Until the End
Chapter 17
Impact
Parker could have sworn at that moment that time stopped. When Ranma emerged from the bushes and pointed his rifle at him just as he came out of his role their eyes locked. Ranma's eyes were wild, almost too insane to be human. Without thinking, Parker uttered Ranma's name, just as Ranma pulled the trigger.
The round exited Ranma's gun and zinged Parker on the neck, creating a centimeter deep wound as it passed through Parker's flesh and impacted the tree directly behind Parker's head. Parker, who was so surprised when Ranma fired, fell backwards as his hand, which had been cradling his rifle, came up to the wound on his neck. He let out a yelp of surprise when the pain finally began to register. It didn't hurt; it was just the shock of being shot by Ranma.
For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened. All Parker could hear was the ragged breath of Ranma, and the clatter of gunfire back in the Japanese camp. Slowly, Parker raised his head to meet Ranma's face.
"P-Phil?" Ranma asked in a shaky voice. His gun fell from his hands and hit the soft earth. Ranma's face was ashen white.
Phil took a moment to register his voice. "How's it going Ranma?" It was an incredibly stupid question, given the circumstances, but it was the best he could come up with.
"W-what are you doing here?" Ranma asked, in the same shaky voice.
Parker cleared his throat. "Me and two other Green Beret's have been shadowing your regiment for about three days. When I finally came up to actually observe your platoon, I noticed it was you and sent the others back and I decided to follow you. I was about to leave when that soldier spotted me."
"You killed him," Ranma said, it was an observation, not an accusation.
"Yes," Parker nodded. "If I hadn't then you would probably be looking at me with my eyes rolled back in my head."
Ranma didn't respond, he simply looked at the ground.
Phil decided that maybe this would be a good time to leave. He got to his feet just as Ranma spoke.
"Phil, w-what should I do?" Ranma asked, his voice pleading.
Parker looked up and saw the helpless expression on Ranma's face. Just five minutes ago Ranma's face held the look of a killer, one hell-bent on taking my life, and he almost did.
When Phil didn't respond Ranma continued. "I don't know what I'm doing here, I-I just want to go home," Ranma said. "S-should I go with you?"
Parker frowned. He wasn't familiar with these types of situations, but then again who would be.
"I think for best," Parker spoke at last, "you should head back to your camp Ranma."
"But I don't want to go back," Ranma said, his voice but a whisper.
Phil looked at Ranma and felt like he was looking at a child. A confused and scared child, one that was in a situation where no man should be and completely unable to handle it. He was about to reply when a crashing noise came from the bushes behind Ranma.
Reacting on instinct, Parker grabbed his XM25 and leveled it at the bushes. He idly checked to make sure Ranma was out of his line of fire and focused on the bush. Just as he decided that whoever it was had gotten close enough, the small child he had seen earlier burst through the foliage with a cry.
Parker dipped his muzzle down, so it pointed at the ground, and stared in shock at the little girl.
The girl looked at both men for a moment before running up to Ranma and grasping onto his leg. Ranma, very naturally given the situation, reached down and hoisted the girl into his arms.
Parker regained his senses and a look of anger crossed his face.
"What the hell is the matter with you Ranma!?" Parker demanded furiously. "How could you bring a child with you into a battle zone? What did you do, steal her from her parents?"
Ranma's eyes grew cold and he regarded Parker with an angry stare.
"If I had not brought Natalie with me than she would have been shot to death by the other troops Phil. Her parents were killed when her village was gunned down by another platoon." " So, is that what you are doing, shooting innocent civilians?" Parker asked angrily.
"It wasn't me!" Ranma protested. "I stopped the other soldiers but I was too late, all of the villagers were dead." Ranma was about to say something else but stopped.
Parker noticed this and motioned for him to continue.
Ranma hesitated but went on. "I know it seems like a stupid thing to do but I couldn't not take her along, after I saw what the other soldiers were doing to the Russian villages I had no choice. It was either I take her along or leave her in the hands of some sick people that would do god only knows what to her."
Parker was about to respond when the sound of voices calling out rolled through the area. It was the soldiers from Ranma's regiment, and they were looking for him.
Parker cursed and picked up his rifle. He checked the area to make sure he hadn't dropped anything and returned his gaze to Ranma.
"Look, if you're worried about the girl's safety then I'll take her. There are a few camps that are taking in Russian civilians that have become homeless because of the war. I'll take her there."
Ranma's face took on a look of uncertainty and he took a step back.
Phil saw this and held out his rifle. Ranma saw what he was getting at, either he leave the child with him now, or Parker would take her from him with force.
When Phil spoke, it was in the voice of the man Ranma had known before this war had started. "If you really care about her safety Ranma, then you'll leave her with me. I can't take you with me yet, and I can't tell you why, but if you were to disappear from your regiment right now without any signs of a struggle than they'll suspect that something's up, and it will make this war go on longer. Just trust me."
Ranma, with tears rimming his eyes, put Natalie on the ground and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Take good care of her," Ranma said, his voice nothing but a whisper.
Parker, moving quicker than Ranma could interpret, closed the distance between them and enveloped Ranma in a hug. He slapped his back and spoke softly in his ear.
"Were both going to get out of this Ranma, and when it's all done, I'll shake your hand."
Parker released Ranma and picked Natalie up into his well-muscled arms, ignoring the girl's protests. He grabbed his XM25 in his other arm and turned around, running deeper into the forest without looking back.
Ranma, who had watched Phil disappear into the trees, fell to his knees and began to cry.
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"You know, I really think we should quit while were ahead," Akari said as she looked down at the floor plans for the Imperial Palace.
