Story: Dragon Lady of Macross (chapter 15)

Authors: CalamityQueenCordite

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Chapter 15

Title: Chapter Fifteen

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 15

October 2009...

"Lisa, I can't go to the party like this," Ranma protested as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Why not, Sweetie? You look stunning," Lisa said, giving her a leer. "You look so good I'm having doubts as to whether we're going to make it to the party at all."

"That's just it, Lisa," Ranma said. "This is Minmei's night to be the center of attention. It wouldn't be right to take that away from her."

Ranma looked in the mirror again at the black silk cheongsam she wore. It was embroidered with a dark pink and silver dragon that had become her trademark ever since the Wild Rose's presented her with her helmet before the show back on Launch Day. The material clung to her curves and the split went nearly to her waist. On her feet were three inch black pumps. Her hair, out of its typical braid cascaded down her back to just below her shoulder blades in silky luxuriant crimson waves.

"Minmei asked that you wear that tonight," Lisa argued.

"I look like a walking advertisement for hot passionate sex," Ranma snickered.

"I'll take a lifetime supply, please," Lisa whispered huskily in Ranma's ear, sending shivers down the smaller girl's spine. Lisa licked the edge of Ranma's ear and giggled as the redhead's arms broke out in goose flesh. She forced herself to step away before things got out of hand.

"Yeah, well, I don't see why you get to wear that," Ranma said, gesturing at Lisa's black silk pantsuit.

"Well, Sweetie, that's simple," Lisa said with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Somebody has to wear the pants in the family." Ranma rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Ha ha, very funny," Ranma said sarcastically.

"Oh lighten up, Sweetheart," Lisa giggled. "Let's go. It'll be fun. I promise."

She offered Ranma her arm and the two headed for the White Dragon.

(oOO/Oo)

"Ranma! You came! And Lisa got you to wear the cheongsam!" Minmei squealed happily. "You look so great!"

Ranma looked at Mimei and began to suspect that something was afoot. The Chinese girl appeared to be the exact opposite of her, wearing a red cheongsam with a black and gold dragon on it. In contrast, her black hair was done up in odango and she had black slippers on her feet.

"Hi Minmei," Ranma said. "Of course I came to your party. I wouldn't miss it. Um...what's going on?"

"Come in," Minmei motioned. "Hey Lisa, nice to see you, and thanks for coming." She winked at Lisa and led them over to a table where Roy and Claudia were already seated.

"Ranma, Lisa, hey girls," Claudia grinned. "Good to see you."

"Yeah, I heard you're back on flight status, young lady," Roy said with a grin. "It'll be good to have my best pilot back out there. I was getting worn out carrying the load all by myself." He saw Ranma's expression darken with guilt he quickly added, "Hey don't sweat it, Kiddo. Nobody holds it against you. Not even I went for two straight years of combat flying. You needed a break. We were happy to pick up the slack."

"It wasn't two years of combat flying," Ranma protested.

"Well, you had a six month gap in there of just stressful flying," Roy smirked. "Who's counting? Anyway, it's good to have you back where you belong, Kiddo."

"Thanks Roy," Ranma said.

"Hey look, it's our newest squadron commander," Roy said looking toward the door.

Ranma and Lisa turned toward the door and saw Rick Hunter standing there talking sheepishly to Minmei.

"What, him?" both Ranma and Lisa exclaimed at the same time.

"Now, now, you two, play nice," Roy chuckled. "Rick has shaped up to be a fine Veritech pilot. Who do you think kept the aliens off of you on Mars while you were convincing Lisa to come back to the ship?"

"You mean I'm responsible for getting him promoted?" Lisa asked in dismay.

"Yup," Roy grinned. Lisa and Ranma groaned. "That's his squadron behind him."

They looked back over at the young man in question. Behind him stood a large slab of a man with wild hair. Next to the man-mountian was a character straight out of Ranma's favorite anime, Cowboy Bebop. The man was tall and skinny, almost bird-like. He was clearly African in descent and he had an afro that easily stood out ten inches from his head.

"Damn," Ranma said. "If he had a Welsh Corgi with him I would swear he was Akiim."

