Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Bubblegum Avatar #1 -- "Tin-Sell City" ❯ Chapter 16 - "Aqua City Battleground - Part 2" ( Chapter 16 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Trboturtle 
The battle at Aqua City continues.
Anime/Manga: Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Cyberpunk / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 12.24.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 916 | Status: Completed
The battle at Aqua City continues.
Anime/Manga: Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Cyberpunk / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 12.24.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 916 | Status: Completed
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Chapter 16 - "Aqua City Battleground - Part 2"
**************
Brian J. Mason stared out the window of the helicopter at the city's skyline. "How long to Aqua City?" he asked the pilot.
The helicopter was still over the city, moving at a steady pace. Aqua City was in the distance, gaining slowly in the windshield. Mason sat next to the pilot, never looking at the pilot.
"Fifteen minutes, Sir," the pilot replied politely. He knew Mason's reputation, so he was doing everything by the book. "If I go any faster, we would attract attention from police."
Mason nodded, but didn't look happy. As much as he wanted the pilot to increase speed, he knew the pilot was right. They couldn't afford anyone noticing the helicopter, not on this trip.
He leaned back in his seat and brooded over the latest information he'd received on the operation. The reports coming from his agents inside USSD showed an organization in disarray. As expected, Schwarz had hired the Knight Sabers to retrieve the Black Box. What wasn't expected was the Sabers evidently know exactly what they were looking for. The reports had said Schwarz was very angry and implied that he wouldn't shed any tears if the Sabers was caught in a crossfire.
But the Sabers knowing about the trigger was serious, maybe even dangerous. One of the most potent things about the trigger was the fact that no one outside of USSD was certain it actually existed. An unknown weapon would cause fear and uncertainty among possible victims. It would take only one use to make the menace known. After that, the mere threat of such a weapon would be enough.
Mason knew that whoever was behind the Sabers would have the intelligence to find a way of neutralize the trigger, especially if they had the black box in their possession long enough. He was hoping that the extra security he'd added to the rendevous would be sufficient.
A brief flash of light in the distance snapped Mason out of his thoughts. "What was that?" he asked sharply.
"What?" asked the pilot.
There was another flash of light, coming from Aqua City. It must be the Knight Sabers, Mason thought.
"Put me through to Kerbasi," he ordered.
The pilot adjusted the radio. After several seconds, he shook his head. "There's heavy interference on both the primary and secondary channels. We can't contact him at this distance. Maybe if we were closer, we could punch through, we --"
"Go faster," replied Mason coldly. "I don't care if the police notice us or not. I have to get to the island, and I have to get there now.
The pilot knew better then to argue. "Yes Sir." He adjusted the helicopter's speed and the craft shot forward. Mason leaned forward and scowled at the oncoming city.
**************
Someone hammering on the door of her quarters awoke Rowley out of a dreamless sleep. She stirred slowly, but the hammering on her door continued, rattling the door with its force.
The USSD captain slowly slipped off the bed and went over to the door. At least she didn't have to worry about finding a robe - she'd never bothered to undressed when she thrown herself on the bed.
Schildt was about to pound the door again when Rowley opened it. Unlike his superior, he looked rested and alert. "I'm sorry to disturb you Ma'am," he said, handing her a hot cup of coffee. "One of our spy satellite picked up something you will want to see."
Rowley sipped the coffee and waved the sergeant in. "What do you have?" she asked after she'd closed the door.
Schildt removed a folder from under his arm and presented it to the Captain. "The satellite monitoring Tokyo Bay picked up some activity on one of the artificial islands. The pictures are less then ten minutes old."
The captain took the folder and sat down. She opened the folder and started looking at the series of pictures. The first couple showed flashes of light on one of the larger islands of steel and concrete. "Which island is this?" she asked.
"Aqua City."
"GENOM's?"
"Of course."
She nodded and continued scanning. The pictures become more and more detailed, as the camera tighten in on the city-sized structure. Four more photos confirmed some sort of battle was taken place, while the next three identified at least two members of the Knight Sabers as being involved. Several more showed either destroyed or damaged boomers.
There was a knock at the door, but Rowley was too intent on the next series of photos to pay attention. "I'll get it," said Schildt.
Rowley stared at the figure of a woman carrying something in her arms, running from the battle. The next two shots showed the something was a child Could it be? she thought, flipping over the next to the last photo.
The last photo was the clincher. The child had her face turned towards the camera, and Rowley identified the blonde hair and big blue eyes.
Cynthia.
Project Hikigane.
The remote particle beam satellite trigger.
"Shit," Rowley exhaled. She downed the rest of the hot coffee as if it was water, stood and turned to Schildt. "Get the troops turned out," she said. "I want Lieutenant Marsh -"
Schildt handed her a flack jacket and a combat helmet. Behind him, Sanchez stood in the doorway, another flack jacket and helmet in one hand and a pair of rifles in the other. Another rifle was slung over his shoulder, and he was wearing his own flack jacket and helmet.
"I took the liberty of alerting the strike teams," Schildt said. He held up the helmet. "Radio channels are set. Channel one is the company frequency, channel two is the command frequency, channel three is the frequency for the helicopters, and channel four is for you, me and Sanchez. Lieutenant Marsh is waiting for you on channel two, call sign is Strike Command Two. You're Strike Command Six."
Rowley shrugged on the jacket, tighten it into place, then put on the helmet. She adjusted the strap and turned on the radio, and switched over to channel two. "Strike Command Six to Strike Command Two. I am now in command."
