Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Blended Dimensions ❯ Operation Aveh ( Chapter 16 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Blended Demensions
by Bud

Chapter 16: Operation Aveh

From morning to noon the time just flew by as Ranma and the recently aquainted Elhaym Van Houten, or Elly as she was called, traversed the Blackmoon Forest. It took a combination of teamwork, or mostly Ranma helping the strange girl up to the places she couldn't reach. As they continued on, the occassional battle with the monkey-like forest elves, hob gobs and dive bomber birds occured.

Ranma had to appreciate the strength of Elly. She knew how to really whack enemies with those sticks she wields.

They soon arrived at a small pass that two people could traverse side-by-side. Elly stops.

"Ranma..."

Ranma turns around. Elly walks towards Ranma, not cautious this time, but more concerned.

"Yesterday you said your life was worthless. What did you mean by that?"

"Why are ya askin'? S'not like you would care anyway. I'm just some -Lamb-, right?" he shot back.

"Why shouldn't I care?" she threw back. "Yesterday you looked like you had a death wish. You think it wouldn't make me wonder...? Say, how did you get stranded in the forest anyway?"

"I should be askin' ya the same thing."

"Huh?" she looked down. "Well, I, errh..."

Ranma walks off to a large tree, away from Elly. "I... ran away... from this village I was stayin' in... Or what's left of it.."

"Village? You don't mean...!?"

"Lahan." Ranma sighed. "I was a small lil' village that existed between this forest and the mountain range. I ran away from there." he scoffed. "Or kicked out would be more like it."

"That village..?"

Ranma continued. "It was a nice place to stay. Someplace I would of liked to call home. Almost everyone treated ya like family." he voice turned cold. "Then, last night, a group of Gears suddenly appeared and started fighting in the middle of the place. The village was engulfed in flames... I couldn't just stand there and let the place be destroyed. So to try and save the villageres, I got in thing empty Gear. Didn't even know how it worked until I sat in it. But it was all for nothin'! The village...!"

He clenched his fist, looking downcast and depressed.

"Was it destroyed by the Kislev army?" ask Elly. There was an awkward pause then she continued. "Ranma..?"

"I managed to save some of it..." he said sadly. "but I might as well of destroyed it myself..."

??

Ranma turns to her, still looking downcast and depressed. "Yeah.. I basically destroyed the place.. that's what everyone says."

Elly looked confused. "What do you mean by destroyed it? I thought you were trying to save the villagers?"

"I was searchin' for my friend Fei when I saw him get torn up by a salvo of fire from one of them gears. I hopped in a Gear myself and started fightin' back. I then came under-fire by a group of Gears.. and then my friend.. Timothy... was hit by some stray shots.. then I lost it." he turns away, still downcast.

"The Doc said the Gear went outta control.. but it didn't. I was in control of everythin. I mopped the floor with all of them until they ran away, then I blacked out. When I came too.. everyone that survived thought of me as I was the devil himself. Fei... he was just like bro--.. Timothy... Oh god, Alice must be so.. all those people died...!"

"Went out of control...? The Gear..? What about the village?"

Ranma turns back, his face turning to normal as if he realized something.

"...Yes, the Gears! If only those Gears never landed in the village! He suddenly turns and smashes his fist into the huge tree trunk behind him in anger. "If they never come to the village, never started fighting there... Then I couldn;t have tried to pilot that Gear. It's all their fault... Not mine! They're the ones to blame. If they'd never come ... none of this would have... if not for them!"

Ranma continues to drive his fist into the tree as speaks.

"Them! Them! Them!"

"That's enough of that!"

Ranma pauses and looks around at Elly. He seemed confused.

"You're a coward!"

"W-what? A coward? ... me?"

"Yes, you're a coward. All you're saying is 'them them them'. Don't talk as if you had a no part of the blame, as well!"

Ranma looked at her cooly. "I'm to blame...?"

"Yes, that's right! Of course the direct cause of the battle was that a Gear made an emergency landing in your village. But all Kislev wanted was the Gear, right? They weren't invading or out to destroy Lahan. The real damage occured because you climbed in a Gear and tried to fight back!"

Ranma looks downcast again. "..."

Elly continued to put it on Ranma.

"What ever made you get into that Gear? Not just anyone can pilot them! It takes training! There is no way a civilian could hope to pilot one! Besides... you should have been helping the villagers flee to safety instead! How can you blame the damage on a Gear when it was your decision to fight in it in the first place? Why don't you take some of the responsibility yourself? Why are you putting all the blame on others? That's just running away! That's what makes you a coward!"

"Well, if ya put if that way..." he was suddenly in her face shouting. "Yes.. That's right, I'm a coward! I didn't realize my own strength an' been blamin' everything on everyone else. I'm a pitiful excuse for someone that should be a man among men!"

Elly started to say something by Ranma cut her off. "But I at least did what I knew was the right thing. I did what I had to do to save whatever I can. But no one appreciates the fact that I at least tried to save them at all..."

"Ranma, I, I'm..."

"Shut up!! What would you know!?" he turned and slammed his fi st into a boulder, shattering it and making Elly jump back. "When I came to, I was surrounded by nothin' but pile of rubble and people that hate me. Men and women that once called me friend turned around and cursed the ground I walk on..."

He turned to Elly, his hands shaking and he holds a fist to her, surpressing it with the other hand.

"Look! Look at my hands! Can you hear their voices? Can you understand this feeling?" Ranma shouts, nearly in tears. "The feeling of destroying your village with your own hands...? Of not being able to do anything for the children that once called you 'teacher' that were left behind...?"

"Now they have nothing... I have nothing..." he sits down in a fetal position, hiding his face from Elly. "I can never find peace..." he mumbles low enough so she couldn't hear.

Elly walks a couple steps toward Ranma. Then she walks back a step. A few moments pass. Then, she turns and walks away. After a few steps into her walk, she turns back and stares a Ranma for a moment. Then she walks into the next section of forest.

Elly walks into the next section of forest from the pathway. The path turns to a clearing and she walks further into it. Suddenly, a thumping sound is hear which causes her to stop.

!?

She looks in several directions for the source of the sounds. She could here it comming closer and she had a bad feeling about it. She just happened to look over her shoulder and found the source of the heavy thumping sound. It's a large, green lizard that looks like a tyranusaurus rex or a huge velociraptor. It surprisingly jumps over part of the cliff it was behind and runs straight for her. It roars loudly in her face.

"Stupid tomboy..! Look what she did to me.." grumbled Ranma dejectedly. Why did she have to say all that stuff about him and make him react how he did? Guys weren't suppose to cry, but look at him now!

His thoughts were pushed back when he hears a loud roar of that same type of dinosaur that chased him months back. What made him react was the scream of a woman in trouble. He knew automatically who it was.

"Oh no!"

A quick jump took him atop the path way and he could see the dinosaur, a Rankar from what the Doc told him when he asked what it was. Running towards the open clearing, he slides down the cliff-side until he was on the ground before looking for Elly. He quickly spotted her in it's mouth!

"Elly!!"

The beast turns to the voice, and drops Elly to the ground. Ranma stares in shock at seeing a wound on the Rankar's forehead. It was the exact same beast that chased him during his first visit into the forest. This was a major problem as it seemed to recodnize him immediately.

"Elly!!" he called to the girl. "Are you alright!? Damn, she must be unconsious."

The Rankar leaps the distances towards Ranma with it's jaws open. Ranma did the only thing he could do - he jumped high and over the dinosaurs head as it ate dirt. The pigtailed man landed on the animals back and ran along it's spine towards the tail. The Rankar didn't take kind to this act and shook it's body like a wet dog. Ranma easily lost his balance and feel under the beast.

"Yikes!" Ranma rolled and hopped away. The Rankar started jumping up and down, stomping it's clawed feet trying to squash him like a bug. On one jump, Ranma leaped at the beast crotch and attacked with one of his signature moves.

"KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!" Multiple punches violates the Rankar's genitalia causing it to roar in pain and thrash wildly. Ranma found himself on the recieving end of a whipping tail the slammed him into the cliff side with a sickening splat. "..ow.."

ROOOOAAARRRR!!

The Rankar smashed it's jaw into the cliff-side, just as Ranma peeled himself from the hard rock leaving an imprint of himself. He felt sluggish from that hit and tired, but he could still move faster than the dinosaur anyday.

He thought of a way to kill the beast, but only Id knew how to do those moves that were part of the Living art. He was limited to only the martial arts he'd learn up to now, the amazon techniques and half of his father's forbidden moves. A ki blast was out of the question - it shrugged it off the last time they battled. And getting it in a rage that he could use the hiryuu shoten ha was suicide. He guessed that this was---

"What the..." Ranma could hear something approaching. It sounded like a helicopter but who would be...

RANMA-------!!

"Doc!?"

Citan's Land Crab, the machine he was working on at his house, flies up from behind the Rankar and has the same gear Id and himself used when they defended Lahan. Citan stops the crab in front of the monster and drops Weltall close to Ranma.

"Ranma! I've been searching for you everywhere! Here, you can use this!" shouted the Doc.

Ranma cheered! This is what he needed. "Thanks Doc!! Let's go!" he quickly climbed into the Weltall's cockpit and placed his hands on the two spheres that were on the chairs armrest. A screan appears to Ranma side and begins the units start-up.

...XuyoiudcYFTfpoiwh... Linguistic Modifier Enabled.
Identified: Solarian-Lamb, Ignas dialect selected, Ace --> Hard Mode Set
Synchronizing input interface with pilot's normal reflex time
Warning to pilot: C O M B A T M O D E About to enter combat. 1000 units of fuel left.

Warning sounds.

WARNING! Unavoidable engagement with hostile creature! Terminating Help Mode.

How did she do it again? Ranma thought as he recalled how Ranko controlled the gear. He had a 360-degree view of his surrounding in the cockpit and saw the Rankar charge him. He thought of punching the creature and he did! Weltall threw a hard uppercut that knocked the Rankar back and off of it's legs. Ranma cheered!

"Yes!" As long as his hands were touching the spheres, he could just think of what he wanted to do! He noticed a command on his screen. "Ether machine?" he thought of contacting the Doc and discovered that an external speaker was activated.

"Doc!?"

Citan touched the land crab down to check on Elly when he heard Ranma call him. "What is it Ranma?" he shouted back so the boy could hear.

"What the hell is an ether machine?!"

"It's a unit that can channel human ether and amplify it to be used in a Gear! Use it on the Rankar! It can channel your chi into a powerful weapon!"

