____________________________________________________________________________
      P-P-P-Chan Productions and Fission Park Press proudly present:

                            Ranma Wars:
                      Episode IV, Part 2 of 3
                       By Lucas Muzzatti and 
                          J. Austin Wilde
                         ranchan@total.net
                          wildeman@psn.net
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     In the lounge of the 'Yaki all was calm.  Ryouga was sitting at 
the mess table with Tofu while Shampoo Deetoo and Gen-baka were entangled 
in a game of holo-shogi.  Mousse was the impromptu referee.  
     "I'm bored," Ryouga said finally.  "Bored, bored, bored, bored, 
bored.  Isn't there anything to do around here?"  He looked to Toufu.
     Toufu thought for a moment.
     "Actually, there is something we could do."  He reached into the 
folds of his robe and produced another light bokken, similar to the 
one he wore on his belt.
     "Oh wow!  Cool!" Ryouga said as he was handed the weapon.
     "I made this for you many years ago, when I first discovered that 
the Chi flowed strongly though you.  I had wanted to give it to you 
sooner, but whenever I decided I should, you were nowhere to be found."  
     Ryouga blushed at that and scratched the back of his head.  
     "In any event, it's yours now."
     Ryouga activated the sword and took a few practice cuts with it.  
"Amazing," he breathed.
     Tofu then tossed a seeker remote at him.  Ryouga's eyes lit up.
     At that moment Ran entered the lounge.
     "Well there's no need to worry about those Hentperial clods anymore. 
I lost 'em but good."  
     No response.  
     "Well don't everybody go thanking me at once..."  
     Ran's attention was grabbed by a slight commotion at the holo-shogi 
table.  Gen-baka was baring his fangs and growling something that did not 
sound all too pleasant.
     "She made a fair move.  Screaming about it won't help you," Mousse 
said from the other side of the table.  Shampoo was easily trouncing the 
panda, and he was none too happy about it.
     "Let him have it," Ran said over his shoulder.  "It's not worth 
fighting over."
     "But sir, no one ever wories if a droid doesn't get something 
called in his favour," Mousse replied, an edge to his voice.
     "That's 'cause a droid isn't likely to pull someone's arms out of 
their sockets when they lose.  Pop has been known to do that."  To 
punctuate this Gen-baka again bared his fangs and roared.
     Much to the panda's chagrin, Shampoo did the same.  Her eyes went 
red, and she assumed a feline posture as she hissed at him.  Gen-baka 
broke the 'Yaki's lightspeed record as he bolted from the table to hide 
behind his son.  
     <Help me, boy!> he holosigned.  <She's gonna kill me!>
     "We could only be so lucky," Ran said to his panda father. Then 
he turned to Shampoo. "Scratch that first bit about tearing arms off.  
I'm sure you have a much better method."  
     Shampoo smiled sweetly at Ran, and snarled at his father. Mousse 
just hung his head sadly.
     Toufu watched as Ryouga continued to practice. Suddenly, he felt 
a terrible pain.  The strength of it sent him stumbling to a vacant seat 
where he sat down quickly.  Ryouga noticed this and ceased his practicing.
     "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
     "There was a sudden disturbance in the Chi," the Jedi replied.  
"It was as if millions of voices cried out in terror before being 
silenced.  I fear something terrible has happened." He shook his head 
to clear it.  "You'd better get back to your exercises," he said.
     Ryoga did as he was told, and soon he was again dancing around 
the hold as he tried to fend off the seeker ball.
     "A Jedi must feel the Chi flowing through him," Toufu said sagely.
     "You mean it controls your actions?" Ryouga asked as a seeker 
blast whizzed by his ear.
     "Partially.  But you still have control.  It is more like an 
instinct than anything else."
     As he said that, Ryouga let his guard down, and a stun blast 
managed to get him in the leg.  Ran chuckled to himself.
     "You don't believe in the Chi, do you?" Ryouga asked Ran.
     "Nope.  Look, I've flown from one side of the galaxy to the 
other.  I've see a lot of strange things, but I ain't seen nothin' 
that would make me belive that there is an all powerful force that 
controls everything.  Ain't no mystical energy field controlling *my* 
destiny."
     He faced Oni Wan Kenobi as he went on. "It's all a buncha hocus 
pokus mumbo jumbo.  Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no substitute 
for a good blaster at your side."
     Toufu got up from his seat.  "At any rate," he began.  "Ryouga, I 
suggest you try it again.  But this time let go of your senses and act 
on instinct."  He proceeded to pick up a fighter pilot's helmet that 
hung from the bulkhead and placed it on Ryouga's head.  With the blast 
shield down.
     "Hey," Ryouga exclaimed.  "With the blast shield down I can't see 
a thing.  How'm I supposed to fight?"
     "Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them," Toufu said with a 
grin.
     Ryouga took this as his cue, and re-ignited the light bokken. 
He moved around choppily as he tried to track the seeker.  The ball 
just hung there in front of him and suddenly let loose with a blast 
that caught him squarely in the shoulder.  Ryouga grunted in pain as 
Ran laughed.
     "Shut up, Ran!" he barked. 
     "Relax Ryouga.  Feel the Chi flowing through you," Toufu offered. 
     Ryouga again took up a ready position and waited.  He tried to 
feel the presence of the seeker, and for a brief moment thought he 
could make out a small blur in his mind.  The seeker hovered around 
Ryouga before firing three blasts in rapid succesion.  All of which 
were deflected.
     "You see, you can do it," Toufu said.
     "He just got lucky," Ran said snidely.
     "I don't believe in luck," Tofu replied.
     "Look," Ran said sincerely.  "Good against remotes is one thing.  
Good against the living... that's something else."  
     The proximity indicator started beeping, quelling further 
discussion.  Ran looked over to one of the displays and nodded to 
himself. 
     "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan.  Better strap in."  
     With that, he headed for the cockpit.
     Ryouga still stood in the middle of the hold looking at the 
deactivated seeker ball, and then at his light bokken.  
     "You know, I did feel something.  I could almost see the ball."
     "Congratulations," Toufu said with a warm smile of satisfaction.  
"You've just taken your first step into a larger world."  


     Back in the cockpit, Ran and Gen-baka made the final adjustments 
before returning to sublight. Ran looked over the controls and turned 
to his co-pilot.  "Ready pop?" he asked.  The panda nodded.   "All right, 
switching back to sublight."  
     He flicked a row of switches and the starlines outside the cockpit 
flared.  And all hell broke loose. The Million-Yen 'Yaki re-entered 
realspace only to be pummeled by thousands of boulder sized rocks which 
had appeared out of nowhere.  The 'Yaki's shields groaned at the impacts 
and the ship began to shake violently.
     "What the...?"  Ran mumbled as he worked the controls quickly trying 
to bring the freighter under control.
     Next to him Gen-baka could offer no intelligible insights without 
removing his paws from the controls.  He brought several systems on 
line while turning others off.  
     In retrospect it was a good thing that Ran always came out of light 
speed with his shields up in case the welcoming committees he met were 
less than friendly.  Otherwise the ship would have been thoroughly 
destroyed.
     Ryouga fumbled to maintain upright, and Shampoo gave him some 
support from behind.  "What the hell is going on?" he asked.
     "Aiyaa,"  Shampoo added.  "Is really bad out there."
     "Meteor shower,"  Ran replied. "But it's one of the worst I've 
ever seen, and it isn't even listed in the galactic atlas.  Oh, we 
also have another problem...Alderaan is missing."
     "What?  But that's impossible,"  Ryouga said dumbfounded.  
"You sure were in the right place?"
     "Look kid, you're the Lost Boy not me," Ran responded acidly.  
"Besides, I've checked the navicomputer and the star charts.  We're 
in the right place, it's Alderaan that's gone and gotten itself lost. 
And from the size of this meteor shower I think I know where it's gone.  
This is way too much debris, and there's way too much energy bouncin' 
around.  Alderaan's been blown apart, totally."
     "Destroyed," Ryouga whispered, as he grasped what that meant.  
"But how?  By who?"
     "The Hentpire," came an even voice from behind Ryouga as Toufu 
entered the cockpit.
     "No way."  Solo was shaking his head.  Gen-baka whimpered next to 
him and raised a sign <My dear friend Soun.>
     Ran patted him on the shoulder.  "Sorry about Mister Tendo, Pop.  
But I still say that there's no way the Hentpire could pull this off.  
Not even the whole of the Hentperial Navy.  It would take a thousand 
ships massing more firepower--"  
     Suddenly, muffled alarms began blaring throughout the ship. Ran 
checked the ships sensors.
     "It's another ship, coming up fast," he announced.
     "Maybe it's a survivor, someone who could tell us what happened," 
Ryouga ventured hopefully.
     Just then the ship flew over the cockpit and proceeded to race 
away from the 'Yaki. The fighter was shaped like a lacy bra.
     "No.  It's a Hentperial fighter," Toufu announced.
     Gen-baka roared something unintelligible as the space outside 
the cockpit flashed a bright red and the ship shook from bow to stern. 
     "It followed us!"  Ryouga exclaimed.
     "No, it's a short range fighter," Toufu observed.
     "So where did it come from?  There aren't any Hentperial bases 
around here."  Ran didn't like not knowing anything.  But right now he 
had no clue as to what was going on. "Well where ever it came from it's 
leaving in a big hurry." 
     "If they identify us we're gonna be in some real trouble,"  Ryouga 
said fearfully
     "Not if I can help it," Ran declared.  "Pop, jam their transmissions. 
Lay in a pursuit course."
     Gen-baka flipped the appropriate switches and the 'Yaki began to 
speed off after the receding Hen-TIE
     "It would do best to let it go, it's already too far out of range," 
Toufu added thoughtfully.
     "Not for long."



