Feels good to get back into the C+C swing of things.

    He shook his head, ignoring Washuu as she strode away. "Not at all,"
he said quietly. "You look much like Higurashi Ranma. Are you related to
him?"

    "No," Ryouko answered flatly. "We're both Masu, if that's what
you're asking."

So they are related in a weird way. :)

    Herb paused, as though unsure that Ryouko was worthy to hear his
reasons, before allowing, "Ranma is not one who is given to allowing a
fight to end if he doesn't believe that the battle is resolved. I
threatened him with death and worse, at one point, and yet, he wasn't
refusing

he refused (reads better)

 to give up the fight. Even when his life ran weak in a battle

that neither of us could control last night, he clung to what he had,
and refused to give in."

Ryouko: He's still a pussy compared next to Tenchi.

    Kiyone rubbed at her eyes tiredly, her ship on autopilot for the
time being. Queries from the other ships had come, leaving Kiyone and
Yohito alone to figure out what to say.

    Thinking quickly, Yohito suggested, "Detective Makibi, why don't we
simply say that we believe it to be an accident or a malfunction, until
you can launch a more thorough investigation? Once the Home Fleet leaves
the system, I will return through conventional space as soon as possible
to aid your own work."

Yep. Best not to put the sabtours on alert and go into hiding. Easier to
catch them that way.

    Relaying the explanation to the rest of the fleet without breaking
from formation, Kiyone turned her attention back to the girl with the
phase dispersion cannon. Whoever she was, she had access to ordinance
that violated more treaties than she could think of. Kohito called her
'Amatera', and that name was something Kiyone thought should ring a
bell, though it didn't. More than likely it meant it was one of the
things that Juraians didn't like to talk about.

Got that one

    Kintaro blinked, his brows furrowing as he scanned through it.
"Sabotage?" he murmured. "Who could _do_ such a thing?"

could, or would?

    Moreover, what should he do about it? He was not entirely willingly
introduced to his role as Mihoshi's assistant, but hadn't been
disappointed in the chance to learn more -- and he'd learned quite a
bit, too. But working on the case that Makibi had sent him.... That
would entail more than a brief stint learning about Galaxy Police law
and piloting.

Actually for him, that's probably all it would entail.

    Was that a career move he had wanted to make? On Earth he had left
college after gathering all of the credits needed for a Law degree, and
set about learning. Learning everything. The end result was that as much
as he knew of science, of laws, of martial arts, and more.... He knew
his education was lacking in some areas, and one of them was the basic
art of 'life' that many seemed to take for granted. It hadn't taken him
long to see that Mihoshi, despite her subtlety, was a master of that art.

Heh

    "Oops!" she exclaimed, crawling about as Kintaro extricated himself.

    "Eh, not a problem!" he dismissed cheerfully, his attention
momentarily distracted from thoughts of great justice by thoughts of
supple female Galaxy Police officers, and close quarters while training.

True. He was quite the honry bastard, though he had limits.

    She nodded solemnly. "I don't know what time I have, Higurashi.
Please, let me send you away, to sleep."

Would probably be for the best.

    "What are you doing here?" Ryouga asked, frowning.

    "It's said that the source of Jusenkyou is somewhere beneath that
mountain," Cologne replied, not answering the question. "We, as Amazons,
don't go there, of course."

Except that one time with Shampoo. :)

    The woman nodded, drawing a small wooden cask from her robes. "I had
someone run to fetch this last night,"

Luckily she fell in the Spring of Drowned Low Land Gorilla, and was able to
bring it back.

    "While you may feel it's true," Cologne warned, "your curse is too
much of a liability here. We need you to fight, and I don't think you
can do it nearly as well with your curse."

    "And Ranma has to keep his, because it makes him stronger," Ryouga
said softly. "It's not fair."

Ranma: Sure it is. You know how easy it is to give in to my latent bi-sexual
tendencise and pick up guys as a chick?

Ryouga: No, and I'd rather not.

    "Save it," Ranma advised. "You say that this place makes things so
that you can understand them, right? So does it work both ways?"

    "Of course not," the woman said, straightening to sit atop her dais,
and scowling distastefully.

Heh

    "Loyalty is devotion," she murmured. "My servants are all devoted to
me, and you should be too."

    "That's not right," Ranma protested.

Tokimi: But it will be, once I'm through remaking the universe in my image.

"Yakumo said... said.... Yakumo

told me that they only have fear and hate. I got a lot more than that,
so what you're asking for.... I ain't never going to do it, plain and
simple."

    "Ah," the woman said, nodding knowingly. "Then I must remove from
you the capacity to do more than I need. Intriguing."

Heh. That would work for her ends.

    The woman was taken aback by Ranma's directness. "You would ask a
question of me?" she managed, shocked.

    "Yeah," Ranma answered, grinning. "If _making_ people to do what you
want is the answer, how come it's not working?"

Tokimi: It is. It just takes time to see the results.

    The woman flashed him one last smile before her image vanished, and
the connection was terminated.

    "This should be interesting," he mused quietly.

It wouldn't be fun if it wasn't. :)

    "You're aboard an orbital platform, Ranma-dono." The speaker came
into his sight, peering down at him... apprehensively. He squinted,
blinking. Her hair was darker than Sasami's, and slightly than

slightly what?

    She was silent, hope fading from her eyes, and worry taking its place.

    "And.... And what do you make of my gift?" she asked quietly.

    Ranma fidgeted for a moment, realizing that the blanket covering him
had fallen about his waist, and he was otherwise naked. He concentrated,
summoning the skin-tight battle suit to him, and managed a weak smile.

And causing Tsunami to frown.

    Washuu relaxed slightly, allowing her arms to hang at her sides.
"Normally you're supposed to deny that what the woman ever saw happened."

Heh.

