Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction ❯ Soldier, Sailor, Jedi, Sith ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 5 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Maj_Scooter 
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.24.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 602 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.24.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 602 | Status: Work In Progress
"Thanks, sis," he said, taking a sip. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." Ranma said, beginning his tale, "there was a galaxy-spanning government, called the Republic, which incorporated all manner of sentient being. Oh yes, Mother, there is life out among the stars. Peace reigned, and had been defended by the Jedi Order for over a thousand generations. I, that is the Jedi Master who drowned in the spring, was once a member of the Jedi. I even had a Padawan learner, an apprentice if you will, a female Catian—a "catgirl" would be the best term for her, although not really...Yes Mako-chan?"
"Ranma," Makoto said, "you still haven't explained what a 'Jedi' is."
"A Jedi is a being that dedicates him/her/itself to mastery of the Force. The Force is what ties all living things together; it binds us and surrounds us. It calls to us, and responds to our calls. Even now, in this room, I can feel it between you, Mako-chan, and you Mother, and you Setsuna, and even the bonsai in the corner.
"A Jedi was also the defender of law and order. There are two sides to the Force, a light side and a dark side, very similar to duct tape in that they are inseparable and bind the universe together. The Dark Side preys on our baser nature—fear, anger, envy, even aggression, all lead to the Dark Side. A Jedi acts with control and restraint, always in the defense of innocents."
"So a Jedi would be akin to a samurai," Nodoka asked.
"Correct, with some seemingly supernatural powers," Ranma added, as he reached through the Force and called the teapot to his hand. "I am now more a martial artist than Genma ever strived for, thanks to my mastery in the Force." He smiled at his mother and sister, as he poured another cup of tea. It wasn't a boast, but mere fact that he was able to do things that were beyond the ken of most martial artists.
Makoto looked at her brother with awe. If he could train her in the Force in her normal form, just think of how much more of a potent Sailor Suited Defender of Love and Justice she could be with the Force as her ally. "Ranma, do you think you could train me as a Jedi," she asked with a small voice.
"Mako-chan, training to be a Jedi is a life-long task. Even as a Master, there were still techniques that Tarquin was learning."
"I want to try, Sensei," she replied.
Ranma smiled at her, even as he told her his favorite maxim from Master Yoda. "Do, or do not. There is no try. Are you willing for a difficult life ahead of you, knowing that there may be people that fear what you are able to do? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for a higher cause? There was one thing that Genma taught me that was correct: 'The path of a martial artist is fraught with peril.' The Dark Side is seductive; are you willing to face your worst nightmares with calm and dignity?"
Makoto looked at her brother and smiled. If he only knew, she thought. "I am, Ranma," she replied levelly.
"Then we'll begin in the morning. Before school," he said. "Setsuna, I'm sure there's something you want to discuss with my sister, right? I'll go take Mom out back and show her what I can do with a sword."
As Ranma and Nodoka walked into the garden, Setsuna looked at the Senshi of Jupiter. "Ranma knows who I am, Makoto," she said.
"WHAT! Did you tell him?"
Setsuna smiled. "No. He has his memories of Tarquin to reveal that to him...I was once Serenity's ambassador to the Republic." There was the unmistakable hum of a lightsaber, changing in pitch as Ranma went through various drills for his mother.
"And why didn't you think to hide it from him, Setsuna," Makoto asked of the older Senshi. Of all people to reveal who they were, Makoto would have thought that it would have been Usagi; but not Setsuna.
"Ranma would have figured it out eventually, anyway. The way Tarquin explained it to me, each of us has a unique signature in the Force which allows a Jedi to find a particular individual in a sea of people. My signature would have told him I was the same person I was back on Coruscant."
"If that's the case, then he'd be able to recognize who I am if I transformed, right?"
"Yes he would..." Setsuna was interrupted by a shout from outside. "MY SON IS SO MANLY!"
"I guess your mother found out about Tarquin's...sexual history," the Senshi of Time remarked dryly.
"What did you mean by 'Tarquin's sexual history'?"
