Disclaimer: For the last &^$%#() time! I'm not dumping the original cast! Geez! You people only think like a chapter into the future!
Sorry. I didn't mean that. You have no way of knowing, it's not like you write this junk. It's just... I'm going through a hard time right now, and I'm feeling some things I'm not used to feeling, and blah blah blah...

Guardian
Chapter 13
Angel's Rise

*****************************************************************************************

*Shick*
Rayden's face remained perfectly still as he forced the scalpel deeper into the wound, digging down into the depression in his skin. Blood oozed up from the hole, and the small blade was soon lost under a rising puddle of crimson fluid, forcing its wielder to judge its position by the damaged nerves within his body.
Grunting as sharp needles of agony shot up his bicep, Rayden found the rear end of the bullet, and slid the scalpal around and then down the length of the projectile before forcing it up, heedless of the surrounding tissue.
Clenching his teeth, Rayden forced the bullet all the way out, and let the blood-painted lead fall to the floor with dozens of others.
Finally letting out a breath, the gunman put the scalpel to the side on a plate that already held several broken surgical blades. Rayden's skin had been genetically enhanced to make a bullet impact survivable, even ignorable, so common blades had a hard time piercing his body.
Feeling leaden, Rayden turned toward the full-length mirror on the wall of his apartment room. His entire lower body was stained with streaks of his own blood, most of it spilled while trying to remove the bullets that had penetrated. His entire upper torso was peppered with red depressions, and there were even a few bloody cuts on his head.
He sighed and turned away from the mirror, disgusted. Core's autorifles were powerful weapons indeed. If only they had been used on someone more deserving, he might have admired the guns.
Rayden pushed away the scalpel plate and slowly began bandaging his wounds, wrapping great lengths of gauze over his naked torso.

'Yujikata... is he the one the Yakuza spoke of? It's likely, but I must be sure!'
Much of Rayden's recent trip to Japan had involved cleaning out smaller hives of murders and other scum. Messing with the Yakuza was generally considered a bad idea, even for the police, and it probably was, but Rayden had been caught in so many firefights with trained, well-armed soldiers that second-rate goons were nothing but a warm up to him.
Much of his trips into Yakuza territory were related to finding information. The Yakuza were well known for their access to all levels of just about every organization in Japan, and thus seemed a good place to go to find out where Yutchzky was hiding.
Of course, it's difficult to divulge anything when one is dead, and Rayden soon found that his knack for "punishing the guilty" had caused him to lose most of his best information, as well as stir up a lot of attention about his presence. Within a week, every police box had posters of him on the walls.

The gunman sighed as he finished cutting the gauze, and then brought out a new t-shirt and put it on. His arms still showed, but he didn't mind. By next morning the wounds would have shrunk enough that he could replace most of the gauze, so that most people wouldn't bother questioning it.

He had managed to access some information before he had killed off a few of the less well-protected local crime lords. Most of it had linked Igov with a terrorist organization called the Freedom's Angels. Rayden hadn't cared at first, so long as it led him to Yuchtzky.
That had changed as soon as he found the laboratory the Yakuza were supplying.
Biological weapons. Cloning. Bio-genetic engineering. It reminded him all too much of the Soviet weapons research camps that had been in operation before the Soviet Union had dissolved completely. The camps he had grown up in.
He didn't know what the Freedom's Angels were planning, but it appeared that he had followed one madman all the way to Japan, only to run into a whole nest of them.

"That filthy rapist Yuimichi spoke of a mole that the Angels had within Core. Could it be Yujikata?" Rayden mused aloud.
It seemed likely. The man seemed way too eager to finish him off, and didn't show nearly enough surprise or fear for his abilities. Obviously he was out for the kill, not for justice.
Rayden reached under his bed and pulled out a plastic container, filled to the brim with gun barrels, stocks, and various other parts associated with all sorts of guns. Deeper in the container was a number of machining tools, as well as forms for bullets.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Rayden raised an eyebrow as someone rapped on his door, and idly looked toward a few shotguns he had hanging on the wall next to his bed. "Da? Who there?"
A feminine voice came from the other side of door, speaking very slowly and deliberately. "Mr. Nikolai? This morning, we found blood outside in the alley. Did you see anything last night?"
"What? Say again, please," Rayden said, feigning poor comprehension. Using a false name while trying to avoid detection was common sense, but people often dismissed a foreign "tourist" barely able to speak the language far more quickly than they would otherwise.
"I said that... oh, never mind. Are you okay?" The voice said, slightly concerned.
"Is okay," Rayden said, mulling over his box of guns, and glancing at the deadbolt to ensure that his landlady couldn't get in even by accident. Rayden kept many of his weapons scattered around his apartment, and at the particular moment his bed and floor was covered with blood and used bullets. If anyone had gotten a look, it wouldn't have been easy to explain.
He heard the old woman walk away, and then got out his machining tools. Obviously, he had gotten back into his apartment through the window to avoid leaving a trail of blood from the bottom of the complex all the way up to his apartment. It was difficult to do, all the sneaking around, but it was necessary to survive.
'And I must survive... until Igov lies dead before me... my lord and savior, Jesus Christ, please watch over me...' With a grim frown, Rayden took out his tools and got to work.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

"Urgh..." Ranma groaned as he pulled himself up out of bed, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.
Smacking his lips as he stood up, the former police officer glanced at the clock before stumbling over to his dresser.
"Huh... five o'clock... too early..." he mumbled as he got dressed.
Despite however much he complained to himself, Ranma got fully dressed and began to stretch, preparing for a morning run the way he always did. It had occurred to him quite some time ago that with the relative lack of competing martial artists of notable skill, the only real recent tests of his abilities came when defying a horrible death in the midst of mutant attacks or chaotic firefights. And while those were fun, he needed to have a more frequent training regimen that didn't depend upon the evil plans of others.
So he had taken to sprinting and jumping until he nearly passed out from exhaustion. Not particularly creative or exotic, but it left him in the same comforting state of aching misery that came from being swatted into the sky with a giant hammer right after putting down Ryoga.
Putting on his jacket, Ranma walked out into the living room, preparing to have a quick snack and a drink before he left the house. Walking to the kitchen, he removed a glass from a cabinet, and then turned and opened the pantry.
Immediately he jerked his head to the side as a man in dark clothes stabbed a dagger forward for his head, missing by mere millimeters.
Ranma grabbed him by the shoulder and then smashed his knee into the attacker's stomach, forcing his foe to drop the weapon. Then he pushed back and snapped his leg up, knocking the assassin into the back of the walk-in pantry.
Ranma grumbled irritably as he got a bagel from one of the shelves, and then closed the door to the pantry.
"Stupid Ninja. Why do they always attack when you're eating?" Shaking his head, Ranma brought a chair under the doorknob to the pantry and propped it up, holding the door closed. "Well, he can just STAY in there until I get back," he mumbled.
Munching on the bagel, Ranma stretched the last kinks out of his back and headed for the front door.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Ranma blinked as he reached for the doorknob, wondering who could be seeking him out at this hour.
'If it's another Ninja, I swear...' "Yes?" Opening the door all the way, Ranma was pleasantly surprised to see Snake smiling pleasantly at him from the front step, with Hunter crouched behind him. "Snake! What are you doin' here?"
Snake chuckled a bit nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Hey Saotome! Just wanted to, you know, check up on you. See how you were doing. That sort of thing..."
Ranma stared as he trailed off, then sighed. "Okay, fine. What do you want me to do?"
Snake sweatdropped. "Has anyone ever told you that you're pretty darn perceptive?"
"No, not really."
Snake cleared his throat, then gestured discreetly to Hunter. "The big guy needs a place to live now that HQ is all locked up, and my place has too many explosives. If he starts eating stuff, he could blow himself up, or burn down the entire block."
"Surprise, surprise," Ranma muttered, moving to the side. Hunter apparently understood the invitation, and walked past him into the house.
Snake nodded. "Thanks man. I would've actually taken him over to Tekai's place, but you seem to handle this kind of thing better than most." Snake looked up for a moment, as if trying to recall something. "Let's see... you'll want to take him for walks later in the evening. I suggest going by the meat packing plant downtown by the Ohuro chemical lab down in the industrial center. The best spot is their back parking lot where they keep all their dumpsters."
Ranma nodded. "That's where he likes to go, eh?"
Snake blinked. "Go?"
The two men stared at each other for a moment, and then Snake suddenly laughed. "Oh! I get it! No, no, I meant that the plant throws out a lot of older meat, and Hunter likes to forage through the dumpsters for food!"
"Oh... okay..." Ranma chewed on his lower lip for a moment. 'I guess it beats buying food for him. I can't imagine keeping him fed on Kibbles 'n Bits or some junk like that.' "So... uh... where does he... you know?"
Snake shrugged. "He doesn't. Seras says that his metabolism is so powerful that he can digest anything and everything that he eats. Which means no waste."
Ranma looked surprised. "No kidding?"
Snake nodded, smiling. "Yup. He's like the perfect pet."
"Well, if you don't count him eating people and ripping up cars and stuff."
"Which I don't."
"Right," Ranma muttered, turning away.
"Wait! Wait! One last thing," Snake insisted, "if anybody asks, you don't know anything about Hunter tearing up a Mercedes. Bye!"
Snake turned around to leave, but Ranma's hand lashed out and grabbed him by the back of his jacket.
"Whoa, whoa! What Mercedes?"
Snake nodded. "Exactly! You can let go now..."
Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Snake..."
Snake sighed as he realized Ranma wasn't going to let him go without an explanation. "Okay, it's like this... Tiro's got this really annoying neighbor, see? He's by all the time borrowing stuff, and then acts like he never borrowed it later, and leaves his trash out in the hall rather than taking it outside to the dumpster. You know, that sort of stuff. And since we had to do something with Hunter, we figured-"
Ranma's eyes suddenly hardened. "You didn't."
Snake jerked back from the sudden aggression, waving his hands in front of him in a placating gesture. "We didn't! We didn't!" Ranma immediately calmed down, and Snake sweatdropped. "I mean, we were going to, but he wasn't home. So we had Hunter eat his car instead."
Ranma slapped a hand over his face.
Snake shrugged. "Hey, what's a guy gonna do, eh?" Snake was about to turn around to leave, when he spotted Hunter again through the doorway. "Hello... looks like the big guy just fed himself. You keeping a bunch of fresh meat around?"
Ranma turned around and saw the zergling lazily lie down next to the window, his beak stained crimson with fresh blood. "Er... no. That's weird."
Snake blinked. "Oh... uh... you didn't have company over... I hope?"
Ranma shook his head slowly. "No, not that I know of..." then his eyebrows shot up. "Oh! The Ninja! That's right! Someone tried to assassinate me this morning!"
"You're kidding! You too? I get that all the time!" Snake laughed. "It really is a pain, you know? Especially when they jump out of your closet in the morning."
Ranma smirked. "Pantry."
Snake nodded. "Yeah. Well, at least you don't have to worry about what to do with the bodies, with the big guy around." He grinned, then snapped his fingers. "Hey, me and Wattai scored a job working at the convenience shop near the fire station. You and Kyle should drop by later, tell us how life is in the infamous Core battalion."
Ranma smirked. "Yeah, okay. I will. Bye!" he waved as Snake left his home, and then turned toward his new charge, who was resting in the sunlight shining through the window.
Then he sighed wearily as he spied a few patches of red on the edge of the doorway to the kitchen.
"Aw man... bad enough he keeps killing people, but does he have to leave a blood trail everywhere?" Grumbling to himself at a good morning wasted, Ranma headed to the garage in search of a mop.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

