Bubble Gum Crisis
An Alternate Story of the Knight Sabers
2034 Year of the Tiger
Neo No Armour Against Fate (Section 5 of 5)
No Armour Against Fate (8 of 10)
by Shawn Hagen(2000;2005)

Based on situations and characters created by Suzuki Toshimichi.

April 17th, Monday, 9:21pm, GMT

Nene had her face pressed up against one of the windows near the front of the craft. She watched as they closed on the colony. Soon Nene lost the feeling as if she was moving towards it. It was so huge that she felt it must be falling towards the shuttle. There was no way something that big could float.

She knew all the facts; a cylinder, twenty kilometres long, three kilometres in diameter, one of the largest structures ever built by man, and only a prototype for what was to come.

Boomers had been working on it for years, material from the Lagrange point and that which was launched by catapult from the moon, had been refined out there, made into the materials needed to build the huge structure.

Nene knew all the hard facts, but they had not, they could not have prepared her for the grandeur of the real thing, falling towards them.

As the got closer that illusion was dispelled, and once again she felt she was moving towards it.

An announcement came over the PA asking all passengers to return to their seats. Reluctantly she left the window and went back to her seat, strapping herself in.

She watched on a monitor as they approached the cylinder. The shuttle then turned, the thrusters coming online to slow their approach, a sense of gravity returning.

They skimmed the surface at a mere two kilometres up, then rounded the South end where the docking bay was.

The entire thing spun in order to maintain gravity on the inside. She could see the huge opening of the docking bay, a rectangle, five hundred meters wide and one thousand and five hundred long. The lighted entrance was what she watched, how she saw the spin.

As they got closer it seemed the cylinder's rotation slowed, then stopped, but that was yet another illusion. The truth was the shuttle had now matched the colony's spin.

She watched the opening get larger, and finally they were passing through.

Nene leaned back in her seat. Now that she was on board the colony the excitement she had been feeling waned. It was time for her to get back to work. The fun part was over.


April 18th, Tuesday, 7:54am, MegaTokyo

Leon pulled the keys from his pocket as he stood in front of the door to Priss' warehouse. He had basically stolen the keys from Yuuko the night before. Priss had, so Yuuko had told him, sent her the keys so she could watch the place while Priss was in Shikoku.

It was a believable story, until one considered the rumours of what had happened Sunday night. Leon had not seen anything, and he knew no one who had actually seen it, but supposedly the Knight Sabers had hit the Tower. Supposedly only one had come back.

He unlocked the panel that covered the security system controls and turned off the alarm on the door. Another key unlocked the door. He closed the panel and then opened the door, stepping into the warehouse.

An initial look around showed nothing that alarmed him. There was Priss' car, and her bike. Leon wondered how she had gone to Shikoku then noticed that the bike was not the new one she had been driving.

He crossed the floor and then climbed the steps to the living area. Again he had the keys to open the door and the knowledge to shut down the alarm; Priss had trusted Yuuko quite a bit in giving her all the information. And now Leon was abusing that trust. It did not make him feel good.

He found nothing that reassured him or alarmed him as he looked about. It was quite possible that Priss had gone to Shikoku, but she may not have. He did not know enough about her wardrobe to tell if clothing had been taken. He did not have the codes to check the messages on her answering service.

When he finally left the warehouse, locking the door and resetting the alarm, he was still no closer to knowing what might or might not have happened then he had been before.

The rumours were that the Knight Sabers might have been taken down by Genom. Leon knew Priss was a Knight Saber. He could not find Priss.

Was she in trouble? Was she even alive?

He had tried to get in touch with Nene, hoping she might be able to uncover some information for him, but she was off at some conference with one of her teachers and he had not been able to reach her. He doubted that she would be able to rush back and give him a hand anyway.

Leon walked back towards his bike. He would do all he could to discover what had happened but he had an uncomfortable feeling that he would have to wait.


April 18th, Tuesday, 11:19am, GMT SDPC/Genom Experimental O-Neil Colony, Lagrange Point 4

"I don't like this," Priss said from the couch she was sprawled upon.

"You've said that a few times," Linna told her as she wrapped a towel around her wet hairshe had just taken a shower.

The three of them were sharing a suite. It was the most convenient set up.

"It's such a long shot."

"Do we have any better plans?"

"No," Priss shook her head. "And I'm not happy with that."

"Sylia-san should be on the station by now," Nene said. "I wonder how soon things will happen."

"I wonder if Genom has any idea of what they are talking about?" Priss asked.

"Well, they seemed pretty certain that they would be here." Linna took a seat across from Priss.

"But how can they be sure that these people will stay here when Sylia shows up."

"I don't know. There are a lot of places they can run to. The moon is fairly close."

"I wonder if they really are trying to gain control of the catapults on the moon?" Nene asked.

"I don't see why not. They are the biggest guns ever made."

"Almost," Nene said. "But they were designed in a way that supposedly made it impossible for them to fire on Earth."

"Maybe they are interested in targets in space," Linna suggested.

"Well, whatever," Priss said.

"You know, they could be planning on using the colony," Nene said.

"What?" Linna asked.

"Use the station keeping rockets to send this thing flying at Earth. It could be quite the powerful weapon."

"I suppose it might be one of the reasons that they are here." Priss got to her feet and walked to the window of their suite. "Why the hell would anyone come here other than that?"

