SMST 6D: Ace of Hearts! – By DS Wynne


Disclaimer: None of the principled characters and situations belongs to me.

Note: This is a multi-genre story.

Special Note: This story takes place after the events of "Hero Ultimate", "Journey to Adventures" and "Journey to Mystery".


Part 3


Meanwhile…

"Sir, I still say that there is no way we can launch without knowing for sure if the systems will perform under combat," Lisa retorted.

"Unfortunately, we have no choice," Gloval replied. "Our pilots are holding the line long enough for us to get this ship off of Earth. We cannot let them down."

"Understood, sir," Lisa says, as she turns to read the data coming from Tactical. "Launch activation sequence is almost GO."

"Good," Gloval replied. "Claudia?"

"Yes, sir," said Claudia, as she activates the ship-wide communications system.

"Attention: All Hands! Prepare for launch! I repeat: prepare for launch!"

"Prepare for full thrust on the anti-gravity generator," Gloval said.

"Yes, sir," Lisa replied. She then turns towards the co-called "Bridge Bunnies".

"Vanessa?"

"Operations at ready," Vanessa (short haircut, brown haired girl who wears glasses) replied.

"Kim?"

"Engineering standing by," Kim (short hair, blue haired girl) replied.

"Sammy?"

"Auxiliary good to go!" Samantha (long hair, orange-haired girl) replied.

"Ready for lunch, sir," Lisa said, as she turns toward Gloval.

"Good. Claudia, initiate launch sequence, ten second countdown."

"T-minus ten seconds," Claudia said, as she flips a switch. "Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, ONE-"

"Launch!" Gloval commands.

HUMMMMMMMMMM…

The SDF-1 begins to rise in the air like a graceful behemoth. This, of course did not go unnoticed.

'Ranma, look!' Sailor Cosmos think telepathically. She was checking to see if more Zentraedi were lurking about from above the city.

Across town, Ranma sees this, along with Mimmey and Sailor Jupiter.

"Hey, that ship is flying!" Mimmey exclaims

"Indeed," Ranma says. He then turns towards Sailor Jupiter.

"Look after the girl, Sailor Jupiter," Ranma said, as he hops back into his borrowed Veritech.

"Hey, don't leave me behind-!" Mimmey yelled.

Ranma looks at the girl.

"Look, you indicated that you don't trust me," Ranma said.

"I don't, but I know that you can protect me."

"…"

"Please, can I go with you?" Mimmey begged.

Ranma sighs.

"Fine, hop in."

"Yay!"

"Where are you going, Ranma?" Sailor Jupiter asked, as Mimmey is pulled up into the tandem vehicle.

"To see if Captain Gloval and his crew need further assistance."

And, with that, Ranma takes off with a reluctant stowaway.

"Ranma, you're always fall for an obvious feminine 'technique'," Sailor Jupiter says, as she shakes her head. She wonders how long it will be before Ranma adds yet another girl to his proverbial "harem".

Meanwhile, the launch of the SDF-1 proceeds nicely, until-

"Sir, I'm getting multiple readings from engineering," Kim said. "Sir, the anti-gravity generators-!"

Sure enough, the anti-generators began to pull up and away from the SDF-1.

"System-wide failure is immanent!" Vanessa replied.

"Blast it," Gloval yelled. "We should have checked those first-!"

"Sir, we're falling back down to Earth…hard!" Lisa said.

"Vanessa-" Gloval began to say.

"Switching to auxiliary control!" Kim interjects. "Rocket boosters will be ready in thirty seconds…"

"Impact in ten seconds!" Vanessa replied. "Damage to ship predicted to be at thirty percent loss of full capabilities."

Gloval growled. He didn't want to start the launch of the SDF-1 with these so many problems."

Meanwhile…

"Usagi, do you see-?" Ranma asked.

"I see it, Ranma," Sailor Cosmos replied, as she switches from Moon Scythe to her Cosmic Moon Staff. She then raises it into the air.

"Forces of nature!" Sailor Cosmos yells. "Lend me your ear! Allow me to use the weight of your might to make this tool of Man as light as tears!"

Sailor Cosmos' eyes glowed, as she points her staff at the SDF-1.

CHOOM!

"What is that?" Claudia exclaims, as the ship is surrounded by light.

"I don't know what it is, but the gravitational constant around this ship has been nullified," Vanessa says.

"At least the we'll save most of the anti-gravity generators," Lisa replied. "Even though they should have been tested first."

"Then we should make haste," Gloval says as he leans back. "Proceed towards orbital insertion."

"Yes, Captain."

The SDF-1 slowly rises into the upper atmosphere. At a certain point, Sailor Cosmos could see that her assistance was no longer needed.

'Whew,' Sailor Cosmos thinks to herself. 'I wonder why the SDF-1 was having so much trouble getting off the ground-?'

'Usagi, are you okay?'

Sailor Cosmos turns to see Ranma hovering near her. She also sees that there was a girl with her husband.

'Another one?' Sailor Cosmos thought telepathically.

'What?' Ranma replied likewise.

'Nothing. I'm heading up to see if Gloval will need assistance.'

'Right behind you,' Ranma thought, as he took his Veritech fighter into the skies.

"Humph," Usagi said, as she flew alongside her husband.

Meanwhile, Mimmey presses her face against the glass of the cockpit.

"She's pretty," Mimmey said. "Is she goddess or something?"

"Yes to both, and something more," Ranma replied. "Hang on…"

Soon, Ranma and Mimmey were docked, along with-

"Hey, Ranma!" Rick Hunter said, as he hops out of the detached cockpit. "You're alive!"

