5/7

Frowning heavily and wondering what the hell was going on Ranma moved toward the caldera again, jumping up it in a way that would've made the monkey-lizards green with envy. Quickly he was on top of the caldera's edge, staring around. The edge was a natural cliff face about forty feet up from the center of it, but Ranma easily jumped down and made his way towards what looked like a smallish town of some kind which was possibly six miles or so deeper inside the collapsed top of the volcano.

The area between him and the town was covered with small orange and red bushes of some kind he hadn't seen yet, but not enough camouflage in the light of day to let him close without someone seeing him. Frowning Ranma paused, concentrating and pulling the Umi-Sen-Ken technique around him before racing forward, still using cover as much as he could just in case.

The largest ship had landed in the center of the town, which Ranma could now tell seemed to be a kind of shanty or mining town of some kind. Despite the oddities of the buildings, much more rounded and octagonal than square as they would be back on Earth, there was something about them that screamed that the they weren't really permanent dwellings for the most part. There just seemed something lopsided or ramshackle to them. He had seen the like in China several times, though what the heck they were here for he didn't know.

Four of the ships continued to circle over the town, their weapons blasting out with concussive force occasionally. Thanks to this overhead coverage by the time Ranma had reached the town most of the action was over. The attackers were in the process of looting the town, smashing into flimsy doorways to grab up anything they could find.

However Ranma was surprised to note that it didn't seem to be materials of any kind that the attackers were really here for. Rather they seemed to be searching for the people. Everywhere Ranma looked the pirates were driving the people of the town towards where their ships had touched down on the outskirts at what looked like some kind of landing pad.

As Ranma drew near enough to make out details on the people in the town and those attacking it Ranma paused in consternation then shook his head slightly kneeling down behind a piece of debris from some kind of hover car or something that had slammed into the ground here, killing its driver. Of course, as if I needed any more proof that I'm not on Earth any longer. Stupid stinking magical devices, well I asked to be someplace else, and I definitely got that!

None of the people he could see, either the attackers or the town's inhabitants were human. A few looked like they had evolved from something relatively close to humanity, the only physical differences being in their coloration and the size of their eyes, though their hair was much more uniform looking in texture than . After all very few humans had naturally light pink or dark purple colored skin in his opinion, and blue was an almost unknown color in most human circles as well.

These were outnumbered by others however that were more obviously not human. There were several dozen individuals that had somewhat long necks and very small heads without a hint of hair on them, along with another race that looked almost exactly like one of the Christian devils, complete with horns. Others looked almost like, and Ranma shuddered when he looked at them, furry demons from hell only crossed with some kind of werewolf.

Still others, and these seemed to make up a large number of the attackers, looked like the orcs from old-fashioned fantasy novels. Another race had orange scales or skin and three eyes, one on a prehensile stalk in the center of their foreheads. They were as obese looking as the orcs, but this type of alien seemed to be the ones in charge. The six of these aliens Ranma could see were giving out orders to the orcs.

They too seemed to be taking orders over what Ranma assumed were radios on their heads. They paused to listen before shouting orders at the others who were forcing the majority of the townsfolk towards the two waiting ships at gunpoint. Ranma was astonished to also note that some of the orc-like creatures were using huge pikes or halberds of some kind. Their ends seemed to shake a little in place, which was also odd.

Ranma took it all in at a glance, his tactical mind which had allowed him to be adaptable in so many martial arts contests coming to the fore here aided by the Youthful Mind having been removed. The orcs seem to outnumber the other races, but most of them use those halberd things rather than what I guess are lasers or similar. And every group of them is commanded by one of the orange skinned ones.

As he watched one of the orcs brought his halberd around to slice into the back of one of the long-necked creatures, who had been moving much slower than his fellows and seemed stooped, possibly with age. As the old alien collapsed to the ground from the blow Ranma grimaced angrily, his hands flexing with a desire to rush out and attack the bastards.

