A/N: Um… guess I should have said this in the first chapter but OBVIOUSLY I do not own anything of the Robotech/Macross universe. Otherwise Minmay would have met a much different fate, from the beginning (evil laughter) Nor do I own anything of the other series.
Lots of thanks for those that reviewed. Sphersian I am taking a little break from my other story, although I'll try to get back at it as soon as the muse decides to come back for that one. Azure Ocelot I'm glad you liked my Exedore, I gave you a little bit more of him in this chapter (just a bit). gppr thanks as always for your reviews.
And dwparsons, THANK YOU very much for being my beta. You definitely had your hands full with this one.
To say that Rick Hunter was not a morning personwas the understatement of the year.
Somehow the 23 year old Captain made it to the table where his friends were waiting for him. He either ignored the snickers as he plopped down in his seat or he was too sleepy to even register them. Still smiling, Roy handed his best friend a full cup of coffee, extra strong, as he knew his little brother needed it. Rick didn't even say a word. He just took the cup reverently and took a long sip closing his eyes to savor the strong brew.
"Is he alright?" He heard a voice saying. It was feminine and it sounded concerned. Eventually his muddled brain identified it as belonging to Claudia.
A laugh and then, "Ricky boy here is NOT a morning person." Rick opened one of his bleary eyes to direct a frown towards his immensely amused friend. "Have you noticed he doesn't do mornings at all?"
"But that's impossible, nobody can get away from morning duty." A smirk from Roy stopped her and then she added, "Or can they?"
"You have no idea the things that our Skipper has done in the past to get away from morning duty." His other friend Max, the traitor, said. Even half asleep Rick could tell he was trying hard not to laugh.
"Odd though, he has not been assigned to morning duty for a while." His wife Miriya mused.
"Maybe somebody realized that Rick in a plane in the mornings would mean more damage to us than anything the Zentraedi could possible inflict." Roy spoke again and more laughs followed. Rick thought about sending them a glare but he didn't really care about the comments, it's not like they were not absolutely true. In fact he often wondered what kind of miracle had kept him off the morning shifts. Taking another sip of his coffee he shrugged it off, attributing it to seniority or something.
"Really?" Came the highly suspicious reply from Claudia. "Maybe somebody does know." Rick was lost in his coffee induced coma but the others picked up the tone right away.
"Who does the rosters by the way?" Roy asked her slyly already knowing what the answer would be. As if to reiterate the answer a stern voice was heard.
"It's 0750 hours. What are you all doing here? Don't you remember the meeting?" The voice of Lisa Hayes reached them as she weaved her way across the Mess Hall's tables.
"Aren't you full of energy this morning, unlike some other people!" Roy couldn't help but tease. At his comment, Rick just gave him a weak glare, dimmed down by the fact that the caffeine had yet to run its course through his system.
Turning towards the rumpled looking man, Lisa had to suppress a wide grin. Everybody who had to work with Rick knew his functioning was close to zero in the mornings. In fact, there were mornings when she swore she couldn't understand what the poor man was saying. "Come on Hunter! Up and at 'em. Can't function without your caffeine fix huh?" She told him with a little smirk.
Rick managed enough irritation to scowl at her. No matter how much they got along on normal days, it still aggravated him when she made those kinds of remarks. He idly wondered why Lisa of all people could rattle his cage as she did. Hadn't he been teased by all of his other friends before that?
He was saved from further speculation as she impatiently reminded them of their meeting. Cries of "Yes mom" rang out as the others took their cups and any left over pastry to munch on during the meeting.
Staying a little bit behind, Roy asked Claudia. "I thought you said Lisa was horrible in the mornings." He said casting a puzzled glance towards the energetic woman leading them on towards the conference room.
At this comment Claudia laughed good-naturedly. "She's just as bad as your little brother. She's running on her third cup of coffee." With a snicker at the irony of it all, the two lovers rushed to catch up with the rest of their friends.
"Could we go over this one more time?" Rick was thankful that somebody was just as puzzled as him over the whole thing. For a second there, he had wondered if his big brother had given him decaf as a joke. Heck, even Lisa seemed puzzled by the plan. With a sigh he settled back in his seat, relieved that it wasn't him. The plan was just plain crazy.
The Admiral was just as frustrated as the rest of them. In an uncharacteristic gesture for him, he rubbed his thumb and fore finger across his eyes while he gave a small sigh. He knew the whole group was not confused by the plan since it was extremely simple. The reason for its simplicity was owed to a very important fact; they barely HAD a plan. The frustration of all those gathered was not so much at not understanding but that they could not fathom the fact that there really was nothing planned. Not that he could blame them, he felt exactly the same way.
