*Disclaimer*
    The Knight Sabres and other characters and elements of
Bubblegum Crisis are copyright Artmic Inc. and Youmex Inc.
Their use here is for entertainment purposes only, and no
financial rewards are expected from this work.  All original
characters and elements copyrights reversed, use what you like,
we'll make more!
                        *End Disclaimer*

           A Rural Darkness and Technology Production

                         Of a story by:
                    Michael 'SabreCat' Watson

                        OathBreaker's War
                       Book 2: Sabre Danse


                      Part 1: Queen of Cups

    "I still think we should have shot him.  _Amnesia_?  Get
real.  He's obviously a GENOM plant." a brown haired young woman
complains to her two friends over the remains of dinner, "Now
he's loose out there, and we have no idea what he's doing."
    "I disagree, Priss.  His story fit those files I copied for
Sylia, there's no way GENOM could have known we had that
specific information." Nene replies confidently, "As for what
he's doing, take a look at these.  I know _exactly_ what he's
going to be doing for the next year."  She passes photos of the
latest class of cadets at the AD Police Academy in Kobe, a
familiar face is circled in each.
    "Hmm.  He looks kinda cute in uniform." the black haired
woman comments.
    "You think any guy looks cute in uniform, Linna!" Priss and
Nene reply in stereo.
    All three laugh.

