Semper Fi
Chapter 1
Comrades
Ranma felt his heart stop. The American tank force continued to retreat from the Chinese tanks.
"W-wait!" Ranma said shakily. He hit the button on his helmet. "Were just leaving him!?"
Phillip's voice came over the line. "There is no way he could have survived Ranma, we'll collect his body after were finished clearing the lines."
Phillip's voice was almost mechanical.
Ranma looked back as the advancing Chinese tanks fired another volley at the retreating tanks. Ryoga's smoldering Piranha III was still sitting in the snow.
"Fuck," Ranma said. He tossed off the tanker's helmet and climbed out of the hatch. He leapt off the M1 Abrams tank and hit the snow. He got to his feet and began running towards the incapacitated tank. The American tanks didn't seem to notice his departure, they kept going.
The snow was thick and it was hard for Ranma to run through it. He was still at least two hundred yards from the Piranha III tank.
For the first time, Ranma noticed that he was nearly running straight at the Chinese tanks. He heard the rattle of a .50 caliber machine gun and the sound of bullets whizzing by. Ranma decided that he would have to get by the Chinese tanks before he could go get Ryoga.
One of the Chinese heavy tanks fired a HEAT round at Ranma. The round exploded harmlessly fifty feet to Ranma's left.
Ranma jumped, rising nearly twenty meters in the air. He landed within ten feet of one of the Chinese halftracks. He had no idea how you were supposed to destroy a tank, so he just decided to take out the tracks on the tank.
Ranma fired a ki blast at the tracks and he was amazed to see that the track snapped in the middle. Ranma jumped before he could be hit by the pieces of metal that had been knocked free from his ki blast.
A Chinese tanker climbed from the now incapacitated Chinese tank and tried to train the .50 caliber machine gun on Ranma as he descended from his jump.
Once Ranma had one foot on the ground he took off at a sprint. But not away from the Chinese soldier, he went straight for him.
The tanker was able to fire two rounds before Ranma had kicked him twenty feet clear of the hatch.
Ranma, still in the air after his kick, twisted and fired another ki blast at the long tube of the Chinese tank. It impacted the tube and bent the steel just slightly to the right.
One of the Chinese tankers inside didn't notice that and loaded a Canister round into the turret and fired.
The Canister round traveled about halfway up the tube before it reached the bent steel. The sudden stoppage caused the round to detonate.
A Canister round is filled with tiny ball bearings, literally thousands of them, and they are designed to be shot out in as many different directions as possible.
When the Canister round detonated, it sent shrapnel flying backwards into the Chinese tank. The shrapnel ripped through the tough metal that the halftrack was made of and killed all the troops inside.
Ranma, seeing that he had stopped the last two tanks, turned and started running towards Ryoga's tank.
He was within twenty feet of the tank when he first noted the smell of burning human flesh. Before his body could react, Ranma steeled himself and charged the last twenty feet.
The heat was intense, but Ranma was moving on pure adrenaline. He punched a fist through the outer hull of the Piranha III and tore down, ripping the metal down and also creating a hole from which he could crawl through. Smoke and fire began pouring out through the hole. Ranma saw this and decided on a better option. He ran to the back of the tank and hit the quick-release switch and pulled down on the escape latch. The back of the Piranha III opened, and the fire and smoke immediately began seeping out the door.
Ranma went back to the hole he had created and crawled inside. He burned his hands and arms as he came through the hole.
The smoke was thick and dense, making it nearly impossible to see. Ranma tried standing up but he couldn't breath, he dropped down onto his stomach and began sliding along the floor of the tank. He relied on his touch as he maneuvered through the tank. After about a minute he touched a boot. He opened his eyes a little and could make out a body in the dense smoke.
Ranma wasn't sure who it was but he knew that he was about to pass out. He grabbed the body in his arms and got to his feet. He sprinted out the emergency access door, flames licking his body.
He collapsed on the snow outside and began coughing violently. Ranma's eyes burned and his hands were becoming numb.
Once he was sure he had himself under control, Ranma tilted his head and looked at the body he had just pulled out.
It was Ryoga.
Tears formed in his eyes as he began to crawl over to where Ryoga's body lay. Ryoga wasn't moving and Ranma could not see any rise and fall of his chest.
