Supernova

by Black Dragon6

Discontinued

7. A Night on the Moon

Supernova

Chapter 7

by Black Dragon

revcoll@peoplepc.com

http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/fanficlair/index.html

Standard disclaimer applies. I can't be held responsible for the sick things my mind creates. Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. The rest of the stuff I use, well............ George! This is all your fault!!

On a slightly different note, this is the only chapter that will feature the Tendos.



Chapter 7

A Night on the Moon

*************************************************************************** *******



"Ahem! May I have your attention please?" Nobody bothered to point out that Arak already had their attention, and that everybody present was just waiting for him to shut up and start the presentation he claimed he had been working on for the last two hours.

'Everyone' being Ranma, Rayden, Yuri, and of course the Wild Horse's friendly neighborhood supercomputer, Rac.

Right now they were in hyperspace, heading toward a very discreet location. Yuri had asked Ranma repeatedly where their destination was, but he had refused to disclose any information about it.

Arak's eyes swept the room from side to side, and then he turned around and snapped his fingers. One of Rac's drones floated up, and a holographic projection sprouted from its single lens to take form on the podium. There was a three dimensional holographic model of every alien ship they had encountered.

A second drone floated up to the podium, and emitted a second hologram. This one showed a model of both of the types of aliens encountered.



Arak pointed toward the hologram of the aliens. "This is the antagonist of the Morcan III invasion. I've held these creatures against the profiles of every known species in the galaxy. There's only one species that came even close to matching them, and even that one died out several centuries ago due to a plague that corrupted their unique biology."

Ranma rubbed his chin. "Well, isn't it possible that some of this race survived and evolved some? What is the race, anyway?"

"The race was the Trilarians. There's actually very little known about them, and what's there is mostly just facts of historical importance. They had a physiology that heavily resembles that of these organisms. And while it is possible that a group survived, I'm loathe to accept that so easily. There's no record of the Trilarians using ships like the ones we encountered, and there's no record of their language, so I can't compare those runes Shikodan found with their own alphabet."

"Well, tell us about the ships, then." Rayden spoke up, then leaned back in his chair.

Arak nodded, and then the hologram with the aliens' bodies disappeared to be replaced by a top view of the galaxy, a swirling mass of stars surrounding a single point.



"As you all know, there are four primary sectors of the galaxy where technology class is concerned."

At that statement, four areas of the screen lit up. There was one big square in the middle, a large rectangle surrounding that square and much of the area around it, and two smaller squares on different edges of the picture.

Arak pointed to the big square. "This cluster of stars make up the core worlds. These planets all have very advanced technology, and utilize it commonly in mass and large-scale production. Ships and technologies are heavily standardized, which leads to weaker overall ships, though they're fairly cheap and well-maintained."

The large rectangle that encompassed the square lit up. "All the other planets, save those in the third and fourth areas, make up the rim worlds. These areas generally have weaker technology than the core, though they have certain weapons and technologies that are either too expensive for heavy production or are outlawed. Rim ships tend to be stronger on an individual basis than core ships due to specialization, but there are very few fleets due to the expense. Parts are often customized, which makes repair and replacement more difficult, and maintanence is usually quick and shabby."

Arak pointed to the larger of the remaining two areas. "This is the Jurian Empire. Their technology is the closest thing to having biological ships like we saw at Morcan. Very little is known about their technology, though it is known that much of it functions as a direct extension of the Jurians' own powers. It is rumored that their ships are made of trees, or some such nonsense as that."

He ignored the many quizzical looks he got as he pointed to the last square. "This is the Oni Empire. Again, very little is known about Oni technology, as their machines function on a totally different basis than ours. Technology from any one of the planets within their borders has a general reputation of being unreliable and in defiance of most physical laws. As such, there has never been a human scientist that has been able to duplicate their work, though there have been very few that have ever wanted to."

Arak turned toward his audience. "The ships we saw today worked on a totally different level than anything we've ever seen before. I've gone over the data, and I'm now completely certain that the ships are in fact giant organisms that have adapted to travel through space, and have even somehow managed to access hyperspace. I've never seen anything like it. What puzzles me the most is how the creatures behave. Why did they go and attack Morcan? Why did they collaborate? What is the relationship between the different vessel classes? What's the relationship between the smaller aliens and the living ships? Do they control the ships? Do the ships have minds of their own?"

"I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say you don't know the answer to any of these questions, and don't have enough information to find out." Ranma stated flatly.

Arak nodded professionaly, unashamed. "Naturally. Though I ran the genetic model of the individual aliens from some blood that got on Shikodan's boot against that of the big ship, which I got from the gunk at the crater that Rac collected. I was very surprised to find only a 2% genetic difference in their DNA code."

Ranma blinked, turning that fact over in his mind. Rayden frowned at the socks adorning his feet, having figured out what happened to his boots.

Yuri, who had actually taken some lessons in biology, gasped. "I can't believe it! They're 98% the same?"

Arak nodded. "I was surprised too. And even then, almost all the gene difference is directly related to the physical differences between the two organisms."

Ranma and Rayden shared a glance, totally lost. Both of them had lots of knowledge in technical fields, but as far as their biological knowledge went, between them they could just barely tell you what DNA was.

"Anyway, I'm running their genetic profile through Rac even as we speak, so after a while I'll have their genome decoded and I can tell you a little more about their biology."

Ranma nodded, still confused, but still satisfied. "Uh, yeah... you take care of that."

Arak rolled his eyes, and wandered away from the bridge, muttering about how underappreciated he was.



Glancing around slightly, Ranma's eyes eventually settled on Yuri. The girl was a problem. On one hand, nobody really minded having her along, and she didn't get in the way of their operations. On the other hand, she was still an innocent, and the last thing he wanted was to drag some girl halfway across the galaxy with him while he commited misdeeds of every sort. She had a life and a family to get back to.



Yuri had long since noticed his gaze and had been blushing deeper and deeper as he watched her. "What?" She had meant to lash out at him, as sort of a warning not to have any perverted thoughts, but it came out as more of a soft inquisition.

Ranma sighed and looked down. "We need to get you out of here and to someplace safe as soon as possible. Unfortunately, with the ship as banged up as it is, we're going to have to make a stop first. Besides that, we don't know where to take you. Do you know of any other places we can drop you off, any other family, or good friends?"

Yuri lowered her head. "No... I'm sorry......"

Ranma blinked, then patted her head. "No need to be sorry. This mess isn't your fault."

"Actually, it is, since she............" Rayden was quickly cut off by Ranma's warning glare. Yuri's head dipped a little lower.

Ranma returned his gaze to her and gently pushed her head up by her chin.

"Hey, don't you worry. Nothing's gonna happen to you until you're safe back with your father." Ranma got up to leave, when she suddenly spoke up behind him.

"He's not really my father. I was adopted. My real parents died in a fire." Yuri's face was completely neutral, as she tried to figure out what had possessed her to tell him that. "Kind of ironic, really. That's how I almost went........."

She looked up, and was surprised to see a play of emotions cross Ranma's face as he stared down the empty hallway. Pain, the kind of pain one feels when remembering an important loss in their life, and was that...... regret?

Ranma stood still a few moments more, his mind elsewhere.

"I'm sorry to hear that." It was said without compassion or empathy, yet still lacked malice or sarcasm. Ranma stepped forward, and soon disappeared into the hallway.



Rayden looked at her impassively, then sighed and put his feet up on a table.

Yuri glanced at him. "Did I say something wrong?"

He shrugged. "Not really. Just gave him some bad memories. Not your fault. Out of all of us, Arak's the only one with who's had good experiences with family."

Yuri blinked. "You too?"

Rayden chuckled slightly. "I haven't had any experiences with family. I was raised in a lab. Grown in a test tube and all that. Ask some other time and maybe I'll tell ya the whole story. We've all got a reason to be here."

Yuri suddenly remembered who she was talking to, and tried to lace as much venom as possible into her reply. "You mean a reason other than quick money?" It didn't come out as threatening and hateful as she'd hoped, but she got her point across.

Rayden raised an eyebrow. "We do what we do because we have to. In this world, it's survival of the fittest. We all learned that the hard way."

She looked at him incredulously. "You think you can justify what you do? Destroying pilots that are trying to defend their cargo? Taking others' possessions while they're at gunpoint? Attacking freighters and taking supplies?"

"Like we did at Morcan?"

Yuri's jaw snapped shut. How did THAT fit into the picture?

Rayden cursed inwardly. He wished Ranma were here. Ranma was the one that could always make it sound like they were doing the right thing, that were more than just criminals.

