Dragon Lady of Macross
Written By Lisa Grey
Developed by Lisa Grey and James R. Axelrad
Edited by James R. Axelrad and Johnny G
Chapter 30
January 2013...
Ranma woke up slowly, enwrapped with warmth. She slowly became aware of her surroundings and smiled a gentle smile as she lay cuddled in her 'husband's' arms. She giggled a little when she felt something poking her below her waist. Ranma suddenly felt stunned at how far she had come. This was the third time in two months she had spent the night with her 'husband'. Who would have thought that she could take pleasure in being with a man, even if that man happened to be the woman she loved deeply?
She began to understand how it must have been for Lisa. She gently turned over to face him, tenderly scanning his handsome face beneath his shock of long, chestnut hair. Her newfound insight eased some of the remaining doubts in her heart. Until now, Ranma had always had a deeply repressed fear that Lisa would ultimately need a man to complete her, a man that Ranma couldn't be. She feared that eventually, Lisa would leave her for this reason.
Her fears faded as she watched her lover sleep. She finally understood completely how Lisa felt. It was what was between the ears that counted, not what was between the legs. Even if Lisa were to become stuck like he was now, Ranma would still love him with all her being, all that she was.
As if sensing her regard, emerald-green eyes flicked open and looked deeply into her own ocean-blues. Ranma smiled warmly and placed a tender kiss on Lisa's forehead.
"I love you," Ranma said.
The chestnut-haired man smiled a sleepy smile and pulled Ranma closer, tenderly caressing her back and nuzzling her neck.
"I love you too, my beautiful goddess," Lisa murmured in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine and small jolts of electricity through her belly.
They basked in each other's warmth and presence for several minutes before something made its presence known. Ranma giggled.
"You're insatiable. You know that, don't you?" Ranma said affectionately.
"I didn't hear you complaining last night," Lisa chuckled, rolling them over so that he was poised over top of her, supporting his weight on his elbows and looking lustfully into her clear, blue-grey eyes. She snaked her arms up around his neck and ran her fingers through his long, silky hair.
"I'm not complaining now either," Ranma smirked. Lisa grinned brightly.
About an hour later, Ranma dragged herself to the bathroom on shaky legs and sporting a satisfied glow. She set about her morning routine, brushing her teeth before entering the shower. She felt a little off for some reason, more so than the small amount of wine they had consumed the night before could account for.
As Ranma cleaned herself she focused her ki to find her center. Her ki seemed to be off somehow so she closed her eyes and looked inward for what was causing the disturbance. After a minute her eyes flew open wide and her knees buckled.
"Oh...my...GOD!" Ranma shrieked as she knelt in the shower, shaking.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Lisa demanded as he burst into the room and flung open the shower curtain. Ranma looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes.
"I...I..." Ranma stammered, "I'm pu-pu-pregnant."
Lisa made a feminine squeal that sounded really ridiculous coming from his tightly muscled 6'1 masculine body and snatched his dripping wet wife up into a crushing hug.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Lisa gushed, practically dancing around with Ranma whose feet were currently dangling several inches off the floor. "This is so wonderful!"
Ranma, still in a state of shock, just held on to him as visions of all the discomfort and pain that Lisa had been in at the various stages of her pregnancy passed through her mind. She tried to wrap her mind around the fact that it would be her going through that now and failed. Overwhelmed, she fainted dead away.
(oOO/Oo)
Nodoka watched in amusement as Lisa hovered around Ranma. Ranma had a look of mild irritation mixed with resignation that made her face look even cuter than normal.
"Lisa, I've been pregnant for, like, two weeks," Ranma finally said in exasperation. "I'm not helpless. Just sit down and relax. Please?"
"I know, I know," Lisa said, reigning herself in and alighting in a chair. "It's just that I know this isn't something you wanted for yourself and I want to help. I mean, I had all my life to prepare for being a mother. It's something I always expected and something I wanted someday. You've only had a couple of months to get prepared. I just need to know you're okay."
