The M-Team Chronicles : Volume I - "A New Beginning"
Written by The Demon Sword [demonsword@vasia.com]
Revised : 3-8-1997
                              
               PART I : A Shadow Over the Dawn
                   Episode 1 : The Capture
                              
     Darkness.  It drifted endlessly towards the fringes  of
the  void, adding an eerie quality to the surreal emptiness.
The  soundless oblivion seemed to encompass all thought, yet
it  also seemed to clear the mind all together. Then a voice
spoke.
     "Greetings,  Warrior. How is the operation going?  Your
report on the Quarry, please."
     The  voice did not seem to address anyone, nor  did  it
seem  to  come from anywhere in particular, but such perhaps
was the trick of the darkness. Another voice, with a strange
accent, replied.
     "The  Quarry  is in place, Uwayaku. The  operation  has
already been put into effect."
     
                         *    *    *
                              
     Ben  was beginning to get irritated. Of average  height
and sturdy build, he had a pleasant attitude to life and was
highly  conversational, talking about anything  with  anyone
for  any  amount of time. Still, getting stood up wasn't  on
his  list of leisure activities. Ben was part of the M-Team,
a  small  band of childhood friends from Westpoint  who,  as
they  grew  older,  began solving small criminal  cases  and
neighborhood problems. Now, older and wiser, the M-Team  had
solved larger, more serious cases which had merited them the
attention and the awards of the whole community, not only of
their  small  neighborhood, but of most of Reganoria.  Their
prestige  had  even gone so far that the people  of  Capital
Town,  Reganor's most influential city, spoke of their names
with good praise.
      They were supposed to meet with Ghostliana here at the
crest  of Cantery's Ledge overlooking Capital town  an  hour
ago.  Ghostliana, the team's only girl member, had been gone
from  headquarters at 5th and Maple, Westpoint, periodically
for the past few months, for weeks at a time, and once for a
whole month and a half. Family business, she had said.
     Ghostliana, or Giel, as she was more commonly known  (G
for  Ghost  and  L  for Liana - "Gi-El"), was  the  spritely
daughter  of  the eccentric scientist, Professor  Merd,  who
lived  in the southlands in a manor estate with his  not  so
necessarily `normal' family. Giel was as tall as most  girls
her  age,  with a slim body and shoulder length  raven-black
hair.  She was also, more or less, the most `normal'  member
of  her  family, but that was cutting it, or so Allan  would
usually say.
     After her long absence, she had sent word that she  had
stumbled on some very distressing news, and it looked like a
potential case for the M-Team. Erwin, the team's leader, had
sent them off immediately, eager to get some excitement back
into  their  otherwise uneventful lives. James,  the  team's
technical expert and transportation personnel, had the  team
over  the long country trek to Capital Town in record  time,
thanks  to  the new hydraulics he had had installed  on  the
Mega  Ranger,  as well as his superb driving skills.  Parked
off  the  road,  the Mega Ranger was really  an  all-terrain
vehicle suited for the harshest terrain that the wild  earth
had to offer.
     Charles  and  Allan,  the archetypal  nemeses  of  each
other, were busy in a simple sparring match. Charles, taller
than  Allan and the tallest among the M-Team, was  having  a
great time with his longer reach. As soon as Allan would try
to close for a hit, Charles was ready for him. Amusing as it
was, Erwin and James found the masochistic display wearisome
and  were busy discussing technicalities such as the obvious
advantages of EDO RAM against SIMM RAM over a game of  Super
Pusoy(1).
     "Boy, you guys are early."
     Ben  looked  up  from his brooding and  saw  Ghostliana
climbing a rough mountain trail.
     "You took your time getting here." Ben snapped.
     "Of  course.  It's not ladylike to be kept waiting,  is
it?"  She said coyly. "Anyway, as I had told you earlier,  I
have some news that you might find interesting."
     Looking  up  from  their diversions,  the  four  others
gathered  themselves up and went over to where Ben and  Giel
were talking.
     "I'll  tell you about it along the way. Let's get  into
the  Mega Ranger and head for Capital Town." The five looked
at  each other, eager to get some answers, but each shrugged
in turn and nodded an okay.
                         *    *    *
                              