"Look, it doesn't really matter. All of us have had death sentences on our heads long before we became outlaws."

That got her. "What?"

Rayden nodded. "Every single one of us was used and betrayed. We're just fighting back." He got up, then shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away. "I'll be goin' now. Ranma told Rac to let ya look around the entire ship if you want, though he can still watch what you're doing, so don't try anything."



Yuri watched his back as he left, then berated herself for her outburst. Pirates or not, these people had just saved a whole lot of people, some of them friends of hers. On top of that, she was still a stowaway, and it would be fully within their rights (them being pirates) to disintigrate her. Instead, they had nearly gotten themselves obliterated just to take her home.

She fell back into her chair and sighed, then noticed one of the little spheres floating overhead, the small red sensor shining at her.

"Hey you, where are we going, anyway?"

The sensor rotated slightly, briefly flashing the light beam into her eyes. "I AM CALLED RAC. AND WE'RE GOING TO THE GORGON MOON."

Yuri blinked. She had never heard of that place. "Right, Rac. Uh, why are we going to the Gorgon Moon?"

"FOR REPAIRS. AND TO SELL SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGY WE'VE RECENTLY ACQUIRED."

Yuri sighed. "Another boring hyperspace trip, huh?"

The machine flew by her head and floated above her. "Perhaps. Would you like the tour?"

She blinked again, then smiled slowly. As long as she was stuck here, she might as well try and make the most of it.

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



"Pliers." Rayden stuck his hand out of the large hatch.

"Pliers." Arak handed the aforementioned tool to him with one hand, while his other pressed another button on his datapad (like a tricorder, except without the trademark).

Rayden pulled himself deeper into the hatch, through the sea of cables and pipes.

Arak finished analyzing the damage to the substructure, then nodded. "I see what it is. A turbolaser blast hit a weak point in the armor, and managed to dig deep enough to fry two of the primary power relays, as well as several cables. Which would explain the overload in the secondary batteries."

"Goody." Rayden said bitterly as he fingered the charred, broken cables.

He was working on removing the broken cables when Rac's drone appeared, trailed by a very curious-looking young woman.



"SO YOU SEE, THE APOCALYPSE CANNON USES A BURST OF TACHYON PARTICLES TO STREAMLINE A STEADY FLOW OF CHARGED ELECTRONS AND STRAY PROTONS, RESULTING IN A VERY DESTRUCTIVE BEAM THAT DISASSEMBLES THE TARGET AT A MOLECULAR LEVEL, LIKE A PROTON TORPEDO, AS WELL AS GENERATING AN ENERGY SURGE THAT CAN DISTRIBUTE DAMAGE AROUND THE ACTUAL IMPACT SITE OF THE BEAM. BECAUSE OF THE TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ENERGY IT TAKES TO HOLD THE BEAM TOGETHER, THE ENERGY SURGE, WHICH IS MORE THAN ANYTHING A SIDE EFFECT OF THE WEAPON, IS CAPABLE OF SHATTERING EVEN PLANETARY BASED SHIELDS."

Arak smiled and turned around as he recognized the description of his finest weapon. "Ah, yes it is. It's my greatest creation, if I do say so myself." He smiled brightly.

The sphere turned toward him.

"Uh, after you Rac." He added hastily.

Yuri blinked. She had been completely awed by the tales of what destructive power this ship had. It was slightly disturbing that it was under the control of a band of criminals, but in the same sense it was rather nice knowing that she was being held aboard a vessel capable of tearing apart a ship ten times its size.

"You created that thing? By yourself?"

Arak nodded. "Uh huh! Yes, I know, I am a genius!" He started to chuckle to himself, before Rayden's hand shot out and slapped him on the shoulder lightly.

"Hey genius! Give me some port caps, wouldja?"

Grumbling once again about how unappreciated he was, he picked up a pile of caps and handed them to his comrade.

Rayden's voice rang out again from the hatch. "And as for you, Mr. high- and-mighty silicon-for-brains, I still haven't forgotten about how you turned on the power the last time I was in here! You knew about it too! Next time, you'd better stop to warn Ranma before telling him to-"

Rayden continued ranting as the sphere turned toward Yuri.

"WANT TO SEE SOMETHING AMUSING?"

Yuri didn't quite know what he had in mind, so she nodded her head.

There was a snapping noise, and the rising whine of several electronic devices activating.

"And another thing! I'm not.......... what the?"

*GA-ZACK!!!*

"YAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!"

There was a sudden flash of light from the hatch, and then several streams of smoke wafted out.

Arak winced. "It's not nice to electrocute the hand that maintains you, you know." He was quite certain that the computer would ignore the comment, but he felt it appropriate to reprimand him anyway.

Rac floated away from Yuri, who was still staring at the hatch, torn between asking if he was hurt or laughing. "SOMETIME'S IT'S NECESSARY TO TEACH THE BIO-UNITS WHO'S BOSS. OVER IN THIS DIRECTION IS THE HANGAR. I WILL IDENTIFY AND EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENT COMPONENTS ON OUR FIGHTERS AS I POINT THEM OUT."

Yuri followed, stopping only to throw a quick sympathetic glance toward the hatch.



Arak watched them go, then poked his head into the access hatch. "Hey Shikodan, you okay?"

More smoke erupted into his face as the mechanic in question coughed.

"Hurt... bad... hate... computers... medic..............."

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



Ranma sighed as he stared at the picture before him. It was a picture of himself, in his uniform after having just graduated from the pilot's academy. He stood in front of his parents, his mother holding him around the neck fondly, immensely proud of her son, and his father posing off to the side, looking arrogant and self-important as usual.

'Graduated top of my class, two years early. Just like Pops wanted. Stupid moron.' He sighed again and smiled sadly, tracing the older man's figure with his finger.

'You always wanted me to be the best. But none of us knew the price. I'm still paying for it, two years later.'



*Shoom* The sound of his door opening. Ranma quickly laid the picture down and slid it under a large book, then turned to see Yuri peeking into the room from the hallway.

"Ranma?" She asked questioningly.

Ranma nodded, then walked away from his dresser and sat down on his bed. "You wanted something?"

Yuri looked around a bit before entering. Truth be told, she expected a more... elaborate room for Ranma. She'd known third-rate diplomats who had more luxurious abodes than this!

"Uh, well I was just wondering... Rac said we were going somewhere called the Gorgon Moon..."

Ranma smirked slightly. "So he told you about that, huh?"

Yuri nodded. "And, well, I was just wondering...... why there? I mean, there are lots of closer spaceports along the hyperspace routes, I checked!"

Ranma smiled and patted the side of his bed amiably. She walked over and sat down, curious as to his answer.

"Simple. What do a majority of planetary spaceports have in common?"

Yuri stared at him for a moment, before hesitantly replying, "They're...... run by a government?"

Ranma nodded. "Correct. And what are most governments' general dispositions toward galaxy-wide wanted pirates?"

Yuri sighed as she rolled her eyes. "I know that. But still, there are some that should take us in..."

Ranma got up. "True, but I have a friend on Gorgon's Moon."

She blinked. "You do? What is this place anyway? I've never heard of it."

Ranma leaned back against a wall. "The Gorgon Moon is named after its founder and the family that has owned it ever since. It acts a sort of 'Underworld City'. The moon holds a huge complex that contains everything from a spaceport to a large marketplace for stolen goods. Basically it's a city for criminals. I happen to be on good terms with the current owner of the moon, who, like all his ancestors, is just called Gorgon." Ranma opened a cabinet on the wall, then pulled out a bottle.

Yuri sweatdropped. "A city of criminals? That hardly makes sense! How do you keep crime down? Everything would get stolen or destroyed!"

Ranma shrugged. "Not everything. Most of these people have nowhere else to go, so they treat the place with some respect. As for the crime, they don't need to keep it down. For the most part, people do what they want, and if they annoy the wrong person, then they get killed. It's as simple as that. Any small-timers that spend too much time in there will either get robbed, mugged, or killed and looted. The smart and strong ones, the ones that form groups, pretty much hold complete power over their own areas and make their homes there. They take and do what they want, but they have to be careful about it so they don't bother Gorgon or another gang. Gang wars usually annoy Gorgon, and he has both groups wiped out. Gorgon himself keeps his own personal army in waiting, to hunt down anybody stupid enough to make him their enemy, or to wreak a little havoc in his name to remind the settlers who's boss. Rum?"

Yuri accepted a small glass, and took a sip. "But still, why there? We could get killed!"

