Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.

Note: Where necessary, our Ranma will continue be referred to as Ranko.

Chapter 17 – The end of the quests.

The Dead Scream came towards her, but Beryl dodged out of the way and then sent her own magical blast of power at Pluto, but the other Sailor was able to dodge it. The two girls had traded magical attacks back and forth with mixed results. Beryl thought about the distance battle of magical attacks she was currently waging and wondered if Pluto was any good in physical combat, then she examined her own magic and came up with an idea.

Beryl put her staff on her back and rushed towards Pluto. The grayish-pink haired girl sent a kick at the other woman's head. The kick was blocked and a punch was sent back towards her. Beryl evaded the blow and sent her own punch in towards Pluto. The green haired girl avoided it, pointed her rod at Beryl, and fired a Dead Scream at point blank range. Beryl barely jerked her body to the ground and out of the way of the deadly energy. She leaped back to her feet just in time to avoid another kick and fought on, but this time with healthy respect to Pluto's fighting prowess.

As they fought back and forth, Beryl reached into her magical powers. "I've had this done to me and I've watched Ranko do it, but I never thought that I could build my skill or chi to the levels that she did. Well I should have thought about it more clearly. Sakura Blossoms in the Wind!"

Earth magic infused Beryl and turned her hands into a veritable pink blur as her fists flew at magical speeds. From a distance, it would have seemed as if Pluto was standing in front of a whirlwind of cherry blossoms. The reality was more painful as Beryl's fists slammed into Pluto at high speed. Finally, one blow sent Pluto flying.

The green haired Senshi started to get up when Beryl unsheathed her staff and pointed a vicious obsidian blade at Pluto's throat. "I will kill you if I must, but my association with Ranko has taught me about compassion and mercy as well. When I look at you, I can see myself and I believe that you should be given the same chance to change your ways. Accept your defeat and let Sailor Sol go."

The green haired Senshi stared at the obsidian blade and formulated her own plan. "Very well, I will free her."

Beryl allowed Pluto to stand up and followed behind her, her weapon ready as they walked to the Gates of Time.

At the Gates Pluto untied Sailor Sol and said, "There, she is free. Pick her up and be gone."

Beryl reached out and took Ranko by the hand when suddenly the Gates of Time came to life. A huge force pulled at the two girls and Pluto gave them a shove pushing them right into the threshold. Fortunately, Beryl was able to turn her staff and its length barely made it completely across the gates saving both her and Sailor Sol.

Beryl held onto her staff with grim determination and was holding Ranko with the other hand. The grayish pink haired girl glanced into the Gates and saw the vacuum of space. Nearby was a powerful black hole.

Beryl realized that if she did not do something she and Ranko were going to be pulled through the Gates of Time and into that black hole. She pulled with all of her might and was able to put one foot onto the Gates's threshold, while she continued to hold her staff. Her foot gained purchase and she was then able to slowly slide herself and her burden closer and closer to one of the metal arches of the gates. Realizing her predicament, she tried to pull Ranko in closer and was able to get the unconscious red haired girl in front of her.

With Ranko, now in-between her arms, held there as if in an embrace. Beryl then was able to use her freed hand to try to grab onto the threshold and pull herself out of the Gates. Her fingers were mere inches away when a Dead Scream slammed into her.

Beryl screamed as she lost her grip on the staff and she started to plummet into space.

Hotaru woke up in her own basement. Next to her was the unconscious form of Sailor Moon and across the room, she could see Sailor Jupiter and Ryouga. She looked towards the now broken machine and saw her father lying next to it with a peaceful smile on his face.

She smiled at her healed father and looked again at the place where the portal had stood. She thought to herself, "Okay, I entered the portal with the Eternal Sailor Moon. We fired beam after beam of destructive power at the approaching form of Pharaoh 90. None of those attacks worked and then I triggered my own transformation. I gained these white-feathered wings and knew that I could survive my ultimate attack. I leveled my glaive at that thing and then asked Sailor Moon to steady me. Somehow, she was able to channel her magic into me and I said the words. For the first time in memory I used the Death Reborn Revolution. The energy flowed through me and then everything went quiet as the ultimate form of The Silence came out and obliterated everything in its path. After that I must have lost consciousness."

Hotaru stood up and thought, "Okay that's what happened in the portal. Now I think I had better check on everyone. Perhaps the battle has moved on and Ranko-san or Beryl-san is in need of my assistance?"

