Hahah! Ok, I'm back for more chaos and surprises (unexpected ones, I hope)! First off, I've had a couple of things in the background here that I need to cover.

1) Rankings of the officers: OK, here's the tentative officer list that I'm basing the story against (basically a way of making sure that everyone who DOESN'T really matter stays consistent in the background).

Command Officers

Captain Ranma Saotome

Commander Goku (first Officer)

Commander Shampoo (Ops)

Commander Vegeta (Chief Engineer)

Commander Akane Tendo (Chief Medical Officer)

Lt. Commander Marissa Johnson (Ships Counselor - Only for first mission)

Lt. Commander Mousse (Security Chief)

Lt. Commander Dana Jorgensen (Asst. Chief Engineer)

Lt. Commander Ryouga Hibiki (Helmsman)

Lt. Nick Chesterton (Nightwatch)

Ensign Matt Hummer (Nightwatch)

Field Officers (Not able to assume command under normal circumstances)

Lt. John Carver (Transporter Chief)

Lt. Roy Clayton (Engineer)

Lt. Shane Hoffman (Engineer)

Lt. Jr. Grd. Fred Abi Farrage (Engineer)

Lt. James Briton (Security 'Deputy')

Lt. Jeff M'Koy (Security - extra)

Lt. Ryan Rosson (Security - extra)

Lt. Kevin Van Battum (Security)

Ensign Reuben Lyle (Security - extra)

Lt. Commander Michael McCoy (Doctor)

Lt. Kathy Venice (Nurse)

Lt. Jean Ogawa (Nurse)

Wildcards – Special Forces

Commander Steven Stoltz A.K.A-Ace

Lt. Commander Matt Chesterton A.K.A-Blackjack (Sergeant)

Lt. Commander Phillip Zurfluh A.K.A-Judge (Rear Sergeant)

(Tones of Soldiers that can die or are really non-significant)

Starfleet Command

Admiral Happosai

Vice Admiral Genma Saotome

CinC Admiral Darien Shields

2) The interesting happenings of the rivals and suitors: Ok, so yes, Shampoo is gonna cause problems! That's just a bit inevitable. However, she won't be causing as many this first mission (I don't think). Once she's sure Ranma has sidled beautifully into his command, then she'll probably start trying her usual routines. They just gotta... wear the ship in on him first! Hahah! As for any potential pairing off of couples and who they might end up being...

I'm not telling yet::Biieeee::

OK, so that about covers it for the moment, I think. Read on and review!!

MattSaotome

Chapter 2

Surprises and Orders

The Wildstar sailed gracefully through space at Warp six on a set of co-ordinates that no one had questioned. Standing and staring out the viewport of his ready room, Ranma Saotome had a pensive expression on his face. It had been fifteen minutes since they had departed spacedock, and an isolinear chip sat on Ranma's desk. With a dark sigh, he turned towards it. He reached down and picked the chip up, inspecting it closely. He didn't know why, but in the back of his mind, he pictured the transmission ending with something along the lines of 'This message will self-destruct in ten seconds'.

With a suspicious mind, he inserted the chip into the computer console before him and sat in his chair as the screen blipped to life with the Starfleet symbol.

To: Captain Ranma Saotome

From The Desk Of: Admiral Soan Tendo – Starfleet Command

Hello, Captain.

This is to inform you that, with great reluctance, Starfleet command may be in need of rescindment of the treaty of Algeron. Before you close this down and call high treason, let me explain.

Three days ago, One of our undercover operatives in the Orion Syndicate intercepted several transmissions between the government in power there and the Romulan Star Empire. The nature of these messages is not known, but not twenty-four hours later, insurgent Orion Raiders outfit with Romulan Cloaking Devices infiltrated the base at Ivor Prime and took the Chief of Starfleet Operations hostage. The ships immediately disappeared, leaving a hailing buoy stating that the Chief would be returned upon the Federations unconditional recindment of the black market trade walls around the Alpha Quadrant, and the cessation of our starships policing Orion Syndicate Borders.

