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Grr. Yuku ate post.

Yet another story startup. I really need to slow down :p But it's what my 'muse' wants, I suppose. I really should finish Spices of Life.

Timeline is 2022.

Quote:It was raining on Genaros, a cold rain that seemed to search out and seep through any cracks it could find. It crawled down Maico’s back despite the best efforts of her overcoat, sending chills up through her spine.

This was a bad idea.

She clung tight to the roof as a gust of breeze whipped stinging rain into her face. All this for a scoop chase.

This was a really bad idea.

She checked her camera. It still seemed watertight, despite the best efforts of the artificial weather.

They warned her there’d be days like this.

But even reporters had to eat. And in order to eat, she had to bring in stories nobody else could. And that meant going where nobody sane would. That meant hanging off the side of a freshly built decaying apartment block. It meant being cold and hungry and shivering and doubting every second of what you were doing for a few brief seconds of footage a network might want to buy, or that might suck a few more click-throughs from her website advertisements.

Survival training didn’t come close to this.

At least she had that to fall back on. She knew how to stay out of sight of the local ADPolice. There were snipers up on the roof above her, training on the boarded-windows of the grey building below. Air-cars ringed the building with a fence made up strobing blue lights and brilliant white spotlights. Individual cops darted between cars, while others did their best to keep the gathering crowd of onlookers at bay.

If she was out there much longer she’d start getting hypothermic.

She flicked down her AR goggles, dipping in to the information that was flowing through the air around her. Tapping on a keypad on her wrist, she navigated to the nearest news site for an update. The feed popped into being... an ground view of the building taken by a camera crew she could see from her own vantage point.

“..ADPolice negotiators say they are making progress, but refuse to divulge further details.. Requests to the kidnappers to allow us to hear from Ms. Quincy herself have gone unheeded. The Kidnappers have only re-iterated their monetary demands and...”

No change. No change for the last 6 hours. 100 hours earlier, Mia Quincy was kidnapped on a shopping trip in the city’s Tinsel City district by a group that’d taken exception to some of Quincy’s policies and decided on a trip down revenge road. An hour after that, the first demand arrived in J.D. Quincy’s inbox. Ten million credits in a week, or you’ll have a catgirl for a daughter. An hour after that, the ADPolice were on the case.

6 hours ago, they tracked them down to the building opposite. For the last 6 hours, they’d been held at a standoff. She glanced down once more, and felt her pulse quicken. She snatched her camera and wiped the lense clean, before aiming it straight down.

She clicked over to the ADP radio frequency...

“...ambler is a go. I say again. Moonlight Rambler is a go.”

Thumping through the street were three K-11’s. Hulking, Patrol-surplus battlesuits that were years out of date but still deadly dangerous.

Oh no. They were going to use the battlesuits to make the entry.

Maico had the horrible feeling shrinking inside of her that she was about to videotape a bloodbath. Movement high up grabbed her attention. For a moment, she thought she was looking shreds of paper caught in the breeze. A moment later, she realised whatever they were, they were under control. They were flying under power.

Four of them.

They grew in size, dropping fast out of the clouds with a gaseous rush towards the roof of the building. They each hit with a hollow bang, a pair of shoulder mounted drive turbines blowing pebbles and shreds of cardboard. Thinking quick, she focused her camera in on what she guessed was the leader...

A red one. Humanoid. About the size of a landmate and carrying a cannon obviously borrowed from a starfighter, but it seemed much lighter armoured. The structure was visible in places, along with the pilot and what looked like a road wheel. There was a green one, a white one and a pink one... each in roughly the same configuration.

Where have I seen these before, she wondered?

She swore blind she knew what she was looking at, but just couldn’t place it. Her brain came up blank. She’d find out before she recorded the voiceover.

A cyberdroid emerged from a door on the roof. Metal skinned, reflecting the surrounding neon lights in lurid bands, it was born to kill. Luminous red eyes scanned for targets. It took a moment for it to spot the attackers on the roof... It didn’t get the chance to do much more than that. It seemed to burst from the inside out in a ball of grey smoke and orange embers chased a moment later by a double-thunderclap thumping against the inside of her chest.

Steam rose from the barrel green one’s cannon where the rain was pattering against it.

With an unseen signal, both white and green landmates seemed to open... both pilots stepping out. Hardsuits. They were women wearing Stingray hardsuits. Modified, with added weapons, but obviously Stingray’s. She focused in on the white one; no markings, just blue and white paint. She glanced around. Saber green seemed to look at her. A heartbeat later, both sprang out a pair of wings, and rode pale white jets over the edge. Blue and Pink Sabers detached from their machines, running for the front door. Antennae mounted to Pink’s hardsuit seemed to be waving at her.

Bubblegum Crisis fen. Actual Knight Sabers.

The mercenary part of her mind was already totting up what she could sell this for. The rest of her was hoping they weren’t just another group of wannabees who were about to get innocent people killed.

All four motoroids - she remembered the name now - took up covering positions, scanning other entrances. Maico scanned down the building, searching for White and Green. They seemed to be hovering in mid air, just below the boarded windows, waiting.

Beneath on the street, the ADPolice were struggling to comprehend what was going on. One of the searchlights tracked towards them, highlighting them both for a half second. The voice over had just enough time to ask what those two figures where, before they smashed through the boarded windows.

Maico’s heart was pounding. She clung desperately to her camera, like It might be her only lifeline.

Red and Green motoroids blew holes through the roof, dropping themselves inside. White and Pink stayed to cover roof. A burst of gunfire cackled inside the building before being abruptly cut off. She thought she saw it strobing through the window. There was another muffled boom; it sounded like a pom-pom grenade.

A series of dry snaps, sounding like breaking lollipop sticks were followed by a deep drumbeat that rattled the whole building.

Then silence.

And waiting.

Maico held her breath. The ADPolice committed their landmates, barging through the front door. The two motorslave powered themselves up out of the holes they made, blowing debris. All four Sabers followed behind. Pink didn’t seem to have any thrusters, her suit seemed to have some sort of reactionless drive. White could be seen to check each of them. Two blades protruding forward from her wrists snapped back into her forearm. Green reeled in what appeared to be stiff fishing wire to a pair of spools on her wrists. The cannon mounted on Blue’s shoulder locked back into place.

Job done, they remounted their motorslaves, and boosted off above the cloud layer sending debris spiralling up off the roof in their wake.

Maico was tracking them all the way up, catching one last image of the red motoroid and the blue Saber aboard it before it was lost inside the loglo of the clouds. Raindrops stabbed at her eyes, giving her double vision for a few seconds. She rubbed at her eyes to clear them, and the vigilantes were gone.

“...ADPolice are reporting, all kidnappers have been neutralised. The hostages are safe... the hostages are safe.”

Mia Quincy emerged from the front door at the same time as two landmates appeared on the roof, searching for the mysterious vigilantes.

-----

“It’s obvious. The Knight Sabers are Kangaroos.”

Maico closed her newsreader. Predictably, her video set the interwave on fire. It was dynamite. It was a goldmine. It would keep her fed for another 2 months at least. She wasn’t sure what was more satisfying.... a hot meal, or pulling one in for the independent reporters out there.

But still, there were no clues as to who these mysterious women were. It hadn’t stopped people from guessing. It hadn’t stopped others from mocking them for it.

Another story on the Sabers might set her up for the next year.

“Kandor, Crystal Tokyo, Genaros,” Maico murmured to her camera. “And Sara. That’s where Bubblegum Fen gather. The hardsuit vigilante wannabees, those who liked the idea of an all-female armoured sentai team without the fuku, and the ones who preferred the cyberpunk themes under the 80’s ness,”

Her own reflection in the camera lens had nothing to suggest.

“They aren’t from Genaros,” she said. “ADPolice confirm that they were tracked leaving the station. Sara’s a possibility, but it doesn’t seem like their style.”

Her hunch was that they were Senshi. Her training had taught her to follow her hunches.

But of course... it seemed the obvious conclusion. They were obviously women - the hardsuits seemed to be designed specifically to accentuate the female aspects. Even the motorslaves had been built with high heels.

And there was Blue standing there, for a few seconds in the classic Senshi pose while her shoulder-cannon stowed itself away. Blue’s body-language screamed Senshi... it screamed ‘action-girl’.

“Draw up a list of all those who have the money or technology to put something like this together, who have connections to the Senshi, and with this level of training.” A beat. “Former Great Justice or Sammie?” she asked.

The camera seemed to stare at her. What? What can I do? I’m just a camera, you’re going to have to do all of that. All by yourself.

I need a muse, she thought as she sighed.

