Disclaimer: Ranma Saotome, Vandread and Tekkaman Blade belong to their own 
respective creators/owners and are only being used in this fanfic for fun 
and not profit.

Introduction: Since my previous attempt at fusing Ranma and Teknoman seemed 
to have hit a dead end, I decided to try another approach. Recently, I had 
gotten hooked on an anime called Vandread and was inspired after seeing 
those CGI battles and cool mecha designs. I figured, why not? I also wanted 
to flesh it out a bit more and perhaps add some new twists. So here we have 
the revamped story of Ranma as something a bit more. This prologue shall be 
the only time in which the Nerima Wrecking Crew will be seen, so you can 
just forget about Ranma being paired with any of the Fiancee Brigade.

< >: Thoughts

Prologue

"What? The scout ship was destroyed?" The Radam Warlord remarked as his 
subordinate told him of the fate of one of his exploratory craft.

"Yes, my Lord." The subordinate replied as he gave the details. "It had 
encountered a fierce meteor shower when it entered the minor system near the 
outer fringes of the neighboring galaxy. The cargo of Tekkapods was mostly 
destroyed when the ship exploded, but we have reason to believe that a few 
of them did scatter toward the inner planets of that system. Initial scans 
indicated that the third planet of that planetary system does possess a race 
of sentient life forms that can be converted into Tekkamen.  If even one of 
those pods manages to take root on that planet's surface, we may be able to 
subjugate that world that much sooner."

The Radam ruler was silent for a moment as he considered the possibilities. 
He then shrugged as he replied. "It makes no difference if a pod does land 
on that planet. The technology of that world, as I understand it, is 
primitive and would not be able to stand up to the might of the Radam. There 
is no hurry to conquer that region of the cosmos as we are still working on 
this sector. If a pod does take root and start transforming the beings into 
our servants, then it will be that much easier to take over that world when 
we eventually arrive. If not, then it will be a simple matter to seed that 
world with more of our Tekkapods and conquer that world then."

"Yes Master. Though being so far from our influence, any pod that does land 
on that planet, will have to fall back on its integrated programming and the 
process will be slow. It may take years, perhaps even decades for it to 
transform even one life form into a Tekkaman. Then again, replication of 
itself will take place immediately when it takes root and it will spread to 
cover that planet in just a few short years."

"As I said before, there is no hurry. After we secure this sector, we have 
more than a dozen regions to overrun afterwards before we can turn our 
attention toward that solar system. Ah, so many places to dominate and we 
have all the time in the Universe to do it. Although, it will be quite 
interesting to see what kind of Tekkaman a pod can create from those pitiful 
life forms on that planet. It is very unlikely that we will encounter 
anything that could stop us."

----------

They were wrong.

Though the Radam war machine was a fearsome force to be reckoned with in the 
cosmos, it was not the only predator. There were many others that also 
preyed upon lesser beings. One race in particular, was not interested in 
conquest, but rather in survival, at any cost! Even if it meant the total 
annihilation of another race... including the Radam. As such, it was not 
concerned with casualties or gaining territory. Existence was the only thing 
on this race's mind. Existence and sustenance to continue that existence. To 
these aliens, the Radam only meant one thing to them... food.

Eventually, the two sides would meet in the infinite void of space. The 
ensuing battle between them would result in near-catastrophic losses on both 
sides, but in the end, the Radam had finally met their betters. After 
countless centuries of victories and destroyed civilizations, the Radam 
Empire fell under the feet of this more terrible enemy. It would take 
several more decades before the last of the Radam and their Tekkamen were 
wiped out. Then, slowly but surely, the aliens began to make their way 
toward the Milky Way.

----------

On Earth, 1986...

"No please, Papa! Don't put me in that pit again!" Six-year-old Ranma 
screamed as he was pushed toward a deep pit.

"Ranma! Don't be such a whiner! Now get in there and learn the Cat Fist!" 
Genma shouted as he shoved his only child into the pit of starving cats and 
shut the lid. He was so focused on having his son learn the dreaded, yet 
ultimately flawed technique, that he ignored the flash of light that 
streaked high above him and plummeted toward the surface of the planet. Its 
landing point... somewhere in the midst of China.

----------

The Radam device, the only one to have reached the planet Earth, easily 
withstood the heat of reentry as it blazed down toward the one place, (by 
sheer coincidence of course), in which Ranma would eventually arrive at ten 
years later... Jusenkyo.

