Chapter 4 (now edited by Xtor49)
Usagi woke surprisingly early the next morning, which for her was highly unusual. She reason she got up early was so she could go to her aunt's home, and walk to school with her cousin and his fiancée. She smiled happily as she got dressed and chatted away with Luna, who lounged on her bed while looking up at the future queen of Crystal Tokyo.
"Well, I'm glad you're happy about meeting a member of your family that you didn't know you had," Luna smiled a bit, then frowned, "But what about this technique you mentioned, the Nekoken?"
Usagi looked down at the ground, shuffling her feet, with a mournful expression on her face. "I don't know the details about it, but it's what killed my uncle," she said somberly. "Poor Ranma, had to him watch die," Usagi slumped to the bed, gently petting Luna for comfort. She then stood up, a very determined look in her eye, "Well he's got me and Akane now, he won't have worry bout being sad again."
Luna shook her head, watching Usagi bound out of her room with her usual gleeful ways. The lunar cat was always marveled by her Princess' ability to make people smile, and in some cases, actually turn some of their worst enemies into the best of friends. The four sisters of the Dark Moon Kingdom were prime examples, the Amazon Quartet was another.
I can't understand it, but if what Usagi said last night was true...If Jedi Knights are in this sector of the universe, so far from where they came from, then something dreadful must have happened. I just hope that the enemies of the Jedi don't follow them here, Luna thought.
In the asteroid field, Lady Ravenous was meditating in a lotus position. Alone in her private chambers, she was searching out the disturbance in the Force. It focused on three strong pulls. One she could sense almost immediately was a Jedi Master. One was stronger than the Master, and the other on par with the Master, at least in her particular field. The girl had a small trickle of fear, and she doubted it could be exploited. But the other had a powerful, hidden fear. Ravenous smiled softly, I've been wanting an apprentice. And now it looks like I have found a very good candidate.
Tartarous and Prince Diamond appeared before her, both kneeling. Ravenous knew almost instantly that Diamond was stewing in his anger at having to do this, but he had already suffered Jedi strangulation once, and learned quickly not question his partner. "Speak," the Sith Lady spoke.
"My Lady, the first batch of Magic Droids has been built. We await your orders," Tartarous proclaimed, his eyes never leaving the floor. He had seen his Lady's face once before, and was amazed that someone so beautiful could be so black hearted.
"We will target the city these Sailor Senshi are said to be hiding in first. Once we've taken over that city, we'll systematically take over the rest, until we've taken the world."
Diamond scowled at this, "Why take the world? We should destroy it!"
Ravenous raised her hand, causing the former prince of the Dark Moon Kingdom to gasp at the unseen hand squeezing his neck. "I told you before Diamond, we Sith do not destroy anything except Jedi, we conquer," she smiled slightly. "I will become Empress of this pathetic, backwater planet. I would prefer you to be at my side as my consort, than dead as my fertilizer."
Prince Diamond gasped a bit before nodding quickly. Darth Ravenous smiled sweetly before turning to the other man. Tartarous gave simple bow, "I obey your command, my Lady."
"Begin the Invasion, and draw out the Jedi. I want that city taken by morning, understand," Ravenous ordered. "Diamond, I want you to lead them into the city."
Both Diamond and Tartarous gave a deep bow, "Yes, Lady Ravenous."
Setsuna was looking ahead at Crystal Tokyo and gasped as she saw something completely different. In it's place was a huge planet city, and at the top of a black tower sat a beautiful woman dressed in a hooded robe. Next to her stood two men, one she recognized as Prince Diamond, and the other was a man in a hooded cloak. She quickly got over the shock of this revelation, and reset the time gates to see how this came about. She found herself overlooking Tokyo Tower, and saw a flash of two blades of light. One blade was green, the other a dark red.
The battle was fast and intense. During the course of the battle, she heard the voice of the red blade user talk, "I know of your hidden fear. Embrace it, use it, and it will make you stronger!"
Setsuna watched as the boy dropped his arms to his sides, seemly going into a partial trance. A second later a young girl appears with her own blade of yellow light. Before Yellow could move to begin her own duel with Red, Green lunges backward at incredible speed, sending his blade into Yellow's heart. Before the girl died, Setsuna watched a tear of sadness drip down the girl's face.