Here and there he could see other bodies dotting the landscape of the town, including what looked like a clump of some other kind of alien, smaller of stature from what he could see from here. He wondered idly why that race had been weeded out from the others and executed like that, but frankly he didn't care about the reasons, only the fact that these bastards seemed more than willing to kill.

Ranma had been taught many things by Genma. A lot of it had proven false, and Genma didn't follow even a third of what he preached. But some things had stuck with Ranma, even now when he could fully understand how Genma had screwed him over. His love for the Art, his desire to be the best he could be was one area. The other was the Code of the martial artist. At its simplest form the Code stated that all life was precious, and that the strong should protect the weak.

But the darker aspect of the Code was if you were prepared to take a life, then you were also prepared to lose yours. These people had shown themselves utterly ruthless, willing to deal out death to anyone who didn't seem to be strong enough or whatever other criteria they had in choosing who they would be taking with them.

Ranma therefore had to be willing to match them. He wasn't happy about it, but he knew he had to be prepared to take their lives here. Or else he might not be the only one paying the price for his hesitation.

Moving forward Ranma was careful not to bang into anything that could make a noise, and always steered clear of the guards who looked like orcs, fearing that if they had a better sense of smell than humans they might be able to smell him. The Silent Thief technique tricked the mind into ignoring the individual, but Ranma had never tried it against anyone who had a better than average sense of smell, not even animals. He also hoped none of the aliens had some kind of sonar, since he didn't think the Silent Thief would stand up against that.

Nearer the ship Ranma scowled angrily watching the women being separated from the men. Several more men were gunned down after protesting that and Ranma's teeth ground together audibly despite his best efforts to control himself. After his 'health education' over the last few days he could all too easily figure out the reason behind separating the womenfolk.

But the womenfolk aren't gonna be as guarded once they're taken onboard the ship. Ranma didn't want to start a fight out here, not with all the civilians around and not without knowing what kind of weapons those ships could turn on him. But inside I'll be able ta keep things close. And I don't care what race they are, I don't even care if my ki is so freakin' low I probably can't pull off much ki attacks, if I can get in close I'll slaughter them.

With that rather grim thought Ranma ducked back around what looked like some kind of control tower for a moment. Coming out of the Umi-Sen-Ken for just a second he reached into his now redone ki space and pulled out a bottle of water he'd warmed at a spring a few hours back. Here goes nothing he thought pouring the water over his head, being careful to not get her shirt wet. She then pulled on a large and face concealing cloak from one of the nearest dead bodies before moving out quickly, crossing the distance between the control tower and the last group of females being loaded onto one of the two ships.

Just as Ranma had hoped the inside of the ship was a sign of some confusion. It was a large hangar bay of some kind but it was overcrowded at the moment with the incoming prisoners and their guards. This allowed Ranma to squeeze into the center of a group of the women before coming out of the Umi-Sen-Ken.

Because they had felt her before actually seeing her, none of the females around her, which represented several of the races he had seen, noticed him or gave him a second glance. One or two of them did a double take staring at Ranma's red hair then down at her bust but they were too busy with their own fears and concerns to really bother looking too closely at the redhead.

All around him there were barked orders, and Ranma grunted irritably. Great I should've thought of that, can't understand a word they're sayin'. Ranma knew he had a decent ear for languages, he'd been able to pick up Putonghua over the last few years thanks to Cologne and even Shampoo occasionally helping, though mostly to get close to him and try to seduce Ranma with her body. He'd learned English easily enough on the road, and could speak a smattering of Chosŏnmal, tiếng Việt, and even quite a bit of Lhasa Tibetan, all of which he'd learned passing through those countries with Genma.

But even so learning a new language would take time, and he'd need a reference point of some kind too, and reading it would be even worse. Think of that later, Ranma ordered his own brain. Now is not the time, and a battle isn't the place to start learning shit like that. I'll let my fists do my talking for a bit first.

