Subject: An Alternate History of The Bubblegum Zone - Episode #12
From: Hitomi Ichinohei
Date: 8/21/1996, 8:06 PM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com
Reply-to:
hitomi@terminal.autobahn.mb.ca

Well, Bert gave his permission so...

Without further adu...


<Unless you count fanfare...>

Here it is...

Hitomi

***

	Nene sighed happily.
	Although she had been worried about Bert ever since he was kidnapped and tortured, somehow tonight was like it was before, almost like when they had first started to date. For the past week he seemed a lot better, getting along with everyone and, surprisingly, not arguing with Priss like he usually did.  This in itself was an unusual, but pleasant, surprise.  It was almost as if he had been doing some growing up.
	She looked up at him as they walked back to the car. His red hair was in a slight mess due to the light breeze and his green-brown eyes had a calm, peaceful look to them. For the first time in weeks she was getting a feeling of contentment from him.
	Of course, she did not yet know what he had gone through.
	As Bert looked down at his companion, he had to smile. To him, Nene was the most beautiful, most wonderful sight in the world.  After what had happened, and his fears of never being able to see her ever again, he had come to a decision that he was finally ready for.  He felt his pocket for the diamond ring that he had been carrying for the past month, at least for him.  It was unlike any stone in this world, probably in this universe and a gift from a person who turned out to be a good, if strange, friend.  He wondered a bit at how Twister was doing, but put the thought from his mind.  It was unlikely they would ever meet again, at least in this lifetime.
	*I'll give it to her tonight.* Bert thought to himself and he gazed into those wondrous emerald-green eyes, *I hope she likes it.*
	He was just opening her door when things went wrong.

***

	Hollister looked at the monitor, staring at the man he hated.
	It hadn't been that long ago that the bastard on the screen had fouled up his plans.  For no reason he could understand, the person, who they had identified as one Bert Van Vliet, had rescued two 33-S sexaroids.  He had claimed that they were friends of all things!
	He thought back to all they had learned of him; and all that they had not learned.
	"Who are you, you bastard?" he muttered under his breath, "No traceable past except for the last three years, independently wealthy, and obviously working for some damn covert group."  Hollister wondered once more if this guy could be a Genom special agent.  The company seemed to have a lot of people on the payroll that were never officially acknowledged, but put the thought aside.  If this guy was part of Genom, then the Mega-Corporation would have been more technically advanced than they already were.
	"There's no use speculating until we get our hands on him.  I would like to examine that weapon of his, it was unusual, but somehow...familiar."  Doc told Hollister as he tinkered with the controls on the remote cameras.  "We've been waiting for him to show himself, and now we can acquire him.  After what he and that machine did, I'm going to enjoy experimenting on him."
	"Shut up and release the boomers." Hollister grated out.

***

	Two people started to run across the street at the red headed couple as they approached their vehicle.  The screech of tires caused by cars attempting to stop suddenly caused their target to turn towards them.  When he saw them, he pushed his companion out of the way as he got ready to fight.
	*Oh shit!* Bert thought as the two approached at high speed, *What the hell is going on?*  A faint suspicion in the back of his mind, he quickly gave each of them a scan and noted the high electromagnetic signatures.  He smiled.
	Bert quickly ducked the arm of the first boomer as the punch came towards his head.  "So you want to fight, eh.  As a master of mine once said, 'Try? There is no try. Only do; or do not.'"  Putting some space between him and the biomechanoid, he mentally called for his suit; not the SkyKnight armour but his soft suit undergarment.  A purple glow started to form at his feet and quickly surrounded him. When it had dissipated he was wearing some type of black raiment, faintly reminiscent of something from the martial arts.
	Nene had looked up and saw the boomers coming after Bert.  The normal, smart reaction would have been to run, but he just stood there as they approached him, waiting to fight them.  She started to scream, "BERT!!!  NO!! DON..." when a swirling purple light surrounded him.  As it disappeared, she looked on with open mouthed shock.  She recognized the outfit; she had seen the LD with him too many times not to recognize it, it was the same costume that Luke Skywalker wore in Return of the Jedi.
	And he was holding his lightsaber in his hand...
	The two boomers looked on, studying their opponent. The lightsaber had been expected and programmed for, after all, Doc had seen the weapon in use against a boomer before, but the energy display and the clothing change was an unknown.  It hardly registered on their sensors, but the burst had to have been powerful to change the molecular structure of what he had been wearing.  The opponent had somehow...transformed for lack of a better word and there was no way that he had been distorting his looks before. They would have detected the slow energy release.
	Bert, with a wry grin, held the lightsaber up to his face in salute.  As he activated it he said, "I wish thee good grace and good battle.  May the Force be with you."

***

	Hollister looked on in shock at what he saw, "What the hell!!"
	His companion was a lot calmer about this, "It seems that he is more than what he looks like, and now I know where I've seen such a weapon before..."

SkyKnight Productions
Proudly Presents
A NonTechnical Film
MegaTokyo 2036
The Knight Sabers
"An Alternate History of The Bubblegum Zone - Episode #12"
Copyright (c) 1995, 1996 Bert Van Vliet

The characters of SkyKnight, Bert Van Vliet, Hollister, Doctor Ikagawashii and Hitomi Ichinohei are Copyright (c) 1995, 1996 Bert Van Vliet

The characters of Twister, Darlene Stefanson, Professor Kitamura and Natsumi are Copyright (c) 1994, 1996 Darren Steffler.

The characters of Ranma and Akane are Copyright (c) 1987, 1996 Rumiko Takahashi

The characters of Master Skywalker, Skywalker, Solo, Jedi, Master Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars are Copyright (c) 1976, 1996 George Lucas

Written by Hitomi Ichinohei

	The blond-haired man in a smart business suit whirled around to face the scientist at the control console.
	"You know where he got the damn thing then?  Who does he work for?"  Hollister grunted in anger.  He didn't like surprises, and the man shown on the screen had presented too many to him already.  He stared at the white haired scientist who had put a pipe to his lips.
	"I cannot say for sure," Doc began, looking at the screen with some amusement as the boomers decided to shed their skins and attack in earnest, "but if I'm right about this, then we can say good bye to those boomers.  As a matter of fact, we can count ourselves lucky he didn't cross over to the Dark Side considering what we put him through." Chuckling, he watched the boomer's sensor readings as Hollister looked at him as if he was crazy.

***

	Bert smiled as the two boomers shed their skins. Finally!  Something normal that he could deal with.  Albeit in a new way, but normal none the less.  Lowering his high- tech sword a bit, Bert reflected that he hadn't had a good fight in a while, and this was the perfect way for him to relax.  He had to admit that he was getting as bad as Priss in that department, but then again...He flipped backward using a move that a certain young man taught him to avoid the slashing claws that tried to eviscerate him.
	"A Jedi does not flee from fighting evil, foul ones. Indeed, a Jedi gladly eliminates it from existence.  As you have chosen the Dark Side, I will now have to remove you from this reality," Bert said in a bold voice while swinging the saber around in a tight arc which removed the offending arm.  As he took off the head of the boomer in front of him, he felt the energy build up of the second one.  Apparently it had decided to use its laser array against Bert.
	Swinging around, he stepped towards the biomechanoid.

***

	Nene had opened the car door in the meantime, activating the dashboard control panel as Bert had shown her the week before.  Luckily, their identities probably were not compromised as everyone had started running when the boomers emerged from the plas-skin.  She quickly started the vehicle and turned it around to gather her Knight Errant.
	*But,* she worriedly thought to herself, *Is it really Bert?*

***

	Doc watched silently as the being he assumed to be human seemed to casually catch the laser blast on his light sword, something that should have been an impossibility. From what he saw and heard, he realized that his theory was not far from the truth, and if that was the case, then this person probably was not from this planet, possibly not even from this galaxy.  Of course, IF this supposition was true, then they were going to have to be more careful in trying to acquire him.
	Hollister watched as the second boomer was taken off-line and then screamed in anger "WHO ARE YOU!"  He slowly turned, smoldering, to the old man who seemed more interested in keeping his pipe lit than in what the screens had shown.  "Ok Doc.  You said that you had an idea who he really is.  Let's hear it."
	"I said no such thing," the scientist calmly replied while blowing a smoke ring, "Actually, I said that it was lucky he had not gone over to the Dark Side."  He sat up, looking the younger man in the eye, "As to what he is, he is a Jedi Knight."
	"What the hell is that?"
	Smiling to himself, Doc remembered the movies that played across the large screen when he was very young, "Well, the story begins a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."

***

	Bert stood over his handy work, and was about to make a comment when a car pulled up next to him.
	"Get in here!"  Nene shouted to him from the drivers seat.
	He grinned saying, "Your wish is my command, M'lady." and bowed.
	Nene rolled her eyes as he climbed in and put the car in gear before he could close the door.  As she did so, she touched the camouflage switch which activated the car's electronic surface, changing it's colour.  "You have a lot of explaining to do buster..."

***

	"...of course the last Jedi of that time created a new academy...And thus began a new age of chivalric enlightenment that was the mainstay of the New Republic.  Of course the forces of the Empire, and those that had followed the ways of the Dark Side, were an ever present treat, but more than adequately held in check by the Skywalker and Solo families.  Of all the Jedi, they were the strongest in using the Force."
	Doc slowly and carefully took a puff on his pipe, savouring the last bit of the blended tobacco within the bowl.  He was completely relaxed, reliving the excitement he had felt when he saw the films for the first time, saw the special effects that were the start of a whole new industry that had led to the computers and the sciences that they now had.  He remembered the ambitions the movies raised in him, the almost immediate love of mysteries and science.  Somehow they had fallen aside and, in recent years as he had gotten involved with this group, had completely disappeared.  This young man, Bert Van Vliet, seemed to make those dreams come alive again.
	He chocked his pipe on the rim of the ashtray and began filling it up once more, starting to infuriate Hollister who had listened to the tale with an unusual intensity.  "Of course, that is where the story ends.  The books continued for a while, but somehow, there was a lack of enthusiasm, of spirit in them if you will."  Doc lit a match and puffed a few times, getting the pipe going again, "What I just saw however, reminded me of the movies.  His uniform was straight out of the third film, 'Return of the Jedi', and that's when I remembered the weapon, 'an elegant weapon from a more civilized age' as it was put and a Jedi Knight's main weapon of choice."
	"Of the Jedi, their codes of honour were similar to the codes of Chivalry in medieval Europe, with one major difference.  They could not allow themselves to get angry. If they ever got angry, ever got into an uncontrollable rage in which they killed indiscriminately, then they would enter the Dark Side of the Force.  This was a great danger as the Dark Side allowed more power, more abilities to manifest and the one who entered the Dark Side became a menace to all life.  It was, after all, the fall of one Jedi to the Dark Side which led to the destruction of the first alliance of worlds known as the Republic."
	"This man," the white haired scientist continued, "Bert Van Vliet is, quite possibly, not from this planet and I would surmise has a longer lifespan as well."
	Upon hearing that, Hollister started and turned to the desk to get the file they had amassed upon their red headed antagonist.  He quickly flipped through the documents until he got to one obscure reference which had not made sense at the time and that he had assumed to be some sort of joke to throw him off track.  After he heard that Bert had, on occasion, visited the ADP building and had been allowed access, he had checked to see if someone there had been helping him, or possibly using him in some special manner.
	"Doctor, when did those films you were talking about first appear..."

***

	Sylia sat in her chair sipping her tea and looking across at an upset Nene who was pacing back and forth in the living room.  She couldn't blame her for being somewhat angry after hearing what Bert had done, after all, she was peeved at him herself, especially since he took it into his head to confront two combat boomers without his armour. Sylia was, however, curious as to how he did it.  She was sure that Nene was keeping something back.
	Nene had told her about the sudden attack, as well as the fact that Bert was now carrying his personal lightsaber around with him all the time.  That in itself was not a good sign since his mood had changed when he had been held captive and tortured by Hollister a few months ago.  Sylia supposed it was one of the reasons that he had been in a better mood for the past week, but it did not excuse the fact that he was now carrying a potentially deadly weapon where ever he chose to go.  While it served him well in this case, it was a danger to his identity since, outside of the head-hunter boomer, SkyKnight was one of only two people who was known to have such a weapon.
	*Bert,* she thought to herself, *You had better have a damn good explanation for this*
	There was a knock at the door, and Linna, with Priss and Sylvie close behind, came into the apartment.
	"What's up Sylia?" Linna asked the leader of the Knight Sabers.
	Sylia sighed, "It's Bert.  He was attacked by two boomers earlier tonight when he and Nene were coming back from his archery range."
	Priss sucked in her breath.  Turning to the still pacing Nene, she said, "Shit!  How badly is he hurt?"
	Nene looked at her friends and they could see an expression on her face that they could not quite recognize. There was anger there, and worry, and something else.  The expression on her face hardened a bit.
	She didn't know what was happening, but she was not happy with Bert.  After they had started to drive off, she was about to give him a royal ringing out because it seemed like he was now carrying weapons with him where ever he went.  Before she could say a word to him however, the same mysterious swirling energy had covered him and the garment that he had been wearing disappeared.  She had been about to ask where everything had gone when he told her that it would be best if he explained what had happened to everyone at once.
	"The stupid, moronic, idiotic, idealistic, jerk is perfectly ok," she fumed.  "It turns out that he is now carrying his lightsaber with him all the time, that's all."
	Sylvie frowned at that.  Although she was quiet about it, she had been very concerned at Bert's attitude during the past several months, one of the reasons that she had been quietly monitoring Priss and Bert's activities since joining the fighting team.  If their 'Knight-in-Shining-Armour' was starting to carry what had become his favourite weapon with him, then he could be reverting back to the out of control personality that had gripped him just after Anri, Bert, and her had been kidnapped.
	It was at that moment Bert entered the apartment, carrying a teak box.  He looked better than he usually did these days, face smiling and eyes bright.  Bert took one look at all the faces in front of him, three of which were concerned, one with a smile of grim satisfaction, and one which was still angry, and grinned.  "So...Who's the patient?"
	Sylia looked at him and before anyone could respond said with an icy calm voice, "Bert, you better have a good explanation for why you were carrying that energy sword around with you."
	The only male fighting member of the Knight Sabers sighed.  Apparently, they were not in the mood for his jokes at the moment.  "Ok, everyone.  For once, no jokes."  As he said this, he placed the box on the table in front of everybody.  A peculiar looking standard was on top of the box, showing two crossed sabers that seemed to be made of diamond.  The metal upon which the sabers were attached seemed to shine more than normal, and it caused the others in the room to let out a small gasp.
	Placing his hand on top, he opened the lid of the box .  Inside were twenty indentations, each, except for two at one end, held an armband with the same diamond like insignia as on the box.  They seemed to be made of some precious metal and almost shone under their own power.  "Gathered Knights, If I may be so bold as to ask a boon of thee, I would present you each with two of these bands to adorn your most delicate arms."

	Priss rolled her eyes at the words...
	Sylvie raised an eyebrow and looked at Bert...
	Linna closed her eyes in frustration...
	Sylia looked evenly and closely at him...
	Nene eyes had opened wide and remained on the box...

	"I think this deserves some sort of explanation," Sylia said evenly, looking at Bert and then to the box containing the armbands.
	Bert smiled wryly.  "Well, it all began about a week ago when I went out flying in my SkyKnight armour..."

***

	"You're telling me that he's been around as an adult since at least 1995."  Doc stated in a flat tone.
	"Yes." Hollister replied, "It was some information that one of the ADP officers had noted concerning an incident with him.  At the time, I thought was placed there to be purposely misleading, a joke or something to waste our time. As it now turns out it may explain a few things, like where he got his money."
	The white haired scientist sat still for a moment before quietly muttering, "Perhaps more than you can imagine."
	Hollister turned to his companion, "What do you mean?"
	"What I meant is that we may have found a potential wealth of scientific and philosophical information if we can capture and control him."  Doc stated as he stared off into space, "Remember when I told you the person who designed the self-regulating blood system in those two 33-S sexaroids was a genius?  I think we now know who designed the system and why he called both of them friends.  It's quite possible that they are now more than ordinary sexaroids, with a much better AI system and abilities that were probably hidden from the scanners.  It's also possible that he was responsible for a lot of things that we now take for granted."
	Chuckling a little at the suddenly blank expression on Hollister's face, he leaned back and started to puff on his pipe again.  "To understand what I'm talking about, we have to take a look at how our technologies have advanced since those movies came out."
	"For the most part, a lot of our thinking, and a lot of the designs for modern technology and ideas is based on two sets of idealistic shows.  The first being Star Trek and all the associated spin-offs, and the second being the Star Wars saga.  The two series happened to catch the popular imagination of both the public and the scientific community in a lot of different ways.  One of the biggest was it's effect upon research directions.  Several items from Star Trek started to be created in Canada.  The Mediject, a type of early hypospray unit designed in Winnipeg and the early Tricorders, created and built in Toronto are prime examples. In the 90's a lot of other technologies were designed and built in that country, innovative items that had never been seen before."
	"Robotics, however, remained behind the times until the development of boomer technology.  As a matter of fact, boomers can be looked upon as a type of Android, a combination of biological and mechanical materials.  The main difference between boomers and androids was always thought to be that an Android was a being which had free will and could make intelligent, sometimes intuitive decisions on it's own.  Currently available AI technologies do not allow boomers to really have a free will, although the programs they are installed with allow them to be able to imitate a living human to a certain extent."
	Doc pulled on his pipe once more, "If he considered these two sexaroids friends and not machines, in his own words, 'physiologically a little different', but a person with feelings, then he was probably the one who modified them.  Thinking back to the reactions that they had, one seeming to suffer rape trauma and the other being surprisingly independent, I would say he was probably grooming them for something special."  Doc looked straight into Hollister's eyes, "What I mean by that is that he would not need to work for any covert group, he probably creates them to follow his ideals and gives them anonymous "gifts" of slightly advanced technology."
	Hollister could not bring himself to give a reply.

