a/n:

In my other Robotech story, there's a scene where Rick and Lisa talk about their favorite movies. Lisa's favorite is a classic called "Gone with the Breeze." And Rick's favorite ends up being a sci-fi action flick called "Space Battle" – a pretty obvious rip on Star Wars. Lisa is less than impressed with Rick's idea of quality cinema.

With everybody talking about the new Star Wars movie lately, I thought it'd be fun to write a little comedy that was relevant to it. So in this story, the movie "Space Battle" is being re-released in theaters, sort of like how the Star Wars Special Edition was done a number of years back. I'm a pretty huge Star Wars fan, so I'll be poking fun at myself as much as anyone…

You'll probably notice that the whole Robotech continuity thing has totally gone to crap. The SDF-1 is grounded in New Macross, but Roy and Ben are still around, et cetera. Oh well – it's just a goofy little comedy. I'm not ol' Jack McKinney here… Screw the continuity, I want Roy and Ben in my story!

Oh well, here it goes, hope ya like it.

A long time ago, in a solar system far, far away…

Space Battle. The bold title flashed across the movie screen and panned into darkness. A hero's anthem played as a starship flew through deep space, chased by the largest battle cruiser ever shown on the silver screen. Laser blasts exploded on the hulls of both craft, but the little starship was no match.

A young boy sat all by himself in the mostly-empty matinee. In the seat to his left was an extra large popcorn, and to his right, a jumbo Petite Cola. He was glued to the amazing movie, unable to look away. Every now and then, he would feel around for a handful of popcorn, or brush his wavy black hair away from his eyes. But for the most part, he sat completely still, slack-jawed with silent awe.

It was the third time he'd seen the movie in a week.

Rick Hunter flew high above New Macross City. The island of Macross was dwarfed by his altitude, almost invisible through the cloud ceiling. The buildings and towers blended together; he could barely make out the details.

Only one structure could keep its sense of scale – the massive Super Dimension Fortress.

The Veritech's engines were screaming with power, but Rick knew his fuel cells were running dry. He flipped up his visor and wiped the sweat from his brow. I'm totally beat, he thought.

As he brought the VF-1 to a slow descent, he called his base over the radio.

"This is Lieutenant Hunter calling SDF-1. Sterling and Dixon have already landed. Permission to follow them down."

Lisa Hayes' voice came back to him. "We read you, Lieutenant…you'll have to wait. We're looking for an open runway."

Rick blinked his weary eyes. "Alright, roger that." He switched off the radio with an angered snap. "She's gonna leave me hanging again…"

Lisa looked over her shoulder. "Sammie, can you find Lieutenant Hunter a runway?"

Sammie nodded from across the command center and started calling on her radio. Lisa quickly went back to her station, where two computer monitors were showing her different information at once.

Claudia Grant poked her in the shoulder, from her post beside Lisa. "Hey," she smiled, "aren't you supposed to bring the fighters in?"

"I'm a little preoccupied," Lisa drolled. "There's a malfunctioning Destroid by the soutwhest hangars, and it looks like a fuel truck is tipped over in the middle of Runway Three. I'll have to send a couple of Battloids from the reserve to put it back on its wheels…"

Rick Hunter called in through the radio. Tower, this is Hunter…I'm still up here, you know…

"Thank you for the update, Lieutenant," sighed Lisa. "Please stand by."

Claudia shook her head. "Kim, can you call the Battloids to the runway? And Vanessa, have Emergency Control shut the Destroid down by remote, please."

"Sure thing!" said Kim.

"Already done!" chimed Vanessa.

Claudia leaned against Lisa's command post. "See, honey? That's called delegation."

Lisa shook her head solemnly. "Those aren't their jobs, Claudia. I'd much rather have them working on their own duties."

"You can't do everything," said Claudia kindly. She patted her friend lightly on the back. "You're over-working yourself!"

Lisa looked up sternly. "Could we please maintain a level of professionalism on this bridge? I'll mind my duties, and I expect everyone else to do the same."

The bridge grew uncomfortably quiet. Claudia rolled her eyes. "Yes ma'am," she shrugged.

"Thank you. We'll all do much better once everyone focuses on their own assignments."

Hunter radioed in again. Um…hey Tower…remember me? I'm sorta flying on fumes here…

Lisa growled under her breath. "Sammie! Have you found a runway yet?"

"Everyone but Sammie," giggled Claudia. Vanessa and Kim covered their smiling faces.

"Um…no," Sammie replied. "Everything's still full. We'd have Runway Three cleared up if it weren't for that fuel truck…"

"I'm taking care of that," said Kim.

Lisa turned around and stomped her foot. "No you are not!"

Once again, the bridge grew quiet. But this time, there was radio static in the air. Lieutenant Hunter was still listening.

Tower…what the heck is going on down there!

"Stand by!" Lisa shouted. She punched the radio off.

"All right, that's enough," said Claudia. "We're getting crazy here. Let's just relax for a minute."

Lisa buried her face in her hands. Claudia made sure she wasn't looking, and quietly mouthed "Fix everything!" to the girls. They went right back to work.

"I'm…I'm sorry," Lisa sighed. "I'm just…having a bad day, that's all."

"Hey, it's been a rough one. And you're covering for the Admiral today, too. That's a lot of pressure."

Lisa slumped against her command station. "I'm feeling…tired lately. It's not like me. I can usually handle all of this."

Claudia smiled. "I've got just the thing," she said, leaning over to Lisa. "A break! How 'bout you come see a movie with me and Roy this weekend?"

