Chapter 18
Universe of possibility
SDF-2 Prometheus
Landing Bay 4
"Rannnnmmmma sweetheart!" from the shuttle doors ramp way, crying out Ranma name is his wife, who is obviously thrilled to see him again that she jump down towards him with arms open
"Oh God" Ranma muttered as he sees a long haired blond woman, with gorgeous (LUSTFUL) curves shown wearing a rather tight black dress, jump up and falls towards him the moment she sees Ranma from the bottom of the ramp way and glomp him that can even make Shampoo jealous.
"Uhhm, hello Jura" the only words he could mutter and groans as his face is somewhat buried between the woman's cleavages and started to rub her body as she held tight to him.
"Oh darling, your gorgeous love slaves have missed you so much," she said as she continued molesting him in front of everyone
"Me and Barnette has been enduring long cold nights without you Ohh! My Goddess! We will have so much fun tonight, I brought a new triplesize Orion bed and I even got a new whip and candl…" Ranma is started to turn red in every word she say so he had to stop her from saying anymore
"COULD WE not discuss this here Jura!…not in front of everyone…please" Ranma pleaded loudly as he can see how his people and guest are feigning ignorance on the two couples down the floor but their flushed faces betray them. The hangar bay crews went on with their job and ignoring or trying to ignore the two people on the hanger bay floor, whom the woman is starting to molest the man who is her husband in places only a wife would go… that and trying to make Ranma touch her in places a husband go… know…I mean…(blushing red) NEVER MIND!
"Would you get off OUR husband for crying out loud Jura, you can play doctor later," A short dark haired lady fashionably dress that seems similar to a Wonder Woman outfit, Barnette Orangello appeared and pulled her off from Ranma before she embarrass herself any further
"You are an Admiral for crying out loud Jura, have some decorum!" she scolded Jura and apologize to Ranma "I'm sorry about this Ranma, it seems we embarrass your guest"
"Barnette, you are no fun" Jura pouted as Ranma got back to his feet, buttoning up his shirt and straighten herself up
"Thanks Jura, however the damage is already done," he groans 'and I am very much sure that, there are going to be some annoying fantasies among the crew tonight' he a cold icy look on everyone which pretty much sent chills down to everyone spine. That feeling, that uncomfortable feeling, means that everyone got the message from the Admiral.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, 'heave a sigh' let me introduce to you, my beloved wife Rear Admiral Jura Basil Elden of the Eight Battlegroup and my beloved wife Rear Admiral Barnette Orangello of the Seventh Battlegroup," he said
"My guests are the leaders of the various nations of Earth and the Plants colony and organization."
Both ladies gave an acknowledging nod to Ranma guest. They have been told about the cultures at the other side of the universe is very different and similar in some aspects, though seeing the Female Admirals wearing provocative outfit like they are fashion models (which they are fashion models) made them curious as to what kind of military would allow their high ranking officers to dress out of uniform.
After the introduction, everyone headed back to the city with Jura latching close to Ranma, giving a show of affection by rubbing her chest by his arms. Barnette tries to get her under control as she kept reminding her that she needs to be professional like any other high ranking officer of the fleet. Jura is a competent commander despite herself, and not taking her seriously has resulted too many of UN Spacys enemies getting themselves killed by her.
Soon as they got settled, Barnette brought out the data's about their enemies and how serious their situation is now. The data Barnette brought seems to make everyone worried, as seeing one of their enemies' superweapons,
"Death Cloud" he remark "Barnette, is this confirmed?"
