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Sailor Ranko: Tunnel Vision: Chapter 27, Darkest Before The Dawn.
by
Rebecca Ann Heineman

Ranma 1/2 and the characters therein are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. Based on "Sailor Ranko" by Duncan Zillman and "Twice in a Millennium" by Kevin D. Hammel.

I don't own these characters. Please don't sue me, kill me or make me upload chapters to FanFiction.net without checking them.



Sailor Sun was moping to herself in the power room. She thought about how she threw away years of martial arts training in an act of revenge. She could have killed Sailor Io. Akane Saotome as she was also know as. Sun deeply loved her. She was so focused on hurting those responsible for hurting her that she totally disregarded the safety of her new family. She contemplated this in the dark.


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Sailor Moon was in the supply closet that reeked of bleach. She had locked the door and was crying like a little girl. She loathed being angry at Sailor Sun but she had to do something after the incident on the ship. She was totally upset that she might have lost a friend. This time in her life, she needed every friend she had.

Luna and Artemis were hiding in a corner. Sailor Moon didn't know they were there. They had hidden here when they were kicked out of the power room by Sailor Sun. Luna walked to Sailor Moon and sat next to her. She rubbed her body against Moon to make her feel better. Moon jumped back in surprise since she thought she was all alone. She was embarrassed that someone was able to see how she truly felt about the situation she was in.

"Oh Luna." Sailor Moon picked up her cat and held her gently. She started to pet her and Luna purred in response.

Artemis sat in front of Sailor Moon. He gave a smile of approval and wagged his tale. "That's the Sailor Moon I know."

Sailor Moon smiled back. She picked up Artemis and petted him as well. Luna gave a yelp of pain. Artemis turned to Luna, "You should have asked Saturn to heal you when you had the chance."

Luna responded, "You were the one she was healing first, if you don't recall."

Moon looked at Luna, "Healing? How did you get hurt?"

The cats looked at each other. "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

Artemis scoffed, "When Sailor Sun brought us here. She held us so tight she nearly crushed our ribs. I'm amazed we survived the trip."

Moon was confused. "I thought I brought you here."

Luna was amazed, "No, you left us behind when you did the Sailor teleport. When Sailor Sun came back to Mercury's room to get Uranus, she saw we were still there and took us with her."

Moon thought about the evacuation and had a dim recollection of the whole matter. She was spaced out at the time. She started to chew on her glove.

Artemis smiled a cat like smile, "I was rather amazed. She was terrified of us, but she forced herself to control her fear to bring us here."

Luna licked herself. "Maybe, someday, she won't be so afraid of us anymore."

Artemis looked at his healed ribs, "Then again, maybe not." He lay down on the floor.

Sailor Moon made a small smile. Sailor Sun was petrified of cats. She usually ran in total panic when a cat was around. She was able to control her fear when lives were on the line. She was proud to have Sailor Sun on the team. Sailor Moon slowly got up off the floor and rejoined the team. They had a battle to plan.


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Jupiter, Mars and Pluto were drawing maps on a white board. They found three locations that could be the base they were looking for. All of them were large enough and undesirable enough to be a place to hide an underground lair. Dr. Evil would have been proud.

Pluto saw that Sailor Moon had joined the discussion, "Well Moon, we have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

Moon slumped in her chair, "Give me the good news first."

"Well the good news is that all three likely locations are only a few kilometers apart. They are all located near a city called Irwindale. The whole city is peppered with rock quarries and landfills." Pluto sat down to prepare to give the bad news.

"That's the good news?" Moon was not impressed.

"Here is the bad news. There are several patrols in the area. Each battle group consists of fifty robots, a few flyers and some things that look like giant tanks." Pluto started to tap her fingers on the table.

Mars pointed at some dots on the makeshift map. "So far we count three different patrols. So that's over one hundred and fifty robots and other stuff. We're good, but not that good."

"So, what do we do then?" Moon rolled her eyes. They were so close yet so far.

Jupiter sat down and kicked her feet on the table, "How about we take off and nuke the site from orbit?"

Mars made a sarcastic repose, "I like that plan! Now, where can we get a nuke? You happen to have one in your pocket?"

Jupiter slowly turned to Mars, "I was only kidding."

Uranus's wheels were turning. "Hmm, I like that plan too." She turned to the direction of the power room and made an evil grin.

Moon saw what Uranus was thinking, "Oh no you don't. Last time she did that, she nearly died."

Uranus spun back to Moon, "You got a better plan?"

