C. A. Reed Jr.
29th December 2004, 02:31 PM
==================================================
Bubble Gum Crisis is copyrighted by Artmic Inc. and Youmex, Inc. I am
just borrowing the characters for a little while, and promise not to
bend, fold, or staple them - unless I can come up with a good reason to
do so. I can be contacted at the Email address above. C&C will be
accepted, out and out flames will result in a Boomer or two being sent
after you, once they get around to inventing them.
Please, enjoy my take on the Bubble Gum Crisis universe.....
================================================== =
Chapter 35
Gulf and Bradley World Headquarters
Houston, Texas USA
December, 22,2035
3:11pm (MST)
Martha Desalvo was listed in the Gulf and Bradley corporate
structure as "Executive Vice-president in charge of Internal Affairs,"
a polite and long-winded way of saying she was G&B's Chief
assassin/spy/security specialist. Tall and lean, she still looked like
a high fashion model she had once been. But most models didn't have a
Master's degree in psychology, advanced Dans ranks in three different
Martial Arts, rated as 'expert marksman' in both pistol and sniper
rifle, and the nickname 'The Ice Witch" for her cold beauty and
ruthlessness.
She had been the first of Janson Bradley's new management
changes in the wake of Carson Bradley's death, her predecessor ousted
for being incompetent in failing to protect the chairman. Unlike
Carson, Janson valued people who produced results over sycophants, and
Desalvo had reached her current position by simply being better then
anyone else in her division. As such, she was one of the few people the
present G&B chairman trusted completely.
She was staring out one of the large windows that made up two
of her office walls. It was three days before Christmas, but the crowd
of last minute shoppers walking eighty-five stories were far from her
mind. Instead, her thoughts and gaze, were focused on the horizon, as
if she could actually see the cause of her current thoughts -
MegaToyko.
I told Janson that those two would be trouble, she thought to
herself. If I was related to those two, I would have eliminated them a
long time ago just for breathing precious air! Her opinion about
Janson's nephew and niece was well known to the chairman, but his
decision had been final: Carlton Bradley had to show he had the ability
to be the next head of G&B, and the Japan branch needed someone to run
it effectively in the shadow of GENOM.
At least, that is what Janson Bradley said publicly. Privately,
he didn't want either one of them in a position to undermined him
directly. Janson Bradley was a hard man - weak people didn't rise to
head large conglomerates like Gulf and Bradley or GENOM, but he
tempered his hardness with a streak of practicality that had served him
well in the wake of his brother's death. It was this combination that
had gotten Janson into the position of Chairman and had kept him there.
The same blend of traits had made him decide to send his nephew
and niece to Mega-Tokyo. Janson had never liked the Giant Boomer
project that Carson had negotiated with GENOM. After the prototype's
destruction under mysterious circumstances and a top G&B employee
jailed, Janson had pulled Gulf and Bradley out of the project, citing
incompetence on GENOM's part. The resulting war of words had been short
but bitter, convincing Janson he had done the right thing to begin
with.
But right after that, both Carlton and Cora Bradley had started
pushing for more say in how the corporation was being run. They began
question their Uncle on business decisions, policies, and personnel
determinations, including Desalvo's appointment to her current
position. As together they own somewhat more then twenty percent of the
outstanding shares in Gulf and Bradley, the twins couldn't be ignored
or shunted aside.
When the position of G&B - Japan opened up, Janson saw a chance
to sidetrack them for the foreseeable future. He knew that the pair
harbored an intense hatred for Chairman Quincy and GENOM and had a
tendency to act out their aggressions. At worst, the twins would try
and extract revenge against GENOM, and ending up paying the price for
it, either with their lives or diminished support inside the company.
Should they somehow succeed, GENOM would be weaken and Gulf and Bradley
would be in a position to profit from it.
You're playing a dangerous game with two unstable people,
Desalvo thought to herself. As a precaution, she'd placed several of
her own people inside G&B to keep an eye on the twins. The few reports
she did received were disturbing -- the twins were up to something, but
she had no idea what. She had her suspicions, but she needed more proof
first.
The intercom beeped. She turned away from the window and tapped
a button on the compact unit. "Yes?"
"There's a Mr. Wells on the phone from Mega-Tokyo," said her
secretary.
Desalvo frowned. Wells was one of her independent contacts,
people who had no direct connection with Gulf and Bradley. She used
them when she wanted information that wasn't filtered by internal
biases. This one was one of the few she had in Mega-Tokyo, but he was
her best source. She glanced at her clock. It must be important if he's
calling now, she thought.
"Put him through."
The vidphone flickered to life and she recognized the blond man
in the rumpled suit. /I'm glad I caught you in,/ he said.
"Spare the pleasantries," she said curtly. "What do you have?"
/We've got a corpwar kicking up into high gear here, and the
twins are in the thick of it,/ replied Wells grimly. /They've managed
to piss off not only GENOM, but MALCORP./
"What the hell did they do to piss off MALCORP?"
/How about kidnaping Greg Mallory's Goddaughter and dragging
her to Mega-Tokyo for starters?/
"Shit," growled Desalvo. "What else?"
/The twins were the one behind the Thor attack last night./
"WHAT?" Desalvo yelled. Those assholes! "Why in the hell did
they do such a thing?"
/They did it in an attempt to elimanate both the Black Knights
and the Knight Sabers, and they bungled it badly./
A long string of very unlady-like curse came rolling off of
Desalvo's tongue. That disaster had been played up big in the news,
with parts of the government pointing fingers at other parts. Of all
the asinine things those two idiots could have done! "Do you have
proof?"
/When the time comes./
"You're not just yanking my chain?"
Wells shook his head. /My source is very good and very
trustworthy. If they say the Bradley twins were behind the Thor attack,
then they were behind it./
"The Black Knights are involved?"
