Full Ranma Panic
By Lisa Grey
Chapter 5: Did Someone Here Pray For Deliverance?
Authors Note:
For any questions concerning Ranma's power level, see the note at the end of this chapter, where I explain my rationale.
As had been expected, it had been quite some time before Team Angel got to see any serious action. They had been out on the rare occasion in low threat covert surveillance missions, and they had logged hundreds of hours in the simulators. The remaining time had been filled with taking collage level courses and Ranma's training of both himself and Kaname. However, the routine was broken about four months into their cruise when rumors that the opposition had begun to field new AS designs began to emerge.
Team Angel sat in the briefing room with the rest of the SRT. They were there to be briefed on what intelligence had come up with on these new models. What Ranma wasn't prepared for was the intelligence officer that was to give the briefing. He recognized her as soon as she entered. It had been a long time and she looked a bit older. Her hair was longer and styled differently, but there was no doubt who Ranma was looking at. He wanted to use the Umisenken and escape, but it was too late. Her eyes met his and she gave a little smirk. Her look conveyed the message that they would be talking after the meeting. Ranma gulped; old conditioning coming to the fore.
"Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen," Lt. Cmdr. Kalinin addressed the SRT. "You've all heard the rumors of the new AS designs that have begun appearing in the various terrorist organizations we watch. Today, Intelligence has come to brief us on what is know about them. "I'll turn the floor over to Major Nabiki Tendo from Intelligence. Major?"
"Thank you Lt. Commander," Nabiki said, stepping up to the podium. "There appear to be two new models the opposition seems to be fielding. The more common one, designated UK-1, until more is learned about them, is equivalent to the M-9, though it appears to have a better targeting system and a small edge on speed. In a one on one fight, the M-9 would lose about 60 percent of the time. We have seen them deployed in various places around the world, in anywhere from battalion strength to single units supported by rK-92's." The screen behind Nabiki began to flash through images of the new unit in action. Most of the photos showed them scything through M-6 models fielded by various forces. "There is a plus side, however," Nabiki continued. "While they are a powerful new threat, they appear to have reliability issues that mitigate their danger to some degree.
"The other model is not so common," Nabiki informed them. "We haven't been able to get any images of them but from the description give by survivors, they appear to be a production run of the Codarl AS used by Gauron. We estimate that there are no more than four of these mecha currently in the field, but it's hard to be sure since they haven't deployed more than one in a given area. Our estimates are based on the various areas there has been evidence of them with respect to time and distance between. They seem to have similar markings which differ from the various forced they have been operating in support of, so we are guessing that they are a 'company' unit, hired out to bolster the terrorist unit's own forces. As a reminder, the only units we have that can stand up to the Codarl are the ARX-7 Arbalest and the AXR-8 Seraph. M-9 pilots, should you encounter one of these, you are to scrub the mission and retreat as fast as possible, unless working in support of the ARX-7 or 8 models or have a 5 to 1 or more advantage in numbers.
"Currently we are working under the assumption that whoever was backing Gauron is responsible for these new threats. We are also working with various allied Intelligence Agencies around the clock to locate their production facilities, but progress has been slow. Be careful out there, ladies and gentlemen. Things just got a little more interesting."
OOOOOOO
"Hello, Ranma," Nabiki smirked from where she leaned against the bulkhead waiting for Ranma to exit the room. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Major," Ranma acknowledged with a salute. "It's been a while."
"Yes, it has, Lieutenant," Nabiki chuckled. "Perhaps we could go somewhere to talk?"
"We could go to my quarters, as long as you don't mind Lt. Chidori being there," Ranma suggested making Nabiki raise an eyebrow. "Lt. Chidori is my partner and soon to be wife. I have no secrets from her."
"Very well, lead the way," Nabiki said. Soon, they were seated in the common room of Ranma's quarters as Kaname served them tea.
"Major, I would like you to meet my future wife, Kaname Chidori," Ranma introduced as Kaname sat beside him. "Kaname, this is Nabiki Tendo, sister of one of my ex's."
"Pleased to meet you, Major," Kaname smiled.
"The pleasure is mine," Nabiki grinned. "Imagine, I finally get to meet the girl who managed to corral the Wild Horse. You must be an exceptional woman to get him to admit it so readily."