"I'm fine, Lisa," Ranma laughed ruefully. "I admit it was a bit of a shock at first. I more than halfway expected it to be impossible in spite of all evidence to the contrary. I'm okay with it now, I promise. Now hurry up and eat. We have a staff meeting soon." She caught Nodoka's look of amusement and asked, "Was I this bad?"
"Only after she started showing," Nodoka grinned. "But then you were worse." Ranma groaned which caused Nodoka to laugh lightly. "Now hurry up and eat, children. Ranma's right, you do have a staff meeting to get to. You shouldn’t keep Henry waiting."
"Henry?" Ranma said, raising an eyebrow. "Something going on I should know about?"
"The Admiral and I have been dating for some time now," Nodoka said with a little smile. "Things have gotten...serious of late."
"That's great, Mom," Lisa said happily. "Admiral Gloval is a good man."
"Yeah, Momma, I'm happy for you," Ranma agreed. "I always did think of him as a father figure to me. The right kind of father figure, not like that bastard, Genma."
"Well, we'll just have to see," Nodoka grinned.
(oOO/Oo)
"Exedore and I have discussed this at some length," Breetai said from the conference screen. "We have determined that it would be best to inform you of our origins. The Zentradi were created by an advanced civilization to be a police force. It was later determined that because of our warlike nature that we would be better suited as a military force. A scientific genius, called Zor, discovered what we know as Protoculture and Robotechnology. His masters, whom we now know as the Robotech Masters, in their greed, angered a once peaceful race called the Invid. The Invid destroyed their civilization but the Robotech Master's got away. The Zentradi were sent to Earth by the Robotech Masters to recover Zor's ship, the SDF-1, in hopes of unlocking the secrets that Zor took to his grave. They are desperate to find the power to stop the Invid and Exedore and I suspect that once they realize that the Zentradi are no longer under their control, they will come here themselves."
"It would be most advisable for you to prepare yourselves for their arrival," Exedore said.
"I see," Gloval said. "Then we shall have to step up our plans to build a fleet."
"Indeed," Exedore said. "We believe we have a solution that will help both our peoples to prepare for the Robotech Masters. The Zentradi possess a factory satellite that would be of great assistance in rebuilding both our fleets."
A couple of hours of discussion later, a plan was hatched to capture the satellite and bring it into Earth orbit. Lisa, Ranma, and Minmei, along with Wild Rose and Skull Squadrons, were to travel onboard Breetai's ship. They would then secure the satellite as bloodlessly as possible and prepare it for its journey to Earth.
Meanwhile, Roy and Claudia were to get with the engineers and work with them on making improvements to the SDF-1 design as well as a fleet of escort ships. Construction on this new fleet would begin as soon as the factory was relocated and prepared.
"Very well, then," Gloval announced. "If there are no further questions, then you may all be dismissed. Ranma, if you could stay for a moment, I would like to speak with you briefly." Everyone left the room except for Ranma and Gloval.
"What can I do for you, Sir?" Ranma asked.
"Ranma, as you might know, your mother and I have been seeing each other," Gloval explained.
"Yeah, I heard something about that," Ranma grinned.
"Well, I have come to care for her a great deal," Gloval said. "I plan to propose to her very soon. I would like to know your feelings on this."
"Sir, I would be proud to have you as my stepfather," Ranma said happily. "I can't think of anyone I'd rather have for my children's grandfather. Yoshima, at least, needs a good male role model and you would be the best."
"I'm deeply honored that you think so," Gloval said, touched by the degree of Ranma's sentiments.
"Well, neither Lisa nor I have had fathers that were worthy of respect," Ranma said sadly. "I know Lisa holds you in high regard, as do I, and I think I can safely say that we would be thrilled to have someone in the role of a father that measures up. You would be more than qualified."
"I would be proud to call you both my daughters," Gloval said, then smiled mischievously, adding, "and sometimes sons."
"You know about that, huh?" Ranma laughed nervously.
