Chapter 7

Boarded

"Raise Shields!" Goku hollered.

"Wildcards move out!" Mousse's voice sounded over the com system in the locker room. "Wildstar has been boarded. All decks. Repeat, Wildstar Has Been Boarded. Intruders located on all decks!"

"Looks like it's show time," Scott quipped. Beside him, Logan sat on the bench with the independent camp-light casting its rays against the side of his face, causing him to appear all the more lupine.

"Time to party," Logan grunted.

"Cowabunga, dude!" came the cry from across the room, the turtles also obviously itching for some action.

"Heh," Scott grinned. "Looks like they're all fired up!"

Logan just shook his head from side to side in mild bemusement.

"Turtles on a marine squad…" He stood now, turning to face the barracks in the adjoining room which the Turtles were standing in front of. Clearing his throat a little, he took a deep breath and addressed them.

"Listen up. While Ace is gone, I'm in charge. Any questions?"

The one with the red bandanna spoke first. "What makes you so special there, chief?"

"Cut it out, Raf," The one with the blue bandana growled. "That's Wolverine you're trying to argue with. If he wants to lead the troops, I say let him. I'd trust him with my life!"

With an expression that didn't seem to completely agree with his team mate, Rafael turned his gaze back to Logan.

"Lead on, oh fearless one."

"Who turned out the damned lights, anyways?" Lita asked the darkness, keeping a hand against the bulkhead to keep her bearings. She knew she'd eventually have to come to the end of the hallway, and from there it would be easy to find a Jefferies tube. She knew she still had to get to the bridge, regardless of the situation. Her duty now was to report to Commander Goku and advise him.

Her left ear twitched suddenly, and she felt a tingling sensation flow through her blood. She quickly dipped into the corner she'd just found and laid low, recognizing the feeling of hair rising on the back of her neck.

Someone's just beamed aboard… damned near right on top of me, too!!

"Did you see which way they went?" A voice whispered in the darkness.

"No, sir." Another replied.

Lita began to count how many sets of feet she could hear pressing into the carpet in the hall. Slowly, silently, she brought her arms up, her hands clasping together in front of her. She continued to listen, waiting…

"I don't get it," his second was baffled. "One minute, my goggles showed a life form reading… now it's gone!"

Xandir growled low at the ineptitude of the moron standing beside him.

"Well, keep looking for it, stupid! Life forms don't just disappear, you know."

"Understoo-" Silence.

"Martin?" Xandir muttered, noting with confusion that his search light revealed the spot where his second had been standing to now be empty. "Martin, if this is a game, I'm not laughing."

"Sir, I just lost Kuri!" one of his men from behind hissed.

"What do you mean, lost him?!" Now Xandir was worried, his search light flying in random directions, trying to locate something visually. If it weren't for the heavy fog around him, he might have been able to see more. Where the hell was that coming from, anyways? "Dammit, I can't see a THING in here! These search lights are useless. Can't someone turn on the damned power?!"

"Your wish is my command…" a voice whispered in his ear, sending a surge of fear rushing up his spine that someone had gotten so close to him undetected. He felt the rush of a small breeze, but his analysis of it was short lived as a spark of blue electricity arced out around them. All their search lights shorted out in succession, and total darkness enveloped the group. Heavy breathing began to grow deeper as panic started to embed itself into Xandir's men.

"Someone's there!!" One of them shouted, firing his phaser forward regardless of his inability to see anything.

"Stand down, soldier!" Xandir barked. "Random shooting isn't gonna get us anywhere."

"Aaug-!" Silence.

"Fuckin, bastard's taking us out one at a time!!" Xandir snarled, hefting up his pulse phaser rifle and cocking it. "Pulse rifles to kill! Night vision!"

Before anyone could respond to Xandir's last command, the hallway in front of them began to spark and crackle, blue ribbons of electricity growing in intensity. At the center of the disturbance, a sphere began to form, glowing white-hot with pure energy; seeming to both create and absorb the shocks around it as it swelled: And Xandir could finally make out a form from its light, though it appeared only as a shadow beyond the great sphere. It was the form of someone walking towards them slowly. He raised his arm up against the blinding apparition before him, barely noting the screams of his men around him as they fired everything they had at the figure, only to watch it all get sucked into the globe of raw power, feeding it even more of what it already was. Almost able to see a face, Xandir began to recognize some of the 'shadow's' features, indicating to him a betrayal that he had never considered, and finally ripping his last coherent thought from him.