***

	"...and then Darlene, with the help of her teacher, was able to send me home," he concluded as everyone in the room stared, varying degrees of disbelief, worry, and curiosity being evident in their expressions.
	Sylia looked at Bert, very concerned about the young man possibly losing his mind.  The story he told, of going to another universe where he had been magically connected with his hardsuit,  fighting a gargoyle, and meeting people who changed sexes with water was an indication of delusional tendencies.  She had assumed that he was over the ordeal that had taken place, but now...She would have to take him off active duty once more.  "Bert.  I hate to do this to you, but until we can...confirm...what happened to you, I do not want you up in your hardsuit." 
	Bert silently sipped his tea and looked at everyone. The only one in the room who had an expression other than concern and worry was Nene, and that only because she had seen visual effect of the 'Wild Magic' field that surrounded him every time he called for his soft or hard suit.  Twister had been correct about their reactions.
	He sighed wearily, "You really can't do that these days.  If I need my hardsuit, I can always call for it.  The only way for me to be with..."
	Priss grabbed him by the shirt collar at that point, her face a combination of fear and anger.  "Don't give us that shit.  Listen little brother, _You_ _Are_ _Staying_ _Out_ _Of_ _Your_ _Hardsuit_."  She dropped him back to the couch and started to pace, the rest of the team surprised at the intensity of her feelings, and the fact that she finally admitted, out loud, the relationship that had developed between her and Bert.  She didn't notice him stand up and head towards the centre of the room, as she was pacing away at the time.  "Magic doesn't exist you idiot.  If it did, don't you think we would have found some way to destroy Genom by now?  Damn it, if you want somebody to put you into an asylum keep this up!"
	Bert looked at Priss' back, a slight smile creeping across his face.  "Oh really?"
	Priss spun around to glare at Bert, "Really.  Do you thi..."
	BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
	There was a blinding flash of purple-white light and a sudden increase in air pressure.  Priss was thrown off her feet as the rest of the team was plastered to their seats. Shrieks of surprise were torn from the assembled Knight Sabers as, blinded, automatic combat reactions took over. Linna had grabbed for Nene and pulled her away from the couch, Sylia automatically moving back and left, and Sylvie going into a combat crouch.  Priss had rolled, drawn her gun, and started to search for a target despite the spots in her eyes.  When she could see once more, her mouth, as well as those of the rest of the team, had dropped open in surprise.
	Standing in the middle of the living room, where Bert had been a second before, was a polished silver and blue piece of modern armour.  The glowing red eyeslot on the helmet turned slowly on everyone in the room and the amused, modulated voice of SkyKnight asked, "Believe me now?"
	Priss' hands dropped, the gun loosely gripped, and stared at the impossible.  She wasn't sure anymore if Bert was the one losing his mind or she was.  A purple glow surrounded the figure, and a now grinning Bert appeared, reaching down to help her up.
	He smirked, "Well, there were several ways I could have proved this to you, but that was the most fun."
Priss wanted to strangle him.
Turning, Bert noticed everyone else staring at him, and Sylia's questioning gaze.  He chuckled, reached over and closed the box.  "If everyone will come over to this side of the room for a moment, I'll show you something that will make what I said a lot more believable."
Nene looked at him as everyone moved over to his side of the room.  She had believed his account, having seen that purple field of energy, and understood why he had changed, at least she thought she did.  While she knew he didn't have a choice in what had happened, she was none the less feeling jealous of this Darlene, who had experienced a part of his life that she never would.  *I'm going to get the full story from him later...And he had better tell me the truth!*
Bert reached forward and touched the diamond sabers saying, "The Knights have gathered."  A panel in the front of the box opened and a purple beam started to come out of the diamond.  Soon the beam had coalesced into the image of a young, red-headed, blue-eyed girl who's face dimpled as she smiled at them.
"Hello everyone!"  The image said as it waved to the assembled Knight Sabers, "This may be a bit of a surprise if Bert has not told you what happened yet,"  the girl giggled, "As a matter of fact it may be a surprise even if he did tell you.  In any case, my name is Darlene Stefanson, a magical friend of his."
She smiled at them, "Any ways, I suppose I should start off with what those armbands can do."  The image held up her left wrist, demonstrating, "The one for the left hand contains a communications array that allows you to be able to have audio and visual communications with each other. And before you ask, no, a lot of it is not magical.  The only magical sequences of the communications method is the three dimensional imaging and the signal band width.  The rest is a communications system which Bert and I came up with."
"Of course, this is a great improvement over your old beeper system as it allows you to be able to contact and update one another right away.  One of the major improvements that I had suggested was to eliminate the beeping in the first place.  I disliked the way those communications devices worked when Sylia used it to contact Linna, Priss, and Nene that way.  It used to disturb us at the oddest times and was _much_ too obvious."  The women in the room looked startled.  This girl was talking as though she knew them although they had never met before.  There was more going on here than either Bert or Darlene had revealed.
"Instead, the new system provides a vibration along the arm."  The visual communication function disappeared and she giggled, "I also included watch functions on it.  To activate any of the functions, touch the crossed sabers and think about what you need."
Darlene held up her right arm.  "The right hand armlet has a vastly different function.  Within is a space for a few small devices, one of which Bert installed in every one of them.  To retrieve any item, all you have to do to is think 'weapons band activate' and the name of the weapon."
She now had a wry smile on her face, "I think Bert has been watching too many movies since he came here however, considering the standard weapon he built."  A lightsaber hilt appeared in her right hand.   "The weapon will always appear in your right hand in an inactive mode.  By the way, if it needs to, the parts can be upgraded and replaced, the bands are bigger inside than they are on the outside."
"Now, by Bert's request, there are ten sets of bands here.  The first six are for you, the fighting members of the Knight Sabers.  There are also bands there for Doctor Raven, Mackie, and Anri."  She looked serious for a moment, and Sylia noticed that the girl seemed to run a gamut of emotions, never seeming to stick to one, "The last one is in case you ever need another person.  Remember Sylia, choose your people carefully since you cannot get more of these bands."
Darlene suddenly looked contrite,  "I almost forgot, I placed one more feature in both bands so that only the person who wears the armband can see or feel it."
She suddenly giggled and grinned impishly,  "In any case, I have some personal wishes as well as some gifts for everyone except Bert.  He already has his gifts"  Darlene smiled at them, "Sylia, knowing you, or rather, knowing your analog, I realize how interested in the sciences you are. This being the case, I prepared some information files for you.  I hope you enjoy them."  A small disc came out of the opening in the box.
"Priss, I know how much you like speed, so I prepared a copy of my motorcycle for you.  You'll find it a bit faster than yours. To make it full size, touch the gas tank and say 'grow'."   With that, and a small giggle, a perfectly formed miniature of Priss's motorcycle came out.  Priss stared at it as though it would bite.
Composing herself, Darlene continued, "Linna, knowing how much you practice the martial arts, I asked a friend of mine to help me prepare a set of information on some...advanced...techniques you might like.  To view the information, touch the diamond at the top of the box to see a list of available files.  Think of the file and then it will start to play."  A small box with a diamond top appeared from a white mist.
A moment later, a small sheathed sword appeared, a perfectly detailed miniature with a pair of intertwined dragons.  "Sylvie, I really do not know what else to give you, other than this.  You can enlarge it to full size just by thinking about it.  It cannot harm a human being although, if you wish it, it can harm a boomer.  This is _not_ it's natural mode however, and you must concentrate on it being able to do such damage.  You will be required to place a drop of your blood on the blade. From that point on, it will be with you until your death when it may be acquired by one of your bloodline or designated heir."
A small black case appeared, "Nene, I made a small computer for you and stored some code breaking techniques in it that were worked out against Genom a while back.  I hope that you will find them useful.  Now, although the pocket computer is small, it is very powerful, being optically based.  I'm sure that you will figure out several uses for it."  The girl in the image suddenly looked a little sad, "Nene, from what Bert has told me about you, you are similar to one of my best friends, your analog, and a person I miss."  She looked down and said in a rush, "I...I placed a few personal messages on a disk for you."
Darlene then looked up and forward, although her lower lip was trembling a bit.  "Well,  That's all.  Perhaps someday we'll meet.  Take good care of the big lug.  He needs looking after."
The image faded at that point leaving everyone in silence.

***

The door to the apartment opened and a tall, brown haired figure came in and turned on the lights.  Looking around quickly, as if he expected intruders, the man, who's back showed a very well structured musculature through his shirt, closed the door, hung up his jacket, and went over to the small liqueur cabinet on one side of the room.  Pulling out a glass, he filled it with a small amount of scotch, less than half a shot and all that he really allowed himself these days.
*God damn it Bert, what the hell are you doing now?* the figure thought as he flopped down on the couch, taking a sip of the drink.  *What the fuck was that energy field and why were those boomers after you.*  The brown haired main suddenly froze in shock at a stray thought, something that he hoped was taken care of with the elimination of one of his old police reports.  *Ah hell!  Did those bastards at Genom figure out that he's SkyKnight?*
He closed his eyes, deciding there was nothing he could do tonight, and that it would be best to talk to Bert tomorrow at his club.  Smirking to himself, the figure ran his fingers through the brown thatch at the top of his head, thinking of what he knew, and had promised himself never to reveal.  *It's a good thing that I 'bounce ideas' off of Bert in order to get an 'outsiders' point of view to cases.*
Leon sat back and tried to relax.

***

Sylia was the first to break the silence.  "That was...Interesting, but I take it she left out a lot of details.  For instance, how to place a weapon inside the band and how to make it return to a neutral state."
Bert grinned, "She did at that, but then again, she _is_ a little ditzy as a girl."  Seeing that Sylia was still not in the mood for his particular type of humour, and that everyone else was looking at the items in front of them, he decided to can the jokes for a while longer.  "To place a weapon inside, you hold it in your hand and think 'Weapon band deactivate' and the name you want to give it.  The item then vanishes from your hand and ends up stored inside the armband.  As Darlene said, all of them have lightsabers inside of them, so go ahead and take a pair.  I already have mine on, although I have to be careful when I use them."
Sylia caught on that and said curiously, "What do you mean by that?"
Bert looked uncomfortable for a second, "Well, the Wild Magic that hit me has an unfortunate side effect if I use a magical item and call for either of my suits at the same time.  I can use them separately, but dangerous and sometimes unpredictable results can occur otherwise.  It's fairly controlled now, and no one knows exactly why the magic affected me in this manner, but spells cast around be tend to go awry.  I don't think we really have to worry about that however unless we come up against a magic user."
Linna was looking at Bert and wondering if _she_ should be worried about that.  Looking  at the small magic box, she considered activating it immediately.  She was curious about the techniques the girl, Darlene, had mentioned, but was not really feeling in the mood to explore it at the moment.  Linna still had an unusually bad head ache from when that armour had appeared.  To be honest, she wasn't really feeling up to learning anything more, as her brain was currently overloaded with new information. Reaching forward, she took the armlets and placed them on her wrists.
"Hey!  Where's they go?"  Priss exclaimed looking at Linna's arms.  She was hoping that none of this was really magic, but some form of highly advanced science.  People having the power to change the way the universe operated scared the shit out of her.  To have _magical_ devices as a normal part of a person's life...Priss shuddered, pitying Bert, and wondering how being in such a universe had affected him.  She couldn't deny the evidence in front of her eyes, but she _really_ hoped that none of it was magic.
"It's Magic Priss, Remember?"  Nene bubbled and quickly got the computer and a set of armbands for herself.
Everyone else slowly got the items assigned to them as Sylia came to a decision.  "I do not want any information on magic going outside this room.  Doctor Raven, Mackie, and Anri are _not_ to know how the armbands work.  As far as they are concerned, they represent a top-secret and highly experimental technology. Now, for the rest of this," her arm swept the new devices, "they are definitely _not_ to know where this equipment came from.  The knowledge is too dangerous."
Bert snapped his fingers, "Oh, before I forget, this is for you Nene."  He pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket and gave it to the young red head who opened it up. "I asked Twister to make this for you.  I hope you don't mind, but I fig...Unf!"  Bert was cut off suddenly as Nene had grabbed him in a tight hug.  Before he could say anything more, she pulled his head down and kissed him long, loving, and sensuously.  All thoughts, in fact, all coherent thinking abilities, left his mind as he responded to that kiss.  It was unlike any kiss he had before and he was stunned.
Nene pulled back and, almost shouting in happiness, said, "Yes!!  Yes!!  Yes!!  My answer is yes!" She quickly pulled the diamond ring out of the box and put it on her finger.
Everyone gasped, and before Bert could collect the shattered remnants of his mind together, Priss grabbed him by the shoulders.  "If you don't mind, I'm going to borrow Bert for a little while."  She pulled him away and out of the apartment while the rest of the women were looking at the ring that Nene now wore, the large diamond that had a faint purple sheen to it.

***

Priss pulled Bert into his apartment, locked the door behind her and shouted, "ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS!"
Bert, who had been slowly recovering from Nene's affections, was brought violently back to reality by that. "Uh?  What are you talking about Priss?"
Priss was slowly getting red as she looked into his face, it was as if he didn't know what...It slowly dawned on her that he really didn't know.  "Bert.  Why did you give that ring to Nene?"
"Well the ring serves several purposes," he replied.  "The first, and most important, being that if I am _ever_ pulled to another dimension again, I can home in on it and come back.  The second is that it will provide her some personal protection.  The ring will project a small field of force if a bullet, or some type of projectile, is shot at her.  It will also deflect most of the impact of any energy weapon, something I felt she should have."
Sitting down in his recliner, Bert continued, "The only drawback is that it needs to be exposed to light to recharge itself.  Neither Twister or myself could figure out any other way to power it."
Priss shook her head, "But why make it out of diamond?"
Bert looked at Priss, wondering what she was getting at.  "Well, it was a readily available material, all of the crystalline structures on those armbands and the boxes are diamond.  Besides, as Darlene, she took some time to design it, thinking that Nene would like something that looked pretty.  From her reaction I think she was right."
Sitting down in front of him, she took hold of his head and looked into his eyes, "Bert.  Do you know what a _diamond_ ring means?"
He looked puzzled, "What does..."  Bert trailed off as he remembered, in _this_ dimension, diamond was not as easy to get a hold of.  Come to think of it, it wasn't easy to get a hold of in Twister's dimension either.  That was when he remembered the traditional usage of a diamond ring, and he started to shake a bit.
"Oh no!"  Getting up suddenly and shaking off Priss, he leaped for the door and tried to open it.  Being locked, he started fumbling around, allowing the brown haired singer to catch up with him.  A small smile started to twitch at the sides of her mouth.
She turned him around, "Forget it little brother. She's now your fiancee."  Grinning Priss then started to rub it in, "At least you won't have to look for a band, I'll do it for free."  He groaned at her words as Priss' grin threatened to become a full fledged gloat.  "It seems Darlene was right, you do need looking after."
Bert didn't reply.

THE NEXT DAY...

Naoko couldn't help but stare at the huge diamond that Nene wore.
She had been a little surprised at how overly excited that her friend had been that morning, and had noticed the new ring that she had been wearing.  Asking about the large, slightly purple diamond, Naoko learned that Bert had surprised her with it the night before.  Talk about things being totally unexpected!
Shaking her head, Naoko admired the stone.  It was about two centimetres long, one centimetre wide, and half a centimetre thick.  The setting the stone was sitting in was a pair of intertwined gold dragons, wonderfully detailed and seeming almost alive.  Moreover, the stone was a purple diamond, a _very_ rare type of diamond.  She knew Nene's boyfriend was some type of high-priced engineer, but she never imagined that he could be _that_ rich.
"So, are you going to marry him?", Naoko asked.
Nene smiled happily.  "Of course!  I've been waiting for him to ask me, and it's finally happened!"  Her thoughts strayed to what marriage would be like, and the children she wanted to have.  She realized that she might have to drop out of missions now and then, but it would be worth it. Nene's eyes shone with excitement as she looked at the ring. "I'm going to make extra sure he's happy once we're married."
Naoko shook her head, realizing that she'd have to cover for Nene over the next little while.  Obviously she was so caught up in thinking about the future that she wasn't really paying attention to her work.  It was a bit surprising, after all; it was hard to believe the ever so innocent redhead was going to get married.

