Chaos SEED
A Gundam SEED/Ranma 1.5 crossover
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Beta-reading and editing credit to: Light02, Dark Magic LacusClyne, and AegisKage
Chapter Zero: Prelude to chaos! Genma's Mistake!
Sometime, Someplace"Gentlemen, is the mobile suit my superior requested ready for use?" This question came from a dark haired Caucasian man in an immaculate black suit that looked decidedly out of place amongst the various construction machines, partially constructed mobile suits, workers, soldiers and scientists in the facility.
In front of him were several men in white coats standing in front of a recessed portion of the facility floor, overlooking a fully equipped mobile suit being placed through final testing. One of the scientists, an elderly man with goggles and a cybernetic arm turned at the question as his colleagues continued to direct the testing, "The mobile suit will be ready within minutes, we're completing the final tests now."
A glance was spared at the mobile suit as it suddenly transformed into a hunched humanoid figure then back into an upright form, "There, all done. I hope your superior appreciates the time we spent on this project, making a fully armed Gundam for absolutely no reason, even if the technology you provided has proven fascinating to work with…"
The Man In Black cut off the scientist with a wave, "Doctor, my superior has requested this mobile suit built and if it is completed according to the design plans, given parts and technology, and the data provided then you will receive your payment for services rendered and I will take delivery of this unit for my superior's operations."
By now the other men had turned to regard him and one, a thin man with a long nose and mushroom-shaped hair spoke up, "What exactly are the operations your superior has planned?" The Man In Black simply shrugged, "I am only told what I am required to know, nothing more. My superior only releases information that is of use to me, and maintains a strict policy of secrecy for security reasons."
A glance at his watch, "And now gentlemen, if you'll kindly have the Gundam loaded onto the transport we can arrange for your payment as per the negotiated contract."
The white-coated men glanced at each other for a brief moment and nodded, the 'Doctor' now speaking for them, "The Gundam will be loaded within the hour onto your transport, but only when payment has been confirmed." The Man In Black smiled.
Another time, another place
The room was cloaked in darkness as a group of men hidden by the shadows fixed their gaze squarely on the Man In Black seated before them. One spoke, his dress denoting a high-ranking military member, "And if this program you propose is successful?"
The Man In Black took on a noncommittal expression and shrugged, "Then your future Gundam pilots will be unstoppable." The men all turned and began conversing in hushed voices as the Man In Black calmly awaited their decision.
After several minutes, they turned to the Man In Black and the officer spoke again, apparently being designated the negotiator, "We at Blue Cosmos accept your proposal and the data being offered with it. We will still need a test subject though, one we can train from a young age with a decent level of physical fitness."
The Man In Black smiled, "You'll have one in six years if you follow the outlined timetable."
Out Of Time, Out Of Place
A young man was casually typing at a laptop computer when the phone rang. Stopping his work the young man picked up the cordless receiver and began studying what he had typed down, "Hello…Ah, its you, is everything ready? Good…Excellent…Superb job Agent Smith, I'll have everything sent immediately."
With a soft beep the call ended as the young man brought up two windows on his laptop screen and regarded them side-by-side.
One was of the Gundam built by the scientists in the mysterious facility, the other was obviously from an anime as it showed a still image of a teenage boy wearing Chinese silks and hair done in a pigtail while under it was another image of a short, buxom, red-headed teenage girl.
Slowly, a smile developed on the face of the young man as he brought the document he had been typing up and began typing with renewed intensity, "Now then Mr. Saotome, let us rekindle the sparks of nobility that will burn in your soul. Let us give you a weapon and the means to wield it. Let us give you a second chance at being the hero you deserve to be. Let us place shadows for you to overcome. Let us give you a war so that you may learn about, adapt to and cherish life and love."
If one looked at the young man now, a glow could be seen in his left eye as he said this, and as he typed the glow brightened.
Japan, location unknown
Genma Saotome was drunk and when Genma was drunk it tended to mean a lot of things would happen to Ranma his son, bad things. Now Genma didn't beat Ranma when he was drunk, he was actually quite docile when liquored up but the damage to Ranma came when a person mentioned anything concerning Martial Arts or Marriage in earshot.
This was the situation right now, Genma had heard a man in a dark suit speaking about 'special training' and 'needing recruits' while plastered and had immediately sobered up enough to initiate 'intelligent' conversation with the man. Little did he know it would be the greatest mistake any version of Genma had undertaken.
"Excuse me, sir" The suit turned to regard a fat, glasses wearing man with a handkerchief tied around his head as Genma made his mistake, "I couldn't help overhearing you needing recruits for special training."
The suit nodded as the information he had been given clicked in his mind, "That's right, we need a young volunteer to participate in a prototype training regimen to see if we can train test pilots for mobile armor and mobile suits. If you have a son or daughter, we would pay you a fee of forty-five hundred US Dollars for as long as it takes to conduct the training."
