Career Opportunities Chapter 2 GXP cross, formerly untitled

[LawOhki]

“We've entered hyperspace jump, all systems performing within tolerance.” Cohen reported.

Ranma let the strangely mundane detail of using technology that would take decades for his planet to reach, go by, in favor of opening the thin folder he had been given by Minaho. The outside was a blue green color, with a row of elliptical gold leaves haphazardly running down the right side of the front, and the left side of the back.

Like the application for the Galaxy Police, it was only two pages, the difference being this had a lot more information on it. Detailing who he was, where he was from, related family members, and even physical information for both his forms. 'Huh? How'd they get my sizes?' He wondered, wasn't like someone had come around with a tape measure.

“What are you three doing? Get back to your posts immediately!” The Captain demanded, and Ranma became aware of three forms hovering over top of him. Looking up he found all three of the crew members glaring bloody murder at him.

“What have you done with our Ranma-sama?” Barry asked, leaning in far too close.

“Ranma--- sama?” He snorted, these three were the only ones who didn't know about the curse. Mitoto had been filled in when she had returned to the group on the Mikagami, and the Captain had found out shortly after. “I'm the only Ranma here, probably the only one for a billion kilometers.” He decided to take the direct approach, with any luck, he would never see these three idiots again.

“Liar! Ranma-sama is beautiful, and brave, and most definitely not a man!” Alan yelled in his face.

“If you three don't get back to your post I'm going to have you cleaning the toilets till you're old and gray!” The Captain appeared behind the three and yelled into their ears. In a show of speed Ranma barely caught, the trio ran back to the seats at the front. “Honestly.” Giving a firm tug at the bottom of his jacket, the Captain stormed back to his seat.

Ignoring the three murderous glances, Ranma leaned back in his seat, and crossing his arms over the imigration papers, he tried to take a nap. With how the stars were blurring by outside, he was getting a headache. He also half wished that this was all a dream that he would wake up from.

“Ranma-kun.” A pleasant feminine voice interuppted his nap.

“Go way Sumi.” He twisted away from the hand prodding his shoulder.

“Ranma-kun, we're here.”

“Where?” Grumbling over the injustice of having such a wonderful nap having to end, he sat up straight, and blinked the sleep from his eyes.

“Docking system access complete.” Alan reported, and a viewscreen popped up with an average looking man.

“Please transmit welcome code.” The man requested.

Ranma looked past the viewscreen to the outside space, finding a large silver struture going stretching as far as he could see. “What is that?” He and Seina asked together.

“This is the immigration station.” The Captain answered, and Ranma hopped out of his seat to press his face against the glass, to get a better look at the immense structure. “Ah, you should sit down, we'll be docking soon.”

“It's huge!” Seina added, following his lead about the glass. “How big is it?”

“Hmm, to put it in simple terms, a small solar system could easily fit inside of it.” The question was once again answered by the dark skinned man.

Rubbing at his eyes, Ranma decided he must still be dreaming, because what he was seeing could not exist. A viewscreen in the front had displayed the strucutre, three rings, spaced an equal distance from each other, forming a sphere in space. Even knowing the shape of the station, he couldn't comprehend the magnitude of such a place. As their ship closed in to a large open hanger, the size became more and more obvious, the height of the wall they were approaching being far larger than the tallest building he had ever come across.

“Why is it so big?” He asked, his jaw getting sore from gaping.

“This is the immigration hub for one fourth of the galaxy, it also acts a trade center, and office complex. It has to be able to house facilities for billions of worlds.” Mitoto supplied helpfully.

Shooting out from the hanger, was a pair of parallel dashed lines, the blue light guiding them, and into position between two platforms. Unfolding from the platforms, were a dozen arms that connected to the side of the ship, securing it in place. More hoses dropped down from the ceiling, automatically connecting to parts unseen.

“Cargo container has been released, transport of cargo is successful.” Barry announced, the ship bouncing once, before settling into position.

