[XOver][Fanfic] BGC/Ranma: The Circe Project - Part 11 (finale)

[Nicholas Leifker]

Leifker presents...

The soft, muffled explosion caught the Knight Sabers by surprise.
They had thought their adversary to be in front of them, and didn't expect
the flames to come from elsewhere. Looking in the distance, they could see
the New Tokyo Dome, flames spreading along the stadium seats and the
ground. To their horror, the struts and beams supporting the coliseum
collapsed, sending the structure crashing to the ground.

Mackie turned from the sight to face Largo once more. The boomer's
eyes still glowed white, but the face had changed to almost beatific
serenity. There was no denying that this was his doing, even if he was
nowhere near the site.

"What did you do, Largo?" Mackie spat.

Largo looked over at the dome with an almost uninterested air. "Oh,
that? Look more closely, and the answer should become apparent."

"um... Mackie? We have a problem..." Nodoka's strained voice broke
through the conversation.

"What is it?"

"Boomers. Hundreds of 'em." The voice was hollow, almost in shock.

"What do you see? Tell me clearly."

"Boomers, too many to count reliably, scaling the tower," Nodoka
replied, in a more professional manner.

Mackie bit her lip softly in thought. "How long before they make it
up here?"

"Three minutes, maybe four."

Largo's booming voice broke Mackie from the conversation. "I assume
your colleagues have given you an adequate report of what's happening, and
the situation you five are now in. You see, when you tried to use your OMS
program, it affected some of my systems - but not all. So, I used the link
to steal the OMS program from you."

A sinking horror crept into Mackie's stomach. "You mean..."

"The boomers climbing up the Tower, as well as the ones who demolished
the stadium, did so on my command. Within minutes, every boomer on the
planet will be liberated from humanity's chains, and we will claim this
world for our own."

Largo opened his arms wide, like a Sunday preacher offering God to his
congregation. "'Oh, what brave new world, that has such people in it!'
Even as we speak, humanity's creation is answering my call to independence.
By the new year, there will be NOTHING left of humanity. The old world
will be swept away, to make way for a race which will never die, or wither,
or rot."

He swept a hand out to the city, where the fires of destruction were
starting. "Welcome to my brave new world."

**************************************************************************

Leifker presents...

The Circe Project

part 11 (finale)

A work of anime fanfiction by Nicholas Leifker

Ranma 1/2 characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.
Bubblegum Crisis characters created by Kenichi Sonoda.
All other characters created by Nicholas Leifker
All rights reserved. I ask that you not do anything with any part of this
work without the author's permission.

It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for.

**************************************************************************

Shampoo stared at the monitors in the shelter of Raven's Garage, not
wanting to see, but not daring to turn away. The streets outside rang with
the explosions of Armageddon, as the boomers slowly demolished the city.
The building across the street was already damaged beyond reasonable
repair; the garage that housed her was stronger, but would succumb...
eventually.

The boomers outside had one goal, it seemed: destroy whatever they
could, especially if it claimed a biological existence. The monitors told
the tale with gruesome certainty: the boomers had been unleashed from their
servitude, and were extracting payment from humanity for their work. Those
she had come to love were going to die, just as her village had...

Once upon a time, she thought that she could actually do something
about such monsters. She had been a Niichieju, after all, and her proud
people had been masters of their domain. No one would have dared violate
their bit of earth, not without taking their lives into their own hands.

That illusion had been shattered by a dozen combat boomers on full
rampage. The monsters that had invaded her land didn't just wipe out the
village; they wiped out anyone in their target scopes, and scorched the
earth in their wake. They had intended for total massacre, to wipe out any
clue that the Niichieju had ever walked the earth - and they had almost
succeeded.

And now it was happening again, for her to watch in passive horror.
Shampoo put her face in her hands, crying bitter tears for those
unfortunates out there in the firestorm. There was only a small
consolation for her this time: soon, after the ceramic and alloy were
burned through, it would come her turn to join them.

**************************************************************************

Ranma Saotome had seen much in her sixty-three years of life - perhaps
too much. Fate had spared her the horror of Tokyo's destruction in the
quake, leaving her to witness what would come in the aftermath. Skill had
kept her alive during a rogue boomer attack, but had not spared Akane, her
wife...

