"I don't believe you," Sylia replied coolly. "The Hardsuits are 
Katsuhito Stingray's creation."

	Greg shrugged. "I'm telling you the truth. The original idea for the 
hardsuits was his, as was most of the work on the outer shells. But, you know 
that he didn't have the skill or the knowledge to design some of the components 
you use, like the innerwear suits, or the weapons systems." 

	"Then who does? And what really happened at Bioescape?" 

      Greg sipped his tea. "I should start at the begining. My mother told me 
most of the story, the rest I found out on my own or I can guess at. Your 
father's work on Boomers was well known in the science community. So when he 
contacted my mother and several other people, invited them into the project, 
they jumped at the chance." 

	Sylia nodded. "That's why you came here."

	"Yes. Mother thought the experience of living in another country would 
be good for me." He refilled his teacup, added milk and sugar, and stirred 
slowly.

	"After my mother and the others arrived," he continued slowly, "your 
father told them the truth. He was closer to perfecting the Boomer design then 
anyone else knew. But he saw Mason's greed, and he didn't trust Quincy. He 
realized that there was a need for something to counter the strength and power 
of a Boomer. Thus, the idea of hardsuits was born. In the hands of the right 
people, they would be the best defense against rampaging Boomers."

	"He was right."

	"Your father realized that he couldn't openly devote time and money 
to hardsuit development. He was sure Mason and GENOM had agents inside 
Bioescape. So, while he directed all attention and publicity on the Boomer 
project, the team working on the hardsuits worked in the shadows. They were 
supposedly perfecting several minor subsystems for the Boomer project that 
had already been completed."

	He looked at Sylia. "But Mason caught wind of the project, and put 
pressure on Doctor Stingray to share the hardsuit designs with GENOM."

	Sylia was silent for a minute. "That's why Mason killed him. Not for 
the Boomer plans, but for the hardsuits designs."

	Greg nodded. "I don't know if Mason was acting on orders from Quincy, 
or on his own, but he was defiantly after the designs. But by the time he made 
his move, it was too late. Your father had disbanded the hardsuit development 
team and purged the all the computer systems in Bioescape of all data. Finally, 
he gave copies of the hardsuit designs to three team members, including Dr. 
Raven. My mother was one of those three. Mason and GENOM got nothing but the 
Boomer designs."

	"And the other member?"

	"I don't know. Mother doesn't know, or will not tell me. For my own 
protection, or so she tells me. I suspect that's why several of Doctor 
Stingray's associates had 'fatal accidents' over the years."
	
	"So, what happened after the team was disbanded?"

	"GENOM came sniffing around my mother, but they didn't find anything. 
All they could find out was she had done some minor work on the Boomer project, 
then left several months before the explosion that killed your father. And 
Mason wasn't about to arrange an `accident' for my mother - my father let him 
know that wasn't a  good idea."

     "What did he do?"

     Greg's smile became grim. "MALCORP was a subcontractor on the particle 
beam satellites. Among my father's talents was that of a system programmer. He 
quietly incorporated a fail-safe into the targeting system during the last 
stages of the design process. He told Mason that if my mother met with an 
fatal 'accident' of any sort, the satellites would fire and eliminate every 
single GENOM tower on the planet within five minutes of her death."

	Sylia leaned back and looked at him in shock. "Is it still active?" she 
asked slowly.

	Greg shook his head. "One of the first things I did as CEO of MALCORP 
was to shut down the fail-safe. It would need a special key to start it up 
again." His smile became warmer. "Of course, only three people know I've done 
it - Myself, Mother, and now you. As far as GENOM's concerned, the system is 
still in place."

	Sylia closed her eyes. "That's a relief." She opened them again. "I'm 
surprised, however, you let such a weapon slip away so easily. There's several 
others that would kill to have a weapon like that."

	"And become the next GENOM?" asked Greg sharply. He stared out the 
window again. "I saw what those particle beams did to Aqua City, the GENOM 
towers in Chicago, Berlin, and Sydney. I couldn't leave it in place, no matter 
how much GENOM deserved it. Too many innocent people would die."

	"So, why did you end up with hardsuits designs? And why the Black 
Knights?"

	"I guessing now, so don't take this as one hundred percent fact, but 
it should be somewhat close to the truth." He paused, then started. "Your 
father knew that it would take more then superior hardware to keep the Boomers 
from rampaging wildly. It would take people, special people to carry the fight."

