For six years, mankind has waged a Secret War against an enemy from Beyond the Stars. The duel between Ukyou and Konatsu is at hand, and with something to prove, both are prepared to unleash their full potential in the pursuit of victory. Meanwhile, in Osaka, Ukyou's father faces a life or death struggle of his own.

The Road To Cydonia
Chapter XII
Not Yet (or Kuonji Counterattack!)

Written by:
Capn Chryssalid

Konatsu chewed on the body of his mechanical pencil as he read over the last question on the written exam. He could feel the answer just under the surface, or perhaps in the periphery of his mind, and once he found it, the response was so obvious he couldn't believe he'd hesitated at all. Writing the answer in English instead of Japanese was still a little surreal, but after a month of doing it, almost instinctive. Truly, the Pedagogical Psionic Interface (or 'Reading Rainbow as some called it) was an amazing thing.

Despite doing some recommended early reading and research, before this morning he had only had the most basic knowledge of the more advanced weapons in the UNETCO arsenal. Now, he felt confident that he could field strip and clean a T-7A2 Advanced Laser Rifle, and he even understood (abstractly) the workings behind the alien derived family of plasma weapons. Not the math or anything, but some of the relevant physics, and the purpose behind the key components.

Understanding all that had also given him a deep appreciation for how lucky Kuno had been, during Operation Zebra, to have been wearing personal armor. Back when UNETCO had been first formed, soldiers had been thrown into battle with the best modern Kevlar and ceramic armor, which had offered little or no protection beyond some small psychological benefit. As a trained shinobi, and a martial artist, Konatsu had a healthy respect (or even antagonism) towards normal guns, but the more advanced weaponry he had learned about was frightening.

The laser weapons used by UNETCO weren't only essentially instantaneous between trigger pull and target interception, but they could do terrible things to a body. Before the Pedagogical instruction, they had all watched a video of plasma and laser weapons in advance, part of the "Don't Get Hurt" series. He'd seen a laser cut a hole right through an alien, seen another shoot off an arm, and another cut an alien lengthways in half (while their instructor had pointed out blithely how easy it was to adjust the dwell point of the beam to creating cutting motions).

The plasma weapons had been even worse!

Unlike with the laser weapons, the plasmas used clips with a set number of shots. Each one contained a small amount of Elerium-115, a highly exotic isotope that, under certain conditions, released energy and anti-matter. Inside a plasma weapon, the energy released by the Elerium annihilation was then used to superheat a thin helix-like column of plasma, via a process called Ionic Cyclotron Resonance. Packaged inside the innermost concentric magnetic bubble, an aggregate of anti-protons with only one tenth the combined mass of the smallest grain of sand formed the second hammer blow of the resulting shot when it ultimately hit its target at around eleven kilometers per second.

The results of this were dramatic. He'd been shown similar film the first day he'd signed on, and more was forthcoming (though this time most dealt with misfires rather than deliberate targeting). A human target hit in the torso would literally explode as if he had swallowed a bomb, flash vaporizing into a smattering of glassy carbonized bone fragments. Half the time a hit to the arm or leg, fortunately, tended to only disintegrate that limb due to over penetration on the part of the plasma component, preventing the instant death of the previously attached body.

Taking cover was the only safe thing to do. A good solid tree or a large rock would shatter explosively, but that was often survivable (and, in personal or powered armor, the effect was completely harmless). A wall would generally be shot straight through, unless it was reinforced concrete. Personal Armor itself could, as Kuno had proven, stand up to the power of a plasma rifle or pistol, though generally not a heavy plasma. Powered Armor stood a much better chance, but even then there were no guarantees.

Yes, Kuno had been quite lucky to escape with no major injuries.

Sighing, Konatsu shook his head and turned back to his test. He was almost done. Already, the two girls had finished, and so had Ranma, Ryouga and Mousse. Ukyou and Shampoo had left, and so had the Chinese fighter, but the two team leaders waited patiently at the front of the room. Both teams would get together again later today for joint psionic training and exercises, but they generally hung out separately, so Konatsu assumed that both leaders were waiting for the last of their respective team members to finish.

