Now there were missiles and particle beams and lasers and gauss weapons and beam ribbons being used against him, and he had to admit that these were a lot more effective than bronze spearpoints and copper swords.
Sailor Pluto had a certain look of satisfaction as the cockroach was being effectively and thoroughly stomped. "He's subdued, Emperor, please direct one of your ships to take him off planet."
*"Uhm, okay,"* said the Emperor's voice. *"How dja know that's a 'he'?"*
"Because Kafka Hastur was a male and once human, but due to the powers they tampered with - he became that thing out there." Sailor Pluto watched as the tow cables were shot into Hastur and two transports began taking their cargo off. "Where are they going, anyway?"
It was Steiner who answered, bringing up a chart of the solar system. "These giant monsters are being placed on a small moon here."
"One of the Kuiper Belt Objects then," said Pluto, "how big?"
Steiner answered by nodding to a subordinate who was more comfortable with such things.
"It's about 900 of your kilometers in diameter. Primarily composed of ice. Carbon dioxide, some water, average temperature is pretty much background, no atmosphere other than some traces of hydrogen and oxygen. It's a big iceball, essentially." The girl adjusted her glasses and continued. "Monster Planet is along the outer edge of this belt of cometary debris and its orbit is such that at it's nearest approach to your sun, it will still be comfortably within the same belt at 40 Astronomical Units."
Sailor Pluto nodded. "Personally, I think 'Tartarus' would be a better name. I would suggest putting in navigational buoys nearby to ward off unwary ships."
"Emperor?" Captain Steiner asked.
*"Yeah, go ahead."* Emperor Ranma proclaimed.
*"So what other of these Titans do you know about?"* Beatrix asked over the commlink.
"There are a number of them. Dagon is of the water, resembling a huge armored squid. He's also referred to as Kraken in some sources. If Okeanos is free, he'll be moving towards deeper channels. He had enough of his mind left to try and isolate himself, otherwise his rages would pulverize those around him. Most of the others I only remember names, it has been quite some time." Pluto frowned. She'd been trying to remember but apparently the centuries had taken their toll. "Koios and Kreios. Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys - they're not as mindless as some. Cthulhu's mind was completely snapped during the transformation, I remember something about that. Iapetos was married to Clymene and his family was there at what was supposed to be his moment of triumph, instead they all were mixed up in his nightmare. I remember that. Atlas, Menoitios. Prometheus - who retained his mind and actually helped to contain the others. Epimetheus was also immune to the madness, but left permanently a moron. Latona and Tellus. Themis - who was also mainly human still but ended up bound with the others."
*"That's quite a few,"* noted Beatrix.
"The project involved some of the best and brightest minds from Earth," agreed Pluto. "Then there are the Hecantotheire brothers, Typhon, and technically the Seasons, the Fates, and the Furies. I don't expect any of the last three groups to come into play and Typhon I am hoping not. The Muses would be difficult to fight but hopefully they aren't involved."
"Muses? Patrons of the arts weren't they?" Mercury asked, breaking into the conversation.
"When the battle to contain Mnemosyne occurred, nine gems of power - shards of Mnemosyne and containing much of her power - were broken from the Titan of Memory. They were split up and guarded over by holy women, who apparently survived to the times of the ancient Greeks enough to send their astral forms at least. Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania, and Thalia. What happened to them after that, I do not know." Pluto frowned. "Their power isn't that great. A Senshi transformation allows for more personal power and control. Clio's gem was that of History - she could view the past of any object or location she visited with that gem, peeling away the layers of intervening time to see clearly what was. Terpsichore's gem allowed her to play any instrument as if a master and weave spells with songs. Of course, that meant that her spells were normally five minutes or longer to cast."
"If we could find these gems, we might be able to use them against our opponents then?" Mercury asked.
"The problem would be finding them," indicated Pluto. "Looking for nine scattered gemstones roughly the size of your thumb that are somewhere in the Mediterranean area? How much use would Euterpe's gem, which allows you to rhyme and speak with the grace of a poet, be in a fight with the Titans?"
"Oh. What about the Hecantotheire?" Mercury asked, continuing to take notes.
"The Hundred-Handed Ones," explained Pluto. "Translation difficulty. They didn't have a hundred hands, they were a hundred hands tall. Roughly. There were two of them, brothers empowered by one of the Titans and turned into engines of destruction with great power. I doubt we'll see any of them."
Ryoga sneezed, sending an iron pebble to imbed in a girder.
It had taken him quite some time to sneak aboard a ship, his new form was definitely noticeable, but he'd finally done it.
Then he'd found a ship with an odd English name, but he'd seen the ship in Japan and known he could hitch a ride with them.
Japan, and his destiny, called.
Meanwhile, the Greenpeace ship continued towards their destination in the Azores.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Tue, 08 Jul 2003 12:53)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.