"Command Two copies," replied Marsh quickly. "The teams are en route to the helicopters. Teams are designated as Strike Red, Strike Black, and Strike Green. We'll be ready to lift off in five minutes."
"Understood. Meet you at the choppers. Command Six out."
She looked up in time for Schildt to hand her an assault rifle and ammo belt. In her brief conversation with Marsh, he'd put on his own flack jacket and helmet, and was now holding an assault rifle with a grenade launcher attached. Sanchez, his hands now free, had unslung his own weapon and waited for orders.
Rowley took a deep breath. "Let's go."
**************
The battle between the two boomers of Frederick's and the Sabers was short and one sided. The male boomer had leapt into the air, intent on gutting the White Saber, but Linna skyrocketed into the air, somersaulted, and landed on the boomer's shoulders. With a quick, sure strike, she drove her knuckle bomber into the top of the boomer's head, decapitating it. "Boomer down!" she shouted over the radio.
"Go help Craig!" Sylia commanded.
"Right!"
The female boomer, torn between two possible targets, chose to go after the stronger of the two targets - Sylia. Screaming in rage, it launched itself at the White Saber. Sylia didn't wait for the boomer, but catapulted herself into the night sky, her lasers twin beams of scarlet clearly visible against the darkness. Both beams struck their target and the boomer's right arm was severed in two places, above and below the elbow. In the time it took the boomer to stabilize itself, Sylia was past the boomer and swinging around to attack it again. Spinning to confront Sylia, the covers over the boomer's heat rays snapped open in readiness to fire.
Sylia was quicker.
Her laser sword snapped out and up, cleaving the boomer in two. The two halves fell away, exploding as they struck the ground. The Leader of the Sabers landed gracefully near Nene.
"Sylia!" the redheaded hacker called out. "One of the secondary boomer channels just went active. I think we might have some more boomers coming in!"
"Can you pinpoint the source?"
"Not with all the interference."
Sylia frowned. "Craig," she said "What is your location?"
"How the hell do I know?" came the testy reply. "I've got other things to worry about, like two pissed-off boomer who want to kill me!"
"Linna's on her way."
"Tell her to hurry! The two aren't letting me set up for a shot!"
"I'm closing in on you," said Linna.
"Be advised that Nene thinks there's more boomers on the way in," said Sylia.
"I heard!" Craig started cursing, but Sylia cut him off.
"Try and lead the boomers back towards us," she said. "Nene and I will move towards you. If there's more boomers coming in, I don't want us separated."
"Right."
"Nene, try and confirm that there's more boomers coming in. Numbers and type if you can."
"Okay!"
"Did Priss get clear?" Linna asked.
"I think so," said Nene. "Her tracker is still active and she's moving."
"Keep an eye on her. Do you have Craig and Linna located?"
"Craig's about three hundred meters to the east of us. Linna's is two hundred and fifty meters away and closing in on Craig."
"Let's go."
**************
Leon found himself alone. Alone, walking around a deserted complex at an obscene time of the morning. At least, he thought to himself, nothing my imagination can dream up in this place can equally the reality of a rampaging boomer.
He'd lost the Sabers almost as soon as they enter the structure, which wasn't surprising, considering the hardsuits allowed them to be more mobile then him. He though he heard sounds of battle, but the echoes and construction made pinpointing the location almost impossible.
I should have called for back-up. He wasn't sure why he had followed the Sabers into this. Was Priss all right? Why had she come here at this time of the morning? Did she need his help? Why had the black Saber been pursuing her? What the hell was going on?
The sound of running footsteps alerted Leon. He brought up the stomach rifle and got ready to fire. The footsteps got louder, coming from a side corridor ahead of them. Leon took a couple of steps forward, his face a grim mask. What the hell is that?
With the island's atmosphere and his own uncertainty, Leon was ready for almost anything. He wasn't ready for Priss to came dashing around the corner, a child cradled in her arms. "Priss?"
He saw what might have been relief cross her features, but that was quickly replaced by anger. "What the hell are you doing here?" she shouted at him as she ran at him.
"I followed you."
"Are you that hard up for a date?" she snapped.
"What's going on?" he demanded. The child, a girl with big blue eyes looked at him in wonderment.
"Cut the crap," she said, stopping in front of the ADP officer. "Right now, I just want to get topside. Which way?"
Just then, a boomer came charging into the corridor, fluid dripping from an amputated arm and looking in their direction.
Leon reacted quickly. "That way!" he shouted pointing in the direction he'd come from.
Priss dashed past him. "Thanks!"
But Leon was already concentrating on the charging boomer. The stomach rifle bucked three times, each time sending a walnut-sized metallic slug downrange at high velocity. Unable to dodge the shots because of the corridor's narrowness, the boomer died as the first two slugs slammed into its chest and the third decapitated it. It collapsed in a heap less then five meters from him.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Leon looked in the direction Priss had taken. He could still see her, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Hey!" He called after her. "Does this mean our date is on?"
At that point, Leon swore Priss started running faster.
**************
Craig was finding out that his hardsuit wasn't designed for a running battle in an urban setting. The cannon on his shoulder gave him an edge in firepower over the boomers, but it was useless in this sort of fight. Neither boomer gave him a clear target long enough for him to fire. In frustration, he given up trying to use the cannon and set it to storage mode so it was out of the way. For now, he relied on his lasers to keep the boomers from simply steam rolling him.