     The next few minutes were spent in silence as the fleeing Hen-TIE 
began to grow in the Yaki's cockpit viewport.  At first the fighter 
tried to out maneuver the Yaki using several evasive flight patterns,  
but the 'Yaki was quite agile, and after a bit the Hen-TIE pilot decided 
the best way to lose his pursuer was to out race it.
     Ahead of the ship one of the multitude of stars was steadily 
brightening.  The Yaki was moving fast, but at sublight speed that 
wasn't fast enough for any celestial body to brighten so rapidly.
     "There's no way for a fighter that small to have gotten this far 
out into space all on it's own," Ran commented.
     "Maybe it got lost, been part of a convoy or something,"  Ryouga 
hypothesized.
     "Well, he won't be around long enough to tell anyone about us.  
We'll be on top of him in a minute or two," Ran said gleefully as he 
unconsciously powered up the Yaki's weapon systems and began to target 
the fleeing ship.
     Outside the ship, the brightening body they were coming up on 
resolved itself into a circular shape.
     "It's heading for that small moon,"  Toufu announced.
     "Maybe the Hentpire has an outpost there," Ryouga ventured.
     As the 'Yaki drew closer to the moon it began to take form.  
Craters, mountains and valleys became visible on the surface.  
Something was wrong though.  The craters had far too regular an outline, 
The mountains were too vertical.  It was all too... artificial.
     "That's no moon, it's a space station,"  Toufu noted.
     "No way," Solo retorted, "It's too big to be a space station."
     "I've got a bad feeling about this," Ryouga added, fear creeping 
into his voice.
     "Turn the ship around,"  Toufu said, his usual calm no longer present.
     "Yeah... I think you're right.  Full reverse, Pop, lock in the 
auxiliary power."  
     The 'Yaki began a slow wide arc. Suddenly it was yanked back towards 
the station.  Gen-baka mumbled something and frantically worked the 
controls, but the 'Yaki continued towards the massive space station.  
"I said lock in the auxiliary power, Pop!"  Ran yelled, and he brought 
the 'Yaki up to full power.  No good.  Gauges and displays throughout 
the cockpit began to go haywire as several panels sparked and blacked 
out.  
     "Why are we still moving towards it?" Ryouga asked desperately.  
The station now filled the entire viewport and its immensity became 
more apparent.  Mountains and weapons emplacements came into view as 
well as a dish antenna that dwarfed Mos Eisley.
     "We're caught in a tractor beam," Solo responded  "Strongest one 
I've ever seen.  We're being pulled in."  Solo studied the power banks 
and overload readings and began to power down the ship.
     "What the heck are you doing?!?"  Ryouga screamed in protest.  
"You're just giving up."  He lunged for the controls thinking he would 
be able to do something, but was held back by Toufu.
     "There's nothing we can do," he said.
     "Listen to him," Ran added.  "I'm going to have to shut down or 
we'll melt the engines.  But they're not going to take me without a 
fight."
     Gen-baka raised a holo sign.  <Y'know boy, we are in really deep 
this time.>
     "Well *duh,*" responded Ran sarcastically.  "Now shut up and help 
me get ready for the welcoming committee."  With that Gen-baka left the 
cockpit followed by Ryouga and the droids.  As Ran unstrapped himself 
he felt a strong hand grasp his shoulder.  He looked up to see Toufu.  
     "If it's a fight you cannot win...  There are always alternatives 
to fighting."
     As the Million-yen 'Yaki was pulled towards the station it became 
a speck against it's great grey bulk.  It was sucked towards the yawning 
maw of one of the station's massive hangars.  It was swallowed up as if 
it had never even existed.



               *                   *                  *



     Kunou Vader stood surveying the array of stars on the conference 
room map.  Nearby, Koucho and Motti were carrying on an animated 
discussion.  Kunou paid them no mind as he again turned his gaze towards 
the map.  Amazingly, the first use of the most powerful weapon ever 
created and its effect had no bearing at all on this map, which in 
truth only showed a minuscule portion of a small galaxy.  It would take 
a minuscule realignment of this map to show for Alderaan's disappearance.
     **They have created the most destructive weapon, or so they think.  
And yet it doth have little effect on the vast and uncaring universe.  
The boors.  They believe they control such power, but their gaze is too 
short.  Ha!  When the Black Thunder's plan reaches fruition they shall 
see the folly of their ways.** Kunou pondered silently.  He again 
peered at his associates.  **A pity tis true, for their abilities far 
outreach their sight.**
     Still, neither man was a Dark Lord of the Hent, so little more 
could be expected from them. Nonetheless he entered into their 
conversation.  
     "We smote Alderaan well. I was not entirely sure of this facility's 
power." 
     Koucho nodded.  "Da Hentperor is now being informed of da fall of 
Alderaan.  Soon we will announce da extermination of da rebellion 
itself.  We should receive word soon from da fleet we sent to Dantooine 
of da annihilation of da rebel's main base.  With da destruction of 
their main source of munitions our victory is assured."
     It was then that a Hentperial officer stepped up to the Grand Moff 
and tapped him on the shoulder.  
     "Aloha. What is it, brah?"
     Sasuke looked fearful, as he was the bearer of bad tidings, 
nonetheless he composed himself.  "The fleet has arrived at Dantooine 
and circumnavigated the planet.  They have found evidence of a rebel 
base complete with shield generators and weapons emplacements.  
However it appears the base has been deserted for some time.  The 
fleet is continuing with an extensive survey of the surrounding systems."
     Koucho's face turned red with rage and his palm tree twitched 
violently.  "She lied!  She lied to us."
     Kunou Vader smiled inwardly.  "I told you she would never betray 
the wretched rebellion.  Her fire is too strong.  She is a tigress."
     "Terminate her!  Immediately!"
     This was not what Kunou wanted.  "Father, do not be so rash.  
She could still be of some use to me... I mean us."
     "How?  You said it yourself 'she cannot be trusted'.  And she 
doesn't even have enough hair for me to take pleasure in shaving it 
off."
     As Kunou attempted to formulate a way to keep Akane alive, a 
demanding beep caught his and his father's attention.
     "What is it?" demanded Koucho.
     "Sir, we've captured a small freighter that was entering the 
remains of the Alderaan system.  A standard check shows that its 
markings match those of the ship that blasted out of Mos Eisley."
     "It would appear," Kunou interrupted, "that we may yet have use 
of the princess (whew).  These cretins must have retrieved the 
data tapes and were returning them to her."
     "How convenient," Koucho replied.  "I leave this matter in your 
hands."
     "As you say."  Kunou Vader bowed slightly and his father gave him 
a curt salute before the Dark Lord left the room.



