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Episode #306: Post Time at Crystal Tokyo 
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Crystal Tokyo 
30 March 3035 
 
	Royal Star Navy's Earth Headquarters was the backup command center
of the military, and as such shared many characteristics with the main
command center on the Moon.  The same basic format: rows of consoles, a few
status screens, command post overlooking the entire cavernous chamber.  It
was also the center from which the Royal Army was commanded, which was the
main reason that it was as crowded as the proverbial Irish bar on St. 
Patrick's Day.  Then again, few in the room even knew what St. Patrick's Day
was.
 
	Sailor Jupiter was in the crow's nest, another name for the command
post that overlooked it all, watching the status screens.  On one was a map
of Japan and the surrounding area, with red dots indicating estimated Allied
troop positions, and attached vectors showing where they were supposed to be
going.  The southern Korean peninsula was almost solid red, as were the
Kuril Islands and Sakahlin to the north.  All the vectors pointed to either
end of Japan.  Needless to say, this was a bad thing.  "Any word from
Kyushu?"
 
	"No, sir," reported a tech.  "Wait, something coming in now . . .
yes, heavy jamming reported on what appears to be the entire northwest coast
of Kyushu.  Range estimates are around one hundred kilometers."
 
	Sailor Neptune looked over from her computer.  She was breaking
precedent; usually only one planet senshi was in the room at a time.  She
had a particular interest in things at the moment.
 
	"Jupiter, our submarines aren't picking up anything out there." 
 
	Jupiter didn't ask if she was sure about that.  You didn't work
alongside someone for a thousand years without figuring out the answer to
that yourself.  The brunette just looked at another screen.  This one showed
Kyushu in detail, or more properly the portion closest to Japan.  A
half-dozen white dots indicated the submarines of Crystal Tokyo, which had
never seen actual warfare.  Judging from the scale on the map, the subs
appeared to be about to intercept whatever was being hidden by the jamming. 
There were no dots for Allied submarines, which frightened her terribly.

	Sometimes she looked at all the technology around her and wondered
what had happened.  It seemed like only yesterday that the only computer the
senshi depended on was the one in Sailor Mercury's "pocket." She felt
dreadfully out of place in this room, a chamber that looked like it belonged
on a spaceship.  "Neptune, see if you can-"
 
	"AIR WARNING RED AIR WARNING RED!"  The female voice was panicked;
probably some junior technician who hadn't even known that what was
happening could be possible until days, possibly hours ago.  "Multiple
missiles incoming, bearing zero-zero-one, altitude five thousand meters!"
 
	"What?"  Jupiter cast a quick glance up at the Crystal Tokyo status
board.  The radar showed clear skies.  "Where?  Is that a confirmed report?"
She raised her voice; the ambient noise in the room had increased quite a
bit as notices and warnings were relayed.
 
	"Trying to figure that out, sir," said Yasunari Konda, technically
the talker.  However, he was being overridden again and again.  Jupiter
could only sigh.

	"Missile defenses are now up, running at eighty-eight percent
efficiency," someone sang out.
 
	"Where was that?" 
 
	"Reporting amphibious groups landing!  Requesting permission to
retaliate!"
 
	"Multiple fighters taking off from Korean peninsula, intercept in
four minutes!"
 
	"Now receiving damage estimates!" 
 
	"DAMMIT, BE QUIET!"  The room fell silent.  Sailor Jupiter picked up
her rarely used headset and spoke into it so that everyone would hear her. 
"We have a talker for a reason.  You will make your reports to your section
heads as we've drilled.  Is that clear?"
 
	A chorus of yeses. 
 
	"Good.  Get to work." 
 
	"Sailor Jupiter, we've managed to clear things up a bit.  The threat
board's gone a bit haywire for the moment, though, you probably want to
ignore it for the moment.
 
	"Fine, talk to me." 
 
