Okay, okay, but you asked for it! 
Hey kids, what time is it?
IT'S BIG DAMN HERO TIIIIIMMMME!!!
(Brace yourselves, guys. It's a DOOZY!)
Seven days in planetary orbit over Mars, and Kamjin was not letting up. Casualties had been picking up and SDF-1's point defense system, in spite of the pin-point barriers, had been reduced to nearly nothing. In order to compensate, we started deploying destroids along the hull. They don't have quite as much punch as some of the original point defenses, but their advantage is that they are mobile. It's not much, but we'll take it.
I sighed heavily as I flopped back onto my bed at Minmei's place. That night was her sweet sixteen party and in spite of everything else, Roy had pulled enough strings that we weren’t on rapid response that night.
Fortunately, unlike poor Hikaru, I had already thought of a present - a pair of jade earrings carved into a simple, teardrop shape. The real bonus was, however, that despite being simple, they perfectly matched the color of her eyes.
This old man is just a sucker for a girl in love, I guess.
I hadn't really given in, but I honestly couldn't say that I wasn't at least fond of the girl. She always did her best to cheer me up when I was feeling down and she made it a point to always be the one to cook the meals she served to me.
On top of all that, there was also the fact that her aunt and uncle knew all about it. The fact that they have said little about it, let alone continued to rent the room to me, spoke volumes on how they felt on the matter.
I am doomed.
Well, I thought as part of my mind played devil's advocate, if her legal guardians are fine with it, then why let it be an issue?
Because, dimwit, there's the odds that I might jump again!
Whoa. That was something I hadn't thought about in a long time. Fighting for your survival can do that to you, though.
Happy thoughts, Gar-kun! said Katherine suddenly. Minmei! Think about Minmei - just as frustrating, but less painful!
Why you little... I thought back with ire that was almost entirely false while she giggled at me.
Well... I'll just see what happens with Minmei. She's supposed to attend the Miss Macross competition soon, and that will jump start her entire celebrity career. Once she's too busy with her fans she won't have time for me. If I somehow jump during that time, then that will be fine. But otherwise...
We'll see, I guess.
My reverie was interrupted by the 1MC speaker that had been installed in all rooms of all buildings in Macros City. A list of people who were to report to HQ was being rattled off. At first I paid it no real mind, up until I heard the words, "And also Petty-Officers Garrick Grim and Hikaru Ichijyo."
"The hell," I grumbled as I hauled myself up off the bed.
Hikaru met me in the hallway. "Any idea what this is about, Robber?" he asked as we made our way downstairs at a brisk trot.
"Not a clue, Fuzzy."
"Hey!" came Minmei's voice. "What's going on?"
"No idea," answered Hikaru for us both.
"Will you be back in time for the party?" she asked worriedly.
"We'll do our best to get here on time," I answered with a smile.
"I'll hold you to it Garrick," she said, leveling an index-finger at me.
I grinned then turned to Hikaru. "C'mon, let's take my truck."
##
We were directed to the main conference room in the Headquarters building where the top brass held their own briefings. I was as nervous as Hikaru was when he reached to knock on the door when it hit me.
I knew what was going on now. This was where Hikaru was given some award for valor, and Roy took him aside and told him about his meteoric promotion into mustang territory.
I wondered what would happen with me.
A female Yeoman with a huge volume of orange curls directed us to toe the line with all the other awardees. Before us in a large set of tables arrange in a U-shape sat all the senior officers of the SDF-1. So many Commanders and Lieutenants. Roy was there at the very end of one table, where he gave us a subtle wave. Hikaru's nervousness got worse, nonetheless.
"Fuzzy, knock it off," I hissed at him soto voiced. "We're not in trouble here, so get at attention."
Hikaru thought of that for a moment, then realized what I meant as he straightened himself out and stood at attention like the rest of us.
And with that, the award ceremony carried on.
##
The Titanium Medal of Valor was a lot nicer up close and in person. It really was made of titanium, and so it had a very attractive gold and red sheen from the oxidation of the titanium.
"Hey, you two. Hold on a minute," came Roy's voice behind us as we were making our way out. Sure enough, there he was behind us in one of the smaller conference rooms. "Come on over, let's talk for a minute."
"What's going on?" asked Hikaru as we entered the conference room which looked more like a lounge than anything else.
"Have a seat," Roy told us. With nothing better to do, we both sat down in the nice, plush seats. "So, how'd you boys like that award ceremony?"
I guffawed at that, much to Hikaru's surprise. "Kinda funny. I got an award sprung on me like that back when I was in the Navy."
"Oh?" said Roy. "How so?"
"Remember that perfect score on INSURV you mentioned before I decided to join up, sir? Well, we had a Captain's Call about a month afterwards. The CO would dole out awards and things like that on a pretty regular basis, but I was humble enough to think that I wouldn't ever be getting called up for anything. So, there I am in filthy coveralls and utility jacket because it's just a Captain's Call - the old man knows we got work to do - and then they call my name. Next thing I know they're pinning a Navy/Marine Corps achievement medal to my chest for that perfect score."
Roy chuckled. "In dirty coveralls, huh? I don't think the Captain would have stood for that at all."
The SDF-1 was home to an entire flight of strike fighters, composed of four groups with four squadrons a piece, and each squadron with four wings a piece. Wings are commanded by Lieutenants, squadrons by Lieutenant-Commanders, and groups by Commanders. And, of course it was a Captain that was in overall command of the flight. When Roy said 'Captain' here, he wasn't talking about Gloval. While Gloval was a Captain by rank, his actual title was ‘Commodore’. There were other Captains aboard and ours dealt with the day-to-day operations of the Valkyries aboard SDF-1. I didn't really like the man much myself because he was such a pompous blowhard. The way he acted you’d almost think the man never spent a single hour inside a cockpit.
"Well, in that case I'm glad I was in a nice clean uniform," said Hikaru.
Roy laughed. "Well, I hope you boys are ready for some more surprises then," he said as he then tossed us both a small box each. "Congratulations on your new promotion!"
"Oh you gotta be kidding me," I muttered as I opened mine. Sure enough, there was a set of a brand new Ensign's bar in there.
"Ensigns?" said Hikaru in shock. "Isn't that skipping several paygrades?"
"I put you boys into the Enlisted-to-Officer program," said Roy. "Sorry for not telling you, but your talents will be put to better use as line officers. Especially you, wise-ass," said Roy with mock-anger, leveling an index finger at me.
"Who, me?" I said innocently. You could practically see the halo.
"Yes you. I told you that if you kept on saying things like that you were gonna regret it. Just you keep it up and see where it lands you."
"Yes sir, Mother!"
"Now, Fuzzy, what I'm going to do is that I'm going to put you in command of your own flight. Normally a flight only has one Lieutennant, but since I can't really split up you and Cradle Robber here, he's going to be your Exec." At this Roy gave me a meaningful look. "Any problems with that, Cradle Robber?"
I smiled ruefully. "No sir, Mother. All I can say about this is that I asked for it."
Roy grinned back. "Damn right you did. Anyhow, now that you two are in charge of a flight that means you two have some subordinates to be assigned to you." With that, Roy turned a monitor to face us as the computer rattled off the names, ranks, and school grades of two green pilots.
Miximillian Jeneus.
And Hayao Kakizaki.
I knew we weren't going to have a problem with Max. It was Hayao Kakizaki that worried me. But I was going to do whatever I could to make sure that Hayao got through the First Robotech War in one piece. This war was already costing too many lives.
There was a knock at the door and Roy called for them to enter. In came our two new rookies. Hayao with his bear-like height and build and hair that was stolen from Dragon Ball Z, and Max for whom everything was blue, like the song from Eiffel 65.
The two stood to attention and saluted.
"Spaceman Hayao ‘Dragonball’ Kakizaki reporting as ordered, sir!"
"Spaceman Max ‘Cornflower’ Stirling reporting as ordered, sir!" Roy, Hikaru, and I stood and returned the salute.
"Ensign Garrick 'Cradle Robber' Grim."
"Ensign Hikaru 'Fuzzy' Hunter."
"Lieutennant-Commander Roy 'Mother' Focker. At ease, Gentlemen," Roy said after Max and Hayao dropped their salutes. After that, we all exchanged handshakes because we all knew what this was about.
"Gentlemen," said Roy after all the pleasantries and ceremony was aside. "You are now Red Wing of the Skull Squadron."
“Yech,” I said as the potential jokes came to mind. “Being called ‘Cradle Robber’ is bad enough without being in ‘Red Wing’.”
Now, some of you might be going, Hey, what about Vermillion?
Well, simply put, the military doesn’t put on airs like that in real life. Vermillion is so close in color to just plain old Red that it actually was the basis for red before modern chemicals rendered the pigment obsolete. And having two colors in a Group that so closely resembled each other was just begging for mix-ups and confusion.
"Ah, don't let it get you down, sir!" said Hayao bawdily. "Why, with me in your wing you won't have to worry about anything. AH-HA-HA-HAH!"
Hooo boy. I had my work cut out for me.
"Well, at least we got introductions aside. Why don't you boys all go out and get acquainted with each other. There is that sweet sixteen Minmei's throwing tonight. And I made certain that all of Skull Squadron had the night off so that you, Cradle Robber, didn't have an excuse for -not- attending."
"God," I swore, “That call sign. You might as well just hang a neon sign over my head that screams ‘Lock up your daughters!’"
Everyone broke up laughing at that. "Are you really serious, sir? A sixteen year old girl wants to marry you?"
"I can hardly believe it myself," said Hikaru. "But she's about as determined as they come. Any worse and she'd join the UN Spacey just so she can fly as wingman."
