Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2. It is the sole property of its respective
owners and creators.
Mini-Note: *** designates a change in POV or scenery.
IMPORTANT: Read Author's Notes at the end for information regarding any
questions or comments you might possibly have about this chapter
//...//-Transmission or any other real-time communication
((...))-Computer Speaking, Typing, or whatever you prefer.
File 01: Midnight Memories
The time is 2:30 A.M. In a place known by many but understood by few, a single
solitary figure kneels transfixed. Her carefully trained eyes keep close watch
on her target, her every sense is attuned to pick up even the smallest minute
detail.
//...ma.....Ra....ome in.....// The distorted voice beamed into the ear of the
pigtailed redhead causing her to wince slightly.
"I'm getting nothing but static my friend." She whispered through the comm link
that connected the two friends and partners. She casually brushed several
strands of deep red locks from her eyes as she shifted her position slightly in
an effort to make her perch more comfortable. A thin breeze wafted through the
air atop the Arclight Web Solutions building. The high altitude afforded a
perfect view of the 21st century urban kingdom that was capital of the country
of Japan. The only illumination provided to her was that of the glow of the moon
and the stars in the heavens, and the dim green haze that originated from her
own left eye.
//...Am I....clear...ow? // Still garbled but slightly clearer, the woman on the
other end of the comm link attempted once again to achieve a comprehensible
signal.
"Not even close," She let a small sigh of frustration escape her lips as the
trial and error session entered its fifth attempt. "Zoom-magnify 37x."
//Am I coming in clear now? // A voice as clear and as crystal as anything she
had ever heard graced her ears.
"Crystal." The redhead affirmed.
//There's a lot of traffic in the air at this time of night, // the voice on the
other explained her recent bout of channel surfing. //How's the top look? //
"Security is getting tighter. A lot of personnel running around the helipad."
Through the eyes of the voyeur everything in her world was covered in a green
sheen. She watched closely at the scene that was unfolding a mile away at the
top of the corporate nerve center of Heaven's Star Inc, the most powerful
conglomerate in the known world. The roof that also served as a landing pad was
abuzz with activity as technicians were working vehemently to what seemed to be
the coming of an important figure
//From what I was able to get from the comm. tap the big boss is at some kind of
meeting with the S.D.F. Most likely they're prepping for his arrival. // Her
partner on the other end explained in detail.
"Got that. You better hustle, we're already behind schedule," Her ears perked up
at an all too familiar distant sound. "Oh...and be careful Ryoga." She added at
a quieter tone before clearing the line.
//Aren't I always? // You could almost hear the smile coming upon her face.
Ranma sank into a kneeling position; so far the guardsmen stationed upon the
roof that encompassed her watch zone had not made any effort in the realm of
counter surveillance. Their mistake.
"Zoom-magnify 40x. Quad 32 x 17" Her left eye glowed with an unearthly energy.
The feint sounds of integrated cybernetic technology working there future magic
whispered into her trained ears. A targeting reticule appeared in front of her
eyes only, as per her command a single square from a grid zoomed in rapidly. One
of the guards seemed to be alerting his colleagues about something, they were
all suddenly becoming very dutiful in comparison to their previous state of lax.
"Ooooo. Who do we have here...?" She whispered to herself.
The twin doors of a rooftop elevator slid open and two very attractive women
stepped out. An air of authority was created around them as every guard
immediately stood at attention.
"And who might you be I wonder..." Ranma murmured to herself as her interest
skyrocketed at this new development.
Her attention shifted to the longhaired and mystifying of the two. She watched
the woman's majestic eyes, they were a deep liquid black and they seemed to
swirl with a calm, composed, demeanor behind them. The second female that
entered the scene with her took immediate charge of the enviroment, the
movements of her lips and the use of hand gestures indicated to Ranma that she
was giving all the orders to the guards and technicians who were at attention.
"Those two must be pretty high in the food chain. Everyone started bustin their
butts more than usual the minute they showed up." Her crass assessment of the
situation was nonetheless as accurate as anything else that could be said.
Ranma took notice of the movement of the longhaired woman's hand toward her ear.
She watched closely as she began to speak to someone through what had to be a
comm link.
"Who's she talking too?" Ranma wondered aloud, his inquisitive nature was of
experience in the field and not that of a typical nosy teenager. "Spectrum:
Radio. Monitor all incoming high wavelength modulations." Her commands came out
sharp and clear so as to eliminate any possible processing mistakes.
Her ears were instantly barraged by an endless bevy of voices and static. Her
eyes squinted again, this time in concentration as she carefully noted every
signal being received.
"Stop. Log frequency. Monitor until I say otherwise." She blurted quickly.
//....is being loaded into the mainframe as we speak father. However we have yet
to discern how security was breached, but I have my suspicions.// Ranma was
instantly engrossed by the maturity and softness of the woman's voice.
//Excellent. As for the matter of security it is entirely possible that a rival
has managed to infiltrate a spy. If that is the case then there's no telling
what kind and/or amount of information has already been leaked. // A second
speaker caught her ears; this one had a tone of seniority and experience.
//If there is a spy I will deal with him or her myself. Nabiki has already
suggested a background check on all new employees in the past seven months. //
The woman shifted to a slightly edgier vocal as she spoke of the possibility of
a spy.
"I came in too late," Ranma muttered to herself. The conversation being
exchanged was not making all too much sense to her since she didn't know how it
originated or what the subject was. "Record all outgoing and incoming signals on
current frequency. Switch to private two-way band." She knew she could just go
over the entire exchange at another time; her continued real-time monitoring was
not necessary. However it was necessary to alert her partner at the latest state
of affairs.
The familiar sounds of an internal computer working drifted silently through the
air. An acknowledging chime in her brain signaled that a scrambled channel was
now open.
"Ryoga? How's it coming down there?" Ranma wondered despite that not much time
had passed.
//I'm moving in now. We better go dark until I finish up, I don't want to risk
us getting branched. // Ranma could make out Ryoga's footsteps across the
connection; she had to be close to the entrance by now.
"Right, just hurry it up because daddy is gonna be here soon." Ranma's eyes
returned to the helipad as she had briefly let them drop when she was listening
to the communique between what he discovered to be father and daughter.
//Daddy? // Ryoga asked about the cryptically employed endearment.
"Don't ask. Ranma out."
***
A black haired girl in a yellow bandanna and shirt, black jeans, a sleeveless
jacket, and hefting a small black backpack on her back casually walked up the
steps leading to the entrance of the reception level of the massive skyscraper.
As she approached her eyes caught sight of two armed security guards who also
caught sight of her. They both placed their hands on there holsters and
proceeded toward her.
"Excuse me ma'am but this building is closed to visitors for tonight." One of
them put himself in her path
"Oh hello. My name is Mariko Kamizawa and I'm from New Sun Press. I'm scheduled
to have an interview with Mr. Tendo for our Saturday special on entrepreneurs."
She smiled sweetly and then produced an identification card from the small
backpack she was carrying.
"See if it checks out." The guard ordered his partner as he inspected the card
for authenticity.
"Yeah." The lower ranking second guard reached for his radio to do as ordered.
In an instant the girl flew into action. Her foot shot out and collided with the
first guard's stomach who was sent flying clear off his feet slamming hard into
the tempered glass wall of the first floor. The second sentry was frozen in
shock at the illogical strength of this girl. He turned his head back to her
from watching his partner fly by, but at that time she was already on him and
sent her fist crashing into his jaw. The sound of bone being shattered caused
her to cringe slightly.
"Ahhh damnit. I keep forgetting I have to watch my strength even in this form."
She crouched down and searched the guard's unconscious form until she came upon
a keycard. "Security on this floor is way too light...I don't like it...Maybe I
shouldn't have bothered with a fake I.D."
