Children of the Sky Chapter 03

The hum of computers and the glow of monitors provided little distraction for (Commander name) as he stood watching the large mission display monitor. It currently displayed a wire-frame political map of the earth, rotating with the daylight. For the moment it was pleasantly clean, but this was precisely what worried him.

He knew that the two craft that his people had found and shot down were just the tip of the iceberg. He knew there had to be more alien craft out there. Now if only they could find them. Ground based RADAR stations topside were feeding information from the entire West coast into his systems, and he only had one kill to the program's name so far. The recovery had gone well, if a little high on the casualties. It was a positive gold mine on enemy intel however.

Several alien weapons and devices had been recovered, as well as part of the crashed ship. He only had a portion of his eventual science team on base, but they were already working on reverse engineering the alien's equipment. Hopefully, some of it could be reproduced here on earth, and we can at least even out the tech gap. 'At least Zheng's boys are working on the last expansions to the base. It's still a little crowded down here.' His musing was interrupted by a flash of red on the screen.

"Possible alien sighting in New Dehli. Attempting to confirm." The accented speech was a clear reminder to the commander that his forces were drawn from all over the world. Activity in Mission Control had picked up quickly with the possible contact. "Contact report confirmed, Alien activity in New Dehli. Reports are confused, it's chaos over there!"

This was the moment they had all been waiting for, a clear attack to thwart. Without hesitation, (commander name)'s voice rang out across the room. "Prep the strike team in the Skyranger. Alpha team is go." Despite the rush that followed his orders, he knew that it would take hours before the ground team could reach the city. He began to pray for the souls he knew they wouldn't be in time to save.

At the same time, eight young girls interrupted what they were doing to answer a persistently beeping communicator. Despite the urgency of the summons, it took everyone time to meet up. Excuses had to be crated, and parents had to be escaped. Each of them had butterflies in their stomach as they linked hands for the teleport ritual. Sailor Pluto had told them where to go, and had gone on ahead. Power channeled, the ring of girls began to float in the air, glowing steadily brighter. With a loud cry of "Sailor Teleport" they rose swiftly into the air and Flashed across the sky to the west.

The landing was almost a perfect reverse of the departure. The group touched down in the middle of an intersection. What had once been a vibrant city was now a ruined husk. Craters, abandoned vehicles, and rubble were strewn about. As the girls got their bearings, they noticed the still forms of people who had been covered in some kind of green slime. That was when the smell hit them. A few of the girls emptied their stomachs, and even the ever composed Sailor Neptune was looking decidedly queasy.

Pushing past the instinctual revulsion, the senshi of Mercury had retrieved her computer and was scanning the nearest form thoroughly. She found no hope of reviving the person, who had almost been...digested by the slime before it hardened. As glanced back at her comrades she felt the pleading gaze of Sailor moon, and shook her head no. Tears gathered at the edges of her leader's eyes, before she swallowed and visibly pushed her feelings aside.

"Where are they now? We can't let anyone else be killed like this!" For all the resolve in her face, Sailor Moon's voice betrayed the despair at having lost so many already. Seconds passed like hours as Mercury consulted her computer again. Frowning again, she pushed more buttons. Looking back at Sailor Moon, she gestured north along the deserted street.

"I'm getting movement from that direction, but something is scrambling the results of my scan and I cant tell what is moving." Another apologetic look at the others accompanied that statement. It's only reply however were a series of determined nods.

Turning north, Sailor Moon stared into the distance as if she could see the creatures who did this. "Lets go then." The group took of along the street, occasionally leaping into the air to clear obstacles.

The flight had taken six hours already. The Skyranger was a top of the line military transport, but it wasn't going to break any speed records. The well armored vehicle was capable of a full combat drop, but the ability to fly with such thick armor came with a price. It was still several hours until drop, and alpha team was catching some sleep before the battle.