"Because it is a wonderful place," Nene said, walking over to stand by the window with Priss. "Look at it."

"Look at what?"

"Everything. They are going to eventually build one that will be one hundred and twenty kilometres long, thirty kilometres in diameter. It will be huge. You could fit MegaTokyo into it."

"Why bother, this one is hardly used. Two of the land strips haven't even been built on." Priss indicated the land strip they could see across from them. They were separated from it by one of the sun stripsclear sections that the sunlight was reflected through.

"They didn't plan on building on them. That one across from us is for agricultural research, the one above us, that one is supposed to become an old growth forest."

"It didn't look much like one."

"They are behind schedule," Nene admitted.

"Why do you know all this?"

"It's fascinating. We've actually built a sustainable environment in space, well, nearly sustainable."

"Yeah," Priss got to her feet. "I'm going to get something to eat, assuming that stench does not make me lose my appetite."

"They're working on that," Nene told her. "In a year they think they will have it taken care of."

"I won't be here in a year," Priss told her as she grabbed her jacket and walked towards the door. "Want to come with me?"

"Sure," Nene said. "Linna-san?"

Linna shook her head. "Go one without me. "I'm going to get some rest. It's getting a little late back home."

"It's just a little after eight in the evening," Priss told her.

"Well, I didn't get much sleep."

"Wimp," Priss said as she pulled open the door.


Alice Myers walked along the main street, looking around, not really seeing much. The main street was an eight-lane road stretching the entire length of the urban strip. The first two kilometres of it from the South end were lined with small cafes, shops and office buildings. After that it gave way to residences that got smaller and smaller until after six kilometres there was almost nothing.

Land on the colony was incredibly cheap, as were building materialsthanks to the SDPC and Genom who would operate the colony at a huge lossbut few people wanted to take advantage of that. It was one of the reasons she and the others had come there, it was the last place anyone would look and the population was so small they would spot a Genom hit team right away. There were only about twelve thousand people in the colony, a fraction of the number it was hoped to eventually house.

Running would also be easy. A small ship could easily disappear in open space, and there were a lot of potential places to go.

Their plans were nearing completion. In a few more days they could hopefully leave. She hoped. Marcelle and Rafael had taken to bickering over the littlest of things as well as the biggest. It was slowing things down.

Kirk had, as far as she was concerned, tossed away his sanity. His plan was simply horrible, and he did not seem to care that it was horrible.

Then again, who was she to accuse Kirk of being insane? Every day she found it harder and harder to find a reason to go on living. The freedom she had been promised seemed a far away thing. She was constantly wishing that Nancy were there with her. Nancy, who could make everything all right: If only for a little while.

She found herself feeling jealous of the others. Of wanting to take Zoe, Lily and Dawn away from them, so they could feel the same sort of pain and confusion she did. Thoughts like that were filling her head, adding to the confusion.

She stopped and looked around, surprised that she was almost at the South end of the cylinder, the huge wall of gleaming metal stretching up in front of her.

When the time came to leave she would be happy. As far as she was concerned the Cylinder was not a place for humans to live. Give it over to the boomers, she thought.

She turned around and saw her.

Sylia Stingray, walking towards her. Alice froze. What was she was doing there? Were the rumours true?

She could not move, not until the woman had walked by her, looking at her once, nodding politely, a greeting to a stranger.

Once she had passed Alice began to walk forward, her pace getting faster and faster until she was running. Maybe the rumours were true. If so then maybe she would come over to their side. That would be of great value to them. Alice told herself it was the only reason she was interested in Sylia Stingray. There were no others.

It was not that she hoped that Sylia Stingray could somehow fill the void in her, give her a reason to go on. No, that was not it at all, Alice told herself.


"What do you mean she's here?" Rafael asked Alice.

"Sylia Stingray."

"What?"

"I saw her down by the South end."

"Why is she here?"

"Sorry, I didn't think to ask her."

Rafael sat back in his chair. Sylia Stingray. She was part of memories that were not his, a part that he did not understand. He was fascinated by her, sure she had a part in what had happened, but not knowing what it was. And she was here. Close enough to ask.

"It seems the rumours are true. She is on the run," Alice said.

"Yes. But can we be sure?"

"Marcelle said that everything is clear."

"Marcelle could be wrong," he snapped.

"Marcelle has made his living in this sort of thing. If he says that everything is clear I am inclined to believe him."

Rafael nodded after a moment. "That is true. You want to bring her in?"

"She can be of use to us, and we both know there are personal reasons."

"It's a big chance."

She laughed. "We've been taking a large number of big chances. What is one more?"

"It could get us killed, if we are wrong."

"You don't think we are wrong."

"No, I don't. How do you want to do this."

"The easier the better. I'll go."

"All right, but first we get Marcelle in on this and let Kirk know what is up."

"Fine."

"Do you think that she will be able to supply us with some important answers?"

"I can only hope," Alice said.


Sylia looked out the window of the small hotel room. She had checked into one of the many business hotels. There were many transient quarters in the O-Neil Colony as there was a steady flow of people in and out. That would have made it a poor place for her quarry to hide, except for the fact that the entry points were few and well monitored.

The low population no doubt helped as well.

She knew as much about the colony as Nene did, but unlike Nene she was not enchanted with it. She knew that space would see in an increase in habitation as time went on. Orbital colonies would offer a place for a growing population to move to. Space would supply the resources they needed.

