oops forgot to check formatting
oh well should be ok
(famous last words)
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BattleKrome
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ICQ: 11725884
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Leona had seen many things in her
short life that defied reality.
This went beyond defiance,
and mooned reality while giving it the
metaphorical finger.
<from Paragon by Rob, edited slightly though>
--------------------------------------------
Or not to be that is the question before the bench
For the less traveled is paved with good intentions
>From whose dark bore no traveler returns
It is a far far better thing that Christmas morn
For tomorrow is another day
A shot rang out, the shot heard round the world,
suddenly guns to the left of me guns to right of me
<Miss Ayumi from Project A-Ko>
-------------------------------
yudenakya nama-BIIRU
*if i don't boil it, it's still draft beer
<from Dragon Half ending song, Watashi no Tamagoyaki>
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webpage at: http://members.xoom.com/Battlekrome/
============
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: singtokyo2.txt
Singularity Tokyo
Chapter 2
Now I haven't been that good at
getting transportation for myself. Mostly
when I have to go places I either take
public transportation or bike. Checking a
map of Greater Tokyo for where the pay
phone was in relation to my hole in the
wall as I call my apartment. I would be
still living with my parents except for
the fact that I manage to make the
occasional odd job that pays very well. I
decided to take my bike. It was only
twenty klicks or so. Being an avid biker I
have most of the neat stuff you can equip
a bike with. Most of it is fairly low-tech
stuff. A small computer to measure speed,
distance and such. A pair of bags for the
back and various other items. Bike rides
for me tend to be hard but fun to do. As
some would say its not the destination but
how much fun you have while getting there.
As others have, the means do not justify
the ends. This I have taken to heart in my
cracking and such. Nothing is permanently
damaged. That has been my motto for a
while. If I break in, I don't leave a
nasty virus. Maybe a fun one, but no nasty
ones.
For most people gut reactions are
taken as such. With me I find my gut
usually tells me very good things, like
�eat something'. I've found that also my
gut reaction to stuff is eerily accurate.
I had this feeling that I was being
followed. Considering that I was only a
couple blocks from the pay phone. I had
reasons to be nervous. Trying not to be
too obvious. I made a quick turn down a
side street half a block before the pay
phone. Stopping my bike and pulling it and
myself into a shop front. A large truck
drove by. By itself it was fairly
inconspicuous but the name across the side
was. 'Silky Doll'. A Lingerie store. I'd
only heard of it due to that RHC had
mentioned it as one of her shopping
favorites. I'd been there once, too
expensive for me. The guy that had been
minding the counter had been sorta cute
but he was too old for me.
Nearing the pay phone I decided that
I'd better do this quick. Pulling up I
picked up the receiver and punched in the
number. 'Ring... Ring'.
Then a Click.
The phone clicked on "If you are
listening to this then you have followed
the intructions to the letter. What is
your name?".
One of the few rules on being on the
shady side of the net is never to give
your real name out.
"Why should I?" I replied into the mic.
The phone clicked on again
"Voice print confirmed. Good Day, Aika
Nanako"
My first thought was 'oh crap'. I would of
used a very unladylike word but I'd been
taught not to swear. Well not in public.
Over the net was another kettle of fish.
Deciding to make like various things do
and bugger off. I finished the bike ride
home in almost half the time it usually
does. Most of that was due to a little
shortcut along the freeway hanging onto a
bus. That tactic of biking is one I know
how to do well. Don't ask how exactly you
practice that kind of thing.
Arriving back home I put my bike in
the closet and checked outside for
followers. Specifically a certain truck.
Nothing. Oh well. Then there was a knock
at the door. I nearly jumped through
the roof. Checking the peep hole, revealed
it to be a delivery boy. With a sigh of
relief I opened the door.
"Package for you Ma'am"
"Who's it from?" I asked
"Doesn't say. Just sign here"
Taking the clipboard, I signed my name and
handed it back.
"Here you go." he said and handed me a
medium sized box.
Closing the door behind me as a carried
the box into the living room. 'I wonder
what this is?' I thought. Oh well time to
get some sleep. Now when it comes to sleep
there are times when I get a decent amount
of sleep and then... Well then there are
times when I don't.
Chucking of my clothes and getting
into my pajamas. I usually wear my pajamas
to bed nowadays. Well ever since that fire
drill. Mostly my dreams are pretty normal.
There are some weird ones every once in a
while. Then there are the erotic ones.
Those I base my Lemon stories on. Thus I
drifted off to slumberland.
************************
<BGM 'Y'know from BGC 2040 (intro)>
Usually when I wake up I go from
unconscious to ready to go preetty fast.
When I woke up next wasn't. Things were
sorta fuzzy then clarified into reality.
Then I realized two things. One, I was no
longer in my bed or even my apartment.
