From the author:
Yes, yes... I'm still alive. It's been, what... two years since I last posted a chapter? Well, I'd dispense the usual apologies, but you know how life goes...
So, I've been extremely busy as of late, as you all can imagine. I'm still in school working on my aerospace engineering degree, but I am starting my last semester tomorrow. In four months, I'll have my degree and (hopefully) a good job. This upcoming semester should be easier on me with only twelve units of classes... yes, "only" twelve. That's the fewest I've ever had since starting, so I'm looking forward to a more open schedule. I fill much of my free time working on rocketry projects within my student organization at the university. I've successfully built two heavy-payload rockets for competitions. Won first place last year and am looking forward to taking the prize again this year. I'm also working on getting our club to a more advanced competition that takes place this summer. I'm really anticipating the new challenges in this one.
In my personal life, I'm still in a relationship with my girlfriend of two years. She takes up a lot of my time, as you can imagine, but she's worth it. She even loved Macross Frontier when I showed it to her. Now, if I can just get her to read this fanfic. I'm actually kind of afraid that she'll see my old work at the beginning and be critical of my shoddy writing in that time period... ;)
As usual, the story goes on here in Chapter 51. This chapter was mostly complete for the last two years, as I had done most of the work by the time Chapter 50 posted back then. The problem was that I felt as if I was slowly letting Cal become a "Mary Sue", which is exactly opposite of what I want. However, I realized that the story is kind of about him, so of course he's going to be in most of the scenes. I still put this chapter through several re-writes, which is part of the reason it's taken so long to complete. I had originally intended on making this chapter centered around Klan and her inner-most thoughts, but I started to see many flaws showing up in the content. It was obvious that the story was being "forced"; things just didn't feel natural. I decided to change the perspective and reduce the amount of inner dialogue to make it feel more like a normal chapter. However, there is still quite a bit left over and you can see remnants of the original script have been left in, while much of it was removed and/or changed. Klan is still the main character here and you get to hear a bit of what's going through her head as she goes through her everyday activities.
I'd recommend possibly reading the last couple of chapters previous to this one before diving in, but if you think your memory is top-notch, be my guest! On a serious note, I wanted to reassure each and every one of you readers that I do intend on finishing this story, but it may take more time. I probably will not do anything until I've finished school, so it will probably be at least June before you hear from me again. Hell may freeze over, though; I might get bitten by the writing bug during this semester and crank something out before then. But I would not count on it. Please keep me favorited on your accounts so that you'll see when I update again. I have at least three more major events coming down the pike, and then there's the final arc of the story. Plenty of content to go, plus I have been slinging around ideas for a sequel for the last year or so. I may ask for some input on a sequel as I reach the home stretch on this story in the future, so let me know if you'd like to help me flesh out some story ideas. I am always looking forward to feedback and criticism from you guys, so don't hesitate to PM me or post your thoughts in a review. Remember! Please watch for spoilers when posting reviews!
You can also contact me outside of FanFiction at frothymug at aol dot com. It's always nice to talk with those who do e-mail me.
-(01/12/14)
The morning repose was suddenly shattered by the chirping of a cellphone ringtone. Startled out of her sleep, Klan's whole body flinched at the sounds echoing off of the walls in the room. Barely able to open her eyes, she fumbled her hands all over the nightstand next to her, looking for the source of the sound so she could silence it and bring peace back to the room once more. She knew she'd found her phone when she felt its vibrations propagating through her hand.
"Yeah?" A hint of irritation could be detected in her voice.
Even though she had her hair tied up, she used her free hand to brush some loose strands away from her face. She listened to the voice on the other end of the line, keeping her eyes winced shut since they were unwilling and unable to stay open at this early hour of the morning.
"Okay. Yeah, I'll be there."
By the time she ended the call, her heart was still racing. She flopped back down on the bed and let out an exasperated sigh. She laid on her back with both of her hands behind her head while her eyes remained closed for a moment. The returning silence was absolute bliss by comparison. Her mouth then slowly curled upwards to form a smile; beds always feel the most comfortable in the early morning moments before you're supposed to get up. This feeling only lasted for a few seconds before her eyes popped open and the smile ran away from her face. Her vision darted from side to side as she tried to make sense of the situation.
"Where the hell am I?"
There's also that eerie feeling you get after waking up from a hard sleep and not knowing which way is up. A dim light was shining through the slats of the venetian blinds covering the window, barely illuminating the contents of the room enough for her to see. The blanket fell off of her chest when she sat up to look around, revealing an oversized t-shirt shrouding her body.
"These aren't my clothes! Come to think of it, why am I in my miclone form?"
Although her memory was lagging a bit, it slowly started to catch up to the present. She calmed down a bit and started to inspect the contents of Cal's room; everything was surprisingly clean and organized. A small desk and chair rested in the corner, the closet doors were closed, and the nightstand had only a lamp, clock, and her phone. However, one thing was obviously missing: Cal.
Seeking answers to certain questions flowing through her mind, she hopped out of bed, only to be met by the chill of the morning air in the room. The t-shirt she was wearing was too large for her, but it wasn't doing much in the way of keeping her legs warm. As she pulled the front of the shirt downwards to cover her exposed legs, her eyes met a strategically-placed house robe lying on another chair situated on the other side of the nightstand. It seemed unambiguous, when compared to the relative desolation of the rest of the room.
From the hallway, Cal's door could be seen slowly opening with a slight creak. Like a timid rodent poking its head out from the safety of its nest, Klan carefully inspected both directions before emerging from the doorway. Just downstairs, the faint sound of the television was accompanied by the familiar sound of Cal laughing. Slightly emboldened, she gently closed the bedroom door behind her and tiptoed down the stairs a few steps until the living room was in plain view.
Cal was situated in one of the chairs at the breakfast nook to the side of the living room. His gaze was intently fixated on the television and he appeared to be watching… cartoons. Not the gritty, noir-laced adult variety; but the colorful, cheesy, and wacky kind normally seen at this time of the morning. At that very moment, it appeared that one of the characters took a shot from some enormously heavy object, causing the character to take on some kind of unnatural shape. Cal burst out in laughter again.