“The other option. They’re Supers.” She glanced at the still image on screen. “They certainly have a level of skill that suggests some heavy training. But if this was SHIELD, they would’ve admitted it by now...” A thought, “Or not been caught in public.”

She advanced the footage forward.

“Maybe they didn’t see me.” she mused. “But of course they don’t seem too concerned about that spotlight either. And if they were Supers pulling something like this, the JLI would have released some sort of statement by now about them. And they would have a records of Fen who’d have that level of training - which they won’t share with a mere reporter such as I.”

But which they would use to cross-reference capabilities and put together a short list of those capable of pulling a stunt like this. It wouldn’t take them long to go from there, to four names.

Still, until that happened, she was still going to follow this up. She was a reporter specialising in public interest stories, and if these Knight Sabers were anything right now, they were the public’s interest.

“I have an appointment with the traffic control officer for the station - Ned saname - I am hoping he will be able to tell me if these Sabers came from within the station, or a craft outside. And if I’m lucky, where that craft went.”

She turned the camera off.

Maico rode the metro to Quincy tower. The man himself was ‘spending time with his daughter at a private retreat’. She’d been to the press conference already. Predictably it had been more about the rescuer, than the rescuee.

The lobby decor was designed to intimidate. It was a conspicuous opulence intended to make any visitor feel small and powerless. Black marble with white lightning streaks running through it. Lush red carpetting. Brass fittings. Any employee she could see was turned out in an immaculate business casual.

She crossed the carpet to the reception desk. The android behind gave her a vacant, glass-eyed stare.

“May I help you Miss?” she intoned with a plastic smile.

“Maico Tange,” she said. “I have an appointment to meet Ned Saname,”

“Yes, please take a seat. Mr. Saname is currently busy, but he will be with you as soon as possible,,”

“But of course,” said Maico. “I can imagine why,”

The android seemed impervious to conversation. It stared at her waiting for her to leave. She found herself a chair, an uncomfortable wooden one that reminded her just who was in-charge and who was the visitor, and scanned through the latest postings on these Knight Sabers.

“So, we got an Official Statement from SHIELD: Last night’s group of mercenaries on Genaros Station were not operating under our jurisdiction or authority. “

“Do-ho-ho. Of course they wouldn’t say it if it was them you know they have their own deniable agents.”

[i[“If it was deniable they wouldn’t deny it. They’d just go very quiet and this would be the last we ever heard of this group.”[/i]

“Someone hasn’t heard of plausible deniability and black-ops,”

“Wasn’t a very good blackop if someone like Maico Tange could video them,”

Hey! Whoever they were, they were right about one thing. If it was SHIELD, they would either have admitted it outright, or gone very quiet with something deliberately ambiguous. If they were Supers acting on their own, they’d just bought themselves a world of trouble.

“Ms. Tange, I presume?”

“Yes, Mr. Saname?”

“Call me Ned,” he smiled, “Mr. Saname’s my dad,”

“But of course,”

Ned looked like he hadn’t seen much sleep for the last three days. What should’ve been a sunny, broad-cheeked and bright-eyed face was darkened by a 5-o’clock shadow and a pair of sinking, sleep hungry eyes.

She was led through a rabbit warren of corridors before coming to a lift that required a retina scan, a keypad and a key card to enter. Maico kept her system recording the whole way up.

“As you can probably tell, it’s been a busy few days. I’ve been dealing with Con-Sec all morning, never mind the ADP, a bunch of Sammies who think these Sabers were one of theirs. The JLI are coming, and one of Haruhi’s lackeys was on the comm. And the reporters,”

He yawned. Obvious and fake. Yes, Maico, you are being a pain and keeping me from my wonderful soft bed.

“Thank you for your help,” she offered, “It shouldn’t take too long,”

“It won’t. I’m going to show you the same things I’m showing all the others,”

“That is?”

“We’ve got a track of them moving through the station. We know their entry point. And we can track their origin back to a spacecraft,”

Maico’s eyebrows rose,

“Really?”

“Yup,” And Ned was so proud of that. “And whoever they were, they knew this station real well. They used some of the maintenance hatches for the weather system,”


“Oh. So they probably lived here?”

“Yup. Whoever they were, they did more than live here. They probably worked in this building,”

“You’re certain?”

“Yup,” he nodded once more “I’m afraid I can’t get you a list of names, but it’s something to keep in mind.”

If he couldn’t get a list of people who’d worked there for her, where would she get one? She knew a few people in the Patrol who might be willing to help.

The main control room was easily big enough to host the rematch of Wave Convoy versus Captain Bajeena. It was split over three levels, with one whole wall given over to the big board. It was a spaghetti tangle of information that seemed to almost be beyond mortal comprehension, arranged in a pattern that had very little relation to the actual station. .

Maico was led to another lift which took her up to the third level, then along banks of computer terminals manned by various operators. Some were human. Some were mod’s. Some were cybers. One had her hair done up as a whole medusa of data cables most of which seemed useless.

She was shown to a small, out of the way terminal screen. A catgirl figurine clung to the side. Maico started when it turned to face Ned.

“Hey Ned!” it called out. “You’ve got fifty-five new messages. Whee!”

“Later Nat’” said Ned. “Bring up the sensor data we have. Start playback from from five minutes prior to first contact with the intruder,”

“Again?” the catgirl figurine rolled her eyes.

“Yes. Play it again, or no botsnacks today,”

“Awww.... alright,”

The image onscreen changed from the standard corporate logo, to a two dimensional abstraction of the L5 stations, with Genaros at the centre. Pixels representing shuttlecraft darted between numbered stars. Earthward was signalled with an arrow.

“This image is a composite of sensor data from us, New Yavin, A Baoa Qu, Beta and Central,” Ned explained. “Right now it’s showing about average traffic for that time of day. Airspace around us is a little more curtailed for obvious reasons.”

Genaros was surrounded by a dark shadow, with lines of traffic slowly queuing for entry. A red target entered from Earthward, snaking between the stations rather than following the prescribed traffic paths.

“And that’s the ‘Sabers spacecraft?”

“Yup,” Ned nodded, “That’s it. It’s skimming sensor nets, trying to minimise it’s signature.” A new window popped up beside it, listing radar and thermal information. “It’s definitely a stealther. Thermal, radar and electromagnetic returns first led us to think that it might’ve been a shuttlecraft... something about the size of a Senshi Bolitho.”

“Stealth in space?”

“Yeah. It’s not about being entirely invisible. It’s about reducing your sensor signature so that you appear to be something you’re not, something beneath notice. They just got lost in the traffic orbiting the station, right up until this happened,”

The radar cross section jumped by an order of magntitude.. it went from shuttlecraft-sized, almost up to airliner sized.

“Oh my...”

“Yup.” Ned nodded, again. “Near as we can tell, this is when they opened their cargo bay doors. That’s the signature of spacecraft’s interior.” Four small dots emerged, each one assigned tracking numbers. “And them right there, are the Sabers themselves. Energy signature matches that of a motoroid alright so it’s them”

“But of course... “ She’d seen those.

“Now watch this. This is how we know they used to work here. They used an external access hatch, normally used to refill the water tanks. Got in through there, and through a hatch in the spindle itself over the main city.”

The four signals moved towards the station. Then disappeared. The view switched over to an internal grid-map of the station, the cylindrical city-layout projected onscreen. Four targets appeared on screen, skimming across the map in formation.

“They hugged the spindle, hiding in the holographic clouds, before dropping straight down on their target.... and now you know what happens next..”

“They hit the building. Free the hostages, and make their escape.” said Maico.

“Right along the same path too. Out through the spindle and access hatch, back to their ship which remained in orbit. Now here you’re going to see it do something interesting. Look at the engine trace as it breaks out.”

Maico looked at the display as it spiked, then at Ned.

“That’s a big engine pushing it. Based on the acceleration rate, and field dynamic interface data we’ve got something that masses at least eighty to a hundred tonnes. There are very few stealth ships in that size category.” he smirked, “And only one that was ever produced for general sale,”

“And you know what that is,”

“I’d bet Natalie here and my right nut that that’s a BAT Lancer they’re using... and probably modified. Of course, the other option is that they’re using a custom hulled spacecraft, but very few fen have the resources to pull that off.”

“But of course...” said Maico. Black Aeronaut Technologies Lancer. “Those were pretty rare,” she said out loud.

“Yup,” Ned nodded once more. He seemed to do that a lot, Maico thought. “Not that many were built.”

“Can you tell where it went?” she asked.

