Ride of the Valkyries, Part 2
Ryoga continued to walk, his footsteps slow and unsure. Why
was it taking him so long to walk back to Nerima? His sense
of direction couldn't be so bad that he couldn't find his
way off of the huge spaceship, was it? All around him, metal
walls and conduits were the only things that he could see.
Ryoga licked his dry lips. Water was a lot harder to find,
but it was also easier to avoid. The lost boy blinked in
surprise at seeing the little shattered plane again. It was
draped with a parachute, but no light was visible.
Maybe... maybe they'd found some way out? Rick and... what's
her name. Minmei. "Hello?" Ryoga called out. He walked over
to the plane and checked to see if he could see anybody
else. Huh? What'd happened to the little camp?
"Hey, Ryoga! Good to see you again," Rick Hunter piped up,
trying to put on a cheerful face.
"Rick-sama! You found a way out!" Ryoga cried out, hugging
the surprised boy.
"Uh, yeah." Rick was baffled. He couldn't still be lost,
could he? They'd move his little flyer down here near the
hangers, from the section underneath Macross City over a
week ago. I wonder if he realizes that the SDF-1 is out in
space? "Do you need some help finding your way back to
Macross City?"
"Could you? Say, what were you doing here, any ways?" Ryoga
asked.
Rick looked at the poor little jaunty plane. "Just saying
goodbye."
Ryoga just looked at the younger boy oddly. How do you say
goodbye to a piece of metal?
-
Rick glanced back to make sure that Ryoga was still
following him. With a shrug he opened the door for Ryoga.
"Hello! Shampoo very happy to greet new customer!" Shampoo
chirped as she turned around. "Oh, just you, Rick. Aiyah! Is
Ryoga, lost-boy! Where you run off, Lost Boy? Shampoo not
finished with you! You make Shampoo lost in space!"
Ryoga held up his hands defensively. "I didn't mean to!
Besides, you were the one who started fighting!"
"Stupid Lost Boy splash Shampoo, of course Shampoo fight!"
Shampoo's eyes twitched as she flung three orders agilely to
a table, without spilling a drop of the Raman. Customers
taken care of for a moment, she held up her fists, turned
sideways in preparation for a leap kick.
Minmei blinked in surprise. "Who's this, Shampoo?"
"This Hibiki Ryoga! Very strong warrior, almost as strong as
husband!" Shampoo stated, her gaze never wavering.
"Oh? From Tokyo?" the young girl asked.
Shampoo nodded.
"Say, Shampoo, could you wait to beat on me until after I
get some food?" Ryoga asked. Not to mention how thirsty he
was. He could drink an ocean.
"Shampoo let you get strength so you good fight!" And
truthfully, she really didn't want to fight the premiere
runner-up martial artist. She'd almost let her bravado get
the best of herself.
Soon, Ryoga was sitting and slurping up noodles and eating
rice at a very fast pace. Life couldn't be much better
without being able to get home.
-
Akane looked at herself in the mirror. The stiffness had
finally left her limbs. She was scheduled for some cosmetic
surgery, to help with some of the scars. Her hand drifted up
to touch her ruined eye. With sudden hurried motion, she put
the plain black leather patch on, hiding the missing organ.
What would he think of her changed appearance? Her doctor
had said that she would soon be able to have a glass eye and
learn to use it so that people would have a hard time
telling that she was missing the eye. She bit her lip in
sudden anxiety. Would Ranma want a broken fiancee?
She'd let Victor talk her and Ranma into getting together
and getting a chance to talk. And so here she was, as
nervous as a schoolgirl going on her first date.
"Akane? Ranma's here!" her uncle Hyaki called out. The older
portly man just chuckled as he watched his niece fret with
her hair in the bathroom, trying to hide her patch as much
as possible. She looked every inch the young woman her
mother had been.
Ranma flinched at the older man's words. He'd been expecting
the worst, ever since Captain Adam Victor had bamboozled him
into coming here and taking Akane out. His nerves had been
stretched as taut as piano wire ever since. He was wearing
his uniform today, something that had become almost second
nature. He turned towards the sound of light footsteps
coming down the hallway.
Ranma blinked in surprise. Other than the patch, Akane
looked remarkably normal. She was wearing a cute little blue
sundress. Something about her appearance seemed slightly
off, but Ranma couldn't quite tell what it was. "Uh, hi
Akane."
"Hello, Ranma." Akane nearly choked on her nerves. Ranma
looked so serious in his uniform. Was this his way of saying
goodbye?
Hyaki just smiled at the two nervous teens. "They make a
pretty good pair, don't you think, Francis?"
Francis Shoemaker, Hyaki's long time roommate, nodded. "Ze
make a good match, very true." He was a gregarious middle-
aged Frenchman, with a twinkle in his eye as if he new some
joke that he was just waiting to tell you.
"I don't want to see you two for at least two hours. Ranma,
you treat my niece nicely now, understand?" Hyaki stated
emphatically, giving Ranma a very serious look.
"Uh, yeah! Of course!" Ranma nodded his head frantically.
"Come on, Ranma! You can practice your dad's crouching tiger
move later," Akane said, miffed by her uncle's words.
"What? I wasn't..." Ranma rebutted as he was dragged
outside.
"They'll be fine," Hyaki reassured his old friend. "So, what
are you up to for the next couple of hours?"
"Nothing that I couldn't be persuaded to... ignore, my
friend," Francis said slowly, letting a smile steal across
his face.
-
Akane slowed her breakneck trot down to a slow amble as they
got a block away. Neither one seemed to be willing to start
a conversation.
Finally, Akane took up her courage and spoke up. "So, what
are you doing now? In training, I mean!"
"Ah, just more basic flight school stuff. A little bit of
simulator and schooling. They say I'm going to graduate from
high school pretty quick." Ranma opened his mouth to
continue, but finally opted to leave it at that.
Akane noticed the pause. "Anything else?"
Ranma looked at her just a moment. "Um, the doctors are
working on desensitizing me to c-cats."
"Oh? They're working of curing you of your phobia?" Akane
asked interestedly. She smiled wistfully at how playful and
trusting Ranma was when he was in the throes of the Cat
Fist. And how he'd only ever calm down on her lap.
Ranma winced, but nodded. "They say they aren't going to
promise me anything, but they have a lot of ways to help
with my sort of problem." Ranma laughed suddenly. "Dr.
McGill wanted to press charges against Pop."
"Is he?" Akane asked. She just had a hard time seeing Genma
in court. He'd probably run away and disappear.
"Naw. Told him it's not worth it. And it's not like he meant
it or nothing. Just more training." Ranma sneaked a sideways
glance at Akane as they stepped onto a path in the small
central park of Macross City. Adam had recommended a little
oriental restaurant that had recently reopened. He'd said
that a lot of pilots had taken to hanging out there. "So,
um, what're you up to?"
"School, mostly. A bit of physical therapy to help with my
wounds. Did my uncle tell you that I'm in the same class as
Kodachi?" Akane said, a scowl appearing on her face.
"Kodachi Kuno? What's that fruit cake doing here?" Ranma
blurted out in surprise.
"She was here for the opening ceremony. They put her in a
regular school afterwards." Akane frowned in thought for a
second. "She seems to be doing alright, actually."
Silence stretched out uncomfortably for a minute. "So,
you're doing a lot better?" Pain seemed to fill each word as
Ranma talked.
"Yes. My physical therapist is saying that I should be fully
recovered in just another week or so. And they're talking
about a glass eye that'll match my old one perfectly. After
my cosmetic surgery is down, of course." Akane saw Ranma
flinch at her words as she talked about her eye. Her heart
nearly broke as his gaze stayed away from her face.
She let her eyes lay on him, to etch into her memory his
face one last time, when she finally realized it wasn't
disgust or loathing that made it so Ranma wasn't looking at
her. It was... remorse or guilt. And quite a bit of fear,
she realized. "Ranma? W-what's wrong?"
"Noth-nothing. Are you sure you want to go grab a bit to
eat?" Spend time with a failure that couldn't even protect
you?
Akane thought about that a second. "Of course I'm sure! It's
the first day that you've been released that I've had free.
And I'm going to enjoy it!"
Ranma felt and looked confused. Akane almost seemed to be
saying that she wanted him. Wanted him to be here and to
stay with her. The agony of not knowing, of having this
shred of hope put before him was too much. He had to ask
her. "Aren't you angry at me? For not protecting you?"
"Angry? Why would I be angry?" Akane's mind whirled. Of
course! That's why Ranma's been so different recently. "You
did everything you could. And... and you saved me, didn't
you? Why should I hate you?"
Slowly, Ranma's eyes lifted up to meet her gaze. "I... I
thought that you didn't like me because I let you get...
hurt."
Panic turned to relief as she turned and grabbed the front
of his shirt. "You dummy! Adam told me that he believes that
you saved my life! Why would you think that?"
"Well you're always getting angry and your old man gets mad
if I even ignore you and you should see the times when he
thought you were in danger he was so mad and upset and
angry..."
"Ranma, just shut up a second. My family isn't here and I
am! I'm not mad at you for getting hurt!" Akane stated
loudly, almost shaking him.
She watched in fascination, as the stress within him seemed
to melt away and he became the self-assured young man that
she was familiar with. He seemed to struggle with something
to say, something that wouldn't anger her, when she suddenly
threw herself into a hug, holding him desperately tight.
Ranma's face started to glow a crimson hue in embarrassment.
He really wasn't in any position to hold her back, but that
didn't seem to be what Akane wanted right then. After a
moment, Akane started to sob into his chest, almost
uncontrollably.
The poor young pilot didn't know what to do, except just be
there for her. Minutes later, she finally calmed down. Ranma
was struck by how odd it was that Akane only cried out of
one eye, nothing had come from the ruined eye.
"I was so afraid that you didn't want me because I was
damaged," Akane said finally.
"What sort of stupid thing made you think that?" Ranma
snapped unthinkingly.
"Well, you wouldn't look at me," she replied angrily.
"That wasn't why I couldn't bear to look at you!"
"So you can't even look at your own fiancee now because
she's damaged goods?" Akane almost shouted.
"You keep twisting my words! I didn't say that!"
"So you do want to look at me?"
"If I say yes, you'll just hit me, if I say no, you'll just
hit me too! How the heck am I supposed answer that?" Ranma
asked loudly, obviously exasperated as he waved his arms
around.
Akane blinked in sudden thought. "Oh." She then grinned
mischievously, much to Ranma's ire. "You're supposed to say
that I'm very tempted but I'm too much of a gentleman to do
so."
"Huh?"
"Don't worry, Ranma, I'll give you some time to figure it
out. Come on, let's go get some food!" Akane said as she
sprinted down the trail.
Ranma scratched his head, then shrugged and took off after
her.
-
Ryoga was finishing his second bowl when the door dinged,
signaling another customer. Shampoo and Minmei looked up
expectantly.
"Ranma! Nia ho! Shampoo very happy to see husband!" the
young amazon chirped, bouncing over and latching onto Ranma.
Ryoga's chopsticks snapped under his immense strength. No,
he couldn't be here too, could he? "Damn him!"
"What happen to Pervert Girl? Now Kitchen Destroyer even
uglier, with patch-eye and face scars," Shampoo said snidely
as she walked up to the duo.
Ranma almost growled at Shampoo, "She was hurt during the
attack on Macross Island." Akane looked like she was about
to break down and cry.
"RANMA!" Ryoga stood up and whirled, weariness suddenly
gone, replaced by an intense anger at Ranma's unthinking
actions. "How dare you let Akane be hurt!" He spun and
picked up his umbrella.
"Ryoga?" Ranma and Akane chorused.
Ranma's surprise faded almost instantly. "What's it to you,
P-chan? I didn't see you there," Ranma said coldly. "Of
course, I'm not surprised to find you onboard the SDF-1."
