The living room was quite full as Nodoka bustled around, serving tea with a content smile on her lips and a happy hum filling the air. So many people here to see her sons. It was so nice to see that even in the short time he'd been back that he'd managed to make connections. Especially among the girls. Sure, only two of them intended to join her and her sons in space, but there was still interest from the Kuonji girl. A slight frown adorned Nodoka's lips as she returned to the kitchen. That boy, Ryoga was it? That one seemed slightly off to the Saotome Matriarch. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she was going to keep an eye on the boy nonetheless while he was there.

Shaking away those bothersome thoughts, she gathered her own tea and rejoined those gathered in wait of her sons. She engaged Sakura's parents in small talk, learning more about the girl while sharing what little she knew about her son. It was good to see such a protective streak in the girl's parents, especially the father. A smile ghosted across Nodoka's lips as she noted the way the mother kept an eye on the man, as if daring him to interfere with their daughter's decision. That was the way a mother should be. Allow the children to grow. And hopefully it would allow them both the chance to dote upon grandchildren soon.

Nodoka caught the eyes of the mother for a moment, noticing the familiar gleam there. Oh yes, this one would definitely be joining her in the campaign to get the children to provide them with the next generation.

Moving past those pleasant thoughts, Nodoka turned her attention back to the Kuonji girl. "So Ukyo dear, I understand why everyone else is here, but I'm not quite sure what brought you and your boyfriend. I thought with my dear husband chained to your restaurant that you would have already started working on satisfying the debt he owed you." She cocked her head to the side as she considered the slightly squirming girl.

Ukyo looked down at her hands for a moment, wishing she had one of her spatula shurikens in hand so that at least she's have something to grip to help steady herself. Looking back up, she considered the Matriarch for a moment. "I'm still not sure of that myself, really. Curiosity mainly?" She shook her head. "I guess I'm still angry at the lug, even though I realize it's not his fault. Playing pound the panda can only do so much. I mean, I've been angry with Ranma for nearly as long as I can remember…" She trailed off as she felt Ryoga's hand settle onto her own.

There was a quiet strength of that calloused palm as it wrapped around her shaking hands, holding her in a gentle, yet firm embrace. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I know that Ryoga sugar would love another go at Ranchan and frankly, so would I. Well, I guess it's more of a first go? We didn't get very far before Ryoga barged in." She gave her boyfriend a grateful smile, even as the boy blushed slightly. He never let go of her hands though.

Nodoka suppressed a frown. What was it with people wanting to attack her son? Though, once she gave it a moment's thought, it made sense. Martial artists were an extremely competitive bunch, at least the ones she'd had the pleasure of interacting with. Her son was quite the same, hence the spar currently going on in the backyard. It made sense that those around her son would be no different. Allowing a small grin to grace her lips, she nodded. "I'm sure that's something can arrange before we leave. Though it will have to be brief. Ranma has already stated that he wanted to leave as soon as the girls had returned. In fact…" She trailed off as her sons entered the room.

Other than the light sheen of sweat adorning the twin brows of the Ranmas, there was little to indicate that either had been involved in what was no doubt an intense spar just moments before. Well, perhaps the slight smile that graced their lips. Ranma Prime's eyes seemed to shimmer in delight at seeing everyone in the room and even Ranma II's held a hint of affection to see so many people there. There was a slight frown on both faces though as they caught sight of Ryoga in the room, their fight still fresh in their minds. With little to no sense of hostility in the room though, they were content to push that memory away in lieu of taking care of things. No telling how much time they really had.

The Ranmas looked at each other before II gave a slight nod. Ranma Prime returned a quick nod before turning his attention to the group. "Good to see everyone could make it, even our unexpected guests. Not sure what Nabiki and Sakura have told you already, but here a quick background. We are leaving Earth and returning to the Chaos Empire. This was going to be a nice leisurely event but has taken on a sense of urgency due to the Chinese Amazons."

