No subject

inaccurate to describe the relationship as being between a master and
slave. It had been... like a multitude of voices, in which the strongest
and wisest held the most weight. Within that community, that fraternity,
he had found a deep and abiding satisfaction and contentment.

It was something that even ruling over his people had not evoked in him
before. For the last couple hundred years, Saffron had felt a growing
apathy towards his Phoenix people. At first, they had been his children
(many of them literally: his children from many wives), but they lived
such short, weak, fleeting lives. When his sons died, and his grandsons
died, and the many faces of his subjects just became one long runny
blur... he began to wonder: what did they really matter? In time, he
came to see them as pets, and he cared for them as such. Like pet dogs,
they lived short lives, entertaining and serving their master.

Lately, the estrangement became even more acute.

There was a distinct bitterness to his reincarnation cycle. He was
shackled to these people, to this mountain, to this life. He was their
light, their heat, their entire world. And he knew there was a word for
the type of life they led: parasite. They were like parasites on his
body, feeding off his immense energies and crippling him with the
responsibility to keep them alive. The Mind had seen that, understood
that, and offered him a better alternative. Even now, there was
attractiveness to its proposition. Why tie yourself down to inferior
creatures? Better to be among equals, among greats, and to touch the
universe with one's own hands.

But he... couldn't.

He couldn't.

Enduring the mental examination, Saffron sat alone in his cell and
wondered what was to come. Could he really continue being King to the
people of Phoenix Mountain? The same people, the same kingdom, the same
world, he had created? His feelings were unchanged from before. It
wasn't hate, was it? No. Not really. But he pitied those people, and he
found he could no longer truly empathize with them. Perhaps not with any
human, any more. The vast stockpile of shurikomi eggs he had ordered be
gathered came to mind, along with his growing inclination to simply mind
wash the entire population.

'No. No... I can't go back to that. For all everyone's sakes...'

Saffron discretely hid his face behind his hand, slowly massaging his
temples.

'I can't. I won't!'

-----

In an adjacent cell, another recent captive's rehabilitation was not
going as well.

The being that had once been Rouge, that was now Asura, sat in a corner
of her cell. Cologne's burning seal burned brightly on each of her three
foreheads, undiminished despite confinement and isolation. Her previous
attire had since been replaced by a layered medical gown, and she sat
with her six arms wrapped tightly around her legs. To an outside
observer the possessed woman seemed completely introverted, refusing to
speak or acknowledge her surroundings.

When she had first awoken in confinement, removed from the connection of
the Alien Mind, Asura had cursed and screamed and tried to escape.
Escape was, of course, impossible for her. Rage and powerless had
quickly turned to lethargy and depression. The demon had demanded death,
and when that was refused, had even pleaded for it. Cologne's
application of the Demon Seal could not be removed, and without that
first step, most analysts had little hope for a full rehabilitation.

Unlike a true Trenchard, Asura had not undergone any significant
"Etherealification." Her mind (minds, actually) had not been physically
altered, and her body was not undergoing any atrophy. The hallmark of a
Trenchard was the development of powerful mental abilities, including a
form of telekinesis that would ultimately sustain the brain and the
expanded consciousness, divorcing it from physical needs. Tetsuya Hibiki
was an example of a Trenchard who had undergone only minute atrophy
appropriate to his short time out of confinement. Asura, however,
displayed none of the common attributes.

She seemed to have just been a powerful pawn.

It had been suggested, post-recovery, that she was simply collected as
breeding stock for future Trenchards or other alien-human hybrids. The
power of her cursed form would carry over to any offspring she had, a
fact that could have made her more useful as a brood mare than as an
actual weapon. It was impossible to tell for sure. X-COM had no
intention of weaponizing Jyusenkyou for the same reason the Chinese
government avoided the place: it was too dangerous and unpredictable. It
was called cursed and not blessed for a good reason.

Now in the hands of UNETCO, the organization was committed to Rouge's
eventual reprogramming (as they were all captured humans per the
Charter). Breaking her conditioning to the Alien Mind would not have
been terribly difficult under normal conditions. Even a clone engineered
to serve The Mind could be cleaned up and reintroduced to society with
enough work, though over the last few years most died in captivity (as
most aliens tended to do). If a subject could survive with the link to
The Mind severed, there was usually something to salvage. However, with
Asura, there was no conventional way to break through the seal Cologne
had used to control her.

She barely even looked up when someone approached her containment cell.

Shampoo watched the cursed woman carefully, a solemn expression on her
face. This wasn't the first time she had checked in on her former foe.
Locked in her cursed form, there seemed no hope for Rouge to ever
return; her entire persona seemed to have been subsumed by the powerful
demonic entity that now held dominion over her body.

It wasn't that Shampoo pitied her - that was not why the Amazon girl was
here - nor was it that she felt some form of kinship. Shampoo had a hard
heart, born from a tough life and forged by relentless trials and
training. Pity, like mercy, did not come naturally to her any more.
Neither was it satisfaction or a need to indulge her sense of
superiority. Vindictive as she could be, it was not why Shampoo came to
this cell.

She came here to remind herself.

"Only you can do this."

-----

"What do you mean, great grandmother?"

"I meant exactly what I said, Shampoo."

Cologne held her staff with just one arm, the other missing just above
the elbow. It was a stump now, but despite the disability the ancient
martial artist and Amazon held her head high and kept her bearing proud.
There were no clothes her size on the base, not a surprise considering
her diminutive stature, so she had been allowed to mend and maintain the
traditional Elder's robes she had been captured in.

The old woman had been released under special dispensation, and at the
request of Juliet and India Squads. Nonetheless, she never went anywhere
without armed escort and her movement was constantly monitored whenever
she left containment. While she had fought nobly against her
doppelganger, she had also been under the aliens' care for quite a
while, and Command knew all too well the insidious nature of Sectoid and
Ethereal conditioning. It would take time and effort before they were
ready to pronounce her as ready to leave alien containment on a
permanent basis.

X-COM did not take chances lightly.

Currently, Cologne's two guards stood warily near the Infirmary door.
Both were trained psionics, wearing personal armor and integrated psi-
amps. The Amazon Matriarch took no offense at their presence. If
anything, she was surprised and taken aback by trust placed in her to be
free at all. Her students - her former students - must have put much of
their weight into vouching for her. The thought of that filled her old
heart with a mixture of pride and shame, because she had truly betrayed
them. She had turned her back on her humanity. The Mind... it was
terrifying not because of its power to dominate, but because of its
power to persuade. And she had been persuaded, thoroughly.

She and Shampoo now stood at the foot of a medical bed. There was a
young man on life support, his chest slowly rising and lowering with
steady even breaths. His body was essentially fine, recovering from some
minor injuries and a few pressure point attacks, but his mind was locked
in on itself. For all intents and purposes, Konatsu was trapped in a
dream.

Shampoo looked down at her great grandmother in confusion, still not
understanding. She wore a professional looking olive green shirt and
knee length skirt with foreign rank insignia and a security badge
clipped onto a breast pocket. It was so unlike traditional Amazon dress,
so unlike what she wore when they worked in Japan even, that Cologne's
mind kept mistakenly associating it with the Chinese PLA. According to
the old laws, it was forbidden for Amazons to join any formal army.
Their warriors had to be reserved for mercenary work that would bring
money to the village as a whole (and the Elders, of course).

