This side story was included in the FIRE BOMBER Official Program in Macross 7 book. It takes place sometime between episodes 10 and 11 of the TV series, but includes a lot of flashbacks. Illustrations via Archive Scans.
Asu e Fire!
Fire Bomber Original Story
Author: Tomita Sukehiro Illustrator: Mucchiri Muunii
Endless
After getting jostled about for hours in a van cruising down a dusty country road, they finally arrived at the concert venue only to find a handful of people in the audience. And they weren't the kind of audience Mylene liked to see, either. The only one of them who took any interest was a young woman in a long white dress carrying a bouquet of flowers."It is what it is. The reason why nobody's out there is 'cause your 'Fire Bomber' band just isn't popular enough. I'm taking a financial hit here."
Whenever they performed, the promoter would swing his weight around. And when the subject of pay came up, he'd always say the same thing and drive down the compensation fee they'd originally agreed on.
This SUCKS, Mylene groaned internally. Nevertheless, the four members of Fire Bomber had to suck it up and put on a show.
Their tour went on like that for days. Making the rounds. Every one of them was exhausted.
Their leader Ray drove the van to its next destination in silence, Basara sang at full volume without a care for time or place, and the ever-reticent Veffidas had even less to say than usual. Even her pet Gubaba was shedding fur and slimming down.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. Mylene was full of regret.
Ray's musical talent. Basara's guitar playing and powerful singing voice. Veffidas' brilliant drumming, full of vitality. When she first signed up with Fire Bomber, Mylene was blown away by their music. This was the sound she'd been looking for — the upbeat tempo, the bopping rhythm, the smooth blend of each member's feelings into one harmony. She was convinced that joining this group would be the perfect musical experience for her. But reality didn't play out that way. Basara was selfish and eccentric. Ray was the leader, but he didn't do anything to boost sales. As for Veffidas, even if you tried to strike up a conversation, she'd just tap away with her drumsticks.
As their travels wore on, Mylene's frustration only got worse.
"Hey, can we all put a little more effort into attracting an audience?" Over the past three months, Mylene had kept putting up with this again and again, but she just couldn't hold her tongue anymore.
"Small audience? Who cares. I'm gonna sing my songs. Long as there's one person out there listening, I'm good. If somebody gets what our sound's about, they'll bring in more people by word of mouth. And if they don't get my burning heart, I'll make 'em."
"There you go with your upside-down logic again..."
"It's not logic. That's just how I do things."
This is headed the same direction it always does. AKA nowhere. Quickly sensing this, Mylene changed her strategy. She softened her intonation and tried reasoning with him again. "Hey, Basara, you shouldn't disregard the audience entirely. I think it's important for us to do performances that are enjoyable for ourselves and others."
Mylene spoke with uncharacteristic suaveness. Lashing back at Basara with a direct approach never worked — she'd learned as much after three months of hanging around him. So this time she switched tactics and tried to butter him up.
Mylene faked as best she could. If he sees me acting more low-key, I'm sure Basara's hard head will soften up. Once that happens, I'll say sorry for not acting mature, and then maybe he'll laugh it off and be willing to listen to what I have to say. That was what she was gunning for. But Mylene's strategy was once again wasted on Basara.
Basara said to her unsympathetically, "What's the sweet talk for? Y'know, I really don't like that attention-needy attitude of yours."
"SWEET TALK!?" A shrill voice came from Mylene's throat. Her brow furrowed, and Gubaba's expression showed unconcealed anger.
"Yeah. You don't need other people. You don't need an audience. You disobeyed your parents and ran away from home, yeah? So assert yourself more. Have some self-confidence."
"You don't know the difference between self-confidence and selfishness! What gives you any right to complain about how I act? Bleeeh~!"
"You just don't get it. I'm saying that all I need is to keep singing the songs I love. When I sing, it makes my mind and body free. It makes me feel good. And if we feel good when we're up there singing, the people listening will feel good too."
"That's just plain egoism!" shouted Mylene, and she quickly regretted it. This was how their arguments always ended up going in circles, and inevitably Ray would interrupt with a "settle down there" to force an end.
"Settle down there. How about you two call it quits for today and we'll go get something good to eat?" Sure enough, Ray butted in. It was routine at this point.
"I am TOTALLY fed up with all of this!" Mylene was seriously thinking about leaving Fire Bomber for real this time.
