B I S H O U J O S E N S H I S A I L O R M O O N
A C R O S S T H E B O R D E R
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME (Mark A Page)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer - This is a story containing characters who were created
by anyone but me. That anyone would happen to be Takeuchi Naoko.
Handle it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Usagi looked out of the window at the high point above. The
skies were a beautiful azure blue, and the clouds light and
fluffy.... She was almost tempted to take her notebook out of her
backpack and start writing down some poetry. But this wasn't the
time for artistic relection. The time was close to seven to nine.
Time to move out!
She turned to Rei and Ami, who nodded. Having packed all of
their gear into their own backpacks, and dressed in their red and
blue bodysuits (respectively) and black overcoats, they made to move
out of the classroom that had been their home for the night.
Usagi had been quicker than them in rising this morning, which
was most unusual for her. As the veteran amongst the trio, she had
always taken things a little more lightly than Ami or Rei, knowing
well the limitations of their enemies. However, for some reason she
felt a little nervous about what might follow. She flexed her
fingers, remembering the dying screams of the man she had been
ordered to dispose of yesterday. Just another one of the souls that
haunted her, now.
Shaking the thought from her mind, she fitted her backpack
around her shoulders and knelt down to the floor, picking up a stick
from the floor. Rei and Ami stood by the doorway, looking back
at her, their eyes full of anticipation.
Slowly, Usagi began to tap the stick on the floor. Ten, nine,
eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one....
They ran through the doorway into the corridor, turning left
and making for the Principal's Office. Their pace was slower than
normal, but they had rid themselves of some of those who had been
following them the night before, so things weren't likely to get
messy. They had earned this little benefit of their job.
----o
Part One
Orders to Kill
----o
The Principal's Office was empty, as they expected. Rei was
the first onto his desk, jumping up and pushing the ceiling tile
away, exposing the hidden infrastructure beyond. Rei then reached
down to Ami, grabbing her hand. Ami pushed herself up, by one leg,
and was catapaulted through the gap.
Rei repeated this action with Usagi, then followed herself,
being careful to replace the tile after she found her balance on the
roofing beam. The tile had to look only slightly smudged, or out of
place, for their enemies to be able to follow the trail. It had
happened before.... Rei had had friends and partners die through
such small mistakes.
Rei gave Ami and Usagi the thumbs up, and the three began to
crawl along the beam, towards an access opening at the far end.
Ami, reaching the access first, stopped and placed her ear against
it. After a couple of taps, she put up a hand to the others,
gesturing that she wasn't sure of how clean the opening was.
Usagi and Rei looked at each other. Usagi signalled to the
structure above. That way? Rei shook her head. There was another
level there, blocking their path with a floor of concrete. Ami
gestured a backtrack, but this time both Usagi and Rei gave her
pained looks. Why the hell would they want to backtrack now? Ami
shrugged and placed her right hand against the serviceway. Only one
way to go, then.
Ami fidgeted with the opening, and after a pause of
preparation, she pulled it back. There was no explosion, nor the
shot of a waiting sniper.... Not that a sniper would be so stupid
as to fire straight away....
Ami reached into her jacket and pulled out a set of hi-tech
goggles, then opened the serviceway door, adjusting the goggles to
scan. This placed her life in danger for approximately twenty
seconds as she made a sweep of the area. Nothing more than a small
gap between two buildings, with various other buildings in the
background. On top of one of those buildings, she saw a Dada Group
in action. Civilians.... Might be difficult if they get caught in
the crossfire. Apart from that, she saw nothing threatening.
Ami gestured to her partners the situation, and gripped the
top of the serviceway. With a thrust, she'd swung herself out onto
the tiny ledge. From her backpack, she pulled out a grappling hook
and cable, and swung it around. With a mighty throw, she pitched
the hook at the edge of the roof. The hook held firm, and she gave
Usagi and Rei the thumbs up. Time to move on.
Ami clambered up the rope, slowly, followed by Usagi and Rei.
She paused just before the top of the building, then adjusted her
goggles once more, giving her over-the-horizon vision. The roof was
clear.
Below, as usagi began to ascend the rope, Rei closed the door
to the accessway carefully, for the same reasons she replaced the
ceiling tile. Holding onto the rope, she peered around, and spotted
the Dada group, in the distance.
Her heart skipped a beat as she remembered her days with just
such a group.... Growing up with her Grandfather, who had founded
the group.... The parties, the art exhibitions, the violence, at
times.... Rei swallowed hard and looked upwards. Usagi was almost
at the roof edge. No time to think back on a childhood that shall
never return....
Ami placed a handclamp onto the edge of the roof, allowing her
to hang on without the need for the rope, and reached down to Usagi.
Usagi put out her hand, and was flung over the edge of the roof,
landing catlike on the concrete. She quickly made a recce of the
roof area, moving out of Rei's way seconds later as the dark-haired
girl landed in the exact same spot, in exactly the same manner. Rei
then turned and helped Ami over. Within seconds, the rope and hook
were wound back up, and Ami's goggles were connected to her belt.