     "So,  there's an arms thief operating right in  Capital
Town,  and  she's about to pull off a heist right under  the
government's  nose tonight when a shipment of  state-of-the-
art  particle blasters will be arriving?" Erwin said as they
entered the city limits of Capital Town.
     "Yes,  that  very  much  covers it."  Giel  said.  "The
shipment  will be arriving from the river and will  land  at
the docks. We have to be ready by then."
     "Isn't  the Capital Town's military base built  by  the
river?" Charles asked.
     "Yes."  Ben  said, recalling his military  lore.  Being
interested in all thing military, Ben took it as a hobby  to
learn  about  military  installations and  movements  across
Reganor.  "It was built there to allow the troops access  to
the  Chiderwood river, since it's very strategic and  allows
quick access to several cities of Reganor via boat."
     "James, do you now where the docks are?" Giel asked.
     "Yup. It's right around the bend."
     "Good.  Anyway,  the shipment will be  arriving  around
7:00 tonight. We have to be ready for them at the docks  and
watch for any suspicious acitivity."
     "That's  pretty  standard procedure, you  know."  Allan
quipped.  "Watch out for any suspicious activity-"  As  they
were  about  to  approach the docks, a  throng  of  military
personnel began to appear, and their way was being  detoured
to  another  side street. James rolled down the  window  and
briefly spoke with a soldier outside.
     "We  won't be able to go to the docks, it would  seem."
James  said,  rolling  the window  back  up.  "That  weapons
shipment  is  a  very big thing right now, and  they're  not
allowing  any  civilians  thru."  James  proceeded  to  turn
around, away from the barricade.
     "James, go off road and wait at that grove of trees  by
the river." Erwin said.
     "Uh, sure, Erwin." James quickly complied and soon they
were  parked  at a secluded vantage point from the  military
base,  out  of sight but in a good position to  act  quickly
once something occured.
     "Giel, the military here looks like they can handle the
situation well enough." Erwin said. "I can't imagine  anyone
getting  through that-" he pointed at the soldiers,  "and  I
don't  see  any  way to get to the docks.  The  place  looks
pretty secure, and I'm sure that the thief won't be able  to
get  to  that shipment. I think we should leave this to  the
proper authorities."
     "Where's  your sense of adventure?" Giel said, suddenly
looking  sharp.  "This is a very vital  operation,  and  the
thief  that  I  know of is highly skilled and  has  probably
studied the details of this shipment very carefully. She can
break  through the government's defenses and take  what  she
wants without the military even knowing what happened. These
soldiers can't stop her."
     "And we're supposed to stop her?" Erwin said dubiously.
     "Yes.  We  are." Giel said firmly. "That's  what  we're
good at, right?"
     "Well,  okay." Erwin said. "I guess you have a  point."
Huh?  Charles wondered. What point? "You never  can  be  too
careful, and a crafty thief might be able to slip past these
men." Erwin continued.
     "To  catch  her,  we'll have to be  craftier  and  slip
through these soldiers."
     "Slipping past defenses is fine," Allan noted, "but  if
this  thief is really good, how are we supposed to stop her?
For  that matter, who is she? You seem to be referring to  a
girl. I know girls are supposed to be sneakier than guys-"
     Bonk! That earned Allan a well-placed thump on the head
from  Giel, who was looking aloof with that no-chauvanistic-
nonsense look.
     "We  may  be  sneakier than you guys,  but  maybe  it's
because most of you are too dull to follow." The four  other
M-Team  members just looked on with helpless looks on  their
faces.
     "Anyway,  I really don't know much about this thief  of
ours,  but during my absence I've been researching her cases
in  various  databanks around Reganor. It seems  that  she's
been  able  to steal various types of shipments and  objects
from  the most highly guarded places, with nary a trace left
behind.  Nobody really knows who she is, or even  her  name,