At this time of night the entrance doors were locked and a security passkey
could only open them. The scanner showed green and gave a friendly chime as she
slid the liberated keycard through. The sound of the door unlocking prompted her
to enter the reception area, which was totally devoid of activity. There were
elevators on either side and in the middle of the large lobby and the
receptionist's desk was located directly in front the center column that housed
the center lift.
"I gotta make this quick." She whispered as she riffled through her backpack as
she ran. She pulled out a cable with a fiber-op adapter on one end and a needle
on the other. "C'mon, where are you?" She searched every nook and cranny of the
cluttered desk until she found what she was looking for, the network jack that
connected the computer to the company-wide database. She plugged the adapter
into the jack, and very carefully slid the needle into her right wrist.
((Welcome to Heaven's Star Corporate Mainframe.)) The words appeared in Ryoga's
mind's eye as her finger flexed slightly in response to the internal workings of
her synthetic arm.
***
A sleek black helicopter glided soundlessly through the night sky. All personnel
immediately cleared the landing area as the stealth helicopter came to a hover
over the massive center of operations. Kasumi felt the wind push against her as
the blades came to a slow stop and the pilot/copilot hatch slid open. Soun
Tendo, the creator and owner of Heaven's Star, stepped out from the once air-
borne vehicle.
"How was the meeting with the S.D.F?" She asked as father and daughters began
walking side-by-side.
"The bid is as good as ours but we can never be too sure when our rivals are
concerned." He straightened his tie as he walked. He seemed to be in high
spirits this particular night, as he should be, if his company were to win they
would be in charge of a multi-billion dollar contract to create the military's
next generation of mobile infantry.
"I'm sure the stockholders will be glad to hear that." Kasumi's eyes shifted to
her right, past her father, to fall upon her younger sister.
"Speaking of glad, I believe you wanted this back?" Nabiki presented a small
silver disk in between thumb and forefinger. "In mint condition no less." She
smiled at the addition of such a critical detail.
"Kasumi, Nabiki; you've both done very well. The information stored on this disk
will be invaluable if we win the bid with the military." Soun signaled to a
glasses wearing employee who was standing by, he immediately approached the
Tendo patriarch who retrieved a clipboard from the assistant's hands.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Nabiki asked rhetorically.
"Of course not. I believe the message that has been sent our enemies is well
established now." Soun signed a document before handing them back to the
assistant.
"Anything they try, we'll put'em down." Nabiki brought her fist to palm to
emphasize the point. "No way will they be making any moves against us anytime
soon."
The eldest Tendo sister's thoughts, however, were not with her father and
sibling. Her mind was in the process of wandering back to the battle they had
just fought. Back to the sight of the blood she was so forced to spill, back to
the face of the man, as he lay dying or already dead. Too many times was she
faced with the unholy responsibility of ending the existence of someone who
would so easily do the same to her and while she knew that there could be no
other option, she still never found the ease in her conscience after commiting
such a near barbarous act.
"Is something wrong Kasumi?" Her father asked in regards to the look of
melancholy that had suddenly overtaken her delicate features.
"No father, it's nothing." She waved off the growing concern for her welfare as
unnecessary.
In her mind however she knew that no matter what, she would have to keep
fighting and if necessary keep killing if it meant that everything she loved
would survive. Long ago she had made a solemn promise to her mother that she
would nurture and protect everything and everyone she cherished and if it meant
she would have to forsake her own innocence, then it was a sacrifice she would
make. The Tendo matriarch's death had not bowed well for her father's psyche as
it had pushed him on the verge of a suicidal depression. It wasn't until he came
to the choice of totally commiting himself to his company and its future was he
able to work past his beloved wife's death and in the process amass an untold
amount of wealth and influence that he had never dreamed possible. Heaven's Star
was the sole reason why Kasumi still had a father and not two dead parents,
because of that she vowed to ensure that nothing stood in the way of its growth
and power. She knew she could question herself all she liked, but in the end,
she knew where her responsibilities would always lie and what her sworn duty to
her family was.
//Ma'am we have a problem. // A sudden transmission to her comm. interrupted her
mental repartee.
"Report." She made the familiar movement of hand to ear, which brought the
attention of parent and sister.
//The first floor security lock has just been disengaged. We tried to get
confirmation from Johnson and Shima but we're getting no response from either of
them. // Building security central reported with a tone of slight nervousness.
"Anything on the cameras?" Her hand moved to grip Soun's shoulder with the
intention of telling him that his safety was now compromised.
"What's happened Kas?" Nabiki's expression sobered from what it was, her
sister's tone suggested that something had just gone awry.
//No, we're getting nothing but snow down there. Something is generating some
major E.M. interference. // Kasumi's eyes narrowed at this bizarre new
development. She didn't think anyone would be foolish enough to attempt a direct
assault of the building; it was her own fault for not anticipating it really.
One of the many key rules of this line of work was to expect the unexpected.
"Kas, talk to me, what is going on?" Nabiki tried a second time after receiving
silence.
"There is an intruder on the first floor. We need to send a team
down...to...investigate..." Her voice trailed off as her senses were suddenly
becoming alive with the notion that someone or something was watching them. She
had not felt anything like this when she first stepped foot on the helipad and
she could only guess that the appearance of a possible threat on her father's
life was prompting this sudden increase in her spatial awareness. Her eyes moved
to the east, toward a nearby web design building and the source of her growing
concern.
***
No matter how she tried she could not liberate her eyes from their transfixed
gaze upon the woman that had so captured his affections. From the recorded
conversation she gleaned her name to be Kasumi Tendo, an approprite first name
for someone who so consumed her conscious senses. Ranma couldn't accurately
describe what it was about that particular Tendo that she found so alluring. The
way she moved, the way she spoke, the way her locks moved in the wind, it was
far too many things at once to give a real description.
"Ryoga we have a serious problem. I just picked up a transmission from building
security; they know something's up where you are. I suggest you get your ass out
of there now." Ranma forced himself back on the task at hand; he needed to warn
his partner.
//I know, I know. But my Driver is having a bit of a time busting through their
firewall. I just need two more minutes to get the personnel files. // Ryoga
responded with a slight edge of frustration.
"You may not five seconds if I'm seeing right." His enhanced visual abilities
caught sight of the other Tendo sister and several security officers loading
onto the elevator to investigate the problem. Kasumi, eight remaining officers
who took up point at the on all corners and sides of the roof, and her father
remained behind.
//I'm in the database and I'm downloading now. I should be out in about a minute
and a half so you can pull out. // Ryoga reported his current condition
"Right," Ranma gave a short answer as something most interesting had reclaimed
his attentions. "Well well aren't you full of surprises Miss Kasumi Tendo." The
woman of his dreams was staring straight back at him. Her eyes were now as clear
Ranma then other point. Despite the frozen stare she was presenting her, Ranma
could only awe at the beauty they radiated at night despite there dark color.
"Capture image," Two simple words would forever brand this perfect moment into
her memory. "Kasumi I'll be seeing you again. Even in my dreams."
***
((Heaven's Star Firewall Enterprise Edition. Version 7.9
WARNING! Administrative Rights Required)) The words in her mind told of a
barrier that would prevent access to all but the most high ranking of company
employees.
"Run Sorcerer." Ryoga whispered as millions of bits of information were coursing
through her arm before scrolling through her brain. The biosynthetic limb that
was designed by Ryoga himself worked feverishly to penetrate the long thought
impenetrable security of the Heaven's Star mainframe.
((You are now logged on as AdminUser)) A welcoming chime greeted the newest
administrative entity upon the servers.
"Beautiful." Ryoga grinned. She went by many names on the wired, there were many
legends passed along through the typings of a million wannabes and authentics as
to the skill with which she could disrupt any kind of wall, blocker, or
scrambler.
//You may not five seconds if I'm listening right. // Ranma's voice blared into
her ear at the same time.
"I'm in the database and I'm downloading now. I should be out in about a minute
and a half so you can pull out." Ryoga instructed while secretly hoping she
didn't exaggerate that statement.