Oh… Fuck Me! "Lita," he whispered, his eyes going wide with fear.

A grin split her expression.

"Who're you calling a bastard?"

"Now entering Risa orbit, captain."

Grissom swiveled in his chair to face the view screen, exhaling a breath with anticipation that he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Thank you, con," he nodded. "Ops, open a channel to the main government building."

"Channel open, Captain."

On the viewscreen, the planet spinning beneath them was replaced with the image of a Risa man, a hospitable smile writ over his expression.

"Welcome to Risa, Captain!" He proclaimed. "What can we do for you today?"

Grissom smiled. It was nice to see that not everyone in the universe had forgotten what a spell of kindness could do for another person. Nodding once, he stood from his chair and stepped over to the con station. He began to speak as he put a hand up on his lieutenant's chair.

"Good afternoon, Governor. My name is Captain Gil Grissom of the Federation Starship Sheffield. I'm looking for one Captain Ranma Saotome of the starship Wildstar. He was reported to be here with his CMO resolving a planet-side crisis?"

An expression of memory passed over the Governor, his eyes twinkling a little.

"Ah, yes. The 'Medical situation' that we were apparently suffering from."

A look of confusion found its way onto Grissom's face.

"That you were 'Apparently'? Was there no emergency, then?"

The governor nodded a couple of times, still smiling.

"As I stated to Captain Saotome when he arrived, I do not know who gave that report to Starfleet, but they were seriously mislead. There is no situation on Risa whatsoever. We're all just fine, Captain Grissom."

Grissom shook his head, still unable to wrap his brain around the whole thing.

"If," he breathed, allowing a half-smile to cross his face as he remembered reading Ranma's Officer Profile just a few days prior. "If what you say is true, then can I assume something happened between himself and his CMO that kept them planet-side?"

At this, the governor burst into merry laughter. Grissom's smile became full-blown as he realized that he'd just hit the situation right on the money. But what had happened?

"Yes, yes, quite so, Captain. Bravo!" The governor was still chuckling. "Your stray captain's CMO apparently comes equipped with one hell of a temper! I am not too sure of the exact circumstances, but their shuttle crash-landed here. They have been staying in one of the rooms waiting for their starship to return."

Grissom's face lost all traces of humor at the mention of the Wildstar.

"Governor, it is imperative that I speak with Captain Saotome immediately. The Wildstar has entered into a… situation. He needs to be returned to his ship as soon as I can get him there."

At the business-like tone in Grissom's voice, the Governor quickly adjusted his behavior accordingly, responding with a curt nod.

"Of course, Captain Grissom." He reached for the controls on his desk. "I will transfer you to his room immediately."

Grissom smiled a final thanks as the image of the Governor blipped out. In its place was darkness. Grissom waited a few seconds, believing the transfer to still be in progress. After about twenty seconds, however, he turned to his Ops officer in confusion.

"Are we experiencing difficulties, Commander?" he asked her. She double checked her instruments before looking back at her captain, shaking her head.

"According to my instruments, sir, that IS the image of Captain Saotome's room. Resolution is sixteen-thousand-by. Audio is transmitting at 44.4 MHz. I… I think something is covering the image scanner, sir."

Grissom frowned, but turned back to the screen, nonetheless. Clearing his throat, he spoke a little louder.

"Uh… Captain Saotome?" There was no response. Grissom waited a few seconds, then tried again. "Ranma Saotome, are you receiving me?"

A deep inhale sounded over the com now, and Grissom could hear the sound of someone moving around on a bed.

"Whu…" Ranma's voice could be heard. "Who's… who'z'it?"

Grissom began to smile a little again.

"Captain Gil Grissom of the Federation Starship Sheffield," he replied. "Captain, I'm not receiving an image of you."

There was a loud thump, a curse, and the sound of footfall getting closer. All in one smooth motion, the veil of darkness shifted, and there was a discarded Starfleet tunic flying off to the side. Ranma rubbed his face groggily, oblivious to the fact that he had nothing on, and not realizing exactly how lucky he was that the desk chair was so perfectly placed that it hid his lower anatomy entirely from the image scanner.

"Go ahead, Captain," Ranma groaned, finishing off by rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Grissom chuckled at Ranma's state, putting both hands on his sides as he shook his head for a moment before continuing.

"Captain, I'm here at the behest of your first officer and my own recommendations to him. We are to carry yourself and Commander Tendo back to your ship."

Ranma frowned. "Is there a problem?"