The anime didn't do the place justice. Aqua City was a maze of corridors, stairwells, catwalks, chambers, towers, and other structures, designed by someone who must have ODed on Eischer drawings. At times, the corridors he was running down resembled the Death Star trench, while other times, it came right out of D&D adventure, though without monsters. The dominating color of the interior walls that weren't shrouded in shadows was a dull blue-gray. It wasn't a nice place to spend any time.
It was also a place where a deadly game of Hide-and-seek was occurring, one that Craig didn't like playing. He stuck to the ground for the most part, using his suit's jet pack sparingly, to avoid the possibility of getting into an areal battle. His opponents, shorn of their human disguises, continued to dog him. He realized quickly that the boomers were trying to catch him in a crossfire, so he spent most of his time trying to keep that from happening.
He had been fairly successful so far, but it would only take one mistake to kill him. His pursuers had managed to set up one ambush, and only a strong sense of warning had kept him from walking into it. Even then, the firefight had been short and intense, resulting in both sides taking minor damage. Craig's suit was still intact, but the armor was going to need some work to remove the scars and burns that now decorated it.
Besides his waspish conversation with Sylia, Craig hadn't spent much time in communication with the others. The island was full of dead zone where radios didn't work, and Craig seemed to find more then his share of them. So, when the radio channel came to life again he was ready.
"Craig, are you there?" asked Sylia
"Yes!" he shouted. "I'm at a disadvantage here. Can you help?"
We have you and the boomers located," the Saber's leader said.; "We're setting up an ambush. Turn left at the next intersection you come to."
"Right!"
The intersection came up and he darted around the corner. As he did so, the right-hand edge of the corridor was struck by a heart beam. Out of the corner of his HUD, Craig saw the wall start to glow cherry red and begin melting. "Shit!"
"We have you in sight," Sylia assured him. "There's a catwalk above you and to the right. Can you see it?"
Craig looked up and saw the catwalk. It was about twenty meters above him, connecting two stubby towers. "Yes!"
"Get up there - now!"
Craig gathered himself for the jump and activated his jump jets. He launched himself into the air, even as the corridor below him was suddenly awash with laser fire. Rocketing into the night sky, he glanced down just as his hunters entered the trench-like corridor. After a few seconds, they spotted him and leapt in purist, their own jets deploying as they went airborne.
"I could use some help!" Craig shouted, firing at the boomer with his lasers. The Boomers fired back with their mouth lasers, and the air between them became a bright column of light.
As both sides stopped firing to re-aim, Sylia and Linna vaulted out of the shadows into the night sky, zeroing in on the boomers. The boomers whirled as the two Sabers closed in on them, but it was too late.
Sylia ducked under the wild swing of her opponent and rammed her laser sword deep into the boomer's abdomen and pulled up, ripping open a large gash in its armor. As her right arm came back, Sylia's left arm shot forward, unleashing a volley of laser beams into the open wound. The cyberdroid shuddered as several internal explosions ripped through it. With a final explosion barely contained by its armor, the boomer fell out of the sky, slamming into the steel deck with enough force to dent the plates.
Linna somersaulted, her ribbon cutters slicing through her target's right arm at the shoulder and the left arm at the elbow. Linna's foot shot out as she came out of the flip, slamming the boomer in the jaw, shattering the mouth laser. As the boomer began to fall, Linna hit it between the eyes with her knuckle bomber. Minus most of its head, the boomer plummeted to the ground.
Intent on watching his team-mates in action, Craig was nearly decapitated by the catwalk he was hurtling at. More by luck then skill, he managed to get his hands in place to push him up and over the rail where he fell onto the cat walk with all the grace of a two-legged antelope. He bounced twice between rolls, and struck the rail supports on the other side of the catwalk. He laid there several seconds, cursing quietly as he took a mental inventory of his body, and tried to catagorize the soreness that now wracked his body.
"Craig, are you all right?" Sylia snapped.
"Yea," Craig muttered, getting up slowly. "I feel like I've hit a bus, but I'm all right."
"Get back down here. Nene's still hasn't located those new boomers yet and that catwalk is an exposed position."
"Right." Craig shook his head to clear away the cobwebs. "Could you be a bit quicker next time? Heckle and Jeckle nearly had me."
"We'll discuss that later. We've still got unknown boomers and Frederick to deal with."
"Right, how could I forget that bastard?" Craig grabbed the rail and looked down at the Sabers below him. All three were looking up at him. He gave them a wave. "Thanks for the save. I own you and Linna one."
What about me?" Nene asked, a pout clearly in her voice. "I was the one who tracked you in this maze."
"You too, Red." He looked at the distance to the ground below him, frowned, then said. "Could I just take the stairs down?"
Sylia sighed. "Just get down here now."
"Yes, Boss." Craig leapt over the rail and started to fall.
He had fallen less then thee meters when the catwalk was engulfed in a series of explosions. A wave of air pressure and debris slammed into him, turning the controlled fall into a violent, tumbling plunge. "Oh shit!" Craig yelled as he saw the steel deck coming at him like an express train.
Several meters short of the deadly landing, something grabbed Craig around the waist, steadying him. He found himself staring into an olive-green helmet before Linna yelled, "Fire you jets!" Craig didn't bother wondering what had happened, but fired his hardsuit's jets at maximum. At the same moment, Linna did the same.