Rei checked the edge of the roof for any marks of their
arrival. She cringed when she saw the tiny scratches where the
grappling hook had been. "Gonna be a problem?" She gestured to
Ami. The blue haired girl pursed her lips and shrugged. Their
enemies could spot a lot of things, but many had passed this way
before, so it might be possible that, if any were on their trail,
they'd miss it.
You gotta be kidding, Rei gestured. Some of theit enemies
were almost as well trained and as well kitted as they were. Just
one of those would be able to spot the marks and decide, for
themselves, how recent they were. Ami shrugged again, it couldn't
be helped, now.
Rei shook her head as Usagi arrived at the cable bridge.... A
fat cable that ran between the roof of this building and the higher
one on the other side of the small school yard. On top of that
building lay the High Point.... The place where their trail would
end for anyone following....
Rei and Ami joined her, quickly. Ami flipped the goggles on
again and scanned the area below them. She gave the thumbs up to
her companions and replaced the goggles as Usagi whipped out a pair
of hand grapplers, attching them to this end of the cable and
checking its torsion.
The cable felt solid in her efforts to bend it. That could
mean one of two things.... It was tough enough to take their
weight, or it would go the way of all solid objects and crumble.
Well, there really was no turning back, now. Usagi stepped up
onto the wall that lined that side of the roof, then stepped off.
The cable creaked as she wrenched the grapplers, which slid along
the cable with protest, tiny little wheel locks preventing her from
sliding back down the cable's incline. Ami let out a breath of
distaste as Usagi struggled along. This wasn't going to be easy.
She followed Usagi's example, placing her grapplers onto the
cable, then taking hold of them with her hands. After a couple of
breaths, she stepped off the side. By this time, Usagi was at least
ten feet ahead of her.
She felt the blood rush to her legs, giving her instant pins
and needles, hot pins and needles even, the worst kind. She hated
hanging over long drops like this. Slowly, she wrestled the
grapplers up the cable.
Rei had been waiting, impatiently, for Ami to get moving.
Whilst Ami was the gadget queen amongst the trio, her active skills
left something to be desired, sometimes, and she was falling behind
Usagi with each wrench of the grapplers.
Rei gave the blue-haired girl some time.... She hated this,
glancing around for their enemies. It was possible, if they had
made the classroom by now, that they would see the trio making their
way across the gap. It wasn't likely, all things considered, but in
this line of work one should be prepared for any eventuation.
After giving Ami some room, Rei then attached her grapplers to
the cable. With even less fear than her companions, she leapt off
the side of the building, making great strokes with the grapplers,
swinging her legs in an effort to keep herself moving.
Usagi reached the far end of the cable and gritted her teeth.
Now came the REAL problem. Trying to swing one's legs over the side
of THIS building, from the position of hanging over a precipice.
Usagi struggled a couple of times. Even in the fit state she
was in, this wasn't easy. It reminded her of the time she had had
to do this between two skyscrapers. She was with a group of five,
and two failed to make it over, both tiring and falling to their
deaths. Usagi knew that, if she didn't get up, then both Ami and
Rei could suffer the same fate. The thought of taking on the next
assignment alone was enough to see her hook her right foot onto the
tiny ledge.
With strength born of a lifetime of training, than foot
wrenched her up to the level of the wall. She pulled the grapplers
forward and slipped the leg all the way over the wall, following it
with her left. Now, in a slightly seated position, she was able to
slip easily over the wall and onto the roof below.
She detached her grapplers and quickly placed them in her
backpack, scanning the rooftop for any assassins. She then turned
back as Ami arrived at the wall, kicking her legs up in an effort to
match Usagi's performance.
Usagi reached over the wall and grabbed Ami's left leg,
pulling the girl forward. Ami's breath was laboured and her face
red. Usagi couldn't blame her. Ami always had a tremendous fear of
heights. Ami had even fallen during her days of training, only to
survive because of her own precaution of attaching a special bailout
line. In terms of Assassin Cadets, it was considered cheating to
preserve one's life in such a manner. Ami didn't care.... She was
the only one in her class still alive today.
Usagi grabbed Ami's right leg and pulled her right over the
ledge. Ami then spun around, wrenching the grapplers forward and
detaching them, whipping them into her backpack and collapsing
against the wall, her eyes closed, sweat running down her face.
Usagi looked at her with concern, tapping her on the shoulder.
Ami gave Usagi the thumbs up signal and opened her eyes,
smiling. Another day, another dice with death. Ami got to her feet
and put on her goggles, looking around the rooftop with more
accuracy than Usagi's quick scan as Usagi went to work on Rei, who
had been waiting patiently behind Ami as the blue-haired girl was
carted over.
The roof seemed safe at first, but Ami spotted something that
worried her.... She whistled as Usagi pulled Rei over the side,
then clamped one fist down into the palm of her other hand. The
rooftop was mined!
Usagi and Rei looked at her worriedly as the girl counted.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.... Ami held up five fingers,
telling the others what she could see. Usagi let out a breath,
counting her lucky stars she didn't check this roof out like the
other.
