Soun pulled out his cellphone and looked at the simple text message from Genma.
'Kami interacted with boy at shrine. Priest gave warning. Will cover more when we get back from Tama. Respects still need to be given to grandfather.'
The Tendo patriarch's blood froze when he saw the part about the kami and the priest giving a warning. Why couldn't Genma return with Ranma now so they could go over the warning and prepare?! Lessons from Soun's childhood came roaring back. He and Genma would have to do whatever was necessary to help with this warning. The Tendo clan had ignored a divine warning once and as a result had been whittled down to just his branch in the most ignoble ways during WWII.
A soft and caring voice pulled Soun out of his thoughts. "Father? Do you want more coffee or would you prefer to switch to tea now?"
Soun looked over to his eldest daughter and gave her a polite smile while he pocketed his cellphone. "Thank you for the offer, Kasumi. I think I will have one more cup of coffee if it won't be a bother for you."
A friendly giggle escaped Kasumi's lips as she reached for the cup. "It's no problem father. Nabiki hasn't come down to refill her thermos so there should still be about half a pot still warm." She took the cup and started walking to the kitchen. Soun bit back the urge to sigh as he sat alone in the dinning room. A father shouldn't have favorites. However, Kasumi made it difficult to not place her first among her sisters besides by age.
Kasumi was also the daughter who's future Soun worried about the most. His eldest had joy in a more traditional mindset that was not as popular among young women her age as it had been when he was around her age. Kasumi also didn't get out much which would make her finding a young man for her to marry difficult. That was a problem given her leanings towards being a traditional housewife.
It had actually been Soun's intention for Ranma and Kasumi to be the engaged pair not Ranma and Akane. Had things gone as expected, Soun figured Ranma would have picked Kasumi when all three were first introduced. Nabiki had been and probably was still interested in getting a boyfriend. However, Soun knew his middle daughter was not ready for something as serious as an engagement. As for Akane, well his youngest was not the most traditional of girls and had boy issues that would make her not accept Ranma. Issues that Soun wished he had been able to resolve, but the Kunos still had influence in Furinkan even if they were burning through it at an alarming rate.
Any young man with even an ounce of sense would gravitate to Kasumi over her sisters on first introduction. Soun had merely made the offer for Ranma to pick as a way to not overlook Nabiki or Akane. He didn't want either of them to think he saw them as unworthy of fulfilling the honor pact. Unfortunately, the curse and its rather unfortunate revealing through Soun off his game that day and made him misread the situation. This resulted in both his elder daughters shoving Akane into role of fiancée and the obvious problems of this less-than-ideal match.
Speaking of his other daughters, Soun watched as Nabiki came down from room to snag some more coffee while he sensed Akane entering the premise of the compound. Each of his baby girls were a precious gem in their own right including their flaws. Soun wouldn't trade any of his girls for all the gold in the world even if they put grey hair on his head. Having all his girls in the compound where he could keep an eye on them set his mind at ease for now.
Nabiki walked by the dining room not paying the slightest bit of attention to anything but the live news feed on her phone. No doubt Nabiki would have some trades for him to place in her custodial account soon. She always had one or two each week to place. Soun was proud of Nabiki's growing skill in navigating the stock market. In a few years she would have enough funds in her account to pay for college provided she was smart about it. Too bad she still had much to learn about compassion and duty. But then, everyone learned at their own rate and Soun wasn't the best student at her age either.
The front door opened just as Nabiki disappeared for her coffee. His youngest daughter called out, "I'm back and going to take a shower." Soun was content knowing that Akane was safe at home for now. Akane was no doubt his departed parents' revenge for his misbehaved youth. The girl was caring, compassionate, and was very eager to help when a situation required a helping hand. She was also very temperamental, made snap judgements, routinely overestimated her abilities, and wouldn't listen to advice. Every single flaw Soun had in his own youth with a feminine twist that routinely left him scratching his head.
Part of Soun was worried that Akane would need the same course from the school of hard knocks that he did to get out of that phase. It didn't help that the girl dreamed of being a famous actress along with several other pursuits without putting in the time and dedication needed to have a real shot at those dreams. Things were going to be hard on his little girl until she woke up and realized one had to have realistic expectations of the world.
