Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Bubblegum Avatar #1 -- "Tin-Sell City" ❯ Chapter 15 - "Aqua City Battleground - Part 1" ( Chapter 15 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Trboturtle 
The battle at Aqua City.
Anime/Manga: Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Cyberpunk / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 12.23.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.5K | Visits: 939 | Status: Completed
The battle at Aqua City.
Anime/Manga: Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Cyberpunk / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 12.23.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.5K | Visits: 939 | Status: Completed
**************
Chapter 15 - "Aqua City Battleground - Part 1"
**************
Leon McNichol was bored.
For someone in his line of work, some people would consider that a good thing. But not Leon. He was traveling west on the Keihin 5 route, trailing behind an ADP APC that had broken down earlier in the evening and was now repaired well enough to get back to headquarters.
I wish something would happen, he thought to himself.
Just then, someone on a blue motorcycle roared past him in the opposite lane, heading East. Leon had enough time to identify Priss as the rider when a black figure on an equally black motorcycle shot past him, pursuing Priss. It took Leon a heartbeat to decide what to do next.
He slammed on his breaks and spun the interceptor he was driving hard to the left. Spotting an access gap in the barrier behind him, he quickly backed through it and started after Priss and the black figure. Settling back into his seat, he activated the interceptor's pursuit mode and settled in for the chase. He reached for the mike and said "ADP-102 calling Station 1! ADP-102 calling Station 1! I am in pursuit of a possible boomer on route Keihin 5 heading for R-51. Subjects are a black armored suit or boomer and a racing bike!"
*****
"I'm coming up on Aqua City," Craig said, clearing the last of the building and finding himself with a large body of water to his left. "Do I following her in?"
"Wait for us at the entrance, and we'll go in as a team," Sylia replied. "Our ETA is four minutes. Expect McNichol to show up right after you do."
Craig slowed his bike as Aqua City came into view out of the night. The anime hadn't really shown the size of the complex, but looking at it now, Craig got a sinking feeling. "Oh my," he whispered. "The son of a bitch is huge."
"Do you see Priss anywhere?"
"Negative. I hope she hasn't done anything stupid."
The entrance was coming up rapidly. Craig slowed the bike even more, his senses alert. As he turned onto the entranceway, he spotted the bike Priss had borrowed, leaning up against one of the pillars that formed the entrance. He stopped his bike, turn off the motor and got off it. As soon as he had stepped away from the black cycle, it converted to its motorslave form, carrying the machine gun. "Priss is here, or at least her bike is."
"Understood. Stay where you are and we'll go in as a group."
The roaring of an engine getting closer made Craig turn and look in the direction he had come from the sleek form of an ADP interceptor-class police car was thundering towards him. "Be advised that Captain Chaos of the Adequately Dense Police has just arrive."
"Who?"
"Leon's here." In the background, Craig could hear someone laughing, probably Linna, and some sounds of anger, probably from Nene.
The ADP car slid past Craig, spinning a hundred and eighty degrees as it did so. As the car came to a screeching halt, the door rose and Leon leapt out, gun drawn and pointing it at Craig. "Freeze!" he shouted. "ADP!"
Craig had to stop himself from laughing, despite the situation. He causally leaned against one of the pillars. "Good evening, Inspector," he said politely. "Fancy meeting you this early in the morning."
"Who the hell are you?" Leon snarled.
"Would you believe I'm Batman?"
"No."
"Would you believe I'm Spiderman?"
"Who?"
Craig sighed. "Never mind. What brings you out here on a morning like this?"
"I could ask you the same question." Leon frowned, his gun's muzzle slowly drifting towards the ground. "Are you a boomer?"
"Nope."
"You're human?"
"Well, people I know have been debating that statement for years, but the short answer is yes. I am human."
"I'll ask you again, who the Hell are you?"
"Think about, Inspector. What outfit in this burg runs around in hardsuits?"
Leon's eyebrows shot up. "You're a Knight Saber?"
"No, I'm the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man!" Craig snapped. "Of course I'm a Knight Saber!" Leon bristled and Craig realized that he might have gone a bit too far. "Truce, Inspector. We've got better things to do then play 'twenty questions' at this time of the morning."
"But you're a guy! Er...right?"
"Right again. The Boss' been hassled about 'discrimination' by the men's rights groups, so they hired me to get them to back off."
Leon's expression was one of complete befuddlement. After a couple of seconds, he said, "Huh?"
"I'm human, male, and a Knight Saber.."
"Oh. Are you going to tell me what you're doing here?"
"Nope."
"I could arrest you. Illegal possession of military grade weapons for starters."
Craig shrugged. "You could try. But you strike me more as a man of Justice then of Law. I think you will do the right thing." The roar of motorcycles was heard in the distance. "Besides, here's the rest of the Sabers right now. Five against one is really lousy odds."
Sylia and the others came into view. They slowed to a stop, their motorslaves changing into their robotic forms as soon as the Sabers cleared the saddles.
"What happened to Blue?" Craig asked, managing to sound frustrated. "She get stuck in traffic again?"
"She'll be along shortly," Sylia replied. She looked at Leon. "Can we help you. Officer?"
"What the Hell is going on?" The Inspector asked harshly. "What are the Knight Sabers doing out here at this time of the morning?"
Craig leaned against the pillar again. "Would you believe we're practicing our cunning plan to make sure we're first in line for tickets when the next Vision concert tour comes to town?" Both Leon and Sylia gave the Black hardsuit a cold stare, and Craig backed up. Leon's expression was clear, but Craig had to imagine Sylia's expression. But imagination was one thing he had plenty of.
"We're here to retrieve something for a client," Sylia said to Leon, ignoring her smart mouth employee for the moment. "That is all you need to know. You can either stay here, or join us. That is up to you."
"What about the girl Blackie was following?" Leon asked. "The one riding the blue motorcycle parked over there?"
"I haven't seen hide or hair of her," Craig said truthfully.
"If we see her, we'll make sure she gets out all right," Sylia assured the ADP officer. She looked at Craig. "Green has your cannon on her motorslave. Get it."