Setsuna smirked. "Let's just say that I wasn't the first one Tarquin slept with. You can reveal who you are, Makoto. Both Tarquin and Ranma are honorable individuals."
Nodoka and Ranma walked back in, Ranma blushing profusely while his mother was grinning from ear to ear. "Setsuna-chan," the Kino matriarch said, "come join me in the den. There's much I'd like to discuss with you."
Pluto arched a delicate green eyebrow. "Certainly, Kino-san."
"Oh, there's no need for such formality. Please, call me 'Auntie Nodoka'," she said, leading the eldest Senshi out of the living room.
"Oh man, I feel sorry for Suna-chan," Ranma muttered.
"Ranma, Setsuna told me you've...been busy."
"Uh, Mako-chan, aren't you a little young for this?"
"Ranma, I've had Human Sexuality in school. I think I'm ready to hear about my brother's exploits."
"No, you're not. What is supposed to be private is to remain private; even among Jedi. What I will do is tell you about is why Tarquin was so busy."
"Ok," Makoto said, settling down on the couch next to her brother.
"There were once two Jedi Codes, the New Code which allowed Jedi to love not a single person, but humanity in all its myriad shapes and forms; and an Old Code, which allowed Jedi to love a single person, as well as humanity. There was much debate into the emotion of love, whether or not it could be a conduit to the Dark Side. For with love there comes the opposite emotions of jealousy, anger and envy.
"The Lim family believed in the Old Code, for it allowed my family to grow stronger in the Force. There was only one Jedi who came close to our family's strength, and he was corrupted to the Dark Side. It was our family's practice to arrange unions between Padawans of similar strength, so that their ties to the Force would be stronger. Like Musabetsu Kakutou, we incorporated their abilities into our family's strengths—we were diplomats and troubleshooters, slicers and soldiers, educators and deep-cover agents.
"I had such an arranged marriage to my brother's Padawan. Unfortunately, she was an uncute tomboy whose deeply rooted distrust of males that had her skating perilously close to the Dark Side. Her cooking was so bad; it was known to have killed a Sarlaac, a creature that inhabits the planet Tatooine that takes millennia to digest its food, and is impervious to most toxins and bio-chem warfare weapons. To be honest, I don't know how my brother put up with her, especially when she accused him of being a pervert, even though she walked in on him taking a bath. But I digress, Mako-chan.
"My 'loving' fiancée didn't use a lightsaber; in fact she refused to use one. What she used was a Force-created mallet. I should know, as I was the victim of it many times when I was able to attend family affairs. She accused me of being a pervert and sleeping with my Padawan.
"My Padawan was a lovely Catian, as I said earlier, something along the lines of an anime "catgirl", named Bastet after an ancient deity on her planet. It was uncanny how well we connected with the Force between us; it was almost as if the Force became a living conduit between us. And had her people not have strict mating laws, I would have petitioned the head of my family to annul my arranged marriage and have Bastet marry into our family.
"To escape my fiancée, I was known as something of a womanizer to my fellow Jedi. It wasn't as though I was using the Force to seduce them; it's just that I happened to have a woman in every port. But I never slept with Bastet. Well, except for one time.
"We had been sent to a system called Ord Paladrin, to settle a diplomatic dispute that none of the other diplomats could fix, and was starting to go to a war footing. After the reception, Bastet and I gave into the temptation." Ranma ran his hand through his hair. "I guess there was something in the air, but we wound up in bed together."
Makoto looked at her brother. "You really are a pervert, Ranma," she said with a smile.
He just shrugged his shoulders. "I know, but after that incident, the Jedi Council censured me by stripping me of my ability to mediate disputes, to take on a Padawan, and assigning me as a diplomatic envoy."
"Oh," was all Makoto said. And I guess that's when he met Pluto, she thought.
"Your thoughts are betraying you, sister," Ranma said all knowingly. "There's a connection between you and Sailor Pluto."
"Wha...? You can read my mind?"
"No, I can pick up surface impressions. Setsuna, I'm sure, told you about our past together while I was with Mom."
"Um..."
"Makoto, you have my word as a Jedi that what you have to tell me will not be revealed."
"Oh boy, how do I do this?" Makoto quietly said to herself.