"I don't CARE if the men have been through an ordeal, they're soldiers! If a good night's sleep can't get them back into good enough shape to fight, then we're wasting our time and money! All leaves have been suspended until further notice! Not one soldier is to miss a shift unless they come to me and cough up their goddamn kidneys!! IS THAT PERFECTLY CLEAR?!" Yujikata yelled into the receiver at the top of his voice, his face turning slightly red from the effort. "And if I hear one more sissy complaint about double shifts and advanced combat deployment, I'm going to personally beat the tar out the idiot that complains! We're on full combat alert here! We have freakin' mutants crawling around alleyways, Russians blowing up buildings, warehouses are turning up looted or destroyed, and everyone's breathing down my goddamn neck to do something about it! I can't-"
*Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!*
Yujikata paused his sudden tirade as an unusual ring tone came from his pocket, and frowned.
"I've gotta go, something just came up. But you heard what I said! EVERY MAN is to be on full alert, and nobody is making any plans that will take them outside of the city! No exceptions!"
Yujikata carefully put down the phone, then disconnected it. Then he got up, locked the door to his office, and retreated into a corner while the phone in his pocket continued beeping softly.
The sergeant wasn't normally a paranoid or even cautious man, but he was smart enough to know that anything less than extreme secrecy in this situation could literally get him killed. If he was lucky.
Slowly taking out the cell phone, Yujikata opened it and turned it on. "Who is this?" He hissed. He was pretty sure he knew who it was, but one could never take too many chances when dealing with terrorists (as if it wasn't a great chance in and of itself).
*Relax Goda. It's me.*
A small smile spread across Yujikata's lips. "Hello Tokima. How are things?"
*Things are going surprisingly well, actually. I'd like to thank you for what effort you made to have the Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment disbanded. They were a minor thorn in my side, but a thorn nonetheless. I hope I can expect similar results in this other recent problem that has popped up.*
Yujikata's smile blossomed into a full grin. "You mean your little research center, right?"
*Correct. 86 men and women, scientists and soliders, all killed. And not a single enemy corpse, if our sketchy review of the site can be trusted.*
"There was only one enemy," Yujikata said smugly, admiring his fingernails, "and he left the site alive, thanks to those sissy worms they put me in charge of."
*.....................* Silence dominated the connection, and the Core sergeant waited patiently as Alexandra digested that information. *One enemy? Are you sure?*
"Yup. He doesn't usually work with others, and he's the only one we saw leave the site." Yujikata hummed slightly to himself, waiting for Alexandra to prompt him.
*I see... who is he?*
He grinned broadly, and lowered his voice. "Well now, that is the million dollar question, isn't it? And while it won't quite cost you that much, I'm going to need a... personal commitment from you, Alex. Top secret information and all that."
*You'll get a check for 500,000 yen tomorrow if you can tell us who this man is and where we can find him.*
Yujikata pursed his lips. "Well, I can't tell you where to find him, so let's say 50,000, plus you come over my place next Tuesday."
The sergeant almost had to keep from laughing as he imagined Alex mentally debating whether to agree. He knew full well that their relationship was purely business, and that she hated having to make business deals that involved sexually servicing him. Such things were below her, and rightfully so, but controlling even a low-ranking member of Core with enough connections to get what he wanted was simply too valuable an asset for her to risk anything but her full cooperation.
*Very well... if you can tell me anything useful about him. I don't want to hear "all I know is his name and what he looks like".*
"No prob," Yujikata said brightly. "The dope's name is Rayden Shikodan. He has an extensive criminal profile and a special record in the military files, but because of certain details, access to the files are restricted to all but certain parts of the military."
Yujikata walked out of the corner and sat down at his desk, cell phone still in hand. "This guy was apparently some kinda super-soldier experimental freak from a few of the biogenetic laboratories that were built in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Apparently him and maybe a few others like him turned out pretty good, but before the reds could start pumping out supermen, or maybe before he got old enough for them to test, the Soviet Union collapsed. The new government didn't like a lot of the things that the old one had been up to, so they went around and destroyed the labs, and everything created in the labs."
He started typing at his computer, and started bypassing security screens as he accessed the restricted files.
*So what happened to this one?*
"We're not completely sure," Yujikata admitted, "but we're sure that he was created in one of the labs, and we're sure that he eventually made his way to Japan." He arrived at the correct file, and opened it. "Let's see... seven years ago, Takoshi and Mimi Shikodan, a Catholic Japanese couple living in Kyoto, were found dead in their home due to gunshot wounds. It's unknown to this day who was responsible for their deaths, but later investigations concluded that the couple had unofficially adopted Rayden and taken him into their household."
Yujikata smiled. "Now here's the interesting part: since the murder, there has been a nearly endless string of killings of wanted and suspected murders and rapists. Many of them could be tied directly to a gunman fitting Rayden's description; tall, wide frame, black hair, sort of gothic look about him. That's actually why his files were sealed; he was doing such a good job of cleaning up this scum, that certain people in our government decided he was doing way more good than harm, and was too dangerous to try and stop. Even when a police officer or senator was suddenly found shot or incinerated, there was always some sort of mysterious scandal surrounding the victim in which they were accused of something awful. Eventually certain people, who I suspect themselves had things to hide, decided that Shikodan had to be put down, and warrants were made even though his files remained classified. Inquiries were made as to where he came from and such, and Japanese intelligence apparently traced him back to Russia and shook down the government for whatever answers they wouldn't kill to protect."
He took a breath as he looked over the information, then spoke again. "Thing is, Shikodan disappeared about three years ago, and hasn't been seen until recently. It was assumed that he had finally gotten in over his head hunting down Yakuza bosses and was killed. But obviously, that 'aint true."
*I see. Interesting... so now we have vigilantes after us too. Is there anything else you can tell me about him?*
Yujikata made an affirmative noise as he scrolled down the computer screen. "Sure. The guy never kills anyone but his targets and maybe bodyguards that get in his way, so even when there are eyewitnesses to his attacks, he'll pretend like they're not even there and leave 'em alone. From what intelligence has gathered he's a powerful gunman and explosives expert with the whole superhuman strength and constitution thing going on. Also, he's Catholic. Really Catholic."
*Not all that I'd hoped for, but it will have to do,* Alex said irritably over the phone. *I assume you're making some kind of effort to take care of him?*
The Core sergeant grinned. "What's it worth to ya?"
*Nevermind,* was the cold reply. *There is, however, one other issue that I cannot ignore or leave for later. Have you taken care of my... legal reputation?*
Yujikata's smile slipped. "Yes, actually. And it was a pain in the ass, too. I had to go through a lot of trouble to get rid of everything without raising suspicion, but right now only that prick Remerick and your sister know that you're an Angel. Lucky for you, Remerick's so busy nowadays that he only has time to issue orders and fill out forms and assume that they're carried out, but Mia's sure to be searching the prison cells for you, and it's only a matter of time before she realizes something's wrong."
*Well, you've obviously done the best you could.* There was a pause on the other end, and Yujikata smiled slightly. *I suppose I could drop by your place on Tuesday. Say around 7?*
Yujikata jerked to the side as he heard someone knock on his door, and then whispered into the phone. "That's good! I've got to go!" *Beep*

