Writer's Note: The setting takes place four years after the SDF-3 emerged from space in the controversial book, "The End of the Circle." This will mainly focus on Jack Baker going over his past life.

Disclaimer: I do not own Robotech. All characters, stories, events related to Robotech are copyrighted by Harmony Gold and Jack McKinney.

Life Pains

Chapter One

Where do you draw the line between your mecha and your relationship with someone you love? That remains to be seen.

Jack Baker, Upwardly Mobile

"Yet another boring patrol." thought Jack Baker as he was sitting in the mess hall in the Crazy Eight Corp sipping his latté. He sat gazing at the expansive window watching the clouds go by while he sat and sighed to himself. He couldn't take much more of this, flying patrol to nothing but the empty sky. "I guess I may as well get use to this. I guess it's better than doing nothing, sitting in an office like those high command officials. How boring." he thought to himself. He continued to sip on his latté while thinking about the past, about his lasting living relatives in was once the state of North Carolina, his adventures during the Sentinels campaign with its hardships and victories, and lastly, Karen Penn. To Jack, it was always a problem hanging out with her because from her perspective, Jack was still the immature love lust idiot that had not changed during the Sentinels campaign. However, this did not deter Jack from attempting to make moves on Karen. Jack sighed. Sometimes he just wished that Karen would see past the immaturity and get to know the real him. "That would be the day," Jack thought bitterly. "Oh well, at least I can look forward to get back to going home." Jack finished his latté in a gulp and left the mess hall.

Jack was walking through the corridors, busy with his thoughts about his situation. He went to his barracks to change out of his uniform. His friend, Lt. Bannan Calok, was there to greet him. "Hey Jack, long time no see." he said cheerfully. "What are you talking about? We just had patrol together!" replied Jack. "I know," he grinned. "So yet another uneventful day, eh Jack?"

Jack blanched. "Yeah, it's sad. I can't imagine going up to my mecha and not see something other than the damn clouds.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But you've got to learn to live with it. You can't expect to find action at every fly-by."

"Yes, but I can complain about, right?"

"Your hopeless, Jack."

"Yeah, well who asked you?"

"I'm letting that slide for now. For now, I'm heading back home. By the way, how are things between you and Karen?"

"Oh, it's always the same thing. We talk and then argue, and then Karen tries to knock me out with her roundhouse."

Bannan laughed. "Yep, that sounds like Karen all right. You two need to get your act together. See you tomorrow Jack."

"Yeah, see you later." Jack replied.

Jack quickly changed his uniform in to his civvies without any further disruptions. He thought about his best friend, Bannan Calok, a half Zentraedi. Like Jack, he had no parents with both deceased during the Robotech wars. Jack sighed. "I guess there's no going back to those times." he thought ruefully. Jack walked to his vehicle and drove home.

At home, Jack was filling out his debriefing report for his patrol to the "high command" to the Corporation. Jack stopped, frustrated by the lack of events to report on, powered down his computer. He laid down on his bed thinking, trying to think about the time when he was a kid. He could vaguely remember his parents, let alone the place that he grew up from. "I'm tired, I think I'll just go to sleep." he thought. A few minutes later, he was asleep.