----------

From: AlphSailor@aol.com
To: ffml@fanfic.com
Subject: [FFML][Dirty Pair][Fanfic] Double Vision ch.2
Date: Monday, June 28, 1999 1:17 PM


FFMLers-
	Note that this isn't my fic. It's actually from LN411@aol.com, who 
seems to be having some problems posting this fic. I'm hopin' it'll work

from 

my end. All comments and responses should be directed to him, but I'll 
forward any messages to him if I get any nonethless.

Dark Alpha <AlphSailor@aol.com>

-----------------------------

The Dirty Pair: Double Vision


Standard Disclaimer: I don't own the Dirty Pair. I don't claim to either,

so 

don't sue me. Sakura Tenjo and Natsumi Ogawa are original characters who

may 

not be used without my approval. Thanks, and enjoy the show.

Cycle Two
   
     When the Lovely Angel took off from the hanger at the 3WA Central

Field 

Office, everyone who saw breathed a mental sigh of relief. Where the

Dirty 

Pair went, chaos and destruction followed closely, like scantily clad 
horsewomen of the Apocalypse. And the rumor was, there were two more of

them 

Actually, they're more like Agents of Chaos. 

now. This rumor had spread so quickly that a number of 3WA executives had

applied for emotional leave or flat out resigned at the very thought. Two

Lovely Angels was a lot, but four of them implied destruction on a level

that 

would make most cataclysms blush.

HAHAHAHA! That's very true though.

     Sakura Tenjo and Natsumi Ogawa, sitting side by side on a take-off

couch 

on the Lovely Angel, sneezed almost simultaneously. They glanced at each 
other and shrugged, followed closely by the trademark tensing of the

muscles 

as the ship's interior switched over from normal-G to Low-G, or

microgravity, 

used during takeoff from planets with an especially powerful

gravitational 

pull. Once the gravity had diminished as much as it was going to, the two

girls released the shoulder harnesses holding them to their seats and

floated 

into the middle of the room, doing slow flips in the air as they went.
     Sakura twisted gently so she was hanging upside-down in the air, and

folded her arms across her chest. For several seconds she floated this

way, 

looking pensively at the wall. Silence reigned until Natsumi moved across

the 

room in slow, loopy somersaults, giggling all the way. She poked her

friend 

with her foot and asked, "What's chewing on you? You look like a

wet-headed 

trainee on your first time in Low-G training. Whoop..!" She began

flailing 

madly as she accidentally upended herself, ending up floating upside down

like Sakura, if not looking as graceful.
     The pink-haired girl smirked at her wobbling friend. "Says you, 
Wingnut." She grew more serious. "Natsumi, I've been thinking�and I'm a 
little concerned. This is it, you know. No more training. Now we're

really 

doing this, going out on patrol and getting the bad guys. When we screwed

up 

in training, we just looked silly. Now if we screw up, someone could die,

most likely us."
     Natsumi took on a thoughtful expression and began to rotate

backwards 

head over heels. Finally, she said, "So what you're saying is that you're

scared."
     Sakura kicked at her lightly and answered, "Am not! I'm just being 
serious. One of us has to, after all�God knows that Kei and Yuri will

be�"

An introspective one eh?

     She trailed off at the sounds of combat from the hallway. Both girls

instinctively looked for a weapon. But before they could do more than 
consider what could be swung hard enough to do damage, the airlock shot

open 

and the Lovely Angels tumbled through, locked in a fierce tangle of

flailing 

limbs and blunt objects. After a brief squall of activity, they broke

apart 

and revealed their weapons: matching flight couch pillows. Kei smacked

Yuri 

hard enough to bounce her head over heels across the room. Kei stuck her 
tongue out at her and taunted, "That'll teach you to goose me, you

pervert!" 

     Yuri flipped Kei off and shot back, "Don't flatter yourself! I

mistook 

your butt for a grav-couch and tried to hang on!"
     The red-haired Angel raised her pillow threateningly. "You saying I

have 

a big butt?"
     Yuri pulled one lower eyelid down and stuck her tongue out again.

"Are 

you kidding? When you walk it looks like two mastiffs fighting over a

steak 

in a canvas sack!"

LoL. Where did you come up with that one?

      Both girls raised their pillows for another round. Before they

could do 

more, Sakura cleared her throat nervously. Kei and Yuri paused, looked at

them, and smiled sheepishly. Yuri flipped her hair out of her face and

said, 

"Oh, sorry about that�we sort of forgot about you two. This is how most

of 

our trips start out, y'see�"

Kei: That's right. We usually try to work out any tensions between us that
would interfere with our working relationship by beating the stuffing out
of each other. <Looks at deflated pillow> No pun intended.

     The two new agents nodded nervously. Yuri misinterpreted their

startled 

expressions and waved her hands hastily and added, "Not that we're, like,

lesbians or anything! We just have a close friendship, that's all!" 
     Natsumi and Sakura made hurried assurances that the thought had

never 

crossed their minds. 

There're quite a few men in every spaceport that would use a pistol to end
their misery if they found out that the Lovely Angels were so inclined.

This resolved, Kei floated towards a couch and called over her shoulder,

"I'd 

grab on, ladies, if I were you. The Angel's gravitic stabilizers will be 
kicking in any second now."
     Even as the words left her mouth, Sakura and Natsumi felt their

weight 

begin to resettle towards the floor. The two young agents and Yuri

floated 

over to a couch and sat down quickly, holding themselves in place by

gripping 

straps on the seats of the couches. A low humming emanated from the ship

as 

it created a field of normal Earth gravity in it's interior. Yuri and Kei

sighed in relief as the stood up and stretched. Sakura and Natsumi were 
satisfied to simply stretch their arms and roll their heads lightly to

get 

rid of the mild cramps the gravity changes inspired. Once everyone was

done 

readjusting themselves to regular gravity Kei piped up, "Let's get you

ladies 

situated in bunks of your own! First off, we can go get your gear out of

the 

loading hold."
     At this, Sakura stood up, eyes wide, and exclaimed, "I have to make

sure 

Le Papillion is okay!"

What is she? Azusa Shiratori's (Ranma 1/2) distant descendant?

      Yuri wrinkled her brow as she tried to recall some of the French

she 

had learned in college. Finally the word she was searching for came to

her. 