"For that failure, I'll kill you!" the Lost Boy shouted as
he charged.
The many pilots looked on in amazement as Ranma easily
sidestepped the enraged martial artist and let him crash
through the front door and throwing glass and steel far down
the street. Ryoga turned around just in time to have a kick
smash into his face, knocking him back, but hardly phasing
him.
"Come on, Pig Boy. I'm not taking this kind of crap from you
anymore. You want a piece of me, come get it." Ranma's
stance was loose and ready, his eyes alight with a cold
glee.
"Die, Ranma!" The youngest Hibiki lashed out with his
umbrella, using it as if it were a foil.
-
Lisa Hayes scowled as she shut off the radio channel. The
new pilots being trained were proving to be quite a bother.
None of them knew anything about proper procedure. She took
a moment to grab her coffee and take a sip before responding
to the next call. This one should be simple, it was from
Macross City's police force. The Mayor was probably wanting
more information on when the Macross residents would be
released.
"Bridge here," Lisa said, tapping some more keys on her
panel.
"Bridge, this is Captain Marley, MP. We have a situation
developing here that we can't handle." The voice sounded
unsure. In the background, the sounds of concrete being
smashed and metal tearing could be heard.
"What is the situation?" Her coffee was instantly forgotten.
That sounded like a battle!
"We have two figures that are fighting each other and
destroying vehicles and small buildings. One appears to be
wearing a pilot's uniform, with cadet markings. The strength
of their blows in unbelievable." The sound of more metal
crunching could be heard. "They are at the intersection of
Debois and Chambers. Are they even human?"
Lisa flipped on her screen, patching in the overview cameras
that helped during reconstruction. Amazingly enough, it
showed a figure wearing the RDF's pilot uniform kicking the
non-uniformed young man through a concrete wall. Seemingly
unfazed, the unkempt man leaped to his feet and towards the
slightly smaller foe, easily thirty feet away.
"Captain? I'm not sure what to make of this!" Lisa
exclaimed. All of the bridge crew looked over or tapped into
the view.
"Isn't that Saotome?" Claudia asked. The unusual young man
had become a bit infamous already, even to the bridge crew.
Kind of cute, the tall, black American thought.
"Thunderations, they're tearing apart Macross City. Order
him to stop immediately!" Captain Gloval commanded. He
watched the console over Lisa's shoulder.
"Yes, Sir. Cadet Saotome, you are to desist this activity
immediately!" Lisa barked over the intercom.
Ranma never took his eyes off of Ryoga, but he signaled to
the watching camera that he had heard. He changed his entire
method of fighting, suddenly blocking and dodging with his
normal flare. "I wish it were that easy."
"Who's that, Ranma? Another girl friend?" Ryoga shouted,
even further enraged if that was possible.
"That was Commander Hayes, second in command of the SDF-1,
you idiot. If you didn't notice, I'm part of the RDF now."
"Oh, someone else to hide behind? Bakusai Tenkatsu!" Ryoga
shouted, suddenly stabbing the ground, trying to distract
the martial artist.
"Captain, Saotome's attacker is continuing to fight. Captain
Marley is correct, his troops can't handle something like
this." Lisa blinked in awe as saw Ryoga explode the ground
with a mere touch. Ranma didn't seem affected, some sort of
strange blur shielding him from the explosion.
"Hmm. Send out two Destroids, armed with rubber bullets and
tear gas. And I want answers about this when it's over!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Vince and Jack couldn't believe their ears as they revved
the engines up on the walking behemoths they piloted. They
were being ordered to subdue two people? In just a few short
minutes, they arrived at the scene of the destruction and
started to change their minds. Look at this mess.
"Uh, commencing with pacification," Vince said over the
radio. With a shrug, he flipped a switch and started to
pepper the area with his mecha's handheld gun, loaded
especially with anti-personnel rubber rounds. To his
amazement, both figures dodged the shots.
"Switch to thermal imaging." Jack thought it was a much
better idea to saturate the area with tear gas. He really
hoped these guys were human and that this worked. He
launched a single rocket from the shoulder mount that burst
into a spread of tear gas containers, covering the whole
area.
Ryoga and Ranma both started to hack and cough. Ranma wisely
raised his arms up in surrender, even as his eyes and lungs
burned. Ryoga turned his attention to the gigantic machines
of war that had attacked him. Running slowly towards the
figure, he leaped up and aimed to land on top of the
machine.
Jack shouted in alarm and reacted instinctively, the metal
shod hands moving with inhuman speed. There was a solid wham
of tough flesh being struck by metallic armor. Ryoga sailed
through the air and smashed into the ground, leaving a
sizable dent in the pavement.
Ryoga didn't get up at that point.
-
Ranma stood at attention, awaiting for the arrival of the
debriefing officer. His uniform was stained and tattered,
his eyes red from the tear gas.
"All right, Saotome. Explain this debacle. Now," Lisa Hayes
stated in a tone of voice that brooked no argument.
Ranma saluted sharply. "Yes, Sir! Uh, Ma'am. I was, uh,
going to dinner with my fiancee and ran into an, uh, old
acquaintance. He attacked me after learning that Akane, er,
my fiancee, had been injured during the liftoff battle. He
kind of became, uh, unstable and berserk."
"Ma'am. And how are you both able to do so much damage?"
Lisa asked coolly. She tapped her toe in frustration.
"Huh? Oh, we're some of the best martial artists there are.
I know a dozen or more people that can do that sort of
stuff."
"Next you'll be telling me that you can throw chi blasts
from your hands like some arcade game hero."
"Well, yeah. It's not really that tough." Ranma shut up
suddenly, feeling he'd just said the wrong thing as her eyes
bored into him.
"Really. Well, Mr. Saotome, you've just earned a thorough
physical and mental examination by Dr. Lang and the science
staff. If they check out what you say, you'll be released.
Depending on what they say, you may even be a pilot still."
She turned to leave and then stopped. She then pointed out
to Ryoga where he lay imbedded in the ground. "By the way,
Saotome, does this gentleman happen to have the same sort of
problems you do?" An insane martial artist machine of death
and destruction was not something she wanted to contemplate.
What could he be afraid of, she wondered?
Ranma, of course, thought of their shared problem
immediately. "Oh, yeah! He turns into a piglet if you splash
him with cold water."
Akane froze in mid step, from a scant ten feet away from
behind Ranma. She did not just hear that. She couldn't have
heard that. Ranma must be trying to pull some prank.
Lisa blinked. He seemed sincere. "Anyone else here with one
of these remarkable curses?"
"Sure. Shampoo, she's one of the waitresses of the White
Dragon, she turns into... a c-c-cat." Ranma tried to calm
himself like the psychiatrist taught him.
Akane's heart thudded painfully in her chest. He didn't even
realize that she was there.
"Very well. Captain Marley, take him into custody." Lisa
turned and walked away.
Little jigsaw pieces of a disjointed puzzle started to fall
into place for Akane. All of Ranma's comments, always
calling P-chan Ryoga and vice verse, always being so damned
jealous of a pet. He'd always known. And he hadn't told her!
"You! YOU! And Ryoga! Making fun of... You... creep!"
Akane's battle aura flared to life, a dangerous and
brilliant red. "I hate you!" Akane gulped in a large breath
of air. "I never want to see you again, stranger!"
With that, she turned and fled, leaving a totally
flabbergasted Ranma wondering what he'd done. "Akane! Wait!"
"Don't do it, kid! Slow and easy." Captain Marley and his
squad of MPs trained their handguns at Ranma. "I think you'd
better let her cool down."
Ranma collapsed to his knees. "Akane." What had he done?
She'd never been that mad before. Ever.
Lisa released her held breath. Maybe Ranma hadn't been lying
when he talked about some of the things he could do. Those
powers and abilities, they weren't human.
But that reaction was, it was so normally human it was
scary.
-
Akane walked slowly home from school. In the past week,
she'd been a mere shadow of her former self, merely going
through the steps of life. Not even Kodachi had been able to
goad a reaction from her. Her foot steps finally halted,
only half way to her uncle's place. She just couldn't stand
to go home right now.
Her footsteps finally took her to the same park that she'd
talked to Ranma. A time that seemed so short, yet so
painfully long ago. She'd thought that she hadn't lost him
and then found out the terrible secret. Not that it was much
of a secret, she'd found out. Shampoo had known. And from
her she'd learned that almost everyone it seemed had known.
And Ranma had known. And hadn't told her. Oh, sure, he'd be
snide and say his name. Ranma would even be jealous at the
drop of a hat, if it looked like 'P-chan' would be taken to
her bed. (That thought almost made her nauseous.)
But come out and tell her? No, he was too much of a jerk.
Always teasing her. Never telling her about Ryoga.
'But he always called that pervert by his other name, no
matter what form he was in,' a small voice nagged at her.
'So?' she retorted back halfheartedly. 'He should have just
said that Ryoga was using his curse to dishonor me!' She'd
had this argument with herself almost constantly for the
last week, each time it got weaker and weaker.
'Weren't you too busy punishing him for hurting poor P-chan?
Always protecting that pig, instead of hearing what Ranma
said?' it continued unstoppably.
A painful feeling welled up in her chest. Memory after
memory of Ranma calling Ryoga P-chan, angering the lost boy.
Guilt twisted a knife into her heart. Of him calling the
little piglet Ryoga, angering her 'pet'. Unbidden, a memory
arose in her mind.
-
"Charlotte! You're my darling Charlotte!" squealed Asuza.
She was bouncing up and down.
"Bfah! Ridiculous! My name is..." Ryoga said, shrugging off
the little kleptomaniac's accusation.
"P-chan!" Ranma said interrupted suddenly, appearing on
Ryoga's shoulders. She somehow looked quite tiny as she
looked over Ryoga's shoulders. "His name is..."
"Will you shut up!" Ryoga roared, flinging the petite
redhead away, across the ice rink.
-
Her guilt gouged at her heart, a cathartic pain that left a
void in her heart. Ranma had been trying to tell her, in the
only way he knew how. Trying to get past her obstinacy, her
unwillingness to see that Ryoga was P-chan.
'Always too busy defending that pig, weren't you?'
Akane nodded her tear streaked face as she curled up on the
bench, feeling smaller than an ant. Than a microbe.
'Blaming him for picking on poor wittle P-chan?'
Sobs racked her body, sending her farther into a gray void
of self loathing. How could she have missed it. Ranma had
all but come out and called her deaf, dumb and blind about
it. Now here she was, Akane the dummy, Akane the really
stupid, Akane...
"Akane? Akane?" the quiet voice tried to reach her.
Akane finally looked up to see who had intruded on her self-
beratement. "Ra-Ran-ma?"
"Yeah. Uh, your uncle called up the base and said that you'd
disappeared. I got released finally..." Akane interrupted
Ranma as she slammed into him, her grip deathly tight.
"Jeeze, you need to relax, Akane."
Akane only responded with sobs. He didn't hate her. That was
all that was really important. Finally, the pain in her
chest started to lessen, becoming just a dull throb. "Th-
thanks, Ranma."
"Huh?"
"For coming and looking out for me. Even if you don't...
like me." She'd just let him go, she suddenly decided.
"What? I never said that!" Ranma played with his seemingly
too tight uniform collar.
"So you like me?" Akane inquired hopefully. "Even after I've
treated you so badly because of Ryoga?"
"Well, I didn't like that!" Ranma paused to take a breath.
"I couldn't understand how you couldn't see what he was
doing. That stupid bandana should have been a big clue!"
Akane's face fell, returning to anguished remorse almost
instantly. "I feel so bad. I was so stupid!"
"Hold on! It wasn't really your fault! Please, don't cry!"
Ranma unconsciously started to rock her slowly.
Akane let him sooth her for a minute, her arms wrapped
loosely around his waist. She looked up at him, their faces
only inches apart. Her arms slid up his back, pulling him
slightly towards her.
