Written By Lisa Grey
Developed by Lisa Grey and James R. Axelrad
Edited by James R. Axelrad and Johnny G
Chapter 24
July 2010...
"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Roy asked as he came into Gloval's office.
"Yes, please sit down, Commander," Gloval said pleasantly. Roy took a seat in front of Gloval's desk. "Now that you are finished convalescing from you injuries, I would like to discuss your future duties, if any, with you. Assuming you do not wish to leave the military, I have an offer to make to you."
"I'm listening," Roy said, curious.
"With your record, you would warrant a promotion and your own ship now," Gloval explained. "However, we are not in a position to do this. What I can do is offer you the position of third officer here aboard the SDF-1. Right away this would mean you would be responsible for coordinating the Veritechs in battle. In the long term, you would be learning Lisa's job and slowly phase into her position as she becomes unable to perform her duties during the course of her pregnancy. She will of course be taking her duties back after she recovers from giving birth to her child.
"During normal times you and Claudia would stand 2nd and 3rd watches on the bridge," Gloval said. "You would also handle any air group matters that don't come under the purview of Commander Saotome-Hayes as the CAG. What do you think, Commander?"
"I think it sounds good," Roy said. "A lot better than being an instructor."
"Very well then, Commander," Gloval smiled broadly. "Welcome to the ship side of the operation. I will instruct Lisa to begin training you immediately."
(oOO/Oo)
Over the next four months, Roy took gradually took over more and more of Lisa's bridge duties, allowing her more free time to deal with her swelling tummy. The whole bridge crew doted on her when she was on the bridge and Ranma had become extremely attentive to her as well.
Ranma, for her part was experiencing something strange. Kasumi surmised it was some sort of sympathetic hormonal reaction to Lisa's pregnancy, but Ranma was experiencing the side effects of being pregnant herself. She often had the same bizarre cravings as Lisa had and the most odd thing was that her breasts had begun to swell and ache. Kasumi said that her breasts were preparing to produce breast milk to nurse a child.
While Ranma was a little less than enthused about this, Lisa was thrilled. She teased Ranma relentlessly about their child never having to go hungry with an impressive set of mammery glands like Ranma sported. She also cited that if the child ate like Ranma, then it would need all four breasts to keep it satisfied. While everyone else thought this was hysterical, Ranma failed to find the humor in it most of the time, especially once her breasts began leaking during combat maneuvers and forced her to begin wearing pads.
Of course, the Roses all thought this was highly amusing in the locker room after a mission, as Ranma disgustedly had to change the sodden pads.
By the time Lisa was well into her 7th month, Minmei completed her training and joined the bridge crew as one of the Bridge Bunnies. Sammy, Kim, and Vanessa welcomed their new addition as it took some of the strain off them. Her primary bridge duties encompassed the modular transformation and coordinating the damaged control crews. Minmei was also made the primary liaison officer to Macross City.
In her off time, she continued her recording career, though it was now severely curtailed. In spite of this, her popularity with the people onboard the SDF-1 had soared with her announcement that she was joining the military. She had held several concerts, which also included a reluctant Ranma, setup by Lisa and Gloval under the heading of Morale Building. The fact was that Ranma was nearly as popular as Minmei, performing three or four 'cover' songs during these concerts while Minmei sang back up for her.
Minmei hadn't seen much of Rick since she joined up, having been busy with training, but she had talked to him and their relationship had begun to improve. Her desire to be a part of his world had touched him and he began to open up to her more of late.
Shortly after Minmei joined the bridge crew, Roy took over all of Lisa's bridge duties as it had become difficult for her to move around easily and she had taken to handling most of her administrative duties from her bed with laptop. Ranma, also, had taken to handling much of her administrative duties as CAG from their quarters after Gloval 'strongly' suggested it. However, she refused to allow herself to be taken out of the patrol rotation, in spite of assurances that she wasn't needed.
Fortunately, aside from the odd harassing probes, the Zentradi fleet was largely quiet. Most of the probing attacks were quickly beaten back and things calmed down again. Everyone hoped it would remain this way indefinitely, but they all knew it was a faint hope at best.
(oOO/Oo)
December 2010...
"RANMA!" Lisa shrieked from the bedroom. "My water just broke! It's time!"
