Robotech_Master [Altiversal Studios, Inc. Presents] [A Chris Meadows UNDOCUMENTED FEATURES tale] ---------- DEDICATIONS: To the Authors and Musae of SUPERGUY, most of whom I know will never read this, but one of whom probably will. To Steve and Penny Hutchison, whom I know will read this just because it has my name on it. To all those people who've shown interest in my Undocumented Features stories--Mechaman, Philip-M, Sinapus, etc. (You know who you are.) I'm really glad you've liked them, and if it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have finished this one. Ask me about some of my other work, especially SUPERGUY! To Picabo Street, for athletic prowess, excellent performance in the Olympics, a neat name, and just overall cuteness. To all the other UF authors. As always, without you guys, I wouldn't be writing this. (Hmm, should I REALLY be thanking these guys? :) To all the other characters I neglected whilst writing this. I'll get back to you guys, I promise! :) To all those people who skip over the long dedications in these Undocumented Features stories. The irony is that you probably won't see this dedication to you. :) And to Katie Tanner, because she deserves it. ---------- Chris came slowly back to awareness. The first thing he remembered was that this was it. Today was the day. He didn't know whether to be excited or sad. This was the day they were leaving Utopia Planitia. He awoke really early--0600 hours. He couldn't recall geting up this early since...well, since his days on the farm back in Missouri, when he'd had to get up early to catch the school bus every day. Well, actually he was pretty sure he'd gotten up that soon a few times since then...he just hadn't enjoyed it as much. He hadn't had any trouble sleeping the previous night, which was even odder. Normally, the night before anything really exciting or momentuous, like Christmas or the day of some big trip, he slept restlessly, tossing and turning all night long. And he hadn't been sleeping very well at all lately; his rest was haunted by nightmares of Katie Tanner and the Buma, visions of the SDF-17 and the Imperial battlecruiser destroying each other, agony from the wounds received in that TIE battle after the WAYWARD SON's destruction. Chris tried not to think about that...he was up early, rested, and ready to go; he didn't want to spoil it with all those images of gloom and doom. Chris tossed back the covers, pulled on his blue jeans and black-and-neon-yellow "Class of '91" sweatshirt, grabbed his wristwatch, clipped his commbadge to the sweatshirt, and grabbed his glasses. He stepped out the door and mounted his Cyclone. In the communication center, a red and yellow boom box was sitting on a console, tied into the commnet through a plug leading into its earphone jack. "Yo, Blaster!" Chris said as he entered. "Everyone awake yet?" "No, Mako...they're still snoozing," the boom box answered. "I'm supposed to wake them at 0700 hours." Chris pulled out a laserdisk. "Hey, Blaster, open up. Got a song for you to play over the comm as a wakeup call. I think it's appropriate for the day." "Okay, no prob. What's the format?" The tape door slid open. "Oh, 1960s oldie." "No, I MEANT the format of what it's ON." "Oh. Standard WDF floptical." There was a barely audible whir as Blaster's internal systems configured to play it. Chris slotted it in. "Album 319, track 2." A little red light next to the tape door came on as Blaster accessed it, and there was a burst of random sound as he speed-read it. "Okay. Not my usual style, but hey, variety is good." "Cool, let's do it." <<>> THE UNIVERSE ACCORDING TO CHRIS, Interlude --Visit to a Busy Planet-- Starring: Chris/Mako Chris Meadows Temper Katie Tanner Yuri Yuri Daniels With Appearances By: Blaster Blaster PCHammer Martin F. Rose Danilia Danilia M'krelth'nyr'knet Tom Tom M'krelth'nyr'knet Eiko Eiko Magami Nadia Nadia Davion Hanson Hanson Davion Dund Dund Wollern Noriko Noriko Takaya Mechabikers J. Random Road Pizza Elasi Pirate J. Random Space Pizza Based on characters and situations created by MegaZone, Gryphon, ReRob, Reality, PCHammer, et al An Overworked, Underslept Student Production Special Effects by Academic Gloom and Mundanity, Inc. Music by Box of Tapes, Inc. Catering by Sack Lunches R Us Anything Else by Whoever Thought of it at the Time Original Mecha Designs by Chris Meadows, Dave Deitrich, and Friends Chris watched the RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION's engines fire in their final pre-launch test. Everything looked perfect. Chris shook his head. He'd made his decision. He wasn't going with them. Martin could understand the choice he'd made, and didn't try to change Chris's mind. Chris wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on, see if the WDF was regrouping elsewhere for another assault. Toward this end, he planned to check in with 3WA headquarters on Meizuri, to find out what was being done. Hammer, on the other hand, really had no plans one way or the other. He was just going to launch the INDIGNATION and see where it took him. It had been agreed that Chris and the INDIGNATION would keep in touch via Sub-Ethernet email. Even though the WAYWARD SON was gone, the net as a whole was still there. Chris was glad that he'd thought to configure his Valkyrie, the CONSTELLATION, with a civilian subspacenet site as well as a WDF military one. All incoming and outgoing messages for the CONSTELLATION would now go through it; the military one would remain shut down for the duration. Might attract unwanted attention. Chris was currently checking over the CONSTELLATION, readying it for interstellar flight. Meizuri was several days away at cruising warp, and he had to make sure he had the proper supplies of oxygen and replicator fuel, and that all equipment was properly secured. As he sat down in the shock couch after checking the replicator systems behind the seat, a face appeared in the starboard multi-function display (MFD) of the Valkyrie's dashboard. It was actually kind of a pretty face, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and wearing a WDF uniform with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. It