1/1 Dragoons Wild Horses: Redemption
Disclaimer: I do not own the things that I write here. Well at least not most of them. There are a couple of things that I do, but it was mostly thought up during times of massive tiredness. That which I don't own, I pay homage to those that do, and give them great respect and honor for the great works that they have done.
Author's Notes: Well here is yet another chapter done. This one was a bit odd in the works, but hey at least it's done now! The voting continues strong and I like what I've been seeing from everyone! Thanks for all the reviews that you've been giving me. I've even been provided with some interesting ideas that I hadn't thought of before until it was mentioned. Now I've got even more plot twists and what not to use!! grins evilly
Bladewing: Thank you for the notification of the difficulty in telling scene changes, I will modify the story from here on out to better fit that. Still a little new at the whole multiply scenes going on at the 'same time' thing.
Whitefire666: Indeed Ranma can never have too much love. I'm glad you like how the story is going and I plan on getting more chapters out as soon as I can finish writing them. The army, unfortunately, limits my ability to write. This is but the first at least 2 if not 3 'books'.
Here are the voting results so far!
Ryoko: 3
Washu: 2
Xian Pu: 1
Setsuna: 1
Michiru: 1
Sasami/Ami/Sara: 5
Kasumi: 1
Washu/Setsuna/Ryoko/Sasami: 1
Washu/Setsuna/Ryoko: 1
Washu/Setsuna/Sara: 1
Ryoko/Sara: 1
Washu/Michiru: 1
Washu/Natsumi: 1
Ami: 1
Usagi: 1
Wow, things are really getting interesting now aren't they? All these multiply hookups eh? Well we'll see where things go from here. Now on with the chapter
Chapter 9: We Have Nothing!!
Location:
Wild Horses' Headquarters, Fort McWilliams, Planet Manticore
Date:
Monday, 25th Day, 6th Month, 3045 TY
Time:
0900 Hours Local
Ranma sat at the head of the massive table that was in the large conference room at his Battalion's headquarters building. He watched as his various officers and senior enlisted members walked in and found their seats. He smiled inside as he remembered the past month for them.
The battalion was almost up to full man power strength, with only a few slots still not filled, although those people were in route. In the span of less than a month, he had gone from commanding less than half of an infantry platoon, to a full strength battalion. Never in his entire military career had he seen a battalion stand up as quickly as his had.
'The Crown must really want this battalion field ready with a quickness.' Ranma thought as the final person came in and sat down. 'Now if what my company commanders and S4 are saying is true, we still have no equipment. I'd really rather not use the connections I do have, but I may have no choice.'
Ranma looked around the large table and smiled as he looked at each person in turn. First was his executive officer, Major Ryoga Habiki, his long time friend and rival. Ranma knew he could depend on the man to get his people through anything, and knew he could rely on him. Next to him was his S3, Major Ayeka Jurai, in the short time he had known her, he couldn't have imagined a more competent and effective officer. Next, pulling double duty as head engineer and S4 was Major Washu Hakubi. Ranma liked what he had seen out of her so far as she had pulled a few strings to get them not only simulator time to keep the troops trained, but also the basic essentials like side arms and rifles.
After that was his S2, Major Mu Tsu Liao. Ranma swore that the man knew magic, as some of the intelligence that he had acquired could only have been gotten by someone who knew the black arts. Next was his naval liaison, Commander Jackie Harmon, who also was in charge of all aerospace fighter assets within the whole battalion. She was a cocky woman after Ranma's own heart, confident in her skills and able to back up her boasts. After her was Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jilly St. Amand, and like all her breed, she was a law unto herself. Her sole job was organizing all helicopter forces and using them to the best of their abilities, something that she was very good at.
Finally came his company commanders and their first sergeants. The command team for his Headquarters and Headquarters Company; Captain Brandon Bransford and First Sergeant William Rose. The command team for Alpha Company; Captain Makoto Saotome and First Sergeant Haruka Ten'Oh. The command team for Bravo Company; Captain Tenchi Misaki and First Sergeant Sam Nickelson. The command team for Charlie Company; Captain Ryoko Hakubi and First Sergeant Wilson Rose. The command team for Delta Company; Captain Ami Mizuno and First Sergeant Arthur Smith.
At the other end of the table sat the lowest ranking officer in the room. First Lieutenant Xian Pu Liao sat looking back at her battalion commander. She was currently the executive officer for the newly formed Commander's Own. A unit that, much to Ranma's disgust, was formed by people who had sworn personal oath's of fealty to him. Just inside the door stood Sergeant Michelle McKay, one of his two personal guards. The other, Sergeant Angus McRory, stood outside the room.
