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Sailor Ranko: Tunnel Vision: Chapter 18, Judgment Day.
by
Rebecca Ann Heineman
Ranma 1/2 and the characters therein are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. Based on "Sailor Ranko" by Duncan Zillman and "Twice in a Millennium" by Kevin D. Hammel.
I don't own these characters. Please don't sue me, kill me or make me upload chapters to FanFiction.net without checking them.
"REPORT: SIMULATIONS COMPLETE. PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS 99.94%"
"COMMAND: EXECUTE PHASE III"
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Several locations around the world, tractor-trailers that have been parked in long-term storage lots popped their roofs open. Cruise missiles of a custom built design roared out with conventional warheads. They were targeting satellite dishes that controlled most of the communication and weather satellites including many for the American National Security Agency.
New antenna dishes appeared in warehouses ready to take control of the satellites. In a span of five minutes, almost all communication from earth to orbit was under remote control.
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"Mr. President, we have a situation." The secret service just got a call from the FBI that the president was in danger. The agents had to move him to a secure location. The U.S. President told the luncheon he was attending that he had something come up. He waved at the crowd as he was escorted off stage. In minutes he was in the presidential motorcade on the way to the airport to board Air Force One.
"What's the situation?" The president asked his lead bodyguard.
"We have a reliable report that a terrorist may have a nuclear device in Dallas."
The president was worried. He was in Dallas.
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The Brotherhood of America got a report from their friend that Air Force One was going to take off from Dallas International Airport in thirty minutes. They finally had their chance to take action against the hated U.S. government. The Stinger missiles they had obtained from an online friend were packed in crates in the back of the pickup truck they were riding. They took a position in the tall grass and got the missiles ready. Their friend must have had some serious connections in the U.S. government; he knew far too many details about the president's movements to be an outside entity.
Thirty minutes later, right on time, Air Force One taxied on the runway and began its takeoff. Two Stingers, seeking the heat of the engines on each wing knocked the plane out of the sky and it crashed behind them on a small neighborhood. The men jumped into their truck and drove off, preparing for the manhunt that was going to follow them.
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"Comrade, we have gotten word that the U.S. is launching a first strike against us!" The Russian radio operator was freaking out. Tensions between the U.S. and Russia were bad, but he never dreamed it would come to this.
The commander had been waiting for this day for over twenty years. He hated it when the cold war ended. He was raised on a steady diet of propaganda that dictated that the U.S. was a country that must be destroyed. He saw his chance.
He commanded a small phalanx of long range SS-18 and SS-19 nuclear tipped missiles. Each missile had six to ten warheads with a yield of five hundred and fifty kilotons per warhead. More than enough to punish the U.S. "Target our missiles and return fire. We will make sure the U.S. fears the Russian military might!"
He contacted Russian air defense and they confirmed the order. He gave the command and the missiles were launched. Russian defense never actually confirmed the order. The landline from the field outpost had been severed and a small electronic box gave the confirmation.
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Pakistan's military got reports that India had just invaded Kashmir. At the same time, India got reports that Pakistan had just invaded Kashmir. The resulting clash resulted with India firing a tactical nuclear weapon on the advancing troops. Pakistan retaliated with a Ghauri-1 strike on New Delhi. Both sides then sent everything they had on the population centers.
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Ukyou was cleaning up the stove when the baseball game she had on the TV was interrupted. "Good day, we interrupt this broadcast to bring you this bulletin. We have reports of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan. I repeat there is a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan."
Ukyou looked at the TV in shock. Konatsu watched as well, "It's good that something like that won't happen here."
Ukyou smacked him with her spatula, "You forgot what the Americans did in World War II didn't you?"
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"Confidence is high. We have multiple launches originating from Siberia." The radar technician called out. "About twenty to thirty inbounds. Confidence is high. They are crossing the arctic and will reach American airspace in fifteen minutes. Most are targeting the eastern seaboard."
SAC/NORAD got the message and confirmed the launches. They attempted to contact the president and found that he had just been assassinated. The vice-president, distraught over the death of his longtime friend ordered a full-scale retaliatory strike in the heat of the moment and placed the United States into a full state of war.
Several people in the command room started to break down, they had a job to do. "Order the Minutemen to launch and get the bombers in the air."
