OK, so I think I've finally found my 'Ranma center' here.

Time for things to heat up a bit

MattSaotome


Chapter 6

Jailbreak!

The Wildstar has been under high warp for Orion Prime for the past hour. Long range scans of the system ahead have been completed, and the senior staff is assembling in the briefing room in order to put together some kind of a plan. I can't get thoughts of outside influence out of my head, and, though it is rare for this to happen in my case, I am worried about Akane's father, Admiral Tendo. Perhaps this time, he's bit off more than all of Starfleet can chew…

Ryouga was fidgeting. He felt extremely uncomfortable. He didn't understand what was going through his head on the bridge. Why the hell did he cut off that Cell guy the way he did? Without approval. Why had he assumed the worst when he saw Ranma running out of his quarters and Akane inside? Why? Because she had been shirtless, that was why! What had Ranma done to her? He could picture a sex crazed Ranma Saotome glomping himself onto Akane, hungry for action! It made him shiver. Ranma had extended a hand of friendship to him. Was this any way for Ranma to behave after that? He said that the choice was Akane's, and Ryouga was certain of the direction that choice would take. He was all too confident that Akane would never willingly pick Ranma. She hated him too much.

No, Ranma had crossed the line, this time! Ryouga would not sit back with Ranma's assurances of friendship now. That was screwed up pretty much permanently.

"Ranma, you dog!" Ryouga growled to himself. "I won't be your friend! We're rivals to the bone, and it'll always be that way!"

Just as he finished, the com beeped. "Saotome to Hibiki."

Ryouga snarled a bit. "Go ahead."

"Report to the observation lounge for senior staff briefing."

Ryouga fumbled for words for a moment. Briefing? Wasn't he confined to quarters? Oh well. Eat that, Shampoo!

"On my way." Ryouga answered, standing and heading for the doors.


The senior staff poured into the briefing room in mild silence. It was all too obvious that everyone was just as disturbed by what was happening as Ranma. He watched them all file in and take their seats, almost like watching a funeral precession without a casket. The doors closed behind the last man, then suddenly swung open again as Ryouga came in and headed for his seat. He took it just as silently, but was eying Ranma with disdain the whole time.

What's his problem? Ranma wondered. Before he could try to figure it out, the doors opened again, and Shampoo walked in and took her seat. Ryouga's face displayed mild shock, but it was gone before a few seconds had passed.

"Thank you all for coming," Ranma began.

"Not like we had a choice!" Ryouga spat right back.

"…Is there a problem, Ryouga?" Ranma asked, a little flustered by Ryouga's behavior.

"Yes." Ryouga answered cleanly.

Ranma saw the look on Ryouga's face and remembered it all too well. "Look, Ryouga. If you have a problem with me, we can discuss it later. That's part of what 'burying the hatchet' means."

Ryouga just growled a little as he crossed his arms over his chest. "There will be no more 'hatchet burying', SIR!"

Ranma thought for a second, then, to the shock of everyone there, shot his tongue out at Ryouga!

Ryouga's face went red with rage, and he began to yell back at Ranma.

"Why you lit-"

"Shutup!!" Ranma pointed a finger at Ryouga without looking at him. "We're here for a briefin', so deal with it. If ya wanna kill me so badly, at least wait 'til we're done here."

"Fine!" Ryouga spat back through gritted teeth.

"Stupid boy won't hurt my Ranma!" Shampoo glared at Ryouga.

"Shutup!!" Ranma pointed another finger at Shampoo, but turned to face her with a forced grin. "I belong to ME! YOU just do your job!"

Shampoo smiled as if she wasn't even getting in trouble. "Hai, Ranma!" At least she understood the shut up part.

Akane was wearing an expression that could have come to life on its own and strangled the life out of the Amazon woman across from her. After taking a moment to glare in hatred at her, Akane turned to face the front again.

"Shampoo, you took a long range sensor scan of the Orion system." Ranma pointed out. Shampoo nodded quickly in reply. "Show us what ya found."

"Hai!" Shampoo jumped out of her chair and went to the front of the room. She punched in a few commands, and the viewscreen came to life with an image of the Orion System. "Long range scan show obvious military base at Orion Prime. Also, military bunker on second moon. 6 Orion raiders in orbit of planet. Also 2 D Deridex Romulan Warbirds. Detailed scan of bunker show prison section with one human life form."

