Disclaimer

Macross is owned by or licensed to lots of people - Tatsunoko Studios, Harmony Gold, Studio Nue, Streamline Video...note that none of them are me.

The same can be said of Ranma 1/2 - Rumiko Takahashi, Kitty, Shonen Sunday Comics, Viz Video. Not me.

I didn't create any of them, and I certainly do not own them. Any use of them in this story is meant as nothing more than tribute. Please don't sue me.


Wednesday's Child

Seven: Facets of Friendship

April 4th, 2007

Dear Ranma,

Good news! With my graduation complete, and my father able to pull a few strings - it's good being the daughter of an Admiral - I was able to get the posting I want. Sure, I'm a bit junior for the posting - whoever heard of an Ensign getting assigned to a black project - but I'm coming to South Ataria Island!

Daddy told me I was going to get the shock of my life there. Probably because of the alien space ship they're rebuilding there. Doesn't take much brain power to figure that one out.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing you again. It's been almost ten years - well, eight and a bit - since we first and last met. I doubt you've changed too much, but I've grown up since that awkward little girl you met on the beach. I hope we're not too different now.

Love,

Hayase Misa.


"Aw, fuck." Ranma jumped up and started pacing his quarters. "Misa's posted here! Just my friggin' luck!"

With a superior officer - first a naval Captain, then a Commodore, and now a Rear Admiral - breathing down his neck, he'd never so much as hinted at the curse to Misa. But if she was posted here...

The one good thing was that she was junior to him. But she'd been through a proper Naval Academy, whereas he'd had the "quickie officer" course offered to Mustangs. Which meant that the odds of him rising past O-3 - Captain - were slim to none. Misa was an Admiral's daughter, and had posted top in her form - as her last letter had stated - so it seemed likely that she wasn't going to be an Ensign for long.

In fact, in less than three years, she'd be his equal in rank. An O-3 in the Navy was a Lieutenant Commander, which sounds less impressive than Captain, but only because a Captain of the Navy was O-5.

Well, no time to worry about it now. For the moment, he had bigger problems. Specifically, the first three fully-functional prototypes of the Stonewell-Bellcom Valkyrie had arrived.

And about goddamn time!

The Phoenix crews had gotten disgustingly swelled-headed. Shinnakasu had rushed twenty-four prototypes - an entire damn squadrons' fighters! - to the island. Six were still obviously prototypes, bearing significant differences from the mass-produced variant, but Shinnakasu was banking on their design being selected. At the moment, eighteen of them were TDY to the Asuka II. They'd even seen some limited combat, though their full capabilities were still classified, and generally unused against the Anti-Unification Su-27 fighters they were engaging.

But Lt. Commander Khamil, the Phoenix's test-flight leader, was already celebrating his team's victory. Only four Stonewell-Bellcom fighters had been delivered to date, and they'd all been limited-capability test models.

Ranma zipped up his speed jeans, double-checked his helmet, and stepped out the door of the quarters. He stretched, tilted his head to the side to work out a crick, and grinned.

Today will prove that the Valkyrie is the best of the bunch!


"Three. Why the hell would they send us three?" Roy was more than a little annoyed.

"Vee Tee Zero Zero Two failed its electrical safety." Steve Jackson scowled down at the documents. "They didn't want to commit to a trans-Pacific flight if there was a chance that the fly-by-light system would conk out."

"Fighters operate in pairs. They have since the second World War."

Mark Kramer shrugged. "Why not operate them two at a time, then?"

"And leave one on the ground. Sure." Roy nodded. "I could do that. But who are we gonna use for aggressors?"

"Use the Phoenix team." Steve smirked. "All their birds work."

"Or the Spectres," offered Mark. "They've still got two operational birds."

"Both theirs are the demonstrators, not full-up birds." Roy sat down heavily. "And the Phoenix team's best pilots are off on the Asuka."

"Hey, Roy." Ranma leaned forward in his seat. "Why not operate the birds in groups of three?"

"Because it's not done!" Roy shook his head. "Teams of two were proven to be the most effective. One covers the other while the other does the actual work. It's safer, it's easier--"

"Doesn't make it perfect."

