Did Minmei sing her way to being a main character? Did Ranma get engaged to the mallet happy one? In that case I don't own either.

Some female bonding in this chapter, sorry if it comes off as flat or hurried, it's not something I know a lot about.

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Chapter 6 friends are people who first piss you off then apologize

Breetai cursed loudly as he once again watched the recordings of the battle. These Micronians were wily and capable enemies, even if they didn't know enough about the space fortress to use it as well as it could be used. Still, without the fold space jumps, it was only a matter of time before he could pin them in place and overwhelm them. He had already ordered his fleet to disperse, covering a wide range of the solar system. Some had folded to various planets, others stayed in the stern chase that Zor's fortress had forced with their breakout. Still others would fold to places along their route to keep pace with them. Breetai himself would fold to near the massive planet in the mid-range of the star system and his personal ships would wait there for these Micronians to come to him.

No, the breakout had irritated him and would add months to the time it would take him to capture the fortress, and even worse would drain his ships of more energy with each fold, but those were not what bothered him. What did was the odd action of the Reguld brigades that engaged the Micronian fighters. He pushed a button and watched again from the viewpoint of a carrier as the Reguld class battlepods streaked in, a unified force of over three hundred that should have been able to ignore the pitiful number of opposing fighters but then…. Suddenly the cohesion vanished, something happened, and all was chaos, a chaos that the Micronians used ruthlessly. Never taking his eyes off the recording he asked "Have you come to any conclusions about the cause of this Exedore?"

The short Zentraedi shook his head. "Unfortunately not my lord, the attack seems to be from some sort of signal over the radio, like interference only our dampeners do not see it as such. Why it would have such an effect is more than I can say. I will need to receive more information before I can make any conclusions."

Breetai grunted but then his head jerked up right as an incoming transmission overrode the holo-projector. Without any warning the image of supreme commander Dolza appeared in front of them, scowling angrily down with them. A giant even among the Zentraedi, his bald head gleamed in the over light of his command center far away in the heart of the monstrous fortress that was the heart and soul of the Zentraedi. He stood glaring down at them for a moment before speaking. "I am displeased Breetai."

Breetai stood, bowing formally before straightening. "How have I displeased you my lord?"

"You know why that ship is important you know why we must capture it intact and yet in the records of the last battle that I have seen you have allowed your men to attack it directly, causing damage to our prize. Let me make it clear once again, Zor's fortress must be taken intact, not as intact as possible, but intact! This is your final warning Breetai." And with that the image disappeared, leaving Breetai staring futilely at empty space.

He paused a moment to collect himself then turned to Exedore. "Sporadic raiding, search for weaknesses, but don't attack all out. Lull these Micronians into a false sense of complacency. We will set an ambush for them in the rings of the gas giant and then we will overwhelm them with waves of Regulds. Make certain the battleship captains understand what I will do to them if they disobey me. No more mistakes." Exedore looked at the face of his lord and blanched, remembering that Breetai had once ripped an Invid trooper in half with his bare hands and that he had been calm and collected then. Now he most certainly was not and the diminutive Zentraedi nodded, bowing himself out of the command center quickly. "Yes my lord, I will make certain they understand their orders." Behind him Breetai continued to stare into the holo-projector, which was once more showing the video of the battle.

Dolza didn't know it but he was correct in the fact that the space fortress had taken a pounding, a fact that captain Gloval, who had, two days after the fight just sat through a lengthy briefing on the damages, knew all too well. Of the tertiary weapons systems only twelve of the fifty the fortress mounted were still working. Of the secondary weapons, the ship killer grazers that were the equal of their enemy's main guns, five of the nine had been obliterated. All of the crews of those guns had also been lost. The battleship had taken several punishing hits that opened several areas of the ships superstructure to space including one strike near the front of the reflux cannon that opened the entire front portion of one of its nacelles.

What was worse, Dr. Lang's warnings had been on the mark. The converter, the most important part of the cannon had melted in place. It now looked more like runoff from a lava flow rather than a piece of incredibly advanced technology. He sighed and looked at Dr. Lang at the front of the room and Lt. Porter, who had been working round the clock to analyze the damage and organize repair teams. "I understand there is no way to repair the converter so can we simply replace it?"

Dr. Lang and Sammy both shook their heads, but it was the doctor who answered. "Captain, we don't have a spare, in fact this was our spare the original was destroyed when the ship fired on the ground before the battle on Earth. And we can't build a new one, not only don't we have the parts for it, the thing is simply too large, our factories can't handle something that large and complex. I'm looking into ways to get around that, but don't hold your breath."

Sammy spoke up, surprisingly brave as this was her area of expertise, well her and Lisa's but Lisa was on the bridge and this was her show. "Moreover our logistics situation isn't going to allow us to rebuild something that large. I've made a preliminary inventory of our repair needs and its going to eat into the store of raw material badly. I estimate we will only have about five percent of the material we collected from the fold space incident and our onboard stores! Even then we can't replace the two largest particle cannon turrets, we don't have spare muzzles in that size, and we have to prioritize space rated metal to other projects. We can replace thirty tertiary laser systems for the same amount of metal that it would take to repair one of them let alone two. We can repair all the other damage given time, but afterwards our stores are going to be depleted badly."