"The CinC." Ranma said, turning away from the display to face the table of people again. Without warning, Shampoo slapped the back of Ranma's head hard.

"Ow!" Ranma began to rub it.

"That SHAMPOO'S news to tell, Ranma!" She huffed back to her seat and sat down with a scowl on her face. Ranma just rubbed the back of his head for a few more minutes.

"So it's like this." Goku said. "We know where the CinC is. The closest beam in point is here."

The screen moved to display an area that was obviously a good walk from the CinC's location. Obviously not something that would help them in the 'remaining un-noticed' department!

"There are at least a dozen security officers between the beam in point and the CinC's location." Mousse spoke up.

"So send in the Wildcards." McCoy said. "That is what they do, isn't it?"

Everyone at the table nodded.

"Ok then." Ranma said. "So we send in the Wildcards. Mr. Stoltz, chose four of your men to go with you. Commander Mousse will accompany your unit along with Bones."

Steven nodded. "Aye, sir."

"We'll get close enough ta beam ya in without detection, then we'll stand by 'til we get your signal for beam up. Once you're back on board with the CinC, we'll head outta the system. At the edge of Orion space, we'll leave a subspace transmitter buoy, statin' that the treaty of Algeron has been rescinded due ta Romulan involvement in a direct attack upon the Federations internal security. That'll be it. No uncloakin', no engagin' the Orion raiders or the Romulan Warbirds. Just get in, recover the CinC, get out, and leave. Any questions?"

There was total silence until a hand went up at the back of the table.

"Mr. Hummer?" Ranma gave the ensign the floor.

"How can we beam anyone through their shield grid?" Hummer asked.

"It's quite simple, really." Vegeta leaned forward, turning to face the ensign. "We'll fire a narrow anion particle beam at their shield grid. Under normal circumstances, this would set off the alarm. However, we'll be firing a beam with a particle density skinnier in width than your pinky finger. This will barely accommodate one person to beam through the opening at a time. It's just a tiny hole in their defensive grid. It won't show up on their computers until it's at least an inch wide, so no worries."

Mr. Hummer was busily twisting his hand in different directions, observing his pinky finger with an unusual look on his face when he realized that Vegeta was done talking. He looked up all too quickly before feeling kind of sheepish and putting his hand back down on his leg. "Um, Ok. Sounds good!"

Vegeta snickered once, then turned back to Ranma. He mouthed the word 'imbecile' as he crossed his arms. Ranma shook his head with a bit of a smile.

"Well, everyone knows the plan. We'll enter the system under cloak, and remain that way 'til we're at the edge of Orion Space. Dismissed."

Everyone rose at the same time and made for the exits.


Captain's log, supplemental. We'll be entering the Orion system in about ten minutes. With everything ready for the rescue, which the Wildcards have lovingly titled 'Operation: Jailbreak', the Wildstar's crew waits for action with baited breath. Unfortunately, they won't get any if everything goes according to plan. But we all know what Murphy usually has to say about that…

Ranma paced a five foot space at the center of the bridge, his hands behind his back. He couldn't take the suspense.

"Sir," Goku grinned. "You're wearing a hole in the deck plating!"

Ranma came to a stop and sighed. Obviously, his pacing was getting to the bridge officers, no matter how much better it made him feel. He turned and quickly stat in his chair. The last few minutes ticked by at an almost painfully slow pace before Ryouga finally called over his shoulder, "Now approaching the Orion system."

Ranma was back on his feet in a flash, stepping only a foot or two forward.

"Slow ta impulse." He said. Ryouga pushed a few buttons here and there, and the star field outside the ship began to slow. Ranma caught a glimpse of something swelling in the middle of the viewscreen.

"Is that…" Goku was squinting. He didn't have to for long, however, as the object very quickly came to full size.

It was the second moon in orbit of Orion Prime, and they could very plainly make out almost every detail of it!!

"SHIT!!!" Ryouga's eyes went wide, realizing he'd come out of warp IN the system instead of before it.

"Computer, emergency stop!!" Ranma hollered. The Wildstar screeched to a halt, and Ryouga's panel measured their distance from the moon at a little under one hundred meters when they finally achieved a full stop.

