Ranma Gundam 2008
Chapter 2: Weapons of War
Two weeks had passed since Akane and Ranma had been picked up by the Grey Phantom Assault Unit. Their training had been steadily progressing. As expected, Akane's impulisveness and temper had proved a problem. However, Xero and Nikita are working on that and Akane has calmed down some. But they still worry that they can't completely reverse the problem… Which brings us to the current conversation between Xero and Ranma.
"Ranma, I need to talk to you about Akane. There's only so much me and Nikita can do to reduce her temper."
"Well, what do you want me to do?"
"Train her. If you teach her, at the very least, some way to calm herself, she'll be a much better pilot. Less likely to rush out and get herself, or others, killed."
Ranma hadn't thought about it. He'd been using the Soul of Ice to an extent to keep himself calm while piloting, and had never realized that if Akane fought in Mobile Suit battles like the enemy was the long-gone "Hentai Horde" she'd be screwed. (Author: I also don't think she can whip out an MS- scale mallet while piloting, if you get my implications) "I'll look into it."
The red alert siren blared and a voice sounded over the intercom, "Red alert! One squadron of Goufs detected, approaching fast! One Musai confirmed as well! General quarters! GM Customs, Gundam, prepare for aerial combat!"
All rushed to the hangar, Nikita and Ranma boarded their GM Customs. Xero stopped Akane before she could board the standard GM. "You're staying here."
"No way! I'm gonna fight, too! NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
"TENDO! The standard GM has ZERO flight capabilities. It's useless right now."
"….I see…."
"Blair! You and Akane man the portside beam cannons!"
"Yes, sir! Come on, Tendo." Blair led Akane off to the gun turrets.
Meanwhile, outside the ship…
"Ranma, the GM Custom can only maintain flight for ten minutes before the engine needs to cool down. Try not to stray too far from a point you can land. Stay close to the Grey Phantom or the Musai."
"Got it."
On the bridge…
"Prepare for ship-to-ship battle! Charge the beam cannons and ready the missiles! Close the blast shield!"
"Closing the blast shield." The defensive shielding closed down over the windows on the bridge.
"Musai is in range of our beam cannons."
"OPEN FIRE!"
Outside the ship, Ranma was pushing his GM harder than ever before in training. The Goufs had the advantage in the air, thanks to the Dodai YS units, but Ranma beat them out on pure skill. He soon noticed he was getting low on flight time… And that the Musai was the only landing point. "Hmm… Xero! Tell the Grey Phantom to hold their fire for a minute!"
Xero noticed Ranma landing, and aiming his rifle, and knew what he was thinking, so he relayed the message.
On the bridge…
"Hold our fire?! What for?!"
"Give the order, Joe! Ranma's landing on the Musai and I think he's planning to take out the mega particle guns while his engines cool down. Nikita, get over there and cover him. I can handle the Goufs."
"Roger!"
"I see. All guns, cease fire!"
And so they did.
But as soon as they did, some of the mega particle cannons aimed towards Ranma… But they were the first to be slashed off by Ranma's beam saber.
While Ranma was slicing up the Musai, Xero was smashing the Goufs with much ease. Just after he'd finished off the last Gouf, Ranma lifted off, and the Grey Phantom finished off the Musai at close range.
"Good move, there, Ranma. Risky, but good. No one's ever taken a Mobile Suit one-on-one with a battlecruiser before."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Usually we leave it to the other ships. If one's available. If there isn't, we use tons of suits to gang up on it."
"If one's available?"
"Battlecruisers aren't too common for either side. More resources go into MS and smaller-sized MS transports. Battlecruisers are difficult to build, and therefore uncommon. However, when they show up, they're a Mobile Suit's biggest problem. A properly skilled crew can wipe out an entire star of MS with little trouble."
"Sounds like a problem."
"Yeah."
A voice blared over the intercom, "We have suffered no casualties from the battle. We will be arriving at the Moscow Alliance base in 12 hours. That is all."
"Better get some rest." Ranma said, And start Akane's training…
12 hours later…
"All hands, we will be landing shortly. All crew members will have 24 hours time to themselves, with the exception of: Xero Prime, Nikita Harte, Ranma Saotome, Akane Tendo, and myself. That is all."