	"We have a flock of missiles incoming on bearing zero-two-zero,
count about fifty or sixty.  Will be within firing range in thirty seconds
maximum.  Laser intercepts are ready.  We have an unconfirmed, say again
unconfirmed report of amphibious landings on Kyushu.  Unsure on strength,
just some civilian who phoned in."
 
	"Hold it right there," said Jupiter.  "Do we have any land mines
there?"
 
	A flurry of activity.  The talker spoke into his microphone,
somewhere on the floor below a technician punched some buttons, spoke into
their microphone, and ten seconds later came the reply.  "No sir, against
standing orders."
 
	"By who?" 
 
	"Her Majesty." 
 
	Jupiter refrained from pounding the wall in frustration; there
wasn't time for that.  "See if we can whistle up a scout plane or two, try
to confirm that.  And get me Serenity-sama."
 
	"Yes sir.  Hold, missiles are within intercept range in five, four,
three, two, one, now.  Lasers firing."

*** 
 
	It was early morning.  On the northern tip of Hokkaido, the skies
were slowly turning from pink to orange.  The sea breeze began to pick up,
ruffling the waves of the sea and the hair of the few dozen Royal Army
regulars who had been hastily put on lookout duty.
 
	The call for full alert status had come just an hour before; at
least one of them was still wearing his pajama top.  They knew nothing of
what was going on; it seemed only a week ago that all was well with the
world, and that there was no threat to their country.  Now, Crystal Tokyo
was apparently at the heart of an international conspiracy to overthrow
Serenity, and if the radar stations were to be believed, several dozen
missiles were coming as proof.
 
	"Tallyho!"  The group of men and women looked up at once to the
north.  Those with the best eyesight could pick out faint smoke trails from
what were presumably enemy missiles, each packing what for the thirty-first
century was a conventional warhead.  A twentieth century observer would have
seen nothing conventional about it; the destructive power was mind
boggling.
 
	"Goggles, everyone!"  They reached into pockets, grabbing the
anti-glare goggles everyone was required to wear.  Considering the power
behind the anti-air lasers, not wearing them was an invitation for
blindness.
 
	No-one saw the first blast from the lasers, based a kilometer or so
inland.  There was simply a puff of fire and smoke that from a distance
looked slightly like fireworks.  Then another puff, and another, and
another.  By now enough smoke and dust was building up to make the beams
visible, and in combination they looked like an orange-yellow curtain
cutting across the sky.
 
*** 
 
	"First wave repulsed," reported the talker.  "One hundred percent
kill rate reported."
 
	Sailor Jupiter breathed a sigh of relief.  Something was finally
going right with this whole mess.  "Good.  Keep all laser defenses at full
alert, and-"
 
	"Contact lost with H.M.S. Shinozaki and Yuuichiro." 
 
	"WHAT?" 
 
	"Contact lost, sir.  Shinozaki was in the middle of sending a
routine status report when they just went off the air.  We're having no
success in raising them."
 
	"Could be jamming," noted a general thoughtfully.  He was rather
miffed that he and the rest of the non-senshi military staff had been more
or less forced to take a holiday in the present circumstances, but at least
they were still there.  "It's been heavy on the south side, why not start
from the north?"
 
	"Anything?" asked Jupiter. 
 
	"No, sir," replied the talker.  "Jamming remains restricted to the
west side of Kyushu.  Except for that missile attack, Hokkaido is quiet."
 
	"Very well," said Sailor Jupiter, "Until we get more information
we'll presume the subs to be lost." Shinozaki and Yuuichiro were part of the
miniscule Royal Sea Navy.  They had been hurriedly assigned to the seas
around Japan, hoping to score hits against any possible amphibious landings. 
Now two of the six had been removed from the board in a single stroke.

	"Sir, revised notice on the previous amphibious attack.  Apparently
the ground reporters panicked."

	"Ah," said Jupiter, "some good news."
 
	"Jamming coming in sir, northeast coast of Hokkaido.  It's of
comparable strength to the southern jamming."
 
