The Ranma Trek Odyssey! – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: "Ranma ½", "Sailor Moon", "Star Trek" and other properties belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Part 9
Starfleet Captain Kira Nerys of Bajor continues to recall her early years with Admiral Ranma Saotome of Earth…
The moon "Mustafar"—located somewhere in the distant "Lucas Galaxy"—was an unusual celestial body, in that it had an active molten core that belies it small size. Scientist theorized that in the distant future, it would begin the process of developing into a life-sustaining environment. Interestingly, this process has somewhat began with the indigenous Mustafarians, which were divided into two sentient races: "Northern" and "Southern". In the mean time, Mustafar was under the domain of Techno Union, which uses its advance shipping apparatus to corner the market on raw materials. Since the raw ore on this hellish environment was already liquefied, ore processing cost are relatively low.
In the waning days of the Old Republic, Mustafar became the home of a group of allied worlds known as "Confederacy of Independent Systems" ("CIS"), or simply "The Separatists". Although their cause was "just"—which dealt with stifling regulations brought on by the Galactic Republic—in truth the creation of the CIS was the brain child of a Sith Lord wanted to create enough chaos throughout the Lucas Galaxy, that his ascension to power would become complete. And as a Sith Lord, Darth Sidious was a master "chessman" who thought one step ahead of the opposition, the much-vaunted Jedi Order. In the end, Sidious' stratagem resulted in the fall of the Jedi, and the ascension of an Empire…ruled by the Sith. The Sith—an off-shoot of the Jedi who believed that acquisition of power through master of "The Force"—dominance would last only 25 years, which ended when Sidious' apprentice, Darth Vader, chose to slay his master after turning away from the Dark Side.
On this day of training, Jedi Padawan Kira Nerys of Bajor (of the Milky Way Galaxy) witnesses a re-enactment of how Ranma dealt with Vader's betrayal of the Jedi…
As a silvery craft of the senator of the planet Naboo, made its final approach to this hellish world of Mustafar, there was a debate as to what course of action regarding one Anakin Skywalker.
"We're about to land, Padme," Usagi says, as she looked down at the flight deck. "Ugh, why can't Ani pick a better spot to hide?"
Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo said nothing, as she scanned the mining facility below. For some reason, Anakin had a secret mission to attend to on this molten world.
"Padme?"
"Sorry, Usagi," Padme says. "I'm just worried about Ani."
Usagi says nothing. She knew that Anakin Skywalker betrayed the Jedi by becoming the Sith Lord Apprentice "Darth Vader", thanks to the security records acquired by herself and the few remaining Jedi left. If it hadn't been for Usagi's influence over Captain Cody—a clone troop commander who accompanied Usagi and her (recently deceased) Jedi mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi to the planet Utapau, in order to capture or kill the Separatist military commander General Grievous—more Jedi would have been killed than otherwise. In fact, there were a sizeable number of Clone Troop members that ended up helping the Jedi escape destruction before they themselves felt the ire of Palpatine vis-à-vis the second generation of clones later on.
Now, with Jedi Master Yoda confront Palpatine—aka "Darth Sidious"—it was time to confront the one who was instrumental in bringing about the collapse of the Jedi Order: Anakin Skywalker, otherwise known as "Darth Vader".
"So am I," Usagi says, as she stroked her pet cabbit "Tho-Ohki", who was perched on her right shoulder.
"Th-owwww," Tho-Ohki mulled sadly. He always thought that 'Ani' was a nice kid…
"Promise me that you'll let me talk to him first, okay?" Padme asked with pleading eyes.
"Fine, but you DO know that I have to stop, if he continues his 'new career'."
"I…I understand."
Usagi squeezed her dear friend's hand in support.
"Good luck," Usagi says to Padme. "You know how MEN get when they think they're right."
Padme smiles in reply, as she squeezed Usagi's hand. Then, she leaves.