but the authorities who have handled her cases and recognize
her  handiwork have called her "Gossamer", for her  delicate
skill in evading them."
     "Um,  if no one's ever seen her, how do they know  that
it's a she?" James wondered.
     "Actually, there's no hard evidence that it's  a  girl,
but  she  always leaves behind a small black rose  with  her
calling  card,  which says `Better luck next time,  dears!',
and it is promptly signatured with a kiss."
     "She  must  use  some  rich kind  of  lipstick."  Allan
quipped.
     "Well, that's not really the matter of concern."  Erwin
said. "How did you find out about this alleged plot? I doubt
that  `Gossamer' leaves many clues to follow, nor  does  she
announce her plans openly."
     "Actually,"  Giel said, "according to the  files,   she
always foreshadows her operations. She seems to enjoy giving
warning  to whatever place she intends to strike so that  it
will be more... challenging."
     "Sounds like an arrogant adversary." Ben noted.
     "Arrogance   always  becomes  the  seed  of  downfall."
Charles added.
     "Whatever  the case, that means that the shipment  will
be heavily guarded, since they have already received advance
warning." Giel continued.
     "Is that how you found out about this?" Erwin asked.
     "Yes.  My  uncle Jebediah works for the  company  which
supplied  the particle blasters." Giel said. "It seems  that
they've  been  receiving  messages  from  Gossamer  and  are
expecting  some  sort of attempt on the  shipment.  Although
it's  mostly  company business, my uncle told  me  about  it
during my visit at home."
     "Your   uncle   just   gave  away  what   is   probably
confidential  company information over  the  dinner  table?"
Erwin asked in astonishment.
     "So what else is new?" Allan rolled his eyes, recalling
their many misadventures in the chaotic Merd Manor.
     "Well,  no  matter about the good old days." Ben  said.
"What  we  should be concerned about is the hear  and  now."
Glancing  at  the barricade that had been erected  ahead  of
them, he drummed his fingers on the ranger's panelling. "The
docks are already heavily guarded. We have several options -
either  we  stay  here  at  the outskirts  of  the  military
barricade,  waiting  for suspicious  activity  hear  at  the
docks, or we can try to sneak in for a closer look."
     "It's  quite  obvious that the thief will  be  sneaking
into  the docks in order to get that shipment, right?" Erwin
said. The team nodded.
     "So  it  stands to reason that we should try  the  same
thing  in  order to catch her. I doubt that we'll  find  any
trace  of  her out here. How much time do we have until  the
shipment arrives?"
     "It's  5:30  right now." James said,  glancing  at  the
front  panel  of the ranger, where a digital time-piece  was
located.
     "Good.  We  have some time to come up with a  plan  and
then get past that barricade. Ben, do you have any ideas?"
     "Hmm, this is a long shot, Erwin, but the best thing we
can do is wait underwater in the river for the boat carrying
the  shipment to pass. We can then latch onto the  underside
of the boat and, as it comes in to the docks, we can slip in
and watch the shipment every step of the way."
     "Sounds like a good plan." Giel said.
     "Wait,"  James  said.  "Our all-purpose  crime-fighting
vehicle only has two suits of scuba gear."
     "Not  a  problem. Charles and Allan will  wait  in  the
river  for  the  shipment. The rest  of  you  will  take  up
surveillance posts around the base to check for  anomalies."
Erwin announced.
     "What? Why do I get the wet job?" Allan complained.
     "Look at it this way." Charles said. "We'll be right in
the middle of the action, where all the excitement is."
     "You're right! They don't call me `Mr. Excitement'  for
nothing, after all!" Allan said.
     "Great.  James, activate the ranger's geographical  map
of this region." Ben said.
     "Sure."  James  opened a panel in  the  middle  of  the
ranger's  interior,  revealing a small  table  with  several
electronic components. Flipping a few switches and  pressing
a few buttons, a visual screen on the table began to display
a map of the region.
     