It would all be made possible by the boomer.

She thought that perhaps it should have given her a stronger connection to space, but it did not. Sylia was happy to stay on Earth.

As she watched shadows began to lengthen and the light to fade. The colony was entering its night-time phase.

When she heard the knocking at her door Sylia closed the blinds over the window and then pressed a small button hidden on the windowsill. She turned and picked up a taser from off her bed. Slug throwers were not appreciated within a space construct. Hiding the weapon behind her body, she walked to the door, looking at the security screen.

It was Alice Myers.

Sylia pressed the intercom button. As she was supposed to be on the run, opening doors to strangers would be very foolish. "Yes," she said.

On the screen Sylia watched Alice look about before turning to the intercom. "Miss Stingray," she said, keeping her voice very low, "please, don't worry. My name is Alice Myers. I'm a friend."

"A friend?" Sylia asked, doing her best to make her tone wary, yet put a hint of relief in it.

"You are not the only one who has tried to stand against Genom."

"Who are you?" Sylia demanded.

"I'm part of a group that has worked against Genom. You've dealt with some of our associates in an opposing role, but we don't hold that against you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Miss Stingray, could we perhaps speak in a more private setting?"

Sylia waited, counting off the seconds in her head. She could not seem too eager. "How do I know you are not with them?"

"Miss Stingray, we both know that if they knew you where here, they would not try anything subtle."

Sylia waited a few more seconds, and then she slipped the security bar and unlocked the door. "Come in," she said, stepping back from the door.

Alice entered and then closed the door behind her. "Thank you Miss Stingray," she said. "Now, there is something that I have to check." She reached into her jacket.

Sylia moved forward at that moment, pressing the taser to Alice and triggering it. Alice's body jerked and then she fell to the floor.

Moving quickly Sylia reached into the woman's jacket and removed what she had been reaching for. It was a small scanner wand. More searching revealed a taser and a needler. That done Sylia hefted her onto the room's bed and then took a roll of tape from the bedside table. She taped Alice's hands behind her back then put a strip of tape across her mouth.

Satisfied she would not be going anywhere Sylia went back to the things she had taken from Alice. The sensor wand was fairly standardshe suspected that Alice had intended to scan her to make sure she was not a boomer. The taser was also nothing special. The needler, an air powered weapon, had its compression rate turned down. Just enough force to pierce the skin. She took the magazine out and looked at the needles in the magazine. The light blue markings suggested they contained a powerful tranquilliser.

She picked up the needler and walked back to the bed. She made sure that Alice was looking at her and then set the compression rate up to its maximum. The weapon could now project a needle at velocities that would allow it to punch through a body.

Reaching down Sylia grasped the tape across Alice's mouth and pulled it free. "No loud noises," Sylia said, keeping the needler pointed at her.

Alice nodded as best she was able to.

"Why are you here?" Sylia asked.

"I told you, I'm working against Genom, like you do. I want your help."

"What were you going to do with the sensor wand?"

"I needed to make sure you were not a boomer," Alice said, confirming what Sylia had suspected. "We're in a lot of danger right now, we can't take chances."

"Who is this we?"

"There are four of us. We have put together an organisation that opposes Genom, but Genom has almost destroyed us. We still have a chance to make your father's dream come true, but we need help."

"How do I know I can believe you?"

"You can't," Alice told her. "You have to trust me, like I trusted you in coming here."

Sylia counted off seconds again, making it seem like she was thinking about it. Finally she put the needler down and Alice relaxed. When Sylia picked up a lock blade and snapped the blade free Alice's eyes widened. After giving Alice a moment to panic Sylia used the knife to cut the tape around her wrists free.

Alice sat up slowly, the effect of the taser still slowing her. Sylia went and retrieved the sensor wand and handed it to Alice. "For your peace of mind." Sylia then pulled a chair close and took a seat by the bed.

"Thank you," Alice said, then waved the sensor wand about Sylia. After a moment a green light on it flashed.

"Did I pass?" Sylia asked.

"Yes," Alice told her.

"Good. Now tell me how I have dealt with your associates in the past."

Alice put the wand down beside her. She did not say anything for several seconds. "The events on the fifteenth of February."

"That involved a very deadly toxin."

"Rathen would not have used it. It was a threat, a diversion."

"To what reason?"

"We want to get our hands on the OMS system, and the boomer technology if possible."

"Why?"

"To free the boomers," Alice said. "To allow them to become what your father wanted."

"Why do you want to do that?"

"We all came to the realisation that it was the right thing to do," Alice lied. She did not think Sylia would trust her if she told her of Largo.

"You were involved in the attempt to liberate Andrews-hakase weren't you?"

"He was going to bring us what we needed. He also believed in your father's dream."

Sylia was careful not to let her emotions show. "And the recent events that involved the particle satellites?"

"That was ours as well."

"You seem to choose very destructive methods to get your way."

Alice shook her head. "We don't want to hurt anyone, but Genom only understands force. We have to make sure that they believe that we will use great force before they will cave into out demands. We won't actually do it."

Sylia could tell that Alice did not believe that. Oh, she might not hurt anyone, but obviously she could not be so certain of the rest of her group. "You want my help?"

"Yes."

"I will not be involved in any sort of mass destruction. Surgical strikes, only hurting the target, that is the only thing I will help with."

"I understand," Alice said, nodding.

"Then I think I better meet the rest of your group, if that is what you want."