Wells nodded this time. /It looks like they've struck an
alliance with the Knight Sabers to take on Gulf and Bradley - Japan./
A flash of pain across her temples signaled the start of a
strong headache. "Any more good news?"
/All the signs point to a full-out assault on somebody very
shortly, maybe even within the hour./
Damn, damn, DAMN! "All right, try and get me anything else you
can. I'm coming over there and see what the hell is going on myself."
/Things are spinning out of control very quickly here. I'll do
what I can, but I 'm not sure how much I can find./
"Do what you can. We'll talk again shortly." She severed the
connection and stalked out of the office. As she passed her secretary,
she said, "Call Mr. Bradley and tell him I need to see him at once."
"Yes ma'am."
"Then call Mr. Hyde and tell him I want three -- no, FOUR
security teams geared up and ready to fly within the hour. Also tell
him we're going to Mega-Tokyo, and it's a Magenta-code situation
advisory."
The secretary paled slightly. Before she could respond again,
Desalvo was out of the office.
********** ********** **********
Gulf and Bradley Petrochemical Refinery Alpha Star One District 7
December 23, 2035 3:59am
The refinery sat on a spit of land in Tokyo Bay, sticking out
into the body of water like a think metal finger. Covering the area of
a fair size town in it's own right, it was a mass of storage tanks and
pipes, steel and concrete, towers and pits, all manned by Boomers with
human supervision.
It's official name was Alpha Star One, but most of the human
that worked there called it simply "Alpha". To Gulf and Bradley, it was
a jewel in the corporate crown, a show piece to the world. As a money-
maker, it had few equals. Easily the largest refinery complex in the
world, it was processing a full fifteen percent of the Pacific Rim's
yearly gas requirement from the Indonesian Oil fields. As such, the
refinery ran twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two
weeks a year in order to keep up with the demand.
Because of it's size and importance, security here was tight.
The Boomer workers were all GBGP-21s, programed with a dual
worker/security program package, with special protocols to prevent a
stray blast from turning the plant into an inferno. These in turn were
backed by modified GBS-18s flying squads that could reach any part of
the complex in less then two minutes. There was no central security
command center, but several sector command bunkers linked together by
buried and protected land lines and disguised as pumping stations or
maintenance sheds.
Surrounding the refinery's land perimeter was a series of
fences and wires designed to slow or cripple any attempt to breech the
security there. On the bay side, the sea floor was covered with sensors
and command-activated mines, designed to detect and eliminate a
seaborne attempt. The GBS-18s handled any attempt to attack the place
from the air.
Security was considered to be excellent for a installation this
size. Several attempts by groups of eco-terrorists and political
extremists to interfere with Alpha's production had been stopped cold
by the Boomers and the other defensive methods, several so successfully
that Gulf and Bradley didn't bother to inform the authorities of the
attacks. Those few terrorists that survived were never heard from
again. As an added precaution, one of the first things Carlton Bradley
had done when he'd taken over the Japan Branch of Gulf and Bradley was
to increased security even more. Now, the place was an armed fortress,
ready to take anything thrown at it.
It wasn't good enough.
The first inkling that something was about to happened occurred
when several of the sensors located on the bottom of Tokyo Bay ceased
transmission. After the fifth one failed in as many minutes, The
command bunker responsible for that sector dispatched a pair if GBS-18s
to scout the area from the air, and alerted the other command bunkers
to the possibility of another attack. Boomers moved to their staging
areas, while the humans began shifting as much of the highly flammable
liquids away from the sectors nearest the possible threat
From the time the GBS-18s had been dispatched, to the time they
reached the area where the failed sensors were located, two minutes has
elapsed. During that time, several more sensors had broken down,
leaving gaps in the sensor fields large enough to allow human-sized
objects through undetected. Deciding this was something more then an
accidental failure, the entire refinery went to maximum alert, and
another quartet of GBS-18s were sent out to reinforced the first two.
The first two GBS-18s hovered ten meters over the still, dark
waters of Tokyo Bay, scanning for evidence of life forms not natural to
the environment. After several seconds, they scanners were tracking
several large masses rapidly moving towards the refinery's docks.
Immediately, the pair sent a message to the nearest command bunker,
confirming the alert, and putting the number of intruders at a dozen,
possibly Boomers. The reply was swift and immediate; gather more data.
In response, the GBS-18s dropped towards the water, stopping
when they were less then five meters from the black surface. The
sensors began gathering more data, looking for something that would
identify these intruders. As the Boomer's CPUs started running matches
against the targets listed in their memory banks, the sensor detected
sudden movement from the masses below them. Several smaller objects
leapt from the intruders' masses and raced toward the surface. Reacting
on basic programming, both GBS-18s increased thrust in an attempt to
gain height. They never made it.
Six small missiles burst from the dark surface and began to
home on the pair. The GBS-18s split up, twisting and moving as
erratically as they could while still trying to gain more air. The
missiles also split up, three targeting each GBS-18 and gaining quickly
on them. The Boomers turned and tried to shoot down the missiles with
their own weapons, each sending all the data they had gathered to the
command bunker in a final show of programmed loyalty. The missiles then
struck, turning the two Boomers into a blossom of flame and sound that
was visible and audible for kilometers.
Acting on the destroyed Boomers data, the quartet of GBS-18s
sent to reinforce them were redirected to intercept and harass the
intruders. At the docks, two dozen GBGP-21s moved into position, tasked
with keeping the intruders on the docks and away from the storage
tanks. Alerts were sent to G&B Headquarters and the AD Police, while
other command bunkers kept one eye on the upcoming battle, the other on
their own sectors.
And still the intruders came on. By now, everyone at the
refinery, human and Boomer alike, realized the attackers weren't
humans, but Boomers. That meant that the Boomers were probably on a
'suicide' mission, intending to take out as much of the refinery as
they could before they were destroyed.
