Find all 6 chapters at http://nikholas-f-toledo-zu.webjump.com/ofg.html
Hmmm... yep you got it.
It's me again. Not yet dead and still having some RL trouble. I've
been out of the running for some time now and I guess I really should
give you guys a decent explanation.
RL is a bitch.
What else could it be anyway. ^_^
Still, I've got my ass in gear and had been very busy with my fics.
I've been revising it all and will probably post the earlier chapters in
a bit. This fic contains certain cameos from other people's fics. A
little gesture to some of my favorite fanfic writers out there.
Find them.
LEGAL DISCLAIMERS:
This fanfic is to be used for entertainment and not much else. No one has
rights to this one save for the guy who went to the trouble of creating
the anime which I love so much. Legal matters are to be set aside since
it is a well known fact that fanfics tend to skitter across copyright
legalities.
Reproduction of this fic is allowed as long as the author is justly
compensated. This basically means you just have to tell him you want to
post this fic somewhere in the universe or something to that extent.
That is all.
=======================================
Bubblegum Crisis: Story of the Knight Sabers
Once and Future Goddess
=======================================
Snow drifted lazily across the night sky, coming down in smooth,
gentle waves of miniature masterpieces only Nature could design. The
residual heat created by the earth melted plenty, coating the earth in a
thin film of slowly freezing water. Others began to drop onto the ground,
covering it in pristine whiteness.
A cold wind blew, shifting the snow towards a small temple....
Urd sighed as she stared dispassionately at the snow-covered
window, watching an endless procession of whiteness fall from the sky.
Her eyes held a strangely melancholy cast to it, as opposed to the cheery
atmosphere of the room she was in.
A lovely tree stood proudly at the center of the room, garbed in
Christmas finery. It was indeed a time to be happy and thankful, but
somehow, it was lost to her. Her sister, Belldandy had asked her to come
with her family, but she'd declined the offer. She hardly felt the
inclination to go out and be merry. Moodiness was not one of her good
traits and she'd put up with it more times than she could count.
It had been a long time - by mortal standards - since _that_ battle
had begun. Even now, it was still going on - beyond the prying eyes of
the world at large. She had wanted to help - like many of the other gods
and goddesses that had formed deep attachments to this world - but had
been forbidden from taking any action on pain of dissolution. Compliance
was half-hearted at best, but the writ had been followed.
She hated it when she came down with these depressions - almost as
much as she hated waking up with a hangover after an all-night sake
binge. Letting out an aggrieved sighed, she got up quickly, smooth,
tanned legs unfolding underneath a mass of silken sheets that made up her
dress.
Standing up to her full height, she walked out of the room, waving
her arm in the air as she passed by the doorway. The computer complied
noiselessly, shutting down the lights in the room, save for the lovely
pine tree that sat in the middle of the room, glowing in a hundred shades
of color, a reminder of a season that was close at hand...
=============================
Chapter Six: Battle Lines
=============================
Deep within the bowels of ADP headquarters, a young raven-haired
goddess was burning the midnight oil once again as she labored upon her
little side project. She had told no one of this private project of hers,
not even to the others she had come to know during the past three weeks
since she had begun working here.
She had little choice, having learned early on just how much people
found out about someone in so short a time. Some had even questioned her
records. But nothing that she was worried about. All were legitimate. She
was, after all, forced to go to school by her Father.
Two and a half weeks since, she had seen the horrors she had only
heard or read about before. The ADP, tasked with protecting the
population of MegaTokyo from rampaging boomers, had little to no reliable
equipment to speak of to deal with the boomer menace. True, they had
enough weapons to invade most third-world nations, but it was worth next
to nothing when it came to tangling with boomers.
She'd seen the blood and gore when she had helped the others
salvage what they could from the mangled wreck that came back after an
encounter. She found herself unable to eat or sleep for a day or so after
that first encounter. It was the first and last time she helped with the
salvaging operations the tech crew did.
To date, there had been four encounters, including the last one
that had happened over at the airport a week ago.
That had been one to remember. The death toll had yet to be
finalized, but reports had reached her said that it had reached the one-
thousand mark.
That, in itself, had pushed her into finishing her project as soon
as possible.
And she would finish it before Christmas!!
Skuld grinned as her eyes sparkled with barely kept amusement.
And then... then... she's going to ask the Chief if she could get
her hands on the battlemover they had stashed in one of the holding areas
within the building. The things she could do with that mecha!!
"Hehehehehehehe... Hahahahahahahahaha!!!" The sound of laughter
echoed down the numerous corridors.
A lone janitor shivered at the unholy sound. Losing his nerve, he
made a break for it, not wanting to stay a moment longer. He made a
mental note to start applying for a better and safer job - like a health
inspector for a nuclear power plant.
===================
Kurumi was deliriously happy for a change.
It had been a while since she'd been in any city. Her travels
through many parts of the world to learn and advance her martial arts
techniques had left her pretty much on her own. Contact with any human
being was more or less restricted to solitary monks and the occasional
bandit group or three. Now that she was back, she was not leaving any
time soon.
Three years traveling across the world was more than enough for her
- for now anyway. Perhaps someday her sister would like to come with her,
just like old times. For now, she was quite pleased with herself and with
the fact that her sister had been generous enough to let her borrow her
credit card.
Of course, she might have gone overboard with the spending a bit.
Shrugging, she decided that her sister wouldn't mind too much. After all,
she did buy her that lovely dress she'd seen.
For now, she was greatly enjoying her time with Nene-chan. She
never did like it when her sister went to the trouble of providing her
with a chaperon. She was not really going to the trouble of stirring up
trouble. Natsume thought otherwise.
Still, Nene-chan was great company. She could not help thinking how
they were so much alike. Maybe that's why her sister had chosen the young
communications officer.
Leon was not half bad. After all, anyone who was nice enough to
help them do their shopping was a good guy in her book.
Detective Leon McNichol was of a different mind on the matter.
"So, where to next?" Nene asked gleefully. Nene, too, was having
some fun. After all, she was getting paid without having to work back in
the office. And what's even better was someone else was handling her load
for the moment, so she won't have to be faced with a mountain of papers
to deal with later on.
Besides that, she'd found someone with a sweet tooth to rival her
own. Now... if she could only have a figure like Kurumi's...
"Dunno..." Kurumi began as she scanned the area. "Hmmmm....* Her
eyes spotted a small ice cream shop tucked away beside a large bookstore.
"Howz about that a little ice cream first?" she suggested, dragging Nene
along.
With very little to say about the matter, Nene readily agreed.
"Okay. I want a Mega sundae, though..."
Both girls ran towards the ice cream shop, leaving a laboring Leon
McNichol with their belongings. One utterly exhausted ADP detective
stared in disbelief as he watched the two invade an unsuspecting ice
cream shop. Leon could only sigh in despair as he trudged towards the
aforementioned store toting the large amount of stuff he had been forced
to drag around the mall.
He just could not believe himself!! Here he was, forced to spend an
unknown amount of time with two females who had turned him into an
impromptu slave.
Leon shuddered as he replayed that sickeningly kawaii number they
pulled on him. Of anything, he always hated it when someone did that.
First, it was his sister who started doing that to him, back when they
were still living together. He had often thought himself free of that
when his sister had left for greener pastures, so to speak.
He _had_ been, until Nene came along. And now the Chief's sister
was doing it alongside Nene. How the heck do they manage to find his one
weak spot, he'll never know.
At the very least, his sister wasn't around at the moment to make
matters worse.
He was still reeling from the changes in his life, cursing fate for
dropping this on him. First, this little side job the Chief had assigned
him to. Now, his sister had decided that she was going to stay for a bit,
slowly driving him up the wall. To make matters worse, she was going to
stay with him!
Kyoko had pretty much taken over his home for herself - not that he
was complaining, but he wished she'd left his room alone. But nooooo...
she had to go in and clean everything up. She even went so far as to wash
his laundry!!
He'd never felt so helpless in his life! How he hated it all.
Still, he could do very little but accept it all. What else could he do?
He couldn't very well throw her out in the streets, now, could he?
The thought lingered in his mind for just a moment before it died a
horrible end. _She'll_ probably be the one to throw _him_ out in the
streets. She may look like she was helpless but it was all just for show.
He could still remember all the bruises he'd gotten from her back when
they were still young.
Sighing, he went into the store to look for his charges....
Within the confines of the small ice cream shop, two young women
were laying siege upon the numerous flavors the shop sported. People
stared incredulously at the two as they gobbled up a fascinating amount
of ice cream. Two such people held a look of utter disbelief.
"Geezz... here I thought Skuld was the only one who had a sweet
tooth for this stuff," one of them muttered as she finished her sundae.
"Got that right, Madoka," her companion agreed.
"Wait till Skuld finds out she has some competition in here,"
smirked the other.
Madoka's companion almost choked on the banana split she was
eating.
On the far side of the shop, Nene went through her order with
surprising haste. Not that her companion was doing it any less. Still, it
took less than twenty minutes for the both of them to finish their orders
off.
Not bad, but as two other people saw it, they were slower than
their friend by no more than three point two-three seconds. Now, if they
could only get Skuld here with those two and start a betting pool....
The two females gave a contented sigh, wiping away the last
vestiges of ice cream from their glasses.
"Say, are you really seriously considering what I told you back in
the airport?" Kurumi asked suddenly.
Nene blinked. All she was seriously considering right now was the
amount of exercise she would have to do just to work off all she'd eaten.
True, she had a great metabolism but it did have its limits, especially
since she had such a horrendous fixation on sweets.
"HUH???"
