A Time to Work and a Time to Pay
Johnny paced the floor of the Tendo living room. "They said they were only training for the day, right?" he asked for the fifth time. Same answer: yes. Where were they? He sat down and out his face in his hands and sighed. Looking back up, he decided to try to take his mind off of the missing Saotomes. "So, what was the deal with Tsubasa, Soun?" he asked. "Oh, nothing, really," said Soun in reply. "It turns out our map and the one she had were ridiculously out of date. The building was demolished last year. She met with the person she was looking for, and that's the end of that." It was a disappointingly short story. Fortunately, Nabiki tapped him on the shoulder. He looked at her. "So what's your plan?" she asked him. "Yeah," said Kasumi. "You told us you'd tell it to us when we got home, and here we are," said Akane. "Well, I was gonna wait until Ranma and his father got back," said Johnny, "But I suppose I might as well." They all huddled close to him, and he began to tell them.
"Alright. As you know, well, you don't Soun, but anyways there are a number of Covenant troops here, around sixty. My objective-" "Our objective," said the girls. "Ok, our objective is to find out where they are keeping base, as they will stick together for efficiency. My plan is to build a fake campsite in a concealed place. No doubt they have already searched the area around the site, so when they find the fake campsite in a secluded place, they will think it logical they didn't find it at first. I'll set up a phony distress beacon to make sure they'll come. I'll place a tracking signal on something of theirs and follow them back to their base. Then we'll surprise and eliminate them. Sound good?"
They thought it over for a moment. "It is a good plan," said Soun. "When do we do it?" "They will likely search under cover of night," said Johnny, "So we should wait until tomorrow morning to start setting it up." They nodded in agreement. Just then there came a knock at the door. Glancing at each other, Kasumi went to open it. "Ranma!" she exclaimed. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. "We were so worried about you!" "You don't seem too worried now," he gasped. His back popped loudly. Kasumi pulled away. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. Ranma winced. "No, my back was bothering me anyway," he lied. "Now I don't need to pay a chiropracter, at least." "Where's Genma?" asked Soun. "He's coming," said Ranma. True enough, the panda walked through the door and laid his pack down. Excuse me, read his sign. He walked into the bathroom and came back out a minute later. "That's better," said Genma. Speak for yourself, thought Ranma, glaring at Kasumi. "Now," he said aloud, plopping on the couch, "I think we've got some catching up to do."
Pale morning light filtered through the window when Genma, Ranma, and Johnny had finished their respective stories. Kasumi yawned and looked at the clock. "Oh my, it's late, I mean, early!" she exclaimed, confusing herself. "Come on, Ranma, Akane, Nabiki, you need to get ready for school. Akane swore under her breath. "I heard that!" said Kasumi. Akane, as well as everyone else, had forgotten yesterday was the last day of spring break. She looked up and Nabiki gave the finger to Kasumi's back. She stifled a laugh. Getting up, she headed to her bathroom to get ready. When she finished, she headed back downstairs to watch television before they had to leave.
Ranma did likewise. He wondered absent mindedly what would happen if he attended classes as a girl. He shook his head and laughed. He suddenly remembered something. Damn, he thought. Principal Kuno is coming back today! He had left the country to attend a teaching seminar (to the students' delight) and was returning today (to their dismay). He couldn't be a girl today even if he wanted to. He would need all the strength he had to get through whatever the principal had planned for today (not to mention punish him for it too).
Nabiki flicked off Kasumi again as she headed up the stairs. She grumbled under her breath as she took a quick shower. Upon getting out, she wrapped herself in a towel and went over to the sink. She realized she was out of hairspray. Ranma would have some. He always had some. She walked over to his room. She was about to ask if he had soms when she saw he was a girl, naked, in front of his mirror. What luck! she thought as she raced back to her room to get her camera. This would sell for a LOT! She snuck up next to him so he didn't see her. She aimed her camera, focused, and---Without warning Ranma whipped to face her, a camera in hand. She was so surprised she dropped the camera and stood up straight. "Say cheese!" said Ranma and took a picture. "What was that for?" said Nabiki, confused. Ranma smirked and pointed behind her. Akane was there with a huge smile. Triumphantly she held up a towel. Nabiki didn't get it. Wait. That was her towel. In fact, it was the one she was wearing this morn.... In horror Nabiki looked down. There was nothing but skin on her body. She paled. The sudden realization that she had been the victim of a plot more complex than hers struck her. Then she remembered what she did with her photos. Screaming she ran out of Ranma's room and into hers. Ranma and Akane laughed hysterically. "Well," said Ranma, putting on a towel and splashing himself with warm water, "This could be a better day than I thought!"