***

Leon walked into the archery range, going over to the locker and getting his bow.  He smiled to himself as he considered the fact that he was using such an ancient weapon in an age where an ADP officer's survival depended on high tech weaponry.  Somehow, Bert's infatuation with Europe's chivalric age had spread to himself, and he now enjoyed being able to hit the target.  Although it wasn't too different from holding a gun and firing it, Leon had found that he needed more skill to get an arrow to hit the target, and that provided a lot more satisfaction than just being quick on the draw.
Going over to the range, he saw that Sylvie, Priss and Bert were in adjacent lanes.  Leon noticed that, as usual, Sylvie was out for fun while Bert and Priss were trying to outdo each other.  He still hadn't figured out why they felt the need to argue, compete, and generally annoy each other. Shaking his head, he took the lane next to Bert.
"Congratulations Bert, I saw the ring you gave to Nene last night," Leon said as he sent his target down the range.
Bert's arrow went wild, hitting the floor halfway down as he started to get a little green.  He didn't want to think about his accidental engagement.  Neither did Bert want to think about how excited his red headed girlfriend was.  The very thought of marriage, and the responsibilities that went with it, scared the hell out of him.  The big problem for him was that he couldn't tell Nene it was all a mistake.  Disappointing her was something else that Bert did not want to contemplate.
Priss smirked from where she was.  She and Leon had been getting along better for the past few months, especially since he had decided to stop trying to ask her out on dates.  Priss wasn't sure what had finally gotten through to him, but she was glad.  Leon turned out to be a good friend, once you got past his obsession for trying to go out with anything that wore a skirt.  "Well, I already told him I'm going to sing at the wedding."
Bert's next arrow also went wild.
	"Would you two mind?"  Bert said irritably, "I'm _trying_ to relax.  Reminding me that I'm now engaged is _not_ helping."  Grumbling a bit, he recalled the target. Pulling the arrows out and placing them in the quiver, he wondered how long Priss would bug him about this.  Knowing her, probably for the rest of his life.  Bert then thought of the perfect way to get Priss back, and, since she had called him little brother...
	Grinning a bit, he turned to the brown haired officer, "Sorry Leon.  It's just that my _Elder_ sister has been bugging me about it all day.  Isn't that so Sylvie?"
	Sylvie giggled getting the idea, "Yep!  Apparently Priss is trying for a new record in 'How does one annoy _Younger_ brother?"
	Priss looked at the two of them, "Hey!  I'm not _that_ old."
	"You're the one that keeps calling me _little_ brother."  He grinned, "You know, you'd look a lot younger, and a lot cuter if you wore a frilled dress once in a while..."  Chuckling, he started to turn towards his office. It was the last thing he remembered for a while.
	Priss had taken the opportunity to deliver an uppercut that knocked Bert out.

***

	Hollister pondered the information that Doc had given him the night before.  He hated Bert, but Doc was right, he had to look at the long term view.  If Ikagawashii was correct, then this...being...could help them with several projects currently underway, providing there was sufficient motivation.  He looked through the file on his desk, examining the stills of those people who consistently went into the archery range.  Of these, there were five people whom he was known to be friends with.

The first picture was of Sylvie:

	The sexaroid they had captured before.  According to his information, she was consistently in the company of the person in the second picture...

Priss Asagiri:

	A minor singer with a strong following.  She had several reputations, and a past that was in some ways as mysterious as  that of Bert's.  It was known that she liked to fight, loved weapons, and was friends with at least two people from ADP, one of whom had tried to date her several times...

Leon McNichol:

	Currently an Inspector with ADP.  He had a reputation for being very officious, very law abiding, but was also known to have a...strange... relationship with people wearing various types of powered armour.  He had been reprimanded several times for letting the Knight Sabers, and specifically SkyKnight, go when he had been ordered to detain them.  There was also the time he was brought in for emergency surgery by a black armoured figure.  He was known to get most of his information from a young woman within the ADP...

Nene Romanova:

	She was a bit of a mystery.  She wasn't a fighter, nor was she violent.  Her reputation for various types of chocolates and sweets was legend, even among 'doughnut loving' police officers. She was highly intelligent, with unknown, but extremely good sources of information.  It seemed as  though she was Bert's girlfriend.    However, if his supposed age was accurate, it was very possible that she was his daughter or grand-daughter.  She was also known to have a love-hate relationship with a former aerobics instructor and stock market expert...

Linna Yamazaki:

	Here was another mystery.  She was known to be a friend of Bert's, an able dancer, and a practitioner of the martial arts.  Records indicated that she knew quite a bit about the stock market and how to make it work for her.  There was also an indication that she handled more money than was officially reported.

	Beside these pictures were individual photos of the six armoured individuals collectively known as the Knight Sabers, five of which were women.  Although he wasn't able to confirm it, he suspected that Bert was the one who formed the Knight Sabers, a covert group of operatives who were technically a mercenary organization.  If the assumption was that he created these groups, an assumption that made too much sense once the pieces were put together, then these five people were possibly the start of a new team of covert operatives.
	Looking them over, he picked up Nene's picture.
	"If we had the right incentive..."

***

	The main computer room in Sylia's building now had several piles of output folders spread out.
	Sylia sat up in her chair, sipping tea from a cup placed beside her keyboard.  Getting up, she stretched, looking at the mess she had created.  The leader of the Knight Sabers had to smile; it was usually Bert that made a mess like this, but the disk contained some fascinating files, technical specifications, plans, and weapons.  Some of which were very...advanced.
	As an example of that, on the main screen was the picture of an amazing super computer system.  She knew that optical based technologies were theoretically possible, but to have plans of a complete system, including all the chips, was something that she had not imagined could be contained on such a small disk.  And that was one of the smaller files.
	Sylia looked at the screen, with a bit of wry amusement.  At the moment the system would be impractical, if not impossible to build.  While it was interesting, and she might be able to develop a similar system based upon the pictures, notes, data, and technical specifications, it would take an incredible manufacturing setup to produce the current system.
	Shaking her head, she wondered _where_ they found enough pure, flawless, diamond to build the original machine.

***

	Bert slowly opened his eyes to view the ceiling of his office.
	"I take it you're feeling better Bert?"  a voice chuckled.
	Groaning a bit, Bert sat up, and swung his feet to the floor.  "Yeah,"  he winced, "Although my head feels like if it fell off.  What hit me?"
	Leon continued to chuckle as he handed his friend a mug of tea. "Priss.  Who else."
	Bert took a long pull from the mug, rolling his jaw slightly as the pain of Priss' punch entered his brain.  It wasn't the first time that she had been angry enough to hit him or smash him against something, but it was the first time she had knocked him out.  He put his cup down and started to rub his jaw.  "So, where are the tornado twins?"
	"Sylvie took Priss up to the lounge to try and get her to calm down."  Leon looked at his friend for a moment. "Tell me something.  Why do you keep trying to annoy her?"
	Bert shook his head and went back to sipping his tea. "Force of habit I suppose.  We've sort of gotten used to trying to find things to annoy each other with.  The more annoying the better."  He looked up at the brown haired police inspector, "So, how long was I out?"
	"About fifteen minutes."  Leon grew serious, "Do you have some time at the moment Bert?  I need some advice and to warn you about an incident that happened near here last night."
	"Sure Leon."  He chuckled silently to himself.  For the past few months, since his business opened to the public, Leon had been visiting and telling him all sorts of interesting information.  Small tidbits which, unknown to the ADP officer, helped him out with his SkyKnight duties and functions.  Bert had reciprocated, offering some advice and some technical help now and then.  It was a good easy relationship with both of them relaxing more than anything else.
	"Well, during the past few months, new weapons have been showing up in the international marketplace.  According to some...reliable information, these devices originate from here in Japan."  Leon started to pace, seeming agitated. "Some of the information coming to us isn't good.  Whoever they are, they've brought back the DD Battlemover."
	Bert jerked suddenly, spilling his tea.  Leon was talking about the group that had one person who had become the bane of his existence.  He was talking about Hollister, the one who had hurt Nene and Priss, tortured him, planned to enslave Sylvie and Anri, and was responsible for the most inhuman weapons and devices ever created by man.  Bert and the rest of the Sabers had seen the plans for the new Battlemover, and it had been sickening to say the least.  The inhuman bastards had designed the thing to either drive a human pilot crazy or to condemn a sexaroid pilot to slavery.
	Leon looked at Bert, "Yeah, the same device that almost destroyed Mega- Tokyo a while back.  This version of the armour is...more insidious to say the least.  According to our counterparts in Korea, the thing is utterly inhuman."
	Bert paled, knowing what the plans were.  Given what Leon just said, and the fact that most beings did not consider boomers people, he could just imagine what the Korean version of ADP had found.  He silently cursed himself.  It was bad enough that Hollister was a constant torn in his side, but he had forgotten the organization that backed him.  Given what Leon just said, Hollister was now the least of his concerns.  Despite the fact that Bert wanted to kill him, the bastard would be needed to get information on these people.  "What...did they find Leon?"
	"You don't want to know Bert.  You _really_ do not want to know."

***

	Hollister looked at the picture of the red headed girl. Of all the possible targets, she was the most likely to bring Bert to them.  This would mean capturing her, despite the complications that could cause with the ADP.  "Well Doc, what do you think of the plan?"
	Doctor Ikagawashii looked at his copy of the file, and sat pondering the advisability of procuring this young woman.  If they did get a hold of her, it was possible that she would have the same abilities as those of Bert.  It would be too dangerous to simply kidnap her and bring her to their main facility.  He thought a bit at the supposed abilities from the movies he had reviewed that morning, as well as the tapes of what had happened.  Doc reviewed what he had learned.

One:

	The light sabers differed.  This was to be expected as each Jedi designed their own Sabers to suit their individual personalities and hand grips.

Two:

	He had mentioned his teacher, and the quote exactly matched those from the movie.

Three:

	The lightsaber had presented the same impossibility as that of the film, that of deflecting a laser blast.

Four:

	Bert's physical conditioning was similar to that of the movie's Luke Skywalker.

	He glanced at the intensive, yet scanty psychological profile that they had put together from the little available information.  Three hundred pages, which boiled down to the fact that he was a chivalric person.  Bert was more than willing to put himself into danger for others, and would frequently seem to go out of the way to rescue people.  He had to be an innovative engineer who tinkered circuits together out of available materials, which meant at some time he learned spitball engineering.  His combat skills and weapons of preference were ancient, being bows and arrows, swords, or bare hands, indicating an honourable disposition and a preference to battle with a personal edge.  No one was sure if it was because he liked to see someone bleeding up close, or because he wanted to remind himself of the human factor.  The latter was most likely, given that however practical he might be, Bert steadfastly refused to kill if he didn't have to.
	Doc then thought of the energy that changed his clothing and caused the saber to seemingly appear.  He shuddered, as there were only two real explanations for it; either a highly controlled, highly accurate teleportation technique, something that would have to be centuries ahead of their own technology, or control of the mysterious 'Force', which he apparently had access to.
	It would be a dangerous gambit.  If the girl had even minimal training in the abilities of the Force, and the possibility existed, then she would be as dangerous as Bert. They could not keep her awake, since the Jedi were able to find their friends though feeling them.  There was also the strong possibility of some psychic abilities.  He thought of that for a second.  The Jedi's powers were similar to what Terrans would call psychic abilities. Admittedly psychic abilities on a scale never before recorded, but psychic abilities none-the-less.  If they kept the girl sedated then he should not be able to detect her.
	"It's possible,"  Doc stated, "but it will require a lot more planning.  Are you sure that the surveillance team will be able to give us her entire schedule?"
	"Yes."  Hollister replied.  "They are to watch her, and where she goes for the next two weeks.  That should give us enough time to come up with something.  I'm already arranging for two safe-houses for whenever we are ready to go.  What I want to know is, given what you told me last night, is there any way to hold him?"
	"We'd have to keep him drugged to prevent his escaping and this might be a problem.  The drugs that would keep him complacent and the truth drugs are not completely compatible."  The white headed scientist commented. "Despite the fact that he looks and acts human, there is also the strong possibility that his physiology may act unusually with the drugs.  We have to be extremely careful about this, and make certain that _we_ have control of his lightsaber."
	The smile on Hollister's face was not pretty to look at.  "Count on it Doc, count on it."

***

	The underground chamber, which was a large darkened area, was as silent and as deathly still as a tomb.  What little light there was had several strange items under them. Items which seemed familiar, yet unusual.  Prominently featured were three unusual vehicles, one that looked something like a motorcycle without wheels, another that looked somewhat like a car, and a very strange one that resembled a type of aeroplane.  Another set of lights along one wall displayed a series of armour suits, each in an individual glass cylinder, and their designs and appearances was unusual to say the least.
	An elevator opened and a red-headed man stormed out, walking to the lab area.  Unhappy, angry, and filling the air with a number of scathing remarks, Bert pushed open the door and almost slammed it behind him.  He was responsible for the hurt a lot of people suffered.  Him.  No one else deserved the blame.  Moving to  one of the highly adjustable tables, Bert tried to get his mind on putting together the armour suit lying on top of it.
	He soon gave up.
	Looking down at what was supposed to be his latest hardsuit design, he snarled with disgust.  It wouldn't matter what he built, what he came up with, the new DD Battlemover removed the options of retrieving the pilot alive.  Taking a piece of the unoffending armour plate, he threw it against the far wall of the lab with some self-hatred at what he had failed to do.
	Bert sat down, wondering what the hell he was going to do.  He had spent so much time redesigning the team's suits, adjusting them to each person's particular preferences and abilities, that he forgotten what they were facing...Bert now realized how hard a job Sylia really had.  Not only did she keep the team going, get assignments, and ensure their safety, but she also had to keep the overall picture in mind.
	Bert had concentrated so hard on Hollister that he had lost sight of what they were really facing.
	He recognized that his problem with what was happening was part of his overinflated feelings of responsibility.  If Bert had been successful in removing Hollister and his group, shutting down where ever the bastards were selling, designing, and building these new weapons, the people trapped inside the DD's would still have their freedom.  He couldn't imagine a worse crime against humanity that removing a person's right to be who and what they were.
	"What the hell can I do?"  he snarled to himself as he looked out the lab window into the rest of his underground complex.  "No matter what, people like that will still be around."  Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice whispered seductively that it didn't have to be that way, that he could somehow fix things by putting on his suit and simply blasting people out of existence.
	Bert got up quickly and started to pace.  He had to come up with a new plan of attack, something that would end Hollister's operation once and for all.
	"Be not so angry, my student.  Go, calm your mind and your heart and then will your answer be." a voice said, coming from near one of the larger laboratory tables.
	Bert spun, recognizing the voice but not really wanting to listen to it at the moment.  On the chair behind the table was a short figure wearing an outfit similar to the peasants clothes from ancient Japan.  He held a small irregular cane in front to him and his pointed ears twitched with some amusement.
	"Oh shut up Yoda!"  he exclaimed to the solid looking apparition, one of the fortunate, or in this case unfortunate, side effects of the Wild Magic that Darlene had accidentally blasted him with.  While the little guy offered a lot of good advice, he wasn't really there, at least not in the sense of being a real person.  'Yoda' was a part of his mind, given life by Bert's own needs and emotions.  "In case you didn't notice, designing hardsuits and the associated equipment helps me to relax.
	Yoda hopped down to the floor and walked around the table.  "Troubled you are by things that could not be helped.  A Jedi must learn, to his regret, that he cannot solve every problem.  A Jedi can only do what he can to aid those of the light."  He pointed to a seat over on one side of the room.  "Quiet yourself and understand that what has happened is done.  You may change the future as it is unformed, but you may not change the past."
	Bert took a seat and growled irritable at himself.  He had learned the hard way that it wasn't always wise to argue with this part of himself.  His mind tended to make what Yoda wanted to do a reality, at least for him and any other person who was magic sensitive.  "So what _should_ I do? It's my fault that people were used in those damn machines. If I had come up with some way to get rid of those...inhuman...bastards, that armour would not be out there now.  Unfortunately, with one already being in use, there are probably more out there, and that means that people will be able to copy the thing."
Yoda shook his head, "Built this place, you have."  He waved his staff at the entire complex, "The time comes when it will be needed, but calm you must be.  You must at terms be with your limitations."
Bert got up suddenly and walked towards the door, "I suppose, but then again, I have a hell of a lot of limitations, and I don't intend to let any more people get hurt."  He went into the elevator followed by the pint sized midget and pressed the button for the entrance to his recreation centre.

***

On the second floor, behind the closed door of a private exercise room, Linna concentrated on the movements of the two red-headed figures in front of her.  She had marveled at the grace and ease with which the two girls moved.  It was like watching the ocean; a smooth, unbroken rhythm of blocks and blows, strike and counter-strike which spoke of a large amount of skill and training.  The pig- tailed girl was obviously better, more at ease while her sister, Darlene, was on the defensive more often than not.
Of course, the _very_ high leaping that they were able to do was what interested her at the moment.
Linna had looked at several of the visual and audio files that were in the box, seeing attacks that at first glance did not make sense.  Fists moving faster than the eye could easily see,  fireballs being fired, and diamond-like shields. The section on avoidance moves was uncannily eerie. It seemed as if they could sense an attack before it had truly begun, before the opponent gave a single muscular indication.
Knowing that most of this was well beyond her current, and quite possibly future, abilities, she decided to start with something that seemed relatively simple.
There was a knock on the door to the room, and Bert's voice wafted in.  "Linna?  It's me, can I come in?"
"Sure, come on in."
He opened the door and stepped in followed by a short, pointed eared companion.  Linna rubbed her eyes, thinking that somehow her vision had been affected by the magic of the crystal.  She couldn't really be seeing what looked like a combination martial arts master and alien being rolled into one.  As Bert closed the door behind him, she sat down, looking up and continually rubbing her eyes.
Bert looked at her with some concern, "Are you all right?"
Still covering her eyes, she said, "Bert.  Please tell me there isn't some sort of alien midget next to you."
Bert started, somewhat warily at that statement.  "You can see someone besides me?"
Yoda looked at her, his face crinkling with a small smile, "See me she does, student will she be."
She looked at the small being who had made that comment and said, "Student?  What do you mean by student?"
Bert looked uncomfortable as he slowly asked, "Linna, when my armour arrived, what _exactly_ did you hear?"

