On the wings of an Angel,
Flight One: We're not in Kansas anymore
The night air was bitter and stale as a young girl rolled through the crowded streets of Scrap Iron City. It was a night like any other, the dregs of a crumbling society had crawled out from beneath their collective rocks and were peddling their wares like usual. Weapons, black-market parts, prostitution, drugs, and gambling, it was all available to whoever wanted it.
The girl who raced by them had no interest in such things. She already had a weapon, a rather sleek blade wrapped in cloths stuffed in her backpack. She already had all the body parts she needed, in fact, she had a second body waiting at home for her. Sex, drugs and gambling didn't interest her in the least, she could not engage in the first, she was too self-conscious to engage in the second and she had gambled with her life too many times to enjoy the third.
This was a girl who had no past, no memories and no real solid goals except to learn what her goals were. Her eyes were filled with sadness, her heart filled with tears, and her soul filled with regrets, as she rolled along the streets on cybernetic wheels. This girl was an example, and example of how cruel technology has become, where in order to save a life, one must replace flesh with steel, organs with machinery, and souls with circuit boards. Thousands, perhaps even millions of people in this darkened city of the future have the same problems, eking out fractured lives in bodies of metal and plastic.
She wore clothing over her metallic body, although unlike other girls she did not wear extravagant dresses or the latest fashion. Normal pants split at the bottom so her dual-wheeled feet would fit covered her legs, and a simple jacket covered her torso, keeping her the equivalent of warm. She could not feel heat or cold in most of her body, but she felt the mental need for a jacket anyway. In her backpack/rucksack she carried various and assorted tools, a meal, and pieces of purple tinted armor, something no normal girl would have need for. Strapped across her back was an ancient keyboard instrument, which she carried with her everywhere, even if she had no desire to play it at those times.
The body she wore was built for battle, a body used for high-speed combat on a racetrack in a vicious, lonely sport known as Motorball. Though her days in that horrendous sport were over with, she still wore the body, occasionally, as a reminder of what she had been through. Tonight she decided to go out in it for reasons she could barely comprehend. Unlike her normal cyborg body, this combative body was still built to kill, to race, and she had little use for either of these things any longer. She could sing and read now, something far more relaxing than the adrenaline filled fighting in her past.
Perhaps she wanted to clear her head of the doubts she had been feeling as of late. She had given up the battle, not because she did not enjoy the fighting, which she did, but because the fighting had grown dull and repetitive with time. Numerous identical situations flashed inside her mind, every one ending the same, her complete and utter victory. There was no challenge anymore.
She passed by a group of homeless cyborgs, who shouted out to her, a few wolf-whistles and lewd comments were said, but she didn't hear, nor would she care even if she did. She did not think of herself as pretty, nor even beautiful, not since that fatal night... And because of that, she forever marred her smooth face by permanently scarring it, leaving two steel death marks, one on each cheek. She had no use for the marks any longer, but she was stuck with them. At this point, even if she could remove them, she most likely wouldn't.
This girl, who is known by millions, loved by thousands, and only friends with a handful, is simply called Gally, a name given to her by the man she could almost call father. She is a girl unlike any other ever known, and a woman who changes the lives of everyone she comes in contact with.

Murishawa Productions present
A Knight Errant series
Angel of the Knights
A Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040/Gunnm Crossover

Zalem was high in the sky tonight. The moon's gravitational pull on the floating city was stronger on this one night a month more than any other. Because of this, the pneumatic tubes, which connected the city in the sky to the wretched city of the ground, were straining, making that agony-filled sound it made occasionally. Gally referred to the sound mournfully as, "A thousand souls crying out in anguish," and tonight it sounded like they were screaming.
This did little to help Gally's state of mind. Even in her half-conscious state she could still hear the noises, and she could swear she heard individual souls crying out her name, hundreds in total, one for each life she had taken or witnessed lost. Her one true love was amongst those voices, and that hurt more than any.
