Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Chained World: The Fall of the House of Kuno ❯ Private Armies ( Chapter 44 )

This was originally published by me under the name Anduril at Anime Addventures, with the only changes being a few corrections in spelling, punctuation and the occasional word choice. If you like the beginning of my story but think I've gone off the rails, or have your own ideas for a great branch-off, or think I'm taking too long to update and want to continue the story yourself, come to Anime Addventures and join in the fun!

I claim no ownership rights to any of the works of Rumiko Takahashi, or anyone else's published work.

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“So, Kenta-kun, did your strays show up?” Okana Taisho asked one his four lieutenants.

Santo Kenta's small image nodded in his quarter of Okana's monitor. “Yes. I was right, their route was the one of the train that broke down. Because of their apparent status and the overcrowding from having one less train, there wasn't room for them on the next few to come through. But they finally made it in late last night.”

“Good,” Okana replied. “And the equipment? You all have received your proper allotments?”

The heads visible in all four quarters of the monitor nodded. “Mine's all here, but not quite all ready,” Santo added. “Now that all my men are here and rested, we're taking everything out of the crates and cleaning them off, breaking them down and checking them out. So far, everything looks good. I'm not going to ask how we acquired Kuno equipment,” he added with a grin.

Okana frowned repressively. “Don't even speculate,” he warned. “And while I understand your decision to make sure the men stripping down your equipment are fresh, expedite that. This lording is a powderkeg, even worse than reported — it could go off at any time, and we need to be ready.”

Santo frowned thoughtfully at his superior, but hastily assured him that he would pass the word to expedite his team's preparations, and the conference call was over. With a sigh, Okana leaned back and stared pensively at the now blank screen.

“Okay, boss, what's got your panties in a bind?”

Santo turned his head to try to stare repressively at his right hand man, but failed miserably. “You've been watching too many American cop shows,” he said, a faint quiver of a chuckle in his voice. “And I really hope you never use that one on Kana-kun — I need your services, and what would be left when she was done with you wouldn't be of much use. The scouts are all in position?”

“But of course, mein maestro, with me in charge, how could it be otherwise?” Dan Yuji replied airily. “All sides of the Kuno estate are under discreet surveillance, outside the walls at least, and report all quiet. So, what's bothering you? This is hardly the first job we've taken from this particular esteemed patron, and the rest went off without a hitch. Why should this one be any different?”

Santo frowned again, the temporary light mood at his subordinate's joking already fled. “I'm not sure,” he said as he thought over the orders and arrangements he'd received through the usual back channels. “It just doesn't feel right — hasty, perhaps. Normally, this employer's plans are gems of preplanning: everything in place in advance, multiple contingency plans for realistic possibility and a number of unrealistic ones, victory essentially assured before the first shot is fired. This time, it feels ... thrown-together, slapdash, rushed. If it wasn't for the codes with the job offer, I'd think we were dealing with someone else entirely.”

“Ah, I'd wondered,” Dan said soberly, dropping his usual lighthearted pose. “I have to agree that `Charge the mansion and shoot any Kuno retainer — and especially any Kuno — you can find, then skedaddle before the cops show up' isn't much of a plan, and the mansion layout we've been provided is more than a little old. I wouldn't have expected you to accept such a haphazard job. Took it without checking out the details when you saw where it came from, right?”

Flushing with embarrassment, Santo nodded. “Yes, I did. Careless of me, I know, and he must have been counting on that, but ... kami curse the man, he's always been so dependable, how can he do this to us?” he burst out, slamming his fist down onto the tabletop hard enough the bounce his laptop.

Dan shrugged. “Even control freaks go for targets of opportunity, sometimes. If it works he comes out the winner, and if it doesn't all he risks is a strike team of ronin, no big loss — unless you're one of the ronin, of course, in which case the loss is total,” he finished with a sardonic twist of a smile. “So what say we pull this off brilliantly, and then never work for this particular ass of a patron again?”

Santo forced himself to relax as he chuckled. “Yes, that sounds like a fine plan, so let's see what we can do to pull it off. I doubt any of our scouts will be able to get a good look over the estate walls, but if they can have them send us all the raw footage. We can at least compare it to the outside layout of our mansion blueprints, see what's changed on the outside....”

/oOo\

“Hey, boss, you have a visitor,” Izumi Noa called out, sticking her head through the open doorway of Captain Goto's office.

The dark-haired man glanced up at his subordinate's voice, then straightened as a young emerald-haired woman in a conservative business suit striding past Izumi into his office. He had an expression of calm inquiry in place, but he felt something inside relax at the sight of Meioh Setsuna. He had never met the famous fashion designer before but some of his people had, both her and some of her people, in circumstances that had not been exactly in line with her public persona of an apolitical woman of business that was content to sell her fashion lines to whomever wished to buy them (quite a large number, at very high prices) and accept her status somewhere between a merchant and an artisan, and so kept herself out of the shadow wars between Clan and Clan, Clan and Family, Family and Family. As well, Izumi had passed on what Meioh-san had said at the auction — about the opportunity to bid on a martial artist of `Ranko's' capabilities not coming along every day — and that, too, didn't quite fit her public persona. No common businesswoman in her industry, no matter how successful, needed a bodyguard of Ranma's extraordinary but limited skill set, or was even likely to know he existed.

