Ranma ½ Pigtailed Time Loops

[WarGiver]

"Look Ranma. I know you would rather not be apart of this mess. But a loop is a loop, we all have parts we should try to play." Grumbled Genma. He was using an energy chain to drag said child along.

"Boy, you and I both know that this problem is not going to go away." The elder shook his head. "This is your own fault and you know it."a

Ranma glared balefully at his father. He was rather annoyed that this was one of the few loops that he had to spend with looping family. Although his mother doing a victory dance shortly into the loop was something that really should have set off every warning bell he had.

"You know your friends all took off as soon as the loop started. So why didn't you? I know I trained you better then this. Did our ten years of training mean nothing? Maybe you got lazy and complacent in your old age."

Ranma wasn't sure which stung more, the fact he was indeed complacent which lead to him being in this position or the fact he was being called old, for looping standards it went without question, however for this loop he was thirteen or something close to it. He watched his father rant on while holding the one access to any power he would have this loop, a magic staff.

"Maybe this will teach you a lesson about being aware of your environment. Why in my age training with the master..."

In Genma's credit he was not afraid of Happosai any more, on the other hand this was a lecture he had heard every time he had to endure the entire training trip without his powers. Granted the basics always helped, but still. Genma could actually turn anything into a lesson, if painful, and a lecture. Despite his monumental failures.

As he was dragged his father continued to go on about responsibilities and doing things in the name of training. After rounding a corner Ranma saw the room he was being dragged to, it was well warded he had to admit, and he could see the work done by many people, including the traitors, Naruto, Ichigo, and that little jerk Negi. This was all Negi's fault, he knew it. He was the brat who had deaged him and locked away the powers he had before Ranma could prevent it.

His father was right. He had grown complacent, and now it was going to bite him in the rear end... if he was lucky.

As they came to the door he was tossed in, "Into the lion's den with you!"

The door shut quickly and almost, almost as quickly the chains evaporated. Leaving him stuck in the room. Even with the staff now behind him he would take a full five minutes of effort to escape.

Looking up he saw the entire classroom staring at their 'Instructor.' Nabiki, Ukyo, Sakura, Usagi, Minako, and many many more. There were thirty five in the class. He knew he would be lucky to get five seconds of effort to escape.

As one the girls smiled perversely, with very big grins. He could swear that he heard several lions growl, he was having neko-ken flash backs. "Mercy?" The growl seemed to come louder.

 

[chronodekar]

The girls _want_ him? Doesn't make sense ... unless they remembered him from earlier loops. Whoops!

-chronodekar

 

[Wharpt]

Something tells me this is NOT a class for Higher Mathematics. Well, maybe, if Ami is in the class.

 

[PCHeintz72]

The girls _want_ him? Doesn't make sense ... unless they remembered him from earlier loops. Whoops!

-chronodekar

Ummm. Some of those girls in canon were rather boy hungry, to the point of desperation. Obviously not a canon loop though so anyones guess. I would have thought if these were loopers they would have learned their lesson except the anime version of the scouts.

Nabiki is way OOC though if this is the main looping Nabiki, after what he did to her I'd be astounded if anything besides a love potion could get her to make a move on him. Even then, I'm doubtful.

Of course, I'm assuming this is way post blow up. If this is pre-blow up. Then it would make more sense except Nabiki.

 

[WarGiver]

The girls are mixed; some are going along with a prank (Nabiki), some really are like that (the senshi, and Sakura), others... well I only named a few of them so the others are left to imagination. timeline wise I will let that up to others. And yes they are ALL awake.

This takes place in the Negima universe, and I hope it was caught that Negi was in his own role initally but altered things so that he stuck Ranma with it.

Really though I thought to do this with the focus on Genma doing a Genmaish rant on how Ranma is failing to meet up to "his" expectations similar to the ones he would do in true cannon if a bit over done. While dragging Ranma down a hall and Ranma beating himself up about it since he fully knows that his pop is right. He really did drop his guard because he was the top dog in the loops so long that became complacent. This is the real joke.

(I am surprised more people are talking about the room of girls being out of character then the rest of it really)

 

[PCHeintz72]

(I am surprised more people are talking about the room of girls being out of character then the rest of it really)

Nah... at least not me. you have to remember that OOC is actually standard procedure in the loops, so I took it in stride. But a bunch of girls potentially post blow up acting like that around Ranma? That IMHO warranted comment.

There have been other ongoing loop snippet stories where he is top dog and still yanked around a lot... Look at the one Nanoha storyline with Kasumi and Nabiki in it...

 

[WarGiver]

well if you are talking about the Ranma snapped at the girls blow up thing then this is either before that or far enough after it that he cooled off and the girls fell into habit again since their own boy toys were not up to spec

 

[PCHeintz72]

well if you are talking about the Ranma snapped at the girls blow up thing then this is either before that or far enough after it that he cooled off and the girls fell into habit again since their own boy toys were not up to spec

I'm almost surprised no one introduced snippets with him attempting to, in your words, 'get them up to spec'.

I suspect none would thank him. In fact, I suspect it would start along the lines of him telling them all how upset he was had to even deal with girls due to them being so pathetic they kept going to him...

 

[zeebee1]

He's basically a god who's seen it all. There's nothing they can do it would a threat to him in any way whatsoever.

 

[Seed00]

well if you are talking about the Ranma snapped at the girls blow up thing then this is either before that or far enough after it that he cooled off and the girls fell into habit again since their own boy toys were not up to spec

Considering how bad the Big Blow Up was, I doubt those who experienced said event would ever forget. I chalk this situation up to the same people but from different timelines not having experienced the BBU. Ranma can be pretty nasty when he gets even in these loops.

 

[seitora]

With how stupidly powerful Ranma is being shown in some of these loops this makes the niggling idea I have for an 'Emperor Ranma' (probably a Warriors Orochi xover) even more persistent

 

[TerraBull]

I remember a snip someone did where he was in one.

Had to keep Hakufu Sonsaku in once piece, but while being escorted, she kept being stripped of clothes.

I think one of the people fought was Kenpachi from Bleach.

 

[Innortal]

I remember a snip someone did where he was in one.

Had to keep Hakufu Sonsaku in once piece, but while being escorted, she kept being stripped of clothes.

I think one of the people fought was Kenpachi from Bleach.

Yeah, it was mine. Kenpachi from Bleach was leading a club, and wanted Ranma in it, and was fighting against the Eiken club (name of anime and manga) for it.

 

[TerraBull]

Heh, I wonder what side missions there were in that setting.

I mean, if you do things in a certain order, different things sometimes happened.

 

[PCHeintz72]

I remember a snip someone did where he was in one.

Had to keep Hakufu Sonsaku in once piece, but while being escorted, she kept being stripped of clothes.

I think one of the people fought was Kenpachi from Bleach.

Yeah, it was mine. Kenpachi from Bleach was leading a club, and wanted Ranma in it, and was fighting against the Eiken club (name of anime and manga) for it.

