Even though these things give you about as much legal coverage as a G-string on a stripper, I am going to include it anyways. Most of the characters in this story are the property of Harmony Gold, and a whole lot of other companies who's names escape me at the moment, and are used without their permission. However, since this is a not for profit undertaking, I dont think its neccecary to worry about it. At any rate, I'm so broke suing would be a waste of time. The few original charecters in here are mine, so please ask before using them in a fic of your own. Comments and Criticisms welcome: E-Mail Starrngr@aol.com. Flames will be promptly filed in file 13 and ignored. Previous parts of this story can be found at: Ranger HQ: HTTP://home.talkcity.com/TheSanitarium/Da_Muck/Libr/wndr/ AND at Sofaspud's Couch HTTP://www.sofaspud.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tales of the Wanderer: Book 2: Wandering Ace Chapter 12: The Heavy End Captain Gloval was waiting by the hatch when Muck finally escorted Minister Exedore into the main conference room. "Minister Exedore. I'm glad to finally meet you in person," Gloval observed, holding out his hand. "Yes, I'm glad to meet face to face as well," Exedore agreed, accepting the handshake, while behind them Col. Maistroff entered. "Colonel." Gloval observed. "I think we're missing some people, aren't we?" "Yes, Sir. They should be arriving momentarily, though." Gloval nodded, then indicated the witness stand. "Very well. If you'd take your seat, Minister, We'll begin as soon as they arrive." Exedore nodded at this, and took the indicated seat, Muck standing behind him and to his right. A young third lieutenant entered, bearing a tray of orange juice, placing a glass where the Minister could reach it. Exedore raised the glass and took a cautious sip, the looked up at the Lieutenant. "This is quite refreshing. What is it?" Muck looked up to Gloval and got a nod of approval before answering for the young officer. "It's called orange juice, Minister. From our on-board hydroponics orchards." "You GROW this?" Exedore probed. "Actually, we grow the fruit it comes from, Minister." "Ah. I see," mused Exedore, finishing the glass while he considered the implications of this statement. He placed the empty glass on the table as the young officer returned from her rounds. "That was very refreshing. Thank you," he enthused. "Your welcome, sir. Would you like another?" she inquired with a bright smile, replacing the empty glass with a full one. "If you insist," Exedore replied lightly, and she moved off with a nod. As she left, Max and Miriya Sterling entered. "Reporting as ordered, Captain," Max supplied, as the pair came to attention and saluted. "Ah! Hello, Quadrano Leader," Exedore interjected, coming to his feet, orange juice forgotten. "Minister Exedore!" Miriya gulped in astonishment, then quickly saluted him in Zentraedi style. "My apologies, sir, no one told me YOU were the emissary!" Though she was a head taller than Exedore, she had that guilty look of all children when suddenly caught by their parent. She glanced at Max, then back to Exedore. "You're probably wondering why I..." Exedore held up his hand in a gentle gesture, and Miriya stopped, blushing. "We did find your Mating ritual... Marriage? Quite provocative, but that is not why I am here. I shall explain as soon as everyone arrives. I take it this is the male half of your bonding?" "Umm, Yes, Minister." Miriya replied sheepishly. Beside her, Max was in a bit of a snit, and considered kissing her to remind her of just what their marriage really meant, at least to him. The hatch opened again, admitting Rick Hunter, who crossed to Max and said something only Max could hear. This prompted Exedore back to his feet, as he suddenly shouted; "Of course! The Micronization process must have affected my memory somehow! You're two of the captives from Breetai's Flagship, aren't you?" Max and Rick expressed a bit of bafflement at this, but Exedore continued unabated. "How did you escape? Was it yet another secret Micronian power?" Muck, who knew well that Max had secreted himself aboard by disguising his Veritech as a Zentraedi solder, stepped in to deflect the conversation. "Yes, Minister. Another Military Secret, sir." Apparently satisfied, Exedore nodded and sat back down as Rick, Max, and Miriya found seats. The hatch opened once more, admitting the Rico, Konda, and Bron. "Well, I must admit that I didn't expect the leaders of our mass defection to actually attend," Exedore observed aloud, causing an instant panic attack in the