Negi looked at the front gates of the Tendo Dojo, flipping through the mini Kanji dictionary in his hands to decipher the symbols.
"The Japanese have such a... complicated system of writing... and I thought latin was a bother..." the little boy mumbled as he ascertained that he was, indeed, at the right place.
Taking a deep breath, Negi gripped his tall wooden staff and moved forward through the gates to the front door before knocking curtly.
He waited several seconds, until finally a woman who looked to be around twenty years of age opened the door. The woman saw only the head of the staff at first, and then blinked when she glanced down.
"Oh, hello! What can I do for you?" Kasumi said brightly, her smile turning up a few kilowatts upon seeing what a cute little boy was at the door. It took all of her traditional Japanese politeness to resist scooping the little boy up and giving him a hug; he was just THAT cute.
"I'm here to so Ori... wait..." Negi frowned and glanced over his instructions again. "My name is Negi Springfield. I'm here to see Ranma Saotome. Is he or she in?" Negi had only recently become effectively fluent in Japanese, so he couldn't tell boy's names from girl's names at this point.
Kasumi, on the other hand, assumed that Negi was talking about Ranma's ability to be either a he or she depending on the temperature of the closest source of water, and thus now felt certain that the little foreign boy was obviously Ranma's friend. "He's right inside. Please follow me, Negi-kun!"
_______________________
"I'm telling you, I don't know nothin' about it!" Ranma growled, his arm supporting his cheek while his elbow was planted on the dining room table.
"Then what's your alibi, huh Saotome?" Nabiki snapped, her eyes narrowed. "Where were you Friday afternoon?"
Ranma blinked, then bigsweated. He couldn't tell her what he had been up to, but if he didn't say anything, she'd take that as an admission of guilt. But... wait! "What does that hafta do with it?" He snapped back after a moment. "You telling me you were robbed on Friday and you didn't even notice 'til after breakfast on Saturday?"
Nabiki resisted the urge to snap her fingers in irritation. She had long since removed Ranma as a likely suspect for the robbery, but she had been hoping to use the situation to her advantage.
Of course, if Ranma had applied the same level of thought he had just used to get himself out of Nabiki's trap to Nabiki's query in the first place, he would have figured out it was probably Orion's work. But to be perfectly honest, he didn't like Nabiki much (it didn't help her case with all her yelling at him and accusations), and he had more important things on his mind than stolen cash.
"Nabiki, why did you even have that much sitting around here?" Akane asked. "Don't you have a bank account?"
The mercenary girl glared at her. "Of course I have a bank account. And most of my money is still in there. But my operations deal with CASH, Akane. Meaning I need a sizeable cash base at hand her at home to work with." Then she slammed a fist down on the table. "And I won't rest until I find the slimeball that dared take money from me!" She had as of yet refrained from identifying said slimeball as Orion Halinshor, making sure to check all of her suspects out as if she had nothing to work with. Besides, the name sounded like a fake alias anyway.
At that moment, Kasumi entered the room, being followed by a short little boy. Both Nabiki and Akane immediately fell silent as they resisted the urge to squeeze him like a plush toy.
"Ranma, Negi Springfield is here to see you," Kasumi said brightly.
Ranma blinked, stared at the kid who was obviously looking at all those assembled trying to figure out which one was Ranma, and then blinked again.
Akane, Nabiki, Soun, and Genma all stared at the English boy, then slowly turned toward Ranma. Negi saw this and made a tenative guess as to who his contact was.
He stepped forward. "Ranma Saotome? I'm Negi Springfield. I'm here about... uh..." he glanced about, wondering if there might be mundanes in the audience. "I'm here about a job," he finished vaguely.
It was enough. Ranma snapped his fingers as he figured out who the kid was. He wasn't nearly as perturbed as most would be about sending a child to fight demons; Genma had forced him to help a few exorcisms when he was that age to improve his skills. "Ah! THAT Negi Springfield! Right!" While Kasumi left for the kitchen, the others gave him questioning looks. He ignored them. "C'mere, kid. We can talk upstairs."
Soun interrupted. "Ranma, what is the meaning of this? Who is this boy?"
Ranma gave him an annoyed glance. "You didn't hear 'im? His name's Negi."
"Not that! What's he doing here?"
"He told you that, too!" Ranma blew out a puff of air and got up as Soun bristled. "Yeesh, some people."
"Cut the crap, Saotome," Nabiki said suddenly, narrowing her eyes. "Would this have something to do with where you run off to every day? And it involves child labor now?"
