Instead of a disclaimer, I'd like to issue an apology to all three of the people who read the last chapter of Guardian and believed the phony lemon warning. I'm truly sorry. Sorry you're all such saps! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Shout out to Leroy Loke, who, after half an eternity of E-mailing me with ideas, finally got me to use one!

Guardian
Chapter 16
And, uh... the Storm

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

Tiro wiped some of the sweat off his brow, and let the grass clippers fall to the dirt below him.
"It really figures she'd only have plants that have thorns... yeesh." Sighing, he began to stretch his back, breathing deeply of the morning air.
Then he picked up the clippers again. "Man, grunt work sucks." Then he felt a certain sensation in the back of his mind, and he grinned. "But you gotta love the work environment."
Listening carefully for the sounds of footsteps, the ex-police officer positioned himself behind a tall hedge, waiting for his target to get within range.
'Target confirmed! ETA... six seconds! All primary functions are green! Secondaries are go! Target locked! Initiating hit cycle!'
As if on a carefully prepared timer, Tiro jolted forward from behind the hedge, walking across the adjacent footpath just quickly enough for his target to stub her toe on his heel, sending her reeling forward in surprise.
A quick rotation, and Tiro's target fell into his arms, her relatively light weight settling easily into his carefully braced support.
"Oh! Bei! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"
The young insurgent blinked rapidly, attempting to overcome her surprise at having tripped. The sensation of a hand lightly grasping one of her breasts snapped her mind from its panicked haze, and the young woman let out a growl before jumping out of Tiro's protective embrace.
Tiro blinked. "You're welcome." *Slap!* "Ow..."
Bei took several deep breaths as she massaged her hand, trying to keep from attacking the man further. "Would. You. STOP DOING THAT?!"
"Doing what?" Tiro asked, looking as innocent as he could. Which wasn't particularly innocent at all.
"Never mind! Just... get away from me!" Bei turned around in a huff, only to have her antagonizer simply step in front of her.
"Now, now, I just wanted to talk a little, you know?" Tiro grinned.
Bei's eyes narrowed. "Talk? Really..."
Suddenly, the young terrorist jumped forward and ripped open Tiro's jacket. "All right, where's the wire?! I swear to God, if you're taking this job just to spy on us..."
Tiro chuckled as Bei began to feel over his chest. "Hey, would it help if I took off my shirt, too?" *Slap!* "Ow..."
The young woman snorted and pulled away from him. "Forget it. If you're not helping our enemy, then we have nothing to talk about, anyway."
"Aw, c'mon!" Tiro protested, following Be as she attempted to leave. "I'm just the gardener! I'm not here to spy on you!"
Bei grit her teeth. "You're an ex-cop!"
"Emphasis on 'ex'," Tiro remarked, smirking. "So, whaddya say? Can I take you out to lunch?"
"You can drop dead," Bei murured sourly.
"After I take you out to lunch?" Tiro asked hopefully.
"Would you knock it off?!" The terrorist girl shouted. "I am NOT going to go out with you! Hell, if you weren't a favored relative of Miss Tokima, I promise you, I would have shot you in the head myself!"
Tiro blinked. "But... I AM a relative of Miss Tokima... so how about that date?"
"AAAARGH!!" Bei almost fell to the ground as she clutched the sides of her head.
Tiro took this as a good sign, and pressed forward as his victim's defenses weakened.
"Come on now! Think of it as an opportunity to 'convert' me! Heh heh heh..."
Bei rounded on him, obviously furious. "The Freedom's Angels, the group that will bring PROSPERITY and STRENGTH to the new world, does NOT need idiots like you in its ranks!"
Tiro just smirked. "Last I checked, the idiots like me totally crushed the idiots like you during that scuffle in Tokyo Bay. Oho! Burn!"
Bei turned around as Tiro pumped an arm up and down in the air in victory. 'I will not kill him. I will not kill him. I will not kill him... he is an annoyance, not an obstacle. A pest, not an enemy. Just... Just think of him as another Yoshi Konta, except he doesn't do anything for us besides keeping the bushes trimmed...'
"Hmm? Bei, is something wrong?"
Bei jerked to attention as Alexandra approached, and quickly attempted to gather her wits. "Uh, Miss Tokima! Er, no! No! Nothing's wrong!"
Tiro smirked. "We were just talking about having dinner later, that's all."
Bei grimaced. "And I was just informing Mr. Yamazaki that I am FAR too busy with our usual array of liberation operations to bother with-"
"Oh, that's quite all right," Alexandra interrupted, smiling pleasantly. "Of course you can take the day off, Bei!"
A look of growing horror appeared on the young woman's face. "N-No! Miss Tokima! You need my help!"
"Don't be silly," Alex assured her, ignorant of the way her cousin was grinning victoriously, "really, you don't get enough time to relax as it is. You could use some stress relief!"
"Time alone with that pervert is NOT stress relief!!" Bei cried, only to be ignored as Alex turned toward her cousin.
"Now Tiro, I want you to take good care of Bei today, all right?"
Grin. "I'll take VERY good care of her."
Alexandra nodded. "Excellent. Just make sure that while you're out today, you avoid government buildings and large commercial areas where crowds of people may gather. For your own safety."
"Roger!" Tiro said happily, oblivious to the implications.
"And when you're trimming the vines on the outer fences, make sure to be careful of the hidden tripwires, or-"
"Or I'll activate the mines and automated defense turrets and get blown away. Yeah, I remember," Tiro assured her, nodding. "By the way, thanks again for giving me this job, Alex."
The murderous general smirked. "Well, you ARE family; it was the least I could do. I'll bet that prissy little sell-out Mia didn't provide any offers."
Tiro chuckled slightly and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, no, but in all fairness, she lives in an apartment so that she can be close to the base. She doesn't really have any need for servants."
Alexandra shrugged. "Whatever. Just make sure to do a good job and be careful not to get killed." Then she turned to Bei and smiled broadly. "Please Bei, just relax and enjoy yourself for once! And be sure to show my cousin a good time!"
Bei felt a wave of freezing cold shoot down her spine as the shapely terrorist winked at her. "M-Miss Tokima! Please! Can't I take a triple shift at guard duty instead?! Or maybe I could be a subject for the new mutant experiments! Or I can volunteer for a suicide mission! ANYTHING!!"
Alex simply waved the smaller girl off as she began to leave. "Not now! I have to make an important phone call before we prepare for the attack this afternoon!" Frowning slightly to forestall any further interruptions, Alexandra withdrew a cellular phone from her pocket and began dialing as she walked away.

Tiro tried unsuccessfully to contain a snicker as his cousin left, and immediately put his arm around the young woman's shoulders. "Oh well! Why don't we start things off with tea first, and see where things go from there?"
*C-click!* Bei's eyes narrowed as she pressed the barrel of her .45 caliber pistol into the soft flesh behind Tiro's jaw.
"I swear to God Yamazaki, if you don't get your hands off me RIGHT NOW-"
The former police officer didn't flinch. "Oh, come on now! We both know that if there's one thing you're NOT willing to do, it's disappoint my cuz. Why don't you lighten up a bit and just accept a free meal and full-body massage?"
Bei twitched. "You're right... I can't kill you, can I? But as long as I don't kill you..." Her frown disappearing, the young woman withdrew her gun slightly and then lowered its aim until it pointed solidly at Tiro's groin area.
She smiled as she saw his eyes widen. "So, Mr. Yamazaki, exactly how far are you willing to go to get into a girl's pants?"
Droplets of sweat began to pour down Tiro's forehead. "I, uh, think you just found the line yourself."
"I thought so," Bei said humorlessly. "Arm?"
Fast as lighting, Tiro pulled his arm back to his side, where he stood rigidly at attention.
Calmly wiping off her arm as if some distasteful substance had been ground into her jacket, the young terrorist turned away from her tormentor. "Now, if I recall correctly, I believe you have a job to do."
"Uh, yes ma'am! Right away ma'am!"
Bei snorted as Tiro retreated past the wall of hedges that surrounded Alex's estate. "What an idiot. I can't believe Miss Tokima actually hired him. I mean, he was a cop just a few days ago!"
As she left for the mansion, she thought over her last statement and chastised herself. "What am I thinking? Of course Miss Tokima has measures installed to keep us safe from espionage! She wouldn't be so stupid as to keep a known threat in the area without precautions!" Shaking her head at her own stupidity, the young terrorist hurried back to the estate to change. Just because she wasn't going to take her superior's cousin out didn't mean she had to waste a day off, after all.
It so happens that as she entered the mansion, she held the door open for a moment such that two of her fellow freedom fighters could pass through behind her.

"Okay, so how are we going to keep the internal military forces from wiping out the unit? We're right in their own bay!"
The burly-looking man shrugged as he looked over the plans he was holding. "Some kind of nutty weapon that the Russian guy came up with, I think."
His female companion blinked. "You mean that cyborg guy?"
The man nodded. "That's the one." Then he shuddered. "Man, that weirdo gives me the creeps."
The woman smiled. "Oh, I don't know. I think that metal eyepatch getup is kind of cute!"
"You have frightening taste."
"Oh, go shove it!"
Approaching a stone bench near the hedge barrier, the male terrorist rolled up the large piece of paper that detailed the Freedom's Angels' mission.
"Well, now that I'm done with this, I don't suppose there's any problem with leaving it out here where anyone inside the security perimeter could snatch it up and easily escape with it!"
As he laid the plans down on the bench, his companion frowned. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea..."
The man grinned. "Relax! Only someone who's already inside the perimeter could get these plans, right? And everybody inside the perimeter is on our side!"
The woman shook her head. "I'm not so sure... General Tokima said to be careful around her new gardener."
He blinked. "New gardener?"
"Yeah. Remember? She brought it up at our briefing this morning?"
The man responded with a perfectly blank stare. "Uhm........."
The woman's eyes narrowed. "You spent the entire briefing staring at her breasts again, didn't you? No wonder you needed a copy of the attack plans!"
"So what?!" The man protested, following his companion as she stomped off toward the estate, "It's not as if my not listening will bring about the failure of the mission or anything! There's no chance of that happening! Uh-uh! No chance at all!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma hummed to himself as he walked down the street toward his favorite diner, feeling quite high in spirits. He was off duty, had much of his signing bonus still in cash, and his home was once again complete.
Things weren't perfect, of course. Disciplining Hunter had gotten a little dicey, and his leg still felt quite sore from the stitches he had made the previous night. Many would have chosen to go to the emergency room after such an encounter, but Ranma, besides being rather used to severe physical damage, didn't relish the idea of trying to explain what kind of animal sliced up his leg so badly.
"Let's see now... Mizu said she wanted to meet at that one place in the mall for lunch... is it two blocks down?" Seeing how he had the whole day off, he had arranged to spend more of the day with Mizu than she had originally planned for. Not that she had any kind of objections about it.
*Ding-ding-ding-ding!*
Ranma blinked. "Huh? What's that?"
*Ding-ding-ding-ding!*
Looking behind himself down the street and then peering down the alley failed to yield the source of the rather irritating noise, and Ranma scratched his head in confusion.
*Ding-ding-ding-ding!*
Unable to find any kind of device close to him on the ground that might have emitted such a sound, Ranma began to pat himself down, determining that the only possible source he had not yet checked had to be on his own body.
*Ding-ding-ding-ding!* His suspicion was confirmed when he found a small plastic rectangle on the inside of the jacket that had been given to him by Core.
"Duh! It's my cell phone!" Ranma said to himself, a bit embarrassed that it took him so long to figure out.
Then he blinked again. "Wait... I don't own a cell phone..."
*Ding-ding-ding-ding!*
Frowning at the mysterious device, the pigtailed man flipped it open and tagged the big green button at the top. Then he put it to his ear.
"Yo, who is it?"
*Relax Goda, it's me.*
Ranma scratched the back of his head. 'Goda? Who's that?' "Uh... 'me' who?"
The was an impatient grunt on the other end of the line. *Alexandra, you twit.*
Ranma squeezed one eye shut in thought, and remained silent for a moment. "............ Nope. Not ringing a bell. Got a last name?"
*TOKIMA!!* The voice snapped.
Ranma's eyes widened in realization. "OH! I remember now! The terrorist boss lady!"
*Yes, the "terrorist boss lady". Are you done playing around now?*
The pigtailed man frowned deeply. "So what do you want?"
*Listen to me, the attack will take place in less than an hour. I need you to make every effort to steer Core's forces away from Tokyo International Airport so that our forces can take it without any trouble, and prevent the military from using it to dispatch any aircraft after our initial attacks. You have to prevent aerial threats to the Vortex as best you can.*
Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah? Why should I?"
*Because I PAY you, fool!* Was the quite irritated reply.
Ranma blinked. "You do? Since when?"
There was an strangled cry of anguish from the other end of the phone, and he waited patiently until Alex finished a quick string of largely unintelligible profanities.
*Look, I KNOW the last shipments have been late, and I... didn't make it to our meeting the other day, but we are in a WAR. The government has been doubling its efforts to root out our informants and break our information networks; it's not going to be as easy for us to make contact anymore.*
"Who cares?" Ranma asked bluntly, feeling rather confused by Alexandra's excuses.
*YOU will, if you don't follow instructions! You can only play both sides for so long, Yujikata; sooner or later, you're going to have to make an enemy. Pray that you still have someone to call friend at that point.* *Click!*

Ranma's eyes widened in realization as the phone went dead from the other end.
'Yujikata? But... how did...? Of course! After he attacked me in the locker room I must've taken his jacket by accident!'
After certain confusions were cleared, Ranma's brain allowed itself to comprehend the full ramifications of what he'd been told.
"Aw geez! The Sergeant's a traitor!" Anger quickly replaced surprise, and the plastic case of the cellular phone began to split apart as Ranma's grip tightened. "That bastard! He's toying with the lives of all those soldiers for some terrorist bribe! I'm gonna tear that jerk limb from limb!!" *Crunch!* Bits of plastic scattered all over the sidewalk as the mobile phone finally succumbed to the pressure forced upon it, and Ranma heedlessly threw the rest of the remains to the ground as he turned.
Absolutely livid with rage, he began to stomp off in the direction of Core headquarters when another thought hit him.
"Whoa... wait... I've gotta be smart about this... I can't just walk in there and kick his ass. I'll be the one arrested!"
Scratching his head, the pigtailed soldier tried to kickstart his brain to think of a less direct plan.
"This is too complicated... do they even have a procedure for reporting treason?" Frowning deeply, Ranma tried to recall all he had learned during his experience as a police officer and the little he remembered from his orientation as a soldier. The results, predictably, were less than satisfactory.
"Damn! I've got nothing. I guess I should have paid attention when they talked about... uh...... well, I guess I should have just paid more attention." He said irritably.
"Paid attention to what?"
"Gyah!" Ranma barely resisted the urge to jump up into the air, and immediately whirled around to face the newcomer. "Mizu! What are you doing here?"
Mizu sweatdroppped. "Uh... I'm meeting you for lunch."
Ranma blinked. "You are?" A moment passed as his mind attempted to put aside the current emergency and recall any such meeting. It failed. "Hmmm... are you sure?"
A second sweatdrop rolled down her head. "Uhm... well, if you forgot, then what are you doing here?"
Ranma thought about this for a moment, then nodded. "Touche... anyway, that's not important now! Listen to me!"

