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Chapter 34 Pork Chop Express
Kim stood in front of a panel of what was, for all intents and purposes, a jury with the State's Attorney and the head of GJIA acting as the Judges. Betty Director had abstained as she felt she was a personal friend of the Agent in question. These were the investigators that reviewed the evidence of the fatal shooting by a carded law enforcement officer two and a half weeks prior.
"Corporal Possible, this panel has reviewed all of the data and evidence gathered in relation to the fatal shooting by you of former Agent William Du just over two weeks ago. Of particular interest to the panel were the data and audio recordings from the commo headsets of your Team.
"While a fatal shooting is a tragedy, this one was doubly so because the deceased proved himself to be a traitor and a mole, passing information to an as yet unidentified organization.
"Several Agencies, from GJ itself to the CIA and the FBI as well as Homeland Security and allied intelligence agencies would have rather been able to question the deceased to find out how badly he had us penetrated.
"The commo recordings revealed several things, some which were transmitted through Specialist Load's headset. The quiet, but identifiable sound of a GJ issue shock watch being fired followed by a sound that has been identified as a helmet hitting a desk. The locaters inside also showed that you were in another part of the building when this occurred and you running back to the room where you found former Agent Du preparing to execute your teammate.
"This panel therefore finds that you had no alternative but to act in the defense of your partner by the use of lethal force. You are hereby removed from suspension and returned to duty as a reserve Agent with the stipulation you continue to visit the trauma counselor regularly until you are cleared by him. Understood?
"Yes Sir."
"Corporal, I know you don't quite believe it yet, but it was not your fault. You were left with no choice being forced to pick between the lesser of evils. What happened that day was a tragedy, but it could have been much worse.
"An investigation as to the contents of the building in question revealed that former Agent Du had an escape vehicle loaded with plans and/or prototypes to several devices that in the wrong hands would spell disaster to the freedom of the world. Devices such as the Sonic Annihilator and the Mega Weather Generator or the Neutronilizer. Data on personnel, training and equipment of various world militaries and law enforcement agencies and their planned responses to a variety of possible threat scenarios.
"It was only the actions of you and your team that prevented this wealth of data and material from falling into the wrong hands. And for that, you have our thanks."
Shego entered the control room of the shoot house to see her soon-to-be-husband watching as Kim ran through a mission. "How long she been in there?"
"Two hours now."
"What's the scenario?"
"Different variations of a hostage taking."
Shego looked at him and asked, "Same thing that happened to Nerdlinger?"
"Basically."
"And the win/loss?"
"Ninety-seven percent."
Shego was shocked, "She's won that many!"
"No, she's lost that many. 38 to 1. The third run through, the computer decided that the target's gun had jammed."
"Ouch."
"Yes. And the computer says she's been getting worse in the last hour as she's tried wilder and wilder tactics. The computer figured out that killing the hostage before even trying to stop her has the best percentage and it's gone downhill from there. She's tried everything from negotiating or rushing the target to throwing her sticks and even a knife at it. But it always winds up as either she then the hostage is killed or the target kills the hostage before she can stop it."
Shego sighed, "She just doesn't wanna admit that she did the right thing the first time."
"Agreed."
A buzzer sounded indicating another loss for the 'Player'. "AAAGGGGGGGHHHHH! Again! Computer, reset and start on command." She sounded frantic. Nothing like the former villainess had ever heard her.
As the room reset itself, Shego watched as Kim placed herself just outside the 'room' and got set. Shego opened a drawer and pulled out a small 'simgun'. It wasn't really a lethal weapon as such, but it worked with the shoot house as a simulator. She slid it into the back of the loose pants she was wearing and pulled her shirt over it to hide it. Looking at Drakken she said, "Scram, I'll see you in a little while. I gotta go help Kimmie pull her head out of her 'forth point of contact'."
"Shego?" He really didn't want her going in the room and performing her usual acrobatics.
Don't worry, I'm not gonna do anything wild. Just make a point." She gave him a light kiss, turned him and gave him a push to the door. "Go on."
After he left, she waited a minute until the buzzer sounded again and entered the chamber. Kim had her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. "That's pathetic!"
"Like you could do any damn better."
"Princess, I'm five months pregnant and I know I can do better. Watch. Computer, reset."
