[PSP] Guardian Sentai Roboman #4

[utsukushuu.dreamer]

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

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GUARDIAN SENTAI ROBOMAN #4
"Phase Three! Go Robo Vehicles!"
Component 02.1
February 28th, 2010
by Adrian J. Watts



Science Island

Senshi knocked loudly on the door and waited patiently for a response.
He was in Science Island's hospital complex, and the room he was
wishing to enter was that occupied by Commander Henderson of the Black
Battalion - the leader of the squadron sent to secure Blizzard Base
Zero.

It had been almost twelve hours since the unconscious bodies of the
Black Battalion soldiers had been recovered from the Antarctic base
and brought back to Science Island for treatment, and Henderson was
the first of the men to awaken. Senshi wanted to know every detail of
the battle but, just as importantly, he knew that Henderson would want
some sort of explanation of what happened to his team.

"Come in."

The American's voice was weak and Senshi barely heard it over his own
thoughts. He slowly turned the doorknob and made his way into the dark
room where, in one corner, the commander lay heavily-bandaged on a bed
that had been adjusted so that he could remain in something close to a
sitting position.

"My name is Senshi," Senshi introduced himself. "I am the deputy head
of security here on Alpha 7. How do you feel?"

"Sore," Henderson replied quickly. "Tired. What do you want?"

"I understand that you need your rest, sir," Senshi explained, "but we
need some answers, before our enemies can attack us again. What do you
recall of the battle at Blizzard Base Zero?"

"Not much. We were dropped off, we gathered our equipment, we marched
on the base... then I woke up here, in a lot of pain."

Senshi nodded. "Your team was infected with pixie dust by Sorceress
Miko. Do you know what pixie dust is?"

Commander Henderson shook his head.

Senshi thought for a moment. The Black Battalion was not going to be
much use to him, if their memories were as weak as Henderson's. If he
was going to learn anything, he would have to go straight to the
source - to the site of the battle, to Blizzard Base Zero; and, maybe,
to Miko herself.

"Thank you for your time, commander," he said before leaving the room.


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

New Orleans

Sei had called the underground bunker in which he, Ikku and Kiko
appeared 'Black Battalion Safehouse G3', but Ikku thought that 'dump'
was a far more appropriate name. It was dark, damp and smelled of old
socks; but worse than that, Ikku realised, was that in the twelve
hours they had been in the bunker no-one had even tried to discuss
what had happened to them.

He sat in one corner of the safehouse, an old fluorescent light
flickering irritatingly directly over his head. Sato Kiko was sprawled
out on a cot in the opposite corner, where she had been sleeping for
almost six hours. Sei sat beside her, looking over information
displayed on a computer monitor.

Ikku had never felt so alone.

"Sei?" he asked softly.

"Yes, Ian?" Sei did not even turn to face his companion, and the tone
of his reply suggested more of a sense of obligation or habit that any
desire to begin a conversation. Ikku knew that Sei had never been the
most sociable resident of Blizzard Base Zero, but he also knew that,
like himself, Sei must have been at least a little bit overwhelmed by
recent events.

"What happened, Sei?" Ikku asked. "At the base... How did you get us
here?"

"You are not an authorised member of Project: Roboman. I cannot - "

"What do you mean I'm not an 'authorised member' of the project? I was
involved way before you... and I seemed to be able to activate 'phase
two' without any trouble!"

"Your authorisation to use the robosuit was revoked once we left
Blizzard Base Zero."

"Revoked? Who revoked it? Dr. Nagura isn't here!"

Sei finally turned around. "I have been in contact with Science Island
since our arrival in the safehouse, detailing my recollection of
events at the base. They have ordered us to remain locked-down until
further notice."

"Science Island...?" Ikku jumped to his feet and crossed the room to
stand beside Sei. He looked closely at the computer screen but could
make no sense of the information he saw there. "What do they know? Why
did the Black Battalion attack us? Do they know where my father is?"

Kiko stirred on her cot and, a moment later, opened her eyes and sat
up. For a moment, Ikku felt bad about waking her up, but realised that
what he was about to ask affected her as well.

"Did Science Island take Dr. Nagura?"