was Katie Tanner, Chris's almost-SO whose brain he'd installed in the Valkyrie body after her original body had been destroyed by a Buma. Chris still wasn't sure he'd been entirely correct in that decision, and it was still troubling him. "Good morning," Katie said. "Sleep well?" "Amazingly, yes," Chris said, bringing up status displays on the port screen. "You?" "As well as could be expected," Katie replied. "So we're going to Meizuri?" "Yeah, we are," Chris said. "I have to find out for myself if what's on that disk is true, and if so, what we're going to do about it." "And you can get me a new body!" Katie Tanner said. "They have a very good regenerative hospital on Meizuri." "They'd have to, with Kei and Yuri around..." Chris muttered. "What was that?" Katie asked. "Er, nothing. I hope we can get you regenerated, as well. We'll just have to see what happens when we get there." "Hey, Mako!" It was Martin, standing by the hangar door. "You sure you don't want to come with us? There's room for one more fighter on board the RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION." Actually, with over 95% of her crew dead, there was room for a whole SQUADRON of fighters. But they both knew that anyway. "No thanks, Martin! I have to go, you know that." Danilia stepped out next to PCHammer. "Take care, Mako! And take care of Katie, too!" "Hey, isn't that the other way around?" Katie asked over external speakers. "I'm the one who's going to be taking care of him!" Then Eiko Magami walked out, followed by the rest of the Clay Pigeons and the RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION crew. Tom, Nadia, Hanson, Dund, Korren, Noriko--everyone was there to say goodbye. "You make it sound like you'll never see me again," Chris said. "Relax, chill out. I'll probably be getting in touch with you in a week or so. It's no big deal, really." You'd better come back, Dund signed. You still owe me 50 credits from that poker game the other night. Chris laughed. "Don't worry, Dund...you'll get your money, plus interest." Everyone laughed and talked and reminisced for a few more minutes, then PCHammer said, "All right, it's time to go. We were SUPPOSED to launch five minutes ago. Now let's move it, everyone." He shooed everyone toward the RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION, then stepped up to the CONSTELLATION. A simple jump propelled him up to the side of the cockpit, where he held himself up by his arms and said, "I hope you find what you're looking for." "Thanks, Hammer. I hope I do, too." Chris looked away, not trusting himself to look back at Martin. All the destruction, the pain, the loss, and he was still carrying on. Chris was only barely managing, and that only by reminding himself that he HAD to keep going, that Katie needed him and so did the WDF, wherever it was. Martin glanced at the screen. "And Katie, remember what I told you." Katie Tanner's image nodded. "I will, Martin. I've been thinking a lot about what you said, and you're right. It's possible that I might not get my human body back, so I might as well learn to like this one." "Good. That's just what I wanted to hear. Now take care of yourselves." He released his hold and jumped down. "I'd better go now, or they'll take off without me. Later!" He waved one last time, then turned around and transformed to his rotofoil mode, heading off toward the RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION. Chris watched him go, "This is it, isn't it?" Chris watched the point of light that was the RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION dwindle away to nothingness. "We're the last ones here." "Let's hurry up and get out of here," Katie said. "This empty place is giving me the creeps." "All right," Chris said. "I'm not all that eager to stay here any longer, myself. Jacking in..." Chris connected a plug from his CVR armor to a socket in the Valkyrie's control board. He hit the "go" key, and felt the comfort of a familiar mind in close contact with his. It wasn't binary bonding, because such bonding required a Cybertronian intelligence and a human intelligence. With two human intelligences, it produced a kind of telepathic contact, for better, faster communication and synchronization. *Ready?* Chris asked. *I was BORN ready!* Katie replied. *Let's do it.* The CONSTELLATION's thrusters flared to full power, and Katie raced down the runway and out into space. As soon as they cleared the runway, Katie transmitted the code to Bombsight to start shutting everything down. <<>> A good distance away from Utopia Planitia, Katie slowed to a stop, turned back around. Together, she and Chris watched the lights all across Utopia Planita flicker out, one by one, as Bombsight shut them down. They said no words, for in the telepathic link, none were necessary. Each felt the other's sadness--the dream was dead, or at least deferred indefinitely. But Chris would not give up. This would not last forever, and he would not let all that had been simply fade away. He would hold on to the memories, to the grand traditions of the Wedge Defense Force, for as long as he lived. He sensed that Katie would do the same. At last, all the lights went out. Utopia Planitia was all but dead. Chris took one long, last look. "Goodbye, Utopia Planitia. I'll be back someday, I swear it." And then the Valkyrie turned, warp engines flared, and it was gone. <<>> "Victor Tango Niner Niner Niner, you are cleared to land at Meizuri Interstellar Spaceport, landing pad seven niner three, over." "Roger, Meizuri Control. Victor Tango Niner Niner Niner, course confirmed and out." Chris turned the CCR song back up. One fortunate thing about Katie, he reflected, was that, like him, she enjoyed almost any kind of music. This was good, since any music he played over her built-in audio system, she would have to listen to, and this way she wouldn't mind whatever Chris chose to play. Though she DID draw the line at "Achey Breaky Heart." The Valkyrie slipped into the atmosphere, its angle of descent adjusting to compensate for the slightly-increased drag of the thruster pods on its back. Contrails formed at its wingtips, and the control