Moon slumped. She fell face down on the table. "No."

Uranus crossed her arms, "We team up Saturn and Sun. We lead those battle groups to them. There won't be much left after they're through with them."

Moon knew what attacks Uranus wanted to have those two use. Saturn's Silence Glaive would be able to wipe out an army. Sun's Solar Flare could take out the other half. Last time Sun used the Solar Flare, it nearly killed her. Moon wasn't prepared to risk losing Sun again.

"So, is this the plan then?" Pluto was excited about this. It sounded like it could work.

The other Senshi were all talking and feeling good about the upcoming battle. Moon quietly thought about the risk. "That's the plan." She thought about Sun's weakness. "When is daybreak? We should do it during daylight to help Sailor Sun's power."

Pluto looked at her communicator. "It will be morning in two hours in California. I say we go in four hours."

Moon didn't want to ask Sun. It was too soon after being chewed out. "Io, could you check on Sun? We will need her. Can you bring her here?"

Io sighed, "I think you should do it. She does have a lot of respect for you." She silently added, "When you aren't whining."

Sailor Moon perked up at that statement. She thought, "She respects me?" She silently stood up and went to the power room. She opened the door and found Sailor Sun curled up in a ball lying sideways on the floor. She was still gently crying. "Sun."

Sailor Sun turned to look at Moon standing in the doorway. Her tear stained face told Moon that she truly was sorry for what she almost did. Sun held out her henshin stick to Moon. "I'm sorry."

"Put that away. I need you." She held out her hand.

Sailor Sun gave a weak smile. She took Moon's hand and got up. Moon gave a hug to Sun and escorted her to the dining room. They had a battle to plan.


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The Senshi went over the plan the eighth time. There were three patrols. They got the closest to each other every forty-five minutes. It was at that time that three groups would lead the patrols to a central point. There, Saturn would blast them with her Silence Glaive and force them to a circle. Sun would jump in the center and waste them with a Solar Flare.

Sun was proud to tell the other Senshi that she had been practicing the attack with Io. She neglected to tell them that she held back the attack and had never used it at full force since. The first time she used Solar Flare was against a massive attack of youma. When she did it then, the attack nearly cost her life.

Kasumi brought out some snacks she made. The team couldn't believe what the girl was capable of in the kitchen. Neptune commented, "I didn't know we had rice cakes here."

Kasumi blushed, "Those aren't rice cakes."

Neptune stopped eating.

Kasumi giggled, "They are wheat cakes."

There was a collected sigh of relief around the table.

Pluto was at the computer console watching the robot patrols. From time to time, it was difficult to see since the nuclear winter dust clouds were obscuring her view. She saw the three groups staring to approach each other. "Ok, girls, it's show time in ten minutes!"

Sun rolled her eyes, "Stop calling me that."

Io burst out laughing. The other Senshi joined in. Kasumi even ventured a snicker. Sun wasn't amused. Sun then cracked a smile and she giggled as well.

Sailor Moon was ecstatic. The morale of the team was at an all time high. They were ready.

Jupiter brought out a small blue candle she had found in the station's storeroom. She lit it and sat quietly. The other Senshi paused. "This is for my dear friend, Ami."

Everyone gave a moment of silence.


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All the Senshi were going for this mission. The Inners made a circle and took Saturn as their passenger. Sun held onto Pluto. Neptune and Uranus would be shuttled shortly. As part of the plan, Sun and Pluto went first.

The two Senshi appeared on the Los Angeles Street Bridge above the 605 freeway near Irwindale. On both sides of them were giant excavation pits from gravel mines. They took defensive poses with Pluto holding out her staff at the ready.

They saw no welcoming committee. Sun flashed out leaving Pluto alone. Fifteen seconds later a startled Uranus was dropped off, "Hey cut that out!"

Sun flashed out again. A few seconds later, the Sailor Senshi appeared a few meters away. They spread out and took positions. Sailor Saturn had a worried look on her face. She took a glance at Uranus. She was worried for her.

Sailor Moon called out, "Ok, you know the plan. Mars, Jupiter and Venus go west and bring the group here. Neptune... Where is she?"

Sailor Sun flashed in. Neptune was upside down. Her skirt was revealing almost everything underneath. "Just what do you think you are doing?" Uranus blushed for her. She didn't mind the view.

Io took a step forward, she produced a mallet from mallet space, "Yes, just what do you think you are doing?"

Sun gently put Neptune down. "Hey, I was in a hurry!"

