🚀 go-pugleaf

"What're we gonna to do tomorrow noight, Brain?"
"The same thing we do _every_ night, Pinky. Try to *take over* the *world*..."
"Oh. Roight."
  <<Pinky and the Brain, _Animaniacs_>>

                    FORCE TEN EPISODE FOURTY-THREE
                         "Another Aftermath"
                 by Jesse "Will it ever end?!" Taylor

<The time: One day after the last episode...>

     Ray Sterling stared out at the horizon, thinking. So much for going
home. He still wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to or not... But without his
Alpha Fighter, he wasn't likely to be going _anywhere_ for a while. So much
for the 'Robotech Defender'... Well, I've still got my Cyclone...
     "Nickel for your thoughts, Ray.." He turned to see Marie, until
recently his sworn enemy, wandering up.
     "I'm just wondering what the Hell(tm) I'm going to do now -- what with
my Fighter gone and the Gate generator destroyed..." Ray sighed.
     "Hey, too bad about your plane, but at least you weren't hurt..."
Marie said, shrugging. "You'll figure out something.."
     A long pause ensued.
     "Ray?"
     "Yah?"
     "Back in the Tv Dimension..."
     "You mean altiverse 711ROBOTECH.." Ray interjected.
     "Err... whatever... Back where we came from... Did you ever have to
kill people?"
     Ray shrugged. "No, never. I mean, I shot down quite a few Invid,
but..." He stopped, seeing Marie's expression. "Hm. I never thought of
Invid as people, though."
     Marie shrugged. "Most _aren't_, I'm sorry to say. The lower-Stage
Invid are barely-consious slug-like blobs of protoplasm, but Stage Fives,
like me, have the capacity to _think_, to make our own decisions, unlike
the drones. We become more than the sum of our created parts."
     Ray blinked. "Ah. But what does that _mean_?"
     "The Invid are supposed to be one race -- one _united_ race,
unbeatable in our combined strength. But.. All this time since we were
first brought into this dimension, the Invid have been searching for
_something_ to follow. Garth chose his own ambition, Wayne his search for
the Ultimate High, Verne his quest to create a leader for the rest of us.
The _need_ to have a leader, or a purpose was put into us by the Regis, I
guess to keep us in line... I'd been running around, searching for a
leader, something, some_one_ to follow. When I thought about the
Revolution, after it was over, it _wasn't_ my fight, but it was _a_ fight,
a cause, something to be committed to. Even when I was trying to find
Spectrum, it was because I needed someone more powerful than me -- someone
to follow. I've had enough of following other people, other people's
causes. No more of this hero crap, either. I just want to be _free_..."
     "Cool beans."
     Another long pause.
     "Marie?"
     "Yo?"
     "You're right."
     Marie blinked. "What do you mean?"
     "I know what you're talking about -- way back when, I was just a minor
character, like you and everyone else. Playing the lead roles isn't in our
blood -- we're supposed to be the generic followers of the major
characters. We're supposed to die dramatically, and maybe get a few lines
here and there... Playing the hero isn't what we were created to do. That's
why I felt like I had to join Team M.E.C.H.A. when I met them -- they were
a group, a group of major characters, people I could fall back into my role
around..."
     Another long pause.
     "Ray?"
     "Yah?"
     "Do you know Lawrence--Spectrum.. at all?"
     Ray shook his head. "We met -- sort of, at the Springfield Battle and
the Bob City MegaCrossover Party, but I don't really _know_ him. Err...
why?"
     "I don't really think I know him well enough, either..." Marie sighed.
"We were only together for a few days, before the Revolution got in the
way..."
     Ray blinked. "But didn't you two get together after the MegaCrossover?"
     "Er... well... we didn't, uhm, get much, uh, time to, ah, talk..."
     Ray smirked. "Aha. Why are you worrying about him, then, if you don't
know him very well?"
     "Because I'm pregnant and I don't know if I should tell him or not."
     There was another long pause. "Ah." Ray said finally, staring out over
the horizon.
     It sunk in.
     "You're WHAT?!" Ray yelled.

<----->

     Shannon downed the caffeine-loaded beverage that Sanka handed to her,
as she checked on the recovering members of Force Ten. Most of them were
hanging around in a rec-room in TONN-Miami, where Gerbre had allowed them
all to recuperate after they left the battle site. Since this particular
TONN member-station had a built-in hospital wing, microbrewery, and
complete MST3K video library, they had quite enthusiasticly taken the
charismatic newscaster up on his offer.
     "Burnout... You doin' ok?" Shannon asked, wandering over to the
heroine. Burnout's arm was in a cast after getting broken by one of
Ultima's telekinetic blasts, but thanks to a hastily-cast healing spell, it
would probably heal up fine.
     "Devran." Burnout corrected. "Might as well call be by my real name now."
     "Have you remembered much?"
     "Not a whole lot..." Burnout sighed. "I get little snatches here and
there, but not enough to make sense of, really..."
     "How are the others?" Shannon asked, pulling up a folding chair.
Melbaman and Tealeaf wandered in, the two British supers looking rather
depressed.
     "Tealeaf's moody 'cos Ultima's mind-blast seems to have put his powers
on the fritz, Prizm's wigging out and won't tell anyone why, Roger's sealed
himself in his room, and Fractalman's been watching MST3K for nearly ten
straight hours. Other than that, I think everyone's peachy-keen."
     Shannon sighed. "Great...", she muttered, "Anything I can do, you think?"
     Burnout shrugged. "Prizm'll come around, I guess. Fractalman's always
this way; Tealeaf should get better in time.. Talk to Roger, you're the
only one he really listens to."