The pod splashed down hard into a large pool, causing the rest of the cursed 
training grounds to tremble and quake from the impact. This startled the 
Guide out of his hut as he came out with a kettle, expecting to see some 
poor fool crawling out of a pool in his cursed form, but he only saw the 
center pool steaming and rippling after the splashdown. He neared the edge 
and tried to peer into the depths of the spring, but whatever had landed 
into it had been driven deep into the bottom and was obscured from sight. 
The Guide continued to stare down at the waters for a long while before 
finally deciding that whatever landed in that pool had probably drowned by 
now. That particular spring had been one of the few that had not been 
imprinted yet. Well, he would find out what had landed in that spring when 
another hapless victim would fall into it. He then turned around and headed 
back to his hut.

Deep within that spring, the organic alien mechanism was experiencing some 
unforeseen difficulties. It was able to take root into the muddy bottom of 
the spring and began drawing in nourishment, but something was stopping it 
from spreading beyond the confines of the pool. It could survive for 
centuries within that pool, but it could not produce any spores to infect 
the surrounding areas. Some strange energies within the waters was 
preventing any part of it from leaving the spring. All it could do was carry 
out its primary function, which was to transform a subject into a Tekkaman. 
Now, it could only wait.

----------

Ten years later...

Ranma Saotome frowned as he voiced out his first impression of Jusenkyo. "Aw 
this place doesn't look so bad." He then absently stroked the thin scar that 
he had on the left side of his face. The memento from his Cat Fist training 
was a thin line that ran above his eye and down toward his chin. He had 
grown quite bitter after receiving a permanent reminder of his father's 
foolishness. That irrational fear of cats he had gained didn't help matters 
either. Since that time, he had been beating his father consistently, and 
was only following him now because he had no where else to go. He had lost a 
lot of respect for his parent since that time. Just recently, he had decided 
that he would abandon his father, once he had learned everything he had to 
teach. Of course, his dimwitted dad had no idea that his son felt this way 
and thought that everything was going according to his ultimate plan to 
unite the schools of the Anything Goes.

"Oh sirs, you are very strange ones, no?" The Guide said as he gestured to 
the pools. "This place is very dangerous. No one use now since there is over 
one hundred springs here and each one have own terrible tragedy happen."

"Ranma! Follow me!" Genma said as he leapt up to one of the poles that stuck 
out from the pools. Ranma followed suit, if only to beat on his father 
again. The Guide began frantically waving at the two as they began trading 
blows with each other.

By the time they passed each other in the air for the second time, Genma was 
a heartbeat too slow to block Ranma's kick and was sent splashing down into 
the Spring of Drowned Panda. However, as Ranma landed on another of the 
poles, it snapped under his weight as the bamboo was rotten. The boy was 
sent plummeting toward the large pool below and splashed down into it, just 
as Genma resurfaced as a panda.

<Looks like I finally find out what pool that was. > Thought the Guide as he 
and Genma waited for Ranma to surface.

However, Ranma would not be cursed to transform into something with cold 
water as that particular pool had never had anything or anyone drown in its 
waters. It did however had something else in it. Something that was not of 
this world and had been waiting patiently to fulfill its primary objective.

The alien plant came to life as it sensed a nearby life form coming near the 
bottom of the spring. It had been in that spring for over a decade and Ranma 
was the first sentient being that it had encountered since it landed on 
Earth. Now was its chance as the pseudo-organic device set forth two 
tentacle-like appendages to grab hold of its victim and drag him down toward 
its center. Ranma struggled hard to free himself from its grasp, but with 
the lack of breathable air available, the pod's power soon overwhelmed him. 
It took him down to be enveloped within the jelly-like center and Ranma 
found his consciousness slip away as his body was stripped of his clothes 
and made him curl up into a fetal position. His hair became unbound as the 
string that he had tied to make a ponytail was also stripped away.

Above the surface of the spring, Genma was beginning to sweat as he and the 
Guide waited for Ranma to come up. However, they would have a very long wait 
as the now former heir to the Anything Goes School of the Martial Arts had 
just been claimed for a greater destiny.

----------

Deep in the pool, the young martial artist was immediately put into a state 
of near-suspended animation as the Tekkapod began analyzing its subject. The 
boy's bodily functions were slowed down to their barest rates, just hovering 
above a comatose level. The alien device found out that the subject 
possessed extremely high bioenergy potentials and great innate abilities. 
Ranma would make an excellent Tekkaman. However, with no other source of 
Radam power to draw from, it had to rely on its own reserves. Furthermore, 
the magical waters of Jusenkyo also hampered the pod's functions. The 
procedure to turn Ranma into a servant of its alien masters would be a long 
and gradual process, but the device had nowhere else to go and nothing else 
to do, so it simply proceeded in carrying out its primary function.