Blinks... in this thread? Where. The only reference to hakufu from any snippet here that I could find was in 2010-09-27 Loop by Nanya

 

[Innortal]

I remember a snip someone did where he was in one.

Had to keep Hakufu Sonsaku in once piece, but while being escorted, she kept being stripped of clothes.

I think one of the people fought was Kenpachi from Bleach.

Yeah, it was mine. Kenpachi from Bleach was leading a club, and wanted Ranma in it, and was fighting against the Eiken club (name of anime and manga) for it.

Blinks... in this thread? Where. The only reference to hakufu from any snippet here that I could find was in 2010-09-27 Loop by Nanya

Was referring to Kempachi, not Hakufu.

 

[PCHeintz72]

I remember a snip someone did where he was in one.

Had to keep Hakufu Sonsaku in once piece, but while being escorted, she kept being stripped of clothes.

I think one of the people fought was Kenpachi from Bleach.

Yeah, it was mine. Kenpachi from Bleach was leading a club, and wanted Ranma in it, and was fighting against the Eiken club (name of anime and manga) for it.

Blinks... in this thread? Where. The only reference to hakufu from any snippet here that I could find was in 2010-09-27 Loop by Nanya

Was referring to Kempachi, not Hakufu.

Whew... had me worried I was somehow missing a loop snippet... At least, a snippet in one of the loop snippet threads I actually followed.

 

[Jomasten]

So I was looking through the thread, when I noticed, to my disappointment, that Amaretto's nBSG loops disappeard. What happened, and does anyone have a copy?

 

[PCHeintz72]

So I was looking through the thread, when I noticed, to my disappointment, that Amaretto's nBSG loops disappeard. What happened, and does anyone have a copy?

Blinks... no it is not, I just checked. Here is a link to one such snippet.

http://thefanfictionforum.net/showthread.php?tid=12487&pid=688829#pid688829

Amaretto made loop contributions on the following dates not all are BSG related. the first BSG is on 2009-12-04

2009-07-25
2009-09-12
2009-10-08
2009-10-09
2009-12-04
2009-12-09
2009-12-15
2009-12-23
2009-12-29
2010-01-01
2010-01-05
2010-01-08
2010-01-11
2010-01-16
2010-01-18
2010-01-19
2010-01-29
2010-02-09
2010-02-14
2010-02-24
2010-02-27
2010-03-16 (2 snippets)
2010-04-13
2012-03-04
2012-03-14

 

[Jomasten]

Huh. Weird. It was gone when I was looking for it.

That is, I saw the posts, but each had nothing written on it.

 

[chronodekar]

Huh. Weird. It was gone when I was looking for it.

That is, I saw the posts, but each had nothing written on it.

If this ever comes up, can you report the related posts? It might be some slip-up that happened during the move and someone on the staff needs to just go and edit it. Basically, clicking the edit, then save button. It resets the character encoding or something ... (don't remember the technical term right now)

-chronodekar

 

[PCHeintz72]

Huh. Weird. It was gone when I was looking for it.

That is, I saw the posts, but each had nothing written on it.

If this ever comes up, can you report the related posts? It might be some slip-up that happened during the move and someone on the staff needs to just go and edit it. Basically, clicking the edit, then save button. It resets the character encoding or something ... (don't remember the technical term right now)

-chronodekar

I suspect it was the well known search bug... where it will randomly blank some posts in a returned search that has what you are looking for in it.

Since I do not know exactly how he was going about getting to those old snippets, I cannot say that is the case though.

 

[Amaretto]

Probably the encoding, I get the same blanks IE but they show up in Fox. It might be a font thing I typically type in Open Office then CnP when doing story stuff.

 

[Innortal]

Here it is:

“Frack!” Kara cursed over the radio, “Nine hells, not again!”

Apollo cut off her tirade, “Can it Starbuck we’re all tired keep the channel clear.”

“All this has happened before and all this had happened again my fine ass!” She growled out.

A new voice cut over the radio, “What the hell kind of scrap heap is this. I’ve flown some clunkers but this one takes the cake.”

“Quiet down Wild Horse.” Apollo paused. There was no Wild Horse in the crew. A thousand iterations of running from the Cylons and he knew every person on that god damn ship. It also made Starbuck and himself believe that they were in some kind of hell. Then a cheerful little goddess named Ex showed up and told them that there was some kind of problem within the multi-verse. They pleaded with her for help but she only told them she would try to send some kind of care package.

“Jinkies this is a rust bucket. Ex and Chrono owe us big for this one Ranma.” Gina let her viper roll several times.

“Yay! Ranma came too!” An odangoed pilot giggled over the radio.

“Gold Digger, White Queen keep the lines clear we have toasters to fight.” Apollo shouted over the channel trying to reign in his squadron.

“Don’t call me Gold Digger! Call sign is Nomad get it right! I am a respected archeologist.” Gina huffed, “I got better things to do than upgrade some backwater rust buckets.”

Kara broke in again in frenzied voice, “Guys! Toasters about to annihilate all of us in fifteen seconds!”

“Whaaa, I don’t wanna die again. Being on team zombie was bad enough.” Usagi shouts, “Moon Cosmic Power Makeup!” Several seconds passed and Usagi shouted back, “Um, guys no moon power here.”

Ranma grumbled to himself, “I am so painting a -1 on her viper.”

Gina joined him in muted grumblings. Ranma was first to make a coherent sentence, “So what do you normally do in this time line?”

“Form up on me we just have to make a single pass then return.” Apollo he added, “Just try and stay alive.”

In a massive flash of light a base star appeared. Immediately the massive warship opened up with a barrage of missiles. Hundreds of raiders followed the lethal barrage. The flight leader changed his tone, “Alright guys scatter formation. Don’t stray beyond the recovery line. Cover the civis as best you can.”

The vipers were not even given a chance to engage. Dee’s voice came over the radio, “All fighters return, all civilian ships have completed their jumps.”

Five vipers quickly turned on their axis and booked it back to Galactica.

“Combat landings people don’t over shoot your mark!” The five dozen fighters streaked into the landing bay. They barely had touched down before the Battlestar blinked out of existence.

Gina and Ranma quietly prayed that Usagi wouldn’t run them over. Thankfully the normally clumsy looper managed to pull off a decent landing. Once the bay was pressurized again the deck crews swarmed about the fighters prepping them for the next jump in 33 minutes. While the crews scurried about Gina, Usagi and Ranma all gathered in an empty briefing room.

Ranma growled in a hushed voice, “So the two ditzes sent us here without powers and supplies to do what exactly.”

Usagi wrapped an arm around Ranma, “I can think of a few things.”

Gina rolled her eyes, “Oi, I’m sure you can think of a more romantic place than some stinky bunk in an outdated junk heap.”

Apollo and Starbuck entered the room, “So you’re our care package?”

The oldest digger sister shrugged, “Gina Diggers, the number two scientist in the multi-verse.”

Kara rolled her eyes, “Great they send us a second stringer.”