He placed a shaky hand on Ryoga's neck and held his breath.
There was no pulse.
Ranma began sobbing as he quickly got to his knees and began applying CPR to Ryoga. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he pushed down on Ryoga's chest. Ranma opened his mouth and gave Ryoga three breaths and watched his chest. It rose and fell, that was good. Ranma checked his pulse again but still got nothing. He began pushing down on Ryoga's chest again and gave him another three breaths.
Ryoga started coughing and suddenly threw up. Ranma quickly turned him on his side, less Ryoga choke on his vomit. Once Ranma was sure he had stopped, he slowly let Ryoga go onto his back.
Ranma wiped the tears from his face as he smiled at Ryoga.
"Christ, am I dead?" Ryoga asked, his eyes still closed.
Ranma laughed once. He slowly put a hand to Ryoga's face. Ryoga's eyes slowly opened and he looked at Ranma.
"What are you crying about?" Ryoga asked.
Ranma smiled at him and quickly bent down and kissed Ryoga on the cheek. Ryoga seemed neither surprised nor irritated by Ranma's actions.
"I take it that I have once again escaped death," Ryoga said, smiling. There were burn marks all over his face, and his eyebrows had been scorched.
"Actually you did have a little bit of help this time," Ranma said. "I pulled you out of the tank."
Ryoga looked at Ranma for a second. Then his featured became grim.
Ranma noticed that Ryoga was now looking behind him. He turned his head.
Several Chinese soldiers were approaching them, guns held out facing both of them.
"Shit," Ranma cursed. He turned and looked at Ryoga. "Looks like were in some big trouble now buddy."
Ryoga smiled for a moment. "You better take off Ranma, go tell Phillip what happened."
"Go to hell," Ranma said slowly. "I just risked my neck pulling your ass out of that tank and I'm not going to let you get carried off by the Chinese while you're still injured."
Ryoga was about to reply but stopped when he noticed the Chinese were very close.
"Do not move," one of the soldiers said in badly accented English.
===============
"Well where the fuck did he go!?" Parker demanded furiously.
The lieutenant, the one that had been driving the M1 that Ranma had occupied, turned white faced.
"I-I don't know sir," he replied. "I didn't even hear him leave."
Parker looked at the lieutenant for a moment with a look of cold fury on his face. He collected his helmet off the ground and climbed up the side of his M1 Abrams tank. He went down through the hatch and started the ballast tanks. The tank roared to live.
Colonel Parker ran the engines for a moment before pulling off back down the long trail that had served in stopping the advancing Chinese tanks. He didn't allow himself to think while he drove the tank through the snow ridden trail.
After ten minutes he came up to the area where they had first encountered the Chinese tanks. He checked the area carefully before finally stopping twenty feet from the wreckage of the Piranha III tank.
Parker climbed out of the tank and walked over to the Piranha III. He noticed the mark where the Chinese round must have hit it. He walked alongside it for a moment before noticing that there was another large hole in the hull of the tank. Taking a closer look, Parker could see the tracks of someone that led right up to the large hole. Someone had ripped the metal clear off the tank.
A round fired from a tank that had enough explosive power to rip craters in the earth could not pierce the heavy armor of a M1 Abrams tank.
If Parker had not known either Ranma or Ryoga, he would have to conclude that he had no idea what happened.
Ranma had very obviously ripped the hole through the M1's hull to try and rescue Ryoga. Parker walked around the tank and saw that someone had hit the emergency escape door and opened it. He could see tracks and followed them to a small bank where it looked like two bodies had been dumped. There was blood by where one of the bodies had been dumped.
He watched and saw that there were several other tracks that led up to this point. The footwear that had made the other marks was most definitely from a tanker.
Ranma and Ryoga had been taken by the Chinese.
===============
Parker returned to the 82nd Heavy Tank Battalion's base later that evening. He had attempted to locate the Chinese Tank Battalion but he had been unable to locate any sign of them.
On arriving, he ordered all officers and enlisted men to report outside his tent.
The troops gathered in front of Colonel Parker's tent, shivering as the cold wind nipped at them.
Parker exited his tent with a grim expression on his face. He took a moment to look into the faces of each man.
"Listen," he began, "I know that we took a beating today and your all tired, but I have to ask you if you will partake in one more mission."
The men didn't react.
