Dark Kingdom Renegades/Bubblegum Crisis : Bad Moon Rising
By Mark Latus
Part 2 : A Night On The Town
MegaTokyo - October 2033
The concealed Boomers switched out of standby mode when the three
figures appeared. These biomechanicals were neither sentient nor
especially enhanced, they were simply there because the gate's creator had
worried about a certain person arriving. As a result the Boomers had a
very specific attack profile programmed. Two of the three were male,
therefore not viable targets. While the third was female she did not seem
to match the profile. The lead Boomer remained hidden but commenced a
more detailed scan. Conclusion, subject was nonhuman. Not a potential
target. The Boomers reverted to standbye mode.
Calcite and Azurite looked for movement as Pyrite scanned the area.
As the Boomers stayed still and lacked auras they remained undetected.
The DKR members were thinking in terms of potential ambushers being either
human or youma. Not surprising as they'd only met their first Boomers
yesterday. Pyrite closed the gateway again. The space/time corridor back
to their adopted homeworld remained but it was currently inaccessible from
either side. There were no signs of alarms triggered by the opening.
Whoever had created the gate evidently assumed no one else could unseal
it. He planted a few alarms of his own around the gate. Best to have a
few sensors on this side of the gate as well. Time to go have a look
around the city and see how the future turned out.
Marking the spot mentally (in case teleporting here became necessary)
the three moved off singlefile. Calcite took the point with Azurite
bringing up the rear. Leaving keeping watch to the other two Pyrite
returned to his scans. So far there was no evidence of youma energies.
However if the builder was shielding you wouldn't detect him her or it
unless they were using large amounts of power.
As they moved through the slum they drew attention. All three were
dressed far too well for this part of town. A few people considered
asking them to contribute something to the community but stopped short.
While the one in the middle seemed oblivious to his surroundings the other
two seemed aware of everyone watching. Both moved with the unhurried
predatory grace of those know there's no need to strut because they can
handle everything thrown at them. Still when your gang is large and well
armed enough you might ignore these warning signs.
Pyrite suddenly walked in Calcite's back. His cousin had stopped
very abruptly. Behind him Azurite had also paused. Both studied the
darkness around them. Pyrite's own Dark Kingdom honed senses belatedly
kicked in. He'd been too busy studying his scanner to pay attention to
their surroundings. Getting distracted like that was one of his major
failings and the main reason he'd never made a good warrior. Of course
just surviving in the Kingdom had been a challenge. Pacifists wouldn't
last long. He activated his forceshield and traced the energy patterns in
the darkness. "12 humans, close by and excited." The others nodded
silently, continuing to shift their gaze from one watcher to the next.
Calcite considered the best way to handle this from what he'e learned on
his last trip. There should be little threat. While energy weapons
existed by this time they were bulky devices and not in common usage.
Projectile based guns remained the weapon of choice and their shields
should handle the kinetic impacts. On a purely physical level the humans
couldn't match them. Hell even Pyrite, their weakest member, was three
times stronger than a champion weightlifter. The problem wasn't getting
past this gang, the problem was getting past without hurting anyone too
much. Mangling these jackals could bring attention. Maybe the glowing
eyes and sepulchre voice routine would work? Maybe not. This was the
future, that sort of thing could be a trick anyone could do.
Then the thugs decided to take matters into their own hands. Twelve
against three unarmed people is pretty good odds. The DKR found
themselves surrounded by large muscular thugs, all sporting multicolored
mohawks and spiked noserings. The leader (purple mohawk, three rings,
multiple steroid injection arm scars) seemed to think drooling was
intimidating. "Leave your money and the girl and you walk away alive!"
Calcite winced slightly, Azurite was going to be a little hard to control
after that.
"Jesus, what a cliche!" Azurite stalked up to the hulking figure.
"My turn. Get the hell out of our way or I kick your balls into orbit."
"Uh let's try and avoid violence."
The leader leered at Pyrite, "Scared of fighting little man?"
Calcite chuckled slightly, "He wasn't talking to you. She's not
kidding. This is your last chance to walk away without becoming a eunuch."
The gorilla glanced around at his gang. Several were looking very
apprehensive. Maybe these three had reason to think they could walk
through this place unprotected. Maybe they were just bluffing. He caught
Vincent's eye. Vinnie had a detector wand. "They packing?"
"They are not!"
"Nice try bitch." His hand descended on Azurite. "Take's a lot to
hurt me, more than you ..." The crunch was audiable to everyone. He
didn't scream, it hurt far too much to draw breath, just folded up and
collapsed.
"Next?" For a moment the thugs were frozen. Then the knives and
clubs came out and the eleven left swarmed at them. Most went for Azurite
which was a big mistake. Calcite disabled his opponents with speed and
minimum force. Pyrite swung wildly, breaking noses and whatever else got
in the way. There were six down around Azurite clutching various parts of
their anatomy. Four were down around Calcite, unconscious or
semiconscious. Calcite was a little puzzled. He hadn't been using that
much force so why did so many of them have broken limbs. The remaining
two were scattered by Pyrite's feet. One was out of it, the other sat
dabbing at the blood running from his nose. Pyrite turned to Azutite and
that was when it happened.
Bloody nose reached inside his jacket and pulled out a gun. He
started to aim it at Pyrite's back. It was unlikely the bullet could have
penetrated his cousin's shield, even at that range. But you don't live
long in the Dark Kingdom by making assumptions about invulnerability.
Calcite's reaction was instinctive. The shock blast slammed into the
gunman. It should have knocked him over and torn the gun from his hand.
Instead he catapulted backwards into a wall. There was a cracking noise
as he hit. Then he slid down leaving a stain along the bricks. Calcite
looked at his hand in shock! What the hell had just happened?
The conscious thugs began dragging themselves away as fast as
possible. One was hysterically muttering, "... pack of fucking boomers ...
I said there something wrong but nobody listened ..." All that were left
were the unconscious and the Renegades.
"That should have just stunned him." Calcite had knelt by the body
but was keeping a watch on those fleeing. Just in case they tried for
vengeance.
"Is he dead?" Even as he said it Pyrite knew it was a stupid
question. The back of the head was caved in. Calcite didn't bother
answering it.
"I lost control. How the hell could I do that for a threat this
minor?" Azurite laid a hand on his shoulder. To be unable to depend on
your powers was a terrible thing. Also a potentially fatal one. In a
thoughtful tone Calcite continued, "First time I've killed a human."
Azurite surveyed the bloodied and broken corpse. "One thing you have
to say for youma. We die a lot neater."
"Good point. This guy is not going to spontaneously combust." This
was unknown territory. "Should we do something about the body?"
This wasn't something either of them had had to deal with before.
All their other kills had been members of their own kind. Half an hour
later all you needed was a dustpan and the problem was solved. "Can we
destroy it?"
"I'm not sure. I can make it explode or burn up a lot of it but
total destruction is a bit tricky." He considered. "Probably best to
leave it. We don't exist in this city and if our description gets
circulated we'll just change glamours. Now let's get out of here before
they come back with friends and we have to hurt a few more." A thought
struck him. "Pyr, your scanner was on during the fight?"
"Yes. I didn't bother switching it off."
"Good. Review and see what powerlevel I used. I have to compensate
for this fast." The Renegades moved off towards the city core. No one
saw them depart.
Elsewhere in the city a man calling himself Jason Deite looked up in
puzzlement. Strange, for a moment there he'd thought he felt something
familiar. Ridiculous. He was jumping at shadows. According to
Margrave's story (which she'd verified under mind control) they'd been the
only ones to escape the Kingdom. At least the only ones who'd arrived
here. He shook off the feeling and returned to his calculations.
Everything seemed perfect. While the test hadn't gone exactly as planned
he now had access to all the Boomers he needed. A momentary irritation
flit across his mind. It had been unfortunate that the Boomer failed to
kill the Knight Sabers. There was something about females fighting to
defend people that really irked him. Which reminded him, he wondered how
Sailor Moon had liked his little present. The six combat boomers must have
chewed up a good chunk of the city before they were destroyed. And they
had been destroyed as none returned. At least it was back to having just
one Senshi to worry about. Margrave had told how Mars, Mercury and the
two he'd never met fell before the final battle. Which Beryl had lost
decisively.
Sort of a pity, he'd have liked to pay her back for sealing him in
that crystal. As he remembered it he shivered involuntarily. Trapped
like a fly in amber but aware. He'd be having nightmare's about that for
the rest of his life. Which would be a very long time indeed.
Still there was one positive thing about the otherwise horrific
experience. He felt a sharpness he hadn't felt in centuries. Looking
back he'd become incredibly complacent after remaining unchallenged for so
long. Secure in his power he'd gone against the Senshi without considering
the possibility they could be a threat. If he'd just taken the trouble to
eliminate them before he started draining humans. He shook his head
again. Just thinking back on his blunders made him wince.
Well now he had a whole new world to conquer. After arrival he'd
taken Margrave and stayed inconspicuous as he studied it. Once he had
confirmed the Senshi didn't exist here he'd begun making plans. This had
lead him to GENOM. A little study of the company had convinced him he'd
fit right in. A lot of study had convinced him the company's elite would
have thrived in the Dark Kingdom. During this time he'd come up with the
idea that perhaps he'd lost because part of him didn't want to hurt young
girls. A holdover from his human days. Shortly afterwards over a two
week period seven girls between 13 and 16 fell victim to a serial killer.
