Aberrant: Infinite Earth - Fiction - Episode 2: P&P (fin)

[The Mariner]

=ONE WEEK AFTER RETURNING SHADOW= (Sorry, pretend this was The Professor posting this post. Thank you.)

The Professor was still getting used to her new body. It was... taller by a good foot and she looked like she was in her twenties again. She had done her hair up in a way that spiked her hair in the back and along her sideburns in the side and chuckled. Although the contrast with the black clothing she had worn to the funeral of several heads of state including the British Nippon and even Britannian emperors had shocked her.

An assassin was hunting crowns and this assassin was victorious.

The world was in shock. Already the Brittanian parliment had considered twice declaring planetary martial law to stop the chaos that was happening and to get some control on the situation. But after the second time, the Professor herself had to step in and use her logic and sheer force of personality to stop their folly.

Now she was in deep. In charge of a special committee to bring the killer or killers to justice and to protect the people of Brittania.

She adjusted the only colorful thing on her blouse and suit combination in the red tie around her neck. She looked very business-like and ready for most anything.

Of course she had her eufiber underwear on just in case a bullet had her name on it.

She had already notified Section T of the situation and they returned their support and offer of assistance which she accepted.

As she started relaying evidence to them and recieved suggestions, she turned to her door in her room and left for an airlock door.

She met up with Sarah and Chris at the doors.

"Thank you everyone, for staying. I especially know this is a trying time for you, Sarah, but we must struggle onward if we are to avenge his death and bring these criminals to justice. We are heading to Scotland yard to meet up with Inspector Rathbone to be briefed on what they know of the situation."

She adjusts the unmarked sailor collar of her blazer, and fixed the collar on Sarah's outfit that made her look more like a British schoolgirl than anything.

"You are taking this well, Sarah. I hope you can pull through for us."

Sarah simply nods. Her behavior seemed... off for someone under such stress, yet still fit a pattern of loss that is typical of the mourning process.

"Chris... ready? We're going to be doing a lot of footwork and this is going to take some finesse. This isn't a pirate fleet piloted by insane animals. These is an elite class operator, perhaps more than one. We have to be careful."

[Mech]

Chris squeezed Sarah's shoulder reassuringly. His support had obviously been one factor helping her. She had bore witness to his phenomenal power, and stil he showed real concern for her, all but stealing her heart completely.

He nodded. "I do have one idea, Professor, that might be something we can use."

Suddenly there was a second Chris who took Sarah's form. "We can have "Sarah" go out as bait. You and I can be watching and waiting. She's the last piece of the puzzle for the monarchies of this world. They won't be able to resist."

[The Traveler]

"Even though she is a disowned member of royalty." Sakurako said, opening the door and stepping out onto the docks in Cardiff Bay. "She is still a target for the sheer symbology. What I am seeing so far is no political motive... so what could it be?"

"I have given her the best kevlar and synth-eufiber protective clothing, and her wide brim hat I gave her is full kevlar and synthetic spidersilk."

"That is a clever trick though, Chris. Keep her with us for now at the meeting. Then we can Start using your plan to see if we flush anyone out."

She adjusts her blazer. "Of course I wager Sarah also has some force-field going with her psionic powers."

Sarah nods. "Of course."

"Keep note of that, Chris."

A warp opens to Scotland Yard. Owen from Section T was standing on the other side waiting for them. "Right on schedule."

The Professor pulls out a key-chain remote and presses a button, locking down the door which on the outside looked like a waterproofed zipper. The sound of a car-security system could be heard as the inner door locked inside.

"Well, better not leave him hanging..." The Professor says, waiting at the side of the portal. "You first, Chris."

[Mech]

Chris nodded, and the copy vanished, and Chris went through the portal, subconsciously making himself feel all the more imposing as he stepped through. He was two meters of nova, easily one of the most powerful alive, and it was plain to see he was very protective of the Professor and of Sarah.

[The Traveler]

The Professor steps through with Sarah. Owen nods and walks through his portal back to Cardiff and closes the portal behind him.

The threesome stood in front of Scotland Yard, and The Professor took the lead.