The sudden burst of jets at the last minute slowed the two Knight Sabers, but didn't stop them from landing hard. Craig allowed himself to relax at the last second before landing, and along with the design of the hardsuit, saved him from being crippled. But off balance, he fell onto his back, Linna on top of him. Pain flashed through his back and head.
"Are you two all right?" asked Sylia.
Linna shot to her feet. "I'm fine."
"This is getting old quick," Craig grumbled as he got to his feet. "What the hell happened?"
"The boomers took out the catwalk!" Nene shouted
"What boomers?"
"Can you find them, Nene?" Sylia asked, as she scanned the night skies. The catwalk was a twisting burning mess that was slowly disintegrating and tumbling to the ground.
"No!"
"Get into cover, now!" Sylia commanded. "We're too exposed out here!"
Craig followed Linna towards an opening at the base of a nearby tower. As they ran, he brought his cannon back into active mode. As he did so, he spotted movement in the opening he and Linna were running to. A figure was now standing in the doorway. Someone too big to be human....
"It's a BU-12!" Craig yelled as he lined up on the target. "Linna! Down!" The olive hardsuit ducked and dove to her right even as Craig was shouting.
The boomer came charging out of the darkness. Craig get a glimpse of a bug-like head and an oddly shaped arm that was coming up to point at him. He fired, then launched himself up and to the right, towards a squat steel box the size of a small house.
The boomer shifted to its right just before Craig's round would have struck it.. The left side of the doorway dissolved into shrapnel that peppered the back and arm of the boomer, damaging it, but not slowing it down any. The return fire, a combination of heavy machine gun and cannon fire nipped at Craig's heels like a hungry wolf.
Linna flashed in, dropping to one knee and used a spinning leg sweep to cut the boomer's legs out from under it. At the same time, her ribbon cutters severed the left arm and took a large chunk out of its torso. The combat boomer crashed to the ground with a loud thud, but it wasn't finished yet. Linna quickly somersaulted away as the boomer rolled toward her.
Craig landed, aimed and fired another 78mm volley at the boomer. The HEAT round struck the BU-12 high in the now exposed back, right below the twin balancer pods. The pods bulged as overpressure turned the internal systems into junk. The jet of near plasma punched into the boomer's chest cavity and crippled most of the design's internal structure. Linna came flying in again, her laser drilling a hole through its insect-like head, finishing the job. The cyberdroid shuddered, then went limp.
"Are you all right?" Craig asked, running towards Linna.
"I'm fine," the close combat specialist replied.
"Let's move," said Sylia. "There's at least another Boomer out there." Taking her own advice, she shot into the air, Nene and Linna right behind her.
"Oh fun," Craig muttered, as he followed. "What do we do now, Boss?"
"We're going to find Frederick. No doubt the other boomers will follow us."
"Concentrate the fight? Is that such a good idea?"
Sylia looked back at him. "What would you suggest?"
"We could just get out. We've got Cynthia."
"No." Sylia replied. We can't afford to leave any boomers that might be able to pursue us. We end this here."
"I suppose you're right."
"Stay alert for any other boomers."
They raced off into the night.
**************
Priss reached the causeway with no other problems. Cynthia hadn't struggled or said a word the entire time, but continued to look around in wide-eyed wonderment.
She also managed to elude Leon in the maze of passages, though that was more by accident then design. She would thank him later, but now, she wanted to get Cynthia away, then get back to her team-mates.
She reached the end of the causeway. The motorslaves stood there, an imposing rear guard, let her passed unchallenged. She stopped for a second as she reached the road, her face a puzzled look. Mackie and the truck weren't there.
Cynthia looked at her. "What's wrong, Lady?' she asked.
"Nothing," Priss assured her, then looked down the road as an engine roared to life. A pair of headlights were turned on, and began to grow larger as the vehicle rumbled closer. Priss tense, not certain if the approaching vehicle was friend or foe.
As the truck got closer, Priss relaxed as she recognized Mackie behind the wheel of the Saber's support truck. The truck slowed to a stop next to Priss and Mackie stuck his head out the open window. "That's her?"
"Yea," Priss replied. "She's all right, but I need to get back."
Mackie frowned. "You're really been beaten up. We've got to get you treated fast!"
"Later!" Priss snapped. "Take her, while I get suited up."
Mackie sighed. "Your suit's ready to go. So's your motorslave, armed and ready. Try not to wreck it too much, Okay?" He opened the truck door and reached down to take Cynthia from Priss. Priss thrust the boomer child into his arms, then ran to the back of the truck. Mackie placed Cynthia on the seat next to him, and closed the door.
The girl looked at him perplexed. "Who are you?" she asked. "Are you a friend of that lady?"
"Yes I am." Mackie smiled at her. "My name's Ma...er, Bert. What's your name?"
"My name's Cynthia."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." She paused for a moment. "How are you?"
"I'm fine."
"Where did the lady go?"
"She...er...had something to do."
"Oh."
Mackie squirmed in his seat. Dealing with a boomer who looked and acted like a six-year-old wasn't something he was use to doing. "Are you tired?" he asked pleasantly. "Would you like to take a nap?"
Cynthia thought about that for a moment. Before she could answer, Priss, in her hardsuit and riding her motorslave, roared past them. The other motorslaves cleared a path for her and she thundered past them ands onto the causeway. Cynthia blinked and looked at the receding blue figure. "Is that the lady?" she asked.