"The most exceptional there ever will be," Ranma said with a tone of absolute certainty, his love for her clear in his eyes as he looked at her. Kaname blushed cutely.
"Wow," Nabiki said, a little taken off guard. "It seems that when you left the Saotomes behind, you left the Saotome foot-in-mouth syndrome with them too."
"I have still have my moments. So, Major, how long have you been working for Mithril?" Ranma asked.
"Oh enough with that 'major' stuff, and about five months or so before you joined," Nabiki grinned. "Who do you think provided them with intelligence and suggested they recruit you? I would have dropped in to say 'hi' a while ago, but it's been about impossible to locate you. Every thing beyond that you are on the payroll is classified 'need to know'. Seeing your insignia, I understand why now. Isn't that door a little much, even for your ego, Ranma?"
"I thought so, Nabiki, but it's not my doing," Ranma explained. "It's mostly for Kaname. She is something of the crew's hero around here. They only respect me because Kaname chose me for her mate. I haven't had a chance to earn it yet."
"Well that's likely to change soon," Nabiki commented. "So how have you been?"
"What can I say? I've never been happier," Ranma said simply. "It seems I owe you a lot more than I can ever repay for getting me recruited. If you hadn't, I would have never met Kaname, or gotten out of that nightmare in Nerima. Speaking of, how are things? Ryoga said they got pretty ugly after I left."
"Yeah, they did," Nabiki said sadly. "But they are getting better. Kasumi is in medical school now. She ran into Dr. Tofu who was giving a lecture and they've begun dating. He seems to have gotten passed most of his little problem." Ranma laughed at that.
"Good for them," Ranma said happily, then turned to Kaname. "If there was ever a couple that was more meant to be than us, it would be them. Dr. Tofu loves her so much his mind used to short circuit just hearing her name mentioned. It got so bad he had to leave Nerima because he couldn't do his job properly."
"Anyway, Daddy is the same as ever," Nabiki continued. "Akane, well, Akane is still in therapy and still taking her meds for the bipolar disorder. It's both good and bad. She isn't dangerous as long as she takes them, but she has no passion, no drive."
"I can't tell you how deeply sorry I am for my part in that," Ranma said, the regret clear in his tone.
"It's not your fault, Ranma," Nabiki said. "If you hadn't been there, things likely would have exploded sooner. You took a lot of the pressure off by enduring the brunt of her rages. No one else could have survived what you did, and thanks to you, we are in a better position than we would have been had you not forestalled the break down. We would have never been able to afford the therapy or the meds before I got on with Mithril. So you really don't owe me at all, Ranma. We owe you. I admit, I did use you to keep a lid on things, but as soon as I was in a position to handle it, I provided you with a way out."
"It's okay, I understand, Nabiki," Ranma smiled at her. "I'm glad I could help."
"Good," Nabiki smiled back. "So when is the wedding?"
"We were planning on having a small ceremony in Chofu, where Kaname's friends live, after this cruise is up and the De Danaan returns for refit," Ranma said.
"I better be getting an invitation," Nabiki grinned. "And Kasumi too. She still thinks of you as a little brother. After all, someone has to be there for the groom."
"Gee, I dunno, Nabiki," Ranma said teasingly. "I seem to remember the last wedding of mine you attended didn't go too well."
"And you're still upset about that?" Nabiki asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, not anymore," Ranma said.
"Look Ranma, I know you cared for my sister, but I also did what I did to help you," Nabiki said firmly. "Once I gave you a way out, if you still wanted to marry her, I wouldn't have stopped you, but you're too nice a guy to have been stuck in that situation."
"I know that know, Nabiki and thanks," Ranma smiled. "Yes, you and Kasumi will be getting invitations. I'd like to see Dr. Tofu as well, but please keep it 'need to know'. I heard there is still a certain purple haired menace out there waiting for me to show my face. Speaking of the good doctor, can I get his address from you? I think his knowledge would be invaluable to certain projects. I figured I'd make a suggestion to the appropriate parties and see what happens."
"You mean the 'Seraph' project?" Nabiki asked.
"I really couldn't say one way or the other," Ranma said.
"You've gotten much better at that," Nabiki laughed. "So what can you tell me about the ARX-8?"