He turned to the next question:

"In the field, you notice that your plasma rifle produces a short high-pitched whine when fired. What is the problem with it, if any? Justify your answer."

That was an easy one - Konatsu didn't have much experience with tests or schools, but he still didn't think that most high school teachers devised as many trick type questions as whomever had written this exam did. Maybe a third of them had been like this one. There was nothing wrong with the rifle, since the plasma stream made that sound due to charged particles pushing aside air molecules.

Finishing the last question a few minutes later, he went back to check over the exam from the beginning. It was all pretty easy, and mostly just a test of one's comprehension of the information jammed psionically into one's brain. A few days of practice and a certification test after that, and he'd be ready to go into the field with an advanced rifle. Until they had that level of ability, Command would never let them participate in missions against the more dangerous alien species.

Deciding he was as good as done, he walked up to the front of the room and slid his exam into the brown folder that sat alone on a glass desk. There, it would wait with its peers for proper evaluation. He saw Ranma nod approvingly at him, and he smiled shyly. He was almost to the door when he heard someone stand up. He'd been expecting Ranma, but to his surprise, it was the leader of India Squad.

"Could I talk to you for a minute, Konatsu?" Ryouga asked, politely.

"Of course, Hibiki-taichou!" he replied, bowing his head slightly. The lost one seemed a little bemused by the response. Konatsu could guess it was more respectful than what he was used to from the members of his squad. Tacking on the taichou suffix to indicate his superior rank was likely something the others probably wouldn't tend to do.

Ryouga opened the door to the room directly adjacent to the one the exam had been held in. Shirokuro, his ever present companion whenever he went in the base complex, looked up to make sure he didn't somehow get lost, and then lowered her head to rest on her paws when it became obvious that he would be fine. Like the last room, this one was also designed for small conferences or lectures; a dozen chairs sat around a table, a pull down projection screen hung from the far wall, and a whiteboard adorned another.

"Excuse me for asking so abruptly, but…" the shinobi smoothed the creases on his pants legs and sat in a demure fashion. "Is this about Miss Ukyou?"

Ryouga settled for simply leaning against the wall.

"Is it that obvious?" he asked, and to his credit, he actually sounded somewhat guilty.

"It's quite alright that this isn't about me, Hibiki-taichou." Konatsu offered a wan smile. "I'm happy just doing my job without drawing too much negative attention."

From the look on the other man's face, Konatsu could see he understood somewhat. Being a center of attention wasn't always a good thing, and for someone with a naturally timid personality, it wasn't desirable at all.

"It isn't that…" Ryouga persisted, a little despite himself. "I've never heard a bad word spoken about you by anyone, you know. You're a valuable member of what we're trying to build here. You should be proud, Konatsu."

"I am proud," the male kunoichi insisted. "Very proud! Hibiki-taichou, as far back as I can remember people have used me - used my abilities and my so called talents - for their own benefit. My step-sisters and step-mother were not particularly… effective kunoichi, so they used me. Occasionally, our clients made use of my abilities as well, though my true gender put some of them off. I was unhappy, but I understood it was my fate. Even after Miss Ukyou gave me the courage to leave, she… took some advantage of me. I didn't really mind."

"But here," Konatsu spoke with genuine happiness. "Here, I am doing something that is just… and right. I'm making a difference, and I'm part of something gratifying. For the first time in my life, I think I'm doing something my parents would have been proud of. That makes me proud, too, and I don't mind if I don't have the spotlight. I wouldn't even know what to do if I were thrust into it."

For a few seconds after Konatsu finished, Ryouga stood still, leaning casually against the wall. Slowly, he smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that. After all, what is a man without a cause; without a reason to live? Just an animal, wandering from place to place; empty inside. You should know, Konatsu… I'd have been honored to have you in my squad," the Special Lieutenant said, and feeling better about it, prepared to broach the subject at hand.

