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Enjoy!

    Hi,

    Seeing as so many people have been asking, here's the first half of my
PB #10 update.  Hopefully I will finish the second half of the update soon

    -Shade

    Previous parts are archived at:
http://lwf58.tripod.com/fan_fiction/shade
**********

He dreamed. 

And remembered...

----
-Shadows From The Past

"...That's it lad. Never let your guard down.
Always remember, you'll find few friends and 
far too many enemies on the path you've chosen. 
You can't *ever* afford the luxury of believing 
you're safe."

"Hai, Conner-sensei. I'll figure 
out a way to counter your techniques
one of these days, just you wait 
and see!"

The indignant mock glare he shot at
his teacher and friend caused Conner
to chuckle in rueful amusement. 
Although there was no malice in his
student's words there was no mistaking
the very real determination behind them.

"I'm sure you will, Ranma."

The older man offered a hand to his student 
who was sprawled painfully on the cracked and 
blackened earth. The morning's training had gone 
well. The boy was finally starting to hold his own 
against his teacher's straightforward and relentless 
combat style after only a few months, truly astonishing
for one so young. 

"Yes, I've no doubt that one day you will."

The two of them rose from the ground and hovered 
briefly in midair as they reoriented themselves 
toward the direction of their camp. As always 
Conner was amazed at the uncanny affinity his 
apprentice had for the sky, it seemed to come 
to him as naturally as breathing. 

But the wily old man had a few tricks here too.

"Ready for your next lesson?"

In response Ranma groaned halfheartedly.
He knew what was coming and it wasn't 
going to be pretty. And he used to think
*Genma* had been a tough teacher!

"Alright, but this time we stick to sub-sonic!"

"Complain, complain. A real man 
would try to overcome his limitations."

The young CosmoKnight snorted rudely.
He wasn't falling for that one again!

"So says the one who can break Mach 10 
without even breaking a sweat."

Conner just looked faintly amused.

"Ready?"

Resigned to the inevitable,
Ranma nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah."

"One for the money, Two for the show,
Three to get ready, and Four to..."

Zip. Zoom. Zing.

"..go!"

Both went from a cold start to over 900 mph 
before he even finished. Only the fact that
Ranma had been expecting exactly this sort of 
behavior from his sneaky sensei gave him any 
chance at all. It was a race of skill as much 
as speed, their positions were only a few meters
from the ground itself and the countless canyons
and numerous rocky outcroppings made it a challange 
to avoid running into anything. Although it wouldn't
actually hurt either of them too much, it would serve 
to slow them down and they were already neck and neck 
as it was.

But that was also what made this so much fun.

For the rest of his life Ranma would 
remember this all too brief time as 
the first where he had ever been truly 
happy since arriving in this strange 
dimension. Perhaps because now there
were others like him and here he was 
no longer alone.

But the peace wasn't destined to last.

All too soon, the horror found its way here.

~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: It's the disclaimer that never ends, 
            It just goes on and on my friends, 
            Yes, it's the disclaimer that will never end,
            Going on and on till your brain goes insane,
            It's the disclaimer that never ends-*BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM*

"Got lamb?"

~~~~~~~
-Eclipse

*Click* "Whirrrr"

Stop. Rewind. Play.

The watcher's cold eyes studied the scene 
again, he had been doing little else for 
the past three days. 

Scientists, technicians and soldiers all 
hurried about behind him. The massive 
fortress was a bustle of excited activity,
but the watcher paid them no heed. All of 
them were less then worms to him, to be 
extingished at a whim when their usefulness 
finally came to an end.

*Click* "Whirrrr"

Stop. Rewind. Play.

It had taken nearly a week for his operatives 
to recover the data stored in the cybernetic
spy-drone, partly because the person who'd
attracted his interest had also been 
responsible for taking out several of his 
best agents.

But when it's memory had been finally decrypted,
the results recorded inside had exceeded his 
wildest expectations. 

*Click* "Whirrrr"

Stop. Rewind. Play.

The crucial scene played out before him once more...

Sagat, the former Thai kickboxing champion, 
executed his deadly Tiger Uppercut perfectly. 

There were few fighters that could ever hope to 
avoid such a powerful blow even had they known it 
was coming. With the element of surprise on his 
side it should have been all but impossible for 
anyone to dodge, let alone counter.

But that was not how it played out.

His opponent seemed to 'shift' position in mid-jump, 
slowing his descent at the very moment Sagat began 
his attack and turning impossibly to the side, 
avoiding the strike by mere centimeters.

Then the youth's leg flashed up and out once, 
coming down on Sagat's collarbone in a 
devastating axe kick. His coordination and 
flexibility defied both the laws of gravity 
and physics. As for his strength...

The kickboxer went crashing down into the 
mud with all the grace of a load of bricks. 

One arm lay twisted and broken in the muck while 
his single good eye lolled about in unconsciousness.

Medical facilities would later report that nearly 
three quarters of the bones in his body appeared 
to have broken on impact.

A leer that was not entirely sane seemed to have
become permanently affixed to the watcher's face.

Such deliciously brutal power.

Power that would soon belong to its rightful master.

Bison.

*Click* "Whirrrr"

Stop. Rewind. Play.

~~~~~~~
Part 4: ...The Season of Darkness.
~~~~~~~
-Ill Tidings

"What's wrong?"

Katrina gave the guide a look of concern.

Nick was the one who answered her.

"It's a Naruni Repo-bot. And that particular 
model is Kehal Ridge, one of Naruni Enterprise's 
top assassins."

"I take it that he doesn't 
usually enter this establishment?"

He almost cracked a smile. Almost.

"Damn right. That walking arsenal of death 
never hangs around places like this. Only 
reason that he'd come here would be if he's 
looking for something."

A disturbing thought came to Sun.

"Or someone."

Croaker nodded, but his eyes never strayed 
an inch from the dangerous cyborg.

Katrina's companions weren't the only ones 
in the bar unnerved by the presence of the 
notorious assassin. 

Chairs shifted uneasily as uneasy patrons moved 
their hands closer to various concealed blasters and 
other weapons while sliding back just enough from 
their tables so that it wouldn't get in their way 
should they suddenly find the need to take cover. 

But none of them was stupid enough to try and make 
the first move. Repo-bots were feared for a very 
good reason, they were state of the art killing 
machines outfitted with the most advanced offensive
and defensive systems that Naruni Enterprises had to 
offer. The regular Class I A.P.E. (All Purpose Elimination)
models were a match for an entire squadron of power armors. 

Kehal Ridge was a Class II A.S.S.I.S.T. (Advanced Strategic 
Stealth Interrogation & Sabotage Type), a design that was 
*far* superior to the Class I. Although the exact details of 
his armament and defenses remained mere speculation and rumor, 
it *was* known that Ridge had once killed two Mature Adult 
Great Horned Dragons singlehandedly for defaulting on payments 
to Naruni Enterprises. 

Any sentient being unlucky enough to have attracted his
attention here was to be pitied...from a safe distance away
(preferably another planet if possible).

~~~~~~~
-Run, Do Not Walk, To The Nearest Starship!

Sophisticated thermal sensors picked out the Fealnach's 
image from the rest of the crowd almost immediately. 
When agitated the body temperature of the pathetic scum 
nearly doubled, making them easy prey when one was 
searching for information. It also helped that the vermin 
were spineless cowards, having evolved to sentience from 
a species of Eurycotis.

Ridge took the most direct route toward his target,
ignoring the wild scramble that took place as various 
terrified individuals scrambled to get out of his way.

While the Repo-bot paid no attention to the rabble,
his onboard combat computer was tracking every 
movement with a watchfulness that bordered on 
paranoia. Over half a dozen concealed weapon 
systems waited on hair triggers for even the 
slightest hint of a potential threat. 

Kehal had not survived seven hundred years 
of corporate infighting by being careless.

Especially now, as he attempted to pick up the 
trail of one the most dangerous individuals in 
the galaxy. If that wasn't enough to make 
him more cautious than usual, Naruni Enterprises' 
Black Op files had also revealed that he wasn't 
the first representative to be sent out after 
this particular troublemaker.

Three full teams, including four fellow ASSIST 
Repo-bots had been dispatched in the past year. 
All of them had been wiped out down to the last 
agent. Ridge had no intention of sharing their 
fate.

With calculated force one heavily armored arm 
slammed down on a table to corner the cowering 
Nach.

"I require some information in your possession."

"Anything! Just please don't kill me!!"

It was almost amazing how effective a properly worded 
request combined with the right amount of tactical 
demonstration was at getting the desired results from 
such a normally unhelpful source.

~~~~~~~
-Check Please!

"Time to go."

As much as she would have liked 
to disagree with Nicholas, Light
couldn't refute the logic of his
words. The longer they stayed here,
the more likely it was that the RepoBot
would identify either herself or her
Rebel contact, although she had no
recollections of ever having dealt
with Naruni before, something in her 
head warned the Leyline Walker to be
careful around them. The guide had 
already made tracks, no payment was 
worth his life.

"Agreed, is there a back way out of here?"

Nick rolled his eyes despite 
the seriousness of their situation.

"This is a respectable Spacer Bar.
Of course there's alternate exits 
to slip out of."

Kat grinned sheepishly.

"Silly me."

~~~~~~~
-Shades of Starlight

A figure half-hidden in the farthest 
corner of the room dumped a few 
cred chits on his table as he abandoned 
both it and his untouched drink in favor 
of following after the two who had just 
left. 

His prey had always favored females with spirit, 
it seemed that his patience had finally paid off 
this time. 

What might have been a twisted parody of a smile 
passed beneath the watcher's ragged hood. 

"Soon Saotome...my revenge against you 
and your master will be complete."

~~~~~~~
-Dispatched

"Apepi, Anhur. You know what to do."

>From the shadow of his throne came
a beastial roar of acknowledgment.

"Raagghh! By your leave, Lord Set."

On the other side materialized a large 
figure dressed in warrior's garb.

"..."

The Jackel God's eyes were cold chips of black ice.

"Do not fail me."

Diamond hard scales scraped harshly against
the obsidian floor. The monstrous form trembled
from the effort it took to restrain its natural 
instinct for blood and death. 

"Shrissshhh. We go."

"..."

Assassin and beast vanished into the darkness.

Alone once more, Set's animalistic features 
turned savage as he clasped his fingers together.

{How can a mere mortal manage to evade my 
loyal followers at every turn for so long?!}

It was a question that had frustrated him for years.
His minions had been hunting what seemed the human 
equivalent of smoke. The boy always seemd to be on 
the move, never staying in any one place long enough 
to be identified and terminated. By the time most 
bounty hunters or assassins learned of his presence 
he was usually already long gone, leaving nothing but 
chaos in his wake. To this end, he had been forced to
send his two best killers out on the cold trail.

In a way, the diabolic fiend was almost envious of 
Ranma's affinity for destruction. Thanks to the hero's 
interference many of the evil deity's rivals and even 
his allies were now at each other's throats. To be 
outdone in trickery and bedevilment by such a lesser being, 
it was an insult that simply could not be tolerated.

{You will never escape me, Saotome. Even if 
it takes a thousand years, you will pay...}

~~~~~~~~~
-Things Can *Always* Get Worse

It was a somber group of Senshi that 
met in the Cherry Hill Temple. Today 
hadn't been one of their better showings,
they'd been caught with their tactical 
pants down around their ankles. 