“Sunward. Towards Venus maybe, that’s about all we can tell I’m afraid. ”

“Thank you, you’ve told me more than enough,”

Next stop. A quick email to BAT, to see what they had to say about things. Chase up any owners. See if any have disappeared, or if any of those owners have the required training and experience for an operation like this.

And see if anyone on Venus detected it landing.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Quote:Steam rose from the barrel green one’s cannon where the rain was pattering against it.
I suspect that should be "Steam rose from the green one’s cannon barrel where the rain was pattering against it."

(And I suspect from this that you write the same way I do - non-linearly.)
Quote:“Draw up a list of all those who have the money or technology to put something like this together, who have connections to the Senshi, and with this level of training.” A beat. “Former Great Justice or Sammie?” she asked.
She'll eventually think of another group with money, combat skills, and Senshi connections...

"Maico, I assure you that they aren't my people. You know me - would I send out a team that wasn't wearing Stellvia Corporation logos?"

"No, of course not, Noah."

Maico smiled at the thought of corporate-sponsored super teams, while Noah wondered whether he should actually form one. Then he thought of something else.

"Do me a favour, please? If you find out who they are, don't reveal their identities."

One of Maico's eyebrows went up, Spock-style. "You don't usually approve of bounty hunters."

"Not on my station, no. But these four are doing some good out there, and they deserve the chance to keep doing some good however they want to. If they cross the line, then you should tell all, but not before that."

Maico's wristwatch chimed. "Oh, I have to leave now if I'm going to make the next shuttle to Kandor. Please say hello to Leda and Helen for me."

It wasn't until after Maico had left the station that Noah realized she hadn't promised to keep the Sabers' identities secret.


And after that, there's the Roughriders' A-Team...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Gah. Yuku. Stop eating postings.

I do a little of both. I'll write the story straight out for the most part, occasionally coming back and editing things as I get better ideas. Nothings set in stone until it's all together and posted, and even then, I'll edit things.

I managed to work in Maico's meeting with Noah. This was all originally planned to be one straight scene but it works as it is, and that scene was too good not to use. I

And of course, Noriko is referring to the voice actress...

Quote:Ms Tange.

It is the standing policy of Black Aeronaut Technologies to release customer details only upon official request from either Space Patrol or Great Justice members with good reason.

Sincerely.
BAT Public Relations Department.

Maico sighed. She hadn’t expected much more than that really, had she? She switched back over to the newsgroup which was steadily turning up it’s own lead

“We had this battroid get stolen from a mad here on Pallas, nearly a year ago,”

“Was that that guy who got arrested for keeping AI’s as slaves?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. One of his ‘Angels’ stole the battroid on him to try make her escape. He hired a group of bounty hunters to recover it. Someone caught a picture of them...”

Maico remembered the mad story. A Mad by the name of Flint hired some mercenaries to recover a stolen batttroid he’d built. They did their job. And a week later the patrol came knocking.

“Wait.... those three there are the same as Genaros. But who’se the golden one?”

“Dunno. Maybe they hired a new girl,”

Maico pulled down the image. It was rough, it was dirty, but it was clearly the exact same Knight Sabers. She started typing.

“How could they have been active for over a year without anyone noticing?”

“Well, hardsuits aren’t exactly new things. Neither are hardsuits and bounty hunters. They just got lost in amongst the others. Hell, we have a group here in champ op’s calling themselves the Knight Sabers and they are pissed at being upstaged”

“And don’t forget the A-team. Don’t they use Stingray armour?”

That would fit the Lancer-type spacecraft, Maico thought. Roughriders doing something they don’t want traced back to them.

“But of course. They would have the money, and the training too. I think, we should spend our energy trying to figure out who would have the money to fund this level of technology and training. How many groups could do this?”

“Well, it’s not us. Warsies don’t use hardware like that. Section 31 doesn’t usually let itself get caught like that. Of the big hitters, that leaves Stellvia, Greenwood, maybe someone on Mars and the Roughriders,”

“It’s not the RR. I’d bet money it isn’t them,”

“Why?”

“Because the A-team were in Kandor,”

“Oh yeah, that annual Supers-Senshi thing’s tomorrow,”

Oh. The Memorial Melee. She’d been on her way to cover the buildup when the hostage crisis broke. And she still had to get out there. A Knight Saber exclusive might buy her her own ship, but she still needed to pick up her bread and butter stories.

“Stellvia,” Maico said to her camera. “That suddenly makes a lot more sense. Noah Scott can fund the hardware. They have the skills and connections to build it.... especially a custom ship as stealthy as the one used by the Sabers. Stellviacorp has been doing a lot of personel training lately, it wouldn’t be hard for them to hide an elite team in amongst it all. “

She thought for a moment. It was one she could get confirmation on quick enough, and Stellvia was an easy enough place to pick up a shuttle to Kandor. Kill two birds with one stone.

-------

Noah Scott sat behind his desk, supporting himself with one arm. It was quite clear to Maico that something had been keeping him awake, for quite a while.

"Maico, I assure you that they aren't my people. You know me - would I send out a team that wasn't wearing Stellvia Corporation logos?"

"No, of course not, Noah."

Maico smiled at the thought of corporate-sponsored super teams. For a moment, Noah actually seemed to be considering trying it.

"Do me a favour, please?,” he said, catching Maico off guard. “If you find out who they are, don't reveal their identities."

One of Maico's eyebrows went up, Spock-style. "You don't usually approve of bounty hunters."

Noah sighed to himself.

"Not on my station, no. But in Bubblegum Crisis, the Knight Sabers were a force for good. These four are trying to do some good , and they deserve the chance to try. If they cross the line, then you should tell all, but not before that.”

Maico gave him a dubious look, readying her counter argument involving the public’s right to know. Her wristwatch had other ideas. It chimed loud and shrill, squawking like a bird begging for a meal.

Both of them stared at it. Maico blushed.

"I have to leave now if I'm going to make the next shuttle to Kandor. Please say hello to Leda and Helen for me."

It wasn't until after Maico had left the station that she realized she hadn't actually promised to keep the Sabers' identities secret.

-----

A week went by.

Sailor Saturn won it this year for the Sammies. Unofficial Sailor Saturn, not that that’d ever stopped them. The click through rate for her website had gone back down almost to normal. The Saber trail had cooled.

The convention’s interest had moved on to the next big hit. She moved back to her usual work. No use starving herself to chase the big story.

Maico busied herself cleaning up her apartment. It was a job that really needed doing. The view outside the porthole was the same magnificent desolation it’d had always been, only now with added quad-bikers throwing up dust.

Still, her Knight Saber report had bought her food. It’d bought her a brand new recorder set. It’d paid for the recirculator circuit in the shower to be repaired, and the rest had gone into the ‘buy me a ship’ fund.

Her apartment wasn’t large. It was basically a partitioned shipping container. It wasn’t especially luxurious, but it had the comfort of an aged pair of boots that’d been broken in by many kilometres, and most importantly, it was hers.

Even if she seemed to be spending more time aboard other people’s spacecraft.

Maico sighed, unpacked her freshly laundered clothes, and started packing for her next journey. The Martian Terraforming Project Council were holding a ‘breaking-ground’ ceremony on the Isidis Canal. It may be dull, but it was her bread and butter. And it’d be nice to see Natsuko again.

She’d managed to arrange passage on a shuttle, and all was well. This time tomorrow she’d be in the breezy city of Helium.

Her phone started ringing in her ear. She snapped down the headset to take the call.

“Hey Maico.” A voice buzzed in her ear, “Everyone’s favourite hardsuited vigilantes just struck again. They rescued a mining community out in the main belt from a Zwilnik invasion. Details attached, including the patrol report. You’ll have to get out there fast while it’s still fresh.“

Her headset chirupped as it read the file, displaying it on the screen in front of her eye. It seemed legit...

“Are you certain?” she demanded.

“Yup. Four in hardsuits, colour and hardware descriptions match. You owe me big for this.”

Go to Helium for the easy story.

Head out to the main belt chasing her wild geese in hardsuit.

No choice.

“I’m on it,”

----

Three days latter, she was standing in the main landing bay at Showakusei Kozan. What an original name for an asteroid mine, she thought.

A wrecked Bolitho sat beside her, burned out and still smelling of scorched plastic. A sign in painted kanji welcoming visitors had been shot several time with some sort of thermal weapon. The paint had scorched and bubbled up with the heat.

Blue Blazers were handling the relief with their usual skill. Food pallets were being unloaded from the shuttle she’d just disembarked, along with air-tanks and spare parts.