"That's Ensign Malcom '8 ball' McCorkle," Roy supplied. "Next to him is Ensign Ben 'Moose' Dixon."

"How does he get a helmet on with that 'fro?" Claudia wondered.

Minmei seated them as Lisa and Ranma were brought tea.

"Guess what, Kiddo," Roy said to Ranma.

"What's that?" Ranma asked.

"You're getting some new pilots tomorrow too," Roy said.

"Pilots?" Ranma questioned. "As in plural?"

"Yeah," Roy grinned. "We shaved off the top two brand new ensigns and are assigning them to Wild Rose. Since you're officially a combat squadron now, we are bringing Wild Rose to three full flights."

"Where are the other three coming from?" Ranma asked.

"I've approved three transfer requests from three top rated female pilots that wanted to be in your squadron in a bad way," Roy grinned. "You have developed a reputation, both you and you're 'daughters' and it seems that Wild Rose is nearly as desired a slot among the female pilots as Skull is for the guys. Scuttlebutt has it that the Wild Rose CO is a tactical genius who cares about her pilots."

"Yeah, but what about the scuttlebutt that says my pilots don't care for me?" Ranma countered grimly.

"I haven't heard anything like that," Roy said. "I haven't seen any transfer requests to get out of Wild Rose."

"Hi everyone," Minmei's amplified voice interrupted the darkening thread of the conversation. "Thanks for coming to my sixteenth birthday party!" Applause sounded through out the room. "But it's not just my birthday party. I have a friend here tonight that just had her birthday a couple of days ago. She just turned 24! Ranma, please come up here with me!"

Ranma looked startled and looked around. Lisa nudged her.

"Go on," Lisa encouraged with a smile.

Nervously, Ranma rose and made her way to the small raised platform where Minmei was standing. Applause accompanied her journey.

"Isn't she beautiful for someone so old?" Minmei asked with a giggle. Ranma's eyes widened. Since when was 24 old? "I'm just kidding," Minmei laughed. "Now I have it on good authority that Miss Ranma has a very pretty singing voice. Would you like to here Ranma and I sing for you?" The applause and cheers were quite loud. "Well, if you want us to sing for you, then you have to sing for us first."

And sing they did.

"Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear Minmei and Ranma,

Happy birthday to you."

This was followed immediately by a cacophony of indecipherable voices adding whatever lines they had tacked on in their family.

"Thank you everyone," Minmei said happily while Ranma just blushed, looking self-conscious. "What do you say, Ranma? Shall we sing for them?"

"Sure Minmei," Ranma said.

For the next hour the people at the party were treated to two very talented young singers as they sang several karaoke songs. Everyone was very impressed and enjoyed it immensely. When the impromptu concert ended, Ranma tried to slip off the small stage, but Minmei intercepted her, still playing to the crowd.

"Uh uh, Ranma," Minmei smiled at her. "Not so fast, young lady. You still have to get your birthday present. Sit right here."

Minmei shoved Ranma toward a chair her uncle had just placed in the middle of the platform. Ranma looked confused, but did as she was asked. She wondered why people liked making such a public spectacle out of her.

Then she saw Lisa coming up on the stage. When she got before Ranma she dropped to a knee.

"Happy birthday, my love," she smiled.

"Um...thank you," Ranma said nervously as Minmei stood by holding the mic so that everyone could hear what was happening.

"Ranma, now that I've put Karl behind me, and you've accepted the fact that I love you," Lisa began, "I want to ask you...Will you marry me?" She produced a ring and slipped it on Ranma trembling finger. Ranma never felt so feminine in her life. She decided it was a good feeling, as long as it was Lisa that was causing it.

"Of course I will, Silly," Ranma smiled brightly and kissed Lisa passionately.

The reaction from the crowd was mixed. Largely there was cheering and hoots of support, but a few people hadn't gotten the memo and were shocked at the blatant display of lesbian love between the SDF-1's XO and the CO of the RDF's former image squadron.

"So that's why," Rick muttered, finally understanding why tangling with either of these to women invariably brought down the wrath of the both of them on his head.

"Ah, man, what a waste," Ben complained. "Two women that beautiful not liking men, it's just screwed up."

