Assassin Drones: The original saga

Silent Invasion Arc. De Arimasu!

By Alex Young

The Hinata residence, 3:00 pm. June 18, 2002

"Almost half of Shinjuku has erupted in gang violence ever since the assassination of Tanken "Tagu" Kurain in Hong Kong, China. While the assassin is still at large with their identity up for considerable debate, there is no question that various splinter factions are vying for control over the Kurain organized crime syndicate in a bloodstained war of succession."

"One of these splinter factions is employing monster trucks made into beastly war machines, another is gathering as many allies as it can for a numerical and logistical advantage, a third had just aligned itself with the international terrorist organization Kamui. Finally, a young man by the name of Shintagu Kurain, who claims to be the late Tagu Kurain's son is so confident in his inheritance that he decided to use this to muster up as many existing members as possible for his defense from within his own home."

"In other news, the supposed radiation leak on St. Patrick's day in Afghanistan turned out to be a false alarm after much investigation by U.N. officials, and are therefore slowly returning the locals to their homes, one day at a time. However, caution is still strongly advised as the degree to which the radiation did leak out, if at all is still as of yet unverified." The news reporter spoke through the T.V. as the Hinata siblings slouched around on the couch bored right out of their minds.

They were so bored that they've already started a game where if you dozed off to sleep from boredom, you essentially lost the game. "It's been a week or so since the last time I saw her." Fuyuki mused to himself citing the fact that he can carry on without Momoka as he needs only go out with her on the first of each month. This also coincides with the fact that he wears a shirt and tie at the first of each month as well, a win-win situation at both ends.

"Hey, I know what we can do! We can race each other to that soda vending machine in the park!" Fuyuki chirped enthusiastically. "Great idea! We'll get our workout clothes and be on our way! Winner gets to buy a drink." Natsumi replied enthused by the idea of a little something to stir up the routine. With that, the Hinata siblings began their friendly contest to see who can get to the vending machine first.

They jogged their way past city streets, around lamp posts, through the living gate, and finally to the aforementioned vending machine. Surprise surprise, the contest ended in a tie between the siblings. "Never would have thought you'd actually catch up to me, let alone tie this game considering that I'm naturally better than you in athletics, Winter." Natsumi chided of her brother. "Well, let's just say that I wanted to do this for Momoka, Summer." Fuyuki heaved exhaustively in reply. With that, the siblings just decided to just choose and pay for their own drinks, knowing the friendly sibling rivalry going on among the Hinata family.

Meanwhile, in a sea of clouds above Nuremburg, Germany

A three score squadron of Harrier jump jets, accompanied by seven score of Tornado Gr.4 fighter bombers, a foursome of F-4 Phantoms, and a new, unnamed forward variable sweep aircraft. The radically new aircraft incorporated stealth technology into its design, along with a nano-composite fuselage. The aircraft itself was long and sleek, and its wings were like flattened revolvers, thereby giving the aircraft the appearance of a praying mantis, hence the designation YF-41 Mantis.

The Lockheed Martin YF-41 prototype was announced in 2000 today, and had unofficially entered production soon after 9/11. This was after a gestation period a la Skunkworks tracing back to after the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The fact that the Mantis has 4, compact, Pratt and Whitney Z400 blisk turbofans makes it among the most fuel efficient of any military aircraft ever designed in the United States of America. That is, as far as a supposed sixth generation of supersonic military aircraft are concerned.

Specially designed intake manifolds help to reduce the risk of bird strikes by 94%, a vast improvement in safety, yet the air flows freely into the blisk turbofan engines. The body of the Mantis is lined with a shark skin outer layer, as well as the inner intake walls, resulting in lower drag and an increase by 5000 pounds of thrust. As impressive as the Mantis was, it wasn't the only special aircraft conducting this alien invasion repulsion flight exercise, as was indicated by some highly unusual fluctuations in the bodywork of the other aircraft.

Aside from the Mantis, which was clearly manned, the rest of the aircraft have just come out of retirement as giant, transforming drones. The drones themselves were still just getting used to their new lease on life, and such growing pains are thus to be expected. However, when the drones learn to get used to their new lifestyle, they will have helped push the concept of super maneuverability to a whole nother level.