"You mother mentioned Lisa's plan for a second child, yes," Gloval smiled. "Please don't mention my plans to your mother. I think she suspects but I want it to be a surprise."
"No problem," Ranma grinned. "I won't say a word."
(oOO/Oo)
March 2013...
Akane, Azonia, Max, and Ranma flew escort around the shuttle as it climbed out of Earth's atmosphere. Ranma was currently flying Wild Rose 4. Miriya and the rest of the command crew were aboard the shuttle, since Miriya had little Dana with her.
Nobody thought it was a good idea to take a child into a battle, but it was determined that their best shot of achieving the objective was to show the Zentradi forces what could happen when a man and a woman come together. The tricky part was going to be getting Max and Miriya on board the satellite for this plan to work. Fortunately, Lisa had come up with their ace in the hole. The idea had unwittingly been Ranma's. Lisa had remembered something Ranma had said once and decided to use it.
From the effects on the other Zentradi that they had shown the idea to, it would be very effective. It had taken quite some time to desensitize the task force to its psychological effects. Ultimately, it was this idea that would change the Zentradi culture forever.
As soon as the Micronians were all aboard, the task force executed a hyperspace fold.
(oOO/Oo)
"I still don't like this, Lisa," Ranma complained again. "I should be going out there."
"Oh no you don't, Missy," Lisa chastised her. "We've been through this all before. You might be able to take the G forces of combat flying, but do you want to risk our baby you are carrying?"
"Max and Miriya will be taking their daughter into harms way," Ranma protested.
"And nobody likes the idea," Lisa agreed. "However, it's our best hope to ensure their surrender. Max and Miriya will be allowing Dana to be endangered to directly impact the outcome of the mission. If you went out to fight you would be endangering our child for no reason."
"I know, but I just hate sitting around while my squadron goes out to fight," Ranma grumbled.
"They'll be fine, Sweetie," Lisa soothed her. "You have other things to think about now."
"Yeah, like getting up early every morning and puking my guts out," Ranma sighed in defeat.
"That's the spirit," Lisa laughed. Seeing Ranma's dark look, she added, "I know it's not fun, Sweetie. Believe me, I know, but it'll all be worth it."
"If you say so," Ranma said looking dubious.
"If it wasn't then the human race would have died out long ago," Lisa laughed.
(oOO/Oo)
Commander Reno was sitting in his chair in the command center of the Robotech Factory Satellite when one of his sensor techs called out a report.
"Mi'lord, we have fold activity in sector 15," the tech said. "Detecting several vessels exiting fold space."
"One of them is hailing us," the comm tech said.
"Put it on the screen," Reno ordered. The screen came up to display a familiar face. "Greetings, Breetai. Do you come as friend or foe?"
"That depends on you, Reno," Breetai said. "Dolza is no more. I am now the Supreme Commander of the Zentradi. I have come to secure the Factory Satellite. Will you comply?"
"Dolza informed me that you were corrupted by the Micronians," Reno said.
"Dolza was a fool," Breetai said. "The Micronians are our allies."
"I do not recognize your authority, Breetai," Reno said. "Leave at once, or I will be forced to destroy you."
"Oh, I think not, Reno," Breetai chuckled. "Behold."
The view recentered and zoomed in on two Micronians standing on the bridge consol next to Breetai. Strange melodic sounds began to pour from the speakers as the two Micronians stepped up to each other. Slowly, their lips met and caused the factory's defenders to gasp.
If they were horrified and disgusted by this, they were completely unprepared for what followed. The screen changed, displaying the words "Debbie does Dallas". What followed after that was nothing short of the most terrifying psychological attack ever unleashed against the Zentradi.
Reno's men were alternately vomiting or shocked senseless by the carnal scenes being displayed on the screen. Though shocking and repulsive, the scenes were strangely compelling, making them unable to look away. Strange new feelings coursed through Reno's men as they watched the screen in horror and fascination.