Ranma did as instructed and accessed the ether machine. He pictured himself doing his ki blast, feeling confident that he could pull off the manuever. Ki fed through his hands and into the spheres, he could feel it being amplified by Weltall and it felt good! On the outside, Weltall brought it's hands to it's right and cupped them together. Energy built between them and then it thrusted the energy towards the Rankar.

A blinding light blasted forward and engulfed the huge beast. There was a pause before a deafening roar and wind blasted through the area as the blast pierced the sound barrier.

"Yeah!" Ranma wiped his brow. That felt good!

Moments later, Ranma landed Weltall and had it kneeling next to a tree where Citan was checking on Elly. Citan then moves from Elly over to the Gear Ranma is in.

"Ranma! Are you alright?"

Ranma disembarks the Gear and simply hops down next to the green suited doctor. He wipped a bit of sweat from his brow and had a smile on his face. Piloting the Gear must of gave him some joy. Now he knew how Buddy and Montel felt when they piloted their mecha.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Doc."

"That fight with the Rankar was remarkable!" exclaimed the Doc. "An ordinary Gear could not defeat that monster. And you certainly keep yourself in good shape..."

"I appreciate ya bringin' Weltall to me, but why did'ja bring it?" Ranma turns to look at the black gear.

"I understand how you must feel, Ranma." began the Doc. "But, in order to protect yourself you need a certain degree of strength. Even more since we are being pursued."

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, you need some smarts too, ya know. Havin' some degree of strength is needed for self-defense." He paused. "At least ya got here in time. I owe ya one, Doc. If it weren't for ya gettin' here at that moment Elly and myself would of been dino-chow."

"At least Elly is safe now."

Ranma and Citan walk over to the unconscious girl.

"She seems to have come to." Citan noted.

"Huh..?"

The auburn-haired girl slowly stands and shakes her head, clearing some of the cobwebs. She notes the new person and also Ranma. The older looking man speaks to her.

"I am Citan... a friend of Ranma's." he bowed to her in greeting. "You almost did not make it. If Ranma had not have helped you, I hate to think what may have happened. But I was not too pleased with his rashness in trying to take on that Rankar with just his bare fists."

Elly looked at Ranma, surprised.

"Bare fist?"

Said martial artist looked away, embarrassed. "Awww.. t'was nothin'!"

"Well, I'm glad that you were able to find a use for what I brought you." Citan turned to Weltall. Elly realizes that it is there and looks at it.

!!

"Let's just say, we're borrowing what the Kislev army left behind.." Citan added.

"...Oh." She turns to Ranma. "Thank you, Ranma. This makes twice."

"Don't mention it," Ranma waved her off. "I'll just put it on yer tab."

Citan turns to the two. "It is getting dark. Let us make camp and start out early tomorrow. The both of you look tired and I need to make some repairs to our friend here..."

As the sky turned dark, Ranma was soon fast asleep by the fire with a calm visage. Like usual, his sleep was very deep and fitful. He wouldn't know of the conversation that took place around him or the exit of a certain auburned-haired woman. He wouldn't discover this until the morning.

Citan woke to the sounds of something frying. He sat up and saw Ranma cooking some eggs on a make-shift plate, possibly made out of a piece of scrap he usually kept in the Land Crab.

"G'mornin' Doc." Ranma greated. He handed Citan a plate of eggs and steak he made while still working on his own food.

"You are sure chipper this morning, Ranma." Citan noted. He picked at his food for a while before digging in.

"She left last night, didn't she?"

Citan looked up. "Yes, she did."

"Oh." He thought of something. "By the way, how is the village and all? I'm kinda worried 'bout them, even if they are a bunch of jerks."

"Don't worry, Ranma. Yui is taking care of them. I told her to leave soon and take them all to a certain place. They should be safe for a while. So just worry about yourself for now." Citan set his plate down and took a look a Weltall.

"The knee actuator and bypass circut are both ruined on Weltall. I can easily fix the actuator, but the circut needs to be replaced."

"What can we do, Doc?" asked Ranma a little worried. "I wanna get Weltall up to speed incase we get inta touble."

"Now to think of what we should do next..." Citan thought for a moment before an idea made him look at Ranma. "Shall we leave this forest and head for the desert town of Dazil? We may learn of what Aveh and Kislev are up to... not to mention getting some parts for Weltall. The leader of Aveh is not going to sit back and let other night's fiasco go by unpunished!"

Ranma nodded. "But what 'bout my Gear? We can't jes leave it here, ya know."

Citan was way ahead of the pigtailed man. "We'll think of something, Ranma. The city is only a ten or eleven hour walk from here. For now, we'll just hide Weltall in this clearing for the time being."

"Okay, Doc. We'll play this your way."

They both broke camp and headed out towards the west. Just as they reached the end of a pathway, Ranma happened to glance up and noticed a huge ship passing over them!

"What is that...?" he asked out loud.

Citan studied the ship for a moment. "I would assume that it is an aerial battleship from Aveh..."

"An aerial battleship?" Ranma didn't know anything about anything outside of Lahan. With Ranko locking herself away, all his chance of knowing anything was shot down the drain.

"Of course it does not come from Aveh orginally," stated Citan. "Most likely it belongs to Gebler forces stationed in Aveh."

"Gebler?"

"Special forces from the Sacred Empire of Solaris known as Gebler. I'm sure you have heard something about them. They are an organization providing large scale military aide to the kingdom of Aveh. They showed up in Ignas several months ago. Until then Aveh was being routed by Kislev." He explained. "But with Gebler's help they have managed to regain half their losses. They are now expanding their territory and gathering resources behind their buried ruins."

"I kinda heard some of the village elders talk about it once in a while..." He thought back to some things he heard last night in his sleep. "Is... Elly part of that?"

"I guess you were listening last night, Ranma. Yes, quite possibly so." Citan nodded to the younger man. "Their group has superior technology and power. It is rumored they are here soley to get the resources in the ruins. I am surprised they are using something as powerful as that ship..." He watched the ship pass overhead until out of site. "It must be to surpress the recent border skirmishes."

"So, they're like uhh.. fighting these Kislev guys?"

"Yes. It seems they have found new ruins on the norther edge of Aveh. Those ruins are under a five-hundred year old temple. Three weeks ago Kislev took over those ruins. Most likely they are fighting over that."

Ranma shook his head. This was alot of information to take in at this time. He had to wonder what else was in store for him in this world.

"Let's get goin', Doc. We gotta long walk an' I don't think you can keep up if I start runnin'."


Hours later, Ranma and Citan step into the city of Dazil. Ranma is amazed at how busy a desert down like Dazil could be. It was like something about of one of those american movies back home that Kasumi liked to watch occassionally.

"This is... Dazil..." Ranma half asked, half stated.

Citan nods.

"Yes, that is right. The desert town of Dazil."

"Town's sure lively." observed Ranma.

Citan nodded again. "This town is the center for all excavations in Aveh. People come from all over Ignas to try and find the resources buried in the ruins around here." He looks around a moment. "We should be able to find out what both Aveh and Kislev are up to, here. And we also need to gather things to repair Weltall."

Ranma turns to Citan. "We can find that here? I almost forgot about that.."

"Yes. We must exchange the broken parts to fix Weltall. Otherwise it would not be able to function at all!" Citan explained. "There is an 'Ethos' workshop at the southern part of town. Let us go there, Ranma."

Ranma nods.

"Yeah, okay, Doc. Let's check this place out then."

They began to walk into the city, but notice that it is pretty crowded on the main street. Ranma suggest that they take the high ground, so he leaps up and onto a walk way that was along the city wall. The Doc soon follows and they keep a good pace, until Ranma suddenly stops.

"Huh?" He notices something across the way long the outer area of the city. It was an excavation site and it looked like workers and gears that specialized in excavation were busy digging up sand and rock.

"Ain't that somethin'. They're digging right next to the town too?" They watch a robot digger walk by.

"This is an Aveh-run excavation site." said Citan. "The machines and Gears found here are valuble resources that could turn the tide of the war. They are indispensable to the war effort."

The conversation pauses as they look at the site for another few moments.

"Anyway Ranma.. Let's move on." Citan says while he moves ahead. "We have more pressing matters to do than taking in the 'sites'!"

During their walk, Citan happened to ask one of the civilians some questions. They learned that since the Gebler forces came, Aveh has hardly ever lost to Kislev. One happened to mention the 'Ethos' which perked Ranma curiousity.

"The 'Ethos'? What do Gears have to do with the 'Ethos'?" Ranma asked the Doc.

"Only the 'Ethos' has the technology to maintain generator driven Gears. The 'Ethos' decides which Gear gets which generator in which country..."

Again they continue on. Citan talked to random people trying to get information while Ranma just took in the sites.

"Ranma, over here." Citan called out, getting his attention.

They walked into a nearby building which happened to be a rental shop. The interior of the place was lacking, but they seemed to be getting alot of business from the stack of money sitting in front of the owner on the desktop. Citan walks up and talks to the owner.

"Hm?" The owner, an overweight piece of trailer park trash looks up. "Haven't met you before. So you want to rent out a sand buggy too?"

Ranma looks confused. "Sand buggy?"

Citan turns to Ranma and explains. "A sand buddy is a special type of vehicle designed for the desert terrain. It's tires will not get stuck in the sand... you really need them for long desert trips."

The owner spoke up. "Sorry but all our buggies are lent out now. Do you want to wait for one? Some of those guys hunting for parts should be back soon."

"I see... Well then, we will come later." Citan walks out with Ranma trailing. A few minutes later they end up at some Inn. Citan wanted to try and see what info he could get at the bar that was located inside. Could be something useful.

What the did find where a couple of soldiers talking up a storm.

"Yeah, we did it!"

"Ha-ha! We did it!"

"Who'd have thought it?"

"I didn't think it would go so well..."

"Sneaking in the night..."

"Follow after the army excavation teams..."

"Just like that... Poof!"

"... and steal their treasure!"

"Gyaahahahaha!"

"Wahahahahaha!"

Ranma formed a sweat-drop seeing the two soldiers carry on like that. "... This place sure is noisy."

Citan shrugged. "Well, in a place like this you have to expect this kind of atmosphere."

"Yeah, but even so..."

A strange man in purple clothing moved behind the soldiers and shoved them across the room! He kind of reminded Ranma of that Elvis person.

"Yikes!!"

"Shaddap!" shouted the strange man. He doesn't look like he cares a whole lot, standing at the bar, not moving. He appears to of had too much to drink also.

"...hic..." The man takes a few steps towards the soldiers who are now slumped at the other end of the room.

"Why're you all yappin' when Big Joe is here trying to drink in peace?" said Big Joe in an upset tone. "Can't ya'all shuddup..? ...hic!"

One soldier gets to his feet and glares at Big Joe.