The reaction from the human overseers was immediate and
thorough. Commands that over-rode the 'minimal damage' protocols were
transmitted from the command bunker responsible for the docks to the
waiting Boomers. Close behind, a complex battle plan was downloaded
into the Boomer's on-board memory in the blink of an eye. In response,
the boomers ripped out of their human disguises, deploying mouth lasers
and other weapons and they moved into final defensive positions. Other
bunkers watched their sectors carefully, waiting for another attack to
appear.
Just as the last of the defenders reached their programmed
positions, the water near the docks began to froth. With loud splashes,
a dozen missile bursted out of the water and angled for the shoreline
and docks. They were followed three seconds later by another dozen
missiles, then another salvo. The defenders replied with laser and
shell, trying to eliminate the incoming missile swarm. A third fell to
the intense fire, but the remaining missiles crashed into the docks and
ships docked there. Explosions rocked the docks as the warheads went
off, sending gouts of fire and debris in every direction. Several of
the 21s were destroyed in the raging sea of explosions, while the
airborne 18s were forced to fall back to regroup and refocus.
As the defending Boomers moved to recover, several forms burst
out of dark water. Their jets firing just enough to get them to the
docks, the attacking boomers landed and continued their attack. The air
was suddenly filled with missiles, laser beams, and bullets. Boomers
were destroyed on both sides as the ongoing fires turned the area into
a Hell-like landscape. Above the battle, defending GBS-18s floated like
hideous parities of angels, looking for good shots against the
intruders.
Finally having a solid visual to rely on, the 21s and 18s
quickly identified the attackers as BU-17 Hellbenders combat Boomers --
cyberdroids designed for a seaborne attack like this. Boomers that
shouldn't be anyway near the city....
About half of the attacking force was down now, either
destroyed, or too badly damaged to continue. The losses among the
defenders wasn't nearly as grim, but still serious. Sensing victory,
the surviving defenders surged forward, looking to end the battle
quickly.
Unfortunately, the attack at the docks wasn't the real thing,
but a diversion....
All the GBS-18s that had been acting as air cover over the
battle suddenly exploded in a shower of sparks and shattered metal.
Several dark shapes flew through the dying discharges, sending a hail
of laser fire into the 21s below. Stunned by the sudden change in the
fight, the defense began to crumble. The unknown aero-boomers continued
their strafing runs as the surviving Hellbenders retreated to the
relative safety of the water
At the same time, across the refinery, a dozen dark shadows
moved quickly and silently among the storage tanks. The few sentry
boomers left in the area had been quickly and ruthless dispatched, as
had the humans who'd been manning the security bunker for the sector.
Now, each and every storage tank was being tagged with an explosive
device designed to destroy the pumps regulating the oil transference.
Once detonated, the tanks would be filled of valuable oil, but
unreachable until the pumps were replaced. It wasn't as damaging as
destroying the tanks outright, but even GENOM realized that igniting
several trillion kiloliters of highly flammable crude and refined gas
all at once wasn't a good idea.
Once the last of the Hellbenders had retreated into the
darkness of Tokyo Bay, the aero-boomers broke off their attack and
roared off into the night sky. At an unseen signal, the sabotaging
boomers stopped and moved swiftly and silently back to the refinery's
fence line. In minutes, they, too, had faded into the darkness
surrounding Alpha One.
Across the city, other attacks, both smaller in scope and aim,
struck at Gulf and Bradley-owned businesses. Some succeeded completely,
while others did not. But the results all had the same effect: Gulf and
Bradley was losing money, data and people, items that every corporation
needed to stay alive in the brutal landscape of business. It wasn't a
mortal blow -- Gulf and Bradley was too large and widespread to
collapse under an assault of one of its subsidiaries. But the attacks
heralded the entry of GENOM into the dispute, turning what was once a
shadow war into possibly something more ominous and deadly....
********** ********** **********
AD Police Headquarters December 23, 2035 4:09am
Daley looked at the men and women grouped around the table.
They all looked as tired as he felt. The people around the table were a
mix of investigating detectives and detachment commanders, officers who
were going to be caught in the middle of what could be a brutal
Corpwar. Jeena's revelations had hit him hard in the stomach. Boomer
rampages were bad enough, but out and out warfare?
The redheaded inspector's eyes wonder around the table. Julian
Weiss was asleep, his head cradled in his arms. Mandy Thesan was
leaning back in her chair glaring at anyone who bothered to look at
her. Most of the others around the table were half dozing, despite the
triple strength coffee forced upon them when they walked in the door.
With the exception of the chief, who never could be found anywhere near
the headquarters building after five PM, and two detachment commanders,
who were supervising their units in the clean-up of a Boomer rampage in
a condominium complex, the room held the ADP senior front-line
commanders.
Ko looked at him from the other end of the table. The newest
ADP detective was slouched over the table, his coffee cup half full in
front of him. "How reliable is this Jeena?" he asked.
"She's ex-ADP and Leon's ex-partner," replied Daley. "If he
trusts her, so do I."
"So what do we do besides sit here on our butts?" asked Thesan
bluntly.
"I suppose we could try and arrest the leadership of GENOM,
Gulf and Bradley - Japan, and MALCORP," replied Ko. "That is, if we
want to be unemployed in a hurry."
"That's assumes you can find them in time," muttered Thesan.
"Or that arresting them would stop it."
"Does anyone have any other suggestions?" asked Daley sharply.
Weiss stirred. "What can we do?" he asked, his voice slightly
slurred from sleep. "We don't have the people or the equipment to stop
them. And if we do try to stop them, we'll get massacred."
"And if we don't, how many civilians are going to get caught in
the crossfire?" asked Thesan.
"So what would be different from what we're doing now?" said
Weiss quietly.