But that was moot now, wasn't it?

"Shampoo," Cologne explained. "I can not save this boy as you and... son
in law wish. This is Doctor Tofu's work, and I can only see some of the
underlying pattern he used. Even with the time needed to analyze his
technique and devise a counter, I do not have the power or the body to
reverse it by myself."

Cologne didn't outright mention her missing arm, but Shampoo understood
the meaning. What she obviously didn't understand was that her great
grandmother was not all powerful. She was old, very old, and like
Happosai her body had slowed its production of ki over the last half
century. Her control was still exemplary, but it took weeks of building
up the charge within her body to execute more powerful techniques (since
she didn't 'cheat' the process like Happosai did with his disgusting
fetish).

The sad truth was that she was not a young woman anymore, able to pick
fights and duel with rivals for hours on end. Even a young pup like
Mousse could probably wear her down if he played it smart and led her on
an extended chase. She had given the fight with her alien other
everything she had, despite the mental exhaustion of being in an alien
tank for months, and before that, fighting off an Ethereal capture
squad. Saving her son in law and his rival from the blood vine on top of
all that had literally burned out all seven of her primary chakras.

Cologne doubted if she would ever fully recover.

"Only you, Shampoo," Cologne repeated, driving the point home by poking
her thickheaded heir in the stomach with her cane. "Have the experience
and knowledge of pressure points to save this boy and other victims like
Rouge."

"But, but what about Ranma?" Shampoo continued to protest. More than
usual. "Surely he...!"

"Ranma could learn, this is true," Cologne replied, tapping the tip of
her cane back onto the floor. "But it would take weeks to readjust the
flow of ki in his body to your level. It took a full year for your body
to learn the techniques your mind already knew or have you forgotten?
These are not simple pressure points! This is the very pinnacle of the
Art, and Doctor Tofu was never an ordinary man to begin with."

Shampoo's silence was her reply, and Cologne could see that the girl was
conflicted. She wanted to help, to be able to help, but the events of
the last few months had taken a toll on her normally unflappable self
esteem. Having to flee from the aliens in Nerima, having Ranma put his
foot down on the tangle of fiance arrangements, being an active martial
artist overshadowed not only by male peers, but challenged seriously by
an outsider female as well... then there was the destruction of the
Amazon village on top of all that.

Cologne sighed softly; this was her fault as much as anyone's. Once she
had taken over her great granddaughter's training, she had been fairly
soft on the beautiful young girl. Shampoo had few real peers and no
major rivals by the time Sink had handed the girl over to Cologne for
the last steps in her training. Cologne had quickly confirmed that
Shampoo was not exactly her "ideal" as a student and heir. She was
lazier than Cologne had been at her age, and the girl was not a true
genius like Cologne had hoped.

Shampoo's internal supply of ki had also been rather lacking. She was
weaker than her mother even, and Cologne had fallen out with her
granddaughter over the Elder's relentless demands for perfection.
Cologne had not wanted a repeat of that mistake. So while there were
ways to increase Shampoo's reserve of ki: namely, strengthening her
chakra points and building up her reserve by forced exhaustion and
repeated exposure to near death in combat (like a muscle, it needed to
be worked to the breaking point before it grew stronger) Cologne had
also decided not to push the girl too hard.

Back in the village, Shampoo had been the strongest in her age group by
a good margin, but she peaked early and hit a three-year long plateau.
It was just her luck that, overseas, a generation of rival martial
artists had surpassed her. Shampoo's apathy towards serious training had
come back to spite her, and so had Cologne's unwillingness to push her
great granddaughter as hard as she could have. This was the result: when
faced with true difficulties in the Art, and serious rivals, she had
difficulty working up the energy to push past the obstacles and get
stronger. She'd lost her edge.

It was time for a different approach.

Cologne's staff impacted with Shampoo's head, hard, sending her to the
floor in an undignified heap. Cologne's two guards immediately made a
move, raising their weapons: modified stun launchers. They were the same
weapons that the aliens had used to paralyze her back at the Nekohanten.
Cologne made no move towards them. Instead, she twirled her staff around
and pinned Shampoo to the floor with the cane's blunt end. She may have
been a tired, beaten old woman, but she was far from defenseless.

"Sin Ke vouched for you. That's what I heard," Cologne said, pushing
down as Shampoo started to recover from the blow. "But you are weaker
than her. Do you really deserve her seat in the Council of Elders?"

Shampoo hissed something in English and tried to force herself back up
and onto her knees. Cologne pushed back down, driving her great
granddaughter face first into the white tile of the Infirmary floor. The
young woman gave one last push before deflating.

"Maybe I don't..." she finally lamented.

"Then that boy," Cologne inclined her head towards Konatsu. "Will surely
die. And you will have shamed yourself, once and for all, before all
those important to you."

That put a spark of fire back in her.

"When I was your age, Shampoo, I had one goal: to become the strongest.
To become not just an Elder, but the greatest among them," Cologne said,
pushing down harder on the young woman's body. Shampoo pushed back. It
was good that she did; Cologne was more than willing to break a rib or
three to drive this point home.

"I succeeded," the old woman continued. "I became stronger than any
Amazon in the last five centuries. To reach this goal, I killed my
grandmother, who stood in my way... I killed my sister, who opposed me.
I tried to marry my best friend off to the most perverted scumbag I
knew. And my husband... I branded him with the Demon Sealing Blood
Oath."

Shampoo's struggles ebbed at that admonition. To seal one's husband
meant turning him into a virtually mindless slave.

"Only later, sitting alone at that peak called 'greatest' did I realize
everything I had lost to get there. The other Elders schemed against me.
The rest of the Village was wary of me. I tried desperately to mould my
daughter into an equal, and when she fell short, I tried to do the same
with your mother, Shampoo. When you were born, I was a... very lonely
woman. Deep down, I wanted to leave the Village. I wanted to just be
done with it all. I wanted someone, some... thing that understood me for
what I was."

Shampoo stared at her with shock and no small amount of confusion.
"Why... why are you telling me this, great grandmother?"

"Because it was my pride, my desires, my ambition... that led to this
point," Cologne answered with narrow eyes. "I never should have become
an Elder, Shampoo. I never should have become Matriarch. A system that
rewards the most ruthless and powerful can never be just, and it can
never truly look out for the welfare of others."

"If you fear failure, then you will accomplish nothing. The future of
the Amazons, all three thousand years of our history, now lies with you
and only you. I will not and can not be a crutch for you any longer,"
Cologne explained with frosty tones. "Now: either woman up to the cards
fate had played you or curl up and die! Which will it be?"

For a few seconds, Shampoo chafed under the pressure her Elder put on
her. Then, without warning, she reached up and grabbed the shaft of
Cologne's cane, pushing it roughly off her. The weight of it slammed
into the floor with a loud thud, cracking the tile all the way through
and up to the alien alloy superstructure. The young woman rolled back
into her feet, and slowly stood.

It was hard, pushing Shampoo like this. It was true that fate had not
been kind to her lately, but it was time to stop talking about what had
to be done and start doing it. Was it fair that Shampoo had to carry the
burden of fixing what her Elders had wrought? No. But it had to be done
regardless. When Shampoo stood, Cologne saw determination warring with
the girl's insecurity.

"Will you help me?" she asked, rubbing her side.