"Yes, this is from a very reliable source Ranma" Jura answered showing a holographic image of the weapon "going up against those things is not going to be easy for us, these aliens called Drac,"
"They are called the Drakh, Jura" Barnette corrected and she continued on
"They are the alien race that gave the Vorlons these planet killer weapons called Death Cloud, that and along with a Nano-Virus weapon called 'Black Cloud' a weapon that can kill a planet inhabitants quickly or slowly depending on the program"
"Admiral Orangello, what can you tells us about them? These aliens called Drakh" ask
"Only what the Ancients recorded and from our source, that they are the minions to the Vorlons counterpart known only as 'The Shadows' as they are called" they look at her a bit curious at the name as Barnette continues
"They're called 'Shadows' from the local aliens at the beta quadrant, and that's because their real name is…unpronounceable" she said and then Jura pick up from there with a professional tone this time
"They are an arachnoids type lifeform, one of them can live for thousands of years similar to the Vorlons and they are one of the oldest races in the known galaxy"
For several hours the meeting went on, they discuss plans to fight their enemies as the possibility of them coming to the Earth System is ever closer. Everyone was exhausted after 6 hours and right then everyone took a break.
For the Cosmic Era folks, they are studying their list of aliens that are out there with utter fascination. Vorlons, Minbari, Centauri and now Drakh, they are alien races that are older than humanity in regards to being interstellar traveling races and they have an agenda of galactic extermination and is heading their way.
As everyone filed out from the room leaving Ranma, Jura, Barnette alone and Jura didn't waste time jumping Ranma, he however took a sidestep, which Jura crashed on the floor face first.
"Oh come on honey!"
"Not now Jura, we have a war to wage remember," he said as he opens a strong box containing Admiral Grant's orders.
Inside Ranma found a letter and a memory stick containing the battleplan called 'bait on a fish hook.' Ranma knows the meaning of the terms and quickly read the letter with shock and disbelief and then outrage
"She can't be serious!" he exclaimed turning to face his wife Barnette "May I remind you that, this is Earth we are talking about, its very protection is our own Earth revival and humanity's salvation and Claudia expect us to do this!" he roared
"Now I am aware that destroying that wormhole is important but making us bait is something I and I know the others will find this plan distasteful" he said "We have the whole fleet, why not make a full scale attack on them now?"
"They already know we are here, so we should hit them head on now instead of doing this plan of hers"
"If we did that Ranma then we will be facing an enemy force in equal terms that could end in a stalemate, Claudia wanted their forces divided to assure victory" Barnette said
"Diving head on is out of the question, the plan is to draw their attention and cut their strength to half. So to do that, we have to pretend that there is sizeable fleet here and preparing a full scale attack on them" Barnette open a tactical display and continued explaining
"We need to reduce their military strength at the wormhole as much as we could, divide their strength so our fleet will have a better advantage when we hit that wormhole, and Claudia wants every advantage the fleet needs to win" she said
"We can hold them here and besides, we brought enough firepower to keep Delta Earth safe along with 4 New Macross Cannons tuck in safe within the Oort cloud of this solar system"
"You brought those things here?" Ranma was surprised at that Macross Cannons are essentially their own version of Planet Killers
"Actually, we built them along the way here using resources we are able to find," she said "they are an upgraded version from the original design except the main gun is now a 'Heavy Quantum Reaction Cannon' than the old heavy particle cannons, and considering that we are dealing with alien Planet Killers that laid waste to almost two thirds of life in the galaxy millions of years ago, the Admiral figured that it would be, poetic justice to use it on them"
"Planet Killers versus Planet Killers" he remark liking the idea somehow 'Heavy Quantum Reaction Cannon' are a nasty piece of weaponry that came out from R&D weapons development back on Earth. Total molecular disintegration at the quantum level of any matter is far more destructive than anything they have developed by far
"Still, I do not like this plan and I am definitely sure the others won't either"
Orb Embassy, Prometheus City
an hour later
After going doing a bit of planning with Ranma staff, he then went to talk with Cagalli, Admiral Leftcourt and Lacus before they talk with the rest of their allies. And as predicted, they don't like the plan at all
"You can't be serious!" Cagalli practically screamed in his face "Were being used as bait!"