//Right. // Ranma answered shortly.
"Yeah, that's if I haven't been shot first. I don't know how long it'll take
them to find a way around the E.M. scrambling I'm sending out." Ryoga mumbled to
herself as the comm.-link cut off.
((Directory is now "Personnel Records."))
((Local Host is "Hibiki")) A ping of success went off in her head.
"Search for all employees with Level 3 clearance or above." She ordered.
((Searching Query))
Ryoga had yet to determine exactly why Ranma suggested this impromptu extraction
op. They were supposed to be meeting with a very important client, but instead
her partner had decided out of the blue that they would make a quick stop at
Heaven's Star Headquarters.
((Search Complete.))
((5 subjects found.)) Another chime of success sounded off.
"Leech them all. I'll sort it out later." Ryoga could make out the distinctive
sounds of an elevator slowly descending the floors. No doubt it was a multitude
of private security being sent to figure out who sent two of their guards into
comas.
((Downloading...63% Complete))
"Thank god for a ten gigahertz fiber op network." She sighed in relief knowing
he wouldn't be stuck here all night long. Not that he would have that much time.
"Everybody fan out! Two man teams at all times! We'll search this floor and work
our way up!" A distinctly feminine voice shouted orders to, by the sound of the
footsteps, eight other members of the building's defense force.
"Perfect...," Ryoga snarled to himself. So far her only hiding place was behind
the receptionist desk. Even though the lobby was quite large and darkened, the
desk was directly in the middle and most likely would be the first place to be
checked out. "Well so much for being discrete. But then again this little jaunt
wasn't exactly planned in advance now was it?"
"We're going to go find Johnson and Shima!" An officer yelled.
"Be careful! The intruder is most likely still in here!" The female leader of
the search party yelled a warning
((Download Completed)) Ryoga was beginning to love the noise the system made
when something actually went right.
"Bout friggin time." She quickly pulled the needle out of her wrist, as the
footfall of the approaching investigators grew louder.
"What do you think happened?" One of the approaching guards intiated a
conversation with another.
"How the hell should I know? I'm just surprised there's still people stupid
enough to try and infiltrate this place, but what the heck could be so valuable
on the first floor?" A second older sounding voice responded.
"What are you talking about?" The younger officer questioned.
"Well, central couldn't find any indication that the elevators were in use. The
cameras in the stairwells are still operational and they couldn't spot anyone
there either." The senior answered as the sound of him scratching his beard
could be heard.
"Well that is wei..." His partner never finished his sentence. They had just
begun to pass by the center elevator. Before the guard could utter the syllable
a fist slammed into his cheek and he was sent flying a ways into the darkness.
The attacker's next action was to grab the second officer by the face and send
it ramming into the desk, making quite a notable indention.
"What the hell was that?" Voices emanated from further down the lobby. Ryoga
knew her actions would garner the attention of reinforcements, but she also
knew that if worse came to came worse he would simply change forms and elude
them.
"Ranma is going to owe me big time for this." Ryoga muttered as she attempted a
break for the exit, thats when the sudden sound of rapidly approaching footsteps
caught her ears. She turned her head just in time for a boot to ram into it; she
was knocked flat on her back but instantly rolled back to her feet with a look
of surprise plastered on her face. A woman with shoulder-length hair and dressed
similarly to herself rose from her crouch after landing from the kick that
knocked Ryoga down.
"Well, it's been a while since I've actually been hit...and felt it," Ryoga
grinned as she rubbed her jaw, though it was more of a reflex action than
through actual pain. "You must be pretty good."
"I could care less whether you think I'm good or not. You are trespassing on
private property and I highly suggest you surrender before I am forced to send
you to the hospital." Ryoga could detect was no humor in her voice as she made
that statement. Through there many years of experience Ryoga and Ranma had
managed to cultivate a natural talent of surmising an opponent's strength
without actually having to fight them. Through minute details like posture, tone
of voice, and their overall current demeanor they could determine right off who
the victor would be before the first punch was thrown. This woman however was
proving to be quite the challenge to read. There was no fear on her face
whatsoever, her eyes seemed to glow with an intensity that couldn't be
immediately deciphered, and the way she was holding herself suggested that she
was slouch when it came to fighting. The fact that Ryoga had not detected her
presence until it was too late, despite the fact she had to have been running,
spoke volumes as to her skill level.
Ryoga's eyes caught the remaining guardsmen rush to her side and draw their
Berettas. They made the same proclamation as their commander to drop what she
was attempting and surrender willingly. Ryoga was going over a number of
possible scenarios in her mind until the woman did something rather suprising.
"Go back to the roof and assist in escorting my father out of here." The men
only gave looks of confusion and voices of protest at this newest order. "She's
not going to give up this easily. It looks like I'm going to have to persuade
her into the idea of submission and it would be better if you weren't here to
get in the way." Nabiki's analytical gaze was already probing her opponent for
weaknesses. The men warily followed her orders and slowly vacated the area.
"You're sure of yourself. Just what makes you so positive that you can beat me?"
Ryoga smiled, showing a pair of prominent fangs that Nabiki took notice of.
"Why don't you try me and find out?" Nabiki's grave expression didn't change as
she threw her jacket off.
"Straight and to the point, I like that." Ryoga followed suit with her backpack.
Without another word, Nabiki charged at full speed. She unloaded a blitzkrieg of
kicks without losing momentum for an instant. The rapid-fire side and roundhouse
kicks pounded into Ryoga's guard like a machinegun. Ryoga was taken aback by the
intensity of the attack; the only other person he knew that came close to this
velocity was Ranma. After noticing that her initial attacks were not giving much
in the way of damage or ground, Nabiki had changed gears on her assault and
began using upper body attacks. This proved to be a mistake as a missed right
punch caused her arm to be captured and wrenched behind her back in a rather
painful hammerlock. She was in the midst of struggling when she felt a hand push
down on the back of her head.
"You have a brain plug?" Ryoga asked as she noticed the four distinctive jacks
in the back of her neck. While she wasn't at all surprised, Ranma and herself
both had one and the addition was quite common in their line of work, she never
expected to see such a high precision type.
"What...does it...matter to you?" Nabiki snarled as she continued to struggle.
"Nothing, though I admit I've never seen a Model 3 before. I thought these we
were military issue only." Ryoga wondered as to how this woman got her hands on
one and how she was able to get it installed.
Before Ryoga could continue his thought patterns however, and in an amazing feat
of flexibility, a standing split kick nailed her in the forehead. Nabiki then
quickly sent a back kick into her opponent's stomach; she had expected the
standard sound of breath being blasted out of the lungs, as was usually the
result of a kick to the solar plexus. What she received however was nothing more
than a light grunt.
"Sorry, but the first time you caught me by surprise. It takes a lot more than
what you got to knock me out." Ryoga's grinning face greeted her as she whirled
around to face her still standing adversary.
"Well...this is getting interesting." Nabiki shook the feeling back into her
freed arm as she dropped back into a stance.
//Ryoga? What the hell's taking you so long? // Ranma's voice suddenly brought
on an appearance in Ryoga's ear.
"I'm having a bit of a holdup. I'll be out in a minute." Ryoga responded quietly
though not out of the hearing range of Nabiki.
"I don't know who your talking to but if I heard right you just implied that
your actually going to escape. Didn't your mommy ever teach you the pitfalls of
lying?" She inched forward slightly
"Hehehe, you make a pretty cool sparring partner," Ryoga inched backward in
response. "But unfortunately I can't stay to play with you all night."
"You don't have a choice pal." Nabiki had yet to find a suitable weakness to
exploit in Ryoga's defense. Nabiki was starting to form the idea that her
opponent might be wearing some kind of body armor, that was the only explanation
she could derive as to how she could survive such a hard blow to such a
vunerable area.
