A Certain Point of View

by GuyverChaz

Many of the truths that we cling to depend entirely on our own point of view. How much of what we know of the Knight Sabers world is taken from the point of view of Sylia and crew? Now Updated and Properly formatted. Preview of chap 9 is up.

4. Chapter 4

Chaz sat in Sylia's computer room silently studying the files she'd marked for him to read. After two weeks he'd gotten through about half of them. Thanks to his AI his reading speed and retention were phenomenal. The problem was the AI couldn't help him understand what the files were saying. He could have memorized all of them in one day if he'd wanted to. But the files interlocked in such a fashion that it was best to read them and integrate the knowledge rather than just scan them into memory.

He sighed. Sometimes it seemed like such a waste. Sylia's research was brilliant. Her father's was well into the genius level. But because of one mistake in judgment, most of it was being wasted. What was being used was being perverted. Professor Stingray had done much more research into field effects then Chaz had even suspected. The primary field was a relatively early discovery. Much of the rest had been put off because the resources needed to test the theories weren't available. Maybe in a couple of more days he could finish his reading and actually start discussing the material with Sylia. Yeah, right.

A mental note came up from his AI. At some point he had to make a trip out to see Irene. Her nano-neural surgery, despite the doctor's fears, had gone very well. She was up, and if not exactly running yet at least on her way, with nothing to show that a portion of her spine was cybernetic. He smiled. That news had come just in time to coincide with his and Priss's first jam session. He'd made the mistake of telling her he played the guitar. Since then she'd been hounding him to regain his old skill and play with her. Luckily his new body didn't get stiff or need to build up callus. He'd surpassed his old skill within the first couple days. Not that that was saying much, he admitted.

/Warning: The frequency monitored at user request has just announced a recall./

Chaz shoved himself away from the terminal. Shit! What now? Leaping from the chair Chaz sprinted out of the room leaving the computer behind. Reveling in the speed, he took the corners at high speed. The recall signal had reached him in the computer room a only fifteen seconds ago, when he neared the door to the assembly room. Slowing down enough to allow the door to open in front of him he walked calmly into the situation room. He looked around and panicked. "Where's Sylia?" The only occupant of the room was Mackie.

Mackie looked up from the radio receiver with a worried look on his face. "She's in a meeting with Fargo on the other side of town. Nene sent in the recall in from ADP. Linna and Priss are en route. But they won't be here for at least fifteen minutes." He turned up the police band volume.

Leon's voice echoed over the radio. Chaz tuned his radio to the same frequency. 'This is ADP-02 we have ...tiple men .own and we need the K-12s NOW! The ...mers have been identified as...' The next few words were drowned out as an explosion rolled in the background. Static washed over the signal as the sound of a particle beam being fired was heard. Then the radio went dead.

Chaz thought furiously and checked the recall map. Sylia wouldn't be here for at least twenty-five minutes. He came to a conclusion. He wasn't terribly happy about it. If he survived Sylia was doubtless going to kill him. He grabbed Mackie. "Your armored-suit finished yet?" His voice left no doubt as to why he was asking.

Mackie gulped and nodded. "Finished tested and ready to go." He stood and started running towards the roof.

Chaz nodded. "I'll be at the KnightWing in two minutes." He said as he raced to the door. Without hesitation he crashed through the door losing little momentum. He had to get to his room. By the time he reached the stairs he'd ripped off all his clothing. No time for the soft-suit. He reached the hanger and ripped the tarp away from his hardsuit. The blue-black hardsuit gleamed dully in the bright light. Reflections from the red lava lamp ran away from the metallic fittings like dripping blood.

Matter Over Mind Productions

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MegaTokyo 2032

The Knight Sabers

"A Certain Point of View"

Chapter Four: Hot Wind

Copyright (c) 2005 Charles S. Stitman

Leon was having a VERY bad day. Those boomers were too fucking fast! They had appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to lay waste to everything in their path. The ADP had never been intended to have to face off against combat boomers. They hadn't had a chance. Leon looked around. Within his immediate area at least six officers lay dead. Like he was doing so much better. Wearily Leon looked down at the jagged piece of metal protruding from his chest. When the car he had been behind had gotten blown up he had been lucky to escape at all. By now those monsters had probably wiped out his whole command. He checked the sky. Where are they? He didn't know if he was looking for the Knight Sabers or the K-12s. Either would do at this point. No. To be honest he was looking for the Knight Sabers. The K-12s wouldn't be up to this.

Nene was frantic. No one was answering at Sylia's place! Her fellow AD-Police were dying out there. Two K-12s had been dropped in and had been destroyed in under a minute. Leon had stopped reporting in six minutes ago. USSD was just mobilizing. Where were they?

Two of Sylia's wheels left the pavement as she spun around the corner. This had to happen while she was out. She hadn't even been gone an hour! Fargo had started to tell her that GENOM was up to something having to do with land development when the signal came. Damn! She dodged around a slow moving car, her wheels riding up on the sidewalk and side panel scraping the side of a building. That was going to be expensive. Behind and to her left she could see a black cloud streaked with flame billowing into the sky. A noise like a large vacuum passed by overhead heading towards the smoke. Sylia's blood ran cold as she glanced in her rear view mirror. That was the KnightWing! Chaz couldn't fly it yet. Mackie had to be piloting! Sylia swore and briefly debated about calling the KnightWing and ordering them to stop and pick her up. Despite emotional provocation she decided that would be a bad idea. There wasn't time anyway. But they were going to need backup ASAP and without her hardsuit she wouldn't be much help.

Mackie was scared. He'd never gone to the front line of a combat zone before. Part of his mind was dealing with the unfamiliarity of the armor. Another part of his mind was flying the KnightWing through the remote system. He was too big to get into the cockpit now. The last part was watching Chaz as he stood at the doorway. For a normally talkative man he'd been very succinct in his orders. "Stay in the plane." That was it. No leeway for misinterpretation. He wondered how Chaz could take the stress. The fact that his glands didn't override his brain probably helped. Mackie pulled the simulated yoke back and switched the vectored thrust to hover mode. Using small bursts he brought the KnightWing neatly over the top of a building. Knight Saber standard procedure was to stay as close to the buildings as possible to cut down on detection.

The KnightWing swung into view of the fight and Mackie gasped. Underneath the heavy exoskeleton he was sweating. Not from the heat, the armor had a built in cooling system, but from fear. This went well beyond the normal rampage of a domestic robot or even the terror of a C-55 let loose. Something had gone seriously wrong here.

Chaz opened the hatch and stared out the door. It looked like hell down there. What wasn't in rubble seemed in flames. Brief flickers of red and blue-white energy beams lanced through the thick smoke lending it the aspect of a hellish thunderstorm. What the heck had caused this much damage? Even a BU-12 wouldn't have been able to do this much damage in so little time. Then he saw them. They stood taller than BU-12s but they moved like cats. Someone had wanted a design that said dangerous. A design that gave no doubt as to its purpose. If that was the design philosophy, Chaz decided, then the engineers had done their job. "What the fuck are those?" With no reply forthcoming from either Mackie or his AI, Chaz detached his tether. He had to jump before he lost his nerve. Taking his armor off standby he threw himself out the hatch.

Tumbling briefly he used his thrusters to stabilize his fall. Under the dark blue helmet his face broke out in a wide grin. The interface was working perfectly. The hardsuit didn't even seem to be there. It responded as quickly and with the same fluidity as his body did. Still dropping quickly, he scanned the area for his targets. The smile fell away from his face as he saw the bodies. ADP troops had been slaughtered like cattle. Grimly Chaz turned his attention back to his targets. They didn't seem to have spotted him or the KnightWing yet. Good. The KnightWing had come in through the smoke with full ECM running. Even his sensors couldn't place it now. If Nene had been here her suit would have kept him advised and in contact with the others. He shrugged mentally. He was the only one out here. There wasn't much danger of hitting someone or being hit; at least not accidentally. "Mackie. I want you to create a link to the KnightWings targeting system from my telemetry. If they caught you locking on to them they'd waste you."

Mackie began setting up the connection. Concentrating on his work he began to manipulate the necessary ECCM and encryption routines. "It should be ready in about two minutes." He moved his attention back to the visual from Chaz's hardsuit. Chaz was as ready as he would ever be. Every system in his suit was reading in the green, so far.

Priss's bike screeched into the garage. Tearing off her helmet she pounded down the stairs into the hardsuit storage area. Where the hell was everyone? All the hardsuits were in their racks! Linna burst into the room as Priss was pulling on her softsuit.

"The KnightWing is gone!" Linna yelled as she pulled at her hardsuit. "Chaz and Mackie must already have left!" Her gaze followed Priss's pointing finger. Shit! Chaz's hardsuit was still here! What did he think he was doing?

Leon watched through his cracked sunglasses as a dark blue form flew from the sky. He'd seen the Knight Sabers jet before, but this armor was new. Normal Knight Saber armor seemed designed to say 'good guy.' From the blades on the arms to the spiked death mask on the helmet. THIS armor screamed 'WAR MACHINE!' Set below a metal disk in the forehead the two eye slits glowed red. A thought flitted through Leon's brain before he passed out. Whoever is in there looks pissed.

Chaz landed and immediately revised his estimate of the situation. It wasn't hell. It was Armageddon. Bad as it had looked from the air it was worse on the ground. Bodies in various states of dismemberment were lying everywhere. Cars had been picked up and tossed through second story windows. Powering up his interior lasers, Chaz started a sensor-scan for the boomers. Oh Shit, he thought as one of the boomers showed up behind him. Where's the other one? His answer came in the form of a blue-white beam of energy slamming into him from the side. His AI flatly refused to identify the damn things. It did, however, offer the recommendation that those particle beams NOT hit him again. The KSBB had absorbed the charge but the battacitor had been somewhat drained by the effort.