Their lips touched, a jolt of energy seeming to jump between
them. For long moments, they held themselves there. Finally,
the parted enough to look back at each other.
"Wow," Ranma muttered. That had been much more intense than
any kiss he'd ever had.
Akane blinked in bemusement. Slowly she smiled, a strange
warmth suffusing her. The pig-tailed martial artist seemed
to be willing to get back to work on their relationship. She
hadn't lost him like she'd thought. He was just so far away.
"Ranma? Why did you join the RDF?"
Ranma swallowed suddenly. "I couldn't protect you from the
aliens. The only way to protect you right now is the RDF.
And I couldn't bear to see you hurt again."
"But what about joining the families? You can't do that if
you're in the military!" Akane asked plaintively.
"Sure I can! But I have to protect you first."
Akane looked into his eyes. "So you're doing this because
it's your duty."
Ranma eyebrows creased in thought. "No. Well, not entirely.
That's not it."
"You... you still want to... ?" Akane stuttered out in
surprise. A rosy glow appeared in her cheeks.
Ranma finally twigged onto what she was alluding to. "Well,
yeah. I... do want to... someday."
"Is it because of the promise?"
Ranma shook his head slowly.
And that was enough.
-
Ranma took a deep breath as he walked to the lift, where a
group of trainee pilots waited on him. "Get a move on,
Saotome!" Lieutenant Watts barked out.
"Yes, sir!" Ranma snapped out the reply automatically.
The lift ended on the main flight hanger, where maintenance
crew worked on outfitting sleek Veritechs for their first
unattended flight. Ranma checked out his Valkyrie, doing his
walk by just as he'd learned. Satisfied that there wasn't
anything left unchecked, he hopped into the cockpit.
He closed the canopy and started flipping the transformable
mecha on. He slipped on his helmet and sealed it up quickly.
Almost immediately, he felt a cold but powerful presence
radiating from the machine. "Damn." His flight instructor
had said that it could take dozens of flights before he
could feel the mecha through its mind/slave linkage. This
was going to be like playing an arcade game while doing a
Hiryo Shotan Ha.
He mechanically followed directions, keeping right after
their flight leader. Pretty soon they were maneuvering the
powerful ship, taking them through the different forms and
how they changed for tactics and moves.
Lieutenant Watts blinked at the sleek movements that Ranma's
Veritech was undergoing. "Hey, Saotome, you're flying pretty
good for a novice."
The Veritech suddenly wobbled, veering out of control.
"Damn. Sorry! This takes a lot of concentration."
"Saotome! Get back in formation."
"Yes, Sir!"
The lieutenant watched as he got control of the space
fighter and slid it back into the group. "All, right. It's
time to see what you pansies can do. Your Valkyries have
been outfitted with targeting laser. You to try and shoot me
down. That's all." Watts opened the turbo-charged engines of
his latest model fighter, pushing it for all it was worth.
They were in standard models, no match for his fighter.
He was experienced enough that these kids weren't going to
even get close. At least not without some serious teamwork.
He had to hand it to them, they really tried. For ten
minutes, he flew rings around his students, peppering them
with oversized paint pellets.
Ranma growled in frustration. He had just barely dodged the
latest attack. It kept feeling like he was fighting his
ship, instead of it following his orders like it was
supposed to. A memory from one of the other pilots came to
him. 'You live one of these ships, not fly it!'
Ranma waited until he had a moment free from attack and then
let out a deep breath. Don't think, Ranma. Live! The Art
isn't about thinking, it's about doing! He relaxed suddenly,
letting the cold presence seep into him, even as he let his
senses drift out into the ship.
Lieutenant Watts shook his head as his ship came zooming
back in. He'd only managed to hit Saotome's ship once on one
wing. It was time to end this lesson and get some lunch.
"You're 'it' Saotome."
Ranma didn't respond as his feet and hands moved, almost
faster than the machine could cope. The Veritech suddenly
leaped as if kicked by some giant, rocketing in a dizzying
pattern, faster than the unaided eye could follow, shifting
mecha-forms for increased maneuverability.
Watts swore as he pegged the control into a corner and
snapped out at the last second. Where the hell had he
learned to fly like that? Adrenaline surged as the two
pilots danced back and forth, thruster blaring up into the
red.
The older pilot suddenly jinked to the side while
transforming, his pellet gun managing to stitch a line of
paint down the top of the Valkyrie's canopy.
Ranma blinked in surprise. "Damn. Got me any ways." He
looked over his shoulder to see the Lieutenant Watts banking
around. The roar of his engines trying to cool down was
overwhelming.
"Not bad. Not bad at all, Ranma. Fall in and let's get back
to base."
Ranma acknowledged with a wag of his battloid's hand and
turned back. He toggled his radio to the SDF's control
frequency. "This is T-Blue four, requesting permission to
land." He flipped a switch to transform back into a fighter
jet.
Lisa Hayes frowned at the familiar voice. Why had she been
out voted when it came to booting this particular pilot out
of the RDF? "This is the SDF, T-Blue four. You are clear to
land on the Daedelus, runway two."
"Aye aye, Commander!" Ranma said smartly, toggling off the
channel. She lined up the landing easily, even as her throat
started to itch and her ears started to hurt terribly.
Sudden vertigo hit Ranma forcibly, knocking her off course.
The airplane skidded sideways for just a second. Landing
gear snapped silently in the vacuum of space. The veritech
started to flip, fuel igniting unchecked. The canopy
exploded outwards, flinging its sole occupant out into the
void.
The small figure was scooped up by a giant mecha that
reacted promptly, carried as carefully as a kitten by its
mother. With a flash of thrusters, the veritech handed the
singed figure to the deck crew at the airlock, frantic
motions dragging the comatose body into the airlock.
-
Dry eyes blinked to wakefulness. It took long moments for
the lights above her to come into focus. Turgid thoughts
were replaced by minor aches and pains. She struggled for a
second to sit up, the rest of the hospital room becoming
visible.
"Huh? What happened?" Ranma rasped out, startling the nurse
where she was filling out a form.
"My goodness. You're awake?" She looked surprised.
"Yeah. Hey, what happened? I was in my fighter and... that's
all I can remember." And I'm a girl?
"You were lucky. We're not sure, but you blacked out on
landing and your veritech crashed. That was yesterday. You
were knocked around and banged up pretty good. No broken
bones thankfully. I thought the doctor was going to keep you
sedated for a while longer."
"That' probably why I feel so woozy." Ranma was busy
stretching, feeling the kinks and pains in her body. Not too
bad. "So, when can I leave?"
The nurse blinked in surprise. "Ah, you have some internal
bleeding. We really can't let you leave."
"Hmm. I've taken a lot worse training."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. Why'd you ask?"
She stepped out for a second. "Dr. Jennings, I need you to
come talk some sense into this pilot."
A moment later and Dr. Jennings appeared, slipping a
clipboard under her arm. "What's the problem?"
The nurse whispered into her ear for a second. The doctor
nodded and sent the nurse away. "Now, Miss Saotome..."
"I'm a guy, damn it!"
"... Ranma. You've been in a serious accident and we're
going to need to keep you here in the hospital for at least
a week for observation. You're quite lucky to be alive."
"A week? I've got an appointment with Dr. Lang today! He
wants to do some more tests. I thought you were going to
check me out and let me leave?"
"I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible..." The doctor
stopped in surprise again. She'd seen victims of
decompression and near explosions. They were all terribly
bruised, especially around the eyes, looking like they'd
gone three rounds with Rocky Balboa. She been in here just
an hour ago, to check the sedatives that this young woman
was on. She did not match the figure in front of her. She
could almost see the bruising fading away. "Monica? Can I
have you come back in here?"
"Yes, doctor?" The earlier nurse walked back in.
"Was the bruising this far along in healing?"
Monica looked over. She looked harder, scrutinizing the red
head quite closely. "She definitely wasn't this far healed
just ten minutes ago."
"You gotta learn how to bounce back! Takes a long time to
toughen your body that much, but it's worth it."
"I'm getting too old for this. I have some rounds to make.
I'll see if you're fit to be released later."
-
Lisa Hayes sighed, turning a page on her extra workload that
the Captain had assigned her. Why did she get all of the
weird ones?
Her phone buzzed, demanding attention. "This is Commander
Hayes. Yes, I was aware that Ranma Saotome is in the
hospital. He's almost fully recovered? How is that
possible?" She paused to listen. "I'll be right down."
At least it'll be an excuse to avoid the bridge for an hour
or so. Just a few minutes later and she was walking down the
hallway of the hospital complex. She knocked at the door.
"Come in!" called out the voice.
Lisa stepped in and stared at the renewed figure in front of
her. She'd stopped by yesterday to see how Ranma was doing.
The petite figure that hovered on death's door last night
only barely resembled the lean figure standing up. Ranma
snapped a quick salute.
"At ease. You do look much improved. Dr. Jennings says you
are claiming that this is due to training?"
Ranma nodded. "Yes, Ma'am."
"I'm to accompany you for your examination by Dr. Lang." She
caught Ranma's change in expression. "Is there a problem?"
"Ah, not really. Just feel like a lab rat."
"I'd like to ask you some questions as we go along."
Ranma fell in step behind her. "Sure."
"So, explain to me what happened yesterday during your
landing."
"Well, I was lining up to land. Pretty basic stuff, even if
I'm a bit rough yet. I remember my throat starting to itch,
my ears started to hurt and then I... well, blacked out."
"Hmm. That matches what we've managed to get out of your
black box. We think that you decompressed. That matches with
your itching throat and then blacking out. Your flight suit
is supposed to prevent that, but yours had a ripped seam."
Lisa looked at him for a second. "We're almost positive that
the paint pellets cracked your canopy. I'm going to be
terminating that particular exercise before anyone else gets
hurt."
"Will I be allowed to fly still?" Ranma asked worriedly.
"It doesn't appear to really be your fault. I'm going to
write you up for letting your flight suit get damaged, but
under the recommendation of your instructor, you'll be right
back in the cockpit."
Ranma sighed as they stepped into the elevator.
"Don't be too relieved. I don't need any hot dogging pilots.
If you screw up again, I'll nail you. Got that, Saotome?"
"Ah. Yeah."
-
Akane ran through a series of kata's on a large mat, lost in
the moment of motion. Around the edge, men in sweat suits
slowly arrived and watched. She was dressed in her habitual
gi, just as she always did when she practiced the Art.
"So, are you the new instructor?" one of the men asked. She
looked pretty decent as a martial artist. Around him the
other men were chatting in the main gymnasium on base.
Akane stopped, taking in the men around her. "No, I'm here
to practice with my fiance. He's a pilot."
"Lucky devil."
"Uh hmm," Ranma cleared his throat right behind the bigger
man.
"S-Saotome?" Derrick stuttered, clearly shaken by the
younger man's sudden presence.
"Ready, Akane?" Ranma asked walking casually onto the mat.
He was also wearing a gi.
"Hiya!" the girl cried out, lashing out in a set of punches
and kicks. Each kick and punch was evaded or blocked
casually.
Ranma attacked just slow enough that Akane had to work hard
to either duck or block. As an exercise he was snap out
punches to target areas and use his amigurikan speed to hit
each spot in the air hundreds of times every once in a
while.
"Hey, Saotome, I thought you were good?" the instructor
called out good naturely. Burns was a ripcord muscled man of
average height with a buzz cut.
"Whatcha talking about?" Ranma asked while ducking, blocking
or leaping over his fiancee.
"How about a little match?"
"Nah. How about you, Akane? I think he might be a good
challenge for you."
"Quite dodging!" She stopped and considered for a second.
"Sure, I guess."
"I'm Roger Burns. Nice to meet you." The man held out his
hand to shake.
