Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 21:32:09 +1200 R E <ranma_e@hotmail.com> wrote:
Fox hopped out first, {signaling : signalling} the others to follow him out onto the pad.
Harper was the last of his team, followed by the two members of Red who had
accompanied them, the two teammates carrying the wounded girl between them.
Harper shouted instructions regarding the proper procedure for carrying a
wounded patient without a stretcher, but the two soldiers seemed to ignore
them, to the medic's growing annoyance.
"Phoenix, this is Alpha, Blue fireteam," he spoke into his helmet
microphone as he slung his {submachine gun : submachinegun} over his shoulder. "Is anyone
receiving me?"
"Oh ... shit," Fox managed to splutter, vaguely aware of his hand reaching
for his gun, even though he knew it would do no good. "They're everywhere!
Open fire!"
Hmmm. Either a rival or a faction of Phoenix with a different agenda.
>From the later discussions of Hammer and Anvil with Akane, it appears
to be the latter.
-Don't forget, you need to get out of there as soon as you can. Get to
somewhere we can pick you up with one of the choppers. Once you're back
aboard the Spring, we can repair the Wing properly.-
Except there may be other problems on the Spring once Ryoga reports he
has contact with Ukyo. Yoiko probably just discovered what happened
to Mule's team.
-It means either someone hacked into the system, or the transmission was
sent from the Leviathan Spring.-
That should ring some alarms.
"Another candidate? How? Ukyo was the only suitable--"
So the Colonel isn't fully in the know.
"Two members of Scar's team. According to Scar's log, Hammer and Anvil
didn't return with them, so it must have been them. The interesting bit is
their other passenger - a female gunshot victim left behind by Ranma."
Even with this little advance news, he's going to have trouble
appearing surprised when he's introduced to Akane.
"I know. Ryoga, there's more going on here than we know. They've always
said there were only two beings that could regenerate themselves - Ranma
and Ukyo. If they were lying about that, what else are they lying about?"
Smart girl, but we already knew that.
"Obviously," Hunter continued, "You are not to divulge anything you see,
hear or learn in this laboratory. The penalties for doing so are severe,
to say the least. You have only been permitted to enter this area because
of your specialist knowledge, and because I personally vouched for your
reliability and integrity. I would recommend for your own safety you do
not abuse my trust."
Ryoga has a lot of both, but that may not work to Hunter's advantage.
"Here we are," Hunter said, gesturing toward a plain black door. "This is
the containment facility. The subject is alone and unarmed, so you have
nothing to worry about on that front. Make your initial assessment, and
return to me when you are finished."
Ukyo was also alone and unarmed, but they took more precautions than
Hanibal Lector got when she finally woke up.
"Relax. There's nothing to be afraid of. She's just a person, she's not
going to hurt you. She's more afraid of this than you are. You'll be
fine. Just go in there, conduct your analysis, and try to reassure her.
Don't ask too many questions, though. We don't want her to feel like she's
being interrogated."
Why does my hair stand up whenever someone says "it's more afraid of
you than you are of it"?
Ranma spoke, three words escaping her mouth in a feral, guttural growl.
"Where is she?"
This is a bad time for Ukyo to be asked that. Odds are that Ryoga
will tell her about meeting Akane when he gets back in touch, but that
won't be for a little while yet. I don't recall if Ukyo knows Akane's
name, but she may remember Ranma having a companion when she killed
Ranma and when Ranma killed her.