	"We have no choice, do we?" asked Jupiter.  She looked over to
Sailor Neptune.
 
	"Serenity was clear on this.  We're to remain passive until the
first sign of attack."
 
	"But we were just-" 
 
	"Message coming in from Kiev, sir." 
 
	"Kiev?  What do the Russians want to talk about now?"  Jupiter
turned.  "Neptune?"
 
	The senshi had the Mirror handy, but it was as unhelpful as it had
been since the beginning of the crisis.  "I can't tell.  But Serenity-sama
would probably have our heads if we didn't at least try to pull out a
peaceful solution."
 
	Sailor Jupiter sighed.  This was all so much responsibility.  "Is
Serenity available?"
 
	A pause while the lines were checked.  "No sir, she's in conference
with President Ronowski at the moment.  She's left word that she's only to
be interrupted for matters of extreme emergency."
 
	"Such as?" 
 
	"She didn't say." 
 
	"Great."  She almost asked what else could go wrong that day. 
Considering how things had gone so far, she got the idea that that would be
an invitation for something even worse to happen.  It was obvious that
tempting fate was not a good thing to try at the moment.  "Sailor Neptune,
I'm going upstairs, maybe Cassiopeia can be of help.  If there's any change
in status, call me.  Oh, and I want increased surveillance surrounding
Crystal Tokyo.  The surrounding fifty kilometers are to be considered
restricted airspace.  Put the senshi on stage two alert."
 
	"Aye aye, sir." 
 
*** 
 
	Jennifer Sakachi was reading through news bulletins in her bedroom
when the call came through the palace-wide announcement system.
 
	"Attention all sailor senshi, attention all sailor senshi.  A stage
two alert is now in effect, say again a stage two alert is now in effect. 
Thank you."
 
	She blinked.  Eileen was probably with Serenity at the moment,
either that or still trying to calm the populace.  They hadn't taken the
mobilization of the Army regulars very well; already she was hearing rumors
from her ties at the University of Crystal Tokyo that peace demonstrations
may be held if Serenity didn't make a bold stroke of nonviolence.
 
	"Dammit.  Orion Star Power, Make-up!"  The obligatory light show
followed, and the slightly frazzled looking Jennifer Sakachi was replaced
with a cool, calm, composed Sailor Orion.  She left the apartment and went
for the elevator.  Under the rules of a stage two alert, senshi had top
priority.  So when the car started moving down to her post down at Earth HQ,
she was surprised when it stopped a few floors later.
 
	"Hi," said Sailor Phoenix.  Sailor Orion looked down at her, one of
the tallest and one of the shortest senshi in the same elevator.  "Going
down, I assume?" she asked with a smile.
 
	"Yes." 
 
	"I hear they fired some missiles this morning.  You know anything
about that?"
 
	Sailor Orion raised her eyebrows.  "First I've heard of it."  She
pulled out her handlink and began tapping away.  "News nets don't have
anything yet . . . then again, it's all been happening so fast.  Could be
they haven't been able to get the news out yet."
 
	"Well, if-" 
 
	She was interrupted by the blare of an alert siren.  "Attention all
Palace personnel.  Crystal Tokyo is now on stage one alert.  Repeat, Crystal
Tokyo is now on stage one alert.  Civilians are to report to their emergency
shelters immediately.  Emergency personnel are to report to their stations. 
That is all."
 
	Phoenix and Orion shared a glance.  Then the elevator accelerated
even faster.
 
*** 
 
	"Multiple missiles incoming, bearing two-zero-eight.  Range ninety
kilometers and closing fast.  Estimated impact in twenty seconds. 
Antimissile defenses are online, intercept time ten seconds, mark."
 
	Sailor Jupiter looked up at the status screens, arms crossed. 
Another missile attack, this one from the southwest and aimed at Crystal
Tokyo itself.  Whoever was firing them had to know that the city had the
best missile defense system in the world.  This had to be purely
psychological.
 