Green later marched along toward the heart of the city, with, of all things, an army of robots. The Senshi quickly fell under Green's blade, until all that was left was Sailor Moon and Mace Windu; Tuxedo Kamen had already been killed by a droid earlier in the battle. Master faced student in a fierce lightsaber battle, only for the Master to fall before his student. Sailor Moon watched as the boy walked toward her, lifting her up with some unseen hand. A tear streaked down his cheek, looking up at his cousin as if trying to fight the darkness inside him. But with quick spin the boy sliced Sailor Moon's head off and watched it roll to the ground, his eyes cold once again.
Setsuna dropped the image, tears flowing down her cheeks at the sight. If things do not change soon, Ranma Saotome will be the death of us all. "Damn you Genma Saotome," she shouted, knowing the Nekoken and the fear it instilled in the boy was the trigger that would start his road to darkness. She cried for what seemed like hours, before quickly running various scenarios through the time gates to see which one could fix things. None of them seemed to work.
The only one that came close was talking to Master Windu and giving the boy plenty of preparation before Darth Ravenous would appear. But even this was a fifty-fifty chance. It all came down to a choice. The Nekoken was also an element of Chaos that prevented Ranma's future from being set in stone. The whole future now rested in the hands of a Jedi Padawan with a latent fear inside him that could turn him to the Dark Side in a second.
"What will I do?" she asked the emptiness. After a few moments, she reappeared in her home that she shared with the other Outer Senshi. I have to talk to Windu. Even if the chance of success is only fifty percent, it is still our best hope.
Usagi cheerfully rang the doorbell to her aunt's home. Nodoka Saotome opened the door, smiling brightly upon seeing her niece standing there, "Usagi, so good to see you, come in." Usagi quickly entered. She saw Master Windu sitting, staring out the back veranda, watching something intently.
"Auntie, where's Ranma and Akane?" Usagi wondered. Nodoka just smiled and motioned her to follow. Usagi came to sit next Master Windu and stared in awe at what her cousin and his fiancée were doing. Both were going through some of the most spectacular sword fighting skills she had ever seen in her life, both present and past. She watched Ranma and Akane went through several attacks, dodging, blocking, and lunging at each other. The speed they were moving at was staggering. It stopped with Ranma, who was holding his green blade an inch from Akane's nose.
Master Windu nodded. "Very good this morning. Now cool down, and have breakfast," he said with his usual calm demeanor. Usagi smiled at the two as they sat who smiled back. "Ranma, I sense you are uneasy today. What is the matter?"
"A nightmare, Master, a very intense nightmare. I-I dreamed I was fighting some woman in black. She started talking to me about embracing my fears of the Nekoken training," Ranma shuddered, "Next thing I knew, I killed Akane, then started killing all these girls in short skirts, you, and the last one," he closed his eyes, tears leaking out of them. "Is it a vision of some kind, Master?"
Mace Windu didn't like what he heard; a part of him knew that Ranma's fears of the Nekoken could prove to be a dangerous point. But soon as he mentioned a woman in black, his concern magnified. "Yes, it's a vision of a possible future, my young Padawan, but as Master Yoda often said, the future is always in motion. But this also comes as warning," he put his hand to chin, "Ranma, I'm going to have to prepare you a little ahead of schedule, for your final trail."
Ranma gave a haunted look, "It's the Nekoken isn't it," he stated. Usagi and Akane both gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
Mace gave a sigh and nodded, "In order for you to become a full Jedi Knight, you must confront this fear and defeat it. Otherwise your nightmare very well could become a reality."
Ranma nodded, closing his eyes. After a brief set of cleansing breaths, he ate with his usual gusto, along side his cousin who did the exact same. Akane just shook her head at them and smiled. Though hidden behind her smile was a very worried young girl, Ranma...he's going to confront the thing he fears the most. Something that drove everyone else that experienced it insane. What if, in trying to cure him of the Nekoken, he does go insane...I don't want to lose you, Ranma. I couldn't bear losing you.
A few minutes after Ranma, Akane, and Usagi left for school, just as Nodoka left to teach her kendo classes, Setsuna arrived. Mace Windu opened the door and let her in, knowing full well why she was there.
"Not good to look into the future, Lady Pluto," Mace said calmly, sitting across from her. "What you do with the Time Gates borders very much on the Dark Side."
