Episode 2: Trouble in the Wind...
July in MegaTokyo. It was a hot day, but Sean Kai was cheerful as he made his way toward his home away from home. [Living with Sylia lacks some privacy, but there are fringe benefits. It's been just over a month now since I moved to the Lady's 633 penthouse to give Sylvie room at my place, and I've noticed that among other things, the air conditioning is better at Sylia's. Of course, Sylia herself is a definite plus, but I could do without Mackie's prying. Ever since he got over his outrage at Sylia and I becoming lovers, his hentai urges have made him nothing but trouble! It's a definite pain pulling the plug on the bedroom security cameras just to get some quality time!] Sean and Sylia had made love together several times since discovering their feelings for each other, but Sylia had not been amused to find that Mackie had used the building security system to make a video disc of their first night together at the penthouse. She had then erased the data both from the disc and the main system, and the lovers had taken precautions since then. Sean, in particular, gave Mackie an ultimatum.
"Mackie," he'd said, "I understand your desire to see female anatomy. I don't mind your normal voyeuristic activity. However, if I EVER find out you have spied on my intimacy with Sylia again, you and I will go down to the Fitness Bee. There, we will go to the ring, and I will use _you_ for a sparring partner instead of one of the Mannequins. The - ahem - 'practice' will last *ten* minutes for *each* minute you watch, listen to, or otherwise spy on. Got me?" Mackie had nodded quietly and sped away to the workshop. Sean's musing was interrupted as he arrived at his destination.
[Finally,] he thought as he wiped his brow, [refuge from the heat!] He walked through the first-floor lingerie shop, Silky Doll, nodded to Sylvie at the counter, and went up the elevator to the Stingray penthouse. Noticing Sylia in the living room, he waved. "Hi, lovely lady!"
Sylia's head came up, and she smiled. "You're back! Excellent, I was afraid I'd have to call you." Sean frowned.
"Has something come up, Sylia? Our next 'meeting' isn't due for another week."
"Yes, Sean," she replied, "but it's not an emergency. I arranged a dinner for us all later tonight, and I knew you'd need time to clean up and get dressed."
"Oh. Where are we going, and why?"
"We have reservations for six at the St. Regis Hotel Restaurant. Given our last visit there, I imagine you suspect the reason."
"A new Knight Saber! Sylvie is the only one who comes to mind, and I did overhear her asking Priss about our 'other lives' a week ago when we were out biking."
"Precisely," Sylia replied. "She's an ideal candidate, with superior reaction time and she already has experience operating combat armor. I mean to ask her tonight. Obviously, you and the other Knight Sabers will attend, and you will extend me the same courtesy the others did when I invited you. _I_ am to be the one to tell her the true reason for the dinner. At the moment, she believes it's for discussing the Silky Doll and, in part, a social gathering."
Sean raised an eyebrow - a mannerism he'd picked up from Sylia. "The timing, I notice, is also ideal for Sylvie. She's just discovering that what she wants isn't anonymous freedom, but to do something that matters. I think you timed it this way to give her a boost!"
Sylia only smiled.
*** ***
Later that night, the group of five women and one young man were walking into the St. Regis Hotel's lavish restaurant. Nene, hanging back as Linna and Priss chatted with Sylvie, caught Sean's sleeve as they turned a corner.
"Sean," she murmured, "I need to talk to you in private. Can you meet me after the dinner?" Sean, surprised, stared down at the A.D.P. commtech. Her eyes showed only sincerity, and she seemed uncomfortable.
"Alright," he murmured back, "but why -"
Nene cut him off. "I'll tell you later. Just offer to walk me to the taxi stand after dinner."
Sean stared again. "The taxi stand!?"
Nene swept her hand down to indicate her dress. "You don't think I rode my _scooter_ here wearing _this,_ do you?" Sean cleared his throat in embarrassment, and Nene joined Linna and Priss beside Sylvie.
*** ***
It was almost nine p.m. before the dinner was over, and Sylia and Sylvie were the first two to leave, an excited Sylvie plying Sylia with quiet questions about her new life. The sexaroid had accepted Sylia's offer gladly, once she got over her shock at being asked. Sean looked around the table, noting that Nene's cake (of course) was gone, as was his pastry, while Linna and Priss were still nibbling on their desserts. Making a decision, he stood.
"Nene, as my ride for the night just walked off with her new protégé, and I doubt you rode your scooter here, might I share a taxi bill with you?" She looked up at him with her eyes full of laughter.
"Why, certainly, Mr. Kai," she said with an impish grin, "and thank you kindly."
She didn't explain her earlier request until they were in the parking lot. "Sean," she said finally, "I have something to ask you, and I'd be really, really thankful if you'd say yes." She stared up at him for a full ten seconds, until Sean became visibly nervous. Finally, she said, "I want you to teach me to fight better."
Sean's first reaction was relief. [I was afraid that she wanted a relationship with me or something. At least it's only teaching her how to fight... hey, wait a minute! I'm no teacher!] Recovering his composure, he cleared his throat.
"Ahem... Nene, why me? I'm not as good a fighter as Linna, I can't teach you how to shoot, and I'm not a trained instructor of any kind! Linna would be a better -" Nene cut him off.
"She and Priss are so -- so *mean!* All they ever do is tease me about how bad I am at fighting! I was so depressed when I heard about _your_ test scores; I mean, even the new kid was better than me!"
"New kid!?" Sean interjected, lightening the mood.
Nene gave him a small smile. "Sorry, Sean - that's just what I thought at the time. I thought you'd be teasing me, too - I mean, the first two times we met, you saved me from Boomers. 'That is _NO_ way to treat a lady!'" she cried in imitation of Sean's voice, and they both laughed. Nene continued, "You didn't tease me. You didn't give me Sylia's 'silent disapproval', either. You always seemed so polite, even when I didn't do well. I want *you* to teach me because I had enough trouble getting up the nerve to ask someone to help me with this, I don't want someone laughing at me on top of that. Okay?," she finished, and made puppy-eyes up at Sean, who sighed.
"I was so polite to you because I hardly knew you back then, Nene - I knew Linna well, Sylia somewhat, Priss slightly, and you not at all before I became a Knight Saber. I just noticed you seemed to hate getting ribbed about your fighting skills and kept my mouth shut. Linna and I tease each other about mistakes all the time, so..." his voice trailed off as he looked into Nene's big, soulful eyes. Finally, he looked to the heavens and shrugged.
"Oh, all right. We can start next week sometime - I'll call you to work out a good time to meet. We can start off with T'ai Chi; that's excellent practice for getting your body to do _exactly_ what you tell it to." A taxi pulled up, and Sean waved Nene into it. "See you then, student!"
"Hey!" Nene cried. "Aren't you coming?"
Sean smiled. "Nope," he replied, "I'm flying home!" The cabby gave Sean an odd look, and Nene giggled, knowing Sean was referring to Iczel. As the cab pulled out, Sean thought, [Yeah, I'll see you next week, but I _really_ hope I know what I'm doing!]
*** ***
Sean, as Iczelion, flew into the Ladys 633 building through Sylia's sewer access. Separating back into Sean and Iczel, they parted company as Iczel headed for the computer room and Sean headed upstairs. He passed Mackie on the way.
"How'd it go?" asked the younger Stingray.
"Pretty well," Sean answered. "Sylvie's emotional sensitivity clued her in pretty early to the fact that something was going on, but she was still floored when Sylia asked her if she'd join the team. She said yes, if you haven't heard that already, and she and Sylia left earlier than the rest of us. Lucky thing I have alternate transportation!" Mackie chuckled at that. Sean continued, "So where are the ladies? Are they home yet?"
Mackie became downcast. "Yeah," he replied, "they got home about twenty minutes ago. They went downstairs to take Sylvie's measurements for her hardsuit." Sean was puzzled.
"So why are you still here, and so glum? I'd have thought you'd be gleefully spying on them - oh," Sean said as realization sank in.
Mackie nodded sadly. "You got it - the door is locked, the security camera is shut off, and the computer link to the measurement scanner has been shut down by hardware, not software, at their end. There's a naked woman with incredible proportions down there, getting _measured_ of all things, and I can't even get a look at her!"