One rushed, yet quite thorough, backstory explanation later...

"... So in just a little bit, the Freedom's Angels are going to begin their attack, and that double-crossing creep is going to be in command! At the very least, he's going to try and keep us away from anywhere we might do any good, and at worst-"
"I know Ranma, I know. Calm down, please." Mizu placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder to try and keep him from doing anything rash. "Now you're sure about this? That Yujikata's a traitor?"
Ranma took several deep breaths, somewhat embarrassed. "Well, yeah! I mean, one of their leaders just called me up and told me!" Then he frowned. "You... believe me, don't you?"
Mizu nodded, though it was a bit more slowly than Ranma had expected. "I believe you're sure he's a traitor, and I believe you're not making this up, but there may be other explanations." Seeing her friend's distressed look, she continued quickly. "Look, you're probably right, and even if you're wrong, we still have to report this immediately. Now do we have any proof?"
Ranma sighed. "No. Not really. I guess it's just his word against mine."
Mizu nodded thoughtfully. "Well, Yujikata's word isn't worth much, so that should be enough to keep him off-duty and get an investigation launched." Then something occurred to her. "Wait! What about the cell phone? It's hardly solid proof, but it's something!"
Ranma blinked, then bashfully pointed to a pile of plastic shards on the sidewalk behind him.
The raven-haired soldier sweatdropped. "Well, scratch that idea." Then her expression turned more serious. "We can work on proving the Sergeant's guilt later, though. For now, I think we have to warn HQ that an attack is imminent."
"I'm pretty sure they've figured that out by now," Ranma reasoned.
Mizu blinked. "What? What makes you think that?"
In response, he pointed at something behind and above his companion. "Well, that big column of smoke above the bay has been rising for about three minutes now. I mean, give them SOME credit."
Turning around quickly, Mizu gaped as she beheld a distant, but very prominent, tower of black smoke rising into the clouds above the ocean. Then she turned back to Ranma, glaring at him.
"You moron! Why didn't you tell me about that when you first saw it?!"
"What difference does it make?" Ranma asked, scratching his head, "They had to have known about it by the time I saw it, if not sooner, right?"
"That's not the point!" Mizu growled, "We have to get going! If the city is under attack, we have to deploy immediately!"
Ranma looked alarmed. "What?! But, but you can't! Yujikata! He'll-"
"Don't worry about Yujikata," Mizu assured him gently. "As soon as I bring it up, he should be removed from active duty, at least. But HQ needs to know that the FAs view the airport as a vital and sensitive target, for whatever reason. Plus, they'll need us to fight too."
Ranma shook his head. "No! Mizu, you can't! What if it's already too late?! That bastard could be out right now leading all our troops into a death trap! And what if he's not the only one? It's too dangerous!"
Mizu frowned deeply and crossed her arms over her chest. "Dangerous is part of the job, Ranma. You knew that long before you signed up."
"Idiot!" Ranma yelled, gritting his teeth, "I'm not worried about me! I'm worried about you! You can handle yourself fine in a fair fight, but if someone nails you in the back, it's over! I can't let you go!"
The raven-haired woman jerked back slightly, and blushed a bit as she responded. "It doesn't matter! Even if we could be walking into a trap, it's our duty!"
Ignoring Ranma's continued protests, Mizu turned around somewhat rigidly and took a long look at the black smoke rising into the distant sky.
"Of course the attack has to come on my day off... *Sigh* I wish I had thought to stop for doughnuts or something this morning... Come on, Ranma!"
"Doughnuts."
Mizu blinked, and then turned around, realizing that Ranma wasn't following. "Ranma! Hurry up! We have to go!"
Ranma stared ahead blankly, as if all his concentration was engaged elsewhere. "Doughnuts."
"Huh?" Mizu cocked her head to one side. "Ranma, I know you're probably very hungry, but there's no time!"
He looked down, as if in deep, contemplative thought. "Doughnuts? Doughnuts........." Then his eyes widened and his head snapped up. "DOUGHNUTS!!!"
Mizu jumped back at his shout. "Wh-What's wrong? Are you THAT hungry?"
Instead of answering in any kind of rational way, Ranma suddenly ran forward and nearly crushed Mizu's spine with a gleeful, powerful hug. "DOUGHNUTS!! Mizu, you're a genius!"
Before she could catch her breath well enough to inquire as to how the mention of breakfast pastries had earned her such praise, Ranma had dropped her onto her feet and had taken off at a powerful sprint. In the opposite direction of Core HQ.
"*Gasp!* R-Ranma! Wait! Come back! Where are you... going?" She uttered the last word weakly as Ranma disappeared into the sparse crowds along the sidewalks, who were either rushing for shelter or pointing at the billowing black pillar in the distance.
"Damn it Ranma... why now?" Feeling a powerful wave of dread overcome her, Mizu turned toward Core headquarters and started jogging. She had a job to do, and she would be damned if she was going to let a double-crossing Sergeant keep her from her duty.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Have we received any transmission from the oil platform, Colonel?" General Remerick asked as he quickly scanned the satellite photos that he had been given.
"Not since the first two reporting the explosions on the lower levels. Given what we've seen from the satellite recon, I believe all personnel have either evacuated on the life rafts or are dead or trapped," Mia mused, an intense expression on her face.
Remerick remained silent for a few moments as he looked over the photos. "How many squads are ready to deploy?"
"All of the soldiers on active duty are suited up in heavy combat gear and ready for deployment, General. Those on call are either suiting up or still arriving." She finished her report, then cleared her throat. "Sir, while I appreciate the need to be on alert, I question the need to call those soldiers not on duty. After all, in a simple case of sabotage, there won't be any need to deploy more than a few squads at most to escort the rescue teams."
Remerick raised an eyebrow. "Sabotage?"
Mia nodded slowly. "Yes, sir... I mean, it couldn't have been a capture with the suddenness and report of massive explosions. And the two reports before communications were lost said the detonations occurred below the water line, which rules out bombardment."
The American began to rub his chin thoughtfully. "Does it?"
"Well... it does make sense. Ever since the security was tightened again on the platform, placing charges anywhere but on the supports and thermal core would be nigh impossible."
"We tried to make it nigh impossible to place the charges there, too," Remerick mused, still staring intently at the photos. "We have underwater sensors set up in a twenty-meter radius to prevent sabotage divers from approaching, and the heat the thermal core down there generates could kill someone in close proximity with just forty seconds of full exposure."
"'Could', sir." Mia said, raising an eyebrow.
He raised his eyebrow back. She sighed.
"Sir, we know that no matter what measures we take, there will always be a way around them; either the FAs got lucky, or they were simply willing to expend an enormous amount of resources for this operation."
Remerick nodded, much to Mia's frustration; the man was obviously considering something that she hadn't thought of, and she wished he'd come out and tell her about it.
"The Freedom's Angels HAVE claimed responsibility for the attack?"
"Yes, General. Along with the usual nonsense about a rain of fire devastating our cities, wiping out the oppressive overlords, blah blah blah. I think there was mention of locusts, too. Why?"
Remerick shook his head. "I don't think the platform was destroyed using timed or remote explosives. The FAs have ALWAYS made it a point to demonstrate strength over stealth and cunning; despite being an outnumbered and outgunned guerilla army, they attack in force with armor and war tactics, create advanced biological weapons to back up their soldiers, and produce robotic destroyers to fight our best soldiers head-on. Yet now they resort to placing explosive devices on valuable targets and detonating them from a safe distance?"
Mia sweatdropped. Some of what the General said made sense, but she still didn't see a change from flamboyant and wasteful to stealthy and cunning to be much of a stretch. "What exactly are you proposing, sir?"
Remerick pointed to two of the photographs. "Two separate explosions, one severely damaging the substructure of the platform, and the second striking the thermal core and generating a chain reaction that largely destroyed the remaining superstructure. Why two separate detonations?"
Mia shrugged. "Why not?" She blushed somewhat sheepishly as her superior glared at her.
"TRY to take this a little more seriously, would you?" He sighed and sat down, steepling his fingers under his chin. "If they were planted bombs, there's no reason they wouldn't be detonated at once, or for only the thermal core to be bombed. No, I suspect they were bombarded from under the water."
Mia blinked. "So... they built some guided torpedoes and launched them at the platform?" It made sense.
"Think bigger," Remerick muttered. "They wouldn't build a weapon without a good, intimidating weapons platform."
The Colonel stared at him for a moment, and then her eyes widened. "What?! You think those fools built a submarine?!" She shouted incredulously. "They can't even get the hang of their hand grenades!"
"The terrorists can't," Remerick corrected, "but their new friend Yutchzky is a whole other story. You yourself showed me the images of titanic mecha roaming the main streets of Tokyo."
Mia started to rub her head anxiously. This was not going well. "Sir, are you sure about this?"
"No," he admitted as Umezeki Tekai entered the room from behind him, "but my being wrong can only be good news."
Then he turned toward the airheaded Colonel who was waiting at attention behind him. "Colonel Tekai, inform our naval reserve forces that there's a possible threat in the main area of Tokyo Bay. I want our destroyers loaded with anti-submarine munitions and sweeps of the bay performed."
Umezeki blinked. "Uh... we have anti-submarine munitions?" As Japan didn't have a regular army for international conflict, it did seem pretty unusual to keep such things around. Even since a small naval force had been commissioned to guard the oil platforms, they still hadn't expected to deal with anything along the lines of an attack sub.
The General sighed. "I'm sure the Admiral will do the best he can. Advise him that there's a possibility that the target is a heavily armed combat vessel. We can't assume it's second-rate equipment and let our guard down."
"Right. Whatever you say, sir." As he left mumbled some half-hearted complaints about him never knowing what was going and not being told about important meetings until they were already under way.
Mia was about to offer more criticism of Remerick's speculations when a petty officer strode hastily into the room, saluted her, and then rushed up to whisper in her ear.
Remerick took general notice of the man, but said nothing as he continued to peruse the photos. "There has to be something else the Angels have planned. Whether they actually have a sub or not. There's no way they'd settle for blowing up the platform." His face darkened. "Especially when the DA destroyed the other one." It was true. The crime of destroying a vital piece of financial infrastructure hardly seemed as heinous when good-intentioned police officers did the same thing through the course of completing their mission.
Mia's head snapped toward her superior officer as her own subordinate finished reporting. "Sir! We've received some intelligence that indicates the FAs are intending to capture Tokyo International Airport!"
Remerick raised an eyebrow as he looked up. "How reliable is this information?"
The Colonel bit her lip anxiously. "It's a bit iffy, sir. Third hand info; apparently the man who heard it originally hasn't reached HQ yet. But it's the only lead we have, and it's better to protect a decoy target than stand around doing nothing."
Remerick smiled. "Well then, what are still doing here?"
Mia smiled back. "I'll give the order immediately, sir. We're going to make those bastards pay for this."
__________________________________________________________________________________

"A submarine, out here? Is Remerick off his rocker?!"
The destroyer's captain sighed as the Admiral finished reading the report he had been handed. "Sir, regardless of what the General THINKS is out there, we have a definite possibility of a armed, mobile threat. What are your orders?"
The Admiral rolled his eyes. "Anti-submarine munitions... bah!" Then he turned toward his Vice Admiral. "Inform all ships to begin heavy sonar sweeps around the remains of the platform. We'll oversee the salvage and rescue operation and escort the-"
"Sir! We have a communication from the Yamato! They have a sonar lock on a large craft approaching from forty degrees north off our starboard bow!"
After the technician finished his report, the Captain turned toward the Admiral, and noted that he had a completely blank look on his face.
"Uh... that means it's ahead and to the right, sir." 'I guess it's been a while since he's been on an active ship.'
"Of course! I knew that!" the Admiral shouted gruffly. "Can we get any identification on the craft?"
The Captain coughed into his hand to get his superior's attention. "Well, as we have a preliminary sonar reading, but not a visual, I can only ASSUME it's a submerged vessel of some type."
"Sir! The Yamato has twin sonar pings bearing straight for them at high speed! It's a torpedo launch! They're beginning evasive maneuvers!"
The Captain twitched. "You know what? I'm just going to go ahead and say there's a sub out there. You can hold out for more evidence yourself if you want." Without waiting for the Admiral's command, he turned toward his communications officer. "Tell the Yamato to relay its sonar readings to the rest of the fleet; we have to keep this thing here for as long as possible!"
The Admiral grit his teeth and then sighed. "Of course that stupid foreigner would be right... leave it to an American to think like a terrorist..." Then he, too, turned to the communications officer. "Notify the air force! We have a submerged threat within Tokyo Bay! I want helicopters fitted with torpedo armaments and dispatched immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

