Disclaimer: I do not now or have I ever owned the characters of Sailor
Moon, Robotech. People I want to say something about Miss Lynn Minmei. I
don't like her. I like the Rick/Lisa romance and Minmei just gets in the
way. So if you like her don't read this, however, if you want to see a new
bitchy side to Minmei please enjoy! At first she'll be nice until the Miss
Macross pageant then watch out people Rick will leave her in the dust for
Lisa don't worry I slowly bring Rick and Lisa together. Again I want to
thank Chibi Halo who wrote 'Sailor Moon Macross' without this story
wouldn't have existed. As always please R&R this so I know how it is coming
across to people! Chibi Halo I would like to know what you think as well!
Chibi Halo there might be a few scenes in my story but I pray you won't
mind. One more thing for the beginning of the first few chapters I will use
your chapter names, I will come up with my own after the last chapter you
named. People who haven't read her story yet please do it is a great read!
Please enjoy and now on with the story! This is the only Disclaimer I will
write! I just wanted to thank Chibi Halo for being my beta reader!
Authors note: When ever I am talking about Kevin, Nathan, Justin and Zack as a group I will refer to them as the four earth generals as that is what they were suppose to be in the manga before Beryl brainwashed them!
Here comes Trista ready or not! Oh and Minmei lovers this is the beginning of the end of her old goody two-shoe days! But if you like Rick/Lisa relationships stick with it we're going to be headed there!
Robotech Warriors Book 1 By thunderbird with Sections From Chibi Halo
Anyone who was anyone on the SDF1 kept up with the gossip on board the ship. And anyone who was anyone on the SDF1 contributed to the gossip with juicy bits of information they might have. And the news that morning was centered on everyone's favorite Chinese restaurant. It seemed the first to break the news on the military end was one Rick Hunter who was complaining to his squad about Minmei's hippie wannabe cousin who decided to come to the SDF1 with them. As usual Mina Aino was within earshot of the talk and instantly began translating the complaints into gossip lingo. And by the time she had reached the bridge for work half of the military personnel were talking about the first new arrival in Macross City since Rick Hunter two years ago.
Lisa Hayes had yet to hear the newest piece of gossip Mina helped to spread around the military section of the ship and with the mood she was in she would remain impervious to the gossip all morning. Upon entering the bridge of the SDF1 the casual chatter stopped. Claudia who had seen her in the mess hall for breakfast had warned the rest of the bridge crew about Lisa's current mood. Lisa looked as though she didn't want to be bothered and Claudia left it at that. If something about the day before was bothering her it wasn't Claudia's place to pry into Lisa's personal affairs unless Lisa came to her first.
"Lisa I was thinking about going to the Chinese place for lunch today and wondered if you wanted to come along with me." Claudia told her friend as she performed her morning duties.
"What about Roy? Wouldn't you rather go to lunch with him?" Lisa asked.
"Roy's on duty all day and can't go. So I thought I'd take my best friend." Claudia explained.
"I'll go with you on one condition." Lisa said.
"What's that?" Claudia wanted to know.
"We don't talk about yesterday." Lisa told her.
"Right yesterday never happened." Claudia responded trying to make her best friend feel better.
******
Morning came and went on the SDF1 and the lunch hour was quite a busy time in Macross City. People rushed here and there going to restaurants and shops spending their lunch break trying to get their errands done before they had to return to work. The hustle and bustle of a normal city went unnoticed by the world around it as though it had never existed.
In the two years the city had existed as a part of the SDF1 the seventy thousand or so faces on the ship began to look familiar to everyone in the ship. A person may not know someone's name but the face would be recognizable. Anyone new to the SDF1 would be easily spotted. And in the past week and a half there were four new faces on board the SDF1. Three of them had gone unnoticed but the fourth one was the talk of the town for the day before Lynn Chan and his wife Lynn Kim had been reunited with their son.
Like everyone else in the city Claudia could tell when someone new had come to the SDF1 and as she and Lisa walked to the Chinese restaurant Claudia could tell something was a bit off. Looking around the street corner Claudia saw the familiar faces she had seen each and every day on the SDF1. As she continued to look Claudia caught sight of a person she had not seen before. There walking out of the Chinese restaurant was a young man in jeans and a casual shirt with long dark hair and eyes small wire rimmed glasses and black boots.
"Lisa take a look over by the Chinese place." Claudia said getting her friend's attention.
Lisa who had learned to tune out the faces around her came back to reality and looked in the direction her friend was indicating. Instead of seeing a young college aged Chinese man with long black hair and glasses Lisa saw the spitting image of her long departed best friend and crush Carl Ribber. Lisa was in love, or at least she thought she was, and was going to do all she could to find out who he was.
******
Part 13: Near Death
******
Kyle was glad to be back with his parents yet he wasn't too happy about their current situation. The people of Macross City were forced to live inside a military vessel something he saw as an instrument of destruction. In Kyle's mind nothing good could ever come from the military. All he saw was broken families and a world that suffered at the hands of military might. Kyle couldn't stand to be near military personnel and when he graduated from high school Kyle accepted an offer to go to a college in Yokohama Japan where the spirit of Berkley in the sixties was quiet evident.
In college Kyle had met up with a group of people who shared his thoughts on the military. Together they staged peaceful protests and held speeches to inform the public about the evils of the military. And at the center of these protests was the SDF1. To them the SDF1 was a tool that could be used to push the weight of the military upon weaker individuals. Kyle vowed he wouldn't go back to Macross City to see his parents until the SDF1 had left for space. And when the fateful day came Kyle like the rest of the world were made to believe the people of Macross Island were dead.
When Minmei returned to Yokohama the day before everything Kyle had heard was proven to be nothing more than bunch of lies. Kyle knew Minmei was down there but he just didn't want to see her. Then something changed his mind. During her argument with her father Minmei blurted out that she was a media star in Macross. Kyle's mind raced a mile a minute. He knew that if the people of Macross City idolized his little cousin he could use it to his advantage. If Kyle could get Minmei to speak out against the RDF then the people of Macross wouldn't support the SDF1 and he could get his parents to leave Macross for good. And that's when Lynn Kyle made himself known by complaining he couldn't study with all the arguing going on downstairs.
Kyle's plan was going fine until Minmei introduced her friend. It turned out the boy she was with was from the military. Kyle couldn't have his little cousin get poisoned by the military. And in the blink of an eye Kyle decided to pull the greatest political move in his life he was going to steal the girlfriend of a military man right from under his nose. And the first step in doing that was to get Minmei involved in the biggest project of her fledgling career the movie she talked about the night before. As Kyle walked down the streets of Macross he began to devise a way to take total control of Minmei's career and life.
******
"Earth calling Lisa. Come in commander." Claudia said trying to snap Lisa out of her dazed state.
Lisa was brought back to reality and looked over at her best friend. Ever since they were assigned to the SDF1 and the base on the former Macross Island Lisa and Claudia were the best of friends and could always talk to each other. To Lisa Claudia was like the sister she always wanted.
"Huh? Oh sorry I guess I have a lot on my mind lately." Lisa said still a bit out of it.
"Does it have to do with that day that never happened?" Claudia asked referring to the day before.
"A little but it also has to do with that new face in the crowd. He reminds me of someone I knew growing up and the memories are a little painful." Lisa explained.
"I think we've all been down that road before." Claudia commented.
Yeah, but what do you do when someone you've never met before looks like the ghost of your first love and you'd do anything to be with him, Lisa thought.
******
Minmei had been on the movie set for hours now. The open cal1 for a leading man was coming up with nothing. The men that had shown up were either too old or too out of shape. Some of them couldn't even act their way out of a paper bag if they tried. The director wondered if they came just to see Minmei in person. As the director looked over lists trying to figure out how he was going to pick someone from a group of rejects and has- beens Kyle came walking onto the set. Minmei who was talking a break at the time brightened up when she saw her cousin come onto the set.
"Kyle what are you doing here?" Minmei asked him.
"Well I had nothing planned today and I wanted to see what my favorite cousin did for a living." Kyle told her pouring on all the charm.
Minmei smiled at her cousin for the remark he made. Even though she was his only cousin he still called her his favorite. Minmei adored Kyle and when they were younger she would follow him anywhere.
"Kyle I'm you're only cousin." Minmei began with a giggle, "You still doing your jujitsu?"
Kyle wondered why Minmei was asking him about his martial arts and figured she probably wanted him to help out with the movie. If that was the case then he would be able to keep an eye on her twenty- four seven until the movie was finished.
"Um yeah I'm still practicing it." Kyle said.
"Good because I want you to read this with me." Minmei told him handing him a script.
Kyle looked down at what Minmei had given him. In his hands was a movie script with the words White Dragon written on the cover. The professionally bound script was one hundred and twenty pages full of dialogue and descriptions of fight scenes. Kyle had friends in college who did theater who had asked him to read with them before. He knew what it meant when he was asked that. Someone needed him to help them run lines so they could memorize them for a play they were in.
"I'd be happy to help you learn your lines Minmei." Kyle said with a smile.