"The Butterfly?" She asked dubiously.
     Natsumi rolled her eyes and nodded. Kei, intrigued by the young

girl's 

excitement, asked, "You have a pet butterfly? This I have to see�"
*****
     "THAT is 'Le Papillion'?!"
     "Yup! Isn't she pretty?"
     The Dirty Pair and their two new partners stood in the loading hold 
watching in amazement as Sakura presented Le Papillion. Rather, Yuri and

Kei 

were staring and Natsumi was smiling and shaking her head. Le Papillion

was a 

bright lavender rocket launcher a good five feet long. With

long-practiced 

I take that back. She's more likely to be related to Kodachi.

ease, Sakura lugged it from it's case and began expertly disassembling

and 

cleaning it. Kei was more than a little interested, so she squatted down 
beside the younger girl and ran a finger over the side of the

cheery-looking 

weapon of mass destruction. "What kind of launcher is this? Anti-Tank?"
     Sakura shook her head without looking up and began oiling the firing

mechanism. As she did, she explained. "No, it's primarily Anti-Personnel,

though I can adapt it to load Anti-Tank or even Anti-Aircraft rockets

pretty 

easily. Basically, it's just a souped-up LAWS launcher. I reinforced the

tube 

and added a removable five-round clip, and put on a stronger shoulder 

What did she do, rebuild it from the bottom up? Five round clip? <gasp!>
They were right, the Dirty Pair are spawning! Run away! RUN AWAY!

harness. It already had a pair of legs for freestanding firing, but I

took 

those off to make room for a gyro-mount system. See that socket back

behind 

the rear grip? That can fit into any of the standard 3WA Gyro-mount suits

currently in use. The only other thing I changed was putting in a better 
targeting system."
     Kei looked at the launcher amusedly. "And what about the butterfly 
decals?" 
     Sakura shrugged. "I just think those are pretty." 
     Yuri rolled her eyes and pushed off from the wall she had been

leaning 

against. As she dusted her hands off in a business-like fashion, she

said, 

"Well, as exciting as all of this gun-fondling is, we should go see what

our 

You know, gun fondling is a felony in no less than eight states. ^_^''

first mission as a foursome is."
     Kei scowled slightly and responded, "Yeah, I suppose so." She looked

at 

the two new recruits and said, "Listen, while we're out on patrol or 
whatever, you two just watch what we do, okay? We've been doing this so

long 

that we can do these system patrols in our sleep."
     As Sakura opened her mouth to respond, a red light began flashing 
accompanied by a trilling siren. She blinked and looked around in

surprise. 

"What's that noise?"

It's to tell Yuri that the muffins she put into the oven are done now.

     Yuri and Kei were already in motion, running down the corridor. Over

her 

shoulder Kei yelled, "Distress call on the radio! Meet us up on the

bridge!"

     After teaming up to disassemble Le Papillion, the two girls raced up

to 

the bridge. By the time they got there, Kei and Yuri were at the

transmission 

station sending a response of some sort Sakura and Natsumi leaned over

the 

backs of their seats and looked at the screen as a burst of coded symbols

crawled over it. Natsumi asked, "What is it? Where did the signal come

from?" 

     While Yuri typed some response in the same coded language, Kei

answered, 

"It's a distress signal from Koppe Aqualogy�they're not that far from

here, 

actually."
     Sakura looked at the screen with new interest. "An aqualogy? I've

never 

been to one of those before."
     Kei glanced over at her. "Really? Yuri and I used to go to this

really 

nice one outside of Darinius during summer break while we were in the 
Academy�"
     Yuri sent another message and turned to look at them with a worried 
look. "I'm not getting any response Kei. Think we should go take a look?"
     The red-haired agent glanced at the empty screen, devoid of any sign

of 

response. "How far are they?"
     "Not far. Maybe sixty thousand klicks or thereabouts. We could be

there 

in minutes at cruising speed."
     Kei considered this. "Any other 3WA ships that close or closer?"

Are any other 3WA personnel ever in the vicinity?

     Yuri shook her head ruefully. "Nope. We're the only one within three

times that distance. I've radioed for some back-up, in case it looks

ugly, 

but odds are we're going to have to go in there, and alone at that."

You know, I can't really recall any instance where they did call for back
up.

     Kei swore, then sat back and thought for a minute. Finally, after

some 

deliberation, she turned to Natsumi and Sakura. "Okay, look you two," She

said, "I hate to just toss two new agents fresh from their Academy bunks

into 

combat like this, but I have a feeling this may get a bit nasty, and

we'll 

need all the help we can get. Have you two been issued your regulation 
side-arms yet?" Both girls nodded. "Well, go get them. We have some flak 
jackets you can wear if you really want them."

And the rocket launcher just for luck.

     By the time the girls had fetched their guns, Kuan Yin Electromags,

and 

Kuan Yin is the Goddess of Mercy and they named a gun after her?

returned to the bridge, Kei and Yuri were nowhere to be seen and the ship

was 

nearing final approach on Koppe Aqualogy. Sakura peered out of the nose 
windows to look at the destination with considerable interest. The

aqualogy, 

an underwater farm and lifeform sanctuary, was, unlike most of its ilk, 
actually on a planet, Mochica to be exact. From the stratosphere, the 

If an aqualogy is an underwater sanctuary, then where else would it except
on a planet? Aesteroids are usually too cold to support liquid water.

aqualogy appeared as a gray strip of metal floating in a massive ocean,

which 

in fact covered 99% of Mochica's surface. But as they neared the surface,

Sakura could see the glow of the underwater part of the aqualogy. From

school 

lessons on economics she recalled that aqualogies, which commonly

stretched 

for miles underwater in every direction, were a massively important part

of 

their system's economy. She could already see huge lengths of eerily

glowing 

passages far below the surface, like a lost city. However, she could also

see 

patches of flames and oily smoke boiling up from the above-water part,

the 

landing docks, apparently.
     "Pretty messy, isn't it?" The two girls turned to see Kei and Yuri 
re-enter the room, dressed in their notorious silver battle bikinis. 
     Natsumi muttered something under her breath as Sakura smiled 
embarrassedly/nervously and asked, "Umm, are you guys sure it's a good

idea 

to wear those things?"
     Kei blinked and asked, "Whattaya mean? These are our uniforms."

UNIFORMS?! I thought that you said that 3WA does not issue indecent
uniforms to its personnel?