Usagi exhales deeply, as she leans back in her seat-
"BOO," says a familiar voice from behind.
Usagi nearly jumped up from her seat.
"Hey, did I miss anything?" Ranma says, as he sat down at the cockpit.
"Ranma!" Usagi says, as she smacked him on the arm. "Don't SCARE me like that!"
"Okay, okay," Ranma replies. "Sheesh!"
"Anyway…what are you doing here anyway?"
"Master Yoda asked me to back you up in case something goes awry."
"What? He thinks I can't handle Ani or something?"
"Well…"
"Figures."
"No, it's just that since I took him on as my personal student in Musabetsu Kakuto, Yoda is simply being cautious."
"Humph. Wait, where's C-3P0? He should have warned me about you, if you stowed away on this ship."
"Deactivated him remotely."
"Using the Force?"
"What else?"
And then, they felt a disturbance in the Force.
"We better see what's happening," Usagi says, as she gets up.
"Right behind you, babe," Ranma says, as he got up as well.
Usagi then stopped her movements. She then turned around.
"Promise me that you will take care of the others…if something happens to me, okay?" Usagi asked.
"Usagi-"
"Promise me, okay?"
Ranma sighs. He knew that Usagi was referring to T'Pol, Hoshi Sato and their latest traveling companion Ami Mizuno, also known as "Sailor Mercury". Ami came upon the scene in the manner that their previous traveling companion Minako Aino—also known as "Sailor Venus"—had arrived upon the scene: by way of Sailor Pluto's machinations. For some reason, the senshi of Pluto was convinced that Usagi needed extra protection throughout her travels. So, at specific points in her journey with Ranma and the others, one Sailor Scout will arrive after another departs. Now, it was Ami's turn, but had been killed on Utapau by Grievous, along with Obi-Wan Kenobi. The only thing Usagi could do was to make sure that she would be reborn on some human-dominated world, like Naboo, Alderaan, Corellia or something. Thus, Usagi wanted to make sure that there would be someone to make sure that Ami is fully restored to her normal self.
After thing things over for about a minute, Ranma nods his head.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Usagi removes Tho-Ohki from her shoulders.
"Be a good guy, and behave, okay?" Usagi says to the cabbit.
"Th-mewwwww…"
With that, the two Jedi Knights exits the Nabooan ship…only to see Anakin choking the life out of his supposed love Padme.
"Ani, no!" Usagi says, as she and Ranma exited the ship.
Jedi Knight-turned-Sith Lord Anakin Skywalker turned to face Ranma and Usagi, as he held his wife Padme Amidala by the neck using just The Force. He then turned his full attention back to his pregnant wife.
"You brought them here!" Anakin cried.
Ranma stepped forth. He cursed himself for not recognizing the signs of Darkness emitting from his friend and student. But with the war taking up so much of his time…
"Let-her-GO!" Ranma yelled, as he projected his voice towards Anakin. This was just what he needed in order to get Anakin's attention.
Anakin drops Padme to the ground, and faces his old friends.
"You two turned her against me!" Anakin cried out, as he removed his dark-brown Jedi cloak.
Usagi's eyes widened. She has seen this madness before…from Alia, her sister-in-law.
"Don't put this on US, Ani!" Ranma replied. "I TOLD you not to trust Palpatine, and you went on to do so anyway."
"But…he promised to save Padme's life-!"
Usagi looked at Anakin, as she goes over to where Padme was lying still.
"Keep away from her!" Anakin says, as he rounds on Usagi.
"Hey, pay attention to me," Ranma says, as he intercepts Anakin's path, getting in his old friends way. "You've done enough damage already."
"Ranma, Padme's hurt badly," Usagi says. "I can keep her vitals functioning…but there's something preventing me from correcting…the damage that Anakin had caused."
"You will NOT take her away from me-!"
