BGC is used without permission.
X-Men is used without permission.
Okay. First off, this is primarily a BGC alt. The X-factor has not yet
cropped up to the extent it has in the X-books. Also, I will use a few X-Men
characters, but they will be a little different. Hey, these people have
grown up and lived in the BGC time. All I'm asking is that you all keep an
open mind when reading. As for my Ranma/X-men bit, it's still on the burners...
=================================================
He watched from high above as the Boomer ripped apart the Seventh
Brigade of the ADPolice. A C-class, from the looks of it. Stainless blue
armor reflected the flickering glares of automatic weapons fire and
searchlights, lending it the appearance of a robotic gorilla
Another rogue Boomer, and the ADP was powerless to stop it. Weren't
they supposed to PROTECT people from these freaks?
He chuckled to himself. How could HE use the term freak? Wasn't he
one as well?
It would only be a matter of time before his existence became
widely known. Already some tabloids were running stories about others of his
kind. Stories that were dismissed by the public as mere sleazy
sensationalist crap. What would happen when that changed? He could feel the
world standing at a crucial crossroads, a sensation both exhilarating and
terrifying.
The Boomer, having nearly decimated the ADP, apparently decided to
flee in search of more targets. Erik Magnus smiled, a grim twist of the lips
that bore no humor or joy. Oh, what that metal motherfucker would find...
"I got a fix on the Boomer," Mackie Stingray said from the cockpit
of the transport van, disguised as a delivery vehicle that bore the logo of
the Silk Dolls lingerie shop. "It's heading west on the upper deck of
Highway 47."
"A good ten minutes away," replied Sylia, who sat in the rear with
the other three Knight Sabers. "How much more damage will it do before we
can stop it?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Priss Asagiri asked sarcastically.
"ADPolice Tenth Mobile Unit has been called in," Nene said from her
station. "They're planning to intercept the Boomer five kilometers outside
of New Juuban."
"Nene..."
"I'm already plotting a shortcut, Linna," she replied to the
unfinished question. "We oughtta be there in three more minutes."
"Good work," Sylia said. "Finish suiting up. It's almost showtime."
Following the Boomer was ridiculously easy from this height. Of
course, trailing rogue Boomers was seldom a challenge. One merely needed to
follow the carnage.
He saw the flashing reds and blues in the distance, heralding
another ADP roadblock. There were no gyrocopters in pursuit, he had seen to
that. The engines on those flimsy things were so easy to short circuit. He
only hoped those pilots hadn't parachuted down into any power lines. Erik
wanted this Boomer all to himself.
A flash of his power was all it took to knock the Boomer off the
highway. With a feral grin, he descended after the mechanical abomination
into the graveyard of scrap metal far below. He would have a few minutes
before any more ADPolice came to harrass him, more than enough time if he
moved quickly.
He hovered over the twisted hulks of old machinery that bore
testament to Old Tokyo before the great quake. The shadows hid all the
details, including where the Boomer rested. Where was it? The fall couldn't
have destroyed it!
The clanking of shifting steel drew his gaze to the left as a
misshapen form rose from the refuse. He could feel the probing sensor
antennae against his force field as it tried to make sense of what its
optics were telling it.
Erik called forth the memories of the hatred, the killing, the
wasteland his home had become as he rapidly increased the power holding the
Boomer in place.
The memories flooded his head. Erik Magnus saw anew the followers of
a raving lunatic sweep over his homeland, backed by combat Boomers they
should never have recieved.
He could smell the acrid stench of burning homes and flesh, hear the
screams of the dying over the roar of weapons fire. Then the soldiers
tossing his body into a lime soaked pit with the remains of those who dared
fight.
He scarcely heard the sounds of crumpling metal, nor the
inhuman shriek of a Boomer being crushed alive. As if it really was...
"Hey, Sylia," Nene's voice said through her helmet, "something's
wrong!"
"What is it?"
"I've lost the Boomer!"
"What!"
"How can you lose a Boomer?!" Priss shouted.
"All I'm picking up is a bunch of electromagnetic signal noise,"
she replied. "Short-range sensors are fine, but long range is shot."
"And it's getting worse," Sylia said. "My HUD is starting to act up."
"Don't worry, sis," Mackie's voice said. "I just re-tooled the EM
shields. Your systems should cope in a couple of seconds."
"That's better," Nene replied, "but I'm still picking up a lot of
interference."
"We're almost there," Linna said from atop her Motoslave.
He finally released his grip on the ruined Boomer, his power
retreating back to whatever dark place it called home. He felt drained,
empty as he beheld the machine's remains. He felt no better for having
destroyed it, just as wrecking the others had given him no comfort. There
was nothing left of his heart, only darkness and loneliness.