Ranma took a sip straight from the bottle. "We could get killed anywhere." He reminded her dryly. "But on Gorgon's Moon, we're not just highly wanted criminals, we're more like lords. On top of that, we're also friends of the most powerful authority there. That adds up to a lot."

Yuri nodded slowly. "I guess that makes sense."

Ranma started to leave, then turned back to her, looking slightly worried. "Uh, but despite all that, try and keep close to Shikodan, okay? This place can be a little rough."

He left for the bridge, in order to make preparations for their exit from hyperspace.



Yuri stayed behind, and thought over what he said. It made sense, actually. She kept forgetting that these weren't soldiers or diplomats she was dealing with, but criminals.

'Yes... I do keep forgetting that.'

She looked over to his desk, and saw something sticking out from under a book. walking over to it, she lifted up the book (which was dubiously titled: 'Space Combat Maneuvers Stolen From Planet Joketsuzoku') and found a plain glass picture frame with a photo in it. Which was rather odd, as just about everybody in the galaxy used holographic pictures. She had seen an old photo once, but couldn't imagine why anyone would have one instead of a simple holocard.

She stared at the picture for a few more moments before setting it back under the book and walking out of the room.

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



"We've almost arrived. Check that out!" Rayden peered out of the window of the bridge.

It looked more like a huge asteroid than an actual moon, it's shape oblong and deformed. Ranma looked down into the many craters and holes dotting the rock's surface, knowing them to hide weapons in their shadows. If they were spotted when they were already too close to the moon, those weapons would reduce them to little more than free-floating slag.

The Wild Horse slowed down, and then sent out a transmitter pulse.

A sound immediately came over the speakers.

*Who is this and what is your business here?*

Ranma smiled reassuringly at Yuri, who was still glancing at the moon nervously.

"This is the Wild Horse, captain Ranma Saotome speaking. We're here for rest and repairs, that's all."

There was silence on the other end. Then the voice came back.

*Very well. You may land in sector 8. Gorgon sends his greetings, though he's disappointed you havn't kept in touch. He says Miyuki misses you.*

Ranma winced slightly. "Yeah, uh... well, I've been busy."

*He understands, of course, and invites you to his humble abode after you have seen to the repairing of your ship. That is all.*



The line of communication cut off, and they began their descent to a ridge that overlooked a large durasteel pad. The Wild Horse slowly and carefully positioned itself under the ridge.

The pad jerked slightly, and soon the large craft was taken under the surface of rock and dust. It kept dropping, until the outer layer of the asteroid's surface disappeared above them, to reveal a bustling spaceport, full of droids and mechanics.

The Wild horse was gently put onto a massive disk, which rotated and moved along the floor, getting the light frigate out of the way of incoming ships.

Ranma and company stepped out, and he stretched a bit at the edge of the platform.

Yuri looked around in wonder. She was slightly awed by the vast expanse and variety of... well, everything. Weapons of every shape and type littered the floor as they were reloaded, replaced, and repaired. Droids of strange design skittered here and there, lifting heavy objects and welding parts. The ships were massive and unique, each one vaguely resembling a class of craft she had seen before, but modified beyond recognition.

But the most varied, and remarkable thing was the number of species. Looking around, she realized that here, humans were just barely a majority. Until now she had only dealt with 'highly civilized races', mostly Mon Calamari, Twi'leks, and a few Bothans here and there. And of course humans, which made up a huge chunk of almost every diplomatic assembly.

One creature in particular caught her eye, a deep blue-skinned quadraped with a fat belly (or chest, she couldn't be sure) that seemed to be yelling at a droid in an especially gutteral language. Eventually the droid gave two beeps as an answer, and this seemed to frustrate the creature enough to throw a mighty swing at the robot, sending it bouncing across the floor.

There was a high-pitched whine behind the alien, but he didn't have enough time to look to see what it was before a bright red laser bolt seared a hole in the back of his head. It dropped to the floor.

Yuri watched the whole scene with a sort of detached mix of fascination and horror. She turned around as she felt Ranma's hand squeeze her shoulder slightly. "You okay?"

She felt her cheeks heat up a bit at his concern for her, but she smiled and nodded. He smiled back, and she felt her face redden even more.

"Just stick next to Rayden and Arak, and you'll be fine."

Yuri looked up at him and blinked. "You won't be with us?"

Ranma shrugged, then started to walk away towards one of the bigger aliens that seemed to be directing the droid traffic around the hangar. "Maybe. I have to meet with Gorgon first. From there, who knows?" He reached the alien and got its attention, whereupon he started pointing to his ship and giving instructions.



She kept watching him, until Rayden tapped her on the shoulder before gently pushing her along with him.

She followed him and Arak, and eventually the trio reached a large opening, which they passed through.



Yuri was struck speechless at the sight of what lay before her. It was like some twisted subterranian version of an industrial metropolis. They were currently standing on a wide bridge that seemed to expand over a vast trench which vented smoke of some sort. At the other end of the bridge were many buildings atop a wide platform after the opposite side of the trench. Many of these buildings seemed to rise up straight into the ceiling.

She followed her companions across the bridge, then hesitated before peeking a look over the edge, being careful to avoid breathing in the vapors that wafted up.

It wasn't as deep as she thought, and she blinked suddenly as she noticed many humanoid figures down below, wrapped in rags as they simply sat or walked around aimlessly. Some were carrying things, and most of these figures were rushing down the length of the trench with their loads, weaving a path between the many bodies haphazardly strewn about on the ground.

"What is......." Yuri began, but wasn't entirely sure how to finish the question.

Rayden came up to her and leaned over the side of the bridge. "Those are the slums. The people down there are pretty much slaves, working the facilities in the city and conducting manual labor here and there. In return, they get food and water, safety from the other inhabitants, plus they get away with any crimes they've commited against any legal government other than this one, just by being here. Just ignore them for the most part."

Yuri gave a last glance down into the trench, before hesitantly following the others into the depths of the city.

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



Gorgon sighed as the man before him continued to rant on about some injustice that had been done to his family. He honestly didn't care what the man's problem is, but he wished that the fool would get to the point so that he'd know who to kill and get the lunatic out of his office.

The man with long dark hair sobbed uncontrollably as he built up to his tragic tale.

Gorgon sighed again. "Now Tendo, I do owe you a favor, but you must realize I'm a busy man. If you would be so kind as to... uh, get to the point?"

Soun took a deep breath, then leaned over the desk, a look of utter seriousness on his face, though it was still brimming with tears. "One day, my daughter went to see a man. This man, he stayed up with her very late, giving her wine. Eventually she fell asleep. Then this man, he... he...... well, just look at her, Mr. Gorgon!"

Gorgon raised an eyebrow, then hit a button on the side of his desk. A viewscreen appeared in the air in front of him, showing the lobby area of his palace, which stood in the center of the city.

He spotted Soun's daughter, and his other eyebrow shot up.



In the lobby area, Akane gave another dark glare as a man got a good look at her face and started chuckling. Written across her forehead was the word 'tomboy'.



Gorgon hit the button again, and the viewscreen folded up into nothing and disappeared. He took a drag from his cigar. "Couldn't you just clean it off?"

Soun's tears slowed slightly so that he could talk. "I tried, oh, how I tried... he used permanent ink!"

Gorgon and his bodyguards all sweatdropped.

"Uh... what would you have me do, Tendo?"

Soun dried his tears quickly, then leaned over the desk again.

"I want JUSTICE, Mr. Gorgon! Justice for my little Akane!"

Gorgon gave a last heavy sigh before putting out his cigar and facing Soun.

"Very well Tendo, I will do this thing for you. But the next time you need somebody's legs broken for a cheap prank, my secretary has a list of very reliable thugs."

Soun bowed, then as was customary, took the man's hand and kissed the ring on his finger.

"I thank you, Mr. Gorgon." Soun turned and left, totally robbed of whatever dignity he may have possessed upon entering.



Gorgon lit up another cigar, and a voluptious woman in a silk kimono stepped out of the shadows to massage his shoulders.

Gorgon was a middle-aged human male with light, sandy hair and a fairly muscular build. His simple clothing, a comfortable silk robe belied the incredible power and importance that he held.



He turned to Mayla, his favorite concubine, and offered her a weary smile. "So who's next? Some black market merchant who was beaten and robbed? One of the slum's inhabitants begging for release?"

She smiled warmly back, and then opened up the datapad in her hand and started reading.

"Next is a-"

She was cut off very quickly by a shout of surprise followed by a crash and more shouts.

