No Tendo: A Fusion Tale
by Greylle (Kestral) and Kender_Sci
DISCLAIMER: all rights, copyrights, dittorights, implied rights, etcetera are owned by the original owners of such. Even if they are altered significantly, they'll be returned at the end of shooting before you know it.
Chapter 14: Nodoka
It wasn't hard to figure out where 'Colorado Springs', as Nodoka was not an idiot, by any means. She knew that looking on a map would help, and the simplest thing to do would be to get an atlas. When she got a political map of the United States, she turned her attention to the state of 'Colorado'. Upon finding that, it just took her some time to discover where the town was that the letter was mailed from was.
That was why she was currently sitting in a hotel room in that same town. The place wasn't the best that money could buy, but it was nice enough. She had a bed that was warm, a room that was clean, and a bathroom that was hers. There was little else that she needed, and she didn't plan on staying there all the time, or searching for tourist spots. Somewhere nearby was where her son and husband had gone, and she didn't want to miss her chance to find them.
However, her mind wasn't exactly on searching outside that room at the moment.
What interested her was being shown on the television. How her English skills worked weren't important either, as she was staring at the line of text that was under the image of the man in the American military uniform. And that was something that had a very tight hold on her attention.
As she considered this 'Hammond', she found herself smiling, as she was certain that a general who commanded a base in the town that she was in would know of her son. After all, there were few civilians who would be allowed to stay there like that. Besides, it was obvious that this man was trying to get more girls into his command, which would be a likely reason why there were multiple girls available for interest in her son.
She was certain that she was going to have to ask about that.
Congresswoman Bobbi Latham tossed the file down to her desk and snorted. "Does the Senator actually expect us to go crazy over this?"
"I'm not certain, ma'am," her assistant admitted. "This is something that a lot of people would normally be angry about."
"Except in this instance, this is the military stepping out in a good way."
"Exactly."
"Then why would Kinsey send this to me?" the congresswoman muttered as she leaned back in her chair.
"You have proven to be a very vocal critic of the military from time to time...."
"Only when it's necessary. This? We should be congratulating this Hammond."
The assistant shrugged. "People are starting to think that his publicity has been responsible for the rising recruitment rates of women in all branches of the military. It's only a small percentage so far, but it is there."
"And that's exactly what is needed. Women have to be allowed to contribute as well."
"Perhaps he disagrees with you."
"I think that it's more likely that Bob Kinsey isn't seeing anything past his nose... again," Latham sighed. "And if he thinks that I'm going to join him on his bandwagon, he'd better think again."
Even though he understood politics, Major Paul Davis knew that he'd never really get into it. He had a tendency to stick with what he felt that he should do, and he wasn't one to ride the waves of popularity with others. That's what was so amusing about his current situation, as he'd been friendly with the SGC before it was considered politically savvy to do so. Now, he was being looked at as a very intelligent and skilled man who knew where to put his stake in before anyone else did.
Not that it really concerned him, as he didn't care about such things when he had decided that he would help the SGC whenever he could. They were people who's mission and methods were the same as his, and he had gotten to actually care about them. They were friends, and no matter what sort of position that he might in politically, he wanted to be there to assist them whenever he could.
So, he had no problem with coming in and check up things while General Hammond was out with the press.
"Major!" called out a voice, and it took him a moment to realize that it was him.
Turning, he saw a technician looking back at him. "Siler, isn't it?"
"Yes, sir."
"What can I do for you?"
"I've been asked to give you a message. Apparently, someone's been calling to speak with General Hammond."
"Then why not leave a note on his desk, or hand it over to the officer in charge?"
Siler's look was a bit chagrined. "We can't.... exactly. It's from someone named Nodoka Saotome."
"You're kidding."
"No. It seems that she wants to either come onto the base to visit her son and husband, or to have them come visit her."
"What do the people we had tracking her say?" Davis asked.
"Spur of the moment decision, sir. She got a letter, and decided that it was time for a reunion."
"Well, a trip to Tokyo could be a problem...."
"She's not in Tokyo, sir."
"Then where is she?"
"Here, sir. She's in a hotel in Colorado Springs."
With an unblinking gaze, the major just stared at the other man in shock.
The Dark Kingdom was not a happy place, even in the best of circumstance.
In many ways it was like a hive, with energy-harvesters being the common drones that went out and got the "honey" for the others to survive. Others filled specialized roles within the hive, such as the 'Doom & Gloom Sisters' who were warriors. Then there were others who didn't quite fit the same hive mentality.
Nickel Cadmium was one such. Essentially a janitor and low level flunky who wasn't much more powerful than a normal human, and was just a minor worker-drone.
Then there was an example like Cubic Zirconium.
"Oh sure, call me 'Zirc'," said the female yoma, sitting lazily at her chair. "I'm a bit of an oddball, never really fit in. It's always up to us lower level drones to do the upkeep and take out the trash. We're the ones who have to go doing the initial scouting and stuff. It's a rough life."
"I had no idea," said Sailor Moon.
"Oh yeah, the big generals and such are always giving us all sorts of crap. 'Go loom menacingly in the background' or 'laugh evilly in the shadows' or 'empty the trash' or 'bury the victims' or 'scout out the best location for an energy harvesting operation' or 'unclog the toilets' or something," said Cubic Zirconium.
"So what do you use 'life energy' for?" asked Uematsu.
"Me? Don't use it myself," said Cubic Zirconium. "You've got humans who're vegetarians, right? Same principle. I only eat 'lust'."
"You eat 'lust'?" asked Sailor Mars, looking over the lush figure of the yoma.
"Yup," said Cubic Zirconium. "I got a taste of lust energy over in Akihabara and oh man what a high. Course it doesn't have as many calories as life-energy so you've got to eat more often."
"I'd imagine that isn't very difficult," said Sailor Mars drily.
"Nah, just the boy's locker room at a high school can keep me going all day," admitted Zirconium. "Oooh. Tasty!"
"A boy's locker room?" asked Sailor Mercury.
"Oh yeah," said Zirc, eyes seeming to burn with some inner light. "Hot sweaty bodies, lusty hormonally driven toned forms - especially if they share a period with the girls' class." Zirc smacked her lips.
"T.M.I.!" declared Sailor Mars. "THIS is your source of information?!"
"One of them," admitted Uematsu. "Emperor Zirc here-"
"EMPEROR?" asked Sailor Mars.
"They gave me an official title as Emperor of the Boy's Locker Room at Kolkhoz High School," said Zirc proudly.
Uematsu shrugged at Sailor Mars' look. "It was a trade for information about the leaders of the yoma forces."
"Shouldn't it be 'Empress'?" asked Sailor Mercury.
"Doesn't have the same ring," explained Zirc.