"Cartoons? I'm in love with a little boy! This can't be allowed to continue…"
Suddenly, she looked down at her own body, realizing that she, too, has taken the form of a little girl. Oh, the irony…
"Still, though… there's something charming about this sight. Nothing wrong with feeding your inner-child from time to time. Maybe this is why I couldn't help but find him so intriguing. I was stuck in such a serious mode for so long, and I guess he managed to rub off on me. I have to admit, rediscovering my own inner-child when around him has been nothing but good times."
Klan quietly observed Cal in his natural habitat from her vantage point. She sat a few steps down from the top of the staircase, grasping the wooden balusters used to hold up the railing on the staircase. She peered through them, as if invisibly concealed by the natural environment in this wild safari. A strange trance began to fall over her and her mouth began to shape into a goofy smile. She seemed so engrossed in what she was watching, she didn't even hear the sound of footsteps approaching her from the upstairs hall.
"Sleep well?" Ozma's voice pierced her eardrums.
Startled by his sudden appearance, her body flinched just like how she jumped when she was woken up by her cell phone. She released her grip on the balusters and withdrew her hands. Simultaneously, she spun her head around to see Ozma's feet. While completely mortified, she slowly scanned her view upwards until she managed to lock onto his eyes.
"No! I was just…" she stammered.
Her cheeks were blushing more and more with every passing millisecond. She quickly sighed and corrected herself. "I mean… yeah, it was nice." She couldn't help but turn away to hide her obvious embarrassment.
"That's good!" Ozma casually remarked as he passed behind her, descending the staircase.
She looked at his backside, taking note of his crisp, clean uniform and duffel slung over his back. He stopped at the last step and glanced back at her, causing her to look away again.
"Are you just going to sit there and stare at him, or are you going to go say 'good morning'?" He purposely said it loud enough so his voice would carry clear across the living room to anyone who happened to be eating breakfast there.
"I really should knock that smug smile off of your face, Ozma."
Now behaving more sheepishly than before, she slowly glanced back towards Cal and noticed that he was looking straight at her. The smile on his face conveyed his "good morning" to her without having to say a word. Continuing her awkward and demure behavior, she quietly took a seat at the table across from him. His unchanged facial expression and lack of words added to her discomfort.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.
Cal remained motionless for a moment before he cleared his demeanor and stood up from his chair.
"Sorry," he replied with a slight laugh, "This is a side of you I don't get to see often." Cal walked into the kitchen and began to rummage around. "How do you take your coffee?"
"Just straight. Black."
Clanking sounds emanated from the kitchen, but Klan couldn't tell what he was doing from her vantage point. She rocked her chair backwards a bit in an attempt to peer into the kitchen, but she was too far out of the line of sight to make anything out.
"Geez, nothing?!" he exclaimed with a scoff, "Well, if you say so." He soon emerged with a mug in one hand, gently cupping it from the bottom with the other. "I hope you're hungry," he said as he set the coffee down on the table in front of her.
"Why?"
Rather than answer, Cal smiled at her and returned to the kitchen. She somehow understood that she was supposed to stay put in her seat and wait for the surprise. She took the opportunity to inhale the aromatic fumes rising from the cup in front of her.
While the mild clamor continued, Ozma emerged from the kitchen, instead of Cal. He stopped for a moment and looked her over, satisfied that she appeared to be more comfortable than before. He then checked his watch and turned back towards the kitchen.
"Okay, I'm off," he declared, "I've got a few errands to run before reporting for duty. I trust you'll be on time?"
The irritation in Cal's voice was obvious, "Yes, Sir...!" You could almost hear him rolling his eyes as he answered.
Ozma then turned towards Klan. "Do you need me to give you a ride to Laplamiz?"
Before she could answer, Cal popped his head back out of the kitchen. "Oh, don't worry about that. I'll take her home."
Ozma checked his watch again, initially in disbelief that Cal had enough time to finish getting ready, take her home, and make it to the Quarter on-time. He quickly assuaged his own doubts and sighed; a smile returned to his face once more. "Alright. I'll see you in the briefing room in a couple of hours."
Queued by the sound of the door shutting behind Ozma, Cal re-emerged from the kitchen with a hand towel slung over his shoulder.
"Is he gone?" He sighed as he sat down sideways in his chair, taking a more casual posture than before. "I respect the hell out of that guy, but sometimes he bugs the crap out of me. Always talking to me like I'm some kind of irresponsible teenager…" He picked up his coffee cup for a sip.
"Well, I'm sure he feels a sense of responsibility when it comes to your well-being."
"He's not my father. I wish he'd cut that shit out. I've more than proven to him that I'm capable of wiping my own ass, thank you very much."
Klan took a long sip from her cup before she answered. "We all feel that way about our chicklings, Cal. That's just how it goes. You'll do the same thing when you take fledglings of your own under your wing." She smiled as she looked straight into her cup.
"You remember all of those times I did it to you. I'm still catching myself doing it from time to time. Old habits are hard to break. No matter how much they've grown, your chicklings will always be your chicklings." Wearing the same smile, she peered back up at him. "…And sometimes, they take you completely by surprise and show you a side of yourself that you never thought existed."
"It's a reasonable complaint, but he needs to just get over it. That's the way things are- What is that wonderful smell? Is that what I think it is?!"
An electronic beep sounded from the kitchen, prompting Cal to get back up from his seat. "I knew you had it in you." He smirked, then disappeared into the kitchen and started clanking around again. "I was just about to go wake you up," he said, changing the subject.
"I got a call."
"Back to work, I take it?"
"Mmhm…"
"When do you have to be back?"
"Couple of hours."
"Good," Cal replied, "That's plenty of time."
Before she could ask for the details of what it was that he was thinking about, he reappeared carrying the pièce de résistance.
"I thought I smelled pancakes!" Klan exclaimed. Her eyes practically sparkled at the sight of the large stack sitting on the plate now in front of her. "I love pancakes! How did you know…?"
"I asked Nene," he replied as he went back and forth from the kitchen, dropping off the necessary accoutrements. He finished his trips by topping off her cup of coffee and setting the pot on the table in front of her. "Did I get everything?"