Erik Magnus turned away from the sight, picking his way along the
twisted strips of Old Tokyo.
"Where is it?" Priss asked irritably as she scanned the area where
the Boomer's signal had vanished. Her suit's sensors flickered as they
struggled to pierce the electromagnetic residue, unable to lock onto
anything. "Mackie, I thought the EM shields could handle this!"
"Mackie, are you there?" Linna asked. Static was the only reply.
"Wow, it's really bad here," Nene offered. "The shields can barely
keep up."
"I found the Boomer," Sylia said, "or what's left of it." The
hardsuit's electromagnetic shielding barely managed to protect its visual
sensors, whose images were shot through with the occaisional line of static.
What did this? she thought as she studied the twisted ruin of what
had once been a C-class Boomer. Its body was mangled almost beyond
recognition, the armor plating twisted and warped to expose still-firing
wires within the superstructure. Pieces of refuse were wrapped around the
remains, as if used to bind the Boomer.
"What the hell?"
"WOW! What happened to it?"
"I don't know, Nene," Linna answered. "All I know is that someone
beat us to this Boomer."
"Yeah, but who?"
"I don't know, Priss," Sylia said, "but we have to get out.
ADPolice choppers will be here any second. Besides," Sylia turned to face
the other Knight Sabers, "who or whatever did this may still be around."
"Oh, that makes me feel better..."
Erik Magnus watched from above as the four figures spoke amongst
themselves. They couldn't be Boomers, but he had never seen combat suits
like those before. They moved freely within the residual energy of his
attack, even though he had left enough to trash any higher-level system on
the planet.
Wait. The one in light blue seemed confused, shaking its head as it
spoke. The one in pink tapped its helmet, then shrugged its shoulders. Maybe
those suits had been affected after all.
Was he wrong, or did they look somewhat female? Could they be the
Knight Sabers he had heard about?
He heard the sounds of sirens approaching from the distance, and
decided to make a hasty retreat. He could ponder the Knight Sabers later.
"Syl.... ia.... yo..... ead me?!"
"Barely, Mackie."
"Sylia... com... lia!"
"Can you hear me now, Mackie?"
"SYLIA!" The worry in his voice touched her heart in a way nothing
else could. Of all the people involved with the Knight Sabers, Mackie's
brotherly concern warmed her heart the most though she would never outwardly
show it. "What happened? Are you guys okay?"
"We're fine, Mackie." Sylia looked back toward the hovering ADP
choppers, glad that they had managed to get away unseen.
"When you went down there, I lost you completely!"
"Yeah, Mackie," Priss's voice said, "I thought those EM shields of
yours would protect our systems!"
"They weren't designed for that much interference!" Mackie retorted
hotly. "It's like someone set off a nuke down there!"
"Nobody set off a bomb," Sylia replied calmly. "We'll explain once
we're back home. Come by for pickup."
"Got it, Sylia. Out."
==========================================
"What a mess," Leon McNichol muttered to himself as he studied the
twisted wreckage. High overhead sounded the muted roar of aerodyne engines,
their searchlights barely illuminating the surface. "Why're they so high up?"
"Something's wrong, Leon," Daley Wong said as he came up beside the
larger detective. "I can't get through to the aerodynes, or to any other units."
"We're being jammed?"
"No, it looks to be electromagnetic interference, but we have no
idea where it's coming from. It appears to be residual."
"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Leon replied as he
studied the ADP Forensics Teams that swarmed about the scrapyard beneath the
overpass that led to New Juuban. Sheesh, when was GENOM gonna get around to
cleaning this crap up? Probably after hell froze over and the devil gave
free sleigh rides. "We can't do anything here. Let's let the techno wienies
handle it." Leon turned to walk back to the waiting salvage van, Daley in tow.
"Forensics has already hauled off the Boomer. That's the first time
I've ever seen one crushed like that."
"Crushed?" Leon asked. He hadn't seen the destroyed Cyberdroid,
thinking to catch the highlights from the pathology report.
"Like a beer can."
Leon let out a low whistle as the line of ADP vehicles grew closer.
"It's the damndest thing," Daley went on, absently fiddling with his
bolo tie. "The Boomer was carrying a huge magnetic charge. It even stopped
my watch."
"A new weapon?" That's the last thing we need, Leon thought.
"Could be. Think your darling Knight Sabers are behind it?"
"Nah. This isn't their style."
"Leon, how much do you really know about them?"
"Enough to know they didn't do this."
"Then who did?"
Leon remained silent as he came up beside one of the salvage vans
and climbed in. Maybe he should get a look at this Boomer after all.
===============================================
Sylia reclined in her overstuffed chair, taking a small sip of
chamomile tea and allowing the tension to drain from her body. She closed
her eyes, replaying the image of the Boomer in her mind. What had happened
to it?