Worse, innocent civilians had nearly paid 
the price for their screw up. And screw up
they had, big time. Not since first accepting
the responsibility of being Sailor Senshi had 
they ever done so poorly against the enemy.
The majority of the Inners had had their 
collective Sailor butts handed to them on
a silver platter by foe they'd thought long 
vanquished. The Outers weren't in any position
to boast either, especially seeing as they'd 
done a fair job of mucking things up themselves.

It would have been embarassing if the situation 
hadn't been so serious, instead it was terrifying.

But of even more pressing concern for the 
girls was this mysterious new element that 
had entered the field.

"He's strong."

Makoto started the ball rolling,
for once temporarily pushing aside
her love-starved romantic side in
favor of a more necessary tactical
objectivity. It wasn't much fun,
but given how close things had 
gotten today she wasn't about to 
start complaining now.

She wasn't *always* obsessed with finding a man.

Really. Why would I lie?

"He seems to possess exceptional offensive 
and defensive tactics, suggesting that he 
also possesses an above average intelligence 
as well as some prior knowledge about the
enemy."

"Huh?"

Everyone sweatdropped and stared at 
the now blushing blue haired girl.

"Um, he's a good fighter and he's 
probably done this kind of thing before."

"Oh!"

Trust Ami to make a 
GIANT understatement!

"Sneaky."

This came from Micheru as she shot a 
rueful look towards her partner and 
fellow Outer. The disgusting goo had
finally evaperated from them both some
time ago, but not even a through 
scrubbing had managed to completely 
dispel the clinging aroma of sun-spoiled 
vegetation.

"Not to mention fast."

Haruka's eyes narrowed as she
replayed the fight in her head 
again. She was the quickest one
in the group and he had still
run rings around her without
even half trying. 

"He's trouble."

Setsuna finished with a sharp snap 
of finality. She pointedly refused 
to meet the curious eyes of the 
other girls.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hot. So very hot. 

Other presences nearby.

Strangers. 

Need to rest. 

Tired, just tired. 

No, something's wrong. 

Where am I...

-----
-Old Wounds

The ancient Cosmoknight had never had 
a student demonstrate such promise before, 
the young man absorbed in hours what normally
took weeks or even months to instill into 
other beginning Knights. He had already 
passed on several lifetimes worth of 
knowledge to him, not all of it having
to do with battle. The seeds of the past
would indeed be carried into the future.

Yet Conner also knew that their time together 
as master and apprentice was fast coming 
to an end. Ranma's place was not here. 
They each had a duty to fulfill, one 
that neither of them would ever shirk. 
Such was the fate of the Cosmoknight.

That fact saddened him. For he suspected 
that their paths would never cross again.

"Brooding again?"

The teasing voice of his lifemate was 
a welcome interruption from his gloomy 
line of thought. 

He looked up in time to see his wife 
descend a few meters in front of him. 
Her armor flashed out of existence to 
be replaced by her favored mode of dress, 
tight jeans and t-shirt. Although physically 
appearing to be only a petite little flame 
redhead in her early 30's, Sarah Hawthorne 
was only a few centuries younger then her husband. 

The relative difference in age mattered nothing
to either of them, their feelings for each other 
had lasted through thick and thin for more then 
ten thousand generations.

Although such unions were rare, they were not unheard of.

Immortality all too often proved to be a lonely fate,
and even the CosmoKnights were not immune to love.
But only with an equally long lived spouse was there
any real hope of sustaining such a relationship.

Conner had been one of the lucky ones.

His partner understood him, accepted 
where his duties lay as he did with hers.
Theirs had been a true matching of hearts.

{Beloved, I was never truly alive until I met you.} 

A rare smile found its way to his face.

"Ah ha! I bet you're thinking about something kinky!"

Conner fought against the blush 
that threatened to swamp over him.
He *still* hadn't quite gotten used 
to her occasional bawdy remarks, 
something she delighted to rib 
him about whenver an opening arose.

Then he noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's the young lad?"

She smiled back with just a hint 
of mischief in her expression.

"He's resting."

The old Knight raised an eyebrow.

"Do you always have to keep knocking 
him unconscious when you're training?"

Sarah punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"You're a fine one to talk."

She started snuggling up against him,
and for a moment Conner had his hands 
full trying to keep her out of all sorts of 
interesting but also highly inappropriate 
places. Not that he was trying very hard, 
but it wouldn't do much for his dignity 
if Saotome were to suddenly fly up just 
in time to see his teachers rolling around 
in the grass like a pair of hormone crazy 
teenagers.

"Meanie!"

"Oh hush. What if the boy were to see us?"

"Pooh! It'll be at least another fifteen 
minutes before he's even able to think about 
getting up."

He winced inwardly. Sarah never exaggerated
when it came to assessing things like that.
Of course the amount of injury needed to be
bio-regenerated for that long a time would 
have to be...

{Ouch. I'd better get some caffe ready for
when he gets back. I suspect my poor student
is going to need it!}

"Ranma is something though, isn't he."

Surprised by her sudden change 
in topic he let her curl up close 
alongside him.

"Hmm?"

His wife looked thoughtful as she tried
to phrase what she had sensed during 
their training together into words.

"He has the gift...I've never seen it so strong in one of us before."

Conner's eyes grew troubled, the concerns
he had kept hidden from his eager pupil 
now coming to the fore.

"I have. Once."

Unbidden, the memory arose of another time so very 
long ago, when there had been another young man that 
the Forge had held equally high hopes for. One of 
their greatest, whom they had believed was the 
one intended to fulfill the prophecy of the First Ones. 

They had all been wrong. So terribly wrong.

{We should have seen the signs. But our hopes
blinded us to the truth until it was too late.}

That mistake had nearly destroyed the Cosmoknights 
and everything they stood for. And even worse, 
it created their most terrible foe, the Ravager.

~~~~~~~
-Painful Decisions

"He's still burning up! Belldandy 
there has to be *something* we can do!!"

Urd had never felt so helpless before.
For all her power, healing wasn't her 
forte and she could only watch as 
convulsion after painful convulsion 
rocked her rescuer's fevered body. 
Blood trickled sluggishly from where 
the wrappings around his chest had 
come loose, and the deep wounds 
stubbornly refused to clot on their 
own. 

"I've done what I can, Urd. 
His wounds are too severe for 
my simple healing spells and 
anything stronger in his weakened
condition will almost certainly 
kill him."

The younger goddess looked exhausted,
the past several hours had not been 
kind to her. Despite her best efforts
the young man's vital signs continued
to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

It was almost as if his body was trying 
to *voluntarily* shut itself down. Every
bit of magic she'd tried to use to stabilize 
his lifeforce had been savagely rejected by 
his body, almost as if it didn't recognize
that she was trying to heal him. This made 
no sense at all. She knew exactly what was 
necessary to treat a human thanks to Keiichi, 
but this time it wasn't working.

{What's wrong with him?}

~~~~~

His body fought against the alien forces
interfering with the healing trance even
as his mind battled the ghostly phantoms
of days long gone...

-----
-Reap The Hurricane

Defeated. Again.

"He did it to me again!"

This was starting to get repetitious.

"Damn it! It's going to take
forever to clean this mess up."

He hated to lose.

"Peel *how many* potatoes?!"

Scratch that. What he *really* hated was 
getting stuck with all the chores as a 
result of losing.

"More fire wood?!! Are we planning on 
starting our own little forest fire or
something?!"

At least it served as good motivation 
to do better the next time.

And he was learning. Slower then he liked 
and much too painful even for his taste, 
but he was definitely starting to make 
some progress.

"Ow...*note to self*, 
'When your instructers tell you not 
to overdue it, listen to them!!'"

Of course Ranma Saotome had never 
been known for his sense of patience.
He knew that it wasn't their fault. But 
it was just so incredibly frustrating,
after more then a decade of martial arts 
training he had to start over and learn 
everything again from the basics up. 

It sucked, but he didn't have any other 
choice. He was more of a danger to himself 
right now then to any enemy. 

Normally most fledgling Knights had little trouble 
adjusting to their new status, but the problem was 
that Saotome had been *too* good a martial artist 
before his transformation into a CosmoKnight. 

While his new body was taller, stronger, faster, 
tougher, and better in every way over his original 
one, the newly added height and weight had initially 
left him feeling gangly and awkward. His center 
of gravity had shifted, making even the simplest 
of techniques problematic at first. All of his 
reflexes had been completely out of synch, 
unbalanced by the sudden changes in reach 
and spacial position.

What had made him a master of the Art
wasn't mere strength or speed, it had 
been knowing, not assuming, but *knowing* 
his entire body was in state of perfectly 
balanced harmony. Ranma had spent almost 
his entire life training in order to 
achieve that extraordinary level of 
self awareness. 

And then he had lost it all in a single night.

It had been hard, suddenly being reduced to
the martial arts level of a rank beginner.
Even now his skill was still only a fraction
of what they had been before. All this power,
so much he could actually feel it flowing 
through his veins, and it was totally useless 
because he couldn't use it properly yet!

There were some battles that could be won
through sheer brute force alone. But not 
against opponents of Conner and Sarah's 
caliber. They had quickly proven that 
from his very first day with them.

Conner's fighting philosophy 
consisted of only three things.

Hit Hard. 

Hit Fast. 

And Don't Stop Till You're Standing And They're Not.

Simple, but effective.

Unfortunately for Ranma, the old man was 
very, *very* good at practicing what he 
preached. He also believed in what Saotome
privately referred to as "The Genma Style 
School of Hard Knocks as the Best Teacher".

Needless to say, while this approach did 
indeed work, more often then not it also
left the young man lying flat on his back 
for hours at a time waiting for broken 
bones and torn muscles to regenerate.

Conner didn't believe in 
pulling his punches...much.

Sarah was even worse (or better, 
depending on your point of view). 
While nowhere near as strong as her 
husband, the lady was unbelievably 
fast. She might not hit as hard 
as his other teacher, but she was 
able to get in twice as many attacks
in only a quarter of the time.

