[FFML] [Fanfic][Ranma / X-COM] The Road to Cydonia Chapter 28

[Justin Wagner]

As always, Previous chapters of TRTC can be found on FFN
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2314624/1/The_Road_to_Cydonia

or on my site (which also hosts a UFOpedia and Character Info)
http://www.wagnergrp.com/JBW_Website/Fanfiction/TRTC.htm


-----

Author's Note: As the previous chapter was two "parts" instead of three,
this chapter is "four" parts, and thus a little longer than normal
(though the previous chapter was actually normal length, and not
shorter).

-----

For six years, mankind has waged a Secret War against an enemy from
Beyond the Stars. Despite a surge of activity in the Far East theatre,
and fierce battles waged to unseat the Sirius Conspiracy and avenge the
loss of the Joketsuzoku village, UNETCO and the two new squads have
prevailed time and time again. With the threat of Cologne and other
second generation Trenchards (alien human hybrids) looming ahead, the
high command readies for a strike at one of the planet's last remaining
alien bases. For India and Juliet squads, confrontation with these
corrupted master martial artists is inevitable. Finally, the last great
push to drive the entrenched alien presence off-Earth has begun. Only
with that done, can XCOM bring the fight to the stars.

-----

The Road to Cydonia
Chapter XXVIII
The Big Show

-----

Written by:
Capn Chryssalid
jbraveboy at gmail.com

-----

Seiran Mountain

Nabiki took a few extra seconds and finished writing before she stood up
to leave. Around the large rectangular meeting table the more
experienced members of the Command and Control facility were already
heading towards the room's shaded glass door. They were all support
staff; the only person with a rank present was the Commander. She still
sat at the head of the table, one hand supporting her chin and the other
hovering over a small portable keyboard: mostly clear save for the white
toned keys. The Commander had used it during the teleconferencing they'd
had with the staff at Dongchuan and Irkutsk.

The scale of the operation involved three bases, from three different
countries: the command staff from all three had to be integrated
together for it to work. Luckily, just as XCOM had a clear regional
command hierarchy for its military members, each base was both self
sufficient and easily capable of operating as part of a single broader
network. Seiran, as the largest base and seat of Regional Command: Far
East, would be the operational hub. And Nabiki would be right in the
middle of it.

Swiveling out of her seat and retrieving the quick notes she'd jotted
down during the briefing, she joined the rest of Seiran's Squad
Coordination Department. They were all part of the General Intelligence
section of Command and Control, including SigINT, HUMINT, IMINT and the
other dataminers. Only interrogations were handled by a separate branch
of the department, one called Special Research and Intelligence, which
also handled most of the psionic related Intel duties (including, it was
rumored, spying on everyone else). Those people weren't present except
for Director Weissman, but many of the techs from Networking and
Information Control were slipping out of the room to their desks. Theirs
was arguably the hardest job of them all: to keep the world from knowing
about the secret war raging sporadically across the planet and in its
skies.

Since her transfer to GenIntel, Nabiki's superior had been a serious
looking older woman named Rebecca Woomer, from America. She was a
"Director" like Weissman, and just like him she answered directly to the
base Commander. She was also fairly new, having transferred in from
outside the organization only six months ago. Weissman, in contrast, had
been Director at Seiran since its Alien Containment facility came on
line, years ago, and while Weissman's personality could be called frosty
at best, Rebecca seemed far more personable and engaging. She always
kept a level head, and she'd been willing to let Nabiki take a chance at
Consulting for India Squad during the doppelganger mess.

Nabiki liked her. In fact, she had good feelings about most of the
people she worked with. Standing to her side, and trailing slightly
behind the group as it headed out, Nabiki saw Rachael Glascoe, the woman
who had been initially assigned to both India and Juliet Squads. She was
Caucasian, like almost everyone at Seiran, around thirty or thirty one,
with wavy dark red hair cut short and librarian-like glasses. She struck
Nabiki as the "quietly competent" sort, who just tried to do a good job
without standing out, messing up, or speaking much. She had been sadly
unprepared for the sort of micromanagement that India Squad (and
especially its lieutenant) required.

Honestly, it was amazing that Ryouga had managed his directional problem
so well for so long without panicking or causing a scene. Luckily,
Nabiki had been close by when he'd gotten lost, and her quick thinking
had worked out instead of backfiring. She already worked as an assistant
in General Intelligence, so volunteering to help with India Squad was an
easy step up. Conveniently, it only entailed actually doing more work
during missions. It would also be nice (or so she thought) to be that
little bit closer to the action and to the people out doing the
fighting.

She nodded to Gary and Terri and the two Consultants returned the polite
gesture. They were in their thirties, too, and Gary was the only guy in
their group of six. Nabiki wasn't sure if there was some physiological
aspect to it, but all but two squads from Seiran had female Consultants
working for them. The ratio was a contrast to the fact that the vast
majority of soldiers in the squads were male. Nabiki felt a bump as
someone slipped by her and her mind fell back, almost instantly, to an
old vengeful default.

Reiko Marume.

Fate would see to it that the only other Japanese woman around (beside
the Commander of course) was someone she simply couldn't work with.
Reiko reminded her of Hinako-sensei: she was arrogant, over-assertive,
with a chip dangerously balanced on her shoulder. She was the youngest
in the group, next to Nabiki, with long dark hair done up in a bun and
an athletic body that contrasted sharply with most of her peers. For her
part, Nabiki had no idea what she had done to irk the other woman. Hell,
she'd been on what was probably the best behavior of her life the last
few months! She hadn't even transferred over to General Intelligence
until recently.

Still, there would be time to find out about that later. And, if
necessary... well, she wouldn't DO anything serious, but she'd arm
herself as appropriate in case a squabble occurred. ...Out of self
defense.

Heading down the stairs with the others, towards 'the Floor' - the large
open area where they all worked - Nabiki couldn't help but imagine what
Ryouga would think, if he somehow knew what she was considering.
Especially after last night. But it wasn't blackmail or anything like
that. She just needed to know why this co-worker was so contrarian, and
if there was anything that could be done about it, if the need should
arise. It was a totally different situation.

Totally different.

Her workstation was little changed from before; the real difference was
in what she did, rather than what she did it with. There was no real
organization to her station; she left papers or notes or printouts
wherever they were conveniently close at hand. Her memory was always
sufficient to remember where something was, even if it wasn't in any
place obvious. Activating the little telecom next to her monitor, she
let the little teleconference device boot up while she attended to her
real work.

