Fan Fiction

Enlistment of Lies - part 1

Written by Danika Kenn

A small note:

This is the first time I have written a fanfic, so hopefully it won't be my last since this part of it is only the first chapter <grin> I decided to write a Bubblegum Crisis Fanfiction since it came about me wanting to run an actual BGC RPG game. Alas, I could not since only one person in my group of friends had actually seen the series, and my other friends only wanted to play it since it had cyberpunk themes to it. I guess I really did not want to do it I suppose since I just came off of running a two year WereWolf Campaign . So I trashed that whole thing and decided to write a story about my favorite anime instead.

I would like to thank Jeanne Hedge and TERCELDRGR of the bgcrisis newsgroup for their comments when I first started to write this and to my friends that proof read this and I kept bugging for feedback. You know who you are. All of it truly helped thanks! Of course, any and all comments are appreciated and can be sent to dalethria@hotmail.com

Now for that legal boring stuff: The Knight Sabers and ADPolice are created and owned by Artmic and Youmex, as well as all characters and basic concepts. This storyline and the character of Renee Miyako were created by myself.

Another Story of the Knight Sabers: MegaTokyo 2032...

The nightlife of MegaTokyo was a silent comfort for the passenger of a lone motorcycle on this stretch of highway. The lights danced off her helmet and her jacket flapped in the wind as she sighed contentedly. It was too early for her to be completely alone on the road though. Smiling to herself, she decided that she would let loose for once. Revving the engine, she darted the custom racer around the other cars, gaining speed till she was well past the limit. To her, this was what she loved. It is the freedom that draws her to ride. There are no worries on the road. It is only you and your bike, as everything seems to fade into background. The future seems so far away...A sound brought her back to the present. Cursing under her breath, she turned the beeper off that was clipped to her belt. It was a priority alert and she needed to check in to see what the problem was.

(Shit. I can't even have a night off can I?), she thought as she turned onto an off-ramp and headed to the nearest phone booth. As she merged with the local traffic, she saw a booth next to a diner, the broken neon-red sign casting a shadow upon it. Cutting someone off, she changed lanes and proceeded to ride over to it. She heard the curses from the driver she pissed off, but ignored them as she parked her bike in front of the phone booth.

Dismounting from the bike, she pulled off her black helmet. Her long strands of brown hair, slightly streak with blond, fell to her shoulders as she walked towards the booth. She slid the door open and stepped inside, kicking the door closed behind her. While pulling out her phone card, her green eyes flashed with annoyance. Placing the card in the slot, she dialed the number and waited for someone to pick up. Considering that this was an emergency, she did not have to wait long. A young operator of the ADPolice appeared on the monitor of the videophone, and from the looks of things, she did not want to be the one answering.

Before the red-haired officer could speak, she was cut off. "What the hell is the emergency and be quick about," said the rider with a scowl.

The officer heard the edge in her tone and winced. "Thereisanincidentoveratinthe AkihabaraareaLt.Miyako.Youwerepostedforemergenciestonight.Youneedtoheadoverthere rightaway." The girl spoke so fast that the rider had no idea what the hell she was saying.

"Please slow down so I can understand you, " Miyako said through clenched teeth. She was in no mood for this crap right now with a flighty dispatcher.

"Sorry sir!" She had to stop acting like this, the officer thought, but this woman was unnevering her. Calming down, she tried again. "There is an incident over in the Akihabara section. You were posted tonight for emergency pages."

"What am I needed for? I assume that there was a team sent out to take care of the problem?" Then it hit her what the officer had just said. "What the hell do you mean I was posted tonight? This is my day off!"

"I-I don't know Lieutenant. All I know is that you are. You can see for yourself when you come down to the station," she said with a smile, praying that would placate her so she did not ask any further. Miyako just glared at her waiting for her to continue as her fingers drummed on the side of the glass.

Seeing that Miyako was waiting and annoyed, she spoke up. "Y-you are to proceed to the incident and be briefed when you get to the site. I don't know anymore then you now," said the young woman, hoping that this conversation would end.