Gloval sighed as he put a hand over his eyes. At least, he thought sourly, the men lost were easy to replace, harsh though it may be to acknowledge that point. As grievous as it was to lose so many people, the gun crews were easy enough to replace, much more so than fighter pilots. He had simply ordered the crew of the Prometheus to change over to gun crews. With a few days of training they would be ready to go and once more useful, now that the submarines' ICBM stores had been used up. They had more bullets than bodies for now, a stark reversal from their situation before the breakout. Still, it would hopefully be months before they faced a similar battle. "Very well Lt. you and your crews have done exemplary work. I think that will be all today, enjoy your time off. Oh, if commander Hayes is still on the bridge inform her she is ordered to go off watch. I realize she won't like it, but you all have been working nearly round the clock for the past two hours. We can let someone else handle it for now. Commander Grant can take over her duties as vac boss and Lt. Young and Lt. Laird can take over for you."

One of the many hats that as executive officer she was supposed to wear Lisa was in charge of overseeing all space operations. That meant she had to be on the bridge directing not only combat but any exterior repairs, or any movements at all that occurred outside the ship. Ever since they had left the enemy fleet behind them she had been directing the exterior repairs, keeping workmen from overworking, making certain there were no accidents. It was a lot for any one person to do, but she had done so, and not only were repairs proceeding apace but there had only been one accident on her watch. Still, she wasn't the only one who could act as vac boss and it was obvious to anyone that saw her that she was slowly driving herself to an emotional breakdown.

Sammy nodded happily. "Yes sir, I'll tell her before I go off shift."

As the young Lieutenant left Gloval turned to Dr. Lang, "find us some way to defend against attacks Dr. We cannot take a pounding like we took in the last action again and remain battle worthy. That and figuring out how to get the reflux cannon back online are your only priorities, turn all your other duties over to your assistants and get us some answers." The Dr. nodded and left, leaving Gloval to stare at the Macross' schematics on the screen in silence.

Commander Fokker looked up as a knock rang of the hatch leading to his office. He hated his office, he was a damn pilot, not a paper pusher, so what if he was CAG (of an air group that didn't in point of fact exist at the moment, they were supposed to have 20 full 12-fighter squadrons, they hadn't had that many before the aliens attacked, and they had barely 4 under strength squadrons now) that didn't mean he couldn't do his job just as well from a fighter cockpit than behind a desk. Still, it made meeting with people easier. "Come in."

Lt. Prescott entered and saluted before standing at attention, free arm still using the crutch he had to use to get around with his broken leg. "You wanted to see me sir?"

Roy took a moment to look at the man in front of him before replying. Eric Prescott was an odd bird in the SDF forces in that he came from the land forces before transferring directly into the starfighter branch and actually succeeded in doing it. Most people who tried that washed out entirely or were found to be better at being a destroid operator than a pilot. Eric however excelled. Though why anyone was surprised by this was beyond Roy.

Eric was a member of a military family that went back to before the colonization era, the youngest of three brothers who were all in the military. Scott, the oldest, was an admiral in the British navy and one of their most decorated officers. He had led their forces against Somali pirates and been in charge of several mixed service operations against anti-unification forces and religious terrorists. Rumor, and in this case it was almost definitely fact, had it that the U.N. had tried to recruit him several times to the space forces but he had refused the transfer every time. Of course now that there was a viable threat to face he would probably change his mind. The middle brother Marcus was a CAG based out of India. Though they hadn't been upgraded to Valkyries yet he was reputed to be a shit hot pilot and damn good leader. The youngest brother was most definitely cut from the same cloth, and had done an amazing job at every duty given him, which rather neatly coincided with why Roy had asked to see him.

Roy reached into his desk and pulled out a small box which he threw at Eric, who dropped his salute just in time to catch it. "I'm pulling you from the academy now and making that" he nodded at the box "official. You did a damn good job as acting commander, and I'm making the rank permanent."

Eric opened the box and found the rank tabs of a commander (j.g.) in there, the rank of a squadron leader. Eric nodded having expected this, though not the fact he was being pulled from the academy before the first class graduated. "Who are you going to tab as my replacement? And can I make up my own roster?"

"I'm going to tag Lt. Grison as your replacement, his legs are crippled he'll never fly again but he'll do a good job with the recruits. And yeah you can make up your own roster, but Lt. Lafferty is still your X.O. And I gotta tell ya, most of the other walking wounded're being returned to half-duty, so you'll be back down to half strength until the academy graduates its first class in two weeks. At that point I promise you can have first pick of the new blood."

"Joy. Can I keep ensign Sugita? If I'm rebuilding from scratch I want killers in my squadron, and he may need some more seasoning, but he is the deadliest bastard I have ever seen."