Maico slipped through the crowd, making her way up through the main level. There was damage everywhere. Doors had been blasted in. A pressure bulkhead had slammed shut. A porthole had been replaced by a steel patch.

She made her way up through the industrial areas, to the residential dome. The uniformed Space Patrol were taking statements from survivors in their homes. The mine manager’s house was no different to the others.... a modest Japanese suburban style dwelling. It was set apart solely by broken gates, and the wreckage of some sort of mech sitting in the driveway.

There were five other wrecks scattered around the dome. And other areas marked out by Patrol tape, surrounding blankets. An uneasy knot twisted in her stomach as Maico remembered what Noah Scott had told her about the Sabers crossing the line.

Maico took a breath, set her system recording and rang the doorbell. A big C-130 transporter passed overhead, casting a shadow through the dome glass.

A middle aged Japanese man answered the door. The first thing that struck Maico about him was that the suit he was wearing was immaculate, and clearly something he’d put on just for purpose.

“Tange-san? Shite kudasai naibu ni kuru..”

It startled her for a moment. her mind had to switch gears between languages.

“Mister Gosho,” she returned in her own language. An automatic translator generated the subtitles for the video feed. “I am here about the recent attack,”

“Yes, I’ll tell you about it in my office,”

She was led through the house, remembering to leave her shoes at the doorway of course, and found herself enjoying the feel of polished wooden floors under her stockinged feet. It was a rare feeling in space.

It had once been a nice house, but it was obvious it’d been ransacked and quickly cleaned up. Some of the doors were buckled and cracked, and many of the rooms still had to be cleaned up. In what had been the living room, a young girl sat on the floor watching a television hastily set up on top of a media server.

It was playing old Sailor Moon episodes.

“She’s been watching them every hour she’s been awake,” said Gosho. “And she barely sleeps. Poor girl,”

He lingered for a moment, watching his child watch television. Maico made sure it was recorded.

“Anyway. Follow me,”

The office was more of the same. It was obvious there had been shelving there at one point, and there was wiring for a computer, but neither were present. There was a desk, a pair of chairs, a window and not much else anymore.

“Please, take a seat Miss Tange,”

“Thank you,”

“So,” he said, “What would you like to know?”

Maico brushed her pink fringe away from the camera’s lens.

“Could you tell me please, what happened the night off the attack,”

Gosho nodded. “It’s quite simple really. We saw them coming in when they were about twenty minutes out. That gave us time to broadcast a distress call and get ready to defend ourselves. We’re pretty far out right now, so we didn’t expect a quick response,”

Maico nodded, showing she was listening. He eased himself back into his chair.

“They attacked, breaking in through an emergency door bypassing our defences. All told, it took them about ten minutes to get control. They had those five mechs, and we had chocolate bombs and a few rifles we didn’t know how to use.”

And he was ashamed of that fact. Deeply and utterly so. It was written in the lines of his face.

“They brought the survivors up to the dome and started ransacking our homes while telling us what was going to happen to all of us when they took us away as well,”

And now anger.

“This went on for an hour. The first inkling we had that rescue was coming, was when the enemy ship stopped responding. This attack was completely different. It was sudden, like an earthquake. It came clear out of nowhere, struck, then vanished with only wreckage in it’s wake.”

Now just a twinge of fear.

“They hit so fast, the enemy didn’t have a chance. They quickly took down the ones that put up a fight. Those that gave up.... well they gave us their firearms so we could guard them. They left before we could properly thank them. By the time Great Justice arrived they were long gone.”

“Can you describe them? The rescuers,”

Gosho nodded. “Easily. There were four of them, riding some form of transformer. There was a white, a blue, a pink and a green one, all women in armour. The transformers had these big heavy cannons... they blew apart two of the enemy mecha’s with one shot each. It was amazing. We thought they were Great Justice at first.”

“Is there anything else?”

Gosho thought hard, cupping his chin in his free hand. Maico could see him scratching at the stubble under his jaw. “I’m sorry. But it happened so quickly. It can’t have been more than three minutes...”

“One of them sounded like Sailor Mars when she spoke,” a small voice called out from behind.

Maico turned around. The girl from the living room was standing in the doorway.

“Noriko, don’t be so rude.” her father chastised. “I’m having an important meeting here and you’re embarrassing me,”

“It’s quite alright,” Maico said, calmly.

“Sorry, papa,” the girl said “But I thought the lady would like to know. I heard her speak to one of the bad people.”

Maico thought. “That might actually be rather helpful. Thank you, Noriko,” she smiled at the girl.

The girl beamed victoriously back at her father, before running back to the living area just in time for the next episode.

“I wouldn’t put too much stock in what she says. I find it hard to tell one from the other myself. I grew out of that silly stuff a long time ago. Now where were we.”

“Mr Gosho, would it be possible for you to share your sensor logs of the attack, especially in the minutes before and after the rescue,”

He thought again. “Our equipment was heavily damaged, so that might be difficult, you understand?”

In other words, he was too polite to say it was impossible. Everything was wrecked.

“But of course,”

“If we can pull anything out of it, I’ll see that you receive a copy.”

“Thank you, Mister Gosho. That should be all,”

----
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Heh-heh.... I have this fun thought of Maico learning too much for Ben and Jet's comfort... so they bring her in on it, like what happens a the end of The Pelican Brief... only without Maico getting banished to some tropical paradise. Looks great so far, Jet. Smile
Oh.... Maico'll find out. There wouldn't be a plot if she didn't.... though like Lisa Vanette, she doesn't find out the easy way. I've got a meeting between her and Ben already plotted out... mostly relating to how the KnightWing was built, two burned out airframes which were 'recycled'.

There's plenty of space for Maico to go looking for people and chase up leads. Shouldn't be hard to slot scenes in.

And Mackie gets to graduate from spear-carrying Shipmind up to full character because having him call Jet 'sis' was too good a plotbunny to pass up. And it gives Maico food for thought...
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Two more.

No. I don't already have the story written. I'm trying to push myself and go to a schedule. A scene a night.

And this is coming out just a little bit weird. A lot of online stuff and comm's going on....

Quote:----

Predictably, it lit the Knight Saber fire all over again. It confirmed the suspicions of a good number of Senshi who jumped straight to the most obvious conclusion. Maico regretted not adding a quick clarification to the subtitles, but it was too late now.

Two more Knight Saber missions came to light over the next month. One was an obvious mercenary job. A Pirate who’d raided a Mad, was hit by the Sabers a week afterwards. There were no further details than a patrol statement that they were investigating it.

“So that’s one where they were hired. Someone had something stolen that they wanted back, and didn’t want the patrol to know about,”

“Did they kill the pirate?”

“Well, obviously not or they’d be calling it a murder investigation,”

Maico started typing.

“But of course, they have to be careful. If they use too much force, if they cross the line, then they risk being declared outlaws and actively pursued.”

“But they have killed,”

“Yes. They seem to do it only if necessary.”

“So, they’’re little better than murderers then? Anything that needs to be handled with that level of force is best left to gj and other official agencys IMHO. “

“Maybe they are official, just not acknowledged. Hiding in plain site rather than under cover. It’s the best idea.”

“That does fit with that warsie spy incident,”

“If they were part of Section 9, or Troubleshooters.... It makes sense that they’d hunt a Warsie spy down like that. Local patrol were stunned to find him naked on their doorstep with a drive full of evidence.”

“Lucky bastard deserved worse. He got lucky he wasn’t one of us.”

“I still find the doodles on his body funny,”

“That would be Troubleshooter work. If I remember right, “

“And if Great Justice is projecting them good luck finding out who they are,”

“But of course, maybe they just take the odd mission from GJ. Knight Sabers in the source are mercenaries and willing to work for the government.”

“Yeah... just enough to get themselves protection while the shake down everyone else charging for their services,”

“Aren’t the Roughriders mercenaries?”

“Yeah, but that’s different. We’re registered and proper and legal. We use the profits to expand our protection. These women are operating in the black. There’re laws against that for a reason.”

“They work pro-bono too. Showakusei Kozan was never asked for any payment. I know, I asked them. The Knight Sabers just gave them firearms and left them to guard the surviving raiders. Perhaps their mercenary work is used to pay for their pro-bono work.”

Maico still remembered what Noah had said. The Knight Sabers were trying to do good, in their own way.

“It’s still for selfish reasons. Pro Bono work builds their reputation. It also serves as training. There’s no honest reason for them not registering as merc’s IMHO. They have to be hiding something,”

“Because only people who have something to hide, have something to fear from the law, quiaff?”

“Secrecy is part of their fandom..”