*Whupwhupwhupwhupwhupwhup!*
Ranma looked up momentarily, and blinked as he saw a few news helicopters flying past overhead.
It seemed rather odd that civilian copters were flying such a tight formation, but Ranma was hardly the type to notice such things, and immediately went back to sorting through the rubble he was standing on.
"Geez, did they even notice that someone dropped a car in here when they start filling it up?" Ranma groused, kicking some rocks away from the bent fender that was sticking up out of the debris.
After digging most of the rocks out from over the rear of the vehicle, Ranma was pleased to see that the patrol car hadn't been completely destroyed upon landing in the ditch, and that the interior had been mostly preserved.
After dusting off more of the rear windshield, Ranma bent down low and peered down to try and locate the doughnut box he and Kyle had left in the front seat.
"Don't see it... damn. Okay then..." Wiping some sweat from his brow, Ranma pulled back a fist and punched straight through the armored windshield, feeling significant resistance before his knuckles broke through to the other side.
Frustratingly enough, the windshield didn't shatter as he expected it to, being unfamiliar as he was with the manufacture of bullet-proof glass, and the pigtailed soldier muttered a few curses as he ripped the entire panel out from the frame.
"Let's see now," Ranma mumbled as he carefully lowered his head into the car interior. The air was stale and heavy with dust, but it was breathable, and was being slowly aired out by the new hole in the rear of the vehicle.
"I think the box was-"
"HSSS!" His thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched hiss, and Ranma's hand snapped forward just in time to grab the attacking worm-like creature around the neck before it had reached his face.
*Crack!* Quickly snapping its neck, Ranma dropped the pointless running gag and wordlessly continued searching for his prize.
"Aha! There it is!" Spying a bit of pink poking out from where some dirt had entered through a break in the door panel, Ranma dropped himself further into the vehicle, holding on to the entry hole by keeping his feet hooked over the edge.
Grabbing onto the box, he pulled it out from under the dirt that had collected, and smiled upon confirming that it was the suspicious doughnut container from before.
Pulling himself from the wreckage, Ranma blew some of the dirt off the top of the box and then opened it.
"Hm, lots of papers... Ah!" Grabbing onto the first sheet he found, he saw that it was a list of people's names from some prison that had been inconveniently identified with a number and acronym he couldn't comprehend. The names either had a rank posted next to them, or the word "Deceased".
"Okay... that doesn't help too much." It certainly looked suspicious, but for Ranma, the implications were hardly obvious. "Ah ha!"
Ranma grinned as he pulled out a folded-up map with smuggler routes in and out of Tokyo Bay and along other places on the coast. Underneath that was a list of weapons that had been recovered from Yutchzky's transport.
"Ha! Paydirt! That creep's as good as done for!" Ranma cheered.
"What creep?"
Ranma blinked, and looked up at the edge of the ditch he was still standing in. "Kyle? What're you doing here?"
The blond soldier waved down to him. "Hi Ranma! I'm just passing through!" Putting down his hand, Kyle took a long sip of the large Icee he was carrying.
Rushing to the edge of the pit, Ranma bunched up his legs and launched himself over the railing built up around the ditch, being careful not to spill any of the contents of the box. "Hey, shouldn't you be rushing to the defense of our country or something?"
Kyle frowned. "Shouldn't you?"
"I'VE been tracking down a traitor in Core that's been leaking information to terrorists and sending our men into traps," Ranma said matter-of-factly, gesturing to himself, "what have YOU done today?"
The older man smirked and smoothly took a sip of his Icee before answering. "I got the high score on Time Crisis 3 down at the Namoka Center arcade."
Ranma blinked. "Wh-What? The new one?!"
"Yup." Kyle's smirk grew as Ranma's face darkened, and he patted the pigtailed man on the shoulder. "But don't worry, I'm sure that whole traitor thing'll work out for you. So who was it?"
"That dumb Sergeant guy," Ranma mumbled half-heartedly, "what's-his-face... Yujikata."
"Oh." Kyle raised his cup and took another long sip from his refreshment. "You mean you didn't know?"
Ranma twitched. "And I suppose you did?"
"Well, I don't wanna brag, but yeah, it was pretty obvious." *Slurp!* "Especially after I saw those papers you just dug up."
"And of COURSE you neglected to tell everyone else," Ranma muttered, scratching his head.
"I thought you knew! I swear!" Kyle protested, raising up his hands.
"Whatever. I don't have time for this anyway." Looking up at the sky, Ranma grimaced as he scanned over the expanse of black smoke. "The smoke column isn't shrinking any, and the streets are still pretty empty. I guess the threat isn't over with."
"Nah, they're still broadcasting the emergency thing, telling people to stay inside." Kyle shook the last of the flavored slush into his mouth, then began to shake the empty cup, hoping for more. "Hey, you wanna go back to the arcade? I'll play you at King of Fighters."
Ranma frowned. "Nah, I don't have any money." A moment passed, and then he suddenly straightened. "I mean, the city's under attack! We don't have time for games!"
"Well, technically," Kyle began, scratching his head, "it seems like it's just the oil rig in the bay that blew up, so the city itself hasn't been attacked yet."
"..............." Ranma remained silent for several moments. "............ Well, I still don't have any money, so we should do something about it anyway." Then he bit his lip anxiously. "But what?"
"Well..." Kyle began, "I know I'm not the idea guy here, but if we have to blow something up, there's pretty much only one guy to talk to."
Ranma raised an eyebrow, then nodded decisively. "Very well then! For the protection of Tokyo!"
As Ranma raised his fist into the air, so did Kyle. "And to refill my Icee!"
"TO THE CONVENIENCE MART!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Okay then! Get those munitions loaded! All pilots on standby!"
Technicians and mechanics swarmed about the launching area as the combat helicopters were loaded with anti-sub munitions, having their missile and rocket pods replaced with torpedoes and sonar buoys.
"Sir! Units one through six are ready for takeoff!" A Captain approached the commanding officer and saluted sloppily, clearly shaken by the heavy activity and panic.
The Core Major nodded to his subordinate. "As far as you know, what exactly are we dealing with here?"
The Captain wrung his hands nervously. "The naval forces in place in the bay are in full withdrawal, sir, and both the Yamato and Yajitsu have been completely destroyed. We'll need to deploy the buoys first, and then begin the attack."
The Major nodded again, looking up at the smoke column in the distance. "Deploy units one through four, and have them attack in wide formation. Units five and six will deploy with the next two units ready for takeoff and attack at-"
"Sir! Sir!" The Major turned sharply as one of the technicians rushed up to the staging platform, slightly out of breath. "I-I thought you should know, Major! A small group of civilian craft have approached and are requesting to land to comply with crisis flight restrictions! They're approaching now!"
"What the hell... why is there more than one of 'em way out here?" The Major growled. "Whatever! Get them down on the depot on the east side; just get them the hell out of the air!"
"They're definitely too close," the Captain muttered, spying the formation of craft coming up on the airfield. In that moment, something caught his eye on the wings of one of the approaching craft, which had some sort of harness covering most of them.
"Captain? Captain, are you listening? We have to deploy the-"
"Sir," the Captain said shakily, cutting off his superior, "those copters... have rocket pods..."
Whirling around, the Major's eyes widened as he immediately recognized the class of helicopters that were hovering overhead. "Aw, shit! Get everybody away from there!! Clear the launch-"
*Fwoosh!*
The rest of the officer's orders were drowned out by the launch of several unguided explosive rockets, followed by angry detonations as the helicopter units waiting for launch were torn apart where they sat.
The Core officer grimaced as his personnel began to panic, scrambling for cover. "Captain! Get those men out of there! All personnel are to evacuate immediately!"

Ignoring the man's response, the Major immediately turned and ran for the door to the tower, turning on the lights as he entered. Knowing the instruments' positions by heart, he absentmindedly turned on the radio and all the necessary supplementary equipment as he composed his message in his mind.
Taking a deep breath, he picked up the speaker in his hand and depressed the button on the side. "This is Alpha two, Core airborne assault division! Base is under attack; I repeat, air base Alpha two is under attack! The enemy possesses three light observation helicopters in battle formation! I repeat, three LOH units with anti-armor capabilities! Enemy units resemble civilian craft to a high degree; look for the harnesses on the wings disguising the-"
*Pssht!* *This is Alpha one! This is Alpha one, somebody, come in! We're under attack! Our aircraft have all been neutralized! Send reinforcements! They've got Goddamn ROBOTS over here!! We need help! We can't-* *Psssssh...*
The Major swallowed deeply as the message ended, the radio's speakers spewing endless streams of static.
"R-Robots? Shit!" The officer tried to think quickly, the desperation of the scenario beginning to overtake his hardened nerves.
*KA-KROOOOOM!!!*
The man was thrown to the ground as the main fuel tanks were destroyed outside, shaking the entire complex in a massive, Earth-shattering explosion.
Covering his head with his arms, the Major winced as several heavy components fell over him, spilling onto the floor among shattered glass and collapsed chairs.
"The... the contingency force at Tokyo International..." The Core officer grimaced and pushed himself up. "It's the only... way... gotta warn... HQ..." Gasping for breath, he picked up the radio unit, hoping it hadn't been damaged when it fell from the shelf.
*Whupwhupwhupwhupwhupwhup!*
Not bothering to look behind him at the noise that flooded through the broken window, he shakily placed the radio back on the shelf, his entire body trembling. "Gotta warn... gotta warn... c-can't let them..."
*Fwoosh!*
*KABOOM!!*
__________________________________________________________________________________

"And so that's the whole story," Ranma finished, his eye twitching slightly as Kyle slurped his Icee right behind him.
Asuka, Snake, Junko, Tiro, Tycho, and Sakura all nodded slowly.
"I see. So with Core truly compromised, we can't count on them to take down the Angels this time..." Asuka murmured.
"As if we could before," Snake said, snorting. "This is what they getting for kicking us out!"
Ranma coughed into his hand to gather his friends' attention. "Yeah, well, be that as it may, I happen to have some questions of my own... like, for example, what are you all DOING here, anyway?!"
"Eh, didn't really have anything better to do," Junko admitted. "Modeling isn't exactly a full-time job, you know?" Then she scratched her chin. "Although... I guess I could go back to my old job..."
"Well, I CAN'T," Asuka mumbled irritably, "and I figured that if a screwball like Snake could get some kind of job, he could find me one."
Kyle blinked. "So can he?"
"It's a bit iffy," Snake explained, "you know, what with her having an actual conscience and whatnot."
"Yeah, I imagine that would a problem in dealing with your friends," Tiro muttered. "As for me, the... main benefit package just expired where I was working."
"Okay, fine," Ranma started. "Next question: Why is there a fancy-looking painting on the wall over the import liquor?"
"Because Snake INSISTED it would look tacky over the instant ramen shelves," Tycho explained, rolling his eyes.
Snake grinned. "Like it? It's a Van Gough! That guy had a MUCH higher credit limit than we thought!"
"I'm almost sure there's some kind of law against that sort of thing..." Ranma muttered. "But anyway, last question: what're we gonna do about this whole attack?"
Asuka shook her head. "I don't see what we can do; we don't have any intel that Core doesn't have."
"Yes we do," Tiro muttered, nursing his beer.
Asuka blinked. "But... if Ranma managed to get all his information to Kotetsu, then they already know that Tokyo International is at risk, right?"
Tiro snorted, and fished a rolled-up piece of paper out of his jacket. "Read it and weep, 'Captain'." He snapped the paper up and down, unrolling it, and then slapped it onto the table in the middle of the store.
Asuka's eyes widened. "Wh-What the hell?!" At the top of the paper was [Evil Terrorist Plans: Top Secret!] in big, red font. "How in the world did YOU come by this?!"
Tiro swallowed the last of his beer as the others gathered around to look. "I found it lying around, that's all. I'd like to think of it as a 'severance package'." Then he raised his head up. "HOURS I spent, trimming bushes, watering plants, and pulling weeds! And for what?! The chick &^#%ing threatens to shoot me in the crotch!"
*Crnch!* Tiro's beer can was crushed within his fist, and the lecher's eyes burned as he stood up. "This has gone on long enough! It's time we remind these bastards why our own government thought we were too dangerous to keep around!"
Snake chuckled slowly, a malicious grin forming on his face. "Oh, we will. Giving these plans to Core would be a waste. It's time we took matters into our own hands."
"Damn straight," Ranma growled. "Idiots can't even keep a lowlife like Yujikata out! I'm not going to see my friends killed because of their incompetence!"
"I don't really have any opinion either way," Kyle admitted, "but seeing as we're all here and everything, we might as well."
"They can't be allowed to get away with this! It's awful!" Sakura said, clenching one hand into a fist.
"What blondie said," Junko muttered.
Tycho looked around at the store and sighed. "Well, I'm gonna miss this place. But with business the way it turned out, it isn't like it would have stayed open long anyway. I'm in."
Asuka looked around at the determined/apathetic expressions surrounding her, and she lowered her head. "Now frankly, I usually like to think I'm better than this. A week ago I couldn't have stood the thought of risking my life on an illegal vigilante mission." *Wham!* Then she slammed a hand down on the table, hard. "But dammit, MY CITY is being ripped apart piece by piece, and if these plans are right, Core, the last hope for Japan against the most severe terrorist threat in the world, can't get a freaking helicopter off the ground! I'm DAMN sick of it, and we're going to do something about it!!" *Wham!* Her other hand joined the first one, and the bluette's eyes narrowed. "Ladies, gentlemen... let's go blow something up."
__________________________________________________________________________________