Cologne nodded. "Any way I can."

Hidden partly behind a privacy screen, Kasumi had heard and seen much of
the exchange between the two Chinese Amazons. The two hadn't given her
much notice, but one comment above all the others had stood out in the
oldest Tendo sister's mind. Without a doubt, Cologne had said that he
was the one who had done that to poor Konatsu.

Doctor Tofu.

Slumping back against the wall next to one of the stasis tubes, Kasumi
tried to collect her breath. She had known in a roundabout way that her
good friend Doctor Tofu had been controlled by these aliens. But he had
always been such a gentle and kind soul. She had... she still cared
deeply about him. Covering her eyes with her hand Kasumi took slow
breaths and tried to calm herself.

Ranma and Ryouga: they had brought Cologne back, hadn't they? And Rouge
and even that strange man down in Containment. They could save Doctor
Tofu, too, couldn't they?

Couldn't they?

Of course they could! So...

She felt hot tears in her palm.

So why was she crying?

Why did she have a feeling that she would never see him again?

-----

Ukyou finished squirting the last of her bottled water into her hair in
a desperate bid to cool off. Ranma had been running them ragged over the
last few days while he recovered from Cologne's attacks. He had them
waking up at six in the morning, running forty kilometers in a circuit
around the base as the sun came up, and then shipped them off to psionic
training for four more hours. After lunch, they went to combat training
for either four or six hours depending on his mood. Sometimes it would
be just him, Ukyou and Shampoo, and other times he'd have them pair up
with India Squad.

The newest addition to their regimen was a simple belt.

Or maybe: not so simple. UNETCO teams were gearing up for "extra-
atmospheric operations" and that meant training under different gravity
conditions. Ukyou could read the writing on the wall. They'd been given
gravity belts, based on the systems that powered the MARS MA-3C Mobile
Armor. Small Elerium batteries projected a field around the wearer that
simulated the effect of reduced gravity. In their case, it was 40%
normal. In other words: the same gravity they would encounter on a small
planet, like (just for example) Mars.

Ranma often had them practicing with two hundred pounds of simulated kit
on their shoulders, arms and legs. They practiced moving, fighting and
shooting under reduced gravity, and with different weights, over and
over and over again. It should have been easier, but Ukyou found that
her body was having difficulty adapting to the different conditions. Her
muscles put too much force or too little into a jump or into moving an
arm, throwing off her aim. One time she even hit herself in the face and
clipped her foot with her own weapon. It was frustrating and hard.

Ranma directed them but couldn't fully participate.

He could move his arms and legs freely enough, but he was still too
injured to do anything more than lead them in their morning forty. He
made no effort to hide the scar on his arm, either, and neither did
Ryouga, though his went all the way to his chest. Cologne's techniques
must have been terrifying to have injured the two nearly indestructible
boys like they had. Wiping away a mixture of sweat and water, Ukyou
smiled at the thought that she was spending so many hours with her
fiance every day. She'd often hoped that Ranma would pay more attention
to her, but this hadn't exactly been how she'd imagined it.

It was good work, though, and preparation for what was to come. Ukyou
just wished that, as close as they were, that she felt some kind of
spark between them. Ranma was still friendly enough, when not acting as
her commanding officer, and always happy to join her or his other
friends for a round of beer or foosball or a video game. But that was
also the problem: 'her or his other friends.' Ukyou had also been
spending time with Akane, and she had begun to sense that something was
going on with those two behind her back. Behind everyone's back, really.

It was hard to pin down exactly.

Ukyou had tested the waters of her theory by dropping a few
conversational hints here and there. "How's Akane, Ranma? She treatin'
you alright?" "Ran-chan's been awfully busy lately, hasn't he? Any
guesses on what he's workin' on?" Things like that. Both Ranma and Akane
usually had very predictable reactions that Ukyou was used to hearing.
Typically: "That uncute tomboy's pissed off about 'X' as usual!" and
some variation of "Who cares what that jerk's up to?" It was a pretty
standard litmus test for how things were going between the two, and it
usually helped to keep Ukyou's spirits up.

Lately, though, Akane had started to have some actual ideas about what
Ranma was up to. The girl wasn't a great liar, and hid her emotions
pretty terribly, and lately she seemed to be getting more flustered by
the Ranma related questions than angry or annoyed. Ukyou would have
written it off as Ranma just being more mature lately; perfectly
understandable given the situation! Except that her fiance also seemed
to have a more open interest in the activities of the youngest Tendo
sister.

Ukyou's woman's intuition, underutilized though it was, could still
detect a profound disturbance in the Force. Not that she was obsessive
over it, per say, just that she was curious. And concerned. Rather
concerned. After all, she and Shampoo had basically agreed to put aside
the fiance confrontation until the current crisis was over, and even
Ranma had insisted on the matter (displaying uncharacteristic backbone
when it came to the fairer sex). Neither of them had truly factored
Akane into the equation, and it just wouldn't do for the Tendo sister to
be working, stealthy and sneaky-like, behind their backs.

That just wouldn't be fair!

The problem was that her typical allies weren't exactly of much use at
the moment. Konasu was still unconscious, but while Ukyou was confident
he would eventually make a recovery, he would never be a major player in
the overall Ranma Affair. He had no interest in Akane in the least,
despite a few belated attempts on Ukyou's part to set them up. That had
gone no where in record time. Shampoo seemed to be keeping her nose
clean for once, and had brushed off the possibility of Ranma and Akane
doing anything behind their backs.

Mousse wouldn't care in the least: Hell, he'd be the first to throw a
party in the Dojo if those two were officially hooking up. Kuno had the
motivation but none of the common sense. The rich boy didn't even have a
clue when it came to Ranma or Akane, and there was little to gain (save
headaches) by collaborating with him. As usual, that left her with only
one viable option. In the present, though, that option seemed to have a
decided lack of interest.

In fact, the last time she had broached the topic, he had projected
killing intent at her! It was not an experience she was keen to repeat.
Still, stealing a few looks at where India Squad was practicing nearby,
Ukyou tried to casually read the lost boy's aura. If anything, he seemed
to have calmed down and mellowed out since the last battle. His aura
wasn't dyed in deep blacks and greens like it had been before, and he
even seemed to be more openly and publicly enjoying the company of
others.

He had definitely toned down.

Which meant that maybe he'd be a little more open minded and a little
less of a crazy murderous jerk. It was literally him or nothing at this
point. Ryouga was still Ranma's best guy-friend, after all; he had to
have picked up on something; if not from Ranma, then from Akane. Ukyou
had seen firsthand that Akane treated him like a good friend (in fact,
she treated him like a good gay friend who had no sexual attraction or
interest in her at all), and Ryouga was the one guy she didn't get
easily angry or fed up with.

Yes: he would do nicely. She'd just need to be a bit more discrete this
time.

Step 1 of her brilliant plan thus began. Waiting for everyone to get off
duty, Ukyou offered to take India Squad out for a few drinks, her treat.
She knew from before just what would happen next. India Squad had
cheerfully joined her at the Mess Hall after hours at the bar, and while
the boys started on a round of beers she loaded up a DVD of Neon Genesis
Evangeleon onto one of the Mess Hall TVs.