"How come no time off for us?" Akane wondered.
"Two reasons, one being the fact that you're getting your MS as soon as we land. Plus, the Alliance Supreme Commander will be at the base and wishes to see you two."
"Oh."
A few minutes later, they had landed, and secured everything. "Well, Tendo, let's go meet your new Mobile Suit. Follow me."
Xero led Akane and Ranma (who decided to stick with Akane) to one of the hangars. Inside was what looked like a GM Custom with some armor added on. I had two large cannons on it's shoulders. "Here it is. The GM Cannon isn't as fast as the GM Custom, but it can take MUCH more punishment than even the Gundam, and dish out twice as much as the GM Custom. The slow speed is also compensated for by the thrusters, which can sustain flight for 20 minutes. This unit is intended for medium-range combat, with close-range combat ability in case of emergency."
Akane was already inside. "Not much different from the other one…"
"We try to keep the controls similar to other models. You'll notice it'll be a bit harder to make it move, but I'm not worried about you figuring it out. How about a test fli-"
BOOM! The adjacent hangar went up into a ball of flame. Air raid sirens went off.
"All MS units, scramble! We are under attack by Dom-type Mobile Suits!"
"Akane, wait for Ranma to get here in his GM to cover you until you get the hang of that thing!"
"Okay…"
Xero blinked. "Did she just agree with me without arguing?!"
"She's really getting into the training. And I told her that if she caused any trouble, I'd stop training her."
"Good move." They were now on the ship.
"Nikita! We good to go?!"
"Yeah! Gundam's in ground combat mode and fully armed, my GM's ready, but Ranma's GM still needs it's spare clips. It'll take five minutes to get them on." I need to fix the GM arming units so this'll be easier…
"Ranma, get in Nikita's GM and go cover Akane. Nikita! When you get that GM loaded up, you go out on it!"
"No problem!"
"Let's MOVE!"
In the space of two minutes, Ranma and Xero were stepping out of the ship. Other Alliance GM Customs had already deployed and were fighting the Doms. "Ranma, get to the hangar and cover Akane!"
Meanwhile, said person was scrambling to get her suit OUT of the hangar before it collapsed. An explosion just outside had weakened it and it was only a matter of time before it went down. Forget my orders! I'm not dying in a Mobile Suit without fighting!
Unfortunately, she found the GM Cannon harder to control than expected, and BARELY made it out of the hangar.. And she quickly ended up looking down the barrel of a Dom's bazooka.
"AAAHH!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Panicking, the fired the beam cannons, completely destroying the Dom's torso. "….Whoa…."
"Akane! You okay?!"
"Yeah. Just give me a minute to get used to this."
"Ranma!" Xero shouted "Five Doms behind you!"
Ranma spun around and sliced them all apart with the beam saber, in one slash…
"I think I got it now…"
Indeed, Akane was finally moving the GM Cannon with little difficulty. "Stick with me, Akane."
"Ranma, Akane." This time Joe was speaking, "The Doms are making a break for Grey Phantom. Get over here and cover us."
Ranma didn't need to be told twice.
Neither did Akane.
Unfortunately, they found the Doms at Grey Phantom in such high numbers it was difficult to fight. However, they were so focused on Grey Phantom, that (between the Grey Phantom and base forces) over half had been downed before they realized they were being attacked from behind. With such damage to their forces, they had to retreat.
Akane had downed 11 Doms. On her first deployment. Nikita and her were talking about that while resting from the cleanup operation following the battle.
"11 doesn't sound too impressive, but it's great. The only person who had more kills their first time out was Xero!"
"Still, I don't think it's something to be proud of."
"I do. Akane, if the LONO forces win this war, god knows what it means. Your whole family could be killed for some weird, stupid reason!"
Joe's voice blared over the loudspeakers on the base. "All Grey Phantom crew members return to the ship. We are departing in one hour."
"Where to?" Akane wondered.
"When the attack began, the Supreme Commander, whom we were supposed to meet, was evacuated. We're going to a secret Alliance research base near London, England to meet him. I hear they have a gift for us at the base."
"A gift? Like what?"
"Well… I don't know but…" Nikita suddenly got hearts in her eyes. "MAYBE IT'LL BE A NEW GUNDAM!"
Akane's facefault could be heard throughout the base.