A small growl escaped from Miyako's throat and the woman on the other end of the line sunk down in her chair, prepared for a lashing. "Fine! I will be on my way!" Pulling out the card, she opened the door and put her helmet back on. Kicking a nearby garbage can over, scaring the people nearby, she jumped on her bike and turned the engine over. Not even looking for any oncoming traffic, she drove off in an angry peel.

******

Back at the ADPolice station, Nene Romanova sighed as she watched the screen go blank. Her last image of a very angry Lt. Miyako was burned into her mind. (I thought that I could handle most people, dealing with Priss all the time.) Closing her eyes, she knew that she was wrong. (Oh who am I kidding. I hate confrontations.) Working at her station, she brought up the display for calling Sylia. Looking around the communications room, she saw the commotion of people. No one will be able to notice her making a call to brief her on the situation. Finally her call went through, and the smiling face of Mackie's image appeared on the screen.

"I need to speak to your sister right away Mackie," Nene whispered into her headset as she started to feed the information to Sylia's computer.

******

Racing to get to the shopping district, Miyako was going over in her mind what could possibly be wrong. All her anger was gone. Miyako had a job to do and she would deal with the idiot that made the schedule later. She needed a clear mind to handle how potentially lethal this situation could turn out. Depending on where the Boomer was, and what type it was, many people could die in the crossfire. (I hope that nothing bad has happened already. I do not want to be riding into a war zone.) That was the last thought as she pulled up to the barricade. She flashed her badge to the officer containing the crowd. With a salute, he moved aside the horse, and she rode through.

About two units were here from what she could gather. Transports and police cars were scattered around the area with their lights flashing like a beacon for Miyako to follow. Looking around for the nearest officer, she saw a group of four frontliners sitting next to an ADP Troop Transport. Their guns were down at their sides, but they were still suited up ready for action. She was happy to see that the ADPolice were waiting to go in, instead of the chaotic mess that most incidences go. Securing her bike, she jogged over to them. One of them noticed her approaching and pointed towards Miyako's direction. The other officers turned and tried to look like they were busy doing something. Miyako chuckled. When she was finally close enough to the group, Miyako asked, "Have the civilians been cleared? How many Boomers are there?"

"There's only one Boomer that has gone nuts, sir. It's held up in one of the electronics stores, and there are still people inside." Taking his goggles off he continued, pointing towards the store with his thumb over his shoulder, "The area around has been secured but we haven't moved in yet. We got a call from HQ that you were on the way, and we were to stand down till you got here. Our only orders were to secure the area and make sure that no one gets hurt."

"What type of Boomer is it?"

"One of the retail Boomers. You know the ones that are behind the registers. It started acting strange about thirty minutes ago. We got the call and we were ready to go in, but it has civs sir. I guess that's when HQ called you."

"Who's in charge here?"

"That would be Detective Wong sir."

"Thank you officer. Get back to your buddies," Miyako said with a wink. She remembered the front lines all too well and how boring it could get with waiting around for something to happen.

Walking over to the men stationed around Gengi's Electronics store, she saw the head of Daley poking out of one of the patrol cars. Making her way over there, Daley saw her and breathed a sigh of relief. The flamboyant redhead stood up to greet her. Leaning on the car with his hand on his hip, Daley smiled, "About time you got here Renee. We've been at a stand off for some time now."

Looking in the patrol car, she noticed that it was empty. "Where's Leon? I was hoping to give him some shit since that would make me coming out here more worth it," said Renee in a disappointed, but mischievous tone.

Daley laughed and patted her on the back, always amused at the two ex-partners. "He is over by the coast fixing up some loose ends down there. Right now though, we have other things to worry about."