Half the bridge crew was staring wide eyed at the viewscreen, displaying the symptoms of mild shock. Ranma caught his breath, then hit Ryouga over the back of the head hard.

"You twit!!" He emphasized the 'twit' with his hand as hard as he could.

"Ouch!!" Ryouga winced downward and held the back of his head with both hands. "Sorry!!"

Ranma turned to walk away from the helm station. "Yeah, not as sorry as you'll be if that happens again! Synchronous orbit over the bunker!" Then Ranma noticed the bridge crew around him. He sighed again, and clapped his hands together hard, giving off a very satisfying 'BANG!!!'

The crew jumped back to reality as they realized they were all still alive.

"OK, people. We got work ta do. I don't wanna be hidin' right under the noses of the Orions and Romulans all day, ya know!" Ranma said sternly as he walked over to the tactical station. "Briton, tactical analysis of the system."

Briton hit a few buttons and watched a few displays before answering.

"Everything looks Ok, Captain. The warbirds are in orbit of the planet, and the raiders are spread out over a 10,000 kilometer radius from the moon. As long as they don't fly right into us, staying cloaked will work just fine."

Ranma nodded. "Alright!" He walked over to the engineering station next, and leaned over it beside Dana. "Begin firing the anion particle beam, Mr. Jorgensen."

Dana nodded with a chuckle. She hadn't been called 'Mr. Jorgensen' since her first captain. For some reason, she realized she'd kinda missed it, if only for just how grammatically incorrect it really was!

"Firing now." She said. "I'm bringing up a thermal image scan of their shield grid."

On the viewscreen, the moon blipped to a collection of reds, greens and yellows against a hard blue. Ranma watched as one of these patches began to form on the bunker's shield grid. It began as a tiny little yellow spot, but before a minute was up, it was an obvious little red hole. As Vegeta had explained, it was no larger than his pinky finger.

"Good work, Commander." Ranma said to Dana as he walked back to the front of the bridge. "Transporter room three, stand by ta energize."


In transporter room three, Steven had four of his men assembled along with Mousse and Dr. McCoy.

"Acknowledged." Mousse replied to Ranma. He stepped onto the transporter pad, strapping his phaser rifle to his back. McCoy finished gathering his med kit and tricorder, then stepped into the chamber as well, placing a type II hand phaser into its holster. Steven looked over his men quickly, then nodded. They all walked into the chamber, and the group faced the transporter console.

"Ready, Captain." Steven called.

"No unnecessary risks, guys." Ranma's voice said. "Just get in, get the CinC, and get out. Understood?"

Everyone nodded, even though Ranma wasn't even there. "Understood, sir." Mousse replied. He turned to the console where transporter chief John Carver stood. With a quick nod in the chief's direction, he said, "Energize."

One by one, each member of the team vanished off the transporter pad.


"Wildcards deployed, sir." Carver's voice came back to Ranma over the com system.

"Thanks, Chief." Ranma answered. His mouth was parched, and he knew it had to be from the anticipation he was feeling now. His first mission was about to succeed or fail, and he was almost literally dying to know which it was gonna be. He walked past the tactical station and to the replicator.

"Computer, water. Chilled." The replicator beeped at him, then a glass of water on the rocks materialized. Ranma grabbed it with thankful hands and threw back the whole thing! He shoved it back into the replicator.

"Computer, another." The replicator beeped again, and the glass glistened as it was refilled. Ranma reached for it and took another big gulp out of it, then headed back for his chair. No sooner had he reached it when the tactical station began to beep loudly at Mr. Briton. He looked down at it, puzzled for a second before his eyes got a bit bigger.

"Sir, Cell's warbird is entering the system!"

"Shit!" Ranma swore under his breath. "Yellow alert. Energize defense fields."

Around him, the bridge officers seemed to strengthen their stances, each one straightening out at their post as their own little way of preparing for the possibility of battle and the need for quick, decisive responses. Ranma just sat back in his chair slowly. As long as Cell didn't do anything he needed to worry about, then he really didn't care that the man-bug was here.

"Cell entering moon orbit, Ranma." Shampoo looked up at him from her post. She seemed to be worried enough for the both of them.

"Captain," Ryouga called out. "The orbit path he's following is gonna put him right on top of us. He'll either be five meters above us or five meters IN us, I'm just not too sure which one yet!"

