fanfic_name = The Picnic

chapter = 1

author = LTjg_GT_RDF

dedicate = The ROBOTECH fans who are hopeless romantics.

Rating = AP

Type = Romance

fanfic = DISCLAIMER: ROBOTECH and its associated characters are registered copyrighted trademarks and are the property of HARMONY GOLD USA, Inc. Copyright infringement is for storytelling purposes only and is not intended. Other characters and situations are of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental and is not intended. Story can be downloaded and printed for the reader’s enjoyment. The cutting, copying, pasting, quoting, plagiarizing or changing of this story is prohibited. Any publishing of this story in any magazine or fanzine without the author’s permission is strictly prohibited.

DEDICATION: To all the ROBOTECH fans who are also hopeless romantics.

BACKGROUND OF THE STORY: This three part story is a “what if” story. I always wondered what would have happened had Rick decided to go on his picnic with Lisa Hayes instead of seeing Minmei. This story is my take on what would have happened and the consequences of that event had it taken place. This story takes place in the timeframe of the Macross Saga episodes “Khyron’s Revenge”, “Broken Heart”, “A Rainy Night” and “Private Time.”

NOTE: Some the information for the story were taken from the episodes itself and from the Jack McKinney novel adaptations of the ROBOTECH series.

PERSONAL NOTE: I am the first to admit that I am not a romance writer and never will be. There are authors who are better at this type of fiction than I am. But I hope that I at least did a fair job at this and I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, reviews and criticisms are welcomed. Don’t worry about being too critical. I can take it.

THE PICNIC

PART ONE

“He’s late. Where is he?” Lisa said to herself as she looked at her watch. Skull Squadron came back from New Detroit hours ago. Usually Rick would be reporting to Lisa at this time to give his reports to her and to receive the next day’s duty roster from her. She called the squadron’s orderly room. The orderly room sergeant said he left hours ago. Lisa then called his house, the voice mail machine picked up the call. She called the base fitness center, he wasn’t there. She even called the one place Rick usually does not go to, the officer’s club; the bartender said he isn’t there. There would only be one place he would be at this time of day, Lisa said to herself, and that would be the officer’s lounge. She left her office and walked towards the officer’s lounge. There was no one in the lounge so it wasn’t difficult to find Rick. She found Rick sitting in the far off corner of the lounge and he had his head down and looked like he wasn’t in the mood to talk. Lisa walked up to Rick.

“I could have prevented it from happening, Lisa. It’s my fault.”

Oh no, he’s beating himself up over what happened in New Detroit and the protoculture chamber. Lisa said to herself

“Rick,” Lisa said as she was sitting down. “It’s not your fault. You had to make an on-the-spot judgment call. I thought you made the right decision. Also Admiral Gloval, Lord Breetai and Exedore said you made the right decision.”

“But I shouldn’t have caved in to Lynn Kyle and the mayor. If I didn’t, the protoculture chamber wouldn’t now be in Khyron’s hands. I should have stuck to my first decision to deploy a small squadron to guard the chamber.”

“And if you didn’t cave in, you would have caused a riot and made a bad situation worse. Sometimes you have to make a decision based on the situation you’re in. Didn’t you learn that at the officer’s leadership course?”

“Yes, I did learn that at the leadership course. And I also learn that I have to live with the consequences of my decision, which I don’t like.”

“Rick,” Lisa said as she gently grabbed his hands and put it in hers. “That’s all part of being a leader. There will be times when you will have to make a snap decision and later on, you will not like the consequences of your decision. You made a decision and something bad indirectly happened because of your decision. You have to live with the consequences of your decision and go on from there. Otherwise, it will eat you alive.”

Rick smiled a little then cocked his head a little at Lisa. “Lisa, why are you always around to listen to me whine and complain about my problems?”

“Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment.” Lisa said with a smile. “Or maybe perhaps I’m the only one you know that is willing to listen to your problems.”

“Well, whatever the reason is, I’m glad that you do.”

“Thank you, Rick.” Lisa said quietly.

Lisa and Rick kept looking at each other for a long time until Rick spoke up. “Lisa, I know this is not a good time to say this…but…in the last several years, I’ve grown to respect you as a person and I cherish you as a valuable friend. But lately I’ve been…this is not easy for me to say…”

“Take your time, Rick. Take your time.” Lisa said patting his hand.

“I now look at you as more just than a friend…what I’m trying to say is…I love you Lisa and will you go out with me on Saturday?” Rick asked very fast.

“What Rick? You said it too fast for me to understand.”