The fact that they were equipped with Romulan Technology alone immediately brings the Romulans under suspicion. Even more serious is the fact that they used this technology in an outright act of war against us after receiving these unknown transmissions from the Romulan Senate.

If this is the way the Romulans are planning on doing business from now on, it is plain to us at Starfleet Command that things are going to have to change. The Wildstar has been equipped with the first REGISTERED cloaking device in the fleet. It produces absolutely zero gamma emissions, and is untraceable along the beta and theta bands, as well as the traditional detection methods also becoming useless against it. At current, there is no known way to breach it.

If the Romulans are involved with this attack upon the Federation's internal security, you are to announce to the Romulans that the treaty of Algeron has been rescinded in its entirety, and any further transgressions against the Federation will be treated as an act of war and responded to accordingly.

Barring this, your orders are to proceed to Orion Space. Use any necessary caution and action to retrieve the Chief of staff. Good luck, and God Speed, Captain.

Signed,

Admiral Soun Tendo

Starfleet Command

'Oyaji, you asshole! Your going to get me killed!' Ranma thought to himself. He turned to get up and walk to the lavatory just as the door to his ready room chimed. "Come," he said. The doors opened to reveal his first officer.

"Wussup, Commander?"

"I just heard you scream and thought you might need help," Goku replied.

"Well, the first thing is that I didn't scream…" Ranma said, confused. Though I'm sure my aura had a thing or two ta say about the stupid mission orders!!

"I know." Goku responded. "But it was a good excuse to ask you about the mission."

"Well that's the second thing. You can read the orders at my desk. I'll be right back."

With that Ranma turned and continued on his way. Goku walked over and sat in his captain's chair, basking in the glory for a moment. Then he turned and brought the now blank screen back to life and started to read.

Ranma walked around the corner a moment later to see his first officer in total shock staring at his computer.

"I see you finished." He said. "Opinions?"

Goku quickly came to and looked at Ranma with shock.

"Well my first response is that it is total lunacy!" Goku remarked. "The treaty of Algeron has held the Romulan Empire and the Federation in check for decades. However, this does need to be dealt with quickly and… we ARE the ship for the job."

"Yeah, no kiddin'..." Ranma mused. "And we need to discuss this with our chief engineer! Seems to me that he may have been holdin' out on us!" Ranma said.

Goku immediately tapped his com badge.

"Goku to Vegeta. Report to the captain's ready room immediately." Goku and Ranma could hear grumbling on the other end.

"On my way, Kakarot!" Vegeta responded promptly.

Ranma turned back to Goku quickly. "And now get outta my chair."

Ryouga fidgeted at his console uncontrollably. He'd felt the tension pouring out of the ready room for the last five minutes, and it was making him uneasy. He could sense somehow that something was troubling Ranma greatly, and he was sure that Goku's aura had just changed a little as well. Behind him, in the command chair, Shampoo sighed as she poured over boorish status reports and "first run" percentage charts. This was definitely not what she wanted to be doing at that moment.

The turbolift doors to the bridge opened, and everyone's heads turned to see Vegeta. Vegeta took two steps out of the turbolift and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around at the faces staring at him. Several seconds ticked by in silence before he snarled and waved a hand of dismissal at the bridge. He turned and walked for the captain's ready room, mumbling something about an "obviously very bored bunch of twits manning the bridge of Starfleet's greatest achievement".

No sooner than he had walked through the ready room doors and they closed behind him, the turbolift doors opened on the other side of the bridge.

Almost as if it was some kind of a ping-pong-ish ritual, everyone's heads turned 180 degrees to see who it was.

Akane strode on to the bridge with purpose in her eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed, she shot Shampoo a quick look.

"Where's the captain?" She asked plainly.

Shampoo smiled one of the usual snide smiles she gave to Akane. "Ranma in ready room with Commander Goku and Commander Vegeta. Airen been on bridge all day with Shampoo!"

Akane growled as her scowl deepened. "I don't care if he's been in a room full of clones of you!" She near hollered back. "I need to give him his physical!"