Ami turned and checked the highpoint, a small roof access door
with a window. She gave the access an OK signal, then turned
towards a rooftop airconditioning unit, pointing to it as shelter.
She ran behind it as Rei removed her grapplers and placed them
in her backpack. After waiting a couple of moments for Rei to
regain her breath, the two ran over to the unit, joining Ami, who
was fiddling with a small box-like object. It had a clunky numbered
dial and several switches. With her goggles resting on her
forehead, she waited as the other two slipped in behind her, then
started fiddling with the dial.
After several attempts to generate and explosive frequency,
there was a blast that knocked several feet of concrete from the
points where each mine had been planted. Ami snapped her fingers,
filled with the sense of victory. The device had been her own
invention, and had saved the lives of many of the Republic's
assassins.
They thought they could hear cheers coming from all over the
city and giggled. if only the civilians truly understood the depth
of the seriousness of this situation. Almost all of them would
never be able to understand.... Nor should they have to. For this
trio, however, torn from similar backgrounds, that sense of innocent
abandon was lost forever....
Their amusement now fading, Ami replaced the box into her
overcoat and snapped her fingers in the direction of the access
door. Rei nodded and made her way across to the door, tapping it
and giving it the thumbs up. She then opened up the door and peered
within, nodding to her satisfaction that it was safe.... After all,
the only ones who would be able to cross this threshold would be
them....
There was a cry from behind one of the small outcrops of
ducting on the other end of the rooftop, and two figures emerged,
one holding a weapon at the ready in one arm, and a wounded comrade
with the other, hurt in the mine blasts. Rei quickly fell to the
ground as Usagi pulled out her double-barrel revolver from her
overcoat, leaping into the open.
With two calm shots, she blew the heads of the assassins clean
off their shoulders, and knelt there, in front of Rei, breathing
heavily, a sense of pleasure and satisfaction running through the
very core of her being.... There was nothing she enjoyed more than
killing the enemy.... the cathartic element of simply pumping the
bullets into their bodies...
She checked herself. They were human beings, much like
themselves, who had been similar torn from their innocent lives, but
for very different reasons.... To bring down the Republic. Usagi
got to her feet and replaced her revolver as Rei stood, smiling at
her in cynical thanks. Usagi turned to her and shrugged. All in a
day's work.
Ami made her way over to the access door, joining the others,
and they both peered into the small, dark stairwell that existed
beyond. Both the walls and the stairs were covered in a plush black
carpet, giving it a darkly welcoming appearance. And so it should
be.... For the time being, it would be the safest place they were
likely to experience....
Rei nodded to the others and leapt through the doorway, first.
Well, nothing bad happened to her, thought Usagi, immediately
cursing the thought that she had used Rei as a test to see if the
Central Branch's security devices were faulty. Shaking her head,
she made her way through and down the first small segment of stairs,
stopping where Rei had stopped in wait, looking back up at her.
Usagi turned and waited for Ami to follow, only to hear the
girl let out a cry and come rolling down the stairs, ploughing into
the two of them. After Usagi had managed to stand from the sprawl
of bodies, she whipped out her revolver once more as shots
ricocheted from the stairwell wall. The sound of feet running
towards the entrance made her bring the weapon to bear.
There was the sound of scrambling at the entrance, then a huge
flash made her cover her eyes. With a short scream, their new
attacker was reduced to paste against the carpet by a series of
small laser beams that emanated from hidden ports within the carpet
itself.
Usagi let out a sigh of relief as the access door
automatically closed, replacing her weapon and turning to Ami, who
was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
"Gomen...." She finally muttered. "I only saw him at the
last moment."
"You're slipping up in your old age." Rei removed herself
from underneath the blue-haired girl, glad that they could finally
use their voices now that they were out of official "combat"
territory.
"Easy for you to say." Ami got to her feet, brushing herself
down and wrenching her backpack from her shoulders. "I notice you
didn't spot that pair, earlier."
"It wasn't my job to." Rei huffed. "That's why you're here."
"Enough of this." Usagi barked at them. "We made it, okay?"
"Ah, I see you're in an argumentative mood, today." The voice
echoed along the stairwell, and the trio whipped around, looking for
its owner.
"Who is that?" Rei demanded.
"Oh really, girls. Don't you recognise my voice?" There was
humour in the woman's tone, and realisation dawned on them.
"President Serenity?" Usagi gasped. "I... We're sorry. We
didn't expect you to be briefing us, this time."
"Where are you?" Ami blinked. "Are you broadcasting this to
us?"
"Continue along the stairwell. Soon, you shall come to a safe
house, where you shall be able to receive all relevant information,
detailing your next target. Oh, and by the way, nice jump there,
Ami. Pity it's going to take a bit to clean up that carpet."
"Uh... thankyou, Ma'am." Ami bowed, slightly, feeling
slightly silly. Usagi tapped Ami on the shoulder and the blue-
haired girl nodded to her. After picking up her backpack, Ami
started her way down, followed by Rei and Usagi.