He proceeded to tell her about what occurred in more detail. The Boomer started attacking the customers and even pulled one over the counter from what witnesses reported. It is estimated that there are about four to six people still in there. What makes this situation worse is the Boomer got a hold of the owner's weapon that he kept underneath the counter. A long breath escaped Renee's mouth as she thought about the best course of action. As her brow furrowed in concentration, she knew more then likely she would have to go in with only a few men to get this done. Anymore, and those people are dead. Both Daley and Renee agreed that the Boomer was not well maintained or it was overworked to cause it going berserk. (Alright now. I have to get in there soon to save those people. The longer that we sit here, the more likely the chance those people are going to die.)

*******

On a nearby rooftop, three lone figures watched the scene playing out from the shadows. All but one looked on with interest as the ADPolice stood off against the rampant Boomer inside the store. Everything proceeded along as normal until the Knight Sabers actually arrived at the scene. Sylia and Mackie were already there when Priss and Linna showed up. They suited up inside the Knight Sabers Trailer and were ready to go, but to look at the situation now there seemed no logical reason for them to be here. They came prepared for a fight, but instead received orders to not engage the Boomer. Priss looked upon Linna and Sylia gazing down at the street with confusion. She could not even gather why Sylia actually ordered the Knight Sabers to do nothing but observe. (I don't get it. It's one damn Boomer. On top of that, it's not even a Combat Boomer. Why the fuck are we here?) Masked by her helmet, no one could see Priss roll her eyes as she began to pace between the two ventilation ducts.

Hearing the movement behind her, Sylia turned to look over at the restless Knight Saber. "What is the matter Priss?" Sylia asked.

"What's the matter? I'll tell you. The matter is we're sitting here doing nothing, while watching the ADPolice," pointing towards the commotion with her armored hand,

"Doing nothing. How's that for an explanation?" Priss spat back. She was even more on edge then usual since Sylia called her, once again, when she was practicing with the Replicants. At the rate that things were going, she probably won't have to be fired...again; her band would probably walk out on her for disappearing so much.

"There is always a reason why we are called Priss. Sylia doesn't call us for nothing," Linna said, defending their leader.

Sylia put up a hand towards Linna. "There is no need to help me explain my reasons for bringing us here now. We are to observe this operation and not get involved." The last part was spoken as if directed towards Priss personally.

"We're suppose to watch those assholes try to take down a Boomer? You've got to be kidding me! This is a waste of time and I'm outta here!" Waving her hand in defiance, Priss started to turn and walk off. Linna stood up to say something, but was so in shock that she had no idea what she could possibly say to make Priss stay. Sometimes even she couldn't believe how unruly Priss can be towards Sylia.

Before Priss could take more then two steps, Sylia interjected. "Trust me. Things will become clearer after this is over."

Mumbling under her breath, Priss turned around and stared at the silver-gray helmet of Sylia's suit. If she walked away now, Priss knew that Sylia would not stop her. After a few moments of uncertainty, she relaxed a little and decided to stay, not really knowing why. (Sylia has a lot of fucking explaining to do when we get back though.) "Alright, fine. We could be doing something more important tonight, but if you want us to babysit the ADPolice, then so be it," Priss said in a mocking tone.

Walking closer to the edge of the building, moving where Linna sat, she looked down at the small figures scrambling around the store. Looking for something to watch that might be interesting, she noticed that a motorcycle pulled up through the barricade, and what a bike it was. Letting out a whistle of appreciation, Priss looked closer at the machine through the sensors of her helmet. From the look of the bike, it was a custom made Kinju 220. That particular model could reach speeds up to 220kph.

"Wonder how much faster that bike can really go?" Priss asked out load without realizing.

Linna looked up and over to her. "What was that Priss?"

Priss turned her head towards Linna, a bit confused. "Eh?"

"You mumbled something."

"Oh...It's ah, nothing important," Priss said quickly, thankful that the helmet hid her embarrassment. She then turned her head back down to look at the motorcycle. The black and purple chassis was sleek in design as the chrome gleamed with a recent waxing. Following the lines, it led up to the tinted windshield and the computer system, which was definitely something that the rider installed. It was not the standard issue Priss knew that the bike came with. Looking over the outside with a more critical eye, she noticed the hydraulics outfitted on the frame was installed with precision too. It would be hard for the engine to over-heat from what she could tell. This was one class job.

