Until the End
Chapter 18
Fight
"Watch where you put those claymores," General Parker told the young Russian soldier as he placed a claymore mine into the ground. "If they're too close then one will end up setting all the others off."
The soldier nodded and began to cover up the mine.
Parker stood back and observed as the countless number of soldiers worked at laying traps for the advancing Chinese and Japanese. It had been nearly a week since Parker had last seen Ranma, and he was trying his best to put the thought from his mind.
The Russian and American forces were now only fifty kilometers outside of Alden, and the need to stop the advancing forces now took precedence over any other operation. Parker grimly watched as the men continued to work. The latest numbers told him that they would be outnumbered at least three to one, at least in the number of ground forces. The Air Force had finally gotten off their asses and sent them some fighters and bombers, which Parker hoped would be enough to keep the pressure from the air off of the ground troops.
It was going to be another seven hours before the invasion force reached them, and Parker prayed that it would be enough time to prepare. The battle was surely to be fierce, and he could not clearly see what the outcome would be, but if things ended up going bad for them, he would give the order to retreat. If it meant Alden fell, than so be it.
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"Are you sure this is wise sergeant?" Lieutenant Saotome asked Sergeant Yoshida as the man struggled into his gear.
"I don't much care sir," Yoshida replied. "If you think that I'm simply going to sit back while we engage the enemy then you've got a few screws loose. I will be fighting with the troops, and if it comes to pass than I will die with the troops."
Ranma chose not to reply, instead securing his own equipment. Yoshida had finally been given the ok by the regiment surgeon to move join his platoon on recon, and Yoshida had jumped at the chance. Ranma knew that other members of the regiment had let it leek that Natalie had been taken by the soldiers that had attacked the base the other day, and Yoshida was in a state of self-loathing because of it.
He's ready to die, Ranma thought to himself. The problem with that is there's absolutely nothing that I can do about it right now. Were about to storm the Russian defenses and it's entirely likely that Yoshida will get his wish, and some lucky Russian will put him out of his misery.
As he finished tying his web pack, Ranma put his arm around Yoshida's shoulders. "Remember what I told you in the halftrack Kenji, we will all be alright."
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"You would think that with the Americans help we wouldn't need to do this anymore," a private said as he peered at the Chinese tank battalion through binoculars.
"And how is that private?" Lieutenant Gogol asked.
"Well, they brought some of their planes right, so couldn't they just do aerial reconnaissance instead of us doing this?" the private asked.
"Tell me this private," Gogol began, "If the Chinese and Japanese had constant air pressure over them wouldn't that give away whatever surprises we hope to have in store for them when they arrive at Alden."
"I suppose sir," the private replied, his face flushed in embarrassment.
"Keep yourselves hidden," Lieutenant Gogol reminded his platoon. "If anyone spots us I can guarantee that we will end up missing out on the fight in Alden and not because we were taken prisoner."
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"I thought we agreed that the next time we did this I wouldn't be a stepladder," Akane said as she shifted her feet underneath the weight of Ishii who was trying to reach the top of the outside walls of the imperial palace.
Ishii stopped his efforts and looked down at Akane. "Did we? I could have sworn that I forgot to reply to that."
"Goddamn you Ishii," Akane said, just loud enough for him to hear it.
"That a girl," Ishii said laughing quietly. "Success!" he exclaimed as he pried open the window. He looked down at Akane again. "You know, I think that the skills the Yakuza taught me are finally coming in handy. If all the burglar alarms are like this in the city, than I just may have a new career on my hands."
As Ishii crawled through the open window Akane massaged her shoulders. He reappeared in the window and hoisted Akane up and through it.
"Were lucky we have Fujita on our team, otherwise we'd have to worry about police interference if we get caught by the guards," Ishii said as he took a quick look around.
"If we don't have to worry about the police than why are we breaking into this place instead of just waltzing in the front door?" Akane asked in irritation.