"Mmhm…!" With her mouth already full of a bite of her breakfast, she made sure she did the best she could to express her approval.
"It's like I was saying before: he always takes me by surprise. Wait… It all makes sense now! He uses a subterfuge to fool you into having the wrong expectations of him and then he catches you unprepared. His piloting reflects his personality to the letter…!"
Cal appeared to be overtly satisfied with the situation, but he also seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. "Okay, I've got to go get ready. Do you want me to change the channel for you?" he asked as he began to walk towards the stairs.
Klan shook her head without looking at him. She was too engrossed into enjoying her breakfast. Besides, she was turned away from the television. The sounds of the nearby cartoon mayhem were inconsequential to her ears. Without warning, she suddenly found herself being hugged from behind by Cal. Her complexion quickly blushed as soon as she felt him give her a kiss on the cheek.
A bit later, with timing almost too perfect to be random chance, Cal sauntered down the stairs fully dressed in his uniform at the same time Klan had finished eating her breakfast. "Bathroom's all yours!" he declared. He noticed that she was picking her dishes up off of the table as she stood up. "No… I'll take care of those, Sweetheart."
"What the…?" Klan reacted, "Using cheesy pet names, already?"
Cal stopped in his tracks, unsure of whether or not this was some sort of test. His mind ran through the possible solutions as quickly as possible. "Oh… Sorry. Old habit, I guess. It's just a term of endearment, Klan. It's better than 'Half-pint', isn't it?"
"If it's one thing that always makes me gag, it's when people would use phrases like 'honey bunch', 'sweetie pie', and 'snuggle-kins'. If he starts saying shit like that, I'll break up with him in a heartbeat," Klan thought to herself before verbally replying, "I guess it is… I somehow get the feeling that you're going to continue to call me 'Half-pint' just to get under my skin, aren't you?"
Cal smiled, making sure to show his teeth in an obviously insincere effort to hide his intentions.
Upstairs, it was relatively quiet. With Ozma gone and Cal probably still watching cartoons downstairs, Klan had free range to do as she pleased in relative privacy. She started the shower and began searching for a clean towel and soap, but the lack of either in the storage closet in the bathroom led her back across the hall.
When she opened the door to Cal's room, she found that all of her clothes had been carefully laid out on the bed for her. The garage may have been cold overnight, but the humidity was low enough to quickly dry everything out before the moisture had a chance to freeze in the garments. On the chair, a neatly-folded towel was accompanied by shampoo, conditioner, and a fresh bar of soap.
Having now acquired the necessary showering supplies, Klan undid the bindings on her hair. Her long, blue hair cascaded down her back after being set free. The sound of the shower running behind the nearby closed bathroom door filled the hallway and bedroom while she took the opportunity to remove the borrowed clothing from her body.
Just as she untied her robe and pulled the oversized t-shirt over her head, she looked to her left through the partially-open bedroom door to see Cal in the hall with his ear against the bathroom door. Convinced that she was in the bathroom, he took one step towards his bedroom; only to see Klan inside, half-naked and trying to cover herself with her arms.
"Oh, geez! I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, turning his head to offer her at least a modicum of modesty.
"What the hell are you doing?!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She was already turning red in the face; probably from a combination of anger and embarrassment.
"I thought you were in the bathroom!" he replied, "I just came up here to get my shoes!" Regardless of his intrusion, he remained in place in the doorway, holding up his hands to block his vision as he bent over to get his shoes from off of the floor next to the door.
"You're supposed to knock before coming in here, you creep!"
For some reason, her choice of words in her scolding rubbed Cal the wrong way. "This is my room and the goddamn door was open! Do you want me to wear a bell around my neck next time?! Or how about if I just keep singing a song so you'll know where I'm at in the house?" He stormed out of his room and turned towards the stairs, but stopped before descending. He sighed and leaned against the wall just outside of his door. "How dumb is it that we behave this way when it's really just a simple misunderstanding?"
Hurrying to put the robe back over her bare body, she suddenly became motionless and winced. "Dammit."
"Cal!" She exclaimed as she dashed towards the door.
She rounded the corner, only to find him sitting motionless on the floor, leaning against the wall in the hallway. A pregnant pause filled the air as he glanced back at her.
"I'm sorry for yelling," she said as she leaned down to hug him from the side. "You have to understand that sometimes when I get angry, I just can't think straight. I'm still not used to this 'being in love' thing and I momentarily forgot that you're the one I'm in love with."
She gently used her head to nudge his over so she could give him a kiss on the cheek. It was an apology that was quickly and happily accepted.
After her shower, she descended the staircase, clean, rejuvenated, fully-clothed, and ready for whatever the day could throw at her. Cal patiently waited on the couch, no longer watching cartoons, but watching what appeared to be a morning talk show. She was surprised to see him using a digital tablet, which sat on his lap as he typed something onto its virtual keyboard.
"A new toy, huh?" she asked. "When did you get one of those?"
Cal calmly finished typing whatever it was that he was working on and casually put the tablet aside next to his huge duffel bag taking the spot on the couch to his left.
"I'm borrowing it…" His short answer obviously didn't satisfy Klan. "I'm just doing a little homework for… well, let's just call it a 'special assignment'."
She took the other remaining spot on the couch to his right. "Well, what is it?"
"I… I'm not supposed to talk about it yet," he answered; his eyes darted to each side.
She scowled at him, hoping to get him to spill the beans. Perhaps she didn't realize that he was being serious. Fortunately, Cal didn't seem to be affected by her sharp gaze.
"I'm not kidding. I can't say anything."
With a huff, she flopped backwards into the couch cushion and crossed her arms. The sight on the television almost invoked a gag-reflex within her.
"Is this one of those politics talk shows where a bunch of gasbags cackle back and forth with each other over their stupid opinions?"
"A crude way to put it, but yes."
"I can't imagine why you'd be interested in watching stuff like this. It just doesn't seem like it's your style."
"I guess that's one thing you don't know about me yet," Cal snickered. He got up from his seat and grabbed his mug off of the coffee table as he headed towards the kitchen. "There's still some left, do you want the rest?"