"You and Roy? Oh, that doesn't sound awkward at all!" Lisa laughed.

"I can get you a date…" Claudia nudged her.

The girls heard the comment and instantly started buzzing in the background. Lisa blushed and chuckled lightly. "What makes you think I couldn't get a date?"

"Oh, I'm not saying that! I just…know this guy, that's all. He wants to meet you."

Lisa thought about it, running her fingers over the keys of her computer. "Well…hmm…uh, what movie are we seeing?"

"Does it really matter?" laughed Claudia.

"Humor me."

"All right, then. We're going to see Space Battle."

Lisa's face turned. "Oh, Claudia! That cheesy old sci-fi movie? Why would you want to see that?"

"Hey, itis not cheesy," pouted Claudia. "It happens to be a very good movie. And I know for a fact that you've never seen it."

Lisa exhaled. "There's a reason for that, you know."

"Yeah, you're afraid to have any fun! Come on, they just re-released it! There's all kinds of new special effects and stuff. Roy's very excited."

"And you're excited too?"

Claudia shrugged. "I'm excited that Roy's excited…come on, honey! It's just one movie with a really nice guy! What have you got to lose?"

Lisa took an even longer time to think about it. But she finally caved in. "Oh…all right, fine."

"That's my girl!" Claudia grinned. "Geez, it's like I had to drag you into it!"

The bridge crew went back to work, with a much lighter spirit then before. But they were quickly interrupted by an explosive, powerful scream from above them.

Rick Hunter's Veritech dropped from the sky and buzzed over the tower. The force from the engines shook the bridge and knocked everyone out of their stations. As Hunter roared away, his wings swept back and he spun into a barrel roll.

Lisa climbed up from the floor. She punched the radio back on. "Lieutenant Hunter…what do you think you are doing!"

"Hello Tower!" Rick called, quite agitated. "Are we on speaking terms again?"

The girls giggled, and even Claudia cracked a smile. Lisa fumed with anger. "You get back here this instant, Hunter!"

"My pleasure, Commander. Are you gonna let me land, or should I just ditch this thing and hope my chute works?"

Lisa had forgotten again. She looked down at her computers; Sammie had finally opened up a runway for Rick.

"You're clear on Runway Five," Lisa grumbled.

Rick was totally exhausted. He could barely walk from his debriefing, which had lasted almost two hours, to the small pilot's lounge where he could finally relax. It was a cramped little room with a sofa and a few vending machines, where a pilot would get a chance to rest between missions. Rick wished he could go home, but there was a chance he might need to fly again. A quick nap and a bag of Crunchers would have to suffice.

He slouched down in the sofa, still wearing most of his flight suit. But as he began to drift off, a quick slap on the shoulder shocked the living daylights out of him.

The face of Roy Fokker was the first thing he saw.

"What the heck was that?" Roy smirked.

"Wha -- oh…hi Roy. What the heck was what?"

"That little stunt you pulled up there!" said Roy.

Rick turned a little red. "Oh…that was my temper," he smiled.

Roy sat down beside him. Rick was a little hesitant to move, but he grudgingly made some room.

"You're beat, kid. Looks like you went fifteen rounds with a Zentraedi."

"I flew three missions in a row," Rick sighed. "They had to re-fuel me in the air twice. Max lost one of his tail fins, and Ben nearly got himself killed…once per mission."

Roy shook his head. "Yeesh. It's rough being the leader, isn't it?"

"You're not kidding."

Rick stared across the room at the vending machine. He unzipped one of his pockets and fished around for some change.

"Know what's sad?" he sighed. "When the turning point of your day is whether or not the machine's got Crunchers."

Roy kicked his feet up on the coffee table. "Know what you need?" he said. "A break. Why don't you come with me and Claudia to see Space Battle this weekend?"

Rick smiled. "Uh…no thanks," he said. "I'd really be a third wheel, you know?"

"Well…not necessarily. I know a very nice young lady who's been wanting to meet you."

"You do not."

"Seriously! I told her all about you, and she's very interested. I can get her to come along. What do you say?"

Rick thought for a moment. "Nice girl, eh?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good looking?"

"Gorgeous."

"And we're seeing Space Battle."

Roy nodded at the ceiling. "Your favorite movie of all time, of course. It's almost too good to be true."

Rick nodded along with his friend. But he suddenly cringed and reached into his pocket again. "Oh, man…I can't! I'm seeing it with Ben and Max! They already bought me a ticket, see?"

He pulled out a movie ticket, and Roy took out a few of his own. They huddled up and carefully examined them.

"Same place…" Roy said, rubbing his chin. "Downtown Macross Multiplex…same exact time, too."

"And it looks like my theater's right across from yours," said Rick. "So much for that."

Roy flipped the tickets around in his hand, like a deck of playing cards. "No, wait a minute…who's to say you can't meet her after the movie? We're right across from each other, right?"

"Sure!" nodded Rick. "Yeah, I'll just meet up with you guys after the show's over!"

They both sat back in the sofa, feeling somewhat accomplished. Another pilot stepped quickly into the lounge and looked into the vending machine. "Aw, come on!" he whined. "Who ate all the Crunchers?" The pilot banged the machine with his fist and ran off.

"Poor guy," smiled Rick. "He needs a break."

"That he does," grinned Roy.

"I owe you one, Big Brother."

"Yeah, well, you haven't met her just yet..."

"I'll take my chances. As long as it doesn't remind me of work, I don't care who she is."