(Team Leader's name) was surprised when the co-pilot opened the door to the cockpit with a headset in hand. "Call from Mission control for you sir." he said offering the headset to him. Taking the headset he shot a puzzled glance at the flier before slipping on the headset and switching it on.

"Go ahead Mission Control, this is Alpha one, over." The familiar static of an open radio line sounded in his ears for a second before he heard a response.

"Alpha one, be advised there are some strange reports coming out of the city. Local comm chatter is being intercepted and reports of resistance in the city are filtering out. A UAV launched from the USS Kittyhawk has footage of widespread panic, fires, and what looks like flashes of light from the northern quadrant of the city. Recommend you begin your response there, over."

So they weren't taking the invasion lying down, good for them. "Acknowledged Mission control, will begin operations in the northern half of the city. Alpha one out." shooting another glance at the co-pilot he received a nod in reply. Good, they were listening in, one less thing to worry about.

The Headset cut in again. "Godspeed Alpha team, Mission control out." The background static disappeared as the connection was cut at the source. Removing and handing back the headset, (Team leader's name) pondered this latest development. If there were friendly combatants in the zone his boys would have to be a little more careful to avoid friendly fire. The only dead bodies he wanted to bring home this time were E.T.'s.

Operations had been proceeding smoothly. Specimens were taken, any who resisted had been slain The Mind was satisfied. The first sign that something was wrong was when a harvest team was interrupted by a loud voice. Locating the source as a human standing on top of a small structure the Mind was momentarily given pause at the different mental wavelengths emanating from this human. The brief period of time allowed the human to give a speech, the gist of which was an announcement of hostilities. The members of the harvest team were sent scurrying for cover. Combat units began moving to the site in the event that the weapons of the harvest team were insufficient.

Sailor Moon was feeling a little embarrassed as she watched the creatures run for cover. Her typical introduction speech seemed to have no effect but to let the bad guys know where she was. The green beams fired her way missed as she jumped down to the street level. As she was doing this however, a shout of "Mars Flame Sniper" echoed from the rooftop she had just left. A streak of fire flew down and exploded against the car that one of the monsters had used as cover. An inhuman screech sounded as the creature ran the five meters to the dumpster in the alley and resumed firing. Cries of "Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" and "Jupiter Oak Evolution" announced attacks upon other creatures who had found cover on the other side of the street.

Neptune Uranus and Saturn could be seen running forwards to engage a pair of creatures firing out of a nearby shop window. When their fire had shifted to their attackers, they split up, with Uranus jumping left, Neptune right, and Saturn holding her glaive before her crying out "Silence Wall!" The green beams splashed harmlessly against the mystical shield as a pair of attacks angled in from the sides to wipe them out.

Half the creatures had been killed but the rest had now had time to get to good firing positions and were spraying green beams back at the Senshi. Near misses caused the girls to back off and take cover of their own. Suddenly a brace of roses flew down from behind and above the aliens and impacted in their weapons, causing them to short circuit and explode. Sailor Moon stopped to gaze lovingly at Tuxedo Kamen, his cape billowing in the wind from the blast.

Suddenly a snap shot by the final remaining alien hit a distracted Sailor Moon in the belly. She let off a scream as she fell to the ground. Her attacker was swarmed by retaliation attacks from six of the others, while Saturn and Tuxedo Kamen rushed to the side of their Queen. Relief shone in their eyes as Sailor Moon picked herself up from the ground, a nasty looking burn on her uniform the only trace of damage. "Owwwwie! That hurt!" The blonde complained.

"Are you all right Sailor Moon?" Sailor Saturn's voice was steady despite the worry on her face. She took a long look at the burn mark on Sailor Moon's stomach before she relaxed. It looked worse than it really was she decided. It hadn't even penetrated the bodysuit.

Resting her hand on Sailor Saturn's shoulder, Sailor Moon shook her head. "I'm fine, thanks. Just don't get hit by one of those things, it really hurts!" The mood was short lived as an alarm sounded on the Mercury computer.

