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"You're just pulling my tail." "Still don't believe me?" "Oh, I believe that Musashi can be beaten. But the whole Zin-whatever and Low Blow or whatever his name is? Not in the least." "It never stops, does it? Stand back. DYNA, discontinue monitoring and get me Lu Bu. Kenneth Skybolt, less than five minutes from now you will believe in the impossible." *Level?* "Max Advanced. And remove all safety governors on the training system." *Playing for keeps this time?* "Damn straight." He pressed the flat of his blade to his forehead. "Blade, be true this day." He looked up as Musashi was replaced by Lu Bu, eight feet of muscle and tactics with a war staff to match. "Dance with me Death, I am ready." Lu Bu's voiced echoed through the Training Room. "You insects dare to oppose me?!? I AM THE MIGHTIEST MAN ALIVE!!!" Steel met steel and sparks flew. This was no fun little training match. That staff could kill easily. Steel met bamboo and bounced off. In a trice, Lu Bu's staff was split and knocked out of his hands. "DYNA, end program." He turned and looked at Ken expectantly. "Well?" "That's...not possible. You neutralized the greatest general in Imperial China in...what?...thirty seconds?" "Heh. And you were wondering why I held back on Musashi." "'Were.' Past tense. I can see the reason now. You didn't hold back on him, did you?" "I couldn't. If I had fought _one whit_ below my full capability, I'd be dead. Not even the EMH could have patched me up after Lu Bu finished with me. But our time is up. I have other things to attend to. Grey, you are free for now, but don't jack in again. I'm in the mood to monopolize the mech sims again, and they're easy enough with DYNA running full steam." The door opened again, admitting an old man. "But I just _have_ to see this." "Sorry, son, you're in my hands now. Time to go shootin' more cans and stuff." "So, when do I get my systems training?" Grey, the only one who could answer that question, was nowhere to be found, being endowed with the ratlike ability to slink off once attention was no longer focused on him. "C'mon, yungun. If you're good enough, I might just let you fire the Tech Rifle." "Really?" "Sure." Ken gave one last look to Vincent, who grinned and mouthed "fat chance." He grinned back and followed the old man. <=0=> The range was cold. There was ice on the walls. Not just a thin rime of frost, but actual _ice_. "Dark night, why is it so cold in here?" "Because today, you're going to learn to focus on your target regardless of environmental conditions. Go over to the rack and grab Vinny's C/R. He won't mind. See that can down there? Make it holey. I'll be adjusting the temperature and such as you shoot." "Okay." Three hours Ken spent shooting at the can amid freezing cold and sweltering heat. At the end of those three hours, the temperature climbed back into comfortable ranges. "Not bad, son." "Yeah, well, the scope helped. A lot." "But can you do it with no scope?" "Ummm...I can try." "Wrong answer. Can you do it with no scope?" "Yes." "Are you sure?" "Absolutely." Two hours and thirty minutes Ken shot at another can. Then the alarms went off. *WARNING! Security breach. Hostile forces approaching. Gate to Earth, PA 109, has been breached. Multiple Coalition units approaching. Assault in progress. All pilots, report to ready rooms. High command, report to the War Room.* Xelloss ran in, not bothering to actually _open_ the door, and looked at the two of them. "Whistler, I need you in the War Room. Ken, congratulations, you've just attained the rank of Foot General. I hope you live long enough to be promoted even more. I'm assigning you to the Molot fleet, under Vincent's command." "Great!" <=0=> Deep in the heart of the Nexus Station, the seven-person High Command convened in the War RмЅe#Р ѕё$Oќ!,Nl,NlNN N ЊK(NьN˜NTюN K MS Sans Serif Symbol0Courier NewTimes New RomanChapter 6 Commencement: The End of One, the Beginning of Another Written by Vincent Ken stared at the man at the other end of the sword currently at his throat. Whoever he was, he was _good_. Nobody had ever beaten Ken like that. "DYNA, freeze program. Not bad, Ken. Not bad at all. There aren't many who can fight Musashi, let alone on his own level." "You're just saying that to make me feel better." "No, I'm not. I was monitoring both of you. Two minutes and thirty seconds into the round, his capabilities were maxed." "I did that?" "Well, it wasn't me. Any questions?" "Is it possible to beat this Musashi?" "Yes." "I don't believe you." "Step into the terminal and I'll show you." "Ummm...okay." "DYNA, restart program and initialize the interactive neuro-kinetic monitoring system." *...