[Door 5 - It's one of the doors from the Death Star. It whooshes up and you proceed.] [Door 4 - It's a revolving door. You go around several times then proceed.] [Door 3 - It's a double wooden door with wrought-iron edging set in stonework. It creaks open and you proceed] [Door 2 - It's a rolling garage door. You force it open and proceed] [Door 1 - It's a vault door. You swing it open and proceed] [Sandra walks in and sits down on the far left. Sean sits next to her, and Kara next to him. Matt sits down on the right] > [Belmont at night] Kara: Look at that tower. Someone's compensating. > Academy Comics presents Matt: More aftermath! Aaaagh! > [Sera in profile] Sean: You know, she looks kinda like a girl I used to know... > [Sera outside looking into sky] > [Sera face close-up] Sandra: That doesn't look a thing like her. Where's he freaky hair? Matt: According to Bruce, she's got blond hair, green eyes and red blood. Not the other way around. > Sera: She's coming Sean [Sera]: I guess we'll have to get the guest bedroom... Kara: "She?" This isn't going to be another damned magical girl, is it? > [Sera from behind in Belmont] Kara [Sera]: I feel so insignificant... Then again, I always feel insignificant. Sandra [Sera]: I didn't want to be in this comic! I wanted to be in a westernised version of Mospeada: Live, Love, Alive! > [Sera with Lancer in background] > a Bruce Lewis comic Sean: I'm arresting this comic on suspicion of impersonating a graphic novel. Matt: Irony is that Roserik Rikki and Tavisha Wolfgarth would ret-con this all out of existence in a few months... > Lancer: Sera? You okay, hon? Sandra [Sera]: I've been turned from an Invid princess into a tree-hugging, flipped- out flower child who does covers of old Minmei songs and hangs around with a bunch of wannabe socialists. How do you think I feel? > [Earth in space] Sean: Hey, that's the view out our window. > Voice [V/O]: Earth... at last... > [Close-up on Earth] > Voice [V/O]: ...So beautiful... > [Earth closer up still] Sandra: Aaagh! Not that close! Pull up you fool! > Voice [V/O]: ...so strange... Kara [V/O]: I wonder if it'll be friends with me? > [Capsule re-entering] > Voice [V/O]: My pod is entering the atmosphere... it won't be long now... ...falling > to Earth... never to leave it again... Matt: Damn cheap package tours.... > [Girl in capsule] Sandra: Oh damn it... it's another damned Zentraedi magical girl... > Girl [V/O]: ...But my duty to the sisterhood is clear. It is Earth that needs us now. Sean: Face it. The planet's screwed. Sandra: And people think our version of Earth bites. Ours doesn't have magical girls. > I must not falter. Matt [Shinji]: I must not run away. > [Close-up on girl] > Girl: Mamma... papa... ...goodbye. > [Belmont at night with large shooting star, girl in foreground] Sean: Oh man... I can see all the way up her skirt. > Aftermath > created by Bruce Lewis > Chapter Two: > The Girl In The Moon > [Belmont streetscape] > [Zentraedi reading newspaper] Kara: If that's the Belmont Zentraedi news, shouldn't it be written in Zentraedi? > [Zentraedi girl with goddess markings] > [Girl looking in window of Jim Cooper's Bar and Grill] > [Food on tray] > [Close up on girl's eyes] Sean: SOMEONE DO SOMETHING! I can't take too much more of this intense inaction! > [Girl in profile] > Girl: Gosh, that smells good... ...but they only gave me a few gold coins... Matt: The irony being that those few coins would probably buy America and half of Canada. > and I still have to find a place to live... Sandra: She's going to hang out in Manhattan with her trendy pals. > ...I wonder how much they-- > [Girl, frightened] Kara: That looks like someone- Sean: No. Kara: Not even just one Rocky Miavia riff? Sean: No! > Voice: Uh, 'scuse me, miss... Sandra: We're arresting you on a charge of wasting good paper on three pages of nothing. You'll have to come down to the station with us. > [Girl turning around, scared] > Girl: Aaa! Please don't hurt me! Sean [Girl]: Not in the face! Not in the face! > [Man] > Man: Hurt y-- Oh, no, no! I wouldn't hurt you! Matt: Annoy you, yes. Hurt? No. > I didn't even mean to scare you! My boss sent me out here-- y'know, from the restaurant... Kara: You know... Restaurant? You pay money to eat food... > [Tray of food] > Man: He said you looked hungry. Kara: Yeah, I'm starved. When do we eat? > [Remnants of food on tray] Sandra: I guess all these SSSWZMG's go to the Lina Inverse