Robotech Nibunoichi: Chapter Two

By Valkyrie ()

[Legal Stuff: Ranma 1/2 is created by Rumiko Takahashi and is distributed in the US by Viz. Communications. Robotech is the property of Harmony Gold with the novels written by Jack McKinney and published by Del-Rey. I'm only borrowing these characters.]

****(Notes before you begin: The events in the Ranma 1/2 Anime/ Manga takes place in 2010-2012 in this story to maintain continuity with the Robotech storyline.)*****

(Previously in Robotech Nibunoichi:

The Zentraedi Grand Fleet arrives and ravages most of the surface of the Earth. The Grand Fleet is destroyed and the survivors in Nerima mourn for the dead.)

The first day of spring in Tokyo was normally a joyous affair. Not the spring of 2013. Even Ranma's normally cheerful attitude was subdued

Winter in Tokyo had been extraordinarily bad. They had buried Sakura,

Yuki, Daisuke, Principal Kuno and, Mrs. Hinako, and the entire Yamane family.(1) They were having a wake for the dead today.

Everybody had spoken about the people they knew had died or were missing.

A young soldier came into the refugee center looking for a

Lynn Mu-Tsu. He was directed towards the group of people camped out in the shadow of a crashed Zentraedi warship.

"I'm looking for a Lynn Mu-Tsu. Does anybody here know where I can find him?" asked the young soldier.

"Here," replied Mousse.

"I have a message from a Lynn Maximilian."

"Dad is alive!"

"Yes. He is living in Macross City and would like you to join him there. I have orders to bring you back with me," the soldier stated nervously. He had had a small amount of combat training and knew martial artists when he saw them.

"I can't leave my friends," replied Mousse.

"I can arrange transport for your whole group if necessary." This was probably going beyond what he was supposed to do but his orders were specific. He was to return with Mu-Tsu no matter what. He would rather bring others back with him rather than hurt or kill anybody.

"Let me talk to my friends and I will get back to you," answered Mousse.

Mousse walks up to Ranma and Akane quietly and asks to speak with them in private.

"Ranma, Akane you two are basically seen as the leaders of our group. I want to ask you first. I've just heard from my Uncle Max, who

I had been told was dead two years ago. He has asked me to join him in New Macross City. I was also told that whoever wanted to come with me was welcome to accompany me," Mousse explained, "Would the two of you like to come with me? Your families are welcome too."

"Anything would be better than here," quipped Ranma, "If my mom and Akane agree to go I'd be very happy to go."

Mousse turns to Akane and asks," Do you want to go?"

"Of course. I really don't want to stay in Tokyo. Too many bad

memories." replied Akane.

"Great. Let's go tell everybody else," Ranma said happily. This was the first ray of hope he'd seen in months and he embraced it with all his might.

They walked over to the rest of the group from Nerima. They told everybody about their plans and about the offer for everyone. Nodoka quickly agreed to go. Cologne, Shampoo, Ukyo, Kodachi, Kuno, and Ryoga go just to follow Ranma and Akane. Nabiki and Kasumi decide to go because Akane is all the family they have. Konatsu goes along to follow Ukyo.

Mousse and company are quickly packed up and transported to a nearby aerospace field. They are told to board a transport plane and quickly take off.

Halfway across what remains of the Pacific Ranma is looking out the window and notices their escort. He turns to ask Mousse what's going on.

"I found out that my cousin Minmei is some kind of celebrity. She arranged for my mom and dad to get in touch with me and bring me to

Macross," Mousse explained.

Mousse continued smugly, "I also found out that my brother Kyle is alive and is Minmei's manager."

"Sounds like you and Kyle get along 'bout as well as me and

Ryoga," Ranma commented.

"You and Ryoga get along better. Kyle believes that fighting in any form is wrong. This is strange because he's almost as good as you are Ranma. In fact you probably only beat him in pure speed and because you can perform chi attacks," Mousse stared. This was significant concession from Mousse as he had never admitted that Ranma or anybody was better than him.