"We don't have that much influence on our side Akane," Ishii said. "We may not have to worry about the police but if any bit of Shizuko's government gets word of what were doing you can bet that we'll spend a fair deal of time in prison."
Akane didn't respond and instead moved off down the expansive hallways.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Ishii called after her as he moved to catch up.
"I'm not to sure about you, but I at least took some time examining the police files on this place," Akane shot back over her shoulder.
*Could you two please cut out that fighting, I'm starting to get a headache,* Akari groused over the radio.
"Sorry Akari," Ishii said softly into his headset. "Are you in position?"
*Yes,* Akari answered. *I've got a good view of the front of the building, and if the police reports are to be believed than this should be the area that the shooter was standing when the Emperor was assassinated.*
"Alright," Ishii replied. "If Akane really does know where were going than we should be coming into view in a couple of minutes."
===============
"Okay," Akari replied as she shivered on top of the building. The cold wind cut straight through her clothes from her position and she was beginning to get a little dizzy from the sheer height. She spared a glance over the edge again, and watched the steady night traffic as it went by.
There was a feeling of disbelief in Akari's mind as she knelt down by the edge of the building and watched the imperial palace from over a couple hundred yards away. If the police had gotten it right, than she was actually standing in the spot where a sniper had shot the Emperor almost five months ago.
She raised her pair of binoculars to her eyes and watched the palace waiting for Akane and Ishii to appear. She felt uneasy about only having the three of them and Kimura in on the operation, and that fear was only heightened when she had been assigned the job of going all the way up to the building on her own, in the dead of night.
Akari had just spotted Ishii and Akane when she heard the door that allowed people access to the roof open. She spun around and saw, through the darkness; two figures emerge from the door and begin to move across the roof.
"Oh no," she said to herself, quickly throwing a glance back at the Imperial Palace. She dropped the binoculars to the ground and got to her feet, but keeping herself low. Akari moved across the roof towards the far end, away from the direction the two figures were moving. Slowly she moved out towards the door the two men, she had heard them talking, had exited, hoping that she could reach it before they noticed her. She was just at the door when her radio began to speak.
*Akari? Are you there?* Ishii asked over the radio.
Realizing that she had left the volume high, Akari threw herself to the side of the door, hoping that the two men wouldn't see her.
They may not have seen her, but they definitely heard the radio. One of the men barked out a quick order in English, which Akari recognized but could not hear clearly. Akari risked a quick look around the corner and saw one of the men start for the door, but not before removing a handgun from his jacket.
A cold chill ran through her. These men were obviously not up here for a casual stroll. She grabbed her radio and spoke quickly and quietly into it.
"I'm busy, get out of the palace as soon as possible." She switched her radio off and slipped it into the pocket of her jeans. She glanced one more time around the corner and saw that the man was now fifteen feet away from her. She edged away from the corner, which in turn caused her feet to grind against the roof. That would have not been a problem, if it were not for the fact that the landlord had been worried that with the large snowfall that hit Tokyo that winter ice may form and someone could slip, and had poured gravel over the roof, which Akari's foot in turn grinded against, creating a scraping noise that easily reached the ear's of the approaching man.
"Who's there!?" the man barked out in broken Japanese.
Akari chose not to answer him, and stepped back again, this time watching where she put her foot. Taking a quick survey of her options, the nearest building was at least twenty feet away; a feat Akari may have been able to do if she had a running start, which she would not have been able to accomplish. The other option, running out and hoping to knock the man down sounded equally unappealing, so, for the first time in her life, Akari decided to think like a martial artist.
Akari had not simply spent the last four years of her life going to business school and raising her son, she had become Ranma Saotome's second student, his first being Akane.
Looking up, Akari grasped the edge of the tower and swung her self on top of it, just as the man walked around the door. He was startled when he saw no one there, but he was even more startled when Akari swung back down from the tower and kicked him square in the face while her other leg knocked the gun from his hand.
The man was catapulted backwards, and Akari landed badly, misjudging where her feet would hit the ground, and stumbled, but kept her feet. The man hit the ground hard, and he hit the edge of the roof, the gun landed somewhere near the center of the roof.