He raised his hand to stall any questions before continuing. "Yes, Amazons are unfortunately real. I say unfortunately because just earlier today they attacked us here and I was forced to kill one of them in self defense." Ranma Prime's eyes focused on the man in armor next to Sakura, her father if he had to guess. He saw the man's eyes widen at the admission to killing someone. Ranma also noted the way the woman at his shoulder seemed to keep him pressed down into place, though how the slight woman could manhandle the JDF member he wasn't quite sure.

"As a result, they've declared my life forfeit. As I would rather not have to fight for my life or endanger anyone else, we've decided to leave immediately. Mom and I are already packed to go." He turned to regard Sakura and Nabiki. "I assume you both are ready as well?"

Nabiki offered a quick nod to Ranma. She felt Kasumi's gentle hand on her shoulder, a tender squeeze offering her support. "I'm ready as can be without a lot more time to get things settled with school, my factors, father…" She trailed off for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm ready."

Sakura noticed her father about to speak and jumped in. "I'm ready. This is an opportunity that I can't push off. Space… it's something I've always dreamed about but never thought…" She too trailed off before just smiling at Ranma, then turning that smile to her mother. Her father got the cold shoulder for the moment… at least until the man settled down. "Anyway, I'm ready to join you as well."

Finally having enough, Sakura's father shook off his wife's hand and stood up, trying to loom to his full height. "Now listen here, boy. I'm not sure what tricks you've pulled to get my daughter to go along with this scam, but I've had enough. All this talk of space is ridiculous. And you!" He whirled to face Nodoka, scowling. "How could you let your son get away with this kind of thing, and how could you possibly help him with something like this."

The sound of simultaneous facepalms by both women in his family went ignored by the self-righteous father, right before a hand clamped down on each shoulder. "Dear." "Daddy." The man managed to not cringe at those words, but only barely. He focused his attention on the boy trying to steal away his daughter. When all he got was a smirk in return he felt his scowl deepen. He opened his mouth to continue when boys turned and walked out of the kitchen, beckoning him to follow.

As he stepped out to the backyard, he opened his mouth again to continue to berate the two, only for no sound to come out. Instead, he felt his jaw hang lower and his eyes bug out at the sight of craft nestled on the grass. He'd heard rumors of something the JDF was working on but this seemed unreal. He staggered forward to run his hands along the smooth surface of the vehicle. How had these two tricksters managed to get their hands on something like this? Especially without someone else realizing it. Were something like this really in his neighborhood, he was sure he would have been informed.

It had to be another part of their elaborate scam, right?

"You're welcome to examine the exterior of the ship, but unless you're planning on coming with us, you are not allowed to step foot inside."

Puffing himself up, the man stomped past the boys as he went about proving them wrong. The feel of metal along the outside of the ship, should be easy to fake. Not that he could figure out how at the moment. It definitely had a solid feel to it, a light hum seeming to fill the air of the background of the backyard. While it had to be coming from the so-called ship, he wasn't actually able to place the origin of the sound. It was as if the sound permeated the air.

Shaking off the first tendrils of doubt that threatened to worm their way around his anger, he continued examining the ship, walking fully around the structure, taking in the details. There were definitely a lot of details. What he couldn't find though were the controls for the ship. Was it something controlled remotely? A signal from inside the house? Carried by the boys? The mother?

Just as he was turning to the Saotomes to restart the interrogation, he grunted in pain as he was tackled to the ground. The sharp snap of breaking wood was enough to snap him out of whatever he'd been about to say to the person pinning him to the ground. Half a moment later he was showered in the shattered remains of an arrow that he impacted the ship near where he'd been standing.

Ranma II pushed himself off the man he'd tackled, whirling to scan the surroundings even as Ranma Prime settled himself in front of the group of onlookers by the house. Another arrow whistled in, this time straight for the clone. Biting back a growl, he slapped the arrow from the air before leaning down to grab the vest of Sakura's father. He dragged the man towards the cover of the house as more and more arrows came flying in.