"You let her drain the lust off of teenage boys, that's..." Sailor Mars realized what she was saying halfway through her rant and went a lot quieter.
"Their grades are up an average of twenty percent on classes after gym as a result," said Uematsu coolly. "Possibly because they can actually concentrate on studying."
"..." Sailor Mars just looked off into the distance. On the one hand, this was allowing a yoma to feed on an unsuspecting civilian population. On the other hand, could she really object to boys being less perverted?
Sailor Jupiter looked like she had an objection, but really didn't want to speak that objection.
"In any case," said Uematsu, "the reason for this meeting. Zirc, would you tell them what you told us?"
Zirc nodded, flipping her hair back and looking a little less mischievious. "Two of the Dark Generals have fallen. Each of the remainder is powerful but the one you really have to look out for is Nephrite."
"He's the most powerful?" guessed Sailor Jupiter.
"No, he's the only one who acts like he's got a brain," was Zirc's opinion. "He places a lot of stock in that astrology junk, but he's a lot better at that than your newspaper astrologers."
Nephrite read the stars and frowned. He rechecked.
Then the Dark General left the room, cloak billowing dramatically out behind him - not that he noticed.
To go ahead and simply smite down these twittering teenage girls was apparently suicide. Worse, it would not allow him to accomplish his mission.
So he'd let the others do their usual tactics. He would have to infiltrate human society, as distasteful as that was, and then seek out these girls to strike from hiding. Those soldiers were more respect-worthy, but they were still human and these girls apparently commanded them. That made these girls more clever and subtle than he would have thought.
Nephrite thought he had it. They tried to act like idiotic little girls, but clearly they were the dark generals and their soldiers the minions.
Cut off the head and the body dies. Any soldier knew that.
If there was something that Hotaru hadn't been certain of, it was about the fact that she was about to meet Ranma's mother. That was something that she hadn't really thought about, as Genma had never really brought her up. She had never really questioned that fact, as she had never heard anything about the woman in question.
Getting told that she was going back to Earth was a big surprise to her. When she had heard what the reason for the trip was, she was shocked, as this had come out of the blue. And then she had felt guilty, as she had not really thought about the fact that Ranma had to have a mother for a long while.
But as the car carrying them from the SGC to her hotel pulled into the Motel Six parking lot, she found herself feeling rather anxious. It wasn't only for herself, as this was the woman who had given birth to the boy that she cared so much for, but for someone else who this was a very important meeting. He was the one that she was watching as the car stopped.
As soon as he could, Ranma popped open the door and stepped out of the car.
"Slow down, boy!" Genma barked as he got out himself.
The pigtailed boy scowled at his father. "Why should I? Ya gotta know how important this is!"
"That's exactly it!"
"Oh, really? Then why should we wait 'round here for?!"
Crossing his arms over his chest, the Saotome Patriarch gave his son a flat look. "Do you know which room she is in?"
"Uhh... no."
"Exactly. And remember, you want to show her that you're a man now. Have some dignity, boy."
"I just wanna go see my Mom...." Ranma muttered.
Feeling a deep sympathy for his situation, Hotaru reached out and gave one of his hands a small squeeze. When he looked at her in surprise, she gave him a reassuring smile, and he seemed to relax from it. That was what she hoped for, and she held onto his hand to support him.
His fingers tightened around hers, and they walked hand in hand as they followed the military officer assigned to lead them to Nodoka Saotome.
Area 51 had seen some really strange machinery in its time. Advanced craft created by the American military had flown from there for decades, and lately it had seen alien fighter units, space technology, and new sorts of locomotion. Those there were used to researching devices of unusual and powerful origins.
They just weren't so used to seeing what was going on with the latest adaptation of advanced technologies. Using the new battery technology and artificial myomer structures, the MADDOX power armor was being field tested at Area 51. It was a very clear and powerful leap forward in military hardware that would likely give the Goa'uld a run for their money.
Of course, the fact that it was only a test, and not an actual combat situation made what the current test pilot was doing less embarrassing.
"Form Blazing Sword!" called out Harry Maybourne as he had the unit stand dramatically.
"Sir?" commented one of the development team, sounding as apologetic as he could. "That unit has a chain gun, no sword. There is a knife though."
"What? No sword?! Have to add one for the Mk II then. Knives are for villains and wimpy little mecha pilots who hide behind their mommies. America deserves giant robots with whopping big swords!"
"Understood, sir," the technician replied, mentally sighing to himself about the oddities of military officers.
His plan was as simple as could be, as he understood the issues at stake. Unlike his 'comrades', Nephrite wasn't about to go into complicated and long term operations. Those could easily have something go wrong, and give these 'mere girls' the time that they would need to catch on to what he was doing.
Instead, there was an easy way to handle his desire to get to the 'Sailor Senshi'. All he had to do was go undercover as a civilian, and he'd be able to investigate anything he could find on them. Once he found out who they really were, he could take them out easily enough, and clear the way for the Dark Kingdom to succeed finally.
Though, if he had to appear to be one of them, he was going to at least give himself a position that didn't have people expecting him to be pushing papers all day. He'd go insane if he had to hold down some cover office worker job, and it wouldn't allow him the freedom to be coming and going as he needed to. Plus, people would have expectations as to what a regular person would do.
As he put his hands into his jacket pockets and walked along the sidewalk, he thought that nothing could go wrong in his identity of being a 'mysterious millionaire'... until he came around a corner at the same time that a girl in a school uniform was.
Catching her before she fell was something that he did instinctively, and he had her solidly on her feet before he wondered why he'd automatically done that. "Are you okay?"
"Uhh... I think so.... Oh my...." she replied, her voice going weak as she looked up at him.
"Are you sure? You seem to be a bit... overwhelmed."
"I... I.... It's just.... Sorry, I just didn't expect to run into you... er, someone like that."
"It's understandable. You didn't see me, and I didn't see you."
"I'm certain that I would have seen you...." she murmured, and then flushed as she realized what she'd said.
Nephrite couldn't help himself as a smile curved his lips. "I don't know how to take that. But you seem to be a nice enough young lady."
"You're nice too.... Umm.... Who are you?"
"My name is Masato Sanjouin. And you are?"
"Na... Naru. Naru Osaka."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Naru."
"Same here," Naru answered.
Sailor Pluto was flummoxed. SOMETHING had made a change in the patterns of time as she knew them. Something had apparently started out subtle as a snowflake tumbling down a steep hill, but had accumulated change and was now a mighty avalanche.
Echoes and repercussions continued. Most of which only deserved a brief glance.
The most altered area was not one that she often visited or paid much attention to. In the scheme of things as she knew it - the United States was a trivial footnote. Representative Democracy would fail as a political system, eventually being replaced with a monarchy again. Yet something was going on over there.