"Yes," Akane said, "that would probably be a good idea except that we haven't exactly gotten ahead so we really can't use your suggestion."
Akari glared at Akane for a second. "What I meant, Akane, is that our first expedition was anything but a colossal success, and now that we've determined that the Prime Minister is of anything but a sound mind, I have to ask if it is still a good idea for us to be doing this."
Kimura cleared his throat to get the attention of Akane and Akari, who were trading glares from either side of the table. "Ladies please, the last thing we need right now is to have a fight begin amongst ourselves. To answer your inquiry Akari, yes, we are all aware that our raid on the Information Minister's offices was not a resounding success, and yes, we are all well aware that the Prime Minister is appearing to be chemically imbalanced. But when we first started this organization we were all clear on the thought that no matter what happened, we were going to everything we could to end this unjust war. Right now we all have a decision to make, we can either decide that we've done what we can, or we can make one last stab at this."
A silence filled the room, and Akari and Akane looked uncomfortably at the table.
Kimura continued. "While we are not going to be able to actually publish the documents we found in the Information Ministry, that does not mean that we have no other options. So far, the Japanese government has failed to produce any sufficient evidence in the matter of the Emperor's death. Ishii and I have come to the conclusion that while we cannot publish unofficial documents on the matter, what we can do is maybe give the police a helping hand."
Akane considered Kimura's words for a moment before replying. "But Kimura, were civilians, the police are not going to just accept our help. Whatever evidence we may discover will be thrown out of any court situation that may come to pass."
Kimura nodded his head. "True, but that would only happen if we did not have the police on our sides."
Everyone looked at Kimura in confusion but he simply smiled and got to his feet. He slid open the shoji doors and motioned for someone no one could see to enter.
"Everyone, I would like to introduce Inspector Fujita, head inspector of the Tokyo police department."
Inspector Fujita bowed low, and Akane and Akari quickly got to their feet to return his bow.
"To answer what many of you are probably thinking, I will first explain that we have the entire east side of the Tokyo police on our side."
Akane and Akari motioned for Inspector Fujita to sit and Akane handed him a cup full of tea. Fujita nodded his thanks and took a sip.
Fujita turned his body and looked at Ishii. "Inafune, I would ask you if you have explained to the other members of your group about the measures that the government has taken to disrupt the investigation into the assassination of the Emperor."
Ishii shook his head in the negative. "No, I wasn't sure if that info would prove useful later on and I didn't want anybody to go blab it out to the press. But seeing as it's just those two," he said indicating Akane and Akari, "I felt it would be alright to have you over."
Inspector Fujita nodded, and turned back to Akane and Akari. "From day one of our investigation the government has inserted itself in all of our activities. We have had evidence taken from us. Three weeks after the Emperor's death, we were on the tail of a suspected government worker that had called the apartment of the man that we suspect to have been behind the assassination, but just as we were about to close in, two government officials from the Defense Department informed us that the man in question was under protection from the government and he would be exempt from all court dealings if we attempted to try him. This of course angered and frustrated us to no ends. We were at the end of our rope when I encountered Secretary Kimura, and he was able to tip me off to what the government was actually doing."
Kimura picked up the conversation. "Once it became clear to me that Shizuko's government was doing all it could to stop the actual investigation, I decided that it would be best to give the police department a helping hand. From here on in, I would like to remind everyone here that what we are about to talk about is not to go outside this room. If any of the other people in this little resistance group were to hear about this, they may decide to tip off the government in return for any kind of monetary value. Not everyone that has joined our cause is actually true of heart."
The others nodded.
"Okay, now that that's out of the way, I want to get right down to business," Kimura said. He reached forward and grabbed the map layout for the Imperial grounds. "I suppose it may seem odd that I have brought these to your attention, but, if were going to be able to do this like a police department, were going to have start at the beginning."
He looked up from the floor plans and smiled.
"This is going to take awhile."
===============
"So what's up with the kid?"
Parker turned his head and looked at the Green Beret sergeant that he had sent back to the base before encountering Ranma.
"If you don't want me to rip those stripes from your shoulders than I think it would be best if you addressed me in the proper way," Parker said, turning his back to the soldier.
The sergeant, who had come to the conclusion that the general was one hundred percent fucking serious about ripping off his sergeant's stripes, quickly amended his tone.
"No insult intended sir."
"That's a little better," Parker replied. He made it a point to not recognize the soldier's presence and instead picked up the small girl and carried her off to his barrack. Once inside, he removed his gun belt and web pack, dropping them in the corner of the barrack and walked over to his bed, where he set the girl down. Not caring where it landed, Parker ripped the temporary dressing that he had placed over the wound Ranma gave him and tossed it. He reached over to his bedside table and removed another package. He applied some antiseptic to the wound and pushed the dressing over the wound, his mind registering the pain but Parker did nothing else.
Over and over again Parker watched in his mind as Ranma emerged from the trees and fired. The murderous look in his eyes coupled with the absolute deadly accuracy that he had commanded had scared Parker more than anything he could have ever imagined. Another image appeared in his mind, and this time it was of Ranma again, but he now sported a look of helplessness as he pleaded for Parker to take him away from the hell he was in.
I should have taken him, Parker told himself. Even though he knew it would have created far more problems than it would have solved, Parker allowed himself to dwell on the fact.
Feeling very tired, Parker sat himself down onto his bed. Hearing a soft yelp from his side brought his attention to the young girl, who had been bumped in the air when Parker thumped down on the couch.
"What is your name?" Parker asked. When the girl didn't reply, he repeated the question, but in Russian.
The girl inched her way away from Parker before sitting back and glaring at him.
"Natalie," Parker said. "That is what Ranma called you, is that your real name?"