     <Insert Map Here>
     
     "I'll  take  my  position  somewhere  here,  along  the
northern front of the base." Ben announced. Judging from the
topography of the terrain, the other vantage points would be
here, and here." He said, indicating two other places on the
map.
     "I'll take the one on the eastern side." Erwin offered.
     "Right. Giel can take the western front, and James, you
stay  here near the river where we're parked right now. It's
quite a good vantage point anyway and you'll be in the  Mega
Ranger."
     "That  nice!"  James said. He was the team's  technical
person,  and the Mega Ranger was primarily his post and  his
responsibility. The team could always count on  him  to  get
them out of tight fixes while piloting the ranger.
     "Wait,"  Giel said intently, "I think I should stay  in
the  Mega  Ranger.  I can direct the team's  movements  from
here,  setting  this place up as our mobile  base.  Besides,
James is better suited for field work."
     "Taking the helm again, eh?" James said.
     "It's what I do best." She said, smiling at them.
     "Uh,  fine, I guess. James, you take the western front.
Giel  will  be  staying  here  in  the  ranger  to  keep  us
coordinated. Don't forget to turn on your collarcoms(2)."
     "Charles,  Allan, get dressed and get  in  the  river."
Erwin  said. "We'll wait until dark before we move into  our
positions."
     
                         *    *    *
                              
     "I'm getting cold." Allan complained. He was dressed in
a  black diving suit, various diving gear strapped all  over
him,  and in the dark of the night, he seemed to blend right
in  to  the surroundings. His small frame combined with  his
slight  build, the smallest in the team, often  made  people
underestimate him, and Ben often chided him for this as  the
reason  why  he  developed such a "dynamic" personality.  Of
course,  Charles  would just chuck him as  a  runt  with  an
annoying personality.
     "The problem with you, my dear friend, is that you keep
whining all the time." Charles said in his quiet, matter-of-
fact  tone. Charles was the tallest of the M-Team, and  this
easily gave him an imposing quality for which people tend to
listen  to  his  words.  That he was often  soft-spoken  did
nothing  to quell his impressionable image; indeed, it  made
him  even  more commanding, a strange paradox  which  simply
seemed to work. And Allan mostly hated him for it.
     "And  the  problem  with  you, my  dear  live-as-a-rock
friend, is that you're too-"
     "Quiet!"    Charles    said    suddenly,    decisively.
"Something's approaching, do you hear it?" Allan  cocked  an
ear,  wondering what his friend was talking about, but heard
nothing.
     "I don't hear any-"
     "Hush!"  And  then he heard it, a soft  humming  sound,
which  reminded the wiry youth of a humming bird. He  looked
at  Charles,  and his stalwart nemesis nodded.  It  was  the
sound of a freighter's engine.
     They both lowered their face masks over their eyes  and
clamped  their teeth over their mouthpieces. With a downward
gesture  from  Charles, they both lowered themselves  slowly
into the calm water.
       The humming sound traveled in greater intensity under
the  water,  and the sound of it flooded their  ears.  Allan
looked  at  his  companion, who was busily  looking  upriver
     towards where the freighter would be coming. A brightly
colored  fish  passed  in front of  Allan's  face  mask  and
stopped there, turning around to face him.
     Allan,  bubbles going up from his mouth, stared at  the
fish  intently, and it, with its huge, lucid,  goggly  eyes,
stared  back,  its  mouth continously opening  and  closing,
bubbles coming out from them, too. Strange, Allan thought, I
think I'm beginning to understand what he's saying....
     He  was  interupted  from  his meaningful  dialogue  as
Charles,  slightly annoyed, grabbed him by his  diving  suit
and  moved to a more convenient location. He gave a look  at
Allan  which  seemed to say, "We have a job to do,  so  stop
fooling with the fish."
     The  freighter was coming. Charles looked  at  him  and
gave a nod, to signify that they were to go through with the
plan.  They  both produced a two pairs of suction  cups  and
fastened  them  to  their hands and feet. As  the  freighter
passed  above  them, they would cling on and infiltrate  the
base defenses. Hopefully.
     