"Not a lot, really, except it works," Ranma said. "If you clear it with the captain, I can let you look at them."
"Okay, I will later, but for now, I want to know everything about you and Kaname," Nabiki grinned and looked at Kaname. "I want to know all the juicy details, like; how you met, how you got him over his fear of showing affection, how you got him to propose, did you have to beat him on the head 'til he got the message, how he did it, what you think of our 'Miss Ranma'. Tell me everything."
The couple began talking animatedly about how they came to be. Nabiki was amazed. She didn't think Ranma would have it in him after Nerima and the fear of commitment the experience had drilled into him.
"Wow, Ranma, I'm impressed," Nabiki said. "You have matured a lot. I figured after Nerima, you would run screaming from any girl that made a pass at you."
"I was like that for a while, Nabiki," Ranma grinned. "But Kaname and I were both on the rebound and not looking for anything. We were kindred spirits, I guess, is what brought us together. We became friends with no expectations for anything else and it grew into something more. Still, I have to say I still might have shied away from us if I hadn't been given some pretty good advice, at least, it was after I interpreted it."
"Oh, and what was that?" Nabiki asked.
"Yes, I've never heard this story," Kaname asked curious. Ranma laughed.
"You'll find it heard to believe, Kaname, but it came from Sousuke," he told them. "He said, and I quote, 'I would recommend against a preemptive strike, but I would advise that you be vigilant for any subtle advances she may make. Miss Chidori is very subtle and cautious, perhaps even tentative, in her campaigns. Should she make such advances, you should respond with a similar level of commitment and allow her to escalate as she deems appropriate. Should you show honor and courage and not retreat in the face of an advance, I estimate you will secure a precious objective.' And I have to admit, he was right on the mark." Nabiki blinked several times
Kaname was shocked to hear such things from Sousuke. "You know," she said in wonder, "in a goofy Sousuke sort of way that actually made sense."
"Yeah, but I didn't realize what he was trying to say until later that night when you leaned against me," Ranma said. "I guess I just didn't believe them when they told me you were interested. If not for what Sousuke said, I would have missed it, or misinterpreted it."
"I'm very happy for you, Ranma," Nabiki said smiling. "You two do seem really good together. Now how about we go see the captain and see about getting me permission to see the Seraphs."
OOOOOOO
It was a month after Nabiki left and about another month until the De Danaan was to return for refit when Intelligence managed to have a break through. They had found at least one of the facilities producing the UK-1 model AS in Nepal. Recon of the area via satellite had been made and strike was planned. Resistance was expected to be a heavy mix of the UK-1's and rK-92's. Intelligence said to expect one Codarl. Surveillance of the area determined they would face about fifteen AS's in addition to the Codarl. They were able to identify six UK-1's operating in the area and eight rK-92's. They determined that the strike package should consist of nine of the M-9's plus Arbalest. Air support would be tricky, having to fly in from off the cost of Bangladesh. India had denied them the use of their air space save for the small portion they would have to cross from Bangladesh to enter Nepal. Neither Nepal nor Bangladesh would allow them use any of their bases. There was an airstrip a few clicks away from the target that would be used for extraction. The Angels would of course be held in reserve.
As Urz made their way to the DZ, Ranma and Kaname sat in the reserve transport orbiting about a half an hour away, listening to the progress. They met little resistance as they touched down and made their way toward the target, taking out about four of the rK-92's. They figured the rest would be waiting for them at the perimeter of the facility. As Urz got closer to the facility they began to take heavy fire. It was then that the Codarl ripped into their flanks, taking out Urz 10 and heavily damaging Urz-3 before Urz-7 engaged it. After a vicious battle, Sousuke managed to damage the Codarl enough that it retreated to it's own lines, but there was another problem. Instead of the 11 remaining AS's that they should have been facing, they found themselves confronting more than 20, and over half of those were the UK-1 models. Urz was being pushed back into a box canyon. As they fell back, the damaged Urz-3 fell to enemy fire. Seconds later, an undamaged Codarl appeared in their midst taking out Urz 8. Sousuke engaged the unit and another vicious battle was fought resulting in the destruction of the Codarl. Unfortunately, in the process, Arbalest was damaged and was only about 60 percent combat effective.
xxxxx
It was then decided to send in the Angels to assist Urz. They were give strict instructions that they were to go in as fire support only. They were not to directly engage the enemy forces or use their less conventional attacks. They were to take out as many of the enemy AS's as they could with long range gauss rifle fire and missiles, but were to fade back if the enemy began to press toward them.
