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
Eighteen: Duel of Aces
May 19th, 2010
Science and Technology Report
Prepared by Cmdr. Nabiki Tendo, Intelligence Division
The Queaddlun-Rau Powered Armour
Almost all the information that we have on the Zentraedi's most powerful and manoeuvreable combat robot is gathered from a single specimen that was disabled and captured by Lt. Ranma Saotome, UNMC. The unit has appeared on five occasions since the start of the Space War, however, and the time between appearances has dropped; probability of increased frequency of encounters seems high.
The most notable element of the Queaddlun-Rau is its vectored thrust system. Similar to the system used on our own combat robots, the two engine nozzles on the back of the powered armour suit allow it to alter course or heading without relying on control surfaces. Like those of the Valkyrie, the vectored thrust nozzles are tied into the piloting computer of the armour; unlike those of the Valkyrie, they react to all gross-body movements, allowing a pilot to change course in the same manner that she'd merely side-step an obstacle.
The armour's weaponry is also quite impressive. Six pulse lasers are mounted three each per arm, and each is as powerful as the forward lasers on the Valkyrie. Targeting for these lasers is refined by a small K-band doppler radar transciever in the forearm. Two single-barrel impact cannons are mounted in the torso, firing self-propelled guided non-explosive shells. This weapon system appears to be unique to this robot; it has not been seen on any other Zentraedi combat robots. The chest cannon have their own targeting radar and computer, and as a result, the Queaddlun-Rau can engage up to three targets with gunfire with little or no effort on the part of the pilot. Pulse repetition rate, tight-beam output and very high power output overall make these targeting radars very difficult, frequently impossible, to jam.
The Qeuaddlun-Rau also carries missiles, a total of one hundred and twenty-eight small infrared-homing weapons similar in size to the GS-11 Coral Snake, though somewhat lighter and slower. No example of these weapons have been captured, so their capabilities are largely unknown. Aside from their guidance, which is inferred based on the fact that jamming has proven ineffective, all that is known about them is their range in atmosphere, which is about eight kilometers. One of these missiles has been known to destroy a Valkyrie, but without hard data, it is impossible to say if the weapon has a powerful warhead, or if the shot in question merely hit something explosive within the Valkyrie.
"He's still unconscious?"
The nurse shook her head. "No. Just sleeping. He woke up yesterday, but he's still exhausted."
"Doesn't seem right," quipped Ranma. "He spent two weeks asleep, and he's still tired."
"The human body burns a lot of energy while healing," said the nurse. Ranma waved a hand.
"I know, I know. Trust me." He chuckled.
"You're not his first visitor."
"Hm?" Ranma glanced over to the nurse. "Who else? Roy?"
"Major Focker, yes. And the rest of the Lieutenant's team. They were in as soon as they heard he'd woken up."
Ranma nodded. "Figured they'd be the first in. Did they cheer him up?"
"No," admitted the nurse. "In fact, I got the distinct impression he was more depressed after they left. Do you think there's anything you could do to cheer him up?"
Ranma frowned. "Dunno. Maybe one thing...Do me a favour? Can you get me a glass of water?"
"Sure."
The first thing that Hikaru saw upon awakening was Ranma, in female form, seated near his bed.
"Yo. How ya feelin'?"
Hikaru smiled weakly. "Like I went ten rounds with a full-sized Zentraedi."
"That good, eh?" Ranma grinned. "Well, it looks like you're gonna be needin' a new ride. Your Valkyrie got all messed up in the accident."
Hikaru snorted. "They'll probably give me the oldest piece of shit in the inventory. After all, I keep losing the damn birds."
"Probably for the first two weeks, you'll be ridin' such things. I've been doin' that for nearly a month now." Her grin widened. "But they finally gave me a new Jaybird."
"Nice." Hikaru nodded. "Those are a sweet ride."
"I lost my last Jaybird durin' that boardin' action. Never even named it."
"That's why you lost it." Pilots were almost as superstitious as sailors, and technically, Valkyrie pilots were both.
"Yeah. Didn't take any chances with my new ride. Named it after that British genius. Hawkwing."
Hikaru laughed. "His name is Hawking, you dolt."
"Oh." Ranma scratched her head. "That explains why Misa laughed at me. Speaking of which. Got someone here who wants to talk to you." She stood up and walked over to the hatch. Like all such aboard Macross, it was a powered pocket door. She thumbed the controls and the hatch hissed open.