    "The ink's barely dry on this High School Equivalency
Certificate, you sure your parents want you in such a dangerous
career?" asks the officious civil servant.
    *Parents?  Do we look _that_ young?* I wonder.
    *Not really, it's your naive and innocent demeanor that
fools 'em.  Such traits usually don't last long in 2034.* Ryuko
responds.
    *Thanks, not.* I rejoin.  "They gave up on me some time
ago!" I smile.  "You don't have to worry about anyone showing up
with a grievance if _I_ end up dead." I add with a wink.
    *More like a parade to dance on the grave, lead by Shadow
Dancer and that Blue Knight Sabre.* Garion grumps.
    "Everything seems to be in order, Michael." He pronounces my
name correctly.  It sounds odd after a year of answering to
'Maikoru'.  "Here's your ticket to Kobe, AD Police Academy
Station.  Classes begin January, the details are in the
pamphlet, good luck!"
    *Tell me again why we're _still_ using our own face after
that run-in with the boomer?* I ask looking around nervously at
the other new cadets.
    *We _want_ people to know where we are.  GENOM thinks it has
the AD Police in its pocket, so we won't have any worries from
that direction.  This is just the kind of stuff Shadow Dancer
wanted us to learn, albeit for different purposes, so she's not
likely to try anything till graduation.  Even the Knight Sabres
should be able to keep track of us, if the anime is correct
about the Pink Knight Sabre's identity.* Ryuko explains her
reasoning.
    The routine here at the AD Police Academy shapes up to be
similar to the one at the ninja compound.  We even encounter
some of the same exercises from the opposite perspective.  We
no longer have the advantage of the 'empty sponge' effect, but
between the five of us we manage to be at or near the top of
many of our classes.  Paladina dominates the self-defense
classes.  Garion is so in tune with our surroundings that he
consistently gets perfect scores in simulations, one shot per
criminal and no civilian casualties!  Tinker seems heir to all
the scientific knowledge from our time in college as an
Electrical Engineering major, and is quickly picking up on
today's state-of-the-art technology.  I can keep track of all
the rules and regulations and other tasks requiring
memorization. We can only wonder from where in the shy,
tongue-tied man we used to be that Ryuko got so much charisma
and command presence.
    One difference that we like is that they let us loose on the
weekends.  We quickly get a reputation for disappearing entirely
on these occasions.  Actually, we use the free time to practice
our Shapeshifting, Conjuration, and Telekinesis.  We experiment
with several forms changing hair color, eye color, skin tone,
height, and gender.  We stick with humanoid forms for fear of
what might happen if we change into a non-sentient form.  We
find that if one of the end points is a male form, we can use
Conjuration to gain or loose mass.  We haunt the occult
bookstores in Tinsel City, Mega-Tokyo.  Most of the information
is bunk but some is not.  With the proper arrangement of
materials we can manipulate the energies of ley lines to create
simple spell-like effects.  At this point the same effects are
easier to create using technology.  Our Telekinetic power has
tremendous scope, we can narrow our perceptions down to
individual atoms or expand them outward to cover the entire
solar system.  USSD should be making some interesting
discoveries in the asteroid belt one of these days.
    Tinker is cruising the computer nets for technical
information to bridge the gap between the 1990's and the 2030's.
It's late Wednesday night, but we don't need lots of physical
sleep since those of us who need it can drop off leaving the
others to handle things.  The door to the lab opens, distracting
us from our high speed scanning of files.  We do a double-take
when we see its an officer, not a cadet, walking in.  She's
short, cute, with flame red hair, green eyes.  Her badge
identifies her as Corporal Nene Romanova.
    "Well looks like the Chief roped in another poor Operator
for his cross-training program." I quip to cover our reaction,
"I'm Cadet Michael Watson." I extend our hand.
    "Nene Romanova." she says, blushing when I bend down to kiss
the hand she extends instead of the handshake she expected.
    "Pleased to meet you." I say, "What brings a lady fair to
this dark and dangerous dungeon we at the Academy call a
computer lab?"
    *As if you didn't know, you rogue!  Ryuko's been a bad
influence on us.* Tinker teases me for my overly romantic
gestures, *Well Nene Romanova of the AD Police exists, and it
looks like they got her personality right in the anime.  Looks
like we have more proof that the anime might actually be right
about the details.*
    "I've been subjected to sweaty self-defense classes and noisy
gun practice all day.  I need some down time and I thought I'd
check out the net from the Academy's node." she says with a
slightly desperate edge to her voice.
    "Yeah, they can be pretty tough, especially on the returning
officers." I commiserate.
    She sits, and with a speed bourne of long practice, logs on
and launches out into the net.  She skims through files and
navigation details at an amazing rate.
    "Wow.  Who needs guns when you can do _that_!" Tinker says
aloud, "I didn't know these things could go that fast."
    We get no response, she's already too deep in the zone.
Tinker and I return to our own searches.
    *Something's not right here.* Tinker comments as we exit a
university archive, *The data stream has odd pauses in it,
almost as if...*  He opens a notebook window and types out,
~Having fun, Nene?~
    On it's own the next line appears, ~Sure am!  ~_^  But
what are you looking up this 'Cold Fusion' stuff for?  It was
thoroughly debunked back in the 1980's.~
    ~They proved it wasn't _fusion_, but _something_ was going
on in those test tubes.  To this day they haven't followed up on
what it was.~ We respond.
    ~The results were negligible, the research was a dead end.
Again what's the deal?~ Nene asks.
    ~I've had my face rubbed in the effectiveness of certain