Akari turned to make a break for the door, but she was hit from behind, hard. As she hit the roof hard, Akari cursed herself for forgetting about the other man, and quickly got to her feet. She had a second to react before the other man shoulder-charged her, and sent her sprawling to the ground. She lost her breath and couldn't get up.
The other man called out for his partner, but he wasn't answered. As he went in search for him Akari slowly regained her breath. Her arm was throbbing, and when she looked she noticed that she had received a cut on her arm, probably from all the gravel. Her foot nudged something, and when she looked down she noticed she had landed right next to the gun she had knocked out of the other man's hands. She scooped it up and started for the door, but not before the other man noticed her. He shouted for her to stop and when she started to run for the door he pulled out his handgun and fired.
For the first time that night, the gravel that had been so thoughtfully laid out on the roof worked in her favor. She slipped near the door, just as the round fired from the gun hit the patchwork of the door, right where her head would have passed. The fear of being shot at quickly galvanized Akari into action and she leapt back up to her feet, and held the gun she had retrieved at arms length, pointing at the other man.
"Put the gun down!" Akari screamed in English. The man didn't move, instead his eyes were fastened on something behind Akari. She reacted too late, as the man she had previously disposed of knocked her feet out from under her. In her shock she let out a shout and the gun fell from her hand. The other man limped over to the gun and retrieved it.
"What do we do with her?" one of them asked.
"Push her over the edge, we were told that no one was to be allowed to escape, and too many questions would be asked if we had to carry her out of here," the other man replied.
Akari's stomach clenched painfully and she tried her best to keep herself from vomiting. Her whole body ached, and it seemed that she might have separated her shoulder. But when she felt two pairs of arms begin to wrap themselves around her, she reacted.
As one of the men wrapped his arms around her and took the time to let his hand wander across her chest, Akari placed her hands on the roof and used them to flip herself up and over the man. In the process of lifting her entire body, she lashed out with a foot and kicked the man at the lower end of her body in the face. She continued the flip until she felt her feet touch the ground and turned to face the other man. He was already reaching into his waistband for his gun.
He had just pulled it free when Akari's fist planted itself into his face. He felt the bones in his nose separate, and then begin to crush themselves together. He let out a scream, but that was silenced when Akari lashed out again, and hit the man in the throat, easily bruising his larynx. The man was still trying to get his handgun around to face her when she punched his in the side, purposely targeting his ribs. She felt them shift underneath her assault, and it pleased her. Finally Akari swung around, unleashing a snap kick that connected with the man's face, her heel hitting his temple, and he was sent flying.
Akari watched, fascinated, as his body hit the roof and then began to roll until it finally came to a stop and he ceased to move. She was startled when she felt someone moving behind her. She quickly spun around and saw the other man was aiming his gun at her; his finger was outside the trigger guard. Thinking quickly, Akari shifted her stance and got low to the ground. She used a perfectly executed sweep kick that tripped the man, and knocked his feet out from under him. As he was falling, Akari continued with her spin and when she came around to face him she hit him square in the chest with a double-fisted punch that propelled him backwards.
Thinking that he would simply hit the tower and knock himself unconscious, Akari allowed herself to close her eyes and try to catch her breath. When she heard someone unleash a blood curdling scream, she snapped her eyes open, thinking that the man was still conscious, but she couldn't see him. Realization struck her and she rushed to the edge of the building and watched as the man she had disposed of struck the pavement below, and bounced once before laying deathly still. She turned away from the scene and vomited, her entire body giving out and she collapsed on the roof.
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Author's Notes: I am once again guilty of waiting too long to write this chapter. And sadly, I do not even have a worthy excuse to belay upon you, my faithful readers about why it has taken me so long to produce another chapter. I beseech you, my readers, to forgive me, and wait for the next chapter, which I promise will not take this long to come out. I will leave you with the thought that the next chapter will definitely be the longest one in this story so far.
