Fanfic Name / Nombre del Fanfic: Choices and Aces

Chapter / Capitulo: Chapter Four

Author / Autor: Anonymoose_Au

Rating / Clasificacion: AP15 (For Teenagers = Para Adolescentes)

Romance

Adventure / Aventura

Alternate Universe / Universo Alterno

Fanfic: “What the Hell did I sign up for?!” Ensign Roy Fokker following his first combat mission in the Global Civil War 
 
 
Roy had had very few good mornings during the SDF-1’s struggle back to earth. He was always relieved to wake up, since if nothing else it proved he really was still alive, but the prospect of having to face another battle wasn’t exactly comforting. 
 
But this particular morning certainly beat the others, even if Claudia was telling him off. 
 
“The POINT of a plate, Roy, is to prevent crumbs from getting all over the place.” 
 
“Hey, you know I like my toast crunchy,” he said in his defense. 
 
With an annoyed hmpf, Claudia climbed out of bed in order to brush out the crumbs that had accumulated. 
 
“I didn’t know you were such a neat nick,” Roy grinned at her, “I seem to recall plenty of fights with Miss Hayes over a certain someone leaving their clothes all over the place.” 
 
“Clothes are clothes,” Claudia shot back, “they’ve never hurt anyone.” 
 
As if the universe had heard, Claudia’s feet somehow ended up entangled in yesterday’s discarded stockings and almost sent her tripping to the floor. 
 
Roy reached out and grabbed her arm, steadying her. “You were saying?” 
 
“Forget it,” Shaking her head, Claudia sat down on the edge of the bed and took a large bite of a peach. 
 
“You know, before you started lecturing me, I was thinking to myself what a fine morning this is.” Roy finished the last of his toast. 
 
“Oh, and now I’ve ruined it?” 
 
Roy made a show of looking affronted, then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “You could never ruin anything, babe.” 
 
“Sure.” 
 
“Can’t you appreciate a romantic gesture when you receive one?” He complained. 
 
“Not when it has bread crumbs all over it.” 
 
“You’re a hard woman, Lieutenant Grant.” 
 
“Thank you,” Claudia smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek. 
 
Roy threw up his hands in mock resignation. “Women!” 
 
“You say that with a bit too much knowledge for my liking, Commander Fokker,” Claudia said in a warning tone, but the corner of her mouth tugged in a small smile. 
 
“Well, be rest assured, my love, that I really meant to say ‘woman’ because let’s face it, you’re more confusing than most.” 
 
“Thank you,” Claudia made a show of looking superior “…I think…” 
 
Roy was about to kiss her again, when the phone rang and Claudia hurried to answer it. “Damn, typical, can’t resist the ring of a phone.” 
 
Claudia looked over her shoulder and poked her tongue out at him before answering. “Lieutenant Grant.” 
 
Roy couldn’t see or hear the conversation, and Claudia didn’t give much away, at least not until she hung up the phone rather abruptly. 
 
“Someone coming to repossess something?” Roy attempted to joke with her. 
 
“I wish,” Claudia said, with irritation as she began hunting about for another pair of stockings along with the rest of her uniform. “Duty calls.” 
 
“What? Now?” 
 
“Obviously, you’re not the only one who has to keep all hours, Commander.” 
 
“Hey, that hurt.” Roy made a show of pouting. 
 
Claudia’s face softened and she came over to the bed. “It sucks, I know…especially since you seem to actually have free time for once.” She said softly, kissing him quickly. “But Captain Gloval was pretty serious, so…” 
 
“I know, I know,” Roy told her, “I’ll just stay here and play Suzy Homemaker, I mean just look at this mess! Shocking!” 
 
Claudia made a show of trying to hit him on the head, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her close for another kiss. 
 
After a few moments, Claudia pulled back just enough to speak. “You know, I’ve got the Captain of this whole ship waiting for me…” 
 
Though he really didn’t want to, Roy let go of Claudia’s arm and she hurried off into the bathroom. 
 
“But, I really would appreciate it if you clean up.” 
 
*** 
 
Lisa looked up as Claudia hurried onto the Bridge, almost out of a breath and rendering a salute to Captain Gloval. 
 
“I hope I’m not late, sir.” 
 
“Not TOO late,” Captain Gloval smiled briefly, then became serious. “But we have important matters to discuss.” 
 
Claudia hurried over to join Lisa, straightening her uniform jacket slightly. 
 