"It was what?!" Mackie's voice exclaimed, prompting Sylia to open
her eyes once more.
"Crushed," she replied.
"Like someone put it in a huge press and hit the switch," Priss added.
"What kind of weapon could do that?"
"It could have been a magnetic type," Mackie replied to Linn'a
question. "That would explain the EM residue we encountered."
"Could GENOM be developing something like that?"
"Possibly, Nene." Sylia resolved to have her sources check into
that. "If so, it could mean big trouble."
"Yeah," said Linna, "if it could tear up a Boomer like that, what
could it do to our hardsuits?"
"Well, whoever's behind it is gonna attack again. We gotta be ready."
"I agree, Priss." Sylia looked around the room at the other three
Knight Sabers and her younger brother looking at her expectantly. She was
the brains of the organization, the one who called all the shots. It was a
terrible responsibility, fulfilling her father's legacy. "Nene, I want you
to pass on all the information the ADPolice get on this latest incident. I
will contact my own sources. I'll contact the rest of you when we learn more."
They lingered about for a moment more, finishing their drinks before
leaving to return to their individual lives. Mackie remained a few minutes
longer before retiring to bed himself, leaving Sylia alone with her thoughts.
She stared out at the darkened skyline of Mega Tokyo, dominated by
the looming arcology of the GENOM Tower. What were they up to? Why would
they send a Boomer on a rampage to test a new EM weapon? If they wanted
combat data, it would have been far more feasable to test it in the ongoing
war in Europe.
There were too many questions to consider with what few facts she
had. One, on the other hand, kept nagging her conscioussness. What if GENOM
was not involved? No, they had to be, especially where Boomers were concerned.
Sylia left the foyer, the lights switching off once the sensors
detected no one else in the room. She would learn more in the morning.
========================================================
Quincy looked at the readout for the hundredth time, pondering its
meaning beyond that a Boomer had been lost. It had finally begun, after all
these centuries. The X-factor was beginning to crop up in the human race,
but at an alarming rate. In fact, most of the mutations he had tracked had
occured within a single generation. He briefly wondered what genetic
scientists would think once they discovered that.
Mutants couldn't hide forever. Every day, more of them were
discovering their gifts with even more being born. They were, some would
surmise, the next step in human evolution. Man's replacement rising from his
own seed, the thought was delicious.
But they weren't perfect. While they would one day replace human
beings, they were still plagued by many of the same detestable weaknesses,
unlike him. But Quincy would fix that. When he was done, weakness would no
longer plague this world.
For the first time in a thousand years, Quincy smiled.
=======================================================
Daylight broke over Mega Tokyo, the light of the sun captured by the
myraid of solar collectors that dotted nearly every rooftop in the city. The
dwellers of the night retreated to what few shadowed places were available
to wait out the day while the so-called normal people reclaimed the streets.
Erik Magnus slowly opened his eyes, grateful for the shadows of the
alley in which he slept. His back protested from having slept on cool
pavement and lumpy garbage, twinging as he rose to a sitting position.
He reached into the inner pocket of the long dark coat he wore,
pulling out a few hundred yen. Enough for a very small breakfast, it was all
he had in the world. He would have to find more from somewhere...
His eyes fell on a young couple walking past the mouth of the alley.
Time seemed to slow as he watched them, arms entwined with grins on their
fresh, clean faces. They were happy, believing that their world would last
forever. They would learn the truth one day.
Magnus recalled how he was once the same, before the soldiers came.
Before they torched his home and murdered his people. Before they destroyed
all he knew and ever was.
Erik felt an irrational flash of jealous hatred as the two vanished
beyond the alley's entrance. By what right was he denied such happiness? By
what divine providence could those in power murder those who were different
from themselves?
Stop it! he admonished himself. He couldn't hate all of them for the
actions of a few of their kind... could he?
==========================================================
"Well, what happened to you, I wonder?" Kai asked as he leaned over
the latest Boomer wreckage ADP's salvage units had brought in. The soft
halogen lights from the ceiling bathed the cobalt blue corpse in their muted
glow, exposing detail without glaring at it.
Kai ran a finger through his mop of greasy blue hair before reaching
for the scanner he kept handy on the nearby equipment tray. The device held
a small LED monitor atop a long plastic stalk, twin antennae sticking from
the top like rabbit ears. He pressed a button on the handle, bringing the
mechanism to life.
"Hmmm... completely polarized... That's interesting." The scanner
showed various pock marks on the Boomer's ruined armor, some with rounds
still lodged in. Whatever had scrapped this Boomer had also shoved some of
the spent bullets in deeper while expelling the others.
"Some foreign material on the armor," he muttered, tapping one of
the rusted pipes wound around one of its ankles. "For the record, I have no
idea what the hell did this."
