Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Honor Against Invid ❯ Truths revealed and Beliefs questioned ( Chapter 4 )

The deadly seriousness of Kharn's words, the steely unyielding gaze in his eyes. He means it, Jace thought, he really means it. Clearing his throat, Jace asked, "Vengeance? Vengeance for what?" A sudden rememberance struck Jace, a thought back to what Kharn said about Josen's mother. "Or for whom?"

"I have said too much as it is," Kharn said, poking the fire with a metal rod. Getting up, he said, "It is a private thing." Kharn walked behind his pallet to a small pile of rations and other food supplies he had found. He rummaged through the pile, shifting tin cans and ration packs around forcefully, his movements jerky and irritable.

Jace watched but for a few moments. He said, "Kharn...Kharn....you saved my life. I would be dead without your assistance. I helped your boy out today, but, in my mind, that's not enough. I owe you a great debt. And I was raised with the understanding that a man always pays off his debts.

"Tell me what the deal is and I'll help anyway I can." Jace didn't know exactly why he was making out this offer. He did feel obligated to repay Kharn for his help, but beyond that, he felt unsure as to why. The last few days had been unreal, his whole world, his whole existence torn and ripped away from him. Normalcy, even admist an alien invasion, had been savagely changed to uncertainity and doubt. Everyone Jace knew was now gone. He had only this strange Zentraedi and his unusual son to depend on now.

Kharn remained hunched over, the campfire lighting his strong back. He stood up, faced Jace with a large can in his right hand. Pointing the can at Jace, Kharn said, "Tell me Stromer, do you fight this battle willingly? By choice, do you stand tall and courageous against the Invid horde?"

Jace was taken aback by the awkward question. He replied, "Well...yeah. I mean, why else would I be here?" waving his hand around the cargo pod.

Kharn's face contorted, pain and frustration cringing at the sides of his scarred and weathered face. "Then tell me, tell me where is the fire of your race? Where is the resourcefulness, the determination, the fierceness of your people now?" he exclaimed.

Jace shook his head. "I don't know what you mean."

Kharn stormed forward, standing before the blaze and intensity of the campfire, the same blaze and intensity that could be seen in Kharn's eyes. He shouted, "Before I arrived here, in the towns and outposts I passed through, the humans were passive, meek, or worse, weak. They picked on and bullied themselves, showing little care of others, but always careful never to raise the full ire of the Invid. Don't they care? The Invid crawl around this planet, scowering the Earth for the Flower of Life and they don't care. Don't they know what will happen? No planet the Invid conquer is ever left unmarked or untainted. Humans face their end and they just sit there dumbly, waiting for it! This is the race that defeated us?"

Jace was quick to retort, "But they have little choice. The Invid control most of the planet. For humanity to survive, we must bide our time, carefully, even if it means appearing to work with the Invid. But there is human resistance to the Invid. They poke and prod at the Invid, but only till the REF returns. When Admiral Hunter and the Pioneer return-"

"Enough!" Kharn yelled, cutting Jace off with a hard slashing motion made with his left arm. "I have listened to human lies long enough. From the Macross government to the ill-chosen words and action of the UEG, I have listened for far too long. I have tried the way of passivity, but now I will live my way, the Zentraedi way!"

Josen woke up abruptly, stirred awake by his father's loud words. Sitting up, he rubbed sleppiness from his eyes, his curly red hair a tangled mess atop his young head. He stared at Kharn solemnly.

Kharn looked at him, ordered, "Josen. Go fetch water from the supply ducts."

Josen got up silently, walked over to the bulkhead opening to fetch a large pail and then proceeded outside. Kharn watched him the whole time.

When he was sure the boy was out of earshot, Jace spoke up. "So, now what? You wanna go out in a blaze of glory against the Invid? What about your son?"

Kharn spoke solemnly, "He needs to be cleansed of human influences."

Jace rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe he was actually hearing this. "What, you are taking him down the road to hell with you? Teaching him the proper way to be a Zentraedi by getting yourselves killed needlessly. Because that's what will happen, you know, if you attack the Invid blindly," Jace said, a smug look on his face.