'roads less taken' too often to dismiss _anything_ lightly.~ We
type thinking of our various supernatural abilities.
    We continue till early morning, Tinker and I finding obscure
technology hidden in research thesises (theses?), and Nene
derisive or fascinated by turns.  Nene starts yawning, but
refuses to acknowledge her limits.  I log out first.
    "You should get some rest, Nene, they won't go any easier on
you today!" we remind her.
    *That was really fun, too bad we can't ever be more than
friends.* I muse as we walk back to our room.
    *Why not?* Tinker asks, *She's cool.  For a girl.*
    *Think of Paladina's reaction to going out with a girl, or
worse Ryuko demanding to be able to take a guy out.* I explain.
    *Oh.* is the only response.
    It begins, more subtly that I would have expected from
Shadow Dancer.  Patches of shadows move independently from the
objects casting them.  It is late afternoon when Garion, more
observant than the rest of us, points out what has been making
us so jumpy all day.
    Nene notices our distracted state, "What's wrong Mike?
You're usually getting me to correct my form before I've even
moved, today I've managed to score some points on _you_."
    We have been helping Nene with her self-defense class.  We
have been able to give her the one-on-one instruction she needs,
and we are better able to draw analogies between martial arts
and Nene's computer background than the traditionalist
instructor.  She has been able to learn some of the basics of the
ninja's pattern-based martial arts from me, and the edge the
techniques have given her have done wonders for her confidence.
    "I'm saving my strength, it's likely to be a long night
tonight." we say watching the shadow from the coatrack by the
door reach out to touch Nene's and return to its normal shape,
not finding its intended quarry.
    Shadow Dancer attacks in force at sunset.  Shadows pool in
the Academy's windows and doorways, hardening to
impenetrability. Alarms ring out as intruders are detected.
    We prepare as best we can, stretching to loosen our muscles,
and conjuring a monofilament edged crystal blade.  The crystal
matrix acts as a waveguide for a laser built into the handle.
Tinker hopes the light-based weapon will be affective against
Shadow Dancer's control over shadows.
    We encounter our first ninja at the junction between the
corridor from the dorm wing and the Academy's central corridor.
    "OathBreaker!" the ninja greets, "Ready to come back with us
and redeem your honor?"
    "I redeemed my honor when I stopped associating with scum
like you and your mistress!" Paladina spits, goading the ninja to
anger.
    The fight is short and furious.  We have been learning
elements of other styles, so our attacks are no longer so
dependant on our opponent's weaknesses.  We trade a few punches
and blocks.  He nails our leg when we momentarily fall into a
predictable sequence, but we use the momentum to spin and get in
a strike of our own, a knifehand to the temple.  The ninja goes
down, unconscious at least.
    "Mike!  Thank god it's you!  There's a weird force field
covering the..." a voice comes from down the main corridor.
    Paladina brings us into a ready stance, wincing at the pain
in our shin.  We recognize the voice though, "Nene, what are you
doing here?  I thought you'd have gone home by now."
    "I stopped by the computer room for some 'unwinding' and
when I tried to get out the front door just now there's
something blocking it!  Then the alarms, and... hey!  _You're_
taking all this quite calmly!"
    "No time to explain now, Nene." I hand the laser-blade over
to her, "Here,  this should be able to cut through the barrier.
If you run into any of the intruders don't try any heroics,
they're dangerous, but you're not the one they're after."  We
watch her go toward the lobby and we turn the other way to the
Academy's main auditorium.
    I enter to see Shadow Dancer herself, directing her ninja
and a group of captives.  We don't recognize any of the staff
she has, hopefully the reverse is true as well.  We can not
afford to hold back in this confrontation, and that might mean
using our powers in front of the bystanders.
    "You can stop searching through the bystanders, it's me you
want Shadow Dancer." We boldly announce our presence.
    "So Maikoru, you have come to your senses.  Come with me now
and all will be forgiven." Shadow Dancer says in a low,
seductive voice.
    "You are wrong Shadow Dancer, I've come to show you the
depths of my determination to remain free of you." Garion
growls. We conjure another laser-blade to replace the one we
gave Nene and adopt a guard stance.  "You taught me to speak the
language  of fists and steel, are you prepared to listen?"
    In reply she sends several tentacles of shadow-stuff
whipping toward us.  We are pleased to see the laser-blade
slices through them easily.  "A child could run that pattern
_sensei_." Ryuko loads the sarcasm on the title, "I am not
_that_ out of practice, perhaps you are?  Did the others finally
cast you out for incompetence and unwise alliances?"
    "The clan, as always, is _mine_ OathBreaker." she hisses in
rage and draws a sword of her own from the shadows.
    Unlike the tendrils, the shadow-sword is a match for my
laser-blade.  This will be no quick battle.  Our swords cross
and re-cross.  Our outside training is paying off, she can not
penetrate our defense.  On the down side we can see no flaws in
her defense and our sore leg is beginning to drag.  It looks
like that will be the deciding factor.
    Sirens and heavy gunfire intrude on our awareness from
outside the building, Nene had called in the cavalry!  The
ninjas who had been coming to witness the battle step out to see
what's going on, and don't return.
    "It looks like your clan is dwindling, I suggest you retreat
while you still have some left." Ryuko points out to our
adversary.
    A snarl forms on her face as her shadow senses report the
truth of our words.  "This is not over OathBreaker.  I _will_
have you back to the clan.  One way or another!" Shadow Dancer
swan dives into a shadow on the floor, disappearing.
 