Quickly putting the phone away, he turned irritably toward his office door. "Who is it?!"
The door opened, and a blond head poked in. "Hey, can you tell me where you guys keep the doughnuts around here? I'm kinda hungry."
Yujikata stared for a moment. "Who the hell are you?"
As the man was about to answer, another man walked into the room behind him. "Hey, nice office! Do all the guys get rooms like this, or is this some sort of special deal?"
Yujikata's left eye twitched. "......I am Sergeant Yujikata of the Central Organized Response Echelon, Division Two. State your names now, or there will be consequences."
"Oh! You're the guy we're supposed to report to!" The blonde said, clapping his hands together. "I'm Lieutenant... er, I mean, Private Kyle Tekai. Hello!"
The other man casually made a "V" sign with his fingers without turning toward Yujikata. "I'm Ranma."
A vein popped out on the sergeant's forehead. "Ranma what?"
"Ranma Saotome. Private Ranma Saotome, I guess," Ranma said, frowning. "What's the deal? I don't see any pastries anywhere! What's so great about being in Core if you don't even get free food?"
"GET OUT OF MY OFFICE, YOU FILTH!!" Yujikata screamed, jumping up out of his chair.
Ranma and Kyle jerked back in surprise. "What? We were told we had to report to you!"
The sergeant grit his teeth. "It's 7 o'clock! Briefing doesn't start until 9!"
Kyle blinked. "Well, we both got here extra early so that someone could show us around and stuff..."
"Get out! Get out now!!" Yujikata yelled, jabbing his finger repeatedly at the doorway.
"Yeesh! All right!" Ranma muttered, heading out ahead of Kyle. "You don't need to be an ass about it."
Yujikata's head snapped back to look Ranma directly in the eyes. "You come over here and say that."
To his surprise, Ranma turned right back around, gently pushed Kyle to the side, and walked right up to him and looked him in the eyes so that their noses were almost touching.
"You don't need to be an ass about it," Ranma repeated, his voice smooth and hard as a steel plate.
Yujikata resisted the urge to flinch, and mentally chided himself when he felt a touch of nervousness overtake him. Who was this guy? Privates didn't act this way toward their superiors! Hell, even he wouldn't speak to Remerick this way!
"You got some nerve, rookie," Yujikata said menacingly.
"I get that a lot," Ranma said, keeping his eyes and voice perfectly level. He may have had little in the way of social skills, and he couldn't deal with women properly, but when it came to staring down another man with the threat of violence in the air, Ranma was in his element.
Finally, Yujikata flinched and backed away slightly. "Get out of here, you little pricks. I have more important things to do than put you babies in your places."
Ranma snorted and glanced at Kyle, who turned away from Yujikata's desk and gave a subtle wink before heading out of the office.
"Whatever, jerkwad. Thanks for nothing." Ranma turned and left, smiling as he felt the rage and tension pour off of the other man behind him.

Much to Ranma's disappointment, the sergeant refrained from attacking at his back, either from intelligence or fear. Closing the door behind him, Ranma followed Kyle as he dashed into the locker room, and then sat down next to his former superior on one of the empty benches.
"Did you find anything?" Ranma asked hopefully.
Kyle grinned and opened up his jacket, revealing a fairly short white cardboard box covered with pictures of doughnuts printed on it. "Jackpot. The box looks a little worn, so they're probably not fresh, but we won't have to pay for them."
Ranma licked his lips as Kyle opened up the box, then frowned. "What the-? These aren't doughnuts!"
Kyle picked up one of the sheets of Xerox paper in his hand, then held it up, letting the lights on the ceiling of the locker room fully illuminate the item.
"You're right!"
"Aw, damn," Ranma mumbled, turning away. "Maybe we should just go out for breakfast."
"Might as well," Kyle agreed, putting the papers back in the old pastry box, "all that's in here are suspicious and probably incriminating documents. And inedible too." Then he turned to Ranma worriedly. "Do you think we should give this back to him?"
Ranma snorted. "Nah. I say let the jerk recopy everything himself. And after I got myself up extra early just to be here ahead of time. *Sigh*"
Kyle shrugged and held the box under his arm before getting up. "I know a good place to get doughnuts; let's grab one of the cars in the garage and get something to eat."
Ranma blinked as he got up. "Did they give you the keys to one of the cars?"
Kyle shook his head.
"Do you know where they keep the keys to the cars?"
Kyle shook his head again.
"And... we're not taking your car?"
"Sakura has it," Kyle said, entering the garage with Ranma right on his heels. "She said that Junko managed to land her a job, and after she promised me that she wasn't going to go help make some porno flick, I let her take the car." He gave Ranma a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I learned how to operate cars without a key from Tycho."
"Kyle, you're dumber than me," Ranma deadpanned, "how could you know how to do something like that?"
"It takes a remarkably stupid person to imitate Tycho," Kyle reasoned wisely as he approached one of the armored Core patrol cars. They were bulkier and looked far more powerful than the DAPC vehicles, possessing six wheels instead of four, as well as a machine gun mount in front of the sunroof. "The real problem is how we're going to get in the car in the first place."
Ranma rolled his eyes. Then he grabbed the door handle.
*KREEEANK!!* The shriek of twisting metal filled the large concrete room as Ranma wrenched the door right off the rest of the car.
*Klang!* "Whew!" Ranma breathed, "that was harder than I thought. I think I might be getting a little out of shape."
Kyle sweatdropped heavily. "Uh... right... out of shape..."
Ranma got in ahead of Kyle to get in the passenger seat, and Kyle sat in the driver's seat before ripping open a panel underneath the steering wheel and began sorting through the wires.
Ranma frowned. "You're going to hotwire it? Don't you think that these things have safeguards against that?"
Kyle nodded as he stuck a finger into the dark recesses of the panel, searching for some vital component. "Exactly. But as Tycho likes to say 'they always cheap out on something. They just try and make it something that nobody'll think of.' Ah! Got it! Quick, jam a pen or something in the keyhole!"
Ranma shrugged and fished around in his pocket for a pen, quickly finding one and following Kyle's instructions.
"Now turn it."
Ranma did so.
*Vrrrrrrrrrm!*
"Yes!"
"I don't believe it..."
Kyle grinned and pulled himself up into the drivers seat before taking hold of the wheel. "We're all set! Let's roll!"
"Wait," Ranma protested, wanting to point out one final obstacle before Kyle got ahead of himself, "do you know how to open the garage door? It's still closed."
Kyle blinked, and then scratched his chin, realizing that, in fact, any and all exits of necessary size were protected by steel barriers.
Then he turned to Ranma. "Which do you think is thicker: the garage door, or the armor on this car?"
Ranma blinked. "Probably the armor on this car. Though I think that might void the warranty on this thing."
"After you ripped the door off?"
"Point. Gun it."
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Mizu whistled happily as she stripped off her street clothes and rummaged in her locker for her uniform, preparing for a long shift of patrols and guard duty.
All around her, the other female officers wondered just what had gotten into their fellow recruit. Doing double shifts and being on call twenty-four hours without any additional pay was not a situation that left any of them in the mood to whistle.
Mizu didn't really care about the extra time on the clock though, because she had just learned that the most important aspect of her social life was going to be working alongside her anyway.
After hearing that the DAPC had been disbanded, her primary concern of course was whether or not Ranma was going to be okay. After all, without a good cash flow, Ranma would have a pretty hard time finding an apartment in Tokyo, and if he had in fact become homeless, well, offering the poor man a sympathetic ear and a soft bed was the least she could do. Not that she had an extra bed in her apartment, or any furniture big enough for Ranma to lie down on, but she had been sure that something could have been arranged.
She was only mildly disappointed to find out that he had immediately landed a good job after being discharged, and she was ecstatic when she found out that he was being transferred to Core into her division.
'Ha ha! Now I've got the home field advantage! Eat your heart out, blondie!' Obviously Ranma would need to be shown around the complex and given some kind of orientation, and he wasn't likely to get it unless she took care of it personally. Normally that kind of duty would fall to Yujikata, and Mizu knew full well that the bastard would never take fifteen minutes out of his day to help out someone who couldn't get him fired.
"Well, you look happy today. What's the occasion?" another soldier asked, poking her in the back.
Mizu smiled even more broadly. "A good friend of mine just got the lucky break he's deserved for so long, that's all. He's going to be working with us."
The other woman blinked. "No kidding? Nowadays I'd hardly call landing this job a 'lucky break' though. Especially putting up with Sarge now that all these freaky accidents keep happening." The woman lowered her voice slightly and leaned forward for Mizu's ear. "Speaking of which, look out for Yuji-baka today, he's on a major warpath. One of the guys said that he heard him tearing up his office while swearing like his hand got cut off. I guess he lost something important."
Mizu snorted and finished putting on her boots. "Knowing Sarge, it could be anything from his self-confession of theft and treason to a lottery ticket he bought this morning." She got up and stretched, then headed out of the locker room. "I wouldn't worry yourself about it. His bark is as nasty as they come, but he never bites. See you at briefing."
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Yujikata took several deep breaths as he put on his service jacket, and tried to keep from sweating.
'It just can't be... this can't be happening to me...' this thought was followed by a string of desperate curses as he frantically tried to remember what he had done with his doughnut box.
While the box didn't contain anything so blatantly incriminating as a confession to conspiring with the Fallen Angels, it did contain many documents having to do with the FAs, their weapons, future operations, and certain account information that benefited the large terrorist organization. And while the documents in the box by themselves didn't detail or even suggest that he had anything to do with any of it, he would have an extremely difficult time explaining what it was doing in his office, depending on who found in it his office and under what circumstances.
He didn't even keep such things in headquarters, and had only brought it that day so that he could put Rayden Shikodan's file into it for when he was to drop it off to his contact later that evening. He had placed it very carefully, so that it was hidden at a glance, but not so obviously stowed away that anyone would have cause to believe it was anything other than a box of doughnuts that he didn't want to share. He had even taken great care to keep an eye on it when he could, and monitor everyone who came into his office, like that pigtailed ass and that blond dope that came with him.
But then what had happened to the box?
'Dammit, I don't have time to search for it now.' Yujikata swiftly exited his office, his patience deteriorating along with his mood.