Two, I was wearing this suit that I'd
never seen before. Correction. Three
things. Three, I am twenty stories up the
side of a high rise, downtown. I was now
perched on a ledge twenty stories up. My
first thought was 'How the smeg did I get
up here?'. My Second 'How the smeg am I
going to get down'. My Third 'this is a
neat looking suit'.
Checking myself over and the ledge
around me reveal nothing as to how I
got here. Looking around the ledge for
someway into the building, up or down it.
Nothing.
"How the heck did I get here?"
Another of my quirks I talk to myself.
Now what I didn't expect was an answer
"Well you climbed"
Glancing around for the source of the
voice. Then it clicked, helmet intercom.
"Who are you?"
"Lets just say I represent possible
employment"
"One of the Knight Sabers I expect"
"Good, now up to a little exercise?"
Then out of my peripheral vision I caught
a flash of movement. Someone was on the
ledge with me. Turning my head I saw
another figure.
"How do we get down?" I asked. I wasn't
sure I wanted to hear the answer.
"We jump"
At her words I took a glance down. Now
I'm not that afraid of heights. Its just I
tend not to jump off ledges twenty stories
up unless I have to. As I stood my suit's
systems came alive.
"Well, no time like the present."
"Meet you at the bottom" She said and then
jumped. Watching her swan dive toward the
concrete didn't seem to reassure me.
When faced with challenges like this in
computer games. I'm usually the one to
jump in first and check it out then go
back carefully from my saved game. This
however had no save game.
"Oh well, GERONIMO!" and I jumped.
Nothing can prepare you for the fright of
falling towards the ever approaching
ground. I felt so scared
I was sure I was going to wet myself.
Looking downward I saw Her land in a blaze
of fire from he jetpack. 'Cool' I thought
'hope mine works as well as hers did'. As
I neared the ground I my jetpack fired and
I slowed and landed with a 'Thump'.
Figuring that this was just the beginning.
I looked over at Her.
"So what should I call you?"
"Call me Priss" she replied.
"So what next?"
"A short run"
"Oh" I had a feeling I wasn't going to
like this.
"Catch me if you can" and she was off.
"Aw, man" Now I know I'm out of shape but
she was going as fast as I could on a
bike. How the heck was I supposed to keep
up?
I started to run after Priss. To my
suprise I seemed to be keeping up with her
and even gaining on her. As if in answer
to my thoughts as to how fast I was going.
A small display popped up in the corner of
my view. Speed 45kph. And it was going up!
How the heck am I running this fast?
"Great pieces of equipment these suits,
huh?"
"... well yeah" I replied.
"Good now that we're warmed up"
The words warmed up struck me as odd. I
hadn't felt at all tired. My thoughts left
me as Priss sped up further. Pushing
myself I was able to keep up. Barely. My
lungs began to burn and it felt like my
legs were starting to burn.
Then as if she had reached a preset finish
line. She slowed and stopped. It took me a
bit longer than Priss to run the distance.
As I reached the line she said "Thirty
seconds"
I puzzled this as I attempted to regain my
breath and whatever composure I could.
Then things began to get fuzzy
again, and blackness took me once again.
**************************
I woke up in my bed, in my pajamas.
I was drenched in sweat. I felt like had
run a marathon and taken on Muhammed Ali,
both at the same time! God that dream had
felt real. Checking the clock, 8:00AM.
My stomach rumbled its five minute
warning. Getting up proved almost as
painful as waking up. After a quick stop
in the washroom. I went in search of food.
Fridge, nothing much. Got milk? I do.
Getting a box of cereal for one of the
cupboards. I grabbed a bowl and spoon from
the counter and had breakfast. While I
ate, I ran though my dream over and over.
How it seemed so real. Also how my body
felt like I had done it for real instead
of dreaming it. Looking down into my now
empty bowl. I poured another bowl and went
on thinking. This happened a couple times.
When nothing came out of the cereal box. I
realized two things. One, that was almost
full when I took it from the cupboard.
Two, I was still hungry. Getting up I
knocked something off the table as I went
by. Picking it up. I recognized it as the
box that had been delivered yesterday.
Weird, it seemed much heavier yesterday.
May as well open it. Opening it revealed
an empty box with a small note. It read,
Aika Nanako, Mark II, test suit alpha, NR
acquisition, then a bunch of numbers and
symbols. Really weird. My Stomach growled
again. Heeding its call I went and got
another cereal box out of the cupboard.
I sat down again and started my way into
the cereal. After a few more bowls of
cereal, my stomach decided finally that it
was full.
After breakfast I decided to check
my email. Logging on to the net I opened
up my email client and checked for new
messages. Couple messages from some of my
cracker buddies. Most of them had had no
luck with the FTP route. Then a message
from a rhc@KS.org. Wait a sec. Opening up
the message. I scanned down the message.
Basically it was a non-disclosure
agreement for when I worked for them.