The technician let out a frustrated grunt as he struggled through the command lines of the activation codes on the laptop in front of him, doing his best to program the basic command lines for the huge combat boomers looming over him.
Well, "technician" was a word to describe the function he was attempting, really, and not so much his area of expertise or training focus. Really, the most complicated piece of technology that this particular terrorist felt comfortable with was a TV remote, and even then, he regarded many of the buttons whose function he didn't know with a dose of fearful respect.
"What's taking so long?!"
The technician winced. "J-Just a moment sir!"
Biting his lower lip, the man scanned the list of drop-down command menus that were presented as part of the programming utility.
"Okay now... uh... 'attack'!" Moving the cursor to the "attack" menu, he pushed the left mouse button, and subsequently a menu popped up that displayed two possible selections.
The terrorist scratched his head in confusion, then turned to his commander. "Hey! Are we 'good guys' or 'bad guys'?"
The commander blinked. "You mean philosophically, or idealistically?"
"I mean as in who these things are going to shoot at!"
"Oh..." The commander rubbed his chin. "I'm pretty sure we're the bad guys."
"Okay! Thanks!" The technician quickly made the necessary selection, and then continued with the "programming".
The commander's second-in-command sighed. "It doesn't exactly fill me with confidence, the way these men handle the more powerful weapons."
The commander shrugged. "Don't worry, I hear they're coming out with a 'Dummies' book about it." Then he gestured to the wall that separated the transport truck from the airport landing strip. "What're we looking at as far as resistance?"
"Negligible. Our boys have already advanced to scare off the civs, and if our man in Core did his job, we won't have to deal with a response for a while, yet. Hell, the boomers're pretty much just for blowing up big stuff. Not like we need 'em for anything."
"Ah ha! Done!" The technician hit the startup key. "Hmm? 'Warning: The system commands you have input may, as in, will, cause injury or death to friendly units. Continue?'" He looked over at his CO. "Uhhhhh..."
"Idiot! Don't turn those things on! Go back and fix whatever it is you did!" The commander grimaced as he looked at the two unresponsive war machines, sitting on their armored heels and connected to the laptop by a thin red cable. "Man, why do we even have stuff like this? Or, if we do, why bother sending in untrained ex-cons with Soviet-era machine guns?"
"All part of the greater scheme of things, sir," his subordinate said, grinning. "A show of strength can be more devastating to the enemy than an actual victory."
The commander jerked his head over as he heard spurts of gunfire coming from the airfield. "Well, I hope these bots impress the enemy then. We haven't had much in the way of victories, so far."
The other man shrugged. "Okay, look at it this way; as secular terrorists rather than religious fanatics, we get to use advanced weapons and heinous monsters in combat, rather than strapping bombs to our bodies and hoping that God will appreciate our efforts."
The commander nodded. "Yeah, that is kind of comforting." Then he turned to the technician. "Aren't you done yet?"
"Uh... okay, yeah! Here goes!" The technician activated the program, and then stepped back as a high-pitched whine came from within the two hulking machines.
*Unit activation cycle complete. Damage analysis in progress...... all systems are within acceptable levels of operation. Armor damage is negligible. Maintenance tag is in effect. Analyzing mission parameters...... analysis complete. Primary mission objective: Destroy all enemy units, enemy structures, enemy stuff, and enemy pets, as well as any available targets of opportunity. Targets of opportunity identified as "not us". All casualties and collateral damage sustained to surroundings deemed acceptable, except where strictly prohibited by law. This is in conflict with primary mission objectives. Disregarding... Secondary mission objective: Reach waypoint Zeta-3, demand a large salmon okinomiyaki, and return to base with recovered item.*
As the commander and his subordinate sweatdropped, the technician cursed. "Dammit! It was supposed to be pork, not salmon! These stupid things are impossible to deal with!"
"I know the feeling," the commander deadpanned.
*Reactor cycle completed. Launching.*
There was a furious roar as the boomers stood up and fired their booster rockets, lifting their armored bulk from the concrete walk and flying toward the airfield.
The commander grinned. "There they go."
*Fwoosh!* *Ka-KROOM!!* *BOOM!!*
"Or not," he mumbled, watching as two missiles streaked upward from behind the wall to stab into the boomers during their ascent, annihilating them before their sensors even registered the threat.
His second-in-command gulped. "Wh-What? No! Those missiles... there's no way they just happen to have men with missile launchers strolling around out here! They were waiting for us! We've been set up!!"
"Not really," a sultry voice said from behind the terrorists, "not 'set up'. We just happened to stumble upon some info, is all."
The commander and his second whirled around with their rifles drawn, and then swallowed deeply as they saw a curvaceous figure wearing some sort of dark gray bodysuit standing in the shade of a nearby tree. It was obviously female, with long tresses of brown hair spilling down its back, and though it was wearing a faceless black mask that looked like a solid piece of plastic, it was quite obvious the figure could see, as the two pistols it held were aimed perfectly; one to each man's heart.
"D-Don't y-you move, or we'll shoot!" The commander threatened, the sinking feeling in his gut steadily getting worse.
Mia chuckled. "Please. Put down those guns before you get hurt, fools."
*Toomp!* *Toomp!* *Toomp!* The sound of heavy metals falling on concrete filled the small clearing, as did the Core soldiers, completely surrounding the three men.
The technician trembled nervously. "This... This wasn't supposed to happen... it can't happen! No!" He shook his fist in the air, and glared at the armored masks around him, gazing in the glowing red lenses. "You fools! You won't get away with this! We're more powerful than you! We're stronger, do you hear me?! STRONGER!! We will-"
*Blam!* *Thud!*
The terrorist commander stared at the dead man's body for a moment, then looked up at Mia, whose gun still had smoke leaking from the barrel. "This might seem kind of awkward, but... thank you for doing that."
"Any time," she said mirthlessly as the remaining two terrorists dropped their weapons. Then she gestured to the nearest Core trooper. "Take these two back to base immediately for questioning." Then she turned to another soldier who was observing the transport vehicle. "What's the status on our forces in the airport?"
The soldier she was addressing turned and saluted. "The airport is secure, Colonel, or so our preliminary sweeps have shown. It's a lot of area to cover, you understand, and there are many areas within that would provide excellent cover and ambush terrain. From what I've gathered, though, we can count 23 enemies dead, 9 wounded, and 19 captured without wounds. One friendly unit was wounded, but it appears relatively minor."
Mia grinned under her helmet. "Now that's what I want to hear! Good job, Captain!"
"Thank you, Colonel. It would seem that the enemy really was counting on being able to secure the area easily and dig themselves in; we found numerous mines and some gun emplacement equipment."
"Well, that's a damn shame for them, 'aint it?" The Colonel said, holstering her guns. "What's the ETA on the pilots, then?"
"About four minutes, Colonel. We're already prepping the contingency units for launch, but it will take time to get the torpedoes out here. I estimate about 20 minutes. In the meantime, I recommend we set up a wide perimeter around the launch area to keep any last-minute attacks from succeeding."
"See to it. Have we heard anything else from the Alpha sites?"
"Negative, Colonel. Given their last transmissions, it would be wise to designate them hostile areas right now and wait until we're no longer needed here before we launch any recovery or rescue attempts."
Mia grimaced, but nodded. "Then write up some plans. The very moment we launch the copters here, I intend to wipe out any enemies still poking around the air bases, and save anyone who can still be saved." She turned her head to look at the terrorists as they were led away into an armored vehicle. "I intend to pay them back a hundredfold for this, Captain."
"Heh... that's an affirmative, Colonel."
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Do you REALLY have anything that can help us destroy a submarine?" Asuka asked nervously as she and the other former DAPC officers followed Snake up the steps to his condominium.
"Well..." Snake tapped his chin in thought. "Sure, I have lots of things to destroy submarines, but of course, the real problem is the methods of deployment. Now, given that submarines are difficult to hit even with precision smart weapons, it would be inefficient to paint-"
"SNAKE," Asuka interrupted him harshly, "get to the point already!"
The weapons expert rolled his eyes. "Well, personally I like the tried-and-true method of placing plastic explosives everywhere. Crude, of course, but it's reliable." He took out his keys and started flipping through them.
"Put explosives everywhere?!" Tycho asked incredulously.
Snake sighed. "FINE. If you HAVE to do things half-way, I suppose we could just put it everywhere on the inside." Finding the proper key, he inserted it into the lock and turned, disabling the lock on the knob.
"So how are we supposed to get on the submarine to plant the charges?" Ranma asked skeptically.
Snake shrugged as he found the key to the bolt lock. "Not my department. I plant the bomb, and make the bombs go boom. Well, and I kill everything between me and where the bomb needs to go. Not that it's necessarily my department, but I do enjoy it."
Asuka grimaced as Snake unlocked the bolt and opened the door. "I think I may have a plan for how to get to the Vortex sub... but one thing at a time." She steeled herself as she followed Snake up the stairs and into his home. 'You promised yourself you would keep an open mind, no matter what you saw here! Remember that! Open mind!'
Snake turned around as he entered his living room, grinning at his companions. "Well, here it is! Don't get too comfy; we have work to do!"
Asuka blinked. Twice. And then she joined the others in staring at the condo's interior, completely flabbergasted.
"It's... It's so...... normal," Sakura muttered, feeling a bit cheated by the lack of armored hallways and death ray cannons.
Snake blinked. "You think so? I do try to keep it pretty clean, you know?"
"Empty pizza boxes," Asuka muttered, cataloguing the room's features, "big-screen TV, semi-expensive couch, big oak liquor cabinet, poster of dogs playing cards..." she slumped forward slightly, looking as if a part of her world as she knew it had just turned out to be a cruel lie. "MY house is weirder than this! I mean, tell me you have an armory or something!"
The weapons expert grinned. "Well, DUH. Over here." He walked over to his liquor cabinet.
All of the former DA officers suddenly leaned forward in anticipation as Snake swung open one of the taller doors on the cabinet, expecting, at the very least to see it filled from top to bottom with blocks of C-4.
Needless to say, they were all horribly disappointed to see a double-barreled, 12 gauge shotgun leaning against the back of the cabinet.
"Th-This is IT?!" Asuka shouted, feeling quite foolish at finding her expectations so far removed from reality.
Snake's eyes narrowed. "Would you just cool your jets?"
"But we're supposed to be blowing up a submarine!" Asuka protested as Snake reached for the shotgun. "How the hell are we supposed to-" *Yank*.
*Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr...* Asuka stopped her ranting as the entire room began to shake, and all the former officers looked around in panic as a loud grinding noise came from somewhere beyond the walls.
*Ka-chunk!* After a few moments the rumbling stopped, and the noise of a machine latch opening was heard.
"Huh? What's going on?" Asuka said nervously, noting that the one window in the living room was completely dark.
*Chunk-chunk-choom!* The sound of even more machinery was heard as the big-screen TV suddenly sank into the floor, revealing a single passageway that opened up into a large open area.
Sakura blinked, completely confused. "Huh? A passageway outside?" But it was still light out; how come the area beyond looked so dark?
Snake grinned. "It WOULD lead outside, if we were still on the ground floor. Come on." He walked up to the entrance and passed through it.
The rest of the group cautiously followed, though they almost took a bad tumble when Asuka, who was in the lead, got a good look at the area beyond the doorway and froze in her tracks.
"Oh... my... God..." she mumbled, her left eye twitching.
Snake grinned again, and then threw his arms up in the air, gesturing to the numerous war machines and massive guns that surrounded him. "Ladies, gentlemen... welcome to the Snake Cave!"
*Crash!* His companions immediately facefaulted, already mentally taxed by having their expectations first denied, then run over and stomped on.
"S-Snake Cave?!" Asuka shouted, getting up unsteadily as she looked up at the huge rockets that were suspended by wires from the ceiling, like in a museum.
The weapons expert nodded. "Yeah. Truth be told, my dad loaned me some serious cash to get on my feet here in Japan, so before I became a cop, I thought about becoming a super hero, and built this place from my vast but short-lived wealth."
Ranma sweatdropped as he looked at the grenades that decorated a panel of the wall, sorted by year and country of development. "So what changed your mind?"
"The hours suck," Snake admitted, crossing his arms over his chest, "and so does the pay, the benefits, vacation days, and especially the health plan." He stopped speaking and looked down, slightly embarrassed. "Well... that, and there was a slight possibility that if I were to cause as much damage as I do as a cop, I'd inadvertently be classified as a super VILLAIN, and with the recent unionization of the henchman and cannon fodder professions, that's a headache I just can't deal with." Then he grinned. "Being a cop is much better! I can pretty much do anything I want as long as I don't kill any innocent people! Plus I get paid for it! Super heroes usually have to hold a second job!"
"I don't think I want to know what his costume would have looked like," Tycho muttered, finding a corridor as everyone began to split up to explore the place. "So, you got any tanks?"
"Room 7-B," Snake answered, "though they're not maintained for operational use, so I wouldn't suggest trying to start any of them up!"
"Where are small arms?" Kyle asked, focused as he was on equipping and moving on with the mission.
"Second floor, my man. Sorted by class: A is pistols, B is shotguns, C is sub-autos, D is rifles, C is launchers, and so on."
"Explosives?" Junko asked, glancing at the several large gun emplacements that had been set up in the main hall for display.
"Down the left hall, room 3-A. Detonators are in the C room."
As the others spread out to arm themselves, Snake approached Asuka, who had crossed the length of the main hall and was looking at a large pit that was in place at the end.
"So, you need to find anything? Body armor, utility belts, beer?"
The bluette twitched mightily, and slowly pointed down into the pit. "Snake... you have a functioning ICBM silo here?!"
Snake sweatdropped. "Oh, relax! Sure, but it's not like I have any missiles for it!"
"THEN WHAT'S THAT?!?!" She shouted, pointing at the huge missile resting in the middle of the silo.
Snake sweatdropped again. "Well, I mean, these are all conventional warheads. It's not like I have any NUCLEAR ones."
"THEN WHAT'S THAT?!?!?!" She shouted even louder, pointing to a large cone sitting next to the silo that had a radiation trifoil stamped on the side.
A third sweatdrop rolled down the man's head. "Will you calm down? It's just a model!"
Asuka began to breathe a little easier, but she continued to glare at her former subordinate. "JUST a model? Really?"
The sweatdrops broke, and soon little droplets were pouring down Snake's head. "Well... uh... yes... that is... until I find some fissionable uranium... you see, it turns out that the stuff I have is no good... you know how nuclear chemistry is..."
"SNAKE!!!" Asuka screamed, looming over the weapons expert, "This is inexcusable!!"
The man fell backwards as Asuka's aura exploded, and began to wave his arms in front of him frantically. "H-Hey! How do you think I feel?! I can't even get back at the Iraqi government for cheating me, what with the US mowing down the whole bloody country!"
"You psycho! You'll kill us all!! You're the last person that should ever be in control of nuclear weapons!!"
"Grk!" Snake began to gag as Asuka clasped her hands around his neck and shook without mercy. "But, I-hack!-don't actually-gack!-have any yet-herk!-technically!"
"Captain!" Ranma shouted, running back into the main hall wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying various other gear. "Come on, we have to hurry! You can strangle Snake any time!"
"Hmph!" Reluctantly, the former Captain dropped her victim onto the steel floor of the hall and stood up. "Fine. Saotome, you have anything for me?"
Ranma wordlessly tossed her a vest and one of the pump-action shotguns he had bundled under one arm.
Asuka caught both items and nodded. "All right then. Get the others up here." She looked down at Snake, who was still gasping for breath. "I don't suppose you have a Snakemobile around here, do you?"
"N-No," he responded, finally catching his breath. "It was in the budget, but I overspent on a really big supercomputer control center."
Asuka blinked. "You have a supercomputer? Like, the kind that hacks into government databases and controls satellites and stuff?"
"Well, I pretty much only use it to play Quake III, but yeah."
"Hmmm..." Asuka mulled this over. "Well, that doesn't really help us at this very moment. But I'll have to remember you have that."
Just then, Ranma rushed back up the stairs with the rest of their companions behind him. "Captain! We're all ready!"
The bluette smirked. "Well then, what're we waiting for? Let's go jack a copter."
__________________________________________________________________________________

