lr.19
MEGAZONE 23
"Ice is forming on the tips of my wings/Unheeded
warnings, I thought I thought of everything"
--Pink Floyd
The universe went up, down, forwards, backwards, left,
right, and plaid simultaneously. Many of the crew became ill
from the disorienting affects, it was a lot like riding the
rotor at an amusement park while being drunk. In the
instant/eternity that the fold took to happen, Gryphon had
time to wonder if he had done the right thing, convince
himself that he had, and then begin to wonder again. A few of
the crew panicked because they feared they were going sane,
but it passed. A few millennia later the SDF-17 defolded just
beyond the docks of the Utopia Planitia shipyards, well, ok,
it was only a few seconds, but it felt like a few millennia.
As the crew recovered from the confusing experience
Gryphon began calling out orders rapid fire. "q contact
Wolfgang get us docking data Yuri follow said data ReRob
check all of our systems for damage Kei I don't know find
something to do call sickbay or something Phantom get a
scanner reading on the effects of the fold I'll just sit here
and shake a lot." Everyone did their best to comply.
"We're approaching dock now, Ben," Yuri called out.
"Sickbay reports Zoner's status is unchanged. Mark is
doing ok, just complaining a lot. Iczer-1 is still resting,
and Fritz left just before the fold," Kei followed up.
The comm speaker activated, "Engineering reports no
damage whatsoever."
"Umm, looks like the fold hasn't effected anything,
other than to move us all through space that is, everything
is still the same. Unless of course our scanner got changed,
in which case everything is different," Chris reported.
"Oh for yay, the fold drive worked, whoopie. Let me
know when we're about to dock," Gryphon replied
lethargically. "I seem to be crashing."
"Sack out for a while," Kei suggested.
"I don't think I could make it to our room. I don't
think I could make it to the turbolift. I don't think I
can get up out of this chair. I don't think---" NFS Server
not responding, thud.
"He said it," Chris commented, "Not me."
"Better get ReRob up here," Kei said.
"Umm, yeah," toggling the comm switch q continued,
"ReRob, Gryphon just like crashed and burned, you're third in
command. Get up here."
"Well, I don't really care. I'll be down here if you
need me. Yuri drives this thing anyway, let her conn it."
"Like whatever. Yuri you've got the conn."
"Cool, my own starship. We'll have completed docking in
about ten minutes, wheee," Yuri flatlined.
"I'm going to take sleeping beauty here back to our
room. I'll be back," Kei stated, shouldering Gryphon like an
old duffel bag full of dirty laundry and striding from the
bridge.
"Like, they're such a cute couple, ya know?" q said to
Yuri.
"Yeah, cute couple," Yuri said, not really thinking
about it.
"Like sorry, Zoner eh? Don't worry about it, he'll be
fine. He's too much of a bonehead to die."
"Yeah, sure," Yuri sighed, obviously unconvinced.
Kei carried Ben back to their room, and dumped him on
the bed. She took the time to remove his shoes, his hat, and
his jacket and tucked him in before returning to the bridge.
"He get to bed alright?" Phantom asked.
"Yeah, he's crashed."
"Ho gryphon-- up, up?, down?, down, --," ReRob
interjected from the corner.
"Rob, when'd you get back here?"
"I got bored down in engineering. Besides GweepCo knows
more about it than I do. So I came back up here."
"Docking in thirty seconds," Yuri called from the con
station. "Automatic docking system engaged."
q called sickbay, "Jenna, like we're here, get 'em
ready to be moved to the base."
"Ok, we'll be ready down here."
The SDF-17 glided gracefully into port, one final pulse
from the forward maneuvering thrusters and it stopped right
on target. Docking adaptors fastened the ship in place and
walkways extended to meet the airlocks. Waiting behind the
airlock doors by the bridge walkway was Lord Fahrvergnugen
and his entourage. Once docking was complete Wolfgang strode
quickly to the SDF-17, where ReRob and the pair were waiting
for him.
"Where are the injured? Where are Zoner and Gryphon?"
Lord Fahrvergnugen asked concernedly.
"Sickbay, Gryphon's doing the sleeping thing, he was up
for far too long. And Zoner is doing the coma thing," ReRob
answered.
"Coma?! Dear God, what happened? Quickly, take me to
sickbay!"
As the entire horde headed toward sickbay ReRob filled
Lord Fahrvergnugen in on what had happened, with some help
form the pair. They arrived in sickbay within a few minutes.
Wolfgang swept into sickbay.
"Quickly, what is his condition?" he asked Jenna.
"I'm fine, my head just hurts," Mark answered from a
bed.
"Not you--MegaZone!"
"Zoner is still in a coma, we relieved the pressure in
the skull and stopped the bleeding. And we've sutured his
forehead, but there is still the matter of his concussion.
He took quite a blow. It's incredible that he wasn't knocked
out from the impact. He's a survivor though, I think he'll
pull through," Jenna answered, although it was obvious that
she herself wasn't convinced.