The boomer in front of him seemed to have registered his presence and was firing a series of red laser beams that dug into the concrete where they touched. Chaz leapt forward into a rolling dive that took him out from between the two boomers. Pulling up short he came into a crouch and fired both hand lasers at the nearest boomer. The beams lanced out in a line of fluorescing smoke running deep lines in the black armor but otherwise having no effect. Oh hell, he thought as both boomers returned fire.

Mackie looked down at the conflagration. Chaz seemed to be doing okay. He hadn't managed to hurt them yet. On the other hand they hadn't gotten a second shot within a foot of him. They just couldn't seem to get a lock on him. A beeping came from his computer. It had finally interfaced with Chaz's sensor array. He opened his com-link. "Chaz, the connection's stable. The KnightWing will fire as soon as you designate a target."

The information was a little redundant. Chaz had known the second that the link had been made. Everything seemed to flicker and speed up. Shit. The link was bogging down his AI. Dodging was going to become a real pain. He locked his sensors on the lead boomer. "Mackie. Now would be a very good time," he radioed as he dodged another laser barrage. Everything seemed come in as like a slide show as the KnightWing pulled all the information it could from his sensors, bogging down his AI even more.

The boomers saw their chance as their annoying opponent slowed down for a moment. The one in the lead leveled its lasers as a hatch on the second popped open to reveal a series of mini-missile launchers. As both boomers began to open fire the first boomer developed a small problem. Its head and a large part of its body disappeared. The explosion was immense. The second boomer fired its missiles despite the explosion.

Inside the hard suit Chaz's time sense had sped up enough for him to see the missiles being launched. Throwing himself into the air, he managed to avoid two out of the eight. Using his lasers he point defended against two more. The other four caught him in mid-air. One missile impacted on his leg damaging the thruster on that side and sending him into a spin while the others kicked him around. "Mackie! Cut the connection!" He screamed into the com-link as he was thrown through a wall.

Mackie was busy himself. The railgun hadn't liked the telemetry aim and was trying to lock on to the signal source! He'd been trying to sever the signal and confuse the targeting computer for almost a minute. With a sudden flare of sparks the main computer shorted out. The secondary kicked in immediately. Mackie checked the status boards. The main computer had taken the targeting system and half the ECM equipment with it.

Chaz's sensors went dark. What the hell! He shook his head. Nothing. He tried to stand. The hardsuit hung like a stiff snowsuit. Fuck! The linkage had blown and taken the armor's control link along for the ride. Reaching up, Chaz jerked off his helmet. With his own sensors free Chaz could see the second boomer moving through the smoke and coming in for he kill. Without the field to increase the armors integrity he was a dead man. Springing to his feet Chaz began to run. His only hope was to out-maneuver it. The heavy, locked up suit was going to make that difficult. Firing with both lasers, Chaz dodged to the best of his ability.

The boomer had finally gained a lock on its quarry. It appeared to have been wounded in the missile explosions. If the boomer had been equipped to smile, it would have. Both laser arrays came up to full power as it prepared to turn its enemy into slag.

Mackie watched as the boomer raised its arms to fire. Chaz wasn't moving nearly as fast as he should be. He rechecked the systems. The backup ECM and targeting computer wouldn't be up for at least another minute. Mackie panicked. Chaz didn't have that long. Grabbing his heavy rifle Mackie put the KnightWing on autopilot and walked to the door.

Chaz saw the boomer putting the metaphorical cross hair on his skull. A dull WHOMP emanated from the boomers back pitching it forward as it fired. The boomer tipped off balance and fell, firing. Chaz felt a brief moment of disorientation then blackness claimed him.

Mackie's thrusters were keeping him steady as he dropped to the ground. His shot hadn't been enough! Mackie watched in horror as the boomer lasers sliced through Chaz's neck armor taking his head clean off. In a brief spray of red-gray bio-fluid, Chaz's body collapsed to the ground.

The boomer, sensing a new opponent, turned to face Mackie. With a quick movement it sprayed him with laser fire and rolled to its feet. A threat assessment ran through its C-class brain. This opponent didn't seem to react quite as fast as the last one, it thought, as its laser barrage slid off the armored form.

Mackie, in a rage, brought up his cannon as the lasers impacted. He smiled grimly. It takes more than a couple of heavy lasers or particle beams to put THIS armor down. His targeting computer gave him a lock and the big autocannon began to fire.

The boomer dodged the majority of the heavy slugs. This opponent may be slower but its firepower and armor were easily heavier. Two of the slugs found the hatch to the mini-missiles and bent the casing, fusing it shut. The boomer didn't care. Extending its claws it ran to get within grappling range.

Mackie was in trouble and he knew it. That thing was bigger and faster than him and probably had MUCH greater strength. Laying down fire he tried to force the swift moving boomer to maintain its distance. With a roar the boomer ducked the barrage, taking some minor damage and closed in. Dropping the gun, Mackie reached out and grabbed the boomers arms. Almost immediately the suit's integrity and stress warnings went off. Damn. Where were the rest of the Knight Sabers? Cold sweat broke out over his face as he saw those vicious looking blades dipping closer to his armor.

In the shadows Mason smiled coldly. It had worked better than he had thought it would; one Knight Saber down and another on the way. The area was wrecked. Everybody would sell to GENOM now, even the survivors. Cheap probably.

Mason turned and left. His armor had protected him from stray fire and he had the HTR's friend-foe frequency. He grinned evilly beneath his visor. Why not let it play for a while? He sent the signal to make the HTR fully autonomous and left. Anything else was gravy. Already planning how he would use this victory, Brian J. Mason walked back to the waiting truck, stepping over the body of the AD-Police officer that had spotted him. He looked down. Still breathing. No matter. He won't last long. Ignoring the fallen red-haired detective, Mason got in the modified van and drove off.

Coughing up blood, Daley opened his remaining eye. The rose tattooed arm stirred. Struggling against the pain he raised his voice recorder to his mouth and harshly gurgled the serial number he'd seen on the armor: GN 8575-X-CDV. You . . .won't get away . . .you bastard, he thought . . . before the final darkness claimed him.

Linna and Priss landed on the outskirts of the battlefield. Amazing levels of interference had kept them from contacting the others. Nene could probably have broken it but the two combat suits didn't have the equipment.

Priss, her thrusters running at a fever pitch, leapt into the air to survey the damage. That's got to be Mackie! "Linna, a boomer's about to eviscerate Mackie. Distract him." Linna nodded and began firing her blaster.

The boomer registered the impacts and dismissed them. They were too weak to hurt it. He would deal with their source in a moment. No longer able to play, the boomer began forcing Mackie's arm back and its claws into the teens armor.

Mackie was beginning to panic. Those claws had a nearly monomolecular edge and they were moving to slowly for the field to notice. Mackie keyed the emergency power shunt and managed to arrest their forward progress. A countdown timer appeared in his helmet. In ten seconds the emergency boost power in the armor would die, and so would he.

Priss flew over the grappling couple. She couldn't miss. The boomer didn't even seem to notice her. The targeting computer gave her a lock on a chink in the boomers armor. With a sonic crack the three razor guns fired their electrified needles. The needles sank into the armor and out of sight. The boomer paused and then resumed forcing Mackie's arms back.

The boomer knew it was dying. Those last few shots had breached its power cells. When the overload reached the delicate AI it would die. But, it was determined to take down at least one more of these fleas with it. Using its remaining power it forced the claws farther into the armor before it.

Linna had been running forward since Priss fired. She would take another second to reach them. Priss's jump had carried her too far to return any faster. Mackie was going to die and there wasn't anything they could do about it.

Mackie felt the boomer's claw-tips entering his inner hardsuit. This was it. Priss and Linna were too far away and Sylia wasn't in sight. Closing his eyes Mackie strained to keep from screaming as the claws found his skin. Far away he heard a boom and a shock ran up his arm. The resistance against his arms suddenly cut off.

The boomer swayed like a drunk as it's head erupted in a spray of burning parts and spurting bio-fluid. Mackie backed away as the boomer fell face first to the ground. His jaw nearly fell off when he saw what had dropped it.

Priss looked at the back of the boomer. "Chaz!" Chaz's headless body was attached to the back of the boomer his hands buried deep in the dead boomer's back. She dropped down and pulled the arms free of the smoking hulk. Chaz's body struggled for a moment as streamers of electricity flowed over it and then went stiff. A great shiver ran through it and it stopped moving. Red-gray bio-fluid continued to slowly well and drip from his severed neck. Tears began to roll down Priss's face falling into the faceplate of her helmet as Mackie and Linna walked up. She looked up, tears beginning to distort her suit readouts. "He's dead."

Sylia's voice picked up over their com-links. "No. But he soon will be if we don't get him out of here." Sylia dropped from a mostly intact building. "Mackie bring the KnightWing down. Linna find his head and helmet if you can." The three were looking at her like she was mad. "He's not human remember?" She brushed Priss out of the way and picked up the body, ignoring the streamers of electricity that continued to arc occasionally. "His brain is in his chest. But he's hemorrhaging power and bio-fluid. The only thing keeping him alive is his self-repair system. When it runs out of power. He'll die." Priss and Linna sprang into action. Linna headed for the small puddle of bio-fluid that marked where Chaz had lay only moments ago. Priss started to track the transponder in the helmet.