Masking his thoughts as much as possible, he turned to Captain Fokker who had been the only one brave enough to ask the question. "Captain Fokker it is very simple. As I have tried to explain your mission will be to train with the different groups that we have contacted to become our allies. We are planning at this point to take a defensive stand against our attackers. We need this in order to make sure our counter-attacks will be effective."
"In other words you have no idea what the heck we will be fighting against." Roy could not have been more right on.
"Admiral if I may?" Dr Lang asked. The relieved man gave him the go ahead. As much as he loved all of the people present as his family he had to admit that they all had frightful tempers. "You are very right in that assessment Captain Fokker. Although we have narrowed the enemies that we might be facing we do not have an exact idea what their abilities are. We do not even know why they would have joined forces with the Zentraedi or even why the Zentraedi would have wanted to join with other beings." Saying this, Dr. Lang turned to Exedore as if seeking a confirmation.
"You are indeed correct Dr. Lang, it is not something that the Zentraedi are used to doing. There are no indications in our history that this has ever been done and still…" The gnomish Zentraedi seemed to hesitate. "And still I must admit that there are many moons near the planet that is home to the Robotech Masters. Maybe the allies belong to one of the many civilizations that are there." He said almost to himself. Around him the others blanched at the prospect of the unknown threat.
"That is why it is imperative that for now we focus on building a strong and united front in order to deal with whatever threat we face." Admiral Gloval interjected. He didn't want his crew to go into full panic at the prospect of another enemy who could be even stronger than the Zentraedi. "We hope that in the process we might learn more about who the Zentraedis' allies are and we can come up with a way of disabling this new threat." He looked around trying to determine the state of mind of his crew. They looked back at him, their faces pale but he could see the determination in their eyes. He smiled inwardly. He knew he could count on them for this. They were all brave warriors who would do everything in their power to defend Earth. He hoped their new allies felt the same passion as they did. From what he had learned, they did.
"We will be working with two very distinctive teams. One, which you will be part of, is the combat forces. The other will be a team of scientists that will work on putting all of the information together and hopefully will be working at developing new weapons to counteract the attacks."
"Can we have some information about our allies?" Ever practical Lisa asked.
"Yes, in fact I was expecting that question." Admiral Gloval nodded to his First Officer and continued. "Of the allies that have accepted to help, there is only one that is an organized entity similar to ours. The name of this army is Mechakkon and they are based mostly in Europe in a town called Viktor Town. It is in fact one of their training grounds that we will use as a base. It is ground based but secluded enough to give us the protection we need. Aside from their ground troops they also possess a robot that roughly resembles a VF's Battloid mode. This robot is called Gordian and is piloted by a young man by the name of Daigo Ottaki. To my understanding this is their strongest line of defense. The second group, based in Japan, is more loosely comprised. This group is headed by a Scientist named Kazuki. His ship, The Liberty, is unfortunately not constructed to be a water carrier but can be used as a mobile base. Their combat force is mainly made up of two small robots, the Plyzer and the Mighty. These robots can fight independently, although when needed, their pilots, Takeru Hoyo and Mai Kazuki join forces to control a bigger, stronger robot called Gakeen. The third group is actually a lone cyborg by the name of Kogo. From what I heard this man is virtually indestructible and can even become, at will, as tall as a full grown Zentraedi." Surprised intakes of breath were heard all around the table. Exedore leaned in, interested in the micronian that could become a fierce warrior like his race. "Kogo was removed from a vital mission in outer space. In fact another of the advantages of having this cyborg with us is his marvelous ship… Dr. Lang care to elaborate?"
The scientist seemed eager to jump in, almost fidgeting in his seat in his excitement. Rick hid his smile behind his refilled coffee mug. He could bet the good scientist was excited at the prospect of getting his hands on that piece of technology for further investigation.
"Well his ship was built by a brilliant scientist, Dr. Dodge, who gave it to him after he was created. This ship can travel faster than the speed of light, traveling across various light years in mere minutes. He can achieve an effect very similar to that of a space fold without actually leaving the temporal space just by traveling thru it."
"But isn't that mode of travel dangerous for humans? I thought the purpose of the space fold was to prevent the human heart from collapsing at these speeds. It's strenuous for the body to keep with the speed necessary to cross space in that quantity of time." Lisa asked in puzzlement.
Rick's mouth went slack. What the hell had she said? Since when was Lisa so… so… brilliant? Giving himself a shake, he had to admit that it had been unfair of him to think that, after all he had known that she WAS smart and possessed an inquisitive mind to boot. He had heard from both Claudia and Roy that she spent hours reading on theory such as this so that she could be well informed on the subject. In fact, for all that he knew, she was one of the very few people that knew and understood the SDF-1 inside and out. He felt grudging respect for the insufferable know-it-all.
