GXP .5
By Ozzallos

"Nukoya."

Nukoya Azrmith stared. In the last fouty eight hours they had been ambushed, attacked, pursue half way across the eastern spiral arm of the galaxy and nearly destroy; but upon setting eyes on their newest aquisition, it almost all seemed worth while. Petite... luscious red hair... an exotic face... perfectly proportioned legs and a chest to die for... Okay, so they had been forced to set down on one of those pre-tech civilizations and resupply. Having half your cargo hold blown open into space by a GP heavy cruiser did that, but this one...

"Nukoya!" The guard blinked as the com channel crackled, and he rushed over to stab a blue key that instantly projected the four by five visage of a gruff balding man into the air in front of him.

"Sir!"

"'Bout damn time." The man growled, the scar along his eye warping slightly with displeasure. "Captain wants his new toy. He wants her now."

The spikey blonde sent a lusting gaze at the native behind the force barrier, then back to the holo. "Yes sir! I'll be happy to handle her... er, handle it!"

"Just get yer ass in gear," The man scowled, then added. "And she had better be unspoiled by the time she gets here or I won't be responsible for what happens to you."

Nukoya grimanced tensing. "Wouldn't dream of it!"

"Ha!" The image chortled for the first time. "Any man who wouldn't doesn't have a pair. Now MOVE IT!"

The sceen blanked out and the pirate guard sighed. So much for the company. His eyes turned back to the girl behind the blue tint of the force screen and walked over to the acess panel, keying in a code. "Alright, let's get you up, Red."

The barrier evaporated with the last key press and he pulled the shock baton out from its holster, thumbing the switch with a grin. The blunt of crome instantly hummed, illuminating the inadequately lit space with a menacing orange glow. Still sleeping, Nukoya shook his head at the ridiculously cute vision curled up on the hard cell mat.

"SNOOOORRRRTT..."

The pirate guard blinked at the unlady like sound that buzzed against his eardrums. Damn can she snore. "Alright, fem. Rise and shine."

"SZZZZZNNRRRR..." Was her reply, the redhead shifted a bit in an attempt to find a comfortable spot while inadvertently creating a very lascivious new pose for the guard to dwell on. His eyes traced her nearly exposed charms that threatened to fall out of their light orange tee at any moment, before shaking his head free of his reigning labito. Oh sure, he could have her right here and now... Then later, the nearest airlock courtesy of the Captain himself.

The pirate frowned with the thought. "Girl, I said get your ass up!"

"SZZZROOOORTTT..."

Nukoya's eye began to twitch. She was damn hot, but the clock was ticking and that snoring was getting on his nerves. He twirled the shock baton and stepped up to her. A little shock never hurt anybody. he pushed the tip at her, only to watch as the rehead rolled to the side. Nukoya cocked his head, reaimed and stabbed at her again, this time with purpose. The girl curled up just enough for him to miss the exposed leg he had targeted entirely.

"SNOORRRRRRNNTT..."

"Grrrr..." This time he batted at her thigh with the flat of the orange scepter, again missing her entirely as she yawned unconsciously, all but curling up around his feet. She has to be awake! The bitch is playing games! Nukoya swung with force, once again missing as she evade the blow, but grazing his own foot in the process. "AIYYAAAH!"

The pirate fell to the plassteel deck in pain, then instant numbness as his foot was forcibly removed from his nervous system. it took a minute to get the twitching of his leg uncontrol and once the blinding pain faded away, he found the girl stretched out across her mat in another pose that would only be found in a provactive mens magazine. "You... you can't still be..."

"SZZZZNNNOOORRREE..." This time, it was followed by a yawn and something that appeared to be purposeful movement. Nukoya shakily rose back to his full height, determined to look at least somewhat imposing. Another yawn and the redhead began to scrub her eyes open. "God... who the heck was snoring so damn loud...?"

The cell guard blinked. Then blinked again, staring incredulously at the awakening girl. "THAT WAS YOU!"

"Me?" The girl blinked, noting the voice. Blue eyes focused on the upright guard and his orange baton, then wandered around her accomidations. A frown crossed her face and the crystal blue eyes returned to the room's only other occupant "Where the hell am I?"

