I've just watched Macross Plus again.  For the twentieth
time.  And this is the result of one scene that caught me
and pulled me in.

"Unlimited Destiny" [Novelization]
by WD

Unlimited Destiny
-----------------

	The laser seared the underside of the YF-21, making it
shudder and throwing him back into his seat.

	<No choice.  I'm gonna have to cut out the limiter...and take it 
to the edge>

	Guld cursed grimly as he took the YF-21 into a series of
complicated loops, the Ghost's laser fire missing him by mere inches.
G-forces crushed him into his seat, and the disorientation of
his maneuovres made his stomach churn.  The 21 had already suffered
damage to the right shoulder by virtue of Isamu's YF-19 gatling
cannon, and the Ghost was picking away at him.  It was almost like
it was playing with him, the cat with the mouse as it were.

	"Hey, Isamu.  How's it going so far?" he asked in his own voice,
concern for Myung making him forget the Ghost for the moment.

	"Guld?  Hey...just dandy.  I even managed to find Myung!" came Isamu's
deliberately offhand reply.  Guld could hear AA fire
in the background.  He must be in trouble again.  Isamu was always
in trouble.  And Isamu usually reserved that offhand tone for
troublesome situations.

	And Isamu had found Myung.  And by his tone, she was still 
alive...and possibly well.  Guld mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

	Now was the time to set things right.

	"Isamu, I...never told you..." he began tentatively, seven
years of misunderstanding surging back to the forefront of his
mind.

	"Yeah?" came his snappy reply.  What the heck was he up
against that could make him sound so...intense?

	"I'm sorry," he said after a moment.  And he meant it in
more ways than one.

	"Hey...."

	"I'll be finished here in a sec.  How about you add me going
out for a drink later?" he asked in as calm a voice as possible.  A 
laser bolt flashed by his cockpit, narrowly missing him.  The Ghost 
X-9 dodged here and there.  It was too fast to keep up with.  Much too
fast.  Unless he cut the limiter.

	"Yeah, sounds great," Isamu replied tersely.  He sounded
so preoccupied, a stark contrast to Guld himself.  He actually
felt...free.  Unfettered.  Able to do as he wished.

	"You're gonna have to wait for me...be sure to toast our
7th year reunion.  Goodbye.  I have to go."

	"Guld...!" came Isamu's voice, full of concern.  Guld
felt the last of his guilt vanish.

	He shut the transmission off.  Then his soul opened.  He felt 
as fluid as water, calm as anything, and truly at peace with himself 
for one of the few times in his life.  The explosions outside the 21...that
didn't matter.  The gut-wrenching feeling of a laser bolt slamming into his
craft, that didn't matter either.  

	He opened his eyes.  The Ghost was right in front of him,
firing away with its lasers and he began to fly backwards, blocking 
the shots as they came closer...and closer...

	He wondered if Myung was truly alright.  Isamu would make
sure she was.  He began the process for taking the limiter off,
and data began to flash by his mind's eye.

	A laser streaked past his arms and hit the YF-21's shoulder, then another
one hit a critical part of his fighter - causing an explosion that hid
everything in a swirling world of roiling, red fire.

	He saw himself again, holding the shreds of a torn shirt in
his hands, staring at himself in the mirror.

	He saw Isamu's glider take to the skies, eclipsing the
very sun itself.

	He saw Myung, looking shyly at him as she began to sing.  But
what was her song?  What was she singing?  Why was she singing?

	This was it.  It was time!  He felt an alien rage coming over
him.  It was his Zentraedi battle instinct.  He hadn't taken his pills
before coming to Earth.

	Careless of him, wasn't it?  One should always plan ahead.

	The 21 morphed into its plane mode and it began to accelerate
towards the Ghost.  It had gone beyond its self-imposed limitations.  
It had transcended all that was, and Guld was riding his destiny where 
it was taking him.  The G-forces were crushing him into his seat and 
he felt his vision start to go black, bit by bit.  He growled fiercely,
fighting to stay conscious.  His targeting systems began to track the 
AI-controlled fighter even as it loomed closer, and closer.
	
	Myung opened her mouth and brought the microphone close
to her lips.  He and Isamu leaned forward, as did most of the
school population.  This was Myung's first song at the Delamousie
High Talent Festival.  She looked so radiant, so beautiful.
	
	She began to sing...but halted a bit, then she faltered.

	"Myung!  We're with you!" cried Isamu as he stood up from the
front row and waved to her.  After a second, Guld got to his feet
as well.

	"Don't stop now, Myung!  Go on!" he yelled just as hard,
before Morgan pulled him and Isamu back down, his face full of
concern.

	Myung smiled, then she brought the microphone back to her
lips.  Then she began to sing once more.

	"The...first...one...in my dreams...I could clearly see...."

	Isamu grinned up at Myung encouragingly.

	Guld smiled.

	"...pla-net Eden....."

	Things were flashing by fast, so fast that he didn't even
recognize them.  His instruments were going crazy, beeping and
flashing.  The Ghost was growing larger and larger, as if to engulf 
him and it unleashed a hail of laser fire.  

	Guld yelled his battlecry as he pushed the throttle forward
with all his might.  He let it all out, with his whole breath and
from the bottom of his soul, all his anger and sorrow and regrets in 
one mighty cry that went on...and on...and....

	"...high beyond...the skies.  Beautiful...and sad is this story
I tell...."

-----------

	My profound thanks to the people behind Macross Plus, one of
the greatest anime series of all time.

	-WD
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