Genma's eyes lit up at mention of the money, 'Forty-five hundred American Dollars! The boy will be giving me an early retirement after all, and to think I was going to teach him that idiotic Cat-Fist technique!' In far off dimensions, several versions of Genma sneezed.
As Genma's mind began playing with what he could buy with all that money the suit smiled calmly as he pulled out a contract, "If you do have a son or daughter, simply sign on the marked lines and take the child to this location to receive your money and hand over the child…"
The suit didn't have time to blink as the document was snatched out of his hand, signed without even being glanced at, and shoved back at him. The suit could then only blink in amazement as Genma rushed out, then looked at the document in his hands and sighed, 'This had better be worth it. Six years and we still don't have the pilot promised by that man.'
Sparing a last glance at Genma's dust trail, the suit took out a cell phone and called his superiors. At the sparse camp he shared with his father, young Ranma shivered in his sleep.
"Now boy, when you get to the training center, I want you to do everything the instructors tell you and don't ask stupid questions, got that?" As dawn heralded a new day, Genma was giving his son last minute instructions before he was taken to participate in the training.
Genma, being the fool that he was never once considered he might never see his son again, so the only thought he had in his empty head was, 'I should make sure the boy doesn't screw this up for me.' That one thought of greed and avarice would save Ranma's life.
As this was taking place, Ranma's fate was being decided in a secure conference room. "So the child we were promised has been delivered finally. And apparently right on time if the schedule can be believed."
A lanky, white-haired man in a medical uniform spoke this as he regarded the data on one Ranma Saotome displayed on a screen, "Hard to think that this child will be capable of surviving what's already been laid out thanks to the previous subjects."
The doctor turned to a man in the shadows, "Wouldn't you say so Major?" A military officer stepped out of the shadows and regarded the data, "Put him through the full program. The physical training followed by the drug treatments, and then end it with the two-stage re-education program. Make sure that nothing goes wrong; Chairman Azrael has made it clear that this project will be scrapped if anything happen to the test subject."
With that the officer left the room as the doctor walked to a wall phone and dialed an extension, "Inform Doctor Ono that he may proceed with the physical training, and inform the re-education division to prepare the first stage." As the doctor prepared to leave the room he glanced back at the screen as it changed from Ranma's personal data to a stylized image of Earth, "For a blue and pure world."
Four weeks later
Genma Saotome was running for his life, a situation that one would call normal if you ignored the helicopters and barking dogs leading teams of heavily armed soldiers. But these wouldn't be ignored, just like what Genma saw inside that 'training center' and held in his arms could never be forgotten.
Genma had noticed that the money stopped coming after the eighth day, and concerned that his 'foolish idiot son' had done something to screw up, decided to find out what was going on. It had taken four weeks of following unmarked convoys and avoiding heavily armed patrols until Genma had come across his goal, a facility deep in the Japanese forests under heavy guard.
It had been child's play to hide from the patrols and penetrate the facility, but it was inside the facility that Genma finally realized that he had indeed made a terrible mistake. Genma had entered the facility through a morgue since it had the lightest security and had immediately made a horrifying discovery, the corpses of children contained within hundreds of body bags marked for incineration.
Soon after Genma found the records room and found the schedule for his son; Special Forces level training in close combat techniques and weapons, along with constant, rigorous VR simulations had seen normal at first, then he found reports on treatments using a combat drug called 'XNS-47' to 'complement his already superb reflexes with increased spatial awareness and mitigate the effects of battlefield stress' a sign that they planned to or had already made his son dependant on the substance.
The final report made his blood run cold, "Kami-sama…What have I done?" The report fluttered to floor, showing a final confirmation for Ranma's second-stage re-education, Genma had to find his son fast! Several minutes later, alarms screamed around the base.
The alarms had all but faded as Genma waited for the helicopters to return to base and the patrols to leave the area. As the sound of voices, heavy boots and dogs faded into the distance Genma turned to his son, who was now shuddering violently. 'The drug is wearing off, and he'll wake up soon. There's only one thing to do.'
Genma had memorized all of the reports concerning the drug treatments and re-education procedures during his search in the records room. With that knowledge in hand, Genma began applying a series of pressure points; a point to block all memory of the training and the day before he sent Ranma to go with those monsters, another to mitigate the effects of the reported drug withdrawal symptoms by constant minute adrenal stimulation. By now Ranma had stopped shuddering but his eye was twitching noticeably as Genma prepared the final pressure point, one to block the mental effects of the brainwashing.
As thunder rumbled in the dark sky Genma was already heading towards the nearest port, the knowledge of what he had discovered and allowed would stay with him forever but for his son's sake he would play the fool.