Lisa was forced to reassess the wisdom of shrieking such information, as for the next ten minutes all she saw was Ranma running past the bedroom door on a high speed circuit of the living room in a complete panic, screaming "It's Time, what do I do?" repetitively. Lisa would have laughed hysterically if the contractions hadn't begun.
She gingerly levered herself out of bed and collected the suitcase that had been set aside for just this event. She awkwardly made her way to the door and waited until Ranma came by on her next circuit. Lisa thrust the suitcase out at head level and Ranma's face smacked into it. The redhead's feet ran out from under her and she remained suspended in the air for a couple of heartbeats before slamming to the floor flat on her back.
"Ranma, honey, take this and meet me at the jeep," Lisa said sweetly, dropping the suitcase on the prone redhead's belly before heading to the door and the jeep that was stationed outside it.
Ranma grunted as the suitcase impacted her stomach, but she was immediately up and running to the door, beating the awkwardly moving Lisa to it and assisting her out of the cabin and into the jeep. Leaping behind the wheel, Ranma floored the accelerator and they charged off toward the hospital at a suicidal speed.
"Ranma, sweetie," Lisa said calmly, "I'd like to make it to the hospital alive, please." Ranma nodded and sped up. "Ranma, sweetie, THAT MEANS SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!" Ranma slowed down, looking very sheepish. "Thank you, honey, you're so sweet."
While Ranma concentrated on getting them to the hospital, Lisa called ahead and let them know to expect them and to inform Dr. Tendo and Nurse Saotome they were on their way. Ranma and Lisa had quickly made Kasumi their primary doctor when she arrived, both for her evident competence and the fact that she was familiar with Ranma's condition.
Nine hours later found the couple in the delivery room, Lisa laying on the table with her legs spread wide in the stirrups and looking quite bedraggled. Her hair was soaked with sweat and her face was a mask of pain.
"Lisa, Honey, I need you to push," Kasumi said again.
Lisa squeezed Ranma's hand hard enough to crush granite and screamed as she pushed again. She relaxed, gasping for air as she steeled herself for the next effort.
"Ranma!" she growled at her wife.
"Yeah, love?" Ranma said, blotting the sweat off her face.
"You're having the NEXT ONE!" she screamed as she pushed again.
Ranma looked at Lisa with her eyes widened in fear, as she took in the fierce grimace of pain on Lisa's face and her overall state of exhaustion, and promptly fainted with a loud thump.
Nodoka looked around from her position over Kasumi's shoulder and grinned at her daughter's fate.
"Okay, Honey, I can see the head," Kasumi said. "You're almost there. Give me one more big push."
Lisa screamed again and pushed with all her waning strength.
"Good Job!" Kasumi said. "You're done!" Lisa collapsed back on the delivery table breathing heavily while Kasumi cleaned the baby up and determined the sex. Glancing at Ranma's unconscious form, Kasumi smiled and said, "Oh my, I guess she doesn't want to cut the umbilical then. Mrs. Saotome-Hayes, you are the proud mothers of a beautiful baby boy!"
Kasumi handed the baby to Nodoka to be washed and wrapped while she cleaned up some. As this was happening Ranma began to come around.
"Ranma," Lisa said with a tired but happy smile. "We're parents. We have a son."
Ranma smiled brightly as she stood back up, and kissed Lisa tenderly. Nodoka brought the baby over and handed him to Lisa so that she could get her first look at her child. Seeing Lisa tenderly hold their baby and the look of pure adoration in her green eyes, Ranma felt overwhelmed. Tears ran down her face as she felt an intense burning love for both her wife and child well up within her.
"Have you decided on a name?" Nodoka asked, tears running down her own face as she watched the tender moment between her daughters and grandson.
"We chose the name Yoshima," Ranma said.
"Free Horse, son of the Wild Horse," Nodoka smiled. "It's a fine name."
(oOO/Oo)
The day that Lisa and Yoshima were released from the hospital, Kasumi lost her nurse. Nodoka turned in her resignation in favor of being a fulltime grandmother/nanny. They had talked about it and decided that this would work out best because of Ranma's and Lisa's duties and the uncertainty of their schedules, possibly being called to GQ at any given moment. This way, Nodoka would always be there to take care of Yoshima if they were suddenly called to action.
