Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Bubblegum Avatar #2 – "Born to be Killed" ❯ Chapter 5 - “Intermission and Tangents” ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Chapter 5 - “Intermission and Tangents”
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To say the mood in Sylia’s living room that night was tense was pitting it mildly. Priss was slouched in her chair, glaring at everyone, but saving her best glower for Sylia. Linna sat on the couch, her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee. Nene sat next to her looking from Priss to Linna to Sylia in complete confusion. Sylia sat at the far end of the living room, her expression firm and serious. She would occasionally glance at her watch. Mackie stood by the windows, watching the others.

“He’s late,” Priss said.

“He’ll be here,” Linna replied.

As if on cue, the door to the penthouse opened and disheveled figure walked in. His clothes were grimy and worn, consisting of blue jeans, threadbare-looking hiking boots, grimy sweatshirt, a tattered raincoat and a ugly green baseball cap. As he walked in, they could all hear the ‘clink’ of metal knocking together from one of the raincoat’s pockets. The face was unshaven, with wild grey hair spilling over the face like an unchecked wave. A large bruise covered his left cheek and the eyes were brown and clear.

“Slumming?” Priss asked, looking the homeless person up and down.

“Not quite,” Craig replied, removing the baseball cap and wig. He tossed them on the table. “He reached into the pocket of his raincoat and pulled out a full can of beer. “You left this when you stormed out this morning,” he said to Priss, tossing the singer the can.

“Gee, thanks,” Priss replied sarcastically, catching the can and looking at it.

“Stormed out of where?” Nene asked, her brow wrinkled in puzzlement.

Craig removed the raincoat and dropped it onto the table next to the wig and cap. “I’ll explain when you’re older,” he replied.

“You’re late,” Sylia said.

“I know.” He slumped into an empty chair. “I had to take a longer route because I didn’t want to attract attention. I floated through the alleys dressed like this and never got a second glance from the other homeless.”

“That’s dangerous,” said Sylia. “While it is not as bad as in other parts of the city, we do have our share of predators around here. They could mistaken you for one of the sheep.”

Craig pulled out a large gun from behind his back and put it on the table in front of him. “This sheep is a Ram with a Klingon-type altitude. I have this and some other goodies on me, just in case I run into some of those wolves.”

“What happens if the cops stop you?” asked Linna. “You know guns are illegal in this country.”

“I have that covered.” Craig removed a small case from a pocket inside his shirt. He flipped it open, showing a small badge to Linna. “One of my alternative Identities. N-Police undercover officer by the name of Jiro Mathews. Nene’s put a entire record on this identity into the N-police files, so there’ll be something to back this up in case I get into serious trouble with the cops and there’s no other way out.”

“Great,” Priss muttered. “Not only are you a asshole, you’re a fake cop.”

“I try. You’re still pissed at me, aren’t you?”

“Damm right,” Priss replied. Her eyes shifted over to Sylia. “All right we’re all here. Now tell us what the hell is going on!”

Sylia looked unruffled. “As you know, Craig is not from out time or place.”

“So you say,” Priss shot back.

“Remember Ishmael?” said Craig. “Or are you still contenting he’s a figment of your limited imagination?”

Priss glared at him, but Sylia said, “Enough, you two. Sniping at each other will not make this meeting go any faster.”

“She started it.”

“I’m ending it, here and now.” Sylia’s tone was cold. “This team runs on trust between all of us, and right now you and Priss don’t trust each other. That maybe partially my fault, but this isn’t the time to assign blame.”

She let her gaze sweep the room. “You may wonder why I accepted Ishmael’s story so readily about Craig being from another dimension. The simple reason is that Craig was not the only item Ishmael brought here.”

Nene frowned. “I don’t understand. There’s more then one person from Craig’s time?”

“I didn’t say it was a person. I’ll show you something that came with Craig. Mackie, stat the disc. Linna, please turn down the lights.”

While Linna turned down the lights, the younger Stingray left the window and went over to a television in the corner of the room. He touched a button on a small box on top of the machine and stepped back. The television came on

The first thing they saw were the words 'YOUMEX PRESENTS' flash up on the screen.

“You brought us here to watch a movie?’ Priss asked caustically.

“What type of movie?’ asked Nene.

“Wait and see,” Craig replied.

The next thing that appeared was a building, silhouetted against an amber sky. A small explosion happened in the building, then another. It wasn't until she saw "GENOM - GENOM REPAIR GROUP - 1' did Priss say, “What is this? Some sort of GENOM propaganda for kids?”

"It gets worse," Mackie said quietly.

“I suggest we restrain our comments on what we are about to watch until after the program is finished,” said Sylia firmly.

“Anyone have any popcorn?” Craig asked glibly. That earned him a pair of glares from the singer and the leader.