three micronized warriors, who huddled together as panicked eyes searched for a way out. "M-m-m-Minister Exedore!" Rico finally stammered. "Please, Your Excellency! It wasn't our fault, really!" Konda and Bron also began to protest their innocence, but Exedore again silenced them with the same gentle hand gesture he had used on Miriya. "Relax, please. I assure you I have no intention of harming you," Exedore proclaimed in a gentle tone. The three sighed a quite audible breath of relief as they sagged against each other in a most comic fashion. Maistroff cleared his throat as the last arrivals found seats. "I believe that's everyone, Captain. The ship's computer will record the proceedings for us." "Very well," Gloval rumbled, pushing up his cap from over his eyes. "Minister, you've told us very little so far, so we are unclear as to the exact reason of your mission here. Would you be so kind as to enlighten us?" "You're curiosity is understandable, Captain, but not everyone is here yet." A murmur of astonishment circulated, but Exedore continued unabated. "There are two of your kind who we are most interested in. The first possesses powers and skills that can only be called extraordinary; the second, the female who seems to form the core of your psychological assault." The three defectors leaned closer together in some sort of private conversation as the rest exchanged puzzled looks. "I'm afraid I can't think of anyone who would be at the core of a psychological assault, Minister. If you would please be more specific?" "He means the Lynns, Captain," Muck supplied from behind Minister Exedore, who had stood once more. "Is that her name?" Exedore inquired twisting to look behind him before looking back at Gloval. "At any rate, she is performing some kind of strange chant..." Exedore picked up the forgotten glass of orange juice and held it like a microphone. "Stage Fright, go away! This is my big day..." Exedore crooned in a creaky falsetto. "He IS talking about Minmei!" The three spies exclaimed. Rick and Max exchanged incredulous glances as Gloval pulled his hat low over his eyes again and did his best to impersonate a turtle. Maistroff stared at the overhead for a long moment, before looking straight at Muck. "Captain Thunders. Get your jeep and bring the Lynns here," Maistroff snapped. "Aye aye, sir." Muck replied, giving a snappy salute and beating feet while Maistroff and Gloval tried to think of a polite way to ask the Minister to PLEASE stop singing... * * * * * * * * * "That's Her!" Exedore exclaimed as Minmei finally stepped through the briefing room hatchway. The exclamation caused her to stop, looking around in confusion like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. Her cousin Kyle followed a moment later, grumbling about being pushed around by the military, followed by Muck, who had a look on his face Gloval remembered well from his Babushka (1)... a look of disappointment mixed with an iron determination to not put up with any foolishness. "Can someone please explain what this is about?" sighed Minmei in a tired voice. Kyle stepped around her, as if to protect her. "I wouldn't expect any answers from these people; they're only concerned with their fascist war plans, not peace..." He was cut short by Muck grabbing his elbow from behind, spinning Kyle to face him. "It just so happens this is a peace conference, so I suggest that you button it and co-operate or this fascist war pig is going to kick you out of the nearest airlock so hard you'll make it back to earth on sheer momentum." Kyle's eyes flared, then stopped as he caught something in Muck's eyes. "That will be ENOUGH, Thunders," Gloval barked. Muck stiffened, releasing Lynn Kyle's arm. "Yes sir. My apologies, sir." Kyle rubbed his arm, but sullenly made his way across the room to an available seat. Gloval glared at the still petulant Kyle. "These proceedings are strictly classified. You will answer our questions, and if you ever speak about what you hear today to anyone, hope that Captain Thunders there gets to you before I do. Is that Understood?" "Yes, Captain," Minmei replied gently while Kyle leaned back in his chair and sulked; Minmei placed a hand on his shoulder. "They need our help. Can't you see that hostility isn't going to get us anywhere?" Kyle shot Minmei a petulant look, but finally nodded in agreement. Gloval looked to Exedore, and irritation crept into his tone. "Now, Minister, if you would _please_ tell us what this is all about?" "All in its proper order, Captain. However, I assure you my presence here is of critical importance