Roy nodded. The kid had come close to matching his own kill ratio in the last two fights, and his skills with the soldier mode were literally unreal. "You think you can keep him under control?"

"I know it."

"Alright, he's yours. Once his Valkyrie is repaired and fit for duty anyway."

Rick Hunter looked around the shopping district with a distracted air. He had the day off of training, the first time in two weeks and it would be the last day off until graduation two weeks from now. The flight simulation was easy for him, the verbal cues and designations too. But while he was in decent shape he wasn't in soldier shape and the physical aspect as well as learning to use weapons was kicking his ass.

So he was enjoying this day off, but unfortunately Minmei was working all day, and his two semi-friends Ranma and Kasumi were nowhere to be found. He looked at a night club and muttered "Now why the hell can't places like this be open 24-7. It's not like we can choose when we get off or when we have to wake up y'know."

"I agree" a female voice said behind him "and you look like you're at loose ends like me trainee." Rick turned and saw a young, very pretty girl with orange hair standing behind him dressed in a navy uniform with lt. tabs that he recognized from the lingerie debacle a few weeks ago. "If you try to salute me I'll smack you just like Lisa did. Rick, right?"

'Er yeah," Rick said, suddenly tongue-tied. "Er, Samantha, or Sammy right?"

Sammy giggled, sizing Rick up for a moment. He was slender, well built and had a handsome face. He'll do, and he's a soldier too, that's always a bonus. "That's me. So tell me, do you have any idea about what there is to do around here for fun?"

"Um, well, there's this place at night, I've been in there once and it was okay. Not great but okay. I just wish the songs were better or at least not so, so…."

"Last century?" Sammy laughed. "Yeah I've been in there too. I just wish that Dr. Lang hadn't convinced the mayor to stop rebuilding and move most of the work crews over to help with the hydroponics gardens. I know food is important but there should be more to do around here. I mean none of the dance clubs are any good, the movie theater doesn't have a lot of movies and that's it for entertainment except for shopping and spending money, and I don't have all that much money to spend."

"Well there's the mini golf place? I think they just opened yesterday. Though I'd have to ask for directions. I know they're somewhere between the farms and the city but that's about it."

"Hmm, sounds like fun. So, winner buys the food afterward?" She grinned coquettishly at him and he blushed, realizing this could count as a date and for a moment he wondered about his 'relationship' with Minmei, but then she did keep on saying how great a 'friend' he was and he had been wondering this past week if she even remembered the two kisses they shared alone in the bowels of the fortress. And besides, this might be fun. "Okay sure, but don't expect me to take it easy on you."

Sammy grinned. "I'm going to make you eat those words trainee!"

The two walked off joking and laughing. Behind them a pair of eyes belonging to a young woman who had been there shopping for new table clothes looked after them, her eyes narrowed in irritation.

Lisa lay with her head back on the grass and gave a long sigh. She was lying along the edge of one of the upper hydroponic decks, one that was destined to be a rice field. Rice needed a lot of water to grow, and this deck's tiered slope allowed the water to run off from the rice fields into the lower fields on the deck below. It had been an idea of Nodoka's who had taken over the entire project being a biology major with a minor in agricultural sustainability. Around the edge of the field was a strip of bright green grass that looped along the very edge of the 200X200 feet deck. It was a great place to find solitude and after the past few days that was precisely what she needed to recover. She closed her eyes, feeling the artificial breeze on her face and ruffling her hair. She considered doing some of the meditation exercises from the two books she had been able to locate and download from Ranma's list, but decided against it. This tranquility was enough for her right now.

She stayed like that for a while, not moving, not thinking about much, just feeling the artificial breeze on her face, giving her a sense of serenity that she often found looking out into space, at least, you know, when the ship wasn't under attack or when she was overseeing repairs.

Lisa opened her eyes as a rustling next to her drew her out of her reverie. She turned to see the young woman who she met in the lingerie store after the shopping district reopened sitting in the grass next to her. The girl had a gentle smile on her face as she Lisa. "I see I am not the only one who enjoys it up here. Miss Hayes, wasn't it?"

"Yes, er, Kasumi right? Yes I quite enjoy it up here. The view is amazing and it's, well it's about as removed from my duties as I can get."

"Hmm, I as well. It also reminds me about the one thing from home I actually miss. I used to live in a house with a magnificent garden. It had a small pond and several trees and was most soothing. Alas it was the only thing in that household that was since my mother died. Let's just say that the friends I've made for myself here are better than the family nature gave me back there."

"I can relate believe me. My own father" She broke off, but Kasumi encouraged her with a 'hmm' of inquiry as she lay down next to Lisa on the grass, realizing with the empathy that made Kasumi who she was that this was something the other girl needed to say. Lisa went on haltingly, not certain why she was telling the other woman this but wanting to get it off her chest. "My father was always more of a commanding officer than a father. My mother couldn't handle it, and he always wanted to control me, and that forced me to try my damndest to get away from him but everyone else saw me as just an extension of him, like all my achievements were accomplished because he paved the way for me. I hated that, and hated more that he always put his own goals and duty over our family. I guess some people would call that noble, but I call it uncaring, being shunted aside yet never being able to be my own person."