She sped up, racing down a deserted street into a grouping of old waste tunnels. No one went into this deeper part of the city any more, not even the lowest of the lowly dregs. They were afraid of what might lurk beneath. Gally was not afraid. She raced through the tunnels like they were nothing, which they were truth be told, and came out the other end completely intact. She didn't wander into the branch tunnels, not because of fear of what might lurk in wait; instead it was merely an urge not to get lost in the labyrinth of ancient tunnels.
It was when she emerged that she noticed the clouds pooling above, dark, evil clouds filled with acid rain and pollution. Her body could easily withstand such foulness, but she decided to duck back into the caves and wait out the storm anyway. She was low in the city, but not so low that the tunnel she was in would flood out.
Lightning crackled through the now torrent-filled sky, striking sparks along the ground nearby. The lightning reminded her of one of her greatest accomplishments and failures, the defeat of a great enemy and the loss of a great love.
She sat just inside the tunnel, her legs held tightly against her body and her arms wrapped around each other in an expression of sorrow. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she allowed herself the luxury of remembering, something she did very little of.
At that instant, a bolt of lightning struck just inside the tunnel, right next to where she sat. The force was so powerful that she was flung away from it, far into the cave-like structure. The blast was so powerful it shorted her systems out, leaving her helpless in a pile of newly formed rubble. As the bolt subsided, she could feel the darkness encroaching on her senses leaving her to fall victim to the nightmares that waited in her dreams.
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She awoke, still surrounded by rubble, but not buried in it. She tried to move an arm, and found that it yielded to her will like it always had. She tried a leg with the same result. The bolt had apparently only fried her systems for only a short time.
She got to her feet slowly, uncertain of her possibly damaged body, but her fears quickly subsided as she stretched and moved about. The shutdown had been temporary, and the effects were all long gone before she even woke up.
She listened carefully for the rain, and hearing no sound of it, she decided to go outside again, and perhaps in a few more minutes, she would head for home. She walked through the rubble carefully, using her wheel brakes to walk instead of roll, and when she emerged, she stopped dead in her tracks.
The outside world was not as it had been before. Instead of a murky cesspool of humanity, it was bright and cheerful, filled vibrant, flowing colors and giant towers that shot up into the sky. Shimmering ponds of water lay nearby, cleaner and clearer than she had ever seen before. Green trees sprouted from sidewalk planters, something she had never imagined possible, and grass grew fiercely in a small park a few yards away.
The sky. She stared all around at the endless blue and found no trace of the floating city Zalem, only the huge skyscrapers shared space with the cool, clean air. Her nightmare and Yugo's dream was nowhere to be found. She stepped farther out, finding that she was still in a drainage tunnel, but one far better maintained than Scrap Iron City's.
She smiled to herself. She wasn't sure what had happened exactly, but what she did know was that she was no longer in the city she once called home. She didn't know how she had arrived in this new city, and she wasn't sure if she would ever make it back. This thought hurt, but not near as much as she thought it would. She already missed her surrogate father, Daisuke Ido, but there wasn't much she could do about that.
She made up her mind quickly. She wasn't going to drone on about something she couldn't change. It was time to adapt, just like she had done dozens of times before, only this time she would not have to harden her heart to the world and its peoples. This time she could let warmth and joy fill her to the brim.
She started walking, then rolling along the streets, taking everything in with a smile and a glad heart. The city was so healthy and fresh, paint covered buildings and free flowing water lie in every direction. She rolled along happily, enjoying every moment of her new existence.
Of the inhabitants of this city, no one really noticed the new arrival. They were all too busy heading to work, heading back home, or rushing toward some important engagement. Those that did glance her way just thought of her as another roller-blading young girl, hurriedly rushing toward whatever. They all had more important thoughts in their head to allow space for questions about the strange child-like skater.
Gally kept going like this for what seemed like days, and yet the sidewalks never appeared to end. There was always somewhere to go in this enormous metropolis, she realized, and always newer and more magnificent things to do.
