Until the End
Chapter 32
Siberia Again
The transport truck stopped just outside the initial perimeter fence, and the driver called into the back for everybody to dismount. Ranma jumped down from the back and looked around. He inhaled deeply, noting that the air was still frigid, despite the fact that the month of May had already come to pass. Though, Siberia was quite far north so the temperatures in spring still managed to dip into the minus degrees centigrade.
Turning around, Ranma reached into the truck and pulled his pack out, and slung it over his shoulder. At the same time Ryoga hopped down from the bed of the truck and took in the surroundings much in the same way Ranma did.
"Welcome to Siberia," Ranma commented lightly, earning a wry grin from Ryoga.
"So where are we supposed to go now?" Ryoga asked. "This place doesn't look too friendly."
Ranma glanced towards the perimeter fence, which was guarded by three armed guards. The guards weren't standing watch as he was used to; they were instead inside man-made ditches with their heads poked above the surface with their weapons trained on the surrounding woods.
"The Chinese are probably only 50 or so clicks from this place Ryoga," Ranma explained. "I guess their a little worried about snipers taking pot shots at them."
Ryoga grunted in agreement, and scanned the area a little more carefully. "Well, I don't feel any other strong presences from here, or I suppose we would have already come under fire huh?"
Ranma smiled. "Well, at least your danger sense hasn't diminished any."
"A damned good thing it hasn't Saotome, cause with the way you handled yourself the last time I saw you in uniform, you take far too many risks, just like when you were studying the Art."
Ranma bristled slightly but didn't rise to the challenge in Ryoga's voice. It wouldn't due to have the American and Russian troops see them beat the tar out of each other right off the bat.
"Come on pig-boy, lets go see about finding a duty station or something so we can report in," Ranma said as he began walking towards the guards.
"Hey, I don't turn into a pig anymore, unless your calling Akane a pig, and then I'm really sure you don't want her to hear about that," Ryoga added.
"Force of habit," Ranma explained. "But don't worry P-Chan, I'm sure it'll be out of my system in no time."
Ryoga shook his head lightly as he chuckled.
Their light banter was stopped shortly as the guards immediately yelled for them to halt where they were and to put their hands above their heads. It took several minutes, but Ranma and Ryoga were finally admitted to the base once it was understood that they were not Chinese soldiers trying to trick them.
Once inside, it was quickly discerned that finding the duty station would be quite a task. The entire base had obviously come under heavy artillery shelling in the near present and it didn't appear that there was even one standing building in the entire camp. The Chinese had obviously made up for lost time since Ranma had been taken prisoner, as the entire base looked like the Chinese had brought the full weight of their artillery and bombers onto the base.
"C'mon Ryoga, lets go try and find someone senior."
Ryoga looked at Ranma puzzled. "What's the point of looking for someone senior?"
"Hopefully whoever it is we find they'll be able to tell us exactly where were gonna be needed," Ranma explained as he started walking. Ryoga looked around the camp and sighed before jogging after Ranma.
===============
General Parker watched solemnly as he took in the condition of the base. The Chinese had really been blasting the hell out of it in the past 24 hours, a sure-fire sign that they were about to make their final push into Siberia. Alden had been taken, and now all that was needed was for the Chinese to break up their remaining forces and Siberia would all but be under Beijing's control.
With some leeway from the other Russian officers, Parker had managed to organize the remaining forces they had left into one large group. He didn't want to split the force into three separate forces with the Russians, Americans, and Japanese all fighting in different areas. He needed two separate forces, intermingled with each different country's soldiers, and to do that he had had to convince the Russian officers that going off to fight with just their own soldiers would not be in their best interests. There were perhaps 60 000 men fighting the massive Chinese force, and splitting them up was just asking to have them get run over.