Ranma cursed again. There was the move he needed to worry about. He stood from his chair again, feeling a bit like a pop up gopher in one of those old earth games. He stepped up beside Ryouga's console.

"Z minus 500 meters, Mr. Hibiki. Thrusters only."

Ryouga nodded. "Aye." He pushed a few buttons on his console, and the Wildstar began to move down.


Cell stared at his screen in silence. The moon loomed before him as his warbird entered orbit. He knew that, if the Wildstar was captained by anyone smart, they'd head straight here and attempt to take back the CinC before he arrived.

Well they were too damned late!

"Science. Long range scan for the Wildstar." He ordered.

"No federation ships within two systems of us, sir." Came the meek reply.

"Weapons. Charge all disruptor banks and flood all torpedo tubes."

"Aye, sir." Another whimpering officer replied.

"Continue scanning, science. The second they appear on long range sensors, I want to know."

Cell was upset. If his computer had been correct about the Wildstar's previous speed, she had not only broken warp 10, but managed to achieve and hold warp 14 until they had flown out of sensor range. Even with the use of the portals, the math said the Wildstar should have been here before him.

So where was she?

"Umm, sir?" the science officer piped up.

"What?" Cell asked in monotone.

"Umm… something strange drifting about a hundred meters below us and falling."

Cell's brow furrowed. 'Something' falling from beneath them? That was descriptive.

"Well, what is it, then?" Cell asked impatiently.

"I think it's-"


"Ryouga, are you venting the bussard collectors?!" Dana hollered across the bridge. Ryouga scowled in confusion as he turned his seat so he could look across the bridge at her.

"No." he answered. "Why?"

Dana gave a meek smile that seemed to say 'this would be funny if he hadn'ta just given us away!' "'Cause ya are!"

Ranma was beside Ryouga's console again in a heartbeat as Ryouga swung his seat back around to look over his readouts. Sure enough, the bussard collectors had been venting ever since he laid in the descent Ranma had asked for.

"Aw, dammit! Ryouga!!" Ranma whined.

"Is he???" Shampoo asked, unable to believe the level of stupidity that such a mistake would require.

"…yes…" Ryouga replied meekly.

"THAT IT!!!!!" Shampoo hollered, her hand coming down on her console hard. She leapt from her station and cleared the distance between her post and Ryouga's with the single bound. She instantly had Ryouga's throat in her hands and was strangling him hard. "STUPID BOY GAVE US AWAY!!! I KILL!!!!!"

Before Shampoo had a chance to carry out her threat, a voice came thundering over the com system.


"Tell me," Cell asked the science officer calmly. "How is it possible that I'm seeing a collection of protons and space gasses venting out of nothing below us?"

"Umm…" the science officer thought hard. "A cloaked ship is venting their collectors?"

Cell smiled. "Right you are! Now tell me, why am I seeing a Federation drive plasma signature mixed in with the gasses?"

"Umm…" the science officer thought again. "Because the cloaked ship IS Federation."

Cell grinned. "Excellent! Now tell me, why would there be a cloaked Federation ship under us when the treaty of Algeron strictly forbids them to use cloaking technology?"

The Science officer was loving this question game just a little too much as he replied with a grin of his own. "'Cause they just don't give a fuck any more!"

"BINGO!!!" Cell hollered. His grin fell to a snarl, and he swung his arm out, decapitating the science officer with his hand!

"Communications!!" Cell yelled, turning to the com station.

"Sir!" the Com officer replied quickly, not wanting to suffer the same fate as the science officer, whose body fell to the ground to meet its head.

"Open a channel at the venting anomaly!"

"Aye, sir!"


"You might as well give it up, Goku!!!" Cell's voice thundered through the Wildstar's com speakers. "I know you're there! You also might as well give the amateur who gave you away his dues, because he just made my day!!"

"SHAMPOO WORKING ON IT!!!" Shampoo hollered back at the com before going back to strangling Ryouga.

Ranma trudged back to his chair. The gig was up. Obviously, if Cell had hailed open space, he had already assumed the Wildstar was cloaked underneath him. The engines passing through gasses vented from the collectors must have left a residual trace signature that Cell was able to identify as Federation.