Roy considered the smaller pilot. "Okay, Jarhead. What do you have in mind?"

"In the Marines, we use teams of five. One provides fire support for the other four." Ranma raised his hand. "That was my job. Given the mission profile we're looking at, and the capabilities of this fighter, one bird could cover two others during ground-attack operations as safely as one could guard one. And then you have two-thirds of your jets hitting the targets while one-third watch their backs."

"You might have something there." Roy leaned back again. "Okay, but what about air-to-air missions?"

"Well, the FIREBIRD air-to-air mission is intercept. Which is the same mission, really, as ground-attack, except your targets are in the air. Two jets engage with long-range missiles; the third is equipped for the knife fight. Valkyries got the dogfighting lasers, the gun pod, even the laser turrets, for close-in work, so even after they pickle off all the AMRAAMs, they're not exactly defenseless."

Roy nodded. "You got a point. But they're talkin' now about scrapping the entire THUNDERBIRD project, which would leave us doin' the Wild Weasel and close-air support missions."

"Both of which are still strike missions, and the three-bird team would still work. And for the air-superiority role..." Ranma raised two hands, thumbs and pinkies out, in the age-old tradition of fighter pilots. "One-on-one is the rule, normally. Your wingman is there to try and get that one off your ass. But if the bad guy's wingman is latched himself, and you've still got a spare..." He didn't have a third hand to demonstrate, but shifted the front hand above and behind the rear. "They've got a problem." He dropped his hands. "It won't always work, but since everyone uses two-plane elements, we'll have an initial advantage with three-plane elements."

"The Phoenix team can still provide the aggressors." Steve chimed in on this. "They're using two-man elements, still. Just tell 'em to send two wings. Four on three, and I bet we kick their asses."

Ranma smirked. "No. I got a better idea. Tell 'em to send all six operational birds."

The other three pilots gaped at him. Roy cleared his throat.

"So you want us outnumbered two to one for the exercise. You better have a shit-hot idea for dealin' with that, Jarhead."

Ranma cracked his knuckles. "Absolutely."


"Coming up on target now." Focker's voice crackled in Saotome's ear. "Since this was Saotome's theory, he gets to play wingman, while me and Kramer do the dirty work."

"That's 'Kramer and I', boss."

"Shut up, Saotome." The two lead Valkyries dropped altitude, while Saotome stayed at ten thousand feet. He checked his stores. Twelve of the new GA-23 "Diamondback" missiles - exercise shots, not live - and a clip of paintballs in the cannon. He depressed the Master Arm ring, rotated it one hundred eighty degrees, and released it. His battle computer registered Master Arm, and he flipped the stores selector to pylon one.

"Got four contacts." Kramer's voice was calm, despite their being outnumbered. "Two of the Phoenixes are staying covert."

"Got 'em." Saotome painted the two approaching from ahead. He rotated the throttle up forty-five degrees.

And the Valkyrie reconfigured around him.

The engine nacelles swung forward, vectored-thrust paddles splitting apart, forming two legs. The tailfins folded over on each other, and swung up to come to rest on the fuselage, just behind the cockpit. From the fuselage, two smaller booms swung outward, massive hands extending from inside. His gun pod broke free from its station; with the center stick, he manipulated the arm, using the buttons to work the fingers.

The hand closed around the reconfigured gun pod, one finger resting lightly on its huge trigger.

He stomped left rudder, and the left leg shifted backwards. The change in thrust balance rotated the fighter square into the teeth of the oncoming Phoenix fighters. He pickled off two missiles, watched them fly downrange towards the Phoenixes just long enough to ensure that they were tracking, then pulled up on the left rudder paddle. The reconfigured fighter spun on the spot. He lined up on the two Phoenixes approaching from the rear, then pulled up on the right rudder as well. Both legs now projected forward, allowing the fighter to fly backwards, and he fired off two more missiles.

This configuration, called GERWALK by the designers, was considered no more than a means of attaining vertical takeoff and landing. But Saotome had seen the possibilities it offered almost immediately...such as the ability to turn on a dime with zero forward movement.

