Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Robotech: Beneath a steel sky ❯ Chapter 18 - The Promise ( Chapter 18 )

---- Chapter 18 ---- The Promise...

An active corridor... Crewmen of the "Oblivion" walking through.

One of the doors opened - Lt. Chris Caldwell came through the door, limping due to his last flight. Each step was painfull and not even his crouch could linder the pain - Not even thinking about heading to the sickbay for more painkillers. Although it was annoying, his thoughts were more likely somewhere else. The room he exited was the room of one of his commander officers. He remembered the conversation he had:

A rather weary and weak Chris Caldwell was in a room with another person, a highly ranked officer of the RDF.

"Sir, I seek permission to return into space to search for two MIA pilots of my squadron", he said, standing in front of the desk of his commander, Cmdr. Malcolm DaCowl.

When his commander heard his question, his face went firm.

"What do you mean, 'search for two MIAs'. According to your report, they must be 30 to 40 km away from the SDF-1. They're stranded! Due to the situation we have, there is no way we can use the broadband scanners", the commander replied, " I am not going to let you fly out there for another sortie - You just came from one and according to the medics... look at you... you're way too fatigued and stressed out due to those high-Gs stunts you did... and you know that's not healthy!"

Chris could still feel pressure in his legs as he stood, but he remained quiet, trying to keep his pain hidden. "Sir, I must... if they haven't shown up I'd..." -

His commander interrupted him, lifted his hand and repeatingly pointed his finger towards Chris, "No, like I said, you're staying here. They're too far out and since you said in your report that that collision was devastating and that you received no recall from them. It is likely that they're as good as dead... and since Valkyries are rather small objects, there is no way we can pick them up on radar or any other sensor type on this ship. We can't send out any recon ships neither. A solar erruption band occurred from the sun a long time ago and is about to reach our position. The radiation is weak and not harmful, but it's gonna cover a large area around our position, disturbing broadband-longrange communications and messing up sensor signals... if you would fly out there - you wouldn't find your way back either. You would definitely pick radar signals which are wandering ghosts...".

Chris seemed angry, his hand turned into a fist... " I'm sorry..." the commander continued, " Permission denied, case closed. Debrief your squadron and recreate yourself. That's an order. Dismissed"...

The young Lieutenant came back to himself.

Mad... knowing that there was nothing he could against his orders, Chris walked to the briefing room, where most of his pilots from the rookie squadron was waiting for debriefing. He knew it was a bad idea not to reveal everything...

Chris entered the briefing room. A few rookie pilots were missing, since they were either shot down or still under medical attention. He grabbed a chair and sat on it, leaned back and felt slightly relieved.

Many pilots looked at him - One of them asked, "What's wrong, sir? Are you alright?".

Chris wiped his face, trying to get the tireness off his face, "Listen...", he said.

Everybody inside the room went quiet.

"I told you guys about Jester and Sparrow who rescued me, right? ... Well, since they're still out there, I wanted to head out there and get 'em back...", he said - paused - then shook his head a few times, "but my permission was denied...", he continued.

Rooks got up from his chair, his voice sounded slightly angry, "What! Denied?! What the hell are they thinkin' ?! We can't just sit here and wait for them to come back!".

Another pilot got up, "No way! I don't care about any orders, I'm not going to let them rott out there in space..."

Chris could understand their anger. Leaving a comrade back was not acceptable, leaving two behind was even worse...

Thoughts went through Chris' head... trying to think for solutions...

He looked through the room, then up on the ceiling. The odds were against him. The commander was right about the MIA - Right now, they are somewhere between hell and nowheresland... lost in space... and with the invisible void cloud around them, there is no way to navigate safely without getting lost. He could hear some the the pilots arguing about the situation.

They were just as angry as he was... They knew they were capable.

Suddenly, Chris' pad made a sound, which meant that a new message has arrived for him. He read the message, as the other pilots were still shouting and complaining to each other.

He looked up when he finished reading the message. It seemed as if whatever he read gave him sudden strength.

Chris stood up, helping himself up with the crouch. The room went quiet when the others have noticed him leaving the room.

"Wha- Where're you going, sir?" one of them asked.

"Stay here and don't leave the room... ", Chris replied and exited the room. The pilots looked with confused faces at each other as the door shut.