“Hey I’m perfectly fine taking second place to an elder goddess.” Gina twitched a bit, “Miss Washu gets a little twitchy when people take a shot at her title.”

Ranma chuckled at the uninformed comment, “Yea Miss Washu doesn’t do house calls these days she’s trying to fix this mess. Ranma Saotome, I do a lot of things really well.”

The blonde with extremely long hair spoke up next, “Usagi Tsukino you don’t happen to have any manga here do you?”

“You don’t have any useful skills do you?” Starbuck accused sarcastically.

Seeing the blond's faux tears already starting Gina cut in derailing the conversation, “Look, she’s a ah well, magic girl normally. I know she has a decent set of medical skills just show her to your infirmary and put her to work.”

Apollo smiled as he sat down, “Good, we only got two full time docs. And one is bat shit crazy. Half the time he may or may not keel over dead.”

Usagi quickly piped up, “He’s not a perverted old man his he?”

Ranma palmed his face, “Not all old men are perverts.”

She quickly shot back, “Ha, name one that isn’t!”

Gina shut up the two and brought the two back on track, “Guys we have a horde of space invaders about to kill us and no equipment or powers to speak of we need a plan.” She turned a faced the two residents, “Anything we should know about?”

Kara gestured to Lee. He sorted his thoughts quickly and resigned himself to having to deal with current crises he had dealt with an uncountable number of times, “In the next jump the Olympic Carrier will fall behind. It is a newer ship and it is also be mostly un-occupied except for a hand full of cylons. If we can take it several problems will be lessened. Not to mention it will give us some breathing room. The catch is we have to take control of it before it fails to make the next jump.”

Ranma nodded, “Alright, let’s get to it. Gina, you coming with or you gonna work on a bigger solution?”

“I’m gonna go over the supplies here. They obviously got some form of FTL. I’ll see what I can do to weaponize it.”

Usagi just stood up, “I’ll be in medical. Why didn’t you tell me so many people were hurt here?”

The normally carefree girl suddenly seemed very serious. She walked out without a word. Kara and Lee blinked several times they had little opportunity to ever really investigate at the beginning of their loop. Ranma didn’t even arch an eyebrow, “Come on, we got an armory to raid and I’m sure we’ll need a shuttle.”

Kara hopped up, “Come on let the boys get the hard ware. I’ll show you a Raptor you can look at.”

Ranma looked at Lee for a moment now that they were alone and sized him up. The man was more of a scholar than anything else at least according to his first glance. A little training and some discipline but he wasn’t a front line fighter. He shrugged off any temptation to stick his foot in his mouth just yet. Lee led him out of the briefing room and down the hall to the closest armory. The sentry looked over the two men for a moment, “Uh, captain, lieutenant, why are you checking out heavy ordinance.”

The pigtailed lieutenant smiled, “Got a small rodent population to deal with. Worried they might get to the food stores.”

“Sir…” The master at arms just shut up when Ranma shook his head, “Metal Plated Rats.”

The corporal paled a bit, “I see. Should I be worried?”

Lee came out of the armory with a pair of UMP’s, a pair of uzi’s, three side arms a box of grenades and G-4, “No, command knows. We weren’t here. You start spreading rumors and we will not just be sending trash out the air lock got it?”

Ranma grabbed himself a rifle, “Oh, Beretta Cx4 nice weapon.” He further picked up an M-60 and an ammo box, “Shall we take over a small third world nation?”

“You got a sick sense of humor you know that.” Lee rolled his eyes, “Come on, we need to recruit a Raptor pilot.”

The two made quick pace through the flurry of activity on the battle star. Lee became more and more worried as the time quickly passed, “We only have 24 minutes to pull this off.”

The two passed a pair of marines Lee recognized he knew these two would fall in without any questions, “Marines, with me we have a situation.”

The two blinked but fell in lock step, “We have reports of a saboteur and hostages on the Olympic Carrier.”

Kara joined in as they reached the flight deck, “The next CAP is taken care of and the flight pod is extending now. We should be able to catch Boomer now.”

As they walked down the last hallway Ranma noted several people passed out in the corridor. The signs of extreme exhaustion were clear on just about everyone. He may have thought Hogwarts was hellish but this was a different kind of punishment. Lee handed off the uzis, a side arm and a UMP to Thrace. She strapped the weapons onto her flight suit.
[hr]
*****


Dee looked up from her console as an unexpected transmission shouted in her ear, “Galatica Actual this is Boomer and Crashdown, Raptor patrol 435 requesting take off clearance.”

The communications officer looked up at the command center. The captain and xo had stepped off leaving only her and Lieutenant Gaeta in the command center. The other Lieutenant shrugged, “The deck is clear. If they want to start 20 minutes early more power to them.”

His head slumped back down onto the desk. The junior officer rolled her eyes, “Go ahead Boomer, the bay is clear any way.”

Her head stayed up only slightly longer.


*****

Frantically the Raptor sped out of the bay and made a sharp bee line for the Olympic Carrier. Lee, Ranma, Kara and the marines quickly double checked their weapons. Boomer shouted back to the officers, “So what is so important on the Olympic Carrier that you shanghaied me a gun point?”

Lee shouted back lying through his teeth, “I picked up an odd transmission last time. I think there is trouble on the ship. Any way, we breach from the cargo bay hacking a maintenance access point. After that Ranma, Crashdown and I take the command deck while Kara and the Marines take the communication’s array out of commission. Boomer you just keep jamming them till we give the all clear then high tail it back to Galactica.”

Boomer raised an eyebrow at the conversation but she wasn’t there and didn’t know what they saw or what the transmission was so she let it go.

One marine spoke up, “Sir, this is not a six man op.”

Starbuck chuckled, “Welcome to the war Adams. Marine we are outnumbered, out gunned and out classed. Now are you going to kill some toasters or sit there and cry about it?”

“Sir, marines are not issued tear ducts.” The second one joked as he tightened his grip on his P-90.

Apollo ended the conversation, “Time check.”

Crashdown looked at his instruments, “45 seconds to contact, 19 minutes to jump.”

Kara eyed the newbie. He seemed calm; too calm for her tastes. Lee and herself had attempted this rescue on several occasions and met with varied results. Half a dozen Centurions and two dozen skin jobs. She took on a serious tone, “There will be collateral damage if this is going to work.”

He smirked, “Then I guess the M-60 is over kill.”

Really quickly Kara got angry, “Don’t get cocky brat, the toasters look like us. They don’t show any mercy.”

“Thirty two non-human life forms occupy the ship. Seven hundred and thirty life forms feel human. The majority of which are held as hostages in a large room at near the stern.” He smirked, “Yes I am that damn good.”

The raptor bounced a bit as a soft seal formed on the hull of the Olympic Carrier.


*****

“They did what!” Commander Adama shouted at Dee and Geata.

Dee looked up sheepishly from her station, “Hex says that Apollo, Starbuck and Wild Horse took off in Boomer’s Raptor with two marines.”

Geata looked up from his console, “Their beacon went silent shortly after take off. Dradis puts them on a course for the Olympic Carrier.”