“Now, as you know United Earth Government is refusing to allow us to offload the civilians, “Gloval began, his hands behind his back. “They fear causing a riot by allowing it to get out that we are currently at war with an alien race. How long they can possibly keep it a secret, I don’t know, but I know that we cannot give into their orders. To continue putting innocent people in the line of fire is a crime I am not prepared to be responsible for.” 
 
“That’s for sure,” Claudia remarked, with a nod. 
 
“What are we going to do, sir,” Lisa spoke up. “The Government doesn’t seem to have any intention of reversing their decision.” 
 
“Well, then, Lisa, we will simply have to go over their heads.” 
 
“Sir?!” Lisa was stunned, Captain Gloval might not always be by the book, but to defy a direct order? 
 
Claudia didn’t look shocked at all however. “Fine idea, sir,” she even smiled! “How exactly are we going to do that?” 
 
“Well, obviously, we cannot remain here, the UEG have put a cordon around the area and are simply passing us off as one of its new war technology projects,” Gloval mused, tapping his lip with his forefinger. “We need to get to more populous areas.” 
 
“You mean, take off, sir?” Lisa asked, fiddling with the sleeve of her uniform jacket, nervously. “Without permission?” 
 
“We really have no choice, Lisa,” Claudia spoke up, turning to her, “they won’t know we’re here otherwise.” 
 
“I suppose…but…” 
 
“It’s not as if they’d attack us…at least, I hope not,” Claudia threw a look at Gloval. 
 
“No, they certainly wouldn’t, we’ll probably all be court-martialed in absentia for it, but there really is nothing we can do.” 
 
Lisa couldn’t meet either Gloval’s or Claudia’s eyes, but she knew they were both right, finally she nodded as well. 
 
“All right then, we will need to prepare for departure then, I want it done quietly though, we are no doubt been monitored by the UEG and I liked to give them as little notice as possible.” 
 
“Yes, sir!” Claudia and Lisa answered together, saluting. 
 
With a nod, Gloval left the Bridge. 
 
“Well, what do you think of that?” Claudia remarked. 
 
“I don’t like it,” Lisa spoke, honestly, “I’ve never disobeyed an order like this before, but we can’t keep the civilians here. I just hope we can find a place for them quickly...after all, how long will the Zentraedi stay in orbit and not send a mass of ships and really show the UEG what an alien war is.” 
 
“Yeah, and they certainly won’t be ready for it.” 
 
“Well, I guess we better get started…with communiqués since we need to maintain radio silence.” Lisa immediately started putting together all the contingencies and necessary orders that needed to be relayed to get the SDF-1 off the ground. 
 
It was a good feeling, since there was nothing that helped Lisa get her mind off the problems of her life than work. 
 
*** 
 
Tommy Luan, the Mayor of Macross City was annoyed. 
 
For nearly thirteen months now, he and the captain of the SDF-1 had been sharing just about all information that was relevant. In the mayor’s case, that would be the general mood of the citizens on the ship, damage incurred during attacks and so forth. 
 
In Captain Gloval’s case, it was any transformations, battles, the movements of the alien forces and any messages from the commanders on earth. 
 
But lately, there was nothing from that quarter. 
 
When the SDF-1 had landed there had been great celebrations across the ship, mixed with sadness, it may have been an unusual situation, but the SDF-1 had ended up been their home and a good one at that. But everyone was in agreement, that there would be nothing better than getting back on solid ground. 
 
'I just didn’t expect it to take so long.' Tommy thought to himself, pacing about his office. 
 
The celebrations for their homecoming had gone for three days, after which the mayor had fully expected he and his townspeople to be offloaded the ship, but here they were two weeks later. 
 
Aside from Minmei none of them had left the ship and he had not been asked to any conferences with the Brass upon the ship, when previously he had been given an update of the situation at least once a week. 
 
A few days ago there had been the announcement that no-one would be leaving the ship, but if had been followed up with the clause of “not just yet”, which everyone had taken that to mean that eventually things would start moving again. 
 
Right now he was been inundated with letters and phone calls from various citizens wanting to know how the offloading was going, when would they be able to contact their families, was there somewhere they had to register? 
 
And Tommy had no answers for them. 
 
“Dear,” a voice called, “Tommy, are we still going to dinner?” 
 
The door to the office opened and his wife stepped in. 
 
Everyone in Macross was used to the Luan’s by now, but originally any person who met them had been rather amused by the differences in their physical appearance. 
 
Tommy Luan was a small roundish man, who spoke loudly and gestured wildly and was always at the forefront of things. 
 
His wife, Lucy, on the other hand was tall and thin, she spoke in a quiet voice and preferred to be in the background. 
 
