Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Robotech: Beneath a steel sky ❯ Chapter 24 - The silence before the storm... ( Chapter 24 )

Na'mea smiled back at him, along with her eyes shimmering in pure purple...

"It's - It's not that I mistrust you - nor do fear you people...", he said back to them, calming himself again...

<Jackson - Do.Hu'man.Not.Creation.This.Way.Of.Meltraedi.Creation?>, the voices asked...

"Now that you mention it, we ... erm, humans are 'born' - or should I say - 'created' differently from the way you do it here...", he said...

<Differently?>

"Yeah, differently... Yeah, normally humans have sex with each -", Robert replied, then hesitated to continue - Suddenly - his words shot through his head, warning him about something...

<Hu'mans.Are.Created.Differently? We.Meltraedis.Wish.To.Understand.The.Different.Way.Of.Essence.Creation.. . How.Can.This.Be.Done... We.Wish.To.See.How.This.Can.Be.Done...>

"Oh crap", Robert said loudly to himself... "Please, don't ask..."

He felt a total embarrasment coming over him and his voice. "Please, stay out of mind!"- He knew Na'mea and the rest could 'see' what he was thinking... and there was nothing stopping it...

He could feel the many minds inside the gigantic room 'listening' to his mind - piercing inside...

Robert bit his teeth in embarrassment...

"Oh my god - please don't let them see, what I am seeing in my imagination - please don't let them see what I'm thinking about" - he said to himself...

Many Meltraedi-Chemists dropped what they were holding, others were surprised, as they could see what Robert tred to hide...

It was impossible to stop the unstoppable... The word "sex" cascaded in his mind and just 'easily' threw various imaginative pictures which referred to the word... Just showing many imaginative pictures of 'human-nature'...

Na'mea, En'dinia -even their Meltraedi guardians... and even nearly the whole large group Meltraedi feel to their knees... surprised by the images of the 'human-nature'... but somehow then again, not surprised in a negative manor - more likely the opposite...

They seemed... happy - surprised by the 'other way'... interested - by the 'other way'...

A few seemed to smile, showing their sharp-profiled 'drakula-teeth'...

Their eyes said it all - They 'observed' the pictures with full content... never seeing such (for them) 'beutiful' thing before...

There was no way stopping it... Too many 'minds' were piercing into his...

Full of embarrassment and starting to sweat - Robert felt like he was in a world of misery, hoping he would die - as there was nothing more embarrassing than 'showing' a female alien race what sex was...

----

Somewhere in the Utopia Chennara District - Command Center Building, primary section...

Mick was standing with Corp.Briggs, having a conversation near the large holo-windows. As they spoke, Briggs kept pointing out, showing Mick what has been done outside so far:

" - Right over there, can you see the row of buildings over there?", Briggs asked.

"Yup"

"That's the place we found so that the civs could take a rest - seems like a habitat sector - not a bad place if you ask me. We've also placed guards and other armed people around, keeping a look-out as well. Those Veritechs over there have been over-used and are in a bad shape, too - They'll be needing a regeneration period plus maintanence... I've spoken with many people who seem to know their way around with electro-mechanics, so they'll take care of them as soon as they've managed to get some rest...", Briggs explained...

Mick nodded his head, "Sounds great, then we could finally start to re-activate the whole place..."

"Somewhere in another sector, we've found many smaller complexes - but those were sealed... Looks like a large weapon and research facility, along with an amoury...", Briggs said.

"Gentlemen, those areas have the sense to be off-limits", a rather dark voice said behind them...

Dr. Vanderman was standing behind them, as they were speaking...

"Why the hell are those place off-limits - Is there something so important to hide from us?", Briggs said.

"That's a question I'm not authorized to answer...", Vanderman said... His voice did not sound like as if he was going to be helpful.

For sure, Dr. Vanderman knew what was inside - or at least, he knew how to enter those many sealed-off sections.

A few others in the command room stopped what they were doing when they heard them talking.

"What's the big idea?!", Briggs said... "I think we should get our hands on any possible thing that could be useful..."