Chaz felt flickering sensations. I'm hurt bad. His AI was telling him about the damage. My head? If he could have, he would've laughed. Sometimes I just lose my head over the smallest things. Somehow, it just seemed so poetic. His AI was telling him that repairs were underway. Unfortunately the shorts and power surges caused by the sudden removal of his head and the overload firing of his lasers had shut down his bio-converter and shorted his main batteries. Which meant he was running on laser battery power; the same batteries he'd almost depleted in the fight. The repairs to the control structure would take four hours at minimum power. The battery power would, unfortunately, run out in three. To conserve power the AI had shut down all unnecessary systems. Motive power was gone. All remaining sensor input was minimized. Most of those systems had been centered in his head anyway. The laser system had been shut down. /What about the fusion plant/

-System intact. However, control program has never been installed. Unable to bring system on-line. WARNING: Inertial gyro-compass indicates this unit is being moved rapidly through the air. Should protective systems be armed? YES/No?-

/Don't worry about it. With any luck it's the rest of the team come to save my worthless hide./

-Affirmative. Shutting down auto-response. Note: Bio-fluid rupture sealed by outside source. New damage taken in left forearm area. Bio-fluid loss minimal. Assigning to secondary repair list. WARNING: Outside system attempting to interface with primary CPU. Allow access? Yes/NO?-

Probably Sylia. /Allow limited communications access./

-Affirmative. Analyzing code. Identified as voice transmission. Japanese. Translators on-line. Processing. Communications link established. Transmit and receive at will.-

Sylia's voice came through. ". .az? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Sylia. I'm sorry about Mackie, I didn't think he'd follow me down."

"He's fine Chaz. He's just got a few cuts and bruises. I've closed off your bio-fluid leak and stabilized your supply. What else do you need done?" She sounded worried.

Chaz wanted to grin. "I don't suppose you have a large generator handy do you? My AI says that power is at a premium. In fact if I don't get a substantial supply soon I'll die."

Somewhere in the background he heard a gasp and a sob. Sylia's voice came back on. "I've got a power supply but I can't find a connection."

"One second I'll see if I can get a location from the AI."

/Where is the secondary power supply outside feed located/

-Power coupling was contained in this unit's head. No other access exists. Auto-cutoff systems prevent direct access to power system to prevent accidental or aggressive overload. Systems fused in combat. Repair in three and one-half hours possible.-

Terrific. He was going to be killed by his own protective systems. "Sylia. The power feed was located in my head. If you try to directly access my power system an automatic safety will cut the power."

Priss couldn't stand it. Chaz's body was stripped and laying naked on the KnightWings operating table. He wasn't moving. His skin was beginning to turn gray and cold. She turned her back on him. She couldn't watch him die. Not like this. Sylia was talking to him thorough a port in his arm. The voice coming out of the speaker sounded like an old-fashioned voice synthesizer. Dead. Linna sat in the seat next to Mackie's discarded armor, tears falling down her face. Priss dropped into the chair next to her. Mackie was in the cockpit racing the KnightWing towards Professor Raven's secondary workshop. He had better repair facilities. Priss sobbed and continued to hold back her tears. Repair facilities. They couldn't even take him to a hospital!

Sylia listened as Chaz gave her a list of the systems that had been damaged. There wasn't really that much actual damage. The problem was the feedback had caused overloads in a lot of control structures. If he had been human they wouldn't have had any hope. A small voice at the back of her mind whispered to her, 'and Mackie would be dead.' She wondered if he knew how close it came. She shook it off. It wasn't an immediate problem. Chaz was. "What about your fusion plant?"

Chaz concentrated. The AI was telling him that running the power to keep his consciousness active was using more power than it had thought.

-Ninety percent probability of an untracked short.-

Despite overrides he was slowly being put to sleep to conserve power.

/Give me emergency power./

-No equivalent system.-

If he ever found the asshole who designed this body. . . "Sorry Sylia. The AI told me that the system's intact but there's no control program for it. Try and start it without one and BOOM." Actually not quite true: you couldn't even start it without the program. The safeties wouldn't let you. "The AI's putting me to sleep. Before I go under I'm giving you full command privileges. Tell Linna. . . Nene. . . Mackie. . . and Priss I love. ." The darkness rushed up and over him.

Sylia turned away from the terminal. Chaz's last words still hung in the air. "Priss, Linna, go get Nene. Wherever she is GET her. NOW." Priss and Linna looked up into Sylia's eyes. For the first time since they had known her they had tears in them. "Before it's too late," she whispered.

Priss and Linna grabbed their helmets and rode the motoroids out the open hatch. They didn't know why Sylia wanted Nene. But they trusted her. If she said she wanted Nene NOW, NOW is what it would be. Facing towards the AD-Police building in the distance they accelerated to their maximum speed.

Nene was sitting in the situation room of the AD-Police when her beeper went off. Not now, she thought at it, I can't get away. Though the boomers had been downed, ADP was still fielding the aftermath. Leon had been picked up and taken to the hospital where he was in critical condition. No one had seen Daley since he'd left with Leon. Hundreds of people were missing. Most were feared dead. The fires from the rampage were still spreading despite the best efforts of the firefighters. The carnage had driven more than a couple of domestic boomers insane. What remained of the ADP couldn't keep up. Nene and Naoko were swamped. There was simply too much to handle. Nene hadn't been able listen in to the Knight Sabers frequency since her first call to Mackie. There had been reports that one of the Knight Sabers had been killed. She was worried sick but distracting herself with work.

Priss wasn't in the mood to go through channels. Her sensors had picked up Nene's beeper on the eleventh floor. Damn! The ceiling was too low for them to take a motoroid in. Priss primed the self-destruct and ejected from the motoroid, letting it fall to the parking lot below. Without a second thought Priss lowered her shoulder and broke through the tempered glass. Ignoring the stares and shouts of alarm, Priss searched for Nene. Where is she? A break in the crowd showed Nene sitting in shock at a desk terminal. There she is!

Nene was overwhelmed. What was Priss doing here? Her cover would be blown sky-high! Two of her coworkers pulled their guns and leveled them on Priss. Priss ignored them, advancing steadily on Nene. Nene looked up into the helmet. This is serious, she thought. Nene nodded and stood. Naoko started yelling at her to stop. Priss led her to the window where Linna was hovering. Nene looked back at the stunned AD-Police. I'm not going to see them again, she thought sadly and stepped out the window and into Linna's arms.

Linna whirled and accelerated for Raven's at full velocity. Reaching down she covered Nene as best she could. Nene was tough but Linna wouldn't kill one Knight Saber to try and save another.

Priss, ignoring the shouts and orders from the police behind her, watched them soar out of sight and then jumped out the window. Without the motoroid she was going to have to take one of the alternate routes back. Throwing her thrusters to full she headed for the canyons.

Nene walked into the room at Raven's unprepared for what lie on the table. Turning quickly from the sight, she threw up onto the floor. Sylia walked over to her. "He's not dead yet Nene."

Nene nodded numbly not really hearing her. Not dead? His head was fucking gone. She looked again. Tubes filled with bio-fluid flowed into Chaz's arms keeping the skin alive. A fiber-optic cable led into one arm from a complex computer terminal. Sylia's voice registered briefly in her shocked mind. "Do you trust me?" Vaguely the young redhead nodded. She felt a cold pain hit her shoulder.

Sylia stepped away from her holding a spray hypo in her hands. "I don't have a lot of time to explain," Sylia said as she grabbed Nene's arm. She led her out of the room and down a hallway. "Chaz needs a program to control his fusion plant and he needs it within two hours." Sylia picked Nene up and sat her in a complex chair. "The drug I gave you will allow you to think faster and more clearly than normal." Sylia pulled an IV out of a cabinet and shoved the needle expertly into the vein in Nene's arm. "The specifications for the fusion plants control interface are in the computer already. Remember you've only got two hours." She reached over and forced Nene's finger down on a contact.

Nene's world faded away. It brightened quickly. In front of her was a diagram of the generator. Next to it a stack of files hung in space. Two hours, Nene thought and got to work.

Linna looked over Sylia's shoulder as code raced up the screen. "How can she type that fast?" Better than a thousand words were scrolling by every minute.

Sylia glanced up. "She's not typing. Those are her thoughts being translated into code. I only hope she can finish in time." The two-hour time limit wasn't really for Chaz. He could start the generator with very little power. Maybe down to the last minute. Two hours was the maximum time Nene's body could handle operating at that speed. When she finished she would be unable to do anything but sleep for at least a week. The nutrients being fed into her system would cushion her a bit. But, if she didn't finish in two hours she wouldn't finish. Sylia's own nervous system could handle the speed much better. But she had to admit that Nene had a much better and more intuitive grasp of computer code, and right now they couldn't afford a mistake. Nervously she watched the words scroll up the screen.

One hour and fifty-six minutes later the code stopped. Sylia looked up. For about a minute the code sat on the screen. Then new code sprang up, even faster than the first. What is she doing? Three minutes later the code stopped. The sedative was just injected. Nene's out and Chaz is going to die. Ten more lines of code scrolled across the screen; an execution command. Sylia turned to look at Chaz.

Deep within his chest something stirred. A series of powerful electromagnets worked their magic on the resin lying at their core. A series of laser pulses flared and inside the resin a small flicker began to spread into a flame. The lasers fired in sequence again and the flame grew into a star. The lasers shut down. Deuterium was fed in VERY small amounts to the star. The magnets shut down as the thermo-couples kicked in. Power began to be pulled from the star keeping pace with the hydrogen being fed in. The star was now self-supporting. Power worked its way into the rest of the body. Far in the back of Chaz's AI an electronic voice giggled.

Priss walked into the lab, still dressed in her softsuit. Uncharacteristic moisture dampened her eyes. With concern etched in every feature she looked at Sylia. The team leader nodded. "He'll survive." Priss dropped into a chair and began to breathe deeply. Chaz was alive. Nene had done it. Priss worked at holding back the tears for a few minutes before getting up to look at Chaz.

What was left of his head sat on the table next to him. It looked like the first laser had taken him square in the forehead and the second sliced his head off just above the armor. Sylia had hooked up life support to the bioskin to prevent its decrepitude. If she could, she'd reconnect it later. Priss looked at the head. How many times had she kissed those lips? Looked into those cracked eyes? Reaching out she closed the cold lids over the staring eyes.