"Who'dya think ya are? I don't care if you're Big Joe or Big Shmoe! You don't mess with me!" Big Joe laughs.

"Gahahahahaha!!" He stops laughing and addresses the soldier. "Yeah, you sure talk big. Can you dig for treasure as good as you talk?"

"What's that ya' say!?" snaps the soldier.

"You're so tough... Always lookin' for junk laying around... Why don't you do somethin' more productive for once!?"

"If you ask me, You're a big pus--!" The other soldier stops him before he says it.

"Hey, stop it..." he says. "This guy's trouble. He's lookin' wild..."

The first soldier turns to the second.

"Ah, shawdup! Just shut your trap!" He turns back to Joe only to get laughed in his face.

"Gahahahahaha! That's right... Run home to momma, litlle boys! Hicc!!" The second soldier runs out the door fast.

Soldier one, being by himself, slowly backs towards the door. "Uwup....! Da-damn you! You'll keep!" he follows Soldier two's example.

"Ha! Cowardly little punks!" Big Joe says before taking his place at the bar.

Citan whispers to Ranma, "Why, this man sure likes to make his presence felt!"

Big Joe spiked an interest in Ranma. He sat next to him at the bar. "Big show ya put on a minute ago, man."

Big Joe looks at Ranma. "Yeah - hic! - You drinkin' too? Booze is my life companion! Especially iin a sucky world like this. Everyone's searching for dough and dynamite... Ha, how unromantic."

"I ain't really here for any booze today," Ranma said calmly. "I'm jes' commin' in town ta get some parts for a Gear. What 'bout you?"

"Me?" Big Joe pointed at himself. "What am I doing here?" A slight pause before he sighed. "..Whatever I please, I guess."

"I still don't know why I'm here though. I know exactly why I'm here, but I also feel as I shouldn't, ya know? I'm s'pose ta be finding more about myself even though I know alot of what I am."

Big Joe took a mighty swig of his booze and sighed. "You think you know about yourself? I could introduce myself right now, and by tomorrow be a different person. If you didn't understand that, I'll repeat... - hic! - Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

Ranma shrugged and followed Citan when he left the bar. Outside, they went another block down until they reached his large workshop with an sign with an ankh that signified the 'Ethos'. It was one of their many workshops around the globe. Inside the shop, a couple mechanics were working a Gear not nearly as sophisticated as Weltall, but working hard just the same. Ranma walks in a couple steps and looks around.

"Wow.. So this is the Ethos workshop place, right Doc?"

Citan nods.

"Yes. The 'Ethos' workshops are the only places that officially repair Gears. Let us see if we can get the parts we need to fix Weltall. As they say, time is money! .. So we should do whatever we can do as soon as we are able to."

The duo walk over to a mechanic who appears to be in charge, overseeing the repair of the unsophisticaed Gear.

"Huh? How can we help you?" the mechanic ask.

"Sorry o bother you. Our Gear has broken down, so I would like to buy some parts to fix it."

"Tough luck, huh? Can you tell me what make of parts are you after?"

Citan nods. "Yes, we are hoping to replace an X-29 model injection bypass circuit."

"X-29 model injection circuit? That's only used on the lastest military models." He shakes his head. "We don't keep those kind of parts in stock here. You can only get such special parts by placing an order at the 'Ethos' headquarters. This workshop is only for the repair of civilian Gears..."

"I see." Citan nods to him. "Sorry to have bothered you. Thanks anyway."

"Sorry that we can't help you."

Ranma and the Doc exit the workshop back to the streets. It seems that they were not lucky in finding their part in a store like they wished. As they walk, Ranma stops a couple steps behind Citan until the good doctor notices he is not next to him.

".. Doc, do ya have a moment? I kinda wanna talk to ya."

"Yes, of course, Ranma..." He turns and nods to the young man. "But if it's important, we should find someplace more private to talk about." Ranma nods and follows the Doc. He leads them to an over passing bridge that loops over the more heavily traffic area of Dazil. No one really uses the bridge anyway.

"... Well doc, it's about Weltall..." Ranma began. "I know we should get it as far away from Lahan as possible, but I've been kinda thinkin' that if it's alright if we don't fix it?"

"Do not repair it? What is the problem, Fei?"

Ranma shakes his head. "There ain't really no problem, Doc. It's just that - I don't really know what to do at this point. I been kinda thinkin' that, we've made it as far as Dazil on our own, so don't that show that we don't really need Weltall as much as we really thought. And I kinda wanna go back to Lahan and help rebuild after everythin's been cooled down an' all. Most of the damage done to the place was done by me and the Gear when I fought back there..." He turned and placed his hands on the hard, warm stone of the overpass.

"But on the other hand, I also wanna figure out what the hell is goin' on and why they landed in the village and did what they did. And I still don't think the villagers would 'ppreciate it if I showed my face again, 'xcept Alice maybe. It's a martial artist duty to protect those he cares about and I think it would be best if I jes' continue on and find everything out." he looked back at Citan. "That's all I feel I can do now..."

Citan laid his hand on the younger mans shoulder. ".. I see. But I do not know if I can actually say anything to help you out, Ranma. I think you already answered your own questions with what you just said."

"What do ya mean?"

"We should try and move Weltall as far away from Lahan as possible. It is only my speculation, but..." He thought back a moment. "I suspect the incident that evening occured because the Gebler Special Force stole a Kislev Military Gear."

"Special Force.... You mean Elly's group?"

Citan nods.

"Exactly. When I examined the broken Gear in the village, I realized the Gebler pilot was riding a Kislev Gear. It must have had some new technology involved in it for the Kislev Army to send pursuit forces after it."

Ranma turns to Citan and shakes his head.

"New technology? I don't really know anything about that kinda stuff."

"I would not expect you to. I suspect that the Gebler Force was out to steal a new experimental Gear." Citan pauses. "I am sure news of the Special Force's failure has reached the capital. They will be investigating the Lahan area to reclaim whatever parts of the new Gear that they can find."

Ranma scratches the back of his head. "I think I'm kinda gettin' what your sayin', Doc. If Aveh comes lookin' for Weltall, so will Kislev and they'll fight over it... right by Lahan too!

Citan nods with a smile, seeing that Ranma was smarter than he thought. "So, to avoid any problems, we should move Weltall somewhere else right away!"

"But what 'bout them parts we need? I ain't thinkin' that we have the money to really buy it from this 'Ethos' HQ place." Ranma said, showing he only has a few G's to his name.

"I think you have a point, Ranma." Citan leans on the overpass, but right below them he notices a vehicle pull up in front of the rental store they went into earlier. He suddenly had an idea!

"That is a sand buggy. I believe I have the solution to the problem." Citan starts forward and motions Ranma to follow. "Let us go back to the rental shop and rent out that buddy."

"What the plan, Doc?"

"Well, leave it to me. Just you wait and see."

Back inside the rental shop, Ranma and Citan walk up to the owner and talk to him. The owner speaks first.

"The sand buggy you were waiting for is back. Do you want to rent it?"

Citan turns and nods. "Yes, that is right. Do you have any we can rent right now?"

"Of course... the keys are in the ignition, you can take it now." Citan nods again.

"Well then, if I may." He turns to Ranma. "I am going into the desert to search for parts for Weltall."

Ranma looks curious.

"Going to the desert? Doc, are ya gonna excavate some ruins or somethin'?" Citan shakes his head.

"The Kislev and Aveh armies are confronting each other in the desert all the time. There is talk that their forces ofter break into battle over the ruins."

"What's that gotta do with the Gear?"

"If I search the battlefields for the wrecks of such army Gear... I should be able to find the parts we need."

"But..."

"Ranma, you are such a worrier. Thinks have a way of working out. You do not need to worry so much. Why not go kill some time atthe bar until I get back."

"But.."

Citan already left.

"Doc..."

The owner speaks, getting Ranma's attention.

"Hey, are you letting him go out there alone? Lots of fights break out in the desert - it's a real dangerous place! I heard about a group of pirates riding around attacking people on a sand cruiser. You really shouldn't let him go out there by himself."

Ranma was already out the door.

Damn it Doc! Why did'ja have to leave so quickly?! Thought Ranma as he traversed the desert terrain. He slid down a sand dune and stopped when he hit the bottom. He then perks up hearing a sound approaching from behind him.

"Wha...?"

The sound becomes louder and he tenses. Suddenly, a pair of Gears jump quickly over him and into the direction he was heading. Ranma quickly runs up a dune behind them as they pass out of sight.

"What? Those were Gears!" he couldn't tell whose Gears those were, but the rifles they carried told them they were definately military. Not the ones that attacked Lahan, though. "... I'm worried about doc..."

He adjust the pack he carried - something he bought with the last amount of money which also held water and a first aid kit - and decided to follow those Gears.

A couple hours later, he finds himself on flat area of desert. He stops in the middle of the flat section and takes a swig of one of the water packs he carries.

"How far has doc gone? ... And now I've lost sight of those Gears too."

He then hears a rumbling. He looks around and tries to find the source. It wasn't until he saw the shadow that loomed over him did he try looking up at the sky.

!!

Very high in the sky, Ranma saw a saucer-shaped vehicle flying very low, surrounded by a red-orange barrier like area, and it's also very large. The outer part of it seems to rotate around the inner part. It seemed to disappear behind a dune from Ranma's perspective and he follows.

"W, what the heck is that thing?"

He jumps up the dune and runs toward it.

Hours later, two more Gears are jumping like the previous ones, and cross Ranma's line of vision, who is just standing there looking at them.

"More of them Gears? Are they goin' were the saucer went? I better follow them so as not to lose sight of them..."

Ranma follows the new Gears. After a while, dusk starts to settle in on the desert.

An hour passes and Ranma seems to be walking now instead of running.

"Don't this desert ever end? It'll get dark soon, so I better hurry up and---"

The sound of motors picks up in his hears. He looks to his left and sees soldiers riding sand bikes cruise by some distance away.

"What the fuck is goin; on here?" he says to no one. He learned alot of bad language from Bud. "Gears, a flying saucer.. and now these guys! I hope Doc's alright!"

He hears another motor coming from the same direction as the bikes. It's closer to him though. It sounded like a straggler.

Ranma gets an idea and puts it into action. When the bike sound is closer, he suddenly jumps in the way of the oncomming bike. The driver shouts a warning and swirves to avoid him. Unfortunately for him, he flips the back accidentally and is thrown off while the bike slides onto it's side.

Ranma quickly runs up to the bike, which is now turned off. He notices the soldier struggling to get up, more disorientated than hurt, a good distance away.

"Sorry 'bout this! I kinda need this more than you!"

