Title: Nothing left to burn
Co-authors and/or betas: No co-authors, but I've incorporated idea(s)/ suggestion(s) made by Furox. I will give more specific credit as chapters unfold, to keep element of surprise in the story
Genres: action, humor, police/detective mystery
Summary:Captain Faer struggles to find his kidnapped son amid a rash of puzzling robberies.
Main Characters:Capt. Faer, Chip "Stache" Donette,
James Verde (d.c.s. with green hair), Rita "Lens" Calvert , Suzpekt (Donette's dragon), Bat-hon (Verdes dragon), Cuffs (Faer's Dragon), Kitt Wonn, Nathaniel Faer, Tyrn (nathaniel's dragon), Nolan "Blacktop" Parker.
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Warnings: May contain some violence, does contain some graphic silliness and cheesy police stereotypes
Word count: not yet finished
No. of Chapters:Unknown
Complete/WIP: Work in Progress
Concrit: Greatly encouraged
Mary-Sue:No
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Booster nor any cannon characters. I gave Cpt. Faer the first name of Ken (as he was named after producer anyway). "Donette(s)" name is property of Hotess Foods. :P Verde, Calvert, Bat-hon and Zuspekt are not my characters but their names are. Norahh Faer, Nathaniel Faer and all other non-cannon characters are mine.
A/N: The first few chapters will more or less introduce the characters. More action will follow.
CHAPTER ONE: STRESS & COFFEE
Captain Faer's chair protested in agony, as he scooted it back and leaned across his cramped desk, laying his head on his folded arms which would hardly have room for a small mouse, let alone his ample frame. His desk was a mess, the right side full of files, some an inch thick. Along the left, were rows of coffee cups lined up like soldiers in perfect rows. Pictures were spread out along the center, helter-skelter like a collage.
He had floated off in seconds, not hearing his door squeak and sound of footsteps filling the air. A D.C.S. officer dressed in purple and blue stood next to him, removing his helmet and revealing a shock of flourescent green hair.
"Sir," the officer called quietly.
"Hrmm," Capt. Faer babbled incoherently, burying his head deeper in his arms.
"Sir!," the officer called louder, and tapped Faer on the shoulder.
"What Whatsit!" Faer was on his feet instantly, knocking over the paper cups and leaving rings were the soldier's once stood.
"It's 5 minutes of Sir. You called the meeting for two."
"Jeez, the meeting-that's right! We have to get these robberies solved and soon! The Commissioner is all over the department about this and Chief Raymond isn't happy. You know what they say about it flowing downhill."
"Yes, well that's....w-what I wanted to talk to you about," the officer hesitated, "there's been another one."
"What!," Faer bellowed, "when?"
"This afternoon at Futurewave Engineering-and same m.o.; no fingerprints, no shoe impressions nothing."
Captain Faer let out a deep sigh. "That's the sixth one this week! What about the security systems?!"
"Nothing! The guys good, I'll tell you that! I don't understand it though...All of these firms have systems with independant power resources that don't run off electricity. Even if someone were able to disrupt the power supply entering the building, it would do know good. This clown somehow bypassed the cameras, the lazers, the body heat sensors and the space-form intelligence sensors."
"Okay, we need to get cracking. Call the-"
Blip...Blip....Faer's Viddlink displayed an incoming message. Faer pushed the button and instantly the form of a middle aged woman filled the screen. One with dark brown hair, pale skin and deep, familiar, amethyst-colored eyes. Those of his wife Norahh.
Those eyes-they were what drew him to her at first, the moment he met her at Dragonside Park in Sun-city. She was a young parallegal at Wyvvern and Surly's, Dragon-city's largest firm and studyding to become a lawyer. He, a cadet training to enter D.C.S. Their relationship was love at first sight and for the first few years, it was great. They spent all their free time together. Norahh had passed her bar, becoming a criminal defense attorney at her firm, while Faer became a deputy for D.C.S. At first things were great, but their careers soon caused them to have less time for one another. To make matters worse, they were often at odds with each other. Norahh found herself defending some of Dragon-city's worse criminals: those that took D.C.S. months to catch.
One such criminal was John Glazier (known in the underworld as "Liquid John," for his ability to slip past the most sophisticated of traps, bagging thousands of dollars in precious gems). Norahh was able to get Glazier off on a technicality, and he was soon back on the streets. This infuriated Faer, and they hardly spoke for a month. In time, however, they rekindled the flame and were soon married.