"We must move him to the base, our facilities are more
capable of dealing with this. What of her?" Wolfgang asked
as he noticed Iczer-1.
"She just needs rest, I gave her a sedative to keep her
from moving around. I restitched her abdomen, the wound was
reopened during the combat. But she'll be fine."
"You," Lord Fahrvergnugen gestured towards his
entourage, "Take MegaZone and Iczer-1 back to the base. Put
Iczer-1 in the rooming area, and take MegaZone to Intensive
Care."
The entourage broke out two hover gurneys, loaded them
on, and swept out of the room.
"Now, let's go to the bridge and assess the damage."
Wolfgang swept from the room and led the way to the bridge.
Gryphon awoke. Again. It always seemed to annoy him
that no matter how many times he tried to get to sleep, he
always woke up again. Always in the middle of a dream. Oh
well. He opened an eye and looked around. Yep, his room.
Again. He had the sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't be
allowed to sleep on the bridge for long. How kind of them
not to wake him and make him move. He'd have to thank them
as soon as he remembered how to move.
He got out of bed; he was still wearing his uniform,
minus shoes and hat, and was now thoroughly rumpled. Hmm.
He felt as though a herd of wild pigs had been trying to chew
off his feet for some days now. He shook his head violently
in an attempt to clear it, then wandered out into the hall
and across the Wedge to the turbolift. How odd, the Wedge
was empty.
The bridge was also empty. In fact, the entire ship
appeared to be empty. Gryphon began to wonder if this wasn't
one of those dreams one has from time to time, and
immediately checked to make sure he was still wearing pants.
Shrugging, he wandered back to his room to change into some
less rumpled clothes. Then he noticed the answering machine
light blinking.
BEEEEP "Ben, it's Kei. I didn't want to wake you, so I
left you this message; the crews are repairing the ship, so
everyone was moved into base housing for the time being.
Come over when you wake up, ok? Wolfgang wants to see you,
and so on...it seems you're still acting captain...just come
over, ok? It takes too long to explain. Love you, bye."
BEEEEP
Gryphon shook his head, pulled on his sneakers, and left
the ship.
"You wanted to see me, Lord Fahrvergnugen?" asked
Gryphon. It seemed a semi-formal occasion.
"Yes. You are the senior capable officer of the SDF-17;
I wished to discuss with you your plans for the future of the
vessel once repairs are completed."
"I take it then that there has been no improvement in
MegaZone's condition."
"Sadly, no."
"Damn. If he dies, I'm going to wait until I die, track
him down in the afterlife, if there is one, and smack him
really hard and tell him he's an idiot. But I can't deal
with that right now. My plans for the future of the Wedge
Defense Force...hmm."
Seconds ticked by as Gryphon considered his options.
Responsibility weighed heavily on his shoulders. He was
stressed, worried about the fate of his friend, wondering
what had become of Iczer-1, concerned for Yuri's well-being,
hungry, and altogether unprepared for the decision which
faced him. He could see only one solution; to go with his
gut reaction.
"My plans are simple," he said at length. "I intend to
take the ship--Zoner's ship, whether I command it or not--
back to Earth and eradicate GENOM Corporation. I'm partly
responsible for Largo in the first place; it's up to me to
put things right. This has gone far enough."
"A good plan," replied Fahrvergnugen, "but what of the
ship itself?"
"Hmm...aside from repairing the damage done in the
battle--"
"Which is nearly complete."
"--uh huh, as I was saying, there are a couple of things
that need to be done. From the design of the ship I assume
you know Macross?"
"You assume correctly. The dubbing was atrocious, but
the animation quite good."
"Yeah. Ok. Akira was better. Anyway. We need our own
equivalent of Macross City."
"Worcester?!"
"No, not all of it. Just the essentials...Ping's
Garden, Angela's, um...the mailroom extension to the Wedge
with the bookstore and the ATM...Stoh...Spags...Theo's...
Bumas..."
"Bumas?!"
"Never mind. It's really Boomers. Pizza place. Oh
yeah, and we simply cannot forget Tech Pizza...and...DUH.
Denny's."
"Restaurants."
"Hey, it's a college student's life. Remember, don't
get too high and mighty with us--we have you to thank for
DAKA."
"That wasn't my fault. I wanted a biologically grounded
power supply that could be disguised as something that
wouldn't be noticed on a college campus."
"So you disguised it as the Thing from Outer Space.
Good call, Wolfmeister. Anyway. Yes. We need restaurants.
And hey, feel free to throw in anything else...Space Station
Studios...TE...whatever...a race track would be nice...and
Harr Dodge, Zoner's car will fall apart within a week without
Harr Dodge, even with overtechnology. Oh yeah...and Daver's
apartment...and 59 Fruit Street...Ten Minute Walk...and..."
"You, my son, are rambling."
"I know. I'm stressed and I'm still tired. Deal."
"You are courageous, to speak to me that way."