Outside the transport in a red Valkyrie, Miriya Sterling was bored. The former battle Queen of the vaunted Zentraedi Quadronos decided to radio her husband. Max Sterling was currently flying abreast of his wife in a blue Valkryie veritech.

"Max, tell me again what's so important about this planeload of refugees that they require an escort by Skull Squadron."

"Mir honey, one of the people on board is Lynn-Kyle's brother. Kyle

I know doesn't like him but he is Max and Lena's son so Minmei asked for him to be brought to Macross..." Max stated.

"...and I know, Rick fell head over heels to please the little tramp. Right?" interrupted Miriya.

"Yup."

Suddenly a missile flew directly between Max and Miriya's fighters. They looked around and spotted two Zentraedi battle pods about 5000 feet below them. Max broke off, switched to battloid and quickly dispatched both. Meanwhile, a suit of Male Power armor flew up and tried for a grab at the transport, evidently thinking Miriya had broken off with her husband. He fell to a very quick barrage of chain gun fire.

Ranma watched from inside the transport and was amazed. Fighters that transformed? That was too weird. He asked the flight crew what those were.

"Those are Valkyrie Veritechs. The pilots are Max and Miriya Sterling, Skull two and three respectively. They are rumored to be the best veritech pilots alive."

"Wow! Can I meet them when we land?" inquired Ranma.

"I'm not sure. You can put in a request when we land."

Ranma amazingly spent the rest of the flight staring out the window at the two fighters.

"Hey Mir, look at the window about halfway down the fuselage. I think we have a fan," Max pointed out.

"Hey love, can I give him a little show. I'm bored."

"Go ahead, he's supposed to be a friend of a relative of Minmei and it'll probably rank off Kyle."

Miriya proceeded to put on an impromptu air show around the transport. She showed off what she and a veritech could do. Quickly switching between fighter, guardian, and battloid modes. She was pulling quite a few gees and was in ecstasy. This was almost as good as sex to her.

The rest of the flight was quiet as most everybody else slept on the way over.

At the aerospace field next to Lake Gloval, the arriving group was met by the Lynn's, Max, Lena, Minmei, and, somewhat in the background, Kyle, and Rick Hunter. The Sterling's would be a few minutes longer as they landed on board the Prometheus and then take a hop over in a helo with

Lisa Hayes.

Mousse was the first off the aircraft. "Dad! Mom!" Mousse proceeded to drop his bag and ran to his parents. He picked both of them up in a massive hug. He was in tears by the time he set them back down.

Ranma and Akane were next to debark and walked over to meet the

Lynn's. "Hello, my name Saotome Ranma. This fiancée, Tendo Akane," said Ranma in his best English.

Lynn Max replied in Japanese," Everybody here knows Japanese Ranma, feel free to use that when among us."

Shampoo and Cologne were next. Ranma noticed the Skull and Crossbones emblem on Rick's flight-suit and walked over to talk to him.

"Hello, do you fly one of those amazing planes?"

"If you mean a Valkryie, yes I do," replied Rick.

"Do you know the Sterling's' the two pilots who escorted our flight?"

"Of course, I'm their commanding officer, Rick Hunter, Skull One." replied Rick cockily.

"Cool."

Akane came over at this moment to drag Ranma away from the person saw as being besieged by Ranma.

"Ranma you baka. Quit pestering that him." she said to Ranma. To

Rick she said, "I'm sorry. My fiancée can get a little excited at times."

"That's OK; I was the same way when I saw my first Valkryie. At least when he saw a "mechamorphosis" for the first time it was from the

outside." explained Rick.

"Nani?"

"I first flew a Valkryie without knowing about its ability to transform. I was shocked when my fighter plane turned into a 45 foot tall battloid. I was so shocked that I couldn't believe what I was

seeing and I was in it," Rick continued," I almost killed Minmei over there while trying to move it."

They were interrupted by a helicopter coming in to land from the Prometheus. The Sterling's and Lisa hopped out and walked over to Rick.

Ranma was startled to find out that this green-haired beauty was

Miriya Sterling. He turned to look at the blue-haired man he presumed to be her husband standing next to her. Ranma, for once, was speechless.