Soun silently accepted the cup of coffee from Kasumi as his thoughts turned to Akane and her relative lack of grounding in the real world. Yes, chi could be used to break the laws of physics as currently understood by scientists. That did not mean that you could substitute reality for your own imagination! Akane was going to have to learn that lesson the hard way which was why Soun had never attempted to get the Tendo-Saotome engagement back to its planned course. Having Ranma engaged to Akane kept him close to Akane and around to help her when life tried to educate her. Kodachi's first meeting with Akane being a prime example in Soun's mind.
The dining room was quiet allowing Soun to mull over the possible warning. Soun knew he really could do anything until Genma told him the details. However, that didn't stop him from trying to plan. Planning at least gave you a chance to succeed whereas just reacting meant you much less likely to succeed. It was how he had survived in local politics for so many years despite the kunos best efforts to suborn him.
Soon enough, Ranma and Genma were felt entering the Tendo premise. Soun heard their announcements of coming home and got up from the dinner table. He walked over and saw the two just as they put on their house slippers. In a polite manner Soun asked, "Was the trip a pleasant one?"
Genma nodded his head and said, "It was. The shrine was as lovely as always and the groundskeeper at Tama Cemetery had recently taken care of grandfather's plot." Genma turned to his still slightly stunned son who just learn who is paternal great-grandfather was and said, "Why don't you go get changed and run some kata in the dojo? That might help you focus on everything today. Soun and I need to have a talk."
Ranma nodded his head as he quietly headed upstairs to his room. Finding out just who his great-grandfather was had shocked him to the core. Moreover, the fact that the United States during WWII had put together a mission specifically to kill his great-grandfather left him numb. It was as if something deep within the core of his soul was unable to accept everything he had learned today.
Both men watched as the teen made his way to the stairs and waited until he had disappeared upstairs. Genma then turned to Soun and said, "let's head to the cellar. I'll go and get the sledgehammers."
All the blood drained from Soun's face when hear that. "The sledgehammers? We're in a situation serious enough to unearth those schools again?"
"Yes, I'll tell you it all when we're in the cellar. Don't want to worry the kids just yet." There was no joking or nervousness in Genma's voice. Only dead seriousness that the situation had gotten more dangerous than anything the duo had delt with in literally decades.
Soun headed to the cellar that had once served as the clan's bomb shelter during WWII and now served to store things. Genma walked down the stairs grimly holding the two sledgehammers. He then relayed the kami's warning to Ranma along with the priest's review of the event. Soun grabbed one of the sledgehammers and said, "The chests were buried under the rug there. Help me move the rug out of the way."
The rug was quickly removed showing a solid concrete floor. Soun pointed to different points of the floor and said, "The manuals/maintenance, ammo, melee/pistols, and the rifles." He swung the sledgehammer onto the concrete causing cracks to appear on the once smooth floor. Genma lifted his own hammer and slammed it into the ground. The duo quickly got into a rhythm slamming their sledgehammers into the ground ignoring the noise their actions made. They also ignored as that the sounds of their demolition attracted the attention of the younger generation. When the four old army crates were revealed in the rubble Ranma and all the tendo sisters were staring at the top of the stairs in shock.
Genma put his sledgehammer down and spotted the teens at the stairs. He had hoped to break this to them more softly, but if wishes were horses. Genma called out, "Get down here Ranma and help me get these chests out. Your next martial arts lessons are in them."
Ranma quickly hurried down the stairs and help to lift the chests out of their holes. The four crates each had two locks on them. Each lock was set up with a spin dial and a keyhole. Soun and Genma pulled old keys and got to work unlocking the large crates.
"Holy Shit!" Nabiki blurted out in shock as the first crate was opened to reveal a WWII imperial Japanese army machine gun and enough rifles to load out a squad. Then came the crate with enough ammo to make even the worst proverbial American gun nut blush. Next there was the crate of pistols and other esoteric melee weapons better suited for assassination than a straight fight. Finally, there was the crate filled with books and equipment to maintain everything along with making new bullets.
Soun reached into the crate with the books and handed several to Genma saying, "Here we go. The complete Umisenken and Yamasenken schools along with several of your clan's older sword styles." Soun also discreetly pocketed his own created gun fu manual. He'd need to brush up on those skills from when he and Genma worked with Baba Yaga to cull the yakuza in Tokyo. Besides, it wasn't like any of his daughters were ready to learn his lethal school of martial arts and Ranma would too busy learning Genma's at this time.
Ranma entered his dreams utterly exhausted from the day's events. He was surprised that his dream had him appearing back in the shipyard. Usually, he went weeks if not months between dreams of the half-built warships. The dreams did not happen back-to-back. Also, Ranma was used to being stuck on the unfinished ship. Ranma was surprised to find himself to find himself at the front gate of the shipyard where he could feel the half-built ship lay.