	"Yes."

	Greg put his teacup down. "But who is he going to trust to continue 
the fight against GENOM? Most of the people he's working with are too old to go 
running around in hardsuits, assuming that they're not spies for GENOM. And 
would you give a person off the street a hardsuit?"

	"Not without knowing them really well."

	"Exactly. But what about the children of those same researchers? 
They're young enough to adapt the mindset, and aren't yet under the influence 
of corporate loyalties. But he can't recruit just any child. They have to be 
bright enough, physically active, and mentally tough."

	"So," interrupted Sylia, "Father quietly watches the children of his 
coworkers, looking for the right type to recruit."

	"Yes. Think back to that group of kids we were apart of. How many do 
you think could climb into a hardsuit and go out Boomer hunting today?"

	Sylia was silent for a moment. "Not many," she replied at last.

	"Not many is right. I think only you and me made the cut."

	Sylia looked out the window. "What else did you receive besides the 
hardsuit designs?"
 
	"Very perceptive," replied Greg. "I got a data cassette as a sixteenth 
birthday present. A very special data cassette."

	"What was the number on it?"

	"Number one." He grimaced in memory. "I had a headache for a week after 
viewing it. What was the number on yours?"

	"Mine was Number Two." She looked away from the window and gave him 
a small smile in sympathy. "You're not alone in having a headache after viewing 
the data cassette. But why your sixteenth birthday?"

     "When did you receive yours?"

     "Right after father's death."

     "I see." Greg thought for a minute, sipping his tea as he did so. "Your 
cassette was his insurance policy."

    Sylia nodded. "I always knew that father was a meticulous planner, but for 
something like this...."

     They were silent for a moment, then Greg said, "If your father had lived, 
I'm certain he would've guided your course in life very much as you've done on 
your own. He would have taught you and Mackie everything that was on that data 
cassette at a slower pace, and groomed you either to take his place, or command 
the hardsuit team. But he never got the chance."

     "But why did you get a cassette?"

     "Because I was halfway around the world. For me to come anywhere near this 
city after we left would have peaked GENOM's interest, something Doctor 
Stingray wanted to avoid." He chuckled. "I expect that I was also a guinea pig 
with the imprinting process."

     "And how did it work?"

     "So damn well, it's scary. I went from being an average student to an 
exceptional pupil overnight. I earned my bachelor's degree in three years, my 
MBA a year and a half after that."

     Sylia nodded in understanding. "I experienced the same thing."

     He waved a hand causally. "After college, I worked for MALCORP in 
different departments, learning the nut and bolts of the business under the 
best people my father had. When he died several years ago, I became the CEO of 
the fifth largest Megacorp in the world."

     "What about the Black Knights?"

	Greg paused to sip some tea. "I organize the first team six months 
after I took over MALCORP. I recruited people I could trust, trained them, and 
led them for the first six months." 

	"What happened after that?"

	"My duties as CEO began to eat into my time. I couldn't led the Black 
Knights and effectively run a Megacorp at the same time. MALCORP simply won 
out, as the corporation as several hundred thousand employees who depended on 
me doing my job. I expanded the unit to six three man teams, and I still 
supervise the overall operations. But, these days, I only put on the armor if 
the mission is important, or personal. This mission is both."

Black Knights Background

	
Mission:
	The goal of the Black Knights is to fight the excesses of megacorps like GENOM and 
	Gulf & Bradley. To most of the world, they are a top-flight freelance mercenary 
	team who are very chosey about their assignments. They will also take down 
	rampaging Boomers on a pro bono basis.

	
Setup:
	Most of the world doesn't realize how large an operation the Knights have. There 
	are six three-man teams in the Black Knights, all based in the USA. Three operate 
	from the West Coast, the other three from the East Coast. Also, there are upwards 
	of half a dozen or so Knights-in-training at any one time, ready to step in when 
	needed. Each team can operate on its own, or can be grouped together with other 
	teams to increase firepower. Each coast has a Red, White, and Blue Team. The usual 
	team set up is one HW suit, one CC suit and one CI suit, depending on the 
	membership of the team. Personel can be switch from team to team to allow a 
	stronger presence of a suit, if the mission calls for it. Greg Mallory suits up 
	only if the mission is personal or important.

