Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of Megaroad -- Book One ❯ Beginning of the End ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13: The Beginning of the End

--April 23, 2016--

--10:30--

Hikaru stopped for a moment to make once last minute check of his wife and daughter to make sure they were all still bolted to the ground. Miko was her normal energetic self, but there was a mischievous grin on Misa's face that Hikaru recognized as trouble. "No jokes Misa."

"What's wrong with a joke?"

Hikaru took a step forward and grabbed her shoulders. "Misa, I'm BEGGING you not to make jokes."

Misa rolled her eyes. "Lighten up Hikaru..."

"I mean it! Minmei made me promise you wouldn't tell jokes!"

"But my jokes are funny..." Misa said defensively.

Hikaru grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the church. "Just because Miko laughs at all of them doesn't mean they're funny!"

Misa snorted. "But my jokes ARE funny, aren't they Miko?"

"Yeah!" Miko agreed. "Mommy's funny!"

Misa smiled appreciatively, but Hikaru just shook his head in disgust. "Hurry up. We're gonna be late."

As soon as they entered, they immediately felt uncomfortable. Misa looked around the room nervously, but could not see another soul in sight. "Hikaru, why are we meeting Minmei in a church again?"

Hikaru shrugged. "I asked her about it, but she said it was a surprise."

"In a church...?" Misa had an inspiration. "No wonder nothing happened between them. Richard must be a priest or something!"

Hikaru laughed. "Now honestly, could you picture Minmei with a holy man?"

Misa shook her head. "I guess not..."

They opened the door to the lobby and stepped inside. Almost as soon as they came in, the inner door opened slowly and Minmei emerged in an extremely elaborate white dress. Hikaru and Misa both found themselves staring at her, searching for some explanation as to just why she would be wearing a wedding dress other than the most obvious conclusion. "Well don't just stand their slack jawed! How do I look?" She said playfully.

Both of them were too stunned to move, but Miko started jumping up and down again. "You're pretty aunt Mimmay!"

"Thanks Miko!" She said with a smile. She looked back to Hikaru. "I had to bribe Richard's friend so he wouldn't say anything. I'm sorry to sneak this on you, but...well..."

Hikaru coughed. "L-Lemme get this strait, you... are getting... married?"

"Yup."

"Today?"

"Yup."

"Right NOW?"

"Yup."

Misa shook her head quickly as if snapping out a trance. She had become mesmerized by the reflective patterns of the sunlight on Minmei's dress, and was only now collecting her senses. "You need bridesmaids or something?" She said sheepishly.

"No, I got some of the girls from the restaurant, but I want Hikaru to give me away, and I REALLY need you to stay close to the front just in case I chicken out."

Misa nodded as a memory crept into her mind. She had asked the exact same favor of Sammy and Claudia on her own wedding day, and had come just a heartbeat away from needing their services.

But Hikaru had more constructive concerns. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"I want you to meet him after the ceremony. I'm sure you'll like him. He's the sweetest man you could ever know."

Hikaru scratched his head. "You said the same thing about Kaifun."

Minmei slapped his shoulder. "I'm never gonna live that down am I?"

"No." He said plainly. "How am I supposed to give you away if I don't even know the guy?"

"Just trust my judgment. And don't tell anyone or there'll be a media circus."

Hikaru held up his right hand and put his left hand on Miko's head. "I swear on this little sugar-craving maniac, your secret's safe with me."

--10:45--

The system that Admiral Bennet's fleet arrived in was known by the Zentradi as "Berren Dalkaan." or "Giant Star" and for good reason. The central star in the system is a yellow/white giant 30 thousand times hotter than the Earth's sun and several million times larger, and the system itself consists of 7 rocky planets and 12 gas giants, each with an extensive system of moons. It was a cluttered star system, with a great deal of asteroidal debris orbiting every planet in the system and bombarding each of them from time to time, but Admiral Bennet's sensors were more than able to trace the debris from the Megaroad's battle with the renegade Zentradi.

The search teams sifted through the wreckage of the ships that had been destroyed by the Phoenix, finding a number of damaged Valkyrie fighters and wreckage of dead Regults everywhere they looked, and Admiral Bennet was now certain that the Megaroad was being chased by a Zentradi group, and that these craft were part of the unit that had been harassing them. What mystified them was the apparent firepower of the Megaroad fleet based on this wreckage. Surely the Zentradi battleship and the destroyer groups could not have done so much damage with just their antiquated weapons systems and the few reflex missiles they had taken on before departure, but then he remembered that first battle against Britai's flagship, and the powerful barrage it had unleashed in response to his missile attack. "Radar, any sign of vessels in this area?"