Out of curiosity, Ranma looked up and saw the sign Newport News Shipbuilding above the gate. Ranma then walked into the shipyard and heard the sound of men yelling at each other. He slowed down and started to listen to the yelling.
"Orders from the Admiralty…"
"We don't listen to a damn gook!"
"No pay if there's no work…"
Ranma rounded a corner and saw half a dozen foremen arguing with each other. Seeing all of these men arguing when they should be working on the warship aggravated Ranma. The men looked at Ranma and snapped to attention. One of them said, "Sir! What brings you here?"
For a moment Ranma was shocked. He had seen the yard workers from time to time in his dreams. However, they had never acknowledged him or seem to recognize his presence. What was so different about this dream? Something within Ranma knew he had to act and act now. With more confidence than he felt he said, "I was coming to check on the status of the ship's construction and instead I find you all arguing."
The foremen looked between themselves and one said, "That's the thing sir. Construction's been on hold ever since those diplomats arrived in Washington for their naval treaty. We were given orders to stop construction. Now we just go orders to resume but it's not through the normal chain of command."
Another foreman spoke up, "Damn right it's not. I might not like letting the ship stay half built and the boys having to go home without pay. However, no Nip has the authority to tell me or my boys what to do. We need proper authorization before we get back to work."
Suddenly, the kami's words made sense to Ranma. He couldn't put them into words as it was like he understood them in while in a trance. Ranma looked at the foremen and said, "I do have the authority. Now I want all of you working round the clock damn the overtime to get this ship ready for the Navy. We're behind schedule as it is and the threat is on the horizon."
A round of grins appeared on the foremen at the thoughts of getting back to work. One of them walked around one of the buildings and yelled out, "Here that lads? The captain says it back to work for you lazy bums!" There was a round of cheers from hundreds of yard workers as they went to work. Most of the previously arguing foremen walked off to join their crews in working.
Only the previously hostile foreman remained standing near Ranma. The teen looked at the man and asked, "Why are you here?"
The foreman said, "Sir, how are we to finish the ship? We've got the original blueprints for the ship but they're old. All ships from our project's time had modernization refits to cope with the changes in warfare. One of the boys found later refit plans, but those call for the ship to be converted like his sisters."
Part of Ranma wanted to know what this foreman was smoking. Everyone knew that warships were ladies so why was the foreman referring to the ship as a guy? Yet something within Ranma knew that this ship, his ship, would vehemently reject being associated with anything girly. Ranma said, "show me the plans."
The foreman nodded his head and led Ranma into one of the shipyard's buildings. Ranma walked in and was led to the room where the ship's blueprints were kept. The foreman quickly got out both plans and placed them on the tables for Ranma to inspect.
On his left hand was the original plans for the warship's class as a series of battlecruisers. Ranma knew these plans were connected to his mother somehow in some way. The thought didn't make any sense when he actually thought about it. He just had an instinctive knowledge on this matter just like he knew the kami's words were directed to the ship's halt in construction.
By Ranma's right hand were plans for the class's rework into aircraft carriers that happened for the 2 of his five siblings lucky enough to survive that moronic treaty Washington cooked up. Once again, the thought didn't make any sense as Ranma was an only child. But once again the dream logic told him he was one of six siblings and that only two of his sisters were spared Washington's ax. It was the final refix of his longest surviving sister that was before him.
A choice was before Ranma and he knew that this choice would stick with him for all time. There was a weight knowing somehow in his soul that this choice would be irrevocable. He looked back and forth between the two sets of plans for several minutes and then made up his mind. Ranma firmly said, "Modify the original battlecruiser plans to include torpedo bulges, improved anti-air defenses, and other upgrades. If it flies, it dies."
With those words said, the aircraft carrier's plans disappeared in smokeless flame. Ranma then winced as it felt like something was branded onto the back of his right hand. Ranma reached for his right hand and took off the white glove that he had been wearing. The teen held the back of his hand up and saw branded there the letters: CC-2.
Ranma woke up feeling exhausted like he had been working out all night. He suddenly looked at the back of right hand and saw smooth unmarred skin. The morning sunlight drove away the drowsiness from Ranma along with his understanding that he had in the dream. Only in a dream could he imagine having five siblings! However, three things stuck in his mind. Ranma quickly headed over to his backpack and pulled out a notebook. He then jotted down 'battlecruiser', 'CC-2', and 'Newport News Shipbuilding'.
