I would like to thank Ghost in the Machine pre-reading this chapter with his trusty baseball bat and microscope.

Constructive criticism is always welcome.

I don't own any of these characters or situations. They belong to someone else. Also this is done purely for fun, not profit. Any resemblance to persons living, dead, yet to be born, or visiting from other dimensions is purely coincidental. I'm doing this for fun.

Boldly going where others had gone before and meekly going where few have been.

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University Part 5

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The attack had been going on for most of the day and continued well into the night. It came as almost a complete surprise and the outer colonies fell into silence in the first few hours after it began. While soldiers and the fleet were trying to deal with the enemy, the enemy launched a series of offensives that were crippling to the life blood of the planet. Deep underground, people hid themselves away, hoping for the best - fearing the worst.

In other rooms, other people were working on keeping everyone alive.

The Biosphere Control Room was shrouded in perpetual twilight, making the small displays more legible. On the long walls of the large room, huge three-dimensional screens filled every inch. These were used to display critical information at a rapid fire pace so the Tech-master in charge could monitor them from anywhere in the room. Before the screens were three staged rows of free floating control consoles, each with squarish control boards looking like panes of glass. The room was chaotic as the technicians manning the boards were frantically trying to regain control of the situation.

The pace eased as the situation improved and many felt the they were past the critical stage. Then on the largest of the screens, representing all of Mars, a large red flare of light sprang to life.

Then things went to hell.

"Shit...," someone said.

"I'm getting a space rift - it's heading...," another said.

"We gotta a problem here...," yet another with panic.

"What's the status? Report!" a commanding voice barked.

"Gravitational Field Generator offline," came an urgent call from across the room.

"How?" came the reply. "We had it stabilized, what happened?"

"A Spatial Rift Bomb detonated near Mount Olympus, Tech-master," a scrawny technician answered. "It has damaged the field emitter coils. They are degenerating at a rate of fifteen centi-gravitons per minute."

"What condition are the back ups?" the Tech-master asked.

"They were taken out by a another Rift Bomb, a burrowing type" came the answer. "It was well targeted. The secondary and primary safeties and backup systems were taken down as well."

"Casualties?"

"They're dead," came a detached reply.

"Shit," the Tech-master said with venom at the loss of twenty seven hundred people. "What's the condition of the primary Planetary Gravitational Field Generator?"

"It was destroyed in the Spatial Rifting that damaged the emitter coils," the technician answered while his fingers danced on the plane glass control board, images flashing on his screen, "There's nothing to stabilize. The only reason we have gravity now is the built up gravitons in the coils. Once they're gone, the gravity's gone."

She cursed to herself. Who would have thought that every important life support system would be hit at the same time? Only a handful of people even knew the locations of the Biosphere equipment as a precaution. How did the enemy know? Pacing back and forth, the Tech-master turned the problem over in her head. Her thoughts were interrupted by a messenger that rushed up to her.

"From the Queen," the uniformed messenger said handing her an envelope while bowing.

Opening the letter and discarding the envelope onto the floor, her brow furrowed heavily as she read.

"What is it?" one of her assistants asked with worry.

"We'll only have normal gravity for three days. After that the field will collapse and soon after the atmosphere will go with it," she informed her staff. "The Queen wants us to evacuate as many people as we can."

"How?" came a question from one of the anonymous technicians.

"We are to divert our efforts to manning and powering the Stargates," she said looking at the anxious faces surrounding her. "The population has already been informed and evacuation routes are already starting to fill."

"Where are we sending them?" a female tech asked.

"Anyplace but here," came the curt reply. "Mind you, we have already lost contact with the outer planets. We assume that all perished on those worlds. The inners are in the same shape we are in, so let's coordinate with them. If any of us are to survive this, we have to pull together."

Murmers and shouts of agreement filled the room.

"Tech-master!" a nearby communications post called. "The Luna Palace is under attack. The reports are of a great loss of life-"

"The Queen? What about the Queen?" a voice from the crowd asked.

The man manning the communications equipment shook his head, "They don't know. There is fierce fighting going on inside the palace grounds - Earth is being bombarded by planet bombs!"

"Oh no..."

"I have family on Terra..."

"Why? Why are they..."

"Bastards! We should kill them all. No mercy..."

"Quiet people. Quiet!" the Tech-master roared. "Kei what else is going on?"

"The Dark Kingdom forces have massed on Luna and many of the Lunar guards are dead." Kei fell silent as he strain to make out what was being reported. "Most, no! All of the Senshi are reported dead too," he reported gravely.