"Yes," Alice said as she got shakily to her feet. "Yes, that is for the best. Thank you."

Sylia shook her head. "Don't thank me yet. I still have not decided if I want to work with you. You will have to convince me of that."

"Of course," Alice said, nodding happily. She had no idea how easily Sylia was playing her.


When Sylia had pressed the button in her room it had sent a signal to Nene. Of course that was not the only way Nene had to know what was going on. She had hacked her way into the station's computer systems. In doing so she had found the work of their quarry, their own taps into the computer.

It was not a problem for Nene; she was better and easily slipped her own taps into the system, and into the other taps.

She had a link to the door camera of Sylia's room, as well as the intercom. She had listened to Alice make her pitch and to Sylia eventually agreeing.

"They're on their way out," Nene said to Priss and Linna.

"All right, are the hardsuits and motoslaves ready to go?" Priss asked Nene.

"Everything is set up."

"And you can keep a watch on Sylia?"

"Yes."

"Good." Priss turned to Linna. "Ready?"

Linna nodded. "Let's go."


The small population of the colony made following someone difficult. Nene was doing most of the work, using the safety and security cameras in the colony to keep an eye on Sylia. There was still some need for on site confirmation, just to make sure that no tricks were played.

Linna skated along behind the electric car that Sylia and Alice rode it. She was dressed in the red and green body suit of the colony's only courier company, speeding along the road on a pair of in-line skates. At her side was a courier bag that rode low on her hip.

For the most part she was invisible, even though she stood out.

"Get ready to break off," Nene's voice came through the ear-piece that Linna wore.

Linna said nothing, just continued to skate along. Invisible or not, following the car too long would attract attention.

The car turned ahead of her. Linna continued straight for a few more blocks before making a very sharp turn, braking hard before she jumped onto the sidewalk. A few doors down she turned into a small alcove.

After looking about to make sure she had some privacy Linna began undressing. She had a change of clothes in the courier bag. "What's the story," she asked quietly, her voice transmitted through a com-dot on her throat.

"Two is following after them now. I think the target is taking a round about route."

"I'll get ready in case you need me."

"Understood," Nene said then cut the connection.

Linna finished pulling the body suit off and then reached into her bag for a blouse.


When the colony reached its estimated, maximum population it was expected to have a population density of six thousand people per square kilometre. When that day came, if it did, ground traffic would be restricted to pedestrians and a few slow moving cars.

Of course there would still be the need for high seed transports for emergency and security services. To that end a special vectored thrust aerodynesimilar in design to the Sky Carrierhad been developed for use in the colony. They were fairly small, necessarily so. A larger craft, moving at speed, might breach the exterior walls of the colony were it to crash.

The small aerodynes were somewhat ubiquitous, often flying overhead, all part of the testing that was currently going on in the colony. Since the craft was, to an extent, unnoticeable and since it performed in a similar way to the Sky Carrier, Priss had decided to steal one.

Nene had made such a theft easy, simply giving her clearance through the computers and hiding her presence from the station's air-controllers.

"They're going round and round," Priss said, climbing slightly. A powerful camera on the nose of the aerodyne gave her a close up of the car below her.

"You better move soon," Nene said.

"Is three in position yet?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I'll be near if you need me."

Priss reached forward and pulled the throttles back to slow the craft down, expecting it to begin to drop. When it did not Priss began to wonder if something was wrong. It took her a moment to realise that she was near the centre of the colony, and so in an area of very low gravity.

"Stupid thing," Priss said softly, increasing the power as she altered the angle of the blades.


"Why are we going in circles?" Sylia asked.

Alice looked a little embarrassed. "I just want to make sure that we are not being followed."

"Are you worried about me?"

"A little, but I've been doing this sort of thing for a while now. It is better to be safe."

"I can't argue with that," Sylia said, leaning back in her seat.


"Looks like they are finally stopping," Linna said. She was looking through a pair of binoculars, watching as the electric car came to a stop in front of a small office building in one of the less populated areas of the colony.

"Confirmed," she heard Nene say. "Can you move around to watch the exit at the back?"

"It will take a few minutes."

"It's all right."

"I'm moving then. Out," Linna said as she got to her feet and moved towards the stairs.


Alice led Sylia into a small, well-furnished room near the back of the office building. "Please, sit," Alice said.

Sylia nodded and took a seat. "Thank you."

Alice took a seat across from her. "The others will be here soon."

"What is it you are planning?" Sylia asked her.

"I should not say," Alice told her.

"You've asked me to trust you," Sylia pointed out.

"It is something big, something quite destructive. Genom will have no choice but to agree to our terms."

"And if they don't."

"They will!" she snapped.

Sylia decided she would push it. "But what if they don't?"

Alice looked very upset. "I don't know. Find a new plan of action I suppose," she said as if she did not really believe it.

"I see," Sylia said.

The door to the room opened. Marcelle Camberlain walked in. He stopped and stared at Sylia. Standing just behind him was a young, very beautiful woman. "Miss Stingray," he said. "I am very glad to meet you."

"You seem to have the advantage," Sylia said to him.

"Excuse me," he said, smiling. "I am Marcelle Camberlain, and this," he indicated the brunette with him, "is Zoe."

Sylia nodded to them both. "I suppose I should say that I am pleased to meet you."

Marcelle smiled. "You don't trust us do you?"