“We’re getting off topic. If they’re working with GJ, GJ’ll be protecting them... so good luck finding them that way. Maybe we might think about another approach.[/]i

[i]“Which is?”


“Who builds these hardsuits?”

“The design’s old. The project dates back to 2016. It was Jet Jaguar IIIRC. ‘Just doing this as a hobby, nothing big and professional like the Silver Sentinel suits’... get your head out of your ass, you’re not the next Linus,”

“Jet doesn’t build them to order.”

“There’s Steganovich Steelwear in Crystal Tokyo. They’re the biggest... but they still use an old design. Atalante’s A-team use a modified design. There’re three builders on Kandor. One on Genaros. And any gearhead who can download the current package and work a CNC mill,”

“But the Knight Saber suits are modifed from the Stingray. Different engines. And they include weapons in the base plans.”

“Stellvian’s Kohran added some weapon modules to the official project archive.”

“Hitting up all the builders probably wouldn’t turn up a thing. They could’ve put them together themselves easy enough.”

“But then, who could build suits that advances?”

Now they were just going around in circles. Maico closed the window. She had other things to do. Video’s needed editing, and she still had to record the voiceover for her last report from New Yavin.

This Knight Saber chase was starting to turn into an obsession.

“Be careful Maico,” she warned her reflection, “Don’t lose your objectivity.”

The Knight Sabers.

Either a force for good, using their mercenary missions to pay for their good deeds. Or were they just ordinary merc’s using the pro-bono work as a publicity stunt?

“And why would they not register themselves?”

No answer.

“Mercenary groups are required to register with Great Justice and the Patrol. They’re required to report their activities and their membership. They could classify certain things, but they’re still subject to Convention oversight.”

“For good reason,” Maico added after a moment’s thought. “They may have the best of intentions, but keeping secrets the way they are damned suspicious. There’s no benefit to the secrecy. It gains them nothing, but it brings them dangerously close to being declared outlaws themselves each time they go into action.”

Maico glanced back at the notes she’d taken on the group.

“It can be just some ‘fandom’ thing. There has to be something I’m not seeing here,”

Her reflection gave her a frustrated glare and she shut the camera down.

-----

Maico’s whole body was fizzing. She was staring ahead out the porthole, filled entirely by Jupiter. Ganymede was a single spot barely large enough for her eye to register, thousands of kilometres away.

She wanted nothing more than to just break through that glass and fly there herself. She had to get onsite. She had to get to Serenity.

“How long?” she demanded.

The pilot was hidden under the deck.

“I dunno. It’s the plasma fields coming off Jupiter screwing with the drive field again. We must’ve struck an eddy. It fried everything,”

“We have to get there before the Knight Sabers do,” she said, trying her best to keep her voice calm.

“What makes you so sure they’ll even show up?”

“I’m not. But I have to take the risk. This is their sort of mission.”

It’d be a good story even if they didn’t show up. Whatever happened, five innocent hostages were going to be rescued. Three months trying and third time lucky. Twice they hadn’t even shown up.

“You’re starting to sound a little obsessive,” came the response from the avionics bay,

“I am not!” she snapped back. Then stopped dead. “Oh my...”

She sat herself back down into the passenger seat. Comfortable, soft fabric. The shuttle’s cabin was small, and decorated like a disco complete with spinning mirror ball. It was all plush and very 1970’s inside.

Even the floor was supposed to light up.

Maico took a deep breath, doing her best to cool off. Still... catching the aftermath of a Knight Saber mission was one thing, catching them in action once more was quite another. It was like predicting where lightning would strike.

Of course, like tall buildings, there were some places where it would be a little bit more likely to hit.

“Since when did I become a disaster chaser?” she asked her reflection in the glass.The radio crackled.

“Serenity Control to unidentified shuttlecraft. You are entering restricted space, please respond,”

Maico’s heart stopped. No.... not when she couldn’t make it. That’s not fair!

“Serenity Control to unidentified shuttlecraft. You are entering restricted space. Respond or you will be treated as a hostile,”

Naturally, they answered with silence.

“When are we moving?”

“Another ten minutes.”

“They’re here. We don’t have ten minutes.”

A catboy’s face appeared from the floor-hatch. His ears twitched. “It’ll take ten minutes for everything to cool down and reset. No more. No less. That’s the way it is.”

“Soyokaze, Soyokaze, this is Serenity Control. We’ve got a bogey craft in our sector. Are you monitoring?”

“Serenity Control, Soyokaze, we are moving to intercept.” the cruiser answered with a woman’s voice. Maico swore she recognised her.

“Whoa!... did you see that? Radar cross-section just quadrupled. That’s no shuttlecraft...”

“Serenity Control, Soyokaze. Can you confirm signal change? Are we dealing with a stealth spacecraft.”

“No...” Maico whined. That had to be them.

“Confirm Soyokaze. We got.... they just launched 4 craft at the surface. Moving at high speed,”

And I’m stuck out here forced to listen to it

“Serenity Control, Soyokaze. Our time to intercept is ten minutes.”

“Oh you idiots. They’re the Knight Sabers,”

“Soyokaze. They just made landfall. Township of Whitefall. They may be trying to break their buddies out of the restaurant.”

Maico grimaced. It was twisting her stomach. It was ripping her apart inside.

“Serenity Control. We are expediting our intercept. Eight minutes.”

“Soyokaze, Control we copy that.”

“This is space patrol cruiser Soyokaze hailing the unidentified spacecraft in Ganymede orbit. You will activate your transponder beacons, and prepare yourself to be boarded,”

Soyokaze’s comm’s officer was answered by static. Maico bit her lip.

“The Patrol are ready to shoot,” Maico realised.

“This is space patrol cruiser Soyokaze hailing the unidentified spacecraft in Ganymede orbit. You will activate your transponder beacons, and prepare yourself to be boarded or we will fire upon you,”

Silence.

The Soyokaze repeated its message twice.Twice it received no answer.

“Soyokaze, Serenity Control. We’ve got some strange reports coming in from whitefall. What’s your time to intercept?”

“Control, Soyokaze, we’re still three minutes out. “

“Soyokaze we copy. We’re hearing from Whitefall that the hostages have been released. Four armoured troopers with flying battlesuits

“Control, Soyokaze. Say again. Four armoured troopers?

“Soyokaze, Control. We confirm. Four women in Stingray armour. They just rescued the hostages. We’re tracking them returning to their spacecraft.“

Maico was ready to cry. She missed them!. She missed her opportunity. She’d been so goddamned close and she’d missed them completely because of a stupid old shuttlecraft and fickle father Jupiter.

“Control, Soyokaze. We think they’re the same group from Genaros. Intercept in two minutes. We’re going to get some answers.”

Maico was recording the whole exchange, naturally. It wasn’t quite a live video of them in action, but it’d work with survivor accounts. Maybe she could ask for an interview aboard the Soyokaze.

“Knight Saber spacecraft, this is Space Patrol cruiser Soyokaze. You will shutdown and surrender your vessel. You will be arrested for violation of the mercenary provisions of the Fenspace convention. If you resist, we will use force,”

Silence.

“Soyokaze, Control. They’ve rendezvoused. They’re moving out of orbit at high speed. Heading, 110 mark 25 relative to us.”

Maico was peering through the window. Jupiter;s great red spot stared, a swirling bloody God’s eye that seemed to be keeping watch over the whole system

“Control, Soyokaze. We are entering pursuit.”

“Whoa, would you look at that Gorram thing go. “

“Knight Saber spacecraft. Cut your engines and prepare to be boarded. This is your final warning,”

“The Patrol are going to shoot them down,” Unless they fire back.... and opening fire on a Space Patrol spacecraft would be a definite line-crosser. They’d either have to surrender, or turn and fight.

“Control Soyokaze... they aren’t falling for it. There’s no way we can accelerate in this sort of plasma field. It’s playing havoc with our drives. We’re calling this a bust,”

A bluff? Maico was amazed by how relieved she felt. “They’ve escaped!” She winced. That’d have to be cut. “It appears the Knight Saber’s spacecraft has escaped,” she repeated, keeping her tone measured.

An alarm began to scream in the cockpit. Maico jumped out of her chair. “I didn’t touch anything,” she pleaded.

The catboy pilot hauled himself up, taking one look at the panel. Disco lights began to flicker. “Conflict alert. Something big is coming right at us... fast,”

Maico blanched. “How fast?”

“They’re going to pass a hundred kilometres overhead in thirty seconds.

A moment later it appeared on the heads up display, fixed by a single red star on the cockpit windows. Data readouts began to plot trajector. No transponder. Accelerating away from Ganymed.