----

The train was riding straight ahead... Robert was on the floor, his head on the backpack, holding the rifle with his arms around it... He seemed bored... again.

----

Somewhere in Macross City...

People were carrying other wounded people to trucks and tanks.

Mick strapped the rifle he was carrying with him on his back and ran to Foxy-Roxy. He could hear a few people shouting to hurry up. His steps were making squishing sounds each step....

When he reached Foxy-Roxy, she remained quiet... unconcious, again.

A sleeping beauty - again -

Mick climbed into the truck and lift her up a little... Her bravery saved him from ending up slashed by the "Invids". Strains of her red hair was on her face. Mick used his hand and moved her hair off her face...

Again, he heard a few people shouting... which reminded him that it was time to get out there.

He grabbed under her and lifted her up, using both arms. She felt light... Trying not to trip and fall, He slowly walked back to the tank and boarded with the rest.

----

Robert yawned... He has been riding for almost more than one hour in one direction, still not knowing what lies ahead... This was indeed disturbing...

----

"Oblivion"... deck 5 C - port side.

Chris walked into another corridor and looked around. When he turned to the right, he saw someone which he would never expect to be onboard the "Oblivion".

It was Sammie Porter, his angel... in her SDF-1 uniform.

At first, they were quiet, staring each other straight into the eye. Then all the sudden, Chris felt a tremendous feeling inside himself, like as if he were a magnet and Sammie were metal...

He dropped his crouch and took a step. He felt overwhelmed and happy to see her.

Unfortunately, his first step was so painful that it forced him to his knees. More pain shot his legs. Sammie ran to him and helped him up. When Chris looked up into her face again... He could see a tear coming out of her eye...

She started to cry, but happily... Happy to see him and to have him in her arms... She hugged so hard that the pain got more intense the more pressure she made... But that did not disturb him at all...

He used his left arm to hug her as well. She could not stop crying... "Chris...", she said and sniffed - trying to keep her tears back, "... You're alive... I - I can't believe it... You're here in my arms...", she started to shake a little, "... You were out there in danger... I knew you were in trouble somehow... somewhere...".

" ... I heard your speech into space... calling me to come back... in one piece", Chris said, then smiled, "... Yes, I was in danger... In great danger... I was surrounded by the "Invids"... and I was ready to die... but then... I heard your voice... telling me that I could not die - not now...".

More tears came out of her eyes, " Please Chris, stop flying... I can't let you fly out there... You mean more than my life... How could I ever live without you in safety?... Please... promise me that you will stop flying... promise me this..."

Something struck Chris' mind... Promise... his mind flashed back... bringing him back to time where he made his promise: A flashback - Sitting in his heavily damaged Valkyrie, he remembered looking back, shouting, "I've lost power and can't control my Valkyrie... ! If you can hear me, I'll come back! I promise! If you two can hear me, I'll come back for you two!!! I'm not going to leave you two here... I'll come back for you........ I will come back... I promise...".

Chris came back to himself again. "Sammie... Dear...", he said to her, lifting her head to his, "I can't... I must fly...".

"Please don't...", she replied sorrowly. The young man grabbed both sides of her shoulders.

"I know you'll hate it... but I can't stop now... Listen dear... There're two young pilots stranded out there that need my help... and if I don't help them... They'll be as good as dead...".

"...But...", Sammie said, Chris continued, interrupting what she was going to say, " Sammie, listen... I would not standing here... nor would I be alive. The two I'm talking about are the ones that rescued my life". His mind shortly flashed the picture of him surrounded by the enemy.

"I-I was outnumbered... and as good as dead... but against all opposing forces and the battle out there, they came in for me... to rescue me... They got me out of trouble... and when the last of the "Invid" was about to do a head-on-head kamikaze with me, they sacraficed their Valkyrie - to protect me..."

Chris remembered how it happened... He shook his head, "I could not do nothing but see how their Valkyrie started to float slowly into the deep of space... Do you understand me, Sammie? They saved my life... I can't quit now... I promised to come back to rescue them... no matter what...", he added and dropped his hands from Sammie's shoulder.

The young lady slowly lowered her head... "I understand...", she said softly...