* "DYNA?" *...* "DYNA!" *...* "That's it! C'mon, Ken, we're going redneck hunting. Now, where is that little..." Ken trailed along behind, listening to some finely-honed comments about Grey's ancestry, personal habits, and probable destination upon departure from the current mortal coil (said departure taking place relatively soon, most of which was likely speculation. "Grey." No response. "Grey?" The infiltrator/cyberjacker sat motionless, his breathing ragged and his heart rate fast, blinking like any normal human. "Grey!" Still nothing. "Ken?" "Yes?" "Still remember where my quarters are?" "Yes." "Go get me the bag labeled 'Painless', would you?" "Sure." Ken returned a short time later with a large duffel bag he could hardly carry. Vincent opened it and removed its contents. A large EM rail gun. He looked down at the bag. "Last Rites." "Ken?" "Yes?" "You didn't happen to, say, _look_ at the bag when you picked it up, did you?" "Ummm...no. I just figured Painless would be the biggest thing you had." "You gave me Last Rites. I just want to wake him up, not paint the walls." "Well, it _looks_ painless." "It's not, believe me. Go get me Painless, would you?" "Okay." Ken returned again, carrying a much smaller bag. Vincent checked the label again. "Painless." Excellent. He put the rail cannon back in its bag and brought out Painless, a large wooden bat. "That definitely does _not_ look painless." THWACK! "OW!" "You deserved it, Techno Boy." "What did I do?" "You...distracted...DYNA in the middle of a training session." "Oh." "Get up and follow us." "Why should I?" "I want to make sure you don't jack in again." Back in the Training Room, things resumed their previous pace. "DYNA?" *Grrrrrrr.* "Yeah, yeah. Restart the Musashi program on the Beginner level and activate the interactive neuro-kinetic monitoring system." *Beginner? You?!? You've _got_ to be joking.* "Just do it." *It is done.* "Pay close attention to your screens, Ken. This is going to get...interesting. DYNA, run program." *Program executed.* Musashi came to life again, this time facing off against THE SWORDSMAN. He started with basic attacks, easy to defend against or counter. Within seconds, he had diversified his attack pattern, linking basic moves into combos, countering, and defending. Ken's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he watched the neuro-kinetics climb, one for one. This guy was matching Musashi perfectly. A split second later Musashi had maxed, but Vincent was still holding back. If he didn't get on par with the system again, Bad Things would happen. Before this could register on Ken, it was over. Musashi's neuro-kinetics dropped out the bottom. "How did you _do_ that?" "Do what?" "His neuro-kinetics were _way_ higher than yours." "So?" "So?!? He should have kicked the crap out of you." "_Him?_ Ha! Musashi is no match for oneoom, all eyes focused on the thin, wiry human at the end of the table. "We're looking at a massive combined assault, elements of the Coalition Army and Air Force with reinforcements." "Can you ID their commander." "Most likely. DYNA, give me external cameras and directional controls." Vincent panned the cameras around, looking for the unmistakeable command sensor suite. His face paled. "This is bad." "What?" "First, I was wrong when I said elements. This is a full-scale assault. Second, in command of this little expedition is General Cothron." "Are you sure?" "Nobody else is crazy enough to mount a command sensor suite on a Vampire Hunter. It's Alex, all right." "How do we stop him?" "Mobilize everything we've got. 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