Ranma sighed internally as he stood up and got everyone's attention. "Good morning everyone. We've got a lot to cover today, so we're going to go ahead and dive right in. We'll start with you Xian." He said in greeting as he sat back down.
Xian stood up and looked at the blotter in front of her to make sure she had everything in order. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. The Commander's Own is shaping up to be a good unit Sir. My amazons are completely combat ready outside of having our transport birds. Lieutenants Tomoe and Jurai are shaping up very nicely in the simulators and are by far some of the best helicopter pilots I've ever seen. Sergeant McRory and Sergeant McKay have done an outstanding job in forming you personal guard units into decent fighting groups. Other than the lack of equipment we're ready for our jobs." She reported.
"Thank you very much Lieutenant. All right, Captain Mizuno, if you would please continue." Ranma said, looking at Ami.
Before Ami could stand up, much less start speaking, Ryoko stood up and looked around. "Sir I'm sure I speak for all of us, but we all have no equipment beyond the basic personal crap that is issued to everyone. On top of that we were supposed to start receiving all of our new equipment two weeks ago! The only ones who do have either mechs or vehicles are those who are rich enough to afford having them!" She said a little hotly.
"Captain Hakubi, that is quite enough! You are out of line!" Major Jurai said angrily as she stood up and glared at the young captain.
"Ayeka, stand down, I understand completely why she is this way." Ranma said as he sighed inside again. Major Hakubi, do you have any answers for us as to when we might be receiving our equipment and more critical supplies?" he asked as he turned to her, ignoring the two glaring women.
Washu looked up from her blotter and nodded. "Yes sir. I spoke with the Bureau of Logistics commander about it just yesterday. He too is confused as to why we have not received our equipment or supplies with anything like regularity. As far as the records at the Bureau are concerned our property was sent to us in a timely manner. At least it was sent from the manufacturers in a timely manner. We both fear that somewhere along the line someone stopped the shipment. Why they would I don't have a clue, but as you can see the results are rather devastating to our unit readiness." She responded.
Ranma nodded to her in thanks, then noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sergeant McKay had pulled out a comm. unit and was talking softly into it. "Well people, I had hoped that I wouldn't have had to use the connections that I have, but it seems that someone is leaving me no choice." He told everyone.
"What do you mean sir?" Ami asked curiously, asking the one question that almost everyone in the room was dying to ask him.
"I have some very high placed connections via Sergeant McKay, and despite the fact that I don't want to use them, she is under orders to report anything like this to those connections. I'm pretty certain that we'll be getting our equipment and supplies in a far better pace after today." He answered.
"Yes but who are your connections sir? I've dug very well into things, and nothing in the intel that I've gathered has given me a clue as to what, or who, you're talking about." Mu asked, looking curiously at his commander.
Before Ranma could answer him, everyone heard Sergeant McKay as she suddenly spoke loud enough to actually be heard.
"Yes Your Majesty. Of course Your Majesty. I'll be sure to tell him Your Majesty. Thank you very much for the help Your Majesty." She said before she closed down the link. She then looked up at Ranma with a smile. "Sir, our supplies should be here sometime in the next day or two at the latest. Seems that there was a hang up at one of the Supply Support Activity sites. Her Majesty has directed this information to the attention of the Bureau of Logistics so that they can look into it. She also wanted me to pass along the following message. 'You need to keep me up to date better about the status of your unit Ranma. Treat my niece well and keep her safe. I expect that you'll have the unit ready well before my uncle has said you should be. Don't be a stranger, or I'll send my people after you just so I can say 'hi'.' She also mentioned something about loving you, but I honestly don't know in what context she was meaning sir."
Ranma sighed and nodded to her. Everyone else at the table, aside from Tenchi and Makoto, were shocked to hear that Ranma's big high placed contact was the Queen her self. Tenchi and Makoto just smirked as they looked at their friend and commander.
"Well looks like the problem is solved then, isn't it sir?" Makoto asked with a wide grin.
"Yes it would seem so Makoto, it would seem so." Ranma responded wryly.
Before any further headway could be made on the status of the battalion, the door to the conference room burst open, almost hitting Sergeant McKay in the process, as Second Lieutenant Sasami Jurai ran into the room. Behind her, Michelle barely restrained her new training reflexes from smashing the young lieutenant's head in from behind, as she recognized her and classified her as a non-threat to her commander.
