New Orleans
Sei and Senshi
appeared on the moist bank of New Orleans' massive
Lake Pontchartrain at the same time - and neither man
needed time to gather his senses before turning to
the other with an angry expression etched firmly on
his face.
Sei was frustrated;
the blue raido shard he had been given by
Dr. Brachis just before fleeing Science Island
contained barely enough power to secure his own
teleportation - Senshi hanging on had almost
completely exhausted it, and he doubted whether he
had even enough left to return to Science Island to
collect more.
Senshi was annoyed;
he had just learned that Dr. Brachis, the woman he
trusted and respected above all others, was keeping
important information from him - information that
could gravely impact the security of Science Island
and the integrity of the Earth Defence/Leadership
Directorate. He felt betrayed, but also determined to
learn the truth; the whole truth.
"What have you
done...?" Sei growled. "You fool! It took
extra raido energy to bring you here,
increasing our chances of detection... and if anyone
saw you enter Dr. Brachis' office...!"
"I didn't
think..." Senshi replied. "But I don't
care. There's something going on here and if you, or
Dr. Brachis, or anyone else is doing anything to put
Science Island or the EDD at risk - "
"Us?"
Sei shook his head. "What do you think will
happen if Dr. Brachis is correct about Director
Satoshi and his men discover your sudden
disappearance? Do you not think that that will
put Science Island at risk?"
"Don't try -
"
Sei threw his hands
in the air and turned away from Senshi. He did not
know what to say, and despite Dr. Brachis' attempts
to explain Senshi's significance to her plans, he did
not see Senshi as anything other than a potential
liability. He started to walk, but turned back as he
heard a faint click! behind him.
He saw Senshi facing
him, his right arm outstretched, with a black handgun
in his hand. The barrel was pointed at the centre of
Sei's forehead and the barrel was cocked. Senshi was
calm, and that disturbed Sei more than anything else
possibly could have. Had Senshi been shaking, or
expressing obvious anger, Sei could have doubted
whether he would truly pull the trigger - but his
calm, cool expression told Sei that he was serious.
"Don't walk
away from me," Senshi said. "I am deputy
head of security of Alpha 7, and in the interests of
maintaining the security - "
"Wait,"
Sei interrupted. "Do you hear that?"
Senshi slightly
tilted his head to the side to listen to the noise of
the environment and, for a moment, allowed his
concentration to slip. Sei lunged forward and wrapped
both hands around Senshi's right bicep and pushed his
arm back. He then squeezed Senshi's forearm until the
other man cried out in pain and dropped his gun.
"I didn't
expect such an obvious trick from you," Senshi
smiled. "You sure fooled me."
Sei shook his head.
"It was not a
trick. I heard something. I can still hear
something."
Sei tilted his head
to listen but was careful not to take his eyes off
Senshi. Senshi sat on the damp ground and rubbed his
sore arm, and allowed his eyes to pass over the area
where his gun had fallen. Sei followed Senshi's gaze
and shook his head again.
"I must investi
- "
Sei was interrupted
as Yellow Robo's Lightning Jet streaked overhead,
flying low. It kicked up a strong wind in its wake
which knocked Senshi onto his back and almost caused
Sei to fall to the ground. He watched the Lightning
Jet as it passed to the other side of the lake and
swooped back around, and saw where it was going - a
massive pixie flapped its wings nearby, causing a
wind almost as the one which followed the Lightning
Jet.
Sei walked forward
and wrapped his fingers around Senshi's collar. He
lifted him up - easily one foot off the ground - and
shook him hard.
"I need to join
the fight," Sei said. "You do not follow
me. You do not get in our way. Go back to Science
Island. Help Dr. Brachis. Do you understand?"
Senshi sneered and
opened his mouth to speak, but Sei was not prepared
to listen - he threw Senshi backwards and the
black-clad guard fell into the muddy, shallow water
at the very edge of the lake. He was completely
submerged as Sei stuck his own arms out to the side,
then above his head, and shouted "Let's
go, Robo! Go! Robo Vehicles!"
His body was
illuminated by a blue glow as he felt the circuitry
embedded in his skin pulsate and send shards of metal
through narrow openings in the porous fabric of his
robosuit. The small metal pieces fused together and,
within only a few seconds, formed a long and narrow
closed-top blue-and-silver speedboat which settled on
the surface of the lake.
Water rippled behind
it and Sei saw Senshi's head emerge between the
waves. He ran forward and jumped onto the back of the
boat, carefully crouched low and faced Senshi.
"This is the Water Cutter. I could have made it appear
directly above you and keep you submerged. Are you
going to keep out of my way?" he asked.
Senshi shook his
head. His soaking wet hair flailed from side-to-side.
"You wouldn't
drown me," he said simply. "I'm not going
to be scared off."
Sei smiled.
"You are correct. I would never drown
you..."
