Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Black Knights, Steel Hearts ❯ Chapter 35

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

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Bubble Gum Crisis is copyrighted by Artmic Inc. and Youmex, Inc. I am
just borrowing the characters for a little while, and promise not to
bend, fold, or staple them - unless I can come up with a good reason to
do so. I can be contacted at the Email address above. C&C will be
accepted, out and out flames will result in a Boomer or two being sent
after you, once they get around to inventing them.

Please, enjoy my take on the Bubble Gum Crisis universe.....
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< br> Chapter 35

Gulf and Bradley World Headquarters
Houston, Texas USA
Saturday, December, 22 2035
3:21pm (MST)

Martha Desalvo was listed in the Gulf and Bradley corporate structure as "Executive Vice-president in charge of Internal Affairs," a polite and long-winded way of saying she was G&B's Chief assassin/spy/security specialist. Tall and lean, she still looked like a high fashion model she had once been. But most models didn't have a Master's degree in psychology, advanced Dans ranks in three different Martial Arts, rated as 'expert marksman' in both pistol and sniper rifle, and the nickname 'The Ice Witch" for her cold beauty and ruthlessness.

She had been the first of Janson Bradley's new management changes in the wake of Carson Bradley's death, her predecessor ousted for being incompetent in failing to protect the chairman. Unlike Carson, Janson valued people who produced results over sycophants, and Desalvo had reached her current position by simply being better then anyone else in her division. As such, she was one of the few people the present G&B chairman trusted completely.

She was staring out one of the large windows that made up two of her office walls. It was three days before Christmas, but the crowd
of last minute shoppers walking eighty-five stories were far from her mind. Instead, her thoughts and gaze, were focused on the horizon, as if she could actually see the cause of her current thoughts - MegaToyko.

I told Janson that those two would be trouble, she thought to herself. If I was related to those two, I would have eliminated them a long time ago just for breathing precious air! Her opinion about Janson's nephew and niece was well known to the chairman, but his decision had been final: Carlton Bradley had to show he had the ability to be the next head of G&B, and the Japan branch needed someone to run it effectively in the shadow of GENOM.

At least, that is what Janson Bradley said publicly. Privately, he didn't want either one of them in a position to undermined him directly. Janson Bradley was a hard man - weak people didn't rise to head large conglomerates like Gulf and Bradley or GENOM, but he tempered his hardness with a streak of practicality that had served him well in the wake of his brother's death. It was this combination that had gotten Janson into the position of Chairman and had kept him there.

The same blend of traits had made him decide to send his nephew and niece to Mega-Tokyo. Janson had never liked the Giant Boomer
project that Carson had negotiated with GENOM. After the prototype's destruction under mysterious circumstances and a top G&B employee jailed, Janson had pulled Gulf and Bradley out of the project, citing incompetence on GENOM's part. The resulting war of words had been short but bitter, convincing Janson he had done the right thing to begin with.

But right after that, both Carlton and Cora Bradley had started pushing for more say in how the corporation was being run. They began question their Uncle on business decisions, policies, and personnel determinations, including Desalvo's appointment to her current position. As together they own somewhat more then twenty percent of the outstanding shares in Gulf and Bradley, the twins couldn't be ignored or shunted aside.

When the position of G&B - Japan opened up, Janson saw a chance to sidetrack them for the foreseeable future. He knew that the pair
harbored an intense hatred for Chairman Quincy and GENOM and had a tendency to act out their aggressions. At worst, the twins would try
and extract revenge against GENOM, and ending up paying the price for it, either with their lives or diminished support inside the company. Should they somehow succeed, GENOM would be weaken and Gulf and Bradley would be in a position to profit from it.

You're playing a dangerous game with two unstable people, Desalvo thought to herself. As a precaution, she'd placed several of her own people inside G&B to keep an eye on the twins. The few reports she did received were disturbing -- the twins were up to something, but she had no idea what. She had her suspicions, but she needed more proof first.

The intercom beeped. She turned away from the window and tapped a button on the compact unit. "Yes?"

"There's a Mr. Wells on the phone from Mega-Tokyo," said her secretary.

Desalvo frowned. Wells was one of her independent contacts, people who had no direct connection with Gulf and Bradley. She used them when she wanted information that wasn't filtered by internal biases. This one was one of the few she had in Mega-Tokyo, but he was her best source. She glanced at her clock. It must be important if he's calling now, she thought.

"Put him through."

The vidphone flickered to life and she recognized the blond man in the rumpled suit. /I'm glad I caught you in,/ he said.