The two Phoenixes closing from the rear never even saw the missiles coming. They turned and banked off, the computers on their birds registering the "kills" from the exercise shots. Ranma spun again, watched the two forward birds. One had been killed by a missile, but the other had spoofed its attacker. He haloed it, and brought the gun pod up.

No need to select the station for the gun pod; he merely depressed the first button on the back of the center stick. The finger of the Valkyrie pressed the trigger, and the gun-pod, set for twenty-round bursts, coughed and disgorged a stream of paintballs. At least half of them splashed across the Phoenix, and its pilot broke off in disgust.

"Fuck me, it works." Focker chuckled, and reconfigured his own aircraft. With a lower stall speed, the bombing run should be a piece of cake...

Two more Phoenixes rose from the bush, reconfigured, as the Valkyries were, to GERWALK mode. Ranma pulled his throttle fully vertical, and the Valkyrie transformed again. The wings swung all the way back, the fuselage broke in half, and the leg-booms swung forward. A shield descended over the canopy. blocking Ranma's view of the outside, and the laser turret/sensor boom rose up, forming a head-like structure.

The Valkyrie dropped down, now fully humanoid, and landed on top of one of the Phoenixes. One titanic fist tapped the Phoenix gently, directly behind the cockpit; in a real battle, Ranma could have drove that fist right through the canopy, and the pilot. He leaped away from the "dead" Phoenix towards the other one, firing while airborne and inverted, and splashed fifteen rounds across its canopy. He worked the Valkyrie through a flip, and came to rest on the ground. He tossed the gun-pod to the left hand, then pulled back on the center stick, all buttons released.

The Valkyrie raised its right hand in a credible imitation of the UN Armed Forces salute.

"All six targets accounted for. Total combat time of ninety-five seconds."

"Nice work, Jarhead!" Focker chuckled. "Guess we owe you a beer."


It was about as drunk as he'd ever been, but that wasn't really saying much. Four beer - one each from Roy and Mark, and the matching two from the Phoenix team - had left him mildly buzzed, and he was again concerned about Misa's pending arrival.

He checked his watch - a heavy gold Rolex, a birthday present from Misa two years back - and shrugged. "Eight o'clock ain't that late." He knocked on the door.

"Just a second."

The door opened, and Claudia smiled down at him. "Ranma! How can I help you this evening?"

"Actually, 'help' is a good choice of words. I gotta problem, and I need some advice."

"Glad to help. Come on in."

He followed her into her quarters. As an officer, of similar rank to his own, Claudia rated a small one-bedroom flat. The BOQs at Macross Base shared a bathroom between two flats, but each had their own kitchen, living room and bedroom. They were built on a North American design, but they were comfortable, and he'd gotten used to his own quickly.

Beats the hell out of barracks.

"I'd just put a kettle on for some tea. Would you like some?"

"Yeah, thanks. And a cup of cold water, please."

"Sure thing. Coming up, hon."

Ranma sat down on the couch, and waited in silence until Claudia set the tea and water in front of him. She settled down in an armchair opposite him. "What's on your mind, hon?"

"Well..." He scratched his head nervously. "I've got a friend that I've been chattin' with by eMail. And she's just been posted to Macross Base. She'll probably be comin' in tomorrow."

"That's good news, isn't it?"

"Problem is, she thinks I'm a girl."

"Oh." Claudia grinned. "One of those internet role-playing things. And you're worried that she'll be unhappy when she finds out you're not a girl, the first time she meets you?"

"It's not the first time."

"No?" Claudia looked at him oddly. "How the heck did you hide that physique?"

Ranma picked up the cold water and dumped it over his head.

Claudia's jaw dropped. "How--" She shook her head. "You...You're a girl!"

"Yeah." Ranma nodded. "It's a curse that I picked up in China. Doesn't matter where; the place is gone now. As far as I know, there's a total of fifteen cursed people out there, and I'm only one of two with this particular curse. The rest turn into animals of various sorts." She picked up the teacup and poured some tea over her head. "Hot water - or tea, or anything else that's mostly water - changes me back, but there's no known cure. Cold water will change me to a girl again."