"Usually with what's bothering you, Mako-chan."
"Ranma, how much do you believe in magic?"
"Makoto, as Tarquin, I've seen planets where one man's science is another's religion and a third's magic. I'm a Jedi Master, able to manipulate a 'supernatural' force, as it were, which is magic to most people. Mako, you have that ability within you as well; it's strong enough that I can sense it. Setsuna has a variation as well, and had I not been censured by the Jedi Council, I would have taken her on as a learner, irregardless of how old she is, as well as a lover when I lost my Padawan."
"Ranma, how did you lose your Padawan," Makoto asked, stalling for time to come up with a reasonable explanation about her alter ego.
The pigtailed Jedi sighed, and sipped his tea. "When we returned to Coruscant after our mission, the Jedi Council granted us leave. I went home to my family's lands on Dantooine, Bastet went to Catia. When I returned a month later, Masters Yoda and Windu called me to task in front of the Jedi Council. Apparently when Bastet returned home, her family found out that she..." Ranma paused as he searched for the right phrase, "...was no longer pure. They demanded that she go in exile, and that the offender be punished. It seems that her family carried significant weight with the Senate, and the Council reluctantly acceded to their demands.
"So, what is this secret of yours, Mako-chan, that you are so nervous to show me?"
Damn, I hoped he'd forgotten, the Senshi thought. She pulled out her henshin pen. "Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up!" One naked twirly lightshow later... "Ranma, I'm Sailor Jupiter." Her brother declined to respond, and Makoto noticed why. She rubbed her finger under her nose.
Ranma caught the hint, and wiped the blood away. Baka hentai. She's your sister for Kami-sama's sake. "Makoto, you do realize that you're naked during the transformation?" She nodded, hesitantly, even as Ranma stood, and walked around his sister, a Sailor Suited Defender of Love and Justice. "And that uniform is a pedophile's wet dream come to life. You realize that as well, right?" Another hesitant nod. "You really need to find a better way to transform, Mako-chan. Although, I can see where it could be a useful distraction. But it wouldn't be one for very long." Granted, Ranma, or rather Tarquin, had seen Setsuna in and out of her Sailor fuku, and hadn't minded one bit...but then the Senshi of Pluto was a consenting adult, and not his teenage sister.
"So, other than the transformation and the uniform, you don't mind that I'm a Sailor Senshi?"
"Nope. You are attempting to do what I did as a Jedi, defend the innocent and uphold law and order. You'd better transform back, Mako. Mom and Setsuna are coming."
Nodoka and a much embarrassed Setsuna walked back into the living room. "Ranma, even though I find it hard to believe that you are two people right now instead of just my son, I give you my permission to continue to date Setsuna."
Ranma smirked. "Mother, I am now a grown adult, with a career as an educator. I think I have met your nebulous expectations about my being 'a man amongst men'."
"You're right, Ranma," Nodoka said. "It's just that I've got my little boy back and he's all grown up. Would you and Setsuna like to stay for dinner?"
If there was one constant between this Ranma and those in other, parallel dimensions, was the Saotome stomach. Just at the mere mention of food, it makes its presence known—rather loudly. Jedi Master Ranma Lim looked sheepishly as three women stared at him like eagles admiring a tasty tidbit, or scientists discovering a new microbe. "I guess that's a yes," Ranma replied.
00000
Aboard her Sith Infiltrator, Bastet was interrupted from her meditations by an insistent beeping. Moving with catlike grace out of her lotus position, she moved over to the communications panel and retrieved the message.
A thirty centimeter tall hologram of Nelson's flag lieutenant appeared on the projection pad. "Greetings, Lady Bastet. I hope this message finds you in good health. Admiral Nelson has been appraised of your status and is most displeased by your performance. He would have thought it nigh impossible for a Sith Lord such as yourself to have not...terminated your objective.
"If the Admiral has not received confirmation that Tarquin Lim has been eliminated within seventy-two hours, he will deploy the fleet through the wormhole and take care of the situation himself. The Admiral has also reviewed your technological assessment of this planet called 'Earth', and believes that their military will pose little threat to even the smallest of capital ships in the fleet. Admiral Nelson has received confirmation of Base Delta Zero from Grand Moff Tarkin to be implemented should you fail. Obviously, failure is not an option, Lady Bastet.