"I know all about being shunted aside. My father and the rest of my family…." The talk continued, two young women, one had been thrust into the background, and the other who was always seen as being in the shadow of her father talking about the similarities and differences of their pasts. Much crying was involved, but it was therapeutic in nature. Two women who had lead lonely lives and who had only recently left the shadows, one by leaving her family behind entirely, and the other by proving beyond all doubt that she was where she was because of her own abilities and not that of her admiral father.

"Hey doc, what's up?"

"Gah!" Dr. Lang nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice behind him and he whirled around to stare at Ranma incredulously. "Goddamn it don't do that!"

Ranma grinned unrepentantly. "You're way too tense anyway doc. So what's got you all high strung?"

Dr. Lang counted to ten glaring at the odd young man before him when a sudden thought occurred to him. "Actually maybe you can help me." He went on to describe the problems, hoping that the young man's concept of ki and its connection to reflux energy may help him in figuring out a defense that may actually work and help him solve the problem with the main cannon.

Ranma listened silently, idly balancing on one foot as the doctor talked. When he finished it wasn't Ranma's knowledge of ki that gave him an answer, but his down to earth nature. "Well I don't know if this'll help ya, but I think yer trying to make this too damn complicated. If ya can't protect the whole ship with these barrier things, why not make them mobile? Any defense is better than none you can't wait until you have the perfect solution you know." Dr Lang gaped at him, why the hell hadn't he thought of that! "As fer the problem with the cannon, that one I can't help ya with. But if the problem is resources, why don't we just rope an asteroid or something? That's what they do in a lot of the old animes."

"Asteroid mining isn't nearly as easy as it looks in TV shows Ranma. There are a lot of considerations to take into account, such as the mixture of the asteroid, how we could rope it in, and how much time it would take and how badly it would slow the ship down."

"So blow it into smaller pieces that the Valkyries can collect. And who cares what the makeup of them is? If we blow enough of them up we'll get enough metals and other stuff eventually." Again Lang gaped at him. The solution was so simplistically brutal that it would never have occurred to him.

He sat there gaping at Ranma for a long moment before he started to laugh. Ranma looked on a little worried, afraid the doctor had snapped under the strain but Lang soon got control of himself. "Tha-thank you Ranma, you reminded me of the first principle of both the military and science. Keep it simple stupid! God I have been racking my mind for the perfect solution to our problems when just having a solution will do for now! Thank you, now what can I do for you?"

"Ahh not much, just wondering where I could get some steel bars and maybe some small compressed air canisters."

"Why are you, never mind I don't think I want to know. As long as you're looking for low grade pipes then there are a few bars that were taken from a gymnasium a while back and we have some compressed air tubes in inventory for the few old NASA style space suits we have on board. We never use the things, but they were the best we had when this ship was first discovered."

"Thanks doc. I'll see you later."

Lang looked after the rambunctious young man chuckling for a moment before turning back to his work with a renewed sense of purpose.

Ranma was about to exit the engineering section when a voice shouted behind him "Ranma prepare to die!"

Ranma whirled around searching frantically. Shit, he can't get that lost can he? No way in hell can Ryoga have found his way aboard a freakin' spaceship while it's in space?!"

His search ended upon hearing a booming laugh and he looked down a passage way and saw a large bald man standing there grinning. "Sorry, sorry but that is what my son always yells before attacking you right? You are the Ranma of Nerima fame, yes? I refuse to think there are two Ranmas who are as good at martial arts as you are."

Ranma relaxed and sensing no anger or threat from the man took the time to check him out. The first thing that sprang to mind was the man was huge and built like a main battle tank. He practically filled the entire corridor and his arms, shown off by a muscle-T were as big around as most men's thighs and hard with corded muscle. He was bald as an egg, but wore a yellow bandana around his head. The only other thing that stood out was his engineering-section orange pants and the chain around one of his ankles leading off down the corridor behind him. Ranma took all this in then what the man actually said registered. "Wait you said you're son?! Ryoga's your son?!"

The man nodded. "Duero Hibiki at your service. I saw you when you came into the generator room during the crisis from the fucked up fold. I wanted to introduce myself and see if you were as bad as the few letters I get from my son make you out to be, he and I haven't spoken in person for several years now, our family curse makes it almost impossible to find one another once we become separated. After all, if you were the root of all evil like he seems to think, I don't think you would have tried so hard to save the generator, or have joined up to defend the ship as a fighter pilot."

Ranma scratched his head wondering how to reply. "Look, I ain't going to lie to ya, a lot of the problems between your son and I are problems I made with my attitude, but most of them are really small scale, he just tends to make mountains out of molehills. I mean, following me to China because he was late for a duel over bread, c'mon, and the whole thing was made worse by…. It'd take me days to explain." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a battered but still legible notebook that said 'NWC Round Up' on the cover. "Just read this, it'll give you the low down on everyone in Nerima. It's pretty unbiased despite the author, so it'll help. If ya have specific questions I'll answer them, but I don't have the time it'd take to explain it all to ya."