Sei shook his head. "I cannot - "

"Stop it!" Ikku snapped. "What are you? Some kind of machine? The
Black Battalion - the world's toughest soldiers - invaded our base! I
saw them get taken out by a bunch of tiny women - tiny women who we
could only beat with our henshin. How can that not bother you? Why
don't you care?"

Sei looked at the ground, then faced his teammate.

"Ian, I sympathise with your situation," he said, "but we must follow
Science Island's directions until Dr. Nagura is back with us."

"My name is Ikku!" Ikku snapped. "And you know what? You have to
follow their orders... but I don't! You said yourself, I'm not an
'authorised member' of the project. As I see it, I can do what I
want!"

"Ikku!" Kiko finally spoke. "Sei's right. We can't go off half-cocked
- "

"Ian. If you do not follow the instructions issued by Science Island I
will be forced to report your actions to their security operatives."

Ikku stared into Sei's face for a moment. Sei was never friendly, but
Ikku truly believed that given their circumstances, Sei would have
some sort of understanding of where he was coming from; but as he
examined Sei, he realised that 'Blue Robo' had no sense of compassion
at all - he really would turn Ikku in if Ikku gave him the chance.

Without speaking, Ikku turned and made his way to the door. He paused
for a moment before opening it, then stepped through and slammed it
shut behind him.

Stupid Sei! he thought.


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

Elsewhere

Sorceress Miko laughed gleefully as two of her pixies flew into her
room, carrying a bowl of grapes between them. The base that had been
offered to her after her escape from the prison on Science Island was
large and well-decorated. She wasn't sure where it was, exactly, but
she knew that for as long as she remained there she could do whatever
she wanted to do... except get rid of Jinsei.

The man with the pale red skin and perfectly symmetrical body entered
her quarters with a broad smile across his face. Miko knew that it had
nothing to do with her - she was beautiful (at least, she thought she
was), but clad in her dull, white and pink jumpsuit she looked very
different to what she thought someone like Jinsei would find
appealing.

She followed Jinsei's gaze and saw what he was looking at - a tall,
rectangular mirror set against one wall. The mirror was less
conspicuous than anything else in the room but, Miko realised, perhaps
its plainness, its simple black, wooden frame, was what caught
Jinsei's attention.

"Is that what I think it is?" Jinsei asked excitedly.

"My scrying mirror?" Miko asked. "What interest do you have in it?"

Jinsei approached the mirror and ran his right hand along its edge.
His smile broadened into a grin as he turned to face Miko. "Is it true
that through this, you can see anywhere you or one of your pixies have
ever been?"

"It is," Miko answered.

"So you could see Science Island."

Miko smiled and crossed the room to stand beside Jinsei. She faced the
mirror and briefly examined her own reflection. To her right, Jinsei
rolled his eyes.

"I would much rather see my old haunt in New Orleans," she said. She
placed her right palm flat against the surface of the mirror, and a
burst of blue light passed from her body into the glass. The glass
glowed brightly for a moment, then the image transformed to show not a
reflection of the room, but a busy street in New Orleans.

The mirror focussed on a large, nineteenth-century-style building that
Miko immediately recognised as the exterior of her New Orleans base of
operations, where she had surrendered to the Black Battalion days
earlier; but the image did not remain focussed. It followed someone as
they walked down the street - a young man, with long, light brown
hair. He wore black pants and a red, hooded top... and he seemed
familiar.

"That boy," Miko said. "My pixies have seen him somewhere before. I
can sense it."

Jinsei looked at the mirror. "He doesn't look like much. Why would
they remember him?"

"He is important, somehow," Miko assured him.

"Then perhaps," Jinsei smiled, "we should pay him a visit." He left
the room and returned moments later carrying a small green reptile in
his hands. The animal would have fit in one palm, it was so small, but
he still cradled it in both hands. "Miko, have you met my tortoise?
His name is Curtis."

Miko rolled her eyes. "Curtis the Tortoise? That is not as clever as
you think."

"When you find a way to control the evolution of all living things,
you can name the pets, 'Pixie Chick'," Jinsei retorted. He placed the
tortoise on the ground and rested his left palm gently on top of its
shell. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, and within seconds
a cloud of green and red energy left his body and surrounded the
smaller animal.