Ranma Prime finished pushing everyone back into the house, barking orders to Ryoga to get the front door secured before rushing out to help his twin, providing cover from the arrow onslaught while they got the man back inside. As he scanned the nearby rooftops and fence lines, he found no sign of the attackers. Even the angle of the arrows continued to shift seemingly at random. No way to guess how many there might be out there. Fortunately, it only took a moment longer to get back into the house and secure the backdoor.

The respite was not to last.

The front door shattered into uselessness as a pair of girls dressed in what Ranma was coming to recognize as the Amazon style and wielding what appeared to be metal staves stepped through. In a synchronized attack, the girls slammed the butts of their staves into Ryoga's stomach, launching him away from his post and through a wall. Ranma Prime had only just begun to step towards the new attackers when the wall closest to him caved in, admitting another Amazon girl, this one dual wielding matching maces. Grunting, he moved to engage her while the other Ranma rushed towards the first two.

Sakura tried to keep her eye on the growing melee as she made her way to her father, her mother at her side. She was starting to regret mother not allowing father to bring some of his weapons. What were they supposed to do with armed attackers? She glanced over to see Nabiki and her sister ducking behind the couch, trying to stay out of the way. But where was the Saotome Matriarch?

The sound of steel rasping on steel rang through the air as Nodoka drew her katana and entered from the kitchen. Her eyes were drawn to the two on one fight at the front door. That's where she was needed. She hadn't been able to be there for her son for over a decade. She wasn't going to stand aside now that she finally had him back in her life, especially after having lost him once already.

She ran the short distance across the room, sword slashing towards the nearest Amazon. A moment later she was flying back across the room, sword flying from suddenly nerveless hands. As she crashed into the couch, nearly uppending it upon the cowering Tendos, Nodoka thought she might have practiced more before trying actual combat. All those years carrying the blade had been more of a comfort rather than any actual skill with the katana.

Ranma Prime growled as he sensed his mother attacked, the deep rumble seeming to shake the room. There was no more time to play around. Snaking an attack through the Amazon's guard, he snagged the front of her shirt, dragging her forward before slamming his forehead into her nose. In that brief moment where his opponent was daze, he shifted his stand, turning with a grunt before yelling, "Incoming!"

Ranma II had just an instant before ducking the amazonian missile that slammed into one of his opponents, sending both tumbling through the ruined doorway in a tangle. He was back up just as quick, driving a kick into the sternum of the remaining Amazon that sent her to join her friends. Turning to consider the original, he nodded at the silent plan and reached into his pocket for the remote.

"Everyone, get to the ship!"

After checking through the doorway to ensure that the amazons were still distracted, he made his way to the couch, motioning the Tendos to hurry along. Gripping one end of the couch, he gave it an experimental lift before grinning. Just as the Amazons tried to come through the doorway again, they were met head on by flying furniture. One of the Amazons let out a squeak before all through were blasted back the way they came.

Turning around with a grin, Ranma II made his way through the house before skidding to a stop near the back door. Everyone was gathered at the door, Sakura standing in the doorway itself. Why wasn't everyone moving? Slowly, Sakura turned to everyone, confusion and pain etched on her face. The glint of metal dragged everyone's attention to the dagger nestled in the center of her chest, a dark stain growing around it.

"Sakura!" A tortured scream erupted from the girl's father as he rushed to gather the girl into his arms. Everyone else tried to move aside, though the Ranmas hurried to move past as there was only one way for this to have happened. Both made it through the doorway without another attack, only to stop as they caught side of the Amazon Elder perched on her staff at the entrance of the ship. Another trio of warriors stood behind her, blocking entrance to the vessel.

"Tsk. That wasn't supposed to hit the girl. Really thought you'd be the first one through, sonny boy. Yet another life to be laid at your feet. Surrender now so that more lives are not lost."

The Ranmas growled, the sound reverberating together. Something snapped within each of them. Ranma Prime pulled upon the Chaos energy before taking hold and twisting the energy in a way he wasn't quite conscious of nor understanding. He then took that energy and slammed it into his clone. Both warriors crouched over slightly as their eyes swiftly filled with black.