"Thank you, sir!"

"Now…" Ryouga let out a deep huff of air. "Ukyou."

Konatsu delicately cupped his hands together. "What about her?"

He came out and asked, "What is your motivation behind this duel, Konatsu?"

The effeminate ninja sighed softly, and stared at his hands. "I want her to see me. To see the real me. That's all."

"She," Konatsu stammered a bit, "She's a very special girl to me."

"Do you love her?" Ryouga asked, not beating around the bush.

He nodded slowly. "I think I do."

"But you must know…" The so called lost boy craned his neck, searching the other man's posture and body language. "She may die out there. You can't protect her. Can you put that aside for the good of the mission?"

Konatsu looked up at him then, stared him straight in the eyes. "Miss Ukyou knew the risks when she agreed to sign up. She's a martial artist. That lifestyle alone puts you at risk. But… but when we have our duel, I'll see how strong she is. I'll feel it, and it'll be all the proof I need to know she can fight her own battles."

"In that case…" Ryouga said, pushing himself off the wall. "I'll just say this: good luck."

Konatsu blinked at this. "But… you're training her, aren't you? Or helping her train?"

"And that's why I told you 'good luck.'" Ryouga smiled, showing off his oversized canines in a rare display of mixed confidence and mirth. He reached for the door handle, turning his back on the ninja.

"For what its worth," he added, tone more somber. "I hope the both of you find what you're looking for in this. Ukyou will be a happier person if she stops gasping at straws, and takes a breath of fresh air."

Konatsu couldn't find any fault in that statement, but there was something in Ryouga's tone of voice that brought back old unanswered questions. Now, while they were on this topic and having just bared his feelings on the matter, he felt comfortable enough to broach it.

"Hibiki-taichou," he spoke up, just as Ryouga stared to open the door. "Can… can I ask you something?"

The Special Lieutenant paused, and pivoted until he could face Konatsu without looking directly over his shoulder. "I don't see why not."

"If you don't mind me asking…" The genius ninja stood, again straightening his pants and holding them in place with his hands, as if he were wearing a kimono or dress. "You knew Miss Ukyou before I did. From what I've heard, you two worked together a few times before. Then, you just stopped. What happened? Did the two of you ever… have anything?"

"Me… and her?" Ryouga scoffed dismissively, but slowly came around to elaborating. "Ukyou seemed nice enough at first, and yes, we did work together a few times to break up Ranma and Akane, and… do a few other things. We even spent a vacation together in Hokkaido, after I got the wrong hot springs tickets during that stupid contest…"

He shook his head. "She was kind of violent and tomboyish, hitting me for making mistakes or getting lost. But it was even kind of fun, too, and I didn't always mind having someone along to talk to, or just walk with. Most of the time I was just a sounding board for her schemes."

That evoked a small, wistful laugh.

"But then…" he hesitated, and looked away from Konatsu, boring a hole in the door with his eyes. "I happened to drop in on another one of her brilliant plans, involving a place called the Cursed Tunnel of Lost Love. It seemed like a good idea, and I was never that good at turning down any chance to win over Akane back then. Ukyou told me I was supposed to stick with her, and let Ranma and Akane go off together, but about halfway through, those two had one of their fights, and Akane ran after me, asking if I'd escort her out."

"Without thinking it through – hell, just having her want to be with me for once fried my brain – I agreed, planning to drag the whole thing out as long as possible. But… things fell through, and eventually Ranma and Akane ended up back together. Ukyou was pissed that I'd almost screwed everything up, that… that I'd turned on her, but we made up, and just as Akane and Ranma got to the exit, where we'd heard no couple could survive unscathed…"

He groaned in a disgusted fashion. "The spirits of the broken couples completely ignored Ranma and Akane, and pounced on us instead! They wouldn't listen to reason, and we ended up fighting them. This was just a few months after I'd almost died on Mt. Horai, during the fight with Herb and the Musk, and when the spirits started to drag Ukyou away… I got a little hasty, and used my Bakusai Tenketsu to bring the whole exit crashing down. By the time we got out, it was too late."