Nodoka and Ukyo were the last ones to disembark. They attracted the immediate attention of the security team around Ms. Minmei. Nodoka

Saotome was carrying her katana and Ukyo was wearing her combat spatula and her bandoleer of throwing spatulas. Ranma and Akane had to run over to prevent them from being tackled by the security troops.

"I think that it's time we retired to the White Dragon," suggested

Mr. Lynn.

"Yes, that would be most appropriate," agreed Cologne pointing at the gathering clouds in the western sky.

"Aiya, Shampoo no want to get wet," exclaimed Shampoo.

They climbed into two vans for the ride to the restaurant. Once there they ate supper and retired for the night so that the travelers could overcome "Jet-lag."

The next morning Ranma awoke early to practice. He went outside and walked to a nearby park. He started out with stretching exercises and then moved into basic katas. As Ranma warmed up he began to move faster and faster. Finally turning his intentions towards a large tree he began to use it as a practice dummy. After practicing for about an hour he decided that a walk would make for a good cool down. As he made his way back towards the White Dragon he felt calmer than he had in months.

Ranma had told no one about the nightmares he'd had since that night of the rain of death. Getting out of Japan seemed to have done the trick.

Ranma missed his father. Even though Genma had treated Ranma like dirt, engaging him to at least three girls and subjecting him to absurd training techniques, Genma had been family. Family meant everything to Ranma, the

Tendo sisters and his mother were all he had now. He would do everything in his power to protect them. Even if it meant taking on one of the giants he'd seen around Macross City.

Ranma hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking. His feet wandering as much as his mind. He looked up and found himself at the front gate of the defense force base. He saw Max and Miriya out for their morning jog. He imagined himself doing that with Akane and found himself enjoying the image. Ranma turned around and made his way back to the Lynn's restaurant.

Once there he found that the place was in bedlam. The living area above the small business was not really designed for so many people. He found Akane and Nodoka coming out of the room they had shared overnight.

Akane immediately cornered him. Asking Ranma where he had been Ranma replied he had been out training. Akane was evidently upset for some reason.

"What's wrong Akane-Chan?" Ranma asked of her.

"You baka, we're gonna be late for registration."

"Registration for what?"

"For school you moron," Akane snapped back.

"Hey tomboy, don't get so upset. I got back in time didn't I?" Ranma quipped, "Why do I have to go to school anyway?"

"It's very manly to be educated. You can't be a true man among men if you are uneducated," Nodoka interjected.

Ranma remembered that his status as a man among men was still at the whim of his mother and quickly ran for the bathroom for a shower and a change of clothes.

Nodoka walked with Ranma and the Tendo sisters and the rest of the

Nerima teenagers to school. Ranma looked around at his friends. The Tatewaki Kuno was dressed in a normal school uniform. Ukyo, Nabiki, and Akane had taken up the American habit of dressing casually for school. Shampoo and Mousse wore their traditional Chinese clothes, though Ranma doubted that would last very long. He and Ryoga were dressed as they usually were Ranma in his black pants and red shirt and Ryoga in his yellow shirt and green pants. The only concession by either of them was the sneakers they were wearing on their feet.

Macross High was a low structure built of brick and steel. It is a single story building with a large gymnasium in the rear. Nodoka quickly rushed them inside to get everybody registered in time for the first classes of the day. Registration went quickly because the school was used to dealing with large influxes of students at once. Ranma was scheduled for seven classes a day from about eight AM until about four PM. They were all assigned to basic courses until placement exams could be taken.

Ranma walked into the locker room to change for PE He was nervous, so far he'd, luckily, been able to avoid any cold water. He was surprised to find both a male and a female PE uniform in his locker. Ranma spun around as the instructor walked up behind him. Ranma's PE teacher was a large man in his mid forties, tall, muscular, and with a little paunch around the middle.

"You must be Ranma," the teacher asked.

"Yes sensei," replied the nervous teenager.

"Please don't call me that. You can call me sir or Mr. Gibson okay,"

Mr. Gibson, suggested," Now would you care to explain to me why your mother called and told me to give you both a girl's and a guy's PE uniform? You're not some kind of cross dressing fagot are you?"