"I trust that everything checks out." Dexter "Dex" Costello broached of Jared as the drones touched down in EX.W.A.T.I. air force base Delta Zeta 202. "Yeah, so far so good on the biomechanical side of things, especially seeing as how we've gotten all the vital data from that Keronian drop site." Jared replied citing the burden that had been lifted off of the EX.W.A.T.I. scientists' shoulders in developing transforming robots derived from older war jets ever since having uploaded all the data from the beacon at the Keronian drop site in Afghanistan

"Hey, come on slowpokes! Let's get this shit rolling!" Rachel "Rae" Carmichael burst out from the hangar elevator. "Okay! Okay, Rae! Ya don't hafta tell me twice!" Jared replied hastily as he rushed to join Rae in the next flight exercise featuring the heroic battle birds, AC-47 Spooky gunships, F-111 Aardvarks, A-10 Warthogs, A-6 Intruders, A-7 Corsair IIs, and some more F-4 Phantoms.

At a phone booth in the Nerima ward, 10:00 pm. June 24, 2002

"HEY, KULU-SAN! CAN YOU READ ME!? KULU-SAN!" *Pounknk* "SHIT!" Nabiki snarled worriedly as she violently slammed the phone into the booth, when Ranma and Akane having tailed her to it. "RANMA! AKANE! I've got some bad news for the both of you; you see, Kulu-san, my contact, along with the rest of his platoon, HAVE BEEN FUCKIN KIDNAPPED! We've gotta rescue him somehow!" Nabiki snapped as she began to slow her breathing a little.

"Okay, Okay. So your Kulu-san has been kidnapped, right? So yer gonna be sendin' us in to rescue im, huh?" Ranma replied incredulously knowing how outrageous Nabiki's claims can sometimes be. "Yes, which is why you may want to consider donning your assassin's outfit again, because we're going back to China for our rescue mission. Don't worry, I've convinced the Don Viper to run a diversion for us, seeing as how the ditz doesn't totally know Kulu-san's true identity and all."

Nabiki debriefed as an autonomously flying CV-22 Osprey showed up and touched down, with Ranma's assassin outfit already packaged, ready, and raring to go. Ranma and Akane accepted the rescue mission, as Kulu-san may be a big boon, or a hindrance in his battle for time to get emotionally ready for his marriage to her.

A Xiu Wong owned secret base at an undisclosed location in China, probably 50 miles north-northeast of the Jusenkyo springs, 4:00 am. June 25, 2002

Ranma and Akane had just been inserted into the forest near the base, where a pair of Keronians have just dispatched a couple of guards out to take a leak. "Girara, Dasasa, what are you two doing here!?" Ranma sputtered quizzically. "We're here on Jirara's orders to facilitate your infiltration as much as possible." Girara replied as he and Dasasa bounded off in the direction where Ranma and Akane are supposed to go in order to help rescue Kulu-san.

Akane wore a t-shirt, body armor, a pair of combat gloves, a pair of camo design cargo pants, and a pair of combat boots. She was also armed with an Atchisson assault shotgun as well as a desert eagle for a sidearm. The laser shield surrounding the compound always comes down at a specified time for maintenance and systems recalibration. This was just as ripe an opportunity as ever to get in undetected, as his detonating trampoline catapulted Ranma and Akane over the wall.

"By the way, the moment you two get caught is also the cue for a large reaver squadron to come in and ransack the place. This will create just enough of a ruckus for your would be captors to draw much of their attention away from you." Horara admonished as he calibrated his electronic goggles before disappearing into the background to resume his overwatch and reconnaissance. Ranma quietly sprinted up behind a guard, grabbed him by the nape, and snapped his neck.