No one saw them abducted or saw anyone dump the remains. The mutilation
of the bodies shocked even the hardened detectives of MegaTokyo's N Police
Homicide Unit.
Having determined he had no qualms about hurting the young and
innocent Jadeite had returned to making plans. Curiously it was about
this time that Margrave ceased her constant seduction attempts. But he
was enjoying the novelty of sex with human females for the first time his
transformation from human to youma centuries ago.
Then the plan had come to him. After tests to ensure it was workable
he created identities for himself and the cat woman and moved in to take
his place in GENOM's hierarchy. Nothing too major. He wasn't about to
take over everything at once. He'd bided his time and waited. As he
waited he gathered the energy he would need to make the plan workable.
Killing time and as many people as possible.
The test two nights earlier had been the turning point. The first
combat demonstration of his Hyperboomer. There had been quite a crowd
there, including Chairman Quincy. Actually it hadn't been Quincy, it was
a boomer double. Probably none of the humans had picked realized that.
He wondered if Kate Madigan, his number one hatchetwoman, had known it was
a fake Quincy. His mind drifted back to Friday ...
David Webster watched J. Deite intently but was careful to show no
signs of his hatred. He'd been on the verge of unveiling his new upgraded
BU-12C heavy combat units when Deite stole his thunder. Hopefully the boy
wonder was about to fall flat on his face. On the various monitors a
BU-12B model was rampaging. Typical 12B, Rocket Launcher on the left arm,
50 mm chaingun on the right. The heavy duty monster had already accounted
for fifteen civilians and six ADP police officers. To say nothing of
inflict dozens of casualties, serious and trivial. Mainly serious. The
concealed cameras continued sweeping as they waited for the stars of the
show to arrive. The ADP had pulled back as they waited for their heavy
armour to be airdropped in. Then the 12B's bullet shaped head spun to
three o clock. An aircraft was approaching swiftly and silently. It
wasn't ADP. Looked like the Knight Sabers had arrived.
The Boomer launched three rockets at the VTOL. It dodged with ease
and its counterfire destroyed all three missiles. The Boomer's tactical
programming made it conserve the remaining rockets. Four armoured figures
dropped from the hovering plane. They slowed their falls but still hit
with impacts that should have overbalanced them. Three of the four landed
smoothly. The pink suit seemed on the verge of toppling before regaining
its' balance. Or rather her balance. Unlike the massive exosuits used by
the police and the military these didn't conceal the sex of the operator
through shear bulk. The suits were formhugging and made it abundatly clear
that the wearers were female. Despite the relative thinness of the suits
they could outperform state of the art military equipment. GENOM would
have given a fortune to acquire the secrets of those suits. Considering
the costs of the hardware the Knight Sabers had wrecked they already had.
The ton & a half Boomer loomed over the foursome. The fight seemed
totally one sided.
It was. The Boomer didn't have a chance and they all knew it.
Each of the suits was a different color and each operator displayed
different characteristics. The Blue suit fought like a maniac frequently
cutting herself off from support in her zeal for killing Boomers. The
White suit fought calmly and methodically yet no less lethally. The green
suit seemed to support the white suit and aid the Blue suit when possible.
The Pink suit avoided combat as much as possible but had been known to
destroy Boomers. Her function seemed to be mainly tactical and
technological support.
All four were in motion from the moment of touchdown. The Boomer
launched a rocket at the Green Saber who was instantly arcing over the
Boomer. As the missle chewed up the side of a building the Saber touched
down behind the Boomer. The "ribbons" trailing behind her wrapped around
the Boomer's upper left arm. Suddenly they were charged and pulled
through the arm like monofilament cord. The Boomer lost its' primary
weapon. As this was going on the White Saber was dodging the Boomer's
efforts to bring the chaingun to bear. As it seemed to get a lock the
Saber fired a Beam Cannon from her right palm. The chaingun exploded and
the Boomer was literally disarmed. A plate in its chest opened as it
prepared to deploy the supernapalm spray available in this model. The
Blue Saber slammed her railgun into the halfopen hatch and fired at
pointblank range. Then kicked off from the boomer, riding the jump and
the shockwave from the blast as the Boomer immolated itself.
All over in seconds. Not the sort of tape to show potential clients
for GENOM's military hardware. Deite smiled slightly and nodded to his
executive assistant Catherine Margrave. She sent a remote signal and the
Boomer stepped from concealment. Time for the real test to begin.
The Pink Saber must have picked it up first because she began waving
excitedly to the others. What appeared to be a standard C-55 Boomer
stepped into view of the monitors. Blue, about two meters tall, main
weapon a mouth mounted particle cannon. A far weaker machine that the
BU-12B being designed primarily for urban combat. Also in pre-activation
form they could pass for human, at least visually, which made them
excellent spies and assassins.
The Blue Saber took aim and Deite nodded to his assistant. She
triggered their secret activation protocol. Only Margrave and Jadeite
knew it was a fake signal. Jadeite reached out with his mind and awakened
the seed he'd planted in the C-55. It suddenly swelled increasing in size
about 50%. What looked like blue hair sprouted from the chest and
shoulders. The face twisted to become lionlike with a fringe of blue hair
it. The hands and feet reshaped themselves. The feet were now had three
clawed toes with a spur on the back. The hands became clawed as spikes
grew from the knuckles. The Knight Sabers seemed momentarily off balanced
by this transformation. Jadeite began the play by play.
"As you can see ladies and gentlemen the Hyper Boomer has shed its'
camoflague and is now fully operational. This particular design is
designed to impose a psychological response in the enemy. Namely fear."
The Blue Saber moved in fast ignoring the raised hand of the White Saber.
The White and Green Sabers moved in to support their collegue. The Blue
Saber ducked under the line of fire of the Boomer's particle beamer and
surged towards the it. Her armmounted railgun's mouth blurred towards the
Boomer's face. Then stopped abruptly as the Boomer's hand caught her
wrist. The startled Saber ripped off a burst of fire. Which tore into
the sky hitting nothing except a luckless pigeon. The Saber tried to
break free but the Boomer's grip remained unbreakable. It began to
squeeze and the Blue Saber's struggles became more frantic. The Green and
White Sabers moved in simultaneously. The White Saber's blade slid out of
the armsheath as she landed in a crouch at the Boomer's feet. She surged
upright blade out intending to disembowel this one as she had so many
before. The blade scittered across the Boomer's armour without cutting
in. The Green Sabre came in from above wrapping her combat ribbons around
the arm holding the Blue Saber. They activated but didn't cut. Jadeite
continued, "As you can see as a result of the metamorphosis the unit's
armour has retained the same mass while more than doubling in tensile
strength." The Boomer's other hand struck the White Saber knocking her
down. The Boomer then flung the Blue Saber into the Pink Saber who hadn't
moved since contact. Both went down. Grabbing the Green Saber by the
combat ribbons the Boomer began to swing her like a flail. Using its new
weapon the Boomer began to pummel the White Saber. Both Green and White
Armour were now covered in dents. The Blue Saber broke free of her tangle
with the Pink Saber and aimed her railgun at the Boomer. Nothing
happened. It must have been damaged by the impact. Then something red,
large and humanoid touched down by her. It must have been launched from
the VTOL. The red mecha opened to reveal a human shaped space in the
middle. The Blue Saber slid into place then charged the Boomer. With the
mecha framework she was now about the same size as the Boomer. While it
sported a large cannon she didn't dare use it with her battered collegues
so close to the target. The Boomer released its grip on the Green Saber's
ribbons and moved to meet its attacker. The Green Saber lay unmoving at
its feet. Both giants locked into hand to hand combat. For a few seconds
they seemed equally matched. Then the red mech's limbs were forced
backwards. Its' joints began to whine and smoke. The Boomer tired of
playing games and focused its' particle cannon on the Blue Saber's head.
A laser bolt glanced off its' skull. The Pink Saber was partially upright
and firing from a kneeling position. With terrible timing (from Jadeite's
viewpoint) the battered White Saber tried her armblade again. This time
opening a cut in the armour. Jadeite cursed silently, he hadn't been able
to get his enhanced Boomers to shield against both energy weaponary and
physical assault simultaneously. It had to switch regarding the type of
attack. It had reactivated the physical shield to stop the Saber cutting
any further but this left it open to laser attack. The ablative covering
wouldn't protect for long. It turned its head to track and fire on the
Pink Saber before the laserfire caused damage. It temporarily ignored the
White Saber. The shield would prevent her blade from inflicting further
damage. Her beam cannon was obviously nonfunctional from damage inflicted
with the Green Saber. The Saber didn't try to cut further. She left the
blade in place and channeled all her remaining power through it. Energy
poured into the Boomer and it began to cook from the inside. Jadeite
suppressed a curse. He'd underestimated them, probably because they were
just humans inside those suits. An error he would not make again. He
felt the seed dying and deactivated it. The Boomer suddenly morphed back
into a standard C-55 then exploded from overload. The White Saber was
blown over and lay still. "I appear to have underestimated the Knight
Sabers and should have deployed two units. However I believe the
potential of this variety of Boomer has been adequetely demonstrated." On
screen the VTOL landed. The Pink Saber helped the Green Saber to stand
upright and half walked, half dragged her into the VTOL. The smoking red
mecha scooped up the still White saber and carried her into the VTOL. The
Pink Saber jumped back out just long enough to locate and grab the
Boomer's head. She ducked back into VTOL which roared upwards and quickly
out of camera shot.