What these things had to do with the kami's warning or how his old dreams tied into the warning were a complete mystery. But, Ranma knew now in his bones that they were connected. He just hoped that these words from his dream would let him figure out the connection. Ranma put the notebook back and headed for the dojo for a brief series of exercises before getting ready for school. Once there he did several simple katas to loosen up. Part of Ranma wished he could do a full workout but he had drawn the early bath spot in the morning rotation today. If he continued much more it would eat into his time to shower and being late in the shower was not advisable on a school day.
Ranma was grateful to quickly get into the shower and finished a minute before Kasumi took her turn. He then headed upstairs where he dropped off his laundry and picked up his bookbag. Along with the bookbag Ranma also grabbed the first scroll to the Yamasenken school. If he couldn't practice his martial arts before breakfast than he could at least read up on his upcoming lessons.
The Yamasenken, also known as the 1000 fists of the mountain or way of the noisy thief, had been created by Ranma's father when Genma wasn't that much older than Ranma currently was. Both Soun and Genma were sparse on the details, but it seemed that they ended up mixed up a fight between 2 rival yakuza clans making enemies out of both clans. Add in some mystic martial arts, some misadventures like those Ranma was now used to dealing with, and the fathers ended up on one hell of a ride ending with them putting most the yakuza in the wards into the ground.
Genma apparently based the Yamasenken off of the actions of the noisy yakuza who would come in loud and rough you up head on. Meanwhile the Umisenken was based on the actions of the quiet thief who came in the back door. Both styles apparently used the analogy of the human body as a house with Yamasenken focusing on the 'strength' of someone forcing their way through the front door. The Umisenken was deemed by Genma as the more dangerous school focusing on the 'stealth' of a silent burglar sneaking through the house as it contained stealth techniques. Both schools were deadly arts of war and Genma had the blood on his hands from those times to prove it.
Soon enough Ranma had to put away the scroll into his bookbag as others came down for breakfast. Kasumi had prepared a wonderful breakfast and mentioned that everyone's lunches were waiting in the kitchen. Ranma paid half attention to the conversation. Mr. Tendo mentioned that he would be stopping by a sports store to pick up some airsoft guns to act as practice equipment as he got back into practice with his gun kata.
Both Nabiki and Akane were not happy to hear that news from their father. Neither sister liked the idea that there was an illegal armory in their cellar! Kasumi rolled with the revelation with an ease that would have made her younger sisters check if she was sneaking something extra if they didn't know their sister so well. Nabiki was hoping no one ever found out about the guns and just who this 'Baba Yaga' the dads mentioned was. Akane shot Ranma a dark glare blaming him for this reveal and starting this crazy misadventure.
Ranma was the one who somehow got a warning from some crazy wartime kami and now the dads were acting like they were retired action heroes from a Hollywood movie! Akane could have happily lived her life without knowing that there was an armory that had taken out several yakuza clans in the family compound. She was also not bitter that there was apparently an entire branch of the Tendo martial arts that she didn't know about until yesterday. Or, that her father apparently had no interest in passing on said school to her like Mr. Saotome was doing for Ranma.
Not that Akane wanted to learn how to shoot a gun! Doing such a thing would wreck her social life and ruin any chance of making it in theater or on television. Being a master of Tendo Style Anything Goes martial arts would give her a leg up in acting being able to do her own stunts or start as a stunt double. It was the principle of the matter. How could she be a master if she didn't know everything in the school? And why wasn't her father trying to convince her to learn the style at least until this misadventure blows over?
Towards the end of breakfast Ranma spoke up, "Pops. I know we need to start training when I get home. I'm going to need to take a slight detour after school and check something in the school library. Probably nothing, but some thoughts have popped into my head that may be a lead into what the kami told me. I figure it can't hurt to check."
Genma nodded his head, "Sounds like a plan. Just don't take too long in your search. I'll be helping Soun with his practice in the meantime."
Ranma and the younger two tendo sisters got up at this point and headed to the kitchen to grab their bentos. Then they were off to the mad house they called their high school.
A pissed off female Ranma walked into the Furinkain High School library half drenched from a wash bucket that landed on her head. The bucket she could accept, the ladle lady had missed her this morning and so she was overdue for a gender swap. It was Kuno trying to hit on her that ticked off Ranma. That lug head had to be the only moron in the school who hadn't clued into the fact that she had a gender changing curse yet!
