The Leader Within (Prequel) Part 1 of 2

The sounds of tools whirring, buzzing, and clanging filled the room as the tech engineers were hard at work. Faint rumbles would also soon follow as the techs became more and more uneasy, their will to continue work wavering inch by inch. Time was short, and everyone were desperate as the city of Dortmund was under attack by a criminal back up on the surface reported to have stolen weaponry and were causing chaos. The uneasy atmosphere continued to steadily worsen as they knew the criminal was slowly inching closer and closer near their location the more time passed. On a high catwalk high up, a man was observing the near completion of a robot though was relatively impatient. "Where's the Super A.I. chip? We need this robot online right away before that criminal either gets away or destroys the city even further!" They snapped, to which one of the tech engineers stuttered their words nervously, explaining that installing the Super A.I. was mostly a delicate process to install, and even the slightest crack would be the end of it if they were to simply install it with little to no care. Angered, before the man could yell at the other, another man at his side appeared.

"Don't give up now everyone, Once we've got the Super A.I. installed, we're going to be in safe hands once it's online!" They called out in a more friendlier, cheerful tone.

"Dieter, you would only slow them down with that tone of yours." The man scolded his co-worker with annoyance, glancing in their direction.

"Ah but Gustav, strictness isn't always the way. Put too much pressure on our fellow co-workers and they could lose the will to work and finish up on our project entirely." Dieter pointed out gently with a smile. "I'm just as eager as you are to see this robot we've finally finished building come online, truly. But if we rushed the engineers, they would stop and quickly lose their spirit to continue." He then brought out the schematics for the robot he had been carrying with him, looking genuinely impressed. "Hmm... BP 777, I remember when you were so desperate to get your hands on the materials needed to construct these units once learning about when Berlin had first started the BP project for Germany. Ah yes, but then the city of Hamburg and eventually Munich had quickly got their hands on the project in a heartbeat before you could even let a single word out." Curling the paper back up after getting a good look at the details, Dieter adjusted his glasses and straightened himself up with a smile. "I will admit, it's amazing that Japan made such an advanced project that it caught the whole world's attention. The Brave Police stationed there are truly incredible, seeing it first hand when the news reporters would interview some of the units over there whenever they got the chance. Then about a year later, England followed suit with their own team... I think the Scotland Yard is what the team calls itself over there?"

"Hmph. All of Dortmund's problems as well as our neighboring cities will finally be over. We won't need to rely on the other BP units based in their respective bases anymore once this unit comes online, we'll be ready." Snorted Gustav. "The others haven't considered flying variants enough, and I intend on that with the rest if this one proves to be useful to my liking... Provided the given personality the Techs have given it will suit the needs of this part of Germany."

"I think you'll like the name I've suggested. Just like how the original Brave Police team and the Scotland Yard Brave Police each have their own unique names outside of their number labels, I've felt we needed to give our project one too."

"What name have yo--" Gustav was interrupted when he overheard the Chief Engineer call out that the Super A.I. had been successfully installed. Without hesitation, he ordered them to bring the robot online. With the task carried out, it took just a few seconds until the project's systems were fully online. And when it stood out of it's docking cradle, it first looked around for a moment, then when someone spoke up which immediately attention was to voice responsible, they quickly gave them their orders.

"BP 777, the introductions will come later, right now there is a criminal on the surface causing destruction. Take them out at once!"

"On it, sir." Came the stern response, it's voice revealing it's gender programming that of a Female's. As the BP unit left the room, Gustav had been taken aback when he heard the response but as soon as he turned his attention to Dieter with a not so impressed look, Dieter raised an eyebrow.

"You messed with the Super A.I. behind my back, haven't you?" He asked grumpily.

"Not really, I only inputted a few basic things. The rest was up to our chief engineer, they were relatively good with personalities and things like that. I've only done said few basic things, and I've also given her a name."

"I worry what ridiculous name you've given her but she better not fail me." He glared, then turned away. "Come, we shall observe the scene through the news."

...