"Watch where you put those claymores," General Parker told the young Russian soldier as he placed a claymore mine into the ground. "If they're too close then one will end up setting all the others off."
The soldier nodded and began to cover up the mine.
Parker stood back and observed as the countless number of soldiers worked at laying traps for the advancing Chinese and Japanese. It had been nearly a week since Parker had last seen Ranma, and he was trying his best to put the thought from his mind.
The Russian and American forces were now only fifty kilometers outside of Alden, and the need to stop the advancing forces now took precedence over any other operation. Parker grimly watched as the men continued to work. The latest numbers told him that they would be outnumbered at least three to one, at least in the number of ground forces. The Air Force had finally gotten off their asses and sent them some fighters and bombers, which Parker hoped would be enough to keep the pressure from the air off of the ground troops.
It was going to be another seven hours before the invasion force reached them, and Parker prayed that it would be enough time to prepare. The battle was surely to be fierce, and he could not clearly see what the outcome would be, but if things ended up going bad for them, he would give the order to retreat. If it meant Alden fell, than so be it.
===============
"Are you sure this is wise sergeant?" Lieutenant Saotome asked Sergeant Yoshida as the man struggled into his gear.
"I don't much care sir," Yoshida replied. "If you think that I'm simply going to sit back while we engage the enemy then you've got a few screws loose. I will be fighting with the troops, and if it comes to pass than I will die with the troops."
Ranma chose not to reply, instead securing his own equipment. Yoshida had finally been given the ok by the regiment surgeon to move join his platoon on recon, and Yoshida had jumped at the chance. Ranma knew that other members of the regiment had let it leek that Natalie had been taken by the soldiers that had attacked the base the other day, and Yoshida was in a state of self-loathing because of it.
He's ready to die, Ranma thought to himself. The problem with that is there's absolutely nothing that I can do about it right now. Were about to storm the Russian defenses and it's entirely likely that Yoshida will get his wish, and some lucky Russian will put him out of his misery.
As he finished tying his web pack, Ranma put his arm around Yoshida's shoulders. "Remember what I told you in the halftrack Kenji, we will all be alright."
===============
"You would think that with the Americans help we wouldn't need to do this anymore," a private said as he peered at the Chinese tank battalion through binoculars.
"And how is that private?" Lieutenant Gogol asked.
"Well, they brought some of their planes right, so couldn't they just do aerial reconnaissance instead of us doing this?" the private asked.
"Tell me this private," Gogol began, "If the Chinese and Japanese had constant air pressure over them wouldn't that give away whatever surprises we hope to have in store for them when they arrive at Alden."
"I suppose sir," the private replied, his face flushed in embarrassment.
"Keep yourselves hidden," Lieutenant Gogol reminded his platoon. "If anyone spots us I can guarantee that we will end up missing out on the fight in Alden and not because we were taken prisoner."
===============
"I thought we agreed that the next time we did this I wouldn't be a stepladder," Akane said as she shifted her feet underneath the weight of Ishii who was trying to reach the top of the outside walls of the imperial palace.
Ishii stopped his efforts and looked down at Akane. "Did we? I could have sworn that I forgot to reply to that."
"Goddamn you Ishii," Akane said, just loud enough for him to hear it.
"That a girl," Ishii said laughing quietly. "Success!" he exclaimed as he pried open the window. He looked down at Akane again. "You know, I think that the skills the Yakuza taught me are finally coming in handy. If all the burglar alarms are like this in the city, than I just may have a new career on my hands."
As Ishii crawled through the open window Akane massaged her shoulders. He reappeared in the window and hoisted Akane up and through it.
"Were lucky we have Fujita on our team, otherwise we'd have to worry about police interference if we get caught by the guards," Ishii said as he took a quick look around.
"If we don't have to worry about the police than why are we breaking into this place instead of just waltzing in the front door?" Akane asked in irritation.