              *                 *                *



     The 'Yaki sat like a prize trophy in the Breast Star's hangar.  
Thirty lightning troopers stood guard, blasters at the ready.  They 
snapped to attention as Vader approached the ship.  The commander in 
charge of the boarding party approached him and saluted.
     "Report," Kunou said curtly.
     "The ship is completely empty, Lord.  Several of the escape pods 
have been jettisoned and the ship's logs indicate that the crew 
abandoned ship shortly after they left Tatooine.  They set it on 
autopilot for Alderaan." The commander replied.
     "Were there any droids aboard?" 
     "No sir.  If there had been then they must have evacuated with 
the rest of the crew."
     "Very well," said Kunou.  "Send forth a scanning crew, I want 
every inch of the ship checked." 
     With that he whirled around and stalked out of the hanger.  
Something felt strange, but he could not yet put his finger on it.  
Around the ship the troops dispersed and those aboard the ship left.  
For several minutes the ship was plunged into silence.  Then a section 
of the deck began to shiver and was thrust up.  A second panel did the 
same.  Ran Solo and Ryouga popped their heads out and quickly surveyed 
the area.
     "It's a good thing you built these compartments," Ryouga commented.
     "Yeah," Ran replied dryly.  "But I never thought I'd have to smuggle 
myself in them.  This is ridiculous.  Even if I could take off we'd never 
get past that tractor beam."  
     "Leave that to me,"  came Toufu's voice as he hoisted himself out 
of the compartment he shared with Mousse and Shampoo.  It had only been 
after they had powered down both of the droids that they had been able 
to get them in the same compartment.
     "I was afraid you'd say somethin' like that," Ran said sourly.  
"You're a damn fool, you know that?"
     "What does that say of you then?"  Toufu asked amusedly.  "Who's 
the bigger fool, the fool, or the fool that follows him?"
     Ran growled something to himself and Gen-baka popped his head out 
of the hole.  <Is it safe to come out?> he holosigned.
     "Oh yeah, sure.  You're safe here on a Hentperial battle station, 
crawling with Lightning Troopers who'd like nothing better than to stuff 
you or make you into a rug," Ran said sarcastically.
     Gen-baka blanched and ducked back down.  A sign raised up.  <In that 
case I feel it is my duty to stay right where I am and guard the ship.  
Now please replace the deckplate.>
     Ran grabbed his father roughly by the scruff of the neck, and pulled 
him up.  "Maybe I will.  I mean, they're sure to send in a scanning crew.  
Y'know Pop, you sure do give off a lot of heat.  Be a shame if they had 
infrared scanners."
     Gen-baka turned an interesting shade of purple before composing 
himself and holosigning, <I have decided it is best if I accompany you.  
You will no doubt need the assistance of your father.> 
     "Whatever."


     Two technicians approached the ship with a hover cart carrying 
scanning equipment.  They approached the two guards at the boarding 
ramp to the ship and were waved in.  
     "Okay, the ship's all yours."  
     The two techies proceeded into the ship.  
     "If you find anything report it immediately," the guard called after 
them.  As soon as they disappeared from view there was a loud crash in 
the ship.  Both guards spun around, weapons ready. When they heard a 
voice call to them from the ship, "Hey down there, could you give us a 
hand with this?"  The guards shot each other knowing looks.
     One of them said, "Techs...huh!  They just can't do anything 
without us."  
     The other nodded and they headed into the ship.  As soon as they 
were inside muffled blaster bolts could be heard, or would have been 
heard if anyone had been around to do so.


     In a room overlooking the hangar, someone did notice the absence 
of the two guards and went to the com unit.  "TK426, why aren't you at 
your post?"  No reply.  "TK426, do you copy?"  Still nothing. The officer 
was about to sound the alarm when the lightning trooper in question 
descended the boarding ramp of the 'Yaki and looked up.  He then tapped 
the earpiece of his helmet.
     "Take over here," the officer said to another.  "Looks like we've 
got another bad transmitter.  I'll go down and see what I can do."  The 
officer stepped to the door and opened it -and stopped dead in his tracks.  
     Standing before him was a very pissed off looking Panda.  Gen-baka 
did his best impression of a krayt dragon and roared while baring his 
fangs.  As the officer attempted to unholster his blaster he was batted 
into a nearby wall by Gen-baka's well placed backhand.  He slumped to 
the floor.  His companion was cut down by the blaster bolts of Gen-baka's 
companion, Ran Solo, disguised as a lightning trooper.  He quickly 
hurried into the room with Mousse, Shampoo, Toufu and Ryouga (also in 
lightning trooper uniform) in tow.
     Ryouga sealed the door behind them and removed his helmet, fixing 
Ran with a spiteful glare.  "Between his howling and your blasting 
everything in sight it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're 
here."
     Ran just looked at Ryouga contemptuously and cracked his knuckles.  
"Bring 'em on.  I'd prefer a straight fight to all this sneakin' around."
     Both men watched as Toufu walked up to one of the viewscreens and 
began reading what it said.  "Shampoo,"  he said.  "I need you to plug 
into the system and find out how to shut down the tractor beam."
     Shampoo obediently followed Toufu's direction.  Mousse however was 
not as understanding.
     "No!  I forbid it!  How can you ask my precious Shampoo-Deetoo to 
plug into this foreign machine and risk being infected with some 
computer virus?  I will not allow it.  I will--" 
     THWANG! 
     "Ungh..."  
     Mousse fell to the ground with one of Shampoo's Bonbori still on 
his head.
     "Is okay Mousse," she said to her malfunctioning companion.  "I 
fine."  
     She undid the top buttons on her shirt, exposing her chest, which 
opened and allowed her interface to be connected to the computer.  As 
she began to work, Mousse regained normal functions and got up.  On the 
display screen several maps of the space station came up showing 
different sections.  Finally one map was shown.  "This main power 
relay for tractor beam,"  Shampoo said.  "Many other places where can 
turn off power, but this one closest."
     "Well then that's where I'm going,"  Toufu said as he started to 
leave.
     "What!?"  Ryouga yelped.
     Kenobi turned to Ryouga.  "I must go alone."
     "Suits me just fine,"  Solo said from behind them.  "I've already 
gotten way more than I bargained for on the trip anyways." He 
shrugged tiredly.  "Well, at least we haven't run into Azusa Fett lately."
     Ryouga however was not quite willing to acquiesce.  "Wait, I want to 
go with you."
     Kenobi turned to Ryouga.  "You don't yet have the skills to do 
what must be done.  Your path does not go the same way as mine. You 
must be patient.  These droids must be delivered to the rebellion or 
other planets will suffer the same fate as Alderaan.  Other families will 
suffer the same fate as yours."  The last part seemed to be like a fist 
hitting Ryouga.  "I'm sorry about your parents, but the only way 
to stop it from happening again is to help the rebellion.  Remember that 
the chi is with you."  With that he whirled about, opened the door and 
stealthily made his way out.
     Ryouga closed the door behind him and turned to see Gen-baka quickly 
lowering a holosign.
     "Y'know, Pop, you're right," Ran said, Gen-baka frantically waved his 
arms trying to stop his son.  Ran turned to Ryouga.  "Where did you dig 
up that old fossil?"  Gen-baka slapped his paw to his head and held up 
a sign <Son, when are you ever going to learn?>
     "Hey, Toufu is a great man,"  Ryouga shot back.
     "Yeah, great at getting us into trouble.  I shoulda known something 
was wrong when he said 'no questions asked'."
     "You got any better ideas?"  Ryouga began to glow faintly; this 
however went unnoticed by Ran as he too started to glow.
     "Anything is better than hanging around here waiting for them to 
pick us off.  Y'know--"
     "AIYAA!!  She here, she here!  Stupid violent girl here!"  Shampoo 
yelled. Both Ran and Ryouga turned startled towards the droid.
     "Who's here?" Ryouga demanded.
     "The Princess Akane,"  Mousse interjected.  "The one who hurt my 
darling Shampoo and is the cause for us being in this mess."
     "The princess!?  She's here?!"  Ryouga asked incredulously.  
"Where? Where is she?"
     Mousse looked back to the display as Shampoo continued to fume.  
"Level 5, detention block AA-23."  Suddenly a smile appeared on his 
face.  "She's scheduled for termination.  And she deserves as much for 
hurting my darling Shampoo."
     "We've got to do something!" Ryouga exclaimed.
     "WHAT!?!"  Ran, Mousse, and Shampoo cried in unison.
     "She's the one who gave the data tapes to Shampoo."  
     "GRRR!" Shampoo growled ferally.
     Ryouga ignored her and continued.  "She's the one we have to get 
the tapes back to."
     Ran stood up and held out his hand to stop Ryouga from leaving.  
"Now hold on just a second kid.  I don't care who this girl is.  Toufu 
told us to stay put and that's what we're gonna do."
     "But he didn't know she was here.  If he did we'd be going after 
her right now.  Now where the heck is the detention block..."  Ryouga 
studied the displays frantically looking for what he needed.
     "Hey, I ain't goin' to no Hentperial detention block."
     "A minute ago you said you didn't like just sitting around here 
and doing nothing, now you want to stay?  What'sa matter Ran?  
Chicken?"  Ryouga asked snidely.
     Now Ran was mad, the stupid kid had no idea what he was talking 
about.  He should belt him one.  But in a rare moment for Ran he managed 
to restrain himself.  "Look kid, walkin' into the detention centre was 
not what I had in mind."
     "But they're gonna kill her!"  Ryouga screamed.
     "Better her than me,"  Ran replied.
     This was going nowhere. Ryouga knew he had to think of a different 
angle to sway the smuggler.  Suddenly it came to him.  "She's rich."  
     Gen-baka perked up immediately, ran over to his son and grabbed him 
by the shirt.  <Son,> he holosigned.  <Perhaps you were hasty in your 
judgment. It would be only chivalrous for us to save a damsel in 
distress.>
     "Stuff it, Pop."  But his curiosity was piqued.  "Rich?" 
     "Rich, powerful."  Ryouga made a wide sweeping gesture with his 
arms.  "You're reward could be... Well a lot more than you could 
imagine."
     Ran's brow wrinkled. "I dunno, I can imagine a lot."
     "You'll get it."  
     Ran stared at him.  "I better." 
     "You *will!*"
     "All right, we'll give it a try.  But if you're wrong about the 
reward--"  He left the threat hanging between them.  "So what's your 
plan?"
     Ryouga put on a satisfied grin and looked around the room.  His 
gaze fell on a set of manacles on the control panel.  He then turned 
his gaze to Gen-baka, went and picked up the bracelets and approached 
the Panda.
     "Here, let me put these on you--"
     Gen-baka let out a roar that said 'just try it' and Ryouga quickly 
backed away.  "Okay Ran, you put them on."  He handed the manacles to 
Gen-baka and backed away.
     Gen-baka frantically holosigned <Nonononononono.  You will not use 
your father as bait.>
     "Relax, Pop.  I know what he's got in mind"  Ran said reassuringly.  
Apparently not enough though as his father ran and hid behind the droids.  
<Really, I should stay here and protect the droids.  They are of course 
very valuable.>
     "Pop, if you don't get over here now, I won't stop Azusa Fett from 
getting you the next time we meet."  His gaze was cold and his father 
knew he meant it.  Reluctantly he allowed himself to be manacled, 
noticing with some measure of relief that his wrists were not locked.
     "Okay, we're ready," Ryouga stated.  As they were about to leave 
Shampoo came up next to him.
     "Shampoo go with master Ryouga.  You know I good in fight."
     "No Shampoo, I can't allow that,"  Mousse said as he glomped her 
from behind.  "It's too dangerous."  For his effort Mousse's face became 
a fixture in the wall.
     Shampoo turned expectantly to her master but was disappointed with 
the look he was giving her.  "Sorry Shampoo.  You're too important to 
risk in a fight.  Stay here with Mousse.  We may need you later."
     Shampoo hmphed, but gave in to her master's wishes.
     "Excuse me, sir,"  Mousse queried, after pulling himself from the 
bulkhead. "What should Shampoo and I do if we are found?"
     "Lock the door," Ryouga replied.
     "And hope they don't have blasters," Ran added.
     With that, Ran, Ryouga, and Gen-baka left the control booth and 
headed down the way Toufu had gone before them.  