Then something about training starting
on... Yesterdays date? Checking the time
on when the email was sent pulled
a blank, as did where the message had
originated from.
From what I had heard about the
Knight Sabers. They were a pretty elite
organization. Membership by invitation
only, sort of thing. Also there had only
been four recorded members of the team. Of
the four only two had reliable pictures of
them. One of my hobbies when I was younger
was to keep a scrap book of their
accomplishments. Some of the stuff I'd
made up myself. The rest had been cut outs
of newspaper articles. Kept at it mostly
these days out of boredom and something as
a hobby.
Back in the early 30's a group of
vigilantes had started trashing boomers.
Back then though the boomers were a lot
more dangerous. Well relatively speaking.
The AD police had recently been formed and
was only five or six years old. It was
under pressure by higher ups to become
more efficient. The budget cuts had
resulted in horrible slaughter of the AD
police by boomers. The Knight Sabers were
looked upon as saviors and god sent. Then
the training and budget the AD police
needed arrived. The Knight Sabers also
took to more training and budget. Their
reputation as getting what needed to be
done was nearly perfect. Most of the jobs
they took were low key stuff, With the
occasional headline hi-jinx. The main
jobs they managed to get, when the AD
police managed to get their budget
increased, were bodyguards and
occasionally security. But for the most
part they faded into obscurity.
Then a break through in boomer
technology made them extremely cheap.
Also the manufacturing of a variety of
shapes and types became available. Due to
sentiments that were anti-boomer they
looked human for the most part, but their
AI's were so simple as to be barely work
self aware. Then the rampages started.
Various ordinary boomers started going
nuts and wreaking havoc. Then AD police
were efficient now and could easily take
down all but the most dangerous of the
boomers. The Knight Sabers resurfaced at
this point. They soon became the bane of
the AD police. They now were fast enough
to get to the boomer rampage scene minutes
before the AD police could. In some places
the AD police only found the smashed
remains of the rampaging boomer. In others
they came upon the combat itself. The
Knight Sabers had new hard suits and were
kicking ass. Three years of this passed.
The AD police became almost a joke. They
were getting beaten to the boomer seven
times out of ten. When they did get there
first. The boomer died quick and fast.
Sometimes they lost men, but nothing
compared to earlier in the Decade.
Then there were three. One of the
Knight Sabers stopped appearing. The rumor
along the grapevine was that they had been
hurt and they were taking an extended
vacation. Then another stopped showing up.
Two were left and the boomers that seemed
such an easy chore for the AD police began
to turn nasty with a vengeance. The
standard operating manual for killing
boomers seemed to be tossed out the
window. Instead of stupid but strong
boomers, they now were intelligent killing
machines. They tore through hastily set up
AD police lines. The only upside was if
you were taken down by a boomer and not
killed the medics could probably save you.
Rumors over the net said that they were
looking for more members to replace the
Knight Sabers that had been lost.
<BGM "Larger Than Life" by BackStreet
Boys>
I decided that my former hobby would
get an in-depth looking through.
Throughout the rest of the day I searched
the Newspaper archives and News Media
archives. Things began to make sense as I
read through those articles. I decided to
do something no one had found out before,
The identities of the Knight Sabers.
Throughout the day I worked scanning page
after page of text, pictures. Watching
hours upon hours of video footage.
Throughout the night I dreamed I was a
Knight Saber. Or at least I was training
to be one. Weird dreams of combat,
climbing up and down buildings. Even one
of leaping from the top to top of
skyscrapers.
I hate to admit it but I was out of
shape and yes I'll admit it kinda fat.
While I dreamed this training or torture
as I now call it. My body seemed to tone
itself and lose weight. How many girls
want this? My appetite went through the
roof. I started eating enough to feed a
smegging horse. The first week of the
dreams, my food bill doubled. Somehow
though when I went shopping I stopped
buying the impulse stuff and bought real
food. This perplexed me due to the fact
that the way I was searching you could of
put a feed bag on me and I wouldn't of
minded.
My searching began to turn up
results. I was able to put together a half
accurate timeline for the Knight Sabers.
>From their first days as miss-filed boomer
accidents after being damaged by AD
police, to actual sightings by non-police.
To pictures from various sources during
some of their battles, to the current day
of sighting just two of them. One of my
strokes of luck was the cracking of the
AD police server by one of my cracker
buddies. As all crackers know the only way
to prove that you did it is to tell people
how you did it so they could try as well.
I got in using their password and
downloaded the entire database relating to
boomers, Knight Sabers and anything else I
could lay my hands. Among these were a
list of all AD police personnel between
2025 and present day. One of them caught
my attention a red head by the name of
Nene.
Going through the AD police database
took many days. By then end I was
convinced that not only that Genom was
monitoring the rampaging boomers. They
were using the AD police and the Knight
Sabers as a testing ground for boomer
combat development.