Misa stepped in, a bunch of flowers in hand. Where did she get those? he wondered idly. She paused just inside the hatch, seemingly at a loss. Ranma stepped around her, and closed the hatch from the other side, leaving them alone in the room.
"Commander." He nodded in greeting, more to break the awkward silence.
"Lieutenant Ichigyo. I'm glad you're feeling better."
"Well, I don't know about better, but at least I'm awake."
"Hikaru..." She looked down quickly. "I'm sorry. I messed up, because I'd been drinking. Messed up twice. Once during the Daedalus Manoeuvre, and then when I tried to stop the missiles from hitting you."
Hikaru shrugged. "Ma'am, it's all right. If I'd kept a better eye on my position, I wouldn't have been in the path of fire. If I'd had more practise, I could have avoided the missiles even after lock-on, or shot them down. You're no more to blame for this than me."
"But--"
"Ma'am, it was a simple accident, shit happens, and we move on, okay." He scowled. "Sorry about the language."
"I've heard worse." She smiled. "I've used worse. Ask Ranma. He'll tell you. During training, I occasionally...well, express my frustration in most colourful terms."
Hikaru laughed. "I might just sign up for his class, just to see that happen. Well, let's clear the air between us, okay?" He sat forward, and winced. "Friendly fire happens. You did your best, I did my best, and somewhere, we failed to meet in the middle. Sure, I got hurt, but I'm on the mend. And if I know you, you've been kicking yourself over this for the last...How long was I out?"
"Twelve days," said Misa.
"Oh." He chuckled. "Anyway. You've probably already punished yourself enough for this, and you really don't need to apologize."
A brief frown crossed Misa's face. "What makes you think that I've been beating myself up over this?"
"Because you expect nothing less than the best from yourself, just like you do from us pilots. And you certainly yell at me enough if I screw up."
If Hikaru had said this to her nine months ago, she'd have yelled at him now. But this wasn't Ichigyo Hikaru, loudmouthed amateur pilot; this was Lieutenant Ichigyo, Valkyrie Pilot and CO of Vermillion Squadron. He'd come a long way, and she found it easy to accept his words.
"Well, then, Lieutenant. Let this be a lesson to you." She grinned. "Next time, stay out of my firing solution."
He saluted her smartly. "Yes, Ma'am."
"Get better soon." She set the flowers on the counter. "We need you out there."
"I can't believe that he accepted it." Misa toyed with her coffee cup. The Officer's Mess was currently deserted, save for the two of them. Claudia was due off shift in half an hour, and they were hoping to catch up with her.
Ranma shrugged. "Like I said."
"I know, Ranma." Misa rolled her eyes. "If I live to be a hundred, I'll never understand you fighter jocks."
Ranma chuckled. Of course, she was still in female form, so it sounded more like a giggle. "Fair is fair. After all, it's been fifteen years since I started turnin' into a girl, and I still don't understand women."
"Then why did you turn into one for Ichigyo's benefit?"
"Simple," said Ranma. "I do understand fighter jocks."
Misa glanced down at her coffee, then looked up. "Doctor Lang managed to cobble together a new barrier field."
"Oh?"
"It's a full barrier, covers the ship in a globe, instead of just three small disks."
"Gotta be better." Ranma continued stir her coffee absently.
"Yes. Among other things, it means that we don't need three techs whose only job is to steer the barrier."
"Mm."
Misa frowned. "Well, there's no need to get excited or anything."
Ranma looked up, surprised at the ire in Misa's voice. "Sorry. Ain't this worse than the Pin-Point Barrier? I mean, you gotta stretch the same amount of energy over the whole ship, right? An' ya can't use it for a Daedalus attack."
"It gives us greater tactical flexibility," pointed out Misa.
"Well, that's good, I guess. I know us pilots like havin' that." She frowned. "But, I don't really know jack about the shipboard side of things, ya know?"
Misa sighed. "I guess that's fair. I don't really know much about the Valkyrie side of the equation, either. I lean pretty heavily on Roy for that."
Ranma shrugged. "That's why there are different specialties, different fields."
"Speaking of which. You've spent a lot of time with Commander Tendo in the last week." Misa smiled slightly. "Should I be jealous?"
Ranma shuddered. "No. Not at all."