Ranma now knew how Wile E. 
Coyote felt when facing the 
Roadrunner. 

Her 'Starlight Dancer' technique 
made him feel like he was standing 
still in comparison.

For the first time in his life he 
faced someone who's reflexes were 
even better then his own. 

Put mildly, it wasn't a pleasant experience.

On a good day he might, just *might* last 
more then 10 minutes. On a not so good day, 
he was sucking turf before he even realized 
that she'd begun to move. At least he was
learning not to blink during a fight.

{I suppose it's not really fair to blame them.
They've both got more combat experience under 
their belts then anyone I've ever met. Heck,
Conner was talking about fighting in the First
Anvil Horde War, and that was over two hundred 
THOUSAND years ago!}

It was more then a little intimidating,
being in the company of individuals who
were older then certain *civilizations*.

{I'd love to know how they deal with that 
kinda stuff. It makes my blood run cold 
just trying to imagine living a fraction 
as long as they have. What must it be
like for them, having seen and done so 
much? Where do they find the strength 
to keep on going like they have?}

A shadow appeared overhead, 
blocking the warmth of the 
orange sun.

It was followed by a perky cheerful 
voice he was beginning to dread hearing.

"Breaks over, bucko! Up and at 'em."

Ranma winced. She and Conner must have
had quite a night if that vixenish smile
was any indication. He was going to be 
in for a whole 'nother world of pain shortly,
he had noticed that Sarah was always more 
energetic the day after *that*.

{Why me?}

~~~~~~~
-Fools and Folly

"Damn you Saotome..."

As Ryoga Hibiki trudged through yet another 
thick and twisted forest that his lousy sense 
of direction seemed to always inevitably lead him 
he remembered once again the events that were 
responsible for his bitter and twisted mission 
of vengence. It had all started back in junior high.

He had been the strongest.

Unable to navigate any distance greater 
then what he could see in front of him,
but still the strongest boy in the entire 
district.

The IQ of a rusty doorknob, but still no one 
had dared to laugh at him. Because they had 
known what would happen to them if they did.

He had commanded respect back then. 
Even if that respect had come from 
fear, it had been enough.

And Ranma took it all away from him.

---(Become One With The Flashback)---

Welcome to the Kyoto Academy for Boys,
one would be hardpressed to find a more 
wretched hive of scum and villainy.

"That bread is mine!!"

Young Ryoga Hibiki leaped for the 
prized last curry bread of the day.

Although the other boys jostled and 
quarreled among themselves like a pack
of wolves at the lunchcounter, all of 
them made sure to give him a wide berth.

All of them except for one.

The new kid had just arrived 
that very morning. At first glance
he seemed to be nothing special,
except for the sissy little pigtail.

Ryoga had dismissed him almost immediately
as being beneath his notice and the other
students had quickly followed his example 
and ignored this "Ra-something" character. 
So far all the newcomer had done was watch 
everything around him with a wide eyed 
fascination, almost as if the dummy never 
been in such civilized surroundings before.

Fangs bared in a predatory grin of 
anticipation as he closed in on the prize.

*BONK*

A sudden weight on his head pushed his face
down at a sharp angle, pain erupted from his 
neck as it protested this unexpected change 
in its workload. Then the heaviness on his head 
disappeared and Hibiki found himself plummeting 
toward the cafeteria floor.

*SPLAT*

Unable to comprehend what had happened to him 
at first, all he had been able to do was lift 
his head and stare in disbelief at the person 
responsible for this humilation.

It was that scawny snot-nosed little punk!

Even as he watched, that bastard *smirked*
at him and took a bite from what was supposed 
to be *his* curry bread!

Worse, he could hear the whispers passing among 
the other students about his defeat. He wasn't
someone to be taken seriously anymore, "see how 
easily that little guy kicked the mighty Hibiki's 
ass".

It was starting...

The laughter, that hated laughter!!

NO!!!

Nobody mocked him! Nobody!!

{I'm going to crush him!! It's all *his* fault!!}

But first he needed to know his opponent's identity.
Only then would he obtain total satisfaction
when he finally beat the runt into a bloody pulp.

"What is your name?"

Then came the words that would haunt 
his nightmares for years to come.

"I'm Ranma, Ranma Saotome."

That *name*, that disgusting, 
vile source of all his misfortune!!

In that moment Ryoga realized 
that he had met his mortal enemy.

"Ranma Saotome, I will NEVER forget this offense of the Curry Bread!!"

'But things didn't work out that way, did they?'

He had spent two weeks fruitlessly searching for 
the Saotome boy, two weeks lost in places like
Yokohama and Hikaido. By the time he finally got 
back it was lunch again. Deciding that his enemy
must have chickened out by now, he put aside his 
search temporarily in favor of getting the last 
melon bread of the day.

But that wretched Saotome...

"I will NEVER forget this offense of the Melon Bread!!"

And two weeks later...

"I will NEVER forget this offense of the Meat Bread!!"

Again.

"I will NEVER forget this offense of the Cutlet Bread!!"

And again.

"I will NEVER forget this offense of the Noodle Bread!!"

'And every time he still beat you no matter how hard you tried.'

Ranma made his life a living HELL!

Finally Ryoga just couldn't take it anymore. 

He had challenged his archnemesis to
a duel in the lot behind his house.

But when he finally arrived on the fourth day...

All he found was a note.

[Waited three days for you to show up. 
Couldn't delay anymore, me and Pop are
going to China. Guess this means I win.      
	-Ranma ^_^

P.S. No hard feelings.]

And this time nothing could silence the 
contempt of his peers. The entire school 
had known about his appointed duel with 
Saotome. His reign of terror among them 
had been broken. Now they branded him a coward, 
an outcast, not a man but a lowly crawling 
worm to be shunned by all.

'Yes, Ranma destroyed your life. If he hadn't 
run away you would have crushed him like an ant
and regained the respect of the other boys.'

It was Saotome who was the coward! 
Ranma was the one who ran away from him!!
If Saotome was dead then all of this
humilation would go away!!

And so Ryoga vowed then and there that he 
would spend the rest of his life to hunt 
down and destroy his enemy! Only after 
he had torn Ranma Saotome limb from limb 
would his destined future happiness be 
assured!! 

---(Let Go Of The Flashback Already!)---

'Together we can put an end to Ranma.'

"Yeah! Hey, wait a minute!!"

He wasn't going crazy after all! There 
really had been a voice talking inside 
of his head all this time!

"WHO ARE YOU?!!"

'An ally who can make you 
powerful beyond your wildest 
dreams.'

"GET OUTTA OF MY HEAD!! I'LL KILL YOU!!"

The voice abruptly went silent.

Ryoga grinned evilly, believing 
he had scared away the teasing
woman that had been speaking 
inside his twisted little mind.

>From inside his shadow, the diabolical 
image of Pantha Zo'a smiled as well.

~~~~~
-Pass the Sake

>From her current base of operations a slightly 
scorched Demoness (1st class, unlimited) polished 
off another bottle of sake. It joined a growing 
hill of empty bottles as she attempted to dull 
the extra crispy treatment she'd gotten when the 
building she'd been spying from had gone up like 
a gasoline soaked match thanks to that crazy 
Sailor psycho. 

{And to think that people call *us* violent. Sheesh!}


Unfortunately there were some drawbacks to this place.

"Hey! Are you going to just sit around and get drunk?!"

Number one being the building's owner, Sayoko Mishima.

Mara didn't need this, with today's plans blown 
up in her face all she wanted to do right now 
was get good and drunk. Besides which her head hurt.

"Not sho' loud!!"

"Kami-sama! You look like you've 
gone through a garbage incinerator!!"

She winced. When was that damn girl going 
to remember not to use the "K-word" around 
her?

"Jus' a lil' scratch. A'l be *hic* fa'n."

It looked like her treatment was finally working.

{Well Mara ol' girl, looks like it's 
back to the drawing board. I do hope
they didn't kill him.}

Surprisingly the demoness found that she 
actually meant that. Even if she was one 
of the bad guys it didn't mean she got her 
kicks by torturing people, at least not in 
the physical sense. Messing around with their 
heads and causing mischief was fun and all, 
but even *she* had her limits. If she'd 
known those nutcases were actually going 
fry him instead of just kicking him around 
a little bit Mara would have dropped the entire
plan and just made her offer to him in person.

"At leash then I'd a ha've a dinner date inshtead 
of being stuck in the ol' witch's place."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!!"

Oh hell. This was just not her day.

~~~~~
-Imperial Battle Cruiser "Dark Impaler"

"My lord, we have arrived at our destination."

"Excellent. Prepare my shuttle and two wings
of Intercepters immediately."

"As you command."

The aide turned and left at a quick trot, you did
*not* run in the Ironclaw's presence. And it had 
only taken 34 aides to get that point across to 
the survivors. 

[This is a waste of time!]

Jarenz didn't need to turn to 
know who dared to question his
strategem. There was only one 
soul aboard that could get away 
with such insolence without fear 
of instant retaliation.

His Rune Weapon, Infernal Retribution.

Although the emity between Jarenz and Saotome 
was fierce, it paled in comparison to the 
state of overwhelming hostility that existed 
between their respective Rune Weapons.

Ironclaw's Impaler contained the soul of 
Volsai Lezlod, a vile being which had once 
been one of the most feared Demodand Princes 
in Tarterus. Ironically, Volsai's downfull 
and subsequent enslavement had been the result
of losing a powerful artifact he had coveted, 
known as the Crystal Shard. 

Volsai and Ishtar *HATED* each other 
beyond all reason, and their feelings 
toward their adversary's owner were 
only slightly less volatile. This mutual 
enmity was partially due to the fact 
that they had been old enemies long 
before becoming entrapped within the 
Weapons that now housed their souls.

In fact, it had been Ishtar who was responsible for 
thwarting Volsai's possession of the Shard, banishing 
the evil device to the Etheral Plane in hopes that it 
might be lost within the eternal mists for all time. 

Her plans ultimately failed in the end, 
but not before leading to Lezlod's downfall.

He had never forgotten that. 

The Impaler had been obsessed 
with finding a way to destroy 
its most hated enemy once and 
for all. It took centuries of 
waiting and scheming, but the 
hateful soul finally found a 
way to strike back at her.

It had been Volsai who directed the 
attentions of the Splugorth toward Ishtar, 
setting off the chain of events that had 
led directly to her capture and imprisonment 
inside the artifact known as the "Key".

To this day the fiend was still trying to
find a way to truly get rid of its most 
hated enemy once and for all.

[I want to frag that bitch 
and her puke faced protecter!
Rip them to pieces!! Tear out 
their still beating hearts and 
eat their livers!!]

"Patience Volsai, we shall 
deal with them both soon enough."

In the contest of wills Jarenz was
always the victor. He ruthlessly 
quashed Lezlod's attempts to try 
and assume control of their bonding. 

Ironclaw was the absolute master of his domain. 

That was always the way of things.

{You've hidden yourself well this time, Saotome.
My spies have not discovered anything so far, 
nor do I expect them to. To evade even the eyes 
of Imperial Intelligence requires assistance of 
a considerable level, beyond even that of your 
most powerful allies. The question then is how
did you manage to get this aid?}

With the failure of conventional resources 
of information he was now forced to resort to 
alternative means in order to secure badly 
needed intelligence on his old foe. 

Time was working against him. There were 
already far too many others also searching 
for Ranma. Sooner or later one of them might 
get lucky, and he could not allow that! 

Saotome was *HIS* to defeat!!

{Now we shall see if the Delphian Oracles
are truly as learned as their reputation
indicates.}

~~~~~~
-Falling Star

He was enjoying a rare afternoon 
off from his nearly constant scheduale 
of training when the first signs of 
catastrophe made themselves known.