Then the wall blew in as two mecha entered the command center. This shook the men in the command center out of their shock and they leveled weapons at the mecha as they landed on the plotting table. The canopies opened revealing two Micronians. One of them Reno recognized and couldn't hold back his gasp.
"Miriya Parino?" Reno hissed.
"Yes, Reno, it is I, Miriya Parino, greatest of all Zentradi pilots," Miriya announced with authority. "We discovered the secrets of Protoculture. I have become micronized to be with my mate, Max Sterling, whom I have falling in love with."
"What is the meaning of this? What is 'love'? What is 'mate'?" Reno demanded.
"Love is the basis for Protoculture," Miriya intoned. "Without love there could be no Protoculture. Max is my mate, the man I have chosen to spend my life with and build a family with."
"Show them the baby, Miriya," Max suggested.
Miriya bent down into her cockpit and stood up with something. The something wriggled and moved, causing a new round of horror in the gathered Zentradi.
"Behold the power of Protoculture," Miriya shouted holding little Dana aloft and turning slowly so every one in the room could see. "This is a baby, created inside my own body with the help of my mate, Max. In a matter of years she will grow to be a full-sized human and is a combination of our genetic make up! This is the power of Protoculture! This is the power of love!"
This was all too much for the Zentradi and they fled the room in terror.
Reno, seeing his fleet paralyzed by the psychological attack and confronted to the horrifying little mutant that Miriya was displaying, saying it grew inside her, had no alternatives. He gave his unconditional surrender.
Preparations were soon made to bring the factory satellite back to Earth. The fold operation was a risky operation because of the size of the factory. Before it was done, several power units were damaged and the satellite was running on minimal power, but they defolded safely on target in high Earth orbit.
(oOO/Oo)
September 2013...
Lisa sat by Ranma's side while she was in what was becoming a marathon labor. It had gone on for fourteen hours already and looked as though it would go on longer. The doctors had discussed performing a C-section with them, but Ranma said she would only agree to it if the life of the baby or herself was threatened. Thus far that hadn't been an issue.
Lisa thought back over her life and how differently things had turned out than what she had expected. Both she and Ranma had experienced much pain and anguish to reach the point they were at now. They had been forced to grow in ways that most people couldn't imagine.
Lisa would have laughed in someone's face back in the academy if they had told her she would fall deeply in love with another woman. But then, male and female for Ranma and Lisa had become quite literally a fluid thing. They no longer felt Ranma's transformation was a curse, but instead, a blessing that brought them to each other.
They had connected in the Academy on a deeper level than either of them knew or were willing to acknowledge. Lisa wondered if Karl hadn't been lost, if they would have shared such a close bond as she and Ranma had. Somehow, Lisa doubted it. If they had, Karl would never have gone to Mars and left her behind. Lisa wasn't bitter about this, but age and wisdom had led her to believe that there would have always been a certain distance between them, a willingness for Karl to go off in pursuit of his own dreams and leave her behind. He may have always come home to her, but he would have still left her behind.
With Ranma, she never had to worry about that. They shared everything, true partners on a level that a man and woman could never hope to reach. After all, how many couples could share the experience of giving birth to their children? They were truly two sides of the same coin and neither was complete without the other.
This had been a realization that had been painfully forced on them. They had both unintentionally hurt one another trying to fight it, but once they accepted it, it had been glorious. It still was. Even after all this time, Lisa still felt a sense of wonder as she watched Ranma sleep beside her and she could see the same sense of wonder in Ranma's eyes when Ranma looked at her.
Oh, they still had their hiccoughs, as did any couple, but Lisa never feared losing Ranma in that way anymore. She did fear losing Ranma to battle, or in some stupid flying accident, but it was something she had to deal with. Ranma wasn't some exquisite creature to be kept in a gilded cage, safe and protected. She was made to fly free, but unlike Karl, she would never fly far from Lisa. Though the future held different roles for them, they would always be a part of each other's world.
Lisa thought about what the future held for them as she blotted the sweat from her lover's forehead and gently stroked her fiery hair.