Settling into her chair, she started up the squad communication program
on the main monitor directly in front of her. UNETCO used a combination
of human adapted hyperwave technology and radio for communications
purposes, and moments after processing her log in and clearance the
program launched. Several windows opened up, displaying information on
Smartlinked equipment. Four video feeds also appeared, displaying
inactive text. All were accompanied by audio waveforms indicating
silence, with the record features similarly disabled.

Slipping on her headset and adjusting the microphone, she cleared her
throat and spoke up.

"Hey, lost boy! You listening?"

A few seconds passed, and Nabiki pursed her lips in irritation;
obviously India Squad hadn't activated their comms yet. The 'lost boy'
thing was always guaranteed to get a response; usually some variant of
'can you please not call me that' but occasionally the more waggish 'I'm
not lost... right now anyway.' Nothing to be done about it if they
weren't ready, though. Switching to the other monitor that rested at a
slight angle, to her right of the primary, she quickly brought up a
display indicating their position.

It was similar to one of the displays on one of the big screens on the
wall. That one showed the location and vectors of all the relevant air
traffic from Beijing to the Sea of Japan. Most of it was ghosted and
partly transparent. That was the civilian traffic. This left military
and government traffic highlighted, along with XCOM craft. The sky was
clear of alien-made UFOs, at least for the moment, and on one of the
blue dots India Squad had to be preparing for the fight of their lives.

With a little time to kill, Nabiki brought up the manifest of the craft
they were on. India wasn't the only Squad going in with Operation
Pathfinder. Akane and Golf Squad were in the same Avenger, speeding
towards the enemy. Reflecting on her little sister, Nabiki knew that a
part of her wasn't just worried for her safety, but jealous of her, too.
Even if she wanted to put herself in harm's way, Nabiki could never -
would never - understand the sort of battle-mindedness that so many of
her peers engaged in. There was the thrill of competition, yes, but the
violence of it all was rather off-putting. Noting the manifest, and the
equipment list that had been logged when it left base, Nabiki took some
time to look up any other relevant information that she would need, or
that India Squad would request.

Sooner rather than later, she heard a beep and a short burst of static
as one of the audio lines activated. Video was still off line, though.

"...six fourteen hours. Watchmen One through Four are on line. I am now
activating India Squad."

"There you are, lost boy," Nabiki quickly said, turning to the primary
monitor.

"Don't call me that, 'mercenary girl.'"

"You picked that up from Shampoo."

"...Nabiki," Ryouga's tone became serious again.

"Right, right. Good morning to you, too." She kept her smile; business
was business and all that. "Everything looks good here, Lieutenant
Hibiki. Patching India in."

One by one, the other India Squad members synched up. First Mousse, then
Ryu, then Kuno. The system uploaded data from their armor, running a
steady stream of four diagnostic tables with real time updates regarding
physiology and other information from those sensors that had been
activated. A number were still off line though, just like the video
feed, and the equipment list was incomplete.

"When you guys are ready, let's plug in your gear, ok?"

"We're almost ready," Ryouga assured her.

"She can probably guess who were waiting up on," Ryu added, speaking up
over the teamcomm for the first time.

"Hey!" another voice grumbled, "You think this is easy? There's a lot of
stuff in here!"

"I wouldst ask if that chicken you pulled out before is smartlinked as
well," Kuno joked, much to his teammates' amusement. Well, two of them
anyway.

"It will be when I get the laser beams for its eyes."

Nabiki chuckled softly as the boys laughed, checking up the equipment
manifest. Mousse had indicated quite the... diverse range of weaponry
brought on board. How he could even move carrying so much, she couldn't
fathom. Then again, all the boys were pretty superpowered in that
regard. They could handle a vehicle class heavy weapon as easily as a
man in powered armor. Easier, even.

"There we go!" Mousse finally exclaimed. "Ok. I'm ready."

"Loading," Nabiki announced, and brought up their personal weapons. All
the Smartlinked equipment immediately registered, confirming that it
came from the Armory, that it was checked out under a certain name and
Squad, that it was loaded, and that it was cleared to be used. It was a
lot of trouble, but Nabiki could imagine the fracas that could arise
from someone 'losing' a plasma pistol during a Terror Site or in the
middle of a cornfield. UNETCO ran a tight ship. There was also the
matter of security, secrecy aside...

"It all looks good," she observed, and couldn't resist adding, "No
weaponized chickens, though."

"Don't tell them that! It ruins the surprise!"

"Ok, let's get these buckets on," Ryouga interrupted, referring to their
helmets. Which meant she'd be getting that video feed, finally.

"Nabiki," he continued, "Pull up details on the initial attack. I'd like
a map of the area uploaded to us as soon as it becomes available, along
with any other surprises before we land."

"On it," she replied, loading up the information. It'd be sent over to
their HUDs as soon as the video was up. Looking up, briefly, at the
sound of Director Woomer's voice, she checked the big screen. Sure
enough, more than a few red dots appeared between the XCOM craft and
their target.

"Looks like you guys have some company..."

"UFOs?" Ryouga asked.

"Doesn't look like it. Says here they're Mig-29s."

"Nothing to worry about then. We probably won't even feel a bump when we
run them over."

-----

Once on the ground, Pathfinder was proving to be more interesting than
expected.

Or perhaps the better word would be: 'unconventional.'

The once orderly airbase was no more. In its place, men fought over a
cratered Hell of burning wrecks, thick with enough smoke to blot out the
sky. Anything and everything on the surface during the first two minutes
of the attack had been destroyed by flights of XCOM Firestorms. The air
and space superiority craft had been undeterred by the meager and half
hearted aerial resistance that scrambled, at the last second, to try and
defend the target. They then turned laser and plasma towards the Earth.

Beams had burned holes through vehicles, or neatly bisected them easier
than a knife cutting through gelatin, leaving the two halves to rest
side by side, engulfed by flames. Low powered plasma shattered bunkers
like so much kindling, strewing charred glassy remains of reinforced
concrete for half a mile in every direction. Within that initial
conflagration, explosions tore through barbed wire, fences, gate and
guard houses, and the burning remains. Munitions cooked off, mines were
scattered like dry leaves, and then the landings began.

And about three minutes later, it got crazy.

"Hardsuit!"

Through the smoke, a heavy metal trunk emerged and sank into the ground,
oblivious to, or just unfazed by, the burning oil all around it. It was
vaguely leg shaped, with a large metallic shin guard that covered the
upper thigh. Emblazoned on the guard was a red star in a white circle,
within another red square, a stripe of blue above and below. It was only
the first of many icons of the flag, all to decorate what was probably
considered by many to by the most advanced war machine on the planet.

