A Macross II fan fic by Wega the blue sun. No copyright infringement is intended, the MII characters don't belong to me and I'm not making any money off their use. Only the OC's, the story and the hopeless dedication to the most maligned part of the Macross saga belong to me, and none of those make me any money.
Ch. 6 The planet of Alus
"Have they located the signal?", Feff asked once again, knowing full well that the scouts hadn't yet reported in. He suppressed a maddening urge to join the search in his personal mecha. Only the Zentran were able to detect signals from the homing device in Ishtar's bracelet, and his place was on the bridge. Now wasn't the time to waste effort on pointless activity, no matter now he yearned to find the missing emulator. And find her he would, it was just a matter of time. He knew Ishtar was alive. Had she perished, the bracelet would have sent out a specific signal and then shut itself off. No, she was somewhere on the aliens home world, he was almost certain of that.
This new enemy was unlike any he'd ever encountered. Not only did the aliens utilize music as a combat weapon, they also possessed Zentran technology. How'd they'd come by either was anyone's guess, but Feff wasn't in the mood for fruitless speculation. This much was for certain, the aliens were resourceful and determined to protect their world, attributes which made them particularly dangerous and thus even more worthwhile to fight and defeat. According to reports one of them had boldly entered the derelict flagship and taken Ishtar on board - an act of reckless audacity. Why she'd remained behind after Feff had personally ordered her to evacuate was still unclear, but the enemies action probably saved her life. Feff ground his teeth in frustration when he calculated the losses of the campaign, so far it was a less than stellar success. He'd dutifully made a report to headquarters, stressing the unusual nature of the enemy, but he'd deliberately omitted any mention of Ishtar's abduction. Now he had more leeway to search for her. Asking permission to do so would most likely have resulted in a strict denial, something he wasn't ready to accept.
When upon his return from the first battle he found out that the emulator was among the missing and presumed dead, Feff felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach, so brutal was the impact. But before he could fully absorb the bad news a tantalizingly brief signal fragment from Ishtar's homing device was detected. And when a troop reported an earlier sighting of enemy craft entering and exiting the abandoned flag ship, Feff dared to hope again. Yet, the knowledge that Ishtar lived didn't serve to calm him. Having realized the value of their captive, the aliens were probably hard at work trying to extract information from her. Were emulators taught to withstand torture, Feff wondered, his mind racing with images of Ishtar suffering through increasingly painful methods of intelligence gathering. Stay strong, Lady, I will save you, he swore silently, impatient to annihilate the menacing alien hordes bent on hurting her.
"What do you want to do now, Ishtar? I can take you anywhere", the handsome young male asked and gestured towards the colorful vista laid out before her."I'd like to see the ship, Hibiki", she replied with a smile which her companion quickly repaid in kind. "Yes, I haven't forgotten about that, don't worry!", he said and reached for her. After a moment's hesitation she held out her hand and trembled at the electrifying contact of his skin meeting hers. Such behavior would have been completely unacceptable with one of her own kind, but somehow the human's touch didn't count, even if it raised the tiny hairs on the back of her neck.
"But first I want you to meet someone. Actually, you've already met him, although you probably don't remember him", Hibiki said, pulling her along in his mad dash through the crowed streets. He needed to find out more about this strange girl he'd found in the damaged ship, and Mash was the right person to help him with this task. For reasons unknown everyone opened up to the cross dresser. Maybe the chemical laden atmosphere at the salon induced some kind of trance, or maybe Mash really did possess the unique insight he'd always boasted of. Whatever it was, hopefully the Micron wouldn't prove immune to either method. Ishtar was his ticket to the big time, the scoop he'd searched for so long. This one's for you, Dennis. I won't quit until I know everything, Hibiki swore, the image of the dying veteran reporter fresh in his mind.
The exotic sights, sounds and smells of the city filled Ishtar's senses, and she hardly knew where to turn first. Her mind was reeling from the sheer impact, and it felt like a strange dream, she thought while the young man lead her through the place he called home. But her place was back in the commander's ship, motivating the troops with her song, she wasn't supposed to be on the ground of an unconquered world. Unaware that the enemy was already in their midst the city's inhabitants moved around her in blissful ignorance of the Marduk fleet poised to strike again. Just then she felt the pull of the Alus again, and the presence of the vessel cleared the confusion from her mind. She'd known about it the moment Feff's fleet materialized in the planetary system. A vision of a strange ship, poised in flight appeared in her mind's eye. The Alus wasn't just a vessel, it was a prophecy made to the Marduk long ago, and Ishtar was determined to find the ship to decipher it's message. It had led her here for a purpose, and she had to know why she'd been spared certain death.