So now Parker was commanding the largest force he could ever have imagined himself controlling in the field at one time. It was frightening, but Parker couldn't let it get the better of him. With a skill garnered from over 20 years in the military service, Parker had the Allied forces split into almost two equal halves. The Chinese would meet the first force head on, while the second group would swoop around and strike from the side. The goal was to cut the Chinese force in half, and contain them. The Russian Air Force was promising that they could get at least a couple squadrons over the area at about 0600 the next morning, and if they could keep the Chinese contained till then, it just might be possible for them to take the Chinese out of Siberia.
All that needed to happen now was for nothing to upset his carefully laid out plans. Of course, even the most carefully laid out plans can be upset.
"I don't believe it," Parker muttered to himself as he looked across the base.
===============
"Ranma is that who I think it is?" Ryoga asked as he tapped Ranma on the shoulder. Ranma turned and looked to where he was pointing.
"Well I'll be damned," Ranma said softly. In a much louder voice he called out. "General Parker! Lieutenant Saotome and Sergeant Hibiki reporting in!"
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Parker demanded as he approached them.
Ranma shrugged. "You Americans can't seem to follow orders, even ones that come from your President. The Admiral on that cruiser kicked us off and sent us to Siberia to help you guys out."
"Are you serious?" Parker asked incredulously. "I gave the XO on the ship an order signed by the President that you two weren't to be sent back."
"Yeah," Ranma started. "But then the next order came down, which was also signed by the President and it expressively said that all Japanese servicemen who had fought in Siberia were to be sent back. That's how I got Ryoga here sergeant's stripes. I told the officer handing out uniforms that he had lost his uniform in the prison camp."
Parker shook his head in disbelief. "Great. Well, we've got no choppers coming in till after this little tussle with the Chinese that were about to have, so your stuck here till after we crush the Chinese."
"You really think you can beat the Chinese Parker?" Ryoga asked in a quiet voice.
Parker sighed. "I have to believe it Ryoga, because otherwise I'll show fear, and right now the last thing I want to show my men is fear. When a commanders afraid, his troops are afraid."
"It's just like when you're in a fight with a martial artist," Ranma commented. "You gotta make sure you believe your gonna win, and make sure the guy your fightin' knows it too."
They looked at each for a brief moment then fell into an uneasy silence.
"I'm afraid I'm gonna be too busy to have you guys by my side for this battle," Parker said breaking the silence. "So I'll have to stuff you into one of the units." He looked over at Ryoga and the rifle that hung from his shoulder. "Did you get a chance to learn how to use that?"
Ryoga smirked. "I fired off a few 'qualifying rounds' as Ranma called them just before we jumped the truck that took us here. I hit the targets more often than I missed."
"I want you two to make sure nothing happens to you. I don't want Akari and Akane having either one of your deaths hanging over my head."
"Don't worry Parker," Ranma said. "If there's one thing me and Ryoga know how to do, Ryoga especially, it's survive when the odds are against us."
"The Chinese will not be going any further into Siberia," Ryoga proclaimed in an icy voice.
Parker smiled and placed a hand on both their shoulders. He looked as if he was going to say something, but instead released them and walked away.
===============
Akane sat uneasily on the floor in the living room of the Saotome household/Dojo. Kagome sat on her lap looking at the television that sat across the end of the table they sat at. Akari and Ryoga Jr. were close to them and both watched the television intently. It was tuned to CNN, and the American network was having a direct satellite linkup with a war correspondent in Siberia. The news was not good, and despite Kagome and Ryoga Jr's inquiries they remained silent on why they were so grim-faced over the news.
The situation was obviously not going too well. The Chinese were advancing on their positions, and the Allied forces were grossly undermanned to deal with them. Of course, the correspondent was not saying these things, as it would have been unwise to give away such information over a free channel, but Akane and Akari had been given the news earlier by Kimura who in turn received the news from the President of the United States.
Ranma and Ryoga were fighting there, both women knew it deep down inside, and while Parker would be there as well, it still sat within both women that something terrible was going to happen.