Then I got the phone call. You know
how there are moments where your life
pivots around. This for sure was one of
mine. It was late and I was about ready to
go to bed when the phone rang. I picked it
up and cradled on one shoulder as I
finished my snack.
"Whatcha want?" I answered
An obviously disguised voice replied
"To give you employment"
"With what company?"
"You'll know soon enough. Spectre."
"Huh? Spectre??"
After I said the word 'spectre' my
world vanished in a shroud of darkness.
********************
My first thought upon waking were,
where am I. Looking around I realized I
was on a bed in what looked like a
military command center. Then the door to
the room opened and a short red-haired
woman walked in.
"Welcome to Knight Saber HQ, Aika"
"Who.. who are you?"
"We've met before, well electronically"
It clicked red hair, cute. Well sorta
cute.
"You're RHC?"
"yes, nice to meet you in person"
I sat up on the bed and then realized
the state of dress I am in. Naked.
Being the modest sort I blushed deep
red.
"Um.. where are my clothes?"
"Well that's why I'm here you are
wearing them but you aren't"
"explain"
"Think of what you usually wear"
I thought of my normal baggy sweats and
t-shirt I usually wear around the
house. Then I felt a shiver go down my
spine as my skin seemed to crawl for a
second then stop. Looking down I found
myself wearing the same clothes as I
imagined right down to the ketchup
stain on the T-shirt.
"H.. h.. how?"
"Bio-morphic suit. Don't know the basic
details myself. It's based on a metal
that was recently
discovered in a meteorite a couple
years back"
"So I get the job?"
"Oh yes" She laughed" you definitely
get the job"
"So what do I call you? RHC is a little
harder to say then type"
"The name's Nene. Nene Romanov"
Hrmm, where have I seen that name
before
"So, Nene, why me?"
"That's very complicated. You know how
Genom is the main producer of boomers?"
"yeah, everyone knows that"
"What you don't know but may have begun
to suspect is Genom tests its everyday
boomers for combat"
"That's why boomers go on those
rampages"
"Yep and for years the Knight Sabers
have unwittingly help with those tests.
The new breed of boomer these day takes
the AD police apart and is hard for us
to deal with even double or triple
teaming it"
"So I'm here basically to even the
odds?"
"Yep"
So that's why the Knight Sabers faded
into obscurity for that time back then.
"What about the dreams I've been
having"
"Ah yes, the dreams. Those are the
suit's fault. The suit unfortunately
wants the person wearing it to be in
top physical shaape before it considers
itself combat ready"
"You mean I've been actually doing all
that stuff I've been dreaming?"
"Yes"
"Holy"
No wonder I felt like I'd done those
things. I had.
"So how many other people are there on
the Team?"
"Just three others"
"Myself, Priss and another"
"Priss? so I didn't make her up"
"You dreamt about Priss? Oh yes, that
explains it the suit when it's first
activated takes the nearest fittest
human as a model for training. Priss
had activated it from outside your
apartment"
"So how long have you people had your
eye on me?"
"Well actually you got chosen because
of me"
"You??"
"Yeah you were the only one that fit
the psych profile"
"Psych profile?"
"Yeah, a readout of what you do when
under stress. whoops wasn't supposed to
mention that"
They have a psych profile on me? Wonder
if it is accurate to what I think I am.
"Ok then so when do I start?"
"Well, Aika, first we need to run some
simulations and such with the suit.
Then we need to get you aquant with the
suits properties"
"Like what?"
"Well you know how you were able to
create clothes from it?"
"Yeah"
"You ain't seen nothing yet"
"So any idea who the other person is?"
"Nope, but I know Priss is talking to
them in the other room"
With that she turned and walked toward
the door
"We'll be testing both of you down in
the training room"
As Nene and I walked down the hall
I marveled at how much money it would
take
to build this all, let alone keep it
all running.
"How much does it cost to run this
place, Nene?"
"Oh" she stopped "you know I never
thought of it. Probably more money than
you've seen in one place"
"heh"
As we neared the end of the hall a door
opened on the side and someone nearly
ran me over.
They and I collided and ended in a pile
on the floor. As we got up, I heard her
swear 'she wasn't cut out for this
stuff'.
"Who are you?" I asked her.
"Name's, Yuri" she snapped.
this must be the other person Nene was
talking about
"Your the other Saber?"
"I don't want to be but this suit isn't
giving me a choice"
"So you don't want to defend the
innocent and protect the weak?"
Someone not wanting to be a Knight
Saber? Impossible. That's like being
offered immortality and turning it down
because you can't stand how your ass
looks.
"Not at all, I just want live my own
life and die of old age" she retorted.
"Yuri? You do realize that you will be
paid for you services?" Nene
interjected
"Money?" Yuri replied, her voice
wavering.
"Nene, how much would the job pay?" I
asked.