Hotaru stood up and looked around the room. She didn't see Ranko or Beryl, but she did spot her father. She walked over to him and examined him. He was alive and she could sense no evil in him. Then she stood up and checked on Sailor Moon, and Jupiter. Both of them were breathing, as was Ryouga Hibiki. Still seeing no signs of her friends, she walked over to a large pile of rubble and tried to see if they were buried under it. Seeing no signs of them there she glanced around the room again, "Okay, Ranko-san and Beryl-san are not here as far as I can tell. Beryl-san should be lying next to my father because that was where I saw her last, but she is not. So where did she go?"

Hotaru frowned and thought some more, "I went into the portal, and Ranko-san said that she was going to take care of that evil Ranma Saotome. Ranko is the best and no one can defeat her, so she couldn't have lost the battle. Where can the two of them be?"

Hotaru looked around the basement again and said aloud, "Ranko-san! Beryl-san! Where are you?"

There was no reply to the girls request and so she tried to think again. Her thoughts were bringing her no closer to a solution for this mystery and so she started looking around the room again. A bright flash caught her eye and she saw the Holy Grail peeking out from inside the machine. She quickly hurried over to the item and picked it up. She almost dropped it again as energy filled her body and a vision assaulted her.

She was looking at an endless plain of gray with a single gate standing in it. At the gate were Beryl-san and Ranko-san holding on for dear life. Then Beryl was hit by an energy blast and the two girls fell through the gate and into the darkness of space. A voice called out and said, "Go, use my power and prevent this action. Go and stop the evils that will come."

The vision was over and Hotaru knew what she had to do. She dropped the Holy Grail and teleported away.

When the young Sailor was gone, the Grail fell to the floor and shattered into tiny fragments. The pieces continued to glow slightly for awhile and then the glow dissipated. The grail had used up the last vestiges its energy to give Sailor Saturn a chance to save her friends."

Hotaru appeared right next to the Gates of Time and grabbed Beryl's hand just after she was hit by the Dead Scream. The small girl heaved with all of her might trying to pull her friends out of the Gates.

The two girls struggled against the awesome power pulling them into the Gates and Beryl took a moment to see where Pluto was. The green-haired Senshi was raising her rod one more time and Beryl knew that the next blast might send all three girls hurtling towards their demise. She tried to think and then suddenly she felt the nature of the Gates of Time. She felt a small piece of them calling to her and realized one small part of the gates had come from Earth!

Beryl concentrated the call of the material and was relieved to see that it was right in front of her. She put her hand out and was able to touch it using her new connection to the planet and almost all of her remaining power to make the material obey her command.

The Dead Scream came hurtling towards the three girls, but the piece of earth that was in the gates had already reacted to Beryl and given her some of its temporal power. Time slowed to almost a standstill making the pull from the gate almost insignificant and giving Beryl and Hotaru just enough extra time to pull themselves and Ranko out of the threshold and away from the attack.

The three girls landed in a pile in front of the gates and instead of hitting them, the Dead Scream went over their heads and harmlessly out into space. With the vacuum of space still pulling at the three girls Hotaru's glaive peeked out and she shouted, "Silence Glaive Surprise!"

Setsuna had been astonished to see the three girls move so quickly, but she still held up her rod and started another Dead Scream. The energy left her rod, but it was met by The Silence. The Silence powered through the Dead Scream and destroyed Sailor Pluto as well. As The Silence dissipated a single sound could be heard, that of a metal rod hitting the ground.

Beryl and Hotaru looked behind them, but there was nothing in the time gates anymore. The two girls smiled and then tried to get up, but the lack of resistance confused them and they tripped, falling with Ranko's body right on top of them.

Ranko heard laughing and started to open her eyes when she realized that she was laying on something soft. In fact, both of her hands were on something soft and pliable. Jerking her eyes completely open, Ranko realized that she was groping both Beryl and Hotaru. The girl flushed with embarrassment and said, "Wait! Uhm! I didn't mean to!"

Beryl and Hotaru saw the panic stricken and embarrassed look on Ranko's face and laughed even harder. Ranko looked sheepish and extricated herself from her friends. The two girls tried to comply, but their laughing caused the three of them to fall again and land in the same position as before. It took three tries for the girls to finally extricate themselves from the tangle and more time still for both Beryl and Hotaru to calm down. Ranko herself laughed a little bit and waited for them to calm down. When they finally did she said, "I know this might seem cliché, but where on earth am I now?"