===============
The night sky came quite quickly, and the temperatures dropped considerably. With Parker leading the forces, it took a remarkably short amount of time to split the soldiers into two, and get everyone into position. Even so, it was going to be quite close to having the second group in position before the Chinese were upon them.
Ryoga and Ranma had opted to go with the force that would ultimately be fighting the direct battle with the Chinese and hold them off till the second force could strike from the rear flank and break the force in half. It was going to be very close, and it was entirely possible that they would get overrun before the second force could attack, and then the situation would definitely be hopeless.
Ranma was afraid, much more afraid then he had ever been in his whole life. Facing Saffron could be the only thing that would be comparable to this. He was going to have to kill a lot of people today, something that didn't sit well with him, and never had. Killing an opponent was something that he avoided in Martial Arts, but it took only one look at the men surrounding him for him to realize that he would either have to kill or be killed. This wasn't Martial Arts, and he wasn't just fighting a skilled opponent in a match. This was survival, and he would either have to survive or die, it was as simple as that.
Looking over at Ryoga, Ranma could tell that he was afraid as well. That was something else that he needed to fight for. Ryoga had spent half a decade locked up in a prison camp enduring torture and now he was free, only to wind up back fighting for his life. If there was one thing he was going to fight for, it would be to get himself and Ryoga home to Akane and Akari and their children.
===============
The first shot fired was at 2326, and came from the Chinese 24th Infantry Battalion. A sniper had taken position on a tree branch and found a number of targets. After a few moments of searching, he found an important looking Major and decided to take him out.
The Russian Major was struck directly in the face by the round fired from the Chinese sniper, and died before he hit the ground. A Russian Lieutenant saw the muzzle flare from the sniper's shot, and called out to the mortar team.
After two misfires, the sniper was torn apart by mortars.
The last battle for Siberia had started.
===============
Author's Notes: Sorry for the short chapter. This is just to set up for the next and final installment aside from an epilogue that I will do once the final chapter is released.
Chapter 32
Siberia Again
The transport truck stopped just outside the initial perimeter fence, and the driver called into the back for everybody to dismount. Ranma jumped down from the back and looked around. He inhaled deeply, noting that the air was still frigid, despite the fact that the month of May had already come to pass. Though, Siberia was quite far north so the temperatures in spring still managed to dip into the minus degrees centigrade.
Turning around, Ranma reached into the truck and pulled his pack out, and slung it over his shoulder. At the same time Ryoga hopped down from the bed of the truck and took in the surroundings much in the same way Ranma did.
"Welcome to Siberia," Ranma commented lightly, earning a wry grin from Ryoga.
"So where are we supposed to go now?" Ryoga asked. "This place doesn't look too friendly."
Ranma glanced towards the perimeter fence, which was guarded by three armed guards. The guards weren't standing watch as he was used to; they were instead inside man-made ditches with their heads poked above the surface with their weapons trained on the surrounding woods.
"The Chinese are probably only 50 or so clicks from this place Ryoga," Ranma explained. "I guess their a little worried about snipers taking pot shots at them."
Ryoga grunted in agreement, and scanned the area a little more carefully. "Well, I don't feel any other strong presences from here, or I suppose we would have already come under fire huh?"
Ranma smiled. "Well, at least your danger sense hasn't diminished any."
"A damned good thing it hasn't Saotome, cause with the way you handled yourself the last time I saw you in uniform, you take far too many risks, just like when you were studying the Art."
Ranma bristled slightly but didn't rise to the challenge in Ryoga's voice. It wouldn't due to have the American and Russian troops see them beat the tar out of each other right off the bat.
"Come on pig-boy, lets go see about finding a duty station or something so we can report in," Ranma said as he began walking towards the guards.
"Hey, I don't turn into a pig anymore, unless your calling Akane a pig, and then I'm really sure you don't want her to hear about that," Ryoga added.
