[PSP] Guardian Sentai Roboman #6

[utsukushuu.dreamer]

>From PSP:
http://www.night-jaeger.net/

---

GUARDIAN SENTAI ROBOMAN #6
"Phase Three! Go Robo Vehicles!"
Component 02.3
February 28th, 2010
by Adrian J. Watts



Science Island

Senshi scrutinised the data contained in the files displayed on Dr.
Rose Brachis' laptop screen. What he saw made very little sense to him
- terms such as 'Project: Roboman', 'Operation: Guardian' and
'Eternity Evolution' appeared again and again, but the only text
accompanying the phrases that made any sense to him were the words
'Top Secret'.

He did not know what he was looking for; the urge to look through the
files that Dr. Brachis had left open on leaving her office had been an
impulsive one, a drive he suspected was borne of a combination of
curiosity malice - he wanted to know what a security officer was doing
hunched over a laptop all day, and he hoped he could find something
that would allow him to persuade his commander to let him investigate
the previous day's attack on Blizzard Base Zero personally.

Senshi regularly glanced at the door to the office to make sure Dr.
Brachis was not returning. He had no idea how long she would be gone,
and he had a lot of files to look through; one-by-one he maximised
them, scanned through them, then carefully returned them to the state
they had been in before he interfered.

After fifteen minutes of searching he decided to give up, knowing that
the files were beyond his ability to understand, at least while
concerned that the woman he was spying on could return at any moment.
But as he turned his head away, the screen flashed and a new file
opened up:

EDD: SECURITY EQ AUTHORISATION LOG TERMINAL 14
 Request Made By:
Terminal X
[Blizzard Base Zero]
Authorised By:
BRAC-R (Brachis, Dr. Rose)

Request Logged:
28.02.2010
(- 3 minutes)

LOG DATA?
Y | N


Senshi had no idea what the 'Robo Defender' actually was, but the rest
of the file made complete sense to him. Someone operating an Earth
Defence/Leadership Directorate systems terminal, noted as 'Terminal X'
at Blizzard Base Zero, had requested permission to activate a piece of
Science Island-controlled security technology - the 'Robo Defender'.

Three minutes earlier, Dr. Brachis had approved the request - and had
requested that the request data be logged, which was presumably what
had caused the file to open on her own machine; and was more than
likely a sign that she would be returning to her office soon.

Seeing the file only raised more questions for Senshi, who had gone to
the laptop looking for answers. He stepped away from the terminal and
made his way for the door, only to be stopped by a member of his
security team.

"Oh!" The security officer had not expected to see him in the office.
"I was looking for Dr. Brachis."

"Dr. Brachis is occupied at the moment. Whatever it is, you can tell
me. I will make sure she is informed."

The other man tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I really should tell Dr.
Brachis directly."

Senshi scowled. "As Deputy Head of Security on Science Island, I am
ordering you to tell me."

The man rolled his eyes, but Senshi held his tongue.

"We have just finished interrogating the surviving personnel of
Blizzard Base Zero," the man said.

An interrogation? Senshi thought. Why wasn't I told...?

"There have been consistent reports of four staff unaccounted for,"
the man continued. "Nagura Scott, the base administrator; Nagura Ian,
his son; "Sei", surname unknown; and an as-yet-unidentified woman who
only arrived on the base late yesterday."

"Is there anyone inside Blizzard Base Zero now?" Senshi asked.

"No, sir. We have guards stationed around the perimeter, but the
complex has been completely sealed off pending a full examination by
the Incident Investigation Team, which needs to be approved by Dr.
Brachis."

If the base is empty, who requested the Robo Defender? Who was
operating Terminal X?

"Is that all?"

"Yes, sir," the man responded.

"Good. Thank you. I will make sure your information is passed on to
Dr. Brachis."

The man saluted, turned and left the office.

Senshi paused to think for a moment. Dr. Brachis had insisted that he
have no involvement in investigating the attack on Blizzard Base Zero.
He was her second-in-command, and she withheld information about
important questioning taking place on the Island. The EDD requested
Science Island security support for an attack on New Orleans, and she
had held him back. Senshi knew he was not the smartest person on
Science Island, but he was also not an idiot - Dr. Brachis was trying
to keep something from him.

His thoughts were interrupted as Dr. Brachis walked briskly into her
office and passed him so quickly that he felt a slight breeze. She sat
at her desk and immediately looked to her computer screen - the only
time Senshi saw her do anything else was when she was walking.

"Senshi?" Dr. Brachis faced him directly. "You were standing right
there when I left. Don't you have work to do?"