"Well, there is the fact that the suits
are low maintenance and..." Nene began
to look over the costs of running a
Knight Saber. Then a black haired woman
came out of the door at the end of the
hall.
"Oh your all here already come on in.
Nene, Sylia wants to see you. " The
woman said.
With a resigned look Yuri followed the
rest of us into the 'Training room'.
The black haired woman spoke
first, as we looked over the various
weights and items in the 'Training
room'
"My name is Linna. This here is the
training room, here we will be
testing how fit you are and how combat
ready you are"
"So your going to show how weak and
slow we are?" Yuri replied.
"Actually how fast and strong you are
may amaze even you" Linna replied.
The actual tests and such didn't
take long but there were so many of
them.One of them was fairly simple
a steel bar, about three feet long.
the task bend it.
Yuri said "No way am I going to be
able to bend that"
"try it" Linna replied.
During my own testing I found my speed
and strength had increase in large
amounts.
Yuri's increases were just as staggering.
She took the afore mentioned steel bar and
twisted it into a pretzel with all the
ease
of doing it with bread. The astonished
look
on her face when she was able to pick up
a 200lb weight with her forefinger and
thumb.
The ease she was able to juggle 50lb
dumbells.
At the end of the testing we both were
sure we could take Superman three out
of four falls.
We moved into the next room.
Sometime during the tests Nene and
Priss had vanished elsewhere. In the
middle
was a mount of some sort. Yuri was
selected
to try it first. Linna and I went
into a small booth to the side. Then
the room lit up and I realized what it
was.
A holochamber. A neat way to test yourself
without even leaving the base. After
the test Yuri looked sweaty and tired.
Thus it was my turn. I got myself into
the contraption. Then the simulation
started. The room went white then darkened
to a street corner downtown. With a boomer
rampaging down the street.
The test was a simple boomer encounter.
An old combat model boomer. Simple
to kill but with enougth smarts to
prove dangerous. AD police being
aggressive and attempting to kill
both you and the boomer. Deciding
to see just how maneuverable I was.
I was playing around when a voice
shocked me back to awareness of
where exactly I was.
"Aika stop fooling around and
kill the boomer." Linna's
voice.
"Ok" I replied.
A series of cartwheels brought
me into close combat range of
the boomer. Using my speed advantage,
however little it was, to dodge its
attacks and wait for an opening to
kill it. A few seconds later. There!
My punch flew true. Smash. no more brain
no more boomer. With my fist extended
through
the boomers chest the simulation ended.
'Wow' I thought 'that takes alot out of
one'.
Linna released me from the rig and then
escorted
us into another room.
In the room was a table with a large
spread of food across it. As if planned
both Yuri
and I grinned and began to dig in. Linna
was about
to say 'dig in' but I think she knew we'd
do
that anyway.
Over the meal Yuri and I compared
background.
Seems we had quite similar backgrounds.
She came from
a poor family as I did. The only
difference seemed
in our apptitudes. She's a whiz at
mechanics, whereas
I'm a whiz at computers and such. Seems
Priss had
ridden with her on a couple of occasions.
They also
from what I could figure out they belonged
to the same
club or something of bikers.
The meal seemed to pass quite
quickly. Then, as we
were dusting ourselves off of extra pieces
of food and
wondering where and how we put all that
food away, Nene came
in the door.
"Aika, Yuri, now comes the fun part.
Actually trying out your
'hard suits'. Follow me"
"Did you have dreams of doing stuff in
your hardsuit as well?"
I asked Yuri.
"Yeah, That's one of the reasons I was so
dead set against
being a Knight Saber, but now.. "she
trailed off.
"I know it seemed like torture, but
getting paid and
able to be a heroine?"
"Well..."
"GET A MOVE ON YOU TWO." Nene yelled from
down the hallway.
Sheepishly we both hurried down the
hallway after her.
***********************
The test area or should I call it a
shooting range? I was
both really. Targets downrange surrounded
by some heavy plating
from what looked like front line tank
armor. The targets themselves
looked to be remains of boomers welded
together to provide a
solid target. Also along one of the walls
were more dummy boomers
with what looked like extra armor and
various implements of close
combat.
"Now both of you have trigger phrases that
activate your armor.
After some training you won't need them
but it helps
to get your self in the mindset."
Now on of the things Yuri and I had both
been fans of
when younger where those magical girl
animes. Sailor Moon
and a whole slew of others.
"So let me get this straight. We yell out
those phrases and
transform into armor suited warriors?"
"Well, yes"
Yuri tried vainly to keep herself from
snickering. She succeded,
barely.
"So what do we call out?" Yuri asked.
"Well one of things we have done is so
you can refer to each other without
calling
out each other's name is given each of you
a
code name."
"So what are they?" I asked.
"Well your's is Spectre and Yuri's is
Atlas."
