Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Direct Stages ❯ Transformation Stage ( Chapter 2 )

NEAR PLUTOSPACE

SDF-1, 2009

Thomas stood at the viewport, sipping his drink while gazing at the amazing sight before him. Outside, normal operations continued like clockwork on the flight deck of the Daedalus. Pairs of Veritechs launched from the airtight decks, rocketing towards the darkness of space. Thomas sipped his strong hot tea, gazing past the deck of the Daedalus towards the far stars. He tried to spot any familiar constellations, but couldn't find any reconizable ones. Then again, until now, humans had never been this far away from Earth.

Thomas walked back over to this table at the lounge. Huge viewports lined the walls while small pockets of conversation were scattered throughout the lounge, crew and civilians talking and discussing, mostly wondering what would happen to them now that the SDF-1 was lost out here at the fringes of the solar system, and anticipating more attacks from these mysterious giant alien invaders. Thomas was still feeling some of the quesiness brought on by the SDF-1's unexpected fold. He sipped his tea, accidentally spilling some on his uniform. Sighing, he used a napkin to try and wipe the small stain off the green stripes of his uniform.

"Same ol' Thomas as ever. A klutz to the end," a sexy voice called out. A young woman, small but with a delightful figure, walked over to his table and set down her tray. Her uniform of dark blue with yellow trimmings didn't match to well with her fiery red hair nor with the small streak of white dyed into her bangs. Her deep green eyes fixed hungerily on the meal laid out on her tray. She sat down, saying, "So, how are things Tommie?"

"Fine,fine," Thomas replied, still stabbing at the stain, "And I'm not a klutz Mary."

"Sure you are," Mary Quinn said, grabbing a fork, "As long as I've known you, you have been one. Hard to see how you fly that fighter of yours," she said playfully, stabbing a forkful of eggs. She ate them, oohing over them. "Have you tried these? They're good today. Needs some pepper though."

"No, I haven't," Thomas said, finally giving up on the stain. He threw the napkin onto the table with disgust. "And thanks for the vote of confidence."

"That's what I'm here for," Mary replied, smiling as she shook a heap of pepper over the hot eggs. Eating another forkful, she said, "Seriously though, how are things going?"

Thomas leaned back nonchalantly in his chair. "Oh, you know, the same old same old. We blow the enemy to smithereens," he said playfully. "And you?"

"As long as we keep finding them for you, you can blow them up," she said, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Yeah, I was watching some flights take off from Daedalus," he said, pointing to the viewports.

"Yeah? Bet that's going to be a change for you huh?" Mary asked, digging next into the rolls of sausage on her tray.

Thomas shrugged. "Don't have much choice. It's all we got to work with."

Between bitefuls of food, Mary inquired, "Have you seen the new additions to the city yet?"

"Haven't had much chance to look around yet. The squad has some free time today. Johnnie's supposed to come by here and get me. May go have a look-see at what-all's been done."
"They've come a long way. You might be impressed. Hey, you hear the big news the other day?"

"You mean, besides ending up stuck near Pluto?" Thomas said sarcastically.

"Smart-ass," she retorted.

Thomas made a smooching motion. "Love you too."

"No, the other day while constructing, the crews came across two trapped kids in a lower hold."

Thomas threw her a look of confusion. "Two kids trapped in one of the lower holds? How'd they end up there?"

Drinking some of her orange juice, Mary replied, "It was a boy and a girl. The intial reports I saw say that the boy saved the girl during the initial alien assault and that he flew his plane into a hull breach after the ship folded. From there, they got stuck."

Thomas slid forward in his chair. A sudden thought struck him. "The boy? Flew his own plane? What kind of plane was it?"

Scooping up the last of her eggs, Mary shrugged and said, "Don't really know. Haven't seen any pics of it yet, but I think the wreckage is still down there. From what I hear, it was some kind of sport plane maybe? Something like that? It was red and white."

Thomas reclined back into his seat, smirking and giggling. "I don't believe it. The same kid."

Wiping her mouth again, Mary looked confused. "What's the joke?"

Thomas explained, "On Launching Day, Johnnie and the Geek were part of an early demonstration put on by Fokker. It was scrubbed when some kid busted up their manuever. Fokker was pretty peeved, but I heard the guy was an old friend of his."

Mary coughed politely into her napkin, then laid it and her fork down on the tray. "Well, they're both lucky to be alive. They looked wasted." She drained the rest of her juice.

Thomas snickered, "The kid's got balls. I'll give him that much."