She didn't pay much attention again. After all, she knew that that country wasn't important. Therefore she didn't notice certain developments. Various young women wondered what could be so fascinating about 'deep space telemetry' but considered doing a term of military service simply because it might open a few doors otherwise not available. That they wouldn't have even considered the possibility prior to General Hammond's interview was not lost on some who observed such trends.
She also didn't notice that in the lobby of a Motel Six in Colorado Springs that a group of Japanese nationals were meeting in.
She certainly didn't notice a LOT of very nervous technicians watching (via monitor screens at what they considered a prudent distance) a woman named Urd tinkering with a certain sarcophogus.
If she had noticed Area 51 even in passing, she would have seen a smirking Colonel Maybourne as he watched someone working with the prototype MADDOX unit, and would certainly have raised an eyebrow at some of the designs on his computer monitor. She MIGHT have made remarks about compensation and phallic symbolism, to which the Colonel himself might have replied about efficiency, aerodynamics, and laws of physics.
Because she herself was Japanese, and because she herself was of a future where America was buried under crystal and an uninhabitable wasteland, she paid little attention to that country.
What she was seeing in Japan was of concern enough.
"There's another villain?" asked Sailor Moon.
"Several actually," said Tessa. "These call themselves the Goa'uld, and this is what they look like." She placed the tube with the dead critter on the table.
"Ick," summed up Sailor Moon.
"It's some form of parasitic organism?" asked Mercury, scanner going.
"Yes, it burrows into a human body then extends nerves from its own body to infiltrate the spinal column of the victim," said Tessa.
"The Goa'uld enslave humans and have a vast empire with technology they've scavenged from various worlds," said one of the American technicians. "The vehicle you see over there was built by duplicating some of their systems with terrestrial parts."
Mars glanced at the vehicle but didn't see it as that impressive. Even if it did have a big gun.
"One of several?" asked Sailor Jupiter.
"Yes, in addition to the Goa'uld and your current opponents, there are the originators of the Senshi," said Tessa.
"Excuse me," said Belldandy, speaking up for the first time in a long while. "I was just going to invite the young lady watching us from the Time Gates to try this tea."
"We're being observed?" asked Tessa, ready to signal an evacuation of the building.
"Why yes, we are," said Belldandy seeming to look directly at a point in space that seemed empty. "Oh dear. She's just severed the connection."
"We'll have to relocate everything, this location has been compromised," said Tessa to the various technicians.
What she had just seen was VERY concerning. There was no possible way someone could detect her observation or react to it. Yet that one woman had not only detected her, but had apparently SEEN her.
To say that Sailor Pluto was concerned was an understatement. She was shaken and wanting to sit down.
Especially since she'd ALMOST stepped through the Gates and accepted the offer of tea.
Maybe she'd been working too hard.
Samantha Carter slumped in her chair. Just getting in front of a bunch of people and giving a lecture shouldn't be so exhausting.
Janet Fraiser, in the next seat, smiled in an understanding manner. This certainly had been trying in ways she hadn't expected. Fortunately this batch of meetings was over and they could get on with their REAL jobs.
Her phone ringing was unexpected, and she fumbled briefly with it before it could wake Captain Carter up.
"Doctor Fraiser here."
Janet listened briefly. "Yes, Siler, I know. I have met Miss Urd."
Janet's frown intensified as she listened some more. "She did what? I thought that had been sent to Area 51."
She nodded a couple of times as she listened. "Paperwork snafu? We seem to be getting a few of those. Still, all it did was turn Jack into a girl - it wasn't like it caused him any harm. Hmmm? No, I probably wouldn't say that to his face."
The doctor eyed the way Samantha shivered and wondered how asleep the Captain was. "So what is she doing to the sarcophogus that is so alarming? It's been disabled after all."
"She did what? She said what? I think she got a very wrong idea from General Hammond's speech about getting more women in the military. The General is discussing that directly with her? I knew he was brave. Yes, yes. You might consider that once it is safe, putting a hand grenade inside that sarcophogus just to be safe. Okay Siler."
Janet let out a deep breath as she closed the connection. Maybe she ought to take some time off.
Jedite sat back and watched the television, smirking at the antics of the people on screen. Oh sure - it was plebian entertainment, obviously not written or performed for discerning tastes or intellectual stimulation. Didn't mean that it didn't have a certain appeal though.
Right now the former Dark General had some downtime. In the one depot they'd found a few minor things that really didn't have that much value. A few recordings of events and some intelligence from the war between the Earth Kingdom and Moon Kingdom, a shield, a couple of minor weapons. Some weird object from a time even before the Moon and Earth Kingdom that had been a sort of curio appreciated for its artistic merits.
Taking a bite of some strange but tasty thing with the awkward name of 'apperru streudelo', Jedite watched as Endora threatened to turn 'Durwood' into a toad.
Of course, he knew magic didn't work anywhere near what was being depicted in this series, but it DID provide a quick happy fantasy about a certain former princess-turned-Dark Queen croaking on a lily pad.
Beryl shivered as a cold breeze played through the underground complex. "Report."
"Nephrite is infiltrating human society in order to gather intelligence and strike," said the Dark General. "As if we need such measures."
Beryl looked into her crystal ball, watching as Gilligan dropped a coconut on the Skipper's foot. She snickered.
Emboldened, the Dark General promised much nastiness in the future and strode off to cause much hurty to the humans.
One of the minor yoma turned to another minor yoma and vowed NOT to get hit in the head by that human energy weapon as that sort of side effect was just way too frightening.
"I said I wanted more women in the military, true," admitted General Hammond. "I didn't mean turning male soldiers into female soldiers."
"I didn't think you did," said Urd, inserting a gadget into a section of the sarcophogus that looked a little like a blender crossed with a slot machine.
"Oh, good," said General Hammond, visibly relieved.
"This isn't something that will reduce the number of hunky men around here," said Urd with a wink. "At least that wasn't what it was designed to do. Skuld's better with the gadgets. At least when they don't blow up."
"That's quite all right," said the General. "So what are you doing with that?"
"This sarcophogus unit has been largely made inoperative, and what it does do - isn't that useful." Urd tapped the gadget. "Just a moment while I test fire it."
General Hammond blinked once and backed away as Urd added some ingredients into the blender. "What exactly does this do?"
"You want more women like Doctor Fraiser and Captain Carter, right?" asked Urd, looking as innocent as she could.
"Well, I value their contributions," admitted General Hammond, trying not to back up any further.
"But do you actually have a desire to have more officers that would be like them?"
"If I could, that would be helpful...."
"Exactly!"
"Pardon me?" he asked, clearly confused by the way that the conversation was going.
"It's really simple, this device will allow you to have exactly that. More officers who are like Captain Carter, or Doctor Fraiser!"