Craig nodded and went over to Linna's motorslave. In fifteen seconds, the sniper rifle had been exchanged for the 78mm cannon and magazines. "Ready," he called out. "But what about the motoslaves? Should we take them along? We could use their firepower."
"I want them here to hold this end of the bridge, in case we have to retreat quickly. I don't want to find myself trapped between two forces. Besides, there's not a lot of open areas on the island, and I don't want to take the risk of getting them trapped."
"Right."
The motorslaves went into robot mode, startling Leon. "That's incredible," he whispered.
Craig shrugged. "The boss OD on those transforming robot shows when they were young. You should see her collection of toys based on the -"
"Shut up," said Sylia.
"Oops. Sorry."
Sylia nodded. "Knight Sabers, Sanjo!" With that, the four dashed through the gate and onto the roadway linking Aqua City with the mainline. The motorslaves took defensive positions around the gate, two scanning the roadway and the receding Sabers, while the other two watched the surrounding buildings on the mainland. After several seconds hesitation, Leon holstered his pistol, reached inside his car and pulled out the Stomach rifle. He filled a jacket pocket with the ammunition that the rifle fired, thought about it for a second, then filled up the other jacket pocket with more ammunition, then started after the Sabers.
**************
Priss had decided to go into Aqua City by herself, instead of waiting for the others. She hope the tracking device would alert the others to something being wrong. She had to find out if Cynthia was here. Moving as quick as she could, she had soon found herself what looked like a open steel box about twice the size of a basketball court. Several catwalks spanned the space above the chamber, but she could see the night sky.
In the corner of the chamber, a child was drawing on the wall. It took a moment for Priss to realize what the girl was drawing. "A map of Tokyo," Priss said out loud.
The little girl turned and looked at the singer with big blue eyes and a look of complete innocence. For a moment, Priss felt drawn towards her, but her mind cooly reminded her that this wasn't a human, but a boomer, designed to be a weapon of war.
"Cynthia." Priss walked slowly over to the little girl. "Don't be frightened. Are you Cynthia?"
The little girl nodded. "Who are you, Lady?" she asked, her voice devoid of any guile.
Sylia's words came back to her. According to our information, Cynthia doesn't realize she is a boomer. If you find her, treat her as if she was a real six-year-old. "I'm Priss," the singer said pleasantly. "I've come to rescue you. Look, you've gotten your clothes dirty." she knelt in front of the child boomer. "Are you alone?"
Cynthia looked around the chamber as if she wasn't sure if she knew the answer to the question. Finally, she said, "Uh-huh."
"Is there anyone else here?"
"I don't know." She pointed to the map. "Look at this."
"Hmh?" Priss took a look at the map. It was a map of Tokyo, but not the crude picture one would expect of a six-year-old, but a picture of the city as if it was being seen from...
"I've seen that drawing somewhere before," she said, looking at a drawing in one corner of the picture. The figure was a crude one, a fluffy creature giving the red-eye with the words 'Screw You' under it. It took a second for Priss to realize that the picture looked like the one Nene had drawn them right before the meeting, when she was describing Sylia and her escape from the prying eyes of a USSD satellite that morning.
Priss wasn't stupid. Nene was sure the satellite had seen the laser graffiti, and if Cynthia was able to duplicate it, that would mean this innocent-looking little girl could access the surveillance satellites....
"I did that," Cynthia said, still pointing at the map.
The little girl's voice shook Priss out of her thoughts. "I see you're very talented." She reached out and took Cynthia's hand. "Come on, let's go home. Your mama and papa must be worried about you."
"I have no such person."
"You...you don't?" Of course not, you idiot! She thought to herself. She's a damn boomer that just happens to look like a six-year-old!
Just then, something told Priss they weren't alone. She turned her head and found her instincts were right.
Three of the newcomers standing half a dozen meters away were dressed causally, but the quartet that stood by the doorway wore business suits and dark sunglasses. Shit! Priss' mind screamed. Boomers! She stood and shifted slightly so she could reach the parts of her handgun. "Who the hell are you?" she asked.
"What do we have here?" said one of the trio. He was dressed in a blue jacket and drawstring pants. His sagging gut made him look like a man who liked his beer, but Priss knew the disguised boomer could snap her neck without trouble.
"An intruder," replied the female of the trio. She was dressed in a jeans suit with a lose red blouse. Brown hair covered one eye but the malice in her visible eye was very clear. "I wonder where she came from?"
"Maybe she's the one Bogy was bringing in."
"Maybe."
"I say we ask her," said the third member of the trio, a thinner male wearing a green shirt and brown pants.
The female smiled. It wasn't pleasant. "Why don't we?"
All three came at Priss. With quick, smooth motions the singer backed away, her hands already moving to the parts of the Member-II she carried.
"Hold it," said a new voice. The three boomers turned to look as a lean man with red hair walked into the chamber. Priss eyes narrowed as she recognized Frederick. "I want her to be able to talk."
"You," Priss said quietly.
"That's right," Frederick, walking past the quartet in business suits. The man you've been looking for. Seems they told you I was a computer tech."
Priss decided to play for time. "You're a boomer too?" she said, trying to sound surprised. Don't let them know how much you actually know, she thought to herself. "Why did you chose that girl for this project?"
Frederick continued to walk towards her, he gait slow and measured. "Apparently, you know nothing about Cynthia."
"Wha...?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Priss saw Cynthia standing watching with a uncertain look on her face. "Why do you want to hurt that lady?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"Shut up!" snapped the female boomer. Cynthia cringed.
"Enough Madya," said Frederick firmly. "Do not yell at the child."
"I don't even know what we had to kidnap her in the first place!"
"You do not need to know. Cynthia, come here." The child walked uncertainly over to Frederick. The redheaded boomer place a hand on her shoulder. "This woman is a bad woman. She wants to take you back to the laboratory. We have to find out what she knows."
"Okay," replied Cynthia meekly.
"I don't know what intelligence group sent you, but if you don't intend to talk, it's the end of the line for you. You can die fast or slow, your choice." Frederick look at the female boomer. "Start with breaking her fingers."
One of the somber suits boomers said, "Why don't you allow one of my team to ask the questions?"
The redheaded boomer turned to look at him. "Why should I do that, Kerbasi?"