Walking into the main hall, he witnessed the site of the entire Second Division sitting on the benches available on both sides of the room, awaiting their orders. As the first soldiers saw him, they swiftly rose to their feet, all standing at attention and staring straight ahead.
Yujikata frowned. "I understand this is unusual, but I'm going to get it out of the way right now: have any of you seen a doughnut box around here this morning?"
There was a unanimous, synchronized blink as everyone adopted blank, confused looks while still staring straight ahead in "good soldier" mode.
The sergeant growled. "Never mind! None of you morons have the guts to go rummaging through my office anyway!"
Nobody in the hall said a word, quite accustomed to the Sergeant's temper tantrums. Realistically, the tough all-image-and-no-action approach had worn quite thin with them all, and Yujikata had ascended to become unintimidating as well as uninspiring to them, reducing the man simply to a tiresome channel by which they received their assignments. As it was, they only followed his orders because they were supposed to, and could be discharged for opposing him.

While she kept her head perfectly still while facing forward, Mizu's eyes continued searching the ranks of her comrades, failing to see the ruggedly handsome face that she had grown to love so dearly. Where was Ranma? Searching some more, she couldn't even find the dumb blond fellow that had supposedly been transferred with him (how that had happened, she could only begin to guess). Where were they? Didn't they know that briefing starts at nine? Being late on the first day of duty was an offense that could haunt a service record permanently, and make promotions almost impossible.
"Sergeant, permission to speak!" One of the other recruits said suddenly, startling many of those gathered.
Yujikata's eyes narrowed, though his heart skipped a beat as his hope of recovering the lost files jumped. "What?!"
The man swallowed for a moment, then continued. "I was just wondering what happened in the garage?"
The sergeant stared. "What? What's happened to the garage?"
The man blinked, though he didn't stop staring straight ahead. "So... you didn't know? There's a hole in the garage door, a patrol car is missing, and the driver's-side door of that patrol car is lying on the floor in the garage."
Yujikata's eyes widened a bit, and he stared mutely.
The soldier swallowed again nervously. "I, uh, assumed you knew about it. If you had come after it happened, there's no way you could miss it, and if you were here, I'm surprised you didn't hear it. It looks like whoever stole the car just rammed their way out."
Yujikata twitched. The man was right, meaning it had to have happened while he was busy tearing his office apart. He probably made more noise himself than the car did breaking through the door.
Mizu frowned, thinking to herself. Core headquarters had an automated security system, requiring a passcode and a fingerprint to get through the gates. Every single personnel unit, with the exception of the cleaning and maintenance staff, was registered ahead of time and given their own personal passcode to enter the compound. But no alarm had gone off, meaning that the culprits either had to be unfathomably skilled in infiltration, yet be unable to escape with a stolen vehicle without tearing everything apart, or they had security clearance.
"Waitaminute," Yujikata mumbled, "where're those two pricks that were bothering me earlier? Ranma what-his-face and the Colonel's son. Where are they?"
Mizu's eyes widened as she put two and two together. 'On second thought, maybe they won't have to worry about being late for briefing...'
_________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ah, yeah, this is the life," Ranma said pleasantly, his feet resting on the dashboard of the patrol car as he scarfed down a maple bar.
Next to him, Kyle sipped some coffee, reading the comics section of the newspaper.
They were currently enjoying their leisure time while parked across the street from a construction site next to the doughnut shop, apparently unconcerned with the 9 o'clock briefing. Of course, with the engine always running even while parked, and with a door having been ripped off, the two new recruits weren't exactly creating a low profile, but few people would have the nerve to walk up to two men in Core service jackets in a Core patrol car and ask what they were up to.
Ranma stared out through the sunroof, shaking his head slightly. "You know, I used to be kind of a responsible guy when I joined up with you, doing what I was told and giving it my all. It took every year of the police academy training to break me of the habit of challenging my superiors and turn me into the perfect soldier." He sighed. "And now look at me."
Kyle nodded. "I know. You've made good progress."
Ranma shrugged. "Ah well. I have a lot more fun now than I used to, that's for sure. Still, I'm almost positive there're some regulations or something against what we've done to get this car."
*Phssssst!*
Both men were startled out of their thoughts as static burst from the radio, eventually clearing as a familiar but none-too-pleasant voice became coherent.
*This is Sergeant Yujikata of Core, Division Two! To Privates Ranma Saotome and Kyle Tekai, if you can hear this message, I'm going to shove my foot so far up your ass you'll be coughing up toenails!! To whoever the %)(& took this car, I'm going to personally %$#!^&$ shoot you in your %$#!~&# head!!*
Kyle winced and covered his ears as the string of curses flowed out of the radio. "He seems... upset."
Ranma snorted and picked up the radio mouthpiece. "That's nothing. If you think he's mad now, check this out."
He cleared his throat, then held down the button. "This is Private Ranma Saotome, we have a 4-1-1 missing persons report, I repeat, a village has declared a missing idiot, a Mr. Yu-ji-ka-ta, I repeat, that's Mr. Yujikata, village idiot. If found, please box him up and ship him back immediately, preferably without airholes. Private Saotome out."
Kyle burst out laughing as Ranma grinned, and they both smirked as an enraged snarl came from the radio.
*WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU LITTLE MOTHER-* *Smash!* The sergeant's expletive was cut off as Ranma crushed the radio with his fist, sending sparks and pieces of plastic scattering onto the interior.