"Of course!"
Klan innocently watched him disappear into the kitchen before she leaned over to snatch up his tablet. A mischievous and inquisitive streak empowered her to try and nose into his business a little bit. Her attempts were met with absolute futility, however. The touchpad was locked out and a numbered keypad appeared on the screen, beckoning her to enter the passcode. She quickly began to formulate any possible solutions in her mind.
Just as she started to enter her first attempt, Cal's distant voice shocked her like a jolt of electricity. "Put it down, Klan."
When he came back out of the kitchen he could see her sulking on one side of the couch; his tablet was back in the exact spot he'd left it before. Her lower jaw slightly jutted out and she appeared to be biting her upper lip. She wore the same scowl as earlier as she tried to tolerate the program playing on the television.
"So adorable…" he snickered as he handed her the rest of the coffee in her cup.
She scoffed, but eagerly took the cup from his hands. As she took a sip from it, she peered at him from the side of her eyes, noticing that he had taken up the tablet on his lap again. She tried to be discreet in her visual eavesdropping, but she just couldn't seem to get the right angle to clearly make out anything that was on his screen. Cal appeared to be well-aware of this fact and made sure that things were out of her sight.
Appearing to concede her defeat, she broke the momentary silence. "I never really saw you as someone who has an interest in things such as politics."
"I guess not. Well, remember that time on the Quarter when I asked you and your sister about your opinions on the relationship between our races?"
"Mhm…"
"I consider myself to be more of a historian, than anything. I tend to focus my attention on the time period around Space War I, and the impact it's had on Humanity and the Zentraedi." Cal quickly punched in some more notes as he finished his sentence, trying to pay attention to both Klan and the television program at the same time.
"What does history have to do with politics, then?"
"It actually has a lot to do with politics. To learn from our mistakes, we must always keep a clear record and understanding of precedent. What doesn't work in the past, probably won't work in the future. People easily tend to forget those lessons, both politicians and their constituents."
"Oh." Her response made it seem as though she didn't quite understand. She seemed to stare off into empty space for a moment.
Checking his watch for the time, Cal quickly put his tablet into its case and then into his duffel bag. "Ready to go?"
Sometime later on his scooter, Cal and Klan zoomed through the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highway. The motorbike's thin profile was small enough to effortlessly pass between the cars, riding the lane stripes all the way to their destination. They both wore helmets and goggles, using their scarves to protect their faces from the biting cold air blowing past them. However, Klan had to wear Cal's large duffel bag on her back so that they could both fit into their seats on the scooter. Her hair wasn't entirely tucked under her helmet, and those two, tell-tale, long tufts of hers floated in the air behind them like a pair of streamers. She didn't seem to be watching where they were going. Rather, she was lost in thought, resting the side of her head on his back like it was a pillow. The worrysome look on her face was telling; she had a lot going through her mind.
A bit later outside of the gateway complex, Cal sat back down on the seat of his scooter after removing his headgear. Klan gently approached him from the front, allowing his arms to close in around her.
"Are you going to be at home tonight?" she asked.
Again, Cal's eyes darted from side to side, indicating that he was hiding something. "No… I have some extracurricular activities tonight. You know… can't talk about it… yet." Noticing that she was slightly distraught at the fact that he won't share anything with her, he decided to close the case with at least a positive note. "I can tell you all about it by tomorrow. I promise."
She seemed satisfied and smiled at him just before she moved in for a goodbye kiss.
"I just had a thought", she perked up with a slightly devilish smirk on her face, "Just to make things up to you for yelling at you earlier, why don't you come with me into the complex and you can watch me using the tanks."
Cal's eyes widened into perfectly round saucers as he realized that in order for her to use the micloning tanks, she'd have to be completely undressed. She'd enter the tank as a miclone and emerge as a Meltran… still undressed.
Just as he was about to enthusiastically agree, he checked the time on his watch. His expression quickly morphed into that of a sad puppy. "I can't! I don't have enough time!" His eyes seemed to well up with tears of sadness and disappointment; his lower lip quivered ever-so-slightly.
She clicked her tongue, but realized things were out of his control and that if he showed up late to the Quarter, Ozma would really let him have it.
"Oh, that's too bad!" she taunted. Still, she was going to have a little fun jerking him around. After all, he's always asking for it. "I bet you really would have liked that!"
"Hmph! Such a tease…" he grunted in response. He folded his arms and looked away; a snobbish expression appeared on his face.
"You know I'm just messing with you," she laughed, "You also know that I love you, right?"
"Yeah…"
Her words prompted Cal to quickly change his playfully hyperbolic demeanor. He unfolded his arms and looked back at her just in time to receive her final goodbye kiss.
…
"Good morning, Commander."
"Morning."
Ever since she boarded the Eksidos, everyone had been eager to greet Klan onboard. Two of her pilots stood aside in the hallway to let her through unabated, standing at attention until she passed them by. Directly in front of her, the expansive hangar was teeming with life. Whirring machinery and crew chatter combined to form a single dull roar echoing off of the hard metallic walls. She headed straight for the door leading to her office.
Inside, things appeared to be undisturbed, but the air was also cold and stale. The first thing she had to do was turn on the exhaust fan to get some fresh air into the room. This was yet another reason why she might have preferred the comfort of home over work on this particular day. She barely had time to sit down at her desk and log into the computer before she heard a knock at her door.
"Come in!"
Jormun entered the office and shut the door behind him. Inexplicably, he carried two coffee mugs in one hand.
"Morning!" he cheerily greeted as he hurried over to her desk and set one of the cups in front of her. "Brought you some joe."
"Um, thanks." With apprehension, she accepted his little morning gift and took a sip.
"I have some news for you," he declared, "We're taking the ship into orbit." Taking note of Klan's apparent lack of emotional response, he continued, "We're just going to be performing some training exercises for a couple of days. Once we're done, we'll be back here for a few more days before taking off for deployment."
"Oh." She breathed a sigh of relief.
He casually pulled a small memory card out of his uniform pocket and dropped it onto her desk. "Here's the patrol charts. We're not lifting off for several hours, so you'll have a chance to go home and grab anything you need before we go."