"And don't any of you dare even whisper that idea to her," I snapped. Knowing Minmei at this point, she'd do it on a lark, and then keep right at it because it challenged her. The dynamics of Macross city would probably let her balance celebrity life with military life. Hell, that'd be a heck of a promotional stunt. She sings, dances, acts, and is even a combat pilot. It'd be a throwback all the way to World War Two, when celebrities like Clark Gable gained notoriety for setting their acting careers aside to fight in the war.
You never saw celebrities like that there afterwards. The artists would always support the troops, but never become one of them.
After another round of getting ribbed by my superior, my peer, and my subordinates, I cut them all off by saying,
"Okay guys, that's enough. If we're gonna make it to Minmei's party, then we better go now. Especially if certain people are gonna snag her a last-minute gift!"
"Uh-oh," said Hikaru as he turned red. Despite what all had happened, he did like Minmei, only more like she was the little sister he never got to have.
##
And so we took off. For all the world we looked like the good ‘ole boys coming hot off the college campus for a night on the town. It didn't help matters any that I had recently brought out Scooby. The old four-door Ranger did look a bit out of place in a city where, for some reason, many civilian vehicles had three axles. And Scooby turned even more heads for having the full-length seven-foot bed where as the four-door Rangers only had a five-foot bed.
But at least the diesel-electric drive was pretty standard as far a vehicles here went.
A quick stop by the shopping district to get everything we needed, and we ended our rounds at the Restaurant.
Minmei was dressed in her finest for that evening, and that meant the nice cheongsam with the long slit up the side so she can show off what her mother gave her.
That meant there was nothing keeping her from running up and trying to tackle me.
"You CAME!" she squealed with delight as I canceled out her momentum by spinning her around. Hikaru, Hayao and Max had been smart enough to move aside when they saw Minmei coming. Jeering cheers and playful catcalls from everyone already present filled the air and the sentiment was all the same: "Go for it, Cradle Robber, you dog."
"Yeah yeah," I called out to everyone. "Not like I came looking for this one. She came after me!"
More jeers. Minmei only giggled and asked me to introduce everyone. Minmei made sure we got seated at her table as Hayao and Max got introduced.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," said Minmei. "So, Garrick, Hikaru?" Do you two have something for me?" she asked, batting her eyelashes coyly. The little imp.
"Gee, I wonder if I should even give you a gift, with you vamping it up around all these people."
I was promptly attacked by just about every napkin in the restaurant, much to Minmei's delight.
I rolled my eyes as I shrugged off the sudden assault of cloth napkins and said, "Okay, okay, yes, I got your a gift. Happy birthday Minmei."
I then handed her the neatly wrapped box. Hikaru, Max, and Hayao handed theirs over as well.
Minmei was delighted and tore into the boxes right away. From Hayao, it was flowers - a tasteful arrangement that, fortunately, he took my advice in having the girl at the shop make the arrangement for him so there wouldn't be some mistaken message in there. Max got her a set box of the best chocolates in Macross City - I had to say that I was actually kinda jealous. I hadn't had really good chocolate in a while. And Hikaru, inspired by the shine of his own Titanium Medal, got her a lovely titanium alloy pendant that had the same attractive rainbow sheen, cut in the shape of a feather.
"What about mine?" I asked as she put everything away.
"I'll open yours later. I'm saving the reaction for you and you alone, Mr. Grimm." More cat calls for that one. It just wasn't my night.
But that was when the festivities got cut short - the alarm rang out and all Valkyrie pilots were called in... which was just about everyone in a uniform inside the Nyan-Nyan.
"Duty calls, Minmei. I'll com back later."
"Wait!" said Minmei as she then wrapped her arms around my head and put a fast one on my lips. Yet more cheers, this time they were the loudest of all. "Go knock 'em dead for me."
"Yes ma'am!" I said with a salute. "C'mon guys! Plenty of room in my truck!" With a further cheer, everyone went charging out of the restaurant in a stampede and started cramming themselves in and onto Scooby.
"Alright everybody! Make sure you got a good handhold out there, cause I'm gonna open this sucker up!" The stroppy little diesel clattered to life as I threw Scooby into Sports Mode and gunned it.
Scooby did not peel out. With the traction control of all four wheel motors, Scooby positively launched itself like a Valkyrie off the catapult. I knew from the rebel yells and war whoops there were a couple of genuine Good Ol' Boys that definitely approved.
The best thing about this situation was that we didn't have to stop for anything short of another military transport. All traffic had to pull off the roads whenever a call to scramble went out. Ours was one of the few vehicles out there, and once people saw us coming they got the hell out of the way. We made it over to the Prometheus before any of the military transports and got fitted out with practiced ease.
Already, Hikaru and I had VF-1J's waiting for us, along with Hayao and Max's VF-1A's. Apparently this was not some off-the-cuff idea of Roy's. This had been in the works for a while, and the Spacey with its typical efficiency had made preparations in advance. Strips of red on the ruddervators along with our squadron number set us apart.
We were Red Wing of the Skull Squadron.
With little time for formalities, Hayao and Max got acquainted with their plane captains while ours assured us that theirs were in good hands - both plane captains had been promoted out of their crews.
Our planes were good to go - the paint had just barely dried. Hikaru and I were up on deck first, followed by Hayao and Max.
"Okay you guys, here's the deal,” explained Hikaru on our wing’s private channel while we waited for our turn at the catapults. “I'm nominally in charge, but if Cradle Robber says something then you'd better be paying attention. He's usually dead-on with his hunches, and even when he's not he's close enough for government work."
"Yes sir!" chorused the two green pilots.
“Hey, Robber. Which one of these new pilots you wanna take?”
"You go ahead and take Cornflower with you, Fuzzy."
"You sure about that, Cradle Robber?"
"I got a good feeling about Cornflower. I don’t think he’ll give you much trouble. Dragonball, you're with me, and don't you try any funny business. When I say jump you say how high. You got me, pilot?"
"Sir, yes sir!" I could tell that I had his attention now. I was gonna make an outstanding pilot out of him yet.
##
Once we got into the vacuum, our marching orders weren’t long in coming. Naturally, since we had some greenies with us, we got posted all the way to the last defensive line.
“Aww man! We’re never gonna get any action back here.”
“Stow it, Dragonball,” I said, cutting him off tersely. “Look at your tactical plot and you tell me if you think any of that furball is gonna come our way.”
“What? Let’s see... oh. Wow. That’s... That’s a lot.”
“Exactly, pilot. Whole lotta them. Not many of us. Now you stay on my wing like glue. The instant these guys separate us is the instant you get skewered. Your life literally depends on you not losing track of your wingman.”
“Yes sir!”
Say what you will about Kamjin - he may be a show boat and a glory hound, but he is also a damn fine tactician. Within minutes he had peeled all the defensive lines back like an onion, leaving only ours.
“Look alive!” called Hikaru. “Robber, you got the DM gun. Think you can plink those EWAR Pods?”
“With a vengeance, Fuzzy. Dragonball, watch my six for me and take notes.”
“... Yes sir.”
“No need to ‘sir’ me while we’re in the cockpit,” I said as I went to Batroid form and brought up my GU-16 and set my targeting radar to standby. “Cradle Robber or just Robber will do fine. One other thing.”
“What’s that, Cradle Robber?”
“Once I start taking out the high-value targets, there’s a command pod out there that’s probably gonna single me out real fast. He and I have prior history. If he shows up, you stay the hell away from him - the instant he knows you’re there he’ll eat you alive. Got it Dragonball?”
“... crystal,” said the pilot, his voice almost cracking. Good.
I sized up the group coming at us with optics only - no need to let the know they were being bracket by my targeting radar. Besides, we were holy-fuck close in terms of space combat. They were saving their munitions for when they got to the SDF-1.
I was not going to give them that luxury.
There were only two EWAR pods - their massive antenna arrays mounted over the tops of their mechs made for dead giveaways. I’d have to be quick about this, because I definitely saw Kamjin’s command pod out there.
“Gunsight, Red-2 Skull Squadron - be advised: commander unit sighted.”
“Red-2 Skull, Gunsight - copy that, pilot,” came Misa Hayase’s cool, professional work-voice. “Do what you can to slow them down.”
“Red-2, Gunsight: Understood.”
I lined up my shot and pulled the trigger. The GU-16 bucked against my Valkyrie’s unyielding grip and my RCS thrusters fired automatically to compensate. The EWAR pod popped like a balloon and I quickly did the same for the other one.
Kamjin’s unit scattered like a startled flock of birds, but Kamjin himself fired his mains and came barreling straight for us.
“Here he comes!” cried out Fuzzy. “Robber?”
“I got him, Fuzzy. You got your wingman, so you do you for a bit. No need to mother hen me. Dragonball, hang back and try to stay out of his firing arcs. Don’t even try for a missile lock until I tell you!”
“Right!”
I charged ahead on my main engines in Batroid mode to meet Kamjin head on. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for my laser designation warning to blare, so I snapped to the side and narrowly avoided getting fried by those twin canons he’s got for arms on that thing.
And then it was just Kamjin and me, dancing in the vacuum and trying to get a bead on each other all while trying to herd each other with our secondaries. It was hard work - those Command Pods may be bigger, but they sure as hell ain’t slower.
While I certainly had his attention, he wasn’t oblivious. He was definitely pushing us back towards the SDF-1. But I wasn’t going to let that be any sort of hinderance.
“Dragonball, when I give the word, light him up for a missile lock. If you get a lock, go ahead and let one go, but get evasive the moment he turns his attention on you. Then I’ll light him and and he should bug out once he realizes it’s two-on-one. Once that happens, we’re gonna fall back to the hull and assist the Defender teams - especially the Monsters.”
“Got it!”
I must have really had Kamjin’s attention, because he never noticed Dragonball settling on his six until he got painted by the Valkyrie’s acquisition radar. I could almost see the shocked look on his face as his Command Pod swung around.