"Because we have better interrogation programming then your team does. If you allow us to do the interrogation, we can get your information faster and more accurately."
Frederick sighed melodramatically. "Very well. Madya, Maxwell, Maynard," he called out over his shoulder to the other members of his team, "step away from our guest and let's see what are allies can do."
Kerbasi smiled, a cold bitter smile with no hint of Spring in it. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. I want her still able to feel pain after you've finished with her. My team and I still have a few things we need to...discuss with her."
Kerbasi nodded. "Amory," he said, "you do the interrogation. Remember what Frederick said, but otherwise used your own judgement."
One of Kasbasi's team strode towards Priss. As he advanced, he started ripping out of his disguise, startling Priss. "Are you ready to talk?" the boomer asked as he continued to stride towards the singer.
Priss stepped back, only to feel the cool metal of the wall behind her. She was trapped and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. Sliding along the wall away from the advancing boomer, she reminded herself that the rest of the Sabers probably knew she was in trouble, the missed check-in and tracking device attached to her forearm showing she was here and not where she was suppose to be. I just wish they'd hurry up and get here, she thought. The boomer kept advancing.
"Why should we let this group question our prisoner?" Madya asked angrily.
"Because this is one of the reason they were sent," replied Frederick with a shrug. "Our only concern is the child." Cynthia was watching with rapt attention as Amory continued to close in on Priss.
The singer was nearing some boxes and some steel bars leaning up against the wall. Not much of a chance, she thought, but maybe it'll give me enough room to get to my Member-II. She continued to move towards the clutter, the boomer getting closer.
"This should be interesting," Frederick murmured.
The distance between Priss and the steel bars was shrinking, but so was the distance between her and Amory. It was going to be close....
Now! Priss' mind shouted. Moving quickly, she grabbed one of the bars and swung it over her head and down onto Amory's skull. With a solid 'thunk', she bar struck with as much effect as if she'd used a flyswatter. Slowly, as if he was irritated, Amory reached up and took the bar in his fist. With a snap of his wrist, he sent both the now-deformed steel bar and it's wielder flying.
Madya's laugh was cold and without pity. "Look what a mess you've made of him," she called out to Priss. "It wouldn't do for you not to cover his repair bill."
"Maybe we should forget this and just roast her," said the pudgy-looking boomer.
"AFTER she's told us who she works for."
"That's a hassle. We should kill her without a second thought."
The conversation had given Priss what she needed - time. With her right hand, she pulled out her Member-II from inside her jacket, while her left hand retrieved the handgun's grip from it's hiding place at the small of her back. She fitted the two sections together, aimed the pistol at Amory, and fired all three rounds into him. The modified 7.63 millimeter rounds slammed into the boomer hard enough to leave large crater in it's metallic skin.
With a snarl, Madya charged at Priss. Without missing a beat, Priss snatched another 3-round magazine, reloaded, and fired twice at Madya. Both rounds struck the female boomer. She dropped to her knees, an unintelligible sound of pain and rage coming from her open mouth.
None of the boomers looked shocked or upset at the shooting of two of their number, and Priss figured she was in trouble.
She was right.
**************
The rest of the Knight Sabers were moving into position above the open top chamber. Tracking Priss' transmitter in the mass of steel and concrete was difficult, but Nene had managed to keep the Sabers moving in the right direction. They had lost Leon almost as soon as they moved into the structure, but no one took much notice of that. Leon was a big boy, he could handle himself.
They spotted the open air chamber five seconds after Nene confirmed that they were almost on top of Priss. With the others keeping watch, Sylia moved carefully to the edge and looked down. After about three seconds she slowly pulled back and away from the edge. "She's there and in trouble," she said quietly over the Saber's channel.. "I saw Cynthia and Frederick also. Looks like half a dozen boomers, in two different groups."
"How are going to get Priss out of there?" asked Linna.
"Give them something else to occupy them for a while," Craig replied. "Namely us."
"Right," Sylia said "Craig, find cover on this side of the roof and get ready. The rest of us will go over the other side and get their attention. As soon as they start deploying for combat, take down as many as you can before they react. Linna and I will take care of the close combat. I want you to keep moving, looking for targets of opportunity. Nene, I want you ECM at maximum. I'm not sure if a signal to the particle satellite will be degraded by the ECM, but any advantage we can get, I'll take. Any questions?"
"One thing," said Craig. "If I yell out your name and 'drop' or 'get clear', do so at once. I don't want any of you on the wrong end of one of my shots."
Sylia nodded. "Is that clear?" The other two nodded. "Then, let's go."
The Sabers moved out. Craig looked at the area he was assigned. Deciding on a likely spot, he leapt to the top of a large, box-like structure and found a nice dark area in the shadow of a construction scaffold for his initial ambush site. It was off to one side, out of the direct line of the other Sabers, but still in a position to offer back shots. He rammed into place a four shot magazine into place and brought the cannon on line. "Black is ready," he said.
"Green is ready," called out Linna from her position.
Nene said excitedly. "Red is ready!"
"Let's do it," said Sylia.
**********
Shit! Priss thought in shock.
The rounds should have killed the boomers, or at the very least hurt them. But Amory simple flexed his muscles and the craters in his chest rippled and disappeared, the spent bullets falling to the ground like steel raindrops. The sound of someone retching tore Priss' attention from Amory and back to Madya. The female boomer was on her hands and knees, the rounds Priss had shot her with on the ground between her hands, along with a small amount of yellowish boomer fluid. She stood slowly, glaring at her attacker.
Priss' shock at the sight caused her to pause for a second. That hesitation was enough.
"You have one round left," said Madya. Are you going to use it?" With a snarl, the boomer grabbed Priss' gun from her grasp and moving like a striking snake, she backfisted Priss. The singer dropped like a rag doll, her vison nothing but stars.
Madya stood over her, glaring down, crushing the pistol like it was a beer can. "Those bullets hurt!" she hissed, fingering the holes in her blouse. "Looks like you're going to have to foot the bill for fixing me too. And I'm going to take every sen out of your hide!"
Priss stood unsteadily, trying to slide way from the angry boomer. Amory reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. Madya flexed her wrist and smiled at Priss. "So you still don't want to talk, eh? Soon you won't be able to talk."