"I'm sure you have all heard about the disappearance of Captain Ranma Saotome and Warrant Officer Ryoga Hibiki. I have just discovered that they have been captured by the Chinese. I gave the area an once-over, but I was unable to locate the Chinese forces. Now, I want all of you to understand that this is simply a volunteer mission, and that this is not authorized by command."
"I must now ask that all men who wish not to volunteer for this mission to please return to whatever they were doing previous to my orders."
Not a man moved.
Colonel Parker waited until he was sure that the lump in his throat had gone away before he spoke.
"You all can't go of course," he said. "You all can pitch your cases to the Duty Officer. I will not hear any objections about wanting to go from any soldier that wishes to go and has not been allowed."
Parker looked at the troops once more before going back into his tent.
===============
Akari left school early that day, her mind clearly not being devoted to school, and arrived at the Tendo Dojo just as the mail had been delivered.
"Ah," Soun said when he saw Akari coming up the front walk. "Hello dear, what brings you here?"
That was when Akari realized that she had not even thought about where she had been heading. Instead of going to the house that she and the others shared, she had headed straight for the Tendo Dojo.
"Oh, I was just feeling a little lonely," Akari said. She smiled at Soun and followed him into the house.
"I'll go tell Kasumi get some tea," he said and ducked into the kitchen.
Akari walked further down the hall and into the living room. She was a little surprised to see Dr. Tofu seated at the table.
"Hello Akari," he greeted. "Is school out already?"
"No," Akari said. "I just didn't have my mind on my studies, so I decided to go for a walk."
"And just wound up here?" Tofu asked with a smile.
Akari nodded and sat down, facing him.
"Actually," she said, "Now that I think about it, I remember that there was something I wanted to ask you."
"Oh?" Tofu asked.
"Um, I have been throwing up for the past two days, and I'm quite sure that I haven't caught any kind of virus or anything."
Tofu didn't reply, he just stared at her intently for a moment.
"Do you think that something is wrong?" Akari asked.
"Akari," Tofu began, "I'm going to have to ask you some very personal questions." He didn't wait for her to reply. "Have you and Ryoga had sex?"
Akari blushed and averted her eyes from Tofu's. She nodded.
"For about how long?"
"A month," Akari said. "We first did it while we were in China."
"Hmm," Tofu said, doing the math in his head. He seemed to reach a conclusion and looked at Akari. "I think I would like to have you come with me to my clinic so I can run a few tests."
"Y-you don't think I'm pregnant do you?" Akari asked, shocked.
"I'm not sure but I will have to be sure," Tofu replied and got to his feet. He offered his hand and helped Akari to her feet.
===============
Akari was uncomfortable inside of Tofu's clinic. She had been there before, but never under these circumstances.
Once Tofu had collected her urine sample, he had handed her some pamphlets that described what would happen to her if she was indeed pregnant.
Akari quickly decided that she couldn't be pregnant. She and Ryoga had only done it a few times. Surely the gods wouldn't be so cruel and make her pregnant before she had even graduated from high school.
Akari idly wondered what Ryoga would think when he came back, if he came back.
Akari had known that he, Ranma, and Ishii had gone to China with Phillip's troops, and there was a very real chance that Ryoga would be killed or wounded while he was over there.
But what really bothered Akari was the sudden chill she had experienced the other day in the kitchen. She had literally felt as if someone had called her name, but not out loud. And the way it felt like her name had been called was if it had been in agony.
Dr. Tofu entered the room before she could divulge any more into that train of thought.
Oh my god, Akari thought, he looks sad.
Tofu set a folder on the table that separated them and sat down in a chair opposite Akari.
"Okay, first things first, I want to tell you that your test came back positive," Tofu said.
One part of Akari's mind told her that couldn't be true, while the other part told her it was.
Tofu went on.
"Now, I want to explain some things to you. Teenage pregnancies are more common than you think. Many girls that do become pregnant before they graduate do end up graduating."
"But what will people think?" Akari asked quietly. The thought of going to school, without having Ryoga by her side and having people think of her as some kind of slut was terrifying.
"That is something that you will have to deal with," Tofu said, not unkindly. "There will always be people that will look to try and make people's lives miserable by criticizing them, all you can do is go out there every day and hold your head up high."
"How far am I into the pregnancy?" Akari asked.