The building finished collapsing, showing a huge building under construction behind it. Then, it was suddenly nightfall. In the lower right hand corner of the screen, the words 'BUBBLEGUM CRISIS' appeared, along with the words, “MEGATOKYO, 2032 -- THE STORY OF KNIGHT SABERS.”

A collage of scenes followed. Shots of the Lady633 Building flashed by, then pictures of someone that looked a lot like Linna leading an aerobics class and Priss polishing her bike. The silence in the room was complete with the exception of the video’s soundtrack.

The silence didn’t last long as the video continued. Priss started growling when the opening beats of ‘'Konya Wa Hurricane' started, and continued throughout the entire song. It took a swift and cold stare from Sylia to stop Priss’ vocal expression of her distaste. The singer slumped down in her chair and started shifting her glare from the screen to Craig, then to Sylia, and back to the screen again.

They all watched the fight between the boomer and the animated Knight Sabers at the fault. Both Nene and Linna were stunned by the animated characters that looked like them, sounded like them, and even acted like them. They would occasionally make a startled sound as their animated counterparts said and did things that were completely in character.

All the parts were there - Quincy, USSD, GENOM, Brian J. Mason, all the Knight Sabers, in and out of their Hardsuits, Sylia’s father's death, and the ADP. After the ending credits finished, Mackie stopped the disk.

For several long seconds, there was silence in the room. Then, Priss snarled, What the fuck was that?"

“That,” said Sylia slowly, “Was the first episode from the anime series from Craig’s dimension.”

Nene’s eyes were wide as saucers. “But th-that was me!” she squeaked. “And Linna, and Priss and Mackie and Leon and....” She stopped speaking, as she had run out of air.

Priss looked at Craig. “What do you have to say for yourself?” she growled.

“I didn’t bring them along,” Craig said quietly. “Ishmael included them to convince Sylia that he was serious about Largo.”

“Them?” Linna asked sharply. “How many episodes are there?”

“Eight,” Sylia said. “According to Ishmael, these events happened in another dimension, exactly as you saw them.”

Priss shot to her feet. “You knew that would happen, and you still let me go out there and get myself kidnaped searching for that god-damm kid boomer?”

Sylia looked at her hot-tempered teammate cooly. “I wasn’t completely sure,” she said. “It wasn’t until we fought the BU-55C, did I become fully convinced that this was something valuable.”

‘Those metal-plated morons could have killed me!” Priss yelled. “And you did nothing to protect me!”

“That’s not true!” Mackie snapped. “She did have someone covering your back!”

“Who? Nene?”

“No, me.”

Priss turned to look at Craig. “You?”

“Me,” Craig replied. “I was in my hardsuit and watched you every step of the way after you left here that night. If either one of those boomers had tried to kill you, I would have taken them out. I took out the second boomer at the crash site before he could follow you to Aqua City.”

“Why didn’t you take them out before they could kidnap me?”

“I told him not to,” Sylia said softly.

The singer spun around to look at her. “Why not?”

“Yes, why?” Linna asked.

“Largo has already experienced the events in the video you just saw. I wanted to see how much influence Largo had with Mason.”

“He had enough to send those extra boomers to Aqua City,” said Craig

Sylia nodded. “We managed to neutralize Largo’s foreknowledge this time, but we’re already changed the future.”

“Cynthia was suppose to have been destroyed at Aqua City,” said Nene, “And not rescued by us.”

“Yes.”

“What about Irene?” Linna asked. “Is she in one of the episodes?”

Sylia looked at Craig, who met her gaze with one of his own. “She’s Irene’s friend,” he said slowly. “She does have the right to know.”

The leader of the Knight Sabers nodded. “Now that it’s know, we will show you the episode involving Irene.” She looked at the dancer, her expression serious. “A word of warning, Linna. What you are about to see is a possible future for Irene and the rest of us. It is not set in stone, and if I can help, it will never happen. I promise you that I am doing everything I can to avoid these events from happening. Mackie, show the next episode.”

By the time everyone had sat down, the opening credits for the next installment had begun. They watched the retrieval of the black box from the ruins of Aqua City, the destruction of the superboomer lab, and the confrontation with Mason. Priss winced as her animated counterpart slap one of the female boomers, only to hurt her hand. Linna shrank in her chair as she watched the animated version of Irene get murdered by the female boomer. No one cheered as the animated Knight Sabers destroyed the superboomer.

After the end credits rolled, Linna looked at Craig. “Is that why you didn’t want to tell me about Irene?”

He shook his head. “Actually, I did want to tell you, but Sylia thought it would be better not to.”

“Why not?”

“Because I didn’t want to alert Mason and Largo that we knew the future,” said Sylia as she rose out of her chair. “This is our biggest edge in this war, and I can’t afford to throw it away on a whim.”

“Irene is not a whim!” Linna shouted, flying out of her seat.