"You have to remember he is a cyborg."
"Is he not human?" Claudia asked, her forehead creasing in a slight frown.
"No, he is human." Lang responded. "His body though has some robotic parts which make his metabolism endure more."
"What was his mission?" Quiet Max asked curiously.
"He is part of the entourage that was heading to the center of the galaxy." The Admiral took over the explanations. "Their purpose is to bring back the balance that was disrupted and has been affecting the whole galaxy. There have been scientific investigations that have proved that the balance of the whole Universe can be achieved by having a being with special powers ruling over the Deco planet in the center of the galaxy. The emanations that issue forth from this Being are amplified by the planet itself and distributed throughout the galaxy. Without these emanations of power, the balance shifts and what once was peaceful becomes monstrous and warlike." The crew looked skeptical at this.
"Forgive me Admiral but that sounds like a bunch of neo-peace loving ideas that the anti-military would sprout. It's ridiculous to think that all the ills, all the wars have a root in the imbalance of power from the center of the galaxy?" Roy said.
"Their theory rests in the fact that it is the decline in the positive energy which creates an imbalance that is manifested in a series of mutations that have become quite violent."
Roy looked positively disgusted with the whole idea while the rest of the younger crew merely looked unconvinced. Looking towards the others, Rick noticed that Lang seemed mildly interested in the subject. Upon spying Exedore however he had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. The man seemed to be hanging on every word that the Admiral said. The poor man seemed ready to believe any fairy tale he was told, Rick thought, but he was distracted by a muttering to his side. He could have sworn he heard Roy say something along the lines of "Bunch of tree-hugging pansies if you ask me…" Which earned him a swift kick from his fiancée.
"Aside from that, the other group will be working closely with Exedore and Dr. Lang in developing new equipment. They will be in direct contact with Lord Breetai abord the factory satellite. We are hopeful that their knowledge coupled with the other scientists' will be able to create strong defenses for our cause."
"There is also the fact that many of them have similar technologies to our Battloids." Dr. Lang interjected which grabbed the attention of them all. "As I mentioned before, some of the scientists who will be collaborating with us were part of the original team that investigated the SDF-1. Some of their ideas for those mega robots evolved from the SDF-1. It will be interesting to see how they will merge together." Dr. Lang said, his voice for a change animated.
"I thought the original team that worked in the SDF-1 was still here in its entirety" Lisa mused puzzled.
"No Captain." The scientist corrected her. "The original team was comprised of different people. In fact I was just there as an apprentice at the time, certainly not even as a participant. Those men and women are the top eminencies of the scientific field. It will be an honor to be working with them." Lang mused to himself.
'Isn't that a self-centered thought?' Rick thought. Sometimes he wondered if Dr. Lang just worked with them for the sole purpose of gaining more knowledge than for the actual desire to help. The Admiral's words put a stop to his thoughts as they brought him back to the present.
"Very well I hope that you are already clear on what will happen when we reach the Mechakon camp two days from now. You will all be relieved from duty until time of departure. In this time I want you all to prepare yourselves and your belongings for the time ahead." Looking around the table he saw them all nod their consent. Before he dismissed them he wanted to impart a piece of advice. "I hope I do not need to remind you that we do not know how long this venture will take." He paused to see the effect of his words, seeing that he still had their rapt attention, he continued. "Therefore I would like to reiterate the fact that you will be removed from your surroundings and moved to a place where you will know no others but yourselves. Aside from that you will be working with three other different groups, three unknown factions which will look to you for leadership. Consequently you need to remain a strong unit. You will need to be the nexus that holds all these different groups together." He advised, his head low enough to cause the brim of his officer's cap to shadow his eyes from everybody. Even if they could not see his eyes, all of them knew who those words were directed to. Both Lisa and Rick were mortified that they were singled out in such a manner even if the statement was vague enough.
Rick snuck a guilty glance towards the brown haired woman. Frosty green eyes met his gaze and her eyes narrowed dangerously when she realized his attention towards her. Rick gulped nervously when he saw her expression. He did not need to be reminded that the woman had quite a temper. He promised to himself to take the Admirals' words to heart and try to be civil to the woman. After all he knew from past encounters that they could have an amicable conversation when they actually tried. If fact they got along quite alright as long as their conversations were far removed from the topics of work, Minmay and Kyle. With this resolve in his mind, the young Captain decided to approach the woman and talk to her about it.