     Sakura laughed uncomfortably and went on, "Well, I mean, if we're

going 

to get shot at, don't you think you ought to wear some body armor or 
something? What if you get hit?"

The *ahem* nature of the uniform's design is to *distract* the enemy so
that you don't get hit in the first place.

     Yuri shrugged, a gesture that made both Sakura and Natsumi blush, 
considering what she was wearing, and replied, "So we get hit. So what?

We've 

both taken hits before, and it's not that big of a deal. Besides, we

don't 

have to worry. We're the Lovely Angels, we can't die."

Much to the horror of both their enemies and superiors.

     Sakura considered responding to this, but chose not to. Kei bounced

over 

to the view windows and looked at the smoking mayhem on the docks. "Wow!"

She 

exclaimed, "Look at this! This looks like something we might have done!"

Too true. Are you saying that the Lovely Angels are not only aware of the
massive property damage that they inflict but are consciously doing so?

     Yuri joined her and scanned the docks. "I don't see any movement.

When 

we land, Kei and I will take point. You girls follow up on rear position,

okay?"
      Mightily resisting the urge to make a joke about the lower portions

of 

Kei and Yuri's outfits, Sakura nodded. Natsumi asked as she popped a clip

into her Electromag, "Where are your guns?"
     Yuri drew an Electromag identical to theirs from her thigh holster

in 

response. Kei grinned and stepped out into the hall, returning with a

much 

larger gun. Hers was a short rifle, as long as her arm, and bore a 
pump-action grenade launcher as well. It also had the phrase, "Mr. 
Antisocial" emblazoned on its side. At Sakura and Natsumi's startled

looks, 

she said, "12mm auto-rifle with a 10-round M-120 mini-grenade launcher.

You 

Most rifles use .762 ammo not 12 mm. Rifles are penetration weapons. 

three can keep your wimpy little Electromags, I prefer something with a

bit 

more�kick." This said, she slammed a clip into it, reveling at the

vicious 

noise it made as it chambered a round automatically.
     Sakura came over and fondled the gun appreciatively.  She crooned,

"I 

Officer, arrest that woman! Illegal gun-fondling!

like it�" and began to smile dreamily. Yuri watched the two girls play

with 

the death-dealing device and smiled indulgently. "You two will get along

just 

fine."

Is it legal to marry a weapon of mass destruction in their time?

     The Lovely Angel set down on the charred landing pad quietly. There

was 

a low hiss as the hatch swung open and the four agents hopped out

quickly. 

Kei peered under the belly of the ship and scanned the area carefully, 
watching for any movement. As soon as she was sure that nothing was going

to 

jump at them, she motioned for the others to come around the ship and

onto 

the main docking area. With Kei and her rifle in the lead, moving back

and 

forth in wide sweeps to cover the entire area, the other tree backed her

up, 

waiting for something to move. But except for the flames, nothing moved.

Just like the wind down of a Fraternity BBQ.

     Someone or something had hit the aqualogy hard, that much was

obvious. 

Most of the onsite vehicles had been blasted by some fairly heavy

artillery, 

as had a few groups of barrels, which apparently had been holding some 
flammable chemical. Whatever it was, it had spread over most of the

docking 

area and started a number of blazes. But the worst part was the bodies.
     Kei nudged one of the dozens of corpses on the docks, this one

dressed 

in the white coveralls of a technician. The man had taken a couple of

rounds 

from a rather big gun through the chest, leaving two holes the size of 
oranges in him. "Someone wanted to make sure these people didn't get up 
again." 

Oranges?! The guy wasn't hit by a gun, he was blasted with a bloody Gauss
Rifle. Ammunition that leaves holes like that can't possibly be hand
mounted, the recoil would tear your arm off.

     Sakura stared at a pile of four bodies heaped against the door of a

fire 

hose casement. "Most of these people are dressed in black uniforms. What

does 

that mean?"
     Yuri came up and eyed the bodies. One of them had had its head blown

away completely, with nothing but some ragged bone shards and a lot of

gore 

above its Adam's apple. "The ones in black are aqualogy security. It

looks to 

me like whoever did this was trying to avoid wasting the technicians in

favor 

of the security. Hell, it's what I'd do: eliminate anyone who can use a 
weapon first, to guarantee they can't shoot you in the back while you do

your 

job. Smart work, this�"

Smart for a chimpanzee or the average anime villain. Painfully apparent to
anyone else. Me, I'd just bomb their armory and their security won't be
worth squat. Or if I feel bloodthirsty, just plant a bomb in the Guard
barracks and take the majority of them out with one shot.

     Natsumi had turned an unhealthy shade of green at all the corpses

lying 

around. After seeing a security guard that looked remarkably as if his

torso 

had exploded from within, she dashed behind a small building to catch her

breath. Once out of sight, she made the mistake of peeking in a window.

The 

building had apparently been the security checkpoint, because blood and

worse 

was sprayed over the walls and ceiling. The source of this gore, at least

ten 

men, were lying in a pile in the middle of the room. Natsumi had had

enough. 

She swiveled like she was on coasters and vomited. And vomited. And

vomited. 

After several minutes of coughing and dry heaves, she stood and wiped her

mouth on the back of her hand. She froze, hand at her lips and stared at

what 

had been hidden behind the building. She called over her shoulder, "Guys!

Take a look at this!"
     The others came around to look at what she had found. It was a small

black ship, sleek and totally unmarked. Kei walked up to it and rubbed a

hand 

over its side. She whistled appreciatively and rubbed her hand on her hip

unconsciously. "Wow," She said, "Totally frictionless. This thing was

built 

to move! I wonder what it is..?"
     Natsumi stepped up to it and rubbed her hand over its wheel strut 
lovingly and said, "It's a Bolo Mark Ten Stealth�it's been striped down

for 

speed and radar avoidance. This thing could do a planetary orbit in about

three minutes without making the reactor sweat." She looked at Sakura 
plaintively. "I want it."

She might get charged for an unnatural act with a Stealth Vessel.

     Sakura explained to Kei and Yuri, "Natsumi is something of a speed 
freak. She has this perverse need to get a hold of any fast vehicle she

can 

find and crash it at top speed. I can't explain it, personally."
     Natsumi shot her an outraged look and continued stroking one of the 
ship's wings as she replied, "I don't mean to crash them! I just get 
distracted easily when I'm going fast, that's all�" 

Yeah, and the Lovely Angels never mean to level every structure they find
(except for 3WA HQ). It just happens.