Rick took in a deep breath. “I love you and will you go out with me on Saturday? Before you ask, let me answer it. I am over my feelings of love for Minmei. I’ve been over my feelings of love for Minmei a long time ago. I consider her to be a friend and I hope she thinks the same about me being a friend. But, I am no longer in love with her. I love you and you only. There is no one else. So…will you go out with me on Saturday?”

Lisa was stunned that Rick made this confession to him. She didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry I’d put you on the spot. I left my reports for you back at my office. I’ll go get them.”

“No Rick. Please don’t go just yet.” Lisa said as she grabbed his arm as he was about ready to get up and leave. “I have something to tell you. I have to confess to you that when I first met you, I didn’t like you. You calling me Old Sourpuss at Saturn’s rings made me like you even less.”

“I’m sorry about that, Lisa. Really, I am.”

“That quite all right, Rick. No need to apologize. But, after you rescued me at Sara Base and later on at Alaska Base, I did some growing up myself. I’m glad that you are my friend and I’ve grown to respect you too. But lately, you have been more than just a friend to me. I’ve…I’ve fallen in love with you too. And to tell you the truth, I’ve been in love with you for quite some time.”

“For how long you’ve been in love with me, Lisa?”

“Ever since that day you were shot down over the Pacific Ocean.”

Oh my. Gosh, she has been in love with me for that long? And she’s just getting around to telling me. Holy cow, this is just too much for me to take in all at once. "Lisa…why didn’t you tell me sooner you’re in love with me? Why now?” Rick asked while holding Lisa’s hand.

“To tell you the truth, I was scared. I wasn’t ready to make a commitment to anyone. When Karl died at Mars Base Sara, I didn’t want to make a commitment to anyone, especially to military people because I was afraid they will not make it through the next battle. But after all we’ve been through, I’ve grown to love you and cherish you. Also, I thought you were still involved with Minmei. I’m sorry to be telling you this now, but I didn’t know if I was ever going to fall in love with anyone again. You’ve awaken my feelings of love and I want to thank you for that. And yes, I will go out with you on Saturday.”

Rick’s mouth grew into a big smile as he breathed in and out very deeply as if trying to get his breath back. “I don’t know what to say. I’ve never really done this before because I never really had a serious girlfriend…but…do you mind if I kiss you?”

“Just go ahead and kiss me, Rick. You don’t have to ask for my permission.” Lisa said softly.

Rick reached over the table to kiss Lisa. Lisa met Rick halfway with her lips partly opened. Their first kiss was very short. Their second kiss was more emotional. They reached over with their hand and put their hand on each others face. After kissing for a while, they stopped. Rick had a smile on his face.

“Wow. I never thought that my first kiss with you will be this wonderful.”

Lisa gently laughed at Rick’s comment. “Just stick with me Rick and you’ll have a lot more.”

“Count on it.” Rick said as they started kissing again. After a while, they stopped for good. “I guess I should go back to my office and get the reports for you.”

“Take your time, Rick.”

“Ok. See you in a couple of minutes.”

Rick and Lisa kissed again for several seconds and then Rick got up. As Rick was walking away, Lisa stayed seated in the chair and put her fingers to her lips as if wanting to find some way to seal the lingering warmth of his lips on hers. She then wrapped her arms around her shoulders, leaned her head back, closed her eyes and sighed happily. I can’t believe Rick finally told me that he loves me. I never thought I would hear anyone let alone him, tell me that they love me ever again. Yes, I will go out with you on Saturday Rick Hunter. And I’m planning on doing a lot more with you on Saturday night and all day and all night on Sunday.

The next day

Everyone was staring in shock at the video screen. Khryon was holding Minmei and Kyle hostage. Even Exedore couldn’t believe it. The Zentraedi’s most famous warrior has sunk to becoming a common criminal.

“You’re mad!” Admiral Gloval yelled.

“Ah. But there is a method to my madness my dear admiral. Now, listen up. Here are my demands. First, the space fortress for Minmei and the factory satellite for this other hostage.” Khyron said with a smile as he pointed his finger to Lynn-Kyle who was dangling from by the suit jacket at the end of the Azonia’s fingers.

“Don’t do it admiral! Don’t listen to them!”

“Mind your manners!” Azonia said playfully as she was roughly wiggling Kyle as if he was a rag doll.

“You’re hurting him!” Minmei shouted in a worried voice.

“Of course I would much rather prefer to avoid violence but I will certainly use it if I have to.”

“Ok! You win! I’m certain we can arrange something. Just don’t harm them!” Admiral Gloval said.

“That’s better. Now, I have to leave. But remember that I am expecting an answer from you by 1200 hours tomorrow.”

Khyron flashed a V with his fingers and cut off the transmission.

Admiral Gloval breathed in a deep breath and blew it out in frustration.

“What are we going to do, admiral?”