Minmei looked at Kyle and began to laugh. He obviously hadn't figured out what she was asking him. Minmei wanted Kyle to try out for the lead role. If Rick wasn't going to do them maybe Kyle would.
"No silly I want you to try out for the movie." Minmei told him still laughing.
Kyle couldn't believe what he was hearing Minmei wanted him to actually be in the movie. And if he was going to be in the movie then he could have more control over Minmei's schedule. Kyle could already tell Minmei was being pulled in a million different directions. Minmei looked tired and ragged and like she hadn't had a descent night's sleep in months. As Kyle considered Minmei's offer the director came back with a look of despair on his face.
"Minmei I don't know what we're going to do about finding a leading man for you." He said.
"Don't worry Mr. Zane Kyle will do it. Won't you Kyle?" Minmei said with big puppy dog eyes.
The director, Mr. Zane, took a look at Kyle and saw he was in the age group they were looking for. Kyle looked to be fit and trim and had the qualities they were looking for. If he could do martial arts then he would be perfect.
"Tell me Kyle can you do martial arts?" Mr. Zane wanted to know.
"I can do jujitsu sir." Kyle told him.
The director was ecstatic at hearing Kyle could do martial arts. Kyle was what he wanted and Mr. Zane was going to turn him into a star.
"Kyle if you don't mind wearing contacts you're in." Mr. Zane told him.
******
Amy Mizuno and Zack Kurata loved their work in the infirmary of the SDF1 and couldn't imagine themselves in any other place. To them this was a dream come true and when they received they papers two months ago making them two of the newest doctors on the SDF1 Amy and Zack were on cloud nine. Becoming a doctor meant more work but Amy and Zack didn't mind it one bit. In fact they loved the work they was doing. They now had their own patients and could see people on a regular basis for simple things such as yearly exams.
The day Amy and Zack received their medical degree they became the personal physicians to three of the Veritech squads on the SDF1. The Skull, Vermilion, and most importantly the Lunar squads saw to it that Amy and Zack were the ones to handle their aches and pains. To Serena it just wouldn't feel right not having them be the ones to take care of her if she had been hurt. Amy and Zack were an important part of the team and Serena was going to keep it that way.
On this particular day Amy and Zack were eating a sandwich from the mess hall while they went over the emergency handbook. The book described the procedures that should be taken in an emergency situation such as a pilot becoming injured during the line of duty. It wasn't the most exciting thing to read during lunch but Amy felt as though they should be prepared in case something like that were to happen while they was on duty in the infirmary. On this day Amy would be glad they had read the book.
"Ugh, do they really expect us to remember military triage procedures?" Zack asked.
"Yes they do. You'll be glad you know this when you get a rush of patients in the infirmary all at once. I was glad I read the book just before we launched two years ago! It helped when I volunteered to take care of all the people from the shelter. This will be my fourth time going over the book!" Amy replied as she took another bite of her sandwich.
"So I guess they're not all that crazy for having us learn all this?" Zack asked.
"Nope sure aren't my ice prince!" Amy said with a grin.
"Oh I see that was for all the times I call you ice princess!" Zack said.
"Sure is love so let's get back to reading shall we?" Amy asked.
"Sure thing love!" Zack said.
******
The news of Minmei doing a movie with actor turned director Billy Zane had everyone talking. Minmei related business was booming once more. Everyone wanted Minmei related paraphernalia and just about every small street vendor carried it. The streets were alive with the sounds of people hawking everything Minmei related. There were Minmei posters, photo books, CDs, pictures, and Minmei dolls. There were dolls of every size and type imaginable. Fashion dolls, plush dolls, key chain dolls, and even little dolls that could walk and sing could be seen everywhere.
Rico, Bron, and Konda were out in the city once more. They had been adapting to life on the SDF1 quite well. For a month now they were learning what Micronian life was all about. They found out that not only did males and females work together they lived together too. They also learned the people in the city were quite different from the people in the military section of the ship. But the one thing they had still yet to learn was that not everything on the ship had a military purpose. Some things in life existed solely to bring joy and pleasure to the world and Minmei was one of those things.
Rico was the first to notice the street vendor selling his wares. The dolls he had were walking around on the ground in front of him and there were still others standing in rows on top of a small collapsible table. The vendor selling the dolls appeared to be Italian in decent and spoke with an accent reminiscent of the Brooklyn burrow of New York City. This particular vendor knew exactly how to sell the Minmei dolls he had.
"Step right up ladies and gentlemen and get your one of a kind walking talking singing Minmei dolls. These dolls sing the smash hit song from Minmei's new album 'Bright Lights'. Be the first in your neighborhood to own one of these limited edition singing Minmei dolls." He called out to the passing pedestrians on the street.
Rico went over to the vendor and looked at the little dolls. They were dressed in a red Chinese style dress. The hair was done to make it look like Minmei's hair from the Miss Macross pageant two buns with braided pigtails. The dolls could walk without singing, sing without walking, or do both at the same time. They didn't sing the entire single from Minmei's album just the chorus. At first Rico was going to buy one because he wanted to see what made it work but when he heard Minmei's voice come out of the little ten-inch doll he had to have one.
"I'll take one of those." He told the vendor.
"Sure thing Mac. That'll be fifteen bucks." The vendor replied with a satisfactory grin.
When the transaction was complete Rico walked back to his fellow Zentreadi spies and showed them the little prize he had procured. Bron and Konda just stared at the tiny version of Minmei in complete and utter confusion. Rico saw their confused looks and decided to clear a few things up for them.
"It's a Minmei doll and it can sing." Rico explained to them.
"What's a Minmei?" Bron asked even more confused than before.
"Must be some new Micronian weapon." Konda surmised.
Whatever the purpose for the Minmei doll was one thing was certain the moment Rico made it sing the Zentreadi spies were hooked.
******
A week had come and gone since Kyle walked onto the set of White Dragon and filming was well under way. Kyle had proclaimed himself Minmei's new manager and took total control of her career. Like the management team made up of the local people of Macross Kyle kept filling Minmei's head full of tales of how she was a big star. But unlike the management team she had Kyle kept Minmei working into the early morning hours. When Minmei wasn't filming the movie she was in the studio working on the soundtrack at night. Kyle had seen to it that Minmei had a luxury suite at the local hotel and was kept busy at all times, Minmei barely slept or even ate. Kyle had told her that big stars needed to look thin in order to stay in the public spotlight. What was happening to Minmei wasn't a pretty sight.
The day everything finally came crashing down on the young starlet Minmei was filming her big dramatic scene in the movie. Kyle didn't like the way it looked or sounded even though the director, Mr. Zane, said Minmei's third take was sheer gold. But after five minutes of arguing Kyle convinced the director to do one more take the way he wanted. It was well past lunch break and the crew had been up for hours and was hungry and cranky and wanted their break. But Kyle wasn't about to let anyone have a break until he saw absolute perfection. That's when it happened, halfway through Minmei's big speech she dropped to the floor from sheer exhaustion, dehydration, and very low blood sugar.
The moment Minmei hit the ground everyone on the set panicked except Kyle. He just stood there while the cast and crew rushed to Minmei's side. One well placed phone call and an ambulance from Macross General was on its way. Ten minutes later the paramedics were on the scene administering procedures to revive her.
While the paramedics were working on Minmei Kyle tried to figure out a way to work his cousin's misfortune to his advantage. Calling the numbers for the newsrooms at the MBS and the Macross Herald Kyle told them Miss Macross had fainted on the set of her new movie and was being taken to the hospital. To Kyle any exposure Minmei could get good or bad was a good thing in his book. After the calls were made Kyle put on his most concerned looking face and went back to where the paramedics were currently treating Minmei.
"Is she going to be alright?" he asked with fake concern.
"I don't know sir. We're going to have to take her in to the hospital." One of the paramedics said.
"I'd like to come along." Kyle told them forcing a few tears into his eyes.
"Are you related to her sir?" the other paramedic asked.
"She's my cousin." Kyle said.
With that said Kyle and the paramedics hopped into the back of the ambulance and headed off towards Macross General. This is just too perfect, Kyle thought as the ambulance pulled away.
******
Three hours after the incident at the movie set Minmei was sitting up in bed smiling and laughing with the reporters and doctors. Kyle was standing in the corner of the room with a scowl on his face. Precious hours had been taken away from the filming of the movie and to top it off other people were telling his Minmei what to do only he was allowed to do that.
"Well gentlemen it's time we let Miss Lynn get some much needed rest. So out you go." Kathy Mizuno told all the reporters with a smile.
The reporters began protesting by saying they wanted a few more minutes with her. They were understanding of the situation but still wanted to make a fuss over Minmei just so they could hear her laugh one more time before they left.
"Out." Kathy repeated pointing her finger at the door.
When the reporters had left the room Kyle came out of his corner and faced Dr. Kathy Mizuno who was giving Minmei some important yet very simple instructions.
"Now I want you to get plenty of rest while you're here and eat every last bite of every meal the nurses give you. And I want you to drink a lot of water too." Kathy instructed.
"Minmei can not stay here any longer doctor." Kyle said in a less than happy tone.