Sylia came up behind Priss and put her arm around the singer's shoulders. "He'll be fine Priss. Nene got his fusion plant up and running. With the power flowing he'll make it."

Priss turned around and looked at her boss and friend. She'd known Sylia for a couple of years now. Sylia had shown more emotion in the last week than in all the time before. Priss reached out and the two Knight Sabers held each other and waited for him to wake up.

Chaz came around slowly, a sure sign he was still hurting. The AI was making sure no damage had occurred while he was out and was slowly building the power back up. /Give me a system report./

-Okay. I've fixed most of the control systems and the fusion generator is on-line. The head sensors are still out obviously, but Sylia said that she would reconnect what she could. I'm holding off regenerating the head until she does that.-

Chaz was astounded. The AI sounded just like Nene! What happened to you? Remembering that the AI couldn't hear him if he didn't subvocalize, he repeated the question.

-I have been programmed with a personality overlay. Giggle. Nene thought you would enjoy the company.-

The damn thing giggled/How intelligent are you? Are you a true AI/

He heard a sigh. -Not very and no. I'm just a very sophisticated user interface overlaid on your original support computer.- The giggle again. -Though I'm cuter. I'll do everything your original system did only better. After I've been around for a while I might achieve full sentience. Nene thought that was at least a few years from now if ever.-

First I'm going to thank her for saving me. Then I'm going to kill her. Painfully.

-I've got an incoming message from system user Sylia Stingray. Accept?- It asked cheerfully.

/Yeah.Yeah./

"Feeling better?" Sylia asked solicitously.

Chaz tried to nod and forgot he couldn't. "According to Nene-two I'm in much better shape, thank you. Any idea when you can reconnect my head? I'm trying to refrain from using my scanning radar on everything, but being blind is very frustrating."

Sylia moved the scope around to check on his power output. "I'll do it in a little while. I've been keeping an eye on Nene. . . What do you mean Nene- two?"

"The little hacker installed a personality overlay into my AI. I wish you could hear it. Sounds just like her." He could practically feel the smile. VERY painfully.

"Well there's nothing to be done about it now. I've got someone who's very anxious to speak to you here." A long pause.

An angry voice snarled into his 'ears'. "This is what you get for running off without me!" Priss! "What did you think you were doing? You almost got killed you idiot!"

"Hey!" Chaz protested. "I didn't get killed did I? And I saved a lot of other people from getting killed. By the way. Has anyone ever told you you're beautiful when you're angry?"

"That has nothing to do with it." Then she got it. "You can't even see me! You little. . . I'm here worrying myself sick over you and you're making jokes."

"Sorry hon. I didn't mean for you to get worried," Chaz said contritely.

"Well you aren't in any condition for me to yell at you now." He felt a kiss brush his wrist. "I'll just have to wait." Why did that soft phrase seem to have teeth in it?

"You'll have to wait in line, Priss," came Sylia's voice. "I get first crack at him. For now, let me start reattaching his head."

Chaz felt someone lift him into a sitting position. "That's it? You're just going to place the head on top of the rest of his body?" Priss said in the background. Chaz could feel a weight being put on his shoulders. It's funny how you don't notice it until it's gone.

"That's all that's necessary. When his self-repair system notices it's here it will attach it better than I could," Sylia replied.

/The head is being placed on top of my shoulders. Affix it in place and start repairs./

-Gotcha boss. I should have it reattached in about an hour. Repair of the entire unit will take about a day and a half. Skin regrowth two hours.-

"Newton says about two days and I'll be back to tip top shape." You can yell at me then.

"Newton?" Priss' voice asked.

Chaz's eyesight flickered for a moment. "Yeah. I can't just call it Nene-Two. People would get confused."

-Chaz, I can give you partial vision through one eye until repairs are completed. You want it?-

/Damn straight. Thank you./

-Da Nada.-

Vision flickered and the world sprang into fuzzy view. "That's better. I can see again," Chaz said looking around. "Kind of." He saw a Priss shaped blur. "Hiya hon. Got a hug for me?"

Priss looked at him and then away. "Not until that hole in your forehead is gone."

Hole? "Can someone get me a mirror?" A Sylia shaped blur nodded and put a mirror in his hand. Sure enough, there was a dark blur on his forehead that was slowly resolving into a hole as his eye was repaired. Damn thing was probably large enough to put your finger through. "Guess you were right Priss. I do have holes in my head." He chuckled. /Is there any reason I shouldn't be mobile/

-No. But I wouldn't recommend any strenuous activity. The head is barely attached. No running.-

Chaz swung his legs off the edge of the bed. Slowly his vision was clearing.

Linna giggled. Sylia handed him a pair of underwear. "Cover yourself Chaz."

Chaz took the underwear and put them on. "Better?" He saw blurry nods. He looked around. "Where's Nene and Mackie? Are they all right?"

"Nene's fine. She's just very tired." Sylia explained. "She'll wake up in a couple days. Mackie's keeping an eye on the news."

Chaz blinked and his vision got a little better. "Great. Can I watch the news too?" He hopped down. Chaz felt a tug on his arm. Forgot about that. How long until vocal system can be repaired?

-One hour. Hearing in ten minutes.-

Chaz tried to sigh and hopped back up on the table. "I'm stuck here until my repair system finishes with my vocal system."

Linna got up. "I'll bring a TV down"

Sylia and Priss looked at him. Oh hell. This is where I start getting shit. He smiled as best he could. "So how did I do?" Better trigger it now before they really have time to think about it.

Priss leaned in. "Chaz if you EVER scare me like that again. I'll rip your head off myself. You'll wish that you. . . ." She considered it for a moment and then pressed her lips against his. He wished he could feel it. "You asshole! I thought I'd lost you!" She wrapped her arms around him and held on. Chaz returned the hug.

Sylia sat down on the other side of him. "Mackie told me that you told him to stay in the KnightWing." She inhaled. "He's growing up. It's getting harder to keep him out of trouble."

Chaz hopefully looked up at his boss. "So you're not mad?"

Sylia grinned. "I'm furious. But there's nothing I would have done differently. If I'd been there I would have done the same thing. Except maybe that stunt with the KnightWing." She looked at him narrowly. "What made you think that would work?"

Chaz shrugged still holding onto Priss. "I wasn't sure it was going to. You saw those things. They were too fast to get close to and too heavily armored for my weapons to seriously damage. If I had tried a head on fight I would have gotten, and did in fact get my butt kicked. If I had tried to use the KnightWing they would have blown it from the sky or swarmed up on it and ripped it to shreds. Their speed made it almost impossible to get a lock on them from the air. Where did they come from anyway? GENOM?"

Sylia shook her head. "So far all anyone knows is that they came from USSD. Why they had boomers like that is anyone's guess. I really don't know why they went berserk like that." She shrugged. "Hopefully Fargo or I can dig up some information on it."

Mackie and Linna ran down the stairs carrying a JTK Slimline TV. "You guys have to see this! Someone was using a video camera and left it running during the attack. The news has been broadcasting the footage over and over again." She plugged it in and turned it on.

The reporter stood against the background of a still burning city. The remains of the two boomers were surrounded by police lines and scrambling investigative technicians. Human and boomer fire fighters were shooting flame-foam into the multiple burning buildings. Half hidden by a scraped ADP troop transport are multiple lines of bodies under white sheets. "Horror struck at the heart of Mega-Tokyo last night. Two military boomers stolen from a USSD storage facility went on a rampage killing hundreds, wounding thousands and causing untold billions in damage." As the voice continued the camera panned across the destruction. More fires could be seen raging in the distance. "Even as I speak firefighters are valiantly trying to put out the fires and rescue the many people trapped by flame. But, the tragedy doesn't stop there. A group of mercenaries sometimes vilified as vigilantes lost one of their own last night stopping the rogue boomers." The camera finished its pan and returned to the reporter. "A victim of the destruction had a camera setup before he tried to escape. Tokyo News Four brings you this exclusive live action footage. For the benefit of our audience we warn you that the following footage has not been cut and contains violent scenes of truly graphic proportions. Children and those with weak stomachs should be kept from watching."

The scene looked suprisingly peaceful. A train stuffed with the usual morning rush was just pulling out of the station on the left side of the monitor. Crowds of people moved in and around the station intent on starting their day. People were getting in and out of taxis. Children were playing on the sculpture in the middle of the traffic circle. With the exception of the obviously rebuilt train station the whole area looked like any other poor urban area. The pre-quake buildings had cracks in their concrete and the antiquated above ground wiring still hung in the air. Despite that though the people looked like they were getting on with their lives. In the distance a small series of explosions could be heard moving quickly closer. On the screen a small red 'AUTO' went on before the sound of a door opening and closing.

On the street below women were grabbing their children and pushing their way through the crowds to the safety of the buildings. Taxis began pulling hurriedly out of the waiting area, as the explosions got closer. Almost directly across from the camera a section of concrete wall was blasted outwards sending sharp edged chunks of concrete spinning into the crowd.

Almost with one voice the crowd screamed and surged away from onrushing death. Many found it anyway beneath the heels of their panicking brethren. The scream rose in pitch as the two boomers began to move through the crowd leaving decapitated and dismembered bodies in their wake. Neither of the two seemed in a hurry. They simply moved through the crowd using their claws and strength.

From a window facing the station came the sound of a machine gun firing. Both boomers halted for a second. Having obviously determined that the shooter was no threat they resumed their work. Whoever the owner of the illegal gun was he wasn't stupid. The lead ricocheting off the walking death machines was hurting the fleeing crowd. Within seconds it seemed the crowd had ducked into whatever building would have them.