Grissom nodded now, holding nothing back. "There is, Captain, a very big problem. Please prepare to beam aboard immediately. Your ship may be, quite probably, under heavy attack even as we speak."

"Uh… I think they're mad, Commander!" Mousse's voice thundered over the latest boom that resonated through the Wildstar's hull. From where he was standing, Goku shifted his weight to stay on his feet, shooting a look over at Mousse.

"No, really?" he growled.

"Probably 'cause we cut off their troops in mid-transport!" Dana returned.

"Ahead full impulse, Mr. Hibiki!" Goku ordered. "Evasive pattern Sulu Beta!"

From his make-shift helm console, Ryouga frowned.

"Which one's That?" he asked, panicked.

Goku rolled his eyes. "You mean to tell me that, all this time, you've been faking your knowledge of evasive maneuvers??"

The ship shook again as Ryouga replied.

"Not all of it!!" His burst of composure failed. "Just… most of it."

"Stupid!!" Shampoo insulted him from the other side of sickbay.

"Dammit, we don't have time for this!!" Goku cursed. "Ryouga, look it up!!"

Ryouga blinked at him.

"NOW!!!" Goku hollered. Ryouga let out a little yelp, and quickly turned to his console, muttering 'Sulu Beta' under his breath repeatedly as he searched. The ship shook again.

"They're firing Quantum torpedoes at us, sir." Dana reported. Goku frowned. Why weren't they blasting the Wildstar for everything she was worth? Commander Kino's report had indicated the Leviathan carried triphasic torpedoes, just as the Wildstar did.

"Got it!" Ryouga cheered. "I GOT IT!!!"

"So Use It, Lieutenant." Goku ordered.

"Aye, sir," Ryouga replied, laying the evasive maneuvers in.

"It doesn't make any sense for them to not be using their best against us, sir," Mousse reported. "I think this is meant to be a distraction for us."

"To what end?" Mina asked him. "There's nothing we'd do differently-"

Goku held up a finger to silence Mina.

"Mousse is right," he stated. "They have no idea that we've received tactical intel from the Sheffield on them. They think we don't know any better. If we believed they were really this weak, we'd attack accordingly, with a more reckless abandon than we would against someone more powerful."

Mina blinked, remembering the tactical info that Lita had fed them before… Lita!

"Permission to go find Commander Kino, sir?" she asked quickly, everything else forgotten for the moment. To her surprise, Goku shook his head in reply.

"Denied, Commander. I need you where you are."

"But…" Mina began to protest.

"Relax, Counselor," Goku continued. "I felt Lita's power signature the moment she beamed aboard. She's just doing her job, that's all."

Mina digested this, reminding herself that Goku had the ability to feel other people's power levels around him. She interpreted his reply quickly to mean that Lita was busy dealing with the intruders along with the rest of the on-board security and marines, and began to calm her nerves as best she could.

"Aye," she answered.

The Wildstar shook again.

"Evasive pattern Janeway Delta," Goku ordered.

"Which one'sTHAT??!"

Steven screeched to a dead halt the instant he felt the first rumble. Kuno had to put the brakes on so fast, he almost kissed the back of Steven's head. Before the Blue Thunder could say anything about his superior's abrupt halt, however, Steven already had a finger up, his head turning in a few different directions.

"Did you hear that?" He asked Kuno. The Kendoist shook his head briefly before responding.

"It sounds like the Wildstar has fallen under enemy fire," Kuno responded.

Steven rolled his eyes, realizing more with each passing moment the incredible idiocy of his hired help.

"I know that, you moron," he snapped back. "But the shudder was too soft… The Wildstar's shields are up."

Kuno gasped.

"But how is that possible, noble Stoltz?" he questioned. "You severed all connections to the main computer in the auxiliary control room. The back-ups were compromised. The Wildstar should be completely immobilized!"

Steven shook his head, attempting to figure the situation out. Somehow, in a manner that he hadn't expected, the Commander had managed to get the ship's shields back up. Judging from the new sounds he could hear, he was also quite certain that the Wildstar was at impulse speeds, engaged in a firefight and evasive maneuvers. None of these things should have been possible.

Finally, he gave up all hope of figuring out how they had accomplished it, and settled on a final course of action.

"I don't care how they did it," Steven growled. "I know one good way to make sure they stop!!"

Kuno looked down at him.

"What is that, good sir?"

"We make our way to engineering and blow the warp core!"