"No way..."

"How..."

"We were betrayed. I heard one of the generals turned on us..."

"We're doomed..."

"Spacefold!" cried another voice interrupting the discord.

"What?!" the Tech-master exclaimed. "Markcus, confirm."

"Already confirmed," the sweating technician reported. "Energy signature shows the wormhole was formed by the Queen herself." Markcus turned to face the crowd, "She has transported and thrown the Dark Kingdom forces into and through the gateway."

"Dear lord," someone mumbled. "Such use of power probably killed her..."

"We're doomed..."

"Shut-up..."

"Do we have anything to seal it? To keep them from coming back?"

"Object on screen, fast approaching the gate!" came another panicky call.

Everyone turned in mass toward the screen, a small dot was approaching the wormhole.

"Track and magnify," the Tech-master commanded.

The dot resolved itself into a girl in her teens, sporting a teal fuku flying unhindered through space.

"A Senshi!"

"Which one? That one doesn't look familiar..."

"I don't care, as long as she's on our side..."

"I thought Kei said they were all dead..."

"Which Senshi is that?..."

"Fire Walker," the Tech-master whispered.

The fuku clad girl entered the wormhole. Minutes ticked by with nothing happening. Suddenly the wormhole started to contract in on itself.

"Gravity within the wormhole has exceeded the equivalent of eleven solar masses and growing!" Markcus called out. The room was silent as all watched the wormhole collapse in on itself, getting smaller before wavering out of existence.

"Oh my...," someone said like a payer.

Silence filled the control room as all looked at the emptiness of space that once held the wormhole.

"Everyone," the Tech-master said loud enough to bring everybody's attention. "We need to get the Stargates up and operational quickly. We don't have enough time to do it by the book, but we must get them up and running within the half hour. That means forcing the slipstream ether through the subspace field coils."

"If we do that, the subspace field coils will be damaged. We won't be able to come back," someone pointed out.

"There's nothing to come back to," the Tech-master snapped back. "Right now we need to save as many lives as we can, Earth and Luna are out - they're being heavily planet bombed. Lori bring up the star-charts of all known habitable planets outside our system that we can evacuate to."

"What about the different ecosystems? Won't the different germs and bacteria kill us?"

"The Tech-master on Venus has been working on a genetic-level virus to infect and protect us. It will mutate and modify our defense systems on a genetic level to compensate for the new environment. We'll infect everyone traveling with it, that should protect us."

Some of her subordinates looked at her, others were too busy trying to redirect the needed power.

"It was part of a extra-solar colonization project that was supposed to be announced in the next two months and take place over the next three years," the Tech-master explained. "It looks like the timeline for colonization has been pushed up."

Many nodded and concentrated on starting up the massive Stargates.

"Try and contact the other inner planets. Let's try and send everyone to at least the same star-system. Also, we need to move as much equipment as possible through the Stargates as well. If we are to survive, we are going to need every bit of technology that we can move."

"Yes ma'am."

"Lori, have you located a system yet?"

"Yes ma'am," the harried girl replied. "On screen four. It's located in the same galactic arm as we are and it's within the four hundred light-year range. It has three habitable worlds with near Earth-like atmosphere and, according to our expeditions, no intelligent indigenous life. There's also the fact that there is very little gravitation distortions between here and there, it will make maintaining the Stargate's wormhole easier."

"Good work Lori. System THX-1138?" the Tech-master thought aloud, studying the readout. "Very well. Inform the rest of the inners of our destination."

"Yes ma'am."

"Kei," the Tech-master continued. "Get a hold of the Tech-master on Venus and tell her what we're planning - tell Tech-master Jurai that Mars is evacuating and they'd better do the same. Tell her those organic ships she's been working on will probably be needed to move equipment."

"Yes, Tech-master Hakubi," Kei answered with a salute.

Eyes opened.

"It's been a long time since I had that dream," Washu thought as she eased her small body into a seated position. "A very, very long time."

-----------------

Ranma was thrown head over heels but managed to land on her feet. A fist came flying at her head, which she evaded by bobbing her head slightly to the left. Pivoting at the heel, Ranma went low, extended a leg and tapped a pressure point with her toe. Her opponent, a big blurry man, yelped as he lost use of his lower right leg, causing him to stagger. Ranma took advantage of her opponent's surprise and with several well placed hits, took him down quickly - but not into unconsciousness.

"Hold!" came a commanding voice.