"Spare the pleasantries," she said curtly. "What do you have?"

/We've got a corpwar kicking up into high gear here, and the twins are in the thick of it,/ replied Wells grimly. /They've managed to piss off not only GENOM, but MALCORP./

"What the hell did they do to piss off MALCORP?"

/How about kidnaping Greg Mallory's Goddaughter and dragging her to Mega-Tokyo for starters?/

"Shit," growled Desalvo. "What else?"

/The twins were the one behind the Thor attack last night./

"WHAT?" Desalvo yelled. Those assholes! "Why in the hell did they do such a thing?"

/They did it in an attempt to elimanate both the Black Knights and the Knight Sabers, and they bungled it badly./

A long string of very unlady-like curse came rolling off of Desalvo's tongue. That disaster had been played up big in the news, with parts of the government pointing fingers at other parts. Of all the asinine things those two idiots could have done! "Do you have proof?"

/When the time comes./

"You're not just yanking my chain?"

Wells shook his head. /My source is very good and very trustworthy. If they say the Bradley twins were behind the Thor attack, then they were behind it./

"The Black Knights are involved?"

Wells nodded this time. /It looks like they've struck an alliance with the Knight Sabers to take on Gulf and Bradley - Japan./

A flash of pain across her temples signaled the start of a strong headache. "Any more good news?"

/All the signs point to a full-out assault on somebody very shortly, maybe even within the hour./

Damn, damn, DAMN! "All right, try and get me anything else you can. I'm coming over there and see what the hell is going on myself."

/Things are spinning out of control very quickly here. I'll do what I can, but I 'm not sure how much I can find./

"Do what you can. We'll talk again shortly." She severed the connection and stalked out of the office. As she passed her secretary, she said, "Call Mr. Bradley and tell him I need to see him at once."

"Yes ma'am."

"Then call Mr. Hyde and tell him I want three -- no, FOUR security teams geared up and ready to fly within the hour. Also tell him we're going to Mega-Tokyo, and it's a Magenta-code situation advisory."

The secretary paled slightly. Before she could respond again, Desalvo was out of the office.

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Gulf and Bradley Petrochemical Refinery Alpha Star One
District 7, MegaTokyo, Japan
Sunday, December 23, 2035
4:19am

The refinery sat on a spit of land in Tokyo Bay, sticking out into the body of water like a think metal finger. Covering the area of a fair size town in it's own right, it was a mass of storage tanks and pipes, steel and concrete, towers and pits, all manned by Boomers with human supervision.

It's official name was Alpha Star One, but most of the human that worked there called it simply "Alpha". To Gulf and Bradley, it was a jewel in the corporate crown, a show piece to the world. As a money-maker, it had few equals. Easily the largest refinery complex in the world, it was processing a full fifteen percent of the Pacific Rim's yearly gas requirement from the Indonesian Oil fields. As such, the refinery ran twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year in order to keep up with the demand.

Because of it's size and importance, security here was tight.The Boomer workers were all GBGP-21s, programed with a dual worker/security program package, with special protocols to prevent a stray blast from turning the plant into an inferno. These in turn were backed by modified GBS-18s flying squads that could reach any part of the complex in less then two minutes. There was no central security command center, but several sector command bunkers linked together by buried and protected land lines and disguised as pumping stations or maintenance sheds.

Surrounding the refinery's land perimeter was a series of fences and wires designed to slow or cripple any attempt to breech the security there. On the bay side, the sea floor was covered with sensors and command-activated mines, designed to detect and eliminate a seaborne attempt. The GBS-18s handled any attempt to attack the place from the air.

Security was considered to be excellent for a installation this size. Several attempts by groups of eco-terrorists and political extremists to interfere with Alpha's production had been stopped cold by the Boomers and the other defensive methods, several so successfully that Gulf and Bradley didn't bother to inform the authorities of the attacks. Those few terrorists that survived were never heard from again. As an added precaution, one of the first things Carlton Bradley had done when he'd taken over the Japan Branch of Gulf and Bradley was to increased security even more. Now, the place was an armed fortress, ready to take anything thrown at it.

It wasn't good enough.

The first inkling that something was about to happened occurred when several of the sensors located on the bottom of Tokyo Bay ceased transmission. After the fifth one failed in as many minutes, The command bunker responsible for that sector dispatched a pair if GBS-18s to scout the area from the air, and alerted the other command bunkers to the possibility of another attack. Boomers moved to their staging areas, while the humans began shifting as much of the highly flammable liquids away from the sectors nearest the possible threat.