               *                  *                   *



     As they traveled deeper into the bowels of the station, Ran and 
Ryouga found it very difficult to seem indifferent to it all.  Luckily 
anyone who would have noticed this nervousness would have chalked it 
up to the huge panda which the two were escorting.  Gen-baka for his part 
made it completely impossible for them to go unnoticed.  The deeper 
into the station they went, the more traffic picked up.  Tech crews 
buzzed around them going to correct flaws in the stations systems, 
officers marched single file behind their commander.  Droids bustled 
about intent on their own tasks.  For the few who paid the trio any 
mind, any fears they had were dissuaded by the defeated look on the 
panda's face and the seeming confidence of his captors.
     Soon they approached a wide bank of elevators which would take them 
to their destination.  Ryouga breathed a sigh of relief.  As they 
entered the lift there was a tense moment as an officer attempted to 
get on with them.  Ran made a sharp gesture with his hand and the 
officer decided to take the next elevator in line.  As they began 
their journey to the detention blocks, Ran turned to Ryouga.
     "This isn't gonna work y'know,"  he said flatly.
     Ryouga paled, it was a good thing he was wearing a helmet.  "Why 
didn't you say so before?"
     "I did say so before.  But you--" his reply was cut short as the 
lift's doors opened on the desired level.
     The trio stepped out into the detention centre and looked around.  
The room they were in was roughly circular with banks of computers set 
up in the centre.  The walls were littered with sensors both optical 
and audio.  In three places corridors opened leading to the many cells 
on this level.  There were two guards and an officer also in the room.  
The officer approached the trio, giving Gen-baka an appraising if not 
disgusted look.
     "Where are you taking this *thing?*"  He asked.
     "Prisoner transfer for block TS-127," Ryouga replied coolly.
     "I wasn't notified.  I'll have to clear it."  He motioned for the 
two guards to come forward with blasters ready.
     It was then that all hell broke loose.  As the guards approached 
Gen-baka, he threw off his manacles and swatted the guard closest to 
him.  He grabbed his blaster and proceeded to cut down the other guard.
     "Look out, he's loose!"  Ran yelled as he too pulled out his blaster 
and started blowing anything and everything in the room apart.  Soon 
other guards came rushing down the corridors only to be cut down by 
Ryouga.  The battle was very short lived.  When it was over Ran went 
and pulled the dead officer off the control panel where he had managed 
to sound the alarm. He checked the display.
     "Now where is that...here it is."  He turned to Ryouga.  "Cell 2187, 
go on.  Pop and I'll cover you."
     With that Ryouga took off, down the wrong corridor.
     "No you idiot, the other corridor!  No not that one!  ARGH!  Pop, 
take the lost boy to his princess."
     With that out of the way, Ran turned on the com.  **Now this is 
gonna be a performance.**  He removed his helmet.
     "Everything's under control," He said, trying to sound official.  
"Situation normal."  
     He didn't.
     "What the hell is going on up there?"  A voice from the comm asked.
     **What *is* going on?** Ran mused... **I got it!**  
     "We had a small weapons malfunction, nothing to worry about.  
We're all fine up here...  How are you?" 
     **Damn, that really sounded stupid...**
     "We're sending  a squad up there now."
     **Oh no!** Ran thought. **This is not what we need right now.**  
"Negative!  Negative!  We've got a reactor leak up here.  Give us a few 
minutes to lock it down.  L-Large leak.  Very dangerous."
     Now the voice on the comm became insistent.  "Who is this?  What's 
your operating number."
     Ran decided this was going nowhere, so he blasted the comm.  "Well 
I never was much for conversation,"  he said to himself.  He then 
turned and yelled down the corridor Ryouga and his father had taken.  
"Ryouga!  Pop!  Hurry it up, we're gonna have company!"
     Now it goes without saying that Ryouga Lostwalker has a lousy sense 
of direction.  He has been known to get lost going to the refresher 
across the hall from his room.  But to get lost in a one way corridor 
with a dead end was something special.  However, he was lucky Gen-baka 
was with him as he would never have found the cell he was looking for.
     He opened the hatch and stepped in.  He was greeted by a sight 
that got his nose a-gushin'.  Princes Akane lay on the cot, a vision 
of beauty.  He regarded her momentarily until she stirred.  And lunged 
at him.
     "Kyaaaaaah!" she screamed as she laid into Ryouga.  All the while 
he was protesting about being here to rescue her.
     "Wait. (BOP!) Stop. (THUD!) I'm here to--(WHACK!)--rescue--(CRUNCH!)
--you. (THUMP!)--I've brought your--(CRUNCH!)--droids--(WHACK!)--and 
Toufu Kenobi.--(SPLAT!)"
     "Huh?" the princess asked as she ceased beating on Ryouga's head.  
"What did you say?"
     Ryouga staggered, his armour cracked in several places.  He 
managed to remove his helmet and stammered.  "I said, I'm here to 
rescue you, I have your droids and Toufu Kenobi is here with me."  He 
promptly collapsed.
     "Kenobi's here?"  Akane said gleefully.  "Why didn't you say so?"  
She then looked down at the pulped Ryouga.  "Oh."