Klan noticed he'd taken a seat on the corner of her desk, instead of the nearby chairs supplied to him. She cleared her throat to get his attention.
"Do you mind?" she asked, directing her eyes towards his encroaching rear end.
"Oh! Sorry…" he laughed as he got up and took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of her desk. He crossed one leg over the other and leaned back to take a sip of his coffee. "So, what did you do yesterday?"
"Honestly, I don't feel like talking to him right now, but he seems to be making an effort to at least get to know me a little better. It's a huge contrast from when he took me out on that date a few years ago. Instead of getting to know me then, he tried, rather unsuccessfully, to shove his tongue down my throat the entire time. He finally got the point after I had to threaten the well-being of his manhood with an immovable, crushing grip down south."
"Oh, not much," she replied, "Just had some fun in the snow. Slept a lot…"
"Yeah, I hear ya… I just stayed indoors and spent my time with a good book." An air of brief silence fell over the two of them. "Listen, I was wondering if you'd like to join me for dinner in the mess tonight. Once we get into orbit, we'll have several hours before anything big is going on. Figured I could use the company." He let out a nervous laugh and quickly covered his face by taking a sip from his cup.
"Sounds like you're asking me out on a date, or something."
"No…!" he laughed again, "I'm just being cordial. I figure if we're going to serve together, it would be nice to get to know each other a little better."
Klan blankly stared at him for a moment, trying to decode his speech for possible ulterior motives. Unable to come up with any definitive results, she smiled and leaned back in her chair. "I actually have a lot of work to catch up on. I don't think I'll be able to make it. Thanks, though."
Jormun stood up from his chair, seemingly emboldened by her rejection of his offer. "We probably won't have many opportunities to socialize in the future. I would really… really appreciate it if you changed your mind." He placed his hands on her desk and leaned in towards her. Although he was still smiling, there was a hint of sternness in his expression.
She casually leaned forward and reached for his hand on her desk, stopping just short so she could pick up a stress-relief ball that she had placed there sometime earlier. She grinned to herself as she flopped back in her chair, tossing the ball in the air back to herself.
"No, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to make it. Insisting on it isn't going to do you any good…"
She held the ball slightly out in front of her, cradling it in her hand so she could make sure it was in plain sight for him. With a devilish smile on her face, she began to repeatedly squeeze the ball; its spherical form morphed into an ellipsoid with each application of pressure from her hand.
Suddenly, Jormun's complexion turned white as a ghost and he quickly straightened up his posture. "Oh…! Well, that's too bad. I guess I'll see you later, then!" He demonstrated his backpedaling skills, reaching the door in record time; a nervous laugh and then he was gone.
Chuckling to herself, she dropped the ball back onto the desk and looked to her left, out through the window into the hangar.
Around the window was a handful of photographs adhered to the frame. Various pictures of people she's known and things she'd done served as visual reminders of her past. Her eyes centered on a blown-up version of the picture she'd taken of Cal standing in the head on the Quarter, wearing nothing but boxers and a tank-top, a toilet brush in his hand, an annoyed look on his face…
Upon seeing the picture, she breathed a short laugh and quietly resumed her work on the screen in front of her.
…
Later that afternoon, Klan returned to the base with her duffel bag full of items she'd retrieved from her apartment. The news of their impending departure was unexpected, but at least she had time to gather a few things before they left the base. Even though she knew she'd be gone for at least a couple of days, she felt at ease, knowing that they'd be back soon. It didn't feel at all like she was being separated from the familiarity of home; just going on a quick trip.
"The Mifune... The Sophocles... The Nantes..."
The shuttle bus upon which she was riding sped down the service road, passing several capital ships moored in the harbor. Each one looked like it was ready to take off at any moment. She clung to the leather strap that hung from the ceiling as she quietly gazed out of the window, trying to identify each ship by its official designated name.
Upon disembarking from the shuttle, she noticed a bit of commotion going on at the next ship on the harbor. Instead of heading straight for the Eksidos, she continued down the service road towards the unfamiliar vessel and decided to investigate. The ship, overall, was in extreme disrepair. The hull had numerous large indentations, and jagged metal scraps barely hung on to the damaged areas.
Her curiosity brought her closer to the ship, where large groups of Zentraedi soldiers wearing outdated uniforms were unloading from the vessel and towards a fleet of shuttles parked on the service road. Each shuttle, when full, would then move through the nearby security gate and off of the base.
At each ship's dock, an observation deck was built to house civilians welcoming troops back from duty. Usually, this area would be full of cheer, but it was instead a source of discontent. The elevated area designated for miclones was covered with several dozen protestors. Many of them were shouting at the military personnel and holding signs above their heads. The disembarking soldiers appeared confused at the situation, with some of them exhibiting signs of fear. The culture shock was definitely affecting them, but this was not the best way for the colonists to make a good first impression. Fully-equipped Zentraedi security guards were sparsely posted in the area, while a handful of miclone guards stood amongst the protestors to monitor their behavior.
Klan managed to stray closer to the dock to get a better look and soon found herself within a stone's throw of the walkway and the observation deck. Although she found the protestors' signs to be somewhat distasteful, she felt compelled to keep reading each sign. With each passing second, she experienced a combination of both embarrassment and anger in response to the things she was seeing.
"What a horrible way to welcome these soldiers. I feel sorry for these Zentraedi, having this as their first real experience at culture. I remember reading about racism issues in history books at school, but I was under the impression that there were no more such problems. I guess I was wrong."
Her thoughts were then suddenly interrupted by her name being called out.
"Klan?"
She almost flinched upon hearing a familiar voice channeled through a loudspeaker. The sound of her name being called coincided with the sound of approaching metallic footfalls. She turned to see a grey and white RVF-25 in battroid form standing next to her. It cradled a gunpod in its arms, but pointed it at the ground for safety. A carrying strap dangled from the attachment points at the tip and stock.
"What are you doing here?" the loudspeaker cackled.
It took a few moments for her to identify the voice in her mind.
"Cal?" Her facial expression denoted some uncertainty.
