Vive La Resistance!

“We’re getting something!”

Melvin pushed his chair away from the small computer console and wheeled into a standing position as he rushed to join Cason at the satellite television; sure enough, the snow had faded from the screen and a rather shakey image appeared; the room looked dark – it had dark stone floors, dark reflective walls, dark furniture and its ceiling, if it even had one, was far above the camera’s reach. Hundreds of people were jammed inside, each dressed more-or-less for a party, everyone facing forward and visibly shaken. The only real conversation that the microphones picked up were only from people dressed in loud, gem-colored outfits that laughed and played, their faces changing from malicious to merry in split seconds. On each forehead was a black sigil that looked like an upside-down crescent; he remembered that sign from Serena and Darien’s wedding. Those were the aliens, the people responsible for the destruction of their city, and the deaths of hundreds of people. He frowned at them, willing his distaste to somehow affect them, but it didn’t. They kept on partying. He crossed his arms and set his lips in a determined line – they wouldn’t be smiling for long.

While they didn’t have any powers, he and his friends and the people of Star City, they did have the homefield advantage. They knew how the city worked, they knew the best places to be and not to be; they knew secret ways through the streets. Even if they couldn’t face them directly, they would do what they could to be a thorn in the side of the aliens until he or his friends or someone else could think up another way to undo them. Star City wasn’t finished – not yet!

Even now they had two operatives within the aliens’ own headquarters. They had no way of communicating just yet, but they had people on the inside, and that was something. Reflexively, his eyes searched the back of the image on screen, scanning the crowd for familiar red hair, but the redheads throughout the crowd weren’t his redheads. He could only hope that Molly had found a position within the castle that let her be near Serena while still somehow staying out of danger. Without exchanging messages she should be safe, but he still couldn’t help worrying for her.

“She’ll be okay, Melvin,” Cason commented, “Molly’s clever; she can take care of herself. And she’s got the Fruit Parlor girl with her, too; they’ll be okay. And maybe they can help – wait, is that her?”

The crowd had hushed as two figures entered the room; the first was a tall, handsome man with the alien symbol on his forehead, the other was his old crush, Serena. The look on her face made him frown – she was scared, she looked sick; the way her hands gripped at the chair made him angry – why would they take hostages like that?! Why Serena, of all people? They stopped her wedding and threatened a baby to get her, but why? How many others did they take? … They weren’t going to kill her on television were they?!

“Do you have that EMP?” Melvin asked quickly, his eyes never leaving the screen.

“Jay has it, do we need it ready?” Carson replied quickly, motioning for a radio.

“Yeah, tell him to keep close; it’ll put us out for a bit, but if things go bad I don’t want people seeing it,” Melvin stated. He didn’t want to see it, and who knew where Serena’s family and friends were. No one deserved… well, no one deserved to be killed, but even fewer people deserved to die in front of an audience. If this was how the aliens were attempting to control them, maybe going without television was an okay alternative.

“He’s talking,” someone said quietly, and someone used the remote to turn up the volume.

“My brothers and sisters, I see you. I see your strength, I see your dedication, I see your loyalty and your accomplishments; I see you and I am filled with pride. For today, at last, our mission has ended: thank to you and all of your hard work, the Future is Safe.”

The future is safe? Melvin thought with some confusion, What is this guy’s angle?! He just tried to destroy our future!.

“People of Earth, I see you, too. I see your heartache, I see your pain, I see your fear and your confusion; I see your uncertainty, and I wish to fill you again with confidence.”

Melvin didn’t like where this was going. He was too soft-spoken and self-assured; he was probably trying to make it sound like he did this for our own good.

In order to protect you, my family has had to resort to dire measures. Unfortunately, many lives were lost in the process. Those people, those brave men and women who died protecting you from a perceived threat, are heroes. Though misguided as their efforts were, their lives were no less valuable, their worth as great as any standing before me, and in their way, they have also saved your future.”