"Uh, not exactly," Negi began hesitantly. 'I wonder why they're all so hostile toward him?' "It's not that kind of job."
Ranma patted him on the shoulder. "Eh, just ignore 'em Negi. They don't know what they're talking about."
Akane rolled her eyes and stood up. "Oh, whatever. As long as it keeps him busy all day, let him go do whatever it is he does. We're going to be late for school."
To Ranma's annoyance, this was the signal for Soun to show off his remarkable learning curve. "Ranma! It's about time you attended school with your fiancee!"
As Negi blinked in surprise that Ranma appeared to be engaged while still in high school, the pigtailed boy rubbed his chin. "Well, let's see what my dearest, loving fiancee herself thinks of that. Akane?"
Said girl snorted as she walked to the front door with Nabiki in tow. "Dry up and die."
"Sorry man," Ranma said apologetically to Soun. "It's just not what Akane wants."
"This isn't about what Akane wants!" Soun insisted.
"Well, it's not what I want either."
Soun slammed his hand on the table again. "What you want has nothing to do with it!"
Ranma blinked. "So, if I don't want to do it, and she doesn't want me to do it, and I don't care about what you want, why should I go?"
"RAAAAANMAAAA!" Soun suddenly growled as his aura manifested, his head swelling to enormous size and his tongue snaking out at threateningly at Ranma.
"Gwah!" "Oh dear!" Ranma and Negi jumped back at the sight in terror.
And then, surprisingly, Kasumi appeared in front of them, staring sternly at Soun. "Father! I'm surprised at you!"
The demon-head froze. "WHAT?" the voice boomed.
"Negi's just a child, Father! Look at him! He's terrified!" She cast a soft glance at the boy who was clutching Ranma's leg. She then turned an admonishing look at Soun. "Apologize right this instant!"
Soun deflated instantly, and began to prostrate himself on the floor to Negi. "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"
Knock! Knock! Kasumi turned around at the sound of someone at the front door. "I'll get it. But I don't want to see you scaring Negi anymore, Father!"
As Kasumi left and Soun started to sulk, Negi let go of Ranma's leg. "Are things... always like this around here?"
"Nope," Ranma admitted, "Kasumi never defends ME." Not that he'd ever admit he needed someone to defend him, but he still felt mildly envious that the little boy could inspire sympathy in others.
A moment later Kasumi entered the room. "Ranma, more company for you!"
The boy that followed Ranma recognized instantly, and he smiled. "Hey Sousuke! What's up?"
Genma and Soun frowned as a boy with short, spiky black hair bearing a cross-shaped scar on his cheek straightened and then saluted.
"Saotome. I am reporting for assignment as ordered." He glanced around. "The security of this area is questionable. Recommend we discuss our agenda in a more secure location."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Ranma said. "Let's get outta here for now."
"Now wait just a minute!" Soun said, being careful not to raise his voice too high. "Ranma, who are these people? What are they doing here?"
The pigtailed boy gave him an annoyed glance. "They're just friends of mine. And this was the place to meet up. Don't worry about it; we're heading out now."
Before anyone could say otherwise, Ranma was already leading the way out of the house, with Negi and Sousuke swift on his heels.
Nobody noticed as Genma slipped away out the back door, nor did anyone notice the large gray housecat that jumped out of the kitchen window.
_______________________
"So you're Sousuke Sagara?" Negi asked somewhat timidly. "I'm Negi Springfield!"
"Yes. You've been cleared for this mission?" The mercenary asked, never one to take things at appearances.
"Best I figure," Ranma said. "You're here 'cause Orion sent for ya, right? To help Sailor Moon and stuff?"
Negi nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! It's my first assignment as a mage, you see! I'll do my best!"
Sousuke immediately stared at the child dubiously. "A... mage, you say? What capabilities does that entail?"
"Well, casting combat spells, I imagine," Negi mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "Really, I'm quite new at this. I do hope this Orion chap can give me some instruction."
Suddenly Sousuke stiffened, and he walked ahead of Ranma before turning into an alley. "We're being followed."
Ranma grabbed Negi's shoulder before the mage could look back and ducked into the alley with Sousuke. "Is it a cat, a panda, or a pudgy old man in a gi?"
"Just a moment." As they all faced the dead-end of the alley, Sousuke pulled a small mirror out of a pocket and held it up briefly. "Pudgy old man."
"On it," Ranma said, suddenly leaping upward and disappearing.
Negi seemed surprised by the sudden movement, and stumbled backward. He noticed that Sousuke had ducked behind some garbage cans, and was removing a handgun from his belt.