Remember
It took 30 minutes on foot to reach to the closest station on the Hoshinote Line which looped around City 7 of the Macross Fleet.It would be tough walking there with a bass guitar and heavy luggage in tow. Even so, Mylene could hardly ask for a ride to the station in the van. In one of the rooms they'd reserved for the night, Mylene sorted her belongings and got herself ready to hit the trail whenever.
"Mylene, got a moment?" Without prior warning, Ray came in the room.
"What?" Mylene turned a cold glance toward him.
But Ray didn't seem to pay it any heed. He came up next to her and casually stretched his hand out with an offering. "This stuff is pretty good. Want some?"
The stuff in Ray's hand looked akin to dried fish snacks. "What is it?"
"Never mind that, just have a bite."
"Eeeh~?"
"This stuff's pretty tough to chew at first. But keep biting at it and you'll start to get some amazing flavor. Try some." Ray handed her a snack.
Mylene was clever enough to immediately catch Ray's drift. For Ray's part, he knew that she knew what he was getting at.
Snack in hand, Mylene ducked around the subject and stared Ray in the face. "Hey Ray, why is Basara always like that?"
"Beats me."
"He always treats me like a little kid... but I think he's way more childish than me, 'cause he never listens to anyone around him."
"That's how he's gotten this far in life. He's probably not going to change his personality anytime soon."
"I'm amazed you can put up with it, Ray. Have you known Basara for very long?"
"You could say that."
"Since when? How'd you even meet him?" Mylene pressed.
"How...? Good question..." Ray's expression turned melancholy for a moment. He went quiet for a while, then began to soberly recount the tale.
"Way back, I was in the United Nations Military Valkyrie forces, the Pink Pecker squad." There was no hint of fond nostalgia in Ray's voice. Quite the opposite. He sounded gloomy and spoke haltingly. "It happened in 2030. The Pink Peckers were coming back from flight exercises. Unluckily for us, we ran across a bunch of rogue Zentradi warriors. Our whole squad was surrounded by Zentradis before we had time to react. Our path of retreat was blocked." Ray spoke in flat tones, but the look on his face was tortured.
"We fought stoutly against the enemy and, fortunately enough, we managed to escape their net. But when I came back to my senses, the only one flying alongside me was my buddy Stephan. Stephan was a talented elite pilot with a bright future ahead of him. Me and Stephan shot down the Zentradis on our tail and broke through their net. But..." His brows furrowed, and Ray gnashed his teeth. "Right in front of my eyes... Stephan was shot down by an enemy fighter. It all happened so fast. A fireball burst out in space, and Stephan's Valkyrie got blown to bits. Somehow I came back alive, but the shock crippled me. War just felt so meaningless... and after that, I left the military."
After saying this, Ray paused for a long while. Mylene was at a loss for words.
"Once I was out of the force, I just wandered aimlessly. I was grieving for my lost friends. But whatever I did felt empty, and I ended up falling into depression. 'What am I living for? There's no meaning in life.' ...My mind was chaos. Wherever I went, I just spent all day every day drinking myself into a stupor. But one day, I was in a frontier town that was getting hit by a blizzard. And that's when I heard it. There was a boy singing... There was a weird shimmer in his eyes. The boy's singing had an almost magical power to it. His guitar playing was dynamic. I could feel myself tremble. And then some mysterious energy surged into my soul when it had lost all will to live. When I listened to the boy's song, I felt a newfound hope for life spring within me. That boy was a young Basara..."
Visions of the past filled Ray's gaze as he spoke. This was the first Mylene had ever heard him talk so much. Is it because I'm a child? Or is it because he wants to stop me from leaving? At the time, Mylene couldn't fathom what Ray meant by telling her all this.
"Even now, I still remember word for word what Basara said back then."
"What'd he say?"
"'I wanna move mountains!'"
"Move mountains? Kya-ha, mountains can't be moved! That's so dumb!" Mylene exclaimed blithely.
"No, he'll move 'em one day. That's for sure," responded Ray, completely serious.
Mylene was briefly stunned by his reaction and changed the topic. "Say, what kind of life was Basara leading before you met him? Have you ever met his parents or other family?"
"...Never. His family, his upbringing, where he used to live? I don't have a single clue about any of that. And even if I asked, he wouldn't say a word. So I actually don't know anything about Basara's past."
"Mm-hmm..."