----o
Within the Safe House, a small, white-walled old school drama
room, with the same black carpet on the floor and a small dais at
one end, with black curtains covering the large windows, Usagi, Ami
and Rei were finally able to remove their backpacks and overcoats.
In an adjoining room was a small shower, in which they could refresh
themselves, although it was a bitch in removing their bodysuits,
which hugged their forms with extreme prejudice.
Having now washed and relaxed, redressing in the bodysuits in
case they needed to move quickly, they found a small food parcel
sitting in the far corner of the room, behind the dais.
Ami checked the food for toxins before they started to hoe in,
stuffing themselves on the canned meats and vegetables. It had been
a while since they had eaten food as good as this. Even better that
Ami had remembered to bring a canopener.... It would have been a
pain if Rei had to blast the cans open again with her low-grade
explosive charges.
Eventually, they stood in a row upon the dais and awaited
their orders. A small screen descended from the ceiling in front of
them, and on it appeared the image of a woman with long white hair,
sitting in front of a frescoe, representing the symbol of the
Republic of Surrealism. The trio saluted their President, Serenity
von Kalrich.
"The Death Sailors, reporting as you ordered, my Lady, and
awaiting your orders." Usagi said, deferentially, as the unofficial
speaker for the group.
"Ah, indeed. And most prompt you were, too, if I must say so,
myself. It isn't easy for our operatives to get about, anymore."
"Thankyou, my Lady." Said the trio, in unison. Serenity
smiled and lifted up a small piece of paper.
"So, we better get down to business. At ease." Serenity
nodded at the trio, and the three put down their arms and gently sat
on the dais, cross-legged. Serenity continued. "This man is to be
your next target."
The image changed to a still shot of a handsome looking
individual, with short blond hair and piercing eyes. The hearts of
the trio fluttered, slightly, then settled as they remembered the
situation.
"This is Adam Jade, the leader of the group known as the
Masters of Reality." Serenity's voice continued over the images
that started to flash across the screen. One of Jade addressing a
small gathering, another of Jade in a severely-cut but decorative
grey uniform, making an inspection of similarly-dressed soldiers.
"He intends to unite several powerful reality factions in the hope
of creating an army capable of taking on the forces of the Republic.
Death Sailors, he must NOT succeed. You must kill him at ALL costs,
for the lives of all who exist are at risk if he is to succeed...."
END OF PART 1
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ACROSS THE BORDER
In the heat of the day
Many miles away when the
Sun is beating down
upon the main street.
I'll be waiting at the station,
I gotta move down the line.
They'll be dancing and singin'
And doin' their thing
And they'll be rockin' and rollin'
Until the day is done.
You know I've got to
Make the deadline-
I gotta get that southbound train tonight-
If I don't get to the border then I'll write.
The Mardis Gras
Will be blowing strong
And the people dancing
All across the city
I'm leavin' here tonight
I gotta move down the line.
I'm gonna catch a ride
On the 9.05
I'm gonna ride the rails
Until we reach the morning,
Maybe three or four
Hundred miles.
I gotta get that southbound train tonight-
If I don't get to the border then I'll write.
When the wind is blowing
Softly throught the streets
of a little town
And the music's playin',
You're waitin' somewhere
Over the horizon.
I gotta get that southbound train tonight-
If I don't get to the border then I'll write.
-Jeff Lynne-
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Next Chapter - "Nemesis Gate"
So what do you think, ppls? A dead set classic in the making, or a
piece of rampant crappe? ^_^;;
This story came about because of a dream I had. Believe it or not,
the dream was almost exactly what you see above. I have strange
dreams, okay? ^_^;;
Anyway, the dream itself dealt with this theme, but involved three
young men, rather than three young women, as I have written here.
It might be interesting if I were to rewrite this to please the Yaoi
crowd on the Yaoi ML and the YSML.... Maybe not.... ^_^;;
Anyways, I hope you ppls were capable of following the storyline so
far. I always have trouble with people following my ideas, be they
UID, SIU or whatnot. Must be the way I write. I know what I mean
when I'm writing things. I tend to forget, rather unfortunately,
that not everyone is blessed with the same insight into the stories
that I have as their creator....
For those who are interested, yes, I do have a certain fascination
with buildings, and the clausterphobic nature of architecture.
That's why I created such plot devices as the Eternal City in UID
and the Sacred House compound in SIU.... Monolithic structures of
varying nature in which the characters become swamped. In this
story, the monolithic structure is not dissimilar to the Eternal
City, the differences lie in the fact that it DOES have an end to
it. Where the Republic of Surrealism ends, so does the city itself.
That those living within the Republic take to their environment in a
manner most unusual may be described as a kind of rebellion within
my own mind for this fascination with the oppressive.
-Mark-
DDFA ayanami@internode.on.net
Chief Propoganda Officer, Keeper of the Tapes
ADELAIDE JAPANESE ANIMATION SOCIETY
(aka the Assorted Juvenile Atrocities Sect)
Version 1.1 - 22nd May 1998
A C R O S S T H E B O R D E R
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME (Mark A Page)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer - This is a story containing characters who were created
by anyone but me. That anyone would happen to be Takeuchi Naoko.
