“And why do you do this?” Rei asked Ami quietly.
Ami’s voice became oddly flat, almost entirely devoid of any
emotion as she answered, “My Mother, Dr. Mizuno, helped them develop the
original bio-boomer technology and Prof. Tomoe killed her once she was
no longer useful.”
“I’m sorry,” Rei said to her softly, now understanding where the
loss Rei had seen in Ami’s eyes had come from.
Alarms rang out in the small chamber, and Makoto cursed softly.
“Bad timing,” she muttered, and began to strip down before pulling on a
skin tight leotard.
Minako slapped her on the bottom, “You're looking good.” She
stripped too, then pulled on her golden suit of battle armor.
Ami picked up a leotard from a locker and held it out to Rei.
“We could use your help out there,” she said quietly, her eyes meeting
Rei’s.
Rei hesitated, then grabbed the leotard from Ami's hands and
stripped down herself. “How hard is it to pilot one of these things?”
she nodded to the red suit.
“It only magnifies your own muscle power,” Ami began to change
as she explained, “the weapon system I’ll explain on the way.”
Rei noticed how shapely the slim woman was, stripped down just
to a leotard, and had to shake herself for a moment. She stepped into
the front segment of the suit, and felt it fold itself around her. The
body, arms, and legs locked into place, and Rei pulled the helmet on
over her head. She took a few steps, balancing carefully on the metallic
heels.
“Nice fit,” Rei said thoughtfully.
"I did some research before contacting you," Ami explained as
she pulled her armor on.
Rei opened and closed her fingers, looking down at the cannon
built into the suit's right arm. She raised it, pointing it at the wall
as a series of targeting displays came on line in the helmet's visor.
She lined up where she wanted to hit, and fired. The metallic foot long
needle cut through the air just like a knife, digging deeply into the
far wall. After a few moments, Rei was surprised to see the spear
explode into flames!
“Thermal charges,” Ami explained to the startled woman as she
shook her head ruefully adding, “I don’t think you’ll have any trouble
with the weapon systems.”
The Silky Doll delivery truck was loaded up and they were all
quickly on the move, racing to where the crisis was now unfolding. The
bio-boomer’s were an incredible innovation, semi-organic robots that
were supposed to serve humanity. But there was a grave flaw in their
creation, and sometimes they would go rogue, becoming monstrous
creatures.
“Makoto, you and I will go in first,” Ami said to them
intensely. She nodded to Rei, “This is your first time out, so you’re
our back up.” She looked over at Minako, “Be ready to use the electronic
counter measures to keep the AD Police off our backs, and the FX to
cover our escape.”
“Got it,” Minako nodded eagerly, all of them sitting with their
helmets in their laps.
“Ready to go,” Makoto agreed.
‘There's no way that I’m hanging back,’ Rei thought to herself
grimly, pulse racing, but she didn't say anything. "How do you kill
these things?" she asked.
"There's a crystal in the middle of the chest," Ami explained as
she slid her helmet on, the others following suit, "crush it and they
die."
The team deployed from the truck as the misshapen creature
howled in rage, gray tentacles writhing all around it as Ami and Makoto
carefully moved in first. Silvery blades that trailed frost popped out
of the wrists of Ami’s armor, freezing and cutting at the creature. Then
Makoto leapt in, her suit deploying electrified cutting cables that
sliced and shocked it.
It staggered backward, and Rei saw it, ‘An opening!’
The suit moved like a dream as Rei went in for the kill. She
used her cannon to break through it’s weakened defenses, and then
plunged her fist into it’s chest. She reached around in the tissues as
she had been told and pulled out the heart crystal that powered it. The
creature gurgled, it’s body breaking down into a black ooze pooling
around their feet.
Minako’s urgent voice came over the radios, “The AD Police are
here! Ami, leave your calling card and let’s go.”
The cruiser pulled up into the lot even as Minako dropped a
series of strobe flares that the other three used to get clear. The
police, once their eyes cleared, found the remains of the bio-boomer,
and something else.
Carved into the ground by a laser beam were the words, “Senshi
Sabers.”
The tall blonde with her long hair tied up in buns slammed her
fist down on the top of her AD Police cruiser. “The Senshi Sabers beat
us to the punch again,” Usagi complained, “and now there’s another one
of them!”
Her partner Naru shook her head, her short brown hair moving
with the breeze. “Why are you so hung up on them?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Usagi sighed, “I just am.”
“You’re too tense,” Naru reached out to put her hand on Usagi’s
arm. She smiled slightly, “Come home with me tonight, I’ll make a new
woman of you.”
Usagi climbed into the cruiser with a sigh, “I’ve got a
headache.”
Naru pouted, climbing in the other side, “But that’s what you
always say!”
The trip back to the Silky Doll was quiet, all of them lost in
their own thoughts. Minako and Makoto disrobed quickly, changing and
leaving together walking hand in hand. ‘Interesting, very interesting’
Rei thought.
The armor came off easily, and Rei stood there a moment dressed
in her leotard only, gazing at the helmet in her hands thoughtfully. She
sensed a presence, and looked up to see Ami Mizuno looking at her, her
expression utterly unreadable.
“What?” Rei asked.
“I’ll have to keep in mind that you don’t always obey my
orders,” Ami said quietly, “but other than that, good job.”
Having said her piece, Ami should have just left, but she
lingered gazing at Rei. Rei put her helmet with the rest of the suit,
then advanced on Ami slowly. Ami’s eyes widened slightly, but the
leotard clad woman didn’t flee.
“I saw you watching me at the concert,” Rei murmured softly. A
slight smile, “Was there another reason you asked me to join your little
crusade?”
“Maybe,” Ami answered quietly. She slipped away, turning and
walking out of the changing room silently.
Rei watched her go with a frown. 'I wonder what's going on with
her?' She grabbed her street clothes and began to change, still puzzling
over the enigmatic Ms. Mizuno.
In another part of the city a figure gazed out into the
darkness. Sandy brown hair blew around his face, his glasses shining in
the dim light. He didn't turn around to look at the redhead walking up
behind him he just said, "Yes, Kaori?"
Kaori cleared her throat nervously, the beautiful redhead
dressed in a woman's business suit. "Director Tomoe," she said, "the
progress reports are in. Bio-Boomer production is up 20%, and export of
the military models is on the rise. There was some trouble with the city
over the new plant but our slush fund helped deal with that."
"And what of the Saturn project?" Tomoe asked coldly.
Kaori flipped a few pages, "We're still working on growing the
cloned tissue, but the technicians are optimistic." She hesitated, "Are
you sure you wanted to use cell samples from...."
"My daughter?" Tomoe turned slightly to look at her, and Kaori
took a half step backward. He was smiling, but it wasn't a pleasant
expression as he said firmly, "There is little enough of my daughter in
the world."
"Yes, Sir," Kaori answered softly.
Tomoe turned to look out at the city again, "And the prototypes,
Uranus and Neptune?"
"Still missing," Kaori admitted, "our internal security forces
are insufficient. If we could call in the AD Police via some cover
story...?"
"No," Tomoe shook his head, "we cannot risk our competitors
discovering them."
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