Beryl was happily married to the Man she loved and he, in turn, had learned to love her in return. The woman didn't have any reason to pursue power at all costs. As a result, Queen Metal'la was still sealed in the Asteroid Belt, never to escape.
That this came at the price of the Moon Princess' broken heart was tragic but Time healed all wounds. Young Serenity would get over it, especially as her handsome price was now in his forties and had children of his own.
All in all, the Silver Millenium was safe.
It was all going to change soon, however... For Ranma Saotome was going to remind Pluto and all the other senshis of his existence.
***
Magic was the foundation of the Moon Kindom's civilization and power. All its enemies from the 'Sailor Wars' had used magic as well so it was logical that their defences would be geared against such.
It wasn't surprising then that a small and stealthy automated probe slipped by the Outer Senshi's watchful guard. Unliving metal robots with no evil will or dark power of their own simply didn't register on the Moon Kingdom's 'radar'.
The machine followed its programming and began scanning all the planets for intelligent life, civilization level, military preparedness and sailor senshi presence. The collected data was instantly transmitted back to its homebase.
***
The strange, moving, nebula had many names throughout the Universe, depending on which alien you were talking to. With such colorful names as the 'Chaos Nebula', the 'Heart of Darkness', the 'Great Devouring Void', the 'Eye of Terror' or 'Sailor's Bane', one would rightfully conclude it was bad news. That and the fact that any starship approaching would be summarily disintegrated.
That it would periodically unleash vast fleets of killer robots on a hapless galaxy didn't encourage people to give it warm and fuzzy nicknames either.
But for its creator, it was simply his home, his headquarters and instrument of righteous vengeance all rolled into one efficient package of godlike power.
First of all, it only looked like a nebula. What appeared as cosmic gases were actually layers upon layers of force fields produced by technology beyond the understanding of most sentient races.
Once you got past them, a titanic military base/factory complex/shipyard/worldship lied at its center, surrounded by hordes of warships, fighters and giant mechas ready to ravage worlds at their master's command.
Speaking of the Master...
***
"This is the data sent by probe number 4512," said the obviously artificial voice to a humanoid silhouette standing in the shadows, "Displaying it now..."
A three-dimensional image of the Solar System sprang into life in front of the unknown man. His right hand clenched in anger at the sight. The man walked into the light to get a better look and confirm what his eyes were telling him.
Ranma Saotome had changed much since the temporal storm who had rewritten Reality as he knew it. Lines of green glowing circuitry ran on his skin. The left half of his face was made of metal, his left eye a single piece of red artificial cybernetics. He was clad in high-tech armor. Over it, he was wearing black and silver clothes (cape included) screaming "Evil galactic tyrant, BEWARE!".
Why? If you asked him, the answer was simple : It was all the Sailor Senshi's fault!!!
He hadn't asked to be dragged into that mess in the first place! Sure, Pluto had repaired the damage and everything was fine again... Except for him who had been sent spiraling into space-time limbo. He was sure those girls must have had thought it was acceptable losses back then. He didn't know how long it lasted but he had nearly gone insane in the process.
When he had finally returned to the Real World, it was to end up on an alien world where humans couldn't survive. By all accounts, he should have died. But THEY came to his rescue.
The machines on the planet he had ended on were a leftover from some long gone civilization. Left without new orders for millenia, they had slept, waiting for the return of their creators. Thankfully, Ranma qualified. The minor physiological differences he had with the Builders (as the machines reverently called them) were attributed to evolution and genetic drift. At last, a Master had returned!
Unfortunately, medicine wasn't a skill the machines had mastered. To save Ranma's life, they had to get... creative. That was why the former martial artist was now more machine than man himself these days.
While he was recuperating from the cybernetic grafts, the machines sent probes across the galaxy, searching for the Master's home planet as he had ordered. When reports of entire worlds ruled by sailor senshi or similar magical girls thanks to mass brainwashing came back, Ranma was enraged...
He had to do something! They had to be stopped! The machines heard him and obeyed. Factories came back to life and began churning war machines out.
That's how Ranma's crusade started. He would rid the Universe of the plague that were the Senshi if it was the last thing he did!
"This really is the Solar System...," said Ranma with a bit of wonder in his voice, "We've found it! At last! Hehehehehe... HaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...!" The martial artist turned galactic conqueror laughed, overwhelmed by the best news he got in a long, long while.
The computer didn't react to his reaction and just said : "My lord... Sailor Senshi presence has been confirmed in this system. Evidence of a magical civilization resting on the usual 'purification' process has been found"
Ranma's good mood instantly evaporated "Damn it... I knew it was too good to be true. It looked like he would have to go back home with all guns blazing "Which planet?" he asked, dearly hoping Earth wasn't 'infected'.
"All planets, save the third designated 'Earth' and the tenth designated 'Nemesis', my lord..." replied the machine.
"WHAT!?!" In all his compaigns, Ranma had never come upon more than one sailor senshi by planetary system "Are you absolutely sure about these readings!?"
"Affirmative. All the senshi you have met in what you termed as the 'Harem incident' have been spotted save for Sailor Moon. There is also no trace of the technological civilization you said would be found on Earth, my lord. Only a magical kingdom like on the other planets. It seems to be autonomous but still mainly subservient to them"
Ranma had no idea he had been sent to the Past after the temporal storm. When he heard the report, he thought about it for a few seconds and came to an erroneous but somewhat logical conclusion "That Sailor Moon ditz must have warped reality with that silver crystal of hers and imposed her little fairy tale world on everyone..."
"It seems to be the most logical explanation, my lord. What are your orders?"
Ranma began pacing back and forth, his eyes locked on the data coming from the probe. He was tempted, oh so tempted, to just give the order to nuke the Silver Millenium to Kingdom Come right now.
But then, his revenge wouldn't feel complete. Back then, he had been doing the Right Thing but those bitches had completely fucked things up. They had taken his world, his hopes, almost everything from him...
And they had the GALL to be HAPPY! To rule over Humanity after all they had done to him and others!?! Not if he could help it!
Ranma walked to his command throne and sat down, pondering at the possibilities. There were several variables to consider. If he remembered right, the Silver Crystal and the Time Gates were the major obstacles in his way. What could be done to circumvent them?
"But first... Ready all our fleets and troops. The Chaos Nebula is to head for the Solar System at once!" ordered the young galactic tyrant.
The machines were quick to respond "By your command!"
***
After hours of brainstorming and listening to the machines' reports as well as advice, Ranma had a plan. His forces would first...
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See other episodes by Jamil Nate
(Posted Sat, 06 Aug 2005 17:41)
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