The first order of business was to evolve Ranma's body to accept the 
Tekkaman Power System. The malnutrition and lack of growth that the martial 
artist had suffered under Genma's care was corrected and he began to slowly 
gain in height and added muscle mass. All of his body's tissues became 
energized with power as lines of light ran over him like organic circuits. 
On his forehead, a green-white light appeared in the shape of a four-pointed 
star with the outer arms pointed down at an angle. The design looked like a 
geometric horseshoe crab. Off to one side, a crystalline shape that 
resembled the one on his forehead was also being formed separately.

The process of physical evolution was a speeded-up version of the one that 
occurred naturally over millions of years as Ranma's body was accelerated to 
a state of human perfection and then beyond that.

----------

Genma Saotome, now realizing that he had lost his son, the future of the 
Anything Goes, and his meal ticket, did what any man did in his position, 
which was to panic. He spent all of five minutes searching for his son, but 
since he didn't dare jump into that cursed pool, nor look into its watery 
depths, he could only assume the worst that Ranma had perished. All he could 
think of was...

<Boygonegonnadie!Boygonegonnadie! > (1)

Genma didn't dare go home to his wife without their only child. He 
remembered that contract that he and his son had signed before they left 
home and Nodoka was not going to be pleased in the slightest if she were to 
learn that Ranma had drowned. He preferred to have his head remain in its 
present condition. He began to curse the heavens for giving him such a weak 
son, who couldn't even stand a little harmless training. Ranma just had to 
drown and spoil all of his plans for a long and luxurious retirement at the 
Tendo Dojo.

<That's it! I'll go to Soun's! Once I tell him what happened, he's sure to 
help me! > Genma then set off in another direction, leaving his presumably 
deceased son at Jusenkyo. He would first find something to fill his growling 
belly, then head to Japan.

----------

Deep within his watery prison, Ranma's body continued to undergo changes as 
the pod began carrying out another of its functions, which was to wipe out 
the memories of the subject's previous life. One by one, each of the teen's 
images of his past life were brought up and then was slowly erased as the 
alien device continued to mold him into the ideal Radam warrior. Ironically, 
as Ranma's identity was being slowly deleted, the side-effects to the Neko 
Ken training were also destroyed as the memories and trauma of the technique 
were unraveled like old fabric. However, with the magic of Jusenkyo 
hampering the alien plant, the process was slowed down to less than a 
snail's pace. What normally took the Radam device a few days to accomplish, 
Ranma's transformation was being stretched out into years, then to decades, 
then to centuries as the pod's energy reserves were gradually being used up. 
The process proceeded at a maddeningly slow pace, and the alterations would 
not be complete for hundreds of years to come. A lot can happen during that 
time. As Ranma continued to slumber within the pod, the outside world 
continued on without him. Events that could have changed his life were 
irrevocably altered with his absence.

----------

In the outside world, certain events took place as the years rolled on...

----------

In an Amazon Village...

Shampoo wiped her forehead as she got off the Challenge Log after knocking 
her final opponent off it to win the Tribal Championships. The crowds 
cheered as she hopped off the timber and made her way toward the First Prize 
Feast. All around the purple-haired girl, friends were congratulating her, 
while her rivals were promising that they would beat her next time. To the 
great-granddaughter of Cologne, it mattered very little. She had trained 
hard to become the Tribal Champion and now she could...

The girl stopped in her tracks as she saw what was hunched over the prize 
table and was devouring the banquet. The other villagers also stared at the 
large, black and white mass of fur as it continued to gobble up the food 
that had been intended for the winner of the tournament. Suffice to say, the 
people weren't happy.

Genma stopped for a moment in his eating to look up. He wondered why 
everyone was giving him such hostile glares. After all, the food was laid 
out for anyone to take. No one had laid claim on it, so it was all free, 
right? And according to the Saotome School Of Martial Arts, one should take 
every opportunity to fill one's belly, for there may not be another chance 
to do so.

Unfortunately for Ranma's father, this would prove to be his final meal as 
the villagers closed in on him.