He quickly turns on the machine, lucky that it's just like dirt bike back home. He remembered couple times when his pals Hiroshi and Daisuke would invite him to go dirt-biking a couple times during the summer. It was like riding a bike, yet at speeds that intoned danger. And Ranma loved danger.

"See ya!" he reved the engine loudly before taking off on one wheel. The soldier runs out to where Ranma souped up the bike cursing the pigtailed man and throwing up finger jestures.

Ranma rode the sand bike very fast across the desert. It was much better than walking or running in the sand, which slowed him down greatly. He hops over many dunes until he turns on a flate patch of land, turning a corner. Soon, dusk turned to nightfall and he had to switch on his lights. He turns another corner and stops. A noice starts puzzling him.

?

A smoke blast knocks Ranma and the bike backwards. He collects himself and wonders what the hell was going on. He stands and looks around until a sound alerts him. He looks back.

A huge Gear lands behnd him, and it's head turns to see him. Ranma backs up a couple steps and the Gear rotates to fully face him. Ranma turns to run but another Gear of the same design lands in front of him, effectively putting him in a pincer attack! He runs back a couple steps in the other direction but the first Gear is there.

"What's with you guys? Aren't you overreacting a little for just stealing a motorcycle..." he sweats.

The Gear in front of Ranma starts to raise one arm against him, but then suddenly gunfire from off the screen blows both Gears onto their backs. Ranma turns to the source of the gunfire.

"Ah...!"

Weltall drops down from a jump and gets down into a landing position. Citan walks out the cockpit and into it's hand.

"Ranma! I was looking everywhere for you."

Ranma runs up to Weltall. "Doc! You're alright?"

"Yes, of course..." Citan looks to the side and sees something. "Looks like we do not have time to chat."

Ranma looks the direction Citan is. The two Gear that were mowed down by Weltall get up.

"Ranma, hurry!"

"I gotcha Doc!" Ranma leaps up while Citan jumps down. The pigtailed martial artist climbs into the cockpit and places his hands onto the sphere used for piloting. He speaks on a loud speaker. "Take cover, Doc. I don't wanna have ya on my conscience too!"

Weltall moved to engage the two Gears. They slide along the ground to confused him - it remined him of those mobile suits in the Gundam world that had skirts. He wasn't baited into the trap and just attacked.

Weltall leaped into the air and flew into the first Gear's path and knocked it down with a flying kick. It then followed up with a hard double-leg stomp using the Gears boosters to enhance the attack. This destroyed the first Gears legs, stopping any further mobility it's pilot could use. The second Gear took advantage of Ranma's turned back and fired it's machine gun, causing some damage but not anything major.

Ranma turns the gear around and started dodging gun fire from the other Gear. He was loving it everytime he got into Weltall. He could feel the power that was in his hands and knew that he had total control everytime. It was like getting a power boost like all his rivals did so they could beat him, except that Weltall enhanced his abilities so he could battle other Gears on an even playing field. It was more like taking his body and turning him into a 16 meter tall version of himself.

He saw the second Gear stop firing and attempt to load in a new clip of ammunition for it's weapon. Ranma took this opportunity to dash forward and smash a hard left body shot into the Gears frame. This was followed by a hard right then a rising uppercut that cause Weltall and the other Gear to rise off the ground. This attack ripped off the downed gears head. Ranma watched it roll around in the sand become comming to a stop a distance away.

This was fun, Ranma thought. "I beat them!" He suddenly felt his heart pulse causing him to freeze. He felt something bad and he turns his head to look around.

HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!

"W, what the?"

Weltall looks up a huge stone pillar to a sinister-looking Gear with its arms folded. Ranma soon realized that this was the same sinister-looking Gear that appeared in Lahan. A man in a purple and blank cloack and hood with his face coveed, and giving off and air of pure evil, stands on the Gear's shoulder. A huge full red mon behind him makes it look even more ominous.

"Your hot blodded desire for battle has not been tamed, I see."

"Who are you!?" Ranma shouts to the man. He didn't like him one bit.

The evil looking man pauses as if realizing something.

"Where is the girl?!"

Ranma looks insulted but tries to hide it. "Who the fuck are you callin' a girl!?"

"I am not calling you a girl, weakling. I am refering to the girl that battled at that little mud-ball of a town in that Gear you are riding in."

Ranma growled. "I ain't known what ya talkin' about. It was me that was in it!" Ranma paused. "Wait, you're that jerk standin' on that pillar at Lahan, weren't ya!? Who the fuck are ya anyway?"

Citan shakes his head. "Here we go again..."

"My name is Grahf... The seeker of power." says the evil looking man. "You certainly showed how much power you had fighting those Aveh Gears. Similiar to the power of the girl in Lahan."

"What the fuck are ya talkin' about? I don't have any power!"

"A great power... is what I need to fulfill my mission." Grahf shakes his head. "I sent those Gears into that land has a catalyst to awaken the power in the boy named Fei... Instead it awakens the power of some girl that is more than twice his superior. Now I find you here in this wasteland."

"As a catalyst?! You mean you did that intentionally!?"

Grahf's eyes flash a dangerous red. "That's right. The death of your loved ones... And you powerless against it happening.. The grief, the screams from your heart born out of the tragedy... There! That was the catalyst for triggering the girls power."

Ranma was begining to boil over. "You mean you attacked the village just to get Fei in that Gear!? Why!? Why did the villagers have to die...?"

"Who cares why! It does not matter how many of them died... They were wretched vermin, only living from day to day without ever fulfilling their prescribed destinies! Have you forgotten? She was the on who destroyed the village. I did not lift a finger."

"You bastard..." Ranma lowered his head, hidding his face from the evil man. "Fei.. Timothy... everyone..."

"You are the same as her," said Grahf, mocking Ranma. "It is the ecsence of both of you... the voice of desire from within you that craves destruction."

"Shut up!" Ranma looks up at him with utter hate in his eyes. "Even if there were true, aren't you still the one who cause it!? If you hadn't come, the village wouldn't have suffered the way it did! It's all YOUR fault!!"

"Ah, so now you resort to blame? I see.. That sounds like something 'you' would say. That's good. Your basic nature remains unchanged."

"Why you---"

A short pause.

"You said you need my 'power'? What where you intending to do with it!?"

Grahf looks at Ranma and seems to look more evil than he already is.

"You know very well... it is to destroy... mother god..."

Ranma looks shocked. "D, destroy God?"

"Yes, we will destroy god. That is out purpose... that is our destiny!"

Destiny? Destiny?! Ranma was begining to hate that word now.

"You gotta be outta yer fucking mind, old man! I ain't getting involve with crap like that! If you wanna destroy your god, or whatever the fuck it is, yer own you're own - do it by yourself!!!"

"Coward."

"What the fuck you call me?!!!!"

Ranma screamed and Weltall powered up. The gear launched into the air at Grahf with the intent to kill him. But suddenly, the Gear Grahf rode on swiped it's hand out and batted Weltall back to the ground. It lands creating a gear-sized crater in the sand.

"What the--?"

"Your power is still beneath that needed for my purposes. Anything unusable must be tried until it becomes suitable."

The ground begins to tremble causing Ranma to startle.

"What?"

Dust starts to move as something burrows up from the depths. A worm-like monster breaches the surface of the sand directly in front of Weltall.

"!! What thehell is that!?" shouts Ranma.

"What will you do, Ranma Saotome? If you die here, then so be it. You may indeed gain some happiness from not knowing. But surely, that is not what you truly want...? If you want to know the truth - and that is what you want, isn't it Ranma - then this is what to do... you must show me that you have attained the level of strength I require... to do that you much destroy other by using your own strength! Then you will gain all that was lost in exchange for that scream of death! Ha, ha, ha, ha!!!"

Grahf and his Gear ascends into the night sky, departing. Ranma shakes Weltall's fist at his departing image.

"Come back here! I ain't finish with you yet! Asshole!"

The worm-like monster roars, getting his attention. Ranma growls in response and places Weltall in a firm kempo stance.

"I better be careful with this one," he says to himself.

He moves into attack range and connects with a leg that rocks the worm. But when he connected, the worm-monster wrapped it's 'neck' around Weltall's leg and Ranma found that some of his fuel was drained.

"Shit!" he cried and kicked the monster away with Weltall's other leg. "I better stay outta range." Accessing the ether machine, he built up his ki and attacked with a enhanced ki blast. Nothing happened.

"Shit, I ain't really to confident at the moment," he cursed that bastard Grahf to making him like this. He'll pay.

The worm lunged at Weltall and it stepped out of the way. It grabbed the monster by the neck and squeezed hard. The worm roared and started thrashing sending Weltall whipping around everywhere. Ranma noted that his fuel was being drained again so he let go and was thrown into a large sand dune. The worm closed in on him quickly.

"Shit, what to do?!" Weltall rolled away and smashed a round house into the beak of the monster while backing away. The black gear got into another kempo stance while it stared down the reeling monster.

Ranma got an idea. "If it's eating my fuel, then it'll blow up if I attacked the stomach with a ki blast! But it's body is thick an' I can't penetrate it... The mouth!"

Weltall threw a punch directly at the monsters mouth and cheered when it's beak latched onto it. He noted the fuel drain but ignored it while he accessed the ether machine again. He felt his confidence building and began to send ki into his control spheres. Energy was amplified and fed into the hand of Weltall.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!!" Ranma cried, opening Weltall's fist and releasing the amplified ki. The worm then exploded as the Gears stolen fuel was ignited. Weltall flew back but Ranma managed to gain some control and skidded to a half on it's feet in a crouched position. There were a couple sparks comming off of Weltall but they soon subsided.

Citan runs up to the front of Weltall as soon as Ranma exited.

"Ranma! Are you alright!?"

"Yeah," he said with a downcast and depressed expression on his face. "I'm fine... the Gear seems to be broken though..."

"I am so glad that you are unharmed. The Gear had only temporary repairs made on it. There were not made to survive an outright battle like that."

"..."

"Ranma?"

Suddenly, two Gears like the ones from before jump to each side of Weltall. Citan looks at both of them, then turns twards the first one again.

"Oh no! The Aveh Military! Not now..!" He turns to Ranma. "Ranma, I think we should remain calm... --?"

"..."

"Ranma?"


A sand cruiser with the colors of the Aveh Military drives along the desert terrain. Weltall was attached to it's roof since Ranma and Citan were captured. Inside the cruiser, Ranma and Citan are locked in a somewhat comfortable room since the cruiser had no jail cells. In a war like this, the rule applied: Take no prisoners.

Ranma sat on a bed in the seiza position, a meditative pose that was used for meditation or formal business in early Japan. Hs face still had it's downcast and depressed demeanor. His eyes were also closed.