"We should take cover and prepare for a possible assault until Saotome returns," Sousuke insisted, nudging his head over toward a dumpster against the opposite wall. Negi very much doubted the need for taking cover, but did as he was asked.
"Ranma! This is for your own-OOF!-good!" A voice shouted from above.
"Ah, shove it old man! Mind your own business for once!"
The sounds of combat swiftly followed the verbal exchange, and Negi sweatdropped. "Perhaps I should help? I don't quite understand what's going on, though..."
Sousuke regarded the British boy carefully, then nodded. "You may support Saotome. I will secure this location myself."
Negi immediately nodded, glad to finally have a task. "Right! I'll be right back!" Then, to Sousuke's surprise, he jumped on his staff and floated straight up out of the alley to the rooftops above.
_______________________
Ranma grimaced as Genma deflected his first few strikes and then threw him. The pigtailed boy managed to land on his feet, but looked over the bald man more cautiously. Genma was fighting far more carefully than usual.
"Boy, you're going to tell me what's going on with you and these gaijin kids!" Genma growled. Actually, he couldn't tell is Sousuke was Japanese or not at a glance, but that was hardly the point.
At first Genma had thought that Ranma's disappearances were simply small training journeys, since the boy was trying to adjust to staying in one place for once. This morning it had finally struck the elder Saotome: Ranma had friends he didn't know about? These boys were discussing a job. Ranma had a JOB he didn't know about? And all that seemed to point in one very uncomfortable direction: Ranma had a life that Genma didn't know about, and thus didn't have any control over.
Ranma didn't think about it that way, though he certainly would've appreciated the sentiment if he had. All he knew was that he had been chosen to be part of something important, and to put the martial arts skills he had sold his childhood for to good use for a good cause. Kowtowing to his father and some overemotional lunatic seemed fine when there was nothing better to do, but at the moment his plans were too important to let Genma interfere.
Still, Genma WAS the one who had taught Ranma the martial arts, as well as the only one around who regularly sparred on Ranma's level. And while those sparring sessions usually leaned in Ranma's favor, he had no illusions that Genma had passed on all his tricks to his son. If Genma brought it down to a real, gritty, all-out fight, the pigtailed boy would have to be careful...
Or have magical backup in the form of a little boy riding a big stick. "Sagitta magica series aerialis!"
Ranma and Genma blinked as both of them noticed five bolts of energy whirling toward them wildly through the wind, looking like tiny tornadoes in the shap of arrows. They both jumped back so as not to get hit.
The missiles curved toward Genma, ignoring Ranma. This was not lost on either fighter.
Despite having no clue what this new assault was all about, Genma was no slouch to any degree, and as the wind arrows curved downward and converged, Genma leapt upward, grinning as the projectiles failed to adjust in time and impacted harmlessly on the roof of a hardware store.
He wasn't grinning for long. The arrows had been a perfect distraction for Ranma, who took advantage of Genma's dodge to launch a devastating mid-air kick.
Negi gaped as he saw the older man go flying into one of the canals next to the street, and brought his staff around to hover behind Ranma. "Well, at least he landed in the water. That was quite a fall."
"I was aiming for the sidewalk," Ranma griped, knowing that it was only Genma's skill that kept him safe from concussion. 'Oh well. Pops won't be able to sneak very well as a soggy panda.' "Let's hit the road, Negi."
_______________________
When they found their way back to the alley that Sousuke had secured, they saw that Orion was already there with him, apparently discussing the appropriate measures that would have to be taken to keep Ranma's family and associates from interfering in the future.
Ranma looked extremely embarrassed at this, and grumbled angrily about his father; it seemed that out of everyone here, he was the only who had problems from his own life tracking him down and getting in the way (he was wrong, but he wouldn't know that for some time yet).
Nonetheless, Negi was finally introduced to the de facto leader, and after getting over the surprise that the leader was a cat (he wasn't surprised that Orion could talk, but he had expected his employer to be human), he then blushed as Orion expressed his surprise that his combat mage was ten years old.
Ranma and Sousuke shrugged, not understanding what the problem was. Both of them had been perfectly competent fighters at age ten.
Orion rubbed his head with his paw. "I understand that you're a perfectly able wizard, Springfield," he mumbled, "but I was hoping for someone... more experienced." Actually, the age thing bothered him at least as much. Unlike Ranma and Sousuke, Orion was NOT comfortable with the idea of child soldiers. Hell, if he could find people as skilled as Ranma and Sousuke who were at least twenty, he would have dropped the two teens like live frags.