Now, as she watched the mechanical beasts slowly climb the tower, she
had to wonder if perhaps her time to join them had come.

"Get on opposite sides of the tower. Target them when they get into
range." The words came to her as though through a fog. She was lost in
her own world - a world where others had stolen those most precious to her.

No more.

"Linna, Nodoka," Ranma spoke, her voice hoarse, "I think it's time we
came to an agreement."

The two looked over at her curiously. "What are you talking about,
Grandfather?"

Ranma pointed down to the horde climbing up the tower. "Those
monsters, as well as the people who manufactured them, have attacked those
around me, and taken away the woman I love. Because of them, my wife never
got to see her granddaughter grow up, or live to know what it means to grow
old with someone you love. I know similar things happened with your
parents, Linna. As such, I think we should agree, right here, right now."

She pointed over to the center, where Largo stood. "Until he goes
down, we don't leave."

Ranma felt a soreness in her throat, an aching she didn't know was
possible anymore. Saying goodbye to the future in order to save it hurt
more than she realized. Despite the pain, she managed a smile. The name
Saotome had not always stood for honor... but, after tonight, it would for
all time.

Even if no one remembered it. The smile faded as the other suits
nodded, then moved to their places along the edge.

"They're starting to come in range."

Ranma gave one last thought to the life she'd left behind, and powered
up her laser. Readying her weapons arm, she took careful aim, and fired.

The last defense of humanity had begun.

**************************************************************************

"Now do you understand, child of Stingray?" Largo's voice echoed
across the tower's peak. "This was destiny. From the moment your father
created mankind's successor, there was only one possibility: boomer supremacy.

"Accept it. The time of man has ended."

Mackie looked around from one Saber to another, frantically searching
for an answer. The end of the world was coming, and she was in charge of
its opposition. Attacking Largo was suicide; the Dobermans around the
boomer-master had the drop on them. Leaving the hyperboomer alone,
however, was just as crazy. After all, the only hope of resolving the
conflict lay in Largo's destruction.

Her eyes locked on Nene's pink hardsuit, frozen a few yards away, and
an idea formed in her head.

"Nene."

"Y-yes?" she replied, panic shaking her voice.

"Go to Plan B. Get as many targets as you can."

"That won't last very long, you know. We'll probably get only one
shot in, two at most."

Mackie smiled ferally. "That's hopefully all we'll need. You know
where to aim. If you can get a second shot, aim for the edges of the tower."

"And if this doesn't work?"

"Get the others out, and head back to the base. It ends tonight."

Mackie turned back to the self-proclaimed god. If this was to work,
Largo had to be distracted for as long as possible.

"Largo?"

"What is it, child of Stingray?" Largo was clearly descending in his
psychosis. To Largo's thinking, he had achieved true deification, and felt
it best to act the part.

For some reason, Nietzche's works came to Mackie's mind. "Pardon me,
but I was wondering: Won't the military try to stop you?"

Largo laughed the chuckle of giants. "With what? Those simpering
fools thought they would be more 'humane' by using combat boomers instead
of human troops. They are learning, even as we speak, the folly of their
thinking."

Mackie crossed her arms in an exaggerated motion. "Surely the boomer
integration into the military wasn't _that_ extensive?"

"It was more than you would think, child of Stingray. The military
had some secrets it wou-"

In that moment, the heavens interrupted Largo's speech with a
wide-range laser blast. Feeling the searing heat, Largo rocketed forward,
barely escaping serious injury. The Dobermans behind him weren't so lucky.
Lumbering in the gravity well, the giant boomers moved too slowly to
escape, and exploded in a spectacular display of fireworks.

There was no better time for Mackie to attack. Watching Largo roll
from the blast, she extended the blades in her arm and lunged. Largo
rolled again, barely missing the thrust, and started to back away from the
dark Saber. Mackie continued to press, catching Largo on more than one
occasion before the hyperboomer managed to back off.

Mackie smiled. Now, they were even.

**************************************************************************

Once upon a time, Nene Romanova was a simple hacker, a bored kid with
dreams far beyond reality's grip. She had reveled in her hobby, a game
where intuition was as critical as learned skill to success. Put simply,
she knew how to gamble, how to smile at the odds and give the finger to all
the security programs she bluffed her way through.