***

Sylvie looked at Priss in a resigned manner.
She had finally gotten her to calm down, and, after a couple of drinks, had gotten Priss to open up a bit about what was really bothering her.
As usual, Priss was worrying about Bert's welfare and how his being engaged would affect everyone.  It wasn't that she did not want Bert to get married, but she didn't think it was the smartest idea in the world, given that he and Nene had been going over a somewhat rocky stretch in their relationship.  Bert was uneasy about doing anything to hurt people, and although he loved the red-headed ADP officer, he tended to stay away from deeper commitments until pushed.
Priss knew her little brother well enough to realize that their outside activities was the main reason for his worry; he felt that Nene should have a more stable relationship than with the combat-hardened war machine that he had become.  She also knew the other, unmentioned, reason that he tended to avoid relationships.  It was that he missed his _original_ home, which was years and dimensions away.
"I _know_ he'll screw this up if we don't keep an eye on him." she stated gruffly to her companion, "He's too damn shy for his own good."
Sylvie sighed as she looked at the brown haired singer sitting across from her in the private booth.  Ever since she had arrived with Anri, Priss had made her part of her family.  Originally, she supposed it was because their personalities were similar, uncannily alike in so many ways. The feelings between them had grown deeper however, from close friends to being virtually sisters.  For the first time in her life, Sylvie was treated as a real person instead of a machine, and she cherished that.
That was why she loved Priss and didn't like seeing her friend hurt.
Of course, the same could be said for the rest of the team.  Given that Sylvie didn't really have a lot of friends, or a chance at a normal life, she had taken every opportunity she could to spend with the few friends she _did_ have.  Broken down, it was limited to basically Anri and her fellow Knight Sabers.  Like Priss, she was loyal to their small family, and worried about how the others, especially Priss, were doing, but wasn't as pushy as her brown haired friend.  Sylvie kept thinking that the singer would be better off if she would quit worrying about Bert.
"Bert will be ok, Priss.  You can't take care of him forever you know."
"I know Sylvie, but he can be such an idiot at times. Give him something to design or engineer and he'll spend days without getting some rest.  Try and get him to talk about his personal feelings and he runs."  She sipped the fruit and vitamin concoction, wishing that Bert allowed alcohol on the premises.  "You know as well as I do that he'll hide if he thinks he's making a mistake."
Sylvie smiled at that.  It was an accurate, if understated, view of Bert's personal life.  He didn't make friends easily, and he tended to shy away from most people. Wondering about that, she realized that almost all of the people who made up the Knight Sabers were loners.
Sylia was a scientist who avoided chances to make friends, feeling her duty towards people for the perversion of her fathers work was to protect the public from its misuse.
Bert was originally from another dimension, somewhat afraid of his feelings, and had a tendency to get lost in a laboratory or hardsuit research.
Priss' past was too full of pain from losing people to opposing gangs and boomers, something which hardened her heart against wanting to be close to anyone.
Sylvie herself was afraid of getting close to people in case they found out the truth about her.
The only two exceptions to this rule were Nene, whose personality made almost instant friends of anyone, and Linna, who at least tried to make friends.
She wondered if any of them would ever be free of the past.

***

Bert sat down against a wall as Yoda chuckled at the expression on Linna's face.  She seemed to be taking it well, considering that she had just been told that she could potentially perform magic.  Bert, however, did not, could not take it as well.  While he had become more used to the concept of magic, he still couldn't really stand how it defied the orderly running of a universe.  After his experiences with Akane's exploding cookies, not to mention Professor Kitamura's testing techniques, he was weary of anyone having magical abilities.  His own magical powers and abilities sometimes unnerved him, but Bert had gradually come to accept them.
After all, his powers did not exactly have him casting spells, or at least not many spells.
For some reason, his own abilities were rather limited. Whether or not it was fortunate or unfortunate was up for debate, but it did bring up some interesting, though somewhat unanswerable, questions.  He knew that his abilities stemmed from the magical blast that he was hit with, but why were _his_ particular abilities a seeming combination of psionics and magic?
He went over the points in his mind of what he could do:

One:

Revising and redesigning his suits with a lot of concentration.

Two:

Making them repair and recharge themselves somewhat.

Three:

	Having them come and go from him at will.

Four:

	He was able to detect electromagnetic fields within a fifty metre radius if he concentrated on detecting them.

Five:

	He was able to levitate some items if he maintained concentration.


Six:

	He was intuitively able to grasp the concepts of magic, something he did not really understand.

Seven:

	He had faster and better reflexes.

Eight:

	He could heal himself after a fashion, although it took time.

Nine:

	If he concentrated, was able to form the magic field into a semi-solid object within 2 metres of himself.

He looked up at the small figure who was quietly waiting for Linna to come back to reality.
The major difference in his powers, and sometimes the major pain, was the fact that his mind had created 'Yoda'. It was a representation of the best of himself, his conscience, his humility, his willingness to learn.  Yoda had once lived only in his mind, until he had decided that Bert was ready to begin learning more; that he had grown calm and stable enough to be able to really begin to handle his new abilities.  There were times that he suspected that Yoda knew more than his mind did.  This was supported by the fact that he came up with things that Bert had never experienced, and didn't know some things that he had experienced.  The little fellow was a questionable enigma, one that none of the magic experts he had come in contact with could explain.
Linna looked at Yoda, then looked at the small magical box that was still in front of her.  Her eyes opened wide. If she was able to do something like that, was able to make something magical even if it wasn't powerful or big, she would be happy.  Magic seemed like it was a lot of fun to do.
"I would like to be your student Sensei."  she said humbly, bowing low in an ancient formal bow, as she was already on her knees.  "What shall I need to do?"
"Be yourself child.  When you have recovered yourself will we begin."
Bert just groaned.

***

In a public park, on the other side of Mega-Tokyo, a flash of bright light occurred behind some trees.  People who happened to be there looked that way, and started to run, wondering if there was some kind of explosion, some kind of event happening that might make the news.  As the more curious and foolhardy went towards the point where the flash occurred, they passed a figure wearing a dark cloak. She was obviously female, and walking calmly away from that area.  In her right hand was a small suitcase and in her left hand held what looked like a small bit of stone.
*Damn!  Now that I'm here I've lost track of him.*  the figure thought as it silently ran a polished fingernail over the stone.  *It's a good thing I read the family archives about dimension traveling.  I should have enough gold and jewels to last several months.*
The girl placed the stone into a cape pocket and brushed a strand of black hair away from her face.

***

Somewhere in the room, a phone rang.
Sylia sighed and looked up.  She was a little annoyed since she was reviewing one of the most promising files on the provided disk.  It was theoretical data on a high powered, high energy laser that combined a free electron emitter with a semi-conductor one without the meltdown that such emitters usually had.  Hoping that whatever it was wouldn't take long, she answered the phone.  "Hello, Sylia speaking."
"Hello Sylia,"  Bert's voice replied, "We didn't discuss it last night, but I know you probably want to test out my new abilities."
She smiled slightly, Bert was learning not to hide things from her, "That would be a good idea. How about the day after tomorrow.  I should have some preliminary sensors and equipment reconfigured to test certain things."
"Sound's good to me."  Bert hesitated for a second, "You might want to use those devices on Linna as well."
Sylia sat up straight.  There was something in the way Bert said those words that made her uneasy.  "Why would I want to use these on her?  She didn't travel with you to another dimension."  She heard Bert sigh on the other end of the line.  "Ok, what happened?"
"Linna may have magical powers, or at least the potential for them."
Sylia narrowed her eyes in thought.  "Oh?  And how were you able to find out?"
Bert coughed nervously, "Well, there's something I neglected to mention about my new abilities..."

TWO DAYS LATER...

Bert was standing in the middle of the hardsuit testing area, waiting for Sylia to begin.  Although he tried not to show it, he was nervous.  Not because of the tests, Bert was used to that, but because, while convenient, he didn't like to call on his abilities too often, much less the other aspects of his powers.  Having the laws of the universe change around him was something he didn't really like, although he accepted it.
Sylia's voice came through the speakers, "Ok Bert, we're going to start off with you calling your suits.  I want to try to get some readings on what's going on."
"Ok.  I'll start with my soft suit."
He calmed himself and thought of his fighting undergarment.  In his minds eye, Bert stepped in and zipped up the garment, to him, it felt real, as though he was actually doing it and that was what made the difference. Because of the magical connection between his suits and himself, anything he thought of regarding them _became_ reality.

***

Sylia kept her eyes on the energy readout as the rest of them looked through the window.  The visual effect was, to say the least, interesting.  Starting at his feet, a glowing whirlwind of energy surrounded Bert, completely encompassing him before dissipating.  When it was gone, he was in his revised undergarment.
She frowned at the screens.  According to every sensor, there was very little release of energy, at least in the common electromagnetic range.  The only detectable energy was in the visual range, and matched the frequency of the light that had appeared.  They would have to repeat the experiment to try to get a scientifically detectable energy range, and that meant going over things by the quarter range.
It was going to be a long night...

***

Some people were wondering what the manager of the Old Tokyo theatre was thinking.  For some reason, he had closed down a very successful production that had been playing for the past five years to open an old style magic act.  While the old style slight of hand was interesting, most people did not pay attention to it since, in this age, people were bored with it.  None of it amazed or delighted people since they could do the same thing with technology lying about the house.  However, it was unusual enough to have sold out the seats for that night's performance.
The reporters and reviewers were coming, hopefully to ridicule a manager who was foolish enough to stage such an ancient act.
The public was just curious as to what was going on.
The young black haired woman who was standing in front of the theatre looked at all of the customers.  She had been surprised at how technologically advanced this civilization was, as well as the seeming lack of magic in this world. There writings on the subject were amazingly devoid of what it really was, although there were some small shops that specialized in 'mystic equipment'.  It had been easy enough to get this theatre as a base of operations; a simple spell of compulsion was all it took.
Natsumi smiled as she thought of her gallant, mystical Knight.

***

Inside one of the upper level offices of Genom Tower, a woman with purple hair was frowning at some reports that had reached her desk.  The first one concerned the new DD Battlemover.   Although it was not known to many people, Chairman Quincy was very anxious to retrieve any fragments of that technology.  The advantages that it could give the corporation in terms of contacts for space-based suits and boomers was tremendous, and with the addition of its onboard computer system, the DD became the ultimate battle machine given the right circumstances.
Madigan carefully studied the file and the findings that the Korean ADP had found.  It was uncanny how close the new Battlemover was to that of schematic and files that had survived on the unit.  It also made better use of the available material, much better than had been imagined. Whoever these people were, they had designed the new DD to work with a direct weapons link to Sexaroids.  She sat back, carefully contemplating this information.  For all intents and purposes, she was Quincy's heir, and as such, he trusted her more than anyone else.  Madigan had always proved that Quincy's trust was dear to her and that she would never betray him.  She had to make some decisions on this, and advise him correctly and appropriately.
Some people in the corporation had wondered, given the infighting that occurred in the upper-echelon of the mega-corporation, when Madigan would make her bid for power.  If anything, there were many who would rather deal with her than with "The Old Man", and would prefer it if she did take over the company.  Unfortunately for them, they would have to wait for a very long time for that to happen; even if Quincy died, the Board of Directors would hardly choose her to head the corporation.
For Madigan, she was quite content to stay in the background.
Unbidden memories came to mind as she thought of her boss.  Quincy had literally chosen her for the brilliance of her mind and her ability to organize things.  She also had the ability to sometimes oppose what he was doing, but in such a way that he never felt threatened.  There was an unspoken bond, a link beyond what would be normal for employer-employee relations.  She knew that in his own way Quincy cared for her and would rather sacrifice himself instead of seeing her hurt.
That she would do the same was unnecessary to say.
*Who are these people?*  Madigan wondered.  *Where are they manufacturing these things?*
She had to find out, not only for herself, but for her mentor.

***

Sylia frowned at all the readouts.  Despite the fact that they had spent the last three hours trying to find the energy range that 'magic' operated in, none of the instruments had registered anything other than the purple light.  If there was a way to detect such energy, it wasn't with this particular equipment, and that meant designing a new type of detector, something that would have to go beyond the current knowledge of physics.  She refused to believe that this energy form couldn't be defined scientifically. "Ok Bert.  That's enough for now."
Bert sighed in relief.  He couldn't believe how tiring that was!  While testing his hardsuit had always been exciting before, both in terms of seeing what they could do and how far he could push the design limitations, he had been pushed well beyond his limit.  He looked at Sylia as he came out of the chamber, "Thanks.  Did you get anything?"
"No.  Apparently 'magic' operates on an energy level that is outside the normal electromagnetic spectrum."  She turned to write something on a notepad and murmured, "There has to be a substantial amount of energy used however..." Sylia suddenly gave a start.  "Linna, you're next."
Everyone else looked at Linna, who was only dressed in her softsuit.  "Hey!  What's going on here?" Priss asked as Linna looked down beside her, ignoring everyone else in the room.  What was Linna going to do in the hardsuit area?
Linna was nervous about what she was about to do, and kept looking beside her.  "Are you sure I can do this Yoda? I mean, you told me I'm able to do magic, and I did manage to do one small spell, but do you think I'm ready to do more?"
Yoda smiled and looked up at his student.  He was well pleased with this one.  She was respectful, honest, and in control of herself, unlike so many youngsters.  *Ah...Only if my other students had been so calm.  Disasters perhaps, may have been averted.*  Getting a toothy grin, he looked over to Bert who had wrapped his arm around Nene, "Trust yourself, you should. You know what you are doing."      She shrugged her shoulders and looked up from her Sensei.  "Ok, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.  According to Yoda I should be able to do this."
Priss stared at Linna, unable to believe her ears.
"YODA!?"

***

As Natsumi concluded her show, which had been extremely successful, she felt the faint stirring of a spell.  It was almost as if someone had overpowered it, which meant either a powerful magic user, which Bert could be considered, or someone new to their powers.  In this magic-dead world, such powers stood out like a beacon.
It was too bad she never learned how to detect the direction spells came from.
She faced the audience, "Thank-you!  And now to conclude the show, I have what some consider to be an old trick, that of sawing a person in half.  In this case, I will saw myself in half with this apparatus."  Behind her, the curtains opened to reveal a nasty looking rotary saw sitting above a plain wooden table.  The thing about this table was there wasn't the usual box which surrounded the one to be sawed in half.  In was plain, ordinary and dull. "I would like three volunteers from the audience to examine the blade and the table for any tricks."
As the three volunteers came up, she wondered where that spell had come from.  Unlike the aura of Bert's magic, which had a slightly uncomfortable feel to it, this was more the type of magic she was used to.  Was it possible that Bert was teaching someone?  Had he found an apprentice?  She hoped not.  It would be too dangerous for him to teach anyone, considering he had less than a year's training in the field and used his abilities instinctively instead of with purpose.
In the end, she felt the glow of power three more times, and although she was not able to home in on the source, at least got a general direction for the flashes. Especially since the flashes increased in power.  It brought back memories of how she used to overpower her spells as well.
Of course the audience was kept wonderfully terrified.
Using an illusion and keeping herself out of the way, she seemed to have been sawed in half, and her legs started to walk around the stage.  The fake blood and gore packets in the table caused many people to faint and scream.  The upper body of the illusion seemed to be reaching weakly before it, and the table was consumed in flames.
She ran out in a cloak and put the flames out with a fire extinguisher, and revealed herself for who she was.
The applause lasted for ten minutes.

***

Sylia couldn't understand what had happened.
Linna's bursts of magic had been detectable by the equipment.  Somehow, outside of the spectrum of light, there was a detectable energy both above and below the visible light waves.  The computers had shown that the visible spectrum energy had been a guide to forming and shaping the power that had flown from her.  It also showed that the energy from the ball of light was self sustaining, and that it continued to flow even after she was done, but not from her.  Energy was coming from nowhere, an impossibility within the guide of Newtonian physics.
When the test was repeated, the same results had received.  That, unfortunately, led to a conclusion that she wanted to be false, wanted very much to be refuted.
She knew that was wishful thinking.  If her readings on him were correct, then the type of power he wielded was not magic.  Somehow, he held a power within himself that mimicked the abilities that Linna was demonstrating.  This in itself was disturbing, given that when Bert lost control of himself, he tended to go far over the edge.
She had to find out exactly what he was using so that, if necessary, she could stop him or counter his actions.