"Don't you remember? You said you wanted to get in shape. Get a
figure like mine." Kurumi emphasized her point by running her hands along
the curves of her shapely figure. "So, what'dya say?? Still wanna do it?"
Kurumi eyed her companion with the barest hint of amusement in her eyes.
"Trust me, Nene-chan. Next thing you'll know, you'll be the envy of the
town!!!"
Nene considered the offer, jealously eyeing Kurumi's physique. She
chewed on her lower lip as her mind began cataloguing the pros and cons
of the offer.
It would certainly trim down her waist line, not to mention the
calories she'd be burning off without her having to sacrifice too many
things - like food and such. Kurumi certainly looked fit and trim even
with her large craving for food.
She did not know how to classify learning martial arts though. She
was never all that big into those things that Linna or even Priss found
so much more interesting.
*Now what?* she wondered. It certainly wouldn't be all that bad to
see what Kurumi could do to help her.
A part of her could not believe she was doing this just because
Priss had been teasing her constantly about her figure. Well, it would
definitely get Priss off her case if she did a bit of training.
After all, she was a Knight Saber: a member of a band of
mercenaries who helped around blowing up renegade boomers and all that,
plus a little of this and that on the side. Add the fact that she hated
being beaten silly all the time by even the weakest of boomers... well...
*Why not?* she thought to herself. "Fine by me," Nene said out
loud.
Kurumi smiled. "Great!!! Just let me talk to my sister to set up
the whole thing. Trust me when I say you'll really enjoy it!! Tee-hee!!!"
answered Kurumi a bit too cheerfully.
A large sweatdrop formed behind Nene's head as she watched her
companion smile in pure delight. Nene shivered, feeling cold all of a
sudden. Somehow, she felt she was getting into something way over her
head. She sighed.
"You really shouldn't think of it like some sort of execution, you
know," observed Kurumi. "It's not like that, really. Training could be
fun, as long as you know how to make it so. And with me around, you can
rest assured it won't be anything _but_ fun."
Nene could not help but smile at her companion.
A certain ADP officer sitting not far off from their table stirred
his coffee as he wondered just what the hell has he gotten himself into
when he agreed to baby-sit the chief's little sister.
Kurumi certainly acted differently. A predatory cat disguising
itself to be little more than a harmless kitty. Considering the dossier
the Chief had given him; Kurumi was a grandmaster of the Musabetsu Kakuta
or something. He was unfamiliar with the school but it hardly mattered.
All he was wondering about was: why did _he_ have to be the one doing
this?!!
Playing chaperon to two hyperactive young women was not a good way
to spend the afternoon, or any day, to be exact. He had an image to
maintain after all and these two were unknowingly tearing his cool image
to bits with their act.
He idly wondered what his old partner would say about this.
*Probably laugh her ass off,* he thought disgustedly. *Ah,
well....*
===================
Mackie wiped the sweat that beaded on his forehead as he sought to
finish his job. Even with all the high-tech stuff his sister had created
over the years to help with their operations, it always ended up with him
doing something like this.
He took one aggrieved look at the half-built hardsuit before him.
He had been forced to remove the entire myomer bundling in order to
finish putting in the ECM suite that was supposed to have gone in before
he installed the third generation myomer. Mackie mentally kicked himself
in the head, berating himself for his utter lack of attention.
Well... he was kinda distracted.
Mackie sighed as he did a quick check on the ECM suite before he
began the arduous process of putting in the entire myomer bundling.
He considered himself to be of above-average intelligence. But
somehow, he had a feeling his sister put him up to this all the time, as
some sort of twisted punishment or something of the sort for his hentai
tendencies. Not that he could do anything of the sort, considering his
current problems with his ill-made wish to a goddess.
Suffice to say that he did something that he shouldn't have. And
gotten smashed with one mallet for his troubles.
He couldn't even daydream about women without her visage suddenly
popping up, toting that mallet of hers above - in his own head, no less!!
He idly wondered if this was some sort of heavenly justice at work here.
Just his luck to get a short tempered goddess...
He glanced at the digital display. 5:00 PM. Three more hours before
Priss did her last performance at Hot Legs and start her debut into the
glitter and glamour of the music world. He had no doubt of Priss
succeeding. Not with the way she sang her songs with such fervor and
conviction.
He gave one last sigh before he buried himself in his work once
more, promising himself to ask his sister why the next time around.
===================
The sun had set down the horizon, treating everyone to a
spectacular sunset as it sank into the depths of the ocean. Darkness took
hold of the land as the stars took center stage, the night sky
illuminated by the faint glow of the amber moon.
A hundred million globes of light came into existence, banishing
the darkness from the city that was MegaTokyo. Somewhere in a slightly
run-down district of this colossal city of concrete and steel, people
were gathering to pay tribute to one particular lady.
Music filtered out of the door, guarded by hulking brutes that were
very much human. A large number of people can be seen lining up just a
wee bit away from where the impassive stone sentinels stood, baring the
only way into what could be the final concert of their favorite gal in
this place.
From within the already packed bar, Priss surveyed the entire crowd
that had come to her final concert in this place - not that she hated the
place. It was the best place she had ever holed up in while she waited
her career to pick up, as it would someday.
Of course, that meant that she might be forced to leave the team.
That was perhaps the only thing that she would miss, but it seemed that
she had little choice. That was why Sylia had come here in the first
place - to talk to her about it.
*Ah, well... The price one must pay for success,* she thought idly
as she began to undress. *God knows how I'll miss it.*
Somewhere within the dimly lit bar, two women were having a quiet
discussion about trivial things. Little things to pass the time as they
waited for Priss to start her act.
"What are you thinking, Sylia?" Linna asked as she drank her light
beer.
Sylia gave a small smile as she leaned back on her seat. "Nothing
much. I'm just worried over Mackie again." It did not need to be
mentioned about a certain young woman who seemed to have taken the role
of guardian angel for her brother.
"You still worry about him and that strange girl he brought home?"
"Yes," answered Sylia.
"Why?" Linna asked. "I mean, Skuld seems like a nice girl. She's
even gone as far as clean his clock every time he goes into hentai mode."
Sylia had to smile at that, having been witness to no more than
three incidents where her brother had suffered the terrible wrath of one
very angry woman who certainly knew her way around with that hammer of
hers.
"Perhaps. But I can't help feel something strange about her. I know
Mackie told me she was an old friend, but how come I only came to know
her just now." Another question that came to mind would be how the heck
did he even got the time to go out.
True, Sylia might be over the top with that protective sister
stuff, but she could hardly be blamed for trying to take care of one
innocent - if slightly hentaish - brother. She had often thought that
Nene might just be able to curb that little problem of his, but it seemed
that this new girl was having a bit more luck in doing it. Then again,
with that hammer of hers... who wouldn't?
Sylia sighed, taking a sip of her own drink.
"I still think Skuld's a pretty nice girl," pressed Linna.
"Perhaps."
"Why are you so worried about it?"
"Because I can't shake this nagging feeling I have of her," came
Sylia's calm reply.
"So, what do you want to do about it?" Linna asked. "She's taken
Mackie more or less under her wing. Heck, I haven't seen Mackie take
shots of us for some time. That's never happened before.
"And it seems that Nene's hooked on her. Those two pretty much hit
it off when they first met. Those two act so similarly that it gives me
the shivers sometimes. Sorta like two peas in a pod. Even Priss seems to
like her, and you know how she is with strangers."
There was no need to mention how Skuld felt around Sylvie and Anri
whenever they came visiting. How she managed to find out they were 33-S
so fast... and the way she was staring at them. Linna shivered. It was
scary. Skuld did promise to keep their identities secret and had so far
remained quiet about it.
Sylia merely shrugged. "Perhaps. Time will tell. Eventually."
The lights dimmed as the cheers rose to a fervid pitch. And the
show began....
===================
Somewhere close-by Hot Legs...
Mackie wove through the tangled weave of cars as he raced towards
Hot Legs in his Highway Star Evolution II, intent on catching at least
even part of the show. At the rate he was doing it, he could make it in
ten minutes - pending getting caught for speeding or ending up crashing
into a convenient wall.
He had managed to finish his work about half an hour earlier than
he had originally thought. More than enough time to actually make in...
if not for the slight fact that the damn van won't start. And now, here
he was... using his newly rebuilt Highway Star Evolution II and cruising
at a speed that was enough to turn him into paste if he made a mistake.
Lucky him he'd installed the computerized inertial balancer in this
thing. He'd really hate himself if he got turned into road paste because
he was hurrying to see a concert.
The things people do at times...
===================
In yet another part of MegaTokyo, a young goddess gazed lovingly at
her newest creation. Her eyes sparkled with joy, shimmering like twin
pools of light, at seeing her creation finally finished.
It had been a labor of love and duty. While she knew well enough
not to start advertising her skills overly, she could, at the very least,
make up stuff that wasn't as high-tech as she normally wanted it to be.
But it was enough. Her research through the net had given her enough of a
starting ground on this powersuit she'd made.
The old power armors the ADP made use of were vastly underpowered -
to her, anyway. And the weapons they used!! Substandard! It wouldn't even
hurt a boomer, much less take one down, in her opinion. Well, she was
kind of overreacting a little. ADP performed well, even with their
somewhat less efficient equipment. But against most of the newer
generation boomers coming off the production line, it would not be long
before the ADP would be little more than just cannon fodder against such
creatures.
As if they weren't playing the part right now!!
And thus this little design of hers!!