Hearing this exchange between the two, Sylia permitted herself to smile. She knew what caught Priss' attention. She looked over at woman in the cobalt blue Hardsuit and sighed inwardly. She was not exactly sure how she was going to tell her, not to mention Linna, what this mission was leading up to. She had been planning on this for months since the death of Mason, but she did not think the pieces would be in place so soon. The only person that had an idea what Sylia was planning was Nene. There was no getting around the fact that Nene was needed in the earlier stages, but she had to keep Linna and Priss in the dark. It was difficult to ask Nene to keep the mission from her friends and she protested, but in the end she did agree that it was the only way. She eventually became excited about the whole prospect. Sylia knew that Linna would understand and be wary at first perhaps, but Priss...Once she finds out the reason why they are here, and compounded with the fact that she has been lying to her, Priss will be quite angry.

Gazing back down at the street, her attention became focused on the woman talking to six other officers, one of them dressed in plain clothes.

******

"Okay, here's what we're going to do first," Renee started, looking over the group of officers she picked for going inside. "First of all, Daley, send one of the units back to HQ. They won't do any good here now. Plus, it will help to try and calm down some of the gawkers hanging about."

Daley nodded, "What about the ones that are inside still? They do have part of the floor surrounded from the back of the building."

She turned towards Daley and checked her handgun. "As we go in, we are going to pull them out. They're going to wait out here in case the Boomer comes outside and take care of it if it does." The last part emphasized with her clip clicking into place. Renee looked up and watched Daley wink at her and then go off to start giving the orders.

"Considering that this is an older model, we are going to try and short out its circuits," she explained. Taking off her leather jacket, she put on a riot vest that Daley gave her. She continued, "Reisan, you're with me in taking the Boomer down. For the rest, your priority is to get the people out. I don't care if you see us in trouble, you protect those people and get the hell out of there as fast as you can. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!"

Bringing out a small silver instrument, she presented it to her team. "This is a device to knock out its neural circuits. This box has a magnet attached so I need to get just close enough to throw it on. This is the only way to take it down without a catastrophe. Reisan, you will cover me. Hopefully will be enough of a distraction so the others can get those people out."

"Yes sir. I got your back."

Renee winced at his last statement, and then kicked herself mentally for letting that bother her. Placing the device into her padded vest, and bringing up her pistol, she looked towards the store. It was time to get down to business. "Alright guys. We have been getting a lot of shit from the media lately. Let's pull this off and give them something good to talk about the ADPolice." Nods and murmurs of agreement could be heard from the group. "If there are no questions, let's get going 'round back."

******

Seeing the small group head off, Sylia put in a call to Mackie. "They are heading in. Is everything in place? I want to make sure I get a good visual from inside the store."

Coming over her radio, she heard her younger brother's reply, <Sis, I told you when we got here that it wouldn't be a problem. You did released it when you went over the building right?>

"Yes."

Sylia waited patiently as Mackie started the program for the bug that he made for her. She was able to attach it to the window of the store before the ADPolice showed up, as well as Priss and Linna. The device could pick up only optical images; it could not record sound. That was all right. Sylia only wanted to observe how the situation was handled, not hear how it was going to be solved. A small flicker occurred on her display and an image appeared. It was full of static and lines waving around wildly. She could barely make out shapes.

"Mackie..."

The image slowly started to become clear and finally Sylia could see the inside of the store. She could see the form of the Boomer pacing around the store gripping an automatic pistol in its hand. The clothes that it once wore were ripped to shreds and it hardly seemed damage at all. Towards the back of the room, near a pair of knocked over speakers, Sylia saw the people that were still inside. <I told you Sis. Not a problem.>

******

Moving swiftly around the nearest building, Miyako saw two officers outside the backdoor of Genji's as she turned the corner. Both of the men saw the group coming their way and became less tense. Running up, she gave them the signal to fall back. Nodding, the two officers ran back the way the other group came. Motioning to the door, Reisan came forward. On the count of three with his hand, he opened the door. The four other grunts moved in with Miyako and Reisan backing them up.