With everyone's attention on her, Sailor Mercury opened her mini-computer and her face set itself in a grim line. "There is movement heading this way, I'd guess they called for help. They will be here in a few seconds."

Sailor Moon looked at the destruction the short battle had wrought on the street and made a decision. "Everyone get behind something, when they come out into the open, we blast them." The Senshi each looked around and leaped behind some obstacle peering out watching the street for signs of movement. They were not disappointed.

Dashing from cover to cover, more aliens like the ones they had fought before arrived. One pair held back while the other pair moved forwards. The pair in back chittered and sent some sort of glowing beam at the pair who were investigating the battleground. The beam settled into a diffuse glow around the pair as they checked the bodies of their fallen kin.

"NOW!" Sailor Moon's cry was followed with the casting of attacks from the hiding places of the Senshi. Elemental attacks flew in towards the two glowing aliens. Explosions clouded sight briefly, but the green beams coming out of the cloud surprised them. Had they missed? Jupiter, Uranus and Tuxedo Kamen Charged into the dust cloud, evading the unaimed attacks coming out of it. Unable to see clearly, they jumped into the air to clear the zone of fire. Extending his cane, Tuxedo Kamen swept the area the blasts seemed to come from and felt resistance. Noticing the cane had stopped the other two sent spells to the ground, Following the cane's guidance like a targeting laser. Two explosions sounded and the return fire ceased as the creature roared. A third explosion sounded just before the trio landed on the far side of the dust cloud.

Looking around to see what had happened, Sailor Uranus cursed to see the dumpster that had been shielding her partner was on it's side with a large hole blasted through what was now the top. Thankfully Neptune wasn't there. An abandoned car twenty feet farther up the road was cored by an energy beam. Catching fire it's flickering light cast across the battlefield.

Taking cover in the front of a nearby shop she searched for the new threat. Hearing the soft pulsing hum before she saw it, a large floating machine came into view. All pointed and angular bits of metal, the thing fired again at the alley where Mercury and Mars had taken cover. Wasting no thought on herself, Uranus stepped out of the shop's broken front window and shouted, "World Shaking" The ringed ball of energy flew down the street and impacted on the left fin of the metal monster. Seeing that it's primary effect was to jostle it's aim and spoil it's next shot, she set up for another attack when suddenly she was grabbed by Sailor Jupiter and flung away. Just as Jupiter dove to follow an explosion cratered the sidewalk where she had been standing. Ears ringing eve with the protection of her transformation, Uranus glanced at Jupiter and saw she was having trouble getting up.

The smell of smoke and dead bodies was familiar. The stealthy advance into the northern sector of the city was by the book. His squad had paired up and was making a leapfrog advance toward the sound of explosions. The hope was that they would be relieving friendlies. The fear was that they would be too late. Checking quickly, Sergeant Mathers, formerly of her magisty's Special Air Service, waved to his squad-mate as he ran hunched over to the next alleyway. Turning to cover the movements of the team behind him he saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. Even from around the corner, the blast wave buffeted him. Catching the eye of Corporal Hicks, formerly of the U.S. Army Rangers, he pointed at his eyes and then the corner the explosion had come from.

A nod his only reply as Hicks crawled off, he again turned to Cover the squads advance. The Yanks may have been a bit smug over hosting this little operation, but at least the people they had sent with him were skilled. Les than ten seconds later, the squad had moved forward enough that he could turn and watch Hick's back as well.

Not that he needed it, he was already returning to Mather's position. Crouching before them, he relayed his findings in a low voice. "Several hostiles moving towards the explosion site, they are engaged with someone on the far side."

The Lieutenant had joined them during the report. Nodding he signaled the two snipers to the roof of the building and motioned for the rest to spread out along the alleyway ready to flank the aliens. As the pair of snipers shimmied up the drainpipes to the roof, the soldier on point crept towards the corner himself. Pulling a hand mirror out of a pouch he Checked around the corner. He saw a handful of the creatures the eggheads had dubbed Sectoids along with what looked like two humans. Slowly moving forward until he had reached the archway of a cafe entrance, the Soldier waited until two more soldiers had gotten out of the alley and into cover behind abandoned vehicles before drawing a bead on one of the Sectoids and opening fire.