"We are not going to die needlessly. I am not throwing my life away casually by making an ineffective assault against the Invid."

Jace stared at him. "Then, what do you mean?"

Kharn set up the cooking stands, hanging the large pot over the balzing fire. He sat down, fumbling the tin can of rations in his hands while waiting for his son to return. He glared at Jace intently, as if measuring some unknown quantity that Jace didn't know he had. Having mad a decision, Kharn said, "My quest is of personal vengeance against the Invid for certain acts they have committed. Death for them can be the only possible, acceptable end to my quest. You humans may have lost the fire that once gave you the power to conquer my people, but I haven't. My fire will see me through."

"To the bitter end?" Jace remarked sarcastically.

Unaware of the underlying tone in his remark, Kharn answered truthfully, "Yes."

"Then, what does your quest involve, specifically?"

Kharn sat for a moment, his eyes glossed over by the fierce light of the campfire. When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of the ages. "I was once part of human settlement, not a large town, but it sufficed. Myself and a few of my Zentraedi bethren lived there, trying to recapture the failed hopes that Macross and Minmei had offered so long ago. The humans of this town were tired, weary of the war against the Masters. For myself and my brothers, it was not an easy time either.

"But after the Masters' defeat, all the talk was of the Invid. But the people of our town had faith in what was left of the ASC and in the exsitence of bases such as this one. We Zentraedi were more...what's the human word for this...oh, pragmatic. We knew what was coming.

"Finally the Invid came and all the tales we had told the townspeople came true. But, in general, the Invid left our town alone. Few specimens of the Flower grew in our vicinity, so the town believed itself safe. But my brothers didn't think so. And to be honest, neither did I.

"Then came that horrible week. A residing city-state held one of your resistance cells. They were only a nuisance until that one time when they managed to destroy an entire harvesting farm. The Invid were furious and struck back by destroying the city-state. My townspeople were livid, fully expecting to be next. My brothers wanted to strike back, to lash out at our ancient enemies. I felt it was foolish. We were powerless. But my brothers were determined, the Imperative having gained full control of them. They were willing to throw away everything we had worked for in this town over the years, something I couldn't quite grasp, being married for awhile and having Josen. But they set out for the nearest Invid hive despite the townspeople's objections and my own.

"I was away on a trip to another town, getting supplies while spending time with Josen. My...wife...thought it best that I do, in order to help the bond between us grow."

Kharn smiled at this, the first time Jace could remember seeing one on Kharn. It made him look younger.

He continued, "So, I never really knew what my brothers had planned or what they finally did. All I do know is that they died and the town paid the price for it." A weeping look, sad-filled eyes covered Kharn's face. Jace found the sight unusual on the Zentraedi's face. "When I came back, the town was demolished, ruined. And I found my home destroyed. And my wife...."

Kharn stopped, visible upset, his shoulders trembling. Jace felt the human need to help him, to tell him that it will be alright, but didn't because, deep down, Jace felt that it might never be alright ever again.

Reasserting control of himself, Kharn became more focused, more intent. He said, "From a few survivors, I learned a horrible truth. The Invid took prisoners, some of them the children of my brothers. They took them away, for some reason, for some purpose, I don't know what." Kharn looked Jace dead in the eyes for which Jace felt unsettled. "But I intend to find out. I intend to rescue the sons and daughters of my dead Zentraedi brothers to honor their memory and their valiant sacrifice. And for that, my boy needs to learn what it means to be Zentraedi. He is all I have left."

Jace was left dumbfounded. He had heard the warmth and sincerity in Kharn's voice as he spoke of his old home, the pain and torment as he spoke of his dead wife and of his failed brothers. This isn't a man intent on suicide, Jace thought, this is a man intent on reclaiming something of his own, something that would bring meaning and honor back to his life. Something I think we humans took from him in the first place.

Jace smiled grimly as he said, "Then count me in."