“Chill!” Craig shouted, getting out of his seat quickly. He reached out and gripped Linna’s arm. “Sylia doesn’t mean –“

Linna spun and hit him with a left cross, and for the second time in a little more then twelve hours, Craig’s head rocked under the influence of a punch. He released Linna’s arm and staggered a couple of steps before he fell over, just missing the table and lamp. He landed on his back, his eyes unfocused, his expression one of surprise.

Linna gasped as she realized what she’d done. Both Nene and Sylia were stunned by the sudden violence, and even Priss looked startled. Sylia recovered the quickest. “Mackie!” she barked. “First aid kit, Now!” The younger Stingray dashed out of the room.

“I’msorry,” Linna blurted. “Ididn’tmeantohithim –“

”Linna,” said Sylia sharply. “Get a blanket.” The dancer, looking pale, went out of the room. Sylia want over and knelt next to Craig. “Stay still,” she ordered.

“I’m fine,” Craig mumbled, but Sylia could see that he was groggy and not sharp. A large bruise was forming along the right side of his jaw, and it was beginning to swell.

“Stay there,” she repeated. She glanced over at Nene. “Get some water.”

As the redhead dashed out to the kitchen, Priss, who hadn’t moved from her chair, slowly shook her head. “He had that coming,” she remarked.

Sylia turned to glare at her. “No, he did not,” she said coldly. “Now, get off your butt and give me a hand.”

After quickly making sure Craig’s neck was free of injury, Sylia and Priss managed to get him onto the couch. Mackie appeared with the first aid kit, followed by Linna and the blanket she had been sent for. Nene appeared with a pitcher of water and a glass. The blanket was tossed over Craig’s body, while Mackie placed the kit on the table and opened it. Craig struggled to sit up, but Linna and Priss pressed him down onto the couch while Sylia removed several items from the first aid kit. Nene placed a half full glass of water at Craig’s lips and let him sip some of the liquid before the redhead removed the glass and stepped back.

With a small penlight from the first aid kit, Sylia checked Craig’s eyes. “He’ll be all right,” she said.

“Told you,” Craig said, closing his eyes. His voice was thick and slow.

“But I want you to stay here tonight,” Sylia continued. “You need those bruises attended to.”

Craig groaned and opened one eye. “Right,” he said, his voice stronger. “Before Sylia treats my bruises, is there anyone else here who wants to punch out my lights? If so, please take your shot now.”

Linna stumbled away, her face still ashen. “S-Sylia,” she stammered, “I-I’ll talk to you later,” and ran out of the room. After a few seconds, the front door of the penthouse slammed.

“Good going asshole,” said Priss, her expression one of anger. “Can’t you keep your big mouth shut?”

“I’m getting sick and tired of being somebody else’s stress relief,” Craig shot back, closing his eye again.

“Priss is right,” Nene said. “You should learn some manners.”

“Look, people,” Craig replied. “Right now, my head feels like it’s been used in the World Cup final as the ball. I tend to get testy when I’m in pain, and between Priss and Linna, I have more pain and less patience then normal. I will apologize to Linna as soon as my head stops trying to disassociate itself from my body.”

“I think we have enough to think about for now,” Sylia said. “We’ll meet tomorrow evening and discuss this with cooler heads. Is seven o’clock fine with everyone?” No one objected, so while Sylia showed Nene and Priss out, Mackie helped Craig to the infirmary.

Mackie left him there while he went and check on something. So, he was lying on the bed when Sylia walked in several minutes later. “I think it’s time to discuss your habit for the cutting remark at the wrong time,” she said without preamble.

“I don’t,” Craig muttered His voice still sounded thick and swollen.

“Tough.” Sylia removed a small vial from a glass cabinet. “Your mouth and your tendency to open it without thinking has been your biggest enemy in the time you have been here. You have managed to antagonize one of the most powerful men in this city, if not the world. You have also disrupted the Sabers’ cohesion, which could endanger all our lives. It has to stop.”

“I don’t know if I can. Interpersonal communications are not one of my strengths.”

Sylia’s tone was one of harden steel. “You will. Your mouth is something I can not afford to ignore any more.” She walked over to the bed. “In order to work as a team, we have to trust each other completely. Priss thinks you’re interfering in her private life and Linna’s angry because you didn’t tell her about Irene.” She placed the vial into a small hypo-injector and adjusted the instrument.

“I’m sorry about that, but I’m not trying to be antagonistic.” Craig closed his eyes. “In Priss’ case, it was more of an attempt to show that I had information that Leon could use. I tried being as vague as I could about her boyfriend’s death, which wasn’t too hard to do, by the way. Leon latched onto it with more interest then I thought he would. I was just trying to be helpful.”

“I know, and that’s the problem. Which brings me to another matter. Hold still.” Sylia injected Craig’s jaw with the vial’s contents. “That should clean up most of the bruising overnight,” she said, walking away from Craig.

“Thanks. Are you sure that you don’t want to hit me? I’m sure you’re pissed at me too.”