"Get out of my way you morons!"

There was the sound of further struggling, and the guards surrounding Gorgon took flanking positions around the entrance with their guns drawn. After a few more moments, there was a loud *thud*, and the doors burst outward and off their hinges to rain down upon the poised guards. A figure stood in the doorway, the light pouring in from the hallway illuminating his outline and creating quite the impressive light effect.

Gorgon got up in alarm, then realized who it was and his expression slowly broke into a smile. He shook his head and slowly got up and walked around his desk. Behind him, Mayla lowered the blaster she had slipped from the folds of her kimono as she realized that her master was in no danger.

Ranma looked around at the office and snorted indignantly. "What kind of dump is this where the galaxy's most dangerous criminal has to make an appointment to see an old friend?!" He watched Gorgon approaching and smirked.

Gorgon shook his head back and forth solemnly and put a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "I'm sorry about all the red tape. Someone around here has to keep an organized group of thugs handy."

Behind Ranma, Gorgon's secretary (who, coincidentally, was another of his consorts) was throwing confused looks between her master and the guy that had just beaten up most of the hall guards and knocked the reinforced doors off their hinges in a single kick.

Gorgon gave her a good-natured smile and waved her away. "It's all right girl. Go and stop the rest of the guards from bothering me, would you? Me and Saotome have important business to discuss."

She nodded quickly, then ran from the room.

"I'm charging you for those doors you know," Gorgon commented dryly.

"Bite me," Ranma replied, grinning.

Gorgon sighed heavily, and started muttering under his breath about insolence of inferiors and the younger generations in general.

Sitting behind his desk, he considered the figure before him, who stood in a relaxed pose and seemed totally ignorant of the many guards getting up and training their weapons on him.

"So Ranma, what brings you to this God-forsaken rock of bandits?" Many of the guards were gaping at the sight. Not only had this ruffian come unannounced and damaged his abode, but both parties were being incredibly casual about the meeting.

Ranma shrugged. "Repairs, mostly. Ship's banged up but good. I also have some goods you might be interested in." Gorgon was the unofficial 'head merchant' of the huge black market that was represented on his moon. If you couldn't find it through him, it either didn't exist, it was one of a kind (though that didn't necessarily mean he didn't have it), or it required Jurian power to use.

Gorgon raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't be trying to pawn some leftover technology stolen from the galaxy's most prestigious research labs on Mitus on a ridiculously and ultimately uselessly guarded convoy off on me, would you?"

Ranma blinked. "Well, uh, yeah. Pretty much."

Gorgon smiled. "Of course. How about we talk somewhere more private? It's getting a tad crowded in here."

He motioned for Mayla to follow them, and walked out of the office, leaving his guards behind.

"We have a lot of catching up to do, young friend. Indeed."

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



"Wow. This place is so... so......" Yuri simply couldn't find the words to describe it.

"Luxurious? Fancy? Different?" Arak grinned. Gorgon's palace sure made an impression, especially as the rest of the city was shrouded in filth and debris.

"Uh...... big." she finished, blushing a bit.

Rayden shrugged and idly nodded. It was big, even if it didn't rise up into the ceiling like many of the other buildings that surrounded them.

They stepped inside, and Yuri looked around in wonder at the myriad of different people that milled around the luxurious lobby. Behind several desks, clerks tended to the visitors, while guards stood nearby to make sure the clients didn't get to excited when told to buzz off. She idly noticed that these clerks and guards were all humans.

Arak was apparently following Rayden, so she did the same. Eventually they came to a fancy bar of some kind, full of rough looking men of various species and several attractive human barmaids.



"This is the best tavern on Gorgon's Moon! Only the wealthiest low-life scum can afford to spend their time here!" Rayden said cheerfully. He walked up and slapped some bills on the bar counter, and before he knew it there was a drink in front of him.

Yuri looked around a bit more, making sure that she stayed within earshot of the others, when she felt someone grab her shoulder roughly.

She turned around and saw a tall Twi'lek man leering at her. Twi'lek were close to humans in biology, though their skulls tended to be a tad irregular in shape, they had no hair, and they possessed two long tendrils of flesh that hung down from the back of their heads, called brain tails. All these features, Yuri had long ago decided, detracted from what she found attractive about humanoids in general.

"Uh... c-can I help you?" She asked nervously.

His grin got deeper, and she watched as his eyes started looking her over. "Actually, I think you can." His voice was deep and throaty and she quickly decided that the sooner she was away from him, the better.

"You see, I was simply hoping you would help me indulge myself before I have to leave again. These stops are so seldom, it's been a long time I've had a woman pleasure me."

Yuri blinked, then swatted his hand away and turned her back on him. "Forget it. I'm not that kind of girl."

She heard a snarl, and then her shoulder was grabbed again and she was spun around.

"I didn't ask you what kind of girl you were! You're coming with me! If you're good enough, I might pay you..."

She was horrified now, but tried not to show it. "Wh-why don't you go bother one of those waitresses if you're so desperate?!"

He grunted slightly, then grabbed her arm and started to drag her away. "Unfortunately, they're off-limits."

"Just like she is."

Before the Twi'lek could contemplate the voice, someone grabbed his wrist and squeezed tightly, causing him to instinctively loosen his grip. Yuri, who had been struggling mightily up until then, managed to squirm out of reach.

He growled and turned around, to see a human male even taller than he was in a trench coat giving him a cold look. He smirked slightly, and Rayden didn't notice his hand slowly slide behind his back.

"What? Is this your woman?" Yuri twitched and glared at him from her position behind Rayden.

"Naw, she's the captain's girl, actually." He said off-handedly.

"Hey! I am not!" It was bad enough this jerk was treating her like some object to be used and given away, now her protectors/kidnappers were doing it too!

"Sure you are, you just don't know it yet!" He gave her a good-natured grin. Then he turned an icy look toward the Twi'lek.

"Anyway, lay off, okay? If you want directions to the red light district I'd be happy to point it out to you."

The Twi'lek's grin deepened, and for a moment Rayden wondered what the hell he was thinking. He found out rather quickly as the man pulled a blaster from behind his back, pressed it to his chest, and without banter or fanfare, fired.



Yuri watched in terror as Rayden was shot point-blank in the chest. As it was, she felt guilty for dodging his body as it fell backward so she wouldn't get hurt, but then leaned next to the man in the hope that he somehow survived. She looked around for some help, but to her growing despair, none of the other bar patrons looked particularly concerned for the girl or the man that had just been shot. Some of them were even grinning at the sight.

The Twi'lek man would have none of it, and grabbed her arm again as he started to drag her off.

"Well, now that that's solved, let's get it on, shall we?" He chuckled, then winced slightly as she started kicking him.

"You monster! You killed him!! Let me go you bastard!!" She made it a point to try and grab onto whatever stationary objects she could get ahold of with her other hand, but it only served to slow the alien down.



The Twi'lek man grunted as he was forced to nearly tear the girl's arm off to make any headway. Many of the bar's patrons were watching the spectacle and laughing at the sight, but he ignored them. He had earned this conquest and now he was going to reap his rewards!

He had gotten halfway across the room when he realized that the girl had stopped struggling.

Then he howled as someone grabbed his arm holding the girl and twisted painfully, causing him to release his hold.

Rather angry at having to defend his catch from someone else, he turned around, only to be faced with the very same man from before, but with a big black mark on his chest that smelled of burning flesh (he was familiar with the smell himself).

He was understandably shocked, and therefore left himself open for Rayden to grab him by the shoulder and lift him up, applying some very painful pressure in the process.

"That hurt, you know." The Twi'lek tried to bring his gun around and shoot him in the face, but Rayden's hand whipped out and caught it, then crushed both the weapon and his hand in one big, bloody mess.

The Twi'lek screamed in agony, and then was silenced as Rayden tossed him by his shoulder into the metal far wall head first. The other guests courteously got out of the way of the biological projectile, then some started clapping as the thug was knocked unconscious by the impact against the reinforced durasteel.

Rayden smirked, then winced slightly as he rubbed the wound created by the blaster. It HAD hurt. He was lucky it was a small low-power model, or else it could have done some actual damage.

Yuri looked up in wonder, understandably curious as to how someone could survive being shot in the chest and still be alive, much less conscious.

Then Rayden noticed that some of the people that weren't clapping or chuckling at the unscheduled entertainment had angry scowls on their faces.