"Confirmation of receipt of this message is ordered, as is confirmation of the elimination of the Target. Lieutenant Aubrey, out."
"That bastarrrd," Bastet growled, her tail swishing back and forth in agitation. "The Emperrrorrr himself gave me this mission, and I have yet to complete it to my satisfaction. He may have died once, but this time, he'll die by my hand. I'll not have the satisfaction of this victorrry snatched frrrom my grrrasp." Bastet was an artist in her elimination of the Jedi, unlike those who turned to the Dark Side. Like a housecat with a mouse, she will toy with her target, play with them, tease them, always giving them hope of escape, and then pounced swiftly, ending their lives. Nelson preferred the use of turbolasers over a skillful vibroblade; a bludgeon when a scalpel was needed.
She hit the record button, as she calmed herself with a Jedi relaxation technique. She may be a Sith, but she was a Jedi first. "Message rrreceived. Howeverrr, I will rrrequirrre at least an additional month to rrrecrrruit and trrrain local allies to ourrr cause. With the elimination of Jedi Lim, it would help to have locals on ourrr side, to smooth integrrration into the Empirrre.
"I will rrremind Admirrral Nelson that it was the Emperrrorrr who assigned me to this mission, with the 33rd Fleet at my disposal, not the other way around. Bastet out." She sent the message out, and resumed her meditations.
00000
Later on that night, the Gates of Time looked in on its guardian. After scanning her house she shared with the other Outers, the sentient donut-shaped monolith chuckled to itself. "It seems my Guardian is up to no good." It scanned an apartment building a few blocks away from Juuban High School, to a small apartment. "Oh deary, dear. I never knew Pluto could be so...flexible. Or energetic, for that matter." It recorded the scene for posterity's sake, as something that could be used if Setsuna denied where she was that night. The Time Portal activated long-dormant sensors to track its guardian's health. "Well now...this will be interesting to say the least." Scanning ahead in the timestream, if the Gates of Time could smirk, it would. "Twins. And they'll share their mother's immortality and their father's ability to use the Force. Looks like I'll have to intervene on their father's behalf." Continuing to chuckle to itself, the sentient monolith focused some of its energies on a certain pigtailed martial artist.
"Ranma," Makoto said, "you still haven't explained what a 'Jedi' is."
"A Jedi is a being that dedicates him/her/itself to mastery of the Force. The Force is what ties all living things together; it binds us and surrounds us. It calls to us, and responds to our calls. Even now, in this room, I can feel it between you, Mako-chan, and you Mother, and you Setsuna, and even the bonsai in the corner.
"A Jedi was also the defender of law and order. There are two sides to the Force, a light side and a dark side, very similar to duct tape in that they are inseparable and bind the universe together. The Dark Side preys on our baser nature—fear, anger, envy, even aggression, all lead to the Dark Side. A Jedi acts with control and restraint, always in the defense of innocents."
"So a Jedi would be akin to a samurai," Nodoka asked.
"Correct, with some seemingly supernatural powers," Ranma added, as he reached through the Force and called the teapot to his hand. "I am now more a martial artist than Genma ever strived for, thanks to my mastery in the Force." He smiled at his mother and sister, as he poured another cup of tea. It wasn't a boast, but mere fact that he was able to do things that were beyond the ken of most martial artists.
Makoto looked at her brother with awe. If he could train her in the Force in her normal form, just think of how much more of a potent Sailor Suited Defender of Love and Justice she could be with the Force as her ally. "Ranma, do you think you could train me as a Jedi," she asked with a small voice.
"Mako-chan, training to be a Jedi is a life-long task. Even as a Master, there were still techniques that Tarquin was learning."
"I want to try, Sensei," she replied.
Ranma smiled at her, even as he told her his favorite maxim from Master Yoda. "Do, or do not. There is no try. Are you willing for a difficult life ahead of you, knowing that there may be people that fear what you are able to do? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for a higher cause? There was one thing that Genma taught me that was correct: 'The path of a martial artist is fraught with peril.' The Dark Side is seductive; are you willing to face your worst nightmares with calm and dignity?"