Shelves full of electronic equipment and boxes greeted them as the group walked in. Wires hanging from boxes and pieces of parts were scattered all throughout the room. Sighing, Miyako stepped carefully around the garbage as best she could. (No wonder the owner's Boomer went crazy. Look how he keeps his storage room.) Looking around she could see that four other officers were here. Since everything was secure back here, Miyako told her team to stand down. Walking up to the one stationed by the door, she asked what the situation was now.

Looking over to Miyako, his brown eyes showed visible signs of relief. "The Boomer just keeps pacing back and forth, sir. It has an automatic pistol and that's it. There are five people being held up in there. They are huddled together in the back corner by the stereo equipment. We did try and go in the moment that we got here, but it fired at us and we pulled back in here."

"It has not fired on the civilians yet?"

"Yes and no." He could see the confused look on Miyako's face. "It has not fired at them if they don't move. We tried to see if they would crawl out towards us by the door, but that didn't work. It fired at them to stop them, but wouldn't kill them. It did kill at least one person though when it first started acting up from what we can see from here."

"That's strange even for a Boomer to act. Normally Boomers just kill anyone around them," Miyako said. "What is your name?"

"Huh? Oh, it's Jensen sir."

"Alright Jensen. Good job." Pointing to her group, she continued, "My team is here to finish this mess. Take your guys outside with the rest of the unit. Tell the men in front of the building to take cover. I don't want anyone getting shot through the window when we come through." Saluting, he fell back with the other three officers. Getting a hair-tie from her pocket, she pulled her hair back and walked over to the door leading to the sales floor.

******

All he could hear was the clanging sound of the Boomers footsteps. With its every step, his body could do nothing but freeze up, almost to the point he felt like he was having convulsions. He wanted to cry out so someone could find him, but he dared not move. He did not want the Boomer to get a hold of him again and hurt him like it did. It was safe underneath all the shelves that fell on top of him.

It happened so quickly. All he wanted to do was buy a new headset for his radio. Everything was fine until the Boomer gave him back his change. That thing grabbed him and threw him over the counter. He hit the shelves hard with his back and fell to the ground. Not sure what was happening when his head cleared, the gunshots and the pain he felt throughout his body told him enough. As long as he stays here, everything will be fine. (Boomers don't run forever and the ADPolice will take care of the problem), he thought to himself. With that, he realized that he was going to die.

******

Miyako looked out the window on the door and saw that the situation was the same as the officer had told her. Looking to where the Boomer was, she hoped that it continued to pace like it was doing now. "Hmm. Okay you," pointing to one of her men. "On my signal, you're to open the door and then cover the people escaping. Reisan, we're going to go in guns blazing to distract it. The rest of you, move the people out through the back."

Sounds of rifles being readied were heard as everyone took their places. Standing next to Reisan, Miyako looked rather small compared to his height and build. It was her eyes and her stance that set Miyako aside from the other officers here. It was the determination to give the ADPolice the respect it deserved that drove her so, as well as more personal reasons. She will not have to here a bunch of crap on the news tonight about her or this operation.

Through her headset, she received the confirmation that the unit in front of the store was in place. Taking a deep breath, she gave the order, "Reisan, NOW!!!"

As he kicked down the door, he immediately started to empty the chamber of his gun into the Boomer. Miyako came up beside him and began to do the same. Taking a quick glance behind her, she saw the three officers running in towards the group of people in the corner. (So far so good, let's keep it going that way), was her thought as she did a front roll to get closer to the Boomer. Firing her gun once, she ducked behind what was left of a display of videos and pulled out the device.