"Angel 2 on the ground," Ranma said as she hit the release on her chute, dropping the last few meters.
"Angel 1 on the ground," Kaname said a few seconds later. "Engaging ECS and moving to fire support position Alpha."
They topped a ridge with a perfect view straight down the canyon a little over a click away from where Urz was pinned down. No other units had been lost as yet, but they were still taking withering fire, unable to move from cover.
"I count 19 units," Ranma said as she checked her targeting computer. "14 of those are the UK-1's."
"Let's start with those, Angel 2," Kaname said. "I'll take the available targets designated U-1 through 7, you take the U-8 through 14. Fire as you bear."
"Roger that, Angel 1," Ranma replied and began to line up her shot.
xxxxx
One of those damn UK-1's had eased around to get a shot on Melissa's position with an RPG. It was just about to fire when suddenly it was slammed to the ground with a large smoking hole completely through it just below the cockpit. A little further down another UK-1 suffered a similar fate. Her comm unit crackled to life.
"Angels on the ground providing fire support, Urz," came Ranma's voice. A ragged cheer came up from the other Urz units.
"Urz 2," Kaname's voice came over the comm. "We have strict orders to fade back when they come after us, so you need to fall back as soon as we take the pressure off. There's a dog leg in the canyon you're in a few hundred meters from your position. You should be able to hold them off indefinitely from there."
"Roger that Angel 1," Melissa said. "You heard the lady, as soon as they realize what's happening and start scrambling for cover, we fall back. Got it?" There was a chorus of 'roger's. "Angel 1, you got any idea how many of them there are?"
xxxxx
"We currently see 16, make that 15, 10 of those are the new models," Angel 1 replied, comm crackling a bit as she fired her gauss rifle. "Okay they are starting to notice it's not you that's taking them out. They should see the contrail from the next shot. Good luck and we'll be with you as long as Command allows."
Sure enough the opposition saw the next round coming. The targeted mecha tried to dodge but depleted uranium rounds were coming in too fast for them to get out of the way completely. Ranma's shot tore the arm off of the mecha she targeted and unfortunate Savage behind it lost its weapon when the projectile caromed into it and destroyed it. Kaname's shot ripped through the leg of her target. As the UK-1 took another step, the leg slowly buckled and it fell to the ground heavily.
"Okay, the jig is up. They know we're here now," Ranma said. "I'm going to missiles, Angel 1."
"Roger that," Kaname's voice said.
"AI, open the anti-armor missile bays and get me a missile lock on targets designated U-7 through 14," Ranma commanded her mecha. Small red boxes lit up on her screens indicating missile locks on the said units.
"Anti-armor missiles 1-5 locked on, ma'am," the AI said.
"Fire missiles a one second intervals then close the bay doors," Ranma ordered as the first missile launch rocked her slightly. "Urz 2, get ready to move your people. I just launched a spread of missiles. The explosions and smoke should provide you with some cover."
"Roger, Angel 2," Mao acknowledged as explosions started going off in the enemy positions. "Okay you heard the lady, get your asses moving Urz!"
"Angel 2," Kaname said. "I have incoming enemy air assets, appear to be transport planes, three, no, four of them. We also have another group vectoring on our position that look like Hinds."
"Damn," Ranma growled. "Urz 2 what's your position?"
"We are entering the dog leg now, Angel 2," Melissa said.
"Good, you hold that position and don't let one of those bastards get by there," Ranma growled. "We're about to be a little busy." Ranma looked at the enemy positions to see how many were left. "Shit," she said. The missile attack had only destroyed one UK-1 but the blasts had taken out three of the rK-92's. The remaining Savages and the targeted UK-1's were only moderately damaged. They had taken out 9 of the enemy units. Ten remained all with some degree of damage. If that's all it was then they would be home free. Unfortunately, the enemy was about to be reinforced. Four transports, potentially 20 fresh units. 'Crap,' Ranma thought.