On the surface, the criminal piloting the mecha suit laughed maniacally as they smashed through buildings, crushing vehicles both military, police, and civilian alike under their feet or simply whacking them out of the way in their path, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake. Along the way, they had also targeted small stores full of various yet valuable items. Just as it was about to raid the next store full of valuables, a shot rang in the air as the arm they were using was hit, now jammed as they tried to get it to work. "Damn, the Brave Police are here..." they cursed, turning towards the source of the shot. In the air was an aerial BP unit, her dual handguns out and trained on the criminal. "Brave Police Radiant Prism, you're under arrest for theft and illegal possession of weaponry." Announced Radiant Prism, descending slowly to a landing. "I advise you step down and surrender, unless you intend on doing this the hard way, then so be it." She further added.

"Heh, took you long enough to get here but what's this? You're taking me on all by yourself without your teammates to help you? Well, that'll give me the pleasure of tearing you to scrap metal!" The criminal lunged at Radiant Prism, who in turn gracefully dodged, then fired a few shots with the intention of stunning them momentarily. Making her move, Radiant Prism dashed forth as fast as she could but when her opponent made a quick recovery, she quickly backed away and back flipped out of the way before the mecha suit's remaining functioning servo came crashing down on her.

'Hm... How can I defeat this criminal... I can't use my shots too much... I don't have a lot of ammo on me currently.' She thought, quickly dodging a military tank that was tossed in her direction. Radiant Prism knew she had to do something soon otherwise more of Dortmund will be destroyed even further. She gave herself a brief moment to further examine the mecha suit the criminal piloted, clearly larger than her but noted that it was relatively slow and sluggish when moving, but quick with it's arms when attacking. 'Hm... I'll need to disable the working arm as well, the criminal can barely use the one I've jammed. I'll need to get closer somehow as I cannot hit the joints from this distance.' Putting one of her dual handguns away into her forearm, Radiant Prism began making her way closer, though took cover behind some of the skyscrapers, repeating a few times when she moved cover until she felt that she was close enough to make a shot when the opportunity presented itself. The first shot rang, but missed it's target.

"Come out come out, Brave Police!" Mocked the criminal as it attempted to crush Radiant Prism when they managed to inch closer to where she was taking cover from, causing the Brave to once again leap out of the way, but decided to take the risk and with the aid of her thrusters, shot herself upwards before they could pull away their functioning arm and as she managed to get close enough within range to make the shot, but had been grabbed by the leg at the same time before she could react in time.

"Damn you!" With the other arm no longer functioning properly, the criminal was now a sitting duck unable to fend off the Brave as she managed to free herself. Knowing the fight was over, Radiant Prism began approaching with the intention of forcefully getting them out, but when she saw they had ejected via an escape jet, she reacted quickly and chased after them in her jet mode. The chase now taken to the skies as Radiant Prism pursued the fleeing criminal, and when they were high above, it went from a chase to a full on dogfight in the skies when she heard them speak. "I may not be able to defeat you on land, but I'm one of the best dogfighters out there! No one can outmatch me in the skies! No one!" In a swift sharp turn, shots rang as Radiant Prism took evasive maneuvers, though felt some of the bullets strike her frame as they had quite the aim.

With the criminal hot on her tail, she had to figure out how she could shake him off so that she could return fire, but try as she might no matter how much knowledge on aviation her Super A.I. had been fed with before she came online, they weren't giving up, and even when she braked hard after ascending just a bit, they reacted accordingly.

"Let's see how long will one of us last in the air!" They howled with eagerness, beginning to shoot once again.

"Tch..." Radiant Prism was becoming more and more annoyed. No matter what she did, she couldn't shake them off so that she could get behind them. 'Hm, it's possible they built some sort of A.I. into their aircraft to mimic my flight moves... Braking when I brake, or ascending when I ascend, too... I have no doubt it's the same with descending...'

An idea in mind, she continued to struggle trying all she's got to shake them off her tail, but when the next shots rang, dodging as much as she could, Radiant Prism then took her idea in mind, making it look like she was shot out of the skies and even yelped in agony to play the part. A moment after she could tell the criminal was victorious, she quickly changed form, twisted her body after bringing out one of her handguns and fired at it's wings before they could react and seconds before she was out of range. When one of her shots hit it's target, it was when she saw it was going down after having successfully shot one of it's vertical stabilizers, tearing off within a few seconds after it was hit. Recovering from her fall, Radiant Prism quickly recovered and slowed her fall to match that of the falling aircraft which was now in an unrecoverable aerodynamic stall thanks to it's one of it's missing vertical stabilizers.