"The raiders are closing on our position, sir!" Briton called out. "They're taking up positions all around the ship. We can't go in any direction unless we punch a hole."

"Which we can't do cloaked." Goku sighed.

"Shampoo," Ranma said, slumping into his chair. "Take your post. Briton, open a channel ta Cell's ship. If he calls his raiders to attack, drop the cloak before they get a shot out and raise the shields. Don't wait for my order ta do it, either."

Briton nodded. "Aye, sir." The sound of the com channel opening rang through the bridge, and an image of Cell appeared on the viewscreen.

At least, what he could SEE of Cell through Shampoo's ASS!

"COMMANDER!" Ranma hollered at Shampoo. She stopped strangling the nearly unconscious Ryouga and looked at Ranma with plausible innocence. Then, she turned to look at the viewscreen. Cell's face took up most of the twelve foot long by ten foot high screen!

"AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Shampoo screamed. She was back at her console in no time. The instant release of pressure caused Ryouga to collapse back in his chair, gasping for every breath he took in. It only took him a few seconds to come back to himself enough to distinguish reality from his fading hallucinations. On the viewscreen, Cell was NOT happy.

"So, you ARE there!" He hollered. "Cloaked, no less!! Do you have any idea what you've just DONE!???"

Ranma rubbed his left temple. "I got a pretty good idea, yeah."

"The treaty of Algeron strictly forbids the federation from using any cloaking technology! By breaking this agreement, you are provoking war!!"

Ranma's eyes got a little bigger, and he let his mouth hang open for a moment as he stood and slowly walked closer and closer to the viewscreen.

"I'M provoking war?" He couldn't believe his ears. "Look who's talkin', man-bug!"

Cell snarled, but continued to listen.

"You enlist the Orions ta aid ya in the capture of the Commander in Chief of all of Starfleet, lock him up in your little moon bunker, make idle threats, engage a Federation starship in battle, and then have the gall ta come back ta me and say I'M provoking war??"

Cell wasn't any less irritated. "That is all inconsequential in comparison to what you have done here. The treaty of Algeron-"

" 'Treaty of Algeron whee whee whee whee whee'" Ranma mock imitated Cell. Goku's eyes went wide as he stared at Ranma, unable to believe his captain had the guts to mock 'the baddest bastard in the galaxy'! "Who gives a rat's ass! Look, as of this moment, the Treaty of Algeron is rescinded due ta Romulan involvement in the kidnappin' and imprisonment of the Commander in Chief of Starfleet Command; an act that is a clear attack against the United Federation of Planets' internal security!!"

Cell was speechless. His jaw clenched shut hard, and Ranma could see about a hundred different thoughts pass through the man-bug's eyes before settling on one final conclusion.

"Then if this is the case… The Romulan Empire and the Federation are, as of this moment, at war."

Ranma nodded slowly. "Damned straight they are!"

Cell seemed to straighten himself out. "Then I shall spill the first blood. Communications, order the raiders to attack the source of this transmission!"

That was just the cue Ranma had been waiting for. As Briton punched in the command to uncloak, Ranma whipped around and took large strides back to his chair, the viewscreen behind him going blank with nothing more than a chuckle escaping Cell's lips.

"Red Alert! All Hands Ta Battle Stations!"


Sergeant Matt Chesterton's head flicked quickly around the corner of a dimly lit corridor. His eyes shot one direction then the other, and then his head disappeared again.

"two guards at a door facing north, 50 meters. Two at the central entrance at the end of the hall, 80 meters." He whispered to Steven and Mousse.

Steven turned behind himself a little. "Judge," he waived Rear Sergeant Phillip Zurfluh up front. Judge stepped to the front of the line, pulling a little ball off his belt clip. He clicked a button on it, then began to count in his head.

One… Two… Three… Four!

He stepped around the corner fast, throwing the little ball, then ducked back behind the corner. The instant the guards reacted, Phillip's mental count hit five, and the little ball sent a silenced flash out in all directions before it even hit the ground. The guards all fell to the floor, unconscious, and the spent stun grenade landed in two perfect halves.

Phillip came around the corner again, rifle forward. He stood at the inner wall kitty corner to the wildcards position and waved them forwards. Steven and Mousse rounded the corner, with Matt and Bones right behind, Privates Bennet and Malgir taking up the rear.