Those same people approached. There were two more Twi'leks, an Abyssin, a Gran, four Rodians, and two humans. Rayden grinned, as they decided that a blaster bolt to the neck would be too good for him and started drawing an assortment of vibroblades from their clothes. Except for the tall and lumbering Abyssin, who's superior strength convinced it that it didn't need vibroblades to crush the sad little human. That was okay. Even the smartest Abyssin had trouble with complicated concepts like strategy and common sense. Though the clawed humanoid did represent the most danger, as it had an incredible healing factor that the other species lacked.

Rayden pounded one fist into and upraised palm. "Well well, looks like the molester brought some friends. Time to get busy."

The Gran snarled at him and charged. He would've glared too, except that his three eyes being suspended from his skull on fleshy stalks pretty much rendered them expressionless.

Rayden had never liked Grans. Damn ugly creatures, they were.

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



"I think this place is bigger than I remember. Did you add a floor or something?" Ranma looked around at Gorgon's inner sanctum, appraising the place.

The inner sanctum, or 'playroom' as it was commonly known was a gigantic indoor pool area that was located toward the back of Gorgon's palace. It reminded Ranma of some of the interiors on the fancier luxury yachts that he had raided on occasion. In the center was the pool, surrounded on either side by rows of tables which held a variety of food which was constantly replaced throughout the 'daytime' hours. The rest of the floor area was mostly just tile floor, with a few benches and chairs for relaxing. Dotting the walls were several bedrooms seperated from the main area by a thick silk sheet, many of which were pulled back to allow easy access inside.

Like just about every guest that laid eyes on this place, Ranma felt honored to be invited into Gorgon's real home, but couldn't help but feel nervous every time he entered this place. This mostly had to do with the primary residents of the playroom, Gorgon's daughters.

Gorgon, having quickly affirmed his position as heir to the Gorgon Moon before his father died, had amassed a large harem for himself at an early age, which left him with the quite the creche by the time he had turned 25 and decided to slow down a bit. Most called him a dirty old man and a lecher. Those that had heard the legend of Jedi Master Yoda's little brother Happousai tended to refer to him as a playboy.

His sons more often than not tended to the city or left the moon entirely, while his female offspring mostly stayed within the luxurious halls of the palace or mingled with the crowds outside the palace as barmaids or dancing girls. Whatever their fancy really.

Ranma absently gulped and started tugging at the collar of his uniform nervously. Many of the girls watching him (mostly wearing bathing suits or silk robes) apparently found this just adorable and started smiling seductively at him.

Gorgon had to pull Ranma aside to keep him from walking right into the pool. "Perceptive as always, and yet, still so clueless."

Ranma blinked and allowed himself to be dragged toward the largest room at the head of the sanctum. "Huh?"

Gorgon shook his head. "Yes, I did add another floor. It was getting rather crowded in here the last few months."

Ranma nodded and took a kneeling position on a pillow on one end of a small wooden table. Gorgon squatted on the other side and clapped his hands, and soon one of his consorts brought out some drinks and set them on the table.

Gorgon clapped his hands again. "Sonya!"

Ranma averted his eyes as a scantily clad blond woman followed by a short boxy droid on treads walked into the room from the small hallway that led to Gorgon's private quarters. It was considered rather bad manners to stare, especially at someone else's woman. He found his eyes drawn to to two other girls on the side of the room, who were apparently lavishing their attention on a man who he hadn't noticed before. He was tall and had blue skin, but other than that looked completely human. His black hair was well combed and he was wearing a simple gray officer's uniform, but the suit was devoid of rank pins or medals. He looked handsome, in an exotic sort of way, Ranma supposed, but couldn't help but wonder what he was doing here.

The man looked up from where one of the girls were playing with the pockets on his jacket and raised an eyebrow, apparently noticing Ranma for the first time.



Gorgon noticed the exchange and coughed, gaining their attention.

"Ranma, I'm certain this young man knows who you are, but you probably havn't heard of him. This is Boran Rehli, one of my more recently acquired troubleshooters. I believe he's part of that new criminal organization running around nowadays. Shade, I think it's called."

Ranma's gaze seemed to ice over. "Zat so?"

Boran grinned amiably. "Well, I must say, it is my supreme honor to meet the legendary Ranma Saotome. Last I saw you, I was telling my gunners to stop firing upon your ship and concentrate on blowing you out of space."

Ranma's smile mirrored his, and even his gaze warmed up considerably. "Well, it's a darn shame you weren't on that interdictor. Did they ever manage to salvage its remains?"

He chuckled lightly. "I don't think there was anything left to salvage. Where DID you get a stabilizer powerful enough to launch 69 proton torpedoes in 12 seconds?"

Ranma chuckled lightly himself, then wagged his finger at the Shade operative. "Now that...... is a secret."

Gorgon looked back and forth between the two men. "You two have... fought each other?"

Boran shrugged, then slipped his arm around the girl nuzzling his chest, holding her to him tightly. "It's rather too impersonal to say we fought each other. I was the commanding officer on one of the ships that happened to be around when the order to kill Saotome was given out. That ship is still being repaired too, thanks to the Dark Angel."

Ranma sighed. "Ah yes. Those plasma grenades can be a real nuisance, huh?"

"Quite. That ship was just one out of my own personal fleet, however. My flagship is currently docked in the cruiser port of the moon undergoing some refits."

Gorgon watched as the two stared at each other, neither one letting a single emotion cross their face.

"Well, be that as it may, I was not aware of this vendetta you share with Saotome." Gorgon's gaze was more curious than annoyed or angry.

Boran laughed. "Ha ha ha! It is no vendetta. Simply duty to my superiors. I assure you, all conflict between us will occur outside of your fine establishment."

Ranma smiled and leaned back. "Of course. Nothing personal and all that."

Gorgon looked at Ranma. "What have you done to this organization to make them warrant your destruction?"

Ranma looked thoughtful. "Oh... I just busted up one of their smaller operations, then turned down a membership offer."

Boran smirked. "I'd have to say that about half our leaders are scared to death of you. And then there's Garrion........."

Ranma was about to make a comment about that when a cheerful voice rang out from behind him. "Father, I think there's something you ought to- Ranma!"

Said space pirate gulped lightly and turned around, only to have his vision blocked by a very ample pair of breasts just barely contained by a leapord-print one-piece bathing suit. He quickly raised his gaze to see a beautiful face looking down at him framed by a long blond mane of hair.

Boran blinked.

Ranma gave a nervous smiled and slowly started backing away. "Heh heh heh...... Miyuki, whatever are you doing here?"

"I live here." She said simply as she got on her hands and knees and started leaning over him. Ranma backed himself up, and then fell onto his back as Miyuki slid her body across his to look him in the eyes.

"Oh yeah. Forgot........." 'Calculating possible escape routes....... WHOA! Sensitive area! Brain locking up! Damn, how does she do that?!'

Boran had abandoned the girls that were with him earlier and moved to stand over the couple, noting that Ranma seemed to be sweating heavily.

"My my, I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting this one. Miyuki, was it?"

She didn't look up at him, but kept crawling onto Ranma. "Go 'way. Busy."

Gorgon coughed, then leaned over the table. "Miyuki, dear, could you wait a bit? Saotome has just arrived, and we were more or less in the middle of something." Next to him, Sonya giggled at her daughter's antics.

Miyuki sighed and sat up straight, though she settled her hands in Ranma's lap. Ranma didn't budge a millimeter. "Yes?"

Gorgon waited for her to speak. Ranma twitched. Boran noticed what she was doing with her hands and raised an eyebrow.

Miyuki blinked as her father just sat there. "What?"

"Didn't you have something to tell me?"

Miyuki frowned, momentarily taking her hands off Ranma, who took the opportunity to get up into a sitting position facing away from the girl.

"Oh yeah! There's a fight going on in the bar! I think you wanna see this!"

Gorgon frowned and then took out a remote control of some sort. Hitting a button, a viewscreen appeared in midair above the table, showing a camera's view from both sides of Rayden's fight with the gang.

Ranma blinked. "Shikodan?"

Boran frowned. "What? Those are my men!"

Miyuki smirked. "Well they're getting thrashed. That'll teach them to mess with Ranma's crew." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his torso.

Ranma was watching the fight and appraising Rayden's technique. Apparently he had gotten ahold of one of his attacker's vibroblades during the course of the battle.

He winced. "Uh, hey Rehli, that one's an Abyssin, right?"

Boran watched the fight with a look halfway between fascination and horror. "Um... right."

Ranma nodded. "That's good. It would really suck if that didn't grow back."