Before Beryl could answer that question an old crone appeared. She was as thin as a skeleton with dull iron teeth and a gigantic wart filled nose. Her hair was a dull waxy gray and looked to be the texture of flax. She looked at the three with milk-clouded eyes and made a gesture. Suddenly Ryouga's unconscious form appeared next to her.

The crone said, "Wake up Japanese bone. I have words to speak with you."

Ryouga woke up and saw the ancient crone he was about to speak when she silenced him "Be quiet young Japanese bone. I do believe we have another guest as well."

Ranko, Beryl, and Hotaru had silently watched as a dark black mist suddenly appeared. Beryl looked at the mist with apprehension and started to speak.

"Silence, I said." Then the old crone smiled at the mist with her blood red teeth and said, "See, I told you that you would not win. You so called Wiseman!" At that the crone spat and said, "Now I get the prize and you get nothing!"

Ranko said, "What prize? What are you talking about ya old crone!"

"I told you not to speak!" The crone shrieked these words and suddenly Ranko could not speak. Ryouga stood up to attack, but the crone just pointed at him and he was rooted to his spot. The crone continued and said, "Now if you are done with your petty interruptions I will continue."

No one spoke and the being known as Baba Yaga continued. "The prize is these pretty gates you see in front of you, and a thousand and one years of servitude. I will take my new slave and my gates and then be on my way. You boys will be free to stay here or go to one other place of your choosing."

Ryouga and Ranko looked as if they wanted to speak and Baba Yaga said, "I know, you wish to know what it is that I am talking about. Well, since I am in such a good mood about winning my bet I will tell you."

The old crone gestured and a large rocking chair appeared behind her. She sat down on it and said, "Perhaps you remember the blessing that I gave you?"

Ryouga and Ranko were both able to speak again and said, "You shall always know where you are and you will always be brought to where you need to be."

Baba Yaga smiled a cruel smile and said, "Good you do remember. That blessing essentially sent you places that I needed you to be. So, you were sent on many quests for me. These quests were to gain power so that you could finally be brought here and win my prize."

Ryouga and Ranko looked at Baba Yaga with anger in their eyes and the old crone said, "Come now, and do not be angry. Although you can no longer keep my little blessing you have already been well rewarded for the services you have provided. Further, I will leave you with one final reward. I will give you the ability to travel to one world of your choosing or to stay here as you please."

She then pointed at the mist, held out a signed piece of paper and said, "Meanwhile you shall be my slave for one thousand plus one year as per our agreement." The mist slowly moved towards her and without a hint of sarcasm said, "I hear and obey oh great Baba Yaga!"

The crone stared at everyone and walked towards the gates with her new slave in tow. "Don't do anything foolish Japanese Bones!"

Saturn saw her coming close to them and said, "I can feel it, she is evil."

Beryl said, "She's right Ranko, we can't just let her have these gates."

Ranko said, "I was just about to say the same thing."

"What should we do?"

Beryl said, "I have some power left." and Hotaru replied that she had some as well.

Ranma heard that and pondered as the crone continued to slowly walk closer to the gates. Baba Yaga spoke some mystic words and chanted as she walked around the gates. Ranma tried to think of some technique that might work against her magic.

Finally she said with exasperation, "I'm not sure what we should do Hotaru. I'm just starting to gain back some of my power and she is probably quite prepared for our magic. If we attack her and she turns the attack aside, I don't think we will get to attack again. We only have one shot at this and I'm just not sure of what we should do.

The crone finished walking and said, "By the spell of Chronos, and by the ancient pact the wager has been made and won. The spell has entered into my hands and you must obey my command. Come forth from your prison"

When she uttered the last word Baba Yaga held out one of her hands. At that gesture the entirety of the gates slowly started to move up out of the desolate gray landscape. Ranko grunted at this and Hotaru said, "Maybe if we work together?"

Beryl surreptitiously put her own hand on the gates as it was rising and said, "I have an affinity for a piece of the gates because it comes from Earth. Perhaps you can work through me?"

