Ranma Xero
Part 7
Invasion!
Ranma rushed up to the security gate in front of the complex and frowned
as a group of security guards stood in front of him with weapons drawn.
"Halt!"
The boy paused and sighed as he fumbled through his pockets for a moment
and pulled out a security card. The lead guard inspected it for a moment
and waved him through the gates while watching the horizon.
Ranma rushed through the growing numbers of armed men who emerged from
the building and entered the front doors. He passed through several large
groups of uniformed workers as they moved about excitedly. Finally he
reached the elevator. He glanced at the screen and pushed the button to
the floor he wished to go.
"Security clearance required, please state name and destination," said a
pleasant female voice.
"Ranma Saotome, command center," said the boy with a hint of irritation
in his voice. He felt his body shift into female form as several screens
flashed across the monitor.
"Cleared."
Soun Tendo glanced at the doors as they opened from his seat. "What are
you doing here son?"
Ranma walked onto the raised balcony where his father and Soun sat
watching a large movie theater sized screen that took up the entire wall
opposite them. Various technicians worked at the computers and consoles
that filled the room. "You think I'm going to stay in school for this?"
Soun wasn't really paying attention to her any longer. He watched the
screen in what seemed like calculated interest.
Genma was standing next to him watching intently as well. He turned
towards his son and frowned. "Sit down and shut up then."
Ranma nodded and walked up next to her father.
The black units chest plate opened revealing rows of missiles on the
screen in front of them.
Soun jumped up suddenly with a worried expression on his face. "No! Damn
them!"
One of the female technicians spoke up. "The heart rate of both pilots
just jumped sir."
"Good, that means their adrenaline just kicked in," commented Ranma
lazily.
Genma nodded in agreement, but never took his eyes away from the screen.
Another one of the technicians spoke up suddenly. He was a nerdy looking
man in his twenties; he turned in his chair and had a hard expression on
his face. "Two more landing pods just hit about a mile outside the
complex."
"Here they come," said another man nearby with tension in his voice.
A smaller screen appeared on the large screen in the right bottom
corner. Two ships had landed in what appeared to be a field nearby the
complex, the back end opened and several large groups of armed men
emerged from them. They all had blue skin and black body armor; they
carried various weapons in their hands, mostly firearms of some kind.
-------------------------------------------
Akane jumped back as the small red explosive devices shot towards her.
The red unit rolled away as explosions ripped through the air around her.
She was thrown back as three of them managed to connect and sent into the
side of a building.
"Damn it!" screamed the girl in frustration as she staggered back to her
feet. The energy blades on her hands blasted to life and she crossed her
arms in front of her as another volley of the missiles exploded in her
face almost sending her back into the crushed remains of the building
again. She managed to stay on her feet this time and growled as light
damage reports flashed on the screen in front of her.
Siore snarled as she pummeled the unit yet again. "Die!" She felt the
robot jerk suddenly and was pulled back suddenly as the unit's arm was
suddenly forced back.
"You forget about me? How rude," commented Kodachi as she snagged the
enemy's arm with her ribbons and pulled back. The flexible metal strips
recoiled into her arms as the black unit staggered back for a moment
before regaining its balance.
"I'll take you both on!" screamed the alien woman as she raised both her
arms parallel to her body. The unit's fists shot away taking each of her
enemies in the chest and forcing them back.
Akane screamed in rage at the attack and kept her balance, the red unit
hunched over and placed a hand on the ground burning a deep hole in the
sidewalk as it did because of the energy discharge from her fists. She
rose slowly and snarled angrily. "You'll pay for that!"
Siore chuckled to herself and jumped for the red unit. Her fist seemed
to fly back into place on the empty wrists and met the unit in mid air.
"Die!"
"Not today!" screamed Akane as she lashed up in an uppercut that caught
the enemy in her chestplate leaving a long scar and throwing her to the
ground on her back.
Kodachi leapt into action at the momentary weakness and lashed outward
with the ribbons again. Sparks flew from the exposed metal as she
attacked the thing's chest as it lay prone on the ground.