"Why haven't you told anyone--No, scratch that. Stupid question. I sure as hell wouldn't tell anyone." Claudia picked up her own tea and drank back the whole cup. "Needed that. Or something stronger. How is this possible?"

"Magic."

"There's no such thing as--"

"Don't say that." Ranma raised a hand. "I've seen far too much magic not to believe in it. And as of right now, so have you."

"I guess." Claudia frowned. "I see the problem now. She's expecting this tiny little girl, and instead, you're a not-so-tiny guy." She snickered. "She might be just as pleased, though; you're more than a bit attractive in male form."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Right. Had far too much female attention already, let me tell ya."

"So why did you let her go on thinking you're female?"

"Her dad." Ranma paused to sip some of his remaining tea. "He was a naval Captain when Misa and I met. And I was just a Sergeant. He told me that he was less than happy with me spendin' time with his then-underage daughter. I told him I had spent the whole day with her as a girl - sudden rainshowers do that to ya - and he said he'd ignore it as long as she kept thinkin' I was a girl. Now he's an Admiral, and she's graduated the Academy and is comin' here."

"Hayase Misa. So her father is Admiral Hayase Takeshi." Claudia shook her head. "He's managed to screw you over on this one, hasn't he?"

"How did--"

"I'm Communications Officer, hon. I knew all the incoming arrivals for tomorrow, and there was only one Admiral's daughter named Misa coming in."

"Misa and I have gotten pretty close, but I doubt we would have if she'd known I was a guy."

"And you don't want her to think you've betrayed her." Claudia nodded. "Okay. I think I can help you out with this. Let's discuss it over dinner, shall we?"

"Umm..." Ranma hesitated. "Look, Claudia, I know you're sorta seein' Lieutenant Commander Focker--"

Claudia chuckled. "Don't worry. This is just a working dinner." She paused. "Roy's been taking me for granted, though, the last week or two. A bout of jealousy won't do him any harm."


"Spoilsport."

Ranma chuckled. "I just don't wanna cause any grief between me an' Roy. I gotta work with him day in an' day out." She poked her chest. "I don't think he's ever seen my girl side before, but even if he recognizes me, he won't think too badly about me bein' out with you if I'm girl."

"Okay, I can understand that." Claudia nodded. She opened the restaurant door. "Come on. Saochin's neice arrived yesterday, and he's been showing her off." She chuckled. "Girl's only thirteen, and she's already a good waitress."

"Ain't there a law about how young a person can be an' still work in a restaurant?"

"Not quite." Claudia shook her head. "Most countries, it's anywhere from sixteen to eighteen. The UN pegged it at twelve, in deference to some underdeveloped countries where kids have to work, and since South Ataria Island is UN territory..."

"Got it."

"And here she comes," noted Claudia.

The girl was dressed in a cheongsam, her long black hair - dark enough to almost look blue, which stirred a pang in Ranma's heart. She smiled up at them. "Welcome to the White Dragon. Table for two?"

"Better make it three." Ranma grinned. "Just in case Roy happens by."

The girl's eyes wandered over Ranma's decorations, came to rest on her wings. "I didn't realize they let girls be fighter pilots."

"They do if you're as good as me," chuckled Ranma.

"And you've got the Rifle Marksmanship badge, and...Oh! The Titanium Medal of Valour!"

"You know your decorations, young lady."

"My dad's restaurant is near a base, we get a lot of soldiers. And the White Dragon, well..." She smiled. "It's good to know these things. But you've got the third highest decoration in the UN forces! And you're a girl."

"I'm a girl too, you know," pointed out Claudia.

"But she's not much older than me."

"I look young," admitted Ranma. "But I'm actually almost six years older than Claudia."

"Oh, I'm sorry." The girl looked a bit abashed. "There's a free table over by the window."

"Perfect," grinned Claudia.

The girl led them over to the table, but apparently wasn't done with Ranma just yet. "What did you do to get the Medal of Valour?"