"Shut up, Ben," Rick said harshly. "If they make each other happy then that's good enough. Besides, trust me on this, you don't want either one of them pissed at you. The redhead could kick your ass without breaking a sweat and the brunette can make you life hell."

"Yeah, right, boss," Ben scoffed. "Like I'm scared of some little thing like that."

"You ought to listen to him, man," Malcolm said. "I've seen her fight. She's an expert martial artist and fast like you wouldn't believe."

"And she's probably three times as strong as you, Ben," Rick said seriously. "She picked me up off the ground with one hand and tossed me around like a rag doll and it didn't take her much effort to do it either. And after she's done with you, Commander Hayes will have you on every shit detail that comes up. Believe me, cleaning the ship's heads for a month or scraping the damaged paint off the hull in a P-suit for 8 hours after a patrol really sucks."

"Well, then, I guess we should be nice to the ladies then, huh?" Ben laughed nervously, not sure whether to believe his comrades or not.

"Hey Hunter," Rick spun around and was looking up at the woman that populated his nightmares...well, they were mostly nightmares. He ducked his head instinctively and began making warding gestures. "I'm sorry! I'm Sorry! Whatever it is, I didn't mean it. Please don't hurt me."

"Oh calm down, Lieutenant," Ranma smirked. "You didn't do anything wrong...this time. Roy told me what you did for Lisa and me back on Mars. I just came over to say thanks. Maybe you're not so bad after all. I guess I'm saying that we can leave the past in the past and start fresh. Whaddya say?" Ranma stuck her hand out.

"Um...okay," Rick said nervously, taking her hand.

"Great!" Ranma grinned. "You're still stuck with your callsign though, Rickhead."

"It's okay, Lt. Commander," Rick grinned back ruefully. "I deserved it and I'm used to it now. I've always found yours to be fitting to, Dragon Lady."

Ranma snorted. "Well, good luck to you. Being a squadron CO is a lot of work. If you have any questions and Roy's not available, you can ask me if you want."

"Thanks Lt. Commander," Rick said.

"Sure," Ranma smirked. "Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, Lisa and I have some celebrating to do." She held up her hand and wiggled the ring there meaningfully.

"I don't know who to be more jealous of," Ben said softly, mesmerized by the redhead's undulating curves moving under the clingy black silk as she slinked off toward her fiancée.

"Couldn't handle either one of them, Moose," Malcolm laughed. "They'd chew you up and spit you out like a piece of cud."

(oOO/Oo)

Later that evening in the Captain's cabin, another small celebration was being held. This one consisted of the 'Inner Circle', the people that knew of Ranma's condition. The guest list included Captain Gloval, Dr. Lang (who had been briefed on Ranma's condition), Roy, Claudia, Vicki, Marissa, and Erin. Marissa and Erin were still undecided if they could get passed Ranma's condition, but they had come anyway. The remaining Wild Roses, either didn't know, or were still upset with Ranma and didn't come.

Ranma had disappeared into the bathroom a few minutes ago saying she had to powder her nose and had left Lisa in the company of Roy and Claudia. She was completely taken off guard when the talking stopped and everyone gathered closer to her. She looked up and found an extremely handsome man had knelt before her. She took in his masculine presence, dressed in a steel grey button down silk shirt and a pair of black slacks that did very little to hide his powerful male build. His raven hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and fastened at the nape of his neck. The familiar yin-yang pendant hung from his neck and took on a more masculine aspect than it normally did. His arresting ocean-blue eyes looked deeply into hers as he took her hand and raised it to his lips.

"Lisa," Ranma said tenderly, "your love and acceptance has meant everything to me. Had it not been for you, teaching me and supporting me, urging me to accept who I am and showing me that you wanted me in all aspects, I could have never come this far. Though I may not be comfortable with this body anymore, it's part of me and it belongs to you and you alone. Lisa, my love, will you marry me?" Much as Lisa had done earlier, Ranma produced the ring he had gotten for her.

"Yes, yes, YES!" Lisa said glomping him. They kissed passionately, taking their time, in spite of their audience. Eventually, Captain Gloval cleared his throat as the bounds of decorum began to become strained. The pair broke it up and stared smiling at each other as Ranma slipped the ring on Lisa's now trembling finger.