	"Intercept in five, four, three, two, one."  A pause.  On the map,
the green traces of missile tracks began to terminate just outside of the
city.  "Reporting one hundred percent kill rate."
 
	"It's psychological," said Sailor America.  Her face took up most of one 
of the smaller status screens; America herself was in her office.  "This is a 
spoiling attack; they just want to scare the citizens.  And it's working.  
Over five hundred calls to the authorities in just five seconds." 
 
	"Trying to rattle us, eh?" 
 
	"Mm-hm." 
 
	"Okay.  Keep me informed . . . wait, shouldn't you be down here?" 
 
	Sailor America blushed slightly.  "Well . . . actually, I had some
things to attend to up here, and-"
 
	"A stage one alert is still a stage one alert, America."  She
sighed.  "Never mind, we're going back to stage two anyway.  Stay up there
if you must." She turned to her talker.  "Stand down from stage one, inform
the proper authorities, and for Pete's sake turn off those flashing red
lights!"
 
	The room calmed down noticeably just as a trio of senshi came onto
the floor.  Sailor Orion took a seat near the end of a row of computers and
slipped on a headset, waiting for instructions.  Above, Jupiter scowled.
 
	"Okay, two missile attacks and a bit of jamming.  What are you up
to, my adversaries?"
 
	She didn't have to wait long.  "Sir, we've lost contact with
Tsushima Island."
 
	"Tsushima?"  Tsushima was a fifty-kilometer long island in the
Korean Strait.  In the past few days it had been part of the challenge for
Crystal Tokyo, resupplying it without looking "overtly hostile," as the
directive from Serenity had put it.  There hadn't even been enough time to
put reliable communications on the largely unpopulated island.
 
	"Yes, the outpost there failed to check in ten minutes ago as
scheduled.  It's still overcast there; satellites aren't picking up
anything."
 
	"Hm . . . send out a surveillance plane.  Or would that be against
Serenity's wishes as well?"
 
	"Not as I understand them, sir." 
 
	"Good.  Do it." 
 
	"Yes sir." One of the worst things about armed combat is the
waiting.  Sailor Jupiter and the rest of Earth headquarters had quite a bit
of waiting to do as the plane was sent out.  The fruits of the waiting:
"We've lost contact with the plane, sir.  Uplink is gone."
 
	Jupiter looked up at the status screens for a moment, watching the
radar haze that still covered the Kyushu and Hokkaido coast.  "Right, call
that a loss." She didn't think about the families of the plane's crew of
eight.  That would come later, as she lay in bed trying to get to sleep. 
For now, she only thought of threat estimates and counterattacks.  "Well."
She looked around the crow's nest at the assorted techs, senshi, and
officers.  "If anyone has any suggestions of what we can do instead of
sitting here and twiddling our thumbs?  And remember, we can't do anything
blatantly aggresive."
 
	"How about we talk Serenity-sama into letting us launch a preemptive
attack?" suggested a junior rating.
 
	Sailor Jupiter turned to look at the man . . . boy, really, only
nineteen.  He gulped, thinking that he had overstepped his bounds.  The two
looked at each other.  Finally, she blinked.
 
	"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"  She doubled over and leaned on a chair,
laughing uproariously.  "Ask her for authorization for a preemptive strike!"
She managed to get into the seat, still laughing.  "Kami-sama, I needed that
laugh." Some of the other senshi and techs laughed as well.  Those who
didn't laugh wondered if Jupiter had crossed the line into insanity.
 
	"Oh dear, we've still got the problem though, don't we?"  She sighed
and had a last chuckle.  "Okay, I want-"
 
	"Sir, reports of amphibious assault on Kyushu coast.  Appears to be
a broad attack on a hundred-kilometer wide front.  Local commander is
requesting reinforcements . . . yes, we've got confirmation of this one
too."
 
	The echo of the announcement died down, and the room fell quiet for
three long seconds.  Then all hell broke loose.
 
	"Who's in charge down there?" asked Sailor Neptune, deadly serious.
 