Handle it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Usagi looked out of the window at the high point above. The
skies were a beautiful azure blue, and the clouds light and
fluffy.... She was almost tempted to take her notebook out of her
backpack and start writing down some poetry. But this wasn't the
time for artistic relection. The time was close to seven to nine.
Time to move out!
She turned to Rei and Ami, who nodded. Having packed all of
their gear into their own backpacks, and dressed in their red and
blue bodysuits (respectively) and black overcoats, they made to move
out of the classroom that had been their home for the night.
Usagi had been quicker than them in rising this morning, which
was most unusual for her. As the veteran amongst the trio, she had
always taken things a little more lightly than Ami or Rei, knowing
well the limitations of their enemies. However, for some reason she
felt a little nervous about what might follow. She flexed her
fingers, remembering the dying screams of the man she had been
ordered to dispose of yesterday. Just another one of the souls that
haunted her, now.
Shaking the thought from her mind, she fitted her backpack
around her shoulders and knelt down to the floor, picking up a stick
from the floor. Rei and Ami stood by the doorway, looking back
at her, their eyes full of anticipation.
Slowly, Usagi began to tap the stick on the floor. Ten, nine,
eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one....
They ran through the doorway into the corridor, turning left
and making for the Principal's Office. Their pace was slower than
normal, but they had rid themselves of some of those who had been
following them the night before, so things weren't likely to get
messy. They had earned this little benefit of their job.
----o
Part One
Orders to Kill
----o
The Principal's Office was empty, as they expected. Rei was
the first onto his desk, jumping up and pushing the ceiling tile
away, exposing the hidden infrastructure beyond. Rei then reached
down to Ami, grabbing her hand. Ami pushed herself up, by one leg,
and was catapaulted through the gap.
Rei repeated this action with Usagi, then followed herself,
being careful to replace the tile after she found her balance on the
roofing beam. The tile had to look only slightly smudged, or out of
place, for their enemies to be able to follow the trail. It had
happened before.... Rei had had friends and partners die through
such small mistakes.
Rei gave Ami and Usagi the thumbs up, and the three began to
crawl along the beam, towards an access opening at the far end.
Ami, reaching the access first, stopped and placed her ear against
it. After a couple of taps, she put up a hand to the others,
gesturing that she wasn't sure of how clean the opening was.
Usagi and Rei looked at each other. Usagi signalled to the
structure above. That way? Rei shook her head. There was another
level there, blocking their path with a floor of concrete. Ami
gestured a backtrack, but this time both Usagi and Rei gave her
pained looks. Why the hell would they want to backtrack now? Ami
shrugged and placed her right hand against the serviceway. Only one
way to go, then.
Ami fidgeted with the opening, and after a pause of
preparation, she pulled it back. There was no explosion, nor the
shot of a waiting sniper.... Not that a sniper would be so stupid
as to fire straight away....
Ami reached into her jacket and pulled out a set of hi-tech
goggles, then opened the serviceway door, adjusting the goggles to
scan. This placed her life in danger for approximately twenty
seconds as she made a sweep of the area. Nothing more than a small
gap between two buildings, with various other buildings in the
background. On top of one of those buildings, she saw a Dada Group
in action. Civilians.... Might be difficult if they get caught in
the crossfire. Apart from that, she saw nothing threatening.
Ami gestured to her partners the situation, and gripped the
top of the serviceway. With a thrust, she'd swung herself out onto
the tiny ledge. From her backpack, she pulled out a grappling hook
and cable, and swung it around. With a mighty throw, she pitched
the hook at the edge of the roof. The hook held firm, and she gave
Usagi and Rei the thumbs up. Time to move on.
Ami clambered up the rope, slowly, followed by Usagi and Rei.
She paused just before the top of the building, then adjusted her
goggles once more, giving her over-the-horizon vision. The roof was
clear.
Below, as usagi began to ascend the rope, Rei closed the door
to the accessway carefully, for the same reasons she replaced the
ceiling tile. Holding onto the rope, she peered around, and spotted
the Dada group, in the distance.
Her heart skipped a beat as she remembered her days with just
such a group.... Growing up with her Grandfather, who had founded
the group.... The parties, the art exhibitions, the violence, at
times.... Rei swallowed hard and looked upwards. Usagi was almost
at the roof edge. No time to think back on a childhood that shall
never return....
Ami placed a handclamp onto the edge of the roof, allowing her
to hang on without the need for the rope, and reached down to Usagi.
Usagi put out her hand, and was flung over the edge of the roof,
landing catlike on the concrete. She quickly made a recce of the
roof area, moving out of Rei's way seconds later as the dark-haired
girl landed in the exact same spot, in exactly the same manner. Rei
then turned and helped Ami over. Within seconds, the rope and hook
were wound back up, and Ami's goggles were connected to her belt.
