[Ranma][FanFic] Battletech: The Saotome Gambit Part 8

[Jamie and Bridget Wilde]

Chapter One

The outskirts of Capra City,
Planet Capra, Capra System
the League of Five Nails
14 March 3025

After three days of carefully scouting their surroundings, Genma
Saotome was finally ready to come into the only city of any significance
on the planet Capra. The six-wheeled all terrain truck carrying him, Ranma,
Akane, and Doctor Tofu, pulled up the gentle slope of the wadi and started
off for the highway that would take them into town.

Happousai watched them go. He could think of two good reasons to stay
away from the city, at least for now, and about a dozen lovely looking
reasons to stay with the ship. One of them walked in front of him even as
he contemplated this, and earned a wolf-whistle for her troubles.
Yes, he had to hand it to Genma for his taste in crew. They were
quite the young and beautiful complement, and it pained him to think that
they spurned his every advance. No matter, he thought happily. There would
always be another chance.
He faced yet another conflict of interest. His obligation to spy for
Cologne was technically met. He had discovered what was going on in the
Tendo household, and had dutifully reported it. An Amazon sex-kitten was
waiting for him as soon as he could return to Jusenkyo to collect.
It was a thrilling idea, but staying with Genma's motley crew promised
even greater rewards.
What he had considered to be a half-baked scheme to find the lost
planet of Ryuugenzawa was starting to come together as a possibility if
nothing else. Enough of a possibility to stay on with the expedition for
a while longer, anyway. If Genma was actually right (for once) they could
all stand to become the richest, most powerful men and women in the Inner
Sphere.
He really had little desire for the power that would come with the
discovery. Money, on the other hand, could at least rent happiness if it
couldn't actually buy it outright. His disciple Soun was better suited to
power than him, and would always be beholden to his old master. Genma was
a chump, always was and always would be, and needed his son Ranma to ensure
his future comforts. In fact, Ranma was probably the best thing to ever
come out of Genma Saotome.
Ranma could be a problem. The boy would never submit to him - it was
clear that he had his mother's stubborness. He could have made a real man
out of Genma if not for Nodoka. With the boy in line for Soun's throne
(an absolutely devious move on Genma's part, he admitted, and wondered if
he had actually been smart enough to come up with it on his own) he would
be in a position to push him aside - maybe even banish him from the
Confederation. There was no doubt that the little punk would do it. If that
happened, then his share of the wealth and glory was lost.
He'd have to come up with a workable solution concerning Ranma.
Such was his dilemma. Skip out on Genma at the first opportunity, and
get what was coming to him from Cologne, or stick around and hope the fool
was right - only to have to deal with his thankless son. After a moment's
thoughtful contemplation, a third option entered his mind.
He started after the girl he had whistled at with lust in his eyes.

___________________________________________________________________________
J. Austin Wilde and Fission Park Press proudly present:

BATTLETECH: THE SAOTOME GAMBIT
PART EIGHT

by J. Austin Wilde
Safety Control Rod Axe Man,
Fission Park Press
wild...@psn.net
http://www.psn.net/~wildeman/

The characters and situations of Ranma 1/2 are the
creation and property of Rumiko Takahashi and
Shogakukan/KITTY/Viz Video. Battletech and its
related materials are the property of FASA, inc.
No infringement of copyright is intended nor
should be inferred by this work of fanfiction.
___________________________________________________________________________

Capra City was an uninspiring sprawl of concrete and asphalt - a blight
on the surrounding high desert plateau. Few structures reached over three
stories tall, and most were single level dwellings and dismal half-deserted
strip malls. The only significant landmarks were the Governor's Mansion,
Fort Dettmering, and the Starport on the opposite side of the city.
The city was struggling, as it had been fighting a slowly losing
battle against total collapse for the last two hundred years. Copper and
iron mining had been - and still was - the primary industry, and during the
Star League the system had been prosperous. The fall of the Star League
and the subsequently savage First Succession War had brought about the
near-destruction of the industries that required Capra's raw materials,
which depressed prices. The scarcity of independent freight haulers had
raised the cost of shipping so high that almost no profit could be had
from what was produced.
Most of the mines had closed in the last hundred years. The few mines
remaining in operation were heavily subsidized by the League of Five Nails
as strategic resources, but these were low output operations and were really
little more than 'pilot lights' - keeping the mine open and available in
case production was urgently needed later. A few wildcat operations looking
for gold and other rare metals were tiny affairs, rarely successful, and
largely unregulated.
The people were a tough and bitter lot, worn and weathered by hardship
as much as by the frequent sandstorms. They were trapped on this planet,
with no opportunities, and no way outside of death to escape. If they noted
Genma, Ranma, Akane, and Doctor Tofu as offworlders, they did not show any
signs of caring about it.
Ranma had seen worlds like this before. Too often, in his opinion. It
made him appreciate his star-hopping life, for he had an escape these people
would never have.
For Akane, the poverty was an abstract brought to sudden and dismal
life. She knew there were worlds like Capra within the Confederation, and
that the same economic forces which choked the life out of this world's
people also strangled her own. It was one more reason for her to hold out
hope for the existence of Ryuugenzawa. If advanced Star League technology
could be recovered, the Confederation's industry could be revitalized, and
everyone's standard of living would improve.
The six-wheeled open-topped truck that carried them into the city
from the desert was dirty and battered in appearance to blend in with the
squalid surroundings. Their clothes reflected the dingy grime of wildcat
prospectors. Genma had ordered no showers for anyone coming into town
with them. Water was scarce on Capra outside of the city, and a little
funk was important for maintaining their cover.
It did not take them long to reach the hospitality district. It was
wedged between the Starport and Fort Dettmering. Strip clubs, saloons, a
two-screen movie theater, and a casino were the featured entertainment,
while a handful of run-down hotels handled the lodging. A diner and a few
food kiosks took care of the eats. None of the establishments seemed
particularly busy in the middle of the day.
"Ranma, pull over by that hotel," Genma said, consulting his notebooks.
"Is this the place?" Ranma asked his father.
"Looks like it," Genma grunted.
The Lucky Prospector Hotel was as dirty and run down as the rest of
the city. It was a two level structure of pre-fabricated concrete and cheap
masonry. Had lumber been available in any quantity on the planet, its
construction would have been even cheaper. It had only twenty units, based
on a quick visual inspection, and Ranma wondered how the owners expected to
find enough occupancy to fill even that many rooms. A sign in the office
window advertised hourly rates for the benefit of troops from the nearby
garrison.
"What exactly are we doing here?" Akane asked.
Genma held up a room key. The magnetically encoded card was old and
frayed at the corners, but the hotel's logo was still evident on the worn
surface.
"Our Scout stayed here once. His journal states that he planted the
fifth key on Capra, and it's possible that he left a clue for himself in
his room. He had a bad memory it seems, and wrote things down constantly
so he wouldn't lose the information."
"That key can't possibly still be good," Akane observed. "And besides,
it doesn't have a room number printed on it."
Genma shrugged. "No one said this would be easy."
Ranma parked the truck in the deserted parking lot across the street
from the hotel. A few kids in their early teens eyed them hungrily from a
concrete drainage culvert nearby. From the size of the culvert, Capra City
was apparently subject to some tremendous, if infrequent, rain storms. He
wondered what the seasons were like here, and whether the dry climate was
a fairly recent occurance or a normal one from when the planet was first
colonized.
"What's the deal, Pop?" he asked his father.
"You and Akane go into the office and check the register if you can.
The Doctor and I will wait out here and keep an eye on the truck." His
chin turned towards the teens briefly to emphasize his point.
"Whatever," Ranma sighed. "Come on, Akane."
The two stepped out of the truck. Only Akane was armed, as she was
in the habit of carrying a dagger and a small pistol concealed on her
person in the field.
"Why is it that whenever you have to go somewhere, I get stuck with
tagging along?" Akane asked him as they crossed the street.
"Who's making you go along?" Ranma countered. "Pop might be running
the show, but you're an aristocrat. What's he going to do to you for not
listening to him?"
She huffed indignantly in reply. This was not what she wanted to hear
from him.
"Well?" Ranma pressed.
"I'm trying to do what my father wants, Ranma. Okay?"
"Now who's making you? My dad or yours?"
They reached the office door.
"Drop it, Ranma," she told him curtly as she opened the door.
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
The clerk was watching television behind the front desk. The program
was a rerun, imported from a nearby system with the resources and the idle
wealth necessary to produce its own shows. It wasn't particularly enjoyable
the fifth time around, but it was apparently better than nothing.
He looked up at them with bloodshot eyes.
"Hourly rate is ten marks," he told them in a bored tone of voice.
This was an oft-repeated spiel, and it showed in his delivery. "Clean
sheets are five more, and you put 'em on the bed yourselves. No smoking
in the room. If you want to use the telephone; it's a ten mark deposit,
calls are a quarter each, and the balance is refundable at check-out. Your
time starts when I hand you the key, and it's full price for the next hour
if you're even a minute late."
He waited for them to either hand him some money or leave.
"Hourly rate?" Akane asked, realizing what was implied by the statement
and not liking it one bit.
"I can give you a three mark discount if you're done in half an hour,"
the clerk replied. He sized up Ranma with a glance. "That shouldn't be a
problem."
"Now wait a minute!" Akane protested. "That's not what we--"
"--We won't need a phone," Ranma interrupted. He flipped the clerk a
ten mark coin, and earned an angry look from Akane in the process.
The clerk examined the coin for a moment. "Let me code your room key.
Sign the register over there." He pointed to a bound ledger with yellowed
pages.
This was what Ranma was hoping for. The place didn't look like it
would have a computer to handle registration, and that way they'd be able
to flip through the pages for a sign of the Scout.
"Ranma...!" Akane hissed. "Are you going to let him get away with
that?"
"Get away with what?" he whispered in reply. "Who cares what he thinks?
It's not like I'd do anything like that with you anyway..."
He heard her knuckles popping in her clenched fist and waited for her
to try and strike. Instead she stood there and fumed.
He found the entry near the beginning of the book. It was four years
old; obviously not everyone who worked at the hotel was as scrupulous about
maintaining the register as this guy. The name 'Chance G. King' was a common
_nom de plume_ for the Scout, and the handwriting was familiar. He had taken
Room 210.
"Excuse me," Ranma said to the clerk.
"What is it?" the clerk asked. "Change your mind about the phone?"
"Not exactly. I was wondering if I could get Room 210."
The clerk eyed the two of them.
"What for?"
Ranma turned to Akane and held his breath. Then he grabbed her around
the shoulder and pulled her close. She was too surprised by this to offer
an immediate protest. "It, ah, it has a certain sentimental attachment to
us, if you understand my, um, meaning."
Akane turned crimson.
The clerk gave them a knowing wink.
"I understand. No problem." He went back to coding their room key.
"...Raaannnmaaa..."
He looked down at her elbow, which was currently digging its way into
his floating ribs, and let her go.
The clerk looked up from his desk and handed them a plastic card
similar to the one Genma now kept.
"Enjoy," he told them, and returned to his television program.
Ranma could not leave the office fast enough. Nor could Akane.
"What's the big idea!?" she demanded once they were safely outside.
"Whaddya mean?" Ranma growled. "We're trying not to act suspicious
here. What else would a guy who works in a hotel with hourly rates expect
from us?"
"I'm not like that," she spat.
"Who says you are?" Ranma returned. "Heck, I'm surprised a chick like
you would even know what went on in places like this."
She elbowed him in the ribs again as they crossed the street.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Ever had a boyfriend?" he challenged.
The question struck her harder than she thought it would, and she
flushed even redder. From the smug look on Ranma's face it was clear that
he knew the answer without her even saying anything in reply. "O-Oh yeah?"
she stammered. "How about you? Have you ever had a girlfriend, Ranma, or
did you learn everything you know from a sticky magazine?"
Not it was Ranma's turn to flinch. Fortunately for him, they were now
close enough to the truck for Genma to address them on the matter of what
they had learned in the office.
"Well, boy?" he asked them.
"He was here all right," Ranma replied, grateful for the reprieve from
Akane's question. "I saw his name in the register." He held up the room key.
"I got the same room as him."
"Good work, Ranma," Genma grunted. "Now let's go see what he left for
us." The teens had moved on as dusty police car gave them the once-over
while Ranma and Akane were inside, and he put the truck in gear, safe
in the knowledge that they wouldn't come back any time soon.