When the new government had taken control, some months ago after the mission to retrieve the factory satellite, they reorganized the flag rank officers and Lisa had been promoted to Fleet Admiral. Lisa was given command of the Solar Expeditionary Fleet, whose mission was two fold; go forth and explore near-Solar System space and try to establish diplomatic relations with any of Sol's neighbors.
Her flagship would be the SDF-2, which would be christened 'Amaterasu no Kami' upon its commissioning soon. Her fleet would also include the SDF-3, to be christened 'Hiryuu' under the command of Roy Fokker. Roy had accepted a promotion to Admiral and Claudia, who was now a Captain, would be his XO.
Ranma had reluctantly accepted a promotion to Vice Admiral and would be the Fleet CAG for the entire fleet air wing. This included all fighter, recon, and transport operations. She had only accepted the position with the understanding that she would still fly missions and wouldn't be chained down to a desk pushing papers all the time.
In contrast, Rick Hunter had all but given up flying, accepting a promotion to Captain and given command of one of the SEF's heavy cruisers. Minmei was to be his XO. Akane and Azonia, now married, had also opted to be assigned to the SEF. Azonia was given command of another heavy cruiser and Akane would be her CAG in charge of the small, four-squadron group of the new model of Veritechs, called Alphas, that would fly from each heavy cruiser.
In addition to the two improved SDF designs and the four all-new heavy cruiser models, the fleet would also consist of eight new light cruisers. These would carry no fighters and were mainly heavy weapons platforms whose role would be to defend the capitol ships. Sixteen new destroyer models would support the light cruisers in their role. Also there would be ten new stealth frigates which would be used for picket duty, providing the fleet with an early warning should other vessels approach them. Lastly, the fleet would have two refinery ships which would provide reaction mass for the Veritechs and other smaller, fuel-using vessels, and two large cargo/tanker ships which would carry supplies and store the reaction mass produced by the refinery ships.
All told, Lisa would be in charge of a fleet of 44 ships. Her grandfather would have been proud of her. At the age of 29, she would be in command of a powerful fleet on an important mission. It was the Hayes clan tradition at its finest. Hopefully she could remove the stain on her clan's honor that her father created.
Lisa looked up from her beautiful, if bedraggled wife at her mother-in-law seated at Ranma's other side. The elegant woman's marriage to Admiral Henry Gloval had been a beautiful event. Ranma had once again found herself roped into being the maid of honor and Lisa had again been a bridesmaid. It seemed to happen with astonishing frequency. The roles had been reversed during Roy and Claudia's wedding, though. Lisa had been the maid of honor and Ranma had been a bridesmaid.
This all caused Ranma to grumble a little about how people liked to get her into formal overly feminine gowns, but she soon got caught up in the spirit of the event. Ranma would always be a tomboy, but she had long since accepted that there were times when her womanhood would require her to appear the delicate and proper lady.
With Nodoka's marriage to Gloval, Lisa was thrilled that her children would have a fine grandfather. She was also happy that she and Ranma finally had a father figure they could respect. In fact, their new father had taken right to the role and was currently sitting in the waiting room with Yoshima, anxiously awaiting the birth of his newest grandchild.
The only dark spot on the horizon was that the children would most likely not get to know their grandparents for some time. The SDF-1 having Macross City aboard had worked so well that it was decided to continue the trend with the new SDF class ships. The personnel in the SEF would be bringing their families and civilians would be allowed to volunteer to live aboard them in cities much like Macross. Unlike, Macross, the civilians wouldn't be forced to stay aboard.
Gloval was put in charge of all military forces, promoted to Grand Admiral, the highest ranking military officer in the Solar System and direct commander of the Terran Defense Fleet, of which the SDF-1 was the flagship of. He and Nodoka would be staying on Earth. Sadly, this meant that they wouldn't get to see much of their grandchildren.
Defense of the Solar system would be bolstered by the Zentradi Fleet. Mars had aquired a new moon in the form of Dolza's former flagship. Plans to terraform the red planet were being made and it would be the new Zentradi homeworld.
