Endless Sand! – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: "Ranma ½", "Sailor Moon", "Star Trek" and other sources belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Part 2
Admittedly, when my companions and I first arrived on the distant world known as "Arrakis", colloquially known as "Dune", in the far, far future, it was a welcome relief from the agony of my beloved Akane Tendo's "first death"…and the loss of my children Natsumi, Karumi and Shinzon at the hands of the Romulan Empire's clandestine organization known as the "Tal Shiar". I would not know until later that the two orphans girls who fought Akane and myself for the right to "carry" the Tendo Dojo, circa the late 20th century. Who would have thought that Akane and I would fight our own children? Then again, I was more interesting in "winning" the than in handling the situation responsibly.
I came upon the planet, and era, after my space shuttle, The Icarus, had entered a spatial anomaly, while en route to the alien world of Vulcan. I didn't want to go on the assignment of touring the member planets of the then-christened "United Federation of Planets". However, my future wife, Neo-Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo, insisted that I come with her on her "Good Will Tour" mission. Back then, when she was known as Usagi Tsukino, the once and future monarch had been appointed to the role of "Ambassador-at-Large" for the Federation. With us were Queen T'Pol of Vulcan, and Queen Hoshi of Earth, both of whom were appointed their ambassadorship by the Federation. Even then, I knew that Usagi had what it took to be a capable politician and diplomat, even if she did not believe she had such ability herself…
It was the year 2161, and six month after the founding of the new United Federation of Planets. It was created in response to the "Earth-Romulan War", in which Earth, thanks to the heroics of the NX-01 Enterprise, and one Ranma Saotome in particular, won the war. And thanks to that victory, many local worlds agreed to form an alliance, with the planets of Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, Andoria and Alpha Centuari as the founding members of this new organization. It was the hope of the architects of the Federation that future threats can be avoided.
However, this "new order" did not come without a price.
The Romulans, being a long-lived species, have LONG memories. The Romulans were once an offshoot of the Vulcans, and had embarked on a scheme to reclaim their ancestral world. They managed to infiltrate the Vulcan High Council, and used its resources to impede the progress of many worlds locally. UN Spacy never dealt with this situation, since interstellar space travel were costly affairs, even with the use of the so-called "Jump Drive" and "Stargate Systems"; the development of the warp drive would slowly change that, allowing more detailed exploration of the Milky Way Galaxy. And when THAT happened, the Romulans used the Vulcans to impede humanities exploration. It was their desire to prevent colonial expansion long enough to stake a secured claim on many worlds, by hook or by crook.
And Ranma Saotome changed all that.
First, the martial artist-turned-soldier had foiled a plot that would have prevented the renaissance of the teachings of Surek, the "father of Vulcan peace and logic". Ranma had accidentally absorbed the psyche (called "katra") of this Vulcan philosopher, and was targeted for termination. And he did this while protecting those who sought to reveal this information to the public, called "Syrranites", who weren't exactly friendly to humans to begin with. In the end Surek, through Ranma, re-created a covenant that insured that Vulcan would allow other species the right to explore interstellar space without oversight.
Ranma still has a bit of Surek left in him, even after transferring the psyche to T'Pau, the leader of the Syrranites, for custody.
And this was only the beginning. Some how, some way, Ranma was involved, directly or indirectly, in the Romulans failure to destabilize the quadrant. An assassination attempt on Admiral Maxwell Forrest was adverted, thanks to Ranma being able to differentiate human and non-human "auras", during a dinner banquet hosted by the Andorians. In another incident, bounty hunters captured Ranma, Usagi, T'Pol and Hoshi Sato during a routine survey mission. The Romulan High Command had placed a bounty on Ranma, particularly after the Kir'Shara Incident…the debacle that would resurrect the teachings of Surek. Ranma and the others would escape, but not before leaving behind a message that was "laced" with an encrypted virus that nearly crippled half the Romulan fleet upon uploading. These incidents came to a head when the Romulans chose to invade Earth, after their demands for Ranma's custody was denied. And while the "Earth-Romulan War" was a costly affair on both sides, Ranma's decisive actions during the Battle of Cheron, a key supply system for Earth's forces, humiliated the Romulans. So, when the first opportunity presented itself, Ranma's wife and children were murdered, just after the birth of his son Shinzon at Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital.
And Ranma was never the same again.
After a period of mourning, Usagi tried to contact Ranma about taking on a mission of security and "ferrying" herself and her fellow diplomats on a "Good Will Tour". When her calls were not returned, Usagi traveled back home to Japan, stopping by Crystal Tokyo to finalize her plans with the Regent of the palace Princess Setsuna Meioh in the process, and went to the Nerima Ward to personally make her request of her old friend…
"Thank you," Usagi said, as she got out of her limousine in front of the Tendo Compound, which serves as both home and training facility of the Musabetsu Kakuto-ryu.