"Now, I have to ask, Chris, do you have any work with Investigation or with deduction?"

[Mech]

"Not that I remember, but I pick up on my surroundings quite fast." He looked at her coolly. She knew he didn't remember his history. "I'm smart enough to provide a number of alternate conclusions to flesh out various theories."

[The Traveler]

The Professor smiled. "Good. If you are aware of the stories of Sherlock Holmes, you can be my Watson."

The Professor led her group to Inspector Rathbone's office in the center of the complex near the other commanding officers of the yard.

"Ah, The Professor herself. Inspector Rebecca Rathbone of the Yard's special crimes division."

Her accent was decidedly welsh, with a bit of scot. "I see you have two of your companions with you. Where was the rest we met at the heliport a few months ago?"

"Unfortunately the majority left on their various ways via the Stonehenge Gate."

"Ah, if you'd like to know, the animal friend you had picked up disappeared from the hospital last night and is considered at large. Do you believe her a threat?"

"Negative. More than likely she went home. She has the capability to."

"Ah. Your other friend has disappeared off our radar too."

"He tends to keep to himself."

The Inspector nods. "Alright. Why don't you take your seats. And hello, your majesty." The Inspector says out of respect to Sarah. She turns to Chris and is floored so hard she develops a bloody nose. "Oh my..." She pulls out a rag. "What was your name again, sir? If I may ask."

[Mech]

Chris smiled a smile that could melt hearts of glacial ice. "Chris, ma'am. I've not recalled my real name, or even my home or who I am, but that's the name the Professor's given me, and it's just as good as any. It serves well."

He nodded. "How may I be of assistance?"

[The Traveler]

Inspector Rathbone nods as she takes her seat. Her Black armband was quite predominant on her blue one-piece uniform, with a covered badge, black anti-ballistic vest, with the almost classic black and white checkered hat of a female police officer on the desk.

"I will be brief since The Professor has a good reputation for solving problems for our people."

She pulls out an evidence bag, revealing a .50 calibur casing and in another the mushroomed and blood and viscera covered round plucked from one of the victims.

"We have reason to believe that one of the Snipers that was engaged at the Canaveral incident survived the encounter with your merry band and is once again on the prowl. The scoring on the round that ended the life of our Emperor matches the scoring on the sniper's rifle and the bullet removed from The Professor's body when she was mortally wounded during the Canaveral incident."

The Professor winced.

"By the way, you've changed again... what happened?"

"Bled out after severe concussion."

"Oh dear... I'm sorry... I sort of like your new form... but that is beside the point."

She pulls out a black file marked "Headmistress" with a red section T stamp on the front.

"This is everything we have on Mary Masters and where some of her safe houses are. Needless to say I have to ask to subtlety in this matter."

Info on Mary

She has 3 safe houses, one in New London (Washington DC in some other universes), Tokyo, and in Sydney. She is a Q8 Nova whose become slightly unhinged and is classified as a sufferer of Stage-1 Quantum Retention Disorder. Her power set is very similar to Ensign Minneapolis from CoQF.

[Mech]

"So if we know this much about her, and how she operates, then why don't we lay some sort of irresistable trap for her?" He didn't ask for reasons and logic on why she needed to be taken out. His friends were in danger, that was more than enough.

,

[The Traveler]

The Professor nodded. "We do. We got a convenient honeytrap. Chris here can make a clone that looks like Sarah. She can step out ahead of us while the real Sarah stays here. It is our assumption our sniper is probably already tracking us as we speak to eliminate Sarah. We will out the sniper with our clone, and in the process capture them."

The Professor pulls out her Ionic screwdriver and analyses the round using it's spectral analyzer function.

"We should be careful, Chris... these particular rounds used in the assassinations are god-killer rounds, in particular these are eufiber coated with an eclipsodol and soma mixed with some unknown compound poisoning on them. Also judging by the deformation of the round the shots are made using a lower velocity so that the bullet deposits it's poisons more effectively. But this causes the sniper to be in close. Unlike the one I was hit with which was a teflon-coated but otherwise normal round. That could be shot from 3 miles away."