"Damn, someone should do something about that guy," Ranma muttered, pulling his arm back.
Kyle shrugged. "Yeah, Dad warned me about him. He's not too popular, but he seems to have certain connections that keep him in charge. He's not going any higher, but I don't think Core's gonna drop him anytime soon. Especially what with the more frequent terrorist attacks."
Ranma nodded sadly. "Yup. Well, it doesn't look like we're going back to headquarters, so I guess we have the rest of the day to ourselves. What do you wanna do?"
Kyle blinked, then looked toward the construction site. The building was only in its very first stages of construction, and as of now, the whole thing was just a large dirt pit with a few scattered supplies and building materials here and there.
He turned back to Ranma. "You wanna drive the car into the ditch here and dive out at the last second?"
Ranma stared at him. "That's stupid, pointless, and completely reckless," he deadpanned. "We'll jump on three."
*Screeeech!* Kyle floored the gas pedal as he turned the car toward the construction site, and smoke wafted from the pavement as the car nearly flipped over from the sudden turn and acceleration.
"One! Two! Three!" Ranma dove out the window as Kyle tossed himself out the other side, and both men hit the ground rolling as the patrol car hit a heavy pipe on the edge of the pit and jumped up.
Ranma gaped as the six-wheeled armored car flew into the air for a moment, reaching the apex of its flight after covering about a third of the distance across.
Then began its plummet downward, cumulating in an explosion-free, but still spectacular car wreck.
*SMASH!!* *Crumple!* *Crunch!*
Ranma and Kyle peer over the edge of the pit, watching as armor plates and rubber tires went rolling and bouncing in all directions away from the vehicle.
"Yeah, okay, that was pretty cool," Ranma admitted.
Kyle grinned. "Told ya. So now what?"
Ranma jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Snake said he landed a job at a convenience store. Wanna drop by?"
"Sounds like a plan. Let's find a bus stop."
_________________________________________________________________________________________

At the bottom of the construction site, an ancient evil stirred. A beast of horrendous origins and malicious intent slowly awakened from its sleep, its tiny brain consumed with only one desire: to feed.
Rising from the dry tomb of dirt, the creature let a hiss pass through its oversized mouth, huge in comparison to its thin, snake-like body, and possessing a quite unnatural-looking collection of sharp, jagged teeth that stuck out of its mouth crookedly.
As consciousness fully returned to it, the ache came forth, triggering a primal, instinctive hunger for flesh and blood.
It was time to eat.
*SMASH!!* *Crumple!* *Crunch!*
Unfortunately for the strange little monster, it hadn't possessed the necessary optical perception to detect the looming shadow of the patrol car until after it had finished its descent, and was thus quickly put into yet another, more permanent state of hibernation.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Igov took a deep breath through his nose, reveling in the scent of oil and grease as he inspected his units.
Fanned out in the front of the spacious warehouse were the old IS-2 soviet tanks, all of them armed and running as the pilots finished preparations to leave.
Smiling brightly with pride, he moved past the obsolete armor and set his gaze on the fresher steel.
{"These... 'boomers' are remarkable machines, are they not? The purity of steel and electricity runs through them in a perfect mold of form and function."} Igov walked up to one of the half-dozen battle robots clustered together behind the tanks and placed a hand on them, stroking the shining blue armor fondly.
Behind him, two other Russians stood at attention. Igov turned toward them and addressed them in Russian. {"I see the other units are here too. This will be the first test of my late wife's creations, and the fools that oppose me will be crushed to dust in her name! Gather the men here!"}
As the two soldiers nodded and rushed off to the barracks behind the warehouse, Igov's lips pressed into a thin line, and he turned around.
"And you are being here because...?"
Across the warehouse, watching the terrorist forces assemble, Yoshi Konta chuckled to himself. "I'm only here to see you off, friend. This is the first time you've sent your own creations into the thick of combat, and quite frankly, I'm fascinated." He walked up to one of the larger machines, which was a piloted mech rather than an automated robot, if the cockpit was any indication. "So these are the metal monsters that are to replace my fleshy ones, eh?"
Igov couldn't help but smile slightly. "You will find that mutant claws cannot do the same damage as cannons of Prometheus," he said smugly, walking up to one of the mecha and placing a hand on the steel-armored thigh.
Yoshi shrugged. "And my employers will find that mutant claws are far cheaper and more easily replaced than these 'Prometheus' units of yours." Suddenly he smiled. "But enough of this petty rivalry of ours. I'm truly impressed by what you've accomplished here. I know that your late wife didn't complete her designs on these machines; she was a good engineer, but her life was taken far too early."
Igov's smile faded, and he gazed silently at the diminutive scientist, the lens of his cybernetic eyepiece idly rotating. "...... Igov does not understand why Konta would know this thing."
Yoshi raised an eyebrow at him. "I know many things I don't need to. But they're good to know anyway." He jabbed his chin forward, gesturing to Igov's hand. "Can you even feel that?"
Igov jerked his head to the side to look at his hand, which he realized still rested on the leg of the Prometheus mech. He turned back to Yoshi. "Of course not. Glove is on."
Yoshi smirked. "So why don't you take it off?"
"Igov thinks that Konta knows why," the general said coolly.
"Of course," Yoshi said, grinning, "your eye isn't the only thing that's cybernetic. That much is obvious. It must be hell for you in airports."
"Among other places," Igov said humorlessly, still trying not to look intimidated by the encounter. He was good at it, but at the same time, the knowledge that Yoshi so casually dispensed unnerved him greatly.
Shrugging at Igov's response, Yoshi approached the general while staring at the ceiling, apparently thinking to himself. "Your target is the research and development facility five miles downtown, correct? I've heard about the projects they have there. Very interesting. High-end cybernetic implants that can keep a heart beating indefinitely, replace failed organs, and devices that could conceivably be used to replace bones and tendons with strong, ageless mechanical imitations." He grinned widely at the Russian. "Neat stuff, isn't it? Considering an upgrade for yourself?"
Igov stood up straight and clasped his hands behind his back, turning his expression completely neutral. "Yes, perhaps."
The Yoshi turned away, seemingly disappointed in the response. "Then you might as well forget it. I doubt they have anything that you'd find particularly useful, what with the kind of shape you're in."
Igov blinked, and immediately lost his emotionless demeanor. Just how much did this guy know?
The biogeneticist turned toward the Prometheus mech one last time, his hand cupping his chin. "Still, there are always uses for such technology... we live in a world where the limitations of man are overcome with the construction of machines. It is but one more way for man to intellectually compensate for physiological shortcomings." He turned to Igov and smiled. "You've given me much to think about, friend. Good luck in the attack."
With those final words, Yoshi turned away from the lost, confused expression on Igov's face, and left the warehouse, looking thoughtful.

Igov stared dumbly at the scientist's back, wondering what the hell had just transversed.
{"Sir? The men have been gathered and await your orders."}
The general shook himself out of his daze, and glanced behind him at the soldier that was standing at attention. Then he turned away.
'A man that know so much that would seem to mean so little to him is dangerous indeed. I think I'll need to tread more carefully around Mr. Konta from now on.'
Igov turned toward the back of the warehouse, facing away from the terrorists that toiled around the outdated armor, and toward the numerous Russian soldiers that stood at attention on the upper level platforms along the back of the structure.
Looking up, the general saw that he stood below and just behind a catwalk about twenty-five feet upward.
*Whrr* There was a soft mechanical noise as Igov slowly lowered himself, bunching up his legs, and then the sharp sound of compressed air being released as the Russian warlord suddenly jumped up the full height to land on the catwalk without even stumbling.
There were a few gasps and gaping, but for the most part the gathered soldiers only clapped at the display of unnatural might.
All sound stopped, however, when their general thrust his open hands out, signaling for silence.

{"Friends. Comrades. Brothers. We gather here today, in a foreign land, to celebrate that most ancient of rituals: Warfare!"} Igov's voice boomed throughout the warehouse, and a wave of cheers erupted as the soldiers thrust their fists into the air. {"The blood of our brother, our fathers, and our sons lie behind us. And before us lies a new world. A world that knows not the terrors of the battlefield! A world that sleeps peacefully as their strong and brave are destroyed between the ranks of the enemy! We will change that!"}
{"You have all abandoned your country, left behind your homes and what family you may have..."} he slowly looked from one end of the crowd to the other, the red lens of his cybernetic eye gleaming in the fluorescent lights. {"Why? Because you are afraid? No, for you face greater danger here than in our mother Russia, weak and pitiful as it now. Because you are disloyal? Not at all, for your loyalty lies with the man who has led you to victory. Who has clothed you, fed you, trained you, and armed you."}
{"They've called us things. Petty words. 'Traitors'. 'Deserters'. 'Terrorists'."} He grinned. {"But deserters do not fight. Traitors act against their former allies. And let all that would compare us to this criminal scum be crushed under the wave the of steel!!"}
The cheers began to build, and on the other side of the warehouse the Japanese terrorists watched curiously, unable to understand a word of what was being said.
{"You were born on the fields of battle! You know naught but war! We fight not for freedom, not for anarchy or Communism, but because we are warriors!! Meet the enemy!! AND BURY THEM!!!"} Igov threw his arms wide, and a renewed pulse of ecstatic cheering burst from the Russian ranks as the soldiers rushed to their transports and machines.