Saul cursed at his insubordinate and exhausted crew “What the hell is going on where are Tsukino and Diggers?”

“Tsukino is in medical. Apparently there were casualties from the last attack she is currently operating on one of them. Trying to save some kids leg.” The response took Saul by surprise, “Since when does she have medical training?”

Adama paused, “Never mind what about Ms. Diggers? Why isn’t she leading the flight?”

The crewman looked up, “Lieutenant Diggers is working on a damaged Raptor. She told Chief Tyrol that she would have his balls in a jar if he interrupted her again.”

Colonel Tigh blinked several times, “Just what was she doing?”

The crewman flipped his note book open, “Reports were and I quote, “Looking for a way to blow the damn tin cans out of the sky.” End quote. Apparently she had a scrapped Raptor FTL, a dradis array, the raptor’s power plant, several conventional warheads, a toaster, and several high capacity capacitors.”

The two commanding officers rubbed their foreheads in sync. Adama gave his orders, “Great three of our senior pilots are AWOL, one went loopy and the other is playing medic. Have Hex launch is CAP, tell him not do anything stupid.”

Geata sighed, “17 to go on the clock what else can go wrong?”


*****


Kara unloaded another clip into a Four, “Stay down fracker!”

With her marines she had managed to cut a path to the communications array.

“Oi, what’s your count Starbuck?” Ranma cut across the radio.

She took cover behind a wall as two raiders closed in on her, “Bit busy here.”

Lee shouted back, “Hurry up we got a little over ten to rescue the civis before the jump.”

Kara’s marines tossed a pair of grenades down the corridor. The fire ball took out three Centurions. Kara shouted over the radio, “Marines have taken 4 Centurions and six skin jobs. I got ten skin jobs.”

“Hah, I got 12 and one tin man. You’re loosing!” Ranma boasted, “Lee is a shitty shot. You know that? Any way, command is ours. We’re leaving Crashdown here with the 60 to hold the fort. He saw a couple of Eights and is pretty twitchy. We’re making our move for the civis the jump computer is programmed”

She chambered the first round of the new clips in each of her Uzis then put a new clip into her rifle chambering a new round. The three pushed down the final hallway to the communication array. They cared little about damage to their surroundings and liberally tossed grenades at anything that moved.

Several large explosions later Starbuck was pounding away at the communications. She keyed her radio, “Get out of here Boomer. I’ll get you out of the brig when we get back.”

“Gee thanks.” She grumbled in reply quickly heading back to the battle star.


*****


“Apparently Boomer is returning already” Dee growled out, “Should I clear her for landing?”

Saul barked right back his patience and stamina running just as thin, “You can clear her straight to the brig. Have the MPs waiting for her. I want some goddamn answers and she better have them.”


*****


Ranma turned to Lee as they walked down the corridor making their bid to free the hostages, “I can feel a trickle of my abilities coming back. It should be enough for a diversion.”

The captain rolled his eyes, “What are these abilities you keep talking about? Sure you’re quick and a hell of a shot; but you’re hardly some legendary hero.”

He grinned, “Watch. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” Ranma blurred for a moment then a copy appeared right beside him. The real Ranma took a grenade and pistol from his equipment and handed it to the shadow clone. He ordered, “Scout ahead take out any resistance. Let them see you die.”

“What the hell is that?” Lee gasped at the construct.

Ranma shrugged, “Shadow Clone Jutsu, you’ll learn it in a Konoha loop.”

Else where:


“You did what!” Urd screamed at her two subordinates.

Ex responded calmly and analytically, “We sent Saotome, Ranma 43-CA-28, Diggers, Gina 31-DV-48, Tsukino, Usagi 45-LP-64 to aid anchor Adama, Lee 22-BW-XX.”

Urd’s eye twitched violently, “I understand what you did.”

“But it was so sad. He only has one companion and has yet to enter a fused loop and it’s such a violent loop and” Chrono babbled incoherently at this point.

The eldest Norn calmly folded her hands and sat down. She glanced back and forth between the two screw ups. Urd didn’t know what they had screwed up but Skuld and her techs were furious. She under stood why they did it but this was totally out of line, “And just why didn’t you stay and help?”

Chrono and Ex didn’t reply they just looked at the floor. Urd really didn’t like where this was going, “Would you rather tell Skuld why her boyfriend may or may not be trapped in some post-apocalyptic nightmare?”

“Washu made us do it!” The two said in prefect sync, “She wanted data on that universe and well we kinda owed her.”

Urd let out a series of expletives that brought down the wrath of heaven on her office. Even as the lightning repeatedly struck her she didn’t stop cursing.


Onboard the Olympic Carrier


A One called out into the corridor, “You may have been fast enough to take command and communications but you will not take this vessel back. Put down your weapon and surrender.”

Ranma shouted back, “Alright I’m coming in don’t shoot”

He quickly pivoted into the room rifle at the ready leveled at the One, “Yea. I’m so not putting this side arm down.”

The One quickly grabbed up a human woman and held her as a human shield, “Put the weapon down or the woman dies.”

“See why’d ya have to go and do that. We both know she’s already dead or a Cylon.” Ranma smirked, “It’s not like you really made the shot any more difficult. You’re holdin her all wrong. Ah, damn my time’s up.”

He squeezed off a single shot. The remaining six skin jobs blinked in surprise. No one had expected this course of suicidal action. Ranma shifted his weight and hefted the grenade in his free hand at the last centurion on the balcony. The Centurion fired off a burst of fully automatic fire at the grenade in a vain attempt to stop it. An eight leveled her rifle and let off a three round burst at Ranma three shots clearly striking him in the chest. Only to see her taget evaporate into a cloud of smoke. The flash bang went off blinding everything in the room. An eight, six and two and four made out the sounds of gun fire before they were knocked unconscious by their attacker.

Kara looked at Ranma and snorted, “No points if the toaster ain’t dead.”

He laughed, “Here I was going to say double points for live captures.”

She rolled her eyes and cussed, “What the frak are we going to do with prisoners? The old man will probably just shove em out the air lock any way. Or do you want a pet cylon?”

Lee sighed, “Break it up and secure them. We haven’t been able to take prisoners this early in the loop before maybe they will tell us something new. Or you know, With them we at least have an alibi and proof.”

Starbuck sighed and hit her radio, “Adams, you copy?”

A nervous voice replied over the radio, “Yes ma’am. The ship secure?”

“As best we can tell. Break radio silence and get me the old man. I’m gonna love explaining this. I’ll be there in two.” Starbuck sighed why did she have to suck so much at rock paper scissors.



OMAKE(or another loop readers choice.) : Caprica :


Helo blinked several times as two people laid down a barrage of fire. A demonic voice bellowed, “Tremble in fear mortals for you face the wrath of Kyūbi no Yōko.”

An angry mass of chakra washed over the stranded pilot as he watched the massive beast tear into a Cylon patrol. He rubbed his eyes clearly he was hallucinating. A massive fox did not just take down several armored patrols. He told him self, “Yep, radiation meds are wearing off and I’m dying.”