Sean tried to hold it back, but couldn't - he broke out laughing. "Bwa-ha, ha-ha! Serves you right, you lech! Just think, if you hadn't tipped your hand to Sylia by overriding her computer lockout on the cameras to spy on her with me, you could be watching now! Maybe that'll teach you to restrain yourself!" Still laughing, Sean headed upstairs to the guest room.
*** ***
Later that night, Sean woke from a light doze to Sylia 'sending' to him. {Sean... Sean, are you awake?}
{Now I am,} he replied. {What's up?}
{Sylvie and I would like your opinion on the hardsuit design she prefers, especially as some of the weapons are based on Iczel's.}
Sean rolled off the bed and headed for the door. {On my way!}
On arrival at the basement lab door, he tried to open it, but found it locked. [Oh, right - Mackie did mention that.] Switching to 'sending', he called to Sylia. {I'm at the door, Sylia. Can I come in, please?}
Sylia's reply was embarrassed. {Oops, I forgot about that!} A moment later, the door swung open. "I'm sorry, Sean," she continued audibly. He entered and shut the door behind him. For a moment, he wondered why Sylia and Sylvie were staring at him until he remembered he was only wearing his pajamas.
"Whoops!" he cried. "I can go change, it won't take long -"
Sylvie cut him off, grinning slightly. "It's all right, Sean. _I_ don't mind." Sean and Sylia both spent a moment staring at their friend before moving on.
Sylia motioned Sean over to a screen on the CAD/CAM unit. Pictured there was a wireframe model of a hardsuit resembling Sylia's. It had the same flight wings as her suit, and like Sylia's, this suit also had power gauntlets on both arms instead of one. There were differences, however. This suit had vector thrust ports on the front of the shoulder pauldrons and front and back on each hip, there was a slight bulge on the right leg, and the configuration of the right and left gauntlets differed. Sylia began her explanation with the basic features of the suit. "The suit's armor configuration and basic electronics are similar to Priss's hardsuit, with one notable difference. The improvement has yet to be tested outside the laboratory, but I believe the armor can fully shield the internal systems from electromagnetic disturbances."
Sean sighed. "What's that mean in plain language?"
Sylia gave Sean a disapproving look. "It means," she continued, "that the suit systems won't shut down or go awry when exposed to a strong magnetic field or EMP. I've been worried about that possibility since the ambush where we first met as Saber to Iczelion. If one group tried an attack that bypassed our armor, others will too. If this works in the field, I intend to use this new armor in all our suits. Moving on, the thruster system is based on the one in my original hardsuit design. The major improvement is the set of additional vector thrusters," she said while indicating the thrust ports on the shoulders and hips. "In theory, the suit's airborne maneuverability should rival yours as Iczelion. The flight speed is lower than yours or mine, but it should be more than adequate. Currently, the armor protection of the suit is equivalent to Priss's, but if Sylvie proves adept at avoiding fire, I may lower that to increase the maneuverability. The real innovations of the suit are in the weapons systems," she continued, indicating the arms and the bulge on the right leg. "The right gauntlet holds an alternative to our current laser cannon. Externally it's similar, but instead of coherent light, the weapon uses a magnetic field to channel a high-velocity stream of plasma at a target. The range is somewhat reduced from the lasers, but there is no loss of accuracy in rapid-fire mode and the firepower delivered is superior to the upgrade I had in mind for my own lasers. In a storage pod in the right leg," she said while indicating the bulge, "is the next generation of close-combat weaponry." Sylia tapped some keys, bringing up an image up what looked like a hand grip for a sword or large knife, with an ellipse of field lines extending from one end to form the 'blade'.
Sean recognized it from an earlier concept discussion between him, Sylia, and Iczel. "You mean you've actually gotten the MCPB to work!?" he cried. MCPB was short for Magnetically Contained Plasma Blade, an equivalent to Sean's beam swords. Sylia smiled at him.
"Yes, although it needs recharging after a _very_ short duration - only thirty seconds of use, but in the storage pod it can recharge itself in less than a minute. Like your beam swords, it's a superior weapon to my vibroblades in most situations. I *had* wanted to integrate that function into the right arm plasma gun, but space restrictions were prohibitive." She frowned for a moment, then went on. "In the left arm is an array of two railguns that offer one major improvement over the design I used three of for Priss's suit. The rate of fire is significantly greater, such that the two guns can fire a total of ten railgun spikes in the same amount of time it takes Priss's array to fire six." Sean whistled.
"That's pretty impressive! The only time I've seen those spikes fail to penetrate a target's armor was against the Genki battlemover, and that had more than ten centimeters of armor plate!" Then Sean's gaze wandered to the palm of the suit's left arm. "Hey, Sylia, what's that lens?"
Sylia smiled. "Between examining your 'gravitic strikes' and Iczel's memory logs of your battle with Largo, I managed to engineer an energy-based impact weapon. It's similar in function to Linna's right-arm shaped charges, but with no ammunition limitations and actually capable of striking rapidly without causing structural stress to suit or wearer. I'm calling it the 'Impact Bomber'." Sean stared for a moment.
"Uhm, Sylia," he asked, "how'd you do that?"
Sylia smiled. "It's a variation on particle-beam technology. Instead of inducing a large charge into the particles, just enough is induced to make it possible to move the particles with a magnetic field. The charged particle field can be projected some ten centimeters at extreme velocity when proximity sensors in the perimeter of the lens detect an imminent impact. Since the field is moving aggregate particles and not a solid mass, the projection velocity can actually exceed the speed of sound." Sean watched as a simulation was shown on the screen of a hardsuit swinging an Impact Bomber punch at a BU-12-B Boomer. The Boomer's torso caved in, and Sean winced.
"Ouch! Heavy hitter!"
Sylvie chimed in. "That's not the best part, Sean. The field can be recharged in less than a second, so you could actually hit a target with a series of rapid jabs with that piledriver!" She smiled. "Looks like you'll have some competition soon!"
Sean grinned. "I look forward to it."
Sylia cleared her throat. "If I might continue..." No one spoke. "Excellent. This suit is designed as a jack-of-all-trades. It possesses sufficient maneuverability to scout, pursue, or serve as rapid reinforcement, while retaining good firepower at both short and long ranges and the durability to endure a pitched battle. As all our specialist roles in the field are filled, this was Sylvie's preference as a design concept. When the suit is completed, Sylvie will join us for training exercises and then move into field actions. I intend to detail a new field procedure to the others at our next meeting, one that we have used informally in the past. Sean, do you recall how, in battle, Nene and I would often remain paired as a unit on the sidelines while Linna and Priss took care of the close-combat work?" Sean nodded, and Sylia continued. "Good. I consider Nene and I the 'command' element of the team, and Linna and Priss the 'combat' element. Now that I've seen you in battle as Iczelion often enough, I want you to join the 'combat' element. Once she's an active member, Sylvie will join the 'command' element, so she can be more readily deployed to where she's needed if necessary. Is that clear?"
Sean nodded, but Sylvie looked at Sylia in annoyance. "Don't leave it there, Sylia, tell him the rest!" the 33-S stated.
Sean looked at the two ladies in turn. "The rest?" he asked in a worried tone. Sylia glared at Sylvie.
"Listen, Sylvie, I have my reasons -" The sexaroid cut her off.
"And I already told you, I don't agree! If you're gonna make him leader of the combat team, you should tell him NOW!," she cried. A moment later, the stunned look on Sean's face registered in the angry mind of Sylvie. "Whoops..." she murmured.
"Uh... Leader?" Sean asked in a tone of voice that said he was 'not quite there'. Sylia, her expression carefully controlled, turned with excruciating slowness to regard Sylvie. Sean suddenly remembered the last time he'd seen that expression on her face: he'd been confessing how much he knew about Sylvie in the wake of the D.D. fiasco, and he knew she'd felt about ready to kill him. Sylvie's emotional sensitivity easily picked up Sylia's mood, and the newest Knight Saber edged toward the door.
"Um, maybe I'll just go home to bed now." And in indelicate haste, Sylvie fled the room.
Sylia turned to Sean. "I really don't know if my nerves can handle this," she stated.