Makoto looked at her brother and smiled. If he only knew, she thought. "I am, Ranma," she replied levelly.
"Then we'll begin in the morning. Before school," he said. "Setsuna, I'm sure there's something you want to discuss with my sister, right? I'll go take Mom out back and show her what I can do with a sword."
As Ranma and Nodoka walked into the garden, Setsuna looked at the Senshi of Jupiter. "Ranma knows who I am, Makoto," she said.
"WHAT! Did you tell him?"
Setsuna smiled. "No. He has his memories of Tarquin to reveal that to him...I was once Serenity's ambassador to the Republic." There was the unmistakable hum of a lightsaber, changing in pitch as Ranma went through various drills for his mother.
"And why didn't you think to hide it from him, Setsuna," Makoto asked of the older Senshi. Of all people to reveal who they were, Makoto would have thought that it would have been Usagi; but not Setsuna.
"Ranma would have figured it out eventually, anyway. The way Tarquin explained it to me, each of us has a unique signature in the Force which allows a Jedi to find a particular individual in a sea of people. My signature would have told him I was the same person I was back on Coruscant."
"If that's the case, then he'd be able to recognize who I am if I transformed, right?"
"Yes he would..." Setsuna was interrupted by a shout from outside. "MY SON IS SO MANLY!"
"I guess your mother found out about Tarquin's...sexual history," the Senshi of Time remarked dryly.
"What did you mean by 'Tarquin's sexual history'?"
Setsuna smirked. "Let's just say that I wasn't the first one Tarquin slept with. You can reveal who you are, Makoto. Both Tarquin and Ranma are honorable individuals."
Nodoka and Ranma walked back in, Ranma blushing profusely while his mother was grinning from ear to ear. "Setsuna-chan," the Kino matriarch said, "come join me in the den. There's much I'd like to discuss with you."
Pluto arched a delicate green eyebrow. "Certainly, Kino-san."
"Oh, there's no need for such formality. Please, call me 'Auntie Nodoka'," she said, leading the eldest Senshi out of the living room.
"Oh man, I feel sorry for Suna-chan," Ranma muttered.
"Ranma, Setsuna told me you've...been busy."
"Uh, Mako-chan, aren't you a little young for this?"
"Ranma, I've had Human Sexuality in school. I think I'm ready to hear about my brother's exploits."
"No, you're not. What is supposed to be private is to remain private; even among Jedi. What I will do is tell you about is why Tarquin was so busy."
"Ok," Makoto said, settling down on the couch next to her brother.
"There were once two Jedi Codes, the New Code which allowed Jedi to love not a single person, but humanity in all its myriad shapes and forms; and an Old Code, which allowed Jedi to love a single person, as well as humanity. There was much debate into the emotion of love, whether or not it could be a conduit to the Dark Side. For with love there comes the opposite emotions of jealousy, anger and envy.
"The Lim family believed in the Old Code, for it allowed my family to grow stronger in the Force. There was only one Jedi who came close to our family's strength, and he was corrupted to the Dark Side. It was our family's practice to arrange unions between Padawans of similar strength, so that their ties to the Force would be stronger. Like Musabetsu Kakutou, we incorporated their abilities into our family's strengths—we were diplomats and troubleshooters, slicers and soldiers, educators and deep-cover agents.
"I had such an arranged marriage to my brother's Padawan. Unfortunately, she was an uncute tomboy whose deeply rooted distrust of males that had her skating perilously close to the Dark Side. Her cooking was so bad; it was known to have killed a Sarlaac, a creature that inhabits the planet Tatooine that takes millennia to digest its food, and is impervious to most toxins and bio-chem warfare weapons. To be honest, I don't know how my brother put up with her, especially when she accused him of being a pervert, even though she walked in on him taking a bath. But I digress, Mako-chan.
"My 'loving' fiancée didn't use a lightsaber; in fact she refused to use one. What she used was a Force-created mallet. I should know, as I was the victim of it many times when I was able to attend family affairs. She accused me of being a pervert and sleeping with my Padawan.