The huge man took the book and carefully stowed it in his pocket. "I'll leave you for now then. But if I have any questions I might have to call you down to the engineering section. I can't wander much farther than this from the engines or I'll get lost." He rattled the chain on his leg for emphasis and Ranma nodded.

"Sure, just page me if ya have any questions. Or ya can e-mail 'em ta me. I've got my own address on the fortress' computer system since I'm a pilot and all." The man nodded cordially then turned away and Ranma did the same. He soon found the parts he needed for his little project and then went in search of a place to use them, but by the time he found one, it was nearly dinner time, so he left the pipes and canisters there and went to go get a shower before picking up Kasumi for a dinner with his mom, something that the three did whenever their busy schedules allowed.

On the upper hydroponic deck the two brunettes had gotten past the teary-eyed stage and were now happily exchanging funny stories from their youth. "And then Akane tries to feed her food to my father who promptly tries to play dead. She didn't believe him of course, and force fed him some of what she called curry. When she did that he began to change so many colors it was amazing!"

Lisa laughed aloud. "That reminds me of the first time my friend Claudia tried to cook something other than a salad. I don't know how she did it, but the chicken parmesan came out looking great, but it tasted like charred cardboard! The next day was the first time I ever made use of the 'woman's problems' excuse to get out of PT. Of course I can't cook so maybe I shouldn't talk."

"Oh cooking is easy if you can follow the instructions when you first start, that was always Akane's problem she never wanted to admit she had to. I'll be happy to teach you if you like. And maybe you can teach me how to use computers better. I'm afraid that in my chosen profession I will need that skill."

"Sure, we can meet whenever I'm off duty and you have time free from working and classes. I'm impressed that you can do both by the way."

Their conversation was interrupted by a male voice coming, oddly enough, from the opposite direction from the elevator that was the only way to get up to the farm. "I knew I'd find ya here Kasumi, you ready to meet mom for dinner at the White Dragon?"

Lisa looked over and saw ensign Sugita standing there still in his uniform but with the collar open and the undershirt not tucked in. Kasumi looked over and smiled. "Ara, is it that time already Ranma-kun? I'm sorry I lost track of time talking to my new friend. Have you two met each other?"

Ranma grinned. "Yeah, commander Hayes and I have met a few times on duty and off. And don't worry about the time, mom called to say she was going to run a little late anyway, though I don't know what she's doing today, she wasn't at the hydroponics office when I stopped by there."

"Hello ensign. And I think Nodoka-san is with Captain Gloval. I know he's off duty and that seems to be the way he likes to get rid of stress." She finished dryly.

Ranma cocked his head quizzically. "huh, what do ya mean?"

Lisa didn't understand why Kasumi was trying to send her some kind of frantic hand signal and answered readily. "Her relationship with captain Gloval is sort of an open secret you know."

Ranma looked at her with eyes so wide it kind of scared her then they rolled back into his head and he fainted dead away, falling backward and rolling down the slight incline of the grassy slope.

Lisa gaped and turned to look at Kasumi. "He didn't know!?"

Kasumi sighed. "Ranma-kun is rather slow to pick up on these things. And I honestly wasn't certain he would be able to handle hearing his mother was in a relationship with someone." She grimaced "I know how traumatizing it was for me to learn that my parents were being… physical with one another when I was a child."

Lisa walked down the hill after the body of the rapidly tumbling ensign. "Yes but that's when we're children, you have to be able to handle it better now. I mean he's what nearly nineteen now, surely he can handle it."

"Ranma's mental state has never been the most stable, shall we say." Kasumi answered drolly "he has so many mental issues and trauma caused by his idiot of a father that a five-man team of psychologists would be set for life."

"Oookay, not going to ask."

"Probably for the best, it would take far too long to describe most of the problems he has, and it really isn't my place to do so."

By this point Ranma's body had reached the end of the slope and went over the edge and into the rice field below, hitting with a splash. The now redhead came up spluttering "What do you mean they're in a relationship, since when!?"

Kasumi answered calmly as Lisa fell back on her rear in shock, mouth gaping at the change. "Since before the fold disaster. It's not like she tried to hide it from you Ranma-kun, it's just she never went out of her way to talk to you about it."

"B-but, I mean, isn't that"

Kasumi interrupted his attempts to speak "And it really isn't any of your business you know, she's a grown woman who can handle herself."

"I know that, jeeze, it's just that she's my mom y'know, thinking of her doing stuff like that at all is just weird and ain't it only been a few months since they met, ain't this a little too fast ta be doin' ecchi stuff?" the redhead moaned, her eyes still a little wild but she was getting control of herself and she took a glance at the wide eyes and shocked expression on Lisa's face quizzically.