In response, Sean shook his head and sighed. "You and me both. Though I may include you in my list of stresses now. Why make _me_ your lieutenant?," he asked. "Priss and Linna both have experience over me, and Linna's a better fighter than I am."
Sylia sighed. "I realize that, Sean, which was why I wanted to discuss it with them before I announced it to you. I felt it would be easier to get you to accept the position if I had their support, and if either objected I could prepare counter-arguments before the meeting. The reason I wanted you in charge of the combat element is simple. Nene can only do so much to counter jamming and both Priss' and Linna's fighting styles can carry them out of comm range. I should, however, always be able to contact you, and vice versa, making it easier to rein in Priss - or Linna, for that matter - before their feelings lead them off into traps or danger. You have also been showing promise in tactics and strategy in the games we've played, and you keep a cool head in battle most times. Combine all those, and you became my first choice."
Sean shook his head again. "First Nene, now this. I think Sylvie had the right idea - I'm going back to bed." He turned and walked out the door, closing it behind him. Alone in the room, Sylia asked the walls,
"Nene? What about Nene?"
*** ***
It was several days later, and the weather had cooled down somewhat, when Sean joined with Iczel and flew down to Raven's Garage. Sylia was down there again, and had been for most of the last seven days, ever since the CAD/CAM system on her computer at Silky Doll had ironed the last bugs out of Sylvie's suit design. Emerging from the sewer tunnels into the Faultline Canyon, he turned toward Raven's and dove into a scrap pile to separate out of view of any watching satellites. From under the 'scrap pile', which was actually camouflage for the launch ramp of the Knightwing, Sean walked down into the secret facility beneath Raven's Garage. Here was where Sylia kept the fabrication machines that made the Knight Sabers' hi-tech equipment. In addition, the training simulator was here, and so was the Knightwing, the Knight Sabers' VTOL. Sean headed straight for the factory area, beginning to feel angry.
[I've told her before, she can't do her best work when she's running herself into the ground! I can't _believe_ her sometimes! And I've never felt so aggravated as when she cut off our 'sending' link a few minutes ago! Well, miss Stingray, the day of reckoning hath arrived!] he finished the thought as he opened the assembly room door with more force than was really necessary.
Sylia didn't even look up from her computer. "I know, Dr. Raven... I know. Just... a few minutes more." Her normally clipped and precise speech was starting to slur from fatigue. Sean let his anger leak into his voice as he declared,
"This is *not* Dr. Raven. You've got a lot of nerve, lady, cutting me off like that!"
Sylia whirled around, her hand flying to her mouth. "SEAN!"
Sean glared at his lover. "Sylia, I know you're leader of the Sabers, but every leader needs some checks and balances on their authority to keep them from abusing it - like disregarding your friends' instructions when they can plainly see you're hurting yourself! I told you earlier, it sounds like Dr. Raven has told you several times, and I'll bet Mackie called you when he took his break from the counter at Silky Doll! Save your work so far and log off! You need rest before you can continue, before you make an error that forces you to do the whole suit over again!" Sylia had been starting to look angry until Sean made the point about errors. She looked blearily back at the screen.
"You _do_ have.. a point. I don't want to lose this, but... I just have a few more specifications to input before the factory machines can start work on Sylvie's hardsuit and motoroid. If I can just.."
Noticing Sylia had gone into her 'for the good of the group' mode, Sean tuned her out, then got a sly idea. Still looking at Sylia, he gave every appearance of listening well, but in his mind, he was imagining a quiet orchestral theme, to the words of:
[Rock-a-bye baby/
on the tree top/
when the wind blows,/
your cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks,/
your cradle will fall,/
and down will come baby,
cradle and all...]
Sure enough, after the first few repetitions, Sylia was blinking and yawning. Sean wasn't actually 'sending', but he wasn't trying to control leakage, either. Finally, Sylia's eyes slipped closed, and she started to slump forward into the computer. Sean dashed forward and gently caught her before she hit the keyboard. Carefully, he picked her up in his arms, and she cuddled closer in her sleep. She didn't wake up until Sean put her down on a cot in one of the spare rooms. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up with a start.
"*What?!* Where am I, what happened?" she cried.
Sean smiled down at her. "You fell asleep. I caught you before you hit the computer, and Dr. Raven is in there saving your work. Maybe _now_ you'll listen when you're told to get some rest."
Sylia looked bewildered. "That shouldn't have happened! It was only 23 hours, I've gone 36 before without passing out -" She broke off suddenly as she glared at Sean. "Sean! Did you switch my music and aroma settings again!?" Sean had done that the last time they'd had this argument, and Sylia had been, for her, roaring mad about it the next day. Sean grinned through a growing nervousness.
[Uh oh,] he thought, now being very careful _not_ to leak any thought. [I'm innocent on that charge, but if she realizes what I _did_ do, there'll be hell to pay!] He widened his smile. "Sorry, Sylia, but I'm innocent this time. You can go back and check if you want, they're just as you left them."
More awake now than she had been, she glared at her friend and lover. "I will. _And_," she stated, "the computer will have a log of when the last changes were, so even if you restored them, I _will_ *know.*" She stalked out. Sean endured a long and nervous five minutes before she returned, looking crestfallen.
"I'm sorry, Sean, you're right," she admitted. "But then I just don't know why I fell asleep so soon! I -"
Sean cut her off. "Right now, Sylia, the important thing is that you _did_ fall asleep. That usually means it's time to go to bed and let nature take its course."
Reluctantly, Sylia sighed and turned towards the stairs to the garage. "I'm forced to agree with you, Sean. I'll ask Dr. Raven to drive me home, then he and Mackie can come back here and we'll close Silky Doll for the night." Sean nodded to her.
"I'll just confirm that everything's okay here, then get together with Iczel again and fly back to join you."
*** ***
It was nearly an hour later when Sean came up the hidden launch ramp to join Iczel. A lot had needed doing, or cleaning up, in the lab and factory areas, and he hadn't actually _finished_ it, just put a large dent in the workload. [Dr. Raven can fix up the rest by himself,] Sean thought wearily. With a nod to Iczel, he murmured "Charging up," and the two synchronized. Flying out of the scrap pile, he turned toward the sea and the sewer pipe that led to the Ladys 633 building.
The first warning he had of something being wrong was when Iczel yelled in his mental 'ear.'
{SEAN!}
"Oww!" {Yeah, what is it, Iczel? You sure woke me up with that yell!}
{All radio frequencies are being jammed, and the jamming source is only fifty meters down the canyon!} Sean would have woken up for that even without the yell. He pulled to a nearly instant stop in midair, looking at the spot in question. From behind a wrecked car rose a Powered Suit in gray and silver camouflage patterns, bearing a vague resemblance to a K-11 in shape. Iczel commented, {It's superficially similar to the A.D. Police K-11 frame, but it has more armor, better ECM gear, as the jamming shows, a set of forearm shields, and the hand-held armament is more extensive. I'd say we've just met a member of another group of armored mercenaries, Sean.}
{No kidding? I didn't think any others operated in the MegaTokyo area.}
{Most mercenaries aren't devoted to protecting an area, Sean. They'll go where the money is.}
{Point taken.} 'Sending' to Sylia now, he cried, {SYLIA! I hate to wake you or whatever, but I've just run into a heavily modified K-11 suit in the Canyons. I don't know what it's doing here,} he broke off momentarily as three more similar suits emerged from sewer pipes or debris piles, {Oops, what _these four_ are doing here, but I'll bet it's got to do with me!}
Sylia's answer was immediate. {I'm calling the Sabers, Sean. We'll be there in ten minutes!}
{Okay,} Sean sent back. Assured that the cavalry was on the way, he called down to the silver suit that had emerged first. "Hello. You're new around here, aren't you? Anything I can help you with?"
The reply came from the second of the four suits. This one's camo pattern was in red shades. "You can surrender yourself to us and save us some work. There's a large amount of money offered for you and your fancy suit - you alive is a bonus." Sean considered a reply as he kept a wary eye on the red suit - it held a *huge* cannon in one claw, and a vulcan gun in the other. It also seemed to have a backpack mount of some kind.
"I wouldn't mind knowing who I'm dealing with first," he asked warily. The last suit to emerge responded this time, the voice rich and female. Sean noticed that this gray suit had larger hovervanes than the others.