"How could you do that?"
"Simple. With this!" the Vanir replied, holding up a hairbrush. "This will provide me with my last ingredient!"
"It will?"
"Of course it will."
"While I do have to admit that the science that your people have is amazing, we've never been able to use a hairbrush for more than its common use."
"It's not the brush, but what's in it!"
Hammond wasn't certain where she'd gotten the lab coat and glasses that she was suddenly wearing, but something told him that it would be better to pay attention to how she was using tweezers to pull something out of the brush. When he saw that it was a blonde hair, he frowned slightly. "What will you use that for?"
"Something that the other side of my people have been doing for a long time."
"And that would be?"
"This," she said, and dropped the hair into the blender. "And now, all that is left is to turn it on, and we will have 'magic'."
"Just how safe would this be...."
"Completely. Trust me!" Urd chirped, and turned her machine on.
Lights began to show up on her gizmo, and a bright glow came from the sarcophagus, one that became so dazzling that one couldn't look straight at it without wincing. Even then, it was impossible to actually see anything beyond the light, and one could barely hear the hum that filled the room.
But it died away as quickly as it came up, and soon enough, General Hammond was able to turn to see what the result of the alien woman's work had been.
The technicians watching on the video feed saw the situation, and a number of them braced for an explosion. But once it was clear that they were not about to become separated by their molecules, they turned relaxed a bit. Then they looked back, and saw what exactly had resulted from the experiment.
One of the technicians stared for a moment before getting excited. "Focus it!"
"What?" asked another. "Why?"
"I've got to see... that we have a full recording of what has come from this major situation."
"Are you sure that's why?"
"Sure. Though any other reasons are nice enough."
"It isn't completely professional, but a guy gets this sort of experience only once in a while."
"Just what I was thinking."
At first, Hammond had thought that he was going to be seeing some sort of disaster. Usually when this sort of thing happened, something rather problematic would come up. However, it turned out that, while this was definitely going to be trouble, it was not of the same sort of danger that he normally handled. Though, he did know that it was not something that he would have any ease in dealing with.
After all, there was a naked Captain Samantha Carter laying there in the sarcophagus, with her body visible enough to confirm that 'blonde' was her natural hair color. For a moment, he couldn't stop looking, but that was due to shock, rather than anything else. When he was able to work past that, he turned his gaze away from the nude woman, and made certain that he kept his eyes on the face of the clothed female with him. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"What? You said that you could benefit from more soldiers like Captain Carter. Well, here is another one."
"When I said that, I meant that I wanted to have other female soldiers with the same sort of talent, drive, and sense of honor that Captain Carter does! This.... This...."
"Clone."
"Is not what I meant!"
"Why? They're the same, right?"
"And that's the problem. We don't manufacture soldiers like we do knives. They are trained to both create a group that can run complicated missions together, and bring their own talents into the work. This is bringing a living being in to existence simply to be a soldier, without giving her the chance to choose. Besides the fact that we already have one to begin with."
"What's the trouble in that?"
"Other than trying to explain where another of her had just suddenly popped up?" he asked.
"Oh, right.... That would be a problem...."
Giving her a flat look, the General sighed, but didn't get a chance to say anything else, as the clone was reaching for the edge of the sarcophagus to pull herself out, and she was about to prove that she was fast moving, as she had to get out of the way quickly, since it was soon clear that Urd's machine was not exactly working perfectly.
Urd had good intentions. Really she did. It was the application phase, not unlike a certain Miss Aino, that often sent people scurrying for cover.
It was as Minako Aino wandered into the room that both General Hammond and Urd realized something was a bit wrong.
Samantha Carter II got up from the sarcophogus and covered herself. "Clothes?"
An orderly (of the female variety) rushed in with a set of fatigues.
"Why does she have a tail and cat ears?" asked General Hammond, curious.
"Must still have a few variables or maybe some contamination," said Urd, looking a little surprised herself.
chikum click chikum went the device, rotating some glass dumbell 180 degrees.
"Uh oh," said Urd.
K-CHING! went the sarcophogus.
"Where's the shut off?" asked General Hammond as a Janet Fraiser, also with cat ears and a tail, got up out of the sarcophogus.
"So there's where that other hair went," said Urd, thinking she must have misplaced it.
Whirrrrrrr went the slot machine portion. chunk chunk chunk
"IS there a shut off?" asked General Hammond, looking over the device.
K-CHING! went the sarcophogus.
"WINGS?" asked General Hammond as a winged Janet Fraiser started getting out of the sarcophogus and more female personnel started rushing in with outfits (to the great disappointment of the males watching this on video, though it was mainly BECAUSE of those males watching that the female staff was doing this.)
chikum click chikum went the device, rotating some glass dumbell 180 degrees.
"What about this lever?" asked General Hammond, pointing but clearly uncertain about pulling said lever.
K-CHING! went the sarcophogus.
"Hardware isn't usually my specialty, I deal with biochemistry and programming mostly," apologetically said Urd.
The winged Carter and Fraiser looked uncertainly at the semi-feline Carter and Fraiser.
Whirrrrrrr went the slot machine portion. chunk chunk chunk
"Can you pull the plug?" asked General Hammond, looking for just such a thing.
K-CHING! went the sarcophogus.
"It'll run out of energy soon," said Urd uncertainly.
chikum click chikum went the device.
"You're not certain?" guessed General Hammond.
K-CHING! went the sarcophogus.
"What does this do?" asked Minako, reaching for what looked like an off switch.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" asked Captain Carter.
The assembled technicians and Marines jumped as if they'd been goosed, then seemed to interpose themselves between the display and her.
"Nothing? Yeah, nothing at all," said Siler.
Samantha Carter and Janet Fraiser exchanged a look, then shouldered their way through the crowd.
There was a brief moment of complete silence, both from the various males (who didn't seem to want to look at anything in particular) and from the two remaining females.
"Why am I in that room? Why are there so many of me?" asked Janet Fraiser.
"Why are so many of me NAKED?" asked Samantha Carter.
"Well, I suppose it's because those with the wings and those with the tails and such have trouble with normal clothing and... I think I'll just shut up now," said Harriman.
Ranma shuddered. "I just got an awful chill."
"Perhaps you should dress more warmly," suggested Nodoka.
"Yeah, maybe," said Ranma, rubbing the back of his head. Now that he was actually facing his mom, he had no idea how he was supposed to act or what to talk about.
Nodoka herself had been surprised. Genma had aged well and was clearly in better shape than she had expected. Her son likewise showed every sign of being quite healthy and fit. As for his fiancee - she was so CUTE!