Shampoo's face became suddenly innocent. "Why Ranma want to spend time with violent girl when he can spend time Shampoo? He no go for physical with you!"

Akane crossed her arms as her hips twitched to the side a bit, one eyebrow raising. "Oh really? Watch this!"

With that, she tapped her communicator. "Tendo to Saotome"

A short second ticked by. "Go ahead, 'Kane."

"Captain, I need to see you in sickbay as soon as possible. I have to run your physical so I can file it. It's rather important."

Another short second. "Alright, I'll be down as soon as I finish with the Commanders."

"Thank you, Captain."

Akane stared straight back at Shampoo with a sly grin on her face and she let out a slightly evil chuckle.

"Eat that." She said simply with a smug expression of victory, turning back to the turbolift. As the doors closed behind her, she barely had time to see Shampoo's face twist into a snarl. With a little wave back to the Amazon, the doors closed and Akane was gone.

"…Stupid Medical Protocols…" Shampoo grunted. With a huff, she turned back to the reports.

In the Wildcard Command Centre there were about twenty-five men and women standing at ease on the large floor. There were also three men standing on a platform that made them about 2.5m taller then the rest. In the center of the group of three, the shortest one of them looked out over the men and women in front of him with pride on his face.

"Attention!" He called out in a loud, stern voice.

Before him, the entire room snapped their arms to their sides.

Commander Steven Stoltz stepped forward one step.

"My name is Commander Steven Stoltz, Sergeant in Chief of this group of the Starfleet Marine Corps. Some of you already know me as 'Ace', and the rest of you will come to respect me by that name. As you all know, we have been assigned to this ship for the duration of her first leg in space. For those of you that don't know, that's five years. During this time, our sole mission is to use our skills and abilities to protect this ship, its crew and its captain. But above all else, we are here to do the dirty work of the corporate heads at Starfleet. This means a lot of getting our hands messy, and you should all be ready to perform to the best of your abilities at any given time. These are my seconds, Sergeant Matt Chesterton, also known as 'Blackjack', and Rear Sergeant Phillip Zurfluh, also called 'Judge'."

Matt stepped forward now.

"I will be in charge of all the flank heads respectively. You answer to me, and I report to Ace. I can't make this any simpler. If you have any problems between each other, solve them. Now. We can't afford to have any of you at each others throats."

Phillip came forward.

"This is especially important. You need to be able to depend on and trust any member of your flank as well as any other with your life or more. You have all been assigned quarters on decks spread throughout the ship. This is for one simple reason: In a crisis situation, each of you is responsible for the immediate organization and protection of the senior officers and subordinates on your deck. Do not take this lightly. Do your jobs, and do them well."

"Like you were trained to do!" Steven hollered out.

"YES SIR!!!" The room echoed.

Steven turned to look at Matt. "Well… It looks like they're gonna listen ok."

Matt chuckled and shook his head. Then, he looked up at the troops as Steven turned and walked to the stairs at the rear of the platform.

"Dismissed!" He called out. The room suddenly became noisy as the marines began to disperse, talking among themselves and trying to decide whether or not their new commanders were loony.

Ranma looked up to see the doors of his ready room close behind Vegeta. He turned to Goku and motioned for him to continue their conversation. Just as they finished, Akane hailed him on the com. After a moment ticked by with Ranma responding, he finally tapped his com badge to cut the transmission and looked up at Vegeta.

"What can ya tell me 'bout this cloaking device?"

Vegeta stood silent for a second, and then blinked once at Ranma.

"Cloaking Device, sir?" he asked.

Ranma snarled a bit. "Don't play dumb, Commander! I'm not an idiot, ya know! I just received my mission orders from Admiral Tendo at Starfleet Command. He says I have a cloaking device. My brain tells me that, as chief engineer, YOU already know about it. Now I wanna know how it works and where the hell it is on my ship!"

Vegeta looked down to the ground for a second, then back up, taking the liberty to stand at ease without permission.