"We're called the Warhawks. I'm Skyhawk, the gentleman you first saw is Silverhawk, the red armor with the bad attitude is Firehawk, and the dark, quiet fellow on my left is Nighthawk. You already know what we want, and you've probably realized that we're jamming your radio."
Sean thought fast - he needed to stall. "How'd you know where to find me?"
Skyhawk answered. "We were given access to an impressive number of records, Iczelion. You always seemed to disappear from observation in this area of the Canyons. When you were detected flying away from this area, we dashed in and got set up, then waited for you to come back. Now are you ready to come with us?"
Sean struck a thoughtful pose. "Hmm. Well, as my boss would say, there are positive and negative aspects..."
"GET HIM!" roared the red suit, the pilot apparently out of patience. It swiveled and fired the vulcan at Sean.
"Geez! How rude can you get!?" Sean cried while swooping out of the line of fire. He drew a bead on the left leg of the red suit, fired an energy beam...
...and gawked in amazement as the left-arm shield swung unerringly into line with the shot and blocked it with no sign of damage. [Aw, dammit, BU-12-B armor plate *again!*] His stare was cut short as the Silverhawk and Nighthawk suits opened up on him with pulse lasers, and he wove a complex evasion in the air. The Skyhawk suit jetted up to meet him - [guess I shouldn't be surprised that it can fly, given the name,] Sean thought - he pulled his beam swords and swung at the elbow joints of the arms, only to be met by two simultaneous blocks by Skyhawk's shields. [What the -] {Iczel, how're they doing that!?}
Iczel took a moment to reply. {I'm working on that, Sean, but those shields can't possibly repel our gravitic field strikes. Use them!} Sean was taken aback for a moment, then thought was cut off as Skyhawk kicked him in the gut with one armored leg. "HOOF!"
Sean spiraled down to a rolling landing and came up favoring his left side. [Dammit!] The familiar stab of pain told him at least one of his left ribs was broken - again. [This just keeps happening!] Iczel 'sent' to Sean again.
{Sean? Use the-} Sean cut her off, dodging a second volley of lasers and the attempted physical strike from Skyhawk.
{NO! Iczel, those aren't nearly as precise as the beams or swords!} He fired a volley of beam shots at Firehawk, and again the shields picked off each shot with uncanny precision. {If I hit one of these suit like that, I'll for sure injure, maybe kill the pilot! I *won't* risk it!}
Iczel returned verbal fire as Firehawk did it physically, uncorking a massive particle beam from its left-arm cannon. Sean dodged easily, while Iczel argued, {Sean, the purpose of an Iczelion is to protect, but that doesn't extend to those who try to kill you! You don't have to -} Again, Sean cut her off.
{*I* *WILL* *NOT* *KILL!*} Sean's slight distraction came at a bad time, however. Firehawk, annoyed at how easily Iczelion had dodged his fire, opened his backpack unit to reveal some ten micro-missiles. He fired them to spiral in, and Sean raised his forcefield in defense. Iczel cried out,
{Sean, *no!* Those are concussion miss-}
The first missile struck the field and detonated, but the high-concussion warhead put out enough of a shockwave that it blew Sean back against the Canyon wall. As a result, when the other nine missiles twisted in, Sean had nowhere to go. The world went dark.
The excruciating agony he felt upon hitting the Canyon floor woke Sean in a hurry. Groggily, he took stock of his injuries. [Aargh.. I think all my left ribs went out... *Aah!* My *foot!* It feels like it's been pulverized! Nngh.. Oh, perfect. My right wrist seems to be broken. Is that all?] He blinked as red flowed into his field of vision, blurring it. [Oh.. cut forehead. Could be worse.] He braced his battered, but whole, right foot, reached up blindly with his left hand - [Oww! Broken finger there! Doesn't matter, Sean, *reach!*] -caught an outcropping, and pulled himself up to stand, albeit on one foot, before his tormentors. Beyond the haze of blood and pain fogging his vision, he could hear the Warhawks talking about him.
Skyhawk: "Look at that! I've never seen that kind of courage before!"
Firehawk: "Big deal. Silver, you got the scanners, he showing that field thingy any more?"
Third voice, probably Silverhawk: "No. I think you crashed his systems there. Of course, I don't know much about his armor, but the limbs took the worst damage. Torso weapons or systems might still be functional."
Firehawk: "My particle cannon'll take care of that."
Fourth, quiet voice, must be Nighthawk: "We're supposed to bring in the armor relatively intact, not with a smoking hole where the body used to be."
Skyhawk: "We aren't going to kill him. We don't need the bonus. We'll keep him with us."
Firehawk: "Aw, _Eve!_ You gotta be -"
Skyhawk, loudly: "*No buts!* I want him with us. He already works with mercenaries, he's damned good, and has access to technology I find fascinating. I want him."
Loud footsteps approached, and the shape of Skyhawk became blurrily visible as she stopped in front of Sean, squatting down face-to-face with him. Sean realized his faceplate was down again - [Lucky I have the facemask now,] he thought - and Skyhawk opened her helmet, showing him her face. Sean struggled to form words.
"Cl.. close your helmet.. idioth.." he slurred. "My swordth.. could st-still.. be workhing." She smiled at him.
"I'm not going to fight you anymore, Iczelion." Sean noticed her short blond hair set off her green eyes rather well. Her pert face seemed incongruous with her apparent role of mercenary leader. She looked him in the eye and continued, "My name's Yvette. You probably heard Firehawk call me 'Eve', that's my nickname. You have a lot of courage, Iczelion. Come with us. We'll just turn your armor in and say you were killed. Then you can join the Warhawks. No one has to know."
Unbelievably, Sean was actually tempted. [I think... I may have a concussion,] he thought foggily. [And her eyes, I've seen eyes like those before. Where?] He thought it over for a moment, then shook his head. [Argh! Owch! At a time like this I'm trying to remember eye color?!? Now I _know_ I'm concussed.]
Sean's worry about his medical state was cut short by a very welcome voice from overhead.
"Knight Sabers, Action!!" Yvette's helmet snapped back into place, and she waved to her companions. She reached for Sean, but he dropped a beam sword into his left hand and swiped at her arm. Her shield whipped into position to parry it, and she pulled away and roared into the night. Sean saw all four Knight Sabers in a semicircle around him, and passed out.
*** ***
As a result, he missed the ensuing argument entirely.
"Let's get *AFTER* them, Sylia!" screamed a raging Priss. "I'm not going to let them get away with *this!*"
Linna, normally calm, was equally incensed at the condition of her friend and pupil. "Priss is right! Let's go show _them_ something about pain! Then they won't be so ready to give it to _my_ *FRIENDS!*"
Sylia, normally so collected, spoke in a voice choked with emotion. "No. We're going to get Sean to medical care ASAP - I have an understanding with Richard Zahn of the Zahn Clinic. We'll fly him to the Lady's 633 and drive him in from there."
Priss protested, "You only need you and Nene for that! Linna and I can go -"
"NO!" Sylia exploded. "They are a professional mercenary team, we'll all need to be together to handle them safely! I _will not_ risk losing anyone else!" Sylia was surprised when Linna spoke in a voice gone flat and ice-cold.
"Sylia, they were using weapons that drew power from batteries or used normal ammunition. They threw quite a bit at Sean, and according to the command truck's sensors, the red suit spent their only missiles before we arrived. Priss and I can take our Motoroids, we'd make short work of them. You and Nene can get Sean to the clinic." Sylia, now desperate, tried frantically to think of a way to restrain Priss and Linna from immediate revenge. Her thoughts were cut short by a quiet remark from Nene.
"Linna, Priss," the electronics expert said, so softly that the others had to strain to hear her. "What if they lost you or used Boomers to stall you, then came after Sean again? We couldn't stop them on our own." Priss twitched, and Linna seemed to deflate. Finally, the dancer murmured,
"All right... but I don't have to like it." Sylia wanted to sag with relief, but controlled herself.
[That can wait until I'm sure Sean is going to be all right. Then I need to get onto the Net and call Fargo's network for data on those mercenaries. I won't leave Sean at risk here, but whoever you are,] she thought to the departed mercenary team, [there _will_ be a reckoning.]