“Setting all systems to stand by mode. We are clear to leave.” Alan added a moment later.

[PCHeintz72]

Hmmm...

following his lead about the glass

I'm not quite sure I understood this right, I think the wording funky. Do you mean Seina had his face to the glass same as Ranma?

It has to be able to house facilities for billions of worlds

I honestly cannot remember if she worded it the same in the show. However, 'billions of worlds' is likely a exaggeration, not to be taken serious, as I doubt there are that many in the galaxy, that has life capable of leaving its solar system, and would want to be at that station.

[LawOhki]

I'm not quite sure I understood this right, I think the wording funky. Do you mean Seina had his face to the glass same as Ranma?

Yes, I'll fix it.

I honestly cannot remember if she worded it the same in the show. However, 'billions of worlds' is likely a exaggeration, not to be taken serious, as I doubt there are that many in the galaxy, that has life capable of leaving its solar system, and would want to be at that station.

There are 2 to 4 hundred billion stars in the milkyway galaxy alone, and that is a small part of a group of many other galaxies in our little corner of the universe. Which is really what Mitoto is talking about. And she did not explain that in the show, I added that in, since there is little to no reason to have a solar system sized structure like that, unless there are a A LOT of people to take care of.

[LawOhki]

“Well, shall we go?” The Captain asked. “I still have to get you two through immigration.”

“Right.” Seina nodded excitedly.

Ranma left the first space ship he had ever been on, out the same door that he had come in on. A gently sloping platform had been raised from the dock, allowing them to walk down from the access door, which was closer to the top. Standing at the bottom of the ramp, was an elderly man with the same skin tone, hair, and eye color as Mitoto. He was standing sternly with his arms cross, and wearing a tan jumpsuit, with orange borders on the arms and legs.

“It looks like you've had emergency repairs made, and for it to still look like this, you must have taken quite a beating.” The man commented, his eyes moving from the ship, to Ranma and Seina. “The new cadets, I presume? I am Kuramitsu Minami, head of the GP. I am currently overseeing the repairs performed on this dock. Hmm.” The man stopped with whatever he was going to say, peering intently at Ranma. “The report said that there was a female cadet, no bother, an error can easily be correct.”

“Phew.” Ranma wiped away some imaginary sweat.

“Names?” Minami asked.

“Yamada Seina.” The short haired boy greeted, bowing his head.

“Saotome Ranma.” He greeted.

“I'm really sorry, it's my fault that the ship was damaged.” Seina apologized, and Ranma noticed that Mitoto was rapidly trying to stealthily side step herself away.

“Nonsense, the crew is fine, and all the cargo has been safely transported. There's no need to worry.” Minami put a reassuring hand on the depressed Seina's shoulder, and Ranma noticed that Mitoto took the chance to tip toe away rapidly. “In a single night, we'll have the ship as good as new.” Minami's eyes shot to the retreating Mitoto. “Where do you think you're going?”

“Eeee-ya!” Mitoto froze midstep, a crane coming down and grabbing her around the waist, and depositing her next to Minami. “I'm sorry, Father!” She apologized, sitting on the floor.

“Well that explains why you look so much alike.” Ranma commented, forgetting the age and gender difference, they were almost identical in looks.

“Alright you two, we should got take care of your immigration process.” The Captain saluted Minami, the elder man nodding in return, with a stiff turn, the dark skinned man walked off briskly.

“Good bye.” Mitoto waved as they left to catch up with the man.

“Later!” He yelled back, catching up to the Captain.

“Bye!” Seina followed a moment later, but after several steps, a hole opened up beneath him, plunging him down into the platform.

“Huh?” Ranma and the Captain both turned around when the motors controlling the docking equipment suddenly started up, releasing the ship, and the overhead hoses flailed wildly in the air. The ship rocked side to side before rising up into the air uncontrollably. Explosions came from the hose entry points, and with a shuddering heave, it dropped down into water tank below.