Moon continued, "As I was saying, Neptune, you and Uranus go after the second group to the north. Pluto, Io and I will go after the third to the east. We meet south of here at the rendezvous point. Saturn and Sun, go to your positions."

All the girls shouted, "Right!" They scattered.

Above the girls was a CALTRANS traffic-monitoring camera. It had an excellent view of the girls discussing their options.


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"REPORT: HUMANS DETECTED APPROACHING SKYNET COMPLEX."

"COMMAND: ACTIVATE DEFENSES. DISPATCH FORCES TO DESTROY HUMANS. ASSUME FULL ASSAULT IN PROGRESS. CALL IN SECONDARY DEFENSE."

The United States had set up a temporary Air Force base at the Las Vegas International Airport. All the regional bases were out of contact or destroyed by nuclear weapons. Several B52 and B2 bombers were stored at the airport for safekeeping. The T-1000 had arrived a few days ago and had already assumed the identity of the commander. He arranged for a B2 to be fully stocked with nuclear weapons and be ready to take off at a moments notice.

The T-1000 got the order it had been waiting for. It went to the hangar and mimicked a mechanic. It went to the squadron of fighters and one by one it cut the fuel lines to the engines on each craft rendering the plane out of commission. It then went to the B2 storage area and silently killed the men stationed there. It boarded the plane and took off.

The tower saw the plane taking off and gave an alert. They ordered the plane to return but it sped away. The pilots found the men dead and figured out the plane was stolen and got in the fighters to shoot it down. The pilots were furious that their aircraft's engines wouldn't start.

The T-1000 successfully accomplished its mission. It now had a full compliment of B83 gravity nuclear bombs in case the ground troops failed to protect Skynet. It set the plane on a course to Los Angeles and slithered to the bomb compartment. It needed some time to reprogram the bombs.


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Mars, Venus and Jupiter found the patrol first. They were almost to the Montebello shopping center when a flyer appeared and started shooting at the girls. Mars took it down with a "Burning Mandala." The girls started to run to the rendezvous point with the machines in pursuit.

Pluto, Io and Moon met their group next. They were near the Crossroads business park when the tanks detected them and started their approach. Moon took a stance, "You have been..."

Io shoved Moon down to the street. Io shouted, "Will you SHUT UP ALREADY!" The road they were on shook as a LAW rocket exploded nearby.

Pluto was on the ground as well, "My, my, time to go." She rolled and ran for it.

Io and Moon exchanged glances and quickly followed.

Neptune and Uranus were at the foothills of the city of Duarte. They were having trouble finding their battle group. They made the mistake of following the freeway to get to the city since the freeway had cameras mounted every few hundred meters. The battle group knew the girls were coming and were lying in wait.

Uranus looked at her partner, "This is too quiet. We should have seen them by now."

Neptune was scared, "Let's call the others."

Uranus pulled out her communicator and was about to call when machines appeared all around them. "Jump!"

Both Senshi jumped as where they were standing was encased in lead projectiles. Fifty T-600 terminators were emptying the clips of their M-16s and M-60s at the two girls. Neptune wasn't fast enough and she was hit in an arm and a leg and fell to the ground.

Uranus screamed, "NO!" She leapt down to grab her fallen companion and the machines sent in their final attack. An HK flyer gunned its engine and flew straight into the two girls exploding on impact.


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"REPORT: TWO SENSHI TERMINATED."

"COMMAND: ENCIRCLE REMAINING SENSHI. TERMINATE."


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Sailors Saturn and Sun were standing on the 605 and the 10 freeway interchange. It was the easiest and closest place between all three battle groups. They were waiting in ambush.

Sailor Saturn screamed, "MAMA! PAPA!" She aimed her Silence Glaive northward and fired it. Sun barely had time to duck to avoid getting fried.

Sun just sat there on the ground saw the look of terror in Saturn's face as she was roasting a distant mountain to the north. "Saturn... You are going to give away our position!"

Saturn stopped firing but refused to move. She broke down. Sun looked skyward and closed her eyes, "How many more before this ends?"

Sun pulled out her communicator. She first called Jupiter, "Jupiter, are you on your way?"

Jupiter was huffing and puffing. A sound of Venus's Crescent Beam could be heard. "We're on our way. Should be there in a few minutes."

Sun got hopeful. She dialed Io. "Io, are you on your way?"

Io's communicator didn't show her face. The camera was moving around in every direction. The sound of a Death Scream and a Lava Blast was all Sun needed to hear.

Sun noticed the sound of the Lava Blast was actually close enough to hear. "Saturn, time to punish them."