Chris voice was convincing... It would take more than just words to hold him back. The pilot lifted his head again - His eyes were wide open - He had an idea...

He grabbed Sammie by the arm and his crouch, then pulled her back to the corridor where the briefing room was...

----

Somewhere deep in space...

Darkness... then sunlight-beam from a distant star shining...

Sparrow was sitting in the destroyed cockpit, holding the side handles on each side...

She could her herself breathing loudly... taking deep breaths each second... Her heart was beating so loud that she could slightly hear it... Each loud thump could be heard in her ear... She felt like as if she were in a cage...

She curled herself up... then started repeating quietly to herself:

"Somebody help me, somebody help me, somebody..."

The air in her helmet was hot and humid... She had a strong feeling to take off her helmet... but her hands stayed where they were...

Her feelings were twisted and confused... feeling sickness, sorrowness and death fear at the same time...

As the Valkyrie turned, the sunlight disappeared from the corner of the destroyed cockpit... and a dark shadow started to cover her slowly... She curled more together...

----

Briefring room... "Oblivion" Destroyer...

"Now that was one hell of a flight, huh?", one of the pilots said, feeling happy that it was over.

"You should've seen...", Rooks added, but then stopped in the middle of sentence when he saw that the door opened again.

Chris entered, along with another woman he never seen before. The room went quiet again. Chris was standing in front of the rookies, looking into their questioning faces.

Chris went through his hair... "Ok ladies and gentlemen... listen up", he said, "... The commander said to stay here and rest while two of us are out there ... Well, I don't know about you guys...", he shook his head many times and said, "but I'm not planning on staying. I owe Jester and Sparrow my life. I can't just sit back and rest while they're still out there...".

"What do you mean, sir?", Sqype asked, "You're gonna to go against the orders of Commander DaCowl, or what?".

Chris paused for a few seconds, then he gave a clear answer, "Yes, Sqype - I am... and I'm going to stay on that decision". Sammie stepped forward and she was about to say something, but Chris rose his right hand, showing her to wait.

He continued, "Look, I want to rescue them, no matter if they are dead or alive... I know this will be more worse then finding the legendary needle in the haystack and far more, it will probably cost my career as a Veritech pilot... but I don't care about that anymore. Rescuing them has more priority for me - but this is something I can't do alone".

Many of the faces started looking at each other. They seemed confused. Chris knew this would happen, since all of them just started their career as pilots. Going AWOL would definitely mean the end of flying in the Veritech Defence Force.

"I have no reason for asking you to assist me, nor will I be mad at those who refuse to come. I can't force you guys, but if you come, it will all be under my responsibility".

A moment of silence filled the briefing room. Strange enough, each pilot looked at their co-pilot and vice versa, seeking for an answer...

Cherry rose herself - "I understand... We've already lost good people... Foxy-Roxy... Spades...", she added sadly.

"... and Mick - Vagn... Zyra - Killian - Evan...", Rooks added. His voice went stronger - shaking his head, " and I'm not in the mood to lose two more... For the lack of following some stupid orders".

Cherry smiled at him and looked back to her flight commander, " Sir, you can count on us. We'll back you off where ever we can".

Nalia "Vinshesca" Quamar, RW co-pilot of Helios, is of African heritage and joined the expeditionary forces ever since the truce treaty which was shortly formed during the The Third World War.

During the war, Africa belonged to one of the most unstable continents... Hunger, warlords, diseases were the common factors of this land. Nalia joined the freedom forces and partisan groups to protect the weak from the opposing...

Early in her striving career - she made friendship with Cherry, who belonged to the United Nation Forces. Acting as a contact person, they both supported each other with information - Information in trade for supplies, sometimes weapons, sometimes food and water - Nevertheless, Cherry was always availible and stood behind her.

Never even thinking of loosing contact, they both kept together and decided to join the RDF after it was formed. Nalia's callsign, the beautiful woman with dark-tanned skin and pure eyes of an eagle, was named after the goddess of nature "Vinshesca" from the tales of her family - as for her nature of protecting the weak.

As for now, the "Syndrome", unforetunately, does affect her slightly more than the others, especially her health - but she stands for being a resistant person - and withstanding the unknown force within only by trusting herself brings her strength.