The computer beeped when the set was ready and Shego said "Go." Canned verbal threats started coming from the room. Shego kneeled and stuck her head around the door jamb for less then a second. Just enough to lock their positions in her mind. When she looked more threats issued, but no shots yet. She stood, reached behind her and pulled the 'simgun' as she twisted her body so her arm and head flashed into the doorway, pulling the trigger one time nailing the target through the head. The target dropped releasing the hostage and for the first time in hours the computer chimed a victory.
She looked at the younger woman and sadly said, "I win." Her face had not a trace of her usual smugness or hauteur.
"Damn it, that's cheating. No guns."
"How's it cheating? Look, Punkin, the hostage is safe, I'm alive and no one else got hurt."
Shego knew that her visibly pregnant belly was the only reason Kim didn't roundhouse her. She could see the fury in Kim's eyes. But underlying it was pain and fear. She knew Kim was in a bad place just then and barely breathed so as not to aggravate her worse.
A few moments passed as she watched Kim visibly get herself under control. Feeling it was safe for a few minutes, she said, "You know, Kimmie, after all the fights and Drew's whack plots you and I have been through, I never pegged you as a crazy person."
Kim would have thought the woman was joking except for the utterly serious look on her face. "Wha…what are you talking about?"
"It was something I heard a few years ago. I didn't really understand till I met Drew. Ya see, a lot of people think Drew's crazy, but he's not. He's whack and he's a mad scientist. But he's not crazy. Crazy is another word for insane. 'Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is a sure sign of insanity.' And while Drew has come up with a lot of whack ideas for taking over the world, they all had one thing in common. He never repeated himself."
"Ya didn't screw up that day, but you're screwing up now. You did the right thing then. Has anything else you've tried worked?"
"There has to be a way!"
"Look Kimmie, you're not Supergirl, you're only human, and you're not faster than a speeding bullet." She gently took Kim's wrist and tried to set the 'simgun' in her hand. "Maybe it's time to try something different."
Kim barely felt it as the previous sentences started perking through her brain. '…only human…faster than a speeding bullet…try something different. Only human? Something different?' An idea came to her. There was a way to get faster. A way to hopefully prevent the incident on that Saturday from happening again. She had to talk to Wade.
She muttered, "I gotta go." and ran for the door leaving Shego still holding the 'simgun'.
It was the transitions that were getting him. Ron stood in the Dojo holding a weighted Bokken in both hands, feet shoulder width apart, right foot slightly back. He brought the Bokken across from right to left. He was supposed to shift his grip to reverse the 'edge' and bring it back around the other way. But the shift was slow. It was always slow, at least according to his Sensei.
The moment he set eyes on the face of the Sword master Sensei had sent him he knew he was in for a hard way to go. It probably would have made him feel better if he had known that said Sword master had been of the same opinion from the moment the letter from Sensei came into his hand.
Fukushima prepared to admonish the Outsider….. No, he had to stop thinking of his Gakusei, his student in that manner. Sagara had made that plain. The slightly older young man had demonstrated that to him very effectively. After the first few times he had called his Gakusei 'Outsider', Sagara had evidently taken offense on behalf of Ron and stepped in to correct the problem.
"Fukushima-sensei, I fail to understand why you use that term here. For several reasons. First, it is insulting. Secondly, we are no longer at Yamanouchi in Japan. And last, this is Stoppable-san's home. Insulting him here is dishonorable and very disrespectful. Under the 'Code of Bushido', either Stoppable-san or I could rightly challenge you to Mortal Combat for disrupting the 'Wa' of our home. If you continue to act in such a fashion, I will be forced to take up the challenge in Stoppable-san's stead."
"Like you could defeat me!"
Sousuke's eyes narrowed slightly, "Fukushima-san, I will take up that challenge. Give me a few moments to prepare." He turned and started gathering a set of the traditional armor used to prevent major injuries that could come from swinging a Bokken at full force. It didn't stop them all, by no means, as the heavy bruising to Ron's arms, shoulders, chest and thighs could attest. But it was fairly effective at stopping broken bones and concussions.
Fukushima smirked. He wasn't too worried about this fight. He remembered when Sagara had come to Yamanouchi the first time when they were Wade's age. He had even sparred with him a few times and he knew he was the better swordsman.
A few minutes later, they were wearing full armor pads and Sagara accepted the Bokken. He held it in one hand for a moment, bouncing it up and down then twirling it in a circle at his side. Fukushima slipped the mask over his head, slid his right foot back and brought his Bokken into the en guard position.
