HERITAGE
CHAPTER ONE
<8:36 AM>
The binoculars hummed softly as they focussed, the internal display
showing a crystal-clear image of Newport. Unsatisfied with what she
saw, the watcher turned her gaze to another section of town, and then
another. After a moment she lowered the binoculars and frowned
slightly.
*This is no good,* she thought to herself. *Still no sign... and
there's not much time left...*
Admittedly she could go down to the Newport Police Station - she'd
certainly find who she was looking for *there*. Of course, that
wouldn't be as much fun as tracking her target down, but if she couldn't
find them soon...
A noise, loud even in comparison to the other city noises, was detected
by her sensitive hearing, and she raised the binoculars once more.
After a moment's searching, she saw it - a column of black smoke,
originating from about street level. A few seconds later another column
began to rise, and the sound of an explosion belatedly reached her.
She smiled. "There you are."
<8:38 AM>
While much effort had been put into reducing the tread noise of the
'Bonaparte' class police tank, it was still far from silent, especially
when its sirens were blaring and pedestrians were screaming in panic as
they attempted to leap out of the way. The occasional thunderclap from
the minitank's main cannon didn't help matters, either, nor did the
resulting explosion caused by the bowling ball sized 'stun' round
hitting an unsuspecting car in just the wrong place.
Anyone close enough to the tank, though not so close as to get run
over, might have heard the following conversation:
"You missed again, you pint-sized fumblefingers!"
"Well, like, excuuuuuse me! If you *want* me to shoot through this big
crowd, just say so!"
"No, but you're supposed to be sooooo good with targetting - you've had
a few good shots at him!"
"It doesn't help when you're, like, kicking my head, ya know! (Child
abuse, that's what it is!)"
The Bonaparte turned a corner, more nimbly than might be expected from
its bulk, only to see its prey dodging through another crowd of startled
pedestrians.
The driver of the tank, Leona Ozaki, gritted her teeth. "Damn it! We
can't get close to him if he keeps doing that!" She grabbed a small
speaker from the tank's control panel. "T-31 to T-32 and T-33! Suspect
is heading east on Market... no, wait, he's cut into an alley south
towards Sakura Way! Asada, can you cover the far end?"
["Will do, Squad Leader!"] a female voice replied over the radio.
The tank's gunner giggled happily as she readied for another shot.
"Yer mine, scumbag!"
"We want him *alive* remember? Alive!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."
<8:42 AM>
Unseen by the panicked crowd below, the watcher bounded along the
rooftops, heading directly toward the gouts of black smoke. Below her
were the signs of the Bonaparte's passage - gouges in the pavement,
crumpled automobiles, large cannon-holes in the occasional building...
It looked like her target was having fun.
<8:44 AM>
The minitank edged its way into the alley's entrance, its main cannon
swivelling from side to side. Leona watched her monitor intently.
*Where is he... there's not much cover in here...*
Aloud, she said, "Switch to the spread guns - we'll have the range, and
I want to make sure we get 'im this time."
"You got it, boss lady." There was a slight whirring noise as the
tank's vulcan guns came online.
She grabbed the radio. "T-33, report!"
["We're sitting right next to the alley, T-31. We'll nail him as he
comes out, as long as the rookie doesn't panic again."]
Another voice, the tank's driver, complained, ["I'm doing my best!"]
The squad leader checked her monitors again. "Shit! Where is..."
A sudden instinct made Leona swivel the tank's camera upwards, and saw
what she was dreading: the suspect, a burly individual in dark glasses,
was standing on a fire escape above the Bonaparte. He was grinning the
grin of a man armed with personal artillery.
"Up! Up! He's above us!" Leona frantically tried to pull the tank
back out of the alley, but the suspect already had his bazooka-like
weapon trained on the Bonaparte; her gunner was raising the spread guns,
and she saw Asada's tank entering the alley from the other side, but too
late, too late...
<8:45 AM>
The thug grinned even wider. This was gonna be good - an old-fashioned
pig barbecue. His trigger finger started to tighten...
A metallic clang and a vibration of the fire escape caught his
attention, and he turned his head to see, very briefly, another person
on the escape with him. A moment later, her fist connected with his
chin with extreme force. He was sent flying back, and his momentum
carried him easily over the edge of the fire escape.
Fortunately, there was a stack of cardboard boxes in the alley that
looked reasonably soft. Unfortunately he missed these, and hit the
ground fairly hard.
There was a brief silence, then the drivers of both tanks opened the
top hatches to get a better look.
The woman on the fire escape looked quite young, no more than sixteen
or seventeen, and was dressed in a rather sturdy-looking white and green
jumpsuit. She had long magenta hair which reached to her knees, and her
deep green eyes were currently glaring at the battered thug below.
"Nobody threatens my daughter!" she snarled.
Leona and Asada looked at each other.
Finally one of them spoke. "Wow, Leona... I never knew your mother was
so strong."
"She's not *my* mother."
"Well, don't look at me." Asada peeked back into her tank. "Rerika?"
"Are you kidding?"
Leona looked back at the girl above her. "Well, then, who...? HEY!"