Earlier today a signal from her bracelet alerted her that a search party was on the way to pick her up, and she'd slipped out of Hibiki's quarters to find the ship. But her lone foray into the city had been a failure. Overwhelmed by the strange surroundings she'd panicked, and once again Hibiki had come to her rescue. Yet in a very short time she'd found herself attracted to this colorful, noisy world where males and females mingled easily to delight in each other's company and smiles and laughter were as common as the sweet music which filled the air. Ishtar looked around, trying to commit the sights and sounds to memory. Once the escort retrieved her, the planet and its amazing culture would be destroyed, and the impending loss threatened to bring tears to her eyes.
"Lord Feff, we've narrowed down the area where the signal originated", a tinny voice reverberated in his helmet, and he breathed a deep sigh of relief. Unable to wait it out on the ship he'd finally joined the search party with the intent to race wherever Ishtar was held. This simple plan of action carried a high degree of risk, a fact which his assistant, now temporarily in charge of the replacement flagship, quickly pointed out. But Feff cared nothing about how difficult it was to control Zentran without an emulator, nor did he care how destructive they tended to be. The planet was doomed anyway, and his sole concern was to get Ishtar back before the aliens could do permanent damage and headquarters learned of her absence. Once she was safely stowed away on his ship he'd personally request assistance from Toht's fleet of planet killers. The sooner this vile world was destroyed, the better, Feff thought as he took forward position and the tiny group of mechs sped towards a destination only Zentran could pinpoint.
This was supposed to be a fun afternoon, Hibiki thought as he desperately tried to reach cover. In the blink of an eye the outing had turned deadly when a number of enemy mechs attacked culture park. Worse yet, the intruders appeared just when Ishtar seemed ready to open up a little. She'd clearly enjoyed herself, even laughed at his corny jokes when the attack began. And now here he was, injured and limping along with the help of Silvie, his least favorite person in the world. "This is all my fault", Ishtar said, "they've come to get me". It took Hibiki a moment to process this information, but regardless he didn't want her to leave, not just yet. There were too many questions still unanswered, and his big scoop was at stake.
In the low light of their hideout in the ruins he could still see Ishtar's somber expression. It was obvious that she wasn't ready to leave, and somehow this touched him. "I'm so sorry!", she whispered in a trembling voice while the ground shook with the continued impacts. Whatever she was, someone really wanted her back, and that was all the more reason to keep her here longer, Hibiki thought. "Wait!", he shouted, but she was already gone. He collapsed against Silvie who tightened her grip on him. "Hang on there, bigshot!", the star pilot snapped. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to make it out of here!" Hibiki groaned, partly from pain, mainly from exasperation. Wasn't it just his luck to be stuck here with Silvie of all people?
Ishtar stepped out into the sunlight, and temporarily blinded, it took her a moment to recognize the massive shape through the swirling dust kicked up by the attack. The clarion call was strong and steady now, and even though the ship looked nothing like her vision, she knew it was the Alus. Ishtar took a deep breath, and suddenly the sky was rent by an earsplitting screech when a Zentran mech bore down on her, ready for the kill. But before the warrior could deliver the fatal blow he was pushed aside by an even more massive, bright red mech, and Ishtar realized that Lord Feff had taken it upon himself to rescue her. Rooted to the spot she watched as the Gilgamesh's breast opened wide to reveal its pilot.
Not even the destruction all around could dim Ishtar's radiant beauty, Feff thought, greatly relieved to find her unharmed. Her captor's futile attempts to break her resistance by chopping off her hair and clothing her in hideous garments angered him. No doubt he'd arrived just in time before they could resort to even more insidious methods. But why was she just standing there? Earlier he'd wondered if she might overreact in her great happiness at being rescued, but now there seemed to be little chance of that, he noted with some disappointment. "Hurry Ishtar!", he urged, beckoning towards her, but received only a started look from her. An injured alien emerged from the ruins, calling her name as he limped towards her. Feff drew his weapon and leveled it at the intruder, when Ishtar came to life and screamed at him to stop. Worse yet, she wrenched off her bracelet and dashed it to pieces on the ground before she ran to the fallen alien to render him aid. Utterly astonished and bewildered, Feff was uncertain how to proceed when a massive impact nearly threw him down. Quick to exploit his distraction, an enemy fighter had taken hold of his Gilgamesh, unaware that every part of his mech was a weapon. Spitting curses, Feff retreated into the belly of the fighter and with the flip of a switch freed himself from the grip of the alien's transformable ship. His fighter badly damaged, the enemy could do nothing but watch while Feff accelerated and rose above the battle scene. The rescue attempt had failed miserably, and now he had no option but to leave before the enemy regrouped to capture him, too.
But why had Ishtar refused to come along? He couldn't fathom any reason for her inexplicable behavior, it simply didn't make any sense. Feff recalled the surviving troops and together they sped back to his flagship, all the while his mind continuously replayed the image of his emulator turning her back on him in order to protect an enemy with her own life.