Lisa was beyond mortified. She couldn't believe the Admiral had said that! Granted those that had witnessed his words were almost family (with the exception of Exedore and Lang) but it still stung that he would have brought up her situation to the forefront in that way. After all Lisa was a very private person and she hated to have her life openly brought up in public. Oh, she was not stupid. She knew the whole base gossiped about her and her doomed love affair with the dark haired Captain but at least they did it behind her back and not to her face!
She walked at a rapid pace, her heels clicking on the smooth surface of the hallway. Her pace never wavered as she made her way out of the base intent on hiding in her house until the time when they all had to leave. Maybe that way she could avoid more humiliation she thought snidely. With a soft sigh she had to admit that her humiliation really came from the fact that she was so transparent. For the longest time she had prided herself on the control she had achieved over her emotions. Until the day a messy haired teenager had appeared in her life and all her self control had gone out the window.
Lisa wove thru the people, her gaze directed to the floor. She knew her feelings were too raw right now to face them all. She tried to keep her frosty image in place, hoping she could reach her home before it crumbled all together. Then her resolve was seriously tested when she heard the voice of her tormentor.
"Captain Hayes! A moment please."
Lisa almost groaned out loud as she seriously debated on continuing on. The fact that they were in a crowded hallway, with witnesses all around, kept her from bolting. She didn't want this new episode recounted to everybody on the base by nightfall. Closing her eyes in order to steel herself, she turned around just in time to see the young Captain jogging towards her. His momentum and the fact that she had taken a step forward when she had turned to face him caused them almost to collide with each other. She rapidly took a step back to put some distance between them and to avoid being trampled by the man.
Rick came to a stop just inches across from his Captain. Thanking his quick reflexes, he looked over to Lisa to notice her wary expression. 'Great! Here I am trying to be friendly with her and putting her at ease and I almost scare the living daylights out of her.' He thought, a wry smile tugging at his lips.
Lisa watched him nervously. She was surprised that Rick wanted to talk to her after "The Incident" as she was starting to call it, and his actions right now only served to put her at a distinct disadvantage. She was flustered by the fact that they almost collided, which would have proven disastrous in such a well transited hallway, but the fact that they now stood very close to each other was starting to wreak havoc in what little she still possessed of her mind.
Clear blue eyes watched her intently. Lisa nervously licked her suddenly dry lips as she wondered if she had missed a question from him. Seconds that felt like minutes passed making Lisa agonize more. A whisper to her right made her realize that they had been looking at each other without speaking. Knowing how incriminating they must look and not wanting to throw any more information to the gossip mill, she ordered the Captain to follow her.
Completely oblivious to the fact they were being observed closely by the members of the base that had witnessed the scene, Rick obediently trotted after his CO. He was very happy that she was willing to listen to him. They reached her office and he was hurriedly ushered inside by her.
Having reached the sanctuary of her office, Lisa felt the tension she had felt in the corridor ease somewhat. Slumping her shoulders a bit she turned around, startling when she realized how close Rick had been. For the second time in a matter of minutes, she had to jump back from the male body in front of her. Rick apparently had not noticed anything wrong as he was giving her that lopsided boyish grin that made all the women on the base sigh. She was no better than them though as she could feel her knees going weak at seeing it. Trying to mask her reaction and intending to get the upper hand again, Lisa told him, "Sit down Captain Hunter." In a brisk voice as she indicated a seat.
Rick looked over to the seat and back at her, his brow furrowing adorably. Lisa cursed herself inwardly for her weakness and held her breath as he apparently made his decision. With a shake of his midnight black hair, Rick responded, "Thanks Captain but I rather stand."
Now Lisa cursed him for his decision. She'd much rather have him sit down than looming over her; his body still too close for comfort. She was not a small woman, standing well over 5'7" in her stockings. The regulation pumps added two inches to her height giving her a total of 5'9" on most days which made her a tall woman by most standards. In fact, she remembered the time when she used to be able to look at Rick in the eyes and still wondered to this day when he had actually grown so tall. Apparently Rick was one of those men that had achieved a growth spurt late in life and he had managed to attain a nice height of 6'0". While that made him even sexier in Lisa's eyes, she had to admit she hated having lost the upper hand in the physical aspect. Giving a frustrated sigh, she prompted the infuriating man to speak.