to both our races." All the military officers exchanged startled glances; Exedore's attention was on Lynn Kyle. "Officer Kyle. What exactly is your military rank?" Kyle replied with a snort. "I have no rank. I am a civilian, and won't have anything to do with the military." "Someone with your superior fighting skills and super-powers? Aboard this ship? I think not," Exedore observed in an icy tone. "Super-powers? What are you talking about?" snarled Kyle. "The ones you demonstrate in the history recording 'Little White Dragon'," Exedore countered, drawing looks of astonishment from everyone but Muck. "That's not a historical document, Minister," Muck interjected, breaking the tableau. "It's not?" "No sir. It's what we call a movie. It's something we made up, something to entertain us and distract us from the war out there." Muck supplied. "Captain Thunders is correct, Minister," Gloval added. "None of us have the sort of powers you've just described." "I see." From his tone, clearly Exedore was skeptical, but willing to accept that claim at face value. "And your energy barrier and destructive wave?" "Both are based on technology we found aboard this ship," Gloval admitted. "But you forget the Protoculture!" Exedore exclaimed. "The great Matrix which was Zor's greatest accomplishment, which he hid aboard this ship before sending it here. A power which allows things like THIS!" Exedore pointed to the main viewing screen, which then displayed a video clip. Alien glyphs of the Zentraedi language appeared along the edges, identifying the source. The image was centered on a lone Super VT in Battliod mode. As the clip began to play, the VT drew a sword from somewhere and landed briefly on a rounded surface, making a slashing cut which pierced deeply into the surface. It then made a throwing motion and a golden streak flew from its left arm and off screen, before the VT leapt away. As it did, the focus changed, revealing the curved surface to be the top of a Zentraedi battlepod, and the miniature scale of the VT; such a small scale that it could only be one person... Star Ranger. "This clip was taken from the battle recorders on one of our officer's pods. The officer in question had no idea of what had happened to him. I only discovered it upon later study of the recordings. This sort of Micronization is only possible through the power of Protoculture!" Exedore concluded in triumph. Gloval Glared at Muck, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Perhaps YOU would like to explain this to the Minister?" "Umm, yes sir." Muck turned to Minister Exedore, who looked to him with challenge in his eyes. "What you're seeing isn't what you think your seeing, Minister," Muck admitted. Exedore raised an eyebrow at this but remained silent for the moment. "What your seeing on the screen is... well... Me. It doesn't have anything to do with Protoculture at all." Exedore sat back in his chair and crossed his arms in disbelief; Muck sighed and plowed forward. "You see, Minister, I'm not even from around here, really. Well, I do come from earth, just not THIS earth." Exedore leaned forward, intrigued, and indicated for Muck to continue. "Well, basically what happened is that where I come from, I was a hotshot inventor. I was working on teleportation, a system somewhat similar to the spacefolds your fleet and the SDF-1 use. Only problem was, I had to prove the concept, so I made a bad decision. I used insufficiently tested equipment and a flawed theory to teleport myself into my boss's lab while she was showing HER bosses around. The idea was to make such a big impression that they wouldn't think of canceling my program. However, My targeting was off, and I wound up arriving in a spot that was already occupied by another piece of matter... a robotic probe my boss was working on." Exedore winced at that piece of information... Muck realized that the Zentraedi had probably lost more than one ship to such bad targeting. "Still, I was lucky, I guess. Instead of being blown into my component atoms, I was merged with the probe... Like this." Muck stepped away from the wall, making certain that there was clear space around him. His skin silvered, then rippled, loosing all definition. The silvering spread across his uniform, growing slightly and becoming blockish before solidifying into the form of Star Ranger. The final touch was the silvering running away from the center of the form to the limbs; leaving the paint-job and final details behind as it vanished. Exedore leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. Gloval and Maistroff had