                         *    *    *
     
     James   creeped  across  the  wooded  terrain,  eagerly
anticipating a splendid night of adventure. The  forest  was
dark and chill, but James' clothes were more than enough  to
provide  insulation.  His dark cape  wafted  around  him  as
leaves scrunched beneath his feet.
     I am being a bit noisy, James thought. Oh well, until I
figure out a good design for ninja shoes, I'll just have  to
live with it. Hmm, the base is coming up.
     Plodding through the hilly land, James got a good  view
of  the base, which stretched across the small vale that lay
before  him.  The river glistened softly in  the  moonlight,
shining through the mist that had begun to form as the  heat
of  the day rose from the ground. Across that expanse  James
could imagine the freighter sloshing through the water, huge
and  majestic in the darkness, carrying an armload of oh-so-
advanced  weaponry, probably rivaling the designs which  the
three original M-Team members received from Dr. Light.
     How  I'd like to get my hands on those guns myself,  he
thought.
     The docks close to the base were starting to swarm with
people, as the anticipated time of arrival drew near.  James
was  utterly  fascinated by the play of people  before  him,
looking like toy soldiers preparing for the morrow's work.
     The  sharp crack of a broken twig brought him back from
his musings.
     "Huh?"
     
                         *    *    *
     
     Ben  easily  drifted across the land,  keeping  low  to
avoid  detection, dressed in black for this  night  mission.
The area north of the base was a vast clearing preceded by a
thick  wood,  so the closest vantage point he could  get  to
would be from the trees just at the edge of the clearing. It
would be enough.
     He regretted that there was no higher ground for him to
be  on,  but they had to cover all bases. The river  to  the
south  was  a  good  place for the thief  to  approach,  but
Charles  and  Allan could cover that. Who knows?  The  thief
might  even have the same idea they had -- go underwater.  A
hint of a smile came to his lips at the thought. Allan would
be  indignant that someone else had decided to  drop  in  on
their charade.
     He  doubted  that the thief would come from this  side,
but  he  had  to be sure. The clearing was a very vulnerable
spot  for someone trying to creep, but if the thief was half
as  good  as  Giel  had  led them  to  believe,  the  little
troublemaker  might  do  just the opposite  of  what  they'd
expect.  Ben  did, however, expect the thief  to  come  from
either  James'  or  Erwin's  position.  Their  high  vantage
pointed,  heavily  covered by forest and shrub,  would  give
sufficient cover for a stealthy advance. Still...
     "James," Ben touched the device on his collar.  "James,
come in."
     Only  the  soft crackle of static came back. Damn,  Ben
thought.  I  thought James just checked  these  things  this
morning.  "Giel,"  Ben said, switching to  another  channel.
"Giel,   I  can't  seem  to-"  he  stopped  in  midsentence,
realizing that he was also receiving static.
     What  the  heck  is happening... Ben fiddled  with  his
collarcom, trying to come up with an open channel. He was so
distracted  that he didn't realize someone was  creeping  up
behind him.
     A pair of hands rested on his shoulders.
     "What the-"
     