"Hello, sir. I'm Akane Tendo," Akane said as she accepted
the handshake.
They broke apart and started to circle one another. Akane
lashed out in a set of punches and kicks, testing his speed
and durability. She was disappointed when she nearly knocked
him over in the first set of punches. She let up even more,
not using a great deal of her strength. In just a few
minutes, far too short in her mind, Burns held up his hands
in defeat.
He looked moderately interested, even as he shook his
battered arms out. "You were holding back. Not that I'm
complaining, mind you." He pursed his lips thoughtfully.
"You wouldn't be interested in training these louts, would
you?"
That grabbed Ranma's attention back almost instantly. His
fiancee looked surprised and then thoughtful. "I'd have to
finish high school, but that sounds interesting. Sure!"
Finally, someone who thought she was worth something in the
Arts.
"Yeah, you sure should," Ranma said brightly. He'd get to
see her more often.
All of a sudden the lights started to flash red, off and on.
Over the PA system, an officious women started to bark out
orders. "All pilots, to your fighters! This is not a drill.
Prepare to sortie out. I repeat, all pilots, to your
fighters!"
Akane started trembling at the warble of sirens. She was a
strong girl, not a child. The room emptied rapidly, Ranma
giving a quick wave, his mind already on the battle ahead.
In the changing light and confusion, he failed to notice her
expression.
Moment by moment, her trembling intensified. Unable to
resist her terror, she collapsed to a huddled ball. She put
her hands head, trying to shut out the noise, the terrible
noise. "Mommy..." she managed to rasp out. Don't leave me!
-
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Adam Victor shouted. He
spun back around to look at his souped up fighter. "How long
until you can get it back together?"
A technician scratched his head. "Maybe ten, fifteen
minutes, sir. I'll have to get extra men to do it tho'."
"I don't have fifteen minutes. Hey, it's going to take at
least five minutes for the pilots that went to Macross City
to get here, right?" He snapped his fingers. "I'll
commandeer one."
"Uh, I dunno..."
"I'm pulling rank, damn it. Get me next one and work on
getting mine repaired." Captain Victor snapped out even as
he snagged his helmet. He turned to the nearest unranked
pilot's Veritech, yelling at the ground crew to get him
airborne in two minutes.
They managed it in just under his demanded time. Moments
after the acceleration of the catapult, he was reconfiguring
his board for his wingman. "All right you yahoos, fall into
line. TAC says that we've got incoming alien pods. Let's do
some good team work and kill the bad guys."
"Yes, sir!"
"Right on!"
The three fighters were part of the first wave of Veritechs
that slammed into the disorganized line of battle pods of
the Zentraidi. Chain guns spat high speed death into their
midst, even as the pods retaliated with particle cannons.
Adam pushed the fighter as hard as he could, jinking back
and forth. Timing it just right, he released two missiles
that homed in on one battlepod. The pod tried to spin and
shoot the missiles before they hit, to no avail.
He cursed under his breath. This Veritech just wasn't as
highly tuned as his was. And it was showing. Adam slammed
the controls back and forth as quickly as possible, joystick
moving from forward left to back left to straight right. He
switched to battleoid to spin around faster, pelting the
three pods behind him with gunfire. Two exploded
spectacularly, while the third one was merely winged.
The control panels and screen flickered and died. Fear
gripped his heart in its icy embrace. "Oh, shit." He hit
several switches, eliciting no response. Scrabbling fingers
flipped open the panel that covered the emergency ejection
lever. With a convulsive jerk, he pulled the lever. He heard
two bangs within the confines of the cockpit before his seat
was slammed into bulletproof armor at full power.
"Captain!" his lead wingman screamed. "Get out of there!" He
pulled in behind the ostrich-like pod that was arrowing in
on the helpless fighter. His gattling gun rattled as it
unloaded it's depleted uranium shells into, stopping its
attack before it could shoot the floating mecha.
A mecha that suddenly blossomed into a plasma ball of death.
"Captain..." he whispered in shock.
-
Ranma slid around a corner and into the launch bay. He
skidded to a halt, looking around frantically for his
Veritech. "Hey, Jeanette! Where the heck is my ride?" he
asked his normal tech that worked
"Captain Victor took it! His ship wasn't ready!" she yelled
out from under the Veritech that she was referring to.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"Don't ask me!"
"Damn." Ranma hopped up to the open cockpit of the fighter.
He toggled a switch or two, getting an overly familiar mousy
haired officer on the line. "Hey! Captain Victor took my
fighter. Any idea what I'm supposed to do?"
Lisa snapped out at him, "Take the next one that doesn't
have a pilot! Bridge out!" Definitely not officer material.
Couldn't he see that they were in the middle of a battle?
"Aye aye!" Ranma replied to the blank screen, wincing. That
lady really didn't like him, he thought ruefully.
"Yo, Jeanette! Which birds don't have a pilot?"
"The one you're sitting in, dumpkoff!"
"I just got orders to take it from Commander Hayes."
She leaned back so that she could look him in the eyes. He
seemed to be telling the truth. And hell, the fighter was
just sitting here. "Looks like your lucky day. You get to
fly one of the hottest Veritechs in the flight roster. You
break it, you answer to Adam! Give us five minutes!"
"Right!" Ranma spun around to sit in the chair. He spent the
next few minutes checking over the controls, which were
slightly different. "Oh, right. Visually Inspect Self
Safety!" Ranma muttered to himself. He checked all of the
major seams like he'd had pounded into him for the last
week. His probing fingers found a ripped seam up on his
shoulder.
"What the hell? I just checked this suit out from the
quartermaster!" Ranma groused. He grabbed some tape and
sealed to hole quickly. He finished up his check, finding
two more holes, which he also repaired.
"Saotome! Your clear!" another flight technician called out.
Ranma gave him a thumbs up as he latched his helmet down.
The canopy slid down and with a flick of a few switches, he
was launched out, with only one Veritech behind him. "Green
three reporting in!" Ranma called out.
"Where the hell have you been?" Lieutenant Watts snapped
out.
"Someone took my bird, sir! I'm zeroing in on you! ETA is
fifty seconds!"
He really hoped so, as he was in serious trouble. He
frantically manipulated his controls, sending his Veritech
diving and rolling, the three battlepods right behind him.
One of his wings was sheared off, sending him wobbling from
a single blast.
All of a sudden, the three pods exploded as black and red
striped officer Veritech made its presence known. "Are you
all right?"
"Yeah! I'll live, but my birds all shot up." Watts breathed
a sigh of relief. That was too close.
"Don't worry! I'll join up with another wing! You get back
to the ship."
"Don't get your ass... shot... off. My God! Look at him go!"
he exclaimed in surprise.
Ranma was spinning his mecha around like it was a sparrow,
shifting modes almost too fast to follow. He'd already
racked up an immense amount of kills, expecting and getting
120% power from his engines. The battlepods were discovering
to their dismay that the pilot seemed to know where they
were going to fire before they did, causing them to miss.
Its return fire was always deadly accurate.
-
"Commander Breetai!"
"Yes, Exedore. What have you found?" the giant Zentraidi
asked, light gleaming off of his faceplate that covered his
missing eye.
"Sensors are detecting a high level shift in Protoculture
energy!" the smaller, nearly malformed alien studied the
panels in front of him. The two leaders of the attack force
were situated up in the command bubble, overlooking the
bridge of the mighty vessel.
"Are they preparing to fire their main cannon?"
"No, sir. This is coming from a fighter! The energy bands
are twice as energetic as any of the other micronian ships
of that size."
"A single fighter will not make a difference."
Exedore looked up from his screens. "That may not be true,
sir. That one fighter has amassed almost a fifteenth of the
micronian's kills against our forces."
"Impossible!" Breetai surged to his feet. There were dozens
of micronian fighters. "Get that fighter on the screen!" he
demanded, slamming his fist against the console.
In moments, a red and black banded Veritech appeared on the
holo-monitor. It was obvious that the camera was having a
hard time following. The screen suddenly shifted to another
Zentraidi's as his face appeared on the screen.
"Commander! We are prepared to begin the frontline assault!"
the captain ranked officer declared.
"Good hunting!"
"I know you over rode my objections, but this one fighter
worries me. If they can get this sort of performance out of
all of their fighters, they could prove to be a deadly foe."
Exedore's face was beaded with sweat.
"There are no worries in my mind! Captain Jolzai will
capture the super fortress!"
"The micronians are reacting to the threat from the
cruisers!"
"On screen!" Breetai's commands brought forth a view of the
shifting form of the battle fortress. He gasped in shock as
the too-angular ship took on an aspect of a giant techno
knight. "What are they doing?"
"I don't know! This is unprecedented!"
"The micronians are firing their main cannon!" the
disembodied voice called out. "Jozai's forces have been
utterly destroyed."
"Recall all battlepods! We have the information we needed.
Their main cannon does work." Light glinted off his face
plate coldly. "I want something more, Exedore. And soon."
-
Ranma sighed in relief as she guided her ship back into the
maw of the SDF-1's main hanger bay. She touched down
normally, rolling the Veritech up to its bay. She popped the
canopy and shucked her helmet. Who would have thought that
the stale air of the SDF-1 would smell so good? As the
engines idled down, she hopped to the ground.
She noted another pilot headed her way. "Hey! Uriek, right-
toof!" The sudden punch to her jaw caught her totally off
guard, knocking her to the ground.
"You bastard! You sent Victor out to die out there in your
ship!" Uriek screamed out, attracting the attention everyone
in the hanger.
Ranma bounded right back to her feet. "What the hell are you
talking about?" she shouted right back angrily.
"Your bird just shut down without being hit! Adam didn't
even eject before it then blew up!" Three other pilots
grabbed the distraught wingman, holding him back, barely.
"He probably couldn't!"
"You idiot! I didn't even know he took my fighter until I
got to the hanger! How the hell could I have done that?"
Uriek broke free from and lunged at the girl. Ranma was
ready this time, her hand effortlessly snagging his wrists
with frightening strength. A gunshot suddenly stopped the
fight.
"That's enough! Saotome, Beckman, back off! Right now,
you're both under arrest!" Lieutenant Watts snapped out,
lowering his gun to point at the two.
For a few tense seconds, nobody moved. Finally, Ranma
released him. The lieutenant waved them over to the side of
the hanger. He held up his hand forestall everyone following
him. Anger bubbled up within him. How could Ranma cause so
much trouble? His angry glare noted that Ranma was a girl
right then, trying to find fault with that. It almost
bypassed the gray pieces of tape on both shoulders and on
one side of her neck. A cold chill suddenly danced down his
spine.
"Saotome, what's wrong with your suit?"
"Huh? Oh, I found some rips when I did my VISS like you told
me to do..."
"Those sons of a bitches. Those sons of bitches tried to
murder you in cold blood," Watts declared, his face turning
white in shock.
Uriek Beckman snapped a startled glance, noting the same
patches.
"You two are coming with me!" the officer announced, waving
them ahead of him with his gun.
-
"Ryoga Hibiki?" a voice called out from jail cell doorway.
"Yeah?"
"I managed to get you sentenced lightened to community
service. You're damned lucky that the judge was as nice as
he was," the officious looking man said as he led Ryoga out
of his cell. "He said if he ever saw you again, he'd throw
everything he could onto your next sentencing."
The Lost Boy winced, knowing that was likely true. He did
wonder how that had happened. He was halfway down the cell
block when the door opened and two figures were led down
towards them. He was stopped by his lawyer. "We have to wait
for them."
Ryoga grinned as he saw it was Ranma that was being led
towards a cell with another fellow.
"You two will stay here until the murder investigation is
done."
Ryoga started at that. His arch nemesis merely nodded her
head and entered the cell. "That can't be right!" Ryoga
suddenly exclaimed.
"Oh?"
"Ranma's no killer!"