What could young Basara have been thinking as he trekked out to the rugged, permanently snow-capped mountains, singing his song? What kind of lifestyle had he led? Mylene could imagine a few ideas, but none of them seemed very likely.
It must've been a rough life. She could vaguely tell that much, at least. But young Basara had remained undaunted through it all and survived to this day.
Sure enough, he had a blunt personality and did what he wanted to do regardless of what anyone else told him. He was stubborn that way. But at heart, he was compassionate and gentle. Mylene could begrudgingly credit Basara with that much.
He does have a soft spot for Gubaba. And anyone who's nice to animals can't be all bad.
Mylene bit into the snack, beating herself up for letting Ray persuade her. "'Keep biting at it and you'll get some amazing flavor,' huh..." Mylene murmured, thinking back on when she first met Basara. That had been three months ago.
Ice Cream
The shopping center in front of the station had a giant TV screen mounted on its wall, which was currently playing a concert video from the hit rock group of the moment, "Blackpeace". Lots of young people crowded around to watch the band's playing. Mylene was one of them. She was holding onto a strawberry ice cream cone which she had just bought, but Blackpeace's performance was so powerful that she forgot about licking it."Hey, they're pretty cool," Mylene said aloud.
Then, a young man next to her exclaimed "Huh!?" and threw Mylene an offhand glance. This was Basara.
"You think so, right?" Mylene raised her voice again.
But Basara ignored Mylene, grabbing peanuts from a bag and tossing them into his mouth.
"Geez, you've got bad manners."
A look of annoyance quickly formed on Basara's face. "Hey, what's your problem?"
"Eh?"
"Don't just talk to strangers at random, would ya? You're weirding me out! Why are you acting like you know me? Sheesh, kids these days—"
"KID!?" Mylene hated being called a kid.
You're still a child! Whenever Mylene tried to do something new, her mom would always shut her down.
You're still a child! This was practically her mom's favorite phrase. She'd heard it a million times over.
"What are kids these days thinking?" Basara repeated the word kid.
"I wasn't talking to you." Mylene said agressively. She took Gubaba out from his nest in her hair and glowered at Basara. "I was talking to Gubaba."
*Squeal!* The fuzzball that was her pet Gubaba cried in agreement.
"Huh!?" Basara examined Gubaba. Gubaba was an unusual creature. Basara was naturally curious about him.
"You just assumed I was talking to you. You aren't the center of the world, okay?"
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, a girl behind her moved closer, giving Mylene's back a push. "Ah!" The push made Mylene stumble for a moment, and the ice cream cone in her hand went SPLAT onto Basara's clothes.
"Whoa!?" "Yikes~!" The two of them yelped simultaneously.
After that, Mylene had a rotten time. Basara grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to a nearby park, where he took his shirt off and made her wash all the ice cream off of it. In the meantime, Basara stayed nearby and played with Gubaba.
"Pretty interesting pet you've got here. Okay, Gubaba, can you get through this?" Basara made a hurdle with his hands. Gubaba made a big leap over it. "Oh, pretty good there!"
*Squeal!* Gubaba cried happily.
"I think you and I could really get along."
Mylene occasionally glanced over at Basara as she scrubbed his shirt. It wasn't going well. The smear from the ice cream refused to go away.
Mylene finally gave up. "I just can't get it out, so I'll send this in for dry cleaning."
"It's fine." Basara moved to snatch it out of her hands.
"No, I insist." Mylene tugged the shirt back.
"I said it's fine!"
"It's my fault, so I'll handle it!"
They each kept insisting, pulling back and forth. Suddenly, there was a BRRRIP! sound as the shirt tore.
"Ah!" they both exclaimed when they saw. This was the second time they had cried out in unison.
"I'm... sorry—"
"Seriously, it's fine! Gubaba... that's a good name. Bye!" Basara carelessly put on the torn shirt, said goodbye to Gubaba, and left.
"What's with him? He didn't even ask my name..." Mylene puffed her cheeks.
At that moment, the clock tower chimed. Mylene snapped out of her thoughts and checked her wristwatch. "Uh-oh! Crud! I'm gonna be late!" Mylene panicked. She had forgotten all about the audition. She had seen in a music magazine that a small-time group was looking for a new member, and had just been on her way to the audition spot. "This is all because I ran into that weirdo..."
Mylene started running, but she got lost on the way and arrived late anyway. When she got there, the most surprising thing happened. Lo and behold, one of the group's members was none other than Basara.