"It's on engineering deck two, section 32. It has no harmful emissions and is undetectable by all known means." He replied.

"That's an exact quote from my mission orders. I want more than that. I want ALL the details."

Vegeta looked tense at this request but continued nonetheless, only pausing for long enough to cast a nervous glance at Goku, not liking the feeling of being put on the spot.

"I can't tell you everything but I can tell you that I went through 6 months of intensive training to figure this thing out. I can also say that it came from a ship that is not known to many in Starfleet but it is one of ours."

"Which ship?" Ranma questioned.

Vegeta closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but that information is classified… to ALL Starfleet personnel. Not even the Admiral, nor the President, would be permitted access to such information. They sure as hell didn't tell me! Even I don't know the answer. All I know is how to fix the damn thing!"

"Classified ta all Starflee - …This has Section 31 written All Over It!!" Ranma nearly hollered. Goku looked over to Ranma, who in turn looked back at him. Then, the two looked to Vegeta once more, and Goku stepped up to him.

"Vegeta," He began. "I'd like to think that we've been friends for some time now. In the interests of keeping this as informal as possible, why don't you just sit down and tell us everything that you DO know about this cloaking device, and why the Federation wants so badly to dissolve the Treaty of Algeron."

Vegeta seemed to ponder this for a moment as he inspected the Captain's desk with his eyes. Then, he looked back up to Ranma.

"Captain, with your permission I'd like to speak candidly about the information that has been disposed to me by Starfleet."

Goku smiled, and a hint of one showed at the corner of Ranma's mouth as he gestured to the couch behind Vegeta with a nod. "Permission granted. Have a seat, Vegeta."

Instead of taking his captain's suggestion, Vegeta immediately became enraged and began to pace.

"These stupid idiots they have running the United Federation of Planets have NO IDEA what they're doing by shattering this so called peace accord with the Romulans!" His hands became fists as he growled. "If we take the first step to collapsing the Treaty of Algeron, then WE will go down in history as the ones who sparked a war! The abduction of the Commander in Chief need not be responded to so heavily! I agree that something must be done, but even going into Romulan Territory with guns blazing would be better than dropping cloak on a new Federation Battle Cruiser right under their noses JUST TO PROVE A POINT!!!"

Ranma had become oddly comfortable in his chair, and crossed one leg over the other as he leaned back a bit. "Not ta mention that your Saiyan blood makes you… not the type of person to sneak around under cloak."

"EXACTLY!!" Vegeta hollered, swinging his arm around as he turned to face Ranma. It impacted with the cup of now cold tea sitting on the desk, which in turn spewed its contents all over Ranma. Now a girl, she sat in the chair with half closed eyes, frustration apparent over her attempt at a calm expression.

"Continue, Commander," she said plainly.

Vegeta just gawked for a moment, his eyes wide now as he stared at his now female captain.

"…Ca… Ca-Captain…?" He stuttered.

Ranma sighed deep, realizing that she had forgotten to tell Vegeta about this.

"By the way, Vegeta," Ranma explained, her voice now feminine and slightly musical, "I have a curse that causes me to turn into a girl when I'm hit with cold liquid. Hot liquid turns me back into a guy. Please try to avoid hitting me with cold liquid, and I'm sorry I didn't tell ya before but I kinda forgot but you didn't tell me about the cloaking device, so consider us one for one on breachin' the total honesty rule between the three of us. Now continue, and please stop starin' at my chest!"

Vegeta shook his head quickly, realizing that his gaze had drifted from Ranma's eyes to her chest. With a deep sigh, he clenched and unclenched his fists for a second before backing up a bit and sitting on the couch, obviously trying very hard to control himself.

"All I know," He continued now, "Is that the Commander in Chief was abducted from Ivor Prime. Starfleet command first approached me about learning the cloaking device, however, long before this happened. As I said, I trained for six months on this cloaking device. The C in C was abducted only three days ago."

Goku sat on the edge of Ranma's desk, casting his eyes towards his captain.

"Sounds like someone has been huntin' for excuses in Starfleet Command." Ranma said.