“THAT'S NOT FAIR!” Ranma yelled at the wave that crashed down on him.

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

The water was added in, in my version.

[Nekomata-sensei]

"That's not fair!"

A line worthy of being repeated, especially with it being a reminder of how this whole mess started. Of course, when has Ranma's life ever been fair? Or life in general for that matter.

I bow in worship to your writing skills LawOhki-sama!

[Gaming Ikari]

Now I have to write more! I thought I had a nice, comfortable lead on you. I thought maybe I could get the edge on you in volume, if not quality. But noooOOooo, you have to keep writing like some foul, thesaurus devouring machine!

In all seriousness, this looks fantastic. As Nekomata pointed out, the echoing of "That's not fair!" was well-planned and drew a chuckle from me. I'm glad to see more progress being made with this and eagerly await the full version of Chapter 2.

[borgrabbit]

You would be more than welcome to come with.”

You would be more than welcome to come with me.”

Wish you could add where Seto finds out about Ranma's Starlight abilities. It may be a cliche situation, but I've never failed completely to enjoy the thought of various reactions, particularly that of men who find that Ranma's primary orientation is male.

[Dumbledork]

I haven't seen the anime, but from what I've read so far it seems that Seina is a real magnet for catastrophes.

Does that mean that everyone who is in his presence will have bad luck?

[PCHeintz72]

I haven't seen the anime, but from what I've read so far it seems that Seina is a real magnet for catastrophes.

Does that mean that everyone who is in his presence will have bad luck?

Within the series... not really. Basically it comes out that while he is together with the (eventually) 4 main female characters, his bad luck is more moderated. Seina, and them, still suffer the bad luck, but it is all balanced out by them pretty much surviving it all, and relatively unscathed. This fact Airi and the GP take advantage of.

If you can somehow watch the first episode, you would see what a disaster his life on earth was before he partnered up with them, and that anyone near him suffered for it, a lot.

[Dumbledork]

If you can somehow watch the first episode, you would see what a disaster his life on earth was before he partnered up with them, and that anyone near him suffered for it, a lot.

Just checked my fansub list and I apparently have all of the GXP episodes (as well as every Tenchi Muyo anime ever produced).

I guess that means I don't have a plausible reason not to watch the series.

[Gaming Ikari]

Just checked my fansub list and I apparently have all of the GXP episodes (as well as every Tenchi Muyo anime ever produced).

I guess that means I don't have a plausible reason not to watch the series.

It's a great show anyway. I mean, it takes Tenchi and adds more spaceships and (at one point) a giant mecha. It even makes the pink-haired fop from the Tench OVAs look badass at one point!

[LawOhki]

A soggy Ranma sat next to the Captain, Seina being banished to sitting perfectly still on the grass in front of them. Everytime the other Earthling would twitch, her attentive eyes would watch every movement. Some how, Seina had activated an access hatch, sending him crashing down on top of a control panel, which immediately after touching the boy, had caused all the dock controls to short circuit.

“Sorry.” Seina apologized for the hundredth time.

They were in a waiting area, a sphered in grassy clearing, at the center of a much larger sphere. Floating randomly throughout the area outside of the waiting area, were bubbles containing groups of people who want privacy or would be waiting a long time, since some were darkened on the outside, and she had seen some with beds.

Ranma wasn't that concerned with the outside area, which while interesting, was a bit too much for her to wrap her mind around. So instead, she focused on the large leafy tree in the center of the waiting area, and the shallow moat of water circling it. Letting her eyes drift from Seina, she caught sight of the space outside of the big sphere, the entire structure being a sort of observatory.

Even the table she was sitting at was super advanced technology, the clean white and round table, floating just off of the ground. The round pedastal like chairs also floated. The Captain reached towards the center of the table, and pushed a button, a viewscreen popping up obediently.