{I gotta admit, this planet may be 
dull as dirt but the sunsets are 
so gorgeous that they almost make 
up for it.}

Lying back against one the short 
and stubby blue trees that made up 
the majority of the native foliage 
here, Ranma was amusing himself with 
an old child's game he had used to 
play during that lonely training trip 
with his father.

{That cloud looks like a okonomiyaki
with all the trimmings. And that bunch 
of mountains over there reminds me of 
those dumplings on Gemini II. 
Boy, those were great!} 

(Somewhere a cow moos.)

...

...Well let's see you try and come up with 
something better when *Genma* Saotome was 
the only adult responsible for most of your 
upbringing!

The fledgling Knight had just identified a
full six course dinner using just the sun
and a barely visible sea to the west when 
a shooting star caught his eye.

"Hmmm?"

Intellectually he knew it wasn't really a star,
most likely it was just some random space trash 
that had been caught in the planet's gravity 
well and on its way to burn up in the upper 
atmosphere. Amazing what a little *enforced* 
learning could do for a guy who'd never even 
had a chance to properly attend school his 
entire life.

Idly he tracked the object's descent, trying 
to gauge its mass and velocity in order to 
guess how long it would take to flare out.
Judging from the size and dark purple glow 
he didn't think it would be very long at all.

{Five minutes. Six tops.}

Then all of a sudden it changed course.

"What the?!!"

That wasn't a metorite! 

"Oh geez, Sarah and Conner are 
going to want to know about this!"

{So much for my night off.}

Choosing discretion over speed,
Ranma fixed the object's current 
heading into his memory and then
started jogging back toward the 
camp at a respectable 200 mph.

~~~~~~
-Shattered Trust

"Team 2 report! Respond, 
damn it!! That's an order!!"

General Skythe glared impotently 
at his silent wristcom. Something
was very wrong here, and his people
were caught square in the middle of it.

{Someone gets to the governor first, 
and now the entire command net is
down. Coincidence, or is there 
something else going on behind 
them both?}

His gut was telling him it was 
the latter. It was just too neat.
The communications network was of
Alliance design, featuring numerous
safeguards and redundant backups 
to prevent just such a blackout.

Which meant that this had to have been intentional.

"I can't get anything either. Everything's dead."

Hsi-Feng banged her unit against the wall,
frustrated as her grandfather was at the 
now useless piece of equipment.

Dennis's first impulse was to order 
his squad to take her back to base.
But he knew that the little pain in
places best left unmentioned would
never agree with his reasoning, and 
trying to force her to go would only 
end up with somebody else getting hurt.

{Why did Ranma have to go and teach her 
those damn fighting tricks for her birthday
instead of just getting her a regular present
like *normal* people?!}

"Sergeant!"

"Yes, General?"

"Take the rest of your people back to the secondary
rendezvous point and try and see if you can 
restablish communications with the others."

"Right away, General!"

The non-com gave her leader a thankful look,
relieved that the "Hotheaded Firebird" was
*his* problem now.

Dennis checked the charge on his weapon.
Seeing how low it was he slipped a fresh 
E-clip out from his belt and switched 
magazines. A small digital readout on 
the side of his rifle now read a 
green "100%".

"Come on squirt, lets go and 
check out that control room."

Hsi-Feng grinned and briefly 
stuck her tongue out at him.

Together they started to make 
their way toward the ominiously 
silent Central Control.

~~~~~~
-Bitter Fate

Conner's face was deathly pale 
when Ranma finished reporting 
what he'd seen.

"So, he's finally found us."

Sarah clutched her husband's side 
with a strength born of anger and 
concern.

{It's not fair!! Why now?! 
After all this time how did 
he finally manage to discover
this place?!}

Her fears were not for herself, 
but for the man she loved. He 
had told her enough for Sarah 
to know that Conner would be 
the prime target.

The old Knight took a deep breath 
and then exhaled slowly, taking a 
moment to gather his thoughts. 

{No matter how far we run, 
the past still manages to 
catch up to us.}

He had known that this confrontation 
was inevitable, but Conner wished with 
all his heart that he'd been given more 
time with Sarah. Somehow he knew that 
this would be the deciding ground.

{So be it.}

He would face the Ravager one last time.

Puzzled by this strange behavior, 
Ranma looked back and forth at 
both of them. He had never seen 
his teachers like this before. 

{What's going on?}

Why were they so afraid?

He opened his mouth to ask when 
Conner's harsh voice suddenly cut
through the uneasy silence.

"Take the boy and get out of here."

He would try and buy them whatever 
time he could, but Conner knew this 
foe all too well. None of them were 
safe from the CosmoKnight's Bane,
The Ravager of the Dark.

"I can help!!"

Ranma's natural stubborness kicked in.
It wasn't in his nature to run away from a 
fight. Especially if it meant deserting his
friends, he would rather die then abandon
people he cared about!

"You're not ready to face him! Go!!"

Conner didn't have time to argue,
every second was precious now.

"But!"

He couldn't run away! He just couldn't!!

{I won't be like my father!!}

"Get him out of here!"

The Knight met his wife's grieving eyes, 
they both knew what had to be done.

"Look out!"

Instinctively Saotome turned 
toward the apparent threat before 
realizing where the real danger was. 

"guhh..."

Ranma bent forward, eyes wide with 
a sense of betrayal as his trusted 
teacher sucker-punched him. 

{Why...}

He heard Sarah whisper softly 
into his ear as she caught him.

"I'm sorry."

Then he knew nothing more.

~~~~~
-For the Want of a Nail...

She was the pride of the Free Worlds, over three miles of
heavy armor and weapons, the infamous 'Doombringer' class 
Super Dreadnought. Renamed "Hopebringer" after her capture 
by the first Rebel forces over a hundred years ago, she 
now served proudly as the flagship of the main Rebel fleet.

The Hopebringer proudly carried the scars of countless 
engagements on her hull. So many attempts had been made 
by the Imperial Navy to destroy this ship that her entire 
frame was permanently stressed at numerous points and 
filled with thousands of micro-fractures. Despite this, 
she continued to carry on the fight for freedom against 
the Transgalactic Empire.

It was from aboard this ship that the invasion of Ristmoth 
was being coordinated. Harried communications officers 
sweated visibly as they transmitted orders and updates 
from the chain of command out to the entire fleet, 
calling in up to the minute status reports, and otherwise
trying to keep the whole bloody operation straight and 
organized.

So it was understandable that a strange but 
insignificant report from one of the fleet's 
corvettes was not exactly high on their list
of priorities to deal with. 

Understandable and unfortunate.

By the time message traffic 
cleared up enough to deliver 
the message, it was already 
too late.

~~~~~
-Curtain Call

Her voice was hard with tightly 
controlled anger as she met her 
grandfather's eyes.

"I've found another one."

Skythe swallowed a useless curse.

"That makes ten so far."

Ten more families he would have 
to write to, explaining why their 
sons and daughters weren't coming 
home.

{When I get my hands on the bastard
responsible for this they're going
to wish that their *parents* had 
never been born!!}

The cause of death was simple enough.
The corpse's throat had been slit from
ear to ear, leaving a thin strip of 
skin and bone attached between the 
head and body.

"Poor guy never had a chance, 
the sonvabitch used a goddamn 
vibro-blade!"

Once the two of them realized that 
nothing more could be done here, 
they moved on toward the central 
control room at an angry pace.

But when they entered it Skythe and
Hsi-Feng found the place was already 
occupied.

"What the...?!"

"Hold it right there!!"

There was a scary moment as both sides 
pointed their weapons at each other,
fingers on hair triggers.

Then Skythe slapped his free hand 
against his forehead in disgust.

"You?!"

The General flicked the safety on his 
weapon and holstered it. There was 
no sense in tempting fate any more 
then he had to. 

{I don't believe this!!}

"What are you two doing here?!"

Standing in front of him was half of
the entire leadership of Rismoth's 
Rebellion.

They were both human, heavily scarred from
years of covert warfare against the 
Empire and having a slightly gaunt
look that spoke of moderate malnutrition.
The years had not been kind to any 
of the people on this planet who
didn't belong to the .00001% of the 
population holding high rank in the
Imperial Service.

Rusty, the leader of the Southern Factions,
was a former planetary peaceforcer and almost 
a quarter cybernetic due to injuries he had 
received both before and after his defection 
to the Rebel's side. Over 2 meters high and 
weighing at least 250 kilos, he also had the 
distinction of having one of the most intimidating 
appearances on Rismoth.

Sharra, head of the Rebel Intelligence Network,
had started life as the daughter of a slave in 
one of the thousands of hellholes that mined the 
planet's mineral wealth. She had clawed her way 
out of that deathtrap and used her hunger for
revenge against her oppressers to turn herself 
into a brilliant and devious strategist that 
delighted in tricking Imperial Troops and 
leading them to their doom at every oppertunity. 
Tall and wirey, her thin frame possessed a 
steel-like strength that few could believe 
until they experienced it firsthand.

"We were about to ask you the same question."

Sharra's gravelly voice, the result of a childhood
spent breathing crushed ore and vaporized smelting 
residue, sounded even more ill tempered then usual.

Beside her, Rusty nodded in silent agreement.
In one smooth motion he shouldered the heavy
rail-gun that he had been aiming at Skythe.

"There is something strange going on."

Hsi-Feng snorted rudely before 
lowering her rifle as well.