She had made use of a partially destroyed K-12 frame and built it
up from there. It became painfully evident that the frame would require
extensive overhaul. Deciding against it, she quickly decided to just melt
the entire thing and remake the frame from the ground up. That meant
having to smuggle some of her more esoteric stuff from her temple, but
that posed very little problem for her.
Being a goddess helped a lot, though.
Her skills as an inventor had been sorely challenged as she debated
on the makeup of the suit she was going to build. She'd gone through a
dozen designs before she'd settled on one she liked.
It took longer than anticipated to finish it, lending more to the
fact she had to keep it hidden from prying eyes and to cobble up a few
little things here and there.
Most of the technology was nothing new - she simply made them
better.
The armor was now a triple-layer titanium alloy fused with diamond
molecules and a new carbon fiber compound she'd been toying around with
for some time now. The new armor was vastly resistant to HEAP rounds and
most small arms. It was also heat resistant and laser-ablative. The armor
itself could withstand severe stresses that would have destroyed any
other metal. Strong enough to withstand going hand-to-hand with
superboomers, if need be.
The myomer assembly she'd totally rebuilt after having found out
the original could not possibly handle the stress demands the new servos
would make. It was now five times stronger and more responsive than the
old one.
The weapon systems were her pride and joy, though.
Skuld had been toying with the idea for some time now, and the
armor gave her more than enough excuse to start building them. ADP would
need the firepower her weapons offered in the long run, anyway. Besides,
it wasn't like she was giving them anything that GENOM or any company
could come up with in the future, anyway.
The first weapon she'd created was the Plasma Rifle. Work that took
a good six years to complete. It was an idea one of her friends for their
science project but not something a group of students could create very
easily. After all, their thesis only had a time limit of a year to
finish.
The weapon was still pretty crude by her standards, but at least it
worked. The very heart of the weapon rested on a simple carbon dioxide
laser that put out 200 watts of energy in a tightly controlled beam, and
then channeled through a series of beam splitters and photoflash
amplifiers, pumping it up to four megawatts of power. The vastly charged
beam will then hit a single bead containing a mixture of deuterium and
tritium - both isotopes of hydrogen.
From there it got more complicated, but the overall effect was that
it would generate enough heat and pressure to create a miniature hydrogen
bomb, channeled once more by using electromagnetic rings situated around
the barrel of the rifle.
The plasma rifle was the most powerful but also the most
temperamental. One could not simply fire the weapon with abandon. Doing
so would risk overload and pretty much doing a pretty good imitation of a
hydrogen bomb exploding in your face. Still, the weapon packed a mighty
wallop - enough to destroy a boomer in one hit.
Another weapon she'd chosen to install was the twin heavy laser
gatling guns mounted on the left arm. These offered unlimited ammo, but
not much else. As long the reactor held, one could fire it infinitely
without worrying about melting the barrels. Of course, it just did not
have the punching power that the plasma rifle had. Still, it was quite
useful against mass opponents. Even a boomer would tread lightly when
it's up against something that can shoot it indefinitely.
Another system that she'd recently installed on the armor was the
Collider System. Electrically charged gauntlets that could, in essence,
severely impair a boomer's systems due to the high electrical discharge
it gave. She'd also installed the system on the lower legs, just in case
someone might think of jumping an opponent. Of course, the system only
had enough power for several attempts. It was enough, though, as the
weapon was pretty much intended as a last resort weapon.
She'd also upgraded the radar and added in a booster unit to better
aid the pilots in dodging its enemies.
She'd noticed, during her stay in ADP, that boomers tended to use
their jetpacks to assist in movement and attack. She'd taken the trouble
of creating a series of venier thrusters linked directly to the control
system of the armor. A tedious task, but one she had a feeling would be
of greater use. The armor itself was pretty bulky and, with the venier
thrusters to help it, it could be as nimble as any of those Knight Saber
hardsuits - as long as the boosters held together or didn't get shot.
All she had to do now was finish the last of the adjustments and
she was ready.
Once she finished with this, she'd have a little chat with her
friends. She had little doubts of how they were going to react to seeing
her little invention. One thing was for sure: Madoka was going to be
drooling with lust at her creation. Once she and her friends had fully
tested the power armor... let the boomers beware!!
Skuld smiled wickedly. One could almost imagine this young goddess
to be laughing an insane sort of laugh, complete with lightning and
thunder effects right about now. She certainly was in the right place to
do just that.
===================
In yet another place, two young women were driving with a very worn
Leon McNichol. One could easily tell that he was, due to his somewhat
haggard look. Then again, it might have been caused by his two companions
idly chatting at the back of his borrowed car.
The Chief had given him her car to use for the day and Leon
desperately hoped nothing bad happened to them. He knew the chief was
well-off but not this much. It certainly did raise some questions as to
why the Chief even bothered to enter public service.
He wasn't too worried though. The Chief was nothing like the others
who had sat in that office. Her predecessor may have been supportive of
Leon's actions, but never did they have one that actually had the guts to
take on the board like she did.
Maybe that's why Chief Natsume Tendou was having better luck at it
than anyone else. It would seem that the old fools were a lot more
pliable when women were concerned.
Leon glanced at the chronometer, noting that he was going to be
very late for his favorite girl's performance if he had to bring his two
charges home before he went there. So, with only one option in mind, he
turned away from the main highway, making his way towards his destination
for the night: Hot Legs.
"Say, Leon, this ain't the route to my sister's house," Kurumi
noted, glancing at the crumbling rows of edifices they've passed. A
sudden gleam in her eyes caught Leon's attention. "You aren't going to do
anything to us, now, are you?" she asked in an awfully uber-kawaii voice.
Leon blanched. "Whaaaaa!!!!" he gaped, almost losing control of the
vehicle.
Kurumi leaned over, eyes wide in mock fear. "You aren't going to do
unspeakable acts to our young and nubile bodies, now, are you??" she
asked coyly.
Nene's jaw dropped to the ground as she stared at Kurumi with a
nervous look in her eyes. She suppressed the fit of giggles that
threatened to explode. It certainly was a funny thought, considering that
Leon was a wimp when it came to these things. He may act cool and all but
he wasn't the type to do something like that to just anybody.
The way her friend Kurumi was acting, with those wide, shimmering
eyes and overly kawaii voice made it all so funny. It did not help any
with the way Leon was acting.
It was just too funny.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!" laughed Nene, unable to control
herself.
Leon muttered something under his breath as he glared at the two
madly laughing females in the back seat. Both reminded him painfully of
his sister. A bundle of nerves tightly packed into a package that he
could hardly refuse.
Just sums up how much of a sucker he was for cute girls.
"Not unless I want your sister chopping my head off with that rug
beater thing she has in her office."
Kurumi let out a small giggle, which escalated into uncontrolled
laughter as she settled into the back seat muttering something about rug
beaters and something else that Leon did not want to know about.
===================
Skuld sighed as she finished making the last adjustments on the
mecha she'd built. She glanced at her friends, who sat behind her,
marveling at her invention. She could not repress the self-satisfied
smirk that crawled up her face as she watched her friends still-stunned
reactions. Madoka was positively drooling over the thing.
"What do you guys think, ne?" she asked.
Madoka wiped off the drool on her chin and quickly pounced on her
friend, hugging her to death, as she pleaded repeatedly to Skuld if she
would let her pilot it. She was mumbling a dozen or so promises: from ice
cream to cakes to anything Skuld would want - anything for her to pilot
that mecha she'd created.
Colin Stryker smiled as he watched Madoka make such a fool of
herself. Not that he could blame the woman. Madoka was one of the few
people who had managed to learn the dangerous art of surviving boomers in
power armor. Surviving against insane boomers takes a lot of skill and
guts. Madoka seemed to have both qualities.
But even then, she would never have survived, had it not been her
penchant for creating unorthodox weaponry in her spare time. Her acid gun
had certainly saved her neck quite a few times. Of course, her partners
certainly were not ready to use her stuff. Not surprising, since some of
those things tended to backfire on her quite easily.
One such example had been the electro-lance she'd made. It did
destroy the boomer, but it had also overloaded the systems of her own
power armor. There was no need to mention how her hair looked during the
week after the incident.
But it did not stop her from making more. In a way, she acted much
like Skuld. A reason why those two had hit it off when they first met.
The thing stood there in front of him, giving off an aura of
strength that none of the ADP's armors could hope to match.
Madoka had this really silly grin plastered on her face as she
pleaded repeatedly with Skuld to let her pilot it.
Again, not surprising. Madoka was always the mecha freak and this
one certainly did fall into that category.
The mecha was of a two-tone color. Midnight blue for most of its
frame, save the flaring shoulders and huge gauntleted arms, which were of
a fiery red in color.
The head was work of art by itself. It had a crest crowning its
head, with the front ending in a large green orb with two V-like
projections on either side of it. The lower projection was wider and
larger than the other. Green optics peered from the helmet-like
construction, with its chin jutting forward. It also sported wing-like
projections on its sides, flaring out behind it. All in all, it looked
liked a human head wearing a really cool helmet.
Stryker did not need to know what Madoka was thinking of right now.
After all, he was pretty much thinking the same thing anyway.
===================
Captain Natsume Tendo, ADP Chief, found herself staring out of the
window of her office, watching the numerous lights that lit up the city
at night. There were times when she wished she could fly, to look out at
the world across the skies, to stare at the beauty of the world she lived
in. Mankind had been rough on the earth for well over a thousand years,
but she had her hopes. Someday, perhaps when all this was over.
She smirked at the thought. Mankind had never been really good with
lessons.
Folding her arms in front of her, she watched and pondered. Her
sister was in town, hinting on staying for a while. She smiled at that.