"No," Sylia shook her head.

"I understand." He walked into the room, grabbing Zoe and pulling her roughly after him. He pushed the unresisting 33-S into a chair then walked to stand over Sylia. "Let's consider things though. You are in trouble and on the run. You need help and we can give it to you. The simple fact is that you have no choice but to trust us, at least enough to work with us."

"Marcelle!" Alice said, a little surprised at his actions.

"I am simply telling the truth," he told her. "Isn't that right Miss Stingray?"

Sylia nodded. "Yes, you are. You might want to think of being more polite about it, however."

He laughed at that. "My apologies Miss Stingray, my manners have suffered some over the last year. I do hope you can forgive me," he said sarcastically as he took a seat beside Alice.

Sylia let some of her anger showit was in character. "You were the ones who brought me here. Maybe I need you, as you say, but you obviously need me. Stop playing games with me Mr. Camberlain."

"I am sorry Miss Stingray," Alice said. "Ignore Marcelle. He is an idiot."

Marcelle laughed at that. He laughed too long and an edge of hysteria entered the sound. "Yes," he finally said when his laughter trailed off. "I am an idiot. We all are idiots."

"Speak for yourself Marcelle," Rafael Browning said as he entered the room. On his arm was a woman almost as tall as he, though she was very slim. "Miss Stingray, I am Rafael Browning and this is Lily. We are both pleased to meet you."

Sylia nodded in the way of greeting.

"Since we are all here, I think it is time to begin," Rafael said, gently directing Lily to a settee then taking a seat beside her. "Miss-Stingray, we will probably need your help. When Genom gives us the information we need we will need your expertise in order to put it to use. Your presence here is quite fortunate."

"You really think that Genom will give you the OMS?"

"Yes!" Marcelle said, slamming his fist into his open palm. "They will have no choice."

"And what do you plan to do with the system when you get it."

There was silence for several seconds. "That is what we were hoping you might be able to help us with."

Sylia said nothing as she looked at the people in the room with her. Kirk Richards was not there. That worried her. The entire point of the mission was to take all four of them at once. "You can do a lot of things with such a system, but it would depend on what you wanted. You can't simply take control of boomers through it."

"We don't want to do that," Rafael said. "We have no wish to enslave the boomers to different masters, but to instead free them."

Sylia wondered if he really believed that. "That might be possible, but the results from such an attempt could be more damaging than you could imagine. Two conflicting OMS signals might be enough to drive large number of boomers into unthinking rages."

"Then Genom will have to shut down their system won't they!" Marcelle crowed.

Sylia stared at the man across from her. She wondered if he had always been like that. He had been an assassin after all. "And if they don't?"

"They will!"

"Marcelle is a little overzealous," Rafael said as way of an apology.

"Do you know how to free the boomers from Genom's control?"

"It might be possible to partially sever the connection. You would have to keep the OMS system transmitting in order to keep the boomers from suffering a drop in performance, but you could keep Genom from tracking the boomers or communicating with them."

"And you could do that?"

"I don't know, but I'd like to know why you are so sure that Genom will give you what you want."

"One of our companions is putting together a weapon system that will surely force Genom to give in," Alice explained. "Not that we will use it."

"We might," Marcelle said. "We might strike them down from the heavens." He laughed his almost hysterical laugh again.

"Be quiet!" Rafael snapped, finally a crack appearing in his composure.

"What does he mean?" Sylia asked.

"It does not concern you," Rafael said, regaining his calm. "How we will do it does not matter, what matters is that it will be done."

Sylia considered what she had learned. Kirk Richards was not there, but the remark about striking them down from heaven suggested that he was still in space. It was time to move the mission along. "I suppose you are right. It will be difficult however; you do know that?"

"We understand," Alice said.

Sylia nodded. "Can I get something to drink?"

"Of course," Alice said, getting up and moving to a small table in the room. She opened the top and removed a glass. "Water, coffee, a soft drink, alcohol?"

"Water would be fine," Sylia said.

Alice nodded and removed a bottle of water.

"So you think we can do this?" Lily asked.

"I think so," Sylia told the 33-S. She wondered what she thought about what was happening. Was she still loyal to Largo, or was she just being pushed along by inertia?

Marcelle laughed again. "What about you Zoe? Feel like asking a question of the only begotten daughter of your creator?"

Zoe said nothing. She had the bearing of a dog that had been kicked too many times.

"It takes a great deal of strength of character to mock such a hurt person doesn't it?" she asked Marcelle.

Marcelle looked at Sylia, then got to his feet, walked over, grabbed Zoe and yanked her to her feet. "You care about this doll?" he asked. "You can have her." He propelled the scared 33-S towards Sylia. Zoe tripped and fell to the floor just in front of her.

"Marcelle, you can be so cruel!" Alice snapped.

"If Nancy was still here you'd hardly be treating her any better!"

Sylia got up from her chair and knelt down beside Zoe. "Are you all right?" she asked, reaching towards her.

Zoe cringed back slightly, as if she was afraid she might be hit. Sylia sighed as she used Zoe's body to cover her as she reached for the ring she wore. She had been planning on using the water glass to press in on the ring, but as long as the movement went unnoticed it did not matter how she performed the action.

Alice and Marcelle continued to argue and Rafael was quickly caught up in it. Sylia ignored it and smiled down at the poor boomer on the floor. She reached forward and gently brushed the hair from her eyes.