Mylene sang at the audition. It was a passion-filled performance. When her song ended, Mylene was filled with a sense of satisfaction. Their leader Ray had a positive reaction, but Basara remained sullenly silent.
"Basara, what do you think? I think she'd be a good addition to the group." Ray looked at Basara.
"You decide, Ray. You're the leader. Gotta say though, I like Gubaba." Basara said his piece, then stood up and left.
"I don't jive with this guy at all..." Mylene grumbled.
Ray gave her a soft look. "Don't take it to heart. That's how he he always acts. It means he's cool with you joining."
Gubaba
Three months had passed since they first met. She recalled the many things that had happened. But her life with Basara and the band ended today. Admittedly, this made her feel a tad wistful."Keep biting at it and you'll start to get some amazing flavor," Ray had said.
Do I just have to get to know Basara better? Do I want to know him better? A little bit of hesitation formed in Mylene's mind. Then, she suddenly noticed that Gubaba wasn't there.
"Gubaba? Where are you?" Mylene called for Gubaba, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Hey Veffidas, have you seen Gubaba?"
"Basara took him just earlier," said Veffidas in a whisper.
"He did?"
"Yeah..."
"Veffidas, can I ask you something? How'd you meet Basara?"
"...?" Veffidas was confused by the unexpected question. Nonetheless, she answered in a flat tone. "It was when I was still giant. I was a street fighter. I was fighting with a guy... a guy I liked."
"You liked him? Then why were you fighting him?"
"I don't know why. I think I wanted to free myself from whatever invisible force was binding me." "Binding you? I don't really get it. So who won?"
"I did... but there was no sense of release... somehow, it just felt empty... That was when I met Basara... and he just looked at me without saying anything and played his guitar."
By Veffidas' standards, this was a pretty long-winded conversation.
Veffidas told me a lot. Ray did too. Maybe they've noticed that I want out... so they're trying to stop me? Am I really that valuable to them? If so... Mylene was happy that they were being considerate of her.
Then she heard the sound of a bell. Ding-a-ling!
The bell's sound was pleasant to Mylene. She turned in the direction it came from and saw Gubaba. There was a pink cord tied around him with a small bell hanging from it. The bell sounded every time he leapt around.
"Wah, that's cute! Where'd you get that bell?" Mylene cradled Gubaba and lifted him up.
Then Basara's voice came from behind. "What are you idling around for?"
"Eh?" She turned around to see Basara standing there.
"It's time to head out."
"!!"
"If we don't hurry, we won't make it to the next concert on time. Ray's tired of waiting, and so's the audience. You always yell at me for being late, so hurry it up!"
He was being as coarse and blunt as ever, but Mylene was glad to hear it. "I get it! Quit aggravating me. I'll be right there."
Across the way, Ray and Veffidas watched the pair interact. "Looks like we're still in business as a quartet, at least for a little longer," Ray smirked, and Veffidas smiled in kind.
Epilogue
For a while after that, things were harmonious. Their road tour was enjoyable, and for some reason, they had a few more people in the audience along each stop on the way. They came up with a few new songs, and Mylene sang and strummed her heart out.Ding-a-ling! Gubaba's bell made a pleasant sound whenever he moved, and it let her know where he was at all times. But at some point, Gubaba lost the bell.
Did he drop it somewhere?
Did he wriggle out of it because he got annoyed of the ringing?
Then again, Gubaba is free-spirited and never wants to be bound by anyone. Maybe he didn't like having a bell that alerted people to his presence, so he hid it away somewhere. Mylene couldn't be sure. He doesn't want to be bound. He wants to live freely. He's selfish.
Gubaba's so fickle. He's a lot like Basara that way. Mylene had a realization. That's it! Basara's just like Gubaba, or like a self-centered cat.
If you just let him do what he wants on his own terms, he'll be content. He's not much different than an animal. The thought made Mylene smirk. I have a feeling I might get along very well with Basara in the future. The immense pressure lifted from Mylene's mind.
Ding-a-ling! And the pleasant, gentle tones of the bell rang on and on in Mylene's heart...
to be continued...
Translator notes
- Hoshinote Line: 星の手線 (Hoshinote-sen). A play on the Yamanote Line which loops around Tokyo.
- Blackpeace: ブラックピース
- to be continued...: AFAIK this short story does not have any direct follow-ups.