"My Padawan was a lovely Catian, as I said earlier, something along the lines of an anime "catgirl", named Bastet after an ancient deity on her planet. It was uncanny how well we connected with the Force between us; it was almost as if the Force became a living conduit between us. And had her people not have strict mating laws, I would have petitioned the head of my family to annul my arranged marriage and have Bastet marry into our family.
"To escape my fiancée, I was known as something of a womanizer to my fellow Jedi. It wasn't as though I was using the Force to seduce them; it's just that I happened to have a woman in every port. But I never slept with Bastet. Well, except for one time.
"We had been sent to a system called Ord Paladrin, to settle a diplomatic dispute that none of the other diplomats could fix, and was starting to go to a war footing. After the reception, Bastet and I gave into the temptation." Ranma ran his hand through his hair. "I guess there was something in the air, but we wound up in bed together."
Makoto looked at her brother. "You really are a pervert, Ranma," she said with a smile.
He just shrugged his shoulders. "I know, but after that incident, the Jedi Council censured me by stripping me of my ability to mediate disputes, to take on a Padawan, and assigning me as a diplomatic envoy."
"Oh," was all Makoto said. And I guess that's when he met Pluto, she thought.
"Your thoughts are betraying you, sister," Ranma said all knowingly. "There's a connection between you and Sailor Pluto."
"Wha...? You can read my mind?"
"No, I can pick up surface impressions. Setsuna, I'm sure, told you about our past together while I was with Mom."
"Um..."
"Makoto, you have my word as a Jedi that what you have to tell me will not be revealed."
"Oh boy, how do I do this?" Makoto quietly said to herself.
"Usually with what's bothering you, Mako-chan."
"Ranma, how much do you believe in magic?"
"Makoto, as Tarquin, I've seen planets where one man's science is another's religion and a third's magic. I'm a Jedi Master, able to manipulate a 'supernatural' force, as it were, which is magic to most people. Mako, you have that ability within you as well; it's strong enough that I can sense it. Setsuna has a variation as well, and had I not been censured by the Jedi Council, I would have taken her on as a learner, irregardless of how old she is, as well as a lover when I lost my Padawan."
"Ranma, how did you lose your Padawan," Makoto asked, stalling for time to come up with a reasonable explanation about her alter ego.
The pigtailed Jedi sighed, and sipped his tea. "When we returned to Coruscant after our mission, the Jedi Council granted us leave. I went home to my family's lands on Dantooine, Bastet went to Catia. When I returned a month later, Masters Yoda and Windu called me to task in front of the Jedi Council. Apparently when Bastet returned home, her family found out that she..." Ranma paused as he searched for the right phrase, "...was no longer pure. They demanded that she go in exile, and that the offender be punished. It seems that her family carried significant weight with the Senate, and the Council reluctantly acceded to their demands.
"So, what is this secret of yours, Mako-chan, that you are so nervous to show me?"
Damn, I hoped he'd forgotten, the Senshi thought. She pulled out her henshin pen. "Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up!" One naked twirly lightshow later... "Ranma, I'm Sailor Jupiter." Her brother declined to respond, and Makoto noticed why. She rubbed her finger under her nose.
Ranma caught the hint, and wiped the blood away. Baka hentai. She's your sister for Kami-sama's sake. "Makoto, you do realize that you're naked during the transformation?" She nodded, hesitantly, even as Ranma stood, and walked around his sister, a Sailor Suited Defender of Love and Justice. "And that uniform is a pedophile's wet dream come to life. You realize that as well, right?" Another hesitant nod. "You really need to find a better way to transform, Mako-chan. Although, I can see where it could be a useful distraction. But it wouldn't be one for very long." Granted, Ranma, or rather Tarquin, had seen Setsuna in and out of her Sailor fuku, and hadn't minded one bit...but then the Senshi of Pluto was a consenting adult, and not his teenage sister.
"So, other than the transformation and the uniform, you don't mind that I'm a Sailor Senshi?"