Sousuke slid his facemask on, indicated he was ready and the two clashed in a frenzy of clacking wood. Sousuke wasn't using any recognizable sword technique. It seemed to be a mix of various weapons techniques that were used solely to place his weapon in a blocking position.
Sousuke wasn't able to block them all. Fukushima used a blindingly fast feint to slip a blow to Sousuke's left side that had him gasping for air. But unlike Fukushima, who had never been in a situation where he had to keep going or die, Sousuke stayed on his feet and kept coming.
The clacking of stout wood continued for another minute when Sousuke pivoted on his left foot, inside Fukushima's reach and dropped into a foot sweep causing Fukushima's feet to fly out from underneath him. Fukushima landed hard, knocking the wind out of him, but his trained reflexes rolled him out of the way of Sousuke's descending Bokken and onto his feet. Now he was seeing red. No one, outside of the instructors at Yamanouchi and certainly no one his own age had ever handled him in such a fashion.
He charged his opponent intending to hit him so hard he would knock the mask off his head. Sousuke accepted the charge and started a fighting retreat, guarding himself and husbanding his strength for a counter attack. Soon the opportunity came.
Fukushima's mistake was minor, almost infinitesimal, but he slightly overextended himself and Sagara pounced. He parried Fukushima's Bokken to the right and stepped inside Fukushima's reach again. Releasing his right hand from the Bokken, his hand came up and his grabbed the part of the mask the protected the throat and pulled. As he pulled, he twisted and brought his left leg inline tripping Fukushima nearly to the ground.
Sousuke continued the spin with the Bokken whistling around aimed at the unguarded, unarmored back of his opponent. At the last instant, Sousuke had to pull the strike that would have, at least, broken ribs and possibly the spine. Still the blow hit like a sledgehammer, knocking Fukushima the rest of the way to the tatami mats. Striking like a rattlesnake, Sousuke planted his foot between the shoulder blades of his opponent and placed the tip of his Bokken at the base of his skull, just enough for him to feel it.
Sousuke stepped back and allowed Fukushima to rise, keeping his Bokken at the ready. Fukushima came up until he reached a knee and paused there. He tore of his mask, glaring at Sousuke. Barely able the breath, he wheezed, "That was not Kenjutsu."
Sousuke looked puzzled for a second before he said, "We were supposed to be using sword techniques? I remember no such stipulation. In Combat, there is no such thing as a fair fight. You fight to win. That is the overarching message in both Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' and Musashi's 'The Book of the Five Rings'. I know that both of those text's are required reading at Yamanouchi. Victory is the outcome that all the Martial Arts taught there are supposed to lead to."
"Victory is achieved. Honor is satisfied. The stain of your action has been cleansed. See that you do not allow it to become stained again."
He knew how he had gotten in this mess and he knew how to get out. Didn't mean he had to like it. Being sheltered by the mountains surrounding Yamanouchi had led to an insular view of the world; one that harkened back to the Edo period where if you weren't Nihon ga, Japanese, then you were gaijin. If he had used that term four years ago, several of the students, most of the instructors and Sensei himself would have pounded him. He knew that then and it was why he used the English word 'Outsider' when referring to the Chosen One.
He didn't like it, but Sagara was right about one thing. Trying to insult the American by calling him 'Outsider' in both his country and his own home was wrong. Here, he was the Gaijin, the 'Outsider'. Had he acted that way back in Japan in a more traditionally minded home, the Head of the House could have called for his blood. A guest in Japan could get away with a lot, but knowingly and directly insulting the host wasn't on the list of forgivable offenses. A misunderstanding was one thing. Deliberate action was something else.
He watched as Ron seemed to pause for an instant at each transition. "Iye, Gakusei. In Kenjutsu, the movements are supposed to flow from one to the next without pause smoothly, never allowing the blade to come to a complete rest unless you intend it to. The Katana is not like most swords of the West that rely on mass for their power. The amount of steel in an English long-sword would make two Katana and the larger Bastard and two handed swords three. Because the Katana lacks this mass, they require different techniques to be effective. By keeping the blade moving, you keep the speed, momentum and energy to allow for more powerful strikes."
"It is this that you must learn. What I want you to do is concentrate on technique. Forget speed and power. We will work on those as a later time. For now, go through the movements slowly. Repeat them until you can do them without thought. Hajime!"
This was going to take a while.