"Well, in a way…yes" Ranma confirm reluctantly
Lacus and Cagalli felt like the A.G. in the room was increased a notch up as their knees weaken when they heard the battle plan, and had to sit down while they listen to the rest of the plan
"When the Minbari find us, they will find a fleet of ships, meaning we are a decoy fleet to draw them out. Command believes that the Minbari will mobilize their forces to attack us head on, meanwhile the Sixteenth Mainfleet will launch a full scale attack on that wormhole opening but that is if we hold some of the enemy forces here as long as we can until the they arrive after finishing the mission" he said Leftcourt understood the plan but questions it
"To keep our enemies looking in front of them and not looking behind them, classic military flanking strategy, but will it works?" Ranma answered
"It will work because they can't ignore the presence of the UN Spacy at their doorstep and we are at their doorstep" looking at the others, they are all worried
"I know it's a lot to asks of us but it's a risk we have to take in order to destroy that wormhole"
"With all do respect Admiral Saotome!" Cagalli stood up and thundered "You are gambling the lives of billions of people on MY! Earth and everyone on space colony thru out the Earth sphere" she said
"Why can't your fleet come here and defend us or just simply attack them head on?" she ask and Ranma raise a brow in surprise in hearing the words he just said a while back
"Well I would like to but I can't because this is not my call princess, Admiral Claudia Grant has her own way of fighting battles and one of it is, 'never underestimate an opponent strength and never let your opponent have an equal footing with you' that's her credo" Ranma answered
"But admittedly though," he told him honestly "choosing a Maginot Line kind of tactic is a disadvantage to us so long as they have control of the wormhole, The Minbari can just call for more reinforcements at anytime they wanted, and as for going head on like what you said well… (Sigh) I am reminded of a few things about my job as an REF Admiral, and that is 'respect the unknown' and despite what we know about the Minbari now, there is still a great deal about them that we do know yet, only that they are a powerful people of their own right, and that they are connected to the Vorlons. Reason why the Admiral Grant wants this distraction right now, she needs to divide their strength before she strike the wormhole"
"But still, can we really hold our own, and what if they sent something like the Death Cloud?" Lacus asks worried Ranma agrees
"There is a possibility yes, but they may not deploy one since those are designed to kill planets. This is a fleet vs fleet battle, and we are fully capable of defending ourselves and the Earth Miss Clyne." he said
"We have two battlegroup's 'and a few surprises at hand', our job to keep the Minbari busy here and keep them here until the Mainfleet destroy that wormhole passage, once the fleet have finished their mission they will head straight here"
"Still, I do not like the idea!" Cagalli said back "Have you ever thought of the possibility that they will bring a planet killer with them, and if that happens then you will be endangering Earth and the space colonies" she emphasize the possibility part and Ranma answered
"I have not disregarded that possibility princess and I assure you, we can handle it" he said confidently
"Princess, may I remind you that, there are over 200 million civilians, families and friends from the UN Spacys Sixteenth Fleet, are now here and in the same boat as you"
"Well, no disrespect Admiral!" she snap "Your fleet can flee this system anytime you want to, we can't"
"We have no intentions to flee this system Princess!" he answered back "Your Earth is the hope of my Earth and also, over 40 billion people from over a hundred colonies thru out the galaxy is depending on its survival." Ranma then showed the holographic image of Alpha Earth. It still pains him to see his Earth like this. Calmly he said to Cagalli
"Princess, we need the Earth's Natural life in order for my world to have a chance to live again." He told her "Your world has the most vital role for humanity's future, more so than you can imagine"
"I don't understand, what do you mean Admiral Saotome?" Lacus asks and Ranma explained
"Out here in deep space, there are a lot of planets, thousands of unclaimed worlds, but to find a planet capable of sustaining human life is difficult to almost impossible. So the idea of terraforming a planet comes in mind and we have the means of doing it in just years instead of hundreds of years. That is if we have access to Earth's Natural environment and if we have that, then we can make lifeless planets livable for us and a less harsh life for mankind to live in this galaxy"
Looking at Alpha Earth hologram, Cagalli still couldn't believe that there is another Earth out there; it gave them the shivers when they keep seeing the Alpha Earth laid waste by the 'Rain of Death' that devastated Earth during the First Space War.
Lacus couldn't imagine anyone surviving or living in a place like that. A planet glass over by orbital bombardment where a few survive, and survive they did and thrive even as they are continuously being threatened by powerful alien armies and that shows how resilient they are which was quite an admirable trait from their brethren at the other side of the galaxy.