< Igov let his hands fall, and clasped the rails along the catwalk he was on, smiling as he looked down over his forces.
Behind him, a squad captain approached. {"General, the Angels say they are ready to move out, and all squadrons have their orders. We leave on your command."}
Igov nodded, suddenly staring up at the ceiling. {"............................................."}
{"General?"}
{"He's here,"} Igov muttered softly, almost to himself. {"He knows that it is hopeless. He knows he cannot win, and yet he comes."}
The captain blinked, then gulped as he realized with "he" Igov was talking about. {"General Yutchzky, are you sure?"}
Igov nodded sharply as he turned around, leading the captain down the stairs to the ground level. {"He's not 'here' yet, but he will appear before me soon, if he can. He is voracious like that. Never stopping, never wavering, never taking a target of opportunity or seeking a better way."} Igov grinned as he took a cigarette out of his pocket and proceeded to light it. {"He would make a terrible soldier."}
He took a long drag the from cigarette, then blew out some smoke from the corner of his mouth. {"You'd think someone who has been on as many battlefields as he would know that there is no such thing as 'God'. But he still fights for his pitiful faith, even as he betrays his own soul."}
The captain raised an eyebrow, suddenly very confused as to what exactly his general was talking about. {"Sir?"}
{"Nothing. It is nothing. I was merely thinking aloud,"} Igov clapped a heavy hand on his subordinate's shoulder, and smiled at the younger man. {"Give the order to move out. You know what to do."}
The Captain saluted sharply, and then recited, {"Burn them once, then burn them twice, crush the ashes-"}
{"-As the dead turn to ice,"} Igov finished, grinning fiercely. {"Blood and victory, comrade."}
{"Blood and victory, General!"} the captain shouted enthusiastically before turning toward the main force. {"Move out!"}
_________________________________________________________________________________________

"And here we are!" Kyle said, grinning as he led Ranma up to the gas station, walking past the pumps and up to the door.
Ranma couldn't help but be a bit hesitant as he stepped into the small snack shop. "Man, this has to be a major drag for these guys. Overpaid cops one day, the next day working as a cashier in some little dump."
Kyle shrugged his shoulders. "It 'aint all bad. These guys have really good slushies."
Ranma sweatdropped. "Yeah. I'll bet that makes it all better."
The two quickly entered, and immediately spied Snake and Tycho at the front of the shop, behind the counter. Snake was putting cigarettes on display on the racks behind the counter, while Tycho was handling the short line of customers, and looking very depressed about it.
"Hey Snake! What's up, man!" Kyle shouted as he walked straight to the counter, ignoring the line of people.
Snake turned around and smiled as he saw his two former co-workers approach. "Saotome, Tekai! You guys made it!" He took one look at their jackets and grinned. "Ah, men of the great Japanese internal military! Brings a tear to my eye, I tell ya!"
Kyle scratched the back of his head a bit nervously. "So you're not still bitter about us getting promoted and you getting laid off?"
Snake snorted. "Pfeh! Of course not! I'm over that. Besides, I already looted the station for everything of value, so I'm set for another decade at least!"
Ranma forced a short laugh. "Eh heh heh... that's... uh... great."
Kyle then turned to Tycho, who was lethargically jabbing the register's keys as he rung up the customers' snacks. "How about you, Wattai? You okay?"
"Meh," he replied, not even looking over as he made change for the customer.
Ranma frowned and addressed Snake. "What's with him?"
Snake shrugged. "I don't really know. He got an even cut of the looting." He looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment, then nodded slowly to himself. "It's probably just because he had to sell the patrol car to keep his house. He has to take the subway now. I guess he's taken it pretty hard."
"Wait," Ranma began as a thought occurred to him, "if you guys took so much stuff, couldn't he sell some other junk and keep the car?"
Snake shook his head. "We already drank most of the booze, and you'd be surprised at how hard it is to find legal buyers for fireburst grenades and armor-piercing sniper cannons in Tokyo."
Ranma thought about that for a moment. "No, I don't actually think I would be."
"So, how's business around here?" Kyle asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Here's your money and your smokes," Tycho mumbled, putting the plastic-wrapped package in a plastic bag and pushing it toward the customer.
The man picked up the bag. "Thank you. Have a good day."
"Sure," Tycho muttered, casting a glare at Snake as the gun nut theorized about Tycho's depression.
The man hesitated in leaving, and then cleared his throat. "You know, you could be more polite when a customer makes a purchase."
Tycho stared at the man for a moment, then rolled his eyes. "Fine, have it your way. Please leave, you're holding up the line."
"No, see, this is just what I was talking about. It's just rude," the customer insisted.
Tycho twitched for a moment, and grit his teeth into a sort of forced smile. "Why, I'm so sorry, sir. I don't know what came over me. To think that I, merely plunged into the arms of depression and poverty, could let something so trivial as the MISERABLE STATE of my own life jeopardize the QUALITY OF YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE!!!" The man gaped and backed away as Tycho stood up behind the counter. "HAVE A GLORIOUS DAY, AND THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY STUPID JOB THAT MUCH HARDER!!!"

Ranma, Kyle, and Snake all watched as the man scrambled for the exit, as well as a few other customers that hadn't yet bought anything.
Snake turned back to Kyle, "So, to answer your question, business isn't that great, but we get paid the same anyway, so we don't care."
Kyle sweatdropped. "Ah. Well, that's... good?"
Snake shook his head and clapped Ranma on the shoulder. "Enough about us, tell us about you! What's Core like?"
Ranma shrugged. "I kinda liked it better working with you guys. The boss's a real jerk, and without a real leader like Asuka around, I find myself doing stupid stuff with Kyle."
Snake smiled and nodded. "Oh yeah. That brings back memories. Did you do the thing where you roll the car into a big hole and jump out at the last second?"
Ranma blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah, actually."
"We had to hotwire the car first. That was a real pain," Kyle added.
Ranma looked back and forth between Snake and Kyle. "You mean you guys used to do stuff like this in the DA?"
Kyle looked sheepish. "At first, yeah. But when Asuka got to us..." he whistled. "She's not all talk like that Yujikata guy. I was seriously scared to let my car get dinged for at least two months after I pulled that stunt for the first time."
Snake nodded, resting on his elbows as he leaned over the counter. "Takami could never quite get used to us, but she at least made sure we trashed other people's stuff. She's one tough chick."
Ranma mused over that thought for a moment, smiling to himself. It was certainly true; he'd never have the guts or desire to antagonize Asuka the way he had done to Yujikata already. His current commanding officer just seemed to be a jerk and a coward, which led Ranma to thinking (not for the first time) about just how careful Core was about filling its ranks.
"ALL RIGHT, PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE 'EM AND OPEN THE CASH REGISTER, NOW!!!" A sudden yell from the front counter startled the three men out of their thoughts, and they turned to see a middle-aged man with unusually long and dirty hair holding a switchblade in Tycho's face.

Tycho blinked, and the man waved the knife back and forth.
"What are you, stupid?! I said open the register!! NOW!!! I'm gonna cut you open so bad, your grandkids'll bleed!"
Tycho's eyes narrowed. "Who are you calling stupid?" He deadpanned. "You walk into a convenience store in the middle of the day in broad daylight, without a mask or gloves or anything, and try to hold up a cashier with a knife right next to a pair of military guys packing heat."
The thief blinked, and then turned to his left, where he saw Ranma and Kyle staring at him, and saw that they did, in fact, each have a handgun at their hips.
"Er...... just kidding?" he tried pitifully, letting his hand holding the knife drop.
Ranma rolled his eyes and stepped forward, prepared to apprehend the moron without a knife.
Suddenly, Snake thrust a hand out in front of Ranma, halting him. "Hold up." Then he addressed the robber. "You're a Freedom's Angel, aren't you?"
The man snarled, flexing the arm that displayed a cobra in barbed wire. "Yeah, what of it you ass-" he then halted, suddenly remembering his position. "... I, uh, mean... no. No, I'm not."
Snake smirked slightly as he glanced at Ranma. "I'll handle this." Then he ducked down under the counter.
The robber blinked, and stared uneasily at the soldiers. "Uh... does this mean I can go?"
"Probably," Tycho said humorlessly, "though I question whether you'll still be alive when they cart you out of here."
As if to confirm the validity of that concern, Snake popped back up from under the counter with a double-barreled shotgun in hand. "Heh heh heh! I'm gonna enjoy this!" Snake lowered the weapon and aimed it at the stunned criminal, only to have the barrel suddenly grabbed and yanked toward the floor.
*BLAM!!* "Whoa!" The thief jerked back as tile and deflected buckshot scraped his legs, and the man nearly fell over in shock.
Ranma winced as the noise from the shot pierced his ears, then yanked the gun away. "I don't think so!"
Snake gaped, taken aback. "What? What was I doing?"
Kyle looked similarly confused. "Yeah? What's wrong?"
"Don't give me that!" Ranma yelled, holding up the gun. "Snake, you're not a cop anymore! You can't own guns!"
Snake, Kyle, and Tycho all stared at him for a moment.
"......... Seriously?" Snake asked, looking devastated.
Ranma groaned. Then he kicked out behind him, tripping the robber who had been trying to sneak away. "You stay where you are, punk!"
Kyle waved his hands in the air, gesturing for everyone to calm down. "Now hold up Ranma. Snake's a buddy of ours. I think it's okay."
"What?" Ranma said incredulously. "We can't just let people we like do what they want!"
Kyle blinked. "Why not?"
"Why not?!" Ranma yelled, "we can't because, uh... because...... well, I don't know why, but there's probably a very good reason!"
Kyle scratched his chin. "I dunno... I mean, Snake's a former police officer, at least, and this guy is a terrorist and a thief..."
Ranma frowned, then sighed and turned to Snake. "Just hold on. We'll work this out. Just make sure he doesn't go anywhere."
Snake and Tycho watched curiously as Ranma led Kyle out of the store.
The man on the floor kept an eye on the two soldiers until they exited, then cautiously turned toward the front counter again.
"So... is it safe to rob you now, or what?"
Snake glared at him. "Just try it. I have bigger guns than that under here."
"And plastic explosives," Tycho added cheerlessly. "I really wish you'd move that stuff. You're probably violating all sorts of fire safety ordinances."
Snake just rolled his eyes. "Whine, whine, whine..."
Before the banter could continue, Ranma and Kyle re-entered the shop, both of them looking serious.
Ranma glanced at the unkempt criminal still on the floor, then cleared his throat. "*Ah-hem* After thinking it over, we've decided you can keep your guns, Snake."
The former lieutenant brightened considerably.
Kyle nodded. "Also, we've decided that you can shoot this guy for trying to rob you, but you can't kill him."
The man's eyes widened. "Wh-WHAT?!?!"
Snake blinked, then shrugged. "Okay."
Ranma handed him back his shotgun. "I'd suggest using something smaller than that. Or I can lend you my gun if you need it."
"HEY!!! HOLD ON JUST A SECOND HERE!!!"
Snake grinned at his former co-worker. "Naw, I'm covered. But thanks Ranma. You're all right."
"YOU CAN'T JUST LET HIM SHOOT ME!!! THAT'S AGAINST THE LAW!!!"
Snake snorted as he grabbed a 9 mm. from below the register. "Please. You have long since abandoned the law. And with its regulations, so do you discard its protection."
Ranma shrugged. "I don't necessarily agree with all that, but I have to admit that it sounded really cool." Next to him, Kyle nodded sagely.
The criminal backed away, cringing. "Who... Who are you people?!"
Snake brought the pistol up and took aim at the shoulder, his face a mask of cold neutrality. "We are the former officers of the DAPC." *C-click* "Have a nice day, and please come again."
*Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!*
_________________________________________________________________________________________