Citan, who is sitting on a chair looking out a view port, addresses Ranma.

"Sorry I messed up... I was careless," he says. "That Gear is a top secret experimental model from Kislev... It was only natural that Aveh would also be madly searching for it."

He continues talking.

"Ranma? Are you hurt? You do not look so well."

"I'm fine, Doc."

"That man in black... spoke of a girl... Is that what is wrong? I saw you enter the Gear at that time, but I didn't see a girl enter it."

Ranma sighs and reaches for a pitcher of water.

"I need your promise, Doc." Ranma begins. "Not as my friend, a doctor or even as a fellow martial artist. I need your promise as a man of honor to never tell anyone of what I'm about to show you."

"Can I trust you with that, Doc?"

Citan pauses and considers what Ranma is asking of him. After a moment, he nods and says, "I swear on my honor that I will not disclose anything you show me, Ranma."

Ranma pours the cold water on him and triggers his change. The Doc watches in astonishment as Ranma shrinks and grows in more ways than one! Citan, instead of stepping back, steps forward and examines Ranma's new form. They both looked the same, except that now he was a she, shorter, had red hair and sported a pair of large breasts for a girl of that size.

"Pardon if I don't sound like the doctor that I am but," Citan pauses. "Damn woman, you're hot!"

"No comment, Doc." Ranma-chan dead-pans.

Citan continued his inspection, raising Ranma's arms and turning his head and making other observations while speaking.

"I am to assume that water is the trigger of this phenomenon."

"Yeah, cold water. Hot water changes me back."

"Wait, but you walked in the cold rain a couple times and did not change at all? How come it did not trigger your change?" Citan asked curiously, and little perplexed.

Ranma shrugged. "I can control it most of the time if I think about it." he explained. "I learned to control it a year ago before I showed up in Lahan. It's only if I allow the water trigger to be used that water can activate it." That was obviously a lie. It was because of Id that the water trigger was dulled out. But it was true that if he concentrated, he could allow it to work, like now.

"So it was you that did all that, Ranma?"

"Huh?" Citan shrugged.

"I meant, it was actually you that defended Lahan like you said? You were that red-headed pilot?"

He shrugged. "This is my cursed form," he lied. It wasn't a curse to him anymore, but a blessing. "I kinda blacked out after Timothy was killed... I don't remember anything after that, really." He paused and willed himself to change back to male. Not good for Id to find out that Citan was oogling her body.

"The stuff that Grahf said... What happened at Lahan... was all planned to get Fei to ride in that Gear... or so he claimed." Ranma frowns. "That's what go me worried..."

Ranma looks at Citan as he speaks.

"To get Fei to ride in that Gear..?" the Doc asks.

"Doc, before I showed up at the village and before it was destroyed, I live with many doubts about myself. I had been promised to my mother that I would be a pillar of manhood. Promised to a girl that betrayed me for someone that I thought was my best friend," Ranma visage darkened for a moment. "so I kinda had a big past that I was runnin' away from..."

"And..?"

"I realized had some sorta destiny that I had to fulfill, but I'm begining to hate that word now." Ranma laid back on the bed and closed his eyes. "I think that Fei had a past too and since he couldn't remember anythin' he didn't know, or wanted to know. Grahf said that he sent everyone to the village to trigger Fei's past somehow and get him in Weltall."

"Now that he's dead and I got in the Gear, I'm thinkin' that somehow I took Fei's place in life." Ranma already knew he did. He knew he was taking the path that Ranko already took. This was his path also.

"I think that this was my destiny..." Ranma sighed.

Citan shakes his head. "Man makes their own destiny, Ranma. Don't believe anyone that says otherwise. Only God knows which destiny you would take."

"Yeah, whatever."

The Doc lays on his own cot and sighs. "Well we cannot do anything as long as we are prisoners... even if we wanted to. Let us rest a little. Maybe it will sort your feeling out a little."

As Ranma turns on the bed away from the Doc, he doesn't notice the Glazed look that takes the Doc's face as he sleeps.


A sand cruiser flies along the desert leaving dust in it's wake. Suddenly, a pair of targeting crosshairs of a scope. The scope moves up and down and in a bit, focusing on the sand cruiser.

Bingo! Just as the report said - an Aveh transport. And look what we have on top...!

The scope focuses in to reveal that this is the cruiser carrying Weltall.

No mistaking it! That's a new Kislev model! It has to be the stolen Gear everyone is after!!

The scene changes to follow the path of a scopes tube and down into a single blue eye of it's owner. The scene changes to a large bridge underneath the target scope. A young man in a pirates uniform with an eye patch over one eye has been looking at it.

"Whatever the case.. There's no way we are going to let that Shakahn guy have it..." The pirate retracts the target scope. "Gunner!"

The gunner speaks. "Turrent A 'Anton' and Turrent B 'Belta' can initiate their ectropometers twenty seconds after opening their hatches."

"Franz!"

A humanoid dolphin with a head-set speaks. "I don't hear anything other han the flowing sound of the sand... No suspicious radar activity detected!"

The pirate walks to the steering wheel. "Marseilles!"

Another human crewman speaks. "Maitreya's units are on standby atthe catapults. They'll all be able to launch one minute after we resurface!"

"Good! Let's do it!" shouted the pirate. "BattCon level 1!"

Alarms go off in the interior of the ship flashing lights and making a brief buzz sound. The lights in the bridge turn red. Crewmen began shouting ships status to the pirate.

"Surface-combat, ready!"

"Torpedo room, ready!

"Anti-Gear guns, ready!"

"Navigation and Engineering are also ready!"

A door at the back of the bridge opens and in walks an old man with white hair and spectacle dressed in what would be a butlers uniform.

"Y, young master! What is happening? What was the alarm all about..."

The door opens again to reveal a taller, much younger man, with white hair and an eye patch over his right eye, unlike the first pirate who had a patch over his left eye.

"Not again...? Young master! Hold on a second!" The first pirate ignores the two.

"Battle stations, everyone! Surface navigation, begin operating the sand pump! Prepare to fire the starboard cannons upon surfacing!"

"Young master!" shouts the second pirate.

"Y, young master!" stutters the elderly man.

He didn't listen. "Trim to the right! The wind is strong up there and we may be blown off balance! Jerico! Hand the helm over to me!"

Citan and Ranma both couldn't get any sleep. Now they were sitting at a table playing a game of old maid which Ranma just happened to be lossing, as usual. Citan looks out of the view port and notices something.

"Look! What is that...?"

"Huh?" Ranma gives up on the game and looks.

They both watch as a large, dark-colored craft pops out of the sandy ground and rocks back and forth as it surface, moving at the same speed as the sand cruiser. It reminds Ranma of a submarine from back home.

"A sand cruiser..." Citan observes until realization hits him. "It must be those desert pirates!"

"Pirates...?" Ranma asked curiously but noticed something about the cruiser.

He watched as a pair of double-barried guns rose on the ship and turned toward them. His eyes went wide when he saw them fire!

"Get down!" Ranma knocked Citan down and covered him.

"Alterate firing between A 'Anton' and B 'Belta'! Calculating adjustments!"

The pirate nods.

"Awww yeah! Switch modes over to salvos after the initial shots! Let's slow 'em down! Get ready to give them a spankin' they won't forget!"

The elderly gentleman runs up to the Pirate.

"Young master, please wait! It may just be a requisitioned shio, not a warship..."

The pirate waves the elderly man away. "Let me handle this! Whether it's a warship or not, it's carrying a new Gear!" He turns and shouts an order. "Gunner! Let ;em have it!!"

The room shudders as the ship was hit by a direct hit from the shelling. Citan struggles to remain balanced while Ranma leans on his feet so he could remain standing.

"Oh-oh!"

Another shudder as the craft is hit again. The room tilts to one side and Citan turns to the window.

"Judging by the angle.. it seems as if a gun blast has made a hole in the hull... We will probably sink within minutes."

Ranma nods. "We better get outta here then, Doc." He simply walks up to the door and kicks it open. The door blast out as the chi-charged kick send it off of it's hinges and lock. "Come on! Sand it already filling in!"

They both quickly leave the room and began to trek the halls of the ship as it fills with sand. The Doc finds a switch that activates the sand barrier door that was a close to their prison. This gives them enough time to halt the sand comming in to the compartment they are located in so they can climb a ladder to the next level.

There were guards scrambling around. Deciding that the best way to get thru them was the direct approach.

"Let's hurry Doc!" Ranma charges the guards. "Watch out!"

A kick sends one into a wall. "Comming though!"

"Outta the way!" a punch knocks out and collides with the head of another.

"Make way for the escapees!" Ranma threw punches and kicks that disable the guards as they made their way. They soon made it to the engine room.

"Damn, there is the hatch to the surface!" Citan points to a ladder across the way.

"Don't worry Doc!" Ranma simply grabs him and runs across the cat walks. Guards began firing but they missed by a mile as Ranma ran out of their cross hairs each time. A sudden rumble was heard and Ranma leaped high and grabbed the ladder with Citan on his back. Part of the engine exploded taking the guards with it. The Doc quickly climbed up Ranma back and up through the hatch.

"You certainly are strong for a young man, Ranma!" The Doc took a couple deep breaths. That was surely an exciting moment.

"Comes with the job description, Doc." he joked. He noticed the Doc disappeared. "Doc!? Where did you go, Doc!?"

"Ranma!! Can you hear me? I am moving the crane towards Weltall's cockpit. Hurry! Go up the crane to Weltall! We are going under fast!"

"Okay, Doc!" Ranma shouts back. "Hurry up to so I can get ya!"

The crane ships and Ranma makes his way across it. He kept his balance even thought the winds whipped at him. He then reached the top were he jumped down and wrapped his legs around the thick cable. Sliding down, he jumped down into Weltall's cockpit and closed the hatch.

"C'mon doc! Over here! Hurry up!" Ranma says as Weltall approaches the deck. Citan quickly runs up to Weltall and is grabbed up in it's hand. After a second, Weltall turns away and flies away from the ship.

A moment later, Weltall lands a good distance away from the sinking ship. It kneels down and sets Citan on firm ground.

"Wooh..." He walks forward and backward a couple steps. He looked disoriented. "Whoops..."

"Are you okay, Doc?" Ranma asked, concerned.

"Ha ha ha... Well, Doctor Citan Uzuki! Feels like you have sacked your saccules, and tickled your utricles enough for one life time! Wow, dizzy!"

Ranma looked sheepish. "Sorry about that, doc! I kinda didn't have time ta open the cockpit... Are ya sure yer okay?"

"Ranma, I was only joking. Riding in the hand was not so bad. I can see what is so good about this top secret experimental Kislev machine."