For Leftcourt, he understood why his counterpart was so passionate in preserving the Earth's Natural resources. Since they arrive, the Spacys have begun culturing all of their collected samples of plants are cultivated and flourished. The wildlife such as animals, fish and insects are reproduced using their advance genetic technology and then being breed by the thousands and filling their Bioship's, and those ships are flying forest's, jungle's and ocean's of life saying that they are destined to colony worlds and long range generation mass colony fleet enroute to planets slated for colonization.
As a soldier, Leftcourt can understand his feelings, his passion to protect the Earth. How it must have felt for the soldiers of the UN Spacys feeling helpless when an armada of millions, rain down death and destruction on their world, and all they can do but watch and die.
So, protecting Delta Earth is a matter of pride or maybe even…a chance of redemption for them. He felt sympathetic for them, and he himself admits that he would want another chance if something likes that happens to his world, he would probably do the same. Grab a chance for redemption.
SDF-2 Prometheus Observation deck
It's been three days now since the arrival of the two battlegroup's to the Earth's Sphere and thru out that time, the UN Spacys engineers continued to modify the last of the EAF, Orb and Zaft ships and also repairing and preparing two weapons of Mass destruction, Zaft's Neo Genesis and the EAF Requiem.
The Zaft ship Minerva has finished its repairs and modifications ahead of time and is now beside the SDF-2 to pick up her captain and crew who were given temporary housing.
The Spacys chief engineer Estella Ramirez, in charge of Minerva's modification, is reporting to Captain Gladys of the progress they've made with her ship
"We have replaced the standard radar and targeting systems with a subspace system, this will give you an immense accuracy up to 100,000 kilometers for long range battles, and we also installed a reflex furnace for the energy shields as well as upgrading a few of your weapons systems to handle the added power levels." She told Gladys and showed it on the padd she's holding
"The modification is kinda crude but your ship will have an even footing with a Sharlin, meaning that Minerva is close to the level with the Archangel, the Lexington and the Eternal after their refit" that report is quite impressive to hear and knowing those names and how they performed during their first encounter with the Minbari, the modifications are very much welcome
Gladys looks at the padd and noticed something "You replace some of the armor?"
"In the critical and damage sections of your ship Captain Gladys" she answered "We used tritanium armor and placed reactive armor on top of the current armor you've been using" he replied
"I see," she understood and from the specs she reads that the armor and reactive armor can withstand a full 10 to 15 megaton energy beam like the fusion cannon of the Minbari Sharlin should the shields fail.
"There will be a few Spacy personnel onboard that will be assigned to your ship to help with the tech operations and repairs, which is the same as every ship in the EAF and Orb,"
"I am glad that is so," she agrees "In all honesty, I am glad that, we never went to war with each other"
"War against you is not our intent Captain" said by someone and seeing who it was, and both of them saluted at the REF Admiral.
"Sir" they greeted him in chorus
"The UN Spacys came here to establish peaceful relation with your people and not raise a hand against you" he said as a matter of factly.
The Engineer excused herself and walks away leaving Captain Gladys with the Admiral
"Excuse me Sir" Ranma nodded and then faced Captain Gladys as the engineer left them
"Admiral, I thank you for the assistance you are giving us, this means a lot for my people" Captain Gladys said
"It was nothing Captain Gladys," he told her "The modifications will boost your chances of standing toe to toe with a Minbari Warship and not like the last engagement you had with them" he step towards the large view port that gives the view of the Minerva and lining up from beyond the ship are a group of 12 EAF Drake-class warships with positron reflector umbrellas and 15 modified nelson class dreadnaught
Ranma then look back to Talia again to explain something
"Captain, as you well know, the Plant council have place me as your superior officer for the duration of this war" he said and she nodded in acknowledgement
"I was informed earlier Sir, All of Zaft is under your command as of today"
"Then you wouldn't mind if I put you in command of group two of the Delta Fleet?" he told her
"Sir?" that confused her
"It's composed of the UN Spacys, Earth Alliance, Orb and Zaft ships, Admiral Robert Leftcourt of the EAF is first command group one and you will be second in command group two" Gladys was wide eyes in surprise at that
"What! Me, taking command of group two?" she was surprised at that posting because she just got promoted to rear admiral.