Misa blinked. This was far from the reaction she'd expected. "I thought you and Nabiki got along well."
"Don't even mention the idea of her an' me datin'. We were engaged, ya know, for almost a week."
"Really?"
"Longest week of my life." She shuddered again. "Me an' Akane were havin' a fight, and she decided that we weren't gonna be engaged any more. Nabiki stepped in, said it was a matter of honour that I marry a Tendo, and that she'd take Akane's place."
"I didn't know she cared that much about you."
"She don't. She just wanted to irritate Akane. She rented me out to various clubs and sports teams most of that week, then handed me back to Akane."
Misa laughed. "You do manage to get yourself into the most interesting dilemmas."
"Yeah." Ranma paused, and stirred her coffee. She looked up, frowning. "You almost do seem jealous."
"Well..." Misa shrugged. "You two have a long history together...longer than you and I. You went out on a limb for her, breaking regs. Would you have done that for me?"
"In a heartbeat." Ranma leaned back. "Misa...I ain't got too many friends. You. Roy. Claudia. And Nabs. That about sums it up."
"Really?"
"Yeah." She sighed. "Remember, back before we started datin', I was tellin' everyone that I didn't want to get involved with you?"
Misa looked down. "Did I pressure you into this?"
"Don't go like that." Ranma waved a hand. "I mean, we were good friends, an' I was happy with that. You wanted more, an' I'd already decided that I'd say yes if that happened." She grinned lopsidedly. "An' I'm pretty happy with the results so far. You remember what my life was like before I married Akane?"
"Only from stories - yours and Commander Tendo's." Misa chuckled. "I believe the phrase 'Fiancee of the Week Club' was used?"
Ranma nodded. "Nabs an' I weren't at all friendly at that time, mostly because the agreement between my Pops an' hers called for me to marry a Tendo - any one of the three. So until I made a decision, she couldn't even date."
"Ouch."
"Yeah. So for her to throw her hand into that mess...Well, I might not have trusted her, or even liked her, but I was certain that at least I wouldn't end up with her chasin' me." Ranma snorted. "And then it seemed she was. How d'ya think that made me feel?"
"Poor Ranma...being desired by half a dozen women." Misa grinned. "Really, I don't see why you complain so much. Was it all that bad?"
"You have no idea, Commander Hayase."
Ranma and Misa jumped, and turned. Behind them was Nabiki.
"Speak of the devil," muttered Ranma.
"I'm hurt, Saotome." Nabiki frowned in mock tragedy. "You didn't tell her exactly how you and Akane got back together."
"And I ain't gonna," snarled Ranma. "You delight in tormentin' me with that incident, don't ya?"
Misa blinked. Her boyfriend was normally quite even-tempered; obviously, this was a source of great embarrassment to Ranma. She decided that a change in topic was in order.
"Commander Tendo, how was it that you and Ranma came to be engaged in the first place? I thought that he and Akane were most devoted to each other."
"Yes, they were." Nabiki grinned. "They looked out for each other in most situations. But because Ranma was a considerably better martial artist than Akane, he ended up looking out for her more than she did for him."
"Akane had anger problems," said Ranma. "The three of us were standin' on a balcony, an' Akane hit it, an' it collapsed. I figured that Akane could land safely, which she did, but that Nabs would be a grease spot. So I saved Nabs, and let Akane handle the fall herself."
"Oh, she was most put out over that," chuckled Nabiki. "And Ranma was more than surprised to learn that just because I no longer actively practiced the Art, didn't mean I was untrained. I could have handled that fall easily enough."
Ranma chuckled, her bad mood apparently forgotten. "Ya weren't trained well enough to deal with the Fiancee Front when they came lookin' for ya."
"At least Ukyo was kind enough to warn me that it was going to happen," said Nabiki.
Misa frowned, and glanced at the clock. "Where the heck is Claudia?"
"Lieutenant LaSalle? She went to Variation." This was a small cafe in Macross City. "Major Focker called her up and asked her to meet him for coffee."
"Really?" Misa shrugged. "Can't really complain, then. Those two don't get to spend enough time together."
"You'd think she'd let us know," muttered Ranma.
"She gave me the message to give to you," said Nabiki. "That's why I came down here."
Misa scowled at her, though Ranma could tell it was at least somewhat in play. "And why exactly did you wait until I complained before letting me know?"