Senshi nodded slowly, but did not move.

"Well? Was there something you needed?"

It was a moment before Senshi responded. "N-no. No." He straightened
his back and offered a crisp salute, turned on his heel and marched
out of the room.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Orleans

Ikku and Kiko scrambled down a set of stairs they found leading into
the city's sewer system. They had decided to flee from the Black
Battalion and their commander, Damien Sinclair, who they suspected
were involved in the kidnapping of Ikku's father, Scott.

The stone steps were slick with slime and the pair had to keep hold of
one another to keep from falling over. They had considered returning
to the fully-equipped bunker they had stayed in overnight, until Sei
pointed out that it was a Black Battalion safehouse and would
therefore be the first place they searched.

The sewers were a less-than-ideal solution, but it was their greatest
hope that they would be there for no more than a few hours. Even as
they fled, Sei remained in the city, watching from a distance as the
Black Battalion troops went about their business.

Kiko stopped running as she felt Ikku's hand pull away from her arm.
She turned and saw that her friend was breathing heavily and resting
his hands on his knees. She looked more closely and saw that his face
was streaked with tears; he had been crying, and she hadn't even
noticed.

"Ikku..." she said softly.

"I'm sorry," Ikku said. He tried to force a smile, but managed only a
slight curl of his lips that looked more like a sneer. "It's just...
those Black Battalion bastards - !"

"I know," Kiko told him. "They attacked Blizzard Base Zero. They
kidnapped Dr. Nagura. We have to find out what's going on - but Ikku,
don't worry! We're a team, and we'll do it together. It will all work
out!"

Ikku shook his head.

"It's not that!" he cried. "I don't want to run! I want to go back...
and hurt them for what they did!"

"You can't think like that, Ikku!" Kiko stepped forward and took
Ikku's left hand in her right. She squeezed it firmly, and he tilted
his head up to look into her eyes. "Whatever they've done, we will
find out why, and we will fix it - but you can never go down to their
level. You want revenge. I do, too. But hurting them... that isn't
what you want, not really, and you can't let yourself get confused!"

Ikku tried to smile again, and was successful. He nodded.

"Thank you, Kiko!"

"Any time!"

Kiko grinned, nodded, and patted her friend on the head.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sei, still in his armoured robosuit, crouched in the shadow of a roof-
mounted air conditioner as he watched the Black Battalion soldiers,
and the crowd that watched them, begin to move. Ten minutes had passed
since time itself had seemed to freeze around the armed men; just
enough time for Ikku and Kiko to make a safe getaway.

As soon as he realised what had happened, Damien Sinclair looked at
Shellshock's prostrate form. The creature's hands and feet had been
bound with thick, heavy chains and as it, too, began to stir, Sinclair
pulled a small handheld radio free from the utility belt he wore
around his waist.

"Dr. Brachis?" he spoke clearly. He looked around at the confused
crowd, then further down the street and, finally at the rooftops while
he waited for a response.

"Captain Sinclair?" Rose Brachis' voice came through the walky-talky
without any interference. "Is the creature secured?"

"There was an incident," Sinclair replied. "The three you warned us
about were here. They took out - "

"They incapacitated the creature. I know. I asked if it was secured?"

"Yes," Sinclair said tersely. "We will bring it back to Science Island
immediately. We will need one of the larger cells ready."

"Understood. Good work, Captain."

Damien Sinclair heard a soft click as the connection between himself
and Dr. Brachis was terminated. His men all seemed to have recovered
their sensors and stood around Shellshock, their weapons trained on
him as he struggled to break free of his bonds.

Sinclair smiled and kicked Shellshock hard in the side, but it seemed
to make no difference to the giant tortoise; his shell and hide were
so thick that he hardly felt anything.

"Load him up," Sinclair said. "We're moving out."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere

Jinsei stared through Sorceress Miko's scrying mirror. His pale red
face darkened with every moment he examined the mystical mirror's
surface. He was not at all impressed with the way the Black Battalion,
or their colourful allies, had treated his creation; in fact, the
thought of them causing Shellshock any sort of pain filled him with
rage.

"Miko!" he shouted. "Did you see what they did to my Curtis? I can't
believe they - " He took a deep breath. "I can't believe they defeated
him! I wish I could make him grow to be five hundred feet tall... he
could stomp all over their pathetic city!"

"Why don't you, then?" Miko asked. She was laying on her bed, letting
two of her tiny pixies stroke her hair as she tried to get some sleep.

"From here? I can't. I have to be in contact with the target creature
for my powers to work."