school after all... > Man: Well, miss Min-Quadderaq, how'd you like my cooking? Sean [Girl]: I must say that it was... unique. How long have you been taking lessons from C-Ko? > [Girl] > Girl: It was delicious, Mr. Jim Cooper. Thank you for your kindness... ...and 'Min' > is just a title. My friends call me 'Caddy'. Kara: Any reason? Sandra: Yeah. Whenever they go out golfing she carries the clubs. > [Caddy, Lunk and Man at bar] Matt: Cheers II: After the Armageddon. Sean: I hear Kenshiro is going to play "man at the end of the bar". > Man: So, uh, Caddy, what's it like on the moon? Sandra: Kind of cold and dark, really. > Lunk: We've heard rumors. Cities, space travel, "moon lords". Matt [Lunk]: Immortal scientists, giant gothic space fortresses, Protoculture spiders... > But who knows what to believe? By the way, my friends call me "Lunk". > [Lunk] Sandra: Get away! That doesn't look a thing like him. Matt: Yeah, but by Bruce's standards its a pretty good likeness. > Caddy: Mr. Lunk... are you T'sentraeti? Matt: How could he be? He doesn't look like a Marduk or have Goddess markings. And as we know all Zentraedi have them. Sandra: Look on the upside. None of them have trendy Cybernetics. > Lunk: Me? Ha! No, I'm strictly Maikuron. Hawaiian and Irish, to be exact. > [Man] > Lunk: ...But I like T'sentraeti. That's why I opened my place here in T'sentown. Matt: The rent was cheap too. Since the locals all used to hang out at Castle Fate, they glow at night. Sean: Castle Fate? Sandra: Yes, Manos. Sean: I got the feeling I'm not going to get anything out of you two on this. > Since I'm the boss, Sean [Lunk]: I can throw people out who I don't like. > I can provide jobs for the locals... and the occasional Earther > like Mister Bandy here... Matt: Oh, so coming from Earth doesn't make you a local? > Bandy: Heh! He thinks he's the boss! I'm the brains of the outfit! Sean: Brains behind is more like it. > [Caddy surprised] > Caddy: Bandy? Your name is Bandy? Kara: Yeah. His first name's Crash. > [Bandy with glass in hand] > Bandy: Y-yes... Christophe Bandy. Why? Sandra [Caddy]: No reason. It's just a silly sounding name, that's all. > Caddy: Mother... I should have realized... Sean [Caddy]: I forgot to put the cat out. > ...Mr Bandy, I-I think I have a message for you... Kara [Caddy]: Call the office, and can you please pick up a liter of milk on the way home? > [Bandy drops glass] Sandra: How many panels do you think that's going to take to hit the ground? Sean: In this comic? The next half dozen or so pages. > Caddy: ...From your father... Matt [Bandy]: Oh oh... This is going to be about the car, isn't it? > [Bandy] > Bandy: M-my father is dead, Caddy. He died in Bo'Dolza's attack... Matt: Macross names in Robotech comic... Must control... fist of Death... > Caddy: No! No, Marcus Bandy is still alive... Sandra: You call being in a Bruce Lewis comic living? > [Glass falling] [All whistle loudly] > Caddy: Alive and well and living on the moon... Kara: That was until some bastard dropped the frigging Lance of Longinius on his head. > [Lunk and Caddy, surprised] Sean [Lunk]: Ok... who let fly? > Lunk: Bandy! > [Broken glass on floor] Matt [Lunk]: I don't care if your father's alive, that's still coming out of your paycheck! > [Bandy kneeling near broken glass] Sandra: Hey, watch it with that hand, buddy. You could do yourself an injury that way. > Bandy: Alive... How can he be alive after all these years? Matt: By being very old. Sandra: Ha! Matt: Well some of us aren't seemingly ageless, you know. > [Bandy in profile] > Bandy: I remember... Sean [Bandy]: The flares... the hair... the music... Sandra: The 70's truly were a shameful decade. > [Marcus Bandy in uniform] Kara: Oh, my god. He looks like one of the Village People. Sean: Which one? Kara: The gay one with the moustache. > Bandy: I remember the last time I saw him. Sean [Bandy]: He popped around the corner to get some milk. It was fifteen years ago... > I was just a kid. We were being > evacuated from the UN Spacy science base at Fairbanks, Alaska. It was a few days > before the Invid came... Sandra: Before the Invid came? I thought he was killed in Dolza's attack? Kara: Maybe he got better. Sandra: Well, there's also twenty odd years difference. Kara: Details, details! > ..He - He said he had to stay behind. He told us he had > some kind of special duty to perform... Sean [Marcus]: I get toilet duty on this of all