Ranma made her way over to one of the open computers in the computer lab part of the library and logged in. Rumors to the contrary, Ranma did know how to use modern equipment like a computer. She also knew how to keep her grades up even though she refused to go to a cram school. The notebook that Ranma had previously jotted terms down on was fished out of her backpack. She decided after looking over the three phrases to go with the longest one Newport News Shipbuilding. Wikipedia was quickly loaded in English format as a starting point for the search and the phrase put in the search bar. Ranma figured that since the phrase in her dream had been in English search the English version of Wikipedia would be a better starting point.
Part of Ranma was surprised to see an article appear about a shipyard based on the east coast of the United States. She wasn't so much interested in the company's current status, but in its past. Something in the description of the shipyard resonated with her. Then she scrolled down to the list of ships built at the shipyard and the feeling in her grew. Then when Ranma got to the post WWI ships she suddenly got flashes of ghostly images that welled up from her mind. Those images stopped in the mid-1920s
Ranma pulled out a pen and quickly noted this in her notebook. She had been dreaming about Newport News Shipbuilding in those lucid dreams. That half-built ship had to have been under construction at some point during the 1920s. Otherwise, why was she getting ghost images popping up in her head about ships made during that time? Ranma started to pull up articles on the various ships she had those images of in her mind
She started jotting down the ship names along with their laydown dates, launch dates, and for the military ships the commission dates of each ship that summoned a ghost image in her head. Ranma also ignored the fact that every ghostly image her brain conjured up put a supermodel to shame. Taking note of that fact would just lead her into trouble. Slowly, a time period began to form in notes. The ghosts belong only to ships that had been at the shipyard some time between August 1920 and November 1923.
Did that mean that the ship she had been dreaming of ever since she was toddler had been under construction at that time? What happened to the ship? Where did the battlecruiser mentioned in the dream or the comment about sisters being aircraft carriers fit into the whole mess? Then there was the whole CC-2 from the dream and where it fit in.
A quick glance at the clock told Ranma she had been researching things much longer than she had planned. She quickly typed CC-2 into the Wikipedia search bar and got an article return for Caproni Campini N.1 which was apparently an experimental Italian jet aircraft from the 1930s. Ranma's gut said that this wasn't what she was searching for and would need more context to find where CC-2 fit into everything.
Ranma gathered her notes and turned the computer off. She then took a quick detour to get a cup of hot water and returned himself to his proper gender. He then headed off to the Tendo dojo making sure to avoid the usual areas that cold water tended to find him. These diversions brought Ranma across a used bookstore that he normally ignored. However, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
A quick turn of the head revealed what had caught Ranma's attention. It was a sign advertising a 50% off on used naval books from the store's usual prices. Ranma figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look and headed into the bookstore. There was a sign on one of the tables showing the books that were half off the already low price of the used books. Ranma carefully picked up the books and started to look through them. His eyes widened as he saw the titles of the books.
They were pre-WWII American naval training manuals. A couple books were on pre-satellite navigation and two on naval warfare doctrine. Most were focused around Naval armaments, naval targeting, and ship training manuals for damage control. All in English and given their obscure subject it was easy to see why they were running at such a discount. The books had probably been in someone's attic from an American grandparent or great-grandparent that they wanted to get rid of.
In all honesty, the books weren't worth much aside from their historical value. The age of the naval gun had given way to the age of the missile back when his Pops had been a little boy. Ranma also knew that naval navigation had changed massively over the past 70 years even if he didn't know much about the particulars.
Yet, something within Ranma told him he needed these books. At least, he needed the knowledge that was within these books no matter how archaic it was. It was that same knowledge deep within him that somehow knew the kami's warning, his ship dreams, and now those ghostly images were somehow all connected. These books were another piece to the puzzle, but he didn't have the faintest clue what the damn puzzle was!
Ranma was getting really tired of the kami yanking him this way and that way with all these warnings, premonitions, and gut feelings. They were about as useful as Naval Intelligence and that was an oxymoron! That thought caused Ranma to pause as he wondered where the hell it came from. Ranma shook his head to clear his thoughts and then pulled out his wallet. He had enough yen to buy the whole lot of books with just a little left over until his next allowance was given. That made up Ranma's mind as he grabbed the whole lot and headed to the register. The clerk was surprised that Ranma had bought everything on sale, but was happy to accept the yen.