Author's note:

Hi everyone, sorry for the extremely late update. Well, enough with the fillers and on with the story! I'm sure some of you are wondering what happened after Akane smashed her mallet at Ranma. Well, that will be another side story as I'm impatient to get on with the main story and coming war. I promise I'll get back to it. In fact, I did draft that chapter and then I also drafted this chapter at the same time. Somehow, this chapter finished first so I'll get on with the story first and come back with the lovey dovey stuff later. So without further ado I present to you

Updated 3/9/2006 : Inserted another chapter before this. This is the lovey dovey stuff. Hopefully it doesn't clash with anything in this chapter. If it does, please inform me. Thanks.

Chapter 18: The Horse and the Old Ghoul

Our faith is our shield.

mantra of the Adeptus Astartes Space Marines and Jedi Lord Andy Wong's 1st Jedi Division Christian Daemon Hunters -

Location: Hall of Illusion, Destiny's Forge, Imperial Star Destroyer Mark 2 Jedi Custom

Ranma was standing in the middle of a dojo-like room that was twice larger than the Tendo Dojo. In front of him, was none other than his old nemesis and one-time mentor, Elder Kuh Lon or Cologne as she was better known to the Nerima Wrecking Crew. The old woman was dressed as she always was: hanging on her huge six foot staff and balancing it perfectly from the ground, a testament to her balance and skill. She was still dressed in her Chinese robes which on the front was embroidered the Amazon crest which resembled a Mercedes Benz.

The pig-tailed martial artist was dressed in his usual attire except instead of a red silk shirt, he wore a black one. He was barefooted.

"I see that your taste in colour has changed Ranma," Cologne remarked.

"Anybody who associates closely with Lord Wong will sooner or later dress in black. And it was a more suitable colour to wear in my past battles."

"Airen, please no fight great Elder. You going to get hurt bad," Shampoo pleaded from one end of the corner. She along with most of the Nerima Wrecking Crew were kneeling on the edge of the square. On her side was Akane and Ukyo, both of which were instructed by Lord Wong, to keep Shampoo in line should she try to interfere with the training. At Akane's side sat Kasumi and then Nabiki. On Ukyo's side sat the lost boy Ryoga and the erstwhile Amazon male, Mousse.

Hiding behind two huge Space Marines in full battle armour by the door of the Hall, were the dynamic duo, the eternal fountain of tears Tendo Soun and cowardly Saotome Genma. They still hadn't absorbed the idea that Ranma was a changed man and had from the start, assumed that Ranma would be getting it bad and chose to hide behind the Space Marines who were stationed at the side of the entrance to the Hall of Illusion.

Inside their armour, the Space Marines were having difficulty of how someone like Genma could produce someone like Ranma. It ran counter with their belief that the core of what a person is is due to his gene. After all, it was the geneseed that made the Space Marines strong since all of their genetic modification came from their Primarch's gene, the near godlike genetically engineered sons of the Emperor himself. Unless Genma was not really Ranma's father…… the two Space Marines grinned with glee as the lack of blood ties to Ranma meant that Genma would be open game for the entire ship full of Jedi. Brother Tanthias made it a point to obtain a blood sample from Saotome Genma later for Yoruichi to test.

The youngsters were sitting on the side of the square that was nearest to the door. On the opposite side of the wall, sat Jedi Lord Andy Wong, Captain Jaina Solo and Captain Cypher. Whereas the youngsters were kneeling on the side of the mat, the Lord and his captains were seated on simple wooden chairs. A stool was also provided for Saotome Nodoka to sit beside Captain Cypher, who stood on Andy Wong's right. She had come to observe her son and see how much he has improved in the last two years. Her concern for Ranma was not so much as doubting Ranma's ability but from newly awakened feelings of motherly concern. After all, she had lost her son for 15 years; she didn't want to loose him in something as simple as a practice session, especially a practice session with someone who was 300 years old with innumerable combat experience.

Beside Jaina, who sat at the Jedi Lord's left, were two empty chairs reserved for Ranma and Cologne.