“Bullshit,” Carson stated boldly. Melvin heartily agreed, though he sometimes hated always being right.

“Celebrate them. Look fondly on their lives, remorse in their deaths, and celebrate them for the heroes that they are. Tonight is a celebration for all – for my Black Moon Clan and their job well done, and all of you, our new brethren, for your heroes and the bright, glorious future that now awaits us all. With my power as Prince Diamond of the Black Moon Clan, I declare today a new holiday – Earth Unification Day, a day that celebrates the achievements of the past, the heroes of the present, and the bright vision of the future. And in the spirit of this new Unification of our cultures, I have decided to elect as my Queen, Serenity,” he indicated Serena, and Melvin’s eyebrows furrowed, “A young woman you might know better as Sailor Moon, the warrior princess who has been protecting this planet for the past decade from outside forces of evil.”

Serena was Sailor Moon?! How did he not know that?! Suddenly the whole thing fell into place – why he had to interrupt her wedding, why he had chosen her, why he threatened her child; her friends, Amy and Lita and the others – those must be the other Sailor Scouts! Where were they now?! If they were still alive Earth stood a chance!

“With her by my side, you can be assured of your safety and of my intentions.” the head alien declared falsely, and another alien approached with crowns. “With this ornament and through the power of the Dark Crystal of the Black Moon, I, Diamond, crown myself King of Earth.” the crown floated onto his head and some sort of lightning crackled across it ominously – how did he do that? Was the crystal some sort of power source? What kind of force did it hold – where did it get its energy from? If they got the crystal, could they break it and stop them? The new “king” commanded then that the audience bowed, and, without any real choice, the audience did. He then turned to the other crown and said, “With this ornament and through the power of the Dark Crystal of the Black Moon, I, King Diamond, crown Serenity. May she be known as the Queen of Earth.”

But then something strange happened; as soon as it hit Serena’s brow light seemed to explode out of her. The picture disappeared for a moment, but when it came back Serena looked taller and paler, and on her forehead was the golden upward crescent of Eternal Sailor Moon; she really was Sailor Moon. He had known Sailor Moon… had been at her wedding. His fiancée had been at the bachelorette party. And now she was being held captive and forced to serve as his headpiece. His crossed arms tightened.

“Do you see? My Queen is all I said she was – the Protector of Earth, Sailor Moon; her insignia proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt. That our Dark Crystal has caused this transformation in her only validates what I have told you. We are good, we are just, we are the future, and your futures are safe in your hands. ”

As someone offered up a toast, Melvin turned, grabbed a hand-held radio, and rushed from the room, Carson, James, and Terry all behind him as he rushed up the stairs, up from the basement, through a connected hallway to an adjoining hotel, up another floor to the ground floor, and into a room filled with sleeping bags and cots; it was their main relief building, and the walls of the main area and several rooms beyond were filled with names of missing people, and the identifications found on the bodies they had recovered from buildings. The upper stories housed people as well, residents of the complex opening their homes to the homeless; chefs and cooks and grocers heard the whispered word of this location and headed here, catered here, from the restaurants and kitchens that still worked. In return, Melvin and his inner circle had found ways to route electricity to them. Everyone had come together here, and, somehow, Melvin had found himself leading this operation.

Which was all for the best, considering what he had to say.

When he pushed open the door, the room was dead-silent, everyone looking up at the television on the wall, which still showed the party on the other side of the city. The door accidentally slammed into the wall behind him, but the slip-up gave him everyone’s attention, which was what he wanted in the first place. His message so urgent, he didn’t even need to clear his throat before beginning. He just slammed down the transmit button, so everyone connected to this little Resistance could hear him set this “King Diamond” right.

“Don’t listen to him!” he urged as the guys behind them turned off their radios to kill the interference. “Everything that man just said was a flat-out lie or phrased in a way he thought we would accept! I know that girl – Serena went to school with me! My fiancée was her best friend – we were at her wedding when the attack happened, and she definitely wasn’t getting married to that alien! He’s holding her hostage as surely as he is the world – Sailor Moon is not allied with that man! He took her away and threatened her baby to make her comply! I was there, I saw it! So don’t listen to him!