“Oh no you don’t!” I growled as I raised my gunpod and took two snapshots.
My movement’s were somewhat too quick, but I did hit him - the first shot completely destroying his right cannon, and the second neatly severed his left one.
Kamjin was no fool. He booked it so fast that I’m surprised he didn’t leave an outline made of the space dust that was on his hull.
“Dragonball! To the hull, now!” I snapped out, firewalling my throttles as I dove for the relative safety of the Macross’s hull.
“Right behind ya, Robber!”
“Jesus Christ!” came Rick’s shocked voice on the radio. “Are you okay down there, Robber!”
“Yeah, just a little shaken up, Fuzzy. Those Command Pods are no joke.”
“Good. Cornflower and I are coming in - he’s cleaning up out here, but we still can’t hold them all off.”
“Okay, Dragonball and I are gonna take up position overlooking the Monsters and try to give those poor bastards some cover - you know they’re shit when the fighting gets too close.”
And that was the gospel truth. The HWR-00 MkII Monsters lived up to their name with their massive 40cm canons and fiendish tri-barrel missile launchers on each arm.
However that is the extent of their armament. They have no real means to defend themselves when the fighting gets up close and personal. And I knew for a fact that just about every one of our precious Monsters were about to get wiped out if we didn’t do something about it.
The lead Monster saluted us as we settled on the platform overlooking their position and no sooner than when Hikaru and Max join us did Kamjin’s battle pods come to ruin the day.
We weren’t gonna let that happen.
The moment the battle pods crested over the edge of the SDF-1’s hull they were met by a wave of 35mm and 76mm rounds. One did get close enough to make the Monster jockies sweat, but a sweet somersault by Max put him at a perfect angle to eliminate the battlepod with a flourish.
“Holy hell Red Wing!” came the voice of the lead Monster commander. “You guys saved our asses. Next time we see each other the drink are gonna be on us.”
“Thanks,” replied Hikaru, “But we got a birthday party to get back to once we mop up out here. You can come along, though, as long as you promise to behave yourselves.”
“Birthday party? Oh! You mean that cute waitress at the Nyan-Nyan... then that means... HAH! Hey guys! Get a load of this! Cradle Robber is in Red Wing!”
“oh god here we go,” I grumbled to myself.
And that was when it happened.
Kamjin’s command unit settled down on the deck in front of us. The cockpit opened and Kamjin himself stepped out, pointing a finger clearly at me.
“The commander!” squawked one of the Monster commanders. “I’m gonna light his ass up-”
“Belay that!” I snapped. “He’s calling me out.”
“What!?” cried out Hikaru in shock. “Why!?”
“He wants to settle things between us. Just him and I.”
“A duel!?” said Max in surprise.
“Yeah. Why do you think he’s been hounding us all this time? He’s had it out for me ever since Mars. Watch my back, guys.”
“Are you serious, Robber!? What if he beats you?”
“I’m no pushover, Fuzzy. I got this. Besides, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. If I settle this, then the raids will probably stop. If not, then they’re gonna keep coming at us until they bleed us dry.”
“Alright, but be careful, dammit!”
“I will.”
With that, I boosted up over the ledges and settled down before Kamjin. I couldn’t make much out since he was in a proper combat-rated vacuum suit.
There was a wrecked Defender next to me - no sign of the pilot. It had taken a direct hit to one of the magazines. Keeping an eye on Kamjin, I wrenched the pair of gun barrels off the wreck and tossed one to Kamjin. I kept the other and took my Jyuraian fencer’s stance.
Kamjin took up the gun barrel. There was a crackle of static and I heard his voice. He was speaking Zentran, but it was plainly evident from the tone in his voice that he definitely approved, and took his own fighting stance as well.
All kinds of chatter started filtering through my headset, all of it focused on Kamjin and I. The battle had come to a dead stop so that everyone on both sides could watch. Hell, people were starting to take bets. Odds leaned slightly in my favor from the sound of things, but Kamjin was something of a dark horse.
And just when things were getting good, Kamjin exploded in outrage, throwing down the improvised weapon and jumping into his command pod.
Ah, the recall order. Breetai is finally putting his foot down. However, I knew that with him keeping a close eye on the developing situation, he was all too aware of what had been going on between Kamjin and myself. Did the venerable Zentradi Commander have a reason for stopping things there and then?
“All units, Gunsight: break off,” came Misa Hayase’s voice. “Do not pursue enemy forces. Fall back to final defensive line and hold position until enemy withdrawal can be verified.”
Reluctantly, all the Valkyrie’s pulled away, like as though they were sullen boys being called back home by their mothers, scolding them for roughhousing with the kids from the next neighborhood over.
But the background chatter carried on. Cradle Robber was the hot topic - the guy that had the balls to stand up and face an elite Zentradi commander all on his own.
##
Ours was an eerily silent wing as we landed on the Prometheus and went through post-flight procedures. They were all in shock.
Hikaru was an incredibly talented pilot - nobody could match his skills. Except maybe Roy, but that was only on a good day.
Max was a prodigy and already an ace on his first sortie.
Hayao was a man full of bravado and gusto.
But me? I was the mad-eyed crazy sunuvabitch that stood toe-to-toe with the elite of the Zentradi and lived to tell about it.
I could almost see their thoughts. That is my wingman? How the in the hell am I supposed to keep up with that!?
I sighed.
Hey, Katherine?
‘Sup?
I did it again, didn’t I?
You mean you went out, acting like a bad ass, and owned the heck out of it? She giggled and went on, Yeah, you sure did, Gar-kun.
Well ain’t that just Jim-Crackin’-dandy.
“Robber!” came Roy’s voice crisply in my headset. “Word from the very top. Captain Gloval wants you in his office ASAP.”
Holy.
Fuck.
And judging by the tone in Roy’s voice, even he wasn’t really sure what this meant for me.
##
I stood at attention outside the Captain’s office waiting.
Waiting for what, I had no idea whatsoever. But as soon as the Captain was able to get away from his responsibilities on the bridge, I would find out soon after.
I heard the tall Russian’s heavy footsteps and stood a bit straighter, my gaze carefully kept forward as the Captain paused to inspect me.
“Hmm. Very well then. Inside with you, Ensign,” he said as he keyed open the door and went inside.
“Yes sir,” I said smartly as I followed the Captain in, marching crisply the whole way, and stood attention in front of his desk.
“At ease, pilot,” said the Captain as he sat wearily into his seat. “We’re both fighting men here. No need for ceremony now.” He then ducked his head down as he opened a drawer in his desk. “Do you drink, pilot?”
“Occasionally sir,” I said as I relaxed into an at-ease posture. “I try to stay sober as much as possible since our enemies have taken to attacking with great frequency.”
“Hmm. Very good of you, pilot,” said the Captain as he came back up with a bottle of Russian Standard Vodka and two tumblers. “As you may know, it is tradition that once the bottle is opened, we do not stop until it is emptied. But as you said, it’s best to remain sober, no matter how often I wish to finish one of these bottles with a friend. Please, sit down. Grimm, was it?”
“Yes sir,” I replied, to both the request and the clarification. “Call sign is Cradle Robber.”
The Captain chuckled as he poured a jigger of vodka into each tumbler. “Ah yes. Because of that girl. Don’t think that I haven’t heard about that, pilot. With all the gossip my girls get up to, I hear all kinds of things.”
He then looked at me with a mischievous grin and a glint in his eyes. “You really are one hell of a lucky dog, you Cradle Robber!”
With that, he raised his glass, so I raised mine to meet his.
“That’s what they tell me, sir.”
And we both drank.
I’ll say this about Gloval - he sure knew where to get the good stuff. That was the smoothest Vodka I’ve ever had, and I’ve actually gone drinking in Vladivostok!
“Hmm,” said the old Russian as he savored the burn of his Vodka. “The age difference aside, Mr. Grimm, I think the two of you are good together. I’ve heard that she’s entering the Miss Macross competition.”
“Yes sir. She has her heart set on becoming a pop singer.”
The old captain smiled, no doubt thinking fondly of how the young can dream so big.
“I’ve been tapped to be one of the judges, you know. Personally, I think it’s silly for me to be involved in such things, but the rest of the citizens think its wonderful. Although, I must say, impartiality be damned, that I think I know who’s going to be taking home the crown on that night!”
I smiled a bit and tilted my head in a ‘wellll, you knowwww’ gesture. The captain laughed and began to pour a second round.
“I’ve lost many friends over the years,” said the Captain, a bit more sober now, though with a wistful sort of fondness in his tone. “During the Cold War and the Anti-Unification War... And now there is yet another war that Humanity must bear through. And here before me is a pilot with the guts to put all the rest on this ship to shame. I don’t think even the venerable hero, Lieutenant-Commander Fokker, could pull what you did out there today.
“Mr. Grimm, as of late you have been a source of insight and inspiration that has been sorely lacking. We lack the tacticians that we should have gotten underway with as this was originally intended to be a sort of dog and pony show put on by the UN.
“Additionally, you managed, quite by accident I am sure, to single-handedly stopped that battle cold. You did so by making yourself known to their Commander on Mars, and continued to do so until he finally sought you out.
“And you answered in kind.”
Gloval shook his head in grim amusement. “I don’t think that sort of thing has been seen in centuries of our history of war - one man calling out another to a solo duel in the midst of battle. That, my friend, is the very essence of a warrior - to answer a challenge given so directly.
“Yes. This day forward, I call you friend. Not only because you are a good man, Mr. Grimm, but because you do what you can to save lives out there by putting yours on the line. And, might I add, not so rashly and brazenly as others, but with a calculated consideration of what you can get away with.”
And with that he raised his glass once more, so I did the same and we both drank.