Kuno's face fell ashen. He couldn't believe that the man he had so quickly come to respect could even consider throwing away over two thousand lives so easily, as if they were all meaningless. He had wanted to be the undoing of Ranma Saotome, yes, but not at the cost of other people's lives! At least battling against the Leviathan gave them a chance at survival by surrender. This was mass murder!

"WHAT?!!" Kuno hollered. "I cannot allow you to commit this travesty of justice!! How can you throw away over two thousand lives so carelessly!? It is simply unthinkable! I will not allow it!!"

Steven growled again. Turning to face Kuno, he brought his arm around in one swift motion. Placing his palm against Kuno's chest, he let loose a Ki blast, throwing Kuno back to the other end of the hall. The Blue Thunder was quickly reduced to an unconscious heap.

"Fine then," Steven chuckled. "You're fired!"

Rebecca was screaming into her communicator.

"You wanna tell me why the hell you're shooting at this ship while we're still on it?!?"

Will's voice came across the com line next.

"Listen, commander," he explained. "The Wildstar has raised her shields and begun to fight back. We have no idea how they did it, but she's defending herself. We have no choice but to attack them."

"Fucking dandy," Rebecca snorted in disgust. "So what do you want us to do over here?"

"Get to their bridge, wherever it is, and take control of the ship."

"Wherever it is?" Rebecca frowned.

"According to our sensors," Riker's voice stepped in. "There's no one on the Wildstar's main bridge. We don't know where they're controlling the ship from, since multiple life forms are scattered throughout the rest of the ship in general."

"Shit," she grumbled. "Well… can I at least ditch the 'stun' idea now?"

The reply over the com was a mixture of a 'Yes!' from Will and a 'No!' from House. Rebecca rolled her eyes as the two of them began to duke it out over the com line. After just a few short seconds of this, she cleared her throat loudly.

"Screw this white noise, I'm setting our weapons to kill! Commander Giesbrecht out!"

As the line was severed, there was a mixture of 'Atta girl!' from Will and 'You can't do that!' from House.

"I can do whatever I damned well please," she murmured to herself. Then she looked up at her men. "Set weapons to kill, boys."

"Xandir to Giesbrecht!! Lita has - :bzzzzt:"

Rebecca stopped dead in her tracks. For the first time since she came aboard, her blood pumped heavy and loud in her ears. Her eyes went wide, and she felt the adrenaline rush of fear pulsing through her veins. In her mind, she pictured her deputy, slain at the hands of someone that she had quickly learned to fear the very first time they had encountered each other. She could still remember that woman holding a ball of lightning in the palm of her bare hand as it surged and cracked with raw power.

Lita…

She immediately reached for her visor and slammed it down over her eyes.

"Night Vision!!" She hollered, activating the visor. Her troops followed her example in quick succession. Rebecca knew of the SI officer's abilities, and knew the only other name she went by. The name that she had continued to use from the first day she had tendered application to Starfleet Intelligence.

You are NOT gonna catch ME with my pants down… Jupiter.

"Move out!"

"Casualty reports coming in from decks five, eleven and seventeen!" Mina reported.

"Mousse, report!" Goku instructed.

"Forward shields down to 81, Commander. All other sectors still at full power. We're a long ways from being done this fight, sir!"

Goku nodded once. "Keep them that way, please."

"I'll do my best, sir." Mousse replied evenly.

"Commander," Doctor McCoy scooted his way through the scattered panels and wiring to reach Goku.

"Doc?"

"I have wounded arriving, but I'm fast going to run out of room in here while you guys are taking up space. What do you want me to do?"

Goku thought for a minute, considering in his head the nearest location from sickbay that could be of any use to them. He scoured the corridors in his mind, remembering in almost perfect detail the layout of the Wildstar's decks. Finally, he gave a little smile, and put a hand on McCoy's shoulder.

"Relax, Bones," he began. "Move some staff over to holodeck two. Use whatever transporter power you need to beam over whatever materials you need, it's all on-line in case of emergency. Plus the holodeck will allow you to create an actual facility to treat people in. I'll see to it that Vegeta shunts power to that holodeck right away!"

With a nod before Goku had even finished his last sentence, McCoy ran off to carry out his instructions.

"Logan to bridge."

Goku looked to the side. "Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Can you locate Ace, Commander? No one knows where he is!"

Goku looked over to Shampoo and gave a single nod. Shampoo nodded back and set to work checking the internal sensors. After a few moments, she looked back at Goku in defeat.

