Subject: [FFML] [Fanfic][BGC] Cry of the Phoenix - Prologue
From: Douglas A. Reeves
Date: 6/2/2003, 9:45 PM
To: ffml@anifics.com


Well.

This is and isn't a new story.  Some of you may remember some time back
that I indicated that I was discontinuing "Cry of the Phoenix" because
of various issues I had with the direction the work was going.  At the
time I indicated that it was possible that I might rewrite and
reintroduce the work later... and here it is.

The changes in this prologue are significant.  It has more than doubled
in length, mostly due to the fact that my writing style has improved
significantly since I released the original version some four years
ago... this in style is more like the more recent chapters; the
descriptions are more detailed, the flow is better, and there have been
a number of other improvements as suggested by my prereaders.  I'm also
taking the opportunity to clean up some internal consistency issues with
the original work; altogether I expect it to be a much tighter and more
seamless work this time around.

The story is based on BGC OAV continuity.  The events of "Bubblegum
Crash!" do not occur in this timeline.

Anyway, here's the story... I hope you find it all to your liking.

Stormwalker presents...

26 December 2034 23:20

     The GENOM electronics research facility was mostly devoid of
light, an indication that work in the complex was done for the day.
To Sylia Stingray, this was something of a relief; for all the evils
that GENOM committed and all the monstrosities that were created in
development facilities such as this one, GENOM was still a
corporation and its employees still civilians.  As such, any action
which carried them onto GENOM's corporate grounds was by its very
nature a danger to those workers, some of them completely innocent of
the atrocities committed by their employer.  Though the Knight Sabers
as a policy attempted to minimize the collateral damage caused by
their operations, the boomers they often fought were seldom so
accomodating, and any risk of endangering innocent lives was one which
she preferred to avoid.

     In this case, though, even that was a lesser concern.  She was
more troubled by the very nature of this particular operation.  The
mission depended heavily on secrecy and stealth, and while their
hardsuits were a vast improvement over the clunky powered armor used
by ADP or the military, they were still neither quiet nor subtle.  If
the information she had obtained on the layout and defenses of this
facility was accurate, then there should be little trouble, but the
data was old and none of her sources had been able to produce
anything more recent.  She was quite certain security would have been 
increased, if only because the sensitivity of the project which had
drawn her attention would demand it... but she could only speculate
as to the scale and nature of those upgrades.

      It was a higher degree of risk than she was comfortable with.
The possibility that this might be a trap had not escaped her;
certainly the bait was enticing enough.  No... that was not the right
word.  It was *compelling*, a threat the Knight Sabers organization
could not afford to ignore.  The secrecy surrounding this project had
been difficult to penetrate, and corroborating the information had not
been easy... but she had done it.  If this was somehow a snare, it had
been set with live bait.

     She glanced at the readout in her visor; it was almost time to
move.  "What's the status of the patrols, Nene?"

     "They're just about to pass by again; after that we should have
an opening."

     She nodded.  "We'll move as soon as they're out of sight."  The
side entrance they would use had no stationed guards; there were 
regular patrols which covered the grounds, but her observations
indicated they would have at least five minutes to get inside between
them; it would be enough.  They would have to be quick, but it should
be doable.  "Are you ready, Nene?"

     "Of course I am," the hacker responded with mock indignation.

     Sylia smiled a bit in spite of herself.  At least Nene seemed
unaffected by the tension that had settled in on them.  Then again,
this sort of operation was Nene's strong suit, and she was doubtless
looking forward to the challenge.

     It was time.  "All right, let's go."  As quietly as they could
manage, the four armored vigilantes crept from their hiding place.
They moved as quickly as they could; the last twenty meters to the
door was open space, and until they reached the building's shadow
they were at their greatest risk of discovery.  Once they gained the
doorway, she motioned Priss and Linna to take up positions on either
side while Nene set to work on the lock.

     "Oooh, this is a tough one," Nene muttered.  "I don't think the
suit can connect with this; I'll have to improvise."

     Sylia glanced over at the red-suited Saber, wondering if
'improvise' in this case meant what she thought it would.  Indeed,
Nene had already disassembled part of the lock casing and was creating
an temporary interface for her hardsuit's computer.  "Careful, Nene,"
she cautioned.  "Be sure you can put it ack together when you're done.
We don't want to leave any signs."

     "Right, right," Nene answered, not looking away from the
dismantled panel.  "Now... touch this, and that... ok, I'm in.  Now to
decode it..." She fell silent again, absorbed in her work as the
lights on the panel's remaining faceplate flashed in rapid sequence.