“Now,” sighed the old Captain. “I must say, Mr. Grimm, how did you come to learn swordplay? Your style seems to have a distinct flavor of Japan to it.”
I nodded. “Yes sir. When I left the US Navy, I was at a sort of loose end. Since I was already in Japan, I traveled the country for a bit until I got stranded in Okayama prefecture. I took on an odd job as a farm hand for one of the old families that had been there for generations and they wound up taking a shine to me. Pretty much all but adopted me, sir, and the head of their family even took me on as a student in their style of swordplay. Well... I studied the style for a year or so, but then circumstances arose forcing me to go my own way. I’ve been improvising on what I had learned of the style ever since.”
The Captain nodded along, taking out that lewdly carved wooden pipe of his, adding a bit of fresh tobacco and tamping it down, and then lighting it with a match before settling into contented puffing.
I wasn’t going to begrudge the man his vice. He got enough of that from the bridge bunnies. Besides, he smoked the good tobacco - the stuff that actually smells... delicious.
“I get the impression that you’ve had to break a few hearts in that time,” said the Captain with a knowing smile.
I sighed. “There were a few girls there vying for the spot as my girl. To be honest, it was very disconcerting because it isn’t like I could date them at the same time.”
The captain chuckled heartily at that. “Ah yes. The young ladies, always wanting to monopolize the man. I suppose then it’s good that little Minmei has made it clear to all that you’re hers and hers alone!” He broke into hearty laughter at that.
Oh wow, if only he knew the truth! cried out Katherine gleefully.
“Oh brother, don’t I know it!”
The captain recovered himself quickly and went on, “At any rate, Mr. Grimm, I wish to congratulate you. Not only on capturing the heart of such a lovely little lady, but also on your acknowledgment as a worthy adversary by our enemy. You can rest assured that they will fight you with a great degree of respect from this day forward. I only ask that you return that courtesy. It is said that chivalry is dead, but I suspect that our enemy has not quite gotten that memo. Or some of them, at least.
“Now, I think I’ve kept you long enough, pilot. Isn’t there a girl waiting for you?”
“Ugh, she’s like an anti-radiation missile, sir. She has the uncanny ability to home in on me like I was a mobile SAM-site.”
The captain guffawed once more as he stood up, motioning for me to do the same. “Yes, such is the mysterious power of women, eh? No obstacle in the universe will stand in their way, and sometimes not even death itself is immune to their perspicacity and persistence!”
He took ahold of my shoulder in a comradely way and went on, “You go now, friend, and make that girl happy, eh?”
“Yes sir.” And with that, the Captain sent me on my with a hearty slap on the back.
“And Mr. Grimm?”
“Yes sir?”
“We’ll be having more of these little chats. I think we would all benefit if I picked your brain from time to time.”
And with that, I knew that I was a lot more than just ‘on the radar’.
I was Captain Gloval’s special project.
Sweet Tsunami, what have I gotten myself into?
##
When I finally got back to the Nyan-Nyan, it was not, as I had originally expected, closed for the night.
Instead, the place was absolutely ablaze as raucous laughter came streaming out the open door. Just outside, an A-frame sign had been set out that read:
“Celebrate our very own Lynn Minmei’s Sweet Sixteen”
But hastily added on in black sharpie marker, it also read,
“...And Cradle Robber’s Daring-Do Victory!”
“oh boy,” I muttered to myself and prepared myself for the worst.
And the worst was what I got.
Just about every Valkyrie and Destroid jockey had to be crammed into the place, along with the Bridge Bunnies, Misa Hayase, and Claudia LaSalle.
Someone had setup a karaoke machine and Claudia was up on a makeshift stage that appeared to be one of the restaurant tables with its legs removed. And she was belting out one of the bawdiest love songs a woman could possibly sing with a perfectly affected Celtic lilt.
All the men were absolutely howling with laughter, and Roy was getting cuffed and pelted from left and right with napkins as it was quite well known that he and Claudia were engaged. Even the Bridge Bunnies weren’t immune and were nearly rolling on the floor as the clutched their sides.
Misa, on the other hand, looked absolutely torn between utter horror and laughing herself silly - she seemed to be settling somewhere in the neighborhood of completely flabbergasted as she had no idea her best friend and coworker had this side to her.
I held no pity for her, because she of all people should expect nothing less from a woman marrying a hot-dog fighter ace like Roy.
And Minmei... Minmei was filling the air with peals of scandalized delight as she knew full well who ‘Nine Time A Night’ was supposed to be this time around, despite herself not being a widow.
Claudia wasted no time, having spotted be well before she had finished the cant, and point me out for everyone that hadn’t noticed my presence yet.
“And here is the man of the hour himself, Mister Garrick. CRADLE ROBBER! GRIIMMMMMMM!!!”
Wheeeee! Claudia sure know how to work up a crowd, huh Gar-kun~?
Oh hush you! I was saying that a lot to her lately.
Much to my surprise, instead of merely being applauded, I was suddenly mobbed. Hands grabbed me, hauled me over to a chair, which was then whisked away to Minmei’s table. The whole way, everyone sang ‘For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow’ with the crescendo coming right as I was deposited across from the delighted girl.
A plate of Walnut Chicken was placed before me, piping hot, and chopsticks shoved into my hands.
Minmei only beamed at me and I knew without a doubt that she had prepared this herself, and somehow without landing a single drop of anything onto her beautiful cheongsam.
Now that was some serious skill.
Minmei giggled at the bewildered look on my face.
“Eat up, Gar-kun. Today is our special day together~.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed, albeit a small one, at that remark.
“Only you, you little imp, could be so happy about us having dinner together with this many people watching us like hawks on nitrous oxide.” Minmei only smiled gleefully back, and I could only shake my head in bemusement as I dug in.
##
Later that night, once everyone had been gently ushered out (or in a few cases, not so gently by their superiors), Minmei and I had the restaurant all to ourselves as her aunt and uncle cleaned up in the kitchen.
“So, are you gonna tell me what it is?” she asked coyly.
I gave her an amused, cock-eyed look and said, “Just open it, you adorable little imp.”
Minmei put on the face of someone that was supposed to be offended, but couldn’t hold it for even more than a second. She laugh and then opened the box.
And there it was. That wide-eyed look of wonder as she saw the contents.
“Oh, Garrick! How did you find real jade here!?” she asked as she lifted the earrings out of the box. “And in the color of my eyes, too!”
I shrugged. “I’ve been looking around for a while now. Since you made sure to tell me when you birthday was long ago, I kept my eyes open for something that would be as unique and special as you.”
Minmei lunged over the table to wrap her arms around me, almost forgetting about the earrings in her hand as I felt the hooks pricking against my back through my uniform.
“I don’t think I’ve ever said it until now, but I love you Garrick.”
She let go, but only enough so she can come back in for a kiss. I stopped her gently though, and I knew that I had one of those looks on my face when there was something very heavy on my mind.
“What?” asked Minmei, her own face worried as she read the look perfectly.
I sighed. “Minmei, I need you to know something. I have some secrets - not the military kind - that I’ve been keeping from everyone.”
The look of worry on Minmei’s face deepened and I rushed on.
“No, nothing bad. I’m not secretly some enemy spy or evil villain or anything like that!” I said with a grin and instantly she smiled back, no doubt imagining me dressed in a black cloak with satin red lining, a long, thin mustache perfect for twirling, a monocle, and a cackling evil laugh.
“However,” I went on, “it’s something that I can’t reveal just yet. But when I do reveal it... you may decide that I’m not someone you should marry.”
Minmei blinked at me, her mind no doubt trying to come up with all sorts of scenarios.
But then, she simply said, “How could I marry anyone else when you make me feel safe and loved no matter what’s happening?”
I looked at her in surprise and Minmei grinned back at me.
“I know you love me, Garrick. You try so hard, but it’s there. I saw it the moment you would look at me after we first met. You probably never even realized it yourself - you’re such a sucker for a pretty little girl like me, aren’t you?”
I felt ashamed. She was right. During that time, I would steal looks at her when Hikaru wasn’t watching, and admired how beautiful she is. But I hadn’t realized that she’d noticed.
Minmei continued, “That week that we were all stranded, I got to see someone with an unshakable confidence. Not some swaggering sense of superiority so many other guys use. But you give off the sense that everything is going to be okay. And because of you I knew that we were going to be just fine, that someone would find us soon, and we wouldn’t spend the rest of our lives lost inside a strange place.” She then grinned a bit impishly. “Though it does sound kinda romantic when I say it like that.”
I scoffed in amusement at that. “Of course you would. You’re such a romantic girl,” I said as I brushed an errant bit of her hair aside. “But do you think you can handle it? I mean, I come from a home with a lot of very strong personalities. Lovers and fighters, princesses and pirates, mad scientists and plucky detectives... It’s a real nut house, you know. And it would be a very very long ways from your home. Think you could handle it?”
Minmei smiled back at me. “I can handle anything,” she said with the quiet sort of conviction that only a girl in love could muster as her face grew closer to mine.
I couldn’t help but grin as well. “We’ll see about that.”
Our eyes closed and for the first time, my lips willingly met hers, and I would never forget it.
Hey kids, what time is it?
IT'S BIG DAMN HERO TIIIIIMMMME!!!
(Brace yourselves, guys. It's a DOOZY!)
Seven days in planetary orbit over Mars, and Kamjin was not letting up. Casualties had been picking up and SDF-1's point defense system, in spite of the pin-point barriers, had been reduced to nearly nothing. In order to compensate, we started deploying destroids along the hull. They don't have quite as much punch as some of the original point defenses, but their advantage is that they are mobile. It's not much, but we'll take it.
