Senshi Sabers

Chapter 47

"Greetings, Tokyo," Seiya Kou was holding a press conference, and it was VERY well attended, "As you know, Three Lights Security is our bleeding edge organization intended to protect customers from modern dangers. And today we're unveiling our new product."

There were excited murmurs from the reporters. They knew it was big, but no leaks on what they were debuting had come out.

The sliding panel behind them shifted, and Seiya continued, "I give you our new series of manned armor, Guardian!"

Cameras flashed as they took in the sleek, humanoid armor. It was bulkier than a Senshi suit, but was phenominally lighter compaired to most police armors and most military designs. They had also designed a smooth outer layer both for looks and to bounce bullets off.

"Will the ADP be using these suits?" a reporter called.

"We are willing to sell them to the ADP," Seiya replied. Which was only sort of an answer, of course.

"The design resembled the Senshi Sabers' suits. Is that their origin?" another asked.

"The design is, in part, reverse engineered from those designs," Seiya replied.

(Ami Mizuno had asked to keep her name out of this, so they were going with this cover story. It annoyed Seiya, honestly, but those were her wishes.)

"You will be offering a security service as well?"

Seiya smiled charmingly, "Yes, we will be contracting with several companies in the city. Announcements will be coming soon."

Seiya fielded several more questions, then they came to a close. "Thank you all for coming out," they finished.

"We really need to work on the air-con," Loni noted as the armor pilots removed helmets and relaxed after the show.

"It's not THAT bad," Seiya protested.

"Have you worn it?" Loni challenged.

"Yes, actually," Seiya said. They added, "Admittedly, it was custom made."

"We should totally make you into our mascot," Loni teased.

"Yeah, yeah," Seiya chuckled quietly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"WHY don't we have those?!" Usagi blurted.

"Money," Chief Haruna said bluntly.

"Oh," Naru nodded.

"Yeah," Haruna nodded. "We ARE in negotiations with Starlight and in our financiers to get it done. But it's still in process."

"Here's a question," Usagi started, "are we going to pay to have them come in and assist?"

Haruna just scowled at her.

"Yes?" Naru prompted.

"Probably," Haruna conceded very reluctantly, "it'll be tackled on a case by case basis. For now, you're expected to use the K Suits."

"Oh god those suck," Usagi sighed quietly.

"Yeah, yeah," Haruna waved it off. Changing the subject she said, "Mistress Nine. What's going on with that?"

"We think she was responsible for an attack on Infinity, over in the eastern city," Naru said a bit hesitantly.

"We think?" Haruna echoed.

"They destroyed the facility in a bombing. No security footage, no witnesses ad it was midnight, almost a completely clean attack," Usagi explained.

"How did you determine it was a bio-boomer attack?" Haruna asked.

"After canvasing the whole district, we found security footage showing them entering the facility," Usagi said.

`"We kind of argued on that," Naru added, "the company uses a bio-boomer cleaning service, could have been them."

"Point," Haruna conceded. She asked, "Do we know what they were after?"

"We can't confirm the contents of the facility," Usagi said, "and Hotaru Tomoe won't give us a listing of whatever was there."

Haruna frowned, "Really?"

"Not without a warrant, anyway," Naru agreed. She sighed, "I thought we were getting along better with them."

"Was it Hotaru herself or a staffer?" Haruna asked.

"Staffer," Usagi admitted. She blinked, "Should we call her directly?"

"Worth a shot," Haruna agreed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"They did WHAT."

Kaori winced visibly at seeing Hotaru Tomoe actually pissed. "They turned down a police information request and demanded a warrant," she admitted.

"Can I just fire the idiot?" Hotaru asked rhetorically.

Kaori decided to answer it anyway, "Sorry, no. It was policy under your father, and he has everything in writing."

Hotaru sighed, "Of course it was." She rubbed her eyes tiredly, "Get a summary of what the facility did, get it to the ADP."

"Ma'am," Kaori nodded.

Hotaru toggled through screens, frowning, "Why would Mistress Nine hit an advanced medical prosthetic lab?"

"Good question," Kaori admitted, watching her boss think. The woman was, in many was, quite brilliant...

Hotaru paused, then nodded. "They want to stop us from detecting them," She mused. She then explained, "Nine knows we can spot her infiltrators. She might be hoping to apply the improvements to evade us."

"Should I pass that on to the Senshi and Starlight?" Kaori asked.

"Yes, but tag it as a theory," Hotaru cautioned, "I could be wrong."

'I doubt that,' Kaori mused.

"All right, anything else on fire?" Hotaru asked wryly.

"Nothing's on fire, there are a few things smouldering," Kaori answered wryly as they ran through various things.

Hotaru stretched, "Nicely done, Ms Knight. Have you had lunch yet?"

"No," Kaori admitted. "Care to join me, boss?"

Hotaru smiled wryly, "Yeah, I could eat..."

Kaori FIRMLY squashed a lewd suggestion or two.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Beryl calmly splattered the man's head against the wall. Bloody gore dripped between her fingers, splashing on the floor.

"Mistress Nine," Beryl reported, "target is NOT at this location."

In torturing Dr Yuri, they had gotten a lead on a researcher who's work paralleled Dr Tomoe. They were getting on in years, and had been put in a home, but annoyingly they were not where the data said they were.

Viluy answered her, "The Mistress is in sleep mode. Are there indications that they were there recently?"

"Accessing files," Beryl stepped over the body to get at a console. The computer system was ancient, the security non-existent. "The subject was removed by a relative," she noted, "accessing their personal data."

"Continue operation," Viluy ordered, "but maintain covert status."

"Understood," Beryl said as she looked at the body. 'Ooops.'

The 'electrical accident' burned the office and the body, while it was contained to the one area. Beryl slipped away, taking public transit away to another district. The address was in one of the many lower income housing blocks that dotted the city.

'Interesting,' Beryl got into the building easily, then headed to the apartment with her target.

There was a young couple, pushing a older woman in a wheelchair. Beryl instantly recognized her target of Risa Meru.

"So grandma is totally senile, now?" the man noted.

"I wish you wouldn't say that in front of her," the woman fretted.

"Well, it's not like she knows," the man sighed. "When do we have to take her back to the facility?" he asked.

"Tonight," the lady sighed. "I was hoping seeing home might help, a little."

Beryl listened covertly. Staying hidden meant not acting yet, besides she could grab the target after they were returned to the care home. Posing as a nurse would also be more efficient.

To be continued...

Notes: I do want to figure out a better fight at some point. I had mentioned that Starlight was developing better armor, will follow up on that too. Plus I still need to follow up on Makoto, and if she wants to carry on being a Senshi.