"I'm gonna show you a little trick. Now watch closely cause I'm only gonna do
this once." Ryoga took a serious risk and dropped her guard completely. She did
however hold up her right hand in exchange.
"What are you talking about?" Nabiki ceased her advance on the choice of observing
from a safe distance.
Ryoga balled her hand and through force of will caused a very small metallic
spike to shoot up from in-between two knuckles.
"Do you know what this is?" Ryoga nodded to the spike.
"It's a ripper. So you have a Driver for an arm, so what?" Nabiki had yet to see
the relevance in all this and was beginning to think that holding off from her
approach was not the best idea.
"Nothing. You see that's just a distraction," Ryoga's right hand emerged from
behind her back. Nabiki hadn't noticed the slight movement and now a small
silver cylinder was in his hand. "For this. Catch." She threw the object at
Nabiki. The flash grenade exploded in mid-air and Nabiki immediately shielded
her eyes, cursing the entire way through. The phosphorous explosion lit up the
lobby and provided perfect cover for Ryoga's escape, while she was loathe to run
from any fight, now was not the time nor place.
To Nabiki it felt like an eternity before she found it safe to open her eyes
slowly. There was still a blur in her vision and a radiating pain behind her
eyes but she wasn't blind at least.
"Goddamnit. Such an obvious trick," Nabiki growled in frustration. "Who the hell
was she anyway?" She ran a hand through her hair and behind her neck that then
came to rest on her CyberCom. "Still, she knew it was a Model 3, not many people
can pick up something like that." She let out a breath and shrugged her
shoulders before bringing a hand to her ear. "Kas you there?"
***
Ryoga calmly walked through the crowd of night dwellers that packed the city
streets of Tokyo. She had put a good amount of distance between herself and
Heaven's Star H.Q. At this moment she was currently scanning over the data that
was perilously leeched from the corporation's mainframe.
"Ranma better have a good excuse for me going to all this trouble. This was by
far the sloppiest operation we've ever pulled off." Ryoga shook her head. There
had to have been at least ten other possible variations to this op that would
have gone infinitely smoother and without such a large margin of error.
"Don't get so worked up Ryoga. It's only preparation, that's all." A familiar
voice spoke to her from her left. Ranma was quite skilled when it came to
sneaking, so the redhead's sudden appearance didn't come as much surprise to
Ryoga.
"Preparation for what? We were supposed to be at Tendo's place by now. You know,
the same person you had us rob just now?" Ryoga checked her internal clock. It
was currently 3:10 A.M. "It doesn't make any sense Ranma, whats so important
that we had to get this without his knowledge?"
"You're right, it doesn't make sense does it?" Ranma snickered. "Just trust me
on this man, I know what I'm doing. Besides I think we should probably be better
dressed for a meeting of this guys stature." She indicated her current dress of
blue jeans, white shirt, and red jacket. All of which were slightly baggy on her
small frame.
"What have you got floating in that head of yours?" Ryoga eyed her suspiciously.
"Don't get mad, trust me it'll be worth it." Ranma grinned.
"It better be, I never want to go in on a mission that unprepared again. I'm
lucky that girl was itching for a fight and didn't have her goons shoot me on
the spot." Ryoga popped her neck, she wasn't entirely too fond of fighting out
of the blue like that.
"Girl? What girl?" Ranma questioned. He had seen one of the two Tendos exit the
roof upon alert of an intruder but still wanted to verify it was the same
person.
"Some chick with short hair, looked about our age." Ryoga brought up her memory
of the encounter. "She's a pretty good fighter, not that bad looking either."
"Does the name Nabiki ring a bell? I overheard that name spoken when I was
shadowing the rooftop. Two girls who I think are Soun Tendo's daughters came up,
the one you ran into might be the younger one."
"Possibly, I never did catch her name." Ryoga tapped her nose in thought. "His
daughters you say? I would never think a big shot like him would have time for a
family. What's the other one like?"
"He probably had them before his company hit it big. As for the other one...well
lemme tell ya...not many people like her in the world." Ranma sentence drifted
off.
"I won't ask..." Ryoga shrugged.
***
"So your so saying your best man lost the disk and failed to terminate Tendo's
enforcers?" A middle aged man with tanned skin and slicked back black hair
tapped his fingers against the desk as he stared out of the 121st window of his
corporate nerve center.
"I apologize Mr. Kuno. We never expected Tendo's agents to be so powerful, our
men stood no chance." A man with a head of silver hair that reached down his
back bowed his head in shame.
"Do you even comprehend HOW IMPORTANT THAT DISK IS YOU FOOL?!!" The president of
Silver Sword Enterprises, LTD slammed his fist onto his desk with incredible
force.
"I...have no excuse sir." The lead henchman could only continue to hang his
head, not daring to look his master in the eye when he was in this state of
rage.
"We can make as many copies as we want, but unless we have possession of the
original all our work will be for nothing!" Hideo Kuno composed himself and
recanted for what he felt was one time too many the importance of the disk that
they had failed to retrieve.
"S...Sir, there has been a recent development that you should be aware of." The
henchman raised his head in hopes that his employer wouldn't order for it to be
cut off.
"What is it?" Kuno demanded impatiently.
The henchman pulled out a remote control. He flipped a switch and a section of
the floor slid open revealing a triangle of glass lenses. A soft light emitted
from the triad and two 3-D revolving dossiers of a male Ranma and Ryoga hoever
in mid-air.
"These two have recently been spotted in Tokyo heading in the direction of the
Tendo residence. We suspect that he may have taken on their services but we have
not detected any major transactions within his in-country or overseas accounts."
Agito Higami, Kuno's right hand assistant, explained the newest development that
he himself had just recieve mere hours ago.
"Those two...I know them. We have had dealings with them before." Kuno's eyes
narrowed at the familiarity of the two mercenaries.
"You are correct sir. We have employed their services in the past, with great
success. However it would appear that they would eventually be turned against
us." Agito clarified gravely.
"I see...if they were to be allowed to ally with Tendo they would greatly hamper
any future efforts we attempt." Hideo crossed his arms in contemplation over
this new threat to his company.
"My thoughts exactly sir, they must be dealt with quickly." Agito agreed.
"Leave me." He ordered suddenly and the henchman complied without question. As
of late many of his moves against Heaven's Star have been met with failure, many
projects were suffering because of it and if something was not done and soon the
stockholders would begin to lose faith.
"To think that such a pair of low class dogs could possibly cause you worry
father." A voice emanated from a shadowed corner of the massive executive
office.
"Whether they cause me worry is irrelevant. The only thing you should be
concerned with is whether you are capable of dealing with the threat where my
men have failed." Hideo turned his attention to source of the comment.
"Do not compare me with the useless trash that you keep under your employ." A
man about 17 years of age walked out from the shadows. He was dressed in more
casual business wear than his father was. He was clean cut and the aristocratic
air in his voice was apparent.
"As you wish, I'll leave this task in your hands Tatewaki. Do not fail me."
Hideo turned his gaze back to the city lights that glowed just outisde his
window.
"Though I am loathe to stain my sword with the blood of the unworthy, fear not,
these two peasants will pose no problem." Tatewaki Kuno grinned sadistically at
the image of his future targets. "Two more lambs to the slaughter..."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes
1). I would first like to give thanks to my pre-reader Exar. He's been a HUGE
help in making this chapter readable and therefore enjoyable.
2). The main purpose of this chapter is to give readers a little taste of the
universe I've spawned, the technology that's available, as well as a little
cameo of the antagonists they'll be facing in the first arc. HOPEFULLY this
chapter accomplished all this successfully.
3). I realize that there were a lot of nicknames used throughout this chapter.
Like 'ripper' 'brain plug' and 'Driver', well expect a lot more. But fear not,
everything will be explained in depth as the story progresses I just figured
that explaining everything at once (like what I did with the second rewrite of
this chapter) was simply too boring.
owners and creators.