Tessa looked over the pages in front of her wondering how she should feel. On the one hand they showed a serious upgrade to one of the systems that would help keep the Soldiers under her command alive.
On the other, they represented the fact that two of the few friends she had her own age her own age were thousands of miles away. That wasn't taking into the consideration that one of those friends was the crush she still carried a torch for. The young man with the scar on his left cheek, Staff Sergeant Sousuke Sagara.
Her adjutants, Commander Richard Mardukus and Lieutenant Commander Andrei Kalinin were reading their copies of the proposal report as well. The Mithral Counsel and High Command had forwarded copies of the proposal to the Senior Field Commanders for opinions before approving it. It was the Englishman who broke the studious silence.
"Impressive, very impressive! It seems that Miss Chidori is putting her time in America to good effect. I admit I would have never thought of using RATO's like this. (Rocket Assisted Take Off) The technology is out of the 1960's. It's practically prehistoric."
Kalinin added, "I agree. However there's no denying the fact this will alleviate one of the major drawbacks to the AS flight packs. Recovery has always been an issue with them. By increasing the fuel capacity, we can now have the units cache the flight packs, perform their mission, recover the packs and return without having to risk our helicopter units."
Tessa looked up and said, "To me that's not the best part of the design. Page five. According to the calculations, only one of the four rockets is needed to assist an M9 in a takeoff. That leaves the other three for other 'uses'.
"When used in flight, they each add a burst of power that is three hundred percent above the output of the pack itself. It's only twenty seconds. But for those twenty seconds, an M9 can nearly equal the speed of a fighter jet.
"One scenario they used is, a catapulted assisted takeoff from the flight deck, close to the target area, fire one for a quicker insertion, land, perform the mission, recover the packs, one for takeoff assist, one for the withdrawal and one in reserve."
"They also give us the ability to have the units land, perform a mission, takeoff and repeat the procedure as many as four times. We would only have to preposition fuel, ammunition and supplies to resupply the deployed units. And since the RATO units are modular, we can even resupply those as well.
Kalinin had flipped to the referenced page and looked over the specifications listed there. "The strategic and tactical implications of this design are staggering. Ma'am, this isn't an upgrade to our existing equipment. This is becoming an entirely new system. Air to air engagement systems, air to ground and vice versa….."
"I see you noticed the proposed next generation."
"No lifting surfaces? How do they intend to keep the AS in the air, magic?"
Tessa answered "No. If their carrying this in the direction I think they are….the Lambda Driver."
Mardukus asked, "The Lambda Driver? Is that possible?'
"Dr. Load is already supervising the modifications to the ARX7, shifting the cooling vanes from a horizontal to a vertical aspect. This will increase the aerodynamics with no loss to their effectiveness. Apparently shifting them also increases stability and control. The only remaining parts of the wings are going to be dedicated to weapons hard points.
'By removing most of the wings, the engine size and power can be increased by two hundred percent with no additional size or weight to the pack. And since the Driver uses planes of force to interact with the physical environment, it can simulate an infinite number of lifting surfaces. It can shift from a low wing loading, fuel efficient style like an A-10 to a high speed, low drag interceptor type like an F-16 with a thought and throttle increase."
The two men looked at each other and the Senior Officer asked, "Madam Captain, will Sergeant Sagara be able to do this? This would be a lot to ask of a seasoned test pilot, let alone someone with as little experience with new flight systems such as the Sergeant."
Tessa didn't get as offended as she used to. It had taken time, but she had seen underneath the veneer of the stiff English Officer. Before, she would have taken his remarks as criticism of Sousuke. Now she saw that part of his question was concern for a subordinate who used to be under his Command. Still.
"Commander, there is no one…" She trailed off for a second. "With the exception of Leonard Testarossa, who has as much experience with the Lambda Driver as Sergeant Sagara? He might not be able to design and build one, but I don't think you'll find anyone that knows the capabilities of the system better than he does. Agreed?"
"Agreed, Madam Captain."
Kalinin closed his copy of the report. He noticed the other names on the front of the cover and said. "I don't recognize the other two names on the report. Dr. Wade Load and a Mr. Ronald Stoppable. A shame, these men are geniuses!"
Mardukus shook his head, "I don't know about Dr. Load, but calling Ronald Stoppable a genius is a…..misnomer." When he saw the other man looking at him, he continued. "The young man in question isn't stupid, but he is…distractible, let's say."