A pleasant voice addressed him, “Oh my, you’re injured.”

He turned to see a woman dressed in a plain house dress leading a large group of people, “I’m just dying it’s alright.”

The pretty house wife replied, “Oh you will do no such thing. You’re the first cute boy I’ve come across this loop and there is no way I’m going this entire loop without getting some.”

A wave of sliver energy passed over his body making him feel like a new man. He really wondered why he felt like this was a bad thing.

 

[Innortal]

Kara stretched as she a pulled her self out of the plush bed on the Olympic. A hot private shower and a clean bed were just spoils of war she couldn't pass up. Taking her time getting dressed and eating breakfast she pondered the day. Four prisoners in the air lock. Supposedly Ranma had figured out how to jam their resurrection technology. She had her doubts about his claim but really didn't care either way. They would have a few days rest and then they could join up with Pegasus. True Cain was a royal bitch but if you got to her early enough she could almost be tolerable. She walked down the hallway to the nearest lift and then to the command deck.

Ranma raised an eyebrow, “Didn't think you'd be here for another twenty.”

She joked, “It was either eat here, alone or with the civis. You know madness loves company.”

He laughed at the thought, “Yea, you haven't seen madness yet. You probably haven't even blown up your first planet.”

Starbuck blinked several times, “You've got to be kidding.”

“Nah, I think Crichton holds the record blew up a local galaxy cluster. However, Carter is right behind him she imploded an entire local group.” He took a look at his watch and yawned changing, “Had to space the Sharon last night. She started messing with the locks.”

Kara just chalked the claims up to boasting “Any idea if your toy worked?” Kara didn't give a rat's ass if the Eight lived or died the toy however was interesting. She idly munched on the bagel she took from the buffet.

Ranma shrugged he had no qualms with killing software, “Not really. The carrier signal was thoroughly jammed but they may be able to clear it up on their end. Even if she did make it I doubt that she'll be all there.”

“So how did you do it?” She asked with an almost maniacal expression.

Leaning back in the command chair he shrugged, “I used the transmitter they attached to the Olympic's communication systems.”

“Damn, taking that room is always a crap shoot. We were lucky you were here as an extra with only Adams it gets kinda dicey.” She bit her lip, “Any chance you can show me how to build one from scratch?”

He nodded, “Yea. Its why I'm here.”

The radio crackled to life, “Olympic Carrier this is Colonial One do you copy?”

Ranma looked at Kara, “You deal with it. Its your loop.”

“Oh no I insist, it was only with your skills that this mission was such a success.” She smiled, “It's still your watch.”

“Only for 15 more minutes.”

“You would really ignore a call from the president?”

He laughed, “I don't care if she is the Daimakaicho herself. I don't deal with politicians. I don't stand on ceremony. Most Importantly I don't care. I'm here to help you and Lee and punching another politician in the face will most likely...”

Kara just rolled her eyes and picked up the receiver. She knew at this point that Ranma would just keep talking till his watch was over, “This is the Olympic go ahead.”

The radio continued, “The president wishes to speak with the ship's commander.”

“Captain Adama will be taking a watch in six and a half hours. I'll tell you right now I'm not going to wake him unless it is an emergency.”

There was a pause as the operator conferred with someone in the background, “The president wishes to speak to the civilian commander of the ship.”

Starbuck rolled her eyes and spoke to Ranma, “Every damn time we save this junk heap.”

“I thought you said this would solve problems.” Ranma made finger quotes, “It is a newer ship.”

An angry glare crossed the command deck as she pressed the send button, “There is no civilian commander on board this ship there were only cylons and hostages. I'll give you one guess who was in command.”

“I see.” The radio went quiet again, “The president still wishes have an accurate head count from the ship.”

Kara quickly replied to the paper pusher, “Rough count as we freed the hostages was about three hundred and fifty. Nearly thirty and change dead cylons. Several wounded civis. Any way tell the president there will be a classified briefing on board the Olympic Carrier any time after 13:00 fleet time. She can work out the details with Commander Adama however we need to finish securing the civilians and sweeping the ship. Olympic out.”

She let her thumb off the send key and looked at Ranma, “Well Lee can deal with this mess in seven hours.”

“I take it there aren't any surprises left on the ship then?” He asked out of course more than anything else. They dismantled the nukes on the fuel stores last night and put the toasters to bed in the air locks so the only thing left was to baby sit the civilians.

Kara shrugged, “We got a choice to make we either let Boomer blow up the water store or we space her. Pros and con...”

Ranma cut her off, “Yea I know the whole pros and cons bit well. I know my choices all too well back home.”

She picked up the radio again, “I'm gonna just rat her out then. I don't feel like dealing with Zarek this loop.”


Galactica:


Usagi stretched as she sat up in an unfamiliar bed. She blinked several times as she took in her surroundings.

An elderly voice teased, “So the sleeping princess joins us?”

“How long was I out?” She asked as she sat up. Her brain slowly rebooted reminding her of where she was and what she was doing.

Doc Cottle shrugged, “Few hours. You sat down after working on the Shipman Richard's leg. So tell me where does a viper jockey learn how to reattach a severed limb like that?”

She sifted through her artificial memories wondering just what the universe cooked up to answer that question, “The don't really let you practice medicine after you lay out the chief of medicine for being a stupid old man.”

Cottle laughed till he needed to catch is breath, “So your that Tsukino. Oh, isn't that...” He couldn't continue as he continued laughing. Then put his hand on her shoulder, “Cornell Lexus had it coming. It was a fraking crime what they did to you.”

She smiled at the praise then it hit her as she checked her watch, “Oh man, Lee is going to kill me. My watch started fifteen minutes ago.”

Usagi quickly got out of bed and put her boots on.

“Slow down there child. You got reassigned. We are short on trained medics. License or not you're needed here.” He took a drag on his cigarette, “Unless you can tell me why you shouldn't be our chief surgeon?”

Her shoulders slumped. She wanted to hang out with Ranma and Gina not be stuck down here, “No sir.”

Cottle continued, “Besides Captain Adama is onboard the Olympic. Seems there was a bit of a problem on board that they had to take care of. We will be providing medical assistance at 14:00 hrs.”

Worried about just how many casualties they would have to deal with Usagi asked, “Please tell me Gina stayed onboard.”

The chain smoking doctor looked at her like she had six heads, “Lieutenant Diggers has been working on something in the hanger deck since we lost the cylon pursuit.”

“Oh no. That isn't good.” Usagi painted a panicked look onto her face, “Gotta save the ship from eminent doom.”

She quickly escaped the sick bay and made a bee line for the mess hall.


Colonial One:


Laura's eye twitched as she read the transcript of the conversation between Kara and Billy. She calmly placed the piece of paper down on her desk, “And what of the scientist Dr. Amark.”

The young aid sat nervously in front of his boss, “I don't know Madam President. Lieutenant Thrace didn't mention him in our conversation.”

Roslin rubbed her forehead, “And what did Galactica say about 14:00 hours?”