"Shall I wait for you, ma'am?" said her driver.
Usagi looks at the front gate. She saw signs of disarray, with the front gate falling off the hinges.
"No, I'll call you when I am ready to leave."
"Understood, ma'am."
As her "ride" drives off, Usagi wonders if her efforts would be in vain. She knew that Ranma loved Admiral Tendo deeply, and that the only reason why he never went on a rampage against the Romulans because of a promise she had made of Ranma on her deathbed to not jeopardize the peace between the new Federation and the Romulans. This was ironic since the Admiral, as a teenager, was not known for either her pragmatism or her patience. With the promise made, the Admiral passed away, leaving a distraught Ranma behind.
With a heavy sigh, Usagi steps unto the compound…
SKREESSH!
The newly appointed Federation ambassador Usagi Tsukino drew back the curtains of the living room within the Tendo household, exposing a disheveled MACO officer Ranma Saotome. Bottles of used liquor bottles were strewn across the floor and furniture, and there was a whiff of vomit in the air. Usagi, dressed in a simple gray business suit (which included a lapel pin designated her new role as "Ambassador"), shook her head in disgust.
"Ranma," Usagi said, as she stared down her old friend.
Ranma barely looked up at the meatball-headed girl.
"Usagi?"
"It's time to get up."
Ranma shrugged, as he tried to stand, only to fall back on the floor.
CRASH!
"Damn," Ranma said, as he looked at the broken coffee table. "Akane is going to…to…"
Ranma was about to shed more tears, but held back. He was a man, after all, and men don't cry.
Usagi knelt down besides her old crewmate.
"Ranma, you get cleaned up, and I'll fix you some breakfast."
Ranma merely nodded, as Usagi took off her coat while heading for the kitchen.
Ranma groaned, as he dragged himself to the downstairs bathing room. Ever since the place was converted into a museum of sorts, a downstairs bathroom was installed to allow for more guests. He preferred to use it these days, rather than go upstairs where the memories of his dead family could haunt him.
The martial artist entered the, turned on the sink faucet, and splashed cold water on HER face. Cold water, of course, activates her sex-changing Jusenkyo curse.
"Humph," Ranma-chan says to herself. Before changing, Ranma-chan was sporting facial hair. Changing genders neutralized this growth. In fact, she began to notice that her girl form was not aging, and that her male body, in the process, resets itself to the age when she first acquired the curse. Ranma-chan wasn't sure what these details meant in the long term, but it was a pain being perceived as a "kid" even if she was twenty-eight years old.
"Here goes…nothing," Ranma-chan said, as she splashed hot water on her face. When HE looked up into the bathroom mirror, admiring the fact that he was fresh-face again. But then, his memories went back to…to…
"No, I won't cry. Damn it!"
KRISH!
Ranma ignored the pain, as blood trickled down his fist. Shattering the bathroom mirror with one's fists tends to do such a thing.
"Damn, now I got to replace this mirror…again."
Ranma closed his eyes, as he concentrated on pumping his chi abilities to rapidly heal his wounds. He was glad that he remembered those shinobi tricks from his best friend Ukyo Kuonji, just before he fell for Kuno's so-called trap…and all because he didn't take the wannabe samurai seriously.
After leaving the bathroom, Ranma could smell the scent of food.
And to think that 'Meatball-head' finally learned how to cook, Ranma mused to himself.
As he entered the kitchen, Ranma could see Usagi placing her favorite dish, "Tofu Florentine" onto their plates.
"I heard a mirror break," Usagi says, as she brought the plates over to the kitchen table. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Ranma said, as he looked at the mixture of sautéed tofu and spinach. To a normal person who just went on a binge-drinking spree, such a combination would have an ill effect on his or her stomach. Not so with Ranma, who, thanks to years under the tutelage of his father, developed a cast-iron stomach. So, he went to town.
"Pretty tasty, Usagi," Ranma said, as he ate his food.
"Thanks," Usagi replied. "Juice? Tea? Coffee?"
"Coffee," Ranma replied. "Black."
"Sure," Usagi replied, as she poured Ranma a cup of coffee. "Here."
"Thanks."
Usagi took a sip of her tea, and set it down on the countertop.
"I'll get to the point, Ranma," Usagi began. "Why have you ignored my communiqués?"
Ranma eyes Usagi.
"Because I don't want anything to do with the Federation, that's why. Being a part of UN Spacy's 'Earth Force' and "Star Force" divisions is more than enough for me, thank you very much."
"Speaking of which, did you know that there going to be a realignment?"
"How so?"
"With the creation of the Federation's 'Starfleet', the United Nations has decided to revamp the UN Spacy to be a strictly Terran-based defense program."
"Kind of like the National Guard and Coast Guard, right?" Ranma asked.