Rei checked the edge of the roof for any marks of their
arrival. She cringed when she saw the tiny scratches where the
grappling hook had been. "Gonna be a problem?" She gestured to
Ami. The blue haired girl pursed her lips and shrugged. Their
enemies could spot a lot of things, but many had passed this way
before, so it might be possible that, if any were on their trail,
they'd miss it.
You gotta be kidding, Rei gestured. Some of theit enemies
were almost as well trained and as well kitted as they were. Just
one of those would be able to spot the marks and decide, for
themselves, how recent they were. Ami shrugged again, it couldn't
be helped, now.
Rei shook her head as Usagi arrived at the cable bridge.... A
fat cable that ran between the roof of this building and the higher
one on the other side of the small school yard. On top of that
building lay the High Point.... The place where their trail would
end for anyone following....
Rei and Ami joined her, quickly. Ami flipped the goggles on
again and scanned the area below them. She gave the thumbs up to
her companions and replaced the goggles as Usagi whipped out a pair
of hand grapplers, attching them to this end of the cable and
checking its torsion.
The cable felt solid in her efforts to bend it. That could
mean one of two things.... It was tough enough to take their
weight, or it would go the way of all solid objects and crumble.
Well, there really was no turning back, now. Usagi stepped up
onto the wall that lined that side of the roof, then stepped off.
The cable creaked as she wrenched the grapplers, which slid along
the cable with protest, tiny little wheel locks preventing her from
sliding back down the cable's incline. Ami let out a breath of
distaste as Usagi struggled along. This wasn't going to be easy.
She followed Usagi's example, placing her grapplers onto the
cable, then taking hold of them with her hands. After a couple of
breaths, she stepped off the side. By this time, Usagi was at least
ten feet ahead of her.
She felt the blood rush to her legs, giving her instant pins
and needles, hot pins and needles even, the worst kind. She hated
hanging over long drops like this. Slowly, she wrestled the
grapplers up the cable.
Rei had been waiting, impatiently, for Ami to get moving.
Whilst Ami was the gadget queen amongst the trio, her active skills
left something to be desired, sometimes, and she was falling behind
Usagi with each wrench of the grapplers.
Rei gave the blue-haired girl some time.... She hated this,
glancing around for their enemies. It was possible, if they had
made the classroom by now, that they would see the trio making their
way across the gap. It wasn't likely, all things considered, but in
this line of work one should be prepared for any eventuation.
After giving Ami some room, Rei then attached her grapplers to
the cable. With even less fear than her companions, she leapt off
the side of the building, making great strokes with the grapplers,
swinging her legs in an effort to keep herself moving.
Usagi reached the far end of the cable and gritted her teeth.
Now came the REAL problem. Trying to swing one's legs over the side
of THIS building, from the position of hanging over a precipice.
Usagi struggled a couple of times. Even in the fit state she
was in, this wasn't easy. It reminded her of the time she had had
to do this between two skyscrapers. She was with a group of five,
and two failed to make it over, both tiring and falling to their
deaths. Usagi knew that, if she didn't get up, then both Ami and
Rei could suffer the same fate. The thought of taking on the next
assignment alone was enough to see her hook her right foot onto the
tiny ledge.
With strength born of a lifetime of training, than foot
wrenched her up to the level of the wall. She pulled the grapplers
forward and slipped the leg all the way over the wall, following it
with her left. Now, in a slightly seated position, she was able to
slip easily over the wall and onto the roof below.
She detached her grapplers and quickly placed them in her
backpack, scanning the rooftop for any assassins. She then turned
back as Ami arrived at the wall, kicking her legs up in an effort to
match Usagi's performance.
Usagi reached over the wall and grabbed Ami's left leg,
pulling the girl forward. Ami's breath was laboured and her face
red. Usagi couldn't blame her. Ami always had a tremendous fear of
heights. Ami had even fallen during her days of training, only to
survive because of her own precaution of attaching a special bailout
line. In terms of Assassin Cadets, it was considered cheating to
preserve one's life in such a manner. Ami didn't care.... She was
the only one in her class still alive today.
Usagi grabbed Ami's right leg and pulled her right over the
ledge. Ami then spun around, wrenching the grapplers forward and
detaching them, whipping them into her backpack and collapsing
against the wall, her eyes closed, sweat running down her face.
Usagi looked at her with concern, tapping her on the shoulder.
Ami gave Usagi the thumbs up signal and opened her eyes,
smiling. Another day, another dice with death. Ami got to her feet
and put on her goggles, looking around the rooftop with more
accuracy than Usagi's quick scan as Usagi went to work on Rei, who
had been waiting patiently behind Ami as the blue-haired girl was
carted over.
The roof seemed safe at first, but Ami spotted something that
worried her.... She whistled as Usagi pulled Rei over the side,
then clamped one fist down into the palm of her other hand. The
rooftop was mined!
Usagi and Rei looked at her worriedly as the girl counted.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.... Ami held up five fingers,
telling the others what she could see. Usagi let out a breath,
counting her lucky stars she didn't check this roof out like the
other.
