Independence Day: Chapter 6, They Prepare.
by
Rebecca Ann Heineman
Based on the film "Independence Day" By Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, Ranma 1/2 and the characters therein are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. 801 T.T.S. Airbats characters created by Shimizu Toshimitsu.
I don't own these characters. Please don't sue me, kill me or run me over with a steamroller.
July 2nd, Afternoon.
"C'mon son, get in the car." Hiroshi's father called out as he tossed the
last suitcase on the top of the car.
The main lobby of the Inn of the Antique Doll was full of people trying
to check in. There were shouts and screams as the rowdy mob was getting
frustrated at being turned away from every hotel in town.
Nabiki walked past the frazzled hotel employees with her bags under her
arms straight through the area to the stairways to her second floor room.
She unlocked her door, threw her bags on the bed, locked the door then
turned on the TV. She was worried how things were going on back in Tokyo.
An American newscaster was on TV talking about a helicopter with lights
was going to talk to the visitors. "... of the ship. The helicopter will
hover with this visual aid and attempt to communicate." The girl on TV
stopped talking and listened to her earpiece for a moment. "We've got a
feed." She waved her hand to someone off camera. The screen changed to a
cockpit view of a news helicopter following a trio of American Army
helicopters.
The newscaster in the chase helicopter started talking in a soft voice. A
Japanese translator spoke to give the non-English speaking viewers the
whole story. "We're hovering in front of the entrance to the ship. It
appears that they are getting ready to start."
The Tendo sister got up from the bed to unpack her things. She held a
deep worry that things were not going to turn out how Kasumi imagined it.
She unzipped her gym bag to remove her toiletries. She put them in the
tiny bathroom. The voice on the TV grew excited. "Wait a second.
Something's going on."
Nabiki poked her head out of the bathroom to watch the TV. The scene
showed the flat face of the ship bathed in an eerie green light. The news
anchor gave his commentary from his seat in the chopper. "They're opening
up. I think they're greeting us. This is Washington news bringing you
exclusive footage of what appears to be first contact with an alien race.
This is an exciting time in human history."
Nabiki grew nervous. She ran to her purse and yanked out her cell phone
so fast that it flew from her hands onto the floor. "Damn!" She lurched
forward to pick it up. She dialed her home in Nerima with urgency.
"C'mon, ring will you."
The phone spoke a message in reply. "All circuits are busy. Please check
the number and dial again or call the operator for assistance."
Nabiki hit the 'end' button. She turned back to the TV. "What I'm seeing
seems to be a hatch or docking bay door. I can't describe how big it is.
It's maybe five hundred yards tall and a mile wide. What do you think?"
The helicopter pilot shrugged his shoulders in answer to the newscasters
rhetorical question. "Can you zoom in on that?" The camera zoomed the
view into the green glow that overpowered the scene directly ahead.
Several black dots from flying disks were hovering inside the giant alien
made chasm. "What are those?"
The pilot of the lead alien vessel watched the human aircraft with
disgust. He thought to his friends. "What a waste of energy. Look at how
they use a rotating array of blades to support their craft when
anti-gravity could do that for only a tiny fraction of the power
consumption. Primitive."
The other two occupants of the ship sent their agreement telepathically
to their friend. The second alien turned to the first. "I'm bored. Let's
get rid of them."
The third thought his concern. "We haven't gotten the signal to begin
yet."
The first adjusted the power distribution to the weapons. "These craft
are of no concern. They are too close to the shield anyways. Have fun."
The second grabbed the weapons control. "Can I?" He charged the guns.
"Why not? Fire at will."
Nabiki dialed Kasumi's cell phone number. "Please pick up."
The TV zoomed in on what looked like a small UFO and held it steady in
the center of the screen. A flash of light appeared on the right of the
picture then the cameraman slid the image over to the UFO that shot a
green bolt of energy. The UFO fired again then a loud explosion was heard
off camera. "What the hell?" The news chopper shook from a concussion
wave causing the picture to bounce around. "They just shot out the
lights! There's got to be a misunderstanding going on here." Another
explosion occurred when the second Army helicopter was blasted out of the
sky.