     Kei shook her head amusedly. "Let's go ladies. Natsumi, you can

finish 

molesting that poor ship later. There are bad guys to shoot."
******
      The four girls entered the reception area across the dock, stopping

only twice to remove the videodisks from two security cameras they

passed. 

I thought that the people who did this were smart? Then why did they leave
behind evidence that could reveal their identities? Makes no sense.

Once the disks had been secured under flaps in Sakura's flak jacket, they

did 

a hard entry into the reception area. Yuri and Natsumi stood on either

side 

of the smoking area with guns ready. Sakura laid on the ground on her

back to 

the left of the door and slid a small mirror on a rod along the concrete 
until she could see in around the corner. With the help of the mirror,

she 

could see a bloody figure slumped over at the desk, as well as another on

the 

floor by it. She nodded to Kei, who stood over her. Kei knelt and pumped

the 

grenade launcher on her rifle. In one smooth motion she rolled across the

opening and fired a grenade into the room, continuing her roll to safety

on 

the other side. The other three pulled back as the small charge

detonated, 

belching smoke and debris out of the edifice at them. This done, all four

rushed in, ready to do some damage.

Who ever did this damage is long gone. A ship landing that wasn't theirs is
bound to draw attention. Either they fight or run.

     Inside, there was no movement. The receptionist, a pretty young

woman, 

had taken one of the large rounds of ammo through the chest, making her 
decidedly less pretty.  So had the security guard sprawled in the

passageway 

to the left, who hadn't even had time to draw his gun. The passage to the

right was empty and quiet. The four agents spared little more than a

glance 

for either of the corpses and followed the trail of destruction down the

left 

hall. At the hall's end was an elevator. Kei and Yuri looked at each

other 

and nodded. They turned to Sakura and Natsumi. Yuri looked at them

gravely 

and said, "Look, it's going to get ugly from this point on. I don't want

you 

two to think you have to do this part. If you want, you can stay up here

and 

guard our backs. Actually, I'd prefer it that way."
     Sakura shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. What happens if

there's a 

small army down there? Besides, if we get separated, it'll be that much 
easier to overwhelm us. We'll go with you guys."

Good grasp of tactics. A small army would take twice as long to annihilate
four people instead of two.

     Natsumi nodded her agreement as she popped a few pieces of gum into

her 

mouth and began chewing. Kei shrugged and chambered a grenade. "Suit 
yourself. Going down, ladies." She hit the call button on the elevator.
*****
     As the elevator, a large freighter, sank into the ocean, Kei and

Yuri 

outlined their strategy. "When we get in there," Yuri said, "Kei will

take 

point. She's got the biggest weapon, so we want her out in front. Sakura

you 

take right flank, I take left. Natsumi, you take rear. Remember,

technically 

we're here as officers of the law, so if you see anyone, order them to

cease 

and desist before you open fire."
     Kei grinned wolfishly and flipped her hair out of her face. "But I 
always felt it was legitimate to tell 'em to freeze while you were

already 

firing. Makes 'em easier to hit�just make sure that it isn't a civvie.

Foley 

hates it when we waste the civvies, huh Yuri?"

Rule number one of honorable warfare: YOU DON'T HARM CIVILIANS! 

     Yuri scowled and fingered her pistol. "Dammit, am I ever going to

live 

that down? Look, Jehovah's Witnesses look a hell of a lot like terrorists

in 

a low-light scenario! And they were acting pretty aggressive. How the

hell 

was I supposed to know they weren't hostiles? They were packing heat, for

God's sake!"

If you are carrying a weapon and have expressed interest in using it, you
have decidedly declared your intentions as hostile.

     Kei clicked her tongue reprovingly and said to Sakura and Natsumi,

"Yuri 

never did learn the Jehovah's Witnesses are authorized to pack a sidearm

when 

they're passing out those books. But it's pretty easy to tell a Jehovah's

Witness by his pistol: the only use those little girly guns; y'know, the 
Chance Defense two-shots? Yuri saw guns and flipped. You can't really

blame 

her though, she's just over-trained."

How did that legislation get passed? Who would authorise a law that allows
religious groups to carry guns? Why would they need guns to spread the word
of their faith? Shotgun conversions?

     Sakura and Natsumi exchanged glances and opted not to comment. The 
elevator shuddered to a halt and slid open with a musical chime. Like

giant 

hunting cats, Kei and Yuri slipped silently into the hallway, followed 
closely by a slightly more anxious-looking Sakura and Natsumi. The Lovely

Angels silently motioned for their new partners to move into position. In

tight formation, they moved down the dim hall.

So that a single grenade could kill the lot of them. Or a mine, or a
trip-wire bomb, or a sentry machine gun..........

     At the end of the fifty-yard passageway, they came to an airlock.

Yuri 

took up position on the right while Natsumi stepped to the left. Kei

stepped 

back and covered Sakura while she pulled a shaped charge from the utility

belt attached to her flak jacket. This she attached to the electronic

lock on 

the barrier and stepped back. Once she and the others were flattened

against 

the walls, she pressed the small detonator down lightly, arming the

charge. 

She slid it back into her pocket alongside the second charge of

explosives. 

This done, the four girls moved back into formation in front of the door,

thirty feet back. Finally, once all were ready, Sakura depressed the 
detonator button. The explosives flared blinding white and made a sound

like 

a hundred people kicking garbage cans simultaneously. Heated white-hot,

the 

locking system melted and oozed down the door, which fell clean off of

its 

hinges moments later. Making a mental note to use a smaller charge next

time, 

Sakura rushed alongside Kei and Yuri into the next room.

?!? Why they use explosives to open a door? Its a lot like putting a sign
above your head that says "Here I am! Come kill me!" Opening locks are what
electronic lock picks are for. Then again this is the "unkillable" Dirty
Pair (and associates). What do they care?