"Two, are you ready to go?" Nene sent to Priss.

"The signal come through?"

"Just a few seconds ago."

"Okay. I'm giving you control of the craft, make sure it does not crash into anyone." Priss put the aerodyne on computer control then moved the rear of the craft. Her hardsuit was waiting for her.

It only took a few seconds for her suit up. "This is two, three, are you ready?"

"The delivery man is on his way."

"Four, your status?"

"Ready to move."

"I'm moving out now. Will commence final leg in one minute." She walked forward and opened the rear hatch of the aerodyne. "See you at the finish line." With that she leapt from the aerodyne. She was close enough to the centre of the colony that she did not fall very fast at first, but as she got closer to the surface her velocity began to pick up.

Priss had her arms and legs spread out to slow the fall a little. She did not plan to fire her thrusters to brake until she was closer to the ground.


The argument between Alice, Rafael and Marcelle began to slow down. Sylia had remained on the floor, trying to assure Zoe it was all right. She did not seem to be having much luck, but Sylia did not expect a few minutes to undo what was probably months of abuse.

"Enough," Rafael said. "We can't fight amongst ourselves." He looked at Sylia. "I apologise Miss Stingray. You are not seeing us at our best."

"I understand."

"Now, we were talking..." he was interrupted by the sound of a nearby crash and then a series of sharp cracks.

"What is that?" Alice asked.

"High velocity rounds of some sort," Marcelle said. "We must be under attack!" He reached into his jacket and produced a large revolver. "We have to get out of here! Zoe, come here!"

Zoe remained where she was. She reached out and grasped Sylia's jacket.

"You stupid bitch!" Marcelle yelled as he swung the revolver to point at Zoe's back. "Come here."

"Shit Marcelle," Rafael snapped as he pulled forth his own pistol. "This is not the time for this."

"What is happening!" Alice almost screamed as she looked around, her needler in her hands.

That's when something came crashing through the wall. Marcelle swung his revolver away from Zoe, brining it about to fire twice on the moving object.

The object hit the far wall, cracking it, before it came to a stop. It turned out to be one of their boomers.

"What the hell," Marcelle said.

There was bang as the door was ripped off of its hinges. A figure in a blue hardsuit stepped through.

"Fuck, she set us up," Marcelle screamed as it all become clear to him. He swung his revolver back towards Sylia. Priss moved faster, putting herself between the weapon and Sylia. Marcelle fired. The heavy rounds bounced off the armour as Priss moved forward. She slapped the pistol from his hands and then hit him. While she tried to be gentle she sent him stumbling back.

Alice and Rafael both ran towards the second door in the room, hoping to get free. That was when Linna and the Tornado crashed through the wall.

Rafael turned and ran to the other way as the Tornado reached out and grabbed hold of Alice.

Priss moved to intercept him but then Lily leapt forward, ready to defend Rafael. Priss, feeling a little bad about it, slammed her use hand into Lily's abdomen, folding her up. At the same time she lashed out with her leg, clipping Rafael hard across his thighs, sending him flying back the way he had come.

"We got three," Priss said. "Where is the other one?"

"Not here," Linna said.

"Well where the hell is he?"

"I'm sure that our guests will tell us," Sylia said, turning to look at the three they had captured.

Marcelle had no intention of getting captured. He had hit the wall pretty hard and he fully expected that the Knight Sabers would expect him to be out of it. He might have been had he not been wearing body armour.

When he made his move he did it quick. He launched a flashpack into the air as he rolled to his feet and sprinted to the hole in the wall. The flashpack went off in a blinding burst of light. While both Priss and Linna had flare compensation built into their suits, they were still taken by surprise.

"Damn," Priss snapped. "Three, hold down the fort, I'm going after him." Priss said as she went after him.

Linna let the Tornado keep its hold on Alice as she exited the motoslave.

"Where's my suit," Sylia asked, trying to blink the flashing lights from her eyes.

"It will be here soon," Linna said as she grabbed Rafael from the floor and pushed him towards the Tornado. She saw Lily staring daggers at her but the sexaroid did not look like she would be getting to her feet soon.

In the distance Sylia could hear the roar of engines. The Hurricane II with her hardsuit she guessed. "Call four, tell her to support two," Sylia told Linna as she began to remove her clothing.


Ahead of her Marcelle slammed a door closed, putting an obstacle in Priss path. Priss' first inclination was to simply crash though it, but she stopped herself. If that was one of the groups' bolt holes they would have likely made sure it was not easy to follow.

"Two, this is four," Nene's voice came over the comlink. "Need help?"

"That bastard Camberlain is running. He's just gone into the basement and I figure that the door might be wired."

"Just a minute," Nene said. "He's entered the maintenance tunnels. Sending location to you now."

"Thanks," Priss said as information began to scroll up her visor.

"The Typhoon II is on its way, in case you need it."

"Again, thanks," Priss said as she ran from the building. There was another entrance to the maintenance tunnels not too far away.

A moment later the Typhoon II put down near her. Priss did not give her motoslave any attention until she reached the heavy door that lead down into the tunnels.

"Open that," she ordered.

The Typhoon II stepped forward, grabbed the door and ripped it free.

"Good job," Priss said, starting down the stairs. Fortunately the passageway was large enough for the motoslave to follow, though its shoulders scraped the walls.