“It’s them!” Maico gasped.

She fumbled for her camera, struggling to fit a new lens. It was a waved one... it would just about image them at that range. Cross her fingers. Offer up a prayer.

“Turn off the HUD please, “ she requested. The words were polite, but her tone was demanding.

The data readouts died. Maico’s viewfinder picked up on the spacecraft... a single solitary spark of sunlight. Target fix. Tracking....

“They’re turning away from us. They’ve seen us,”

Zoom in.

For one single instant it was there in front of her. A thousand kilometres ahead, banked over and exposing it’s belly, silhouetted against Jupiter. She could make out 4 glowing blue sparks pushing it forward. A pair of illuminated rectangles marked the belly, with the blurred outlines of machinery inside lost in the glare.

It was long, and jet black in shadow. Wings were swept right back, and seemed to blend up to a sharp nose. It reminded Maico of a barbed arrow.

Her finger pushed the shutter switch.

With a flash from it’s engines, the Saber’s spacecraft was gone.

Maico heard the digitally generated shutter click, followed by a simulation of a motor winding on a roll of film. Missed it....

The captured image came up on screen. A spot. Maico zoomed in to maximum magnification. It filled the screen... blurred, compressed and pixelated.... but there.

“I got it!” she whooped. “I got the shot!”

There was no way it was clear enough to sell, but it’d be enough for a positive identification of type. From type, comes builder. From builder, comes a lead....

She hugged the bewildered owner of the shuttle.
[/i]


And Protoype of Mackie. Creating AI's is easy. Creating different ones with a reason to be is hard...

----

Originally the KnightWing’s shipmind AI, Mackie is based on the eponymous character from Bubblegum Crisis Which suggests that Jet was involved somehow in his creation, contrary to her usual moral code about AI's and equipment. He was removed from the ship's systems at his own request, having his core placed in a body constructed by [[Vulpine Fury]. He chose an appearance that isn't too far off his animated counterpart. He's been told he has his sister's eyes, and nearly everyone agrees there is an odd family resemblance.

Originally, he was expected to handle the information security of the Knightwing, act as the spacecraft’s autopilot, handle navigation, plot firing solutions, monitor sensors and generally do all those things spacecraft AI’s do. Now, he’s generally expected to do nothing at all.

However he’s usually the physical pilot for Knightwing, and can often be found assisting [[Ford Sierra] with maintenance, both of the Knight Saber's hardware and [[77 Frigga] itself

Jet gives Mackie a weekly allowance to pursue his own interests. He’s been steadily turning the ''Fitter-K'' into something rather special, taking inspiration from his former ‘home’.

==Handwavium Abilities ==

‘’Boom Boomer:” AI Android. Theoretically immortal. Technically doesn’t need to eat, drink or sleep. Will definitely always be a teenage boy, not that he minds.

‘’Headlight Fluid?’’:Amateur mechanic, studying under Ford Sierra.

‘’Red Four, standing by’’: Competent spacecraft pilot. He prefers to be the pilot, rather than the spacecraft.

==Quirks==

''Cut from the same cloth;'': Considers Jet to be his sister. Jet can't help but consider him to be her brother.Which means she spoils him, much to everyone's annoyance..

‘’Have we met?’’: Occasionally remembers meeting people he’s never met before. So long as Jet as knew them before his ‘birth’.

''Brilliant, but Lazy'': Much like his 'sibling', Mackie has a lot of potential which rarely lives up to. He tends to be only capable of applying himself to projects which interest and excite him ''now''.

''I’ll be in my bunk:'' Mackie is a notorious lech, with the mindset and drives of a teenage boy.

==Trivia==

Mackie was an accident. The KnightWing was originally intended to be AI-free, and had been built with the intention that Jet be capable of interfacing with the spacecraft’s systems. During a test of the interface a hardware error knocked Jet clean out, and caused the KnightWing’s system’s to reset.

The KnightWing’s computer’s attempted to access the unconscious Jet’s systems as an external drive, and used them to bootstrap the main system. Mackie was the result. Because Mackie inherited some of Jet’s memories in the process, he has roughly the same level of education and some of Jet's practical skills. He also knew Jet’s access codes, passwords and credit details, and will occasionally recognise people Jet knows or knew before he was born.

The exact relationship between Mackie and Jet isn’t known outside of the Knight Sabers. The nature of what is shared between the pair is considered deeply private. As far as most of Fenspace is concerned, Mackie’s just another character-based AI with a personality quirk.

Jet believes that Mackie is a lot like who he would’ve been, had he not been modded. Ford recognises Mackie's potential, and tries to push him... but Jet keeps letting him slide.

________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Somewhat off-topic, but you might find these amusing: Customized armour for the confused or generalist Fen.

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=171408

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=174142
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Heh. I can SO see Jess doing a few of those. Wink

In her later years where she has made peace with herself, I can see Gina donning the Unit 02 suit. Big Grin
Dartz Wrote:''I’ll be in my bunk:'' Mackie is a notorious lech, with the mindset and drives of a teenage boy.

Fenspace Infinities time - and not one of those Infinities like Saber Chase that is likely to come true. This is the "no, that's never going to happen" sort of Infinity. But this insisted on being typed out...

"I'll be in my bunk."

"Were you peeping at me?"

"Well..."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Well..."

"I'll tell you who I am. I am 'Noah Scott's daughter'. I have been 'Noah Scott's daughter' for nearly two decades now. Everybody sees me as a girl - one of Noah's little girls - not a woman. Except you. Well, I have needs too. And those needs haven't been satisfied. Ever. So, no, you will not be in your bunk. You'll be in my bunk."

" Yes, Ms. Li."

"For the gods' sake, call me Kohran. Or 'Mistress'."

"[size=smaller]eep.[/size]"


Again, this is not at all canon. Or going on the FenWiki.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Snrk. Made me smile on a hung-over morning. And afternoon. Thanks.

Quote:Heh. I can SO see Jess doing a few of those. Wink

In her later years where she has made peace with herself, I can see Gina donning the Unit 02 suit. Big Grin

[Jet]: Who needs the suit? *smirk*

They might make some nice background colour for a convention scene I've got planned.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
This was meant to be yesterdays update:

Been cleaned up a little.

Quote:-----

“BAT Lancer. There’s nothing else it could be,”

Such was the judgement of the newsgroup.

“That explains how they could accelerate so fast inside the Jovian magnetosphere,”

“How?”

[i[“Those things have a variable drive field. It has sensors that can read the entry interface of the drive field, and can dynamically alter it’s field geometry to compensate for any distortions,”[/i]

“Wow... that must take what... like an insane amount of processing power,”

“Yeah. They were built more as a technological statement, a demonstration what HERL could do. They were a real technical tour-de-force, but they were overpriced, cramped.... maintenance dogs. The resonator memory in the drive computers has decoherence issues, And when it goes they have to be replaced as a whole unit and those things are *not cheap*. Not to mention the headaches from the drives themselves. And the bay doors jam open easily limiting top speed until closed.”

“Not that many were built, IIRC. Only really popular with Browncoats who didn’t mind paying a premium for a smooth ride, or with folk who wanted most of the combat ability of a ‘Bird, with a bit more cargo space.”

“The Outlaws are so much better for just about anything. And almost as fast. And probably easier to hide because they’re getting common. Or even a pair of Blackbirds. Only an idiot or someone who couldn’t get anything better would use it for something like this. You see how the doors jammed open on them as they escaped. If it weren’t for Jupiter, the Soyokaze would’ve run them down easily.”

Maico sighed. “Never understimate the ability of the interwave to nitpick and bitch.” Come up with a confirmation of what kind of spacecraft they use, and get a series of posts about why it sucks for the job and the group using it are idiots.

“But of course, they wouldn’t use this type unless it gave them some edge. They outran the Soyokaze, and don’t forget, it is a stealthy spacecraft, something which they use to their advantage.”

“And if they really wanted stealth, they’d fit a cloaking device.”

“You remember that accident over Venus? A shuttlecraft ran smack into a cloaked ship. Boom!”

“These people clearly aren’t idiots. It clearly works for them,”

“One good thing is that they’re so rare, it shouldn’t be (too) hard to track them all down. Most people only own one or two, and since the RR did say how many they’ve built... a little addition and...”

“Bingo! Find out where they’ve ended up. Even if one’s missing someone’ll know who it was sold to, or we’lll get a description,”

“But of course, that’ll be a lot of work,” Maico told herself.