“Would either of you like some food? Even though we're a special case, it may take some time. My treat.”

“Sure.” Ranma's stomach growled at the mention of food.

“Here, select what you want.” Reaching up, the man gripped the viewscreen, and turned it towards her.

“Ya know this is kind of bugging me, but why is everything written in Japanese or English?” Putting a finger to her lips, she pondered what she wanted to get.

“The answer is that it's not, when you look at or interact with viewscreens or keyboards, they automatically sense the language you understand, and display accordingly.”

“Why not just add translations?” Selecting a ramen dish, the food instantly popped into existence directly in front of her, even had a pair of chopsticks sitting convienently across the bowl. “Awesome!”

“Too many languages, even the big widespread languages would fill up this entire tabletop, just to translate hello.”

Shoveling some of the perfectly cooked food into her mouth, she paused. “Uh, so how do you talk to people? You speak good Japanese.”

“I don't.” Raising his hand, the Captain showed off a watch without anything visible to tell time. “This projects a field around me that automatically translates like the viewscreens. There are other ways, but this is one of the simpler and more efficient.”

“Do you mind if I make a phone call?” Seina asked. “I'm hungry, but I would like to call my family first.”

“The phone booth is over there.” The Captain pointed to a gray object through a small group of waiting people. “Remember to use the planet number.”

“Right.” Seina nodded and took off at a brisk pace. Ranma took a moment to look up at the viewscreens spaced around the waiting area, each one displaying the number for the next inline.

“Do you want to call home as well?”

“Nah, not right now.” Truthfully Ranma wasn't looking forward to getting a hold of the Tendo home. True, she could pass it off as training and an attempt to get a cure. But the conversation was likely going to piss her off.

“Seina!” The Captain yelled, making the retreating boy stop. “No time, our number just got moved up.” Ranma quickly finished off her food, and followed after the Captain towards more transporter tubes.

“Hey wait, can I get hot water form this thing?” She asked, running back to the table, and looking for the switch to bring up the viewscreen again.

“no time, if we miss our number, we have to wait for it to come around again.” The Captain grabbed her wrist, and started to drag her from the table.

“No! It can can't it!” She dragged her feet, but found the Captain to have enough strength to pull her away.

X x x x x x

Arm's crossed, Ranma glared at the Captain, the man placing both her Jurai form, and Seina's GP form, on a small slanted panel. The room they were now in was small and enclosed, the half they were on being seperated from the other by a wall of glass and a door. Unlike the grass waiting area they had just been in, this one was like the inside of the transport ship. Pale blue metal walls, sliding doors, and a clean, sterile look to everything.

Both forms instantly dissolved, only to reappear on the other side of the glass, where a woman with long brown hair started to enter data into a keypad. “Kiriko-san!?” Seina asked, looking for a way to get through the door.

“You know her?” Ranma wondered, the girl behind the glass was wearing a red long sleeved vest, with a white minidress on underneath, and covering her legs were black leggings.

There was no outward reaction to Seina's calling of her name, and when she was done typing, a synthesized female voice played in their section. “Inspection complete. Immigration approved.” The door to the left slid upwards, allowing the excited Seina to run through.

“I'm happy you're safe Seina-chan.” Kiriko said softly in response to Seina.

“Uh, perhaps we should let them have a moment.” The Captain directed Ranma through the second door inside. “And it's not a good idea to keep the Chairwoman waiting.”

“Yea, sooner I get away from Seina the better.” She answered, wanting no part of whatever would go wrong next if she was still around.

[LawOhki]

Revised ending to that last snippet.

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

“I'm glad you're safe Seina-chan.” Kiriko said softly in response to Seina.

'Interesting.' Ranma crossed her arms and leaned up against the wall, watching the younger boy, and older girl converse.

“W-when I woke up, I was inside a spaceship! I was going to call you, cause Mom, Dad, and Sis stole the cakes you made for me! Except I couldn't because a bunch of pirates showed up. Then I was going to try again but we had to come here.”