----------

A few days later, Shampoo sighed as she stretched out on the floor of the 
living room and ran a hand through her new panda-skin rug. As she lay on her 
back, she continued to wonder just how she was going to get that irritating 
Mousse to stop pestering her.

If only she had strong husband...

----------

In Japan...

Soun Tendo was still staring out from the patio. In his hand was a postcard 
that ironically had a photo of a panda on it. On the postcard were the words 
'Arriving with Ranma in a few days- Genma' written on it.

"At last! Ranma is coming!" Soun said excitedly as he decided to call his 
daughters for a family meeting. <Won't they be pleased to know that I've 
assured their futures for them!>

However, neither he nor his daughters would ever see the Saotomes. 
Technically speaking, they no longer existed. Time would continue to pass 
and more events would occur.

----------

A month later...

"Ah, my fair tigress! Your beloved husband-to-be has arrived to..."

WHAM!

Tatewaki Kuno was sent skyward after Akane belted him for the umpteenth 
time.

"Why can't he just leave me alone?" The short-tempered girl complained as 
she stomped into Furinken High with two of her friends.

"Well he is your fiance." Yuka said slowly.

"THAT PERVERT IS NOT MY FIANC!" Akane shot back. "JUST BECAUSE HE GOT LUCKY 
AND BEAT ME THAT ONE TIME..."

At that moment, Nabiki walked up to her. "Technically speaking, he is your 
fiance. Remember, Daddy was the one who formalized the engagement when Kuno 
baby came in and offered all that money. And from what I remember from that 
fight, he wasn't lucky. He just finally figured out that he had to go all 
out to beat you."

"Shut up, Nabiki! This is all his fault! Him and that stupid speech of his!"

"Well, there is a way in which you can get out of this..." The middle 
daughter began.

This immediately got Akane's attention. "What? Tell me! I'll give you my 
allowance for a year!"

The second daughter of Soun Tendo thought for a moment, then shook her head. 
"No. That won't work. Forget it."

"TELL ME!"

"Well, remember back when Daddy told us about that pledge to unite the 
schools of the Anything Goes? Now since that promise was made before we were 
even born, then that should take precedence over Kuno's claim. Now if that 
Ranma Saotome were to show up, then you could tell Kuno that you're engaged 
to him."

Akane felt a glimmer of hope, though she blanched at the thought of openly 
admitting that she was engaged to some boy. However Nabiki then said, "But 
since he never showed up, I guess that flushes that idea down the toilet."

And along with that idea, Akane's hopes were also flushed.

----------

Another month later...

"OH, HO, HO, HO, HO, HO, HO! My, my, my! How very disappointing! I had hoped 
that the Furinken Gymnastics Team would have at least one competitor this 
year, but it looks like St. Hebereke wins by default again."

At the Nerima Hospital, Akane lay in a body cast after Kodachi Kuno had 
visited her the night before.

----------

"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW????!!!"

Guess who's still lost?

----------

A few more months after that...

"Father! How could you?"

Kasumi felt betrayed as she was told that she had been chosen to be the 
bride of Picolet Chardin III. Apparently, Soun had neglected to tell his 
family of a certain promise he had made after losing an eating match.

----------

More time has passed...

"HA HA HA HA HA! Your sign now belongs to me!"

Soun was flooding the floor of the dojo with his tears as the Dojo Destroyer 
towered over his broken opponent.

Akane had thought she could win against this behemoth. After all, she was 
the best martial artist in Nerima, wasn't she? The time that Kuno had beaten 
her had been a fluke, right? She had been breaking more bricks and training 
dummies since then. Surely that beating she had received from Kodachi had 
made her stronger to take on this bully. She would triumph over him and show 
to all that she was still the best.

All these thoughts and other delusions continued to run through her mind as 
her body throbbed with agonizing pain. She was unable to get up as her 
opponent walked over to the front of the training hall. She felt her heart 
breaking as she heard the sound of wood being torn free from its foundation. 
When she finally managed to raised her head up, she caught sight of the Dojo 
Destroyer as he left her home. Slung over his shoulder was his latest prize, 
the sign of the Tendo Dojo.

----------

Still more time passes by...

The entire district of Nerima would suffer with the arrival of Soun and 
Genma's dread sensei, Happosai. With no one to keep the perverted master in 
check, the females and their undergarments were constantly harassed. Added 
to these problems were several acts of thievery and mayhem as the enemies of 
the lecher came one after another, resulting in massive property damage. As 
a consequence, many of the inhabitants of the district decided to save 
themselves and moved away. When Pantyhose Tarou showed up, things got even 
more hazardous. Nerima soon became a ghost town within Tokyo.