"Hello!" called a chipper female voice from behind, accompanied by
the hissing of the chamber's pneumatic doors being opened.
"Who's there?!"
"Nene Romanova. I'm here to collect your analysis on the latest Boomer."
"Just wait a second. I'll be done before long."
Nene nodded to Kai's back before taking a seat before one of the
many coutners loaded with junked parts and scanning equipment. Several
pieces of half-assemled machinery dotted the available space of the floor, a
faint smell of machine lubricants hanging in the air.
Nene felt a slight chill despite herself. The ADP morgue, or the
Junkyard as some called it, was the last stop for rogue Boomers. From here
they went to either the evidence lockers in the sub-basement levels or to
the smelting chambers for recycling. Even though they were non-functional
and in various states of disrepair, something about all of them sent cold
fingers up and down Nene's spine.
She wondered how many of the Boomers were down there because of her
and the others. Nene smoothed her skirt as she stared expectantly at the
muttering techie's back, legs jumping from nervous tension. Couldn't he go
any faster?!
"Done," he announced, much to Nene's relief. Kai turned around, a
small optical disc in one of his greasy hands. "Take this to those desk
jockeys upstairs."
"Okay! Thanks!" she enthused, snatching the disc and hurrying out of
the Junkyard as fast as she could without running.
What a weirdo, she thought as she looked around for any signs of
other people. Satsified that she was alone, Nene reached into her jacket for
the small data recorder Mackie had given her earlier. She then inserted the
optical disc, the recorder storing a copy of the information in its internal
memory.
Okay, that's done. Now to get this to Sylia.
=========================================================
"So, whaddaya want?"
"A job."
"Doin' what?"
"What do ya think, numbnuts?" the hirsuite man snarled, jerking his
head toward the wiremesh cage that dominated the center of the smoke-filled
bar. "I ain't here to clean toilets and mix drinks."
"Is that right?" the bartender leered, leaning over into the man's
face. "You think you can last in the cage, wolf-man?"
"Name's Logan."
"Just Logan?"
"Yeah."
The bartender looked into the narrowed eyes of the strange gaijin
across the counter. His dark hair and sideburns lent him a canine visage,
but his narrowed eyes spoke of something far more feral. The barkeep
swallowed past the raidly forming lump in his throat before answering.
"Tell you what, hairball. You show up here tonight ready to fight,
and I'll give you a shot. You keep winning, you stay in. You lose once, yer
out. Got it?"
"Yeah."
Logan watched as the barkeep waddled off into the back, the fat
bastard muttering under his breath the whole time. Not for the first time,
he wished he rememebered where he had learned to speak Japanese. For that
matter, he wished he could remember lots of things. Like who he was, where
he had come from...
He looked down at his hands, the old familiar rage stirring at the
thoughts of who had done it to him. If only he knew who they were. He did,
however, know one thing... a woman named Madigan.
Logan had no clue as to who she was, or how she was involved, but he
knew almost by instinct that she was a key to his past. He had tracked her
all the way out to this blasted city on that, and he wouldn't give up now.
=================================================
"Hmmm... This won't come cheap, Sylia."
"I didn't expect it to, Fargo."
"But I wouldn't be surprised if GENOM really was conducting EM
weapons research," he said, taking another hit of scotch. "I did hear about
that rogue Boomer last night."
"I thought as much." Sylia took a long pull off her cigarette before
stubbing it out. Silence stretched between them, the muted sounds of the
television in the corner all that occupied the vacant bar where she and her
main contact met.
"...the World Health Organization had few comments concerning the
existence of what press officials have declared the "Mutant Phenomena". When
asked, WHO spokesmen stated that there is no evidence to support such
outlandish claims, saying also that single-generation mutations are, simply
put, impossible..."
"You know, Sylia, I've been hearing more and more about those
mutants lately."
"As have I," she replied noncommitally.
"It really makes you wonder..."
"If it's true?"
"Is it?"
"I'm not sure, Fargo," she answered, rising from her seat. "In any
event, it has nothing to do with what I need."
"I'll contact you in the usual manner," Fargo said before Sylia
turned to leave.
Sylia stepped out into the open air of the city, exchanging the
smoke of the bar for the pollution beyond. As she slid on her sunglasses,
Sylia wondered if the rumors about those so-called mutants were not entirely
unfounded...
=================================================
Well, that's the first part. I originally intended for it to be
longer, but after my mailer ate the original revision, I got a few ideas and
decided to shorten the intro. It's still a tad rough, me not having asked
for pre-readers yet and all, and I'd appreciate all constructive input.
Thanks!
Knight Writer
PS, look for the revised Akane Factor soon. This fic made me want to
pick it up again, and I think it'll work this time.