"Aboard the pirate ship Megumi no Mikaa," The man puffed with a leering grin. "And you are our prisoner!"

"Pirate ship?" The girl arched a skeptical eyebrow, taking another look around her. "No, really. Where am I?"

"I JUST TOLD YOU!" Nuyoka blurted, his patience running thin. He began to wave the shock baton at her menacingly. "The Megumi no Mikaa! The most feared pirated ship in known space! You had best cooperated if you wish to see your next days!"

The girl simply walked by him, as if he hadn't spoken. "You sure we're not in Japan?"

"Listen to me, wench, you-ACK!" The baton blurred in to punish her inattentiveness, and the seemingly unaware girl ducked around it, stepped inside the offending arm and grabbed the wrist. She locked the joint and the guard squealed, dropping the weapon to the ground and allowing her unrestricted access to his arm. The native flowed around his body, jerking the limb back behind him inspite of his size advantage, prompting another yelp. His struggle lasted only as long as it took for her to jerk the arm into hyperextention.

"OWOWOWOWOWO!" He screamed, ceasing all movement in favor of gibbering panic. "Who... who the hell are you?"

"Your asskickin'." The girl commented absently, anchoring the arm in an iron grip in hand while reaching down for the glowing baton. She took it in hand, studying what was obviously utility end of the glowing implement. "Where'd you say I was again?"

"The... The Megumi no Mikaa!" Nukoya Azrmith gibbered, eyeing his former baton and his former prisoner warily. She waved the baton in front of his face and he cringed.

"And where is that?"

"Uh, space... Not exactly sure... Eeep!" The pirate gulped nervously as the baton buzzed dangerously close to his nose. "Spacespacespace! No idea where! I'm a guard, not a navigator!"

"Space?" Nukoya nodded rapidly. He couldn't see her face but the tone of her voice and proximity of the baton indicated her skepticism clearly enough. "Hmmm... Can this thing kill anybody?"

The pirate guard blinked, confused at the sudden change in topics. "Um, no. It's just a shock ba-"

BZZZAAAAAAPPP!
"AAAAaaahhheeeigH!"

"Hmmf," The redhead snorted, stepping over the twitching inert body.

Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial arts studied the body at her feet, then the baton in her hand. The guy appeared to be just like any other, save the fact that he was clearly foreign in both features and dress. The baton... Ranma's eyes flicked back to the glowing club. It didn't exactly scream space man weapon, but the results spoke for themselves. The redhead shrugged and turned her attention to the room at large. Half of it was the cell she woke up in, sporting a simple padded mat and imbedded into the wall. The other half was just as spartan with chairs, a few blanks screens and that was it. Ranma looked back to her feet and the twitching man, nudging him with a foot.

"Feh. Whatever," She muttered, turning away from her former captor and sighting the room's only a door, a sealed steel hatch. Inset on the frame was a distinctly plain looking keypad and Ranma gave it an experimental poke. The action prompted the pad to beep at her but did little to open the barrier before her. Another couple of random stabs produced the same result and she sighed, contemplating her next move. Pirates. In space. On board a space ship, she mused, all but dimissing the guard's testimony outright. Last thing she remembered was training just south of Niigata. Snuck out, spent three days losing the fiancees and rivals before setting up camp. Then i woke up here, Ranma frowned, trying to decide if she want another try with the pad. She raised a finger and hadn't even touched the panel when a single yellow light began to blink.

"Nukoya!" A bassy voice growled from the panel. "Mate Azrmith, you had not be screwing the captain's prize!" It took a moment for Ranma to realize just who and what the voice was refereing to and by the time she did, he had already continued. "I swear, if you've even touched her, you're going out the next air lock, do you understand me? Mate Azrmith! I'm not taking lashes for your insubordination! It's ta Captain that get's the first fruits! Nukoya!"

"First. Fruits." Ranma ground out the words, projecting was icey death into the panel now that she was quite clear on their intentions toward her. She stepped away from the panel and centered up with the segmented hatch, studying it for a moment before sliding into an advanced wu shu stance. "Hiiii-YAH!"