Ranma II dashed forwards, body angled low to the ground as he moved to engage the Amazon elder. Just above his rushing body, the air wavers and rippled as a trio of vacuum blades swept past him. The Elder has just enough time to bounce out of the way, though one of the vacuum blades managed to clip her staff, cutting several inches from the ancient wood. Blood splashed into the air as the trio of warriors with the Elder were not as lucky to dodge out of the way. Their pained cries meant they weren't dead yet, but hopefully they would at least be out of the way for the remainder of combat.

With an angry snarl, the Amazon elder darted back into combat, engaging the twin of the boy whose life was forfeit. No doubt a twin as this one retained both arms. The boy wasn't quite as fast as the original but he still possessed a degree of skill. However, the boy was still forced to retreat when Ku Lohn ducked back and a pair of arrows slashed in, nailing the boy in the shoulder.

She had little time to celebrate her victory though as her original target was soon upon her, her staff sparking as she struggled to deflect the attacks from the boy. Limbs a blur, she struggled to fight off the boy, struggled to make an opening for her warriors to finish him off much like the twin.

This was insanity. Even remembering their fight from the day before, there was no way for the boy to have improved enough in that short a time to give her pause. She never imagined she would have to dig so deeply into her skills just to defeat some young upstart. Dancing further into the yard, she managed to push off of an attack with her staff, landing far enough away to give her that split moment to gather her ki.

The earth around her rumbled in protest before leaping up in a way, catching the boy by surprise as a shark of dirt and stone slammed into him. The elemental attack dragged the boy away, giving the Elder a precious moment to collect her thoughts and strategize.

With a grunt, she felt herself fall to her knees, confusion and pain on her face. She looked down to the smoking hole in her shirt, the smoking hole in her chest. Looking up, she caught sight of the twin, what looked to be some sort of science fiction gun in his hand. Arrows still sticking out of his shoulder, the boy held the weapon in his other hand, a look of pure fury on his face.

"You lose."

Turning away from the dying Amazonian, the Ranmas hurried to the house to check up on the rest of the group. Spotting Sakura struggling to stay awake and everyone else unsure what to do with the dagger embedded in her chest, Ranma Prime called out to get their attention. "Get her onto the ship. There is a medbay on the main ship that we need to get her to, but we need to hurry."

Ranma Prime growled at Sakura's father when the man moved to protest. "It's either that or she dies. Get her onto the ship, get everyone onto the ship. We'll sort out who goes where after we save Sakura."

Seeing the group being handled, Ranma II made his way to the entrance of the ship, tossing the groaning amazon warriors down the ramp to crumple on the ground. They were in the way and time was of the essence.

Senator Ki'kita slammed his fist onto the console. "How could there not be any recordings of the attack? Those ships are filled with recording equipment, every cloning facility is heavily monitored to make sure that regulations are followed exactly because of the sensitive nature of the equipment. Valuable and irreplaceable equipment has been stolen and you have no idea who is responsible?"

Standing just out of sight, Senator Toroa frowned at the way his fellow Senator was losing control of his emotions. For a moment, he contemplated taking over the conversation. However, there wasn't much else he could do given the evidence. Or lack thereof. Anyway, let Ki'kita be the public face. Let him be the one that everyone remembers the most when the investigation into everything began.

Toroa's had to suppress a grin as Ki'kita went off on another tirade, berating the ship personnel and the Captain in particular. Yes, it was definitely time to start distancing himself from this entire debacle. While he agreed with the principle behind the attempt to clone Saotome, the execution had been amateurish at best from the beginning. While going through proper channels would have taken longer, it would have been more secure with the appearance of legitimacy.

Ultimately, their goal remained the same. The safety and prosperity of the Chaos Empire. Anything was forgivable in pursuit of that goal. The forces that were arrayed against the Empire were growing stronger every day while the Empire had been stagnant for decades, if not a century. Sure, their technology was already at the peak of perfection and sure, their fleet was the largest in the galaxy. Unfortunately, their opponents were from beyond the edges of known space, from other galaxies and other dimensions. They wielded powers outside the realm of understanding, with resources that they had no way to estimate.