The Inspector nods. "Interesting. I will notify our assets in Section J to wear their personal force fields while on duty for the near term."

Might be helpful. Do you have any spares for me? I think Chris is capable of stopping one of these rounds before it contacts him, but I am not so fortunate."

"Unfortunately no. All of our Section J officers are currently equipped with our full compliment of shield systems that require them."

"I will have to be careful then."

She pulls out what looks like a computer tablet and scribbles down what looks like a compound formula. She reaches into a handbag and pulls out what looks like a hypo-spray. "I just had the Hikari Maru concoct a counter-serum for me in the event I am poisoned by this shot." She hands it to Mech. "You should keep an eye on this."

She adjusts her blazer and puts her various gadgets away. She pulls out her computer glasses.

"Looks like the Headmistress..." She puts her glasses on "...is about to lose her tenure."

[Mech]

Chris nodded. 'I can go better, Professor." Two more of him popped into existence, one shaped as sarah, the other as the Professor. "See where I'm going? You can stay in contact with me and I can be there to catch the shooter."

[The Traveler]

Sakurako nodded. "Are you sure we aren't synchronized, Chris? Good idea... two in 5 minutes... scary. But keep that hypospray. You can use it as a on the Professor copy to make the sniper think that you are helping me. Most likely he'll take me out first because I threaten Mary's plans, followed by Sarah."

"I hope you are a good actor."

[Mech]

"It's in the blood as they say." He smiled, and The copy took the hypospray. "So, how do we go about this, raid a safehouse?"

[The Traveler]

"Actually, Professor, give the hypo to Copy Sarah. The spray can be administered by her. A rifle of this design would be using a special bore which is slow to reload. Most likely it is bolt action as well. I can tell by the groove on the back of the shell casing. The shell rotates a little in the chamber when it is seated in the rifle's chamber."

Her doppleganger tosses it to the copy of Sarah.

"Good. We can tackle the DC... I mean New London location. I know of a few shady types that live there."

She steps up to her clone, handing her computer glasses to her double. "Good luck."

[Mech]

Chris nodded. "okay, so who's going to lead the way, since I don't really know where I'm going."

[The Traveler]

Sakurako pulls out her tablet and hands it to Mech. "This has the map on it of the area."

She grabs the sheet of the safe-house's location in DC. "Once there I can coordinate with you through this..." She pulls out a small head-band based camera. "This unit will let me see what is going on with the spare pair of computer glasses in my bag."

She puts on her spares. "Now... good luck. Hopefully this is the right choice."

[Mech]

Chris nodded, and led the two copies off, making a roundabout trip to not give the position away. Something was bothering him. Still as he neared the safehouse, he began preparing his defenses, the invisible barrier field activating silently. "Be ready you two, and play it normal, as if you were vulnerable."

[The Traveler]

The Professor logs into Inspector Rathbone's computer with her Section T clearance and gets logged into her observation camera. Sarah looked over her shoulder with much interest.

"I have a mini-microphone and speaker on the tablet you have, Chris, that should allow me to speak with Mary once she is captured."

She opens her blazer and straightens the blouse underneath. Inspector Rathbone nods. "Okay Professor... Your friend is cleared for action."

"Hear that, Chris. It's your cue."

[Mech]

It was then that Chris began moving to the safehouse, the "Professor" and "Sarah" behind him. He burst through the door with a sword in hand, only to find the place barren and empty. "It's clean, there's no one here. They left in a real hurry though. I suggest a security net..." Then he heard the gunshot, even as the tungsten sabot went right through the wall, and the "Professor's" head. "TRAP!" He pushed "Sarah" down and tried to find the shooter with his expanded senses.

[The Traveler]

"Just as planned..." Sakurako thought, the trajectory in her head already of the shot.

"Chris, 9 o'clock high, look to the warehouse windows!"

The feed to the tablet is cut off, Then the sound of a silencer going off in the room catches Sakurako's ear. She looks to Inspector Rathbone, and she falls to her desk, a tranquilizer dart in her neck. She looks around then sees Sarah loading a odd shaped bullet into the chamber of the dart gun.