"We don't have that much influence on our side Akane," Ishii said. "We may not have to worry about the police but if any bit of Shizuko's government gets word of what were doing you can bet that we'll spend a fair deal of time in prison."
Akane didn't respond and instead moved off down the expansive hallways.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Ishii called after her as he moved to catch up.
"I'm not to sure about you, but I at least took some time examining the police files on this place," Akane shot back over her shoulder.
*Could you two please cut out that fighting, I'm starting to get a headache,* Akari groused over the radio.
"Sorry Akari," Ishii said softly into his headset. "Are you in position?"
*Yes,* Akari answered. *I've got a good view of the front of the building, and if the police reports are to be believed than this should be the area that the shooter was standing when the Emperor was assassinated.*
"Alright," Ishii replied. "If Akane really does know where were going than we should be coming into view in a couple of minutes."
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"Okay," Akari replied as she shivered on top of the building. The cold wind cut straight through her clothes from her position and she was beginning to get a little dizzy from the sheer height. She spared a glance over the edge again, and watched the steady night traffic as it went by.
There was a feeling of disbelief in Akari's mind as she knelt down by the edge of the building and watched the imperial palace from over a couple hundred yards away. If the police had gotten it right, than she was actually standing in the spot where a sniper had shot the Emperor almost five months ago.
She raised her pair of binoculars to her eyes and watched the palace waiting for Akane and Ishii to appear. She felt uneasy about only having the three of them and Kimura in on the operation, and that fear was only heightened when she had been assigned the job of going all the way up to the building on her own, in the dead of night.
Akari had just spotted Ishii and Akane when she heard the door that allowed people access to the roof open. She spun around and saw, through the darkness; two figures emerge from the door and begin to move across the roof.
"Oh no," she said to herself, quickly throwing a glance back at the Imperial Palace. She dropped the binoculars to the ground and got to her feet, but keeping herself low. Akari moved across the roof towards the far end, away from the direction the two figures were moving. Slowly she moved out towards the door the two men, she had heard them talking, had exited, hoping that she could reach it before they noticed her. She was just at the door when her radio began to speak.
*Akari? Are you there?* Ishii asked over the radio.
Realizing that she had left the volume high, Akari threw herself to the side of the door, hoping that the two men wouldn't see her.
They may not have seen her, but they definitely heard the radio. One of the men barked out a quick order in English, which Akari recognized but could not hear clearly. Akari risked a quick look around the corner and saw one of the men start for the door, but not before removing a handgun from his jacket.
A cold chill ran through her. These men were obviously not up here for a casual stroll. She grabbed her radio and spoke quickly and quietly into it.
"I'm busy, get out of the palace as soon as possible." She switched her radio off and slipped it into the pocket of her jeans. She glanced one more time around the corner and saw that the man was now fifteen feet away from her. She edged away from the corner, which in turn caused her feet to grind against the roof. That would have not been a problem, if it were not for the fact that the landlord had been worried that with the large snowfall that hit Tokyo that winter ice may form and someone could slip, and had poured gravel over the roof, which Akari's foot in turn grinded against, creating a scraping noise that easily reached the ear's of the approaching man.
"Who's there!?" the man barked out in broken Japanese.
Akari chose not to answer him, and stepped back again, this time watching where she put her foot. Taking a quick survey of her options, the nearest building was at least twenty feet away; a feat Akari may have been able to do if she had a running start, which she would not have been able to accomplish. The other option, running out and hoping to knock the man down sounded equally unappealing, so, for the first time in her life, Akari decided to think like a martial artist.
Akari had not simply spent the last four years of her life going to business school and raising her son, she had become Ranma Saotome's second student, his first being Akane.
Looking up, Akari grasped the edge of the tower and swung her self on top of it, just as the man walked around the door. He was startled when he saw no one there, but he was even more startled when Akari swung back down from the tower and kicked him square in the face while her other leg knocked the gun from his hand.
The man was catapulted backwards, and Akari landed badly, misjudging where her feet would hit the ground, and stumbled, but kept her feet. The man hit the ground hard, and he hit the edge of the roof, the gun landed somewhere near the center of the roof.