"Force of habit," Ranma explained. "But don't worry P-Chan, I'm sure it'll be out of my system in no time."
Ryoga shook his head lightly as he chuckled.
Their light banter was stopped shortly as the guards immediately yelled for them to halt where they were and to put their hands above their heads. It took several minutes, but Ranma and Ryoga were finally admitted to the base once it was understood that they were not Chinese soldiers trying to trick them.
Once inside, it was quickly discerned that finding the duty station would be quite a task. The entire base had obviously come under heavy artillery shelling in the near present and it didn't appear that there was even one standing building in the entire camp. The Chinese had obviously made up for lost time since Ranma had been taken prisoner, as the entire base looked like the Chinese had brought the full weight of their artillery and bombers onto the base.
"C'mon Ryoga, lets go try and find someone senior."
Ryoga looked at Ranma puzzled. "What's the point of looking for someone senior?"
"Hopefully whoever it is we find they'll be able to tell us exactly where were gonna be needed," Ranma explained as he started walking. Ryoga looked around the camp and sighed before jogging after Ranma.
===============
General Parker watched solemnly as he took in the condition of the base. The Chinese had really been blasting the hell out of it in the past 24 hours, a sure-fire sign that they were about to make their final push into Siberia. Alden had been taken, and now all that was needed was for the Chinese to break up their remaining forces and Siberia would all but be under Beijing's control.
With some leeway from the other Russian officers, Parker had managed to organize the remaining forces they had left into one large group. He didn't want to split the force into three separate forces with the Russians, Americans, and Japanese all fighting in different areas. He needed two separate forces, intermingled with each different country's soldiers, and to do that he had had to convince the Russian officers that going off to fight with just their own soldiers would not be in their best interests. There were perhaps 60 000 men fighting the massive Chinese force, and splitting them up was just asking to have them get run over.
So now Parker was commanding the largest force he could ever have imagined himself controlling in the field at one time. It was frightening, but Parker couldn't let it get the better of him. With a skill garnered from over 20 years in the military service, Parker had the Allied forces split into almost two equal halves. The Chinese would meet the first force head on, while the second group would swoop around and strike from the side. The goal was to cut the Chinese force in half, and contain them. The Russian Air Force was promising that they could get at least a couple squadrons over the area at about 0600 the next morning, and if they could keep the Chinese contained till then, it just might be possible for them to take the Chinese out of Siberia.
All that needed to happen now was for nothing to upset his carefully laid out plans. Of course, even the most carefully laid out plans can be upset.
"I don't believe it," Parker muttered to himself as he looked across the base.
===============
"Ranma is that who I think it is?" Ryoga asked as he tapped Ranma on the shoulder. Ranma turned and looked to where he was pointing.
"Well I'll be damned," Ranma said softly. In a much louder voice he called out. "General Parker! Lieutenant Saotome and Sergeant Hibiki reporting in!"
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Parker demanded as he approached them.
Ranma shrugged. "You Americans can't seem to follow orders, even ones that come from your President. The Admiral on that cruiser kicked us off and sent us to Siberia to help you guys out."
"Are you serious?" Parker asked incredulously. "I gave the XO on the ship an order signed by the President that you two weren't to be sent back."
"Yeah," Ranma started. "But then the next order came down, which was also signed by the President and it expressively said that all Japanese servicemen who had fought in Siberia were to be sent back. That's how I got Ryoga here sergeant's stripes. I told the officer handing out uniforms that he had lost his uniform in the prison camp."
Parker shook his head in disbelief. "Great. Well, we've got no choppers coming in till after this little tussle with the Chinese that were about to have, so your stuck here till after we crush the Chinese."
"You really think you can beat the Chinese Parker?" Ryoga asked in a quiet voice.
Parker sighed. "I have to believe it Ryoga, because otherwise I'll show fear, and right now the last thing I want to show my men is fear. When a commanders afraid, his troops are afraid."