"Nope. You are attempting to do what I did as a Jedi, defend the innocent and uphold law and order. You'd better transform back, Mako. Mom and Setsuna are coming."
Nodoka and a much embarrassed Setsuna walked back into the living room. "Ranma, even though I find it hard to believe that you are two people right now instead of just my son, I give you my permission to continue to date Setsuna."
Ranma smirked. "Mother, I am now a grown adult, with a career as an educator. I think I have met your nebulous expectations about my being 'a man amongst men'."
"You're right, Ranma," Nodoka said. "It's just that I've got my little boy back and he's all grown up. Would you and Setsuna like to stay for dinner?"
If there was one constant between this Ranma and those in other, parallel dimensions, was the Saotome stomach. Just at the mere mention of food, it makes its presence known—rather loudly. Jedi Master Ranma Lim looked sheepishly as three women stared at him like eagles admiring a tasty tidbit, or scientists discovering a new microbe. "I guess that's a yes," Ranma replied.
00000
Aboard her Sith Infiltrator, Bastet was interrupted from her meditations by an insistent beeping. Moving with catlike grace out of her lotus position, she moved over to the communications panel and retrieved the message.
A thirty centimeter tall hologram of Nelson's flag lieutenant appeared on the projection pad. "Greetings, Lady Bastet. I hope this message finds you in good health. Admiral Nelson has been appraised of your status and is most displeased by your performance. He would have thought it nigh impossible for a Sith Lord such as yourself to have not...terminated your objective.
"If the Admiral has not received confirmation that Tarquin Lim has been eliminated within seventy-two hours, he will deploy the fleet through the wormhole and take care of the situation himself. The Admiral has also reviewed your technological assessment of this planet called 'Earth', and believes that their military will pose little threat to even the smallest of capital ships in the fleet. Admiral Nelson has received confirmation of Base Delta Zero from Grand Moff Tarkin to be implemented should you fail. Obviously, failure is not an option, Lady Bastet.
"Confirmation of receipt of this message is ordered, as is confirmation of the elimination of the Target. Lieutenant Aubrey, out."
"That bastarrrd," Bastet growled, her tail swishing back and forth in agitation. "The Emperrrorrr himself gave me this mission, and I have yet to complete it to my satisfaction. He may have died once, but this time, he'll die by my hand. I'll not have the satisfaction of this victorrry snatched frrrom my grrrasp." Bastet was an artist in her elimination of the Jedi, unlike those who turned to the Dark Side. Like a housecat with a mouse, she will toy with her target, play with them, tease them, always giving them hope of escape, and then pounced swiftly, ending their lives. Nelson preferred the use of turbolasers over a skillful vibroblade; a bludgeon when a scalpel was needed.
She hit the record button, as she calmed herself with a Jedi relaxation technique. She may be a Sith, but she was a Jedi first. "Message rrreceived. Howeverrr, I will rrrequirrre at least an additional month to rrrecrrruit and trrrain local allies to ourrr cause. With the elimination of Jedi Lim, it would help to have locals on ourrr side, to smooth integrrration into the Empirrre.
"I will rrremind Admirrral Nelson that it was the Emperrrorrr who assigned me to this mission, with the 33rd Fleet at my disposal, not the other way around. Bastet out." She sent the message out, and resumed her meditations.
00000
Later on that night, the Gates of Time looked in on its guardian. After scanning her house she shared with the other Outers, the sentient donut-shaped monolith chuckled to itself. "It seems my Guardian is up to no good." It scanned an apartment building a few blocks away from Juuban High School, to a small apartment. "Oh deary, dear. I never knew Pluto could be so...flexible. Or energetic, for that matter." It recorded the scene for posterity's sake, as something that could be used if Setsuna denied where she was that night. The Time Portal activated long-dormant sensors to track its guardian's health. "Well now...this will be interesting to say the least." Scanning ahead in the timestream, if the Gates of Time could smirk, it would. "Twins. And they'll share their mother's immortality and their father's ability to use the Force. Looks like I'll have to intervene on their father's behalf." Continuing to chuckle to itself, the sentient monolith focused some of its energies on a certain pigtailed martial artist.