TRTSS31: Martian Encounters! – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: R1/2, SM, ST, War of the Worlds and other properties belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre limited series.
Part 4
After securing the Martian scout, Mr. Hyde secures the vehicle with a heavy chain.
"Errgh!" Hyde said, as the hulk-like man fastens the chain unto the hull. "There! Is that all?"
"It's all," Lord Ranshin Rantsu replied, as he stretched his limbs. He turns to see US Federal Agent Thomas Sawyer treat Miss Akane Tendo's wound, as the young woman sat in a wheel chair with her wounded left leg propped up.
"Ow!" Akane said.
"Don't worry, Miss Tendo," Tom said, as he applied alcohol to the gash of Akane's leg. "I'm almost done."
"But does it have to hurt so much?"
"You okay?" Ranma asked.
"What do you think, Ranma?" Akane yelled.
"Yeah, she's fine," Tom said with a smirk.
Earlier, Ranma and his recovery crew were caught in a trap, when another Martian probe came up from the rear. Luckily, Akane was kept at a distance, due to the fact that Ranma insisted that she remain safe. When the second Martian probe failed to see Akane, she used her air-gun to shoot off a spear into the exhaust port of the second probe, although the resulting explosion that caused a gash in her leg…
"Well, good," Ranma said.
Just then, Nemo and his medical team entered the docking bay, along with Mina Harker.
"Nice job on the field dressing, Agent Sawyer," Mina said, as she took a look at Akane's wound. "I do not see any possible infection that will be a problem…"
Akane visibly stiffened, when Mina began to examine her wound. The dhampire took notice of this.
"Is there a problem, Miss Tendo?"
"Um, I don't know," Akane said. "I mean, you're a vampire and all…"
"I have already eaten, if that is what you are wondering about," Mina said.
"Er, thank you…"
"But I did notice that there could be some torn ligaments, which could hamper Akane's movements."
"Suggestions?" Ranma asked.
"I could prep for surgery," Dr. Henry Jekyll said.
"Our medical supplies are at a premium, unfortunately," Nemo said.
"I could give Miss Tendo a sample of my blood," Mina replied. "That will automatic heal Miss Tendo's wounds."
"Unfortunately, that would risk Akane to the possibility of being a ghoul," Ranma said.
"Only if she were to consume large quantities of my blood," Mina said. "Dr. Jekyll and I were working on a way to combine the good qualities of my blood and his serum. The surgery itself is to realign the ligaments so that Akane's leg can heal. The revised serum will allow for the healing phase to take place relatively quickly."
"How long will that phase take?" Akane asked.
"No more than twenty four hours?" Dr. Jekyll said. "Recovery from that point on should not be a problem."
"When can the surgery be ready?" Nemo asked.
"We can begin right away, captain."
"Good," Ranma said with a smile, as he turns and leans into Akane. "You hear that?"
"Yeah, Ranma, I did," Akane said with annoyance.
"Excellent," Ranma said, as he kisses Akane on the forehead. "And don't worry; you're in safe hands."
As Ranma straightens himself, and begins to turn away, Akane suddenly grabs Ranma.
"Ranma, wait," said Akane softly. She reached over towards her wayward fiancé.
"Look, I…appreciate you looking after me, Ranma," Akane said gently, as she looked away.
"I know, which is why I want to always watch your back," Ranma said with a smile. He then moves his head to the side towards Akane, as if he was looking at her butt.
"And baby, you got 'back'."
"Ranma, you pervert," Akane said with amused annoyance.
"Heh."
Thanks to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen's successful mission, Captain Nemo and Lady Usagi were able to decipher the language of the alien invaders. As suspected, the aliens were indeed from Mars, having fled their dying world for a new one. However, thanks to the League acquiring the Martian scout, the Technocratic Union was able to develop the means to successfully launch a counterstrike, forcing the Martians to flee, and thus end the invasion.
However, the Martians would not be deterred from their agenda.
Taking advantage of the Technocracy's standard protocol of suppressing alien intervention in Earth's affairs, the Martians embarked upon a multi-tier approach towards taking over the Earth. Not wanting to take any chances for future failure, the Martians began a slow process of infiltrating American society, starting with various industries. This was first achieved when a Spanish physicist named Dr. Emilio Lizardo used a device called an "oscillation overthruster" to pierce through solid matter while on a land vehicle. Unfortunately, he had re-emerged changed, exhibiting criminal behavior. Somehow, he had encountered the Martians, and had his mind replaced to serve them. From that point on, Lizardo, and all others who had also been altered, would secretly prepare the way for the return of the Martians under many guises, including a front company called "Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems". Thankfully, Lizardo had been caught violating an American embargo that of raw good, which was used to protest the invasion of China by Imperial Japan, and would not be released for years.