"Where in the world did you think you came from Ran….." She paused and both young people shook their heads violently to get the idea of Genma doing that with anyone before she went on determinedly "Anyway, I'm certain that Nodoka has gone precisely as fast as she wants to."

Lisa regained her voice at last and, very calmly she thought, under the circumstances, interrupted the argument. "Um, excuse me, but what the hell just happened?! He was a he and now she's a she and there's no way, I mean he was at least a foot taller and, and where did all that mass go?" She finished rather querulously as Ranma pushed herself out of the rice field and began to wring out her uniform displaying two prominent additions that had most definitely not been there on his male body. "Oh. Never mind."

"That's what get's yer attention? Not the whole changing into a girl in the first place?" Ranma-chan asked.

"Oh well, I mean, the sex change thing can be faked, hair coloring that washes out with water and you can always make your voice higher or lower, and wearing baggy pants can hide your hips and" Lisa mumbled her eyes slightly glassy.

Kasumi looked at her new friend worriedly. "I think you broke her Ranma."

"I don't know why this comes as a shock ta her though, I mean its part of my medical files an' stuff. And it ain't like I've been goin' out of my way to hide it."

"Yes but reading about it and seeing it are two different things." Kasumi replied.

"Yeah well, seeing as how she doesn't seem to be coming out of it anytime soon…" Ranma-chan shrugged reached behind her and took a handful of water to splash the almost comatose Lisa's face.

Lisa sputtered and glared at the redhead (and ye gods she was short) "What the hell did you do that for?!"

Ranma-chan shrugged "Hey it worked to get me out of my shock. You looked like you were out of it for a bit."

"You have your world view shattered and see you well your mind is working" Lisa grumbled shaking wiping the water off of her face. "And for your information ensign if I was in uniform I would be much angrier than I am right now. Now will one of you explain to me how the hell what I just saw is possible?!"

Ranma-chan shrugged. "It's a curse I picked up 'cause my old man is an utter waste of skin. It happened when we were traveling in the Byanakala mountain range of China."

"I've heard that name before. Those are the ones where there was that huge disaster six or seven months ago right, the one that blew up an entire mountain? The news said it was some underground gas vein exploding or something?"

"Or something" Ranma-chan said, eyes glinting coldly for a moment before continuing his explanation. "Anyway, there were these cursed springs and my old man and I were both idiotic enough ta fall in. Well I say fall in, but I still blame him for not noticing he changed into a bloody panda before attackin' me. Sheesh. Anyway I turn into a girl with cold water, but hot water can usually change me back. Nothin' else changes, I don't suddenly think like a girl, though I wish I could understand 'em a little better, it's just a body thing. How the heck don't you know this though? I mean I spent most of my first morning as a trainee being changed back and forth and poked and prodded by navy doctors."

"I don't have access to everyone's medical files ensign, that's private information, just those aspects that would hamper their performance in space, and your curse apparently didn't fall under that category. Your heart rate and some other oddities of your medical screening were flagged but that was it."

"Huh. Wait, what's the problem with my heart rate?"

And what do you mean oddities?" Kasumi asked, worried about her friend/love interest.

"Nothing major Kasumi." Lisa was quick to reassure her. "It just came through because, well, we know that having had concussions in the past can hamper the link pilots make with their helmet for soldier mode, and there were so many signs of concussions in his brain it was a real worry. Obviously though it wasn't, as he has used his soldier mode in every fight he's been in. And your heart rate wasn't a problem just an oddity. Your heart rate goes down in combat ensign, did you know that? It means despite the adrenaline in your system you're actually calmer in combat than you are just having this conversation for example."

Kasumi mouthed the words 'multiple concussions' to herself but Ranma just nodded. "Oh, that makes sense."

"Can I ask you why that is by the way? And are there any other curses I should know about, any other magic or anything like that you have that could burst my world view?" Lisa asked, looking at the petite but busty redhead. If the gossip trio sees her they'll die from envy. She herself didn't, having long gotten out of the habit of being jealous of other women's looks. Besides she actually liked the fact that Ranma knew how it felt to be a woman, at least a little. It explained why he didn't look at her with condescension or that amused 'oh you think you're as good as a man would be at your job' look that most other men had sometimes.

"The heart rates easy. In battle I don't have ta worry about when I'm gonna be attacked I already know where the threat is and can calm down and deal with it rather than worry" Ranma-chan said shrugging her shoulders. It was simple enough to her, but Kasumi flinched guiltily, knowing her family had played a major role in making him think that was normal. Lisa just looked at him in horror, wondering what kind of life could make someone think like that. "And nah, no more magic though as we're friends if ya ever get back to earth ya should watch out for a small black pig, a panda, a minotaur and a perverted old gnome. The animals are other cursed people and they may take ya hostage ta get at me, same with Kasumi and my mom."

"You-you consider me a friend ensign?" Lisa asked surprised and honestly touched. She could count on two hands the number of people who treated her like an equal, let alone who she considered friends.