She nodded her head curtly.
"I want you to know that Ranma agreed to me taking care of you, otherwise he would have objected when I took you."
Natalie looked as if she would cry and Parker reached over. She flinched away from his hand, but ended up nearly toppling over the edge of the bed. Parker caught her and brought her beside him.
"Listen girl," Parker said softly. "You may not like me, but I need you to know that whatever happens I will make sure you see Ranma again."
Natalie looked up at Parker and tears spilled down her cheeks.
"Do you mean it?"
Parker didn't respond, he instead picked her up and cradled her in his lap.
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The Chinese Premier, Ma Zhisheng, waited impatiently for his military chief of staff to finish his coffee.
"General, I would prefer to get this out of the way before I lose my patience," Premier Zhisheng said as he allowed his fingers to drum on his desk.
The Secretary of the Army looked over his coffee at the Premier and smiled.
"So," Zhisheng began, "how are our forces faring?"
SECARMY paused in thought and took a moment to frame his reply.
"We are continuing to push north towards Alden, and it should be possible to capture the city before Russian forces have any chance to formulate a defense of the city."
"That's good," Zhisheng said, and then leaned forward on his desk to stare intently at the general. "And what of these rumors that American forces have been conducting raids on Japanese and Chinese camps?"
The general looked uncomfortable and shifted in his seat. "It has yet to be confirmed yet, but it would seem that American Special Forces groups have been conducting operations against our forces and the Japanese. They are from a Special Forces group called "Green Berets". The name is given for the French beret that soldiers and officers in that group wear. It has been confirmed that some Navy aircraft have been flying sorties over Siberia."
"And how has this affected our advancement into Siberia?" Zhisheng asked after a moment.
"So far we have been forced to leave several occupied cities and villages, and it seems that some regiments have run away, throwing down their weapons. But I don't attribute that to the fact that American troops are inside Siberia. From what I have discerned, it would have happened inevitably, with or without American involvement."
Zhisheng leaned back into his chair and looked at the general. "So what you're saying is that the Americans are not doing significant damage to change the course of our advancement into Siberia?"
"Yes," the general answered.
Zhisheng reached up and pushed his hair away from his forehead, allowing a long twisted scar to come into view.
"Do you know where I received this scar general?"
The Secretary of the Army shook his head in the negative.
"Four years ago, on the last night of the Pacific War, I was walking to my car. An emergency meeting of the Politburo had been called. I was about to get in my car and drive to the meeting, my driver had been asleep, when the first bomb dropped, hitting my house and sending shrapnel twisting through the air. The concussion knocked me to the ground, which allowed me to miss the first piece of shrapnel by a centimeter, but then the second bomb dropped and I was struck eighteen times. I was on the operating table for thirteen hours. I still have trouble walking, and I have lost seventy two percent usage of my left arm. I survived that attack."
"But the other members of the Politburo weren't as lucky. Every other member was killed except for Jingshu, but he was later imprisoned for government corruption." Zhisheng stared at the general. "The scars that adorn my body are a constant reminder of what the Americans are capable of when they become seriously angered. Taking the Americans lightly was what resulted in our country being permanently removed from Taiwan and having Hong Kong's billions of dollars of revenue removed from us."
The general was stunned, and he didn't reply to the Premier.
"So you see," Zhisheng went on, "that is the reason why I am now passing a directive to all of our troops in Siberia. For every American soldier killed, their paycheck will double. If they manage to bring me back a prisoner, than their paycheck will triple."
"Sir are you sure that is wise, I mean, if the press gets wind of this they will announce that the Americans have joined the fight against our country and Japan," the general said.
"I will handle the press," Zhisheng answered coldly. "All I want from you is to hear 'yes sir'."
"Yes sir," the Secretary of the Army said quietly before rising to his feet and walking out of the Premier's office.
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Second Lieutenant Gogol watched silently as the American general walked out of his cabin with a small child in tow. While this was a most peculiar sight, Gogol made sure the general did not see him looking. Lieutenant Gogol was about to leave the mess hall when a hand clamped down on his shoulder, startling him. He turned and saw the sergeant from his platoon looking at the American general as he entered the mess hall.
"There have been two very different stories circulating about how the general came into possession of that girl. The first, and the widely believed rumor, is that the general has been taking tours of Russian villages with the Green Berets and pillaging them."
"I am quite certain that such thoughts are incorrect sergeant," Gogol said.
"Yes sir," the sergeant said. "And that is why I find the other story far more believable. It seems that the general ran into a Japanese platoon the other day and he followed them back to their camp. He ended up killing some of the soldiers and he stole the girl from them in the ensuing confusion. While I hardly think that he stole the girl, I do find this story to be more believable."
"And why are you telling me this?" Gogol asked carefully. The last thing he wanted was to get into a dispute over which ridiculous rumor was true.
"General Parker likes you, and if he were to tell anyone what actually happened than he would be likely to tell you."
"What makes you think I would even care why he has that child?" Gogol asked a little too loudly. Several heads turned at the table nearest to the door.
The sergeant looked in irritation at Gogol for speaking so loudly. "I wasn't suggesting you demand an answer lieutenant, I merely thought that maybe once the truth gets around the ranks, and there'll be a lot less gossip. The troops remind me of a bunch of old women sitting around the steps of an apartment complex."
Gogol looked at his NCO for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and walking back into the mess hall and towards the table occupied by General Parker and the small Russian girl. As Gogol approached, he saw that the general was showing the girl what the inside of an MRE (meal-ready to eat) looked like. The child looked a little disgusted and asked the general if he had to eat that all the time. The general responded with a laugh that he only ate those if the leaves on the tree next to him were too high to reach.