"Enough," said Daley before Thesan could reply. "We're screwed
no matter what we o, so we're going to try and keep it to a minimum.
Which one of the three corps have the weakest defenses?"
"MALCORP," replied Ko. "Even with the security robots, they
can't match either GENOM or Gulf and Bradley's firepower."
"But they don't have a lot here to defend," said Vance, one of
the other Detachment commanders.
"Vance's right," said Thesan. "Unless they've imported some
outside firepower, they can't go onto the offence."
Daley stayed silent, his thoughts drifting back to his
conversation with Jeena at MALCORP's pharmaceutical research center....
* * *
"All right," said Jeena, once they were alone. "I'll make this
short and sweet. MALCORP is here to get back a kidnaped girl. Gulf and
Bradley have her. GENOM is sniffing around the edge, and if they smell
blood, they'll jump in with both feet."
"What's so important about this girl?' Daley had asked.
"She's has information that could make the ADP's job more of a
nightmare then it is now. Remember those CU-5T from a couple of nights
ago? The ones that appeared to have force shields?"
"You mean...."
Jeena nodded, her expression grim. "If you think rampaging
Boomers are bad now, wait until models equipped with this technology go
berserk. You won't have a snowball's chance of Hell of stopping them."
"Why the hell does G&B want the technology?"
"Not the entire corporation, though if it fell into their
hands, they won't be complaining. The best we can figure is that it's a
rouge operation. The CEO of G&B-Japan, one Carlton Bradley, is out for
Quincy's head, and wants this technology to give him an edge against
GENOM."
Daley let some irony into his tone. "And MALCORP's out to get
this girl simply out of the goodness of their hearts."
Jeena frowned in a way that made her look more menacing. "The
girl in question is my boss' goddaughter."
"You're serious?'
"Very." There was a frostiness in the tall woman's tone that
chilled Daley. "That what this attack was about." She motioned to the
wreckage around them. "It was Carlton and Cora Bradley's way of saying
to my boss, 'back off'."
"You boss isn't going to listen, is he?"
"Not a chance in hell. The war's already started. Last night's
light show on the Coastal Highway was the opening salvo. This here was
an escalation, an upping of the ante."
"Shit," growled Daley. "Which side was responsible for the Thor
strike?"
"Has to be the G&B people, but you'll never get it to stand up
in a court of Law."
"So what is the ADP suppose to do?"
"You want my advice? Keep everyone out of the way, because the
only thing you'll be able to do is fill body bags. It's not worth it to
get people killed over, Daley."
The redheaded Inspector sighed. "I can't do that, Jeena. The
ADP has been dealt a crap hand for years, but we can't ignore this for
very long."
"Look, you get the ADP caught up in this, and there may not be
enough of a force left after the dust settles. You'll be outgunned,
out-manned, outspent, and probably outmaneuvered. You simply don't have
the resources the Megacorps have."
"Tell me something I don't know," snarled Daley. "But like it
or not, we're in this game."
"A word of advice, then. Make G&B your main target. MALCORP
doesn't have enough presence here to have much influence. And if GENOM
realizes that you're not interfering with their actions, they'll not
bother you. Have you met with the American team investigating last
night's disaster?"
"A General Wolfe. He is not a happy camper."
"I don't doubt it. I suggest you pass along what I've told you
about Gulf and Bradley's involvement with the Thor strike. If nothing
else, it'll give Bradley something else to worry about. Leave the rest
to us. MALCORP isn't looking for an all-out fight, but we're not going
to back down over this."
Daley pinched the bridge of his nose in a gesture of
irritation. "Damn it, this was once a simple job. When did it go all to
hell?"
"I don't know," replied Jeena, her expression grim. "I use to
ask that question myself, but gave up after several years of thinking
about it. You should do the same."
"How's Leon doing?"
Jeena smiled. "He's slugging right along with us. He's fine
now, but I don't think he'll last long after this is all said and done.
I hope you've found a way to get him back"
"I told the Chief that Leon's working undercover to try and
stop this corpwar."
"Believable, but from what I've heard of this new chief, you
could have told him you were Quincy, and he'd believe you."
Daley glanced around. "I think we've talked long enough. Ko
maybe looking for me, and I don't want to disillusion him too early in
his ADP career."
Jeena's smile got wider. "You think you can spare him for...say
a half hour? I romise to be gentle."
"Maybe later, assuming he doesn't mind."
"I'll hold you to that."
"Tell Leon when you see him that I'll take him out to dinner
after all this."
"He isn't your type."
Daley sighed. "I can still dream, can't I?" he said in a light
tone.
* * *
The opening of the conference room's door brought Daley out of
his haze of memories. One of the female office staffers was standing
there, looking ill at ease.
"What is it?" growled Thesan.
"We-we got a report of a Boomer attack at the Gulf and Bradley
Petrochemical refinery Alpha Star One," the girl said hurriedly.
"Oh shit," hissed Thesan.
Daley looked at Weiss and Thesan. "Both of you take your
detachments and head out now. Ko, wake up Lars there and tell him his
detachment is now on five-minute standby with the others. I want a
flight of Firebees to scout out the area around the refinery complex,
but avoid any combat."
"What about the fire department?" asked Weiss. "We may be
forced to give them cover if there's still an active Boomer presence."
"Find out what's going on first, then use your best judgement.
The Firemen don't want to tangle with Boomers anymore then you do."
"What about you and me?" asked Ko.
Daley failed to stifle a yawn. "You and me are going to visit
Gulf and Bradley-Japan Headquarters and start asking questions."
The younger man's jaw dropped. "At this time of the morning?"
The red-hair Inspector gave him a tired smile. "Then, they
won't be expecting us, will they?"