"Cool." both Yuri and I echoed.
"So the trigger phrases are?" Yuri
inquired.
"your code name followed by" Nene mumbled
the rest.
"What?"
"your code name followed by knight power
up" Nene finished.
"your kidding?" Yuri asked.
"hey, when I made them up they seemed
cool" Nene fumed.
"Hey, Yuri" I said
"What?"
I leaned over and whispered my plan to
her.
"Oooh " She said after hearing it " let's
do it."
"Spectre Knight Power Up!!"
"Atlas Knight Power UP!!"
As I finished the phrase a ripple passed
down my body. Looking down I saw my
clothes had been
replaced by a skin tight black spandex
suit. Then a weird
feeling started at my feet and began to
work it's way up.
Then suddenly everything went black. Then
cleared into a HUD
on the inside of my helmet. As the
transformation finished.
I began a series of poses as did Yuri.
While yelling out
"I am Saber Spectre/Atlas and In the name
of the moon
We shall punish you!"
Then we fell down laughing.
This continued for a while.
Finally Nene was able to get us to stop
laughing. As
we were getting to our feet Nene said "I
still say those
were cool when I made those phrases up"
This set us off laughing again.
After about five minutes of this.
"Enough, enough" I gasped.
"Ok, Then about your suits. They have a
limited source of
power. Once that has expired you're back
to your normal self.
The upside is you have almost a full two
hours of power.
That should be sufficent for most
boomers."
"What happens after the two hours?." Yuri
asked.
"Well for the most part your suits vanish,
leaving
you in your street clothes."
"Ah"
"Basically that's only in combat
situations. With low activity
you could last almost twelve. Now for
weapons. Each of you two
are equiped differently. Aika you have a
gun on your left arm
and a extendable claw on the right."
As if in answer to the identification of
it a three pronged claw
extended from the back of my forearm. It
was almost as long as my
forearm.
Nene continued " Yuri your fists are
reinforced for punching
and each of the fists is equiped with a
small explosive charge.
The charge can be used once before needing
reloading. That we have
to do either here or at the mobile field
base. So don't use em
unless you need to. Then there are the
array of rail guns
in each forearm on yours, Yuri. They are a
twin pair in each
arm. They can fire either in concert of
individually."
"So I'm the one who goes for close
combat?" Yuri pipped.
"Yep, and looks like I'm more maneuvering
for a kill
that duking it out" I added.
"As I was saying for the most part you two
are unarmed for the
long range weapons. The guns and such are
not as effective
against boomers. Simply due to the armor
blocks most
shots but can be easily ripped apart in
hand to hand.
Now for the really fun part. Target
practice. Think of
what you want to hit and the targeting
sensors will do the rest"
Nene then retreated to the control bunker
and the back of the
range. With a grin I turned and pointed
downrange at one of
the mock up boomers.
"Who goes first?" I asked.
"Rock, paper scissors?" Yuri answered.
My luck being what it was Yuri won.
Yuri raised her arm and aimed at one of
the boomer mock ups.
A small pop echoed as she fired. Looking
downrange I giggled
as I realized where she had hit the
boomer.
"Having boyfriend troubles, Yuri?" I
asked.
"No, why do you ask?"
"Look at where you hit it."
Yuri squinted at the target or at least I
assume she did.
I couldn't tell with the helmet.
"Oooh, that boomer ain't going to have
children."
"My turn"
Aiming my left arm at one of the mock ups.
I then realized
I didn't know how to fire it.
"Um how do you fire it?" I meekly asked.
"Your fore finger"
"Ah"
Bitting my tongue as I concentrated at
aiming at the chest
of one of the mock ups. On my HUD a red
targeting recticle
appeared over the chest. A Green one
appeared as I moved my arm
to target the chest. As I moved my arm the
green one moved.
Lining up the two. As the two merged a
tone sounded. Pulling
my fore finger in an imitation of using a
trigger. Nothing
happened. Confused I released the trigger.
An azure bolt of
plasma shot from my gun and slammed into
the mock up. Blowing
a large crater out of the front of the
mock up.
"Whoa" Yuri and I echoed.
A voice echoed through the chamber
"Now try the close combat mock ups."
One of the mock ups at the side shuffled
to its feet and began a limp towards Yuri
and I.
"I believe its my turn" I said.
Rushing at the boomer. I ducked under its
fist and swept out its legs. Pulling back
to where Yuri was standing.
"Your turn, don't damage it too baddly"
"Your actually playing with it?" She
replied, astonished.
"Well you want to double team it then?"
"Oh yeah."
The two of us rushed at boomer. Deciding
that Yuri was the greater It swung at her.
Yuri leaned back as she avoided the blow.
Then as the arm began to pull back.
She lashed out and smashed the elbow downward.