The other two girls nodded while looking to see if Baba Yaga had noticed them. The old crone was still busy so Ranko and Hotaru put their hands on Beryl without notice. They channeled their powers into her and as they did so, their minds seemed to merge. The two girls were mentally connected with Beryl and were able to feed her their power and speak mentally with the girl.

Beryl was feeling out the material in the gates with her mind when suddenly Ranko saw something. The girl shouted mentally, "There! Do you see it Beryl?"

Beryl focused on the spot that Ranko had pointed out and the gates continued to rise out of the ground. The Gates were almost free of their prison when Hotaru was able to see the point as well.

Ranko said, "Okay, we are going to try a modified version of a technique I know. I'm calling this the Omega Bakusai Tenketsu and I think that if we all concentrate our powers directly into that point we will destroy the gates. Do you understand?"

Hotaru and Beryl mentally nodded and Ranko said, "All together now. Ready?"

The gates had just exited their prison and were starting to float towards Baba Yaga when Ranko mentally screamed, "Now!"

With that mental shout all three girls sent their concentrated on that single point and spoke as one calling out, "Omega Baksai Tenketsu!"

The breaking point was hit by the torrent of energy and the gates exploded in a gigantic cataclysm of temporal energies. The explosion of temporal energies washed over Ranma, Hotaru, and Beryl and they were gone. Then it expanded outwards from the gate in a wave and rushed throughout the realm. The powerful chronological energies rushed over Ryouga and for a moment, he experienced every permutation of his life. He was in grade school fighting for bread; he was on phoenix mountain watching as Ranma saved Akane; he was far in the future a gray haired man teaching young children; he was in prison wondering what Akari would say; he was holding onto a magical koi rod and wondering what to do; he was wearing the god mark and being splashed in front of Akane; he was falling into Jyusenkyou; he was at count Dooku's side killing Ranma and then defeating the Old Republic; he was himself in the past, present, and future and he was also thousands of different Ryougas doing thousands of different things all throughout the multiverse.

Then it was over and he was back on an endless plain looking at Baba Yaga. The ancient crone seemed to be unphased by the destructive energies, but when they had subsided, she cursed and spat saying, "You foolish bones! You damn foolish things! You have ruined everything! Wherever you are, whenever you are I spit on your names! I send you a curse in the names of all the dark gods. Let them hound your steps and try to destroy you, let them bring you to me kneeling and bloody. Then and only then will I personally end your miserable little existences by rending your souls into tiny little gibbets and casting them into oblivion!"

The ancient crone finished her angry rant and then stared at Ryouga who was still rooted to his spot. "You! Hibiki, your brother has ruined my plans and made all of the quests I sent you on meaningless. Although I will not visit oblivion upon you, I will leave you here alone and without my gifts. No longer will you be sent to where I need you to be. No longer do you have anything at all that I have given you. My quests are over Hibiki and you will stay rooted here forever!"

The black mist almost seemed to chuckle and then the crone looked at it angrily and said, "Come now slave! There is other work that must be done!" After that, the old crone was gone and Ryouga never would see her again.

Ryouga stood there trapped in the gray mists and waited. While he waited, he probed some more at his link with the Force. He grasped and studied it, then he concentrated upon his tenuous connection. Slowly, but surely his lightsabre floated into the air. The blue blade ignited and started to slash at the ground in front of him.

Slowly, but surely Ryouga used his Force guided lightsabre to cut himself out of the ground. He did not know how long it took, but after time he was free and able to walk around. The young Hibiki boy walked the length and breadth of the dimension for what seemed like years. He practiced his martial arts and concentrated on his connection to the Force, learning more and more, until one day he saw a small metal rod with a garnet gem lying on the ground.

He picked up the rod and held it in his hand. As soon as he held it, he could feel a power calling out to him. Using the Force, he reached into the rod and felt a connection to the planet Pluto. The Force called out to that power and then he knew what to do. He held the garnet rod in the air and called out the phrase. The one that the Force told him would work, "Pluto Planet Power Makeup!"

The energy of Pluto was able to swirl around and transform him. He spun in the air and his yellow shirt became a elaborate green silk tunic; over that a corselet of green metal was formed. He continued to spin and his yellow bandanna was replaced by a round metallic green cap, while his shoes were replaced by heavy leather boots. He landed on the ground and around his waist his belt became a single piece of pointed green metal with a groove and his lightsabre slotted into it. More of the same green metal encircled the rest of his waist up to the metal over his shirt and the rod transformed itself into a large green javelin.