Nabiki shrugged. "I figured it was more fun this way."
"Oh, now that you're here, Major." Misa sat up straight. "We've had some reports of black market activity on this boat. Would you care to look into that?"
"Not a problem." Nabiki looked around, then said, "In fact, I've gathered some information already. A Destroid driver brought me some interesting data to look over."
Ranma rolled her eyes. "Puttin' Nabiki in charge of a black market investigation is pretty much as good as tellin' her to run it herself."
"Contact!" Shammy leaned forward and stared at her screen. "Enemy dropship, bearing fifteen azimuth twelve, range four hundred kilometers."
"Alert Ready Five and BARCAP," ordered Global. "Page Commander Hayase to the bridge."
"Already done, Sir."
"Who's on Ready Five?"
"Vermillion Squadron, but Lieutenant Ichigyo is still in hospital, will be for a week."
Global bit his lip. "Contact Lieutenant Saotome and Major Focker. Order them to stand to."
"Sir." Kim turned in her seat. "Skull Alpha was on Ready Five fourteen hours ago. So Skull Leader is still on enforced stand-down."
"I don't care," growled Global. "I'm sending Saotome out in Ichigyo's place. If we need to, we can launch Skull Alpha to back up the Vermillions."
The deck tractor pushed Hawkwing back onto the elevator. Ranma checked the seals on his flight suit, then ran towards the fighter. He didn't bother with the ladder, merely leaped to the cockpit, one foot touching down on the footrail, and dropped into the seat.
Red-suited Ordies ran up to the fighter, began checking weapons. None required down-checks; the worst thing that they found was that the gun pod had not yet been plugged into the computer.
Wouldn't that have been fun?
The ordies ran clear of the Valkyrie, and the internal doors closed. As Macross was in atmosphere, there was no need to exhaust the liftlock; the overhead hatch opened immediately, and the fighter was lifted to the deck.
Ranma completed the preflight checklist, and began starting up the engines. Under normal circumstances, starting engines while still on the lift lock was against regulations. But the enemy robots were already attacking over the deck; he decided that regulations could be bent in such circumstances.
A deck tractor was already rolling towards the Valkyrie; Ranma waved him off and started his wheel motors. The Valkyrie rolled backwards off the liftlock deck, and Ranma goosed the throttles. The paired FF-2001 fusion engines roared, venting plasma, and the fighter fell at most six feet before the thrust overcame gravity, and the fighter shot straight up.
Sixteen fighters were already airborne, including Focker's Skull One and Jenius' Falconeur. His threat indicator read thirty-six enemy combat robots, all of them the female types.
Luckily, he was carrying the fire-and-forget Diamondback missiles, six each per wing. The Jaybird's powerful radar locked up four enemy robots, and punched missiles free to engage them.
The Zentraedi powered armour broke off from their targets, twisting to engage the incoming missiles with laser fire. Two managed to knock down the weapons tracking them. A third missed, and the missile detonated, peppering the target with fragments and forcing it to lose altitude as it recovered. A fourth was struck dead-on, the missile detonating on impact. What fell towards the ocean bore no resemblance to a combat robot.
Ranma pulled on the pole, his teeth gritting as he fought the jet through a nine-gee bat-turn. His head bounced off the padded supports - placed there for this very reason - as the jet slid through its turn. He lined up one of the surviving units in his targeting ring. The radar haloed the target, judged its range and vector, and gave him a firing solution; a pull of the trigger sent fifty rounds from the gun pod to carve the target in half.
"Thirteen targets splashed."
"Looks like Lieutenant Saotome is racking up the kills." Claudia eyed the repeaters. "He got three of them in under a minute."
Global chewed his pipe stem, wishing that, just once, he'd get to smoke during a battle without that tyrant Shammy yelling at him. "Have you made contact with Major Focker?"
"Sir...Focker is already airborne."
Global grunted. "I'm not really surprised."
"What is that one doing?" mused Misa. She indicated one unit, hanging back some distance from the battle.
Shammy adjusted her controls, zoomed in on the unit. "Looks like she's waiting for something."
"Whatever it is, it can't be good for us."
"She's moving. Heading into the combat. Straight for Skull One!"
Ranma shifted to Battroid Mode, ejected the spent clip from his gun pod and rammed another home. Another quick shift, to GERWALK, and he rocketed towards the next knot of enemy troops.