Soon enough Ranma and the rest of the female prisoners were being hustled along one corridor, while the men that had already been brought into the ship were being herded in the opposite direction. The attackers didn't seem to care about segregating them by race, instead separating them by good or bad looking, which seemed to follow the human idea despite the alien's own body types.

They were lead to the end of the corridor, where there was a single door leading into a large holding area. The floor was littered from the refuse of what Ranma assumed had been its last inhabitants, as well as dozens of very cheap looking, ratty blankets tossed here and there.

As Ranma was hustled in through the doorway one of the guards grabbed her shoulder, then a hand was pulling at her hair as one of the orange skinned aliens talked to one of his fellows in seeming excited tones. Up close Ranma could tell that they were most definitely meat-eaters, all of their teeth came to points despite missing several of them here and there, and their skin was definitely scales rather than skin.

"Look at this one, wonder what a base-type human is doing out here, and check out the chest on her! How much you want to bet she's a slut that took up with one of the miners? Well, are you a good whore girl?"

Luckily for both the guards and Ranma's plan, Ranma didn't understand a word of what was called Galactic Standard, nor did he do anything other than grabbing her hair. If he had and given Ranma's nightmares about men in general touching his/her female form, she might not have been able to control herself. Instead Ranma simply glared at the guard then stamped on his foot before moving inside. Having carefully gouged the strength of the stamp of course, he didn't want to shatter the asshole's foot after all, not yet.

While the guard hopped up on one foot for a second yelling at her angrily and waving his gun the other one laughed. "We're not supposed to shoot any of the pretty ones, and she's one of the prettiest of the lot. You know the boss'll want to sample her personally before they start breaking her, and he'll take any damage you cause her out on your hide."

"I hope by the time he's done she's not as pretty anymore! That hurt!"

"You can be such a crechling." said the second one shaking his head irritably. "Come on, there's four more that can be put in this room before we start going through the next group."

Soon enough the door to Ranma's prison closed, and he moved over to it rapidly, putting his ear against the door. The last slave who'd been pushed in was one of the odd catlike looking females, and she looked at him quizzically. "What are you doing? You don't think there's going to actually be any chance of us escaping, do you? I wouldn't bother even dreaming about that. These bastards seem to be old hands at slave-taking."

The redheaded young woman she was addressing waved one hand as if almost shooing her off, but the cat-woman stepped towards her, reaching out to grasp her shoulder. "Listen, I saw you stamp on that one guard's foot, get it out of your system now. Later on if you do that to any of them they'll probably shoot you, and might shoot lots of us as well in reprisal. It depends on how valuable we are to them." She spat the word valuable then cocked her head when the redhead flinched a little under her touch.

Ranma hesitantly pushed the older woman's hand off her shoulder, thankful beyond words that it was a hand rather than a paw, given that the woman's semi-catlike appearance was already freaking her out that would've been a little too much right now. Looking around Ranma once more took stock of the women around her.

All of them were youngish, and all of them ranged from good-looking to downright gorgeous. Those humans that simply had different color schemes were exotic and immensely attractive, making Ranma happy he wasn't in his male form since he doubted he could have kept from reacting to them despite their current situation. Even in his female body Ranma could feel herself react to them, but thankfully not as noticeably.

That didn't even consider one of the alien females in particular. She looked almost human in appearance, her body that of an extremely fit dancer, though her breasts were larger than the equivalent would be on a human woman. She was bald, but had two long head tentacles falling down her back, tied with some leather bands. As Ranma watched their ends seemed to twitch in what he thought was some kind of nervous reaction. She was also wearing what looked like underwear of some kind, putting her body much more on display than the others, which caused Ranma to flush slightly and look away hurriedly lest her reaction(s) start to become visible through her shirt.

Turning back to her interlocutor Ranma shrugged, a faint blush still on her face. "Wish I could understand ya, but I can't." He said aloud watching as the furry-demon woman's eyes widened in surprise that he wasn't speaking the same language.