<----->

     Marie giggled, looking at the expression on Ray's face.
     Ray sputtered. "B-but I didn't think Invid could, well, you know..."
     "We're more human than you think..." Marie chuckled.
     Ray shrugged. "Hey, your decision, whatever you decide to do... _I_
think you should tell him, but hey..."
     A pause. "Ray?"
     "Yah?"
     "What was it like for you.. when you were a kid, I mean.."
     Ray shrugged. "Same as for anyone other kid, I guess, when there's a
war on. I grew up listening to burned-out old fogeys talking about how many
Zentraedi they'd iced in the First Robotech War... seeing the bullshit the
PR people put on the Holo-TV -- I mean, if we'd _really_ blown away that
many Invid, you'd think the war would have ended... Regardless, I didn't
have what anyone could term as a happy childhood..."
     "What do you mean?" Marie asked, confused.
     "Well... I..." Ray paused. "Both my parents died... when I was about
old enough to sign up for R.E.F. service."
     "What happened?"
     Ray winced. "I'd... rather not talk about it."
     "Oh." Marie sighed. "I always wondered what it was like, for you
humans. Being 'children'. Seems like such a waste of 18 years."
     "Then Invid don't..."
     Marie shrugged. "It's hard to explain.. One minute, you _aren't_.
Then, suddenly, you _are_. And there are all these voices in your head,
explaining things. Pictures and stuff. Of the other Invid, of the Regis, of
the purpose you've been created for, the History of the Invid, what your
enemies look like, what the area you'll be fighting in looks like. One hour
later, you're plopped in a RCB and sent out to lead the lower-Stage clones.
_Thats_ what 'childhood' _I_ got."
     Ray sighed. "Maybe... maybe it would be better that way."
     "What do you mean?"
     Ray shrugged. "Nothing, I guess."
     "Oh."

<----->

     "Roger?" <knock> "C'mon, open up, it's me.." <knock knock>
     Roger looked up from his computer terminal. With a couple keystrokes,
he dismissed the file he had been viewing. The pain was mostly gone, now.
Reduced to a dull, throbbing ache by the painkillers and one of Shannon's
healing spells.
     "Roger? Are you ok in there?"
     The Designated Leader-Person of Force Ten only glanced once at the
door before looking back at the screen. He had re-examined the data, and it
backed up everything Ultima had said...
     "Roger?! Come on, open up!"
     Wrong. He had been totally, utterly wrong. His desire for revenge at
this 'betrayal' that had never actually happened had probably caused
Drakkor to go over to Morgan's side. Anime Freak had been responsible for
that mess in the mall... Not Drakkor. But now both were dead.
     "ROGER! Dammit, open the door!"
     Could he go back to being the leader of Force Ten? The rest of the
team need never know... But could he trust himself to make the right
decisions? Having let a personal vendetta get in the way of making the
right decision once, what would stop this happening again? And having to
face the rest of the team again... No.
     "ROGER!!" <knockknockknock>
     "They _made_ me be the leader, 'cos none of them wanted the
responsibilty..." Roger said, to himself. "But I'm not the person they
need..."
     He glanced at his armor, partially disassembled, lying in one corner.
He had started to repair it, but what was the point? He had tried playing
the hero, but more for the money than anything else... Just to get a chance
to rest, that's what I need..., he thought.
     "Dammit, if you don't open this door..."
     Roger glanced at the door, then picked up the armored gauntlet of his
battlesuit. Let TONN keep the rest, it was busted, he didn't care. He put
it on, and felt for the drone controls inside.
     "ROGER!"
     A small fan-jet powered drone unit zipped up and hovered outside the
window, responding to Roger's commands through the controls. The drone was
just large enough to carry him out of here, covertly. Maybe he'd get in
touch with the team later.
     Maybe.
     The door sparkled with energy, and then swung open. Shannon stepped
in, glancing around the interior. The window was open, but his armor was
still here... She glanced at the computer screen.
     He'd left a note.
     "Shannon -- I'm sorry I can't stay around." she read, "But I need to
think over what I really should be doing. Somehow, I don't think I've been
leading Force Ten right... I vote to put you in charge, Shannon, since of
all of us, you seem to have the most conscience. I'll (hopefully) be in
touch. -- Roger."
     She looked out the window, but saw nothing. The lights of the city of
Miami were bright, illuminating the semi-darkness. It would be night soon.
     "Roger, you idiot." Shannon sighed. "What the Hell(tm) am I supposed
to do now?"

<----->

     "Katie?" Burnout asked, quietly. Prizm was huddled up the corner of
her room, shivering. "You ok?"
     "Y-y... no." Prizm said.
     "What happened?"
     "T-there were... _Dead_ people... A-and they came after me! They were
all over! And I couldn't get away -- everywhere I turned, there were more
of them! I-" Prizm's eyes were clenched shut, her hands balled into fists,
"They were _dead_! They were cold and icky and bloody and- gaaaiii!"
     "It's ok!!" Burnout said, trying to calm her down. "They're not here
now -- you're safe here!" She hugged the younger heroine, wincing a bit as
she jogged her broken arm. "You're safe now..."
     "And... and Jimmy..." Prizm gulped. "They'd done something to him --
he was... metal! They'd stuck implants in him -- he came close to... to
_shooting_ me! It wasn't him anymore! He just stared, with his one real eye
-- he recognized me, but he was still going to shoot me! They... those
Invid bastards, they _killed_ him, made him into a cyborg!!"
     "I know..." Burnout said, quietly. "We fought him in the final
confrontation with Ultima. But he's dead -- nobody could have survived that
explosion."
     Prizm nodded, sadly. "I guess it's better that he is... we couldn't
have helped him, he was too far gone... But... he..."
     Burnout held Prizm as she started crying. What could she say that
would help? Nothing, really... With her good arm, she stroked Prizm's
blonde hair, as the girl's tears soaked into her shirt.

CONTINUED IN PART TWO...