Ranma immediately backed off, allowing her opponent to stagger to his feet. They both bowed to each other and then turned and bowed as one to the dojo's master.

"You are very skilled for one so very young," the master of the dojo stated as he fingered his beard. "You defeated my best student with little effort. I'm afraid that there is not much I can teach you."

Ranma bowed respectfully to the Master.

"Thank you for your hospitality," she said while holding, then raising from her bow. "Can you recommend someplace that I can go to improve my skill?"

The dojo master looked not at Ranma, but out into space, as he stroked his long, white beard. After a moment of contemplation, he addressed the redhead.

"There is a place," he said with a pause. "About two miles from here, they may have what you seek. Come, get cleaned up and dine with me and I'll tell you how to get there."

Ranma bowed again and went to do what she was told.

-----------------

Washu studied the waveform, still displayed on the screen as it had been doing for the last week. On other, free floating, screens were different images from the Battle of Juuban.

"All this happened when I was still a prisoner of Kagato," Washu thought as she studied the news archive from almost two years ago. "Then settling in, experimenting with Tenchi to see if his partial pure human heritage affected the Light Hawk Wings, then Mihoshi's ship demolishing everything...," she sighed, "... and taking care of Taro."

The little redhead girl shook her head.

"So many distractions, too many distractions" she scolded herself. "I didn't even bother do a proper and complete scan to appraise myself of the situation here on Earth. I was just surprised that so many survived the fall."

Taking her floating chair, Washu moved her small body to better see the smaller screens showing various Senshi.

"It looks like the Queen managed to save them all somehow," she thought as she continued to stare at the images before her. "All are accounted for - I wonder want they have planned?"

"Maybe I should enlist Tenchi in this," Washu contemplated. "After all, his friend is one of them."

She cocked her head while scrutinizing a picture of Sailor Sun on one of the screens.

"Of all the ones, it would have to be that one," she thought. "I have to talk to Tsunami about this tonight. She had more to do with her creation and binding than anyone else."

She sighed. "If only she didn't get de-corporalized using that experimental spacecraft with the Trans-Folding Drive when she left her lab on Venus. It would be so much easier to deal with her if she'd remained in a physical state."

--------------

Ranma re-shouldered her backpack and headed off westward in the predawn. She was leaving Gifu heading for Otsu, about midway between Gifu and Okayama. Setting a steady pace as she walked in the early morning, Ranma made her way to the outskirts before leaping and taking to the trees again.

She had gotten more comfortable with the challenges of tree hopping and didn't even miss a beat when she removed the train schedule from her blouse pocket.

"Let's see...," she thought as she pushed off another branch. "The JR Line goes here and runs through Otsu. If I stay along here..."

She landed on a branch and leapt for the next, forty feet away.

"... I could hop a train here... and ride it the rest of the way into Otsu..."

She replaced the schedule back into its pocket as she landed and leapt again.

"... or I could keep doing what I'm doing and maybe run across another dojo or something..."

Land, leap.

"Hmm... decision, decisions..."

-------------

"Tsunami, I need to talk to you," Washu said, addressing the mirror in the early morning darkness.

Washu was standing before a long mirror in one of the guest rooms. On the floor, snuggled into their futons, slept Ayeka and Sasami Jurai. Both forms were lost in the darkness as they slept unaware of Washu's presence. Because of the closeness of the room, Washu took some small precautions to make sure that she was not interrupted unexpectedly.

"Tsunami," Washu repeated. "I need to talk to you,"

After a moment of nothing happening, a shodowy figure emerged in the darkness of the mirror. It resolved itself into an elegantly dressed woman in her mid to late twenties. She sported an outfit with multi layered shoulder pads that supported the white robes that covered the long, flowing purple dress underneath. Both halves of the robe were held in place by a decorated clasp that almost passed for a breast plate. Her heart shaped face was framed by blue hair that disappeared behind her. The brow of the person in the mirror held two circular dots as the magenta colored eyes studied the short redhead that summoned her.

"Yes, little Washu?" the figure asked before noticing the expression on Washu's face. "What's the matter?"

"The Senshi are back," Washu said simply.

The phantom women's face looked confused for a brief moment before her eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," came the simple reply.

"All of them?"

"Yes, as far as I can tell."

The figure of Tsunami looked slightly downward in contemplation. "They survived - but, how?"

"I looked into the logs and discovered a temporal waveform that synched with the soul-seeds of the Senshi. My guess is that when the Queen disposed of the Dark Kingdom, she moved the Senshi into the present to be reborn."