Ranma was able to breastfeed the baby, and for some odd reason, Yoshima seemed to prefer Ranma's breasts to Lisa's. Instead of being offended by this, Lisa found it highly amusing. She teased Ranma about their son preferring Ranma to her because of the size of the meal. Ranma found it hard to be irritated as her infant son suckled on her nipples greedily. Quite the opposite, she was proud that she could provide for him in this way.
Not that little Yoshima turned his nose up at Lisa's breast when offered, but he seemed to be happier feeding with Ranma. The joke between them was that when Yoshima fed from Lisa it was a just a snack, while when feeding from Ranma it was a full meal.
Thankfully, because of the excess of space aboard the SDF-1, construction crews had been able to add two rooms to Ranma and Lisa's quarters a couple of months before the delivery. One was the nursery, while the other was now Nodoka's room.
(oOO/Oo)
January 2011...
Toward the fifth week after Yoshima's birth, Lisa began to get around a little better and Nodoka insisted that Ranma and Lisa go see Minmei's movie that was debuting. Lisa thought it sounded nice so they decided to go.
They were surprised at the turnout. It seemed like everyone was there to see the film. While they were standing in line to get in, Ranma was forced to take a double take.
There, standing about ten feet behind them in line was Bertha Stott, in full Dominatrix persona. The auburn haired woman, already tall, towered above most of the people in the line by virtue of her 6-inch, spike-heeled, black patent leather, thigh-high boots, polished to a high gloss. A brief expanse of black fishnet stockings, the lace tops of which could just be seen when she took a step, disappeared under a very tight, black leather mini-skirt. A black leather corset finished out the outfit. But it wasn't this that drew the most attention.
In her right hand was a riding crop. In her left was the end of a leash. On the other end of the leash was Lynn Kyle, crawling around on his hands and knees wearing a black leather harness and a pair of black leather shorts. Ranma had to use every ounce of her will power not to fall on the ground laughing at the unusual sight. She nudged Lisa and gestured with her head in that direction. Lisa's eyes got huge and her hand came up over her mouth as she tried to stifle a laugh.
"Let's go check this out," Ranma said, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Let's," Lisa agreed with her own smile.
They moved back in the line toward Bertha. As the neared, Kyle caught sight of Ranma and leaped toward her, growling, only to be brought up short by the leash. He strained at the restraint trying to get at Ranma while growling.
Suddenly there was a whizzing sound cutting through the air. Bertha swung the riding crop in a vicious arc that ended in a loud smack between Kyle's legs. Ranma swore, from the way Kyle's eyes bugged when the crop connected, that his balls were trying to force themselves out of their sockets. Kyle let out a loud yelp that sounded just like a dog and scrambled back to Bertha. When he reached her, he began to lick the toes of her boots, much like a dog would when trying to placate an owner that had been angered.
"Forgive my dog, Lady Ranma," Bertha said imperiously. "He can be so ill-mannered sometimes. And he had been so well behaved lately, I thought I'd take him out for a walk and to see the new movie. Rest assured he will be punished for his effrontery."
"Thank you, Lady Bertha," Ranma grinned. "So how are you enjoying your new pet?"
"His training has been quite amusing," Bertha said in a regal tone. "Although his sub-par intelligence has given rise to many an occasions to discipline him."
At that moment, a large stir was caused with the arrival of the stars of the movie, Minmei and a Korean man with the unlikely name of Kai Pao Wei. Ranma had worked with them both on the movie as they had hired her as a martial arts consultant. Kai was a reasonable martial artist and in Ranma's opinion had been a great choice for the movie. Far better than Bertha's dog had been.
After the stars had entered the theater, they began to let the crowds in. Ranma and Lisa waved good-bye to Bertha and her dog as they went to their seats.
(oOO/Oo)
The movie, a martial arts extravaganza entitled "Small White Dragon", portrayed a young powerful martial artist (Kai Pao Wei) who had to fight off an army to save the woman he loved (Minmei) from an evil Chinese warlord, using extreme martial arts moves that appeared to be fanciful to most everyone but Ranma and a few others. Even the ki blasts, Ranma knew were possible, although she hadn't yet figured out how to do one. She was certain that she could eventually.
To one group, however, the film was horrifying. The Zentradi which were monitoring the signal from the SDF-1, watched the Micronian take out hundreds of warriors, even a group of Zentradi-sized fighters with hand to hand combat techniques and shocking energy projection techniques performed with no weapons.