When they came home, Ranma and Akane were bright and cheerful, laughing and joking. Nabiki, on the other hand was withdrawn and was blushing uncontrollably. The principal hadn't returned and Nabiki's nude photos were in the hands of every student at Furinkan High. All in all, it was the best day of school Ranma and Akane ever had. For Nabiki, it was the exact opposite. Poor Kasumi was just plain confused.
The wind whistled through the trees in the moonlight. Akane hugged herself as she shivered, and the wind blew in her face and through her hair. Ranma could not help but stare at her beatiful figure in the silver light. She looked like an angel. "Ok, here they come," whispered Johnny, his voice crackling in static. He watched his fake campsite through the scope of his sniper rifle. Ranma and Akane stood behind a grove of trees a few yards away. Ranma shoved the receiver in his ear as far down as he could, and crouched. A small party of cloaked Elites came upon the site and began scanning the equipment there. A couple of uncloaked Hunters hung back and guarded their reconnaissance. "Now's your chance," whispered Johnny over the radio. "Go over to those Hunters, north from you. They're around the grove of trees you're hiding behind. Remember, stay low and in the bushes. Don't make noise. Put it somewhere unnoticeable." Ranma beckoned to Akane and she followed him. They laid down carefully on the ground, and behind to move forward quietly with their elbows.
Akane's heart pounded in her chest, like an animal trying to escape its cage. Although Ranma would never admit it, so did his. They had come up on the Hunters. Ranma and Akane were underneath a thicket of bushes, the feet of the of the Hunters a foot from their faces. Ranma opened his hand: give me the device. Akane placed it in his hand. He was about to reach forward when Akane stopped him. She kissed him quickly. She mouthed, For luck. She pointed: look at their faces. He did, to see they were facing each other. After what seemed like forever and a day, they finally looked seperate ways. Ranma quickly reached forward and gently placed the tracker on the back of the Hunter's boot. All they had to do now was wait. After another eternity, they finally backed up silently into the shadows, doing one final sweep of the area. Once Johnny was sure they were gone, he called them. "Good work," he said. "Now for the fun part."
For nearly an hour they tracked the the party back to their base. They climbed to the top of a steep ridge and looked down. There, in a large depression, was the base. There were five ships, just as was predicted. Johnny counted the soldiers; there were sixty, the maximum there could possibly be. "What luck!" he whispered. "Ok, I'm going down as quietly as possible. I'm going to place a remote mine on the fuel cell of each of those ships. If they spot me, your job will be to make sure none of them make it inside a ship. If they do, our chances will lessen. After all the mines are placed and I'm ready for you to detonate them, I'll press this button here. That light on the firing device will turn green, and you depress the trigger. The bombs will explode immediately, so keep your heads down. I'll stay on the ground and you'll snipe from here until all the soldiers are cleaned up. Got it?" They nodded, and Johnny hand them each a sniper rifle he found in his Longsword fighter.
Johnny carefully made his way down the ridge. With unsurpassed stealth, speed, and silence, he evaded the gaze of all the soldiers and placed all the mines without being seen. Akane and Ranma watched him, and then saw the green light glow on the remote. They went under the protection of the ridge, and Ranma squeezed the triggered. There was deafening roar as the bombs detonated and the fuel tanks exploded. Akane screamed and clapped her hands over her ears, as did Ranma. The noise died down after several minutes and was replaced by a ringing in their ears. Ranma dragged Akane back up the ridge and handed her the rifle. She shook her head in attempt to clear her ears, and shouldered the rifle. Down below they could see Johnny in his armor attacking the remaining soldiers among the burning wreckage and debris. Ranma cocked the pistol and peered through the scope. Ranma and Akane chose their targets and fired. Two Grunts went down. After three more shots each, two Hunters.
Akane tried to fire again but it only clicked. She looked around for the ammo. It was lying in a box by Ranma. Seeing her point, he tore open the box and tossed her a clip. He helped Akane reload her gun and then did his. He aimed the gun again. There were a lot less targets now. Only Johnny and five more, four more, Elites remained. A shot from Ranma's took down one. Another went down from Akane's, and Johnny threw a grenade and took out the last two. Akane put the safety on, dropped the gun, and sighed, lying on her back. "Well," said Johnny over the radio, "That's that. Let's go, before anyone shows up." They had no objections.