Chapter Two

Governor's Mansion,
Capra City, Planet Capra,
Capra System, the League of Five Nails
14 March 3025

"Governor Argust?"
League Governor Model Argust looked up from his desk to his
secretary. A worried expression clouded her otherwise pretty face.
"What is it, June?" he asked.
"An ambassador from the Jusenkyo Commonwealth is here to see you,
sir."
Argust flinched reflexively. What on earth was an Amazon doing on
his planet unannounced? He thumbed through the morning reports for an
answer, and found it: the JCDS _Jade Lotus_ had arrived at dawn carrying
the Ambassador plus a complement of troops - including battlemechs.
Why the hell hadn't the Port Authority alerted him to this? Even a
phone call would do!
"Send her in," he said evenly. "And call down to the cooks for
some refreshments."
"I already have, sir," she replied.
Argust managed a brief smile. At least someone on his staff was on
the ball today.
June stepped back through the door. Several of the Joketsuzoku
entered shortly thereafter. The leader was tall and imperious, with short
blonde hair and piercing hawk's eyes. She was draped in a russet cloak of
exceptional fullness in the shoulders, and flanked by a fierce purple-haired
young woman and an equally dangerous-looking man in white robes.
Argust rose to greet them, coming from behind his desk and offering
a greasy smile.
"Welcome to Capra, your Excellency!" he said to Kima.
Kima gave him a respectful bow in return. "Governor."
Argust did not mince any more words. Though Capra was a backwater
system, people did not rise to the rank of League Governor without some
personal merit, and Argust's manner for getting to the point of things
was duly noted by the Gosunkugis.
"Forgive my curiosity, but what brings you to this world?"
"We are in pursuit of several fugitives," Kima replied curtly. "We
have every reason to believe that they can be found here."
"Fugitives?"
"Correct, Governor," she affirmed. She produced several flimsies
and offered them to him. "Two mechwarriors named Hibiki and Tarou - known
to be part of the planetary garrison, and two spies named Saotome."
Argust studied them. Hibiki and Tarou he recognized immediately, as
he had recently decorated them for their valor in defeating the Combine
raid. The two Saotomes were a mystery. The fact that they were named as
spies, and obviously had some connection to Hibiki and Tarou, concerned
him greatly.
"Spies, you say?"
"Yes, Governor. We wish to take them into custody and return them to
the Commonwealth for a trial. The Commonwealth is offering a substantial
reward for their capture. A reward I am prepared to disburse on the spot,
should they be taken."
"Understandable," the governor grunted, thinking of what he could do
with the reward money. "But why do you want the two mechwarriors?"
"They are deserters and possible accomplices to the spies."
Argust looked down at the flimsies on Hibiki and Tarou. They had
served the planet well in the raid, but if they were connected to the two
spies, they could just as well be moles of some sort for the Combine - the
raid being an effective, if costly, way of establishing their _bona fides_
in order to set them up to inflict greater treachery later.
The possibility of such a thing was enough to sour them to him at
once. The fact that they were accused of desertion would prove sufficient
to have them released from the garrison and taken into custody. It wouldn't
take all that much convincing, he mused. Especially when he seized their
battlemechs in the name of the League, and shared some of the proceeds of
their sale with the garrison commander.
"Yes, I see," Argust said to her at length. "There shouldn't be any
problems with that. I'll phone the garrison at once."
Kima inclined her head respectfully to the governor.
"And the two Saotomes?" she asked him.
"I will arrange to have the local authorities notified about them,"
he said to her. "If they're in the city, they won't escape custody for
long."
Kima was not eager to let bumbling local police handle the two
Saotomes. They seemed a very capable pair, and would likely escape any
attempts to arrest them.
"If I may, Governor?"
"Yes? What is it?"
"I would like your permission to take my non-battlemech forces into
the city and its environs in order to conduct the search personally. These
two are extremely dangerous, and I wouldn't want to see your police officers
facing such an unusual threat."
Argust frowned. He did not like the idea of the Commonwealth showing
the flag in this manner. At the same time he was eager for a share of the
reward money. League Governors served six year terms, and needed to amass
significant fortunes during their tenures in order to pay the bribes and
other graft necessary to advance them higher in their careers. Argust
wanted a better star system after Capra, much better, and money was the
key to getting it.
"I can't permit you to openly patrol the streets of Capra," he began.
"It wouldn't look good to my superiors, and would hurt the morale of the
police." He saw Kima's tiny frown. "However, I would be happy to extend
special passes to, say, a dozen of your troops to enjoy liberty. Given the
rough-and-tumble nature of the city, they would naturally be permitted to
carry sidearms outside the starport quarantine zone."
He gave her a wink.
"If they should happen to stumble across the spies, then it would be
only natural for them to do their duty without interference from the police.
If the police should find them first, then I will see to it that they are
turned over to you personally. Of course, there is the small matter of the
reward..."
Kima inclined her head to him with a smile.
"You shall have it, Governor, with my complements, whether my troops
find them, or yours."
"Splendid. Shall we have lunch?"
Kima nodded. "It would be our pleasure, Governor."

* * *

Ryouga Hibiki and Pansuto Tarou walked their battlemechs into the
covered hangar with the rest of their lance. The Lieutenant was in a
pissy mood after the patrol, and they were eager to debrief and get the
hell off the base for awhile. They had found a hole-in-the-wall Japanese
restaurant in town that featured good cheap food and a karaoke machine
with a frighteningly large, if dated, collection of material.
Naturally, they were more interested in the food than the karaoke.
"Okay, One-Red Lance," the Lieutenant barked over the tac-net.
"Debrief is in fifteen minutes. Be there."
Ryouga grit his teeth and shut down his BattleMaster without bothering
to acknowledge the order. He knew Tarou was probably following suit.
Monster-boy had mellowed out a bit in the last few days, and the respite
was doing wonders for their strained relationship. A couple beef-bowls
and some beer couldn't hurt.
He raised the clear arymid-polymer armored canopy and stepped out onto
the gantry. A tech's apprentice was there to take his cooling vest and his
helmet for him. Tarou was doing the same across the hangar.
The hangar was hot and stifling, and little better than the cockpit
of his BattleMaster during a battle. He looked up, and noted that the
oversized ceiling fans were apparently on the blink again.
He absolutely could not get off this rock too soon.
Tarou joined him a moment later, which was good, as he often missed
the way to the briefing room otherwise.
"I heard some news this morning," Tarou grunted, his _bishonen_ face
suddenly dark with malice.
"Yeah?" Ryouga replied.
"I didn't want to mention it during the patrol in case that asshole
lieutenant of ours listened in," Tarou went on. "There is a Jusenkyo
Commonwealth DropShip at the starport."
Ryouga's blood went cold.
"When?"
"This morning," Tarou responded. "Supposedly there's a diplomat on
board, and she went to see the Governor right before we went out on patrol."
This did not sound good at all.
"You don't suppose it's us they came here for, do you?"
Tarou favored him with a look he reserved for the utterly stupid,
which, in his opinion, was most of humanity. Ryouga was used to the look,
and paid it no mind.
"Why else would the goddamned Joketsuzoku be here?" he growled.
Ryouga's face darkened. Curse their terrible luck for not being able
to run far enough from the Amazons!
"What are our options?" he asked, as much to himself as Tarou.
"There aren't any ships we can get out on, even if we had the money.
So... We can desert and run off into the wasteland until we starve. Or we
can go quietly back to Lightoller for more experiments."
Ryouga nodded glumly
"That's what I was afraid of."
As they approached the briefing room they were met by a squad of
infantry led by one of the unit's full-time military police officers.
"Mechwarriors Hibiki and Tarou?" the MP asked them. It was a formality,
as it was impossible to remain anonymous for long in a small mercenary unit.
The two stopped in their tracks.
"Mechwarriors Hibiki and Tarou, I have orders to escort you to the
Governor's Mansion. Come with me, please."
The squad of blazer-equipped infantry made it clear that the MP was
not going to take 'no' for an answer.
"We're screwed," Ryouga muttered to himself. Barely contained rage lit
across Tarou's face as they submitted to their escorts.