"SIR SIR!! You just have to come down to the motor pool!! It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen!!" She virtually yelled in her excitement.
"At ease Lieutenant. You need to calm down and explain yourself. You knew that a meeting was going on in here. Do you have any idea how close you came to getting hit? You know how protective the Colonel's guards are." Ryoga said to her, trying to defuse the situation before it got worse than it already was.
Sasami visibly tried to calm herself, bringing herself down from the raging roar, down to a dull roar. "Yes Sir! But you MUST come down to the motor pool!" She said, still exicted.
"I will as soon as you tell me why I need to go down there Lieutenant. Even members of my Own have to give me a reason." Ranma said as he stood up slowly.
"Their here Sir!! All of them! Everything is!!" She said excitedly, not really making much sense.
"What the hell are you talking about girl? What's here? Who's here?" Ryoko asked exasperated with the young lieutenant.
"Just come to the motor pool! You'll see!!" She said before she dashed back out the door, running as if the very hounds of hell were after her.
"Sir, should we follow her?" Tenchi asked.
"Well it's either that or she'll probably come back to do this again, despite whatever any of us say or do." Ranma said as he stood up.
The rest of the command group stood up with him and together they all left and headed for the battalion motor pool. Unlike the rest of the base, their motor pool was supposed to house all of their vehicles; battlemechs, tanks, hovercraft, and wheeled. The air field that wasn't too far from them was for all their airborne assets like helicopters and aerospace fighters and bombers. As they grew closer to the motor pool, they could all hear a lot of noise coming from it. Most of it sounded like engines, which didn't make any sense as they didn't have anything in there except for a couple of mechs that belonged to some of the people in the battalion.
When they entered through the gate that marked the entrance to the motor pool, they stood there in shock as they saw row after row of M-900 Super Heavy Equipment Tracks bringing in all kinds of equipment. Mechs, tanks and everything that they had been promised was moving in on one massive convoy. Sasami saw them enter and ran over to the group. As she grew closer she threw herself at Ranma, forcing him to catch her, as well as causing Angus and Michelle a minor heart attack.
"See Sir!! It's all here!! Just like it was promised to us!!" She said excitedly as the force with which she hit him caused Ranma to spin around in a circle.
"Yes indeed it does seem that way Lieutenant." Ranma said in agreement as he gently set her down on the ground. "Washu, please make sure that everything is here. In fact, Michelle, please go find the convoy commander and get him over here with the manifest so that we can see just what we are supposed to be receiving."
"Yes Sir." Michelle said as she dashed off into the crazy mess that had become their motor pool.
"By the gods! I can identify some of the vehicles already. That's got to be one of the brand new M-2 Longstop mobile artillery platforms. That there is an LBM-7 Pack Hunter, new design if I'm not mistaken. That looks like a whole platoon of ABM-98 Builders!! This is great! Those look like M-33 Patton Tanks!!" Washu said excitedly as she looked about at what was being unloaded and what had already been unloaded.
As Washu looked like a kid at Christmas, Michelle came jogging back with a young looking captain from Logistics. As they came up to Ranma, the captain threw a jaunty salute his way.
"Morning Sir. Sorry for the delay in getting you all of this, but I ran into a rather nasty snag a couple weeks ago." He said in greeting to Ranma.
Ranma returned the salute and smiled lightly at him. "Well at least you're here now. So you have the manifest and everything correct?" He asked.
"Yes sir, right here. Everything here is accounted for and in the best condition. All of its fresh from the factory. Heck the engines haven't even been broken in yet, they all have less than a hundred kilometers on them." He said as he extended the manifest to Ranma. Ranma took the manifest and handed it over to Washu, who took it and cradled it like it was a precious new born baby. She then took off towards the convoy, laughing all the way, causing a few people to shudder at the sound of her laugh.
"Scary." The captain said with a slight shudder. "Anyway Sir, that's the lot. There shouldn't be any more shipments after today."
"Any idea why you were held up so long?" Ryoko asked him.
"Yeah, some liberal asshole at the SSA decided to hold me up on all kinds of bullshit excuses. Things like the paper work for this vehicle or that mech wasn't correct. Or 'there is no way that this brand new design is supposed to be going here.' I was about to just challenge the idiot for doubting my word and the command of higher ups, but he suddenly capitulated and let me leave. That was two days ago, sorry it took me that long, but these tracks don't exactly move too fast." He explained.
"Hmmm, thank you for that information Sir." Michelle said as she got a gleam in her eye.