It was while she was skating quietly, absorbed in her myriad thoughts, that she ran right into it. A large mechanical creature that was busy pruning a large apple tree. Its hide was a faded orange and gleamed of cybernetic advancement and sleek design. She was taken aback by its sheer appearance.
{A cyborg?} she wondered as she pulled herself up off of the ground, {Here? In this beautiful city? It can't be,} she worried and yet all of her worries were quickly laid to rest when it turned to her.
Every movement the creature made was slow, with attention to detail and over-emphases on safety. It spoke just as slowly and with a clearly mechanical voice, "This unit apologizes for getting in your way, Madam. This unit meant no injury. Are you alright?" it asked through an expressionless metal face and visor.
"No..." she hesitated, "I'm fine... Uhm, what are you?" she asked curiously.
"This unit is a Bio-organic Mechanical Robot, designed to maintain this area of land, Madam. You may call this unit a 'Boomer' if you wish."
"A Boomer?" she wondered. She had no idea what "Bio-Organic" was, but she had heard the term "Robot" from one of the many books she had grown fond of reading in Scrap Iron City. A mechanical construct designed to serve man, if she recalled right. She had read numerous stories on them, and though the one standing before her was similar to the cyborgs she had encountered over and over in her life, she could also see the differences as well. It made no pretense at being human, and had next to no sense of individuality.
"Yes, Madam," the Boomer answered, "It is the simplified designation. Now, I must return to my assigned duties."
"Yes, of course," Gally agreed, then started rolling down the street again. Her mind was once again swirling with strange images of Boomers and Cyborgs, how the were alike, and how they were different. If this new world had accepted Boomers so readily could it be possible that it would accept her and her malformed mechanical body? Would they treat her like a Boomer, a second-class citizen as well?
Her reverie was broken as she heard someone scream nearby. All thoughts of confusion and hesitation were brushed away in a single instant as her body and mind became one and her anger seethed to the top. {This is the perfect city!} her mind screamed, {I can't let people get hurt here!}
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Elsewhere in the city, a city known as Tokyo, a siren wails as three special police officers race towards a very special kind of crime.
These three officers, Leon McNichol, Daley Wong, and Amishi Kurimitsu, are part of an elite team of police, the AD Police, whose sole purpose is to find and eliminate rogue Boomers. It is not an easy job, and oftentimes they end up thankless and almost hated by the public as a power-hunger nuisance. The public does not believe in rogue Boomers. They believe they are a legend created to steal the taxpayer's hard-earned money.
However, rogue Boomers are a very real, and very dangerous situation, and the heavy arsenals and armored suits used by the AD Police force are necessary to destroying them. However, scarily enough, in many instances, even their heaviest firepower is not enough...
"Damn it!" Leon shouted, slamming his fist against the dashboard of his squad car, "This had to happen at a time like this!" Leon was a man of action, one could see it in his muscular build and tight features that he was always looking for a fight, even if it wasn't with criminals. He was a young man, but stress was starting to wear on him.
"What's wrong, Leon?" his partner, Daley, said smoothly, a ray of light glinting off his glasses as he speeded the car down the streets. The man rarely ever flinched at anything Leon did, and always seemed to chuckle at his fiery explosions of emotion, "Upset because the Boomers don't follow a strict schedule?" Daley was the opposite of Leon. He was slim and lanky, dignified and calm. He radiated sensibility and a feeling of compassion.
"Shut up, Wong!" Leon growled, "It's not that. I just don't want to drag the chief's niece along with us," he said, gesturing at the woman sitting in the back seat.
"Oh, don't worry about me, sir," Amishi said cheerfully, "I am an AD Police Officer, you know." Amishi was your stereotypical blonde, all bubbly and energetic. Her dark skin was smooth and clean, and her curly blonde hair was a wild disaster, kept in check by a single large red bow. She was a beautiful young woman with exceptional proportions and Leon found himself sneaking the occasional glance at her then chastising himself for looking at the chief's niece in that way.