days... Ahhhgh! > [Young Bandy and mother] > Bandy: "I'll join you as soon as I can", he said. "I promise". Sandra: There's famous last words. Tell me, was he thinking about retiring and buying a boat too? Matt: He was probably going to go down to the club later and hang out with Chen. And Charles Brautigan. > [Mushroom Cloud] Sandra: I hear that Bruce is attending a major Anime con sometime soon. That's probably the result... Matt [Marcus]: Not me, I swear it! I wasn't even on duty at the time! > Bandy: Of course, he never did. The Invid made sure of that. My mother and > I never saw him again. > [Lunk] > Lunk: Bandy... > [Caddy] > Caddy: Mr. Bandy! Are you all right? Sean [Caddy]: Just a second... I appear to have broken my leg... It's very sore... I'm going to try and stand up... CRACK! > I-I'm so sorry! I didn't think-- Matt: We would have been able to tell. Smoke would have been coming out of your ears. > [Bandy] > Bandy: It's Okay, Caddy. I'm just a little... thrown, that's all... Sandra [Bandy]: I mean... Soylent Green is made out of people... It's just a shock, that's all. > [Bandy, close-up] > Bandy: Tell me... Tell me about my father... Matt: He can't decide when he died, he's badly drawn, and he looks like one of the Village People. Everything else is a guess. > [Caddy] > Caddy: He is a great man... Sandra: He weighs over two hundred kilos. That's how "great" he is. > [Exterior of Lunk's place, Sera walking to it] > Sera: Here... She's here... > [Domed city] All [Singing]: Meet George Jetson... > Caddy [V/O]: Dr Marcus Bandy-- Your father-- Sean: You mean he doesn't know his father's first name? Matt: She was telling the audience. Sean: Oh. > Is a hero to all who live on the > moon, In Quadderaq. The techniques he developed made our city what it is today. > [Earth in Space] Matt: Universal pictures presents.... Sandra: This Island Earth can be yours if the price is right! > Caddy [V/O]: A UN Spacy Recon team found him in the rubble of the Fairbanks base. > He was badly wounded. Civilization was collapsing, so they bought him along when > they evacuated to the moon. > [Marcus Bandy holding a report labeled Aluce Dome Support Structure 0957] Matt: Hey look, It's Ahmed Johnson! Sandra: Ahem. Matt: OK, it's the Big frigging T. > Caddy [V/O]: He couldn't get back to you. Kara: Some idiot left the phone off the hook. > He couldn't even send a message. So, > once he recovered set out to build a new home-- Matt: I don't think a log cabin is quite appropriate for life on the moon. > A home you and your mother could someday inhabit. Sandra: A little house on the lunar sea... > [Futuristic Metropolis] Sean: Could be "The Fifth Element", or Courasant from "Phantom Menace" or "Akira" or "Bubblegum Crisis 2040" or "Beast Machines" or "Ghost in the Shell" or "Dark Minds" or- Kara: Thank you, Sean. > Caddy [V/O]: That was fourteen years ago... Today, his work stands complete. Kara [Caddy]: The first Chinese restaurant on the moon! Sean: Hey look... you can see the Cubs loosing from here. > Driven by his love for you and your mother, Dr Bandy led a project to build an > Earthlike habitat on the moon. They built a shielded dome over a nearby crater, > and inside it a city-- Sean: Tokyo-3? > The most beautiful city anywhere. He wanted to name it > "Aluce City", but Mr. Nobutu insisted on a more fitting name. And so we named > it Sapphire City, after your mother. Matt: I thought it was called Quadderaq. Sandra: Contradiction on the same page. Well done, Bruce. > [Bandy] > Bandy: I knew it! I knew he didn't forget us! You said... There was -- a message...? > [Caddy] > Caddy: Yes, he told me to tell you that he was sorry about not keeping his promise... Matt [Caddy]: And that he wants the car back by nine. > [Caddy close-up] > Caddy: And then he died. Kara: I thought he was alive and well and living on the moon? Sean: Maybe he was until a few minutes ago. Sandra: Marcus Bandy *is* the ASADAE Floating Island! > [Bandy close-up] > Bandy: Daddy... Daddy, you've got nothing to be sorry for... ...I know you did the > best that you could... > [Caddy, surprised] > Caddy: I--I'm sorry, Mr Bandy. His injuries were simply to criti-- (Meenmay > Tul! Ma'arduk Hoy Sa!)