* * *

Hikaru Gosunkugi watched the tactical displays as his DropShip force
approached the planet Capra unobserved. Owing to their long preparation and
assembly time, they had lost their advantage of being closer to the planet
than the Combine forces, and now they were almost six hours behind. They
were also outnumbered three to one in battlemechs. His only chance for
success lay in surprise, but first he would have to see what it was that
Kuno was so interested in. The planet's moon would offer a sanctuary for
his forces until he could gather that vital intelligence, and then he would
strike.
Capra continued to remain unaware of the approaching Furinkan Combine
invasion force, and Hikaru had given specific orders not to warn them.
Since the garrison could not hope to defeat such a large army, it was
better if Kuno won an easy victory and became overconfident. It would
also mean that he would accomplish whatever it was that he had come to
the planet to do, and that would make it easier for Hikaru to find out
what it was in time to interdict him.
There were reports of other DropShips reaching the planet first,
but their identities were unknown. Hikaru was of the mind that they were
Combine scouts and pathfinders. An invasion force as large as Kuno's was
bound to get bolluxed up in the drop without significant ground support.

Chapter Three

The Lucky Prospector Hotel, Room 210
Capra City, Planet Capra,
Capra System, the League of Five Nails
14 March 3025

The room's interior matched its exterior; which was old and dingy.
The furniture was spare, and showed its age with little grace. A musty
smell of stale tobacco, sour beer, sweat, and semen-soiled sheets lingered
defiantly in the wake of the industrial-strength deoderizer spray someone
had generously applied to the room.
The room was fairly clean, except for the bedsheets and a few
forbidden cigarette butts. The brand was a familiar one to Ranma. Though
he did not smoke, he had known plenty of people who did. They had been
manufactured in the Federated Shiratori. The mercs who garrisoned the
planet had been there recently, as the League's tepid trade relations
with 'Goddess-Empress' Azusa made imports unlikely.
Akane was clearly uncomfortable with the room, and she stood near
the door wringing her hands.
"Everyone take a corner," Genma told them. "Leave nothing unsearched.
Pull out the drawers, look under the table and chairs, under the bed,
behind the lamps. In the closet, too."
"What exactly are we looking for, Mister Saotome?" Doctor Tofu asked.
He wasn't entirely clear about the matter.
"Hopefully, the fifth key," Genma replied. "But it could be anything
small and easily concealable for a long time without being discovered. If
you find something out of the ordinary, let me know."
They began the search, punctuated by the sounds of moving furniture
and the occasional groan of disgust when Akane found used condoms. After
twenty minutes of this, they had trashed the room and come up with nothing.
"Maybe he didn't leave anything," Tofu observed.
"And maybe it got discovered and thrown away," Ranma added.
Genma bit his lip and tried not to let his discouragement show.
"Everyone switch places and look again," he told them. "Someone might
pick up on something that another might have missed."
"There ain't nothin' here, Pop," Ranma groused.
Genma nearly busted a vein in his forehead. "GODDAMMIT, BOY, YOU'LL
DO AS I SAY!"
Ranma shrank back from his father. Cowed for the moment, he began to
search. Akane helped him with the drawers, unwilling to cross in front of
Genma to take a new area.
Again, they turned up nothing.
Genma would still not admit defeat.
"We're going to have to assume that he was a bit more resourceful in
hiding it," he declared.
"Or else there ain't nothing here," Ranma muttered quietly.
"Don't piss me off, boy," Genma warned his son.
Ranma looked up at him with fire in his eyes. "As soon as we get outta
town, I'm gonna kick your fat ass, old man."
Genma was nonplussed. "The sooner you find that key, the sooner you'll
get your chance."
Ranma blew out his breath in a huff and started for the bathroom.
Tofu had made short work of the area, and his thoroughness told him that
wherever that stupid key was, it was not in there.
The door to the bathroom hung ajar as he stepped up to the doctor.
Tofu offered him a weak smile and a shrug. His reluctance to leave Nerima
(read: Kasumi), and accompany the mission team, seemed justified in light
of his current duties.
Ranma looked at the door again. Something he had learned from a half-
forgotten man in the spy business came back to him, and he began to tap at
the door while listening close.
"What is it, Ranma?" Tofu asked him.
"I don't know," he said quietly. "Maybe nothing."
The door was a hollow core type, as were most interior doors in the
Inner Sphere. There was no obvious sign of something being concealed within,
as the paint was uniformly worn and faded.
He leaned on the sink to ensure that it would take his weight, and
then jumped up onto it. The height allowed him to observe the top of the
door, and a heavy lining of lint and dirt that blanketed it. He brushed
away the sticky grey-green fuzz and cried out in surprise.
"Sonuvabitch!"
"What?" Genma and Akane chorused.
"All that shit you put me through in surveillance training paid
off, old man," Ranma replied. He looked down at Akane. "Let me borrow
your knife."
She gave him a puzzled look.
"What for?"
"There's something I have to pry up."
Reluctantly, she handed him her dagger. It was of a simple design,
making up in the exotic inlaid-wood hilt what it lacked in other
ornamentation. He admired it for a moment before stabbing the tip into
the top of the door.
"Be careful with that!" Akane protested. "It was a birthday present!"
Ranma replied by popping out a stubby cylinder of wood and cork.
Attached to the end of the cork was a hook, and on the hook was a strand
of fishing wire. He carefully pulled the wire out of the hollow core
door.
"Now normally this would be the kind of thing you'd do if you wanted
to plant a bug in a room," he said to her as he withdrew the wire. "It's
not the kind of place your average joe would look to find one, and even if
he does, all he'll usually do is sweep his hand over the top of the door.
If the bug was hidden by a pro, the planter will even supply the dust that
will convince the sweeper that there's nothing wrong with the door."
He finished withdrawing the wire. Suspended from the wire was a small
jewelry box, the kind you would expect to find containing an engagement
ring.
"This has to be it," he said, happy that he had not withdrawn a
listening device.
"Open the box," Akane said excitedly.
Ranma cut the wire loops off the box with her dagger and then opened
the box. A brief gleam of light reflected off whatever was in the box, and
shone on the wall opposite Ranma.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Is it the fifth key?" Genma added.
"Tell us, Ranma," Tofu pleaded.
Ranma, his face tight with dismay, showed them a small metal plaque.
Alphanumerics were punched into the metal, and it was spotted with caked-on
dirt and a blue-green verdigris.
"It ain't the fifth key," he said to them. "It looks like a serial
number plate for a vehicle or something."
"Let me see it!" Genma demanded. Ranma jumped down from the sink and
handed it to him. His face told them that Ranma had called it exactly. "The
boy's right," he said to everyone.
"It has to be from the Scout," Akane said. "Who else would do such a
thing?"
"I agree," Genma replied. "But what this means, I don't yet know."
"It's probably a clue as to the location of the key," Tofu remarked.
"All we have to do is figure out which vehicle it came from, and that will
be where it is."
"Either that or we'll find another clue telling us to look somewhere
else," Ranma noted. "You don't know this guy works. He had us on a damn
scavenger hunt trying to find number four."
"There wasn't anything else tucked inside the door?" Genma asked his
son.
"Didn't look like it."
"Then let's go. With luck there will be an official database the
public can look at for vehicle ID. If not, well, it won't be the first
time Ranma and I have done a little B&E."
"B&E?" Akane asked innocently.
"Breaking and Entering," Ranma supplied for her. He looked at his
father for a moment. "Getting in is easy. The trick is not getting caught."
They didn't bother to put the place back the way they had found it.
If the clerk actually called the police about it, there was no way to trace
their identity. They had paid cash, and registered under a phony name. The
clerk hadn't even bothered to ask for ID.
Ranma slipped the room key into the door slot as Genma wheeled the
truck around the corner. He caught up with them a moment later, and they
started for the center of town and the government buildings to follow up
on their clue.
"Breaking and entering?" Akane asked him quietly when he was settled
into the truck. "You're a couple of thieves?"
Ranma winced.
"More or less," he replied uneasily. "Pop says it comes with being a
Scout, but it's just another way to pay the bills." His eyes flicked to the
front seat where his father was driving. "We went to find the Jusenkyo Labs
not just to confirm the documents we had on Ryuugenzawa, but so Pop could
find something of value that he could sell."
"So you had nothing to do with it," she replied, her tone making it
clear that she wasn't convinced.
"Well..." Ranma hedged. "It wasn't my idea, but..."
"But you help him do it anyway," she finished for him.
Shame fell over him.
"Basically, yeah."
Akane thought about this for a moment.
"I understand if you have to bend a few laws to get us to Ryuugenzawa,
Ranma," she said at length. "But there won't be any more stealing for your
own gain, okay? As the representative of the Grand Duke, I won't permit it.
It isn't right, and I won't permit it."
"Fine with me," Ranma returned. Since when was Akane so high and mighty
about being Duke Tendo's daughter?
"That also means that you don't let your father do it, either," she
went on. "We have enough funding to take care of us on this expedition for
some time, so there isn't any need for stealing."
He nodded slowly.
"Fine by me."