At least her sister was settling down for the time being. And,
considering how she seemed to like having Nene around, perhaps there was
indeed hope that her sister would stop her wandering ways.
Then there was that airport incident where Kurumi had tangled with
boomers. Her sister was skilled in the art but she did not like her
sister tangling with combat boomers like that.
Her sister was skilled, but even she was wary of fighting boomers.
Her sister tended to bash boomers away when an opportunity presented
itself. That she did not mind all that much, but she did wish her sister
would try and take stock of a given situation before leaping in like
that.
The reports weren't all that specific, but the whole incident felt
too much like a trap. Some of her officers claimed seeing a strange
boomer as well, which raised her suspicions even more. There had been
previous incidents like this one - most of which involved the Knight
Sabers.
Which would mean only one thing: Someone wanted the Sabers out of
the way.
Natsume was not surprised.
Sighing, she grabbed her mug from the table, taking in the heady
aroma of chocolate wafting through her nose.
It certainly was a pain, keeping track of her sister. Then again,
perhaps she should be used to it by now. Kurumi had done it dozens of
times to her, after all.
A beeping tone by her desk shattered her line of thought.
Leaning forwards, she stabbed at the intercom much like a swordsman
would do with a sword.
"Tendo here," she announced, her voice calm and collected, if a bit
snappish.
A frown creased her forehead at the news she heard.
"What do you mean they rejected my proposal?" Her voice was like
ice. The person at the other end of the line cringed in fright.
"Gomen... Tendou-san. We... I... tried my best, but the board is
unwilling to give the budget you require. They said that the current
budget is more than enough for -"
Natsume cut him off angrily. " - But nothing!! Tell those fools
that I can't hope to take on boomers with these hand-me-downs those
bastards have been giving this department. Hell, the K-14s are probably
the only thing they've given us that's useful for a change. But I sure as
hell can't do a thing with them, if they're only going to leave it at
that. Some of those suits need replacement parts - parts I can't get my
hands on!!"
She paused to compose herself. No good raging to an idiot like this
one. "Are they still in the council room?"
"Y... yes," he replied shakily.
"Good. Don't let them leave yet." With that, she cut the link, face
set in a furious frown.
"Idiots!!" she cursed, picking up her jacket from its perch,
muttering.
===================
Somewhere in a place most men have learned to forget, in a place
that had been created by Nature's power and which humans had sought to
cleanse, a number of people could be seen within the dark recesses of the
rift that had ripped old Tokyo apart in 2025. A group of young people,
dressed in nondescript clothes was gawking at the largish power armor
that one of their number had taken the trouble to make.
Their little performance tests had shown just how strong the power
armor was. Hell!! The particle cannon it had bore through ten feet of
canyon wall. The other weapon systems were just as effective - if not
more. Madoka seemed to have managed to learn how to pilot the strange
armor Skuld had designed with ease, and was very pleased with the way it
handled.
"So, how was it?" Skuld asked smugly, a smirk on her face.
Madoka grinned, giving her the thumbs-up. "Better than I would've
expected. The armor performed well - better actually than anything I've
had ridden in," she said, climbing out of the armor, with one hand raking
through her sweat-soaked hair. "Might need a tad bit of ventilation
though."
Skuld pouted. "Well... fine... maybe I could squeeze a climate
control unit in there." Skuld revised her opinion as she saw Madoka's
interface suit. "Errr.... I think I'll get to it as soon as possible."
She noted her friend's sweat-soaked suit.
She quickly glared at Stryker and his friend as they stared
appreciatively at Madoka's nubile form outlined so by the suit. Skuld
reached for her trusty mallet and lightly hit the pair.
"Bunch of hentai idiots."
The others laughed. The two grumbled a bit as Madoka winked at
them.
"You really shouldn't get so excited, Skuld-chan. It's not like
those two have seen me in anything less than this."
"HMP!!!"
Madoka's smile deepened.
===================
The moon peeked out from the darkened clouds, illuminating the area
below with its amber glow. It was a very dark night, with the clouds
diffusing much of the moon's reflected light. Down below, tiny pinpricks
of light roamed across the ground, searching the rows of darkened
buildings and warehouses. The night air was cold, evidence of the coming
winter.
A brilliant explosion turned a warehouse and nearby buildings into
rubble and burning embers. The shrill keening of an alarm sounded as a
chain of explosions ripped the buildings apart.
Three very large figures - boomers, from their silhouettes - strode
out of the fire in a purposeful gait, taking the time to destroy
everything in their path.
A dozen armored units armed with high-powered gatling guns took
positions flanking the three oversized boomers.
The boomers paused, taking stock of the situation.
The troopers didn't wait and opened fire, gatling guns whining as
hundreds of tungsten-carbide tipped bullets spat out of the multi-
barreled weapon by the minute.
The three boomers merely stood their ground.
A cloud of dust shrouded the boomers as the troopers wove their
weapons across the dust-shrouded field. The gunfire lasted for several
minutes, bullets and tracers flashing through the fire-lit darkness.
Hearts raced as the last of the gatling guns ran out of ammo. An
uneasy silence descended upon the soldiers, each pulse pounding in fear
and from the effects of adrenaline the body was injecting itself with.
The only sounds were the incessant cry of the base's sirens and the
flames fanned by the night wind.
A few of the armored troopers worked up enough courage to take a
few cautious steps forward.
Without warning, a huge fist emerged from the dust cloud, followed
by a dreadful bellow that chilled the hearts of those present.
Gleaming red eyes flashed as the boomers, though damaged by the
attack but remained fully functional, charged, tearing one unfortunate
soul who got in their way.
Cries of alarm came from the others as they got out of the way.
Some of the armored units that were far enough opened fire once more, as
they slowly backed away from the enraged killing machines.
Others were not so fortunate as the boomers fell upon them. They
tried their best but even that was not good enough. Damaged as they were,
they were still strong enough to deal with them at close range.
Scattered bursts of fire from the survivors of the initial charge
that had managed to regroup through all the chaos concentrated their fire
against one of the closest boomers.
The boomer dodged the initial barrage, its thruster back glowing a
brilliant blue as it hovered briefly. It opened its mouth, revealing the
particle array installed in it. Arcs of power sizzled around the nozzle
as the boomer prepared to fire.
A very courageous pilot, driven by rage and fear, activated his own
boosters, guns blazing as he closed the distance. The boomer adjusted its
targeting, aiming for the human who was closing in on it.
The other two boomers fired on the survivors, keeping them occupied
for the time being.
The pilot shot straight towards the boomer, yelling a battle cry,
even as he redlined his suit's boosters.
The boomer fired its particle cannon at the fool that was charging
it.
Somehow, by sheer luck, the pilot had managed to avoid the beam -
partially. The suit's computers began blaring out caution warnings and
status displays. He paid it little heed as he concentrated on the task at
hand.
The targeting systems locked on the boomer's upper torso.
He grinned, thumbing the trigger....
Nothing.
Surprise was total, even as he careened straight at the boomer.
The pilot could only smile as he smashed into the boomer at well
over sixty miles per hour....
===================
In the ADP practice gym...
Nene gasped as she found herself on the mat once more. She groaned
in abject suffering as she slowly got up.
Her sensei, Kurumi Tendou, was a slave driver! She'd never expected
this when she'd willingly allowed herself to get into this mess. Well...
she'd only been at it for a few days now, but it certainly felt like an
eternity already. She'd never expected this kind of training!
Kurumi had her on her toes for the past few days already. She
seemed to just pop out of nowhere and attack her. It certainly kept her
from slacking off, but it certainly wasn't helping her get her work done.
Then there were those puzzled stares she'd been getting from her co-
workers. She certainly could not fault them.
Nene groaned as she looked up to her friend and nemesis.
"Owwwww... can't we take a break?" she complained, rubbing her sore
posterior.
Kurumi shook her head as she bent down to help Nene up from the
mat. Nene was surprisingly agile, but tended to fall apart when she got
attacked. From the way she moved, she had been taught martial arts
previously.
Her first sparring session with Nene had given her a more-than-
adequate list of things she needed to do with Nene. One thing in Nene's
favor was her speed and agility. Nene's reflexes were sharp and she had
evaded most of her initial moves. What she couldn't evade in time was
blocked with her hands. Other than that, she was practically helpless.
Not a problem for Kurumi. Given enough time, Kurumi was confident
she could turn Nene into a competent martial artist.
"No time for breaks, Nene," Nene pouted. "Nu-uhhh... Nene-chan.
You've got to tag me first."
"But you've barely taught me anything in the past three days. And
you've even strapped these lead weights on me, too!!" Nene complained.
Kurumi smirked. "You should be happy. My sister trained me a lot
worse than what I'm doing to you."
Nene merely groaned louder as she rubbed her aching back - which,
by the way, was straining under the weight of sixty pounds of dead
weight. The distraught redhead wondered just what kind of family did
Kurumi come from anyway.
"I don't even know why I bother going back in here every day, when
all you do is beat me up like this," she complained.
"It may look like it, but things aren't what they seem to be at
times." Kurumi explained, "Martial arts require that you be in touch with
yourself every single moment. Awareness is something you must learn to
hone to its fullest, Nene-chan."
"Well... I still don't understand why you keep jumping me at work.
I mean, I know your sister agreed to let you train me, but does it have
to include work hours? My co-workers are buzzing with questions."
Kurumi smiled widely, wagging a finger at her. "Not to worry, Nene-
chan. It's all part of your training in my family's school of martial
arts. Once you get the basics down pat, I'll let you start practicing
your balance on the fence atop this building."
Nene fell over from shock.