"What about Fire Walker? She was in the wormhole when it collapsed, there would have been no way for the Queen to send her."

"True. My guess that her soul was reincarnated the old fashion way: One life at a time."

Tsunami remained quiet for a moment before asking, "What about the Queen?"

"Haven't found anything on her. I doubt that she survived though - her power was... different. But I wouldn't be surprised if she was reincarnated the same way as Fire Walker and is out there somewhere too."

"Do you think this will this affect our plans?" Tsunami asked. "We didn't spend over twenty thousand years building a galactic empire to have it come undone now."

"I don't think there is any threat to what we have built," Washu replied. "I just thought you might want to know what is going on, just in case. You had more of a hand with Fire Walker's creation than I did..." Washu's voice trailed off.

Tsunami was frowning, deep in thought.

"What is it?" Washu asked.

"If the Queen is not around... who's keeping Fire Walker in check?"

Both women stared at one another.

"I don't know," came the unwelcomed answer. "But let me fill you in on what I found out."

Washu told Tsunami everything that she had been able to discover on the Senshi from local news reports and the government files she managed to hack into. She briefly covered the history of the Senshi from demon fighting urban legends, to the Battle of Juuban and the thin, sporadic reports of them in the half year after the battle. After that, the reports dribbled off to nothing.

"So it seems that the Dark Kingdom survived also," Tsunami said mostly to herself.

"The Senshi apparently dealt with them once and for all, though," Washu said. "But Fire Walker didn't show up until the Protectors reappeared."

Tsunami eyebrow twitched.

"That was a mistake I knew would happen," she lit up in anger. "I knew we should have destroyed them all or left them inert, but that damn Zarkov wanted to keep them around for experimental purposes."

Tsunami caught her breath before snorting out, "Him and his damned artificial intelligence research."

Washu waited for Tsunami to calm down before continuing.

"What do you think the Senshi are up to?" she finally asked.

"My guess would be that the Senshi are rebuilding the Moon Kingdom," Tsunami stated surprisingly calmly after her rant. "If they are, we have to think about this from a political standpoint and where it leaves us."

"What do you mean?" Washu asked.

"The Empire exists because of a fine balance of power that is shared among the Great Houses," Tsunami explained. "If that balance were to be disrupted, the Empire could be thrown into chaos."

"I really don't understand," Washu said. "Politics was never my favorite subject, if you recall."

Tsunami nodded.

"I have been keeping pace with the changes in the Empire," Tsunami continued. "With some... sources I have."

Washu raised a questioning eyebrow that did not go unnoticed by the other woman.

"Before we left Jurai with Ayeka to pursue Ryoko, I - created little helpers to keep me informed on the state of the Empire."

"Little bio-tech spies?" Washu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Tsunami answered curtly. "Now, as to the Empire..."

"My sources did some quick snooping around and have reported that one, maybe two, of the Houses have started to have ambitions of power and aggressive expansionism."

"Who?"

Tsunami took a deep breath and answered.

"Zarkov," she spat. "House Zarkov - again."

Silence.

Washu sighed.

"Why?" she asked. "I mean why now after all this time?"

"He has always had a unique view on power," Tsunami said bitterly. "It was always kept in check by the other Houses. Over the last two years, he has been cutting some deals with some of the Lower Houses, acquiring power that way."

"I seem to recall," Washu said thoughtfully, "that he had an idea that all the decision making should be turned over to bio-computers or some such nonsense. Something about 'eliminating the human factor in important decisions'."

Tsunami nodded.

"But it's not just him," Tsunami added. "In what little time I've had to look into the situation, I found that there is another player involved."

Washu pondered a bit, before responding.

"Really? Who is he?"

"She. My sources have discovered that she is the driving force behind House Zarkov's renewed desire for power."

"What do you have on her?" Washu asked.

"Here," Tsunami answered while pushing a hand up to the plane on glass, a small capsule extruded through the glass and was deposited onto Washu's palm. "This has what little that I was able to find out about her. She seems to have come out of nowhere and has been manipulating things behind the scenes."

Washu sighed. "Great, this is all we need...," she thought.

Washu took the capsule and placed it into a slit on the cuff of her long sleeved shirt. Holding up her forearm, a holographic projection of an old women, a very old woman, came to life.

The women was rapped in a gray, hooded cloak that was trimmed in deep blue. Her face was mostly hidden in the shadows of the hood of her cloak, but what could be seen of her face was the hawk-like nose that protruded from her face like a beak. Behind the nose, barely visible in the shadows, were two piercing blue eyes that emitted a malevolent light of their own. Her right, claw-like hand rested on the top of an ornate cane.