{"General, sonar reports that all enemy units are out of range. We are unable to continue engagement without leaving the mission area."}
Igov nodded mutely, his face a mask of complete calm and determination. {"Very well then. What is the status of our parallel operations?"}
The communications officer turned toward him. {"Both enemy airbases have been neutralized, General! However, we received a distress call from one of the units assigned to infiltrate the civilian airport warning that it had been evacuated and was under guard!"}
The cyborg raised an eyebrow. {"I... see. Most unfortunate. But ultimately it will not stop us."}
The communications officer nodded. {"Yes, sir! With the airport in enemy hands, they will be able to successfully launch a helicopter attack against us! All friendly aircraft have been ordered grounded to minimize overall losses once the enemy regains aerial superiority!"}
{"It is best,"} Igov admitted, {"We have superior numbers, but against trained pilots, these terrorists might lose five copters to every one they destroy."} And really, that was assuming that the enemy was taken by surprise, and that the enemy wasn't properly equipped. The results of the training gap were quite severe where helicopters were concerned.
The First Mate, who was actually Igov's most trusted Colonel, turned toward him. {"Well, 'Captain'? What are our orders?"}
Igov's body stood rigid and unyielding, the testament of a man in his element; a man who was doing what he was born to do. At the same time, his face showed no uncertainty, doubt, or caution; only the cold, neutral expression of a man who was calculating a plan of action. All in all, he was a grand sight, this mighty man of flesh and steel, commanding his soldiers that were most loyal to him, as sons were to a father. He appeared in every way the leader, the master, the God of his environment.
Which was good, because otherwise he would have looked damned silly, giving orders with one arm like that.
Worst yet, he hadn't had enough time before the deployment to properly deal with the torn-up socket where his left arm used to be, and had to rip off one of the sleeves to his coat and then smooth it over the hole to keep from having a single empty sleeve flopping around every time he moved his shoulders. As a result, none of the recently trained mariners could see the wads of duct tape that kept most of his internal fluids from shooting out his shoulder, but many snuck glances every once and a while to ponder the many small wires that poked out from beneath the flap.
As it was, the men aboard the submarine had enough sense and respect for their general not to stare or say anything about it, but the rumors about what had actually HAPPENED to the cybernetic man were spreading like wildfire.
The general leaned forward over the tactician's table in the middle of the bridge, and slowly smiled. {"Surface immediately. Ready the topside weapons and deploy as soon as the pumps have done their work."} His smile twisted into a sadistic grin. {"These fools think to bombard us; let us swat them from the sky like the pitiful insects they are!"}
{"Yes, General!"} The Colonel said, saluting. Then he turned away toward the general area of the bridge. {"All hands, prepare to surface! Topside gunners, ready the neocannon! Power control, prepare to deploy the laser tower!"}
{"Yes, sir!"} {"Immediately, sir!"}
__________________________________________________________________________________

"This is Zeta Leader to command center, do you copy?"
*This is the command center, Zeta Leader. Report.*
"Zeta Wing is coming up on the target area, command, and Theta Wing is just a few clicks behind us."
*Roger that, Zeta Leader. Your orders are to proceed down the center of the bay and proceed to drop sonar buoys, deploying every-*
"That's a negative, command," the pilot interrupted, leaning forward slightly as a dark shape appeared less than a kilometer from the edge of the bay, "it looks like our friend's coming up."
*Zeta Leader, confirm target sighting!*
"Affirmative, command. It's definitely a sub, and some type I've never seen before! That thing's huge!"
*The enemy has surfaced?*
"Affirmative."
*......... What's your weapons status?*
The helicopter pilot checked over his display and scanned over all the deployment information, double-checking his craft's combat readiness. "Torpedoes one and two are good to go, but I advise we move out deeper into the bay before deployment. The water looks deep enough, and we're a lot closer to that thing than we need to be, but we're just passing over the docks now; I can't promise we won't hit a civilian structure or something if we deploy now."
*Affirmative Zeta Leader, continue on your present course. What's the status of the enemy vessel?*
The pilot keyed the zooming function on his flight helmet, and he frowned at what he saw.
"There's some kind of huge bulge on the front part of the vessel, command. And its moving. Also, I think they're deploying some kind of radar antennae right behind it... well, it looks like a radar antennae. Sort of."
*If they've deployed radar, it's inconceivable that they haven't detected your approach. They may have something else in store. Proceed with caution, and deploy munitions as soon as you deem it safe!*
"Roger that, command."
The pilot grimaced as the bulge on the sub's bow continued to swell, the armor plates disjointing as the weapon broke free of its protective housing and expanded to its necessary dimensions.
*Psht!* *Zeta Leader, this is Zeta Two. I believe we can safely deploy our weapons now.*
"Roger that. All units-" he stopped short as a flash of angry red came from the "radar antennae" of the submarine. "Oh, hell..."

*BWEEEEOOO!* A lance of crimson energy stabbed directly into the engine mount below the rotor of the helicopter leading the formation, and the craft shook violently for a second before it detonated in a cloud of flame and shrapnel.
The copter following it tried to back away from the explosion, but began to wind around in a tailspin as several large pieces of the lead aircraft struck the rotor at an accelerated velocity.

*This is Zeta Three! Mayday! Mayday! It's coming right-*
The rest of the communication turned to static as the second helicopter swung tail-first into the third, causing the last craft's rotor blades to snap as they struck the main body of its partner vehicle.
The leader of the Theta wing gulped as he watched the two entangled vehicles plummet into the bay, thankfully without an explosion. It would be a difficult swim, but the pilots just might survive.
"Command, this is Theta Leader! That thing has some kind of damned laser on it!"
*Theta Leader, I swear to God, if you were drinking before takeoff-*
*That's a negative, command. Theta Two confirms that Zeta Wing was wiped out with a red beam originating from the target. Wouldn't be surprised if that thing started flying, at this point.*
"Command, Theta Wing is holding position at the edge of the bay and awaiting orders." The pilot sighed heavily, sweat already dripping down his brow. How did terrorists that rushed into heavy combat with AK-47s and Molotov Cocktails get ahold of weapons like this?
*Theta Leader, this is Theta Two! Looks like that laser's charging up again!*
"Shit! Evasive maneuvers!"
*BWEEEEOOO!* Once again the laser beam struck metal armor as the copter suddenly rose, and the pilot gasped as the searing ray cut across the edge of his cockpit, blowing through the canopy glass but dissipating before any more damage was done.
The man grunted as some of the air was sucked out of the cockpit, and pulled his craft away. "This is Theta Leader! I'm hit, and I've lost pressure, but I still have flight control. Theta Wing is withdrawing immediately."
*Theta Leader, are you sure you can't go around and strike the enemy vessel?*
"Negative, command! It's too close to shore! Recommending tactical missile strike!"
*Against a submarine? Assuming it couldn't strike the missile with this "laser", it could submerge long before impact!*
"I don't know what to tell you, command! We're sure as hell not going to take it out!"
*BWEEEEOOO!* The lead pilot winced as the beam struck out again, cutting a line across the rear of the craft just beside him. The helicopter shook, but it remained in control as the beam again dissipated.
*This is Theta Three, I'm hit! I'm losing power fast, but I think I can make a landing first!*
"Roger that, Three, just get out of there alive." He sighed as he watched one of his wingmen steadily lose altitude. "Looks like that thing loses power with range. We might be able to get to a safe observation distance."
*Theta Leader, this is Theta Two. Funny you should mention observation, sir. Take a look back.*
Grimacing, the lead pilot swung his craft around to the right, exposing the undamaged side of his craft as he zoomed his visor in on the terrorist warship.
"Sweet mother of God..." he almost whimpered as he saw the bulge from earlier sprout a gigantic barrel as it slowly turned on its turret chassis toward the shore.
"What the hell kind of submarine is that?!"
*This is Theta Two! Emergency! The target has a large artillery cannon aimed toward the city! It looks like-*

*THOOM!!*
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Did you hear something?"
The man who had been designated and hastily trained to fly one of the helicopters during the attack froze in the middle of lighting his cigarette. "What? What'd you hear?"
The other terrorist's eyes narrowed as he looked toward the bay, and the pilot followed his gaze.
Both men smirked as one of the buildings in the city's midst suddenly burst into a haze of flame, and within moments the distant object sunk below the skyline, consumed in a cloud of gray.
*Whoom!* The noise of the neocannon's devastating power reached the pair of militants a moment later, softened by the distance traveled.
"Well, it looks like they don't need us after all." The pilot shook his head as he smiled, and lowered his head as he lit the cigarette hanging from his lips.
The other man nodded. "Guess not. The Russians seem pretty good at this sort of thing."
The pilot snorted as he shook his match to put it out. "They're Russians. Pretty much all they do is drink and shoot things."
"That's a stereotype."
"Doesn't mean it's not true."
The second terrorist didn't bother to respond, and scooted away from the pilot as he puffed away at his cigarette.
"Still, we should get back to base as soon as possible."
"The radio message told us to stay grounded."
The pilot shook his head. "And I doubt they're going to bother risking to tell us when we can go; they're liable to just leave us out here, now that they have that thing in the bay deployed. I say we make a run for home while we can."
"Well, I'm afraid that time frame just expired, folks."
Both terrorists jerked to attention as the new voice approached, and they clumsily reached for the automatic rifles slung over their shoulders.
Snake just rolled his eyes as he drew his .50 caliber Desert Eagles, one in each hand. Without even rushing to take aim, he lifted the twin weapons and switched off the safeties with his thumb just as the pilot began to raise his AK-47.
*Blam!!* *Blam!!* "AAAUGH!!" "Gyah!"
The weapons expert smirked as both terrorists fell to the ground in intense pain, grasping the leg in which they had been shot desperately.
Behind him, the other former DAPC officers emerged from the trees they had been using to sneak up on the clearing.
"Why'd you just shoot them in the leg?" Ranma asked curiously. "That seems unusually merciful of you."
"It is," Snake said, kicking away the pilot's weapon as the man rolled around on the ground, "but I have a special purpose in mind here."
Snake tapped the pilot on the shoulder with the barrel of his gun, and the terrorist looked up at him through a haze of sheer agony.
"I see you were lighting up there before I shot you. Do you REALLY think so little of your life?"
The pilot blinked, still trying to stem the flow of blood from his thigh. "Huh?"
Snake shook his head. "I cannot stand by and watch as a human being so WILLINGLY destroys himself with these vile poisons! I tell you now: forsake the cigarettes forever, or I will be forced to put you out of your misery here and now!"
The pilot blinked again. "Wh-What?"
*Blam!!* The surrounding men and women winced as a good deal of the pilot's head was blown apart.
"Wrong answer," Snake said morosely, turning toward the second terrorist. "And you? Will you suffer the pain of withdrawal, or shall your suffering end here?"
The man trembled, horrified, as Snake loomed over him. "B-But I d-don't smoke!"
Snake blinked. "Oh. Nevermind then." *Blam!!*

As Tycho rushed to the waiting helicopter, Ranma approached Snake from behind. "That was horrible."
"No kidding," Snake mumbled, "I could have nailed him in the head the first time and saved a bullet."
Ranma sweatdropped. "Yeah, right, you're way too merciful. That's just what I was thinking."
"Well, stop all that thinking and come on; that submarine isn't go to blow itself up," Asuka said, grabbing the two men by the arms and pulling them toward the waiting vehicle.
"Well, that'll be a problem, Captain," Tycho said as he climbed into the pilot's seat. "There's only room for four people here. Unless-"
"Snake, Ranma, you pile in the back. I'll sit in the front with Tycho." Asuka said immediately, cutting off their pilot's explanation.
Kyle blinked. "Well, what should we do?"
The former Captain turned toward her remaining companions. "Kyle, you take Tiro and sweep the area for any more FAs. Shoot them on sight, but retreat at the first sign of police or Core forces. Junko, Sakura, I want you two to get to the bay and get a boat. Even if we make it to the sub, we may not be able to use the copter to get away from it, so I want you to get as close as you think is safe."
Junko shook her head. "I don't know, Captain... are you sure this is such a good idea?"
Asuka frowned. "I'm sure this isn't a good idea. So?"
"Well, it's just that..." Sakura began to unroll the plans that Tiro had recovered, and then pointed to the point in the bay labeled "Vortex", "there's this big ring around the submarine labeled 'aircraft death zone'. Aren't you kind of worried about that?"
The former captain smirked. "Don't worry! With Tycho at the controls, our chances of getting to the sub alive are slim to none with or without enemy defenses!"
Kyle laughed. "Ha! Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor, Captain!"
The group shared a brief chuckle, which was cut short as another flash of light came from the distance, near the edge of Tokyo, followed moments later by the softened noise of the detonation.
"............ Uh, you WERE joking, weren't you?" Sakura asked nervously.
"Shut up and do your job, Tekai."
"Er, yes ma'am."