“And all that nonsense about Earth Unification Day – that’s all it is! Nonsense! He wants us compliant, he wants a populace of sheep to lord over and control, and he thinks that pretty words like that will turn us into his sheep! Well, it didn’t turn me!” he cried, pointing to himself.

“Me neither!” Carson seconded helpfully. Suddenly everyone was shouting, agreeing, “Not me!” “I’m no sheep!”

“But what do we do?!” someone cried from the audience. It was a woman, holding a young girl, looking frightened and tired and angry.

“Well,” he replied, caught a little off guard. “We fight them. Fight them every step of the way.” as ideas came to them he just started saying them out loud, going where it felt natural, “We show those aliens that we don’t just comply! We show them that we don’t forget and won’t forgive them for what they did, no matter how nicely they try to justify it! We are the citizens of Star City! We aren’t part of the Black Moon Clan, or whatever they’re called, and we never will be! We will resist them every step of the way! This is our town, and I’m not going to let these invaders go about their business peacefully!” he stopped for a breath and suddenly everyone cheered, “We may not be fighters, but we are survivors! We are firemen and policemen and grocers and chefs, we’re techies and athletes and housewives, and we won’t go down without a fight! We are the Resistance!”

More cheering, more applause – while internally smiling at the weird thing his speech teacher might have liked all those years ago, on the outside he knew that they had work to do, and they needed to start on that tonight. “Listen,” he said quietly, thinking it would just be for his friends, but actually everyone quieted down, even ‘shhh’ing the other people. He continued as though they hadn’t though; otherwise he’d probably get a little nervous. “We need as many surveillance cameras as we can get, wired and wireless. I assume they’re all at that party, so we should be able to sneak around and put them generally around their palace so we can monitor them.”

“I used to work at an electronics shop; if there are any left there I’ll bring them back here,” someone from the audience offered.

“Uh… Good! Okay, that’d be really helpful actually.” Melvin replied.

“Do you need any help carrying them? I can help you,” someone else offered to the woman who had made the suggestion. “I can help too,” others seconded, and suddenly they had formed their own little group and were leaving, taking a flashlight from beside the door.

“You’ll need people to set them up, right?” a guy asked, stepping forward, “I like to climb; I could get a few in difficult places if you need it.”

Before he knew it, he had a team of placers – people who either enjoyed rock climbing, or parkour or were comfortable with heights. He had a city planner and a construction crew with blueprints of that part of town, who were currently helping him decide where they would place the cameras, ordering them in most-needed to least, depending on how many cameras the first group brought back. He was surprised with himself for being who they looked up to, but that everyone banded together like that was no real surprise. Star City wouldn’t be broken that easily.

Floorplan of Main Floor of Resistance Hotel:

ooc:

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Ren ducked in and out of the shadows along the street slipping silently along the alleys and back ways; a skilled she learned long ago when scouting for her gang. She didn’t know who the enemy was or even what they looked like but she knew they could be anywhere. From the information she had gathered she knew that some kind of alien had attacked the city and taken over. Ren also heard snippets of a place in downtown where you could go if you were looking for someone who had disappeared during the attack. She hadn’t made any friends since she had come to Star City back in August and she argued with her aunt a lot but she still felt she owed her aunt for taking her in when her parents had disowned her.

Ren stuck her head out of an ally when she saw a handful of buildings still intact down the road. As she made her way towards them she saw people coming and going out of one of the buildings. She wasn’t entirely sure if she should go in or not but having nowhere else to go she decided to at least check it out. When she reached the front door she noticed people guarding it. One of the people stopped her and asked her to lift up her bangs. Seeing as the guards were heavily armed she obliged and pulled her bangs back. After looking at her forehead they let her through the doors and she entered into a huge lobby filled with people. Right then the TV came on and started showing a party. Seeing as everyone else was intently watching what was happening she decided to stay and watch as well and hopefully learn more about what had happened.