Akari turned to make a break for the door, but she was hit from behind, hard. As she hit the roof hard, Akari cursed herself for forgetting about the other man, and quickly got to her feet. She had a second to react before the other man shoulder-charged her, and sent her sprawling to the ground. She lost her breath and couldn't get up.
The other man called out for his partner, but he wasn't answered. As he went in search for him Akari slowly regained her breath. Her arm was throbbing, and when she looked she noticed that she had received a cut on her arm, probably from all the gravel. Her foot nudged something, and when she looked down she noticed she had landed right next to the gun she had knocked out of the other man's hands. She scooped it up and started for the door, but not before the other man noticed her. He shouted for her to stop and when she started to run for the door he pulled out his handgun and fired.
For the first time that night, the gravel that had been so thoughtfully laid out on the roof worked in her favor. She slipped near the door, just as the round fired from the gun hit the patchwork of the door, right where her head would have passed. The fear of being shot at quickly galvanized Akari into action and she leapt back up to her feet, and held the gun she had retrieved at arms length, pointing at the other man.
"Put the gun down!" Akari screamed in English. The man didn't move, instead his eyes were fastened on something behind Akari. She reacted too late, as the man she had previously disposed of knocked her feet out from under her. In her shock she let out a shout and the gun fell from her hand. The other man limped over to the gun and retrieved it.
"What do we do with her?" one of them asked.
"Push her over the edge, we were told that no one was to be allowed to escape, and too many questions would be asked if we had to carry her out of here," the other man replied.
Akari's stomach clenched painfully and she tried her best to keep herself from vomiting. Her whole body ached, and it seemed that she might have separated her shoulder. But when she felt two pairs of arms begin to wrap themselves around her, she reacted.
As one of the men wrapped his arms around her and took the time to let his hand wander across her chest, Akari placed her hands on the roof and used them to flip herself up and over the man. In the process of lifting her entire body, she lashed out with a foot and kicked the man at the lower end of her body in the face. She continued the flip until she felt her feet touch the ground and turned to face the other man. He was already reaching into his waistband for his gun.
He had just pulled it free when Akari's fist planted itself into his face. He felt the bones in his nose separate, and then begin to crush themselves together. He let out a scream, but that was silenced when Akari lashed out again, and hit the man in the throat, easily bruising his larynx. The man was still trying to get his handgun around to face her when she punched his in the side, purposely targeting his ribs. She felt them shift underneath her assault, and it pleased her. Finally Akari swung around, unleashing a snap kick that connected with the man's face, her heel hitting his temple, and he was sent flying.
Akari watched, fascinated, as his body hit the roof and then began to roll until it finally came to a stop and he ceased to move. She was startled when she felt someone moving behind her. She quickly spun around and saw the other man was aiming his gun at her; his finger was outside the trigger guard. Thinking quickly, Akari shifted her stance and got low to the ground. She used a perfectly executed sweep kick that tripped the man, and knocked his feet out from under him. As he was falling, Akari continued with her spin and when she came around to face him she hit him square in the chest with a double-fisted punch that propelled him backwards.
Thinking that he would simply hit the tower and knock himself unconscious, Akari allowed herself to close her eyes and try to catch her breath. When she heard someone unleash a blood curdling scream, she snapped her eyes open, thinking that the man was still conscious, but she couldn't see him. Realization struck her and she rushed to the edge of the building and watched as the man she had disposed of struck the pavement below, and bounced once before laying deathly still. She turned away from the scene and vomited, her entire body giving out and she collapsed on the roof.
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Author's Notes: I am once again guilty of waiting too long to write this chapter. And sadly, I do not even have a worthy excuse to belay upon you, my faithful readers about why it has taken me so long to produce another chapter. I beseech you, my readers, to forgive me, and wait for the next chapter, which I promise will not take this long to come out. I will leave you with the thought that the next chapter will definitely be the longest one in this story so far.