Unfortunately, infiltrating American society by the Martian was but one strategy, nor would it prevent a second Martian invasion, when the Martians decided to take advantage of the chaos that was the second World War and the Korean War…
1953 CE: Linda Rosa, California (West of Los Angeles).
"I tell you, I really appreciate this, Clay," Ranma said, as he sat back in his lounge chair while opening a beer can. His old friend from the Manhattan Project, Dr. Clayton Forrester of the Pacific Institute of Technology, had invited Ranma to a fishing trip, after Ranma and Usagi returned to the United States for a well-deserved, extended vacation. Previously, the couple had spent time on the Korean Peninsula, as participants of the Korean War. At the conclusion of the war, the couple wanted some much-needed down time, and thus went back to America for vacation…
Now, while Usagi was on her shopping tour of Beverly Hills with her celebrity friends, Ranma decided to accept an offer from an old friend for a weekend of fishing.
"Anytime, Ranma," Clayton said, as he takes out a beer can from the cooler. "Any excuse to get out of the lab is a GOOD excuse."
"Yeah," Ranma said. "Although, we have yet to get any fish."
"Well, the night is still young-"
Suddenly, the sound of a peaceful evening is interrupted by the thunderous crackling sound.
"You hear that?" Ranma asked, as he sets his beer down on a nearby stool.
"Yes, I do," Forrester said. "It sounded like a-"
In the distance, something hard had fallen from the skies with a noticeable impact. In spite of the distance, the two men could still feel it.
WHOOM!
"Whoa!" Ranma said, as he steadied his drink. "Did you feel that?"
"That felt solid," Clayton said, as he sets his drink down, and get up. "We better see what's going on."
"So much for fishing…"
Later, miles away, everyone in Linda Rose gathers around near the fallen object, as it lay very still in its crater.
"Everyone, stay back!" said the local sheriff's deputy, as he and his men cordoned off the area.
Just then, Clayton and Ranma drive up to the scene.
"There she is," Clayton said, as he turns off the motor, and gets out of the vehicle.
"Indeed," Ranma said, wondering why all this seemed familiar…
"Hey, you!" said one of the sheriff's deputies. "You're not supposed to be here!"
"I'm a scientist," Clayton replied.
"And I'm a scientist, too," Ranma replied. "Actually, I'm more of an engineer, than a scientist."
"You?" the deputy said. "I find that hard to believe!"
"Okay, what is the formula for the Einstein theory of relativity?"
"Um, I'm not sure."
"Then why assume that I wouldn't know that? You don't know me."
"He has a point there," Clayton replied.
"Let me talk to the Sheriff," the deputy said, as he scratched his head. "He's consulting on what to do, even as we speak with some astronomer and his assistant."
"Oh?"
A few minutes later, Clayton and Ranma meets with the astronomer Dr. Matthew Collins, and his niece Miss Sylvia van Buren. Sylvia was a local teacher who specialized in astronomy and physics at the local high school. Dr. Collins also was the local pastor, when he is not given lectures at the University of California at Los Angeles….
"You must be the sheriff's consultant," Clayton said, as he shook Dr. Collins' right hand with his own. "I am Clayton Forrester, of the Pacific Institute of Technology, and this is my associate Ranma Saotome."
"Hello," Ranma replied, as he shook both Dr. Collins and Sylvia's hands respectively.
"You're Japanese," Sylvia said.
"Last time I checked," Ranma replied sarcastically. "And you're an idiot."
"Wha-?"
"Easy, Ranma," Clayton said. "I'm sure that Miss…?"
"Sylvia van Buren," the young woman said, as she eyes Ranma. "This is my uncle, Dr. Matthew Collins."
"You teach at UCLA?" Clayton said.
"I do," Dr. Collins replied.
"Of course! I attended a symposium on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, where you were one of the guest speakers."
"Aye."
"But…I still can't understand how you can be a man of the cloth, and a scientist. Are they mutually exclusive?"
"I find that my faith in God is affirmed in science," Dr. Collins said. "Faith is about exploring the infinite possibilities that makes us human, while science is man's way of confirming those possibilities."
"And what if there is no God?" Ranma asked curiously. He knew the truth about the Universe, and is knowledgeable of many of its secrets, many of which are still unsolved. No, he liked to play the role of "Devil's Advocate" when testing another person's character…
"Even if there was no God, my faith is not based upon the existence of 'godhead', but in the innate complexity of the Universe," Dr. Collins said. "That is why I find it highly unlikely that there would not be others like us, out there in the cosmos."