"That was... so brilliant... Professor... but remember who you are playing with. Mistress is already 5 steps ahead of you by the time you got back on the board. Once you got back I started relaying all the information I had gathered to her. You never bothered to do security scans... you trusted me so much. It was the perfect honey pot. Now I will have the honor of taking back your body to the Headmistress and shed myself of this form."

"Sarah... what is this, this isn't you."

"I'm but a genetic-lab clone. I don't have much time left before my DNA starts self-destructing. But if I bring you back dead or alive, the Headmistress will reward me by patching my malfunctioning genes."

Sarah coughs. "Now... do be a dear and just die."

"No."

The Professor steps to the side when she sees Sarah's finger flex and she then charges into Sarah and the first move she does is put her down with a over-the-shoulder throw, followed by a series of body blows then finishing with a joint lock after knocking Sarah out with a sleeper hold. Sakurako screamed loud enough to be heard through the Inspector's doors. "SECURITY! Bring a doctor!"

[Mech]

The sword vanished, and a rifle appeared, a laser shooting at the same hole created by the bullet, going right back through the hole, the sight and into and out the back of the head of the sniper, killing him instantly. In the next instant, a warpgate opened from the Safehouse to the Inspector's office. "You two, see to this place, disarm any traps, find any information." The two copies, set to work as he went through Emerging into the bedlam of the office.

He loioked at the dart, the Professor, and Sarah. "She's a plant."

[The Traveler]

"Noooo... you think? Now while I like practicing my MMA techniques can you get the handcuffs off of the good inspector, sit her in a more graceful position and take that dart out, then help me get her restrained?"

Chris heads over and sits the Inspector back up and easily retrieves the handcuffs and dart.

"Okay..." Sakurako handcuffs the clone Sarah and grabs her by the head. "Wake up..." She says before slapping her across the face. It was enough. She slams the fake Sarah's head against the table.

"Where... is... SARAH!"

"Like I'd tell you."

The Professor grins. "I am sure the doctors here could figure out a way to keep you alive until they get what they need out of you. Where is Sarah."

"You are in no position to negotiate, Professor..."

[Mech]

Chris did as The Professor asked. Then he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Give her to me, in a room that is private." There was an edge to his voice she'd never heard before.

[The Traveler]

The Professor shook. Shook with something new... "I'm angry... I haven't felt that in a while."

She gets up. "Alright, Chris, she is yours... I'm not in the right mindset for an interrogation."

"Oh... your one rule... to never resort to violence? What changed, Professor? What changed indeed?"

"SHUT UP!"

"Ah I touched a nerve."

Multiple security officers bust in with a medic behind them.

"Security... help get the Inspector to the hospital. The dart she was struck with is on the table. We will take care of the false Sarah."

"False?"

"Yes... this is a clone made by the Headmistress herself."

"Good god we should take her..."

"Under Section 4, Subsection 3 of the Security Mandate of 1946, I hereby place this unknown made by an extra-dimensional threat to this planet under custody of Section X."

Their eyes bulge. "Do you have a problem with that?"

The security people take the Inspector to their sickbay.

Sarah turned a ghostly white. "Wha... what did you do?"

"Simple... take away every right you have, revoked your right to habeas corpus and declare you a non-entity as a extra-dimensional threat. You are mine to do with as I see fit."

"You... this is a new low Professor..." Sarah says with a grin.

The Professor crosses her arms. "I'm being merciful I could have declared a Section 10."

Sarah opens her eyes. "But you wouldn't kill me."

"Not yet. Chris?... do the interrogation in here."

She takes her seat at the Inspector's desk, as she starts pulling up files.

[Mech]

Chris looked at her. Once the door was shut, he turned to Sarah. "This can go two ways, Sarah. Both of which involve you telling me what I want to know."

"Fat chance. You can't.." She trailed off as Chris's yellow eyes were right in front of her. "I assure you, there's little I cannot do. I turned into a squadron of starships and wiped a fleet from existence. Do you think I lack sufficient power?"