"Yeah, when I start it up, it began doin' all sorts of stuff by itself... The environmental reponse system and weight-reduction hovering kicked in straight away... automatically!"

"Really...? Amazing..!" Citan exclaims.

"Save yourselves but leave your friends to sink in a sea of sand.. Don't you believe in comradeship?"

Citan and Ranma turn to the voice.

It was a large red gear with a plume. Behind it was the pirates craft, stopped a distance away. The gear was also flanked by two other red gears of a different design, obviously not as intricate as the first.

"Not very manly of you two to leave your platoon to die while you run away in a Gear, you know?"

"Who you callin' not manly?!" Ranma growled. It was one thing to call him a girl or weak, but insulting his manhood was another story! "You askin' for trouble or somethin'? And we ain't even Aveh soldiers so I wouldn't care what happened to them!"

"Hm. Can't you make a better plea for your life?" said the pirate. It was the same person giving commands on the bridge of the ship. "You come jumping out of an Aveh ship and clam that you are not Aveh soldiers! Stop trying to fool me!"

"I'm sayin' it's the truth!" Ranma shot back.

"Tsk. How pathetic are you?!" said the pirate in the Gear. "Even if you're the pettiest of soldiers, how's about showing a little spine... and put up a decent fight!"

Uh oh, thought Citan. Wrong move by the pirate. He ran a good distance away from the four gears.

"You wanna fight?!" Ranma growled. "Ya got it! And I ain't no coward!!"

Weltall charges forward and the large red gear attacks. A pair of whips shoot out of it's arms to try and snag Weltall but the black gear avoids them. The bigger gear wasn't the target! Weltall reaches one of the other red Gears and grabs it by the arm. Ranma activates a booster system for his gear which makes it faster and a bit stronger. Weltall easily flings the smaller gear at it's counter-part, putting both out of commission leaving only the one piloted by the pirate.

"Shit, you're quite powerful." noted the pirate. "I see, an all-environment model.. so that's it, huh? Now I want it even more!"

The red Gear lashes it's whips at Weltall and manages to catch it's arms. The pirate gear pulls at the black gear but finds that it's no use - Weltall was holding its ground and turing this match into a gear-like tug-of-war.

Ranma gritted his teeth and noted that a screen displayed that his system would over-heat if this continued. Weltall was still feeling the effects of that fight with the worm-monster the other night. It still needed fuel and repairs. He decide he needed to end this quick.

Weltall suddenly dashed forward. This caused the red gear to fall back and pull Weltall towards it even faster! The black gear jumped up and like a rubber band, was pulled toward the red-gear into a flying kick!

"SUPER RUBBER-BAND WHIPLASH KICK!!"

The kick rocks the red-gear and it flies back pulling Weltall with it. It lands in a patch of sand and both begin to sink.

"In the heat of battle, I got get caught in quicksand!" Growls the pirate. "Darn. Me of all people!" he shakes his Gears fist at Weltall.

"Damn! It's all your fault! Boy are you going to get it later. So be darn ready!"

"Kiss my ass!"

Ranma groans and shakes his head. That landing wasn't all that good. He notices that he's in some sort of underground cave. He also see's the red gear and that it's pilot was already out. The pilot was a young man, just like Ranma. He had a mop of blonde hair and seemed to missing one eye, hinted by the eye patch on his left. He wore a pair of white pants and had on a blue shirt under an open and very worn red-vest. He wa approaching Weltall also.

"Hey, come down here now!" Shouted the pirate. "I'm not gonna kill you. All I want is for you to leave this Gear... huh?"

Ranma jumps down from the cockpit and stares down the pirate.

"Hey!? You're not an Aveh soldier?"

He notices Ranma take a step forward but suddenly felt a fist burry in his gut! This guy was fast!

"That was for callin' callin' me spineless." He follows up with another punch that has the pirate gasping for even more air.

"That's for sayin' I was pathetic!"

Ranma jumps, turning around and kicking the man in his chest. The pirate was knocked back and skidded across the hard ground on his back until he was at the feet of his own Gear. He clutched his chest and stomach in pain.

"THAT! is for insulting my manhood." The pigtailed man walks over to the downed pirate and looks down at him sourly. "And I told ya I wasn't an Aveh soldier in the first place, ya stupid idiot."

He noticed the pirate passed out from the pain.

"Oh well."

Ranma took out a marker and started writing on the mans face.

A while later, Ranma sat at the foot of Weltall relaxing. He realized that he was possibly stuck in this underground cavern and needed to find a way out. But, he decided to wait for the moron pirate to wake up and take him with him.

"Ugh.."

Speak of the devil.

"I see you're dumb ass woke up." Ranma cracked his knuckles. "You want more?"

The pirate waves his hands frantically. "W, wait! It was a misunderstanding! I went off half-cocked and thought you were the enemy!" He saw the pigtailed man settle down. "Uhh, ahem.. My name is Bart. I'm the pirate that works this territory."

Ranma shrugged. "I'm Ranma. I was arrested for no apparent reason, shoved into that Aveh transport ship... And was nearly going to be sent to a concentration camp until you went and blew the thing to blazes. Anyway.. I'm just glad to have been able to survive."

Bart walks back towards his Gear, wincing when he rubbed his stomach and chest. There would be terrible bruising from the beating the guy gave him.

"I see.. Well, I'm glad I at least helped you out a little. But I didn't expect a civilian like you would be riding in a military Gear. Besides, this Gear is brand new model. I've never seen this type before."

"Let's just say that a lot of things have happened."

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Ranma looks at the man.

"I'm apologizing for the fight and my words earlier." said Bart.

"Yeah, whatever." Ranma looks around again. "Where are we anyway? Looks like we fell into some sorta cavern underground."

"What? You don't know anything, do you? Where are you from?" Bart asked before shaking his head. "The desert only covers around 1000 sharls of the outer layer of the earth. The stratum underneath that consist of igneous rock."

Ranma understood that a sharl was the equivilant of a meter, from what the Doc told him. He didn't really understand what the hell Bart was talking about so he just nodded his head as if understanding.

"We're in trouble... Look, the hole we fell through has disappeared. We'd better find some other way out... so, you wanna call a truce for now?

"... at least until we find an exit and get out of here."

"Yeah, whatever." Ranma shrugged and shook his hand. This caused Bart to almost cry at feeling his grip, much to Ranma's enjoyment. "Let's get goin'. We gotta find a way out of here first."

They began to search the cavern for a way out. Ranma, not use to using the sensors, tries to figure out how to read them correctly. He wished Id didn't lock herself away and would help him right now. But he respected her privacy just like she did his.

"Hey, Ranma! My sensors are responding to something. There appears to be quite a large cavern on the other side of here."

Weltall moves up to Brigandier, the red gear that Bart pilots. There was a large boulder that seemed to be blocking pathway to the other side.

"Hey, this is huge." observes Bart. "What can we do with this? I doubt you can break it."

"I guess we could try pushin'..." Weltall hovers and begins pushing the rock.

"Wait, no matter how you look at it..."

Weltall pushes by itself for a minute. Brigandier is just standing there. Ranma notices the lack of effort.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Hurry up and help!!"

Bart moves his gear over and starts to help pushing the rock with Weltall. They both notice that the boulder is begining to move and push extra hard with the help of their thrusters. After a minute it falls over, clearing the path. Weltall follows it and jumps onto the rock. It looks around at the newly opened cavern.

Ranma speaks. "We can get thru this if we just help each other. Let's keep it up so we can get outta here."

Weltall jumps down followed by Brigandier.

"The hydromechanic pipe for my knee joint is on the verge of breaking down. It's all because of that fall from the ceiling... followed by pushing this mega colossal boulder. It won't be funny if my Gear malfunctions in a huge cavern like this."

Yes it would, jerk. Ranma thought to himself. "Your friends won't come and help us?"

"It'd be a waste of time waiting. They probably won't come."

"But, aren't they yer friends or somethin'?"

Bart shrugged. "We believe in a liberal upbringing. They'll think we can escape by ourselves."

"I wonder if Doc is okay." Ranma thought outloud.

"Don't worry about the man you were with. I'm sure my people saved him by now."

"..."

"What is it?"

"We wouldn't have fallen in here if you had only listened to me!" Ranma snapped.

"Don't blame it on me! You should've surrendered instead of challenging me. All I wanted as your Gear."

"Feh." Ranma turned his head. "You gotta be crazy! You're the idiot that blindly attacked me. What else was I suppose to do? Besides, I was kicking your ass til' we fell in here!"

"I was taking it easy on you! Couldn't you tell? Then you're a bit dense."

"Don't like to me. I know you were serious."

Bart growls. "What! You want some?! Let's have it out! Right here!"

"..."

Weltall walks away.

"Wait! Settling it right here comes first. I won't be able to get anything done until we settle this once and for all!"

Ranma calls to him from down the path.

"I thought you wanted a truce for now? Getting out of here should come first! Once we're out of here, then I'll kick your ass all you want. Let's hurry up and move on out of here!"

"I don't like you very much..." Bart pauses. "Hey! What do you mean kick my ass?!"

He watches Weltall walk further down the path.

"Hey!"

A while later, the two end up a fork in the road were a lone, unmanned Gear stood. Bart checks the gear while Ranma keeps watch. There were dune men in the caverns and some wandering gears, but none were really a threat. Keeping watch was mostly for that 'just in case' feeling.

"There's a place called 'Terrace Stones' down the left path," Bart explained after accessing the Gear. "We should check out the sand barrier there."

Brigandier went down the left path while Ranma just followed silently.

"Who'd have thought that there would be someone living in a place like this!" Bart exclaims, using Brigandier to point at the human-sized door in the distance. "Let's check it out!"

"..."

The two Gears walk up to the door. Ranma and Bart get out and go in. The cave was long and seemed to have rural furnishing. This surprised the blonde pirate.

"Hey, Ranma. This is a surprise! There's someone living in this place!"

A very old man approached the two young men. He was standing near the entrance and noticed the two come in.

"Hmm, it's been a while, but I thought I could hear the sound of Gears. I assume they are yours?" They nod. "Well anyway, come on back in here and make yourself at home."

They follow the man into what would be called the 'living room.' He gestured them to sit down on a worn couch while he sat down in an easy-chair.

"It's been a long time since my last visitor. What happened? Did you call from the surface."

"I guess that's it." Bart shrugged.

"I see.. That's too bad." he rubs his chin with a smile, trying not to laugh at Bart's forehead. "I can tell from the sound that you both ride good Gears... But the legs seem to be playing up a bit."

Ranma looked at him curiously. "Ya sayin' that you can tell what's wrong by the sound of it walkin'?"