Almost seeming to sense Gogol's presence, General Parker turned around in his seat and looked at him.
"Good afternoon general," Gogol said by way of greeting.
"Afternoon lieutenant," Parker replied. He nudged the girl beside him and she smiled and repeated Parker's words. Parker smiled at her and gazed up at Gogol. "Something I can help you with lieutenant?"
"I was wondering if I could perhaps speak with the general alone sir, it's about a matter that I feel needs to be discussed," Gogol said, trying to keep his face relaxed, and to not allow his nervousness to show.
General Parker regarded him for a moment before smiling. He looked down at the child and asked her if she would be alright to eat on her own for a few minutes.
Once they were outside the mess hall Parker motioned for Gogol to walk with him.
"I take it that the matter you wish to discuss is my bringing the child back with me when I was out on my own the other day," Parker said.
"Was I that obvious?" Gogol asked lightly.
Parker looked at him, a smile on his face. "No, but I know that the subject has been on the mind's of every officer and enlisted man in this base. I am sure that based on our relationship people have been assuming that you know."
"Yes," Gogol replied. "I finally decided that maybe if I learned the truth it would be possible for me to end this gossiping. It is unbecoming of soldiers to act in such a manner."
Parker smiled again. "I want you to know that I greatly respect you as a soldier lieutenant, and I would hope that you feel the same about me. But even if you don't I want to tell you exactly what happened when I followed the Japanese platoon."
Gogol tried to conceal his surprise but failed.
"Why don't we head over to my barrack, I asked the colonel if he could watch Natalie while we speak."
===============
Sergeant Yoshida had been lucky. The bullet that hit him missed his heart by only a few inches, but the damage had been done. When the bullet first entered his chest, it hit his rib cage, and smashed through the bone, leaving bane fragments and pieces of the bullet in his body. He had been on the operating table for almost four hours now.
When Ranma finally returned to the camp, that was where he found Yoshida. He realized that it was Phil that had shot his NCO in the chest, and wondered why he was neither enraged nor angry at his friend.
The surgeon told him, in a very direct manner, that he would have to wait to see his sergeant. Ranma decided that it would be best to just sit outside the halftrack that they were using as an operating room. It was another two hours before the surgeon had been able to remove all the debris in Sergeant Yoshida's body, and when the surgeon came out to tell Ranma, he found him sleeping sitting upright against the halftrack. He lightly touched Ranma's shoulder and told him he could go see Yoshida now.
The halftrack smelled thickly of blood and vomit. The surgeon told Ranma that a couple of the attendants had weak stomachs, and ended up spilling their dinners on the floor of the halftrack once he started to remove bone fragments from the sergeant's chest.
Sergeant Yoshida was flat on his back, a tube sticking into his chest that looked like it was sucking blood out of it, and another tube was stuck lower and it was putting blood into his body. Ranma felt a pang of anger at that moment, but surprisingly it was directed at himself, and not at Phil.
He never should have just dropped Natalie down. If he had just handed her to Yoshida than they would both still be here.
Ranma removed his helmet and set it down on the floor, he then sat on it. They did not have a respirator with them so Yoshida was breathing on his own, though it sounded as if every breath sent pain throughout his body. The surgeon had told him that it would be touch and go for awhile, at least until they could airlift Yoshida out of here and get him to a real hospital.
The surgeon had said something else, something that had shocked Ranma. A directive had been sent down by the CO just before the regiments split to go to their assigned locations in Siberia. All morphine was to be saved for those that were dying. For the soldiers that were going to live, they would have to go without.
That of course meant that Yoshida was feeling every bit of the pain that was coursing through his body. Ranma was surprised that the man was asleep.
After an hour or so Ranma began to tire, and he laid his head down on the bed, trying to get some rest.
He woke with a start, an hour or so later, and was surprised to see that he was looking into the eyes of Kenji Yoshida. The sergeant seemed to be slightly dazed, as if he didn't have a complete control over his own body. Ranma wasn't surprised, out of all the other medications Yoshida received, he was probably drugged up pretty well.
"How long have you been awake?" Ranma asked, leaning back from the bed.
"I'm not sure," Yoshida responded. His voice was constricted, almost as if he was having trouble forming his words.
"How are you feeling?"
Yoshida looked down at his chest for a moment before shrugging, which caused the tubes that were in his chest to stretch, which in turn sent a large tendril of pain lancing through his body. He cried out, and coughed as blood dripped down his mouth.
Fuck the directive, Ranma told himself as he got to his feet and searched the supplies until he came across the bottle of morphine. He filled a needle to the appropriate point and injected Yoshida with it. It took a few minutes, but Yoshida finally looked to be at ease.
"Ranma?" Yoshida asked which startled Ranma. Yoshida had never called him by his first name; it was either 'lieutenant' or 'sir'.
"Yeah?" Ranma responded.
"Is Natalie alright?" he asked suddenly.
Luckily for Ranma, Yoshida failed to notice the sudden twitch that hit his body when the question was asked. Could he possibly tell Yoshida the truth, he was going to find out eventually anyway.
Ranma looked at Yoshida's face and saw that his NCO looked like he would throw up if he found out something happened.
"She's just fine Kenji, she's okay."
"Good," Yoshida said with content as he let his eyelids slowly drop.
"We'll all be alright," Ranma said, looking down at the ground, his voice quiet.
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Author's Notes: Ohhh, two reviews on the last chapter. Was it really that bad? I hope you like this one better.
On an unrelated note, I want to express the thanks of my husband who, while serving in Iraq, found your nice reviews a good boost of spirit. Okay, maybe that wasn't too unrelated.
