They were not bulletproof, however.
Bullets went into Sailor Neptune's chest with only slightly less effect than if she'd been untransformed.
Sailor Uranus yelled and turned to run through the robot soldier who had killed Neptune, only to be hit with enough voltage to light up the Tokyo Tower. She fell.
Sailor Saturn had Mille's whip wrapped around her neck, and the poison was causing the younger girl to slump.
A few moments later, Sailor Pluto fell, a spear emerging between her breasts.
"They'll live," said General Mille, "if we get them into surgery. We'll do the programming and genetic manipulation while they're unconscious."
"Interesting powers from these mortals," rumbled General Grim as he moved forward. "I wonder how many more are present on that world and if any can be recruited to our cause."
"We shall have to see on that," agreed General Mille.
Mongo was an odd collection of technologies, cultures, and lifestyles.
Take equal parts of German aristocracy, Chinese bureaucracy, Mongol Horde mentality, and some 1001 Nights Pseudo-Arabian Fantasy. Add a dash of Klingon Empire, a teaspoon of Starcraft, a helpful heaping of Japanese feudalism. Set blender to high.
Part of the problem was that in the Babylonian fashion - Mongo took whatever it liked from each culture that had been added through conquest (Ming and Yan) or negotiation and mutual benefit (Wang) or through other methods. There was a mechanism for incorporating new elements, but no mechanism for removing old elements.
A lot of the peasantry lived in pseudo-medieval lifestyles, and yet since Wang's rule their educational standard was more late 1800s. Medicine was more along the line of AD 2200. Mongo had Cloud City and Giant Robots, fantasy style castles, bloodsport arenas, cyborg warriors (a recent addition that Ming would have loved), grav cycles, horse-drawn carriages, steam engine trains - but you get the picture.
Mongo was an Empire. If one used the concept of alignment, then it tended to be Lawful Neutral, with the Emperor mainly setting the tone. In which case:
| Ruler | D&D | Rifts/Pall. |
|---|---|---|
| Ming | NE | Diabolic |
| Wang | LG | Scrupulous |
| Yan | LE | Aberrant |
| Short Ruled One | CN | Anarchist |
Doctor Zakharov had returned to Earth at the same time as Dale and Flash, had attended their wedding, and seen their child grow up.
Doctor Zakharov himself had been in his early 40s when he and Flash and Dale had all gone to Mongo in 1927. So in 1992, the 105 year old Doctor Zakharov was sitting in a wheelchair in a retirement home when he saw the TV footage of "flying saucers" and recognized the emblem of Mongo.
After coming out of sedation (a nurse heard him ranting about evil oriental warlords and gave him a quick nap), Doctor Zakharov realized he had about as much chance of rescuing the world now as he did of being able to run in the Olympics.
He was 105. One hundred and five. He had osteoarthritis, his mind tended to wander, his eyesight was a good deal worse than it had been in 1927, his teeth were in a jar by his bedside, he had a little bottle of oxygen he carried around with him... he was in good shape for his age but that didn't get around that he WAS his age.
There was only so much you could do once you'd passed the century mark. Jumping chasms, swinging on ropes, climbing over precipices, taking high g turns in a grav-speeder, fighting off giant insects from the jungles of Mongo with a shoelace and a wet t-shirt... oh wait. He'd never been able to do that last one. Whatever. He certainly couldn't do it now.
Not for the first time, the scientist wished that balding scientific geniuses got the girl - in this case it was because if he'd ever gotten the girl he might have an heir that he could send off to battle Ming's Hordes. Or Wing. Or whoever the heck it was. Wing, Ming, Ching, Bing - who the heck cared?! Someone had to fight the evil hordes!
Getting his walker, Doctor Zakharov prepared to rush out and fight for truth and justice! Why continue to rot away in the Shady Hills Old Folks Home when he could go out in a blaze of glory?!
The one called Saturn had the fewest injuries, merely some bruising and some paralytic drugs in her system.
General Mille had been reluctant to use the various sexual devices on one so young, but while mapping out the girl's neural net had found some promising tendencies.
The others had been repaired by Doctor Wutang, someone General Mille often... consulted with. If his work was up to his usual standards here, Madeline Mille decided she'd have to... consult with the doctor very enthusiastically afterwards.
Damage had been repaired, and new organs implaced. The cyberneticist/gynecologist/general surgeon had worked with his team to place special devices in the fiancees.
Mille had to admit that whoever had reprogrammed these fiancees had done a thorough job. They had even provided a false past and erased their previous memories! They would be able to restore only bits and pieces from what they knew or could guess.
Though working with General Grim and Doctor Wutang, the possibility of cloning these four into an army of magical warriors could not be discounted. They'd have to see if it worked out.
Mille shook her head. Further interviews with the Imperial Mother had revealed more of Akane's character, and little of it was obvious with the readings they had.
"General Mille," said an Aide, saluting smartly in her own leather uniform. "We have reports from units five and seven.... err. They both report having captured the fiancees of Emperor Ranma."
General Mille shrugged. "Bring them in. We'll sort the details out later."
(Posted Sun, 16 Mar 2003 22:32)
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