“Seina-chan, return to Earth right now.” Kiriko lost all sweetness to her voice, her eyes narrowing. Standing, she gently took Seina's hands in her own, staring deeply into the boys eyes.

“Hey hey, do you have any popcorn?” Ranma nudged the Captain. “Little mushy but a good show.” The glare Kiriko turned her way could have set Ranma on fire. “What?”

“Quiet you.” Kiriko snarled venomously.

“Eep.” Ranma ducked behind the wall, except she remembered after doing so that the wall was glass, and Kiriko's eyes bored into her.

“Kiriko-san, I understand that you're concerned about Seina-kun's well being. But he has special permission, his parents approved, and even he has said that he wants to join the GP.” The Captain tried to diffuse the situation.

“Quiet!” Kiriko snarled again, and Ranma found the Captain suddenly hiding behind her.

“Eh?”

The door on the far wall suddenly retracted up into the wall, allowing that blonde woman to enter. “Hi!” The cause of Ranma's current predicament greeted happily. “I had a feeling I'd meet you two again.” With a small jump, the woman had glomped on to Seina. “Seina-kun, did you come all this way to see lil ol me?”

The blonde made circle motions on Seina's chest with a finger, wrapping her other arm around the boy's neck. “I ran all the way here when I heard about the big trouble you had on your way here.”

Ranma blinked her eyes rapidly, looking back and forth between the two obviously fueding women. She should know, she had a couple who fought over her as well. 'But why would they fight over that clutz Seina?' She wondered, her eyes lighting up when she saw a small bag of chips underneath the desk.

“Amane Kaunaq, 2nd-class Detective.” Kiriko said through clenched teeth. “We're stilli n the middle of the immigration process.”

“The door's open though.” Amane replied calmly.

“I'm in the middle of seeing what Seina-kun wants to do!” The brown haired girl fumed at being ignored. Ranma started to munch on some potatoe chips, enjoying being on the outside of the show immensely.

“What are talking about? He came all this way, you're being very rude by telling him to leave.” Amane waved off the girl's concern. “And I don't see you bothering her about not joining.” Ranma looked at the finger pointing towards her nose, her position having shifted to just off to the side, and between the trio.

“She doesn't matter, what matters-- are those my chips?” Kiriko raised an eyebrow, finally having taken a look over at Ranma.

“They were under the desk.” Shoving another of the tasty treats in her mouth, she held out the bag. “Want one?”

[LawOhki]

Trying to make her displeasure known through a frown, Ranma knew it was a futile effort, the whole effect simply didn't work when she was in female form. Instead of looking angry, she looked cute, which when scamming food was great. “Didn't have to hit me.” She rubbed at her right cheek. 'Damn she hits hard, who trained her?'

“Do you realize how hard it is to get Earth food here?” Kiriko glowered. “And that was my last bag.”

“They were good though.” Losing her melancholy, she straightened up, and took in her surroundings, having entered into the Chairwoman's office.

Office seemed to be a loose term, since it was approximately the same size as the grounds of Furinkan High School. The floor was a black marble, with a small white fence blocking off the drop down into small pools and fenced in areas, with strange animals in them. The ceiling was a glass dome, allowing an unobscured view into space. Placed in the center of the large room was an L shaped desk, an ornate teleport tube to the right, and behind, just off the platform, stood two tall trees.

Sitting on a high backed chair, was a woman with green hair, pulled up into a bun on the back of her head, and gold eyes. She wore a primarily orange dress, with red arms. Standing to the right of the chair, was an older woman, who instantly reminded Ranma of Mihoshi and Mitoto. She wore a long white robe, with two red badges with a yellow stripe across the bottom pinned over her right breast.