surfaces on the wings began to bite into the air. Chris stood ready to take control over the cyberlink if Katie lost it, but there was really no danger of that. She landed in Gerwalk mode, squarely and neatly in the center of the landing pad, just as the song ended. Chris turned off the player and unjacked from the control panel as she converted back to fighter mode. The canopy opened, and Chris climbed out. "I wonder if Kei and Yuri are on the planet right now?" he wondered. "Would Kei be more likely to be out hunting Gryphon, or to be taking charge of things around here in the wake of the WDF's destruction?" "I'd lay odds on being right here," Katie said over the CVR helmet-comm. "She'll WANT to go after him, but I think she'll know where her duties lie right now." "I think you're right." Chris flipped open the storage compartment. "I wonder which one I should take...the Cyclone or the Moto-Slave?" "Probably the Cyclone," Katie said. "You're in the armor, and it's easily recognizeable as a WDF bike." "Right." Chris lifted it out and down, unfolded it. "Okay, Katie, button up." The canopy closed and sealed. "Keep in contact by the radio," Katie said. "You got it," Chris said. "...mom." Katie's response to that was rather unprintable, but Chris just grinned. "Gee, I didn't know you cared." He unfolded the Cyclone, hopped on, and rode off. <<>> Chris's first sign that there might be trouble came when four flamboyantly dressed bikers pulled into a diamond formation around him. Their bikes were larger than the Cyclone, and they looked pretty mean. "Get off this planet, Wedgie!" the biker on the right yelled, using the common derogatory epithet for WDF soldiers. "We don't want your kind around here!" And then he pulled out a Badger anti-armor submachine gun, which definitely made Chris take notice. A Badger was a MILITARY weapon, where the hell had he gotten it?! A moment later, the biker fired a burst off at Chris, who, naturally, wasn't there to receive it. He'd been trained far too well for that. The blast knocked the left biker off his bike in a fountain of blood; the bike performed a Speed Raceresque flip over the railing of the elevated highway and exploded a second later. "Shit!" the biker with the SMG yelled. The biker in front threw a quick glance over his shoulder, then fired something from the rear of his bike. A magnetic grappler line! It struck the front hood of the DVR-152 Battler II with a metallic CLANG, then the biker swerved, trying to pull the bike down. "You're not gonna get me that easy." Chris made the transformation to Battroid mode--power armor--hovering a few feet off the ground but keeping his forward velocity. He yanked on the cable himself, causing the biker to skid out. The other two bikers barely avoided their wrecked companion, whose bike exploded a moment later. "I think it's time I made myself scarce," Chris decided, firing boosters. He dodged around slower moving cars, ducked lower to stay under the overhead road signs, and then glanced over his shoulder to see the two remaining bikers were using rocket power of their own, and catching up. "What the hell do they have on those bikes?!" Chris wondered. Then he saw the answer, as both of them reconfigured, wrapping around their pilots in a Battroid mode similar in size to MegaZone's Garland, though rather dissimilar in other respects. Chris began to suspect that there was something more than just antagonism involved here. "So you think you can take me?" Chris called out. "Well, bring it on!" Chris activated his radio. "Katie, you there?" "Yeah, Chris, what's going on?" "Nothing much...couple of bozos in power armor are challenging me is all. Tell you 'bout it later, here they come." Katie was concerned. "You need my help?" "No...nothing the bike can't handle. I'll be fine. Oops, gotta go!" Chris broke the link as a plasma blast zipped by his ear. The bikers were moving up toward him now, flying on trails of fire from their power armor thruster packs. They carried plasma rifles, a common light mecha weapon, and probably had other munitions built in. The enemy broke left and right, opening up with some kind of small-caliber rapid-fire gun clusters in their arms. The shards of energy flew toward Chris, who was able to dodge in time and return fire with a plasma missile from his forearm launchers. The missile struck the bike-battroid on the left arm, and blew it off. The other one moved in behind, to try to grapple. Chris knew it was coming, though, and at the last minute fired his backpack thrusters, hopping him up and backward, behind the offending battroid, and fired both arm cannons into its thruster pack. KER-BLAM!!! The resulting explosion was everything Chris could have hoped for. The thrusterless mecha crashed to earth, exploding in the middle of the highway. The remaining bike-battroid kept its distance, firing from its plasma rifle as fast as possible. Chris kept leap-dodging out of the way, so none of the shots hit him. They did, however, hit various buildings and things at the side of the road. Most of the time, this wasn't all that important--what were a few buildings in a city this size?--but the service station's fuel tanks did explode rather nicely. Chris kept dodging, and lining up his shot. If the targeting computer could just bracket this turkey...There! Chris let fly with the eight armor-piercing missiles positioned in the Cyclone's hips. KER-BLAMMO!!! Burning debris fell all over the highway. Chris looked back at all the damage. "At least I got them," Chris remarked ruefully. "I think Kei and Yuri would call that a success..." <<>> Chris walked into the main offices of the 3WA, stopped to take a look around. The place was pretty nice, actually...it had a huge lobby, like something that belonged in a fancy hotel. Tiled with brown stones, with planters scattered around and a nice if understated fountain in the center. There were a few people sitting around on benches or in chairs, but when they noticed his WDF flight jacket, they mostly looked away. Except for one little kid who said, "Mister, you better get off this planet before something bad happens!" Then the kid's mother grabbed him and put her