"You wouldn't dare.."

"No, probably not. But I can make sure you live. I could synchronize you to my life cycle, giving you health like mine. You'd live virtually forever."

"No chance, the Headmistress would kill me.."

"You could go to other worlds. If you tell me what I want to know, she'll not be a problem, because I'm going to elmimante her as a threat."

She seemed to consider his cold delivery.

"Or you can not willingly tell me, and I can force the information from you Sarah. You've traveled with me, I had come to like you. I won't enjoy that method at all, but I'm willing to do anything to save the real Sarah."

She looked dejected, his words brought up great shame.

"You can be a hero, or a casualty, Sarah.The choice is yours."

She looked at him, and grabbed a pen and paper. "You swear you'll let me live, that you'll fix my DNA?"

""If the information you give me is true, I swear it. Now say the coordinates."

She did and Chris nodded. "It's the truth." He took her hand, and in a moment, he rearranged her DNA, stabilizing it, but also putting certain blocks. She'd never be more than a baseline, but she'd live a long life, if no one offed her.

"I've kept my word Sarah, you'll live your life fully, provided you take care of yourself."

[The Traveler]

Sakurako looked at the false Sarah. "Give her a different face, then gate her back to the ship. I don't want her to ever refer herself as Sarah."

She looks at the Inspector's gun... realizing she was at the moment only a few nerve impulses away from killing that clone right then and there.

"You understand why, Chris?"

She gets up and heads to the door. Use the security code I told you to lock the ship down to minimum power, Chris, then come back and meet me outside of Scotland Yard. We have the coordinates. I gotta find out where... I need the tablet.

"Call your clones back as well. I will need their help."

[Mech]

Chris nodded. She no longer looked as she did, She was still attractive, but she was no longer a duplicate of the real Sarah. There was no pain involved.

He looked at the former clone. "Be seeing you." He followed the professor, his copies showing up looking abit blackened.

"The whole block is gone, there was enough pentaglycerine there to kill anything not us." He nodded.

"Now what, Professor?"

[The Traveler]

"Oh dear... we'll have to change their clothes."

She brushes off the copy Sarah... knowing this one was good was a comfort. Seeing the Professor copy recovered was a welcome bonus.

"Alright... This is what I discovered. She is held on a small island near Rio, in the Atlantic. Although this island does not appear on any maps... I'm thinking it may be a ship or artificial construction of some sort."

"We'd better be ready for anything."

"Sarah II and The Professor II will go on ahead and flush out any threats. We will follow behind. I will follow P2 at that point and assist her in the disabling of any traps or getting computer information. You follow with S2 and provide an offensive whallop."

"Once we find the Real Sarah we free her and get back to the ship as fast we can."

[Mech]

Chris nodded. "Very well. The two of you, prep for combat, and be ready, I won't be showing much mercy here. If they're a threat, take them down."

He looked to PRofessor, "Warp gate transit, at your service." The two clones disappeared to Rio, as he smiled looking to the warp. "Coming?"

[The Traveler]

The Professor nodded. "Let's go."

They arrive at a boathouse near the ocean, the island is some 100 miles off shore, over the horizon.

"Let's see, there we go..." The Professor says seeing the lay of the land.

She goes over to one of the public docks and hits a switch on her remote. Not too much later her Hikari Maru appears.

"Might as well move this into position once we get done we will need a quick exit."

"One thing... if we run into the Headmistress... she is mine."

She adjusts her glasses. "Save Sarah and get her to the Hikari Maru at all costs. Sink the ship afterward if you have to. I need to keep the Headmistress off balance. Make her think I've lost my marbles a bit."

She nods to the clones. "Draw off the defenses. We will be there two minutes after your arrival there."

She steps into the Hikari Maru quickly and grabs a life vest and puts it on Sarah. "Also... since the Headmistress knows me... this is what I would do for the real Sarah. Better play to form."

She closes the door and prepares herself on the dock.

"Alright... go for it."

S2 and P2 fly off.