Johnnie came scrambling up the steps towards the lounge, his flowing blond hair matching the yellow striping in his white uniform. He ran over to Thomas' table. "Hey there buddy," he said, clapping Thomas on his shoulder. He grabbed himself a seat. "Well, hey there Mary-Lou," he beamed.

With a look of exasperation, Mary said, "Johnnie, please stop calling me that. If I have to say it to you one more time,"

Johnnie put up his hands defensively. "Hey, hey, it's alright. I'm just joking."

"Good," Mary said sternly.

Looking at Thomas, Johnnie said, "TBJ, you ready to roll? The fellas are waiting out in the truck."

Thomas nodded while Mary collected her tray. She got up, saying, "Well, I have to get to work. My shift is coming up. You all have fun. See you Tommie."

"See you later Mary," Thomas said, staring after her while slowly sipping the remainder of his tea.

"You know, why did the two of you never get together anyway?" Johnnie politely asked.

Thomas watched as one of his best friends and the first love of his life walked out of the lounge. He sat there thoughfully for a moment, finishing his tea. He murmured, "Timing was off. Let's go."

He got up, followed by Johnnie. "Alright, Macross City, here we come," Johnnie exclaimed.

Thomas was never really fond of Rodman's driving, but, for the moment, he appreciated Rodman's recklessness. The breeze blowing across the troop carrier, due to Rodman's speed, felt good to Thomas as he took in the 'new sights' of Macross City. The city rose up in the cavernous hold, tier upon tier of buildings, apartments, businesses, and stores. He could sense a strange general arrangement about the city, as if the city planners did their best to reconstruct the layout of the former city despite the confines of the enormous hold. But, of course, not everyone approved.

"Will you look at this?" Rodman exclaimed, keeping half an eye on the road. "A frigging city. A frigging city on our warship!"

"Ah, quit griping Rodman," Johnnie said from the back seat. "Where else were these people to go?"

"I know, I know," Rodman said, waving off Johnnie's contempt. "Still, they're invading our space. This is our ship, not theirs. They're the intruders." Rodman deftly swerved the carrier around a street corner, barely missing some teenage skateboarders.

In the passenger seat beside Rodman, Hawk guffawed. "Yep, that's our Rodman. Always has to gripe about something."

Rodman glared at Hawk through his tinted sunglasses. "Shut up."

Thomas just laughed. Beside him, Geek said, "Actually, the rebuilding is quite amazing. The robotech fabricators onboard really perform rather-"

"Geek, if I want a science lesson, I'll let you know," Rodman yelled.

Thomas patted Geek on the shoulder though the young man was getting used to his squadmates' teasing. Suddenly, from the other side of Geek, Johnnie reached forward for Rodman's attention, exclaiming, "Hey, stop! Stop for a minute!"

Rodman slammed on the brakes, tires screeching on the road. The carrier lurched to a stop, Rodman yelling, "What?! What is it?"

Johnnie tapped Rodman hard on the shoulder. "Back up! Back up, will ya?"

Gritting his teeth, Rodman backed the troop carrier up to the storefront of a building. The place had an Oriental-style door with a large placard placed out front with Chinese characters written on it. "What is this?" Rodman demanded.

"It's the White Dragon, a Chinese restuarant. Looks like they re-opened. Great! I'm hungry. Let's eat." Johnnie hopped out of the carrier, not waiting to see who, if any, followed him.

"Chinese?" Rodman said. "I hate Chinese. Never fillling enough." Geek got out, followed by Thomas who shrugged at Rodman. "C'mon, let's get some real grub," Rodman said.

Hawk got out as well. He told Rodman, "Quit griping for once." His lean form drifted to the front door.

Rodman consented, switching off the carrier and grumbling the whole time. "Better get a frigging fortune cookie for this," he griped as he walked into the White Dragon.

Inside, the place was full, pilots and civilians both enjoying the new freedom of eating out without the overbearing concerns of the military's vaunted rationing program. Thomas was suprised to see it thus, even more suprised by who greeted them.

A young Chinese girl, black hair bundled up into tight buns and wearing a red mandarin dress, cheerily greeted them. "Welcome to the White Dragon," she said. Enthusaism and happiness oozed from her. Rodman's sunglasses hid his gawking at her, but he quivered, "Catch me fellows, I'm in love!"

Johnnie elbowed him, then said, "Thanks, can we get a table for five?"

"Sure, right this way." She lead them to a table near the kitchen entrance. "You're in luck. This is our last table," she explained. The five VT pilots sat down, Rodman still staring at her. She laid out menus for them, "We just re-opened so it's nice to see everyone here." Her smile was infectious. "My name is Minmei." She giggled, but at what, Thomas really couldn't say. "So, what can I get you boys to drink?"