THUuunK!

The plasteel security door held against the edge of her fingers for a fraction of a second as she completed the two meter circle before failing entirely, falling into the next passageway where four armed pirates stared incredulously at the diminutive redhead stepping through the breach. There hadn't been an explosion. No slag to indicate a plasma torch. One second the hatch had been whole and intact, the next... Her. Somehow one of the pirate's mental process finally kicked in and his fingers fumbled with the weapon at his holster; some sort of gun by Ranma's estimation. The laser cleared the holster leather, but Ranma had already crossed the hall and was inside his guard like red lightning. The anonymous pirate didn't even have a chance to get the barrel level before it was chopped by an orange blur of the stun baton she wielded and The weapon clattered away; the opening it created was more than enough for her to pulverize his sternum with an open palm and send him into the opposite wall with a crunch.

She didn't bother to admire the handiwork and instead spun low, acquiring the next stunned pirate who had since recovered his wits. Her second victim didn't even get a chance to pull his weapon, instead finding the orange glow of the baton rebounding off his head, his head in turn into the wall behind him. All things considered, he was rendered unconscious before he even knew he had been hit, let alone shocked. Her gaze shifted over to pirate number three. He simply stared as she approached, shuffling back into the wall with her proximity.

"You gonna cause any trouble?" The pirate shook his head with the question and she nodded, moving on to pirate number four. She gathered up the collar of his black jumpsuit and began to drag him along. His struggles were merely an inconvenience and she pushed him into the next closed blast door, favoring him with a leaded blue eyed glare. "I ain't happy right now. Open it."

Behind her, the slightest whisper of a weapon clearing its sheath was hear and Ranma's opposite hand flashed out without looking, produceing a meter wide ball of atmosphere compressed ki that blazed back into pirate number three with a sickening thud. Her steely gaze never left pirate number four, who was whimpering now. At first he had thought she was Galaxy Police with the hand to hand moves, but with the doors and that energy blast... His eyes flicked back to his pirate comrade, who had been thrown dead or unconscious all the way across the corridor. Not GP. Something worse, and he nodded emphatically to comply. The redhead released him and he sagged with relief, turning to the hatch panel and keying through the requisite code. It chirped politely and the segmented doors hissed open.

He stepped back and was instantly bathed in laser fire, Ranma's own eyes widening as vectors of thing blue light lanced through the man's body, killing him instantly. She pressed into the meager cover of the blast door's frame and sparks rebounded off it and the plate walls of the corridor around her, giving her precious seconds to review her tactical options. Now those were space weapons, she decided began to invert her ki with some effort. After another full minute of saturation, the laser fire slackened and footsteps could be heard.

"Did anybody see where she went?"
"...Had her pinned down!"
"I've got four unconscious in here... one flatline!"

Ranma simply waited as armored space pirates ran past her, filling out the corridor around her.

"Bridge, she's not here! What do you have on internals?"
"Stand by... I've got her on heat."

The soldiers tensed, raiding their energy rifles in preparation.

"She's... SHIT! She's right in the middle of you!"
"What!"
"Dead center of your formation! Middle!"

That was her cue and the redhead slid out of the forbidden technique already blurring into her first target. Even though these pirates had come prepared, swathed in armor, the martial artist was through four limbs and three unconscious victims in under two seconds, moving onto the fourth even as they had only begun to comprehend the threat in their midst. A laser rifle swung around and it was slapped away, quickly followed by the crack of a displaced kneecap and a spinning roundhouse to the head. Whatever ballistic protection the pirate's helmet was meant to provide apparently didn't extend to high caliber weapons or super powered martial artists, sending him spinning into another pirate like a top to immobilize him as well. The topsy-turvy spin sent his rifle up like a pop-fly ball where Ranma snatched it out of the air and leaned backward into the angle only Olympic gymnast could have executed, disarming her sixth victim with what was normally a ranged weapon. His weapon clattered to the steel plate deck with hers and the redhead was fully into her cartwheel, hands on the floor and two supple legs wrapping around his neck. She secured them around his airway and snapped him hard to the deck with a suplex, rendering him as unconscious as his fellows.