                         *    *    *
     
     Erwin  went  across the damp ground as swiftly  and  as
silently  as  possible. The excitement was coursing  in  his
veins again, but he kept it in check. No, it wouldn't do  to
lose control here. I must keep my wits about me, he thought.
     He  kept  to  the  shadows to avoid  detection,  taking
advantages  of the thick canopy of leaves the trees  offered
him.  He slinked from tree to tree, doing his best to  avoid
the many leaves and branches strewn on the ground. He winced
everytime a step caused the foliage underfoot to crackle.
     "Specs,"  he whispered under his breath, "night  vision
with heat sensors."
     His specs hummed softly, switching their many different
circuits  to suit his needs. In seconds, his vision  changed
from  the soft, moonlit night to a greenish hue that  seemed
to  destroy all traces of light and shade. For a moment,  he
felt very vulnerable and visible, as if the entire night was
bathed  in the strange greenish light, but he shook off  the
irrational thought and reminded himself he was still deep in
shadow.
     He  rested his hand on a tree in front of him,  and  it
appeared  in  a soft, red glow. The night was cold,  so  any
heat traces would easily be seen.He looked around, searching
for any traces of heat within range. Looking behind him,  he
saw his footsteps as faint traces of red, already fading  in
the cool night.
     The  wind picked up, fluttering the branches and leaves
about  him, but he paid them no heed. The wonder  of  nature
could wait, he had a job to do.
     Coming  ever  closer to the base, he saw a  flicker  of
movement.  Looking to his right, a shape was  moving  across
the trees approximately 120 feet away from him. Just out  of
the  range  of  the  heat  sensors of  his  specs.  But  the
nightvision stretched as far as the eye could see, he  could
see her.
     The  thief  was  true to her name. Like  gossamer,  she
flitted  across the trees, hardly more than a spider's  web.
In  his current vision he could not see colors, but he could
detect  shades.  She  was  dressed in  very  dark  clothing,
probably  black, perhaps the same color as her long  flowing
hair.  The  skin of her face, the only part of  her  showing
from her attire, was a startling contrast of brightness.
     I have her, Erwin thought. He drew out his blaster from
his  vest  pocket, one of the three blasters which they  had
been  given all that time ago. He turned the safety off  and
set  the weapon to stun, but he didn't power it up just yet.
He  didn't  want  the soft hum to give  him  away.  He  then
touched his collarcom to signal his friends.
     "Giel,  I've  spotted Gossamer. She's  approaching  the
base  from  a north-north east trajectory." He then  hastily
touched his com again, eager to begin his hunt. Had he  paid
more attention to his actions rather than the swiftly moving
figure  ahead of him, he would have realized that his  touch
on the com had only brought forth static. Had he not been so
intent on not losing his quarry, he would have realized that
he  had  not been able to get a message to any of  his  team
mates.  More importantly, had he been paying more  attention
to  the situation at hand, he would have realized that there
was someone right behind him.
     But he didn't.
     