Chaz watched a mini-drama being played out in a corner of the screen. A couple of the taxi drivers that hadn't made it out were trying to help a pregnant women and her son into a car. Both men lifted the injured woman into the waiting taxi and then headed for the open road. He almost wanted to cry when the boomers finally noticed them. A series of laser bolts lanced into the hurtling vehicle. Before his eyes Chaz watched the once proud piece of machinery reduced to scrap. He cursed as his hearing came back on-line. The HD camera captured the sound of the screams and moans of agony perfectly.

The sounds of the dying were washed out slightly as an ADP Hornet swept in and strafed the monstrosities, its twin 20MM machine guns sounding like rolling thunder. Bullets chewed into the pavement and danced over the boomers armor in a hail of firepower.

Seemingly ignoring the deadly rain falling around it the lead boomer raised its arms and fired red bolt after red bolt of laser fire back at its tormentor.

Chaz could almost make out the laughter of the pilot and his gunner as the laser fire was absorbed and dispersed harmlessly by the copters armor. He wished he couldn't hear the yells and screams as the second boomer opened it's mouth and fired a particle beam through the hornets ducted fan. Spinning wildly the ADP chopper crashed to the rooftop below. Steel screamed and concrete flaked off the building as the weight of the aircraft came to rest on the edge of the tarred rooftop. From the position of the camera all that could be seen was the forward fuselage of the assault copter. His enhanced vision picked out the dead pilot. The gunner opened fire once more on the boomers below him. Chaz wanted to look away. The gunner was furious over his friend's death obviously.

Almost indifferently the same boomer that had downed the craft sent another searing bolt of energy through the cockpit. The dying helicopter went up in an explosion of fuel and ordnance that rained flaming parts and burning chunks of concrete into the street and set the building on fire. Distantly Chaz could hear the screams of those trapped in the burning building. Unfortunately so could the killers in the street. Separating they each entered a different building and were lost to the view of the camera.

Tears gathered in Chaz's eye as he heard the screams cut short as explosions and laser fire rocked the buildings. Occasional flashes of red and blue-white light flickered behind the windows occasionally piercing the concrete as the rampaging killers swept from floor to floor and building-to-building in search of their prey. Behind them flames built and began to lick at windows. The occasional gout of smoke appeared to disperse into the morning air, joining the oily smoke from the burning autos below. A brief spurt of gunfire erupted from the building that the shooter had been. Chaz could hear the panic in the man's voice as he yelled for someone to run. The sound of ricocheting bullets was cut off by the sound of a man being dismembered.

Chaz looked away from the screen. There hadn't been time to see this before. He'd been too busy trying to stay alive. His eyes looked over at the other Knight Sabers. Anything was better than watching the screen.

Priss looked angry, her hands clenched till the knuckles turned white. A thin line of blood ran down her hand where her fingernails had pierced the palm. Slowly, unconsciously she was pounding her fists against her legs.

Linnas eyes looked sick and glazed as if the screen were a snake she couldn't turn away from. Her body shook as tears ran unobstructed and unnoticed down her face.

Sylia had put her mask firmly in place. Only the subtle tension in her shoulder and her ramrod posture showed the struggle in her mind. Slowly and methodically her eyes swept over the carnage as if searching for survivors.

Mackie's chair was empty. Wet retching noises from the bathroom marked the teen's reaction well enough.

The sound of rotors whipping through the air brought Chaz's attention back to the screen in time to see four ADP Fire-Bees skim over a side rooftop and sweep into the area.

Moving more cautiously than the Hornet, the four one-man choppers slowly circled the area looking for the battle boomers.

The scene was silent except for the sounds of the dying. The survivors, if any, in the buildings were the ones who had quickly learned not to draw attention to themselves. The boomers almost seemed to have disappeared.

Without warning a particle beam lanced out from an upper story window blowing the closest Fire-Bee into a flaming chunk of falling debris.

The reaction from the other pilots was instantaneous. They pulled back, their helmet slaved tri-barrel cannons firing round after round of ammunition into the shattered window. The heavy concrete wall melted away under the furious onslaught like sugar in the rain.

Linna gasped and Chaz caught sight of the other boomer on the roof behind the pilots. The urge to scream a warning to the already deceased pilots built in him as he watched the boomer take to the air.

Moving slowly through the air, the boomer rose above the rearmost chopper and simply turned off its flight pack. Like a rock deprived of its support the heavy boomer dropped through the doomed chopper's rotors, the blades breaking against the thick armor. Not even bothering to finish the falling pilot, the boomer reignited its flight pack turned its attention on the nearest target.

The two remaining copters fled, the second pounding away at the attacking boomer with its 20MM shells. The boomer, nearly knocked from the air by the assault, dove away from the attacking copter in an attempt to regain its stability. The attacking copter swept around in an attack pattern its heavy gun unerringly tracking the boomer down.

Chaz heard Sylia's soft 'No' of denial before the attacking copter passed in front of the half destroyed window and was picked off by a hail of red laser blasts from the still operational boomer inside.

The remaining Fire-Bee had had enough. Turning tail it ran. Inside the heavily damaged building Chaz saw a shadow shift and a line of fiery smoke erupted from the apartment. The copter swerved wildly to no avail. The missile slammed home in a burst of flame that consumed most of the machine before it hit the pavement below.

Both boomers dropped nimbly to the ground and entered the train terminal; the only building left in view that remained largely untouched. As the killing machines entered some of the crowd of refugees broke from the windows and began a mad dash to safety. The boomers let those who jumped go concentrating instead on the crowds of people still trapped inside. Soon the initial flood died away and people stopped coming out of the windows. The screams and laser fire soon built to a crescendo and then died out. Explosions began to rock building, as the rampaging boomers destroyed with their particle beams what they couldn't with their claws. At the entrance a puddle of blood quickly expanded and began to make it's way toward the stairs.

In the distance, slightly above the sound of the explosions Chaz could hear the sounds of sirens coming closer. Unfortunately so could the boomers. The sounds of particle beam and laser fire died away as the sirens got closer. One of the boomers broke away from the train terminal and ran into the building across the way.

Tires squealing, the heavy, six-wheeled armored personnel carriers came to abrupt, J-turn stops. Leon's voice erupted over the vehicles PA system as the troopers began to unload. His requests for the civilians to leave the area were met only by the crackling of the numerous fires and the occasional popping sound of burning ammunition as the downed ADP aircraft continued to blaze. Even some of the battle-hardened veterans of the ADP were obviously appalled at the destruction. Leon could be seen donning tac-armor and pulling his "Stomach" gun from his parked pursuit car. Daley was helping a couple of troopers off-load and setup the Gerlich squeeze-bore while two other troopers loaded and checked their rocket launchers. Everywhere ADP troopers could be seen loading their M42-A1s. Magazine after magazine was laid out for easy grabbing.

Chaz watched with admiration as the ADP spread out with near-perfect precision. Even knowing they were out-gunned they were going to try. What made it bad was that Chaz already knew how this had ended. He'd stepped over and sometimes on the bodies of some of the men he was seeing. Given the outcome he didn't think they would have minded.

The troopers hadn't quite finished spreading out before the boomers made the first move. The one that had ducked into the half-destroyed building stepped out into the open and opened fire. A few troopers went down fast, their armor too weak to stop the high-powered blasts. Immediately came the return fire. Shot after shot rained down on the armored monstrosity. Quicker on the draw than the Gerlich, one of the troopers swung around his rocket launcher and let fly.

The rocket streaked towards its target only to have it disappear back into the building. With a deafening roar the explosive warhead impacted on the concrete wall. With a groan the abused wall partially collapsed sealing the hole the boomer had entered. Most of the ADP kept their weapons trained on where they had last seen the boomer. They were unprepared though for the second boomer's entrance into the fray. Skimming at its highest speed the second boomer dashed across the war torn area it laser blasts seeking out the two rocket launchers. The ensuing explosion ripped a hole in the ADPs ranks and the confusion kept most from getting more than a shot or two off. Leon managed to get his railgun into position fast enough and with a three sharp sonic cracks the heavy weapon spat its walnut sized loads.

The scene jounced a little as the two of the three rounds slammed into the building where the camera sat. The third seemed to strike dead on. In mid-flight the boomer dropped like a stone its heavy body tearing up the pavement and mangling the dead bodies it landed on. Machine-gun fire began to dance around the downed boomer in a hail that chewed up the pavement surrounding the beast.

Chaz began to shake his head. The squeeze-bore cannon might have been able to hurt one of those things but he'd used one of those "Stomach" railguns. They didn't have the power to put something like that down. It was becoming obvious why the ADP was losing. They were outgunned; out armored and the damn things were actually thinking about what they were doing. ADP was used to a stand up fight not these kind of guerrilla tactics. As if summoned by his thoughts the second boomer choose that instant to finish digging itself out of the concrete. The second boomer bounced to its feet and flew for the cover of a building narrowly avoiding the shot from the Gerlich that exploded the ground behind it. Moving quickly the now unencumbered boomer took a few pot shots at the ADP and also disappeared.

Shaken but still determined the remaining troops kept a careful watch on the building. More than a few were edging their way towards the troop transports in the obvious hope that the heavy armor could offer some cover. Almost a minute passed and the troopers got more disturbed by the second. Leon was beginning to wave the troops towards further cover when the final attack came. With a crash of armor on pavement first one than the other boomer dropped into the midst of the troops. In a handful of seconds bodies were ripped to shreds. Discipline vanished under the vicious offense. The troopers just wanted AWAY. Not many of them made it. The combat became a blur of torn bodies and sporadic gunfire. Many troops tried to take cover behind a troop transport. Leon dove for cover behind his pursuit car as one of the boomers paused long enough to blow the transport up with a missile.

The footage paused and the reports voice came back on. "The leader of the doomed AD-Police patrol Lt. Leon McNichol and his partner Lt. Daley Wong are listed as being in critical condition at Tokyo General. They are the only survivors of the initial patrol. Lt. Wong is not expected to live through the night."