I sighed heavily as I flopped back onto my bed at Minmei's place. That night was her sweet sixteen party and in spite of everything else, Roy had pulled enough strings that we weren’t on rapid response that night.
Fortunately, unlike poor Hikaru, I had already thought of a present - a pair of jade earrings carved into a simple, teardrop shape. The real bonus was, however, that despite being simple, they perfectly matched the color of her eyes.
This old man is just a sucker for a girl in love, I guess.
I hadn't really given in, but I honestly couldn't say that I wasn't at least fond of the girl. She always did her best to cheer me up when I was feeling down and she made it a point to always be the one to cook the meals she served to me.
On top of all that, there was also the fact that her aunt and uncle knew all about it. The fact that they have said little about it, let alone continued to rent the room to me, spoke volumes on how they felt on the matter.
I am doomed.
Well, I thought as part of my mind played devil's advocate, if her legal guardians are fine with it, then why let it be an issue?
Because, dimwit, there's the odds that I might jump again!
Whoa. That was something I hadn't thought about in a long time. Fighting for your survival can do that to you, though.
Happy thoughts, Gar-kun! said Katherine suddenly. Minmei! Think about Minmei - just as frustrating, but less painful!
Why you little... I thought back with ire that was almost entirely false while she giggled at me.
Well... I'll just see what happens with Minmei. She's supposed to attend the Miss Macross competition soon, and that will jump start her entire celebrity career. Once she's too busy with her fans she won't have time for me. If I somehow jump during that time, then that will be fine. But otherwise...
We'll see, I guess.
My reverie was interrupted by the 1MC speaker that had been installed in all rooms of all buildings in Macros City. A list of people who were to report to HQ was being rattled off. At first I paid it no real mind, up until I heard the words, "And also Petty-Officers Garrick Grim and Hikaru Ichijyo."
"The hell," I grumbled as I hauled myself up off the bed.
Hikaru met me in the hallway. "Any idea what this is about, Robber?" he asked as we made our way downstairs at a brisk trot.
"Not a clue, Fuzzy."
"Hey!" came Minmei's voice. "What's going on?"
"No idea," answered Hikaru for us both.
"Will you be back in time for the party?" she asked worriedly.
"We'll do our best to get here on time," I answered with a smile.
"I'll hold you to it Garrick," she said, leveling an index-finger at me.
I grinned then turned to Hikaru. "C'mon, let's take my truck."
##
We were directed to the main conference room in the Headquarters building where the top brass held their own briefings. I was as nervous as Hikaru was when he reached to knock on the door when it hit me.
I knew what was going on now. This was where Hikaru was given some award for valor, and Roy took him aside and told him about his meteoric promotion into mustang territory.
I wondered what would happen with me.
A female Yeoman with a huge volume of orange curls directed us to toe the line with all the other awardees. Before us in a large set of tables arrange in a U-shape sat all the senior officers of the SDF-1. So many Commanders and Lieutenants. Roy was there at the very end of one table, where he gave us a subtle wave. Hikaru's nervousness got worse, nonetheless.
"Fuzzy, knock it off," I hissed at him soto voiced. "We're not in trouble here, so get at attention."
Hikaru thought of that for a moment, then realized what I meant as he straightened himself out and stood at attention like the rest of us.
And with that, the award ceremony carried on.
##
The Titanium Medal of Valor was a lot nicer up close and in person. It really was made of titanium, and so it had a very attractive gold and red sheen from the oxidation of the titanium.
"Hey, you two. Hold on a minute," came Roy's voice behind us as we were making our way out. Sure enough, there he was behind us in one of the smaller conference rooms. "Come on over, let's talk for a minute."
"What's going on?" asked Hikaru as we entered the conference room which looked more like a lounge than anything else.
"Have a seat," Roy told us. With nothing better to do, we both sat down in the nice, plush seats. "So, how'd you boys like that award ceremony?"
I guffawed at that, much to Hikaru's surprise. "Kinda funny. I got an award sprung on me like that back when I was in the Navy."
"Oh?" said Roy. "How so?"
"Remember that perfect score on INSURV you mentioned before I decided to join up, sir? Well, we had a Captain's Call about a month afterwards. The CO would dole out awards and things like that on a pretty regular basis, but I was humble enough to think that I wouldn't ever be getting called up for anything. So, there I am in filthy coveralls and utility jacket because it's just a Captain's Call - the old man knows we got work to do - and then they call my name. Next thing I know they're pinning a Navy/Marine Corps achievement medal to my chest for that perfect score."
Roy chuckled. "In dirty coveralls, huh? I don't think the Captain would have stood for that at all."
The SDF-1 was home to an entire flight of strike fighters, composed of four groups with four squadrons a piece, and each squadron with four wings a piece. Wings are commanded by Lieutenants, squadrons by Lieutenant-Commanders, and groups by Commanders. And, of course it was a Captain that was in overall command of the flight. When Roy said 'Captain' here, he wasn't talking about Gloval. While Gloval was a Captain by rank, his actual title was ‘Commodore’. There were other Captains aboard and ours dealt with the day-to-day operations of the Valkyries aboard SDF-1. I didn't really like the man much myself because he was such a pompous blowhard. The way he acted you’d almost think the man never spent a single hour inside a cockpit.
"Well, in that case I'm glad I was in a nice clean uniform," said Hikaru.
Roy laughed. "Well, I hope you boys are ready for some more surprises then," he said as he then tossed us both a small box each. "Congratulations on your new promotion!"
"Oh you gotta be kidding me," I muttered as I opened mine. Sure enough, there was a set of a brand new Ensign's bar in there.
"Ensigns?" said Hikaru in shock. "Isn't that skipping several paygrades?"
"I put you boys into the Enlisted-to-Officer program," said Roy. "Sorry for not telling you, but your talents will be put to better use as line officers. Especially you, wise-ass," said Roy with mock-anger, leveling an index finger at me.
"Who, me?" I said innocently. You could practically see the halo.
"Yes you. I told you that if you kept on saying things like that you were gonna regret it. Just you keep it up and see where it lands you."
"Yes sir, Mother!"
"Now, Fuzzy, what I'm going to do is that I'm going to put you in command of your own flight. Normally a flight only has one Lieutennant, but since I can't really split up you and Cradle Robber here, he's going to be your Exec." At this Roy gave me a meaningful look. "Any problems with that, Cradle Robber?"
I smiled ruefully. "No sir, Mother. All I can say about this is that I asked for it."
Roy grinned back. "Damn right you did. Anyhow, now that you two are in charge of a flight that means you two have some subordinates to be assigned to you." With that, Roy turned a monitor to face us as the computer rattled off the names, ranks, and school grades of two green pilots.
Miximillian Jeneus.
And Hayao Kakizaki.
I knew we weren't going to have a problem with Max. It was Hayao Kakizaki that worried me. But I was going to do whatever I could to make sure that Hayao got through the First Robotech War in one piece. This war was already costing too many lives.
There was a knock at the door and Roy called for them to enter. In came our two new rookies. Hayao with his bear-like height and build and hair that was stolen from Dragon Ball Z, and Max for whom everything was blue, like the song from Eiffel 65.
The two stood to attention and saluted.
"Spaceman Hayao ‘Dragonball’ Kakizaki reporting as ordered, sir!"
"Spaceman Max ‘Cornflower’ Stirling reporting as ordered, sir!" Roy, Hikaru, and I stood and returned the salute.
"Ensign Garrick 'Cradle Robber' Grim."
"Ensign Hikaru 'Fuzzy' Hunter."
"Lieutennant-Commander Roy 'Mother' Focker. At ease, Gentlemen," Roy said after Max and Hayao dropped their salutes. After that, we all exchanged handshakes because we all knew what this was about.
"Gentlemen," said Roy after all the pleasantries and ceremony was aside. "You are now Red Wing of the Skull Squadron."
“Yech,” I said as the potential jokes came to mind. “Being called ‘Cradle Robber’ is bad enough without being in ‘Red Wing’.”
Now, some of you might be going, Hey, what about Vermillion?
Well, simply put, the military doesn’t put on airs like that in real life. Vermillion is so close in color to just plain old Red that it actually was the basis for red before modern chemicals rendered the pigment obsolete. And having two colors in a Group that so closely resembled each other was just begging for mix-ups and confusion.
"Ah, don't let it get you down, sir!" said Hayao bawdily. "Why, with me in your wing you won't have to worry about anything. AH-HA-HA-HAH!"
Hooo boy. I had my work cut out for me.
"Well, at least we got introductions aside. Why don't you boys all go out and get acquainted with each other. There is that sweet sixteen Minmei's throwing tonight. And I made certain that all of Skull Squadron had the night off so that you, Cradle Robber, didn't have an excuse for -not- attending."
"God," I swore, “That call sign. You might as well just hang a neon sign over my head that screams ‘Lock up your daughters!’"
Everyone broke up laughing at that. "Are you really serious, sir? A sixteen year old girl wants to marry you?"
"I can hardly believe it myself," said Hikaru. "But she's about as determined as they come. Any worse and she'd join the UN Spacey just so she can fly as wingman."
"And don't any of you dare even whisper that idea to her," I snapped. Knowing Minmei at this point, she'd do it on a lark, and then keep right at it because it challenged her. The dynamics of Macross city would probably let her balance celebrity life with military life. Hell, that'd be a heck of a promotional stunt. She sings, dances, acts, and is even a combat pilot. It'd be a throwback all the way to World War Two, when celebrities like Clark Gable gained notoriety for setting their acting careers aside to fight in the war.
You never saw celebrities like that there afterwards. The artists would always support the troops, but never become one of them.
After another round of getting ribbed by my superior, my peer, and my subordinates, I cut them all off by saying,
"Okay guys, that's enough. If we're gonna make it to Minmei's party, then we better go now. Especially if certain people are gonna snag her a last-minute gift!"