“If I allowed myself to give in to that feeling, I would have hit Priss a long time ago.” She removed the now-empty vial from the hypo-injector and dropped it into a small container. “Getting back to your problem, stop trying to be a matchmaker for the others. I know that you are trying to help, but it’s a distraction and a bit presumptive on your part.”

“What matchmaking?”

“Besides your attempt with Nene and Mackie?” She turned and looked at him. “I’m talking about Priss and Leon.”

“Oh. I’m not really doing any matchmaking there. If there’s anything going on there, I’m not involved.”

“Priss seems to think you are.”

“Priss is still not comfortable with me. She thinks I’m setting her up with Leon.”

Sylia leaned back against the counter. “What exactly did you tell Leon about Priss’ murdered boyfriend?”

“What was in the one music video, ‘Asura E Touchdown’. I tried to keep it as vague as I could – no finger pointing, nothing more then a story I heard. He’s the one who dug out the case.”

“Priss overreacted, then.”

“She has a habit of doing that.” Craig touched his jaw. “Does that girl know the meaning of the word, ‘restraint’?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

Craig sighed. “Any ideas about how I should apologize to her and Linna?”

“Linna will accept a verbal apology. Priss is not as easy to satisfy.”

“I’ll think of something.”

“Rest first. Think later. If you want the guest bedroom, you can have it for tonight.”

“You’re not going to let me go home, huh?”

“Not tonight. I want to make sure you don’t have a concussion. If you’re all right in the morning, you can go home.”

“Thanks mom. Do I get a cookie before I go to bed?”

Sylia glared at him. “Why do you insist on trying to aggravate me?”

Craig sat up and looked at her. “To make sure you’re still human, with all the imperfections that we all have.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“You’re just like me, Sylia. We both hide our emotions and it isn’t healthy for either one of us.”

“So you’ve told me. But that’s my business.”

Craig buried his head in his hands. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

“You are. We aren’t fictional characters you can alter on a whim. You can’t set up for happy endings.”

“Why not? I don’t have friends outside of the team. Despite what Priss may think of me, I care about you guys, and if I can do something that makes you lives better, I’ll do it.”

Sylia shook her head. “But you are so obvious about it.”

“Subtly and me have never been close.”

“But we don’t need your help in that way. You can be a friend, but please don’t try to manipulate us.”

Craig got up off the table. “I’ll try, but no promises. Will you promise to tell me when I’m being manipulative?”

“You’ll know.”

“Why does that not make me feel any better?”

Sylia shook her head. “Go lay down. I’ll check on you in a couple of hours.”

Craig ran his fingers along the swollen part of his jaw. “It doesn’t feel as bad as it did before.”

“Most of the swelling will be gone in a couple of hours.”

“Good. See you in a couple of hours, then.” Craig walked out of the room.

****

A couple of hours later found the Knight Sabers in action.

The boomer rampage started when a quartet of BU-55Cs came out of nowhere and started tearing into a elementary school. Since it was late in the evening, there was no one in the school, but had it been twelve hours earlier or later, the death toll would have been in the hundreds. As it was, most of the school was destroyed in matter of several minutes.

The first ADP units to arrived managed to cordon off the area, but the boomers stayed in the burning ruins and contented themselves with sniping at the ADP and the Fire Department from cover. After the third police vehicle and second fire vehicle were destroyed, both the police and firemen pulled back.

Behind their car, Daley looked at his partner, who was looking up into the night sky. “Waiting for your girlfriends?” he asked.

“Yep.”

“You know the chief is going to give us hell for not moving in.”

“I know.”

“You don’t seem to care what the chief thinks, do you?”

“Nope.”

“Well,” said Daley, with some sarcasm, “that was an enlightened conversation.”
Leon looked at him. “As long as they stay in there, we can’t get at them. Infra-red is useless because of the fire, and they’re sniping at anyone who gets too close. We don’t have the men or equipment to pry them out of there.”

“Well,” said Daley, pointing up into the night sky. “Here they come.” Four figures in hardsuits dropped out of the darkness and landed inside the fence surrounding the school. Leon noted they were the four he was used to seeing, then scanned the darkness for the other Saber.

“Looking for someone else?” Daley asked.

“You never know,” Leon replied easily.

*****

The person Leon was looking for was standing on the rooftop of an apartment building on the other side of the school from the ADP command post, watching the hellish scene below him through the scope of his sniper rifle. He watched the rest of the team land in the schoolyard and begin moving in. “I’m in position,” he said.

“Right,” said Sylia cooly. “You know what to do.”

“I know.” Craig stopped staring through the scope and glanced around the roof. Nothing but the darkness of shadows and fight surrounded him. “Thumb twiddling at its finest,” he muttered.

“Quiet,” Sylia said. “We’re moving in.”