A single tear dropped from Pisses eye before she caught Chaz looking. With a quick sniff and swipe the tear disappeared and her stare defied him to say anything.

The footage resumed as the truck finished exploding. Grayish shadows swept across the burning battlefield as two K-12 armored troopers airdropped into the area. They opened fire from the air and continued until they hit the ground. Most of the shots missed completely. With the same frightening nimbleness they'd demonstrated earlier, the boomers avoided them. The few that hit did no apparent damage. The boomers decided to play a little this time.

Linna looked away. She'd watched this part on the previous broadcast and couldn't bear to watch it again.

The boomers charged the two K-12s. They first boomer picked one up and threw it at a building. Turning from it's partner it sprang at the downed trooper. Sylia gasped. Priss looked sick. Mackie, just returning from the bathroom, was forced to look away. The man's screams cut even through even the crackle of the fire and the background explosions. Pieces of bloody armor flew everywhere. The screaming seemed to last forever though it couldn't really have been much longer than a minute. The bloody clawed boomer turned to watch as its cohort finished its prey. This man didn't suffer as long fortunately. After pulling off the armored troopers arms the boomer punched its hand through the faceplate and fired its arm-mounted lasers. The discharge erupted from the back of the armor spraying cooked brains and blood into the air.

The reports voice came back on. "The two armored troopers names as well as the rest of the squadron have been withheld at this time pending notification of their families."

Playtime finished, the two boomers resumed their destructive work. The few cars and taxis that remained were tossed at the surrounding buildings and the boomers fired blast after blast at everything in the area. The camera shook slightly and tilted as the building it was in took several shots. A noise like a huge vacuum swept from one speaker to the other. The KnightWing was passing overhead.

Chaz, clad in his Guyver III armor, dropped in from behind the camera and landed on the field. The first boomer dodged a sparkling beam from the blue hardsuit as its partner, partially hidden by the rumble and smoke, slammed the dark hard-suit with a particle beam. The camera seemed to lose focus as the hardsuit began a series of dodges and leaps firing with every jump in the middle and upon landing. The sparkling beams seemed to be doing more visible damage than the K-12s had done but not anywhere near enough to stop them. Small burns in the armor seemed to seal as fast as they were inflicted.

The blue armor leaped and whirled in a series of dodges that were nothing less than phenomenal. Sometimes escaping a particle beam or laser spray by no more than inches. Then the hardsuit slowed as it dodged another barrage.

Both boomers closed in for the kill. As the lead boomer leveled its lasers at the slowly moving hardsuit its partner popped its missile-ports. Suddenly the lead boomer blew up. From the camera's position it looked like the attack came from the dark blue hardsuit. What had seemed an unstoppable menace dropped to the ground with most of its head and body missing. The explosion caught both the second boomer and the hardsuit kicking both into the air. The remaining boomer recovered immediately and launched its missiles. Chaz winced. This is where it had started to go bad. The missiles impacted. And knocked the hardsuit off camera.

The footage paused as the reporter continued his voice over. "The following scene was created by enlarging the image recorded on the tape. We apologize for the graininess."

The scene narrowed zooming in on the hardsuit as it stood up. It gripped at its face for a moment then tore away its helmet. The scene narrowed even further as it zoomed in on the face. Oh Shit. He'd been wearing his habitual face! If anyone should see it. . .

The voice-over continued. "This Knight Saber, who had already managed to take down one of the rampaging boomers, didn't give up. Memorize his face. He died a hero."

Who was this reporter and who wrote his dialogue? Chaz hung his head in disgust. Great. Just what he didn't need people doing. Typical sensationalist reporting. The media loved heroes, particularly dead ones.

The footage snapped back to normal speed and distance. Chaz came running out of the rubble. He continued to fire his sparkling beams as the boomer calmly leveled its lasers. In the foreground a red suit of heavy armor swept across the camera. Its large thrusters washing out the sound of the lasers firing. When the scene returned the blue hardsuit was down, its head missing. The boomer was staggering under the fire from the heavy gun the red armor carried. Cracks began to appear that didn't seal. Spinning desperately, the hurt machine lashed out with its lasers. The few shots that missed slammed into the building knocking the camera over.

The reporter reappeared against the blazing background. "Reports we've received have enabled us to reconstruct the aftermath. Smoke from the fires largely precluded satellite pictures of the fight though some footage has been obtained from our news satellite. The following scene has been computer generated from both."

The footage resumed with almost no loss in clarity. Mackie struggling with the boomer. Priss and Linna's arrival. Priss's overhead shot as Linna distracted it. Except in this scene Priss shots stopped the boomer. Mackie picked up the cannon and blew two holes through the boomers chest.

The reporter reappeared. "So the question remains. Who are the remaining Knight Sabers? Are they heroes or vigilantes? Our experts say that it would have taken USSD at least another half-hour to mobilize sufficient forces to halt the rampage. AD-Police has been dealt a blow from which it will be long recovering. In our report tomorrow we will explore the public's reaction to this tragedy." Linna turned off the TV.

For a long time only silence was heard in the room as each watcher tried to assimilate what they'd seen.

Sylia turned to Chaz. "I thought you were going to change that face."

Chaz shrugged. "It's the one I was born with. I kept thinking of reasons to put off changing it. I suppose I HAVE to now." He reached down and removed the fiber-optic connection. "What do we do now?" He asked in his normal voice.

On the opposite side of the world that question had already been asked and answered. The limo screeched through the open gate and onto the field. The doors flew open as Kou, Irene, and Reika jumped out. Kou reached back in to the car and helped Mr. Chang out as the two sisters raced for the jet idling on the runway. For the third time in fifteen years a member of the family was dead and boomers were responsible. Mr. Chang wasn't angry: he was raging. He smelled a GENOM plot. Quincy was behind this., no matter what the news said.

Kou lifted the old man into the plane and strapped both of them in. Mr. Chang sat quietly and thought. Both Kou and Irene had been quite taken with the young man. Kou's only bad report had indicated that he was very heavily cybered. Mr. Chang had shrugged it off. It was an asset in that line of work. He'd never even met the man he'd accepted as a son. But he'd gone out like a true member of the Hou Bang, fighting every step of the way. It was time he met the members of this band that had so affected his Irene.

Since she'd returned she had been obsessed. She'd absorbed the basics of self-defense from Kou in under two weeks. Mr. Chang had lived a long time and he'd never seen someone so focused. The leader of this band must be special indeed. Still thinking, Mr. Chang braced for the takeoff. He would be meeting her in six hours. The plane had clearances for super-sonic flight across the Pacific. It had cost him almost a million dollars but that was money well spent in his opinion. Closing his eyes the chairman of the Chang Conglomerate tried to imagine what his opposite number was thinking.

Quincy sat in his office and watched the fires slowly being put out. He had been in his office for over twenty hours now. His normally immaculate suit was wrinkled and his tie lay on the desk. The aging executive rubbed his hand through his silver hair in frustration. The Chairman of GENOM Enterprises was not amused.

Reaching out he pressed the intercom button. "Where is Ms. Madigan?" He listened to the reply. "I don't care who she's in bed with. I want her here in fifteen . . . no, ten minutes." He took his finger off the intercom. Madigan lived in GENOM tower like most of the executives. If she valued her place in the company she would be here. Quincy turned back to watch the flames. Damn Mason. The fool didn't realize what he had done. The Knight Sabers had only been a nuisance before, now they would be intolerable. He had ordered Mason to kill ALL of them to prevent this.

The other news he had heard was worse. Quincy wasn't used to setbacks. He hadn't suffered a serious one in nearly a decade. Yet here he was calling in favors! Him! And still he couldn't seem to avert what was coming. He swore and wished he could still drink. Mason was going to pay for this. He heard a knock on his door. He straightened quickly; he hadn't realized he had gotten so distracted. "Come."

Madigan entered the office. She was dressed in a silk robe and nothing else. When the Chairman said ten minutes that's what he meant. Trying to ignore her state of undress she stood straight and reported. "Yes sir." Quincy's dark eyes skipped over her. That was when she realized for the first time, she had ALWAYS been naked under those eyes. They didn't care about the state of her attire. They read her soul as accurately as a scale could read her weight. She almost collapsed when his gaze moved away and he began to speak.

"Madigan. Have you seen the news?" he asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Madigan thought furiously. She'd allowed herself to become distracted by a handsome face. She vowed silently to never allow it to happen again. "No sir. I was otherwise occupied." She didn't bother to ask what she'd missed or explain why she wasn't on top of things. She knew he'd tell her what he needed her to know. He obviously knew and didn't care about the other. He turned his blazing eyes upon her again.

"Look out the window Madigan," he said in a voice so calm Madigan quailed.

She looked and blanched. It looked like a quarter of the city was aflame.

"This is due to Mason." Quincy's grave voice snapped out. "He arranged the release of two of USSD's HTR class boomers. This. . ." he waved at the window, "is the result."

Madigan was aghast. "Why?" Quincy smiled like a demon about to feast. Madigan quailed.

"He thought he could do a large number of things with this assault. Its primary purpose was, undoubtedly, to destroy the Knight Sabers and in this it partially succeeded. One of the Knight sabers lies dead. The second was that it would clear the land for the Technological Integration Project. In this it also succeeded. The people who used to live on this land will certainly never return." He grinned humorlessly and briefly before he continued. "He also managed to place the blame on USSD for the whole affair further discrediting that thorn in our side."

Madigan thought about it. Then why was the Chairman so upset? Something had been missed. She thought about it some more. He'd only killed one. The rest were going to be even more of a problem than before. That's the only problem she could fathom. "I don't see it." She didn't bother to apologize. The Chairman rarely accepted them anyway.

