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Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Orion 
A relatively original fanfic by LeVar Bouyer 
Episode #307: The Hundred Minute War 
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Crystal Tokyo
30 March 3035

	"To repeat, a state of emergency has been declared for the Japanese
islands.  All military personnel are to report to their posts immediately. 
All civilians should either report to their emergency posts or remain home
and wait for further instructions.  To repeat, a state of emergency . . . ."
 
	The message was being repeated over and over again on almost all
forms of communications.  The streets of Crystal Tokyo were rapidly emptying
as workers raced home to their families.  At the same time, more and more
military transports were rumbling through, carrying Navy and Army reservists
and regulars who were themselves trying to figure out what was going on from
public broadcasts.
 
	Sailor America was pleased to note everything was being conducted in
an orderly fashion as she stepped away from the window of her office.  No
riots, no looting, just everyone calmly doing his or her job.  A press
conference was scheduled in just a few minutes, and she was still compiling
notes on what to say.  She knew she had to be comforting, but the latest
information she had was far from it.
 
	It was now mid afternoon, edging towards evening, and twelve hours
into the conflict.  The invading Allies were far from being expelled; in
fact she had just finished reading a report stating commanders on the scene
were advocating a strategic withdrawal in Hokkaido.  Their immediate
superior, a sailor senshi, had refused the request.  No senshi in her right
mind would cede more land to the enemy unless all other avenues were
exhausted.
 
	Then again, at the very beginning the sailor senshi hadn't been in
charge.  The hastily assembled armored cavalry and infantry units had been
poorly organized, and as a result they'd been forced to trade space for
time.  The Allies now had secure footholds on Hokkaido and Kyushu: precisely
what the senshi had wanted to avoid.  Little wonder the Royal Army
commanders had been essentially removed from command.  The unspoken
sentiment was clear: let the real fighters have a try at it.
 
	The phone rang suddenly, shocking her out of her reverie.  She got
up and punched the button.  "Yes?"
 
	"Hi, it's Jen." 
 
	"Jen!"  She looked at a handlink and began hunting for information. 
"Where are you?"
 
*** 
 
	Sailor Orion looked up from the communicator and out the window,
watching the landscape flash by.  "In a train heading north to the front."
 
	"THE FRONT?!?  What the hell are you doing there!" 
 
	"Orders.  I'm on Sailor Jupiter's personal staff now, I'm afraid."
 
*** 
 
	Sailor America sat in her seat, shocked.  To be sure, it shouldn't
have come as such a surprise.  Almost all the senshi she knew were being
moved into emergency positions: either south on Kyushu with Sailor Saturn,
north on Hokkaido with Sailor Jupiter, or here in Crystal Tokyo doing crisis
work.  Even space was becoming empty, with senshi leaving their ships and
returning to Earth; after all, those ships wouldn't be able to do much more
than resupply anyway.  Somehow, though, she'd thought some kind of exception
would be made to keep them together.  "Personal staff?" 
 
	"Assistant to the assistant to the adjutant.  I'm still not quite
sure what that means, but somehow I get the impression it won't just be
clerical work," she said wryly.
 
	Sailor America didn't know what to say.  "You . . . you'll . . . ."
 
	"I'll be back before you know it, Eileen.  Don't get melodramatic on
me, silly," she replied, forcing a laugh.  "Anyway, any new news?"
 
	The brunette sighed.  "Nope, afraid not.  Peace talks have pretty
much broken down.  Serenity's still trying, but the Allies think they can
win decisively.  It doesn't look like any of the planet senshi are expecting
peace anytime soon."
 
	"Hm.  How's the populace doing?" 
 
	"Not good.  There was another missile attack this morning.  All the
missiles were destroyed, but . . . this was the second one in a row. 
Getting all of Crystal Tokyo into their shelters and back twice in a day is
too stressful.  They're either going to rally around Serenity to a degree
we've never seen before or start open calls for peace, even if it means
surrender."
 
	"Wonderful.  Look, I've got to go now.  Talk to you later, okay?" 
 
	There were a thousand things America wanted to say to her, but what
choice did she have?  "Okay." America closed the connection and leaned back
in her seat.  Then she sat bolt upright.
 
	"Air warning, air warning.  Crystal Tokyo is under attack.  All
citizens are requested to report to their emergency shelters immediately. 
Repeat, air warning, air warning . . . ."
 
	"Dammit!" cried Sailor America, grabbing a handlink and shoving it
into nowhere.  "I know there's a war going on, but can't a girl get some
rest?" She dashed out the door and to the elevator.
 