B2 and B52 squadrons were scrambled; they were airborne in less than twenty minutes. The B52's carried two hundred kiloton Air Launched Cruise Missiles. They were on the way to cities and military bases in the Middle East, Cuba, Russia and China. The B2's carried B61 and B83 gravity bombs with megaton plus warheads going after hardened command centers.
The SAC Commander gave the order he would not live long enough to regret. The full-scale strike against the targets was confirmed. They took the target list file and uploaded it to the Minutemen and began the countdown. The file had been altered.
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"Are you sure?" Asked the North Korean military commander.
His aid confirmed the news, "Yes, the United States is under attack from the Russian Federation. They will not be in any condition to interfere."
"It's time, get the army to move on the South. We will finally unify Korea!"
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Cologne was serving a bowl a ramen when the dish cracked. Then a tree branch broke, then a window cracked, "Mousse, close the restaurant."
Shampoo asked, "Great-grandmother? What's wrong?"
Cologne ignored her; she rapidly turned off the stoves and put everything away. Mousse closed and locked the front door after shooing away the customers by telling them their meals were on the house.
"We are going downstairs Shampoo."
"Why Great-grandmother?" Shampoo was a little scared with the seriousness on Cologne's face.
"Because I said so." They all went down to the underground storage room and sealed the door tight. The building was constructed during World War II. It had a bomb shelter.
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"We are in launch mode."
"Order has been confirmed."
"I concur."
"Insert keys."
"Turn on the count of three... two.. one..."
"Minuteman III systems go."
"Launch."
The silo in a Kansas cornfield slid its cover open. A blast plume announced the payload erupting slowly at first, and then it gathered speed as it gained altitude. One mile north, another silo popped open. Then another. Then another.
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A small boy was walking with his father on the way to school outside of Kansas City Missouri. "What's that daddy? They look neat." He saw lines of smoke rising into the air all around them.
The father, a retired Air Force mechanic watched the plumes rise into the air. He stood in horror as he realized what they were. "Oh, FUCK ME!" He grabbed his son and ran as fast as he could home. He knew they had only thirty minutes or less to live.
"Daddy? What's fuck?"
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In the western pacific, off the coast of China, an Ohio class submarine was given orders straight from the Vice-President. Honolulu had been hit. They were given orders to fire their entire payload of Trident missiles at China. The coordinates were fed directly into the missiles targeting computers and the sub went to launch depth. The captain made a silent prayer and confirmed the order. He had heard that China was going to invade Taiwan, but didn't think the U.S. was going to use a nuclear strike to defend it.
The captain sat in silence as all the missiles, one by one, left their silos. Once the tubes were empty, he gave command to the sub to his first officer and went to his cabin. He pulled out a picture of his family. They lived in Honolulu. He pulled out his sidearm and joined his family.
The captain didn't know that only half the missiles went to China. The rest were retargeted to Japan and Taiwan.
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Russian defense was working overtime. They were in panic since one of their field commanders had launched twenty-two SS-18 and five SS-19 missiles at the United States. All communication lines were cut from headquarters and the regional commander. They didn't know the lines were under control from someone else.
The radar map showed over one hundred American ICBM launches from bases in Europe and the northern U.S. "May our children forgive us." He gave the order to strike back.
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Los Angeles California, small vans were driving along the congested freeways. Precisely timed, all the vans driven by white skinned cloaked men wheeled over to the side of the road and over three thousand small mortars were launched carrying VX nerve gas.
Mamoru heard popping sounds outside his hotel window. It sounded like fireworks were going off all over the city. He went to the window and saw a small cloud of smoke over the small outdoor shopping mall below. He glanced at the people below and saw them fall over in an expanding circle.
Mamoru felt a sense of danger and transformed into Tuxedo Mask. He ran to the bathroom and turned on the hot water in the tub. He shut and locked the bathroom door and shoved a wet towel under the door. He had heard of what a chemical attack would look like and he was not taking any chances. He dunked his top hat into the water in the tub and used it as a poor man's gas mask. He jumped into the tub and submerged his body. He hoped it would be enough.
In a span of three hours, 90% of the population, human or otherwise died a horrible slow toxic death. This was repeated in numerous South American cities with high population densities.
Los Angeles was special. The city was spared a nuclear attack for a reason. The survivors were going to face a new nightmare soon.