"Uh-oh," said Hikaru as he turned red. Despite what all had happened, he did like Minmei, only more like she was the little sister he never got to have.
##
And so we took off. For all the world we looked like the good ‘ole boys coming hot off the college campus for a night on the town. It didn't help matters any that I had recently brought out Scooby. The old four-door Ranger did look a bit out of place in a city where, for some reason, many civilian vehicles had three axles. And Scooby turned even more heads for having the full-length seven-foot bed where as the four-door Rangers only had a five-foot bed.
But at least the diesel-electric drive was pretty standard as far a vehicles here went.
A quick stop by the shopping district to get everything we needed, and we ended our rounds at the Restaurant.
Minmei was dressed in her finest for that evening, and that meant the nice cheongsam with the long slit up the side so she can show off what her mother gave her.
That meant there was nothing keeping her from running up and trying to tackle me.
"You CAME!" she squealed with delight as I canceled out her momentum by spinning her around. Hikaru, Hayao and Max had been smart enough to move aside when they saw Minmei coming. Jeering cheers and playful catcalls from everyone already present filled the air and the sentiment was all the same: "Go for it, Cradle Robber, you dog."
"Yeah yeah," I called out to everyone. "Not like I came looking for this one. She came after me!"
More jeers. Minmei only giggled and asked me to introduce everyone. Minmei made sure we got seated at her table as Hayao and Max got introduced.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," said Minmei. "So, Garrick, Hikaru?" Do you two have something for me?" she asked, batting her eyelashes coyly. The little imp.
"Gee, I wonder if I should even give you a gift, with you vamping it up around all these people."
I was promptly attacked by just about every napkin in the restaurant, much to Minmei's delight.
I rolled my eyes as I shrugged off the sudden assault of cloth napkins and said, "Okay, okay, yes, I got your a gift. Happy birthday Minmei."
I then handed her the neatly wrapped box. Hikaru, Max, and Hayao handed theirs over as well.
Minmei was delighted and tore into the boxes right away. From Hayao, it was flowers - a tasteful arrangement that, fortunately, he took my advice in having the girl at the shop make the arrangement for him so there wouldn't be some mistaken message in there. Max got her a set box of the best chocolates in Macross City - I had to say that I was actually kinda jealous. I hadn't had really good chocolate in a while. And Hikaru, inspired by the shine of his own Titanium Medal, got her a lovely titanium alloy pendant that had the same attractive rainbow sheen, cut in the shape of a feather.
"What about mine?" I asked as she put everything away.
"I'll open yours later. I'm saving the reaction for you and you alone, Mr. Grimm." More cat calls for that one. It just wasn't my night.
But that was when the festivities got cut short - the alarm rang out and all Valkyrie pilots were called in... which was just about everyone in a uniform inside the Nyan-Nyan.
"Duty calls, Minmei. I'll com back later."
"Wait!" said Minmei as she then wrapped her arms around my head and put a fast one on my lips. Yet more cheers, this time they were the loudest of all. "Go knock 'em dead for me."
"Yes ma'am!" I said with a salute. "C'mon guys! Plenty of room in my truck!" With a further cheer, everyone went charging out of the restaurant in a stampede and started cramming themselves in and onto Scooby.
"Alright everybody! Make sure you got a good handhold out there, cause I'm gonna open this sucker up!" The stroppy little diesel clattered to life as I threw Scooby into Sports Mode and gunned it.
Scooby did not peel out. With the traction control of all four wheel motors, Scooby positively launched itself like a Valkyrie off the catapult. I knew from the rebel yells and war whoops there were a couple of genuine Good Ol' Boys that definitely approved.
The best thing about this situation was that we didn't have to stop for anything short of another military transport. All traffic had to pull off the roads whenever a call to scramble went out. Ours was one of the few vehicles out there, and once people saw us coming they got the hell out of the way. We made it over to the Prometheus before any of the military transports and got fitted out with practiced ease.
Already, Hikaru and I had VF-1J's waiting for us, along with Hayao and Max's VF-1A's. Apparently this was not some off-the-cuff idea of Roy's. This had been in the works for a while, and the Spacey with its typical efficiency had made preparations in advance. Strips of red on the ruddervators along with our squadron number set us apart.
We were Red Wing of the Skull Squadron.
With little time for formalities, Hayao and Max got acquainted with their plane captains while ours assured us that theirs were in good hands - both plane captains had been promoted out of their crews.
Our planes were good to go - the paint had just barely dried. Hikaru and I were up on deck first, followed by Hayao and Max.
"Okay you guys, here's the deal,” explained Hikaru on our wing’s private channel while we waited for our turn at the catapults. “I'm nominally in charge, but if Cradle Robber says something then you'd better be paying attention. He's usually dead-on with his hunches, and even when he's not he's close enough for government work."
"Yes sir!" chorused the two green pilots.
“Hey, Robber. Which one of these new pilots you wanna take?”
"You go ahead and take Cornflower with you, Fuzzy."
"You sure about that, Cradle Robber?"
"I got a good feeling about Cornflower. I don’t think he’ll give you much trouble. Dragonball, you're with me, and don't you try any funny business. When I say jump you say how high. You got me, pilot?"
"Sir, yes sir!" I could tell that I had his attention now. I was gonna make an outstanding pilot out of him yet.
##
Once we got into the vacuum, our marching orders weren’t long in coming. Naturally, since we had some greenies with us, we got posted all the way to the last defensive line.
“Aww man! We’re never gonna get any action back here.”
“Stow it, Dragonball,” I said, cutting him off tersely. “Look at your tactical plot and you tell me if you think any of that furball is gonna come our way.”
“What? Let’s see... oh. Wow. That’s... That’s a lot.”
“Exactly, pilot. Whole lotta them. Not many of us. Now you stay on my wing like glue. The instant these guys separate us is the instant you get skewered. Your life literally depends on you not losing track of your wingman.”
“Yes sir!”
Say what you will about Kamjin - he may be a show boat and a glory hound, but he is also a damn fine tactician. Within minutes he had peeled all the defensive lines back like an onion, leaving only ours.
“Look alive!” called Hikaru. “Robber, you got the DM gun. Think you can plink those EWAR Pods?”
“With a vengeance, Fuzzy. Dragonball, watch my six for me and take notes.”
“... Yes sir.”
“No need to ‘sir’ me while we’re in the cockpit,” I said as I went to Batroid form and brought up my GU-16 and set my targeting radar to standby. “Cradle Robber or just Robber will do fine. One other thing.”
“What’s that, Cradle Robber?”
“Once I start taking out the high-value targets, there’s a command pod out there that’s probably gonna single me out real fast. He and I have prior history. If he shows up, you stay the hell away from him - the instant he knows you’re there he’ll eat you alive. Got it Dragonball?”
“... crystal,” said the pilot, his voice almost cracking. Good.
I sized up the group coming at us with optics only - no need to let the know they were being bracket by my targeting radar. Besides, we were holy-fuck close in terms of space combat. They were saving their munitions for when they got to the SDF-1.
I was not going to give them that luxury.
There were only two EWAR pods - their massive antenna arrays mounted over the tops of their mechs made for dead giveaways. I’d have to be quick about this, because I definitely saw Kamjin’s command pod out there.
“Gunsight, Red-2 Skull Squadron - be advised: commander unit sighted.”
“Red-2 Skull, Gunsight - copy that, pilot,” came Misa Hayase’s cool, professional work-voice. “Do what you can to slow them down.”
“Red-2, Gunsight: Understood.”
I lined up my shot and pulled the trigger. The GU-16 bucked against my Valkyrie’s unyielding grip and my RCS thrusters fired automatically to compensate. The EWAR pod popped like a balloon and I quickly did the same for the other one.
Kamjin’s unit scattered like a startled flock of birds, but Kamjin himself fired his mains and came barreling straight for us.
“Here he comes!” cried out Fuzzy. “Robber?”
“I got him, Fuzzy. You got your wingman, so you do you for a bit. No need to mother hen me. Dragonball, hang back and try to stay out of his firing arcs. Don’t even try for a missile lock until I tell you!”
“Right!”
I charged ahead on my main engines in Batroid mode to meet Kamjin head on. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for my laser designation warning to blare, so I snapped to the side and narrowly avoided getting fried by those twin canons he’s got for arms on that thing.
And then it was just Kamjin and me, dancing in the vacuum and trying to get a bead on each other all while trying to herd each other with our secondaries. It was hard work - those Command Pods may be bigger, but they sure as hell ain’t slower.
While I certainly had his attention, he wasn’t oblivious. He was definitely pushing us back towards the SDF-1. But I wasn’t going to let that be any sort of hinderance.
“Dragonball, when I give the word, light him up for a missile lock. If you get a lock, go ahead and let one go, but get evasive the moment he turns his attention on you. Then I’ll light him and and he should bug out once he realizes it’s two-on-one. Once that happens, we’re gonna fall back to the hull and assist the Defender teams - especially the Monsters.”
“Got it!”
I must have really had Kamjin’s attention, because he never noticed Dragonball settling on his six until he got painted by the Valkyrie’s acquisition radar. I could almost see the shocked look on his face as his Command Pod swung around.
“Oh no you don’t!” I growled as I raised my gunpod and took two snapshots.
My movement’s were somewhat too quick, but I did hit him - the first shot completely destroying his right cannon, and the second neatly severed his left one.
Kamjin was no fool. He booked it so fast that I’m surprised he didn’t leave an outline made of the space dust that was on his hull.
“Dragonball! To the hull, now!” I snapped out, firewalling my throttles as I dove for the relative safety of the Macross’s hull.
“Right behind ya, Robber!”
“Jesus Christ!” came Rick’s shocked voice on the radio. “Are you okay down there, Robber!”