"No sir. No sign of the Megaroad or any of its escorts. And the survey teams report no debris form any of their ships either."

Bennet scratched his jaw again. "It doesn't make sense. If someone was chasing them, how could they have gotten so far without loosing any ships?"

"I don't know sir. Maybe…" The radar board suddenly went insane. The screen lit up like a Christmas tree and let out a low wail to indicate an energy reaction. "Multiple defolds! HUNDREDS of them!"

"What?! Where are they?!"

"They're... EVERYWHERE! They're surrounding us Captain!"

Bennet ran to the window and looked out. He could see flashes around his ship as hundreds of unknown ships appeared in the space beyond the asteroids, each of them only visible by the flares from their engines. "How far?!"

"100 thousand kilometers… sir they're firing!"

"Evasive action! Prepare to fold…" Before the words even left his mouth, a particle beam smashed into the underside of ARMD-16 and punched through the hull like paper. The deck tossed and pitched from the impact, and the sound of explosions rumbled through the ship.

"Direct hit sir! Hull breach on deck… Shit! They only targeted the fold boosters!"

Bennet looked up at the fleet around them. All of the Zentradi ships were being bombarded from all sides, but the ARMD platforms took only one or two hits that disable their fold systems and sublight drives. The single destroyer they had brought with them lasted only a few seconds before the combined fire power of over a hundred ships tore it apart, and in only a matter of moments the ARMD platforms were totally alone. "Dammit! Prepare to fire reflex missiles!"

His executive officer was sweating bullets. "We'll need 2 minutes to arm them sir!"

"Then you'd better hurry!" He snapped as another beam struck the hull. At about that moment, the enemy fire seemed to fizzle out into nothingness. No beams and no missiles passed over the hull now, and Bennet knew that the enemy was probably launching fighters to capture him. He didn't understand why they were doing this, but he didn't want to stick around to find out.

The radar officer did another scan and reported in. "Enemy fighters closing in. Mostly powered armors. I'm also picking up 23 additional defolds!"

"Ignore the new ships! All batteries, target the enemy fighters!"

ARMD-16's defensive guns and missiles opened fire, laying down a thick screen to keep the enemy powered armors away from them until Bennet could launch his reflex missiles and, hopefully, find and escape path. Despite his stubborn heart, Admiral Bennet could tell deep down that this was the end of his journey. He could not fight off a hundred warships with just three ARMD platforms, but lord knows he would try. "All engines full ahead! As soon as the missiles are ready, open fire full barrage!"

"Captain, the new contacts are approaching fast! Range 100 thousand and closing!"

Bennet sat down in his chair as the engines came on and the ship started to move. "We'll worry about the new comers lat…" A powerful beam of light crossed the bow of the ship, missing the little ARMD carrier by only 500 meters before crossing through the emptiness of space and striking down three of the Supervision Army destroyers. Half of their fleet redirected fire towards the new vessels, only to come under fire themselves a moment later. "What the hell is going on?"

"Sir, they're hailing is..." Said his First officer.

"Show me."

The viewscreen buzzed on and the Admiral was confronted with the image of a Zentradi man in UN Spacey uniform. "This is Commander Broli Kidranik of the Megaroad defense fleet. Move your ships to point L-14 in the asteroids and that'll give you some cover from the enemy guns. We'll cover you until we can escape."

Bennet saw the ship that was the source of the signal and suddenly it all made sense. He would have to question this officer and maybe have Misa court-martialed, but now was not the time for that. "Commander Broli, if we get into the asteroids we'll be sitting ducks for their fighters!"

"We'll give you fighter support! Splinter squadron is almost there, just get going before they disable your main engines!"

Bennet nodded and closed the channel. His ship immediately dove for a cluster of planetoid fragments in the direction of the Phoenix and its escorts, and Bennet could see Valkyrie and Zentradi fighters rushing to meet him in the distance. But his radar showed him that the enemy fighters were closer, and that they would overtake them in seconds. "All Lightning fighters, engage the enemy!" He shouted into the handset. The fighter squadrons complied, and then stopped responding only a few seconds later.

Bennet's radar officer suddenly noticed something strange on his screens. "Sir, our fighter units all stopped moving!"

"Unbelievable! How could they have…"

"No sir, they weren't shot down, they just stopped! None of them are fighting back and the enemy is ignoring them!"

Bennet gripped the arms of his seat in an impotent rage. Only a few more seconds and Broli's planes would be in position to help, but the enemy was closer, and now his life depended on his blind luck. As when Britai destroyed his ship in the beginning of the war, Bennet concentrated his will and his thoughts into surviving this battle. Over and over again he assured himself that he would not die here, as if forcing the universe to bend to his will just by sheer force of personality, and in many ways he was right. In too many ways, however, he was dead wrong.