Parker could have sworn at that moment that time stopped. When Ranma emerged from the bushes and pointed his rifle at him just as he came out of his role their eyes locked. Ranma's eyes were wild, almost too insane to be human. Without thinking, Parker uttered Ranma's name, just as Ranma pulled the trigger.
The round exited Ranma's gun and zinged Parker on the neck, creating a centimeter deep wound as it passed through Parker's flesh and impacted the tree directly behind Parker's head. Parker, who was so surprised when Ranma fired, fell backwards as his hand, which had been cradling his rifle, came up to the wound on his neck. He let out a yelp of surprise when the pain finally began to register. It didn't hurt; it was just the shock of being shot by Ranma.
For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened. All Parker could hear was the ragged breath of Ranma, and the clatter of gunfire back in the Japanese camp. Slowly, Parker raised his head to meet Ranma's face.
"P-Phil?" Ranma asked in a shaky voice. His gun fell from his hands and hit the soft earth. Ranma's face was ashen white.
Phil took a moment to register his voice. "How's it going Ranma?" It was an incredibly stupid question, given the circumstances, but it was the best he could come up with.
"W-what are you doing here?" Ranma asked, in the same shaky voice.
Parker cleared his throat. "Me and two other Green Beret's have been shadowing your regiment for about three days. When I finally came up to actually observe your platoon, I noticed it was you and sent the others back and I decided to follow you. I was about to leave when that soldier spotted me."
"You killed him," Ranma said, it was an observation, not an accusation.
"Yes," Parker nodded. "If I hadn't then you would probably be looking at me with my eyes rolled back in my head."
Ranma didn't respond, he simply looked at the ground.
Phil decided that maybe this would be a good time to leave. He got to his feet just as Ranma spoke.
"Phil, w-what should I do?" Ranma asked, his voice pleading.
Parker looked up and saw the helpless expression on Ranma's face. Just five minutes ago Ranma's face held the look of a killer, one hell-bent on taking my life, and he almost did.
When Phil didn't respond Ranma continued. "I don't know what I'm doing here, I-I just want to go home," Ranma said. "S-should I go with you?"
Parker frowned. He wasn't familiar with these types of situations, but then again who would be.
"I think for best," Parker spoke at last, "you should head back to your camp Ranma."
"But I don't want to go back," Ranma said, his voice but a whisper.
Phil looked at Ranma and felt like he was looking at a child. A confused and scared child, one that was in a situation where no man should be and completely unable to handle it. He was about to reply when a crashing noise came from the bushes behind Ranma.
Reacting on instinct, Parker grabbed his XM25 and leveled it at the bushes. He idly checked to make sure Ranma was out of his line of fire and focused on the bush. Just as he decided that whoever it was had gotten close enough, the small child he had seen earlier burst through the foliage with a cry.
Parker dipped his muzzle down, so it pointed at the ground, and stared in shock at the little girl.
The girl looked at both men for a moment before running up to Ranma and grasping onto his leg. Ranma, very naturally given the situation, reached down and hoisted the girl into his arms.
Parker regained his senses and a look of anger crossed his face.
"What the hell is the matter with you Ranma!?" Parker demanded furiously. "How could you bring a child with you into a battle zone? What did you do, steal her from her parents?"
Ranma's eyes grew cold and he regarded Parker with an angry stare.
"If I had not brought Natalie with me than she would have been shot to death by the other troops Phil. Her parents were killed when her village was gunned down by another platoon." " So, is that what you are doing, shooting innocent civilians?" Parker asked angrily.
"It wasn't me!" Ranma protested. "I stopped the other soldiers but I was too late, all of the villagers were dead." Ranma was about to say something else but stopped.
Parker noticed this and motioned for him to continue.
Ranma hesitated but went on. "I know it seems like a stupid thing to do but I couldn't not take her along, after I saw what the other soldiers were doing to the Russian villages I had no choice. It was either I take her along or leave her in the hands of some sick people that would do god only knows what to her."
Parker was about to respond when the sound of voices calling out rolled through the area. It was the soldiers from Ranma's regiment, and they were looking for him.
Parker cursed and picked up his rifle. He checked the area to make sure he hadn't dropped anything and returned his gaze to Ranma.
"Look, if you're worried about the girl's safety then I'll take her. There are a few camps that are taking in Russian civilians that have become homeless because of the war. I'll take her there."
Ranma's face took on a look of uncertainty and he took a step back.
Phil saw this and held out his rifle. Ranma saw what he was getting at, either he leave the child with him now, or Parker would take her from him with force.
When Phil spoke, it was in the voice of the man Ranma had known before this war had started. "If you really care about her safety Ranma, then you'll leave her with me. I can't take you with me yet, and I can't tell you why, but if you were to disappear from your regiment right now without any signs of a struggle than they'll suspect that something's up, and it will make this war go on longer. Just trust me."
Ranma, with tears rimming his eyes, put Natalie on the ground and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Take good care of her," Ranma said, his voice nothing but a whisper.
Parker, moving quicker than Ranma could interpret, closed the distance between them and enveloped Ranma in a hug. He slapped his back and spoke softly in his ear.
"Were both going to get out of this Ranma, and when it's all done, I'll shake your hand."
Parker released Ranma and picked Natalie up into his well-muscled arms, ignoring the girl's protests. He grabbed his XM25 in his other arm and turned around, running deeper into the forest without looking back.
Ranma, who had watched Phil disappear into the trees, fell to his knees and began to cry.
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"You know, I really think we should quit while were ahead," Akari said as she looked down at the floor plans for the Imperial Palace.