"Oro!!! Nene.... Oy! You okay?" Kurumi asked worriedly.
Nene merely twitched on the floor at the thought of running along
fence rails a few hundred feet up in the sky... it was not a good
thought.
===================
Regis Hotel was a well-known place for all those visiting
MegaTokyo, or those wishing to conduct some sort of high-level business
deal. The hotel itself was a grand design on its own, a virtual tower of
glass and steel that thrust up from the rest of the buildings that
crowded the business district of the city. Even with all the outbreaks of
boomer incidents and other crimes, the hotel had survived to service the
people it catered.
One such group was composed of two well-dressed women seated near a
plexiglass window that gave a clear, unobstructed view of the entire
city.
From their height, it was clear that the city was still recovering
from the earthquake of 2025. The scar that ran across the entire length
of the city lay open, a gaping wound to remind the inhabitants of the
city that they still answered to a higher power - power that not even
GENOM could match on its best day.
Nature had a way of humbling the most arrogant of humans.
The younger of the two sighed as she sipped her drink - a simple
soda drink. She was never fond of liquor, or any of its varieties. She
stuck to simple things like sodas or milk or anything non-alcoholic.
Besides, she couldn't handle liquor anyway. Last time she tried had
been during her college days. It was not something she wanted to
remember. Heck, she'd kept that _tattoo_ just to remind herself of the
dangers of drinking.
She looked at the woman seated in front of her. Short black hair
styled in current fashions. Dressed immaculately in a light blue blouse,
over which was worn a flannel jacket of the same color. A white scarf
wound itself around her throat where a small red gem flickered under the
low light of the sun that managed to reach them. A short skirt completed
the ensemble, making her look the part of a successful businesswoman
conducting a deal.
"I still do not understand why you need me, Sylia," she said in low
tones. "I mean, I thought you had those _two_ to help boost your people."
"I have this feeling," Sylia said simply.
There was no need to mention the names of the two the woman was
regarding. Both Sylvie and Anri were 33-S model boomers, a type that had
been banned from production, since they were very good at being used to
integrate battlefield weaponry. Both were the only survivors from an
escape attempt from Genaros and both would have died with their encounter
with the Knight Sabers, had it not been for the help of a woman in
strange armor back then.
The threat posed by the new type boomer was too great that Sylia
had a feeling she would need all the help she could get if they were to
encounter any more of them. Sylia had little doubt that they'd be
encountering more of those things in the near future.
For all the technological advances she's made with the new
hardsuits, they would still be hard pressed to fight against just one of
those Dreadnought-class Boomers. Such was her reason for asking for this
woman's help.
"There are things... events that have evaded my network that are on
the move. I've already lost a number of my people investigating the
matter, and I fear GENOM may be on the move to stop us."
The other woman blinked in surprise. Since she had known this
woman, she was not one to show her emotions so easily. To make her do so
would require a tremendous amount of pressure.
"I see."
"Will you help?" asked Sylia, her tone once again carrying the
strength she had come to respect.
She nodded. "I'll get back to you as soon as my gear comes."
"Thank you," was Sylia's response.
The other woman smiled fondly as she clasped the woman's hand. "You
saved my life once in Europe several years back. I will not forget my
promise. You have my word."
===================
In yet another part of the city, somewhere within the monolithic
building that was GENOM, someone entered a darkened room. Small streams
of light came from the windows, blocked by the transparent filter that
kept the room in semi-darkness.
The faint silhouette of the woman could be observed to have walked
across the room, her feet lightly brushing against the carpet. A small
light blossomed towards one end of the room, casting a small pool of
light in the darkened room. The light revealed the woman's striking form:
lithe as a dancer's and with a grace to make a queen proud.
The woman slowly changed clothes, exchanging her normal business
attire for a simple oversized sweatshirt that effectively covered her up
to her knees. Sighing, she walked out of the room, waving her hand in the
air to shut off the lights. She slowly made her way through the gloom,
entering yet another room.
The lights came on, revealing the room to be the kitchen. She
opened the fridge and pulled out a can of lemon juice. Tearing the tab
off the can, she took a particularly large swig from it as she leaned
against the counter.
Her eyes were unfocused, as though she was in a trance. The color
of her eyes seemed to change from light blue to a darker shade. The hand
tightened its grip on the can, evident by its slightly warped look.
*It had been a long time,* she thought to herself. *I guess it was
just a matter of time before _they_ would act. Still, they must know they
can't win.*
Her spies had reported disturbing news to her, prompting her to
forgo her usual rounds amongst the different departments under her. The
reports certainly worried her. It would seem that her old acquaintances
were on the move against GENOM. Certainly that was clear from the way
they had managed to effectively gain control of the ADP.
She would need to take care of it as soon as possible. For now, she
had to concentrate her time in her plans for getting rid of the Knight
Sabers, once and for all. With Largo out of the picture, they were a
liability that needed to be erased.
She'd planned it all for so long. The wait had been painstaking,
but well worth it. The first trap had proven the Dreadnought to be very
effective against the Knight Sabers. Very effective. Now, she would send
five of Dreadnoughts to handle them. And, unlike the last time, she would
ensure their death. But, to do so, she would need to -
Faster than the eye could see, her hand grabbed hold of a kitchen
knife, throwing it in one smooth motion towards the doorway.
Silence.
The woman frowned as she took a defensive stance, arms jutted out
to her front as her eyes scanned the darkness ahead of her. Her frown
deepened further as she recognized the woman who stood before her.
The aforementioned woman merely smiled as she laid the small
kitchen knife on the counter, her beautiful kimono gently brushing
against the edge of the counter. Turning her attention towards the woman,
she said: "It's been a long time now, child."
"I don't think we've met until now, lady."
"I think you do... Ms. Madigan," the woman said as she adjusted the
clothed bundle strapped to her back. "I've been watching you for a long
time now. I must say, I'm very disappointed in you."
Madigan merely smiled. "I would suggest you leave now, lady. I've
already called for a few guards. I wouldn't want to see a 'guest' harmed
in my presence," she warned, folding her arms across her chest. "You've
got two minutes to get the hell out of my room."
"You've certainly changed a lot. My son would have been very
disappointed to see you like this."
A mask of rage fell across Kate Madigan's face. "I don't give a
damn about what _he_ may think. He's already dead, and there's nothing
any of the others can do to make me feel any better or worse. That part
of me is long dead, and I certainly have no intentions of resurrecting
it."
The woman shook her head sadly. "People do change, child. For
better or worse. But you... I would not have expected such from you."
"What I do is strictly for the good of GENOM," Madigan explained.
"Nothing personal."
"Perhaps you could tell that to the countless number of people
who've lost friends and loved ones from that incident in the airport? I'm
sure they'll understand."
Her eyes unfocused for a moment as her body trembled slightly.
"Not my problem," Madigan answered, her lips curled up into a
snarl.
"I see," said the woman. "At least there's still a shadow of
humanity left in you. Perhaps, someday - "
Her words were cut off as a loud explosion ripped one section of
the wall a few feet behind Madigan. The blast hurled her across the
kitchen, slamming painfully against a convenient wall.
Madigan grunted at the force of the impact as gravity took over and
deposited her roughly on the carpeted floor. Somehow, she was still
alive, and the only thing going through her mind right then and there was
that she was going to really have a long talk with her security people.
Those idiots really need to work on their damn timing.
She carefully got up, leaning heavily against the wall as she tried
to make sense of the madness that had blown up in her face. Alarms blared
loudly, even as she heard the sounds of a struggle nearby.
Madigan covered her mouth as the room's fire control systems
activated, spraying the entire area with fire retardant foam.
Cursing under her breath, she made her way towards her kitchen,
wondering just what the hell was it taking so long to take down a single
woman.
Madigan was surprised by what she saw. Normally, she brought three
custom-built superboomers with her. After that Largo incident, she was
_not_ going to let herself be surprised like that again. Such precautions
were not needed here, and were thus relegated to GENOM security and a
handful of patrol boomers.
She was going to have a long talk with them, though. She did not
take kindly to nearly getting killed by her own guards. Then again, the
intruder was already doing a good enough job of taking care of them.
Madigan debated on calling her personal guards but thought against
it.
These idiots needed to be taught a lesson in underestimating their
opponents. The woman was doing a spectacular job of kicking their
collective ass.
Having seen enough, Madigan strode towards the woman and casually
blocked the sword with a convenient kitchen knife.
"Enough," she declared heatedly. "I think you should leave now
before I decide otherwise."
The woman eyed her briefly.
"Well?"
Smiling sadly, the woman casually sheathed her sword, and walked
past Madigan and out of the room, through the hole in her kitchen. Once
the woman was gone, Madigan dismissed the others, glaring at them all the
while as they left the wreckage of her once pristine kitchen.
Eyeing the broken remains of the patrol boomers lying on the
kitchen floor, Madigan turned off the kitchen lights, reminding herself
to have a long, stern talk with the Director of Security tomorrow.
Intrusions were not something she tolerated... especially after work.
===================
Skuld and her friends were quietly rejoicing their success. Well...
Skuld's success, anyway, since she was the one who had built the
Valkyrie, anyway.
Madoka was the one who had come up with the name. It certainly fit,
anyway. The entire profile of the power suit was vaguely feminine. A
stark contrast to the ones the ADP used and the body-hugging curves the
Knight Sabers preferred.
Skuld had mentioned doing a bit more fine-tuning to the Valkyrie
later on, and possible weapon adjustments as well. Overall, the tests had
shown that it was indeed very strong - perhaps just as strong as the
Knight Sabers' fabled hardsuits. Only difference was this was better
armed, and had no high heels on it.