	"Sailor Procyon, sir.  Getting additional reports, sir, resistance
is being offered, but it's looking very close so far.  She's screaming for
help."
 
	"She's got it, in more ways than one."  Jupiter took a deep breath. 
"Serenity can hate me later for it, but I've got to react.  All senshi are
now at stage one alert.  Get Endymion on the line, I want him down here. 
Put the Royal Army on full alert status and call up all reserves.  Where's
Saturn?"
 
	She didn't wait for the answer, but instead looked up at the status
board.  It was beginning to light up like a Christmas display, with live
video, charts, graphs, maps, and so on.  She looked at the top corner and
found that Sailor Saturn was on her way to the Palace.
 
	"Contact Sailor Saturn.  Tell her to get to forward command at," she
looked at the map, "Kurume, and relieve Procyon.  We need to get control
down there before things get out of hand.  Where's Mars?"
 
	"Upstairs, sir.  Orders for mobilization are being put into effect
now.  Stage one alert now in effect.  Endymion is with Serenity right now
and can't be reached-"
 
	"Shit!  We're going to have to let her know too . . . I'll take care
of that personally.  Reserves?"
 
	"We're working on it, sir.  Saturn is being contacted now.  No
further word from Kyushu."
 
	The door to the crow's nest opened, and Sailor Mars jogged out,
followed by Uranus.  "You rang?" asked the senshi of fire.
 
	"I need suggestions.  I'm sending senshi down to lend the Army a
hand, you know, scenario eleven.  Anyone that stands out in particular?"
 
	The three, and then four as Sailor Neptune came over and joined them, 
began to trade ideas.  Down on the floor, Orion was being pressed into service 
giving secondary orders, taking care of the hard work of telling individual 
units to begin moving. 
 
	"Nemuro base reported a ground attack and went off the air.  Nothing
heard from them since." Orion looked up at the map.  Nemuro was on the
northeast corner of Hokkaido, right next to the Kuril islands.  "Wakkanai
reported ground troops and went off the air.  Wait, strike that.  We have
secondary reports coming out of Wakkanai.  Resistance is feeble but
spirited.  They're reporting a great numerical disadvantage."
 
	"Forward commander at Wakkanai?" asked Sailor Jupiter, breaking the
huddle.
 
	"It was Sailor Vega, sir, but it wasn't Vega who gave the last
report."
 
	"Can you confirm where she is?" 
 
	"No sir, communications are still shaky.  The land lines are going."
 
	"Dammit."  She rubbed her forehead.  "Um . . . how are things in
Kyushu?"
 
	"No change." 
 
	"That settles it, then."  She decided to act before she realized
what she was doing and got scared away.  "I'm going up there." She turned to
the other planet senshi.  "We'll go with the list we drew up, and if there
are any holes we'll plug them when we find them."
 
	"Jupiter, you-" 
 
	"I'm the deputy commander in chief, Sailor Uranus!  We need
experience up there right now, before things get out of control, and I'm
going, dammit!" She turned from the stunned Uranus to the talker.  "Command
of Royal Star Navy Earth Headquarters is turned over to Sailor Uranus,
effective immediately." Uranus was next in line after Saturn, who was on her
way south to oversee matters.  "I'm going."
 
	Down on the floor, Sailor Orion heard none of this.  She didn't even
hear the notice of change in commanders, being too busy with receiving and
giving other orders.  She did notice, however, when she got the message.
 
	"Repeat, the following sailors are to report to Crystal Tokyo
Central Rail Station for transport to Hokkaido."
 
	She listened to the list of names in her headset, then snapped up at
the mention of her name.  "Dear God.  I'm going to fight a war." She took
off her headset and ran for the door, hoping it wasn't for the last time.
 
======================== 

Begun: 16:15 14 April 1998 
Finished: 23:05 16 April 1998 
Final: 22:15 6 July 1998
Final edit: 02:49 22 February 2001