Everyone clapped and came up to congratulate the happy couple.

An hour later, the party broke up as everyone suspected that from the smoldering looks Ranma and Lisa were giving each other that their restraint would soon be exhausted and they'd end up making love right in front of them. Marissa, Erin, and Vicki were the first to leave.

"I have to admit," Erin said, "Mom isn't very good at being a man. I mean her body is certainly dreamy enough, but you can still tell there's a woman underneath it all."

"You noticed that to, huh?" Marissa said thoughtfully. "Maybe you're right, Vicki. Maybe it doesn't matter what she was born as. She's certainly a woman inside now."

"Bloody well right, that," Vicki grinned. "Still, I can't help but feel a little envious of Commander Hayes. That male form certainly makes me ooze. Too bad about the condition. T'was a waste of a good man, that."

"Somehow, I don't think Commander Hayes is letting 'him' go to waste," Erin giggled.

"Aye," Vicki smirked. "T'is a shame though. As Mum said, that body is for Commander Hayes' personal enjoyment and I reckon that we won't be seeing it much at all."

"Just as well," Marissa grinned mischievously. "You wouldn't want to find yourself lusting after your mom would you?"

The other two snorted mirthfully.

"Poor Akane," Vicki said sympathetically. "The poor thing has a serious crush on Mum, but she has no idea about the condition. Something tells me she won't take it well if she finds out."

"She is the poster child for the Militant Lesbian Movement, isn't she?" Marissa snickered.

"No kidding," Erin agreed.

(oOO/Oo)

Ranma walked into the ready room and looked over her new charges.

"Good morning, Ladies," She said giving them a friendly smile.

"Good morning, Ma'am," was returned to her in chorus.

"Wasn't there supposed to be another one?" Ranma asked looking around the room. "Oh well, I guess we can start anyway. As you know, I'm Lt. Commander Ranma Saotome, the CO of Wild Rose. Please introduce yourselves, starting with you, Lieutenant."

"Hi, I'm Lieutenant Midori Ishida, Ma'am," the Japanese woman said. "I was in Sepia before transferring to Wild Rose."

"Welcome to Wild Rose, Miss Ishida," Ranma offered. "You next."

"Lieutenant JG Bertha Stott, ma'am," the very pretty statuesque auburn-haired Austrian woman answered with a slight Austrian accent. "I came from Wolf."

"Good to have you aboard, Miss Stott," Ranma nodded. "Next?"

"Lieutenant JG Hillary Freeman, Ma'am," the young black woman said shyly. "I transferred from Gold."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Ranma gave her a reassuring smile. "And how about you?"

"Ensign Angelique Vasquez, Ma'am," the tall black-haired Hispanic woman announced confidently. "This is my first flight posting."

"Very good," Ranma acknowledged. "Welcome aboard. Now then, for you transfers, I have to ask, why?"

"Because Wild Rose is the best, Ma'am," Bertha said. "I like the idea of serving under a female CO in an all female squadron that consistently outperforms other squadrons."

"Because of you, as well, Ma'am," Midori added. "You have a reputation for being fair and sticking up for your pilots."

"This is an elite squadron, Ma'am," Hillary supplied. "It's the most desired posting among the female pilots. Being a member of Wild Rose commands respect even from the Skull pilots."

"I see," Ranma said, pursing her lips. "Just so you all realize, we work as hard here as any other squadron. We don't get preferred assignments and because we do have a good performance record, we actually get assigned to a lot more flight duty that other squadrons do. I expect a lot from you all. This is something of an elite unit in that you have to exceed certain requirements to be assigned here. As such, expectations are higher..."

"Oh, um, sorry I'm late," a young blue-haired man said as he rushed in the room. "I was in the simulators and lost track of time. Ensign Max Sterling reporting for duty, Ma'am."

"W...what?" Ranma asked in surprise. "Ensign, are you sure you have the right ready room?"

"This is the Wild Rose ready room isn't it?" the young man asked uncertainly.

"Well, yeah," Ranma answered. "Are you saying you've been assigned to Wild Rose?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Max confirmed.