"We need to find out who she works for first," said Frederick cooly. He looked at Priss. We've shown you nothing but kindness but you still won't chat, eh?"
"What about the others?" Maxwell asked angrily. "We also need to find out what happened to them!"
"All in good time." He looked at Amory. "You can continue the interrogation."
Amory shot out a arm and grabbed Priss around the throat. "Now," the Boomer rumbled, "You're going to start talking, or you're going to start hurting. Your choice." He slowly lifted Priss off the ground.
Some choice. The singer struggled to break the hold, but the boomer's strength and build made that impossible. She also struggled to breathe but the grip was too tight and she was losing the fight. The edge of her vison was going dark, a sign that she was beginning to loose consciousness.
The boomer relaxed his grip slightly and air passed into her lungs again. "Let's start with something easy. What's your name, sweety?"
"You won't get away with this," Priss croaked.
"Wrong answer." The grip tightened again. Priss' struggles were weaker this time. The darkness was more pronounced this time, and she felt herself slipping into it.
All of a sudden, she was dropped to the deck. In the back of her mind, she registered that while the hand was still around her throat, the grip was relaxed, allowing her to breathe again.
As the air began to revive her, her hearing and sight sharpened. She heard shouts and saw several of the boomers leaping into the air. Amory was standing there, his right arm, the one he had been using to strangle Priss with, sheared off at the elbow. Priss pried the severed hand from her throat and got to her feet. All the boomers attention was focused on something above them, Priss forgotten for the moment.
She glanced over at Cynthia. Frederick had stepped away from the little girl and was staring up into the night sky. The boomer/little girl/satellite trigger relay was standing a couple of meters away, looking confused the way six-year-olds can when they've encountered something outside their experiences. Even Amory, despite losing an arm, was more intent on what was going on above him.
The pounding in Priss' head lessened to the point where she could think coherently. A pair of explosions ripped through the night air, crystalizing her plan. She started running towards Cynthia, covering the distance in several heartbeats. She snatched up the child boomer, surprised as the little girl's light weight. Make sense, she thought, ignoring Cynthia's startled cry as she was snatched up. A normal looking six-year-old weighing fifty kilograms is going to raise suspicions.
"Don't shoot!" Frederick shouted. "You might hit the child!"
"Come back here, you bitch!" Amory shouted.
Priss didn't bother to glance back but continued to run, Cynthia cradled in her arms.
**********
When Sylia had fired a laser down into the chamber, it was like she had kicked over a anthill. An anthill where the ants were big, mean and not friendly. They leapt out of the chamber, their overpowered muscles making the feat look easy.
Craig counted six Boomers, three he had been expecting, the Mutt and Jeff pair of male boomers and the female from Frederick's group. However, the three that looked like they were ready for a funeral were new. "They brought help," he muttered over the radio.
"I see," replied Sylia calmly. "We need you to cut down the odds."
"Say when, Boss."
"Whenever you have a target locked."
"Right."
The first group were now landing on the lip of the chamber. The second group landed next to them. All their attention was focused on the three Sabers, who were waiting for them in relaxed poses. Linna was standing on a wall, while Nene was sitting relaxed on a conduit. Sylia, as right of leader, stood on top of a small tower and gazed down on the assembled boomers. None of the boomers noticed the Saber in the shadows behind them.
Craig chose his target, locked in into the targeting computer's system, chose another target, locked that one into the system, then went back to the first target and adjusted the sights for any windage. He notice that the three business suits were hanging back, letting Frederick's group take the lead.
The fat boomer snarled, "Who are you?"
"The Knight Sabers," Sylia replied over her suit's speaker.
"You think you're hot stuff, don't you?" snarled the thin boomer. He began to swell and explode you of his disguise.
Craig fired.
The thin boomer was halfway out of his shredded disguise when a 78mm, modified HEAT (High Explosive, Anti-Tank) round slammed into his back, right between the shoulder blades. A fraction of a second after the round struck him, a jet of molten material and high explosive gas, traveling in the neighborhood of 7,000 meters per second (25,200 kilometers/hour, or more then 15,600 miles/hour) slammed through the boomer's back armor with all the difficulty of a sharp knife going through rice paper. What wasn't destroyed by the stream of super heated gas and material was ravaged when the overpressure blew apart the top half of the boomer.
"Yehah!" Craig cried over the radio, as he quickly changed targets and fired. Even as the first boomer was exploding, another round flew out of the darkness and slammed into one of the business suit boomer. In the midst of spinning to track the attacker, the boomer was struck in the left shoulder, losing his arm and most of his left side in a shower of flame and light. The boomer staggered, the damage too much for even its self-repair systems to handle. "Damn!" Craig muttered and fired again. The second round struck the boomer in the hip and finished its destruction.
Craig changed targets again, sighting on the female boomer from Frederick's group. But by then, everyone was moving. The two surviving members of Frederick's team threw themselves at the Knight Sabers, while the other two went after Craig.
"I think they're pissed!" Craig turned and dashed away from the battle. He dropped into a passageway on the far side of the structure turned left and ran. From the sounds that penetrated the walls and his helmet, Craig knew the battle was still going on. "Nene!" he shouted. "I don't see any boomers. Can you locate them?"
"No!" the redhead shouted.
Craig reached an intersection, turned left again. The corridor quickly opened up into another open-top chamber. "Any sign of Priss?" He could see lasers and flashes of movement in the night sky, but he was too busy running to take careful notice of the action.
"No, I think she got away."
Craig ran for the far side of the chamber. "Thank goodness for that. I can reach you in -"
Something dropped out of the night sky and landed in front of Craig. Even as he recognized it as one of the business-suited boomers, something told him to look behind him. The other well-dressed boomer, the female, looked back at him, smirking.
"What do we have here?" the male boomer asked.
"Looks like a Knight Saber," replied the female.
"Well...." said Craig and fired the last round of 78mm he had in the magazine at the male boomer, turned and fired his lasers at the female. Then he did what most people would do in his position.
He ran.
**********
In another part of the artificial island, three BU-12B combat boomers came on-line. They had been in shut down mode for several hours, the only connection was a communications channel linking them directly with Kasbasi. The order to activate had come through.