After making sure that her other subordinates were on their way, Asuka climbed into the co-pilot's seat and turned around to face Ranma and Snake. "Move out the moment we touch the surface of the craft! It's going to stay surfaced until all of its bombardment targets are destroyed, so beyond actually getting to the sub itself, we should have plenty of time to get in! Ranma, you're going to open the hatch for the rest of us! Snake, you're going to take point and head for the engine room, where you'll lay down your explosives! Ranma, you head to the front and place your charges near the bridge! I'll take the torpedo room! Tycho will stay with the chopper and guard our extraction point!"
"Right!"
"Good to go!"
Asuka frowned as the sound of the engine finally began, and the rotors of the helicopter blade started to spin.
"Hey, Tycho! Are you sure you know how to fly this thing?!"
The DA's premiere driver grinned as he brought the propellers up to speed, and then took firm hold of the control stick. "Is the Pope Mormon?!"
Asuka blinked. "What?! No, he's not!"
"Too late," Tycho mumbled, pulling back on the stick. Hard.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

Tiro winced as he watched the helicopter rocket away into the sky, flying in all manner of wild circles and crazy arcs that he was positive the craft wasn't designed for.
"Do you think they'll be okay?" Tiro asked nervously.
Kyle raised an eyebrow as he hefted his shotgun. "Me? No, I don't think they'll be okay at all."
Tiro sweatdropped. "Okay... do you think they'll at least come back alive?"
Kyle stopped and scratched his chin. "Well... Ranma, maybe. But I'm pretty sure everybody else is gonna die."
Tiro twitched. "Do you think they'll at least accomplish their mission?!"
"If they manage to crash their burning wreckage of a helicopter into the enemy unit...... probably not."
Tiro grit his teeth. "Okay, fine! Do you have ANYTHING positive to say about this mission?"
Kyle looked back toward the helicopter, which was now moving in large dipping motions. "Hmmmm... technically, they're going in the right direction...... sort of."
__________________________________________________________________________________

{"General, observation post seven confirms target's destruction. The Prime Minister's mansion has been reduced to dust and ash."}
Igov grinned and began to trace a path to the next target with his remaining hand. {"It is unlikely that the Prime Minister or his family was there once the alert was called, but it is a symbolic strike."}
The cyborg general tapped a finger on the next target. {"Ah, yes. Core Headquarters."}
The First Mate raised an eyebrow. {"General, that structure is fairly low to the ground, and there are many tall buildings on all sides. At the very least, we'll need to eliminate... four structures to reach the enemy stronghold,"} he explained, quickly scanning the details of the city map they were using for their attack plan.
Igov's organic eyebrow rose. {"Well then, I will give you six shots to destroy the HQ."} He grinned. {"Feel free to impress me."}
{"It still seems like a waste, Sir. You yourself have impressed upon us how we must conserve the neocannon's ammunition... and after losing all the Prometheus units when their ammo supplies were full..."}
{"It is a waste, indeed,"} Igov admitted, shrugging. {"But I have chosen my masters in this world, and they have chosen our targets. We are to smash their strength while they are still gaping at our power, and then we will ravage this broken nation!"}
The men in the submarine could feel an almost tangible energy in the air as their leader spoke, and the soldiers began their tasks with renewed concentration and focus.
{"Neocannon loaded! Rotating to attack vector 77-D9!"}
{"Internal pressure is stable... beginning pressure lock sequence!"}
{"Recoil dampeners are functioning at 94%! Internal stability is within acceptable operations parameters!"}
{"Firing neocannon!"}
*Bwoom!* A dull echo of the artillery cannon's firing sequence rang throughout the submarine interior, and the structure groaned as the power of the cannon's recoil threatened to tear the vessel apart.
{"Firing cycle complete! Recoil dampeners functioning at 90%! Pressure locks are holding!"}
{"Reloading sequence in progress, General."}
The communications officer walked over to the map of the city and scribbled out one of the boxes between the Vortex and Core HQ. {"Observation post three indicates that the structure behind this one is heavily damaged, but intact enough to detonate the next shell warhead."}
Igov nodded. {"Continue firing."}
{"... Ah! General! We have incoming aircraft!"}
Several of the men on board turned to look at the radar officer.
{"Planes?"} Igov asked, chewing his lower lip. Though it was possible to strike fast-moving aircraft and even large missiles with the laser tower, it was extremely difficult, and his crew was still inexperienced with the weapon.
The soldier manning the laser tower frowned. {"General, I have visual; it's one of the terrorists' helicopters!"}
Igov cocked his head to one side. {"Oh? It belongs to the terrorists?"}
{"I am certain, General! It has all the equipment the Light Observation Helicopters were dispatched with, and carries no torpedo armaments!"}
Igov frowned as the other soldiers turned sailors looked to him for orders.
{"Communications officer..."}
The man stood at attention. {"Yes, General?"}
{"Patch me through to the approaching craft, and hold the neocannon ready to fire."}
{"Yes, General!"}
__________________________________________________________________________________

"FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY, SLOW DOWN!!"
Tycho winced as Asuka screamed in his ear, and grit his teeth. "If I knew HOW, I would, okay?! Just be glad we're not doing those corkscrew turns any more!"
Ranma scratched his head as he looked outside, watching the docks of the bay approach rapidly. "I dunno, I kind of liked those."
"Well, that's to be expected of someone who pulls several Gs just jogging to the bank," Snake muttered, clutching his bag of plastic explosives. "I mean, I like roller coasters, but this is ridiculous!"
"Oh, stop your whining," Tycho muttered as he began to push buttons at random, "I'm getting us where we want to go, right?"
"Hell?" Asuka mumbled, holding her stomach.
"What did I just say about whining?"
*Psht!*
"Eh? What's that?" Tycho asked, blinking at the sudden burst of static.
*This is General Yutchzky, Captain of Vortex submarine. Unknown craft, identify yourself!*
Tycho gulped. "Okay... I can handle this..." Before Asuka could stop him, the driver reached forward and pushed a button next to the speaker.
*Ka-chunk!* *Ka-chunk!*
Ranma blinked as he heard two loud noises from either side of him, and then looked back as the LOH's weapon pods disengaged from the wings and plummeted into the bay. "Well, there go the rockets."
"Let me handle this, you moron!" Asuka shouted, slapping Tycho's hand away from the radio.
Before she could take control of the radio herself, however, Snake leaned forward and snatched up the microphone himself. "This is Serpent Flight calling Vortex, we have a shipment of C-4 to deliver to... let's see... I have... 'up your ass'. I repeat, a delivery of-" *Whack!*
Asuka growled as she dug her elbow deeper into Snake's face. "Give... me... that!"
Before the weapons expert could do so, Ranma snatched up the mouthpiece and pulled it back with him. "Hey, Yutchzky, is it? I was wondering, what's up with all the stupid-looking machines, huh? I mean, first, those gigantic robots with huge flamethrowers on the front, and now a submarine with a turret? I mean, seriously, I feel like I'm fighting something out of Aerofighters, here." Ranma dodged to the side as Asuka lunged for the microphone. "You ever play that? It's an arcade game, where you-*Dodge*-blow up all these giant machines with this little bi-plane that has lasers-*Dodge*-or something. It's actually-*Dodge*-a lot of fun. Do they have-*Dodge*- video games in Russia, or does everyone just have to settle for shooting each other for real?"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Igov sweatdropped heavily as the transmission continued, and his crew looked at him in confusion, none of them having any comprehension of what was going on.
*GIVE ME THAT MICROPHONE, YOU IDIOT!!* Blasted out of the radio, and much of the crew winced from the volume.
*But I'm not done making fun of him yet! Hey! Leggo! OW!!*
The Russian general put down his own mouthpiece and scratched his head (as he still only had one arm to do either). Then he shrugged. {"Communications, end transmission."}
{"Yes General!"}
Igov frowned. His Japanese wasn't good enough to decipher what it was that the intruders wanted to do with his ass, but he was fairly certain that the sentence had mentioned bombs as well, and that was an ominous combination if he ever heard one.
{"Prepare to fire the laser tower. Keep the neocannon on standby."}
The First Mate blinked. {"General? Is that not one of our allies' craft?"}
The cyborg grunted. {"Better to err on the side of caution, friend. FIRE!!"}
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Erk!" Asuka gulped as the tower atop the rapidly approaching submarine began to glow. "Evasive maneuvers! NOW!!"
"Gotcha!" Tycho shouted, smashing his palm onto the control panel.
*Ch-chunk!* "Gyah!" The entire craft suddenly shook violently, and Asuka nearly smashed into the door as the entire helicopter began to turn counter-clockwise far faster than was safe.
"Wh-What the hell did you do?!"
"I haven't a damn clue!" Tycho shouted, shaking the controls and somewhat curious to why they weren't responding.
Ranma, who was more used to perilous situations where he was just moments away from death, frowned and looked up at the motor, where he thought the earlier sound had come from. "Er... the, uh, blades aren't moving... I think you locked them in place or something."
Tycho blinked. "Well, crap."
*BWEEEEOOO!*
__________________________________________________________________________________

{"Wh-What?! It's a miss!"}
Igov jerked his head over toward the power control station. {"You missed?!"}
The man began to sweat. {"Th-They suddenly lost altitude! Extending power feedback! We'll slice them in two!"} Quickly activating the necessary controls before the power surge to the tower let up, he rolled the laser arc down, sending the beam in a lethal vertical sweep.
Radar control sweatdropped. {"The hell?! What is that thing doing? It's all over the place!"}
{"Another miss!"} The power control officer said through clenched teeth. {"They're in a tailspin now! Damn it!"}
Igov's organic eye narrowed as the man once again attempted to correct the arc of the beam. {"No! Disengage the weapon! Sustaining the laser this long will cause a-"}
*Brzack!* *Crackle!* "Gaah!" The soldier manning the power control station jumped from his seat as sparks began to shoot out of the console.
Igov's organic eye went from narrowed to twitching. {"... Will cause a feedback surge... *Sigh*"}
The First Mate swallowed nervously. {"General?"}
{"Get some men topside immediately,"} The cyborg said neutrally, well aware of the damage to morale that signs of exasperation and panic could cause. {"I want radar stations on the alert! We no longer have protection against air units. We must finish the bombardment and dive!"}
He looked back over at the power control station, and winced as he saw that the controls pertaining to the laser tower had gone dark. 'These weapons are powerful indeed... but unreliable.' Then he began to rub his chin. 'Still, to evade such a weapon... I am impressed. The pilot of that craft must possess skill with no equal!'
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Ugh... wrong... button..." Tycho murmured, his head throbbing as he laid belly-up on top of the pilot's door.
His position would seem unusual, if it were not understood that in fact the entire helicopter now rested on the pilot's side of the craft. Or, at least, what was left of it did.
Tycho would have taken the time to catalogue how much damage he had done to their ride and how he had ended up crash-landing on something solid in the middle of a body of water, but was currently having a hard time dealing the intense pain in his entire upper torso in skull, as well as some soft but relatively heavy object that had fallen on top of him.
The object began to stir. All of Tycho's remaining mental functions (as in both of them) went to yellow alert, and the driver raised his head up.
Asuka groaned as she took stock of what had happened, her cognitive faculties returning to her much faster than Tycho's did. "R-Ranma?"
Tycho chuckled weakly, and lightly ran a hand over Asuka's head, which was resting on his chest, to smooth back her hair. "No, not this time Captain."
"Oh... Tycho?"
The driver couldn't help but grin, enjoying his present position immensely. "Captain?"
He didn't like it nearly as much when the blue-haired woman clamped a hand around his neck and started to squeeze.
"Ca-Cap... Captain?!" He gasped out.
Asuka held on to his throat as she pushed herself off of him, and only released her hold once she was sitting upright on top of him. Then she pulled back her fist.
*Thwack!*
"Next time, tell me when you don't know how to use something BEFORE you use it!" Asuka growled.
Tycho whimpered as blood began to dribble from his nose. "Yeth ma'am. Thorry ma'am."
Getting up unsteadily, the former captain grimaced. "Looks like we made a really bad landing... but at least you managed to get the rotors spinning again. I think we actually managed to crash on the submarine rather than the water."
Tycho mumbled something unintelligible as he kept holding his nose.
"What was that?" Asuka asked, looking around the mutilated interior. 'Odd... Ranma and Snake aren't here...'
"Uhm... nothing."
Asuka glared at him. "You know Wattai, lying on the floor like that after a copter crash, it would be quite simple to break something important and claim it was injured in the impact."
Tycho gulped, and took his hand off his nose as the bleeding stopped. "Uh... I was... I was actually trying to hit the 'eject' button."
*Crunch!*
"OH, SWEET JESUS #&$%ING MARY MY HAND!!!"

Before much more violence could be committed, the helicopter shook slightly, and the top (formerly known as the right door) opened up.
"Hey, if you two are awake, stop killing each other and help us out, here!" Ranma shouted down into the craft, and reached down with his hand so that he could hoist them up.
Asuka smiled slightly at the sight of him. "Should have figured you'd be all right. Careful now!" She grabbed his hand and found herself lifted entirely out of the wreckage.
After hopping down off the copter to put Asuka down, Ranma hopped back up and put his hand down for Tycho. "All right, you're next!"
*Groan...*
Ranma blinked. "Hey man, what's up? You hit your head or something?"
"He'll need some extra help getting out," Asuka muttered, "he took a real beating."