"That's up to the judge."
Ryoga continued to walk, his footsteps slow and unsure. Why
was it taking him so long to walk back to Nerima? His sense
of direction couldn't be so bad that he couldn't find his
way off of the huge spaceship, was it? All around him, metal
walls and conduits were the only things that he could see.
Ryoga licked his dry lips. Water was a lot harder to find,
but it was also easier to avoid. The lost boy blinked in
surprise at seeing the little shattered plane again. It was
draped with a parachute, but no light was visible.
Maybe... maybe they'd found some way out? Rick and... what's
her name. Minmei. "Hello?" Ryoga called out. He walked over
to the plane and checked to see if he could see anybody
else. Huh? What'd happened to the little camp?
"Hey, Ryoga! Good to see you again," Rick Hunter piped up,
trying to put on a cheerful face.
"Rick-sama! You found a way out!" Ryoga cried out, hugging
the surprised boy.
"Uh, yeah." Rick was baffled. He couldn't still be lost,
could he? They'd move his little flyer down here near the
hangers, from the section underneath Macross City over a
week ago. I wonder if he realizes that the SDF-1 is out in
space? "Do you need some help finding your way back to
Macross City?"
"Could you? Say, what were you doing here, any ways?" Ryoga
asked.
Rick looked at the poor little jaunty plane. "Just saying
goodbye."
Ryoga just looked at the younger boy oddly. How do you say
goodbye to a piece of metal?
-
Rick glanced back to make sure that Ryoga was still
following him. With a shrug he opened the door for Ryoga.
"Hello! Shampoo very happy to greet new customer!" Shampoo
chirped as she turned around. "Oh, just you, Rick. Aiyah! Is
Ryoga, lost-boy! Where you run off, Lost Boy? Shampoo not
finished with you! You make Shampoo lost in space!"
Ryoga held up his hands defensively. "I didn't mean to!
Besides, you were the one who started fighting!"
"Stupid Lost Boy splash Shampoo, of course Shampoo fight!"
Shampoo's eyes twitched as she flung three orders agilely to
a table, without spilling a drop of the Raman. Customers
taken care of for a moment, she held up her fists, turned
sideways in preparation for a leap kick.
Minmei blinked in surprise. "Who's this, Shampoo?"
"This Hibiki Ryoga! Very strong warrior, almost as strong as
husband!" Shampoo stated, her gaze never wavering.
"Oh? From Tokyo?" the young girl asked.
Shampoo nodded.
"Say, Shampoo, could you wait to beat on me until after I
get some food?" Ryoga asked. Not to mention how thirsty he
was. He could drink an ocean.
"Shampoo let you get strength so you good fight!" And
truthfully, she really didn't want to fight the premiere
runner-up martial artist. She'd almost let her bravado get
the best of herself.
Soon, Ryoga was sitting and slurping up noodles and eating
rice at a very fast pace. Life couldn't be much better
without being able to get home.
-
Akane looked at herself in the mirror. The stiffness had
finally left her limbs. She was scheduled for some cosmetic
surgery, to help with some of the scars. Her hand drifted up
to touch her ruined eye. With sudden hurried motion, she put
the plain black leather patch on, hiding the missing organ.
What would he think of her changed appearance? Her doctor
had said that she would soon be able to have a glass eye and
learn to use it so that people would have a hard time
telling that she was missing the eye. She bit her lip in
sudden anxiety. Would Ranma want a broken fiancee?
She'd let Victor talk her and Ranma into getting together
and getting a chance to talk. And so here she was, as
nervous as a schoolgirl going on her first date.
"Akane? Ranma's here!" her uncle Hyaki called out. The older
portly man just chuckled as he watched his niece fret with
her hair in the bathroom, trying to hide her patch as much
as possible. She looked every inch the young woman her
mother had been.
Ranma flinched at the older man's words. He'd been expecting
the worst, ever since Captain Adam Victor had bamboozled him
into coming here and taking Akane out. His nerves had been
stretched as taut as piano wire ever since. He was wearing
his uniform today, something that had become almost second
nature. He turned towards the sound of light footsteps
coming down the hallway.
Ranma blinked in surprise. Other than the patch, Akane
looked remarkably normal. She was wearing a cute little blue
sundress. Something about her appearance seemed slightly
off, but Ranma couldn't quite tell what it was. "Uh, hi
Akane."
"Hello, Ranma." Akane nearly choked on her nerves. Ranma
looked so serious in his uniform. Was this his way of saying
goodbye?
Hyaki just smiled at the two nervous teens. "They make a
pretty good pair, don't you think, Francis?"
Francis Shoemaker, Hyaki's long time roommate, nodded. "Ze
make a good match, very true." He was a gregarious middle-
aged Frenchman, with a twinkle in his eye as if he new some
joke that he was just waiting to tell you.
"I don't want to see you two for at least two hours. Ranma,
you treat my niece nicely now, understand?" Hyaki stated
emphatically, giving Ranma a very serious look.
"Uh, yeah! Of course!" Ranma nodded his head frantically.
"Come on, Ranma! You can practice your dad's crouching tiger
move later," Akane said, miffed by her uncle's words.
"What? I wasn't..." Ranma rebutted as he was dragged
outside.
"They'll be fine," Hyaki reassured his old friend. "So, what
are you up to for the next couple of hours?"
"Nothing that I couldn't be persuaded to... ignore, my
friend," Francis said slowly, letting a smile steal across
his face.
-
Akane slowed her breakneck trot down to a slow amble as they
got a block away. Neither one seemed to be willing to start
a conversation.
Finally, Akane took up her courage and spoke up. "So, what
are you doing now? In training, I mean!"
"Ah, just more basic flight school stuff. A little bit of
simulator and schooling. They say I'm going to graduate from
high school pretty quick." Ranma opened his mouth to
continue, but finally opted to leave it at that.
Akane noticed the pause. "Anything else?"
Ranma looked at her just a moment. "Um, the doctors are
working on desensitizing me to c-cats."
"Oh? They're working of curing you of your phobia?" Akane
asked interestedly. She smiled wistfully at how playful and
trusting Ranma was when he was in the throes of the Cat
Fist. And how he'd only ever calm down on her lap.
Ranma winced, but nodded. "They say they aren't going to
promise me anything, but they have a lot of ways to help
with my sort of problem." Ranma laughed suddenly. "Dr.
McGill wanted to press charges against Pop."
"Is he?" Akane asked. She just had a hard time seeing Genma
in court. He'd probably run away and disappear.
"Naw. Told him it's not worth it. And it's not like he meant
it or nothing. Just more training." Ranma sneaked a sideways
glance at Akane as they stepped onto a path in the small
central park of Macross City. Adam had recommended a little
oriental restaurant that had recently reopened. He'd said
that a lot of pilots had taken to hanging out there. "So,
um, what're you up to?"
"School, mostly. A bit of physical therapy to help with my
wounds. Did my uncle tell you that I'm in the same class as
Kodachi?" Akane said, a scowl appearing on her face.
"Kodachi Kuno? What's that fruit cake doing here?" Ranma
blurted out in surprise.
"She was here for the opening ceremony. They put her in a
regular school afterwards." Akane frowned in thought for a
second. "She seems to be doing alright, actually."
Silence stretched out uncomfortably for a minute. "So,
you're doing a lot better?" Pain seemed to fill each word as
Ranma talked.
"Yes. My physical therapist is saying that I should be fully
recovered in just another week or so. And they're talking
about a glass eye that'll match my old one perfectly. After
my cosmetic surgery is down, of course." Akane saw Ranma
flinch at her words as she talked about her eye. Her heart
nearly broke as his gaze stayed away from her face.
She let her eyes lay on him, to etch into her memory his
face one last time, when she finally realized it wasn't
disgust or loathing that made it so Ranma wasn't looking at
her. It was... remorse or guilt. And quite a bit of fear,
she realized. "Ranma? W-what's wrong?"
"Noth-nothing. Are you sure you want to go grab a bit to
eat?" Spend time with a failure that couldn't even protect
you?
Akane thought about that a second. "Of course I'm sure! It's
the first day that you've been released that I've had free.
And I'm going to enjoy it!"
Ranma felt and looked confused. Akane almost seemed to be
saying that she wanted him. Wanted him to be here and to
stay with her. The agony of not knowing, of having this
shred of hope put before him was too much. He had to ask
her. "Aren't you angry at me? For not protecting you?"
"Angry? Why would I be angry?" Akane's mind whirled. Of
course! That's why Ranma's been so different recently. "You
did everything you could. And... and you saved me, didn't
you? Why should I hate you?"
Slowly, Ranma's eyes lifted up to meet her gaze. "I... I
thought that you didn't like me because I let you get...
hurt."
Panic turned to relief as she turned and grabbed the front
of his shirt. "You dummy! Adam told me that he believes that
you saved my life! Why would you think that?"
"Well you're always getting angry and your old man gets mad
if I even ignore you and you should see the times when he
thought you were in danger he was so mad and upset and
angry..."
"Ranma, just shut up a second. My family isn't here and I
am! I'm not mad at you for getting hurt!" Akane stated
loudly, almost shaking him.
She watched in fascination, as the stress within him seemed
to melt away and he became the self-assured young man that
she was familiar with. He seemed to struggle with something
to say, something that wouldn't anger her, when she suddenly
threw herself into a hug, holding him desperately tight.
Ranma's face started to glow a crimson hue in embarrassment.
He really wasn't in any position to hold her back, but that
didn't seem to be what Akane wanted right then. After a
moment, Akane started to sob into his chest, almost
uncontrollably.
The poor young pilot didn't know what to do, except just be
there for her. Minutes later, she finally calmed down. Ranma
was struck by how odd it was that Akane only cried out of
one eye, nothing had come from the ruined eye.
"I was so afraid that you didn't want me because I was
damaged," Akane said finally.
"What sort of stupid thing made you think that?" Ranma
snapped unthinkingly.
"Well, you wouldn't look at me," she replied angrily.
"That wasn't why I couldn't bear to look at you!"
"So you can't even look at your own fiancee now because
she's damaged goods?" Akane almost shouted.
"You keep twisting my words! I didn't say that!"
"So you do want to look at me?"
"If I say yes, you'll just hit me, if I say no, you'll just
hit me too! How the heck am I supposed answer that?" Ranma
asked loudly, obviously exasperated as he waved his arms
around.
Akane blinked in sudden thought. "Oh." She then grinned
mischievously, much to Ranma's ire. "You're supposed to say
that I'm very tempted but I'm too much of a gentleman to do
so."
"Huh?"
"Don't worry, Ranma, I'll give you some time to figure it
out. Come on, let's go get some food!" Akane said as she
sprinted down the trail.
Ranma scratched his head, then shrugged and took off after
her.
-
Ryoga was finishing his second bowl when the door dinged,
signaling another customer. Shampoo and Minmei looked up
expectantly.
"Ranma! Nia ho! Shampoo very happy to see husband!" the
young amazon chirped, bouncing over and latching onto Ranma.
Ryoga's chopsticks snapped under his immense strength. No,
he couldn't be here too, could he? "Damn him!"
"What happen to Pervert Girl? Now Kitchen Destroyer even
uglier, with patch-eye and face scars," Shampoo said snidely
as she walked up to the duo.
Ranma almost growled at Shampoo, "She was hurt during the
attack on Macross Island." Akane looked like she was about
to break down and cry.
"RANMA!" Ryoga stood up and whirled, weariness suddenly
gone, replaced by an intense anger at Ranma's unthinking
actions. "How dare you let Akane be hurt!" He spun and
picked up his umbrella.
"Ryoga?" Ranma and Akane chorused.
Ranma's surprise faded almost instantly. "What's it to you,
P-chan? I didn't see you there," Ranma said coldly. "Of
course, I'm not surprised to find you onboard the SDF-1."