"Listen Mr. Lynn your cousin has been working far too hard. Her body went into shock today which is why she fainted. She's running off of body fat. She's dehydrated, exhausted, and what's worse is her blood sugar levels are very low. If she keeps up with her current pace her liver could become damaged from the low blood sugar levels. I don't want to see a sweet innocent girl like her have major health problems just because you want to finish a movie in under two months. Minmei is staying here in this hospital for the rest of the week. Now I suggest you go home and let Miss Lynn get her rest." Kathy told Kyle looking out for Minmei's well being.
******
Rick had heard like the rest of the ship that Minmei was in the hospital. He knew she would be okay and that the fainting spell was from pulling long hours. He remembered how she fell asleep in the plane the week before and how her eyes looked real puffy and had dark circles. All Minmei needed was a few days of rest and she'd be back to her old self once again.
Rick walked over to the visitor check in desk of Macross General and check himself in.
"I'm here to see Lynn Minmei." He told the receptionist.
"Miss Lynn is room 406." She said as she handed him a visitor's card.
Taking the card Rick headed towards the elevator that would take him to the fourth floor.
Rick stood outside Minmei's room and took a deep breath. Things had been going downhill for him and Minmei ever since the night in the café and with Kyle around it was getting even worse. Clutching onto the small bouquet of flowers he had brought with him Rick opened the door and went in. There sitting up in the bed eating a modest Italian noodle meal with sauce and meatballs and bread was Minmei. A nurse was writing a few things down on a chart she had with her and smiled when she saw Rick come in.
"Rick why are you here?" Minmei with little emotion between bites.
"I wanted to see how you were doing." Rick said trying to salvage their crumbling friendship, "And I wanted to give you these as a get well gift."
Minmei looked at the flowers and frowned. They were too small and plain for her liking and she had expected to get a more expensive gift from him.
"Is that all you have for me?" Minmei demanded.
"Hey you know with my salary I can't afford much in the way of a gift!" Rick tried to explain.
"I'm a big star now Rick and I don't have time to bother with petty little gifts from no talent nobodies who think they can hang all over me just because I'm famous now." Minmei sneered.
"I do not do that!" Rick argued.
Minmei was seeing red and ready to kick Rick out of the room. In her mind nobody dared to yell at a big important star like Lynn Minmei. Her aunt had told her that when you're as famous as she was you always got your way with everything and no one dared to question you.
"Then what about the café Rick?" Minmei demanded to know.
"You left me after you proceeded to yell at me for no reason! I did nothing wrong!" he yelled at her.
"Then what about the rumors floating around the ship that you kissed Commander Lisa Hayes?" Minmei asked using what happened on the Zentreadi ship against Rick.
"She ordered me to do that! What happened is between her and I not you! And besides where did you hear about that anyway?" Rick came back.
"That doesn't matter! What matters is you kissed her not me! I'm more important than she is so you should be paying more attention to me and me alone!" Minmei yelled.
"You've changed Minmei! Ever since your cousin Kyle returned to the SDF1 with us you've changed a lot. I thought I knew you Minmei but I guess I don't! You're beginning to turn into an A class spoiled little bitch!"
"Rick Hunter you can take your sorry excuse of a gift and leave this room right now! I don't EVER want to see you here again!"
"With pleasure, your highness!"
As Rick left the room he heard Minmei utter one final sentence.
"Kyle was right I'm way too important to be dealing with a stupid no nothing pilot. He'll just ruin my career if I'm seen with him! I'll be glad to get out of this place and back to Kyle and our suite!"
Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing Kyle was filling her head with the same nonsense the other people in town were using.
******
Azonia was tired of waiting. The SDF1 had been sitting in the middle of the ocean for over a week now and nothing had happened. The ship hadn't moved and now her patience was growing thin. Something had to be done. And as much as she hated to admit it she would need to send Khyron out on another mission against the SDF1 and the Veritech squads that protected it.
"Miriya get me in contact with Khyron's ship right away." Azonia said.
"Yes Azonia." The green haired Quadrono replied.
A few moments after Azonia's order had been made Khyron's smug face appeared on the view screen. The squad commander had a smirk upon his face and was fingering a crystal glass with red wine in it. After taking a sip of the red liquid he addressed his commanding officer.
"Azonia to what honor do I owe this surprise." Khyron said in his usual smarmy tone of voice.
"Khyron I need you to perform a little task for me." Azonia told him.
"And what would that be?" Khyron asked before taking another sip of the wine.
"I need you to attack the SDF1. But remember I do NOT want you to blow it up. That ship must remain in ONE piece." She told him stressing her point.
Khyron looked disinterested in anything Azonia had to say. But like it or not Khyron had to listen to Azonia since she was in charge of the mission. Khyron knew how to play the hand he was dealt.
"Don't worry Azonia I won't hurt the SDF1, much." Khyron replied with an arrogant smirk; he loved to get his commanding officers riled up.
******
Rick was heading back to the military section of the SDF1 when the alarms started going off. For the first time since the Zentreadi encounter he was going to see some real action again. As Rick headed towards the Prometheus he was knocked over by a blonde, blue, and red blur. Looking up at the jumbled heap on top of him Rick saw his assailant was none other than Lt. Serena Tuskino. Serena turned beet red and became very apologetic the moment their eyes met.
"Sorry Rick I didn't mean to knock you over like that." Serena said almost a mile a minute.
"That's okay. We'd better get going before that sourpuss throws us in the brig." Rick replied in a very understanding tone.
"If that's anything like detention then I don't want that to happen." Serena commented as she popped off Rick and grabbed his wrist.
In no time Serena and Rick were running as though the world was coming to an end. And for all they knew it just might be. Rounding the corner the two Veritech pilots were just in time to catch a transport heading straight for the Prometheus.
******
Azonia watched as the battle unfolded on the large screen before her eyes. Khyron's squad had engaged the micronian ships and was locked in combat. The squad leader himself had decided to hang back and watch the battle take place before rushing into combat. Khyron's men had run into the three top squads the SDF1 had to offer. The Skull squad had been doing a fairly good job of taking out a good portion of the group that had broken off from the main squad. The Lunar squad had been handling things just as well as the Skull squad taking on another chunk of Khyron's men.
The third squadron, the SDF1's Vermilion Squad, was having a harder time trying to deal with the battlepods attacking the ship. One of the fighters was firing aimlessly into the air not contacting with any of the battlepods. Three other fighters were blasting away pod after pod. A fifth fighter was connecting with the pods taking them out with as much ease as the head of the Skull Squad and the entire Lunar Squad. The last fighter was spending all its time trying to rescue the first fighter.
"It's just like Khyron to sit back and let his men do all the work so he can take all the credit." Azonia commented to no one in particular.
"Should I contact Khyron on the communications system Lady Azonia?" Miriya asked.
"Yes get me that lazy good for nothing so called squadron leader." Azonia replied.
Miriya connected with Khyron's battlepod and put the communication onto the main screen of the carrier's bridge. Khyron looked a bit surprised that Azonia wanted to speak with him in the middle of the battle. Breetai had always kept his distance when letting Khyron lead his squad into battle. Azonia however, wanted things to be run her way. Khyron and Azonia were what most humans would call the classic example of the male female power struggle.
"Azonia why do you insist on bothering me during the middle of a battle?" Khyron demanded.
"Khyron you imbecile do you think you can get away with just sitting there while your squadron is getting its ranks severely thinned?" Azonia countered.
"If they can't do their job right then that's their problem." Khyron argued in a bored tone.
"Khyron you get your over inflated ego into that battle and salvage this mission or I will personally serve your head on a platter to Lord Dolza!" Azonia yelled at him.
"You're the boss, Azonia" Khyron sneered back at her.
Khyron then ended the transmission and left to join the rest of his squad in the battle. After going blank for a few moments the main screen in the bridge returned to the battle at hand. Khyron's pod was seen heading off to join the rest of his squad in battle.
******
Rick was having a terrible day. First he found out that Minmei was in the hospital after fainting on the set of her movie and had a major fight with her. Then he was called into battle when the Zentreadi decided to attack for the first time since he and the others had returned from the enemy ship. On the way to the Prometheus he was introduced to the full force of Hurricane Serena when she ran into him making her way to the aircraft carrier. Now he was playing babysitter yet again to Ben while the others in their squad were doing all the work.
The battle was going pretty well with the other squads taking out a large number of the enemy pods. The few pods Rick and the others dealt with were mostly being taken care of by Max, Kevin, Justin and Nathan while Ben was firing aimlessly into the air at anything that didn't look like a fighter jet. Ben kept getting into trouble and Rick kept on having to bail him out. Ben had just gotten out of one scrape with Rick's help when another enemy pod headed in his direction. Rick saw yet another pod headed for Ben and went to rescue his teammate once more.
"Not again. How did this guy make it into the RDF?" Rick moaned.
Rick performed a quick bank to the left and pulled up within firing range of the battlepod. Using his nose mounted lasers Rick took out the pod. When the pod was destroyed Rick called Ben on the open channel the Vermilion squad was using.