Quincy looked down at his underling. "Mason misjudged the public's reaction. There was a videotape of the conflict." He tossed a copy at Madigan's feet. "In it the Knight Saber who died appears as a hero. Moreover, the face is that of someone we know." He flipped on the Multiviewer. The face came into sharp focus. "This is a face that Mason was supposed to have already taken care of." Madigan gasped she not only recognized it she'd seen the body laid out on a slab! Chaz's face stared back from the screen. "GENOM's media control was too slow to prevent AIC from showing the tape. It is also too late to change the spin on the story though they are attempting to anyway." He waved it away. "I received word that the national assembly had an emergency meeting. Despite heavy bribes I wasn't able to ascertain the substance of the meeting until it was too late. The assembly in a fit of uncharacteristic haste has voted to turn the area of the attack into a memorial park. The announcement has already gone out to the media." He brought up a map on the Multiviewer. "This is where the park will go."

Madigan nodded. Now she understood. The park, though small, was in the center of the proposed next step of the Technological Integration Project that was to be put before the assembly next week. Mason had just destroyed five years work at worst, seriously compromised it at best.

"I also have reason to believe that the chairman of the Chang Conglomerate has left retirement to meet with the Knight Sabers. Apparently he regarded the savior of his granddaughter with some favor. Before he might have helped them in small ways, striving to keep his corporation out of a direct struggle. I do not think he will be so leniently inclined anymore." Quincy paused to let the magnitude of this sink in. "I want Mason in here in a hour," He decreed. His voice dropped and became much more graveled as his anger leaked through his control. "More specifically I want his head here in a hour." Madigan nodded and left. Mason was as good as dead.

Quincy turned back to the window. He had much work to do. This small nuisance was growing into a major problem. It was time for the Knight Sabers to learn what it meant to take on the might of GENOM.

Mason drove through the torrential rain. His informants had informed him of the old man's decision seconds after he'd made it. Now Mason was running for his life. He had to get down to the lab before Madigan's people found him. He'd been so wrapped up in his success he hadn't updated the engram. If he didn't he could flush his immortality down the drain. Just a little farther. All he had to do was make it to Flint's lab. Reaching down he pulled a gun from the glove compartment. He couldn't afford to take chances. Screeching to a stop he jumped from the still running car and ran through the doors to the research center. No boomers on guard duty. Strange. Ignoring the alarms that began to go off in the back of his head Mason raced through the hallway and down the stairs. He quickly punched his code into the lock. He'd made it. He ducked in and slammed the door behind him. He turned around. Madigan was sitting on top of the engram recorder in a silk nightgown.

Madigan calmly leveled a gun at his head. "Step away from the door and drop the gun Mason." She honestly was surprised when he did it. "I found out about this project two days ago. I was tempted to just destroy it. Instead I'm going to let you use it before I take your head to the Chairman." Mason remained silent. His trump card had been played and taken. "I examined the body you had created for yourself. Nice. Used a nano-tank for the whole thing didn't you?" Mason didn't bother to answer. She smiled. "I destroyed it of course. I'm going to give you a much different body. If you want a better one you're going to have to find the dead Knight Saber. He has the body you stole from me." She waved Mason towards the engram replicator.

Mason knew he'd lost. He walked to the machine and sat down. After the machine had recorded his thought patterns Madigan put a bullet in his brain. Fifteen minutes later Madigan placed the head on Quincy's desk. Fifty-eight minutes from the time of the order.

Chaz sat in front of the mirror. "How's that?" He asked the watching Knight Sabers.

A frown crossed Priss's face as she studied the change. "I don't like the eye color," She finally judged.

"The hair's wrong," Sylia added.

"What about darkening the skin and making the eyelids epicanthic?" Linna put in.

Chaz had been making adjustments to his face for half an hour and was ready to scream with frustration. Note to myself: NEVER go shopping with these women. They seemed unable to agree on any of the faces that he'd produced. "This is the last change ladies." Concentrating, he forced his still healing flesh to undergo one final alteration. Slowly his skin turned several shades darker to a deep even bronze. His hair grew long and blonde as his eyes took on an impossible silver-gold color. The face grew hard and broad. "How's that?" he asked his critics.

Smiles broke out across every face as they regarded him. "Sugoi!" they said in unison.

"Thank god," Chaz said as he dropped head into his arms. /Make this face the 'Default'./

-No problem.- Came the cheerful reply from his AI. -You look cute like that.-

'Nene is going to have some explaining to do when she wakes up,' Chaz thought bitterly.

Priss stood and eyed him appraisingly. "What about the rest?" She gazed at his body pointedly. After all she had a special interest in the proceedings. "You going to make it match or what?"

Chaz sighed. He had definitely had better days. "Give me a break Priss. This isn't as easy as it looks you know." Actually it was easier. After months of practice he was beginning to get a real feel for how his directed nanite system worked. He was just tired of the argument. Concentrating he made his body skin match his face. "Better?"

Priss laughed. "Look in the mirror and you tell me."

Chaz looked. She was right. It did look ridiculous. His now much broadened head sat on a body that was at least a size too small. He quickly enlarged his chest arms and abdomen to match his new face. Great. Now I look like Doc Savage with long hair. /Begin fill in procedures on the new volume./

-Sure. Fill in will take two point six days with an over all increase in strength of point four two. It will require 2.46 kilos . . .-

/Tell me later okay/

/Okay./

Linna held her hands against her heart in a fake swoon. "Be still my heart. What a hunk."

Sylia nodded judiciously. "A vast improvement. More importantly you look nothing like you used to." Which had been the whole point. There was going to be another drop in the KSBB field's efficiency but his armor would cover for some of that. She still wasn't sure what to do about Nene yet. She obviously couldn't go back to her old life. She'd already broke in to ADP's computer and left a tapeworm to erase all files on the redhead. Not that they needed it. The Nene Romanova that worked at ADP had been an electronic fiction to start with.

Mackie lounged in living room. The lingerie shop was due to open in fifteen minutes, so he really should start moving that way soon. A knock came on the back door interrupting his reverie. Leaning over in his chair he punched up the door monitor. He fell out of his chair. Shit! He reached up and hit the outer door buzzer.

Back in Raven's the female Knight Sabers had surrounded Chaz. They were viciously and maliciously giving unwanted fashion advise to the hapless Chaz. He really didn't see why he needed to change his wardrobe. Lots of people wore black T-shirts and jeans. "What about Leon? He seems to get along just fine like that." He immediately regretted the quip. Leon still was listed as being in critical condition.

Linna ignored the slip and poked him in the chest, nearly breaking a nail. "You're supposed to change completely remember? Besides, with that body you should really go for something like a skin tight bodysuit." Yum!

Priss looked over at Linna. She was practically drooling for god's sake! "Maybe something in leather? A nice bikers jacket, would let you blend in better with the crowd."

Chaz cast appealing eyes on his boss. "Please help me out of this," he pleaded.

Sylia smiled. "You're right. We have been picking on you." Her smile spread into a mischievous grin. "Besides I think it's obvious that you belong in an Armani suit." At that all three women started to laugh.

Chaz shook his head in mock horror. "No! Never! Not that!" The buzzing of the intercom interrupted him.

Sylia walked over to the video pickup. "Yes Mackie. What is it?" In the background Chaz was muttering something about the horror of it all while dodging blows from his colleagues.

Mackie's face appeared on the screen. "Sis, I think you better come back to the shop. We have guests."

Sylia frowned. "Guests?" Who the hell would . . . "Let them wait in the meeting room. We'll be right there." She broke the connection. "Grab your coats. We have to go back to the shop," she told the others. She looked enigmatically at Chaz. "Your father has come to pay his respects to the dead."

Chaz and Priss pulled up in the driveway behind Sylia's car. They had stayed under the speed limit to avoid attracting attention. Chaz dragged the helmet off awkwardly. They had bought it when he wore his old face. The new head didn't fit so nicely. Rearranging his squished features he followed the others upstairs.

Mackie's nerves were shot. Irene had been VERY insistent about talking to Sylia immediately. He'd tried to explain that he'd already called them. Irene hadn't wanted to wait. She wanted to be taken to pay her last respects to Chaz. Mackie had almost laughed at that point. THAT was why they were here? He'd smiled and told them that Chaz would be very happy to hear that; in retrospect that had been a mistake. Everyone, including the people Kou had introduced as Irene's sister and grandfather, had jumped on that line. He'd been adamant. He could tell them nothing until the others arrived. At which time they wouldn't need the answers from him anyway.

Mackie gave an audible sigh of relief as the others walked up from the garage. At least he thought that was Chaz. The shirt and pants looked the same even if they were a little small. He stood. "Sis, May I introduce the Chang family; Mr. Chang, his granddaughter Reika and the family retainer Kou. You already know Irene." Sis already knew who the rest were too, of course but it paid to be polite.

Sylia extended her hand to shake Mr. Changs hand. "I'm pleased to meet you. I'm just sorry that you came here for such a reason." She smiled. "Now if you'll allow me I'll introduce my family." She waved them forward. "Unfortunately one of our members won't be joining us."

Obviously, thought Irene, he had his head blown off. Why don't any of them seem to be depressed about it? Who is that guy? And where was Nene? Her mind whirling she almost missed Sylia's next statement.

Sylia continued. "These are Linna Yamazaki, Priss Asagiri, and your adopted son Charles S. Stitman."

Complete silence reigned for almost a minute before Irene exploded. "What do you mean by that? I watched it on the video. Chaz's head was blown off. You don't get up and walk away from that."

Kou stood up next to her. "I'm afraid I must agree. Ms. Stingray, this joke is in very poor taste."

Mr. Chang sat quietly. This Stingray woman didn't seem the type to joke so callously. But, he too had seen the video. What is she up to? Was the video a fake? It was certainly possible. Video technology had progressed to the point that it could no longer be used as evidence at criminal trails. Deciding to remain in the background for now he allowed his granddaughter to control the conversation for now.