----------

Another key moment...

Eventually, when Lychee and her Elephant showed up with their half of the 
sacred scroll, things turned from bad to worse. Akane accidentally got a 
hold of the piece of parchment at the exact moment that Prince Kirin showed 
up to claim his bride. Akane was taken away, never to be seen again as there 
was no one to rescue her. However, the marriage was to be short-lived as 
even a master fighter from the School of the Seven Lucky Gods Martial Arts 
proved to be no match for Akane's Pickled Souffle Surprise. As for the Tendo 
girl...well, let's just say that the inhabitants of Nekonron, China were not 
happy to see their ruler done in by his bride's cooking.

----------

And so the Anything Goes ends...

Soun Tendo became even more emotional (if such a thing were possible), after 
the loss of two of his daughters and his dojo. With the realization that his 
lifelong dream would never be fulfilled, there was no reason to go on. Soon 
afterwards, Soun committed suicide. The schools of the Anything Goes died 
with him. No one wanted to learn the discipline as it was connected with the 
infamy of Happosai.

----------

The aftermath...

Nabiki wiped her tears as the priest completed the ceremony and motioned for 
the pallbearers to lay her father's coffin in its final resting place. She 
could not believe that she was now alone. The last of her family was gone 
and there was just no need to stay in Nerima any longer. She then made her 
decision and a few weeks later, the family home was sold as the last of 
Tendo line departed for Osaka, hoping to bury her past and start anew.

As this was happening in Nerima, a young okonomiyaki chef continued on with 
his... her mission of vengeance and retribution against the former childhood 
friend that she thought had betrayed her. However, that all came to an end 
when she one day encountered the mother of that said friend and learned of 
his disappearance and was assumed dead with his no-good father. As a result, 
the honor to the Kuonji family had been satisfied and Ukyo was free to get 
on with her life as a girl. However, she never did forget her Ran-chan and 
her return to womanhood would take a turn that no one would ever expect.

----------

All of this was of no consequence to the being that was still slumbering 
within the Radam pod, as his identity as Ranma Saotome was slowly being 
wiped from existence. Nodoka later remarried and went on to live a happy 
life with her new husband and family, still believing that her first child 
was dead. Perhaps it was best that way, for she would not recognize her son 
when he would finally emerge from the pool at Jusenkyo. That would not 
happen for a very, very long time. Eventually, each and every person who had 
known of Ranma Saotome was gone. Their bodies would be nothing more than 
dust by the time he would reappear.

Due to the nature of the Springs of Jusenkyo, the alien device was totally 
cut off from any outside sources of power and it would take centuries before 
it could finally complete the transformation process. With the Radam gone, 
whatever emerged from that pod would be one of a kind.

---------

The planet Earth would go through many changes during this period. More wars 
would be fought as the people of the planet continued to fight among 
themselves. The landscape became devastated as mankind teetered on the brink 
of extinction, due to global civil war. Then... it happened.

The unstoppable force that had decimated even the mighty Radam had finally 
arrived. Whatever squabbles the humans had for one another was quickly cast 
aside in order to counter this new threat. However, due to the lack of 
resources from their own wars and conflicts, the people of Earth found 
themselves ill-prepared for the invaders. Soon, with their population at 
barely one hundredth of its original number of six billion, the humans were 
only left with two options... abandon their home planet, or keep on 
fighting.

Before the invaders began their final onslaught, a fleet of hastily-built 
colony ships were launched. Each ship had been designed to explore and 
terra-form whatever planets they came across. Several hundred people did 
stay behind to fight the alien menace, using a new kind of 
crystalline-fusion power source called Paksis, which the humans had stolen 
from the enemy. They waged a valiant battle until finally, they managed to 
overcome their oppressors. However, the cost was enormous and the remainder 
of humanity and the Earth were changed forever. What now inhabited the 
planet couldn't even be called... human.

By this time, the rest of Earth's survivors were long gone to the stars and 
it would be decades before they would hear from their long-lost cousins. 
However, even out in the void of space, the humans would still fight among 
themselves.

One ship in particular, the Ikazuchi, would soon become the focal point of a 
new conflict. Due to some arguments between the men and women of the crew, a 
fight broke out and the ship was split into two segments. One segment, which 
carried only men, eight in all, crash-landed on a barren and desolate world. 
They had very little in technology, and would have to fall back on their 
more baser instincts to survive.