"Yes," Akane said, "that would probably be a good idea except that we haven't exactly gotten ahead so we really can't use your suggestion."
Akari glared at Akane for a second. "What I meant, Akane, is that our first expedition was anything but a colossal success, and now that we've determined that the Prime Minister is of anything but a sound mind, I have to ask if it is still a good idea for us to be doing this."
Kimura cleared his throat to get the attention of Akane and Akari, who were trading glares from either side of the table. "Ladies please, the last thing we need right now is to have a fight begin amongst ourselves. To answer your inquiry Akari, yes, we are all aware that our raid on the Information Minister's offices was not a resounding success, and yes, we are all well aware that the Prime Minister is appearing to be chemically imbalanced. But when we first started this organization we were all clear on the thought that no matter what happened, we were going to everything we could to end this unjust war. Right now we all have a decision to make, we can either decide that we've done what we can, or we can make one last stab at this."
A silence filled the room, and Akari and Akane looked uncomfortably at the table.
Kimura continued. "While we are not going to be able to actually publish the documents we found in the Information Ministry, that does not mean that we have no other options. So far, the Japanese government has failed to produce any sufficient evidence in the matter of the Emperor's death. Ishii and I have come to the conclusion that while we cannot publish unofficial documents on the matter, what we can do is maybe give the police a helping hand."
Akane considered Kimura's words for a moment before replying. "But Kimura, were civilians, the police are not going to just accept our help. Whatever evidence we may discover will be thrown out of any court situation that may come to pass."
Kimura nodded his head. "True, but that would only happen if we did not have the police on our sides."
Everyone looked at Kimura in confusion but he simply smiled and got to his feet. He slid open the shoji doors and motioned for someone no one could see to enter.
"Everyone, I would like to introduce Inspector Fujita, head inspector of the Tokyo police department."
Inspector Fujita bowed low, and Akane and Akari quickly got to their feet to return his bow.
"To answer what many of you are probably thinking, I will first explain that we have the entire east side of the Tokyo police on our side."
Akane and Akari motioned for Inspector Fujita to sit and Akane handed him a cup full of tea. Fujita nodded his thanks and took a sip.
Fujita turned his body and looked at Ishii. "Inafune, I would ask you if you have explained to the other members of your group about the measures that the government has taken to disrupt the investigation into the assassination of the Emperor."
Ishii shook his head in the negative. "No, I wasn't sure if that info would prove useful later on and I didn't want anybody to go blab it out to the press. But seeing as it's just those two," he said indicating Akane and Akari, "I felt it would be alright to have you over."
Inspector Fujita nodded, and turned back to Akane and Akari. "From day one of our investigation the government has inserted itself in all of our activities. We have had evidence taken from us. Three weeks after the Emperor's death, we were on the tail of a suspected government worker that had called the apartment of the man that we suspect to have been behind the assassination, but just as we were about to close in, two government officials from the Defense Department informed us that the man in question was under protection from the government and he would be exempt from all court dealings if we attempted to try him. This of course angered and frustrated us to no ends. We were at the end of our rope when I encountered Secretary Kimura, and he was able to tip me off to what the government was actually doing."
Kimura picked up the conversation. "Once it became clear to me that Shizuko's government was doing all it could to stop the actual investigation, I decided that it would be best to give the police department a helping hand. From here on in, I would like to remind everyone here that what we are about to talk about is not to go outside this room. If any of the other people in this little resistance group were to hear about this, they may decide to tip off the government in return for any kind of monetary value. Not everyone that has joined our cause is actually true of heart."
The others nodded.
"Okay, now that that's out of the way, I want to get right down to business," Kimura said. He reached forward and grabbed the map layout for the Imperial grounds. "I suppose it may seem odd that I have brought these to your attention, but, if were going to be able to do this like a police department, were going to have start at the beginning."
He looked up from the floor plans and smiled.
"This is going to take awhile."
===============
"So what's up with the kid?"
Parker turned his head and looked at the Green Beret sergeant that he had sent back to the base before encountering Ranma.
"If you don't want me to rip those stripes from your shoulders than I think it would be best if you addressed me in the proper way," Parker said, turning his back to the soldier.
The sergeant, who had come to the conclusion that the general was one hundred percent fucking serious about ripping off his sergeant's stripes, quickly amended his tone.
"No insult intended sir."
"That's a little better," Parker replied. He made it a point to not recognize the soldier's presence and instead picked up the small girl and carried her off to his barrack. Once inside, he removed his gun belt and web pack, dropping them in the corner of the barrack and walked over to his bed, where he set the girl down. Not caring where it landed, Parker ripped the temporary dressing that he had placed over the wound Ranma gave him and tossed it. He reached over to his bedside table and removed another package. He applied some antiseptic to the wound and pushed the dressing over the wound, his mind registering the pain but Parker did nothing else.
Over and over again Parker watched in his mind as Ranma emerged from the trees and fired. The murderous look in his eyes coupled with the absolute deadly accuracy that he had commanded had scared Parker more than anything he could have ever imagined. Another image appeared in his mind, and this time it was of Ranma again, but he now sported a look of helplessness as he pleaded for Parker to take him away from the hell he was in.
I should have taken him, Parker told himself. Even though he knew it would have created far more problems than it would have solved, Parker allowed himself to dwell on the fact.
Feeling very tired, Parker sat himself down onto his bed. Hearing a soft yelp from his side brought his attention to the young girl, who had been bumped in the air when Parker thumped down on the couch.
"What is your name?" Parker asked. When the girl didn't reply, he repeated the question, but in Russian.
The girl inched her way away from Parker before sitting back and glaring at him.
"Natalie," Parker said. "That is what Ranma called you, is that your real name?"