both seen the change before; both studied Exedore's reaction intently. The others simply stared with various expressions of shock, surprise, and disbelief. Rick and Max, who knew about this, but hadn't seen Muck actually change, watched intently as Star Ranger became Micheal Thunders once more. "Later, I tried to stop someone from using a similar technology, only to have it self-destruct at point blank range. Instead of being killed, though, I wound up here." There, of course, was a bit more to all of it than that, but Muck didn't want to add more confusion to the already delicate situation. "I see," mused Exedore, turning back to Gloval and leaning forward in his chair. "But if you do not have the Matrix, where is it?" A deep quiet settled over the briefing room, broken when Gloval turned to Maistroff. "I think we're ready for Dr. Lang." Maistroff nodded, and, as if on cue, the briefing room hatch slid open to admit the ships resident genius, Dr. Lang... the one person on board who knew the most about the secrets of the SDF-1. Both Lynns gasped at the sight of his alien eyes, transformed to all pupil by the Robo-technological boost he'd accidentally triggered when the ship was first boarded. "We have heard you mention Protoculture repeatedly, Minister. Will you tell me what it is?" Land asked, bluntly. "How can you not know? Protoculture is the greatest energy source in the galaxy. It is what powers our ships and battle mecha... of both your fleet and ours. The great matrix is what makes this ship so important to us." Lang shook his head. "I have been searching this ship since your fleet arrived in our system, and I have found nothing like that aboard. However, I believe I know what has happened. Come with me, Please." Lang turned and moved towards the hatch; Muck glanced up to Gloval, who was already on his feet. "Captain Thunders, you will escort the Minister," Gloval confirmed. "Everyone else remain here, please. We'll be back shortly." "Aye Aye, Sir," Muck replied. "Minister, if you would be so kind as to follow me?" * * * * * * * * * "If you will recall, when you first attacked, we were forced to attempt a space-fold," Lang was explaining as the quartet entered the large compartment that used to contain the SDF-1's fold generator. "However, we had no chance to experiment, or test. A jump that was just to take us to the far side of the moon took us out past Pluto, instead." "Yes, I remember that quite well. You jumped from far too deep in your planet's gravity well. We were convinced you were quite suicidal," Exedore replied. "In fact, you're lucky you survived at all." "It was a result of our ignorance," Gloval admitted. "We didn't know, so I tried to get us as close to where we'd performed the initial experiments." "As a result of this... miscalculation, we had another un-anticipated side effect," Lang continued. "The space-fold apparatus just vanished. Faded from view completely; leaving only these..." Lang indicated the mysterious flittering lights that now populated the center of the compartment; the mysterious energies that powered the SDF-1's defensive system. "May I borrow some of your instruments for a moment, Doctor?" Exedore inquired. Lang nodded, and the small platform grew silent as Exedore manipulated the sensors. In this quiet, the small ring of Muck's remote link to FRED was clearly audible, and drew an irritated look from Gloval. Muck blushed, and stepped out of the compartment before answering the device, disguised as a cell phone. "What is it, FRED? I'm kinda busy here..." Muck grumbled. "Well excuse me. I thought that informing you that I've just picked up the same sort of emissions as my damaged sensor pack might actually be important..." "Are you certain?" "I'm a computer. Of course I'm certain. Why, do you think you know where the emanations are coming from... correction. Were coming from, they've just stopped." "Minister Exedore was using some of Lang's instruments," Muck observed. "You're certain about this?" "I'm a computer. I don't make mistakes." "Oh? Then how do you explain..." What ever Muck was about to say in rebuttal was cut off by the emergence of Exedore and company, Muck quickly closed the link and put it away. "All of Zor's Secrets, Lost!" Exedore was lamenting. "This long war, fought for nothing." Lang patted the Minister's shoulder consolingly. "Perhaps we will find it again... who can say?" "We need to return to the briefing room," Gloval observed gruffly. "There is still much we need to discuss..." * * * * * * * * * "It does appear that we have made a great mistake," Exedore