"Uh, yeahhhh- Oh, right!" he replied with a laugh. He'd just realized that she still hadn't seen the new color scheme on his RVF.
"You got rid of that cannon fodder paint job, I see..." She acted nonchalant, but she could feel the butterflies already returning to her stomach. The urge to smile and blush seemed almost impossible to resist. "It's an improvement...!" The smile managed to make it through to her face.
"Glad you like it! What are you doing here?" he asked once more. His RVF casually slung the gunpod over its shoulder by the strap.
"I just happened to be in the area and was curious. What's going on?"
The RVF's head turned in the direction of the ship, mimicking the human behavior of its pilot. "Looks like they're here to join the colony. I can only imagine the culture shock they're going through right now. Must be frightening and amazing at the same time."
"What about them?" she asked, referring to the miclones making a commotion on the observation deck.
"Guess they don't want any more immigrating Zentraedi. Hard to believe that we've come so far, and yet... we still have a long ways to go..." he sighed in disappointment. His words seemed to echo her earlier inner thoughts to the letter. "Skull Squadron is doing some security detail around the base. So, here I am..."
Klan realized that she needed to head back to the ship soon, or they might be leaving without her. "Listen, Cal..." She waited until she was sure she had his attention. It was pretty obvious when the RVF's head appeared to turn to look back at her. "My ship is going into orbit in a little while. Don't worry, though... we'll probably be back in a day or two, depending on how our training exercises go." Although she couldn't see his face, she could sense his oncoming disappointment through the cold, hard exterior armor of his RVF.
"Well, when were you planning on telling me?" he pointedly asked.
"I just found out a few hours ago. I was going to let you know when I was back on the ship. I had to go home and pick up some personal things, so that's why I'm out wandering around," she said as she nudged the duffel bag slung over her back. Her smile was now full-blown. "I'm just glad I got to tell you in person."
"Oh, okay..." He sounded a bit downed.
Klan approached the battroid and leaned to the side, peering around to the backside of the mecha. She seemed to be looking for the cockpit canopy located just underneath the wing section and carefully reached for it with her hand. "Can I get a hug before I go?"
"Buh- I can't leave the cockpit!" he replied; working the controls to command the battroid to push her arm away. He was obviously flustered at her bold advance, but couldn't stop blushing at the thought of getting a hug from her in her Meltran form. "I'm on security detail, here!" The cockpit monitors showed the images of her standing back up, but the smile she once wore was gone.
She looked away and brushed her hair away from her face. "Sorry, I should know better."
Almost immediately, she felt the hard, metallic embrace of the battroid around her.
"I'll be thinking about you while you're up there," Cal stated with authentic sincerity.
She remained silent as she focused on the feeling of cold metal against her. Even though some areas were somewhat sharp and jagged, it was a hug, nonetheless.
Lost in her thoughts, she looked up to see his face, only to be met with the blank expression of the front of the RVF's head unit. Before she knew it, she'd realized the words "I love you" had slipped out of her mouth. She felt the sudden shock of embarrassment pulse over her body. It was obvious that she was still not used to being in such a relationship with someone.
"Uh..." Cal seemed caught off-guard. Maybe he wasn't the only one to feel uneasy, "I love you, too." They both let out a nervous laugh as they let go, having understood the other's apparent sense of discomfort. "We'll still be here when you get back!" he said to help her feel a little better.
Before she could reply, Cal caught sight of something unusual going on over at the observation deck. He used the RVF's cameras to zoom in and saw that the protestors had smuggled in materials for slingshotting large objects. Arranging into teams, two of the miclones held each end of a large elastic band, while a third loaded what looked like the eggs from a large indigenous bird or lizard.
"Oh, boy..." he muttered as his battroid sprang into action, dashing away.
Klan could only watch as he left her standing there alone so he could try to diffuse a potentially explosive situation.
His teeth clenched as he worked the control pedals on his battroid to make it run.
"Nene! I need some help near the aft ramp! The observation platform!" he barked into the radio.
"I'll be right there!"
The crowd had managed to distract the miclone security guards long enough for them to prepare their salvo for launch. In an instant, several enormous eggs launched from the platform and smashed up against the bodies of unsuspecting Zentraedi soldiers passing by. Upon impact, a foul stench from the eggs filled the nearby air, causing the victims to recoil in disgust.
On the platform, the miclone security guards had reacted to the assault, tossing cannisters of tear gas into the crowd to disperse them. Unfortunately, some of the smarter protesters had come prepared with masks and scarves to reduce the effects of any potential chemical attacks and any side-effects from the rotten eggs they were using.
During the confusion, a couple of the disembarking soldiers became enraged and made a dash towards the observation deck, intent on retaliation. While one of them engaged the lone Zentraedi guard standing near the observation deck, the other managed to get near the miclones and reached through the safety barrier with one arm.
The protestors tried to disperse, but the crowded deck offered nowhere to go. A pair of miclones instantly found themselves firmly trapped in the grasp of a very angry Zentraedi soldier.
Their cries of terror were quickly drowned out by the loud roar of two FF-3001A reaction engines, accompanied by a violent burst of heated air rushing over the observation deck. Cal's RVF seemed to leap into the area from above, immediately grabbing ahold of the encroaching Zentraedi soldier.
"Whoa! Whoa! Drop 'em right now!" Cal barked through the loudspeaker on his craft.
Even though the battroid was larger than the soldier, he still had difficulty controlling the flailing giant. The screams from the two captured miclones indicated that the soldier had already tightened his grip on them. It was only a matter of time before they passed out from their inability to breathe. Cal reacted by grabbing the soldier's wrist with his battroid's hand, restricting the soldier's ability to squeeze any further.
"It's not worth it! Just let them go!" he pleaded.
At that instant, one of the nearby Zentraedi guards stunned the soldier with a blow to the back of the head with butt of his rifle. The soldier struggled to maintain control of his body, but instead slowly released his grip on the two miclones and began to slink to the ground. Cal wanted to thank the guard for the help, but immediately realized that the situation had turned into an all-out brawl on the loading docks. It seemed that everyone affected by the stench of the eggs had entered into a blinding rage, attacking the nearest guard or charging the observation platform. The miclones were already dealing with the tear gas attacks and stun batons wielded by the security forces.