"But, Ma'am, he's a man," Bertha said in dismay. Ranma slapped her hand to her face and shook her head. They would do this to her.

"We don't discriminate here, Miss Stott," Ranma said, then turned to Max. "You do realize this is...was...an all female squadron, Ensign."

"Yes, Ma'am," Max answered. "I was given the opportunity to take another assignment in the mixed squadrons, but I didn't mind." Ranma sighed. This was going to cause some ruffled feathers.

"Okay, before any of you say anything," Ranma began, "you should know that this unit was never intended to be exclusively female. It's just that before now, no man ever made the cut, or if he did, he chose another assignment because we were all female. It seems Max here has met the requirements, so that's that. Max, please understand, we won't be making allowances because of the fact that you're male, with the exception of the locker room, which we'll have to work something out with. If you're going to be part of the team, then you'll have to deal with the pink veritechs, the pink flight suits, and all the ribbing you're going to get from the other male pilots. I will expect this not to affect your attitude or performance, understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am, really, I don't mind, Ma'am," Max assured her.

"Very well," Ranma sighed. She turned back to the others. "Look, I know you all expected this to be an all female squadron, and to be honest, I'm just as surprised as you are. I'm going to tell you the same thing I'm going to tell the others when I brief them, you will all treat Ensign Sterling with the same respect and courtesy as you would treat each other. I won't tolerate any discrimination in my command. If I hear of any, you will be called on the carpet and disciplinary action will be taken. If it continues, I will bust the offending party out of my command, is that clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" the four women answered crisply.

"That goes for you too, Mr. Sterling," Ranma said. "If you disrupt the harmony of my unit with any chauvinistic bullshit, I'll bounce you so fast you'll think you time traveled."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Max said just as crisply. "Thank you for giving me a chance, Ma'am."

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't be here if you didn't have the potential," Ranma said.

(oOO/Oo)

Ranma was at her desk going through the personnel files of her newest additions when her five original pilots filed in.

"Yes?" she said looking up at them. Marissa stepped forward and placed a form in front of her. It was mostly filled out. "What's this?" Ranma asked looking it over.

"That's how you're going to win us back and prove you womanhood to us," Marissa said. "It's an entry form for the Miss Macross Pageant. All you have to do is sign it and do you're best in the pageant and we'll forget about your...condition."

Ranma gave them a hard look, meeting each other their eyes. They held her gaze unflinchingly except Vicki who looked apologetic and shrugged.

"Etu?" Ranma asked her.

"Sorry, Mum," Vicki smiled mischievously. "I thought it was a good idea."

"You all realize that I'm the type of woman that always felt that these things were an exploitative farce, right?" Ranma asked.

"Doesn't matter," Natalia said. "No man would be caught dead competing in a beauty pageant. It works even better if you feel it's exploitative. It will show that you are willing to sacrifice to win back our trust."

"So you're asking me to sacrifice my self-respect to smooth your ruffled feathers over something that was none of your business to begin with?" Ranma said coldly. "What makes you think that giving me this ultimatum will make me feel about you any differently than you feel about me right now?"

"I guess it depends on how much you want things back to normal," Cassie said.

"Frankly, I don't need your trust, or goodwill," Ranma said. "All I need is your professionalism and I don't need this," Ranma shook the form, "to get it. I am owed it as your superior officer and if I don't get it then I'll bust you out of my command."

The five women looked taken aback at Ranma's vehemence.

"Whoa, Mum, take it easy," Vicki said. "We didn't mean to offend you."

"And just what did you think would happen when you came waltzing in here issuing ultimatums to your commanding officer, huh?" Ranma demanded. "Damn right I'm offended."

"A man would be," Cassie sneered.

"Anybody would be, goddammit!" Ranma snarled.

"She does have a point," Erin admitted. "I'd be offended to if someone tried to force me to do something I thought was exploitative. As I recall, several of us were concerned with that when we were assigned to this squadron."

"I guess your right," Marissa said. "We fucked up, Mom, sorry." Ranma sighed windily.