"Can't tell you all the details, they're still classified." Ranma hesitated, then admitted, "Basically, I saved the city of Tokyo."

The girl's eyes widened.


April 11th, 2007

The VC-33 had dropped off sixteen new personnel for the growing Macross Base, mostly Naval ratings. Claudia watched them wandering about the terminal, keeping an eye out for one in particular.

When she spotted her, she was surprised. The girl was tall. Despite her obvious Japanese origins, she stood five foot eight - taller than Ranma in his male form - and her hair was a mousy brown - not precisely a flattering shade, but a lot lighter than she'd expected. She zeroed in on the girl, and offered a hand.

"Hayase Misa? I'm Claudia LaSalle."

"Pleased to meet you." She took the older woman's hand. "I was expecting to be met by someone else - I told her I was coming--"

"Ranma asked me to meet you. I've got something important to tell you before you two meet."

"No problem." Misa picked up her bag. "LaSalle...any relation to Edgar LaSalle?"

"My older brother." Claudia chuckled. "Ranma's probably told you a lot about him; they've been friends longer than you two have."

"So where are we meeting Ranma?"

"Tea shop, nearby. We can get a cup of tea before Ranma gets there."


"You're joking!"

Claudia shook her head. "Hon, I wish I were. Trust me, it came as a blow to me too. Magic--"

"Magic I can cope with." Misa stared down at her tea. "But Ranma...she's the closest thing I've had to a friend since forever. I've told her everything. And now you tell me she's really a man?"

"And quite a man at that. I can easily see why your father was worried." Claudia chuckled, and added, "His girl form's pretty attractive too. I can see why he--"

"He!" Misa buried her face in her hands. "My God! How could she keep lying to me that way?"

"He didn't want to, hon."

"No? She could have told me!" Misa looked up, her eyes flashing angrily. "But she's lied to me for eight years!"

"He feels terribly about that." Claudia reached forward, grasped one of Misa's hands in her own. "Misa, it's been tearing him up for a long time. But your father, who just happens to be an Admiral, made it plain to him that he couldn't talk to you unless you remained convinced that he was a girl. He's told you a lot about himself. How does he feel about his honour?"

"Most important thing in the world to her," mumbled Misa.

"And where would lying to a friend fall in that?"

Misa nodded.

"He knew that eventually, you'd have to find out. And he valued you enough as a friend to tarnish his honour this way. To keep you as a friend. How many people could he put above his honour?"

"She...he...he said once that he'd put Akane above honour." Her voice was broken. "That was the only time she--he--mentioned it."

"Akane was his wife. So he rates you up there with her."

"His wife - who I thought was her husband - used to beat him regularly." Misa smiled, but it wasn't a happy expression. "I don't rate that very high at all."

"But he did. And he thinks that highly of you as well. You might be the closest friend he has. Even I don't come close, and we've been good friends for a few years now." Claudia leaned forward. "Are you going to throw that away because he was ordered to lie to you?"

"Some of what she--he--said makes more sense now." Her voice was a bit lost. "Put a male face on the words, and some of it makes a lot more sense."

Claudia chuckled. "Wait until you see that face. Shall I call him in?"

"I don't know if I can...can look at him."

"Don't you owe it to your closest friend? He wants to drop the lie. He still wants to be your friend. Will you let him?"

"Okay." Her voice was a whisper. "She's still my friend, after all. I suppose there's no reason why he can't still be."

"I'll go get him."


"She wants to see you."

Ranma let out a breath. "How'd she take it?"

"Why are you asking me?" She grabbed his arm with a chuckle. "Come on!"

"Do I look okay?"

Claudia chuckled again. "You're in full dress, Ranma. Anyone looks good in full dress."

"Is she okay?"

"Good Lord, boy. You sound like a girl on her first date."

Ranma bristled, and Claudia smiled.

"Come on. Never keep a lady waiting."


Misa looked up at the man Claudia had all but dragged in.

He wasn't very tall, though rather more so than the girl she'd met, so many years ago. And his face, though stronger and more chiseled, was almost the same. The hair, and the eyes, were just as she remembered.