[Mech]

Chris stood on the open beach, and shifted into the Superior Gundam form he'd used before. He lowered a hand for the Professor to climb on, even as "Sarah" and "The Professor" Began their attacks, clad in technological armor that had been unseen before. Stil they were driven off with heavy losses, and over seventy percent of the force necessary to do so.

Chris nodded. "Time to go."

[The Traveler]

The Professor nodded and held on. "Drop me before we reach the ship. I'm going to get inside using a wet route. You'll be quite a distraction for any defenders left. If you can, switch to a smaller form for deck duty. I managed to grab a grappling hook and line and put it in my bag before I gave Sarah the vest and sent her off..."

She catches calling the clone Sarah.

"...Sorry, Your Sarah. In any case I'll be fine. I can swim... and if necessary, breathe water. I'll find look around and see if I can find Sarah, you do the same on your end. We got comlinks that are encrypted, so if the Headmistress or any hired help is there we'll still be operating with a safe network."

She adjusts her blouse. "When I find Sarah, I'll report my position, and you can meet me there and you can take Sarah back to the Hikari Maru... I have a feeling the Headmistress will be there and I have to come to terms with her personally."

"Let's go."

Mech nods and they scream as close to the water as they can until he's about 50 feet from the ship. Sakurako kisses the finger of Mech's giant hand. "Good luck."

She jumps off and plunges in like a experienced diver.

When Mech looks back up, suddenly missile launchers deploy from the deck. This is going to be more complex than it seems.

[Mech]

He dove right in, one of the missiles hitting him squarely in the chest but doing noithing. He seemed to smile as he landed on the deck, thirty tons of metal causing the ship to shift, even as his sword and laser rifle lashed out, cutting the missile launchers from the deck, and blasting the escape boats. Using his multiple visions, he ascertained Sarah wasn't in the main tower, and in a single slash cut it from the ship, causing it's engines to stutter and die. Small arms fire pinged off his shield, and he quieted them all by sweeping the deck with his laser canonons. There were no survivors.

[The Traveler]

The Professor swam under the water, hearing the mayhem up above. She prayed Mech didn't sink the ship eliminating it's defenses. She got near the ship's hull, and pulled a lanyard on her blazer, shooting herself up to the surface. She wanted to keep her quantum use low, so she when she hit the drink she dormed, and made sure her blazer she chose was one she liked wearing on yachting trips... one with a built in PFD.

As she bobbed, she pulled out her Grappling hook from her purse, and her ionic screwdriver. The line sat in the purse and she used the Ionic Screwdriver to shoot the grappling hook over a rail. She climbs up the line, the hull rocking and lurching from Mech's rampage but she was unphased. Two decks from the level she hooked she used her Ionic Screwdriver again to unlock a secured door used for loading and unloading supplies to the ship and did a defensive roll into the room. She got behind a crate and let the air out of her PFD and readied her screwdriver, looking at the emptied catwalks for any straggling security. She spotted the only guy up on a catwalk overhead. She points her screwdriver at the grates and causes the bolts to pop out of their seating causing the catwalk to give way and the guard falls off and hits several crates. Unconcious and lying in a broken heap on the floor she continues on, her dormancy now off. She reaches a door to the main hallway of the ship, opens it and looks about...

[Mech]

Having cleared the deck, Chris shrank down, back to a more human size, great metal wings folding to nothing, his weapons, now coming to resemble a light autopistol and a hunting knife. He still looked like a gundam, just magnitudes smaller. Once satisfied, he sliced open the bulkhead, andbegan making his way deck by deck into the holds of the ship. The sounds of the holdouts generally a chatter of gunfire, a blast of laser, or shreik of metal tearing, a scream, and then only the heavy metallic footfalls of his feet as he made his way to the captive princess.

[The Traveler]

The professor saw two guards standing at attention, well they were... they level their rifles on her and with a quick flick of her ionic, the rifles are ripped from their hands. The pull out knives but she rolls foreward, then sweeps the guards, keeping them off balance. She grabs a rifle and points it at the two guards.

"Okay... I have a message and a question..."

The guards put their hands up, dropping their knives. "What's the question?"