Step 2 of her brilliant plan was to separate her target from his friends
prior to interrogation. This was actually quite easy. Kuno was soon
asleep, his face beet-red. A little liquor mixed with his imported beer,
and Mousse joined the kendoist in an Eva-psychobabble-induced stupor.
All too easy! Ryu was the hardest to deal with. He could hold his drink
and she knew he had a thing for her. A few friendly drinks provided the
pretext for discretely knocking him out with her mega spatula.

Step 3: at that point, Ukyou was having some difficulty remembering what
step three was supposed to be. Probably something about not ending up
with an explosively depressed martial artist sitting next to her. It
didn't matter. Step 4 was the important one! That was the one where she
got some hard earned answers.

Like Ryu, Ryouga could hold his drink pretty well, and he didn't get
sleepy like Mousse or Kuno did. He got introspective. He was the kind of
guy who, if not actively engaged, just stared at his hands or at his
drink and just thought. It was one of his more annoying traits in
Ukyou's mind. He liked to just sit and think, sit and think, sit and
think, but never come to any useful conclusion or commit to any real
action. How often had he sat at her bar, silently lamenting his lack of
a love life, wasting time dreaming of what could have been instead of
what needed to be done?

Just as planned, with his friends out of the picture, Ryouga reverted to
form.

It was just the two of them now, sitting at the bar with shots in their
hands, watching part three of Shinji's crazy mindtrip only in the
loosest sense of the word. Ukyou looked up to the digital clock on the
wall: 0100. It was hard to believe that they'd have to get up in just a
few hours. After high school, with the ability to literally make their
own schedules, you'd think they'd have a little more freedom! She
wondered if Ryouga was thinking something similar, as he glanced up at
the clock too.

"Hey, Ryouga..." she started to say, frowning a bit as how the words
came out slightly slurred. Damnit. Out drinking Ryu had been harder than
she'd expected.

"Mm?" he grunted in lieu of a proper response.

This was it!

"Are, uh... is Ranma and Akane, are they..."

He blinked at her, uncomprehending.

"You think they're... I dunno, like sleeping together or anything?"

As the words left her lips, Ukyou's cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
That wasn't what she'd wanted to say. Subtle! Subtle! She was supposed
to have been subtle! She half expected him to fly off the handle (or at
least fall out of his chair), crying about Ranma defiling his precious
Akane and how she was too good and too pure for him. He did tend to go
on and on about how perfect she was. It was another thing about him that
annoyed the okonomiyaki chef. Not that she went on and on about Ranma...
oh.

Gods, they were both so pathetic.

"Sleeping together?" he asked, calmly. Rationally. He blinked a few
times, his mind slowly processing the possibility. Then he sighed and
stared into his half finished drink. The amber colored liquid sloshed
around a single ice cube.

"Probably," he grunted. "They probably are."

"w... What?!" Ukyou blurted out, louder than she'd intended. Volume
control was a bit off. "What was that?"

"Huh?" he answered, eyes half closed. "What was what?"

"Who's sleeping with who, you jackass?!" She reached for her spatula,
but couldn't find it. She hit him with her fist instead. Hissing in
pain, she shook her hand to work out the pain in her knuckles. Stupid
lost boy and his iron body techniques!

He sighed and went back to staring at his drink.

"You weren't serious, were you?" she pressed, leaning closer to him.
"Ryouga?"

"Who cares?" he asked. "Who cares what they do?"

"I do!" Ukyou reached over and gave him a good shake. "And you do, too!"

His guilty silence spoke volumes.

"Has Ranma... said anything...?" she dared to ask.

"He doesn't have to," Ryouga replied. In a more lucid state of mind,
he'd have stopped there. In fact, he'd probably have kept his mouth shut
from the get go. But with a few drinks in him, he couldn't quite keep
his thoughts entirely to himself.

"Akane... tosses and turns. When she has bad dreams, she kicks and
punches," he didn't explain how he knew that. Instead he continued,
"I... I don't need Ranma to say something. Not when I can see it with my
own eyes."

Ukyou forced up a smile. That was it?

Even if Akane did suffer from rapid eye movement sleep behavior
disorder, that didn't mean she had to be asleep to slug her pigtailed
fiance. That sort of thing can and did happen at all hours of the day.
Everyone knew that! Ryouga had to have been imagining things.

"So Ran-chan was a bit beat up! That doesn't mean anything!"

The lost boy just eyed her like she was the one having delusions and not
him.

"And," he went on, "He didn't deny it when I asked him. That same day,
Akane asked me about... about some things. I know them. They've been
sleeping together for a while now. I'm sure of it."

"But...!" Ukyou tried to think of something smart to say. Something to
derail what she'd just heard.

"But they can't!" she all but yelled. "They can't! It... it isn't fair!"

Behind them, Kuno half work up, mumbling something about, "What long
silky hair you have, pig tailed girl..." Except that the hair in his
hand was black. And a guy's. Two large sweatdrops rolled down the back
of Ukyou and Ryouga's heads.

Of the two of them, Ryouga actually coughed out a quiet laugh.

Ukyou quickly zeroed in on him for it. "How can you laugh with... with
this happening! Ryouga, how can you!? Ranma and Akane!"

The lost boy put his drink down and rubbed his eyes with his hands.

"Ukyou..." he tried to argue in a placating tone.

"It isn't fair!" she repeated. He didn't seem to understand. "What about
me? What about us!?"

"Ukyou."

"Ran-chan is my fiance! I love him! He owes me...!"

Ukyou's hand found her mouth; she could hardly believe what she had just
said. Turning away so Ryouga couldn't see her face, Ukyou bored her eyes
into her shot glass, letting a long waterfall of brown hair hide her
embarrassment. She hadn't meant to say that. What mattered, what she'd
meant to say, was that he loved her, too. He had to.

For a few seconds, the only sound she heard was her own breathing. Then
the ting of glass interrupted, and she saw Ryouga pouring another shot
of sienna colored courage. Buoyed, Ukyou finished the glass in her
hands, wincing as the liquid burned a path down the back of her throat.
Silently, the lost one offered one last escape, and Ukyou accepted,
holding out her glass while he poured out the liquid courage.

"So," she began, feeling anger well up to replace helplessness. "So
they've been fucking all this time?"

"If you want to call it that."

"It's what it is, right!" Ukyou could get very angry very quickly, and
she could feel all that boiling up right now. She didn't bother to
disguise it. "I should have known Akane would spread her legs at the
first opportunity! I just didn't think Ran-chan would..."

She paused, feeling his hand on her wrist.

Ryouga was frowning.

She probably should have backed off, but an angry smirk covered up the
other more troublesome feelings she felt at the moment.

"You have a problem with what I just said, Hibiki?" she asked,
challenging, hoping he would take the bait. It didn't matter that, in
any actual fight, he could beat her in seconds. It didn't matter that
she didn't even know where her weapon - the foundation of her fighting
style - even was at the moment.

"Well, why don't you shut me up then, huh? Huh?!"

"Ukyou," he said in a voice equal parts angry and sympathetic. "That's
enough."

She huffed and fumed, eyes flaring at his words. She hit him again, on
the shoulder, which of course did nothing except hurt her hand. Finally
her frustration came out in a single ragged breath, and then another,
and then it slowly started to ebb out of her system. A fight, even a
pointless losing one, would have been a nice escape, but the jackass had
denied her even that. She had set this whole thing up, but this hadn't
been what she'd expected to hear.