"Corporal Dixon I think you'd be better off sticking close to me." Rick said.
"Sure thing lieutenant." Ben replied over the com channel.
Ben was about to pull back and take Rick's wing position on the right when yet another battlepod came racing to their position. The two Veritech pilots were unaware that the pod belonged to the leader of the enemy squad Khyron. Ben caught sight of the pod and tried to take it out but he ended up missing the Zentreadi pod by what seemed a mile. The Zentreadi pilot took advantage of the confusion and fired one of his cannons at the tail of Rick's Veritech taking out one of the tail fins. Then before the young lieutenant could recover from the shot and switch his Veritech to another mode the Zentreadi pilot fired a short range missile at the jets on the back of the fighter. Ben saw the missile heading straight for his commanding officer and tried to warn him while trying to get away from the situation.
"Lieutenant, you've got a missile heading straight for you." Ben tried to warn him.
Rick saw the flashing warning light on his display panel mere seconds before the missile would hit. Using some quick thinking Rick pulled the eject lever on the side of his seat. The force of the ejection racked his body jerking every muscle and bone. When the chute he was wearing had deployed Rick quickly released himself from the harness letting his seat fall to the ocean below. As the seat fell Rick quickly pulled the tab on his life vest to inflate it before he hit the water.
It was looking as though Rick would make it out of the situation with nothing more than a very sore and bruised body when a large chunk of the Veritech fighter exploded in a fiery shower of shrapnel and flames. The shrapnel from the explosion flew all around Rick hitting him in various places. One piece of shrapnel hit him in the left leg while several pieces decided to lodge themselves in his left side and chest. And yet another piece of the shrapnel struck Rick in the head shattering his helmet into a million pieces and causing him to black out. The last thing Rick saw before passing out was the SDF1.
******
The crew of the SDF1 was already in a panic when the Zentreadi squadron began attacking. The bridge crew was scrambling to keep three separate Veritech squads from hitting each other with friendly fire while at the same time trying to protect the people in the city. The well-managed chaos in the bridge soon turned into all out anarchy when one tiny little light of numbers and letters disappeared from Rei's radar screen. But seconds beforehand Rei had another premonition.
"Someone is in terrible danger out there." Rei said as she locked up for a brief moment.
Rei quickly checked her radar screen and watched as the light representing one of the Veritech fighters disappeared from her screen. Quickly checking all the other id lights on her screen Rei realized which one was missing. The Veritech that had been hit belonged to Lt. Rick Hunter.
"Michelle see if you can get Lt. Hunter on the com system." Rei requested.
"I'll see what I can do Rei." Michelle replied.
Michelle searched the com channels for the open channel used by the Vermillion Squad. When she had found it she tried to see if Lt. Hunter's com was still active.
"Lt. Hunter this is the SDF1 if you are receiving please respond." Michelle said into her headset.
Michelle waited for a few moments before trying to reach one of the other members of the Vermillion Squad. Not hearing back from Lt. Hunter had the aqua haired communications officer quite concerned that something may have happened to him.
"Rei who was the last person in the general area of Lt. Hunter?" Michelle asked her friend.
Rei took a look at the radar screen and noticed the id for Corporal Ben Dixon leaving the area where Lt. Hunter was last reported.
"Michelle why don't you try giving Corporal Dixon a call on the com." Rei told her.
Michelle was about to try and reach Corporal Dixon when the pilot in question called the SDF1 sounding very panicked and scared.
"SDF1 this is Corporal Dixon. Corporal's Sterling, Fukada, Sanada, Tanaka and I are flying alone out here. We just lost our C.O. to one of those Zentreadi pods. He ejected from the fighter but I don't know what his status is. All I know is that he's somewhere in the water. It looked like he got hit by a lot of shrapnel." Ben said with obvious fear in his voice.
"Corporal stand by for orders as to where you and the others should go." Michelle replied.
Michelle turned around in her chair to face Lisa and Claudia and ask them what she should tell Ben, Kevin, Justin, Nathan, and Max to do. Lisa was about to say something when Captain Gloval spoke first.
"Michelle have Corporal Nathan Sanada take over command of the Vermillion squad." The captain said as he chewed on his pipe.
"Aye, aye sir I'll get in contact with them right away." She replied.
"Good at the same time I want you to send out the rescue squad Lisa. And I want you to inform the infirmary of the incoming patient Mina." He then told the others.
Michelle pulled up the open channel normally used by the Vermillion Squad and got in touch with the five corporals.
"Vermillion this is the SDF1. Orders from the captain are as follows. Corporal Sanada will be acting commander until Lt. Hunter can return to duty." Michelle told them.
"Roger that SDF1." Nate replied.
Meanwhile, Mina was getting in touch with Amy down in the infirmary.
"Amy it's Mina. Just wanted to give you and Zack the heads up on a patient heading your way. Looks as though Lt. Rick Hunter may have some major injuries. According to his squad Rick got hit by a lot of shrapnel while ejecting from his fighter." Mina said of the ship's com system.
"Roger that Mina. I'll have the rescue team bring the lieutenant to Macross General right away." Amy replied.
******
Hours had passed since Rick Hunter was brought into Macross General. While the infirmary in the military wing of the SDF1 was quite sophisticated it didn't have the necessary equipment to deal with someone in Rick's condition. The fact that Rick was knocked out and barely responding prompted Amy, Zack, her mother, and the other doctors to keep him under the watch of the trained professionals in the ICU. Rick was on the edge of slipping into a coma, something Amy and Zack just didn't have the time and effort to deal with.
Rick was a mess of thread, staples, gauze, wires, and tubes as he lay in the hospital bed. The steady beeping from the heart monitor and the hiss of the oxygen pump filled the room as a tired Amy Mizuno and Zack Kurata tried hard not to fall asleep. They had wanted to be awake when Roy, the closest thing Rick had to family on the SDF1, came to the ICU. They also knew Max, Ben, the other generals, and the Lunar Squad would also be stopping by to check up on their C.O. and good friend. News of Rick's incident had spread real fast in the military section of the ship. Everyone became emotional when one of their own was seriously injured.
Amy and Zack could feel the call of sleep beckoning them to the land of slumber when they felt a couple of hands upon their shoulders. Looking behind them to their left they saw the two most famous couples in the RDF standing behind her. Roy stood there with a pale face that showed every ounce of his fear while Claudia had an arm around his shoulders. Next to them stood Serena and Darien holding onto one another while trying hard not to become too emotional. They could tell both Serena and Roy had a lot on their minds.
Serena had racked her brain ever since she received word of Rick's condition. Serena's initial reaction to the news was to rush off to the hospital and use the Imperium Silver Crystal to heal all of Rick's injuries. But the more she thought about it the more she realized the idea of using the crystal wouldn't be a good idea. She wasn't certain just how ready Roy, Claudia, and the rest of the people on the ship were for the knowledge of the crystal and the existence of the Scouts. Serena knew the timing would have to be right for the Scouts to reveal themselves to the rest of the world.
"How's he doing?" Roy asked as he stared through the glass at Rick.
"The doctors who worked on him said he has some head trauma, a torn left Vastus lateralis muscle in the quadriceps region of the upper leg, a torn external oblique muscle on his left side, some damage to his small intestine, and a torn left bicep. Add to that two cracked ribs, which is making breathing difficult, and a hairline fracture along the right radius bone in the lower arm and Rick is a mess." Amy began.
"The surgical team was able to remove all of the shrapnel from the explosion in his body and repair the damage. However, due to the trauma to the brain the possibility of Rick slipping into a coma is all too real. He's been out ever since the accident. We could have done the surgery at the base hospital but they're better equipped here." Zack added.
Roy understood some of what Amy and Zack were talking about and Claudia understood a bit more. Serena didn't quite understand all of it but she knew it was looking bad for Rick. Out of the four members of the group only Darien understood all of what they were telling them. He was thankful for all the anatomy and biology he had to take as part of his Pre Med. degree in college.
"How long do you think they'll keep him in the ICU?" Darien asked her cutting straight to the chase.
"As soon as the threat of Rick slipping into a coma has passed then the doctors would like to move him to a regular hospital room. We don't know when that might be but we do know that the next ninety-six hours will be very critical. If he doesn't slip into a coma within that time then he'll be able to go to a regular room. Right now it's a round the clock watch on him." Amy replied.
Roy walked over to the large glass window and placed his right hand upon the glass before leaning his head against it. Roy wanted to cry but he didn't want to look weak in front of Claudia. He knew it was a ridiculous idea but after years of service in the military Roy was taught to believe it wasn't right to show emotions in front of fellow pilots. After a few moments of silence Roy felt a soft feminine hand on his right shoulder and a very familiar one upon his left shoulder. Looking to his left and then to his right Roy saw Claudia and Serena standing on either side of him.
"Lt. Commander Fokker you know you don't have to hide your emotions around us. You have people who care very much for you right here with you." Serena told him.
"She's right Roy I'm here for you. We'll get through this together." Claudia added.