"You ain't just whistlin' Dixie!"

~~~~~
-Cold Comfort

When he finally regained consciousness
it was to find that night had already 
fallen. A hint of nausea from his 
midsection let him know that he still 
hadn't recovered completely from being 
hit by Sarah. The second thing Ranma 
noticed was that she was carrying him 
in a most uncomfortable position over
her shoulder. Third was the realization 
that his teacher was traveling at an 
airspeed well past the supersonic level.

His stomach lurched in protest 
of the last two little bits of 
information. Prudence won over 
valor as Saotome remained still
with his eyes closed, fighting 
down the sickening sensations 
through sheer force of will.

{Wait...this could be my chance,
if I can catch her by surprise
then maybe...}

"Don't even think about it, Ranma.
Not unless you're looking for another 
instant nap."

He froze. How had she...?

"I felt your pulse quicken through 
your hip when you woke up. As for 
the rest of it, the way your train 
of thought works is *very* predictable 
after awhile."

{Shit!}

"Now we're almost there. Give me your 
word of honor that you won't try something 
incredibly stupid like going back to
help Conner and I'll let you loose."

Stubborn silence.

"Otherwise my only other option 
to make sure you get to the 
sanctuary is another lovetap."

Sarah gave him less then a 
minute to think it over,
knowing that if he didn't 
accept she was in for quite
a struggle. 

No matter how much she sympathized 
with his feelings, even though she 
wanted to go back more then anything 
else in the universe, she knew with
a stark certainty that both of them 
together wouldn't be able to help 
Conner. Their presence would only 
distract her husband and slow him 
down. The odds were already bad 
enough for him as they were.

{I'm sorry Ranma. But there's nothing
either of us can do. Conner's right,
you're not ready. If only we'd been 
able to complete your training...
then...but that's just wishful thinking 
now.}

"Well?"

The look Ranma shot at her was mutinious, 
as every fiber of his being cried out for 
him to go back and help his teacher.
To simply abandon a comrade in arms 
went against all he had been taught 
and believed in. 

"You can't ask that of me!!"

But he also knew that if it came 
down to it, he didn't stand a 
chance against Sarah in a real 
fight. And she *would* make good
on her threat if he refused.

Cosmoknights never bluffed.

They didn't need to.

Ranma had never felt so helpless.
His rage at the trap he now found 
himself cornered against burned 
impotently inside of him.

{Damn you Sarah!! Why?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!!}

A resigned sigh finally escaped 
from his tightly clenched lips.

{Damn you...}

In the end, the only choice was really no choice at all.

"...alright."

True to her word, she let him loose.

He immediately dropped like a rock.

Then the Cosmoknight focused his innate
flight ability and his descent stabilized.
It took him only a few seconds to rise 
back up and join her under his own power.

Sarah nodded, satisfied that 
he was recovered enough to 
fly without any assistance.

"Now that that's settled, we have to move 
quickly. We've wasted too much time here 
already."

{I only hope that someday you'll be 
able to forgive me for doing this.}

Her heart heavy with grief and guilt, 
Sarah didn't look back as she led her 
charge away from the coming battle.

{Because the Forge knows, I won't.}

~~~~~~
-Troubled Skies

"This is Angel One to Papa Horse, 
looks like clear sailing from 
here on in."

"Acknowledged, Angel One. The
transports are preparing to drop
now so we can take it from here. 
Your new orders are to patrol 
intervention sphere Zulu until
relieved, take Angel Two and proceed 
there posthaste. Falcon and Hornet
are already running suppression
on secondary objectives."

"Roger that. But personally
I'd be a lot happier if a few 
Imps were still left up here.
All this waiting is getting on
my nerves!"

"Nothing we can do about it, Yukio. 
High Command's running this little 
show and they want to capture this
world as intact as possible."

"I know, I know. A girl can dream, can't she?"

"Well if you do find anything...Good Hunting."

"Thanks Tania. We're heading out there now."

Two Katana starfighters broke off from the main
convoy and began their descent into Rismoth's 
atmosphere. Their sleek predatory lines glowed
slightly from the residual heat of friction as
thousands of individual air molecules impacted 
against their forcefields at several times the 
speed of sound. Night black with starburst 
patterns all along the top and bottom of the 
arrowhead shaped craft, they were nearly 
impossible to spot with the naked eye in deep 
space. But on a planet where the sun shone 
high overhead they stood out like a pair of 
sore thumbs.

Though these fighters appeared to be almost 
identical to their original design specs, 
a closer inspection would discover several
unsettling anomalies. The first being that
the frames of the fighters had somehow been 
worked on in the front to accommodate a second 
particle beam cannon in addition to the standard 
main weapon already built into the hull. Second 
would be the medium gravity rail gun mounted 
snugly below the nose of each Katana. The third 
discrepency was the addition of an auxillary 
booster under the main drive. Most of the 
rest was more along the lines of subtle 
modifications and tinkering that slightly 
improved the crafts' maneuverability and 
overall performance.

But the most important difference between 
these two fighters and the standard Katana 
were the modular weapons pods that they carried.
Not satisfied with the models currently available 
to the general public, the Twins had convinced
Silvia to *tweak* their payloads. But still unhappy 
with the limitations of even the tricked out pods, 
they had finally gotten the eccentric engineer to 
*design* new weapons pods customized exactly to 
Akiko and Yukio's specific tastes. 

The end result was nothing short of terrifying.

Two state of the art starfighers, armed with 
enough firepower to devastate a small continent, 
were in the hands of a pair of slightly crazy 
action junkies ready and eager to take their 
vehicles beyond any limits ever conceived of 
by the original designers. 

"Let's rock and roll! Full burn!!"

"Right behind you, sis!!"

The only consolation the Alliance had was that at 
least these maniacs were flying on *their* side!

~~~~~~
-Have A Nice Day

Two figures dashed through the strangely 
quiet streets. Every now and then one or 
the other would take a quick glance behind 
them. It only confirmed what they had 
suspected since the moment they'd left 
the bar.

"We're being followed."

Nicholas nodded as he continued to scope 
out potential ambush sites and possible 
sniper positions. In Phaseworld it 
wasn't "*were* they out to get you", 
it was *where* they're going to get you.

"Can you figure out how 
many of them there are 
out there?"

Katrina made a "no can do" gesture with
her free hand, as her other was now firmly
grasping the handle of her holdout blaster,
a gift from Ranma during their travels in Africa.

"They're staying just outside of my detection range.
But there's at least two of them back there."

"Oh? How can you tell?" 

"One of my psychic probes smacked into a mind-block 
before they backed off. But at the same time I also 
picked up traces of a different presence nearby. 
The funny thing is, I don't think that they've 
noticed each other yet."

"Great, maybe they'll all kill each 
other and save us some trouble."

She looked at him strangely for a moment,
unable to tell whether or not he'd been 
serious with that remark.

"I hope you're armed with something a little 
more effective then your sense of humor."

Nick gave her a small smile as he produced 
a handheld video camera from somewhere on 
his person.

"So what do you think?"

Sun stared at him.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?
What are you planning to do? Make home movies
of us being chased by whoever's back there?!"

His smile widened.

"Not exactly."

Nick thumbed the 'pause' button on 
his camera. The moment he did so
the innocent looking device underwent 
a startling transformation. 

The camera turned a liquid silver color 
as the lens began lengthening into a 
solid barrel while the rest of the main 
body compacted to reveal its true identity.

"I think that this should be effective enough."

Croaker held up a now fully morphed 
Daisho-10 laser sub-machine gun.
Then he took another look behind 
them and his smile vanished.

"Oh damn."

Their pursuers had finally abandoned any 
pretense of stealth. Nick was finally able 
to get a good look at them.

The trenchcoats, pulse pistols, and 
ominious sunglasses of the Imperial 
Transdimensional Secret Security 
Infiltration Network were unmistakable.

"I.T.S. S.I.N.!"

Katrina assumed from his unhappy tone
that these guys weren't good news. Her 
suspicions were confirmed almost instantly 
as the Rebel Operative began to spray laser 
fire down the street, forcing the figures
chasing them to scatter. 

But that was of secondary concern, 
Sun was already concentrating on 
her spell.

~~~~~~
-Extreme Measures

Urd paled as she saw what her 
sister was preparing to do.

"Belldandy, You can't be serious!"

For once the brown haired goddess 
didn't smile when she addressed her 
older sister.

"We've run out of options, Urd.
And he's running out of time."

Even Blessed Bell, her normally cheerful angel, 
had a worried expression on her face. 
The simple fact that Belldandy felt Bell's 
presence was neccessary was enough
to give her older sister the willies.

Angels were only brought out for the most 
dangerous of the White Magic spells. They served 
as a kind of celestial grounding unit, ensuring 
that the magical power required by these spells 
didn't also cause the caster to explode from
a Mana overload.

"I'm going to try a Complete Ritual of Full Restoration.
But I need to ask you to serve as the conduit, your 
shields are stronger then mine and I'll need all the 
power I have just to complete the spell and keep
him alive long enough for it to take effect."

"But if you use too much of your lifeforce trying 
to revive him your material form could dissipate 
for hours, maybe even days!!"

"And if I don't do this, he'll die. 
This man saved Skuld's life. Now its 
our turn to repay that debt."

Seeing that nothing was going to change her mind,
Urd nodded in reluctant agreement. Belldandy was 
right, as always. 

And deep inside the heart of the Goddess of Love 
was a small voice whispering that maybe this guy's 
fate was more important to her then she wanted to believe.

Of course she ignored it. 

Since when did Urd listen to *anybody's* advice?

"Just...just be careful. Okay, sis?"

Belldandy finally smiled.