C. A. Reed Jr.- drop everything after.com to Email
http://www.geocities.com/trboturtle -- My Fanfics (updated 8/11/03)
http://pub29.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=2453643558&cpv=1
Bubble Gum Crisis is copyrighted by Artmic Inc. and Youmex, Inc. I am
just borrowing the characters for a little while, and promise not to
bend, fold, or staple them - unless I can come up with a good reason to
do so. I can be contacted at the Email address above. C&C will be
accepted, out and out flames will result in a Boomer or two being sent
after you, once they get around to inventing them.
Please, enjoy my take on the Bubble Gum Crisis universe.....
================================================== =
Chapter 35
Gulf and Bradley World Headquarters
Houston, Texas USA
December, 22,2035
3:11pm (MST)
Martha Desalvo was listed in the Gulf and Bradley corporate
structure as "Executive Vice-president in charge of Internal Affairs,"
a polite and long-winded way of saying she was G&B's Chief
assassin/spy/security specialist. Tall and lean, she still looked like
a high fashion model she had once been. But most models didn't have a
Master's degree in psychology, advanced Dans ranks in three different
Martial Arts, rated as 'expert marksman' in both pistol and sniper
rifle, and the nickname 'The Ice Witch" for her cold beauty and
ruthlessness.
She had been the first of Janson Bradley's new management
changes in the wake of Carson Bradley's death, her predecessor ousted
for being incompetent in failing to protect the chairman. Unlike
Carson, Janson valued people who produced results over sycophants, and
Desalvo had reached her current position by simply being better then
anyone else in her division. As such, she was one of the few people the
present G&B chairman trusted completely.
She was staring out one of the large windows that made up two
of her office walls. It was three days before Christmas, but the crowd
of last minute shoppers walking eighty-five stories were far from her
mind. Instead, her thoughts and gaze, were focused on the horizon, as
if she could actually see the cause of her current thoughts -
MegaToyko.
I told Janson that those two would be trouble, she thought to
herself. If I was related to those two, I would have eliminated them a
long time ago just for breathing precious air! Her opinion about
Janson's nephew and niece was well known to the chairman, but his
decision had been final: Carlton Bradley had to show he had the ability
to be the next head of G&B, and the Japan branch needed someone to run
it effectively in the shadow of GENOM.
At least, that is what Janson Bradley said publicly. Privately,
he didn't want either one of them in a position to undermined him
directly. Janson Bradley was a hard man - weak people didn't rise to
head large conglomerates like Gulf and Bradley or GENOM, but he
tempered his hardness with a streak of practicality that had served him
well in the wake of his brother's death. It was this combination that
had gotten Janson into the position of Chairman and had kept him there.
The same blend of traits had made him decide to send his nephew
and niece to Mega-Tokyo. Janson had never liked the Giant Boomer
project that Carson had negotiated with GENOM. After the prototype's
destruction under mysterious circumstances and a top G&B employee
jailed, Janson had pulled Gulf and Bradley out of the project, citing
incompetence on GENOM's part. The resulting war of words had been short
but bitter, convincing Janson he had done the right thing to begin
with.
But right after that, both Carlton and Cora Bradley had started
pushing for more say in how the corporation was being run. They began
question their Uncle on business decisions, policies, and personnel
determinations, including Desalvo's appointment to her current
position. As together they own somewhat more then twenty percent of the
outstanding shares in Gulf and Bradley, the twins couldn't be ignored
or shunted aside.
When the position of G&B - Japan opened up, Janson saw a chance
to sidetrack them for the foreseeable future. He knew that the pair
harbored an intense hatred for Chairman Quincy and GENOM and had a
tendency to act out their aggressions. At worst, the twins would try
and extract revenge against GENOM, and ending up paying the price for
it, either with their lives or diminished support inside the company.
Should they somehow succeed, GENOM would be weaken and Gulf and Bradley
would be in a position to profit from it.
You're playing a dangerous game with two unstable people,
Desalvo thought to herself. As a precaution, she'd placed several of
her own people inside G&B to keep an eye on the twins. The few reports
she did received were disturbing -- the twins were up to something, but
she had no idea what. She had her suspicions, but she needed more proof
first.
The intercom beeped. She turned away from the window and tapped
a button on the compact unit. "Yes?"
"There's a Mr. Wells on the phone from Mega-Tokyo," said her
secretary.
Desalvo frowned. Wells was one of her independent contacts,
people who had no direct connection with Gulf and Bradley. She used
them when she wanted information that wasn't filtered by internal
biases. This one was one of the few she had in Mega-Tokyo, but he was
her best source. She glanced at her clock. It must be important if he's
calling now, she thought.
"Put him through."
The vidphone flickered to life and she recognized the blond man
in the rumpled suit. /I'm glad I caught you in,/ he said.
"Spare the pleasantries," she said curtly. "What do you have?"
/We've got a corpwar kicking up into high gear here, and the
twins are in the thick of it,/ replied Wells grimly. /They've managed
to piss off not only GENOM, but MALCORP./
"What the hell did they do to piss off MALCORP?"
/How about kidnaping Greg Mallory's Goddaughter and dragging
her to Mega-Tokyo for starters?/
"Shit," growled Desalvo. "What else?"
/The twins were the one behind the Thor attack last night./
"WHAT?" Desalvo yelled. Those assholes! "Why in the hell did
they do such a thing?"
/They did it in an attempt to elimanate both the Black Knights
and the Knight Sabers, and they bungled it badly./
A long string of very unlady-like curse came rolling off of
Desalvo's tongue. That disaster had been played up big in the news,
with parts of the government pointing fingers at other parts. Of all
the asinine things those two idiots could have done! "Do you have
proof?"
/When the time comes./
"You're not just yanking my chain?"
Wells shook his head. /My source is very good and very
trustworthy. If they say the Bradley twins were behind the Thor attack,
then they were behind it./
"The Black Knights are involved?"