He reached down and
pressed his left palm against Senshi's face. He
increased the pressure until Senshi was again
completely underwater, struggling to return to the
surface. Sei smiled more broadly, without moving his
hand away, he caused the Water Cutter to move
forward. He watched for as long as he could and saw
Senshi spluttering to the surface in his wake.
"I would advise
against testing me," he called out. "I am
not well-known for my humanity."
Sei climbed forward
into the cockpit of the Water Cutter and considered
his options. Unlike Kiko and Ikku, in the Lightning
Jet and Flame Tank, he was confined to the water. The
pixie was flying.
["Red Robo!
Yellow Robo! Can you hear me?"]
The Lightning Jet
passed over the lake again. ["Sei!"] Kiko
called down. ["You're okay!"]
Sei looked back at
Senshi and saw the other man pulling himself onto the
bank. He stood, glanced at the Lightning Jet and the
Water Cutter, and quickly backed away from the battle
site.
["Where is Red
Robo?"] Sei did not need Kiko to answer. He
heard the Flame Tank approaching and, a moment later,
saw it moving slowly toward the water's edge.
["Red Robo! Stop!"]
The Flame Tank
stopped moving just inches from the water. The giant
pixie swooped low behind it and landed on its turret,
then took to the sky again and flew in the opposite
direction to where the Lightning Jet moved back and
forth over the Water Cutter.
["Should I -
"] Kiko began to ask.
["No,"]
Sei cut her off. ["What happened?"]
The Flame Tank
backed away from the water as Kiko answered.
["We don't
know! The pixie just got big, like Shellshock."]
["And the
police?"]
["They're still
in the city,"] Ikku answered. ["They didn't
even try to follow us."]
["What do we
do, Sei?"] Kiko asked. ["I can't freeze it
like I did with Shellshock, and it is too fast for
Ikku to hit."]
Sei did not answer
immediately. He needed to take some time to think, to
plan, to do something other than rely on the
first thing that popped into his head. ["Yellow
Robo! Lure the pixie back here, over the lake."]
The Lightning Jet streaked away. ["Red Robo!
Prepare to use the seventh command in - "]
["A cage?"]
Ikku interruped. ["How can a tank create a cage?"]
["Just be
prepared,"] Sei said. ["Fire when I give
the command."]
Sei looked to the
sky and saw the pixie rapidly approaching. The
Lightning Jet buzzed behind it, ramming it from
behind every few paces. Kiko kept pushing, harder and
harder, until the pixie passed the centre of the
lake. Sei concentrated, and began pulling levers that
could easily have been mistaken for the regular
controls of a speedboat. Jets of water burst out from
the lake around the Water Cutter, hitting the pixie
from all angles, and cutting off any means of escape.
["Red
Robo!"] Sei shouted. ["Now!"]
A beam of red energy
shot out of the Flame Tank's turret and passed
directly beneath the pixie. The pixie tried to move
up, but another beam came close from above, almost
hitting its head. It moved right but hit a wall of
water, and another red beam; it moved left, and
realised it was surrounded on all sides by water and
an impenetrable red energy barrier.
Slowly, the water
fell away as the red beams criss-crossed eachother
and formed a cage and completely trapped the giant
pixie.
["Sei...?"]
Ikku began. ["I can't move the Flame
Tank."]
["Get
out!"] Sei called back. ["Let the Flame
Tank vanish!"]
["What? Why?"]
["Just do
it!"]
Ikku climbed out of
the Flame Tank which disappeared the moment he lost
contact with it. The red cage the Flame Tank created
remained for only a few moments longer before fading
away, leaving no sign of the pixie.
"What was that
all about?" Ikku asked. "How did you
know the Flame Tank could create a cage?"
["Yeah,
Sei..."] Kiko said slowly. ["We really do
need some answers now."] She landed the
Lightning Jet at the edge of the lake, climbed out,
and watched it disappear.
You're not the
only ones, Sei thought.
Science
Island
"I am
sorry," Captain Sinclair said as he entered Dr.
Brachis' office. "I have orders from Director
Satoshi to bring you in."
"It's okay,
Captain," Dr. Brachis replied calmly. "I'll
calm quietly. I am sure the director has a good
reason for all this."
Half a dozen guards
surrounded Dr. Brachis as Damien Sinclair led the
group through the winding corridors of the Science
Island security complex towards Director Satoshi's
office. When they reached the closed office door the
other guards stepped back and allowed Sinclair and
Brachis to approach alone.
Sinclair knocked
loudly, and Director Satoshi replied immediately.
"Enter."
Sinclair opened the
door and ushered Dr. Brachis in ahead of him. He
followed after her and closed the door behind him,
then stood at attention while Director Satoshi spoke.
"Dr.
Brachis," he said calmly. "You must know by
now that I am fully aware of your - "
There was another
knock at the door.
"Enter."
The door opened and
a short man entered, carrying a note. He apologised
for disturbing the meeting and handed the note to Dr.
Brachis.
"Thank
you," she said, and the man left in silence.