They had agreed to keep it a secret for the time being, as they
were still unsure on how to broach the subject to the Chief. She seemed
pretty busy dealing with the Board regarding her requests for better
equipment - something the ADP needed all the time. Then again, with the
Board mostly made up of GENOM lackeys... it would take a miracle to get
them to agree to anything contrary to GENOM profits.
Still, the Chief Tendou seemed to be handling things a lot more
successfully than her predecessors. Her efforts were more than
appreciated by everyone in ADP. Teamwork and trust went a long way in
this line of work - more so now than ever before.
For now, Skuld and her friends: Madoka, Stryker, and Wolf, would
keep things under wraps, until the time came for them to reveal their
secret.
===================
December 25, 2033
Christmas Eve.
The night was cold. The winds carried the sting of winter in its
wake. The streets were surprisingly empty, perhaps due to the
surprisingly cold weather the city was experiencing. It was cold - enough
that it should be snowing, but somehow negated by the microsystem
prevailing within the confines of the city. Light rain fell from the sky,
prompting those out in the streets to take cover.
Of course, such mundane matters were completely beyond the grasp of
a rampaging group of boomers currently tearing through the business
district.
Bullets rained down on the two 55-Cs, smashing into the thick armor
plating, but doing not much else. Such were the misfortune of the ADP
against these rampaging machines of destruction.
A lone ADP officer waited patiently by the barricade they had
constructed, not far from where the boomers were currently. They would
need to wrap this one up quickly, if they were to get back to
headquarters in time for the party. Weeks of near zero boomer activity
and these things just had to go crazy today.
"Get those choppers out of there. I don't want to have to file
death certificates tonight, of all nights," ordered Leon.
"You seem awfully confident of your plan, Leon-chan."
"Well... it's the best idea I could come up with on such short
notice. Besides, it's not like we're in a hurry or anything."
"Uh-huh. Yeah, sure."
Leon was up to something - that much was pretty obvious to anyone.
One just did not wear a tuxedo to a boomer rampage. And, if Daley was not
mistaken, he smelled the scent of musk in the air.
*Well, well, well.... I wonder...,* thought Daley. *Could it be???
Nah!!!*
===================
Somewhere else...
"Is everything ready for the trial run?" a voice asked.
"Yes, sir. We're ready to begin Phase One of the test."
"And our guests?"
"Computers predict an 80% chance that they will arrive on scene
once we introduce a grave enough threat."
The man nodded in approval. The screens before him showed the two
renegade boomers he had unleashed. Both were moving towards the ADP
barricade.
He was curious as to what the ADP was planning. While the ADP did
have the firepower to rival many small nations, it paled against the
might of boomers.
Still, the ADP had one thing on its side: numbers. That one single
advantage had served them well through thick and thin, holding together
where other lesser men would have simply ran away. In a way, he held
respect for these fools that died by the numbers any time boomers ran
amuck within the city of MegaTokyo.
What they could not handle, the Knight Sabers would seemingly
appear out of nowhere to deal with. Most citizens viewed the vigilantes
as some sort of guardian angel for the ADP.
His objective was the elimination of the Knight Sabers, as they had
become far more than just a nuisance to his superiors. And he had just
the thing to use for it, too. Type 99-Ds, or the Dreadnoughts. All five
of them.
The man smiled in anticipation.
===================
A young woman with bright auburn hair that flowed freely down her
back was staring at herself in the full-length mirror in the room.
Admiring herself for a bit, she made sure nothing was amiss with the way
she looked. She was dressed in a simple gold dress that hugged her
loosely but still showed off her figure without hiding too much. Posing
one more time in front of the mirror, she was finally satisfied with her
looks.
It wasn't too often she ever got out, being swamped with her work.
Tonight was going to be a night made for partying with abandon. And she
was going to do just that - as soon as her erstwhile escort would arrive.
Leon had called her to say that he might be a bit late, as he had been
called to work.
Kyoko sighed. Another boomer rampage.
It was really strange that this city had such a high amount of it,
as compared to most cities around the world. Perhaps it was because
GENOM's Primary Headquarters was situated in MegaTokyo. Or it was just
bad karma. No one could really tell. All in all, life in MegaTokyo was
far from the Eden that GENOM had promised when it had began rebuilding
Tokyo from the ashes of the Great Kanto Quake of 2025.
All she could do now was wait for her brother to return.
She idly wondered what her friend was doing right about now.
===================
In an underground bunker, heavily shielded from prying eyes and
sensors, a flurry of activity could be seen taking place, as a number of
scantily dressed women were quickly donning what could only be hardsuits.
Those high heels were a dead giveaway, really.
A few minutes ago, the ADP had engaged two 55-Cs near the business
district of MegaTokyo - ten minutes away from their current position.
Such an incident was no cause for alarm - in most cases. The ADP was more
than capable of handling the matter by themselves, which they did. Ten
minutes was all it took to reduce the two malfunctioning machines into so
much scattered debris.
For even with the kind of equipment that the ADP was forced to work
with, they managed to get by, relying more on teamwork and planning than
simple brute force would have allowed. Any rookie could have told you
that, if they survived their first mission.
In a way, that was the reason why Leon McNichol was still in
command of the Anti-Boomer Task Force. He did his job well - more than
enough that his superiors let his maverick attitude slide more often than
not. Besides, if he fucked up, they could just blame it all on him.
Success did have its risks. Those Detective McNichol bore so well.
The two boomers had been disposed of with minimal injuries and no
casualties. That was, until ten more had seemingly appeared from nowhere.
The dying began in earnest.
Sylia Stingray was no angel but she did have a heart - even if it
wasn't readily apparent. Within minutes, she and her small band of female
vigilantes were piling into the Knight Wing, even as the ADP fought to
survive through the night.
The howls of the engine came to a fevered pitch as the hanger bay
opened to launch the Knight Wing into the night.
===================
"SKULD!!!" a near frantic voice cried out.
The young-goddess-turned-ADP-tech looked up from her work to see an
out-of-breath Colin Stryker breathing heavily before her. Frowning, she
turned off the welder and turned a worried look at her friend.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Ma... doka-ch... chan is... in... trouble," he managed to wheeze
out. "Something about a trap."
Skuld wasted no time running towards her terminal. Fishing out a
slim card from her overalls, she slipped it into her terminal, allowing
her access to the ADP communications mainframe. Calling up the comm
frequency for her friend's armor, she called out in worry: "Madoka!!!
MADOKA!!"
There was no answer, save for the hiss of static. A few seconds
went by before the static was replaced by a very poor image of Madoka in
her cockpit.
"MADOKA!!"
"Looks like I'm in a bit of a bind, Skuld," she said in a tightly
controlled voice.
"Don't worry. I've just got the thing to help you out."
Madoka smiled. "I bet you do."
===================
Things were not looking good, as explosions ripped through the side
of another building, reducing the first two floors into so much rubble.
Leon swore as he ducked behind a building, his EarthShaker handgun
at the ready. Three others were hunkered down the opposite end of the
street, waiting for an opportunity to open fire on the seven remaining
boomers.
It should be taken to account that, even outnumbered, they had
somehow managed to destroy three of the ten boomers that had descended on
their position so quickly. The ten 55-C boomers were equipped with
backpack missiles, most of which had been used in the initial attack that
had caught many of them unawares.
"Daley!!" Leon called out to his commlink. "How's your status?"
The sound of static burst from the link before a familiar voice
answered. "Not... good...," came the reply. "I'm down to six troopers and
two K-14s."
"Backup?"
"They're still five minutes out."
Leon cursed. Too long. The boomers would swarm over them in less
than two minutes. "Shit!! Can you get to my position?" he wanted to know.
"Negative. I've got three of the bastards pinning me and my team,"
Daley reported. "You?"
"Same here."
"Not exactly the greatest way to be spending Christmas, you know."
Leon snorted, holing up a piece of what had been his jacket...
"Tell me about it... my frigging tux is a total write-off. My sister is
going to kill me."
Further talk was interrupted by the high-pitched whine of a jet
engine. Looking up, Leon could see a huge shape hovering above the area,
its turbines throwing up dust and debris everywhere.
A small smile cracked his face, relieved to see a very familiar
sight.
"Well... well... well... looks like the cavalry has arrived," noted
Daley in a relieved tone.
"They certainly know how to make an entrance," said Leon as he
watched five armored figures leap off the plane. All five silhouettes
landed on the road, pausing for the slightest amount of time before they
leapt into action.
The blue saber literally jumped into the fray, landing into the
middle of three boomers. One found itself on the receiving end of a
close-range shot from the rail launcher mounted on the blue saber's left
shoulder, decapitating its head. Ducking under the blows of the second,
the blue saber kicked the boomer in the shins, following it up with a
jet-assisted spin kick with on the head by her other leg, tearing it off
its shoulders. The third was quickly felled by a well-placed knuckle bomb
across its chest a second later.
The green saber launched herself towards two boomers that was
pinning Leon and his people. Without missing a beat, she unfurled the
twin monomolecular ribbons from their housing as she dashed straight
towards the two. Assisted by her jetpack, the green saber wove through
the fire the two boomers were throwing at her. Missiles corkscrewed
harmlessly all around her, exploding behind her in a fiery display of
pyrotechnics even as she dodged high-speed projectiles aimed at her.
The green saber passed between the two boomers for the merest
fraction of a second before she launched herself into the air and out of
harm's way. The two boomers stopped firing, only to explode seconds
later, as twin slashes appeared across their torsos.