The two combatants ignored Shampoo. For the first time, the two were duelling as equals, not as student and master. Gone was Ranma's gung ho arrogance and gone too was Elder Cologne's disregard for the pig-tailed youth's skills as simply blind luck in defeating her in the past. No, now it was time for the two equals, masters of their respective schools and more, to test each other. No more holding back, especially when there were Force Fields protecting the outsiders from the battle inside the square.

The rules were simple: fight until one was unconscious. The only other rule was no fire arms. Weapons had been allowed but Ranma chose to fight with his fists anyway whereas Cologne used her staff.

The Jedi Lord stood up from his chair. In a deep and loud voice, he simply said, "Begin."

It was then that Akane, Ukyo, Ryoga and Mousse really understood just how different Ranma was from them. If Ranma was a lion, the king of the feline kingdom, they were stray cats compared to his class in martial arts. The force field that was supposedly only activated when any projectile or person stepped beyond the boundary of the square was now continuously active due to the constant impacts on the force field made by Ranma or Cologne. And the worst part was they couldn't even see how exactly they were fighting as both were fighting at Amaguiriken speeds.

Strangely enough, the non-combatants Kasumi and Nabiki saw the fight more clearly then everyone else. Nabiki had trained herself to observe martial artists, even that of Cologne's and Happosai's level ever since Ranma came to Nerima. Kasumi however, revealed yet another talent hidden by years of household duties: being eagle eyed in watching fights. Nabiki shook her head, knowing that she could never use Ranma as a cash cow again, not after what she had been through. The Jedi Lord and Captains of course, had no problem keeping up with Cologne and Ranma.

In the square, the two masters, one of the Japanese Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts and the other from the Jusenkozu Chinese Amazon tribe fought ferociously, each seeking to knock out the other. The Chinese Amazon was shocked at not only Ranma's speed but his power, which even at Amaguriken speed maintained the power of full punches and kicks. And they were far more powerful than that of a normal human. His Chi control had also exceeded her expectations and now, the both of them were releasing their chi freely, no longer bothering to keep them in to hide their powers from the enemy. For now they were really doing everything in their power to defeat the other.

For Ranma, he was also pleasantly surprised that Cologne had taken the fight to a whole new different level. Before, Cologne had always relied on her staff and even then, he had thought that her hits were weak compared to normal martial artists and had written it off as due to old age. Her punches and hits were now as strong as his AFTER his departure from Nerima. Now he realised that she had also been holding back her full powers and wondered what would have happened if she had decided to force him to return to China. Now Ranma wasn't so arrogant to think he could have beaten Cologne from before, but he deduced that most likely they would have killed each other in the best of scenarios.

"Old ghoul, you cheater. How can you deceive me into thinking you were weaker than you are now and make me think so highly of myself?"

"Having an oversized ego is a part of you Ranma. Don't blame that on me. Its always you who underestimated me and I had to restrain myself utterly humiliating you with defeat. The only time you were more powerful than me to the point I had to fight like I do now was when you used the Neko Ken. Now that was a huge shock and I have no problem saying you became stronger than me then."

Ranma batted away her staff attacks with his fists and promptly started a complicated kata which, being a Saotome technique, was a purely midair attack.

"Speak not of the Neko Ken, it has made me do terrible things that I cannot speak of now. Damn Genma and his antiques. If he were not my father, he would be a bloody pulp since the day I came back. MOKO TAKABISHA!" he shouted as a huge blast of pure destructive chi erupted from his punch."

"Hiyru Shoten Ha!" Cologne shouted to Ranma's surprise as his chi-blast was reversed into a blazing tornado thrown back at him. Fortunately his hadn't focused a lot of chi into the blast, merely enough to knock Cologne of her feet, not kill her so the tornado, which was now straining the Force fields holding the battle within the square, was only the size of a tree. Nodoka cried out as the tornado hit Ranma.