"Like I said, there is nothing there that are for un-authorized eyes...", the old scientist replied back to him... Vanderman was indeed not sounding like as if he would want to cooperate.

Suddenly, Mick turned around and pulled up his sub-machine gun, aiming at the scientist...

"Aw-right, that's enough - I'm already sick and tired of hearing you blabbering about 'no-auth' this and that - Like Briggs said, we need all the 'hardware' we can get... And if you wanna stand in our way? Fine!", Mick said in a very angry voice...

His hostility grew more and more against the RDF by the second...

Mick spoke further, "I should've blasted you away that other while ago the first time we met... Maybe I should just blast you off right now", the angry pilot said, still holding his aim towards the chest of the old man...

"Hey hey, Mick easy groove man", Briggs said, trying to calm him down - But he did not even think about pushing Mick's aim down... Mick's eyes seemed full of hatred towards the scientist - any wrong movement could make him pull the trigger - and his eyes showed that he really meant it...

The scientist took a few steps back - along with sweat drops making their way down the side of his forehead. The others looked surprised at what was going on...

All the sudden, Foxy-Roxy immediately walked between his aim and the man and threw her arms to the sides, trying to cover him up as the most she could... Mick was still holding his aim at her chest, now...

"Mick, are you out of your mind -?!", she said, trying to calm him down.

"Roxy, com'on - get out of my sight, I knew this guy wasn't gonna help out from the beginning - He's one of those RDF bastard - just like the others up there that dropped us down here...", Mick said back to her, still aiming...

"Mick, you're out of control - please listen to me... He's probably our only chance to get inside those building... He's just doing his job - We can't just kill him, then we're not any better than the 'Invids' themselves...", the young woman said to him and slowly started walking towards him...

He still was aiming at her chest region - more likely showing that he was aiming at Dr. Vanderman behind her...

"Get - out - of - my -sight - Roxy...", he said with an angry voice again...

"Please, Mick", Foxy-Roxy said in very soft voice, coming closer, "... I know you wouldn't kill a human being like us...", she was now in front of Mick, his sub-machine gun touched the center of her chest region, "... you wouldn't want to kill me either, would you?"

Her eyes were shining in a deep and clear blue - She meant it as well...

Micks right hand, holding the gun, started to shake... He was slowly starting to get control around himself - He suddenly realized what he was doing... His gun was aiming right at Foxy-Roxy, not at his newly sworn RDF-enemy...

He shook his head and took two steps back, until he softly bumped against the large window behind him... He kept shaking his head, not believing what he was about to do... He went to his knees, lowering his aim as well...

Foxy-Roxy, Briggs and Dr. Vanderman felt a total relievment went over them...

"*whew*", Briggs said, "Damn it - Mick - You nearly had me on that one..."

At first, she was not sure if he was going to shoot after all- His eyes shown such a determination that it seemed as if he did not know what was good or bad - as if Dr. Vanderman was like an "Invid"...

Mick dropped the sub-machine gun next to him as he was on one of his knees - he laid one hand against his forehead, still not believing what was happening...

It must have been the pressure of taking so much responsability, that nearly made him gone beserk...

Foxy-Roxy seemed to understand his misery...

She also went down to her knees and laid her hand gently on his shoulder and said, "Mick... It's ok, I can understand how you feel... Look, you need to rest - You've been up for more than almost three days... Anyone could get insane if you wouldn't get some sleep..."

Now that she said it, he noticed that he really has not slept for more than two days... Those past two days were more likely a run for their lives - being hunted by the "Invid"...

The room was quiet, only the systems and screens were making sounds - as the others watched them...

"Mick?", Foxy-Roxy said and gave him her hand, "Come with me - Let's find a place to rest - I could need some rest myself ... I've been up just as long as you were, even though I had a few breaks in between..."

Her words made sense - She helped him up and also picked up his gun.

"R-Roxy, I-I'm sorry...", he said quietly...

"It's ok", she said and smiled slightly, accepting his apology...

They both slowly walked away, past a frightened Dr. Vanderman and an astonished Corp. Briggs... heading for the exit to the large elevators...