     For a fraction of a second, all four of the girls were frozen by the

beauty that surrounded them. They were inside a huge transparent tunnel 
suspended a mile below the surface. All around them huge fish swam and

rubbed 

against the warm transparent plastic walls. But the beauty of the

shimmering 

fish and crystal-clear water were erased by the presence of a small group

of 

figures down the hall. A group of people in black rubber body suits, 
insectoid face masks and odd-looking helmets surrounded a pair of service

vehicles. At the four agents' entrance, they had all frozen and looked

up, 

Of course they ignored the huge explosion just a few moments earlier.

and were now watching them silently. Sakura raised her gun, followed

closely 

by the others. Kei yelled, "Freeze, suckers! 3WA!"

Does that ever work?

     The figures looked at each other and raised large assault rifles.

Sakura 

heard Kei mutter, "Fuck." 

Guess not.

     The black-clad people opened fire on them in an explosion of sound

and 

fury. Kei and Yuri grabbed their partners and dived back through the

airlock 

onto the floor below the lip of the seal. Like a swarm of deadly hornets,

bullets hummed over their heads, close enough that they could feel the

warm 

air of their passage on their cheeks. Yuri conferred with Kei briefly,

then 

turned to whisper to Natsumi. Kei glanced at Sakura and asked, "Ready?" 
     Sakura nodded. Kei waited for the first burst to end, sat up, and

fired 

off a grenade with a scream. Yuri and Sakura were right behind her. As

the 

grenade hit, rocking the entire passage, the other two girls sat up and

began 

picking off shots at the black-clad assailants. One of them dodged aside

from 

Yuri's range, only to be caught in Sakura's sights. She winced as she

emptied 

three bullets into him. To her amazement, he staggered, but raised his

rifle 

and fired at her. She and Yuri ducked quickly. Sakura wiped the sweat

from 

Now we know that the body suit is not just to make him look cool.

her face and muttered, "Stubborn, eh?" She turned to Yuri and said, "Loan

me 

your gun for a sec." Yuri raised an eyebrow but complied. The pink-haired

agent turned to Kei and said, "Cover me."
     Kei grinned and asked, "Gonna pull a Super-Soldier, check? I'm on

it!"

Captain America? Where? Where?

     The red-headed Lovely Angel stood and began blasting away with her 
rifle, ignoring the return fire that zipped around her. Sakura stood as

well, 

a gun in each hand. She opened fire, roaring like a mad woman, blasting

away 

with both guns. The one she had wounded took five bullets to the face,

and 

went over the side of one of the vehicles, legs kicking madly in his

death 

throes. A second one went down after taking a whopping six bullets

stitched 

up his left side from knee to throat. A third caught two rounds from

Kei's 

rifle and was driven back against the clear wall hard enough to make it

shake 

all the way down its length before sliding to the ground. A fourth tried

to 

snipe from behind the closer vehicle, but Sakura emptied fourteen rounds

of 

ammo into his shoulders, throat and face. He fell from sight without a

sound. 

The other three looked at each other and dived into one of the vehicles

and 

roared off in the opposite direction at top speed. 
      Sakura released the breath she hadn't been aware she was holding in

a 

slow hiss from between her teeth as she squeezed the grips of the two

guns, 

making the empty clips fall to the floor. Yuri stood and dusted herself

off. 

"Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that? I don't think you

missed 

once."
     As she handed back the borrowed gun, Sakura said absently, "Three

times. 

Bullets one, two and nineteen. The others all hit." 

Yikes, she scares me.

     Yuri shook her head and slid a second clip into place. Sakura

stretched, 

then looked around. "Wait," She asked worriedly, what happened to

Natsumi?"

     Natsumi crawled out from under the remaining vehicle down the hall

and 

waved cheerfully. Sakura stared at her in amazement. "What the hell were

you 

doing?" Nastumi smiled and waved the detonator to the shaped charges she

had 

attached to the underside of the other vehicle. She said, "This." 
     She pressed the button and held a hand to her ear. From some

distance 

away, there was an echoing explosion. A brief flash of red light flared

down 

the passageway a bit. She pulled the load she had attached to the

remaining 

vehicle free and placed it back in her jacket's pouch. As she walked

towards 

the others, Natsumi causally said, "Those little trucks go up really

nicely."

Bomb nut + Gun nut = Dirty Pair version 2.0

    Sakura laughed and shook her head. They gathered around the corpses

and 

kicked at one of them lightly. Up close, their assailants were even more 
unpleasant looking. Their black rubber suits covered them from head to

toe, 

leaving nothing uncovered. Each one wore heavy black gauntlets, web belts

covered with devices, and gruesome-looking headsets. Faceted black

goggles 

covered their eyes and they all wore respirators attached to small gas

vents 

on their chests. They had external comlinks that made them look even more

like upright insects. Video uplinks ran from their headsets to their

massive 

rifles. Natsumi walked over to the one leaning against the wall and

picked up 

his rifle appreciatively. "Cool," She said. Slinging it over her

shoulder, 

she said, "Finders keepers, pal."

Well, its not like he's complaining........

     With a sound halfway between a gurgle and a roar, the man, still

oozing 

blood from the wreckage of his chest, grabbed Natsumi's ankle. She

screamed 

shrilly. The others made to raise their guns, but Natsumi beat them to it

by 

slamming his rifle butt down on his head, hard. He grunted, but held on. 
Babbling with terror, Natsumi continued hitting him.
     "EEEK! <WHAM> Y-you have the r-right <WHAM WHAM WHAM> to remain

silent! 

<CRACK >"
     "Ummm�Natsumi-chan?"
     "Anything you- EEK! -say c-can and will be <THUD THUD> used against

you! 

<WHAM>"
     "Natsumi? Natsumi?"
     "I-if you cannot <WHAM> afford a lawyer, <WHAM WHAM> the 3WA will 
provide you with one!"

....will provide you with one (that sucks)

     "NATSUMI!!!"
     Natsumi's head snapped up, blood spattered over her face. She looked

at 

Sakura who was holding onto her wrist. Her friend pointed at the battered

body Natsumi had been hammering at and said, "I'm no forensics expert,

but I 

think you got him." 
     She looked down at her accidental victim's head, or rather where it 
should have been, which was six inches higher than where it currently 
resided, somewhere down in his chest cavity. She put a hand to her mouth

and 

said, "Oops. I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to subdue him."
     Sakura patted her back and said, "Don't worry. You subdued him, all 
right."

I sense a "take no prisoners" mentality in this bunch.

     Kei and Yuri forced themselves to stop staring and examine the

corpses. 