After the TV shut off Ren wasn’t really sure who those people were or what they wanted but she now knew that the whole world had been taken over and that many more people had died. She had a quick thought about her parents and old friends over in Tokyo but had no time to react to it when a man rushed into the room and started spouting off about lies and don’t believe them and how they were going to fight back. After he finished everyone started moving around offering they’re help. Feeling out of place Ren slipped out of the room and found herself in another one that had a huge board with papers and fliers all over it. Seeing someone behind a desk with a giant binder she walked over to them.

“Who are you looking for?” the man asked her opening up his binder.

“I’m looking for Mildred Rivers” Ren replied.

“What area was she in?” He asked.

“Her house is in the 2200 block of Pine Street,” she answered. The man flipped through a few pages, stopped at one, and moved his finger down the page. Then he opened up a drawer, pulled out a plastic card, and handed it to Ren. It was her aunt’s driver’s license.

“I’m sorry ma’am, she’s listed among the dead,” the man said then turned his attention to someone else who had come up to the desk.

Well, he made his decision.

Tesh used his arms to push himself up off the floor and started walking forward, not exactly sure how much help he could be but wanting to help anyway; he might not know street names or locations, but he was relatively strong and could probably help place the cameras or something, so long as someone could point where. As he carefully maneuvered towards Melvin Cross – he had learned the guy’s name as soon as he finished talking and would commit it to memory – he had to pause as others rushed forward or people started milling around to talk. He tried squeezing through for a bit, but when his efforts were determinedly futile he gave up. Turning aside he saw the conference room with all the notices, and the desk that held the binder, and while he had checked earlier that morning, he was drawn again to the room. Pushing through to here was easier than pushing forward, and he made it in without much difficulty.

He approached the bulletins and scanned the same documents, taking longer to note the new releases; he liked the system they used – Cross was organized. They had different color paper based on where the person lived, or where they might have been on the eleventh. He felt uncomfortable seeing the large orange-colored elementary school sections, the purple business areas of uptown, the turquoise colored apartment complexes of streets X – Z; he went over again to where his aunt’s apartment would have been, but nothing had changed. It was customary to check the dead book first, then make a posting and staple it up. The posting was in a specific format:
Missing’s Name:
Missing’s Age:
Missing’s General Description (hair, eyes, height, build):
Survivor’s Name:
Survivor’s Current Location:

With the ‘survivor’s name’ being the name of the person looking. You were to take the posting down if you found the missing person, or if you were the missing person. His posting for his family was still up.

But at least they weren’t in the book.

He looked towards the table and the flat-eyed worker that had to go through the pages filled with the names of the dead, and open the carefully-organized drawers to retrieve their driver’s license as the means of positive identification. He wondered for a moment what they did with the bodies, but quickly discarded the idea.

There was a girl there now; she was dressed primarily in black, with a black motorcycle jacket around her shoulders. She had short blonde hair… there was something familiar about her. She offered a name, and that’s when the connection started working through. Rivers… blonde hair… very familiar voice… He wanted to make sure – it’d been years and years since his family had been stationed in Tokyo, but…

The girl was handed a license.

Tesherin stepped forward casually, trying to make it seem as though he was checking the boards closer to the desk, and checked her out from the corner of his eye. As the recognition flared, happiness welled up inside of him – finally, someone he knew! He had made some new friends after the destruction, but nothing compared to seeing someone that he had actually spent time with! “Tempy!” he exclaimed with an enthusiastic smile, “Tempy Rivers! From Hiroshima, right?! It’s Tesh Walker!