"Team one! One, respond!" Ranma recovered to height, reviewing the engagement mentally even as one of the displaced pirate helmets pleaded for a response. "O'donka! Do you have eyes on the girl? O'donka? Castle! We're sending teams two and three down!"

The martial artists kicked the helmet away, sending it skittering down the corridor even as she mentally revised the Umi Sen ken to take into account her body heat with the Soul of Ice. She stepped out of the circle of bodies and continued down the hallway, turning down the blind corner and coming face to face with another lone pirate, this lacking any sort of armament whatsoever.

"Hey, aren't you-AHHHARG!."

"Yeah, that's me," Ranma smirked, grabbing his hand and twisting it, sending the pirate to his knees in agony. She held the lock the wrist with no effort whatsoever. "You're gonna answer my questions, aren't ya?"

"Yesyesyesyesyes!" he hollared as she twisted his right palm outward a bit more.

"Good. Cuz if ya don't, I'm gonna break this, then your elbow, and then the shoulder," She advised simply even while acknowledging the fact that she'd probably just knock him out before resorting to that level of cohesion. The look in his eyes told her it wouldn't be necessary, however, so she continued. "This is a ship. Ships have captains. I want to see this ship's captain and you're gonna show me where he is."

The pirate whimpered, still cringing with the pain lancing all the way up his arm from the joint lock. "But... but he'll kill me!"

A rapist and a murderer. Simply wonderful, Ranma groused but held the arrogant smirk for the submissive man. "Nah he won't. I have it on good authority he wanted ta see me anyway."

"Sector three, corridor five breached!"
"Still no response from teams one or three!"
"Nothing on thermal! She's dropped off internal sensors entirely!"
"Sealing sector... Team two reports they are being engaged!"

"On screen!" Captain Riktus Corde snarled and the compartment's feed was routed to the main screen where the action was already in progress. The bridge fell silent as they watched what amounted to a redheaded buzzsaw weave in and out of the pirate compliment, dropping any she touched at will. The contrast flared as a weapons beam came dangerously close to the visual circuit itself and by the time the image had compensated, only a handful of his men remained. Laser fire was useless. Any attempts to meet the girl in hand to hand were similarly disastrous. only two men remained now and the pirate captain was grinding his teeth. "Vent that section to space."

"Sir, the men!"

"Damn those fools!" Riktus smashed a meaty fist into his armrest to vent his impotent fury. "They can't even claim themselves to be pirates if they're being slapped around by some native waif! Depressurize that compartment!"

"Ahrm," An imposing bald man coughed politely, stepping down from his station to stand next to his captain. "Sir, if I may?"

Captain Riktus glared at his executive officer for the interruption, but nodded his assent and the man keyed a couple of buttons on his armrest. A holographic image phased into existance denoting the a ship schmatic and several flashing compartments in yellow. "These are the compartments she's cut her way through. Cut her way through. We depressurize B68 and all of those, including the men behind them go with her... Not just that squad."

"Team two completely neutralized! No response!"
"I've lost her!"

"And I don't give a damn, Commander!" His captain growled, eyes glinting dangerously. "I want her off this ship! I want those incompetents off this ship as well!"

The bridge crew of fellow pirates listened in stunned silence for a moment, but returned to their stations lest they run afoul of their captain's homocidal mood. Still, the fact that he had been willing to vent nearly twenty six of his own to open space was indelibly noted; especially when the girl- whatever the hell she really was -had yet to kill one.

"Blast door 381b compromised!" The litany of damages continued, further incenssing the captain. The image on screen switched with the announcment, only to find a perfect two meter circle cut into the plasteel hatch, but no girl.

"VENT HER TO SPACE!"

"We can't vent her to space if we don't know where she is, Captain." The commander explained patiently. Sure, he could have suggested that they seal off everything around her last known location two compatements in depth to ensure her departusre, but there were men and women in those too and he wasn't about to suggest that to the captain in his current state. True to form, he could see the man's fury building and the bald man made an attempt to head it off decisively. "That said, if she's foolish enough to want to come to us, i suggest we let her."

The Captain's rage relented, though he still eyed his XO suspisiously. "Go on, Commander Caleb."