About an hour later, Grey Phantom was lifting off and departing.
"So, how long of a trip will this be?" asked Ranma.
"About a week." Replied Xero
"A WEEK?!" Akane shouted.
"Yep." Replied Nikita. "The Grey Phantom's engines were damaged in the fight and there weren't enough supplies left at Moscow to repair them. Therefore we have to take it easy, so the engines don't explode on us."
"Well on the upside, Ranma, the more time you spend off Terra Firma, the less you have to deal with all those fiancées."
"Heh. By now they're probably all off searching for where I ran off to with Akane. They'll never find us."
"Hey, Xero!" Blair shouted, running into the hangar, "The Captain sent this down." He handed Xero a piece of paper.
"Oh, man, Ranma, you are SCREWED!"
"Huh?"
"After we're done in London we're to return to Japan to get some new MS pilots."
"So?"
"Here's the list of pilots currently pushing for position on Grey Phantom: Todd Marshall, Fred Kristoph, Ukyo Kuonji, and Xian-Pu."
Both Ranma AND Akane froze at the last two.
"My thoughts exactly."
Nikita leaned in towards Akane. "You better make a move quick, girl!"
Akane was in no condition to respond.
Shortly after, Grey Phantom departed for London.
The trip, fortunately, was uneventful. A very good thing since Grey Phantom was nowhere NEAR full combat capacity. Ranma and Akane spent every moment not training praying the kami that Ukyo and Shampoo did NOT get the positions on Grey Phantom.
Shortly before arrival in London…
"So how do you think Ukyo and Shampoo found out where we were?" Akane wondered.
"Nabiki." Ranma answered simply.
"You don't honestly think…?"
"I do. She was there. She saw me get in the GM and she probably saw us board the ship. Putting two and two together, she probably routinely checked their personnel files and sold them the info as soon as we were listed on active duty. Now as for them getting so far, so quickly…"
"That can be explained by way of Nabiki, as well." Xero stated, approaching from behind. It's quite possible she was paid to do computer tampering to get them in. It's not difficult to master MS Piloting. ESPECIALLY when the pilot is a martial artist. And it wouldn't surprise me if she was paid to get them into the program for testing to get onto the Grey Phantom."
"Why not just change things so they're listed as the new crew members?"
"Wouldn't work. Grey Phantom's files are carefully monitored. If she accessed them, she'd be tracked down and arrested. And she knows it."
"All hands, we will be arriving at the London research base in 30 minutes. We will be taking on repairs and new equipment while there."
Radar operator Phil John spoke up shortly before landing procedures were to begin. "Captain! We've confirmed two Musais and an unknown type of battlecruiser! They're deploying Mobile Suits!"
"Notify the base and launch all units. Any airborne units?"
"One squadron of Goufs."
"Prepare Gundam for aerial combat!"
In the hangar, Ranma and Nikita were already prepared to launch. Akane had just arrived and was powering up her suit, and Xero was converting Gundam to Aerial Combat Mode.
"Ranma, you and Akane take the Doms and Zakus on the ground. Me and Nikita will handle the Goufs."
"Got it."
With that, the MS launched. Nikita and Xero had little trouble with the Goufs, but on the ground…
Ranma Akane had been handling the Doms just fine, when what was THOUGHT to have been a squadron of Zakus finally showed itself.
"Ranma, what are those?!" Akane asked.
Ranma had no clue. They looked kind of like Doms, only slimmer, and with slightly more Zaku-like heads. Worst of all…. They had beam rifles.
"AKANE! GET DOWN!"
Akane hit the ground just barely avoiding a volley of beam weaponry.
"Saotome to Grey Phantom, we're engaged with unidentified Mobile Suits! They have beam rifles!"
Xero and Nikita picked up the transmission. "Nikita, I can handle the Goufs. You go help them, after I finish the Goufs I'll switch to Ground Combat Mode and help out."
"Understood." Nikita landed her suit (the engines were starting to overheat, anyway) just BEHIND the enemy MS. Unnoticed, she took aim, and…
Ranma and Akane watched a beam punch through THREE of the MS, destroying them. They took the distraction to their advantage, Akane letting loose almost-unaimed blasts from the beam cannons. Ranma let loose with his beam rifle.