He'd knocked down five so far - ace in one sortie, had he not already been Ace of Aces - and Roy had accounted for six. He and Roy were working towards the center, and only ten targets remained. He haloed another, fired off a missile towards it, and glanced towards Roy's ship.
And so was able to see the armour that hammered it with its chest guns. Skull One wavered, then started tumbling towards the ocean. The armour continued to fire into it, and Skull One exploded.
Ranma's blood ran cold. There had been no ejection, no parachute.
Roy Focker.
Dead.
The enemy robot paused, as though its pilot were inspecting her handiwork, and Ranma recognized the insignia on it.
The Zentraedi Ace.
He howled his rage, pulled the gun pod around, and jerked the trigger. The robot moved, twisting aside as a twenty-round burst flew through the space it had occupied less than a second before, then rolled upright and fired a swarm of missile at him.
He nosed up, glancing through the fighter's monocle to pinpoint one missile after another, blowing them apart with fire from the turret lasers. At the same time, he fired burst after burst from the gun pod at the Zentraedi robot, aiming as much by instinct as by eye. One burst tagged it, damaging its plastron but failing to destroy it. It turned, started accelerating away from the fight.
He shifted back to Fighter mode, and turned to pursue.
"Skull Thirteen, Gunsight One. Let her go; she's retreating."
"No," he growled.
"Skull Thirteen, that's a direct order. Return to the fight--"
"No!" This time, he yelled it. "She killed Roy. Fired into his crippled airplane, to make sure he died. I'm gonna fuckin' kill her!"
He haloed the robot with the radar, and pickled off all seven remaining missiles. The enemy fighter twisted to shoot them down with her wrist lasers, but lost enough speed that he caught up with her. He reconfigured to Battroid mode, wings still extended, and twisted in mid-flight to slam into the Zentraedi boot-first.
The enemy was caught completely unprepared, and was knocked backwards, tumbling out of control. She recovered her fighter, and jetted back towards him, chest guns blazing. He dodged the tracers, brought his own gun around and pulled the trigger.
And got nothing; the clip was empty. He cursed, ejected it, and loaded his third and last clip. Then pivoted on his jets, bringing the Battroid's leg around in an mid-air spin kick.
But this time, the Zentraedi ace was ready for it. She parried the shot with the robot's left arm, and fired into his jet with the right arm's lasers. Damage readouts lit up on his board, but he ignored them. The gun pod was in the Battroid's right fist; with the left, he punched her armour's faceplate, cracking the material and pushing her away. Then brought up the gun, and triggered three bursts into the armour's carapace.
But the back armour of the robot was surprisingly tough, and absorbed the punishment without apparent damage. The Zentraedi pivoted again, launched another swarm of missiles at point-blank range. He shifted to GERWALK, jetted forward inside her minimum range, then back to Battroid to tackle her. His jet's left hand found purchase on the armour's right arm, and he twisted and tore.
The lower arm was ripped free, torn clear of its joint. Sparks and arcing electricity spat from the stump. He tossed the arm aside, then twisted as she hammered at him with the chest guns. Two rounds smacked into his fighter, but again he ignored damage telltales.
He flicked his head, and the targeting monocle came back down. The head lasers rotated to engagement angle, and he fired them into the head of the armour. This didn't half please the Zentraedi, and she worked her vectored thrusters to shake him off. Grimly, he clung to the robot, kicking it whenever he got the chance, and keeping the lasers trained as close to one spot as he could.
Finally, the Zentraedi managed to dislodge him, and he fell two hundred meters before he could reconfigure and recover the aircraft. To his amazement, the Zentraedi dove after him, guns blazing. He tilted and dodged, burning towards her at maximum climb, then reconfigured again and grabbed a leg.
A quick twist, an upward kick, and the leg came off even more easily than the arm.
The Zentraedi was obviously starting to panic at his sheer bloody-minded assault. She broke away again, burning at maximum thrust out of the combat zone.
Ranma shifted once again to Fighter Mode, haloed the fighter, and firewalled his engines. He was burning through reaction mass at a frightful rate, but he wanted to keep her in range of his main lasers as long as possible. A thumb flipped the cannons to pure automatic mode; whenever the targeting ring crossed the robot, the computer pinned its exact vector, servos traversed the lasers to intersect, and a burst was fired. Sixteen times, he managed to center her before she pulled away, and at least three times, he scored a hit. Armour fragments rattled off his canopy, her right hand was blown clear of its arm, and he noted with satisfaction that her velocity was dropping.