"That's...er...another friend of the lady," Mackie said hurriedly.
"Oh. Is she your friend too?"
"Yes, she is."
Cynthia looked out her side of the cab. "Where did the Lady go? I don't see her."
Mackie sighed.
Chapter 16 - "Aqua City Battleground - Part 2"
**************
Brian J. Mason stared out the window of the helicopter at the city's skyline. "How long to Aqua City?" he asked the pilot.
The helicopter was still over the city, moving at a steady pace. Aqua City was in the distance, gaining slowly in the windshield. Mason sat next to the pilot, never looking at the pilot.
"Fifteen minutes, Sir," the pilot replied politely. He knew Mason's reputation, so he was doing everything by the book. "If I go any faster, we would attract attention from police."
Mason nodded, but didn't look happy. As much as he wanted the pilot to increase speed, he knew the pilot was right. They couldn't afford anyone noticing the helicopter, not on this trip.
He leaned back in his seat and brooded over the latest information he'd received on the operation. The reports coming from his agents inside USSD showed an organization in disarray. As expected, Schwarz had hired the Knight Sabers to retrieve the Black Box. What wasn't expected was the Sabers evidently know exactly what they were looking for. The reports had said Schwarz was very angry and implied that he wouldn't shed any tears if the Sabers was caught in a crossfire.
But the Sabers knowing about the trigger was serious, maybe even dangerous. One of the most potent things about the trigger was the fact that no one outside of USSD was certain it actually existed. An unknown weapon would cause fear and uncertainty among possible victims. It would take only one use to make the menace known. After that, the mere threat of such a weapon would be enough.
Mason knew that whoever was behind the Sabers would have the intelligence to find a way of neutralize the trigger, especially if they had the black box in their possession long enough. He was hoping that the extra security he'd added to the rendevous would be sufficient.
A brief flash of light in the distance snapped Mason out of his thoughts. "What was that?" he asked sharply.
"What?" asked the pilot.
There was another flash of light, coming from Aqua City. It must be the Knight Sabers, Mason thought.
"Put me through to Kerbasi," he ordered.
The pilot adjusted the radio. After several seconds, he shook his head. "There's heavy interference on both the primary and secondary channels. We can't contact him at this distance. Maybe if we were closer, we could punch through, we --"
"Go faster," replied Mason coldly. "I don't care if the police notice us or not. I have to get to the island, and I have to get there now.
The pilot knew better then to argue. "Yes Sir." He adjusted the helicopter's speed and the craft shot forward. Mason leaned forward and scowled at the oncoming city.
**************
Someone hammering on the door of her quarters awoke Rowley out of a dreamless sleep. She stirred slowly, but the hammering on her door continued, rattling the door with its force.
The USSD captain slowly slipped off the bed and went over to the door. At least she didn't have to worry about finding a robe - she'd never bothered to undressed when she thrown herself on the bed.
Schildt was about to pound the door again when Rowley opened it. Unlike his superior, he looked rested and alert. "I'm sorry to disturb you Ma'am," he said, handing her a hot cup of coffee. "One of our spy satellite picked up something you will want to see."
Rowley sipped the coffee and waved the sergeant in. "What do you have?" she asked after she'd closed the door.
Schildt removed a folder from under his arm and presented it to the Captain. "The satellite monitoring Tokyo Bay picked up some activity on one of the artificial islands. The pictures are less then ten minutes old."
The captain took the folder and sat down. She opened the folder and started looking at the series of pictures. The first couple showed flashes of light on one of the larger islands of steel and concrete. "Which island is this?" she asked.
"Aqua City."
"GENOM's?"
"Of course."
She nodded and continued scanning. The pictures become more and more detailed, as the camera tighten in on the city-sized structure. Four more photos confirmed some sort of battle was taken place, while the next three identified at least two members of the Knight Sabers as being involved. Several more showed either destroyed or damaged boomers.
There was a knock at the door, but Rowley was too intent on the next series of photos to pay attention. "I'll get it," said Schildt.
Rowley stared at the figure of a woman carrying something in her arms, running from the battle. The next two shots showed the something was a child Could it be? she thought, flipping over the next to the last photo.
The last photo was the clincher. The child had her face turned towards the camera, and Rowley identified the blonde hair and big blue eyes.
Cynthia.
Project Hikigane.
The remote particle beam satellite trigger.
"Shit," Rowley exhaled. She downed the rest of the hot coffee as if it was water, stood and turned to Schildt. "Get the troops turned out," she said. "I want Lieutenant Marsh -"
Schildt handed her a flack jacket and a combat helmet. Behind him, Sanchez stood in the doorway, another flack jacket and helmet in one hand and a pair of rifles in the other. Another rifle was slung over his shoulder, and he was wearing his own flack jacket and helmet.
"I took the liberty of alerting the strike teams," Schildt said. He held up the helmet. "Radio channels are set. Channel one is the company frequency, channel two is the command frequency, channel three is the frequency for the helicopters, and channel four is for you, me and Sanchez. Lieutenant Marsh is waiting for you on channel two, call sign is Strike Command Two. You're Strike Command Six."
Rowley shrugged on the jacket, tighten it into place, then put on the helmet. She adjusted the strap and turned on the radio, and switched over to channel two. "Strike Command Six to Strike Command Two. I am now in command."
"Command Two copies," replied Marsh quickly. "The teams are en route to the helicopters. Teams are designated as Strike Red, Strike Black, and Strike Green. We'll be ready to lift off in five minutes."