He felt even more in tune with the Force and was feeling an extra trickle of energy coming in from Pluto while he was trying to reconcile his chi, the power of Pluto, and the Force he was surprised by the sudden appearance of a group of people in front of him. Ryouga was about to ignite his lightsabre and when he was bowled over by Sailor Jupiter.

The two landed on the ground in an embrace and she said, "Ryo-chan! I thought we had lost you. Don't disappear like that again, do you hear me?"

All Ryouga could do was nod and then he said, "Wait. How did you guys find me, and how long have I been here?"

Mercury held up her computer and said, "It has been three days Earth time. Your perception of the passage of time may have been different. I was running a search for you and other sailors on the planet. We were able to find henshin rods for Uranus and Neptune at the aquarium, but there was nothing for You, Pluto, Sol, or Saturn. Sailor Moon insisted that some of you must have survived the battle against Ranma Saotome, so I kept the search program running. Yesterday, I widened the search radius to the entire solar system. One day after that it sent me an alert stating that the Pluto Garnet Rod had been located and had been used to create Pluto Knight. I informed the rest of the sailors and we had a group meeting. At that meeting Sailor Moon had me pinpoint the exact position of the henshin rod. Upon the decision, it was a simple matter to holding hands to combine our powers and teleport here."

Ryouga said, "So where is here?"

The black haired girl said, "As far as I can tell we are inside the planet Pluto. In fact we are at the exact center of the planet's core. We are standing in a large hollowed out cavern composed of solidified hydrogen, nitrogen and various other materials. A magical field is keeping everything solid and the surrounding temperature at a comfortable 23 degrees Celsius. My computer is also reading a few small chronological fluxes and what looks like the remnants of a sub-dimensional pocket"

There was a vast silence in the room when Mercury was done speaking and then Ryouga realized that the blue haired Senshi was probably looking for a response so he stood up and said, "Right, thanks for the information. Maybe we should just go now?"

Usagi took on a regal air put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Perhaps you could tell us what happened here first?"

Ryouga told the assembled group what he had seen and witnessed, the Usagi bid him to kneel in front of her. Ryouga did so and she said, "In recognition of your prowess on the field of battle, and responsive to the wishes of garnet rod, I think you should be a knight.

"A knight must respect all those who are weak or defenseless. He must always be a champion of love and justice no matter where he may go.

"Do you swear to uphold these values and fight under my banner? Do you desire to accept the burden of knighthood and swear fealty to the Crown?"

Ryouga looked up into Usagi's regal blue eyes and said, "I do."

Usagi tried to tap Ryouga's shoulder with the moon scepter, but instead cracked him on the head. She tried to pretend that she had meant to do it and said, "Rise, Sir Ryouga, Knight of Pluto."

The Inner Senshi started to hold hands only with each other when Ryouga said, "Wait! Aren't you going to take me with you?"

"That's odd. You mean you don't have the power to teleport?" The blue haired girl pulled out her computer and scanned him. "Hmm, it seems you don't have as much magical power as Sailor Pluto, did, although I do read a great deal of chi energy and something else in you."

"Well, I don't know what power I do have, but perhaps we should test it out later. It is possible that most of the magical powers Pluto used to have were intertwined with the Time gates. With their destruction it's possible that all I have is a real nice outfit of green armor and a bit of magical power."

The girls laughed at that and then brought him in close and held his hands. Usagi's last statement was, "Let's go get ice cream!" Then the group was gone.

Baba Yaga's Curse: Friction with the machine

Prologue – What has already happened.

Ranma woke up. He was male and lying on a bed, he could feel felt warmth on him and noticed that Beryl and Hotaru were also in bed with him and they were holding him close. In fact, as he looked closer he realized that they all were tangled together in a shabby medical bed mostly naked and in their civilian identities. He thought he could hear sounds like explosions and gunfire in the distance and so he gathered his courage. With a deep blush on his face he quickly, but carefully untangled from his friends so as not to wake them.

As he got out of the bed, the sounds of gunfire seemed to be coming closer. He found the light switch and a bare white bulb came on. There were five other beds in the room, but they all looked like they would fall apart at a touch. He approached what looked like a hastily erected metal door and then it burst open and a rugged-looking elderly lady came into the room. Her white hair was streaming behind her and she was holding an automatic weapon in her hands. She slammed the door behind her and said, "Good, you're up. The med team said it was just exhaustion."