They moved through the underground passages, tracking Marcelle by the information Nene was sending. They were heading North, away from the sun side of the colony. Why was he heading North Priss wondered as she moved along?

"He's going to want to get out. What's up this way?" Priss asked Nene.

"Not much," Nene told her. "There are simple escape pods located throughout the entire colony, but they are just that, simple. Automatic distress beacons, not much speed and little manoeuvrability."

"Not much of an escape vehicle then."

"No."

"Any other craft he can use for escape?"

"No. He'd have to head South to find any useful spacecraft," Nene told her.

"He's probably just waiting for a chance to double back."

"Makes sense," Nene said.

"Keep me informed of where he is."

"I'll do my best.

Priss began to pick up her speed when the Typhoon II suddenly grabbed her, putting her on the floor as it moved to cover her. Priss was about to demand what it was up to when an explosion washed over them.

"What the hell?"

"Explosive set in the ceiling."

"Are you all right?"

"Fine," it said.

"Great. Now get off me and let's go."

They moved off quickly but Marcelle managed to maintain his lead. Priss wondered how he was moving so fast. When she asked Nene she was informed that the man was riding an electric motorcycle.

Nene tagged Marcelle returning to the surface two kilometres from the North cap. Priss might have been able to catch up but she was slowed by several more explosives and three boomer attacks. Fortunately the Typhoon II made it easy to clear those obstacles.

"He's up top, and he's just boarded an aircraft," Nene told Priss.

"Up," Priss ordered the motoslave. She had hoped that it might just tear an exit but instead the Typhoon II continued to the next exit point. A moment later they both moved up onto the surface. The explosions had not gone unnoticed and a lot of alarms were going off. Well, it was probably a good drill for the people there.

"Got him?" Priss asked.

"There," the motoslave pointed at an aerodyne speeding away.

"Let's get the bastard."

The motoslave picked her up, the hover rotors powered up, and it took to the air.

"Can you catch it?"

"No."

"Great," she said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just be fast."

The Typhoon II did not respond but Priss thought they were moving faster.

The flight to the South end did not take much time. They found the aerodyne near the end plate on the forest strip.

"He's managed to deactivate most of the surveillance equipment in your section," Nene sent to Priss.

"Just bloody great. He's here isn't he?

"I'm pretty sure."

"Perfect," Priss said sarcastically. "Keep me informed."

She and the Typhoon II set off, passing through a hatch into the South plate. At first the corridor just went straight but about a hundred metres in they came to several branches. Priss paused. "Four, got anything?"

"Not yet, sorry."

"Down," Priss told the Typhoon II as she started towards the interior skin of the colony's surface.

She was getting close to the interior surface when Nene called her again. "One of the cargo bays was just sealed. A major lock down." She sent the information to Priss.

"What's in the cargo bay?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? There can't be nothing," Priss said as she ran towards the location Nene that had given her.

"There is nothing there. There is an airlock, so maybe he is trying to get out that way."

"It doesn't leave him anywhere to go."

"I'm checking," Nene said.

Priss shook her head and increased her speed. A minute later she spotted the heavy door that had sealed off the cargo bay. She came to a stop in front of it and reached out, putting her hand on it. How the hell was she supposed to open that?

"Two, this is four. I figured it out."

"What?" Priss asked as she rapped her powerarm against the metal. She wondered how she would get through it.

"There is a small courier ship moving towards the colony, towards that airlock in particular. It is not official."

"Okay, so we know why he is here. Do something about it."

"What?" Nene asked.

"Open up on it with station defence guns, launch fighters or something."

"This is not Babylon 5," Nene said.

"Explain to me what a Babylon 5 is later. Just do something. Two out."

Priss laid two of her S-mines on the door then moved back. A few seconds later they exploded, tearing rents into the metal. Small rents. She looked at them for a moment then turned to the Typhoon II. "Open that."

The Typhoon II looked at her for a moment then stepped forward, jammed its huge fingers into the rents and then began pitting its not inconsiderable strength against the door.


"Do something?" Nene said. "What am I supposed to do?"

Nene had changed into her hardsuit earlier, in case she was needed in combat. The Tempest knelt behind her, in case she needed it.

"Link up," she said to the Tempest. The motoslave connected to her suit by means of a laser link. "Full antenna suite, full power."

The Tempest did as she had said as Nene slid deeper into the colony's computer systems. She had everything ready. The new processor was in her suit, the programs ready to go. Now it was time to test it out.

The ship was out there, closing on the colony. It had already matched the colony's rotation. It was hard to get a solid lock on it, the Station's command staff were not even sure it was out there. That was going to make what would have normally been very difficult closer to impossible. Nene smiled. Okay, she would do the impossible.

She reached forward with her use hand and began entering commands into the computer. Time to go to work.


April 19th, Wednesday, 5:03am, Hokkaido, Soya Ken USSD Wakkanai Tracking Station

"Sir, we have a problem," one of the junior techs called out.

"Define problem," Major Takamori said.

"Satellite 5B has just fired its secondary thrust unit. It is changing its orientation."

"Are we doing it?"

"Not us. It is powering up, all safeties off."

"What about the station in Australia, the one that doesn't exist."

"No."

Takamori took a deep breath. What he was about to do would be costly and he would have a hard time explaining it, but past incidents left him with no choice.

He took a set of keys from his pocket and tossed them towards a woman at the back of the room. "Detonate it."