"Okay."

~~~~~~
-Regrets

The figure ran blindly through the pitch black forest,
every now and then he stumbled and slowed on the 
treacherous terrain, but not once did he ever stop. 
Nor did he ever dare turn to look behind him. 
To do so would only confirm what his instincts had 
been screaming at him for the the last few hours. 

He was being hunted. 

Above him the rumbling sky threatened 
to finally unleash the fury it had been 
building up to for the past several hours. 
It was nearly midnight and he was tired, 
cold, and though trying desperately to deny 
it, afraid. Somewhere behind him, lurking in 
the hostile darkness, was the nightmarish figure 
that his friends had tried so desperately to 
stop. They had tried so hard to protect him. 

They'd failed.

His eyes burned, but the time for tears
would come later. For now, all he could 
do was keep moving and try to stay ahead 
of his relentless pursuer.

Ranma was determined to make sure their 
sacrifice had not been in vain. He had 
to keep believing that, otherwise that 
would mean he'd thrown away his honor 
for nothing. And if that was true, then 
there was truly nothing left for him in
this life but madness and death.

His destination was a mountain chain a few kilometers 
away, hidden there was the small scout ship that he'd 
used to get to this planet. Although capable of surviving 
in a vacuum, his control over his powers had not yet 
matured to the point where he could leave a planet's 
atmosphere unaided. There was no safety anywhere on 
this world now, but in the vastness of space even the
most determined hunter had no more a chance of finding 
him then they did of catching the end of a rainbow.

Deep in his heart Saotome longed to 
just to turn around and face his enemy. 

But Sarah's last words to him kept echoing in his head.

"Run! Get away from here!! Finish what 
you have begun, find your destiny!!"

And like a base coward he had fled, the last 
pained but determined expression on her face 
seared forever in his memory like a burning coal.

He had left her behind, knowing somehow that she 
didn't stand a chance against whatever was chasing 
them. In doing so he had broken the oldest and most 
important promise to himself Ranma had ever made.

He had abandoned a friend. Even knowing that there
was nothing he could have done to stop her, that
damn her eyes she'd been right, the guilt threatened 
to crush him beneath its unbearable weight.

{There had to have been another way! I should have found one!!}

But the cruel truth was that there hadn't been.

Conner had known that, and so had Sarah. 
There was always a price to be paid,
and hope carried the steepest one of 
all. 

~~~~~~~~
-Fight Or Flight

The most dangerous thing about magic-users
isn't the power of their spells. It's how
their devious minds come up with such nasty
ways to use what's available to them.

Case in point, the incantation Katrina was 
casting was a second level spell known as 
"Grease". Not possessing much power in and 
of itself, but simple and easy to cast 
quickly. More importantly, Kat knew 
*exactly* how to use this spell for 
maximum effect.

"For the foe who runs on steady feet, 
find now no purchase upon the street!"

A clear viscous liquid appeared underneath 
the feet of four of the approaching Imperial 
Agents.

The result was almost comical to watch.

"Waaaggh!"

"Look out!!"

"Augggh!!"

"Can't stop!!"

This was immediately followed by the
sound of several high speed collisions
as soft flesh impacted against very,
*very* hard Mega-damage walls.

*WHAM*
*CRUNCH*
*SQUISH*
*SNAP*
"...medic."

Having successfully dealt with a
third of their pursuers, Sun turned
her attention to the rest of them.

{Heh! Next...eh!}

And promptly ducked as a pale yellow 
particle blast cut through the air 
where she'd been standing.

"Keep your head down!"

Nick punctuated his advice with a
well placed shot from his submachine 
gun. The beam drew a curse from an 
overly daring agent that had exposed 
his arm in order to fire.

"Sonvabitch!"

Dark plasti-armor sizzled as the laser 
burned deeply into it, stopping just
barely short of the actual arm itself.

"That outta give those idiots some
second thoughts about taking us on.
I don't suppose you've got any other 
tricks up your sleeve?"

Kat turned to look back at him.

"Actually, I was going to 
ask you the same thing."

Nick grimaced.

"Sorry, miracles aren't my specialty,"

Her blaster soon joined his 
Daisho-10 in keeping the rest
of the Imps from trying any 
similar acts of daring.

For a few heated minutes the 
situation remained a bitter 
stalemate. 

But then at last came a noise 
that Croaker had been dreading 
all along. 

Not from the front, but *behind* them.

"This way! Cut them off!!"

The sound of Imperial reinforcements.

"Oh hell, we're in trouble now."

~~~~~~~~
-Further Complications

The communicater's visual display 
crackled as an excited SIN agent
reported their quarry's current 
status.

"This is Team 1, we've found them!
Currently under heavy fire, requesting
immediate support from all available 
units to Port Junction 9, Section 35!!"

But the woman that owned this 
was already long past caring 
about such things. 

"Target One positively identified 
as Packrat. Target Two is an 
unidentified female believed to 
be connected to Objective Mustang. 
Treat with extreme  caution, we 
believe she may possess dangerous 
psionic...*zzzt*..."

A dark metal heel ground both communicator 
and the cooling wrist it was still attached 
to into the ferrocrete. 

Everything was going as planned.

~~~~~~
-Death Ground

The first icy drops of crimson rain finally began to fall.
As a byproduct of this planet's unusually high concentration 
of iron deposits, everything on this world was tainted 
by the oxidized material. 

Ranma ran on.

The endless line of trees was starting to thin, 
he was finally coming to the end of the forest.

{Only a few more hours until I reach the ship...}

And then he felt it. The Knight froze where he was,
not daring to move even an inch as a chill ran down
through his suddenly tense body.

{!}

The air had gone completely still, an unnatural 
silence broken only by the falling rain. Now 
more then ever it reminded him of freshly shed 
blood.

{I'm being watched...}

The hair on the back of his neck
rose as he anxiously looked into
that dreadful darkness, desperately 
searching for any sign of the hunter's 
presence. 

{Where?!}

To go out in a blaze of glory protecting 
others or in the defense of life, freedom, 
and honor, that was an end he did not fear. 
But to be brought to ground in an empty 
wilderness like a prize stag, he didn't 
want to die like this. 

{Not like this!}

Despite his best efforts, he could find 
nothing out the ordinary. No explanation
for the expectant hush that draped over 
this edge of the woods. His nightvision
was keen but severely limited. With only
the ambient light from stars and an 
occasional play of distant lightning 
from the approaching storm the Cosmoknight 
could barely make out anything past fifteen 
meters in front of him. 

Everything seemed to look as it had before.

Only his instincts told him otherwise.

{He's here...somewhere.}

The attack came from the left.

Only a high pitched humming at 
the very last second gave him
any kind of warning at all.

*zummm*

He was still trying to make sense of the noise 
when his left eye exploded in white hot agony.

{Aaaagghh!!}

Clutching his torn face with a bloody hand, 
the Cosmoknight dived for cover even as his 
free arm came up in retaliation. 

An incandescent bolt of blinding light lit up 
the night as it disintergrated a dozen trees 
and two mossy boulders in its path before 
finally expending the rest of its barely 
diminished energy on a craggy overgrown 
steppe just under a mile away. The blast was
so destructive that the steppe didn't even 
explode, it simply vaporized. 

His action had been born of pure reflex,
but he regretted it almost immediately.

{Damnit! Shouldn't have done that!!}

Ranma had just made a *BIG* mistake.

The flash from his blast burned into 
his own retinas, effectively ruining 
his night vision. While with his training 
the time he would normally need to recover 
from this would only be a few minutes, 
those were minutes that he didn't have.

Because with that shot he'd also just 
given away his position to whoever was 
out there. 

{Damn it Saotome, get your 
ass in gear and MOVE!!}

Scrambling to his feet, the knight
abandoned his position in the mud 
not a moment too soon. 

*zummm*

The deadly hum sounded again, 
grazing his head an inch above 
his right ear. Fighting down 
the panic that threatened to 
erupt, Ranma rolled and twisted 
again as something sharp sliced 
through a branch somewhere in 
front of him.

*Zuuummmm*

{Where is it coming from?!!}

He recognized what that sound was now. 

A Malkovitch Death Disk, an exotic, highly 
illegal weapons system used only by 
professional killers and a fringe of 
eccentric weapon collecters. Galactic 
society in general considered the Death 
Disks highly abhorrent, even hardened 
criminals usually wanted nothing to do 
with these sadistic killing devices.

Small, lightning fast and nearly impossible to destroy,
they were armed with a miniature contra-gravity generator 
and jagged mono-molecular blades, the disk worked as a 
flying buzz-saw. They homed in on their targets through 
a sophisicated laser targeting system and then slashed 
them to pieces. Humans and similar 'soft' races were 
usually cut in half after one pass. Even Mega-damage 
body armor couldn't stop them most of the time. 

The only real drawback of the weapon was that it 
required a line of sight in order to hit anything,
giving it a maximum range of about five hundred feet.
There were plenty of other weapons that could have 
taken him out from further away, which meant that
this Hunter *wanted* to have to close with his 
intended prey.

{He's toying with me...}

First being hunted like an animal, now this. 
Only someone that enjoyed seeing their victim's 
blood liked using a Death Disk for the kill...

...it was the final straw. 

He had been pushed too far.

{NO MORE!!}

Something deep inside of him snapped. 
The chilling fear fled, in its place 
began to burn an all consuming rage. 

{I'm through running. Whatever happens, I am 
a Cosmoknight. I will not disgrace the vow of 
loyalty I took. This ends now! One way or 
another, IT ENDS!!}

The bleeding Knight ceased his evasive movements 
and came to a deliberate halt. His ears alert
for the telltale whine of the deadly disk, 
he began to wait. 

A warm feeling started building in
his stomach as he closed his useless 
eyes. His hearing flickered for a 
fraction of a second before suddenly 
sharpening to where he could now 
distingish the sound of individual 
raindrops striking the forest floor. 
The rich smells of a living ecosystem 
filtered through his nose, the sharp 
tang of rust overlaying them all. 

The chill of the night seeped through
Ranma's wet skin. He accepted it without
complaint. Concentrating instead on the 
flow of the air around him he waited for 
his chance.

*zzz*

It was coming again.

*zuuu*

Closer. Not yet. He needed to strike 
at the very last second in order to give 
its AI no chance to evade his attack.

*zuuu-*

It was closing fast, the distance 
disappearing with every heartbeat.

*-mmmm*

The moment came.

*zzzissh--*

Ranma's hands blurred as he used 
the speed enhancement technique 
that Sarah had taught him only 
a few weeks ago.

"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!!" (1)

Most of his punches missed. But he was throwing out 
hundreds of them and the laws of universal probability 
declared that at least some of them would connect.

One of them did.

*CRACK*

Mega-damage alloys and micronized electronics 
shattered, bits and pieces crashing into the 
brownish-red mud. In return its deadly 
blades slashed deeply across the knuckles 
of his right hand. 

He ignored the pain, it was a small price to pay.
Opening his one good eye, the Cosmoknight was 
rewarded with a whole bunch of dark blurs instead 
the big light blur that he'd been seeing. But Ranma 
would be damned before he'd let that stop him now.

{Let's finish this!!}

He dropped into a fighting stance and 
yelled angrily into the silent night.

"Come out and face me like a man!"

'ssshhhh'

A stray breeze moaned softly as the
surrounding darkness grew even colder.

"I am Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Anything 
Goes School of Martial Arts and Protecter of 
the Cosmic Forge, if you want my life so badly 
try and take it from me!!"

At first there was only the wind.

But then came the cool voice that would 
forever haunt his darkest nightmares.

"Brave words, boy."

Overhead, the storm finally broke. For an 
endless moment a gigantic jagged bolt 
of lightning filled the cloudy skies 
with savage azure fire.