“Yeah, just a little shaken up, Fuzzy. Those Command Pods are no joke.”
“Good. Cornflower and I are coming in - he’s cleaning up out here, but we still can’t hold them all off.”
“Okay, Dragonball and I are gonna take up position overlooking the Monsters and try to give those poor bastards some cover - you know they’re shit when the fighting gets too close.”
And that was the gospel truth. The HWR-00 MkII Monsters lived up to their name with their massive 40cm canons and fiendish tri-barrel missile launchers on each arm.
However that is the extent of their armament. They have no real means to defend themselves when the fighting gets up close and personal. And I knew for a fact that just about every one of our precious Monsters were about to get wiped out if we didn’t do something about it.
The lead Monster saluted us as we settled on the platform overlooking their position and no sooner than when Hikaru and Max join us did Kamjin’s battle pods come to ruin the day.
We weren’t gonna let that happen.
The moment the battle pods crested over the edge of the SDF-1’s hull they were met by a wave of 35mm and 76mm rounds. One did get close enough to make the Monster jockies sweat, but a sweet somersault by Max put him at a perfect angle to eliminate the battlepod with a flourish.
“Holy hell Red Wing!” came the voice of the lead Monster commander. “You guys saved our asses. Next time we see each other the drink are gonna be on us.”
“Thanks,” replied Hikaru, “But we got a birthday party to get back to once we mop up out here. You can come along, though, as long as you promise to behave yourselves.”
“Birthday party? Oh! You mean that cute waitress at the Nyan-Nyan... then that means... HAH! Hey guys! Get a load of this! Cradle Robber is in Red Wing!”
“oh god here we go,” I grumbled to myself.
And that was when it happened.
Kamjin’s command unit settled down on the deck in front of us. The cockpit opened and Kamjin himself stepped out, pointing a finger clearly at me.
“The commander!” squawked one of the Monster commanders. “I’m gonna light his ass up-”
“Belay that!” I snapped. “He’s calling me out.”
“What!?” cried out Hikaru in shock. “Why!?”
“He wants to settle things between us. Just him and I.”
“A duel!?” said Max in surprise.
“Yeah. Why do you think he’s been hounding us all this time? He’s had it out for me ever since Mars. Watch my back, guys.”
“Are you serious, Robber!? What if he beats you?”
“I’m no pushover, Fuzzy. I got this. Besides, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. If I settle this, then the raids will probably stop. If not, then they’re gonna keep coming at us until they bleed us dry.”
“Alright, but be careful, dammit!”
“I will.”
With that, I boosted up over the ledges and settled down before Kamjin. I couldn’t make much out since he was in a proper combat-rated vacuum suit.
There was a wrecked Defender next to me - no sign of the pilot. It had taken a direct hit to one of the magazines. Keeping an eye on Kamjin, I wrenched the pair of gun barrels off the wreck and tossed one to Kamjin. I kept the other and took my Jyuraian fencer’s stance.
Kamjin took up the gun barrel. There was a crackle of static and I heard his voice. He was speaking Zentran, but it was plainly evident from the tone in his voice that he definitely approved, and took his own fighting stance as well.
All kinds of chatter started filtering through my headset, all of it focused on Kamjin and I. The battle had come to a dead stop so that everyone on both sides could watch. Hell, people were starting to take bets. Odds leaned slightly in my favor from the sound of things, but Kamjin was something of a dark horse.
And just when things were getting good, Kamjin exploded in outrage, throwing down the improvised weapon and jumping into his command pod.
Ah, the recall order. Breetai is finally putting his foot down. However, I knew that with him keeping a close eye on the developing situation, he was all too aware of what had been going on between Kamjin and myself. Did the venerable Zentradi Commander have a reason for stopping things there and then?
“All units, Gunsight: break off,” came Misa Hayase’s voice. “Do not pursue enemy forces. Fall back to final defensive line and hold position until enemy withdrawal can be verified.”
Reluctantly, all the Valkyrie’s pulled away, like as though they were sullen boys being called back home by their mothers, scolding them for roughhousing with the kids from the next neighborhood over.
But the background chatter carried on. Cradle Robber was the hot topic - the guy that had the balls to stand up and face an elite Zentradi commander all on his own.
##
Ours was an eerily silent wing as we landed on the Prometheus and went through post-flight procedures. They were all in shock.
Hikaru was an incredibly talented pilot - nobody could match his skills. Except maybe Roy, but that was only on a good day.
Max was a prodigy and already an ace on his first sortie.
Hayao was a man full of bravado and gusto.
But me? I was the mad-eyed crazy sunuvabitch that stood toe-to-toe with the elite of the Zentradi and lived to tell about it.
I could almost see their thoughts. That is my wingman? How the in the hell am I supposed to keep up with that!?
I sighed.
Hey, Katherine?
‘Sup?
I did it again, didn’t I?
You mean you went out, acting like a bad ass, and owned the heck out of it? She giggled and went on, Yeah, you sure did, Gar-kun.
Well ain’t that just Jim-Crackin’-dandy.
“Robber!” came Roy’s voice crisply in my headset. “Word from the very top. Captain Gloval wants you in his office ASAP.”
Holy.
Fuck.
And judging by the tone in Roy’s voice, even he wasn’t really sure what this meant for me.
##
I stood at attention outside the Captain’s office waiting.
Waiting for what, I had no idea whatsoever. But as soon as the Captain was able to get away from his responsibilities on the bridge, I would find out soon after.
I heard the tall Russian’s heavy footsteps and stood a bit straighter, my gaze carefully kept forward as the Captain paused to inspect me.
“Hmm. Very well then. Inside with you, Ensign,” he said as he keyed open the door and went inside.
“Yes sir,” I said smartly as I followed the Captain in, marching crisply the whole way, and stood attention in front of his desk.
“At ease, pilot,” said the Captain as he sat wearily into his seat. “We’re both fighting men here. No need for ceremony now.” He then ducked his head down as he opened a drawer in his desk. “Do you drink, pilot?”
“Occasionally sir,” I said as I relaxed into an at-ease posture. “I try to stay sober as much as possible since our enemies have taken to attacking with great frequency.”
“Hmm. Very good of you, pilot,” said the Captain as he came back up with a bottle of Russian Standard Vodka and two tumblers. “As you may know, it is tradition that once the bottle is opened, we do not stop until it is emptied. But as you said, it’s best to remain sober, no matter how often I wish to finish one of these bottles with a friend. Please, sit down. Grimm, was it?”
“Yes sir,” I replied, to both the request and the clarification. “Call sign is Cradle Robber.”
The Captain chuckled as he poured a jigger of vodka into each tumbler. “Ah yes. Because of that girl. Don’t think that I haven’t heard about that, pilot. With all the gossip my girls get up to, I hear all kinds of things.”
He then looked at me with a mischievous grin and a glint in his eyes. “You really are one hell of a lucky dog, you Cradle Robber!”
With that, he raised his glass, so I raised mine to meet his.
“That’s what they tell me, sir.”
And we both drank.
I’ll say this about Gloval - he sure knew where to get the good stuff. That was the smoothest Vodka I’ve ever had, and I’ve actually gone drinking in Vladivostok!
“Hmm,” said the old Russian as he savored the burn of his Vodka. “The age difference aside, Mr. Grimm, I think the two of you are good together. I’ve heard that she’s entering the Miss Macross competition.”
“Yes sir. She has her heart set on becoming a pop singer.”
The old captain smiled, no doubt thinking fondly of how the young can dream so big.
“I’ve been tapped to be one of the judges, you know. Personally, I think it’s silly for me to be involved in such things, but the rest of the citizens think its wonderful. Although, I must say, impartiality be damned, that I think I know who’s going to be taking home the crown on that night!”
I smiled a bit and tilted my head in a ‘wellll, you knowwww’ gesture. The captain laughed and began to pour a second round.
“I’ve lost many friends over the years,” said the Captain, a bit more sober now, though with a wistful sort of fondness in his tone. “During the Cold War and the Anti-Unification War... And now there is yet another war that Humanity must bear through. And here before me is a pilot with the guts to put all the rest on this ship to shame. I don’t think even the venerable hero, Lieutenant-Commander Fokker, could pull what you did out there today.
“Mr. Grimm, as of late you have been a source of insight and inspiration that has been sorely lacking. We lack the tacticians that we should have gotten underway with as this was originally intended to be a sort of dog and pony show put on by the UN.
“Additionally, you managed, quite by accident I am sure, to single-handedly stopped that battle cold. You did so by making yourself known to their Commander on Mars, and continued to do so until he finally sought you out.
“And you answered in kind.”
Gloval shook his head in grim amusement. “I don’t think that sort of thing has been seen in centuries of our history of war - one man calling out another to a solo duel in the midst of battle. That, my friend, is the very essence of a warrior - to answer a challenge given so directly.
“Yes. This day forward, I call you friend. Not only because you are a good man, Mr. Grimm, but because you do what you can to save lives out there by putting yours on the line. And, might I add, not so rashly and brazenly as others, but with a calculated consideration of what you can get away with.”
And with that he raised his glass once more, so I did the same and we both drank.
“Now,” sighed the old Captain. “I must say, Mr. Grimm, how did you come to learn swordplay? Your style seems to have a distinct flavor of Japan to it.”
I nodded. “Yes sir. When I left the US Navy, I was at a sort of loose end. Since I was already in Japan, I traveled the country for a bit until I got stranded in Okayama prefecture. I took on an odd job as a farm hand for one of the old families that had been there for generations and they wound up taking a shine to me. Pretty much all but adopted me, sir, and the head of their family even took me on as a student in their style of swordplay. Well... I studied the style for a year or so, but then circumstances arose forcing me to go my own way. I’ve been improvising on what I had learned of the style ever since.”