Ranma couldn't dodge the tornado and so decided to literally dig himself into the floor. He put his palms together, focused much of his chi into his hands and said, "Fists of the Tiger, Neko Ken revised." He then spread his arms into the air, and Kasumi and Nabiki were shocked to see 50 cm claws of chi sprouting out of his nails, which he brought down to the floor and dug himself into the floor just as the tornado hit him. Despite the force of the tornado, Ranma's chi-claws dug into the ground prevented him from being thrown around by the chaotic maelstrom.

Cologne waited for the tornado to subside and was astonished at Ranma's extraordinary technique. The last time he made chi claws was when he was under the influence of the Neko Ken. She wasn't the only one as the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew was similarly shocked and could see no signs of anything feline in the room to induce Ranma into a rampaging cat monster. The moment of surprise evaporated when Ranma removed his chi claws and propelled himself at Cologne. Cologne was about to prepare her defence against Ranma's punches but was again surprised as Ranma started forming hand seals instead of a kata.

"Katon, Gokyaku no jutsu," he thought as the chi accumulated in his chest and lungs, came out in a breath of fire.

"Suiton, seijuiheki," Cologne commanded as she moulded her chi to suck in every bit of moisture in the dojo but mostly from her own body, to form a water wall around her. As the fire struck the water wall, a huge cloud of steam covered the entire square, resulting in zero visibility to the observers outside. Inside, the two opponents stood completely still, getting used to the fact that now they could only see each other through chi and sound as the heavily moist air now stifled their scents.

"I don't believe this, Ranma expects us to become like that in five years?" Akane thought out aloud as she recalled Ranma's remark earlier.

"Don't worry Akane, I'm sure Ranma has a plan. Anyway, we can always be specialists which will take a shorter time to train as opposed to Ranma who is very well rounded from every school of martial arts he has been to," Kasumi said.

Nabiki shook her head, "That Saotome is insane, no way can we be like that, especially in a short period of time."

"Oh my, Cologne's has scored a hit," Kasumi said as they heard a large smacking sound that sounded without a doubt, like wood hitting bone.

Inside Cologne had finally landed a solid hit to Ranma's shoulder. The old Ghoul managed to duplicate her chi and focused in on a spot where she was standing, marking the spot with a temporary beacon of chi. She then massively flared her chi, as though in preparation of a chi blast and then quickly moved away from the spot, whereby she immediately cooled her chi while the place where she previously stood still bore a strong signature of chi. In essence, it was chi decoy which deceived Ranma as he charged into where Cologne stood only moments before only to find nothing there. It was then that Cologne managed to make out Ranma's tall silhouette and strike Ranma's shoulder with all of her might, intending break an arm at least.

Fortunately Ranma's conditioning had also improved, although nowhere as tough as Cypher's Space Marines or even Ryoga who by that point, could shrug off slug weaponry with ease. It did hurt him though and he reflexively drew into a defensive stance which Cologne pressed until Ranma's back was pressed against the Force Field wall.

"Wong's School of Martial Arts, No Shadow Kick!" Ranma in order to heal the injury in his arm, launched the kicking version of Kachu Tenchin Amaguriken. His speed was slightly lower than his punching version but it had much more power and Cologne also made a mistake of underestimating the kicks, which sent her retreating under a devastating barrage of kicks. She was astonished because she was aware that this technique had its roots in the Shaolin Temple School. Her mind travelled to the Jedi Lord and the other five Captains.

She sighed inwardly. Bravo Ranma, you truly deserve these true friends after what we all put you through.

His arm healed of its bruise, Ranma and Cologne resumed their furious fight with hands, feet and staff.

The fight prolonged for 10 minutes until Ranma and Cologne finally stopped. Akane thought that perhaps Cologne had finally run out of energy due to her old age but Ranma was also perspiring profusely. The two now merely circled each other, probing each other's reaction.

This is really going to take forever, Ranma thought as he continued to assess Cologne for any weaknesses. She really is a great Elder of the Amazon tribe. Would Shampoo be as good as this if she trained like her for a hundred years?

"Ranma, maybe its time for you to give up," Cologne remarked.

"No way old ghoul. The purpose of this fight is to test our limits right?" Ranma scoffed.