She nodded her head curtly.
"I want you to know that Ranma agreed to me taking care of you, otherwise he would have objected when I took you."
Natalie looked as if she would cry and Parker reached over. She flinched away from his hand, but ended up nearly toppling over the edge of the bed. Parker caught her and brought her beside him.
"Listen girl," Parker said softly. "You may not like me, but I need you to know that whatever happens I will make sure you see Ranma again."
Natalie looked up at Parker and tears spilled down her cheeks.
"Do you mean it?"
Parker didn't respond, he instead picked her up and cradled her in his lap.
===============
The Chinese Premier, Ma Zhisheng, waited impatiently for his military chief of staff to finish his coffee.
"General, I would prefer to get this out of the way before I lose my patience," Premier Zhisheng said as he allowed his fingers to drum on his desk.
The Secretary of the Army looked over his coffee at the Premier and smiled.
"So," Zhisheng began, "how are our forces faring?"
SECARMY paused in thought and took a moment to frame his reply.
"We are continuing to push north towards Alden, and it should be possible to capture the city before Russian forces have any chance to formulate a defense of the city."
"That's good," Zhisheng said, and then leaned forward on his desk to stare intently at the general. "And what of these rumors that American forces have been conducting raids on Japanese and Chinese camps?"
The general looked uncomfortable and shifted in his seat. "It has yet to be confirmed yet, but it would seem that American Special Forces groups have been conducting operations against our forces and the Japanese. They are from a Special Forces group called "Green Berets". The name is given for the French beret that soldiers and officers in that group wear. It has been confirmed that some Navy aircraft have been flying sorties over Siberia."
"And how has this affected our advancement into Siberia?" Zhisheng asked after a moment.
"So far we have been forced to leave several occupied cities and villages, and it seems that some regiments have run away, throwing down their weapons. But I don't attribute that to the fact that American troops are inside Siberia. From what I have discerned, it would have happened inevitably, with or without American involvement."
Zhisheng leaned back into his chair and looked at the general. "So what you're saying is that the Americans are not doing significant damage to change the course of our advancement into Siberia?"
"Yes," the general answered.
Zhisheng reached up and pushed his hair away from his forehead, allowing a long twisted scar to come into view.
"Do you know where I received this scar general?"
The Secretary of the Army shook his head in the negative.
"Four years ago, on the last night of the Pacific War, I was walking to my car. An emergency meeting of the Politburo had been called. I was about to get in my car and drive to the meeting, my driver had been asleep, when the first bomb dropped, hitting my house and sending shrapnel twisting through the air. The concussion knocked me to the ground, which allowed me to miss the first piece of shrapnel by a centimeter, but then the second bomb dropped and I was struck eighteen times. I was on the operating table for thirteen hours. I still have trouble walking, and I have lost seventy two percent usage of my left arm. I survived that attack."
"But the other members of the Politburo weren't as lucky. Every other member was killed except for Jingshu, but he was later imprisoned for government corruption." Zhisheng stared at the general. "The scars that adorn my body are a constant reminder of what the Americans are capable of when they become seriously angered. Taking the Americans lightly was what resulted in our country being permanently removed from Taiwan and having Hong Kong's billions of dollars of revenue removed from us."
The general was stunned, and he didn't reply to the Premier.
"So you see," Zhisheng went on, "that is the reason why I am now passing a directive to all of our troops in Siberia. For every American soldier killed, their paycheck will double. If they manage to bring me back a prisoner, than their paycheck will triple."
"Sir are you sure that is wise, I mean, if the press gets wind of this they will announce that the Americans have joined the fight against our country and Japan," the general said.
"I will handle the press," Zhisheng answered coldly. "All I want from you is to hear 'yes sir'."
"Yes sir," the Secretary of the Army said quietly before rising to his feet and walking out of the Premier's office.
===============
Second Lieutenant Gogol watched silently as the American general walked out of his cabin with a small child in tow. While this was a most peculiar sight, Gogol made sure the general did not see him looking. Lieutenant Gogol was about to leave the mess hall when a hand clamped down on his shoulder, startling him. He turned and saw the sergeant from his platoon looking at the American general as he entered the mess hall.
"There have been two very different stories circulating about how the general came into possession of that girl. The first, and the widely believed rumor, is that the general has been taking tours of Russian villages with the Green Berets and pillaging them."
"I am quite certain that such thoughts are incorrect sergeant," Gogol said.
"Yes sir," the sergeant said. "And that is why I find the other story far more believable. It seems that the general ran into a Japanese platoon the other day and he followed them back to their camp. He ended up killing some of the soldiers and he stole the girl from them in the ensuing confusion. While I hardly think that he stole the girl, I do find this story to be more believable."
"And why are you telling me this?" Gogol asked carefully. The last thing he wanted was to get into a dispute over which ridiculous rumor was true.
"General Parker likes you, and if he were to tell anyone what actually happened than he would be likely to tell you."
"What makes you think I would even care why he has that child?" Gogol asked a little too loudly. Several heads turned at the table nearest to the door.
The sergeant looked in irritation at Gogol for speaking so loudly. "I wasn't suggesting you demand an answer lieutenant, I merely thought that maybe once the truth gets around the ranks, and there'll be a lot less gossip. The troops remind me of a bunch of old women sitting around the steps of an apartment complex."
Gogol looked at his NCO for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and walking back into the mess hall and towards the table occupied by General Parker and the small Russian girl. As Gogol approached, he saw that the general was showing the girl what the inside of an MRE (meal-ready to eat) looked like. The child looked a little disgusted and asked the general if he had to eat that all the time. The general responded with a laugh that he only ate those if the leaves on the tree next to him were too high to reach.