hand over his mouth, saying something about not talking to strangers. Chris wondered if it was just him, or if he'd walked into a bad Robotech rerun. The woman at the reception desk looked up. Her eyes widened at the WDF uniform, and at the large gun on Chris's hip. Her hand moved to the handgun in its handy quick-release holster. Part of her job was to stop those nutcases who thought they might have a crack at gunning down their Trouble Consultants--she'd been trained to kill within .68 seconds from this position. It was an ability she was somewhat proud of, but she didn't let her pride lead to overconfidence. "May I help you, sir?" Chris walked up to the desk. He knew all about 3WA receptionists, and the gun they kept there, and was confident that he could avoid her deadly skill if he had to. But that was not his intent. "Lieutenant Colonel Chris Meadows, Wedge Defense Force. Are Kei or Yuri in?" "Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist asked. "No, but if you just tell them I'm here, I'm sure they'll see me anyway." "I'll check." The receptionist touched a key with her left hand, still keeping her right out of sight. She muttered into a subdermal mike, then nodded. "Miss Daniels will see you. Take that door through there, and follow the yellow line." Chris nodded. "Okay. Thanks." He saluted, then turned and walked through the door in question. Katie Tanner sat on the landing pad, trying to keep herself amused while Chris was away. She looked around, zoomed in on things, and just played around with her advanced optics and auditory systems the way she'd used to play with binoculars as a kid. It was an interesting distraction. And then she noticed a few people in the shadows nearby, skulking around and pointing at her. Even her advanced audio pickups could only pick up a few words. She heard something about "...pilot...WDF...him...wants..." Then they were gone. That's odd, Katie thought. Ah, well. Maybe Chris will be interested when he gets back. "Hello, Yuri. What can you tell me about what's going on?" Yuri looked up from her desk. Her eyes were red, the result of days of a combined lack of sleep and crying. She tried to cover it up with makeup, but didn't quite succeed. "What--" Her voice was scratchy, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "What do you want to know?" What happened to you to make you like this, Chris thought but didn't say. It wasn't quite true, anyway, for he DID know. He'd seen the disk that chronicled what he thought of in his darker moments as a sadistic work of art. The canvas is the galaxy as a whole, the background is the currently-explosive political situation. Now see the way a GENOM agent comes in and messes up ReRob's life! Follow the pattern down to the surface of Musashi where a Gryphon-replicant (for thus it HAD to be...didn't it?) slaughtered a dozen children and let the real Gryphon take the blame! Let your eyes wander back up to the SDF-17 WAYWARD SON, where Gryphon's assumed guilt causes the WDF High Command to crumble, nay, to EXPLODE, sending Gryphon flying this way, MegaZone flying that way, the Pair flying here, everyone else flying there, the SDF-17 plummeting to the planet below! And for all Chris knew, the synthesis of this pattern might eventually bring still MORE chaos. What Chris DID say, was, "What is the current state of the WDF? Who's the leader, where are they regrouping, and what's going to happen now?" "The WDF?" Yuri looked down at the random clutter on the desk and laughed bitterly, ironically. "There's no such thing anymore. Everyone's scattered from here to the Gamma Quadrant." She looked back up at Chris, continued. "The leader? Perhaps you mean macquivr, who took command of the SDF-17 after Zoner left. He was last seen here on Meizuri last week, before an attempt on his life. Now it's anyone's guess where he is. As if there was any question of a regrouping." She turned her head away, too late for Chris not to see the tears coming to her eyes. Chris reached out, put his hand on her shoulder. "Then what's going to happen now?" Yuri turned, a sudden thought striking her. "Whatever happens, you'd better be careful. You're in grave danger, anyone who used to be in the Wedge Defense Force is." "What do you mean?" Chris asked, thinking of the attack on the highway and the kid's warning. "Why would anyone want to hurt us? The WDF has never been anything but honorable. Sure, there's the question of Gryphon, but--" Yuri shook her head, her already-unkempt hair mussing even more. "No, it's not that at all. With the WDF shattered, everyone they've ever defeated now wants a piece of them, from street gangs up to the Kilrathi Empire. They capture soldiers to torture and kill. The higher-ranked, the better." Chris looked thoughtful. "So THAT'S why those four mechabikers were after me..." "Mechabikers?" Yuri asked? "Uh, yeah. On the elevated expressway. I'm afraid I, er, made a bit of a mess." Yuri tapped out an inquiry on her desktop terminal, nodded at what she saw. "Local streetgang, hires out as mercenary muscle to whoever can pay. We were planning an operation to shut them down...and then THIS happened." She sighed. "Yeah, it's become the latest thing with the street gangs. Kill a 'Wedgie,' prove you're bad." She looked down. "They've even tried to hit US. Needless to say, they didn't even get close." "I see." Chris looked down at his uniform jacket. "Guess I'd better start wearing my civvies." Yuri stood, then reached across the desk and put her hands on his shoulders. "Chris...PLEASE be careful," she said, concern and worry in her voice. "Go into hiding," she pleaded. "At least until the 3WA can put a stop to these WDF-soldier killing sprees. I can get you a biosculpt at the Meizuri Wellness Clinic by a team of doctors who won't talk, so no one will know your face." Chris considered this. "I don't know...this face may be pretty ugly, but I'm rather attached to it. I'll have to think about it." They sat back down. "Is there anything else you want to know?" Yuri asked. "I'll try to tell you anything I can." Chris sighed. "I hate to be blunt, but I have to know. Can you tell me where Ben, Zoner, and ReRob