"Your anger and idiocy has already done that," Ranma says, as he removed his own ox-blood Jedi robes, and allowed thenm to fall on the landing pad. "Because you didn't trust your friends…you become the thing you, Usagi and I swore to destroy. I'm…disappointed in you, Little Brother."
Cracka-DOOM!
"Don't lecture ME, Ranma! I see through the lies of the Jedi! They are the ones who wanted to use me to get to Palpatine!"
"Then what are we to YOU? Damn it Anakin, remember when I first met you? Remember all the time and effort WE put into winning that pod race? Remember when we won? Why are you treating us like we just MET you?"
"Because…because…"
Ranma closes his eyes.
"Please…don't tell me it's because of the promotion thing."
During the so-called "Clone Wars", Ranma and Usagi were both promoted to the rank of "General" rather than just "Commander", mostly due to their respective military experiences, while Ami and Anakin were promoted to just to the rank of "Commander". Anakin never gotten over the fact that he should have received the recognition that he though he deserved. In particular, Anakin chaffed at the idea that he had to follow orders of a girl.
"I'm supposed to be the Chosen One! I'm supposed to be rewarded for my efforts. At least MY Empire will recognize me…where the Jedi did NOT."
"'Empire?' When we signed up to be Jedi, we gave our WORD to protect and nurture the Galactic Republic! Last time I checked, it was NOT an empire!"
Anakin turns his back on Ranma.
"If you are not with me…you are my enemy. Don't make me fight you!"
Ranma shakes his head, as he removes his lightsaber from his "belt". Usagi sees this.
"Ranma…?"
"I know. Get Padme some help. I have to take care of this."
Usagi looks at Padme, then at Anakin.
"Alright," Usagi says, as she resigns to the inevitable fight.
Ranma nods his head, and then faces Anakin. All of his experiences as a swordman came to the fore.
"I will do what I must to end this madness, Ani," Ranma says.
SNAP-Hzzzz…
The familiar beam of yellow light sprouts to form a golden blade of energy. The 'hilt' of the sword was designed with Juraian sensibilities, thanks to Ranma's time on the distant world of Jurai…where the inhabitants also uses swords whose blades were made from energy. In fact, both Ranma and Usagi had their own Juraian blades, but it was under the watch of the Jedi that they learned how to make their own.
One thing for sure: Anakin was talented enough to master the more advanced levels of the Musabetsu Kakuto. And even if Ranma was more powerful than Anakin can ever be, Ranma will engage Anakin in mortal combat as a Jedi. Unfortunately, with their respective aggressive styles, this means that the battle between two former friends is about to get hairy…
"I expect nothing less, 'Big Brother'," Anakin says, as he suddenly leaps backwards-
SNAP-Hzzzzz…
-And struck the first blow.
BLAM!
Thus, the fight was on-
"Computer, freeze program," Ranma says, as he walks forward.
CHIRP!
Now, everything stood still, thanks to Capsule Corp "portable holographic generator".
"So, what have we learned, Kira?" Ranma says, as he walks around the scene. Since returning from the Penumbral Realms, Ranma was having Kira go over his old logs as a part of her overall training.
Kira thinks for a moment.
"Well, you could have snuck out of the ship before hand, thereby prevent Padme Amidala from getting hurt," Kira says. "And Padme made the mistake in thinking that this…Darth Vader would be reasonable, thereby putting her life in danger."
"Very good. Every conceivable means to prevent the situation from escalating was thrown out that day. And, as you will see, there were severe consequences. And wait until you see how we managed to leave Mustafar by way of Tho-Ohki...after Ani and I ended up trashing Padme's ship during our battle."
"I see. Ranma, how…did you really feel about what happened between the two of you…and HIM."
Ranma thinks for a moment and then looks at the image of Anakin Skywalker.
"To be honest, fighting someone that close to me broke my heart. I just hope that you will never have to be put into such a position."
And with that, Ranma resumes his instruction, while Kira mulls over her thoughts.
Tbc.