"Suit yourself son in law," the Elder than pounced on Ranma with her staff.

Here we go again, he thought before running to meet Cologne's attack. The two once more began a dance of death that this time, lasted more than two hours. Kasumi and Nabiki were still watching the fight intensely but the other lesser martial artists were beginning to feel bored as all they were really seeing were blurs within the Force Field, so fast were Cologne and Ranma. Akane was the only one who from the start, was attentive and gradually her minds eye began to decipher the quick movements.

"Come on Ranma," she whispered.

In the end, it took another 3 hours before the two fighters finally couldn't fight anymore. Most of the Nerima Wrecking Crew sighed as they expected Ranma to pull off something unusual but somehow, everything Ranma threw at Cologne she managed to counter as well. The Tendo sisters noted however that during the rest of the fight, Ranma did not use his chi-claws again.

The great Elder felt an unfamiliar feeling that she had not felts since ascending to the post of Elder: exhaustion. Never had she been so fatigued by a fight, and by a boy, no man who was not even a third of her age. She had to admit, she had literally been pushed to her limits, and if Ranma had a little more energy than he did now, she would not have been able to stop him. She had long stopped pogoing with her staff and was not leaning against it, fighting just to stand up straight.

As for the pig-tailed man, he was astonished at the Elder's true colours finally revealed.. Fortunately he had grown a little wiser in the last fifteen years and did not see his inability to defeat Cologne as a severe drawback. In any case, beating her was not the objective of this fight.

The Jedi Lord rose from his seat again and in a firm voice said, "Enough. Pay your respects and return to your seats."

The two masters wearily moved to each other and bowed. That was when Cologne finally gave in and she fell to the floor, unable to stand any longer. But Ranma quickly held her small body and lifted her up gently. He then walked to the last vacant chair and sat her in it. Immediately Yoruichi came over with towels as well as a tray bearing two goblets of liquids that were smoking at the brim.

"Ranma, what I would give for you to become an Amazon. I would even make the males and females equal if it meant bringing you into the tribe," Cologne whispered as she leant back on her chair, thoroughly exhausted. Yoruichi wiped the perspiration of her face and as much as she could from Cologne's sweat drenched robes.

Ranma sat wearily in his chair and took a goblet of Yoruichi's tray. "The opportunity is lost Elder. And my Jedi Lord is a Christian so he frowns upon polygamy which means I shouldn't take Shampoo as a second wife even if I wanted to," he said as he took a sip of his drink.

"Elder, please drink this. It will restore your strength instantly," Yoruichi said as she grasped the goblet and lifted it to Cologne's lips.

Cologne's looked at Ranma who was slowly sipping his drink. Ranma looked back and said, "Its my special concoction. The thing is even with advanced technology it takes a whole night to brew and lasts only a day. It can't be preserved. I made it myself last night."

The Elder took a sip. It tasted like fructose to her astonishment and she felt a tingling in her body, as though her body was now rushing to replenish her now nearly empty chi reserves.

"Take it slowly Elder," Ranma said which Cologne promptly did, slowly enjoying the concoction.

The Jedi Lord was still standing until he saw that the two had gotten enough strength to listen to him. He then turned to Cypher. "And what think you of this fight?"

The Fallen Angel rose to his feet and addressed Cologne. "May I know Elder, how many in your village possess this skill?"

"Our Elder Council comprises of seven of the oldest and wisest of the Chinese Amazons. If I may say so, I am the most powerful of them all but the gap between each of us is small and as such, we can still be considered very much equal to each other."

Cypher's heart sank. "Only seven of you? Meaning there are six more Elders of perhaps equal power. What about your warriors? Your elite companies? I know this is secret information I'm asking but at the least, we must know your strength before we can aid you."

"Why? Will you abandon us if we are truly capable of fighting for ourselves?" Cologne said.

"Nothing of the sort. What I'm trying to say is that there are less than three thousand of Jedi Guards, and we must be prepared to allocate our people efficiently and effectively. But in a way, you are right. How powerful you are now will depend on the task force that we will organise to aid you. Remember, this is primarily your war, not ours," Cypher replied.