Roy felt his body give way and begin to shake as he let go of his emotions and let the tears fall down his face. As the tears continued to fall Roy made a decision that would affect his life for years to come. Roy was going to do whatever it took to get back at the ones who did this to his little buddy.
"I swear those Zentreadi scum will pay with their lives for what they did to Rick." Roy hissed.
******
I just wanted to thank Chibi Halo who helped me figure my way through this chapter! If anyone's noticed yes Chibi Halo's story and my own run parallel to each other so when she comes out with new chapters you can bet soon after I will it is all in trying to figure out how to work in my thoughts. Please R&R!
Authors note: When ever I am talking about Kevin, Nathan, Justin and Zack as a group I will refer to them as the four earth generals as that is what they were suppose to be in the manga before Beryl brainwashed them!
Here comes Trista ready or not! Oh and Minmei lovers this is the beginning of the end of her old goody two-shoe days! But if you like Rick/Lisa relationships stick with it we're going to be headed there!
Robotech Warriors Book 1 By thunderbird with Sections From Chibi Halo
Anyone who was anyone on the SDF1 kept up with the gossip on board the ship. And anyone who was anyone on the SDF1 contributed to the gossip with juicy bits of information they might have. And the news that morning was centered on everyone's favorite Chinese restaurant. It seemed the first to break the news on the military end was one Rick Hunter who was complaining to his squad about Minmei's hippie wannabe cousin who decided to come to the SDF1 with them. As usual Mina Aino was within earshot of the talk and instantly began translating the complaints into gossip lingo. And by the time she had reached the bridge for work half of the military personnel were talking about the first new arrival in Macross City since Rick Hunter two years ago.
Lisa Hayes had yet to hear the newest piece of gossip Mina helped to spread around the military section of the ship and with the mood she was in she would remain impervious to the gossip all morning. Upon entering the bridge of the SDF1 the casual chatter stopped. Claudia who had seen her in the mess hall for breakfast had warned the rest of the bridge crew about Lisa's current mood. Lisa looked as though she didn't want to be bothered and Claudia left it at that. If something about the day before was bothering her it wasn't Claudia's place to pry into Lisa's personal affairs unless Lisa came to her first.
"Lisa I was thinking about going to the Chinese place for lunch today and wondered if you wanted to come along with me." Claudia told her friend as she performed her morning duties.
"What about Roy? Wouldn't you rather go to lunch with him?" Lisa asked.
"Roy's on duty all day and can't go. So I thought I'd take my best friend." Claudia explained.
"I'll go with you on one condition." Lisa said.
"What's that?" Claudia wanted to know.
"We don't talk about yesterday." Lisa told her.
"Right yesterday never happened." Claudia responded trying to make her best friend feel better.
******
Morning came and went on the SDF1 and the lunch hour was quite a busy time in Macross City. People rushed here and there going to restaurants and shops spending their lunch break trying to get their errands done before they had to return to work. The hustle and bustle of a normal city went unnoticed by the world around it as though it had never existed.
In the two years the city had existed as a part of the SDF1 the seventy thousand or so faces on the ship began to look familiar to everyone in the ship. A person may not know someone's name but the face would be recognizable. Anyone new to the SDF1 would be easily spotted. And in the past week and a half there were four new faces on board the SDF1. Three of them had gone unnoticed but the fourth one was the talk of the town for the day before Lynn Chan and his wife Lynn Kim had been reunited with their son.
Like everyone else in the city Claudia could tell when someone new had come to the SDF1 and as she and Lisa walked to the Chinese restaurant Claudia could tell something was a bit off. Looking around the street corner Claudia saw the familiar faces she had seen each and every day on the SDF1. As she continued to look Claudia caught sight of a person she had not seen before. There walking out of the Chinese restaurant was a young man in jeans and a casual shirt with long dark hair and eyes small wire rimmed glasses and black boots.
"Lisa take a look over by the Chinese place." Claudia said getting her friend's attention.
Lisa who had learned to tune out the faces around her came back to reality and looked in the direction her friend was indicating. Instead of seeing a young college aged Chinese man with long black hair and glasses Lisa saw the spitting image of her long departed best friend and crush Carl Ribber. Lisa was in love, or at least she thought she was, and was going to do all she could to find out who he was.
******
Part 13: Near Death
******
Kyle was glad to be back with his parents yet he wasn't too happy about their current situation. The people of Macross City were forced to live inside a military vessel something he saw as an instrument of destruction. In Kyle's mind nothing good could ever come from the military. All he saw was broken families and a world that suffered at the hands of military might. Kyle couldn't stand to be near military personnel and when he graduated from high school Kyle accepted an offer to go to a college in Yokohama Japan where the spirit of Berkley in the sixties was quiet evident.
In college Kyle had met up with a group of people who shared his thoughts on the military. Together they staged peaceful protests and held speeches to inform the public about the evils of the military. And at the center of these protests was the SDF1. To them the SDF1 was a tool that could be used to push the weight of the military upon weaker individuals. Kyle vowed he wouldn't go back to Macross City to see his parents until the SDF1 had left for space. And when the fateful day came Kyle like the rest of the world were made to believe the people of Macross Island were dead.
When Minmei returned to Yokohama the day before everything Kyle had heard was proven to be nothing more than bunch of lies. Kyle knew Minmei was down there but he just didn't want to see her. Then something changed his mind. During her argument with her father Minmei blurted out that she was a media star in Macross. Kyle's mind raced a mile a minute. He knew that if the people of Macross City idolized his little cousin he could use it to his advantage. If Kyle could get Minmei to speak out against the RDF then the people of Macross wouldn't support the SDF1 and he could get his parents to leave Macross for good. And that's when Lynn Kyle made himself known by complaining he couldn't study with all the arguing going on downstairs.
Kyle's plan was going fine until Minmei introduced her friend. It turned out the boy she was with was from the military. Kyle couldn't have his little cousin get poisoned by the military. And in the blink of an eye Kyle decided to pull the greatest political move in his life he was going to steal the girlfriend of a military man right from under his nose. And the first step in doing that was to get Minmei involved in the biggest project of her fledgling career the movie she talked about the night before. As Kyle walked down the streets of Macross he began to devise a way to take total control of Minmei's career and life.
******
"Earth calling Lisa. Come in commander." Claudia said trying to snap Lisa out of her dazed state.
Lisa was brought back to reality and looked over at her best friend. Ever since they were assigned to the SDF1 and the base on the former Macross Island Lisa and Claudia were the best of friends and could always talk to each other. To Lisa Claudia was like the sister she always wanted.
"Huh? Oh sorry I guess I have a lot on my mind lately." Lisa said still a bit out of it.
"Does it have to do with that day that never happened?" Claudia asked referring to the day before.
"A little but it also has to do with that new face in the crowd. He reminds me of someone I knew growing up and the memories are a little painful." Lisa explained.
"I think we've all been down that road before." Claudia commented.
Yeah, but what do you do when someone you've never met before looks like the ghost of your first love and you'd do anything to be with him, Lisa thought.
******
Minmei had been on the movie set for hours now. The open cal1 for a leading man was coming up with nothing. The men that had shown up were either too old or too out of shape. Some of them couldn't even act their way out of a paper bag if they tried. The director wondered if they came just to see Minmei in person. As the director looked over lists trying to figure out how he was going to pick someone from a group of rejects and has- beens Kyle came walking onto the set. Minmei who was talking a break at the time brightened up when she saw her cousin come onto the set.
"Kyle what are you doing here?" Minmei asked him.
"Well I had nothing planned today and I wanted to see what my favorite cousin did for a living." Kyle told her pouring on all the charm.
Minmei smiled at her cousin for the remark he made. Even though she was his only cousin he still called her his favorite. Minmei adored Kyle and when they were younger she would follow him anywhere.
"Kyle I'm you're only cousin." Minmei began with a giggle, "You still doing your jujitsu?"
Kyle wondered why Minmei was asking him about his martial arts and figured she probably wanted him to help out with the movie. If that was the case then he would be able to keep an eye on her twenty- four seven until the movie was finished.
"Um yeah I'm still practicing it." Kyle said.
"Good because I want you to read this with me." Minmei told him handing him a script.
Kyle looked down at what Minmei had given him. In his hands was a movie script with the words White Dragon written on the cover. The professionally bound script was one hundred and twenty pages full of dialogue and descriptions of fight scenes. Kyle had friends in college who did theater who had asked him to read with them before. He knew what it meant when he was asked that. Someone needed him to help them run lines so they could memorize them for a play they were in.
"I'd be happy to help you learn your lines Minmei." Kyle said with a smile.
Minmei looked at Kyle and began to laugh. He obviously hadn't figured out what she was asking him. Minmei wanted Kyle to try out for the lead role. If Rick wasn't going to do them maybe Kyle would.
"No silly I want you to try out for the movie." Minmei told him still laughing.
Kyle couldn't believe what he was hearing Minmei wanted him to actually be in the movie. And if he was going to be in the movie then he could have more control over Minmei's schedule. Kyle could already tell Minmei was being pulled in a million different directions. Minmei looked tired and ragged and like she hadn't had a descent night's sleep in months. As Kyle considered Minmei's offer the director came back with a look of despair on his face.