Setsuna frowned slightly, "I guess that's true, but I lost one kingdom to darkness because I wasn't able to act. I don't want to lose another."
"Be mindful of how you act Lady Pluto, but that isn't why you are here, it's because of Ranma."
Setsuna was more than a little shocked; this man was probably the only one outside of Queen Serenity that had ever been able to do that. "Yes, I looked into the future to see how Crystal Tokyo would do with Jedi Knights. It instead showed Ranma giving into the Nekoken fear, turning into a Dark Jedi, killing everyone, including you, and becoming the apprentice of a Sith Lord named Darth Ravenous."
Mace sipped his tea, "I know that already, Ranma himself dreamed of that very scenario last night."
Setsuna choked in surprised. I knew the Jedi had mystical powers, but I didn't think they could actually see into the future! "Then what are you going to do?"
"There is not much we can do. Ranma has to face his fear, but he won't be alone. He has his mother, fiancée, and his cousin to watch out for him. I told him to start preparing himself for the confrontation, and that's all I can do," he stated flatly.
"Then all it comes down to is him. If he isn't strong enough, he'll slip into his fear, and become a Dark Jedi. If he is strong enough, he'll conquer his fear and become a Jedi Knight. Just like the time gates predicted, it's fifty-fifty," Setsuna said glumly.
Mace nodded. "Everything comes down to choice in the end, Lady Pluto," he tensed a bit. "So it begins," he said, his voice deadly serious.
Setsuna turned to him, bewildered as he reached up and turned on the television. She watched as the Prime Minister of Japan appeared on screen. "Ladies and Gentleman, several ships have landed on the outskirts of Tokyo. These ships are space craft that appeared on our satellite system just a few moments ago. Upon landing, the ships started deploying tanks and what appear to be robots. Also, there are several other strange vehicles appearing from inside the landing crafts," the Prime Minister stated. "Our noble comrades in the American Armed Forces are starting to mobilize to help us with this unexpected invasion."
Setsuna looked to Mace and he looked to her. "I take it this is what you meant, Master Windu?"
Mace nodded, looking as several screen shots showed the droids. They looked like a cross between the Trade Federation droids and a C3PO unit, only a Dark Moon crescent shape insignia was shown on the left shoulder and the right breastplate. "War for Earth is about to begin," he said sadly.
Setsuna frowned heavily, the Time Gates didn't show me the battles leading up to Ranma becoming a Dark Jedi. The Japanese government has no standing army, and hasn't had one since WWII. She watched as the first laser blast was fired off from the droid battle. "We can't fight robots with gun fire," she stated.
Mace nodded again, and handed her three blaster rifle designs, "These were made for troops on my side of the Galaxy. I suggest taking these back three months into the past," he stated, knowing that it may alter the course of this world. Right now we have little choice. Without more advanced weaponry, Japan will fall very quickly.
Setsuna didn't hesitate, fading from view. Mace went to the window, taking a deep breath and watching as huge starships landed about six miles outside of town. He could sense the trickle of time as it changed around everything, except the motions that were already beginning to take place. He quietly walked over to a box on the desk and pulled out the new lightsaber he built once he had arrived on Earth. It looked much like the last one he had, including the purple blade.
"A war is about to start, and it'll take a combined effort from everyone on every continent to win this. This is just a first wave of what's to come," he said soberly, knowing Pluto had returned and was standing behind him. "You must warn the world, I suggest you and the others of your group announce it and hope they will believe you."
Pluto nodded. "If anyone can get the world to believe her, Princess Serenity can," she stated, once again fading from view.
Mace looked up at the sky, "Well, Yoda, I may have survived the Clone Wars, but it looks like I come into another. The war for Earth."
Author's Note: So begins the build up. This is a Ranma/Akane fic, so anyone who doesn't like this match-up may not want to read this. However, I'm not bad mouthing the others either, as a matter of fact they may make cameos. After all, a worldwide war against Darth Ravenous and her magically enhanced droids will bring some interesting people out of the woodwork. Though this is mainly a Ranma/Sailor Moon/Star Wars fic, don't be surprised to see other characters appearing the next chapters. Again, it's a worldwide war.
Oh, I'm looking for anyone that would be willing to write some sidestories for Jedi Knights of Earth. If you think you might be interested, let me know.