The former police captain gazed over the top of the Vortex submarine as Ranma helped Tycho, and grimaced at the sheer size of the cannon mounted on the front.
Other than that, the surface of the vessel was mostly flat and very stable; Asuka had to guess that most of the sub's size could be attributed to modifications in armor.
'Which won't mean squat if the inside is ripped to shreds,' she thought, smirking.
The only other object of interest besides the hatch was a four-foot antennae with some sort of crystal apparatus on top that had several cables trailing out of it. Snake was kneeling next to that same device, obviously impressed.
At the moment, though, Asuka didn't care about the terrorist Russians possessing laser technology. "Okay, I'm not really surprised that Ranma survived the crash, but how the hell did you get up here so fast?"
Snake looked over at her, and raised an eyebrow. "Saotome grabbed me and braced himself against the door. Besides being a little jarred, we were fine." He poked at the unresponsive laser tower. "Too bad you insisted on taking the front; it didn't look like fun, being squashed up against Wattai like that."
Asuka was just deciding whether to come up with a scathing, witty response or strangle Snake with one of the machine's wires when a squeaking noise came from the center of the submarine.
"The hatch! You didn't get the hatch open?!" Asuka said, fumbling for her sidearm.
Snake calmly snapped up a grenade from his belt, not taking his eyes off the laser emitter. "Nah, it was locked, and apparently Ranma still isn't able to make things explode by poking them, no matter what he says." Pulling the pin, Snake placed the armed explosive on the topside floor and then absently rolled it toward the hatch.
Asuka stepped out of the way hurriedly, and then winced as the hatch popped open.
{"You there!"} The Russian soldier shouted, spotting the blue haired woman. {"Don't mo-huh?"} The man was quite distracted when something rolled onto his arm and then fell down into the interior below, and he took an unwise moment to stare down the ladder when he really should have been keeping a bead on Asuka.
Not that it really mattered, ultimately. *BOOM!!*
Snake stood up and stretched as the hatch fell down heavily, the man holding it open having lost his footing after being punctured by several fragmentation shards.
"Well, hatch is open, and this stupid thing is fried, for some reason. I'd say it's time to sink this ship."
Asuka nodded as Ranma approached behind her, carrying Tycho over his shoulder. "You have your orders! Let's move!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

{"I'm telling you, I heard an explosion back here! We should inform General Yutchzky immediately!"}
{"And I'm telling YOU,"} the Captain explained to his subordinate, {"that you're being ridiculous. You just mistook a neocannon recoil for an explosion or something."}
{"That's not what it was!"} The soldier protested as the other man led him through the bowels of the submarine toward the main hatch.
{"Of course you don't think so. But the General is very busy right now, and cannot be bothered with such trivial things as-"} *BLAM!!*
The rest of the Captain's assurance was lost quite ironically as he was thrown backward from the shotgun blast, and the remaining soldier reflexively ducked behind a bulkhead for cover.
"Hey! I saw you there! Don't think you can hide from me!" Snake shouted, cocking the shotgun. "Get out here and die like a Communist!"
Rather than trying for his gun, the soldier wordlessly ripped a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin.
{"Go to hell, Japanese filth!"} With a grunt he jumped to the opposite wall and hurled the grenade, satisfied that no matter what, his enemy wouldn't be able to get away in time.
Snake blinked, then moved to the side slightly as the explosive approached, gripping his shotgun tightly with both hands.
*Clang!*
The Russian soldier stared with wide eyes as he watched the vigilante invader strike his grenade with his shotgun, sending the explosive back to its origin as one would send a baseball back toward its pitcher.
{"Who... Who ARE you people?"} *BOOM!!*
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Hiyah!" *Thwack!* Asuka struck the approaching soldier hard in the chest before he realized that anyone was behind the pressure tank, and the bluette followed up with a knee strike to the man's head before he could even THINK of reaching for his rifle.
His companion had plenty of time to do just that, however, and had his weapon primed and the safety off just as the DA's former captain raised her own sidearm to the attack.
*Blam!* *Brap!* One weapon discharged a bare moment after the first, and Asuka gulped as she heard the sound of a bullet ricocheting off the bulkheads behind her.
*Thud* The second soldier slumped to the ground, dead.
Trying to shake off the feeling that (sane) people get when a lethal projectile speeds past just centimeters from their head, Asuka rigidly moved forward toward the torpedo bays, her hand moving toward the pouch hanging from her belt.
"I can't believe that Snake actually gets off on this sort of thing..." she muttered, pulling out the blocks of plastic explosive and sticking them into the crooks between the torpedoes. "Well... actually, I guess I can," she admitted, plugging the detonator into the clay-like block, "but it's still crazy."
She finished arming the explosives, then ducked behind the bulkhead door, pulling out her radio. "Snake, this is Takami! Do you read?"
*Gotcha Cap'n. I'm all done here. You?*
"Yeah. We'll detonate the moment we're off this thing. Ranma? Have you set your explosives yet?"
Asuka waited for him to respond, then frowned when nothing came. "Ranma, this is Takami. Do you read?"
She waited some more. Nothing.
"RANMA!! Come in! This is Taka... uh... this is Asuka! Captain Asuka! Do you read me?!"
*Uh... Captain?*
"Ranma?!" Asuka asked eagerly, glad that he was all right.
*No, it's Snake again.*
"Oh," she mumbled, suddenly downcast.
*Well, I was just thinking... did we ever give Saotome a walkie-talkie?*
"........................" The former captain didn't speak for an extended period of time, her left eye twitching in irritation.
*BREEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!* *BREEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!* *BREEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!*
"Gyah!" Asuka jumped back as an alarm suddenly sounded, almost banging her head on the bulkhead behind her as red lights started to flash from concealed areas in the walls.
"D-Dammit... we run around in here killing off their guys... even if they are really light on crew, of COURSE they're going to notice..."
She picked up the radio again. "Snake, Ranma, whoever can hear me, let's get OUT of here!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

*BREEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!* *BREEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!* *BREEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!*
Ranma sweatdropped as the alarms began blaring all around him, and went back to staring at the gray block he held in his hands.
"Aw man... what did Snake say to do after you put the detonator in?" His crash course in arming timed and remote explosives was not going well, and he was unsure of whether a mistake might cause the bomb in his hands to go off prematurely.
Unfortunately, this was neither the time nor the place for hesitation.
*Clank!* Ranma froze as the bulkhead door in front of him opened up, and bigsweated at what he saw.
Igov's cybernetic eye glowed an angry red as he stared at the pigtailed man who nervously held a block of C-4 before him. Behind the man was a trail of the unconscious bodies of Igov's soldiers.
The General turned toward the men backing him up as they all lined up shots at the pigtailed man. {"Leave! Now!"}
His Colonel looked shocked. {"But, General! He-"}
{"Go, Colonel,"} Igov commanded stonily. {"This foe is beyond you. And this vessel has been compromised. Order the evacuation immediately!"}
{"Yes General!"} The Colonel shouted, running off in the opposite direction.

Ranma scratched his forehead. He had no real idea what was going on, but now instead of facing several men with guns he was facing one man who was missing an arm. Didn't seem fair, really.
"You done well to come so far, fool," Igov said, clenching his right hand into a fist. "But here interference ends by steel hand of the Red Death."
Ranma scratched his head some more. "Didn't we meet in chapter 9?"
Igov coughed meaningfully into his fist. "No, actually. You were not there to meet Igov that time."
"Oh. My mistake." Then he cocked his head to one side. "What happened to your arm?"
The cyborg's organic eye twitched. "Would rather spend time it takes to explain arm... KILLING YOU!!" And with that, his remaining arm burst into a chaotic whirlwind of wires and steel.
__________________________________________________________________________________

*BLAM!!* *Ch-chak!* *BLAM!!*
Snake jumped over the falling corpse of his latest victim as he raced for the main hatch, the sounds of heavy boots on metal echoing from all over the submarine.
Kicking open a bulkhead door, the weapons expert raised his shotgun for the attack, realizing only a split second in time that he was aiming at his captain as she climbed out through the main hatch.
Not bothering to call out to her, he rushed for the ladder himself, idly arming and dropping a smoke grenade at the base of the escape hatch.
{"There they are!"}
{"The intruders! Don't let them escape!"}
Snake was just about to drop down into the smoke to try and take out their pursuers, when a strong hand grabbed him by the back of his jacket and pulled him up topside just as the soldiers below opened fire.
The weapons expert blinked as he was yanked out of the hatch, and barely managed to keep his balance as he was shoved clear.
Tycho blinked as well, upon seeing his two former superior officers emerge in such a hurry. "Hey, what's up? Is everything armed?"
"Shut up and jump!" Asuka shouted, turning away from Snake and making a mad dash for the edge of the submarine.
"Wh-Wha?" Tycho gaped as the blue-haired woman zipped past, and stumbled to his feet (still cradling his hand) just before Snake rushed up and shoved him into the water.
After satisfying himself that Tycho wouldn't hit the side of the sub instead of the water, Snake pulled out his detonator and leapt.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma raised an eyebrow as Igov's arm was reformed into a functional machine gun. "Hmph. If you had two, then I MIGHT be impressed."
"Igov DID have two," the cyborg groused, "but is not important now." He took straight aim at Ranma's head. "You are strong. Igov senses this. But you not leave vessel alive."
Ranma snorted and tossed his C-4 to the side. "Yeah, whatever. Do you want me to tie an arm behind my back so that this is even REMOTELY fair?"
"War is not fair," the General said neutrally, "loved ones are lost, nations burnt, and irreplaceable treasures are turn to dust. You give chance, display weakness, and all is lost." His eye glowed once more. "Now... you..."
*KAAAAKROOOOOOOOM!!!!*
__________________________________________________________________________________

"YEEHAH!!" Snake shouted as he resurfaced above the water, feeling the waves from the explosion toss him about. "Oh yeah! That's the stuff!"
Asuka had more of a mind for survival, and dove as she swam away from the torrential downpour of flaming wreckage.
When she finally surfaced, she was pleasantly surprised to see a small power boat sputtering toward them with a distant patch of red and yellow to indicate the hair color of the drivers.
"Oh, thank God..." Until they were sure that the sub had been destroyed, Core wouldn't risk allowing any helicopters into the air, including rescue or medical ones. Besides that, she would have very much preferred NOT to get any credit for this whole operation that might lead to questions of how a civilian would get ahold of firearms and plastic explosives.
Snake came up from behind her, gasping for breath as he drug the largely insensate Tycho along with him. "Let's hurry up and get out of here! This guy's heavy!"
"Wait a minute!" Asuka suddenly shouted, swimming over to where the other two men were. "Where's Ranma?"
Snake swam in place for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face.
Asuka grabbed Tycho and shook him. "Wattai! Snap out of it! Where's Ranma?!"
Tycho blinked. "R-Ranma? He... didn't come out... before you did... and then..." he trailed off groggily.
Snake sweatdropped as Asuka's eyes widened, and let go of his semi-conscious baggage as he slowly began to float away...
"YOU BASTARD!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