"Minmei I don't know what we're going to do about finding a leading man for you." He said.
"Don't worry Mr. Zane Kyle will do it. Won't you Kyle?" Minmei said with big puppy dog eyes.
The director, Mr. Zane, took a look at Kyle and saw he was in the age group they were looking for. Kyle looked to be fit and trim and had the qualities they were looking for. If he could do martial arts then he would be perfect.
"Tell me Kyle can you do martial arts?" Mr. Zane wanted to know.
"I can do jujitsu sir." Kyle told him.
The director was ecstatic at hearing Kyle could do martial arts. Kyle was what he wanted and Mr. Zane was going to turn him into a star.
"Kyle if you don't mind wearing contacts you're in." Mr. Zane told him.
******
Amy Mizuno and Zack Kurata loved their work in the infirmary of the SDF1 and couldn't imagine themselves in any other place. To them this was a dream come true and when they received they papers two months ago making them two of the newest doctors on the SDF1 Amy and Zack were on cloud nine. Becoming a doctor meant more work but Amy and Zack didn't mind it one bit. In fact they loved the work they was doing. They now had their own patients and could see people on a regular basis for simple things such as yearly exams.
The day Amy and Zack received their medical degree they became the personal physicians to three of the Veritech squads on the SDF1. The Skull, Vermilion, and most importantly the Lunar squads saw to it that Amy and Zack were the ones to handle their aches and pains. To Serena it just wouldn't feel right not having them be the ones to take care of her if she had been hurt. Amy and Zack were an important part of the team and Serena was going to keep it that way.
On this particular day Amy and Zack were eating a sandwich from the mess hall while they went over the emergency handbook. The book described the procedures that should be taken in an emergency situation such as a pilot becoming injured during the line of duty. It wasn't the most exciting thing to read during lunch but Amy felt as though they should be prepared in case something like that were to happen while they was on duty in the infirmary. On this day Amy would be glad they had read the book.
"Ugh, do they really expect us to remember military triage procedures?" Zack asked.
"Yes they do. You'll be glad you know this when you get a rush of patients in the infirmary all at once. I was glad I read the book just before we launched two years ago! It helped when I volunteered to take care of all the people from the shelter. This will be my fourth time going over the book!" Amy replied as she took another bite of her sandwich.
"So I guess they're not all that crazy for having us learn all this?" Zack asked.
"Nope sure aren't my ice prince!" Amy said with a grin.
"Oh I see that was for all the times I call you ice princess!" Zack said.
"Sure is love so let's get back to reading shall we?" Amy asked.
"Sure thing love!" Zack said.
******
The news of Minmei doing a movie with actor turned director Billy Zane had everyone talking. Minmei related business was booming once more. Everyone wanted Minmei related paraphernalia and just about every small street vendor carried it. The streets were alive with the sounds of people hawking everything Minmei related. There were Minmei posters, photo books, CDs, pictures, and Minmei dolls. There were dolls of every size and type imaginable. Fashion dolls, plush dolls, key chain dolls, and even little dolls that could walk and sing could be seen everywhere.
Rico, Bron, and Konda were out in the city once more. They had been adapting to life on the SDF1 quite well. For a month now they were learning what Micronian life was all about. They found out that not only did males and females work together they lived together too. They also learned the people in the city were quite different from the people in the military section of the ship. But the one thing they had still yet to learn was that not everything on the ship had a military purpose. Some things in life existed solely to bring joy and pleasure to the world and Minmei was one of those things.
Rico was the first to notice the street vendor selling his wares. The dolls he had were walking around on the ground in front of him and there were still others standing in rows on top of a small collapsible table. The vendor selling the dolls appeared to be Italian in decent and spoke with an accent reminiscent of the Brooklyn burrow of New York City. This particular vendor knew exactly how to sell the Minmei dolls he had.
"Step right up ladies and gentlemen and get your one of a kind walking talking singing Minmei dolls. These dolls sing the smash hit song from Minmei's new album 'Bright Lights'. Be the first in your neighborhood to own one of these limited edition singing Minmei dolls." He called out to the passing pedestrians on the street.
Rico went over to the vendor and looked at the little dolls. They were dressed in a red Chinese style dress. The hair was done to make it look like Minmei's hair from the Miss Macross pageant two buns with braided pigtails. The dolls could walk without singing, sing without walking, or do both at the same time. They didn't sing the entire single from Minmei's album just the chorus. At first Rico was going to buy one because he wanted to see what made it work but when he heard Minmei's voice come out of the little ten-inch doll he had to have one.
"I'll take one of those." He told the vendor.
"Sure thing Mac. That'll be fifteen bucks." The vendor replied with a satisfactory grin.
When the transaction was complete Rico walked back to his fellow Zentreadi spies and showed them the little prize he had procured. Bron and Konda just stared at the tiny version of Minmei in complete and utter confusion. Rico saw their confused looks and decided to clear a few things up for them.
"It's a Minmei doll and it can sing." Rico explained to them.
"What's a Minmei?" Bron asked even more confused than before.
"Must be some new Micronian weapon." Konda surmised.
Whatever the purpose for the Minmei doll was one thing was certain the moment Rico made it sing the Zentreadi spies were hooked.
******
A week had come and gone since Kyle walked onto the set of White Dragon and filming was well under way. Kyle had proclaimed himself Minmei's new manager and took total control of her career. Like the management team made up of the local people of Macross Kyle kept filling Minmei's head full of tales of how she was a big star. But unlike the management team she had Kyle kept Minmei working into the early morning hours. When Minmei wasn't filming the movie she was in the studio working on the soundtrack at night. Kyle had seen to it that Minmei had a luxury suite at the local hotel and was kept busy at all times, Minmei barely slept or even ate. Kyle had told her that big stars needed to look thin in order to stay in the public spotlight. What was happening to Minmei wasn't a pretty sight.
The day everything finally came crashing down on the young starlet Minmei was filming her big dramatic scene in the movie. Kyle didn't like the way it looked or sounded even though the director, Mr. Zane, said Minmei's third take was sheer gold. But after five minutes of arguing Kyle convinced the director to do one more take the way he wanted. It was well past lunch break and the crew had been up for hours and was hungry and cranky and wanted their break. But Kyle wasn't about to let anyone have a break until he saw absolute perfection. That's when it happened, halfway through Minmei's big speech she dropped to the floor from sheer exhaustion, dehydration, and very low blood sugar.
The moment Minmei hit the ground everyone on the set panicked except Kyle. He just stood there while the cast and crew rushed to Minmei's side. One well placed phone call and an ambulance from Macross General was on its way. Ten minutes later the paramedics were on the scene administering procedures to revive her.
While the paramedics were working on Minmei Kyle tried to figure out a way to work his cousin's misfortune to his advantage. Calling the numbers for the newsrooms at the MBS and the Macross Herald Kyle told them Miss Macross had fainted on the set of her new movie and was being taken to the hospital. To Kyle any exposure Minmei could get good or bad was a good thing in his book. After the calls were made Kyle put on his most concerned looking face and went back to where the paramedics were currently treating Minmei.
"Is she going to be alright?" he asked with fake concern.
"I don't know sir. We're going to have to take her in to the hospital." One of the paramedics said.
"I'd like to come along." Kyle told them forcing a few tears into his eyes.
"Are you related to her sir?" the other paramedic asked.
"She's my cousin." Kyle said.
With that said Kyle and the paramedics hopped into the back of the ambulance and headed off towards Macross General. This is just too perfect, Kyle thought as the ambulance pulled away.
******
Three hours after the incident at the movie set Minmei was sitting up in bed smiling and laughing with the reporters and doctors. Kyle was standing in the corner of the room with a scowl on his face. Precious hours had been taken away from the filming of the movie and to top it off other people were telling his Minmei what to do only he was allowed to do that.
"Well gentlemen it's time we let Miss Lynn get some much needed rest. So out you go." Kathy Mizuno told all the reporters with a smile.
The reporters began protesting by saying they wanted a few more minutes with her. They were understanding of the situation but still wanted to make a fuss over Minmei just so they could hear her laugh one more time before they left.
"Out." Kathy repeated pointing her finger at the door.
When the reporters had left the room Kyle came out of his corner and faced Dr. Kathy Mizuno who was giving Minmei some important yet very simple instructions.
"Now I want you to get plenty of rest while you're here and eat every last bite of every meal the nurses give you. And I want you to drink a lot of water too." Kathy instructed.
"Minmei can not stay here any longer doctor." Kyle said in a less than happy tone.
"Listen Mr. Lynn your cousin has been working far too hard. Her body went into shock today which is why she fainted. She's running off of body fat. She's dehydrated, exhausted, and what's worse is her blood sugar levels are very low. If she keeps up with her current pace her liver could become damaged from the low blood sugar levels. I don't want to see a sweet innocent girl like her have major health problems just because you want to finish a movie in under two months. Minmei is staying here in this hospital for the rest of the week. Now I suggest you go home and let Miss Lynn get her rest." Kathy told Kyle looking out for Minmei's well being.