The rampage report had come in just as Craig had walked into Sylia’s living room after his ‘nap’. The call had gone out to the others, and by the time they arrived, Craig was dressed in his hardsuit and waiting in the hanger next to the VTOL that current served as the Saber’s air transport.

The air was tense on the aircraft as it raced towards the scene of the attack. Neither Priss nor Linna was talking to him, while Sylia spoke to him only to give him his instructions. Only Nene wasn’t angry at him for some reason, and she followed the cue of the others, and spent most of her time monitoring the situation with the boomers.

Sylia’s instructions to Craig were short and to the point. “Find a spot overlooking the battlefield and cover us,” she had said. “Don’t reveal yourself or your position unless I order you to or if there’s an ambush. Otherwise, stay hidden.” Her cool tone had throttled any snappy comebacks from Craig, so he had kept his mouth shut. Since then, the Sabers hadn’t spoken more then a dozen words collectively.

Craig watched the rest of the team land inside the fence. “Nene,” Sylia said, “see if you can locate those Boomers. Priss, Linna, stay alert.”
Craig shifted his attention away from the school and swept the surrounding buildings for any trouble. He concentrated on the surrounding rooftops, searching for any hidden boomers. He spotted a couple of ADP squads scattered among the solar collectors and air conditioning units on several other buildings, but he was alone on this rooftop.

“I’m switching over to seismic,” Nene said.

An explosion from the school brought Craig’s attention back to the scene below him. A fireball was rising from the school, spilling flame and smoke into the night sky. “Something’s coming out!” Nene shouted.

Three boomers flew out of the fireball, mouth cannons firing and claws extended. The Sabers scattered as the barrage exploded among them, adding more fire to the inferno. The boomers split up, each going after a different Saber.

“Nene, fall back and coordinate,” Sylia shouted. “Craig, keep an eye out for that last boomer!”

The blue and red Saber leapt back, while the others moved in to confront their opponents. Sylia ducked several blows from her boomer before she hit it with a swift and lethal combination of cannon shots and lasersword slashes that dismembered it quickly. Linna’s fight was almost as short, with the same result to the boomer.

A flash of movement from the trees near the far end of the school caught Craig’s attention even as he focused his sights on that area, the trees exploded as half a dozen Boomers came shooting out of them.

“Ambush! Ambush! Ambush!” Craig screamed as he lined up a shot at one of the new attackers. “Six BU-12's! Nine o’clock!”

Both Linna and Sylia spun to confront the new threat. Priss was still too busy with the third BU-55 to help, while Nene was torn between scanning for the still-missing fourth BU-55, coordinating the rest of the team, and trying to supply data on the new boomers.

Craig fired at one of the new attackers, riding the shot as he did so. The large-caliber slug crashed into the boomer’s left shoulder near the neck, knocking it to the ground in a spray of fire and dirt.

Being a boomer specially designed for combat, the BU-12's responded to one of their own being hit by returning fire. They spun as one and, with the quickness of high speed battle computers, triangulated the position and opened fire.

“Craig!” Sylia shouted, “Get out of there!”

Craig leapt back from the edge, his jump jets and hardsuit’s actuators propelling him away farther and quicker then he could have done otherwise. The rooftop became a sea of explosions as the heavy fusillade ripped through the concrete and sheet metal. The shockwave slammed into the Black Knight Saber, sending him tumbling head over heels and off the building.

“Oh, shit!” he yelled, as he tumbled towards the ground below. After a few gut-wrenching seconds, the hardsuit’s gyro regained control, stopping the spinning and giving Craig control of his suit again. Instead of crashing into the concrete, he landed on his feet with enough force to leave a slight depression in the roadway. Fortunately, there was no traffic at that exact moment.

He took several seconds to clear his head. “Craig!” Sylia was shouting on the radio. “Are you all right?”

“I’m all right,” he said. “Orders?”

“Get back over here!”

“On my way.” It was then he noticed the small number of people standing around him, looking shocked at his sudden appearance. He switched on his helmet’s loudspeaker. “What?” he asked.

Someone shouted, “It’s a boomer!”, and panic broke out as everyone ran in terror.

“Critics,” Craig muttered and headed back to the battle.

*****

“Should we move in now?” Daley asked.

The ADP were stilling holding their positions. Whenever a boomer was clear of the action, the closest troopers would open fire on it with whatever weapons they had. handy. The boomers did not press their attacks against the ADP, preferring to concentrate on the Sabers.

Leon shook his head. “Not yet,” he said.

“Why not?”

“Let the Sabers pare down the odds first.”

One of the boomers died as the Green Saber’s ribbons slashed through its arms and chest, while Blue finally finished off the BU-55 she’d been facing. Red Saber was standing back from the fight doing her job of supporting the other three. The White Saber was moving among the boomers with the grace and skill of a ballerina, avoiding lasers and physical strikes with great ease. Both Green and Blue joined her, and two more boomers died. The surviving two BU-12s, both heavily damaged, started backpedaling, both of them firing with apparent desperation at the advancing Sabers.