Ami turned and checked the highpoint, a small roof access door
with a window. She gave the access an OK signal, then turned
towards a rooftop airconditioning unit, pointing to it as shelter.
She ran behind it as Rei removed her grapplers and placed them
in her backpack. After waiting a couple of moments for Rei to
regain her breath, the two ran over to the unit, joining Ami, who
was fiddling with a small box-like object. It had a clunky numbered
dial and several switches. With her goggles resting on her
forehead, she waited as the other two slipped in behind her, then
started fiddling with the dial.
After several attempts to generate and explosive frequency,
there was a blast that knocked several feet of concrete from the
points where each mine had been planted. Ami snapped her fingers,
filled with the sense of victory. The device had been her own
invention, and had saved the lives of many of the Republic's
assassins.
They thought they could hear cheers coming from all over the
city and giggled. if only the civilians truly understood the depth
of the seriousness of this situation. Almost all of them would
never be able to understand.... Nor should they have to. For this
trio, however, torn from similar backgrounds, that sense of innocent
abandon was lost forever....
Their amusement now fading, Ami replaced the box into her
overcoat and snapped her fingers in the direction of the access
door. Rei nodded and made her way across to the door, tapping it
and giving it the thumbs up. She then opened up the door and peered
within, nodding to her satisfaction that it was safe.... After all,
the only ones who would be able to cross this threshold would be
them....
There was a cry from behind one of the small outcrops of
ducting on the other end of the rooftop, and two figures emerged,
one holding a weapon at the ready in one arm, and a wounded comrade
with the other, hurt in the mine blasts. Rei quickly fell to the
ground as Usagi pulled out her double-barrel revolver from her
overcoat, leaping into the open.
With two calm shots, she blew the heads of the assassins clean
off their shoulders, and knelt there, in front of Rei, breathing
heavily, a sense of pleasure and satisfaction running through the
very core of her being.... There was nothing she enjoyed more than
killing the enemy.... the cathartic element of simply pumping the
bullets into their bodies...
She checked herself. They were human beings, much like
themselves, who had been similar torn from their innocent lives, but
for very different reasons.... To bring down the Republic. Usagi
got to her feet and replaced her revolver as Rei stood, smiling at
her in cynical thanks. Usagi turned to her and shrugged. All in a
day's work.
Ami made her way over to the access door, joining the others,
and they both peered into the small, dark stairwell that existed
beyond. Both the walls and the stairs were covered in a plush black
carpet, giving it a darkly welcoming appearance. And so it should
be.... For the time being, it would be the safest place they were
likely to experience....
Rei nodded to the others and leapt through the doorway, first.
Well, nothing bad happened to her, thought Usagi, immediately
cursing the thought that she had used Rei as a test to see if the
Central Branch's security devices were faulty. Shaking her head,
she made her way through and down the first small segment of stairs,
stopping where Rei had stopped in wait, looking back up at her.
Usagi turned and waited for Ami to follow, only to hear the
girl let out a cry and come rolling down the stairs, ploughing into
the two of them. After Usagi had managed to stand from the sprawl
of bodies, she whipped out her revolver once more as shots
ricocheted from the stairwell wall. The sound of feet running
towards the entrance made her bring the weapon to bear.
There was the sound of scrambling at the entrance, then a huge
flash made her cover her eyes. With a short scream, their new
attacker was reduced to paste against the carpet by a series of
small laser beams that emanated from hidden ports within the carpet
itself.
Usagi let out a sigh of relief as the access door
automatically closed, replacing her weapon and turning to Ami, who
was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
"Gomen...." She finally muttered. "I only saw him at the
last moment."
"You're slipping up in your old age." Rei removed herself
from underneath the blue-haired girl, glad that they could finally
use their voices now that they were out of official "combat"
territory.
"Easy for you to say." Ami got to her feet, brushing herself
down and wrenching her backpack from her shoulders. "I notice you
didn't spot that pair, earlier."
"It wasn't my job to." Rei huffed. "That's why you're here."
"Enough of this." Usagi barked at them. "We made it, okay?"
"Ah, I see you're in an argumentative mood, today." The voice
echoed along the stairwell, and the trio whipped around, looking for
its owner.
"Who is that?" Rei demanded.
"Oh really, girls. Don't you recognise my voice?" There was
humour in the woman's tone, and realisation dawned on them.
"President Serenity?" Usagi gasped. "I... We're sorry. We
didn't expect you to be briefing us, this time."
"Where are you?" Ami blinked. "Are you broadcasting this to
us?"
"Continue along the stairwell. Soon, you shall come to a safe
house, where you shall be able to receive all relevant information,
detailing your next target. Oh, and by the way, nice jump there,
Ami. Pity it's going to take a bit to clean up that carpet."
"Uh... thankyou, Ma'am." Ami bowed, slightly, feeling
slightly silly. Usagi tapped Ami on the shoulder and the blue-
haired girl nodded to her. After picking up her backpack, Ami
started her way down, followed by Rei and Usagi.