A single Zentradi powered armor charged through the defensive fire from the ship and stopped right in front of the bridge. It raised its arm and aimed a long energy rifle into the bridge of the ship and pulled the trigger, and everyone on the bridge was consumed by a blinding, piercing light. But when the beam cut off, the bridge was intact. There was no damage to the hull, no fire and no explosion. The only effect of the weapon was on the men, lying face down on the deck totally drained of energy. The other powered suits likewise swarmed around the ship and swept it with their beams, and after only a few moments the entire crew was catatonic.

By now, the fighter units from Broli's ship had arrived and started to engage, but it was far too late to save them now. The other two ARMD platforms shared the same fate and were quickly immobilized while a group of powered armors carefully attached small fold boosters to the hull of ARMD-16. The Phoenix fired its main cannon and destroyed one of the Supervisionist destroyers to clear them a path, but there was not enough time to help. ARMD-16 folded out of the Berren System, followed in short by the other ships of the enemy fleet. The Supervision Army folded so quickly that they actually left thousands of their own soldiers in powered armors to face the SDF-Phoenix and its fleet, but this was only a small sacrifice for the bounty which they were about to receive.

--11:00--

Hikaru was still unsure of himself in this situation, and felt extremely awkward giving away the bride in a military uniform, but then he reminded himself once again that this was NOT Lynn Kaifun and probably not the same anti-military jackass he had come to know and despise.

Walking Minmei down the aisle seemed to take an eternity. He would have wanted to pick up the pace a bit in case Minmei lost her never somewhere along the way, but she didn't seem to waver one bit. Her eyes were locked onto the man at the alter without any doubts or cares. By the time they finally reached the front, Hikaru guessed Miko must have been a grandmother by now, but looking back he saw the little girl bouncing up and down in the 3rd row, and time suddenly moved at a normal pace again. Now, he realized, it was time to give away the bride. "Richard Powel," He began, "Will you be faithful to this woman, to honor and protect her?

"I will sir." Richard said, looking at Minmei.

"Will you love and cherish her, and keep her yours forever and..." his inexperience began to catch up with him, and he found himself clawing through his memory for the right words. "...and feed and clothe her and everything?"

"I will, sir." Richard said, apparently not sensing the awkwardness of the moment.

Hikaru half shrugged. "Then... ummmm... Hikaru and Misa Ichijo present to you the hand of Lynn Minmei for marriage." He brought Minmei forward, and he took her hand. "How was that?" He whispered in her ear.

"You did great. Go sit down." She whispered back.

"Sit down?"

"SIT DOWN." She whispered louder.

Hikaru shrugged and made his way to the 3rd pew where Misa was trying her best to keep Miko from blasting off. Almost as soon as he sat down, Miko crawled into his lap and sat there perfectly still, much to Misa's annoyance. "How come she only cooperates when YOU'RE around?"

"Beats me." Hikaru said plainly. He looked at Minmei and Richard at the altar, then looked over at Misa. "It's incredible, isn't it? Minmei finding a husband out of thin air like that."

Misa nodded. "She looks beautiful in that dress."

"She sure does." Hikaru agreed. "And she didn't even have to borrow my scarf."

--11:25--

Broli looked at the two derelict ships floating in space with rising anxiety. The last of their crews had been brought on board the Phoenix and the skeleton crews were already in the process of repairing their maneuvering systems. The fold drives were not functioning, and that meant that they would have to dock with the Phoenix for the trip home. Broli had never been so worried in his life. This now meant that the Supervision Army had reflex weaponry for the first time in thousands of years, and with the other Zentradi factions splintered as they were, there was no way to stop them this time.

"Commander Broli," Lieutenant Gallow called out. "We're being hailed sir. It's from a UN warship ten thousand to stern. We didn't detect it until just now."

"Show me." Broli said.

The main screen buzzed on and Claudia LaSalle appeared on the monitors. "This is ARMD-22 Maizuru to unidentified Super Dimension Fortress. Captain LaSalle commanding."

"The new ship!" Broli walked to the front of the bridge and responded. "This is Commander Broli Kidranik of SDF-102, we read you loud and clear."

Claudia leaned forward a bit. "Commander, we've run a trace on the enemy ships and we think they're headed for a place the Zentradi call the Bokata system. We need to go after them."

Broli shook his head. "The last thing we should do is follow them. They captured those ships to reverse engineer their reflex weaponry so they can make their own. That ARMD carrier is a pretty old design so they probably won't be able to get much out of it, but the Maizuru has some equipment they might find VERY useful. Radar jamming technology, or a pinpoint barrier system..."