Siore snarled angrily again and raised her right fist towards the
offending unit. This time the fist seemed to fold into itself revealing a
rather nasty looking cannon. "Back off!"
Kodachi yelped in surprise and managed to shift aside as the energy
blast that the enemy shot out missed her by a few feet. She felt the
frame of the unit shake as the energy wave passed by and screamed in
frustration as she attempted to regain her balance after the awkward
dodging maneuver.
Akane rushed forward as Siore shot her beam and kicked the thing in the
chest further damaging a nearby building as the enemy slammed into the
outer wall from the impact. "Just die!" She punched forward and took the
thing across its face sending shards of metal into the street and pushing
it further down the road.
"Akane! We have to get her away from here!" cried Kodachi as she
steadied herself on one of the buildings and took up a position beside
her comrade.
-------------------------------------------
Ranma paused as the wave of blue skinned invaders met with the security
forces outside the complex. Very faint gunshots could be heard from
outside the building despite the silent feed of the battle on the screen.
She turned her attention back to the screen and frowned.
"What the hell is she doing out there?" she snapped.
"Quiet son," snapped Soun as he gripped the edge of the table where he
sat.
"Like hell! She's forgetting everything we taught her! Look at how she's
charging in like a gorilla or something! Let me talk to her!" the redhead
met Soun's glare evenly and the man turned his head away.
"You can speak with her after the battle," he said finally.
Ranma turned away in disgust and glanced back at the screen. She snorted
and started to walk towards the doors.
"Where the hell are you going boy?" snarled Genma as he reached for his
son.
"I need to work off some of this stupid tomboy's attitude when she gets
back," said Ranma in a dark tone as she entered the elevator.
Soun looked back at her in surprise for a moment. Genma put his hand on
the man's shoulder and forced him to sit down.
"Believe it or not Tendo, I was just thinking the same thing."
One of the technicians jumped out of his seat in frustration. "Sir!
We're taking unacceptable losses! Where the hell are they? Unit's four
and five reporting casualties, we're not pushing them back!"
------------------------------------
Ranma frowned as she stood in the elevator. She punched one of the walls
leaving a small dent in the metal surface and growled angrily. "Damn her,
she's going to get herself killed out there." He stared at the control
panel for the elevator and snorted. "What the hell."
----------------------------------
"Ryoken! Get your ass down!" screamed Toroya as he pulled the man back
behind a large pile of debris in the battle outside the complex. They
were still a good distance from the complex, but the enemy had them
pinned down. Several loud blasts were heard from the other side and small
pieces of rock and dust filled the air as the enemy fire hit the cover.
"Sir! Six and seven can't get around them, we're on our own for now!"
screamed one of the men with a small radio in his hands.
"Shit! We're pinned down! Suck it up! If you boys want to get home to
your families tonight we're going to have to hold out here for a while.
Give me a sit rep! Ammo count now! I want all those rifles hot and
ready!"
"Damn! They should be here by now!" snarled one of the men bitterly as
he fumbled with a clip.
"We can't count on that son!" snapped Toroya.
Something hit the ground and rolled just behind them. The small band of
men turned and paled at what they saw. "Grenade! Move it!"
Out of the blue someone opened fire from behind them as they rushed
away. A huge explosion ripped behind them as they managed to move behind
another large pile of debris nearby.
"We all made it!" screamed one of the men in joy.
"Who the hell?"
------------------------------------
Inside a small vehicle of some kind several soldiers sat around one
another strapped into jumpseats. They moved about nervously and stared at
the young but imposing looking man who stood between them. He had a snarl
on his face and was dressed in camouflage fatigues like everyone else
around him. A small scar marred the side of his face and he looked around
him with an intense glare.
"Lieutenant! I'm getting reports of heavy casualties!" cried one of the
men from behind him. He was wearing a headset and was listening to a
small radio.
"We should have been there by now," agreed another one of the men.
"Get ready, our ETA is two minutes," snapped the hard looking man.