“Chairwoman Airi, Galactic law prohibits bringing people from primitive civilizations into space. Yet Amane has purposely broken this to bring him into space. Further more, it is far too dangerous to let such an unlucky boy as Seina to join the GP!” Kiriko finished her speech by slamming both of her hands on the desk. “His encounter with the pirates is surely proof enough.”

“Seems like she forgot about me.” Ranma nudged Amane, somewhat put off that Seina was getting so much attention.

“Don't worry, we'll tease her about it later.” The blonde whispered back, and Ranma nodded. “Chairwoman, Seina's gift would go to waste if he stayed on Earth. With a single ship, he found what an entire Juraian Armada couldn't.”

“And what would have happened if the Juraian Armada hadn't been there? Besides, if was your carelessness that put Seina-chan in danger!”

“Immigration Inspector Masaki!” The Mitoto look a-like stopped Kiriko from continuing. “Calm yourself, this isn't like you at all.” Kiriko's face flushed, and she looked away.

“Indeed, it as as you said, Amane's actions were reckless and against regulations. Do you have any explanation?” Aira questioned.

“Chairwoman, I saw Seina's gift as soon as I met him. So I figured he should enter the GP, and put it to use.” Amane answered.

“While Ranma-san isn't joining the GP anymore, they both have parental consent, and Seto-sama has personally requested that they be exempt from the regulation. So unless either of them have an objection?” Airi looked between Seina and Ranma. Ranma didn't have much of an objection, she had already made up her mind that getting a cure was worth the hassle. At the very least all this stuff was incredibly interesting.

“I've made my decision, I want to stay in space.” Seina answered.

“Then the Galactic Academy accepts both of you, Yamada Seina's enlistment to the GP, and Saotome Ranma's enlistment with Jurai.” Aira announced casually, causing Amane to clap happily, and Kiriko to look away depressed.

“Don't just look so glum, let's go take care of your enlistment procedures!” With a skip to her step, Airi came around the table, and grabbed both Ranma and Seina's wrists, and dragged them into the teleport tube.

“W-wait!” Seina tried to protest before they were swallowed by light.

[LawOhki]

“Now then.”

Amane kept smiling pleasantly as Mikami pulled up a keyboard, and a half dozen viewscreens. Surely they couldn't pin this on her, even Kamiki Seto Jurai had come to a similar conclusion as her.

“While the situation has resolved itself this time, there is no question that you're actions were unnecessarily reckless. Therefore it has been decided, that your promotion to 1st-class Detective is to be postponed.”

“What?! Mikami-sensei, you can't be serious!” She protested loudly.

“I am, and you will serve as an instructor at the GP Academy for the next six months while you think over what you've done.” Rapidly typing on the keypad, Mikami smiled pleasantly, and pushed a viewscreen button. “Do your best, Amane-sensei.”

The purple control node in the center of her collar, flashed repeatedly, and her vest bleached from navy blue to white. “I understand.” Bowing her head, she made the long walk of shame to the doorway, resigning herself to the humiliation. Closing the door, she blew a raspberry back at her boss, in one last act of defiance.

“Or would you prefer cleaning restrooms with Mitoto?” A viewscreen of Mikami appeared in front of her, smiling pleasantly.

“I'm sorry!” She apologized, bowing her head repeatedly.

X x x x x x

Mikami laughed to herself, Amane was such a fun influence, before turning her eyes to the distraught Kiriko in front of her. “You know it's because you care for him, that Seto-sama uses you for her fun.”

“Sensei I!” Kiriko started, obviously trying to explain her reasons, which mattered little in the long run.

“I understand that you knew him from a very young age, and loved him like your own brother. But he can't remain a child forever.” Rapidly calling up Kiriko's information, she altered the job and post. “You too will serve as a GP instructor for a short while.”

“But.” The younger female tried to form a protest, her green control node flashing, and her red vest turning to white.

“There was a message from Seto-sama. She said to work him hard and make him into a man.” She explained, Kiriko's pale face developing a bright blush. “Full of meaning, no?”