“Meioh-san, this is a pleasant surprise,” Goto said, rising and waving her toward one of the seats in front of her desk — the comfortable one—and asked Izumi to bring some of the refreshments he kept for civilian visitors. Turning back to his guest, he said, “My subordinates have spoken well of you and your people from the one time circumstances brought them together, can I give my thanks for the assistance you gave us? That situation could have been ... awkward ... without the presence of your people.”

“No need to thank me, Captain. True, the ... situation ... wasn't really in my area of interest, but we were happy to provide what little assistance your people needed. I'm just sorry that we weren't able to meet at Ranma's auction three weeks ago, but I can understand how that wasn't possible, as tense as things got.”

“True, I was busy at the time, but I still should have made time to meet you. But as happy as I am to have the opportunity now, I'm sure you didn't visit simply to correct my earlier failure. What can I do for you?”

Before Meioh-san could answer, Goto's perky redheaded subordinate returned with tea and a plate of finger foods. The businesswoman paused to sample them, an eyebrow rising at the quality — not what she'd expected at a police headquarters, even that of one of the elite crowd control units. A sip of the tea proved it to be of a similar quality. Reluctantly, she set it aside. Her time was limited, so on to business.

Looking back up at the police captain still patiently waiting, she said, “You are correct, I do have some business for you, or rather with some of your people. While my security people are experienced bodyguards, things have been getting ... serious, lately. I know you've heard about the attacks on the various Kuno holdings, it's impossible not to have, but have you heard of the attacks on the Americorp properties after their acquisition of the Kaima Family assets? While the Shogun's newly announced law will prevent further acquisitions by foreigners, it doesn't reverse the one already in place, and I am a little concerned that the animosity stirred up will spill over to those that do business with foreigners — such as myself.”

Goto frown slightly as he considered what Meioh-san had said. “Surely you aren't asking to temporarily hire some of my people for security? I can't really spare them for what could be an extended situation—as you say, things are somewhat unsettled at the moment. Nor would they likely wish to use up all of their personal time off for this, unless you made it truly worth their while — and if you do that, I would think it would be simpler to just hire more private security.”

But Meioh-san shook her head. “No, I don't want to hire them for security. As you say, I would be better off simply hiring more of my own, and in fact I am in the process of doing just that. However, the security I currently have are trained to protect against limited attacks, both in numbers of attackers and the lethality of equipment. What I would like to do is hire some of your people to familiarize them with the kind of equipment your people are armed with, especially the powered flyers and one-man crowd control mini-tanks.”

“For their own use, or for protecting themselves from attackers using them?”

“Both.”

“I see.” Goto considered the offer for a few minutes before nodding. “I think that should be doable, for a few days. The rising chaos hasn't really touched my own area of responsibility, yet, and probably shouldn't. If some of my people are willing to take some time off, I'll permit the use of their equipment in the interests of community relations. But true familiarization will require that they be used. Do you have place in the country with enough space for that?”

“Yes, I do,” Meioh-san assured him. “I took the liberty of presuming your answer, and have made arrangements with some farmers on the outskirts of Nerima for the use of their wheat fields for the tanks, and a sumo pig ranch for the flyers. We should be fine.”

Goto nodded again, carefully keeping any reaction at the location off his face, even as he felt himself relaxing even more. Someone else owed Ranma, it seemed, and was aware of how tense things were getting in Nerima. “And how soon will you want them there?” he asked.

“I know it's an imposition, but would tomorrow be too soon? I really do wish to see if this will work for my people as soon as possible. If not, I will need to make other arrangements.”

Goto considered the request, thinking over his people's schedules, then nodded. “Yes, that should be doable, though I will need to check to see who's willing to take the time off and verify equipment availability. What addresses should the equipment be delivered to, and who do I call with numbers of equipment and people available?”

Setsuna gave him the addresses and contact information, then engaged the captain in small talk as she again sampled the excellent refreshments, before reluctantly taking her leave. Her next “appointment” wasn't likely to be anywhere near as pleasant. So, that should hopefully take care of Ikari's people, now to make sure Nodoka-san makes it home on time, she thought wearily as her limo pulled out of the headquarters parking garage on its way back to her official residence (if no longer home).

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And a few more players added to the mix. While I don't want to add the mecha of Patlabor to the setting, I decided that an elite force designed for crowd control using mini-tanks armed with anti-personnel weapons (lethal or non, as the situation dictates) would work nicely, along with powered wings for getting people into position when the roads are blocked.