"About four weeks," Tofu replied. He saw the surprised look on Akari's face. "What's wrong?"
"If I'm four weeks in, then that means I became pregnant the first time we did it," Akari said.
Tofu smiled. "Well, that does happen sometimes, though I must admit that it doesn't happen very often."
Akari put her head into her hands. She started to cry softly. Tofu got up from his chair and walked around the table.
"What's wrong?"
"Ryoga's in China and I miss him so much and now I have to deal with this," Akari sobbed. "I just miss him so much."
Tofu bent down and wrapped his arms around Akari and hugged her.
"He'll be okay," Tofu whispered softly into her ear. "Your not going to have to face this alone, were all going to help you through this."
===============
Ranma watched scornfully, as two Chinese tankers pushed Ryoga roughly to the ground.
"Leave him alone!" he shouted when one of the tankers raised his foot to kick Ryoga in the ribs.
His outcry earned him a savage hit to the head, delivered by the butt of a rifle belonging to one of the Chinese infantrymen.
Once they had been captured, Ranma and Ryoga had received a beating. Several of the Chinese tankers were more than happy to show just how they felt about one of the enemy's troops that had been killing their comrades.
Ranma was very worried about Ryoga. He was still injured from the fire in the Piranha III and the beating the Chinese had given him had only served to aggravate his injuries. He hadn't even talked to Ranma, the only communication he had done was to grunt with pain whenever their Chinese captors expressed their displeasure over how Ryoga was walking.
The tankers had turned the two of them over to the Chinese infantry platoon that had been running with the tankers. The two platoons were now heading down from Shanghai and back down to the coast, where they would try and ambush any Allied troops that try and land.
The infantrymen decided to take a break and tossed Ryoga over by where Ranma was sitting.
"You alright man?" Ranma asked, carefully checking the wounds to Ryoga's body.
Ryoga slowly turned over and looked at Ranma. "Christ Ranma, just run and leave me behind."
Ranma shook his head. "I already told you Ryoga, I'm not leaving you behind. And I'm definitely not going to leave unless we leave together."
Ryoga lay back down on his side. His breathing was low and wheezing, and he began coughing.
Ranma watched worriedly as Ryoga coughed up blood and spit it out beside him. Ryoga slowly drifted into unconsciousness. Ranma knelt, once again removing the binds that the Chinese infantrymen had put on his wrists. He very carefully lifted Ryoga's shirt and began slowly checking over his body.
Ranma could feel tightness in his own chest when he felt Ryoga's broken ribs. He sat back down and slowly started crying. If he was going to escape from his captures, he would need to carry Ryoga, and that would reduce their chances of escape to nearly zero.
Ranma stopped the idea that maybe Phillip would send some troops to try and rescue them. It would be too much to hope for, Phillip coming to rescue them.
He didn't stop the tears as they flowed from his eyes, and laid down beside Ryoga, very tenderly wrapping his arm around the unconscious boy.
===============
Phillip walked through the snow over to the WASP. He knocked twice on the side of it and waited until one of the lieutenants inside climbed out the hatch.
"Were moving out in five minutes, you guys will be leading the column by five minutes so you're going to have to head out now. Remember where we designated the link-up point and meet us their in two hours. Report any enemy forces you encounter."
The lieutenant saluted, a very casual salute and climbed back into the WASP.
Parker walked back to his M1 Abrams. Ishii was waiting for him.
"We'll be moving out soon," Parker told him. He saw the dismayed expression on Ishii's face. "Do you have a problem? Try and remember that if it wasn't for you those two would never have been captured!"
Ishii shot Parker an angry look.
"I am angry about how it is my fault for those two being captured. I can't simply brush it off as something that was decided by fate, it's my fault."
Parker looked at Ishii for a moment before deciding that he was serious.
"Come on, let's get going."
===============
Author's Notes: Well, silly me, I forgot that my wife also wrote the first few chapters of the Semper Fi volume. My apologies to her and my thanks go to her for her continued support in helping me with this story.
Someone wrote me an e-mail asking me why I am letting the relationship between Ishii and Phillip go sour. I am not doing that, I am merely showing how the two are very stressed out from the combat they have been facing and the great amount of physical pressure they have been facing.
Thanks to everyone that has read this far and a special thanks to everyone that has written a review.