Daley looked up at the fire and smoke emanating from the building the Boomers had fired at for some reason. “Why did they fire at the building?”

“I have some suspicions,” Leon replied. “Somebody knocked that first BU-12 down, and it wasn’t any of the Sabers we’ve seen. That building was a great location for a sniper.”

“You think the Sabers have a new member?”

“I know they have a new member.”

“Oh?” Daley seemed interested. “What does she do?”

Leon shook his head. “It’s a guy. Remember the boomer who was shot with fifty caliber rounds the same night as Aqua City?”

“They hired a guy?”

“Yep. He seems to be the teams heavy weapons and sniper specialist.”

“That’s assuming he’s still alive.” Daley looked at his partner. “When did you find out about this guy?”

“Aqua City. He was waiting for the rest of the team, so we talked for a moment.”

“Find out anything?”

“Yea, he’s a wise-ass.”

“Sir!” one of the com techs shouted from the communications truck behind the inspectors. “We’ve just had a report of a boomer landing in the street a block East of here!”

“Is there a description of the boomer?” Leon asked.

“Just that it was black and had a cannon of some sort on its shoulder.”

Leon arched an eyebrow. “That answers that question,” he muttered.

“Your new friend?” Daley asked.

The taller Inspector nodded. “Tell the units that we’re moving in thirty seconds.”

******

Craig ran down the alley, his hardsuit giving him the speed, if not the grace, of an Olympic sprinter. Because of flaming debris from the building when he has just left was crashing into the street, he was forced to use his jump jets to take him half a block down the street and into this alley.

A small screen inside his helmet gave him the location of the battle and the surrounding area. He was now three quarters of the way down the alley, running towards a three meter high stone wall. “ETA is fifteen seconds,” he said over the radio.

“You’d better hurry,” said Nene. “The ADP is getting ready to move in.”

He launched himself over the wall. “I will be – HOLY SHIT!”

The alley on the other side of the wall wasn’t empty.

It was full of boomers.

BU-12B Combat boomers.

Boomers who were now beginning to realize that there was a possible target among them.

Fortunately, the closest boomer to Craig happened to be right in his path and was struck in the back by an improvised drop kick from the Black Saber. The kick, powered by the hardsuit’s actuators, the momentum of Craig’s original jump, and an adrenaline-boosted surge of panic, sent the boomer smashing into the one before it, and the one before that. Before Craig’s feet hit the ground, there was a small pile of boomer struggling to get up and kill him. The others on the alley had no such problems and were even now turning to attack him.

Craig fired his hardsuit’s jump jets, firing his arm lasers into the boomer pile in front of him as he rocketed into the air. “Boomer! Boomer! Boomer!” he screamed, “It’s another ambush!”

“How many?” Sylia snapped.

Craig landed on the other side of the wall. “Enough to turn this little black duck into sushi!” The wall shattered under the combined firepower of several boomers. Craig turned and ran, firing his lasers blindly behind him. “A dozen, maybe more,” he said in a slightly less panicky voice. “My location.”

“We’re on our way,” Sylia said. “Keep heading east and we’ll meet you.”

“Right.” Craig launched himself into the air, his jump jets pushing him into the air. The air beneath him became a sea of lasers and missiles that would have shredded him, hardsuit or no. A balcony was coming up fast on his left and he reached out and grabbed the railing, cutting his jump jets off as he did so. Using his momentum, he swung himself up and over the rail, landing face down in the concrete.

The impact was hard enough to expel all the air from his lungs, and Craig grimaced as pain shot through his forearms, thighs and knees. He wanted to lie there and pretend that there wasn’t a dozen boomers out to kill him, but Sylia’s endless training took hold. He shot to his feet and hit the jump jets again sending into the air again three heartbeats before the balcony dissolved in a barrage of boomer fire.

His landing on the roof of the building was a bit better, as he managed to roll to his feet and run away from the increasing fire from his pursuers that was wrecking the roof’s edge. He raced around the a solar panel, turned, activated his sniper rife and pointed in the direction of the pursuit. As soon as the first boomer leapt into sight, he fired two rounds. Both rounds hit, knocking the boomer back into the alley. He turned and starting running again, the sniper rifle switching back into stand-by mode.

*****
The eruption of a new battle a block away from the burning school caught Leon and Daley by surprise. “What the hell?” the red-headed inspector said.

Leon looked over his shoulder at the comm tech. “Get two squads over there and find out what the hell is going on!”

The last of the Knight Saber’s boomer opponents was down, due to a double team between Blue and Green Sabers. The battlefield now clear, all four sabers turned in the direction of the explosions. As one, they launched themselves into the air, angling off at an angle to the fight, which seemed to be moving in the direction the Sabers were going.