"AI, ETA to Hind attack range?" Ranma demanded.
xxxxx
The Urz continued to fall back the dog leg in the canyon walls. It was a fifty meter long corridor only wide enough for three mecha to pass abreast. And because it limited fire the enemy could bring to bare, it was a great defensive position and Urz could hold it against the superior numbers of the enemy as long as the ammo held out.
Unfortunately, they were trapped there. Another 100 meters and the canyon opened up a little and stopped. The walls were high and steep, both a blessing and a curse. They couldn't get out but the enemy couldn't use them to take the high ground and pick them off like fish in a barrel.
The data they were getting relayed through the Angels of what was up outside didn't look reassuring either. The Angels had proven they were an impressively effective unit, having destroyed nine of the enemy between them without the enemy being about to get a shot at them. However, there were still ten more hostile AS's out there pinning Urz's battered ranks in the canyon.
And that wasn't the worst news. The enemy was about to be reinforced with potentially 20 fresh AS's and there wasn't anything they could do about it. Command would probably pull the Angels back in the face of such overwhelming numbers. That meant Urz was gonna die.
"Damn it!" Melissa swore. "Urz 1, 6, and 9, take up positions at the dog leg. Kill anything that comes around that corner. We're in a bad spot people. We may die today, but we're taking as many of the bastards with us as we can, got it?" The was a chorus of 'roger's. "Okay, Urz 4, 5, and 7, get take a break."
xxxxx
"Four Hinds inbound, ETA to missile range 15 seconds," Kaname's AI said.
"Angel 2," she said. "I'm going to take the Hinds out with surface to air missiles. You continue to snipe those hostile AS's. Make sure your AMS is armed in case the get a missile off."
"Roger," Angel 2 replied.
"AI, open surface to air missile doors and target the incoming Hinds," Kaname commanded. "Fire as soon as you get a lock."
7 seconds later, the first missile left the racks followed about a second later by the second through fourth at about 1 second intervals. Several seconds later three of the Hinds blossomed into fireballs and started dropping from the sky. The fourth missile struck the wreckage of one of the falling aircraft as it tried to track its evading target.
The Hinds had managed to get off three missiles before three of them were splashed. Four streams of .50 caliber tracers stabbed out at the incoming missile, sweeping them harmlessly from the sky.
"AI, as soon as you get lock on that last Hind, fire the missile," Kaname ordered as she brought up her 30mm and waited in case she needed to use them. As it happened she did. The Hind closed to gun range before the missile could get a lock. Kaname gutted it before it could get a bead on them. She then turned back to sniping at the remaining Hostiles blockading the canyon, noting Ranma had managed to take out two more of the UK-1's and cripple another.
xxxxx
"Angels, the surveillance drone has arrived on station and picked up 18 enemy units off loaded and headed into the theater. 10 more UK-1's, 6 rK-92's and Two have been confirmed as Codarls," Command said over the comm. "You are to pull back to the alternate dust off site to be extracted."
"But, Command, we can't do that!" Ranma protested. "If we leave then Urz is dead!"
"We're aware of the consequences Angel 2," Command said. "Your orders are to pull back to be extracted. We can't risk you or your AS's at this time."
"Okay, but we got a couple of minutes," Ranma said. "Until then get me a private encrypted channel with the Lt Commander." Then was a pause then Kalinin's voice came over the comm.
"Okay, Angel 2, speak your mind," Kalinin said.
"With all due respect, sir, this is bullshit," Ranma snarled. "We can take these guys. You KNOW we can. Just let us go unconventional and we'll rip them to pieces, Codarls or no Codarls. Sir, what's the point in having a weapons platform like this if we're not allowed to use it to its potential? Do you seriously want to throw away the lives of the whole SRT just to buy a couple more months of secrecy? We will have to use the Seraph's special abilities eventually. Why not now, when it can mean the difference of the lives of our colleagues? Come on, Sir, you know I wouldn't ask to put Angel 1 at risk if I wasn't certain we could pull this off. We CAN save them, sir. Let us do our job."
"You seriously think you can do this, Angel 2?" Kalinin asked.
"Sir, I don't think, I KNOW," Ranma said confidently.
"Very well, do it," Kalinin said.