"I understand that, but we can't just sit here..."

"That's right, we can't. Once their commander hears about us he'll undoubtedly try and send more ships to try and capture us. We need to get on the move right away."

Claudia looked confused. "Where could we go? And for that matter where's the Megaroad?"

"Gallaron." He said, answering both questions. "There's a Zentradi fleet waiting for us there. Set course for the following fold coordinates, and we'll get under way."

Claudia looked at him skeptically, but decided under the circumstances it was probably best to take his word for it. "I guess we'll have plenty of time for explanation later."

"There will be. As soon as we've docked with the two carriers we'll depart at once. In the mean time, you might as well send out a couple of fighters to help out with those enemy stragglers."

Claudia nodded to her first officer who passed the order to the on-duty squadrons. "Fighter support coming right up..."

--11:45--

"Richard, do you take this woman, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish above all others till death do you part?"

"I do." He said smiling.

The priest turned to Minmei. "Minmei, do you take this man, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish above all others till death do you part?"

"Wow, that's a big question!" She whispered, looking at Richard. "I do." she said returning his smile.

"Then by the power invested in me by the Megaroad Colony Government... and Captain Ichijo over there..." He nodded towards Misa, who waved shyly. "I now pronounce you man and wife." Minmei and Richard stared at each other, apparently waiting for each other to blink. "You may now kiss the bride." Still they stared, totally oblivious to the outside world beyond the bubble that suddenly enclosed both of them. The priest waited for a moment and then tapped them both on the shoulder, clearing his throat. "AHEM! Mr. Powel...?" Richard looked at the priest, and the priest nodded towards Minmei.

He stared blankly for a minute then snapped out of his trance. "Of course..." He reached across the altar and kissed Minmei.

At that exact moment, Misa and two of the bridesmaids collapsed into tears. Richard's friend from work, caught up in the moment, grabbed one of the other bridesmaids and kissed her. The old couple near the back of the room as witnesses giggled to themselves recalling youthful years gone by. Miko jumped up and started cheering on the 3rd pew, and Hikaru passed out and rolled onto the floor until Miko jumped down from the pew and landed squarely on his chest. She rebounded off his ribcage and ran over to Minmei, who by now was stepping down from the altar in a semi-trance hand in hand with her new spouse. "Aunt Mimmay!" she yelled out.

Minmei snapped out her daze, scooped up the little girl and carried her for a few steps. "Miko, say hello to Richard. This is my new HUSBAND!"

Miko looked over at Richard with a smile that threatened to split her face in half. "Hi Mr. Richard!" She said, reaching out one hand.

"How are you Miko?" Richard shook her hand, and Miko squirmed out of Minmei's arms to drop onto the floor.

"Aunt Mimmay, are you gonna have babies?"

Minmei laughed. "Not this minute. I'll let you know, okay?"

"Kay."

Minmei had already introduced Richard to all the bridesmaids from the restaurant, and now she dragged him over to meet her two best friends who were still collecting their thoughts in the 3rd row. "Misa, Hikaru, this is my HUSBAND Richard."

Misa was still crying her eyes out, but Hikaru was coherent enough to try and speak. "G-Good to meet you. Minmei talks about you all the time."

"You too." Richard said flatly. "Where'd you meet her?"

"South Ataria Island, during the war. A Zentradi soldier almost stepped on her, and I had to come and save her. Several times as it turned out."

Richard laughed. "It seems like Zentradi REALLY enjoy hurting people, don't they?"

"I wouldn't say they enjoy it. They're good at it, but I think alot of them would rather hear Minmei sing."

Richard looked confused. "Sing?"

Hikaru remembered what Minmei had told him at Corina's birthday party and decided to bail himself out. "Back on the Macross, this little wife of yours was know as the Karaoke Queen. We all thought she would go into showbiz, but she suffers from paralyzing stage-fright and never could perform to an audience of more than 12 people."

Richard laughed, and Minmei breathed a sigh of relief. "Which gives me an idea for our first anniversary gift..."

Misa finally stopped crying and looked up. "Hi I'm..." She glanced at Minmei in her wedding dress and started crying again.

Minmei patted her on the back. "This is my best friend Misa." She said, looking at Richard. "Misa, this is my husband Richard." Misa reached up and shook hands with Richard with her right hand while crying into her left.

"P-P-Pleased to meet..."

"Yeah, you too." Richard said, slightly embarrassed.