            *                    *                      *


     Kunou Vader paced the conference room restlessly.  
     "I tell thee father, Oni Wan is here.  The disturbance in the Chi 
is unmistakable.  I have only felt it in the presence of my old master.  
The vile wretch dares challenge the Hentpire."
     "Impossible,"  Koucho replied.  "Oni Wan went into seclusion after 
he lost you.  He is most assuredly dead by now."  He smiled at his son, 
his palm tree swaying.  "Da Jedi are dead.  You are da only one of them 
remaining, my keiki."
     Suddenly the comm buzzed.
     "Yes, what is it?" Kouchou asked.
     "There's been a disturbance," the voice answered.  "In detention 
block AA-23."
     "Da princess!" Koucho yelped as he jumped to his feet.
     "Oni Wan is here.  I knew that I could not have mistaken such power."
     "He must not be allowed to escape," Koucho said with just a tinge 
of fear in his voice.
     "No," Kunou stated firmly.  "Escape is not his plan.  I must face 
the villain.  On my own."
     With that Kunou spun and left his father bellowing orders into the 
comm.


            *                    *                     *



     Ryouga and Akane started back down the corridor with Gen-baka in 
tow when a series of explosions ripped into the walkway ahead of them.  
Apparently the cavalry had shown up earlier than anticipated.  Ran 
was hotfooting it back to join them.
     "There's no way we're leavin' that way,"  he said as he pulled his 
blaster and started firing down the corridor.
     "No, it looks like you've managed to block up our only way out,"  
Akane said acidly.  "I was wondering, didn't you know that Hentperial 
prisons generally only have one exit?  Or were you just born this 
bright?"
     Ran looked her over while trying to catch his breath.  "Well 
excuse me, your worshipfulness!  Perhaps you'd like to get back in 
your cell?"
     "There has got to be another way out of here," Ryouga interjected.  
He pulled his comlink out and adjusted the frequency.  "Shampoo?  
Shampoo, do you copy?"
     A familiar voice replied quickly.  "Yes, master Ryouga. Is 
something wrong?"
     "We've been cut off here, we can't get back to the lifts.  Is 
there any other way out of the detention centre?"  Suddenly a blaster 
bolt zipped by his head and the comm was momentarily jammed with 
static, preventing him from hearing Shampoo's reply.  Ran and Gen-baka 
continued their blasting, keeping the Hentperial troops bottled up at 
the entrance to the walkway.  
     "Repeat that, I didn't copy!" Ryouga cried.


     Back in the gantry office Mousse was quickly checking all the 
displays and relaying info to his counterpart.
     "Shampoo say, all systems know you here.  Only way out of detention 
block is through main lifts.  All other information for level restricted."
     Suddenly someone began to pound on the office door. "Open up in 
there, open up in there."
     Mousse quickly looked at Shampoo.  "Oh no, my precious Shampoo."


     The smoke in the corridor thickened making it almost impossible for 
Ran and Gen-baka to get a good bead on a lightning trooper.  However 
said troopers could do no better.  Occasionally one would attempt to 
get closer and be cut down by the smugglers' expert shots.
     "There's no other way out!" Ryouga yelled over the battle.
     "Well they're closing in on us.  Whatta we do now?"
     "This is some rescue," Akane snarled.  Both men turned to see 
Akane looking at them with a disgusted eye.  "I assume you planned an 
escape when you first came in."
     "Never Assume," Ran replied.  "You make an Ass outta U'n Me.  
Besides, he's the brains, sweetheart."  He stuck out his thumb indicating 
Ryouga.
     Ryouga shrugged his shoulders and gave a weak grin.  He promptly 
had his blaster torn away from him by Akane.  
     "Hey!"
     Akane took aim at a grill on the side of the corridor and fired.  
     "What are you doing?"  Ran asked perplexed.
     "It looks like I'm going to have to save all of our skins," she 
replied.  "Into the garbage chute, flyboy."  
     As the others looked on in stunned disbelief she dove through the 
chute.  Gen-baka was quick to follow, but as soon as he stuck his head 
in, he pulled it out just as quick.  <It smells like a bantha curled 
up and died in there.>
     "I don't care what it smells like, get in there."  
     Gen-baka didn't budge.  
     "Get in there, Pop."  
     With that Ran forcibly shoved his father into the chute.  Ran 
looked at Ryouga.  
     "After you." 
     Ryouga plunged down the chute.  
     Ran stayed where he was for a few more seconds firing down the 
corridor.  He was sure he wasn't going to hit anything, but at least 
it kept the Hentperials thinking.  Then he dove in.  
     (SPLASH!)  
     **Oh no,** Ran thought.  **Why?  Why does it always have to be 
water?**  
     He...uhm *she* looked down at herself.  Yep, sure enough 
Jyusenkyo once again worked its ways on him.  Ran was now a big busted 
redhead with oversized lightning trooper armour on.  This of course 
did not go unnoticed by his companions.  Ryouga and Akane just stared, 
then they started laughing outright.  Gen-baka simply holosigned <Oh, 
how could you do this to your father?  You've disappointed me so.>  
     He was promptly smashed into a wall by Ran's fist. "And who's 
fault do you think it is that I have this problem?  Huh, Pop?" 
     Akane caught hold of herself just long enough to realize something.  
     "Pop?" she asked incredulously as she stared at Gen-baka.  
     <Uhm...Hello,> he holosigned meekly.  
     Suddenly it hit her.  "Jyusenkyo, right?"  Ran just looked 
sheepish and stared down at the mounds of junk surrounding him. 
She shook her head sadly. "Don't tell me you two blockheads went 
there..."
     She started laughing again.
     "Hey, it ain't funny," Ran protested. He was getting increasingly 
irritated with her. "Well, at least I ain't built like no brick, you 
uncute tomboy."  
     Akane stopped laughing and glared at him.
     "What did you say?" she demanded
     "You heard me, you're the tomboy who got us stuck in this mess."
     "Me?  You're the one who couldn't even plan a rescue!"
     "Hey, everything was going just fine until you got us stuck in here.  
Yeah, the garbage chute was a wonderful idea."  He deliberately took in 
a deep breath.  "And what a wonderful smell you've discovered!"
     As they argued, Ryouga and Gen-baka attempted to open the hatch 
at the far end of the compactor.  Ran noticed this.  "Outta the way 
Pop."  He pulled his blaster.
     "No, wait, don't--" Ryouga started as Ran fired.  The blast started 
to bounce around the room like crazy, and everybody had to dive for cover.  
When the blast finally dissipated.  Ryouga charged over to where Ran was 
and picked her up by the now ill fitting uniform.  "I already tried that, 
you numbskull! The door's magnetically shielded.  You could have killed 
the princess."  
     Ran pulled herself free from Ryouga's grasp.
     "Oh, perish the thought,"  she replied in mock horror.
     Akane was the next to her feet.  "Put that thing away before you get 
us all killed."
     "Yes, your worship," Ran replied smugly.  She did not re-holster 
her weapon.  "Well it won't take them long to figure out what happened to 
us."  She looked over at the princess.  "Everything was going fine until 
you led us down here."
     "Sure it was," she replied, although she was getting tired of this 
particular argument.  "It could be worse..."  
     As if in response a strange moaning filled the chamber.  The group 
just looked at each other.
     "It's worse," Ran said.  
     Behind them, out of sight, an eyestalk emerged from the trash and took 
stock of the situation before again disappearing.  The group continued 
to look around when something made Ryouga start.
     "What is it, kid?"  Ran asked
     "Something just moved past my leg," he replied, fear creeping into 
his voice.
     Suddenly Ryouga was grabbed by something that pulled him under.  
It happened so quickly that no-one could stop it.  Just as quickly he 
resurfaced with a large tentacle wrapped around his neck
     "Help him!" Akane screamed.
     "Shoot it!"  Ryouga yelled.  "My blaster's jammed."
     "Where?"  Ran yelled.
     "Anywhere!"  
     Ran proceeded to fire her blaster into the tentacle, careful not 
to hit Ryouga.  Just as it seemed that Ryouga was free he was once 
again pulled under.  Seconds passed, and then there was a groan of 
machinery as if two walls were coming together.  Ryouga surfaced near 
Ran.
     "Help him!" she called to Ran.  Then to Ryouga, "what happened?"
     "I don't know." Ryouga replied hacking out some garbage.  "It had 
me... then it let go and it disappeared."
     Again the sound of grinding machinery filled the room.
     "I've got a very bad feeling about this,"  Ran murmured.  As if 
in response, the walls of the chamber began to come together.
     "Don't just stand there,"  Akane admonished.  "Try to brace them 
with something. 
     With that they all set out to brace the walls.  Gen-baka tried to 
use his own strength to stop the walls from closing in on them while 
the other three attempted to prop the walls with a beam.  It wasn't 
working.  Suddenly Ryouga remembered the droids. He pulled out his 
commlink.
     "Shampoo?  Shampoo come in."  Nothing.  "Shampoo do you copy?  
Oh where could she be?"