Ranma felt his heart stop. The American tank force continued to retreat from the Chinese tanks.
"W-wait!" Ranma said shakily. He hit the button on his helmet. "Were just leaving him!?"
Phillip's voice came over the line. "There is no way he could have survived Ranma, we'll collect his body after were finished clearing the lines."
Phillip's voice was almost mechanical.
Ranma looked back as the advancing Chinese tanks fired another volley at the retreating tanks. Ryoga's smoldering Piranha III was still sitting in the snow.
"Fuck," Ranma said. He tossed off the tanker's helmet and climbed out of the hatch. He leapt off the M1 Abrams tank and hit the snow. He got to his feet and began running towards the incapacitated tank. The American tanks didn't seem to notice his departure, they kept going.
The snow was thick and it was hard for Ranma to run through it. He was still at least two hundred yards from the Piranha III tank.
For the first time, Ranma noticed that he was nearly running straight at the Chinese tanks. He heard the rattle of a .50 caliber machine gun and the sound of bullets whizzing by. Ranma decided that he would have to get by the Chinese tanks before he could go get Ryoga.
One of the Chinese heavy tanks fired a HEAT round at Ranma. The round exploded harmlessly fifty feet to Ranma's left.
Ranma jumped, rising nearly twenty meters in the air. He landed within ten feet of one of the Chinese halftracks. He had no idea how you were supposed to destroy a tank, so he just decided to take out the tracks on the tank.
Ranma fired a ki blast at the tracks and he was amazed to see that the track snapped in the middle. Ranma jumped before he could be hit by the pieces of metal that had been knocked free from his ki blast.
A Chinese tanker climbed from the now incapacitated Chinese tank and tried to train the .50 caliber machine gun on Ranma as he descended from his jump.
Once Ranma had one foot on the ground he took off at a sprint. But not away from the Chinese soldier, he went straight for him.
The tanker was able to fire two rounds before Ranma had kicked him twenty feet clear of the hatch.
Ranma, still in the air after his kick, twisted and fired another ki blast at the long tube of the Chinese tank. It impacted the tube and bent the steel just slightly to the right.
One of the Chinese tankers inside didn't notice that and loaded a Canister round into the turret and fired.
The Canister round traveled about halfway up the tube before it reached the bent steel. The sudden stoppage caused the round to detonate.
A Canister round is filled with tiny ball bearings, literally thousands of them, and they are designed to be shot out in as many different directions as possible.
When the Canister round detonated, it sent shrapnel flying backwards into the Chinese tank. The shrapnel ripped through the tough metal that the halftrack was made of and killed all the troops inside.
Ranma, seeing that he had stopped the last two tanks, turned and started running towards Ryoga's tank.
He was within twenty feet of the tank when he first noted the smell of burning human flesh. Before his body could react, Ranma steeled himself and charged the last twenty feet.
The heat was intense, but Ranma was moving on pure adrenaline. He punched a fist through the outer hull of the Piranha III and tore down, ripping the metal down and also creating a hole from which he could crawl through. Smoke and fire began pouring out through the hole. Ranma saw this and decided on a better option. He ran to the back of the tank and hit the quick-release switch and pulled down on the escape latch. The back of the Piranha III opened, and the fire and smoke immediately began seeping out the door.
Ranma went back to the hole he had created and crawled inside. He burned his hands and arms as he came through the hole.
The smoke was thick and dense, making it nearly impossible to see. Ranma tried standing up but he couldn't breath, he dropped down onto his stomach and began sliding along the floor of the tank. He relied on his touch as he maneuvered through the tank. After about a minute he touched a boot. He opened his eyes a little and could make out a body in the dense smoke.
Ranma wasn't sure who it was but he knew that he was about to pass out. He grabbed the body in his arms and got to his feet. He sprinted out the emergency access door, flames licking his body.
He collapsed on the snow outside and began coughing violently. Ranma's eyes burned and his hands were becoming numb.
Once he was sure he had himself under control, Ranma tilted his head and looked at the body he had just pulled out.
It was Ryoga.
Tears formed in his eyes as he began to crawl over to where Ryoga's body lay. Ryoga wasn't moving and Ranma could not see any rise and fall of his chest.
He placed a shaky hand on Ryoga's neck and held his breath.