To someone who had seen real powered armor, however, it was an ungainly
beast. The articulation on the "legs" were stout, but it fit the overall
design: a slightly sloped but generally rectangular casing made up the
heavily armored "torso," with a single red lens set in the upper middle.
Two arms stuck straight out, one bracing and supporting a massive cannon
clearly also integrated into the main body, and another more mobile
appendage with several smaller weapons systems attached. It didn't move
particularly quickly, but that wasn't its purpose - it pivoted slightly
and hunkered down, becoming a very solid and imposing block of metal
that was still more than seven feet high.

The minigun mount on its left arm began to spin.

"Would you look at that? A genuine mecha!!"

A flash of black and white twisted through the smoke, emerging like a
ghost from behind the burning hulk of a North Korean tank. It, too, was
something of a custom model, but it had been conspicuous enough to get
picked off from the air while still loitering at the motor pool.
Whatever weapons and defenses it had had, alien upgraded or not, had
been of no use against the initial laser bombardment from some thirty
miles away. It may have failed at defending the facility that built it,
but Mousse found it convenient cover.

Two flashes of fire and light streaked out before he even hit the
ground. Nearly invisible wires connected the missiles to their
launchers, one in each of the Hidden Weapons Master's hands. They took
all of a second to reach their target, the MK-301A high explosive anti
tank warheads exploding with jets of fire powerful enough to cut through
four hundred millimeters of rolled homogeneous steel. Through the smoke
and fire came the reply: the roar of a three barreled minigun's electric
motor, firing some nine hundred 20 millimeter armor piercing rounds per
minute.

Mousse chuckled mirthfully as he ducked back behind another nearby tank
carcass. Shells pinged and pockmarked its already stressed and ruined
hide, but safe for the moment, Mousse held out his arms and retracted
the two three-and-a-half foot long missile launchers back into the
bottomless sleeves of the robes he wore over his armor.

"Got the location?" he asked, as the fire died down.

"Got it," Ryouga's voice came over the comm. "Nabiki! Forward it! Ten
seconds!"

What one XCOM trooper saw, Command and Control saw. And what Command and
Control wanted leveled, annihilated, or yes: even captured, could be
rapidly disseminated down the ranks. The exact location of the North
Korean Hardsuit was already on its way up and down the chain of Command.
Not that Mousse could afford to just stand still and wait. That prickle
of danger, his well honed sakkijutsu, told him to move, and so he did at
a speed virtually no other human being could match.

A wail filled the air, and behind him, the crippled battle tank tilted
up and rolled over from the force of a blow. An imperceptible instant
into the destruction, the roar of a sonic boom drowned out all other
noise. Holding out his arm, Mousse's sleeves shifted, spitting a new
weapon out and into his hands. Across the battlefield, the Korean
Hardsuit continued to pivot, the torso section traversing to the left as
it opened fire with its minigun, the cannon on its other side still
glowing neon blue and white hot from the previous discharge. In the
distance, a thunderous explosion erupted upwards like a fountainhead.

Legs pumping in midair, Mousse hit the ground running even as he leveled
his plasma carbine and took a snap shot at the nearby behemoth. His was
no cheap knock off or hand-me-down. A Christmas bundle of superheated
plasma and bottled anti-matter hit the Hardsuit just above the
articulation joint that connected to the main body. Metal distorted and
vaporized in the ensuing flash of heat and radiation, but ruggedness of
design kept it firing, though off target. 20mm minigun rounds perforated
a smashed APC lying on its side, off to Mousse's right. Crouching, the
male Amazon took another shot, taking more time and care, and planted it
right on the spinning barrels of the gun itself. In an instant, it
became a sprinkler, spraying molten steel and ruined machinery in every
direction. The motor exploded amid the secondary ammunition cook offs,
filling the air with sparks.

The main gun came around, as quickly as the Hardsuit's pilot could
manage. The aliens had obviously had a hand in helping build it for
their thralls and allies - it was certainly powerful enough, and
probably designed to bust tanks open and knock planes or even missiles
out of the sky. Putting it into an anti-infantry role was a waste.
Content with having taken care of the minigun, Mousse stood and took a
few easy steps to the side.

"Seven, Eight, Nine..."

The ground under the Hardsuit suddenly split, forming a giant X
underneath it, with lines as long as five men head to toe. Immediately,
it began to list over, and then with a crash the ground beneath it gave
way, the ground around it heaving out and up. Slabs of rock, like the
petals of a flower, jutted upwards, sinking and trapping the Hardsuit
within. Mousse never even saw the Blaster Bomb as it zipped in, took a
90 degree turn, and plunged down. He felt the explosion though, just as
well as he saw it. A shockwave shook the earth and blew away smoke, ash
and burning oil. A nearby truck tumbled sideways along the ground, but
Mousse didn't stick around to enjoy the show. Quickly finding new cover,
he took an instant to identify the location of his teammate.

"Kuno," he asked, and glanced off to the left. "You see anything over
there?"

"I believe so," Kuno's voice came in clear over the dim of distant
explosions and gunfire. "Yes. They are firing from one of the only
partly destroyed structures. Permission to engage?"

"No," Ryouga decided, from his position elsewhere in the battlefield.
"Let's scope it out first. Mousse - get over there."

"On my way!" Mousse confirmed, and started in that direction. Stealing a
look at where the Hardsuit had been, he saw only a pile of rubble and
stone, a bright fire burning within. The battlefield was hot as hell,
and not just metaphorically. The bombardment and intense fires made
thermoptics difficult to use, which left either low light or the
reliable Mark 1 eyeball. Mousse stuck with the latter. His natural
vision was as shitty as it had always been, but the vision correcting
lenses in the face hugging goggles he wore mostly fixed that problem.
More to the point: if he had a problem seeing people, he could just
counter that deficit by making it harder for others to see him.

Case in point:

"Tangos sighted," he said, softly, and shouldered his weapon before
taking a shot. The HUD didn't identify any of the shapes as friendly (or
integrated into the overall network), so they were fair game. Mousse's
plasma rifle barked, and one of the shapes vanished in a puff of bloody
smoke. Flash vaporization wasn't pretty, but at least it was quick.

Ducking a little lower, Mousse took a second shot, and then a third.
Another of the figures all but disintegrated. Another opened fire with a
machine gun, hosing down the area. Mousse ignored it; the 7.62mm rounds
simply weren't a danger to someone in personal armor. Two other shapes,
however, opened fire with entirely different weapons. Resisting the
impulse to go prone, trading protection and cover for mobility, he noted
the faint green trails of light that shot out from the enemy position.
They had some watered down alien plasma weapons, too. Mousse had seen a
few on corpses earlier: they were basically scaled up plasma pistols.
Still Elerium based, though, which meant the aliens could always just
cut off the supply of ammunition when the partnership was no longer
convenient.