"Look, I know this has all been fucked up for you," Ranma said. "I'm sorry for that. It's not that I don't want things to go back to the close-knit group we were, but I'm not willing to sacrifice my self-respect to get it. For sixteen years, I was exploited horrendously. It pisses me off when someone tries to do it now. Look, everyone pull up a seat. I'm going to tell you a story; the story of a boy who was taken from his mother at 6 by his thieving, abusive, piece of filth of a father."

The five of them sat down and for the next hour listened to the most horrible tale of child abuse they could have imagined. The only thing lacking was sexual abuse.

"Bloody hell," Vicki hissed. "How did you survive?"

"I don't know," Ranma said. "I just refused to give in."

"It's a miracle you're not in a padded room somewhere gibbering and rocking back and forth," Marissa commented.

They all looked at Ranma with new respect.

"Look, Ma'am," Natalia said, "we'll think about it. It would have been easier if you had agreed to prove your womanhood in the pageant, but I understand why you were upset about that."

"You want proof of my womanhood?" Ranma smirked. "Talk to my gynecologist."

(oOO/Oo)

"I can't believe they actually wanted me to enter a goddam beauty contest of all things as a way to gain their trust back," Ranma complained to Lisa over lunch.

"Why not?" Lisa said. "I think it's a great idea."

"Huh?" Ranma said in shock.

"Sweetie, this is not just a beauty contest," Lisa explained. "This is an event to build morale for the people on the ship. It's meant to take their mind off the war and the constant threat they are under every day. Even if it's for just one night. Whether you realize it or not, you, my love, are a very popular figure aboard this ship. I think the military elements would love for you to enter as their reprehensive and I'd be proud of my fiancée for doing something so noble for the people aboard this ship. You might even win. Then I could say I was engaged to Miss Macross and I'm not the only one that thinks you are the prettiest girl on the ship." Lisa grinned.

"Etu, Brute?" Ranma asked.

"Oh come on," Lisa smiled. "Don't be like that. It'll be fun."

"Yeah? Fun for who?" Ranma asked. "Fun for the people watching me squirm?"

"Nobody wants to see you squirm, Love," Lisa chuckled. "Well, I might, but only in the bedroom. You really should think about it."

"Alright," Ranma smirked. "You think it's such a good idea then you do it." Seeing Lisa's shocked expression, Ranma added, "Tell you what, I will if, you will." 'That ought to shut her up about it,' Ranma thought.

"Okay," Lisa grinned.

"What?" Ranma squeaked.

"Okay, we'll both enter the pageant," Lisa smirked. 'Uh huh, plan backfired on you didn't it, sweetie,' Lisa thought amusedly. "It'll be fun. You'll do better than me, of course, but I can live with that."

"How could I possibly do better than you?" Ranma asked. "You're gorgeous and elegant, smart and sophisticated. I'm just a good martial artist and a good pilot without many social graces."

"You sell yourself short," Lisa said. "You'll have a major support base among the military community."

"Yeah, well, we'll see," Ranma sighed. "I guess I can tell the girls they are getting their 'proof'."

(oOO/Oo)

"Okay, my flight leaders will be as follows," Ranma announced to her gathered squadron. "I will be leading Alpha flight. Bravo flight will be led by the XO, Lieutenant Savage. Lieutenant Demitri will have Charlie flight. Flying with me will be Ensigns Tendo and Sterling and Lieutenant JG Whitehall. Bravo will be getting Lieutenant's McKenna and Ishida, along with Ensign Vasquez. Charlie will have Lieutenant's JG Constantine, Freeman and Stott. Any questions? No? Okay, we have a patrol in a couple of hours so you're dismissed until then. Vicki, Marissa, Natalia, Cassie, and Erin, a word with you in my office please."

Ranma headed to her office and the five Roses followed her in, looking expectant.

"Well, you got your ultimatum," Ranma informed them. "I'm entering the stupid pageant."

"What?" Marissa said. "Why?"

"Lisa," Ranma answered. "She explained to me that unlike other things of this sort this pageant was more about morale than exploitation. She thought it would be a good idea and maneuvered me into it by entering with me. Will this satisfy you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Natalia said. "We'll even root for you."

The others all nodded enthusiastically.

TBC

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