"I blamed her for taking my hands and making us look like a couple, and she blamed me for acting like a 'typical macho jackass boyfriend' and for trying to hug her, which I didn't. After that… we barely talked. She didn't want anything to do with me."

"And you?" Konatsu prompted. "What did you think of her?"

"I thought…" Ryouga's fist tightened around the doorknob. "I thought she was a friend. It doesn't matter anymore. Is that all you wanted to ask?"

"Yes," Konatsu said, and bowed his head. "Thank you."

"Later," the lost one offered, and quickly left. Watching him walk down the hall, lead by Shirokuro, Konatsu wondered how honest about that last part the other man had been. If fact, it had sounded like he and Ukyou had been quite close, or at least closer than Konatsu had ever really been with the girl he loved. As it was, he felt a little jealous, not so much because he worried that Ryouga might try and reacquaint himself with Ukyou, but because said lost boy seemed to have had fun times with her on strange schemes and adventures.

All he had ever gotten to do was wait tables.

"Damnit! This one would have worked if you hadn't screwed up, you jackass!"

"Hey! Don't try and pin this on me! I was just trying to help!"

"I don't want to hear it! Not from you! Why'd you have to go and do that? Be like that!"

"If it wasn't for me, you'd…"

"No. Just… just stop it, Ryouga. Just… just leave me alone. Just go away."

"Ukyou…"

"Didn't you hear me! Get lost!"

Of all the phrases she'd had to use…

'Didn't you hear me! Get lost!'

'Didn't you hear me! Get lost!'

Ukyou fell to the ground, writhing and clutching her left arm. She didn't scream, instead hissing in great gulps of air through clenched teeth and periodically slamming her fist into the floor. In front of her, her giant battle spatula stood upright, the wide half of the weapon wedged into a tatami mat. The front face of it was still smoking, and most of the area around it was torn up, save for the part immediately behind it.

Ryu whistled. "That was a BIG one."

Ryouga lowered his hands, the fingertips still leaking green and black emotive ki from beneath the bandages and fighting tape. Bits and pieces of burned cloth fell from his hands. That last shishi hokoudan had been more powerful than expected. He quietly cursed Konatsu for reminding him of that old argument. He'd all but forgotten about it until now.

Or had he?

"I guess she's done for today…" he started to say.

"Mada mada," Ukyou slurred in Japanese, the equivalent of 'not yet.' Slowly getting up to her knees, she clung protectively to her left arm. She was bleeding, from just below the shoulder and around the elbow. Those were just scratches, however. The last ki blast had flayed away a few lines of uppermost epidermis, revealing pink new skin, not yet ready to fact the outside world. She wasn't as tough as most of the guys, and she didn't handle shearing or concussive forces as well.

Looking at her, Konatsu's words came back to him, and he wondered.

Ukyou could be quite personable and friendly; it was really only when she schemed to break Akane and Ranma up that she lost her cool and her confidence wavered. It was those times when an uglier side of her came to the surface: self-conscious, overly defensive, snappy and short tempered, and easily falling into a pit of jealousy. And when her plan went awry, as it always inevitably did, the first thing she did was look for someone to blame.

He could take being ordered around, and even having people expect results from him, but fear of failure and rejection when dealing with girls had always made him nervous. Having Ukyou snarl at him after the fact just made things worse. This was much better, far superior in his eyes: this fighter named Ukyou, bloody but unbowed.

'I never want to see you in another light,' he thought, just then.

"Mada mada?" he mimicked her tone, and motioned to Ryu with his head. The other fighter hesitated for a second, and then raised his arms. Slashing them apart, he announced his signature technique.

"Kijin Raishu Dan!"