Were he in powered armor, he'd be less worried about a hit. However...

Feet skidding in the dirt and dust, Mousse zipped back behind cover. A
few seconds later, long range sniper fire from behind the XCOM advancing
perimeter silenced the North Korean commandos. Running, now, over to
Kuno's position, Mousse saw the half destroyed bunker that had been
mentioned earlier. A missile erupted from part of the structure,
slamming into another ruined building nearby. A HWP behind cover
returned fire, laser cannon spitting nearly invisible beams of light
that burned and displaced smoke in the acrid air. Kuno was crouched
behind the cover of one of the destroyed buildings, his sword still at
his hip, and a plasma rifle in his hands.

"Kuno," Mousse called in quick greeting as he approached.

"Mousse," the swordsman replied, and gestured towards the entrenched
enemies.

"Psionic attack in ten seconds," Ryouga informed them. "Ryu and I will
support from the... wait, is it east? Nobody... Eats... Sour...
Watermelons... ok: west."

Mousse and Kuno just shook their heads.

There was little time to lament their leader's less than perfect
directional skills, however. In moments, a loud scream came from across
the battlefield, along with the sound of gun and plasma fire. One of the
enemy soldiers ran right out from behind cover, arms flailing in panic.
A second later, an RPG detonated behind the defilade. That was the cue;
intense fire came in from the west, while the armored HWP rolled out of
cover towards the enemy position. Mousse and Kuno quickly followed,
using the vehicle for cover.

The panicked commando disappeared in a flash; whatever all too earthly
armor he wore totally insufficient against XCOM issue alien weaponry.
Another took a laser beam to the torso, and silently fell forward into a
pool of concrete rubble. Another sniper shot from half the battlefield
away picked off one of the soldiers as he popped out of cover to try and
fire another RPG or anti tank missile. Approaching the position, Kuno
quickly sighted another as he tried to shoot from around a corner. A
plasma bolt incinerated the corner he had been hiding behind, and sent
him howling to the ground, half his body gone.

The inside of the bunker was almost unrecognizable as such. Metal
supports jutted out of the concrete like ragged black teeth, and
everything inside had either been flattened by rubble or scorched by
plasma fire. Glassy pools and chunks of gooey concrete covered parts of
the floor, mixing and hissing on contact with pools of blood. Mousse and
Kuno quickly swept what was left of the area.

"Area's clean," Mousse finally confirmed, though 'clean' wasn't the
first adjective that came to mind.

"Juliet is assembling for our next big push," Ryouga informed them, his
voice a little hasty. "Rendezvous with us. They'll want our support.
Bring the HWP."

"Let us depart, then," Kuno spoke up, taking one last look around. "To
see what further abominations these curs have debased themselves in."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be more than enough to get the old righteous anger
flowing, Kuno..."

"You have a vexing lack of appreciation for the dramatic, Mu Tzu."

Mousse laughed. "I wouldn't say that..."

-----

Ranma rolled his eyes at the man's attempt to extradite himself. He'd
hoped for some interesting Tae Kwon Do or other fighting prowess on the
part of the special 'engineering' deputy Commander and his personal
cadre of guards. After all, they were the ones who Command suspected of
being most closely tied to the aliens. Even if they hadn't been a
challenge for a member of Juliet Squad, Ranma had at least expected them
to be interesting.

As it was, he stood calmly, pinning the deputy commander to the floor
with one foot, his hands free to hold and rest on his rifle. Twelve men
lay scattered around the office - draped over desks and tables, one
folded over on top of a computer monitor, another dangling from the
ceiling, arms swaying back and forth from the breeze of a nearby fan.
Just as many weapons, handguns, submachine guns, and assault rifles, lay
scattered around the room.

"Not much to them," Ranma observed, watching Konatsu as the ninja boy
carefully cleaned his poisonous short sword, Habu. "But it was nice to
see your 'Flying Killer Sword' again. I can see the trick you used to
beat Ukyou, now."

"You saw it, eh?" Konatsu asked, though it was purely rhetorical.
Looking down at the dark blade, and past its gleaming surface, to the
man pinned under Ranma's foot, Konatsu smiled just a little behind his
helmet's visor.

"As to be expected from you, Saotome-taichou," he concluded, apparently
not concerned that one of his ninja tricks had been uncovered.
"Remarkable insight, as always."

"What I don't get is why you bothered using it at all," Ranma replied.

"If you would like to know..." Konatsu held out the sword, balanced in
his hand with practiced and deadly ease. "I do not use the proper
version of that technique, and someone skilled in my Art would probably
not call my sword 'Habu.' This is because I do not use a painful
poison... instead, my Habu allows an enemy to drift off to a peaceful
and endless slumber from which there is no return. It is never my desire
to cause another human being undue pain, Saotome-taichou."

Ranma glanced off to the side, at one of the still bodies.

"I see."

"Hardsuit!!" Ukyou's voice interrupted, coming over the intercom. "What
the Hell is it doing in here?!"

"Konatsu!" Ranma slipped the tip of his boot under the captured deputy
Commander and effortlessly flicked him into the air. And into Konatsu's
arms, just as the ninja sheathed his blade. A half second later, Ranma
was gone.

'So fast...' the ninja marveled, not for the first time. 'Fast enough to
discern the secret of my Flying Sword, despite only actually seeing it
twice... Almost certainly, he had an idea of how to counter it, as well.
Saotome-taichou... very impressive.'

"Please don't struggle," Konatsu said, switching to Korean and putting
aside his thoughts. The man in his arms already had his hands tied
behind his back, but it hadn't totally diminished his stubbornness. He
was a fairly large man, just a little short of six feet tall, but the
much smaller and less imposing Konatsu nonetheless handled him like one
would a child.

"What did you say?" the man growled back, surprised that someone
actually spoke a language he could recognize. Of course, before this the
two soldiers had not activated external acoustics, leaving the only
marginally bruised deputy Commander in total silence.

"I would suggest you do not struggle," Konatsu explained cheerfully. "Or
I will have to paralyze you from the neck down."

The man's body instantly stiffened in fear.

"Thank you very much for your cooperation."

-----

Ranma sped through the hall, even as he called for psionic backup on
Ukyou and Shampoo's position. It was a relief to be able to call down a
BVR (beyond visual range) strike, in the form of a Blaster Bomb or a
psionic attack, basically at will. Captain Ben-Solomon performed much of
the work himself from the initial landing zones, supported by Alpha
Squad under Sergeant Hanley, two of whom were cleared for psionic and
supporting-fire warfare. Other psi-capable soldiers could be picked up
from the other squads as necessary. Against human opponents, the effects
were devastating. Mind Control and panic attacks scattered the ablest
and most hardened of enemy squads, driving them to attack each other in
fear and confusion. From there, XCOM moved in and finished the job with
grim and ruthless efficiency.