"Sir, m-may I ask why?" she stuttered in asking and the Admiral answer her
"Well, other than the fact that, you have a first hand experience with the enemy, and that Admiral Leftcourt personally suggested that you should be in command of group two"
"He suggested me?" her look shows confusion and asking a reason why but Ranma answered her first
"The second group was suppose to be given to Captain Sheridan but he decline, your name was second on the list Leftcourt showed me, and I too was surprise at that myself when he ads the name of a Zaft officer on the lists" he said admittedly at the choice of the EAF admiral. He remembers what Leftcourt answered him
"When I asks Leftcourt about that he said that, 'Compared to the people here and out there, the Coordinators are practically normal folks in my opinion' which that what he said" Ranma shook his head and gave a little laugh and confused Gladys at that remark by Admiral Leftcourt
"I don't understand" she said confused a bit
"Well, if you have live here for months on end, among humans and aliens that are vastly different physically, culturally and socially, then you would probably have the same opinion as he does later on. Believe me my dear Captain Gladys, alot of impossibly and insane things out there can be seen on board here"
"Well I have seen some of the things here that are very different, I mean you have aliens, real ones…fifty feet tall ones and I guess that could change ones opinion," she consider that and remembering the glaring looks of Maltrendi women when her XO Arthur Treise accidentally fell on a box of blankets which was everyone thought it was at first, only they weren't blankets but Maltrendi underwear and Treise is accused of being a peeping tom and panty thief when he was caught.
As punishment, the ladies punish him by squeezing the life out of him by putting him between two soft busty mounds. She blushed at what had happen to her XO; he lived thru a dream and a nightmare at the same time which was hilarious.
Gladys shook it off from her thoughts
"But still, Admiral-" Ranma nods and understood she has doubts if he understands her correctly
"Admiral Leftcourt is an officer and a gentleman," he said and added "He values experience rather than genetics, and he has no problems about you being a coordinator Captain Gladys or should I say Admiral, Talia Gladys"
"Admiral Talia Gladys" she let the words float around
"Look over there
Ranma pointed outside the Delta Fleet Flagship, a Shimakaze class Battlecruiser, the Halberton that has just arrive from a training exercise.
"He's finishing up the training of the new crew of the Halberton, and once group one is assembled, my fleet along with the seventh and Eight detached battlegroup will be heading for Saturn"
"Saturn, why got to Saturn?" she asks
"Staging ground for the decoy site" he answered "We are going to give the enemy a tempting target, that way everything will be focused towards us"
'We maybe the bait but we hide a nasty fish hook' he thought
"Sounds risky Admiral"
"It is risky" he agrees "But in order to protect the Earth, we are going to make the fleet a very tempting target as much as possible and as far away from Earth as possible. However, there is a chance for them to come here so be ready and know the commanders in your command"
"Yes Sir, I understand"
12 hours later, a spacefold bubble from the SDF-2 Prometheus, encompass several ships from group one of the Delta Fleet, meanwhile group two is stationed near the Plants, as EAF ships with positron reflector umbrellas took it near one of the hourglass colonies and tested their affectivity. The new umbrellas are modified to extend its range farther than ever, as positron barriers are capable of withstanding Minbari fusion beams effectively.
They also deployed Zaft's N-Jammer satellites all across space, something that Zaft has alot of it in stockpile which became useless thanks to the N-Jammer Cancellers. Once again they were being deployed as they discovered that N-Jammers render Minbari neutron beam weapons, their sensors, Jumpdrive and Jump dimensional openings useless.
Among the fleet is the UNS Sojourner who is right beside the Minerva and they are to be the final solution if all defenses failed, the last resort will be employed.
"This is crazy" Judah remark as he and captain Noa is looking at a Saturn V size missile with the tip of the warhead painted with the yellow smiling face with a bullet hole on the forehead and the word 'Sayonara' below the smiling face.
To be continued