"Deite?" The Quincy replica's voice echoed across the table
"Yes sir?"
"What will they learn from that salvage."
"Not a thing sir. All they'll find is a standard C-55 Boomer." Why
should they find anything else? After all there were no mechanical
changes to the design.
Webster saw the chance to score a few points. "And we have to take
your word for that don't we? After all you've been keeping the whole
enhancement procedure top secret."
Deite smiled. "You haven't been able to learn anything from the
materials you had stolen from B lab have you?" Webster began a furious
denial and Quincy raised a hand.
"Enough bickering gentlemen. Deite, I like what I've seen.
Madigan?"
"Yes sir?"
"See that Deite has access to all the material he needs and go ahead
with the Brazil tests on sunday."
"Yes Sir."
The meeting broke up leaving Webster and his number two along with
Deite and Margrave. She gathered up their equipment and followed Deite
out. Webster snarled at Hashimoto, "I am going to find that sonofabitch's
secrets. When I can replicate his results we won't need him anymore. No
one will object if anything happens to him."
"Some of our female employees might." Deite was cutting quite a
swath through them. The odd thing was just how successful he was. No
woman seemed able to say no to him. Including the ones who loathed him.
Yet all said it had been of their own free will, no coercern.
"Scumbag. Lucky scumbag."
"Were you able to get anything out of Margrave?"
Webster glared at his subordinate. It was common knowledge that
though fiercely loyal to Deite his Executive Assistant was willing to
sleep with anyone. At least the first time was easy. Few got to try a
repeat performance. Anyone who though it would give them any kind of hold
over her was mistaken. Deite didn't care who she screwed and she didn't
seem to feel sentimentally inclined to any of her lovers. Bothering her
would lead to a very loud, very public appraisal of your performance and
its shortcomings. Webster had decided to try his luck. After she'd agreed
(without noticeable enthusiasm) he'd set things up. She seemed to be
always want to be in control so he'd take that away. She seemed like the
type who needed mastering and he liked being a master. Once he dominated
her she'd do anything for him. Including getting him the information she
wanted. At least that was the plan.
During the evening she had evidently gotten bored, snapped the bonds
(and how the hell did she do that?) and grabbed him by the throat.
"Listen up little man because you aren't worth telling this twice. You
have no idea what real power or real mastery is. It isn't these silly
toys, it is part of who and what you always are. Lord J. Deite (strange
way to say it) is one. There was another but he's gone. You aren't even
close to them." While he was massaging his throat and gasping she'd got
dressed and left. All things considered not a very successful evening.
To hell with it. He'd show that bitch and her gloryhound boss.
"We're going ahead with the fieldtest. Make the arrangements!"
"Sir the Sabers might not be in condition to engage our upgrades ..."
"We'll give them two days to recover. Then we'll demonstrate that
Deite isn't the only one who can build improved Boomers!"
Jadeite's thoughts returned to the present. All things considered
the test was a success. Now he had access to all the materials he needed.
You have no idea just what you've unleased Quincy, he thought. By the
time I'm through you'll wish that Largo clown was all you had to deal
with.
In her apartment Margrave poured a drink and toasted a black framed
picture. Then flushed in embarrassement, which wasn't easy for her. Why
did she do that? Why even keep a picture? She was alone and had dropped
her glamour. A fur covered hand with retracted claws picked up the
picture. Green eyes with catlike pupils gazed into the smiling features
of Janet Ombari. Very white teeth contrasting sharply with the dark
features. The way Margrave would always remember her. Much better than
how she'd looked at the morgue.
Janet had been born in Kenya. She'd come over with her parents
during the rebuilding after the quake. Finishing growing up in MegaTokyo
she'd decided to stay and joined the horde of gaijin who crowded the city.
She'd joined GENOM as a Motivational Counsellor and been a success. Her
sunny personality seemed to be infectuous and she'd been credited with
boosting productivity 10% in Boomer Bioconstruction Facility Epsilon.
Reassigned to Boomer Development had brought her into contact with
Catherine Margrave, the Executive Assistant to J. Deite. There were two
sections working on the next phase of Boomer design. The two directors,
Deite and Webster were constantly feuding and a lot of bad feeling was
spilling out to their employees. So Janet had her work cut out for her.
She'd been remarkably successful. Perhaps because unlike so many
Counsellors her smile was real, she genuinely was a cheerful and good
natured person. All counsellors smiled but with most it was just painted
on. Scratch the surface and you found a bitter and cynical person.
It had just been a few weeks ago that Janet had dropped by her
office. She was always dropping by on one pretext or another.
"Good morning Catherine." Margrave had suppressed a hiss. How
anyone could be so cheerful so early was beyond her.
"I'll take your word for it. I keep telling you I go by either Cat
or Margrave. Preferrably Margrave." Ombari loomed over her, at 6'3" she
tended to tower. Margrave waved her to a chair.
"If you like. How about 'Grave to shorten it up a bit?"
"NO!" Why she reacted so strongly to her old nickname she wasn't
sure. Perhaps because of who'd used it the most. Ombari was watching her
carefully but didn't comment.
"OK, well then ..." The talk turned to various staff members who
were having problems. Nothing really significant and nothing really to do
with her. Margrave sighed.
"Janet, why are you really here?"
"Just trying to cheer you up. You seem to be down lately."
"Why? Everyone else has around given up trying to be friends with
me. After they found out I wouldn't be buttering up the boss for them."
"Way I look at it is this ... it's as easy to be nice as nasty so why
not be nice."
"Interesting logic. However I think this is the wrong company for
that attitude."
Janet had shrugged. "In this town no matter where you work if you
look under the surface it'll trace back to GENOM."
"I suppose. However it's easier for bastards and bitches to
advance."
"So let them go. I don't want to climb the ladder. I'm happy down
here. If the nastier people head up up and away that gets them away from
me."
"Maybe. But I'm one of the bitches. Why bother with me?"
Janet had grinned. "To tell the truth you fascinate me. You've been
here six months and I think every night you've gone home with a different
man."
"A slight exaggeration. Anyway so what? I'm a little more extreme
than most but it's not unique behaviour." It's also a lot safer for me
than human females, she'd added silently. I can't catch human diseases
and even if my breeding cycle activated there's no risk of pregnancy
because of the genetic differences.
"Folks say you have the morals of an alley cat."
"They have no idea how right they are."
"What I say is you haven't found who you're looking for yet."
"WHAT!" In a cold tone Margrave had continued, "What makes you think
I'm looking for someone!"
Ombari hadn't been daunted. "The fact you've gone through so many
once only. If it was just sex you should have found a good lover by now.
You're looking to forget someone and you need a substitute." Margrave
hadn't said anything, she just stared. "Want to talk about it?"
"No ...", a brief pause, "Yes ... I mean maybe ... look why the hell
should I tell you?"
Janet had looked genuinely concerned, "Because I think you need a
friend. And I'm about the only shot you've got."
"That doesn't answer why you'd want to be my friend."
She'd shaken her head. "I honestly don't know. All I can say is you
fascinate me for some reason. I think you have hidden depths."
"True there's none I wouldn't sink to."
Janet smiled. "Well sink down a few fathoms and betray a few
confidences to me." To her surprise Margrave smiled back and nodded.
Ombari had paused for a moment then asked, "Is it Mr. Deite?"
"No. Not that we weren't lovers for a time but that was more a
matter of ... allegiances. When he decided to expand his horizons it was
over. No big deal." I sort of regretted not captivating a Youma lord,
she thought. Except after what he did to those children my skin crawled
when he touched me. I wonder why? They were only humans, after all.
Aloud she continued, "No need to be so formal about him. After all you've
slept with him too."
Janet had nodded and looked a little puzzled. "I've wondered about
that. I wouldn't have said he was my type but when he asked it seemed like
a great idea. He's got remarkable stamina." Margrave had nodded,
reflecting that a man with mind control powers could get any woman he
wanted. If he chose to do so. Which brought her to thinking about
someone else.
"So do you want to tell me about him. No need for names."
Margrave had sighed and sorted through her feelings. After a moment
she said. "This was some time back. The guy was one of several I was
seeing regularly. He worked for one of Deite's rivals. The brains behind
his boss."
"Did he know about the others?"
"Yes. Seemed to accept it was part of who I am. He wasn't jealous."
"Said he wasn't or ..."
"Really wasn't. Guess he felt it was better to share me than lose
me. Smart guy but had some blindspots about women. Never caught on that
while he was around Azure's tongue was dragging on the ground."
Unprompted she said, "Azure was this friend of his, personally I couldn't
stand her. Drove her wild I got him before she could. Also she thought I
was a bad infuence on his sister."
"Maybe this guy was just operating on your terms? Sex without any
attachment, just for pleasure."
"It wasn't without attachment! Look if you use it right sex is a
tool. What else did I have? I wanted to advance but I didn't have the
power to force my way up the ladder. So you find someone who's got power
and attach yourselves to them. And you use what you learn to move
upwards."
Janet looked disappointed. "So this man was just a means to an end."
"NO! ... well partially. Initially it was just physical attraction
and what he could do for me. Later on ... " Margrave trailed off.