Miko rolled her eyes and stood up. She crossed the room quickly and
took hold of Jinsei's wrist as she passed him. She dragged him to
stand only inches from the mirror before releasing him, then placed
her own palm against the surface of the glass and waited a moment for
it to begin to glow blue.

"Stick your hand through, genius," she told Jinsei.

Jinsei reached through the mirror with his left hand, and watched with
absolute pleasure as his the tips of his fingers, then the rest of his
hand, seemed to appear out of nowehere in the middle of New Orleans
and reach down to lightly brush the edge of Shellshock's shell. Red
and green energy trickled from his fingertip's and wased over
Shellshock's body.

The appearance of Jinsei's hand did not escape the notice of
Sinclair's men, who immediately began to fire on it. One small bullet
after another struck him and he quickly pulled his bloody hand back
through the mirror.

"Ouch!" he shouted. He dangled his hand in front of Miko's face. "Look
what they did!"

"Yes," Miko said sarcastically. "I can see the pain is killing you."
She looked into the mirror. "How long until something happens?"

"Just a moment," Jinsei told her. He used the fingers on his right
hand to pick two bullets out of his palm. He closed his eyes and
focussed, and Miko watched, through the mirror, as Shellshock's body
rapidly increased in size.

The chains binding him together snapped apart violently. Within a
second, he had grown from six to ten feet tall; in five seconds he was
one hundred feet tall and shaking off the best ammunition Sinclair's
men had to offer; in thirty seconds, he was five hundred feet tall,
the onlookers had scattered, and his weight caused the road to crack
apart with every step he took.

Shellshock swung his right hand out to the side and hit the uppermost
floor of the building on which Sei hid. As the structure collapsed
beneath him, Sei jumped - he landed safely on the next rooftop and
quickly made his way down to the street.

"You!" Sinclair shouted as he saw Sei approach. "What did you do? How
did you do this?"

Sei shook his head. "I did not cause this. I do not know who did."

"What are you going to do about it, then?" Sinclair asked.

"No," Sei responded. "The question to be asked is - what are you going
to do about it? You are the Black Battalion. You are equipped to
handle these situations."

"We're not Black Battalion!" Sinclair answered. "They're holed up in
hospital on Science Island - we're just Alpha 7 security. The EDD sent
us in their place!"

Sei did not say anything - he just turned from Sinclair to stare at
the back of Shellshock's feet. The massive tortoise swung his arm
again and a second building collapsed, but at least he was not on a
rampage. Yet.

Sei turned back to Sinclair.

"Captain Sinclair," he said. "I will recall my teammates and deal with
Shellshock, but first you must take your men and leave. I want your
assurance that despite any orders you may receive, you will not come
back here."

Sinclair considered his options. His men had all fired on Shellshock
as soon as he began to grow, but once the reptile started to walk away
they had lowered their weapons and gathered close to their captain. He
was disappointed in them - the Black Battalion would have immediately
chased after Shellshock, whether ordered to or not.

He knew, then, that his team was not going to make much of a
difference in the inevitable battle. He nodded at Sei and offered the
blue-clad man his hand.

"You have my word," he said. Sei took his hand and shook it.

Captain Sinclair faced his men and instructed them to return to
Science Island. Sei watched them as they ran in the opposite direction
to the giant monster, and glanced up at the news helicopter that had
been there since the moment Shellshock first attacked Ikku.

Sei smiled.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kiko and Ikku felt the ground shake as, above them, Shellshock
continued to march his way across the city. Ikku insisted on going
above ground to investigate, but Kiko was equally insistent that Sei
would come for them if he needed their help. Ikku was about to protest
when he noticed a blue shimmer behind Kiko, and saw Sei's body come
into view.

"Perfect timing!" Ikku poked his tongue at Kiko. "What's going on up
there?"

"Shellshock has grown to five hundred feet tall," he said. "I have
persuaded the Black Battalion to leave. Now we must destroy it before
it destroys the city."

"How do we do that?"

"First, return to your phase two henshin."

Ikku and Kiko nodded. "Let's go, Robo!" Red and yellow energy sparkled
around their bodies and, a moment later, they stood in their armoured
robosuits.

"Now... it is time for phase three. Use activation code five."

Ikku and Kiko scanned through the list of command codes displayed on
the inside of their helmet's visors until they spotted the one marked
as number five. They simultaneously crossed their arms in front of
their bodies and shouted "Go! Robo Vehicles!"