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Usagi was reading the latest issue of her favorite manga. Her communicator beeped. She ignored it for a few minutes. "Ok, Ok, I'm here, what's so important?"
Sailor Mercury was on the line. She was totally angry that Moon took so long to answer. "Transform to Sailor Moon. Come over to my place RIGHT NOW!"
"Huh? What gives?" An air raid siren started its shrill call across the city of Tokyo.
"No time to talk. Get Luna and come here NOW! No excuses Moon!" She cut off the signal.
"Man, I can't have any time to myself. Luna!" Usagi took a minute looking around for Luna.
"Usagi! Come down here!" Usagi's mother sounded frantic. Usagi went downstairs and found her family huddled in front of the TV.
"They just bombed New York City!" Shingo had a look of horror on his face.
"What does that mean? What's going on?" Usagi didn't really listen to her brother. She was busy looking for Luna.
Usagi's dad was stone faced, "Russia and the U.S. are blowing each other up! It started when the U.S. president was assassinated. It's really crazy."
"What does that have anything to do with us?" Usagi saw Luna. She was with her parents watching the TV.
"WHAT! Are you blind Usagi! Millions of people just died in the last few minutes!" Shingo was amazed at how clueless his sister can be sometimes.
Usagi just froze at that thought. She was told how bad the end of the world was but to actually see it happen was another matter entirely. Luna nudged against Usagi and made a meow. Luna then started pushing Usagi out of the room. Her family didn't notice her leaving; they were focused on the TV.
"We have to group with the others." Luna said.
"I was looking for you Luna, Mercury told me to go to her place with you." Usagi spoke very slowly; she couldn't accept what was happening around her. The air raid siren started again.
Luna jumped on Usagi and placed her paws on her face, "Transform and let's get to Mercury's house."
Usagi ran outside and behind a bush, transformed into Sailor Moon and ran with Luna on her back as fast as she could. She blocked out the sound of the air raid siren from her mind.
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The International space station's crew saw a flash on Earth. They went to the cabin windows and saw another flash on Earth, this time in Canada. The Commander got on the comlink. "Houston, we have seen what appeared to be a large asteroid impact in Canada. Houston, come in."
Another flash appeared, this time in Texas. An astronaut by window turned to the commander, "Sir, that was Houston."
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Sailor Moon was running at top speed to Mercury's house. Everywhere she went, she saw the panicked faces of people running everywhere. There was complete chaos in the streets. She was in hell. Numerous people tried to flag down Sailor Moon. Some mothers tried to give her their children in a desperate attempt to have them escape the city. Traffic accidents were on every block. People were fighting over meaningless things. The police were nowhere to be found, they had abandoned their posts to be with their families.
Sailor Moon just wanted to go home, jump into bed, and pretend this was not happening. She couldn't help them. She just kept running. She wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. She had to go on. Luna depended on her. The Sailor Scouts needed her. She had to make it. She thought of Mamoru. She hoped he was safe.
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Ryoga was helping Akari feed the pigs. Usually Ryoga just wanted to be as far from any pork product as possible. Now, he had Mrs. Akari Hibiki with him and the last week has been the happiest he has even been in his entire life. She playfully waved a bucket of water at Ryoga and splashed it at him. He dodged and dumped his bucket on Akari who got soaked. They laughed and walked hand in hand to the well. Ryoga sat on the edge of the well while Akari lowered a bucket inside.
Grandfather heard a distant air raid siren go off and turned on the TV to see what was going on. The news reports kept coming in as if a nightmare was being lived out in a compressed form. The newscaster was noticeably looking anxious and frustrated when he was being handed news reports every few seconds. "Israel launched Jericho missiles at its neighbors. Kansas City, Houston and Dallas were hit with nuclear weapons. This just in, Beijing was hit with a nuclear bomb. Chemical weapon attack has occurred in Los Angeles. Zaire has attacked Congo with ground troops. Poison gas attack in Chechnya. Nuclear strikes have been confirmed in Moscow, London, Paris, Mexico City and Yokohama."
Yokohama! Grandfather realized what that meant. Those idiots were shooting at every major city and not just each other. That was why the air raid sirens were going off. Grandfather thought, they were far from Tokyo, but not far enough. He heard a rumbling. He went to the window and looked in the direction of Yokohama. He saw darkness in the sky. It was not a natural darkness.