"So he meant something to you but you didn't drop the others?"
"HE DIDN'T TELL ME TO! Besides I needed what I could get from them.
They got a great time, I got to learn a lot of stuff that helped me."
"Do you think he understood that?'
"I ... I'm not sure. One thing I hope he realized. With them it was
just screwing, with him it was making love."
"Did you ever tell him that?"
"No." Margrave's tone was flat.
Ombari tried to sort through what she'd learned about Margrave's
moral code. After a few moment's silence she asked, "So what happened?"
Margrave had stared off into space. When Janet though she wasn't
going to say anything she suddenly spoke. "Things went very wrong.
Everything was going to hell. That's not a figure of speech. I was
facing death and went looking for him. He had an escape route planned.
He didn't even look back! Just cleared out with the people he'd chosen and
left me to die." She was silent for a few moments. "It was only by
chance that I stumbled into Deite and we both got away." She fell silent,
immersed in her memories.
Janet tried to think what to say. "So he abandoned you and ..."
"You don't understand." Margrave was shaking her head. "I thought I
had him but he was able to leave me without a qualm. After all I had no
further value and would just have complicated his escape. A perfectly
calculated, cold decision. I was the one with the false expectations. I
should be proud of him."
Janet had just looked at her for a while. "Cat, you have a lot of
problems."
"No shit."
Margrave's memory returned to the here and now. She extended an
index claw and tapped the picture. "Why did I tell you all that? Don't
tell me it was because I liked you. I'm a youma, humans mean nothing to
us!"
"Then why did you avenge me?" the picture seemed to ask. She sipped
her drink and remembered.
Four weeks ago she'd finally agreed to a girls' night out with Janet.
Nothing sexual, if the other woman was coming onto her she'd have smelled
the phermones. Just a night out for two friends. She still wasn't sure
why she'd agreed. Probably she'd felt it would help maintain her cover.
At any rate Janet arranged to meet her at Margrave's apartment. She never
showed up. An hour after she was due to arrive the police called her.
Janet had been found on the fringes of a slum zone. She was critically
injured and undergoing emergency surgery at MegaTokyo General. Her
attackers had left her electronic notebook which had Margrave's address
displaying. The police had found it and called her. The constable
advised her to upgrade her security system and watch out for strangers.
Janet's attackers would also have seen the address.
By the time she got to the hospital Janet's abused body had given up
the struggle to live. The police asked her to positively ID the body.
She did. It was hard to associate the bloody ruin with the vibrant woman
she'd known. The detective explained what had happened. They'd found
Janet's car with a "crab" attached. A small robot designed to slid under
a car and link to the electrical system. On a given signal it would fry
the cars electronics with a localized pulse that would also knock out cel
phones. Janet had been cutting through a downscale neighbourhood. Not
quite a slum though on its way there. When she was stranded without
transport or communication she must have thought it was a good enough
neighbourhood to walk until she could flag a taxi.
They'd been waiting for her. The detective was saying they'd have to
run tests to determine the number of attackers. Margrave already knew,
she could scent five men. She could also tell the detective didn't hold
out much hope for finding them.
So that was that. There was a company memorial and the next day it
was business as usual. Janet's replacement came round to offer grief
counselling but left hurridly at Margrave's request. Just a dead human,
not worth getting upset about. Another statistic in a city full of them.
Despite knowing all this Margrave couldn't let it go. Why?
Since she didn't have Renegade tendancies there had to be a reason
she felt something must be done. Privately Margrave doubted there ever
were such things as Renegades. Probably just a myth created to dispose of
enemies by accusing them of it. That left her looking for a good youma
reason why she wanted to do something about Janet's murder. After much
thought she had the reason.
The Boomer development wing was the equivalent of Lord Jadeite's new
fief which made the employees his vassals. Everyone knew only the Dark
Generals (and her majesty) were allowed to kill their own servants.
Someone had stolen that right from Lord Jadeite. Only he had had the
right to kill Ombari. So it was up to her to avenge this attack on Lord
Jadeite's privileges.
She'd begun stalking the slums. It had been easier than she'd
expected. Go in looking helpless and wait for the predators to appear.
One by one she'd encountered Janet's killers. After they'd got
overenthusiastic and realized Ombari was dying they'd split up and hidden
out in different slums until the hunt died down. Some had stayed loners,
some had joined gangs. Now all were dead, along with quite a few others
who wouldn't be missed. Lord Jadeite had seemed amused by her actions
when he'd learned of them but he hadn't told her to desist. Now the hunt
was done.
She'd always been a good huntress but no one in the Dark Kingdom had
regarded her as more than a sex kitten. Not that she minded being a sex
kitten but she sometimes wanted to be known for more than that. Well
almost no one. Once again her thoughts turned to Calcite.
She remembered the last day clearly. She'd tracked Calcite and
Titanite to the Eternal Sleep Chamber. Ti smelled injured. It was hard
to keep her footing with the quakes rocking the Kingdom. She'd made it
into the chamber to see Calcite standing with his back to her. Pyrite to
his left, Titanite to his right, Azurite in front of him facing in her
direction. All four had linked hands, energy danced around them. The
crash and roar of the quakes was deafening. Azurite's gaze flicked to her
then back to Calcite. Her old rival's expression showed no sign of
triumph, just concentration. Margrave had known enough to recognise some
sort of space warp. As she was screaming at Calcite to wait there was a
flare of light and they were gone. A sparkling curtain of blue energy
remained but began to shrink.
Then Lord Jadeite's crystal toppled from its pedestal and slammed
into her. Both her and the crystal rolled into the field. Suddenly the
Kingdom was gone, her senses were going crazy and everything hurt. She'd
instinctively grabbed onto the crystal and locked her grip around it. The
only solid object in this insane place. Somehow they'd been thrown into
this world. Perhaps an effect of Lord Jadeite's own spacewarping powers
as transit began breaking down the crystal. In any event she'd lost
consciousness before arrival. The next thing she remembered was being
shaken awake by Lord Jadeite. He was surrounded by fragments of the
crystal and was demanding information on what had happened during his
imprisonment.
That began her career as Jadeite's last real follower. The only
person in this world who could truly appreciate him. His adoring
audience. She was now the highest ranking follower of Lord Jadeite. Top
of the heap at last. It was nowhere near as enjoyable as she'd expected.
Jadeite was also the only person in the world in whose presence she
could truly relax. With all other people she had to maintain her glamour
at all times. During all activities. Otherwise looking like a cross
between a white persian cat and a centerfold would attract comment.
Maintaining enough control to keep the glamour going meant exercising a
self restraint during sex she wasn't used to. Of course she also had to
ensure she kept her claws sheathed and her fangs unused. Humans were a
fragile lot, especially after years with a lover with very strong bones
and excellent healing abilities. It was rather frustrating. Conversely
many of her lovers came away puzzled. The glamour would convince them that
what they saw was real as tactile sensation told them they were touching
fur, not skin. The glamour always won out but it caused psychic
shortcircuits in a few.
When she'd first encountered Calcite they'd both been 13. It was
shortly after he'd wiped out the youma boss by the name of Vekris. Vekris
had decided to wipe out all the relatives of the leaders of a failed coup
against him. One of them was Calcite's aunt. Calcite's mother was killed
on Vekris's order and Calcite, his cousin and his sister were targetted
for termination. This turned out to be Vekris's biggest and final
mistake. After that Calcite acquired a reputation for two things; being a
stone killer and protecting what he considered his. And avenging it if
his protection failed. Margrave was ambitious but knew she had little
real power. Her speed and strength weren't that unusual. Her only real
powers were minor precognitive abilities. Not the sort of thing to
overawe other youma. She'd realized there would be a lot of advantages if
Calcite considered her his. So they had become lovers and she'd made sure
it was well known Calcite wanted her healthy. From then on in the circles
she moved no one dare touch her unless she wanted them to. It also also
increased her appeal to officers of the smaller youma bosses. By having
her they put one over on Magnesite's deputy. Margrave had smiled and
collected information from them to boost her own standing in Jadeite's
legion.
Wherever Calcite had gone it wasn't this world. So she'd never have
to answer the question of what she'd do if she met him. To screw his
brains out or rip his heart out, that was the question.
She finished her drink and put the picture back on the coffee table.
Best to dispose of it before Lord Jadeite saw it. He'd been happy with
today's test of the enhanced Boomer he'd sent to Brazil. Tomorrow, he'd
promised, he would finally put reveal his plan. Tonight ... a quiet night
for a change. Sift through her memories and get a full night's sleep.
She had the sense major changes were coming. Perhaps her precognition was
trying to tell her something.
Across town Calcite was talking to the desk clerk at the Imperial
Hotel. "So I imagine we need a variety of documentation in order to check
in?"
"Yes sir." English from his accent. There was something fascinating
about his eyes.
"But you could bypass that if you wanted to?"
"Yes. It would be easy. I'd just have use my backdoor commands here
and here. I just need pictures of the three of you. Insert verified
credit history and airport arrival ... There, everything is clear."
"That's very helpful. Is anyone monitoring us?"
"Everything is recorded on the security monitors. They run a check
every morning to see everything's fine. And to keep an eye on the staff."
"No way around that?"
"I could introduce a glitch into the security system. That happens
sometimes. Luckily maintenance is slow about fixing it."