Chaz stepped forward and smiled down at Kou and Irene. "You're right. You don't get up and walk away from that." His face writhed and changed back to his old one for a moment. "In my case I had to be carried." He smiled. "You forgot, didn't you Irene?" He said as he undid the bandanna covering the hole in his head.

Irene stared up at the stranger in front of her. Chaz alive? She tentatively reached out and touched his skin. A faint thrill ran up her arm. "Oh Chaz!" She threw an arm around him and started sobbing. "You bastard! Why didn't you call and tell me?" Using her free hand she beat on his chest in frustration.

Chaz ignored Priss's angry stare as he put his arms around Irene. "I'm sorry Irene, I didn't mean to frighten you. It was a pretty near thing. I would have called you if I had been able to."

Mr. Chang had seen enough. "Irene get away from it." The bitterness in his voice was painful to hear. He directed his glare fully onto his daughters bodyguard, "Kou you said he was heavily cybered. You did NOT say he was a boomer."

Kou was still in shock. "I'm sorry sir I didn't know. I. . ." He didn't know what to say. This was obviously Chaz in front of him. A man he both respected and admired. A boomer.

Chaz was hurt. "I. . . I thought you knew. Kou asked me if Irene knew. I assumed from the question he'd guessed." He hadn't expected this kind of reaction. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding sir."

"Irene! I said stand away from it!" Mr. Chang was furious, his body trembling with a rage it could scarcely contain. How dare these people try to pass off a boomer as human! Forcing himself to his feet he faced his granddaughter. "Irene!"

Irene slowly relaxed her hold on Chaz and turned to face her grandfather. "Why should I grandfather?" Her voice came out as smooth as silk and as cold as dry ice. Sitting on the couch Reika shuddered and inched slightly away from the conversation. She'd never heard her little sister use that tone of voice to anyone before.

Kou slowly backed up. This was between the two of them. He couldn't get involved. More importantly he didn't want to. It wouldn't be healthy. In the past month Irene had forced herself to learn martial arts at a phenomenal rate. Kou could probably beat her. But, not without hurting her. And being hurt, he admitted.

Mr. Chang was almost apoplectic. With a visible effort he reined in his temper. "Irene, this thing," he waved at Chaz, "is nothing less than a GENOM built assassin, even less human than those bastards that killed your parents." Why could she not see it?

Chaz backed off, hurt to his core. He didn't want to be at the center of this argument. He realized that what was happening now was going to have VERY large repercussions in their family.

Irene moved to continue standing next to him. "This MAN has done more for me and our family than ANYONE ever has. Three times he has put his own life on the line to save mine. He accepted humiliation at Kou's hands rather than put me in danger. You SAW for yourself the lengths he will go to help others." She paused. "He has shown more self-sacrifice for strangers than the Hou Bang has ever shown. Yet you dare tell me that those are not the actions of a man?" Every word was coming out clipped and soft. Despite that, they seemed to be hitting the elder Chang with visible impacts. "If that's the case than I am forced to admit that I don't know what YOUR definition of a man entails."

Her eyes began to fill despite her rage. "When I was lost and mourning for Can he comforted me." Her voice softened and the anger left it. "I love him grandfather." She saw his face begin to harden. "Not as a lover, but as the brother I have never had." She reached out and grasped the old man's hand. "When you thought him human you eagerly welcomed him to the family. I ask you to judge him as you have told me to judge people: on his actions and character, not on the body he wears."

Mr. Chang fell back onto the sofa. For several minutes silence reigned in the room. Twice Sylia had to reach out to restrain Priss. Finally the elder Chang looked up. "Irene, my dear. The hardest thing for an old man to do is to admit he made a mistake. You are right. For the first time in years you see me in my shame." Refusing Kou's help he struggled to his feet once again and walked over to Chaz. "My son . . . I apologize. I had not realized how far my hatred and prejudice had gone until my granddaughter showed me my face in a mirror." With a shaking arm he extended his hand. "Please forgive me."

With solemn dignity Chaz took the hand. Despite his apparent age the elder Changs grip was still strong. "There is nothing to forgive. I had much the same reaction when I found out what I was." He smiled. "And you should have seen Priss' reaction." He paused slightly. "She pulled a gun on me." He laughed. After a moment Mr. Chang joined in as Priss protested.

Several hours and bottles of wine later the conversation had died down a bit. The topics had been kept carefully innocuous, dealing with the Knight Sabers daily life, Irene's neuro-surgery and Vision's upcoming concerts. Mr. Chang waved Chaz over. "You really must tell me what you meant when you said 'When I found out what I was.' Didn't you always know?" Chaz proceeded to tell what had happened to him, leaving out only his extra-dimensional origin.

A deep chuckle followed by a short cough trickled out of the head of the Hou Bang triad. "So GENOM has played god once again and lost this time." The old man smiled up at Chaz and waved off a concerned Kou. "You are destined to be a true thorn in their side son."

Chaz shrugged it off. "At the Knight Sabers best we only seem to be a major irritation. And please call me Chaz." 'My son.' and like phrases were beginning to make him distinctly uncomfortable. He thought about that for a moment. "You enjoy playing the aging Chinaman to the hilt don't you?"

Mr. Chang looked embarrassed then smiled. "Caught. I'm afraid that over the years I fell into the speech patterns that people seemed to expect. Then you must call me by my given name." Reika and Irene looked up and giggled. Kou looked embarrassed. "Chongk. But my friends call my Chin."

Chaz thought about it. His name is Chin Chang? He aborted a movement to drop his head to his hands and laugh. I wonder who slapped THAT nickname on him. At least he's got a sense of humor about it. "I would be honored. Chin." Priss smiled and looked ready to make a comment when Linna gave her an elbow in her ribs.

"As for the other matter would I be correct in assuming that you are constrained mainly by a lack of resources?" Chin asked sipping his wine and looking out from under his glasses.

Chaz looked up. "I really don't know what our constraints are. Sylia runs the Knight Sabers. I'm just a grunt." He looked around. Sylia was in deep discussion with Irene and Kou. "I really can't tell you much about the Knight Sabers outside of what you already know. Those secrets aren't mine to give."

Chin nodded understandingly. "Of course. I would, however, like to ask your advice on another matter." His voice dropped to a whisper. "When a new person joins the family, the way you and your friends have, it is a Hou Bang tradition to give them a gift. I would like your opinion of what would be appropriate."

Chaz thought about it. "Linna and Priss are easy. Priss wants to try singing professionally. But she's been blacklisted in Japan because of her opposition to GENOM. Linna would like to get back into dancing. Her career was cut short because she didn't fit the textbook figure of a dancer." He thought some more. "Nene, the Knight Saber who couldn't make it, is in trouble. In order to save me they had to publicly pull her out of her job. I don't know what you could do. But, she's going to need some serious help. As for Sylia and Mackie," he shrugged, "I have no idea." He smiled. Well, maybe I know what Mackie would like, he thought, watching the teen trying to move closer to Reika.

Chin looked up at Chaz. "I will think on a gift for Miss Stingray. But you have not asked for anything for yourself," he noted.

Chaz cringed. "To be honest what I want is impossible. Even my second choice would be far beyond what I could reasonably ask."

Chin looked up at him skeptically. "The first I can guess easily enough. You want to be human again?" Chaz nodded. "However I think you underestimate the Hou Bang's resources when you say you cannot ask for something. We are the single largest conglomerate in the US. I doubt there is much that is out of our reach." He smiled proudly.

Chaz didn't return the smile. "I want a nano-tank. If I can't go back to being human I intend to make GENOM pay, big time."

Chin was quiet for a moment. "You would normally be right. Such a thing is usually out of the question. But this is not a normal time." He smiled. "It so happens that GENOM is shipping its newest nano-tank to its US subsidiary next month. We have already made arrangements to . . .acquire it. It was intended to free the Chang conglomerate from a reliance on GENOM AIs. I think in this instance we can see fit to pass it on to you. This will help repay the great debt we owe you."

Chaz couldn't speak. Chin was offering to give him something that many governments didn't possess. Merely to repay a debt he felt he owed. According to his research there were fewer than thirty nano-tanks on the planet and maybe ten more in GENAROS International space station. Numbly Chaz nodded his head. How could he refuse?

Chin nodded as Sylia walked up. "Good. I think that will also help Miss Stingray with her own problems." Chin waved at Kou. "I'm sorry to leave so soon but I have to return to the US. Quincy is much too cunning an adversary to allow my absence to go to waste." Kou helped him to his feet. The old man once more extended his hand. "Please visit us soon." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And if you get the chance, bloody Quincy's nose for me." He smiled. "It has been indeed a pleasure meeting you all." He bowed. "Miss Stingray I wish you continued success in your campaign. If you need our assistance you may count on the Hou Bang." He looked back at Chaz. "By the way, where's the ring?"

Chaz smiled. He hadn't thought the old man would miss that. "It's difficult for me to wear in the hardsuit so I put it somewhere that's usually very safe." Tilting his head he reached into his mouth and retrieved the ring from the back of his sinus cavity. "I'm afraid the laser attack didn't completely miss it." He said as he extended the slightly scorched ring. "I didn't think I'd have to worry about it in there." He shrugged apologetically.

Chin took the ring examined it and handed it back. "I can see why you would consider that a safe place." He paused and put on a huge smile. "USUALLY." With a final laugh he waved good-bye. "Our family always takes care of its own. We'll be in touch." With that he and Kou stepped out the door.

Irene stepped up to Chaz. "You promised you'd visit. I'm going to hold you to that." She kissed him and followed Kou and Reika out.

Chaz sat down as the rest of the Knight Sabers finished off the wine. "Well, This has to have been one of the more interesting weekends of my life." He paused. "I wonder if next weekend will be better." The rest of the Knight Sabers promptly sprayed their wine.