She pushed the key into the slot on her station, turned it, and pressed a slightly recessed button. "It's gone." She smiled. "Never destroyed anything worth so much."

"Still haven't," the tech said. "We were locked out completely ten seconds ago. We've lost all contact."

"Where was it last pointing?"

"Out into space."

"As long as it does not hit anything big we might be able to deny it. Get C&C on the line and someone get some coffee in here."


April 18th, Tuesday, 8:05pm. GMT

"I'm here," Nene said softly, "though as I am moving I have to take that into account, no problem though. I have more than enough computer power behind me. The satellite is there and the ship is there."

She had taken the codes from the Genom computer, but had never expected to use them. Well, the truth was that she hoped that the situation might arise. After all, having the biggest gun on the team would be a nice change.

Now she only had one question: was the beam satellite really as accurate as she had been told? If it wasn't, well, shooting so close to the colony might be a bad idea.

Nene closed her eyes for a moment then opened them and triggered the satellite.

The colony's sensors picked up the incoming beam a few seconds later. The incoming ship's crewshe had not though about the crewprobably picked it up as well, but Nene truly doubted that there would be time for any reaction.

The beam cut through the rear part of the craft, severing most of the engine section.

Nene waited to see if it would explode. After several seconds she realised that it would not, Of course the main hull was still approaching the colony. Nene considered her options and decided she was just going to have to hope the colony could take the collision. The ship had been moving very slowly.

"Two, this is four. Problem has been dealt with, but things could get a little messy soon."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Priss demanded.

"A ship is about to impact in the area you are in. There might be hull breaches."

"Oh great. Well, seal this area off if you can."

"I will. Good luck."

"With you on my side I need it. Two out."

Nene sighed. Well, at least the job was done.


Marcelle watched at the door to the cargo bay was forced back. What the hell kind of monster was he dealing with?

He checked his vacc-suit over, making sure it was on right. He would exit the cylinder and wait on the surface for the ship that was coming in-to hell with a safe docking. Satisfied he was ready to face vacuum, Marcelle picked up a heavy laser rifle and made sure it was ready to go.

He would go to rendezvous with Kirk and together they would see the plan out to its end.

As he walked towards the airlock the sound coming from the bay doors changed. He looked. Now instead of trying to force them apart the thing, whatever it was, was trying to batter its way through.

"Oh shit," he said as he watched the doors begin to buckle.

He started running when the Typhoon II tore through the doors, falling to the floor. Priss followed right behind, leaping over it into the room.

Marcelle swung his weapon up, trying to target the fast moving, armoured figure.

Priss twisted about, making herself a hard target to hit as she moved. She landed behind one of the packing crates in the bay then swung around to return fire.

Marcus dove for cover. He fired a few blasts wildly just to keep everyone honest, then reached into a belt pouch, bringing forth a smoke grenade. All he needed was a little cover.

When Priss saw the grenade come skittering across the floor her first guess was explosive and she moved for cover. She was a bit surprised when it began belching forth thick, grey smoke. She moved out of cover and switched her suit's visual sensors to IR. The smoke itself was hot, and she could see nothing but a red wall with the IR. Cursing she switched to ultrasound and spotted her target at the airlock hatch.

She lifted her powerarm, ready to fire, but remembered that he was both human and wanted alive. She began to adjust the power level but then was not certain how much protection the space suit he wore might offer.

Cursing again she began running towards the airlock.

Unfortunately she was not fast enough and Marcelle stepped into the lock, pulling the door closed behind him. He did not waste time to properly de-pressurise the lock; he just grabbed a hand hold and popped the outer door. There was a rush of air past him, threatening to yank him out into space, but it only lasted a moment.

He turned to see the blue armoured Knight Saber through the door. Feeling safe and a little perverse, he gave her the finger. For some reason she was moving back from the airlock. He did not know why and did not care to find out. Quickly Marcelle exited the lock, holding onto the handholds, and moved out onto the colony's skin.

He looked up and saw the ship that would take him to safety. He smiled for once again things had worked out for him. It took him a moment to realise that something was wrong. The ship was coming in too fast.

There was no time for him to do anything beyond pull himself back towards the opening of the airlock.

He did not make it.

The ship slammed into the colony. Marcelle never had a chance. He was crushed instantly.


As Nene had predicted the hull breached in the area where the ship had hit. Priss had been running away from the lock when the impact occurred. Immediately air began to rush past her and she might have been pulled out with it if not for the Typhoon II, which grabbed her with one of its hands. The other was wrapped tightly around a section of the wall, holding it in place.

It took almost thirty seconds for the air to stop venting out of the metre wide hole in the station's side. Priss had watched with some fascination as it occurred, at how the breach had been torn open wider as large, unsecured objects were pulled through it. It was not something she thought she would ever get the chance to see again.

When it was over the Typhoon II released her. She stood, there was still gravity even if there was no air, and activated her com system. "Four, this is two, tell me this was localised."

"It was localised. I don't think there were any casualties."

"There was one," Priss said. "I'm fairly certain that Camberlain is dead."

"I'll tell One."

"Four, can you tell me something?" Priss asked as she looked around the ruined bay.

"What?"

"How the hell do I get back into the main part of the colony?"

"I'll get back to you on that one," Nene told her.


"A fights is something that goes to the finish. A man who forgets bushido and does not use his sword will be forsaken by the kami and Buddhas"
-Takeda Shingen