"It's obvious she's making her way toward the bridge," The commander state, pointing along the holographic blue print and the trail of damage. "As such, there is only one way in, one way out. The moment she breaches that door we pour everything into it. Toss a few cracklers down the hatch just to be sure."

"Indeed..." Riktus hissed, a cruel smile forming at the edge of his lips as he imagined the girl stepping through the bridge access, only to get torn apart by blaster fire and explosives. "Do it! Helm, set auto-pilot; We have a witch to fry!"

Commander Caleb nodded, turning back to the bridge crew. "You heard the man, slobs! Spread out around the bridge so we have even coverage and multiple vectors of fire. Nox, grab some cracklers and get ready!"

The bridge crew scrambled with the orders, abandoning their stations to take up cover behind the supports and chairs. Another dusty blond ran over to a sealed compartment in the wall and stabbed the green button of its holographic panel. The small hatch slid open and he reached in, pulling two smallish cylinders before taking his own place within throwing distance of the main access. Even as they all moved into position, another keening alarm sounded. One of the personnel found it's origin.

"Blast door 221a compromised," the woman reported in a stressed voice. "One more before she's on the same-" Another pitchy alarm sounded and she frowned. "She's on the command deck! Only minimum security doors between her and us now!"

"Heheheh...Hahaha.. HAHAHAHAH!" The Captain cackled manically in the open, pulling a wicked looking pistol from it's holster and sighting the long barrel on the sealed hatch. "Let the wench come! LET HER COME!"

Another eight laser weapons lined up onto the door even as the keening alert continued. "Hatch 003 breached! Hatch 002 breached!"

This time a subtle thud was heard with the last announcement and the bridge crews collective trigger fingers tensed. The door they stared at now was the very last one standing between her and-

SZzzzziKT!

The faintest outline of a circle appear in the doorway, molecularly sharp by Caleb's estimations, not to mention impossibly quick. Sure the doors were fairly easy to brute force and a plasma cutter could melt clean through the average security door in seconds, but nothing was that clean, that fast and above all, that silent. If they hadn't already known she was behind that hatch, none of them would have even known she was there until it was far too late. But since we do, The commander seated the laser rifle deep into his shoulder and waited. he didn't have long and the circle of plasteel fell in.

"FIRE!"

The high pitch of beam discharge permeated the air and laser fire lanced into the hatch, rebounding off the security door, it's frame and the corridor beyond. The captain continued to feed in high energy plasma pulses with his own weapon and the commander continued to light off his own rifle, but had the presence of mind to enact the second phase of their defense. "Cracklers, now!"

The pirate who had retrieved the explosive cylinders gave one a sharp twist and lobbed it through the sundered hatch where it clattered amid the laser fire before detonating in a wild gout of flame and sparks. He palmed the second and tossed it in behind the first buckling the corridor further with the low pressure charge. Smoke billowed from the free fire zone and the emergency ventilation engaged, sucking away the cloud before it achieved carciogenic levels. After a full two minutes of fire, he called the ceasefire lowering his own weapon and barking his next orders at another crew member.

"Chang, get in there. Check it out." The black haired male frowned, but hopped over the bridge railing to the door, blaster poised. His sole comfort was in the fact that nothing could have survived the now blackened cooridor of death. He stepped carefully through to the halfway point, shaking his head.

"There ain't nuthin' in here, Commander Sir!" he took another look, just to be sure. "No body, no blood... Nuthin!"

"That's impossible, fool!" Captain Riktus hollered, moving up to the door himself. Sure enough, there was the gunners mate standing all by himself in a corridor marred by high temperatures and explosive detonations. Nothing could have survived in there, but something did because that something wasn't there. The man stood trembling for a moment, his gaze seeing nothing before him but red fury. "FIND HER! FIND THAT WITCH AND KILL HER!"

He whirled back around to reenter the bridge and stopped, happening upon a sight that caused his blood to run cold. There she was. On the bridge. Sitting in his very chair... Completely unscathed. Commander Caleb saw his captain freeze suddenly, stared curiously for a moment before turning to find what had cause the reaction. It was, in fact, the red head they had been searching for. She was lounging in the captain's chair, one leg draped over the left armrest, watching the goings on about her as if she were merely curious and hadn't just disabled three armed assault teams and survived an impossible crossfire.