Nikita kept hidden and played Sniper with the unidentified MS. Soon they were forced to retreat.
Meanwhile, the Grey Phantom had landed inside the base while five Salamis battlecruisers took care of the enemy ships.
Joe stepped out of the ship, met by base commander Max Gheng. "Welcome to London, Captain."
"Good to be here."
"Shall we get started?"
"Once my pilots return from the battle. I don't engage in important Alliance business without them. My pilots are my most trusted soldiers."
"I see."
"Akane." Nikita said as they headed into the base, "How's your suit holding up?"
"I think I overheated the beam cannons from firing so much. Other than that, nothing's coming up on the computer."
"Good, then all the visible damage is only to the armor. Looks like that stuff's doin' it's job good. Ranma, you don't look too bad, but is there anything I can't see?"
"Yeah, something's wrong with the left hand. I couldn't use it at all."
"I'll take a look at it."
They arrived at the base and met up with Joe. Then it was off to an important meeting.
Several of the top Alliance officials were in the room. Everyone took a seatthat had been prepared for them.
"So." Joe stated. "What's this about?"
Alliance Supreme Commander Jack Meoff [;)], seated at the end of the table, spoke up. "The issue of where LONO gets it's financial support has been our greatest concern lately. We have isolated very little, but what we have is important." He nodded to a man seated near the other end of the table, who stood up to speak.
"We have determined that a multi-national corporate conglomerate, known as Illuminati, is responsible for the financial backing. However, at the same time that all signs verify it's existence, it does not exist. None of our attempts to locate anything related to them has been successful."
"Which means the only way to get to Illuminati…" Xero began.
"…Is through LONO." Joe finished.
"Wait…"
"Do you have something to add, Saotome?" The Supreme Commander inquired.
"Yeah. It's a longshot and you might not be willing to do it, but it might work."
"Please."
"Akane's sister Nabiki is an expert at tracking down people and information. She might be able to help… For a price…"
"We'll be sure to keep that in mind. That'll be all for now. I believe our scientists have something for Xero."
With that, everyone was dismissed, and the head technological researcher led the Grey Phantom crew elsewhere on the base.
In the meeting room, the Supreme Commander remained with his intelligence officer. "Colonel, I want you to send some men to Nerima to discuss the issue with Miss Tendo's sister. Make sure not to do anything forcefully. And offer her a generous sum for her services."
"Yes, sir."
Elsewhere on the base, Xero, accompanied by Akane, Ranma, and Joe, were being led through the halls of the technological development center.
"So what's this gift you have for me?"
"Well, Lieutenant, ever since we got the data on the Gundam Mk. II's combat effectiveness, we've been attempting to improve upon it's modular design concept. We wanted to create a flight mode that didn't have time limits for airborne combat. The new Mobile Suit's conversion systems are compatible with the Mk. II's system." The man stopped in front of a door. "Mobile Suit development will be an important issue to win this war, and this is our greatest triumph to date. THIS is GP-01." And with that he opened the door, revealing the new Gundam. It was similar to the Mk. II. However, more streamlined and less bulky. "Stunning, isn't it? This is it's Ground Combat mode. It's capabilities are very similar to the Mk. II's, but it's much more agile. The air combat mode has near infinite flight capability and better maneuvering capabilities. This is the greatest Mobile Suit design to date."
An explosion ripped through the base.
"Red alert! All MS pilots scramble!! Three Musais approaching! Five MS Carriers! Suits are on the ground!!"
"We'll deal with MS reassignment later." Joe spoke through the rising confusion. "Right now get your asses in gear! Get back to Grey Phantom and into your suits!"
No one needed to be told twice.
End chapter 2.
Next chapter: Xero sorties in his new Gundam! Alliance Researchers see Ranma's skill and come up with an idea made specifically for HIM! Grey Phantom returns to Japan! Shampoo and Ukyo join the crew! And… The systematic destruction of LONO begins!!