"Understood. Meet you at the choppers. Command Six out."
She looked up in time for Schildt to hand her an assault rifle and ammo belt. In her brief conversation with Marsh, he'd put on his own flack jacket and helmet, and was now holding an assault rifle with a grenade launcher attached. Sanchez, his hands now free, had unslung his own weapon and waited for orders.
Rowley took a deep breath. "Let's go."
**************
The battle between the two boomers of Frederick's and the Sabers was short and one sided. The male boomer had leapt into the air, intent on gutting the White Saber, but Linna skyrocketed into the air, somersaulted, and landed on the boomer's shoulders. With a quick, sure strike, she drove her knuckle bomber into the top of the boomer's head, decapitating it. "Boomer down!" she shouted over the radio.
"Go help Craig!" Sylia commanded.
"Right!"
The female boomer, torn between two possible targets, chose to go after the stronger of the two targets - Sylia. Screaming in rage, it launched itself at the White Saber. Sylia didn't wait for the boomer, but catapulted herself into the night sky, her lasers twin beams of scarlet clearly visible against the darkness. Both beams struck their target and the boomer's right arm was severed in two places, above and below the elbow. In the time it took the boomer to stabilize itself, Sylia was past the boomer and swinging around to attack it again. Spinning to confront Sylia, the covers over the boomer's heat rays snapped open in readiness to fire.
Sylia was quicker.
Her laser sword snapped out and up, cleaving the boomer in two. The two halves fell away, exploding as they struck the ground. The Leader of the Sabers landed gracefully near Nene.
"Sylia!" the redheaded hacker called out. "One of the secondary boomer channels just went active. I think we might have some more boomers coming in!"
"Can you pinpoint the source?"
"Not with all the interference."
Sylia frowned. "Craig," she said "What is your location?"
"How the hell do I know?" came the testy reply. "I've got other things to worry about, like two pissed-off boomer who want to kill me!"
"Linna's on her way."
"Tell her to hurry! The two aren't letting me set up for a shot!"
"I'm closing in on you," said Linna.
"Be advised that Nene thinks there's more boomers on the way in," said Sylia.
"I heard!" Craig started cursing, but Sylia cut him off.
"Try and lead the boomers back towards us," she said. "Nene and I will move towards you. If there's more boomers coming in, I don't want us separated."
"Right."
"Nene, try and confirm that there's more boomers coming in. Numbers and type if you can."
"Okay!"
"Did Priss get clear?" Linna asked.
"I think so," said Nene. "Her tracker is still active and she's moving."
"Keep an eye on her. Do you have Craig and Linna located?"
"Craig's about three hundred meters to the east of us. Linna's is two hundred and fifty meters away and closing in on Craig."
"Let's go."
**************
Leon found himself alone. Alone, walking around a deserted complex at an obscene time of the morning. At least, he thought to himself, nothing my imagination can dream up in this place can equally the reality of a rampaging boomer.
He'd lost the Sabers almost as soon as they enter the structure, which wasn't surprising, considering the hardsuits allowed them to be more mobile then him. He though he heard sounds of battle, but the echoes and construction made pinpointing the location almost impossible.
I should have called for back-up. He wasn't sure why he had followed the Sabers into this. Was Priss all right? Why had she come here at this time of the morning? Did she need his help? Why had the black Saber been pursuing her? What the hell was going on?
The sound of running footsteps alerted Leon. He brought up the stomach rifle and got ready to fire. The footsteps got louder, coming from a side corridor ahead of them. Leon took a couple of steps forward, his face a grim mask. What the hell is that?
With the island's atmosphere and his own uncertainty, Leon was ready for almost anything. He wasn't ready for Priss to came dashing around the corner, a child cradled in her arms. "Priss?"
He saw what might have been relief cross her features, but that was quickly replaced by anger. "What the hell are you doing here?" she shouted at him as she ran at him.
"I followed you."
"Are you that hard up for a date?" she snapped.
"What's going on?" he demanded. The child, a girl with big blue eyes looked at him in wonderment.
"Cut the crap," she said, stopping in front of the ADP officer. "Right now, I just want to get topside. Which way?"
Just then, a boomer came charging into the corridor, fluid dripping from an amputated arm and looking in their direction.
Leon reacted quickly. "That way!" he shouted pointing in the direction he'd come from.
Priss dashed past him. "Thanks!"
But Leon was already concentrating on the charging boomer. The stomach rifle bucked three times, each time sending a walnut-sized metallic slug downrange at high velocity. Unable to dodge the shots because of the corridor's narrowness, the boomer died as the first two slugs slammed into its chest and the third decapitated it. It collapsed in a heap less then five meters from him.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Leon looked in the direction Priss had taken. He could still see her, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Hey!" He called after her. "Does this mean our date is on?"
At that point, Leon swore Priss started running faster.
**************
Craig was finding out that his hardsuit wasn't designed for a running battle in an urban setting. The cannon on his shoulder gave him an edge in firepower over the boomers, but it was useless in this sort of fight. Neither boomer gave him a clear target long enough for him to fire. In frustration, he given up trying to use the cannon and set it to storage mode so it was out of the way. For now, he relied on his lasers to keep the boomers from simply steam rolling him.