"Well Captain," he started, his voice sounding a little bit uncertain. "The Admiral's words today made me think…" seeing her eyes narrowing again at the mention of his words, he hastened to say, "I was thinking that we should really put aside our differences. I mean I respect you and your decisions… at least most of the time" He stammered at the disbelieving expression on her face. "That got me to remember that we can actually get along without acting like an old married couple." Uh, bad choice of words Hunter! He thought, wincing inwardly as he took in her dumbfounded expression. "Well, you know what I mean… I have enjoyed spending time with you and I must admit I did blow the whole thing of the factory satellite completely out of proportion. After all, you were also forced to do it too, right?" He asked managing to look at her from beneath his eyelashes as he kept his face trained towards the ground. He really did not want to look at her in he eyes now. He was still so ashamed to be asked to "perform" something so intimate in front of so many people. Idly he wondered if Minmay felt the same whenever she was acting for any of her movies. His mind wandered down that tangent and he promptly lost his train of thought.
On the other hand Lisa was staring at the man in front of her in deep shock. Not only had he sort of apologized for his outburst after the kiss they had shared but his words seemed to indicate that he wanted something more. Lisa's heart started beating a heavy rhythm and her breath caught raggedly in her throat as hope unfurled in her breast. She looked at his faraway expression and wondered if he was remembering their kiss as she was replaying it right now. In a voice made thicker by emotion she said, "Yes, we can definitely get along just fine."
The voice, a sultry alto, much deeper than Minmay's piping soprano snapped Rick from his thoughts of the singer. For a second he looked at the woman in front of him in confusion. Then he remembered what they had been talking about and gave her a blinding smile. "I'm very glad you agree." He smiled again when he saw the shy smile Lisa was giving him. Rick paused to look at her. He really liked seeing her smile since she didn't do it that often and it made her look much younger and carefree. He had heard many times from Roy how stressed she was and he thought that she needed to be distracted from all that. That was one of the reasons why he used to joke with her and, until the whole factory incident, he had been very proud of the responses he had gotten from her. He hoped it loosened her up so that she wouldn't be stressed so much.
In his relief at getting such a positive response from the normally taciturn woman, he was careless with his next words. Rick would never understand why she had gone from being warm and open to the normally stern frigid woman in mere seconds.
"Yes, after all since you are Roy's and Max and Miriya's friend it is better if we get along, since we always end up seeing each other at their get-togethers." He said in amusement.
At his words, Lisa felt as if a bucket of icy water had been thrown on her. Rick wanted to be civil to her because of their common friends? Not because of any interest in her as a person? She felt hurt and betrayed but mostly she felt completely ridiculous. Her world seemed to crumble at the realization that yet again she had left herself open for disappointment.
Rick's teasing smile faded as he noticed how her expression closed off instantly. 'What the heck had happened?' He thought to himself. He didn't have long to wonder as Lisa rapidly regained her composure and her tattered dignity around her like a warm blanket of comfort. She straightened her spine and her chin rose fractionally as she responded, "You are very right Captain Hunter. I believe we have to behave in order to preserve their mental sanity." She said her wry tone masking the hurt she felt.
Rick nodded his assent although he was still eyeing her a little bit warily. He felt there was something different but he couldn't tell what it was. Lisa had seemed more open a few seconds ago but now she had gone all professional on him again. Deciding to let it go for now, after all she had agreed to their "truce", he said, "Well you can start by calling me Rick from now on."
Lisa's eyes narrowed a bit betraying her pain but she rapidly recovered. With a nod, she agreed. "Well Rick," she said, emphasizing his name, "I am going to collect some things and then I am going home. Are you finished with all your preparations?" She asked, rapidly steering the conversation away from the personal.
"I finished packing already but there are still a few things I still need to take care of." He said, thinking he still had to call Minmay to let her know he was leaving. Understanding that Lisa was trying to dismiss him gently, he decided not to push her for today and took his leave.
Lisa saw him leave with a wave and a carefree smile. Once again her heart lay in pieces and her dignity in tatters. Even though she had recouped during the conversation, in its aftermath she wanted nothing else but to cry. Her eyes went glassy as the green orbs filled with tears.
She remained motionless, her eyes unfocused as she refused her tears to fall. It was in that state that Claudia found her a few minutes later.
A/N 1: The by the locations of where the "allies' forces" are located mean that I made those some of those up. In the series, Mechakon IS in a city called Viktor Town but it is not in Europe. I wanted to spread out the forces so they are all over the world, therefore Mechakon is from Europe, The Liberty group is from Japan and Robotech people are going to be from the United States. FOr the purpose of my story let's pretend that that is the case.
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter but if it makes you all feel better I already have a rough draft of Chapter 3. Hopefully that will mean a faster update.
Anyway here is what to expect next chapter:
Chapter 3:
The Robotech team goes to Mechakon camp. We finally get to meet some of the allies. Lisa will get to see what she has to work with. What will the Robotech crew think of their allies? We will also get to see a little bit more of the connection between the Zentraedi and their mysterious allies.