Author's note: I'm bound to receive comments on some obvious changes to my original MS assignment plan. So I will explain right now: A friend of mine suggested some better ideas, and after thinking a while, I realized they WERE better for the story. GP-01 is replacing the G-Saviour, and Ranma will NOT be getting the Kampfer. This is all I will state right now. You'll have to wait until we get there to find out what's what. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Chapter 2: Weapons of War
Two weeks had passed since Akane and Ranma had been picked up by the Grey Phantom Assault Unit. Their training had been steadily progressing. As expected, Akane's impulisveness and temper had proved a problem. However, Xero and Nikita are working on that and Akane has calmed down some. But they still worry that they can't completely reverse the problem… Which brings us to the current conversation between Xero and Ranma.
"Ranma, I need to talk to you about Akane. There's only so much me and Nikita can do to reduce her temper."
"Well, what do you want me to do?"
"Train her. If you teach her, at the very least, some way to calm herself, she'll be a much better pilot. Less likely to rush out and get herself, or others, killed."
Ranma hadn't thought about it. He'd been using the Soul of Ice to an extent to keep himself calm while piloting, and had never realized that if Akane fought in Mobile Suit battles like the enemy was the long-gone "Hentai Horde" she'd be screwed. (Author: I also don't think she can whip out an MS- scale mallet while piloting, if you get my implications) "I'll look into it."
The red alert siren blared and a voice sounded over the intercom, "Red alert! One squadron of Goufs detected, approaching fast! One Musai confirmed as well! General quarters! GM Customs, Gundam, prepare for aerial combat!"
All rushed to the hangar, Nikita and Ranma boarded their GM Customs. Xero stopped Akane before she could board the standard GM. "You're staying here."
"No way! I'm gonna fight, too! NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
"TENDO! The standard GM has ZERO flight capabilities. It's useless right now."
"….I see…."
"Blair! You and Akane man the portside beam cannons!"
"Yes, sir! Come on, Tendo." Blair led Akane off to the gun turrets.
Meanwhile, outside the ship…
"Ranma, the GM Custom can only maintain flight for ten minutes before the engine needs to cool down. Try not to stray too far from a point you can land. Stay close to the Grey Phantom or the Musai."
"Got it."
On the bridge…
"Prepare for ship-to-ship battle! Charge the beam cannons and ready the missiles! Close the blast shield!"
"Closing the blast shield." The defensive shielding closed down over the windows on the bridge.
"Musai is in range of our beam cannons."
"OPEN FIRE!"
Outside the ship, Ranma was pushing his GM harder than ever before in training. The Goufs had the advantage in the air, thanks to the Dodai YS units, but Ranma beat them out on pure skill. He soon noticed he was getting low on flight time… And that the Musai was the only landing point. "Hmm… Xero! Tell the Grey Phantom to hold their fire for a minute!"
Xero noticed Ranma landing, and aiming his rifle, and knew what he was thinking, so he relayed the message.
On the bridge…
"Hold our fire?! What for?!"
"Give the order, Joe! Ranma's landing on the Musai and I think he's planning to take out the mega particle guns while his engines cool down. Nikita, get over there and cover him. I can handle the Goufs."
"Roger!"
"I see. All guns, cease fire!"
And so they did.
But as soon as they did, some of the mega particle cannons aimed towards Ranma… But they were the first to be slashed off by Ranma's beam saber.
While Ranma was slicing up the Musai, Xero was smashing the Goufs with much ease. Just after he'd finished off the last Gouf, Ranma lifted off, and the Grey Phantom finished off the Musai at close range.
"Good move, there, Ranma. Risky, but good. No one's ever taken a Mobile Suit one-on-one with a battlecruiser before."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Usually we leave it to the other ships. If one's available. If there isn't, we use tons of suits to gang up on it."
"If one's available?"
"Battlecruisers aren't too common for either side. More resources go into MS and smaller-sized MS transports. Battlecruisers are difficult to build, and therefore uncommon. However, when they show up, they're a Mobile Suit's biggest problem. A properly skilled crew can wipe out an entire star of MS with little trouble."
"Sounds like a problem."
"Yeah."
A voice blared over the intercom, "We have suffered no casualties from the battle. We will be arriving at the Moscow Alliance base in 12 hours. That is all."
"Better get some rest." Ranma said, And start Akane's training…
12 hours later…
"All hands, we will be landing shortly. All crew members will have 24 hours time to themselves, with the exception of: Xero Prime, Nikita Harte, Ranma Saotome, Akane Tendo, and myself. That is all."
"How come no time off for us?" Akane wondered.