are, where they might have gone?" Yuri shook her head, the tears threatening to begin anew. "I--I don't know. ReRob...some say he's stayed on Musashi, him and Deedlit. As for the others, I--I just don't know." She looked down at the desk once more. "They could be anywhere. If you want to find Gryphon, you can ask Kei." Her voice hardened. "She's sworn to track him down and kill him for what he did to those kids. Or for what he did to her heart." She choked back a sob. Chris sighed. "Three hundred years they're together, and she doesn't have any more faith in him than that?" "People...people just grow apart," Yuri said, tears beginning to flow. "I just keep thinking...we thought we were close, but just how close WERE we? If we were as close as we should have been, how--how could we have broken up in almost less time than it takes Millie out there to draw her gun?" "Yeah...maybe. Maybe you were eventually headed for a breakup anyway and this just made it happen a little early...you know what Edison said about immortal relationships." His voice turned colder. "But the fact remains that it wasn't YOUR fault, or ANY of the Wedge Rats'. It was engineered from the outside." Yuri looked up. "You--you belive that too?" "It had to be. Even disregarding the Musashi incident, which I don't for one instant, it's just too damned coincidental for that Imperial destroyer to show up almost immediately after the leaders scatter. I'm surprised Kei didn't see this. And even if I saw it with my own eyes, I would not for a moment believe that Gryphon was capable of--doing what he supposedly did." Yuri sighed. "Now if only Kei would believe that..." "Where is she?" Chris wondered. "Off-planet somewhere. She didn't want to 'let the trail get cold, Goulet be damned.' She's going to find him and--and--" She covered her face with her hands and broke down completely. Chris stood and came around the desk, and gathered her into a gentle hug. "Don't worry," he said as she cried into his shoulder. "It'll be all right. Everything will come out fine. Trust me." He just wished he could believe that himself. <<>> Chris walked out of the 3WA building a marked man. He shivered as he realized that any of the pedestrians or drivers could be out to get him. He suddenly wanted to be in the CONSTELLATION and heading elsewhere, fast. He tabbed the communicator, looking around himself furtively as he walked back to his bike. "Katie, Chris." "I'm here. What did you learn?" "It's even worse than we thought." He got to his bike, opened the storage box and lifted out the CVR-4 components. "Tell me." "You sure you can handle this? There IS an asteroid belt nearby, and I don't want to have to go through THAT again..." "Chris..." Her voice had an irritated tone. "I TOLD you, I'm over that!" "Yeah, I know...okay. Listen." Katie could hear the clicks of Chris putting his armor together. "In short, the WDF is scattered to the four winds. Kei's gone after Gryphon. And WDF survivors are being hunted down and killed by gangs, Kilrathi, and generally everyone who's pissed off at the WDF for something. I think we--HURGH!" There were thumping noises, and then the transmission was cut off. <<>> "Chris! Are you there? Do you read me? Shit!" In seconds, Katie was in Gerwalk and in the air, not bothering about such petty little concerns as launch clearance. Three spaceships in a landing pattern veered off and nearly crashed as Katie blasted straight up through them. Then she went to VF mode and was off across the sky at Mach 5.2. (Can we say, MASSIVE sonic booms? Eh?) Seconds later, Katie was hovering in front of the 3WA building in Gerwalk mode. She was receiving radio transmissions from Meizuri control asking just what the hell she was doing, and also from two Meizuri Civil Defense Alpha fighters that were coming in on an intercept course, but she ignored them. All the sensors in her advanced suite were probing the area, searching for signs of what was going on... There...Chris's Cyclone. It was lying on its side, and a couple of pieces of Chris's armor were there. Thermal signs of a struggle, footprints everywhere...tire tracks leading off, into the street where they got disappeared among all the others. The size of the tracks, the width of their separation matched a standard civilian cargo hauler. Radar indicated the Alphas were closing to within ten miles now...Katie still ignored them. "Katie Tanner to 3WA headquarters. This is Lieutenant Colonel Katie Tanner to 3WA headquarters. Emergency, code Sierra Hotel India Tango. I need to speak to Kei or Yuri, immediately!" "This is Yuri, go ahead Temper." Katie received a visual transmission, and reflexively produced a signal of her own, a representation of her in a flight suit in a Valk cockpit. There was no time to explain about her latest bizarre situation right now. "Yuri. Mako's been kidnapped from right outside the 3WA building. The tracks of a civilian cargo hauler, a pickup truck, are leading away, but they get lost. Quickly, where would they go?" "Uh...if it was who I think it was, they're in the pay of some outside group. To the spaceport." "Thanks. I'll be in touch." She closed the transmission, converted to VF mode, and streaked back off toward the airport, passing right between the two Alphas on the way, her bow shock nearly knocking them right out of the sky. Katie hovered over the spaceport in Gerwalk mode. She was trying to find Chris on one of the ships, but there were ships leaving all the time, and she couldn't cover all of them. And the Alphas were coming back onto course, and the defense guns of Meizuri Spaceport had started firing warning shots at her. "Dammit!" Katie swore, silencing two of the guns with her arm-mount pulse lasers before streaking for the sky once again. She resolved to wait in orbit and keep scanning. Maybe Chris would find a way to contact her. Meanwhile, Yuri was at the spaceport as rapidly as possible, making inquiries of her own about mysterious arrivals and departures. To be honest, she blamed herself for Chris's abduction, unrealistic as that point of view was. He had been kidnapped right after seeing her. In front of the 3WA building, no less! It was an affront