She needed to react fast, knowing how dangerous the extreme amount of speed can be. She slowly moved towards the aircraft, continuing to match it's speed until she reached over and grabbed a hold of the falling aircraft. Radiant Prism immediately then began to brake but slowly, she was clearly aware that braking immediately would fatally injure the criminal, or worse...

Once she slowed to a safe descent, Radiant Prism glanced down at the aircraft she was still carrying, already gliding back towards the city of Dortmund. "Don't try anything." She warned, shifting one of her servos over the cockpit as to jam it from opening up in case they might try to escape through parachuting.

In truth, she wasn't sure if they had intended on escaping, but knew it was wise to make sure to keep the criminal from trying to escape in case they might try the old fashion way as a last resort.

...

Once she was back in the city, Radiant Prism noticed a group of police officers were patiently waiting for her return, and by the time she landed back on the ground, she wasted no time in getting the criminal out of the aircraft and handed them over to the police without hesitation. Once they cuffed up the criminal and took them away, it wasn't long before news vehicles and helicopters were swarming her which took the Brave by surprise. She idly watched as they were giving the news report about her and every other little detail they told the public. However, her stay wouldn't last as she heard none other than Gustav's voice through her communicator.

"What are you doing? Get back here, we have much to discuss." The man told her, annoyance dripping from his words.

"Very well."

Unsure of what to do, Radiant Prism leapt into the skies, and with the aid of her thrusters she ascended just enough to change form safely away from people. Being a jet, she didn't have to worry about traffic and it only took her less than a minute to arrive back. Upon arrival, she landed softly onto the large platform she had used to get up onto the surface. The area itself was surrounded by the large police station itself, which also served a purpose to keep the public such as the news reporters out.

'Now that I think about it, why is this platform rather large? Does that mean that there are others that come visit here often? Unless it's instead used to transport vehicles down...' She thought as the platform she was on began to descend. Once back in the main underground base, Radiant Prism made her way back towards the repair bay, noticing a certain someone from before had been patiently waiting for her return. Entering, she approached the catwalk the two men stood, taking notice that it was at her optic level.

"You performed well, Radiant Prism." Gustav told her. "I've seen plenty of footage of how you dealt with that criminal. An odd take compared to the others, but nonetheless as long as you continue to put a stop to crime, Dortmund will no longer be plagued in fear."

"I will not let you down, sir." Came Radiant Prism's response.

"Good, I expect that from you always. But do expect a special something for the hard work soon, I think you might find it suitable." As Gustav turned on his heel to leave, Radiant Prism wasn't sure what the stern man meant by a 'special something' and what he meant by it being 'suitable'... Nonetheless, she shook the thoughts aside. She then noticed the other man who seemed more gentler than the previous, seeming to hesitate on wanting to tell her something and follow after his superior.

Of course, it was obvious to the Brave as to what they were going to do in the end.

Dieter spoke in a hushed voice. "Don't tell Gustav, but rather pretend you hadn't heard this but we've got an office prepared for you, just the little finishing touches are almost comple--"

"Dieter!" Came Gustav's voice, the man having interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

"Yes, coming." He looked back to Radiant Prism for a moment, then excused himself. Radiant Prism watched the two men until she could no longer see them, then someone else spoke to her, turning her attention to the Chief Engineer who told her to stand in her docking cradle so that they could check up on any damage she might've taken, to which she did so without a word. Fortunately the check up only lasted just a few minutes as she was nonetheless in the green. They had refilled ammo for her vehicle mode and handguns and examined for any and all damage she's taken from the criminal she dealt with a while back, fortunately they hadn't done much damage and was free to morve around whenever she chose to after she was clear. Of course, she was aware that she was built with the best type of armour, at least from what she overheard the other engineers have said... But then she could also faintly overhear them talk about another group of BP units...