July in MegaTokyo. It was a hot day, but Sean Kai was cheerful as he made his way toward his home away from home. [Living with Sylia lacks some privacy, but there are fringe benefits. It's been just over a month now since I moved to the Lady's 633 penthouse to give Sylvie room at my place, and I've noticed that among other things, the air conditioning is better at Sylia's. Of course, Sylia herself is a definite plus, but I could do without Mackie's prying. Ever since he got over his outrage at Sylia and I becoming lovers, his hentai urges have made him nothing but trouble! It's a definite pain pulling the plug on the bedroom security cameras just to get some quality time!] Sean and Sylia had made love together several times since discovering their feelings for each other, but Sylia had not been amused to find that Mackie had used the building security system to make a video disc of their first night together at the penthouse. She had then erased the data both from the disc and the main system, and the lovers had taken precautions since then. Sean, in particular, gave Mackie an ultimatum.
"Mackie," he'd said, "I understand your desire to see female anatomy. I don't mind your normal voyeuristic activity. However, if I EVER find out you have spied on my intimacy with Sylia again, you and I will go down to the Fitness Bee. There, we will go to the ring, and I will use _you_ for a sparring partner instead of one of the Mannequins. The - ahem - 'practice' will last *ten* minutes for *each* minute you watch, listen to, or otherwise spy on. Got me?" Mackie had nodded quietly and sped away to the workshop. Sean's musing was interrupted as he arrived at his destination.
[Finally,] he thought as he wiped his brow, [refuge from the heat!] He walked through the first-floor lingerie shop, Silky Doll, nodded to Sylvie at the counter, and went up the elevator to the Stingray penthouse. Noticing Sylia in the living room, he waved. "Hi, lovely lady!"
Sylia's head came up, and she smiled. "You're back! Excellent, I was afraid I'd have to call you." Sean frowned.
"Has something come up, Sylia? Our next 'meeting' isn't due for another week."
"Yes, Sean," she replied, "but it's not an emergency. I arranged a dinner for us all later tonight, and I knew you'd need time to clean up and get dressed."
"Oh. Where are we going, and why?"
"We have reservations for six at the St. Regis Hotel Restaurant. Given our last visit there, I imagine you suspect the reason."
"A new Knight Saber! Sylvie is the only one who comes to mind, and I did overhear her asking Priss about our 'other lives' a week ago when we were out biking."
"Precisely," Sylia replied. "She's an ideal candidate, with superior reaction time and she already has experience operating combat armor. I mean to ask her tonight. Obviously, you and the other Knight Sabers will attend, and you will extend me the same courtesy the others did when I invited you. _I_ am to be the one to tell her the true reason for the dinner. At the moment, she believes it's for discussing the Silky Doll and, in part, a social gathering."
Sean raised an eyebrow - a mannerism he'd picked up from Sylia. "The timing, I notice, is also ideal for Sylvie. She's just discovering that what she wants isn't anonymous freedom, but to do something that matters. I think you timed it this way to give her a boost!"
Sylia only smiled.
*** ***
Later that night, the group of five women and one young man were walking into the St. Regis Hotel's lavish restaurant. Nene, hanging back as Linna and Priss chatted with Sylvie, caught Sean's sleeve as they turned a corner.
"Sean," she murmured, "I need to talk to you in private. Can you meet me after the dinner?" Sean, surprised, stared down at the A.D.P. commtech. Her eyes showed only sincerity, and she seemed uncomfortable.
"Alright," he murmured back, "but why -"
Nene cut him off. "I'll tell you later. Just offer to walk me to the taxi stand after dinner."
Sean stared again. "The taxi stand!?"
Nene swept her hand down to indicate her dress. "You don't think I rode my _scooter_ here wearing _this,_ do you?" Sean cleared his throat in embarrassment, and Nene joined Linna and Priss beside Sylvie.
*** ***
It was almost nine p.m. before the dinner was over, and Sylia and Sylvie were the first two to leave, an excited Sylvie plying Sylia with quiet questions about her new life. The sexaroid had accepted Sylia's offer gladly, once she got over her shock at being asked. Sean looked around the table, noting that Nene's cake (of course) was gone, as was his pastry, while Linna and Priss were still nibbling on their desserts. Making a decision, he stood.
"Nene, as my ride for the night just walked off with her new protégé, and I doubt you rode your scooter here, might I share a taxi bill with you?" She looked up at him with her eyes full of laughter.
"Why, certainly, Mr. Kai," she said with an impish grin, "and thank you kindly."
She didn't explain her earlier request until they were in the parking lot. "Sean," she said finally, "I have something to ask you, and I'd be really, really thankful if you'd say yes." She stared up at him for a full ten seconds, until Sean became visibly nervous. Finally, she said, "I want you to teach me to fight better."
Sean's first reaction was relief. [I was afraid that she wanted a relationship with me or something. At least it's only teaching her how to fight... hey, wait a minute! I'm no teacher!] Recovering his composure, he cleared his throat.
"Ahem... Nene, why me? I'm not as good a fighter as Linna, I can't teach you how to shoot, and I'm not a trained instructor of any kind! Linna would be a better -" Nene cut him off.
"She and Priss are so -- so *mean!* All they ever do is tease me about how bad I am at fighting! I was so depressed when I heard about _your_ test scores; I mean, even the new kid was better than me!"
"New kid!?" Sean interjected, lightening the mood.
Nene gave him a small smile. "Sorry, Sean - that's just what I thought at the time. I thought you'd be teasing me, too - I mean, the first two times we met, you saved me from Boomers. 'That is _NO_ way to treat a lady!'" she cried in imitation of Sean's voice, and they both laughed. Nene continued, "You didn't tease me. You didn't give me Sylia's 'silent disapproval', either. You always seemed so polite, even when I didn't do well. I want *you* to teach me because I had enough trouble getting up the nerve to ask someone to help me with this, I don't want someone laughing at me on top of that. Okay?," she finished, and made puppy-eyes up at Sean, who sighed.
"I was so polite to you because I hardly knew you back then, Nene - I knew Linna well, Sylia somewhat, Priss slightly, and you not at all before I became a Knight Saber. I just noticed you seemed to hate getting ribbed about your fighting skills and kept my mouth shut. Linna and I tease each other about mistakes all the time, so..." his voice trailed off as he looked into Nene's big, soulful eyes. Finally, he looked to the heavens and shrugged.
"Oh, all right. We can start next week sometime - I'll call you to work out a good time to meet. We can start off with T'ai Chi; that's excellent practice for getting your body to do _exactly_ what you tell it to." A taxi pulled up, and Sean waved Nene into it. "See you then, student!"
"Hey!" Nene cried. "Aren't you coming?"
Sean smiled. "Nope," he replied, "I'm flying home!" The cabby gave Sean an odd look, and Nene giggled, knowing Sean was referring to Iczel. As the cab pulled out, Sean thought, [Yeah, I'll see you next week, but I _really_ hope I know what I'm doing!]
*** ***
Sean, as Iczelion, flew into the Ladys 633 building through Sylia's sewer access. Separating back into Sean and Iczel, they parted company as Iczel headed for the computer room and Sean headed upstairs. He passed Mackie on the way.
"How'd it go?" asked the younger Stingray.
"Pretty well," Sean answered. "Sylvie's emotional sensitivity clued her in pretty early to the fact that something was going on, but she was still floored when Sylia asked her if she'd join the team. She said yes, if you haven't heard that already, and she and Sylia left earlier than the rest of us. Lucky thing I have alternate transportation!" Mackie chuckled at that. Sean continued, "So where are the ladies? Are they home yet?"
Mackie became downcast. "Yeah," he replied, "they got home about twenty minutes ago. They went downstairs to take Sylvie's measurements for her hardsuit." Sean was puzzled.
"So why are you still here, and so glum? I'd have thought you'd be gleefully spying on them - oh," Sean said as realization sank in.
Mackie nodded sadly. "You got it - the door is locked, the security camera is shut off, and the computer link to the measurement scanner has been shut down by hardware, not software, at their end. There's a naked woman with incredible proportions down there, getting _measured_ of all things, and I can't even get a look at her!"