Or maybe, on some level, she had.

"I can't believe this," she all but cried, burying her face in the crook
of her arm. "I can't believe they'd do this to me!" She turned her head
slightly to glare at her drinking companion and ex-partner in crime.
"Why don't you care? Why aren't you angry?"

He looked up from his drink, staring ahead into the darkness.

"I am," he replied, taking a deep breath. "I was."

Ukyou's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I'll never forgive them for this," she hissed.

"Of course you will," Ryouga shot back. "You'll be angry for a while,
and hurt, and you'll curse them and yourself. But you'll move on with
your life."

"Feh!" she scoffed. "That what you did?"

He smiled wanly. "I'm still kind of stuck on that first part. But if
they've made their decision, I'll live with it." Then he turned to her,
eyes meeting hers. "You're a smart woman, Ukyou, and you could have any
guy you want. Ryu..."

"I want Ran-chan!" Even she knew how petulant it sounded. She decided
she didn't care even if it was. It was the truth. She didn't want 'any
guy' she wanted one. She wanted her childhood friend and fiance.

"Ranma isn't the guy you think he is," Ryouga said, sounding for the
first time a little bitter.

"Obviously he isn't," Ukyou agreed, though it was mostly the anger
speaking. "But while we're at it, Akane isn't little Miss Perfect like
you think she is either!"

Ryouga scowled, but shrugged in acquiescence.

"Gah! We're too pathetic and depressing for words!" Ukyou threw back her
glass and leaned back on her chair, setting her now empty shot down in
the counter with an audible 'ting!'	The lost boy just grunted and
finished how own drink, too.

"All this teen drama bullshit," she grumbled angrily. "Akane and Ran-
chan. Ugh!"

Next to her, Ryouga huffed. "Are you really that surprised?"

"Actually I am!" Ukyou turned to look back at him, watching the lost boy
over the curve of her shoulder. "I mean, they were always fighting.
That's not how people act when they like each other!"

Before he could ask, she went on.

"When people like each other, they're like hearts and, you know, an
atmosphere. You can feel it in the air. They hold hands in public and...
and kiss in the halls and stuff." The chef suddenly seemed at a loss for
words. "And the guy is always there for the girl when she needs him."

"That last part is true at least," her companion agreed. "Don't know
about the other stuff."

Above them on the TV, the Eva title sequence repeated for a second or
third time, bathing the room in a low light. The two still conscious
teenagers sat in silence, a jumble of thoughts between them. Ukyou could
feel a lot of the anger and bitterness settle into a shallow depression.
Ranma had been the center of her life, literally, for a decade. She knew
her father wanted to break off the arrangement and settle affairs with
the Saotomes now that he'd actually found them.

She'd known for a while now (on at least some level) that things
wouldn't just pick up where she and Ranma had left off back when they
were children. Maybe it had just been a crazy dream. Ranma's training
trip had changed him, and her training had changed her. He barely
remembered those times they'd shared, all those years ago, and over the
last few years he had tried - hard - to be her friend. Not her fiance.

What a cosmic joke her life was.

Or... maybe it hadn't. Closing her eyes, she remembered her training,
her fight with Konatsu, and how she felt when she cooked. She'd become a
master of martial arts and okonomiyaki, and she'd reached that point in
her life by focusing on what was important to her. Her love life was a
joke, yes, but that wasn't all she had going for her. That didn't change
the fact that her Ran-chan had broken her heart.

"I suppose they'll probably have a stupid wedding when all this is
over," she decided. "And we'll have to go and cheer them on and take
pictures and pretend we're happy for them."

"By that point," he replied, looking right at her. "You may actually be
happy for them. I'll probably get lost, so you'll have to be 'best
man.'"

"No way, Ryouga!" Ukyou kicked him playfully. "I'll probably be the
bride's maid who has to get everyone to dance and cheer and stuff. Gods,
it'll be so lame. 'Ok! Ok! Everyone on the dance floor! Why don't you
and Genma-san go out and dance, Saotome-san?' I think I'd just died a
little inside just imagining it."

He smiled earnestly at her lightening mood. In that moment, she realized
that she was glad he had been honest and told her. She was even more
grateful that he had stuck around... and that he hadn't risen to her
baiting and decked her clear across the Mess Hall. He had already worked
through the same thing she was feeling, and he had cared enough to help
her through it. In fact, the lost boy had probably put up with a lot
from her over the last few years. Either that... or she had had too much
to drink and she was mistaking what she was thinking for a desire to
clobber the bad-news bearing jackass.

Swinging around in her chair, she grabbed him by his collar and jerked
him towards her. It was supposed to have been a cool, smooth motion,
like in the movies. The impulsive thought that entered her head had all
but screamed "cool!" Then they butted heads and fell gracelessly onto
the floor. Even slightly inebriated, butting heads with a Hibiki had not
been a pleasant experience. Ryouga could probably ram head first into a
charging elephant and give the poor beast a serious concussion.

Ukyou quietly nursed her bruised forehead (and ego), while true to form,
Ryouga seemed much more confused than actually injured. He sat up on the
floor, crossed legged, rubbing his forehead out of shock. He reached for
her shoulder.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked, rightly concerned. "What was that all about?"

"You idiot," Ukyou growled, also gradually sitting up with her legs
tucked under her. "I was trying to do something cool."

He blinked, clueless as usual. "What? Like smash something between our
heads?"

Ukyou glared at him, daring him to be more of an idiot.

"No!" she replied, when it became clear that he actually thought he had
guessed correctly. "I was..." She trailed off, hesitant to finish.

"What?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I was..." she rolled her eyes, hoping the low light hid the color of
her cheeks. "I was going to kiss you."

His eyes widened perceptibly. "Kiss me!?"

"Tell the world why don't you?" Ukyou boffed him on the head. "It was
just a stupid thought I had."

He wisely didn't reply. Which was good, because Ukyou was sure he'd just
say something stupid. Then again, maybe he'd say something suave and
cool. ... Ok, that was pretty unlikely.

"I, uh... well, we're friends, right, you and me?" she asked, hoping to
reason her way out of things. It had always been one of her strong
points.

"I... I guess like to think we are," he added. "With what we've been
through. I mean, I know we've had some differences, but..."

"But we're kind of alike," she finished, cutting him off. "And since
we're friends, I thought: you know."

He shook his head slowly; he plainly didn't know.

"I've never kissed a guy. So I'm probably pretty bad at it, so I thought
I'd... kiss you," she said, anxiously watching him for a reason. It was
so stupid, the very idea, that she probably should have just forgotten
all about it and counted herself lucky that they butted heads instead of
lips. But with the thought there, and lingering, she had to find some
way to get rid of it.

But... he hesitated.

"Because you can't kiss Ranma," he deduced. She made a note that he
wasn't always as clueless as he appeared when it came to these sorts of
things. The way he said it, though, made her feel kind of bad.

She stared down at her hands, not wanting to lie to him.

What kind of first kiss would that be?

Ukyou cursed herself mentally, and she was on the verge of getting up
and trying to salvage what was left of her dignity, when she felt a hand
squeeze her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Ryouga looking intently at
her, jaw tightly clenched. He had an embarrassed and unsure look to him,
but he nodded once.

"Friends," he stressed. "Just... to see."

"Yeah," Ukyou replied, a little breathily.