***

For Hollister, the lateness of the hour was not wearing on him as much as getting some straight, honest information about what the Jedi were.  Looking at the number of books that lined the desk, to various information packets and 'director's cuts', he was surprised by how remarkably inconsistent the information was.  There were only a few things that had been carried over between all of the films, books, and other paraphernalia.
Of course, that did not really mean anything, since Bert had managed to either change the molecular structure of his suit or...He wasn't sure how, but now, more than ever, he wanted whatever technology that...(very impolite word edited) had.  His head went back a bit in thought, and he looked once more at the arrangement of the energy weapons that were attached to SkyKnight's forearm armour.  He then turned to a page in the reference manual on his desk and his eyes narrowed.  He had it!  Proof of collusion by Bert and the Silver garbed Knight Saber.
"The bastard is using Rebel technology!"  he muttered to himself excitedly.  He then started comparing the films to film clips and other details of the various Knight Sabers, and saw a pattern beginning to form.  He smiled to himself. SkyKnight had once been captured when they had tried to acquire his suit and the obviously advanced systems contained within.  That effort had met with a disappointing failure.
However, if the technology was the same, then, perhaps the weaknesses were as well...

***

Priss excused herself from the testing room, having completed her own series and gotten both depressed and fearful of the impossible things that she had been seeing. She shuddered unconsciously as she looked down at her wrists.  She could clearly see the metallic armbands with the diamond tops, and yet, earlier in the week, she had asked a friend in her band how her wrists looked, and he had commented that nothing seemed to be wrong.
He could not see the armbands.
"Want some company?" Sylvie's voice came out of the darkness behind her.
Turning, she looked at one of her best friends.  Hell, more than a friend.  Besides Bert, Sylvie and Anri were the closet thing she had to a real family.  Priss and Sylvie complimented each other in many ways.  Since the two had virtually the same personality, although Sylvie tended to think more while Priss rushed into things, everyone had started to treat them as if they were twins.  Not surprising really, as their combat styles were very similar.  In fact, if Sylvie hadn't decided to take advantage of her enhanced weapons capabilities, they could even wear each others hardsuits; Priss stubbornly refused to think of it as a sexaroids super weapon interface.
"Not at the moment really."  Priss said, attempting to smile.
Sylvie rolled her eyes, "Ssuurree.  You just like disappearing in the middle of a testing session.  Why not admit your fears?  You hate the idea of magic."
"OF COURSE I HATE THE IDEA!" Priss suddenly screamed, losing control of her emotions which were thinly held in check.  "How would you like your notion of reality turned upside down!?"
For the first time in a long time, Sylvie's eyes narrowed in slight anger.  "I _have_ had my world turned upside down, several times.  My ideas concerning my existence, my very being, tossed, turned, thrust sideways, and more.  _Anri_ and _I_ got used to that, so Bert and Linna's new abilities do not surprise me as much. Given your past, they shouldn't bother you much either.  What's really eating you up inside, Priss?"
Priss looked down at the ground and then across the devastated area of the canyons.  She couldn't look at Sylvie, not right now.  "I'm not really sure.  DAMMIT!!" The singer looked at the ground again and sighed, "I think I need a vacation."
Coming to a sudden decision, she turned and looked at Sylvie.  "Tell Anri that I'm sorry I missed her testing her new suit and that I'll make it up next time."  She ran back into the garage, grabbed her helmet and started the _new_ motorcycle.  "I'll call Sylia in the morning, I just need to ride at the moment."
So saying, she took off before Sylvie could comment on her behavior or even follow her.
Priss had to do that because she didn't want Sylia to start testing her in the same manner she had Bert and Linna.  She hadn't mentioned it, but whenever Bert did anything with his new powers, she felt it.  Strangely, it didn't happen when Linna had done anything, and Priss was worried that she was going crazy.  The slight buzzing that she had heard/felt for the past few weeks, since before Bert's adventure, was getting more intense and that was what scared her.
That and the whispering voice that spoke to her during the day or when she slept.

***

Quincy's face, as usual, was impassive as he absorbed the information about the new type of DD's operating in other countries.  Although he would not show it, he was not pleased with what had happened with that particular project. Billions of yen had gone into developing that machine.  On this subject, he had only one comment.  "Attempt to acquire one.  A working one _without_ a pilot.  If this proves impossible, then buy the pilot along with the unit.  Also check to see about sales of sexaroids and if there have been any further disappearances from Genaros.  While the pilot in the one the Korean ADP captured is human, I would not put it past these people to try to acquire some of our property to resell to others.  Now, the other matter you wanted to see me about."
"Yes sir," Madigan responded, "It seems there was a disturbance a few nights ago in one of the better parts of the city.  Two boomers attacked a couple.  A young red-headed couple, the male being tall and Caucasian and the female being a Japanese/Caucasian.  While this normally would not concern us, the report of the male using an energy blade to destroy those boomers caught my attention."
Quincy sat up in his chair.  There were very few people who had access to that type of technology.  One was obviously his company, Genom.  They had developed that blade specifically for the HeadHunter 9000 boomer.
Another was that annoying female Chief Inspector with the ADP.  Her family had the money and connections, as well as several top notch research labs around the world.  While they mostly concentrated on environmental and other non-lethal concerns, Dynelex had once been known to work on several government weaponry projects in their early years.
The final person who had such a weapon was SkyKnight, and if he had boomers attacking him when he was not armoured, then he was vulnerable.  This could turn out to their advantage if they could find this person.  If this person WAS SkyKnight, and somehow Quincy knew it was him, then they could find out who the Knight Sabers were.
He would finally have their heads as trophies.
Smiling to Madigan, the white haired business man issued an order that might be the downfall of the Knight Sabers, "Find security and surveillance video of that night for all micro-camera's in that area.  I want to know what he looks like, who he was with, and his style of fighting."

***

Priss raced down the highway, trying to go faster and faster, to push this new bike to its limit while numbing her mind to what could be happening to her.
*Shit!  What's happening to me?  I don't want to go to a doctor, not now.  If it's a tumour I'd rather not know. If I can detect magic, then why didn't I feel an increase in that buzz when Linna cast that spell?*
As she passed the 220kph mark, a small red glow started to gather around the bike.  Too confused and worried to notice, the small fireball that was contained within her bike caused several people following behind her to veer off and call the highway patrol, thinking that her engine was on fire and was going to explode.
"What the hell am I going to do?" she growled out loud, not quite able to bring herself to admit that something was extremely wrong with her.  For several months now, she had been having a recurring head ache.  Nothing serious, and aspirin usually took care of it.  She had convinced herself that it was a migraine, something she would have to learn how to live with.  Then, about five weeks ago, she thought she was hearing this sort of annoying low level buzz.  She looked around, trying to find the source of the sound and failing.  She soon discovered that those sounds were in her head, and that the noise created was both annoying and soothing.  At the time, she thought it might be an injury related to when she was badly shot, and was now only manifesting itself.  Still nothing to really worry about.
It was during the concert just three weeks previously that she heard someone whisper, "You already help to protect those closest to you.  Soon you will learn that this is only the beginning."  She didn't show it on stage, but it frightened her.  It was a MALE voice that was talking in her ear while she was singing a song at full volume with the speakers blasting out at the audience.  She should not have been able to hear anything!
Priss was tempted to call a doctor at that point, but what for?  If she was going to die, there was no way that she wanted to live on an IV flow and eventually become a vegetable in order to stay living.  She wanted to go out in battle, or singing.  The two things that really got her adrenaline flowing.  No, it had been best if only she suspected anything and to deal with the pain by herself.
That had changed in the past few days however.
Now, everytime Bert used his abilities, or made his hardsuit appear and disappear, Priss heard his use of that power.  What made it worse for her was that she could detect some of his feelings, his emotions, if she concentrated.  While the brown haired singer could just about second guess him every time, it was unnerving how much closer she had become to him.  It was almost as if they were linked in some manner.  Priss had found she was able to find him from where ever she happened to be, and the kicker was that she somehow _knew_ exactly when he did anything with his suits.
For the sake of her sanity, in the past couple of days Priss had convinced herself that she was dying from a brain tumour, rather than face the other possibility that stuck out at her.
That she herself could do magic.
Not, Priss finally admitted to herself, because magic defied the Universe, but because she could not see ANYONE being able to handle such power for long.  She had already seen Bert freak out a couple of times when he had none of these abilities, so how would he be now?
And, if Priss was magical, or had magical abilities, then could she handle the responsibilities that it implied?

***

Leon had been relaxing, driving around the cities highways with Daley, when the call about a motorcycle on fire came across the dispatch.  He recognized the description of the motorcycle, and became instantly worried.  What was wrong with Priss that she didn't notice that her bike was on fire?

***

Everyone in the room was looking into the testing chamber where Anri was in her recently upgraded hardsuit. Unlike the others, Anri's suit was built as a stealth unit, designed mainly for infiltration/communications with few, but powerful weapons.  Given that Anri had almost an aversion to fighting but still wanted to contribute more than just as their field medic, Bert had designed the sleek, flat-black suit to enable her to assist Nene.
With the new stealth equipment, the suit was virtually undetectable.  Sylia had managed to eliminate the tell-tale electromagnetic signatures that were unique to all their suits.  Unfortunately, this presented some uncommon problems.
The first being that the superconductor skin on Anri's suit had to be redesigned as a sheet instead of individual units.
The second being that her suit was more likely to overload and give out em-spectrum pulses when hit by electricity.
It was also the most expensive suit in the Knight Sabers arsenal.
Looking at the console settings, Bert took perverse pride in his design.  Taking the base blueprint from the KnightHawk suit, KS6 had improved mobility and enhanced flight capabilities.  However, he had to bow to Nene's knowledge when it had come to the suit's computers.  it was probably the most advanced system that they had ever put into the suits.
Anri had become the Sabers ace-in-the-hole.
"How does the new suit feel, Anri?"  Sylia asked as she looked at the incoming data.
In the suit, Anri smiled.  It was a dream to handle, and responded to her slightest whim.  The new interface helmet that Nene had designed to enable her to better communicate with the suit's computers allowed her to think most of the commands necessary for her part in Knight Saber operations.  "It's great!  The movement is smooth and comfortable, and the new inner helmet is very comfortable. I don't think that I'm going to have any trouble with it in the field."
Sylia smiled softly at the young girl who was finally coming out of her shell and regaining her confidence.

***

As upset as Priss was, she was still an expert rider. Weaving in and out of traffic, she headed towards the outskirts of town, and towards a long, straight stretch of highway where she would see what this machine could really do.
That was when THP sirens reached her ears.
*SHIT!* she thought.  *All I need to happen is to have the cops impound my bike tonight.  Uh-uh, I'm out of here.*
Her bike started to race down the highway, the red fireball increasing slightly in size as it gathered the excess heat from her engine.

***

A figure wearing a dark cowled robe looked on from a distance at the speeding figure.  Quietly, he reflected that although she might not have been the best choice, she did have a lot of potential.  Smiling slightly, he wondered if it had been right for him to have advanced her abilities without her knowledge or consent.  No matter, it had been done, and now she was ready to begin making use of the Force.
It was time to extricate her from this slight mess and fully introduce himself.
He wondered how the other two were making out with their students...

***

The bike Twister had made for Priss, one that was almost an exact duplicate of the motorcycle that he had built in another world, except for the safety features that a non-psionist would need to handle the capabilities, was a lot faster than her old one.  She had already managed to push it up to 350 kph and the gauge was still rising.
She was enjoying herself immensely.
Grinning under the helmet, she thought to herself. *Well, I wonder where my playmates went?  Too bad they can't keep up.  I bet they wish they had a proper vehicle.*
What she had forgotten is that THP and ADP tried to make high speed chases a thing of the past, and, although it did happen on occasion, they tended to use the onboard communications systems to make things easier on them.
She looked behind herself when she noticed that the sirens had stopped, and saw that THP had apparently given up.
Goddess!  That felt great!  The bike was allowing her to outrun the police with ease, and it handled as well at the higher speeds as it did at the lower speeds.  Magic did have a use after all.
Turning around, Priss saw the reason that the cars had stopped chasing her.  Not three blocks ahead was a roadblock, something that she had _not_ expected, and at the speed she was currently going, 375 kph, there was no way that she would be able to slow down in time.
She had to attempt it anyway.
As she was about to start braking, she _felt_ a hand on her shoulder and a _voice_ right in her ear. "Keep going.  Tell yourself that you will be able to make it and you will.  Concentrate.  Tell yourself that there is a ramp in front of you that will enable you to jump those vehicles.*
"WHAT THE HELL!"  Priss shouted, just about to lose control until the hand that held her shoulder _firmed_.
"CONCENTRATE!  Now tell yourself there _is_ a ramp."
Now down to less than a block, Priss obeyed the voice.

***

The police manning the barricades couldn't believe it. Whoever the cyclist was, she wasn't slowing down.  In fact, she seemed to be gaining some speed.  Several people started to run or duck out of the way, afraid both of the craziness of the rider and the fireball that they were sure was going to cause the bike's explosion.
That was when she rose into the air and leaped over all of them.
Leon had just turned in behind the cars when this happened.  "SHIT!" he exclaimed out loud, looking out the window at the glowing fireball that surrounded the bike.  He had already figured out that if that was a normal fireball, then the bike would have exploded by now.  What was getting to him was the fact that the bike was in a perfectly controlled flight.
When the bike landed, some 500 metres away, Daley commented on the odds of the person seated on the bike being a boomer.
Leon was just pondering what was happening.  *First Bert with some sort of energy field that I saw surround him the other night, now Priss with her motorcycle.  What is going on with those two?*  He wondered if it had something to do with the Knight Sabers.  The problem was, if it did, that meant that Priss was a Knight Saber as well.

***

As soon as Priss was far enough away, she noticed the fireball.
"Oh hell!  This thing's going to explode!"  She shouted behind her, "Get ready to jump, OK?"
The hand firmed on her shoulder once more.  "No need. Slow down, the fireball will dissipate as the energy is used up.  Slow down and drive someplace both private and quiet. We need to talk."
Priss snorted at that.  "Yeah, I'll say we do.  You come out of _nowhere_ and end up behind me on my bike.  I want to know..."
Her voice trailed off as she realized something, "Bloody...It was your voice that I heard on stage!"
"This is true."  the figure said, his face hidden behind the hood of his robes.  "However, you can hear me because of who and what you are.  As Bert can hear Master Yoda, you can hear me."
"Who the hell are you?" Priss asked as she stopped the bike, got off, and looked at the figure.
The figure reached up for his hood and as he pulled it back, said, "You can call me Master Skywalker."
Priss did the only thing she thought sane at that moment.
She fainted.

THREE DAYS LATER...

For the life of an ADP officer, everything ran according to a set routine.  Get up in the morning, get to work, fill out a report, answer a call, fill out a report, get lunch, fill out a report, etc.  Upstairs was always wanting report after report after report.
Most of which added up to a mound of manure for all the 'help, resources, and support' that was promised but never given.
As Chief Inspector Ichinohei sat at her desk, downing her first (at least at work) cup of coffee, she went over that paperwork, wishing there was some way for it to just vanish.  As usual, she was making notes, comments, and a list of requested material which she knew would never be looked at, ordered, or filled.  The political machine just refused to admit what was going on, what had been happening to this city since the Kanto earthquake.  With the exception of a few individuals, such as the Emperor, the entire political machine, the machine that had kept Japan moving and growing for nearly 75 years, had turned a blind eye to the death and destruction that was happening.
Learning back and rubbing her eyes, she noted that she had drained her coffee again, something that was happening more and more frequently, to the point where people had given her a 'cup appropriate to last you five minutes'. Said cup was one of the novelty store types that was as big as a punch bowl and kept hung up on one wall.
*Amaterasu protect me.  I'm getting worse.*  she thought to herself as she reached behind her for the carafe pot that contained her unusually strong blend of coffee. *It used to be that a cup of coffee would last me twenty minutes or so.  Now I can't even remember drinking it.*
Looking at the coffee she just poured herself, she wondered how in the world she managed to get through each day, each hour without going crazy.  It wasn't just the paperwork which, goddess above, seemed to increase with each passing day, but that no one seemed to care that the Advanced Police were getting the shit kicked out of them. People, PEOPLE under her command were dying, and they were not a set of damn statistics, as some of the people referred to them.  Each and everyone of those officers had a name, a family they were a part of, and she was the one who had to put on the stern, seemingly uncaring attitude to keep the department running.
Her memories went back to some of the first lessons that she and Oneiko had been taught, especially the one lesson that had come to define her life, "The true test of command is being able to track of all the small details. Despite what they may look like at the time, ignorance of them will cause your defeat."
She brought up a list that no one knew was stored on her computer.  When she had first started to rise in the ranks, she had bought an old WORM drive, circa 1998.  It was an oddity and a rarity, since everyone tended to use either magneto-opticals or data-blocks.  She had installed the worm on her machine, and added the name, the person's record and history, and most importantly the age of every person who was in some way injured under her command.  It was a record of the people who she considered society's true heroes.
	People who had given their lives to pursue the course of protecting innocents without going outside the law.
*There are definitely times that I envy the Knight Sabers,* Hitomi thought to herself.  *Despite the fact that they are mercenaries, they can at least take their frustrations out on something, somebody.*
"I think I should have listened to Oneechan and gone into the family business,"  she muttered to herself.