Billy looked over his notes, “I'm not sure, the communication's officer said she would pass it on to Adama's orderly.”


Nearby a twitchy Gaius Balter listened in on the conversation. He had no idea what to do now. The voice in his head hadn't said anything to him since Amark's first mention. Now he was getting worried. He had heard the murmurs around colonial one about an incident on the Olympic involving a marine strike force freeing hostages from cylon infiltrators.

“Humanity seems to have gained a powerful ally.” A sultry voice whispered into her ear, “They say he figured out a way to jam the resurrection signal at least partially. The techs are still trying to figure out what he did to that poor eight but it is doubtful they will be able to recover her. Perhaps you should go meet this man.”

“What!” Baltar exclaimed drawing the attention of all nearby.


Billy turned to the doctor and clarified, “We are having difficulty getting in touch with the Olympic Carrier. Lieutenant Thrace wants us to schedule a meeting some time after 13:00 with Commander Adama on board the ship. Apparently she refuses to wake Captain Apollo unless there is an emergency.”

Gaius quickly offered, “I should go with you. If they captured any cylon equipment perhaps I could put it to work for us.”

The president pondered the statement. She really didn't know what to make of his offer but he was supposed to be her science adviser, “I'm sure that can be arranged.”


Olympic Carrier:


The six slowly opened her eyes as she closed her interface to Gaius.

“Interesting setup you have going there. Seen a few like it in my travels. Better be careful with it you might get an echo imprint on your own psyche.” Ranma smirked at the cylon six, “I met a interesting culture once that used a similar device to bond life mates together.”

She blinked repeatedly at Ranma, “How?”

He held up a small device he cobbled together from a few pieces of junk components, “You really wouldn't be a prisoner if you were running off getting some from your husband every time you were in private. So I'm afraid I'll have to put a stop to your conjugal visits.” He pressed a little button on the side of the device.

“It will not save you.” She glared at her captor, “I am just one of many and we are immortal.”

He chucked, “You too? What was your most interesting death? There was this one were this green haired magic girl and I... lets just say that we exceeded or physical limitations and transcended the mortal experience. That started a whole chain of events I'd much rather forget.”

The six snorted. She had heard men brag about their ability to preform many times but this was just absurd, “What do you want?”

“Just studying my enemy. I really don't need any interaction from you,” He smirked a bit then shouted in a deep voice, “IGNORE ME!”

She growled back, “You may get off on treating me like a caged animal but I will kill you eventually.”

The four in the next airlock shouted, “Keep your cool Sonja. If he isn't asking questions do not volunteer information.”

Ranma shrugged, “Good advice but I'm working under the assumption that you are an isolated cell. As your cell has obviously been disrupted and captured your command will cut you off. You hold no new or useful information nor can you be used as a double agent. Thus you are expendable as either a diversion or the slight chance you might be a bargaining chip. That however, brings me to your compatriots belief that you are immortal and will be resurrected if killed. So in fact your commanders would want me to kill you or destroy this ship themselves believing they would suffer no losses.”

“I will give you this, you have calculated correctly.” The dark skinned cylon continued, “Without knowledge of your jamming device they will view simple destruction of this vessel as the most expedient way of freeing us once they find us.”

Ranma whistled, “Damn sucks to be you.”

“Screwing with the prisoners heads?” Lee asked as he walked into the observation room to the air lock.

He laughed, “That's the only way to do it. They would just turn off the pain receptors any way.”

“The Old Man and the President should be here at 14:00.” Lee informed Ranma, “Learn anything new from them.”

He joked, “The blonde chick is called Sonja and apparently she's married.”

The six spat out, “I am not married to that human filth.”

“I only said in certain cultures considered it marriage.” Ranma smiled, “Ah good, there is Michael. Looks like we can get in a little training before they get here.”

Lee soon found out just why every bone in his body was screaming for him to run.
[hr]
Galactica:


“Giiiiinnnnaaaaa.” Usagi announced her presence on the hanger deck loudly, “I brought lunch or dinner, I'm not quite sure what 14:00 is in terms of food. Then again it all kinda looks the same.”

As Usagi babbled about food and how it wasn't really food Gina slid a final connector into place then gently flipped the on switch. The contraption hummed to life as its individual parts activated.

A blue and white image flickered to life, “UNSC A.I. CTN 0452-9 coming online please wait.”

The features of the image slowly sharpened. A face slowly came into existence followed by a body. Slowly changing from an androgynous silhouette into a distinct woman the program came online, “Dr. Diggers what can I do for you. As limited as my capabilities may be.”

“I need firing timers and solutions for that.” She gestured towards the mass of components she had been working on.

The A.I. nodded, “A type four beam cannon I presume?”

Gina whipped her hands as she got back to work on the cannon, “Yea, not my greatest work but we're S.O.L. on supplies.”

A blunt reply came from the A.I., “My processing capabilities alone would have told me that.”

Usagi beamed at the A.I., “Cortana when did you get here?”

The female construct gave a very literal reply, “I was brought online by Dr. Diggers moments ago.”

“Its not Cortana.” Gina muscled several large connectors together, “Just a cheap copy I made during a loop. Try not to distract her, I need to get this done. We really don't have the processing power here to spare.”

“Are you going to eat that.” Usagi eyed the plate she had brought Gina.

The inventor turned and snapped, “Eat what?”

“The dinner I brought you from the mess hall.” Usagi lazily replied as she eyed the slice of cake on the plate.

This time the hard working woman actually looked at the food and her stomach growled. Usagi blinked several times, “Never mind.”

Gina moved over to the plate and started to eat, “Here have half the cake. Thanks for bringing it down.”

“Analysis complete.” The construct announced, “Tentative firing timers established. Containment rings six and nine need further alignment and adjustment.”

Saul Tigh bellowed out, “I had to see it with my own eyes. Rampant rumors are one thing but this is...” The old drunk didn't know what to do. Was it a cylon, was it a threat. He didn't know what to do, “Just what is going on here?”

“Oh, I was just bringing Gina lunch.” Usagi smiled, “She tends to zone out and forget to eat when she gets working.”

His eye spasmed, “Well I can see that. What is that blue thing.”

The cheerful but naive blond smiled, “Thats a copy of Cortana. She's really nice and smart.”

Tigh practically screamed at Usagi, “Why do you have a copy of a cylon onboard.”

She put a finger to her cheek, “Oh, wait I know this. An A.I. is needed to predict fluctuations between quantum indeterminate points.”

“Usagi just stop.” Gina deadpanned, “The A.I. was created by making a scan of a flash cloned brain. It is not of cylon origin.”

Adama, Roslin and Gaius approached and made their presence known. While privately admiring the construct Dr. Baltar realized that this was a perfect opportunity to sow a little doubt. Gaius took the a shot at his competition, “It makes you wonder just was going on at the Aerilon Advanced Weapons Facility.”

Gina's eyes narrowed as her artificial memories leaked in a bit, “We weren't churning out hack written code for the C.N.P. like the M.o.D. was.”