     "Two minutes, Nene."

     "No problem... I've got it... Now!"  The panel beeped softly, and
there was a metallic groaning sound as the door slid open.  "Told you
I could do it," Nene said triumphantly, already moving to reconstruct
the casing.

     "I just hope nobody heard that noise," Linna observed under her
breath, voicing Sylia's concern as well.  "All this sneaking around
isn't going to do us any good if they figure out we're here."

     "No radio traffic," Nene answered confidently, stepping back from
the reassembled lock.  "Checking for security devices in the
entryway... nothing I can't handle."

     "Let's go, then," Sylia instructed.  "Quickly.  Linna, take
point.  Priss, guard the rear."

     With that, the four of them filed in through the doorway.  Nene
paused a moment to close it behind them, and then they began to move
cautiously down the corridor.  The metal flooring made silence
impossible, and the sound of hardsuit boots on steel echoed through
the long, featureless corridors.  Everything looked exactly the same,
Sylia thought; dull metallic colors and dim lighting marked the decor,
completely sterile in its soulless perfection.  It was, she thought,
much like the corporation that had built it.

     A short distance down the corridor they came to a junction.
"Which way?" Priss asked.

     "Left," Nene answered, gesturing down one of the corridors as
she looked at the map she had pulled from the building's security
system.  "If the information is accurate, anyway."

     "If not, we will have larger problems to concern ourselves
with," Sylia observed coolly.  The ease of their entry into the
building had done nothing to ease her worries; thus far, it had been
exactly as the old data had indicated it would, and that troubled
her.  She had expected more security than this, considering the
sensitivity of the project.  Security through obscurity might work
well for a small organization like the Knight Sabers, but it was
neither advisable nor typical practice for GENOM... and even if they
wanted to keep the project secret, there should be more automated
systems in place.

     She suppressed that thought; there was nothing to be gained by
worrying about what she did not see.  She needed to keep her thoughts
clear, to analyze the situation as it developed.  Nene would alert
them if there was anything unusual, and thus far she had found
nothing.

     It took only a few moments longer to reach the laboratory they
were searching for, and she allowed herself a slight sense of relief
then.  Nene quickly bypassed the security system, using the 
information she had gained from her earlier efforts to streamline the
process, and they were soon inside.  Her apprehension grew, however,
when her gaze fell upon the datacore which had brought them here.  The
damage it had received was significant, but it appeared to be
completely functional, and that damage only confirmed the legitimacy
of the find.  GENOM had indeed recovered it, and the implications of
that discovery were staggering.  It was well that they had come when
they did, before its secrets could be unlocked.

     "They're running some sort of brute-force decryption on it, 
Sylia," Nene observed, glancing over the readouts.  "That explains
they heavy hardware.  Looks like someone didn't want to share his 
knowledge."

     "Better for us," Linna said quietly.

     "Yeah, well, let's just get it and get out of here," Priss
growled impatiently.  "There's something fishy about this whole mess."

     "Just taking it won't be enough," Nene answered, plugging into
the terminal.  "We've got to destroy anything they've read from it as
well."

     Sylia nodded.  "Besides, we don't want them to know we have it.
Can you erase the original?  If we leave them a blank, it will take
them longer to determine what happened."

     "Working on it now," Nene answered.  "I'm in the system...
pulling a data dump.  This is going to take a few minutes."  Seconds
ticked away, and Sylia could almost sense the temperature rise in the  
room.  "...looks like they didn't get very--"

     Nene's voice was cut off by the wail of a half-dozen alarms.
"Oh, no..." Nene groaned.  "...they set a trap on one of the files!
Its trying to lock me out of the system!" 

     Sylia cursed under her breath.  "Forget the dump.  No point to
being subtle now; destroy the originals and let's get out of here.
Priss, Linna, cover the near door, we may have to fight our way out."

     "Right," Priss and Linna agreed in unison, moving to opposite
sides of the entrance.  Nene said nothing, her concentration totally
consumed with trying to complete her task before the system shut her
out entirely.

     "...done!" she finally half-shouted, ripping her data connections
free from the terminal without bothering to properly disconnect them.
She stepped back from the console, raising her gun-hand and firing
several shots into the computer bank.  Let's get out of here; it won't
take long--"

     A thunderous explosion cut off the rest of her words as the heavy
steel door at the opposite end of the room was blasted off its hinges.
The echoes had not yet died when the boomers were upon them.  There
was no time to fight; if they delayed too long, their only escape
route would be cut off.  "Go!" Sylia shouted to the others, turning
to engage the C-class cyberdroid bearing down on her.