Death for her is nothing more than the next level of existance - and her high morale in battles have shown her squadron that nothing could ever bring her down.

Vinshesca was wearing a flight vest with a short-sleeved suit and also stood up - standing behind Cherry. "I would never leave my sister alone in battle - either", she said with a keen voice - Cheery smiled back.

"Hey!", a man's voice said - It was Helios' voice, "Ya gonna need a pilot", and winked.

Trovski also stood up - "That Jester still owes me credits from that last night...", the russian man said. His RW co-pilot, Scarlet, lifted herself as well and bowed herself towards Chris.

Another pilot stood up, "You're gonna need a wise guy out there, eh?", Wiseguy said, nodding his head with rightiousness.

Piranja, evily grinning already, lifted herself and rose her right fist to the left side of her face. " - and I'll blast any delinquents away that decide to get too close..."

More rookies rose their hands, volenteering. Soon, almost all of them volenteered.

Only those that were already in total fatigue denied, which Chris understood.

"Thanks... I'm pleased ot see so many volenteers who want to help out..." Chris said.

"Hey whoa, wait a minute. I don't think we can just grab Valks to head out there...", Rixler added in a reminding voice, " - beside the security teams, there's this void-stuff out there by now that will definitely mess up our navigation... besides that, we'll be needing support for long range flights with the Valkyries... including modified scanner systems..."

Although they knew this mission was for Jester and Sparrow, Rixler's words were not quite motivating.

A female voice with a french accent spoke, "Hmm, modified scanneurs? Long range suppor' for multip-le Valkyries? 'ow about a CY-27 'Hawks Eye' Reconaisse Carriereur?", Syrie asked.

Rooks clapped his right fist into his left hand, his face seemed like as if a light bulb flashed.

"Why of course!", he said, " A CY-27! Yeah, that type of ship can carry up to six Valks in it belly - Damn, why didn't I get that idea myself..."

They continued the conversation, planning on how to retrieve support and reliable help.

Chris felt more confident - especially that more people were going to help him out, but nevertheless, time was running out and each minute shortened the possibility of finding them alive.

A serious fact that troubled him deeply.

----

As time passed by, Admiral Gloval's order were nearly completed, relocating civlians to the rear city sections of the ship, bringing them into safety.

The bridge was at non-stop activity, even more louder and hectical than normal.

Gloval was in his seat, thinking - not letting himself being distracted by the noise around him.

Trying to keep his mind clear from all the reports and messages he received. He leaned back.

Strange enough, he could still hear the bridge's constant humming power through all the noise around him.

One thought could not get out of his mind... The "Exodus". He had not slept for two days and was still up and awake. He fought against the tireness. It was just not the right time to rest... Thoughts filled his mind...

----

Somewhere under the City, Robert suddenly woke up, as he felt himself sliding towards the front of the train. The train slammed into something and was brought to a sudden stop...

Surprised by the impact, he grabbed his rifle and aimed around, thinking that he was under attack.

Nervously looking for a target, he noticed that he was alone after all - and that the train was not moving-

He got up to his feet and opened one of the windows... Something was different outside again.

He immediately opened the door and jumped outside. It was still raining... iron taste... but something else was different, which started to anger Robert...

It was dark again - The pure night from before.

The ground and other objects around him where reflecting light - very little, making it possible to see the surfaces... and again, the ceiling flashed often, showing electric beams sparking from one spot to another..

He felt somehow as if the long ride was for nothing... instead of leaving the darkness, he was still surrounded by it, although he managed to see some brightness... Maybe it was just his eyes getting used to the dark.

Robert went to the front of the train and noticed that large objects, such as debris and other junk was lying on the railway...

"I guess this is the end of my express train...", he thought. This sounded disturbing to him... without warning, he went back into the train, grabbed his backpack and jumped out again.

Remembering that creatures were everywhere, he was sure that he would be a sitting duck for them if he were to stay at one spot.

He started jogging... heading into nowhere. "Keep moving" was his motto now.

The area he was at was just like the area he was hours ago. The same junk was lying everywhere...

----

Lisa Hayes' voice could be heard. Admiral Gloval noticed that he must have been daydreaming.