* > *"Great Mother! It is the High Born!" Caddy is speaking Tireasian -- Bruce. Sandra: I don't know what she's speaking but I'll wager it's not Tiresian. Matt: She just called us some very unpleasant things in Narn. > [Sera in doorway] Kara [Sera]: Yes, I do have a hovercraft. But no, I don't believe it has any eels in it. Sean [Caddy]: Did I say *that*? > Sera: I knew it! I knew you'd be here! Matt: What gave it way? Sean: Every Teusday's Magical Girl night down at Lunk's place. > Lunk: S-sera? Kara: With this art? It's very hard to tell... > [Sera and Caddy] > Sera: I've been waiting for one of you to show up for some time now. Sean [Sera]: I've been complaining about the stereo for five years now. > Are you going to live here in Belmont? Sandra: "Live" is a relative term with regards to Belmont. Sean [Sera]: Only if you don't mind old Minmei songs and pseudo-socialist undertones. Kara: [Caddy]: I am soooo out of here. > Caddy: Highborn... To finally see you in the flesh instead of as a dream... I--I-- > of course! I'd be happy to stay here if you will have me... > [Sera close-up] Sandra: Is this the world's worst Sera art? You be the judge. > Sera: Of course! This is Belmont! Anybody who agrees to live in peace is welcome here. > ...And please, just call me Sera. > [Lunk and Bandy] > Bandy: Sera... what is all this? Who is Caddy, really? Sean: I'm guessing Skuld. > [Caddy smiling] Sean: I win! > Sera: Why isn't it obvious, Bandy? She's the future... Our future. Matt: The technology of peace? Sandra: Quite possibly. > [Line-up left to right: Sera, Lunk, Lancer, Annie, Rand, Caddy] Matt: Actually, with the way they're drawn I'm surprised you can tell. > "And so with the coming of the Quadderaq lords to Earth, the Aftermath came to a > close. Matt: A thankful two issues short of what Bruce had promised. > With the knowledge they possessed, plus the Power of their T'sentraeti blood, > these twelve young women sparked a new era of progress in every place they lived. Along > with the pioneering efforts of Bernard's Megaroad Foundation and the still-mysterious > Organization, Sean: Organization with a capital O? They must be important. > the arrival of Caddy and her sister emissaries spread the fire of > civilization All [Singing]: You start a fire in me... [They all suddenly stop] Kara: Man. Bad 1990's wrestling themes. We are losing it. > across the continent and around the planet-- a fire that was first > kindled in Belmont by those names we know so well: Kara: Snogfurgle, McBashem, Bongo Bongo, Kennetelov, Slaven... > LaBelle, Sommersville, Cooper, Bartley, Belmont and the Lady Sera. Matt [Scott]: What about me? What about Scott? What about Scott?! Sandra [Lana/Nova]: At least I get to sit out the mushy bullcrap ending. > A hundred years have passed since those six heroes first set eyes on the city known > as Belmont. In that time, we humans- both Terran and T'sentraeti - Matt: Obviously Bioroid clones and other types of Tiresian don't count towards this total. It's blatant discrimination. Sandra: And don't forget Marduk-wannabes. > have made great > strides. Yet, even as we prepare for our next great evolutionary leap, we should > never forget the struggle, the sacrifice and the strength of those six young heroes, All: We try. > who created the future in that abandoned and empty city so long ago" > -Akira Fujiyama, Royal Historian, at the christening of SDF Megaroad, July 2147. Matt: Fine. That's actually 112 years after they first arrived in Belmont. Sandra: Never mind. Let's get out of here. Sean: What? We can't just get up in the middle of a comic! Matt: That's the last page of the last issue. Kara: But it's only some 12 pages, and most of those were just scenery! Sandra: Sad, isn't it? [They get up and leave] [Door 1 - It's a vault door. It swings shut as you leave] [Door 2 - It's a rolling garage door. You wrestle it shut and proceed] [Door 3 - It's a double wooden door with wrought-iron edging set in stonework. It creaks shut and you proceed] [Door 4 - It's a revolving door. You go around several times then proceed.] [Door 5 - It's one of the doors from the Death Star. It whooshes down and nearly takes your feet off as you proceed.] "She's wandered off again?!" Sean noted as they reached the SoR's main control room. "I think she lost us going around the second door" Kara replied. "Never mind..." Matt said. "I think I can get us into her file" "Cool" Kara replied. The three of them hunched around a monitor. "OK... This looks like it..." Matt muttered. "Louisa's security is pretty lame on this system" "Am I complaining?" Sean replied. A few seconds later, a file popped up, accompanied by a very grainy black and white photo. "This is it" Matt noted. "Here goes..." Name: Sandra Blackmore Race: Human (?)