Mini-Note: *** designates a change in POV or scenery.
IMPORTANT: Read Author's Notes at the end for information regarding any
questions or comments you might possibly have about this chapter
//...//-Transmission or any other real-time communication
((...))-Computer Speaking, Typing, or whatever you prefer.
File 01: Midnight Memories
The time is 2:30 A.M. In a place known by many but understood by few, a single
solitary figure kneels transfixed. Her carefully trained eyes keep close watch
on her target, her every sense is attuned to pick up even the smallest minute
detail.
//...ma.....Ra....ome in.....// The distorted voice beamed into the ear of the
pigtailed redhead causing her to wince slightly.
"I'm getting nothing but static my friend." She whispered through the comm link
that connected the two friends and partners. She casually brushed several
strands of deep red locks from her eyes as she shifted her position slightly in
an effort to make her perch more comfortable. A thin breeze wafted through the
air atop the Arclight Web Solutions building. The high altitude afforded a
perfect view of the 21st century urban kingdom that was capital of the country
of Japan. The only illumination provided to her was that of the glow of the moon
and the stars in the heavens, and the dim green haze that originated from her
own left eye.
//...Am I....clear...ow? // Still garbled but slightly clearer, the woman on the
other end of the comm link attempted once again to achieve a comprehensible
signal.
"Not even close," She let a small sigh of frustration escape her lips as the
trial and error session entered its fifth attempt. "Zoom-magnify 37x."
//Am I coming in clear now? // A voice as clear and as crystal as anything she
had ever heard graced her ears.
"Crystal." The redhead affirmed.
//There's a lot of traffic in the air at this time of night, // the voice on the
other explained her recent bout of channel surfing. //How's the top look? //
"Security is getting tighter. A lot of personnel running around the helipad."
Through the eyes of the voyeur everything in her world was covered in a green
sheen. She watched closely at the scene that was unfolding a mile away at the
top of the corporate nerve center of Heaven's Star Inc, the most powerful
conglomerate in the known world. The roof that also served as a landing pad was
abuzz with activity as technicians were working vehemently to what seemed to be
the coming of an important figure
//From what I was able to get from the comm. tap the big boss is at some kind of
meeting with the S.D.F. Most likely they're prepping for his arrival. // Her
partner on the other end explained in detail.
"Got that. You better hustle, we're already behind schedule," Her ears perked up
at an all too familiar distant sound. "Oh...and be careful Ryoga." She added at
a quieter tone before clearing the line.
//Aren't I always? // You could almost hear the smile coming upon her face.
Ranma sank into a kneeling position; so far the guardsmen stationed upon the
roof that encompassed her watch zone had not made any effort in the realm of
counter surveillance. Their mistake.
"Zoom-magnify 40x. Quad 32 x 17" Her left eye glowed with an unearthly energy.
The feint sounds of integrated cybernetic technology working there future magic
whispered into her trained ears. A targeting reticule appeared in front of her
eyes only, as per her command a single square from a grid zoomed in rapidly. One
of the guards seemed to be alerting his colleagues about something, they were
all suddenly becoming very dutiful in comparison to their previous state of lax.
"Ooooo. Who do we have here...?" She whispered to herself.
The twin doors of a rooftop elevator slid open and two very attractive women
stepped out. An air of authority was created around them as every guard
immediately stood at attention.
"And who might you be I wonder..." Ranma murmured to herself as her interest
skyrocketed at this new development.
Her attention shifted to the longhaired and mystifying of the two. She watched
the woman's majestic eyes, they were a deep liquid black and they seemed to
swirl with a calm, composed, demeanor behind them. The second female that
entered the scene with her took immediate charge of the enviroment, the
movements of her lips and the use of hand gestures indicated to Ranma that she
was giving all the orders to the guards and technicians who were at attention.
"Those two must be pretty high in the food chain. Everyone started bustin their
butts more than usual the minute they showed up." Her crass assessment of the
situation was nonetheless as accurate as anything else that could be said.
Ranma took notice of the movement of the longhaired woman's hand toward her ear.
She watched closely as she began to speak to someone through what had to be a
comm link.
"Who's she talking too?" Ranma wondered aloud, his inquisitive nature was of
experience in the field and not that of a typical nosy teenager. "Spectrum:
Radio. Monitor all incoming high wavelength modulations." Her commands came out
sharp and clear so as to eliminate any possible processing mistakes.
Her ears were instantly barraged by an endless bevy of voices and static. Her
eyes squinted again, this time in concentration as she carefully noted every
signal being received.
"Stop. Log frequency. Monitor until I say otherwise." She blurted quickly.
//....is being loaded into the mainframe as we speak father. However we have yet
to discern how security was breached, but I have my suspicions.// Ranma was
instantly engrossed by the maturity and softness of the woman's voice.
//Excellent. As for the matter of security it is entirely possible that a rival
has managed to infiltrate a spy. If that is the case then there's no telling
what kind and/or amount of information has already been leaked. // A second
speaker caught her ears; this one had a tone of seniority and experience.
//If there is a spy I will deal with him or her myself. Nabiki has already
suggested a background check on all new employees in the past seven months. //
The woman shifted to a slightly edgier vocal as she spoke of the possibility of
a spy.
"I came in too late," Ranma muttered to herself. The conversation being
exchanged was not making all too much sense to her since she didn't know how it
originated or what the subject was. "Record all outgoing and incoming signals on
current frequency. Switch to private two-way band." She knew she could just go
over the entire exchange at another time; her continued real-time monitoring was
not necessary. However it was necessary to alert her partner at the latest state
of affairs.
The familiar sounds of an internal computer working drifted silently through the
air. An acknowledging chime in her brain signaled that a scrambled channel was
now open.
"Ryoga? How's it coming down there?" Ranma wondered despite that not much time
had passed.
//I'm moving in now. We better go dark until I finish up, I don't want to risk
us getting branched. // Ranma could make out Ryoga's footsteps across the
connection; she had to be close to the entrance by now.
"Right, just hurry it up because daddy is gonna be here soon." Ranma's eyes
returned to the helipad as she had briefly let them drop when she was listening
to the communique between what he discovered to be father and daughter.
//Daddy? // Ryoga asked about the cryptically employed endearment.
"Don't ask. Ranma out."
***
A black haired girl in a yellow bandanna and shirt, black jeans, a sleeveless
jacket, and hefting a small black backpack on her back casually walked up the
steps leading to the entrance of the reception level of the massive skyscraper.
As she approached her eyes caught sight of two armed security guards who also
caught sight of her. They both placed their hands on there holsters and
proceeded toward her.
"Excuse me ma'am but this building is closed to visitors for tonight." One of
them put himself in her path
"Oh hello. My name is Mariko Kamizawa and I'm from New Sun Press. I'm scheduled
to have an interview with Mr. Tendo for our Saturday special on entrepreneurs."
She smiled sweetly and then produced an identification card from the small
backpack she was carrying.
"See if it checks out." The guard ordered his partner as he inspected the card
for authenticity.
"Yeah." The lower ranking second guard reached for his radio to do as ordered.
In an instant the girl flew into action. Her foot shot out and collided with the
first guard's stomach who was sent flying clear off his feet slamming hard into
the tempered glass wall of the first floor. The second sentry was frozen in
shock at the illogical strength of this girl. He turned his head back to her
from watching his partner fly by, but at that time she was already on him and
sent her fist crashing into his jaw. The sound of bone being shattered caused
her to cringe slightly.
"Ahhh damnit. I keep forgetting I have to watch my strength even in this form."
She crouched down and searched the guard's unconscious form until she came upon
a keycard. "Security on this floor is way too light...I don't like it...Maybe I
shouldn't have bothered with a fake I.D."