Compared to fighting the aliens, it was child's play.

He stopped at an intersection, spun and jabbed to his left, blowing the
door open. He then took a quick right. They were in one of the undamaged
complexes, the one designed to house the experiments and research done
at the human half of the facility. Post battle, Command would want hacks
on everything done here, so it wasn't completely leveled during the
initial bombardment. He and Konatsu had cleared out much of the east
wing, while Shampoo and Ukyou had been tasked to deal with the depot,
which then led to the labs. India Squad, meanwhile, hit the below ground
sections, while Delta secured the area and advanced to an area Intel
called "the pens." Charlie and Beta, meanwhile, were clearing out the
last two bunkers and numerous defense stations.

The sizzle and explosion of a plasma grenade came from up ahead, as he
entered the depot area. He instantly saw Ukyou and Shampoo, both behind
rapidly disintegrating cover. The depot was a cavernous part of the
facility, hewn out of mountainous rock, with scaffolding and walkways
all along the walls. More than a few commandos were also present, firing
from high vantage points. A massive inferno raged in the back, where a
fuel line had gotten caught in the crossfire, and the overhead
sprinklers were operating at full force to little or no effect.
Standing, imposing, directly ahead was another North Korean Hardsuit.
Two more were off line nearby, standing mute and inactive in alcoves cut
into the wall. The Hardsuit took a step forward and turned slightly to
face the new arrival, a soaking wet banner with the smiling face of Kim
Jong-il fluttering off to its side with the force of the depot's fire
suppression system.

Ranma just took a step to the right.

The Hardsuit's minigun, still spinning but not firing, turned to take
aim at him even as a parallel mounted grenade launcher on the same arm
opened fire. Wind contorted and wrapped around Ranma's arms, and
slashing them wide, the two grenades deflected in midair. A plasma bolt
splashed against the Hardsuit, now that it was distracted elsewhere,
ruining the main cannon and blowing its barrel assembly into a skeletal
ruin. A second later, something small, fast and silver shot by Ranma's
side, coming from the open depot door.

It zipped up and around the behemoth, before plowing into its rear with
force enough to bend nearby scaffolding and send men flying through the
air to crash into walls and even the ceiling. Ranma shielded his face
from the explosion, glad that the Commander had seen fit to direct the
Blaster Bomb up and around, instead of right into, the target. He wasn't
very keen on getting caught in anything like that any time soon. If he
wanted to take a dip in the sun, he'd go to Okinawa and try and get a
tan.

Without prompting, Ukyou and Shampoo emerged from cover, and opened fire
on the few remaining commandos who had been further back in the depot.
Ranma reached down and lifted his own weapon, taking aim as he advanced.
Taking a last shot (a miss; it had to fall to Shampoo to pick the man
off from his prone position on the railing), Ranma ejected the plasma
carbine's spent cartridge, and reloaded.

"Looks clear," he said, speaking to Command as his eyes went from one
side of the depot to the other. "How you holding up, India?"

Without prompting, he patched into the Squad Leader comm. frequency.

"Not bad," Ryouga responded, after a second's delay. "Kuno found a nest
of abductees."

"D-type?"

"One E, three D. A bunch of C. All volunteers."

Ranma nodded grimly. "Dead?"

"Do you have to ask?"

Well, some things changed less than others.

"You done?"

"We should be soon. Ryu and Mousse are securing the area. Hold on..."
Ryouga's voice cut off as he switched back to his team comm.

"Rachael," Ranma asked, as he watched Ukyou and Shampoo moving forwards
to check a small office near the back of the depot. "Patch me into
India, would you?"

A second or two later and he was in.

"...suspicious. Looks locked, though. We'll have to blast through." That
was Ryu's voice.

"Something interesting?" Ranma asked.

"I think so," Ryouga answered, not sounding annoyed that Ranma had
butted in. "We've got a door here, a heavy one. Like the kind you'd see
on a bank vault. No idea what's inside. We're translating some of the
stuff nearby now."

"Keep me appraised, would ya?"

"Will do."

"Saotome-taichou," Konatsu interrupted. "I have handed over the deputy
Commander to Squaddie Byrne, in Alpha Squad. Returning now."

Ranma nodded to himself. "Good work, Konatsu. Anything over there,
Shampoo?"

"No enemies," she replied, from the end of the depot. "No Tangos, I
mean. But there's a fire in this trash can. I think they burned their
files."

"Computers?"

"Two of them. Intact, but powered down."

"The tech heads will want to pick the hard drives anyway. Case 'em, and
let's head back."

"Yes, sir."

Ranma sighed, and tilted his head to stare up at the still active
sprinklers. Cool water ran in rivulets down his helmet and personal
armor. Had he been without it, his Jyusenkyou curse would have
activated, leaving him to fight (once again) as a girl. Oddly, the more
he got used to fighting again, pretty much all the time, as a man... the
less horrible it became to actually have the curse. Not that he liked
turning into a cute busty redhead when he got splashed, but without all
the inconvenient splashing like he got in Nerima... well, it was
livable.

He paused at that.

'Livable?' he repeated in his mind. 'Did I actually think that?'

He tried it again, more clearly, 'I think I can live with my curse.' It
only sounded halfway convincing, but the initial slip hadn't been a
coincidence. It was a sobering and somewhat aggravating premise... that
he could even imagine giving up on a cure, and going back to being a man
all the time, hot water or cold. After all, he was a guy. He had the
balls to prove it. He'd even slept with a girl, though he hadn't told
anyone about that. Occasionally crossdressing to fight giant eight
headed monsters or putting on a skirt to get free food - aside from all
that - he was a guy. A man among men, just like his mother wanted.

'I can live with my curse?' he shook his head, denying it.

Then, suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.

"I got it open!" Ryu yelled with a whoop of triumph audible and clear
over the teamcomm. "That was the code, alright! Good work, Nabiki!"

'This feeling...' Ranma's mind raced, immediately focused on the dull
rumble of his sakkijutsu. It was exciting and terrifying all at once,
and growing in intensity.

"Ranma," Ryouga spoke up, "Get Juliet together and meet up with us.
Command wants us to check this out while Mountain Boomer gets underway.
They don't want to leave any potential avenues of escape."

"We'll be there shortly," Ranma replied, partly by rote.

'This feeling... it has to be...'

-----

"Curse you, woman! What is the meaning of this interminable delay?"