Not long after, their only son, Nathaniel, was born. He had the dark hair of his mother, and the face of his father. He was a happy child, and his parents had spent as much time as possible with him. And while he inherited his father's sense of justice and his mother's sense of fairness, he also inherited their bad traits. These-new traits-(namely his father's stubborness and his mother's anger) began to show as he entered his 15th year. Lately he had been causing his parents a lot of headaches; ones that perpetuated his mothers frequent calls to precinct...
"Norahh, I'm really busy right now. Can I call you back? I'm running late for an important mee-"
"Ken, talk to your son!," Norahh shrieked. "I've had it with him. I called the house this afternoon-no Nathaniel! I came home-no Nathaniel! That boy was grounded remember?! I finally rode around and guess where I found him! Just guess! Down-city that's where! We've told him a thousand times to stay away from there, but does he listen?! Noooooooo of course not. He's your son and you'd better do something! Either that, or you can lock me up, 'cause I'm going to kill the boy."
Faer took a long deep breath, expelling it slowly. "Put him on."
"Dad, I-," Nathaniel started
"I don't want to hear it son," Faer said, mustering what patience he could. "You were grounded. Understand? To make matters worse, you went to Down-city again. That place is dangerous! Do you know how much crime goes on down there? We see it all the time. You've been told time and time again to stay away from there, haven't you?!"
"Well..yes dad, but I wanted to get racing tips from the guys there."
"Why don't you ask your friend Dayvv, he's pretty good."
Nathaniel sighed. "He's okay dad, but he's nowhere near as good as the guys in Down City-and I've got to get better if I'm ever gonna go to the Academy. You know how it feels to want that. I mean, you raced....."
"Yes I raced Son, and I've told you before; racings fine, but it's not a career. You know how hard it is to get into the Academy? It's like being blindfolded, spun around a dozen times and asked to shoot a dart at the center of a bullseye. That's how much skill it takes."
"That's why I want to become better dad, if the they can help me-"
"I said No!," Cpt. Faer roared and slammed his fist on the table. "Now listen to your mother boy! If you so much as look cross-eyed at her i'll-"
"Fine!-I'm sick of this!," Nathaniel bellowed shutting off the Viddlink.
"I can't win. I swear," Faer muttered to himself.
"Captain!"
"Verde, are you still here?," Faer asked the green-haired officer.
"We were interrupted sir."
"Right," Faer said. "Gather all security personnel in the main conference hall...."
END OF CHAPTER ONE...........
Sorry it took so long for me to write the next chapter. Been kinda busy lately and my computer froze up when I was typing it yesterday <_<. Anyway, I will be adding more but for now, enjoy
CHAPTER TWO: BAFFLING BURGLARIES
The conference room was heavy with the noise of chatter and scraping chairs as a young officer walked in. He stood near the entrance, at the back and scanned the room, looking for an available seat. There were few available, and even fewer officers that he wanted to sit next too. He would soon regret his indecision though. Now all but one seat was taken; the one next to him
"Hey Donut," the green haired officer called, "You can sit here if you like."
"I'd rather stand," the young officer mumbled under his breath.
Chip Donette (or "Stache," as he liked to be called) was from Star City, over 400 miles away. It was a respectable town. "With respectable citizens and a respectable police department where officers took their jobs seriously, "Donette often thought. "A 95% apprehension rate should be proof to anyone. We worked hard." The fact that there was only 500 citizens (and that the "town hooligans" committed most of the crimes) seemed to slip his mind. Star City was one of a number of small towns experiencing financial difficulties. and, unfortunately, the police force was one area where cutbacks occurred. The rookie found himself jobless and with a pregnant wife. This (and his wife's desire for a change of pace) caused him to leave his beloved town and seek work in the chaotic multi-level Dragon City....
"It's pronounced Do-nay," Donette growled. "I've told you that a thousand times before. Jeez, I feel like I'm back in grade school! 'Hey donut boy, you want a donut?' 'How about a chocolate chip donut, donut boy?' Or 'Where's your sprinkles today?' I'm sick of it! Grow up!"
"Well you are an officer after all," Verde said smirking.
"Yeah, and I don't eat that garbage. Besides, being an officer yourself, I would think you'd want to present a positive image instead of wallowing in ridiculous stereotypes. As I've told you before; I like to be called 'Stache'.
"Oh yeah, that's much better," a female officer half-whispered to her friend across the aisle, "no stereotype there."
"You know what?!," Donette snapped at her, "You don't know what it's like! I've been here only two weeks and already I'm the source of everyone's ridicule."
"But I do. You couldn't imagine the horror I've endured from these morons," she said, waving her hand around the room.
"It was because you're female, wasn't it?! You should have reported them to Captain Faer or maybe even the Chief! You don't have to put up with that garbage!"