The anime didn't do the place justice. Aqua City was a maze of corridors, stairwells, catwalks, chambers, towers, and other structures, designed by someone who must have ODed on Eischer drawings. At times, the corridors he was running down resembled the Death Star trench, while other times, it came right out of D&D adventure, though without monsters. The dominating color of the interior walls that weren't shrouded in shadows was a dull blue-gray. It wasn't a nice place to spend any time.
It was also a place where a deadly game of Hide-and-seek was occurring, one that Craig didn't like playing. He stuck to the ground for the most part, using his suit's jet pack sparingly, to avoid the possibility of getting into an areal battle. His opponents, shorn of their human disguises, continued to dog him. He realized quickly that the boomers were trying to catch him in a crossfire, so he spent most of his time trying to keep that from happening.
He had been fairly successful so far, but it would only take one mistake to kill him. His pursuers had managed to set up one ambush, and only a strong sense of warning had kept him from walking into it. Even then, the firefight had been short and intense, resulting in both sides taking minor damage. Craig's suit was still intact, but the armor was going to need some work to remove the scars and burns that now decorated it.
Besides his waspish conversation with Sylia, Craig hadn't spent much time in communication with the others. The island was full of dead zone where radios didn't work, and Craig seemed to find more then his share of them. So, when the radio channel came to life again he was ready.
"Craig, are you there?" asked Sylia
"Yes!" he shouted. "I'm at a disadvantage here. Can you help?"
We have you and the boomers located," the Saber's leader said.; "We're setting up an ambush. Turn left at the next intersection you come to."
"Right!"
The intersection came up and he darted around the corner. As he did so, the right-hand edge of the corridor was struck by a heart beam. Out of the corner of his HUD, Craig saw the wall start to glow cherry red and begin melting. "Shit!"
"We have you in sight," Sylia assured him. "There's a catwalk above you and to the right. Can you see it?"
Craig looked up and saw the catwalk. It was about twenty meters above him, connecting two stubby towers. "Yes!"
"Get up there - now!"
Craig gathered himself for the jump and activated his jump jets. He launched himself into the air, even as the corridor below him was suddenly awash with laser fire. Rocketing into the night sky, he glanced down just as his hunters entered the trench-like corridor. After a few seconds, they spotted him and leapt in purist, their own jets deploying as they went airborne.
"I could use some help!" Craig shouted, firing at the boomer with his lasers. The Boomers fired back with their mouth lasers, and the air between them became a bright column of light.
As both sides stopped firing to re-aim, Sylia and Linna vaulted out of the shadows into the night sky, zeroing in on the boomers. The boomers whirled as the two Sabers closed in on them, but it was too late.
Sylia ducked under the wild swing of her opponent and rammed her laser sword deep into the boomer's abdomen and pulled up, ripping open a large gash in its armor. As her right arm came back, Sylia's left arm shot forward, unleashing a volley of laser beams into the open wound. The cyberdroid shuddered as several internal explosions ripped through it. With a final explosion barely contained by its armor, the boomer fell out of the sky, slamming into the steel deck with enough force to dent the plates.
Linna somersaulted, her ribbon cutters slicing through her target's right arm at the shoulder and the left arm at the elbow. Linna's foot shot out as she came out of the flip, slamming the boomer in the jaw, shattering the mouth laser. As the boomer began to fall, Linna hit it between the eyes with her knuckle bomber. Minus most of its head, the boomer plummeted to the ground.
Intent on watching his team-mates in action, Craig was nearly decapitated by the catwalk he was hurtling at. More by luck then skill, he managed to get his hands in place to push him up and over the rail where he fell onto the cat walk with all the grace of a two-legged antelope. He bounced twice between rolls, and struck the rail supports on the other side of the catwalk. He laid there several seconds, cursing quietly as he took a mental inventory of his body, and tried to catagorize the soreness that now wracked his body.
"Craig, are you all right?" Sylia snapped.
"Yea," Craig muttered, getting up slowly. "I feel like I've hit a bus, but I'm all right."
"Get back down here. Nene's still hasn't located those new boomers yet and that catwalk is an exposed position."
"Right." Craig shook his head to clear away the cobwebs. "Could you be a bit quicker next time? Heckle and Jeckle nearly had me."
"We'll discuss that later. We've still got unknown boomers and Frederick to deal with."
"Right, how could I forget that bastard?" Craig grabbed the rail and looked down at the Sabers below him. All three were looking up at him. He gave them a wave. "Thanks for the save. I own you and Linna one."
What about me?" Nene asked, a pout clearly in her voice. "I was the one who tracked you in this maze."
"You too, Red." He looked at the distance to the ground below him, frowned, then said. "Could I just take the stairs down?"
Sylia sighed. "Just get down here now."
"Yes, Boss." Craig leapt over the rail and started to fall.
He had fallen less then thee meters when the catwalk was engulfed in a series of explosions. A wave of air pressure and debris slammed into him, turning the controlled fall into a violent, tumbling plunge. "Oh shit!" Craig yelled as he saw the steel deck coming at him like an express train.
Several meters short of the deadly landing, something grabbed Craig around the waist, steadying him. He found himself staring into an olive-green helmet before Linna yelled, "Fire you jets!" Craig didn't bother wondering what had happened, but fired his hardsuit's jets at maximum. At the same moment, Linna did the same.
The sudden burst of jets at the last minute slowed the two Knight Sabers, but didn't stop them from landing hard. Craig allowed himself to relax at the last second before landing, and along with the design of the hardsuit, saved him from being crippled. But off balance, he fell onto his back, Linna on top of him. Pain flashed through his back and head.