While not exactly a curious type, the topic Radiant Prism had just overheard about that there were other BP units like her out there was something she needed to know more about which sparked her interest far more than whatever surprise Gustav and Dieter had planned for her. She carefully listened, hearing about BP units stationed in Japan, where the project originally started which over a year later would then expanded over to England, which became the second country to start the BP project. 'Hm... Very interesting. I thought I was the only one... Now I wonder if I should ask Gustav about this topic... Yet knowing his personality, I have no doubt he would keep his mouth shut about it... But what about Dieter... Would he do the same despite his more... Gentle personality? Would I have a team of my own to help me stop crime in the future as well?' It made Radiant Prism wonder if Germany was next after England, but immediately felt it wouldn't be so as she had no doubt other countries long after both Japan and England had also gotten their hands on the project after Germany followed suit. Suddenly, what caught Radiant Prism's attention was that they then mentioned about the Northern, Eastern, and Southern parts of Germany were lucky to have a built team compared to them. Bemused, she listened further as she discovered that Gustav had no intention of building other BP units, as the man was more of someone who wanted to stand out from the other parts of Germany's BP team.

Why was this?

Did Gustav feel that she didn't need a team of her own?

Knowing there wasn't much else that they talked about that felt useful, Radiant Prism made her way out of the repair bay, intending on finding the stoic man and asking that very question. Fortunately it didn't take very long as she found him in what seemed to be a large break room with Dieter. The human sized break room being up on a high wall that's around her optic level and safely away from on the ground at her feet. She overhears Gustav and Dieter discussing the future about what plans they have in store and how to better improve safety. The conversation carried on until when Gustav looked and only now did he notice the Brave that he fell out of his chair, spilling his coffee as it had tipped over.

"R-Radiant Prism! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" He scolded harshly, picking himself back up though winced when the contents of his coffee cup had eventually dribbled onto him, indicating it was relatively hot. The Brave winced at this and spoke up.

"Apologies, it won't happen again. But there is a specific topic I wish to inquire about."

"That can wait, Dieter and I are dis--" Before he could finish, Dieter spoke up happily. "Something on your mind, Radiant Prism?" The stoic man glared at the Vice-Commissioner, unhappy about the sudden interruption.

"To the point, then. Why is it that I do not have a team like the other stationed bases?" The aerial asked, arms crossed over her chest as she watched the Commissioner get up and walk over to the counters to gather himself napkins to clean up the mess. "I've overheard some of the tech engineers about that I was to have a team. But you, Gustav, felt that I did not need such a team. Why is this?"

"Hmph." Snorted Gustav as he wiped down the spilled spot on the table as best as he could. Dieter knew what was to come as he remained silent, letting his superior speak. "It's nothing to be concerned about. You've proven yourself well enough that you can defeat crime on your own. There is no reason for you to need a team of your own. Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich only have groups because unlike us, they cannot handle crime with one unit alone." He seemed to take no notice that Dieter was silently sighing to himself, shaking his head afterwards.

"That, and Gustav thinks that depend--"

"It's nothing to think about, what matters most is putting a stop to crime wherever it may happen either here in Dortmund, or the neighbouring cities and towns." Dismissed Gustav, a short pause until he continued, looking at Radiant Prism in the optics. "Are all your questions answered?"

"Yes. I'll leave you be now." Knowing there was nothing else needed to be said, Radiant Prism turned and left the room as she's decided that for now, she could remain in the repair bay listening to police chatter to pass the time if there's a difficult situation that needed her help, making her way inside and sitting off in one of the corners that had plenty of room that was enough for her to sit in and observe the tech engineers working. While she listened, she took out one of her handguns, examining the side of it, though when she pulled the clip out, she realised that she had forgotten to reload it after all her checkups were complete. Pulling the clip out entirely, she had accidentally spilled the leftover bullets onto the floor which in turn made her cringe as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to the source of the noise.