"Two reasons, one being the fact that you're getting your MS as soon as we land. Plus, the Alliance Supreme Commander will be at the base and wishes to see you two."
"Oh."
A few minutes later, they had landed, and secured everything. "Well, Tendo, let's go meet your new Mobile Suit. Follow me."
Xero led Akane and Ranma (who decided to stick with Akane) to one of the hangars. Inside was what looked like a GM Custom with some armor added on. I had two large cannons on it's shoulders. "Here it is. The GM Cannon isn't as fast as the GM Custom, but it can take MUCH more punishment than even the Gundam, and dish out twice as much as the GM Custom. The slow speed is also compensated for by the thrusters, which can sustain flight for 20 minutes. This unit is intended for medium-range combat, with close-range combat ability in case of emergency."
Akane was already inside. "Not much different from the other one…"
"We try to keep the controls similar to other models. You'll notice it'll be a bit harder to make it move, but I'm not worried about you figuring it out. How about a test fli-"
BOOM! The adjacent hangar went up into a ball of flame. Air raid sirens went off.
"All MS units, scramble! We are under attack by Dom-type Mobile Suits!"
"Akane, wait for Ranma to get here in his GM to cover you until you get the hang of that thing!"
"Okay…"
Xero blinked. "Did she just agree with me without arguing?!"
"She's really getting into the training. And I told her that if she caused any trouble, I'd stop training her."
"Good move." They were now on the ship.
"Nikita! We good to go?!"
"Yeah! Gundam's in ground combat mode and fully armed, my GM's ready, but Ranma's GM still needs it's spare clips. It'll take five minutes to get them on." I need to fix the GM arming units so this'll be easier…
"Ranma, get in Nikita's GM and go cover Akane. Nikita! When you get that GM loaded up, you go out on it!"
"No problem!"
"Let's MOVE!"
In the space of two minutes, Ranma and Xero were stepping out of the ship. Other Alliance GM Customs had already deployed and were fighting the Doms. "Ranma, get to the hangar and cover Akane!"
Meanwhile, said person was scrambling to get her suit OUT of the hangar before it collapsed. An explosion just outside had weakened it and it was only a matter of time before it went down. Forget my orders! I'm not dying in a Mobile Suit without fighting!
Unfortunately, she found the GM Cannon harder to control than expected, and BARELY made it out of the hangar.. And she quickly ended up looking down the barrel of a Dom's bazooka.
"AAAHH!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Panicking, the fired the beam cannons, completely destroying the Dom's torso. "….Whoa…."
"Akane! You okay?!"
"Yeah. Just give me a minute to get used to this."
"Ranma!" Xero shouted "Five Doms behind you!"
Ranma spun around and sliced them all apart with the beam saber, in one slash…
"I think I got it now…"
Indeed, Akane was finally moving the GM Cannon with little difficulty. "Stick with me, Akane."
"Ranma, Akane." This time Joe was speaking, "The Doms are making a break for Grey Phantom. Get over here and cover us."
Ranma didn't need to be told twice.
Neither did Akane.
Unfortunately, they found the Doms at Grey Phantom in such high numbers it was difficult to fight. However, they were so focused on Grey Phantom, that (between the Grey Phantom and base forces) over half had been downed before they realized they were being attacked from behind. With such damage to their forces, they had to retreat.
Akane had downed 11 Doms. On her first deployment. Nikita and her were talking about that while resting from the cleanup operation following the battle.
"11 doesn't sound too impressive, but it's great. The only person who had more kills their first time out was Xero!"
"Still, I don't think it's something to be proud of."
"I do. Akane, if the LONO forces win this war, god knows what it means. Your whole family could be killed for some weird, stupid reason!"
Joe's voice blared over the loudspeakers on the base. "All Grey Phantom crew members return to the ship. We are departing in one hour."
"Where to?" Akane wondered.
"When the attack began, the Supreme Commander, whom we were supposed to meet, was evacuated. We're going to a secret Alliance research base near London, England to meet him. I hear they have a gift for us at the base."
"A gift? Like what?"
"Well… I don't know but…" Nikita suddenly got hearts in her eyes. "MAYBE IT'LL BE A NEW GUNDAM!"
Akane's facefault could be heard throughout the base.