* * *

Colonel Princess Kodachi Kuno had taken refuge from the hot afternoon
sun in the shadow of her black Marauder, where her manservant and loyal
ninja Sasuke had placed her folding chair. He now served her a cold drink
as she awaited news from her spies from the safe distance of a hundred
kilometers from the city. The wind was gritty and warm, and she was glad
that the thick lower legs of her battlemech screened her. Despite the
shade, she sweltered in the heat. Black vinyl apparel simply wasn't suited
to the desert.
The only reason she had not charged into the city and burned it to
the ground was that she wanted to confirm that Akane was there. While it
would be amusing to destroy the pathetic town, she was playing against the
clock, and could not afford to waste time and effort with diversions. Her
brother was coming for her.
"Tell me, Sasuke. What news of my brother?"
The ninja pursed his lips in reflection before answering.
"We have reports from our picket in orbit that he is approaching with
a sizable force." He paused to let her contemplate that. "Approximately
three regiments of battlemechs."
"A full division?" Kodachi asked, chuckling. "My, my. You don't suppose
my dear brother is upset with me, do you, Sasuke?"
He bowed respectfully for her.
"That goes without saying, Mistress."
"Of course," she said, disregarding the remark with a flick of her
hand. "Though I don't suppose his humiliating defeat at the jump point has
anything to do with this, hmmm?"
"Quite likely," the ninja agreed.
News of the League's attack on the Combine Fleet had finally reached
Kodachi's forces as they cleared the blocking effect of the Capra primary.
It was enough to bring her out of the depths of her nervous collapse, and
for that she considered sending Hikaru Gosunkugi a dozen black roses through
her agents in gratitude. He had given her almost eight hours of respite
from her brother with his attack, and her fleet's aggressive burn for Capra
had extended that margin by over a day.
The surprise attack was clearly his work, and she admired him for his
underhandedness. Of course, had she planned the attack, she would not have
worried about convention and struck right for the enemy's jumpcores. He was
obviously playing by a different set of rules.
She considered Hikaru a moment and pondered what his next move would
be. The League Heir was the unknown factor at work, as Tachi's intentions
were transparent to her. If he was smart, and he was usually smart, he
would see how badly outnumbered he was, and quit while he was ahead.
"Why do you suppose the League of Five Nails is here, Sasuke?" she
asked idly.
"Mistress?"
"Come now, Sasuke. The League has a large force in the system, and
since we have received no word from our agents of an attack against the
Confederation in the works, they were apparently lying in wait for my
brother."
Sasuke noted this.
"Agreed, Mistress."
She narrowed her eyes at him. He was supposed to offer up possibilities
that would stimulate a conversation, for she loved climbing inside the minds
of her adversaries. "You are no fun whatsoever, Sasuke. I don't see why I
bother with you sometimes."
Sasuke said nothing, as no reply was expected. Or welcome, for that
matter.
Kodachi took a sip of her drink. Her full and sensuous lips took the
plastic straw in a way that an observer would have found to be quite
provocative. There was no conscious intent in this, it was merely the way
she was. Sasuke remained silent and unmoved as she set the drink down to
reveal a smudge of deep red lipstick upon the tip of the straw.
"Have your men determined why those witches from the Commonwealth
are here?" she asked him. The sight of the _Jade Lotus_ berthed at the
Starport had given her some pause. Though she enjoyed the same numerical
superiority over the Amazons as her brother enjoyed over her, she was
reluctant to pick unnecessary fights. Particularly when she would need
all her strength at hand in case she was unable to seize the Tendo girl
before he arrived.
"We have learned that they came searching for two deserters," the
ninja replied. "With the cooperation of the planet's governor, they have
been taken into custody."
"Deserters?" Kodachi asked. "They must be very important if the
Commonwealth dispatches an entire company of battlemechs to find and
capture them. I should think a simple bounty would be sufficient."
"There is a bounty posted for them, Mistress," Sasuke confirmed. "A
significant one, even for mechwarriors, though not nearly the bounty
offered for you by the Nerima Confederation."
Kodachi smiled at this.
"Ah, Sasuke, you are ever the flatterer. There will never be a bounty
offered that is higher than mine, even if I have to kill the Grand Duke
himself to ensure it." She smiled again, her eyes crackling with malice.
"Oh yes, once I have his youngest daughter in my clutches, there will
certainly be no higher bounty in the Inner Sphere than the one offered for
me."
She settled back into her folding chair and took another drink, well
pleased with the thought.
"So why haven't they departed yet?" she asked after a moment of warm
reflection. The Joketsuzoku continued to linger in the back of her mind
like a tiny splinter that was just out of reach.
"They only just arrived," he replied, though she knew that already.
"Perhaps they wish to let the crew have liberty."
"Here?" Kodachi snorted. "Those elitist Joketsuzoku witches would turn
their noses up at this forsaken desert in the blink of an eye. There must
be a reason, Sasuke, and I expect you to find out what it is."
Sasuke bowed for her. "Of course, Mistress."
Several moments of windy silence passed between them.
"Sasuke?"
"Mistress?"
"Do you remember our little conversation several days ago?"
It was not apparent that he did, or at least that he did not wish to
remember it.
"Mistress?" he asked innocently.
"I asked you if you had come up with an excuse to save you from my
brother's wrath," she supplied for him.
"Yes, Mistress," he replied. "I do remember that."
His following silence proved irksome to her.
"And...?" she asked tersely.
He remained silent, which was exactly what she expected from him.
"You may go now, Sasuke," she told him curtly.
"At once, Mistress." He bowed deep enough to brush his hooded head
in the sandy dirt, and backed away from her to the command tent.
You play a dangerous game as well, Sasuke, she reflected darkly.
Though you must know that, to have survived for as long as you have.

* * *

"I'm very sorry," the clerk said, not sounding very sorry at all. "But
those records are not available to the public."
"I see," Genma said gravely. "Thank you for your time."
Ranma, Akane, and Doctor Tofu looked up from their seats. When he had
left the small too-warm office, they drifted out after him.
"What did you notice about the place, Ranma?" Genma asked when they
were outside the League Government Building.
"There's a motion sensor in the lobby," the pig-tailed mechwarrior
replied. "It gives good coverage, but it looks pretty old, and might not
be functional. The doors have the standard magnetic clips, and the same
with the windows." He pointed to the doorway. "The arming box there has a
tumbler key lock and a number pad. The master panel is just on the other
side of the door, and only has a number pad."
"Good work, boy," Genma replied. "Where do you suppose the alarms go?"
Ranma thought a moment. "Good question. I didn't see any annunciators
around, same with lights, so I assume it's a silent alarm that goes to the
Police station. There's a phone number written in pen on the wall above
the master panel - probably so the custodial staff can call in case they
set the alarms off by accident."
"Are the alarms conducted by radio or by land-line?" Genma asked.
"Dunno," Ranma replied. "I'd say land-line just so there's no chance
of interference causing a bunch of false alarms. They'd probably go through
the phone trunk with the rest of the lines."
Genma nodded.
"The odds of them calling someone out if we cut the line?"
Ranma thought a moment. It had been awhile since his father had put
him on the spot like this, and with Akane standing next to him, it was
embarrassing to show off how much he knew about burglary.
"They'd probably send out a repairman before they sent out a cop," he
decided. "It's not like they keep any money on hand, and there really isn't
all that much to steal. I'd say forty-five minutes to an hour before he
shows up if we do it late at night."
"Plenty of time to do what we need," Genma decided. "Let's get us all
something to eat, and then we'll wait for dark."

Chapter Four

Special Prisoner Holding Block
Capra City Jail,
14 March 3025

Kima did not appreciate Governor Argust's insistance that the two
mechwarriors be held in the city jail instead of being taken aboard the
_Jade Lotus._ He had given fine legal reasons for it, of course, such as
the need to protect them from wrongful accusations, the completion of the
necessary extradition paperwork, the need to get a judge to approve it
(a rubber stamp affair considering the Governor's power) - but what it
really came down to was money. The reward money, specifically. Argust
was not going to cough up the two until he got his hands on the gelt.
What she had told him about the money was true. She was in a position
to disburse the reward money upon capture, but the actual authority to do
so was not hers. She cursed the rotten meddling of Council Elder Peony,
the Commonwealth Comptroller, and holder of the purse strings for this
operation. She was notoriously distrustful of the military caste, and
was not going to release a large sum of gold bullion to the control of
a mere Agent - even one acting in the capacity of Commonwealth Ambassador.
Not as long as there existed the means to communicate with the home
world, anyway, and her JumpShip had the HPG array to make that possible.
Kima's request to pay the governor for his cooperation was now three hours
old. It had taken six minutes via a risky tightbeam radio message out to
the starship, and from there it had to proceed along the Commonwealth HPG
relay chain to Jusenkyo. If Elder Peony was taking a nap, or having lunch,
or any other excuse she could think of when the message finally reached her,
she would ignore it until she felt like responding.
The answer would be yes. Cologne would not stand for it any other way,
but Peony and Cologne had never had much affinity for each other, and this
was just another skirmish in their decades-long personal war. What it meant
to Kima was a reply no sooner than the following morning. No sooner, being
the operative words...
She did consider the idea of simply ignoring her orders and disbursing
the money right away, but the odds of Peony having her own spies aboard the
ship were high. The Elder would not pass up the chance to have her arrested
for it, even if it ruined the operation, simply to tweak Cologne's nose.
She cursed her rotten luck as well. She had a very bad feeling in the
pit of her stomach, and she could not guess the reason why. It was as if
a pall of unrecognized doom hung over the place, palpable, but unidentified.
The jail had little in the way of comforts, even for its keepers, and
she decided to return to the DropShip. Shampoo would be put in charge of
the two prisoners until morning. She had decided that it would be a good
idea to keep Shampoo and Mousse apart for awhile, owing to the peculiar
way they had been acting around each other. It had not been hostile, but
strained, and Kima did not need any more internecine squabbles ruining her
operation.