The force of the blow off balanced the
boomer. Letting me get inside its guard
and hit it with a devastating kick that
removed it's head from it's shoulders.
over the PA came "Its not that easy most boomers
require you to destroy their 'brain' before they
die."
With that the boomer got back to its feet
and stepped toward us yet again.
extending my claw I rushed at the Boomer
expecting a punch I went low. When I went
flying across the room from a well aimed
kick. I realized this wasn't as easy as
I thought. Slamming into the wall knocked
the breath out of me.
Next thing I knew I was being helped to my feet
by Yuri with Nene looking on.
"Ouch, guess I need more combat practice."
"You should be more careful around boomers.
They will learn and adapt to your attacks.
Just because it worked the first time
doesn't mean it works the second time."
"Yeah, I had to trash that thing quick after
it hit you." Yuri interjected.
"There are two types of Knight Sabers, the
carefull and the injured. Don't end up in
the second catagory. Now for the the
neat stuff."
"Neat stuff?" Yuri asked.
"Yeah gadgets and such." Nene replied.
"Um.. how do we get these things off?" I asked.
"Oh visualize yourself in the
clothes you want to wear" Nene responded.
With that both Yuri and I went back to
street clothes.
"That HUD gets annoying after a while. Besides
according to Nene we only have two hours
of power." Yuri added.
With that done we followed Nene into what looked like
a garage or workshop. Well a workshop to Yuri and
a garage to me. Various Implements of machining
and such that I can't identify were scattered across
the walls and a few large machines littered the
ground. The main thing that attracted Yuri's and
my attention were two vehicles under tarps.
"These are for us?" Yuri asked.
"Well that's what I was told. Mackie might want to
go over the extra's with you two later. Speaking
of him. Mackie!"
A guy working under a truck in one of the repair
bays, stuck his head up.
"Yes?" he replied.
"Mackie, this is Yuri and Aika. Give them the lay down of
their new toys." With that Nene turned toward Yuri and I.
"He'll show you the extra's and such."
As Mackie walked over from the repair. He cleaned his hands off
with a greasy rag that seemed even greasier than his hands.
"So your the two new ones" Mackie said.
Not really having much to say I stayed silent. Yuri on the other
hand. Began to get right into it.
"So these are motorcycles?"
"Well technically they are but they've been modified a bit."
"What are we talking weapon systems? supercharging? Nitro?" Yuri
began to barrage Mackie with questions. Some I understood
Others went right over my head. Mackie tried to answer as
many of Yuri's questions as he could. Finally as if to get some
relief he grabbed the two tarps covering the vehicles
and yanked them off. This revealed two streamlined motorcycles
one midnight blue the other red with smoky black over it.
My response was "Cool."
Yuri's was "Which ones mine?"
As if to get away from Yuri's questions, Mackie turned
toward me. "That one is yours, Aika." He pointed to
the midnight blue one. "And that is yours, Yuri." He
pointed to the other one.
"Wait a second. how do you know who was who?" I asked. I
had a suspicious feeling about Mackie.
"Well... Nene, told me" he replied nervously.
"No she didn't she said both our names. Not inividually."
Yuri interjected. While Yuri was trying to get a
straight answer out of Mackie. I looked into the repair
he had been working in. In one corner was a small wall mounted
screen. It currently was showing the range. Looking at the controls,
I fiddled with them until other rooms appeared. One being the
room I awoke in, the other the one Yuri did. Then the testing room.
I fumed 'he's been spying on us and he's probably seen both of
us naked due to this spycam!'
Walking up from behind the two with a dangerous look on my face.
Yuri noticed me before Mackie. I mouthed the words 'spy camera'.
Yuri's face darkened for a second. Then she winked. I snuck up behind
Mackie.
Tapping him on the shoulder.
"You, were spying on us weren't you?"
"W... w.. well..." he trailed off.
Yep as I thought he was.
"Do you know what Yuri and I do to peeping toms?"
"N.. n.. no"
"Well tell the truth and you won't find out." Yuri said with a glint in her
eyes.
At that Mackie broke down.
"Yes, I was spying on you, But and this is a big but, only for the
range session. I needed to find out the color of your hardsuits so
I could paint the bikes the same color." He spilled out.
"Ah so that's why they look similar" Yuri added.
"Shall we give them a test drive?" I asked.
Mackie reached into one of the pockets on his overall and pulled
out a pair of keys on keychains. He tossed one to each of us.
The keychain looked like a remote for the bike.
"What does the keychain do?" I asked.
"It transforms the bike and engages chameleon skin" He replied.
"Into what and what's chameleon?" Yuri asked.
"Well a extra suit of armor.." Mackie replied.
"So we push a button and they form extra armor on us?" I broke in.
"Well yeah." Mackie replied.
"And the chameleon skin changes the color of the bike?"
"Yeah. You both know how to ride motorcycles?" Mackie replied.
Yuri gave him a look that suggested that he was an idiot.