"Apologies, but I've... Forgotten to remind about that these clips weren't refilled." She admitted slowly, bringing out her other handgun and also taking out the clip, which revealed to be completely empty unlike the other that had some bullets remaining. They nodded in response and set to work, one mechanic came up to her with a rolling flat cart, instructing her to put the emptied clips onto the cart and she did as told, watching them roll it away from her then brought her attention back to her weapons, taking out fresh new clips from the sides of her hips that stored them for her handguns. With them reloaded, she returned her handguns back into her forearms and relaxed. It wasn't until nearly half an hour later that not only did the engineers returned the clips with full ammo clips, but also Dieter called out to her from the catwalk. Immediately standing up, she walked over towards the man while being mindful not to step on anything by accident as there were things splayed around.

"Ready to see your surprise? We've just finished."

His words caused the Brave to tilt her head, confused as to what he meant, but when he followed up with saying that he'll show her, and asks to be held, it was where she frowned in the midst of her confusion. But immediately she was alarmed when Dieter then decides to vault over the safety rails which she quickly reacts by catching him. "Dieter, why would you do that!? Jumping at this height is--"

"Because I trust you."

Taken aback, Radiant Prism wasn't sure what to think of the man's statement, he trusted her to react? Either he was foolish and did strange things on a whim as he pleased when Gustav wasn't around, or that there was another reason behind it that she hadn't exactly understood or grasped fully. Shaking her helm, she proceeded to put him back up on the catwalk but paused, knowing he might stupidly jump over again and instead resorted to kneeling down with the intention of setting him down.

Instead, Dieter simply remained on her servo instead of getting off as she expected him to.

"Dieter--"

"Not yet, I was asked by Gustav to show you the surprise, keep me held a little while longer." He winked at the Brave. "Please?"

Thinking for a brief moment, Radiant Prism sighed with slight annoyance as she stood back to her full height again, but was mindful to keep Dieter secured in her servo. "How can I be sure you won't try and jump out of my servo?" She asked him, though clear that she was concerned for him.

"I only did that so you could hold me." Came the happy response, adjusting his glasses. "Now let's go, I'll guide you in the direction."

After leaving the repair bay, Radiant Prism was guided through the corridor until she came across the one door she saw on the way out and back in that the door that once had a construction label on it was gone. "We've finally finished the room Gustav and I wanted to surprise you with. Go ahead, step inside." Doing as told, she entered the room as it opened upon her approach and what she was greeted with was a large open space, and what she found was a desk, complete with a computer built into it, a phone, and a few other extra bits such as pencils, paper, and other things that were otherwise fit for her size. Off to the side of the wall was a small loft where Gustav was standing. She followed his gaze to the opposite side of the room and immediately her attention snapped to the large screen that was on the wall, three people which were were displayed and Gustav was speaking with them. Each person was also labeled with the city they came from. One from Hamburg, and the other two were from Berlin and Munich respectively. One of the people on the screen immediately took notice as they spoke up, a woman from Berlin.

"So you've finally gotten yourself a BP unit online Gustav, but where's the rest of it's team? There's absolutely no way they can handle whatever crime throws at them on their own." They said.

"Have you so foolishly failed to see the news? Radiant Prism is a lady capable of taking on criminals on her own without the need of a team."

'There he goes again with the 'team' thing...' Thought Radiant Prism as she suppressed any form of annoyance as she sets Dieter down next to him, then turns her focus to the screen. This time the man based in Munich spoke, asking for Radiant Prism to introduce herself, and she did as told.

"BP 777 - Radiant Prism. Pleased to meet you all." She responded with a salute.

Silence.

The three people spoke among one another in murmurs for a moment which left Radiant Prism wondering if something was wrong, but then they spoke up again. The conversation between the other leaders of their respective BP teams were long and lengthy. Many questions and answers flew back and forth, not just for Gustav and Dieter but also Radiant Prism herself was asked a couple questions as well, but the most concerning thing Radiant Prism was worried about was when the last person to disconnect-- Being from Hamburg up in the north, warned Gustav that it's highly inevitable that he will be forced to build a team for Radiant Prism in the near future before also disconnecting afterwards.

"Hmph, they're paranoid. All of them. Don't take their words seriously, Radiant Prism. You'll do just fine."

There was a bit of a pause on Radiant Prism's end, but knowing it wouldn't be wise to question the man any further.

"Yes sir..."