About an hour later, Grey Phantom was lifting off and departing.
"So, how long of a trip will this be?" asked Ranma.
"About a week." Replied Xero
"A WEEK?!" Akane shouted.
"Yep." Replied Nikita. "The Grey Phantom's engines were damaged in the fight and there weren't enough supplies left at Moscow to repair them. Therefore we have to take it easy, so the engines don't explode on us."
"Well on the upside, Ranma, the more time you spend off Terra Firma, the less you have to deal with all those fiancées."
"Heh. By now they're probably all off searching for where I ran off to with Akane. They'll never find us."
"Hey, Xero!" Blair shouted, running into the hangar, "The Captain sent this down." He handed Xero a piece of paper.
"Oh, man, Ranma, you are SCREWED!"
"Huh?"
"After we're done in London we're to return to Japan to get some new MS pilots."
"So?"
"Here's the list of pilots currently pushing for position on Grey Phantom: Todd Marshall, Fred Kristoph, Ukyo Kuonji, and Xian-Pu."
Both Ranma AND Akane froze at the last two.
"My thoughts exactly."
Nikita leaned in towards Akane. "You better make a move quick, girl!"
Akane was in no condition to respond.
Shortly after, Grey Phantom departed for London.
The trip, fortunately, was uneventful. A very good thing since Grey Phantom was nowhere NEAR full combat capacity. Ranma and Akane spent every moment not training praying the kami that Ukyo and Shampoo did NOT get the positions on Grey Phantom.
Shortly before arrival in London…
"So how do you think Ukyo and Shampoo found out where we were?" Akane wondered.
"Nabiki." Ranma answered simply.
"You don't honestly think…?"
"I do. She was there. She saw me get in the GM and she probably saw us board the ship. Putting two and two together, she probably routinely checked their personnel files and sold them the info as soon as we were listed on active duty. Now as for them getting so far, so quickly…"
"That can be explained by way of Nabiki, as well." Xero stated, approaching from behind. It's quite possible she was paid to do computer tampering to get them in. It's not difficult to master MS Piloting. ESPECIALLY when the pilot is a martial artist. And it wouldn't surprise me if she was paid to get them into the program for testing to get onto the Grey Phantom."
"Why not just change things so they're listed as the new crew members?"
"Wouldn't work. Grey Phantom's files are carefully monitored. If she accessed them, she'd be tracked down and arrested. And she knows it."
"All hands, we will be arriving at the London research base in 30 minutes. We will be taking on repairs and new equipment while there."
Radar operator Phil John spoke up shortly before landing procedures were to begin. "Captain! We've confirmed two Musais and an unknown type of battlecruiser! They're deploying Mobile Suits!"
"Notify the base and launch all units. Any airborne units?"
"One squadron of Goufs."
"Prepare Gundam for aerial combat!"
In the hangar, Ranma and Nikita were already prepared to launch. Akane had just arrived and was powering up her suit, and Xero was converting Gundam to Aerial Combat Mode.
"Ranma, you and Akane take the Doms and Zakus on the ground. Me and Nikita will handle the Goufs."
"Got it."
With that, the MS launched. Nikita and Xero had little trouble with the Goufs, but on the ground…
Ranma Akane had been handling the Doms just fine, when what was THOUGHT to have been a squadron of Zakus finally showed itself.
"Ranma, what are those?!" Akane asked.
Ranma had no clue. They looked kind of like Doms, only slimmer, and with slightly more Zaku-like heads. Worst of all…. They had beam rifles.
"AKANE! GET DOWN!"
Akane hit the ground just barely avoiding a volley of beam weaponry.
"Saotome to Grey Phantom, we're engaged with unidentified Mobile Suits! They have beam rifles!"
Xero and Nikita picked up the transmission. "Nikita, I can handle the Goufs. You go help them, after I finish the Goufs I'll switch to Ground Combat Mode and help out."
"Understood." Nikita landed her suit (the engines were starting to overheat, anyway) just BEHIND the enemy MS. Unnoticed, she took aim, and…
Ranma and Akane watched a beam punch through THREE of the MS, destroying them. They took the distraction to their advantage, Akane letting loose almost-unaimed blasts from the beam cannons. Ranma let loose with his beam rifle.