Tessa giggled while Kalinin looked from one to the other. Mardukus explained, "He was one of the members who came with Sergeant Sagara to escort LT Wiseman home. While he was here the only time he seemed focused was during the departure ceremony. Beyond that…."
Tessa broke in giggling harder saying, "I spoke to Kaname two weeks ago and she told me why they decided to try this. Mr. Stoppable was the one that came up with the ideas and suggested the uses for it. That's why they included his name on the proposal report. She was in the hangar at the GJ base with Sousuke and Team Possible…."
Kim, Ron, Wade and Kaname were standing to the side of a long rail that led into a tunnel. Looking up the tunnel they could see a small patch of sky at the end. They were currently inside the GJ hangar waiting for Sousuke to show up. He had gone to the locker room to change into his AS suit. They talked amongst themselves for the few minutes it took before Sagara returned.
When he did Ron asked the question that had been on his mind since that morning. "So what are we here for again, dude?"
"GJ has recently finished the electromagnetic rail launching system for the ARX7. Now I will not have to scale the mountain side and BASE jump to get airborne. All the tests have shown the system is functional. The only remaining test is live firing the ARX7."
"OH, so this is like the way they launch planes off of a carrier."
"Precisely. The flight pack for the AS does not have the ability to get the unit into the air from a standing start like the ones Load-sensei developed for you and Possible-san. It lacks the thrust-to-weight ratio"
"Wait a minute. Electromagnetic rail? Aren't those used for like KEW's and stuff?"
Kim just looked at her man. He never failed to surprise her, but she still had to ask. "Ron, how do you know about KEW'S?"
"Kinetic Energy Weapons? Saw it on a Science Fiction movie. Those are like a nuke without the atom. If ya have a Rail-gun in space and you can pound a ground target by hitting it with a piece of metal going God only knows how fast. If it's fast enough, you can level a city with a fifty pound bullet."
Then Ron looked at the ARX7 standing nearby, looked at the rail, the end of the tunnel, the ARX7, the rail. Kim knew that look. It was the same look Ron got on his face just before he start spouting about self activating laser and "Spinning Tops Of Doom" to Senor Senior, Senior. She kept her mouth shut. He had had a lot of good ideas in the past few months, and as long as he wasn't jabbering to a villain….
"Dude! You know what you need! You need one of those RATO packs, man! I saw this piece they did on those things on the Knowing Channel. You know what I'm talking about! They used to use them during the Vietnam War to get the C-130's off the ground when they didn't have enough runway. I bet that would get you in the air without having to be an electromagnetic bullet."
Wade pulled his ever present palmtop and started tapping. After a few quick figures he said, "Ron, that's not a bad idea! According to the thrust figures though, you would only need one of the four rockets in the pack to get airborne."
"So, leave them all there. Save 'em for something else. OOO, I bet you could even fire it while you're in the air. Like an afterburner, ya know? Ya wanna get in fast, ya hit the burner, RRRRRRRoooaallll, land take out the bad guys, BOOOM, and take off and then hit the burner again and ZOOOOM, you're gone before they even knew you were there! Maybe even takeoff more then once. The bad guys are chasing ya and ya land to hide out and take off again when they're looking the other way."
Kaname was stunned. She was stunned because she was seeing a sight she rarely saw: a stunned Sousuke Sagara. Meanwhile Ron kept going. As soon as Ron started jabbering Wade hit the recording function on his palmtop. He wasn't about to miss a good idea.
"If your peeps have your back they could be sending ya supply packs, like in Zombie Mayhem, ya know like how you're running around trying to pick up med packs or ammo! Hey, how bout putting on some air to air missiles or maybe a few Rockeyes to hit tanks on the ground. That would be Coolio!"
Ron paused in the middle of his monologue looking at the ARX7. "Dude, why do you to have wings on the flight pack? Can't ya use the Lambda Driver thingy to make 'em?"
Even the AI was surprised by the ideas coming from the blonde haired young man. Without waiting for Sousuke a say anything, the basso voice of the AI for the mecha said, "Calculating….Calculating…..Calculating. Assessment, it might be possible to use the Lambda Driver in such a fashion. Sergeant, this is a fascinating proposal. By removing the wings, the rest of the volume could be re-dedicated other functions such as increasing engine size and power or fuel capacity. Even the addition of some of the additional munitions mentioned would be possible."