There was no pulse.
Ranma began sobbing as he quickly got to his knees and began applying CPR to Ryoga. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he pushed down on Ryoga's chest. Ranma opened his mouth and gave Ryoga three breaths and watched his chest. It rose and fell, that was good. Ranma checked his pulse again but still got nothing. He began pushing down on Ryoga's chest again and gave him another three breaths.
Ryoga started coughing and suddenly threw up. Ranma quickly turned him on his side, less Ryoga choke on his vomit. Once Ranma was sure he had stopped, he slowly let Ryoga go onto his back.
Ranma wiped the tears from his face as he smiled at Ryoga.
"Christ, am I dead?" Ryoga asked, his eyes still closed.
Ranma laughed once. He slowly put a hand to Ryoga's face. Ryoga's eyes slowly opened and he looked at Ranma.
"What are you crying about?" Ryoga asked.
Ranma smiled at him and quickly bent down and kissed Ryoga on the cheek. Ryoga seemed neither surprised nor irritated by Ranma's actions.
"I take it that I have once again escaped death," Ryoga said, smiling. There were burn marks all over his face, and his eyebrows had been scorched.
"Actually you did have a little bit of help this time," Ranma said. "I pulled you out of the tank."
Ryoga looked at Ranma for a second. Then his featured became grim.
Ranma noticed that Ryoga was now looking behind him. He turned his head.
Several Chinese soldiers were approaching them, guns held out facing both of them.
"Shit," Ranma cursed. He turned and looked at Ryoga. "Looks like were in some big trouble now buddy."
Ryoga smiled for a moment. "You better take off Ranma, go tell Phillip what happened."
"Go to hell," Ranma said slowly. "I just risked my neck pulling your ass out of that tank and I'm not going to let you get carried off by the Chinese while you're still injured."
Ryoga was about to reply but stopped when he noticed the Chinese were very close.
"Do not move," one of the soldiers said in badly accented English.
===============
"Well where the fuck did he go!?" Parker demanded furiously.
The lieutenant, the one that had been driving the M1 that Ranma had occupied, turned white faced.
"I-I don't know sir," he replied. "I didn't even hear him leave."
Parker looked at the lieutenant for a moment with a look of cold fury on his face. He collected his helmet off the ground and climbed up the side of his M1 Abrams tank. He went down through the hatch and started the ballast tanks. The tank roared to live.
Colonel Parker ran the engines for a moment before pulling off back down the long trail that had served in stopping the advancing Chinese tanks. He didn't allow himself to think while he drove the tank through the snow ridden trail.
After ten minutes he came up to the area where they had first encountered the Chinese tanks. He checked the area carefully before finally stopping twenty feet from the wreckage of the Piranha III tank.
Parker climbed out of the tank and walked over to the Piranha III. He noticed the mark where the Chinese round must have hit it. He walked alongside it for a moment before noticing that there was another large hole in the hull of the tank. Taking a closer look, Parker could see the tracks of someone that led right up to the large hole. Someone had ripped the metal clear off the tank.
A round fired from a tank that had enough explosive power to rip craters in the earth could not pierce the heavy armor of a M1 Abrams tank.
If Parker had not known either Ranma or Ryoga, he would have to conclude that he had no idea what happened.
Ranma had very obviously ripped the hole through the M1's hull to try and rescue Ryoga. Parker walked around the tank and saw that someone had hit the emergency escape door and opened it. He could see tracks and followed them to a small bank where it looked like two bodies had been dumped. There was blood by where one of the bodies had been dumped.
He watched and saw that there were several other tracks that led up to this point. The footwear that had made the other marks was most definitely from a tanker.
Ranma and Ryoga had been taken by the Chinese.
===============
Parker returned to the 82nd Heavy Tank Battalion's base later that evening. He had attempted to locate the Chinese Tank Battalion but he had been unable to locate any sign of them.
On arriving, he ordered all officers and enlisted men to report outside his tent.
The troops gathered in front of Colonel Parker's tent, shivering as the cold wind nipped at them.
Parker exited his tent with a grim expression on his face. He took a moment to look into the faces of each man.
"Listen," he began, "I know that we took a beating today and your all tired, but I have to ask you if you will partake in one more mission."
The men didn't react.