The Captain nodded along, taking out that lewdly carved wooden pipe of his, adding a bit of fresh tobacco and tamping it down, and then lighting it with a match before settling into contented puffing.
I wasn’t going to begrudge the man his vice. He got enough of that from the bridge bunnies. Besides, he smoked the good tobacco - the stuff that actually smells... delicious.
“I get the impression that you’ve had to break a few hearts in that time,” said the Captain with a knowing smile.
I sighed. “There were a few girls there vying for the spot as my girl. To be honest, it was very disconcerting because it isn’t like I could date them at the same time.”
The captain chuckled heartily at that. “Ah yes. The young ladies, always wanting to monopolize the man. I suppose then it’s good that little Minmei has made it clear to all that you’re hers and hers alone!” He broke into hearty laughter at that.
Oh wow, if only he knew the truth! cried out Katherine gleefully.
“Oh brother, don’t I know it!”
The captain recovered himself quickly and went on, “At any rate, Mr. Grimm, I wish to congratulate you. Not only on capturing the heart of such a lovely little lady, but also on your acknowledgment as a worthy adversary by our enemy. You can rest assured that they will fight you with a great degree of respect from this day forward. I only ask that you return that courtesy. It is said that chivalry is dead, but I suspect that our enemy has not quite gotten that memo. Or some of them, at least.
“Now, I think I’ve kept you long enough, pilot. Isn’t there a girl waiting for you?”
“Ugh, she’s like an anti-radiation missile, sir. She has the uncanny ability to home in on me like I was a mobile SAM-site.”
The captain guffawed once more as he stood up, motioning for me to do the same. “Yes, such is the mysterious power of women, eh? No obstacle in the universe will stand in their way, and sometimes not even death itself is immune to their perspicacity and persistence!”
He took ahold of my shoulder in a comradely way and went on, “You go now, friend, and make that girl happy, eh?”
“Yes sir.” And with that, the Captain sent me on my with a hearty slap on the back.
“And Mr. Grimm?”
“Yes sir?”
“We’ll be having more of these little chats. I think we would all benefit if I picked your brain from time to time.”
And with that, I knew that I was a lot more than just ‘on the radar’.
I was Captain Gloval’s special project.
Sweet Tsunami, what have I gotten myself into?
##
When I finally got back to the Nyan-Nyan, it was not, as I had originally expected, closed for the night.
Instead, the place was absolutely ablaze as raucous laughter came streaming out the open door. Just outside, an A-frame sign had been set out that read:
“Celebrate our very own Lynn Minmei’s Sweet Sixteen”
But hastily added on in black sharpie marker, it also read,
“...And Cradle Robber’s Daring-Do Victory!”
“oh boy,” I muttered to myself and prepared myself for the worst.
And the worst was what I got.
Just about every Valkyrie and Destroid jockey had to be crammed into the place, along with the Bridge Bunnies, Misa Hayase, and Claudia LaSalle.
Someone had setup a karaoke machine and Claudia was up on a makeshift stage that appeared to be one of the restaurant tables with its legs removed. And she was belting out one of the bawdiest love songs a woman could possibly sing with a perfectly affected Celtic lilt.
Quote:A handsome young sailor to London came down,
He'd been paid off his ship in old Liverpool town.
They asked him his name and he answered them, “Quite,
I belong to a family called nine times a night.”
Well a handsome young widow who still wore her weeds,
Her husband had left her his money and deeds,
Resolved she was on her conjugal rights
And to soften her sorrows with nine times a night.
So she's called to her serving maids Ann and Amelia
To keep a watch out for this wonderful sailor,
And if ever he happened to chance in their sight
To bring her fond tidings of nine times a night.
She was favoured by fortune the very next day
These two giggling saw him coming their way.
They've rushed up the stairs full of amorous delight,
Crying, “There comes that sailor with his nine times a night.”
She's jumped out of bed and she's pulled on her clothes
And straight to the hall door like lightening she goes.
She's looked him once over and gave him a smack
And the bargain was struck: no more sailing for Jack.
The wedding was over, the bride tolled the bell,
Jack trimmed her sails five times and that pleased her well.
She vowed to herself she was satisfied quite
But she still gives sly hints about nine times a night.
Says Jack, “My dear bride, you mistook me quite wrong,
I said to that family I did belong:
Nine times a night's a bit hard for a man;
I couldn't do it myself, but my sister she can.”
All the men were absolutely howling with laughter, and Roy was getting cuffed and pelted from left and right with napkins as it was quite well known that he and Claudia were engaged. Even the Bridge Bunnies weren’t immune and were nearly rolling on the floor as the clutched their sides.
Misa, on the other hand, looked absolutely torn between utter horror and laughing herself silly - she seemed to be settling somewhere in the neighborhood of completely flabbergasted as she had no idea her best friend and coworker had this side to her.
I held no pity for her, because she of all people should expect nothing less from a woman marrying a hot-dog fighter ace like Roy.
And Minmei... Minmei was filling the air with peals of scandalized delight as she knew full well who ‘Nine Time A Night’ was supposed to be this time around, despite herself not being a widow.
Claudia wasted no time, having spotted be well before she had finished the cant, and point me out for everyone that hadn’t noticed my presence yet.
“And here is the man of the hour himself, Mister Garrick. CRADLE ROBBER! GRIIMMMMMMM!!!”
Wheeeee! Claudia sure know how to work up a crowd, huh Gar-kun~?
Oh hush you! I was saying that a lot to her lately.
Much to my surprise, instead of merely being applauded, I was suddenly mobbed. Hands grabbed me, hauled me over to a chair, which was then whisked away to Minmei’s table. The whole way, everyone sang ‘For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow’ with the crescendo coming right as I was deposited across from the delighted girl.
A plate of Walnut Chicken was placed before me, piping hot, and chopsticks shoved into my hands.
Minmei only beamed at me and I knew without a doubt that she had prepared this herself, and somehow without landing a single drop of anything onto her beautiful cheongsam.
Now that was some serious skill.
Minmei giggled at the bewildered look on my face.
“Eat up, Gar-kun. Today is our special day together~.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed, albeit a small one, at that remark.
“Only you, you little imp, could be so happy about us having dinner together with this many people watching us like hawks on nitrous oxide.” Minmei only smiled gleefully back, and I could only shake my head in bemusement as I dug in.
##
Later that night, once everyone had been gently ushered out (or in a few cases, not so gently by their superiors), Minmei and I had the restaurant all to ourselves as her aunt and uncle cleaned up in the kitchen.
“So, are you gonna tell me what it is?” she asked coyly.
I gave her an amused, cock-eyed look and said, “Just open it, you adorable little imp.”
Minmei put on the face of someone that was supposed to be offended, but couldn’t hold it for even more than a second. She laugh and then opened the box.
And there it was. That wide-eyed look of wonder as she saw the contents.
“Oh, Garrick! How did you find real jade here!?” she asked as she lifted the earrings out of the box. “And in the color of my eyes, too!”
I shrugged. “I’ve been looking around for a while now. Since you made sure to tell me when you birthday was long ago, I kept my eyes open for something that would be as unique and special as you.”
Minmei lunged over the table to wrap her arms around me, almost forgetting about the earrings in her hand as I felt the hooks pricking against my back through my uniform.
“I don’t think I’ve ever said it until now, but I love you Garrick.”
She let go, but only enough so she can come back in for a kiss. I stopped her gently though, and I knew that I had one of those looks on my face when there was something very heavy on my mind.
“What?” asked Minmei, her own face worried as she read the look perfectly.
I sighed. “Minmei, I need you to know something. I have some secrets - not the military kind - that I’ve been keeping from everyone.”
The look of worry on Minmei’s face deepened and I rushed on.
“No, nothing bad. I’m not secretly some enemy spy or evil villain or anything like that!” I said with a grin and instantly she smiled back, no doubt imagining me dressed in a black cloak with satin red lining, a long, thin mustache perfect for twirling, a monocle, and a cackling evil laugh.
“However,” I went on, “it’s something that I can’t reveal just yet. But when I do reveal it... you may decide that I’m not someone you should marry.”
Minmei blinked at me, her mind no doubt trying to come up with all sorts of scenarios.
But then, she simply said, “How could I marry anyone else when you make me feel safe and loved no matter what’s happening?”
I looked at her in surprise and Minmei grinned back at me.
“I know you love me, Garrick. You try so hard, but it’s there. I saw it the moment you would look at me after we first met. You probably never even realized it yourself - you’re such a sucker for a pretty little girl like me, aren’t you?”
I felt ashamed. She was right. During that time, I would steal looks at her when Hikaru wasn’t watching, and admired how beautiful she is. But I hadn’t realized that she’d noticed.
Minmei continued, “That week that we were all stranded, I got to see someone with an unshakable confidence. Not some swaggering sense of superiority so many other guys use. But you give off the sense that everything is going to be okay. And because of you I knew that we were going to be just fine, that someone would find us soon, and we wouldn’t spend the rest of our lives lost inside a strange place.” She then grinned a bit impishly. “Though it does sound kinda romantic when I say it like that.”
I scoffed in amusement at that. “Of course you would. You’re such a romantic girl,” I said as I brushed an errant bit of her hair aside. “But do you think you can handle it? I mean, I come from a home with a lot of very strong personalities. Lovers and fighters, princesses and pirates, mad scientists and plucky detectives... It’s a real nut house, you know. And it would be a very very long ways from your home. Think you could handle it?”
Minmei smiled back at me. “I can handle anything,” she said with the quiet sort of conviction that only a girl in love could muster as her face grew closer to mine.
I couldn’t help but grin as well. “We’ll see about that.”
Our eyes closed and for the first time, my lips willingly met hers, and I would never forget it.