Nabiki gasped at the carnage being displayed on live TV. She dropped her
cell phone and held her fingers to her lips. "Oh, please god. No.
Please... No..." She fell to her knees with tears streaming from her
eyes. "Please don't let me be right. I beg you god. Please make me
wrong." She hunched forward listening to the news.
"Get us out of here!" The camera panned to the final Army helicopter who
was banking away from the falling remains of the destroyed aircraft.
Another volley of green death flew out from the UFO striking the last
helicopter's cockpit burning the crew and blasting the craft into small
fragments. "This is Washington news live fro..." The TV's screen filled
with static while the Japanese narrator finished the translation.
The TV changed to a picture of a news room in NNN24 news. "It appears we
have lost picture. This is NNN24, it seems that the aliens were provoked
somehow. We're getting more information and will pass it on as soon as we
get it."
Nabiki screamed at the TV. "They're going to attack you IDIOTS! Why
doesn't anyone listen!"
Ranko sat in the couch munching on a bag of chips watching an animated TV
show. The picture switched to a live news feed. "Hello."
Ranko grabbed the remote control and switched channels. She was greeted
with the same TV news feed on every station. "Ah man. And they were just
getting to the good part."
Nodoka peeked out of the kitchen. "Breakfast will be ready in a few
minutes Ranko."
"Great. I'm starving."
"Ranko, could you call Akane to breakfast?"
"Sure Auntie." She cupped her hands over her face to shout upstairs. "Yo
Akane! Breakfast's almost ready."
Nodoka came out of the kitchen with a plastic tray with rice balls on it.
"Ranko, that's not the way I expected you to call your cousin. Now go
upstairs and bring her down like the good girl you're supposed to be."
Ranko got up to go upstairs when the scene on TV caught her attention.
She raised the volume on the TV. "It's confirmed. Twelve dead with four
on the ground. Five helicopters were shot down in some sort of terrible
tragedy."
"Hey Mom... Er... Auntie, something's happening on TV."
"Mom?" Nodoka smiled at the statement. "Whatever it is, it can wait until
after breakfast. Now, please call your cousin down."
"Alright." Ranko went up the stairs keeping her ears focused on listening
to what the TV had to say. She stopped at Akane's bedroom door and
knocked on the little wooden duck that bore her name in English letters.
"Akane! Open up."
No response came from the room. Ranko knocked again. "Are you still mad
from yesterday? C'mon open up." Silence greeted her. She timidly turned
the knob to open door. She raised her arm above her head to defend
herself from an incoming mallet strike. The door swung open to reveal a
bedroom minus one uncute tomboy. "Great, where is she?"
Ranko took a step back into the hallway and turned to the bathroom down
the hall. "Ah ha!" She walked over to the bathroom door and froze just
when she about to open it. She mentally scolded herself for almost giving
Akane a perfect excuse to send her into lunar orbit. She knocked on the
door. "Yo Akane! You in there?" Once again silence was her only
companion. "Akane?" A muffled sound came from inside the room. "Is that
you Akane? Anyways, breakfast is ready so come on down if you want
anything." Ranko turned on her heels and went back downstairs.
Nodoka opened the backyard door to get in to fresh air. She looked up
into the sky to look at the giant disc hovering over downtown Tokyo. She
stood steadfast as she noticed the flurry of activity in the sky above.
Dozens of helicopters and light planes were flying in all directions
while some looked like they were about to collide with one another. "I
wish those people were more careful." Nodoka leaned against the doorframe
and began to shed a tear. "I wish my son were here."
Ranko stopped shoveling rice balls into her mouth when she heard her
mother's plea. She slowly turned to face her. "Auntie Saotome?"
Nodoka popped out of her trance from the sound of the voice of her
favorite Tendo. "Yes, my child?"
"You miss him? Don't you?" Ranko turn her eyes downward to the table.
The Saotome matriarch needed down at the breakfast table placing her
hands on her thighs. "Yes. I miss him very much."
Ranko had to say something. She couldn't sit by while her mother needed
her in this moment of crisis. "He misses you too."
"He does? Does he talk about me?"