    "Why?" Ranma asked, scratching his head.

Double heh.

"I don't really get a lot

of this stuff -- Tsunami's hurting and alone, and she wants me to say
something I'm not ready to say yet."

That's women for you.

He sighed, shaking his head, and

pointed accusingly at Washuu. "You wanted me to say something too, but
you said you'd wait, and that's what I need. Time, you know?"

Ranma; It's times like this dying in combat doesn't  look like such a bad
idea.

    "No! No! Not that word," Ranma protested.

D'Amour: Along with words like 'Love', "commintment' and the most hated of
all 'Marriage.'

    The redheaded scientist actually burst into laughter, unable to deny
the humor of the situation. "Okay, Ranma," she said agreeably, voice
tinged with amusement. "But.... It occurs to me, aren't you already
making a choice by chasing after me, instead of speaking with Tsunami?"

Ranma: Not to me I'm not.

    The woman stopped suddenly, and turned around to glare at Ranma. "I
seem to remember a certain speech about someone who wasn't strong enough
and had to push themselves harder. Do you remember that?"

Ranma: I'm checking the selective memory. Nope. Don't remember anything of
the sort.

    Ranma nodded uncomfortably. "Yeah, I remember."

    "So why is it that you can push yourself as hard as you can to try
and save a life here, a life there, and I'm not allowed to fret over you
when you do something stupid and put your own life on the line for what
could be no good reason at all?"

Ranma: Double standard. And you say you're the greatest genious in the
universe.

    "You can't take it for granted because it's disrespectful to the
people who didn't make it," she said quietly. "Like Terry. Or your

father."

Got him there.

    "Your other half disappeared," Tsunami offered, kneeling at Washuu's
side, and taking Ranma's other hand. "Please, Ranma-dono, respect my
sister's words."

They know they are sisters now?

    "Sisters?" Washuu asked, frowning, then dropping Ranma's hand to
regard Tsunami. "Well, we're close, but we're not related that I know
of, Tsunami."

    "And ever we forget what we once took for granted," Tsunami noted
sadly, shaking her head. "It's not important, Washuu. What's important
is that Ranma-dono understands."

Okay. That's better.

    "Agreed," Washuu said after a moment, looking less pleased than her
words suggested. "I prefer to be where I can monitor the tactical
situation more closely, and the Galaxy Police is going to need days with
the next few waves of carriers to evacuate the planet."

    "Right," Ranma mused softly. "So one way or another, this is going
to end in a few days, huh?"

Or months, in writing time.

    Tenchi guessed there was a reason for the fan, and chose his words
with care. "And how is this normally dealt with?"

Funaho: Death by splinters.

    "Ryu, we've got to get moving. One of the scouts said that they saw
some kind of movement not far away, and we need to send some people to
check it out."

Who's he talking to?

    "Oh," Ryu answered, still continuing his practice. "Who all's going
with us, Fearless Leader?"

    "You, Kino-san, Mousse, Aino-san, Hino-san, Ray, the three Amazon
women we met yesterday, and me."

    Ryu missed a catch, and bounced a rock off of his wrist. "Right," he
drawled, opening his eyes, and turning to face a slightly more somber
than usual Ryouga. "

Ah. Need to make that clear earlier.

    "Yes," Yakumo said quietly. "Tou-Chou and Chin-Kuu. Why do you ask?"

    Ryu grinned, nodding slightly. "So they're like pokemon, only evil,
right?"

    "Pokemon are already evil," Yakumo returned flatly. "My servants are
merely vicious."

Heh. Very cute.

    "Oh, I don't know if you want to tell him about that," Minako said,
shaking her head resolutely. "I mean, boys like hearing about those
kinds of dreams, but it gives them the wrong idea, doesn't it?"

Or the right idea. :)

    Ryouga nodded, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning,
staring at his feet for a moment. "How many?" he asked, looking upwards
to regard Ryu frankly.

    Ryu grimaced. "At least four,"

That's very bad.

    Ryu narrowed his eyes, leaning forward to peer at what they were
doing. Between the central pair, like giant black marbles, easily a
half-dozen spheres lay, clumped into a pile. One of the black orbs
shifted suddenly, rolling off of the pile, and towards the exterior of
the pit. The nearest reaver deftly caught it with a pair of its spindly,
dangerous limbs, and herded it back onto the pile.

That is very bad, whatever it is.

    "Fuck it," Ryu muttered, yanking himself up and flipping over.
Planting his feet against the trunk of the tree as he tumbled, he
yelled, launching away and narrowly evading a pair of reavers rushing at
him. He flew true, rolling in midair, and bouncing off of one of the
central reavers before slamming into the pile of what he guessed to be
reaver eggs. Unlike the reavers themselves, the eggs were soft, smooth,
and without jagged edges.

Ah, FInally learned how to replicate thanks to the traitor's little crystal,
eh?

    Indeed, in the distance, bounding through the tree branches, and
clutching an arm to his chest, Ryu bounded along, chased by six reavers.

Oops. More than he though.

    They ignored Ryouga, stampeding directly after Ryu. He wasn't even
worth their notice, standing there like he was. "Perfect Shishi
houko-dan," he said quietly, a haze of green fire obscuring the world
from him, as a deep pain bit into his soul.

That might get him.

    Yosho grunted, surveying the warriors, then turning his attention to
Herb again. "Let's go see what it is, then. Someone might be in danger."

    "Yes," Herb said, breaking into a run, and trailed by his warriors.
Yosho paced him easily, and Herb grinned, adding, "This will be
interesting."

Or so one hopes. Have to get to the next part soon. Nice cliffhanger to end
things on. Herb probably has enough time to come to the rescue. This should
be good. Very nice work. Prose flowed well, and I noticed few grammar
errors.

D.B. Sommer

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