"Woah, woah," the female officer silenced him. "It was because I was a newbie like you are now. Besides, I can run circles around these clowns. I have more experience in my little finger than most of these guys have. They come to me for advice!"
"It's true," Verde chimed in. "She's helped me out of a number of scrapes."
"You see? We're all friends here; heck, we're family! I see these guys more than my own! As far as being female, I'll tell you the same thing I tell my friend Sherry; 'It would be nice for some feminine company here at times, but I'm used to it.' My other job was the same way." She extended her hand. "My name's Rita Calvert, but everyone calls me "Lens."
"Lens?," Donette asked returning the greeting.
"Yep. They tagged me with that because I monitor all the security systems around Precinct, including the prison, and also those throughout the city. Well, four of us do, but I'm the one in charge. I used to work for a security design and installation firm. I loved the job but felt that there was something missing in my life. I wanted to be an officer. I applied for the job, Faer found a way where I could combine my two loves and.....viola! By the way," she said, pointing to the officer she had been chatting with, "This here's Newt.
"Let me guess," Donette said rolling his eyes, "Your real name's like Newton or something and they make fun of you too right? Do they call you 'lizard' or 'iguana as well?"
"No they call me that 'cause I raise Yellow Bellied Newts," he replied. "My real name's Rick Parvez."
"Oh....I-"
"Okay people let's settle down," came Faer's booming voice from the front of the room. "First of all, I want to thank all of you for coming to this meeting on such short notice; I know many of you worked graveyard last night, and I do appreciate it. I will try and keep this meeting as brief as I can, then you can all get back to what you were doing. I've called you here today, to address the rash of robberies that have been occurring at various engineering firms throughout the city in the last three weeks. Frankly I'm baffled. Top secret plans have been stolen as well as parts made for mass manufacture! None of the engineering firms can tell us why these parts and designs have been stolen either. We have been forced to assign 26 ( out of 30) patrol officers to stand guard at the various firms. We have stretched our patrol units ridiculously thin. We can't spare any officers, because code dictates two officers must be posted if a business is being guarded. Still, we can't catch this person or people! I have asked Lens to give a more detailed report, because this is her field of expertise..... Lens?"
Lens straightened a jumble of papers into a neat pile and walked up to the podium.
"As Captain Faer has told you these robberies have us completely stumped and the Security companies have no better idea of what's occurring then we do. Whoever is doing this, must either be a genius or a ghost, because the systems put in place are nearly impossible to infiltrate. The normal day job employees have to go through a number of measures just to get in the building: First they must stand on a tamper-proof metal plate, called a bio-sensor, that reads their genetic material to ensure that they are an employee at the firm. Next, they must pass by a security booth, where a guard gives them visual clearance before sending them to the workstations area (the guards are machines designed by the engineering firms themselves). The employees must then walk through another bio sensor before proceeding. Employees are locked out of their workstations at noon, for lunch, and are let back in precisely at one p.m. The firms close at 6 p.m. each night, and employees lock their work and designs in a tamper proof vault at the back of the workstation area. Employees are not allowed to take their work home."
"Night-time security measures are even more rigid. The thief would first have to pass the genetic scanner check, before walking into the building. Next, he would have to pass by the booth guards, who would detain him on the spot. If he was lucky enough to slip by the guard, he would have to avoid several cameras placed throughout the corridors heading towards the workstation (he would surely be spotted by one of these). Now, the thief has a choice: He can head to either the workstation area, or the mass-manufacture storage area."
"If he visits the workstation area, he must pass through a laser field (attached to an alarm) and then pass through the second biosensor; This will, of course, be in vain because he will not have the vault codes."
"If he chooses the mass-manufacture storage area, he has to pass (once again) a second biosensor, a body heat sensor and then guess the vault code. Now my favorite part: the space-form intelligence sensors; If a thief could get this far, he would surely be caught with this. See, the space-form intelligence sensor uses a grid system to monitor what's in the room.. It takes measurements of all objects within and compares them to a computerized file (full of shapes and body types) to decide whether a particular object belongs in a room. If the sensor decides the object is human, it sounds an alarm and omits a non lethal mag-like charge, that propels the thief outside the vault. It then pulls the door shut and resets the code. Only the firms owner or manager can gain access to it again. The beauty of this system is that unlike other room sensors (one that might guard a sole diamond or a few jewels, for example) the sensor does not need to be preprogrammed every time a new object is placed in the vault. This allows the firm employees to place as many parts or equipment within, as needed."
"Well," Verde said, "Obviously, the engineering firm employees aren't committing the crimes cause they're happening in several places. Since you're positive that no regular person can infiltrate the building's security, then that means...well..it could be a security company employee."