Hikaru handed Minmei a handkerchief, and Minmei gave it to Misa. "Richard, these two people are the dearest people in the world to me..." Miko tugged at her dress. "...and Miko..." Miko smiled warmly. "...so for all practical purposes, this is my family." Minmei would have included Corina's band, but that would have been far too hard to explain without tipping him off to her secret life as a semi-retired intergalactic superstar.

"Great to meet you guys. I... well don't really HAVE a family so you'll have to forgive me."

Misa was under control at last. "It's okay. After the Bodolza bombing, all we really have is each other."

"Yeah..."

They heard one of the doors opening in the church, and someone called out to them from the doorway. "Minmei, darling! How HAVE you been?" A thin woman with brown hair and a firey red dress ambled down the aisle towards them.

Minmei stared for a moment, not recognizing the woman one bit even after she had walked right up to them. "Have we met?"

"Oh, of course you don't remember me, and I don't blame you. I was a total bitch last time we met."

"Uhhhh..."

"You asked me for an autograph once at the Miss Macross pageant, and I said something ridiculous like "go buy a real autograph book." And a few weeks later at that party, I tried to spill red wine on that little green dress..."

Minmei gasped suddenly, as did Richard after a moment when they both recognized her at the same time. "JAN MORRIS?!"

She nodded. "I stopped dying my hair. Didn't recognize me huh?"

They both shook their heads. "How did you know I was here?" Minmei said, wondering if maybe the secret had gotten out somehow.

"Luke told me. He wanted me to arrange a honeymoon for you."

"Luke?" Minmei was confused, but Jan pointed with her finger and the priest waved at her. "Oh, Father Luke."

"That's right. It so happens that my hubby is part of the survey team they sent down to the planet, and I had him pick out the perfect spot for your honeymoon as soon as Father Luke mentioned to me you were getting hitched."

Hikaru whistled. "Whoa! That's a heck of a favor for someone you haven't seen in 7 years."

Jan winked at him. "This is my way of saying I'm sorry for being so jealous. I mean, we all end up in the same place when it's all said and done." she patted her belly, which they only now noticed was slightly swollen.

"Yeah." Minmei said, looking at Richard. "The delivery room."

Misa stood up suddenly. "I'll get you guys a permit to travel in the old city."

"Thanks Misa. And thanks for the gift, Jan ."

"Think nothing of it, dear." Jan winked at Minmei and started to leave the way she came. "Just call me if you have any questions. Luke has my number."

"Okay." Minmei said as she left. Now she turned to Hikaru and Misa. "If you two will please excuse me, Richard and I have to be alone for a couple of.... hours."

Hikaru didn't understand, but Misa was more than able to accurately guess what she was hinting at. "Oh that's so romantic!!" She spring forward and hugged Minmei, then she hugged Richard, then hugged Minmei again. Hikaru managed to restrain her before she got too emotional, and started to lead her into the parking lot.

"I'll let you borrow my Lexus for a few days so you can get home without much trouble." He turned Misa around and pushed her through the back door, leaving Minmei alone with her husband.

"So what now Mei?" Richard said.

"Don't know Rich. You wanna make a baby?"

Richard thought about it for a moment. "This is a big decision. Lemme think about it." He looked around the church for a moment, then back at Minmei. "You really wanna be a mother?"

"Of course I do."

"Then let's do it." He picked her up in his arms and carried her to back door of the church to await the return of Hikaru and the car that would carry Lynn Minmei and her new husband to their home for the first time.

________________________________________________________________ < p>Author's Note:

Jan Morris-- For those of you who don't remember, Jan Morris is the name of the movie star who everyone expected would win the Miss Macross pageant. Minmei ended up winning, (obviously) and Jan didn't take it very well.

ARMD Carriers-- The original 10 ARMD carriers built by the UN Spacey defense force were fairly wimpy. None of them had any space fold capabilities or fold navigation systems, and were basically nothing more than spaceborn platforms for fighters and reflex missiles. In 2012, ARMD-1 and ARMD-2 were rebuilt and docked with the rebuilt and refitted SDF-1 Macross as it's arms. The other 8 originals were also rebuilt, as well as 10 additional ARMD carriers. At the time of this fanfic, these carriers are mainly used in fleet defense and tactical coordination, not unlike the Zentradi's Tou-Redir scout ships. Their fold drives are mounted externally on the underside of the ship and fit between the two sections of the hull.

Maizuru-- I know that no one here (at least most of you) have not seen Macross 7 or do not remember this ship from Macross Plus, but the Maizuru class is one of the most common ships of the UN Spacey by the time of the great Isamu Dyson. Any time in Macross Plus of Macross 7 when you see a UN Fleet, you'll always see at least one of these ships in the background.