Finally the Boomer was able to process the information around it and brought up the gun. "Reisan, get down!" yelled Miyako. Thankful that he dodged out of the way, she saw him move closer to the Boomer. Realizing what he was planning, Miyako stood up from her cover with the device ready in hand.

Reisan was close enough that he batted the Boomer's gun hand away with his rifle, and turning the gun upwards, smacked it dead center on the machine's face. Seeing it off-balanced, Miyako threw the neural disabler at it. The magnet clamped onto the metal leg of the Boomer and a burst of electrical energy engulfed the figure. As the Boomer cried out, Reisan fell down in pain, as he was too close to it when the device went off. Miyako ran over to his limp form, dragging him out of the way. When she brought him over to the counter, Miyako covered his body with hers as the last burst took hold of the Boomer. With one last electronic howl, the machine fell to the ground, smoke escaping its frame.

"Next time, don't stand so damn close," Renee jokingly said as she helped the injured man to his feet.

Chuckling, he winced as he took a step. "I hope that there's not a next time with a situation like this." Hearing a muffled sound after he came to his senses, Reisan looked to see where it came from. "I think that there is someone over here behind the counter," he said rather confused.

Renee hopped over the glass counter and started to clear off the debris. To her surprise, she found a cowering man underneath. "Hey, you all right?" she asked. Looking him over, he had a severe gash on his back and his left leg was cut up as well. His was bleeding badly and needed medical attention right away. When he did not respond to her question, Renee put a hand on his shoulder, trying to see if he was conscious. As she did that, the man jumped up, knocking Renee off her knees. "AHHHHH!!! St-Stay away from me! It's gonna kill me!" he yelled, scurrying away.

"Look man, everything's fine now. The Boomer is toast," Renee soothingly said. (Freaked out Boomers and people tonight. Great.) Pointing towards the smoking pile, Renee walked closer to the frightened individual. "See. Nothing but spare parts."

"No, you can't fool me. I know you're one of them! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"

Knowing that nothing was going to calm this man down, Renee brought up her hand and slapped him right across his cheek. As the loud sound echoed in the deserted store, Reisan watched with his mouth open in disbelief that she did that. Irritated, Renee asked, "Now will you calm down?" The answer she got was him fainting and falling to the floor.

"Now I know I didn't hit him that hard," Renee said as Reisan was laughing hysterically.

"I know now to never piss you off Lieutenant," Reisan tried to say in-between catching his breath. The sound of footsteps behind him snapped Reisan back to attention.

The man that Miyako picked to cover the civilians escape walked through the door looking rather perplexed as to what was so funny. "Um...sir? We were able to clear out all the people with no trouble. They're being treated now for minor injuries."

"Excellent. I have one last job for you before you go back. Take this man to one of the ambulances. He has multiple contusions on his one leg and a nasty cut along his upper back. Be careful though, he's unconscious," Miyako stated, ignoring the snickers of amusements from Reisan. "After that, tell Daley that it is safe for a clean-up crew to come in."

"Yes sir."

Walking over to the limp form of the man, the officer picked up one his arms and put it around his shoulders. Miyako, feeling a bit guilty, helped to lift the man off the ground and then she proceeded to help move him towards the door. Reisan looked outside the store window. He was happy that things went well tonight and it was thanks to Lt. Miyako's quick thinking. His thoughts strayed as to why the ADP could not take control of these situations better and not have to call on a few people to get the job done right. As he was watching his fellow officer's move about in the streets, something caught his attention. (Damn! It can't be!) The reflection on the window revealed that the Boomer was starting to stand up.

Spinning around as fast as he could, still stunned from the backlash he took before, he brought his rifle up. "Miyako! Calvin! GET DOWN!"

It was too late; the Boomer already had one of its targets locked in site. Leveling the gun, it fired repeatedly, taking Calvin down. The extra weight of the unconscious man put Miyako off-balance. Letting go of the limp form, she brought out her gun and turned around. Before she could trigger her weapon, the Boomer fired first. The bullet lodged in her right shoulder and the force of the impact flailed her arm backwards. Falling to her knees, she yelled out in pain.