The war against the Trians, for instance, had been going on for nearly twenty years, with no signs of a decrease in the enemy's ability to wage war. Their gateships lumbered into an inhabited system, shrugging off attacks until they had time to open a portal. Through that portal flooded enemies of all sizes, requiring months to clear out the attackers before it all happened again in another place. It was endless.

Then there were the Organoes. Monsters with the ability to warp space/time, to bend reality. Their monstrous forms adapting with each confrontation. They would appear from nowhere onto a planet and consume. In the end, the beasts were defeated in combat but the loses in both lives and resources was staggering at times. What's worse was that there was almost no way to predict where those attacks would take place.

The traditional clone warriors, the Chaos Soldiers, fifteen feet tall genetically engineered weapons of war, were being outmatched. While they were able to produce the soldier en mass they were also being destroyed en mass. They needed a new generation of soldiers, ones like young Saotome and Jasdon Ifrit III. Both were exceptional specimens of their races and head and shoulders beyond the Chaos Soldiers in terms of adapting to combat with the Organoes. The Empire needed more of those types of warriors. They needed more Saotomes and more Ifrits. Yet Saotome refused to do his part for the Empire!

Senator Toroa felt his arms trembling and looked down to see his hands clenched. With visible effort, he drew his thoughts away from the sheer audacity of the boy to deny the Empire the use of his body. Sure, he was already serving in the military, but that was only as one soldier. What could one soldier really be worth in the eyes of the Empire?

Shrugging off those thoughts before he ended up running down another angry road, he turned his focus back on the conversation between Senator Ki'kita and the Science Ship they'd lost Saotome aboard. The Captain on the other end had just given a long winded sigh.

"Senator, whether you accept the reality of what I'm saying or not is moot. Go ahead and order an inquisition. They'll only confirm what I'm going to say once again. All recordings of the attack were erased from the computers. Even the backups. Whoever did it was a first class hacker, beyond anything I have access to aboard my crew or even the station. All of my droids were disabled and the soldier you had brought were stunned. Otherwise, there were no casualties. I've already turned in my report stating that everything be turned over to the proper authorities for further investigation."

The man on the screen leaned forward, hard eyes glaring at the Senator. "I still don't know who you had, nor do I think you'll tell me. But I know, whatever it is, that it wasn't quite as above board as you seem to want me to believe, Senator. So go ahead and be a blow hard. Be both know you don't want this dug into any further than it already has been." The screen then cut out, returning to the normal display of the surrounding space.

Ki'kita scowled at the screen for a moment, anger and shock warring within him. After a moment he visibly shook himself, then turned to his partner. "Well? How are we going to salvage this?"

The other man just looked at him for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "I'm afraid we're going to have to let this one go. We both used up a lot of capital to even get as far as we did. In the end, we gambled and lost. Now it's time to distance ourselves from what happened as to not get further in trouble."

A voice sounded from the shadows. "Oh, but I think it's far too late for that, lads."

Both Senators whirled to confront the voice, Toroa reaching for the small blaster that he kept for defense at all times. He grunted in pain as his hand was encased in a sphere of black energy. Chaos Energy.

"Tsk tsk, Senator. We wouldn't want things to get violent, no would we?" Stepping into the light, Jonathan Avery offered both men a smile. "After all, the Emperor is going to be violent enough for all of us."

Tristina pointedly resisted glancing at the display at her station. She wasn't interested in how long Ranma had been gone. Wasn't curious about what he might have been doing with the girls on the surface. There was no reason to wonder why it was taking so long to just grab his mom and get back right? It was a simple mission… one that should have been over hours ago.

Reaching up she grabbed her hair for a moment, holding in a silent scream of frustration. The worst part was not being able to do anything. She couldn't talk to Ranma, she couldn't watch him on the ship's sensors. She couldn't even convince the mercenaries to go check on him, since they'd already left the system after being paid by her Great Grand Father.