What the hell did we let aboard our ship?

"Hey, which one of you is the captain?" She asked easily and Riktus' pistol flew from it's holster, leveling out on the girl. For once, Caleb was simply too stunned to even raise his rifle, as was the rest of the bridge crew if the shock on their faces was any indication. The girl's blue eyes narrowed on the pistol and her face faded into a neutral mask. "That'd be you then."

"Yes, that would be me," The captain hissed as he edged along the perimeter of his own bridge, keeping the pistol trained on her at all times. "I am The Bloody Star, Captain Ricktus Corde of The God Slayer at your service!" His the right edge of his lip turned up into a sneer. "Forgive me for not bowing."

The redhead waived the apology away as little more than an inconvenience. "Don't worry about it. Not much on formalities myself."

"Indeed, indeed..." Riktus chuckled, flexing his trigger finger as if it had an itch. The girl emoted neither care or notice as she favored him with a bored look. "I should shoot you just for being in my chair, young lady... But I am feeling generous today. My bed would be far more comfortable, wouldn't you agree?"

"Nah. Think I'd rather be shot."

The captain's cheek twitched and a scowl began to gradually replace his leer. "Then at least have the decency to remove yourself my chair... I would so hate to put a hole in it."

"Sure, why not?" the girl shrugged, removing her leg from the arm rest before hoping up out of the recliner. It was also the last clear shot he would receive and suddenly the girl was a blur. To his credit the Captain had the reflexes to squeeze off one round and the bolt blazed into her after image, blasting a hole into an unfortunate panel. His attempt to track the girl ended with a crushing vice around his gun hand and her crystal blue eyes in his face. He tried to pull the trigger. Tried desperately. her hand was interlocked into his around the gun and her smirking visage hung in his face for a moment before she slid around, taking the arm with her around his back.

Commander Caleb... watched. It was all he could do. He watched as she charged the gun- an ordinarily suicidal move made all the more suicidal in the fact that the Captain was an expert duelist -and actually dodged the shot. She pulled the hand around in a classic locking maneuver, except this particular joint lock still held the gun in hand and it was now pointed directly into the back of Corde's skull. Their leader instantly ceased all movement even though he positively towered over the girl and the Commander's mouth was completely dry. What the FUCK had just happened? Finally something close to a coherent thought found it's way to his lips.

"Captain... Your... orders?"

"I wish to parlay!" Riktus yelped, imagining just what sort of mess a plasma bolt would create if discharged into the back of his head.

"I don't." Ranma returned evenly, not even knowing what a parlay was but correctly divining the meaning through the desperation in his voice. "In fact, I'm thinkin' you really want to take me back where I came from."

"Anything, anything!" The captain whined only to be countermanded by his second.

"We can't." The girl's icey gaze fell upon the commander and he shivered, especially knowing what she was fully capable of and seeing it demonstrated first hand. They had scannered her before first chucking her in the cell. No weapons. No nanite enhancement. No battle suit. More importantly, he was certain she could kill every last person on the bridge, yet had as yet declined to do so on her good graces alone. They owed her an answer for that favor alone. "It was a random jump, nav computers fried. We were even lucky to find your planet, let alone make the repairs to get off of it without the entire goddamn GP fleet dropping on us."

The girl let her steely gaze bore into him for another moment or so before pushing the gun back into the captain's scalp to empasis her displeasure. "You realize how unhappy that makes me, right?"

"I... I've been plotting the jumps by hand," A buxom black haired woman with a short crop of hair volunteered nervously, also hoping to avoid her own annihilation at the redhead's hands. "Without the computer to store the more complex jump angles and fold equations, finding your planet will be..."

Next to impossible, Ranma finished with a mental scowl, turning her attention back to the captain. "And I suppose he's the one who decided I'd be a great addition to his bedroom?"