     At melee range, the boomers had every advantage.  For all that
their hardsuits were tough, the Knight Sabers depended heavily on not
being hit in combat... and the close quarters made it all the more
difficult to evade attacks.  Still, Sylia knew, C-class boomers were 
not the most intelligent of GENOM's creations.  The boomer came 
charging in at full speed, looking to throw what would be a crushing 
haymaker at Sylia's head.  She ducked underneath, extending both 
swords and stabbing them into its midsection, using its momentum to 
drive the blades deep.  A flare of sparks erupted from the wound, and 
it crashed to the floor in a heap.

     She looked to the others as she sprinted for the door.  Nene was
already there; not being equipped to fight, she had run straight for 
the door when the boomers had arrived.  Priss and Linna, though, were 
not doing so well.  Four boomers were backing the two of them toward 
one of the walls, and the effort of defending against the combined 
firepower was leaving them with no opportunity to counterattack.  
Worse than that, the only weapon either of them possessed capable of 
dealing with all four enemies could not be used in such close quarters.

     Sylia came to a quick decision.  "Nene, stay here.  Try and jam
their communications if you can."  Not waiting for a response, she
charged back into the fray, both arm cannon blazing as she tried to
distract the nearest of the four boomers.  The tactic worked; the
mechanical warrior turned to face her, and she extended both of her
swords to engage it at close range.

     It was just enough of a distraction to give the others a chance.
A heavy metallic crash and a gout of flame marked the end of one of 
the other three boomers as Priss' leg bomber blasted a hole in its 
chest.  With the odds now even, Priss turned to attack the second 
boomer that was engaging Linna.

     Just as they had found this glimmer of hope, though, Nene's voice
shattered it.  "Sylia, we've got more coming!  We have to leave NOW!"

     "Dammit!" Priss swore, narrowly deflecting a punch aimed at her
head.  "We're in too close to disengage!"

     "Twenty seconds!" Nene warned, backing out the door and into the
hall.

     Linna danced away from a barrage of repeating laser fire, moving 
in a tightening spiral around her adversary until she reached the 
range of her razor whips.  A quick pirouette left four sparking 
streaks across the boomer's body, and it collapsed in pieces.

     "Linna, go!" Priss shouted, still engaged with her own opponent.
She stepped back, levelling her railgun to fire two shots into the
boomer's chest, leaving two sparking wounds and pinning shut the
emitters on its heat cannon.  Still, its other systems remained 
undamamged, and its mouth laser was charging for a blast.  She stepped
back, gathering herself to jump out of the way, but tripped on a piece
of debris and fell.

     "Shimatta!"  Scrambling backward, she rased her arm cannon, 
firing desperately at the boomer in an effort to stop it, but it was 
too late.

     Sylia raised her own cannon to fire, hoping to disrupt its 
attack, but she already knew she would be too slow.  In the back of 
her mind she heard Nene scream... 

     ...and as the laser discharged, a green blur of motion interposed
itself between the boomer and Priss.

     Linna screamed in pain, but the sound was short--cut-off--and she
crashed against the wall in a lifeless heap.  Sylia stared in horror 
as alert warnings flashed red in her visor, warnings which led her to 
only one conclusion.

     "LINNA!"  Priss cried out in rage, unleashing a barrage of laser
fire and railgun spikes at her opponent.  The boomer reeled, and Priss
leapt to her feet, springing upon it with feral abandon.  The knuckle
guard unfolded around her left hand, and she pushed the boomer back
against the wall, driving the weapon against its head in a crushing
blow.  The cyberdroid collapsed at her feet.

     The second group of boomers could be heard coming down the 
hallway.  "Priss, Nene, we have to leave!" Sylia shouted.  "There's 
too many of them!"

     Priss looked back at Sylia, and for all that her visor was 
closed, Sylia knew the expression behind it.  Priss had no intention 
of retreating.  Sylia winced inwardly; she knew Priss would hate her 
for this, but she would not lose two of her Knight Sabers today.

     "Hardsuit Two override Tango-Bravo-Four-Six-Three!  Weapons
shutdown!"  The acknolwedgements flashed across her visor as Priss'
hardsuit received the command, disengaging all of its weapons systems. 
Priss just stared at her for a moment, then leapt at her in a fit of 
rage.  "Nene, help me!" Sylia shouted.  "We have to get her out of 
here!"