While Kei admired Sakura's shooting, Yuri examined the head-set of one of

the 

corpses. She lifted the head of the least cranially-impaired of the men

and 

hissed through her teeth at what she found. She motioned for the others

to 

gather around. Holding up the head, she pointed to the symbol on the rim

of 

the man's datajack. It was three letters overlapping each other inside a 
circle. The letters were B, T and R. Kei swore and said, "BTR Tac-Int

goons. 

Great, we've gotten involved with a BTR Op. This is all we need."
     At the mention of the BTR Sakura and Natsumi paled. "What is

'Tac-Int'?" 

Sakura asked. 
     Yuri looked up and explained, "Tactics/Intrusion. They're the BTR's 
special forces, total killers. They use them when they don't want humans 
fighting but can't risk computer failure from a robot. These guys are 
monsters in every sense of the word. Take a look at this."
     This said, she loosened the straps on the face mask on the corpse

and 

pulled it loose. At what lay below, Sakura and Natsumi made retching

noises 

and turned away. The man, if indeed he could still be called that, had

little 

left of a face. His eyes were gone, replaced with empty metal sockets.

Wires 

ran from the goggles directly through ports in his gaping sockets to his 
brain. His nose was gone, as was his lower jaw. Instead, a thick tube ran

from his throat, was clipped to the roof of his dead mouth, and ran

through a 

metal frame that replaced the missing lower mandible into the air filter 
attached to his chest. His ears were gone and had been replaced with 
secondary sockets, most likely used for attaching to microphones in the 
headset. There was a metal plate in his throat over his jugular with a

gaping 

rectangular slot. Yuri let the human wreckage fall back with a dull

thump. 

Her eyes were grim and voice were grim as she said, "They are totally 
committed killers that don't have the problematic downfalls of robots,

such 

as computer failure or weakness to EMP, and with all the benefits of

human 

life; cheap to maintain, and even cheaper to replace."

Oh man, cybernetic hunter-killers.

     Sakura gagged again and asked weakly, "But what are they doing

here?"

     Yuri shook her head. "I don't know. We'll have to find that out.

These 

guys were here for something, and I'm betting it's down this passage 
somewhere. Ready to go ladies? Kei, what are you doing?"
     Kei looked up from her task at hand, wrestling one of the men out of

his 

combination web belt and flak jacket. She grinned and asked, "Have you

seen 

some of the cool stuff these guys get? It just isn't fair; all this neat

tech 

and no brains to appreciate it all."
      Sakura made a shocked sound. "You can't take that stuff!"
      Kei went on struggling with a strap and asked, "Why not? These guys

don't need it anymore. And even if they did, I wouldn't let him keep it."
     Sakura stared. "But, they're dead! That's disgusting!"
     Kei shrugged and returned all of her attention to the vest. "Fine.

You 

can be disgusted, and I'll have fun setting off all of these remote mines

and 

smart-bombs."

Why didn't she react when Natsumi took that rifle earlier?

     The pink-haired agent thought about this for a moment, then began 
stripping the vest from one of the other corpses. Once she and Kei had

pulled 

off a belt each and slipped them on, Yuri rolled her eyes and said, "If

you 

two ghouls are quite finished, can we get going?"
     Almost as an after thought, Kei hefted a rifle and tossed it to

Yuri. 

When she caught it, she looked at Kei questioningly. "It sure as hell

beats 

that Electromag." Kei said, "There are extra clips in his chest flaps." 
     Sakura picked up one of her own, holstering her pistol in the

process, 

as Kei took the last one, tossing "Mr. Antisocial" into the loading

vehicle. 

Natsumi laid hers alongside it and hopped into the driver's seat. "All 
aboard!" She called.
     Sakura paled at seeing Natsumi preparing to drive, and started to

say 

something. Kei and Yuri cheerfully hopped in and looked at her, waiting

for 

her to get in as well. Sakura sighed and shook her head ruefully. And her

day 

had been going so well, too�

Sakura: Oh Father who art in heaven hallowed be thine name........
Oh please don't let me die! Please don't let me dieeeeee.......

     Once they were all in, Natsumi started the engine with an almost 
reverent expression. At the engine's throaty rumble, she smiled

blissfully. 

And slammed the gas pedal to the floor.
*****
     As they whizzed down the hall at seemingly ludicrous speeds, Yuri

yelled 

at the top of her lungs, straining to be heard over the rush of the wind 
around them. "Aren't we going a bit fast?!" 

Natsumi: Are you kidding? We haven't even broken the sound barrier yet.

     Natsumi responded only by shaking her head. They whipped past a

flaming 

wreckage, the vehicle Natsumi had booby-trapped earlier. As they rounded

a 

corner on three wheels, they spotted another group of the Tac-Int

soldiers 

manhandling a service vehicle towing a large crate up the hall towards

them. 

They waved and motioned the girls closer, mistaking them for their 
compatriots at that distance. But after a moment of waiting, they seemed

to 

realize that something was amiss, and raised their rifles. Natsumi

cackled 

maniacally and slammed on the brakes as she spun the wheel. Yuri, Kei and

Sakura's screams of terror mixed with the screaming of the tires as the 
vehicle turned sideways in the passageway and flipped. They all dived out

just before the vehicle slammed into the one the Tac-Int people had been 
using. There was a resounding crash when the two vehicles collided.

Boom? Where boom?

     Natsumi crawled from under a pile of smoking wreckage and staggered

to 

her feet, a loopy grin plastered on her face. Scattered around were

pieces of 

the two loading vehicles and several crushed Tac-Int soldiers. "That was 
cool." She remarked to anyone who might have cared.

What kind of agents are the 3WA training at the Academy? 

     It had been an especially exciting crash. The idea to ram them that

way 

had been absolutely divinely inspired. For a few moments Natsumi thrilled

over the memory of the crash. But reality reinserted itself in the form

of a 

Tac-Int soldier with a mangled leg punching her in the back, hard.