to her pride, and to the 3WA as a whole, and that it should happen to a WDF Lieutenant Colonel was no less embarassing. She'd left word with the secretary, Millie Jackson, to inform Goulet, and tell Kei where she was if she happened to return. She took only her E-Mag and her Cyclone with her; the Valkyrie would not be expedient for this task. Yuri was able to accomplish a bit more than Katie Tanner, in that she had good informants. In moments, she had a name and an identification number: the DEATHBRINGER, a patched-up Dorkir freighter with Elasian registry. Within a few more moments, she'd opened a subspace channel to the orbiting CONSTELLATION. Chris regained consciousness slowly. He didn't move, and he didn't open his eyes at first, for he didn't recognize the background sounds he heard. A kind of a steady thrumming roar...sounded familiar, if not instantly recognizeable... Think...Kilrathi ship familiarization training...ah, yes. Standard sublight engines, Dorkir light freighter. Though they sounded a bit rough...worn out, in need of tuning, or both. This wasn't a Kilrathi ship, then... What had happened? He remembered starting to put his armor on, and talking to Katie, and then...ouch. Hmm, the back of his head still felt tender, but the Omega-2 had handled most of the damage already. Now, if he could just find out where he was... He kept listening. No sounds other than the engines, for at least five minutes. He chanced a brief look around, closed his eyes again, hoping the eyelid movement wasn't noticed. It wasn't; there was no one else around. Chris opened his eyes again and took a closer look. He appeared to be in the cargo bay of a rather poorly-maintained Dorkir light freighter. His hands were cuffed behind him around a pipe, and his legs were tied together. Chris noticed that his Gallant and his commbadge had been taken, but they'd left him everything else...his shoes, belt, wristwatch, etc. Dumb. Very dumb. Chris wondered how long he'd been out. He managed to get his wrist around to where he could see the watch. Hmm, about 45 minutes. It might not be too late...if Katie Tanner was still in the area, he might be able to contact her... Reaching over with one of his cuffed hands, he pressed one of the buttons on his old Casio Tri Graph wristwatch, then tapped the glass face of it. It chirped in the same manner as a typical commbadge. It was a backup system Chris had designed, important just for situations like this, or where he otherwise couldn't carry his commbadge. Chris only hoped that the pilots of this ship, whoever they were, weren't listening in on the military subspace band formerly used by the Wedge Defense Force. "Mako to Temper. Mako to Temper. Do you read me, Temper? Come in, please," he half-whispered. He waited a few moments, then repeated his call. He was just about to give up hope, when... "This is Temper, I read you!" It was Katie Tanner's voice, sounding relieved. "Where are you?" "Shhh, not so loud! I'm tied up in the cargo bay of some Dorkir-class freighter, and it's heading I-don't-know-where. Track my signal and hurry, we could jump at any moment and you'd NEVER find me then!" Katie decreased the volume of her signal. "A Dorkir, eh? That's what Yuri said...All right, I have you and I'm homing. Those bastards are gonna PAY." "Not before you get me safely out of the ship, okay?" Chris asked, only half in jest. There was no response to that. Chris kept the channel open but the audio pickup closed, and then said something else, enunciating carefully. "Skitter. Activate and detach." The ornamental WDF symbol belt buckle on Chris's belt clicked, and a crack appeared around the edge of the WDF symbol. "Motive mode." Six thin legs extended all around the edge of the round symbol, and it stood up. "Forward, thirty inches." With a sort of a clicking sound, the WDF symbol began crawling up Chris's chest, the tip of the truncated diamond in the center pointing forward. Chris grinned. The little voice-controlled robot was one of the projects he was the most proud of. It could understand simple commands, and perform simple tasks with a small set of built-in tools. Chris usually called it the "Heart of Steel" project, or sometimes his "Swiss Army Belt Buckle." When the robot came up to about his neck, it stopped. "Starboard, ninety degrees." The robot turned obediently. "Forward, half-speed." Chris felt the prickly touch of the robot's feet as it crawled down his left arm, legs securely gripping the fabric of his uniform. "Stop," he said, as it reached the handcuffs. "Locate lock." The robot clicked affirmatively as it did this. "Activate cutting laser. Thirty second burn. Mark." Though he couldn't see it, Chris knew that the small WDF-symbol robot from his belt buckle was melting the lock out with its millimeter-thick cutting laser beam. At the end of the thirty second period, the robot clicked again. Chris jerked his arm, and it came free. "Ah, that's better." He brought both his arms around in front of him, moving gently so not to dislodge the robot which was still clinging precariously to his arm. Chris set the robot on the other arm and burned out the lock in that cuff, so he could remove the thing. Then he untied his legs, and stood. "Katie," he said, tapping the commwatch once more. "I've gotten untied now. Where are you?" "About four minutes out from you," Katie responded. "Try to find some sort of environment suit...I don't think I can hook up to that thing's airlock." A note of irony in her voice. "It's not my fault you're not a starship. I'll have to work on that for the CONSTELLATION Mark II." Then Chris heard footsteps. "Hold on, Katie, someone's coming." He grabbed the robot. "Stunner mode." Its legs retracted and a muzzle extended from the edge just above the point of the truncated diamond. Chris gripped the 'bot in both hands and moved over to one side of the hatch. It slid open. Someone came through, carrying a tray. "Are you awake yet? I brought some--Shit, he's gotten loose--!" Chris zapped him. Clunk. Chris checked the uniform he was wearing. Elasi pirates. Typical. "I didn't even have anything to do with the Elasian operation, you idiot," he said to