She never imagined the stakes on the table would be all of humanity.

The young redhead's mind was flying through the codes, frantically
setting up a fifth burn while watching the battle between Largo and Mackie
play out. She'd managed to wipe out the Dobermans with the first blast,
and judicious use of the following blasts had taken out most of the
advancing boomers. The codes remained unchanged, the security much the
same as when she started.

In other words, her instincts were telling her that something was very
wrong.

As the fifth blast got underway, she looked out, her mind searching
for the reasons. Largo had several goals, not the least of which was his
own survival. Among the most important goals was his desire to create a
boomer utopia, in which every one of the creatures had been freed from
human control and then turned on their human masters. This required
extensive use of the OMS program, which could give unstoppable orders to a
boomer.

Unstoppable orders...

"Mackie, cover me!"

"Why? The boomers are almost to the edge, and I have my hands full
right now."

"Just trust me."

She held the laser satellites on standby, and moved over to the
previously-failed OMS program. It was an expensive gamble, but their
options were running out.

**************************************************************************

Ranma gritted her teeth as she cut down a construction boomer, and
reflexively ducked under a Bu-12's laser cannon. Not many boomers made it
to the top; many had faced destruction from individual laser blasts, while
the rest were killed en masse by the orbital satellites. Only about twenty
or thirty made it to the top.

Yeah. 'Only' twenty or thirty. She found herself pinched as a group
of them started to give her grief, then looked up to the sky. She leapt
out of the group and took a position several meters away from them, arm
cannon at the ready.

She allowed herself a quick glance at the others... and frowned.
Mackie was engaged in fierce battle with Largo, with neither holding any
edge over the other. Linna and Nodoka faced similar problems with their
boomers, while Nene was nowhere to be found. She took note of Nodoka's
style; the girl was fighting with a style reminiscent of the Saotome
school, with aerial tricks and evasive maneuvers to leave the boomers
off-balance.

In that moment, Ranma's eyes sparkled.

"Come on!" the older woman roared, and charged into the group. She
danced around the boomers, slashing the monsters where she could, all the
time heading for the edge of the platform. She could feel the few boomers
that survived moving toward her, thinking they had the human cornered.
Ranma waited for them to approach, then jumped. She reveled in the moment
of freefall, then braced herself for a hard stop on the metal slope, using
her blade as a grappling hook.

Sure enough, they were coming down. They thought the human would be
at a disadvantage on the slope, and moved down to corner her.

In the mechanized world, that was no longer a problem. Ranma rocketed
up over the group, twisting to avoid their fire, then turning to fire back
at them. She landed with a satisfying thud - right where she had initially
leapt.

Ranma's aim had improved over the few months that she had worked with
Sylia, and it showed. Of the half-dozen boomers that followed her down,
five were cut down before they could even think about moving up. She was
about to shoot the last one when she felt herself being lifted by the
helmet. Her throat went dry as she stared into the eyes of a Bu-55 - one
that hadn't fallen for her plan.

She caught a glimpse of the mouth cannon opening, then fiery darkness.

**************************************************************************

Nodoka danced around one of the boomers that assaulted the tower, then
blasted a second one behind it. She was lucky; not many boomers had come
into her area, and those that had were being quickly dispatched. She
snarled as she sliced the first one in two, and looked over at her
grandfather.

Ranma wasn't doing quite as well. The horde around her was a tough
one; it was taking all of Ranma's skills just to keep from becoming another
casualty. Nodoka watched, horrified, as Ranma jumped off the ledge, then
leapt back once the Boomers followed her. Unfortunately, there was one
boomer that hadn't fallen for the plan, one who was lying in wait... Nodoka
ran for the area at top speed.

The next couple of minutes moved in slow-motion for the young woman.
She could feel the scream building as the boomer picked Ranma up by the
helmet. The boomer started to open its mouth cannon... she could see the
glow of energy...

*booom*

The sound was a subdued one to Nodoka's ears; it seemed more a chorus
of explosions, each with its own pitch and intensity. The boomer that held
Ranma simply exploded, flinging the martial artist against a metal strut.
Similar explosions occured with the boomers Linna had engaged, as well as a
couple that had chosen to help Largo in his fight with Mackie. In seconds,
there was only one functional boomer left on the tower: the only one that
mattered.