Ukyou quickly rolled and got behind her megaspatula, using the broad body of the weapon to block the three vacuum blades. She did a good job using it to shield her small frame, but far from perfect. Ryouga wasn't quite satisfied. As Ukyou herself had said: mada mada.

Not yet.

Another two vacuum blades splashed against the nearly indestructible surface of Ukyou's new mega spatula, Hera-sama (or Spatula-sama for the 'Engrish' speakers). After a few seconds, it became obvious that Ukyou was catching her breath, and that she had no intention of leaving what cover she had. Ryouga crossed his arms and smirked.

"Flush her out," he said, speaking to Ryu. "Make her run."

"I've got just the thing!" The Yamasenken Master took a step forward, and altered his stance, pivoting slightly and moving one arm forward and the other out to the side at a perpendicular angle. "Kumon Reformed Style Yamasenken: Kijin Raishu Tekidan!"

Ukyou, this time, had the good sense to move. With a yelp, she jumped to her feet as the vacuum blade curved around at a severe angle, like a boomerang, to strike from around her static defensive position. Ryouga watched; not only evaluating Ukyou's ability to move while injured and carrying her weapon, which still had the practice weights attached, but also Ryu's new technique. The Kijin Raishu Tekidan, or Demon God Assault Grenade, was designed to defeat enemies hiding behind defilade, or under cover. It could curve into a trench, around a tree, arc through a doorway…

It was promising.

Ukyou, however, didn't seem to be enjoying it. Back flipping, the girl used her weapon to parry a regular vacuum blade, and then just barely brought the heavy megaspatula around to guard her back. A half second later, a curving Demon God Assault Grenade hit the area that would have otherwise been her unprotected right shoulder blade. Ryu persisted, and Ukyou continued to dodge. It was good, but it wasn't exactly what Ryouga was looking for.

Some more incentive was in order.

Curling his fingers, a green and black orb of light appeared in the palm of his hand. It twisted wildly, as ki flowed like water out of his mauled fingers. Never before had he been able to pump this much raw spiritual and mental energy into his attacks. Only the perfect shishi hokoudan could compare, and then only because that technique released emotive ki from the entire body all at once.

In the middle of his hand, the ball of ki grew larger and smaller, condensing and expanding as he poured more into it. Most of the time, it was more a Lion Roar Shotgun than a proper Bullet, with the ki widening dramatically once it left the hands. Now, he could weave it all together much more tightly. When Captain Nivelles had asked him to hit a target at 100 meters with his shishi hokoudan, he'd barely been able to, and even then he'd only nicked it. Now, he was sure he could at least give it a good hard shake.

Straightening out his arm, he opened his hand, and let the ball of ki free.

It screamed like a banshee, and in the half second it took to reach her, Ukyou's eyes widened in panic and she brought her battle spatula up in front of her. Then, she disappeared in the torrent of green and black that washed over her like a tide. Again, Ryouga found his fingers leaking excess ki, like a broken tap leaked water. A bit of concentration, however, and it ebbed down and stopped like normal.

There was still no sign of Ukyou, at least until he took a few steps to the side and saw her on the floor. She wasn't moving. For a brief second, something inside him clenched tight and he didn't breathe. Then, just as he was about to call for a medic, he saw her chest rise. With Ryu just behind him, Ryouga walked up to her with a slightly hurried pace.

Kneeling, he took her pulse, and confirmed that it was fine. Or as fine as you'd expect. As if stirred by someone's touch, she coughed, blood covering her red lips and making a few crimson spots on the floor. Her eyes opened, and he reached down to force her to look at him. Her eyes weren't dilated, and it didn't look like she had a concussion, so she was probably just a bit stunned.

He sighed, and stood up.