* * *

Ryouga Hibiki sat upon the hard cement pallet that made up his bed
and thought about fate. After he and Tarou had been positively identified
by the Commonwealth Ambassador (whatever that meant), they had been taken
to the city jail. Apparently no one had thought that he and Tarou would be
there long, as they had not furnished him with a mattress, or toilet paper
for the cell's toilet, or anything to eat.
He had been here for six hours now, and he was hungry, sore, and
bored. Tarou had remained silent in the cell next to him, leaving him with
no one to talk to. There weren't even any guards about, and no one answered
his shouts for attention.
The last time he had spoken to anyone was with the Ambassador, Kima.
It was mostly a one-way conversation. All she really cared about was what
he knew about two guys named Saotome. Ryouga didn't recognize the men in
the photos she had provided for him, and he hadn't heard the name in years.
When their usefulness as informants was gone, he and Tarou were packed away
to the jail.
The way he saw it, he and Tarou were going back to Lightoller for more
experiments. Perhaps fatal ones, if the Joketsuzoku feared their secret lab
was no longer a secret. His BattleMaster and Tarou's Hunchback, both 'mechs
that had been in their respective families for generations, would surely be
commandeered by their ex-unit. They were effectively Dispossessed.
A tear of rage welled at the corner of his eye. What kind of cruel
universe was it that would do this to them? It would be better, kinder,
to simply execute them on Capra and get it over with. Instead they suffered
the shame of being dishonored before their comrades, of being Dispossessed
of their mechwarrior birthright, and condemned to spend weeks, months, even
years of torment in a laboratory before being quietly dispatched, forgotten
by the rest of the Inner Sphere.
Ryouga was given to fits of depression, and now he was fully in its
grip. Despair washed over him, waves of hopelessness that could not be
fought through, only suffered. He would not cry, he was strong enough for
that, but he could not help himself.
He remembered the decision he had made some time ago, the one about
commiting suicide rather than joining the ranks of the Dispossessed. It
warmed him somewhat, to think that he would cheat the Joketsuzoku of
their test subject once again, that he would not help them in their
Frankensteinian work, and deny them their revenge.
It would be a difficult thing to do in his cell. He had no linen to
fashion into a noose. There was nothing sharp he could use to slash open
his wrists or throat. He wanted to die here, before they could take him
away, and deny the damn Governor, who had once decorated him for valor
and now sold him down the river, his forty pieces of silver.
He wanted some measure of dignity in his death, but the only way out
it seemed would be to strip off his clothes and use them for the noose. It
was possible; a properly motivated person could hang himself from the sink
drain if nothing else. The top crosspiece of the cell bars was even better
suited to the idea.

* * *

Shampoo found the Capra City Jail to be a dreary place, lacking any
sort of humanizing qualities. Even the most spartan Commonwealth barracks
was rich in the culture of the Joketsuzoku, and filled with the proud
fighting spirit of its troops. This place was a barren and lifeless
Golgatha, a drain on the spirit, even to its keepers.
She was locked through the doors to the Special Holding Cells without
a word from the police guard, though she could feel the hungry eyes upon
her. Kima was right to restrict most of the DropShip's crew to the starport
quarantine zone. The younger girls, the techs and other non-combatants,
could find themselves preyed upon by the locals, and Joketsuzoku honor
would demand swift and bloody retribution for any harm done. It would
be a foreign relations disaster.
There were four holding cells against the opposite wall. Each was
small, designed for a single occupant. A chair and a small table with a
telephone were set aside for her long vigil. She hadn't brought anything
to do, which was foolish, but it couldn't be helped. Shampoo did not have
much in the way of hobbies. There was cooking, but she did little of that
while on a mission.
One of the two deserters was sitting quietly on the floor of his cell.
He was the taller of the two, she remembered, the one with the face (and
especially eyes) that was handsome to the point of being pretty. Despite
his _bishonen_ beauty, his countenance was darkened with malice, and she
sensed that this was one that would bear close attention when he was
being moved.
The other one was stripped to the waist when she stepped through the
rust-streaked steel door, with a sheepish expression on his face like he
had just been caught doing something he shouldn't. Hibiki, she remembered
from the brief. She had only seen him in the flesh one other time, during
the confusing battle inside the Labs that had ended with all of them taking
dives into Jusenkyo Pools. He was ruggedly handsome, and his shirtless chest
was deeply muscled like a swimmer or a gymnast; all tone and definition with
little of the ostentatious bulk she despised in men. She wondered if he
recognized her.
If he did recognize her, he did not show it. Instead he looked at his
shirt as if deciding whether or not he should put it back on. He looked
at her once again and slipped the shirt back over his head.
Shampoo did not understand what he was doing. The cells were in the
basement a level below the parking garage, and as a result were cool and
dry. It was not the type of climate a man would find uncomfortable enough
to remove his shirt.
"You there," she called to him. "What you doing?" It galled her to
think how she must have sounded to him then.
Ryouga did not reply.
"Answer!" she barked at him. She hated this, communicating in a
language that was not her own. "Or it go bad for you when we take away..."
His face almost cracked into a smile of bitter irony at her threat.
He had to know what was in store for him once he was out of the League's
jurisdiction.
Shampoo decided to let it drop. There was no intimidating a man who
knew that he had nothing to lose. Ryouga went back to sitting on the hard
cement pallet.
She deserved much better than this, she decided. She was a mechwarrior,
and a good one. She should have been out patrolling the city for a sign of
the two Saotomes, not babysitting two deserters who were clearly not going
anywhere until it was time to move them.
Had she angered Kima in some way, and was this dreary assignment her
punishment? Was this the result of some special instruction from her great-
grandmother, designed to keep her out of trouble until the incident on
Lightoller blew over? Council Elder Peony was not the only enemy her great-
grandmother had on the Council, and none of them would pass up the chance
to see her disgraced as a way of hurting Cologne. She did not know what it
had cost her great-grandmother to secure for her this opportunity for
redemption, and she decided that she would rather not find out.
Her watch would be over in four hours. Until then, she had nothing to
do but think. She needed to think about her future, and about how she was
going to take back control of it from the hands of her enemies. It was a
startling thought, that she had enemies within the highest echelons of her
clan, merely by dint of her blood. Until that moment she had always basked
in the warm glow of fellowship and family, that the Joketsuzoku were a clan
united in a common struggle, and that she was a welcome part of that
struggle.
The truth was painful to her, and the realization of that truth came
with a second realization that she still had a lot of growing up to do. In
many eyes she was a spoiled little girl with privilege and power that she
had not earned. She now understood that she would have to make them accept
her for what she was, and not for whose child she was.

Chapter Five

Furinkan Combine DropShip _Oda Nobunaga,_
approaching Capra parking orbit,
Planet Capra, Capra System,
The League of Five Nails
March 15 3025

"We'll be established in orbit within the hour, your Highness."
General Prince Tatewaki Kuno nodded brusquely at the report from his
DropShip Commander. Such matters were for pilots, astrogators, and other
computer types. His concerns were far more pressing, the concerns of a
warrior.
The location of his sister for one thing. Capra City was currently
in the darkness of night, and long-range telescopes gave no indication
that any sort of battle was in progress below. He was well accustomed to
Kodachi's tactics, and even if she had dispatched the planet's defenders,
she would order the city burned. Such a fire would still be visible to
thermal sensors many hours after the flames were gone.
Instead there was only the faint infrared glow of a small city
shedding its stored heat for the day. Signal Intelligence detected no
radio or microwave transmissions indicating that anything was amiss.
Kodachi remained silent, hidden, and likely coiled to strike.
That knowledge did not deter him from his mission. He would hit the
city in force, with two full regiments of battlemechs, plus supporting
infantry, air, armored cavalry, and mobile artillery. If his serpentine
sister dared to strike at his heels, he would have a force more than
double her own on hand to crush her. Such a force would also keep the
cursed Saotomes from escaping with his bride, and he had given his
commanders explicit orders to minimize collateral damage within the
city to prevent her from coming to harm.
He expected a counter-attack by the League, and maintained his third
regiment of battlemechs, the seasoned 9th Sword of Thunder, in orbit as
reserves. Any landings by League reinforcements would face a vertical
envelopment by the 9th that would annihilate them before they left their
drop zones. If by chance the Gosunkugi cur who commanded the League's
forces in the system decided to leave Capra to the Combine, the 9th could
be dispatched to investigate the minor settlements scattered across the
planet for signs of Kodachi and the Saotomes.
His setbacks would be put well behind him, he decided. Kodachi would
be exiled - if she did not choose to die first. Akane would be safe in his
custody. The damnable Ranma Saotome would be so much charred grease on the
sole of his boot!
"Signal the Division," he ordered one of the Overlord Class DropShip's
communication staff. "Order them to prepare for combat drop at their
assigned zones. Sound General Quarters and begin the countdown as soon as
all units have responded!"
"At once, your Highness!"
Tatewaki Kuno turned and left the DropShip Bridge for the Mech Bays,
and his personal battlemech. As he stepped through the airtight door and
into the short passageway to the personnel elevators, a bosun's whistle
shrilled over the ship's circuit 1MC intercom speakers.

"GENERAL QUARTERS GENERAL QUARTERS! ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS!
SET CONDITION ALFA THROUGHOUT THE SHIP! NOW GENERAL QUARTERS!"

Tatewaki strode purposefully into the elevator as the crew scrambled
to their battlestations. He would see to this victory personally. His would
be the last laugh over his sister.