Sean tried to hold it back, but couldn't - he broke out laughing. "Bwa-ha, ha-ha! Serves you right, you lech! Just think, if you hadn't tipped your hand to Sylia by overriding her computer lockout on the cameras to spy on her with me, you could be watching now! Maybe that'll teach you to restrain yourself!" Still laughing, Sean headed upstairs to the guest room.
*** ***
Later that night, Sean woke from a light doze to Sylia 'sending' to him. {Sean... Sean, are you awake?}
{Now I am,} he replied. {What's up?}
{Sylvie and I would like your opinion on the hardsuit design she prefers, especially as some of the weapons are based on Iczel's.}
Sean rolled off the bed and headed for the door. {On my way!}
On arrival at the basement lab door, he tried to open it, but found it locked. [Oh, right - Mackie did mention that.] Switching to 'sending', he called to Sylia. {I'm at the door, Sylia. Can I come in, please?}
Sylia's reply was embarrassed. {Oops, I forgot about that!} A moment later, the door swung open. "I'm sorry, Sean," she continued audibly. He entered and shut the door behind him. For a moment, he wondered why Sylia and Sylvie were staring at him until he remembered he was only wearing his pajamas.
"Whoops!" he cried. "I can go change, it won't take long -"
Sylvie cut him off, grinning slightly. "It's all right, Sean. _I_ don't mind." Sean and Sylia both spent a moment staring at their friend before moving on.
Sylia motioned Sean over to a screen on the CAD/CAM unit. Pictured there was a wireframe model of a hardsuit resembling Sylia's. It had the same flight wings as her suit, and like Sylia's, this suit also had power gauntlets on both arms instead of one. There were differences, however. This suit had vector thrust ports on the front of the shoulder pauldrons and front and back on each hip, there was a slight bulge on the right leg, and the configuration of the right and left gauntlets differed. Sylia began her explanation with the basic features of the suit. "The suit's armor configuration and basic electronics are similar to Priss's hardsuit, with one notable difference. The improvement has yet to be tested outside the laboratory, but I believe the armor can fully shield the internal systems from electromagnetic disturbances."
Sean sighed. "What's that mean in plain language?"
Sylia gave Sean a disapproving look. "It means," she continued, "that the suit systems won't shut down or go awry when exposed to a strong magnetic field or EMP. I've been worried about that possibility since the ambush where we first met as Saber to Iczelion. If one group tried an attack that bypassed our armor, others will too. If this works in the field, I intend to use this new armor in all our suits. Moving on, the thruster system is based on the one in my original hardsuit design. The major improvement is the set of additional vector thrusters," she said while indicating the thrust ports on the shoulders and hips. "In theory, the suit's airborne maneuverability should rival yours as Iczelion. The flight speed is lower than yours or mine, but it should be more than adequate. Currently, the armor protection of the suit is equivalent to Priss's, but if Sylvie proves adept at avoiding fire, I may lower that to increase the maneuverability. The real innovations of the suit are in the weapons systems," she continued, indicating the arms and the bulge on the right leg. "The right gauntlet holds an alternative to our current laser cannon. Externally it's similar, but instead of coherent light, the weapon uses a magnetic field to channel a high-velocity stream of plasma at a target. The range is somewhat reduced from the lasers, but there is no loss of accuracy in rapid-fire mode and the firepower delivered is superior to the upgrade I had in mind for my own lasers. In a storage pod in the right leg," she said while indicating the bulge, "is the next generation of close-combat weaponry." Sylia tapped some keys, bringing up an image up what looked like a hand grip for a sword or large knife, with an ellipse of field lines extending from one end to form the 'blade'.
Sean recognized it from an earlier concept discussion between him, Sylia, and Iczel. "You mean you've actually gotten the MCPB to work!?" he cried. MCPB was short for Magnetically Contained Plasma Blade, an equivalent to Sean's beam swords. Sylia smiled at him.
"Yes, although it needs recharging after a _very_ short duration - only thirty seconds of use, but in the storage pod it can recharge itself in less than a minute. Like your beam swords, it's a superior weapon to my vibroblades in most situations. I *had* wanted to integrate that function into the right arm plasma gun, but space restrictions were prohibitive." She frowned for a moment, then went on. "In the left arm is an array of two railguns that offer one major improvement over the design I used three of for Priss's suit. The rate of fire is significantly greater, such that the two guns can fire a total of ten railgun spikes in the same amount of time it takes Priss's array to fire six." Sean whistled.
"That's pretty impressive! The only time I've seen those spikes fail to penetrate a target's armor was against the Genki battlemover, and that had more than ten centimeters of armor plate!" Then Sean's gaze wandered to the palm of the suit's left arm. "Hey, Sylia, what's that lens?"
Sylia smiled. "Between examining your 'gravitic strikes' and Iczel's memory logs of your battle with Largo, I managed to engineer an energy-based impact weapon. It's similar in function to Linna's right-arm shaped charges, but with no ammunition limitations and actually capable of striking rapidly without causing structural stress to suit or wearer. I'm calling it the 'Impact Bomber'." Sean stared for a moment.
"Uhm, Sylia," he asked, "how'd you do that?"
Sylia smiled. "It's a variation on particle-beam technology. Instead of inducing a large charge into the particles, just enough is induced to make it possible to move the particles with a magnetic field. The charged particle field can be projected some ten centimeters at extreme velocity when proximity sensors in the perimeter of the lens detect an imminent impact. Since the field is moving aggregate particles and not a solid mass, the projection velocity can actually exceed the speed of sound." Sean watched as a simulation was shown on the screen of a hardsuit swinging an Impact Bomber punch at a BU-12-B Boomer. The Boomer's torso caved in, and Sean winced.
"Ouch! Heavy hitter!"
Sylvie chimed in. "That's not the best part, Sean. The field can be recharged in less than a second, so you could actually hit a target with a series of rapid jabs with that piledriver!" She smiled. "Looks like you'll have some competition soon!"
Sean grinned. "I look forward to it."
Sylia cleared her throat. "If I might continue..." No one spoke. "Excellent. This suit is designed as a jack-of-all-trades. It possesses sufficient maneuverability to scout, pursue, or serve as rapid reinforcement, while retaining good firepower at both short and long ranges and the durability to endure a pitched battle. As all our specialist roles in the field are filled, this was Sylvie's preference as a design concept. When the suit is completed, Sylvie will join us for training exercises and then move into field actions. I intend to detail a new field procedure to the others at our next meeting, one that we have used informally in the past. Sean, do you recall how, in battle, Nene and I would often remain paired as a unit on the sidelines while Linna and Priss took care of the close-combat work?" Sean nodded, and Sylia continued. "Good. I consider Nene and I the 'command' element of the team, and Linna and Priss the 'combat' element. Now that I've seen you in battle as Iczelion often enough, I want you to join the 'combat' element. Once she's an active member, Sylvie will join the 'command' element, so she can be more readily deployed to where she's needed if necessary. Is that clear?"
Sean nodded, but Sylvie looked at Sylia in annoyance. "Don't leave it there, Sylia, tell him the rest!" the 33-S stated.
Sean looked at the two ladies in turn. "The rest?" he asked in a worried tone. Sylia glared at Sylvie.
"Listen, Sylvie, I have my reasons -" The sexaroid cut her off.
"And I already told you, I don't agree! If you're gonna make him leader of the combat team, you should tell him NOW!," she cried. A moment later, the stunned look on Sean's face registered in the angry mind of Sylvie. "Whoops..." she murmured.
"Uh... Leader?" Sean asked in a tone of voice that said he was 'not quite there'. Sylia, her expression carefully controlled, turned with excruciating slowness to regard Sylvie. Sean suddenly remembered the last time he'd seen that expression on her face: he'd been confessing how much he knew about Sylvie in the wake of the D.D. fiasco, and he knew she'd felt about ready to kill him. Sylvie's emotional sensitivity easily picked up Sylia's mood, and the newest Knight Saber edged toward the door.
"Um, maybe I'll just go home to bed now." And in indelicate haste, Sylvie fled the room.
Sylia turned to Sean. "I really don't know if my nerves can handle this," she stated.