Grandfather ran to the back door. "Akari! Ryoga! Get inside RIGHT NOW!" The suddenness of Grandfathers actions and the sheer volume of grandfathers voice startled Ryoga and he fell backwards into the well. A splash later, P-Chan was swimming at the bottom. Akari bent over the well wall, "Oh Ryoga, I'll get you out. Be more careful." She released the winch and dropped the bucket to the bottom of the well. P-Chan swam aside to avoid the bucket from hitting him on the head.
P-Chan looked up to the silhouette of his wife and saw a flash. She was gone. P-Chan's eyes were blinded and he dove under the water to help ease the pain he felt. An earth-shattering boom reverberated and an earthquake hit the well. The top of the well got sealed off and it went dark. P-Chan went unconscious.
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Ranma and Akane already had gotten the message from Mercury and transformed into Sailors Sun and Io. Sun beamed the two of them to Mercury's place. Traffic was jammed so Sun beamed herself to the home of the Outers and had to shuttle each one to Mercury's home to get them there quickly.
The other Inners arrived on foot except for Sailor Moon. Sailor Mars was frustrated, "It figures that she would be late in this time of crisis."
Pluto suggested the plan. "We've got to go somewhere safe and ride this out. We are no good to anyone if we're dead."
All the other Senshi froze at the thought that they were not safe in Juuban. "Where can we go?"
Sun thought about it. "My space station! It's orbiting the sun and there is no way they could reach it to blow it up."
Jupiter agreed, "That's the perfect place. Let's go!"
Mars interjected, "We need Moon for us to be able to teleport."
"Take my daughter!" Neptune shoved Saturn towards Sun.
"O.K. You first." Sun grabbed Saturn and beamed out.
"Thank you." Sailor Neptune whispered. She was happy that her daughter is now safe.
In a moment, Sun appeared, "Who's next?" She jumped Neptune who was the closest to her and beamed out again.
Mercury was amazed, "That was quick. It takes light eight minutes to travel to the sun. She can travel faster than light!"
Pluto looked at the crowd, "Sun is more powerful than all of us combined. She just doesn't know it yet. It will take decades of training to fully use her powers."
The others were impressed, they knew Sun was powerful, but they thought she had already reached her peak.
Mars was impatient, "Where's Moon?"
Outside, there was a flash on the horizon. It was very far away, but there was no doubt as to what it was.
"Oh, my god!" Venus put her hands over her mouth and started to tremble.
Sun flashed in. "Next!" She grabbed Io and flashed out.
"How many times can she do that?" Asked Jupiter.
Uranus shrugged, "Io would know, too bad she just left."
Moon huffed and puffed and stumbled into the room. She was distraught. Her eyes were glazed and she looked like a car had hit her. It looked like the car had backed up and finished the job.
Mars took the initiative and grabbed Moon and Venus's hand. "Let's go!"
Moon was in tears, "Go where?"
Mars shouted, "Sailor Sun's space station. We have no time!"
The other Inners formed the circle to do the Sailor teleport. Sun flashed in the middle of the circle. She was getting tired. She ducked under the girl's arms and grabbed Pluto by the leg and flashed out again.
Luna and Artemis looked at each other. "Can you take us with you?" Luna was not thrilled about hitching a ride on Sailor Sun as much as Sailor Sun was not happy to be around cats.
"Get in the circle." Venus gestured them over. Sailor Moon looked like a zombie, she had stared at the face of death. Mars yelled at Moon, "CONCENTRATE!" Moon closed her eyes and grimaced her face. Luna and Artemis jumped into the circle. Moon concentrated on Sailor Sun's space station. The scouts beamed out.
The cats were left behind exactly where they were. "I guess that shoots down that idea." Artemis gulped. A thunderclap was heard. Faint, but noticeable, it came from the horizon in the direction of the flash.
Uranus was getting very nervous. Sun had been gone for a long time. Sailor Sun flashed in and then fell over onto the floor. "Great." Uranus went over to Sun and slapped her. "Wake up!"
Sun groaned, and opened her eyes. "Oh, yeah." She looked and saw the cats remaining without the other scouts. "Oh man."