They exited the room they had been standing it, their combat computers now fully on-line and their weapons charging up. A battle plan was formed, refined and put into place, all in a matter of seconds.
They now had a mission and a plan - kill the Knight Sabers....
Chapter 15 - "Aqua City Battleground - Part 1"
**************
Leon McNichol was bored.
For someone in his line of work, some people would consider that a good thing. But not Leon. He was traveling west on the Keihin 5 route, trailing behind an ADP APC that had broken down earlier in the evening and was now repaired well enough to get back to headquarters.
I wish something would happen, he thought to himself.
Just then, someone on a blue motorcycle roared past him in the opposite lane, heading East. Leon had enough time to identify Priss as the rider when a black figure on an equally black motorcycle shot past him, pursuing Priss. It took Leon a heartbeat to decide what to do next.
He slammed on his breaks and spun the interceptor he was driving hard to the left. Spotting an access gap in the barrier behind him, he quickly backed through it and started after Priss and the black figure. Settling back into his seat, he activated the interceptor's pursuit mode and settled in for the chase. He reached for the mike and said "ADP-102 calling Station 1! ADP-102 calling Station 1! I am in pursuit of a possible boomer on route Keihin 5 heading for R-51. Subjects are a black armored suit or boomer and a racing bike!"
*****
"I'm coming up on Aqua City," Craig said, clearing the last of the building and finding himself with a large body of water to his left. "Do I following her in?"
"Wait for us at the entrance, and we'll go in as a team," Sylia replied. "Our ETA is four minutes. Expect McNichol to show up right after you do."
Craig slowed his bike as Aqua City came into view out of the night. The anime hadn't really shown the size of the complex, but looking at it now, Craig got a sinking feeling. "Oh my," he whispered. "The son of a bitch is huge."
"Do you see Priss anywhere?"
"Negative. I hope she hasn't done anything stupid."
The entrance was coming up rapidly. Craig slowed the bike even more, his senses alert. As he turned onto the entranceway, he spotted the bike Priss had borrowed, leaning up against one of the pillars that formed the entrance. He stopped his bike, turn off the motor and got off it. As soon as he had stepped away from the black cycle, it converted to its motorslave form, carrying the machine gun. "Priss is here, or at least her bike is."
"Understood. Stay where you are and we'll go in as a group."
The roaring of an engine getting closer made Craig turn and look in the direction he had come from the sleek form of an ADP interceptor-class police car was thundering towards him. "Be advised that Captain Chaos of the Adequately Dense Police has just arrive."
"Who?"
"Leon's here." In the background, Craig could hear someone laughing, probably Linna, and some sounds of anger, probably from Nene.
The ADP car slid past Craig, spinning a hundred and eighty degrees as it did so. As the car came to a screeching halt, the door rose and Leon leapt out, gun drawn and pointing it at Craig. "Freeze!" he shouted. "ADP!"
Craig had to stop himself from laughing, despite the situation. He causally leaned against one of the pillars. "Good evening, Inspector," he said politely. "Fancy meeting you this early in the morning."
"Who the hell are you?" Leon snarled.
"Would you believe I'm Batman?"
"No."
"Would you believe I'm Spiderman?"
"Who?"
Craig sighed. "Never mind. What brings you out here on a morning like this?"
"I could ask you the same question." Leon frowned, his gun's muzzle slowly drifting towards the ground. "Are you a boomer?"
"Nope."
"You're human?"
"Well, people I know have been debating that statement for years, but the short answer is yes. I am human."
"I'll ask you again, who the Hell are you?"
"Think about, Inspector. What outfit in this burg runs around in hardsuits?"
Leon's eyebrows shot up. "You're a Knight Saber?"
"No, I'm the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man!" Craig snapped. "Of course I'm a Knight Saber!" Leon bristled and Craig realized that he might have gone a bit too far. "Truce, Inspector. We've got better things to do then play 'twenty questions' at this time of the morning."
"But you're a guy! Er...right?"
"Right again. The Boss' been hassled about 'discrimination' by the men's rights groups, so they hired me to get them to back off."
Leon's expression was one of complete befuddlement. After a couple of seconds, he said, "Huh?"
"I'm human, male, and a Knight Saber.."
"Oh. Are you going to tell me what you're doing here?"
"Nope."
"I could arrest you. Illegal possession of military grade weapons for starters."
Craig shrugged. "You could try. But you strike me more as a man of Justice then of Law. I think you will do the right thing." The roar of motorcycles was heard in the distance. "Besides, here's the rest of the Sabers right now. Five against one is really lousy odds."
Sylia and the others came into view. They slowed to a stop, their motorslaves changing into their robotic forms as soon as the Sabers cleared the saddles.
"What happened to Blue?" Craig asked, managing to sound frustrated. "She get stuck in traffic again?"
"She'll be along shortly," Sylia replied. She looked at Leon. "Can we help you. Officer?"
"What the Hell is going on?" The Inspector asked harshly. "What are the Knight Sabers doing out here at this time of the morning?"
Craig leaned against the pillar again. "Would you believe we're practicing our cunning plan to make sure we're first in line for tickets when the next Vision concert tour comes to town?" Both Leon and Sylia gave the Black hardsuit a cold stare, and Craig backed up. Leon's expression was clear, but Craig had to imagine Sylia's expression. But imagination was one thing he had plenty of.
"We're here to retrieve something for a client," Sylia said to Leon, ignoring her smart mouth employee for the moment. "That is all you need to know. You can either stay here, or join us. That is up to you."
"What about the girl Blackie was following?" Leon asked. "The one riding the blue motorcycle parked over there?"
"I haven't seen hide or hair of her," Craig said truthfully.
"If we see her, we'll make sure she gets out all right," Sylia assured the ADP officer. She looked at Craig. "Green has your cannon on her motorslave. Get it."
Craig nodded and went over to Linna's motorslave. In fifteen seconds, the sniper rifle had been exchanged for the 78mm cannon and magazines. "Ready," he called out. "But what about the motoslaves? Should we take them along? We could use their firepower."
"I want them here to hold this end of the bridge, in case we have to retreat quickly. I don't want to find myself trapped between two forces. Besides, there's not a lot of open areas on the island, and I don't want to take the risk of getting them trapped."