***

	Bert sighed as he looked over the list of 'things to do' that Anri had left on his desk.  When he had hired her on as one of the club's managers, he hadn't expected her to be so efficient.  At first, it was as a gesture of friendship, not to mention the fact that if he hadn't offered the job to Anri, Priss would have rammed her autocannon down his throat.  Besides, he could keep an eye on her and make sure that she was relatively safe, as she still had some flashbacks to when she was raped.  Once a week, he came to regret that impulsive decision, since Anri _always_, without fail, brought him a list of things that needed to be fixed up, ordered, replaced, repaired, or what not.  It also seemed like that list was getting bigger every week.
	Not for the first time, he wondered if listening to everyone and starting his own business was the best idea. Oh, it provided an excellent cover, no doubt about that, especially since they had a custom sports shop that made equipment to the user's specifications.  No one had yet questioned how much material entered the building and never left it, at least not by the usual route.  Also, being situated in one of the more affluent neighborhoods, no one actually expected his place to be hiding anything.
	The one advantage of the place was that he had been able to build a complex that he had in mind, one that combined elements from the Sabers base with elements of various anime, manga, and movies.  Below the main complex, which included a double basement, was his private sanctum, a place where he could relax and get away from it all while still pursuing his researches.
	He leaned back in his chair, smiling as his mind drifted over the four story lair that he had created.  If Sylia ever saw the full extent of his 'little' shop, she would probably strangle him at first opportunity.  Of course, he still had to tell two other people about the complex.
	Since Nene was at work, he decided to start with Priss, who, of course, would come with Sylvie.  Well, why not.  The Sabers were the only family he had in this time period, and he really had nothing to hide from them, at least not for long.  Of course, seeing the look of surprise on their faces at some of the things he came up with was fun.
	Taking a big gulp of his tea, he open a comm channel to Priss's apartment.  Surprisingly, he got her machine.  Given the fact that she was never an early riser, as a matter of fact she thought of noon as being 'Still way too early', he was surprised.  In fact, he hadn't seen her since they ran the tests three days ago.  He decided to try the new communications system.
	Touching the Sabers, he said, "Priss."
	He waited for about thirty seconds before a slightly perspiring brown-haired face answered his call.  "What is it Bert?"
	Bert was a bit surprised and did his best to cover it. "I just wanted to know if you would like a tour of my new lair."
	"New lair?  You mean you built another lab?"
	"Yep!  It's situated under the club.  I thought you might like to see it and give me some input on what it still needs."
	Priss's image look chagrined for a moment, and she said, "I'm on a _vacation_ at the moment.  I'll take a look at it when I get back into the city."
	"Wait a second, you're not even in the city?"
	"Nope!  I needed to get away for a while.  I should be back in about a week or so.  Don't worry, I'll keep in touch."
	The communications faded as Bert wondered what could get Priss to take a non-enforced vacation.

***

	Hollister wondered what Doc wanted.
	After showing him his discoveries about the Knight Sabers and SkyKnight, Ikagawashii face had grown thoughtful, and, curiously, suspicious.  He had then told the blond haired man that he wanted to examine all possible pictures and files about the Knight Sabers in order to get a good idea what was going on.  As if it wasn't obvious enough that the silver garbed Knight Saber was the test subject for all the new technologies and devices before it was incorporated into the other hardsuits.
	Knowing the laser array system was at first part of an X-Wing fighter, Hollister started to see that most of the items that SkyKnight first used were from the Star Wars sagas and therefore from Bert.  He was selling or giving his technology to these people, of which SkyKnight embodied the ideals the Jedi were supposed to uphold.  It was very possible that these parts came ready made, to be added to the hardsuits at a given time.  It would also mean that Bert had access to a laboratory or shop somewhere that was not noticeable, but near enough for him to get to when needed. The Club, which had been a probability, was dismissed as being much too ironic to be possibly used for such a purpose. It gave too good a cover for whatever meetings he had with his friends.  They needed to get some scanning devices into that place as soon as possible.
	Doc chose that moment to walk in, not bothering with knocking, and closed the door behind him.  "We might have a way of getting hold of SkyKnight's technology, if you are willing to play a gambit."
	"What do you mean?"  Hollister asked.
	"I mean that there have been at least three different SkyKnights, and I think at least two of the blue Knight Sabers."  The white haired scientist smiled as Hollister's jaw dropped open.  "First, the person originally known as SkyKnight was known to assist the police as often as possible.  He was badly hurt, possibly killed, in a battle with Dobermans from which his body was dragged away.  The second SkyKnight emulated the first, but at times acted as if he did not know how to control his suit properly.  He overcame that and it is suspected that a Leftenant Natasha Rutherford was responsible for assisting him while losing her own life in the process.  This was also the first time that those lightsabers were seen in public, during a battle with a new type of boomer, which also had such an attachment by all accounts.  SkyKnight then disappeared for a while, and the first time he reappeared, he attacked members of the ADP, which his predecessors failed to do."
	"From this, several conclusions can be reached.  The first SkyKnight was someone they had just recruited into the ranks of the Knight Sabers.  A person who was idealistic and naive.  When he died or retired, they replaced him with a person who had similar ideals, but was more used to controlling a suit of powered armour.  It is also probable that he was a member of an armoured battalion, which is why Natasha Rutherford was on the scene with a new type of battle armour.  The latest SkyKnight appeared after the attack on our base.  SkyKnight was not seen for a while, so I would assume that the second one was killed when you blew up the base."
	Doc smiled as he saw Hollister get the idea.
	"We see if we can get one of our people recruited as a possible replacement."
	Hollister loved the idea.

***

	Priss wiped the side of her face, tired after several hours of facing off against the laser drone that she had built under the tutelage of Master Skywalker.  She grinned. Bert would have been very surprised to learn that she had spent the last few days repairing and refurbishing his old place in the suburbs.  He would be even more surprised to learn that she had accessed his lab and managed to build a drone for her practice with her lightsaber.  While it didn't use an anti-grav unit, it did use a series of directional air cylinders to enable it to move.
	Of course, the reason she was out here was because she needed a relatively quiet place in which to practice and absorb the lessons that she would need in order to back up and take care of Bert.
	Being an extremely stubborn person, a trait she shared with Sylvie and Bert, it had taken several hours, and a lot of explanations by Master Skywalker to convince her that she wasn't crazy.  She still was overwhelmed that she had natural abilities in a subject that she hadn't believed possible a week ago.  As she had no choice, Priss adjusted to the concepts fast and was doing her best to learn about how to manipulate the energy field that surrounded her.
	Of course, there was some free time, and Master Skywalker, Luke, had taken the time to explain the true reason why emotions, especially anger, were the temptation that led to the Dark Side.
	As Priss understood it, the Dark Side of the Force was not so much evil in itself as loss of ethics and morality due to the sudden overwhelming increase in power that anger allowed.  Such an increase in raw power, if one was unready, caused a high, a feeling of incredible strength that one would refuse to back away from.  For some, this caused a type of insanity that led to the person accessing this power all the time for the sheer joy of feeling the flow.  For others, this caused an unparalleled feeling of despair at what they had done.  In either case, it became hard, if not impossible, to bring them back over the edge to sanity.
	It was a danger they all faced.
	Of course, Luke had also explained that she and Bert were supposed to become the first Jedi of this universe. Unfortunately, that would mean that some would consider them crazy, as they talked to people who seemingly were not there. He had also explained that there were four other people with the potential to become Jedi, but that it would have to wait to be revealed.
	It seemed the schedule to which the Jedi Masters had been working to had to be accelerated due to Bert's unexpected trip to another universe.  Due to his friend's burst of raw power, combined with a...being...who had embued him with said power, he had gained an extreme ability in the Force.  This had necessitated Yoda having to train him in a special way while trying to reduce the amount of power he had available to him.  Bert didn't know it yet, but his entire molecular structure had been slightly altered to accommodate this increase in abilities.
	Unfortunately, Bert had already touched the Dark Side once, and had been lucky to be pulled back to the light.  For him, the temptation of the Dark Side would be greater than for any other potential Jedi.  If he ever gave into his emotions so much that he wanted, needed, the power, then he would become one of the greatest of the Dark Jedi.
	For better or worse, Priss had to become competent in all the abilities of the Force, learning more than Bert had initially so that she could be the ultimate safeguard.  She could become angry, have any other emotion that a ordinary human had, she just had to learn _not_ to pull for more power than she was ready for. Of course, the brown haired singer had asked why she had been chosen for this gift.
	The answers she received both surprised and scared her.

***

	Madigan looked over the pictures that had been retrieved from the one operational security camera in that area.  What it showed looked more like a test for a new type of combat boomer with visual distortion capabilities. Despite her first assumption, this could not be SkyKnight. It might, however, belong to the underground organization that was competing with Genom in advanced weapons.
	The pictures, taken approximately two seconds apart, showed a young man and woman being approached by two people. Before they could properly approach or attack, the male had already sent the female out of the way.  The next picture showed him avoiding a punch by one of the two persons.  Up to this point, it seemed like a simple snatch or kidnapping attempt.
	It was the pictures that followed that were the most revealing.
	By the next picture, the male's attire had completely changed, and the bladed energy weapon was in hand.  The male saluted while activating it.  The next picture showed an the male high in the air, approximately four metres above the ground.  The fighting style as nothing like SkyKnight's. While SkyKnight tended to go in fighting, usually using western boxing techniques with a little bit of martial arts, this male used martial arts combined with an odd type of fencing technique.
	What was most interesting was the laser blast being deflected by the energy blade.  Until this time, it had only been theoretical that laser energy could be countered or deflected in this manner, and nothing that small.  In terms of electromagnetics, only something the size of a space station should have had the energy to create the necessary gravimetric field.
	For a energy sword to do this meant a totally unknown technology.
	As Madigan leaned back in her chair, she pondered what this could mean.  A boomer that could do this would make any of Genom's obsolete, and that would mean a huge reversal of fortune for the company.  Quincy had to be told of these conclusions immediately, as well as view the photos and other deduced information.
	*The chairman is not going to like this.* she thought as she left her office.

***

	Although it was still early in the morning, Nene's day had been very busy.  By this time, everyone in the ADP had heard of her engagement and was offering congratulations, even the Chief.  It was kind of ironic about her however, given that she was the dark-armoured police person who was always trying to bring in the Knight Sabers.
	If Chief Ichinohei ever knew that she was congratulating two of the people she was trying to bring to face the law, she would have a fit.
	So far, all of her friends had given her all sorts of engagement gifts, and some of them were quite naughty.  Given how Bert reacted to certain things and how old fashioned he was, she was sure that they would make him blush more than she did when she had opened them up.  While she suspected that Bert's proposal had been somewhat of a surprise to him as well, especially once she had time to think about it, Nene was determined that she would not let him off the hook. She had been waiting far too long for this.
	*It'll be spring in about five months.  A late February marriage would be good, perhaps even up to mid March.*  she thought, contemplating a possible marriage date.  One of the good things was that she was now of legal age, both in fact as well as on paper.  *It's a good thing I'm so good at computers or I would have never have met Bert.*
	Naoko tapped her on the shoulder, "Would you stop looking at your engagement ring?"  She giggled, "If you're this distracted now, I wonder what it will be like after your honeymoon?"  Naoko giggled even more at Nene's bright red blush.

***

	Quincy was looking over the information which Madigan had put together.  He was disappointed that this person could not be SkyKnight, but from the looks of things, some new type of combat boomer.  It was doubtful that the energy sword could have had the effect it had, so that meant that the boomer had to have an extremely powerful em field.  How it had operated without blowing out all the systems in the boomer, and the electronics in the surrounding area, was well beyond him.
	"Is there someone who knows boomers that we could get to work on this little problem?" he said as he poured over the pictures.  "Someone who could be innovative enough to know how this type of boomer might even operate?"
	Madigan had been awaiting this question with some dread.  As it turned out, she had researched the numerous people who had any connection to boomers or boomer research and she kept coming back to one person who might be able to shed some light on this.  Unfortunately, she was unsure how that person might react to the company asking for help.
	"There is one person sir," she began, "unfortunately, she might not be willing to cooperate with us."
	"Why would that be Madigan?"
	"Because the person is Sylia Stingray.  The daughter of the man who created boomer technology.  She might be able to shed light on this new boomer, but somehow I do not believe she would be willing to co-operate."
	Quincy sat back in his seat, "Not surprising really. Come to think of it, why haven't we heard her name before in connection with boomers?"
	Madigan looked down at a file she carried, "Well sir, she did receive a couple of doctorates degrees, but has treated them as though they were hobbies, which they might well have been.  She owns several companies outright, through her inheritance, and has bought a couple more.  While these are technology companies, she does not concern herself with the day to day running of their operations, only checking in once in a while.  As for testing the prototypes that these companies came out with, she has done so only when the company absolutely insisted that she test them out.  So far, she's been satisfied to run a lingerie shop here in the city."
	"Nothing else?"  Somehow this struck Quincy as unusual. In his day, the Stingrays had never been far from vocal or completely involved in the sciences.  He supposed that the girl was not as dedicated as her father had been.  No.  He would not involve her as it sounded as though she would have no idea what to do in a laboratory.
	"Nothing else sir," was his purple-haired protege's reply, "her brother is studying robotics and mechanics in Germany however, and has been rated as a genius by his professors.  He may not be able to help as of yet, but we might consider recruiting him for future purposes."
	The white haired executive grunted.  "Do so.  In the meantime find somebody who may be able to describe this boomer's operation."
	Madigan answered in the affirmative as he continued to go over all the pictures available from that camera.  One picture caught his eye, and he started to contemplate it. The face of the person that came out of the alley as the test boomer and the woman left was very familiar.
	He rang Madigan's secretary to get her back to his office.  As he did so, he had some unpleasant thoughts about the face he had seen.  "Well Inspector," the old man said to himself, "besides any information you may have on the Knight Sabers, what can you tell us about this particular boomer?"

FIVE DAYS LATER...

	SkyKnight hit the pavement hard and struggled to roll over quickly before one of the two boomers shot at him again.  *Damn it!  Where are the things coming from?* he thought as he quick-aimed the particle lasers on his left arm at one of the boomers.  "Sylia, I'm facing off against another two of the damn things, how are you guys doing?"
	"Not so well," was her terse reply.  "I'm having trouble hitting the ones I'm facing.  They're not fighting like normal boomers, but are keeping under cover.  The others are having the same trouble."
	"Well, mine are bloody well coming after me.  So far I've scratched five, but they still keep coming.  Mine are not fighting from cover however."
	"Everybody, I've registered three more appearing in the area.  This thing's obviously a trap."
	"Acknowledged, Nene."  Sylvie replied, "Who do you think set it?"
	"Doesn't matter.  We'll figure it out later.  Nene. Anri.  Get as many sensor readings as you can and if possible scan a few of the disabled boomers."
	"Roger, Saber Prime."  the two girls quickly answered.
	Up to this point, the battle had been fairly uneven, with about a dozen updated C series combat boomers.  They had managed to responded quickly the police report of three of the machines on a rampage in the city's main shopping district, but not in time to stop a lot of death.  The area had the slightly sickening rust smell that drying blood creates.
	SkyKnight hardly reached his knees when he was hit from behind by an energy burst, tossing him forward onto his face.  *Oh shit!"  he thought as he saw a couple of the C-17D about ready to fire whatever weapons were in their chest cavities.  The silver garbed Knight Saber thought he had had it, and was desperately rolling towards his left, when he saw a metallic gleam streak out and strike one of the machines from behind.  Without time to worry about that, his multi-launcher locked into placed and fired four specially designed railgun bolts.  Unlike his regular explosive ones, these were designed with a sticky surface, much like super glue.  The C-17 series had a habit of catching the bolts in mid-air and tossing them back at the gunner, and the one behind him was no different.  He ended up blowing off the arms of the boomer, and was able to rush in and finish it off with his lightsaber.
	SkyKnight turned in time to see a figure in black and silver armour about to get creamed from behind by a boomer, and shouted, "GET DOWN CHIEF!" before firing a fulisade from the particle lasers.  It helped.  Chief Ichinohei, the person inside the suit, was able to turn around and quickly finish off that boomer.
	Anri's voice came over the speaker, "The other boomers are disappearing from the scopes.  I'm going to make a pick-up run.  Stand by."
	Grinning for the first time that night, Bert said, "I'll be up in a little while.  I've got an old friend waiting for me."
	Sylia's voice was stiff with sudden disapproval, "Bert, leave her alone."
	"Awww, and miss all the fun?  Come on, she at least deserves a chance at me."
	Obviously frustrated, Sylia replied, "Make it quick ok? Our energy reserves are low and, since she just showed up, the Chief Inspector might end up taking you in."
	"Don't worry about me, Sylia.  I've got quite a bit of power left."  he chuckled, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
	The figure in black started towards SkyKnight, "Hold it mercenary.  You're under arrest."
	The silver and blue suit bowed to her, "Ah, Chief Inspector.  So good to see you again.  I trust you have been well?"
	"Forget the pleasantries bastard.  No more kids gloves. I'm taking you in tonight, and I'm going to get a hell of a lot of answers out of you."  Hitomi's voice had an unusually cold tone to it, unlike the other times that she had confronted him.  "You've got a lot to answer for, and I'm going to find out what you did to one of my officers!"
	Before Bert could figure out what she meant, the Chief had quickly closed the intervening space and, using a power assisted turn, tossed him over his shoulders and onto his back.  "YOWW!  That hurt!"
	"It's going to hurt more unless you tell me where you've hidden McNichol." she said as she grabbed the front of his suit, raising his helmet up so that the eyeslots on his visor were close to her visored face, "Where the hell did you stash him after your meeting yesterday."
	Bert broke her hold.  "What the hell are you talking about?  I haven't seen McNichol since the last boomer incident we were both at!"
	For the first time, the black and silver suit hesitated.  Then she did what she had never done before when facing him.  She pulled her lightsaber off the belt attachment on her armour and turned it on.  "I don't believe you.  He got a message with your armoured voice telling him to meet him at some secret rendezvous he didn't tell me about, and then disappeared.  I want him back, and I'm not going to stop until I get him."
	SkyKnight barely had time to activate one of his own lightsabers to stop her attack and quickly backed away, activating his flight system.
	As he rose to the roof tops, he heard, "Not this time, you shitheaded mercenary!" and felt something grab his legs. Looking down, he was surprised to see that Hitomi had grabbed him, and was somehow managing to pull him back down.  He grabbed one of her arms and pulled her up, "Look, I don't know where McNichol is, but I'll try to find him. Ok?"
	She snarled, "Not this time!" and slapped her free hand against his chest.
	Bert screamed suddenly in indescribable agony.