*** 
 
	On the island of Kyushu, the real war was being fought.  It was a
tiny village named Wataru, whose population of five hundred had been
evacuated inland.  Of the village, nothing much remained.  In the space of a
few hours, continued missile attacks had turned the place into rubble.  What
little remained was being fought over by two groups: one a unit of two
hundred troops and twelve armored vehicles under Chinese command, and the
other a unit of fifty troops and one armored vehicle under the command of
Sailor Procyon, a department head just a few weeks ago.
 
	She grumbled from her foxhole, breathing in a breath of dust and
fear.  The forward command post had been flattened in one of the endless
bombing raids, and she had been lucky to get out alive.  Now she did her
commanding from a hastily dug hole in the ground.  Her problem was quite
simple.  With even limited battlefield computers capable of keeping track of
multiple targets, it was a relatively simple matter to arrange a number of
lasers around a susceptible target, assuming of course that there was a
nearby power source to accomodate them.  These lasers were guided by
computer to destroy incoming missiles, but the catch was twofold.

	First, while powerful,  the lasers were not infinite.  It required
three or four seconds' sustained firing to be certain of disabling a
missile, and when the missiles were flying as fast was they were that was
quite a feat.
 
	The second was related to the first, but only slightly.  When
confronted with too many targets, the computerss had a tendency to go crazy. 
It had confounded the techs during live fire exercises, and proven that
artificial intelligence still had a way to go.  In combat, this translated
to a new strategy: overwhelm the computers with a lot of cheap, easily made,
low-yield missiles, in the hope that with so many numbers one or two were
bound to leak through.  Leak they did, must to the dismay of the
simulators . . . or at least the Crystal Tokyo ones.
 
	The upshot: this particular group of Allied troops had a vast supply
of ground to ground missiles, and a commander who hadn't been afraid to use
them.  The result: a destroyed city, a dead command post, and a sailor
senshi who knew both that she was outnumbered and that she was the only
thing between the Allies and five kilometers of free territory.  She'd
called repeatedly for reinforcements, but so had every other commander on
the island.  She knew they wouldn't come, that there was no-one able to
come.  There was just her and some infantry, so there was nothing left to do
but fight.  In the final analysis, she knew, all the magic at her disposal
simply couldn't hope to stand against the sheer numbers and power that were
against her.
 
	She slipped on her headset, hoping that enough men and women still
had theirs, and that they were still functioning.  "People, I've called for
backup but we probably won't get it for a few hours, if at all.  We've got
to make shift for ourselves.  Unit commanders, report!"
 
	She heard only silence. 
 
	"C'mon, talk to me!" 
 
	"S-s-s-s-sir?" 
 
	"Who is this?"  The voice didn't sound familiar. 
 
	"Um . . . this is Private Ayamaru, sir, I'm from fifty-sixth
tactical-"
 
	"Where's your commanding officer?" 
 
	"She's . . . she's dead, sir.  Shrapnel wound to the head, I don't
know what to do with the body . . . ."
 
	Sailor Procyon thought quickly.  A private who joined up so he'd
have two years in the military that would look good on his resume, probably
hadn't bargained on this any more than anyone else.  He also seemed to be
the only one with a working headset.  She realized at that point that she
was doomed to failure.  It didn't matter that she was Her Majesty's official
historian, it didn't matter that she was a sailor senshi.  They were
outgunned and outnumbered.  Damned if she was going to go out quietly,
though.
 
	"Okay, Ayamaru, listen up.  We've got five hundred civilians behind
us, and they need all the time they can get, so we're going to buy it for
them.  Don't misunderstand me.  We're probably going to die.  But let's make
it count, okay?" Even she was surprised at the glib tone she had just used.
 
	On the other end of the connection, a few hundred meters away,
Ayamaru was shocked as well.  A sailor senshi had just matter-of-factly told
him that they were going to die soon.  Strangely, he wasn't terribly afraid
of it either.  Somehow, knowing that a sailor senshi would be going with him
didn't make it seem as bad.  "Yes.  We'll do whatever you say." 
 
	"We?" 
 
	"There are five others here, sir.  One's badly wounded, but she says
she can still carry a laser."
 
	Sailor Procyon grinned grimly.  Yes, they were going to die, but at
least they'd take some people with them.  "Good.  Get one of you to move
around and scare up as many people as you can, we need a coordinated attack. 
Wait, hold a moment." She pulled her handlink out of nowhere.  If it hadn't
been for pocketspace the device would have most likely been smashed, along
with her left arm which dangled useless at her side.  Senshi weren't
indestructible.  She consulted a map of the area, with overlays for where
her forces and theirs should be.  She licked her lips, decided to be
pessimistic, and gave the enemy a few hundred extra meters of advance, which
should put them right . . . there.  "Okay, get your man up, and tell him
that we'll begin the counterattack at 15:30.  My watch says 15:25:30,
yours?"
 
	"Same thing." 
 
	"Good, because I'm coming out of this foxhole at 15:30, and I don't
want to be alone."
 