Being a Dark General meant that Nephrite was someone to be feared. It was his job to go forth and destroy any opposition to the plans of the Dark Kingdom. He had powerful abilities, and plenty of minions to make sure that was something that he succeeded in. With his cool intellect, he could eliminate his enemies without a single concern.
With all that, he just couldn't seem to say 'no' to a single teenaged girl. "Are you sure...."
"Of course I'm sure," Naru chirped as she gave him a bright smile. "That cafe has some of the best cakes around."
"It does?"
"Sure does. I mean, if you're interested in places people go...."
"I am."
"Well then, that's someplace to check out, right?"
"I'd think so."
"Don't you worry."
"Why would I worry?" he asked her with a raised brow.
"You did say that you wanted to make sure that you knew where you should go. This way, I can help you do exactly that."
"With someone like you, I'm sure that I won't have a single problem."
For a moment, she just blinked at him, but then a bright red blush spread across her features, as she giggled a bit.
"But do you have something wrong?"
"Oh, no! It's nothing, really!"
Nephrite shrugged to himself, and reminded himself that it didn't matter what she was thinking. After all, he could just use her as a tool to blend in better with the locals. And having her want to do things for him would mean that he wouldn't have to use his powers to force her into it, which could be detected.
However, he also couldn't figure out why he couldn't actually think of things for activities for her to unwittingly do, and seemed intent on just keeping her around.
The situation was one that wasn't exactly a good one, what with various clones of a certain pair of women popping up. Each of them were in the nude, and having added little pieces that definitely differentiated them from the originals. Of course, that didn't matter much, as there were already enough of a problem as it was.
That was apparently about to become even more trouble, as Minako Aino had just touched the machine.
Upon hearing various beeps and whines coming from the device, the blonde teenager's eyes wide very wide and she stared at the item in question. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure," Urd admitted. "What did you do?"
"I don't know. I just pressed a button...."
"Which one did you press?"
"Ummm...."
"Don't you know?"
"Actually.... Maybe it's this one. Or was it that one? The one over here? Down here? What about this switch?" Minako asked as she started jabbing at the controls as she mentioned them.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to find the right button...."
General Hammond just knew that this wasn't a good sign. There was a girl who had already proven that she could get equipment to do things that hadn't been in the original specifications, and she was working with an alien woman who had managed to create a device that even she couldn't handle. That meant that the situation was one that he needed to get under control as soon as possible, since it could get into the level of 'unmitigated disaster' by any meaning of the term soon enough.
All he could do was try to figure out a way to handle it, and he could see that just letting the blonde tap buttons was simply going to... make the machine short, give out a big puff of black smoke, and go dead?
"What just happened?" he asked.
Urd looked over at her device. "It's stopped working. Basically, it's been turned off."
Coughing slightly, Minako's face slowly became visible through the soot hanging around it, and she gave a weak grin. "Looks like I did it...."
Both Hammond and Urd just stared at the girl, while it became clear that before the device had been 'turned off', there were a great many 'Janet Fraisers' and 'Samantha Carters' around at the moment.
"So how many of them are there?" asked Siler.
"Let's see," said Harriman. "There's the ones with the cat ears and tails, that's one of each so that's two. There's an angel version of each of them. There's the batwinged versions. There's the ones in those sailor suits..."
"I thought Captain Carter was going to faint there when she saw those two," remembered Siler.
"Then there's the pair of robots, weird ears," said Harriman, making a pointing gesture. "Then there's the elves."
"I thought they were Vulcans," said Siler.
"Whatever," said Harriman, thinking the point wasn't really worth much.
"Don't forget the civilian versions," brought up Siler.
"They're the ones who demonstrated what happened if they came into contact with the real ones," said Harriman. "Poof. Not here any more."
"Why pink smoke?" asked Master Sergeant "Sly" Siler.
"If that was the only question you had, you weren't paying attention," said Walter Harriman.
"Hmmmm," hmmmed Siler. "What about this meeting?"
"Well, you can't blame the guy," said Walter. "Imagine the chance to meet one of your gods face-to-face. Even if he knows she's a technologically advanced alien race - you'd have a lot of questions wouldn't you?"
"Somehow I just never pictured Konan as..." Siler's voice trailed off as he considered a polite way of putting that when the individual in question was essentially a barbarian warrior. Politeness was therefore of some value.
"Philosophical enough to handle this?" asked Harriman. "It'll be... interesting."
"That old Chinese saying? 'Interesting times'?" asked Siler. "Yes, it has been interesting around here lately."
The bushes rustled before someone leapt out. Teal'c was already in a defensive stance and only relaxed slightly when he saw who it was.
"Daniel Jackson," acknowledged Teal'c.
"Teal'c? Thank goodness," said Daniel, between gasps for air. "Doctor..."
"Judging from your ripped clothing and unkempt appearance, it appears that the other female scientist was likewise affected," said Teal'c.
"You could say that," said Daniel. "Waitaminute. You mean that BOTH of them?"
"I believe that it is these red flowers, which opened as night fell, which are responsible," said Teal'c. "It appeared to be a minor effect up until she began investigating the flowers directly."
"Yours too? That's exactly what happened at my end," admitted Daniel.
"I believe it likely that when sunrise occurs, the flowers will stop releasing pollen," said Teal'c.
"Why the heck was Urd so sure this was a good place to vacation?" asked Daniel.
"I believe the report said she thought it was a good place for 'couples' to come," pointed out Teal'c.
"That's... that's... That kinda fits her, doesn't it?" mumbled Daniel, as the facts clicked together.
"So it does," agreed Teal'c.
"Should we warn Jack?" asked Daniel.
"I believe O'Neill is quite capable of handling this situation," opined Teal'c.
Jack scratched his head, trying to understand the situation.
First he had that one "lady scientist" jumping on him and trying to extract his tonsils with her tongue. Then the other lady scientist had come and attacked the first one.
The two were now rolling around on the ground, biting and wrestling and scratching and...
Jack continued to watch, and try to make sense of it.
He didn't think he was going to have much success with the latter.
"Ah, that was good," said Usagi, sitting back and eyeing the ceiling.
Rei merely eyed the stack of ice cream dishes in front of Usagi. "You're going to get fat at that rate."
"Urk," said Usagi, suddenly picturing herself in her seifuku and fifty kilos overweight.
Belldandy blinked and put her cup down. "My sister likes ice cream too."
"You have a sister?" asked Rei, turning her attention to this.
"Two. An older sister - Urd. A younger sister - Skuld." Belldandy looked off towards the ceiling. "I wonder how Skuld is doing."
"WAGGGHHH!" THWAM!
Skuld lowered her mallet as the three-dimensional manifestation of a computer glitch faded out. "Why do I have to do this all alone! Urddddddddd!"
"So there's a Sailor Venus and a Sailor Saturn?" asked Mamoru. "How many Sailors are there?"