The Executive Officer frowned. It was really the topic he had been hoping to avoid, even if the through was largely wishful thinking. Any truthful answer would condemn the man to death and if she found out they were lying, would condemn everybody else to death. Fortunately, the captain preempted any other response with a whimper.

"Please don't kill me," The man whined, all but admitting his guilt to the girl. "There's treasure in the hold! help yourself! Anything!"

"How about I just take your entire damn ship?" The girl tapped the end of the barrel hard into the back of his, simultaneously retching the joint and reminding him just how precarious his situation was.

"Yes! yes! A splendid idea!" The Captain agreed eagerly, casuing the commander and half the bridge crew to stare dumbly at him. "And the crew as well! It's all yours! Simply set me down on a habitable planet and I'll be about my way!"

Ranma glanced back at the executive officer. "Got one of those handy?"

It took Caleb a moment to realize what she was refering to. After all, he was still coming to terms with the fact that his captain had just sacrificed every last one of them to save his own hide. "One what?"

"Y'know, what he said."

"Um, we won't know until we get the nav back online." The black haired girl answered again, staring at the man formerly known as their captain. "Once we do, we can fix our exact position in space... maybe even find your planet on a star chart."

"Then do that." She yanked the pistol out of Rikus' hand and poked two points at the base of his neck. The pirate captain instantly lost complete control of his muscular neverous system and collapsed bonelessly to the deck with an 'oof!'. She waved the pistol nonchalantly around. "Keep him out of trouble. Let me know whan you get the nav thing workin. Goin' back to my room."

"Uh... Yes Captain?" Caleb murmured as she stepped through the perfectly circular breach through which she came.

Ranma Saotome retraced his path back through the pirate ships corridors back to her room. Normally she would have been hard pressed to navigate the seemingly featureless hallways, save the fact that she had carved through a path through their doors and in the processes making it quite easy to return to her room. Pirates stared but unlike her journey to the bridge declined to impede her progress in any way, which was fine by her. One less ass-kicking i'll have to hand out before getting off this boat, she mused, continuing unmolested toward her destination. Overall, there wasn't a whole lot to complain about, aside from the inconvenience of being spirited away from home, she decided upon stepping through the final circular cut hatch and back to her cell. Ranma shrugged mentally. The bed therein was a sight more comfortable than the futon back at the Tendos, let alone the camp site she had set up.

Even runnining water, she smiled, stepping up to the facet, then frowned upon further study of the wall imbedded unit. No knobs to turn. She ran her hadn unter the spout just incase it was motion activated but failed to coax any warter from the station.

"Hard to get hot water if-" Her grousing was cut short as liquid began to flow freely from the facet. The redhead stared for a moment, then shrugged to herself, dipping her hands into its warmth. "I guess that works."

Ranma gave herself a quick splash across the face instantly reverted to the gender of his birth: taller by nearly a foot, black hair and quite noticably male in appearance. He adusted his silk shirt to take into account the sudden lack of cleavage and gave himself a stretch. Pirates, Ranma snorted. So far the "space pirates" had done little to impress apart from the fancy lasers they toted. Some of the pirates even made for decent hand to hand targets, but none of it- including the pop-out wall mounted laser turrets encountered on his way up to the bridge -posed a credible threat and now all he had to occupy his time was the small room, it's bed and

Ranma vs Blast doors - Upon waking up aboard the ship for the first time, Ranma executes a technique that carves a perfect circle through about an inch an a half plasteel security door. At first I had written this scene in with breaking point, but decided it was not only cliche, but entirely unnecessary as Ranma has a number of his own breach techniques. This particular example can be found in book 31 Part 5 - "Both Akane and Alkari" where Ranma literally cuts through half a meter of solid concrete, opening a perfect two meter circle into the next room... And incidentally atop Ryoga's head, knocking him out cold and giving us an approximate density of said material.

Crapspace notes-

Not that this wouldn't have been a fun fic, but it would be time consuming and i have enough of those fics. Let's see... We'd have eventially had ranma's arch nemisis Mihosihi (then later love interest), Ranma the pirate king/queen, a bounty, conspiracy in the GXP, a tree ship oh his own and a cat girl second in command. WILL THE FUN NEVER STOP? Yes. It did. Right here is where.