Nikita kept hidden and played Sniper with the unidentified MS. Soon they were forced to retreat.
Meanwhile, the Grey Phantom had landed inside the base while five Salamis battlecruisers took care of the enemy ships.
Joe stepped out of the ship, met by base commander Max Gheng. "Welcome to London, Captain."
"Good to be here."
"Shall we get started?"
"Once my pilots return from the battle. I don't engage in important Alliance business without them. My pilots are my most trusted soldiers."
"I see."
"Akane." Nikita said as they headed into the base, "How's your suit holding up?"
"I think I overheated the beam cannons from firing so much. Other than that, nothing's coming up on the computer."
"Good, then all the visible damage is only to the armor. Looks like that stuff's doin' it's job good. Ranma, you don't look too bad, but is there anything I can't see?"
"Yeah, something's wrong with the left hand. I couldn't use it at all."
"I'll take a look at it."
They arrived at the base and met up with Joe. Then it was off to an important meeting.
Several of the top Alliance officials were in the room. Everyone took a seatthat had been prepared for them.
"So." Joe stated. "What's this about?"
Alliance Supreme Commander Jack Meoff [;)], seated at the end of the table, spoke up. "The issue of where LONO gets it's financial support has been our greatest concern lately. We have isolated very little, but what we have is important." He nodded to a man seated near the other end of the table, who stood up to speak.
"We have determined that a multi-national corporate conglomerate, known as Illuminati, is responsible for the financial backing. However, at the same time that all signs verify it's existence, it does not exist. None of our attempts to locate anything related to them has been successful."
"Which means the only way to get to Illuminati…" Xero began.
"…Is through LONO." Joe finished.
"Wait…"
"Do you have something to add, Saotome?" The Supreme Commander inquired.
"Yeah. It's a longshot and you might not be willing to do it, but it might work."
"Please."
"Akane's sister Nabiki is an expert at tracking down people and information. She might be able to help… For a price…"
"We'll be sure to keep that in mind. That'll be all for now. I believe our scientists have something for Xero."
With that, everyone was dismissed, and the head technological researcher led the Grey Phantom crew elsewhere on the base.
In the meeting room, the Supreme Commander remained with his intelligence officer. "Colonel, I want you to send some men to Nerima to discuss the issue with Miss Tendo's sister. Make sure not to do anything forcefully. And offer her a generous sum for her services."
"Yes, sir."
Elsewhere on the base, Xero, accompanied by Akane, Ranma, and Joe, were being led through the halls of the technological development center.
"So what's this gift you have for me?"
"Well, Lieutenant, ever since we got the data on the Gundam Mk. II's combat effectiveness, we've been attempting to improve upon it's modular design concept. We wanted to create a flight mode that didn't have time limits for airborne combat. The new Mobile Suit's conversion systems are compatible with the Mk. II's system." The man stopped in front of a door. "Mobile Suit development will be an important issue to win this war, and this is our greatest triumph to date. THIS is GP-01." And with that he opened the door, revealing the new Gundam. It was similar to the Mk. II. However, more streamlined and less bulky. "Stunning, isn't it? This is it's Ground Combat mode. It's capabilities are very similar to the Mk. II's, but it's much more agile. The air combat mode has near infinite flight capability and better maneuvering capabilities. This is the greatest Mobile Suit design to date."
An explosion ripped through the base.
"Red alert! All MS pilots scramble!! Three Musais approaching! Five MS Carriers! Suits are on the ground!!"
"We'll deal with MS reassignment later." Joe spoke through the rising confusion. "Right now get your asses in gear! Get back to Grey Phantom and into your suits!"
No one needed to be told twice.
End chapter 2.
Next chapter: Xero sorties in his new Gundam! Alliance Researchers see Ranma's skill and come up with an idea made specifically for HIM! Grey Phantom returns to Japan! Shampoo and Ukyo join the crew! And… The systematic destruction of LONO begins!!
Author's note: I'm bound to receive comments on some obvious changes to my original MS assignment plan. So I will explain right now: A friend of mine suggested some better ideas, and after thinking a while, I realized they WERE better for the story. GP-01 is replacing the G-Saviour, and Ranma will NOT be getting the Kampfer. This is all I will state right now. You'll have to wait until we get there to find out what's what. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!