"Right."
The motorslaves went into robot mode, startling Leon. "That's incredible," he whispered.
Craig shrugged. "The boss OD on those transforming robot shows when they were young. You should see her collection of toys based on the -"
"Shut up," said Sylia.
"Oops. Sorry."
Sylia nodded. "Knight Sabers, Sanjo!" With that, the four dashed through the gate and onto the roadway linking Aqua City with the mainline. The motorslaves took defensive positions around the gate, two scanning the roadway and the receding Sabers, while the other two watched the surrounding buildings on the mainland. After several seconds hesitation, Leon holstered his pistol, reached inside his car and pulled out the Stomach rifle. He filled a jacket pocket with the ammunition that the rifle fired, thought about it for a second, then filled up the other jacket pocket with more ammunition, then started after the Sabers.
**************
Priss had decided to go into Aqua City by herself, instead of waiting for the others. She hope the tracking device would alert the others to something being wrong. She had to find out if Cynthia was here. Moving as quick as she could, she had soon found herself what looked like a open steel box about twice the size of a basketball court. Several catwalks spanned the space above the chamber, but she could see the night sky.
In the corner of the chamber, a child was drawing on the wall. It took a moment for Priss to realize what the girl was drawing. "A map of Tokyo," Priss said out loud.
The little girl turned and looked at the singer with big blue eyes and a look of complete innocence. For a moment, Priss felt drawn towards her, but her mind cooly reminded her that this wasn't a human, but a boomer, designed to be a weapon of war.
"Cynthia." Priss walked slowly over to the little girl. "Don't be frightened. Are you Cynthia?"
The little girl nodded. "Who are you, Lady?" she asked, her voice devoid of any guile.
Sylia's words came back to her. According to our information, Cynthia doesn't realize she is a boomer. If you find her, treat her as if she was a real six-year-old. "I'm Priss," the singer said pleasantly. "I've come to rescue you. Look, you've gotten your clothes dirty." she knelt in front of the child boomer. "Are you alone?"
Cynthia looked around the chamber as if she wasn't sure if she knew the answer to the question. Finally, she said, "Uh-huh."
"Is there anyone else here?"
"I don't know." She pointed to the map. "Look at this."
"Hmh?" Priss took a look at the map. It was a map of Tokyo, but not the crude picture one would expect of a six-year-old, but a picture of the city as if it was being seen from...
"I've seen that drawing somewhere before," she said, looking at a drawing in one corner of the picture. The figure was a crude one, a fluffy creature giving the red-eye with the words 'Screw You' under it. It took a second for Priss to realize that the picture looked like the one Nene had drawn them right before the meeting, when she was describing Sylia and her escape from the prying eyes of a USSD satellite that morning.
Priss wasn't stupid. Nene was sure the satellite had seen the laser graffiti, and if Cynthia was able to duplicate it, that would mean this innocent-looking little girl could access the surveillance satellites....
"I did that," Cynthia said, still pointing at the map.
The little girl's voice shook Priss out of her thoughts. "I see you're very talented." She reached out and took Cynthia's hand. "Come on, let's go home. Your mama and papa must be worried about you."
"I have no such person."
"You...you don't?" Of course not, you idiot! She thought to herself. She's a damn boomer that just happens to look like a six-year-old!
Just then, something told Priss they weren't alone. She turned her head and found her instincts were right.
Three of the newcomers standing half a dozen meters away were dressed causally, but the quartet that stood by the doorway wore business suits and dark sunglasses. Shit! Priss' mind screamed. Boomers! She stood and shifted slightly so she could reach the parts of her handgun. "Who the hell are you?" she asked.
"What do we have here?" said one of the trio. He was dressed in a blue jacket and drawstring pants. His sagging gut made him look like a man who liked his beer, but Priss knew the disguised boomer could snap her neck without trouble.
"An intruder," replied the female of the trio. She was dressed in a jeans suit with a lose red blouse. Brown hair covered one eye but the malice in her visible eye was very clear. "I wonder where she came from?"
"Maybe she's the one Bogy was bringing in."
"Maybe."
"I say we ask her," said the third member of the trio, a thinner male wearing a green shirt and brown pants.
The female smiled. It wasn't pleasant. "Why don't we?"
All three came at Priss. With quick, smooth motions the singer backed away, her hands already moving to the parts of the Member-II she carried.
"Hold it," said a new voice. The three boomers turned to look as a lean man with red hair walked into the chamber. Priss eyes narrowed as she recognized Frederick. "I want her to be able to talk."
"You," Priss said quietly.
"That's right," Frederick, walking past the quartet in business suits. The man you've been looking for. Seems they told you I was a computer tech."
Priss decided to play for time. "You're a boomer too?" she said, trying to sound surprised. Don't let them know how much you actually know, she thought to herself. "Why did you chose that girl for this project?"
Frederick continued to walk towards her, he gait slow and measured. "Apparently, you know nothing about Cynthia."
"Wha...?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Priss saw Cynthia standing watching with a uncertain look on her face. "Why do you want to hurt that lady?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"Shut up!" snapped the female boomer. Cynthia cringed.
"Enough Madya," said Frederick firmly. "Do not yell at the child."
"I don't even know what we had to kidnap her in the first place!"
"You do not need to know. Cynthia, come here." The child walked uncertainly over to Frederick. The redheaded boomer place a hand on her shoulder. "This woman is a bad woman. She wants to take you back to the laboratory. We have to find out what she knows."
"Okay," replied Cynthia meekly.
"I don't know what intelligence group sent you, but if you don't intend to talk, it's the end of the line for you. You can die fast or slow, your choice." Frederick look at the female boomer. "Start with breaking her fingers."
One of the somber suits boomers said, "Why don't you allow one of my team to ask the questions?"
The redheaded boomer turned to look at him. "Why should I do that, Kerbasi?"
"Because we have better interrogation programming then your team does. If you allow us to do the interrogation, we can get your information faster and more accurately."
Frederick sighed melodramatically. "Very well. Madya, Maxwell, Maynard," he called out over his shoulder to the other members of his team, "step away from our guest and let's see what are allies can do."