"Well yeah. After all" the redhead smirked, "Yer a great straight man fer my jokes." Ranma concentrated for a moment filling his hand with heated ki before reaching down and grabbing up a handful of water, splashing her face and turning back to his normal body.

"hmmph. But you're going to have to explain about these cursed people in better detail some time. And maybe I'll explain to you why I don't actually have much of a sense of humor when I'm on duty."

"Would you like to join us for dinner Lisa-san? We can continue sharing stories while we eat, and Nodoka can tell you some from her own perspective."

Ranma looked at Kasumi but shrugged. It was fine with him if they had another friend join them, then he smirked as Lisa seemed to think for a moment and then answered in the affirmative. "Well in that case I can give ya the real Nerima experience."

Kasumi began to chuckle and Lisa looked at the two of them warily. "What do you mean the real Nerima experience?"

Ranma grinned and turned to let Kasumi climb onto his back. Once she was settled he swiftly picked up Lisa in his arms. "Why, roof-hopping of course." Lisa, who had frozen in shock, began to react trying to break free but Ranma had already begun moving, running to the edge of the rice tear and then falling off the edge. Lisa's struggles ceased at this point and she began to scream as the trio fell through the air. "Relax would ya, I've got ya, I won't let anything happen to ya, I promise." Lisa looked up at his fearless face and then around her wide eyed and still screaming as the wind whipped around them.

A second later Ranma touched down on the next hydroponic tier, this one dedicated to greens and legumes. Lisa's eyes widened even further if that was possible as they landed safely. She didn't even feel a jolt as they landed and she looked over Ranma's shoulder at Kasumi's bright laughing face. As Ranma jumped forward again leaving the second tier behind Lisa shouted over the rush of air "I thought you were the calm staid sort, like me!"

"I am!" Kasumi yelled back. "But even I like to do things sometime that are just a little crazy! And I don't think you are as calm and logical as you want everyone to think! You wouldn't be in the SDF if you were!"

Lisa growled at her but as they didn't seem to be in any actual danger she calmed down visibly and began to enjoy the ride. She looked around as Ranma arrived on the roof of a building in the city proper. Not five minutes later they jumped down from a nearby rooftop down onto the street in front of the White Dragon restaurant startling a few pedestrians. Ranma put her down and Lisa stumbled a bit before getting her feet under her.

Once she could stand she slapped Ranma upside the head. "That's for scaring the life out of me! If you ever do that to me without asking ever again I swear you'll be pulling solo duty in the bilges for the rest of your life!" She paused, thinking for a second then continued "Even if I have to find a way to build some bilges first!"

Ranma nodded still smirking a little and Kasumi took her arm giggling. "Come on, let's see if Nodoka is here or if we can get a booth."

Nodoka was indeed there already and had no objections to Lisa joining them though the grin that appeared on her face momentarily kind of scared Lisa.

They sat down and almost immediately Ranma had to duck as a splash of water flew at him. "Hey Minmei, how's it going? Sorry I haven't been by lately, but my hours have been brutal since they let me graduate from the academy early. And sorry, but I want ta remain a guy for now."

Minmei pouted. "Aww, but you look sooo cute as a girl. But they let you graduate early, how did that happen?"

Ranma explained as the other three ordered. Lisa was actually looking forward to the food as she hadn't had the time to eat out since before the breakout. Once he finished his explanation Ranma ordered then asked "So where's Rick tonight? I thought it was a day off for the trainees."

"Oh him, I saw him earlier with some girl in a uniform walking around the shopping district." Minmei was smiling and seemed happy but something in her tone made Ranma want to run away and he wondered why that was. He swiftly changed the subject and asked Minmei how the business was going, and if she had gone back to school. She had and she and Kasumi talked for a few minutes about class before Minmei had to get back to work while Lisa and Ranma struck up a conversation about how the repairs were going. Ranma had a vested interest in it as the Veritechs were often assigned to help the Spartan class destroids work on the exterior repairs when they weren't on patrol.

The dinner went well, with stories being shared all around and Lisa surprisingly had the most fun she had in a long time. When the young ladies went to powder their noses Ranma took the opportunity to ask his mother something. "Um, mom, uh, you and captain Gloval…"

Nodoka carefully put her cup of tea down on the table in front of her looking at her son calmly. "So you heard about my relationship with Henri? I'm sorry that someone else had to tell you about it, I have been trying to figure out a way to tell you, but never really could find the words."

Ranma ignored the idea that the captain even had a first name, let alone one that his mother used so easily for the moment. "it ain't that, you're yer own person so ya don't have ta explain yourself ta me, though Kasumi had ta point that out ta me at first. I just want ta know if yer happy that's all. After my old man treated ya like well, I don't know a word ta describe how he treated ya, like something that he could use then leave behind? Well anyway I just want ya ta know that as long as yer happy that's all that matters."

Nodoka smiled and reached over to gently ruffle Ranma's hair. "I did go out with him before I was forced to marry your father you know. I consider those intervening years a mere pause on our relationship, nothing more. You are the best and only good thing to come out of that mockery of a marriage, and I am happy that you have moved on as well as you have and that Henri has helped me do so as well. So yes Ranma I am truly happy."