"It's just like when you're in a fight with a martial artist," Ranma commented. "You gotta make sure you believe your gonna win, and make sure the guy your fightin' knows it too."
They looked at each for a brief moment then fell into an uneasy silence.
"I'm afraid I'm gonna be too busy to have you guys by my side for this battle," Parker said breaking the silence. "So I'll have to stuff you into one of the units." He looked over at Ryoga and the rifle that hung from his shoulder. "Did you get a chance to learn how to use that?"
Ryoga smirked. "I fired off a few 'qualifying rounds' as Ranma called them just before we jumped the truck that took us here. I hit the targets more often than I missed."
"I want you two to make sure nothing happens to you. I don't want Akari and Akane having either one of your deaths hanging over my head."
"Don't worry Parker," Ranma said. "If there's one thing me and Ryoga know how to do, Ryoga especially, it's survive when the odds are against us."
"The Chinese will not be going any further into Siberia," Ryoga proclaimed in an icy voice.
Parker smiled and placed a hand on both their shoulders. He looked as if he was going to say something, but instead released them and walked away.
===============
Akane sat uneasily on the floor in the living room of the Saotome household/Dojo. Kagome sat on her lap looking at the television that sat across the end of the table they sat at. Akari and Ryoga Jr. were close to them and both watched the television intently. It was tuned to CNN, and the American network was having a direct satellite linkup with a war correspondent in Siberia. The news was not good, and despite Kagome and Ryoga Jr's inquiries they remained silent on why they were so grim-faced over the news.
The situation was obviously not going too well. The Chinese were advancing on their positions, and the Allied forces were grossly undermanned to deal with them. Of course, the correspondent was not saying these things, as it would have been unwise to give away such information over a free channel, but Akane and Akari had been given the news earlier by Kimura who in turn received the news from the President of the United States.
Ranma and Ryoga were fighting there, both women knew it deep down inside, and while Parker would be there as well, it still sat within both women that something terrible was going to happen.
===============
The night sky came quite quickly, and the temperatures dropped considerably. With Parker leading the forces, it took a remarkably short amount of time to split the soldiers into two, and get everyone into position. Even so, it was going to be quite close to having the second group in position before the Chinese were upon them.
Ryoga and Ranma had opted to go with the force that would ultimately be fighting the direct battle with the Chinese and hold them off till the second force could strike from the rear flank and break the force in half. It was going to be very close, and it was entirely possible that they would get overrun before the second force could attack, and then the situation would definitely be hopeless.
Ranma was afraid, much more afraid then he had ever been in his whole life. Facing Saffron could be the only thing that would be comparable to this. He was going to have to kill a lot of people today, something that didn't sit well with him, and never had. Killing an opponent was something that he avoided in Martial Arts, but it took only one look at the men surrounding him for him to realize that he would either have to kill or be killed. This wasn't Martial Arts, and he wasn't just fighting a skilled opponent in a match. This was survival, and he would either have to survive or die, it was as simple as that.
Looking over at Ryoga, Ranma could tell that he was afraid as well. That was something else that he needed to fight for. Ryoga had spent half a decade locked up in a prison camp enduring torture and now he was free, only to wind up back fighting for his life. If there was one thing he was going to fight for, it would be to get himself and Ryoga home to Akane and Akari and their children.
===============
The first shot fired was at 2326, and came from the Chinese 24th Infantry Battalion. A sniper had taken position on a tree branch and found a number of targets. After a few moments of searching, he found an important looking Major and decided to take him out.
The Russian Major was struck directly in the face by the round fired from the Chinese sniper, and died before he hit the ground. A Russian Lieutenant saw the muzzle flare from the sniper's shot, and called out to the mortar team.
After two misfires, the sniper was torn apart by mortars.
The last battle for Siberia had started.
===============
Author's Notes: Sorry for the short chapter. This is just to set up for the next and final installment aside from an epilogue that I will do once the final chapter is released.