"How's Takama holding up?"
"Just a flesh wound sir!" snapped a man near the doors. He was leaning
forward with a look of obvious pain about him.
"Too bad, you're staying here," snapped the man firmly. "Lock and load
men, our destination is in sight and it doesn't look any better than the
last time."
The group of men gave off a short bark in reply.
------------------------------
Akane snarled as she kicked out again and managed to avoid another of
the massive energy bursts that the enemy was shooting towards her. She
rushed forward and slammed her fist forward taking the thing in the
chest.
Siore screamed in anger as her attacks repeatedly missed shattering the
buildings and businesses around them. "How? How are they doing this?" she
snapped bitterly. She snarled and braced herself for battle yet again.
The red unit had taken several hits already and had some heavy, but
mostly superficial damage. The black unit only had a few dents and
scratches. Hers was not in such good shape. The left arm was only
functioning halfway and her missile supply was now gone. They were
nothing but concussion missiles, mostly for weakening the armor of her
enemies, or giving support to ground troops.
Kodachi smirked, although Akane's unit had seen better days, they had
managed to move Blackheart to the edge of the city. She was slowly and
steadily being pushed back. With an almost fluid grace she thrust her arm
forward and shot out her ribbon again catching the enemy in her
chestplate yet again. The metal strip dug deep into the armor and flashed
as the friction created sparks showered the ground below again before she
retracted them again. The jets under her feet flared to life again and
pushed her forward into what appeared to be a shoulder tackle. She passed
by the enemy seeming to miss as the black unit shifted sideways to avoid
the strike.
"You got her!" cried Akane triumphantly as she rushed towards Siore and
dug her fist into the enemy's side.
Siore snorted in disgust. "She missed! I know she did!" She felt an
impact from beside her and turned to see the red unit boring a hole into
her side with her energy blade. She lashed out to retaliate with her
elbow and managed to knock her away. Unfortunately Kodachi had recovered,
she raised her other arm to block the sharp metal strip and gasped as she
saw that her arm was now gone. She looked down and saw it lying on the
ground below just before her head was rocked back as she was struck yet
again. She cursed as the screen in front of her began to distort. "I've
done my job here, returning to base," she conceded and flipped off the
communicator.
Akane lunged forward as she realized what was happening. The black unit
turned her back on both of them and two large holes opened up on her back
revealing two large jets. "No! Get back here!" She was thrown back by the
blast as the enemy shot into the sky. "Damn her!"
-----------------------------------
Toroya lifted the radio to his ear and frowned. "Thanks for the cover
stranger, what unit you with?"
"I'm not," said the female voice on the other end. "Got two of the
bastards for ya though."
"Pardon?" said the man in shock.
"Check out your right side," said the strange girl.
Toroya did and smiled. "Whoever you are, I like you."
-------------------------------
"What are they up to?" snarled the commander of the Xoenthropie unit as
he looked at the crop of rocks where they had the small band of men
trapped. He had managed to get one of his men close enough to deliver a
grenade, but they had proved smarter than he originally thought. Somehow
they managed to get someone in another, larger pile of debris to lay down
cover fire while the escaped. Two of his men went down in the unexpected
maneuver. His biggest problem was how they managed that, there was no
cover between the two spots. A low rumbling caught his attention and he
glanced back at the pinned men. "What the hell?"
---------------------------------
Toroya grinned madly as he charged forward. Somehow the girl had managed
to get them close enough to the armored transport unit that hey had been
cut off from before. In the excitement he had almost forgotten it was
there. He shifted gears again and bore down on the enemy unit as they
rushed away in a panic blasting uselessly at the side of the monstrosity.
It was unarmed, but served his purpose well. Quickly he unlatched the
hatch above him and jammed the stick forward with his foot as he climbed
out on top of the transport and rushed away. The similar enemy transport
that the enemy had been using for cover took the blow full force and
rolled onto its side.