Five down, the remaining two boomers found themselves besieged by
long-ranged attacks from the silver-colored saber, the newest addition to
the group of four. Toting an oversized rifle of some sort, she pointed it
at one boomer and fired.
Leon watched as the first boomer was propelled backward by the
force of the shot. The second boomer turned to watched its compatriot
explode in midair, upgrading the threat level the weapon presented.
Thruster flaring to life, the boomer leapt high into air, its targeting
systems priming its missiles to launch.
It did not have the chance to fire as something else had homed in
on it. To say that the boomer was surprised was an understatement.
A lone missile smashed into its back, consuming it in a great ball
of fire. In the background, one could see the shadowy form of the Knight
Wing, hovering protectively above the battlefield.
===================
A young woman sighed in relief, glad to be alive after having to
fight no less than five 55-Cs more or less at the same time, in a suit of
armor that she normally called a pile of junk. Somehow, she'd managed to
stay alive with only moderate damage to her K-14 power armor. Riddled
with lots of holes and her backpack thrusters gone from excessive usage,
it was a wonder she'd survived.
Madoka was glad to see the Knight Sabers arriving. She did not know
if she would last any longer.
She surveyed the battlefield, wincing as she saw her fallen
comrades. Of the ten K-14s that Leon had brought with him to this fight,
only three had managed to survive - hers included. She doubted any of the
three were going to be serviceable after this, if her armor was any hint
of what the techs had to work with.
Closing her eyes to say a silent prayer to her departed comrades,
she opened the safety locks on the cockpit. With an audible hiss, the
pneumatic locks cycled open, admitting the stench of death and the acrid
smell of smoke into the cockpit.
She was alone in the alley she'd retreated to in the heat of the
battle. The silence was deafening even as the first groups of ADP
choppers were fast approaching them the horizon. She was startled to hear
a noise behind her.
Madoka whirled around, only to see a blinding flash of light
smashing into the back of her armor.
The explosion sent her careening into the air, her clothes in
flames even as the shadow took flight.
===================
Not far away, other shapes began to detach themselves from the
shadows, converging upon the five Knight Sabers, who stood so obligingly
in the open. A sudden explosion was detected but was ignored as one of
its own had informed him of the cause. The humans below had reacted to
the sound.
The order had been given. Attack would commence immediately.
Each Type 99-D, or Dreadnought Boomer, as they've been called by
their designers, were equipped with a number of weapons, one of which was
the twin missile packs attached to its booster assembly on its back. Each
missile pack carried twenty medium grade micro-missiles, each one strong
enough to blast through a reinforced concrete wall.
Five Dreadnoughts opened fire, releasing half their load of
missiles.
Fifty missiles homed in for the Knight Sabers, their overloaded
solid-fuel drives screaming towards their targets at high velocity.
Lady Luck was with the Knight Sabers that night - not to mention
the few remaining ADP officers on site. The explosion a few blocks out
gave them much needed time to react to the threat that lurked in the
shadows of the night. Luck had allowed for one of the officers to see the
boomers hovering high above them all...
He cried out in alarm, alerting the rest to their presence.
Survival instincts kicked into overdrive. Everyone scattered -
well, almost.
A lone red and blue Knight Saber was still standing right out in
the open. With a skill borne more out of desperation than anything else,
Nene Romanova, part-time ADP officer and Knight Saber screamed
frantically as she tried to jam all the missiles coming her way.
Explosions ripped through the pavement all around her, even as more
of the missiles began noticing the nice red and blue target standing so
conveniently still for them to blow up.
Nene had something different to say about the matter.
The first few explosions hid her from her compatriots' eyes. Cries
of grief and anger could be heard from her friends, even as more
explosions ripped across the area. Then something came rocketing out of
the dust and smoke.
Seeing that she could not jam all of them in time, Nene quickly
jumped up, activating the jetpack for maximum burn as she tried vainly to
get out of harm's way.
But it was too late, as the missiles were on terminal homing.
Yelping in surprise and fear, Nene sidestepped one missile after
another in a stunning display of agility and speed. Her friends were
staring in mute surprise as Nene continued dodging left, right, up, down,
sideways in seemingly random patterns that confounded the missiles'
guidance chips.
Of course, Nene Romanova was not having a good time... as evident
by her screams of panic. Still, her body reacted automatically, moving
away from the dangers the missiles presented as they exploded all around
her in fiery balls of destruction.
"Someone... HELP ME!!!!!!!!!" Nene screamed loudly all the while.
She hardly needed it - from everyone else's point of view.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Priss muttered in shock as she
watched the aerial ballet with mouth gaping inside her helmet.
The Dreadnoughts were quite impressed with the red and blue Saber's
performance. Clearly, the data on this Saber were in error. No one could
have dodged that many missiles without getting hit at least even once.
This Saber had managed to avoid all of it and even destroyed some with
her arm laser at close range.
Deciding to upgrade the threat level the Saber presented, the five
Dreadnought boomers attacked, taking on a different colored Saber.
The Knight Sabers leapt into action. Then again, the red and blue
one was doing a lot of that already - in midair.
===================
A certain young woman was now fuming with anger as she glanced at
her watch. She was not happy with her big brother. Here she was, sitting
all alone in this house, waiting for him to come and pick her up for that
promised dinner.
A man had no right making a woman wait for any reason - even if
said man was her own brother. It just was not right.
Sighing, she wondered what could be holding up her brother.
===================
To say that he was having a bad night was putting things much too
mildly. Things were not happening as he had planned. To add insult to
injury, his tux was in tatters. It had been an expensive tuxedo.
His sister was really going to kill him for this one - if he
managed to get through this night.
Leon let out a disappointed sigh. He was really looking forward to
dinner.
It was a rare occasion that he actually went to the trouble of
dressing up so formally. And rarer still to find any establishment
offering a two-for-one deal on their steak. Steaks were great eating but
not something he could afford even on a yearly basis.
Leon remembered her sister loved steak.
His sister was going to really kill him for this.
Such was life.
Ducking under the rubble of a storefront, Leon watched in awe as
the Knight Sabers battled five large boomers with apparent difficulty.
The Knight Sabers would appear to be refraining from their usual close-in
tactics, keeping more or less out of the boomers' reach. The boomers were
more than happy to respond by using their own ranged weapons at the
Sabers.
He wasn't surprised when he could not recognize the boomers. In
this city, one learned not to be surprised by anything. Of course that
did not mean one cannot be surprised by something every so often. This
did both.
The Sabers were having a hard time with them, too - which was
something that worried him greatly. His people were still minutes away
and even the K-14s and attack choppers he'd requested not moments ago
would do little good in this foray.
As much as he hated it, he could not risk his people into what
could potentially be a recipe for disaster. Besides, he had a feeling
these boomers were different from the others that had come and gone.
Prototype boomers were something of a rarity anywhere, as this was
strictly monitored - to an extent - by the world at large. But somehow,
in this city of MegaTokyo, they ended up tearing the city to bits on a
somewhat yearly basis. Largo had been the last to do it, building those
damnable superboomers and nearly blowing up the entire city while he was
campaigning for world domination. It would seem someone had seen fit to
create yet another breed of boomers.
From the looks of things, these new-type boomers were winning. That
meant trouble - in more ways than one.
*Damn it,* swore Leon. *At this rate, there might not be a city
left before the night was over.*
===================
Skuld was worried as she flew through the dark skies above
MegaTokyo. Reports had come through from the field that the Knight Sabers
were currently engaged with unknown boomers. That in itself was a cause
for worry. The young goddess was worried, since she knew all the Sabers
personally - even if they themselves did not know that she knew of their
secret.
What really worried her was the termination of the homing beacon
she'd installed in Madoka's armor. The signal termination was abrupt and
all too sudden to be caused by simple jamming.
That meant one thing. And she did not like it one bit.
Skuld quickly descended, homing in on the last known location of
the signal. Her scanners were giving her their reports on the area below
her.
What she saw was a cause for dismay. The entire area was filled
ablaze from half a dozen fires, giving her full view of the devastation
below.
So many dead.
Firmly pushing aside those thoughts, she went down towards Madoka's
last known location, praying that her friend was still alive.
===================
A strange black shape hurtled through the air, smashing into a
brick wall with bone-crushing force. The figure stayed there for a brief
moment before gravity took over once more.
A much larger shadow loomed above, its features wrapped in inky
blackness. The fires that raged across the neighborhood were insufficient
to shed light upon the silent assassins that had seemingly caught them
all unawares.
Priss was in an extremely bad mood, having found herself on the
receiving end of a brutal assault that had thrown her clear across the
block. Pain lanced across her form, knocking her back onto the ground.
The tac channel was filled with the sounds of her friends desperately
trying to fight back against their attackers.
One had been more than enough back in the airport. It was becoming
obvious someone wanted to get rid of the Knight Sabers - permanently.
Most villains tended to follow the same kind of agenda: Kill the
Knight Sabers, then take over the world, or something to that effect.
Priss slowly tried to get to her feet, wincing at the dull aches
that registered all over her body.
*Damn boomer,* cursed a very steamed Priss Asagiri. She could not
believe she'd be beaten by some machine like that. It was as if the
boomer was reading her moves. Frankly, it scared the shit out of her.
Priss eyes narrowed suddenly as she saw something land noiselessly
near her.
The sensors on her hardsuit tried vainly to identify the new
intruder, but found little in its database that could help. Priss cued
the computer to scan the area, wondering what had happened to her
'partner', so to speak.
===================
Skuld was beside herself with worry over Madoka. The suit's sensors
had locked on to Madoka's life signature. It was weak but stable.