At this time of night the entrance doors were locked and a security passkey
could only open them. The scanner showed green and gave a friendly chime as she
slid the liberated keycard through. The sound of the door unlocking prompted her
to enter the reception area, which was totally devoid of activity. There were
elevators on either side and in the middle of the large lobby and the
receptionist's desk was located directly in front the center column that housed
the center lift.
"I gotta make this quick." She whispered as she riffled through her backpack as
she ran. She pulled out a cable with a fiber-op adapter on one end and a needle
on the other. "C'mon, where are you?" She searched every nook and cranny of the
cluttered desk until she found what she was looking for, the network jack that
connected the computer to the company-wide database. She plugged the adapter
into the jack, and very carefully slid the needle into her right wrist.
((Welcome to Heaven's Star Corporate Mainframe.)) The words appeared in Ryoga's
mind's eye as her finger flexed slightly in response to the internal workings of
her synthetic arm.
***
A sleek black helicopter glided soundlessly through the night sky. All personnel
immediately cleared the landing area as the stealth helicopter came to a hover
over the massive center of operations. Kasumi felt the wind push against her as
the blades came to a slow stop and the pilot/copilot hatch slid open. Soun
Tendo, the creator and owner of Heaven's Star, stepped out from the once air-
borne vehicle.
"How was the meeting with the S.D.F?" She asked as father and daughters began
walking side-by-side.
"The bid is as good as ours but we can never be too sure when our rivals are
concerned." He straightened his tie as he walked. He seemed to be in high
spirits this particular night, as he should be, if his company were to win they
would be in charge of a multi-billion dollar contract to create the military's
next generation of mobile infantry.
"I'm sure the stockholders will be glad to hear that." Kasumi's eyes shifted to
her right, past her father, to fall upon her younger sister.
"Speaking of glad, I believe you wanted this back?" Nabiki presented a small
silver disk in between thumb and forefinger. "In mint condition no less." She
smiled at the addition of such a critical detail.
"Kasumi, Nabiki; you've both done very well. The information stored on this disk
will be invaluable if we win the bid with the military." Soun signaled to a
glasses wearing employee who was standing by, he immediately approached the
Tendo patriarch who retrieved a clipboard from the assistant's hands.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Nabiki asked rhetorically.
"Of course not. I believe the message that has been sent our enemies is well
established now." Soun signed a document before handing them back to the
assistant.
"Anything they try, we'll put'em down." Nabiki brought her fist to palm to
emphasize the point. "No way will they be making any moves against us anytime
soon."
The eldest Tendo sister's thoughts, however, were not with her father and
sibling. Her mind was in the process of wandering back to the battle they had
just fought. Back to the sight of the blood she was so forced to spill, back to
the face of the man, as he lay dying or already dead. Too many times was she
faced with the unholy responsibility of ending the existence of someone who
would so easily do the same to her and while she knew that there could be no
other option, she still never found the ease in her conscience after commiting
such a near barbarous act.
"Is something wrong Kasumi?" Her father asked in regards to the look of
melancholy that had suddenly overtaken her delicate features.
"No father, it's nothing." She waved off the growing concern for her welfare as
unnecessary.
In her mind however she knew that no matter what, she would have to keep
fighting and if necessary keep killing if it meant that everything she loved
would survive. Long ago she had made a solemn promise to her mother that she
would nurture and protect everything and everyone she cherished and if it meant
she would have to forsake her own innocence, then it was a sacrifice she would
make. The Tendo matriarch's death had not bowed well for her father's psyche as
it had pushed him on the verge of a suicidal depression. It wasn't until he came
to the choice of totally commiting himself to his company and its future was he
able to work past his beloved wife's death and in the process amass an untold
amount of wealth and influence that he had never dreamed possible. Heaven's Star
was the sole reason why Kasumi still had a father and not two dead parents,
because of that she vowed to ensure that nothing stood in the way of its growth
and power. She knew she could question herself all she liked, but in the end,
she knew where her responsibilities would always lie and what her sworn duty to
her family was.
//Ma'am we have a problem. // A sudden transmission to her comm. interrupted her
mental repartee.
"Report." She made the familiar movement of hand to ear, which brought the
attention of parent and sister.
//The first floor security lock has just been disengaged. We tried to get
confirmation from Johnson and Shima but we're getting no response from either of
them. // Building security central reported with a tone of slight nervousness.
"Anything on the cameras?" Her hand moved to grip Soun's shoulder with the
intention of telling him that his safety was now compromised.
"What's happened Kas?" Nabiki's expression sobered from what it was, her
sister's tone suggested that something had just gone awry.
//No, we're getting nothing but snow down there. Something is generating some
major E.M. interference. // Kasumi's eyes narrowed at this bizarre new
development. She didn't think anyone would be foolish enough to attempt a direct
assault of the building; it was her own fault for not anticipating it really.
One of the many key rules of this line of work was to expect the unexpected.
"Kas, talk to me, what is going on?" Nabiki tried a second time after receiving
silence.
"There is an intruder on the first floor. We need to send a team
down...to...investigate..." Her voice trailed off as her senses were suddenly
becoming alive with the notion that someone or something was watching them. She
had not felt anything like this when she first stepped foot on the helipad and
she could only guess that the appearance of a possible threat on her father's
life was prompting this sudden increase in her spatial awareness. Her eyes moved
to the east, toward a nearby web design building and the source of her growing
concern.
***
No matter how she tried she could not liberate her eyes from their transfixed
gaze upon the woman that had so captured his affections. From the recorded
conversation she gleaned her name to be Kasumi Tendo, an approprite first name
for someone who so consumed her conscious senses. Ranma couldn't accurately
describe what it was about that particular Tendo that she found so alluring. The
way she moved, the way she spoke, the way her locks moved in the wind, it was
far too many things at once to give a real description.
"Ryoga we have a serious problem. I just picked up a transmission from building
security; they know something's up where you are. I suggest you get your ass out
of there now." Ranma forced himself back on the task at hand; he needed to warn
his partner.
//I know, I know. But my Driver is having a bit of a time busting through their
firewall. I just need two more minutes to get the personnel files. // Ryoga
responded with a slight edge of frustration.
"You may not five seconds if I'm seeing right." His enhanced visual abilities
caught sight of the other Tendo sister and several security officers loading
onto the elevator to investigate the problem. Kasumi, eight remaining officers
who took up point at the on all corners and sides of the roof, and her father
remained behind.
//I'm in the database and I'm downloading now. I should be out in about a minute
and a half so you can pull out. // Ryoga reported his current condition
"Right," Ranma gave a short answer as something most interesting had reclaimed
his attentions. "Well well aren't you full of surprises Miss Kasumi Tendo." The
woman of his dreams was staring straight back at him. Her eyes were now as clear
Ranma then other point. Despite the frozen stare she was presenting her, Ranma
could only awe at the beauty they radiated at night despite there dark color.
"Capture image," Two simple words would forever brand this perfect moment into
her memory. "Kasumi I'll be seeing you again. Even in my dreams."
***
((Heaven's Star Firewall Enterprise Edition. Version 7.9
WARNING! Administrative Rights Required)) The words in her mind told of a
barrier that would prevent access to all but the most high ranking of company
employees.
"Run Sorcerer." Ryoga whispered as millions of bits of information were coursing
through her arm before scrolling through her brain. The biosynthetic limb that
was designed by Ryoga himself worked feverishly to penetrate the long thought
impenetrable security of the Heaven's Star mainframe.
((You are now logged on as AdminUser)) A welcoming chime greeted the newest
administrative entity upon the servers.
"Beautiful." Ryoga grinned. She went by many names on the wired, there were many
legends passed along through the typings of a million wannabes and authentics as
to the skill with which she could disrupt any kind of wall, blocker, or
scrambler.
//You may not five seconds if I'm listening right. // Ranma's voice blared into
her ear at the same time.
"I'm in the database and I'm downloading now. I should be out in about a minute
and a half so you can pull out." Ryoga instructed while secretly hoping she
didn't exaggerate that statement.