"Would you be so kind?"
"Of course. Let's see ... there we go, five minutes of static."
"You're very good at this."
"Well I've been using it to cover overcharging guests and skimming
off the excess."
"I see. I think you'd better forget telling me that. Along with our
having this conversation."
"Certainly sir."
"Thank you. Now I'd like two adjoining rooms. Both doubles."
"Luxury or standard?"
"Standard. Less conspicuous."
"Rooms 16 and 17 on the 20th floor. Here are you key cards. Would
you like a porter."
"No, thank you." The threesome headed for the elevators. The desk
clerk stared after him for a moment then shook herself and turned her
attention back to the screen.
Calcite took 16, Azurite & Pyrite took 17. They unlocked the
connecting doors and met in 16. Azurite noticed Calcite was looking more
concerned than usual. "Still worried about what you did to that guy." He
nodded.
Pyrite thought he knew the problem, "Cal I realize you feel terrible
about killing him ..."
Cal looked surprised. "I don't." Pyrite was astonished, Azurite
nodded in agreement. Pyrite wasn't a warrior, there were some things he
just didn't get.
"But ..."
"Cousin he was trying to put a bullet in your back. He had no way of
knowing it wouldn't work. Matter of fact we don't know for sure it
wouldn't have penetrated your shield. I didn't intend to kill him but I'm
not going to weep over him either. He acted, I reacted. That ends the
moral implications from my point of view."
"Still he was a human being ..."
"I've thought about it and there's no intrinsic reason killing a
human is worse than killing a youma. In both cases you're ending the life
of a sentient being. Destroying all they are and all they could be.
Ending a universe from some viewpoints. Sometimes it's necessary. This
wasn't necessary but in combat it's easy to make terrible mistakes."
Pyrite looked uncomfortable. Azurite could follow Cal's reasoning
perfectly. In some ways she was radically different from Pyrite. But
perhaps that gentleness was what she cherised about him.
"What really concerns me is that if I can't control my powers ..."
"That may not be the problem." Pyrite was back in his area of
expertise. He held a paperback sized block of crystal and ran his fingers
over it. The room filled with lights. "If you examine this power index
...", a coiled red spiral, "...and compare it to your measured kinetic
wave potential ..." a multicolored soccerball sized sphere, "then we see
that you just used a level 3 blast."
"Level 3? But that means ..."
Pyrite nodded. "It means he should have just been knocked over and
lost his grip on the weapon."
"So how the hell ...?"
"I don't know. Perhaps his bones were abnormally brittle."
Azurite frowned. "Why would someone so weak try a physical assault."
"Hard to say. He was part of a gang ... maybe he was in the gang
because he couldn't take care of himself. He had to run with a pack."
"Maybe. Alternately he was physically normal but our powers are more
effective in this dimension."
"We'll have to be careful until we know for sure."
"Better find someplace to test our powers."
Pyrite didn't both agreeing. He didn't have much in the way of
offensive powers. However he did have a sensitivity to energy fields and
he felt something flare. His fingers danced over the crystal and the
holograms vanished. Scanning ... There! "I'm getting a ... what looks
like a lifeforce drain two kilometers west. It matches the profile for a
youma created drain. Incredibly powerful!"
"That means jumping blind." Calcite dismissed his worries, this was
what they came to find out. "Pyrite find us a clear space to land.
Azure, you're with me." She nodded and tapped a bracelet. Her clothing
morphed into her Sailor Arcturus costume. Calcite activated the
transmutor in his watchband and felt his clothing shift to the Gray
bodyarmour.
Azurite frowned. "No one's going to have any idea who and what I'm
supposed to be."
"New worlds to conquer. I suppose this makes you the first Sailor
Senshi of this world. Pyr, found a touchdown place?"
"Here! That'll put you near this tunnel. All the action's taking
place underground. Link to these coordinates."
"Got it. Ready?" Azurite nodded and the two linked there
teleporting powers. A few seconds to power up and sense their
destination. Then there was a flare of light and Pyrite was alone.
Meanwhile the Knight Sabers were meeting at Sylia Stingray's
apartment. Nene was the healthiest of the four having suffered only minor
bruising. Priss was sporting a cast around her right forearm and multiple
bruises. Linna was over her concussion but had three cracked ribs and a
lot of aches and pains from being used as a whip. Sylia was limping and
like the others had bruises over most of her body. They'd come perilously
close to armour breach and that would have meant death.
Sylia decided to get the meeting underway. "As we all know our last
outing didn't go very well." That got a snort from Priss and pained
smiles from the others. "You must all be wondering what we ran into ..."
Sylia actually looked uncertain for once. "Frankly I still don't know.
The head Nene recovered tests out as a standard C-55 Boomer."
"That thing was no C-55!"
"I know Priss. While I might not know what it was I believe I know
who designed it." The screen behind her lit up displaying the profiles of
two men. Biographical data scolled by underneath them. "These are the
heads of GENOM's local Boomer Development Division. The one on the left
is David Webster. Nene managed to break into his files. He seems to
working on a standard Boomer upgrade scheme. Faster CPU, better
programming, improved servomechanisms, that sort of thing."
"Now the one on the right is Jason Deite, though he prefers to be
known as J. Deite. We couldn't access anything out of the ordinary in his
files, or his workers. In fact we couldn't even find a hint of what
they're doing. They're maintaining a secrecy which I would have thought
impossible in this day and age. The word around GENOM is Deite has a
radical method of upgrading Boomers. But no one seems to have any idea
how this method works. All we have are rumours that Deite alone
supervises the final phase of the process and is keeping it top secret."
"Not much to go on."
"You're right Linna. The odd thing is when we traced Deite's
background is doesn't seem to ring true."
"So GENOM created an identity for him. Probably he's wanted for
illegal research somewhere."
"Could be, except it's so obviously artificial. They're generally
more careful than that."
"So he could be an outsider who's wormed his way into GENOM to
execute his own agenda?"
"If so he's somehow conned them into buying this phoney background."
"Maybe they're just letting him think he's got away with it. As long
as they get his work in the end who cares?"
"Perhaps. But there are no indications of security checks. GENOM is
treating his background as gospel truth."
Nene piped up, "His number two, a Catherine Margrave's got an equally
fake background. And a reputation for going through more men than Linna."
Priss shook her head, "That's just not possible."
Linna looked at Nene, "Excuse me ..."
"I've got statistics from emails I intercepted."
"Just what are you two implying?"
"Still to beat Linna she'd have to ..."
"HEY! I don't have to take this. When was the last time either of
you had a date."
Sylia sighed, things were about to degenerate. "Children, please!"
The three subsided though Linna was still shooting dark looks at the
others. "Returning to Deite. Thanks to Nene's hacking we've learned that
he's removed 12 BU-12B's from storage along with 3 C-55 Boomers. As far
as we can tell they didn't pass through the enhancement procedure." A
city map replaced the GENOM executive's faces. "Company transport records
indicate he deployed the Boomers here."
Priss frowned. "What the hell! That's a quakezone! Nothing left
but rubble."
"Correct. There have been no indications of Boomer firefights there
so the Boomers haven't been activated yet. Why he placed them there we
don't know but we're going to find out." She paused a moment. "Since
Mackie is still getting the old suits functional we'll let it go for
tonight and hope them don't activate." A white lie, the old suits were
fully functional. However another day to heal would help. Hopefully the
Boomers would stay quiet tonight. "Tomorrow we will pay a visit to the
Boomers." Priss cracked her knuckles. Then winced and glared at the cast
on her arm. Sharply Sylia continued, "This will be a reconnaissance
mission initially. If I feel it is necessary to engage the Boomers then
and only then will we initiate combat. Is that understood." She said it
to everyone but she was looking at Priss. Priss held her gaze for a few
seconds then nodded. Another crisis averted. "Good. Now everyone go home
and get some rest. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a rough day."
Calcite and Azurite materialized in the spot Pyrite had picked. They
were shielded from view by an equipment shed. A few feet to the right was
an access panel to the tunnel. It was sealed and marked, "Maintenance
staff only". A look past the shed showed a police barricade across the
roadway leading down to the traffic tunnel. There was a burst of fire
from the tunnel but the police didn't answer. Perhaps afraid of hitting
the civilians inside. They seemed to be waiting for something. Probably
a SWAT team. Who might well use this entry for access. They had to move
quickly.
Calcite created a thin knife and cut through the four clamps locking
the hatch in place. His blades could cut just about anything. Being
constructs of his mind they were as sharp and strong as he willed them to
be. They'd probably just set off alarms. Time to find out what was going
on before everything hit the fan. Azurite heaved the hatchway aside and
Calcite dropped down into the accessway. Azurite followed, also ignoring
the ladder. Squeezing past the cables filling the corridor they proceeded
silently. There was a hatch in the floor ahead of them. Opening it they
found themselves on a catwalk above the roadway. Cars were scattered all
over as were bodies. Nothing moved. Silently both went over the rail and
dropped down to the road. Calcite landed by a car with the driver's door
open and a body hanging half in, half out. He suppressed a startled cry.
The body appeared to be wizened and completely desiccated. Almost as if
it had been mummified for centuries. A look of shock flickered across
Azurite's face then vanished. Calcite tapped the skull gently and saw a
large piece cave in and crumple into dust. Worry about this later, right
now was time to seek the source. It wasn't hard to find. Both could feel
something resembling a youma aura not far away. They moved quietly toward
it.