Looking at the hologram made Washu shiver.

"I see. But how could the Senshi fit into all of this?" Washu said. "How could the knowledge of their existence destabilize the Empire?"

"House Zarkov could use the Senshi to upset the balance of the Empire," Tsunami explained, "by one of several approaches."

Washu motioned with her hand for Tsunami to continue.

"Houses Zarkov could try to declare the Senshi, which were considered Royalty of the Moon Kingdom, one of the Great Houses of Jurai."

Washu digested this as Tsunami continued.

"By being of the Moon Kingdom, Zarkov could claim that they are by far the oldest," Tsunami continued, "Zarkov could try to elevate them to the status of First House - replacing the House Jurai.

"To what end?" Washu asked, confused. "I mean, what good would it be to replace the House Jurai with... well, the House Moon? How would that garner any of the other Houses power?"

"The goal is to upset the balance of power within the Empire," Tsunami explained. "Some of the other Houses may object, others may support this motion and during the squabbling and struggle for power, it would give the House Zarkov an opportunity for wresting control of key areas of power for their own gain."

Washu weighed the words of Tsunami.

"Or," Tsunami continued, "House Zarkov may go as far as cutting a deal with the Senshi, adopting them into the House. They could promise that the Senshi's reconstruction and rebuilding of the Moon Kingdom go unhindered and make themselves very powerful allies along the way."

"Powerful allies?" Washu questioned. "The Juraian forces are powerful enough to handle the Senshi."

Tsunami shook her head, "Not Fire Walker. She could, if she wanted to, destroy the Jurai Empire - single handedly."

It took a moment for that bit of information to register to Washu.

"What?!" Washu said loud enough to stir Sasami. Ayeka just snorted softly in her sleep, undisturbed. After assuring that both were still asleep. Washu asked quietly, "I mean, Fire Walker could do that? I mean I know my part, but she was your project as a whole."

Tsunami remained silent for a whole minute before answering.

"We'll take about that later," Tsunami answered carefully. "Let's handle the possible political ramifications of the Senshi first."

"Okay," Washu nodded in consent. "But I expect an explanation later."

Tsunami nodded.

"How should we handle the Senshi," Washu continued. "What are our options?"

"Well," Tsunami ventured. "Earth's system is well within the Jurai Empire's sphere of influence, but there are several things we can try. One: We could recognize them as an independent state."

"If we do that, others may want the same status," Washu pointed out.

Tsunami conceeded, "We don't want that. Like a loose thread in a tapestry, everything could become undone." Tsunami paused for a second before continuing. "Two: We could incorporate them into the Empire formally."

"That would be the best way," Washu stated.

"Yes, that would be the best way," Tsunami agreed. "If the Senshi are planning on rebuilding the Moon Kingdom, any results would be about a thousand years from now. If we move to induct the Earth now, that would abort their plans."

The two woman looked at one another in silence.

"The down side," Tsunami continued, "is if the Senshi find that their rebuilding efforts are threatened by us doing that, they would fight us."

"The entire Jurai Empire couldn't stand up against Fire Walker?" Washu asked. "How's that possible?"

"I promised to talk about that later," Tsunami reminded Washu. "Take my word for it and let's handle one thing at a time."

Washu sighed loudly.

"What if the House Jurai beat the other houses to the punch? Say, adopting the Senshi and bring them into the House Jurai - that would defuse the situation before it started, wouldn't it?"

"That would work...," Tsunami mused. "We would have to contact the Senshi to see if they're agreeable to it. They would probably want some kind of assurance that the Empire wouldn't interfere with the future Moon Kingdom. Whatever we do, we cannot forget that will have to deal with the Emperor as well."

"We are also assuming that the Senshi are rebuilding the Moon Kingdom," Washu pointed out. "They may not be - they might be completely unaware of their past."

"That is a possibility," Tsunami conceded. "But I feel that would be unlikely. In either case, whether they are involved in rebuilding or not, they will have to be dealt with - hopefully in a peaceful manner - without bringing chaos to the Empire."

"I... see," Washu said while thinking, "Now I remember why I hate politics so much."

Tsunami nodded. "We must be careful."

On that proclamation, Sasami stirred some more. Washu froze waiting to see if she would wake up. Seeing that morning was fast approaching, Washu decided to take this up another time.

"We'll talk some more tonight," she said the the figure in the mirror.

Tsunami responded with a nod and faded from existence. Washu made her way quietly to the door and with one last look around, exited.