"For that failure, I'll kill you!" the Lost Boy shouted as
he charged.
The many pilots looked on in amazement as Ranma easily
sidestepped the enraged martial artist and let him crash
through the front door and throwing glass and steel far down
the street. Ryoga turned around just in time to have a kick
smash into his face, knocking him back, but hardly phasing
him.
"Come on, Pig Boy. I'm not taking this kind of crap from you
anymore. You want a piece of me, come get it." Ranma's
stance was loose and ready, his eyes alight with a cold
glee.
"Die, Ranma!" The youngest Hibiki lashed out with his
umbrella, using it as if it were a foil.
-
Lisa Hayes scowled as she shut off the radio channel. The
new pilots being trained were proving to be quite a bother.
None of them knew anything about proper procedure. She took
a moment to grab her coffee and take a sip before responding
to the next call. This one should be simple, it was from
Macross City's police force. The Mayor was probably wanting
more information on when the Macross residents would be
released.
"Bridge here," Lisa said, tapping some more keys on her
panel.
"Bridge, this is Captain Marley, MP. We have a situation
developing here that we can't handle." The voice sounded
unsure. In the background, the sounds of concrete being
smashed and metal tearing could be heard.
"What is the situation?" Her coffee was instantly forgotten.
That sounded like a battle!
"We have two figures that are fighting each other and
destroying vehicles and small buildings. One appears to be
wearing a pilot's uniform, with cadet markings. The strength
of their blows in unbelievable." The sound of more metal
crunching could be heard. "They are at the intersection of
Debois and Chambers. Are they even human?"
Lisa flipped on her screen, patching in the overview cameras
that helped during reconstruction. Amazingly enough, it
showed a figure wearing the RDF's pilot uniform kicking the
non-uniformed young man through a concrete wall. Seemingly
unfazed, the unkempt man leaped to his feet and towards the
slightly smaller foe, easily thirty feet away.
"Captain? I'm not sure what to make of this!" Lisa
exclaimed. All of the bridge crew looked over or tapped into
the view.
"Isn't that Saotome?" Claudia asked. The unusual young man
had become a bit infamous already, even to the bridge crew.
Kind of cute, the tall, black American thought.
"Thunderations, they're tearing apart Macross City. Order
him to stop immediately!" Captain Gloval commanded. He
watched the console over Lisa's shoulder.
"Yes, Sir. Cadet Saotome, you are to desist this activity
immediately!" Lisa barked over the intercom.
Ranma never took his eyes off of Ryoga, but he signaled to
the watching camera that he had heard. He changed his entire
method of fighting, suddenly blocking and dodging with his
normal flare. "I wish it were that easy."
"Who's that, Ranma? Another girl friend?" Ryoga shouted,
even further enraged if that was possible.
"That was Commander Hayes, second in command of the SDF-1,
you idiot. If you didn't notice, I'm part of the RDF now."
"Oh, someone else to hide behind? Bakusai Tenkatsu!" Ryoga
shouted, suddenly stabbing the ground, trying to distract
the martial artist.
"Captain, Saotome's attacker is continuing to fight. Captain
Marley is correct, his troops can't handle something like
this." Lisa blinked in awe as saw Ryoga explode the ground
with a mere touch. Ranma didn't seem affected, some sort of
strange blur shielding him from the explosion.
"Hmm. Send out two Destroids, armed with rubber bullets and
tear gas. And I want answers about this when it's over!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Vince and Jack couldn't believe their ears as they revved
the engines up on the walking behemoths they piloted. They
were being ordered to subdue two people? In just a few short
minutes, they arrived at the scene of the destruction and
started to change their minds. Look at this mess.
"Uh, commencing with pacification," Vince said over the
radio. With a shrug, he flipped a switch and started to
pepper the area with his mecha's handheld gun, loaded
especially with anti-personnel rubber rounds. To his
amazement, both figures dodged the shots.
"Switch to thermal imaging." Jack thought it was a much
better idea to saturate the area with tear gas. He really
hoped these guys were human and that this worked. He
launched a single rocket from the shoulder mount that burst
into a spread of tear gas containers, covering the whole
area.
Ryoga and Ranma both started to hack and cough. Ranma wisely
raised his arms up in surrender, even as his eyes and lungs
burned. Ryoga turned his attention to the gigantic machines
of war that had attacked him. Running slowly towards the
figure, he leaped up and aimed to land on top of the
machine.
Jack shouted in alarm and reacted instinctively, the metal
shod hands moving with inhuman speed. There was a solid wham
of tough flesh being struck by metallic armor. Ryoga sailed
through the air and smashed into the ground, leaving a
sizable dent in the pavement.
Ryoga didn't get up at that point.
-
Ranma stood at attention, awaiting for the arrival of the
debriefing officer. His uniform was stained and tattered,
his eyes red from the tear gas.
"All right, Saotome. Explain this debacle. Now," Lisa Hayes
stated in a tone of voice that brooked no argument.
Ranma saluted sharply. "Yes, Sir! Uh, Ma'am. I was, uh,
going to dinner with my fiancee and ran into an, uh, old
acquaintance. He attacked me after learning that Akane, er,
my fiancee, had been injured during the liftoff battle. He
kind of became, uh, unstable and berserk."
"Ma'am. And how are you both able to do so much damage?"
Lisa asked coolly. She tapped her toe in frustration.
"Huh? Oh, we're some of the best martial artists there are.
I know a dozen or more people that can do that sort of
stuff."
"Next you'll be telling me that you can throw chi blasts
from your hands like some arcade game hero."
"Well, yeah. It's not really that tough." Ranma shut up
suddenly, feeling he'd just said the wrong thing as her eyes
bored into him.
"Really. Well, Mr. Saotome, you've just earned a thorough
physical and mental examination by Dr. Lang and the science
staff. If they check out what you say, you'll be released.
Depending on what they say, you may even be a pilot still."
She turned to leave and then stopped. She then pointed out
to Ryoga where he lay imbedded in the ground. "By the way,
Saotome, does this gentleman happen to have the same sort of
problems you do?" An insane martial artist machine of death
and destruction was not something she wanted to contemplate.
What could he be afraid of, she wondered?
Ranma, of course, thought of their shared problem
immediately. "Oh, yeah! He turns into a piglet if you splash
him with cold water."
Akane froze in mid step, from a scant ten feet away from
behind Ranma. She did not just hear that. She couldn't have
heard that. Ranma must be trying to pull some prank.
Lisa blinked. He seemed sincere. "Anyone else here with one
of these remarkable curses?"
"Sure. Shampoo, she's one of the waitresses of the White
Dragon, she turns into... a c-c-cat." Ranma tried to calm
himself like the psychiatrist taught him.
Akane's heart thudded painfully in her chest. He didn't even
realize that she was there.
"Very well. Captain Marley, take him into custody." Lisa
turned and walked away.
Little jigsaw pieces of a disjointed puzzle started to fall
into place for Akane. All of Ranma's comments, always
calling P-chan Ryoga and vice verse, always being so damned
jealous of a pet. He'd always known. And he hadn't told her!
"You! YOU! And Ryoga! Making fun of... You... creep!"
Akane's battle aura flared to life, a dangerous and
brilliant red. "I hate you!" Akane gulped in a large breath
of air. "I never want to see you again, stranger!"
With that, she turned and fled, leaving a totally
flabbergasted Ranma wondering what he'd done. "Akane! Wait!"
"Don't do it, kid! Slow and easy." Captain Marley and his
squad of MPs trained their handguns at Ranma. "I think you'd
better let her cool down."
Ranma collapsed to his knees. "Akane." What had he done?
She'd never been that mad before. Ever.
Lisa released her held breath. Maybe Ranma hadn't been lying
when he talked about some of the things he could do. Those
powers and abilities, they weren't human.
But that reaction was, it was so normally human it was
scary.
-
Akane walked slowly home from school. In the past week,
she'd been a mere shadow of her former self, merely going
through the steps of life. Not even Kodachi had been able to
goad a reaction from her. Her foot steps finally halted,
only half way to her uncle's place. She just couldn't stand
to go home right now.
Her footsteps finally took her to the same park that she'd
talked to Ranma. A time that seemed so short, yet so
painfully long ago. She'd thought that she hadn't lost him
and then found out the terrible secret. Not that it was much
of a secret, she'd found out. Shampoo had known. And from
her she'd learned that almost everyone it seemed had known.
And Ranma had known. And hadn't told her. Oh, sure, he'd be
snide and say his name. Ranma would even be jealous at the
drop of a hat, if it looked like 'P-chan' would be taken to
her bed. (That thought almost made her nauseous.)
But come out and tell her? No, he was too much of a jerk.
Always teasing her. Never telling her about Ryoga.
'But he always called that pervert by his other name, no
matter what form he was in,' a small voice nagged at her.
'So?' she retorted back halfheartedly. 'He should have just
said that Ryoga was using his curse to dishonor me!' She'd
had this argument with herself almost constantly for the
last week, each time it got weaker and weaker.
'Weren't you too busy punishing him for hurting poor P-chan?
Always protecting that pig, instead of hearing what Ranma
said?' it continued unstoppably.
A painful feeling welled up in her chest. Memory after
memory of Ranma calling Ryoga P-chan, angering the lost boy.
Guilt twisted a knife into her heart. Of him calling the
little piglet Ryoga, angering her 'pet'. Unbidden, a memory
arose in her mind.
-
"Charlotte! You're my darling Charlotte!" squealed Asuza.
She was bouncing up and down.
"Bfah! Ridiculous! My name is..." Ryoga said, shrugging off
the little kleptomaniac's accusation.
"P-chan!" Ranma said interrupted suddenly, appearing on
Ryoga's shoulders. She somehow looked quite tiny as she
looked over Ryoga's shoulders. "His name is..."
"Will you shut up!" Ryoga roared, flinging the petite
redhead away, across the ice rink.
-
Her guilt gouged at her heart, a cathartic pain that left a
void in her heart. Ranma had been trying to tell her, in the
only way he knew how. Trying to get past her obstinacy, her
unwillingness to see that Ryoga was P-chan.
'Always too busy defending that pig, weren't you?'
Akane nodded her tear streaked face as she curled up on the
bench, feeling smaller than an ant. Than a microbe.
'Blaming him for picking on poor wittle P-chan?'
Sobs racked her body, sending her farther into a gray void
of self loathing. How could she have missed it. Ranma had
all but come out and called her deaf, dumb and blind about
it. Now here she was, Akane the dummy, Akane the really
stupid, Akane...
"Akane? Akane?" the quiet voice tried to reach her.
Akane finally looked up to see who had intruded on her self-
beratement. "Ra-Ran-ma?"
"Yeah. Uh, your uncle called up the base and said that you'd
disappeared. I got released finally..." Akane interrupted
Ranma as she slammed into him, her grip deathly tight.
"Jeeze, you need to relax, Akane."
Akane only responded with sobs. He didn't hate her. That was
all that was really important. Finally, the pain in her
chest started to lessen, becoming just a dull throb. "Th-
thanks, Ranma."
"Huh?"
"For coming and looking out for me. Even if you don't...
like me." She'd just let him go, she suddenly decided.
"What? I never said that!" Ranma played with his seemingly
too tight uniform collar.
"So you like me?" Akane inquired hopefully. "Even after I've
treated you so badly because of Ryoga?"
"Well, I didn't like that!" Ranma paused to take a breath.
"I couldn't understand how you couldn't see what he was
doing. That stupid bandana should have been a big clue!"
Akane's face fell, returning to anguished remorse almost
instantly. "I feel so bad. I was so stupid!"
"Hold on! It wasn't really your fault! Please, don't cry!"
Ranma unconsciously started to rock her slowly.
Akane let him sooth her for a minute, her arms wrapped
loosely around his waist. She looked up at him, their faces
only inches apart. Her arms slid up his back, pulling him
slightly towards her.