Wells nodded this time. /It looks like they've struck an
alliance with the Knight Sabers to take on Gulf and Bradley - Japan./
A flash of pain across her temples signaled the start of a
strong headache. "Any more good news?"
/All the signs point to a full-out assault on somebody very
shortly, maybe even within the hour./
Damn, damn, DAMN! "All right, try and get me anything else you
can. I'm coming over there and see what the hell is going on myself."
/Things are spinning out of control very quickly here. I'll do
what I can, but I 'm not sure how much I can find./
"Do what you can. We'll talk again shortly." She severed the
connection and stalked out of the office. As she passed her secretary,
she said, "Call Mr. Bradley and tell him I need to see him at once."
"Yes ma'am."
"Then call Mr. Hyde and tell him I want three -- no, FOUR
security teams geared up and ready to fly within the hour. Also tell
him we're going to Mega-Tokyo, and it's a Magenta-code situation
advisory."
The secretary paled slightly. Before she could respond again,
Desalvo was out of the office.
********** ********** **********
Gulf and Bradley Petrochemical Refinery Alpha Star One District 7
December 23, 2035 3:59am
The refinery sat on a spit of land in Tokyo Bay, sticking out
into the body of water like a think metal finger. Covering the area of
a fair size town in it's own right, it was a mass of storage tanks and
pipes, steel and concrete, towers and pits, all manned by Boomers with
human supervision.
It's official name was Alpha Star One, but most of the human
that worked there called it simply "Alpha". To Gulf and Bradley, it was
a jewel in the corporate crown, a show piece to the world. As a money-
maker, it had few equals. Easily the largest refinery complex in the
world, it was processing a full fifteen percent of the Pacific Rim's
yearly gas requirement from the Indonesian Oil fields. As such, the
refinery ran twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two
weeks a year in order to keep up with the demand.
Because of it's size and importance, security here was tight.
The Boomer workers were all GBGP-21s, programed with a dual
worker/security program package, with special protocols to prevent a
stray blast from turning the plant into an inferno. These in turn were
backed by modified GBS-18s flying squads that could reach any part of
the complex in less then two minutes. There was no central security
command center, but several sector command bunkers linked together by
buried and protected land lines and disguised as pumping stations or
maintenance sheds.
Surrounding the refinery's land perimeter was a series of
fences and wires designed to slow or cripple any attempt to breech the
security there. On the bay side, the sea floor was covered with sensors
and command-activated mines, designed to detect and eliminate a
seaborne attempt. The GBS-18s handled any attempt to attack the place
from the air.
Security was considered to be excellent for a installation this
size. Several attempts by groups of eco-terrorists and political
extremists to interfere with Alpha's production had been stopped cold
by the Boomers and the other defensive methods, several so successfully
that Gulf and Bradley didn't bother to inform the authorities of the
attacks. Those few terrorists that survived were never heard from
again. As an added precaution, one of the first things Carlton Bradley
had done when he'd taken over the Japan Branch of Gulf and Bradley was
to increased security even more. Now, the place was an armed fortress,
ready to take anything thrown at it.
It wasn't good enough.
The first inkling that something was about to happened occurred
when several of the sensors located on the bottom of Tokyo Bay ceased
transmission. After the fifth one failed in as many minutes, The
command bunker responsible for that sector dispatched a pair if GBS-18s
to scout the area from the air, and alerted the other command bunkers
to the possibility of another attack. Boomers moved to their staging
areas, while the humans began shifting as much of the highly flammable
liquids away from the sectors nearest the possible threat
From the time the GBS-18s had been dispatched, to the time they
reached the area where the failed sensors were located, two minutes has
elapsed. During that time, several more sensors had broken down,
leaving gaps in the sensor fields large enough to allow human-sized
objects through undetected. Deciding this was something more then an
accidental failure, the entire refinery went to maximum alert, and
another quartet of GBS-18s were sent out to reinforced the first two.
The first two GBS-18s hovered ten meters over the still, dark
waters of Tokyo Bay, scanning for evidence of life forms not natural to
the environment. After several seconds, they scanners were tracking
several large masses rapidly moving towards the refinery's docks.
Immediately, the pair sent a message to the nearest command bunker,
confirming the alert, and putting the number of intruders at a dozen,
possibly Boomers. The reply was swift and immediate; gather more data.
In response, the GBS-18s dropped towards the water, stopping
when they were less then five meters from the black surface. The
sensors began gathering more data, looking for something that would
identify these intruders. As the Boomer's CPUs started running matches
against the targets listed in their memory banks, the sensor detected
sudden movement from the masses below them. Several smaller objects
leapt from the intruders' masses and raced toward the surface. Reacting
on basic programming, both GBS-18s increased thrust in an attempt to
gain height. They never made it.
Six small missiles burst from the dark surface and began to
home on the pair. The GBS-18s split up, twisting and moving as
erratically as they could while still trying to gain more air. The
missiles also split up, three targeting each GBS-18 and gaining quickly
on them. The Boomers turned and tried to shoot down the missiles with
their own weapons, each sending all the data they had gathered to the
command bunker in a final show of programmed loyalty. The missiles then
struck, turning the two Boomers into a blossom of flame and sound that
was visible and audible for kilometers.
Acting on the destroyed Boomers data, the quartet of GBS-18s
sent to reinforce them were redirected to intercept and harass the
intruders. At the docks, two dozen GBGP-21s moved into position, tasked
with keeping the intruders on the docks and away from the storage
tanks. Alerts were sent to G&B Headquarters and the AD Police, while
other command bunkers kept one eye on the upcoming battle, the other on
their own sectors.
And still the intruders came on. By now, everyone at the
refinery, human and Boomer alike, realized the attackers weren't
humans, but Boomers. That meant that the Boomers were probably on a
'suicide' mission, intending to take out as much of the refinery as
they could before they were destroyed.