--------------

After about an hour and a half of tree hopping, Ranma alighted on the boxcar of a passing freight train. She sat and watched the scenery go by for the first thirty minutes before breaking out the cellphone to take care of business.

"Hello? Granny?" Ranma spoke into the cellphone, while shielding it from the effects of the wind. "I'm fine, how's everything back home?"

Ranma strained to hear what was being said on the other end.

"That noise? Oh, I'm on a train," Ranma replied to a question. "Huh? Oh no, it's - um, not costing much to ride."

Ranma listen to the questions being asked.

"No Granny, you don't understand. I'm on a train," Ranma explained.

Ranma waited for a reply from the other end.

"Granny you still there? Hello? Hello?"

Ranma jerked her ear away from the handset as a loud and concerned voice exploded from it.

"Granny... Granny... Granny!" Ranma said breaking into Akiko's spiel. "It's all right! It's all right - trust me."

Ranma listened to a much calmer Akiko. As she did, a smile crossed her face.

"Don't worry," Ranma said. "I'll be fine. I'm going to be in Otsu overnight, maybe even all day tomorrow. I plan on leaving after I check out a few of the local dojos."

She paused to listen to her grandmother, her smile growing as she did so.

"Love you too," Ranma's smile broaden further as she heard Akiko's voice. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye."

Later in Otsu...

Ranma leapt off the boxcar just short of the Otsu station not far from the Shiga Prefectural Office. Adjusting the straps on her backpack, Ranma followed the tracks to the station. She noted that the train she had been on continued through the station heading for parts unknown. Upon entering the building, Ranma made for a line of public phones and sought out a phonebook. The last few days had proved that some stations had phonebooks while others were missing them. Much to her annoyance, this one had them missing.

"Great, now I have to find someplace with a phonebook or ask around," she groused to herself.

Looking around the vast lobby area of the station, Ranma spied a local map in a free standing, triangular shaped information display. Moving toward it through the thin, milling crowd, Ranma jumped as someone copped a good feel of her behind. Spinning about with the intension of dishing out some subtle, but painful justice, she was thwarted by the fact the perpetrator turned out to be a woman.

A very lovely woman.

A very lovely woman, who winked and smiled at Ranma before turning and continuing on to wherever she was going.

Ranma stood there for a whole two minutes, stupified by the fact a woman would do that. She was so used to guys doing that, she was frozen by the unexpected twist.

"Th-That was a girl!" The thought repeated through her mind as she tried to wrap her mind around what had happened.

Blink-blinking as she came back to the here and now, Ranma rolled her shoulders to re-seated her backpack and continued her way to the oversized directory and local map. She was used to reacting when guys grabbed her, she was at a loss at what to do when a women did the same thing. By the time she came to the conclusion that she should have been outraged, it was too late to do anything - the woman was gone.

She sighed. The next time she would give whoever touched her inappropriately a good sprain in their hand. With the matter as settled as it was going to get, Ranma focused her attention on the map of the area.

"Let's see what they have here...," she thought as she skimmed the directory for the nearest schools. "The two closest ones to me are Shiga Girls High School and Shiga Women's Junior College... Zeze High School is nearby too... hmmm... Usually where there is a school, there is a dojo, but only if it's a co-ed or a boy's school."

Ranma pondered this. "Maybe there is a dojo that specializes in martial arts for women in the area. I can check out the area while I'm looking for something to eat."

Ranma turned away from the directory and headed for the exit.

"If I don't run across anything," she thought to herself. "I can find a phonebook wherever I eat at and go about this the usual way."

It was kind of like detective work.

Ranma found that for the most part, the dojos listed in the phone book would offered very little in the way of a challenge. But the martial arts community was a small one, so the owners of the dojo would most likely know of a more powerful dojo that would be able to teach Ranma something new. The trick was finding a dojo that would be willing to point the way.

Usually after a demonstration of her skill, the dojos were more than happy to oblige.

--------------

Late night.

"Fire Walker, how powerful is she?" Washu prompted, picking up the conversation from earlier in the morning.

Tsunami remained silent for a whole minute before sighing.

"Do you remember when we worked on the Senshi projects. Do you remember how young and talented we were - how exciting it all was?"

She remembered well, everyday new ground was being broken - new and exciting discoveries were made at break-neck speed. Even with the many set backs, they learned something new. Washu nodded and waited for Tsunami to continue.