As the enemy panicked the humans took immediate advantage of the
situation and rushed from behind the rocks opening up on anything that
was blue and moved. The Xoenthropies fell and rushed away in retreat back
towards the main force. A small firefight ensued that lasted only a few
moments. Several of the blue skinned men rushed away across the fields
with one or two of them falling occasionally under the fire of Toroya and
his men.
"We got those sons of bitches!" screamed Ryoken triumphantly. He paused
and looked at what was coming towards him. His face fell suddenly and he
broke into a run back towards the cover.
Toroya followed the man's gaze and paled. "Fall back! Now damn it!"
Three more armored transports were picking up what remained of the unit
and were boring down on them. One of the bulky metal transports started
to bore down on him and he pushed himself as hard as he could, a deep
fear filled him as he realized it would not be enough.
That was when the black metal monster seemed to explode on it's own
behind him. He was thrown forward by the blast and rolled across the
ground. He flipped back onto his back with a dazed look and stared at the
burning tank for a moment as he slowly began to realize his men were
cheering. He turned his head and saw another of the units explode in a
ball of flame. "What the?"
A large green airborne military transport landed in front of him. It
looked like an oversized cross between a helicopter and a jet. He shook
his head and dusted himself off as he stood up. The door to the transport
opened revealing a smug looking man with a scar on his cheek. "You're
late."
"Yeah, but I always get there," said the man calmly as the men poured
out of the transport behind him.
------------------------------------
Soun rested back in his chair as the battle turned with the arrival of
the Japanese Self-Defense Force. The invaders turned away and rushed back
to their transports. He smiled darkly as a few of the ground transports
exploded before reaching the airborne units that would take them back
into space.
"It's about time," commented Genma lazily.
"Sir the commander wishes to speak with you," said one of the men.
"Put him on," said Soun with a small nod.
The technician flipped several switches and an older looking man
appeared on the screen in front of them in formal military uniform.
"Tendo."
"You're late Korta," said the man in reply.
"We ran into another, smaller force south of here. They were planning on
using this as a distraction and get in through the back," said the man
with a light smile appearing on his face.
"I suppose that would have worked," commented Soun. It was unclear
whether or not he meant it as a joke.
"Probably so," said the man with a shrug.
"Well we are thankful for your efforts yet again old friend."
"I'm glad to hear it," said the man with his formality returning again.
"We will of course offer out hospitality to you and your men," said Soun
with a slightly diplomatic tone about him.
"We gladly accept," said the man with his grin returning again.
"I look forward to it old friend."
------------------------------
Ranma jumped out from behind her cover and smirked at the celebrating
men. She slung the firearm across her shoulder with practiced ease and
jumped down.
"So, you're the one who saved our asses out there. Who are you?" said
Toroya with more than a little surprise on his face.
"Ranma Saotome," replied the girl with a shrug.
"I hate to ask, but what are you doing out here?" said the man with a
sudden caution about him.
"I'm training Akane Tendo and Kodachi Kuno in martial arts. Don't look
at me that way, there's no way I'm going to sit out on a fight like
this."
The men averted their gaze from the rather attractive young girl
suddenly. Fortunately for them she didn't recognize the lust in their
gazes.
One of the soldiers snorted in amusement at the scene. "A pretty lady
like yourself shouldn't be out on a battlefield like this."
Ranma turned to shout her protest, but she was cut off by a loud voice
laced with anger.
"That's no lady."
Everyone turned to look at the Lieutenant in shock. He stepped forward
and broke into a run. "Ranma Saotome! I was hoping I'd meet you again!"
"Hey, that guy looks familiar!" said the girl as she stepped back. The
man stopped in front of her and threw his hat to the ground.
"Tell me! Why did you run out on our man to man fight?!" snapped the man
angrily.
"Hey! You're Ryoga Hibiki! How's it going man?" said the girl
cheerfully.
"How's it going? My life has been hell! We're in the middle of a war in
case you didn't notice!" snapped the man bitterly as he reached down and
picked up his hat. He straightened it back onto his head and glared at
her. "Just be glad I had more important things to worry about rather than
hunting you down after the Juban massacre." He turned and walked stiffly
back to the transport. "Come on, we've got to report in."