Their lips touched, a jolt of energy seeming to jump between
them. For long moments, they held themselves there. Finally,
the parted enough to look back at each other.
"Wow," Ranma muttered. That had been much more intense than
any kiss he'd ever had.
Akane blinked in bemusement. Slowly she smiled, a strange
warmth suffusing her. The pig-tailed martial artist seemed
to be willing to get back to work on their relationship. She
hadn't lost him like she'd thought. He was just so far away.
"Ranma? Why did you join the RDF?"
Ranma swallowed suddenly. "I couldn't protect you from the
aliens. The only way to protect you right now is the RDF.
And I couldn't bear to see you hurt again."
"But what about joining the families? You can't do that if
you're in the military!" Akane asked plaintively.
"Sure I can! But I have to protect you first."
Akane looked into his eyes. "So you're doing this because
it's your duty."
Ranma eyebrows creased in thought. "No. Well, not entirely.
That's not it."
"You... you still want to... ?" Akane stuttered out in
surprise. A rosy glow appeared in her cheeks.
Ranma finally twigged onto what she was alluding to. "Well,
yeah. I... do want to... someday."
"Is it because of the promise?"
Ranma shook his head slowly.
And that was enough.
-
Ranma took a deep breath as he walked to the lift, where a
group of trainee pilots waited on him. "Get a move on,
Saotome!" Lieutenant Watts barked out.
"Yes, sir!" Ranma snapped out the reply automatically.
The lift ended on the main flight hanger, where maintenance
crew worked on outfitting sleek Veritechs for their first
unattended flight. Ranma checked out his Valkyrie, doing his
walk by just as he'd learned. Satisfied that there wasn't
anything left unchecked, he hopped into the cockpit.
He closed the canopy and started flipping the transformable
mecha on. He slipped on his helmet and sealed it up quickly.
Almost immediately, he felt a cold but powerful presence
radiating from the machine. "Damn." His flight instructor
had said that it could take dozens of flights before he
could feel the mecha through its mind/slave linkage. This
was going to be like playing an arcade game while doing a
Hiryo Shotan Ha.
He mechanically followed directions, keeping right after
their flight leader. Pretty soon they were maneuvering the
powerful ship, taking them through the different forms and
how they changed for tactics and moves.
Lieutenant Watts blinked at the sleek movements that Ranma's
Veritech was undergoing. "Hey, Saotome, you're flying pretty
good for a novice."
The Veritech suddenly wobbled, veering out of control.
"Damn. Sorry! This takes a lot of concentration."
"Saotome! Get back in formation."
"Yes, Sir!"
The lieutenant watched as he got control of the space
fighter and slid it back into the group. "All, right. It's
time to see what you pansies can do. Your Valkyries have
been outfitted with targeting laser. You to try and shoot me
down. That's all." Watts opened the turbo-charged engines of
his latest model fighter, pushing it for all it was worth.
They were in standard models, no match for his fighter.
He was experienced enough that these kids weren't going to
even get close. At least not without some serious teamwork.
He had to hand it to them, they really tried. For ten
minutes, he flew rings around his students, peppering them
with oversized paint pellets.
Ranma growled in frustration. He had just barely dodged the
latest attack. It kept feeling like he was fighting his
ship, instead of it following his orders like it was
supposed to. A memory from one of the other pilots came to
him. 'You live one of these ships, not fly it!'
Ranma waited until he had a moment free from attack and then
let out a deep breath. Don't think, Ranma. Live! The Art
isn't about thinking, it's about doing! He relaxed suddenly,
letting the cold presence seep into him, even as he let his
senses drift out into the ship.
Lieutenant Watts shook his head as his ship came zooming
back in. He'd only managed to hit Saotome's ship once on one
wing. It was time to end this lesson and get some lunch.
"You're 'it' Saotome."
Ranma didn't respond as his feet and hands moved, almost
faster than the machine could cope. The Veritech suddenly
leaped as if kicked by some giant, rocketing in a dizzying
pattern, faster than the unaided eye could follow, shifting
mecha-forms for increased maneuverability.
Watts swore as he pegged the control into a corner and
snapped out at the last second. Where the hell had he
learned to fly like that? Adrenaline surged as the two
pilots danced back and forth, thruster blaring up into the
red.
The older pilot suddenly jinked to the side while
transforming, his pellet gun managing to stitch a line of
paint down the top of the Valkyrie's canopy.
Ranma blinked in surprise. "Damn. Got me any ways." He
looked over his shoulder to see the Lieutenant Watts banking
around. The roar of his engines trying to cool down was
overwhelming.
"Not bad. Not bad at all, Ranma. Fall in and let's get back
to base."
Ranma acknowledged with a wag of his battloid's hand and
turned back. He toggled his radio to the SDF's control
frequency. "This is T-Blue four, requesting permission to
land." He flipped a switch to transform back into a fighter
jet.
Lisa Hayes frowned at the familiar voice. Why had she been
out voted when it came to booting this particular pilot out
of the RDF? "This is the SDF, T-Blue four. You are clear to
land on the Daedelus, runway two."
"Aye aye, Commander!" Ranma said smartly, toggling off the
channel. She lined up the landing easily, even as her throat
started to itch and her ears started to hurt terribly.
Sudden vertigo hit Ranma forcibly, knocking her off course.
The airplane skidded sideways for just a second. Landing
gear snapped silently in the vacuum of space. The veritech
started to flip, fuel igniting unchecked. The canopy
exploded outwards, flinging its sole occupant out into the
void.
The small figure was scooped up by a giant mecha that
reacted promptly, carried as carefully as a kitten by its
mother. With a flash of thrusters, the veritech handed the
singed figure to the deck crew at the airlock, frantic
motions dragging the comatose body into the airlock.
-
Dry eyes blinked to wakefulness. It took long moments for
the lights above her to come into focus. Turgid thoughts
were replaced by minor aches and pains. She struggled for a
second to sit up, the rest of the hospital room becoming
visible.
"Huh? What happened?" Ranma rasped out, startling the nurse
where she was filling out a form.
"My goodness. You're awake?" She looked surprised.
"Yeah. Hey, what happened? I was in my fighter and... that's
all I can remember." And I'm a girl?
"You were lucky. We're not sure, but you blacked out on
landing and your veritech crashed. That was yesterday. You
were knocked around and banged up pretty good. No broken
bones thankfully. I thought the doctor was going to keep you
sedated for a while longer."
"That' probably why I feel so woozy." Ranma was busy
stretching, feeling the kinks and pains in her body. Not too
bad. "So, when can I leave?"
The nurse blinked in surprise. "Ah, you have some internal
bleeding. We really can't let you leave."
"Hmm. I've taken a lot worse training."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. Why'd you ask?"
She stepped out for a second. "Dr. Jennings, I need you to
come talk some sense into this pilot."
A moment later and Dr. Jennings appeared, slipping a
clipboard under her arm. "What's the problem?"
The nurse whispered into her ear for a second. The doctor
nodded and sent the nurse away. "Now, Miss Saotome..."
"I'm a guy, damn it!"
"... Ranma. You've been in a serious accident and we're
going to need to keep you here in the hospital for at least
a week for observation. You're quite lucky to be alive."
"A week? I've got an appointment with Dr. Lang today! He
wants to do some more tests. I thought you were going to
check me out and let me leave?"
"I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible..." The doctor
stopped in surprise again. She'd seen victims of
decompression and near explosions. They were all terribly
bruised, especially around the eyes, looking like they'd
gone three rounds with Rocky Balboa. She been in here just
an hour ago, to check the sedatives that this young woman
was on. She did not match the figure in front of her. She
could almost see the bruising fading away. "Monica? Can I
have you come back in here?"
"Yes, doctor?" The earlier nurse walked back in.
"Was the bruising this far along in healing?"
Monica looked over. She looked harder, scrutinizing the red
head quite closely. "She definitely wasn't this far healed
just ten minutes ago."
"You gotta learn how to bounce back! Takes a long time to
toughen your body that much, but it's worth it."
"I'm getting too old for this. I have some rounds to make.
I'll see if you're fit to be released later."
-
Lisa Hayes sighed, turning a page on her extra workload that
the Captain had assigned her. Why did she get all of the
weird ones?
Her phone buzzed, demanding attention. "This is Commander
Hayes. Yes, I was aware that Ranma Saotome is in the
hospital. He's almost fully recovered? How is that
possible?" She paused to listen. "I'll be right down."
At least it'll be an excuse to avoid the bridge for an hour
or so. Just a few minutes later and she was walking down the
hallway of the hospital complex. She knocked at the door.
"Come in!" called out the voice.
Lisa stepped in and stared at the renewed figure in front of
her. She'd stopped by yesterday to see how Ranma was doing.
The petite figure that hovered on death's door last night
only barely resembled the lean figure standing up. Ranma
snapped a quick salute.
"At ease. You do look much improved. Dr. Jennings says you
are claiming that this is due to training?"
Ranma nodded. "Yes, Ma'am."
"I'm to accompany you for your examination by Dr. Lang." She
caught Ranma's change in expression. "Is there a problem?"
"Ah, not really. Just feel like a lab rat."
"I'd like to ask you some questions as we go along."
Ranma fell in step behind her. "Sure."
"So, explain to me what happened yesterday during your
landing."
"Well, I was lining up to land. Pretty basic stuff, even if
I'm a bit rough yet. I remember my throat starting to itch,
my ears started to hurt and then I... well, blacked out."
"Hmm. That matches what we've managed to get out of your
black box. We think that you decompressed. That matches with
your itching throat and then blacking out. Your flight suit
is supposed to prevent that, but yours had a ripped seam."
Lisa looked at him for a second. "We're almost positive that
the paint pellets cracked your canopy. I'm going to be
terminating that particular exercise before anyone else gets
hurt."
"Will I be allowed to fly still?" Ranma asked worriedly.
"It doesn't appear to really be your fault. I'm going to
write you up for letting your flight suit get damaged, but
under the recommendation of your instructor, you'll be right
back in the cockpit."
Ranma sighed as they stepped into the elevator.
"Don't be too relieved. I don't need any hot dogging pilots.
If you screw up again, I'll nail you. Got that, Saotome?"
"Ah. Yeah."
-
Akane ran through a series of kata's on a large mat, lost in
the moment of motion. Around the edge, men in sweat suits
slowly arrived and watched. She was dressed in her habitual
gi, just as she always did when she practiced the Art.
"So, are you the new instructor?" one of the men asked. She
looked pretty decent as a martial artist. Around him the
other men were chatting in the main gymnasium on base.
Akane stopped, taking in the men around her. "No, I'm here
to practice with my fiance. He's a pilot."
"Lucky devil."
"Uh hmm," Ranma cleared his throat right behind the bigger
man.
"S-Saotome?" Derrick stuttered, clearly shaken by the
younger man's sudden presence.
"Ready, Akane?" Ranma asked walking casually onto the mat.
He was also wearing a gi.
"Hiya!" the girl cried out, lashing out in a set of punches
and kicks. Each kick and punch was evaded or blocked
casually.
Ranma attacked just slow enough that Akane had to work hard
to either duck or block. As an exercise he was snap out
punches to target areas and use his amigurikan speed to hit
each spot in the air hundreds of times every once in a
while.
"Hey, Saotome, I thought you were good?" the instructor
called out good naturely. Burns was a ripcord muscled man of
average height with a buzz cut.
"Whatcha talking about?" Ranma asked while ducking, blocking
or leaping over his fiancee.
"How about a little match?"
"Nah. How about you, Akane? I think he might be a good
challenge for you."
"Quite dodging!" She stopped and considered for a second.
"Sure, I guess."
"I'm Roger Burns. Nice to meet you." The man held out his
hand to shake.