The source appeared to be a Boomer. But a Boomer with a bizarre,
almost lionlike appearance. There was an energy sphere held between its
two clawed hands. A sphere that was steadily diminishing as it
transmitted the energy somewhere. Suddenly its head turned towards them.
Trouble. It had a forceshield. To make matters worse it was standing in
front of a tank labelled "Tritonex - Warning Extremely Volatile!" OK,
finesse time. Step one, break the shield. "Mid range!" Azurite nodded
and slammed a microhurricane into Boomer. It stood its ground as the
shield absorbed the impact. A full power burst might have breached the
shield sending it flying backwards. "Again!" Azurite's second vortex hit
the shield as Calcite threw the knife he'd created. The Boomer ignored
that as it was already shielding against kinetic weapons. As the knife
reached the shield it reverted to its charged psychoplasm form and slid
through the shield and the Boomers shell. Inside the Boomer it disappated,
discharged the energy bound to it. The power surge threw the Boomer's
systems into disarray. Including the forceshield.
Azurite saw the shield go down and ceased attacking. Over to Calcite
for a neat finish. A forcesphere formed around the Boomer. Like his
sister Calcite could create kinetic energy spheres. Unlike her he had a
special variation on it that was perfect for this situation. The sphere
shrank rapidly. As it reduced it got stronger. The Boomer began
imploding from the pressure. Suddenly there was an energy discharge from
the mangled biomech. It reverted to a standard C-55 Boomer and was swiftly
crushed into a ball about two feet in diameter.
In his office Jadeite felt his link to the Boomer shatter. He'd got
most of the lifeforce it drained so it wasn't a total loss. Besides right
now he didn't need the energy he was simply storing reserves. But what in
the Abyss had it encountered? He'd linked into its' vision and seen a
woman dressed something like a Senshi. But he'd sensed what seemed to be
a youma aura. What just happened? How had whoever that was known how to
disable the Boomer? Well in thirty seconds or so it might be irrelevant.
Calcite disappated the sphere. The Boomer's crushed remains fell to
the ground and splattered a variety of fluids. Nice and neat, no risk of
explosion. He was taking a step towards the remains when Azurite grabbed
his arm. She pointed to the side of the tanker. Calcite saw something
moving. A digital display changing rapidly. 25, 24, 23 ... Calcite's
shield flared to maximum. Azurite grabbed his hand and they linked their
teleporting abilities. A flare of light and they were back on top of the
tunnel. The hotel would have been better but they'd automatically warped
to the last access point. No more time! They wrapped their arms around
each other and combined their forceshields.
The tanker exploded as the Tritonex combusted. Directed by the
tunnel a wall of flame roared towards the exits. Every car in its path
exploded and all the bodies ignited. A pillar of fire erupted from the
hatchway Calcite had cut open and the ground shook. Fortunately it was
more of a firestorm than an explosion so the tunnel didn't cave in.
The rumbling underfoot stopped. Calcite and Azurite untangled
themselves. There was screaming from the tunnel mouth. A fireball had
emerged and engulfed several police vehicles and their occupants. Along
with a few news crews who'd been pushing in too close. Paramedics were
moving in.
Nothing they could do here. The two renegades fixed the location of
the hotel room in their minds and warped back there. Pyrite's greeting
froze at their grim expressions.
An hour later they were watching the news and trying to figure it
out. The official story was that terrorists had seized the tunnel and
taken those inside as hostages. Before they could issue demands a bomb
they'd been planting had prematurely exploded. This had killed the
terrorists, their hostages and another ten people outside the tunnels.
Dozens more had suffered burns ranging from first to third degrees.
"So the Boomer goes in shooting and starts draining energy. The
people on the fringes get out and call the cops. The shooting makes them
think terrorists. To cover what happened a bomb is planted on something
extremely flammable. The fire covers the fact that the victims were
already dead and the heat can be blamed for the condition of any bodies
recovered intact. The Boomer must have been expendable. There wasn't
enough time to get it clear before the blast."
"Feels right Cal but that doesn't explain the bodies." Azurite
paused to collect her thoughts. "Look I know theoretically energy drain
can kill. But you can't drain energy from the dead. And those people
would have dead long before they got that ... that ancient. Hell you saw
them. They looked like they'd been dead for centuries."
"Under normal circumstances I agree." Cal's voice was slow as he
thought it through. "But what if it happened a lot faster than normal?"
"What do you mean?"
"A normal drain takes a minimum of ten minutes before the victim is
in danger, right?"
"Everyone knows that."
"But what if it happened in seconds?"
"What!"
"What if a total drain took place in seconds? So that they were
reduced to those mummies so fast they didn't have time to finish dying
until then?"
It was a very unpleasant picture. "Metallia! ... I mean Jesus! If
something could do that ..."
"Then it would be someone very powerful. Someone best avoided.
Pyrite!"
"Yes?" He'd been listening to the conversation quietly.
"Is there any way to permanently collapse the gate from this side?"
"I'm afraid not. At least no way I know."
"Damn."
They were silent for a few minutes. At length Pyrite asked, "What do
we do now?"
"Not a lot we can do right now. We keep our auras stealthed and
tomorrow we look around this city for a few answers. And if there's any
way to avoid engaging whoever's behind this we take it." A pause. "I
also wish I knew why whoever it is wants human energy badly enough to kill
for it."
No one had an answer.
The following morning the first thing they did to obtain some local
currency. On his initial visit Calcite had discovered gold was still
valuable so he'd brought some of his stockpile. Finding a semihonest
dealer they changed the bullion for new yen. Although they didn't know it
they'd got a very good deal. Seeing the ease Calcite had handled the bars
the owner had suspected he was a Boomer and this was part of some GENOM
covert operation. No one tries to cheat GENOM.
After some discussion they split up. Azurite and Pyrite headed east,
Calcite headed west. The day dragged on as they relentlessly scoured the
city. They kept in touch through their communicators but there was
nothing to report. Either whoever it was had shielded their aura
completely or they just hadn't stumbled across the right place yet.
Towards evening Calcite got a call from Azurite.
"Still nothing. We're going to take a break and grab something to
eat."
"Understood. Nothing new this end. I'll meet you both at the hotel
in a few hours."
She acknowledged and signed off. Calcite put away the communicator
(which looked like a cel phone from a distance) and walked on. He was in
an industrial district now. Most of the buildings seemed to labelled
GENOM. Plants with branch offices attached. He was currently heading
toward one marked "GENOM Experimental Boomer Development Lab Beta
Complex."
The restaurant wasn't too busy so Azurite and Pyrite were able to get
a table in the window without much trouble. It seemed a little
incongruous, sitting down for a gourmet meal in a futuristic city while
knowing that somewhere out there is a Youma who's killing people with
Boomers. Strange days. Azurite sighed.
"Something wrong? ... Besides the stuff that's going on I mean"
Apart from being in love with your cousin and avoiding making a
choice?, she thought. "Just life generally. It gets complicated
sometimes."
"Current thinking is that order inevitably gives way to chaos. That
chaos is the natural state of things."
"Thinking back on our lives I would have to agree."
"In short things will only get worse?"
"I'm afraid so. I'd say expect the unexpected except that just
doesn't work."
"Ah well, a toast then. To the hope that everything works out for
the best anyway."
"Amen."
Calcite was passing the Beta Complex when he felt the aura surge.
There was something very powerful in there. Worse that surge was caused
by a sensor wave. It knew he was out here. Fight or flight time. Either
would probably be disasterous. He examined the building itself. It
seemed to consist of several long, low buildings attached to an office
block. So labs and administration? Probably. Perhaps the source of the
Boomers who'd invaded 20th century Tokyo.
Running would probably be a big mistake. Fighting without knowing
the enemy a worse one. Calcite headed for the doors. Inside a security
guard put down the phone and unlocked them. Mr Deite was working late
tonight. He'd just called down and said to let someone in. He didn't
know who it was but he wanted them in. No security considerations!
Crazy! The guard got to give the newcomer the once over. He kept his
hand hear the holster. "Raise your arms please sir."
Calcite's eyes glowed briefly. "Everything's fine."
"Oh well that's a relief."
"Who told you to let me in?"
"Mr. Deite, sir."
"Mr. Deite?"
"Mr. Jason Deite, the director of this project."
Jason Deite ... J. Deite ... Jadeite. How incredibly original.
Thinking this way kept the fear at bay. Jadeite himself .... was it
possible? He had been still alive when the Kingdom fell. And they'd
built the warpgate in the Eternal Sleep Chamber. It could actually be
him. A man with power and a definite grudge to settle with Sailor Moon
and her hometown. Time for some last minute adlibbing ... Ok that might
work. "Where would I find Mr. Deite?"
"Top floor, turn right as you exit the elevator. You can't miss it."
Believe me I'd like too. Calcite exit the elevator and headed to the
right. He neededn't have bothered with directions, the aura was
impossible to miss. The doors swung open as he approached. Calcite
deactivated his translator for the first time in months. He bowed deeply
to the man behind the desk. "Lord Jadeite, this is an honour."
"Straighten up and name yourself."
"Forgive me my lord. I am Calcite, formerly of Magnesite's legion."
"I remember him. Formerly?"
"He ahh failed to escape the Dark Kingdom."