----o
Within the Safe House, a small, white-walled old school drama
room, with the same black carpet on the floor and a small dais at
one end, with black curtains covering the large windows, Usagi, Ami
and Rei were finally able to remove their backpacks and overcoats.
In an adjoining room was a small shower, in which they could refresh
themselves, although it was a bitch in removing their bodysuits,
which hugged their forms with extreme prejudice.
Having now washed and relaxed, redressing in the bodysuits in
case they needed to move quickly, they found a small food parcel
sitting in the far corner of the room, behind the dais.
Ami checked the food for toxins before they started to hoe in,
stuffing themselves on the canned meats and vegetables. It had been
a while since they had eaten food as good as this. Even better that
Ami had remembered to bring a canopener.... It would have been a
pain if Rei had to blast the cans open again with her low-grade
explosive charges.
Eventually, they stood in a row upon the dais and awaited
their orders. A small screen descended from the ceiling in front of
them, and on it appeared the image of a woman with long white hair,
sitting in front of a frescoe, representing the symbol of the
Republic of Surrealism. The trio saluted their President, Serenity
von Kalrich.
"The Death Sailors, reporting as you ordered, my Lady, and
awaiting your orders." Usagi said, deferentially, as the unofficial
speaker for the group.
"Ah, indeed. And most prompt you were, too, if I must say so,
myself. It isn't easy for our operatives to get about, anymore."
"Thankyou, my Lady." Said the trio, in unison. Serenity
smiled and lifted up a small piece of paper.
"So, we better get down to business. At ease." Serenity
nodded at the trio, and the three put down their arms and gently sat
on the dais, cross-legged. Serenity continued. "This man is to be
your next target."
The image changed to a still shot of a handsome looking
individual, with short blond hair and piercing eyes. The hearts of
the trio fluttered, slightly, then settled as they remembered the
situation.
"This is Adam Jade, the leader of the group known as the
Masters of Reality." Serenity's voice continued over the images
that started to flash across the screen. One of Jade addressing a
small gathering, another of Jade in a severely-cut but decorative
grey uniform, making an inspection of similarly-dressed soldiers.
"He intends to unite several powerful reality factions in the hope
of creating an army capable of taking on the forces of the Republic.
Death Sailors, he must NOT succeed. You must kill him at ALL costs,
for the lives of all who exist are at risk if he is to succeed...."
END OF PART 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ACROSS THE BORDER
In the heat of the day
Many miles away when the
Sun is beating down
upon the main street.
I'll be waiting at the station,
I gotta move down the line.
They'll be dancing and singin'
And doin' their thing
And they'll be rockin' and rollin'
Until the day is done.
You know I've got to
Make the deadline-
I gotta get that southbound train tonight-
If I don't get to the border then I'll write.
The Mardis Gras
Will be blowing strong
And the people dancing
All across the city
I'm leavin' here tonight
I gotta move down the line.
I'm gonna catch a ride
On the 9.05
I'm gonna ride the rails
Until we reach the morning,
Maybe three or four
Hundred miles.
I gotta get that southbound train tonight-
If I don't get to the border then I'll write.
When the wind is blowing
Softly throught the streets
of a little town
And the music's playin',
You're waitin' somewhere
Over the horizon.
I gotta get that southbound train tonight-
If I don't get to the border then I'll write.
-Jeff Lynne-
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Chapter - "Nemesis Gate"
So what do you think, ppls? A dead set classic in the making, or a
piece of rampant crappe? ^_^;;
This story came about because of a dream I had. Believe it or not,
the dream was almost exactly what you see above. I have strange
dreams, okay? ^_^;;
Anyway, the dream itself dealt with this theme, but involved three
young men, rather than three young women, as I have written here.
It might be interesting if I were to rewrite this to please the Yaoi
crowd on the Yaoi ML and the YSML.... Maybe not.... ^_^;;
Anyways, I hope you ppls were capable of following the storyline so
far. I always have trouble with people following my ideas, be they
UID, SIU or whatnot. Must be the way I write. I know what I mean
when I'm writing things. I tend to forget, rather unfortunately,
that not everyone is blessed with the same insight into the stories
that I have as their creator....
For those who are interested, yes, I do have a certain fascination
with buildings, and the clausterphobic nature of architecture.
That's why I created such plot devices as the Eternal City in UID
and the Sacred House compound in SIU.... Monolithic structures of
varying nature in which the characters become swamped. In this
story, the monolithic structure is not dissimilar to the Eternal
City, the differences lie in the fact that it DOES have an end to
it. Where the Republic of Surrealism ends, so does the city itself.
That those living within the Republic take to their environment in a
manner most unusual may be described as a kind of rebellion within
my own mind for this fascination with the oppressive.
-Mark-
DDFA ayanami@internode.on.net
Chief Propoganda Officer, Keeper of the Tapes
ADELAIDE JAPANESE ANIMATION SOCIETY
(aka the Assorted Juvenile Atrocities Sect)
Version 1.1 - 22nd May 1998