Saturn was distraught. She didn't want to move.

Sun turned to her. "If you don't help us fight them. Your parents died for nothing." Sun ran off to assist Io, Pluto and Moon.

Sailor Saturn just stood there.

Sun stood on the south side of the bridge. She could see flashes from the weapons being fired at her friends. "It's now or never."

She thought of her attacks. Searing Plasma Blast was great for one on one and Solar Flare was only good in a concentrated attack. She thought if Solar Beam could be used as a weapon. It was time to find out. The beam was too narrow to do any damage to these things. She held her hands together like Mars did when she fired her Fire Soul attack. She focused her energy to be emitted from all her fingers, not just the index finger. She pointed all her fingers straight ahead and waited.

She didn't have to wait long. Six mini-skirted girls ran very quickly under her and six large tanks covered with robots as passengers came rolling in on the freeway in pursuit. Sailor Sun gave a small grin and muttered under her breath, "This is for Shampoo. Solar Beam!"

Her hands send out a wide beam of light ten centimeters wide. It cut like a giant lightsaber and she swung it back and forth utterly decimating the tanks and most of the robots. Several T-600s jumped from the exploding tank they were on and prepared to fire on Sailor Sun. They were vaporized from a shot from Saturn's Silence Glaive. It took Sun and Saturn only another fifteen seconds to wipe out the remainder of the two battle groups.

Sun fell to the ground totally exhausted. Saturn stood her ground with a stern look on her face. They didn't suffer enough for her tastes.

The other Senshi quickly appeared and made a collective cheer at their victory. Sun glared at them all, "Where is Uranus and Neptune?"

They all stopped cheering and turned northward. They heard a rumbling of machines approaching. Moon grabbed her communicator and dialed Uranus's number. The display read "Number not in service." Moon dialed again and got the same message. "Uh oh..." She used her Senshi sense and confirmed her worst fear.

Sailor Moon grabbed Mars and Venus's hands and used her teleportation magic. Mars was wondering why Moon was holding her hand so hard, "Hey don't squeeze me so hard!"

Moon focused as Sun said for her to do and she saw the battle group had split up. Two tanks were coming but the rest were missing. She called out to Sun, "Sun, use your teleportation magic and find where the other machines are. There are only two tanks ahead."

Sun was a little woozy from the Solar Beam attack but she shook herself to snap out of it and focused. She saw that Moon was looking north so she looked east. She saw nothing but an empty city.

Io and Jupiter felt something through their martial arts skills. Io called out, "Check west."

Sun focused to the west and saw what she was afraid of. Two more full battle groups were approaching. She focused to the south and saw too many flying HKs to count. She groaned, "Oh man."

Pluto went to Sun, "How many are coming?"

Sun opened her eyes, "Too many to count. Flying machines from the south, and ground machines to the west."

"Any from the east?" Pluto was depressed.

Moon focused on the east. "Yep. The rest of the group that was coming from the north."

Jupiter was angry, "I still say we nuke the site from orbit."

Sun gave an evil smile. She turned to Moon, "Please trust me." She looked around and saw the video cameras. Her smile went from ear to ear and she stuck her tongue out at the camera and jumped down below the bridge.

The other Senshi didn't know what to do. Io shrugged and jumped down too. Jupiter said, "Ah, what the heck." She did a flip over the side.

The rest just wanted to see what was going on in Sun's feeble little mind and jumped below as well.

Below the bridge, Sun gestured to the other Senshi to gather around her. "Ok, here is the plan. All of you beam out of here. Go back to the space station. When these things get close enough, I'm going to barbecue them with my Solar Flare."

"That's nuts!" Sailor Jupiter screamed.

"It was your idea lighting rod!" Sun shot back.

Moon was counting on her fingers, "We can teleport six with a Sailor Teleport. Since you are staying behind Sun, who gets to stay?"

Io volunteered, "I will."

Venus interjected, "We need you for the Sailor Teleport."

Sun held Saturn in front of her, "I think Saturn would be able to take that spot. Besides, Io and I have trained together, I can read her moves."

Io felt proud that Sun would give her a vote of confidence like that.

Moon was not thrilled with this plan. They had already lost two friends. She didn't want to lose any more. "Sun. Don't get yourself killed."

Sun turned to Io. They both answered, "We won't."

Saturn gazed to the north. She knew her parents were gone. She turned to Sun. "Please punish them in the name of Saturn." She held out her arms. The girls made the circle while still hidden under the bridge and beamed out to the space station.