* * *

Capra City, Near the Government Buildings
15 March 3025

Ranma and Genma Saotome, their faces blacked out with greasepaint
and dressed in dark thermal-dampened and lint-free bodysuits, stood in
the shadows near the League Government Buildings and waited. The exotic
chameleon suits worn by assassins would have been better for the job, but
they were very rare and expensive, and required more maintenance than the
Saotomes were able to provide.
The warm glow of the nearby Governor's Mansion was going to pose a
problem, as it illuminated the place they needed to be. They did not expect
the place to be so lively so late at night.
"It makes sense," Genma realized ruefully. "Everyone must sleep for
the afternoon because of the heat."
"Too late for that now," Ranma replied. "Are we gonna do this or
what?"
"We might as well," Genma admitted. "Daylight is just too risky."
"Right."
The telephone trunk terminated from the building inside a small
service closet that opened to the outside. A simple tumbler-lock barred
their access, and was made short work of. Ranma stepped inside while
Genma kept watch from the shelter of a low adobe-brick wall.
Ranma lit his flashlight and looked over the rows of telephone
terminals before him. As he suspected, most of the fiber-optic modules
were no longer functional, and had been subsequently bypassed with much
less sophisticated electrical units that could be built and maintained on
Capra. That made his job a lot easier.
What also made his job easy was the fact that some thoughful tech had
posted a listing of the terminals on a sheet of laminated paper now yellowed
and stiff with age. It was legible, and told him exactly where to look.
He pulled out a set of probes and plugged them into the test terminal.
Donning a small headset, he listened to the sound of an analog modem sending
data on the fire and security system over the line. This particular modem
was busy transmitting a constant 'rest' signal, and would continue to do
so until an alarm was tripped and the identifying data packets sent.
The pocket oscilloscope he carried would be worth its weight in gold
on a planet like Capra, and he put it to good use. The 'rest' signal was
analyzed and projected on the small LCD display. It took only two minutes
to set his portable signal generator to the proper pulse amplitude and
frequency.
He was lucky that the modern fiber-optic systems no longer worked.
You could tap into them, but it took time and was tricky to do on the fly,
especially with a system that was designed to sound a loss of communications
alarm if the signal dropped out or was altered by a poorly filtered tap. If
they had been functional, he would have had little choice except to start
cutting and pray they had enough time to get in and do what they had to do
before a technician came out to investigate.
As he jumpered out the input from the security system to the modem and
replaced it with his own phony 'rest' signal, he regretted ever learning
how to do it. This was not something a mechwarrior did. He was a fighter,
not a tech or a spy. Scouting was something they did to pay the bills, and
now that they had battlemechs again, it was a career they could give up.
It disturbed him to think that he now considered Akane's opinion in
the matter when making these decisions. Even if she didn't approve of his
methods, he was ultimately doing this for her and the Confederation. The
least she could do was recognize that, and be more appreciative about it!
He checked the signal again and made certain that nothing was wrong.
There was no loopback from the controlling station to acknowledge any
alarms. Everything looked good.
Ranma turned off his flashlight and stepped back outside. Genma gave
him a questioning look, which he answered with a 'thumbs up.'
"Let's do it," Genma said to him.
They had to go through a window to get inside, as the front doors were
only two meters from the street. Once inside, Ranma noted that the security
master panel near the door was tripped into alarm. If the signal tap didn't
work, they could expect company.
"We need to hustle," he told his father, who knew it just as well as
him.
The computer was running in standby mode, with its access timed out.
Genma tapped a few proprietary commands into the terminal and pulled up a
keystroke log. After several moments of scanning he noted what looked to
be the clerk's user ID and password, and entered them into the system.
They were in.
"What's the ID number, boy?" he whispered to Ranma.
Ranma pulled out the nameplate and read the numbers to him.
Genma entered them into the system and began a search. It took only
a few moments before spitting out a response.
"Paydirt," Genma grunted. "That nameplate goes to an earthmover owned
by the ANAMAX Corporation Red Butte Mine Division. The vehicle tag is Alfa
X-ray Whiskey Romeo Five Five Eight, and has been expired for eight years."
Ranma scribbled the tag number down on a notepad and replaced both
pad and nameplate in his pocket.
"Red Butte Mine?" he asked. "That name sounds familiar."
"It should," Genma replied as he shut down the computer. "It's a mine
not far from where the _Palomino_ is hidden."
"Oh yeah..." Ranma said quietly. "That's the abandoned copper mine
Akane and I checked out the first day here."
"Fate's with us, my boy," Genma said as they pulled themselves through
the window. "We'll head back to the ship at daybreak, and on the way we'll
stop by the mine."
"Sounds good to me."

* * *

"What's taking them so long?" Akane asked worriedly. She and Doctor
Tofu sat at the table in the small double-occupancy motel room they had
secured for the night, and waited for the return of Ranma and Genma.
Tofu gave her a reassuring look. "It hasn't been that long," he told
her.
"It's been an hour. How long does it take to break in, get what they
need, and get out?"
Tofu had no answer for this, as burglary was far out of his ken.
"Be patient," he advised her.
"I'm doing the best I can," she returned.
Tofu noted the concern she had, and guessed at the cause.
"Ranma will be fine," he said to her. "Don't worry."
Akane was taken aback by this.
"Who says I'm worried about Ranma?"
Tofu smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry, Akane. I should have known you'd be more
concerned about Mister Saotome."
"What?" she cried, not believing that she was hearing this from Doctor
Tofu! "I'm worried that they'll get caught and then the whole expedition to
Ryuugenzawa will be ruined!"
Tofu agreed that this was a potential risk. "If that happens, then
we'll return to the ship and get the battlemechs," he told her. "I can
take Mister Saotome's Griffin, and with your Warhammer and Happousai's
Locust, we should be able to bust them out of jail."
He smiled to let her know that he wasn't all that serious. It was
ridiculous to think that three 'mechs, one of them a Locust, could take
on the entire garrison and defeat them, but Akane appreciated his effort
to reassure her.
"Thanks for trying, Doctor Tofu."
"I'm a doctor," he replied. "It's my business to make people feel
better. Now, do you want to admit that you're worried about Ranma, or not?"
Her face clouded. "I'm not worried about Ranma."
"I don't believe that for a second."
"I do!" she cried. "He's a total jerk. He's rude, obnoxious, arrogant;
I could go on and on about him. I still can't believe my father went along
with this stupid engagement!"
"Is that what this is about?" Tofu asked pointedly. "You're mad at
Ranma because your father engaged you to him?"
Akane froze. It was true that she wasn't happy with her father for
what he had done. Was she really taking it out on Ranma for something that
was between herself and Dad?
She couldn't help but think about another conversation she and Doctor
Tofu had. He had accused her of holding Nabiki responsible for the surrender
summit, when the truth was that surrender was not possible without her
father's approval.
"That's not it," she said quietly, though she wasn't sure that was
entirely true.
Tofu nodded sagely.
"Then it's his so-called 'curse' that has you so upset with him," he
declared.
She looked up from the table where they sat.
"I admit that Ranma's 'curse' makes me a little uneasy sometimes," she
said in a small voice that was barely audible over the sound of the room's
drop-in air conditioner. "But that isn't the reason. I told you the reasons
why I don't like Ranma."
"And those were all good reasons," Tofu conceded. "If you take them
alone." He reached across the table and touched Akane's hand, making her
shiver with excitement. She may have told herself that there was no chance
for happiness with the handsome doctor, but in that moment she was lost in
the fantasy that this expedition would bring them closer together than
ever before.
"But what you're telling me," he went on, and her fantasy of love
with him came crashing down around her. "...is that Ranma never does anything
thoughtful, kind, or considerate for you. Akane, I know that isn't true."
She remembered the flying lessons Ranma had given her over the last
three days, his admonition to her before they entered Capra's atmosphere
to be careful, the fact that he had been ready to die for her in the garden.
"I suppose you're right," she said. "But that doesn't make the rotten
stuff he says or does any easier to bear."
Tofu took off his glasses and wiped them with a cloth.
"Maybe so, but I think you can do yourself a favor and be more honest
about your feelings."
He left her in silence with that, a silence that lasted only a few
moments before Ranma stepped through the door of the motel room. He had a
stupid grin plastered all over his blacked out face, his large eyes and
white teeth making him look rather like the Cheshire Cat.
"In and out," he told them, but he was looking at Akane. "No sweat."
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Tofu asked.
"Enough to continue the search," Genma answered. "I say we get some
sleep and leave the city at first light. We're all tired, and could use
some rest."
"Back to the ship?" Akane asked. "What about the key?"
"We'll make a detour to an abandoned mine along the way and pick it
up," Genma told her. "Then we'll lift for the trip back to the jump point."
"Pretty easy, huh, Akane?" Ranma said, clearly pleased with how things
were going.
Akane looked closely at him, and he was ridiculous in black-face. It
was all she could do to keep from laughing.
"Whatever you say, Ranma."

* * *

Commonwealth Mechwarrior Mousse saw the motel ahead of them and
directed the driver to stop. The woman did so, though she clearly chafed
at the idea of being ordered around by a man. Mousse was used to the thinly-
veiled animosity he received from Joketsuzoku women, and paid it no mind.
Kima had sent him out with a detachment of troops in the middle of
his sleep cycle because of a phone call she had received from the Governor.
Apparently the local police had received a tip about the Saotomes from the
night clerk of the motel they were now approaching. Because of the sternly
worded warning regarding the dangers of apprehending the two, the police
had requested that the Commonwealth deal with the matter directly, with
them providing back-up.
That was fine by Mousse. He didn't need the locals getting in the way.
If Kima had not specifically instructed him to comply with the demands of
the police, he would take the captured spies directly back to the DropShip.
Naturally, the police had insisted on detaining them with the two deserters
until the matter of the reward money was settled.
The room where the spies were supposed to be found was dark. It was
rather late, and they were likely asleep. He wasn't going to leave anything
to chance. They had a spare key from the motel clerk, and he and his
detachment would enter quietly and take them down before they knew what
hit them.
Two policemen covered the door of the room, while another two watched
the window. There was no other way out of the place. Mousse sent six of his
squad to the door. The SWAT trooper closest to the door slid the key into
the lock and slowly turned the handle. After that, he edged the door open
ever so slightly, as a second SWAT trooper tossed in a handful of flash-
bangs.
The reports were deafening, and smoke filled the small room. His
troops stormed in behind the blasts, armed with stun-sticks and pepper
spray. They were not in the habit of using less-than-lethal weapons, but
Mousse had faith in their discipline.
His faith was rewarded with the excited shouts of the Police as the
spies were dragged half-conscious and in manacles and leg-irons from the
room. Oddly enough, there were four people inside, one of them a woman,
and Mousse hoped like hell that they hadn't hit the wrong room. He stepped
up to the young man with the pig-tail and compared his face to the
photograph Kima had provided him, and the one that had begun circulating
through town since sundown.
"Ranma Saotome," he said to the dazed mechwarrior. "You are under
arrest."

Chapter Six

Headquarters, Black Rose Terror Regiment
50 kilometers east of Capra City
Planet Capra, Capra System
The League of Five Nails
15 March 3025

The Black Rose of the Furinkan Combine mounted her black Marauder,
her eyes shining with delight at the news she had just received. The
horrible Tendo girl had just been arrested by the local police, with the
help of the Jusenkyo Commonwealth! It was delicious, for she would be
able to seize the Tendo girl at the same time as she killed a few Amazon
witches!
The 75-ton war machine roared to life at her command, its sensors
twitching in the darkness. It would be almost an hour before they would
reach the city from their current position, which would put their arrival
just before daylight. It was perfect. Dawn would bring light in the form
of charged particles and beams of coherent death.
Her dear brother was also on the way, which made her decision to
move fifty klicks closer to the town early that evening a wise one indeed.
Her headlong rush for Capra City would be a race against time, but made
the experience all the sweeter in the knowledge that Tachi would watch
Akane Tendo slip through his fingers.
"Full advance!" she ordered her battlemechs. "Let nothing stop you
from victory - not the League of Five Nails, nor the Commonwealth, and
especially not my brother!"
Her troops cheered over the tac-net, a full regiment of them, loyal
to her unto the death. It did not concern them that they might face fellow
Combine mechwarriors in battle. The Black Rose commanded, and they obeyed.