"Brave, but foolish."

Although still fuzzy at the edges,
Ranma's vision was clear enough
for him to finally see his enemy
for the first time. 

{!!!}

He could only stare at first, 
paralyzed with shock from what 
he saw.

{It's impossible!! He's...he's...!!}

"I fail to see why those stubborn fools 
tried so hard to shield such an insignificant 
weakling from me..."

Ranma bristled defensively. 

{Gotta keep it together, I need to stall him 
long enough to regenerate a little. No matter 
what he says I can't let his words get to me!}

There was a brief pause as 
the blurry figure stepped 
closer.

"...Conner must have gone senile 
in his old age..." 

Ranma could taste blood from
where he bit deeply into his 
lower lip.

{No, it's just what he wants!!}

"...And that woman of his was just 
as stupid to believe in him."

{!-!-!)

"SHUT UP AND FIGHT!!"

Boundless contempt dripped from his lips as 
the Ravager responded to the crude challenge.

"As you wish."

And the battle was joined.

~~~~~~~
-Escape

"Here they come again!"

"Tell me something I don't know!!"

Nicholas pulled a fist sized grey capsule 
from his belt and pushed down on the center.

*beep*

He tossed it over the totaled 
hovercar they were using for 
cover.

"Fire in the hole!"

The anti-personnel grenade peppered the area 
with deadly shrapnel, hitting everything 
within its radius indiscriminately. 

It bought them a few extra seconds. 

The two of them used the time to abandon 
their position and quickly scrambled down 
a blind alley. Sun got a mouthful of her 
own hair as she put on an extra burst of 
speed. The Leyline Walker quickly spit it 
out in disgust.

"Where are the cops when you need them?!"

"They don't get involved in these kinds 
of offworld affairs, we're on our own."

"Well that's just GREAT!"

Their pursuers had recovered and 
were once again on their heels.

"If we can make it to the starport, 
we'll be able to lose them."

The shouts and cries were getting closer.

"Got any ideas on how to do that?"

Long distance energy blasts began flashing by.
They were missing so far, but every shot brought 
the range closer to their targets.

"As a matter of fact..."

They were finally entering a more active section 
of the level. The few pedestrians scattered and 
ran as soon as they realized that a running battle 
was coming through. Nicholas paid them no heed,
having more important worries at the moment.

Besides, he was more interested in the *vehicular* traffic.

An unlucky hoverbiker chose exactly the wrong 
moment to stop in front of a nearby bar for a 
quick drink.

A swift kick deposited the lanky humanoid 
onto the ground in a rougher fashion then
it had been expecting.

"Gloorrrl?! HOKOSHO!! BRAELNE!! BRAELNE!!"

Nicholas wasted no time in mounting the now 
riderless vehicle. Katrina quickly realized 
his plan and scrambled up behind him. She gave 
the owner a look of apology.

"Sorry, we need this more then you do!"

The Rebel agent spent a few seconds to
familarize himself with the controls.
Once satisfied that he could fly this 
oversized mechanical monster, Nick 
tossed back a quick warning to his 
fellow passenge.

"Hang on!"

That was when Kat realized there
weren't any safety harnesses on
this thing.

"Wa-Wait!!"

*VAAAVAAAVAAAVOOOMMM*

Croaker and Sun were treated to
an acceleration from standing 
rest to 250 kilometers per hour 
in the span of three seconds.

"Aaaaaa!!"

Without the benefit of seatbelts.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

That's more like it.

~~~~~~~
-Duel Of The Fates

He fought bravely, using every technique, 
every bit of skill at his disposal. 

"Bakusai Tenketsu!!" (2)

He fought tenaciously, never attacking the 
same way twice. Learning almost instantly 
from every move, successful or not, and 
adapting his style accordingly.

"Mizu Dai Geki!!"(3)

He fought with the certainty of youth, 
believing in his heart of hearts that 
justice would prevail.

"Aaaagggh!"

Ranma fought...to no avail.

"Uwwaaa---!!"

The air was blasted out of his lungs as 
another one of the Ravager's attacks 
smashed through his defenses and sent 
him hurtling straight into the side of 
a rock ledge. The stone shattered where
he impacted, and as Ranma struggled to
get back up he vomited a mouthful of 
blood onto the hard surface.

{He's...too...strong...}

His knuckles were raw and swollen from 
countless failed attempts to strike his
enemy. His left kneecap had been smashed 
in, and his one remaining good eye was 
swollen almost completely shut. Half his 
ribs were crushed, and blood ran freely 
from dozens of ugly wounds all over his 
body.

"Is that the best you have to offer?"

"Nngghh....shut...up!!"

Slowly, painfully, Saotome started to claw 
his way back to his feet. He managed to get 
nearly halfway up before an armored heel 
smashed into his left kidney and sent him 
crashing back down.

"Pathetic."

A second kick struck him from behind and
Ranma felt his left arm snap like a brittle
twig. Flashes of blinding white flooded 
his vision as wave after wave of indescribable 
agony flooded through him. Helpless tears of 
impotent rage clung to the edges of his half-blind 
pupils, stubbornly refusing to fall. Still he 
continued trying to fight back. Instead resisting 
the imparted momentum he rolled with it, redirecting 
most of the force into a desperate low kick. His 
form was almost perfect, even with the injuries 
slowing him down. Exactly like how he'd practiced 
in training.

But 'almost' wasn't good enough.

"Too slow."

His attack was stopped far short of its mark. 
The Ravager had an advantage in power and 
reach that Ranma couldn't possibly hope to 
match with just his bare hands. And Saotome 
had already discovered firsthand just how 
strong his opponent was.

{Damn...you...!}

A wet explosion marked the swift 
destruction of his right kneecap.

"...!!"

There was nothing left in 
his lungs for him to scream.

But even worse then the physical pain 
was the coldly indifferent expertise
that the Ravager was using to take him 
apart. 

Methodically, efficiently and brutally
the fledgling knight's moves were 
countered, his strategies nullified, 
his hopes crushed.

{Conner...Sarah...I'm sorry...I tried...}

There were a hundred moments in the battle 
where his enemy could have finished him off 
but did not, choosing instead to continue 
to break him. His healing factor was stretched 
to its limits as each new wound sapped away at 
his diminishing strength.

Dying by inches.

And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

His limp body landed on a rocky outcrop that gave way 
under the violence of his landing. he tumbled down the 
rough slope, leaving a crimson spattered trail in his wake.

"And to think those fools believed you would be worthy of 
the Key. As if a weakling could succeed where I did not."

{What...what is he...talking...about? Key...?}

It took everything Ranma had left and more to 
arise from he'd fallen. But somehow he managed
to get back up one more time. His wobbling legs
threatened to give way, yet he still stood on 
his feet. 

"I grow tired of this farce."

Battered by injury and exhaustion, his mind started 
to slip in and out of awareness. He was beginning to
react instead of think as his tenuous grasp on 
consciousness loosened with every passing moment.

{The g-good guy's...supposed to win...}

He felt cold, so very cold. Ice gripped his pounding 
heart tightly as he watched the dark specter approach.

{Why...can't...I...beat...him?!}

Desperately, hopelessly, he stumbled foreward and launched 
one last punch, throwing away every bit of his remaining 
power into that final blow. 

"DAMN YOU!!"

It was an attempt doomed to failure.

But he had to do it anyway, anything less would have 
meant he'd given up. And a Saotome never gave up, ever.

"Idiot."

A gleam of darkness.

A sudden a burning sensation from his right wrist.

Then a fountain of blood erupted forth as his 
clouded eyes stared dumbly at the stump where 
the arm now ended as his cleanly severed hand 
dropped to the ground below.

~~~~~~
-Shock Therapy

"Now!!"

Pure mystical power geysered forth from Belldandy's 
glowing form. A stream of unadultrated psychic 
energy that channeled directly to her older sister. 

Urd grimaced as she absorbed the intense charge.
It was a little like being plugged directly into 
a nuclear reactor. Even for her, the power was 
almost uncomfortable to retain. 

{If this doesn't get him up, nothing will.}

Loooking down at his broken faceplate, she 
brushed back a stray strand of black hair
that was showing as she whispered a short 
prayer for the unconscious young man.

"Please...please let this work."

Then she let it loose.

~~~~~~
-Destiny

Clutching his right arm in disbelief,
he stumbled backwards. Dimly, he could
sense himself uncontrollably trembling
from the sheer shock. It was too much.  

{I...}

It seemed he was only human after all.

{I want to live...}

A weak azure glow began to illuminate the area. 

But he couldn't see where it was coming from.
Ranma could barely see at all now, but he could 
still feel the icy bite of the blood red rain 
beating down upon him. He was going perish here, 
on an alien world so far from home.

{no...}

All alone.

{No...}

Disgrace, defeat and now death.

{NO!!}

The glow grew brighter.

"Now it ends."

A shadow fell over his form.

Ranma looked up into the 
face of his executioner.

{I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!}

And suddenly the light became 
blindingly bright. Beyond 
anything he'd ever known.

"What? What is this?!"

He could hear surprise in
the Ravager's voice as if 
from a great distance.

Then everything vanished
within that searing light...

~~~~~~
-Reaction

Scarlet lightning erupted from the center 
of their patient's chest, catching Urd and
Belldandy completely off guard. 

They were thrown back by sudden violent outburst,
the hellish glare forcing them to shield their
eyes. 

"What's happening?!"

Belldandy had no answer for her sister.

Ranma's body jerked forward. 
As his head came up he screamed.
But instead of sound, a beam of solid 
white shot up toward the temple's roof.

The weatherworn stone vanished as if it had never 
existed, a moment later the light struck the mystical 
barrier that the three goddesses had spent so 
much time to erect.

At first it seemed that their work would be in vain
as the beam impacted. Colors of the sea flared up as 
the two forms of energy battled for supremacy. As 
the raging force expended itself against the fiercely 
glowing shield it threatened to break through.

But the Ward held.

And just as abruptly as it began, the outburst ended.

The Knight collapsed back onto the futon. 

To all outward appearence he seemed completely lifeless.

"No!"

The bronze skinned goddess dashed toward him,
her features betraying unexpected emotions.
Urd started to pound on his chest, 
refusing to believe that they'd lost him.

"It can't end like this!"

She froze abruptly, afraid that her 
imagination was suddenly playing 
tricks on her.

But there it was again.

She wasn't mistaken. 

Slow, but steady. 

A heartbeat.

"Thank goodness..."

She looked down upon his 
half-hidden face and gently 
cradled his head in her lap.

"You idiot...don't scare me like that."

Watching from the side, her sister smiled knowingly.