Natsumi 

flew three feet and slammed into the wall painfully. She gasped and

turned 

around. The black-clad thing made a husky growling sound and put his

right 

hand to his left wrist. Natsumi looked around, realizing she had dropped

the 

nifty rifle she had picked up, and fumbled for her pistol. The soldier

hooked 

his middle finger through a ring in the wrist of his left gauntlet and

pulled 

away. With a faint buzzing, a gleaming wire attached to the ring and

glove 

unraveled out, making a wicked-looking garrotte wire. Natsumi cursed and 
continued struggling with the clasp on her holster. He advanced on

Natsumi 

slowly, dragging his crushed leg.
     As he lunged at her with the wire, Natsumi screamed and yanked her

gun 

free just in time to bring it up in front of her face. The soldier's wire

coiled around the barrel of her gun as he lunged for her throat. In swift

succession, Natsumi drove an inner-heel kick into his kneecap on his

wounded 

leg, followed swiftly by a knee to his chest when he staggered. He reeled

back, pulling on his wire as he did. There was a faint scraping sound as

the 

wire neatly cut the Electromag's barrel in two. Natsumi, still rather

woozy, 

shrieked in alarm as she lost her balance and sat down hard. The soldier 
limped towards her. In desperation, Natsumi grabbed around for something

to 

hit him with. She felt something made of cold metal encounter her hand.

She 

grabbed it, closed her eyes and swung it with a scream.

She panics a lot doesn't she?

     She opened her eyes when no attack came. She heard a faint gurgle.

She 

looked up. The thing she had swung was the rifle, which had been crushed 
between the two colliding vehicles. Its barrel had been broken in half, 
clipped into a crudely formed point, which was now imbedded in the chest

of 

the soldier and was protruding from his back. She dropped the ruined

rifle, 

which fell to the ground accompanied by the dead soldier. "Sakura!"

Natsumi 

called her friend's name and staggered off to find her.
     The two friends found each other further down the hall, where the

other 

three were looking for Natsumi. When Natsumi staggered into view, Sakura 
dropped her purloined rifle and ran to her. As she hugged her battered 
friend, she exclaimed, "What happened to you?! We looked all over for

you, 

you jerk! I was so scared!"
     Kei and Yuri came up, both looking rather battered and burnt. Yuri 
smiled kindly as she smacked Natsumi across the back of her head. At her 
pained exclamation, she said, "If you ever think of pulling a move like

that 

again, do two things first: warn us, and make sure your will is written

out."

And your health insurance paid up.

     So reminded, Sakura smacked Natsumi across the head as well. She

ignored 

her friend's whine and said, "I can't believe you pulled a move like

that! 

What were you thinking?"

It was divine inspiration, like she said.

     Natsumi rubbed her head and muttered, "I'm not sure. All these blows

to 

the head have damaged my short-term memory." 
     Sakura ignored her and turned to Kei and Yuri. "So, what was it they

were trying to run off with?"
     Kei shook her head. "We haven't checked yet. Let's go take a look."
     They went back to the massive steel crate and perused the complex 
electronic lock. Finally, after much deliberation, Kei said succinctly,

"Fuck 

it." And blasted the lock off with Mr. Antisocial, which she had

retrieved 

from the wreckage of the loading vehicle.

Dirty Pair tactics, if it won't cooperate, blast it.

     This done, they pulled the lid open and regarded its contents. In

neat 

stacks, there were dozens upon dozens of metal cryovac containers, two

feet 

across and three feet long. Yuri tapped the transparency button on one of

them. All four of them held their breath as the tinted viewing window 
lightened, revealing�a book. The book was three hands high and one and a

half 

wide, with a carved wooden cover, darkened with age. Strange writing

sprawled 

across the front cover in an odd, looping language. Sakura gasped. "This

is 

Old Earthian Arabic!"

You know, the Necromicon is written in Arabic.....

     Kei hit the transparency buttons on several more of the containers. 
"They're all books!" She exclaimed.
     Each container did indeed hold a book, all of them in strange

foreign 

tongues, many of them with covers made of strange materials. One of them

Kei 

swore was made of human skin, much to the disgust of the others. Once all

of 

the cases had been checked and re-darkened, the four of them sat on the

floor 

leaning against it and looked out through the clear wall at the

shimmering 

school of fish, undisturbed by the recent violence inside the underwater 
tubes. Finally, Natsumi looked at Kei and Yuri. "So now what?"

Pray that the books are not Tomes of Dark Sorcery. 

     Kei sighed and looked at Yuri for an answer. Yuri shrugged and said,

"We 

go topside to wait for our damn late backup and report to Foley. Not much

more we can do." 
     Sakura nodded and asked, "What about these books?"

I wonder if there's one that teaches you how to cast the Dragon Slave?

     Yuri answered, "We just load them up on the transport and�" She

trailed 

off as she remembered a fairly important fact. She, Kei, and Sakura

looked 

over at the ruined loading vehicles and the scattered corpses of the

Tac-Int 

soldiers. They wordlessly turned and stared at Natsumi. At their looks,

she 

slapped the floor with her hands and wailed, "I'm sorry!" 

I swear to leave at least one vehicle intact the next time! (Mutter: It
would be slowest one though)

*****
     Much later, while a group of 3WA forensics technicians perused the 
scene, the four girls stood talking with the Chief Inspector, Dan Garza,

and 

Director Foley, who had come in person at the terse description of the 

Director Foley would take one look at the carnage and then run off
screaming, "There are four of them now! AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

situation Yuri had given him. After handing over the disks from the

security 

cameras, Inspector Garza had quickly loaded them into a Hand-Vid. The six

of 

them crowded around it, watching the black ship land. While they watched,

the 

hatch opened and spit out a knot of the Tac-Int killers. They had spread

out, 

sniping down security guards and technicians alike. The interesting part

was 

that when the last ones came out, a man with long black hair stepped out

as 

well, and was apparently giving orders to the soldiers. For the better

part 

of the tape, he kept his back to the camera. For a few frames, he stood

in 

profile, giving them a decent look at him. He had shoulder-length black

hair 

and wore chromed glasses and a permanent sneer. Yuri and Kei shook their 
heads when asked if they recognized him. They watched as the man returned

to 

the black ship. When Garza paused it, Kei pounded her hand into her palm

and 

cursed. "I can't believe we didn't think to check inside that ship!"

D'oh!

     When they had returned to the surface, the four of them had found

that 

the ship was gone. Kei had spent at least ten minutes kicking things and 
cursing over this fact. Natsumi had joined her once she realized she

would 

never get a chance to fly the ship.
     Foley motioned for the four of them to come with him off to one

side. 