"What language is that? I've never heard that before. Why aren't you speaking Galactic Standard?"

Ranma frowned, trying to figure out a way to start the process of learning a new language without anything in common. A moment later however all their attention was diverted as a low throbbing sound went through the deck below them. Then there was a warning blare from a speaker overhead, and the thrum increased dramatically. Ranma felt the moment the ship lifted off, then some kind of artificial gravity kicked in as the ship powered away from the town and up into the atmosphere and space beyond.

The next few hours actually passed uneventfully, either because their new owners were busy about the ship, or because they wanted the girls to have time enough to realize the depths of their helplessness. They might think time in here'll make us more pliable or somethin' Ranma thought to herself shaking her head. Sure as hell wouldn't work on me, but its working on some of these other girls.

Indeed Ranma could tell that a lot of the women around them who had seemed to be trying to keep their courage going were now down on their knees or were leaning against the bulkheads, their eyes vacant. Several of them were openly crying. There were a few exceptions though, including the one with the two long head tentacles. She seemed more resigned than anything.

Ranma frowned, concentrating on her face, which was not an easy task given his newfound hormones and the woman's clothing, trying to figure out what she was seeing there. His/her ability to read expressions wasn't the best, but if human facial expressions carried over, it looked as if the green-skinned girl was used to feeling helpless, or as if this kind of thing was nothing new to her.

Not good. I am definitely not getting a nice fuzzy feeling from this new galaxy, universe, dimension or wherever the hell I am now. Great…I coulda at least tried ta just run first, made my decision when I had a clear head, but no! I had to be fuckin' dramatic! Would it've been so hard having 'em follow me around for the rest of my life on earth?

Yes, yes it would. Ranma decided a moment later shaking her head with a small smirk. Besides, once I get outta here, I'll have a whole galaxy to explore! Just think of the number of marital art styles out there!

Then she shook herself. Come on Ranma, ya need to think of a plan. You can either breakout and cause some havoc, sneak out an' look fer a specific target, or wait and see who's first to come and sample the goods. The redheads' lips formed into a small snarl at the thought, but she went on, her thoughts a little cold now, though not quite on the level of the Soul of Ice. She had not been able to enter that technique's mental state since undoing the Youthful Mind, which she had mixed feelings about.

The first few will obviously be the officers, rank having its privileges an' all, so that could be a way to cut the head off the snake. That wasn't really a viable plan however since Ranma had no idea if the leader had competent underlings, or if it would be the real leader at all rather than one of his favored underlings or whoever was in charge of breaking the slaves. He also couldn't take them hostage, the attackers, slavers or whatever they were had far more hostages then he would in that sort of situation. And I can't pump 'em for information because I don't understand what they're sayin'. So breaking out it is.

Ranma moved back to the door, testing it for a moment and looking at its hinges before looking out the grate that would allow a guard to look inside. One of the two orange-scaled aliens was out there, possibly the same one that had pulled her hair earlier. Then she looked around, making certain there weren't any video cameras or anything in the hold their work. There was one up top on a swivel mount, but it seemed to be stuck in position, banging back and forth in a small arc rather than rotating the entire way. Shoddy maintenance, possibly the only good sign I've seen so far.

Thankfully Ranma hadn't noticed any other video cameras out in the corridor either. Good. With that in mind Ranma looked at the lock on the door then shrugged. It was an electronic one, and there didn't seem to be any way to input anything into it on this side of the door. Still, that doesn't mean I can't break it somehow. Either it'll break and open, or break and stay shut. Either way works for me. I can get out another way though the door would be much quieter.

The portion of the lock on this side of the door had only a small panel to it, but Ranma was able to pull it out of the rest of the door, using her nails to remove the small bolts. He paused a moment looking at the bolts in amusement. An entirely different world with so many different alien races, and bolts still look the same. That's actually kind of cool when I think about it.