"NO! But I do have a problem that you must see to believe." Ranma walked over to sink in the bathroom area and proceeded to splash himself with cold water. What Mr. Gibson saw shocked him, a busty young red-head standing in his locker room.

"Uh, Ranma?"

"Yes sir?" replied Ranma-chan.

"Well that explains the so called curse your mom was ranting about. Please change for class, both your clothes and gender, please."

"Well, that went better than I thought it would." They both were thinking as Mr. Gibson walked away.

Ranma went through the rest of the day relieved. His mother, despite her grief over his father's death, had thought to explain his curse. He thought this day couldn't get any better until he stepped out the school's front door. There was a group of students waiting there for someone. That someone pushed Ranma out of the way a second later.

"Are you Tatewaki Kuno?" asked a slightly built red-headed male with freckles. He looked to be only

"It is Kuno Tatewaki, but yes. And who are you may I ask?"

"Name's Jack Baker and I'm gonna kick your ass. You insulted my girlfriend today," replied the angry teenager.

"And exactly how did I insult her foul knave?"

"You called her something I won't mention in public!"

Akane and Nabiki joined Ranma on the front steps of the school.

Nabiki asked what was going on.

"Kuno insulted that guy Baker's girl. Baker challenged him to a fight," Ranma answered.

Akane started in," Ranma you'd better watch him. I have a feeling that little Mr. Baker is in for more than he can handle."

Nabiki interjected," I don't know, Jack is in a couple of the classes that my class helps out with. He is also in the RDF academy prep program. He's also quite the little ladies man."

"He is?" replied Akane.

"Yes, and that includes some combat training," Nabiki answered, "Plus they wouldn't let Kuno carry his bokken in school. Your mom had to carry it back to the White Dragon for him.

They turned their attention back to the fight. Baker started off with a roundhouse right. Kuno ducked under this and tagged him with an open palm to the chest and Baker went down hard. Ranma saw that Baker was totally out of his league and jumped in to save him. Kuno obviously took offense at this.

"C'mon Kuno back down," Ranma yelled.

"Nigh Saotome, this is a man to man fight and I will finish it,"

Kuno said angrily.

"He's down and only a young boy. You've made your point, now back off."

"NO!"

Kuno proceeded to attack Ranma. Even with his bokken he couldn't beat Ranma and without it he went down all the more quickly. Ranma reached out to help Jack Baker up.

"Thanks man."

"No problem, I've been kicking Kuno's ass for almost two years now. Name's Ranma Saotome."

"Jack Baker. Pleased to meet ya Saotome."

"Same here," replied Ranma.

Akane and Nabiki walked up to introduce themselves. They both said hello and then reminded Ranma that they were expected back at the White Dragon after school.

"You guys are staying at the White Dragon? Do you know Lynn-Minmei?"

"We've met her once. I do know her cousin Mousse very well. Well I

gotta be going," Ranma answered him as he ran off. Ryoga came out of the school and tried to follow them but got lost.

The next afternoon Rick and Lisa were enjoying a quiet walk for once. They had even finally gotten around to scheduling a picnic for next week. They turned a corner and were approaching the White Dragon.

Lisa was thinking, "Let Rick lead and you will always end up at the White Dragon."

Shampoo was out front sweeping the front walk. The purple-haired

Amazon was for once enjoying a respite from her great-grandmother while

Cologne helped out in the kitchen of the restaurant. The Saotomes and the

Tendo sisters were out looking for a place to move into. Ukyo was also out doing the same. Mousse was in his cage again.

"Nihao, welcome to White Dragon," greeted Shampoo as the couple approached.

"Hello, Shan Fu isn't it?" asked Lisa.

"Yes but everybody call me Shampoo. Ms. Minmei not here but restaurant is open for business."

"We weren't here to see Minmei. We're just out for a walk, besides wherever Minmei is so is Kyle," Rick aid with some animosity.

"Shampoo no like Kyle. Is arrogant ass. Also full of it. Kyle talks about no fighting but excellent fighter himself Shampoo hear."