The Hardsuits - General Notes

The hardsuits are black with burnish gold highlights, with a small insignia of a black knight's head on a gold shield on the hardsuit's right breast. The helmets are more angular then the Knight Sabers, looking more like a helmet a medevil knight would use.

Each suit is fully sealed against Biohadzards, gas and other outside enviroments. The communications gear is good in a eighty kilometer radius.

The Designs

There are four basic hardsuits designs in the Black Knights.

Knight One's Hardsuit

There is only one Hardsuit of this type, and it is Greg Mallory's. The Hardsuit has a railgun and laser side by side in the left arm, a vibrosword in the right arm, and a missile rack housing two (2) fire-and-forget missiles designed to fired from the shoulder. The launcher is designed to fold out of the way when not in use. There is a single shot, short range laser housed in the right side of Greg's Helmet, which is a last ditch weapon. The suit has a strong flight pack (simular to Sylia's)

Knight One's Hardsuit				359 CP
Weight:78.5 Kg’s				Power:50 Hours
Maneuver:+0 DEX / +0 REF				Design & Style: +2 PRE
Strength:STR 11				Running:+5 MOVE
Lifting:Wearer’s x 11				Flight:Move 10 (160 Kph)
Sensor Range: 2 Km				Comm Range: 80 Km
ArmorKD: 1.3 K / 65 KD				Structure SDP: 1.3 K / 65 SDP
Weapon	LOC	WA	Range			Damage	Special Notes
Laser Beam Laser Burst Rail Cannon	LA	+0 -1 +0	675 m 490 m 375 m			28D6 15D6 17D6 AP	ROF: 10 AP: ½ Armor, ROF: 3, 6 shots
Vibroblade	RA	+0	---------			18D6 AP	AP: ½ Armor, Quick
Missle Launcher	T	+1	700 m			20D6	Blast: 3m, Smart:2, 2 shots
Head Laser	H	+1	200 m			20D6	1 shot
Hand to Hand	R/L A	+0	---------			11D6	Killing, Handy
Subsystems					Hardsuit Armor is Fusion-Proof
FONT FACE="EngraversGothic BT">Full Life Support, Information Processing Helmet (+2 Per), Flat-Actuated Linear Motor System (Innerwear Necessary), Scrambled Radio
ECCM 6, Quick Change Mount (R/L A), Ejection System (Armor blows off wearer)
Maneuvering veniers, Flight System & wings (-3 to hit & armor penetrated, wing destroyed. Flight lost & -1 REF, Knight 1 HS can still jump 150 m)

Heavy Weapons Hardsuit (HW)

This armor is the strongest and most armored of the Black Knight's hardsuits. The left arm houses twin lasers and a knuckle Bomber. The right arm carries any of a number of specialy designed heavy weapons. A partal list includes: 30mm chain gun (3000 rounds) Partical Projection Cannon (Powerpack) Missile launcher with ten fire and forget missiles (Brillant) Missile launcher with 50 area satuation missiles (Dumb) 50mm Cannon (three magazines/five rounds each) Because of the weight of the weapons, the HW suit has limited flight ability.

Black Knights Heavy Weapons Hardsuit

269 CP Base

Weight: 9.5 Kg’s

Power: 50 Hours

Maneuver: +0 DEX / +0 REF

Design & Style: +2 PRE

Strength: STR 17

Running: +5 MOVE

Lifting: Wearer’s x 17

Jumping: 300 m

Sensor Range: 2 Km

Comm Range: 80 Km

Armor KD: 1.4 K / 70 KD

Structure SDP: 1.4 K / 70 SDP

Weapon

LOC

WA

Range

Damage

Special Notes

LaserBeam x 2 LaserBurst x 2 Kunckle Bomber

LA

+1 +1 +2

900 m 563 m ---------

28D6 @ 21D6 @ 28D6

X – Linked ROF: 5, X – Linked 6 shots

Hand to Hand

R/L A

+0

---------

17D6

L – Killing, Handy R – Stun only

Subsystems

Hardsuit Armor is Fusion-Proof

Full Life Support, Information Processing Helmet (+2 Per), Flat-Actuated Linear Motor System (Innerwear Necessary), Scrambled Radio

ECCM 6, Quick Change Mount (R/L A, R/L L, Torso), Ejection System (Armor blows off wearer)

Enhanced Hydraulics, Maneuvering veniers and jumpjets

Weapons listed above are the base weapon configuration. Please see option list for added weapons.