"Those are the only ones, save yourselves, that we know of for certain," confessed Uematsu. "We are also unsure of how many Generals there were, only that there are apparently five that were coerced to join this 'Beryl' in her goal of exterminating the Moon Kingdom. Currently we think there are one for every planet, in keeping with that common motif."
"So there's still a Sailor Earth, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Pluto," said Mamoru, following that.
"There's debate about Pluto actually being a planet in the scientific circles, so we're not sure about that one," admitted Uematsu. "If there is a Pluto, then it may be that other Kuiper Belt Objects may have Sailors if they fall within the mass range and other requirements."
"I wonder," said Mamoru. "So what about these spirit-bullets?"
"Less flashy than roses, but I would expect these to have better penetration," said Uematsu. "Ah, they're done replacing the targets. You may resume practice."
Kunzite was not pleased with the way that things were going at all. The situation was rather problematic at best, and he was reasonably certain that they were not going to get better. Just the sudden defeat and elimination of Zoicite had him grinding his teeth, and to add in how Jedite had been the one to last the longest was not something that he wanted to consider. Nephrite was supposed to be working on finding ways to advance the Dark Kingdom's goals, but he seemed to have not even enacted a single plan!
As far as the long haired general was concerned, what had started with a fight against teenaged girls in short skirts should not have become anything more than some silly idea for a children's show.
However, he did know that there wasn't exactly an easy way to handle the current situation. He was well aware of what the Senshi were working with from the Moon Kingdom, which actually made it harder to take, since that did not include ray guns, soldiers equipped with current equipment, and all the other strange gadgets that had been brought to bear on the Dark Kingdom's forces. That meant that things had taken a definite detour from what should have been possible.
That was why he was currently in a warehouse area near Tokyo Bay. This sort of place was watched for things being brought into, and out of, a country, and the locals wouldn't be quick to expect anything to be up when nothing was going on outside of the place. But he was preparing for something more than the activity of shipping goods, and was certain to be unhealthy for a certain group of underdressed little girls playing 'heroine'.
The idea was as simple as it was elegant. In the usual sequence of events, the Senshi would make themselves seen first, and then their 'backup', whoever that was, would come second. As there was strength in numbers, the best thing to do would be to break up the group. Even though the Senshi might come in together, they wouldn't stay that way. He planned on having them being forced to go in different directions, so that they could be cut off from each other, and those helping them. Once that would be done, then they could be taken care of, one by one, until the last one was finally removed from his path.
Looking over the deceptively 'innocent' looking set up that was coming together, he was certain that none of the Senshi would be able to find a way to buck this strategy from its proper path.
"I want to be certain that everyone knows my stand on this," Samantha Carter growled.
"But ma'am, you're a scientist," commented a technician. "Certainly you can handle this...."
"I'm also a trained military officer with lots of practice firing on live targets, and hitting them."
"Uhh.... understood. Comparisons about what you... your clones looked like when they... came about won't become major conversation."
"Good."
Doctor Fraiser looked over at her commanding officer and frowned thoughtfully. "You're planning on sending them off world then?"
"Nothing else that I can do. Keeping them on Earth would bring up questions, and even those who know about our operation would wonder about why we have a device that make cloned variations of our officers that disappear in clouds of pink smoke," Hammond answered.
"You're not planning on making them all do the 'poof' thing?"
"Would you?"
"As a doctor, I can not simply condone the destruction of any life," Janet replied.
"But...."
"There is something disconcerting about seeing yourself bounce after a dropped pen, just for an example."
"I would think so. But there is one thing that we should keep in mind."
"What's that?"
"Miss Aino is frightening with her ability to cause havoc with technology," the General sighed.
He had grown up in a Cimmerian village, faced battles and enemies aplenty, and had explored the continent his people had spread across. He had faced danger countless times, both off and on the battlefield.
Meeting one of one's gods required another sort of courage altogether.
"Scared?" asked Siler.
Konan considered that. "Not right word. Sometimes your language is..." Konan frowned and made a gesture of fluttering.
"Difficult?" asked Harriman.
"Hard to grasp?" tried Siler.
"Yes, like gripping wind," said Konan, his head moving up and down once. "Not 'scared' but is like big battle that can go wrong many way."
"Well, they're not really gods, if that helps," offered Harriman.
"They live many length human-time," said Konan. "They do magic. They have power we not, wisdom we lack. Yet sometime they still do stupid thing - bet when they no should, fight when should truce, trust when should not, not trust when should. Think maybe define - gods - depends on point-of-view."
"Well, but they put their pants on one leg at a time," said Siler.
"Urd wear pants?" asked Konan, thinking that didn't sound right.
"That's an old saying," explained Harriman.
"Ah," said Konan. "Like 'Going To Heaven In A Handtruck'? Have trouble understanding those."
"You've been talking to Miss Aino, haven't you?" asked Siler.
"So we're going to be shuffled to off planet," said Sam Catter, her ears flat against her head.
"It's obvious we can't fit into normal society as is," agreed Janeko. "Besides, it beats turning into pink smoke."
"Yes, I know, it's just..." Sam settled into her chair, letting that sentence trail off.
"Not our fault?" said Janeko. "So what did you make of that conversation?"
"Quantum clones? Our physical bodies looking as if we'd developed in some universe where things had gone different?" Sam shifted to free her tail out from under her. "This Vanir science is so strange that anything that it does just seems to immediately go into outright bizarre. Ourselves being a case-in-point."
"So there's a universe out there where apes never developed and some tree-dwelling feline took its place?" asked Janeko.
"That was what Urd said," said Captain Catter, closing her eyes.
"Well, at least we're not wearing those figure skating costumes," said Janeko.
"You can stop doing that," said Sam-senshi.
"Whatever," said Janet-senshi, leaping back down from the ledge. "It looks like I can leap twenty feet."
"Why did I have to be a 'magical girl'?" complained Sam-senshi.
Janet-senshi shrugged and spread her hands. "We can't do much about it other than go with it. You know the reasons for us being sent offworld as soon as possible. We're where your talents and mine can be put to good use."
Sam-senshi sent a flat look towards her colleague. "We could have gone to Japan. The last time we were here, a silver metal robot attacked me and then morphed into a duplicate. Now I'm Sailor SagittA, Senshi Of Gravity. I am not happy about this at all."
"You're 'gravity'?" asked Janet-senshi. "Are you able to fly?"
"I..." Sailor SagittA stopped, considered, thought some more.
Janet-senshi was relatively happy that Sam-senshi was being quiet now. The constant complaining had been getting on her nerves, and Janet-senshi was curious as to what she could do.
Sam-02 disconnected, blinking in some automatic reaction as she did so. "Fascinating."