She sat back into her chair and switched over to the next window. Her collection of data on these Knight Sabers had grown from a single video, to an entire Mnemosyne’d disk drive. She had all thirteen episodes; the eight originals and the final five from the cultural section of the Whole Fenspace Catalogue. She had Bubblegum Crash. She had the 2040 series and it’s sequel. She had the Adam Warren comics. She had an archive of the ancient alt.fan.bgcrisis newsgroup

The only thing in that which had been remotely interesting where some discussions on building a hardsuit out of wavium way back in 2011, and a slightly overweight man in a shed who’d managed to pull it off.

She held the image on her monitor for a few moments. Whoever he was, he wasn’t exactly bad looking. Loose the stubble around the chin. And there beside him, matching him in shoulder height was a blue and white hardsuit with wings.

“Hey guys. Well, the thing works but somehow, I don’t think it’ll fit. Poxy thing quirked on me as the wave-armour was setting, Guess what? Knight Sabers are women... so’s the hardsuit. Amn’t I a gobshite for not figuring that out beforehand?”

“I searched his handle and email address, and nothing at all. Whoever he was, he vanished off the face of Planet Earth and the internet sometime in November 2011. He just stopped answering messages.”

It was obvious what that meant. “He was either imprisoned. Or he made it up and severed ties.”

She was drumming her fingers on her keyboard.

“I need a break,”
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Dartz Wrote:Snrk. Made me smile on a hung-over morning. And afternoon. Thanks.
That's why I write things like that. You're welcome.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
And todays update, featuring a modified version of that exchange from the other thread.

Quote:The break came two weeks later.

“....all told, that makes this the most successful fundraiser for the Nikaido Foundation so far. This is Maico Tange, reporting from Stellvia,”

Click. The little red light on the camera dimmed. Job done. Maico exhaled a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding in. The noise in the room returned, a hundred well-to-do fen chatting about what they’d managed to snag in the auction.

She made sure there wasn’t any pink hair blocking her headset, and set it recording some of the ambience in the room. There were still Fen she wanted to talk to. What did you buy? Why? Why did you spend that much money on a simple handgun?

But that could wait. First. Bar? Coffee. She needed coffee. A little pickup before going back into the bearpit. She still had to get word from Noah Scott, but that could wait until he wasn’t surrounded.

“Damn I’m tired,” she sighed. Still, it was a nice break from chasing Saber. She crossed out of the restaurant, making her way to the main bar. One of the security guards gave her a suspicious eye. Must be new.

The staff were run off their feet trying to keep up.

“Coffee, black,”

She’d have a wait. Two gearheads stood beside her. Both in full Principality of Zeon uniform with what looked to be genuine gold brade.

"So..." one said, downing a slug of crystal Sapporro. Maico glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, noticing he had a strange scar across his cheek.

"Yes?" answered his companion

"JMC’s Nene Romanova. The Knight Sabers. Are they connected?"

Maico winced. Try to get away from it, and now it’s hunting her down. The hunter has become the hunted, hah!.

The second shook is head. "Nah - too obvious."

"Then who would you suggest?"

"The casino across the concourse is giving twenty to one that an Ayanami of some sort is in one of the suits."

"Speaking of obvious." Snorted the first.

"Yeah. hundred to one says that they're all Ayanamis." The second laughed

"So, Roughriders Ayanamis or Greenwood Ayanamis then?"

"Huh... I'f it’s an Ayanami, it's Roughriders. This is more their kind of stunt."

"True.” the scarred one nodded sagely “Greenwood'd use catgirls instead."

Their companion came back from his excursion to the bathroom. Earth Federation.

"So who do you think's in the suits then?" the second asked him, pointedly. “

“What suits?” he blinked.

“The Knight Sabers,” both Zeon pilots choruse.

“Oh,” The Feddie thought for a second. His eyebrow rose "Me? I think they're bots, not suits. They're all AIs." he said, with perfect assurance.

"I think you're crazy."

"Okay, smart guy, who do you think is in the suits?"

The first took a quick glance around. The coast seemed clear.

“Come to think of it.... Has anybody ever seen Saber White and A.C. Peters in the same room at the same time?"

"And you called me crazy?"

“Hey... you saw the report. Saber White has her voice.”

Maico cringed. Alright. Time to correct this once and for all.

“That’s Sailor Mars’ voice actress the girl meant.” she said, archly. “She was talking about Michie Tomizawa, not A.C.”

All three stared at her for a moment. Recognition slowly began to dawn. They hadn’t even seen here there.

“So I take it you haven’t seen the video of them in action?.”

“The Genaros one?” My one? she didn’t say.

“No, that’s ancient history.” Maico swore that was some sort of personal attack. His tone hushed “There’s a new one, of them raiding a zwilnik asteroid. It leaked from the Patrol”

Maico forgot all about her break. This was a Break.

“Where?” she hissed.

“Where else? It’s doing the rounds on the interwave,” said the first, wearing a smug grin. “And trust me, wait until you see this. Of course, it’s very not safe for work.”

Maico thought of the smashed mech’s she’d seen on the Japanese mine. She thought about the blankets covering what had obviously been bodies. She thought about what Noah Scott had told her about the Knight Sabers crossing the line.

She had to see this.

There was no choice.

A black coffee was placed on the bar counter. Maico was already out in the main concourse and running back to her press quarters.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
A brief bit of snippet you can use, if you want. Smile

"No, I don't know who, or what, might be in those suits," Nene replied, sighing. "That... wasn't even really a lifetime ago for me. Memories of people... six of them... that really never existed in the first place." She fiddled a little bit with the laptop on the desk. "Not that it would have stopped me from joining up if I'd been asked." She smiled, lightly. "As hard as it was... it was also a fun bit of challenge for me."
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
Quote:On the screen:
"I'll be in my bunk."

"Were you peeping at me?"

"Well..."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Well..."

"I'll tell you who I am. I am 'Noah Scott's daughter'. I have been 'Noah Scott's daughter' for nearly two decades now. Everybody sees me as a girl - one of Noah's little girls - not a woman. Except you. Well, I have needs too. And those needs haven't been satisfied. Ever. So, no, you will not be in your bunk. You'll be in my bunk."

" Yes, Ms. Li."

"For the gods' sake, call me Kohran. Or 'Mistress'."

"eep."
Jeph looked at Nene, then back at the screen, then back at Nene. "Uh, Nene, you do know that if Kohran finds out you were reading that, we're both going to have to put up with it for at least six months."
"Um..."
"Just stop reading the alt.sex.fenspace newsgroups. It's bad enough that I see those."
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
JFerio Wrote:A brief bit of snippet you can use, if you want. Smile

"No, I don't know who, or what, might be in those suits," Nene replied, sighing. "That... wasn't even really a lifetime ago for me. Memories of people... six of them... that really never existed in the first place." She fiddled a little bit with the laptop on the desk. "Not that it would have stopped me from joining up if I'd been asked." She smiled, lightly. "As hard as it was... it was also a fun bit of challenge for me."

Perfect!

Have a scene with Nene planned, that slots on wonderfully.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Just me typing whatever the hell came to mind. Dissect and use whatever you like, or none at all.

Quote:"What you're about to see, Miss Tange, is a Roughriders State Secret. While I understand that it is in your nature as a reporter to reveal these things to the public at large, please understand that this is best for the convention."

*Cue security footage of the Lancer-class factory line. Machinery is busy twiddling away at two Lancers side-by-side on the assembly line when an actinic-white flare bursts out from one of the space frames and begins to start smaller fires among the other machinery.*

"This footage was not doctored in any way, Miss Tange. As you can see a piece of faulty wiring cook off some magnesium, the sparks of which ruptured the hydraulic lines in the assembly machinery and ignited the petroleum-based hydraulic fluid as well. Needless to say, we no longer use petroleum based fluid in any of our equipment."

*At that moment, white vapor shoots out of nozzles and is quickly flushed away.*

"Fortunately, the suppression systems kicked in and saved the rest of the line. The area was sealed off and the ventilation shafts opened to vacuum while liquid CO2 was sprayed over the fires. This is important for class-delta fires in that it limits the amount of readily available oxygen and rapidly cools the fuel back down from its ignition point. The damage, grievous as it was, was well contained."

"Now we get to the fun part. Normally, spaceframes damaged like this are recycled. But as you can see in this footage..."

*The footage now goes into a time-lapse mode, where the damaged assembly machinery is rapidly replaced and the two partially constructed space frames are taken apart and reassembled as a single, complete frame.*

"... we made one whole bird out of two. You see, the thing people seem to miss is that according to the recycler system, only fifty-three percent of the wreckage was recoverable as raw material." Benjamin was grinning like an elf that had just pulled a rather spectacular prank and got away with it scot-free.