By this time a few of the other slaves who were more aware of their surroundings at this point were noticing what she was doing, and a few were already moving come to whisper urgently at her but Ranma again couldn't understand them. "Stop it you fool! If you make trouble for them don't you see they'll take it out on all of us not just you! I won't have my child…."

"Oh hush, if she's got some kind of plan, maybe she'll succeed, it's worth a try." Said another voice.

"Better to live a slave than to die and have our body ejected into hyperspace!" Said another voice.

"I've got a younger brother aboard this ship, and I'll do whatever I can to get him out of here." Said a fourth hotly, her voice a near snarl.

Ranma ignored them all which was quite easy considering their voices were simply background noise. When he reached into his ki space to pull out his bottle of water again however all of them looked on in shock. "What?" One stammered, "Howl?"

Hearing the shock in the voices around her Ranma looked back at them winking at the one who had stammered, one of the good looking human-type aliens with the odd skin colors. She then dumped the water into the electronics of the door, which immediately caused sparks and a fritzing sound. To Ranma's surprise the door opened rather than simply stayed shut, and the orange-scaled alien on the other side turned his three eyes widening while one hand fell to the gun at his hip.

Before that hand could finish its journey however Ranma had him by the throat with one hand and the other gripping his gun hand hard. She broke his wrist with a single twitch of her hand while the other hand crushed the alien's trachea stopping him from being able to scream. The last thing the aliens saw was two bright blue eyes staring into his.

Ranma shuddered, before reflexively throwing the dead alien into the prison cell behind him as she realized she just killed for the first time. Ranma hugged herself for a moment then shook her head angrily. Enough, I'll worry about that later, we've got more important things to concentrate on now. Quickly moving back into the cell she forced the door closed through brute strength, a feat that had many of the girls whispering though Ranma found it ridiculously easy. The door wasn't very thick after all.

Then Ranma moved over to the dead body, plucking out the alien's blaster. Holding it up in her hand she waved her other hand around at the crowd of women who were now much more aware of their surroundings. Half of them had been woken up by the sound of the door opening, and now all of the women in the cell were looking on, their faces showing the full gamut of emotions from horrified and worried to hope.

One of them, one of the long-necked ones came forward, taking the gun from her. Ranma motioned to the doorway and then stood as if standing guard to show what she wanted the aliens do and the alien nodded in reply. "I don't know why you can't seem to speak Galactic Standard, or even where you came from really. I don't think I ever saw you around town. But if you think we have a chance of breaking out of here, I'm all for helping."

Ranma nodded with a smile, not able to pick out many of the words though she thought she'd figured out which word meant 'you' in that speech. Then she knocked on the door twice in quick succession then paused then knocked three more times in a slow beat. She stared at the guard earnestly, then did it again before nodding as she opened the door and left.

Once in the corridor Ranma covered herself once more in the Umi-Sen-Ken as she moved down the corridor, very grateful that there were no other guards or surveillance equipment here. It looked as if only the pretty girls and women were worth putting a permanent guard on. She quickly found the hangar bay they had been brought in by, which was teeming with work being done on what looked like some kind of equipment or other.

That stuff looks like mining robots or something. So is this some kind of rival mining group, or pure slavers that're gonna put the miners to work for 'em? I read stories about how people would get all, what was it, fuedin' and a'fightin', if someone was trying to work their claim in the American Old West, and in Japanese history the same sort of thing happened between feudal lords. But in space? If you can get ta other planets, what the hell could be worth so much that you'd want to round up your competitors like this?

Shrugging that minor mystery off Ranma continued to move around, making a mental map of the ship. The corridors were uniform, and were all about 15 feet tall, probably to accommodate the height of different aliens though only the long-necked ones that were among the prisoners needed it on the ship right now. There were elevators here and there, and when Ranma entered one he saw that there were at least four levels or as many as six in most of them, though two of them in the direct center of the ship had seven.