* * *

Special Prisoner Holding Block
Capra City Jail,
15 March 3025

Kima could not believe her eyes. Not only had they captured the two
Saotomes, but also Akane Tendo! Being as intimately familiar with Akane's
face as Kima was, she could never forget it. Akane wore her hair short now,
which made Kima wonder whether her Jusenkyo body had any more value to her
superiors in the Commonwealth. It would be too much trouble to have it cut
and styled every time she needed to change.
There were other matters. The two Saotomes had to be interrogated for
their knowledge of Ryuugenzawa, but after that they were as good as dead in
the hands of Shampoo. What was she supposed to do with Akane and the Tendo
family's personal physician?
Killing them was a dangerous idea. If word leaked out that they had
died at the hands of the Commonwealth, it would bring severe repercussions,
not the least of which was Tatewaki Kuno's undying wrath. Kima had no doubt
that the word would get out sooner or later.
Leaving them on Capra was also questionable. If their identities were
revealed to the League, then Hikaru Gosunkugi would not hesitate to take
Akane hostage. While some good could come of it, she doubted that the Elders
would approve. It was not her place to make the Commonwealth's policy, only
to enforce it.
That meant that she had to take them all with her, back to Jusenkyo.
It seemed like the best choice under the circumstances. Akane and the
doctor could be released as a gesture of goodwill between the Commonwealth
and the Confederation. It was regrettable that the Saotomes would have to
die, given the recent engagement of the young mechwarrior to Akane, but the
Commonwealth had ample proof of their espionage activities to justify the
deed.
"Is everything to your specifications?" Governor Argust asked her,
meaning: "Are these the ones you're looking for - so I can get my money?"
"Everything is fine," Kima returned.
Argust rubbed his palms together. "Excellent. Any word yet from your
Government?"
Kima sighed. "Not yet, Governor. It will probably be several more
hours at the earliest."
"Then you won't object if we continue to hold them here?"
She visualized her dagger protruding hilt deep from between his eyes.
"No, Governor. Not at all."
Argust nodded his head with satisfaction.
"Wonderful. I shall be retiring for the evening, your Excellency. Do
let me know when you hear from Jusenkyo."
Kima was only too glad to see him go. "Certainly, Governor."

"Do you remember when I said this was easy?" Ranma asked Akane as they
stood by the bars of their cell. Genma shared a cell with his son, and Akane
and Doctor Tofu were confined to the cell next to them.
Akane nodded slowly, still feeling the effects of the stun grenades and
the ringing they had left in her ears.
"Um-hmmm..."
Ranma rubbed at his neck. "I'm sorry I said it."
He looked out at the bars to see the Commonwealth Ambassador from the
summit on Nerima sizing him up. She wasn't the only one. Shampoo was with
her, standing next to an angry looking man in long white robes. The man he
vaguely remembered through the painful haze of their capture as the one who
arrested them.
How in the hell had the Commonwealth known to come here to look for
us? he thought angrily. More to the point, who was the traitor who tipped
the damn Amazons off? He recognized the other two in the cells. They were
both part of the Jusenkyo Lab's security, if he remembered correctly. Why
were THEY here, and locked up with him and the others?
These were questions that demanded answers, but only when they were
free of their jail.
Shampoo approached the bars. She was every bit as dangerous looking
as he remembered her. It was only by accident that she had fallen into one
of the Jusenkyo Pools, but the look in her eyes told him that she blamed
him exclusively for what had happened.
"Shampoo thought she kill you on Lightoller," the Amazon told him,
her violet eyes crackled with fury at the thought. "I no make same mistake
twice."
"Kill?" Akane cried in protest. "I understand what Ranma did was
against your laws, but doesn't he at least get a trial?"
Shampoo narrowed her eyes at Akane.
"You no understand how Amazon Law work," she told her curtly. "You
shut mouth now."
Akane stepped back, stunned by Shampoo's retort. She tried to speak,
but her anger kept her from forming any words.
"Don't sweat it, Akane," Ranma said evenly. He could not see her in
her cell, but knew full well what lay behind her silence. "If Shampoo wants
a piece of me, it'll be her funeral, not mine."
Shampoo was incensed. "No make Shampoo laugh! I rip out heart."
He returned her stare of challenge. She might have been a pretty good
fighter, but he wasn't going to back down.
"I guess we'll find out, huh?"
She gave him a contemptuous look and returned to her place by the far
wall. Kima took her leave of the holding cells, and Mousse trailed after at
a respectful distance.
That left Shampoo to watch over them with her big feline eyes.

Ryouga watched the confrontation in silence. It made no sense, but
somehow the four who were locked up with himself and Tarou were also wanted
by the Commonwealth. What had they done? Who were they? The two Saotomes
were vaguely familiar looking, and the one his age was even named Ranma,
but if they were the ones he remembered, he had last seen them almost
seven years ago.
There was only one way to find out.
"Ranma...?" he asked quietly.
There was a long pause, and he was about to ask again when Ranma
replied.
"Yeah? Who's this?"
"Nevermind that," he returned. "I have a question for you."
Another pause.
"Go ahead. I ain't got nothin' but time."
"You wouldn't happen to remember the Hsien Junior Military Training
Academy on the planet Tamegonit, would you?"
"Vaguely. It's been awhile," Ranma replied, wondering who the hell it
was that knew so much about his childhood wanderings. "So what?"
Ryouga felt himself tense at the news. The very Ranma Saotome who had
humiliated him day after day at the training academy, the one who had run
out on their duel seven long years ago, was in jail with him. The bars
that kept him a prisoner were the same bars that kept Ranma Saotome alive.
Still, he had to know...
"It's me, Ranma," he told him. "It's Ryouga Hibiki."
"Ryouga Hibiki?" he heard a young woman's voice ask. "Do you know this
person, Ranma?"
"The name sounds sort of familiar," Ranma replied.
"Don't you remember me?!" Ryouga barked, earning a hard look from
Shampoo.
"Well... Like I said, the name sounds familiar. Did you say the Hsien
Academy?"
Ryouga was livid. He had burned with shame for three years after that
fateful day. Ranma had dropped out of the Academy, and rumor had it that
he had left the system with his father, leaving Ryouga with no way to get
his revenge.
"You mean you don't remember our man to man duel!?"
"Duel...?"
"You don't remember something like a duel?" the girl's voice asked.
"This Ryouga fellow sounds awfully serious about it."
There followed the sound of a foot tapping the cement floor.
"Gimme a second, I'm working on it... A duel... A duel... A guy named
Ryouga... Me in a duel with a guy named Ryouga... Me in a duel with a guy
named Ryouga at the Hsien Academy..."
"Do you remember or don't you?!" Ryouga demanded.
"I said gimme a second!" Ranma shot back. "Hey, Pop, do you remember
anything like what he's talking about?"
"I hardly think it's very important given our current predicament,
boy," a gruff voice replied.
Time passed as Shampoo looked on with some amusement.
"Well?" Ryouga asked, beyond anger and into despair. Had he devoted
what were supposed to be some the best years of his life to hopeless plans
for revenge - when his bitter enemy had thought so little of their duel
that he didn't even remember it?
"Sorry man, it ain't ringing any bells," Ranma finally answered him.
"I got in lots of fights when I was twelve."
Ryouga knocked his forehead against the bars in misery. It was true.
All those dark years of Junior High spent in shame and humiliation for
nothing. The bastard didn't even remember him.
"Forget about it," he said sullenly, knowing that Ranma already had.
"Maybe if you gave me a hint or two," Ranma responded. "Like why we
were having a duel."
Ryouga's expression perked up. "We were duelling because of the way
you humiliated me in the cafeteria."
"Hmmmmm..." Ranma wondered aloud. "Nope. You gotta be more specific
than that."
"You always stole my bread!" Ryouga thundered.
"Bread?" Ranma and Akane chorused.
"Yeah, bread!" Ryouga repeated. Looking back on those days, it did
seem like a stupid thing to fight about, but somehow fate had seen fit to
allow him this one chance to settle a seven-year-old score, and he was
too angry to let it go.
"Oh yeah!" Ranma suddenly chirped. "Now I remember!"
Ryouga's heart leaped. At last!
"You guys fought a duel over bread?" the girl's voice asked in
disbelief. "What kind of school did you go to, Ranma?"
"It was nuts, Akane," Ranma replied wearily. "The place was totally
competitive. Grades, 'mech training, small arms, sports, even *lunch.*
They used to call out the lunch specials at the counter, and it was first
come, first served. I saw a lot of kids get trampled over junk like algae
bread!"
"I was one of them!" Ryouga cried indignantly.
"So tell me, Ryouga," Ranma asked him. "Why are you so mad at me for
a duel that you didn't even show up for?"
"You lie!"
"I ain't lying. I waited at that stupid practice field for three days
waiting for you, without food or sleep, and you never showed!"
"Three days?" the girl, Akane, cried.
Ryouga was livid. Those cruel days of childhood had returned to him.
"Yeah, and by the fourth day, you had run away!"

There was a long moment of silence between them.

"Hey, Ryouga?"
"What is it, Ranma!?" he snarled.
"Just why exactly did it take you four days to get to a field that was
right outside our dorm rooms?"
Damn him!
"You got an answer for me?" Ranma pressed.
Shampoo stood from her chair. "Yes, this what Shampoo also want to
know," she said to him with a toothy grin.
Ryouga gripped the bars tight enough to feel the friction heat burning
his hands.
"It's because he has the universe's worst sense of direction," Pansuto
Tarou said sardonically from his cell. It had been the most he had said
since his incarceration.
"You shut up, Monster-boy!" Ryouga barked. He could almost feel Tarou's
smug grin leveled at him through the cement wall that separated them.
"Well I know that," Ranma answered the unknown man in the cell next to
Ryouga. "I just wanted to hear it from him." He raised his voice a notch.
"It takes a real man to admit he's wrong, huh, Ryouga?"
Ryouga's simmer had become a full boil. The bars of his cell began to
creak in their concrete foundations.
"Damn you, Ranma!"
"You're still pissed about the bread after all these years?" the
pig-tailed mechwarrior asked him. "Tell you what; if we ever get out of
here, I swear I'll make it up to you. You can have any kind of bread you
want. Name it, and it's yours!"