The gun fire was coming closer and the lady said, "Alright, there is a hidden door in the north east corner of the room."

Ranma stared at her and she said, "Look, I'm Commander Sarah Conner and we don't have any time for chit chat. Get it in gear! Wake your wives and hurry it up! Skynet has located us!"

Ranma stammered and he used his English skills to say, "Uhm, you're confused–they aren't my wives."

"That doesn't matter. Just wake them and hurry it up! The terminators from Skynet are here and I have ordered a full retreat to Tango Base. Now come on hurry it up or you'll be dead! They could be here in this room at any moment!"

Ranma decided to listen to the lady and quickly roused his friends as the gunfire came closer and closer. They were both getting out of bed and moving towards the corner of the room when the sounds of a firefight came from outside the metal door and then there was a small explosion.

The explosion sent them all to the floor. He looked up from the floor and saw that the door had been blown down and was now on top of Commander Conner. Standing in archway was a metal man holding a black automatic weapon. Without hesitation, Ranma was off the floor and attacking with the Kinjin Rashu Dan. The vacuum blade traveled across the room, knocked the foe to the ground, and destroyed its weapon.

Ranma sighed in relief–and then saw the machine getting up. That was when he grasped onto the power of the Sun and transformed. Suddenly he was splashed by cold water and became female and then the magic of Sol surrounded her. She was garbed in elbow length white gloves and a bright yellow leotard with a red skirt, a spectacular yellow diamond tiara rested on her head and she was suddenly wearing a pair of red high heels. A pair of hot plasma wings appeared on her back and twin yellow and red bracers with the symbol of the sun appeared on her arms. The transformation had taken nano-seconds and when it was complete, she immediately jumped across the room next to the metallic man. She hit him with a plasma enhanced amaguriken until she melted it into slag.

Hotaru and Beryl had shouted their transformation phrases as well and so Sailor Saturn and Sailor Earth were lifting the heavy door off the elderly lady. They helped her to her feet as she stared at them with awe. "I couldn't believe it. When my son John was killed, I was sure we would lose. I was sure that his last message couldn't be true. After all who would believe that we could be saved by the Sun, Earth, and Saturn?"

Ranma saw confused looks on Hotaru and Beryl's faces and realized that they hadn't quite understood all of the English that Sarah was speaking. From her own escapades with her father training at U.S. military bases she had become more fluent than the average Japanese citizen. In fact she recalled many a sparring session with Sensei William Guile practically kicking English into her. So she looked back at Sarah and smiled. "It looks like your son was right, Commander Conner."

She bowed and said, "I would love to continue this conversation and introduce my friends, but I think you have a more serious issue right now so we will meet again after the battle."

With that thought she looked towards her friends and switched back to Japanese, "Come on girls, let's go see what these terminator things are made of."

She ran out of the room and towards the sounds of gunfire with Beryl and Hotaru close on her heels. The three entered the fray and destroyed the attacking machines turning what had been a rout and retreat into a victory. After the battle, Sarah Conner asked the three of them to come to her office.

The three were back in their civilian identities and walking towards the meeting when Beryl asked, "So Ranma, now that the evil Ranma Saotome is dead, will you be taking your old name back?"

Ranma smiled back at her and said, "No, I'm not that attached to it anymore. You can call me Ranma…" He paused for a moment and then continued, "Call me Ranma Taya." He smiled at that as they walked into the office and began their meeting with Sarah Conner. He had gained a new understanding with his memories of being Taya. No longer was Taya a separate personality, but instead she was a part and parcel of Ranma now. He also smiled he was feeling a strange new power washing through him. The power he felt was reminiscent of the chronological energy that had washed over the group and taken them to this place, but there was more to it. He investigated the energy within himself for a moment and found time slowing down around him. New and interesting avenues of discovery were opened to him, but as he sat in the seat he decided to leave more experimentation with the energy for later, and spoke once again. "Alright, I suppose we should start with introductions. I am Ranma Taya also known as Sailor Sol."

She pointed to Beryl and said, "This is Beryl also known as Sailor Terra." Beryl Smiled at Commander Conner and tried her own English. "Hello Commander Conner. Pleased I am to be you meeting."