"Right. It will serve strictly within the Earth region, which includes, of course, the Earth and the Moon; the United Nations and Crystal Tokyo will have sole administrative jurisdiction over all planetary defenses. The Earth Alliance, which includes, as you know, the rest of the Sol System, will spearhead the 'Earth Force' program. They will take over the duties of protecting the rest of our solar system, the Terran Sector and Earth's non-Federation colonies."
"That's a lot of layers of bureaucracy."
"Mostly political. There are a lot of people with misgivings about the whole Federation thing, and with the problems concerning 'Earth Prime', there was a real push to have a 'separation of powers'."
"Figures as much. So…what does this have to do with me?"
"Ranma, I would like to FORMALLY ask you to escort me on my tour of the Federation."
"Hmmm…no."
"But…why?"
"I've already helped the Federation, by not going after those who murdered my family. So thanks…but no thanks."
"I see…I didn't know you would go back on your promise."
"Come again?" Ranma replied, with a noticeable edge to his voice.
"Remember when we first arrived in this era?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Remember when we promised each other that no matter what happens, we'd find a way home? To OUR era?"
"Yes…"
"Well, you're breaking that promise. How can we find a way home, if YOU won't help me? Don't you know that there could be a way for us to return home out there somewhere?"
"Why don't you ask Princess Setsuna? Isn't she supposed to be the 'Warrior of Time' or something?"
"She said that she is incapable of helping us at this time, ever since there was a moratorium on 'time travel' within this era's temporal matrix. Personally, I think she's full of it, but she contends that a 'higher authority' handed down that edict. Yeah, right. I bet this so-called authority is some jerk with nothing better to do than to muck with other people's lives."
Somewhere in the golden realms of "Asgard", the All-Mother of the Norse pantheon sneezes.
"All-Mother?" Baldur the Brave asked, who, as the All-Mother's "chancellor" was going over matters of state.
"I was just having a brief moment of 'déjà vu', brave Baldur," the All-Mother replies, before resuming her meeting.
"Yeah, yeah," Ranma said, as he smirked.
"Look, you had your chance for happiness, when you and Admiral Tendo realized your love. I NEED to return home to realize MINE."
"Oh, you're talking about that Chiba guy you always talk about?"
"Yes, that 'Chiba guy', Ranma. I'm twenty-eight years old. I'm not getting any younger, and I have to try to return to my Mamo-chan."
Ranma looks at Usagi.
"Oh, I get it. You're 'sprung'."
"I…what?" Usagi says, as she turns a bright red.
"Are you still…a virgin?"
"Don't try to make this about me, Ranma!"
"Then answer the question."
"Yes, there…you're happy? I…I want companionship, but I want to remain faithful to him."
"Wait, I thought that 'Mamo-chan' is now-"
"DON'T say that! I'm not into girls, you know. And I prefer his previous incarnation to that his present one."
"I'm sure Hoshi will be disappointed to hear that."
"ANYWAY, you had your chance at happiness…let me have MINE. And this tour will allow us more opportunities to find that way home. Don't let what has happened to you destroy my own chance. Please?"
Ranma looks at Usagi and shakes his head. Was Usagi REALLY that desperate enough to guilt trip him into going with her on her quest?
That night, Ranma was on the roof of the house he has called for many years. All afternoon, while Usagi cleaned the house, the martial artist had to think about Usagi's words. Did he really have the right to deny his friend's happiness, simply because of his pain? He knew that Usagi was using her work to cover up feelings of loneliness. Worse, he knew that Akane would want him to move on.
And then it dawn on him…maybe he should go on Usagi's tour. If they are successful in getting back home, he could have a second chance with Akane. And quite frankly, he has had enough of this era. As far as Ranma was concerned, he did his part to push humanity to embrace its destiny as a space faring race, so it was time to make a decision about his future.
A few days later, Ranma had his suitcase in one hand, and a credit slip in the other.
"Thank you for doing business," says the perky representative of the Rantsu Foundation, an endowment and charity organization based in the city. "We promise to take care of this historical site from modernization, while you are away, Mr. Saotome."
Ranma sighed. Leasing his house was a hard thing to do, but it was necessary if he wanted to have a clean break. According to the terms, until further notice, the Rantsu Foundation will operate the Tendo Dojo as a museum for the Musabetsu Kakuto-ryu.
"You're welcome, I guess," Ranma says.
With one more look, Ranma walks over to the waiting car, and gets in.
"You did the right thing, Ranma," Usagi says.
"Please, don't, okay?"
Usagi merely sighs, and goes back to her reading of the itinerary for the trip.
Unknown to all, as Ranma and Usagi leaves from the scene, the representative of the Rantsu Foundation's face changes to someone more familiar.