Both men were just frustrating. Her relative and her best friend. Mostly because they were right. It was a family matter and no matter her feelings for the boy, she had to respect that. Releasing her hair, she turned away from the display and made her way out of the room. There was no point in brooding. She was a Technomage, one of the elite wielders of Chaos Energy, the force between the moments, between the changes, the possibilities in the universe. She was not some lovesick teenager pining away while her love interest was elsewhere.

Striding from the room, she made her way down the corridor towards the training room. There were better uses for her time than just waiting. Striding purposefully into the training room, she nearly skidded to a halt at finding it occupied.

Seated at the resistance machine dialed to a truly obscene weight, Captain Mahoran was slamming through the repetitions, the machine fairly groaning at the strain. Sweat streamed from her brow, staining her singlet, dripping from her short blond hair. Even with the amount of effort being shown, the Marine Captain seemed perfectly at ease. Tristina tsked to herself at the injustice of genetic engineering at times. Sure she had access to Chaos Energy but it would be nice to have those physical gifts as well.

Shaking away those thoughts, the young Technomage made her way towards the open area of the training room, silently ordering up a pair of targeting drones. Closing her eyes, she pulled the power towards her. When they opened again, her eyes were completely black, a faint haze surrounding her body. Focusing on the targeting drones, she started launching bolts of black energy at the wildly dodging machines, trying to keep the energy low to avoid punching holes in the training room.

The minutes passed away, burned in the haze of focused training. The rest of existence faded away as Tristina concentrated on her targets, noting as the drones began adapting to her style after the third replacements. It was getting harder to lead the drones, impossible to trap them. Though she was keeping each attack small, the sheer volume needed for the drones was beginning to take its toll.

A low burn was beginning to form in her temples, a sharp contrast to the sweat pouring down the side of her face. Still… she was smiling. While she might not be as crazy about it as her best friend, she couldn't help but pick up his love of training. The pleasure of a good workout to clear the mind.

With a final yell of effort, the technomage managed to trap the drones in spheres of black energy. Slowly the spheres collapsed until they were a tiny pinpoint of light, then winked out, taking the drones with them. Tristina collapsed to the floor, panting from the exertion, a satisfied smile on her lips.

"Don't worry. He'll be back soon."

Tristina turned to look at the room's other occupant, finding the shorter marine leaning against the wall, a towel draped across her shoulder. For a moment, Tristina allowed her gaze to glide over the older woman. She had to admit, the Captain was an attractive specimen. She could understand why Ranma might be interested in her, though his feelings for her seemed to be new. As new as his feelings for Tristina it seemed.

Standing, she reached up and snagged a towel out of the air that the marine had tossed to her. Rubbing the sweat from her head, she nodded slowly. "I know." She paused, draping the towel around her neck just like the Captain. "I know. It's just not in me to side idly by waiting. Especially since he should have been here by now."

Pushing away from the wall, Deborah nodded. "Aye, that he should be. Not sure what could be taking so long. Unless his mother wanted to bring the entirety of the house… which is a possibility. Don't really know much about the woman. Even the reports on her are pretty slim. Not like we had people in the area building up dossiers of the planetary inhabitants. This is still considered a protected planet and is well off the beaten path."

The young technomage nodded agreement. "True. Well, I'm going to hit the shower before Ranma gets back. Gramps is letting me take an actual water shower since this is his ship and he doesn't have to pay for the water recycling!" With an excited skip to her step, Tristina headed out of the training room.

Deborah watched the girl until she disappeared from view, a slightly amused smile on her lips. Slowly the smile faded away as the marine captain made her way back to her own quarters. Just what was taking that boy so long?

AN: Nearly 8 years since I last updated this story. I'm back to writing again though which is exciting to me. I have some ideas on where I want to go with this story as well. Expect more updates to my works coming.

As for what happened here, I'm still undecided on what to do with Sakura. What do you think? Save her or not?