Jinsei stepped back and the cloud grew. After almost a minute the
cloud faded, and standing in the tortoise's place was... something
else. It vaguely resembled the creature Jinsei had left behind, but
its skin was a darker green hue. It stood at almost six feet tall and
its shell, now marked by a dozen or so sharp, bone-like protrusions,
seemed much thicker. Its skin had also thickened and looked almost
like kevlar, but still somehow organic.

"So, Miko - what do you think of Shellshock?"

"I think its a much better name than 'Curtis the Tortoise', but not
nearly as adorable," Miko replied. "I hope he has rockets embedded in
his feet so he can get to New Orleans..."

Jinsei smirked. "What, he can't use your mirror?"

"He's too big," Miko responded. She knew exactly what Jinsei was
referring to. In addition to being able to view any place Miko or her
pixies had been, the mirror could also be used as a portal to those
locations... provided someone was small enough to fit through the
frame.

"The frame is made of wood, isn't it?"

Jinsei approached the mirror again and placed his left hand on the
frame. He focussed, and the same red and green energy that had
surrounded Shellshock a moment earlier covered the mirror's surface
and caused the wood to expand outward. The glass expanded as well -
but, since it was not organic, Jinsei could not simply force it to
grow from nothing. As the glass plane became taller and wider, it also
became thinner.

"I have to say I'm impressed," Miko admitted.

"Shellshock!" Jinsei snapped as he stepped away from the frame.
"Through portal! Kill man! Now!"

Shellshock ran towards the mirror but stopped inches from its surface.
He seemed to ponder something for a moment before turning to face
Jinsei: "You don't have to speak to me like I'm some sort of beast,
you know."

He stepped gently through the portal and, an instant later, Miko and
Jinsei saw the terrified people of New Orleans running for their
lives.


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

Ikku felt bad about stealing clothes from people's clotheslines, but
he knew that much less distress would be caused by someone finding a
top and pants missing from their line than a whole city full of people
seeing a young man in red tights trying not to be noticed. He made a
quick mental note of the location from which the clothes were taken,
and made a silent promise to drop off some money when he got the
chance.

He wandered aimlessly for an hour before he came across a familiar
smell, something he loved but had not encountered since he first
arrived at Blizzard Base Zero. It was a mixture of sweet and savoury,
spicy and bland.

It was pizza. And it was close.

Oblivious to the stares of the people around him, Ikku sniffed at the
air and gratefully followed his satisfied nose. He did not have to
walk far; he turned the next corner and saw, directly ahead of him, a
small and almost completely empty pizzeria. He ran through the front
door, sat at the counter, and railed off his order without even
checking to see if someone was there to serve him.

"I want... a large Mexican with buckets of chilli... and pineapple and
anchovies and mushrooms and pepperoni!"

Ikku liked pizza.

His order complete, Ikku slowly looked at his surroundings: the
handful of customers already in the store had stopped eating. Their
jaws were wide open, their eyes staring... but not at Ikku. In fact,
they were faced in the complete opposite direction, looking through
the glass windows into the street outside.

"Welcome to Hey, Pizza!" a man behind the counter said. "I'm Trick,
and I'm glad to - "

The man stopped speaking as he followed his customers' gaze. It took
Ikku a little longer to realise what people were so fixated on, and
even though he heard the loud, crunching, stomping noise coming ever
closer, it wasn't until a post box smashed through the large front
window that he realised something was really wrong.

He slid off his stool and pushed through the customers fleeing further
into the store so he could reach the street outside and see clearly
what was happening. He did not expect to see a giant green turtle
snapping and snarling at passers-by as, with uprooted lamp post in
hand, it stalked across the street looking directly at Ikku.

Just because he didn't expect it didn't mean it wasn't there.

Ikku raised his right eyebrow. He wasn't sure what to make of the new
arrival. It didn't seem friendly, but neither did Sei, and Sei hadn't
tried to kill him... yet. He tilted his head to the side to get a
different perspective, but still nothing came to him. He jumped back
to avoid the swinging lamp post and, finally, he was sure:

The big turtle does not want to be my friend!


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NEXT: Shellshocked!