“You’re not thinking about giving into his demands, are you?”

“Course not! I’m not going to let this go unpunished. Just let me think for a moment”

Gloval tapped his empty pipe to his lips for several minute then spoke up again.

“You know, we may not know who most of our enemies are but we do know who our friends are. So I suggest we use our Zentraedi friends to trick Kyhron as he used them to trick us.”

1 hour later

Great, Rick has been ordered to save Minmei once again. Lisa said to herself. Just as our relationship was getting on track, Minmei has to come along and throw it off again. Lisa inhaled a deep breath before radioing Rick.

“Macross Control to Maverick Flight, Macross Control to Maverick Flight. Do you read me, over?”

High above the skies of North America, Rick was on patrol with Skull Squadron. He was still in the middle of his patrol period but already was thinking about what he and Lisa will do once they get off duty later in afternoon and the upcoming weekend. They’re both getting a rare weekend off and he was looking forward when it’s just him and Lisa together by themselves. No uniforms, no duty, no worries. Lisa’s voice over the radio broke his train of thought.

“Maverick Flight to Macross Control, I read you, over.”

“Commander Hunter, engage your scrambler.”

“Roger. I am engaging voice scrambler for encoded transmission, Macross Control.”

“Hello Lisa. What a coincidence. I was just thinking about you and what we’ll be doing this weekend. So, what’s up?”

“Rick, you are ordered by Admiral Gloval to break off patrol and report to Macross to get briefed for a special mission.”

“Oh? What’s going on? We’re flying Maistroff off to a deserted topical island for a vacation so he can go skinny dipping?” Rick said with a grin.

The grin disappeared when Lisa didn’t laughed or scolded Rick. Oh-oh, that’s not a good sign. Rick said to himself.

“What’s going on?”

Go ahead and tell him. He’s going to find out anyway. An inward voice told Lisa. Lisa drew in a deep breath. “Something bad has happened to Minmei, Rick.”

“What happened to Minmei?”

Lisa went on to tell Rick about Minmei and Kyle being kidnapped by Khyron and they being held hostage for the SDF-1 and the factory satellite. Rick was chosen to lead the rescue mission.

“He’s got to be crazy! He’s holding Minmei hostage for the SDF-1? The SDF-1 is nothing but a rusting pile of junk. It’s not even space worthy, let alone air worthy.”

“You know that and I know that. But Khyron doesn’t care! He’s wants the SDF-1 and he’s holding Minmei and Lynn Kyle hostage until he gets it.”

Lisa heard him let out a groan and saw him rubbed his head like he has a headache on her video monitor. Sounds like he just as frustrated with this situation as I am. Lisa said to herself in relief.

“And Admiral Gloval wants me to rescue Minmei and Kyle.”

“That seems to be the plan, Rick.”

“Great!” Rick said in exasperation. He then let out a big sigh. “Roger Macross Control. Skull Squadron’s returning to base. I am disengaging voice scrambler.”

“Macross Control, out.”

“Skull Squadron, break off and follow me. The rest of Maverick Flight, stay on course.”

The next day at dawn

At RDF HQ, Rick was briefed on the mission and went through several rehearsals and dry runs. At the airfield as Rick was getting ready to fly the rescue mission, Lisa put her arms around Rick’s neck and kissed him. She had a worried look on her face.

”Please be careful Rick. Kyhron will stop at nothing. You know that.”

Rick put his hands around Lisa’s slender waist and kissed her, trying to reassure her in a calm soothing voice.

“I know. Don’t worry Lisa. We got a complete briefing on the mission and we’ve rehearsed it many times. I know what I’m doing. I’m flying this mission as a pilot.”

“And you’re a good pilot Rick. It’s just…It’s just that I don’t want you to lose your perspective and objectivity. That’s all.”

Oh boy. Here we go again. Rick said to himself. Rick moved his hands from Lisa’s waist and placed it on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Lisa, I’m not going to lie to you. Yes, I loved Minmei. But I’ve gotten over my feelings for her a long time ago. I’m flying this mission as a pilot. That’s all. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about Rick.”

“Look, I’ll come back to you. Don’t worry. I’m not going to jeopardize this mission and the lives of my pilots over what feelings I may have left for her. I have complete confidence in my men and their abilities. You have to have confidence in me and my ability to be objective and to complete the mission.”

“I do have confidence in you Rick. It’s just that…”

“What Lisa?”

“Forget it. Good luck, Rick. Be safe. I love you.”

“I love you too, Lisa.” Rick said as he kissed Lisa on her forehead.

Later that same day

The rescue mission went off without a hitch. But for Lynn Kyle, it wasn’t good enough. He was screaming and yelling at Lisa at the airfield after Rick rescued Minmei and Kyle. Minmei was trying to calm Kyle down but with not much success.

