Tempest

When the end finally came, it came quickly. Our suspicions confirmed, we were left with only one option : the OMS must be destroyed.

Priss's death left us all numb. With no time to mourn, we simply carried on. More lives than our own hung in the balance, and if we failed, all humanity might well pay the price.

With that thought heavy in our minds, we prepared for the final battle.

"Can you do it, Nene?" Sylia asked.

"Yes," she breathed. The question was moot anyway -- if she could not, then all was lost. She had to try.

"Very well. The sensor-stealth mode on your hardsuit should allow you to evade detection entirely during battle."

"What if they don't use the OMS?" she asked, worried.

"They will. They used it at AD Police headquarters, and they will use it here."

"So now we wait."

We would not have to wait long. Allowed to move through the city unchecked, the boomer forces consumed territory at an incredible rate. Thousands died, and it was the most difficult thing we have ever done to allow it. In time, though, the enemy would come to us.

Mackie wore the look of one who was getting ready to die. He knew what was coming... that there was no escape. The boomers would come, and he would give his life in one last, desperate attempt to put an end to it all.

He wondered if they would be remembered, and if they would be remembered well. Probably not, he decided. If Nene succeeded in her goal, they might well be branded villains, or even monsters... but it mattered little. The survival of the planet was on the line, and other concerns paled before it.

He looked back on his short life... not much to see. Truthfully, he had always believed his life to be ahead of him, until now. He only hoped that he would not sacrifice that life in vain.

Christine sat with her head in her hands, trying to come to terms with her pain. Tears flowed between the fingers which covered her face, and the sound of her sobs would have been clearly audible... had there been anyone there to hear it.

She was alone again. Priss was dead. Mackie didn't want to talk to anyone. Sylia was immersed to her neck in technical work, and Nene had withdrawn entirely. Christine could not blame her.

All their hopes had been pinned on their young computer genius, and it was an awesome responsibility. Nene had changed; her resolve to complete the task had wholly possessed her. Christine wondered to herself if that was the only way it could be done. Probably. She pitied the young one. At best or at worst, they faced death. Nene, on the other hand, would face the slaughter of all humanity, should she fail. Christine felt almost guilty for having the lesser burden.

She would certainly die, she realized. She had come to terms with it already. To lead the Knight Sabers into battle against such a horde was suicide. She would welcome death, though. It would be an end to her suffering at last. She looked forward to seeing James again.

She hoped that the time would come soon.

"They're coming, Sis," Mackie whispered, waking his sister. The critical moment had come.

Hurriedly, she dressed and went out to meet her family for the final time. When she saw the three of them, the grim resolution in their eyes took away all her words. For a moment, she just sat there, holding back tears by force of will. In all of her sadness, she was also proud of them.

Finally, she spoke. "It is time. You know what to do. Good luck."

A long silence enveloped the room, and for a moment none moved. Then, slowly, tentatively, Nene stepped forward and hugged Sylia. Christine followed suit, and then Mackie did also.

Sylia let the tears flow silently, looking at each of them one last time. At last, Christine spoke. "Angels and ministers of grace defend us," she quoted, then added, "It is time to make our stand. Let's go."

They put on their helmets and went to battle.

Even without her sensor-stealth, Nene would be very difficult to find. With it, she was invisible.

She had spent the last week preparing for this mission and all its inevitable result. She could only hope she was ready... if it was even possible to be ready for it. She had her doubts.

"Ready, Mackie?" Christine asked.

"Ready," came the response.

"All right... they're in range. You know the plan. Knight Sabers, sanjo!"

With that cry, she leapt from her hiding place. Deploying a web at the front of the phalanx, she began to fire the pulse cannon repeatedly. One... two... five... seven boomers fell, the merest scratch among the hundreds, and they had not even opened fire yet. Someone was taunting her.

She forced down a wave of temper. The mission demanded that she live as long as possible, and anger was counterproductive.

Suddenly, all the boomers opened fire at once. Barely reaching cover, she thought wryly, "Well, you always wanted to take on the world. Better make a good show of it."

After a second, she spun back around the corner and opened fire again. Two more boomers dropped before she felt the hit.

"Aahhh!" she screamed, feeling as if her side was on fire. Realizing that she was losing blood fast, she determined to strike one final blow.

Quickly, she opened a panel on the cannon-arm of her hardsuit. Pulling out a large pin, she tossed it aside and turned the knob underneath clockwise. In her helmet, the word OVERLOAD began to flash red, and she dragged herself toward the approaching enemy.

She managed a savage smile as the words came to her... she'd seen the old sci-fi flick at least ten times, and even if she could not quite remember where the quote was from, it was SO appropriate.

"To the last, I will grapple with thee," she whispered.

"From Hell's hot, I stab at thee."

"For hate's sake, I spit my last breath... at thee..."

Her world went blinding white, then black.

Mackie winced at the explosion, which destroyed nearly thirty boomers... a blaze of glory indeed.

"My turn," he whispered, bursting from his own hiding place. He knew he couldn't last as long as she had, but he would do his best.

The enemy opened fire on him immediately, having paid the price for delay once already. Laser fire and bullets blazed on all sides of him, somehow missing him long enough for him to take out two boomers with the laser. Hoping to use the nearest boomers as cover against the others' guns, he charged in with the sword. Two more fell before he, too, was felled.

"Goodbye, Sis," Sylia heard him gasp then his suit's transmitter went dead. Biting her lip until it bled, she held back the tears. They would come for her soon enough, but she was ready. Only one keystroke remained.

It took longer than she expected -- apparently the databank room was better hidden than she thought. Nevertheless, they eventually burst in.

Tapping her finger on the keypad one last time, Sylia smiled wryly.

"Destruct sequence initiated." The computer droned.

Nene cried. Sitting in the underground tunnel, with her knees pulled up to her chest and her helmet off, she cried.

"In the three days since our final battle, the boomers have swallowed up nearly all of MegaTokyo. With none to stop them, they have slaughtered all of her citizens, with less than a thousand still alive. Even those are being hunted down as I speak.

"This must end.

"My name is Nene Romanova, and I am the last survivor of the Knight Sabers. They gave their lives so that I might make one last attempt to end this war and save humanity.

"The Overmind must be destroyed. I have managed to determine that it is within MegaTokyo, but further precision is impossible.

"If there is a God, may he have mercy on my soul for what I am about to do.

"End Transmission."

Nene wiped away the tears which blurred her vision and picked up the helmet of her hardsuit. For a long moment, she simply stared at it as if it were cursed... haunted by the ghosts of dead friends. Finally, she put it on.

Loading the special program she had prepared for this event, she began to issue commands to the hardsuit's computer.

"Ready." Its monotone voice sounded in her mind.

"Initiate," she answered aloud.

"Negotiating with host... connected. Initiating takeover procedure. Authorization code?"

She started to speak, but the words froze in her throat. Closing her eyes, she forced them out, the pain tearing at her soul, her voice trembling. "Linna. Priss. Christine. Mackie. Sylia. Nene."

"Authorization accepted. Satellite #064 at your command."

"Upload targeting procedure. Activate beacon," she whispered, wanting to scream instead.

"Coordinates locked. Target : Hardsuit beacon.

"Set: radius equals two hundred kilometers."

"Radius set."

Only one further command need be given. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she thought, "I'm coming, my friends... wait for me."

"Fire."