"Well I'm a little rusty but yeah." I replied.
"Rusty?" Yuri inquired.
"Well I haven't ridden in two or three years on one."
"Why not?"
"Well the one I used to ride was my brother's."
"Ah so how'd you learn."
"Well when I was sixteen. He got into his head that
since I was such a good bicyclist I would be and even better
motorcyclist. So he persuaded me to get a Class 6 license so
I could ride it. The bad side was he kept on making me ride the
thing. I couldn't help but get half-decent rider of one."
"I sense a big ouch after this." Yuri interrupted.
"Well then he started teaching me all these tricks."
"Like what?"
"Well wheelies, then 180 turns, then various emergency and flash maneuvers."
"Flash manuevers?"
"Like dismounting and having the bike stop a few feet later."
"Lets get going then." Yuri asked.
Mackie had wandered off during our conversation now as
we seemed to finish he returned.
"Now, how do you two contact the Knight Sabers?"
That stumped us.
"Transform and use radio?"
"And give your position to anyone with good tracking?" I interrupted.
"This is how." Mackie held up a pair of watches. they also matched the bikes
in
color. He handed one to each of us.
"These watches will alert you to a boomer call and various meetings."
Wordlessly we put them on and turned toward our bikes.
"Arrgh, I just realized we don't have any gear!" Yuri exclaimed.
"Um.. Yuri, we can just make it ourselves." Picturing myself in my
old motorcycling suit. She turned and looked at me and then giggled.
"Aika, you sure you want to ride around in that?"
Looking down I realized that I had assumed that the same size of
shirt would fit me. Instead it looked my chest and my shirt were
fighting a war to see who could contain the other and who could escape.
"EEP" Quickly picturing myself with a leather shirt as well as the
jacket I was wearing. Then I noticed the look on Mackie's face. Giving
him a good slap to the side of the head, I turned and got onto my bike.
"Oww. What was that for?" Mackie whined.
"For staring." I replied.
I stuck the key into the ingnition and turned it. a dull rumble came from
the bike then faded to nothing. Confused I looked at it. Usually bikes were
alot louder. Then Mackie pipped up
"The bikes are nealy silent at low revs. The higher they are the more noise.
At max speed though it still will be almost a whisper."
"Neat I replied. So how do I go so people do hear me coming?"
"There are deployable screecher whistles on each side." He answered.
"So in otherwords I either ride around sounding like a banshee
or as quiet as a ghost?"
"Well pretty well."
"Mackie,what about mine?" Yuri asked.
"Yours isn't silenced as much. Due to the larger engine."
"Mackie, just how fast can these go?" I asked.
He replied off hand as if it wasn't that much "250."
"250? holy" Yuri replied.
"Miles per hour or kilometers?" I asked.
"Kilometers" He replied.
"Whew"
"Their max speed is much higher" Mackie added.
"Max speed.... " I stammered.
"Yeah it's about 350 to 400"
"Holy F**K" Yuri swore.
"Man I'm going to like these."
"Shall we go now, Yuri" I asked.
She grinned and got onto her bike. Switching into
bikers clothing herself. We drove off for some fun.
Over the next few weeks Yuri and I practiced riding motorcycles
and trying some of the maneuvers I had learned. For the most part
I found riding around with the screeches fun. They sounded like
a high pitced wail. Scared Yuri when i first used em. For me they came back
fairly easily. Trying to remember how my brother had taught me. I
taught her as many of the tricks I could. Yuri also taught me a trick
or two about biking around. Then we would sneak off to Knight Sabers
headquarters and practice combat and targeting.
One thing I found was I sucked at quick targetting. From
all my gaming experience this should be easy, but no. Getting faster
and more accurate every time. But my precision was off. I'd hit the
target but do only superficial damage to it due to hitting either heavy
armor or a useless part. By the end of the session I was quite ticked off.
my last shot missed the head by a couple centimeters. Clenching my
left hand (and thus the trigger). I walked around the room trying to calm
down
for the next shot. Deciding 'aw the heck with it' I turned, aimed and let go
of the trigger. What happened next wasn't what I expected. I expected a
small bolt
of azure plasma to hit the target and maybe do damage. What happened was
a huge ball of plasma shot down the range and vaporised the target. My last
thought
before fainting was 'wow I can do that?'.
I came to in the MediLab.
"What happened?" I said groggily.
"You over exerted yourself." Yuri replied.
"Did you see the size of that blast?"
"Yeah now if you could do that with out exhausting yourself."
"Yeah. I agree" I replied.
Then the big night happened. A rampaging boomer downtown. A quick shift to
armor and away I went on my bike.
Author notes...
God this is a big chapter. Wish I could do this more often.
I will be putting this up onto my webpage. when I get the time
Any guesses to where I got the name Aika??
Until Next time, same batty place same batty sig,