	"Yes sir!" 
 
	"Oh, and Ayamaru?" 
 
	"Yes?" 
 
	"Nice knowing you."  She closed the connection and began ticking
down the seconds.
 
*** 
 
	Earth headquarters was growing gloomier and gloomier. 
 
	"We've lost contact with Sailor Procyon.  Her last report said that
she was being overrun with allies . . . ." The talker fell silent, then
resumed.  "And . . . and that she wanted her parents to know that she loved
them.  Transmission ended at that point."
 
	Sailor Uranus bowed her head.  With both Jupiter and Saturn in the
field, she was occupying the center seat of HQ as the next successor to the
post of deputy commander in chief.  "Very well, Sailor Procyon is missing
and presumed dead until we can get a search party there.  Any other news of
resistance in that quarter?"
 
	"No, sir." 
 
	"Then those bastards have a clear road all the way to Kasuga."  She
gritted her teeth.
 
	"Not quite," said Sailor Neptune's image.  Her picture was on one of
the status screens; it had been decided that Uranus's successor shouldn't be
in Earth HQ as well, and therefore Neptune was on the moon.  Their personal
relationship had been deemed irrelevant in the face of the very real
possibility a lucky missile strike could kill them both.  "Sailor Saturn has
a fairly good line setting up just south of Kasuga.  She sounds fairly
confident that it can hold."
 
	"I hope so."  She looked up at the situation map.  Yellow shading
indicated territory held by the Allies; red showed where the lines were
still muddy.  Thus far in the south the yellow was just a thin line hugging
the coast, with a larger splotch of red.  Hokkaido was another story,
though.  The northern point of the island was all yellow and red, and the
red was steadily advancing south.  Things weren't much better to the east.
 
	Sailor Uranus gestured to the map.  Even if Neptune wasn't in the
same room, the cameras should pick it up.  "Sailor Jupiter's calling up
another division and trying to make a stand near Lake Kussaro.  It should
work, or so she says."
 
	"Not a bad spot for a defense.  She'll have the mountain range to
her back, at the least; lovely incentive for her troops to stand strong."
 
	Sailor Neptune's image nodded.  "Looks good.  Maybe we can wrap this
up before any other senshi die."
 
	"Yes.  Three is four too many." 
 
*** 

	Jennifer Sakachi lay awake in bed, staring up at the plain ceiling. 
In the pre-dawn light, the white-painted ceiling looked more like a dirty
gray, one that she could stare at for hours and in which she could lose
herself.
 
	It had only been a day since she'd arrived at Sailor Jupiter's field
headquarters in Rubeshibe, a medium-sized town nestled in a Hokkaido valley. 
The site had been chosen because of its position on two main roads that at
the moment linked both north and east fronts, making it easier for scouts to
come back and forth to make reports which were far too precious to risk
electronic interception.  She had spent most of yesterday taking tours of
the place and getting acclimated to the area.  Sailor Jupiter's headquarters
were in an inn down the street, a minute away if she ran in senshi form. 
She had asked about underground shelters and told that they were still under
construction.  The first excavation had apparently been hit with a stray
missile early on.  This was the second, and needless to say she had lost
quite a bit of faith in her safety.
 
	Now, however, she'd seen the laser defense ring that surrounded the
town.  It would take a saturation attack to take the place out, and
intelligence said that there were other, more inviting, targets at which the
Allies could point their missiles.
 
	Sailor Orion rolled over to look at the clock.  05:28.  She was due
to report to a briefing with Sailor Jupiter and the local command staff in
about an hour.  She should be getting out of bed soon, but she continued to
stare up at the ceiling.  Maybe if she looked at it long enough the entire
thing would go away, and she'd end up back in Crystal Tokyo safe and sound.
 
	A knock came at the door.  She sat up in her T-shirt and clicked on
the bedside lamp.  "Come in," she called, reaching for her glasses and
putting them on.
 
	"Sailor Orion?" asked the silhouette in the doorway.  The voice was 
male.  "You're needed at forward headquarters immediately." 
 
	Suddenly Jen was awake and alert.  "What is it?" 
 
	"I wasn't told, just to get you to HQ as soon as possible." 
 
	"Hrm . . . ."  She fished around in nowhere and pulled out her
henshin rod.  "Very well, I'll be right there.  Thank you." The man bowed,
turned, and left.  Jen looked at the now closed door for a moment, and then
said the magic words.
 
*** 
 
	"Reporting as ordered, Sailor Jupiter."  Sailor Orion was in Sailor
Jupiter's little cubbyhole of an office.  It was formerly the office of the
innkeeper, but Jupiter had taken it over.  The walls were covered with maps
and temporary status screens.  For her part, Sailor Jupiter sat behind the
desk, looking as if the weight of the entire world was on her.
 