Gorgon turned to Miyuki, who seemed to be trying to get Ranma's attention by nuzzling his neck. "Dear, who started this? What's this all about?"

She looked up and him and pressed her body more tightly against Ranma's back. "One of the Twi'leks tried to rape that girl with the green hair. Shikodan stopped him, the Twi'lek shot him, and then Shikodan beat him. Then the guy's friends started mixing it up. I didn't catch everything though. It's hard to hear from the balcony." She shuddered suddenly, then realized that the body she was clutching had suddenly become several degrees colder.

"He tried to WHAT?" Ranma said calmly, but placing much emphasis on the last word. Sonya shuddered, as did her daughter. Gorgon nodded.

Miyuki backed off slightly before hesitantly replying, "He, uh, grabbed her and asked her for a quickie, I guess, and when she refused, he started dragging her out of the bar. After he was shot, Shikodan stopped him, and broke his hand before smashing him into the wall." Ranma seemed to calm down, though only marginally.

Boran was deep in thought. 'Those imbeciles! They're going to make me lose face before Gorgon! Those idiots have no idea how hard it was for me to get this far! I will not allow this!'

"I'll put a stop to this right away. There's no excuse for this behavior." Boran turned around and left, quickly followed by Ranma and Gorgon.

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



"Ow! God dammit, that hurt!"

*Crash* *Boom*

"Put that down! I'm warning you!"

*Shatter* *Crunch*

"I warned you......."

"Negreeeeeeaaaaaaaaa!!!"

*Slash* *Bam*

"Sonuva..."

*Wham* *Wham* *Wham* *Wham* *Wham* *Wham* *Wham* *Wham*

"And STAY down this time!"



From across the room, Yuri sat on one of the barstools sipping some caf as Arak went on about the history of the Gorgon Moon. For the most part, she did her best to ignore him and watch the fight, occasionally nodding her head so he wouldn't try to get her attention.

She winced as a Rodian was smashed into a table and landed in a rather painful-looking position. Then she noticed someone out of the corner of her eye and watched as a man with blue skin, followed by Ranma and some other man, entered the bar from a hardly noticeable entrance near the back.



"STOP THIS AT ONCE!!!"

All at once, the men attacking Rayden froze (well, those that were capable of moving at the time) and turned to look at Boran. Rayden was holding up a Twi'lek in the air with one hand, while concentrating on keeping the Abyssin pinned to the floor with his foot. He looked a little worse for wear, with his trench coat cut up here and there, but all in all a lot better than most of the bodies surrounding him.

Boran pointed to him and stalked up. "You. Who started this? Who was bothering the girl?"

Rayden blinked and dropped the alien he was holding, then jabbed a thumb over to the unconscious Twi'lek on the other end of the room.

Boran's face would have reddened in anger, except that the unusual pigmentation of his skin, combined with the distribution of blood cells, made it biologically impossible. So instead he just glared at the unconscious figure.

"Bah! I should have known! You two, get Narra out of here! I don't care what happens to him, but I never want to see his hideous face again!" The Rodian and human quickly complied, grabbing up their comrade and dragging him out of the establishment.

Boran turned to Gorgon, who was looking at the whole scene with a rather bemused expression on his face. "I sincerely apologize for this disturbance, Lord Gorgon. I of course shall fully compensate you for the damage done to your abode."

Gorgon nodded, his face completely neutral. Rayden blinked, then shrugged and walked over to the small group.

Gorgon took a long look at the interior of the bar, then glanced at Ranma.

"Ranma, I ask that you forgive the disturbance your crew has suffered under my roof. If you wish, both you and your men are more than welcome to my inner sanctum for the rest of your stay here."

Ranma nodded his assent, even as he gulped internally. The problem with staying the night in Gorgon's palace was that all the bedrooms in the inner sanctum belonged to the girls that lived there.

Of course, neither Rayden or Arak protested this little detail, so they both thanked the owner of the palace and moved to follow him back into the center of his home. Besides, both had business they needed to take care of inside. Yuri followed Rayden, glad to be out of the bar. This had been a nasty experience for her, to be sure, though it did offer her a new point of view towards her current kidnappers/guardians.



Boran stared hard at Ranma as he and his crew, including the girl, went ahead of him along with Gorgon. It was not lost on him how Gorgon had offered his hospitality exclusively to Ranma. His crew had not been given permission to enter, no surprise really, but the level of trust and faith he had put into this group was simply inreputeable.

'Ranma Saotome... what is your secret? How do you command such respect? Such power? And how did you snare Miyuki?' Now THERE was a woman that he wouldn't mind spending the night with. Sensual, sexy, uninhibited, and he had to say he really liked her taste in swimwear, as well as her obvious tendency to wear it even when she wasn't swimming.

Realizing that he was being left behind, he sighed and made his way past the passage back to the 'playroom'. He couldn't allow himself to get distracted tonight. There would be time for that later.

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



Upon reentering the inner sanctum of Gorgon's palace, Rayden had split from Arak and Ranma, taking Yuri with him and explaining that they were discussing business.

Yuri let her mind wander as to what that meant, and came to the conclusion that they were selling stolen goods or something.

She was right. But then, that was the least she could expect of them.

"So what are we going to do?" She looked up at him curiously. It had taken some time to get used to being around someone that towered over her like Rayden did. She was tall for a girl, a little taller than Arak in fact, and his size made her wonder if he was truly human, or if he came from some planet with extremely high gravity or something.

Rayden looked around and grinned. "Well, since Arak and Ranma are gonna be busy making money, it's up to us to have the fun around here. The pool and buffet tables aren't just around for us to look at, ya know."

Yuri shrugged. It sounded better than watching Ranma pawn off his ill- gotten goods. Then she noticed that Rayden had focused his attention on three girls in particular that were gathered off to the side and chatting. What was odd is the way they kept looking at the various other girls in the room and then huddling slightly, as well as the fact that they were the only ones in the room wearing street clothes.

"But first, some information." Rayden walked up to them, and Yuri walked up behind him, curious as to what he was talking about.



"Huh! Will you look at Miyuki? That girl, is like, such a slut!" The girl with light brown hair said to her friends.

"Puh-leez! Can you blame her? That Saotome is like, a total hunk!" Her redheaded companion retorted.

"I hear that he picked up some tramp on Keeryu, but they haven't done it yet." The girl with black hair felt the need to interject her own tidbit.

"Hey! I am not a tramp!" A shout of indignation caused all the girls to focus on their eavesdroppers and blush in embarrasment.

Rayden chuckled and pointed to the group. "Yuri Xero, may I present April," he pointed to the one with light brown hair, "May," the redhead, "and June," he finished, pointing to the girl with raven hair.

Yuri blinked, but recovered in time to greet each of them politely. 'Weird names.......'

April looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "So Shikodan, like, what brings you here?"

May nodded and giggled. "I hear you're, like, playing the hero now."

June smirked. "Facing up to huge organized criminal organizations and protecting remote, isolated planets from alien attack? It's like you've turned over a new leaf or something!"

Rayden sweatdropped. "Uh... new leaf. Right. Anyway, I need some information."

Suddenly April turned toward her sisters. "Oh! Speaking of information, did you hear about daddy's new spy?"

May shook her head. "That ninja guy that likes to dress like a girl? Puh- leez! Don't even get me started!"

"Cross-dressing is like, so totally uncool, it's not even funny." June put in her two credits without hesitation.

Yuri looked back and forth between each girl, and was starting to grow frightened. She had no idea how they could have known about the incident on Morcan, as they had gone straight here after they left the system. Added to the eerie coordination between them, the fact that they looked identical besides the color of their hair and their clothes, their names, and the way they never seemed to talk out of turn made it rather eerie.

"Are they usually like this?" She asked her companion warily.

"ALL the time. Just follow my lead, okay?"

Rayden turned back toward the girls. "Say, you heard anything involving hideous unidentified aliens recently?"

April looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, you mean like, those totally freaky aliens with the biological ships?"

May nodded. "I, like, heard that they've, like, attacked three star systems so far, tearing apart the local fleets and tearing up the cities on the surface. But it's, like, ya know, weird and stuff, the way they don't take anything and seem to suddenly leave after the ground troops start walking around."

June leaned back on a marble pillar nearby. "I heard that they've only struck planets which have odd, indecipherable ruins left from, like, ancient civilizations and stuff."

"I heard that they communicate through telepathy, and have learned to modify there gene structure, like, through advanced bio-mechanical engineering or something." April added.

This caught Rayden's attention. "What?"