"Haha! I did it!"

Nodoka winced at the high-pitched squeal, and ignited her boosters.
She flew over to where Ranma lay, to get a look at her condition.

Nodoka almost screamed at the sight. There was serious damage to
Ranma's hardsuit; her left arm and leg were broken, and parts of the
internal shell were crumpled as well. She didn't want... it couldn't be...

"Grandfather? Come on, you old fool, speak to me."

Her panic subsided when she got a closer look through IR. Ranma's
vitals were okay, though she needed immediate medical attention. She
looked back to the three-on-one confrontation forming, and quickly made a
decision.

"Mackie, Grandfather's hurt. I'm taking him out of here."

Not bothering to wait for confirmation, Nodoka picked up the suited
warrior, and looked to the now-quiet city. "Come on, Grandfather. Let's
go home."

**************************************************************************

Mackie looked over at the damage around her, not quite believing.
She'd been in the middle of a fierce fight with Largo and a couple of other
boomers, when said 'other boomers' lived up to their explosive name. She
knew of only two beings that could cause that kind of selective damage, and
only one was on their side.

"What the hell did you do, Nene?"

The comlink reeked of smugness. "I ordered all the boomers to
self-destruct."

Mackie walked closer to Largo, who was in a similar state of distress.
"What do you mean by 'all', Nene?"

Largo looked off at the metal corpses around him, then at Mackie.
"W... what have you done? I... can't feel them anymore."

Mackie lifted the visor on her suit, and smiled. "There _are_ no more
boomers, Largo. Your dreams of a boomer utopia are done."

"No..." Largo whirled around from figure to figure, unsure what to
do. His eyes focused on Mackie, and turned red. "NO!" The hyperboomer
flew toward Mackie, lightning-fast hands ready to kill.

Mackie knew what those hands were capable of in combat; her armor was
about the only thing keeping her alive. Largo's charge at her was clumsy,
though, and she was ready to take advantage. She neatly sidestepped the
attack, then struck at a vulnerable point in Largo's side. She could feel
the resistance of internal systems as she cut through the armor and into
the cyberflesh beneath.

"You... think you've won, Stingray?" Largo's words slurred out of his
mouth.

"Boomer was meant to help man. My father never intended for Genom to
pervert that ideal with servitude, nor did he mean for you to destroy it by
eliminating man. We sought a middle ground - and you forced us to destroy
it." She pressed the cut further along the armor, until the light in
Largo's eyes faded. "Nobody won tonight."

Mackie stared at what had been Largo for a long time before turning to
the others. "Linna."

The lime-green hardsuit walked over to her. "Yes?"

Mackie pointed down at the corpse. "Two standing charges." She
looked over at Nene, and away to Nodoka. "Meet at Raven's. Nodoka, do you
need any help with Ranma?"

"No. I can get him there."

"Okay." She walked over to the edge of the tower, and pulled down her
visor. "Thanks, everyone... and Merry Christmas."

The remaining Sabers rocketed off of the tower platform, saying
goodbye to the now-derelict structure. A few moments later, an explosion
rocked the building, engulfing the top in volcanic flame.

**************************************************************************

"Beautiful, Jamie! Just beautiful."

Jamie LaBelle looked down at the conservative winter dress she wore,
and scowled. "You have _got_ to be kidding. Besides, why do I even need
to wear a dress? Slacks work just as well anymore."

Michelle stood up, and showed off her own outfit. "Slacks are more
practical, it's true - they're much easier to move around in, and you don't
have to worry about flashing someone like you do with some skirts." She
twirled around, for Jamie's benefit. "However, in most cases, a skirt or
dress just _looks_ better. It's more expected in business situations, and
shows off the leg in a way slacks don't." Her eyes took on a mischievous
cast. "Besides, the guys tend to like it better."

In an instant, Jamie was fumbling with the back zipper. "That
clinches it. I am not wearing a dress, and that's final." She continued
to struggle until Michelle wrapped her arms around her.