Sakura blinked as some commotion started in the area where she spotted Asuka, and then sweatdropped as she watched a figure approach the boat at top swimming speed, as if it were trying to get away from a man-eating shark, or similarly lethal sea creature.
"HELP ME HELP ME GET ME OUTTA HERE SHE'S GONNA KILL ME PLEASE HELP ME GET HER AWAY FROM-"
Junko and Sakura looked at each other as Snake swam desperately for the speed boat, and then shrugged and held their arms out for the terrified man to grab on to.
He wasted no time in doing so as soon as he was within arm's reach, and quickly hoisted himself up into the boat.
Or, would have, if Asuka hadn't made a final sprint forward and latched on to his leg.
"GYAAH!! SHE'S GOT ME!! OH, SWEET GOD, WHY?!?!"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!!"
Sakura and Junko winced badly at the exchange, and put more effort into trying to keep their captain from drowning their lieutenant.
"Captain, please, calm down!" Sakura begged, rather afraid of being dragged down into the bay along with Snake, the way Asuka was tugging at him.
"NO WAY!! YOU KNEW!! YOU KNEW AND YOU STILL BLEW THAT THING!!"
"It's not my fault!" Snake cried, trying to get a better grip on the rear seat of the boat. "You told me to blow it up as soon as we were clear!"
"YES!! 'WE' INCLUDED RANMA, YOU ASS!!"
Sakura and Junko froze.
"W-Wait a minute," the former said unsteadily, a slight tremor to her voice. "Where is Ranma?"
"Well, depending on the angle of his trajectory," Snake began, "he's either lodged in the bottom of the pacific ocean, or he's been launched into the Kanto region."
There was a very uncomfortable silence as all pulling and struggling stopped, and a slight glow began to envelope all three women.
"It was probably a bad idea not to pass up that opening, huh?" Snake asked, bigsweating.
"WHY... YOU... LITTLE-" Sakura began to shove him back into the waters of the bay, when Junko laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Sakura, no. Not like this." Shaking her head, the redhead grabbed Snake's arm and pulled him fully into the boat, letting the man land face-down on the bottom.
Then she cracked her knuckles. "Just drowning would be too kind. We should beat him first."
"Amen, sister," Asuka growled, stepping out of the water.
Snake whimpered as the three women loomed over him, their auras burning brightly and ready to commit unspeakable acts of righteous vengeance in the name of their fallen friend. "I d-don't suppose it would help to bring up how we saved the city, would it?"
"No, not really," Asuka said, grabbing the weapons expert by the front of his soggy jacket and hauling him up. "But if you want some form of consolation, this isn't going to hurt you nearly as much as you hurt Ranma."
*Goosh!* *Cough!* *Cough!* *Gasp!* "You got that right!"
The four passengers inside the boat blinked as they recognized the voice, and Asuka quickly threw Snake back down.
"RANMA?!?!"
*Thump!* Tycho's unconscious body landed haphazardly on the edge of the boat, his head and arms falling limply on the rear seat cushions while his legs still dangled over the ladder mounted on the back of the vessel.
The three women all blinked.
*Thud!* A moment later Tycho's legs were lifted over the edge, and the driver's waterlogged body fell heavily onto the floor of the boat right next to Snake.
A moment after that, Ranma's hand grasped the same spot Tycho's body had occupied, and the pigtailed man gasped for air as he pulled himself up.
"Now *Pant* I can *Pant* understand leaving *Pant* ME behind, *Pant* but what's the deal *Pant* just leaving Tycho *Pant* out there to drown?" Ranma gasped out, shaking slightly as he hauled himself up with one arm.
"OMIGOSH!! RANMA!!"
"YOU'RE ALIVE!!"
"ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!"
Ranma twitched. "No, I'm NOT all right!" he snapped, glaring slightly as the girls grabbed hold of his arm and shoulders and pulled him up into the boat.
Snake breathed a sigh of relief, both for his friend's well-being as well as his own (he DID like Ranma, no matter how willing he was to destroy something with the man still inside). Surprisingly, the pigtailed man didn't look too bad. Aside from a great many abrasions, several relatively shallow cuts, and minor burns all over the left side of his body, he looked just fine. Well, and he appeared to have almost suffocated, but alongside everything else, that seemed to be rather minor and temporary medical issue.
Then Snake blinked as he realized that Ranma was carrying something in one arm. "Is that... a machine gun?"
Ranma tossed the articulated weapon on the floor of the boat disgustedly. "Machine gun arm, actually. I took it from some guy after the sub exploded. But that's not really important."
Brushing off the concerned questions and expressions from Sakura and Junko, Ranma stood up, walked over to Snake, and kicked him solidly in the side.
"Oof!" Snake winced, and curled up slightly from the blow, but otherwise remained silent, knowing that he had escaped a far worse beating at the hands of the women.
"Snake," Ranma growled, "STOP BLOWING ME UP!!"
"Eh heh heh..." Snake chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head as he sat up. "Uh, sorry about that. Really."
"I'm serious!" Ranma fumed. "The first time with the mines, at least you didn't pull the trigger yourself. The second time, it was your clone, and... well... technically, I blew myself up. But it was your clone's fault!" Then he crossed his arms over his chest. "I only survived because I couldn't remember how to arm the C-4 you gave me! If I had armed the stuff that was lying next to me..."
Ranma suddenly felt a hand squeeze his shoulder, and turned, surprised, to see Asuka smiling at him.
"All that matters now is that you're alive, Saotome." Still smiling faintly, she turned toward Junko. "Chikiko, get us to shore, preferably away from any dispatch units that will be looking for survivors from the sub's wreckage. Tekai, slap our gallant pilot around until he wakes up."
Both the girls wordlessly went about their orders, and Ranma sat down next to Snake as the boat began to speed away from the patches of debris that had floated to the surface.
"This still isn't over," Ranma muttered, "but with those documents I found, I should be able to get Yujikata out of Core for good, and probably jailed."
Snake snorted. "Not executed?"
Ranma shrugged. "I dunno. I don't think the proof is that strong, really. But hopefully it should keep him from giving any orders for a while."
Snake rolled his eyes, and then patted the pigtailed man lightly on the back (being careful to avoid any injured areas.) "Ranma, Ranma, Ranma. So strong, so tough, and yet, such a sissy."
Ranma glared at him. "Okay, fine. How would YOU deal with this, then?"
Snake grinned.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Goda Yujikata drove slowly down the lightly wooded road to his home in the suburbs, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead even as the heavy air conditioning chilled the air inside the car.
They knew. They all knew. They all knew, but they had no proof. Nothing but a ridiculous-sounding second-hand story. Yet it all made enough sense that they had tried to lock him down.
He had gotten out, though. Dodged their questions and interrogations, deflected as much suspicion as he could manage, and called in several favors from his father's friends to ensure that he wouldn't be spending the night in a tightly monitored cell in Core HQ. It was all he could do, though; he was despised enough among the ranks that he was certain he'd never command a squad again, no matter how stupid and far-fetched the accusation sounded. Certain people would come forward and bring his record of non-leadership to light, as well as many minor screw-ups and examples of poor judgment; the remotest possibility of being an enemy agent was just the final nail in the coffin.
No, he'd never be a part of Core again. But if he played his cards right, he could still live the rest of his days in freedom, rather than solitary confinement.
Well, assuming the Freedom's Angels didn't deem him a now-useless security risk and have him assassinated.
"It's all those damn terrorists' fault," he murmured to himself, swerving slightly along the empty road as he headed toward his private burg, paid for by his father's opulence and his over-inflated Core salary. "They tricked me into this... said that it was a simple deal... low-risk... damn them!"
He slammed his fists down on the steering wheel ineffectually. "Well, if I run away now, then they'll know I'm guilty, and I'll have to hide forever... but if I stay out in the open..."
Yujikata grimaced as the myriad of possibilities swirled in his mind, and sorely wished he had the presence of mind to stop at a bar on his way home.
Unfortunately for the traitorous soldier, his lack of focus had extended to impair his driving ability. To be fair, it was dark out at this time of night, and this particular section of road next to a large park was sparsely lit, but still, he should have seen the large, fast-moving shape heading to intercept his car before it actually ran into him.
*CRUNCH!!* *Screeeeech!!* "Holy &^$%!!"
Yujikata cursed as his reflexes mixed themselves up, hitting the brakes as he also tried to turn back onto the road. This combination had the effect of causing his new Mercedes (his old one had been destroyed in the mysterious parking lot fire) to tilt over to one side, coming to a stop as it was perched just on the edge of its tires, just waiting for gravity to decide if the vehicle was to come to a rest in its normal position, or roll over onto its back.
*Smash!* Really though, gravity didn't have a damn say in the matter, as something struck the bottom of the car and caused it to immediately fall onto its side, followed by the entire vehicle falling upside-down onto the grass patch next to the street.

Yujikata panted heavily as he struggled from his restraints, feeling dizzy from the sudden impacts. He was alive, however, and hadn't hit his head on anything as the car was tossed around.
Getting his seatbelt off and getting down on his hands and knees, the suspended sergeant rolled down the passenger-side window and struggled through the opening, carefully looking for whatever it was that had attacked his car as he crawled onto the grass.
Not seeing anything, he wiped some sweat from his forehead and massaged his shoulder as he stood up to observe the engine, where the first impact had struck.
The damage was... ominous, if nothing else. Huge gashes appeared on the right side of the hood, and much of the area around it was caved in, as if he had struck a boulder... or perhaps as if a boulder had struck him.
"Dammit, this is all I need," Goda muttered, turning around.
"Tk-tk-tk-tk-tk-tk-tk..." a soft clicking noise came from Hunter's throat as the zergling advanced leisurely, his tail swaying gently back and forth.
The sergeant gaped as he suddenly began stumbling backward, his eyes wide with fear.
"Oh God! Oh God! I knew it! Those damn angels sent a mutant after me!" Yujikata hit a root with his foot and fell backwards, landing on his rear as blood red eyes bored into the pools of terror that had replaced his own. "D-Damn! No!"
Hunter advanced some more, nearing the tree that Yujikata had fallen near as the man scooted backwards, away from him. Then the killer alien twitched one of its upper arms, and in an almost lazy show of lethality, stabbed the appendage at the adjacent tree trunk.
*Thwock!* Chunks of bark and wood chips burst out of the gaping wound in the young oak, and there was a slight groan and much shaking as the abused tree struggled to remain upright with the vibrations traveling up to its branches, along with having much of its support torn apart for no reason.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGH!!!"

Finally breaking the barrier of sheer terror that had formed in his mind, Yujikata screamed and ran into the park, stumbling over darkened benches and ill-placed bushes that had the misfortune to have been placed in the opposite direction from the DA's pet zergling.
Not daring to look back, Yujikata saw some figures that were barely illuminated by a nearby streetlight, and lunged in their direction.
"HELP!! HELP ME!! PLEASE!!" Almost out of breath, the traitorous soldier rushed up to the nearest one and was about to grab ahold of the man, when he realized that it was someone he knew.
"H-Hey! You... You're the Colonel's son!"
Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. I am."
"And... And Ranma! Ranma, you're here! Thank God!!" Yujikata cried, falling to his knees.
Ranma raised an eyebrow as well. "You're happy to see me? Didn't anyone tell you about the whole story with you being a traitor?"
"It's all lies!" Yujikata gasped, throwing his hands up in the air. "I don't know what sonnuva bitch came up with that stupid story about getting a phone call from a terrorist, and they wouldn't tell me who, but I'm no traitor! I love my country! But that doesn't matter now!" He grabbed hold of Ranma's arm, and then pointed toward the interior of the park. "There's a monster after me! Some kind of mutant!"
"ACTUALLY," Ranma said, punctuating the word as he snatched his arm away from the sergeant, "he's an alien, not a mutant."
Yujikata blinked. "Wh... What?"
Kyle shook his head and then took a camcorder out from where it had been secured inside his jacket. "You've been up to some very bad things, Sarge. It's time to pay the piper, and we're the collectors."
Yujikata simply shook his head, his heart drowning in fear as comprehension began to dawn. "I... I ORDER you to go kill that... that THING!! Now!!"
Ranma snorted. "Oh, well, if you ORDER us, then sure, we'll do whatever you say!" He crossed his arms over his chest. "I got the phone call, Sarge. And I found the papers you had in the donut box in your office. The jig's up."
Rage, hatred, and sorrow were all drowned in fear as Goda's world came crumbling down around him. "You... You can't prove it!! Damn you!!" He began to crawl forward, as if he were going to attack the men. "You have the papers, not me! They're yours! And that story won't get you anywhere!" Tears began to stream down his face as the traitor lunged.
Ranma halted his lunge by planting his foot in the man's chest, and then casually kicked him away, and Yujikata grunted as he landed a few feet away on the grass.
"To tell ya the truth, you might be right," Ranma admitted, "but then again, I'm 100% sure you're a traitor. So I decided to handle this personally, without the whole 'due process of law' thing. It's easier that way."
Kyle smirked as he lifted the camcorder. "Originally we were just going to shoot you and be done with it, but then Snake had an idea as to how we could profit from all this."
"You... You can't DO this," Yujikata said, sobbing fretfully as he laid on his hands and knees. "You can't just... can't just kill me like this!"
Ranma shrugged. "Well, technically, we're not the ones killing you."
Kyle prepared to record as Ranma let out a shrill whistle.
"Yo, Hunter! Supper time!"
"Graaaugh!"
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

The next day...
*The Yujikata estate today mourns the loss of its youngest member, Sergeant Goda Yujikata of the Central Organized Response Echelon, commonly known as Core. Goda Yujikata was the son of Kumoji Yujikata, one of the most influential and respected senators in our government, as well as a personal friend of Prime Minister himself.*
The reporter gestured toward the proceedings, as a casket with the Japanese flag laid over it was hauled past. *What makes this death noteworthy was that it happened entirely APART from the numerous deaths caused by the astounding terrorist attack just yesterday that took this nation's military forces completely by surprise. All accounts place Goda Yujikata leaving Core HQ long after the attack's mysterious conclusion, and the autopsy of the Sergeant's... sparse remains have turned up some very disturbing conclusions about the cause of death. Add to the fact that it was that very same day that an investigation was launched that suspected the recently deceased of treason, and this case goes from merely mysterious to downright surreal. The Yujikata family has denied any such links, and expressed great outrage at all implications or accusations of such.*
The camera zoomed out, and the picture shrank to a small box in the corner of the screen as a news anchor appeared on the screen. *Thank you, Yamada. In other news involving Senator Yujikata, the senate was shocked today when he pushed and quickly passed a bill that reinstated the formerly disbanded Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment. The bill disbanding them was one that Senator Yujikata himself had taken great pains to see passed, despite warnings from General John Remerick and the protests of a few other military leaders. When asked to comment on his recent change of heart, the Senator had this to say:*
*I was blackmailed, you dolts! I received a video last night showing my son... MY SON being ripped apart by some kind of monster! They demanded that I write up and push this bill, or else they'd do the same thing to me! I demand that these murderers are punished! I'm certain that those idiots in the DAPC are involved, if not directly responsible! I demand vengeance for my son!*
The news anchor once again took over. *Moments after this declaration by the senator, a case was drawn up to investigate Sergeant Goda Yujikata's death, as well the blackmailing of Senator Yujikata. It was then determined that because the case involved supernatural creatures, according to the senator, that the case would be immediately transferred to the newly reinstated Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment. When asked about the case, Captain Asuka Takami had this to say:*
*Ha ha ha ha hah!! Ha ha ha ha ha hah!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!*
*Analysts are guessing that the captain is optimistic about the case. And now for the weather...*

Alexandra Tokima grit her teeth as the forecaster began to drone, and the TV remote creaked slightly as her grip around it tightened.
*Wham!* Slamming her hand on the observation table in the middle of the room, she raised a fist into the air. "DAMN YOU ALL!! THIS ISN'T OVER!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!"
"P-Pardon..."
The fiery rage in Alex's eyes subsided. "Hm?"
"Please... quiet, please... Igov trying to sleep..." the armless cyborg explained miserably, lying flat on the observation table Alex was standing in front of.
"Oh... uh, sorry..."

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

Terrorists killed: 25
Russians annihilated: 31
Robots 0wnz0red: 2
Enemy vehicles downed: 2 (if you count the helicopter)
Core vehicles lost: 23
Core personnel wasted: 26
Other personnel destroyed: 41
Civilians slaughtered: 62
Double-agents sliced, diced, and swallowed: Well, there's just the one

End Chapter 16