"From what I gathered, we're pretty lucky they sent us anyone at all," Ranma said. Then he rubbed the boy on the head while smiling. "Besides, the kid's alright! Didja see how he took off and tried to blast Pops like that?"
Negi blinked. "Eh? That man was your father?"
"Be that as it may," Orion interrupted, "me and Ranma have worked out a base of operations for us. We can formalize everything there, and then begin our training immediately."
_______________________
The "base of operations" was, as it turned out, an old low-rent apartment on the edge of Juuban. The entire building it was a part of was old and broken-down, the apartment itself was dirty and ill-kept with only a single window that faced the street, and even Ranma, who had grown up in the wilderness, could tell that the structure wasn't up to code, seeing how the fire escape had rusted and fallen off and had yet to be replaced, and the window that normally faced the escape was barred.
Needless to say, Sousuke was pleased. The base was inconspicuous and difficult to enter from secondary access points. Also, the layers of dust had made inspection for bugs much easier.
Ranma was less pleased. From what he'd seen of Sousuke's habits, he had a feeling they'd need that fire escape.
Once they were inside, the three boys gathered around the small beaten-up coffee table as Orion jumped onto it and did a backflip. Three stapled collections of paper gently fell down onto the table. Orion then slid one paper in front of each boy.
Negi and Sousuke both nodded upon seeing that their documents were formal contracts of employment, complete with expected duties, non-disclosure agreements, and terms of payment.
Ranma's face darkened. HE had gotten the lease contract for the apartment.
Negi nodded and signed his name at the bottom of the contract. He knew the pay was almost insultingly low for even a mage fresh out of the academy, but he didn't really care about the money. This mission was important in and of itself, and it was important to him that it be completed if he were to become a Magister Magi. In that respect, he would have worked for free if he had to, though he was glad Orion didn't know that.
Sousuke frowned. "This salary is sub-standard for an ordinary commando unit."
Orion winced. This was not unexpected, but there was very little he could do to deal with it. "Yes, well, among my other limitations is a general shortage of funds. I have some minor plans to remedy that, and if they work we can renegotiate your contract, but in the meantime the terms I've offered there are the best I can manage."
At the thought that the others might get paid more after he got a job, the dark shroud over Ranma's expression grew darker, and little wisps of blue flame started burning in the air around him.
Sousuke signed his name under the non-disclosure portion only, and then pushed the contract back. "I must confess that part of the reason I agreed to this is personal curiosity. I wish to investigate and study this enemy for the possibility of large-scale engagement. I also wish to see combat application of this weapon you describe as 'magic'." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down with his eyes closed. "In respect to this, am I willing to consider the first few engagements as training engagements, and will not accept a formal contract of employment until I have considered the results."
Orion blinked. Twice. Well, that was a mixed blessing if he ever heard one. Still, best to make the most of it. "Fair enough. You'll have to order replacement munitions yourself and submit a request to me for reimbursement, though."
"Agreed, Commander," Sousuke said seriously as he saluted, evidently having fully adjusted to the idea of taking orders from a talking cat.
In the meantime, Negi nudged a depressed-looking Ranma. "Are they always like this?"
"Yeah. When they're not blowing stuff up, anyway," Ranma replied tiredly.
"All right, then!" Orion announced. "The paperwork's done! It's time for some instructive training!"
_______________________
"Ranma, as a martial artist, your skills will be the most critical in engaging the youma," Orion said seriously.
Ranma nodded, cheering considerably. He liked the idea of being the most important fighter.
"Youma are soldiers too; massively incompetent soldiers with little to no training who are inevitably reliant on their inherent abilities. Although there are youma who are effective close-range fighters, they only fight like that due to their inherent strength, toughness, and speed. I have yet to see anything from the Negaverse short of a General that might be able to predict movements, line up opponents, or use any number of tricks that you probably know by heart. The big picture, though, is that you keep youma engaged close-up and prevent them from counter-attacking against your allies, who all deal primarily in ranged attacks. This is extremely dangerous for you, since not only do you risk most of the damage from the youma, but you risk friendly fire as well."
Ranma nodded seriously, not put off in the least by the danger. It sounded like fun, actually.
"You can forget about what you know about human weak points when fighting youma; they don't have pressure points or vital organs, and they're extremely resilient to pain. Therefore torso strikes are pointless, unless you're trying to knock the youma away. A strong enough limb strike can temporarily cripple that limb and seriously degrade the youma's abilities, but otherwise the only weak point is the head. Because it still houses all the youma's sensory nodes, powerful strikes to the head are extremely disorienting. Your tasks will be to either keep youma occupied for another unit to destroy them, or to disrupt a counter-attack."