Cal advanced the rioting soldiers with little hesitation. His engines fired up, lifting the battroid slightly off of the ground, before he darted off towards his target. The battroid's hand began to glow with a blue-ish hue and electricity crackled from the fingertips. The usual pin-point barrier had been deactivated in favor of a stun aura for non-lethal applications. Upon contact with the hand, each rioting soldier received a large surge of electricity before falling to the ground. Their bodies continued to flinch and throb after being shocked.
Still, there were several melees going on between the guards and soldiers at that time; the situation was far from being controlled. Cal moved amongst the brawl, delivering non-lethal force until his battroid's right arm was suddenly struck with a large pipe wielded by one of the rioting soldiers. Upon the impact, the electrical aura quickly faded. The actuators in the wrist and elbow joints ground to a halt, disabling the movement of the lower arm. The only thing left was a loaded gunpod, but the disabled arm made it nearly impossible to remove from over the battroid's shoulder.
Exercising additional options, Cal flipped the hat switch on his flightstick to activate the 25mm machine guns on the battroid's hips, only to see the flashing indicator on his MFD tell him that there was no ammunition loaded out for his mission. There was also no need for missiles for a simple guard job. This was turning out to be a big problem.
Before Cal could make any kind of decision, the attacking soldier charged at him and planted his shoulder into the battroid's chest. The transfer of momentum sent the RVF falling backwards and onto the ground. The impact against the ground jarred Cal in his cockpit and the monitors flickered momentarily. The very instant he was able to focus on the threat above him, he instinctively raised the damaged arm to deflect the oncoming blow.
The disgruntled soldier had raised the pipe above his head for a downward strike, breaking the disabled arm clean off of the RVF's structure upon impact. The rest of the battroid was fine... but only for a moment. As the soldier raised the pipe for another blow, Cal's heart raced as his mind tried to think of a way to get out of this undesirable situation. Another couple of hits from this guy and he might not make it out alive. Just as the pipe started accelerating towards Cal, he could hear the sound of nearby yelling through his headset.
Klan had appeared out of nowhere and charged at full speed straight for the attacking soldier. She pumped her arms as fast as they'd go as she accelerated towards her target. Well before she was to make contact, she leapt into the air and landed a drop kick directly into his chest. The blow sent him reeling backwards until he came into contact with a nearby railing, which caused him to flip over the rail and make a hard impact onto the ground.
After landing her blow, she now laid on the ground next to Cal's RVF, watching as the Zentraedi soldier finally hit the ground. Satisfied with the result, she quickly turned to look at the battroid, panting from the sudden exertion of her attack.
"That's another one you owe me!" she remarked with a smile.
Cal remained speechless. In a way, he didn't feel like bantering at that moment, since he'd just had the image of a huge ogre-like creature standing over him with killing intent. Instead, he fidgeted with his controls to try and upright his RVF. The bulky vehicle was stubbornly resisting his efforts to roll over. Even the verniers weren't helping much.
Rather than wait for him to right himself, her eyes focused in on the gunpod still attached to the battroid. Without thinking, she grabbed the weapon by its strap and pulled it free from the mangled remains of the RVF's arm with a single, deft move. Pointing it into the air, she let several rounds fly.
Almost immediately, everyone froze in place and looked directly at her. "Alright! That's enough! Everyone stand down!" The tension seemed to fizzle out into thin air as the guards and soldiers regained control of their senses.
At the same time, Nene showed up in her Queadluun and took position near Cal and Klan. Of course, she was very surprised to see her sister there holding a GU-17A gunpod designated for use by a VF-25. It wasn't the first time she'd wielded one of these weapons, though.
"Get those miclones out of here!" Nene barked at several of the nearby guards. They wasted little time in making preparations to remove the civilians from the scene. She used her Queadluun to help Cal get his RVF back on its feet. "Is everything under control?"
"I- I think so..." Cal stammered in response. He began to look around at the monitors in his cockpit, only to see the same huge Zentraedi bruiser from earlier rise from the ground in the distance. He loudly growled while holding up one of the guards' rifles. Before anyone could react, he had already aimed it in the general direction of Cal, Klan, and Nene.
Klan crouched to the ground and aimed the gunpod directly at him. "Drop it! It's not worth it, buddy!" Nene's Queadluun also crouched and held up the left arm to aim its primary weapon in his direction.
"I've got him in my sights, Nene!" Will's voice crackled over the radio. "Just say the word and I'll take his head clean off of his shoulders!"
The soldier was in a lot of pain, struggling to keep the rifle steady in front of him. His upper torso heaved up and down with each breath.
Cal slowly walked his battroid out in front of Klan to give her some cover, taking care not to block her view. This didn't seem to deter the soldier, since he simply tried to adjust his aim accordingly; his finger tightening around the trigger. He slowly sidestepped to the nearby structure, partially concealing himself from their view. Just after he crouched down, he felt a heavy, metallic hand fall onto his shoulder from behind. He turned his head just in time to see the hand turn blue, followed by a blinding flash of light and the sensation of intense pain saturating his body.
The soldier yelled out as he uncontrollably flailed about. In a matter of seconds, he flopped to the ground, his body slightly smoldering.
Everyone glared at each other with apparent confusion, only to see a cannon-fodder colored VF-25F battroid emerge from behind the structure. Thad, the newest member of Pixie Team, noticed everyone now staring at him with a hushed silence.
"What...?" he inquired in response to their expressions.
...
Later that night, the Eksidos gracefully orbited the planet. A handful of small craft performed typical operations outside of the ship's hull, buzzing about like insects.
Klan was, once again, working in her office on the usual squadron commander business, but her mind was partially in another place. Her fingers punched out coherent words and phrases on the keyboard to her console all on their own, while she pondered things unrelated to her immediate responsibilities.
"I often worry about Cal's well-being, even though I know damn well that he is capable of taking care of himself. But it always seems like he's getting into bad situations lately. It's as if he's constantly looking for trouble... or trouble is always looking for him. Either way, I don't know if I'm going to be able to rest easy when I'm not near him.