"Are you two all right?" asked Sylia.
Linna shot to her feet. "I'm fine."
"This is getting old quick," Craig grumbled as he got to his feet. "What the hell happened?"
"The boomers took out the catwalk!" Nene shouted
"What boomers?"
"Can you find them, Nene?" Sylia asked, as she scanned the night skies. The catwalk was a twisting burning mess that was slowly disintegrating and tumbling to the ground.
"No!"
"Get into cover, now!" Sylia commanded. "We're too exposed out here!"
Craig followed Linna towards an opening at the base of a nearby tower. As they ran, he brought his cannon back into active mode. As he did so, he spotted movement in the opening he and Linna were running to. A figure was now standing in the doorway. Someone too big to be human....
"It's a BU-12!" Craig yelled as he lined up on the target. "Linna! Down!" The olive hardsuit ducked and dove to her right even as Craig was shouting.
The boomer came charging out of the darkness. Craig get a glimpse of a bug-like head and an oddly shaped arm that was coming up to point at him. He fired, then launched himself up and to the right, towards a squat steel box the size of a small house.
The boomer shifted to its right just before Craig's round would have struck it.. The left side of the doorway dissolved into shrapnel that peppered the back and arm of the boomer, damaging it, but not slowing it down any. The return fire, a combination of heavy machine gun and cannon fire nipped at Craig's heels like a hungry wolf.
Linna flashed in, dropping to one knee and used a spinning leg sweep to cut the boomer's legs out from under it. At the same time, her ribbon cutters severed the left arm and took a large chunk out of its torso. The combat boomer crashed to the ground with a loud thud, but it wasn't finished yet. Linna quickly somersaulted away as the boomer rolled toward her.
Craig landed, aimed and fired another 78mm volley at the boomer. The HEAT round struck the BU-12 high in the now exposed back, right below the twin balancer pods. The pods bulged as overpressure turned the internal systems into junk. The jet of near plasma punched into the boomer's chest cavity and crippled most of the design's internal structure. Linna came flying in again, her laser drilling a hole through its insect-like head, finishing the job. The cyberdroid shuddered, then went limp.
"Are you all right?" Craig asked, running towards Linna.
"I'm fine," the close combat specialist replied.
"Let's move," said Sylia. "There's at least another Boomer out there." Taking her own advice, she shot into the air, Nene and Linna right behind her.
"Oh fun," Craig muttered, as he followed. "What do we do now, Boss?"
"We're going to find Frederick. No doubt the other boomers will follow us."
"Concentrate the fight? Is that such a good idea?"
Sylia looked back at him. "What would you suggest?"
"We could just get out. We've got Cynthia."
"No." Sylia replied. We can't afford to leave any boomers that might be able to pursue us. We end this here."
"I suppose you're right."
"Stay alert for any other boomers."
They raced off into the night.
**************
Priss reached the causeway with no other problems. Cynthia hadn't struggled or said a word the entire time, but continued to look around in wide-eyed wonderment.
She also managed to elude Leon in the maze of passages, though that was more by accident then design. She would thank him later, but now, she wanted to get Cynthia away, then get back to her team-mates.
She reached the end of the causeway. The motorslaves stood there, an imposing rear guard, let her passed unchallenged. She stopped for a second as she reached the road, her face a puzzled look. Mackie and the truck weren't there.
Cynthia looked at her. "What's wrong, Lady?' she asked.
"Nothing," Priss assured her, then looked down the road as an engine roared to life. A pair of headlights were turned on, and began to grow larger as the vehicle rumbled closer. Priss tense, not certain if the approaching vehicle was friend or foe.
As the truck got closer, Priss relaxed as she recognized Mackie behind the wheel of the Saber's support truck. The truck slowed to a stop next to Priss and Mackie stuck his head out the open window. "That's her?"
"Yea," Priss replied. "She's all right, but I need to get back."
Mackie frowned. "You're really been beaten up. We've got to get you treated fast!"
"Later!" Priss snapped. "Take her, while I get suited up."
Mackie sighed. "Your suit's ready to go. So's your motorslave, armed and ready. Try not to wreck it too much, Okay?" He opened the truck door and reached down to take Cynthia from Priss. Priss thrust the boomer child into his arms, then ran to the back of the truck. Mackie placed Cynthia on the seat next to him, and closed the door.
The girl looked at him perplexed. "Who are you?" she asked. "Are you a friend of that lady?"
"Yes I am." Mackie smiled at her. "My name's Ma...er, Bert. What's your name?"
"My name's Cynthia."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." She paused for a moment. "How are you?"
"I'm fine."
"Where did the lady go?"
"She...er...had something to do."
"Oh."
Mackie squirmed in his seat. Dealing with a boomer who looked and acted like a six-year-old wasn't something he was use to doing. "Are you tired?" he asked pleasantly. "Would you like to take a nap?"
Cynthia thought about that for a moment. Before she could answer, Priss, in her hardsuit and riding her motorslave, roared past them. The other motorslaves cleared a path for her and she thundered past them ands onto the causeway. Cynthia blinked and looked at the receding blue figure. "Is that the lady?" she asked.
"That's...er...another friend of the lady," Mackie said hurriedly.
"Oh. Is she your friend too?"
"Yes, she is."
Cynthia looked out her side of the cab. "Where did the Lady go? I don't see her."
Mackie sighed.