Sitting at her desk, Nabiki rubbed her temples in open vexation. "I
forwarded the information for analysis. It'll take just another moment
or two, Kuno-baby..." She explicitly used the English rather than the
more familiar Kuno-chan to doubly annoy him. He really was acting like a
big baby.

"Listen here, you nettlesome fishwife, the future of the Kuno family is
at stake! I will not have our line cut short but for your lack of due
haste!"

"There's always Kodachi..."

"I would not trust the future of our noble line to that intemperate
woman! If she would bed a half man like Saotome, then..."

"I can hear you, you know," Ranma interrupted. "And if you ask me, your
genes could use a few new mutations, Kuno."

"You dare impugn the laurelled and studied majesty of the Kuno genome?"

"Isn't that what I just did?"

"Were you present, Lieutenant, I would smite thee."

Nabiki turned her head at the sound of a chime, eyes focusing on the
small dedicated communications transceiver-receiver set up to her left.
It was a stand alone part of the base's internal communications network;
everyone had one, allowing anyone to efficiently contact anyone else.
Resembling a digital phone mounted into a light black plastic stand, it
bundled both audio and video. What it couldn't do was send anywhere
outside the base's internal network protocol. That was handled almost
entirely by hyperwave communications to second tier facilities.

It had a software compatibility with the computer as well, allowing
instant sharing of data in real time with all the ease of a phone call.
Which Nabiki had used to forward the unusual radiation readings Kuno had
started getting as he and India Squad moved deeper into the alien base.
Not surprisingly, Kuno had been more than a little alarmed by his
personal armor's helpful warning that it had detected an unusual
radiation source nearby and that Kuno was bathing in a fraction of its
atomic glow.

The man now appearing on the screen was from Intel... but no one she
knew personally.

"There is nothing to worry about, Miss Tendo. We believe your squad is
close to the aliens' primary Elerium stockpile. In sufficient
quantities, it can set off a suit's warning receiver, but there is no
danger, even without the benefit of NBC gear," the man explained in a
casual, and to Nabiki, somewhat haughty tone of voice. "Command would
like any stockpiled Elerium secured. Immediately. This has priority over
all existing missions."

Nabiki nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll pass that on."

"See that you do," he curtly replied, and cut off without further ado.

"Nice guy..." Nabiki grumbled, but turned back to the screen. "Ok, guys.
Intel says there's Elerium in those hills, and they want it. Top
priority."

"What of the Kuno family jewels, woman?! Are they safe?"

"Why don't you check them for yourself and see if they're ok?" Then,
guessing he would actually contemplate that, she amended it by adding,
"Kuno-baby, the radiation is harmless. There isn't even enough to
shrivel a fruit fly's balls."

"Then the legendary Kuno virility is unmarred! Tis a relief..."

"Does the mission have priority?" Ryouga spoke up, as usual not one to
mince many words while in action.

"It does," she confirmed.

"Looks like we're going to have to part ways, Saotome," India Squad's
lieutenant announced. "India Squad! Let's move out! Ryu - take point."

"Happy to!"

"Kuno, you're behind him. Watch for an ambush."

"Yes, sir."

Nabiki watched through the four cameras on her main screen. Her role was
important, but limited. All she could do was try and keep an eye on what
their individual sensors recorded, and compare that to the information
assembled by the rest of the assault squads. She had a growing map of
the complex on another screen, compiled in real time by leading assault
elements. Several spots were flashing red, indicating contact with the
enemy. A running tally of enemies encountered was also ongoing, since
the aliens tended to fight in groups of the same type: Sectoids in one
area, Snakemen in another, Ethereals waiting in the shadows and letting
the humans exhaust themselves killing Sectoids and Snakemen...

Unfortunately, Juliet and India Squads had taken a backdoor into the
alien complex. Alpine Echo Seven was large, too, but proximate tracking
and GPS had at least determined where the two squads were relative to
the main force. Nabiki couldn't be sure, but if the Elerium stockpile
was nearby, it was likely that one or both squads were heading towards
the alien's garage. While underground, they were skirting the edges of
the lake, and she had been informed that the aliens used it as a cover
for launching and recovery, so it made sense.

Then, without warning, the corridor that Juliet Squad had been advancing
down flashed red.

"Be careful," she said, leaning a little closer to the screen. "Juliet
is encountering the enemy."

She saw one of the camera's shift, as Ryu looked abruptly to his right.
She saw his hand shoot up, indicating that they should hold back. Up
ahead, a T junction hung in the darkness. The aliens rarely used
lighting of any sort, which left XCOM to fight in the dark. Nabiki
glanced down at one of the displays on Ryu's HUD: his motion sensor.

"They're at the end of the hall," Ryu hissed.

"Do it," Ryouga growled.

Nabiki saw Ryu pull back one arm, and slash with the other. Then the
screen became a blur as he twirled, and she could guess that he was
using his feet to create additional vacuum blades. It meant he didn't
have to cycle between the attack and his rifle. In less than a second,
the others were moving, and she couldn't tell what was going on.

"Tango!"

"Sectoids!"

"Got im!"

"He's down!"

She heard weapons fire - plasma weapons barking in the dark, coughing
flashes of light that burned like the sun against the personal armor's
infrared sensors. Luckily the sensors were shielded and had an upper
limit, or the weapons fire alone would have been blinding.  Everyone
moved too fast to really follow, except occasionally when they hit cover
and fired.

India Squad was storming the junction.

She saw Mousse's camera as he fired at a small grey shape that had taken
refuge behind a corner of the wall. A flash erupted behind it. On
Ryouga's screen, a ball of light burned overhead - it seemed so close
that it had to have hit, at least to her. But no one screamed or fell to
the ground, camera shaking or off line as plasma melted it to slag.
Their suits reported perfect health, no breaches, no problems.

"Die, you son of a...!"

"Tango down!"

"Grenade!"

"Got it!"

"Move! Move!"

More weapons fire; more blurs on the screen. Maybe, if they had been
anything near normal, then she could have followed it. But India Squad
didn't just storm a corner, they used one of those weird martial arts
techniques to blast across the space. All the screen showed was a blur,
or sometimes a visible skip in the framerate. It was encouraging in a
way, but frustrating, too. If something did happen to any of them, she
had a feeling - no: she knew that she probably wouldn't even see it
coming. It was scary, but she probably wouldn't be able to tell if one
of these fights were going well or down the crapper.

"Clear."

"Clear."

"Mousse," Ryouga spoke more slowly, and Nabiki could see that he was
standing and not moving... or firing. He still had his carbine at the
ready, though. "Status? What do you see?"

"More walls. They go on straight ahead. Nothing unusual."

"Same here," the normally lost boy admitted. "Nabiki?"