"Huh," Ranma said with smile. "Good answer."
"Thank you." Dr. Collins said with a smile. He then turned towards the object in question that sat very still.
"What do you make of this, Dr. Forrester?" Dr. Collins said. "It looks too…circular to be a naturally-made object."
"Agreed," Clayton said. "I got my Geiger counter in the trunk of my car."
"Why do you have a Geiger counter?" Ranma asked.
"Well, I'm always touring the nuclear testing sites."
"Oh, yeah…"
"What do you hope to find, Dr. Forrester?" Sylvia asked.
"Well, we can check the point of origin by calculating the amount of radiation that the object has."
"Well, you better let me do the checking," Ranma said. If there were significant amounts of radiation emanating from the fallen object, he had a better chance of survival than a normal human can…
"Why you?" Sylvia asked.
"Hey, we can let the expert take the risks, right?" Ranma said with a cocky smile.
"Good point."
With Dr. Forrester's Geiger counter, Ranma took the readings without any problems. After securing the data, Forrester suggested that he goes over to the local observatory with Dr. Collins, so that they could calculate exactly where the object came from. Meanwhile, Ranma decided to park near the object, after the sheriff cleared most of the local from the area, after it was confirmed that the fallen object did indeed emit radiation. Curiously, Sylvia decided to keep Ranma's company…
"You really don't have to be here, Miss Van Buren," Ranma said, as he sat back in the seat.
"No, I don't have to," Sylvia said. "Look, I wanted to apologize for my rudeness from earlier…"
Sylvia presents to Ranma a picnic basket full of food."
"No, you don't need to," Ranma said. "In fact, Clayton and I came up here to catch some fish."
"And did you?" Sylvia asked.
"Um, no…"
"Then accept my basket," Sylvia said with a smile.
"Um, okay, thanks," Ranma said, as he accepts the basket of food. "And, um, sorry for being sarcastic and all."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. It's just that in spite of the fact that I am an American citizen, I got to deal with ignorant statements because of the war."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about that, Mr. Saotome."
"Please, call me Ranma."
"Okay, Ranma," Sylvia said with as smile. "Look, I got to go, but I just wanted to say that I am sorry for being rude. It's just that I lost my parents when the Japs, I mean, Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor while my parents were on vacation in Hawaii."
"Trust me, when I say that I understand," Ranma replied.
Sylvia smiled, as she gets back into her car.
"I'll see you later, Ranma," Sylvia said with a nod, as she begins the trip back into town.
With a sigh, Ranma leans back in his seat, only to be disturbed by a rambling truck that came up to the side.
"Hey, you awake?" the driver, a Mexican farmer, said, as he stopped his car. With him was a person who had placed his press pass on his hat.
"I am now," Ranma said with annoyance. "What's up?"
"I wanted to know if you can talk to the sheriff's deputy for us," the reporter said. "You know, so that we can get a better look."
"Do I look like I work for the cops? Ask him yourself."
"Thanks a lot, pal," the reporter said. He then turned towards his companion.
"Drive on."
With that, the farmer and the reporter drove to the crash site to speak to the presiding deputy.
"Morons," Ranma said, as he leans back into the seat of his borrowed car. As he closed his eyes, he extended his senses, in order to hear what was going on.
Hey, you think we could take a look at this thing in person, deputy…?
Wait, what is that sound…?
The top of that object appears to be unscrewed…?
There seems to be a long neck with a nozzle of some kind sticking out…
Maybe there is someone inside? We can show him that we mean no harm with a white flag of surrender…
Ranma immediately opened his eyes, when he heard an unusual sound coming from the object. He bolts right up, leaps out of the car, and runs down to the crash site.
Upon reaching to the crash site, he immediately sees that the fallen object had reconfigured itself into a full-fledge space craft. The nozzle head itself was tri-colored, was glowing hot, and was preparing to discharge ionized energy.
"No!" Ranma said, as he sprung into action, as he tackled the sheriff's deputy, the reporter and the farmer out of the range of fire, preventing their deaths in process.
SKREEEE-!
"What the hell?" the deputy said, thanking the fact that he was still alive, as he pulled out his pistol.
"Oh, Dios mio!" the farmer said, as he looked at his destroyed truck.
"That thing could have disintegrated us!" the reporter said.
Ranma checks on the three men, and then turned his attention towards the alien spacecraft. There was no doubt that Earth was facing a new alien invasion.
"And here I wanted to just go fishing this weekend," Ranma said with a smirk.
Tbc.