The reaction from the human overseers was immediate and
thorough. Commands that over-rode the 'minimal damage' protocols were
transmitted from the command bunker responsible for the docks to the
waiting Boomers. Close behind, a complex battle plan was downloaded
into the Boomer's on-board memory in the blink of an eye. In response,
the boomers ripped out of their human disguises, deploying mouth lasers
and other weapons and they moved into final defensive positions. Other
bunkers watched their sectors carefully, waiting for another attack to
appear.
Just as the last of the defenders reached their programmed
positions, the water near the docks began to froth. With loud splashes,
a dozen missile bursted out of the water and angled for the shoreline
and docks. They were followed three seconds later by another dozen
missiles, then another salvo. The defenders replied with laser and
shell, trying to eliminate the incoming missile swarm. A third fell to
the intense fire, but the remaining missiles crashed into the docks and
ships docked there. Explosions rocked the docks as the warheads went
off, sending gouts of fire and debris in every direction. Several of
the 21s were destroyed in the raging sea of explosions, while the
airborne 18s were forced to fall back to regroup and refocus.
As the defending Boomers moved to recover, several forms burst
out of dark water. Their jets firing just enough to get them to the
docks, the attacking boomers landed and continued their attack. The air
was suddenly filled with missiles, laser beams, and bullets. Boomers
were destroyed on both sides as the ongoing fires turned the area into
a Hell-like landscape. Above the battle, defending GBS-18s floated like
hideous parities of angels, looking for good shots against the
intruders.
Finally having a solid visual to rely on, the 21s and 18s
quickly identified the attackers as BU-17 Hellbenders combat Boomers --
cyberdroids designed for a seaborne attack like this. Boomers that
shouldn't be anyway near the city....
About half of the attacking force was down now, either
destroyed, or too badly damaged to continue. The losses among the
defenders wasn't nearly as grim, but still serious. Sensing victory,
the surviving defenders surged forward, looking to end the battle
quickly.
Unfortunately, the attack at the docks wasn't the real thing,
but a diversion....
All the GBS-18s that had been acting as air cover over the
battle suddenly exploded in a shower of sparks and shattered metal.
Several dark shapes flew through the dying discharges, sending a hail
of laser fire into the 21s below. Stunned by the sudden change in the
fight, the defense began to crumble. The unknown aero-boomers continued
their strafing runs as the surviving Hellbenders retreated to the
relative safety of the water
At the same time, across the refinery, a dozen dark shadows
moved quickly and silently among the storage tanks. The few sentry
boomers left in the area had been quickly and ruthless dispatched, as
had the humans who'd been manning the security bunker for the sector.
Now, each and every storage tank was being tagged with an explosive
device designed to destroy the pumps regulating the oil transference.
Once detonated, the tanks would be filled of valuable oil, but
unreachable until the pumps were replaced. It wasn't as damaging as
destroying the tanks outright, but even GENOM realized that igniting
several trillion kiloliters of highly flammable crude and refined gas
all at once wasn't a good idea.
Once the last of the Hellbenders had retreated into the
darkness of Tokyo Bay, the aero-boomers broke off their attack and
roared off into the night sky. At an unseen signal, the sabotaging
boomers stopped and moved swiftly and silently back to the refinery's
fence line. In minutes, they, too, had faded into the darkness
surrounding Alpha One.
Across the city, other attacks, both smaller in scope and aim,
struck at Gulf and Bradley-owned businesses. Some succeeded completely,
while others did not. But the results all had the same effect: Gulf and
Bradley was losing money, data and people, items that every corporation
needed to stay alive in the brutal landscape of business. It wasn't a
mortal blow -- Gulf and Bradley was too large and widespread to
collapse under an assault of one of its subsidiaries. But the attacks
heralded the entry of GENOM into the dispute, turning what was once a
shadow war into possibly something more ominous and deadly....
********** ********** **********
AD Police Headquarters December 23, 2035 4:09am
Daley looked at the men and women grouped around the table.
They all looked as tired as he felt. The people around the table were a
mix of investigating detectives and detachment commanders, officers who
were going to be caught in the middle of what could be a brutal
Corpwar. Jeena's revelations had hit him hard in the stomach. Boomer
rampages were bad enough, but out and out warfare?
The redheaded inspector's eyes wonder around the table. Julian
Weiss was asleep, his head cradled in his arms. Mandy Thesan was
leaning back in her chair glaring at anyone who bothered to look at
her. Most of the others around the table were half dozing, despite the
triple strength coffee forced upon them when they walked in the door.
With the exception of the chief, who never could be found anywhere near
the headquarters building after five PM, and two detachment commanders,
who were supervising their units in the clean-up of a Boomer rampage in
a condominium complex, the room held the ADP senior front-line
commanders.
Ko looked at him from the other end of the table. The newest
ADP detective was slouched over the table, his coffee cup half full in
front of him. "How reliable is this Jeena?" he asked.
"She's ex-ADP and Leon's ex-partner," replied Daley. "If he
trusts her, so do I."
"So what do we do besides sit here on our butts?" asked Thesan
bluntly.
"I suppose we could try and arrest the leadership of GENOM,
Gulf and Bradley - Japan, and MALCORP," replied Ko. "That is, if we
want to be unemployed in a hurry."
"That's assumes you can find them in time," muttered Thesan.
"Or that arresting them would stop it."
"Does anyone have any other suggestions?" asked Daley sharply.
Weiss stirred. "What can we do?" he asked, his voice slightly
slurred from sleep. "We don't have the people or the equipment to stop
them. And if we do try to stop them, we'll get massacred."
"And if we don't, how many civilians are going to get caught in
the crossfire?" asked Thesan.
"So what would be different from what we're doing now?" said
Weiss quietly.
"Enough," said Daley before Thesan could reply. "We're screwed
no matter what we o, so we're going to try and keep it to a minimum.