They had no idea that this was a fictional story and that most Micronians didn't believe in such techniques, let alone perform them. The Zentradi believed this to be some form of battle record and believed it to be factual. This was particularly understandable when one considered that they had seen Ranma stop Dolza's fist from crushing him.
A gravely concerned, Breetai took this "battle record" and the recording of the SDF-1's barrier overload that had wiped out an entire population center to destroy four Zentradi destroyers, which they had no idea was completely accidental, and went to brief Dolza.
While this was happening, the three spies were detailing their stay aboard the SDF-1 to their comrades. They told of the wondrous sights they had seen, and the things they had heard, and even their strangely compelling sessions with Mistress Bertha whom they had served to earn a living aboard the SDF-1.
Also featured in their tale were the two Micronian females, called Minmei and Ranma Saotome-Hayes, who did what the Micronians called singing. This singing was unlike anything the Zentradi had ever heard and the three former spies let their comrades listen to reproductions of it. The Zentradi were riveted by the strange, but pleasing sounds, which made them feel things they had never felt before. Soon, stories of the wonderful Micronian way of life spread like a virus through the entire Zentradi task force and there began to be talk of defection to the SDF-1.
Dolza, having reviewed Breetai's report, developed a multi-phased plan. The first phase required the capture and scientifically study of the Micronians to attempt to discover how they used Protoculture. The next phase was much more final. It called for the eradication of the Micronians as Dolza believed, quite accurately as it happened, that prolonged exposure to the race would contaminate the Zentradi.
As the Zentradi fleet awaited its directive, still a third plot was being hatched. This time by Kyron. Kyron planned to wait for the opportunity when he could act without Breetai's knowledge. He would seize this opportunity to destroy the Micronians that had repeatedly humiliated him once and for all. Especially that damnable 'Dragon Lady'.
(oOO/Oo)
March 2011...
"Commander Grant, I've detected an incoming Zentradi attack force," Vanessa said urgently. "It looks like a big one."
"Understood," Claudia said, keying the PA. "General Quarters, General Quarters, all hands to battle stations! Civilians should move to shelters and prepare for Modular Transformation!"
Gloval and Roy ran onto the bridge, followed soon after by Lisa and Minmei. Vanessa informed them that they had a force of about thirty Zentradi ships coming in on attack vectors.
"Scramble the fighters," Gloval ordered. "Transform the ship."
"Commander Fokker, deploy the Veritech Squadrons," Lisa commanded. "Ensign Lynn, start the countdown for Modular Transformation."
"Veritechs deployed and engaging Zentradi fighter screen, Ma'am," Roy announced.
"Commencing modular transformation," Minmei said a moment later.
The mighty battle fortress began to move and shift as it reconfigured itself.
"Captain!" Vanessa gasped. "The large enemy vessel appears to be on a collision course with us and isn't slowing down."
"Hard astern, Cluadia," Gloval ordered.
"We can't, Sir," Vanessa said. "The enemy has us surrounded!"
"Very well, we have no choice then," Gloval growled. "Lisa, prepare for the Daedalus Maneuver."
"Preparing for the Daedalus Maneuver," Lisa confirmed. "Kim, direct the destroids to the bow of the Daedalus and engage the pin-point barrier system."
"Yes, Ma'am," Kim acknowledge.
As the huge Zentradi ship reached the position, Lisa ordered the Daedalus Maneuver to begin.
(oOO/Oo)
When the Daedalus punched through the nose of the Zentradi ship and dropped its boarding ramp, the Zentradi sprung their trap. The destroids gathered in the bow of the Daedalus were met with withering fire and were destroyed before they ever fired a shot. Zentradi battle pods quickly ran up the ramp and were aboard the SDF-1 before anyone knew what was happening.
They charged through the corridors, taking out internal security forces and leaving destruction in their wake. Unnoticed, a small group of pods broke off from the main force. The invaders reached Macross City and began to beat back the civil defense forces. Soon it was clear that the defenders were being overrun.
(oOO/Oo)
"Wild Rose and Skull Squadrons," Roy's voice came over the Tac-net, "Zentradi have boarded the ship and are destroying Macross City. We need you in here to shore up the civil defense. Proceed to access Delta-oh-niner."