Cologne sighed, for she already knew she was asking too much for aid in the first place, especially when she hadn't even consulted the other Elders yet. But somehow, she trusted the Jedi completely. She silently prayed that she wasn't making the mistake of a lifetime to trust these mysterious warriors.

"Below the Elders is the Phoenix Corps. They are the best and the most military minded among our military, and are alone are trained in modern military tactics complete with fire arms. All they lack is age and experience that comes with the Elders. Most of them come from the family of the Elders, with few exceptions, since our families are privy to the best martial arts knowledge. They are the leaders and champions who will lead the other Cadres."

"And what is Shampoo's place in all this? I once heard someone say that she was the champion of the Amazon tribe," Ranma said.

"As far as normal martial artists are concerned, she is the best. You certainly weren't normal then although perhaps, a few notches above Shampoo's level. Right now of course, you outclass her by leaps and bounds. After winning her championship, Shampoo would have been inducted into the training cadres of the Flower Corps, which I will explain later."

"Below our Phoenix Corps are the Tiger Cadres. Most of our males belong to this category. They are our shock troops, and if I may say so, our expendable troops. As you know, being male is almost like a second class citizenship in our society, so there is little a male can do to elevate himself to a respectable position in Amazon society. The Tiger Cadres, despite their nature, are one of the few avenues which a Amazon male can at least, prove himself a powerful warrior and then seek to defeat one of our women to woo and marry. Mousse was a member of this branch before he deserted to follow Shampoo to Japan."

Akane looked at Mousse in amazement. "You were actually a soldier, not just a martial artist?"

"Of course. Why do you think I've been challenging for Shampoo's hand all along! That Ranma never held a gun in his life before, nor has he killed before. I should have defeated him but the old ghoul refused to let me use my guns," Mousse retorted.

"Shut up you fool, it wasn't because if your skill that I disrespected you. It was because you left the service of your country which is supposed to supercede your personal life. It's a good thing that we were in peaceful times when you left otherwise I would have executed you the moment you stepped foot in Nerima," Cologne said wearily.

"Enough of this bickering, Mousse I will talk with you later," Andy Wong said sternly. "Please Elder, continue. Please tell us of the technology level as well as the martial arts level of your military."

"Forgive me Lord Wong. The Phoenix Corps are equipped with the best today's technology can offer, mostly imported firearms and munitions from America. You won't believe how easy it is to get weapons from America. Their primary weapon is the double edged Chinese 'jien' sword, with American issued Desert Eagles as a standard pistol for them. They prefer it due to its power since they are a primarily close combat Corp of soldiers. We also have our own armour, made with techniques handed down from our ancestors and improved until today. I won't divulge the secret but suffice to say, our armour is superior to current Kevlar jackets."

Lord Wong whistled. "May I presume that it is made up of silkworm?"

Cologne merely shrugged. "Maybe. In addition they are also issued with a carbines and grenades. To summarise they are as well armed as an American Navy SEAL operative. The Phoenix Corps martial arts level is such that their KNOWLEDGE of the Amazon techniques is nearly equal to the Amazons. All that I've done today, the Phoenix Corps can do, except with a former scale. The Hiryu Shoten Ha for example, not all of them have the power to do it and the Shi Shi Hokodan used by Ryoga, most can't make a blast as powerful as Ryoga."

"Now we come to the Tiger Corps. They are diverse bunches comprised of Amazon males who carry basically any weapon they want. From sling shots to the M-16 that Mousse uses when he is not using his duck shaped potty as a throwing projectile. But they serve their purpose and most of the time the enemy who intrudes in our territory will laugh at our seemingly primitive technology before being caught with their pants down by the Phoenix Corps and our more properly trained Flower Corps. Their martial arts level is more or less consistent with what Mousse, Ryoga and Shampoo has been displaying till now: normal martial artists but with no particularly powerful techniques."