"Yep?" she asked, always listening and waiting.

"Any difference in... what's it called? Greiger counter...?"

"Geiger," Mousse supplied.

"Any difference in radiation between Mousse and Kuno and me and Ryu?"

Nabiki checked. "Nothing substantial. Mousse's count is a little lower
than everyone else's, but Kuno's is the same."

"I am surrounded by something like five hundred pounds of assorted
toys," Mousse said, and she could almost hear his smile.

"We're going to have to split up. Mousse. Kuno. Watch yourselves. If you
hit another junction, stay put and hold it. Wait for us to clear our
section."

"Sir."

"Yes, sir."

"Ryu!"

"Sir!"

Glancing back at the real time map, she saw that Juliet squad had also
hit an intersection. In their case, they were securing it while two
members - it looked like Konatsu and Ukyou - cleared the eastern
corridor. Both lieutenants were playing it cautious and conservative, at
least by their standards. Still... Nabiki had a bad feeling about what
was ahead. They'd both encountered small groups of Sectoids, but there
hadn't been any mental attacks, which were otherwise rampant among the
main assault force.

The aliens knew where they were, at least in a general sense.

It was definitely possible that the two squads had hit the aliens by
surprise, and they didn't have enough rear guards in the area to mount
an effective counterattack. But that was probably the most optimistic
scenario. At worst, they were walking into a trap, or the aliens were
setting up a Blaster Bomb route...

-----

Ukyou and Konatsu advanced through the alien doors as they melded into
the walls. Like a lot of amazing technology, they took it for normal by
this point. Which was not to say they were immune to awe. Through the
doors, Konatsu and Ukyou stood, mute, before what they saw.

It was the 'garage.'

Spread out before and below them was a cavern, large enough to boggle
the mind. Unlit, it seemed to stretch on forever. The walls were smooth
and high, so much so that the ground couldn't be clearly seen. The sight
of a landed alien battleship gave the garage some perspective: the
ceiling was perhaps twice again the height of the alien ship, maybe a
little more, placing it at about 35 or 36 meters. Berthed beside the
battleship sat a large scout, and another large scout, and another. And
another. And then, in the distance, two Abductor class vessels.

It was, perhaps, a kilometer or more long.

"Saotome-taichou..." Konatsu recovered first, and spoke up to inform
their squad leader. "We have found the alien hangar facilities. They
seem to be empty."

"Good work, Konatsu. Ukyou. Secure the area."

Before Konatsu or Ukyou could reply, however, they felt a chill run down
their spines. Neither master martial artist saw anything unusual or
suspicious, but something deep down in the self-preservation center of
the brain compelled them to turn and look behind them. Konatsu and Ukyou
responded to the call, and an anxious glance quickly turned into a long
look of shock.

Standing less than a meter behind them, within arm's reach even, stood a
man in titian robes. The hood of his monastic cowl was drawn back,
exposing his face to the half light from one of the flares dropped in
the hallway outside. There was light enough to see that his human
features were tortured: the eyes were gone, leaving blackened hollows
like a mockery of glasses, the hair was gone and the lips were slightly
pulled back, creating a permanent scowl that exposed teeth.

"Hello there," it said, in Japanese, with a well mannered tone. "How are
you two doing today?"

-----

'That feeling... him...!'

Ranma's sakkijutsu recognized Doctor Tofu, even now. The doctor had
fooled it before, a long time ago, even to the point where he could
sneak up on Ranma while he was fully alert. For someone who could rely
on his danger sense to dodge an attack even while asleep, that was no
small feat. But Ranma had gotten better over the last two years. A lot
better! He felt it, barely, and knew what it meant.

He turned slightly, on the verge of launching himself to the aid of his
companions.

"I wouldn't," a voice suggested. It wasn't one he recognized, at least
not immediately.

Turning his head, slowly, he saw a woman standing next to Shampoo. She
didn't seem overly interested or concerned with the girl, who still
crouched, weapon held against her shoulder and ready to fire at anything
peeking out from down the west hall. It took Shampoo a moment to process
that someone was standing next to her. She turned her head, but saw only
the stranger's - the woman's - back. Her hair was long and dark,
cascading down and contrasting sharply with the vivid Ethereals' habit
that she wore.

"Ranma," she said, with a smile. Then, as if an afterthought, she
glanced over her shoulder. "Great grand-daughter."


-----

"I can't believe this thing is still alive..." Mousse advanced,
carefully stepping over the carbonized remains of one of the aliens
they'd ran into. They'd been a lightly equipped bunch, and on contact
they'd thrown grenades and tried to fall back. There was little to fault
their plan or execution, but failure was still failure, no matter how
well intended.

One of the Sectoids was still alive, despite taking no less than two
plasma rounds, one to the leg and another to the arm. Most of its lower
body was gone, but it was still alive and crawling, using only one arm.
It left a thick trail of ichor in its wake, but the blood loss and shock
didn't seem to have taken its toll. The creature was moments from
grabbing hold of one of its comrade's grenades when Kuno placed a shot
at perfect center of mass. It instantly cooked away, the fluid in its
body flash vaporizing, the force and fury of the expanding vapor blowing
it apart.

"Looks clear," Mousse observed, stepping around the mess and continuing
down the hall. Like virtually all of the alien base they'd gone through
the walls were bare, with no lighting. It was a claustrophobic's
nightmare, and the unmarked identical walls just seemed to stretch and
twist on forever. They were going down, though, bit by bit. Nabiki had
confirmed that the corridor they were in was sloped downwards. Covering
a turn at the end, Mousse saw that it continued on in the other
direction.

"I would wager that we have descended two or three floors by now," Kuno
said from behind. "Where do you suppose this must end?"

"Actually," Mousse replied, and he gestured with his rifle down the
hall. "I think we're almost there. Take a look at that: there's light at
the end of this tunnel."

Sure enough, there was a faint light down there.

"I'm getting some positive readings," Nabiki observed, speaking to them
as if she was literally there. "I think you guys have found the
stockpile."

"Shouldn't there be more guards down here?" Mousse asked, as they got
closer and encountered no resistance.

"Let me look into that," Nabiki said, and a few seconds later continued,
"Previous bases have defended their stockpile with heavy weapons
platform equivalents. The corridors here are too narrow for any of
those, so look out for Mutons or Ethereals."