     In the gantry office the comlink finally went silent where it had 
been left on the computer console.  Just then the door blew open and a 
squad of lightning troopers burst into the room.  They were giving the 
room a quick search when they heard some tapping on one of the storage 
locker doors.  Hesitantly they opened the doors, blasters ready.  They 
were greeted by two droids.
     "They're madmen, madmen I tell you!"  M-3PO yelled.  "They said 
something about heading for the prison level.  If you hurry you can 
catch them."  The lightning troopers conversed amongst themselves and 
headed for the detention block.  Mousse went over to the console and 
picked up the comlink, making sure it was off.  He then gathered
Shampoo and prepared to leave.  The lone remaining guard stopped him.
     "Just where do you think you're going?"  He asked, pointing his 
blaster at the two droids.
     "Uhm... All this excitement has overloaded the vocal circuits of 
my companion.  I'd like to take her down to maintenance,"  Mousse 
replied.
     Shampoo glared at Mousse.  "What you talking about, stupid Mousse! 
There no problem with Shampoo's vocal circuits."
     "See?"  Mousse said weakly.
     The guard regarded the lovely looking female droid for a second. 
**If only she weren't... Nah... Don't go there.**  
     "Go ahead," the trooper said.  "That has got to be the worst vocal 
glitch I've ever heard."  
     Shampoo, for her part would have killed the guard had Mousse not 
known her so well and shut her down.  He carried Shampoo's limp form off 
down the corridor.


     The garbage chamber continued to shrink as its occupants scrambled 
to stay on top of the garbage and brace the walls at the same time.  
It seemed that the stronger the object they used to brace the enclosing 
wall the easier that it was crushed.  The chamber was now only about 
two metres wide and slowly getting smaller.


     Mousse entered into one of the maintenance rooms that were scattered 
around the hanger where the 'Yaki was berthed.  **This is going to get 
ugly,** he thought as he prepared to reactivate Shampoo.  No sooner was 
she up and running then she lunged at Mousse. 
     "How dare you!" she spat at him as she lunged for his throat.  
She grabbed him and began to throttle him.
     "W-w-ait, Sham..oo.  Wh..  .bout .yo..a?" Mousse struggled to 
speak, but Shampoo was putting serious pressure on his vocoder system.
     Shampoo couldn't make out what he was saying, but something in there 
had sounded like...Ryouga.  
     "Aiyaa!"  
     She quickly released Mousse and turned on their commlink.


     Back in the compactor things were not getting any better.  Ryouga 
was using his inordinate strength to hold back the walls while Ran and 
Akane were trying to stay on top of the garbage.  
     Gen-Baka was praying. <To whatever deity might be watching.  I'm 
too old to die.  Take my son, he's young.>  
     A piece of junk bounced off his head as he finished, and he saw 
Ran glaring at him.
     "I read that," Ran said, clearly not pleased with her father.  
She then grabbed Akane and pulled her back on top of the heap.  "Stay 
on top of it," she said to Akane.
     "I'm trying," Akane replied in a strained voice.
     Ryouga was beginning to falter.  His great strength depleted, the 
walls again began to close in on them.  1.5 metres to go.
     "One thing's for sure," Ran commented.  "We're gonna come out of 
this thing a whole lot thinner."


     Back in the hanger, Shampoo logged onto the computer.  She did 
a check for intruders and froze when the readout came up on the screen  
'Intruders in detention block.  Escaped into garbage chute.  Taking 
appropriate steps.'  She immediately grabbed her commlink.  "Master 
Ryouga?  You there?"


     Ryouga grabbed his commlink immediately "Shampoo?"


     "You okay, master Ryouga?"


     Ryouga at this point had no time for small talk.  "Shampoo, shut 
up and listen to me.  Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention 
level.  Do you copy?  Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention 
level."
     He took a deep breath and screamed it once again.
     "Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!!!"


     Shampoo scrambled over to the terminal and plugged in, she had no 
time to lose.  Mousse began to furiously type at another terminal.  
     "Aiyaa!  Mousse, quick shut them all down!"  
     Over the commlink they could hear the sound of grinding metal.  
Then the screaming started.  
     "No, Mousse, shut all them down!"  
     The screeching and yelling continued.  
     "Aiyaa... Shampoo not fast enough.  Now master Ryouga dead," she 
said softly.  The screaming and yelling was going on for far too 
long, lending the idea that all was not as it seemed. Suddenly Ryouga's 
voice came over the commlink.  
     "Shampoo! Mousse!  You did it!  We're all right."  
     Shampoo and Mousse hugged each other happily until they realized 
what was going on between them, then Shampoo pushed him away.
     "We need you to open the pressure door to unit... Where are we?" 
he was heard to ask.  "326-3827."
     "Aiyaa!" Shampoo acknowledged.



               *                  *                 *



     Elsewhere.  The column sat out in the middle of a large pit with 
only a small ledge so as to slide around it.  Probably to scare people 
away from the prospect of shutting down the power to the tractor beams.  
Toufu Kenobi had no such fears.  He stealthily entered the chamber and 
worked his way around the power column.  The column thrummed 
with power under his feet.  
     He edged his way over to a display with green power bars and a 
control handle.  He slowly turned the handle and the power bar began 
to shrink, as it did so it went from green to yellow to orange to red.  
He slid along the column a little more and repeated this at another 
identical terminal. As he prepared to leave a squad of lightning 
troopers appeared at one of the exits to the chamber.
     "What do you think it is this time?" One of them asked.  
     "Probably just another drill,"  his companion responded.  The two 
were obviously not intent on guard duty, and soon got into a quiet 
conversation.
     Toufu edged his way to the other exit, and just as he prepared to 
leave raised his hand and pointed to something that would have been 
behind the troopers.
     "What was that?" One of the troopers said turning to the unseen 
object.  The other troopers followed his gaze, in the mean time Toufu 
edged his way out of the room.
     "Probably nothing," the other trooper responded.  "Just outgassing.  
Now about your sister..."  
     Toufu exited the chamber and headed off, blending into the shadows.




     Gen-baka panted and wheezed as he attempted to extricate himself 
from the all too small pressure door.  With some assistance he managed 
to pull himself out.  The corridor which they came out in was empty, 
and the dust that had collected seemed to indicate it was a maintenance 
corridor that had seldom been used.  Behind then there was an inhuman 
wail from inside the masher.  Gen-baka ran like hell to get away from 
the door.
     "You big coward," Ran said snidely as she raised her blaster to 
fire into the chamber.
     "No wait, they'll hear!" Akane cried.  Too late, the sound of the 
blast rolled like thunder down the corridor.
     Akane walked over to Ran and grabbed her blaster away.  "Listen," 
she said in a cold tone that cut off all replies.  "I don't know who 
you are or where you come from.  But from now on you are to do exactly 
as I say."
     Solo just glared at her, her face contorted into a snarl. "Listen, 
your holiness.  Let's get this straight, I only take orders from one 
person... Me."
     "It's a wonder you're still alive," Akane shot back as she began 
to head down the corridor.  Gen-Baka, who was directly in front of her, 
was not moving fast enough for her tastes.  "Would someone get this 
walking carpet out of my way."
     Ran and Ryouga just looked at each other for a second, then 
finished stripping off the trooper armor and began to follow the 
princess.
     "No reward is worth this," Ran was heard to say as she rounded 
the corner and disappeared from sight. "Stupid tomboy..."