As the Sabers disappeared into the night, Daley had grabbed a pair of binoculars and scanned the rooftops where the battle seemed to be raging. “Leon!” he hissed. “Over there!” He handed the binoculars to his partner while pointing at a building to the right and behind the building the ambushing BU-12's had shot at. “The rooftop!”

Leon snatched the binoculars from Daley and peered at the rooftop indicated. After a few second, he spotted someone moving up there, though the darkness didn’t revel much in the way of details. There were flashes of light as the figure fired twice in the direction of the building next to the building with the wrecked rooftop, the flack crack of a heavy caliber rifle just audible over the fire, explosions and sirens.

“Sounds a lot like a Gerlitch,” Daley remarked. “That your new friend?”

“Could be,” Leon replied, his eyes not leaving the rooftop. “He does carry –“

A volley of laser and missiles from the building the sniper had shot at crashed into the second building, sending flame and debris into the air. The shadow ran off deeper into the darkness, sparks nipping at its heels like a pack of angry dogs. Less then five seconds later, half a dozen large, bulky figures flew from the first building to the second.

“Boomers,” Leon muttered. “Figures.”

“What?” Daley asked.

“Can your unit clean up here?”

“No problem. What’s up?”

“We’ve got another group of boomers running amuck. I’ll take my unit and go after them.”

“Be careful.”

“Don’t worry about me. Worry about that guy. He’s the one being pursued by half a dozen pissed off combat boomers.”

Daley shrugged. “Maybe they didn’t like his humor any better then you did.”

“It wasn’t that bad.” He turned to the comm tech. “Get Huntley and Fujiyama.”

******

The running battle on the rooftops was worse then the one at Aqua City.

For one thing, there were more boomers after him here then there had been on the artificial island. A half dozen, maybe more, were now pursuing him, and they were not concerned with things like property damage or innocent citizens. They were relentless in their pursuit, and Craig had been forced to change directions to prevent being cut off by flanking boomers. Several times, he had to duck and weave to avoid lasers and cannon fire from his hunters, standing and firing just enough to keep them from stampeding him, then dashing off again.

The choice of battlegrounds offered the clutter and shadows of the artificial island with the shooting gallery openness when he jumped between the buildings. If not for his jump jets, he would have been cut off and surrounded by now, something he didn’t want to think about.

There were two things that was exactly the same as Aqua City. The first being the fact he was the object of enraged boomers pursuing him.

And the second was he wasn’t happy about it.

“Anytime....soon!” Craig shouted into his radio as he fired two more rounds at his pursuers before he turned and ran. “I’m running out....out of bullets and breath....quicker then targets....here!”

“We’re almost in position,” Sylia said, her voice strong and level. “Next building. Be ready to drop when I tell you to.”

“Drop what?”

“You. Ten seconds to contact.”

A glace back told him the boomers were still dogging him. “Right.”

He darted behind an air vent just as it shuddered from several impacts. He didn’t stop, but continued running. The edge of the building was coming up, and the next building was a hundred meters away, across a raised highway. He reached the edge, and with groan of effort, he leapt into the nigh air, his jump jets adding distance and power to the leap. He turned and fired his lasers back in the direction he’d come from, putting out a flurry of shots designed to slow the boomers for an instant. He was halfway across when the first of the boomers reached the edge of the building and launched themselves after him. Craig frantically wove to avoid the boomer’s return fire.

He glanced back at his upcoming landing area. Being shorter then the one he had jumped from, Craig could see most of the roof and what he saw didn’t ease his mind any. There was no sign of the rest of the team, or anyone else. “Not good,” he muttered.

Just then, a hard punch struck him between the shoulder blades. As he tried to tried to understand what had happened, he was overwhelmed with a thunderous explosion that sent him tumbling towards his landing site.

“Oh shit!” Craig screamed. Unlike the other time, the hardsuit’s gyros didn’t correct the suit’s descent. He saw enough of the building to see he would make the rooftop and not fall short.

That didn’t mean his landing was going to be easy.

It wasn’t.

He struck the top of a air-condition unit, bounced, clipped a solar panel, tumbled through the air until he struck an air vent with enough force to dent the housing, then landed with a loud clatter on the asphalt, face down. Through the haze, he thought he heard Sylia said “Fire!” but his mind was too busy trying to reclaim control of his jangled senses to make sure.

He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the discomfort that flared throughout his body. He swayed slightly, forcing him to reach out and grab the housing of the air vent he had crashed into. “That hurt,” he muttered. Despite the hard exercise, he wasn’t winded.

Nene came out of the darkness. “Are you all right?” she asked over the radio.

“Just call me the Clay Pigeon.”

“Huh?”

“I’m all right.”

“Are you sure? Turn around.” Craig did so slowly, letting Nene look at his back. “Does it hurt?’ she asked..

His back began to throb, as adrenalin ceased masking the pain. “How bad is it?”