From the time the GBS-18s had been dispatched, to the time they reached the area where the failed sensors were located, two minutes has elapsed. During that time, several more sensors had broken down, leaving gaps in the sensor fields large enough to allow human-sized objects through undetected. Deciding this was something more then an accidental failure, the entire refinery went to maximum alert, and another quartet of GBS-18s were sent out to reinforced the first two.

The first two GBS-18s hovered ten meters over the still, dark waters of Tokyo Bay, scanning for evidence of life forms not natural to the environment. After several seconds, they scanners were tracking several large masses rapidly moving towards the refinery's docks. Immediately, the pair sent a message to the nearest command bunker, confirming the alert, and putting the number of intruders at a dozen, possibly Boomers. The reply was swift and immediate; gather more data.

In response, the GBS-18s dropped towards the water, stopping when they were less then five meters from the black surface. The sensors began gathering more data, looking for something that would identify these intruders. As the Boomer's CPUs started running matches against the targets listed in their memory banks, the sensor detected sudden movement from the masses below them. Several smaller objects leapt from the intruders' masses and raced toward the surface. Reacting on basic programming, both GBS-18s increased thrust in an attempt to gain height. They never made it.

Six small missiles burst from the dark surface and began to home on the pair. The GBS-18s split up, twisting and moving as erratically as they could while still trying to gain more air. The missiles also split up, three targeting each GBS-18 and gaining quickly on them. The Boomers turned and tried to shoot down the missiles with their own weapons, each sending all the data they had gathered to the command bunker in a final show of programmed loyalty. The missiles then struck, turning the two Boomers into a blossom of flame and sound that was visible and audible for kilometers.

Acting on the destroyed Boomers data, the quartet of GBS-18s sent to reinforce them were redirected to intercept and harass the intruders. At the docks, two dozen GBGP-21s moved into position, tasked with keeping the intruders on the docks and away from the storage tanks. Alerts were sent to G&B Headquarters and the AD Police, while other command bunkers kept one eye on the upcoming battle, the other on their own sectors.

And still the intruders came on. By now, everyone at the refinery, human and Boomer alike, realized the attackers weren't humans, but Boomers. That meant that the Boomers were probably on a 'suicide' mission, intending to take out as much of the refinery as they could before they were destroyed.

The reaction from the human overseers was immediate and thorough. Commands that over-rode the 'minimal damage' protocols were transmitted from the command bunker responsible for the docks to the waiting Boomers. Close behind, a complex battle plan was downloaded into the Boomer's on-board memory in the blink of an eye. In response, the boomers ripped out of their human disguises, deploying mouth lasers and other weapons and they moved into final defensive positions. Other bunkers watched their sectors carefully, waiting for another attack to appear.

Just as the last of the defenders reached their programmed positions, the water near the docks began to froth. With loud splashes, a dozen missile bursted out of the water and angled for the shoreline and docks. They were followed three seconds later by another dozen missiles, then another salvo. The defenders replied with laser and shell, trying to eliminate the incoming missile swarm. A third fell to the intense fire, but the remaining missiles crashed into the docks and ships docked there. Explosions rocked the docks as the warheads went off, sending gouts of fire and debris in every direction. Several of the 21s were destroyed in the raging sea of explosions, while the airborne 18s were forced to fall back to regroup and refocus.

As the defending Boomers moved to recover, several forms burst out of dark water. Their jets firing just enough to get them to the docks, the attacking boomers landed and continued their attack. The air was suddenly filled with missiles, laser beams, and bullets. Boomers were destroyed on both sides as the ongoing fires turned the area into a Hell-like landscape. Above the battle, defending GBS-18s floated like hideous parities of angels, looking for good shots against the intruders.

Finally having a solid visual to rely on, the 21s and 18s quickly identified the attackers as BU-17 Hellbenders combat Boomers -- cyberdroids designed for a seaborne attack like this. Boomers that shouldn't be anyway near the city....

About half of the attacking force was down now, either destroyed, or too badly damaged to continue. The losses among the defenders wasn't nearly as grim, but still serious. Sensing victory, the surviving defenders surged forward, looking to end the battle quickly.

Unfortunately, the attack at the docks wasn't the real thing, but a diversion....