***

	Priss' head suddenly exploded in agony.  She had been practicing a balancing and levitation exercise, using a balance beam set three inches above the ground, when and incredible surge of pain reached her.  Her last thought before passing out was that something had happened to Bert.

***

	On the rooftop they had fallen to, the Chief Inspector deactivated her suit, turning it into ordinary looking street clothes.  "I've finally got you, you bastard." She muttered as she looked at her prize.  Reaching down she tried to pry open the visor, but couldn't do so.  "Locked eh?  Not for long buddy."  Hitomi reached for her radio while she spoke into her helmet mike.  "Elder sister?  ADP will be shipping you a package to open.  It turned out he's vulnerable to an EMP."

***

	"Damn it!  Where is he?" Sylia grated as she paced back and forth in the small space available in the KnightWing. "He should have been here by now."
	Sylvie smiled, "Knowing Bert, he's probably tormenting the Chief Inspector with his bad jokes and puns."
The white armoured leader of the Knight Sabers growled as Linna started to giggle at that comment.  "He could at least have a little consideration for her.  It's the first time I've ever seen him go out of his way to bother a police officer.  I still don't understand why he does it, or why she hasn't taken sterner measures."
Nene was monitoring the police bands, hiding a small smile.  She knew that to the two of them, this was a competition to see who was the better warrior, the better protector.  The two of them had never talked about it much, but she knew that Bert respected...She gasped as she heard the news coming over the police band, "Sylia, I think you better hear this."
Sylia came over and started to swear loudly when she heard the various people chattering over the bandwidth.  "I hope the three of you had a chance to recharge your suits because it looks like we have to rescue him.  Somehow, the Chief has managed to knock him unconscious."
Linna and Sylvie stopped laughing as Sylia took over the controls to the highly sophisticated stealth jump-jet. Anri went through her suit's diagnostics and pulled up her onboard copy of Bert's medical profile.  Given Bert's tendencies to get hurt, she replaced the normal emergency field pack with the larger and more complete operative procedures field pack.

***

"Do you think he actually knows where Leon is, Chief?" Daley asked, a little nervous given the anger that Hitomi had been displaying.  "I mean, it's completely unlike what we know of him."
"And what exactly do we know about him?  He's a mercenary, he uses illegal weapons, he is egotistical, and he loves to fight.  SkyKnight also breaks a lot of flight laws and regulations.  He's a danger to both our air support and to the hypersonics arriving everyday, especially with that damned riding jet he uses."
"But Chief, he usually helps us out of trouble with the boomers, and he's always rushed people to hospital as best he could.  Couldn't we just wake him up and ask him nicely if he would help find Leon?"
The Chief looked at Daley.  Of all the people on the force, she would have suspected him of being more anxious than her to find the missing officer.  Given her sister's particular preferences, and the people she had met in university, Hitomi wasn't blind to the infatuation that Daley had on Leon.  Usually the department frowned upon this, and reasigned any officer who had an infatuation with their partner.  In this case, Inspector Ichinohei had never seen the point in doing so, as the two were her finest investigative team.  Besides, Leon didn't know about it, or if he did, he wasn't letting on.  As far as she could tell, Leon only thought of Daley and himself as good friends. "We'll find McNichol, and when we do, it will be without the help of this...this...It will be without his help."
Daley shook his head as a specially secured transport truck came up to take the silver garbed Knight Saber away to some company.

***

Sylia was looking down from above, about to order the others into action, when she noticed the person who had gotten out of the truck and greeted Inspector Ichinohei. She enhanced her visuals and took a good look at the person. She was slightly taller than the Chief, with short black hair and a very cold, calculating demeanor and look.  "Ok, back to the KnightWing.  We're going back to home."
The three women who had been about to leap down on the police turned to look at their leader.  Nene was the first of them to voice her concerns, "WHY!  Bert's been captured, and once they get the armour off of him, they'll be able to find the rest of us."
Sylia voice was calm as she replied, "Bert will be fine.  He'll also be released when he wakes up, without his suit having been examined."  She walked to the entry ramp of the KnightWing without further comment.

***

"It seems that you have finally been successful in capturing him, Hitomi." the black haired girl stated.
Hitomi grinned suddenly, "It seems I have, and without resorting to illegal tactics either."
"True, but illegal means have their places too. Remember, authority is not always right."
"Perhaps, but then again, defiance without just cause is always hurtful to the innocent."
There was a distinct chuckle coming from the woman as the officers loaded the very still Knight Saber into the back of the van.  "Well, getting him out of that will be a nice puzzle to solve.  I like the design."
Hitomi sighed.  It was going to be one of those days...

***

Priss awoke slowly, not feeling all that good, and wondering what she was doing sleeping outside.  She suddenly remembered what had happened and sat up quickly.
Big mistake.
What had been a small pain exploded behind her eyes and she collapsed again.  "Goddess' above, what a headache!" She got up more slowly this time, mindful of her head and went to the kitchen.  If she was still feeling this amount of pain, then Bert was in BIG trouble.  Whatever had taken him out had to have hurt him like hell.  She had to find him quickly.
"I would suggest you wait, although I doubt you'll listen to me." Luke's voice said.
Priss turned, "No, I'm not going to wait is right. Besides, I seem to remember you doing something similar once upon a time."
"True.  Before you leave, however, how about the two of us having some hot chocolate." He said, guiding her towards the table.  "I'll make some while you take a painkiller. Your head must be flashing more than mine is."
"Wait a second," she looked carefully at the Jedi Master, "you felt that?"
"Of course I felt it Priss.  It was quite a tremour that Bert caused in the Force.  With the possible exception of one person, and she was not really a Jedi, he has the strongest force potential ever recorded."
She watched him puttering around the kitchen for a while as he gathered up the various ingredients to make what was his favourite drink.  "You know, I just thought of something.  Why is it, if you're an insubstantial ghost to most people, you can eat, drink, move objects around, and need to sleep?"
Luke looked back at her from where he was slowly melting the chocolate in the pot, "Because I never really died."  Seeing the look of confusion on her face, he continued, "Normally, what I'm about to tell you is kept away from young Jedi.  What people think is that a Jedi surrenders himself to the force when the inevitable end comes.  The truth both simpler and more complex than that. You see, what happens is that a Jedi becomes one with the Force."
He poured in the heavy cream and sugar, stirring the liquid with a practiced hand.  "Before you ask what I mean, let's start with what the Force is.  The energy fields that we refer to as 'The Force' are not only psionics, although that is a large part of it, and it isn't magic, although that is involved as well.  The Force is really an amalgamation of both of these fundamental energies that form all universes."
"You told me this."  Priss stated calmly, "But that still doesn't explain how you can say that you're not dead when, according to you, you died several centuries ago."
"True."  Luke replied as he poured the steaming brown liquid into two mugs.  "What I neglected to mention is that it is also the life-force of an individual that is the unsaid equation in what the Force really is."  He brought the cups over to the table and gave one to Priss, "The life force actually passes from one dimension to another, and is bound up with anti-life, or death.  At some point, these two forces cancel out each other and that is where I actually am.  In a way I'm both dead and alive, in another I don't really exist."
  	Priss sipped slowly, "Is that what will happen to me?"
Luke smiled in an innocent looking manner, "Someday perhaps."

***

Sylia seemed calm, cool, and collected when she picked up the phone to call a certain individual.  It had been a while since they last saw each other, but there were bonds between them quite beyond that of an ordinary Sempai and student.  Given what she had been thought by the slightly older woman, and the introductions that had resulted, she knew that she could trust this person with more than her life.
"Hello," a voice answered, "Who's there?"
"It's me, Sempai.  I need to ask a favour of you concerning a situation you are working with."
"What particular situation is that?"
"It concerns a silvered companion of mine, and what I need him for."
"You mean he's yours?  I didn't realize that you had that kind of a connection."
"Could you release him without getting in trouble with the ADP?"
"I can arrange it.  Hitomi's not going to be happy about this, especially since she thinks he's hiding one of her officers.  A Leon McNichol."
"The Chief Inspector is not happy with many things, and I can assure you he has not hidden her officer.  If anything, he would be glad to help find him."
"I'll find a way to release him, and inform my sister that he escaped.  I will call you with any information you may need."
"I didn't know she was your sister."
"She has changed a bit since University, Sylia.  I am surprised that you didn't recognize her."
"So am I.  If you have need, please call."
"I will."

***

Things were not going well for Leon.
First, there was the phony call from 'SkyKnight', who had requested a meeting with him.  This was somewhat unusual, enough to pique his interest as it had never occurred before.  While SkyKnight was not very forthcoming on a lot of subjects, he could usually take care of himself.  He also did not need to ask Leon for information since Nene could access whatever he required quickly and quietly.  This had been enough to kindle his suspicions.
He had prepared for this meeting by first visiting the medical section of the building and getting one of the emergency kits stored there.  Although hardly ever used, there was a section in Medical that had to do with the intelligence gathering branch of the ADP.  The kit he had taken was concerned with truth drugs and serums, and ways to prevent them from working.
Like all other police services in Japan, the ADP had 'expanded' sections that handled what would be normal for military intelligence services and spy organizations in other countries.  While this could not be handled under the constitution in a normal form, it could be handled under the heading of  'police investigative procedures.'  This was one of the reasons that most of the police forces in Japan had such a high conviction rate.  The arrests were assisted with intelligence information that was not available to other police services around the world.
Right now, the dose that he took had been enough to prevent the people who had grabbed him from finding out anything about the Knight Sabers or the 'boomer', as they were calling Bert.
Sick to his stomach, he was continuing to act as though the answers to the questions they were asking him were true, and that the various drugs that they had pumped into his system were working.  He knew that he couldn't keep this up forever, and that the limit of the anti-toxin that he had taken would wear off in a few hours, but if they believed him, his city would be safe.  He had to hold on as long as he could.
He had to hope they didn't learn differently.

***

	A figure wrapped in a brown flowing cloak looked over the small complex of buildings that formed the Dynelex Laboratory complex.  If anyone had observed her from where she had secreted herself, they would have said that she was impressed with the structures, given the look of concentration on the youngish face.  They would have been wrong.
	As Priss turned her attention from area to area within the complex, having already used her senses to find the general area where Bert was being held, she tried to feel the presence of the various lifeforms within the buildings.  Something was wrong with what she was detecting however, although she couldn't quite figure out what it was.  Not that it mattered.  If anything went wrong, Priss would simply evade or destroy it.  Destroy being the operative word.
	Going towards the scientific complex, she leapt over the outside fence easily; her skills with basic levitation having given her enough control to do this.  Keeping to the shadows as she had been thought with her time in the Knight Sabers, she quickly headed to one of the buildings situated near the centre of the area.  So far she hadn't been detected, but she still felt something was wrong.  It was as if there was something missing, something important.
	Looking up, she rose quickly to the roof, using her powers to help stabilize her as she climbed.  She wasn't quite good enough to leap to the top of a five story building.  She doubted that ANYONE was that good.  Once on the roof, she scanned quickly for electrical spy devices, and was surprised to find none.  Where she would only have been slightly worried before about something feeling wrong, this was more than that.  What company would deny itself the basic protection of a proper security system?  She decided to scan further, in case it was a trap and that's when it came to her what was wrong.
	There was absolutely no trace of a boomer of any kind.

***

	Madigan rushed into Quincy's office, not bothering with the usual protocols of calling or knocking on his door.  She had to rush if they were to act on the information, and given what they had done in the past, it had to be kept quiet.  "Sir, we have a slightly serious situation that requires your immediate attention."
	Quincy looked up from where he was, a little surprised at Madigan's lack of courtesy.  She was obviously anxious to tell him something, although he could not figure out what was so urgent that she couldn't just call him quickly.  "What is the situation Madigan?"
	"ADPolice have just captured SkyKnight."
	Quincy stood up quickly, excitement shining in his eyes as he thought of what he wanted to do to the wise-cracking Knight Saber.  "Send out a team of boomers to perform a recovery right away.  I don't care where he is or how he is being held."
	"Yes sir, and the information a certain individual has on that special boomer should be arriving soon.  Do you want the source terminated?"
	"Any reason for him to suspect our involvement or who any of the extraction team are?"
	"None sir."
	"Then have him released somewhere.  He may be useful to us in the future."
	Madigan replied in the affirmative and left to carry out Quincy's orders.
	Quincy wondered what he would do first when he had SkyKnight.  Force him to work for Genom, tell him who the other Knight Sabers were, or plain torture him.  It was so much fun contemplating the possibilities.

***

	Priss had quickly checked to be sure, but now there was no doubt.  There were no boomers in the area or on the grounds.  Either this was an extremely lucky break or a trap, and it was more likely the latter.  She was willing to bet that someone was expecting the Knight Sabers to show up and rescue their errant member.
	That was when Priss realized that she should have been expecting that too.  "Damn it!" she swore as quietly as she could, "You've all been captured haven't you?"  As much as she wanted to do so, she couldn't risk using the communications system in case it was heard.  She'd get Bert first and decide what to do from there.  Since he had the greater powers, then he should be able to figure out something.
	Summoning the lightsaber, she turned it on, and a beam of purple energy came flashing out.  Unlike the older plasma lightsaber that Bert had originally developed, this one was magically enhanced in a way that allowed the beam to reflect all types of energy streams.  It was weird, but as it turned out, anyone with the abilities of the Force could build such a lightsaber.  The main difference was the focus crystal that each Jedi either found or made.  In this case, Bert had made several crystals with Darlene and they all had differing frequencies, and thus different colours of light to the blade.
	Using it as a knife, she quickly cut a hole in the roof of the building and dropped in with her energy sword held ready.
	She had to act quickly, as the alarms had already sounded and she could hear someone running towards the area.  Not paying attention to whoever it was, she located Bert, and was surprised to see that he wasn't restrained.  She went over and slid an arm under his shoulder and helped him up.  God was he heavy in the armour. Heavy enough that she wasn't going to be able to lift him to the roof like she'd originally planned.  She turned to the wall that was near the outside and started to cut a hole, when woman came into the room.
	Tokugawa Oneiko was not given to bursts of anger, her demeanor being very much like Sylia's.  Seeing someone cutting up one of her labs, however, was not a situation that she enjoyed.  She activated the vari-armour suit that she still had not taken off and pulled out her own lightsaber.
	"Hold it, whoever you are.  You're not getting out of here that easily."
	Priss turned to see a black haired woman wearing some very familiar armour.  From the looks of it, whoever this woman was, it was not someone that she had the time to mess around with.  Not without some concern, and hoping that she would be able to guide him down to the ground, she leapt out of the hole holding Bert.

***

The quad of boomers that had appeared at the outside of the complex looked on as SkyKnight and a brown robed figure fell to the ground, a black armoured figure that was slipping a helmet on not far behind.  When they had been sent to acquire SkyKnight from whoever was holding him, they were not told to expect this.  They contacted their base for instructions and were told to try to see if they could get all three of the individuals.
The Boomers started in towards the complex of buildings and readied their weapons arrays.

***

	Priss was cursing a little, especially since that drop had not been easy.  She had survived, mostly by luck, but the landing had hurt like hell.  Quickly putting an arm under Bert's, she lifted him up and started towards the fence.
	"I don't want to have to hurt you, whoever you are, but I would advise you stop before I have to use deadly force,"  Oneiko treatened, although she was wondering if she could actually take this creature on.  Her suit said that the person who stood in front of her was biological, but given the drop that she had taken, with an armoured figure that had to weigh well over half a tonne, she was obviously not a normal human.
	Priss placed Bert down slowly, and activated her lightsaber once more.  "He's leaving with me, whether or not I leave you in pieces is up to you."
	Oneiko snorted, "Not likely girl, you need more experience."
	That was when the boomers started firing.