Watching his fellow officer's fall to the ground, he yelled, enraged, unloading his rifle into the Boomer. "DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

The bullets burrowed into the back of the machine, ripping the synthetic flesh apart. The Boomer, analyzing the new threat, spun around and charged the ADP officer. Whatever was keeping the Boomer contained before was gone now. All that was left was a rampaging Boomer sprinting full speed to kill this thing hurting it.

"Dammit!" Reisan shouted, seeing that the gun had no effect. He never saw a mad Boomer this up close before. He heard from the other officers about what it was like, but he never really paid much attention to it. He figured that they were exaggerating to make the story seem better and more dangerous. He was wrong. The bullets kept pounding into the Boomer but it would not stop. As it charged closer, the gray flesh was almost gone, the metal exoskeleton gleaming menacingly. Reisan tried to move out of the way, but he was frozen in fear. He wanted to dive for cover, but his feet stayed planted on the floor, his eyes fixated in terror of the silver beast

As the gun continued to fire it barrage of bullets, the Boomer slammed into Reisan gripping him tightly in a bear hug. The force of the impact knocked his gun away, sending it spinning across the floor. Reisan heard ribs snap under the weight of the Boomer as his body hit the window. Cracking under the strain, the window broke sending pieces of glass shards everywhere. The two forms tumbled onto the sidewalk where Reisan ended up on his back. His gas mask came loose and he could not tell what was going on, but the strong grip of the Boomer's hand around his neck sent him into a panic. Gasping for breaths, he tried pushing the Boomer off of him. The Boomer's strength was too much for Reisan as he felt his neck begin to close tighter and tighter.

******

Daley just finished calling HQ and briefed them about the situation when he heard gunfire start up again. "What on earth is going on now?" Running up closer to the cars nearest to the store, he saw what was happening. To his horror, he saw the Boomer and one of his officers come through the window. The Boomer had a death grip around the man's neck, and the officer was trying to fight back, but Daley knew that it was futile. Turning his head around, he heard the sounds of safety's being released as ADP personnel aimed for a shot to take the machine down. Before the men could open fire, the Boomer stood up holding the man in his grip in front of it.

"Don't shoot! You can't get a clear shot!" Daley gritted his teeth not sure what to do next. (Dammit! I hate feeling helpless!)

******

The sound of glass breaking brought Priss out of her reverie. Looking over the ledge of the building, she saw two bodies roll onto the sidewalk from the store. The other ADP officers scrambled their guns ready but they did not fire. The Boomer held the cop up above the ground now, its steel grip consuming the man's breath. Priss could stand it no longer. She hated the ADP, but she will be dammed to watch a Boomer kill someone when she could do something about it. Standing up, she jumped onto the ledge and looked for the best place to land to take on the Boomer.

Seeing Priss getting ready to enter the fray, Linna stood ready as well, waiting for the order to go in. "We should go in from two sides to take it down quickly. That way-" Linna was cut off by the voice of Sylia.

"I said that we are not to get involved. Stand down, both of you," Sylia said, her attention still focused elsewhere.

Linna nodded hesitantly, but she did obey. Priss on the other hand had other ideas. "Sylia, are you nuts? We're suppose to take down mad Boomers when the idiots in the ADPolice can't. I think this qualifies."

"It will be handled." Turning towards Priss, Sylia continued, "You see them as a whole, but they are individuals as well."

Priss was not sure what the hell Sylia was babbling about, or what she was trying to get at. She tried looking towards Linna for some sort of response to what Sylia meant. Linna just shrugged and put her hands up in confusion. Between the strange orders and Sylia being mysterious, Priss didn't know what to think anymore.

******

Reisan finally had a clear view of the Boomer that was going to kill him. The blank expression of his killer gave him no comfort as he felt himself starting to slip into unconsciousness. (Well that is that. Glad that the money in my life insurance will be put to use), he thought with strange amusement.