----

Somewhere in the Bio-chemistry Creational building inside the "Meltraedi City"...

After the tremendous embarrassing moment in Robert's life, the women seemed to have settled down from the moments that have passed a while ago...

<Jackson - Zen'traedi.Hu'man.And.Mel'traedi.Hu'man.Essences.Live.In.Harmony.With.Each. Other?>, En'dinia's voices asked him...

"Yes... even though we don't really have anything in common with Zentraedis or Meltraedis... but you could say that we men are the Zens, the women the Mels... Yes, we do live together - Even though I hate to say this (or think about about) - but the human race could never live or exist without men or women not being together... We humans are not born from these... these... chambers like those over ther", Robert explained, pointing over to one of the chambers, "After the ... *coughs* you know, after what happens, erm, the things you all saw in my mind - a child stays nine months within the woman... until it gives birth to the child... After that, the baby grows - from kid to adult...like the way we are standing, in front of each other now..."

The Meltraedi women around him, even the guardians, seemed to understand his words... It was remarkable for them to see what he meant in his mind...

"We humans however, are not born with such, umm, 'mind-powers' , even though a selected few seem to have this ability... but nevertheless, we're just normal people... nothing more - nothing less... We learn as we grow..."

<We.Meltraedis.Understand... Cycle.Age..Of.Our.New.Born.Creations.Equals.Cycle.Age.Of.Third-teen.Year.Ol d.Hu'man... Jackson.Must.Know... For.20.Cycles.We.Meltraedi.Never.Understand.The.Body.Physics.Of.Meltraedi.B ody.Nor.Funtion... We.Meltraedi.Were.Creation.Of.Creation.Chambers...>

"I guess that would explain the surprise...", he said... rubbing his chin... Looking back at a few Meltraedi-chemist, who were still staring at him - some of them were still smiling... others even still lost in mind - remembering what they have seen...

Na'mea suddenly walked closer to him - Her eyes were still purple... She slowly touched the side of his face.

"H-Hey Na'mea, w-what's up - You look so...", he said, not knowing what to say...

<Jackson.Must.Know... Na'mea.Admires.Essence.Of.Jackson...>

Her words repeated in his mind as they slowly faded away...

<Essence.Of.En'dinia.Sense.Fatigue.In.Essence.Of.Jackson.. . Wishes.Essence.Of.Jackson.To.Regenerate?>

Indeed, he slowly felt tired - It was remarkable how she could immediately detect how he felt...

"Yeah - I could surely need some rest... You've gotta tell me how you do that..."

<I.En'dinia.Was.Created.With.Unique.Psionic.Abilities... All.Meltraedis.Have.Unique.Abilities...>

"Heh, we humans are the opposite... We don't have any real 'unique' stuff like that..."

<Meltraedi.Keh'Tals.Have.Learned - All.Sentient.Beings.Possess.Abilities...>

Robert followed them towards the exit of the gigantic room, when he stopped and turned around, noticing that the fluid from one of the chambers has been emptied... The chamber opened up, reveiling one of the young naked girl with dark green hair - totally soaked and floating unconciously downwards... The Meltraedi scientists covered her up and brought her away while checking her bio-readings...

This must be the way of 'Meltraedi Creation' , Robert told himself...

----

Somewhere far away from the Utopia Chenarra...

The large truck-like vehicle drove through the abandoned streets... The truck was carrying a large and long object, covered and hidden by a large net - hard to tell what was hidden under... Three men were holding themselves on handles on the rear side of the truck as it made it's way through the streets.

Holding guns, aiming behind - It seemed as if they were being pursued and followed by something...

----

Na'mea walked closer to Robert and wrapped her arms around one of his... She really enjoyed his presence... Not even one second she did not wasted to stop smiling at him. It was a nice and warm feeling for him - as if she knew how he felt during the whole time under the iron rain...

----

Somewhere in the Utopia Chenarra District - Inside one of the habitat sectors...

Mick and Foxy-Roxy were inside an apartment-like quarters. He was sitting on a couch - resting...