"I see. How did you escape?"
"I had constructed a warpgate with the aid of my deputies. We
located it in the Eternal Sleep Chamber to avoid detection."
"So you considered it likely Queen Beryl would fail and the Kingdom
fall?"
"It seemed advisable to consider the possibility."
"You ran when the Kingdom fell. You didn't consider staying to fight
until the end?"
"Not for a second."
Jadeite nodded. "Very sensible. Now where have you been, why are
you here and why did you wreck my Boomer last night?"
He recognises my aura from the tunnel. "In order my Lord; I have
been hiding in Tokyo under the noses of the Senshi ..."
"Plotting revenge?"
"Unfortunately if Sailor Moon could destroy both Queen Beryl and
Metallia then she is beyond my power to harm."
"But not beyond mine. Continue."
"I discovered the gateway when six Boomers arrived."
"Did they spread terror and chaos across the city?"
"Somewhat."
"Somewhat?"
"They were destroyed fairly quickly."
"Unfortunate. Ah well just an initial probe. The main event will be
unstoppable."
Main event? "I crossed over and found this city. I explored and
learned that this was not the future of the world I had been living in but
rather a world without Senshi."
"Ah yes. You keep saying 'I' but you were with someone last night.
A women who looked a lot like a Senshi." Despite the relaxed tone of
Jadeite's voice Calcite could sense power building.
"Your servant seemed about to attack so we destroyed it. Had we
known it was yours ..."
"Yes, yes, go on.
"As for the Sailor Arcturus guise, that is an old jest of Azurite's"
"Azurite?" That name definitely registered. "Yes of course, the
blue hair and the aura should have tipped me off. By the way there were
four of you?"
Damn, it must have been true that the sleepers could see. Jadeite
saw all four of us open the gate. "Unfortunately my Lord the gate was
somewhat hurried and improvised. While it required four teleport capable
Youma to activate it the gate could only safely deliver two to the
destination."
Jadeite smiled. "You told the other's this?"
"Just Azurite."
"So you ensured that you would be the two to make it?"
"She was the most useful of the other three."
Jadeite chuckled. "I'm sure she was. She seems to have grown up
nicely." He noticed Calcite tense slightly. "Relax. I have no intention
of stealing your bedmate. If I did you might fight me and I would have to
kill you. That would be a waste." Jadeite considered mentioning
Margrave's survival but dismissed the notion. Why would Calcite care
about the existence of a low rank youma? "Where are you staying?"
"I have arranged a room at the Hotel Imperial."
"Return there and wait for word from me. I must consider how to fit
you into my plans."
"I live to serve you, my Lord."
"Yes. You do. Now go." Calcite bowed again and vanished. Jadeite
made a note to erase the guard's memory of his arrival. He replayed the
memory of the "Senshi" he had seen last night. "Daddy's little girl seems
to have grown up nicely. Perhaps I should acknowledge her."
In an office within the GENOM tower David Webster gave an order.
"All right activate the Boomers. Let 'em run wild and bring us the Knight
Sabers." The Knight Sabers were already enroute when they heard about the
rampage. As they were planning a reconaissance mission rather than combat
they were being transported in an unmarked truck. Mackie was driving, the
four Sabers were in the truck. He was watching them through the monitor
but he'd missed the real action. Still Nene looked good in the skintight
softsuit. Only Sis and Linna were actually in their hardsuits and they'd
left the helmets off for now. Nene and Priss had changed to the softsuits
and their hardsuits were waiting for them. Priss was massaging her wrist
again and looked pissed at life in general. Looked like the cast had come
off a little early. Nene was sitting by the truck's terminal monitoring
radio traffic. Then she looked up startled.
"Sylia, ADP's getting reports of Boomers running amuck in the sector
fifteen restaurant district! Possibly BU-12 types."
"Change of plans. Mackie I know you're watching. Take us there
now!" The truck screeched to a stop and did a quick U turn.
"It'll take us at least ten minutes to get there."
"I know Linna. But there's no option." As she said this Priss was
already sliding into her hardsuit. Nene stayed by the terminal to keep
monitoring. They were five minutes away when she looked up puzzled.
"Wait a minute!"
"What's wrong?"
"It's over. They're still calling for emergency vehicles but N
police are saying the Boomers are down."
"N Police?"
"Yes. They're telling ADP they don't need SWAT teams anymore the
Boomers have been disabled. However they want ADP investigators on the
scene."
"Why?"
"Something to do with how they were disabled. They're refusing to
give any more details than that."
Mackie's voice came over the intercom. "What now Sis?"
Sylia shrugged. The movement was lost inside the hardsuit. "Turn
around and head back to our original destination."
The truck slowed as Mackie plotted a route back and made a turn.
Priss snorted, "Must have been really wimpy Boomers if N police could take
them down."
Sylia made a note to investigate this matter further. Bu-12's were
not pushovers and there wasn't a heavy police presence in the area.
Back at the restaurant a few minutes earlier Azurite and Pyrite were
talking over coffee. Azurite's mind was wandering. She couldn't let
matters continue she would have to make a decision. And live with the
consequences afterwards. This could tear everything apart for the
Renegades. So now wasn't the right time to make that decision. She
should delay until after they'd sorted things out. When they were safely
back in their Tokyo she'd settle matters. Even as she thought this she
was pretty sure she was lying. The queen of procrastination.
"Azure?"
"Sorry I'm afraid my mind wandered."
"Anything I can help you with?"
She hesitated. It was unfair of him to not know the situation. On
the other hand ignorance is bliss. Then again ... She frowned, "Did you
hear an explosion."
"I heard something loud. It could have been ..." There was a louder
noise and the building shook slightly. "What the hell?"
A car nearby exploded. Suddenly the street outside seemed to be a
madhouse as people fled in panic. Something green moved around the
corner. It seemed to point towards them. Azurite shouted "Shields!" A
moment later the missile roared through the front window and exploded.
Patrolman Akira Ishikawa realized he was on lying on the street. The
past few minutes were a blur. Things exploding, screams, the taste of
blood in his mouth. His head was ringing. No it wasn't! Those were very
heavy footsteps. He looked up to see the advancing green shape of the
Boomer loom over him. His hand scrabbled for his gun but he knew it was
useless. The Boomer seemed to study him a moment then reached for him
clawlike fingers. He wasn't even worth a bullet.
"Hey ugly!" The Boomer turned towards the intrusion. So did Akira,
he gaped in amazement. The woman emerged from the shattered front of a
restaurant. She didn't seem concerned about the fire burning around her.
Her attire was odd. Despite the circumstances Akira couldn't help
goggling at her. The leotard-like torso covering was bright red with a
large black ribbon across the chest. The calfhugging lace up black boots
seemed to be leather. As did the miniskirt, spiked collar around the
throat and domino mask. Her arms were enclosed in skintight red gloves
with studded bands around the wrists. Despite the fact the street was
strewn with rubble she seemed to have no trouble walking on four inch
stiletto heels. Sort of like the traditional sailor fuku as redesigned by
a fetishist.
Watching by remote David Webster shrugged. Some crazy hooker was
trying to get herself torn apart by a Boomer. Might be fun to watch. She
was saying, "I am trying to sort a few things out. Last thing I need is
some asshole machine blowing the restaurant up in my face."
The Boomer noted her lack of weaponary, prioritized her as secondary
target and turned back to the policeman. No significant threats.
Activating terror inducing termination methods. Amputation sequence
begins.
Akira's gaze turned helplessly to the Boomer. It extended blades
from its fingertips. He heard the woman say, "Introductions. I'm Sailor
Arcturus. Go to hell!" Something ripped from her hands and struck the
boomer's head. It torqued backwards then ripped free. Trailing wires and
parts of its nervous system it embedded itself in the opposite wall. Had
Webster been a little less amphromorphic and placed the brains in the body
it would still have been operational. As it was a ton of dead metal
dropped towards Akira. Then stopped. His eyes shifted from onrushing
death to see the woman holding the Boomer by the chest. She heaved and
the biomech fell backwards. Akira stared up at her. She was already
moving as he opened his mouth. That was when he saw the second Boomer.
It was chewing up the street behind her as she ran.
Azurite jumped soaring over the Boomer's head. It tried to bring the
gun to bear but couldn't traverse fast enough. Time to disarm it.
Landing behind it she grabbed it on the upper gun arm with one hand and
dug her other into its' back. Bracing herself she heaved! It stayed
fixed. Damn! It was tougher than those blue bastards. She was sweating
from the effort. Come on! There was a popping noise then the arm tore
free. She overbalanced and the Boomer spun striking her with its
remaining arm. She flew several meters, rolled and was on her feet again.
The damaged machine was pointing a rocket launcher at her. Winds howled
around Azurite. Driving debris right into the launcher should do it.
There was a flare of light and the Boomer suddenly had a golfball sized
hole melted clear through its head. It toppled and crashed to the street.
Akira saw a second figure emerge from the restaurant. Behind him a
blue wall blinked out revealing a room in dissarry from fleeing people but
untouched by explosion. The man wore a tuxedo and top hat and had a mask
that concealed his eyes. He carried a cane. The woman looked at him. "I
told you to stay down. I was about to take it down."
"I had a clear shot so I took it. I wouldn't have fired if you'd
been moving."
"Well thanks but you should leave this to the professionals. Nice
outfit by the way."
