Sins of the past have ways of soiling the future.  Genma Saotome, 
later in life, was to know this for certain, but in the prime of his life 
he was young and foolish.  He had just bested the dreaded master with 
his good friend Soun Tendo and begun his only son's training trip, he was 
on top of the world.  With baby Ranma strapped to his back, the fat 
fool went through the countryside, cheating and stealing whatever he 
needed from good, hard-working folk.  As baby Ranma grew into infant Ranma 
and later child Ranma, Genma's schemes grew more and more complex - 
taking into account his son's development.

	At the tender age of nine, having survived the mauling of the Neko-ken 
and the rigors of some of Genma's more brutal training methods, Ranma 
finally had the wherewithall to run away from his abusive parent.  They 
were in a dense forest with no towns for miles, it was this kind of 
seclution that invited the most secret of curses.

	Little Ranma wove his way through the trees, running like wildfire 
from the echoing sound of his father's voice calling from the treetops.  
He'd be damned before he let the moron try another stupid training 
manual from his knapsack on him.  The crunch of dead leaves and the roll of 
small stones under his bare feet made the run especially precarious for 
the young Saotome and so it came as no surpise when he slipped on a 
patch of sweetgrass and tumbled down a small incline.  He was used to the 
pain and shook it off easily, but what he wasn't expecting was the 
clean stones of a temple courtyard.

	"Ho, young one, you look like wolves are after you!"  A shaved monk 
intoned from the shadow of the porch, the sunlight absorbed by the rough 
black robe he wore.  "Come inside and we can attend to your injuries.  
Ranma, smelling the aroma of cooking food within, eagerly followed the 
man inside where a throng of holy men sat stoically before a grand 
banquet.  "We were just preparing to celebrate the end of our great 
harvest."  Ranma nodded in his shock and quickly made a bee-line for the empty 
seat at one of the back tables.  He didn't hear Genma's cries from the 
front gate.

	"Let me in damn you!  You have my son inside!"  Genma attempted to 
force his way through the pair of monks but soon found his hunger-weakened 
body was no match for the robust men guarding the gates.  "Do you hear 
me?  You have my son inside and I want him back!"  Not to mention grab 
some free eats the portly man mentally added.

	"None shall pass this gate, you are not holy, vile brigand, and cannot 
partake of our celebration."  Both monks rushed Genma and tossed the 
stinking pile of flesh down the rough earthen stairs winding up the 
mountain.  "Brother Meynard!"  A gaijin man stepped out from the main 
entrance.

	"Yes, Brother Mari?"

	"Inform the master that we have to increase patrols tonight, a brigand 
tried to get by us."  Brother Meynard picked at the grotesque welt on 
his cheek before running back into the temple, his screechign falsetto 
voice causing the guard's teeth to grind.  "I wish he'd stop doing 
that."  As the guards resumed their posts, down below Genma Saotome planned 
his revenge.

---Later that night---

	Ranma stretched out on the bedroll the monks were kind enough to lend 
him and blew out the candle by his side.  The full moon streamed it's 
light through his window so he was not afraid of the dark shadows of the 
night.  His father had never been so considerate, even resorting to 
beatign Ranma unconscious some nights so the boy's fear of darkness 
wouldn't keep him awake.  His stomach gurgled in delight as it hurridly 
digested food after so long without.  Sighing in contentment, Ranma forgot 
all about his father as he turned to sleep...

	"Ranma, wake up it's me."  His eyes snapped open.  He knew that 
voice...

	"Pops?"  He almost dreaded the answer.  No other monk was in his room 
to see Genma as he phased back into existence with a bulging sack slung 
over a shoulder.  A hard fist came down over his head.

	"Who else would it be, foolish boy?  I won't punish you for running 
away like a _girl_ because you helped me find this temple.  Now get your 
clothes on, we're leaving!"

	"No!  I don't wanna go!"  A rustle was heard from the cell nextdoor.  
Genma sweated as the shuffling of feet grew nearer.

	"C'mon boy this is no time to argue, get dressed and let's go!"

	"I!  Don't!  Wanna!  Go!"  The scream was what did it as three 
brothers burst into the room to investigate the noise in the boy's room.  They 
were agast at what they beheld.

	"Brigand!  Brigands!"  The brothers lit the candles in the room and 
spied the contents of Genma's sack of stolen goods.  "Theives trying to 
steal out harvest!  Theives trying to steal our sacred relics!"  The 
brothers rushed Genma but the fat man was ready for them, fading out of 
reality with the help of the Umi-sen-ken.  That left only Ranma alone in 
the room.