Johnnie and Hawk both ordered Petite Colas. Geek asked for water. Rodman asked, "Depends. What do you like Minmei?"

Minmei nibbled on her pencil, a serious yet puzzled look upon her innocent face. "Well, right now, I could go for a nice glass of tea," she leaned down and said with a grin, "But my uncle won't let me have a break till after the lunch rush. Which is alright with me," she added.

"Then make mine a tea too Minmei," Rodman said tenderly. He gave her his killer smile which made Thomas roll his eyes. Thomas simply said, "I'll have a tea too."

Minmei marked it down on her pad. "Alright then, I'll be back with your drinks." She glided off. Watching her, Thomas couldn't help but think of old mythological sprites, innocent but mischevious spirits, fountains of energy and vitality.

"Johnnie, I take it back. This is a great place. And she is a darling," Rodman pined.

"Yeah, a darling of the entire neighborhood," Johhnie aded, "She's always been like that."

"Well, you should have told me about this place sooner," Rodman said, watching the kitchen door through which Minmei disappeared. He ignored his menu while the others sorted through their choices. A few moments later, Rodman's heart jumped when Minmei walked back through the kitchen door, bearing a small tray of food. He followed her as she walked towards another table, but then she stopped to say something to a young man that just walked into the place from upstairs. "Hey, who's that guy?" Rodman asked, the seeds of jealousy already forming.

Johnnie and Thomas looked up in time to see the young man walk off, leaving behind a Minmei with a disappointed sour look on her face. Thomas thought the expression didn't fit well on her face. Johnnie spun back around. "Hey, that's the guy," he told Thomas.

"What guy?" Thomas said.

"You know, the guy from Launching Day, the one who crashed our stunt," Johnnie explained. "He's also the guy that was stuck with Minmei in that hold."

Thomas leaned forward. "Him? That was him?!" Thomas looked at Minmei, who was serving the food at another table. He looked over her slender form, her tightly braided buns, and her wonderful smile. He told Rodman," Watch it. You may have competition now."

Rodman was incensed. "What do you mean, 'stuck in a hold'? C'mon explain yourself JL."

Johnnie told Rodman what all he knew and finished just as the perky Minmei showed up at their table. "Do you need more time to make your choices?" she asked.

A dejected look upon his face, Rodman mumbled to himself, "Yeah, I'll take two Buster Burgers to go."

The battle was intense. The alien craft seemed quicker, deadlier here in the vacuum of space. Thomas was swept up in the hectic race against death. "TBJ, dodge right! Dodge right!" came Johnnie's frantic call over the tac net. Thomas swung his VT hard over to the right, watching as a brief fireball flared behind him, one of seemingly millions lighting the darkness of space. His targeting sensors locked onto another one of the alien pods. Tones matched and Thomas fired off a pair of missiles, incinerating his target, but for evey one he shot down, three more seemed to take it's place. And the net held little encouraging news.

"Blue Squadron's been decimated."

"No response from Orange Squad."

"Green Squad, fall back to inner perimeter defense line."

"Lightning Squad, move to sector 4A," came the cool voice of Eddington, their squadron leader. "Repeat, all remaining Lighning Squad, move to protect sector 4A."

Thomas acknowledged the order, swinging his VT around to the new coordinates. His view didn't look good. The SDF-1, massive and elegant, was infested and swallowed by spherical explosions. He wondered what the top brass had in mind when battle was engaged yet again. Thomas didn't have time to think; instincts and training took over, giving him hope and an edge over these blighted massive invaders. He lost track of kills, only concentrating on staying alive, staying ahead of the rapid alien fire. Then came the call.

"Missile racks dry," Johnnie reported.

"I'm dry too," the Geek piped in.

"C'mon guys, we can take these chumps," came Rodman's stern reply.

Thomas, his own missiles spent, switched to Battloid mode, his GU-11 gun pod shredding alien pod and tri-thrusters alike. As the battle raged, Johnnie said, "Check your monitors! Do you see what I see?"

Thomas, daring to take his eyes off his targeting sensors, noticed something strange. The SDF-1? What's happening to it? Is this an alien trick? he thought.

The SDF-1 was altering, morphing, re-shaping itself. Within minutes, the mighty ship, with the carriers attached, looked vaguely humanoid. "What the?!" Thomas muttered. Suddenly, a river of orange death erupted from the massive booms of the SDF-1, utterly destroying the alien forces in its' path. "Oh my god," Thomas whispered.

Is this...is this the power of robotechnology? Thomas wondered.