the prone form. "Oh, I see you've got my gun. I'll just take that...Oh, and there's my commbadge, I notice." With his posessions thus returned to him, he snapped the stunner/robot back into place on his belt buckle and looked around. "All right, Katie, I'm okay," he said into the commbadge. Then his eye fell upon the slightly-scuffed schematic map of the freighter, attached to the wall next to the door. "And I think I can ensure that we don't jump out of here before you can get to us." It was the work of five minutes to find his way down to an engineering override panel, one of several located throughout the Dorkir-class vessel. Due to a design philosophy of multiple redundancy, each of these panels could assume full command of the drive systems, given the proper command codes. And Kilrathi computers were notoriously easy to gimmick even in the best of repair... Chris scrutinized the console, and was somewhat emused to note that the Kilrathi labels had been repainted in pidgin Elasi. It was a simple control board, more primitive than most WDF tech but still workable. Using the microlaser of the belt buckle robot as a microwelder, hotwiring the panel was a relatively simple task. He only had to stun two Elasi guards coming down the halls while he was doing this. After this, Chris glanced back over the panel, and found the proper series of switches to press to disable the jump drive. "There. The jump drive is shut down." "That's good, I--Chris! Something's going on!" The freighter veered, and Chris was nearly thrown off his feet. "What is it, Temper?" he asked, steadying himself with the aid of a nearby bulkhead. "A starship just jumped in and is launching fighters! A Fralthi carrier, it looks like. And I'm still sixty seconds out!" The ship started rocking as it took near-misses. "Great. They want me so much they're fighting over me. Temper, see if you can slow them down a bit. We aren't going anywhere, not with the hyperdrive disabled." "But what about YOU?" "I'll be all right. But I most assuredly won't be if those Kilrathi creeps blow up this ship I'm in." "Understood. Coming into firing range now." <<>> Chris would have been proud if he could have seen Katie zigzag and spiral in, neatly avoiding Kilrathi laser fire and placing phaser blasts right where it counted. Three Kilrathi died almost instantly, and then short-range wing missiles did for two more. Several cats were diverted from the DEATHBRINGER chase to engage her. Now there were five of them pouring laser and neutron fire in on her, but she jinked and rolled through it without a shot coming within a meter of her. This was even BETTER than rigging. If you can BE the fighter instead of just controlling it...you're almost unstoppable. Katie converted unexpectedly to Gerwalk mode and raked her pulse lasers across the nearest Jalthi, then went to full Battroid and put a blast from the particle beam rifle through the cockpit of a nearby Dralthi. Then it was back to VF mode again for more turns and burns. But while Katie was drawing off most of the Kilrathi fighters, the Fralthi carrier was lining up its heavy guns on the fleeing Dorkir freighter. Actually, its missiles, since the guns didn't have the range. Kilrathi gunners got their locks and fired. Long-range cruise missiles streaked toward the DEATHBRINGER. The freighter opened up with her defense lasers, but couldn't stop all of the boiling cluster of missiles that streaked toward her. Katie noticed. "Aw, SHIT!!!" She disengaged from the ships she was fighting and streaked at full speed after the missiles, tracking and targeting them with phasers as she went. Between her phasers and the ship's lasers, most of the missiles went up in those odd spherical explosions so often seen in space anime. But one got through. The ship rocked, and Chris was thrown to the far side of the bay. When he looked up, he saw a large hole in the side of the passage, and through it, the stars. Even as he watched, the unconscious Elasi pirates were sucked out. And the pull was rising. Chris grabbed onto the metal handles on the sides of the engineering subcontrol panel. "Shit!" he announced. His ears popped. Then the control panel came off in his hands, handles and all. "Aaaaaaaaah!" He fell toward the hole...and through it, into the vastness of space. He was dead, he knew it. <<>> But Katie was there. Almost in slow motion, she positioned herself under Chris's hurtling form, canopy open to catch him. As he fell right into the shock couch, she swung the canopy shut and repressurized as fast as she could. "Ooooooh..." Chris groaned, opening his eyes and trying to focus them. He failed. "What the hell happened?" "You fell out a hole blasted in the side of that starship. You were exposed to hard vacuum." "That's why I feel so cold..." he muttered. "But I think I'm gonna have a hell of a case of sunburn for the next few minutes from all that cosmic radiation. Where are we?" "Currently at Warp 6." "What's our heading?" "Anywhere But Where We Were." "Okay, that's good enough for me. Anything from Hammer yet?" "We do have some email, yes. I'll put it up on screen." Chris opened his eyes again, blinked. "Er...could you read it to me? I can't focus yet." "If I must...It's dated 12 hours ago, corrected Galactic time. 