*Sluuuurp* Ranma sucked up the last of his slushie as he followed Kyle off the bus, and quickly found a waste bin to toss it into.
Kyle looked up at the perfectly partitioned concrete tower and whistled. "Now that's a lotta cars."
Ranma sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Cashiers and parking complex security guards. How the mighty have fallen."
Kyle shrugged. "At least Asuka makes more than minimum wage here. C'mon, let's go find her."

It didn't take long before they spied the bluette in a security booth in front of the entry gate. Surprisingly, the young woman was sleeping soundly at her post, her arms hanging down limply as her head rested on the edge of the counter she was sitting at.
Ranma and Kyle looked at each other.
"Wow, you know... she's pretty cute when she's sleeping," Ranma said honestly. The way she her lips were curved into a slight smile, and the way Asuka remained perfectly still as she rested was a stark contrast to Akane's old sleeping habits, which had involved enough tossing and turning to keep even Happousai at a distance.
"Yeah," Kyle agreed, "she looks so peaceful like that. If it weren't for the name tag, I'd think she was a somebody else."
*Choo!* Asuka suddenly let out a tiny, feminine sneeze, and rapidly blinked her eyes as she began to regain consciousness.
"Wh-Wha? Whos'ere?" Rubbing her eyes, the former police captain looked up drowsily.
Then she blinked some more as she saw who was in front of her.
"Hi Captain!" Kyel greeted sunnily.
"GAH!!" Asuka jumped back in her chair, blushing badly and breathing hard.
"Asuka? What's wrong?" Ranma asked in concern, reaching forward.
Asuka jerked back as he did so, and clapped her hands onto her cheeks, mortified. "Oh my God! How did you... where did you... wha-what are you doing here?"
Ranma blinked. "We're checking up on you. Are you all right?"
Asuka's face turned a shade of red brighter, and she began studying the small concrete floor of her tiny "office". "Oh gosh... this is so embarrassing..."
"Calm down. What's so embarrassing about it?" Ranma asked curiously.
She sighed and finally let her hands fall into her lap. "It's just... you know... for a while now I've been in charge of you two, and now you've moved on and I'm a low-wage security guard at a parking lot..." She looked up sharply. "Not that I'm staying here! This is only temporary! I'll get a real job soon!"
Ranma put his palms up peaceably, realizing that his former superior had become quite excitable recently. "Right! You're absolutely right! I mean, you were really good at your job! You have skills an' stuff!"
Asuka's demeanor turned from determined to crestfallen in the space of a second. "Oh, who am I kidding? Employers treat any resume with the letters 'DAPC' on it like a smallpox sample. Hell, I had to take it off just to land this job! But without my experience as a police captain, I have nothing to show for the last..." she trailed off, then turned toward Kyle. "How many years was it?"
Kyle blinked, then looked up in thought as he began counting off on his fingers. Finally, he nodded and looked back down.
"Several."
Ranma and Asuka rolled their eyes.
"Look, I'm sure things'll get better for you," Ranma insisted, trying to cheer her up. "You're a pretty good boss, and you're good in a fight."
"Sure," Asuka agreed wryly, "what with all the civilian careers out there that can use a good fighter."
Ranma opened his mouth to say something else, but nothing came out. ".......... Okay, you win. It's hopeless," he admitted.
Asuka sighed, but smiled a little bit. "Well, things could be worse. This is easy, at least, and there's none of the pressure and stress that I had putting up with you lunatics."
Kyle nodded rapidly. "Yeah! There's that, at least!"
"But at the same time..." Asuka considered, glancing at Ranma out of the corner of her eye, "... I sort of miss you guys."
Kyle and Ranma blinked. Then they stared.
"You mean... like... 'you guys' as in us?" Kyle asked, baffled.
"Yes," Asuka said wryly.
"Like, which 'guys' are you talking about specifically?" Ranma asked.
"All of you," Asuka said flatly, wondering if perhaps she overplayed her frustration with her subordinates back when she was captain.
Ranma's eyes widened. "Even Snake?"
Asuka nodded, hesitating only a moment. "Even Snake."
"And Tycho too?" Kyle asked, totally mystified.
"Well, no," Asuka admitted. "Though I do miss Tiro a little bit. It's always a little nice to have someone come onto you, even if you absolutely despise him."
She shook her head and nodded toward Ranma. "You know what? Enough about me. How's Core?"
Ranma shrugged. "It kinda sucks. The guy in charge is a real jerk."
Asuka blinked. "You mean Remerick?"
"Naw, his name's Yujikata. He's only a sergeant," Kyle clarified. "The guy bit our heads off for showing up early and asking for doughnuts, and then tried to pick a fight with Saotome."
Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Unlikable and unwise, eh?" Then she closed her eyes and smirked. "Maybe now you'll learn to appreciate your more effective superiors, hmm?"
Both Kyle and Ranma blushed slightly. "Uh... right..." "Sorry."
"Well, if he's that bad, you could always try driving a patrol car into a pit like you did with me," she muttered a tad bitterly, shrugging.
"Already did that," Kyle asserted, "plus, Ranma made fun of him."
"Oh," Asuka said, not looking surprised at all. "Well, you could always set his car on fire."
Ranma's eyes widened. "They did that to you?!"
"Twice," Kyle admitted sheepishly, "though it wasn't out of malice or anything. We were just curious to see if they'd really explode like in movies."
"And?" Ranma asked, a bit curious himself.
"We're still not sure. Asuka kept stopping us before the fuel tank went up." Kyle shrugged, and then clapped his hands together. "That's a good idea, though. I'd forgotten about that."
Asuka turned a half-lidded gaze toward Ranma. "I hope this guy's as bad as you say he is."
"I hope so too," Ranma muttered, sweatdropping. If Yujikata turned out to be a reasonably decent guy who was just having a bad morning, he'd end up feeling pretty bad about the way he was acting... for at least a day or so.
Kyle stretched his arms for a moment, then waved to his former superior. "Well, so long. We're gonna visit Sakura and Junko next."
Asuka blinked. "So they got jobs already too, huh? What are they doing?"
"We don't know yet," Ranma muttered as he started toward the exit, "but Junko told Kyle it was clean, at least."
"Really?" Asuka said thoughtfully. "Hum. I wonder what Chikiko's definition of 'clean' is."
Ranma and Kyle turned to stare at each other for a moment.
"You know, maybe we should take a cab rather than waiting for the bus."
"That is a great idea."
_________________________________________________________________________________________

*Flash* *Flash* *Flash*
Sakura tried to keep from blinking as the bright lights flooded her eyes again and again, and once more wondered at the personal dignity involved in her newly established line of work.
"Give it to me baby! Come on! Show me some attitude!"
Sakura turned and twisted to one side, showing off her thigh and back to the camera.
*Flash* *Flash* "That's it! That's it! Remember, we're selling the body, not the brassiere!"
The artsy-looking guy handling the camera turned toward Junko, who was sitting casually in a lounge chair next to the small dressing room backdrop. "Chikiko, you're faaaaabulous! I love her!"
The redhead smiled. "I told you that you would. Thanks for letting me have my old job back."
He waved a hand at her, shaking his head. "Oh, please! I could never deny you anything, darling! I only wonder why you left!"
Junko shrugged, placing her arms behind her head as she laid back. "Sometimes a girl's just gotta move on, you know?"
As the photographer left for the back room of the studio, Sakura slowly walked up to her friend, blushing slightly. "Junko, I... I just don't know about this..."
Junko rolled her eyes. "What? They're not asking you to do anything extreme. All you have to do is look good."
Sakura nodded slightly, despite herself. "Well, yeah, but... I don't know... lingerie modeling just seems so wrong after spending four years in nursing school."
"Well, if four years couldn't get you stay conscious at the sight of a bloody wound, then you can chalk 'em up as a waste anyway," Junko said wryly.
Sakura sighed, but nodded somberly.