But it wasn't dropping fast enough. She slowly but surely pulled away from him, falling out of his range, and, his blood lust still unassauged, he watched with disgust as she broke free of his engagement envelope and burned off over the horizon.
"--mmit, Saotome! Break off! Let her go! That's an order from the Captain!"
He realized that Misa had been shouting at him all during the duel. His thumb depressed the mike switch.
"Gunsight One, Skull Thirteen." His voice sounded hollow in his ears. "Target has exceeded my range and is still accelerating. I'm returning to base."
Misa was coldly furious with him.
Ranma didn't really give a damn.
"You were issued a direct order," she said. "You were told to come about and return to the dogfight." Her voice was Arctic. "I gave you that order in my capability as combat information officer. Further, Captain Global also ordered you to return to the battle."
She paused. Ranma kept silent, stood rigidly at attention, kept his eyes on a point on the back wall about two inches above her head.
"Dammit, Saotome!" She turned away from him, crossed her arms. "I'm trying to give you a chance to explain your actions, and you're ignoring me."
"No, Ma'am." Ranma fought to keep his voice level. "I am not ignoring you. I recognize that I disobeyed a direct order. I have no excuse for my actions."
"This isn't the first time for you, Ranma." Misa turned back to face him. "There was the incident with Shelter Seventeen. And several items going back further, as far back as Basic." She scowled. "Every time before, you've supported your actions, and it's difficult to find fault with you for them. But going after that pilot..." She shook her head. "It looked like vengeance, like rage. Killing her won't bring back Roy."
"Ma'am, any person on the other side that will go out of their way to ensure the death of a pilot needs to be taken out." He scowled, changing expression for the first time since landing. "I know that that ain't by the book, but it's somethin' that I had to do. I had to keep the faith."
"By disengaging from the defensive flight, you put your fellow pilots at risk," pointed out Misa. "How does that keep the faith?"
Ranma's face returned to its impassivity. "As I said, Ma'am, I offered explanation. I don't expect that you'll accept it."
"Lieutenant, that sounds dangerously close to an insult."
"It was not intended to be, Ma'am. Just that I know that I disobeyed orders, and expect to be treated accordingly." He glanced back at her. "You know what has to be done."
Misa sighed. "I hate to admit it, but I think you're in the right on that at least. I can't shield you from the results, or everyone will assume that I can't keep our personal lives separate from our professional lives."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"There's a further problem," she went on. "Roy's death leaves a hole in the TO&E that isn't easily filled. Without a Commander, Air Group, the air wing falls under the purview of the Combat Operations Officer. Which means that I am now directly in your chain of command, and Article Sixty-Five applies."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"But I'm certain that Captain Global will--"
"No," he interrupted her. "Sorry, Misa, but we can't let the Skipper bend the rules for anyone. An' we can't go sneakin' around behind the regs, either. Not on a ship this small. So, until you appoint a new CAG, we've gotta break it off."
Misa gaped. "You want to break up with me?"
He shook his head. "No, I don't want to. But until there's a new CAG, we can't see each other, so I'd be just as happy if you pick one soon." He raised his hand before she could open her mouth again. "I'm sorry, but I've already violated one reg today, an' I don't want to break another."
"Ranma..." Misa sighed. "I don't want to break up, either. But..." She shook her head. "But you're right. It's just temporary, and I'm not going to be looking for anyone else. A new CAG has to go by the Captain, as well, though."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"So it might be some time."
"With a war on?" Ranma snorted. "He'll expedite."
"Probably." Misa paused. "All right, I think that covers everything."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"God, I don't want to do this," she muttered. Then louder: "Lieutenant Saotome. You disobeyed a direct order during a combat situation, resulting in the endangering of fellow pilots. Your flight status is hereby suspended, and you will remain in close quarters arrest until thirteen hundred hours tomorrow, at which time you will be escorted to the Captain's office for Mast."
Ranma reached up, and slowly removed his cap. While under arrest, he was not legally permitted to wear it.
Misa stepped back, and opened the hatch. "Corporal. Please escort Saotome to his quarters, and keep him there under arrest."