In response, Sean shook his head and sighed. "You and me both. Though I may include you in my list of stresses now. Why make _me_ your lieutenant?," he asked. "Priss and Linna both have experience over me, and Linna's a better fighter than I am."
Sylia sighed. "I realize that, Sean, which was why I wanted to discuss it with them before I announced it to you. I felt it would be easier to get you to accept the position if I had their support, and if either objected I could prepare counter-arguments before the meeting. The reason I wanted you in charge of the combat element is simple. Nene can only do so much to counter jamming and both Priss' and Linna's fighting styles can carry them out of comm range. I should, however, always be able to contact you, and vice versa, making it easier to rein in Priss - or Linna, for that matter - before their feelings lead them off into traps or danger. You have also been showing promise in tactics and strategy in the games we've played, and you keep a cool head in battle most times. Combine all those, and you became my first choice."
Sean shook his head again. "First Nene, now this. I think Sylvie had the right idea - I'm going back to bed." He turned and walked out the door, closing it behind him. Alone in the room, Sylia asked the walls,
"Nene? What about Nene?"
*** ***
It was several days later, and the weather had cooled down somewhat, when Sean joined with Iczel and flew down to Raven's Garage. Sylia was down there again, and had been for most of the last seven days, ever since the CAD/CAM system on her computer at Silky Doll had ironed the last bugs out of Sylvie's suit design. Emerging from the sewer tunnels into the Faultline Canyon, he turned toward Raven's and dove into a scrap pile to separate out of view of any watching satellites. From under the 'scrap pile', which was actually camouflage for the launch ramp of the Knightwing, Sean walked down into the secret facility beneath Raven's Garage. Here was where Sylia kept the fabrication machines that made the Knight Sabers' hi-tech equipment. In addition, the training simulator was here, and so was the Knightwing, the Knight Sabers' VTOL. Sean headed straight for the factory area, beginning to feel angry.
[I've told her before, she can't do her best work when she's running herself into the ground! I can't _believe_ her sometimes! And I've never felt so aggravated as when she cut off our 'sending' link a few minutes ago! Well, miss Stingray, the day of reckoning hath arrived!] he finished the thought as he opened the assembly room door with more force than was really necessary.
Sylia didn't even look up from her computer. "I know, Dr. Raven... I know. Just... a few minutes more." Her normally clipped and precise speech was starting to slur from fatigue. Sean let his anger leak into his voice as he declared,
"This is *not* Dr. Raven. You've got a lot of nerve, lady, cutting me off like that!"
Sylia whirled around, her hand flying to her mouth. "SEAN!"
Sean glared at his lover. "Sylia, I know you're leader of the Sabers, but every leader needs some checks and balances on their authority to keep them from abusing it - like disregarding your friends' instructions when they can plainly see you're hurting yourself! I told you earlier, it sounds like Dr. Raven has told you several times, and I'll bet Mackie called you when he took his break from the counter at Silky Doll! Save your work so far and log off! You need rest before you can continue, before you make an error that forces you to do the whole suit over again!" Sylia had been starting to look angry until Sean made the point about errors. She looked blearily back at the screen.
"You _do_ have.. a point. I don't want to lose this, but... I just have a few more specifications to input before the factory machines can start work on Sylvie's hardsuit and motoroid. If I can just.."
Noticing Sylia had gone into her 'for the good of the group' mode, Sean tuned her out, then got a sly idea. Still looking at Sylia, he gave every appearance of listening well, but in his mind, he was imagining a quiet orchestral theme, to the words of:
[Rock-a-bye baby/
on the tree top/
when the wind blows,/
your cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks,/
your cradle will fall,/
and down will come baby,
cradle and all...]
Sure enough, after the first few repetitions, Sylia was blinking and yawning. Sean wasn't actually 'sending', but he wasn't trying to control leakage, either. Finally, Sylia's eyes slipped closed, and she started to slump forward into the computer. Sean dashed forward and gently caught her before she hit the keyboard. Carefully, he picked her up in his arms, and she cuddled closer in her sleep. She didn't wake up until Sean put her down on a cot in one of the spare rooms. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up with a start.
"*What?!* Where am I, what happened?" she cried.
Sean smiled down at her. "You fell asleep. I caught you before you hit the computer, and Dr. Raven is in there saving your work. Maybe _now_ you'll listen when you're told to get some rest."
Sylia looked bewildered. "That shouldn't have happened! It was only 23 hours, I've gone 36 before without passing out -" She broke off suddenly as she glared at Sean. "Sean! Did you switch my music and aroma settings again!?" Sean had done that the last time they'd had this argument, and Sylia had been, for her, roaring mad about it the next day. Sean grinned through a growing nervousness.
[Uh oh,] he thought, now being very careful _not_ to leak any thought. [I'm innocent on that charge, but if she realizes what I _did_ do, there'll be hell to pay!] He widened his smile. "Sorry, Sylia, but I'm innocent this time. You can go back and check if you want, they're just as you left them."
More awake now than she had been, she glared at her friend and lover. "I will. _And_," she stated, "the computer will have a log of when the last changes were, so even if you restored them, I _will_ *know.*" She stalked out. Sean endured a long and nervous five minutes before she returned, looking crestfallen.
"I'm sorry, Sean, you're right," she admitted. "But then I just don't know why I fell asleep so soon! I -"
Sean cut her off. "Right now, Sylia, the important thing is that you _did_ fall asleep. That usually means it's time to go to bed and let nature take its course."
Reluctantly, Sylia sighed and turned towards the stairs to the garage. "I'm forced to agree with you, Sean. I'll ask Dr. Raven to drive me home, then he and Mackie can come back here and we'll close Silky Doll for the night." Sean nodded to her.
"I'll just confirm that everything's okay here, then get together with Iczel again and fly back to join you."
*** ***
It was nearly an hour later when Sean came up the hidden launch ramp to join Iczel. A lot had needed doing, or cleaning up, in the lab and factory areas, and he hadn't actually _finished_ it, just put a large dent in the workload. [Dr. Raven can fix up the rest by himself,] Sean thought wearily. With a nod to Iczel, he murmured "Charging up," and the two synchronized. Flying out of the scrap pile, he turned toward the sea and the sewer pipe that led to the Ladys 633 building.
The first warning he had of something being wrong was when Iczel yelled in his mental 'ear.'
{SEAN!}
"Oww!" {Yeah, what is it, Iczel? You sure woke me up with that yell!}
{All radio frequencies are being jammed, and the jamming source is only fifty meters down the canyon!} Sean would have woken up for that even without the yell. He pulled to a nearly instant stop in midair, looking at the spot in question. From behind a wrecked car rose a Powered Suit in gray and silver camouflage patterns, bearing a vague resemblance to a K-11 in shape. Iczel commented, {It's superficially similar to the A.D. Police K-11 frame, but it has more armor, better ECM gear, as the jamming shows, a set of forearm shields, and the hand-held armament is more extensive. I'd say we've just met a member of another group of armored mercenaries, Sean.}
{No kidding? I didn't think any others operated in the MegaTokyo area.}
{Most mercenaries aren't devoted to protecting an area, Sean. They'll go where the money is.}
{Point taken.} 'Sending' to Sylia now, he cried, {SYLIA! I hate to wake you or whatever, but I've just run into a heavily modified K-11 suit in the Canyons. I don't know what it's doing here,} he broke off momentarily as three more similar suits emerged from sewer pipes or debris piles, {Oops, what _these four_ are doing here, but I'll bet it's got to do with me!}
Sylia's answer was immediate. {I'm calling the Sabers, Sean. We'll be there in ten minutes!}
{Okay,} Sean sent back. Assured that the cavalry was on the way, he called down to the silver suit that had emerged first. "Hello. You're new around here, aren't you? Anything I can help you with?"
The reply came from the second of the four suits. This one's camo pattern was in red shades. "You can surrender yourself to us and save us some work. There's a large amount of money offered for you and your fancy suit - you alive is a bonus." Sean considered a reply as he kept a wary eye on the red suit - it held a *huge* cannon in one claw, and a vulcan gun in the other. It also seemed to have a backpack mount of some kind.
"I wouldn't mind knowing who I'm dealing with first," he asked warily. The last suit to emerge responded this time, the voice rich and female. Sean noticed that this gray suit had larger hovervanes than the others.