The other segment, which housed only females landed on a more hospitable 
planet, with nearly all their technology intact. These people would go on to 
build a new world in which only their gender would reign supreme. Who needed 
men?

More years would pass, and the two sides would evolve civilizations and 
their own separate cultures. With the absence of the opposite gender, each 
side had to procreate by way of cloning methods. Furthermore, with the lack 
of women on the male planet of Tarak, and no men on the female planet of 
Mejale, plus the hatred that both sides bred into their successors, it 
wasn't long before the people of both planets believed the opposite sex to 
be an alien species, despite the fact that they all originated from Earth. 
By the time of the third generations, the two worlds became locked in war 
once again.

----------

Back on Earth, five hundred years after that fateful plunge...

Though nearly all the pools of Jusenkyo were now either inactive or 
evaporated from war and the alien invasion, one pool remained intact. Now, 
with the magic of the waters finally fading away, the Radam machine began 
making up for lost time, and speeded up the process to convert the subject 
within into one of the mightiest warriors in the cosmos. Then, one day, it 
finally surfaced and broke open, releasing the person from his slumber. The 
pod exploded, scattering icky pus and fluids from within as a figure emerged 
naked from its depths. After using the last of its energy reserves to 
complete the process, the pod dissolved into a putrid, gooey mass, unable to 
reproduce itself to spread over the Earth. Not that it mattered since the 
planet was more or less unsuitable for most plants to be sustained.

The being stood up and surveyed the area as he waded toward the edge of the 
pool. He was a tall figure, standing about two inches above six feet. His 
raven hair wafted gently in the evening breeze as he set foot on the dry 
ground. His build was lean but finely muscled, hinting at power and grace. 
His blue eyes scanned the landscape and noted the increased humidity as he 
glowed with a soft, green-white light. Occasionally, lines of red light 
would flash across his body, displaying the Tekkaman circuits that ran 
through his body, infusing every cell with quantum energy, and was also 
boosting his potential to generate ki to its highest levels.

The young man raised a hand toward a large boulder that was nearby simply 
focused his inner energies. His hand glowed and the lines within were 
briefly visible as a huge blast of ki with minute amounts of quantum energy 
exploded from his palm to reduce the solid granite rock into powder. The man 
looked down at his palm and contemplated it for a moment. What would have 
taken a trained martial artist a lifetime to accomplish, took him only 
seconds. The person who was once Ranma Saotome would have taken some time to 
develop his own ki projectile, even with his formerly amazing ability to 
learn techniques quickly. The Radam pod had in a way, put Ranma through the 
equivalent of a hundred lifetimes of martial arts training with its 
biological alterations and enhancements of his body. His strength, reflexes, 
recuperative powers and all his other physical attributes had been enhanced 
to inhuman levels. He was what the Nazis of World War II had strived to 
create... the superior human.

Despite having slumbered in the pod for more than five centuries, Ranma 
looked to be around seventeen years old, and his face had become more 
angular and defined. The Radam device had slowed down the aging process in 
order to make the necessary changes to his biostructure. The only detail 
that the pod left from his original body was the thin scar on his face that 
he had received when he was six during the Cat Fist training. That mark did 
not detract from his appearance, but made him more rugged-looking. The pod 
thought that the mark was of no consequence and did nothing to change it. 
However, its mission to totally convert Ranma into a servant of the Radam 
was never realized. With nothing left of that alien race, the individual had 
his own free will and was permanently in control of the power that the pod 
had given to him.

Due to the interfering magical energies of Jusenkyo and the intense 
spiritual training Ranma had undergone, the pod had been unable to wipe out 
every memory of his former self. Ranma could not remember the details of his 
former life or even his own name, but he did still remember the rules of 
being a martial artist, which included defending the weak and innocent. As a 
result, the former heir to the Anything Goes had no desire to subjugate 
anyone, though he had more than enough power to do so. He was confused and 
alone. All the people that knew of him were gone. There were no Radam 
masters to serve, therefore, he was on his own.

In his mind, he kept on hearing a name that was not his, yet sounded so 
right to him.

<Slade... Slade... Slade... Is that who I am? >

He looked back down to his hand and began focusing on it. A bright flash of 
light appeared and something materialized in his palm. It was about the size 
of a baseball and glittered in the moonlight. Ranma's... Slade's Emerald 
Tekkaman Crystal glowed with power as the young man considered it for a 
moment. In his mind, he began receiving silent instructions in his mind that 
had been left by the pod. This was supposed to be the key to his 
transformation process. When not in use, it was kept in a subspace pocket.