Ranma smiled happily and Nodoka took her hand away just in time to avoid it getting wet. "Come on Ranma, I need some help here!" Minmei shouted, giggling even as she raced off to wait on another table. Ranma groaned but looking around she saw that the restaurant was packed. "What happened to the new girls they were going to hire?"

Nodoka smiled. "Most of them work the lunch and breakfast shifts, none of them have developed the experience to deal with the dinner rush hour except for two that the Lynn's put to work in the kitchen to replace myself and Kasumi." Nodoka had been sorry to leave her part time job as a cook but her new job as hydroponic director kept her so busy she really had no time to spare. There just weren't enough people onboard Macross that had the skill set necessary. There were hundreds of farmers from the civilian population, but none of them had worked with genetically altered plants whose growth had been accelerated for use in space before. Neither had she if it came down to it, but she knew enough to get by. Kasumi still worked for the Lynn's, but only a few days a week, she was taking the full course load she could from the cities college.

Ranma groaned again but got up to go back and change. She passed Lisa and Kasumi who commiserated with her about her inability to dodge Minmei. She was however able to get out of singing later that night when Minmei ended the night by holding an impromptu karaoke contest. Lisa and Kasumi were not so lucky, and both were roped into getting up and singing, something that mortified Lisa and embarrassed Kasumi. They did however both receive standing ovations.

One of the watchers was Mayor Luan, and he looked at this impromptu concert with a gleam in his eye.

The next day Captain Gloval stood looking out watching the repair work going on with a worried expression. The fight against the aliens was bothering him for some reason, some reason he couldn't name. The battle, as bloody and damaging as it was could have gone much worse for the space fortress. Why it hadn't was disconcerting, and he couldn't for the life of him think about why it was, just that something about it was tickling his instincts.

He looked over to where Claudia and Sammy were directing the repairs and smiled. Still, the repairs were going well, and Dr. Lang's latest report on his research was promising. Now if we can only get a month to get the first class of the academy graduated, and maybe find a new source of raw material for the factories, and maybe. He cut of the chain of thought. As long as we're wishing for impossibilities why don't I wish to be back on earth and no aliens nowhere in the solar system? No what he needed to think about was where to go from Saturn, a straight shot back to Earth or …

His thoughts were interrupted by the hatch leading into the bridge opening and ensign Sugita stepping through, though he wasn't wearing his uniform at present. He looked around and spotted the captain and started to stroll over toward him. Gloval quirked an eyebrow. "Yes ensign what can I do for you, you do know you're out of uniform don't you?"

Ranma flashed his lopsided smile and Vanessa, Kim and Sammy all nearly swooned. "Yeah well I ain't here as an ensign, but as a son." A feeling of apprehension went through Gloval at those words but before he could say anything Ranma suddenly closed the remaining yards between them. Everyone on the bridge blinked in shock, none of them had even seen him move!

Gloval was nearly seven feet tall, and while he wasn't heavily muscled he was still a solid weight. The fact that he found himself in midair, with Ranma holding him in the air above his head by his belt with one hand shouldn't have come as a shock given what he had seen this young man do before. But somehow all that had seemed distant and unreal. This was up close and in your face!

Ranma looked up at his airborne captive, deep blue eyes as cold as a glacier. "My mom is one o' the most important people in my life, and she's already been hurt once in love and I just learned she's going out with you. Now she says she's happy so I won't do anything to ya. But if you hurt her, I'll really hurt ya. Understand?"

Gloval grabbed at his cap, forcing it back onto his head and nodded. "Y-yes, I understand. And I would never hurt Nodoka. In fact once we get back to earth I intend to ask her to marry me."

Ranma plunked the captain down onto his feet again and grinned. "Good, though if ya think I'm ever gonna call you dad or pops or anything like that, think again. Just do right by her and we'll have no problems kay?" Ranma stepped back gave a final wave and walked off the bridge whistling cheerfully.

The silence he left behind lasted for several minutes, with everyone not really certain if what had just happened had been real. Finally Vanessa broke the silence by saying "I thought it was only fathers who threaten the boyfriends of their daughters, not the sons of single moms threatening their boyfriends."

Gloval straightened his uniform, trying to regain his dignity from where it had shattered on the floor. "Well it would appear with Ranma most rules like that go out the window. Now I believe you all have work to get back to?"

With that the girls all turned back to their consoles, the gossip trio wondering if they should share this tidbit with anyone else. Claudia leaned close to the captain for a moment whispering "Look at it this way sir, at least now you have his okay. If he didn't like you he may've just hurt you instead of threatening you."

"I suppose I do at that. Now don't you have work you should be doing Commander?" Claudia nodded and went back to work. Gloval sat for a moment in silence then let out a chuckle. Claudia did have a point after all, Ranma had sort of given his blessing to their relationship hadn't he? Taken in that light, perhaps his dignity had been a small price to pay after all.

end chapter