Almost seeming to sense Gogol's presence, General Parker turned around in his seat and looked at him.
"Good afternoon general," Gogol said by way of greeting.
"Afternoon lieutenant," Parker replied. He nudged the girl beside him and she smiled and repeated Parker's words. Parker smiled at her and gazed up at Gogol. "Something I can help you with lieutenant?"
"I was wondering if I could perhaps speak with the general alone sir, it's about a matter that I feel needs to be discussed," Gogol said, trying to keep his face relaxed, and to not allow his nervousness to show.
General Parker regarded him for a moment before smiling. He looked down at the child and asked her if she would be alright to eat on her own for a few minutes.
Once they were outside the mess hall Parker motioned for Gogol to walk with him.
"I take it that the matter you wish to discuss is my bringing the child back with me when I was out on my own the other day," Parker said.
"Was I that obvious?" Gogol asked lightly.
Parker looked at him, a smile on his face. "No, but I know that the subject has been on the mind's of every officer and enlisted man in this base. I am sure that based on our relationship people have been assuming that you know."
"Yes," Gogol replied. "I finally decided that maybe if I learned the truth it would be possible for me to end this gossiping. It is unbecoming of soldiers to act in such a manner."
Parker smiled again. "I want you to know that I greatly respect you as a soldier lieutenant, and I would hope that you feel the same about me. But even if you don't I want to tell you exactly what happened when I followed the Japanese platoon."
Gogol tried to conceal his surprise but failed.
"Why don't we head over to my barrack, I asked the colonel if he could watch Natalie while we speak."
===============
Sergeant Yoshida had been lucky. The bullet that hit him missed his heart by only a few inches, but the damage had been done. When the bullet first entered his chest, it hit his rib cage, and smashed through the bone, leaving bane fragments and pieces of the bullet in his body. He had been on the operating table for almost four hours now.
When Ranma finally returned to the camp, that was where he found Yoshida. He realized that it was Phil that had shot his NCO in the chest, and wondered why he was neither enraged nor angry at his friend.
The surgeon told him, in a very direct manner, that he would have to wait to see his sergeant. Ranma decided that it would be best to just sit outside the halftrack that they were using as an operating room. It was another two hours before the surgeon had been able to remove all the debris in Sergeant Yoshida's body, and when the surgeon came out to tell Ranma, he found him sleeping sitting upright against the halftrack. He lightly touched Ranma's shoulder and told him he could go see Yoshida now.
The halftrack smelled thickly of blood and vomit. The surgeon told Ranma that a couple of the attendants had weak stomachs, and ended up spilling their dinners on the floor of the halftrack once he started to remove bone fragments from the sergeant's chest.
Sergeant Yoshida was flat on his back, a tube sticking into his chest that looked like it was sucking blood out of it, and another tube was stuck lower and it was putting blood into his body. Ranma felt a pang of anger at that moment, but surprisingly it was directed at himself, and not at Phil.
He never should have just dropped Natalie down. If he had just handed her to Yoshida than they would both still be here.
Ranma removed his helmet and set it down on the floor, he then sat on it. They did not have a respirator with them so Yoshida was breathing on his own, though it sounded as if every breath sent pain throughout his body. The surgeon had told him that it would be touch and go for awhile, at least until they could airlift Yoshida out of here and get him to a real hospital.
The surgeon had said something else, something that had shocked Ranma. A directive had been sent down by the CO just before the regiments split to go to their assigned locations in Siberia. All morphine was to be saved for those that were dying. For the soldiers that were going to live, they would have to go without.
That of course meant that Yoshida was feeling every bit of the pain that was coursing through his body. Ranma was surprised that the man was asleep.
After an hour or so Ranma began to tire, and he laid his head down on the bed, trying to get some rest.
He woke with a start, an hour or so later, and was surprised to see that he was looking into the eyes of Kenji Yoshida. The sergeant seemed to be slightly dazed, as if he didn't have a complete control over his own body. Ranma wasn't surprised, out of all the other medications Yoshida received, he was probably drugged up pretty well.
"How long have you been awake?" Ranma asked, leaning back from the bed.
"I'm not sure," Yoshida responded. His voice was constricted, almost as if he was having trouble forming his words.
"How are you feeling?"
Yoshida looked down at his chest for a moment before shrugging, which caused the tubes that were in his chest to stretch, which in turn sent a large tendril of pain lancing through his body. He cried out, and coughed as blood dripped down his mouth.
Fuck the directive, Ranma told himself as he got to his feet and searched the supplies until he came across the bottle of morphine. He filled a needle to the appropriate point and injected Yoshida with it. It took a few minutes, but Yoshida finally looked to be at ease.
"Ranma?" Yoshida asked which startled Ranma. Yoshida had never called him by his first name; it was either 'lieutenant' or 'sir'.
"Yeah?" Ranma responded.
"Is Natalie alright?" he asked suddenly.
Luckily for Ranma, Yoshida failed to notice the sudden twitch that hit his body when the question was asked. Could he possibly tell Yoshida the truth, he was going to find out eventually anyway.
Ranma looked at Yoshida's face and saw that his NCO looked like he would throw up if he found out something happened.
"She's just fine Kenji, she's okay."
"Good," Yoshida said with content as he let his eyelids slowly drop.
"We'll all be alright," Ranma said, looking down at the ground, his voice quiet.
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Author's Notes: Ohhh, two reviews on the last chapter. Was it really that bad? I hope you like this one better.
On an unrelated note, I want to express the thanks of my husband who, while serving in Iraq, found your nice reviews a good boost of spirit. Okay, maybe that wasn't too unrelated.