"I'm sure you have all heard about the disappearance of Captain Ranma Saotome and Warrant Officer Ryoga Hibiki. I have just discovered that they have been captured by the Chinese. I gave the area an once-over, but I was unable to locate the Chinese forces. Now, I want all of you to understand that this is simply a volunteer mission, and that this is not authorized by command."
"I must now ask that all men who wish not to volunteer for this mission to please return to whatever they were doing previous to my orders."
Not a man moved.
Colonel Parker waited until he was sure that the lump in his throat had gone away before he spoke.
"You all can't go of course," he said. "You all can pitch your cases to the Duty Officer. I will not hear any objections about wanting to go from any soldier that wishes to go and has not been allowed."
Parker looked at the troops once more before going back into his tent.
===============
Akari left school early that day, her mind clearly not being devoted to school, and arrived at the Tendo Dojo just as the mail had been delivered.
"Ah," Soun said when he saw Akari coming up the front walk. "Hello dear, what brings you here?"
That was when Akari realized that she had not even thought about where she had been heading. Instead of going to the house that she and the others shared, she had headed straight for the Tendo Dojo.
"Oh, I was just feeling a little lonely," Akari said. She smiled at Soun and followed him into the house.
"I'll go tell Kasumi get some tea," he said and ducked into the kitchen.
Akari walked further down the hall and into the living room. She was a little surprised to see Dr. Tofu seated at the table.
"Hello Akari," he greeted. "Is school out already?"
"No," Akari said. "I just didn't have my mind on my studies, so I decided to go for a walk."
"And just wound up here?" Tofu asked with a smile.
Akari nodded and sat down, facing him.
"Actually," she said, "Now that I think about it, I remember that there was something I wanted to ask you."
"Oh?" Tofu asked.
"Um, I have been throwing up for the past two days, and I'm quite sure that I haven't caught any kind of virus or anything."
Tofu didn't reply, he just stared at her intently for a moment.
"Do you think that something is wrong?" Akari asked.
"Akari," Tofu began, "I'm going to have to ask you some very personal questions." He didn't wait for her to reply. "Have you and Ryoga had sex?"
Akari blushed and averted her eyes from Tofu's. She nodded.
"For about how long?"
"A month," Akari said. "We first did it while we were in China."
"Hmm," Tofu said, doing the math in his head. He seemed to reach a conclusion and looked at Akari. "I think I would like to have you come with me to my clinic so I can run a few tests."
"Y-you don't think I'm pregnant do you?" Akari asked, shocked.
"I'm not sure but I will have to be sure," Tofu replied and got to his feet. He offered his hand and helped Akari to her feet.
===============
Akari was uncomfortable inside of Tofu's clinic. She had been there before, but never under these circumstances.
Once Tofu had collected her urine sample, he had handed her some pamphlets that described what would happen to her if she was indeed pregnant.
Akari quickly decided that she couldn't be pregnant. She and Ryoga had only done it a few times. Surely the gods wouldn't be so cruel and make her pregnant before she had even graduated from high school.
Akari idly wondered what Ryoga would think when he came back, if he came back.
Akari had known that he, Ranma, and Ishii had gone to China with Phillip's troops, and there was a very real chance that Ryoga would be killed or wounded while he was over there.
But what really bothered Akari was the sudden chill she had experienced the other day in the kitchen. She had literally felt as if someone had called her name, but not out loud. And the way it felt like her name had been called was if it had been in agony.
Dr. Tofu entered the room before she could divulge any more into that train of thought.
Oh my god, Akari thought, he looks sad.
Tofu set a folder on the table that separated them and sat down in a chair opposite Akari.
"Okay, first things first, I want to tell you that your test came back positive," Tofu said.
One part of Akari's mind told her that couldn't be true, while the other part told her it was.
Tofu went on.
"Now, I want to explain some things to you. Teenage pregnancies are more common than you think. Many girls that do become pregnant before they graduate do end up graduating."
"But what will people think?" Akari asked quietly. The thought of going to school, without having Ryoga by her side and having people think of her as some kind of slut was terrifying.
"That is something that you will have to deal with," Tofu said, not unkindly. "There will always be people that will look to try and make people's lives miserable by criticizing them, all you can do is go out there every day and hold your head up high."
"How far am I into the pregnancy?" Akari asked.