But now that the moment seemed more certain, she found herself being
less than bold. Partly, it was because of the blunder before that had
gotten them in this mess, but mostly it was because she didn't know what
to do. Despite all the TV and animes and mangas she'd seen, she was
nervous. She'd tended to imagine that this moment - her first kiss -
would be her triumphant victory over the other fiances. All Ranma's
other girls would be looking on with envy and she'd rub her win in their
faces (especially Shampoo). This kiss, with someone else, in the dark,
wasn't what she had expected... but she still found herself almost
painfully anxious to experience it.

The two inched closer, and Ukyou closed her eyes. She could just barely
feel his breath on her lips, and she quickly licked them with the tip of
her tongue. The two of them paused there, just an inch or so apart,
breathing the same tiny patch of air. They hadn't so much as touched
yet, but Ukyou could feel her heart beating fast in her chest, pounding
against her rib cage like a jackhammer.

Their lips just grazed each other at first, sending little contact
shocks that ran down Ukyou's arms making her nearly shiver. There was no
face to go with the sensations: she'd imagined that she would think of
Ranma, or see him behind her closed eyes. He wasn't there. No one was.
Maybe it was the alcohol, but even Ryouga wasn't there. There was just
the feeling, new and exciting, running through her.

Then they touched in full, his upper and lower lips exerting a gentle
pressure on her own. Without thinking, she pressed herself a little more
forcefully into him, squeezing his lower lip. Then, just like that, it
was over. He pulled back, and Ukyou felt a cool rush of air where he had
just been. Their foreheads were touching again as they breathed, slowly,
labored, adjusting to the moment.

Her first kiss.

It hadn't been so bad after all.

"T-thanks," she managed to say, catching her breath.

He backed up, and Ukyou felt a part of her miss the closeness they'd
shared.

"Was that your first...?"

"No," he said with a hint of sadness. Ukyou felt silly. Of course it
hadn't been his first kiss. She'd all but forgotten about Akari.
Suddenly, impulse struck again and she hugged him, wrapping her arms
about the powerful martial artist. It wasn't just for comfort, though it
did feel good to have him there, and to know he was there for her. She
wanted to make sure that he knew she appreciated it. Ryouga carefully
returned the hug, resting his hands at the small of her back.

"Ukyou," he started but quickly found that he didn't know what to say.

"Don't worry about it," she spoke up, face still buried in his hair.
"I'm just glad I could share this with one of my closest friends."

She felt rather than saw him nod in quiet agreement.

Tomorrow... she would have to face Ranma, face her squad leader, knowing
what she had just learned. It had seemed like a nightmarish prospect a
couple minutes ago, before she had calmed down; before she had come to
terms. It still wasn't a meeting she relished, but at least the idea of
it didn't fill her with paralyzing apprehension. At least now she didn't
just want to curl up in her room and never come out.

She would face tomorrow and the pain it would bring and she would move
on.

There was no going back now.

"We'd better get your pals to their rooms," she said, and the two stood
and separated, hands finding purchase in pockets and hooked around
belts. Kuno and Mousse were still sound asleep, face first on a table
with their arms as pillows. Ryu was splayed out across a row of seats,
dozing softly. Ukyou caught Ryouga staring at the other young man. A
pair of eyes glanced her way, questioning.

"He's a nice guy," Ukyou felt the need to explain. "A little strange,
but I mean... look at us. We're all strange, right?"

"Very," Ryouga conceded.

She reached out and grabbed the lost boy by his upper arm. "Let's just
keep this between us, ok? Things are complicated enough already between
our little group."

He nodded again.

"You can say that again."

-----

At last, the Yellow Sea came into view.

Their escort, a handsome young man with dark apricot colored hair,
breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The shoreline was deserted and would
pose no obstacle to their journey. Pivoting, he motioned them forward,
pale yellow eyes catching a ray of moonlight. Cologne skipped easily
over the concrete embankment separating the shore from the forest
beyond. Before her, the sea stretched on: a vast and empty expanse,
hiding secrets from human eyes.

Doctor Tofu was close behind her. He alighted on the ground without a
sound, and behind him, a more ominous figure floated eerily over the
rock and sand. Last was Ayabe, who made no effort to conceal himself. He
landed with an unhappy grunt, and upon seeing the sea before them, made
an audible jeer.

"What?" he caught her look of disapproval. While Tofu had embraced The
Mind, and Cologne was happy to join it, Ayabe was more... critical. This
tended to make him a bit surly at times. "I'm enjoying the cool night
air. You know, you should too... while you can."

"We're done with this little field trip," she replied, frowning. "I, for
one, am happy to finally heading to our new home. This has been a long
time coming."

AGREED Tofu thought, projecting himself into their minds.

Cologne rolled her eyes; her companion had pointedly not used human
speech since that first conversation in the forest. From a distance, one
would truly think him an Ethereal, and he would probably only get worse
when they reached Mars. It would be impossible to enjoy a good
conversation by that point, or at least one that didn't involve another
mind blasting information into her skull.

Well, that was alright.

Very soon, she would have a veritable crop of new students to mould in
her image! It would be missing her two prize pupils, but provided they
survived, there would be other opportunities to break them in. Oh yes:
she looked forward to it.

"Here is where we part ways," the young man escorting them spoke up in
passable mandarin Chinese. "I can go no further in this form."

Hollow Eyes paid him no heed, heading straight for the shoreline.

"Thanks for the company." Ayabe inclined his head politely. "I'm sure
you'll get a ride soon."

"I do hope so," their escort replied. "This body is... squishy and wet.
And your insect life keeps biting me. I don't know how you could stand
it."

"You'll get used to it," Ayabe concluded with a grin, and a wave of his
hand. He, too, headed for the water.

Cologne fell in last, but paused before the young man.

"What is your name, Commander?" she asked.

"My real one?"

She nodded.

"Zraz," he told her. "You are Khu Lon. Will you keep that name?"

"Of course I will!" she answered with a dazzling smile. "Names are
important to people, just as they are to your kind. That's why I asked
you instead of having the Mind tell me."

Zraz didn't smile back, but she sensed that was mostly due to his
unfamiliarity with having quite so many facial muscles. Instead, he held
up his right hand.

"Farewell, Commander," Cologne said, dismissing herself.

Zraz watched them from the concrete wall as all four slipped beneath the
waves of the North China Sea. They did not swim. They simply walked
forward into the lightless deep. He hoped that the male Trenchard had
been correct and that The Mind did eventually send someone to pick him
up. Unfortunately, it seemed more likely that he would be left to
monitor the native human society in the area. So many of their normal
human puppets had been removed lately, it left precious little to work
with Earthside.

Swatting at his arm, Zraz stared down at the splattered mosquito in his
palm. For the life of him, he couldn't see why the Sectoids and their
devolved aquatic brethren liked this planet so much. Wiping the bloody
remains off on his pant leg, he leisurely walked down along the shore
towards the nearest town. About the only thing he'd miss when the hammer
finally came down on this planet was the food. Especially this "ice
cream" he had developed a sweet tooth for. Human tastes were just so...
pronounced and unique! It was a true shame that in his natural state he
couldn't enjoy such pleasures.

Recycled biomatter just couldn't compare.

-----

Ranma acted like nothing was wrong.