"It...it really is you."

"Yep. Sorry 'bout this."

She stood up shakily, looked him up and down. Then picked up a glass of water from the table.

"I'm sorry, but...I need..."

"Need to see her?"

"No." She shook her head. "I need to be sure I'm seeing you." She dumped the glass over his head.

He shrunk. The lines of his face softened, and his build shifted, chest jutting out. She had to step back to see her properly; Misa was no giant, but Ranma's female form was so tiny.

The girl's face fell slightly as Misa stepped back, and the younger woman's heart almost broke. She quickly picked up the teapot.

"Here."

She stepped forward, and poured the tea over Ranma. The change reversed itself, leaving the male Ranma behind. He cursed quietly, and adjusted the uniform.

"Sorry." He grinned lopsidedly. "This uniform wasn't made with the change in mind. Just gettin' one that fits properly in both forms was--"

He broke off as Misa wrapped herself around him.

"God, it's good to see you again!"

"You...you're okay with this?"

"Well..." She stepped back and grinned. "I won't lie. I was pretty freaked out when I heard about it. But Claudia pointed out that appearances don't mean anything. You were always truthful with me, even when you were ordered to lie. You just..." She shrugged. "Avoided mentioning this one small detail."

"I hated not tellin' ya, but I couldn't." He looked down. "I don't like lyin'."

"I just said--"

"It felt like lyin'." He sat down heavily. "I'm kinda glad that we got it out in the open now."

"Me too." Misa sat down opposite him. "And once I realized that, man or woman, you're still my best friend..." She paused. "Wait a minute. Your female form still looks only seventeen or eighteen."

"Benefits of martial arts," chuckled Ranma. "I don't seem to be agin' as quick as I should." He stretched. "Still feel as limber as I did at sixteen."

"But you're, how old now?"

"Twenty-eight. But I still get carded if I'm in civvies. Especially in my girl form." He scowled. "Not that I go out drinkin' in my female form. I get drunk too easily for my own comfort, and the guys that hang out in bars can be real perverts."

Misa chuckled. "Well, I'm really glad that you talked to Claudia about this. I do have to admit that if this had come at me cold...well, I'm not sure how I would have reacted."

"Yeah, I gotta say--" He broke off. "Hey, where is she?"

Misa looked around, but the taller woman was nowhere to be seen. "I don't know. Why did she leave?"


Claudia chuckled to herself. "Okay, now that those two are all fixed..."

She dropped a coin into the payphone, and dialled a number. The voice at the other end seemed a bit groggy.

"'Lo?"

"Hi, Roy. It's Claudia."

There was a pause, then, "Oh. Hi. Sorry, I was still asleep. Night-time manoeuvres."

"I know." She paused. "Listen, can we get together for a few hours? Lunch, maybe?"

"Sure. Uh...Why?"

She grinned. "Let's call it...giving you a chance to apologize."

"Works for me." She could hear an answering grin in his tone. "Where do you want to meet?"


August 1st, 2007

"They're completely replacing the rank structure."

Ranma scratched his head. "Why? I mean, we're all officers."

Roy pulled his head out of his closet, duffel bag in one hand and a spare gray uniform shirt in the other. "It ain't gonna stay that way. Variable Fighter ops are gonna end up being a blend of ground-force and airborne combat. Ground forces have a very different structure than airborne. So enlisted and officer ranks will be supporting us, but since Variables require less ground crew, there will be fewer of them per jet. Rather than dealing with the enlisted/officer divide, they decided just to lump us into a new twelve-level rank structure. V-designated, instead of E-, O- or S-designated."

Ranma snorted. "So how are they converting all the current ranks?"

"You'll be getting a two-level grade bump."

"Sweet!"

"Your pay won't be going up. It'll make you a Flight Lieutenant, under the new rank structure. That's a V-4. Below you, there's Warrant, Sergeant and Corporal."

"And you?"