As Foxy-Roxy came out from another room, she seemed to have a smile on her face.

"Hey, why you're so happy?", Mick asked.

"Look at us, we've been running around in these HEC flight-suits for days - and we're dirty like hell, don't cha think?", she said - moving her hand through her hair, "Hey, you know what - Actually, there's something I haven't done in a century...", she added...

Mick got to his feet in surprise, when he recognized that she starting to detach her suit-gloves, along with the boots and leggings...

"Hey hey - Whoa! Foxy - What are you doing - Don't tell me you need to do one of those shots again!", Mick said - embarrassed by her sights.

"No - Don't worry, it's not that", she said, happily, fighting to unzip and open suit-jacket, "Damn it.. Why won't this thing open - grr"

Foxy-Roxy shook around, fighting around with her jacket - "Actually, I haven't taken a good long shower for decades..." - she added...

Mick was surprised about what she said...

"Here, Mick, hold this - would ya", Foxy-Roxy said, freeing her hands by throwing her HEC Suit-Leggings over his head, covering up his face.

She finally managed to open up her suit-jacket and also through it over his head - He remained still... Surprised...

"Just have a break, flyboy - I'm gonna do some 'regeneration', myself", she giggled and left him - standing alone with her stuff around him...

After a few seconds, Mick started to hear a stream of water coming from the next room - along with a soft voice saying "Ahh.... "

He fell back into the couch...

----

An hour later, while Mick and Foxy-Roxy were away... Corp. Briggs was still with a large group up in the command center, learning more of the systems, when someone called him over.

One of the people who was getting himself familiarized with one of the systems figured out something and wanted to tell him about it:

"Hey, Corperal - I've got here something that seems troublesome...", the man said.

"Troublesome", Briggs asked - He did not like the meaning of that word.

"This console-station I sitting on here belongs to one of the sensor and surveilliance systems of this command center, I guess", the man continued and pressed a few holo-keys on the thin-glass pads, "I managed to activate some kind of motion-sensor from another sector, about three kilometer North-East of our position..."

It was hard to tell what they could understand from what the screen was saying - But they could see that one small and fast blinking object was being followed by three other larger ones... And all signals were closing in on Utopia Chenarra District... This was indeed a troublesome matter...

"Hmm, that doesn't sound good", Briggs said, "Whatever it is, we better take it serious - could be the bad guys..."

----

Robert started to see the "Meltraedi World" with different eyes - It looks like they have been fighting for their existance ever since they were 'born'... Nevertheless, the humans and the Meltraedi have the same enemy...

He walked with the group through some parts of the gigantic city... Although it did not have the usual things Macross City had - there were similarities... Despiting the fact that there were only women walking on the streets...

As they walked, Robert looked up into the 'sky' again... Remarkable how this 'world' was built up...

He noticed an object, with black clouds coming out of the back...

"Must be one of the Mechas", he thought...

Na'mea and En'dinia also looked up - first smiling... but then, their faces changed...

Something was not right...

The object was a Meltraedi Mecha, smoking from all sides from the rear... and floating downwards towards the street from the sky...

"Wha- What's going on - Why is that Mecha smoking", he asked them, but he did not receive an answer.

The guardians immediately pulled the three into cover, as they noticed that the Mecha was about to crash-land near their position... Crowds of Meltraedis ran for safety... The metallic hulk crashed on the street and slid many meters ahead and crashed into one of the lower buildings...

It's rear was smoking more and more - Robert noticed various numbers of thin dark-blue objects raging out from the back... He feared the impossible...

Suddenly, the hatch of the Mecha opened, along with a heavily-wounded Meltraedi trying to climb out... Her left arm seemed as if it were broken and her blue 'blood' was pouring out from a few open wounds.

Her sight slightly reminded Robert about the time he first met Na'mea again...

The Meltraedi pilot fell to surface of the hull - perhaps unconcious...

Robert looked up, as he noticed large dark shadows moving swiftly across the street and past their heads... He could not recognize the objects at first - but they seemed to be of hard-organic material...

"Invid..."

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