	"Little devil!  You allowed this to happen, you're his accomplice 
aren't you!  And to think we fed you!"  The brothers jumped to the logical 
conclusion with what little knowledge they had of the situation.  It's 
a funny thing about anger, as soon as it appears it flies out of 
control, you can't stop it and very rarely direct the flow of it's attack.  
Anger goes part-and-parcel with confusion and ignorance, the destructive 
emotions leadign to the only possible conclusion...violence.

	"Little bastard!"  One of the brothers lifted Ranma from the bedroll 
and kicked his knapsack away, crushing some of the contents underfoot.  
"You were just waiting for this weren't you, little theif!"  The monk 
twisted his arm painfully.  "You and that fat fool were in collusion, 
weren't you!?"  Ranma was spared the agony of more accusations as Genma 
knocked all thre of them out quickly and leapt out the window.  Ranma 
gave the fallen monks a final glance before he too followed his farther 
out into the wilderness.  His father rejected him, even these seemingly 
kind people rejected him all because of his father's taint.  Anger grew 
to be a cold lump of coal deep in Ranma's stomach, the dull fire 
inflaming his soul to tears.

	Miles later with the monks leagues behind, Genma set his back down in 
the mouth of a cave and prepared a fire for them.  Not exactly for his 
son's health per se, but rather to heat up his dinner.  As his son 
dragged his ragged-looking gi into camp, Genma triumphantly held up a 
sealed box of unknwon metal and placed it in Ranma's hands.

	"Son, those monks had all kinds of martial arts scrolls hidden in 
their library, maybe we'll go back there later and take some more but first 
look at this."  He gestured to the light metal cube about the size of a 
television set.  "It was hidden in a secret room near the main altar, 
it must contain something very valuable for the monks to hide it so 
well, we'll take a look at it tomorrow, but first:  dinner!"  Ranma studied 
the cube as his father ate, idily poking it with a splintered stick.  
After inahaling most of the food in his sack, Genma belched loudly and 
walked off into the bushes to relieve himself.

	Ranma looked at the dark forest and the cube, then back to the spot 
where his father was standing.  Maybe if he ran back with this box, 
perhaps the monks might forgive him?  His brief idea of reconcilliation was 
destroyed as his father returned and unrolled the one bedrool, it 
seemed Ranma was going to have to find a flat rock somewhere.  The least the 
fat thug could have done was give him a blanket, but Ranma didn't even 
have that.  Taking the cube with him into the cave, he sat back along 
the mossy wall and tried to sleep.

	Sleep was his one great escape, the place where he could eat all he 
wanted and be free from the loathsome presence of his father.  However, 
that night sleep didn't come for the young man, instead he found his 
gaze coming back to the odd box held in his hands.  Was it just his 
imagination or was the box warmer than before?  No, it was just the heat of 
his hands absorbed by the metal.  Lost in boredom, Ranma made a game of 
kicking the square against the far wall and catching it when it 
returned, he'd always been good at soccar.  In his insommnia, the boy kicked 
the cube in a very particular way, a way that caused the box to make a 
sound he hadn't heard before, almost as if something were inside.  
Experimentally he kicked it again and a rattling thump greeted his ears.

	Taking his newfound discovery outside to a heavy boulder, Ranma tried 
to smash it open at the corners, all to no avail.  Noticing that his 
father would notice he'd been playign with it because of the mudstains 
marring the gray surface, Ranma walked down to the stream he'd seen 
before to wash off the cube.  As he submerged the object, air bubbles began 
to rise from one of the sides, delighting the young boy and challenging 
him to discover where the opening lay.

	For what seemed like hours he shifted the box and tapped it's sides, 
noticing that one side seemed to sound more solid than the others.  
Shoving the box underwater again, he noticed that it was that side that had 
the opening, a circular disk with a repressed centre, almost like a 
button hidden in the grain of metal.  Boldly moving forward, Ranma pressed 
the curious switch and fell away as a blaze of red energy shattered the 
cube and forced him back aaginst a tree.  For a moment there he could 
hear a strange hum of machinery, just as the thing blew up in his face.

	In the darkest hours of night, Ranma thought he saw a dark shadow, 
even darker than anything in the woods, materialize from the black and 
gray object lying on the banks of the stream.  Then it was gone, the 
afterimage of something ancient and dark leaving only a chilling breeze that 
ran shivers up his spine.  All around the trees began to sway in an 
invisible breeze and every living thing in a mile radius fled swiftly 
through the night.  Ranma rose from his cringing and composed himself, 
martial artist weren't afraid of anything!