As everyone stood there and watched as Washu started to organize and shift all of the equipment into their proper locations, they were amazed at how much sheer crap they had been given. With over one thousand vehicles, mechs and aircraft assigned, it was a stunning amount. To everyone's knowledge, no other battalion in the entire army was so massive, and for only have four companies and a headquarters company, it was an astounding thing. Suddenly, the comm. unit at Ranma's hip started to beep with the emergency signal.
"Saotome." He said as he quickly answered it.
"Sir, you have to come down to the airfield as quickly as possible! It's the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen in my whole life!" Came Hotaru's excited voice over the comm.
"Whoa there Hotaru, calm down, slow down and explain just what the hell is going on over there. I've got enough surprises right now, so explain yourself." Ranma replied, starting to get just a little annoyed with all this excited yelling and carrying on without thought about military bearing.
"Right Sir, I apologize Sir. Every plane and helicopter that we were supposed to receive just arrived here. With me being the highest ranking person on the airfield right now, the convoy commander who brought them all here gave me the manifest and is having me check off the birds. Helicopters are my thing Sir, and while I am somewhat familiar with fixed wing aircraft, I don't know enough to bless off on the receiving end. Could you at least please send Commander Harmon over to me so that she can vet these birds and sign for them?" Hotaru asked, picking up on her commander's mood and forcing herself to calm down.
"I think that we can arrange for that to happen Lieutenant. She's leaving the motor pool right now. Seems we're getting all of our equipment delivered to us in one large load. Good work on taking command over there." Ranma said as he watched Commander Harmon take off like a bat out of hell.
"Thank you Sir. Ummm sir, on another note……is dinner still on tonight?" She asked a little hesitantly and softly.
Ranma sighed as he thought carefully. He really shouldn't be getting involved with his subordinates, but it was very difficult to resist when Hotaru, Michelle and Ami gave him the dreaded 'sad puppy dog eyes' attack, and at the same time, asking the same question. He was just lucky that his family were honorary members of Grayson, a system that had joined the Kingdom some four decades ago, it's the only way he could get away with being with multiple women. 'I'm going to burn in hell, I just know it.' He thought before he answered. "Yes Hotaru, plans haven't changed yet." He told her.
"Thank you Ranma. See you tonight then handsome." She replied with a small giggle as she disconnected the comm.
"I'm sooo burning in Hell for this." He said softly, earning a soft chuckle from Angus and Ryoga, who were the only two close enough to hear him.
"You deserve it Ranma." Ryoga said as he continued to chuckle.
"Well looks like we have everything here sir!" Washu said as she came up. "Everything is accounted for and in perfect condition."
"Great! Ayeka, Ryoga; the two of you just earned a late night!" Ranma said with an evil grin.
"WHAT!?" Both of them exclaimed in shocked amazement.
"I want a training schedule on my desk for approval before I arrive at 0900 hours tomorrow. If it isn't there, then I had better get a good reason why. You've got all night to work out one. Make it for the next year, that should cover us for now. And don't skimp on anything. In fact the harder the training the better, remember what our mission is." Ranma said as he looked over at them.
'Damn you Ranma, you're making my life Hell again.' Ryoga thought to himself. "Yes Sir." He responded.
"We'll get it done Sir." Ayeka promised. 'Damn you to hell Sir, why do you insist I work with that oaf.'
Very slowly the whole group split off to see to other things that had to be completed before the end of the day. Mostly getting the troops acquainted with their new equipment. While Ryoga and Ayeka grudgingly got down to creating a training schedule from hell for the next year. Ranma on the other hand contacted his mother and told her that she would be getting some work soon, and that he wouldn't be home for dinner tonight.
TBC
AN: YES!! Finally it is complete!! Sorry for the long delay in this chapter everyone, but between redeployment back to the United States from Iraq, and my muse abandoning me for a time, and having to help settle the house even more, then preparing to go to school before the Army ships me to Korea, a lot of things just slipped my mind. Actually wrote this one while I'm at school, so hey, school was good for something wasn't it? Seems like Ranma has some love interests, three ganging up on him, not fair I would think. Anyone besides me been subjected to the dreaded triple sad puppy dog eyes attack? shudders not something I enjoyed! Anywho, hope ya'll like this chapter and thanks for keeping up with the reviews! Oh the MTOE for the unit is complete, but its for the invasion of Mersedas, also if anyone is interested in the stats for the vehicles, drop me a line at cptdave81 yahoo (dot) com, and I'll zip you a copy of them.
This is Cptdave signing off!