"We could be looking at the latest case of insurrection within the ranks of Starfleet Command in over three years." Goku pondered.

Vegeta raised up a hand to silence them. "I'm not so sure that we are looking at insurrection." He stated. "The officials at Starfleet have been uneasy for months. An insurrection requires a person or persons within the levels of Starfleet to go against the rules and regulations that the organization was founded upon. What I am suggesting here is a reformatting of that structure from the base."

Ranma was shocked. "You can't seriously be insinuatin' that Starfleet intends to become an empire!?"

Goku was, however, following Vegeta's train of thought to a 'T'. "Not an empire, Captain. Think of it as Starfleet wanting to lean a little more over the power line than they have before."

"Precisely!!" Vegeta nodded heatedly. "The Federation wants to be known as a Power in the Alpha Quadrant again! They remember a time when they were both sought after AND feared in the earlier days of their journeys into space. Now that they seem to have lost their edge over the other powers in the Alpha Quadrant, they have been losing ground, and fast! This is the first step in the direction of putting the other powers back into place. The Romulans, being the pathetically stupid fools that they are, just happened to hand them the perfect excuse to get started!"

Ranma was sufficiently wowed.

"Oyaji…" She muttered.

Goku turned to face Ranma completely. "Captain, it's doubtful that your father knew anything about this. He's a vice admiral, and is hardly privy to the decisions from the top. They would only have to inform him when a decision had been formally made to change the structuring of Starfleet. Since that hasn't happened yet, he probably has no idea what you're up against."

Vegeta nodded. "Admiral Tendo must be our point of suspicion at this point. All this deception and sneaking around is intollerable!! The means that they are using to go about the changes the Federation needs are ones that I do NOT AGREE WITH!!!"

Goku and Ranma both nodded.

A moment passed in silence between them before Goku broke it.

"Captain, we're well under way. I think it's time to announce our orders to the crew."

Ranma thought quietly to herself. How could this be as deep as it seemed to be getting? She just couldn't bring herself to believe that the Federation would actually be becoming power hungry. Yet it seemed that was the case. In the back of her mind, she knew only one thing: It was her job to follow orders. As such, until she had a reason to violate her instructions, she had to follow them to the letter.

And this was what she intended to do. Mind you, the second Starfleet gives me reason to believe they are turning into idiots, they are SO going down! No one screws with MY ship and gets away with it!!

With a deep sigh, she leaned forward and tapped a few buttons on the command console on her desk. Her voice was sent throughout all sections and decks on the ship as she pushed to make herself sound as masculine as possible. It worked better than she'd expected.

"Attention, all personnel. This is Captain Ranma Saotome. As many of you know, we are embarking out into the unknown aboard Starfleet's greatest achievement in almost seven years. At least, this is what I'm supposed ta formally say to you! What you all don't know is what the nature of our first mission is. I have before me a set of orders from Admiral Soan Tendo at Starfleet command. They state, without room for speculation, that our mission is one of the utmost urgency. The C in C of Starfleet Command has been taken hostage by the Orion Syndicate, who may be workin' for the Romulan Empire. Our mission is to retrieve him at all costs, and if it becomes necessary due to Romulan involvement, rescind the Treaty of Algeron. The Wildstar has been outfitted with a cloaking device for this mission, and if the Treaty becomes void, we are under instruction to use it. I know how all of you must react to this, but the Romulan Empire has asserted itself in such a way that makes this kidnapping an act of war. If their involvement is discovered to be factual, then I will carry out these instructions as they have been handed ta me. You should all know that I expect nothin' but your best during this rescue operation. Starfleet is countin' on us… It's time to show the Alpha Quadrant that we mean business!"

In the privacy of his quarters, Commander Stoltz lounged in his recliner seat with Matt and Phillip across the room on his couch. Each one listened to the com intently. At the last line, Steven had to smile, and he raised his glass a little in the com panel's direction.

"I think I like Captain Saotome," he chuckled. "Perhaps we can trust him, after all."