//Right. // Ranma answered shortly.
"Yeah, that's if I haven't been shot first. I don't know how long it'll take
them to find a way around the E.M. scrambling I'm sending out." Ryoga mumbled to
herself as the comm.-link cut off.
((Directory is now "Personnel Records."))
((Local Host is "Hibiki")) A ping of success went off in her head.
"Search for all employees with Level 3 clearance or above." She ordered.
((Searching Query))
Ryoga had yet to determine exactly why Ranma suggested this impromptu extraction
op. They were supposed to be meeting with a very important client, but instead
her partner had decided out of the blue that they would make a quick stop at
Heaven's Star Headquarters.
((Search Complete.))
((5 subjects found.)) Another chime of success sounded off.
"Leech them all. I'll sort it out later." Ryoga could make out the distinctive
sounds of an elevator slowly descending the floors. No doubt it was a multitude
of private security being sent to figure out who sent two of their guards into
comas.
((Downloading...63% Complete))
"Thank god for a ten gigahertz fiber op network." She sighed in relief knowing
he wouldn't be stuck here all night long. Not that he would have that much time.
"Everybody fan out! Two man teams at all times! We'll search this floor and work
our way up!" A distinctly feminine voice shouted orders to, by the sound of the
footsteps, eight other members of the building's defense force.
"Perfect...," Ryoga snarled to himself. So far her only hiding place was behind
the receptionist desk. Even though the lobby was quite large and darkened, the
desk was directly in the middle and most likely would be the first place to be
checked out. "Well so much for being discrete. But then again this little jaunt
wasn't exactly planned in advance now was it?"
"We're going to go find Johnson and Shima!" An officer yelled.
"Be careful! The intruder is most likely still in here!" The female leader of
the search party yelled a warning
((Download Completed)) Ryoga was beginning to love the noise the system made
when something actually went right.
"Bout friggin time." She quickly pulled the needle out of her wrist, as the
footfall of the approaching investigators grew louder.
"What do you think happened?" One of the approaching guards intiated a
conversation with another.
"How the hell should I know? I'm just surprised there's still people stupid
enough to try and infiltrate this place, but what the heck could be so valuable
on the first floor?" A second older sounding voice responded.
"What are you talking about?" The younger officer questioned.
"Well, central couldn't find any indication that the elevators were in use. The
cameras in the stairwells are still operational and they couldn't spot anyone
there either." The senior answered as the sound of him scratching his beard
could be heard.
"Well that is wei..." His partner never finished his sentence. They had just
begun to pass by the center elevator. Before the guard could utter the syllable
a fist slammed into his cheek and he was sent flying a ways into the darkness.
The attacker's next action was to grab the second officer by the face and send
it ramming into the desk, making quite a notable indention.
"What the hell was that?" Voices emanated from further down the lobby. Ryoga
knew her actions would garner the attention of reinforcements, but she also
knew that if worse came to came worse he would simply change forms and elude
them.
"Ranma is going to owe me big time for this." Ryoga muttered as she attempted a
break for the exit, thats when the sudden sound of rapidly approaching footsteps
caught her ears. She turned her head just in time for a boot to ram into it; she
was knocked flat on her back but instantly rolled back to her feet with a look
of surprise plastered on her face. A woman with shoulder-length hair and dressed
similarly to herself rose from her crouch after landing from the kick that
knocked Ryoga down.
"Well, it's been a while since I've actually been hit...and felt it," Ryoga
grinned as she rubbed her jaw, though it was more of a reflex action than
through actual pain. "You must be pretty good."
"I could care less whether you think I'm good or not. You are trespassing on
private property and I highly suggest you surrender before I am forced to send
you to the hospital." Ryoga could detect was no humor in her voice as she made
that statement. Through there many years of experience Ryoga and Ranma had
managed to cultivate a natural talent of surmising an opponent's strength
without actually having to fight them. Through minute details like posture, tone
of voice, and their overall current demeanor they could determine right off who
the victor would be before the first punch was thrown. This woman however was
proving to be quite the challenge to read. There was no fear on her face
whatsoever, her eyes seemed to glow with an intensity that couldn't be
immediately deciphered, and the way she was holding herself suggested that she
was slouch when it came to fighting. The fact that Ryoga had not detected her
presence until it was too late, despite the fact she had to have been running,
spoke volumes as to her skill level.
Ryoga's eyes caught the remaining guardsmen rush to her side and draw their
Berettas. They made the same proclamation as their commander to drop what she
was attempting and surrender willingly. Ryoga was going over a number of
possible scenarios in her mind until the woman did something rather suprising.
"Go back to the roof and assist in escorting my father out of here." The men
only gave looks of confusion and voices of protest at this newest order. "She's
not going to give up this easily. It looks like I'm going to have to persuade
her into the idea of submission and it would be better if you weren't here to
get in the way." Nabiki's analytical gaze was already probing her opponent for
weaknesses. The men warily followed her orders and slowly vacated the area.
"You're sure of yourself. Just what makes you so positive that you can beat me?"
Ryoga smiled, showing a pair of prominent fangs that Nabiki took notice of.
"Why don't you try me and find out?" Nabiki's grave expression didn't change as
she threw her jacket off.
"Straight and to the point, I like that." Ryoga followed suit with her backpack.
Without another word, Nabiki charged at full speed. She unloaded a blitzkrieg of
kicks without losing momentum for an instant. The rapid-fire side and roundhouse
kicks pounded into Ryoga's guard like a machinegun. Ryoga was taken aback by the
intensity of the attack; the only other person he knew that came close to this
velocity was Ranma. After noticing that her initial attacks were not giving much
in the way of damage or ground, Nabiki had changed gears on her assault and
began using upper body attacks. This proved to be a mistake as a missed right
punch caused her arm to be captured and wrenched behind her back in a rather
painful hammerlock. She was in the midst of struggling when she felt a hand push
down on the back of her head.
"You have a brain plug?" Ryoga asked as she noticed the four distinctive jacks
in the back of her neck. While she wasn't at all surprised, Ranma and herself
both had one and the addition was quite common in their line of work, she never
expected to see such a high precision type.
"What...does it...matter to you?" Nabiki snarled as she continued to struggle.
"Nothing, though I admit I've never seen a Model 3 before. I thought these we
were military issue only." Ryoga wondered as to how this woman got her hands on
one and how she was able to get it installed.
Before Ryoga could continue his thought patterns however, and in an amazing feat
of flexibility, a standing split kick nailed her in the forehead. Nabiki then
quickly sent a back kick into her opponent's stomach; she had expected the
standard sound of breath being blasted out of the lungs, as was usually the
result of a kick to the solar plexus. What she received however was nothing more
than a light grunt.
"Sorry, but the first time you caught me by surprise. It takes a lot more than
what you got to knock me out." Ryoga's grinning face greeted her as she whirled
around to face her still standing adversary.
"Well...this is getting interesting." Nabiki shook the feeling back into her
freed arm as she dropped back into a stance.
//Ryoga? What the hell's taking you so long? // Ranma's voice suddenly brought
on an appearance in Ryoga's ear.
"I'm having a bit of a holdup. I'll be out in a minute." Ryoga responded quietly
though not out of the hearing range of Nabiki.
"I don't know who your talking to but if I heard right you just implied that
your actually going to escape. Didn't your mommy ever teach you the pitfalls of
lying?" She inched forward slightly
"Hehehe, you make a pretty cool sparring partner," Ryoga inched backward in
response. "But unfortunately I can't stay to play with you all night."
"You don't have a choice pal." Nabiki had yet to find a suitable weakness to
exploit in Ryoga's defense. Nabiki was starting to form the idea that her
opponent might be wearing some kind of body armor, that was the only explanation
she could derive as to how she could survive such a hard blow to such a
vunerable area.