"Roger, Gunsight 2," Ranma said. "Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen, you heard'em. Lets get in there and kick those interlopers off our ship!"
Ranma led Akane and Max into the specified access point, followed by the other Wild Rose flights and Skull Squadron. Unfortunately, a Zentradi officer's pod leading an attack force also managed to slip in behind them before the doors closed.
Ranma entered Macross City to see a scene of devastation. Fires burned and many buildings were little more than piles of rubble. She shifted to battloid mode and started down the streets, directing her team to spread out and begin a sweep for invaders.
A group of battle pods leapt out in front of her and Ranma opened up on them with her gun. They fell quickly, smoking holes littering their chassis'. More battle pods rushed her and met a similar fate as Ranma stalked through the streets.
As she approached an intersection, a large group of battle pods rushed by at high speed heading down the cross street. One blew up as it was hit with an energy blast. The source of the blast soon appeared. It was a Zentradi officer's pod, firing on its own people. Ranma targeted the pod and fired a burst of high velocity armor piercing slugs into the side of it, knocking the pod over.
As it stood back up, Ranma's comm screen lit up.
"You!" said the snide sounding Zentradi that had identified himself as Kyron sneered.
"Hey, Blue Boy," Ranma greeted. "I guess you felt the need for another smack down, huh?"
"You will not defeat me!" Kyron shrieked.
He launched a spread of missiles at Ranma. Ranma used her head lasers and her cannon to take out five of the six and, in an incredible display of piloting, grabbed the other one out of the air and flung it back at Kyron like an oversized explosive shuriken. Kyron tried to evade but again his heavy beam cannon was struck and blasted off by his own missile.
The explosion knocked Kyron into a building. Ranma fired another burst from her cannon and blasted away one of Kyron's arms. She charged down the street as Kyron struggled to extract himself from the rubble of the building. Just as he managed to regain his feet, Ranma fired her lasers into the knee of Kyron's pod, fusing it solid. Kyron returned fire with his remaining arm mounted weapons, which Ranma evaded readily. Another burst from Ranma's cannon and the weapon pod on the remaining arm exploded.
Unarmed, Kyron tried to escape by firing his thrusters.
"Uh uh uh," Ranma chided as she grabbed the fused leg and slammed the damaged pod into the ground. She used her lasers to destroy the pods main thrusters. "You're not getting away this time, Blue Boy," Ranma said.
The hatch popped open on the pod and Kyron crawled out. He took his helmet off and threw it on the ground in frustration.
"Damn you!" Kyron yelled at Ranma. "I will not be defeated again!"
Kyron charged Ranma, knocking her gun out of her hands and attempting a spinning back-fist to her head. Ranma ducked the fist and planted a two-fisted hammer blow to Kyron's ribs, knocking him across the street into a building. Kyron pulled himself out of the building and charged in rage again...right into the hay-maker Ranma had launched.
Kyron flew back about twenty meters and landed on his back, unconscious. Ranma picked up her gun and walked up to Kyron. Seeing he was out cold, she smirked wickedly while thinking about what to do to make sure he was manageable. Grimacing, she raised her gun and shot him in the knee.
The pain immediately awoke the Zentradi warlord as he sat up screaming and clutching his knee. Ranma kicked him in the head and put him out again.
(oOO/Oo)
Unknown to Ranma, she had an audience.
"Magnificent," Miriya said in awe, from her vantage point behind some rubble. "Truly a skilled and ruthless warrior, this Dragon Lady." She had since learned to read the Micronian language and knew from the large '1' on the Micronian mecha that this was the one Kyron had told her about.
She turned her attention to her true quarry, the one she had come to kill, who was having his own battle down the cross street. This warrior, too, was magnificent, though not so graceful as his commander. She watched as he danced through a group of battle pods that had rushed him. He emerged on the other side, and as the pods started to turn toward him again, they began exploding.
"These Micronians are truly great warriors," Miriya said in wondrous admiration. "But I will find you and kill you Wild Rose 4. I will have my revenge."
(oOO/Oo)
"So what should we do with them?" Roy asked, glancing at the three former spies.
"I say we should grant their request for political asylum," Ranma said.
"We can't do that without approval from the UNEDC," Maistroff protested. "We can't trust them. They are aliens."