She allowed her the emotions to take a bit of a hold as she drew her sidearm and leveled it at him, “Your shoddy work could be classified as nearly treasonous.”

Usagi barked out, “Stand down lieutenant.” She snickered, “Its not his fault we have more Ph.Ds than he has notches in his bed post.”

A cold malice filled the normally cheerful girl as she approached the doctor, “Tell me doctor. Did you enjoy the girls, parties and interviews?”

Gaius swallowed hard as he looked at the two blonds that seemed out for his blood on the hangar floor.

“Ladies, this is not the place for such accusations.” Laura did not know if the facts of the situation but she knew such accusations were not good for her as she appointed Baltar her science advisor and any scandal would impede her ability to lead the fleet. The president continued diplomatically, “If you have any proof. I will personally open a panel of inquiry.”

The eldest Diggers sister holstered her side arm and glared at the alleged genius, “Traitors get what is coming to them. Her skirt isn't nearly thick enough to protect you from your sins.”

Adama watched with a cool head as the two black ops officers tore into a man he already had his suspicions about. Their fervor warmed his heart but the supposed A.I. put him a bit on edge. The blue projection hadn't been anything more than a pleasant interface to a computer program so far. Part of him was feeling indulgent just because Gina had unwittingly provided a moral boost, “Ladies, you are needed at a briefing on the Olympic Carrier. The CAG has requested your presence.”

Saul looked over at his long time friend, “I remember when the egg heads stayed in the labs and left fighting to the jocks.”

The commander nodded dumbly, “Why do I feel that we suddenly wandered way off the edge of the map.”

“Sir have our Vipers been prepped?” Usagi proceeded to state plainly, “It wouldn't do for colonial one to lack an escort.”

Tigh scowled and took a blunt response, “Some of us are actually doing our jobs onboard this vessel. Not playing mad scientist and doctor.”

“Enough!” Adama bellowed, “You're Vipers are in tubes six and seven. Mission launches in five.”


Olympic Carrier:


“Come on Lee you can do better than that. Hit him.” She shouted from the side of the improvised ring, “Watch the counter...”

Adama weaved around the left hook right into a quick strike with from the left. He crumpled into the blow falling to his knees.

Ranma starred at his downed opponent, “Get up. What have you been doing in these loops sleeping? My prime self could kick your ass.”

Kara shot back, “We don't exactly have time to do much other than survive here. It's not like we can go up to the tin cans and say hey lets just call it off for a loop.”

“Everything is training. Every second of every day.” The senior looper shouted back, “You don't just magically get better at it.”

Starbuck shot back, “And just what dose beating the crap out of Lee have to do with it?”

He taunted back, “Think you can do any better?”

“You bet your punk ass I can.” Kara shed her outer layer and stepped up.

Ranma shed his boxing gloves and faced her, “Call it.”


A group of ten walked into ball room the approached a ring of people that surrounded two fighters. Kara and Ranma were in the center of a wide circle. The two were exchanging blows at a furious pace.

Kara taunted, “Come on. I know your holding back.”

He closed quickly moving inside of her guard landing a series of painful blows, “Yea, you're doing a lot better than the kid tho. Keep your center a bit lower and don't try to beat my reach.”

The blond fighter pilot darted in again at a sharp angle assaulting Ranma's guard.


Laura looked over at William who was shaking his head, “Why do I always get the problem cases.”

The president quietly asked, “What is going on.”

Usagi and Gina replied in sync, “Training, the Saotome method.” The two lieutenants clapped and bowed their heads. Offering a prayer for Kara and Lee's psyches.

The elder doctor kneeled down in front of Lee who was slumped down and bleeding in a rather expensive looking chair. Doctor Cottle looked at a nasty cut on Lee's eye, “Son, you have seen better days. You look like you went twelve rounds with a cylon barehanded.”

He groaned as Cottle cleaned up the wound and bandaged it shut, “Three rounds with a Saotome and he was wearing gloves.”


Kara danced around another combination. Ranma grinned as he watched his new student quickly adapt. He lowered his center to avoid a punch. She gritted her teeth in determination and lashed out with a vicious kick. The martial artist could only smile as he tapped into his abilities that remained ever elusive in this loop. The fighter pilot focused she was going to hit him. The axe kick came down hard and fast. Ranma dodged by a tiny margin. Her foot came down with a mighty thud leaving a dent in the floor paneling. He caught Kara by her shoulders pulling her into a choke hold. He could feel her ki surging wildly through her arms and legs as she tried to break the hold. In an even tone he whispered, “Determination suits you. Strength and cunning to over come any obstacle. It was that power that let you save Lee at Ragnar. That overwhelming need to succeed, protect and love is there too.”


Hushed whispers circulated through the crowd as Ranma held Kara in the choke hold. Adama pinched his brow. This was supposed to be a debriefing not a pit fight. Instead he found his CAG beaten to a bloody pulp and two lieutenants in the process of beating on each other.

Laura looked over at the Commander and whispered, “I knew boxing was popular among pilots but this is not boxing.”

Bill Adama looked over at the de facto president, “I knew Lieutenant Saotome's father, Ranma may be a pilot but is a marine at heart. His old man probably could have gone ten rounds with a toaster and not break a sweat.”
The president rolled her eyes, “Sounds like a real Spartan.”

He chuckled, “You have no idea. Old war stories are not why we are here. Colonel if you will.”

Saul nodded and barked, “Commander on the deck. Attention!”

The military personal moved to attention. Cottle held Lee down as he finished cleaning the cut. Usagi pulled her finger out of her ear and looked around, “Ah damn, I'm in the military again aren't I.”

Tigh looked like he was going to erupt in anger with the blond before the old man stopped him, “Yes, Lieutenant Tsukino you are in the military. Please show the proper respects to the rank.”

“Okie dokies.” Usagi smiled, “I mean okie dokie sir.”

Ranma stepped forward out of the ring, “Sirs, Ma'am. We have secured a conference room for the eyes only debriefing.” He motioned to a nearby door, “If you will.”

As the doc finished Lee stood up, “Doc you and Lieutenant Tsukino are needed on deck three. Got a few people that are really shaken up we did what we could but if you could give them a once over. Our head count was at 367 could you double check this please.”


Gina stood at the door and promptly blocked Dr. Baltar from joining the briefing, “This is an eyes only classified briefing. This means the president and the chief of fleet operations.”

Ranma, Lee and Saul watched the confrontation closely.

Dr. Baltar puffed up yet again. Part of him knew that his fate would be closely tied to what ever happened in this briefing, “I am the president's scientific advisor. ”

“I don't care if your her professional ass wiper.” Gina growled out, “If the president insists on your presence then she can be briefed by the Commander at a later time.”

Saul leaned over to Bill, “I knew the egg heads had rivalries but this is a bit much.”

Bill shrugged, “If I caught a shipman doing shoddy work I would have the whole section in the brig. I can empathize with her stance. Unfortunately for Baltar she is both solider and scientist. You have no idea how glad I am that the twitchy bastard isn't the only egghead around.”