Landing, she quickly got out of the armor and ran towards her
fallen friend.
Anger and worry warred for dominance over her features as she saw
her friend lying unconscious on the ground. Madoka's clothes were burnt
and torn, giving her a glimpse of her bruised body.
Kneeling down, she took out her medscanner and ran it along the
length of Madoka's body. A relieved sigh escaped her lips as the scanner
had dutifully informed her of her friend's condition.
Her condition was stable, with no sign of internal bleeding or
broken bones. That was good, since it meant she looked far worse than she
appeared to be. Skuld thanked her Father for watching over her friend,
glad to see that Madoka would be all right.
A beeping sound caught her attention. Whirling around, she quickly
rushed towards the open cockpit, practically leaping into it, even, as
she engaged the suit's systems. Madoka would need to be transferred to a
safer location first, though. After that, she was going to beat those
boomers into oblivion.
Skuld reminded herself to build a multi-purpose mallet to use with
the armor. She felt positively naked without one handy. Her current one -
while it was a powerful weapon against demons and such - would not do
against boomers.
Sensors homed in on the unknown, identifying it as one of the
Knight Sabers. Image enhancement allowed Skuld to peer through the
relative gloom with ease.
"Stop right there!!" a voice ordered harshly.
Skuld blinked as she watched the blue Knight Saber raise her
forearm weapon at her.
Sensors warned Skuld of an incoming threat from behind the blue
saber.
*Stealthed?!* thought Skuld in shock.
One of the things she'd included in the sensor package had been a
sensory system strong enough to pierce even the heaviest shielding. While
it made things even more cramped within the suit's cockpit, it more than
made up for the obvious advantages the system conferred to its pilot.
Too bad she couldn't squeeze the cloaking field into the suit.
Still...
Reacting faster than should have been possible for something its
size, the Valkyrie whipped out the oversized rifle resting on its back.
Targeting computers lined up the approaching boomer, even as the whine of
the rifle's electro-magnetic coils reached a fevered pitch.
Skuld licked her lips in anticipation as she thumbed the trigger.
A massive beam of purple energy rocketed towards the boomer,
bathing it in a wave of searing heat and energy. Massive armor buckled
and boiled as the intense onslaught of heat and energy consumed it.
The boomer roared its defiance as it engaged its thruster on full,
trying vainly to push through the seemingly unending wave of energy that
hammered it so relentlessly.
It took mere seconds, but appeared to some to last a lot longer.
Two opposing forces vied for dominance against one another or, on the
other had, to give in the end.
The boomer proved to be the weaker.
For her part, Priss had let loose a single shot from the heavy
laser set within the suit's right arm. She was greatly peeved when her
shot had merely grazed the paint job on the monstrosity she was facing.
When she saw the thing pull out a really big gun from its back...
Priss knew she was in trouble.
Priss gulped, seemingly rooted to the ground as she watched in
stupefied horror as the rifle's barrel began to glow...
*This is it...,* she said to herself in disgust and regret. *Guess
I won't be able to tease Nene about her weight anymore... sigh*
She was more than a little shocked when she saw that her attacker
had missed - or did she?
Priss gave a startled yelp as she found herself thrust into the air
by a fierce explosion behind her.
Skuld was mildly surprised by the results. It was one thing to be
shooting at walls or any other stationary objects, and definitely another
to see what her weapon could do against real boomers. Suffice that there
was little to nothing left of the boomer that had been sneaking up on
them.
Smirking contentedly, Skuld turned her attention to the prone
Knight Saber before her. "Are you okay?" she asked through the suit's
exterior speakers.
Priss had one hand on her helmeted head, shaking off the effects of
dizziness on her much abused body. Priss could only stare in shock at the
speaker, shell-shocked at having stared Death down the barrel of a
rifle...
"Hey!! you okay in there?" Skuld repeated.
Priss's only answer was to nod.
Satisfied, Skuld went back to her unconscious friend, relieved to
see she was still all right, despite her ordeals. Still, Madoka needed to
see a doctor fast.
That meant having to leave the Knight Sabers to take care of the
rest.
"Hey!! You!!" Skuld turned around to see the blue saber strode
towards her.
"Who the heck are you?!!!" was the blue saber's angry demand.
"A friend," she answered simply before she activated her thrusters,
leaving the blue saber swearing at her.
===================
The rest of the Knight Sabers were busy dealing with the four other
Dreadnoughts.
The green saber was not having any success at close-hand fighting.
Having her ribbons snagged so suddenly had almost broken her neck from
the resulting whiplash. Her compatriots were not faring any better than
her - save for almost getting their necks broken by a meter or so of
ribbon trailing behind them.
Sylia had long installed a system to retract them, but even that
served little purpose, considering she used the ribbons more often than
not. Retracting them into the helmet housing every time was pointless,
especially when her own brand of fighting involved speed and
maneuverability. The fact that these damned dreadnoughts were matching
her every move negated that very advantage!!!
The others weren't faring any better. Their tacnet was filled with
the growing desperation each of their members felt. One of these monsters
had been more than a handful to take care of - but five at once!! GENOM
must really want them dead this time.
"Watch your back, Linna!!" Sylia warned, giving Linna a chance to
move out of the way. A stream of particle-accelerated energy lashed out
at the space beside her, grazing her left arm slightly.
Linna lashed out with her arm-mounted rail-launcher, firing a burst
of molecularly enhanced spikes.
The boomer in front of her casually swiped the projectiles in the
air, eyeing her with an almost amused air as it showed her one of her
spikes.
"DAMN IT!!" cursed Linna, fear and anger coloring her voice.
===================
Sylia and the others were fairing just as badly, the Dreadnoughts
forcing them to holding defensive positions.
Sylia and Sylvie were hunkered down by a half-destroyed building,
resorting to taking sniper shots at the devilishly fast boomers.
"They're too fast for me to get a decent lock, Sylia."
Sylia could only nod, as she was too preoccupied with her own set
of problems. A volley of missiles streaked towards her even as the boomer
continued to pound her position with sustained bursts from its particle
cannons.
Unperturbed, Sylia stood her ground, shooting down the missiles
with little trouble. Only then did she move away, firing her thrusters to
clear out.
"What's your status, Sylvie?" she inquired.
"Not too good. These things are even faster than I am!!"
Small surprise there - having taken the time to peruse the data
Fargo had obtained for her, Sylia could not believe the level of
sophistication GENOM had achieved with this new type of boomer. It would
appear even her upgrades on their hardsuits were of little use against
them.
Deep within her heart, she wondered - doubted - that even the
Evolution III model hardsuits might not even be enough to counter these
things.
*Heaven help us.*
===================
The last of their number, known affectionately by her cherry-red
and deep blue colorings, Nene Romanova was having the time of her life,
as she tried her level best not to get beaten to a pulp by the
Dreadnought which faced her in hand-to-hand combat.
If boomers could have expression, this one was clearly at a loss as
to how the human managed to avoid its attacks. Clearly, the reports it
and its comrades had been given were faulty.
Nene Romanova drew in a ragged breath as she tried vainly to
control the wild beating of her heart. The boomer was very fast, faster
than Kurumi was when she was training her. Still, somehow, she managed to
get by, only getting nicked once or twice. It was hard going, as she
tried her very best to stay one step ahead of her opponent.
She was never truly any good in combat, relinquishing such duties
to her teammates, who were far more capable than her. Behind the scenes,
she made use of her unequaled skills in computers to back-up her friends.
In a way, her hardsuit reflected much of that, being fitted with the
latest counter-detection gear and the most advanced ECM and ECCM anyone
could offer.
With these in hand, there was practically nothing she could not do
even against boomers - provided she was given the time. Such luxuries
were not in good supply this night, being forced to a more physical means
of deterrent.
In most cases, she knew that these boomers should have wiped the
floor with her. Somehow, she was weaving in and out of the boomer's
attacks like flowing water, dodging every which way whenever she could
and deflecting blows she could not otherwise dodge in time.
Nene could hardly believe she was holding out on her own - albeit
with _some_ difficulty.
She knew it would not last.
She was right.
A faint prickling sensation ran across her spine - an all too
familiar sensation honed by countless hours of training. It wasn't
perfect, but it was more than enough for her to react in some way as to
defend herself from the incoming attack.
The boomer she was dealing with had rushed in, fist cocked behind
it as it charged her.
Luck, it would appear, was on her side.
Nene had not been fast enough to block the boomer's attack and had
reacted a little too late. The blow landed solidly on her chest, causing
her to slam painfully against unyielding concrete.
Her cry was short-lived as she watched the boomer take a glancing
hit on its left arm. It roared in anger, glaring at her with death in its
eyes.
She gulped in fear.
The boomer walked towards her in deliberately slow steps, its red
eye glowing menacingly. Nene could almost imagine the boomer grinning
maniacally at her as it contemplated her death.
"Sylia... Priss... ummm.... anybody???" Nene called out in fear.
Unable to move, Nene could only watch with growing horror as the boomer
approached her.
"Help!!!" she screamed as she crossed her arms in front of her in a
vain attempt to protect herself.
There was a brilliant flash of light and heat... and then there was
nothing...
to be continued.....
Hmmm.... looks like I finally done it.
Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
At long last, I finally managed to put out another chapter and even
find the time to revise the early chapters. Chapter 7 is somewhat in the
works right now and hopefully should come out once its finished.
Hehehehe....
As always, C&C and stuff is appreciated. Send them over, people.
Hope you guys enjoyed this.
Later!!!
BTW: Can't help but notice how each successive chapter grows ever
longer, ne????? ^_^
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