In fact, now that she thought about it, he was acting happier and more
content than he ever had back in Nerima, either in school or in his free
time. First, they went to check on Konatsu, and they each took turns
talking to him. 'Engagement' it was called. 'External Stimulation.'
Shampoo talked about how she was working to help him and Ranma went on
for a while about how they were progressing as a group. Ukyou told him a
little about what she'd heard about the new recruits that were due to be
transferred. Seeing her friend lying there, she thought about telling
him her thoughts on other things, too... later: when they had some
privacy.

They then went down to the Armory for refitting.

At the spring in her squad commander's step, Ukyou almost - almost -
said something she knew she would later regret. She chalked the
irritability up to a mild hangover. Both India and Juliet Squads were
off-rotation, but both squad leaders seemed determined to drill their
units into the ground. Ukyou didn't mind it that much, but knowing what
she now did, Ranma's cheerfulness seemed more and more like a deliberate
ruse.

It didn't help that the idea that being with Akane actually made him
happy went against her grain. Why did he pretend for so long that he
didn't like her only to make a total about-face like this? It seemed so
arbitrary and out of the blue. Too much had happened between those two
away from prying eyes. Was it possible that they hadn't hated each
other, even as far back as a year ago?

Ukyou tried to force the thoughts out of her head.

She had dealt with this last night. She wasn't a bitch; if Ranma was
happy with Akane - for whatever insane reason anyone would be happy with
a violent tomboy like that - then she'd respect his decision. If, by
chance, their little tryst imploded, then that would be a different
story. However, until then, she wouldn't let it screw over her life or
drive her to do anything stupid. She had trained against the relentless
sea and risked death; she wouldn't let teenage heartache break what
brutal martial arts training could not. Luckily, after a few minutes,
her mood started to lighten.

And then, as if to mock her, they'd all stripped down.

For the last few days, while they were off-rotation, their personal
armor had been taken away. It was being upgraded to be vacuum capable,
among other things. India and Juliet were both technically classified as
"assault squads," but in terms of equipment, they were really more like
"light recon." They had no heavy powered armor, no Blaster Bomb
attachments, operated without HWPs (heavy weapons platforms) the
majority of the time, and didn't carry Heavy Plasma Rifles as standard.
Their standard load out consisted of light personal armor, medium plasma
rifles, a few heavies carried by Shampoo or Mousse, and several extra
stocks of grenades.

India and Juliet had to make up what they lacked in armor with speed.

Rumor was that they (that most squads actually) were being up-armored
for the Mars mission. Command expected a Hell of a fight and meant to
pull out all the stops. That meant that even the limited supplies of
Elerium could be pressed harder than ever before. That had been the
rumor trickling through the base anyway.

As a result, the three stood around half naked in a cold room, trying to
act casual. Well, two of them tried to act casual. Shampoo's inhibitions
seemed to be set three or four notches below normal, and the Chinese
girl stretched languidly across one of the large padded seats in the
fitting room, splayed out like a sleepy feline. Ukyou envied the other
girl in a way. Then again, it was pretty shameless, so it was probably a
good thing that she envied Shampoo only "in a way." The Japanese girl
kept her arms crossed over her chest, thankful for the undershirt she
wore.

Ranma relaxed casually, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. He never had
been tempted to take an eyeful of any of the girls that threw themselves
at him. Akane called him a pervert, but he was really pretty prudish as
far as guys went. If there was anything really perverted about him, it
was his family style of martial arts and his tendency to act like a
tramp when he pretended to be a girl (for whatever reason, usually to
fool Kuno or Ryouga or win a fight). Then again, this was someone raised
by Genma. It was a surprise that he didn't flash his girl form's chest
at strangers for money.

Watching him closely, she wondered...

The image of a certain red-head and a blue haired Tendo sister entered
her mind.

"AAAHH!" Ukyou all but screamed. "Bad thoughts!"

Too late to stop herself totally, Ukyou 'eeped' and covered her mouth
with her hands. Sitting by himself, Ranma spared her a curious look.
Shampoo just yawned. Ukyou tried to keep from making more of a scene,
laughing contritely and inching deeper into her seat. Fortunately, the
wall on the east side of the room chirped, and a second later their new
suits emerged from small alcoves in the wall.

"These are your new PA-3E Personal Armor Systems," a voice on the Armory
intercom sounded. "I had to reset the internal environmental layer on
them. They should re-conform after about ten minutes. While you're doing
this, we have a video for you to watch."

The three members of Juliet Squad approached their refitted armor,
tentatively inspecting it for any major alterations. There was a small
instruction booklet attached to a loop of string tied to the right
thumb. On first look, there wasn't much of a change from their normal
PA-3 FBA type (Full Body Armor) Personal Armor. There were a few more
obvious changes: the armor around the forearms had been improved with a
solid layer of exotic alloy, in addition to the more familiar disposable
ablative plates. The armor scheme on the upper arm was a bit different,
too, with some of the plates facing the body removed. The shoulders had
a series of interlocking flexible plates rather than the old solid-plate
configuration.

Removing the booklet, Ukyou saw Ranma and Shampoo starting to put their
suits on. She quickly did the same. Personal Armor was modular and self-
sealing; the legs, torso, helmet, left and right arms were all separate
components. The lower body came first. Removing that section from where
it rested, inlaid with the wall, Ukyou placed it on one of the large
seats.

She had done this before.

First she slipped her bare foot into the left boot. It was a bit like
squeezing into a ski boot, except that the inner layer had the texture
of a slightly damp sponge. Left foot first then right, she pressed down
with her heel until she was firmly rooted in place. The armor couldn't
be slipped on like normal clothes, though it was a bit similar to
putting on very heavy snow pants or the like. She carefully sat down
into the exposed section of the legs and lower body. It felt a bit like
immersing oneself part way in a pool of water, complete with a small
chill that ran up from her lower back to her shoulders.

The rest was intuitive: the frontal sections of the leg armor hinged and
snapped into place, alien alloy sockets sealing and rotating closed into
a "locked" alignment. Circular bracers at certain points rotated and
briefly flashed green, indicating a successful seal. Air hissed out
while she stretched her leg, allowing the armored kneepad to depress
into place. It felt a bit tight, just like the first time she had worn
the armor, but that was what this session was for. The inner
environmental layer would conform to her body and readjust to her
movements becoming a comfortable body glove.

The waist and groin sections had a small hook and clamp to make aligning
them easier, and they snapped into place on the first try. Locks mated
with those in the legs and the rear half of the pelvic armor, forming
another airtight seal. Ukyou reached for the upper torso armor next: it
was designed a little differently.

The torso armor had two sections to it: Section A was put on over the
shoulders, and built according to a "clam-shell" design. It was armored
but flexible. Ukyou slipped her arms and head through holes in the armor
- just like putting on a heavy coat - and eased the torso armor onto her
shoulders. In place, she unlocked two safeties on the shoulders and two
on the sides. Fitting it snugly in place, she looped two cords from the
pelvic armor into reader slots in the upper torso. These were critical
electronic leads as well as contact points for the armor's sealing
locks.

Only with that done did she disengage the last lock, turn it ninety
degrees, and press in. The clam-shell armor tightened, pressing in on
her and bolting into place with the lower body section. The locks on her
shoulders and sides whirred closed, and with another hiss of air, the
environmental layer compressed and sealed. It was all designed to be
redundant; so critical damage to one leg, for example, would not cause a
loss of environmental containment beyond that immediate area.