Which one of the three corps have the weakest defenses?"
"MALCORP," replied Ko. "Even with the security robots, they
can't match either GENOM or Gulf and Bradley's firepower."
"But they don't have a lot here to defend," said Vance, one of
the other Detachment commanders.
"Vance's right," said Thesan. "Unless they've imported some
outside firepower, they can't go onto the offence."
Daley stayed silent, his thoughts drifting back to his
conversation with Jeena at MALCORP's pharmaceutical research center....
* * *
"All right," said Jeena, once they were alone. "I'll make this
short and sweet. MALCORP is here to get back a kidnaped girl. Gulf and
Bradley have her. GENOM is sniffing around the edge, and if they smell
blood, they'll jump in with both feet."
"What's so important about this girl?' Daley had asked.
"She's has information that could make the ADP's job more of a
nightmare then it is now. Remember those CU-5T from a couple of nights
ago? The ones that appeared to have force shields?"
"You mean...."
Jeena nodded, her expression grim. "If you think rampaging
Boomers are bad now, wait until models equipped with this technology go
berserk. You won't have a snowball's chance of Hell of stopping them."
"Why the hell does G&B want the technology?"
"Not the entire corporation, though if it fell into their
hands, they won't be complaining. The best we can figure is that it's a
rouge operation. The CEO of G&B-Japan, one Carlton Bradley, is out for
Quincy's head, and wants this technology to give him an edge against
GENOM."
Daley let some irony into his tone. "And MALCORP's out to get
this girl simply out of the goodness of their hearts."
Jeena frowned in a way that made her look more menacing. "The
girl in question is my boss' goddaughter."
"You're serious?'
"Very." There was a frostiness in the tall woman's tone that
chilled Daley. "That what this attack was about." She motioned to the
wreckage around them. "It was Carlton and Cora Bradley's way of saying
to my boss, 'back off'."
"You boss isn't going to listen, is he?"
"Not a chance in hell. The war's already started. Last night's
light show on the Coastal Highway was the opening salvo. This here was
an escalation, an upping of the ante."
"Shit," growled Daley. "Which side was responsible for the Thor
strike?"
"Has to be the G&B people, but you'll never get it to stand up
in a court of Law."
"So what is the ADP suppose to do?"
"You want my advice? Keep everyone out of the way, because the
only thing you'll be able to do is fill body bags. It's not worth it to
get people killed over, Daley."
The redheaded Inspector sighed. "I can't do that, Jeena. The
ADP has been dealt a crap hand for years, but we can't ignore this for
very long."
"Look, you get the ADP caught up in this, and there may not be
enough of a force left after the dust settles. You'll be outgunned,
out-manned, outspent, and probably outmaneuvered. You simply don't have
the resources the Megacorps have."
"Tell me something I don't know," snarled Daley. "But like it
or not, we're in this game."
"A word of advice, then. Make G&B your main target. MALCORP
doesn't have enough presence here to have much influence. And if GENOM
realizes that you're not interfering with their actions, they'll not
bother you. Have you met with the American team investigating last
night's disaster?"
"A General Wolfe. He is not a happy camper."
"I don't doubt it. I suggest you pass along what I've told you
about Gulf and Bradley's involvement with the Thor strike. If nothing
else, it'll give Bradley something else to worry about. Leave the rest
to us. MALCORP isn't looking for an all-out fight, but we're not going
to back down over this."
Daley pinched the bridge of his nose in a gesture of
irritation. "Damn it, this was once a simple job. When did it go all to
hell?"
"I don't know," replied Jeena, her expression grim. "I use to
ask that question myself, but gave up after several years of thinking
about it. You should do the same."
"How's Leon doing?"
Jeena smiled. "He's slugging right along with us. He's fine
now, but I don't think he'll last long after this is all said and done.
I hope you've found a way to get him back"
"I told the Chief that Leon's working undercover to try and
stop this corpwar."
"Believable, but from what I've heard of this new chief, you
could have told him you were Quincy, and he'd believe you."
Daley glanced around. "I think we've talked long enough. Ko
maybe looking for me, and I don't want to disillusion him too early in
his ADP career."
Jeena's smile got wider. "You think you can spare him for...say
a half hour? I romise to be gentle."
"Maybe later, assuming he doesn't mind."
"I'll hold you to that."
"Tell Leon when you see him that I'll take him out to dinner
after all this."
"He isn't your type."
Daley sighed. "I can still dream, can't I?" he said in a light
tone.
* * *
The opening of the conference room's door brought Daley out of
his haze of memories. One of the female office staffers was standing
there, looking ill at ease.
"What is it?" growled Thesan.
"We-we got a report of a Boomer attack at the Gulf and Bradley
Petrochemical refinery Alpha Star One," the girl said hurriedly.
"Oh shit," hissed Thesan.
Daley looked at Weiss and Thesan. "Both of you take your
detachments and head out now. Ko, wake up Lars there and tell him his
detachment is now on five-minute standby with the others. I want a
flight of Firebees to scout out the area around the refinery complex,
but avoid any combat."
"What about the fire department?" asked Weiss. "We may be
forced to give them cover if there's still an active Boomer presence."
"Find out what's going on first, then use your best judgement.
The Firemen don't want to tangle with Boomers anymore then you do."
"What about you and me?" asked Ko.
Daley failed to stifle a yawn. "You and me are going to visit
Gulf and Bradley-Japan Headquarters and start asking questions."
The younger man's jaw dropped. "At this time of the morning?"
The red-hair Inspector gave him a tired smile. "Then, they
won't be expecting us, will they?"
C. A. Reed Jr.- drop everything after.com to Email
http://www.geocities.com/trboturtle -- My Fanfics (updated 8/11/03)
http://pub29.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=2453643558&cpv=1