	Where once green grass grew from the fertile marsh of the banks, now 
underneath the object grew a gray circle of decomposition.  For many 
feet underneath the surface living things feared to touch the tainted 
ground, Ranma however didn't have such animal senses and stepped blindly 
into the cleared area of destruction to observe what came out of his box.

	It was black and metallic gray, the black almost like plastic and the 
gray brushed with steel wool to give it a grained quality.  Jutting 
from one end were a few trailing wires of gray seemingly melted from the 
main body of the thing, from the other a gleaming black shaft with a 
grooved end sprouted impossibly from the artifact.  Ranma knew 
instinctually that the thing was very old, possibly older than the planet and 
powerful with energy.  Suddenly it came to him what the melted mass 
resembled...a human hand.  A human hand gripping something...

	The boy picked up the amalgamation and tried to pry the cylindrical 
object from the metal grip, unsurprisingly it didn't budge.  Dejected and 
angry, Ranma picked it up and walked back to camp, kicking stones as he 
went.  Genma was still asleep in the bedroll, snoring loudly as his son 
resumed his spot within the warmth of the cave.

	Ranma opened his eyes from his dozing by a steady sound echoing in the 
massive space of the cave.  It seemed far off yet the echoes were 
screwing with his ears, making the sound far away and right next to him at 
the same time.  A lizard crawled down the vegetation at his side and 
chased after an enormous spider with wings.  Where the hell was he?

	He stood from where his spine clung to the cave wall, noticing for the 
first time that his dirty gi had changed to black slacks and 
long-sleeve shirt with a leatherish vest tucked into his belt with the tails 
tapping against his thighs.  He knew he didn't own any of this kind of 
clothing and also knew Genma couldn't afford it nor steal it, so where had 
it come from?  The harsh grating sound echoed again, followed soon 
after by a drawn-out gasp.  The sound had a harsh metallic quality to it, 
grating and artificial.  Reflexively Ranma took a defensive stance.

	"You have much potential young one."  The voice arose from everywhere 
in the cavern, deep and commanding yet somehow hollow as if it had no 
substance.  "Yet you are untrained and vunerable but your power is 
strong, strong enough to carry on my legacy."

	Ranma looked around only to see he was no longer in the cave, natural 
rock walls hade given way to polished durasteel and expansive glass 
windows giving him a breathtaking view of a glowing planet.  Wait a 
minute, planet?  "Who the hell're you?"  A tight grip caught at his throat, 
squeezing his windpipe enough to stop an even flow of air but not enough 
to crush it completely.  Again the sound echoed in the hollow corridors 
of the room.

	"I am your new master, Ranma Saotome, you will address me as 'Master' 
and nothing else, is that understood?"  Ranma struggled in the grip as 
he was lifted from the deck and shook in midair by invisible hands.  
"Is that understood?"

	"...yes..."  Ranma managed to croak out and abruptly the hands 
released him, leaving him to hit the deck hard.

	"I sense great anger within you, anger and fear, the seeds of your 
future are planted within, never forget that."  A dull thud of a booted 
foot echoed off the metal behind him but as soon as he turned the figure 
was gone.  "You are angry at your father for ruining your life, 
seperating you from your mother, destroying your 'normal' life!  Save your 
hatred, temper it with patience, and release it with vengance."  The 
repetitive noise continued as the voice spoke, altogether it was beginning 
to unnerve him.

	"What do you want?"

	"I was taken before my work was finished, I never carried on my 
legacy, you will serve instead of my son, you who are a mirror image of 
myself, you who are worthy.  I will teach you the way of the Force, the 
lattice of life that threads the universe."

	"What is this 'Force'?  Is it like ki or chi?"  Ranma wouldn't be too 
impressed if it was, afterall didn't Oyagi know a few tricks?  "How 
long will this training take?"

	"You are very proud of this body you have trained for yourself and 
it's ability to harness ki but it is insignificant next to the power of 
the Force!  By correctly manipulating the Force, anything is possible!"  
The sound seemed right behind him now, but he wasn't going to turn 
around just yet.  "I will train you in the Force as you sleep, as I am 
incapable of interacting with you in the physical realm, latent afterimage 
that I am."  The grating wheeze was blowing on the back of his head 
now, hesitantly Ranma turned around.

	He stepped back in fright at the image standing behind him, a massive 
figure in black armor and helmet.  A black cape cascaded down his back 
in obsidian waves and an undercloak was clashed at his waist by a heavy 
metal belt.  Not a single inch of his body wasn't covered by clothes or 
armor, even his head covered by a gleaming metal skullcap that curved 
around the back of his neck and a jagged faceplate.  Two smoked glass 
empty eyes gazed to the very centre of Ranma's soul.  The man's arms were 
crossed across his chest, arms resting under a square circuit box with 
blinking lights and switches, and the cloak rustled as he breathed in 
and out.  The martial artist suddenly realized in fright that the 
regular artifical sound was the figure breathing!