Sun stood up and used all of her courage. Those cats were members of the team. She had to keep control. She closed her eyes and held her arms out. "You two, get on me now!" Luna and Artemis glanced at each other as if this were a really bad idea.
Uranus moved towards the cats, "You heard her! Get on board!"
The two cats landed in Sun's outstretched arms and she held them tight. The look of panic on her face was obvious. She flashed out.
"I hope she doesn't drop them somewhere along the way." Uranus worried.
What seemed like an eternity, Uranus sat on Mercury's bed. Waiting for a rescue or a really big bang. A flash appeared and a very woozy Sailor Sun stood before her.
"Ahh abod te boos" was all she could mutter. Uranus understood it meant to grab on. She did and they flashed out again.
The door opened to the empty room and Ami's mother came in with a tray of cookies. She looked around the very messy room wondering where all of Ami's friends went. She looked out the window and saw the cloud far away. She had never felt more frightened before in her entire life.
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"Wake up Sun!" Sailor Io had dragged the body of Sailor Sun to a nearby window. The glass was darkened so that the brightness of the sun wouldn't instantly blind anyone looking outside. The view of the sun was spectacular. Io had hoped that exposing Sun to sunlight would speed up her recovery from the teleportation she had done.
"Hi Io, nice seeing you here." Sun felt energy flowing through her from her source of power. She got up and took a look around. She saw all the Senshi looking at her with deep concern. Sun had overexerted herself and they had hoped that it had not done any permanent harm.
"Oh, O.K. We are all here." Sun regained her balance and stood up.
Immediately all the inner Senshi begged for Sun to go back and rescue their families, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Io and Venus all at the same time pleaded for Sun to get their parents. Parents! Sun gave a look of surprise, "I'll be back in a minute." She flashed out.
Moon collapsed in a heap, "Mamoru! Please be ok!"
Uranus and Neptune were in a corner holding Saturn. Uranus saw the sadness and the hopelessness on the Inner's faces. Uranus felt blessed that her family was safe.
Pluto sat in a corner sulking. She failed. She completely failed.
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Ukyou heard the thunderclap. She froze in fear. Konatsu ran to the front of the restaurant and saw nothing. He stood outside and saw down the street a rising cloud in the direction of Yokohama. "Mistress, we need to hide."
Ukyou saw that the TV was filled with static. The power went off. "What's happening?"
Konatsu tossed off his kimono and was in a stealth ninja outfit complete with katana. "Mistress, we need to find shelter."
Ukyou stood frozen in shock. She had no idea what to do. She thought of Ranma. She hoped that he was safe. Konatsu jumped the counter and snatched Ukyou and ran with her in his arms to the back room. He slammed the door and placed large cans of food to block it. He grabbed a flashlight, turned it on and left it on the shelf to give some light.
Konatsu sat next to his frozen mistress. They both sat there in the darkness, waiting for who knows what.
"Please, hold me." Ukyou begged.
Konatsu held her.
The room became white. It was over quickly.
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Sailor Sun teleported into the courtyard of the Tendo dojo. She was very dizzy, and had to lean against the brick wall that bordered the property to keep from passing out. She looked around and regained her focus. She yelled out, "MOTHER!"
"Ranma? Is that you?" Nodoka appeared in the second story window from her bedroom. She had a look of joy on her face.
"Mom! Come to me NOW!" Sun started to walk to the house, she was out of energy to run. She knew she didn't have much time.
A strobe light went off. Sun covered her eyes as the house brightened and caused her to lose her direction. She stood for a second and looked up seeing the upper floor of the house engulfed in flames. Her mother was not visible in the window anymore.
"MOM!" Screamed Sun at the top of her lungs and with all her effort she started to move toward the house. A roar as if the hammer of god had just struck next door came crashing down and deafened Sailor Sun. She saw the upper floor of the house fly off and disintegrate in the howling wind. Sun was flattened to the ground by the pressure wave and everything went dark. "Forgive me."
Author's Notes: Please review my story. It makes me feel oh so happy and keeps me from making that bump in the night sound you hear at midnight.
This was one of the most difficult chapters I had to write. Sadly, the weapons described in this chapter are real. We as human beings have created great works of art and beauty. We also have created things that the negaverse wished they had. Let us pray that this never really happens and stays a work of fiction.
Last edited on October 11, 2002