"Hello, sir. I'm Akane Tendo," Akane said as she accepted
the handshake.
They broke apart and started to circle one another. Akane
lashed out in a set of punches and kicks, testing his speed
and durability. She was disappointed when she nearly knocked
him over in the first set of punches. She let up even more,
not using a great deal of her strength. In just a few
minutes, far too short in her mind, Burns held up his hands
in defeat.
He looked moderately interested, even as he shook his
battered arms out. "You were holding back. Not that I'm
complaining, mind you." He pursed his lips thoughtfully.
"You wouldn't be interested in training these louts, would
you?"
That grabbed Ranma's attention back almost instantly. His
fiancee looked surprised and then thoughtful. "I'd have to
finish high school, but that sounds interesting. Sure!"
Finally, someone who thought she was worth something in the
Arts.
"Yeah, you sure should," Ranma said brightly. He'd get to
see her more often.
All of a sudden the lights started to flash red, off and on.
Over the PA system, an officious women started to bark out
orders. "All pilots, to your fighters! This is not a drill.
Prepare to sortie out. I repeat, all pilots, to your
fighters!"
Akane started trembling at the warble of sirens. She was a
strong girl, not a child. The room emptied rapidly, Ranma
giving a quick wave, his mind already on the battle ahead.
In the changing light and confusion, he failed to notice her
expression.
Moment by moment, her trembling intensified. Unable to
resist her terror, she collapsed to a huddled ball. She put
her hands head, trying to shut out the noise, the terrible
noise. "Mommy..." she managed to rasp out. Don't leave me!
-
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Adam Victor shouted. He
spun back around to look at his souped up fighter. "How long
until you can get it back together?"
A technician scratched his head. "Maybe ten, fifteen
minutes, sir. I'll have to get extra men to do it tho'."
"I don't have fifteen minutes. Hey, it's going to take at
least five minutes for the pilots that went to Macross City
to get here, right?" He snapped his fingers. "I'll
commandeer one."
"Uh, I dunno..."
"I'm pulling rank, damn it. Get me next one and work on
getting mine repaired." Captain Victor snapped out even as
he snagged his helmet. He turned to the nearest unranked
pilot's Veritech, yelling at the ground crew to get him
airborne in two minutes.
They managed it in just under his demanded time. Moments
after the acceleration of the catapult, he was reconfiguring
his board for his wingman. "All right you yahoos, fall into
line. TAC says that we've got incoming alien pods. Let's do
some good team work and kill the bad guys."
"Yes, sir!"
"Right on!"
The three fighters were part of the first wave of Veritechs
that slammed into the disorganized line of battle pods of
the Zentraidi. Chain guns spat high speed death into their
midst, even as the pods retaliated with particle cannons.
Adam pushed the fighter as hard as he could, jinking back
and forth. Timing it just right, he released two missiles
that homed in on one battlepod. The pod tried to spin and
shoot the missiles before they hit, to no avail.
He cursed under his breath. This Veritech just wasn't as
highly tuned as his was. And it was showing. Adam slammed
the controls back and forth as quickly as possible, joystick
moving from forward left to back left to straight right. He
switched to battleoid to spin around faster, pelting the
three pods behind him with gunfire. Two exploded
spectacularly, while the third one was merely winged.
The control panels and screen flickered and died. Fear
gripped his heart in its icy embrace. "Oh, shit." He hit
several switches, eliciting no response. Scrabbling fingers
flipped open the panel that covered the emergency ejection
lever. With a convulsive jerk, he pulled the lever. He heard
two bangs within the confines of the cockpit before his seat
was slammed into bulletproof armor at full power.
"Captain!" his lead wingman screamed. "Get out of there!" He
pulled in behind the ostrich-like pod that was arrowing in
on the helpless fighter. His gattling gun rattled as it
unloaded it's depleted uranium shells into, stopping its
attack before it could shoot the floating mecha.
A mecha that suddenly blossomed into a plasma ball of death.
"Captain..." he whispered in shock.
-
Ranma slid around a corner and into the launch bay. He
skidded to a halt, looking around frantically for his
Veritech. "Hey, Jeanette! Where the heck is my ride?" he
asked his normal tech that worked
"Captain Victor took it! His ship wasn't ready!" she yelled
out from under the Veritech that she was referring to.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"Don't ask me!"
"Damn." Ranma hopped up to the open cockpit of the fighter.
He toggled a switch or two, getting an overly familiar mousy
haired officer on the line. "Hey! Captain Victor took my
fighter. Any idea what I'm supposed to do?"
Lisa snapped out at him, "Take the next one that doesn't
have a pilot! Bridge out!" Definitely not officer material.
Couldn't he see that they were in the middle of a battle?
"Aye aye!" Ranma replied to the blank screen, wincing. That
lady really didn't like him, he thought ruefully.
"Yo, Jeanette! Which birds don't have a pilot?"
"The one you're sitting in, dumpkoff!"
"I just got orders to take it from Commander Hayes."
She leaned back so that she could look him in the eyes. He
seemed to be telling the truth. And hell, the fighter was
just sitting here. "Looks like your lucky day. You get to
fly one of the hottest Veritechs in the flight roster. You
break it, you answer to Adam! Give us five minutes!"
"Right!" Ranma spun around to sit in the chair. He spent the
next few minutes checking over the controls, which were
slightly different. "Oh, right. Visually Inspect Self
Safety!" Ranma muttered to himself. He checked all of the
major seams like he'd had pounded into him for the last
week. His probing fingers found a ripped seam up on his
shoulder.
"What the hell? I just checked this suit out from the
quartermaster!" Ranma groused. He grabbed some tape and
sealed to hole quickly. He finished up his check, finding
two more holes, which he also repaired.
"Saotome! Your clear!" another flight technician called out.
Ranma gave him a thumbs up as he latched his helmet down.
The canopy slid down and with a flick of a few switches, he
was launched out, with only one Veritech behind him. "Green
three reporting in!" Ranma called out.
"Where the hell have you been?" Lieutenant Watts snapped
out.
"Someone took my bird, sir! I'm zeroing in on you! ETA is
fifty seconds!"
He really hoped so, as he was in serious trouble. He
frantically manipulated his controls, sending his Veritech
diving and rolling, the three battlepods right behind him.
One of his wings was sheared off, sending him wobbling from
a single blast.
All of a sudden, the three pods exploded as black and red
striped officer Veritech made its presence known. "Are you
all right?"
"Yeah! I'll live, but my birds all shot up." Watts breathed
a sigh of relief. That was too close.
"Don't worry! I'll join up with another wing! You get back
to the ship."
"Don't get your ass... shot... off. My God! Look at him go!"
he exclaimed in surprise.
Ranma was spinning his mecha around like it was a sparrow,
shifting modes almost too fast to follow. He'd already
racked up an immense amount of kills, expecting and getting
120% power from his engines. The battlepods were discovering
to their dismay that the pilot seemed to know where they
were going to fire before they did, causing them to miss.
Its return fire was always deadly accurate.
-
"Commander Breetai!"
"Yes, Exedore. What have you found?" the giant Zentraidi
asked, light gleaming off of his faceplate that covered his
missing eye.
"Sensors are detecting a high level shift in Protoculture
energy!" the smaller, nearly malformed alien studied the
panels in front of him. The two leaders of the attack force
were situated up in the command bubble, overlooking the
bridge of the mighty vessel.
"Are they preparing to fire their main cannon?"
"No, sir. This is coming from a fighter! The energy bands
are twice as energetic as any of the other micronian ships
of that size."
"A single fighter will not make a difference."
Exedore looked up from his screens. "That may not be true,
sir. That one fighter has amassed almost a fifteenth of the
micronian's kills against our forces."
"Impossible!" Breetai surged to his feet. There were dozens
of micronian fighters. "Get that fighter on the screen!" he
demanded, slamming his fist against the console.
In moments, a red and black banded Veritech appeared on the
holo-monitor. It was obvious that the camera was having a
hard time following. The screen suddenly shifted to another
Zentraidi's as his face appeared on the screen.
"Commander! We are prepared to begin the frontline assault!"
the captain ranked officer declared.
"Good hunting!"
"I know you over rode my objections, but this one fighter
worries me. If they can get this sort of performance out of
all of their fighters, they could prove to be a deadly foe."
Exedore's face was beaded with sweat.
"There are no worries in my mind! Captain Jolzai will
capture the super fortress!"
"The micronians are reacting to the threat from the
cruisers!"
"On screen!" Breetai's commands brought forth a view of the
shifting form of the battle fortress. He gasped in shock as
the too-angular ship took on an aspect of a giant techno
knight. "What are they doing?"
"I don't know! This is unprecedented!"
"The micronians are firing their main cannon!" the
disembodied voice called out. "Jozai's forces have been
utterly destroyed."
"Recall all battlepods! We have the information we needed.
Their main cannon does work." Light glinted off his face
plate coldly. "I want something more, Exedore. And soon."
-
Ranma sighed in relief as she guided her ship back into the
maw of the SDF-1's main hanger bay. She touched down
normally, rolling the Veritech up to its bay. She popped the
canopy and shucked her helmet. Who would have thought that
the stale air of the SDF-1 would smell so good? As the
engines idled down, she hopped to the ground.
She noted another pilot headed her way. "Hey! Uriek, right-
toof!" The sudden punch to her jaw caught her totally off
guard, knocking her to the ground.
"You bastard! You sent Victor out to die out there in your
ship!" Uriek screamed out, attracting the attention everyone
in the hanger.
Ranma bounded right back to her feet. "What the hell are you
talking about?" she shouted right back angrily.
"Your bird just shut down without being hit! Adam didn't
even eject before it then blew up!" Three other pilots
grabbed the distraught wingman, holding him back, barely.
"He probably couldn't!"
"You idiot! I didn't even know he took my fighter until I
got to the hanger! How the hell could I have done that?"
Uriek broke free from and lunged at the girl. Ranma was
ready this time, her hand effortlessly snagging his wrists
with frightening strength. A gunshot suddenly stopped the
fight.
"That's enough! Saotome, Beckman, back off! Right now,
you're both under arrest!" Lieutenant Watts snapped out,
lowering his gun to point at the two.
For a few tense seconds, nobody moved. Finally, Ranma
released him. The lieutenant waved them over to the side of
the hanger. He held up his hand forestall everyone following
him. Anger bubbled up within him. How could Ranma cause so
much trouble? His angry glare noted that Ranma was a girl
right then, trying to find fault with that. It almost
bypassed the gray pieces of tape on both shoulders and on
one side of her neck. A cold chill suddenly danced down his
spine.
"Saotome, what's wrong with your suit?"
"Huh? Oh, I found some rips when I did my VISS like you told
me to do..."
"Those sons of a bitches. Those sons of bitches tried to
murder you in cold blood," Watts declared, his face turning
white in shock.
Uriek Beckman snapped a startled glance, noting the same
patches.
"You two are coming with me!" the officer announced, waving
them ahead of him with his gun.
-
"Ryoga Hibiki?" a voice called out from jail cell doorway.
"Yeah?"
"I managed to get you sentenced lightened to community
service. You're damned lucky that the judge was as nice as
he was," the officious looking man said as he led Ryoga out
of his cell. "He said if he ever saw you again, he'd throw
everything he could onto your next sentencing."
The Lost Boy winced, knowing that was likely true. He did
wonder how that had happened. He was halfway down the cell
block when the door opened and two figures were led down
towards them. He was stopped by his lawyer. "We have to wait
for them."
Ryoga grinned as he saw it was Ranma that was being led
towards a cell with another fellow.
"You two will stay here until the murder investigation is
done."
Ryoga started at that. His arch nemesis merely nodded her
head and entered the cell. "That can't be right!" Ryoga
suddenly exclaimed.
"Oh?"
"Ranma's no killer!"
"That's up to the judge."