<Transformation...? What does it mean? > Slade wondered as he held the 
crystal aloft to gaze at it. His eyes then narrowed as he clutched the 
object in his hand and shouted out one phrase.

"TEKSETTER!"

Instantly, the crystal flashed and pulsated with energy as Slade was 
engulfed by that light. He had called upon the universal forces of time and 
space which began his incredible metamorphosis. A tiny glowing symbol that 
resembled his crystal appeared on his forehead. The Tekkaman circuit lines 
ran over his body and glowed as sections of alien metal appeared and 
attached themselves to his flesh. His body became endowed with impenetrable 
armor (by human standards), and was given quantum energy weapons. His 
already superhuman abilities were further increased as the process 
continued. In less than a few seconds, the one who was formally Ranma 
Saotome had disappeared. Only Tekkaman Slade remained.

The Tekkaman now stood at a height of over seven feet and looked like some 
kind of space-age knight. His shoulders had huge armored epaulets and his 
helmet looked like an insect's head. Though he was massive, his body 
retained its graceful, sleek lines and he looked like was built more for 
speed rather than brute power. On his back, a couple of narrow nacelles 
opened up and low-density plasma engines fired up. Soon the Tekkaman was 
airborne and streaking off into the heavens at several times the speed of 
sound.

Slade decided to do a quick survey of the planet, and saw that it was not a 
very hospitable place. Nearly all of the surface was flooded by heavy 
rainstorms with only a few small landmasses, including the place where 
Jusenkyo once stood. A huge metal framework of gears, cams and levers 
surrounded the planet, with one large bulge on the northern hemisphere. That 
particular area was where the Earth's moon had been engulfed. The interior 
of the frame housed a few sprawling cities, but Slade had no interest in 
visiting them. With constant rainstorms occurring between the frame and the 
planet's surface, the Earth was like one huge washing machine. It was a very 
dismal existence indeed.

After deciding that the Earth was no longer fit for human or any other life 
form, the Tekkaman then made a beeline for the stars, in search of his 
destiny in the cosmos.

----------

Several months later, in a factory on Tarak...

Slade sighed as he sat down at the table and gazed at his lunch. Food on 
Tarak consisted of nutrition pellets which tasted awful, though they did 
provide three hundred hours of energy for labor. With Slade's 
hyper-metabolic rate as a Tekkaman, he couldn't really complain. This was 
all there was to eat on Tarak.

For the past few months, he had been soaring the space ways, stopping 
periodically on any planet to rest and replenish his stores of energy. He 
had taken various shortcuts through space warps and such, to traverse great 
distances. With no Radam influences, the Earth Tekkaman could stay in his 
transformed state for as long as he wished, without losing control, though 
his powers did use up tremendous energy. He had seen many things during his 
interstellar travels and had encountered hundreds of different alien races. 
He had endured many battles and was well-versed in the ways of combat, both 
in his human form and his transformed state.

The Tekkaman had arrived on Tarak some time ago and had set himself up as a 
third-class worker. He had no intention of spending the rest of his life on 
this world as a menial laborer. He had only taken this job in order to stock 
up on energy and rest. Soon, he would move on.

As of now, he had been taking part in assembling the planet's newest 
weapons, the Van-Type Bangattas, or Vanguards as they were called. These 
machines were large, humanoid mecha that were twenty-five to thirty feet in 
height and sported a variety of close-quarters melee weapons. They were 
primitive in comparison to his Tekkaman armor, but the work was steady, and 
provided him with three meals a day and a roof over his head.

He had also learned much about the culture of this world and was somewhat 
disgusted by it. The men were totally ignorant of their so-called sworn 
enemies, women. They pictured woman as hideous monsters that devoured the 
innards of their victims and sucked the life out of men. Every person that 
Slade had met described females as ugly, terrible beasts that should be 
destroyed as soon as they were seen. Never mind the fact that they had never 
seen a woman before. It was all just rumors and propaganda generated by the 
government.

However, Slade knew what they were. They came from the same place he came 
from after all. So did the men of Tarak. He still remembered what a female 
was. The lessons he had learned as Ranma Saotome were still with him, though 
his memories of his past life were all but shadows in his mind. He knew 
about the 'birds and the bees' from his travels, though he mentioned none of 
this to the other men. It wasn't his place, and he'd probably scare the 
living daylights out of them if he did.