Tsunami sighed and spoke in a soft voice, almost a whisper. "We pushed the envelope of knowledge, we had our share of failures, but that only spurred us on the greater heights."

She lapsed into silence.

"Fire Walker was not bounded to the Sun to focus her power through, her Senshi name was selected as misdirection for any enemies foolish enough to attack us."

Silence again.

"What was she bound to?" Washu asked.

"She was bounded to the galactic core," Tsunami answered. "With unexpected results."

"The galactic core?!" Washu mind raced. "The power under her control must be enormous!" She then blinked and remembered the rest of Tsunami statement. "What unexpected results?"

Tsunami looked lost for a moment. She let out a heavy sigh -a very heavy one.

"The center of the galaxy is massive, massive enough to easily make Fire Walker the most powerful Senshi - maybe the most powerful being ever created. You remember the Corbett Capacity/Stress tests we did on each of the Senshi?"

Washu nodded, the Corbett Capacity/Stress test was a standard bench test of the abilities of the Senshi.

"I remember. We did one on you after your - accident. You rated high, in the three million range at fifty percent if I recall," Washu said.

Tsunami smile thinly, "Yes. That accident did have some interesting side effects."

"Side effects! I thought you were dead," Washu snorted. "If I'd known you were still alive, I never would have renamed star system THX-1138 after you."

Tsunami smile widened a bit at the redhead's reaction. Her smile faded as she returned to the matter at hand.

"Do you remember any of the results of the Corbett Capacity/Stress for the Senshi?"

"I didn't go over their past files yet," Washu answered. "I was too busy trying to find out what was going on now."

Tsunami nodded, "Heaven's Bearer rated fifty thousand at fifty percent and Harbinger's Twilight rated one hundred seventy thousand at the same level. Jog any memories?"

Washu nodded, she remembered some of it now.

"We were expecting readings in the two million, five hundred thousand range at fifty percent for Fire Walker," Tsunami informed. "What we got was measurements in the four billion range at eight percent before we stopped the tests."

Silence fell like a heavy blanket, but unlike a heavy blanket, it was neither warm nor comforting.

"Four million? At eight percent?" Washu asked, hoping she misheard.

"Four billion." Tsunami clarified.

"Four billion?! How?" Washu asked, throughly shocked.

Tsunami shook her head as she answered, "What we didn't anticipate was the galactic center having so many naturally occurring connections to other universes."

Washu remained silent as she took in that bit of information.

"She tapped into all of them, didn't she? All the universes that the galactic core is connected to?"

Tsunami nodded.

"You created a monster," Washu said in a hushed voice, filled with wonder.

Tsunami nodded her head. "We never really found out how powerful Fire Walker was," she admitted. "We were afraid to test her all out. In her untransformed state she can access powers in the two hundred thousand range at forty percent - that can easily lay waste the Solar System. Transformed... I really don't know."

"You must have some idea," Washu prodded.

"Every test we gave her to find the limits of her power, she exceeded," Tsunami said with a shake of her head. "Her ability to draw as much power as she wanted never reached a curve, so we couldn't even calculate a theoretical limit."

"But the Corbett Capacity/Stress test was four billion at eight percent, you should have-" Washu was cut off as Tsunami interrupted her.

"She reached eight percent at two hundred eighty million and it didn't budge after that."

Silence fell between the two.

"So... if it came down to it, a military solution is out," Washu said flatly. "What can we do?"

"A military solution should be our last resort anyway," Tsunami answered curtly. "I could deal with Fire Walker in her untransformed state - if I caught her by surprise - if it was absolutely necessary. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, because things could get very messy if it did."

"So, what do you suggest?"

"We should wait and see what the Senshi are up to for sure," Tsunami stated. "If they are working on rebuilding, then we should try for adoption into the House Jurai."

"I have another idea, what if we grant the Earth a quasi-independent status," Washu suggested, "with them promising not to colonize any world that Jurai has already laid claim to... it should resolve everything peacefully."

Tsunami considered that.

"There is another factor we have to consider...," Tsunami ventured.

"What's that?"

"We must find out if the Queen is still alive somehow," Tsunami said. "If she is directing the Senshi, it would make negotiations easier. If not, we have to locate the Princess - Heaven's Bearer - and try and work with her."

-----------------

Ranma snuggled under the thin sheets of the futon that was provided by the dojo master's wife. The day had been too much fun as she learned a variation of the 'Way of the Pebble' from Master Togashi. Though there were similarities, there were enough differences to suggest that the form developed independently from Anything Goes.

It was exciting stuff.

