In the year 2141 A.D., humans steadily expand throughout space. Ever since warp drives became commonplace, more than 3000 worlds have been terraformed and colonized. Most planets banded together to form the United Galactica. Even in this age, crime persists. When planetary authorities encounter a problem they cannot handle, or which might endanger the United Galactica, they petition the Worlds Welfare Work Association (or 3WA) for assistance. When assistance is provided, sometimes without a petition if the Central Computer deems it necessary, it comes in the form of "Trouble Consultants," teams of specially recruited and trained individuals.
The finest team the 3WA has to offer is the "Lovely Angels." While never failing to solve a case, they unfortunately also level cities, continents, and whole planets in the line of duty. This has earned them the hated nickname, "The Dirty Pair." Unfortunately for the galaxy at large, they have always been cleared of every incident by the Central Computer, allowing them to continue solving crimes and wreaking havoc across a terrified galaxy.
"Dirty Pair" is published by Eclipse Comics. The story and artwork are copyright of Toren Smith and Adam Warren. All other copyrights are of Eclipse Enterprises, Inc. Characters and situations created by Haruka Takachiho.
Book 1: Biohazards - The Lovely Angels are assigned to Pacifica: tissue samples and the single surviving brainchip of leading biotechnical engineer Kelvin A. O'Donnell have been stolen by agents of Abraham Streib, a rival industrialist maimed in an accident apparently staged by O'Donnell. Enter the Dirty Pair, who rescue O'Donnell's brainchip, implanted by Streib in a cuddly Pseudo-Fuzzy. Mission accomplished - but O'Donnell convinces the Angels of Streib's traffic in illegal bioweapons, and persuades them to help him retrieve his tissue samples so he can regain his humanity. His consciousness transferred to a synthetic warbeast, O'Donnell leads the Pair to Streib's lab, obliterating most of his cronies - and a sizable section of Pacifica's capital city. O'Donnell assures the destruction of Streib's operation, and of Streib himself, but, en route home, is arrested by Pacifica Security for unlawful bioweapons production of his own.
Book 2: Dangerous Acquaintances - The Angels undertake a well-deserved vacation on Rocinante - a great place to be at the moment as the planet celebrates its 25th year of independence from the UG. But the pair's R&R collapses when Kei spots their old partner Shasti and, without hesitation, sets out to capture her: a genetically-engineered super-agent for the 3WA, Shasti betrayed the angels years ago, and they still want revenge. But Shasti is every bit as good as she ever was. Not only is she faster, stronger, and smarter than the Angels, she had multiple personalities that allow her to maximize her potential in any situation. Kei and Yuri are quickly overpowered and outwitted. The Pair realize that the only prize on Rocinante worthy of Shasti's attention is the Lyra, a luxury spaceliner bringing diplomats from 20 worlds - as well as a priceless collection of antique exotic weapons - to Rocinante's celebration. The Lyra arrives on the eve of the anniversary, and Shasti and her minions capture the ship, apparently as a part of a plot to reunite Rocinante and the UG! Shasti soon joins another group of conspirators: criminals after the weapons collection, but remorselessly slays them and proceeds to her true objective: the Lyra's new "Brock/Hogan Gravity Well Compensator" that permits warps within a planetary gravity well. Despite a surprise attack by ship security guards, Kei and Yuri begin their search to make Shasti pay once and for all. And they do (sorta)...
Book 3: A Plague of Angels - As public outrage peaks, the Angels are restricted to the Kalevala O'Neill Colony to help with local investigations of a technology-smuggling outfit. Meanwhile, the 3WA launches a full-scale public relations assault, commissioning a glowingly positive profile for High Sense magazine. As the Pair turn a routine stake-out into a free-for-all, ambitious reporter Cory Emerson takes the assignment. Cory arrives to find the Pair in trouble with Security for the stake-out fiasco, which nonetheless has revealed the nature of their adversaries: artificial personalities encoded on microsoftware plugs enabling the smugglers to move between host bodies. The Angels, with Cory in tow, go solo to crack the ring, but the smugglers unleash their secret weapon: a robot using a maniacal artificial personality that threatens to blow everyone up using a low-yield gravity bomb! The Pair successfully defeat the robot, but the bomb doesn't seem to be with it anymore...
"Dirty Pair" is now published by Dark Horse Comics. Story and artwork are copyright of Adam Warren. All other copyrights are of Dark Horse Comics, Inc.
Book 4: Sim Hell - The Lovely Angels report to the 3WA headquarters for Kei's annual evaluative assessment by the top-secret Central Computer, the 3WA's "chief operating entity." Before any direct examination can take place, Kei must first participate via neural interface in several computer-generated interactive simulations, or "sims." Something goes awry, and Kei is seemingly trapped in a potentially lethal feedback loop with the computers running the simulation. Yuri jacks in to the sim's virtual reality to save Kei, but soon finds that both of them are now stuck in an endless series of simulations. Initially, the Angels struggle through historical sims, set decades earlier during the genocidal "Nanoclysm," a plague of artificially intelligent Nanoviruses that nearly annihilated humanity. They discover that they are trapped in simulations belonging to the shadowy Bureau of Technological Regulation (BTR), a secretive group whose business is the control of certain dangerous technologies. Eventually, Kei and Yuri stumble upon a private sim owned by Kevin Sleet, their obnoxious tormentor from the BTR. There, they find that a rogue faction of the BTR, using supposedly forbidden technologies, intends to seize control of the 3WA's Central Computer and use its formidable powers to help mount a paramilitary coup of human civilization. But worst of all, the Angels discover that Sleet plans on a future where clones of Kei and Yuri serve as his personal harem! Nauseated, our heroines head for a final confrontation with the nefarious lout. They find the Central Computer isn't without its own defenses.
Still published by Dark Horse Comics. First Dirty Pair book in full color.
Book 5: Fatal But Not Serious - While the majority of humanity still lives in fear of the Dirty Pair and their well-publicized "disastrous proclivities," a surprising number of people have, for a wide variety of reasons, chosen to embrace the Lovely Angels as beloved, if destructive, "idol figures." Recently, the Pair's galaxywide cult following has grown large enough to support an actual convention celebrating their dubious celebrity. In a doomed bid to generate some positive media coverage, the Lovely Angels themselves are attending this "Kei'n'YuriCon'41" as guests of honor... but their enemies are conspiring to derail this ill-fated "charm offensive." Just before the convention, the Lovely Angels defeated a terrorist group in a bloody battle that left Kei with a broken leg. the surviving terrorist sought his revenge by unleashing a tailored "neurovirus," designed to trigger an anti-Dirty Pair hysteria and mob violence at the convention. More ominously, a renegade branch of the 3WA has stolen the Lovely Angel's "back-up copy" personality constructs and tissue samples, generated a memory-intact clone of Yuri, and duped the freshly grown Angel into thinking she's undergoing an interactive simulation, a bizarre virtual reality scenario that requires her to assassinate the original Kei and Yuri. In typical Dirty Pair fashion, she's going to accomplish her mission beyond the shadow of a doubt... by causing the local sun to go supernova! Fortunately, the planetary authorities drew up plans to evacuate the system when they heard the Dirty Pair would be attending.