Ukyou Kuonji had seen better days. The ribbon she wore had been blown off, leaving her hair disheveled and falling in every wild direction. She'd taken a vacuum blade to her left temple at a steep angle, preventing a cut but causing a lot of swelling. Just like the last time, her left arm had been caught by his shishi hokoudan. Having suffered from similar wounds before, he knew how ki blasts hurt like a thousand needles, activating undue numbers of afferent nerves. She'd managed to keep from getting hit much around her torso, but her right leg had three cuts, two on the calf and one on the outer thigh.

"Uuuuggghhh…" she moaned, wincing as her eyes filled with tears from the pain in her left arm. "Oh, gods…!"

He stood there, waiting.

Rolling onto her right side, she slammed her fist into the ground a few times. He had to resist the urge to cheer her on, to shout encouragement. There wouldn't be that on the battlefield. In a real battle, there wouldn't be anyone wanting you to win; there wouldn't be any fans cheering you on. There would only be a malevolence that wished you were beaten, or worse. You had to get back up in spite of that, despite the fact that you were alone.

"Stand by yourself!" he thought. "For yourself! Ukyou…!"

"Damnit! Damnit!" she let out a few labored breaths as she started to tuck in her legs. In the process, she scraped her right leg, and one of the cuts there. "Ah! FUCK! Son of a bitch!"

He smiled; that had always been one of the more amusing things about her. Growing up in a boy's school, renouncing her femininity after Ranma and Genma left her behind, Ukyou had developed a taste for colorful vocabulary. Akane grumbled a lot, and she had no problems with 'idiot' or even 'dumbass' but that was as much as one could expect from her. Shampoo cursed in Chinese, and often quite foully, but that was usually sexist claptrap. When she was pissed off enough, Ukyou could trade words with a wounded sailor.

And, soon enough, she was on one knee, and then on her feet.

He watched her for a second as she caught her breath, and then, without the slightest warning, his hand lashed out like a striking serpent. It met part of the handle of her battle spatula with a clang, catching him just above the wrist. Not bad. Not bad at all.

"Good speed," he complimented, and pushed a bit harder with that arm. Ukyou's legs held as she was pushed back, and so did her hold on her weapon. "Now, how about you get that arm looked at?"

Ukyou managed a small grin. They were past the point where she had to say something cocky to impress them or save face. Taking stock of herself, her condition, and how long they'd been at it, she let out a deep breath and nodded. He stepped back and dropped his arm. A part of him wanted to help her stand, and he could see Ryu felt the same way. But he held out his hand and stopped the Yamasenken Master.

Ukyou propped herself up with her megaspatula, and stood by herself, fighting off fatigue and exhaustion.

"This isn't dodging practice," Ryouga critiqued, looking at her seemingly without remorse. "If you get into that kind of habit, Konatsu will beat you, and the enemy will kill you. You aren't Ranma. You don't have the endurance to dodge all day."

He tapped her weapon with the knuckle of his right index finger.

"This is your shield. This will block anything."

"Tell that to my left arm," Ukyou growled, lifting up the pained appendage.

"When you use your weapon," Ryouga replied. "You have to believe in it. When I used my ki attack before, you thought to yourself 'I think I'm safe,' and 'I think I'll be able to block this.' So part of you got hit. Next time, 'believe that you will be safe.' 'Believe that you will block.' Thinking, but not believing, halves your effectiveness."

"It… it isn't easy to believe that, when there's this… this wave of energy bearing down on you!" Ukyou winced at the memory.

"No," he said in response. "No. It isn't."

For a few seconds, she started at him, and then briefly at Ryu. He could see how his words bounced around in her mind as she thought more about it, and tried to assimilate it. She didn't become discourage, like a part of him had feared. She learned. She kept trying. And it impressed him.

And he wished he'd seen this side of her a year ago.

In the light of adversity, her ki was a beautiful beacon, and he wanted to see it shine out in the open. He wasn't done. Not yet. As promised, there would be more. As promised, he would make every moment of training more difficult than the last. Only on the edge of breaking could she grasp that light inside her that he saw behind her eyes.

Mada mada.

Not just yet.