But then his expression turned stone-cold sober. "Now, Miss Tange, you must understand this. Jet and I saw some pretty serious shit out there in the Belt. Roughriders have shoot-on-site orders for about a dozen wanted criminals that eluded Great Justice and we keep our eyes and our ears pealed for them. The moment we get even the slightest hint of one of these bastards we sic the Knight Sabers on them."

"But... what about due process?"

"Maico... back on Earth, if you kill a few people, you'll probably get lethal injection. But if you kill a few hundred million then you'll just get exiled to some island in the tropics where they'll check up on you from time to time. Just to see if you're living well. I find that particular bit of politics to be utterly disgusting, because 1) Exile like that isn't exactly suffering, 2) Even if they had to dedicate a lifetime of servitude it would not make up for the suffering they caused, and 3) Killing them ensures they're no longer a problem. Besides, where the hell was due process when these sick fucks were catgirling men, women, and children by the hundreds and enslaving them with thionite? Due process can kiss my ass."

Ben then folded his arms neatly behind his back and turned to look out the office. "The Roughriders are not simply a mercenary force. We enforce peace in the name of the convention. When someone needs help, we give it without really asking for money. While our operations are funded somewhat by Great Justice, it is also fairly well supplemented by the profits made from BAT. The Knight Sabers is simply Jet's way of helping to keep that peace. You abide by her rules, then everything's gonna be hunky-dory. If not... let's just say that Jet and I will find ways to make your life miserable, and through completely legitimate channels."

"You can't do that!"

"The hell I can't. And it won't even be just me. Once the other SMOFs know that it was you that ratted Jet out they'll form ranks against you. So play nice or else you'll have your ass handed to you on a silver platter."
Quote:"The hell I can't. And it won't even be just me. Once the other SMOFs know that it was you that ratted Jet out they'll form ranks against you. So play nice or else you'll have your ass handed to you on a silver platter."

That's funny, 'cause from where I sit (and the VVS Central Committee in the back of my head nods along in agreement) it really looks like Ben is the one ratting Jet out to Maico in order to make himself look clever - and so he can get his bully on.

I am disappoint.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
Ack.... Mal Ninja'd me.

But I can definitely work with parts of it.... when Maico meets Ben she has no idea Jet's behind the Sabers, she's just chasing up information on the KnightWing. She hasn't mentioned Jet's name, so I doubt he would either.

The plan for the story was to have her find out in a similar way Lisa does in the Sabers. She leaves Frigga disappointed that her theory about Jet was false. Anika gives her a ride home, and they get attacked. It doesn't take a genius to draw conclusions when there're only three Sabers aboard the KnightWing... and a pink hardsuit unworn.

It's also a little darker than I'd planned for the Sabers. They may be working for Great Justice but they're not a hunter-killer team. Given the choice they'll bring them in alive. It's a character point for Jet that she doesn't harm someone who surrenders, regardless. (Even though she may *want* to as Quattro found out, she considers that a line she does not cross.)

Which means that when the Patrol hit up the aftermath a Knight Saber's raid they'll find survivors either being 'guarded' by any released hostages, or tied up and locked up with a good chunk of evidence detailing their crimes.

So they'll spend the rest of their lives far from Planet Earth marooned in a single-occupant cell made from cold black stones that have never known the warming touch of sunlight. Barely alive.....
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Quote:"The hell I can't. And it won't even be just me. Once the other SMOFs know that it was you that ratted Jet out they'll form ranks against you. So play nice or else you'll have your ass handed to you on a silver platter."
M Fnord Wrote:That's funny, 'cause from where I sit (and the VVS Central Committee in the back of my head nods along in agreement) it really looks like Ben is the one ratting Jet out to Maico in order to make himself look clever - and so he can get his bully on.

I am disappoint.

Official Stellvian response, if this happens as presented:

"Let me get this straight - Ben Rodes told you everything you need to know to complete your story, then threatened you with SMOF retaliation if you were to publish it?"

"That's an oversimplification, but it isn't wrong."

"I see. I think it's time to teach Ben that the SMOF aren't a monolithic bloc, and that it's a bad idea to threaten a reporter." Noah picked up his telephone and pushed one speed-dial button. "Kagome? Noah here. New orders: You and Safety are on detached duty, effective immediately and until further notice. Maico Tange is about to publish a story, and she'll need both visible and stealthy bodyguards once it hits the Interwave." He hung up and turned back to Maico. "I'll pay their room, board, and salaries, of course. And I'll make things good with Jet. Somehow."

"Isn't Safety your ... rather small secretary, Noah?"

"She is, but she's also an excellent shot. Remember the old adage: Even angels carry bows."

"Yes, of course."

"Oh, if you can wait here for a couple of hours, you can stop spending money on passenger tickets for a while. I'm going to detach the Lanster from Odyssey for Kagome and Safety's use, and it would be silly for you and them to ride in different ships."

"Why are you being so generous to me, Noah?"

"Because I believe in freedom of the press."

"You asked me to stifle this story, Noah."

"That's right - I asked you, and you're completely in your rights to say 'no.' I didn't order you, or threaten you."

"I ... see."

--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
That's almost a better story that what I had planned. A little more conflict in things is good. Maybe it might be possible to do both?

The plan I had was for Jet and the Sabers to explain themselves to her. And their personal reasons for doing it. Anika explains how she was rescued by them. Daryl, what happened to her troubleshooter partner. Something like:

"I can't stop you publishing this. Not without doing something that crosses the line.

We don't register because we're so small, and we're going after such big fish. It wouldn't be hard for them to discover our names, then go after our friends, or our families. There's no way we can protect them any other way. We keep ourselves secret to keep them safe. And because we keep the secret safe, we can keep doing the good we do.

I think you can understand where I'm coming from."

And if Ben finds that she knows.... cue the results above.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

HRogge

I am not sure it sounds like a good strategy from Ben to first spill a story and then threaten the listener not to share it, especially when talking to a reporter.
Slow your roll, guys. I'm only getting to the library every great once in a while.

This stuff was intended as part of the epilogue, where, unless I was mistaken, Maico already knows who the Sabers are and Jet has provisionally cleared her... but Ben is ensuring that the message is clear. Besides, ben wouldn't appreciate it if Maico made Jet look bad, and I'm pretty sure the other SMOFs wouldn't take that too kindly either even if what Jet was doing was a little bit above the law... Let's amend that a bit...

"I can't speak for the rest of the SMOFs, Miss Tange, but Jet is many things to us. For some she's a friend, for others a business partner, and for a few she's even a comrade-in-arms. I can assure you that while no direct action would be taken, the others might be... displeased."

"Wait, you guys can't do that!" said Maico once she realized what Ben was implying.

"Miss Tange, we each rule our own little corner of space as we see fit within the provisions of the Convention. However, we hardly have a monopoly. To say that any of us can completely blackball you is a stretch. That said, though, it would be most unwise to piss with any of us. We're not heartless, but we really hate it when someone hurts one of our own."

Better?

Also, my take on the original Knight Sabers was that they were a kill squad... of sorts. IIRC, whenever the mission objectives set forth by the customer were not too clear then the simplest methods were used. (Granted, they never really took on assassination jobs, but Boomers were their specialty anyhow, and they killed those with extreme prejudice.)

All that said, I apologize. Instead, let's amend that to where Ben says, "Personally, I'd rather just kill them myself, but that's just the Texan in me. You know, kill the sorry sackashit and he won't trouble you or your kin no more. But if Jet wants to take them alive, then more power to her. I just hope that what's left of their existence makes the Circles of Hell look like a pleasure cruise."
Quote:Better?

Not really. It's still somebody in a position of power (that'd be Ben the badass SMOF with his own private army) using the threat of force against a target that can't actually hurt him. It's still bullying, and it's still ugly. Now, if that's where you want to take the character then okay, we can go there. I'm not going to say a word against it. Just remember that there will be repercussions on Ben - he doesn't get away clean.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
What Mal said.

Consider: What was Noah Scott's answer when Lisa Vanette asked him why he went into space?

Consider: Maico is the only reporter who was allowed to cover the Scott/Swansen wedding.

StellviaCorp won't break off relations with the Roughriders over this - for Helen and Mayonaka's sake. However, he will ask Ben over for a quiet chat with bodyguards on both sides. Gina can probably out-argue Leda, but Annika is outclassed by Yayoi, so it'll be up to Ben to explain his actions to Noah's satisfaction... and if Noah isn't satisfied, then he'll take Maico's side and provide her with what protection he can against the new threat to her journalistic freedom.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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