"Ha ha ha." laughs the old man. "It's easy to know what's wrong with Gears by the sounds they make. My guess is that one of them needs a new hydromechanic pipe in it's joints. It's making a nasty sound. It must be hard to walk with too." He paused. "Oh, by the way, the name's Balthazar, but you can call me Ol' Man Bal."

Bart walks over to some cabinet behind Bal. They soon start talking about collections while Ranma listens in. The conversation soon turns to the evolution of the planet and humans but he still pretends to listen. He had already heard all of this kind of stuff when he was in school. He listened for a few more minutes until the Ol' Man Bal said he would stop his rambling.

Ranma coughed. "By the way, does this cave have.."

"By the devil, he does talk!" joked Bal. "An exit? There is an exit in the excavation site beyond the sand barrier. You can get outside through there."

This got Bart's attention. "Sand barrier? You mean that huge wall you can see from your entrance?"

"Yes, that's it. One t he other side is an old Aveh excavation site. They built the wall when Aveh was excavating here to keep the sane from falling in from above." He shook his head. "But they've stopped working there now."

Ranma asked, "So, how de we open it?"

"It it's a wall, you can probably break it down." said Bart.

Ol' Man Bal turned to Bart. "Hold your horses there young 'uns. No matter how good a Gear you have, you'll never break that wall down. It's much too strong. So... lets make a deal."

"A deal?" Bart asked.

"The wall was closed due to the reaction of the 'Sand Sensors'. Thanks to that, now I can't get through to the other side either. Maybe it happened when you two fell in here. Where you boys fighting up there or something?"

Ranma shrugged. "Something like that. Anyway, so what can we do about it?"

"It's very simple," Balthazar began. "You just have to turn off the Sand Sensor switches. Doing that will keep the barrier from closing again. While you two are doing that, I'll open it up."

"Right, got it."

"The sensors are in two place. You should see their flashing red lights. Well, good luck then."

Ranma turns to Bart.

"Let's split up and hit those sensor switches. We saw them on the way here."

"Okay," Bart turns to Bal. "Alright, old man. Well, we'll go and finish out part of the deal then!"

About an hour later, Ranma and Bart return from deactivating the sensors. When they arrive, they both return to the cave and speak to Ol' Man Bal.

"Ah, just in time! I was about to open up the sand barrier now." He pulled a large leave on the cave wall. A heavy rumbling was hear for the next couple of minutes then stopped. Balthazar nodded to the two men. "Done."

"Nice job, old man." Ranma smirked.

"Our deal is done."

"Hey, old man." Bart said to get Bal's attention. "There's one thing I want to ask you."

"What is it?"

"I've heard somewhere on this planet is a gear for superior to all others. I've heard that it was called 'The God Gear' and was made in ancient times but hidden away somewhere. Do you know anything about it?"

This made the old man think.

"A man-made god, created with the wisdom of god! Such a Gear would have the power of a thousand Gears. It a wave of its arm, it could destroy whole cities. Its battle cries would thunder in the heavens. You must be speaking of the 'Omnigear'."

Bart got interested. "You know of it? Then perhaps it was what you were speaking about in the tale you told us of the battle with god..."

"Goodness gracious, you too, boy?" Bal shook his head and chuckled. "Those stories were made to inspire man's soul. But they're just legends. They don't really exist."

A short pause. Balthazar jumps off of his seat and starts walking towards the entrance.

"Anyway, allow me to take a look at your Gears. It'll only take a little while, so wait here please."

Bart starts to walk after him, then stops.

"Hey, wait! Arhh, he's gone..."

Around an hour later, Ranma was laying down on the worn couch while Bart sat on Bal's desk. Bart tried starting up a conversation earlier to what he talked with Bal, but Ranma just shook his head and stayed silent.

Bart tried again.

"Say Ranma, What do you make of the old man?"

Ranma responded.

"What do you mean...?"

"Why would such an old man live all alone in this abandoned cave?" Ranma shrugged his shoulders and sat up.

"I don't know. Probably digging for ancient Gears or something?"

Bart nods and turns around, then looks at the ground. "Right! So you think so too?"

"That was s'pose ta be a joke." Ranma deadpanned. "Don't take all that stuff you guys were talkin' about seriously. They're only legends, ya know."

"No.. that old man is up to something!"

They heard something metal drop and the old man say something from outside the cave.

"This can't be..."

Ranma gets up, startled and walks outside followed by Bart.

"??"

"What's wrong, old man?" Bart ask. Both him and Ranma notice that the old man is looking wide-eyed at Weltall. Ranma takes a step forward and stands next to Bal, looking at it also.

"Is this your Gear?" Bal asked Ranma.

"Yeah, sort of.."

"Where did you get it?"

Ranma shrugged. "Kinda found it."

Ol' Man Bal gazes up at Weltall again and speak the first thing that is on his mind.

"This is... the hose for the spirit of the slayer of god..."

Ranma's heart pulses. He's heard that phrase before.

The slayer of God.

Ranma turns to Bal quickly. "Wait a moment! What did you just say?"

"Nothing. I didn't say anything!!" Bal stammers, waving his hands in defense.

"No! I heard ya! Ya said, 'slayer of god'...That's whatcha said, old man, ain't it!!"

Bal suddenly becomes cold. "Your Gears are fixed. You have no more business here. This is a bad time for me. Be on your way!"

They watch him enter his cave and close his door.

"Be on our way...? Listen here, old man...!!"

Ranma sighs.

Later on, Ranma stood on a ledge waiting for Bart in his Brigandier to climb up the pit. Unlike Weltall, Brigandier was a ground-based Gear and didn't have the flight capabilities as Weltall. Ranma found this out just moments before he jumped the distance from ledge to ledge. While he was waiting, Ranma noticed a huge Gear flying around along the cavern ceiling, but thought nothing of it.

Soon, Brigandier was atop the ledge. They continued on until they reach an opened space with what seemed to be a broken street and tunnel.

"That looks to be the exit," Bart observed. "Lets go."

Ranma nodded. He heard a sound and looked behind him. The same huge Gear was hovering a distance away. But suddenly it blast towards them and attacks!

"Holy shit!" Bart shouts, dodging out of the way. That was one huge Gear!

"..." Ranma eyes the Gear warily as it lands. It was easily bigger than both their gears. He noted the name enscribed on its chest. 'Calamity'.

Brigandier attacks the huge Gear with it's whips. The weapons crack against the Gears tough armor and cause small cut-like marks to appear on it's frame. Calamity retaliates with a score of mini-missles that pound against the red gear.

"Bart!" Weltall jumps high and flips upside down. It's feet touch the cavern ceiling and it uses the momentum to launch itself down in a kick that rocks Calamity. The huge Gear staggers but remains standing.

"Shit, this one is tough." Bart shouts. He activates Brigandiers booster system and attacks Calamity's legs. A whip wraps around the Gears ankle and he pulls putting it's owner in a teetering position. "Ranma, now!"

"Okay!" Weltall dashes forward and brings an uppercut that knocks Calamity back. It finished with an axe-kick that slams the larger Gear to the ground.

They cheered but quieted when Calamity got up once again.

"What the hell is this thing?!" growled Bart. He noticed Ranma circling around the Gear. "What are ya doing?!"

"Distraction." Ranma said simply.

"Hey asshole! Over here!" Weltall close in with Calamity and performs a quick one-two punch to it's 'head'. Bart see's that Calamity's back is to him and he attacks again.

"YAH!" Brigandier's first whip tears a hole in Calamity's back and the second follows thru. Sparks fly from the huge Gear and it collapses to the ground. It doesn't get up this time.

"What an idiot. Trying to scare us with all show and no power, eh, Ranma!"

Weltall is still in a kempo stance but moved away from the downed Gear. Ranma eyes it for another few moments.

"....."

Bart looks towards the exit. "Anyway... let's go. It'll soon be adios to this old cavern!"

Brigandier turns around. Behind it, Calamity suddenly rises to it's feet and prepares to strike with some sort of beam weapon. Ranma realizes that Bart wasn't aware of this and calls out to him.

"Get out of the way, Bart!!"

"What the...?"

Weltall rushes up to the front of Calamity and a loud whine from the black gear is heard as it's ether machine is powered up. Both index fingers on each hand is pointing out while the fist are close. It then attacks.

"HAKU DATO SHIN SHOU!!"

Bart watches in amazement as energy blast out from the back of Calamity. He could clearly see the after images of Weltall's hands on each of the many strikes. After a few seconds, Calamity falls down limply to the ground before exploding. Weltall walks away from the blast while electricity disipates from it's arms.

Bart stares in awe at Weltall.

"Wooooh! What the hell did you just do?"

"......"

"Hey!!"

"....huh?" Ranma looks up at Brigandier.

"What do you mean 'huh'!? What in blazes was that?" Bart pauses. ".. Don't you know?"

"Yeah.. I know what I did." Ranma replied calmly.

"That was incredible! You just blew that huge thing to pieces! Why didn't you use that technique a bit earlier?"

A long pause.

Ranma clenched his fist and brought it to his face, which was also mimiced by Weltall.

"There's a reason why they're called forbidden techniques." he stated simply. Weltall turned from Brigandier and headed for the exit.

Bart shrugged.

"Hmm. Oh well, I guess that doesn't matter." He followed Weltall. "Anyway... thanks for helping me out!"

"....."

"So, now that we've go rid of that nuisance, let's get out of here, eh, Ranma!"

Minutes later, Weltall and Brigandier climb up through a cave and leave th caverns, hopefully for good. They find themselves back in the desert, the sand blowing as they find themselves in a small sand-storm. Two tall mountain-shapes, one higher than the other, appear off in the distance. Brigandier notices this and turns toward the mountains.

"Wow... I never thought we'd en up here..." Bart said in surprise while he looked at the distant mountains.

"Where are we?" Ranma asked curiously.

"You see the twin mountains over there?" Ranma nods. "That's where Bledavik, the Royal Capital of Aveh, and Fatima Castle are located. Currently, there's no king living there thought. Anyway, that's my old home town."

Bart turns to Weltall. "I'd like to go ahead and settle out dispute but... Considering how close we are to the capital of Aveh, we'd probably get caught."

"Anytime.." Ranma smirks at the pirate.

"Anyway, the rendezvous point with the Yggrdasil is right over there. Don't worry, you'll be meeting your friend in no time at all."


Ranma soon reunited with Citan in the Gear Bay of the Yggdrasil. This was also followed by some semi-childish and prideful antics by Bart. Which was rebuked by Maison, the elderly gentlemen in a butler's suit, and Sigurd, the other pirate with an eye-patch opposite from Bart's and first mate of the ship. Once that was over, Citan escorted Ranma to their cabin to await their arrival at what Sigurd explained as their base of operations.