~~~~~

The pain eased as his body finally succeeded in 
expelled the alien contaminents that had been 
poisoning his system.

With the enormous drain on his system gone,
a flicker of awareness flared to life...

~~~~
-Heart of the Sword

Darkness.

Different this time, but familar.

In his mind's eye he saw again the 
battle against the two minions on 
the streets. Something about their
powers, something important...

'Negaforce.'

A growing sense of recognition tickled 
at the very edge of his mind. 
 
'Evil beyond forgiveness, beyond redemption.'

His kind had faced this somewhere before.

But where? And when?

'Remember.'

>From deep within the Cosmoknight's subconscious 
a name stirred on the fringes of his awareness. 
A collective memory shared by all of the Forge's 
Chosen.

'One of our most ancient foes, a vile entity 
we believed destroyed so very long ago.'

At last he recognized his enemy's true nature.

Called the Deceiver, the Betrayer, and more 
then a thousand other names in a hundred 
dead languages, her true identity had been 
lost to the rest of galaxy long before the 
birth of modern civilization. Only the 
Cosmoknights and the Forge still remembered 
the truth.

'Finish the task that our brethren started.'

A single word escaped his unconscious lips.

"Metall'a."

~~~~~~~~~~
-The Negaverse (Our motto: How may we kill you today?)

THIS COULD NOT BE!!

But the images brought back by 
her minions were unmistakable.

The old memories of pain and humilation 
stirred once again as the vile being 
studied the revolting projection.

"After all this time...one of those 
digusting meddlers has finally 
found their way here..."

A Knight of the Cosmic Forge.

On Earth.

The silent mental roar of mindless anger and pure 
unbridled hate shook the palace to its very foundations.
Every one of Metall'a's minions cringed in pain and 
terror from the sheer force of their mistress's outrage.

{Of all the infernal things...why one of *THEM*?!*}

Over a thousand millenia had passed since the
Dark Star Kingdom, which had spanned the furthest 
reaches of the Anvil Galaxy at its height, 
had been destroyed by those wretched beings. 
The crowning achievement of her power, 
brought down by those cursed pawns of
the damnable Forge. 

They had slaughtered billions of her minions 
and sent the badly wounded Intelligence fleeing 
to the farthest reaches of the Multiverse. 
It had taken over seven hundred years for the 
injuries to heal, and longer still for the 
entity's pride to recover from the bitter 
taste of defeat.

Metall'a would *never* forget.

{revenge...}

By the time the Intelligence finished healing,
Metall'a had found herself too low on psychic 
energy to risk returning to the Three Galaxies 
or any of the known dimensions. In her weakened 
state she would have been easy prey for any of
her rivals. Only the strongest survived in the 
merciless ecosystem of the Alien Intelligence.

And so she was forced to remain in exile. Years 
passed into decades, decades turned to centuries,
and the centuries began to fade into the obscurity
of millenia.

Still she had waited for an opportunity to rebuild her empire.

Her chance had finally come when those first strange 
emanations reached her, power that she later learned 
originated from the Imperium Silver Crystal.

And she had been so close!

Once again Metall'a cursed Serenity and all of her descendents.

If only they hadn't interfered time and time again!

Even now, a thousand years later, one of the Royal 
Family had appeared and thwarted her attempts at conquest.

To be defeated by a clumsy, simpleminded, scared little crybaby...

With an effort she pushed aside the old frustration.

She could not afford such distractions now.

{Revenge.}

The Sailor Senshi could wait.

She would never be safe as long as this
Cosmoknight lived. He *had* to be eliminated
quickly, before he discovered the truth. 
Metall'a knew that if the Knights ever 
discovered her presence again that this 
time they would hound her to the very ends 
of the universe until either she or they 
were completely annihilated. Those stubborn 
do-gooders were all but impossible to stop 
once they set out to do something. 

{REVENGE!!!}

It was incredibly difficult to kill a Knight of the Forge.

But not impossible. 

For the Intelligence was well aware of the one 
chink in their nearly impenetrable defenses.

Magic. The ultimate bane of the Cosmoknights. 

Metall'a had learned to exploit this weakness 
to its fullest early on during the war against them. 
Enchanted weapons and spells of power could slay any 
of those fools as easily as a simple mortal and even 
the most venerable Cosmoknight was still vulnerable 
to the lethal kiss of a Drinker of Souls.

Unfortunately, almost all of her items of power had 
been lost during the Great War. Her enemies had been 
very through in their efforts to find and destroy 
the Intelligence's hidden caches of weapons and 
magical artifacts. Most of what she'd managed to 
spirit away had been wasted during her many attempts 
to seize control of the ancient Silver Millenium. 

And with her reserves depleted so heavily, 
she could not risk a direct attack on him yet.

She just needed a little time.

Time to plan, to discover how much this 
one already knew. Was he alone, or were
there others watching and waiting?
And most important of all, time to 
gather what remained of her strength.

For if worst came to worst, she might
have to deal with this matter *personally*.

Though her powers had weakened from her long
exile, still they were more then a match for
a single knight no matter how experienced he
might be. Especially if the choice of battle 
grounds was hers to decide. 

The entity's features cortorted into a grotesque 
approximation of smug anticipation as she stared 
at the hateful image in front of her.

A few weeks to prepare, no more. Enough for the Intelligence 
to marshal her forces, yet far too short for the 
Knight to confirm her presence here. 

And then the battle would truly begin.

She could almost taste her long awaited vengence.

And she found it sweet.

~~~~~~~~
-On A Lighter Note

She shook her head at the sight before her.

"Oh you girls, I can see I've got my work cut out for me."

Yohko and her two friends were sprawled out 
cold on the floor. Trickles of drying blood 
on their faces indicated that nosebleeds 
of considerable proportions had taken place 
recently. 

She easily spotted the culprit.
It was lying in plain view for 
anyone to see.

{Only on chapter 1? This could take longer then I thought...}

After making the girls more comfortable 
Nodoka grabbed her sword as she headed 
for the family dojo. She needed to relieve
some stress in preparation for the task 
ahead. It was during these times that 
she missed her husband Genma the most, 
he had been so *good* at relaxing her.

~~~~~
-Paying The Piper

Sasami beamed at her fellow passenger
as their blonde driver raced along
the winding roads that led back to 
the Masaki Valley.

"There were some scary parts, 
but I had a lot of fun today!!"

Kiyone was not normally a religious person.
She'd been assigned as Mihoshi's partner
for far too long to believe that a benevolent
deity was watching over her. But as they drove
back to the house she was praying up a storm, 
hoping desperately that Princess Ayeka had *not* 
found out about Sasami's little *adventure*. 
Especially given the fact that Kiyone and Mihoshi 
were supposed to have been responsible for watching 
her.

{Oh please, oh please, oh please!! I'll never 
ask for anything else for the rest of my life!!
I'll even stop badgering you every night about 
getting me a transfer off this third rate planet!!}

The little princess's tale of what happened when 
she went off on her own had almost given the teal 
haired detective a stroke when they finally found 
her. Kiyone knew perfectly well that if Ayeka found 
out about this she would blow a gasket, not to 
mention what she would do to the Galaxy Police 
Officers! 

"We're almost home!"

Mihoshi's innocent cheerful tone
did nothing to soothe her partner's
worries. Far too soon for her comfort, 
the house started to come into view. 

So did a steaming, larger then life 
First Crown Princess of Jurai with 
both Guardians in tow.

And boy, did she look unhappy!

Detective First Class Kiyone paled.

"We're dead."

~~~~~~
-A Quick Review

Trying to pry useful information out of 
the Guardian of Time is like using your 
bare hands to pull teeth from an irritated 
grizzly, a fact that the rest of the 
Sailor Senshi were fast discovering 
to their dismay.

"Tell us!"

Rei's simple direct approach didn't work.

"No."

"C'mon! Just one little hint!!"

Minako's adorable puppy eyes 
also failed to budge her.

"No."

"Please!!"

Even Usagi's ear-torturing whining 
was of no use, Setsuna's iron 
resolve remained firm. 

"Absolutely not."

This argument was now going into its third hour.
The Princess and most of the other Senshi wanted
to know what Setsuna was keeping from them. It was
almost painfully obvious to all by now that their
oldest member knew more about the strange warrior 
then she was saying. Even Haruka and Micheru were 
siding with the Inners on this one, they hated being
kept in the dark just as much as the others.

"Spill it Setsuna, what is it about this guy 
that's got your tail in such a twist?

The Time Guardian raised a single graceful eyebrow.

Haruka shrugged in response, determined not to 
let Setsuna divert her with the old "switch to 
another subject" mind trick.

"Hey, I may be violent but I'm not 
stupid. Now answer the question."

"No."

"Arrggh!!"

This was really getting nowhere fast.

But while everybody else was busy in 
their futile efforts to get something, 
*anything* besides a denial out of Meiou, 
Ami was quietly working on her slightly 
scorched VR visor and  mini-computer. 
Somehow she knew intuitively that these
held a key piece of the puzzle that now 
faced them.

What Mizuno was trying to do was not 
especially original, simply connect
a two-way data feed between the pieces 
of equipment. This would allow her to 
replay today's earlier battles for everyone 
else and give her computer's more powerful 
electronic 'brain' a chance to analyze 
the huge influx of data that had caused 
her VR visor's systems to crash. The 
operation wasn't hard, simply time consuming.

*shnick* 

A final circuit clicked into place.

*Beep*

The blue haired genius smiled 
in tired satisfaction.

"There! All done."

This finally attracted the 
attention of the other girls.

"What have you got there?"

Ami started typing in the needed commands.

"Some answers, if we're lucky."

The screen of her mini-computer flared 
to life and began to project a three 
dimensional scene in front of the 
curious Senshi. 

The response was immediate.

"Hey, that's him!"

"Ack!! How come nobody ever 
told me my thighs are that 
big?!!"

"..."

Everyone took a moment 
to stare at the suddenly
bigsweating Minako.

"Never mind."

Fortunately for her, the miniature 
battle playing out in front of them
quickly recaptured their attention.

Usagi and Rei blinked and swallowed heavily.
This was the first time that they had gotten 
a chance to see what all the others had been 
making such a big fuss about.
 
"....wow."

"Ami, why are you fast forwarding through this part?"

"I'm not, Usagi. This is playing back at a 1:1 
ratio. He's actually moving that quickly."

Usagi paused in mid-bite of a cracker and paled.

"And Setsuna wants us to fight *him*?! Has she gone completely bonkers?!!"

Heads turned toward their oldest member.
Or rather, where they'd last seen her.

An empty chair met their eyes.

"How does she keep doing that?!"

**********
<-1 of 2->


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