Lisa was shaken out of her reverie by a particularly loud scream by her wife and Kasumi's announcement of the imminent arrival of their newest child. She smiled reassuringly at Ranma and gave her hand a squeeze. Looking the sweat-soaked, bedraggled little redhead, Lisa could appreciate why Ranma had been so reluctant to go through this. Lisa also knew that it would all be worth it when Ranma held the child that had grown inside her body in her arms for the first time.
The scene was much similar to the one that had played out with Yoshima's birth, Kasumi gently urging Ranma to push, Ranma screaming and sweating with the effort and pain, Lisa blotting her brow and gently speaking words of encouragement. Finally, the cries of a newborn filled the room and Kasumi announced the arrival of their healthy new daughter.
Lisa watched the tender moment with tears in her eyes as Ranma held their daughter, Ursula Saotome-Hayes. The look of awe and wonder on Ranma's tired face was something that Lisa would hold in her heart for the rest of her life. She also found that Ranma was right, as she felt a passionate upwelling of love for the mother and the child she helped to create. She giggled through the tears of joy running down her cheeks as she thought about the fact that she had fathered this little girl.
Ranma looked up from the baby and gave Lisa a look of utter love, inviting her closer to share in the moment. As Lisa greeted her daughter, she looked forward to sharing all the things that Ranma had shared with her, for indeed, Lisa had also had a sympathetic pregnancy along with Ranma and could share in the motherly duties such as breast feeding.
Lisa couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of optimism in this moment, looking into the crystalline blue eyes of her daughter. She was as happy as she could have ever imagined and she owed it all to the exquisite redhead holding their child.
(oOO/Oo)
January 2016...
Ranma held her wife's hand as they looked out the shuttle window at their new home, the Amaterasu no Kami. It was a magnificent ship, slightly larger than its predecessor, gleaming in the unfiltered light from the sun.
"Yo-chan, Ursa-chan, come look," Ranma said cheerfully.
"What, Okasan, what?" her 2 year old daughter asked running up.
"See out there, Princess?" Ranma said pulling the small, blue-eyed, redheaded version of Lisa into her lap and pointing out the window. "That's going to be our new home."
"Really?" Ursula asked in childish wonder.
"Yup," Ranma grinned.
Lisa smiled as she pulled Yoshima into her lap and stroked his black hair as he looked out the window too.
"Neat," the little boy said enthusiastically.
Both children were proving to be astronomically intelligent, the intelligence of both parents combining in them, and if Ranma had anything to say about it, and she did, they would be physically gifted as well. Though Ranma hadn't begun their formal training in the art yet, she played with them often, developing their coordination and grace. By the time they began their formal training, they would be miles ahead of children their age.
Behind them sat Toufuu and a very pregnant Kasumi. It was expected that Kasumi would be giving birth to the very first child of Amaterasu City while the fleet was on its shake down voyage.
Civilians hadn't yet been included to the ship's compliment yet as the fleet would be taking a quick arc around the Solar System about a few hundred light years out to work out the bugs that might crop up. It was largely a safety precaution in case something went wrong. Once they were sure everything was going to work properly, they would return after a few months and begin taking on civilian volunteers.
Ranma looked at Lisa and smiled brightly. She leaned over and stole a quick kiss from her wife.
"Are you excited, Love?" Ranma asked gently.
"You always excite me, Sweetie," Lisa smiled back.
"I mean about taking command of your new fleet," Ranma said with a slight blush.
"Yeah," Lisa grinned. "I'm sorry to be leaving Mom and Dad behind, but I'm looking forward to exploring the stars. It'll be fantastic to meet new and interesting races of beings, and we might even find other lost races of humans, like the Zentradi."
"It's bound to be an adventure," Ranma laughed.
The shuttle began its approach to the docking bay of the Amaterasu no Kami and its passengers eagerly looked forward to finding out what the future held for them.
(oOO/Oo)
The End