"Where... Is... Sarah?!"

The guards look incredulous. "Oh don't give me those looks, you know who just wrecked shop upstairs... we will tear each deck off piece by piece to find her... you want to dread water for a while until the Brazillian branch of Section S comes by to pick you up?"

"Then what is the message?"

The Professor fires a round near the head of one of the guards. "I intended to miss that time... the next time I am forced to pull the trigger I make a Jackson Pollack out of your cerebrum. Now... DO I HAVE TO REPEAT THE QUESTION?"

The guards shake their heads no. "She's on deck 3... lifeboat deck. They got a wench with a deployable zodiac on that level!"

"Good... now... the cargo door in that warehouse section is open. that armor float?"

The guards nod. "Good... abandon ship like the rats you are." She levels the rifle on them. "MOVE!"

She watches them as they run to the still opened hatch to the outside and watches them both jump.

She hurries to a stairway after dropping the rifle she had and uses her Ionic to break their firing mechanisms. She runs as fast she can. She's not going to tell Mech yet... to make sure they told the truth. She was going to make sure she was there.

[Mech]

The peeling sound of steel being pulled away as Chris tore another bulkhead away echoed through the ship. The remaining minions were firing at him, but most did so once and ran in fear.. None escaped. He was nearing the cargo hold now. He estimated only a handful of the Headmistress' troops could be left, and they were near her. This would end here and soon.

As he stood looking at the outer wall of the cargo bay he readied himself for the professor's signal.

[The Traveler]

The professor reached the launch and saw three guards moving a tied up girl in a red suit and respirator moving her to a zodiac on the side of the ship.

She crouches down, pointing the ionic screwdriver at the zodiac and undoes the valves on the boat's airchambers. The sudden deflation shocked them both. The guards took position around the tied up girl. "Dammit where is she... we gotta get out of here to draw off that freak of nature!"

"Well... what do we do now?"

"We can throw her overboard. The suit will keep her afloat and her respirator can act as an artificial gill if she does sink. That should keep those oddballs occupied."

Sakurako smiled behind her crate... they were all baselines and blind to her quantum signature. And they just said what would piss the momma honey badger off. She sets her frequency to break metal... in particular zinc coated aluminum... the material the CO2 cartridges on their ballistic vests use for their flotation bladders... when those things suddenly explode the pain and agony of the shrapnel will be just the start, and it'll keep with them because of the kevlar weave of the vest's outer layers.

The thought crosses her mind of knocking them overboard afterward and letting them drown in their gear is a thought.

But then she realizes the danger Sarah would be in... it could damage her gear... she is as safe as she could be.

Then the professor has a thought. She hits a button on her communicator, relaying her position as a waypoint on Mech's comlink visor.

"3 tangos, one HVC. Use non-lethal."

"Oh shit they sicced Section J too?"

They heard her chatter, good.

"Put down the girl and you will not be fired on! This is your only warning!" The Professor says, hoping they don't recognise her voice.

"Bullocks! You're that wanker The Professor!"

They level their rifles on her crate...

"Mech... get here in time... I don't want to regenerate again so soon..."

[Mech]

There was a collossal tearing sound, as a metal blade pierced the wall of the cargo bay. Two metalling hands apeared in the hole and with herculean strength, pried the metal apart like Tissue paper. Silouhetted against the darkness, with only the flame lighting him from behind, they could see the brilliant yellow lens eyes of his Gundam face, light glinting off the golden Vee crest. Before they ould even move, cannons on his shoulder popped up revealing tiny miniguns, spitting out a hail of quantum bullets that left all three enemy troopers dead. He crossed over to Sarah, who was mercifully unconscious. Her eyes fluttered open, and COnnor's faceplate seemed to open like a helmet allowing her to see his real face. "Who.... Who are you?"

"I am a friend of a friend." He indicated the Professor. "We came to rescue you..." It was then that he felt the presence of another nova, a powerful one. He moved quickly, a blaster shooting at the unseen foe, missing surprisingly , but keeping the Headmistress from blowing off The Professor's head.