'Mako, Temper: We're on the planet Funkotron. Having just stopped a GENOM plot in this system, we have been invited to stay on for a party. We'll be giving a concert in a couple of days as well. If you can make it, it'd be great if you'd show up. Later!' It's signed, 'Martin.' "How far away are we at maximum warp? Shit, this sunburn hurts!" Scratch, scratch. "A couple of days," Katie said. "I think we could make it if we hurry." "Okay, do it. And take a message for me. Sub-Ethernet mail, reply to Martin's. Quote text, add, 'We'll be there if we can, and BOY, do we have a lot to tell you. Not much of it good. Frownie.'" "Frownie?" "Yeah, colon-open parentheses." "Oh, right. Got it." "Okay, append my .signature file and send it." "It's on its way. I'd better send some mail to Yuri, too. She'll be worried." "Okay. That reminds me, I suppose I'd better tell you everything she said." Wasting no time, Chris launched into an explanation of what he'd found out, still keeping his eyes closed. All around him he heard the comforting cockpit sounds that he'd come to associate with the CONSTELLATION--instrument clicks, engine vibrations, the like--and he felt Katie's comforting presence there, even though he wasn't jacked in. It felt right, almost like being home. Nothing like being with a friend to make you feel better when you were hurting. After Chris finished relaying the depressing news, they were both silent for a moment. Then Chris sighed. "I'm sorry, Katie. For all of this." "It wasn't your fault. You made the best choice you could under the circumstances," Katie said. Then she was silent for a moment. "But dammit, how can they go and break up like that?! What kind of example are they setting for the rest of the galaxy?" Chris sighed. "It's worse than that. With all this WDF-hunting going on, I don't think there are many places it would be safe to stay for long, at least until it settles down. Which means you're probably going to be stuck like this for a while--it would take several months at least for you to get your new body." "As long as the universe is like this, I don't think I WANT my body back," Katie said. "If I were human, I would be hunted. Besides, I don't ever want to lose you, and as long as I'm your fighter, at least I know that we'll always be together. I swear it, that as long as the WDF is split up and everyone's separated, as long as Largo still lives, this will be my body and I'll damned well make the most of it." "Katie...I love you," Chris said. "And it's a great sacrifice you're making. Dammit, I feel guilty about what happened, guiltier even than for the TIGER'S CLAW. But you seem to have accepted it." "That's right, I have." Katie said. "That's what Hammer told me that turned me around, back at Utopia Planitia. He said to me what Prime said to him--I should make the most of my new form, learn to live with it, even to ENJOY it. I don't know that I enjoy it just yet, but I think that I can live with it, if nothing else." "Well, if you can, then I guess I should, too. If we have nothing else in this whole damn universe, well, at least we have each other." "That's right, Chris," Katie said. "We'll always be together." <<>> The Veritech fighter raced through the cosmos at warp speed, headed for the planet Funkotron, the RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION, and their friends. The universe could wait. I've been watching you from Produced and Directed the mountain by Chris Meadows Watchin' all of your evil ways Editing and Post-Production But when I lost done at Wells Residence Well I knew that you'd run Hall Computer Lab, Blair- You brought me uptown Shannon Residence Hall But I brought you down Computer Lab, Cheek Hall You said goodbye and I said Computer Lab, and Glass don't be too long Hall Computer Lab. 'Cause it's together we'll rise again Facilities thoughtfully pro- vided by Southwest Missouri I've been sitting in the State University churchyard Stalking all you rested pleas Continuity Checking: I left you longing MegaZone, Gryphon For a life that was new You look for prophets Stress Relief: And they look for fools Animaniacs Together you'll find each Cadillacs and Dinosaurs other Eek the Cat/Thunder Lizards Just roamin' around Outlanders For the answer's plain to see Transformers Generation 2 Comic Book For it's together G.I. Joe Comic Book We'll rise above >From the inside track Animation Studios: We're comin' so close Tokyo Movie Shinsha It's just the one of us Toei The two of us Spectrum Takes all of us To get it all together we'll Special Effects: rise Academic Gloom and Mundanity, Inc. I was woken in the morning sun Editors: The heat bearin' down on me Qedit v3.00 (available in the backseat of my car at better shareware BBSes Have we left the best of it everywhere) just lying around Pico, the most comprehensible You took me dancing of the Unix editors But who brought me home You took me inside Special Thanks To: But I brought you out alt.toys.transformers For the whole world to judge The Bettman Archive and see British-AnimeTech, Inc. Casio Watches For it's together Cybertron Film Commission We'll rise above Dave Deitrich >From the inside track Dave Van Domeln/RoboMACs We're comin' so close ExoSalusia Firearms It's just the one of us Musashi Historical The two of us Preservation Society Takes all of us Palladium Books To get it all together we'll The Robotech ListServer rise Semware The Smithsonian Institute I miss the way she moved me The Superguy ListServer I miss the way she smells Utopia Planitia Film I miss the way she tasted Commission But I've got my story to tell Wedge Defense Force To get her home Historical Archive For it's together And an Extra-Special Hack of the We'll rise above Year Award to: >From the inside track Patrick Day, subsysadmin at We're comin' so close my site, for telling me I It's just the one of us can't use the /tmp directory The two of us for temporary storage Takes all of us My conscience, for reminding To get it all together we'll me of what I OUGHT to be doing rise Written On-Location on Utopia Planitia, *THE END* Meizuri, the DEATHBRINGER, and various locations in deep space. SOUNDTRACK (in order of appearance) The Monkees, "Last Train to Clarksville" (Then and Now: The Monkees' Greatest Hits) Gregg Allman, "I'll Be Holding On" (BLACK RAIN soundtrack) Creedence Clearwater Revival, "It Came Out of the Sky" (Chronicles Vol. II) Drivin'N'Cryin, "Rush Hour" (Fly Me Courageous) The Police, "Are You Safe, Miss Gradenko" (Synchronicity) Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Tombstone Shadow" (Chronicles Vol. II) Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Commotion" (Chronicles Vol. I) INXS, "Heaven Sent" (Welcome to Wherever You Are) Queen, "Friends Will Be Friends" (A Kind of Magic) Drivin'n'Cryin', "Together" (Fly Me Courageous) -- Chris Meadows | Robotech_Master's First Law of Superguy: CHM173S@NIC.SMSU.EDU | Continuity is Overrated. CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU | Robotech_Master's Corollary: ...but sometimes CMEADOWS@NOX.CS.DU.EDU | necessary all the same.