Once they were gathered around him, he said in a low tone, "Okay, look. I

take it you didn't get a chance to look at your mission disk." They all

shook 

their heads. He went on, "That's fine. I'm officially reassigning you to 
this. It turns out that those books were the collection of one Nakamura 
Shuichi, an antiquities collector who died about sixty years ago. These

books 

had been lost when he was transporting them while they were being

transported 

to his new home. The ship apparently crash-landed here. According to the 
aqualogy's records, the ship's wreckage was found a few miles away from

here, 

in a silt pit. The important part is that he left them to a museum that

the 

3WA has a controlling interest in. I don't know how or why, but the BTR

wants 

these books too. They're sending an official out here to seize them.

Aside 

from the fact that I have a deep and meaningful loathing for all things

of 

the BTR, I have a feeling these books are important."

The fact that some of the books have an eerie green glow might have tipped
him off.

     His eyes grew serious, "The only thing is, if I admit we have them,

the 

BTR can exert all kinds of political pressure on me to hand them over. 
Instead, I want you girls to keep an eye on them for me until we can find

somewhere to put them. I know you can protect them, so that's why I ask

this. 

And this isn't an order, by the way. It's a request."
     Kei and Yuri looked at each other. Kei shrugged and nodded. Yuri

looked 

at Foley and said, "We'll take them. But now you owe us." 
     Foley smiled and answered, "Good, good. I took the precaution of

having 

them loaded on you ship in advance."
     Before Kei or Yuri could say anything, Inspector Garza stepped up

and 

said quietly, "Director Foley, the BTR's representative is here."
     Foley scowled and turned as the BTR's man approached. He was fat and

short, almost as short as Foley, and had a bald spot and spectacles. He 
sweated constantly and wiped his face with a limp hanky as he strode up. 
Foley nodded and said, "Mr. Tate." The man nodded briefly and said, "I'll

take those books now, Director Foley."
     Foley gave him a blank look and said, "What books? This is an

aqualogy 

Mr. Tate, not a library."
     Tate smirked and answered, "Don't play dumb, Foley. You're far too 
clever to play the idiot. I know you found some belongings of the BTR's,

and 

I'm here to collect them."
     Foley nodded and pointed to the four girls, who were watching

curiously. 

"Talk to Agents Kei, Yuri, Sakura and Natsumi. They were the first on the

scene, so they know the most." He gave Kei and Yuri a significant look

and 

walked away.
     Sakura and Natsumi followed Kei and Yuri over to the man, who gave

them 

a condescending look as he said, "Okay girls, where are those books?

Don't 

bother lying to me, because I'll know."
     Yuri smiled vacantly and said in an airy tone, "Books? I didn't see

any 

books." Kei giggled and added breathily, "We don't like books. They make

our 

heads hurt. Right Sakura?" 

Sakura: Right! Hey mista, why don't you come into our ship and I'll show
you my butterfly.

     Sakura twirled her hair around one finger and stared off into space

as 

she said, "What? I don't get it�" Natsumi just looked at them all and 
wondered what the hell was going on, honestly confused. Ironically, she 
blended right in with the other girls.
     Tate blew his nose into his hanky and said, "Yes, well as ready I am

to 

believe that you girls are as vapid as you are acting, I know you have

the 

books. Look, those books are legally the property of the BTR. I have the 
documentation right here!"
     Tate did not notice that Kei had moved behind him so that the four

girls 

ringed him. Kei cracked her knuckles and asked, "Do you want me to do it,

Yuri?"
     Yuri smiled and flexed her own fingers. "No, no�please, allow me." 
     This said, she grabbed his briefcase with one hand and punched him

hard 

in the stomach. Tate wheezed and staggered. Yuri handed the briefcase to 
Sakura. The pink-haired girl grinned evilly. The others looked away in 
sympathetic pain as she hit the tubby man over the head a number of times

with his briefcase, saying, "Oh, vapid am I?!" She wordlessly handed the 
briefcase to Kei, who tossed it into the water off the side of the dock.

Tate 

gasped, "My briefcase!" Kei smiled sweetly and said, "Bye-bye!" With a

little 

wave she kicked him hard in the rear, sending him over the side into the 
water. Natsumi looked around confusedly. "What's going on here?" She

whined.

     As the four of them walked away, Natsumi still trying to puzzle out

why 

they punted the fat little man into the water, a technician ran up and

stared 

at Tate thrashing in the water. "What the hell happened to him?" Kei,

Yuri an 

Sakura chorused, "He tripped!"
*****
     As they stood at the base of the hatch of the Lovely Angel, the four

girls smiled at each other and shook hands. Kei, shaking Sakura's hand,

said, 

"I must say, you did impress me with your shooting. I haven't seen that

good 

of shooting from anyone but, well, me!"
     While Sakura tried not to roll her eyes as she thanked Kei for the 
compliment, Yuri said to both of them, "Seriously. Now that we've seen

you in 

action, I think we'll get along. I hope you're willing to stay with us

for 

the whole mission."
     Sakura and Natsumi linked arms and nodded happily, bruised, tired,

but 

exultant. They were real 3WA troubleshooters. The four girls walked up

the 

Complete with license to kill, maim and destroy.

causeway onto the waiting ship. As they entered, Kei hastily added, "The

Kei 

Is God rule is still in effect, though!"
     Foley watched the Lovely Angel take off. He smiled as he cupped his

hand 

around a match and lit a cigarette. As the ship flew off, a dripping wet

Tate 

came up and stood with Foley. He glared at him and rubbed his head. "Was

that 

performance really necessary?"
     Foley chuckled and answered, "There was no other way I could think

of to 

guarantee they'd take those books. Those ones are the only

troubleshooters I 

have good enough and dumb enough to send to stop the Eden Project. If

they 

went in knowing what they were up against, they would never do it, and it

would get pretty messy for me too. No, this was the only way."
     Tate rubbed his head again and said, "I just hope you know what

you're 

doing." Once he had walked away, Foley muttered, "So do I. God damn it,

so do 

I." This said, he relished his cigarette and watched the Lovely Angels

fly 

off into the setting sun.

Continued in Cycle Three

Nice story, very much in keeping with the character of the Dirty Pa....
<click> I mean the Lovely Angels (err... Kei-Sama could you point Le
papillon somewhere else?). Some of the description of fight scenes could
use work though.

Regards,
Mechamorph