Laura paused as she watched the older men and younger scientists trade words. She had no doubt at this point that Gina was harboring some irrational hatred towards any Ministry of Defense personnel. However, she really wanted to gauge the reactions of the senior staff to this briefing.

“Dr. Baltar, if I need any clarification I am sure we can pause the briefing and call you in.” She added as a reassuring aside, “I'm sure Adama's people are just being overly cautious.”

“Marine!” Gina barked. A young man quickly came over, “If he leaves this room. Shoot him. If he sneezes funny shoot him. Hell if you get bored he is ministry scum feel free to beat on him for a while.”


Two hours later the briefing was still going. However, they were taking a recess. Laura looked at Saul and asked bluntly, “What in the world was that about. Readings of confidentiality, secrecy oaths and non-disclosure agreements. I thought this was about the welfare of the passengers on the ship.”

Saul sighed, “This is a Saotome getting even with a superior officer. They fight dirty. It is also the little prick reminding the old man that he is essentially Admiral of the Fleet now.”

Laura slowly digested the comment, “Why would he want to make a point of that?”

The Galactica's executive officer shook his head, “A lot of reasons. Mostly because we made him put on a dress uniform and render honors to the president.”

President Roslin gaped, “All this over a dress uniform and he can do this? Have us jump through hoops.”

Adama joined in as he sat back down, “Posturing aside, the projects we were read into just now were classified above top-secret.”

“I hardly think that theoretical weapons and ftl are hardly something we should be wasting what few resources we have on at the current time.” Roslin continued, “We have barely functioning ships and she thinks that her time is best spent cooking up a project that has never worked in the past. What good does this serve?”

The commander mulled over the argument for a moment, “It is terribly impolite to answer a question with a question but, what is the ultimate goal of a retreat?”

Both the Saul and Laura processed the statement. Colonel Tigh respond in a tired voice, “You have a point. We will have to make a stand somewhere eventually.”

Seeing that the president was drawing a blank the Commander offered, “Just how do you intend we protect and provide for the babies you intend to have us make? Earth may or may not have a large enough standing navy to deal with the storm we are bringing to their doorstep.”

Saul nodded while Laura maintained a careful expression. She had prevented Adama from running off on a suicide march against the cylons but had never considered the fact that eventually they would catch up luck or just plain attrition would eventually over take them.

Dr. Cottle entered the briefing room. Ranma turned and greeted the man, “Thank you for joining us. I hope we didn't miss any problems.”

The doc lit up a new cigarette, “Nothing physical. Most are still in shock. A few are already showing signs of PTSD but so is half the fleet. We're about half way though with the civilians. You and your team?”

“Green sir.” Ranma quickly replied, “Please take a seat. Captain Apollo will want to start quickly.”

Apollo stood up at the center podium, “Now that we have taken care of staffing the Olympic Carrier on at least a temporary basis we will move on to the second issue at hand. We have three surviving prisoners in airlocks two, three and four.”


Usagi slumped down beside Gina and placed her head on the table. They weren't need for the debriefing for a little bit, “Any luck with the etherial stream?”

Gina frowned, “Kinda. I was working more with the tech available anyway.”

“Moe Dakka?” Usagi joked, “I guess it is easier to show Kara and Lee how to build guns from what they have rather than teach them magic.”

The looping Digger shrugged, “It took me nearly two lifetimes to learn magic the first time around. If they have an affinity for something teach it them. Kara seems to have potential as a ki adept.”

Usagi changed the topic, “So why did you go all native on that guy?”

“Bit of roleplay, bit of disgust.” Gina took a sip from her drink as she continued to work on the pad in front of her, “It keeps the edge off the boredom. It gives us a bit of credibility to play up this research facility.”

Usagi chuckled, “There was this one loop I wanted to practice my zanjutsu and nobody else was awake. Anyway the outers eventually show up when I'm going toe to toe with the Deathbusters and their monster of the week. Hakura is all like she's evil give us the Silver Crystal and I'm like you can have it I got a spare. So I give each of them a crystal but they think the crystals are fakes but they were real. Any way Hakura blasts the crystal and well I think the loop reset shortly there after.”

Gina rolled her eyes at her companion's babbling, “So you agree that we should try to remain credible.”

Usagi blinked several times, “Oh yea, sure. Wouldn't want Hakura blowing us up again.”

“Who's going to blow us up?” Kara sat down at the table with the two other blond lieutenants, “With Boomer in the brig nothing should be blowing up any time soon.”

Gina looked up at the resident and deadpanned, “Nobody, Usagi was just relating why it is important for us to act like we belong in the universe.”

She nodded, “So what are your homes like? Meeting somebody from a different universe is really exciting.”

“Well, my dad is a mage and my mom is a barbarian. I have two sisters one is adopted and the other we kind of accidentally created when we removed a curse from ourselves.” Gina grinned as Starbuck listened with rapt attention, “The rest, is a secret!”

Usagi giggled, “You'll find out as soon as the your loop starts fusing with the others.”

“Aww, come on. I haven't even had a decent book to read in a few hundred loops.” The viper pilot groaned, “What about you shortie whats home like?”

“I'm queen of the world of course.” Usagi gave the same pause Gina did as she gauged Kara's reaction, “I go to school and fight unspeakable terrors from beyond. It's all pretty normal actually.”

Starbuck rolled her eyes, “Fine be like that. Pull the newbie's leg. I have enough sense that fighting unspeakable terrors from beyond is not normal.”

The would be queen gave Starbuck the mother of all puppy dog eye attacks, “But, but, Shinji, Ranma, Jon 117, John C., James T., Jack O'Neill, Captain Jack, Gina, Ichigo, Naruto, Ray Stantz, Harry P., Harry D., Nanoha...”

Usagi wanted to continue but Gina held up a hand, “Looper's aren't exactly normal people Usagi.”

Starbuck blinked several times, “So you mean instead of fighting cylons I'm going to have to slug it out with something else in another universe?”

Gina shrugged, “Depends, some loops are pretty low key. Others are just a pain till you figure them out. Your loop just sucks because your stuck here you can't just run off and live in a cave for a few loops and you have nothing to study.”

“We need giant mecha!” Usagi exclaimed, “I bet a wing zero would make short work of any nasty cylons.”

The eldest Digger sister palmed her face, “Usagi... giant mecha always, always get their pilots killed or drive them crazy. Nothing good ever comes from giant mecha. Those crazy leprechauns proved that all too often.”

Usagi quickly replied, “Nuh uh, Sagara-kun isn't crazy and Al hasn't gotten him killed once.”

The archeologist rolled her eyes, “I am not arguing exceptions to a pretty solid rule of thumb with a magic girl like some OCD child.”

She turned to Kara and looked her directly in the eye with a serious expression, “Giant robots will fuck you up. Even if they aren't cylons.”

Starbuck fell out her chair laughing at the exchange. The conversation had devolved into Usagi shooting raspberries and Gina replying with her tongue stuck out giving the other woman the finger.