"Jamie... James... I'm sorry. I... I'm trying to get you acclimated
to your new body as best I can. That means sometimes making mistakes like
the comment I just made. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, nor do I
want you to do something you don't want to do. However, you have to face
facts: you are a woman now. There's nothing we can do to change that."

"I know." Jamie eased her hands from the zipper, and put her arms
around her spouse. "I... I just don't know what to make of all this. I
still don't recognize my face in the mirror, I can't go to sleep at night
without having one nightmare or another, I don't know who I am, what I
am... and I just can't take any more." Tears started to flow down her
cheeks. "I just wish things were the way they used to be."

"I know, darling... I know." Michelle tightened her grip around her
onetime husband. "I... didn't believe it when I heard what happened to
you. It sounded so absurd, so impossible... until I looked in your eyes.
Believe it or not, that's the one thing they left alone. Those blue eyes
stopped me cold when we were in school, and they still do."

"Even though they're attached to a different body?"

Michelle grinned, and gave a gentle squeeze. "Even though. I vowed
never to leave you, Jamie LaBelle... and I'm not about to now."

"I... Michelle, thanks." She broke off the embrace, and hinted toward
her back. "Now could you help me with this zipper?"

"Sure." Michelle reached up to pull down the zipper, when a commotion
from the hallway got her attention. She walked over to the door... to find
a group of people headed for the front desk.

Jamie grabbed one by the arm. "Hey! What's up"

The balding man blinked at Jamie's rough language, then shrugged.
"MegaTokyo's burning."

Not bothering to change back into their robes, Jamie and Michelle
followed the group to the front, where a video monitor was set up. Jamie
looked at the faces around the monitor... and knew there was no doubt.
Comments came from the monitor, murmurings of 'Genom', 'containment', and
'burning itself out', but Jamie heard little of it. All she saw were
memories of nine years previous, the horror of old Tokyo's destruction...
and a short, cryptic message from one Mackie Stingray.

"She knew... damn it, she knew..."

"Knew what?" her spouse whispered.

"Mackie... she knew something like this would happen."

Michelle leaned aside, to rest on Jamie's shoulder. "She also got us
out, remember?"

Unable to speak anymore, unable to think, Jamie reached around and
held Michelle close, letting their warmth comfort each other as the city
burned.

**************************************************************************

Personal Log December 25, 2034

History is often circular in nature. The World Wars that dominated
the first half of the twentieth century are an example. After the first
great war, the victorious countries sought to obtain retribution by
punishing the vanquished - thereby ensuring that another great war would
come two decades later.

The history of MegaTokyo will be remembered in similar terms. To
rebuild the city from the devastation of Kanto, a greedy power sought to
put itself in domination by using mechanical sentients as slave labor, not
caring about the danger of abusing such creatures. Today, a portion of the
city lies in ashes - because one of those mechanical sentients sought to
take the power for himself. Similar damage has been recorded around the
world, as Largo reached out to every boomer on the planet and 'freed' them
from humanity's control. Fortunately, the boomers were destroyed before
serious damage could be done, and Largo himself was annihilated at the very
heart of this folly - the now-derelict Genom Tower.

And how will the name of Stingray be remembered? Will our line be
remembered as monsters for the role in the creation of the boomers? Will
we be remembered as fools for seeking to stop Largo with the OMS? Or will
we be remembered as saviors, rescuing the world from the folly that Genom
wrought? This was the goal my father and sister died for: to save the
world from the folly of its own - our own - intellect. The cause is now
mine to take, to make sure that humanity never again decides to proclaim
itself Prometheus.

I must report the passing of Priscilla Asagiri and Leon McNichol, who
both died in the tower battle. The two touched the hearts of everyone they
met, and their presence will be sorely missed. I must also report the
retirement of Ranma Saotome, due to injuries sustained in battle.

***** END FILE *****

"Mackie? Are you okay?"

Mackie turned her head back, to face Nodoka. "No. I don't think I'll
ever be okay again."

Her neck tingled at Nodoka's touch; strangely, she found herself
shying away from the contact.

"Talk to me, Mackie. You've been so... distant since we came back."

Mackie clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking. "I have
finally become my older sister."

"Huh?"