“Your little rescue mission almost cost me and Minmei our lives, commander!”

Lisa wasn’t backing off. She was holding her ground. “I’m sorry you feel that way Mr. Lynn Kyle. But these missions involve a certain amount of risk, not only for you and your cousin but for the people involved in rescuing you.”

“Well thanks for nothing! Did you have to kill the Zentraedis who weren’t armed!?”

Rick was seething. Why that ungrateful bastard! How dare he question what we done when risked our lives to save his worthless ass. What did Minmei ever see in that worthless piece of trash, I’ll never know. Family relationships are damned.

“That’s okay, Lisa. You don’t have to defend me. I’m a grown boy. I can take it. I did it as a personal favor for you and you only, Minmei, because you’re my friend. I sure as Hell didn’t do for you, Kyle.”

“I would expect that coming from a warmonger like you, Hunter!”

Rick wanted to say something much stronger to Kyle but held his tongue. Lisa wasn’t so kind but she didn’t say it out loud and not quite as profane.

Go screw yourself, Kyle.

Minmei turned and saw Rick. She ran to Rick with tears running down her face. She threw her arms open wide and ran into Rick clutching him and almost tackling him to the ground. Rick had a surprised look on his face. Rick was at a loss for words when he saw the evil look in Lisa’s eyes. Oh-oh, I better break this up quick. He put his hands around Minmei’s arms. He was having a difficult time breaking Minmei’s hold on him because she had her arms tightly around his waist.

“Minmei…It’s great seeing you again. But…I have to go back on patrol. I’ll see you later. Ok?”

“No Rick! Please! Don’t go!”

“Minmei please let go of me! I have to leave!”

“No! Please Rick! You don’t understand! When I was being held hostage by Khyron, I began to think what was really important to me! And I realized it’s not my singing or acting career!”

“Minmei we’ll talk about this some other time! But I really do have to go!”

He finally managed to break free of Minmei’s hold. As he was walking back to his VT, Lisa walked along side him with an angry look on her face.

“I thought you said you’re over your feelings for her.” Lisa said after they were out of ear shot of Kyle and Minmei.

“Not now Lisa. We’ll talk about this later when I get off patrol.”

“No! We’re going to talk about this right now!”

“I said not now! We’re still on duty!”

Rick climbed back into the cockpit of his VT. Rick closed the canopy and fired up the engines. As he began to taxi away, Minmei began chasing after him.

“No Minmei! You’ll be hurt by the jet blast!” Lisa yelled.

“She’s still in love with him!” Kyle seethed.

Rick’s VT rocketed down the runway and several seconds later, was airborne. Minmei fell to her knees and cried. Even though she didn’t wanted to, Lisa picked Minmei up from the runway asphalt and walked her to a waiting limo.

Several hours later

It was getting to be dusk when Rick taxied his VT into a hangar bay. He was tired.

“Oh boy, I’m beat. I can’t wait to get home.”

Rick then looked over to his right and saw Lisa standing by the tarmac. She had her wrists to her waist and was tapping her right footed uniform shoe angrily. He winced and groaned.

”Oh great! But I have to go through Hurricane Lisa first.” Rick said wearily as he climbed down from the cockpit.

“I thought you said you’re over your feelings for her!” Lisa said as she was walking with Rick step to step.

“I am!”

“Then why you didn’t stop her from trying to tackle you like you’re a quarterback at a back yard pick-up football game?!”

Rick stopped, turned and looked at Lisa. “What was I suppose to do Lisa?! Hold my hands out to stop her and say to her ‘That’s ok Minmei. But you shouldn’t do that because Lisa, my girlfriend is standing nearby. A handshake would do.’?”

“Yes if you really love me!”

“I’m not going to do that Lisa just because you were standing nearby! It was just her way of saying thank you to me. Just because I no longer have feelings of love for Minmei, doesn’t mean I will stop being friends with her! It’s not like I was getting aroused by having her arms around me. It’s you that I love. You know that!”

“Well, I’m beginning to wonder if you really do love me!”

Rick was getting frustrated. He suddenly threw up his hands and rolled his eyes up at the sky.

“I give up! Look! I keep telling you and telling you that I am over my feelings of love for Minmei! But you don’t believe me! If you want go on doubting me and my love for you, fine! Go right ahead because I don’t care anymore! I’m tried! I’m going to take a shower and go home! What you want to do tonight and this weekend, go ahead and do it without me! I don’t care!”

Rick left the tarmac heading for the squadron’s locker room and the shower steaming mad. Lisa stayed where they were arguing with tears streaming down her cheeks.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = georgemtATearthlink.net