"Well I couldn't think of anything original so ..." He sounded
embarrassed.
She nodded at the cane. "One of your pulse crystals?"
"It seemed more effective than tossing roses."
"More power than I thought. Or did you ...?"
He nodded. "I fired all its energy in one burst."
"Good thing you didn't miss."
"I do have a few more."
Akira managed to sit up and find his voice. "Uh excuse me but who
... what are you?"
She shrugged. "I'm Sailor Arcturus and he's ... oh screw it. Let's
get the hell out of here." The unnamed man nodded and the two figures
walking back into the burning restaurant. Akira blinked and couldn't see
them anymore. Dazed he dug out his radio. The sturdy device was still
functional. "Uhh dispatch we need ambulances pronto. There's dead Boomers
all over the place and I don't know whats going on maybe I've gone crazy
but ... just send help. Medical the Boomers are down, don't ask me how
but they are."
Azurite and Pyrite rematerialized in their room. She sensed a
presence nearby then recognised it. "Hi Cal."
"Well if it isn't Sailor Arcturus and Tuxedo Pyrite." Pyrite flushed
and morphed his clothes back to the suit he'd been wearing earlier.
Azurite took off her mask and peered in a mirror. A lot of soot to
clean off. "We've just had a rough few minutes Cal."
"Believe me I can top it. Jadeite's in town. For real this time."
Azurite felt her stomach drop into her feet.
"Please tell me you're joking."
"Believe me. I wish I could." He recapped the meeting with the last
general of the Dark Kingdom. "... so he only knows that two of us exist.
As for your little escapade tonight ..." He took off his transmuter and
tossed it to Pyrtie. "Program mine to do 'Tuxedo Mask' as well. I'll
tell him it was me with Azure tonight. We'd better be ready in case he
asks for a demo."
Azurite had been thinking. "This may not be so bad. Sure he's got
power but he's incompetent. Hell he couldn't handle Sailor Moon on her
own. Or beat her, Mars and Mercury before their powers got boosted. If
we're careful we should be able to take him out."
Calcite shook his head. "That was true but not any longer. He's not
the same man he was in the Dark Kingdom. There he was careless and
blinded by his own arrogance. Soft after having things the way he wanted
them for centuries. The man I met tonight was hard edged, sharp and very
very dangerous. Maybe it was losing, maybe his time in the crystal but
he's changed dramatically."
"Maybe it's this world that's changed him."
Both of them looked at Pyrite. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure but ... look we just saw the casualties reports on that
rampage we broke up." Calcite nodded. The report had been barebones,
fatalities and injuries only. Nothing about a women dismembering Boomers
with her barehands. "Eleven dead, thirty injured, many critically. In a
city where this sort of thing is so common they've got a special police
unit to handle it."
"Yes?"
"Now six of thsoe things arrived in our Tokyo. A city totally
unprepared for them. How many fataliites?"
"None."
"Right. Just two serious injuries. Next we arrive. You hit that
guy with a powerburst that should have just stunned him. That I think
would have just stunned him back home."
Both Azurite and Calcite looked puzzled. "Where are you going with
this?"
"I'm not exactly sure. All I can say is that it seems like ... like
the rules are different here. As if people in our continuum can take
damage that would finish them here. As if probability is skewed somehow
so that the violence is more likely to be lethal here. I mean how many
people did Jadeite kill in Tokyo?"
"Approximately?" Pyrite nodded. "Well approximately ... none."
"Tonight he wiped out a tunnel full of people with a new energy drain
technique. Look this is just a theory but maybe ... maybe a world has its
own nature. When you enter it you somehow change to fit in. Assimilated
by the new reality."
"If there's anything to this then we are going to be changed."
"Perhaps. It is just a theory and the process might be gradual ..."
There was an urgent beeping noise. Pyrite fished a gemstone out of his
pocket. "The gateway just activated. Tracking ... it's opening from our
side!"
"The Senshi?"
"Negative. Pattern matches youma config ... It's Ti."
"I told her to only use the key in case of emergency."
"Maybe it is." Though she said it Azurite doubted it. Probably came
for a look around the new world.
Pyrite looked at a clock. "Given the time discrepency evening here
corresponds to afternoon in Tokyo. I'd estimate she's finished school for
the day in our continuum."
"Great. OK I'll go get her." Calcite visualized the area by the
gateway in his mind. "For her sake it had better at least be Armaggeddon
on the other side."
Pyrite looked at the watchband he was holding. "He forgot his
transmuter!"
"He shouldn't need it. Besides if Jadeite knows we're in town the
disguises are sort of useless."
True. What next.
Jadeite's own evening was about to become more eventful. He was
unaware that David Webster, nearly psychotic after the impossible failure
of the fieldtest of the BU-12C class Boomer, had decided to eliminate the
golden boy. Jadeite's car was waiting for him when he finished up.
Tonight's conquest was waiting for him patiently. She was a receptionist
who'd caught his eye. In more ways than one. He sometimes wondered if it
would be worth seeing how many women he could snare without mind control.
After all he had always been the most handsome of the generals. Still as
he had the power he might as well use it. Besides he had to enjoy the
women of the world while he could. Time was definitely running out.
He entered the car and ordered the driver to his apartment. He
looked into the woman's placid features and tried to decide if he wanted
her passive or passionate.
Not far away the killers waited. They preferred being called
freelance combat specialists to mercenaries. Like most GENOM executive
cars this one was bulletproof. Joey nodded, infared confirmed the back
was occupied. Gavin locked the lasersight on the passanger door and
fired. The armour piercing rocket impacted and the car flipped a half
dozen times. The burning wreck came to rest on its side. Nothing was
coming out of that alive.
Joey grinned. "Real subtle."
"Hell he ain't paying for subtle. Let's book!"
They were turning to go when the figure ripped through the remaing
door levitated over the wreck. Both froze as Deite glared at them. He
was spattered with blood, none of it his, and looked very angry. "You
broke her!", he snarled. "I wasn't finished with her yet!" He dropped to
the ground and blurred towards them. Next thing Gavin knew he was on the
ground with a broken arm. The twisted remains of the launcher beside him.
Deite had Joey by the throat. "I could just rip the answer out of your
mind but it wouldn't be as satisfying. Who sent you?"
"Fuck you!" Then light flickered around Joey. In seconds he
withered to a man in his nineties. Deite dropped him and old bones broke.
The helpless old man lay there gasping. Gavin felt his heart turn to ice.
"Oh God! How ...?"
"Let's just say he aged real fast. Now listen carefully. If don't
answer me I will not kill you. I'll just turn you into an ancient like
him. You could last a few years like that ... helpless, hooked to
machines, looked after by people who can't wait until you die so they'll
be free of you. Now who sent you?"
"Webster! David
Webster!Youruinedhistestsomehowandhewantedyoudeadshit
don'tdoitmanI'mtellingyouthetruthitwasWebster!"
"I believe you." Jadeite picked him up effortlessly and stuffed him
headfirst in the burning car. He slapped a forceshield over the hole and
thought for a few moments. The screaming was weakening. Jadeite looked
at the old man and shrugged. "What the hell." The throw draped the
senior over the car. He tossed the rocketlauncher after him and
concentrated. Reality warped and the car disappeared. It had been
slightly displaced in time. Though not in space. As everyone knows
planets aren't stationary they orbit stars. The car was in exactly the
same position it had been in a minute ago. However the planet had moved
on. Jadeite wondered briefly if they'd finished burning to death before
vaccuum boiled their blood. He vanished.
David Webster was enjoying a drink when J. Deite appeared. "Holding
my wake? I'm afraid you're a little premature."
The glass shattered on the floor, "What the ..."
"Please David, keep drinking." Involuntarily Webster poured himself
another drink and gulped it down. "Again. Good, one more for the road.
Now then write this down please, 'I have failed utterly my life is a
disaster. I welcome it's end'. Good."
"Why am I doing this?"
"Because I want you to. Normally you'd think this was all your idea
but you've annoyed me so I've left you capable of seeing the strings. Now
my puppet do you own a gun."
"Yes."
"Get it. Good. It's loaded? Excellent. Now unlock the door.
Fine. Is there a neighbour who would come if you called. Great. Call her
and tell her you need a favour. Don't mention me or give any indication
you are in trouble." He listened to the phonecall absently. Sweat was
running down Webster's face as he tried to break free of the compulson.
Time to wrap up. "She's on her way?" A nod. "Excellent. Now open your
mouth and push the barrel in. Aim upwards. That's fine. Now listen
carefully. When your neighbour enters and sees you I want you to pull the
trigger. If it misfires keep pulling the trigger. If it still won't work
get a knife from the kitchen and slash your throat. Shouldn't have messed
with me David. Goodbye."
Jadeite rematerialized outside the window. Now would David have a
fear induced fatal heart attack before the neighbour arrived? The door
opened and there was a gunshot followed by a scream. Clear case of
suicide. Jadeite teleported to his own apartment. Not a total loss of an
evening. Anyway he should figure how to fit the new youma into his plans.
He chuckled softly, "Look at it this way Dave. By dying early you avoided
the mass exodus to the afterlife. No worries about getting lost in the
shuffle."
End of part 2
Next : What Titanite's been up to and Calcite meets the Knight Sabers.
in Part 3 : First Contact and FAQs