	"It wasn't really an order," she said, rubbing her forehead, "but
that's not important.  Effective immediately you're my new adjutant."
 
	Sailor Orion nearly fell through the floor at that statement, but
she managed to stay nonchalant.  "Pardon?"
 
	"You're my adjutant.  Sailor Polaris was killed a couple hours ago
in a missile attack, along with most of the command staff."
 
	"Kami-sama . . . ." 
 
	"Our security precautions backfired," she said wearily.  "The
command staff was at our backup headquarters a few kilometers away, getting
ready to come here.  A missile leaked through the defenses, hit the bunker
right on the nose, and bam!  Three dozen people and a senshi dead, just like
that."
 
	Sailor Orion stood in shock.  Sailor Polaris was one of the most
respected new senshi there were.  She was practically the spokeswoman for
them, having been one of the very first back in 3002.  Now she was dead,
just like that.
 
	"And . . . and you want me to replace her?" 
 
	Sailor Jupiter threw her hands up in the air.  "What choice do I
have?  We've had to go to a new strategy; the more experienced senshi are
having to go out and command the army units.  Seems the normal commanders
are almost uniformly incompetent.  So, you're one of the least experienced
senshi, and yet you've got more experience than some.  Therefore, a
compromise.  You're my right hand senshi.  You'll move all around the battle
front, checking things out and reporting back to me on how things are going
on the lower levels.  If I ask for advice, you'll give it.  I may not take
it, but I'll ask it.  It's a thankless job, I'm afraid, but at this point
you don't have much of a choice."
 
	Sailor Orion drew her mouth into a slight tilt.  "I see.  What do I
do first?"
 
	Sailor Jupiter handed Orion a handlink.  "You read.  You've got to
know everything, and I do mean *everything*, about the senshi here, the
Royal Army units, enemy units, and anything else that might be included. 
You'll also be responsible for reports to Crystal Tokyo.  Make sure they're
detailed, or else HQ will bitch about it.  Believe me, I've been there, I've
done the bitching before.  Got it?"
 
	"I think so."  Kami-sama, there's no way I can pull this off. 
 
	"Hopefully it won't be too hard, though.  Looking at the latest
estimates, we've got up to sixty percent containment in some areas.  We're
retreating in some places, but overall we're standing strong.  The news from
the south is even better.  They may be completely expelled from Kyushu
within a couple of days."
 
	"And if we can get them in a position like that, it makes Serenity's
job a lot easier at the negotiation table.  Right." Maybe we can win this
thing within the week.  That would be so much better, to end without any
more senshi dead . . . .
 
	An aide popped her head in the door.  She was now on the command
staff, for better or for worse, even if the girl was only a replacement for
the one who had just died hours before.  War was cruel, and there was no
time for grief, not yet.  "Sirs, we've got word of an Allied move.  Ten
kilometer stretch of front, with missile support."
 
	Sailor Orion looked over at Jupiter.  "Perhaps they're getting
desperate?"
 
	"Or maybe they smell blood," replied Sailor Jupiter gloomily. 
Sailor Orion wondered what kind of pressure she was under.  "Call up the
eighth reserve division and give orders to disperse them as necessary along
the front."
 
	The aide paused, then nodded.  "Yes sir," she said, putting on her 
headset and jogging out the door.  The redheaded senshi looked at the 
handlink, punching buttons furiously. "But if the eighth is called up-" 
 
	"We'll have only one division left in reserve, I know.  But we need
to break their backs, and now.  This reserve division could do it."
 
	"You're sure?" 
 
	"Well, not really."  She got up and looked out the window, where the
sun was just peeping out over the hills.  "I have a hunch, and I find that
my hunches turn out to be right more often than not.  We'll send the
preliminaries to Earth HQ and let them think things through.  Here," she
said, giving Sailor Orion another handlink, "start taking care of the
details.  Priority one, highest possible encryption.  I want it there by
09:00, and put in any input you feel is necessary, okay?"
 
	It was a dismissal.  Orion bowed with her handlinks and left the
room, wandering down to the "radio shack." it was the communications center
of the forward command center, where a dozen communications officers gave
orders in a land without the complex AIs of Earth HQ, using mainly radio
communications.  "Okay guys," she said to them, all uniformly young and
harried, "we've got a bit more work to do."
 
*** 
 
	"Sir?" 
 
	"Yes?" 
 
	"Section Twelve says they're ready to commence with stage two." 
 
	"Already?  Excellent."  The admiral nodded.  "Well then, we've got
council approval, so commence immediately."
 
	"Yes sir." 
 
========================= 
 
Begun: 09:16 17 May 1998 
Finished: 01:24 25 May 1998 
Final draft: 06:57 10 June 1998
Final edit: 01:28 23 February 2001