"I'm gonna show you a little trick. Now watch closely cause I'm only gonna do
this once." Ryoga took a serious risk and dropped her guard completely. She did
however hold up her right hand in exchange.
"What are you talking about?" Nabiki ceased her advance on the choice of observing
from a safe distance.
Ryoga balled her hand and through force of will caused a very small metallic
spike to shoot up from in-between two knuckles.
"Do you know what this is?" Ryoga nodded to the spike.
"It's a ripper. So you have a Driver for an arm, so what?" Nabiki had yet to see
the relevance in all this and was beginning to think that holding off from her
approach was not the best idea.
"Nothing. You see that's just a distraction," Ryoga's right hand emerged from
behind her back. Nabiki hadn't noticed the slight movement and now a small
silver cylinder was in his hand. "For this. Catch." She threw the object at
Nabiki. The flash grenade exploded in mid-air and Nabiki immediately shielded
her eyes, cursing the entire way through. The phosphorous explosion lit up the
lobby and provided perfect cover for Ryoga's escape, while she was loathe to run
from any fight, now was not the time nor place.
To Nabiki it felt like an eternity before she found it safe to open her eyes
slowly. There was still a blur in her vision and a radiating pain behind her
eyes but she wasn't blind at least.
"Goddamnit. Such an obvious trick," Nabiki growled in frustration. "Who the hell
was she anyway?" She ran a hand through her hair and behind her neck that then
came to rest on her CyberCom. "Still, she knew it was a Model 3, not many people
can pick up something like that." She let out a breath and shrugged her
shoulders before bringing a hand to her ear. "Kas you there?"
***
Ryoga calmly walked through the crowd of night dwellers that packed the city
streets of Tokyo. She had put a good amount of distance between herself and
Heaven's Star H.Q. At this moment she was currently scanning over the data that
was perilously leeched from the corporation's mainframe.
"Ranma better have a good excuse for me going to all this trouble. This was by
far the sloppiest operation we've ever pulled off." Ryoga shook her head. There
had to have been at least ten other possible variations to this op that would
have gone infinitely smoother and without such a large margin of error.
"Don't get so worked up Ryoga. It's only preparation, that's all." A familiar
voice spoke to her from her left. Ranma was quite skilled when it came to
sneaking, so the redhead's sudden appearance didn't come as much surprise to
Ryoga.
"Preparation for what? We were supposed to be at Tendo's place by now. You know,
the same person you had us rob just now?" Ryoga checked her internal clock. It
was currently 3:10 A.M. "It doesn't make any sense Ranma, whats so important
that we had to get this without his knowledge?"
"You're right, it doesn't make sense does it?" Ranma snickered. "Just trust me
on this man, I know what I'm doing. Besides I think we should probably be better
dressed for a meeting of this guys stature." She indicated her current dress of
blue jeans, white shirt, and red jacket. All of which were slightly baggy on her
small frame.
"What have you got floating in that head of yours?" Ryoga eyed her suspiciously.
"Don't get mad, trust me it'll be worth it." Ranma grinned.
"It better be, I never want to go in on a mission that unprepared again. I'm
lucky that girl was itching for a fight and didn't have her goons shoot me on
the spot." Ryoga popped her neck, she wasn't entirely too fond of fighting out
of the blue like that.
"Girl? What girl?" Ranma questioned. He had seen one of the two Tendos exit the
roof upon alert of an intruder but still wanted to verify it was the same
person.
"Some chick with short hair, looked about our age." Ryoga brought up her memory
of the encounter. "She's a pretty good fighter, not that bad looking either."
"Does the name Nabiki ring a bell? I overheard that name spoken when I was
shadowing the rooftop. Two girls who I think are Soun Tendo's daughters came up,
the one you ran into might be the younger one."
"Possibly, I never did catch her name." Ryoga tapped her nose in thought. "His
daughters you say? I would never think a big shot like him would have time for a
family. What's the other one like?"
"He probably had them before his company hit it big. As for the other one...well
lemme tell ya...not many people like her in the world." Ranma sentence drifted
off.
"I won't ask..." Ryoga shrugged.
***
"So your so saying your best man lost the disk and failed to terminate Tendo's
enforcers?" A middle aged man with tanned skin and slicked back black hair
tapped his fingers against the desk as he stared out of the 121st window of his
corporate nerve center.
"I apologize Mr. Kuno. We never expected Tendo's agents to be so powerful, our
men stood no chance." A man with a head of silver hair that reached down his
back bowed his head in shame.
"Do you even comprehend HOW IMPORTANT THAT DISK IS YOU FOOL?!!" The president of
Silver Sword Enterprises, LTD slammed his fist onto his desk with incredible
force.
"I...have no excuse sir." The lead henchman could only continue to hang his
head, not daring to look his master in the eye when he was in this state of
rage.
"We can make as many copies as we want, but unless we have possession of the
original all our work will be for nothing!" Hideo Kuno composed himself and
recanted for what he felt was one time too many the importance of the disk that
they had failed to retrieve.
"S...Sir, there has been a recent development that you should be aware of." The
henchman raised his head in hopes that his employer wouldn't order for it to be
cut off.
"What is it?" Kuno demanded impatiently.
The henchman pulled out a remote control. He flipped a switch and a section of
the floor slid open revealing a triangle of glass lenses. A soft light emitted
from the triad and two 3-D revolving dossiers of a male Ranma and Ryoga hoever
in mid-air.
"These two have recently been spotted in Tokyo heading in the direction of the
Tendo residence. We suspect that he may have taken on their services but we have
not detected any major transactions within his in-country or overseas accounts."
Agito Higami, Kuno's right hand assistant, explained the newest development that
he himself had just recieve mere hours ago.
"Those two...I know them. We have had dealings with them before." Kuno's eyes
narrowed at the familiarity of the two mercenaries.
"You are correct sir. We have employed their services in the past, with great
success. However it would appear that they would eventually be turned against
us." Agito clarified gravely.
"I see...if they were to be allowed to ally with Tendo they would greatly hamper
any future efforts we attempt." Hideo crossed his arms in contemplation over
this new threat to his company.
"My thoughts exactly sir, they must be dealt with quickly." Agito agreed.
"Leave me." He ordered suddenly and the henchman complied without question. As
of late many of his moves against Heaven's Star have been met with failure, many
projects were suffering because of it and if something was not done and soon the
stockholders would begin to lose faith.
"To think that such a pair of low class dogs could possibly cause you worry
father." A voice emanated from a shadowed corner of the massive executive
office.
"Whether they cause me worry is irrelevant. The only thing you should be
concerned with is whether you are capable of dealing with the threat where my
men have failed." Hideo turned his attention to source of the comment.
"Do not compare me with the useless trash that you keep under your employ." A
man about 17 years of age walked out from the shadows. He was dressed in more
casual business wear than his father was. He was clean cut and the aristocratic
air in his voice was apparent.
"As you wish, I'll leave this task in your hands Tatewaki. Do not fail me."
Hideo turned his gaze back to the city lights that glowed just outisde his
window.
"Though I am loathe to stain my sword with the blood of the unworthy, fear not,
these two peasants will pose no problem." Tatewaki Kuno grinned sadistically at
the image of his future targets. "Two more lambs to the slaughter..."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes
1). I would first like to give thanks to my pre-reader Exar. He's been a HUGE
help in making this chapter readable and therefore enjoyable.
2). The main purpose of this chapter is to give readers a little taste of the
universe I've spawned, the technology that's available, as well as a little
cameo of the antagonists they'll be facing in the first arc. HOPEFULLY this
chapter accomplished all this successfully.
3). I realize that there were a lot of nicknames used throughout this chapter.
Like 'ripper' 'brain plug' and 'Driver', well expect a lot more. But fear not,
everything will be explained in depth as the story progresses I just figured
that explaining everything at once (like what I did with the second rewrite of
this chapter) was simply too boring.