                    Part 2: Queen of Swords

    "Michael just _gave_ this to you?" Sylia asks, still poring
over the readouts her workbench Is giving her on the
laser-blade's structure.
    "Yeah, he did.  Why?" Nene asks.
    "This thing is at least a generation ahead of _my_ laser
swords Nene!  The semi-crystalline blade not only holds the laser
in check until the sword contacts something, but holds a
monomolecular edge and flexes more like metal than any crystal
material I know of should.  Then there's the amazingly compact
power source in the handle, it doesn't compare to the output of
our suit generators, but it's so _small_!" Sylia says with
uncharacteristic excitement.
    "Cold fusion..." Nene whispers in awe as the implications of
Sylia's analysis of the blade's qualities sink in.
    "What's that, Nene?" Sylia asks.
    "Back at the academy, before the siege, I would piggyback on
Mike's terminal as he sliced through the nets.  It was like a
crash course in technical history, he would follow threads of
research from the last century till they dead ended or spawned
new research." Nene giggles, "He seemed rather irritated that
some threads weren't explored further than they were, he was
rather vocal about the effectiveness of 'roads less taken' in his
commentary with me about them.  One of the first we disagreed
about was the 'Cold Fusion' research in the 1980's.  That
structure there," Nene points to a readout, "looks a lot like a
miniature version of some of the apparatus used in those
experiments."
    Sylia sighs at the explanation, "I can't even ask him about
it myself without blowing both our covers!" she complains.

    "Make no mistake, Shinjuku is enemy territory. The N Police
don't even make a show of patrolling the area any more. The Yaks
keep things quiet, sure open violence is bad for business, but
when Yak factions get rowdy _we_ are the ones called in to clean
up the mess." our partner Evan 'Chance' Tetsuo explains as we
ride a circuit of our assigned area.
    "It must be like getting in the middle of a domestic dispute,
no matter what problems they have with each other, their
knee-jerk response is to close ranks against the outsider." I
respond.
    "That's it in a nutshell Rookie.  You might be all right." he
smiles.
    We make it back to headquarters without incident.  Chance
resumes clearing the backlog of paperwork that is the fate of a
working policeman in Mega-Tokyo.  Having little of my own to do
as yet,  I'm called on to help the others with theirs.
    "Just wait till your first few duty calls Rookie, you'll
have plenty to do.  Enjoy this while it lasts." Squad Leader
Sergeant Kimiko Kajitani recommends.
    We settle into our job and get to know the rest of the squad,
there's us and Chance, Lucy 'Loose Cannon' Kaneda and Madiline
'Mad' Donnor, Hiro 'The Hero' Tanaka and James 'Big Jim' Lane,
and leading this mob is Corporal Ito 'TKO' Takeo and Sergeant
Kimiko 'Kami-sama' Kajitani.  Things aren't as bad as the news
reports made out.  The only breaks in the office routine are the
occasional crowd control assignments and a couple of overworked
labor boomers going buggy, but not homicidal.
    I return to my apartment after a frustrating day of filling
out reports.  *Man, I almost wish a boomer would go rogue, just
to get a break from all this paperwork!* I complain.
    *Yeah, it's a lot more like a real job than I anticipated.*
Ryuko responds, *Maybe we can look up the Knight Sabres.  We've
already met Nene, maybe we should find the others and see if the
anime is right about their secret identities?*
    *We shouldn't pry, there are several good reasons why the
Knight Sabres wish to remain anonymous.  We should respect
them.* Paladina objects to the plan.
    *Come on, 'Dina!  It sounds like fun!* Tinker chips in
enthusiastically.