"Yes Commander, what is it?", he said, trying to get to the point and feeling a little disorientated at the same time.

"Admiral, we've nearly completed the relocation of all civilians in the central districts", she said. "Commander, please continue with sealing the terminal entries", he replied in a firm voice.

"Are you sure sir?", she asked, questioning his orders, "Sealing the terminals will make it quite impossible for reopening. It could take weeks... even months..." she added.

Admiral Gloval did not reply to her question. She turned around, understanding his "do not ask, fulfill your order" silent reply.

----

Back in the briefing room somewhere on board the "Oblivion", Chris and the rest of his group continue to plan their rescue mission.

"...Ok, recap - let's say we manage to get past all the guards, security systems and the rest, how do we make it out of the bay? The mechanics won't be that cooperative, if you ask me", Sqype said, " Any ideas?".

- The doors swung open - Along with a man with pilot clothes coming through the door, carrying a large container and said, "We'll use these...".

Most of the people in the room looked surprised, since they did not how this person was.

"Who the heck are you, if I may ask? How long were you listening?", Rixler asked and stood up, seeming as if he was ready to do something.

"Easy now, I'm not going to tell anybody about this party.Argo's the name... 27th Armored Destroid Battalion", the pilot replied,"Carrier Dropship Pilot - My co-pilot, Griffon, is taking care of some other things for us - Now then, if you want to get past some of those inconvieneces, then we'll have to use these".

Spencer settled the container down which he was carrying on a table, opened it and pulled out an object.

It was a gun, but not the typical issue which fires projectiles.

He continued, " This here, is something I managed to grab from the armoury, an HL-3... Erm, whatsoever- dunno what exactly it is", he said and shrugged his shoulders, "- but it's energetic and non-fatal to people... Well, let's say pain will get a new name when you get shot by one of these..."

Rixler walked towards him, "Now wait a minute, who said you were gonna take part in this?".

Chris lifted his hand, showing Rixler to stay where he was. "Nevermind him now, Rix', we don't have time, nor do we have the choice, but to rely on his help", he said.

Rixler seemed angry, but stood back and sat again like an angry dog. "I'm watching you - Argo", he said in a threatening voice.

Syrie wove her hand a little, seeming as if she had a question.

"Uh, mes amis, let's say we manage to requieure a reconnaisé shipe - Who will maintain the it's main sensor array?", she asked.

Everybody was startled about the question. They were caught off guard.

She continued, "Not everybody is able to understand the radar and sensor scanning readings. It will requieure a skilled person to understand it. If I am not wrong, Sparrow and Cherry are the only ones who have succedded in the basic avionics systemes... Cherry knows most of the basics... but advanced data?".

Cherry shook her head, " - I'm afraid she right - I can distuingish a rock between a marble using the avionic sensors of a Valkyrie - but using Proglon Quad-Pulse Hyper Sensor with Loopback-Responders and a 47k MegaHz Violator is beyond my skill..."

Chris leaned back with a smile on his face... "Don't worry about the skilled person... That person is in this room right now...", he said. Many faces were now confused, most of them saying "Who... Where?".

Chris turned around, looking towards a confused looking Sammie Porter. She does, in fact, know how to use such systems. The whole room had their attention on Sammie.

She took a step back to the wall, as if she were pushed by their eyes.

"What? Me? You don't mean me, do you? I'm just an SDF-1 Operative, 3rd class .... 5th class in Sensorial Skills ... Y-You can't be serious", she said, trying to look for excuses, " ... besides that, I'm 'space sick'...".

Chris interrupted, "I know how much you hate flying, honey... but we'll be need your help really bad. I don't think any other bridge officer would want to fly with us for free... besides, I don't think I got much choice".

Sammie does hate flying... but remembering Chris saying he would not be alive if the stranded pilots have not came for his rescue did not make it easier for her to say no.

She nodded in agreement -with a sigh-.

----

Again, back somewhere in the darkness under the City Deck, a lonesome figure moved swiftly over the pile of junk and debris on the ground. Constantly jumping and hopping from spot to spot, avoiding small piles, the lonesome figure stubbled over something.

Unfortunately rolling downwards... a steep hill... The unlucky civilian looked around... Under the iron rain, Robert was on his knees - rain drops splashing everywhere...

