He was, however, the Emperor. On finding out that the Emperor was not going to order their heads removed from their bodies if they made suggestions to him, the various Generals agreed he was much better than some of the historical Emperors.
A well trained staff can cover for a lack of intelligence or talent. Each of the Generals was an expert at something, and Ranma could listen to suggestions and decide which sounded good to him.
When he looked at the Mongoian spaceships, weapons, and war machines - he had frowned. This wouldn't do. It wouldn't do at all!
Ranma had grown up in Japan. While his father had tried to keep him focussed 24/7 on martial arts, little boys will do what little boys do and try to bend the rules. He hadn't gotten many but he had gotten his grubby little hands on a few manga over the years. He KNEW what giant robots were supposed to look like, he KNEW what spaceships should look like, and he KNEW that Mongoian Death Tanks looked pretty damn silly with all those spikes and stuff.
If the factories of Teknos couldn't produce what he wanted, well, the Great Will hadn't been removed yet and so those factories WOULD produce proper giant robots damnit!
On his first day as Emperor, he'd figured it was part of the Emperor of A Space Empire thing. There should be giant robots. Mobile suits. The whole enchilada. What did he get? What looked like WWII tanks that had spikes.
On learning that giant monsters threatened Earth, he had publicly been reluctant to do anything about it. Now that the lieutenant had brought up the problem, he had to come up with something.
Now that this Slipe guy was telling what had been produced in his factories, he was a little more enthusiastic about the matter.
"Should we make one for Hotaru? It would probably be a nice gesture as she is the Earthian ambassador," suggested Councilor Slipe, who (as near as Ranma could make out) was the Councilor In Charge Of Closet Space.
"Hotaru was the little girl?" Ranma thought he remembered her. There was the tomboy who liked race cars. The one who seemed kinda cold and stiff. The one that kept commenting on the artwork and junk. Then there was that little girl who seemed to stare at him a lot. "Yeah. Go ahead and give her a nice one."
Councilor Slipe, a weaselly looking fellow (literally) who looked more of a villain than he actually was, and supporter of the Saturn Knights, nodded.
A huge space ship landed shortly thereafter.
"What the hell is THAT?" Sailor Uranus demanded.
"Oh, Princess Uranus," said a weasel-man in formal robes, "we brought your racer."
Uranus smiled as the mostly-engine shape of her sky-chariot was revealed. Her hands clenched repeatedly at the thought of trying it out on the way home. "What kind of speed does it get again?"
"Roughly nine hundred kelekams per horta," said Councilor Slipe. "Oh, is Princess Saturn here?"
The rest of the Senshi gathered as Hotaru was found.
"Princess Saturn," said Slipe, bowing low. "His Imperial Majesty, Ranma the First, has heard of your predicament and has sent you a gift that he hopes you will find of some use in your current struggle against the Forces Of Darkness. He wishes you to consider this a small token of his regard for you."
"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you?" Neptune asked in a low voice.
"I attend an Imperial Court which in the past has had a number of unpleasantly tempered individuals in charge," said the Councilor in an equally low tone. "Consider it a survival skill."
Neptune nodded, acknowledging the point.
"What did he say?" Saturn asked Mercury.
"He said that the Emperor sent you a gift and he hopes you like it," translated Mercury from Toady to Japanese.
"Oh," said Saturn. "That's nice. Where is it?"
CRUNK! K-CHUNK! Chrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
The Senshi watched as the cargo hauler opened up, followed by some massive form slowly raising in the pre-dawn light. It caused a few gasps from the Senshi as it stepped out of the cradle to stand before them.
"I recognize that," said Venus as she stepped back in shock. Saturn got a giant robot?! She HAD to meet this Emperor!!! "It's..."
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(Posted Sat, 21 Jun 2003 13:26)
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