Tempy? I haven’t heard that name since… Recognition flashed across Ren’s mind and she twirled around to see the only person in the world who could call her that name and live. She was met with the same bright smile that had always greeted her so many years ago. Only this time he was much bigger; even surpassing her in height. He was wearing a black t-shirt and cargo pants but what caught Ren’s attention the most were his familiar sparkling green eyes that seemed to shine at her. Seeing Tesh made her heart thump and she almost ran and hugged him but something held her back. It had been so long since they had seen each other he could be a completely different person. Either way she decided to at least acknowledge that she recognized him. “Hello Tesh, it’s been a long time, I’m glad to see that you’re alive,” Ren said as she folded her arms in front of her chest, eyes slightly downcast, not wanting to look at his face.

Her positive response was formal and cool, and for a moment that made him hesitate, wondering if he was being too forward – it had been a long time, almost ten years now. He remembered her fondly because they had been such tight friends on the base, but maybe such familiarity after a long time was awkward for her. Maybe that was why she closed off so quickly? But then… he stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug, not minding how her crossed forearms pushed uncomfortably against his chest. She’d probably hate that he was messing up her hair, but he’d take whatever punches she had to throw at him if he wasn’t doing the wrong thing.

In his excitement at finding her, he had completely forgotten where they were, and the news she had just received. Someone she knew was dead. He didn’t know where his parents, sister, or aunt were, and for the longest time he didn’t know which would be worse, that they were dead or that they stayed missing, but in either case the situation was terrible. He couldn’t go back and change what had happened to Tempy’s person, but he could try to offer her whatever comfort he could. “I’m sorry,” he said.

Ren flinched when Tesh hugged her and had to hold back her instinct to break away. For a moment she was angry, who did he think he was anyways, but when he said sorry she remembered that her aunt was dead. She was all alone. For a moment she was sad, she lowered her arms a little bit and sank into his hug. Even though a lot of time had passed maybe they could still be friends… If he wanted to. Then she remembered; he was here, in Star City. What was he doing here and where was his family? She quickly regained her composure and pulled back from his arms. “It really is good to see you again,” she said with a small smile. Then she began questioning him, “What are you doing in Star City and where is your family?”

He enjoyed the hug while it lasted and let her pull away, his eyes meeting hers as she smiled softly, but as a question came to mind – he could tell by the slight crease in her brow – he mentally prepared, refreshing whatever information he had heard about the attack and any development since. But her question was decidedly different than anything about the news. He offered her a small smile in return as he commented, “I could ask the same of you,” remembering that the last he had heard she was still in Japan, but rather than dance around her question he answered with as much lightheartedness as he could muster, “We were looking at colleges. Thought I’d become a “Shooting Star” at Star City U, you know? And they’re… well.” He glanced away, back at the wall of bulletins and his smile waivered. He shrugged, still looking away as he composed himself. They were alright. “But what about you?” he returned, curious about how she was there and wondering how to ask about who had died without seeming uncaring. “Weren’t you in Tokyo? My mom still kept – keeps up with yours, but she never told me you moved back to the States. Are your parents…?” he trailed off, not knowing if it would be worse to ask if they were ‘alive’ or ‘missing’ or ‘dead’.

Ren’s heart hurt when she saw the sad look on his face and decided not to ask anymore. She knew the pain of losing people close to you. Many times when she was in her gang under the former leader she saw friends brought to the brink of death some even passing over. She looked at Tesh now, her heart growing fond of him in just the past few minutes showing the depth of their childhood friendship. But they were no longer children, they were adults now and he was all she had left. Then he began questioning her about her life. At first she wasn't sure how to respond, how much did he know about her activities, so she decided to vaguely explain what she was doing there. “I got into some trouble over in Tokyo so my parents sent me away to live with my aunt here in Star City.” Then quickly she asked him,”So what’s the next step?” Before anything else could be said Ren’s stomach began to grumble loudly.

He nodded at her initial response, making a note to ask later about what kind of 'trouble' she was in that her parents had to send her away; it had to be an interesting story. And living with her aunt... that must be who died. The speed at which she moved on to the next topic made him drop the topic, and her grumbling stomach told him exactly what was next. With a half-smile he answered, "For us? I think the next step is to get some food in you. We're lucky in that the hotel kitchens still work; there's some food there. It's a little basic, but apparently it's well-balanced nutritionally."