The conversation would have continued, but the PA system called for Sousuke to board the ARX7 and prepare for launch. The launch system was different then the one on the De Danann. Whereas, the boat had unlimited overhead and more lateral space, the launch system for the base had to be carved out of the center of a solid granite mountain. Instead of standing, the mecha lay prone, as if it was already in the flight position and was thrown up the twenty-two and a half degree tunnel head first.
It was cut just wide enough for the wings and tall enough to allow a little clearance for the accelerating AS. The hardest part of building the system was at the far end. Where the Da Danann used a carriage for the AS to stand on, it was launched with the AS only to sink to the bottom of the sea. It was a cheap and expendable alternative to having the massive deceleration section at the end of the launch rail.
GJ didn't have the luxury of throwing expendable chunks of material downrange weighing a couple of hundred pounds. Unlike at sea, there might be someone under it when it landed.
Sousuke settled himself into the seat and pulled the harness into place. After a quick check of all systems he settled the AS onto the carriage where it activated electromagnetic clamp to hold the AS until it reached the end of the tunnel.
Having to hang face down wasn't that comfortable, but he had done it before during transport by helicopter. When the system had him secure and ready for takeoff, he reached up and pulled down a new safety device developed for this method of launching. The normal method meant his head was facing the direction of travel during takeoff. This one meant that the G Forces followed his spine. There was no way he could hold his head in place during takeoff and he could easily get hurt so a harness was installed to support his head until he was airborne.
With the harness fastened, he signaled his readiness to ground control. Radar showed clear skies and launch procedures started. Outside, the rest of the Team watched as they heard the flight pack engines spool up as the thrust apertures narrowed to increase thrust to maximum. While the engines spooled up, a rising, whistling whine was heard coming from the rail system. When both the engines and rail reached their peaks the rail was released with a BOOOOOM and the huge mecha was tossed down the tunnel almost faster then their eyes could follow. One second it was there, the next it was a third of the way up the three hundred meter tunnel and accelerating. Four seconds after launch it was gone.
The first words anybody could say was Kim, who in an awed voice said, "I have gotta try that!"
After hearing how the proposal in front of them had come about, Kalinin muttered, "I think we need to put this 'Mr. Stoppable' on our payroll. If Amalgam ever gets their hands on him it could spell disaster for Mithral in very short order."
After leaving the shoot house, Kim had gone in search of Wade, starting her search in the lab. When she entered the lab appeared deserted, only the Bonta-kun standing in the middle of the work area.
"Wade?"
"Yeah Kim."
She looked around, not seeing where the voice had come from. "Wade?"
"Just a second, Kim." The back of the mini-mecha split open and Wade pulled himself over the back of the pilots' seat. Landing on the floor he addressed the AI, "BK1, continue self-tests and diagnostics. Prepare result report when completed and stand-by for further orders."
"Ack-now-led-ged Doc-tor Load."
The voice that answered sounded very mechanical, not at all like the voices of the other AI's Kim knew about. She looked at Wade with raised eyebrow and a question in her eye. He said, "The AI has to use the speech protocols for a while before it can start to sound better. Should take about a week or so. What can I do for ya, Kim?"
"Wade, how long would it take to make a battle suit for everybody on the team?
"Well, let's see, it took six months to make yours, not counting some of the R&D work. Now that I know what works and what doesn't I think I can cut that in half, maybe more. Working on more then one at a time will reduce overall production time. Say four to six months. Why?"
"Can you crunch some numbers for me?"
He walked over to one of the stations and sat down, "Alright, what do ya got?"
She closed her eyes and her breath hitched as she asked, "What are the odds that if I had been wearing the battle suit, I could have stopped Du without having to shoot him?"
Wade silently looked at her for a second, turned to his keyboard and mouse and pulled up all the reports relating to the incident. He added calculations as how much the suit increased the wearers reactions, factored in the acceleration and top speed of the suit, shield capabilities, considered possible actions Du could have taken and came back with an answer. It wasn't everything Kim wanted to hear.
"Well, he couldn't have hurt you and you could have captured him without hurting him." Wade shivered, "But if he had decided to pull the trigger on me first, there would've been nothing else you could've done."
"How about if you had a suit? Could he have gotten to you?"
Wade snorted, "With those piddly little shock watches that GJ uses, not in a hundred years. After Synthodrone 901 knocked you out, I upgraded the shock protection in the suit so much even Sagara's Tazer wouldn't work."