Almost in unison he was joined by the entire squad of soldiers. Three of the aliens shook under the impact of bullets. The remaining Sectoid dove into the dubious cover of a nearby motorbike. The two that looked human performed a leap that would have been impossible for a real human as they drew their weapons. Having been spared the initial sneak attack, they found positions behind abandoned vehicles and began to return fire. Craters appeared in the corner of the building to the left of the alley mouth, each hit raining dust and debris on the solder behind it. Peeking out during a break in the bombardment he was able to spot one being taken down, presumably by a sniper, before the Sectoid exposed himself for a clear shot. The last thing he saw was the green glow of incoming plasma fire. The Sectoid joined him in death a split second later as a pair of P-90s cut him in half.

The final alien had taken cover behind a delivery truck that offered no line of sight to the snipers above. He had traded fire with a pair of soldiers that tried to approach his right flank, but all it managed to do was prevent them from getting a good shot. At a hand motion from the mission commander, one ran forward to the other side of the truck and rolled a primed grenade underneath it. Shielded by the bulk of the truck as he ran back to cover, he escaped unharmed. The same could not be said for his target. It's body was thrown from it's hiding place into the street, where it lay still.

After confirming his man was dead, Mathers shook his head at the Lieutenant. His message understood, he stripped the downed soldier of ammunition and his unused grenade. They might still need them tonight.

Sailor Venus slowly opened her eyes. She wasn't quite certain, but something told her she was not at home in her bed. If only that high pitched sound would go away she could think better. At least the fires nearby were keeping her warm. A flash of red in the corner of her eye drew her attention. Turning her head hurt, but she felt a happy sort of floaty feeling as she recognized Sailor Mars throwing fire out of the alley and into the street.

'Wait a minute...That doesn't sound right... why am I happy Rei is burning things?' Turning her head the other direction, she saw what Sailor Mars was attacking. It looked like those aliens from the American TV shows. Small and gray with enormous eyes and the tiniest arms. She probably would have tried to take one home as a pet if it wasn't for the guns attached to their arms.

'Aliens...gun arms...Oh crap!' Her brain finally fighting through the fog of concussion, Sailor Venus Scrambled back behind the dumpster. She has stepped out of cover to attack the big silver machine, and been caught completely unprotected when it had exploded violently. A split second later green bolts followed her across the alley causing the street to glow wherever they hit.

Taking a moment to gather her bearings, Venus jumped two floors straight up and landed on the metal fire escape. It looked like the bad guys might be running out of minions this time, because they were down to about ten or so down the street on the left and they had stopped showing up about two minutes ago. Well she hoped they had. She took the opportunity to fire a crescent beam at one of the tall thin ones that wasn't as well protected as the rest, only to dive rather ungracefully as half the aliens decided she would make a very nice target.

They were down to five active combatants, no fatalities thankfully but every time they thought they were getting a handle on things a new batch would show up from somewhere and get a few shots into one of them. Rolling out and behind a burnt out car Venus saw Pluto picking off one of the aliens who had stayed in the open to shoot for a moment too long. 'Nine left!' She thought. 'Only nine to go and we can go home and this will be over.'

Suddenly there came loud noises from behind the aliens. Only three of the Senshi recognized the sounds, but the speedy death of the aliens in the back made it clear to the rest it was a very good sound indeed. Now too few to effectively fight back the remaining aliens were quickly taken down. Emerging from the smoke walked two dozen soldiers.

It almost ruined the moment when Sailor Pluto stepped forward and spoke in perfect English. "You're right on time."

A/N I told you it wasn't dead... It is amazing how life seems to get in the way isn't it? Still I want you to know I have not given up on this. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.