Lens leaned against the podium and sighed. "It is plausible, though I hate to think it. I know nearly everyone who works for the companies around here and they're all as honest as the day is long. None of them would want to put their jobs in jeopardy either. Employee background checks are rigorous and the pay is excellent. Many of these guys are practically on their deathbeds before they retire."
" Maybe it's not a security company employee. What if someone just disrupted the power to the building? Wouldn't that shut the Security systems down completely?," one officer asked.
"No," Lens replied, "because the buildings are powered by draconium, not electricity."
"But, one officer remarked, "dragon city has been using draconium as a power source again for the last few years! It's not like is was centuries ago, where only gold draconium could be used. They have figured out how to make use of the various sub-strains. What's so special about that?!"
"With the draconium? Nothing. It's the generators that make the difference. These firms have independent power resources."
"What do you mean?," another officer asked.
"Normally, a business would be supplied power by a Dragon City utility, that uses draconium to generate it. This power would then be fed to the various businesses; This is far too risky for a top secret company or organization, like a government agency or an engineering firm, as power could be possibly be disrupted and take out the security system as well. Because of this risk, a 'floating generation system' was developed. Here, a generator will cycle on, then rapidly cycle off as another generator is cycling on. A business or agency, depending on it's power needs, can have up to ten rapidly cycling generators cycling on or off. It's called a 'floating system' because a computer randomly picks which generator to turn on or off. This would essentially keep an intruder from guessing which generator is running, as well as ensure a constant power feed to the building. No one can access the generators from outside the building and no wires run from the generators to the power panels. The only wiring is for the controls in the panel itself. Short bursts of draconium energy travel from the generators via air, to storage batteries. Capacitors are also equipped to give an extra boost. As officer Franklin pointed out a few minutes ago, draconium is cheaper than electricity to run; you also don't get the energy loss to heat like you would with electricity."
"Any other questions? Okay. I'll turn the podium back over to Captain Faer."
"Due to the number of robberies ," Faer began, "and unfruitful efforts to protect these facilities, I see no point continuing to guard these firms at night. Effective immediately, patrol officers will be returned to normal duty."
A collective whoop went up from the officers, finally Faer waved his hands to silence them.
"However, your normal patrol areas will be altered somewhat. I have amended them, adding or removing certain streets from your particular beat; this will ensure that an officer will pass by each engineering facility at least 3 times an hour. I know it's not as efficient as guarding the buildings themselves, but they never strike those that are being watched anyway. At least this way, we can cover them all."
"What about other crimes that occur," another officer asked. "That will obviously delay the time in which we can check out the facilities."
"Obviously we won't always get three checks an hour," Faer grinned, "crime waits for no one. Just do the best you can. Besides, if something major occurs, Cuffs and I can be there in minutes. I've printed up the list with your amended beats; come check it out before you return to your normal duties today. Have a good day people. Be safe!"
Donette made his way through the long line that twisted around the desks, until he was finally able to look at the list himself.
"Let's see......Oh, you've got to be kidding me!," he moaned.
"Hey, hey, Donut! Looks like you've got the same beat i do. I guess we're partners."
"No way pal! I'm not working with you."
"Hey, take it easy man," Verde said patting him on the back. "you need to chill out if you're going to make it here."
"Look man," Donette growled jerking his shoulder away, "I guess I'm stuck working with you. I don't think Captain Faer would let me change partners anyway; it would screw up his 'Floating patrol' thing. If you think I'm going to put up with you're crap though, you're wrong. Keep it up big shot! We can meet away from precinct and go a few rounds. You'll match your uniform; black and blue!"
"Such talk! You know that's not very becoming of an officer," Verde said in mock surprise.
"Why you!, I-"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Verde raised his palms in defeat. "I like to joke with people, and teasing is my way of doing it. I get carried away sometimes I guess."
"I guess." Donette grumbled.
"Tell you what. We've got an hour to burn before our shift. I know a diner in Mid-city that serves great stew. I'll treat you. It'll be like a peace offering, ya know. What do ya say...'Stache?"
"Okay, I'll take you up on it."
"Cool. I was just thinking... this will be your first day on patrol, huh? So far you've only gotten to guard the engineering building on Firestone avenue. Well, now you'll get to see more of Down-city. It's a lot more interesting to work in than Mid-city or Worktown, that's for sure."
"Can I ask you something," questioned Donette, "everybody here seems to have a nickname. Why don't you?"
"I don't know; I guess no one's came up with a good one for me yet."
"Yeah, well I can think of a few."
"Hey! I thought we had a truce."
"Awww....I was only joking."
END OF CHAPTER TWO........................