"Well that's something. I'll clear it with Ron, but I want you to start putting together a suit for everybody. We'll go without them for now but I wanna get everybody protected as soon as we can."
"The hard part will be having the suits shield system not blowing off anything you might be wearing or carrying. I'll have to redesign a lot of the suit and upgrade the sensor and computer interfaces." He turned back to the computer and opened the files on the battle suit. "Let's see. Add an armor under layer to replace the IBA'a, adding modular webbing for carrying ordinance, custom holsters for weapons. This is going to take at least six months, Kim. But that's not going to be problem. The problem will be Ron."
"Ron? Why would Ron be a problem? He's wanted his own suit since the night of the Diablo's."
"Oh Ron would wear it. Kim I haven't mentioned it 'cause you haven't asked, but there's something about Ron that fries electronics."
"What?"
"His locater chip got toasted during your Graduation, I slipped him another one and it got fried when he went to Senior's place, same thing happened at Gemini's lair. Every time he uses his MMP, he fries electronics."
"But nothing happened to his headset."
Wade went to a file cabinet, opened a drawer and pulled out one of the headsets he had developed for the team. Handing it to her he asked, "What do you notice about this thing?"
She looked it over, nothing jumping out to her and he said, "Everywhere the headset might come into contact is insulated. Same thing with his Kimmunicator. It's the same size as your old handheld, but the internals are smaller. There's more insulation to protect the electronics making up the difference. I can't do that with the suits. There has to be skin contact in order for the suit work."
She really didn't like it, but she knew it was the best she was going to get. "I'll talk to Ron, but go ahead start setting it up."
The call had come in that there was a town about to be wiped out by a failing dam and the word had gone out for any and all assistance. So the Duck was loaded on a lowboy with a State Police car leading the way and the Sloth flying along side. They were all pacing the lowboy, while, in the cab, the owner/operator was driving hell-bent-for-leather.
Team Possible quickly laid out a plan, working with the Rescue teams. Team Possible would handle the smaller ones, while the Rescue teams, assisted by a Blackhawk Company from the Air National Guard, would concentrate on the larger groups.
Ron and Kaname in the Sloth would collect people and ferry them to either higher ground or out of the danger zone depending on the locations, while Sagara, Kim and Wade, using the larger transport capacity of the Duck, would gather the flood victims from the collection points.
In the cab of the truck the driver said in a gruff voice, "Don't worry Miss Possible. The ole 'Pork Chop Express' will get ya there soon."
Kim was still a little downbeat, but gave her usual quip, "We wanna thank you for the ride, Mr. Burton"
The driver answered, "No problem, least I could do after your boyfriend helped me get that troll off my truck. I gotta ya tell though, I seen a lotta weird shit; Everything from a dude with lighting coming from his hands to flying Chinese assassins and a two thousand year old dead Chinaman trying to come back from the grave. But that sword of his takes the cake!"
Wade just shook his head, remembering writing up that log entry. Sagara, head turning like it was on a swivel, just stared at Kim and asked, "Troll?"
Kim just shrugged, saying, "No big. That's just one of the reasons Ron carries a magic sword."
Sousuke asked again, "Troll?"
The driver, Jack Burton answered, "Yea, a troll! It was an unwanted souvenir I picked up after I helped some friends of mine back in San Francisco's Chinatown. Ugliest damn thing ya ever saw. Anyway, it hid under the frame until I stopped to fuel up and get some grub at a truck stop close to Middleton. I parked the truck and got out. I turned around and ducked just as it took a swipe at my head."
"Sir, at that range you're lucky to have avoided the strike."
"It's all in the reflexes. So I shucked the pistol I was carrying, but the sucker shrugged off the 9mil rounds I was using like rain off a roof. Somebody saw what going and, sensibly, instead of calling the cops 'cause cops got better things to do then get killed, hit them up. Only reason I didn't get kilt was that I was able to outrun it. Next thing I know, they showed up and her boyfriend barreled into the troll with this weird assed sword. After a couple a swipes the troll ran back to the truck. I guess it thought since the truck got it there, it could get it home. Who knows?"
He glared a Kim a bit and said, "Did you know trolls blood eats paint. It was weeks before I got Pork Chop's paint job fixed.