But they were very close, and worked very well together, especially since Lucy never forgot a thing, while Tommy often couldn’t remember making an appointment ten minutes after doing so. 
 
“Hmm, dinner?” 
 
“At the White Dragon, dear,” Lucy prompted him, “Lena and Max have invited us along, Minmei may even make an appearance.” 
 
Tommy smiled, he always liked to see Minmei, whose fame aboard the ship was, he liked to remind himself, partly due to his foresight in entering her in the Miss Macross pageant. Beyond that, there was the fact that Minmei could be counted on to keep the crowds happy even in dire circumstances such as this. 
 
“Well, I don’t remember,” he admitted, sheepishly, “but of course we must go! What time is it, anyway?” He looked about, wondering how he’d forgotten to put on a watch today. 
 
“It’s only four o’clock, but I just wanted to remind you,” Lucy gave him an amused smile. “Should I write it down?” 
 
“No, I think I’ll be all right to remember it,” he took it in good humour, at least until he turned back to the letters and the blinking light on the answering machine on his desk, symbolizsing the many, many calls. “I guess I should try to get around to answering these.” 
 
“A bit hard when we don’t know what’s happening,” Lucy replied, pressing her lips together. 
 
“Well, we can hope to receive something from the Captain.” 
 
He hadn’t actually expected anything to happen, but at that moment the door bell sounded. Tommy looked at his wife, but it was clear she wasn’t expecting anyone, he leaned over and pressed a button on his desk to allow whoever it was up. 
 
It turned out to be a member of the RDF, one from the lower ranks, in a brown uniform. 
 
“Mayor Luan,” the man greeted him with a crisp salute. 
 
“Uh…Officer,” Tommy replied, not able to figure out what rank the man was. 
 
“I have a message from the Bridge,” the officer stepped forward holding out a folded note. 
 
Tommy was surprised, usually Captain Gloval called him, it was the 21st century after all, but he took the note and opened it, his eyes widening. 
 
“Do we have your consent to this?” The officer asked, once Tommy looked up. 
 
“Uh…um…yes,” Tommy began with a stutter, than got a grip on himself, “certainly, tell Captain Gloval I have full confidence in his plan.” 
 
“Sir,” the officer saluted again, and with a sharp turn, marched from the room. 
 
Lucy came over to her husband’s side. “What is it, dear? What does the note say?” 
 
Tommy looked up at her, almost trembling with excitement. “The Captain is preparing to take-off! We’re going to find asylum somewhere and get off the ship!” 
 
*** 
 
Had Roy known what assignment Gloval wanted him to do, he probably would have stayed and actually cleaned up Claudia’s quarters. 
 
An official Robetech Defense Force envelope in hand, Roy headed towards the family accommodation area on the base, where non-military relatives stayed. 
 
Roy looked about, hoping he’d run into someone he knew so he could end up getting into a long, pointless conversation and put off this duty as long as possible. 
 
Unfortunately, the area was totally deserted...in fact so deserted that Roy wondered if he’d somehow missed a transformation siren, but as he entered the barracks he saw the watchman was on duty. 
 
“Hey, Greg,” Roy greeted him. 
 
“Fokker, what’s the news?” Greg greeted him. 
 
Roy held up the letter. “Nothing good, is Mrs. Kramer in?” 
 
“Oh no,” Greg took in the envelope, shaking his head, “is that what I think it is?” 
 
“ ‘Fraid so.” 
 
“She is in, I’ll call you up,” Greg picked up the phone. 
 
Roy couldn’t help but wince. 'Great…' “Thanks,” he said aloud, however. 
 
Mrs. Kramer’s quarters were on the fourth floor, and Roy took the stairs, going over what he could possibly say to make this easier for Kramer’s widow. 
 
He couldn’t think of anything. 
 
Roy didn’t even get a chance to knock as Mrs. Kramer already had the door open, and was looking pale and shaky. 
 
Any speech Roy had thought up went right out of his head as Mrs. Kramer put her face in her hands and began to sob, her shoulders shaking. 
 
Hurrying over, Roy put an arm around her shoulders and led her back into her quarters to the couch. 
 
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” was all he could think to say as they sat down. 
 
“I knew it, I knew it,” Mrs. Kramer said, through heaving breaths, “he always calls…always…” 
 
“I’m really, really sorry…” Roy felt pretty stupid, but it was all he could think to say. 
 
Finally, after a few moments, Mrs. Kramer got up from the couch and went over to grab some tissues from a box on the coffee table. 
 
“May I offer you a cup of coffee?” She asked. 
 