Ranko brightened up at the thought of talking to her mother in the third
person. "Oh yes. He talks about you all the time."
"What does he say?" Nodoka's was holding on to every work Ranko uttered
as if it was the only way she would ever see her long lost son.
"He says he wants to meet you and to be with you and uh..."
"Ranko, please tell me." She held out her hand to Ranko's shoulder. "Why
doesn't he come? You've given him my address haven't you?"
"He's got his reasons Auntie. He just... He... Uh..." Ranko tried to find
words to express her sadness. "He wants to show how manly he is."
"But why Ranko? Why not now? What could possibly be the reason that he
won't see me now? He should be almost seventeen, handsome, strong, and
very brave. How could he not be a man among men?" Nodoka eyes glazed over
as she imagined an image of her perfect son. She sniffed at the picture
in her mind. "Why won't he come home?"
"Auntie, believe me when I say that your son wants nothing more than to
come home." Ranko grabbed her mother and held her tight. "Oh mom. I want
to come home."
Nodoka felt a warm rush as she imagined that she was being held by her
lost son. "Oh Ranko, you're already home." She lifted a hand to hold
Ranko's chin. "If it makes you feel better, you can call me mom."
Ranko shivered. "I... I'm sorry Auntie." She release her mother and spun
around. "I didn't mean to say..." Her words were cut off as her mother
held her again from behind.
"Ranko, don't worry. We're all under a little stress right now." She
snuggled next to the red haired girl. "Sometimes I wish I had a daughter.
Because if I did, I would have wanted her to be just like you."
Ranko wanted to confess right then and there. She exerted her soul of ice
technique to keep herself calm and collected and keep from breaking down
into a torrent of tears. "Mom. I've got something I've got to tell you."
"What?" Nodoka was worried for her pseudo daughter. "What do you need to
tell me?"
Ranko tapped her fingers together in nervous anticipation. "It's uh..."
An air raid siren erupted outside. A scream was heard in the distance. A
car hitting the brakes then skidding out came from the other side of the
house. Ranko and her mother turned to the TV as the scene changed to a
newsroom. "For those tuning in. We've got word that the White House in
Washington D.C. is being evacuated. We've gotten an alert for a general
evacuation order has been issued for the city of Tokyo. The Emperor is
now leaving his palace with his wife." A paper was handed to the
newscaster. "We've got a report of the kremlin in Moscow is being
evacuated." The newscaster faced the camera. "People of Japan, please
leave Tokyo at once. Please leave in a safe and courteous manner. We will
stay on the air continuously until this crisis passes."
"What's happening?" Ranko turned to Nodoka. "What if Nabiki's right?"
Ukyou flipped another breakfast okonomiyaki for her customer. "That'll be
six hundred yen please." She made change for her customer and gave him
his breakfast. "Thanks for coming."
She had a booming business in the small park near her restaurant. The
center of the grassy area had a perfect view of the gigantic mothership
that attracted hundreds of people holding signs welcoming the aliens.
Ukyou took an order from another hungry tourist. "One pork okonomiyaki
comin' right up." She gave her patented smile then poured the batter on
her griddle.
Ukyou sighed as she laid the thin strips of pork next to the pancake to
cook. "Ranchan, I wish you were here with me." She smiled at the warm
thought of her Ranchan cooking alongside her. He would make an excellent
waitress with his curse or he could just act as her bodyguard in case the
crowd got rough. She filled her mind with happy thoughts of Ranma sharing
his life with her.
Her happiness was interrupted by a radio news broadcast in the pastry
cart next to hers. "We've got a report that the mission to talk with the
visitors has failed." An air raid siren blared across the landscape.
Ukyou wrapped up cooking her customer's meal quickly. "Here ya go.
That'll be six hundred fifty yen please." The woman gave her a small
handful of coins then bowed in appreciation for her breakfast.
Ukyou leaned over to the cart next to hers. "What's goin' on?"
"They're evacuating Tokyo."
She spun to look in the direction of the Tendo home. "Ranchan!"
Cologne looked up at the underside of the massive vessel overhead. She
felt a chill in her soul as the winds changed direction. "Mousse, get
over here."