He nodded towards the exit and led the way through the crowd, which had broken up a little bit with people gearing up with flashlights in one area, probably preparing to put the cameras out when the others got back. Across the lobby they made it down a hallway, also lined with people, and turned into the kitchen to find a small buffet set up. An attendant handed them their plate - they were limited to one small plate to make sure there was enough to go around, but Tesh waved his away, having eaten earlier. He, instead, found a small empty table and grabbed a glass of water.

He'd be up for helping anywhere, so they'd probably do what she was interested in doing. As she approached he smiled welcomingly.

Ren walked towards the table where Tesh sat with a small plate of food in her hands. She sat down and looked at the food in front of her. She had no appetite but she knew she had to eat to keep her strength up. She slowly picked up her fork and started eating, the food having no real taste to her. She kept glancing up at Tesh almost afraid that the next time she looked he wouldn't be there. She also took note of all the people walking around, men, women, children, and she wondered what would happen to them. After she finished eating she looked at Tesh full in the eyes and said “What do you plan to do now?”

While she ate, Tesh leaned back on his chair, balancing on the back legs as he surveyed the room and let her eat in peace; he didn’t know where she had been up until now, but he had heard stories of the rougher parts of town and respected people’s new appreciation for the quiet comfort of safe places. When she finished Tesh shrugged and answered her inquiry honestly, “Not sure; do you want to stick together? They could probably use us somewhere.” He ended by offering a suggestion he had considered before finding her, “A team is heading out later to put up surveillance cameras, we could go with them?”

Ren sat there pondering Teshin's question. She didn't really know what she would do next. Now that she had found someone that she knew she could choose to stay with Tesh but connecting herself to this bigger group made her hesitant. The last connection she had was with her gang and that was more like a family. She didn't know who was in charge here or if he was someone she could trust. She also needed to know more about what had happened and who they were up against. At that moment a young child walked by; a little girl maybe three years old. There were a lot of innocent people here. Ren sat up, pushed back her hair from her face, and looked Tesh straight in the eyes. She had decided. "I'll stay with you. There are good people here and if there's anything I can do to help I will."She paused for a second and then continued on, "but I need to know more about who we're up against and more about who's leading us."

Tesh nodded; sounded fair. While those here seemed willing enough to jump up and help immediately, there were plenty who were going to ground, hiding out and being inconspicuous to either side, such as the people who found him. He hadn't really considered that Tempy might've naturally attuned herself to the neutral side, and that was his mistake; he knew her, but that didn't mean he knows her anymore. But he was glad she was going to stay. Honestly, selfishly, he didn't want her going back out there alone; he might never see her again. And with so many people missing... well, he knew he would've gone with her rather than worry about her.

"Really the only thing we know for certain about the people we're up against was what we just saw on the screen and heard from Cross and saw firsthand three days ago. They attack in UFOs, throw explosive black lightning, and have decided for who-knows-what reason to make Star City their new capital. Maybe it had something to do with that person he took for his wife?" he looked at her questioningly, "Do you know who she was? I hadn't really heard of her, but Cross and almost everyone else in there seemed to know something. Was she a local hero, or...?" he trailed off; the mystery of the lady in white was curious; definitely not the highest priority, but since conversation lead him there he'd go ahead and ask. Maybe she was some sort of pop star in the States?

"Frankly I have no idea who she is," Temperance responded.  Seeing as neither of them knew much of anything she started looking around at the people around them.  Most of the people looked too down to really be of much help but a few people looked like life was normal and were running around doing whatever it is that they're doing.  As one of these people passed by in a cooks outfit Temperance stood up in his pathway to stop him and get his attention.  "Excuse me, can you tell us a little bit about what's going on here, who was on the TV and what is this place?"