"Director
Satoshi," Dr. Brachis said. "You know as
well as I do that I know what is going on here, and
there is not much I can do to stop it. But you must
also know that the Incident Investigation Team from
Blizzard Base Zero has just returned and are
expecting to report to me right now. If they don't
see me - "
"Go,"
Satoshi interrupted. "Don't try to escape.
Sinclair will be following you."
Dr. Brachis left the
office through the opened door and walked quickly
down the corridors leading from Director Satoshi's
office back to her own. She smiled politely to
everyone she passed, and did her best to maintain a
facade of normalcy - she did have a plan,
but it relied on Satoshi staying calm and not doing
anything stupid.
She reached her
office and found two members of the Incident
Investigation Team waiting for her. She entered the
room and stood close to the two men as Sinclair took
his post just outside the door.
"I know this is
important," Dr. Brachis said, "but I am
expected elsewhere. Keep it brief - I will read your
full report later."
"Well,"
one of the men began to give his report. "We
could find no - "
"Keep
talking," Dr. Brachis whispered, "and don't
react. Captain Sinclair is watching. He may even be
able to hear me now."
" - evidence of
- " the man continued.
"Inside 'The
Chamber', beneath the main level of the base, you
should have found two removable wall panels. One
would have been empty, the other filled with several
different items. Did you find these openings?"
The man nodded as he
spoke. " - eress Miko's pixies were only able to
inflict - "
"I need you to
do something, but do not inform anyone else. When I
leave, examine my computer - there will be an
archived data log from 'Terminal X'. Trace the
location of that terminal, and transport all of the
items recovered from The Chamber to that location. Do
you understand?"
The man nodded
again. " - loss of life. Three staff - "
Dr. Brachis spoke
loudly. "Yes, yes, it sounds like you've done a
very thorough job. Leave your report on my desk and I
will read it as soon as I am able. Thank you."
She turned and walked from the room, and Sinclair
matched her step as she walked down the corridor.
"Ah, Damien," she said. "We can't keep
the director waiting, can we? He certainly
didn't wait to twist you to the dark side."
"Doctor Brachis
- "
"No, it's
fine," she said. "I'm sure whatever he's
offering you is well-and-truly worth betraying the
Earth Defence/Leadership Directorate."
Captain Sinclair did
not respond, and they remained silent until they
returned to Satoshi's office. The director was still
standing and waiting for their return.
"I trust there
will be no more interruptions?" Satoshi said.
"No, sir,"
Brachis replied. "My schedule's all clear."
"Good."
Satoshi approached his desk and slipped his right
hand underneath it. Suddenly, the walls of the office
slid into the floor and Brachis saw row after row of
brown, skeletal, human-shaped robots in their place.
Satoshi raised a hand and they each took a step
forward, away from the walls, towards the center of
the room.
"These are my
haguruma-tachi," Satoshi explained, "but I
like to call them 'Gears'. They are simplistic, but
they get the job done." He took a deep breath.
"By now, Sorceress Miko will have transferred
all of the Operation: Guardian equipment to Blizzard
Base Zero, where more of my Gears will be using
Nagura's more advanced robotics technology to produce
more of their brothers."
Dr. Brachis raised a
hand.
"Do you have a
question?"
"Yes. Were Miko
and Dr. Nagura here all along?" Dr. Brachis
asked.
Satoshi nodded.
"They were in the old stone maintenance tunnels
beneath the island, which are now filled with Gears.
Miko's pixies have also transported Gears to the EDD
headquarters in Tokyo."
"Why?"
"To destroy
them," Satoshi explained. He raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you knew what my plans were?" He
shrugged. "With the EDD and the Black Battalion
out of the way, nothing will be able to stand between
me and my goal."
Except Sei and
the others, Brachis thought. "And what is
your goal?"
"To dominate
the world with technology... technology which I can
control." He gestured again and two of the Gears
stepped forward. One wrapped its thin metal fingers
around Brachis' hand while the other laid one hand on
Sinclair's shoulder while holding Satoshi's with the
other. Satoshi nodded, and the three humans, as well
as the two Gears, were briefly surrounded by blue
energy before fading out-of-view.
The remaining Gears
stepped forward.
The remaining Gears
held hands.
The remaining Gears
exploded.
Boom.
Earth
Defence/Leadership Directorate Headquarters
The two-story Earth
Defence/Leadership Directorate headquarters was
overlooked by almost everyone who passed it. It bore
no remarkable features, no giant signs indicating its
importance to the world. Tourists ignored it and
people who lived and worked nearby acknowledged it
only as a landmark for use in giving directions, if
they acknowledged it at all.
When it exploded and
became a massive crater - a crater lined by broken,
lifeless bodies and shattered robotics components -
people could not help but notice it.
The Earth
Defence/Leadership Directorate, an organisation
designed solely for the betterment and protection of
humankind, became more remarkable in its destruction
than for anything it managed to accomplish during its
brief existence.
On the other side of
the world, Satoshi Kakeru considered that something
well worth laughing about.
NEXT: The
revolt within the revolt!