******
Rick had heard like the rest of the ship that Minmei was in the hospital. He knew she would be okay and that the fainting spell was from pulling long hours. He remembered how she fell asleep in the plane the week before and how her eyes looked real puffy and had dark circles. All Minmei needed was a few days of rest and she'd be back to her old self once again.
Rick walked over to the visitor check in desk of Macross General and check himself in.
"I'm here to see Lynn Minmei." He told the receptionist.
"Miss Lynn is room 406." She said as she handed him a visitor's card.
Taking the card Rick headed towards the elevator that would take him to the fourth floor.
Rick stood outside Minmei's room and took a deep breath. Things had been going downhill for him and Minmei ever since the night in the café and with Kyle around it was getting even worse. Clutching onto the small bouquet of flowers he had brought with him Rick opened the door and went in. There sitting up in the bed eating a modest Italian noodle meal with sauce and meatballs and bread was Minmei. A nurse was writing a few things down on a chart she had with her and smiled when she saw Rick come in.
"Rick why are you here?" Minmei with little emotion between bites.
"I wanted to see how you were doing." Rick said trying to salvage their crumbling friendship, "And I wanted to give you these as a get well gift."
Minmei looked at the flowers and frowned. They were too small and plain for her liking and she had expected to get a more expensive gift from him.
"Is that all you have for me?" Minmei demanded.
"Hey you know with my salary I can't afford much in the way of a gift!" Rick tried to explain.
"I'm a big star now Rick and I don't have time to bother with petty little gifts from no talent nobodies who think they can hang all over me just because I'm famous now." Minmei sneered.
"I do not do that!" Rick argued.
Minmei was seeing red and ready to kick Rick out of the room. In her mind nobody dared to yell at a big important star like Lynn Minmei. Her aunt had told her that when you're as famous as she was you always got your way with everything and no one dared to question you.
"Then what about the café Rick?" Minmei demanded to know.
"You left me after you proceeded to yell at me for no reason! I did nothing wrong!" he yelled at her.
"Then what about the rumors floating around the ship that you kissed Commander Lisa Hayes?" Minmei asked using what happened on the Zentreadi ship against Rick.
"She ordered me to do that! What happened is between her and I not you! And besides where did you hear about that anyway?" Rick came back.
"That doesn't matter! What matters is you kissed her not me! I'm more important than she is so you should be paying more attention to me and me alone!" Minmei yelled.
"You've changed Minmei! Ever since your cousin Kyle returned to the SDF1 with us you've changed a lot. I thought I knew you Minmei but I guess I don't! You're beginning to turn into an A class spoiled little bitch!"
"Rick Hunter you can take your sorry excuse of a gift and leave this room right now! I don't EVER want to see you here again!"
"With pleasure, your highness!"
As Rick left the room he heard Minmei utter one final sentence.
"Kyle was right I'm way too important to be dealing with a stupid no nothing pilot. He'll just ruin my career if I'm seen with him! I'll be glad to get out of this place and back to Kyle and our suite!"
Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing Kyle was filling her head with the same nonsense the other people in town were using.
******
Azonia was tired of waiting. The SDF1 had been sitting in the middle of the ocean for over a week now and nothing had happened. The ship hadn't moved and now her patience was growing thin. Something had to be done. And as much as she hated to admit it she would need to send Khyron out on another mission against the SDF1 and the Veritech squads that protected it.
"Miriya get me in contact with Khyron's ship right away." Azonia said.
"Yes Azonia." The green haired Quadrono replied.
A few moments after Azonia's order had been made Khyron's smug face appeared on the view screen. The squad commander had a smirk upon his face and was fingering a crystal glass with red wine in it. After taking a sip of the red liquid he addressed his commanding officer.
"Azonia to what honor do I owe this surprise." Khyron said in his usual smarmy tone of voice.
"Khyron I need you to perform a little task for me." Azonia told him.
"And what would that be?" Khyron asked before taking another sip of the wine.
"I need you to attack the SDF1. But remember I do NOT want you to blow it up. That ship must remain in ONE piece." She told him stressing her point.
Khyron looked disinterested in anything Azonia had to say. But like it or not Khyron had to listen to Azonia since she was in charge of the mission. Khyron knew how to play the hand he was dealt.
"Don't worry Azonia I won't hurt the SDF1, much." Khyron replied with an arrogant smirk; he loved to get his commanding officers riled up.
******
Rick was heading back to the military section of the SDF1 when the alarms started going off. For the first time since the Zentreadi encounter he was going to see some real action again. As Rick headed towards the Prometheus he was knocked over by a blonde, blue, and red blur. Looking up at the jumbled heap on top of him Rick saw his assailant was none other than Lt. Serena Tuskino. Serena turned beet red and became very apologetic the moment their eyes met.
"Sorry Rick I didn't mean to knock you over like that." Serena said almost a mile a minute.
"That's okay. We'd better get going before that sourpuss throws us in the brig." Rick replied in a very understanding tone.
"If that's anything like detention then I don't want that to happen." Serena commented as she popped off Rick and grabbed his wrist.
In no time Serena and Rick were running as though the world was coming to an end. And for all they knew it just might be. Rounding the corner the two Veritech pilots were just in time to catch a transport heading straight for the Prometheus.
******
Azonia watched as the battle unfolded on the large screen before her eyes. Khyron's squad had engaged the micronian ships and was locked in combat. The squad leader himself had decided to hang back and watch the battle take place before rushing into combat. Khyron's men had run into the three top squads the SDF1 had to offer. The Skull squad had been doing a fairly good job of taking out a good portion of the group that had broken off from the main squad. The Lunar squad had been handling things just as well as the Skull squad taking on another chunk of Khyron's men.
The third squadron, the SDF1's Vermilion Squad, was having a harder time trying to deal with the battlepods attacking the ship. One of the fighters was firing aimlessly into the air not contacting with any of the battlepods. Three other fighters were blasting away pod after pod. A fifth fighter was connecting with the pods taking them out with as much ease as the head of the Skull Squad and the entire Lunar Squad. The last fighter was spending all its time trying to rescue the first fighter.
"It's just like Khyron to sit back and let his men do all the work so he can take all the credit." Azonia commented to no one in particular.
"Should I contact Khyron on the communications system Lady Azonia?" Miriya asked.
"Yes get me that lazy good for nothing so called squadron leader." Azonia replied.
Miriya connected with Khyron's battlepod and put the communication onto the main screen of the carrier's bridge. Khyron looked a bit surprised that Azonia wanted to speak with him in the middle of the battle. Breetai had always kept his distance when letting Khyron lead his squad into battle. Azonia however, wanted things to be run her way. Khyron and Azonia were what most humans would call the classic example of the male female power struggle.
"Azonia why do you insist on bothering me during the middle of a battle?" Khyron demanded.
"Khyron you imbecile do you think you can get away with just sitting there while your squadron is getting its ranks severely thinned?" Azonia countered.
"If they can't do their job right then that's their problem." Khyron argued in a bored tone.
"Khyron you get your over inflated ego into that battle and salvage this mission or I will personally serve your head on a platter to Lord Dolza!" Azonia yelled at him.
"You're the boss, Azonia" Khyron sneered back at her.
Khyron then ended the transmission and left to join the rest of his squad in the battle. After going blank for a few moments the main screen in the bridge returned to the battle at hand. Khyron's pod was seen heading off to join the rest of his squad in battle.
******
Rick was having a terrible day. First he found out that Minmei was in the hospital after fainting on the set of her movie and had a major fight with her. Then he was called into battle when the Zentreadi decided to attack for the first time since he and the others had returned from the enemy ship. On the way to the Prometheus he was introduced to the full force of Hurricane Serena when she ran into him making her way to the aircraft carrier. Now he was playing babysitter yet again to Ben while the others in their squad were doing all the work.
The battle was going pretty well with the other squads taking out a large number of the enemy pods. The few pods Rick and the others dealt with were mostly being taken care of by Max, Kevin, Justin and Nathan while Ben was firing aimlessly into the air at anything that didn't look like a fighter jet. Ben kept getting into trouble and Rick kept on having to bail him out. Ben had just gotten out of one scrape with Rick's help when another enemy pod headed in his direction. Rick saw yet another pod headed for Ben and went to rescue his teammate once more.
"Not again. How did this guy make it into the RDF?" Rick moaned.
Rick performed a quick bank to the left and pulled up within firing range of the battlepod. Using his nose mounted lasers Rick took out the pod. When the pod was destroyed Rick called Ben on the open channel the Vermilion squad was using.
"Corporal Dixon I think you'd be better off sticking close to me." Rick said.
"Sure thing lieutenant." Ben replied over the com channel.
Ben was about to pull back and take Rick's wing position on the right when yet another battlepod came racing to their position. The two Veritech pilots were unaware that the pod belonged to the leader of the enemy squad Khyron. Ben caught sight of the pod and tried to take it out but he ended up missing the Zentreadi pod by what seemed a mile. The Zentreadi pilot took advantage of the confusion and fired one of his cannons at the tail of Rick's Veritech taking out one of the tail fins. Then before the young lieutenant could recover from the shot and switch his Veritech to another mode the Zentreadi pilot fired a short range missile at the jets on the back of the fighter. Ben saw the missile heading straight for his commanding officer and tried to warn him while trying to get away from the situation.