"The Flower Corps is where the true warriors of the Amazon tribe dwell. Shampoo was supposed to join them if it hadn't been for Ranma's untimely appearance at the finale of her tournament. Here is where their chi and magical training begins, if any have talent in these areas. Yes, we do have knowledge of magic. How else could we have harnessed the power of Jusenkyo in the past? This is where we Elders all have a responsibility to train them up since their entry. We groom them to have the capacity to perform powerful techniques, and then we survey the Flower Corps for potential candidates into the Phoenix Corps. They are in fact, our base troops, to put in American terms, ground pounders," she said.

"Impressive. Crude but efficient enough for your society," Cypher commented.

"As you say. Of course the rest of the village, male or female are taught how to fight before they walk or talk. Amazon women who wish for the status of a full fledged Amazon warrior must join the Flower Corps and as such, go through a yearly tournament where the top five are inducted in the Flower Corps. Hair Do, the butch Amazon that Shampoo defeated when Ranma came along, entered the Flower Corps and is now in the running to enter the Phoenix Corps due to her strength and some latent magic talent."

Ranma's eyes widened. "That butch man like girl? Wow, I guess I'm glad I didn't disrupt her life as I did to Shampoo. Sorry Shampoo," he hastily added when he saw Shampoo being downcast.

"We can discuss that another time. In any case, technologically, the Flower Corps are equipped like any other modern military force."

"These are our three main military branches. The Phoenix Corps, which are our elite guard as well as the Commanders of the other three cadres: Tiger Cadre and Flower Corps. Outside of these are two more which comes under the direct command of the Elder Council: the Eagle Sentries and Heaven Guardians. The Eagle Sentries are essentially our scouts and diplomats. They are the ones who normally deal with outsiders as well as guard our territories from intruders. The only reason Ranma and his father entered our territory that fateful day is due to the Jusenkyo Guide who is an honorary member of the Eagles due to him saving the life of one of their own before. They are the eyes and ears of the Amazon tribe. You could say that they are also our spies and assassins. They're firearms mostly consists of sniper rifles and are mostly trained as scouts and infiltrators."

"The Heaven Guardians are our magic users. They are the Amazons who are the most potent in magical and chi techniques yet prefer the scholarly life rather than the way of the warrior. It is not encouraged and the Heaven Guardians still have to be a Flower Warriors before they are selected. They are the intellectuals, our Research and Development, the ultimate ward against magical foes. Only the Elders are above them in magic and chi power. The downside is that they don't receive the technology that is privy to the Phoenix Corps, who are trained to use gun, sword, chi and magic. They are pure magic and chi users, which doesn't really balance against normal troops. They are the ones who maintain, expand and guard the 5,000 years of Jusenkyo knowledge. They are the most knowledgeable of the powers of Chaos," she finished.

Ranma could only stare at the description of the Amazon military structure. Was this really the same primitive village that he and his pop had stumbled upon? What was Genma doing, simply bringing him to an ancient powerful kingdom to insult and make enemies of them?

"OOOOOYYYYYAAAAJJJJJIIII!" Ranma shouted in anger just as Genma, who was fiddling with the door controls in order to escape, froze and promptly produced a thermos, splashed himself with cold water and then held up a sign which said: I'm a cute panda. I'm an endangered species. Please don't harm me.

The sign didn't perturb a similarly angered blue haired girl who once again materialised a hammer made of chi. "PANDA NO BAKA!" she cried as she swung an overhead swing at the panda, smashing its head to the ground.

"Now that, he truly deserved. Yes Ranma, you have no idea how close you and your dad came to death that day. If not for Shampoo's insistence that she hunt you down alone as well as the Jusenkyo Guide accompanying you, the Sentries would have shot you before you had the chance to escape our borders," Cologne remarked.

The Jedi Lord sighed. "Shampoo, Tendo sisters, Hibiki Ryoga, Kuonji Ukyo and Mu Tzu. This message applies to all of you. Your training has already begun. I will no longer tolerate any childish interruptions from now on. All of you are young adults already. Its time to start acting your age. Your world is about to face an enemy of epic proportions and you still want to fight with each other over something as petty as Ranma? No offence Ranma. If you do not conform to our military discipline, we'll gladly drop you back into Earth right now. Is that understood," the Jedi Lord glared at the fiancée brigade as well as their male love rival counterparts. His cold stare was enough to penetrate even Shampoo's skull and all of them nodded.