"Indeed," said Janet-02.
"Though I have to wonder why you're wearing that maid outfit," said Sam-02 drily.
"Shows off my legs, which fall within aesthetic parameters which I can remember as being 'pleasing'," said Janet-02.
Sam-02 sighed and let her head hang forward. "You're going to cause some of these guys to think we're just mechanical girls out for a good time."
"We're robot versions of ourselves," pointed out Janet-02. "Our processing speed increased by fifty times, our strength and speed likewise, you have wireless connectivity, I have internal medical scanners, and a lot of things that could have given us all sorts of problems now won't. On the other hand, we have to recharge our fuel cells regularly, we don't heal - we have to be repaired, and we can't do some pretty normal biological functions."
"So?" asked Sam-02, sulking.
"So, we have to do something and we don't want to frighten people around us," pointed out Janet-02. "The whole 'Frankenstein' thing is embedded in Western consciousness and since we're stronger and faster and smarter..."
"We're going to intimidate and scare people," realized Sam-02. "So you're wearing a maid uniform to put people at ease?"
"Yeah, and I'm not going with the Three Laws Of Robotics quite, but I'm adopting bits," said Janet-02. "After all, if I run out of power - I want someone to recharge me as opposed to putting me in some warehouse to be dissected by government scientist types. No offense."
"None taken," said Sam-02, wincing nonetheless. "So while I've been here, you've been..."
"I accessed some Japanese manga called 'Chobits'," said Janet-02. "I found something close to our appearance, accessed the plotline, and adopted some into my behavior patterns."
"Such as?" prompted Sam-02.
Janet-02 shifted slightly, though it was all posture and expression and not a physical transformation, and for extra effect she lit up the triangle embedded in her forehead. "Please. Are you the 'special one just for me'?"
Sam-02 stared. "What was THAT about?"
Janet-02 smirked, losing the look. "It usually reduces even Jaffa to stumbling over their own feet and stuttering. It also pretty much reduces my perceived threat level to near nothing."
"What if someone says 'yes'?" asked Sam-02, thinking that this might accomplish the aim but sacrificed a few things like dignity and professional attitude.
Janet-02 smirked. "Watch this."
Sam-02 watched as Janet-02's eyes flashed and seemed to go flat, data fields scrolled across her eyes briefly.
"Analyzing. Pattern match invalid. Subject not 'special one.' Search pattern continuing," said Janet-02 in a flat mechanical voice.
"Whoa," said Sam-02.
Janet-02 shrugged, then turned off the act. "If I need to, I'll just find some tolerable poor schmuck to be my 'special one' then spend time doing doing some affectionate subroutine while working the hospital."
"That's kind of... perverted," said Sam-02, though she could see where Janet-02 had worked on this idea.
"Hey, just because I'm now RoboDoc doesn't mean I'm swearing off guys," said Janet-02.
"Well, I suppose," said Sam-02, stopping as she realized something. "People are going to expect me to have this mess too, you know."
"So? As your doctor, I prescribe some human interaction on a regular basis," said Janet-02.
"You should take it easy for awhile, stay out of the air," said Janet, inspecting Sam's wings. "You sprained this muscle here."
"I was trying to figure out how we can fly with these wings," protested Sam.
"It isn't like we've got a lot of medical supplies here in Cimmeria," said Janet. "I'm afraid you're grounded for a few days."
Samantha Carter pouted as she eyed Janet's wings. Nobody understood. They thought she was intoxicated with the feeling of flight under her own power. Nobody realized exactly how incredible an opportunity this was - it had to be some sort of localized anti-grav field or levitation.
"I've got to rig some kind of sling for this," said Janet, eyeing the appendage. "This is going to be a problem."
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" called out Sailor Moon.
The yoma obligingly stopped menacing the young schoolboys to turn and face this new threat.
"Oh, it is that teen rock group 'Stewed Cabbage'," said Sailor Jupiter. "I think I've got one of their albums."
"Focus, Sailor Jupiter," suggested Sailor Mars.
"Wow, someone bought one of our albums," said one of the young boys to another. "We must be getting better."
"Thank you very much," said one of the other boys, bowing. "If it isn't too much to ask, could you rescue us now?"
"They're a band?" asked the yoma, pointing. "I heard them screaming and torturing a cat, so I figured they were members of some rival dark kingdom."
"My guitar playing isn't that bad," protested a purple-mohawked member of 'Stewed Cabbage'.
"Ahem," said Sailor Moon. "Do you mind? I haven't done the introductory speech yet."
There were muttered apologies and indications that she should continue.
"Ah," said Sailor Moon, taking a deep breath. "For threatening talented musicians, in the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
"You wouldn't call them 'talented' if you'd ever heard them play," said the yoma.
"Hey!" protested the band member with the purple mohawk. "Ye'll give me a complex at this rate, ye will."
"I was going to put them with the others we have kidnapped," said the yoma, jerking her thumb at the warehouse behind her. "However, I think YOU will make better additions!"
"We'll see about that," said Sailor Moon.
In joining the JSDF, Keiichi Morisato had always been aware that there were certain possible situations that might not be easy for him to handle. He'd always been aware of the fact that he might have been called upon to drop his wrench and pick up a gun, if there was something like an attack on his base. Then there was how he was transferred to serve at the SGC, which meant that he was stuck doing work in a place where he might have to figure out a way to keep an alien monster from eating him. Of course, the chances of either situation, or something similar come up was highly unlikely, as even if there was some sort of emergency, he would be more likely the person keeping the power running, rather than shooting the guns.
"I think that you look very handsome at the moment," Belldandy commented with a soft smile.
Still, he did have to admit that it did seem that there were plenty of other things for him to go through, like the wearing of a tuxedo to a battle field. Though, being complimented by her was something that he could appreciate. "You do?"
"Certainly! Why, you look so dignified and dashing, don't you think?"
"Well...."
"Yes?"
"You don't think that I look all... stuffy in this suit?"
"Absolutely not," she told him, and smoothed his collar out. "You look very nice, and I'm certain that anyone who will see you will think that too."
"But isn't it a bit ridiculous? I mean, I'm already at a fight, which isn't my strength...."
"Don't worry. You look very handsome in that clothing. You look like it belongs on you."
"But am I supposed to fight, dressed like this?"
"You might not have to."
"Why not?"
"That yoma is moving away from them."
"Huh?"
Each of the Sailor Senshi were surprised when the yoma actually moved backwards. It was one thing to retreat after battle, but it was quite another to move away before the first strike. This wasn't exactly normal, and they knew that there was a problem here.
"What's it doing?" Mars growled.
Mercury frowned. "I'm not sure. There's no reading changes."
"Oh no...." Moon commented. "I hope that doesn't mean trouble."