                         *    *    *
     
     The  freighter  was right above them.  It  was  now  or
never.  The two swam up to the front flank of the freighter,
not wanting to get caught up with the propulsion unit at the
rear. It was easy, the freighter was huge, taking up a large
breadth  of  the  river,  which was several  hundred  meters
across. Because of its size, it was moving quite slowly.
     Charles  and Allan easily clamped themselves  onto  the
hull, and hung on as the large boat made its way towards the
pier.  Time  seemed  to pass slowly,  but  Charles  had  the
patience of stone. Allan, on the other hand, was starting to
fidget  in his position. He looked above him, away from  the
underside  of  the boat, and he saw the river  bed  sweeping
past  them,  fish breezing past like multi-colored  baubles.
They were going faster than it seemed.
     Finally,  the  ship seemed to slow and  the  river  bed
became shallower and shallower. Allan and Charles looked  to
each  other  and nodded, their mouths coming  to  smiles  in
spite of the mouth pieces clenched between their teeth.  The
time was at hand!
     As  they  came  closer to the docks, they slipped  away
from  the  hull and made their way towards the underside  of
the  pier. Whatever defenses were in place around the  river
and  around  the  base,  they had now succesfully  bypassed.
Ben's ploy had worked!
     Their heads broke the surface of the water, at the side
of  the  concrete structure that was the pier. The freighter
had  already come to a stop and above their heads they could
see  many  of  the base personnel preparing  to  unload  the
cargo.  On  the  freighter,  the  crew  were  equally   busy
preparing to move their shipment.
     Charles  quickly signaled to Allan. The  confusion  was
enough  for  them  to  slip  up to  the  various  pieces  of
equipment on the docks above them and hide. Then they  could
just  wait for the thief, or perhaps even slip into  one  of
the  crates and have a big surprise handy for Gossamer  when
she made her move.
     They took off their diving equipment and stowed it in a
convenient  perforation  along the river  bank,  covered  by
foliage.  Looking up at the mass of people above them,  they
bided  their  time before rising from their watery  hideaway
and into the inviting shadows.
     From  their new hiding place in the shadows of  several
large  crates stacked on the pier, they looked at each other
and gave themselves a thumbs up. They had a good view of the
whole thing and, as far as they could tell, nothing was  out
of the ordinary. The crew and the base personnel were easily
transporting  the crates without much fuss.  They  took  the
time  to look up to the north, east and west, imagining Ben,
Erwin  and James looking intently at the scene before  them,
looking for the slightest out-of-place detail.
     The  sound  of the cranes moving crates was  moderately
loud,  so  Allan  decided to chance some verbal  expression,
unable to bear keeping quiet any longer.
     "Hey  Charles, do you think we should call  in  on  the
other now?"
     Charles'  brow  raised from his  silent  vigil  and  he
immediately rapped Allan on the head softly, yet forcefully,
while  clamping a hand over his mouth. "Are you  crazy?"  he
hissed. "They might hear us!"
     "Mrmm phuf whumm." Allan replied, actually saying,  "If
that's so, why don't you shut up before they hear you."
     "We can't afford to be seen!" Charles argued in a harsh
whisper.
     "Blmm muru gwahm!!!" Allan argued.
     "It  would  ruin our reputation! The M-Team, caught  as
arms thieves! Oh, imagine the horror!"
     "Bsfuu  yugha  duruiu."  Allan's  eyes  widened  as  he
flailed about with Charles.
     "Will you quit it already?" Charles hissed.
     Allan shook his head.
     "Why not?"
     "Bwumudhs dufusft." Allan pointed behind Charles.
     Charles looked over his shoulder. Unbeknownst to  them,
a  crane  had just oh so conveniently moved away the  crates
which they were using as cover. Unbeknownst to Charles,  who
was  trying to stiffle Allan, some base personnel had  snuck
up  behind  them with very unfriendly looks on their  faces,
looking down at them intently.
     "Well,  well,  what do we have here?" the ugly  looking
guy  at  the forefront asked, his fatigues making  him  look
even uglier.
     "Gaaahhh!!!"  Charles protested,  falling  back.  Smart
move, considering it finally uncovered Allan's mouth.
     "Ah, hello there, kind sir!" Allan blurted, whipping up
to  an apologetic position, one hand draped across the  back
of  his  head. "We're the new quality inspectors the colonel
hired  to  oversee  that  nothing  is  broken!  Ahahahha..."
Allan's  laughter faded away as the look on the  guy's  face
unbelievably got even uglier.
     "Ehehhehehe..."
     "You  are to be taken under custody for trespassing  on
military premises. You will be taken to case on the morrow-"
     Charles and Allan didn't want to hear the rest of it.
     "Aaaaaahhhhh!!!" The two broke into an incredible  run,
looking  ludicrous  in  their  black  diving  suits,   faces
contorted in expressions of fear and desperation.
     "Stop them!" a cry came out. "Fire at ready!"
     "Now we're in for it!" Charles said in between breaths.
     "Set rifles to stun!" another cry belayed.
     "At  least  they're  not  trying  to  kill  us!"  Allan
replied.
     Shots   fired   around  them,  hitting  the   pavement,
whistling  past their ears, whizzing past their  hair.  More
soldiers  were  filing  into onto the  docks,  getting  into
position for a volley of rifle fire.
     "See what you got us into?" Allan cried.
     "Me? ME?!? It was all your fault-" Charles retorted.
     Suddenly,  they stopped short. They were closed  in  on
all  sides,  soldiers  taking aim at them  with  their  stun
rifles.
     "Well,  at  least  they have the decency  to  use  stun
guns." Allan said.
     "Indeed,"  a  voice came from the rear of the  phalanx.
Some soldiers parted way to allow an officer of some sort to
come  to  the  front.  His  uniform  was  considerably  more
decorated  than  the  fatigues  his  troops  wore,  and  was
noticeably different. Where the troops around him wore  dull
army  fatigues,  his  was  a rather stylish,  somewhat  old-
fashioned garb that reminded Charles of the olden  days.  He
also  had a long army cap whose visor shrouded his  face  in
shadow. "The Maestro would not want his specimens damaged."
     "Huh? Specimens?" Allan mumbled.
     "What   do  you  mean,  specimens?"  Charles  demanded,
getting into a defiant stance. "Who is this Maestro?"
     "Ah,  but Mr. Tyler, you are in no position to ask  any
questions."
     "He's right, Charles!" Allan agreed.
     "Shut up, you fool!" Charles berated Allan. Looking  at
the  officer who stood in front of him, his face took  on  a
mask  of  rage.  "Answer me, you rogue! There  is  something
wrong  with  this base, and it's more than  just  a  weapons
shipment we're dealing with here! Who are you? What  do  you
want?"
     "Hahahahahahha," the officer replied. "You have spirit,
Tyler.  I  will enjoy using you as my vassal. You will  find
that Colonel Gayzu is a great commander!"
     "What?!? I will never serve you!" Charles cried.  "Take
this!" Charles' warrior instinct kicked in and he lunged  at
the officer.
     "I wouldn't do that-" Allan muttered.
     In  a  flash,  the  soldiers fired their  stun  rifles,
dropping the enraged youth to the ground. The officer looked
at Allan.
     "Will you make this easy or not?" he sneered.
     "Uh,  well,  you  see..."  Allan  stalled,  "it's  like
this!!!"  With that, Allan turned around and took  off  with
great speed. It did him no good.
     Darkness closed over him.
     