"Tomorrow I'll head for Minoo," she thought as she relaxed on her borrowed bed. "I'll visit the Asakura Shrine and talk to that Chinese Zen master that's supposed to live there."

She rolled over, getting more comfortable.

"It shouldn't take long to find, it's just north of the municipal office in Minoo. He should be able to refine some of the stuff I've picked up."

"If I leave Minoo around three," she thought as she stretched, getting more comfortable. "I should be in Okayama around six."

That thought made Ranma smile as she drifted off to dreamland.

---------------

"What do you think of Fire Walker being Tenchi's sparring partner?"

Tsunami pondered this visibly.

"I think, for now, it is safe to assume that it was a coincidence," Tsunami answered. "But we can't rule out the possibility that the Queen survived, discovered our existence somehow and has sent Fire Walker to investigate."

Washu considered in silence before interjecting with a shake to her head, "Coincidence? That would be a hell of a coincidence. I would not even want to factor in the odds..."

"Washu - it is a small universe," Tsunami said pointedly.

Washu stared at the mirror that didn't hold her reflection and blink-blinked.

"Tenchi did well enough to get into Tokyo University," Tsunami explained. "If any of the Senshi made it in, that would increase and narrow the odds down even more."

"I see...," Washu conceded. "Given how Fire Walker was trained in the past, she would have a natural affinity for the combat arts. Tenchi being trained by Yosho also has developed a taste for it... hmmm..." Washu then nodded her head. "Given the circumstances, it would be almost impossible for the two not to meet."

"Exactly," Tsunami agreed. "However we must be on our guard just in case it wasn't a coincidence."

"Should we tell Tenchi?"

Tsunami though a moment before answering. "No. The more that Tenchi feels that Fire Walker is just an ordinary girl, the better. This would give us a future opportunity to observe her if we need to, without raising any suspicions she may have. Besides, we must keep this as secret as possible, not even Yosho must know everything - yet."

Washu thought a moment.

"I'll tell Tenchi that his sparring partner is a very adapt ki user," she suggested. "Nothing out of the ordinary for someone who has practiced high-end martial arts for years."

"Good. That should alleviate any concerns he may have," Tsunami agreed. "We'll keep Yosho in the dark about this for now. What do you think Tenchi feels about his sparring partner?"

"I really can't say for sure," Washu replied. "He claims that they are just friends, but I feel that he has some feelings toward her that he denies even to himself."

"That could be bad if the girls start feeling threatened by her and do something - rash," Tsunami said with great emphasis.

Washu nodded and said, "We're safe for now. Since it is summer break, Tenchi won't be seeing her until school starts up again. That should give us time to try and think of other ways of dealing with the situation."

"I think it is best to wait and see if anything happens. Let the Senshi make the first move," Tsunami suggested. "If they know we are here, they will contact us. If not, that would give us even more time to arrange a political solution."

"I see," Washu said, in a clarifing way. "So we 'wait and see', and keep everything under our hats for now."

Washu looked in the mirror that showed Tsunami as she nodded .

"Anything more would be - 'jumping the gun' as they would say," Tsunami said. "This will also give us time to acquire more information on the political situation back on Jurai. Tonight I will check in with my... sources and get them gathering more information on this Mistress."

"Won't that take at least a couple of weeks to get a message through?" Washu asked.

"I use a mini-stargate for communications," Tsunami answered. "Communicating takes only seconds."

"You still have one of the stargates?" Washu said in a surprised voice.

Tsunami nodded.

"It was a small experimental model that was being transported with me on the ship during the - accident. As with everything else that was aboard," Tsunami explained, "I can still interface with it in my current state. The face opening is only one micron across, enough to send a message through."

"That would make communicating much quicker than the two weeks via subspace transmitters," Washu mused out loud.

"Check with me in two nights time. Use that time to see if you can find if the Queen survived or not. This may not be as serious a situation as we think."

Washu nodded in agreement as Tsunami's image faded from the glass.

"Whatta mess," she commented as she turned away from the mirror and headed back to her lab.

--------------

Unseen by both women, a small dragonfly observed the scene. It cocked its head from one side to the other before flying off into the night on its artificial wings.

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Notes:

Howdy everyone!

I would like to thank everybody who took the time to leave a review. I'm sorry I haven't email a few of the people I been wanting to email, but between home (being a parent is terrifying at times) and work (dealing with customers is terrifying at times), I have been buried.

This will be the last update for the year. Everyone have a happy and safe Holiday and New Years.

Thanks for reading and I'll see y'all in '05.