She struggled a moment, then was pulled down into the tank by an unseen
force. A moment later the tank's gunner scrambled out and jumped down
to the ground. Leona poked her head back out with a frown. "Anna, what
do you think you're..."
"MOMMY!"
Leona gaped. "What?!"
The girl looked down and grinned. "Anna-chan!" She leapt over the
edge of the fire escape and landed lightly on her feet, just in time to
catch the miniature android in a big hug. "How's my kitten?"
Chibi-Anna threw her arms around the girl's neck. "I'm, like, so glad
to see you, Mom! Wait until Uni hears you're back in town!"
The girl giggled. "Have you been good?"
"Yeah, yeah! We've joined the police and everything, an' I get to
shoot the bad guys, an'..."
Leona climbed out of her tank. It was obvious that she wouldn't find
out what the hell was going on anytime soon, and she needed to take care
of something in the meantime.
The thug's weapon lay on the ground nearby, and she picked it up with
an expression of pure disgust. *A Tankbuster cannon,* she thought to
herself. *Just one shot from one of these hateful, hateful things will
go through a tank's armor like it was tinfoil. I swear I'm gonna find
the sick bastard that would come up with something like this and see how
he likes being on the receiving end!*
She looked over at the thug, who was showing signs of regaining
consciousness. *But for now...*
The thug lifted his head, certain that he'd lost a tooth or two, when
he felt a cold pressure on his forehead. For a moment he thought he was
looking down a tunnel... then he broke out in a sweat as he realized
what he was seeing.
A voice, presumably belonging to the person holding the Tankbuster,
said, "*You* are under arrest for Possession of an Illegal Weapon,
Attempted Murder of a Police Officer, Resisting Arrest, a lot of other
things that I'll think up back at the station, and most importantly
Attempting to Damage My Dear Bonaparte." The cannon was pushed forward,
and the bottom edge of its barrel found a niche in the thug's mouth.
"You WILL come quietly!"
The thug considered his options. "Yeff I will," he decided.
"Good boy." She raised her voice. "Asada, call Habana and have him
join us, then call for a transport wagon."
"Yes, sir!"
Leona looked back over at Annapuma, who was talking a mile a minute to
her "mother". The squad leader shook her head. "This is too weird...
Anna!"
Chibi-Anna turned in the girl's grip. "Yes, sir, ma'am?"
"Who the heck is that?"
"Oh! This's my mom, Nuku Nuku Natsume. Mom, that's Leona Ozaki, my
squad leader."
Leona looked puzzled. "Nuku Nuku?"
The girl smiled and bowed slightly. "I'm pleased to meet you."
"Uh, yeah, same here. Look, I hate to break up this reunion, Anna, but
would you mind getting your scrawny butt over her and cufftaping this
guy?"
"Can do!" The cat-eared android jumped down from Nuku Nuku's arms.
"We'll talk later, Mom. Duty calls!" She ran over to the thug, pulling
a small pistol-like dispenser from her belt.
Leona rolled her eyes, then looked at Nuku Nuku. *She looks pretty
young to be a cybertechnician, especially considering that the Pumas
have been around for... five years? Six? And considering how strong
she is, she must be an android, though as far as I know androids don't
actually reproduce... I hope.*
Chibi-Anna secured the thug's wrists behind his back with cufftape,
then peered at him suspiciously. "Yer not gonna, like, resist arrest or
anythin', are ya?"
The thug shook his head, but carefully in case a sudden movement might
prompt Leona to pull the trigger.
"Rats. I never have any fun..."
Asada spoke up from her tank. "Squad Leader, the wagon's on its way,
and T-32 should be here in a minute."
Leona nodded. "Right." She turned to Nuku Nuku, who was once again
fussing over Anna. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Ms. Natsume, but
we're going to have to get back to the station soon."
Nuku Nuku just smiled. "That's where I'm going, too - I'll come with
you."
The sergeant gaped, realizing that she was losing ground. "Well,
there's not really room in a tank for a passenger."
"Oh. Well, I'll go there myself, then." She held out a hand.
"Coming, Anna-chan?"
"Yippee! Anna gets a piggyback ride!" Anna trotted over and scrambled
up onto her mother's back.
Leona tried to regain some control of the situation. "Anna, don't you
dare go AWOL on me!"
"Aw, gee, boss lady! You said yourself we was goin' back to the
station, right?"
"But... but..."
Nuku Nuku looked over her shoulder. "Ready?"
"You betcha!" Chibi-Anna took a secure hold on her mother's shoulders,
and then...
...they were gone. Leona looked up quickly, and barely managed to see
a blurred shape disappear over the top of the alley.
Leona stared in shock, the Tankbuster nearly slipping from her grasp.
A familiar rumbling behind her heralded the arrival of T-32, which
stopped just outside the alley's entrance, on the other side of Leona's
tank. A moment later the hatch opened, and Shinozaki poked his head
out. "Squad Leader Ozaki! Is everything all right?"
"Whu...? Oh. Yeah. Yeah, everything's just fine." She rubbed her
forehead with her free hand. "Though somehow I get the feeling this's
gonna be a long day..."
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