Genma Saotome was a fool, but it didn't mean he was a monster.
Nerima, Tokyo, one week after the failed wedding, two days after the Tragedy of Copernicus.
Ranma sat on the roof of the Tendo Dojo staring at the stars; towards areas of the sky he knew somehow that a space colony was located there. 'Man, it doesn't let up. Fiancées coming at me left and right, Pops and Mr. Tendo keep harping on about the schools, rivals keep hounding me, and Akane…'
Unfortunately, that thought couldn't be finished as he noticed a black car and two vans pull into the front of the dojo. Genma was playing shoji with Soun when a knock at the door caught his attention and he listened in case it was another fiancée for him to pass off to his son. It wasn't.
"Hello there, how can I help you?" Kasumi. "My name is Colonel Winters…" Winters, where had he heard that name before? "…here on a matter regarding a Genma Saotome and his son Ranma." Winters! The CO of the training facility! They had found Ranma!
Colonel Winters had a friendly smile on his face as he entered the living room of the Tendo Dojo; his bodyguard of soldiers kept a close eye on the surroundings when one signaled him out of the corner of his eye and motioned to the door. Blue eyes met steel gray as Winters addressed Ranma, "Are you Ranma Saotome?" Ranma blinked; so far the guy didn't seem dangerous so why was he setting off his danger sense and why was he so familiar? "Yeah, I'm Ranma Saotome. What do you want with me and Pops?"
Winters' smile increased as he spoke, "Some time ago, your father entered into a contract where you would receive special close combat training for a payment of forty-five hundred American dollars." this earned a snort and a muttered "Baka Oyaji" from Ranma as Winters continued, "However, your father took you before we could finish the training and now we have come to," a thoughtful expression came to Winters' face, "finish the job so to speak."
Ranma was about to retort to that when Genma appeared, looking uncharacteristically (to the Nerima residents in the room that is) grim, "I took my son from your training facility because I was unsatisfied with what he was being taught. As such I will not be allowing him to return."
Winters' smile dimmed slightly as his bodyguards tensed, "Surely you can understand that it is necessary to complete Ranma's training. After all, you can understand that incomplete knowledge is nothing compared to having full knowledge of the training." Ranma was going to say something when Genma cut him off, "Ranma will not be returning with you, and I will make sure of that."
Winters' smile became tense as his bodyguards began raising their weapons, "Surely we can come to some form of agreement…" His statement was cut off as one of his bodyguards suddenly went flying out the door, Genma calmly lowering his fist, "There is nothing more to say Colonel Winters, you won't have Ranma again."
This calm statement brought curious thoughts from Ranma, 'Again? I don't remember taking part in any military training. Did I?' As Genma faced off against the Colonel, Winters folded his hands behind his back and thumbed the safety off his sidearm, "I'm sorry you feel that way Genma Saotome. So, no hard feelings?" Just as he said that Winters whipped his sidearm out and fired at Ranma, at that close range not even the younger Saotome would not be able to dodge in time.
Genma Saotome was a fool, but even he knew the meaning of a noble sacrifice. Little did he know the effect of his sacrifice on his son's mind. As the bullet traveled towards Ranma, Genma dove in front of the 10mm round.
The bullet hit his shoulder, but the moment Frost fired his bodyguards had also fired their carbines at Ranma, sending hundreds of subsonic 5.45x39mm rounds into his head, chest and limbs and shredding his internal organs. By the time the carbines clicked empty, Genma's body was unidentifiable as it collapsed backwards in front of Ranma. Genma Saotome was a fool, a drunkard, and a dishonorable lout. But he loved his son.
"Pops?" Ranma was in shock, he had just witnessed his father, a man who would more likely hide than confront anyone, sacrifice himself to save his life. As the soldiers started to approach, a twitch began in Ranma's left eye and continued for several seconds as the soldiers drew closer. Just as suddenly the twitch stopped and Ranma's eyes narrowed.
Nerima suddenly came alive to the sound of gunfire and screams from the Tendo Dojo; sadly they were ignored, the locals long having been inured to violence in the area. Those who did call the police were too late to save the soldiers killed 'in an forced act of lethal self-defense caused by the unprovoked hostile actions of a military officer', in the lead investigating officer's words.
Two people from the Blue Cosmos recovery group would survive; an unnamed private who later died from his injuries and was posthumously blamed and dishonorably discharged for firing the first shot, and a young Atlantic Federation Colonel named Christopher Winters who was transferred to the Earth Alliance 81st Independent Mobile Battalion.
Two weeks and five days later Ranma Saotome would register at an Earth Alliance OMNI Enforcer East Asia Sector recruitment office on the day of the Bloody Valentine Incident.
To be continued...