Something was not right... a strange feeling... he tried to concentrate... something was bugging him... flashes occured above him... only lighting bolts which constantly accompied his rainy misery... but that was not it.

Out of all directions... He could only hear tapping... Robert remained quiet... He started to feel more unsecure. He felt as if knives we coming from all sides, but nothing was around him... It was not his imagination... a few seconds pasted... This feeling... was starting to get familiar... Something...

His feelings are trying warn him... The stabbing feeling was getting stronger as well...

Robert tightened his hands to the rifle... The feeling was as if something was watching him... Something... was stalking somewhere in his surroundings... Watching him...

Not far away, Robert suppossed... Suddenly, he could feel his warning feelings bursting... Something was coming... Something fast... Trusting his instincts, he leaped to the side, rolling away from where he was standing.

A sudden smashing sound occurred next to him, throwing junk all around... Robert turned around and looked... although it was dark, he could see a small crater ... It looked like as if a basketball smashed into the ground...

Another flash occurred from the ceiling, illuminating Roberts surroundings for less than half a second, enough for him to see what was in crater behind him... His eyes went wide when he recognized the object that was in the ground.

A large dark blue object, with many small spikes was raging towards the ground... It was definitely an "Invid" shard... but this one was a lot different than the others... especially it's size...

If he had not moved fast, he would have had a fatal hole in himself.

Where ever it came from, it looks like as if something wanted him dead... Whatever it was, it definitely could manipulate his mind, distracting him to stay on one spot.

Again, he could feel that something was messing around with his mind, this time giving him a headache which is causing him to fall on his knees. The pain was getting stronger by the second.

He bit his teeth together, trying to get a clear mind, then he did another leap ahead... and again, it was right on time. Another large shard smash into the spot behind him...

Robert started to get angry and shouted, "Get out of my head!".

His anger caused him to fire his rifle aimlessly into all directions. High-velocity shots flew everywhere. Robert was getting more and more beserk... but due to the uneven ground under his feet, he tripped and fell back. "What the...", he said, feeling that the pain in his head was a little weaker. All the sudden, he felt another "incoming danger " feeling and again, he did another faithful leap to safety... just on time... but the "incoming danger" feeling was still there.

When he hit the ground, he rolled on, painfully scratching himself on sharp ground. As he rolled, more crushing sounds came from behind, sounding as if more shards were sent to end his misery painfully.

Robert got to his knees, holding his rifle ready. His hands were slightly bloody, since he was holding his scratched-wounded arm for a short time.

"... Where are you... you god-damn... ", he said loudly.

Robert started to notice that when he was facing a specific direction, he could feel his sense telling him something... Something was ahead... and exactly from that direction he could feel that his enemy was just ahead.

Focusing his mind and gathering all his strength, he leaped forward, lifting himself with his backpack and charged ahead. He could feel the next shot coming.

Dodging with no problems, he continued, running as fast as he could. The scratches he had were painful, but then again, the pain was his shield against his enemy's mind-attacks.

He could start seeing something ahead, but it was too dark to tell what it was.

Robert's only guess was that it 100-percently was the beast trying to kill him via longshots. He aimed his rifle and shot bursts... The shots slammed around in front of the "beast" ahead, missing his target.

It was too dark to tell how the creature looked like, but something was strange... Robert noticed that his mind was free... making it easier for him to concentrate on aiming.

" Now I got you...", he whispered to himself... but he did not pull the trigger.

The creature ran off into the deep, running away at a speed that he could not even catch up on if he would have ran after it. Robert lowered his aim, letting it run off. The rain was tapping everywhere around him...

The creature escaped and it did not seem as if it was coming back...

Nevertheless, Robert was sure that it will come back for him. He did not waist another second and started to jog in the same direction. There was no way he could turn back.

Striving through the rain, the soldier-looking figure moved foward into the deep... not knowing what lied ahead... and something was bound to happen.

----

Back on the Oblivion, Chris and his handful of rookie pilots, who were just as determined as he was, were ready for the first step of their plan. Just ten minutes away from it's begin... besides the fact that their plan must work, the chance of being successful is getting smaller and smaller by the second... but this is a fact Chris did not decide to worry about... yet.

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