"Is there any doubt?" Ranma replied.

"Sir, who's the civilian?" Roy Folker asked. Although he knew Ranma personally, on duty, Ranma was a superior officer.

"This is-" Ranma began to say.

"I'm Lynn Mimmey," Mimmey said with a bubbly expression. "And I want to be an entertainer."

"Cute."

Mimmey turns towards Ranma.

"Ranma, where is the goddess?" Mimmey asked.

"'Goddess'?" Roy inquired.

"She's probably talking about Big Sister," Rick interjects.

"Oh, the Bunny," Roy replied. "How she could be flag officer is beyond me."

"Hey, you're not the only one, and I happen to be married to her," Ranma said.

"'Married'?" Mimmey asked with a perplexed manner.

"Um, we better talk to Captain Gloval about setting up a defense strategy, one that Homeworld Security can synchronize with," Ranma said.

"Right. I'll meet you on deck, after I show Rick and your friend to the guest area," Roy said.

"Got it."

Ranma turns towards Rick and Mimmey.

"Be safe, you two," Ranma said, as he turns away. He was already familiar with the SDF-1, since he was one of the test pilots for the Veritech program.

"Thanks a lot!" Minmey yelled.

"Sounds like you know him," Rick asked.

"I'll say," Roy said. "Come, let me show you around…"

Meanwhile…

Sailor Cosmos stood on the hull of the SDF-1, while she interpreted the various transmissions that were crisscrossing through space. From her eavesdropping activities, the Senshi of Cosmos could tell that Zentraedi were planning on something.

And then it came.

In an effort to circumvent the forces of the Gao'uld and the Americans, the Zentraedi decided to create a micro warp point right above the SDF-1.

"Ranma!" Sailor Cosmos yelled. As a goddess, things like the vacuum of space need not apply, so to speak. "The Zentraedi are about to warp right on top of us!"

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the SDF-1…

"Wait, did someone just yell your name from outside this ship?" Gloval asked.

"Never mind that, Henry," Ranma replied. He then turns to Lisa.

"I need a tactical on all spatial traffic. Look for any anomalies relating to warp signatures."

"Listen, sir, I only adhere to the chain of command," Lisa harrumphed.

"She got you there, sir," Roy says.

"Uh-hum?" Gloval says, as he cleared his throat.

Ranma turns his attention back towards Gloval.

"Sorry, about that, Henry. I…got ahead of myself."
"Apologies accepted, Rannma," Gloval replied. He then turns towards Lisa.

"You heard the man! Get a move on that data!"

"Er, yes sir-!" Lisa replied, as she began to acquire the data-

CHIRP!

"Oh, no!" Lisa says. She then turns towards Claudia.

"Claudia-"

"Already on it," Claudia says. "My goodness…switching to main viewing screen!"

CHIRP!

A large ship appears overhead. It appeared to have clamps and claws ready to grab the SDF-1…

"Of course!" Gloval exclaims. "That's why they called off their attack."

"Sir?" Roy asked.

"Apparently, they want this ship."

"Maybe it belongs to them?" asked Sammy.

"Perhaps, but the fact that they attacked us-"

"Actually, we fired on them, sir," Claudia said. "You know, with the main cannons?"

"Which is was the result of the booby trap tactic," Gloval replied. "Obviously, someone doesn't want this ship to be returned, and until we know why, I suggest that we treat these people like the enemy. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," replied the crew of the SDF-1.

"Henry, what's next?" Ranma asked.

"Ranma, the only choice we have is to do a 'micro-warp'," Gloval replied. "If we can pull that trick off, we can get these aliens away from Earth."

"Sir, we're two close to the alien ship for a successful warp," Lisa replied.

"Then we have to go back down to Earth…roughly 2000 feet."

"Yes, sir."

"But…won't that be a bit close to Macross Island?" Claudia asked.

"Hopefully, the micro-warp will be just that: micro-"
CHUNK!

The Zentraedi ship had the managed to grab the SDF-1.

"Sir, we're stuck-" Vanessa said.

"I'll get us unstuck," Ranma said, as he heads out the door. "Just continue that countdown."

"Good luck!" Gloval said.

"Wait for me, sir-!" Roy began to say.

"No, stay put, just in case I don't succeed."

"Sure thing…"

And with that, Ranma leaves.

A short time later…

WHAM!

Sailor Cosmos and Ranma, via his Veritech, smashes the last grappler.

"That should do it," Sailor Cosmos said, as the SDF-1 begins to plummet back towards the Earth.

"We should get back inside before-" Ranma said, just as the ship above began to fire upon the SDF-1's key flight systems, all in an effort to neutralize the space fortress. Unfortunately, one of those key systems was too close to Usagi's present position.

ZAAARK!

BOOM!

"USAGI!" Ranma yelled, as his grip was lost, just as Sailor Cosmos is blown away by the blast.

"RANMA!" Sailor Cosmos yelled back.

The latest attack had knocks Sailor Cosmos away…just as the SDF-1 was about to make a desperate leap forward…

Aboard the command deck of the SDF-1, the Russian naval officer, Captain Gloval grimaced. He wished that utilizing the fortress' engines to make an emergency "space jump" could have been done under better circumstances, but…

"Activate the 'Fold Drives'," Gloval ordered.

"Activating drives…now," says Lisa, as she activated the jump.

FWOOSH!

"RANMAAAAAAAA-"

And with that, Ranma, along with the SDF-1 was gone.

Tbc.


Next time: With Usagi gone, Ranma has to draw his inner strength in order to mount a rescue attempt…in orbit of the planetoid known as Pluto! See you next time…