***

Madigan looked at the screen in amazement.  One of the mysterious hardsuits that they had been trying to find was there, facing off against a being in a brown cloak.  Whatever had happened, the building were they where fighting was obviously a wreck, torn apart from the inside.
The possibility that Dynelex had been the source of this new boomer, or at least knew more about the boomer than anyone had imagined, gained credence as the brown cloaked being deflected a laser bolt from one of the Genom's boomers with a lightsaber.
The two figures, both female, attacked the boomers and made short work of them, none having been prepared for this contingency.

***

	Priss turned to face the black suited figure, "Shall we do this again?"
	Oneiko looked at what they had wrought with the unexpected attack by the boomers.  "No need.  I shouldn't have tried to use my weapon to sting you like that, although you seem immune to various types of rays."
	Priss started, then shrugged it off.  The wording that this black armoured figure had used had to be a coincidence.  "True.  So what are we going to do?"
	"You get out of here and take him with you.  I have a feeling that he'll be safe in your hands."
	"Where are the others?"
	"There's only him.  The others got away."
Unsure of what else to do, Priss saluted her with the lightsaber, gathered SkyKnight, and left.
	Oneiko saluted the departing figure, "We'll meet again, whoever you are, and somehow, I will get to know you."

THE NEXT DAY…

	Bert opened his eyes slowly to see the ceiling of his bedroom.  That was good in a way, it meant that everything that had happened was a dream and thus…
	Bert suddenly jerked himself up and out of bed, immediately crashing back down to it as all the muscles in his body exploded with pain, and the biggest head-ache he ever suffered hit.  "Oh booyyyy…."
	As he opened his eyes slowly, the spots of light behind his eyes disappeared slightly and he became aware of his surroundings once more.  Not only was he not in his armour, he was lying in his bedroom.  The bedroom from the old house which had been abandoned almost a year earlier due to the likelihood that Hollister would try to grab him from there again.  Somehow he had never gotten around to selling the place, so it had been sealed and left alone.
	Of course, if he was here without his armour, then someone knew who he was.
The last thing he remembered a huge amount of pain when the Chief had hit him, but nothing should have affected him that way.  The closest thing to such an incident where he felt something similar was what the HeadHunter had hit him with.  The damn weapon had bypassed his suit completely and he never figured out what the hell the boomer had been using.
That's when he remembered something extremely important to him.  "Damn," he swore under his breath, "Nene."
	Despite the extreme pain, Bert got up and headed downstairs to the phone.

***

	Priss both hated and loved this exercise, although she had become very good at it.  If she hadn't, she would have died the day before, when those boomers had attacked.  Sighing, she looked over at Master Skywalker, "Don't you think it would be better for me to wait for him to wake up and talk to him?"
	Yoda shook his head, "Tell her unwise it is to do so, and mention not that you are training her."  He shook his head.  "Unexpected that was and time I need to decide."
Luke grinned at his old master and turned to Priss.  "Well, not at the moment.  You'll have a hard enough time explaining how you rescued him without revealing that I trained you."
She looked at him, "Wait a second, you mean you don't want me to tell him?"
He chuckled a bit, "Actually, Yoda told me to tell you that."
Priss rolled her eyes and muttered something to herself as she put on the helmet.  She forced herself to relax and let the energy flow through her, feeling everything that surrounded the area, and more, feeling the flow of all types of energy.  The practice drone started up and fired.

***

	Bert had just come downstairs, after a visit to the washroom to clean up a bit and to get a set of 333's to handle all the aches in his body.  As he looked out the back window, he saw someone practicing with a lightsaber.  Not quite thinking yet, he started to dismiss it, then looked at the figure for a few moments.  *She's got good form.  Needs a bit of practice on the riposte, but not all…that…*
	He ran out the door shouting "PRISS!  What the hell are you doing?!"
	Unfortunately, since he had dropped several metres to the roof's surface the night before, his body was not yet in good condition.  As a result, his leg started to cramp on him, and he was forced to halt his forward momentum by grabbing the landing sidebars so he wouldn't topple over.  Staring out at Priss, he noticed that the helmet she wore was sealed, and that she was deflecting the lasers that were being fired at her.
	"How the hell is she doing that?" he muttered, and on a hunch used his own abilities to try and detect the electromagnetic fields surrounding her.  He was surprised at the sudden response his mind felt.  A sort of feedback from Priss.
	"Strong she is in the Force, young one.  Jedi she is, and powerful will she be."
	Bert turned slowly, "You're teaching her, aren't you Yoda?"
	"That be not so.  Student of mine, she is not nor shall she be."  The small green-skinned alien looked over at Bert.  "The Force flows through all beings, all times, all things.  Train you I have, and train you I will.  She does not require what I have to teach."
	Bert sat stunned.  Priss, one of his best friends and, officially speaking, his sister, was a Jedi.  *Well, no one will deny a family connection now,* he thought as he contemplated what this meant.  That's when he remembered the one person who would not be very pleased.  "Oh shit!  Sylia's going to kill me…"

***

	Sylia blocked the knife strike coming at her ribs with a twisted back hand, and went in with a finger strike to the inner elbow that was countered with an outhand spin.  "So the damage upstairs was caused by a brown haired woman with an energy sword?"
	Oneiko went to a palm strike to the chest, which was pushed aside as her oponent went to a sword strike to the upper arm.  She used a reverse finger twist to block and went to a two finger nerve strike to the outer wrist.  "Yes, she was quite a good fighter, although she lacked technique.  The young woman would be a good student if I could find her."
	Sylia had expected the counter-blow and opted for a block flick with her little finger while going in for a Rat's Nest finger strike to the stomache.  "I'm not sure, offhand, who she could be, but I do have a few suspicions.  Do you think my missing person will be all right?"  To herself, she was wondering how in the world Priss had found out about Bert being captured.  She was going to have to have a long talk with the girl.
	Oneiko's instinctive block missed and her oponent scored.  "Good move.  As for him, he should be.  She was trying to protect him, especially when the boomers arrived.  Somehow the girl seemed delighted as she destroyed them."
	A chuckle escaped the lips of the leader of the Knight Sabers.  "I think I can identify the person now, although I'm not sure how she knew that he was in trouble.  Anyway, how have you been?  I thought you left Japan for a while, and why didn't you contact me when you got back?"
	"Not bad.  I did a few things for the organization and had a bit of fun going to various 'vacation spots'.  I only got back about two years ago, when my mother retired.  We were all hoping Hitomi would be joining the family business, but she is too interested in being a member of the police force to involve herself with the corporation at this point."  They walked over to a nearby table where some tea was waiting.  "What about you?  I knew that the white Knight Saber's battle style was familiar, but I had no idea you had formed them.  What the hell were you thinking of, being that obvious?"
	Sylia looked a little embarassed, "I wanted revenge, pure and simple.  You remember how I was after my father died.  I know that it wasn't the smartest thing in the world, especially with the training your mother and your aunt gave the three of us, but it was the only thing that I could do to keep myself sane."  She noted Oneiko's incredulous look, "Ok, ok.  I admit that I like putting on the suit and going out righting wrongs.  Besides, my team of people do happen to give the city some hope, especially with the depredations caused by boomer misuse."
	A small chuckle which quickly turned into whole hearted laughter issued from the black-haired woman.  "Sylia, I was kidding!"  Shaking her head, she continued, "You did what you felt was right at the time.  Besides, I know you quite well, young lady, and that group you put together has to be very professional."
	"At times.  They tend to break the rules I originally laid down however."
	"And you've never had the heart to enforce the final rule have you?"
	In a quiet, barely audible voice, Sylia replied, "No.  I couldn't bring myself to do it."
	"Then you've learned the final lesson."

***

	If anything good could be said about Ethan Hollister, it was that he was extremely turough when it came to persuing something, weather it be a person, philosophy, or goal.  Given that attitude, he persued Doc's suggestion that he try to get one of his own people to infiltrate the ranks of the Knight Sabers by eliminating the person currently wearing the SkyKnight armour.  Unfortunately, that was proving to be somewhat more difficult than originally expected.
	Holister  was not very happy once he got a look at the data that had been gathered by the C-17's the day before.  Given the past performance of the suits in question, and the fact that they had been able to disable the SkyKnight suit once before, it shouldn't have been hard for the boomers to have acquired him.  At least that was the thought that they had been following.
	It was galling, but it seemed that the Knight Sabers had once agin upgraded their suits, especially that of the SkyKnight armour.  In many ways, the reactions of the suit were completely unlike how the suit had reacted only a few weeks before, almost as if the suit had skipped over a couple of theoretical generations of advances.  Most unusual were some of the new additions to the suits outside appearance, including some crystaline areas that were amazingly resiliant to damage.  If the rest of the suits kept pace, then even their new boomers would be unable to compete with them.
	Of course, the fact that Squad Q had been able to arrive in time to help the Sabers combat the C-17's was not overlooked.
	If anything, Squad Q would also have to be put on the list of those to be eliminated sooner or later.  The only reason that Hollister had not given such an order thus far had more to do with the fact that they provided interferance with the Sabers in many situations, especially since the new chief decided to try to apprehend them.  The thing that was of concern to him now was the fact that Bert had connections to both the Knight Sabers and to members of the squad, which could mean that he was manipulating these people towards some unknown purpose.
	Of course, if he was the last of the Jedi, or even a lone sentinel sent to this planet, then Hollister would not put it past Bert to manipulate things to end up the way he wanted them to, including tracing a couple of possible candidates for training as Jedi.
	After all, it was what Hollister would have done.

***

Nene

***

Bert and Priss

***

Watcher and the spies

***

Doctor Ikagawashi

***

Sylia confronts

***

Leon and Daley

***

Hitomi

***

Nene and Naoko

***

Next Day

Leon

***

Anri and Sylvie

***


Doctor Ikagawashi and Holister

***

Priss and Bert's punishment

***

Oneiko plans

***

Daley investigates

***

3 days later

second attack

***

Quincy plans


***

Bert and Sylia design new suits

***

Linna's training

***

Daley and "boomer underground" at wolf's place

***

Watcher looks in on Naoko and Nene

***

Job offer

***

5 days later

Bert tinkers

***

add


***

add

***

Hollister smiled grimly as he looked at the screen.  It had been a good thing that they had decided to use safehouses in order to hold their guests and conduct the interrogations.  The rescue that Bert had effected for the red-headed ADP officer had resulted in the loss of one of the two facilities they had set up.  No doubt that this one would soon be lost as well, once the communications connections were backtracked.
Losing them had both good and bad points, unfortunately most of them bad.  The good part was that they had been able to find out some more about Bert.  The bad part was that there was obviously more to these "Jedi" than was obvious at first glance.
He stared at the screen, listening to the conversation that was being held by the brown haired singer and the Jedi.

***

Bert was kneeling on the ground, looking at Nene, holding her close to him.  "Don't worry Nene, I'm going to get him.  I swear, I'll find and destroy Hollister once and for all."  He looked into her face, thinking of all that he had gone through to find her.  Thinking of how he had nearly lost her forever.
He lifted her up and stood, looking over at Priss, the pain in his eyes evident, and the fear that he had well hidden.  "Priss.  Take her out of here and make sure she's safe."
"What the hell do you think you're going to do?"  she grunted, suspecting the answer.
"Find Hollister, find his white haired friend, and kill them."
"Not alone you're not!"
Bert's eyes blazed a slight purple, "ALONE!  HOLLISTER IS A LIVING DEAD MAN, DO YOU HEAR ME?  I WANT TO TORTURE AND KILL HIM FOR WHAT HE DID TO HER!"
Unseen by him, Priss's mentor, Master Skywalker, took in the scene, looking at his student and her brother.  "You must calm him down.  He's much too angry.  If he loses control he could become the most dangerous man on the planet."
Priss silently acknowledged the point, looking for a way to stop Bert or calm him down.  Leon had already left the building and was waiting for an ambulance to take Nene to the hospital.  If she couldn't get Bert to calm down, then she would have to take matters further than she wished, further than she was ready for.
A purple glow flowed into her hands, leaving her lightsaber clearly visible.  "Bert.  I don't want to have to challenge you, nor do I want to be the one that has to stop you, but I cannot let you leave here, not like this."
For a few seconds, an incredulous expression was on his face.  He looked at her and willed Nene away from him, away from the area where he was about to call Priss's bluff.  As she landed softly, he looked to the one person who probably knew him better than he knew himself.  "If that is the way it has to be elder sister, then so be it."  A purple glow surrounded his hand as his own lightsaber appeared.

***

Hollister sat up straight.  "His sister!"
His grim smile turned into a small rictus.  It explained so much, and now her own past, with all the blank spots, were so much less mysterious.  He turned off the screen, and gathered the last of the data cartridges, and set the computer to transmit the picture over a certain frequency so that they could later retrieve the information. It would be too much to hope that they would eliminate one another, but any delay was useful.

***

Priss saluted Bert, and both of them activated their sabers.
Using the skills that came naturally to them, they both fed on the main source of their abilities.  They felt the flow and ebb of the specialized type of energy they both had access to, not quite magic, not quite psionics, but a combination of both.  The energy blades flashed off of one another and they fenced for almost twenty minutes.
It only ended when the Chief Inspector placed her own blade between them to stop the battle.  She looked at Bert, and managed to say the one thing that finally soaked into his head, finally made him want to give up his revenge trip. "Nene's being taken to hospital in critical condition.  Who should I inform if she does not survive?"
Upon hearing that, Bert let the fight drain out of him and deactivated his saber, attaching it to his belt.
Deactivating her saber as well, Priss let out a silent sigh of relief, and, when Bert had gone around the corner to ride with Nene to the hospital, let her legs give out and collapse.
Unfortunately it was right into Leon's arms.

***

"Will Nene be alright Anri?" asked the concerned leader of the Knight Sabers.
Anri's posture was disturbingly sedate.  She ran the sensor logs of Nene, stored in her white and red medical hardsuit, and compared it to her last medical check to be sure.  "I don't know." she stated firmly. "According to what I'm reading, she should have woken up after I stabilized her, but something is keeping her asleep. I wish I had more training."
Linna was strangely silent while Sylvie used the remotes to land the KnightWing.  If only she had been better at magic, perhaps they would have found her before this happened, and before Bert and Priss struck out on their own. While she had been learning steadily about magic from Yoda, there was a lot missing in those lessons.  If only there was someone in this dimension who knew magic and could teach her.  "If only..." she mused quietly...

***

A phone rang in an office overlooking the city of Mega- Tokyo.  When it was answered, a picture of the Mayor and several of the Prefecture leaders showed up.  The request they made was unusual, but granted.

THE NEXT DAY...

Leon looked silently into the hospital room, unable to bring himself to intrude on Bert as the younger man looked longingly, lovingly at Nene.  The red-haired girl, whom they had brought to the mediplex yesterday, remained in the coma that the drugs their enemies had given her induced.  He knew that sooner or later someone would have to tell Bert the bad news, and he figured it had better be him.  Leon steeled himself for what he was about to do, what he knew Bert's fellow Knight Sabers could not do.
He opened the door and walked up to his friend, laying a hand on his shoulder.  Leon felt the sudden tenseness, and the highly controlled calm that was the only thing that kept Bert from attacking automatically.  "Bert, I've got to tell you something."
Bert's body didn't move, and he remained contemplating Nene's face.  There was so much that he wanted to tell her, so much that he wanted to apologize for.  He knew it would take some time for the drugs to leave her system, but he was willing to wait for as long as it took.  "Leon, there's only one thing I want to hear, and that is if anyone has found where Hollister is."
Leon kept his voice tightly controlled, "Bert...Bert the doctors...They told me that Nene is in a coma she might never come out of."  The young red-head surged upward, turning angrily, his eyes trying to deny what he heard.  He couldn't lose Nene, not like this, not because someone wanted to get their hands on him.  It was when he looked into Leon's eyes and saw only truth that he broke down, the life going out of his face, and started to sob quietly.
The brown haired officer looked at his friend.  There had been many times in his career when he had cause to tell the loved ones of the officers and troops under his command this type of news.  They always took it badly, but at least they looked as if they still had something to live, to strive for.  For the first time in his life, Leon saw a person who lost everything; his reason, his will to live. It was something he never wanted to see, and it was made worse because the people involved were friends and comrades.
He realized that Bert needed something, anything, to prevent him from going over the edge, and Leon was suddenly glad he had made the phone calls the night before. Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, he didn't have to call in many favours.  The ADP Brass didn't like the fact that one of their officers had been kidnapped, nor did they like the fact that the officer was now on life support. They had readily agreed to Leon's plan, and had processed the paperwork in a matter of hours.
"Bert.  Listen to me, Nene's going to recover.  She has to."
Bert just looked at Nene, his face seeming to have aged years in the past few minutes.  In a deadly quiet voice, a voice that held no emotion, he said, "Leon.  I want them.  I want Hollister and the only way for you to stop me is to kill me."
Leon only nodded, and pulled out a badge and gun.  "I know.  As of this moment, you're a special inspector with the ADP and have only one job:  Find who did this to her and use whatever means necessary to see that justice is served."

(The End...)
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