Mousse put down the twenty liter bottle of water he was using to refill
the ramen pot. "Yes?"
Cologne grabbed a paper cup, filled it with water and splashed the
martial artist with it. "Quack!"
She grabbed the duck by the neck speaking to it as if disciplining a
child. "Mousse, fly to the Cat Cafe. Do NOT go anywhere else if you value
you life. Make sure Shampoo stays there. Understand?"
Mousse was excited that he was going to be with his love. He made a happy
quack.
"Good. Now fly!" She threw him like a football to give him a boost in
speed. She looked at the ramen cart and decided that the loss of the cart
was acceptable. She hopped as fast as she could away from the base of the
Tokyo Tower where the two Amazons had set up shop. She hoped that she had
enough time to get home. The signs around her were multiplying and they
were all bad omens.
"All circuits are busy. Please..." Nabiki hit the redial button once
again cursing the gods who mock her. She read the digits on the LCD
screen of her cell phone to verify that she was calling her sister and
not some random person on the street. The phone beeped as a connection
was made. The short haired girl held the phone to her ear listening to it
ring. "C'mon Kasumi, pick up."
Kasumi walked alongside the street among the throngs of people who were
all walking briskly the other way. Most of the people were laden down
with bags, suitcases and other supplies. Very few people were walking in
the same direction as the eldest Tendo daughter. Kasumi paused as she
thought she heard a tone coming from her purse. She fumbled around and
produced the cell phone Nabiki gave her. She tried to remember how to
answer it.
She pushed the largest button on a hunch. "Hello?"
"Kasumi! Is that you?" Came the frantic voice on the other end.
"Why yes it's me. Is this Nabiki?" Kasumi was a pillar of calm in a storm
of humanity around her. The people started running faster away from the
center of the ship.
"Kasumi, please listen to me. They're going to attack. Get out of the
city right now!"
"Why do you think that? You know that they wouldn't do that."
"Kasumi! They just shot down some helicopters in America. They've killed
some people."
"Oh, are you sure? Maybe it was just a misunderstanding."
"Sis! Listen to me. Get out!"
Kasumi sighed at how distrustful her sister was. She looked up into the
belly of the ship and saw a blue glow begin to emerge. "You have to look
at them with different eyes. They're here on a mission of peace."
"No they're not!" Nabiki was getting frantic trying to get her sister to
see things her way. "It's a takeover!"
"You're overreacting. They've created things that we can only dream of.
How could they want to destroy when they can build. Imagine what we can
build together when we cast off our old ideas and embrace peace and
harmony."
"KASUMI! Listen to yourself."
Above her, eight massive doors slowly dropped downward looking like a
beautiful glowing light blue flower blooming in the undercarriage of the
ship. Shortly thereafter, a electric humming sound filled the air. At the
absolute center of the ship, a giant spire started moving downward like a
needle in a sewing machine. Eight bars of dark brown metal slid toward
the lowering spire and emitted particles of blue energy that coalesced at
the lower tip of the spire. The light glowed brighter as the doors opened
fully and the bars stopped when they almost collided with the spire.
"Sis, I think they are going to project their message of peace to us."
Kasumi smiled as she watched what she thought was a hologram projector
begin its transmission. A bright blue beam burst from the tip of the
crystalline rod onto the ground.
Nabiki was in sheer terror. On TV there was a live broadcast of the ship
over Washington D.C. It's spire sent a beam of energy into the White
House. The windows brightened as flames blew the furniture out the
windows. "KASUMI! KASUMI!"
A ball of blue plasma rode down the carrier beam into the Imperial Palace
of the Emperor of Japan. In seconds the building was shattered like it
was made of matchsticks and was replaced with a massive wall of fire.
Kasumi grew a bead of sweat on her brow as a wall of flame traveled down
the street hurling cars, buildings and people from the street into the
air and consuming them in a hailstorm.
Nabiki eye's were full of tears as she heard the last thing Kasumi said
in her prematurely ended life. "Oh my..."
Author's Notes: Please review my story. It makes me feel oh so happy and I would eternally continue to write fanfiction.
Last edited on March 16th, 2003