As the group passed the north doors, Steven singled Malgir out, pointing towards the doors twice. Malgir nodded, pulling a type II phaser from his belt. He turned to the north doors and began to weld them together, ensuring their operation would go unhindered from there. As Malgir welded, Matt unclipped a little black rectangle shaped device from his front chest pocket.

"This little baby," he quickly explained to Mousse, "Will blow the central door to high heaven with an added bonus! It'll flash-blind anyone who looks at the explosion. It'll be a good fifteen seconds before they can see again."

"Fifteen seconds?" Mousse made sure he understood correctly. Matt nodded in reply. "I know it doesn't seem like much, but –"

"It's perfect!" Mousse grinned, then gave a nod. Matt placed the device on the door, then pressed a button. The group ran back about twenty meters, and Malgir jogged up to meet them, the north doors successfully welded shut.

Three seconds ticked by before the device went off. The explosion blew a hole in the wall where the door used to be, and Mousse whistled in admiration as the Wildcards ran for the new opening, phaser rifles firing. Sure enough, everyone on the other side of the doors had looked over at the explosion and were all flash blinded. As they fell under the Wildcard's phaser fire, Mousse began to count them, pulling his own phaser rifle down to help. Before the smog had completely cleared, the phaser fire had stopped. Each shot had hit its intended target, and Mousse had counted twenty three separate shots, including his own.

"Not bad!" Mousse was impressed at how well it had worked, regrouping with the Wildcards again and doing a quick head count. From explosion to head count, McCoy had counted nine seconds. There was simply no way anyone could have sounded an alarm, nor opened a communications channel to anyone in particular that quickly!

"All accounted for," Mousse told Steven, who was busy looking around. Finally giving up, he swore and reached for the tricorder at his belt, flipping it open with mild annoyance.

"I hate using these things…" he mumbled. "That way!" He pointed to one of three red doors in the open area. As the group ran in the direction Steven had appointed, McCoy looked around the room they were leaving.

It must have been the control center of this entire bunker, he mused. Silently, he wondered how many of the Orions unconscious on the ground would prove to be resistant to phaser fire and be up and sounding the alarm on their asses in no time flat!

The rest of the incursion went to a 'T', with minimal resistance. Aside from encountering another couple of guards here and there, the team made it to the prison complex with ease.

As the last guard fell under Steven's rifle fire, the group crowded around the cell entrance they were all staring at. Mousse stepped a little closer and pulled out his hand phaser. He pressed a couple of buttons, then aimed it at the door and fired. The beam came out in a perfect tall rectangular shape that expanded outwards the further the beam got from the phaser. It flashed bright three or four times, then clicked out automatically. Mousse stepped up to the door and kicked it, the piece he had been cutting fell into the cell.

He took a quick look inside, then motioned for Steven's team to enter the cell.

"If it's him, he's alone!" Mousse said. Steven and Matt stepped into the cell, followed by Dr. McCoy. Mousse stayed by the entrance with the remaining wildcards, watching intently for anyone who might try and spoil their little party.

"The Commander in Chief, I presume?" Steven asked the man that rose from the bench against the far wall and began to walk towards them. He was wearing a white dress uniform top, and had a cape clipped to his shoulders that was red inside and black outside, and a black gentleman's stick with white tips was slid through his belt, which he grabbed as he approached them, obviously anticipating a need to defend himself.

His hand fell back to his side, however, upon sight of Dr. McCoy entering the cell, medical tricorder blaring to check his health.

"Admiral Darien Shields," The man replied. "Commander in Chief, Starfleet Command."

"He's Ok," Bones piped up, closing his tricorder.

"As long as no one cares about formalities," Mousse turned at the cell entrance to call into the cell. "Maybe we could get the hell outta here now?"

Everyone turned and headed for the cell entrance without another word. Yes, it was time to get gone! The CinC was OK, and that was all that mattered. Now, they had to reach the beam out point and signal for extraction.

Mousse herded them out of the cell quickly, and they all made tracks back the way they came, Mousse and Bennet turning every now and then to check behind.


OK, so I know it's a bit shorter than normal, but I think I'll end up making up for that with the next chapter.

Up next, the battle begins! Once again, it's time for that review thingy! Let me know what you think of my crazy writings...

MattSaotome