The soldiers followed behind with confused and uncertain looks on their
faces.
"You know that guy? What's up his ass?" said Toroya dumbly. "Is he an
old boyfriend or something?"
"No he isn't," snapped Ranma in retort. She looked up as the transport
flew away and sighed. "He can't possibly still be mad about that can he?"
she muttered to herself as she reshouldered the rifle and turned to walk
back to the complex with the remains of the security force.
---------------------------------
Siore growled angrily as she was cleared to land on the lunar base. She
cursed under her breath as she neared the landing pad and saw her waiting
for her there. The unit came to a stop and shut down, she opened the
hatch and climbed out staring Fei down as the redhead stood with her arms
crossed with a smirk on her face.
"Shut up! I'm not in the mood!"
"Well, aren't we touchy? I was only going to ask which of those little
girls you managed to kill?"
Siore snarled and lashed her arm out at the woman missing her face by no
more than a centimeter. Fei stood calmly and sighed.
"With that much damage don't tell me you failed."
"I completed my mission and moved those little bitches away from the
complex! Don't get testy with me, your unit was in no better condition as
I recall, and you only had to face one little girl."
Fei paused and frowned at the comment. "I suppose you're right. We
really will have to do something about them."
"Shut up Fei," snorted Siore as she pushed by her.
"Your analysis?" said a small deep voice from the redhead's watch.
"She's learning. She may be stubborn, but she followed my instructions
this time. Not that it did much good."
"Keep me informed."
"Yes Admiral. For the Empire."
"Yes, for the Empire indeed."
--------------------------------------
Kurume sat down in front of the television and relaxed. "Man that was
hell!"
Lou smiled at her roommate as she walked into the room toweling off her
hair lazily. "I'll say, these attacks never get any better."
"Well, the world is watching you know!" quipped the girl with a small
giggle. She turned and noticed her friend was holding a letter in her
hand. "Hey, what's that? You never get mail."
The woman smiled as she sat down next to her and opened it slowly. "Just
a letter from home. Mom likes to keep in touch about twice a year or so."
Kurume nodded and giggled. "She's probably gonna ask if you've found a
man yet or something!"
"You know my mother?" quipped Lou as she looked over the message and
seemed to freeze in place. The smile fell from her lips suddenly and she
started to shake.
The other girl jumped up immediately in concern. "Oh, is it bad news?"
"No, it's worse," said the girl through her tears. She threw the letter
onto the table and rushed into her room.
"Lou!" cried Kurume as she started to go after her. She paused and
looked down at the letter for a moment.
"Lou Xian, Joketsuko destroyed, family dead. Contact us. Cologne."
"Oh god!" gasped the woman in shock as she rushed into her friend's
room. "Lou!"
She found something completely unexpected. Lou was not crying on her bed.
The woman was staring firmly into a mirror with tears flowing down her
face dressed in Chinese clothes with an armored breastplate covering her
chest. She was tying her hair up into buns on the top of her head and
simply stared forward with a fierce gaze that she had never seen in the
woman before.
"Lou?"
The woman did not acknowledge her friend. She simply stared forward and
spoke in Chinese. "For the honor of Joketsuko mother. You shall be
avenged." She pushed by her friend and walked out of the apartment and
into the halls of the complex.
TBC...
Next time: Aftermath.
Just one thing. Before anyone says anything about Ryoga being to young
for the military. Please bear in mind that there is a global conflict at
the moment that has been going on for more than twenty years. Things have
gotten a bit more desperate over time and as with wars of the past;
anyone who wants to get into the military bad enough can. I've given
Ryoga the lowest rank an officer can have also, so it's not like he's
commanding an army.
P.S. I don't know much about the Japanese military [Self-Defense Force],
so I'm using the US military system in places where I need to. I probably
won't go too much into detail about it anyway.
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
Url: Http://www.geocities.com/misatira/