“I’ve seen worse,” she replied. “Your suit’s going to need some repair.”

“I hope I don’t need repair.” He turned to look at her. “Where’s the rest of the team?” It was then that he noticed the explosions and heavy weapons fire coming from the direction he’d come from. “What the....”

“Sylia called in the motorslaves,” Nene replied. “That’s why it took so long for us to set up.”

“I hope they get them all. The last ten minutes were not my idea of fun.”

The firing stopped. “We got them all,” said Sylia. “Craig, can you move?”

Craig glanced at his hardsuit’s monitors. “Sort of,” he replied. “Jumping’s out. Whatever hit me that last second toasted most of my jump pack. I have several minor actuator failures, some armor damage, and I feel a bit like a pureed frog. Other then that, I’m fine.”

“I’m sending your motorslave to you. Link up with it and use it to augment your movement.”

“All right.” Craig triggered his locator beacon for the motorslave. “Sylia, is everyone else all right?”

“Yes. We caught them all in mid-jump and destroyed them before they could return fire.”

“Nice landing,” said Priss, snickering. “How long did it take to practice that?”

“No practice involved,” Craig replied with cheerfulness borne out a near-death experience. “After working out with Linna, I can bounce real good.”

“He can,” Linna cut in, giggling softly.. “He also get the same look of surprise whenever he’s in mid-fall.”

“That’s enough chatter for now.” Sylia was silent for a second before she continued. “There’s one thing about your performance.”

Craig went cold. “What?’ he asked, trying to keep the worry from his voice.

“You did very well. You discovered the ambush and managed to keep ahead of them long enough for us to set up our own ambush.”

“Thanks.” Relief washed through him that he wasn’t going to be chewed out. “Don’t think I’m going to do this every time.”

“I won’t. Nene, stay with Craig and meet us at this rally point. I’m sending the coordinates now.” A small map appeared in the corner of Craig’s HUD, showing a location three blocks to the north. “Mackie will meet us there.”

Just then, the menacing form of Craig’s motorslave came out of the darkness. There was still a hint of smoke coming from the barrel of the cannon it carried in its hands, and with the exception of some scuffs, looked undamaged. It stopped and the central compartment opened up to allow Craig to climb in.

Once Craig was inside and ready, both he and Nene started for the rallying point.

*****

Leon looked at the mess on the road in front of him with some puzzlement.

The area of the highway was sprinkled with boomer parts, most of which was smaller then Leon’s fist in size. Only a couple of passing cars had been caught in the sudden rain of boomer bits. Now they were battered chunks of metal and plastic. Fortunately, no one besides the boomers was hurt.

“There must be at least a dozen of them,” one of the ADP troopers standing next to Leon muttered.

“Yea, but what did they run into?” Leon said slowly.

“The Sabers probably. But damn if I know what they used.”

“Get teams on these buildings’ roofs,” the inspector said, pointing to the two building on each side of the highway. “See if we can get some clues up there.”

The trooper hustled off, leaving Leon alone. He reached inside his car and picked up the radio mike. “Yo! Daley!”

“Yes?” he partner replied. “Did you find those boomers or your friend yet?”

“No luck on the friend, but he and his girlfriends left a mess on the Southeast Overpass. Looks like someone got in some skeet shooting, with the boomers as the skeet.”

“It’s not much better on my end. We have the Fire Department moving in to put out the fires, but the school looks like it’s a lost cause.”

“Any sign of that fourth 55C?”

“Negative. I’ve got what squads I can spare out looking for it, but no luck so far. It might have been caught in the fire.”

“Maybe, but I somehow doubt it,” Leon replied. “We’re going to be here for a while. I’ll contact you if we run into problems.”

“Right, but be careful. Someone managed to get their hands on a lot of boomers tonight, and they were gunning for the Knight Sabers.”

“I get the impression someone doesn’t like them. Leon out.”

*****

No one saw the shadow in the alley.

It watched as the Fire Department fight the inferno that had been a school with cold indifference. It had avoided the few ADP squads that had been looking for it, resisting the urge to kill them, despite its orders.

But its orders were clear: it was to stay out of sight, observe and record the Knight Sabers, and return to base. Combat was to be initiated only if discovered.

The initial report the ADP had received was that four BU-55Cs had attacked the school, but that was wrong. There had been only three 55Cs, while the fourth was actually a BU-96C recon boomer that had slipped away from the school before the ADP arrived. It had observed the standoff with the ADP, the arrival of the Knight Sabers and battle with the 55Cs, as planned. The failure of the first ambush had not been a surprise to it, but the disruption of the second, and more important ambush, did puzzle it. Something had happened, but what?

It shut off that line of thought. Its mission was to record and return to base with the data. Someone else would do the analyzing.

Another scan of the area showed it was clear. It was time to return to base. With a light use of its jump jets, the 96C leapt to the rooftops and started back to base.

GENOM Tower.