Kerbasi smiled, a cold bitter smile with no hint of Spring in it. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. I want her still able to feel pain after you've finished with her. My team and I still have a few things we need to...discuss with her."
Kerbasi nodded. "Amory," he said, "you do the interrogation. Remember what Frederick said, but otherwise used your own judgement."
One of Kasbasi's team strode towards Priss. As he advanced, he started ripping out of his disguise, startling Priss. "Are you ready to talk?" the boomer asked as he continued to stride towards the singer.
Priss stepped back, only to feel the cool metal of the wall behind her. She was trapped and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. Sliding along the wall away from the advancing boomer, she reminded herself that the rest of the Sabers probably knew she was in trouble, the missed check-in and tracking device attached to her forearm showing she was here and not where she was suppose to be. I just wish they'd hurry up and get here, she thought. The boomer kept advancing.
"Why should we let this group question our prisoner?" Madya asked angrily.
"Because this is one of the reason they were sent," replied Frederick with a shrug. "Our only concern is the child." Cynthia was watching with rapt attention as Amory continued to close in on Priss.
The singer was nearing some boxes and some steel bars leaning up against the wall. Not much of a chance, she thought, but maybe it'll give me enough room to get to my Member-II. She continued to move towards the clutter, the boomer getting closer.
"This should be interesting," Frederick murmured.
The distance between Priss and the steel bars was shrinking, but so was the distance between her and Amory. It was going to be close....
Now! Priss' mind shouted. Moving quickly, she grabbed one of the bars and swung it over her head and down onto Amory's skull. With a solid 'thunk', she bar struck with as much effect as if she'd used a flyswatter. Slowly, as if he was irritated, Amory reached up and took the bar in his fist. With a snap of his wrist, he sent both the now-deformed steel bar and it's wielder flying.
Madya's laugh was cold and without pity. "Look what a mess you've made of him," she called out to Priss. "It wouldn't do for you not to cover his repair bill."
"Maybe we should forget this and just roast her," said the pudgy-looking boomer.
"AFTER she's told us who she works for."
"That's a hassle. We should kill her without a second thought."
The conversation had given Priss what she needed - time. With her right hand, she pulled out her Member-II from inside her jacket, while her left hand retrieved the handgun's grip from it's hiding place at the small of her back. She fitted the two sections together, aimed the pistol at Amory, and fired all three rounds into him. The modified 7.63 millimeter rounds slammed into the boomer hard enough to leave large crater in it's metallic skin.
With a snarl, Madya charged at Priss. Without missing a beat, Priss snatched another 3-round magazine, reloaded, and fired twice at Madya. Both rounds struck the female boomer. She dropped to her knees, an unintelligible sound of pain and rage coming from her open mouth.
None of the boomers looked shocked or upset at the shooting of two of their number, and Priss figured she was in trouble.
She was right.
**************
The rest of the Knight Sabers were moving into position above the open top chamber. Tracking Priss' transmitter in the mass of steel and concrete was difficult, but Nene had managed to keep the Sabers moving in the right direction. They had lost Leon almost as soon as they moved into the structure, but no one took much notice of that. Leon was a big boy, he could handle himself.
They spotted the open air chamber five seconds after Nene confirmed that they were almost on top of Priss. With the others keeping watch, Sylia moved carefully to the edge and looked down. After about three seconds she slowly pulled back and away from the edge. "She's there and in trouble," she said quietly over the Saber's channel.. "I saw Cynthia and Frederick also. Looks like half a dozen boomers, in two different groups."
"How are going to get Priss out of there?" asked Linna.
"Give them something else to occupy them for a while," Craig replied. "Namely us."
"Right," Sylia said "Craig, find cover on this side of the roof and get ready. The rest of us will go over the other side and get their attention. As soon as they start deploying for combat, take down as many as you can before they react. Linna and I will take care of the close combat. I want you to keep moving, looking for targets of opportunity. Nene, I want you ECM at maximum. I'm not sure if a signal to the particle satellite will be degraded by the ECM, but any advantage we can get, I'll take. Any questions?"
"One thing," said Craig. "If I yell out your name and 'drop' or 'get clear', do so at once. I don't want any of you on the wrong end of one of my shots."
Sylia nodded. "Is that clear?" The other two nodded. "Then, let's go."
The Sabers moved out. Craig looked at the area he was assigned. Deciding on a likely spot, he leapt to the top of a large, box-like structure and found a nice dark area in the shadow of a construction scaffold for his initial ambush site. It was off to one side, out of the direct line of the other Sabers, but still in a position to offer back shots. He rammed into place a four shot magazine into place and brought the cannon on line. "Black is ready," he said.
"Green is ready," called out Linna from her position.
Nene said excitedly. "Red is ready!"
"Let's do it," said Sylia.
**********
Shit! Priss thought in shock.
The rounds should have killed the boomers, or at the very least hurt them. But Amory simple flexed his muscles and the craters in his chest rippled and disappeared, the spent bullets falling to the ground like steel raindrops. The sound of someone retching tore Priss' attention from Amory and back to Madya. The female boomer was on her hands and knees, the rounds Priss had shot her with on the ground between her hands, along with a small amount of yellowish boomer fluid. She stood slowly, glaring at her attacker.
Priss' shock at the sight caused her to pause for a second. That hesitation was enough.
"You have one round left," said Madya. Are you going to use it?" With a snarl, the boomer grabbed Priss' gun from her grasp and moving like a striking snake, she backfisted Priss. The singer dropped like a rag doll, her vison nothing but stars.
Madya stood over her, glaring down, crushing the pistol like it was a beer can. "Those bullets hurt!" she hissed, fingering the holes in her blouse. "Looks like you're going to have to foot the bill for fixing me too. And I'm going to take every sen out of your hide!"
Priss stood unsteadily, trying to slide way from the angry boomer. Amory reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. Madya flexed her wrist and smiled at Priss. "So you still don't want to talk, eh? Soon you won't be able to talk."
"We need to find out who she works for first," said Frederick cooly. He looked at Priss. We've shown you nothing but kindness but you still won't chat, eh?"
"What about the others?" Maxwell asked angrily. "We also need to find out what happened to them!"