     "What about Linna?!" Priss shouted in fury.  "Are we going to 
leave her here?"

     "YES!" Sylia insisted.  "We don't have time!  I'm not going to 
lose you, too!"  She grabbed Priss by the wrists, the 
strength-enhancement of her suit barely able to maintain its grasp.

     Nene grabbed Priss around the waist from behind.  "We have to go,
Priss!  They're almost here!  If we all die then what good will she 
have done?"

     It was then that the boomers burst in through the far door.  
"Nene, let's go!" Sylia shouted, the two of them dragging a 
still-fighting Priss out of the room.  Nene hit the door switch behind 
them, then blasted it with her arm cannon, hoping it would slow down 
the boomers enough for them to make their escape,

*****     

      Sylia's expression was blank as she stared out the window of her
apartment into a darkened, rainy sky.  No tears fell, no anger broke 
through the mask.  Only the still-healing wound of her bitten-through
lower lip hinted at the intensity of her agony.

      Even now, days later, she found it hard to accept that one of 
her own had fallen.  She had dreaded this from the beginning, knowing 
it would almost certainly come eventually.  The job that they did--the 
immense danger that they took upon themselves each time they went 
out--virtually guaranteed that eventually one of them would fall.  In 
all honesty, she was probably fortunate that it had not happened 
sooner... but somehow she still wanted to deny it.

      Linna was dead.  Never again would they know her smile, her
seemingly effortless grace, her irrepressible spirit... all of these
were lost and the world was suddenly a darker place.  Sylia had hoped 
to give her better... to provide a chance to realize her true 
potential. Now that was lost forever.

     She wondered when it was that she had grown to care so much about
those she had taken under her wing.  This was supposed to be a 
business deal; she gave them the opportunities they wanted, and they 
placed their lives on the line for her cause.  It was never supposed 
to be personal.  It was never supposed... to hurt like this.

      Her thoughts turned to Priss, who had vanished into the night
those days ago without a single word.  She could hardly blame her for 
that; she knew Priss was blaming herself for Linna's death.  Linna had 
died in her  place, after all, and with Priss' history of losing 
friends, it was  nearly an automatic response for her to blame herself 
for such tragedy.

     Of course, Sylia would hold her own measure of blame in Priss'
eyes as well, having taken from her any chance of vengeance.  What 
else, though, could she have done?  She would not allow Linna's 
sacrifice to be in vain.  She could not let Priss die.  She suspected 
Priss would never forgive her for that.  Perhaps in time... but she was
not 

hopeful.

     Forgiveness... how could she expect it?  For all that Priss would
blame herself for Linna's death, Sylia knew well that it fell squarely
on her own shoulders.  She had recruited them, bringing these three
young women into her own personal crusade.  She had led them in 
battle.  She herself had delivered them into the trap which had 
claimed one of their number, in spite of her own misgivings about the
situation.

     No.  She could not, would not second-guess herself.  She had done
what she had to do, and nothing more.  Had GENOM been allowed to glean
what data might have been had from their prize, it could well have been
the end for them all.

     The knowledge--that in losing one she might yet have saved the
others--was little consolation.

     She looked back into the room, at the message sitting on her
computer screen.  Nene wanted to know what they would do, having lost
Linna and now Priss as well.  She still wanted to go on, wanted to 
take the fight back to GENOM.  Sylia felt a pang of sympathy and 
regret; Nene had always been the idealist among them, fighting because 
she believed in their cause... not because she had a personal score to
settle.

     Nene had known the danger, of course; she was with AD Police, and 
she knew very well what boomers were capable of.  Death, though, had 
never touched her this closely before, and Sylia knew she had never 
really believed it could happen.  Once, Sylia had envied that 
innocence, that assurance that they would always pull through.  Now, 
that too was gone, shattered forever.

      A solitary tear rolled down Sylia's cheek as she remembered her
father's death, and the end of her own innocence.  She remembered
committing herself to this crusade, to this effort to redeem her
father's work, even as the child she was.  In the end, it had come 
full circle, and death had caught up to her again.  She bowed her head 
in sorrow and guilt, for ultimately it all came back to her.

     She had done everything that she could, she told herself, and she
knew that it was true.  Even so, it had not been enough.  It was all
over now; they had paid the price in their own precious blood, and to
Sylia in that moment all that they had accomplished could not balance 
the scales.

*****

End Prologue



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