"Shampoo sorry. Internal sensors still no work right. Power is no directed to them in most areas. Is directed to essential systems only."

Goku looked back to the side.

"That's a no go, Logan. Internal sensors weren't activated in all areas of the ship. We still have blind spots."

"So that's why the lights are all out," Logan mused over the com link. "Alright, thank you, sir."

"Not a problem."

The deck shuddered beneath them again.

"Mousse!" Goku growled. "I'm getting tired of playing paintball. Switch to triphasic torpedoes and start doing something to their shields!"

Mousse gained a wicked grin. "No problem!!"

Security guard Lyle stood in the corridor junction between the main access hall and the turn off to main engineering. He had been standing guard without incident for almost a whole hour; since being posted there, as a matter of fact. He had expected to see at least a little bit of excitement, but so far, nothing had come his way.

Just as he was about to give up hope, a figure came around the corner in front of him. He quickly raised his search light to identify it.

"At ease, Ensign," Steven said casually, walking towards the guard.

"Commander Stoltz," Lyle acknowledged evenly. "What is your destination, sir?"

At that, Steven quickly raised his phaser and shot Lyle in the chest. Lyle fell to the deck and lay still.

"None of your damned business," he grumbled down to the heap. Then, looking down the corridor in the direction of main engineering, he leapt over Lyle and picked up the pace.

From the floor, Lyle rolled onto his back with a groan. With great effort, he brought an arm up and barely managed to push his com badge.

"Lyle… to bridge… Ace… heading for… engi…nee…ring…" his head fell to the side as his eyes drifted shut.

Goku looked to the side once more.

"Ensign?" He turned and moved to Mousse's station. "Ensign Lyle's position on your security grid?"

Mousse checked his readout.

"Lyle is positioned at junction 13 gamma."

Goku thought for a moment, then nodded at Mousse, who activated the com.

"Attention all decks, this is Commander Mousse. Find and arrest Commander Steven Stoltz. He is to be considered armed and dangerous, heading for main engineering from junction 13 gamma with malicious intent. Shoot first, ask questions later!"

Vegeta looked up from his terminal at Mousse's transmission. His mind quickly set to work, and he began to look around the room frantically. Finally, his eyes settled on the obvious, and nearly doubled in size. As he glared at the warp core, he remembered the primary computer failure that had occurred where the back-ups had not activated. Running over two terminals, he pressed a few buttons.

"Computer, show me auxiliary control floating nano-camera. Time index… 1417!"

The computer beeped a couple of times, and then an image flashed to life. Vegeta watched in shock as the image he had just activated began playback at the instant the Control Room's on duty officer hit the deck. He continued to watch as Commander Stoltz came into view, placed his hand on the panel, and took in a breath of air when the panel blew out under Steven's hand.

"He's a Chi adept…" Vegeta mused. So Commander Stoltz had caused the blackout. Presumably in order to allow the Leviathan to catch them. This made Steven a Section 31 operative, which also meant accomplishing his goal by whatever means necessary under Section 31 of the Federation charter. He looked back at what his eyes had fallen on before, watching as the warp reactor pulsed with a mystical beauty. He snarled, throwing himself away from the console.

"Evacuate Engineering!!! Everybody out!! Let's Move! Let's Go!!!"

He watched as his team began to pour out the exits, activating his com badge as he moved towards the warp core himself.

"Vegeta to Bridge. Steven is a section 31 operative. He is also a Chi adept, and the one responsible for our computer core failure. I have reason to believe his target is the warp core. I have evacuated Engineering, save for myself."

"What do you intend to do, Commander?" Goku's voice wavered back over the com.

Vegeta snarled as he took position in front of the Core and turned to face the main doors.

"Kill him, Kakarot."

"How long until we're in range?" Ranma asked again, his patience long since gone after hearing Grissom explain the situation to him. Grissom's helm officer checked his readout again, the ship shuddering beneath all of their feet from exertion.

"Ten more minutes, sir."

"Come on…" Ranma coaxed the ship quietly. Grissom eyed Ranma from his chair, understanding the Captain's concern completely. Anyone who fell under the long arm of Section 31 stood an excellent chance of never being heard from again. The Wildstar, no matter how powerful, was no exception.

"Helm, increase speed to warp twelve," Grissom instructed. His helm officer gasped. They were already cruising at 11.7, and the Sheffield was threatening to come apart at the seams as it was. It wasn't like they had a warp 15 field to coast on this time. They were getting the full frontal assault of their speed.