    *This isn't so fun anymore.  Do we have to go like this?
We've never been a girl in public before.* Tinker whines as we
approach the LADYS633 Building.
    *The Silky Doll _is_ a longerie shop, do ya want to be seen
in there as a _guy_?  You don't see Mike of Garion complaining,
do you?* Ryuko needles him.
    *I _don't_ like this,  but it is the best way to see Sylia
without her knowing.  The telekinetic sense we can use in female
forms is also more penetrating than normal sight, for instance
can the rest of you feel what's sitting at the bottom of the round
tower of the building?* Garion answers.
    *Yeah, It's an aircraft.  And get a load of the complex
machinery in the rooms around it!  A bit more than an idle
heiress needs for her private plane, don't you think Tinker?* I
ask.
    Taking the distraction from our physical state, Tinker
narrows the focus of our telekinetic sense to get some details
of the machinery.  The rest of us continue, entering the Silky
Doll.
    *What about you Michael?  What do you think of being
female?* Ryuko asks.
    *I don't know why, but it doesn't bother me.  I guess Garion
and Tinker got the parts of who we used to be that need physical
reassurance of their masculinity.  Did being male almost all the
time bother you or Paladina as much as this is bothering them?*
    *I can't say it _bothers_ us.  We have never known any other
state of affairs.* says Ryuko.
    *Hmm.  This gender ambiguity is part of what we _are_ now.
Two thirds of our power depends on being male or female at need,
we can't let our prejudices limit our range of abilities.* I
ponder, *All of us need to be comfortable in being either
gender.*
    *I doubt that will ever happen, Michael.* Paladina admits,
*The best you can hope for is resignation to the inevitable,
like Garion.  We'll always prefer our respective genders.*
    On that note we enter the store.  The items on display manage
what just being female in public couldn't, I begin to feel
uncomfortable.  Even Paladina is daunted by the variety of
styles.
    *Yatta!  Here's proof the anime's got it right!* Tinker
exclaims out of the blue, *Feel those? they are the Knight
Sabres' hardsuits!* He has been too focused on our telekinetic
sense exploring the hidden levels of the building to notice our
immediate surroundings.  *Eep!  Where are we?* he exclaims when
he notices.
    Ryuko musters our bravado and goes forward with our plan
while the rest of us fade and let her do it.  *Big words, Mike!*
she teases.
    Luckily, Sylia herself is working today, not her little
brother.  "May I help you?" she asks.
    Ryuko opens our mouth to answer when our watch pager beeps.
Checking the display, we see the code for multiple combat boomer
sighted.  "Isn't that the way it always is?  You just get
started with something and your boss calls you in to work
overtime!" Ryuko excuses as we rush back out the door.
    We 'shift back to our usual, male, form on the way to
responding to the call.
    "Chance!" we call out to our partner upon arriving at the
scene, "This _would_ happen on my day off.  More paperwork for
overtime duty, ne?" we ask.
    Chance doesn't respond, and his expression is grim.
    "Lighten up partner!  This is what the AD Police is here
for!  We're prepared, right?" we say in a cheerful tone.
    "Yeah, that's right Rookie." the forced smile and strained
tones do not inspire confidence.
    Sergeant Kajitani has us join the rest of the squad manning
the roadblock portion of the Police formation.  Two other squads
line up on either side of the road.  We hope to be able to stop
the boomers in the 'U' long enough to destroy them.
    Two boomers glide around a corner and approach our position.
These aren't the powered-down overconfident boomer we faced our
first night in Mega-Tokyo.  These are on full alert, sensors
bristling, weapons armed, and in the half crouched flying mode
their armor covers their joints effectively.
    Still beyond the range of any weapons we were allowed the
use of in city limits, two volleys of missiles streak to
decimate the sides of our trap.  The squads there don't have no
place to shelter from the inferno that ensues.
    Corporal Takeo orders us to return fire hoping for a golden
beebee shot to disable the rogue boomers and prevent what
happens next.  Not caring what the others see anymore, We toss
aside our useless rifle, and Conjure a shield to huddle under.
The boomers let loose with their microwave arrays.  I hear a
sickening sizzle and sparks dance around the edges of my
shelter.
    The air smells of charred meat.  The boomers, only slightly
damaged from our final barrage, have passed the roadblock
unaware of the survivor behind them.  With a snarl, Garion tries
to Conjure something to retaliate with.  We are unsuccessful,
the shield we conjured earlier used up the ambient magic energy
and the nearest ley line is too far away for the energy to
return quickly.
    *They are _not_ getting away!* Garion vows.
    We Shapeshift back to the female form we were in earlier.  A
wave of telekinetic energy erupts from us, carrying wreckage
along toward the murderous machines.  With a tearing sound, some
of the junk surpasses the speed of sound.  Armor, psuedoflesh,
weapons systems, and even the endoskelatal frames disintegrate
before the hypervelocity metalstorm.
    When all traces of the boomers are gone, we drop to our
knees amid the remains of all the friends, save Nene, that we
had made since our arrival in Mega-Tokyo.
    "I could have saved them all!  If we hadn't hid our powers,
we could have saved them all this!" Paladina screams in pain to
an uncaring universe, summing up all our feelings.
    Then we weep.


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