"You're a rookie," Leon argued, "You're not ready for this kind of action. Boomers are a dangerous threat and if you get hurt, the chief will..."
Amishi cut him off, "Don't worry about my uncle, Inspector. He knows I have a risky job. I have to do something, you know, otherwise how can I protect the city?"
Leon blinked in surprise. {What kind of a girl is this?} he wondered.
Daley spoke up, "You know, she does have a point. We can't keep her at the station forever, and she is a licensed K-suit pilot. We can't hold her back just because we're afraid she'll get hurt."
Leon turned to look at his partner, "Damn it, Wong, stop taking other people's sides!"
"I'm just telling the truth," Daley smirked.
"That's right," Amishi agreed.
"This is just great, first Nene, and now this! I'm in hell!" Leon groaned.
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In a third part of the city three other individuals were driving toward the same incident as the AD Police officers in a much more subdued style, an ordinary-looking delivery truck. These are not police, however. These people are part of a vigilante team of mercenaries known as the Knight Sabers.
The woman in the front seat of the car, separated from the other two, spoke with emotion as she drove along, "This Boomer appears to be a normal maintenance model. It shouldn't be too much of a problem. But we're two steps behind on this one, so you'll have to watch out for the AD Police." She was a beautiful woman with long flowing silver hair and radiant purple eyes, yet beneath the beauty lie a woman of cold fury and emptiness. Her name was Sylia Stingray and she had a very old grudge to settle with the world.
"If it's that simple of a problem, then can't we just leave it to the police for once?" the second voice asked hesitantly. This voice belonged to Linna Yamazaki, the newest member of the Knight Sabers. She brushed aside her shoulder length brown hair and set her green and orange helmet atop her head, letting the seals lock in and completing her green-tinted armored hard-suit.
She and one other were standing in the back of the truck, preparing themselves for yet another battle with the Boomers. The hard-suits they wore were powerful, advanced armored power suits, designed to amplify a normal human's natural abilities and loaded with enough weaponry to take on even the toughest of Boomers. This did not negate the fact that Boomers were still a danger, however, and even the most powerful weaponry they could muster might not be enough.
This thought caused Linna to hesitate. Would their weapons and armor be enough? The last time she had donned the armor it had failed on her, and that failure nearly got her killed. She hid the fear she felt in her heart and donned the helmet, letting the connectors snap into place. Her heart was beating rapidly as the full interface came on, letting her know every little detail.
"You know we can't do that, Linna," the woman in the front explained, "What if it should get past their defenses and hurts innocent people?"
"You're not starting to have second thoughts about this, are you, Linna?" her partner, Nene Romanova asked through her suit's voice filter. She was far younger than Linna, no older than eighteen and only a few months more experienced at fighting Boomers. She was actually scared most of the time, but hid it well just before the fighting started. Her suit matched her personality, pink and red and very petite.
"No, of course not!" Linna quickly argued, "It's just, the suits... Are they really safe, Sylia?"
"Of course they're safe. That incident was a fluke. It was the batteries fault, not yours," Sylia explained over the intercom, "If you don't think you can do this, I will have to send Nene alone. Do you want that?"
"No!" Linna shouted, "I'll go. I'm just wondering..."
"If you weren't hesitant, you wouldn't be human. But you have to push past that and find your inner strength. You have to do this."
"I will. I can do this," Linna said aloud, steeling herself up, "How much farther?"
"You can leave at any time... Wait," Sylia said, listening closely to her police scanner, "The radio says something about a girl on the scene. She's fighting the Boomer! You've got to leave now before she gets herself killed!"
"A girl?!" Nene shouted, "She'll be slaughtered!"
"Then let's get going," Linna affirmed, stepping into one of the four launcher tubes, which closed and locked around her.
Nene stepped into the second one and nodded her head within the helmet, "Ready!"
"Then Knight Sabers, move out!" Sylia said, and grabbed a strange, trigger looking device, she pulled it twice, and the two armored figures were launched from their respective tubes into the night sky.