"Have a pleasant excursion, Saotome," Nabiki Tendo smirked. While she didn't like the fact that her little sister had sacrificed her "Exemplar" status, which grants power and immortality, and thus her life, she knew that what is going to happen to him has to happen. So, until Ranma returns, Nabiki will have to keep watch over things for him. At least, she can get her own bedroom back.
A day later, Ranma was in the shuttle cockpit of The Icarus, as he, Usagi, T'Pol and Hoshi left Earth orbit. The Icarus was a long-range shuttle capable of warp flight, but will rely on the Stargate and Jumpgate systems for travel.
"Is everyone all strapped in?" Ranma said, as he checked his instrument panel.
"Of course, Major Saotome," Ambassador T'Pol says, as she made sure that the ship's systems were operating at optimal levels. "Why belabor the obvious?"
"Hoshi, be nice," says Ambassador Hoshi Sato, as she chided her long-time friend. She wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that she and Usagi were lovers in a previous life, but she definitely wanted to be friends with her former crewmate. At any rate, she was definitely excited by her new role, however brief it was (she wanted to go back to teaching linguistics in South America as soon as possible). "Ranma is doing US a favor, remember?"
"I'm sure."
Usagi enters the cockpit area, and sits behind Ranma.
"How are you holding up, Ranma?"
"I'm doing okay, I guess," Ranma says, as he steers the shuttle into the maw of the Stargate.
"Look at it this way, even if we don't find anything useful, I'm sure that this trip will be uneventful."
"Huh. Since when has anything involving US been 'uneventful'?"
We were on approach to the "Stargate", which have been in regular use for years before "faster-than-light" technology developed sufficiently enough for long-range travel, when I noticed a weird glitch within the insertion matrix of the Stargate. Incidentally, the enigmatic "Ancients", who roamed the universe in their pursuit to expand their knowledge of the cosmos, created the Stargates. This is the same race that had created the ancient Atlantean nation on Earth, and the same race that founded the Peacekeepers of Sebacea in the Milky Way Galaxy and the Twelve Colonies of Kobol in the Pegasus Galaxy. In fact, no one knows what the Ancients look like, since they took on a variety of forms to better interact with those sentient species worthy of being saved from extinction, enhancement or expansion…which explains why there are humans even as far away as the Lucas Galaxy.
While I approached the Stargate, to get to Vulcan, my mind turned to a priority bulletin that I received before embarking on the trip. There have been rumors at the time, which were later confirmed, that the Terran nativist group, "Earth Prime", would put a hit on Usagi and the others for their role in the founding of the Federation. I suppose that I was chosen because of my background in the Art, and the fact that I was member of MACO ("Military Assault Command Operations") with the rank of "Major". Who would have thought that my exploits aboard the legendary NX-01 Enterprise as a MACO officer would be the stuff of legends in the Starfleet Marine "grimoire"? And here I thought I was just doing a job of protecting my ship against alien aggressors?
Anyway, with so much on my mind, I failed to pay attention to the possibility that our Stargate for the Vulcan Sector would be the tool of choice for Earth Prime's terrorist action. What occurred next would change my life…forever.
BOOM!
As The Icarus enters the Stargate, Ranma notices something odd. Stargates creates stable wormholes that connects between 'gates, and yet Ranma notices a decrease in the wormhole's stability.
"T'Pol, and I need confirmation on the status of the Stargate."
T'Pol looks at Ranma and then at her instrument panel.
"We need to abort transport," T'Pol declared.
"Evasive!" Ranma yells, as he made the moved to drop out of the wormhole. It was a risky move, but if he failed to do what he needed to do, then they risk getting phased out of the known universe…permanently.
"Ranma, what should I do?" Usagi asked.
Ranma turns towards his old friend.
"Pray."
I was successful in breaking us out of the unstable wormhole, but I did not know that my actions would fling The Icarus 100,000 years into the future, to world even further than the Lucas Galaxy. When we reappeared in normal space, a large, desert world loomed ahead. Unfortunately, we were spinning out of control. At the rate of velocity, if the atmosphere doesn't do us in, the impact of the impending crash WILL.
"Impact in thirty seconds," T'Pol says. "Please brace yourselves for an emergency landing."
"Hang on!" Ranma said, as he braced the impact.
Usagi looked at the looming planet. She then looked at Hoshi.
"I'm sorry, Hoshi…for everything," Usagi says quietly, as she held her friend's hand.
"I know, Usako," Hoshi says. "I know."
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- CRASH!
Tbc.
Author's note: For some of you, some of the set up seems familiar. All I'm doing is laying down the mood of this section. C&C are welcome.
Next time: On a distant, alien world, Ranma Saotome experience something nearly unfamiliar…jealousy, as the heir of a great royal house named Paul Atreides puts the moves on Usagi Tsukino. Be here for Act Two of "In the Desert on a Wild Horse", and learn how Ranma learns how to adapt to the world of "Dune". See you then!