"Lieutenant, you've got a missile heading straight for you." Ben tried to warn him.
Rick saw the flashing warning light on his display panel mere seconds before the missile would hit. Using some quick thinking Rick pulled the eject lever on the side of his seat. The force of the ejection racked his body jerking every muscle and bone. When the chute he was wearing had deployed Rick quickly released himself from the harness letting his seat fall to the ocean below. As the seat fell Rick quickly pulled the tab on his life vest to inflate it before he hit the water.
It was looking as though Rick would make it out of the situation with nothing more than a very sore and bruised body when a large chunk of the Veritech fighter exploded in a fiery shower of shrapnel and flames. The shrapnel from the explosion flew all around Rick hitting him in various places. One piece of shrapnel hit him in the left leg while several pieces decided to lodge themselves in his left side and chest. And yet another piece of the shrapnel struck Rick in the head shattering his helmet into a million pieces and causing him to black out. The last thing Rick saw before passing out was the SDF1.
******
The crew of the SDF1 was already in a panic when the Zentreadi squadron began attacking. The bridge crew was scrambling to keep three separate Veritech squads from hitting each other with friendly fire while at the same time trying to protect the people in the city. The well-managed chaos in the bridge soon turned into all out anarchy when one tiny little light of numbers and letters disappeared from Rei's radar screen. But seconds beforehand Rei had another premonition.
"Someone is in terrible danger out there." Rei said as she locked up for a brief moment.
Rei quickly checked her radar screen and watched as the light representing one of the Veritech fighters disappeared from her screen. Quickly checking all the other id lights on her screen Rei realized which one was missing. The Veritech that had been hit belonged to Lt. Rick Hunter.
"Michelle see if you can get Lt. Hunter on the com system." Rei requested.
"I'll see what I can do Rei." Michelle replied.
Michelle searched the com channels for the open channel used by the Vermillion Squad. When she had found it she tried to see if Lt. Hunter's com was still active.
"Lt. Hunter this is the SDF1 if you are receiving please respond." Michelle said into her headset.
Michelle waited for a few moments before trying to reach one of the other members of the Vermillion Squad. Not hearing back from Lt. Hunter had the aqua haired communications officer quite concerned that something may have happened to him.
"Rei who was the last person in the general area of Lt. Hunter?" Michelle asked her friend.
Rei took a look at the radar screen and noticed the id for Corporal Ben Dixon leaving the area where Lt. Hunter was last reported.
"Michelle why don't you try giving Corporal Dixon a call on the com." Rei told her.
Michelle was about to try and reach Corporal Dixon when the pilot in question called the SDF1 sounding very panicked and scared.
"SDF1 this is Corporal Dixon. Corporal's Sterling, Fukada, Sanada, Tanaka and I are flying alone out here. We just lost our C.O. to one of those Zentreadi pods. He ejected from the fighter but I don't know what his status is. All I know is that he's somewhere in the water. It looked like he got hit by a lot of shrapnel." Ben said with obvious fear in his voice.
"Corporal stand by for orders as to where you and the others should go." Michelle replied.
Michelle turned around in her chair to face Lisa and Claudia and ask them what she should tell Ben, Kevin, Justin, Nathan, and Max to do. Lisa was about to say something when Captain Gloval spoke first.
"Michelle have Corporal Nathan Sanada take over command of the Vermillion squad." The captain said as he chewed on his pipe.
"Aye, aye sir I'll get in contact with them right away." She replied.
"Good at the same time I want you to send out the rescue squad Lisa. And I want you to inform the infirmary of the incoming patient Mina." He then told the others.
Michelle pulled up the open channel normally used by the Vermillion Squad and got in touch with the five corporals.
"Vermillion this is the SDF1. Orders from the captain are as follows. Corporal Sanada will be acting commander until Lt. Hunter can return to duty." Michelle told them.
"Roger that SDF1." Nate replied.
Meanwhile, Mina was getting in touch with Amy down in the infirmary.
"Amy it's Mina. Just wanted to give you and Zack the heads up on a patient heading your way. Looks as though Lt. Rick Hunter may have some major injuries. According to his squad Rick got hit by a lot of shrapnel while ejecting from his fighter." Mina said of the ship's com system.
"Roger that Mina. I'll have the rescue team bring the lieutenant to Macross General right away." Amy replied.
******
Hours had passed since Rick Hunter was brought into Macross General. While the infirmary in the military wing of the SDF1 was quite sophisticated it didn't have the necessary equipment to deal with someone in Rick's condition. The fact that Rick was knocked out and barely responding prompted Amy, Zack, her mother, and the other doctors to keep him under the watch of the trained professionals in the ICU. Rick was on the edge of slipping into a coma, something Amy and Zack just didn't have the time and effort to deal with.
Rick was a mess of thread, staples, gauze, wires, and tubes as he lay in the hospital bed. The steady beeping from the heart monitor and the hiss of the oxygen pump filled the room as a tired Amy Mizuno and Zack Kurata tried hard not to fall asleep. They had wanted to be awake when Roy, the closest thing Rick had to family on the SDF1, came to the ICU. They also knew Max, Ben, the other generals, and the Lunar Squad would also be stopping by to check up on their C.O. and good friend. News of Rick's incident had spread real fast in the military section of the ship. Everyone became emotional when one of their own was seriously injured.
Amy and Zack could feel the call of sleep beckoning them to the land of slumber when they felt a couple of hands upon their shoulders. Looking behind them to their left they saw the two most famous couples in the RDF standing behind her. Roy stood there with a pale face that showed every ounce of his fear while Claudia had an arm around his shoulders. Next to them stood Serena and Darien holding onto one another while trying hard not to become too emotional. They could tell both Serena and Roy had a lot on their minds.
Serena had racked her brain ever since she received word of Rick's condition. Serena's initial reaction to the news was to rush off to the hospital and use the Imperium Silver Crystal to heal all of Rick's injuries. But the more she thought about it the more she realized the idea of using the crystal wouldn't be a good idea. She wasn't certain just how ready Roy, Claudia, and the rest of the people on the ship were for the knowledge of the crystal and the existence of the Scouts. Serena knew the timing would have to be right for the Scouts to reveal themselves to the rest of the world.
"How's he doing?" Roy asked as he stared through the glass at Rick.
"The doctors who worked on him said he has some head trauma, a torn left Vastus lateralis muscle in the quadriceps region of the upper leg, a torn external oblique muscle on his left side, some damage to his small intestine, and a torn left bicep. Add to that two cracked ribs, which is making breathing difficult, and a hairline fracture along the right radius bone in the lower arm and Rick is a mess." Amy began.
"The surgical team was able to remove all of the shrapnel from the explosion in his body and repair the damage. However, due to the trauma to the brain the possibility of Rick slipping into a coma is all too real. He's been out ever since the accident. We could have done the surgery at the base hospital but they're better equipped here." Zack added.
Roy understood some of what Amy and Zack were talking about and Claudia understood a bit more. Serena didn't quite understand all of it but she knew it was looking bad for Rick. Out of the four members of the group only Darien understood all of what they were telling them. He was thankful for all the anatomy and biology he had to take as part of his Pre Med. degree in college.
"How long do you think they'll keep him in the ICU?" Darien asked her cutting straight to the chase.
"As soon as the threat of Rick slipping into a coma has passed then the doctors would like to move him to a regular hospital room. We don't know when that might be but we do know that the next ninety-six hours will be very critical. If he doesn't slip into a coma within that time then he'll be able to go to a regular room. Right now it's a round the clock watch on him." Amy replied.
Roy walked over to the large glass window and placed his right hand upon the glass before leaning his head against it. Roy wanted to cry but he didn't want to look weak in front of Claudia. He knew it was a ridiculous idea but after years of service in the military Roy was taught to believe it wasn't right to show emotions in front of fellow pilots. After a few moments of silence Roy felt a soft feminine hand on his right shoulder and a very familiar one upon his left shoulder. Looking to his left and then to his right Roy saw Claudia and Serena standing on either side of him.
"Lt. Commander Fokker you know you don't have to hide your emotions around us. You have people who care very much for you right here with you." Serena told him.
"She's right Roy I'm here for you. We'll get through this together." Claudia added.
Roy felt his body give way and begin to shake as he let go of his emotions and let the tears fall down his face. As the tears continued to fall Roy made a decision that would affect his life for years to come. Roy was going to do whatever it took to get back at the ones who did this to his little buddy.
"I swear those Zentreadi scum will pay with their lives for what they did to Rick." Roy hissed.
******
I just wanted to thank Chibi Halo who helped me figure my way through this chapter! If anyone's noticed yes Chibi Halo's story and my own run parallel to each other so when she comes out with new chapters you can bet soon after I will it is all in trying to figure out how to work in my thoughts. Please R&R!