Wade was having more fun in the last four months then he had in the rest of his life. He was going on missions, he was getting to be in better shape than at any other point in his life, he had more things to play with and more room, equipment and funds to create things than ever before. Kaname had helped him get the Whispers under control, Kim had been teaching him self defense, he was around Ron more and that led to more ideas and Sagara had given him the confidence to begin to come out from under the cloud of his agoraphobia.
When Sagara had bought the Duck, it had been like no vehicle he had ever seen. And considering he had seen in the Sloth, seen Drakken and Ed's DoomVee, helped James Possible with the Kepler II and tracked Kim as she took her drivers test in SADIE that was saying something.
He tracked down a few of the mechanics that had worked on DWUK's through the years and gotten their input. Then he called Ed Lipsky. Between the two of them they had made some changes to the old military vehicle. Ed had to be talked out of overpowering the engine to the point the multi-ton truck would pull wheelies, but he had rebuilt the engine and transmissions to better than the original specs.
Wade had contacted a few experts in marine propulsion technology and replaced the original marine propeller drive with a more efficient, higher power azipod system. Before, the Duck would only go about six miles an hour in the water, and it took time and space to make a turn. It was only a few miles an hour faster; there was only so much you do with that hull design, but now it would turn inside its own radius.
At the pintle mount he added at satellite uplink and GPS receiver. At the passenger's position, he replaced part of the dash with a rugged, waterproof computer system that linked to the servers back at the lab. Working with Sagara and Ron, they had gone through the wiring and replaced every scrap of it with a better wiring harness and sealed anything that could be shorted.
After Sagara drove the Duck off of the lowboy, Kim and Wade climbed up into the amphibian. Wade took a position on the front cowling, hooking a lanyard to the safety harness he was wearing, to watch for obstacles and Sagara turned down the hill where the Rescue Units had up the command post and headed to the flooding town.
The dam up the valley from the town wasn't one of the massive concrete and steel hydroelectric constructions more common in more mountainous regions. Where those were three, four or even seven hundred feet high, this one was less then 100 feet high, but it was a mile long.
The lake had been created by expanding a smaller lake with the use of several saddle dams upstream and the building of the main dam across the outlet. Its purpose had been as a reservoir for flood prevention and summer irrigation. It also doubled as an area recreation center providing water skiing, boating and fishing on a lake that was 75 miles long, an overall average width of two miles and an average depth of sixty feet. It was a lot of water to be held in place by four million cubic yards of earth, stone and concrete.
The problem had two parts. First there was the warm spell that melted a lot of the snow in the lower areas upriver. At the higher elevations winter still held its grip. But below that the ground was nearly clear of the white stuff.
Second was that a small, nearly unnoticed and un-remarked tremor had shaken the composite dam causing a series of faults and cracks in the dam centering above the original riverbed, letting the water flow under and through the dam, rather than flowing over the top of the spillways, washing out the base of the dam.
When the runoff from the melting snow hit the weakened dam it was too late. By the time anyone realized that there was a problem the dam had partially collapsed, flooding the town that had been there a hundred years before the dam was even considered.
The first indications that there had been a problem with the dam had been when the local Sheriff had driven past it about 10:30 the night before looking for teenagers in the backseats of their parents' cars and noticed that the large creek at the base was starting to overrun its banks. Not an unknown occurrence. The next sign was early that morning when the town's residents were awakened to water rising into their homes.
The overflow had turned the streets into 4 to 6 foot deep fast flowing streams in most places. There were small hills dotting the township, but most were less then 50-60 feet high. Far enough to get out of the way of the rising water. Unless, as the Corp of Engineers feared, the whole dam gave way. The water was flowing so strongly that boats had a hard time working their way upstream into the flow. This was one of the reasons Team Possible had been called. The Duck was amphibious, but it was big enough that it could drive along where a boat had a hard time moving. It was also stable when stopped as long as it wasn't floating, making it a lot easier to hold in place to collect refugees.
In the distance, they could see the dam, a stream of water almost 20 feet across spewing from the base, thirty-five feet into the air washing out more and more of the dam's foundation. There was no stopping it from collapsing. It was just a matter of when.
And when it happened, over two hundred and fifty billion cubic feet and over one billion tons of water would come driving down the valley flattening anything in its way like a steamroller over hot asphalt. It would flow up and over the hillocks and high spots like rocks and pebbles in a stream. The wall of water would crush everything in its path for ten miles downstream before the ground opened back out, letting the water level drop and subside.