"Yatta!" Ranma crowed. "Sir, one more thing."
"Yes, Angel 2?" Kalinin responded.
"See if you can air drop some ammo to Urz," Ranma suggested. "We might be a bit taking care of the ones they send hunting for us and Urz is going to have to hold the rest off until we can tear into the enemy's rear."
"Roger, Angel 2, they are already on the way," Kalinin confirmed.
"We've got work to do," Ranma said. "Gotta run." She switched channels.
xxxxx
"Okay, listen up, Urz," Angel 2 said. "Angels have been cleared to go unconventional. We're going to get you out of there, but you're gonna have to hang on for a while. You have an air drop of ammo on the way. We may be awhile dealing with what ever they send after us, but once we do we'll engage their rear. Once their good and distracted, I'll give you the signal and you can engage them from the other side. We'll have them for dinner and be home in time for cornflakes. Got it?"
"Roger that, Angel 2," Melissa responded. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Oh ye of little faith," Angel 2 returned. "Of course we know what we're doing. Saving your butts. Now I got work to do. Listen for the signal."
"Urz 2, is she nuts?" asked Urz 4. "She seriously thinks they can take on 20 AS's with just the two of them?"
"If she says she can do it then she can," Melissa said, but added, "I hope."
"It wouldn't seem a prudent move on their part," Urz 7 said. "However, Command would not have given them the go ahead if they didn't think there was a possibility. I don't know what she meant by going unconventional though. If she meant abilities like Arbalest, then I estimate their chance of success remote, given that there are two Codarls supported by 16 other units. Arbalest doesn't have the ability to change such an outcome."
"Well, at any rate, we do what the lady says," Melissa said. "We hold the pass until we get the signal or we die. When the air drop comes I want units not watching the pass to rearm. Those units will then guard the pass while the rest rearm. Until then, lets pray for the Angels, huh?"
xxxxx
"You ready, Angel 1," Angel 2 asked over the comm.
"Yup," Kaname grinned as she and Ranma fired the rest of their anti-armor missiles. "What do you have planned?"
"Well, first reengage your ECS. We are going stealth," Angel 2 replied as she suited action to words and her AS vanished. "Now, we don't have much time, so I explain while we take off. They will be sending at least some of their forces after us. I'm guessing that after the mauling we gave them with long range fire they'll be pretty eager to take us out first. That means they'll be sending the Codarl's and probably at least six other units. They probably will be expecting us to run, but we won't plan on that. What we are going to do is ambush them. Ah, yes, here we are. Now move over here to that side. We're going to let them go by, probably with the Codarls in the lead, then I'm going to fire a Moko Takabisha into them. It will probably take their trailing conventional AS's out of the fight from the beginning. I'm planning on at least two and damaging more of them. After I do that, we're going to try to put the Codarls down with a gauss rifle shot while they are disoriented. I'm guessing but I would say the pilots are pretty new and if they get distracted their Lambda Driver won't help them. After that we take out whatever's left over with the 30 mike mikes."
"Hold on, I'm getting data from the surveillance drone," Kaname said. "Well, would you look at that? I think I'm insulted. They only sent the two Codarls and two of the UK-1's after us. Idiots."
"Just makes things easier," Angel 2 responded.
They waited about five minutes before the four enemy mecha ran by them at speed. Angel 2 then stepped out behind them and powered up her opening salvo.
"Moko Takabisha!" she yelled over the comm.
The brilliant blue ball of ki shot forward into the backs of the trailing machines and blew them to shrapnel, knocking the two Codarls skidding on their faces.
Before the dust settled, Kaname fired her gauss rifle into one of the prone Codarls. It exploded impressively, further damaging its remaining comrade. Angel 2 fired her gauss rifle at the remaining AS and took out the Lambda Driver before finishing it off with her 30mm cannons.
"Oh shit," Angel 2 said causing Kaname to turn just in time to see the Seraph go flying and slam into the canyon wall.
"Ranma!" Kaname cried as she slammed a third Codarl, the one Sousuke had damaged earlier, with a kinetic bolt. The machine slammed into the canyon wall and crumpled like a beer can from the power of the force used on it. So focused on crushing the thing that hurt her Ranma, she totally missed the two UK-1's that opened up on her. She quickly regained her senses and refocused, throwing up her kinetic shield. It was too late for her AS's right arm though. It had been blasted off and her right missile launcher had been damaged.