                         *    *    *
     
     
Author's Notes                                  3-8-1997

This is the first part of the M-Team Chronicles, entitled "A
New Beginning." The whole thing was originally written about
five  years  ago,  and  since then many  other  things  have
happened in the M-Team universe.
However, this is no longer the original text from four years
ago;  rather, this is a `revival' of some sort written after
the  whole  thing  was done, and five other volumes  written
aftewards.  This rewritten work is Episode 1 : The  Capture,
which  basically  follows the same  plot  of  the  original.
However, from what I do recall of the original, it sucked so
this revival has been given a facelift ;)
In  addition, my writing style nowadays has been  influenced
by  anime, unlike before, so if you compare my the  original
version  with this one, you'll see I've cleaned my act  (and
introduced certain anime elements)
Also,  I  organized  the writing of this episode  such  that
there is an attempt at characterization somewhere after  the
briefing. For those of you who didn't notice, it's the  part
where the team divides and starts staking out the base.
Giel isn't given a characterization part here, but there  is
a  reason  for  that,  as will be seen  in  later  episodes.
Charles  and  Allan  have  a pretty  murky  characterization
sequence,   but  perhaps  it's  to  reflect  their   `murky'
underwater environment.

At  any  rate, I hope to post more of these writings in  the
future.  This is the first public post I have ever  made.  I
hope you enjoyed it. Things aren't very fast paced yet,  but
it's only the beginning. It gets better as we go along!

The  M-Team  has a webpage! I'll leave the URL below,  along
with  several contact addresses. The page features  a  brief
history  of the M-Team, character profiles and, as  of  this
writing, two short stories. I will eventually post this  and
the  other  volumes in the M-Team Chronicles, as well  as  a
feature on Reganor, the land of the M-Team Chronicles.

Until next time, Cyarun!
The Demon Sword     [demonsword@vasia.com]

The M-Team Homepage
[http://www.vasia.com/demonsword/reganor.htm]

My co-authors:            
The Paladin     [09610448@mail4.dlsu.edu.ph]
Strategics      [bijesi@hotmail.com]


*--- Footnotes ---*

_______________________________
1 Super Pusoy - A traditional card game devised by early 
 Reganorians. It focuses on using up all the cards you are 
 dealt by forming combinations that are stronger than the 
 previous one your opponent put down.
2 Collarcoms - an ingenious device invented by the prolific
 Dr. Light, an ally of the M-Team from another dimension.
 Using advanced nano-technology, the collarcom is a
 communications device worn on the collar of a shirt which
 allows two or more people to talk with each other through
 great distances.