May looked at him and frowned. "You ARE aware, of course, that trench coats went out of style, like, two months ago, right?"

Rayden blinked. "Uh... right. Now about those ships.......?"

June looked disgusted. "Ugh! And Garghran leather is SO last week! Right now Tuftgaffi cloaks are ALL the rage for people that like heavy clothes that they can easily conceal weapons in."

He sweatdropped and pulled his coat a little tighter around him. "Uh, thanks, but I think I'll stick with this for now."

April rolled her eyes. "All right, fine. But like, don't come crying to us when your girlfriend leaves you for someone with a fashion sense."

Rayden blinked again. "I don't have a girlfriend."

May gave him a look. "And you wonder WHY?"

"No."

The conversation was getting a tad too surreal for Yuri, who decided to step forward and ask a question of her own.

"Hey, how do you know all this stuff anyway?"

June rolled her eyes. "Puh-leez. If you have to ask, you'll never know."

Yuri blinked and tried to interpret that logic. In the end, it got her nothing but a small headache. "What?"

Suddenly she found herself surrounded by the girls, who started appraising her.

April took one of her hands. "Like, when was the last time you had a manicure?"

"Uh... about a month ago," she answered uneasily.

May ran a hand through her hair. "Long and straight, very stylish nowadays, and like, totally low-maintanence."

June nodded in agreement. "I agree. I like the hair, but the clothes HAVE to go."

The girls looked at each other, then smiled and shouted out as one, "MAKEOVER!!!"



Rayden slowly inched away as the girls continued fussing over Yuri. He had wanted to get more information, but they got distracted too easily for him to learn much more.

Besides, now they were entering that little field known only as 'girl talk'. Rayden shuddered. Once he had stuck around to listen, and that had been one time too many. Those three were just plain weird.

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



"So, I understand that you've made some... modifications to this technology you've stolen, Arak." Gorgon eyed the smaller man carefully.

Arak shrugged. "Those research facilities have done their part and provided some excellent raw technology. Unfortunately, it lacked two things: efficiency and application. I simply provided that part."

Gorgon nodded. "As is necessary to create a functional final product. What do you have for us?" behind him, Sonya took out a datapad.

Ranma was listening carefully to the exchange, not only because he was in charge of the negotiations, but also to keep his mind off the way Miyuki's hands were kneading his shoulders. She had offered to massage other parts of his body, as well as to let him massage certain parts of her body, but she had backed down before he made his escape.

Arak smiled. "The first thing I have is called the AMP weapons system. It stands for Antimatter Magnetic Projectile." He handed a disk to Sonya, who popped it into the datapad. "As you can see, it uses a new type of electromagnetic field to store and hold antimatter for an indefinite period of time. It much cheaper than current containment systems, and allows for easier deployment and much heavier payload, finally making antimatter weapons cost-efficient, though still extremely expensive ordinance."

Sonya hit a few buttons on the datapad, and a holographic projection appeared on the table, showing the magnetic field and proposed deployement and containment systems. There were several notes on the sides of the diagram with lines that pointed from each note to where it applied.

Gorgon looked at it, then nodded. "I like the sound of that. Though the name needs work."

Ranma nodded sagely. "They usually do."

"Hey!"

Ranma smirked. "Nothing but the truth, my friend." Idly, he noticed that Miyuki's hands had stopped massaging his shoulders and were gently finding their toward the lower regions of his body.

Arak muttered to himself as Boran walked up and looked closely at the hologram.

He blinked.

"These notes on the side. They're just a blur." He looked at the space pirates curiously.

Ranma blinked, then shuddered slightly as Miyuki slid her arms around his torso. "Well, duh. Sonya there has a photographic memory. If we showed her how the technology works before selling it, Gorgon could duplicate it without having to buy a thing."

Gorgon chuckled as Sonya raised an eyebrow. "Ah, yes. Saotome learned that lesson a little while back. In any case, why don't you move on?"

Arak nodded and handed another disk to Sonya.

"This is my new short-range plasma blaster. Unfortunately, I'm afraid its uses are limited, as it is classified as ineffective at over 200 feet. It also requires a plasma injector and power system that's simply too large for conventional blasters. Therefore, I propose that this weapon system be used for combat droids."

Gorgon raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm. I see. Limited application, then."

Arak shrugged. "I suppose. Which is why I'm offering the plans to my ICD series of military robots!" He handed Sonya another disk.

She created a new hologram, and Ranma nodded as he looked over the blueprints for Units 01 and 02. In the back of his head he wondered why Miyuki had taken his flak vest off.

Gorgon looked at Arak. "ICD?"

Arak chuckled and struck a pose. "Incredible Combat Droid!"

There was silence.

Arak sweatdropped, then coughed and sat back down. "Uh, well, I guess you could change the name when you put it into production. If you buy it, of course."

Ranma sweatdropped himself. "Undoubtedly." He said dryly, before smiling nervously at Miyuki. "Uh, can I have my shirt back, please?"

Miyuki giggled and tossed the garment behind her to a few more of her sisters, who were also giggling at the sight. "No."

Arak and Gorgon ignored them. "Next up comes a revolutionary type of heavy ion cannon, which I call-"

"Perhaps you'd rather simply explain the technology and its function, rather than bothering with the names." Gorgon interrupted.

Arak looked slightly hurt, but complied. "It funcions on a totally different level than most ion cannons, using a phase resonance compactor to 'fold' several groups of charged ions together, then hold it in place during the firing phase with a few stray protons. After impacting other matter, the protons disband, leaving the ions to spray themselves over the targeted area, causing a much wider area of effect than traditional ion guns. This weapon has a curious effect in an atmosphere though, where the air causes the protons to disband early and the ion flux hits the target in a sort of cloudy shotgun effect. It's less effective that way, but I must say the visual effects are stunning."

Gorgon shrugged, then let the man prattle on about his other achievement, an improved thermal detonator.

Ranma was now actively trying to run away from Miyuki, except that she was holding onto him quite effectively from behind, so that wouldn't really accomplish anything.

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



Somewhere else...



It was a place beyond the conventional reaches of man, a vast sea of space that spread out in all directions and glowed with strange energies. Within this gigantic maelstrom of power, a tiny particle of life began to stir, growing larger, evolving, and draining its surroundings of the very power that sustained it for so long.

Soon. Soon, it would be complete. And all the universe will be at its mercy.



Well, it certainly would have been, had the creature not been disintegrated in the engine wash of a passing ship.

"WHERE IN THE UNIVERSE AM I NOW?!?!?! WHAT'S ALL THIS BLUE STUFF?!?! DAMN YOU RANMA, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!!"

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



30 minutes later.



Arak idly wondered where Ranma had run off to before reasserting his attention on Gorgon, who was looking over the plans for a new type of capital ship, and combination battle/salvage frigate, designed to destroy the enemy with surgical precision and then loot through its remains.

Gorgon nodded. "Excellent, as always. Your genius never fails to astound me, Tetsumi."

Arak beamed and everybody in the room could FEEL his ego swelling.

Sonya smiled and nodded. "These are indeed very promising prototypes."

"Though not the MOST promising prototypes." A voice interrupted.

Gorgon looked up and frowned at Boran. "Do you have anything to add, Rehli?"

Boran gave Arak a cold smirk. "Only that these men are holding back the technology of any real value. Tell me, what of this fabled 'Apocalypse Cannon'?"

Arak stuttered. "Ho-ho-how d-did you know about that?"

Boran casually pointed over to where April, May, and June were washing Yuri's hair.

Arak sweatdropped. "Oh..."

Gorgon raised an eyebrow. "'Apocalypse Cannon'? An unusual name for one of your inventions."

Arak chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Huh. Well, actually Rac named it. I just built it. With Rayden's help. Anyway it's just a high-powered tachyon beam. Nothing special."

Sonya coughed. "I've never heard of any weapon that uses tachyon particles. I thought they were too unstable."

Arak started sweating bullets. "Well, I mean, it's not the sort of thing you just offer up for sale, you know? I mean..."

His voice trailed off as Gorgon laughed.

"Quite all right, my boy. What you've shown me is more than enough. Though I'll pay less because you've been holding out on me."

Boran blinked. "You're going to let them do this? Sell you second-rate weaponry while they hoard the best for themselves?"

Gorgon laughed louder. "What kind of a farmer sells his farm for a single meal?"

Boran didn't really know how to respond to that, so he simply stood there, dumbfounded.

Gorgon turned back to Arak. "I'll give you 50,000,000 credits for the whole batch."