"If I may ask, what sort of forces were stationed at the Amazon outpost that was destroyed recently?" Captain Jaina asked.

"There were no Flower Corps at the outposts. The outpost villages are mostly populated by the Eagle Sentries. What puzzles me is how they could have attacked the village so easily as the Eagle Sentries should have been able to smell them from miles away of the Amazon border," Cologne said.

"From what I surmised from the site, Happosai managed to sneak in dark cultists who summoned the Bloodletter from inside the outpost first. Your sentries didn't have a chance against a Bloodletter in close combat. After which the Musk warriors descended upon the outpost and enslaved anyone the Bloodletter didn't kill," Andy said.

"An inside job? Traitors?" Cologne hissed.

"I do not know. The taint of Chaos is elusive and always appears when you least expect it. That is why we must come to your village soon. I won't say the Jedi Guard are incorruptible, we're only mortals after all, but I can say that we are all trustworthy. Anyway we will leave that for later. From what I surmise, your military is adequately organised against any modern incursion into your territory. Note, when I say modern, I mean according to this Earth's level of technology. Against the force of Chaos however, I fear that your forces are lacking the training and education needed to face against these horrors. Its not just a simple matter of fighting the Chaos demons. It's the understanding of what will happen if they fail: the cost will be their soul, especially if it is a demon of Slaneesh. Am I right to say that only the Elder Council and Heaven Guardians have the proper knowledge to deal with demons? The Elders we know number seven, including yourself. What of the Heaven Guardians?" Andy asked.

"About fifty," Cologne replied.

"Fifty. Completely inadequate. And how is it the knowledge of demons is passed down to the Phoenix, Flowers and Tigers?"

Cologne looked uncomfortable. "To tell you the truth, the last time we dealt with anything demonic was over 293 years ago. As I said, I was still a child then. For awhile we trained only the Phoenix Corps to deal with demons but over the years, the anti-demon discipline has eroded to the point that it is more of a textbook subject in their training rather than something they have to seriously train for. I tried to uphold it but the other Elders, who are all younger than me and can't remember the demon invasion, chose to focus more on conventional warefare."

"So based on your experience, if the Phoenix Corps were to engage Chaos demons now…" Jaina started.

"…. they would be killed," Cologne finished with a sigh as her worries increased tenfold.

"Do not give up hold Elder. Strangely enough, we have a large window of time before they make their next offensive. Time enough to bolster your defences and find out how, where and when the enemy will move," Andy Wong said.

Nabiki held up her hand which caught the eye of Cypher. "Yes Nabiki?" he asked.

"Please, I do not wish to doubt you but how can we be ready on time? How will we find the time to train to become like Ranma? Maybe Akane who has been practising since she was young has the physical composition to do it but Kasumi and I haven't practised a kata in years, not since….," she hesitated as another set of painful memories came.

"Not since mother died and daddy stopped teaching," Kasumi finished quietly which promptly activated a certain human water fountain.

"Oh Kimiko, Kimiko, why did you have to leave us," the old man wailed to everyone's disgust.

"Tendo Soun, I invited you and your friend because I thought you would be able to give some input on our plans. If all you are going to do is cry and hide, than you are of no use here. Space Marines, remove Tendo Soun and Saotome Genma from the room," the Jedi Lord ordered.

The Panda had awaken to hear the last bit about being ordered out and promptly wrote on the sign: how dare you separate a father from his son? I am his father and master of the Saotome School of Martial arts. You have no right to teach him without my leave. I demand that you return Ranma to me and we will go back to marry Akane and Ranma.

This finally broke the proverbial camel's back as far as Space Marines patience were concerned. They were the Emperor's finest but they also had zero tolerance of those who sullied the honour of their leaders. With a battle cry, "REPENT FOR TOMORROW YOU DIE!" the two Space Marines started beating Genma in his Panda form, who was more interested in escaping than of fighting back.