“Uh…” Roy was surprised by the question, “sure…” 
 
Mrs. Kramer hurried off to the kitchen. 
 
Left on the couch, Roy picked at a loose thread, trying to get his thoughts together. “Kramer was a good man,” he finally said, “I mean, he was a total hardass on duty, and off duty, too, really…” He trailed off, that was perhaps not the most appropriate thing to say. “He was a good man, and a great pilot.” 
 
Mrs. Kramer returned from the kitchen two steaming coffee mugs in her hands. 
 
“He was devoted to his duty,” she said quietly, handing a cup to him. 
 
“There was no better second in command to depend on,” Roy told her. 
 
“Thank you,” a tear slid down Mrs. Kramer’s cheek. “Thank you for coming to tell me personally…I know it’s not standard procedure.” 
 
“Well, Kramer deserved better than just a quick letter.” 
 
Mrs. Kramer nodded. 
 
“I won’t have a better wingman than him, I can tell you that,” Roy added. 
 
She gave him a shaky smile. “I remember when all he used to do is complain about you…Said you were totally undisciplined and sure to ruin the entire Robotech project. Turns out he was wrong, I guess.” 
 
“Oh, I don’t know…there were a few close calls,” Roy grinned at her. 
 
Mrs. Kramer patted his arm. “You know, the passed few months Bob and I have been very happy, and I’m glad that for that. I’ll always have it.” 
 
“Yeah…” Roy said slowly, nodding. 'You really never do know how it will all end, do you…' 
 
*** 
 
“We’re taking off?” Rick stared at the phone for a moment, wondering if it was a bad line. 
 
“Yeah, you better batten down the hatches and…whatever it is they do,” Roy’s voice crackled from the receiver. 
 
“Weren’t you a naval officer?” Rick joked, putting the phone back to his ear. 
 
“Sure, but I never had to batten down anything.” 
 
Rick laughed. “So, where exactly are we going? Have the UEG finally come to their senses?” 
 
“We wish, nope, we’re just gonna plead for amnesty.” 
 
“What, just fly all over the globe and wait for someone to agree to take them?” It didn’t sound official at all…not that that bothered Rick. 
 
“Well, sure, it’s not like they’ll have trouble spotting us, we’ll have those civilians off in no time.” 
 
A small part of Rick was disappointed, after all, Minmei would probably go with the rest of them…but he couldn’t think about that now. 
 
“So, why are you telling me all this exactly? It’s not like I can help, I’m chained here like a prisoner.” 
 
“I told you to stop hitting on the nurses,” Roy lectured him, mockingly, “what are we going to do with you?” 
 
“Ha ha.” 
 
“I just figured you ought to know Little Brother, after all, you’ll be out of there pretty soon, and I wouldn’t want you to be completely out of the loop.” 
 
“Well, thanks.” 
 
“Another reason is I wanted to make sure there was no hard feelings that I won’t be able to visit you. Everyone who can be has basically become a runner, we’re getting ready for take off mostly without radio communication.” 
 
“Now I KNOW we’re doin’ something illegal,” Rick commented. 
 
“Hey now, it’s not illegal to disobey an idiotic order, and the UEG is giving those out left and right.” 
 
Rick chuckled. “Well, if it’s for a good cause, I’ll forgive you for leaving me in the lurch here. Besides I got your gifts, both of them.” 
 
“Ah, success!” 
 
“Yeah, the bird might be small and fiddly, but they’re fun.” 
 
“And what do you think of my model planes?” 
 
Rick poked his tongue out at the phone. “Minmei was very well, thanks.” 
 
“That’s great, ‘cause those ten minutes I had to spend on the movie set are ones I’ll never get back.” 
 
“Hey, just be glad you can walk further than to the end of the hall and back.” 
 
“I’ll be walking a lot further than that, let me tell you…Speaking of which, I gotta get goin’. Your wingmates will be able to see you, though, they somehow didn’t get roped into this crap.” 
 
“Well, I’ll look forward to it, good luck, Big Brother, don’t trip down any stairs.”  
 
“You kiddin’? If I did that I’d end up in that room with you, and you snore something terrible.” 
 
“I’m hanging up now,” Rick warned. 
 
“OK, OK, I take it back, I’ve heard worse snoring…Now take care of yourself, because I don’t know how much more of Dixon I can take.” 
 
“Hey, lay off, Ben he’s OK.” 
 
“In small doses, maybe…” Roy trailed off and then yelled something to someone. “All right, I’m definitely out of here.” 
 
“See ya, Big Brother.”

Continue / Continua: Yes / Si