"We're called the Warhawks. I'm Skyhawk, the gentleman you first saw is Silverhawk, the red armor with the bad attitude is Firehawk, and the dark, quiet fellow on my left is Nighthawk. You already know what we want, and you've probably realized that we're jamming your radio."
Sean thought fast - he needed to stall. "How'd you know where to find me?"
Skyhawk answered. "We were given access to an impressive number of records, Iczelion. You always seemed to disappear from observation in this area of the Canyons. When you were detected flying away from this area, we dashed in and got set up, then waited for you to come back. Now are you ready to come with us?"
Sean struck a thoughtful pose. "Hmm. Well, as my boss would say, there are positive and negative aspects..."
"GET HIM!" roared the red suit, the pilot apparently out of patience. It swiveled and fired the vulcan at Sean.
"Geez! How rude can you get!?" Sean cried while swooping out of the line of fire. He drew a bead on the left leg of the red suit, fired an energy beam...
...and gawked in amazement as the left-arm shield swung unerringly into line with the shot and blocked it with no sign of damage. [Aw, dammit, BU-12-B armor plate *again!*] His stare was cut short as the Silverhawk and Nighthawk suits opened up on him with pulse lasers, and he wove a complex evasion in the air. The Skyhawk suit jetted up to meet him - [guess I shouldn't be surprised that it can fly, given the name,] Sean thought - he pulled his beam swords and swung at the elbow joints of the arms, only to be met by two simultaneous blocks by Skyhawk's shields. [What the -] {Iczel, how're they doing that!?}
Iczel took a moment to reply. {I'm working on that, Sean, but those shields can't possibly repel our gravitic field strikes. Use them!} Sean was taken aback for a moment, then thought was cut off as Skyhawk kicked him in the gut with one armored leg. "HOOF!"
Sean spiraled down to a rolling landing and came up favoring his left side. [Dammit!] The familiar stab of pain told him at least one of his left ribs was broken - again. [This just keeps happening!] Iczel 'sent' to Sean again.
{Sean? Use the-} Sean cut her off, dodging a second volley of lasers and the attempted physical strike from Skyhawk.
{NO! Iczel, those aren't nearly as precise as the beams or swords!} He fired a volley of beam shots at Firehawk, and again the shields picked off each shot with uncanny precision. {If I hit one of these suit like that, I'll for sure injure, maybe kill the pilot! I *won't* risk it!}
Iczel returned verbal fire as Firehawk did it physically, uncorking a massive particle beam from its left-arm cannon. Sean dodged easily, while Iczel argued, {Sean, the purpose of an Iczelion is to protect, but that doesn't extend to those who try to kill you! You don't have to -} Again, Sean cut her off.
{*I* *WILL* *NOT* *KILL!*} Sean's slight distraction came at a bad time, however. Firehawk, annoyed at how easily Iczelion had dodged his fire, opened his backpack unit to reveal some ten micro-missiles. He fired them to spiral in, and Sean raised his forcefield in defense. Iczel cried out,
{Sean, *no!* Those are concussion miss-}
The first missile struck the field and detonated, but the high-concussion warhead put out enough of a shockwave that it blew Sean back against the Canyon wall. As a result, when the other nine missiles twisted in, Sean had nowhere to go. The world went dark.
The excruciating agony he felt upon hitting the Canyon floor woke Sean in a hurry. Groggily, he took stock of his injuries. [Aargh.. I think all my left ribs went out... *Aah!* My *foot!* It feels like it's been pulverized! Nngh.. Oh, perfect. My right wrist seems to be broken. Is that all?] He blinked as red flowed into his field of vision, blurring it. [Oh.. cut forehead. Could be worse.] He braced his battered, but whole, right foot, reached up blindly with his left hand - [Oww! Broken finger there! Doesn't matter, Sean, *reach!*] -caught an outcropping, and pulled himself up to stand, albeit on one foot, before his tormentors. Beyond the haze of blood and pain fogging his vision, he could hear the Warhawks talking about him.
Skyhawk: "Look at that! I've never seen that kind of courage before!"
Firehawk: "Big deal. Silver, you got the scanners, he showing that field thingy any more?"
Third voice, probably Silverhawk: "No. I think you crashed his systems there. Of course, I don't know much about his armor, but the limbs took the worst damage. Torso weapons or systems might still be functional."
Firehawk: "My particle cannon'll take care of that."
Fourth, quiet voice, must be Nighthawk: "We're supposed to bring in the armor relatively intact, not with a smoking hole where the body used to be."
Skyhawk: "We aren't going to kill him. We don't need the bonus. We'll keep him with us."
Firehawk: "Aw, _Eve!_ You gotta be -"
Skyhawk, loudly: "*No buts!* I want him with us. He already works with mercenaries, he's damned good, and has access to technology I find fascinating. I want him."
Loud footsteps approached, and the shape of Skyhawk became blurrily visible as she stopped in front of Sean, squatting down face-to-face with him. Sean realized his faceplate was down again - [Lucky I have the facemask now,] he thought - and Skyhawk opened her helmet, showing him her face. Sean struggled to form words.
"Cl.. close your helmet.. idioth.." he slurred. "My swordth.. could st-still.. be workhing." She smiled at him.
"I'm not going to fight you anymore, Iczelion." Sean noticed her short blond hair set off her green eyes rather well. Her pert face seemed incongruous with her apparent role of mercenary leader. She looked him in the eye and continued, "My name's Yvette. You probably heard Firehawk call me 'Eve', that's my nickname. You have a lot of courage, Iczelion. Come with us. We'll just turn your armor in and say you were killed. Then you can join the Warhawks. No one has to know."
Unbelievably, Sean was actually tempted. [I think... I may have a concussion,] he thought foggily. [And her eyes, I've seen eyes like those before. Where?] He thought it over for a moment, then shook his head. [Argh! Owch! At a time like this I'm trying to remember eye color?!? Now I _know_ I'm concussed.]
Sean's worry about his medical state was cut short by a very welcome voice from overhead.
"Knight Sabers, Action!!" Yvette's helmet snapped back into place, and she waved to her companions. She reached for Sean, but he dropped a beam sword into his left hand and swiped at her arm. Her shield whipped into position to parry it, and she pulled away and roared into the night. Sean saw all four Knight Sabers in a semicircle around him, and passed out.
*** ***
As a result, he missed the ensuing argument entirely.
"Let's get *AFTER* them, Sylia!" screamed a raging Priss. "I'm not going to let them get away with *this!*"
Linna, normally calm, was equally incensed at the condition of her friend and pupil. "Priss is right! Let's go show _them_ something about pain! Then they won't be so ready to give it to _my_ *FRIENDS!*"
Sylia, normally so collected, spoke in a voice choked with emotion. "No. We're going to get Sean to medical care ASAP - I have an understanding with Richard Zahn of the Zahn Clinic. We'll fly him to the Lady's 633 and drive him in from there."
Priss protested, "You only need you and Nene for that! Linna and I can go -"
"NO!" Sylia exploded. "They are a professional mercenary team, we'll all need to be together to handle them safely! I _will not_ risk losing anyone else!" Sylia was surprised when Linna spoke in a voice gone flat and ice-cold.
"Sylia, they were using weapons that drew power from batteries or used normal ammunition. They threw quite a bit at Sean, and according to the command truck's sensors, the red suit spent their only missiles before we arrived. Priss and I can take our Motoroids, we'd make short work of them. You and Nene can get Sean to the clinic." Sylia, now desperate, tried frantically to think of a way to restrain Priss and Linna from immediate revenge. Her thoughts were cut short by a quiet remark from Nene.
"Linna, Priss," the electronics expert said, so softly that the others had to strain to hear her. "What if they lost you or used Boomers to stall you, then came after Sean again? We couldn't stop them on our own." Priss twitched, and Linna seemed to deflate. Finally, the dancer murmured,
"All right... but I don't have to like it." Sylia wanted to sag with relief, but controlled herself.
[That can wait until I'm sure Sean is going to be all right. Then I need to get onto the Net and call Fargo's network for data on those mercenaries. I won't leave Sean at risk here, but whoever you are,] she thought to the departed mercenary team, [there _will_ be a reckoning.]