"About four weeks," Tofu replied. He saw the surprised look on Akari's face. "What's wrong?"
"If I'm four weeks in, then that means I became pregnant the first time we did it," Akari said.
Tofu smiled. "Well, that does happen sometimes, though I must admit that it doesn't happen very often."
Akari put her head into her hands. She started to cry softly. Tofu got up from his chair and walked around the table.
"What's wrong?"
"Ryoga's in China and I miss him so much and now I have to deal with this," Akari sobbed. "I just miss him so much."
Tofu bent down and wrapped his arms around Akari and hugged her.
"He'll be okay," Tofu whispered softly into her ear. "Your not going to have to face this alone, were all going to help you through this."
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Ranma watched scornfully, as two Chinese tankers pushed Ryoga roughly to the ground.
"Leave him alone!" he shouted when one of the tankers raised his foot to kick Ryoga in the ribs.
His outcry earned him a savage hit to the head, delivered by the butt of a rifle belonging to one of the Chinese infantrymen.
Once they had been captured, Ranma and Ryoga had received a beating. Several of the Chinese tankers were more than happy to show just how they felt about one of the enemy's troops that had been killing their comrades.
Ranma was very worried about Ryoga. He was still injured from the fire in the Piranha III and the beating the Chinese had given him had only served to aggravate his injuries. He hadn't even talked to Ranma, the only communication he had done was to grunt with pain whenever their Chinese captors expressed their displeasure over how Ryoga was walking.
The tankers had turned the two of them over to the Chinese infantry platoon that had been running with the tankers. The two platoons were now heading down from Shanghai and back down to the coast, where they would try and ambush any Allied troops that try and land.
The infantrymen decided to take a break and tossed Ryoga over by where Ranma was sitting.
"You alright man?" Ranma asked, carefully checking the wounds to Ryoga's body.
Ryoga slowly turned over and looked at Ranma. "Christ Ranma, just run and leave me behind."
Ranma shook his head. "I already told you Ryoga, I'm not leaving you behind. And I'm definitely not going to leave unless we leave together."
Ryoga lay back down on his side. His breathing was low and wheezing, and he began coughing.
Ranma watched worriedly as Ryoga coughed up blood and spit it out beside him. Ryoga slowly drifted into unconsciousness. Ranma knelt, once again removing the binds that the Chinese infantrymen had put on his wrists. He very carefully lifted Ryoga's shirt and began slowly checking over his body.
Ranma could feel tightness in his own chest when he felt Ryoga's broken ribs. He sat back down and slowly started crying. If he was going to escape from his captures, he would need to carry Ryoga, and that would reduce their chances of escape to nearly zero.
Ranma stopped the idea that maybe Phillip would send some troops to try and rescue them. It would be too much to hope for, Phillip coming to rescue them.
He didn't stop the tears as they flowed from his eyes, and laid down beside Ryoga, very tenderly wrapping his arm around the unconscious boy.
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Phillip walked through the snow over to the WASP. He knocked twice on the side of it and waited until one of the lieutenants inside climbed out the hatch.
"Were moving out in five minutes, you guys will be leading the column by five minutes so you're going to have to head out now. Remember where we designated the link-up point and meet us their in two hours. Report any enemy forces you encounter."
The lieutenant saluted, a very casual salute and climbed back into the WASP.
Parker walked back to his M1 Abrams. Ishii was waiting for him.
"We'll be moving out soon," Parker told him. He saw the dismayed expression on Ishii's face. "Do you have a problem? Try and remember that if it wasn't for you those two would never have been captured!"
Ishii shot Parker an angry look.
"I am angry about how it is my fault for those two being captured. I can't simply brush it off as something that was decided by fate, it's my fault."
Parker looked at Ishii for a moment before deciding that he was serious.
"Come on, let's get going."
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Author's Notes: Well, silly me, I forgot that my wife also wrote the first few chapters of the Semper Fi volume. My apologies to her and my thanks go to her for her continued support in helping me with this story.
Someone wrote me an e-mail asking me why I am letting the relationship between Ishii and Phillip go sour. I am not doing that, I am merely showing how the two are very stressed out from the combat they have been facing and the great amount of physical pressure they have been facing.
Thanks to everyone that has read this far and a special thanks to everyone that has written a review.