It didn't matter, because in the next instant she saw Angel 2 descend on the pair like, well, an avenging angel, and shredded them with her ki claws. They never knew what hit them.
"You okay, Angel 1?" her teammate asked.
"Affirmative," she replied. "How about you, Angel 2?"
"I'm good, I got the ki shield up in time," Angel 2 chuckled. "See, if it hadn't been for all of Ryoga's attacks from behind without warning, I probably would have been toast. I'll have to remember to thank him for that one. You ready to go pull Urz's fat outa the fire?"
"I was born ready," Kaname replied. "Let's do it."
xxxxx
The resupply drop had came and went. Urz was fully loaded, albeit still somewhat battered. The sun was setting and not even one enemy AS's had come around the corner yet. Melissa sighed. This waiting was getting boring, but considering the alternative, she'd take boring. Data from the surveillance drone showed that 14 AS's awaited her team just outside the dog leg.
She hadn't heard from the Angels in a while but Command hadn't told her anything bad had happened so she continued to wait.
"Hey Urz," Angel 1 came over her comm. "You guys ready to get outa that hole you're stuck in?"
"You know it, Angel 1" Melissa said grinning.
"Well, you may want to come watch this," Angel 1 said. "I'm standing at the entrance to the dog leg so you can come on out. Angel 2 is about to mop up the last ten AS's so you better hurry or you'll miss it."
"Did she say Angel 2 is going to 'mop up' 10 AS's," Urz 6 asked incredulously.
"This I gotta see," Melissa said in disbelief. "Alright, Urz, lets move it out before we miss the action."
When the 7 remaining members of Urz came spilling out of the dog leg they all froze stock still. Angel 2 was whirling about in the center of a group of eight, whoops, no, seven UK-1's. As she danced around their wild fire, they were striking themselves instead of her. At the same time, her 30mm cannon fire was dead on, blasting chunks of armor off the out classed AS's. Occasionally, those blue shimmering claws that Melissa hadn't thought looked very dangerous would flash out and an AS arm would drop to the ground, or a torso would be shredded. Then, as if for variety, she would launch a glowing blue ball of light that would punch through an AS torso, destroying it and sending it flying back into the canyon wall. Before anyone could pick their jaws up off the ground, the last of the enemy fell to pieces before their eyes as Angel 2's arms seemed to blur, using her claws to peel the armor off the AS like an orange before planting a kick to its torso and smashing the hapless AS against the canyon wall.
"Holy shit," someone said.
Angel 2 paused as the last AS dropped to the ground and then turned toward the stunned Urz unit, stepping up to them. She dripped her AS in what looked amazingly like a graceful curtsy and stood.
"The Angels have arrived. Did somebody here pray for deliverance?" Angel 2 laughed as she unwittingly just coined the Angels slogan.
"Masaka," someone said in awe. It sounded suspiciously like Urz 7.
OOOOOOO
The strike team boarded the De Danaan to the cheers of the crew. Miraculously, Urz 3, 8, and 10 were alive, although Urz 8 would be spending some time in the infirmary with some broken bones and blood loss. The mission itself was not what could be called a success. Although the objectives were met, they discovered that most of the facility personnel had been successfully evacuated during the battle. Anything of intelligence value had been destroyed or taken, leaving neither clues as to who was responsible for it, nor any technical data on the new AS models. On the other hand, there were a surprising number of prisoners and disabled examples of the new units. Hopefully intelligence and R&D could pry something beneficial out of them.
Ranma parked her AS and crouched the Seraph down, dipping its nose to the floor and powering it down before popping the hatch. She climbed down to only to be confronted by a glowering and stern-looking Lt. Commander Kalinin. She gulped.
"Lt. Commander Kalinin, sir" she said crisply as she came to rigid attention and saluted.
The Lt. Comander stood there glowering, arms akimbo for a minute, driving Ranma's apprehension ever higher. He had just opened his mouth to say whatever was on his mind when a silver blur streaked passed him and glomped onto Ranma.