Preparing himself for his last breath, Reisan closed his eyes and let his body go limp. There was nothing that he could do, so it was better to die with dignity and not like some scared child. Suddenly, he heard a gunshot and then found himself falling to the ground. He landed hard on the concrete, holding his damaged neck. Through labored breaths, he pulled away his gas mask and threw it aside. Once his eyesight adjusted, he saw a welcomed site and smiled.

The site that greeted him, as well as the other officers, was Miyako holding the smoking rifle that Reisan dropped. Her right shoulder was bleeding profusely, and Reisan could tell by her features that she was hiding how badly it hurt. Looking down in front of him, he saw the headless Boomer crumpled over with various liquids spurting forth.

Letting the gun drop to the ground, Miyako sighed and brought her left hand to cover her wound. Grimacing, she stepped forward looking at all the officers that were taking aim in her direction. The bright emergency lights blurred most of her vision, but she could see most of the stunned faces in the sea of policemen. Miyako then looked down at Reisan. Taking in his image, she scowled. "Looks like I had your back instead huh?" she said as if the words were carved in ice.

Even if Reisan could speak, he would not know what to say. This was not the same person that he was just joking around with before in the store. He tried to slide back away from her, but he could not take his eyes away from her cold stare. Hearing footsteps behind him, he was grateful for the other members of his unit helping him up and moving him away to be treated. As Reisan limped away, he could still feel her eyes penetrating the back of his head.

Miyako watched Reisan being carried away by two officers and was barely aware of the men running passed her into the store. The anger that consumed Miyako seethed throughout her body. She tightened her hand around the wounded shoulder and the blood began to ooze in-between her fingers. Miyako felt alive knowing that the blood flowed from her, for it was a painful comfort as the swelling anger reached a plateau, remembering things long past.

Daley approached Renee with caution. Something was going on. She was too silent and her lips were starting to shiver. (She must be starting to go into shock), Daley thought as he walked towards her at a more brisk pace. Daley stopped in his tracks a few feet from Renee as she quickly turned her head and glared at Daley as if he were some stranger. Daley paused, unsure what to say. He had never seen Renee so upset before or so distant. Daley took a moment to choose his words carefully. "Renee, I am glad that you're alright. Come with me so we can treat you." Extending his hand to help her, he waited.

Renee could hear the comforting and caring tone in Daley's voice, but she was pass reason now. "This was suppose to be my night off," she whispered, her words laced with venom.

Trying to step forward, her head began to spin due to the loss of blood. The scene turned into a sea of dark colors and she lost her balance. Daley stepped forward and grabbed Renee to stop her from falling. Feeling hands on her, she jerked away and pointed a crimson colored hand at Daley. "You leave me the hell alone! I can take care of myself!"

Watching her walk off, Daley wondered what happened in there to make her react this way. Turning his attention over towards the ambulances, he made a mental note to talk to Reisan when he could.

******

"How the hell did you know that was gonna happen Sylia?" Priss asked amazed at what she just saw.

"I have my ways Priss." Sylia knew that answer would not satisfy her, but this was not the place to continue this discussion. Also, Linna is very patient but even she must be frustrated by now.

"Let us head back to my apartment and then everything will be explained as promised," Sylia said as she activated her suit's thrusters to jump to the next rooftop.

"Well it's about damn time. Let's go Linna."

Linna watched Priss follow Sylia and then turned her attention once more at the scene below. Inwardly, she agreed with Priss about this whole situation, but Linna chose not to be so vocal about it. She knew that Sylia would explain things in her own way and time. During her musings, she followed the injured ADP officer walking away from Daley. Linna was impressed by this officer's actions during the incident. A smile of amusement came to Linna's face as she realized that the officer reminded her of Leon and his recklessness. (I will have to ask Nene tonight about how she is doing. Not only physically, but mentally as well from the look of things.)

As Linna left to catch up to her teammates, little did she know that question would be answered soon.

(to be continued...)