All the GBS-18s that had been acting as air cover over the battle suddenly exploded in a shower of sparks and shattered metal. Several dark shapes flew through the dying discharges, sending a hail of laser fire into the 21s below. Stunned by the sudden change in the fight, the defense began to crumble. The unknown aero-boomers continued their strafing runs as the surviving Hellbenders retreated to the relative safety of the water

At the same time, across the refinery, a dozen dark shadows moved quickly and silently among the storage tanks. The few sentry boomers left in the area had been quickly and ruthless dispatched, as had the humans who'd been manning the security bunker for the sector. Now, each and every storage tank was being tagged with an explosive device designed to destroy the pumps regulating the oil transference. Once detonated, the tanks would be filled of valuable oil, but unreachable until the pumps were replaced. It wasn't as damaging as destroying the tanks outright, but even GENOM realized that igniting several trillion kiloliters of highly flammable crude and refined gas all at once wasn't a good idea.

Once the last of the Hellbenders had retreated into the darkness of Tokyo Bay, the aero-boomers broke off their attack and roared off into the night sky. At an unseen signal, the sabotaging boomers stopped and moved swiftly and silently back to the refinery's fence line. In minutes, they, too, had faded into the darkness surrounding Alpha One.

Across the city, other attacks, both smaller in scope and aim, struck at Gulf and Bradley-owned businesses. Some succeeded completely, while others did not. But the results all had the same effect: Gulf and Bradley was losing money, data and people, items that every corporation needed to stay alive in the brutal landscape of business. It wasn't a mortal blow -- Gulf and Bradley was too large and widespread to collapse under an assault of one of its subsidiaries. But the attacks heralded the entry of GENOM into the dispute, turning what was once a shadow war into possibly something more ominous and deadly....

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AD Police Headquarters
MegaTokyo, Japan
Sunday, December 23, 2035
4:09am

Daley looked at the men and women grouped around the table. They all looked as tired as he felt. The people around the table were a mix of investigating detectives and detachment commanders, officers who were going to be caught in the middle of what could be a brutal Corpwar. Jeena's revelations had hit him hard in the stomach. Boomer rampages were bad enough, but out and out warfare?

The redheaded inspector's eyes wonder around the table. Julian Weiss was asleep, his head cradled in his arms. Mandy Thesan was leaning back in her chair glaring at anyone who bothered to look at her. Most of the others around the table were half dozing, despite the triple strength coffee forced upon them when they walked in the door. With the exception of the chief, who never could be found anywhere near the headquarters building after five PM, and two detachment commanders, who were supervising their units in the clean-up of a Boomer rampage in a condominium complex, the room held the ADP senior front-line commanders.

Ko looked at him from the other end of the table. The newest ADP detective was slouched over the table, his coffee cup half full in front of him. "How reliable is this Jeena?" he asked.

"She's ex-ADP and Leon's ex-partner," replied Daley. "If he trusts her, so do I."

"So what do we do besides sit here on our butts?" asked Thesan bluntly.

"I suppose we could try and arrest the leadership of GENOM, Gulf and Bradley - Japan, and MALCORP," replied Ko. "That is, if we want to be unemployed in a hurry."

"That's assumes you can find them in time," muttered Thesan. "Or that arresting them would stop it."

"Does anyone have any other suggestions?" asked Daley sharply.

Weiss stirred. "What can we do?" he asked, his voice slightly slurred from sleep. "We don't have the people or the equipment to stop them. And if we do try to stop them, we'll get massacred."

"And if we don't, how many civilians are going to get caught in the crossfire?" asked Thesan.

"So what would be different from what we're doing now?" said Weiss quietly.

"Enough," said Daley before Thesan could reply. "We're screwed no matter what we o, so we're going to try and keep it to a minimum. Which one of the three corps have the weakest defenses?"

"MALCORP," replied Ko. "Even with the security robots, they can't match either GENOM or Gulf and Bradley's firepower."

"But they don't have a lot here to defend," said Vance, one of the other Detachment commanders.

"Vance's right," said Thesan. "Unless they've imported some outside firepower, they can't go onto the offence."

Daley stayed silent, his thoughts drifting back to his conversation with Jeena at MALCORP's pharmaceutical research center....

* * *

"All right," said Jeena, once they were alone. "I'll make this short and sweet. MALCORP is here to get back a kidnaped girl. Gulf and Bradley have her. GENOM is sniffing around the edge, and if they smell blood, they'll jump in with both feet."

"What's so important about this girl?' Daley had asked.

"She's has information that could make the ADP's job more of a nightmare then it is now. Remember those CU-5T from a couple of nights ago? The ones that appeared to have force shields?"

"You mean...."