"BROTHER TANTIAS, BROTHER MALACHAI, RESTRAIN YOURSELVES!" Cypher roared just as one of the Space Marines was about to crush Genma's panda head underneath his armoured boot.

"For your disregard of Andy Wong's command, you are hereby sentenced to a week of solitary confinement. Report to Vice-Captain Ardias immediately!" Cypher shouted.

The two Space Marines stopped their battering of Genma, who was now a bloody and furry pulp on the floor. The signs he usually held only said, "oooooouuuuu…." The two Space Marines bowed and then exited the room, but not before dragging Tendo Soun out as well.

"Yoruichi…" Ranma started to say but she was already one step ahead, moving swiftly and picking up the furry mess that was Genma.

"Understood Taichou, I will deposit him in Medlab first," she said before exiting.

"Any more distractions?" this time Andy's gaze was directed at Saotome Nodoka. Fortunately the Saotome matriarch had managed to grasp that perhaps now was not the time to ask why Ranma did not take Yoruichi as a mistress, which showed how much more intelligent she was than Genma. She promptly shook her head, deciding that apart from motherly love, any discussion regarding Ranma's marital status could wait.

"No Lord. Please continue," she said politely.

"Thank you. To answer your question Nabiki, we have a way to slow down time long enough for us to train you girls. I won't go into details but this is how we managed to train the Jedi Guard during our previous war. By slowing down time long enough for us to be stronger, we managed to create a fighting force that rivals any alien civilisation. But this technique is not a battle technique, and can only be done on this ship. With this technique, we can make one day in real time seem like a month to you. This way we will be able to train you adequately with little time passing by in the real world. This will be essential and even then, we must move quickly."

Kasumi's eyes widened. "Does this mean we'll get older faster? That in one day, we'll actually emerge one month older?"

Andy Wong gave a broad smile. "The beauty of this technique, bless Jedi Lord Kira Yamato may his soul rest in peace, is that physically your body only ages in proportion to the real time yet your body conditioning improves in tandem with training. So your getting a lot of training without having to get more wrinkles."

Nabiki heaved a sigh. She was really worried about spending a year training and emerge out one year later when only twelve days had passed.

Ryoga slapped his right fist against his palm. "So, if I may ask, when will our training start? We've been talking for too long already. Nows the time for action. I'm dying to get back at the bastards who tore up Nerima. And Ranma, I believe you still owe me a duel!"

Ranma was worried that his friend was going to get it from the Jedi Lord but to his surprise, Andy smiled. "Peace Hibiki Ryoga. Remember the fate of the world is at stake, not just your desire to fight."

The fanged boy realised that he was being disrespectful and quickly bowed and kept quiet.

"Cologne, we will schedule a few hour of rest for you then Captain Neji, Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Jaina will liase with you to help bolster your nation's defences. For now, we promise training and knowledge to your nation on how to defeat the forces of Chaos. You can negotiate for technology with them," Andy said to Cologne.

"I take it you, Ranma and Cypher will train the youngsters?"

"Yes. Be prepared the next time you see them Cologne. Pray that they survive the ordeal. We will make them see hell by the time their training is over. I pray that they're hears and minds remain good by the end of it."

Cologne asked, "If not?"

"I will execute them," the Jedi Lord said with dead seriousness.

To be continued

Author's note:

Katon Gojyaju No Jutsu: Fire element, Great Firebal technique (Sasuke's signature technique)

Suiton Suijiheki: Water element, Water Wall/Shield (high leter water jutsu used by Second Hokage and also by Hatake Kakashi)

Coming soon, Team Ranma will be formed and need to find out who is the mysterious alien that resides in Japan? Why is the alien on the planet? How is Happosai going to find it? And will the Ranma survive Akane's enhanced mallet? Find out in the next chapter.

Once again, thank you all for reading until now. Reviews as always, is very much appreciated.

Until the next time, good night and God bless all of you.