The Yggdrasil made it's way west along the sea of sand. The wind whipped in it's wake and sand easily moved aside for the modern sand cruiser. The ship stopped at what would be a dead end to most - a large natural canyon were the top of the mountains ended in sharp, jagged edges.

Suddenly, rock began to un-naturally move into the mountain and raise revealing a passage way large enough for a vehile the size of the Yggdrasil to enter. With the path way clear, Bart's sand ship entered the pirate's hide-out.

Inside, the Yggdrasil slowly rose to a dock in a huge hangar. In front of the ship over to the side, the docking bay mechanisims turn the craft around so it would be able to exit again. A lock slowly moves into position to keep the craft in place. Then a docking ramp is connected to the hatch area located on the central dorsal tower of the ship's sail. Directly in front of the hatch, three kids are standing in front of it along with five soldiers and an operator.

The hatch opens up and Bart jumps out followed by Ranma, who walks in a different direction of Bart. Maison and Citan soon follow.

"Bart, good to see you back!" cheers one of the kids.

"Welcome back! Bart!" a second cheers.

"Welcome back!" they all shout.

"Bart! What did you bring us?" asked the third kid.

"Well... I've got a new model Gear and two people that we helped out." Bart said, hoping that would interest them.

"Ehh! A Gear..." started the first kid. "how boring! Don't you have anything more interesting?"

Bart turns around.

"I thought you'd say that..." He turns back to the kids. "Look! This is amber I found in a stalactite cavern under the desert. It's rare to find one with a bug in it!" He hands it to the kids and they jump. The second kid is very lively.

"Wow! Thanks Bart!" all three run off to show it off to everyone.

"Well then... I'm gonna tune up my Gear a little.. Why don't you two go have some tea with old Maison." Bart turns to them and nods. "Thanks Old Maison."

Maison turns to Ranma and Citan. "Please, walk this way."

Ranma shrugs and follows Maison, walking exactly as he does. He notices a couple of the guards snickering at his show of mimicing. They take an elevator up a level. Maison identifies it as the residential level and instructs them to 'walk this way'. They arrived in the mess hall and sat down opposite from Maison who got a pot of tea. He served the two and began to conversate with Citan.

Ranma drowned out the conversation and thought of other things on his mind. Like what was he going to do? Where was this all leading too? When was Ranko going to show up again? What about Bud and Montel?

Bud and Montel.

He wondered where they were right now. Did they leave him? No, Bud wouldn't do that to him. They were friends and he new the larger asian guy cared for his friends. He wondered if something happened to them. They would of came looking for him already and all of us would move on to try and find their home demension. But they haven't come and that worried him a bit. He didn't want to be in this place any more. He wanted to get away and find some peace for a while, but all he's found here was a bunch of bullshit he didn't want.

On the plus side, he learned alot more about himself, about Ranko's past and how she was connected to him. Everything was very confusing and he still had a hard time trying to figure it out.

He was the 6th reincarnation of some soul whom also belonged to his dead friend Fei. Because he fell into Nyannichuan, spring of drowned girl, he merged with the soul of some chick that was destined to be Fei's lover, or something. But who was it?

"Do you not like my tea, Master Ranma?"

Ranma shook his head. "Not thirstly, really." he told Maison. He stood and headed off, feeling tired. "If you don't mind, I'll just go ahead and turn in. I'm still very tired."

Citan and Maison watched him leave, shoving Bart out of the way as he left. Bart yelled something at the man but quieted down when he got some sort of reply the two didn't understand.

"What is wrong with Ranma, Master Citan?" Maison asked the doc. He shook his head and frowned at the pigtailed mans behavior.

"Too much, Old Maison. Too much."


YAWN!

Ranma sits up in his bunk and stretches. He felt like he slept for a long time yet he still felt tired. The only reason he was awake because someone had an alarm that woke him up.

"S'one turn that thin' off.." he mumbled. His eyes were greated to the flashing red light of a warning strobe. He quickly punched the light, turning it off instantly. Then he jumped back into his bunk and went to sleep.

........

.......

......

.....

....

...


Then he realized what was happening.

"Son of a bitch...!" He jumped out of bed and head-outside.

Gears have entered the Yggdrasil's dock! 5 Gebler special force Gears, and one single unidentified large Gear. All pilots report to the Gear Hangar!

Ranma quickly jumped down the elevator shaft and touched down in front of a group of women and children, startling them. He rushed passed them along the cat walk and headed straight for the Gear hangar. Explosions erupted around him as he ran. He had to occassionally save the person that was knocked off the cats but that didn't stop him from reaching the hangar.

ALL NONCOMBATANTS, GO TO THE YGGDRASIL!! IMMEDIATELY!!

He heard the annoucement. People were already doing that as he speaked.

"Wahhh, I'm scared!!" he heard a child cry. That pissed him off royally.

Off to the side, he saw Brigandier and a couple of Deurod's at his side battling some sort of enemy with whip-like blades. He also saw another gear, a green one, fighting alone against some sort of Gear with shields on each arm. He then noticed another approaching one of the gantries next to the Yggdrasil. He had to act quickly!

A couple kids look at the Gear in alarm from their position on the gantry.

!! "Sis...!"

"Where do you think you're going?" said a voice on a loud speaker. A clawed hand blocks the children's escape from it.

"St, stop it.." said the other kid.

"How admirable.. Now what kind of sound will you make when I do this?"

The Gear raises it's other clawed hand as if ready to strike. The children scream in fear and begin to sob.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!!"

Weltall suddenly flies in the air and connects with the head of the clawed Gear. It goes flying back from the impact and slams into a far wall before it regains it's composure.

"Wha?!"

"Why are you fighting?" Ranma growls.

"You, what are you doing!?" shouted the enemy pilot.

"What does fighting get you...?" Ranma looks darkly at the Gear as his ether machine powers up. "What if this was your home!?"

Weltall leaps forward, but doesn't attack the Claw Knight. It instead grabs the Gear by the arm and pulls it along with it as Ranma targets the more immediate threat Swinging the Gear around, Weltall tosses the Claw Knight at the oval-shaped Gear at the back of the hanger and attacks it instead.

"MOKO TAKABISHA-- DOUBLE!!" A single beam of amplified chi erupted from each of Weltall's hand. One shot at the Claw Knight severed one of the Gears legs and it retreated immediately. The other slammed into the oval shaped Schpariel, tearing a large hole right through the middle. The Gear toppled over and exploded, causing many hanging structures to crush it in the process.

He breathed heavily after exerting himself like that. How dare that bastard bring children into an adults war! They had no part in it, yet the jerk still caused them grief. If he wasn't just on time then those kids would of been gonners.

"Damn."

His stomach growled.

"I'm hungry."

Moments later after parking their Gears, Citan, Bart and Sigurd showed up at Weltall's gate to congradulate the pilot. They were all face to face though Bart had his body turned.

"...Th, th, thank..." He clears this throat.

"Thanks... Ranma." Bart walks off before Ranma could give him a reply.

"Bart..."

Sigurd - the platinum haired pirate and Bart's first mate - placed his hand on Ranma's shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"Thank you, Ranma. Don't know how we could have done it without you." Ranma looks down, blushing.

"Aww.. t'was nothin'. Anyone coulda done it if they were in my shoes." He looked back up at Sigurd. "Still.. I don't know what I should do..."

"Ranma, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ranma nods and the two walk further away and look at the Yggdrasil. Sigurd points up to were Bart was directing others into the ship. "Look over there..."

"The young master asked me to apologize to you for the incidents that have happened between the two of you. Pretty strange, huh?" Sigurd shook his head. "He knows it's best to apologize in person... but the young master isn't all that good at this sort of thing..

He may not look it, but he's a really quite lonely..." They watched Bart help an old lady by taking whatever she was carrying and brought them in himself. "He's always searching for a friend. We, his minders, can't become his friends. Even if we wanted to, he just wouldn't see us that way. He knows that."

Sigurd turns to Ranma.

"Why you ask? It's because of the burden that he bears. It must be difficult for one so young to carry so heavy a responsibility. But he does try to do his best, you know? That is why we stick by him... It has nothing to do with him being the prince."

He's a prince?! Ranma thought to himself. That was new to him.

"Ranma, I sense you too are carrying a heavy burden. This might be a selfish request, but... would it be possible for you to help the young master? Even if it is for a short while? I am not asking you to burden yourself with his problems or responsibilities. But could you two... with whatever it is only you two each know, help the other? Please..."

Ranma turns around and begins to think of the situation and what he is asking. There was a long pause.

He turned back around and nodded his head to the man. "I have friends that might be lookin' for me, ya know. And I don't know when I'll be leavin' with them." He smirked at Sigurd. "But until then.. I'll help him out."

Sigurd shakes Ranma's hand.

"Thank you, Ranma."

A couple hours later the ship was fully loaded with the bases refugees and whatever supplies they could load up on. On the deck of the sail, Maison stood in front of the Yggdrasil's hatch flanked clockwise by Citan, Fei and Bart.

"We must infiltrate Aveh and resue Margie now! Gebler has discovered this base. So we should leave a small garrison and evacuate while we still can. Fortunately, the Yggdrasil is undamaged, so we are able to embark immediately." Maison bows. "The crew's preparations are complete. Wehever you are ready, Master Ranma and good Doctor, please accompany the young master to the bridge."

Maison heads for the hatch and stops, looking away.

"Doctor Uzuki, Master Ranma, I think you from the bottom of my heart. I would truly appreciate it if you would be so kind as to stay with us and help us out on our rescue mission!"

Bart jumps a couple times.

"Hey, alright, alright. Let me say goodbye to the women before we go!"

A few moments after everyone takes care of their business, Ranma stood with Citan on the bridge. Bart moves to speak with his first mate.

"It's time to sneak to Aveh at last, young master. First of all, our party should inspeak the town and work out a plan of action." states Sigurd.

Bart smirks.

"Yggdrasil, Launch!"

End of Chapter 16

Author's notes:

Yeah! I knew I would be done with this before New Years, 1-1-2004. This is a record for me.

For those of you that don't know about Xenogears, if you can find it and buy it someplace... get it! It's an awesome game that would effect you greatly.

I won't go into detail as to what happened in the story since I would spoil it for those that haven't played the game. But for those that did, you should already know how I changed the storyline to fit in this story so Ranma would be the main character of Xenogears some how. So I really don't have much to say but that this is cool!

Next is Chapter 17: Margie's Rescue!

C&C+Flames: hibiki54@earthlink.net
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