admitted when everyone was once more ensconced in the briefing room. "However, you cannot deny the power of this girl's songs!" "I wouldn't dream of it," Gloval admitted. "That's because its true!" "Minmei's songs have great power!" The three spies were tripping over each other word-wise, making it hard to tell who had said what... yet they clearly agreed on this point. Exedore grunted. "This is not the first time our race has encountered something like this. Generations ago, we encountered another culture much like yours and it nearly destroyed us." "How so?" inquired a confused but interested Maistroff. "For us Zentraedi, fighting is our way of life. However, when our troops were exposed to an emotionally open culture similar to yours they refused to fight." Exedore explained. "This could not be tolerated, so loyal troops were brought in, assisted by our creators, the Robotech Masters themselves, to destroy everyone who had been in contact with this civilization to destroy this contagion before it spread." As the impact of this began to penetrate, a deep concern; pierced with a growing horror began to settle over the room. "If and when our supreme commander Dolza reads my report he will have no choice but to make the same decision and launch an all out attack on this system with the entire Grand Fleet; especially in light of the fact that Zor's matrix is no longer aboard this ship." Gloval looked to Rick and Max. "The one mentioned in your report." Rick Hunter nodded glumly. "Yes sir." 'Five million ships worth, give or take a couple of thousand, sir...' Exedore nodded as well. "I can see what you are thinking. However, these new developments such as our defections, the Minmei cult, and the mating of our greatest warrior with one of your pilots change the picture dramatically." Exedore paused. "Because if a solution cannot be found, everyone in our fleet is in as much danger from the Grand Fleet as you are..." A dead silence filled the briefing room for a long moment until the com-unit at Gloval's seat began to ring. "Gloval. Hmm? Yes, by all means, set it up immediately, and pipe it down here for the Minister." He looked up at the assembled faces as he hung up the handset. "Minister Exedore, your flagship wishes to communicate with you, immediately. Our communications technicians will patch the channel through to the handset on your desk." Exedore nodded grimly, a nasty premonition of what this was all about growing in his mind. Almost on cue, the communication terminal at the witness desk rang, and the minister picked it up with a trembling hand. "Exedore here... Yes, M'lord. She has? You're certain of this? Yes, I know what this means. I understand, M'lord." His hand was trembling enough now that it took two attempts to replace the handset in its cradle; yet his eyes were calm as he looked up at the others assembled. "You must prepare yourselves to escape this star system. We will help you." Gloval eyed the Minister carefully. "Out of the question. We have sworn to defend this planet," he declared flatly. Exedore nodded wearily. "I understand. We would act no differently. What's more, without your help, we cannot escape either; our supplies of Protoculture are all but exhausted, and Zor's great matrix was our last hope." He sighed. "It appears we will soon be fighting a common enemy... the Grand Fleet." Maistroff exploded at this news. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Exedore wearily eyed the Colonel. "My lord Breetai has just informed me that the Grand Fleet is on its way to this star system. Four million ships with the firepower of a super-nova." The briefing room exploded into commotion. Lynn-Kyle was expressing futility, while those from the military seemed resigned to the inevitable. Max and Miriya only regretted not having longer together. Exedore looked around, and decided that the warriors, at least, were indeed worthy allies. Pushing himself to his feet, his voice garnered everyone's attention. "It is not over yet! There may yet be a way!" The silence in the wake of this statement was as sudden as switching off a light. "Explain, Please," Gloval guardedly asked. "Thus far, this vessel, in your hands has proven itself unbeatable! I need some more information to be certain, but I do believe there *IS* a way we can win!" Exedore replied, his voice now steady and his entire body language screaming certainty... A certainty that slowly but certainly spread to everyone else present as well... * * * * * * * * * To be concluded in Chapter 13 "Hammer Time!" ---------- (1) Babushka: Russian for grandmother.