"All in good time." He looked at Amory. "You can continue the interrogation."
Amory shot out a arm and grabbed Priss around the throat. "Now," the Boomer rumbled, "You're going to start talking, or you're going to start hurting. Your choice." He slowly lifted Priss off the ground.
Some choice. The singer struggled to break the hold, but the boomer's strength and build made that impossible. She also struggled to breathe but the grip was too tight and she was losing the fight. The edge of her vison was going dark, a sign that she was beginning to loose consciousness.
The boomer relaxed his grip slightly and air passed into her lungs again. "Let's start with something easy. What's your name, sweety?"
"You won't get away with this," Priss croaked.
"Wrong answer." The grip tightened again. Priss' struggles were weaker this time. The darkness was more pronounced this time, and she felt herself slipping into it.
All of a sudden, she was dropped to the deck. In the back of her mind, she registered that while the hand was still around her throat, the grip was relaxed, allowing her to breathe again.
As the air began to revive her, her hearing and sight sharpened. She heard shouts and saw several of the boomers leaping into the air. Amory was standing there, his right arm, the one he had been using to strangle Priss with, sheared off at the elbow. Priss pried the severed hand from her throat and got to her feet. All the boomers attention was focused on something above them, Priss forgotten for the moment.
She glanced over at Cynthia. Frederick had stepped away from the little girl and was staring up into the night sky. The boomer/little girl/satellite trigger relay was standing a couple of meters away, looking confused the way six-year-olds can when they've encountered something outside their experiences. Even Amory, despite losing an arm, was more intent on what was going on above him.
The pounding in Priss' head lessened to the point where she could think coherently. A pair of explosions ripped through the night air, crystalizing her plan. She started running towards Cynthia, covering the distance in several heartbeats. She snatched up the child boomer, surprised as the little girl's light weight. Make sense, she thought, ignoring Cynthia's startled cry as she was snatched up. A normal looking six-year-old weighing fifty kilograms is going to raise suspicions.
"Don't shoot!" Frederick shouted. "You might hit the child!"
"Come back here, you bitch!" Amory shouted.
Priss didn't bother to glance back but continued to run, Cynthia cradled in her arms.
**********
When Sylia had fired a laser down into the chamber, it was like she had kicked over a anthill. An anthill where the ants were big, mean and not friendly. They leapt out of the chamber, their overpowered muscles making the feat look easy.
Craig counted six Boomers, three he had been expecting, the Mutt and Jeff pair of male boomers and the female from Frederick's group. However, the three that looked like they were ready for a funeral were new. "They brought help," he muttered over the radio.
"I see," replied Sylia calmly. "We need you to cut down the odds."
"Say when, Boss."
"Whenever you have a target locked."
"Right."
The first group were now landing on the lip of the chamber. The second group landed next to them. All their attention was focused on the three Sabers, who were waiting for them in relaxed poses. Linna was standing on a wall, while Nene was sitting relaxed on a conduit. Sylia, as right of leader, stood on top of a small tower and gazed down on the assembled boomers. None of the boomers noticed the Saber in the shadows behind them.
Craig chose his target, locked in into the targeting computer's system, chose another target, locked that one into the system, then went back to the first target and adjusted the sights for any windage. He notice that the three business suits were hanging back, letting Frederick's group take the lead.
The fat boomer snarled, "Who are you?"
"The Knight Sabers," Sylia replied over her suit's speaker.
"You think you're hot stuff, don't you?" snarled the thin boomer. He began to swell and explode you of his disguise.
Craig fired.
The thin boomer was halfway out of his shredded disguise when a 78mm, modified HEAT (High Explosive, Anti-Tank) round slammed into his back, right between the shoulder blades. A fraction of a second after the round struck him, a jet of molten material and high explosive gas, traveling in the neighborhood of 7,000 meters per second (25,200 kilometers/hour, or more then 15,600 miles/hour) slammed through the boomer's back armor with all the difficulty of a sharp knife going through rice paper. What wasn't destroyed by the stream of super heated gas and material was ravaged when the overpressure blew apart the top half of the boomer.
"Yehah!" Craig cried over the radio, as he quickly changed targets and fired. Even as the first boomer was exploding, another round flew out of the darkness and slammed into one of the business suit boomer. In the midst of spinning to track the attacker, the boomer was struck in the left shoulder, losing his arm and most of his left side in a shower of flame and light. The boomer staggered, the damage too much for even its self-repair systems to handle. "Damn!" Craig muttered and fired again. The second round struck the boomer in the hip and finished its destruction.
Craig changed targets again, sighting on the female boomer from Frederick's group. But by then, everyone was moving. The two surviving members of Frederick's team threw themselves at the Knight Sabers, while the other two went after Craig.
"I think they're pissed!" Craig turned and dashed away from the battle. He dropped into a passageway on the far side of the structure turned left and ran. From the sounds that penetrated the walls and his helmet, Craig knew the battle was still going on. "Nene!" he shouted. "I don't see any boomers. Can you locate them?"
"No!" the redhead shouted.
Craig reached an intersection, turned left again. The corridor quickly opened up into another open-top chamber. "Any sign of Priss?" He could see lasers and flashes of movement in the night sky, but he was too busy running to take careful notice of the action.
"No, I think she got away."
Craig ran for the far side of the chamber. "Thank goodness for that. I can reach you in -"
Something dropped out of the night sky and landed in front of Craig. Even as he recognized it as one of the business-suited boomers, something told him to look behind him. The other well-dressed boomer, the female, looked back at him, smirking.
"What do we have here?" the male boomer asked.
"Looks like a Knight Saber," replied the female.
"Well...." said Craig and fired the last round of 78mm he had in the magazine at the male boomer, turned and fired his lasers at the female. Then he did what most people would do in his position.
He ran.
**********
In another part of the artificial island, three BU-12B combat boomers came on-line. They had been in shut down mode for several hours, the only connection was a communications channel linking them directly with Kasbasi. The order to activate had come through.
They exited the room they had been standing it, their combat computers now fully on-line and their weapons charging up. A battle plan was formed, refined and put into place, all in a matter of seconds.
They now had a mission and a plan - kill the Knight Sabers....