Lynn-Kyle was pissed and quite drunk. All they'd gotten for a concert the night before was a box of food. Kyle was driving too fast for

Minmei's taste and she was frightened. Riding in the passenger seat of the six-wheeled car with a plastered Kyle could be deadly.

"Could you please slow down Kyle?" Minmei asked.

"No, I won't little miss prissy."

"Then stop and let me out," Minmei screamed," If you don't I will open the door and jump!"

Minmei grabbed the door latch and pulled the door swung open. The only reason she didn't fall was because Kyle grabbed her at the last nanosecond.

Kyle brought the car to a stop and proceeded to berate Minmei again. They argued for a few minutes and then Kyle agreed to drop her off near his parents' restaurant.

Kyle pulled up about two blocks from the White Dragon. Nodoka and the girls (including onna-Ranma) were coming up the street and saw Kyle again was yelling at Minmei. He drew a hand back to strike her and suddenly found himself restrained. Ranma-Chan had zipped over and grasped Kyle by the wrist. Macross's most notorious martial artist couldn't move.

"You've made a mistake pretty girl," growled Kyle.

"Ya think so huh. Well I'll letcha go if you promise not to touch the lady here," replied Ranma-chan.

"You think that you could stop me if I really wanted to hit her, "responded Kyle.

"Try me."

Kyle managed to slip out of the arm lock that Ranma had him in. Kyle jumped and tried to kick Ranma but she simply wasn't there. She sidestepped about four feet and then reached out to tag Kyle on the nose.

Kyle his vision blurred from the hit and already drunk just passed out.

Ranma picked him up and set him in the backseat of the car. He walked over to a stunned Lynn-Minmei.

"Are you alright ma'am?"

"Yes I-I guess so. We were fighting again and I thought that after he'd agreed to drop me off at my Aunt and Uncle's restaurant that the fight was over. May I ask your name miss?"

"Ranma Saotome," answered the red headed teen.

"I met a Ranma the other day. Are you related to him?"

"I am him."

"How can that be?"

"It's him, believe me," Akane interrupted, "and it's a long story."

"Where is your Uncle's restaurant?" asked Ranma.

Akane knocked Ranma over the head and Nabiki snapped," You idiot!

That's Minmei, Max and Lena's niece, you moron."

Nodoka politely asks, "Would you like to walk with us to the White Dragon dear?"

Minmei answers yes and everybody starts to follow her and Nodoka to the Lynn family business.

"So that's why she looked familiar," stated Ranma-Chan as she rubbed the back of her head and stood up. She followed after so she could try apologizing to both and getting some hot water.

Later that evening after dinner Nabiki knocked on Minmei's door.

"Come in," answered the singing star.

Nabiki opened the door and walked in. She looked around the room and saw that Minmei's tastes were very basic. A few pictures of family and friends, the large stuffed bunny in the corner and a basic vanity along one wall aside from the standard bed and a dresser. She also noticed the chipped and faded pink paint in one corner of the room.

"I'd like to talk to you about Kyle," Nabiki stated.

"Um okay," replied Minmei.

"I think that you should seek somebody else to be your manager. He seems abusive and a drunk. His instability combined with his martial skills makes him a danger to you," Nabiki explained.

"And who, may I ask, would you suggest?" Minmei asked with some sarcasm.

Nabiki looked at the young star in amazement, from what she had picked up, this girl was an airhead. She had obviously underestimated her.

"Okay, okay, I concede. I guess that I am being a little transparent. I just think that you could do better than Kyle and I could do the job."

"Yes you are being transparent," Minmei giggled, "but let's talk for a little while and see what I think of you."

Minmei and Nabiki didn't get to bed until very late. The two talked for hours and became fast friends. Nabiki talked about Ranma and the gang while Minmei related her adventures on board the SDF-1.

"You know Rick and Lisa remind me of somebody," Nabiki yawned.

"Who?" asked Minmei?

"Ranma and Akane."

Minmei yawned herself and looked at the clock. They both decided to head off to bed.

"Goodnight Nabiki-chan."

"Goodnight Minmei-," Nabiki paused, "chan."

Notes:

(1) The Yamane family are the Tendo's neighbors. (Manga Vol.2)