Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Honor Against Invid ❯ Comrades at all? ( Chapter 2 )

The pilot slowly regained consciousness, his eyes fluttering open. Above him, he saw a scorched metal ceiling. He slowly moved his head, taking in his surroundings. He was laid out on a metal pallet with some old blankets spread over it to provide coverings. Across from him was a lit fire with a cookpot laid across a stand above it. The strong smells eminating from the pot made the pilot's mouth water. Beyond the fire, he could make out a dark large figure.

"You are awake," the rider stated.

The pilot winced as he leaned up. His armor was gone. His midsection was bandaged. He lifted thick strands of blond hair from his eyes as he tried to get a better look at the rider. He said, "Yeah, I guess I am. Do I have you to thank for this?" pointing to bandaged dressings.

"Yes. It is only fair that warriors look after each other."

Light giggling came from the pilot's left. He looked to see Josen squatting over the floor as he rolled around a cracked flight helmet. The helmet wobbled and tilted which made Josen laugh. Beyond the boy, the pilot could see a bulkhead opening and a starry night.

"My name is Kharn," the rider intoned.

"Oh sorry. I'm Jace. Lt. Jace Stromer." Jace could see that Kharn was cleaning a rifle.

"Your wounds were not that severe, but I have limited means to aid you," Kharn said, his voice wooden and leaden.

"It's alright," Jace said, wincing as he laid back down. "Every little thing helps."

"What happened here?" Kharn had an idea, but no specifics.

"We got annihilated, that's what happened," Jace said with heavy sarcasm. The cracked flight helmet rolled over beside his bed. Josen walked over and smiled at Jace as he kicked it back out onto the floor.

"That is my son, Josen," Kharn explained.

Jace waved slightly at Josen. Kids made him feel a little uneasy. He continued, "We were an advance point base for Admiral Hunter. We were getting rumors of Invid regaining some of their mecha strength, but we were waiting for the scout missions to report their findings."

"And they attacked first," Kharn said. It wasn't a question.

"They cut through us like butter," Jace whispered. He could still hear the screams of his dying comrades as the base erupted in flames around him. In his Alpha fighter, all Jace could remember was the radar screen overwhelmed with the superior numbers of the Invid. Searing heat blasts in every direction and then his own fighter erupted in flames. Jace shuddered over the recent memories. "There was nothing we could do. Nothing..." he moaned.

"Have no fear..Stromer. Yours is not the first base to fall at the hands of the Invid hordes. But they did not die in vain," Kharn said with utter confidence.

Jace saw that Kharn was just finishing cleaning his rifle. Wind blew in through the bulkhead opening, causing the fire to flare up some. Jace noticed the pallid complexion of Kharn's face. With hesistation, Jace asked, "Are you...are you Ze-"

"Zentraedi?" Kharn finished. "Yes." He laid his rifle down at his feet, within easy reach. "Full-blooded," he said watching Jace's eyes intently for any signs of 'normal' human reaction.

"Really," Jace said, a dread sense of unease forming in him. Although he was a trained REF soldier, he was wounded, unarmed, and laying across from a full-blooded Zentraedi. Though he was micronized, Jace knew that Kharn was potentially very dangerous. Have to play it cool, he thought. Calmly, he asked, "And your boy?"

Still focused on Jace, Kharn replied, "His mother was human. She died some time ago."

Jace thought he heard some underlying emotion in that response. A hint of pain, a twinge of remorse and guilt. The fleeting thought came to him, Did he love her? But instead, Jace merely said, "Sorry to hear about that."

Kharn stared hard at Jace, trying to see if any of the underlying attitudes about Zentraedi resided in the young Alpha pilot. But he saw no contempt, no anger or resentment in Jace's green eyes, only a soft questioning. Satisfied, Kharn replied, "Thank you." Kharn grabbed a bowl and filled it up with the broth from the cookpot. He handed it to Jace. "Eat up and rest. Your wounds should heal within a week or so. The poultice I applied should help it along some."

Without thinking, Jace blurted out, "Poultice? Where did a Zentraedi learn how to do that?" Jace winced, expecting an explosion.

Instead, Kharn smiled, which looked out of place on his weathered scarred face. "I have had many teachers here on Earth. I know how to do quite a few things, human." Khanr snatched up his rifle. "Rest while I go to look for any other survivors. Regain your strength." He walked briskly over to Josen. He said with a stern face, "Go and eat. Do not leave." Josen smiled as Kharn headed out through the bulkhead opening and into the night.

Jace tapped his spoon hard against his forehead, muttering, "Stupid, stupid, stupid." He took a sip of the broth. It tasted warm and soothing to his injured body. He ate more till he saw out of the corner of his eye Josen sitting across from him, a bowl set in his lap. He waved the sppon at him, intoning meekly, "Hi there."

Josen stared thoughtfully at the wounded Jace.

The next day, Kharn continued his search although he was beginning to admit the hopelessness of it. Considering the size of this base and his guesstimate on the complement of soldiers stationed here, Kharn believed Josen was lucky to come across Stromer. But he continued the pretense for it allied Stromer's feelings, something Kharn has discovered humans needed to do sometimes in situations like this. Kharn's personal feelings were that if you accepted the warrior's way of life, you must also accept the loss of fellow warriors. He contented himself by searching for usable equipment. He came across a Gallant H-90. He hefted the pistol which seemed to be in working order. This will be a nice addition, he thought.

He was searching for any usable mecha when he heard the distant whining.

He searched the morning sky but the black smoke from burning mechas still filtered the sky. But he had heard that particular whine enough to recognize what it was. "Invid," Kharn muttered harshly. He started back for the cargo pod of the Horizant where he had made their camp. All the time wondering if this was a simple patrol or was this a follow-up, to make sure that all the base was razed. If those are Shock Troopers, the thought raced across Kharn's mind, but decided against making prejudegments until he witnessed the Invid firsthand. Then, he would decide how to destroy them.

The whine was almost thundering by now.

Have to get to Josen, Kharn thought urgently.

Suddenly the ground heaved and shuddered. Recognizing the sensation, Kharn dove behind wreckage of some hovertanks. Blood stains covered the angled plates of the destroyed mecha as Kharn peered around the edging, his new pistol held ready though he wondered what good it do. Across his view stood two giant Invid mecha, purple crab-shaped Armored Scouts. The deadly pair walked around, the ground shaking with their footfalls. Kharn seethed at the sight of the Zentraedi's ancient enemy and, not for the first time, he wished he was full-sized, to enegage in full combat with those monsterous machines.

Kharn could feel his blood-lust rise, could feel the overwhelming call of the Imperative, calling out for battle and glory. He was about to give into it when he saw Josen stumble into view. Kharn felt desperate as he watched Josen, intrigued by the noises he had heard, gaze upward at the towering Armored Scouts. Too late, the Invid had noticed him. Both glaring red sensor eyes locked onto the frozen form of Josen.

Desperation turned to outright fear and rage as Kharn saw the tips of the Invid's cannons begin to glow. They were beginning to fire.

With the Imperative seizing control of his body, dictating his actions as a proper Zentraedi, but mixed with the strange parental feeling bound up with Josen, Kharn leapt up from his cover, firing his Gallant H-90 while screaming a war cry that would have made the Backstabber proud.