Jeena nodded, her expression grim. "If you think rampaging Boomers are bad now, wait until models equipped with this technology go berserk. You won't have a snowball's chance of Hell of stopping them."

"Why the hell does G&B want the technology?"

"Not the entire corporation, though if it fell into their hands, they won't be complaining. The best we can figure is that it's a rouge operation. The CEO of G&B-Japan, one Carlton Bradley, is out for Quincy's head, and wants this technology to give him an edge against GENOM."

Daley let some irony into his tone. "And MALCORP's out to get this girl simply out of the goodness of their hearts."

Jeena frowned in a way that made her look more menacing. "The girl in question is my boss' goddaughter."

"You're serious?'

"Very." There was a frostiness in the tall woman's tone that chilled Daley. "That what this attack was about." She motioned to the wreckage around them. "It was Carlton and Cora Bradley's way of saying to my boss, 'back off'."

"You boss isn't going to listen, is he?"

"Not a chance in hell. The war's already started. Last night's light show on the Coastal Highway was the opening salvo. This here was an escalation, an upping of the ante."

"Shit," growled Daley. "Which side was responsible for the Thor strike?"

"Has to be the G&B people, but you'll never get it to stand up in a court of Law."

"So what is the ADP suppose to do?"

"You want my advice? Keep everyone out of the way, because the only thing you'll be able to do is fill body bags. It's not worth it to get people killed over, Daley."

The redheaded Inspector sighed. "I can't do that, Jeena. The ADP has been dealt a crap hand for years, but we can't ignore this for very long."

"Look, you get the ADP caught up in this, and there may not be enough of a force left after the dust settles. You'll be outgunned, out-manned, outspent, and probably outmaneuvered. You simply don't have the resources the Megacorps have."

"Tell me something I don't know," snarled Daley. "But like it or not, we're in this game."

"A word of advice, then. Make G&B your main target. MALCORP doesn't have enough presence here to have much influence. And if GENOM realizes that you're not interfering with their actions, they'll not bother you. Have you met with the American team investigating last night's disaster?"

"A General Wolfe. He is not a happy camper."

"I don't doubt it. I suggest you pass along what I've told you about Gulf and Bradley's involvement with the Thor strike. If nothing else, it'll give Bradley something else to worry about. Leave the rest to us. MALCORP isn't looking for an all-out fight, but we're not going to back down over this."

Daley pinched the bridge of his nose in a gesture of irritation. "Damn it, this was once a simple job. When did it go all to hell?"

"I don't know," replied Jeena, her expression grim. "I use to ask that question myself, but gave up after several years of thinking about it. You should do the same."

"How's Leon doing?"

Jeena smiled. "He's slugging right along with us. He's fine now, but I don't think he'll last long after this is all said and done. I hope you've found a way to get him back"

"I told the Chief that Leon's working undercover to try and stop this corpwar."

"Believable, but from what I've heard of this new chief, you could have told him you were Quincy, and he'd believe you."

Daley glanced around. "I think we've talked long enough. Ko maybe looking for me, and I don't want to disillusion him too early in his ADP career."

Jeena's smile got wider. "You think you can spare him for...say a half hour? I romise to be gentle."

"Maybe later, assuming he doesn't mind."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Tell Leon when you see him that I'll take him out to dinner after all this."

"He isn't your type."

Daley sighed. "I can still dream, can't I?" he said in a light tone.

* * *

The opening of the conference room's door brought Daley out of his haze of memories. One of the female office staffers was standing there, looking ill at ease.

"What is it?" growled Thesan.

"We-we got a report of a Boomer attack at the Gulf and Bradley Petrochemical refinery Alpha Star One," the girl said hurriedly.

"Oh shit," hissed Thesan.

Daley looked at Weiss and Thesan. "Both of you take your detachments and head out now. Ko, wake up Lars there and tell him his detachment is now on five-minute standby with the others. I want a flight of Firebees to scout out the area around the refinery complex, but avoid any combat."

"What about the fire department?" asked Weiss. "We may be forced to give them cover if there's still an active Boomer presence."

"Find out what's going on first, then use your best judgement. The Firemen don't want to tangle with Boomers anymore then you do."

"What about you and me?" asked Ko.

Daley failed to stifle a yawn. "You and me are going to visit Gulf and Bradley-Japan Headquarters and start asking questions."

The younger man's jaw dropped. "At this time of the morning?"

The red-hair Inspector gave him a tired smile. "Then, they won't be expecting us, will they?"

**********