Matt, however, wore a slightly skeptical expression.

"Only time will tell," he responded, throwing back the rest of his drink.

"I think we should proceed with caution," Phillip edged, also downing his drink.

Steven waved a hand of dismissal in Phillip's general direction. "You think too much as it is. Remember your place, and quit worrying so much. Things will go as planned in the end."

Ranma emerged onto the bridge from her ready room, followed closely by Vegeta and Goku. Vegeta went straight to his engineering console, and Goku stood beside Ranma's command chair as Ranma sat in it.

"Pig-Boy, set course 215 mark 31. Vegeta, tie in Transwarp coils and increase speed to warp 12. Red Alert, all hands to battle stations. Mousse, begin tactical drills immediately. Shampoo, begin recordin' a log buoy from this point on. If Romulan involvement becomes factual, launch the log buoy. Number One… Get me a cup of tea…"

Admiral Tendo sipped gingerly at his tea from behind his desk, reading the latest status reports. The silence of the room around him was welcoming, and it had been a while since he had needed to worry about anything in general.

This was about to change, however, as his panel beeped at him. He looked down at it questioningly before pressing a couple of random buttons.

In front of his desk, a hologram appeared. He could plainly make out the identity of the five and a half foot hologram, and he sighed deeply, realizing that his headache was about to come back.

"Admiral Tendo," the hologram spoke. "Things are happening according to plan. The Wildstar is en route to Orion Space, and the Captain has announced the mission to his crew."

"All is well, then?" Soan questioned.

"For the moment," the hologram replied. "Keep in mind that Starfleet still has a lot to do on its end. We've gotten the ball rolling, now it's your turn to push a few buttons and make it speed up."

Soan wavered a little at that statement. Deep down, he hated doing this. Yet, in the back of his mind, he could only remember how his friend, Admiral Douerty, had perished at the hands of Ruafo, the head of the So'na people. He remembered how Ruafo had rubbed into Douerty's face the fact that the federation was becoming stale… that the scent of death on Starfleet was becoming all too strong, attracting one ruthless enemy after another. No, it was time to change the tides. It was time for Starfleet to re-assert itself as the powerful keepers of the peace they once were many decades ago. He had made up his mind… and the Romulans had given him the excuse to work with the man whose holographic image was standing before him.

"Everything is ready. The twelfth fleet has been completed, and there are over thirty more starships being constructed at shared locations between Utopia Planetia and the Serengeti Fleetyards. All of them are scheduled to be completed in the allotted time… We will have our war, General… I can assure you of that."

"Excellent." The hologram replied. "I'll keep things in check on my end. Do not screw this up, Admiral. I don't have to tell you that you are no less expendable than any red shirt down the line. I can have someone else in your desk by tomorrow afternoon if things go awry."

Soan gulped hard. "I know. You've kept your end of the deal… we will keep ours."

The hologram smiled. "Then we understand each other, Admiral! Good! I will communicate with you further as soon as more has developed. In the mean time, enjoy your tea. Oh, and do say hello to your oldest daughter, Kasumi, for me. It's been too long since I've had the pleasure of sampling her excellent cooking. I wouldn't want anything to happen to her if things go ill…

"Have a wonderful afternoon, Admiral!" With that, the hologram disappeared, leaving a very disturbed Soan sitting almost frozen at his desk. If that son of a bitch did anything to hurt any of his family… he just couldn't take it! No, this all had to happen right! No screw ups! He had known that from the beginning. It was time to change the face of the quadrant, and he was more than willing to make that happen, so long as Starfleet could continue to hold the peace as it had always done.

In the end, that was all that really mattered. In the end, that was what this was all about. In the end, he was certain all this would have been more than worth the risk.

He just had to keep telling himself that to stay in the game…

And thus ends another installment! Up for reviews again. Things are kinda getting a bit more serious, but I promise that this is only to flesh out the plot a little. Next chapter should have things returning to their... unusual yet comical demeanour!

Anyways, review, folks! I hope you liked it!

MattSaotome