[Author's Note: I feel it's important to explain that Shattered Skies hasn't been canceled or put on hiatus… The reason it's been months since my last update is because the last two months have basically been Hell for me. I'm dealing with a serious health crisis in my family, among many other disasters, so I've been prioritizing my mental health rather than my writing. Now that I'm feeling a bit more stable, I can only assure you that I still intend to continue (and finish) this story, but I must ask for your patience as I get my life and my head back on track. Thank you for understanding. - BHS]
Chapter 44: The Trees Are Bare and Everywhere
La Fin de Toute
(formerly Galactica Palace)
Communications Hub
"She WHAT?!"
"E-e-escaped, M-Master Joker," said Moerumba. His knees failed him, and he collapsed at Joker's feet. More lithe and graceful than many of the muscleheaded brutes in Dead End's service, Moer

[Author’s Note: I’m not dead! Many apologies, I intended to take a break from this story after pushing myself to get three chapters out in December, but I didn’t intend to be away so long. Back on board now, though, so enjoy!]


Chapter 43: And My Theater Never Closes…
La Fin de Toute
(formerly Galactica Palace)
37th Floor - Library/Security Center
The grating buzz of an alarm woke Labyrinth Commander Eas from her sleep. Perplexed, she opened her eyes and swiped the air with one fingertip. A dozen scrolling lines of holographic text flared before her, throwing her pale face into shadow.
It wasn't a system failure or an intruder alert; those would have been loud and grating enough to rouse her in an instant. Nor was it a summons from Joker, for that would do the same. No, the largest and most prominent status update came from the Merry-Go-Round.
All power to it had been shut down.
Eas lift

Chapter 42: Special Chapter
The Bird in the Cage
The Lighthouse
Vertex Point Five
Homura Akemi's Room
Incubators don't panic.
Hmm.
True, this particular Incubator was trapped in some unknown location and imprisoned with little hope of escape. True, this one was cut off from the group mind, and if Homura Akemi's word was to be trusted, the group mind was either gone or corrupted beyond hope of recovery. For most other sentient beings, such circumstances would induce fits of helpless panic.
Incubators, however, don't panic.
He ("he" being the pronoun Incubators generally used for ease of communication with humans, despite its fundamental inaccuracy) was perhaps the last unaltered Incubator in existence, and true Incubators did not fear. Humans had a curious idiom he remembered hearing: "Afraid? I don't know the meaning of the word!" The statement implied ignorance to basic vocabulary on

Chapter 41: Night of Anguish
-VERTEX FOUR: 8.36679-
Uminari City
A superhuman battle tore through the streets of Uminari like a tornado; it was doubtful there would be anything left of the shopping district once they were done. The noise was incredible: peals of thunder shattered glass up and down the block of the deserted shopping district with each sounding, and the earth shuddered as the combatants threw each other through walls, through ceilings, through entire floors, leaving leveled buildings and piles of rubble in their wake. Blow after blow landed with titanic shockwaves, setting off waves of car alarms that added to the growing din.
This was no fight between a Precure and a giant monster; this was a duel between two Cures at full strength, so evenly matched that neither could triumph over the other. Another hit connected, and the city quaked in fear.
Yayoi Kise, Cure Peace, skidded backwards with her arms crossed over

CONTINUED FROM PART 1
A crash of thunder, a brilliant flash of light. The battle raged on in the skies above the Uminari shopping district, the two old enemies once more locked in a mortal struggle. Rubeus had new tricks of his own, Sailor Moon thought. The exploding dark energy ball thingies were no picnic the first time around, but this time they seemed stronger and hit harder, even with the added protection of her new shielding. The Black Moon soldier roared and made a headlong charge, his hands brimming with flame. She pirouetted out of his way, diving down a few meters before once again checking Imperium's readout: Cooldown 78% complete. Great.
"I remember, you know!" Rubeus said from above her. "I remember dying when my ship exploded above Earth… I remember the heat, the pressure, my body catching fire and crumbling away… and I have another set of memories of Wiseman killing me! I was supposed to be a great warrior f

Chapter 40: The First Attack
PART 1

-VERTEX FOUR: 8.36679-
Uminari City
Dead End had come.
Of course, the mysterious warning message that flashed across every TSAB screen weeks before reached here as well, though its audience was much smaller. Vertex Four's Earth—"Non-Administered World #97" in Bureau parlance—was not considered at all notable until a few years ago. More specifically, it was Uminari, a seaside city nestled in Tokyo's Minato ward, that piqued the Bureau's interest, though it was hard to tell why on the surface. At a distance, Uminari could have been almost any Japanese city: clean, peaceful, somewhat crowded. It used to be wholly unremarkable, no one's idea of a place to stage an invasion.
However, after the extraordinary first meeting of Nanoha Takamachi and Yuuno Scrya three years before, Uminari had become an unlikely hotbed of Bureau activity. Uminari was the home of the Takamachi family, Hayat