	"You anger is strong.  You have tempered it well for one so young but 
you still need to focus it, channel it to your control of the Force.  
You have the power to challenge everyone who has destroyed your life and 
rule the galaxy, to become the most powerful being in the cosmos."  The 
figure stepped forward towards the boy and stretched out his right hand 
in an offering gesture, not realizing that the forearm was melted and 
corroded, covered with metal and burned plastic.  "Join with me and I 
will complete your training; the force is strong with you, Saotome, but 
you are not a Jedi yet."

	Ranma looked up at the wheezing black specter and fought back his 
fear.  "Wh-what is a Jedi?"  The figure chuckled.

	"You will know soon enough, you will soon come to despise the title 
and long to hunt their kind down to exinction just as I did.  Or are you 
afraid?"

	"I ain't afraid of you!"

	"You lie, I can feel your fear bubbling up from the spring of anger in 
your heart, I can read your emotions easily, my young apprentice."  The 
masked man stepped back and looked appraisingly at his new student.  
"We have much to do...first you must confront your fear, harness the 
powers of anger and hatred, then we can begin in earnest.  You do want to 
be the best, do you not?"

	Ranam scowled at the apparition.  "Hey!  I'll do whatever it takes to 
be the best!  Whatever happens, Ranma Saotome never loses!"  He took 
the figure's left hand and felt a powerful feeling of anger shoot through 
his body, making the world clearer to his eyes.

	[Hm...all too easy...]

	"Who are you anyway?"

	"I am Darth Vader - Dark Lord of the Sith, my young apprentice, you 
will now call me...Master."

---Title---

Spirit of the Sith
A Ranma 1/2 - Star Wars fusion with elements of "The Glove of Darth 
Vader" RPG

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

With inspiration by
CarrotGlace's 

---Seven years later, Jusenkyo---

	Genma looked with puzzlement at his son turned daughter.  He had 
expected a lot more screaming and even an attempted beating, certainly not 
the easy acceptance of such a gender-bending curse.  His eyes followed 
Ranma as she brushed water droplets from her black slacks and tunic and 
stoically stood waiting for the water to boil.  Behind her the Jusenkyo 
Guide dragged their packs over to his hut.

	[I should just kill him now and be done with it!  No one here except 
the Guide, eliminate him and no one would find out.]  Ranma quietly 
remembered her master's last lesson before his residual energies were 
expended.

	"This world you live in now still has people sensitive to the Force, 
there might be a chance that a Jedi escaped the Purge on this planet, do 
not compromise your position before you are sure you have the upper 
hand."

	Her master had taught her well, showing her things that expanded her 
mind past the barrier of Terran thought and into a galaxy mindset.  She 
was now the most powerful Sith in existance, apprentice to the most 
feared Sith lord in history, Ranma promised she would not fail.  [I will 
wait, there are still things that Genma can accomplish for me, until his 
duties are fulfilled I will let him live.]  The lightsaber was soon 
hidden back up her sleeve, the cold metal against her warm skin.

	"I tell Mister Customers no use springs for training and now look what 
happen!"  The portly man lifted the steaming kettle from his wood stove 
and poured it over Genma.  "Is no more, I very sorry."  The elder 
Saotome patted himseld to make sure the change wasn't permanent while his 
son simply adjusted his clothes.  "I say that young mister Customer 
taking curse well."

	"Well, it's nothing of any importance.  Come along Genma, we have to 
get a move on."  The busty redhead tightened her black belt and pulled 
the plastic-looking vest down through it, leaving the vest open for her 
chest and pelvis.

	"Oh mister Customers there may be secret cure in village of Chinese 
Amazons, why not look there?"  The fat man held his green cap in his 
hands, wringing the material as his neice changed the wood in his stove.  
There was something in the young man's glare as he looked back that 
caused an involuntary shiver to pass up his spine.

	"Very well."  Ranma and Genma followed the guide as he took them 
through the grove of trees next to his hut and down the path to the Amazon 
village.  Genma knew not to cross his son, especially when he became 
this erriely calm.

	Ranma herself was boiling in rage at his father but pushed it all down 
into her reserves, keeping the destructive emotion bottled for future 
use.

	Cologne and the other Matriarchs watched with interest as the trio 
walked into the village, the youngest man gaining quite a few admiring 
views from the teenage females.  The Elder sat back by the sidelines as 
the older man sat at the banquet table