The metal components that formed the armoured gloves, boots and
chestplates of their robosuits separated and hovered in the air around
them. They watched as the metal pieces were surrounded by the same
blue energy that preceded Sei's teleportation and started to expand.

As they grew, the metal bent, curved and changed colour until, only
seconds after they had uttered the activation code, Kiko and Ikku saw
the large sewer tunnel they occupied fill by a large yellow jet - its
wings folded back against its body - and a wide red tank.

"Wow wow wow!" Kiko could hardly contain her excitement and beside
her, Ikku's jaw dropped. "That's... amazing!"

Sei nodded. "Those are the Flame Tank and the Lightning Jet. You can
command them via a remote control device built into your helmets, once
you have been trained and authorised to do so. For now, you should
pilot them manually. You will find their controls quite intuitive."

"What about you?" Kiko asked as Ikku rushed to climb inside the tank.

"My robo vehicle is a boat. I do not see that being much help against
Shellshock."

["Hey!"] Ikku's voice boomed loudly from the turret of the tank.
["This is so cool!"] The tank lurched forward and knocked a hole
through the stone wall of the tunnel. ["Oops."]

"Wait," Sei told him. He waited until Kiko had climbed inside the jet,
then stretched his arms wide to place one hand on the rear of the tank
and the other on the jet's nose. He concentrated, and the familiar
blue energy surrounded the two vehicles and they soon faded from
sight.

Once the robo vehicles were gone, Sei felt along the right leg of his
robosuit until he located a small slit cut into the material. He
pushed his fingers inside and ran the tips along the circuitry that
extended from the inside of the robosuit to reach underneath his skin.
Eventually, he found a small clasp, which he pushed aside, and
retrieved a small, smooth object from within.

He lifted the object in front of his face and examined it closely. It
looked like a smooth piece of glass, with one edge coloured the same
shade of blue as the energy he had used against the robo vehicles a
moment earlier.

"Almost empty, as I expected," he said to himself to himself as his
armour faded away. He returned the glass-like object to the slit in
his robosuit and stood with his back straight against the wall. "This
will have to be the only giant monster we ever face."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two robo vehicles appeared so close to Shellshock's madly-
thrashing body that Kiko, whose Lightning Jet had appeared in mid-air,
had to pull hard on her control stick to avoid a collision. Sei had
been right - the controls were intuitive, almost as if the vehicles
themselves were giving instructions to Kiko and Ikku on how to control
them.

["So, any ideas on what we do now?"] Kiko asked. She peered through
her cockpit window and saw that Shellshock had left the main area of
the city. She could see the city to the north, but in every other
direction she saw only the bare earth and, in the west, a swampy
marsh.

["Um... fire?"] Ikku suggested. As he spoke, a long burst of flame
emerged from the turret of his tank and scorched Shellshock's legs.
The giant tortoise stared down at the tank, then raised his foot to
step on it. ["Uh-oh!"]

Ikku tried to reverse, but he couldn't move quickly enough. He braced
for the coming blow, but after several moments without any form of
crushing he looked out at the battle and saw the Lightning Jet
circling around Shellshock, firing short blasts of yellow energy that
seemed to slow Shellshock's movements more with each hit.

"Please...!" Shellshock groaned as he slowly raised a hand to swat at
the jet. "I... don't want to... do this! I am not... a beast!"

["What?"] Ikku asked.

"Please!" Shellshock said again. "I was made to attack you... but
this... is too much!"

The Lightning Jet came passed for another attack.

["Miss Sato, wait! Don't fire!"]

["Why not?"] Kiko asked. She turned the jet away from Shellshock while
she waited for an explanation.

["Didn't you hear him? He said he doesn't want to fight!"]

["So? We still have to stop him, somehow."]

Ikku bit his lower lip. ["Your guns, or whatever you're using to shoot
that yellow stuff... does it have other options?"]

["Yes."]

["I think I know what the Lightning Jet does,"] Ikku said, ["and the
Electro Blaster. You heard Sei when we used the Robo Defender and
everything stopped, right? About the Electro Blaster?"]

["Yes."]

["I think the Electro Blaster... I think anything that uses that
yellow energy... I think it somehow affects time."]

Kiko did not reply for a moment.

["I think you might be right,"] she said finally.

["You've been slowing Shellshock down,"] Ikku told her. ["Is there
anything you think might turn back time for him? Shrink him back down
to size?"]

Kiko circled Shellshock several times in the Lightning Jet before she
spoke again.

["A-ha!"] she exclaimed. ["I think I've got it!"]