The arm mounted armor came next, before the second torso layer. Sliding
her arm through the thick solid loop that was the upper arm band, Ukyou
locked the shoulder joint attachment into place and wound a loose loop
of armor - little more than the environmental layers - around and under
her arm pit, fitting the ends of it into place at two points before and
after the main shoulder seal. Each one gave an affirming 'click' to
indicate they were properly in place.

The forearm armor was another clam-shell design that champed, all in one
section, over her arm. A sheath extended over her hand and fingers from
the forearm section. With everything else in place, she unlocked the
hand guard and finger plates from the forearm with a sound like ripping
Velcro. The exotic alloy plates fitted into small groves in the body
glove over her left hand, also clicking into place. She then activated
the hermetic seal on the shoulder junction, and the whole thing
tightened, conforming to her body. The right arm went the same way.

Last but not least came the second section of the torso: Section B, the
"Solid" Layer. These Ukyou put on like the accessories they were, and it
was here that she noticed some changes to her PA-3 that she hadn't seen
before. By this time, her attention was on a screen built into the wall.
It was displaying some of the new features and changes, and informing
them of adjustments to the armoring process. There had been a few
additions and modifications to the Solid Armor section of the PA-3.

A new flexible plate weave had belts holding it in place around her
abdomen. A solid loop of exotic alloy armor fitted around her waist, and
another around her chest. Modular shoulder plates locked into place over
the junction between her arm and the upper torso armored body glove.
Additional protective plates, consisting of ablative disposable panels
and a solid inner layer, helped cover her outer thighs and shins. It was
a heavier, more comprehensive armoring than before.

The video described some of the new features.

Research and Development had compiled data from fire fights with the
aliens and determined the more statistically likely areas to come under
different forms of enemy fire. Certain areas were statistically more
likely to be hit by direct plasma fire, others by explosive damage and
shrapnel. Some sections of armor had been reduced and others
strengthened. Additionally, many of the extra armor plates incorporated
a new micro-folding process that weaved the alien alloy into very
tightly packed ridges. It was like folding a piece of paper into a fan.
The new plates were only about twenty percent thicker, but the
protective properties were supposed to be almost twice that of those
previous.

There were other new features as well. The integrated psi-amp had been
moved and spread out within the suit's imbedded circuitry to prevent a
lucky shot from disabling it. The inner environmental layer had been
strengthened to prevent instantaneous decompression even in the event of
a plasma strike. The suit also had two added pockets for replacement
exotic alloy plates, allowing a soldier more field independence and some
ability to replace damaged sections of armor. Ukyou listened intently as
it outlined procedures for safely and quickly ejecting and replacing
damaged armor panels.

Finally, two totally new additions had been made. The first was a system
of powered synthetic muscles built into the second environmental layer.
This layer was the one that normally handled power channeling: it was a
complex mesh of fiber-optic cable and power lines. The video outlined
the arrangement of the synthetic muscles in complete full body armor.
Ukyou hadn't even noticed them.

According to the demo, the muscles themselves were an arrangement of
alien alloy memory metal cables. The armor itself picked up on normal
muscle movement and configured the cables to expand or contract as
required. The systems were supposed to aid in adverse gravity
maneuvering and reduce long term fatigue on extended operations. The
armor had an expanded Elerium-115 power supply to compensate for this
system and the additional weight of armor, both flexible and solid
plate. In essence, the PA-3 had been upgraded to a light Powered Armor.

This fact was reinforced by what they were expected to carry.

On-Earth engagements had never required extensive air supplies for
UNETCO's soldiers, but the new PA-3 upgrade was expected to carry a
cycling air supply with it into battle. Their new backpacks were larger
than before but much of the space was taken up by the integrated
breathing apparatus; in fact, they had less room in their packs than
before. To compensate, additional pockets and equipment clamps had been
added to the rest of the armor.

The video went in depth about the new atmospheric apparatus they would
be carrying, but the chemistry went completely over Ukyou's head. The
basics of it seemed to be that they didn't have a normal pressurized O2
system like a diver or even an astronaut. Due to combat conditions in
hard vacuum or low atmosphere, UNETCO had devised a "partial solid
state" "closed circuit breathing apparatus" that recycled and partly
regenerated breathable levels of oxygen. The so called "white box" they
were to carry contained a semi-solid that actively exchanged oxygen for
carbon dioxide, maintaining set levels of pressurized oxygen in a
breathable mixture of gasses and perfluorohexane vapors.

The swirl of equations describing the transfer of molecules wasn't
something she expected to understand, but luckily, the video codified
and repeated the most important information. They could adjust their
levels of oxygen and other gasses or allow the computer to handle it.
The system was armored around the White Box and wouldn't explode if it
was breached, but some of the gas transfer tubes were vulnerable (if one
got unlucky enough) and in the event of failure, there was only a small
twenty minute reserve of pressurized O2. They had both a primary and
secondary pair of breathing tubes in case of emergency, and one
universal blow off and control valve with both an electronic and manual
control. Under combat conditions, they could expect to have roughly six
hours of air. The "White Box" itself could be easily detached and
replaced in under thirty seconds.

"Familiarize yourself with your new armor and it will get you home
safely," the video's narrator concluded. "Any further inquiries can be
directed towards regional engineering representatives or your
quartermaster. If you encounter a system error that can not be fixed by
a diagnostic, it is recommended that you remove your armor immediately
and entirely."

That last bit left a long silence in its wake.

"Well!" Ranma chuckled at the warning. "What are the chances of that
happening anyway? Let's sign these babies out, strap on the gravs, and
take these suits for a test run!"

"Sir!" the two women responded crisply. "Yes, sir!"

'Jinx us, why don't you, Ran-chan?' Ukyou couldn't help but think. Did
Ranma literally have to look and ask for trouble at every opportunity?

She rotated her arms; the suit had already conformed and reset to the
curves of her body, hugging her like a second skin. The initial chill of
the innermost layer had warmed to body temperature, and the tight
squeeze from before had become a comfortable fit. It was hard to believe
that she was wearing over fifty pounds of armor; it was so easily and
evenly distributed across her body!

Mars.

She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like. Soon the three of
them were outside and starting on their morning forty, breathing the new
mix of air and odorless chemicals that would sustain them when they left
Earth and running under an altered alien gravity. Following Ranma, Ukyou
felt more and more that she had been right. Ranma was important to her,
very important, but she could and would move on with her life.

'Today,' she thought, more sure than ever. In fact, she was almost
looking forward to it.

'Today is the day things change!'

As it turned out, Ukyou was more right than she could have guessed.

-----


Author's Notes:

I'm going to be focusing on a lot of character issues for
another chapter or two. I'll try and squeeze in action bits where
relevant (including parts of the missed fights back at the alien base)
but for the most part the chapters will focus on the NWC and some of
their personal issues and ambitions. Hope nobody minds! It can't be
action all the time, and it isn't like I'm writing for the Master Chief
or anything. These kids have a lot of baggage from Nerima and from their
unconventional lives that have to be worked through. My goal has always
been to portray them not only as the skilled fighters that they are, but
also as young adults, with insecurities and failings and all that good
stuff a lot of us probably remember from our late teens.

That's to everyone who reads and reviews, and for putting up with my
updating delays!