/Caucasian/Female Age: Unknown Place of Birth: Unknown Height: 180cm Eye Colour: Blue/none Hair Colour: Black/grey Rank/Occupation: President, Earth Government Alliance Specialization: Unknown Background: Very little is known about Sandra Blackmore. She appeared out of nowhere in 2117, and was given control of EarthGov by the ruling council. No previous background is known, but she is believed to have been in intelligence or the military. Excellent mecha pilot. Has not apparently aged in the last eighteen years. Uses 2020's street and pilot slang. Bears an uncanny resemblance to a 2020s mecha ace. Personality Brief: When acting as Earth President, Sandra appears to be cold, professional and level headed. In private, has an odd sense of humor and is more than a touch cynical. First Appearance: "Robotech: Megastorm" part 1 "That said a lot" Kara mutted. "Yeah... Harldy worth the effort, was it?" Sandra added. "Aaaagh!" The three of them span around. "Go ahead and look at it all you want." Sandra replied. "It's not that interesting" "Don't do that!" Sean shouted. "Ahh... bite me, Jeff-boy" Sandra replied. "Jeff-boy?" Kara pondered, but was cut off by the Mad's light flashing. "I suggest one of you gets that. Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain are calling us." Sandra calmly stated. "Er... Sure thing, boss" Kara replied as she jumped up and pressed the button. The screen switched on to show Louisa in the Montauk with no sign of either Carla or Viktor. "Greetings my little worms!" She cheerfully exclaimed. "Feeling suitably mad after your double-dose of Bruce's worst?" "Not yet" Matt replied. "You did well with this one, though" Kara replied. "It was badly-written, badly drawn, inconsistent and didn't have much to do with the show it was based on" "Not only that, but they wasted a lot of time, and resolved things way too quickly" Sean added. "Thinking about the ASADAE floating island kept us sane, though" Sandra finished. "Ohh... Poopie." Louisa swore. "Say... um... Where've Viktor and Carla got to?" Kara asked. "Oh... Viktor had to go. Carla saw him out" Louisa replied. Carla entered the room carrying a shovel in her hands. "All done, boss!" She chirped. "What more can I do you for" "Shut up, Carla" Louisa replied. "I told you nothing good would come of this" CABAAL muttered. "But no-one ever listens to the disembodied bio-organic computer..." "They're all idiots" Sandra muttered. "Oh well.. there's always a next time" Louisa defiantly stated. I'll get you four yet." "Oh yeah. We're terrified" Sean replied. Kara nodded. "Agh!" She shouted. "Push the button, Carla!" "Anything for you, Louisa-Sama!" Carla replied as she pushed the button. The screen went dark. "And stop calling me that!" "Sure thing, Louisa-Chan" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MSTer's notes: Firstly, in the last MSTing I mis-counted my Aftermaths. As you can see, I MSTed Aftermath's 12 and 13, not 11 and 12 as I said last time. I'm sorry, my bad. No idea what's next. None of my local comic stores have any issues of Sentinels: Rubicon left. I think they may have burnt them all. Renga was created by a guy my brother once knew called Dimitir Neddialkov. He may have hit the nail on the head. Then again, Dimitir often acted like he hit himself on the head with the hammer.... Thanks to Naia Zifu for the LPDS suggestions. You know which ones are yours. Jeff-boy was meant to be funky futuristic (2020's) slang. No, I don't know what exactly it means either. No offence intended to anyone called Bandy. Or Caddy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Closing theme: "Everything you know is wrong" by Weird Al Yankovic ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riffed by: Rick R. Mortis (rickr@one.net.au) Sandra Blackmore, Matt Green, Kara and Louisa Chang are copyright 1998-2000 Alex Fauth Sean and Carla Harwood are copyright 1998-2000 Max Fauth CABAAL is copyright 1999-2000 Westwood Studios Viktor Robotov copyright 198something-2000 Mack Maloney Elmer Studios!: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2628/elmer.htm All of Elmer Studios' MSTings, artwork, character profiles, AAA conversions and the Satellite of Predacons in one spot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Plane: Error. Error, error error error error error error error error error error error.