"Save breath, Ranma," Shampoo interjected. "Only place you going is
Hell of Being Ripped to Pieces!"
"What!?" Akane asked the Amazon.
"Chinese have many Hells," Shampoo supplied for her with a wry smile.

Ryouga couldn't believe Ranma had such gall.
"This isn't about bread!" he cried angrily. "This is about years of
anguish and humiliation! Of enduring soul-crushing shame! I was never the
same after Hsien Academy!"
"Ryouga, take my advice," Ranma offered in a soothing voice. "Get
some professional help, man. Really. You're blowing a head gasket about
something that happened when we were both kids, when right now we're
both in this lousy jail, waiting to get shipped out to meet our doom at
the hands of our worst enemies. I mean, prioritize, man!"

Chapter Seven

The eastern outskirts of Capra City,
thirty minutes before sunrise
15 March 3025

Kodachi's lead elements had taken up positions around the city's
handful of main traffic arteries. There would be no escaping while her
spearhead companies drove straight for the center of town and the police
headquarters. Her third battalion was set to attack the starport and the
fort.
She turned her battlemech to either side of her. Set up on a low ridge,
one of the few places near the city that could be called high ground, were
her Fire Lances. Archers, Crusaders, Catapults, and Trebuchets prepared to
deliver a blistering volley of long range missiles. The barrage would throw
the city into chaos and at the same time would create a path of destruction
for her spearhead to follow to the center of town.
Her adjutant appeared on her commo display.
"All companies report in-position at their preliminary jumping off
points, Highness."
"Very well," she said, her voice dripping with anticipation. She
flipped over to the tac-net frequencies. "Fire Lances, commence fire! Fire
at will!"
The ridge lit up as bright as the sun. Hundreds of angry yellow and
orange darts of flame leaped skyward from the battlemechs, the first of
many missile volleys. The giant war machines were silhouetted against the
flames, as were the rows of ammunition carriers that would allow them to
keep up a continuous bombardment.
Kodachi watched the first volley fall into the city near the edge of
town. Brilliant fireballs erupted at the impact points, and the concussions
shook even her Marauder from a distance of nearly five hundred meters from
the blasts. In the distance she could see her other bombardment group
pounding the starport and the fort.
"Good morning, everyone!" she sang out to the city on her Marauder's
external speakers. The second wave was already falling as she called for
her troops to advance. "The Black Rose has come for you, little dears!"
With her Marauder in the lead, Kodachi's headquarters company began
stomping towards the flames. Her thermal sensors could not distinguish
through the fire the images of survivors fleeing in a dazed panic, but
she knew they were out there. Structures weakened by the missiles collapsed
on top of them, the failures caused by the tremors of so many battlemechs
moving towards the city, adding to the terror she sowed.
It was terribly funny to behold, and she laughed with reckless abandon
at their misfortune.

* * *

Kima was not even out of the parking garage when the first missiles
began to explode. There were luminous trails of smoke in the sky, leading
back to two distinct points of origin. The booming reports spoke of many
battlemechs in the pre-dawn darkness beyond the city, a realization that
nearly sent her into a panic.
She turned to Mousse.
"<Get to the _Jade Lotus!_>" she ordered him. "<Order them to prepare
for emergency lift-off if they haven't already started when you get there.
Then take command of the battlemech company and move them out to positions
that will defend the ship until we can leave.>"
"<What about Shampoo?>" he cried. There was no way he was going to let
them leave her behind.
"<Send the truck back for us!>" she told him, and leaped clear as they
rounded a corner to take them to the starport. She wasn't going to lose her
prisoners, the Governor's money be damned!

* * *

Governor Argust was just stepping out of his car when Kodachi's
missile barrage hit. At first he did not realize the magnitude of what
was taking place, and his initial impression was that some horrible
accident had just occurred at the fort's armory.
Moments later, when the alert sirens began howling throughout the
city, he realized that he was terribly, terribly wrong.
"Those Joketsuzoku whores!" he cursed. "They're taking the prisoners
without paying my reward!"
He rushed into the mansion to phone the garrison commander.

* * *

"Shhhhhh!" Ranma hissed. "You hear that?"
"Hear what, Ranma?" Akane asked nervously.
"It sounded like explosions," he replied.
Shampoo perked up her ears and began to hear them as well.
"I think you right," she said quietly.
"What's going on?" Doctor Tofu asked.
"Beats me," Genma replied. The only mechwarrior left on the DropShip
was Happousai, and he didn't see his master taking on the entire city for
their sakes, even if he knew they were in trouble.
"I hear sirens," Ryouga added. "The city is under attack! It must be
the Combine!"
Akane felt suddenly cold. Kuno...
Ranma rattled the bars for Shampoo's attention.
"Hey, let us out!" he cried.
Shampoo shot him a dirty look. "You rot," she told him. "Shampoo no
care if you die down here in basement."
Kima sprang through the door a moment later, a guard falling dead
through the threshold behind her. His throat was slashed open, and she
brandished a bloody dagger as well as the keys to the cells.
"<What's going on?>" Shampoo asked her.
"<The city is under attack,>" Kima replied. "<We don't know who's
out there yet, but they have a very large force. It's probably the
Combine.>"
"<What about the prisoners?>"
Kima held up the keys.
"<We're taking them with us just as soon as the truck returns from the
starport.>"
"Hey!" Ranma cried louder. "Let us out!"
Kima leaped to the bars with surprising speed. "Quiet!" she barked at
him. "You'll do as I say, or I'll gut you and leave you for the Combine."
He stepped back, nonplussed by her threat.
"Whatever, lady."

* * *

The _Jade Lotus_ was wreathed in flames when Mousse reached the
starport tarmac. Starport Emergency teams scrambled through the smoke
and fire, fighting several nearby blazes to keep them from detonating the
sizable reservoir of liquid hydrogen in the tank farm. More missiles
rained down from the sky to the south, and missiles arced across the
city from the east. The wail of the alert sirens added to the infernal
din.
The Union Class DropShip had suffered only a few hits. Its armor was
proof against much more damage, but if they didn't get off the ground
immediately there was no telling how long their luck would last. He could
see the ship's crew working to cast off their support umbilicals and the
gantry for lift-off. At least he could concentrate on the Company.
He sent the truck back to the jail on the run, leaping out as Kima
had done. There was little time to do what needed to be done.
A soldier stood her ground at the combat personnel hatch. He ignored
her challenge and pushed her aside, his male effrontery too appalling to
even resist.
He clambered up the ladder to the 'Mech Bays. The rest of the Company
was already prepping for action, allowing him a moment to strip out of his
robes and into his cooling vest. His white and grey Crusader stood at
brisk attention in its padded drop cocoon, and he took the ladder rungs
up the legs and torso two at a time. The rumble of the _Jade Lotus'_
massive plasma drive warming up for lift-off reassured him.
Once mounted and powered up, he addressed the rest of the unit. This
was the moment he had been waiting for ever since his release from General
Herb. This was his chance to prove himself to Shampoo, and to all the other
women. He would not be denied recognition. He would not be denied this
chance to shine before Shampoo.
"<Fire and Command Lances will disperse and take up defensive
positions within range of the DropShip's weapons,>" he commanded. On a
side display he could see the Fire Lance Commander - his superior officer
prior to Kima's sudden brevet - frowning and about to protest orders not
only from a man, but from a subordinate. He did not give her the chance.
"<You have your orders, Lieutenant,>" he roared. "<As I have them from
Commander Kima. Carry out those orders, or find yourself replaced by
someone who will!>"
Cowed by this surprising show of force from the usually silent and
submissive Mousse, she saluted and turned her Lance, minus his Crusader,
forth through the heavy armored doors of the DropShip. The Command Lance
followed suit.
He turned to the Recon Lance, which was short by Shampoo's Panther.
"<The rest of you follow me into the city,>" he told them. "<We have
to protect Shampoo and the Commander until they can return to the ship.>"

* * *

Tatewaki Kuno sat within the confines of his Thunderbolt's cockpit,
listening to the chatter of his troops over the tac-net. They were in
the final descent towards Capra's atmosphere. Within thirty minutes they
would be setting down at their drop zones.
Because of the magnitude of the drop, he had recognized the need
for pathfinders to go ahead of his main force to mark and prepare the
drop zones. This was no simple raid, but a dedicated planetary invasion,
and he could not spare any time lost trying to reorganize on his drop
zones.
"My lord Prince," his G-2 Intelligence Officer called over his
command channel.
"Speak, man!" he replied impatiently.
"Our Pathfinder Battalion reports heavy fighting in the city," he
began. "Preliminary reports indicate BRTR forces in regimental strength
are responsible. The Drop Zones are not compromised at this time."
"My sister!" Tatewaki cried angrily. The Black Rose Terror Regiment
was running loose! "She must know where my beloved is!"
He punched up his Divisional Operations Officer, Colonel Singh.
"Singh," he spat over the radio. "Dispatch six squadrons of aerospace
support to the city. They must smite my sister's traitorous legions with
all haste!"
"Forgive me, Highness," Singh replied. "But six squadrons represents
a sizable portion of our descent cover."
"Speak not to thy liege as if he were a dolt, Singh, or thy rank and
station are forfeit! Six Squadrons!"
Singh paled.
"At once, my Prince!"
Tatewaki clenched his fists in an impotent fury. The descent orbit
could not be altered without significant scattering of his forces, which
would be suicidal in light of Kodachi's strength. All he could do was
wait, hope that the rest of his staff weren't as timid as Colonel Singh,
and pray to the gods of battle that he would be in time to stop his sister.

END OF PART EIGHT