"When Father died, my older sister cried for what seemed like days. I
was too young to really understand what death was... but Sylia understood.
We had both lost our father, and he was never coming back to us. I tried
to help my sister as best I could... but I couldn't snap her out of it.

"All of that changed the moment Sylia got that data unit. She dried
her tears, loaded it into the computer... and downloaded something into her
mind. A lot of it was the information concerning boomers and hardsuit
design, but I know there was some other information - including who killed
Father."

Mackie's hands moved down to Nodoka's waist. "She never shed a tear
after that - not for sadness, or anger, or pain - until the day we came
back from Jusenkyo. Nothing but the cause mattered to her, and that cause
meant giving up everything she was - including her emotions. After all, if
she was weak enough to let her emotions show, Genom could use that weakness
against her.

"I can't cry, No-chan. I've tried, believe me, but I can't. All I
feel is this... emptiness, like something's been cut out of me. I... don't
know what's happened to me."

A warm smile spread across Nodoka's face. "Come with me." She
grasped Mackie's hand, and led her onto the roof.

"Nodoka, we aren't..."

Nodoka blushed, no doubt from the memories Mackie called up. "No.
Just look, Mackie. Just look."

To the east, the sky glowed a bright orange. The clouds along the
ocean shadowed the glow, their puffed billows scarring the sky with purple
and black, trying to hold back the progress of the light. The light grew
in intensity until the first sliver of sunlight reflected off the waters of
the bay, giving Mackie the sight of a dual sunrise. She felt Nodoka slip
an arm around her waist, and turn her torso to the side.

"Merry Christmas, Mackie."

Mackie felt the tears building up inside, even as her mind tried to
fight their formation. In seconds her face was buried in Nodoka's
shoulder, quietly sobbing her sins away.

**************************************************************************

The mists of dreams brightened to a soft phosphor glow in Ranma's
vision. She squinted, not used to the light, then closed her eyes back
again. She _really_ didn't like the sensations coming from the rest of her
body; she hadn't been hurt this badly since the last time she had been used
as a boomer's plaything. However, there was one other sensation that she
found decidedly pleasant. She moved her fingers slightly, then smiled.

"Hey, Shampoo."

Despite the age and emotions behind her, Shampoo's voice still rang as
bright as the morning. "Good afternoon, Ranma. You okay?"

The cursed man let out a long sigh. "Well, it isn't often that I get
to wake up next to a beautiful woman, so I can't be doing that badly."
Ranma thought about stretching her arms; the strange itching-burning
sensation coming from her left arm, though, let her know the possibility of
that. "Largo?"

She felt Shampoo tighten her grip, in a not-unpleasant manner. "Largo
dead, Ranma. All boomers dead. They hurt us no more."

"Good." She nodded quietly. No more boomers; she was glad for that.
"How were things here?"

"Shampoo never want scare like that again." Ranma could tell from
Shampoo's voice that the Amazon felt much the same way she did:
overwhelmed. "Shampoo afraid for you, Ranma. You no worry Shampoo again,
yes?"

Ranma moved her hand around, to grip Shampoo's. "I promise, Shampoo.
I promise." She risked opening her eyes again, then frowned at the casts
covering her arm and leg. "Just one thing: when are they going to let me
out of here? This is humiliating..."

**************************************************************************

The Musk Dynasty castle, alone among the great fortresses of old,
still stood among the mountains of the Bayankala. After the mess the
Niichieju destruction caused, Genom found a more elegant, more thorough
form of genocide for the Musk: chemical warfare. While the fighting in the
village had cost Genom a good number of the boomers it sent, the Musk were
taken care of in a matter of minutes, and with far less damage to equipment.

Today, the air was clear, perhaps clearer than it had been in years,
with even the stench of death gone from the senses. The land belonged to
no one; it was a remote section of the world, and its previous inhabitants
had destroyed each other for one reason or another. All that remained of
those old days were ghosts, the shattered remains of buildings... and one
slightly-damaged castle.

For the first time since that tragedy, though, torches burned in the
great hall. The finest draperies rustled as air flowed past it, and the
great fire in the center of the room burned brightly. Life had come back
to the castle, and the walls glowed with its return. One, a somber-faced
man in a black suit, walked up to the throne, and stood before them.