"Worked for Zoner, works for me. Besides, I'll
apologize a lot later. I need to take care of some things--
can you get that construction work done for me? Thanks,
you're a pal. Later," said Gryphon, and he was gone.
"How does he do that?" Lord Fahrvergnugen asked himself.
"If I tried to talk that fast, I'd dislocate my face."
"Morning," Vaughn said as he walked into Iczer-1's room,
a bunch of printed material under his arm.
"Hello," Iczer-1 replied. "Good to see you."
"No problems. I thought I'd come by and see how you
were doing."
"I feel much better, thanks. In another day or so I
should be fine. Sit down, talk for a while."
"Oh hey, cool." Vaughn sat down in the chair next to
the bed. "I brought you some comics to read--thought it
might get boring in here."
"Boring isn't the word," Iczer-1 replied. "What did you
bring?"
"Ah...let's see. I've got all three of my Sandman
graphic novels, plus the special. I think you'll like
Sandman, everyone else does. I grabbed some of Zoner's
stuff, too; Dominion, Dominion's great, and Appleseed, which
is by the same artist, and Outlanders. Outlanders is one of
my favorites."
"Hm. This should keep me busy until next year
sometime..."
"Well, if you don't want to read them, that's ok; I just
thought you'd be interested."
"Don't be silly--of course I'm interested."
"Neat."
"I've been wanting to ask you something."
"What?"
"How is it that you can walk around in vacuum, I mean I
know what you told me before, but that didn't make to much
sense."
"I really don't know, I just do. Just like I shift
around realities from time to time, make things disappear by
not paying attention to them, and appear in two places at
once."
"You're very interesting. I like your attitude towards
life."
"Thanks, life is neat, but humans are stupid."
"But you're a human."
"Yes, I know, and I'm damned ashamed of it. People keep
reminding me."
"Sorry, didn't mean to offend you."
"No problems, humans just do so much stupid stuff that
we get annoying at times."
"So, how do you like life with the Wedge crowd?"
"It's neat, they're some of the less annoying humans
I've met. Open minded, friendly, and weird. So, are you going
to stay with us?"
Iczer-1 looked embarrassed, looking away from Vaughn she
said, "I'd like to, it's nice here, but I really have to go
find Iczer-2. I can't let her run loose to bring harm to
innocents."
"I understand, I hope I'll see you around some more."
"Don't worry, I'll stop by from time to time."
"I'll be around, for a while at least."
There was a neat common area, like the living-room-but-
yet-not-but-yet things in the Stoddards, at the end of the
hallway where everyone had their room while the ship was
being refitted. Said common area contained a television set.
On the sofa, Yuri sat watching TV; at the end of the couch,
Mughi was curled into a very large ball, snoring softly.
"Good evening," said Gryphon as he walked in and slumped
into a chair. "Ever have one of those lives?"
"Mm," Yuri replied.
"You know, it scared the hell out of me when I woke up
and there was no one else in the ship."
"Mm."
"And there's all the construction to see to."
"Mm."
"I detect a distinct conversational trend here."
"Mm."
"Oh help, oh help, I'm being repressed." Gryphon's own
depression switched off as he entered full silly mode in an
all-out attempt to help Yuri out with her depression and make
her laugh. It was his standard way of dealing with stress.
He got out of the chair and sat down next to her on the
couch.
"You," he said, "are very depressed. There's only one
way we deal with the very depressed."
"How do we deal with the very depressed?" Yuri asked, in
a very depressed tone.
"Well...we...TICKLE THEIR NECKS!!!!!" he shrieked, and
dove.
"YAAH! Hey come on stop that hey that tickles you know
I can't stand that knock it off oh come on I'll rip your
fingers off I swear I will Kei help me help stop him he's
gone mad help help knock it off I'm gonna die help!!!"
"Not until you laugh! Hahahahahahahahaha!"
"Hey come on please I can't breathe cut it out help I
hate being tickled stop it Mughi get him off me!"
Mughi looked up with a querying "mrow?", took in the
random chaos on the couch for a second, and then, with a
"hrm," put his head back on his paws and went to sleep. Not
his problem, right?
"Oh thanks Mughi some great help you are aw come on
don't do that I've had enough please no cut it out I mean it
I can't breathe!"
"Breathing is for wimps," Gryphon replied. "Laugh, I
tell you, laugh! It'll do you good!"
"Stop it already I asked you nicely now I'm telling
you oh come on please please don't enough I--Kei! Thank god!
Help!"
Kei stood in the doorway for a moment, taking in the
chaos; then she smiled an evil smile and jumped in, viciously
tickling her partner's ribs.
"HEY that's not fair you're supposed to be my partner
you're supposed to save me from crazies like this this is NOT
fair I'll get you both for this I swear I will come onnnn..."
"Morning," Vaughn said from the doorway. "I--oh no..."
"Vaughn!!" they all cried, jumping up and closing in on
him with a triad of maniacal grins.
"No--oh no--help," Vaughn said in a small voice as they
attacked.
"..." thought Zoner. "... ... ... ..."