"Captain, that's all she's rated for!"

Grissom nodded once.

"I know that, lieutenant. Warp twelve, please."

The doors of Main Engineering coasted open, and Steven came jogging through them. The sight before him, however, brought him to a grinding halt. Main Engineering was deserted, with most of her control panels locked out or dark. In the center of the room, the warp reactor operated in low power mode, a sickly green color pulsing from both top and bottom to meet at the reaction chamber in place of its standard red and blue. The plasma coolant tanks on either side of the warp core were glowing a dim, smoky green; the foggy vapors within moving about in a ghostly fashion. There, standing just in front of it all, with his arms crossed, was the one man he was hoping he wouldn't have to tangle with. The one reason he was hoping to still have the element of surprise when he came thundering into engineering. The one reason he had cursed to himself when he heard Mousse's ship-wide transmission just moments before.

Commander Vegeta grinned self-righteously, raising his chin a little as he regarded Commander Stoltz.

Steven quickly got into a defensive posture and began to power up.

"Vegeta," he muttered.

"Commander Stoltz," Vegeta droned out. He uncrossed his arms and took a single step forward. "Now what brings you to my den, Commander? You know I'm far too busy to be giving any tours at the moment!"

Steven scowled, not enjoying Vegeta's games in the slightest.

"You know full well why I'm here, Commander."

Vegeta chuckled darkly, getting down into an attack position as he nodded an affirmative. The Wildstar shook, feeling like an earthquake was happening. The instant the shaking began, Steven knew just what to expect, and stepped up his own charge rate. Before him, Vegeta let out a holler. For the first time in his life, Steven bore witness to the transformation he'd only ever heard of, but admired in ways no one else could ever possibly understand. He watched in fascination as Vegeta's hair bleached in a sweeping motion from root to tip, the energy field that suddenly exploded into being around him glowing hot gold. He watched Vegeta's muscle mass increase by at least thirty percent in a heartbeat.

For the first time in his life, Steven gulped. He imagined all his personal doubts about his own abilities sliding down his throat. Scowling a little lower, Steven prepared to give his own rendition of the transformation.

With a shout of rage, Steven's energy exploded. His hair, from root to tip, swept upward in a shimmering deep maroon color, the energy field surrounding him taking on the same color as it jumped in intensity. Steven grinned a little as his own muscle mass increased as well.

A sparkle that the commander couldn't readily identify embedded itself in Vegeta's eyes, the grin on the Super Saiyan growing just a little bit bigger.

"Perfect," Vegeta chuckled low. "I'm sure I'm going to enjoy this immensely."

Steven grinned now as well. "As will I, Commander."

Vegeta knew this was going to be no cake walk. Steven had made it all too obvious after exercising his own version of a power transformation that he was not only a Chi adept, but a damned good one, to boot. But this didn't faze Vegeta in the slightest. His own confidence in his abilities was complete and unwavering. He would bring Steven down. It was only a matter of time. With a tone that set the playing field, Vegeta lowered his body a bit more, deepening his stance and preparing himself for what lay ahead.

"The warp core is behind be," he snarled almost playfully as his brow furrowed even deeper, combining with his perma-grin to make him seem all the more menacing.

"If you think you can reach it!"

A/N:

I feel I need to explain Steven a little bit here, as was brought to my attention by Weebee. Steven Stoltz is an enigma. Even to me. I had to rev up the suspense of the fight between him and Vegeta, and I knew there was absolutely no way that I could do that if he did nothing to try and match the super saiyan for power. Everyone would just read it and go 'Ho hum Vegeta's gonna win, yeah yeah bla bla', and i really didn't want that. His abilities are going to be explained in the next chapter, though. But don't be too worried. He doesn't really get any stronger than he is right now. Side Note: Steven is Section 31's second in command. Of the ENTIRE outfit. He's been trained to be a veritable James Bond in stealth and cunning.

Next up: Vegeta and Steven duke it out heavy. Can Vegeta bring him down without managing to damage the reactor in the process? Also, the Sheffield arrives on the scene, carrying an all too anxious Captain Ranma and Commander Akane back to their ship. Can the Wildstar and the Sheffield together take out the Leviathan? And what of the firefights taking place deep in the dark corridors of the Wildstar?

Additional Note: I did NOT expect the story to unforld this way! It's just happening.

Let me know what you think, since your reviews are helping to drive this thing. If it sucked, raised questions... if I should learn how to friekin' type??? Heh, Lemme have it!

MattSaotome