The men of Tarak were arrogant and extremely prideful. They disregarded many 
important factors as they continued to wage war against their relatively 
unknown enemy. For one thing, the women had superior technology and tactics, 
while the men were just barely making it in space travel. The female space 
pirates had decimated the Tarak Space Fleet and were raiding transport ships 
at will. The men were focusing all their resources on war, instead of 
concentrating on improving their planet and their lifestyles. Technology 
that could have benefited medical, agricultural and scientific research was 
instead being used to wage senseless battle against an enemy that they were 
trained to hate since birth. And with every battle, the men lose a little 
more of what few resources they possessed. Though they still persisted 
because of that overwhelming pride. Sometimes, he wondered if he had ever 
been like that before being transformed.

Though Slade did understand their need to overcome the ones who attacked 
them, he also understood that they were fighting a losing battle. However, 
it was not his place nor his world to interfere. Once he got enough food and 
rest, he would depart and leave this system. There were other worlds out 
there for him to explore, and new challenges that awaited him. Though as a 
martial artist and fighter, he did have that instinct for combat, and at 
times wanted to pit his mettle against the women. However, he knew that it 
would be no contest. The women had impressive technology, but that didn't 
compare to the power of a Tekkaman. He didn't like beating up on the weak.

Just then, his cast his attention over to a vid-screen where the High Prime 
Minister of Tarak was giving his speech. Apparently, in addition to the 
Van-types, another huge project was nearing completion. It had been the 
colony ship that had brought the men to this world in the first place. 
However, the Ikazuchi had been rebuilt as a battle cruiser and would soon be 
launched to be the flagship of the new Space Fleet in just a few hours.

At that point, Slade made a decision. Why wait any longer? And why waste any 
of his own power, when he could just hitch a ride aboard that ship? Without 
finishing his meal, he got up and left the cafeteria of the factory, heading 
toward the small domicile that he was currently residing in. Thirty minutes 
later, after collecting what few belongings he had into a travel bag and 
slinging it over his shoulder, he began to make his way toward the military 
base. Thanks to the martial arts and thieving skills he had learned from his 
previous life under Genma Saotome, he easily made it past the guards and 
security and was soon inside the great battleship as it stood ready on the 
launching pad.

----------

After an hour of wandering through the bowels of the huge craft, he finally 
found a place where he could sleep until the ship was deep in space. From 
there he could fly out an airlock and be on his way.

The place appeared to be a large storage room, which was filled with rows 
and rows of the new mecha that the men had built. Though they were 
primitive, Slade felt a bit of a kinship with them. They were weapons of 
war, just as he was created to be an instrument of war. Setting his bag off 
to one side, he sat down and leaned against the leg of one of the huge 
machines. Folding his arms over his chest he soon drifted off to sleep.

----------

As the Ikazuchi was being prepped for launch, other individuals were hard at 
work. Out near the orbit of Mejale, a group of space pirates were preparing 
for the biggest score of their careers. Their target... the Ikazuchi.

Now the stage was set with one factor that pirates had not counted on. The 
last Tekkaman in the universe was snoozing aboard their intended prey.

End of Prologue


Author's notes

Well, that's it for the prologue. I know that it was long but I had to fill 
out some gaps and such. As one may have guessed, there is no Hibiki Tokai 
and Ranma as Slade, will be making quite an impact as this new series 
commences.

For those of you who are wondering, yes Ranma is acting OOC, but he has been 
transformed and only a few of his traits will emerge from time to time, 
making some interesting character interactions. Also keep in mind that 
without Genma's influence or Akane, Ranma will be quite different from the 
one we all know.

As for what had happened to the Nerima Wrecking Crew, well... no Ranma. That 
meant that things that would have happened never did and disasters that 
could have been prevented were not. End of discussion.

After watching the entire Vandread Series and also Tekkaman Blade and 
Tekkaman Blade II, I decided  to make a few changes, such as the title. I'll 
be using the Tekkaman Blade references, except for the name Slade, (which I 
like better than D-Boy, though you may expect that name to pop up). As for 
the storyline, this fanfic will mostly follow the Vandread series, with a 
few key changes. I won't be retelling Vandread word for word, and there will 
be a few surprises that many of my readers won't be expecting. That's what 
fanfics are all about, right?

(1) I couldn't resist this quip after reading Shade's Private Bet #10
