The chaos that ensued was a blur to Dirk. Dirk remembers seeing his friend, Roy, standing up with a huge grin and then jumping with excitement like a fool. He remembers Adam bending the mic stand completely against itself and the sound of Rayelle's laughter. Dirk remembers jumping up, grabbing Elise, and hastily leaving the venue, but every sound was slow and muffled as his adrenaline focused his mind on escaping from the chaos and a bent mic stand narrowly missing his head.
As Dirk dragged Elise out of the room, Elise shot a look back at Rayelle.
Rayelle avoided her stare and instead stood up to block Adam from chasing Dirk, "Adam! Relax! I was just playing a joke!"
Adam shouted, "He kissed you! That's assault!"
Roy and Lyle snuck out behind Dirk and Elise, naturally, Roy had to get the last word as he left and said, "We'll never forget yesterday! We're still your biggest fans! And Lisa, you are my true love!"
Lisa rolled her eyes and smiled a little. She thought that Roy was the loudest one in the group and the skinniest Zentradi man she had ever seen, but maybe a little interesting. Lisa waved her hand dismissively to Roy without turning her head; she had to maintain her cool and untouchable image after all.
Rayelle blocked Adam, insisting it was just a joke, "I kissed him! I just wanted to see what would happen!"
Adam calmed down a little, even more now that Dirk was out of sight, "One of these days, you're going to get yourself hurt or someone else."
Rayelle wanted to brush him off as usual, "I know, it was just a kiss, though."
"Two actually," Lisa chimed in.
Adam massaged his temples and was at a loss for words.
The sound of heels resonated through the open door, and Amy stepped into the room. She examined the state of the room and was surprised that it wasn't a complete mess, given how quickly their four guests had left the room a few minutes ago. Amy saw the bent mic stand on the ground and picked it up.
"I remember hearing old Earth tales about bands that would absolutely destroy hotel rooms, changing rooms, instruments, or even bite heads off of living creatures on stage. I've been proud that after dozens of concerts, you've never caused any damage or controversy. If this is the worst damage you guys ever do, then I will be grateful."
Amy walked over to Adam and gently handed him the bent mic stand, then turned to Rayelle and guided her over to the couch, where she pulled her down to sit.
"Now, Rayelle, let's talk about something more important than a simple mic stand."
Rayelle felt like a small child who was about to be scolded by her mother as she looked up at Amy.
Amy placed her hand on Rayelle's hand and sweetly said, "Let's talk about that kiss."
From the opposite couch, Lisa muttered, "Which one?"
Rayelle glared at Lisa, wide-eyed and slightly pale, and then felt Amy's hand start to feel like it was heating up. She looked back at Amy and saw the vein in her forehead bulge slightly.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! The one on stage was his fault, and the one a few minutes ago was completely my fault, but it's okay because nobody saw it!"
Amy sighed. She was only about six years older than Rayelle, but at times she felt she had to act like a parent to her rather than a manager.
"It doesn't matter if nobody saw it. How well do you know them? What if they recorded it? What if they start a rumor that you and that guy are dating?"
Rayelle became annoyed because she felt a genuine connection with those people, not just because they were fans, but because they felt genuine and loved music. She thought of them as fellow musicians, even if they were part of a band that had never performed a single concert.
"Dirk and his friends aren't like that!"
Amy was surprised that Rayelle stood up for Dirk and his friends, "How do you know that? You've known them for maybe a week!"
"Because they're just like us when we were starting out! Remember our first band, the Punk Rockets? We only cared about making music and having fun! We didn't care about drama."
Amy couldn't exactly disagree. The world that the Night Hawks lived in was different than the world she lived in. It was her job to protect them from the outside world so they could focus on their music.
"Fine, I won't bring it up again. Now, can we talk about this song you sent me earlier?"
Rayelle's face lit up at the mention of the new song, "Yes! I want it to be big and tell a story! I feel like it will be our next hit!"
"Fine, I'll stay out of your way as usual, just tell me what you need. It's been too long since your last new song, and I was worried your inspiration was fading."
"I'm going to need a music video to go with it."
Amy was genuinely surprised since they had never made a music video before and always preferred live concerts, "Oh? Why the video after all of this time?"
Rayelle clutched her chest, "Words alone cannot express what I felt when writing the lyrics."
Amy wished she could understand it, but merely went along with Rayelle's wishes, as usual, "Ok, is everyone else on board?"
Marty and Lisa nodded without saying a word.
Adam asked, "Can you sing and play this song? You were struggling with the pace and range of the vocals a little. If you have to focus on the guitar too, I don't see how we could do it live."
Rayelle waved dismissively, "Let's just put it together for now, we can record separate tracks if needed. If I can't pull it off, then we can get outside help doing it live."
Amy clapped once, "Alright, once you can put the track together, I'll see about the video. I need the song to convince the producers to spend money on it!"
Rayelle threw her fists in the air, "I can't wait!"
Amy smiled, "Ok, go home, get cleaned up, I'll get food sent to the studio by noon."
Meanwhile, Dirk, Elise, Roy, and Lyle finally returned to Battle 10 after a short taxi ride and then a quick walk through the docking terminal, where Battle 10 was connected to City 10.
Everyone showered and changed back into their flight suits in the barracks as the regular on-duty pilots of Battle 10 started switching shifts. Even though it was peacetime, several flights would always be on standby or training to maintain readiness.
Dirk, Elise, Roy, and Lyle returned to the hangar, where their shuttle had finished being repaired and the supplies it was carrying had been unloaded. They saw Oscar waiting next to the shuttle, where he was smiling with the same middle-aged woman who had interrogated them when they landed.
Dirk, Elise, Roy, and Lyle hurried towards General Adra, stood in a row in front of her, and saluted.
General Adra shook her head, "Oh drop it already, three of you are civies, and the other two obviously don't have a lick of discipline."
Roy and Lyle relaxed, but Dirk and Elise maintained their salute.
"Alright alright, you at least have some spunk about you. At ease."
Dirk and Elise stopped saluting and relaxed their arms while clasping their hands behind their backs.
"We've finished loading the supplies into your shuttle, but it wasn't large enough for everything Macross 8 requested, so we've prepared a second shuttle, one that can hold 4 people. I'm sure you won't have any issue with that?"
Dirk and Elise were quite surprised that the General was taking her time to help them out. They shouted in unison, "Sir, no sir!"
"Whatever, just thank this young man here for allowing an old woman to relive her youth a little bit," General Adra gently patted Oscar's back. "Oh, and say hi to the old coot for me."
Elise smiled and was looking forward to passing on the General's greetings.
Dirk and Elise saluted the General again. Elise returned to their original shuttle and Dirk went to the second shuttle.
Oscar gently hugged General Adra and kissed her on the cheek, and then followed Elise into the shuttle while Roy and Lyle followed Dirk onto the second shuttle behind a Macross 10 pilot.
Both shuttles launched and left Battle 10 without incident and cruised leisurely towards Battle 8.
As soon as they left Battle 10, Oscar heard is communicator ping. He wasn't a fool and knew the guys were asking what he did with the General while they were at the concert. Oscar turned and saw Elise looking at him with big doe eyes.
"You want to know too?" Oscar asked Elise.
Elise nodded.
"It was a lovely evening, no more, no less."