At the bottom of the hall, and the edge of the light, Mousse could see
its source. Ahead of them was a large room, parted down the middle by a
divider. The arrangement reminded him of a subway. The sound of running
water veiled that of soundless alien machinery, but it came from the far
side of the facility. Closer by, and along the seamless walls of alien
alloy, ran clear lines of cable that glowed a faint and eerie green. If
this was the area where the aliens stored Elerium, the actual element
didn't seem to be anywhere in plain sight. It was typical of the alien
design philosophy, however, to keep virtually everything behind the
scenes and under a cloak of moldable alien alloy. Thus, the area was
stark and plain, save for a series of strange lines - canals could have
been a more appropriate term - built into the walls, and a few scattered
metallic protuberances that rose out of the floor, bearing no markings
or obvious use.

"Nabiki, what should we be looking for in here? Is there some kind of
station or panel we need to use...?"

He lit up two flares while talking, and tossed them a short distance
away. Strong red light filled the room, and even extended beyond to the
reservoir of lake water in the other half of the facility. Kuno,
meanwhile, took a moment to walk over to the edge of the room at the
divider, and lit up a flare of his own. If he saw anything interesting,
he didn't find it worth while announcing to the others.

"Let me... wait a second. What?" Nabiki paused. "Mousse, hold on!
Ryouga! It's Cologne!"

"Cologne?" Mousse gaped, but quickly composed himself. Of course Cologne
would be here. They all knew it. They all suspected they'd run into her.
It wasn't as if it was a complete surprise.

"Movement!" Kuno interrupted. A flare skidded down the facility,
illuminating a now open door, and a humanoid shape. Confirming that
there was no friendly tag on his HUD, Mousse immediately crouched and
opened fire. Together with Kuno, four snap shots perforated the area,
and the fire blew apart.

But...

'This is different than before. Those shapes... feathers?'

The glow at the end of the room began to grow in intensity, and not due
to the nearby flare. In the light, another shape became slightly visible
as it leaned, casually, against the wall. Mousse cocked the underslung
grenade launcher on his carbine, loading and readying a stun round. If
this was who - what - he suspected it to be, then incapacitation would
paradoxically be easier than going for the kill.

"Yare yare..." the Japanese expression came from the end of the room.
"It looks like we're going to have to fight. ...What's that? Oh. Well,
yes, I suppose you can kill one of them if you like. I don't think
Cologne will mind."

Tongues of fire lapped up the walls.

"Go on, Saffron-kun." Twin red orbs, bright and hot as molten steel,
stone from within the growing flames. "Enjoy yourself."

-----

"Cologne..." Ranma whispered, body still tensed to dash to the aid of
Ukyou and Konatsu. It was impossible now. He could tell that she was
reading his kizashi, and that any movement he made would be met and
countered. He'd fought with Cologne before... though a more appropriate
analysis was that she had toyed with him before... but it had never felt
like this. It wasn't fear; it was insecurity. And that was the far more
despicable and insidious of the two, at least to the heir of Anything
Goes.

He relaxed his body, and he could see and feel that she did the same.

"How are you, Ranma?" Cologne asked, holding out her weaponless hands in
a show of good faith. "You probably didn't cure yourself when you
figured out the side effects, but you look healthy. Have you enjoyed the
last few months?"

"I like to think I've done some good for the world," Ranma answered,
mind racing for options. A mental attack would be optimal, but if
Cologne shook it off, or if the psionic attacker couldn't locate her,
then the fight would be on and he'd lose the first strike advantage. A
Blaster Bomb would be handy, too, but there was no way to get it into
the room with all the closed doors behind them.

"Some good?" Cologne asked, and subsequently shrugged. "I can see why
you'd think that. But you're missing the bigger picture. What good is it
to save a few lives if you doom humanity as a whole? Don't hate these
visitors just because of what they've done to a few people... we're
their children, Ranma. They love us. They want to protect and guide us,
and take us with them to the stars. Not as slaves. Equals. They want us
to be their equals and partners."

Ranma frowned. Still, something about what she said... it made some
sense...

"I don't want to fight you, Ranma. Don't you trust me?" She took a step
towards him and held out her hand. It looked delicate and frail, a
woman's hand, but he knew it held untold power.

He wanted to take it.

"I... I did trust you..."

"Trust me again, Ranma," she insisted, dulcet tones filling his thoughts
like a siren's song. "Come with me, and I'll teach you things you never
imagined. I know the potential you have, and I weep to see it wasted on
those who can never truly appreciate you. Come with me. I'll show you
how to unlock your full potential... And then you can show me the
perfected form of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Let's get there together,
Ranma."

Ranma's mind began to swim, his vision growing hazy.

"Take my hand."

For a moment, he stood, staring at her. Then his rifle fell from his
fingertips, hitting the ground with a distant and muted clang. He
ignored it, ignored it all, and reached for her. Cologne was right. She
could appreciate him, and his love of the Art. He did trust her. Despite
the occasional rocks and shoals in their relationship, she always seemed
to mean for the best. Maybe she was right about the aliens. Maybe...

"Ranma!"

Suddenly, Cologne disappeared in a flash of movement. The hand was gone.
In its place, he felt something... no: someone, shaking him. His head
began to clear, and he saw Shampoo. She stood in front of him, her rifle
at her shoulder, between him and an outline in brushed bronze. He shook
his head, and the spell seemed to dissipate.

"Saotome," the voice was Rachael's, speaking for Command. "Sir, are you
all right?"

"What the Hell was that...?"

"Che!" Cologne snapped, taking a step forward from out of the shadows.
"You see that, great granddaughter? That was how you were supposed to
have done it. But you never did have any skill with verbal techniques."

"Shampoo," Ranma began to ask.

"That was one of the 'women and men' fighting arts we warned you about,"
she explained, obviously trying to do so as quickly as possible. "It
uses woman's voice to fool man. Trick him."

"Will it work on you?"

"No. That technique should only work on man. I have never heard of an
Amazon using it on a woman."

'Maybe I should have splashed myself before I came here, then,' Ranma
thought, a little bitterly. But then he'd known beforehand that Cologne
had techniques specially designed to fight men. His stubbornness and
pride would have made it difficult to justify trying to fight Cologne as
a girl.

"Shampoo," Cologne spoke, still using Japanese and not bothering to
properly pronounce the other Amazon's name. "You don't interest me
anymore. Get out of the way."

The words were cold, heartless, so diametrically opposed to the kind and
loving tone that the woman had directed to Ranma. They cut Shampoo to
the bone, and her heart clenched in grief and anger.

"Why..." she switched to external speakers. "Why did you betray the
village? What happened to you?"

Cologne's neck craned upwards as she appraised Shampoo with all the
contempt one would have for a slug or snail.

"Our Tribe? The 'Woman Hero Tribe,' the 'Amazon Village' ... what do
these attachments matter to me? I have had my eyes opened to the truth.
I have seen back through a hundred thousand years of patient husbandry.