"I'll be becoming a V-6, which is a Commander." Roy grabbed a pair of loud Hawai'ian shorts and stuffed them in the duffel. "Since we'll be working hand-in-hand with Navy types, they've decided not to deal with the whole 'Captain' issue; there's no V-rank called Captain. My promotion board has already been scheduled, so by the time they implement it, I'll probably have my O-4, and my three-grade bump will make me a V-7, which is a Major." Roy shook his head. "Effectively, you're getting a demotion, since a Flight Lieutenant is equivelant to a Lieutenant Junior Grade."

"Oh." Ranma rolled his eyes. "I've got a board coming up shortly, too, as soon as there's room in the TO&E for a Captain."

"If you get the bump, you'll be becoming a Squadron Lieutenant."

"Great," Ranma sighed. "I've busted my ass for five years to get my Captaincy, and they're gonna demote me back to Lieutenant."

"Squad Lieutenant gets the same pay as a Jarhead Captain." Roy zipped the duffel. "But it allows you to be XO of a Squadron, and when I get back, whenever that is, I'm gonna be backing you for the XO of the Skull."

"So you don't even know when you'll be back?"

Roy dropped his duffel and turned to face Ranma. "Look, Jarhead. I've told you six dozen times now, at least, that the details are classified. I don't even know all the answers you're looking for. Why not bug the BC?"

Ranma snorted. "We finally get Zero Two online, I got my board comin' up, and you're takin' off. What the hell is this gonna do to our evaluation performance? And my board?"

"You've still got three birds, and that three-unit element idea of yours is working. You're getting temporary command until I get back, which won't hurt your board, so why are you whining?"

"This team is yours, Guppy. Without you--"

"Oh, balls." Roy shook his head. "Every scrap of tactical evolution we've gone through is entirely due to you. I never even thought of the possibilities of the GERWALK configuration."

"That's because you're a Guppy, not a Jarhead." Roy bristled, and Ranma waved a hand. "That ain't an insult, Roy. You think like a naval aviator. I think like a ground-pounder. Just the way we are."

Roy allowed himself to be mollified. "Well, after Khamil augured in, they're without a team lead. And that new fighter they've tangled with, it's eating up conventional forces, so they want to deploy the Phoenixes against it."

"Then why aren't they giving you a Phoenix to fly? Why do they have to take Valkyrie One?"

"Because I'm not checked out on the Phoenix." Roy scowled. "It's gonna be hard enough for me to re-train the Phoenix drivers in proper Variable Fighter tactics." He poked Ranma in the chest. "Now then. Aren't you late for your date with Ensign Hayase?"

"It ain't a date."

Roy snickered. "Right. Tell that to someone who's blind, deaf and ain't ever been to this rock. Everyone on South Ataria knows you two are an item."

"She's got a boyfriend, Roy."

"A boyfriend who's on Mars, who she hasn't seen in nine years. Get real."

"Well, she still thinks of him that way, and I ain't interested in movin' in on her just because he's a couple of million miles away." Ranma shook his head. "Misa and I are great friends, and I don't wanna wreck that."

"You saying you ain't into her?"

"What I'm sayin', Sir, is that I'm too close to her to get any closer. Got it?"

"Okay, whatever. Go have fun. That's an order."

"Yes, Sir." Ranma flashed him a salute - one with only one finger - turned and marched off.


"Date. Huh. Not with Misa." He shook his head, barely aware that he was muttering to himself. "I mean, she's a great girl, I like her a lot, but...Date? I don't think so."

"Ranma?"

"Hm?" He turned, to see Claudia running towards him. And the look on her face was scary. "What's up?"

"Are you going to Misa's?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Better hurry. There's been an attack on Mars Base."

"What?"

"Some lunatics managed to set off a neutron bomb there." Claudia's voice was broken. "There were no survivors."

"Oh, man...Riber." He turned and ran.

He barely remembered getting there, but then his fist was hammering on her door. There was no answer, and he banged again. "Misa! It's Ranma."

The door opened, and the look on her face nearly broke his heart.

"I just heard...the attack--"

He was cut off as she grabbed him, hugging him fiercely, while tears flowed down her face.