"Hey! Let me through!"
"Make way! Make way!"

Junko blinked as she heard some commotion in the hallway outside the photo studio. "Hey Tekai, isn't that you're brother's voice?"
Sakura blushed deeply. "Uh oh..."
*Bam!* The doors to the studio burst open, and the single security guard that was on duty inside immediately moved between the two men that entered and the numerous models who were lying about the room.
Kyle quickly scanned the room, groaning as he found his sister. Sakura was wearing a virgin white silk set bra and panties, and standing next to Junko, who was wearing a one-piece slip the same color as his hair.
"Uhm... hi Kyle," Sakura said sheepishly, waving.
Before the blond man could say anything else, the security guard had laid a hand on him and Ranma's shoulders. "This is a closed set. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you two to leave."
Ranma simply stared around the room, looking bewildered. Kyle angrily pushed forward.
"No way! That's my little sister in there!"
The guard nodded in understanding, but still pushed him back. "We get that more often than you'd think. But I still have to ask you to go."
Kyle stopped struggling and frowned. "Fine." *Thock!*
Kyle withdrew his fist as the guard crumpled to the floor, and then slowly stalked toward where his sister was standing, trying to cover herself as best she could.

Junko whistled. "Wow. Saotome must've rubbed off on him a little bit."
"What am I going to do?" Sakura whispered, mortified, "he even brought Ranma with him!"
"You could try losing the bra. That might help," Junko said seriously.
Before Sakura could even contemplate Junko's ridiculous suggestion, Kyle walked up to Sakura and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at her.
"Sis, what are you doing in a place like this?" Kyle demanded, doing his best to look authoritive (and succeeding to a surprising degree).
Sakura twiddled her fingers nervously as she looked down, blushing brightly. "Well... it's not that bad... and it's pretty easy money..."
"Easy money?!" Kyle shouted, "what am I gonna tell Dad when he sees pictures of you in your underwear hanging on the all the corner newsstands?! Junko's been a terrible influence on you!"
"Oh, sure. Blame the cheap nymphomaniac," Junko mumbled irritably.
"And what's wrong with you, anyway?" Kyle asked, turning toward Ranma, "you've barely moved since we came in here!"
Ranma blinked slowly, orienting his gaze on Kyle. "I'm surrounded by women in their underwear, and they're not beating me up. It takes some getting used to."
Kyle held his face in his hands.
Ranma frowned as Sakura continued fiddling nervously. "Why are you working at a place like this, anyway? I thought this kinda work was degrading and stuff."
Junko snorted. "That's just something ugly women say because they can't land jobs like this."
"Anyway, it doesn't matter," Kyle said, taking Sakura's hand. "We're going. If you need to find a real job, I can help you, but you shouldn't have to lower yourself to this. You're better than that, sis."
"All right..." Sakura said, letting Kyle lead her to the door. Even if she didn't see what the big deal was, he had a point about having to explain it to their parents.
"What's going on here?" Everybody in the room turned toward the photographer as he re-entered the studio.
The man quickly noticed Kyle and Ranma, and he blinked. "Who are you?"
"I'm-" Kyle started to introduce himself, when the photographer immediately put and hand up, signaling for silence.
"Wait! Never mind. Just hold still." As Kyle stood froze in absolute confusion, the man held up his palms flat in front of him with his thumbs touching. "Hmmm... I like what I'm seeing..."
"You... what?" Kyle sweatdropped.
"And you!" The photographer declared, turning toward Ranma and looking him up and down, "I see definite potential here!"
Ranma didn't really know how to respond to that, so he merely bore the inspection wearily, rubbing his head.
Finally, the photographer stood up. "You, with the pigtail. Drop the pants."
"Drop dead," Ranma responded without hesitation.

"Hey! There's something going on outside!" One of the models that had been watching the exchange from next to a window pointed down toward the street.
As a sinking feeling took hold in the pit of Ranma's stomach, he dashed to the window to find out what had attracted such attention.
To see two police cars controlling a flood of vehicle and pedestrian traffic out of a single road was a sight far better than what he had hoped for, but it was still a warning of great danger.
Ranma turned toward his companions. "It's an evacuation! We have to settle this quickly!"
He rushed up to Kyle, and then poked him in the chest. "Kyle, you're being too overprotective of Sakura. She's an adult and can make her own decisions."
Then he turned to Sakura. "Sakura, you're letting everyone pull you around by the nose. Make your own decisions, would ya?"
Finally, his gaze met Junko's. "Junko, nobody's taking any pictures of you right now. Put on some damn clothes!"
Without another word, the newly enlisted soldier grabbed his partner and rushed from the room toward the streets below.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

"We've got an emergency call from a police unit!! We have a number of Russian armor units moving southwest near the bay!!" A Core technician rushed through the briefing hall through the throngs of soldiers, waving a paper sheet above his head as he made haste to the sergeant's office.
All around the hall, the Core infantry that were stationed at HQ between their patrols departed for the armory to await commands after getting fully ready for combat.
The technician stopped at the door of Yujikata's office, and was quickly joined by a corporal who was already in his protect-gear, sans helmet.
The corporal took the briefing and dismissed the technician, and a moment later Yujikata came out of his office.
"What do you want, maggot?" Yujikata asked tiredly. Damn that Saotome to hell! That bastard was gonna pay for treating him like that!
"Sergeant!" The corporal said, saluting and holding out the report. "Russian armor units were spotted moving down the main avenue in the warehouse district! It must be Yuchtzky's men making an assault! The surrounding areas have been evacuated and we have orders to intercept and destroy all hostiles!"
Yujikata took the report wearily and pretended to read it as his subordinate continued.
"Intelligence is sketchy given how quickly we received this information and the suddenness of the attack, but from all the descriptions we have, the tanks are an obsolete model, but have some kind of supporting vehicles that we have no information on. Police reports say that a giant smoke screen is moving with the armor column, obscuring the force's full strength. SWAT teams are being gathered at their HQs for anti-armor equipping, but everything and everyone else has been ordered to the edge of the evacuation zone until SWAT and Core forces are prepared for deployment. General Remerick has been called to a meeting with the Prime Minister about the evacuation, and Colonel Tokima has been redirected onto the field already."
Yujikata nodded, balling up the briefing in his fist and tossing it back over his shoulder. "They're heading for the Tokoyama prison on the outskirts. We'll engage them there."
The corporal blinked. They were? That wasn't on the report. "Are you certain?"
"Don't talk back to me, nitwit!" Yujikata growled, "it's the only place that they'd want to bust into in that direction!"
The corporal sincerely doubted that; there were a number of targets generally southwest of the bay that would be far more valuable than a number of released prisoners to swell the terrorists' ranks.
"Order all units to converge on the prison immediately. Once we reach it, we'll regroup and meet the enemy head-on."
"Sergeant?" The corporal asked again, uncertainly. "Nearly all the men are out on patrols without heavy weapons or protect-gear. Wouldn't it be wiser to have them regroup here at HQ first, or, if speed is absolutely critical, to have the units here suit up and move out and have the units on patrol engage later in a separate wave? I'm sure that Colonel Tokima could-"
"SHUT UP!!" Yujikata yelled, glaring at the man. "I said we're moving out, so we're MOVING OUT. NOW. Relay my orders to the troops at once and get your ass to the prison. The next time you question one of my orders, I'm going to have you &^%$#!~ shot!!"
The corporal resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and nodded obediently. "Right away Sergeant."

As the corporal left, Yujikata shook his head. The brainy little bastards they stuck him with were always trying to one-up his decisions, and when it so happened that his authority over the troops was really the only advantage he held in his division, it was grating to have his subordinates throwing out superior tactics and strategic decisions every time he made a move.
He grinned a little bit as he headed for the armor himself, and his special protect-gear locker. It didn't really matter. If things went as his contact had told him last night, there would be a lot less of the brainy little bastards after today.

*****************************************************************************************

Ninjas eaten alive: 1
Criminals that aren't dead, but really wish they were: 1

End Chapter 13