Ranma looked slightly put off by this. "What? You think I can't defeat 'em on my own?"
"No, you can't. You're part of a team, not a superhero. And it doesn't help that the youma are pretty damn resistant to being beaten to death." Orion chided. Then he smirked. "Besides, you're doing all the real work and taking on all the real danger. Finishing the youma off when you're done with them is just mop-up; as easy as Negi snapping his fingers and mumbling some Latin gibberish." He knew that wasn't quite true, but Ranma seemed extremely pleased. The better Orion could keep the man's ego up while keeping him from making arrogant mistakes, the better he'd do.
"But don't forget!" Orion chided, "Youma drain energy from humans. The Senshi and Negi have magic fields to prevent this. You're going to have to watch it if you start to feel exhausted."
Ranma nodded as he rubbed his chin. Orion's words made sense, but there was no way he was going to leave it at that. 'There must be some way to keep them from draining my energy at all... or maybe even reverse it! I'll have to look into it.'
_______________________
"Negi, you'll be working closely with the Senshi, since your skills fall in roughly the same area," Orion explained.
Negi nodded. "Okay... uh... where are they, anyway? Are we going to meet them soon?"
"Assuming they don't get themselves killed before we can, yes," Orion murmured. "The difference is that, when it comes to magic, you actually know what you're doing. They do not."
Negi blinked. "Uh... could you run that by me again? I thought you said they were powerful magi?"
"I said they were powerful magical girls," Orion corrected, "they're good at magic in the same way a man with a gun is good at propelling bullets; which is to say, not very. You've been training with magic all your life. You know the rules, the limitations, the possibilities, the drawbacks, the advantages, the ins and outs, and all that jazz. Your magic is dynamic and flexible. Theirs is hardwired. Despite all their power, I'm guessing it would take them years in order to use a single one of your weakest spells. Of course, you probably couldn't learn theirs at all due to the different mana manipulation principles in place, but you can see my point."
Negi nodded. "So I'm to combine my firepower with theirs? A sort of 'magic artillery' pool?"
"Not really. Their magic is strong enough that just adding yours to the volley is redundant. It's your responsibility to protect them from incoming threats since you have defensive magic and you're more mobile. Also, you can help Ranma on the offensive since your attacks are precise in accuracy. I strongly recommend that you two train together so that you can better know how to complement his fighting style."
Negi nodded, smiling brightly as determination swept over him. "Right!"
_______________________
"Now Sousuke, this is going to be tricky... you see, out of everyone here, you personally have the least damage potential. In battle, it will be critical that you avoid engaging the enemy at close range. You're not strong enough to defend yourself from its attacks, and a knife is useless against them," Orion explained bluntly. He knew he didn't have to mince words or explain himself thoroughly to Sousuke.
"Understood. Engagement at range is preferred," the mercenary said, taking notes down in a small handbook.
"Not only that, but small-arms fire will be next to useless against youma. Because they don't have vital organs or suffer much pain, a bullet can't stop them. You can slow them down by firing at limbs or the head, but normal bullets won't kill a youma."
Sousuke nodded again as he made more notes. "Small-arms fire ineffective."
"Explosive arms like rockets or RPGs WILL be effective. Any kinetic force capable of tearing a youma to pieces will cause too much damage for the youma to regenerate. For short-range engagements I'd recommend a shotgun for its stopping power to allow you to escape, but your primary weapon should be something typically used against vehicles."
"Understood. I'll make the necessary arrangements. Will my allies be requiring weapons as well?" Sousuke asked. He seemed quite perturbed that neither Ranma nor Negi seemed armed with even a basic knife.
"Negative," Orion said easily, waving a paw in the air. "They're methods of combat don't cross your own. Your weapons would only burden them, and their skills would be incompatible with your own. Well, maybe Ranma's wouldn't, to a point. But you're going to be the only one using firearms."
"Understood. What grenade types would be effective?"
"Smoke and flashbangs would work well. Youma suffer the same sensory limitations as humans most of the time. Frags are useless. Thermite and napalm grenades would work on the offensive, though there are better things you could be carrying. Essentially though, your job will be establishing ambush positions and coordinating Ranma and Negi. While most of our operations are reactionary, you can gain an advantageous observation point and find the best places to draw our opponents into a trap. Demolitions and support is all you. Also, if I'm taken out of action through some means, you're in command." Orion sat back and smirked proudly as the mercenary nodded solemnly.
"Understood Commander. What are your orders?"
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(Posted Sat, 11 Nov 2006 03:35)
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