Ranma tried to stifle a laugh and continued with the introductions pointing to Hotaru and saying, "This is Hotaru Tomoe also known as Sailor Saturn."

Hotaru didn't even try her English—she barely knew anything, so she simply nodded; Ranma continued, "We have come here from another place and time I think, but that doesn't really matter right now. From what I saw out there today fighting those machines I believe that we can and should help you. Perhaps you can explain your situation and I will translate for my friends."

Sarah looked at Ranma and said, "Skynet is a neural net based artificial intelligence. It was originally built by Cyberdyne Systems in 1999. It was given control over the U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal and programmed with a directive of defending the United States against all possible enemies. It started to learn at a geometrical rate, and soon concluded that the greatest threat is humanity itself. To neutralize this threat on August 29th, 1997, Skynet initiated a nuclear war between the United States, Russia, and China with the intent of killing as many humans as possible.

"Skynet gained access to several autonomous military drones and used them to round up survivors, who were forced to build automatic factories and robots that were better at construction than the military robots. Skynet then killed the human slaves or sent them to work on other projects. In the meantime it used the automated factories to rapidly design and produce newer and better machines until it controlled an extremely advanced empire centered in the state of Colorado. The very center of the empire is known as Sector Zero and it is located at the Cheyenne Mountain complex in the former location of NORAD.

"In the year 2029, while Skynet was winning the global man/machine war on a strategic level, a last-ditch offensive by my son Connor and his men was able to capture its time displacement device and destroy its primary Sector Zero mainframe. In order to prevent this defeat, Skynet sent a Terminator cyborg back in time to try to kill me before he was born and another back in time to kill him.

"John immediately followed on Skynet's heels and set to work on two missions that would fight back against Skynet's incursions in time. The first mission would send a man named Kyle Reese back in time to save me, and the second would send a reprogrammed Terminator back in time to save himself.

"Both missions were successful, but Skynet apparently had more than those two missions. We should have realized that fact when it was still able to recover and rebuild in less than a year, despite the destruction of Cyberdyne System's main labs and research in 1995. Then, just a few years ago, in 2025, my son was attacked by a newer, terminator. This was soon after we freed people from one of the North American plants. We were able to destroy the terminator, but it was too late. My son died in my arms and that was when he handed me the message. It said we would be saved by Sun, Earth and Saturn."

Ranma looked at Sarah and said, "So that's where we come in. Somehow we need to help you defeat Skynet and make sure that the two missions that your son created actually come to pass, but how can we do that?"

Commander Connor looked at Ranma and said, "I have no idea."

Something nudged Ranma's memories and he held up his transformation pen. He stared at the pen and saw the lines of her magical power within it and the idea came into his head. "How many people know your son is dead, and what did he look like?"

Sarah Pulled an old photo out and said, "Here's a picture. Not many people know the truth. Most of them think he is assisting at another base. Why?"

Ranma looked at the picture and whispered, "Solar Power Disguise."

Normally, the power of a Senshi disguise field could not transform a female into a male body, but because of Ranma's Jyusenkyou magic, it was able to complete its task. Sitting in the chair, the power of the sun brushed over Ranma like a warm summer breeze. His Chinese tangs became a more brilliant red and a bright yellow sun appeared on the center of them. The power of the sun then slowly morphed his features into those of John Conner and he said, "I think I just found a way to complete those missions."

Sarah stared at her son's face in stunned silence. She stared at a stranger wearing the form of her son and cried. Ranma said sheepishly, "I could change back."

"No!" Sarah looked at Ranma and with fierce determination said, "No, please don't let my emotions stop you. This is the best way to defeat the machines once and for all."

"Alright, fine where should we start first?"

Sarah pulled out a map of their position and told her new son about the small forces the humans currently had, and what they knew about the forces arrayed against them. As they discussed plans, Ranma touched his strange new temporal powers again and wondered if his friends had them as well. He wondered what the powers were capable of and then realized that he would soon find out. Baba Yaga's quests were over and the three Senshi were in a new battle now. They had four years to rescue and assemble the rest of the remnants of humanity and then launch an all out offensive on the Sector Zero main frame.

Minor Revision: Ranma was supposed to decide to keep his own name and add the last nem Taya originally. By keeping it Ranko it destroy's everythingI want to do for Baba Yaga's Curse.