"When Michael died, I felt as if I had failed to protect him and I promised myself that I would never let it happen again. Now that Cal and I have formed such a close bond, I've had to come to his rescue multiple times. Am I cursed? Do I bring harm to those whom I love?
"This is, of course, preposterous. My logical side tells me that this is all mere coincidence and I need not worry about such things. My emotional side tells me that things happen for a reason and I should always be on the lookout."
Klan stopped thinking to herself for a moment, only to realize that her fingers were no longer working on auto-pilot and the report she'd been writing now contained brief phrases from her thoughts and other incoherent gibberish. She clicked her tongue as she held down the backspace key to remove her errant work.
"Either way, what I have is worth the effort. And it's that fact that gives me the peace of mind I need to continue every day. I've always had the mindset of a protector… of a guardian. I'm just glad to have found someone special to be able to protect. Between Michael's death and when I had met Cal, I felt lost. I felt like I had no purpose in life anymore and I took out my frustrations on everyone around me. It even spilled over onto him when I met him. Despite my behavior, he felt it necessary to remain a thorn in my side; as a reminder of who I really am inside. It's because of him that I was able to find myself again... and I love him very much for doing what he did then and what he continues doing now for me."
The sound of a loud knock at her door startled Klan out of her thoughts.
"Enter!"
One of her pilots entered the office with a tablet in his hands. "Here's that inventory that you ordered," he said while casually saluting. She nodded and motioned for him to put it on her desk, which he quickly did before leaving the office.
Suddenly, she felt her desire to continue working slip away from within her; the fire just went out, all of a sudden. She sat in her chair simply staring at the tablet for a few moments before reaching for her coffee mug and looked inside. The empty cup could quickly be rectified by a visit to the coffee maker on the table near her window.
She expected a fresh batch to be waiting for her, but quickly took note of the empty pot sitting on the warmer. "Son of a…" she grumbled as she flipped the top off of the water basin and quickly slammed it shut again. All she could do was give the machine a couple of hard slaps in the hopes that it would magically start brewing some more of that precious elixir. Of course, nothing ever works out that easily. She stormed out of her office with her empty cup in hand.
One deck up, a few pilots were relaxing their evening away in the pilots' lounge. Two of them were playing cards with each other, while another was sitting on the couch watching the television set on the wall. Klan entered the room in a rush, heading straight for the coffee maker that sat in the corner of the room. She didn't even bother to make eye contact with any of them; her intentions were firmly set in her mind. She was relieved to find that there was still some coffee left in the pot. She wasted no time in taking a sip after pouring some into her mug.
Now that she'd temporarily sated her thirst for a hot beverage, she took note of the environment in the lounge. As soon as she started looking around, she noticed that the pilots, who had all stopped what they were doing to look at her, quickly resumed their activities in order to avoid eye contact. She'd then realized that her sudden appearance was something of a surprise to them; she'd been spending so much time locked away in her office.
"Glad to see you out and about, Commander."
She turned to the pilot sitting on the couch; her coffee mug still tipped up in front of her mouth as she took another sip.
"Hmh…"
Her response lacked effort. Still, it was the bare minimum needed to acknowledge her pilot's greeting.
She decided to stick around for a few moments to give the appearance of cordiality. Her gaze quickly shifted to the television set.
"Anything good on tonight?"
Before she finished her sentence, she could already make out the program's content. The pilot was watching another news and opinion show, where there were several people seated around a table. Some were arguing with each other, while the rest calmly waited for their turn to speak. The subject was obviously of a political nature.
"Not this crap again…"
She'd already seen something like this early in the morning. Again, she felt disdain for the endless bickering happening on-screen.
"Nevermind…", she interjected, "Why do you watch this pointless drivel?"
The pilot on the couch didn't even have the chance to respond to her original question before she spoke up again.
"Change the channel. There has to be something better on right now…"
"Oh, come on! This stuff is important! Keeping up-to-date on colony politics makes you a more knowledgeable person."
"That's the second time I've been told that today…"
Klan made sure to calm herself down before responding. After all, they weren't on duty, so there was no need for following orders without question. Still, she could throw a lot of weight into "persuading" him into doing what she asks.
"Just do me that favor, okay?"
It seemed like maybe she was going to stick around at least for a short while. She didn't know all that much about her pilots yet and now was as good a time as any to try and show some effort to getting to know them better.
The pilot grumbled to himself, looking around for the remote while Klan returned to the coffee pot to top off her cup. Just as she turned back towards the television and took a sip, she noticed Cal's image inexplicably show up on the monitor. She fought the temptation to spit out her coffee and instead struggled to swallow the hot beverage without choking on it. Then the channel flipped.
"Wait!..." she sputtered as she coughed to clear her throat. "Change it back!" Her voice quivered as she tried to clear the searing liquid from her vocal cords.
"But you just said…"
"Go back!"
The pilot sighed in frustration and did as he was told. The screen returned to the news and opinion program he'd been watching before.
Even after several moments of observing, Klan had not yet picked up on the conversation, since she was too busy coping with the surprise of seeing Cal on a television program. She simply smiled and brought her coffee cup up to her mouth for another sip.
"Completely unexpected. But at the same time, I'm almost proud to see him up on that screen. Part of me hopes that he doesn't make a jackass out of himself, but I know that he's got some kind of plan in place. Like I've said, the first thing he does is lay out the illusion, then he blindsides you with his trickery. I have to admit: his sleight of hand is kind of scary.
"And I wonder if Cathy has something to do with this. No… I'm pretty sure she's responsible for this. I'll also have to trust that she knows what she's doing. Perhaps I need to have a little talk with her about this…"
On the television screen, Cal could be seen sitting at a round table alongside three other people. One man, who appeared to be the host based on his clothing and demeanor, sat across from the other four. The marquee at the bottom of the screen was filled with news tidbits all related to the incident on the Zentraedi military base earlier that day.
"This must be what he was working on and wouldn't talk about earlier today. If that's the case, then it's a huge coincidence that he was part of that incident earlier today and it's the subject of discussion tonight."
Perhaps a change of heart was in store; this particular talk show suddenly became interesting to her.