This was then another guard, this time a commanding officer, rushed to the victim's aid. "What the? WHAT THE FMMPH!" "Sit still and don't make a sound!" Akane hissed as she slammed her palm into the officer's mouth, reigned his hands in, and dragged him all the way to the biometric eye scanner to gain access to the warehouse to which it was attached. After Akane released the guard, Jirara swooped in and decapitated him. "Now go! Be quick about it as it's only a matter of time before the bodies are discovered!" Jirara behooved of Ranma and Akane as he disposed of the guards' corpses.

"Qin Wei has not returned from his post!" One guard spat in complaint. "Worry about us, Liu Fong, not him." Another reassured as they resumed their duties. Ranma and Akane opened up a storage container, and hid themselves in it as a worker closed its doors. A gantry crane picked up the container and lowered it into the basement floor as its hatch opened up.

"Tch, never thought I'd see you here of all places." A beleaguered Kululu asked of Ranma. "Wait, what? You're Kulu-san!? Oh fine, but don't think that I'm doing you a favor and all." Ranma groused with a mitigated sneer as he untied Kululu, along with the other three captive platoon members. Somehow, Dororo managed to escape soon after he was caught himself. "HEY! YOU THERE! FR-" A few guards barked as their carotid arteries were cut to ribbons by Dororo as he descended upon Ranma.

"Thank you, we can get ourselves out of here, now." Dororo exhorted as he leapt up with Kululu and company leaving Ranma and Akane behind to fend off the oncoming guards. \Not to worry, the reavers have already begun their attack, so extraction shouldn't be too much of a problem./ Horara reassured through Ranma's intercom as Akane positioned herself to provide suppressive fire.

Suddenly, the warehouse roof began to cave in on itself as Akane fired some shots at the guards. "C'mon Akane, that's our cue to get outta dodge!" Ranma barked as he carried Akane towads the hovering Osprey transport. Ranma and Akane, along with the X1 assassins corp, have all safely made it to the waiting tiltrotor aircraft as it pulled right out of the compound at daybreak with the reavers transforming from F-4 Phantoms into giant utahraptors wreaking havoc in the background.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the South China sea

A Xiu Wong owned super tanker was cruising towards Japan to arm Xiu Wong's Kurain warlords' efforts to take over the Kurain crime syndicate. The tanker was escorted by Sarcostryker clones, along with some Venom Dragon clones and some Squid Torpedo clones. The evil battle birds, too were escorting the tanker as Nightslayer went down to eyeing a particularly suspicious group of aircraft.

"What da fuck!?" He pondered with incredulity as he summoned his two henchmen to join him in intercepting them. The reavers, of course, opened fire with this time a pair of wing mounted 120mm tank guns. The reaver F-4s and F-14s were also joined by submersible APCs, as well as the recently repaired super hybrid predator. The rounds themselves exploded over the tanker not to destroy it, but to intimidate her crew prior to hijacking.

Nightslayer and company worked quickly to dispose of the reavers escorting the APCs. This was when a newcomer, dubbed Predabomber joined the fray as he shot several reavers down, and sliced a few more to pieces with his razor wings. "Man, these things don't let up!" Nightslayer snarled citing the fact that more reavers were well on their way.

"That Don Viper sure doesn't know when to quit!" Predabomber growled in reply as side mounted boarding cable launchers fired their grappling hooks up the tanker's hull, facilitating the boarding parties' objective to capture it. \All of you! Retreat at once!/ A commanding officer barked citing the fact that Xiu Wong had all the money needed to survive a lost tanker ship. In fact, as we shall see very soon, Xiu Wong may already have plans to steal it right back.

A drydock in Yokohama bay, 12:20 am. Independence day, 2002

A lone agent who was assigned to run his sleeper cell within the Mie prefecture, was now being sent in to hack into the tanker's mainframe remotely and awaken several sleeper drones that currently reside inside it. The sleeper drones themselves awakened, killed off the Don Viper's goons as well as any crew members that didn't want to cooperate, and steered the ship out of port, free of any cargo whatsoever.

This was because the Don Viper had already attained the weapons he wanted in order to level the playing field in his power play for the Kurain crime syndicate. "Now, to cut the head off of the centipede." The agent, known as Jiariga Kobayakawa left the port to await his next mission.