              *                 *                  *

 

     Ryouga, Gen-baka, Ran Solo, and the princess came to the end of a 
corridor with a window that opened out into the hangar.  Ran had never 
been so happy to see his ship before in his life.
     Ryouga pulled out his commlink.  "Shampoo are you there?"
     "Shampoo here," she replied over the link,  "We had to leave office."
     "Are you both okay?"
     "Yes," Shampoo replied as she looked at Mousse -who was plastered 
to the nearest wall after trying to glomp her.  "We both fine.  We in 
hangar across from ship."
     Ryouga scanned the rooms across the hangar but could not see the 
droids.  "I can't see you guys, we're probably on top of you now.  
Stand by, we're coming."
     "I just hope Toufu got rid of the tractor beam," Solo muttered to 
herself.
     "You're getting us out on that thing?" Akane asked, pointing at 
the ship.  "You're braver then I thought."
     Both praised and put down in the same sentence, Ran could not 
formulate a good comeback.  Instead she shot her an annoyed look.  
They continued down the corridor and came to a corner.  They rounded it 
and came to a dead stop.  So did the dozen plus lightning troopers coming 
the other way.  
     Both groups regarded each other until Ran pulled her blaster and 
started shooting and screaming like a madwoman.  
     "KYYYAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"  
     The troopers, too shocked for words, began to beat a hasty retreat.  
Ran, reveling in the moment, started after them yelling and firing her 
blaster wildly.  As she passed from sight she could be heard screaming,  
"Ryouga! Akane!  Get back to the ship...get back!!"  And then she was 
gone.
     Gen-baka, in a moment of intense family loyalty, chased after his 
son... er, daughter.  <Ran, come back.  You have the keys to the ship.  
Don't leave your father behind.> ...Uhm...yeah. Right.
     Ryouga and Akane just stared at the receding form of a large panda 
then exchanged dumbfounded looks.  "Strange family," Ryouga commented.
     "Uh-huh," the princess agreed.  "Your friend is really courageous." 
     "No, he's an idiot."  
     Suddenly alarms began blaring all over the place.  "Well that did it. 
Come on.  We're getting out of here."  With that he grabbed the princess'
arm and dragged her off in the opposite direction from where Ran had gone.



     Ran continued his routing of the Hentperial troopers.  She chased 
after them at top speed as she shouted in several different languages.  
Occasionally she fired off a shot which had much more of a psychological 
effect than anything else.  
     "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"  
     She chased the soldiers around a bend, then she hit the brakes.  
     She had dead-ended the troopers.  They were now facing her and for 
the first time she began to think about her course of action. 
     **Uh oh.**  
     The lightning troopers had taken the time while fleeing to ponder 
their situation as well.  They were the best of the Hentpire, being 
chased down by one lone female.  They didn't hesitate any longer, and 
began firing.  
     Ran again took off, this time in the opposite direction.  As she 
rounded a corner she ran over her father.  
     <What are you doing?> he holosigned angrily.
     "Pop, we ain't got time for this," she replied over her shoulder 
as she sped away.  Gen-baka was going to come up with a reply when he 
heard the sound of angry lightning troopers.  He did what came naturally 
to him.  Genma Solo ran like hell.



     Ryouga and Akane ran.  They had the unfortunate luck of running 
into a squad of Hentpirial troopers.  As they ran down another corridor 
more troopers appeared in front of them.  They frantically searched for 
another way out when Akane gestured to a small passageway.  They ran down 
it and came to a hatch.  They passed through and kept going until Ryouga 
ran out of floor.  The catwalk they had run onto disappeared and Ryouga 
found himself for a second feeling like he was going to fall into the 
abyss.  He managed to stop himself just as he was about to fall, only to 
have the princess slam into him.  He started to fall until he felt 
himself being grabbed from behind.
     "Sorry, Ryouga," the princess said, genuine concern in her voice.  
     Ryouga turned beet red and began to feel a nosebleed coming on.  
**I must be in heaven,** he thought to himself.  
     A blaster bolt zinging by his ear brought him out of his stupor.  
Behind them a squad of troopers barreled down the corridor.  Quickly he 
hit the control switch that brought the blast door down.  
     Akane studied the controls for a minute.  
     "There's no lock." she said in a near frantic voice.  
     Ryouga nodded and pulled out his blaster.  He pulled Akane behind him 
and shielded his eyes before firing into the control panel.  "That oughta 
do it,"  he said.  His voice echoed through the chamber.  
     "We've got to find the control to extend the bridge,"  Akane said.
     Ryouga studied the panel he had just shot up.  "I think I just 
blasted them." he said mournfully. The hatch behind them began to budge 
slightly.
     "They're coming through."  the princess said fearfully.  Ryouga 
looked around frantically.  The gap they had to cover was quite large.  
As he scanned his gaze came upon an outcropping of machinery and pipes 
about half way across the gap and above.  
     He immediately went to the grappling line he had on his belt when 
another blaster bolt zinged past him.  On the other side of the gap and 
up to the right of their position some troopers began to fire on them 
from another hatch.  
     Ryouga traded shots with them while ducking behind the wall for 
cover.  He handed the rifle to Akane as he continued to unfasten the 
lifeline.  As Akane continued to fire at the troopers to keep them at 
bay, Ryouga launched the grappling hook at the outcropping of pipes.  
It wound itself around a few times before locking in place.  He
tugged on it and felt it was secure.  
     Behind them, the blast door slowly began to move up.  Ryouga  
grabbed onto Akane, and felt something warm brush his lips.  He looked 
down to see Akane smiling.  
     "For luck."
     He started to blush, but there was no time for that. Akane gave them 
both a good push.
     They swung out over the chasm as blaster bolts zinged past them 
on all sides.  When they reached the other side, Akane let go and rolled 
away from Ryouga.  Just then the blast door on the other side whisked 
up and half a dozen lightning troopers began firing at them.  Ryouga 
quickly unhooked the grappling hook from his belt and he and Akane 
retreated down the corridor.



            *                   *                     *


     Toufu stealthily made his way towards the hangar where the 'Yaki 
was berthed.  He had managed to evade the patrols of troopers that had 
littered the station.  He felt that for some reason they had been 
distracted.  Something else was happening.  He was certain that Ryouga 
and Ran had something to do with it.  As he came to the final hatch 
that would lead to the ship he felt something.  A sick, twisted, 
perverted mind.  It seemed vaguely familiar.  Then a figure stepped 
from the shadows, garbed in black samurai armour and a flowing cape.  
Toufu's hand immediately went for his light bokken.
     "So we meet again," Kunou said, stepping from the shadows.  
"Thou art a fool indeed.  For even you should know thine own skill 
pales to mine."  
     Kunou ignited his light bokken.  It flared to life, a blood red 
blade issuing forth.  "When I left you I was but the pupil.  Now I am 
the master."
     "Only a master of perversion, Kunou," Toufu countered.
     Toufu ignited his blade, which was a brilliant green.  He lunged 
at the dark lord.  Kunou brought up his blade and parried.  He then 
lunged and Toufu sidestepped with a dancer's grace. Spinning, he 
slashed upward, deflecting Kunou's strike. Toufu slashed at the 
momentary opening only to be deflected by Kunou's blade.  
They continued their battle, moving into the hatch itself in full 
view of the ship.  The soldiers guarding the ship turned to watch.  
     "Thou shouldst have stayed away, feeble fool," Kunou growled.  
There is no way thou couldst hope to defeat me."  He slashed roughly at 
Toufu and succeeded in knocking him down.  "Thy powers are weak.  
Now I shall smite thee."  He slashed at Kenobi, who rolled out of the 
way and brought his bokken up in defense.
     "If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can 
ever possibly imagine," Oni Wan declared.
     "Fie!" Kunou riposted. "Thy tongue spills nonsense to mine ears,  
and seeketh to quail my heart with baseless fears! I heed your coward's 
words not! Thy end is nigh!"


     On the other end of the hangar, Akane and Ryouga came to the end 
of a passage leading up to the ship.  Right behind them came Ran and 
Gen-baka.
     "What kept you?" asked Akane, relief showing in her voice.
     "Ran into some old friends,"  she replied.  "And you?"
     Ryouga smiled, fangs showing. "Ditto." He looked out at the ship.  
"Looks like it'll fly." 
     Ran shot him an angry glare and Ryouga held up his hands in 
defense.
     The guards at the ship decided that the duel was more interesting 
then what they were doing, and left their posts to get a better look.
     This did not go unnoticed.
     "That's our cue," Ran smiled.  She held out her arms to Akane.  
"Ladies first."
     "Go ahead,"  Akane said mischievously.  
     "Hey, I'm a guy!" Ran retorted.
     "So you say," Ryouga added with a toothy grin.  Ran hmphed and 
quietly headed for the ship, Ryouga and Akane followed, giggling 
behind her.


     In the Maintenance Bay, Shampoo also noticed the guards leaving.  
"Okay Mousse.  We going."  
     Mousse peeled himself off the wall where he was embedded, and 
followed Shampoo out.  For once he had the good sense to stay quiet.
     

     As they crossed the space to the ship, Ryouga spared a glance over 
to where the troopers had gone, and stopped short.  Toufu was dueling 
with Kunou Vader.  He watched as they dueled on. 
     Toufu spared a glance in his direction.  They locked eyes and a 
smile crept onto the Jedi master's face.  He then returned his attention 
to Vader and raised his Bokken in salute just as Kunou's blade sliced 
horizontally through his body.  Toufu's cloak fell to the deck.  It was 
empty.