She passed Shellshock one last time and let loose a volley of yellow
fire. Dozens of individual sparks hit his thick shell and armoured
flesh, and he rapidly became smaller and smaller. So small, in fact,
that neither Ikku or Kiko could see him.

Ikku climbed out of the tank and began to search for their foe, and
after bringing the Lightning Jet down in a smooth landing, Kiko
climbed from the cockpit and joined him. Without any effort on their
part, their helmets and robo vehicles faded away and, back in their
plain, coloured jumpsuits, they examined the brown landscape for any
sign of Shellshock.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere

"Miko..." Jinsei said through gritted teeth. "Were you watching?"

"Of course," Miko called to him from the other side of the room. She
sat cross-legged on the floor with her eyes closed as a pink-clad
pixie sat on her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

"How could they do that to a poor, defenceless pet?"

Miko shrugged, and the pixie fell from her shoulder and onto the
ground. It stood, dusted itself off, stormed out of the room.

"We will have to make the next one more powerful."

Miko opened one eye. "The next one?"

Jinsei grinned. "Oh, yes. The master feels these three are threats -
minor threats - to his plan. He wants them eliminated before they have
the chance to interfere with the work of that imbecile, Nagura."

Miko opened the other eye. "What is the master's plan, Jinsei?"

"Who knows? But we'll all find out soon enough..."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ikku and Kiko returned to the sewer tunnel in which they had left Sei
just before midnight and found him waiting in the exact same spot he
had been in when they left. A small cardboard box rested near his
feet, and as they approached he lifted it and passed it to Ikku.

"What did you do with Shellshock?" Sei asked.

Ikku looked inside the box. It contained clothing - three pairs of
black trousers, a red jacket, and yellow sweater and a blue coat.
"Where did you get these?"

"We managed to turn him into a regular tortoise - "

"Turtle," Ikku interrupted.

"We managed to turn him into a regular tortoise," Kiko continued. She
shot a look at Ikku and caught sight of a sheepish grin. "Ikku
released him into a nearby swamp."

Sei nodded.

"Where did you get the clothes?" Ikku asked again. He placed the box
back on the ground and pulled out one pair of trousers and a jacket.
He slipped them on over his red robosuit and motioned for Kiko to do
the same while he waited for Sei to answer.

"I... found them in the wreckage," Sei eventually answered. "I thought
you both might be hungry, but decided against bringing food into a
sewer. The pizza store where we confronted Shellshock is relatively
undamaged and has remained open."

"I don't get you, Sei," Ikku said. Kiko was dressed and Sei finally
took the remaining clothes from the box. "You were such a jerk at
Blizzard Base and the bunker, but when the Black Battalion showed up
you really came through. What was that all about?"

Sei walked past Ikku and Kiko and led them out of the sewer system. It
wasn't until they were within a few meters of the pizza shop that he
answered Ikku's question. "It is important that we follow orders. I
will not disobey Dr. Nagura or the officials of Science Island. But I
have never been instructed to take orders from the Black Battalion."

Ikku grinned and threw his arm around Sei's shoulders. "Looks like
you've got a heart after all!"

They walked into the pizza shop and sat at the counter. There was no-
one waiting to serve them, but in one corner they saw a boy, who
couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen, eating a large pizza
alone. Sei stared at him while they waited. He was wearing a loose
green t-shirt and baggy, dark-blue jeans. He was clearly Asian, and
had long black hair that fell over his face. He ate the pizza quickly,
and didn't look up until the box was empty.

"Welcome to Hey, Pizza!" Sei turned back to the counter and saw
another man. He looked four or five years older than Ikku or Kiko, and
had long, spikey black hair. His skin was pale and he wore a black
dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves under a white apron. Sei could also
see a pair of single silver dogtag hanging on a chain around the man's
neck, but the side facing him did not show any engraving.

"I'm Trick," the man continued, "and I will - oh, it's you." He rolled
his eyes at Ikku.

"What did I do?" Ikku asked. Kiko stared at Ikku, and Ikku looked back
at her. "What, now you, too?"

"You can speak English," Kiko said.

"Well... yeah," Ikku said.

Kiko smiled. "I knew Sei could speak English after hearing him talking
to Captain Sinclair, but you... you're American, aren't you? I knew
it!"

"O-kay," Ikku said. "Now we've established that... what's your
problem, 'Trick'?"

"Oh, nothing," Trick replied. He glanced at the boy on the other side
of the store, then leaned across the counter to whisper to his three
customers. "I'm just wondering how big an appetite you work up
fighting five hundred foot tortoises."


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NEXT: Questions!