Boran's mouth opened and closed like a fish pulled from the water. "F... fifty... MILLION credits?!"

Gorgon looked at him and nodded. "It's really not so much. These plans will put us years ahead of the labs that are trying to salvage the technology lost on that convoy they attacked." He grinned. "Besides, Saotome gets special rates as he's an old friend of mine."

Boran looked slightly winded. "Of... of course. Forgive me, it is not my place to question your business dealings. I was merely surprised at the amount."

Gorgon shrugged. "Question them if you want, I don't throw this much money at somebody without good reason. I happen to have a very good investment for the... ah, new type of combat droid. So, what do you say? Is it a deal?"

Arak didn't quite know what to say, and was wondering where Ranma was.

As if in answer, Ranma appeared outside the room's large arched entrance. "SOLD!!"

His exclaimation was followed by. "There you are!" and *Glomp*.

Arak nodded as Ranma struggled under a giggling Miyuki. He hit a few buttons on his data pad, then put it away. "All right, I've uploaded the decryption codes into your datapad. The full plans are now available to you."

Gorgon nodded. "Very good. I'll have the credits hauled to your ship. All New Republic currency though. Is that all right?"

Arak nodded, then stood up and bowed before leaving for the pool area.



Gorgon watched as Miyuki straddled Ranma's back in glee and sighed warmly. "Ah, to be young again. Those two would make some fine grandchildren for me." Boran raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Sonya laughed lightly, and cuddled up next to her master's side, letting her fingers play across his back.

He smiled at her. "Not just yet. We'll turn in later, dear." He turned back to the entrance. "Saotome! If I could speak to you for a moment!"

With a groan and a pout, Miyuki got off of him, and Ranma scrambled for the room.

"Yes sir?" He gasped. Why did that girl have to be so... aggressive all the time?

Gorgon laughed at Ranma's disoriented state, to which he gave an irritated frown.

"Heh heh... Ranma, I have a proposition for you. I've recently had a certain... politician take action against me, claiming that this establishment we have here is worthy of total destruction by the New Republic's fleet. Though he hasn't gained much support, his persistance annoys me. I would like to see this man dealt with."

Ranma blinked. Boran looked startled, and got up from his position against the wall.

Gorgon smiled warmly. "I was originally going to order his termination, but you're rather creative, and I really would like to see him totally humiliated instead. I'll give you an extra 50,000 credits to do this for me. Payable upon the recording of his humiliation being delivered, of course."

Boran looked back and forth between Ranma and Gorgon.

Ranma looked thoughtful. "And who would this guy be?"

Gorgon leaned back and gestured for Sonya to massage him. "His name is Mal Ta'ern, a Twi'lek governor from Ryloth. As you know, some of my more frequent customers like to make raiding runs across there, and recently they've tightened security. That's not my problem, but this fool demands that further measures be taken. He doesn't know where we are, but he intends a full sweep of the area to find out, and then total obliteration of this city. You know I can't allow that."

Boran had finally had enough, though his outrage was very well-suppressed. "There must be some mistake. That man was to be my fleet's target."

Gorgon dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "Yes yes, I know. That was before this lad showed up, though. Your group will not be needed."

Boran's face was the very personification of control. "Very well. It is as you wish."

Ranma was impressed, as the man was obviously seething. "Well, all right. You want to see him humiliated, right?"

Gorgon nodded. "Yes. Oh, and try not to make it too destructive. We're trying to avoid having Ryloth push military action against us, and destroying the entire defense fleet won't help that at all."

Ranma laughed awkwardly. "Right. As you say."

Gorgon turned to the cyan-skinned man glowering at Ranma. "Boran, you are no longer needed here. You may leave."

Boran looked surprised. "What of our discussion of your alliance with Shade? I am their chosen representative, after all."

Gorgon blinked, while Ranma looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Oh. Right. We'll talk about that later, I suppose. Good day, Rehli."

Boran gave one last glance at Ranma, then bowed deeply, and left.

Gorgon turned back to Ranma. "Now that that's taken care of, how long will it be until your ship is repaired, Saotome?"

Ranma blinked. "Uh, well, it's pretty badly damaged, but Rac and Rayden had a lot of time with it, so it should be ready in two days, tops."

Ranma wasn't sure why Gorgon was smiling.

"Well, then I'll have to insist that you spend the night here, then!"

Ranma started twitching, which wasn't helped when Miyuki hugged him again from behind.

"I may have some ideas as to where you can sleep tonight......" she drawled out seductively.



Rayden and Arak watched impassively as their leader was reduced to a stuttering wreck.

Arak turned to his comrade. "Should we tell him there's a guest room?"

Rayden shot him a look. "And get Miyuki mad at us? Do you want to spend the night in a sewage ditch?"

Arak shook his head and left for the buffet table.

Rayden started toward the entrance, then called back to Ranma.

"Hey boss! I'm gonna go mug some pedestrians, okay?"

"WAIT!! Take me with you!"

___________________________________________________________________________ _______



"Like, these shoes are old news! Pass!" April took off Yuri's shoes and threw them over his shoulder, where they impacted Arak's head heavily. Everyone ignored his indignant complaints.

Yuri was having fun. Sort of. While she had never held much of an interest in fashion, it was nice to be spending time with a bunch of girls her own age. Then again, she was still mildly freaked out by the way they acted.

"So, like, what kind of style are you into? There's like, elegant princess, the military no-nonsense look, adventurer's style, or we can, like, fit you into a gold bikini and chain you to a chair." May smirked at her baffled look.

June chuckled. "She's just kidding about the last one. That's, like, what we do for the elegant princess."

Yuri would've fallen over, except she was being strongly supported by April.

Suddenly a new voice interrupted their rushed conversations. "Excuse me girls. Can I borrow her for a minute?"

Yuri looked up and saw the blond that had been grabbing Ranma earlier walking up to them. She felt a wave of envy before she ruthlessly pushed it down. After all, this woman was obviously Ranma's lover.

April looked up at her in annoyance. "Like, what do you want, Miyuki? We're like, busy here!"

Miyuki looked at her evenly for a moment before speaking. "You know, I think the old mall in sector 18 is having a sale today."

Suddenly Yuri found herself alone with the older girl.

"Purse! Purse! Like, where's my stupid purse!" May's voice echoed through the large hallways.

Yuri blinked at Miyuki. "There's a mall here?"

"No. But it'll be at least five minutes before they remember that." Her expression didn't waver.

Yuri felt herself coloring slightly as Miyuki circled her, looking her over from head to toe. The fact that she was in a small dressing booth and topless didn't help things. She thought about covering herself, but decided that it would be best to just stay calm and see what the other girl wanted.

Finally she spoke. "So you're the girl traveling with Saotome." It wasn't a question.

Yuri started fidgeting with a lock of green hair which cascaded over her shoulder. "Well, yeah. Until he can get me to a safe port, anyway. And there's nothing between us!" she said the last part tensely, as if she was trying to convince herself.

Miyuki raised an eyebrow. "Really? So you don't have any interest in him?"

Yuri shook her head. "Yes...... I mean no! I mean, yes, I don't have any interest in him! Wait.........."

Miyuki chuckled. "You can calm down, girl. If you're sleeping with Ranma, that's really your business. I just want to chat a little bit about him."

Yuri reddened even more at the implication. "I'm not!"

Miyuki shrugged. "Your loss, I guess."

Yuri shook her head and looked down. "I... well, he's a criminal!"

Miyuki blinked, then laughed. "You're talking to someone who lives in the galaxy's #1 rat hole for criminals, girl. Look, outlaw or not, Ranma's different from the rest of the morons that you'll find around here."

Yuri nodded slightly. She could understand that. How many raiders would risk their own lives to save an evacuation fleet?

"I-I know what you mean, but still..."

Miyuki shook her head. "Still nothing. Look girl, I've met guys that are better looking than Ranma, and slept with every one of them. The difference is, you're just another whore to those jerks. Ranma, he treats you like you're a person. He CARES. He may be all 'take from the weak and give to myself', but so is everybody else in this dump, as well as most of your high-and-mighty diplomats."

Yuri seemed to contemplate all that the other girl had said as she put on her new outfit. "You're right." She said simply.

Miyuki grinned and winked at her. "Just wanted to get a point across, hon. We girls are all in this together. Tell me if you ever manage to get him in the sack, okay?"

Yuri blushed again and was struggling to form a quick response, when she heard June's voice.

"Hey! There's no mall in sector 18! I like, can't believe you pulled that stupid trick again!"



*************************************************************************** *******



End Chapter 7