     "TOUFU!  NOOOOOOO!!"  Ryouga yelled as he stared at the cloak.  
The troopers who had been watching the duel quickly spun and began firing 
on him.  This brought him out of his momentary stupor and he began to 
shoot back.  

     Kunou Vader nudged the cloak with his toe. He did not understand 
what was going on.  Was this some Chi power Oni Wan had never revealed 
to him? He quickly turned to face the hangar and began to stalk forward, 
his face a mask of anger.

     The troopers and Ryouga and Co. continued to trade shots at each 
other.  Ryouga continued to blast everything in sight.  His mind was 
clouded by anger.
     "Ryouga!  It's too late!" Akane shouted pleadingly.  "It's over. 
Come on!"
     Ran stuck her head out of the hatch to the ship.  "Blast the door 
kid!"  
     Ryouga heard the command and acted on it.  He fired at the control 
box for the blast doors.  The shot hit the mark and the doors slammed 
shut, cutting off most of the troops.  He continued to fire until a 
familiar voice rang out in his head.  
     <Run, Ryouga!  Run!>
     Heeding this unknown voice, he turned and fled towards the ship.
     Ryouga staggered into the cockpit of the ship just as Ran and 
Gen-baka were powering it up.  He stared off into space, completely 
oblivious to everything else.
     "I hope Toufu got rid of that tractor beam or this is gonna be a 
real short trip," Ran said while flipping switches for the reactor and 
the ion drive.  "Okay hit it."  
     Gen-baka threw the throttle wide open as the ship raised off the 
deck of the hanger, spun around, and shot out of the gaping maw of the 
massive space station.  As soon as they entered the vastness of space, 
the ship's proximity alerts began to go off.  Several fighters were 
coming their way.  
     "Pop, take over,"  Ran said as she slipped out of the cockpit 
and sprinted for the hold.



     While all this had been happening, Ryouga had headed aft to the 
ship's hold.  He slumped down at the holo-shogi table and his face fell 
into his hands.  Akane came up behind him and placed a blanket over 
his shoulders.  
     "I can't believe he's gone," Ryouga said, on the verge of tears.
     "There was nothing you could do," Akane said, trying to comfort him.  
"It all happened so fast."
     Just then Ran sprinted into the hold.  He looked over at Ryouga. 
He felt bad for the kid but now was not the time for mourning.  
"C'mon kid.  It ain't over yet."  
     As if to punctuate the urgency an explosion rocked the ship.  
Ryouga immediately sprang to his feet and followed Ran to the gunwell.


     Ryouga strapped into the firing seat of one of the 'Yaki's quad 
guns. Behind him, down the gunwell, he could see Ran doing the same.  
He put on his head set and powered up the quads.  They hummed to life 
and the weapon came to attention.  The tracking computer flashed to life, 
registering four bra-shaped Hen-TIEs inbound.  Over the headset 
Ryouga heard Gen-baka rumble something and then he heard Akane's 
voice.  
     "Here they come."

     The Hen-TIEs shot past the ship on all sides, blasting away at 
the 'Yaki's deflector shields.  Ryouga frantically tried to track one 
of the Hen-TIEs as it passed into his line of sight -only to have it 
whiz by.  
     "They're coming in too fast!" He said over the comm.  
     Back in the cockpit, Gen-baka frantically tried to watch the 
targeting computer and compensate for the damage to the deflector 
shields.  Akane tried to keep the ship flying straight.  The Hentpirial 
fighters continued their barrage.  
     One Hen-TIE managed to pierce the battered freighter's overtaxed 
shield and strike the hull.  Though its strength had been diminished by 
the shield, it still had enough force to blow out a panel in the main 
passageway from the hold to the cockpit.  Sparks flew everywhere and 
flames erupted from sizzling wires.  Mousse immediately reached into the 
folds of his robe and pulled out a fire extinguisher which he used to 
fight the flames.
     Back in the quad turret, one of the fighters made the mistake of 
entering Ran's line of sight.  She swung the turret around hard, lining 
up the fighter and blowing it apart.  
     "Yeehaw!" she whooped.  
     She immediately began to track another fighter.  Ryouga was 
surprised when the Hen-TIE just appeared in his sights.  Without a 
moment of hesitation he pressed the firing stud and the bra-shaped ship 
erupted into a red-orange fireball.  Ryouga turned to look at Ran who 
smiled back. 
     "I got it!" he whooped.  
     "There's still a few more out there, kid,"  Ran replied over the 
comm.  "Don't get cocky."
     "There's still two more," Akane confirmed.  "Plus we've lost the 
lateral deflector."
     "Don't worry, she'll hold together,"  Ran said in his most reassuring 
voice.  He patted the well worn control panel in the turret, and under 
his breath said, "c'mon baby, hold together." 
     Suddenly another fighter materialized in Ran's view, raining fire 
on the weapon emplacement.  Ran had only to line it up and fire.  
     Boom!  
     The last fighter came up behind it fallen comrade and continued 
to fire on Ran's quad.  She tracked it with fire but it flew out of range 
and under the ship.  This put it in Ryouga's view.  He began to track it 
as well, but it just would not sit still.  Then he felt a sudden tingle, 
a premonition.  He immediately swung the quad around to a point in empty 
space and fired.  At that exact moment the Hen-TIE flew into the empty 
region of space and disintegrated in the blast.  
     "Yaahooo!"  Ryouga screamed.
     "We did it!" Came the relieved voice of Akane over the comm.  
She fiercely hugged a very startled Gen-baka, the large panda growled 
something but did not stop her.



                *                  *                   *



     Kunou Vader watched from one of the station observation windows as 
the Million-yen 'Yaki winked into hyperspace.  A smile played over his 
face.  Behind him his father entered.  
     "Are they away?" Koucho asked.
     "They have just made the jump to light speed,"  the Dark Lord 
replied confidently.  "The curs probably congratulate themselves on a 
daring escape.  The fools.  Only by the good graces of the Black Thunder 
of the Hentpire have they escaped."  
     Vader turned to regard his father, who had a stern look on his face.
     "I'm taking an awful risk with this, son.  Are you sure that da 
beacon is secured aboard their ship?"
     "Fear not, father, all is in readiness. The insolent rebellion will 
be crushed."



            *                   *                    *



     Solo stepped into the cockpit and took over from her father, who 
was more than happy to relinquish control.  "Well what do you think of 
that, sweetheart?" she asked Akane.  "Not a bad bit of rescuing.  
Y'know sometimes I even amaze myself."  She gave them a lopsided grin.
     "That doesn't sound too hard," Akane replied.  
     Ran's grin faded, replaced by a frown.  
     "They let us go."  Akane explained. **Boy is he dense,** she thought.  
"That's the only way to explain the ease of our escape."
     "Easy?  You call that easy?" Ran asked incredulously.
     "Yes," the princess affirmed.  "At least we still have the data 
inside Shampoo."
     "What the heck is she carrying anyways?" Ran asked.  He still didn't 
have a clue what this whole mess had been about.
     "Shampoo is carrying full technical readouts for that battle 
station." She got a faraway look in her eyes.  "I just hope when the 
data is analyzed a weakness can be found."  
     Her gaze refocused on Ran.  "It's not over yet."  
     Ran held up a hand for her to stop.

     "It is for me, sister.  I ain't in this for your revolution and 
I'm not doing this for you, princess.  I expect to be well paid.  
I'm in it for the money."  
     The princess shot him a disgusted look and got up to leave.  
Down the corridor Ryouga was heading for the cockpit.  
     "If money is all you want then that's what you'll receive."  She 
turned to leave and bumped into Ryouga.  "Your friend is quite a 
mercenary," she said with fire in her eyes.  "I wonder if he cares about 
anything." She hesitated for a second.  "Or anybody."  She left, and 
Ryouga looked back to her.  
     "I care." he said quietly, but she was gone. He sat down in the 
recently vacated co-pilot's seat and looked at Ran.  
     "What do you think of her?" He asked.
     "I try not to," he replied.  The look on Ryouga's face was 
saying 'good.'  "Still,"  Ran continued. "She's got a lot of spirit."  
     They were both silent for a moment.  "Ryouga, what do you think?
You think a girl like her and a guy like me..."
     "No," Ryouga replied, cutting him off.  Ran just smiled as the 
ship continued through hyperspace. 



                       END OF PART TWO