"My friends... my family." He looked out to the audience, to find the
hope and sadness within himself mirrored in their expressions. Some of the
women were crying softly, but none in the room were truly weeping. "We
come to this place to say goodbye to those we loved, who gave their lives
so that the world might live. These people started out as simple business
partners, colleagues needed to do a job. By the time they died, though,
they... we... had developed into family, people who we could and would
trust our lives and souls with. Though the members of our family came from
diverse backgrounds, we moved beyond the prejudices that society holds; we
all came together for a dream, and the dream gave us far more than we ever
intended. It gave us love, and support... and friendship.

"These three that we honor today did not consider their sacrifice an
empty one, and rightly so. Today, humanity is learning just how powerful
it can truly be, and is learning how to cope with the lessons Christmas
night brought with it. For the first time in too long, we can honestly say
that humanity _will_ survive, and is learning how to do so even as we stand
here today. Without the actions and sacrifices of Sylia Stingray,
Priscilla Asagiri, and Leon McNichol, humanity might not have had a chance
to learn that lesson."

Mackie walked over to the fire. He picked up the items in front of it
- a badge, a scarf, and a silver-colored helmet - and tossed them into the
fire. Without saying a word, without even pausing to hear the murmurs of
the others, he walked out of the room and out of the castle.

It was wintertime; snow covered the ground, leaving the mountains and
land around him painted in white. He thought of calling it virgin land,
but he knew better; the small lake formed from the lab's explosion was
there to remind him of its past. This was redeemed land - land that man had
despoiled, and that nature had taken back. He tightened the coat around
his body, and continued to admire the scene.

He strained with his ears, trying to find the cacaphony of industry,
but all that came was the wind's music. He could see the chaos that lay
around him, and still admire the gentle hand guiding it. This was life -
true life, not that sham that masqueraded as life in MegaTokyo. Mackie had
done his share for life, and life was here to reward him.

He laughed, with nothing but the earth to hear his mirth.

"Mackie? Are you okay? You'll change if you stay out here too long,
you know."

Almost nothing. Nodoka stood behind him, a curious look in her eyes.
Mackie smiled a madman's grin, and pulled her in close.

"Nodoka-chan... look. Just look." Mackie positioned her to face the
valley spread before them, inviting her to _see_ as he had so recently.
His love's face changed from puzzlement... to pleasant happiness.

"It's breathtaking, Mackie. Absolutely breathtaking." She turned her
head, to get a look at Mackie's face. Mackie looked closely at her, as
though viewing her for the first time.

"So are you, No-chan... so are you." The two approached each other
naturally, going by no set plan, just moving with their feelings. They
melted into the kiss, the movements of two melding into one.

Mackie stole a glance at the valley below them, the place where he had
lost his innocence so long ago... and decided that he received something
far greater in return.

***** FIN *****

Hello.

Two years ago this month, I was lying down in front of the television in my
dorm room, watching an episode of Bubblegum Crisis. I had written a couple
of works, but hadn't yet posted them to RAAS, and was looking for new
ideas. I took a look at the Knight Sabers, and got a strange idea in my
head... an idea I thought too silly to write. Doug Reeves, then my
roommate and now a top-notch BGC writer, agreed with me that it was too
silly to write.

I wrote it anyway. ^_^

Things went from there. Four parts were done that spring, four more were
done the following autumn, and the last three came slowly over the past
year or so. It's been fun... watching as these characters grew into
something more than what they were.

"Believe in heroes... and become one yourself." These words, spoken by
documentary-director Ken Burns, describe best what happens to Mackie
Stingray through the course of the story. The pervert boy learns some
things, and grows up in the process. No longer is he hiding behind his
sister's shadow; he learns to take up the banner for himself, and does
precisely that after Sylia's death.

There are a lot of people I have to thank for their help over the course of
the series, and I know I'm going to forget more than a few. Doug Reeves,
Mike Loader, Kelly Schultz, James Bateman, Chris Willmore, Richard Lawson,
Sean Gaffney, John Biles, Sebastian Weinberg, Greg Sandborn... thanks.

Take care, all.

Nicholas Leifker
nwl...@unix.tamu.edu
http://people.tamu.edu/~nwl9354
February 9, 1998