"Well that was a great idea Sun." Io was looking at the eyes of her female husband.

"If I was going to die. I can't think of anyone I'd rather die with." Sun embraced her wife.

They spent a moment together until the ground started shaking. The sounds of electric engines filled the air.

Sailor Sun held her wife, "Follow my lead, and draw them to the point above this bridge. When I give the signal, grab me and don't let go. Understand?"

"Ok." She grabbed Sun's face and gave her a kiss. Sun was shocked and surprised. "For luck." Io ran off and immediately weapons were fired at her. She dodged and leapt out of sight.

Sun ran the other way. She came out into the open and found robots were just beginning to take positions around the bridge. She threw a Searing Plasma Blast and destroyed two T-600s and jumped in the air to avoid two rockets fired at her.

The tanks coming after Io were a new kind. They were armed with Phased Plasma cannons and were sending a hail of blue death at her. They pressed their attack. The two tanks sent plasma fire all around the girl destroying everything in their path. Io could not get any moment of time to aim her attack so she sent Lava Blasts in every direction and only scored a hit with dumb luck.

Sailor Sun burned with a rage that she never felt before in her life. The utter disrespect for the death of her friends and the total lack of honor these machines had shown in battle lit a fire in her soul she barely could control. Her eyes turned black and fire lit her pupils. Her Senshi powers reached a level of intensity that only the power of a star could provide. She knew what she had to do.

Io was behind a building taking cover from the relentless blasts all around her. She saw Sun flare up like a roman candle and leaped to the roof of a nearby shopping mall and stuck her tongue at the onrushing machines. Then she jumped right in the middle of them running at very high speed. She jumped and ducked and only occasionally threw a Searing Plasma Blast. Io had no idea what was going through Sun's insane mind.

Io ran toward her love and dodged and leapt from incoming fire. She saw another entire battle group. It consisted of five HK tanks, fifty T-600s and twelve HK flyers coming over a group of buildings. The firepower was intense. She had no time to fight back. She could only dodge. She saw what Sun was doing. She was jumping in-between Terminator robots and had them shoot each other in a vain attempt to shoot her. Io could play this game. She jumped on an HK tank and quickly climbed to the top of the giant machine. Its guns couldn't fire at its own head so the T-600s did it for her. The massive volley of plasma and conventional gunfire melted the gun mounts. She jumped off just before the tank exploded in a massive fireball.

Sun saw the explosion and was almost caught in a crossfire from the distraction. She took a look around and saw that the HK flyers were almost in range. "Io! Come to me NOW!" Sun started running in a circle in the center of the battle. She was drawing all the forces towards her, leaping and dodging fire. The ground started to get hot and smoke obscured her vision.

Io trusted Sun. She had fought and trained with her for so long, she could predict Sun's moves. She dove straight for Sun hoping that she predicted correctly.

Sun leapt at Io and just before the two of them collided, Sun focused her power in a single spell, "For Saturn! SOLAR FLARE!"

The moment Sun finished her spell, she hit Io and they both stopped in mid-air from the impact. A giant magical ball of flaming energy erupted from Sun's location and in a matter of seconds; it engulfed the entire battle group. The flyers couldn't stop in time and they all were encased in magical plasma as hot as the surface of the sun.

At the center of the conflagration, was a sphere of safety six meters in diameter with a kill zone of four hundred meters in every direction. The ball of energy had no shock wave; it had no heat radiating from it. It was magical in nature, coming from the Senshi of the Sun.

Io saw Sun fading away as Sun was focusing her life force in maintaining the inferno. Sun collapsed in Io's arms and the fireball disappeared.

Io landed on the ground holding her lover in her arms. All around her was absolute destruction as if a nuclear blast had occurred. Pools of molten steel and titanium were all that remained of Skynet's army.

Io stood there and smiled. "You did it! You saved us." She looked at Sun. She was not breathing. She screamed, "NOOOOOO!"


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"REPORT: BATTLE GROUP NOT RESPONDING. TOTAL DESTRUCTION LIKELY."

"COMMAND: DEPLOY B2, USE B83 NUCLEAR DEVICE."

Skynet underestimated the combat capabilities of these girls. It will now deal with the problem another way. The risk was great. A device of that magnitude could cause damage to the complex either through the shock wave or EMP. These girls were too big of a risk.



Author's Notes: Please review my story. It makes me feel oh so happy and keeps me from making that bump in the night sound you hear at midnight.

Last edited on October 22, 2002



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