"Who the hell cares what the UNEDC says?" Ranma snarled. "They banished us and the whole civilian population of Macross City from Earth. I say that means we make our own decisions."
"What?" Maistroff screeched. "That...that's treason!"
"What's treason is sending thousands of innocent civilians into harm's way just because you don't want to get caught in your own lies," Ranma snapped.
"Commander Saotome-Hayes has a point," Gloval said. "While I feel our loyalty to Earth remains, I no longer feel that this ship owes any loyalty to the UNEDC. They have cut us adrift and chased us off the Earth under threat of attack. They no longer have any say on how we conduct ourselves aboard this ship."
"I agree," Lisa said. "Having talked to the defectors, I think we have a shot at a peaceful end to this war."
"You can't be serious," Maistroff said in dismay.
"I am gravely serious about this," Gloval said. "The United Earth Government has cast us out to die in an attempt to buy themselves some time that will not help them. All the Zentradi want is this ship. We have a responsibility to all the people aboard this ship to do everything in our power to ensure their safety. And this we will do."
"But it's our job to fight and die to defend Earth!" Maistroff said. "Everyone knew that was a risk when the signed on!"
"BULLSHIT!" Ranma roared. "What about the 50,000 civilians that got dragged into this against their will, you stupid, boot-licking jackass? They didn't sign on for anything. They have just as much right to be protected as anyone on Earth does. And since the honorless pricks in charge would rather them die than admit they lied, it's up to us to ensure their safety."
"How dare you speak to me this way!" Maistroff shrieked. "That's it! I've heard enough of this seditious idiocy!" Maistroff pulled his sidearm and pointed it at Gloval. "Captain Henry Gloval, I am hereby relieving you of command. Lt. Colonel Mayo, take the Captain and anyone who resists into custody." Mayo also pulled his sidearm.
"Just what in the fuck do you think you're doing, you fucking mutinous slime?" Ranma growled. "Put those sidearms away before I shove them up your fucking asses. Do you honestly expect anyone to listen to a butt-sucking toady like you?"
The Zentradi and the MP's that guarded them watched all this in utter shock.
"That's enough out of you, Commander," Maistroff snapped. "You're mouth just bought you an extended stay in the brig."
Nobody was sure what happened, but suddenly, Maistroff's gun went flying across the room and he was screaming and cradling his broken wrist as Ranma stood in front of him. Mayo swung his sidearm to fire on Ranma, but Ranma delivered a thrust kick to Maistroff's chest knocking him into Mayo. Mayo's gun went off and the bullet struck the headrest of the chair right beside Lisa's head.
Ranma slowly looked at how close the bullet had come to ending Lisa's life and then looked back at Mayo. Her eyes flashed with a cold ice-blue light and her battle aura exploded from her, wreathing her in blindingly bright blue flames of righteous fury.
"You're a fucking dead man," Ranma ground out through her fury as she glared at Mayo.
Suddenly, she appeared in front of the man and his gun was in her hand. With one hand, she crushed it to twisted metal and powered polymer. Mayo peed his pants and whimpered. That's all he got out before Ranma buried her fist in his guts and then delivered a spinning back-kick to his chest. Mayo flew across the room and slammed into the steel bulkhead with a sickening crunch.
The three Zentradi huddled on the ground jabbering in abject terror. They had never seen such a display of horrifying power before. It frightened them to the core in spite of being battle-hardened veterans. This beautiful Micronian redhead instilled more fear and terror in them than both Breetai and Dolza put together.
Ranma began to slowly stalk toward him, the flames of her battle aura flowing and guttering around her. She was going to kill this asshole painfully.
"Ranma STOP!" Lisa's voice cut through her rage. "Ranma, please don't kill him. He's not worth it. I'm okay. Please."
Ranma slowly looked over to Lisa, who came around the table and approached her.
"Please, Honey," Lisa begged. "I'm safe. We're all safe. He can't hurt anyone now. Look at him."
Ranma swung her gaze back to Mayo who was lying in an unconscious crumpled heap at the base of the wall, blood leaking out his mouth. The bright blue aura flickered and guttered out. Lisa hugged the redhead.
"Get these men some medical attention," Gloval ordered the MP's in the room. "And put them under arrest on the charge of mutiny."