"If it does, then we'll just have to handle it," Jupiter put in, smacking her fist into her gloved palm.
"You don't have to worry about that," the yoma informed them, darting forward to attack them from the side.
"Using the distance to give yourself a running start," the tall Senshi scoffed, side stepping the attack, and using a hit from the heel of her hand to send the monster flying off to the side.
The creature tumbled a bit before growling under its breath, and attacking again.
Kunzite had watched, gathered information, and now struck.
"Ohohohoho," said the silver-clad yoma. "I am Bauxite! Far more powerful than the energy harvesting yoma you've faced so far. Nor am I alone!" snap!
"Ferrite," indicated a red-spandexed yoma, leaping from the top of the warehouse to land on the street and make a fairly impressive crater.
"Sulfite," said a yellow-spandexed yoma as she congealed out of mist streaming from a manhole cover.
"Excite," said a pink-spandexed yoma as she slunk out of the shadows.
"Phosphite," declared a white-spandexed yoma, apparently teleporting in.
"Dendrite," said a nervous looking yoma in a gray bunnysuit.
The Senshi blinked. "Uhm, why are all of you in 'power ranger' outfits except her?" asked Sailor Mercury.
Bauxite let out a deep breath. "Well, you know how it is. The boss decided to move ahead with the schedule before Supply could finish outfitting us. We got a bunnysuit on ebay as the closest thing we could manage with the time constraints."
"Oh," said Sailor Moon.
"Oh my kami," said Sailor Mars. "This is what that Marine guy was talking about. We normally outnumber our opponents!"
"We outnumber you, now. Excite - keep the soldiers from interfering." Bauxite formed a sword out of her right forearm and hand.
"Fire soul!" tried Sailor Mars, hitting Ferrite.
"Your flames aren't hot enough to damage ME," boasted Ferrite. "My body is made of the toughest iron!"
The bunnygirl Dendrite pointed at Sailor Mercury. "Migraine!"
"AHHHH!" cried out Sailor Mercury, immediately having a cluster migraine.
"Having trouble breathing?" asked Sulfite, her vaporous form partially concealing Sailor Jupiter.
"Without your allies, you're nothing. Enough of this, it's time for you to DIE!" declared Bauxite.
"That's our line," said the purple-mohawked member of Stewed Cabbage. "You've insulted us long enough."
"What can you do against us?" mocked Bauxite.
"We're not only a Junior High grunge/punk band," declared purple mohawk. "We're a MARTIAL ARTS grunge/punk band."
"So?" asked Bauxite.
"Motorcycle Chain Barrage," declared purple mohawk.
"URK!" said Bauxite, a motorcycle chain wrapped around her throat.
"Loik I thought," said purple mohawk. "Ya need to say your special manuevers ta do 'em."
Bauxite's eyes narrowed and she pointed her left hand, morphing it into a chain weapon with which she attacked the band.
"Mebbe not," concluded purple mohawk as he dodged wildly.
k-pow
Bauxite staggered, a hole in her forehead. "Who?"
Rose petals blew on the wind, two men in tuxedos standing atop a building.
"Youth and energy shouldn't be wasted on such as you," declared Tuxedo Kamen, chambering another round. "I will not stand for it."
"Uhm, what he said," said Tuxedo Keiichi, lowering an odd tube to point at the yoma.
"What do you think you can do against us?" scoffed Bauxite, healing the wound in her head.
"Distract you," said Tuxedo Kamen.
"Moon Crystal Heart Attack!" said Sailor Moon, finishing her wind-up and launching her attack.
"Perimeter clear, hostages saved," said a soldier.
"That just leaves that guy watching in the shadows of that building over there," said another soldier. "He's got an IR trace and static field, so... Dark General?"
"Probably, our specialist should be able to verify." Sosuke Sagura did something odd then. He smiled.
Kunzite snarled as Bauxite was blasted back from Sailor Moon's attack - which seemed to be a bit different from his earlier intel.
"Dark General confirmed," came an unfamiliar voice.
Kunzite looked around, but all he saw was some dog. Waitaminute. He was on the roof of a building with only one locked door providing access. How did a dog get up here?
bing bing chiuuuuuu
"Aghhhhh," said Kunzite, feeling that. Since when did a dog open its mouth and send some energy blast at him that he'd barely shielded himself from in time?
CHOMP!
"!"
"What the heck was that?" asked a soldier.
"Sounded like someone discovering a bite is worse than a bark," said Sosuke, nodding wisely. "Can I see that grenade launcher?"
"Then what was that?" asked the soldier as the same voice began cursing in some odd language. Just from the tone, you could tell it was not polite.
"Watch," said Sosuke, suspecting what he was going to see.
FWOOM! went the tube Keiichi had pointed at Dendrite.
A large rubber ball bounced off Dendrite's head, sending the bunnygirl tumbling.
"Such tactics won't work on me." Ferrite knew her steel body could have withstood anything Jupiter or Mars could hit it with.
SLAP! went something a soldier put directly between her shoulder blades.
"Huh?" asked Ferrite, trying to reach behind her and grab whatever it was.
"Senshi! Duck!" called out Tuxedo Kamen as he pulled the trigger of his rifle, currently aimed at Ferrite.
BLAM!
WHUMPF!
"eep!" said Ferrite, currently with a large hole in her and cracks nearly everywhere else. A shaped explosive charge appeared to be something else. "can I be excused? I don't feel so good."
"BAUXITE! FERRITE! Damn you, Senshi! You'll pay for this!" declared Sulfite.
"Hah! FIRE SOUL!" tried Sailor Mars.
"no, don't," tried a weakened but recovering Sailor Mercury.
FWOOOM!
"Oops," said Sailor Mars as soldiers converged on Sailor Jupiter and put the fires out.
"Ick," said Sailor Moon as the doggie came by and dropped something in front of her.
"Woof," said the robotic canine.
"Is that someone's leg?" asked Sailor Mars, thinking that was a little gruesome.
"Just you wait, Sailor Senshi," said Kunzite, applying a tourniquet. "I'll get you - and your little dog too!"
"We have signal," said a soldier. "Tracking device in place."
"You let him get away so that you could track his location?" asked Tuxedo Kamen.
"Yes, the device will broadcast again in two hours," said Teletha Tessarossa. "Most likely he will teleport back to his base during that time. The tricky part was finding a frequency not subject to the dampening field."
"I thought it was across the board," said Keiichi. "The whole EM spectrum."
"Ah, but not in subspace!" said Teletha. "Backengineering Goa'uld comm equipment from their Death Gliders found some interesting details."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Yes, Maybourne IS a bit OOC here in that there is absolutely no evidence in Stargate SG1 of him having a fondness for giant robot weapons pulling out giant swords and laying the smackdown on enemies.