as an opportunity to attack immediately. She may
have troops waiting to invade right now. I must stay and help General Akiyama begin
the evacuation to the Moon.”

“Certainly, Endymion,” Mercury replied. “The other Scouts and I will go with
him. Besides, we must also tell Queen Serenity about the creatures we just fought.”

“The Shadow Warriors,” Ryoku murmured quietly.

“The Shadow Warriors?” Mercury repeated quizzically as he looked at him.
“That sounds appropriate.”

“Endymion, while I’m at the Palace, do you want me to tell Serenity about
what has happened here?” Ryoku asked.

Endymion’s expression grew sad as he thought of his beloved. “No, Ryoku.
It’s best if I tell her myself. You’d better get going. We don’t have much time.”

“Right.” Ryoku and Sailor Mercury said in unison and left, while Endymion left
to go find Akiyama.

A short while later, he found her, wounded, but still able to walk, if a little
painfully. “Akiyama,” Endymion began in an emotionless tone, “we must regroup and
prepare for a retreat to the Moon. This battle is lost.”






From his vantage point, Quartzite started smiling at the humans’ expense.
The humans were retreating and the battle was theirs. All that was left was to report
the victory to Queen Beryl. “Queen Beryl, this is Quartzite. I have news concerning
the battle.”

“Well, what is it?” Queen Beryl replied telepathically. Quartzite thought she
sounded almost... excited.

“The humans have been defeated and are now retreating as I speak.”

“Excellent! Now I can move on to the final phase of my plan.”

“Queen Beryl, there is something else you should know.”

“What? What is it now?” Now she sounded angry.

“During the battle, I saw four girls take on the Seven Shadows. They were
almost as strong as the Shadows, but they couldn’t defeat them. I believe that they
are Queen Serenity’s most powerful warriors.”

“So? They were beaten! Why do you think that this should concern me?”

“They may have gone back to the Moon to gain reinforcements. They might
try to retake the Earth. Attacking the Moon right now might not be a good idea....”

“Don’t presume to tell me what to do!!!”

“Yes... I mean, no... I mean... As you wish, my Queen.” Now, she was
angry.

“Still... you may have a point. Very well, I shall wait and build my army’s
strength so there shall be no doubt as to who will be the victor in this war, and who
shall be the vanquished....”


Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs
to Naoko Takeuchi and is also Copyright © Kodansha, Toei Animation, TV Asahi, Bandai, DIC,
Cloverway, Pioneer, etc. No copyright infringement is intended. This story belongs me, so I
would appreciate it very much if you would ask for permission before posting it anywhere else.

Thank you.

Earth Scout Chronicles, Kino Ryoku:
Copyright © 1999-2003 Jason C. Ulloa.
All Rights Reserved.