"Oh Lieutenant, thank you for bringing Sousuke home safely," Captain Tesstarossa sobbed into Ranma's cleavage. "You're so brave and wonderful! How can I ever repay you?" Ranma smiled apologetically to Kalinin and dropped her salute to comfort the crying girl. She could have sworn she saw the corner of his lips twitch up as he turned and stalked off to continue his survey of the returning strike team.
"It's alright, Madam Captain," Ranma said soothingly. "I just did my job, is all. Hey, look, Sousuke is out of Arbalest."
The normally clumsy young captain vanished so quickly that Ranma's pigtail fluttered in the slip stream. Ranma grinned as the serious sergeant was knocked off his feet when his emotional girlfriend barreled into him in a glomp that would have made Shampoo jealous. Then she was driven back against the nose of her Seraph as her own relieved fiancée cannon balled into her and kissed her passionately to the cheers of the people in the immediate area.
"Ahem," a throat clearing behind them interrupted the moment before it got too out of hand. Kaname reluctantly let go of Ranma and let the smaller girl up. The two grinned widely at each other and turned to the person who cleared their throat. They found themselves in a center of a semi-circle of the mobile Urz pilots, some of them with a slight trickle of blood coming from their noses from the sight of the two gorgeous women entwined in a passionate lip lock.
"We owe you guys big time," Melissa addressed them. The others all nodded in agreement. "We'd all be pushing up daisies if not for you're skill and bravery. You could have walked away and nobody would have faulted you for following orders, but you didn't. I think I speak for the entire SRT when I say; you two have proved yourselves today. You've proved yourselves to be competent officers and dedicated, steady comrades, as well as being the undisputable elite team of Mithril. Anybody says any different, I'll personally kick their ass. It is my honor and privilege to serve under two of the finest young officers it's ever been my pleasure to know. I'd follow you to hell, Lieutenants." With that, the entire Urz team loudly voiced their agreement and stood ram rod straight with a crisp salute to the wide-eyed pair of lieutenants. The effect wasn't even ruined by the fact that Sousuke still had Tessa, her arms and legs wrapped around him, tenaciously clinging like some sort of vine.
"Aw, come on guys," Ranma said after returning their salute before scratching the base of her pigtail, self-conscious in the face of such praise. "We didn't do anything you wouldn't have done for us."
And so it was that Ranma officially joined Kaname as another ship's hero. It was worth mentioning, that, though Ranma had earned the respect and admiration of the crew, it was still part in parcel of their respect and admiration of Kaname, simply because the crew found they couldn't view them separately. In their view, Ranma was part of Kaname, and Kaname was a part of Ranma, two parts of a whole person. To many, they had become viewed as the ideal couple, the couple that everyone aspired to be like. The perfect partnership.
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Authors Note:
My rational on Ranma's skill/power as an AS pilot is thus...I drew parallels between the various AS models and human equivalents. I assigned them as follows:
The rK-92 seemed to be taken out relatively easy by the M-9 (and even well placed small arms fire) in the Anime. Therefore, I rated its power as a garden variety street thug.
The M-6 I rated as the average LEO (Law Enforcement Officer).
The M-9 was rated at the equivalent of a well trained soldier (Delta Force, Rangers or the like).
The UK-1 was rated as the equivalent of the typical elite soldier (USN Seals, for instance)
The Codarl and Arbalest, I placed at about a Mousse, Kuno, or Akane level, take your pick depending on the talent of the pilot.
Angel 1 (Kaname), I determined to be at a level somewhere between Ryoga and Shampoo (Shampoo's grace and mobility, with some of Ryoga's power and durability)
Angel 2 (Ranma) is Ranma's equivalent.
I hope this puts it into perspective for those of you that may have been feeling that Ranma wouldn't have had such an easy time defeating that many enemy units. Will there be a Herb or Saffron equivalent enemy AS? There almost has to be, doesn't there. However, I don't like writing the 'desperate battle' scenario. The problem, of course, is that Ranma and Kaname have just made everyone else obsolete and superfluous (which I think kinda sucks for the other characters). Thankfully, powerful ki using martial artists are few and far between, more so than the Whispered I expect. Perhaps if the Arbalest goes into a production run and replaces the Urz unit's M-9's and they confront greater numbers of the Codarl's the challenge can be restored.
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