SDF Nadesco Chapter 1: Launch Day

It was finally launch day. For ten years the resources
of an entire world had been focused on reaching this
day. The Robotech Defense Forces had been turning
out personnel at a fevered pace for years, but they
finally had enough to make a descent fighting force. And
now they had a ship to crew.

The SDF-1 was a major leap forward for all aspects of
humanity. Technologically it was hundreds of years
more advanced than earths best minds could ever hope
to achieve. Socially it had united a world at war with itself.
Morally the brave young crew provided a standard for
others to aspire to.

When all was said and done, Roy had to admit it was a
good day to be a member of the RDF. Now if only he didn't
have to go out there and give a play by play to a bunch of
civvies. He had nothing against them, but what he wouldn't
give to be up there flying formation with the rest of his
squadron. But command had decided to keep the Skulls on
the ground for this one, which left him walking to the mic.

Lisa Hayes was not quiet as green as most of the crew, but
not by much. She had been in the second graduating class at
the academy. This had given her some time to get experience
with the kind of duties she would have to perform. She had
bounced all over the globe training in the most hectic command
centers she could get transfered to. Now she was the only person
qualified to hold the second seat of the first flying fortress in
man's history.

Coming onto the bridge she noted the absence of the captain
before taking her station and finally saying hello to her best friend
and academy roommate Claudia,"I see the captain still isn't here yet."

Claudia grinned,"I hear the brass threw him a going away party
last night. They probably stayed up all night telling war stories."

The two women laughed and continued to chat as Captain Henry
Gloval rode in the senator's car on their way to the space fortress.
He was waving nonchalantly out the window at the crowd they
passed. He really hated hangovers. The night before had not ended
until sometime after four in the morning. At least that was the last
time he looked a clock. He and the rest of the brass had sat around
telling old war stories. They had lost count after the twelfth bottle to
come around empty, but by that they had started taking passed out
colleagues to the various sleeping areas.

Now he was headed to his command, hangover intact.

Half a world away reality convulsed, as two gigantic ships materialized
out of a fold maneuver. They were scouts, meant to proceed the main
fleet, they had jumped right into orbit over this strange blue planet.
Their sensors reached past the horizon, hunting the prey they had spent
so long looking for.

Touching the outer skin of the SDF-1 with the searching energy was
enough to awaken the long sleeping programs Zor had left there. The
ships systems activated, bringing the main gun on line. The energy
coalesced between the huge bow sections as particle accelerators came
to full power. The beam unleashed itself first upon the island before it,
then on the ocean after that. The massive energies boiled millions of gallons
of sea water chasing around the globe until they finally burst forth and
streaked toward the sky. The scout ships had no warning as the particle
beam slammed into one of them. The energies released utterly devastated
the target in line with the beam and stripped away the armor on the other.
One ship exploded, setting the other off as a large secondary explosion.

Bretai, commander of the Zentradi forces sent to find Zor and bring him back,
could finally relax. They had found the ship after all this time, the destruction
of his scouts confirmed it's location beyond any doubt. As the first images came
in he could hardly believe his eyes,"Thats Zor's battleship, but what's happened
to it?"

Exidore said,"It appears to have been completely remodeled."

Bretai was hardly concerned with the exchange of words taking place with his
agitant. He ordered another ship down to the planet to retake the lost ship from
it's redesigners.

The RDF scrambled, all pilots running to their veritechs at full speed. The combat
order cut into many other activities, leaving quiet a few planes needing immediate
refit. Skull squadron, the pride of the fleet, was ready and waiting when the call
came. They launched, prepared to meet any threat head on.

Or so they thought.

The hundreds of pods dropping toward Macross city were no match for the wall of
fire racing toward them, but a few managed to get to weapons range and the
tide started to turn. The defenders were limited in their high altitude combat options
so after the first pass they had to come back around and that was when the second
wave of pods came at their backs. The high altitude interceptors were wiped out
quickly, leaving the rest of the pods to be dealt with below the cloud cover.

Lisa Hayes was coordinating the battle from her station when she received an urgent
warning of imminent collision,"VF 102, pull out. Your diving right at us."

The voice that came back was young, but that was nothing new to her."Tell me
something I don't know. The controls won't respond."

She replied,"Have you tried switching to configuration B?"

"B what's that?"

"You don't know? Impossible." She could not believe a RDF pilot didn't know,"Listen,
pull down the control marked B on the left side of your console."

"Okay." The warning vanished from her board, so she went back to the battle. She
did make a mental note to ask Roy what he was doing with a pilot that didn't know
how to use his veritech.

Roy was busy enough at the moment trying to stay alive. Some pods were dropping
into the city but still more fell from the sky toward the aerial defenders. The Destroid
Corp would just have to deal with the few that reached the ground.

He then received an urgent warning to stay clear of a lane directly above the fortress.
They would be taking off as soon as the antigrav units were charged. He thought they
had to be mad to try using those untested things, but he was not consulted in the end.
A few more minutes passed with him racking up even more kills, then the giant ship lifted.
The destroids on it's deck were brought into play against the aerial foes and he checked
his squadron roster. Ricks plane was still functional, but stationary on the ground. He
requested permission to return to the island. It was granted, after a short explanation
about the untrained pilot. All the while the SDF-1 continued to rise smoothly. Then the
entire ship lurched to one side. The earth based materials making up the outer hull were
never meant to take the strain of the antigrav units. The hull buckled and split, releasing
the AG units to float up until their power finally ran down. This left the giant fortress with
no lift, causing it to plummet back toward the planet.

The touchdown was nothing that could be described as controlled, smashing supports
and trucks unlucky enough to be under it. The Fortress itself suffered only minimal damage
and was quickly ready for another attempt, this time with the man made rocket boosters
added to the bottom of the ship. The ship lifted off again, once more to attain orbit and
hopefully draw the enemy's fire away from the civilian population.

Exiting the atmosphere they switched to lateral thrusters, maneuvering for a docking with
the space based assets. Roy was just relieved that he had found Rick in one piece, he had
been running around in batteloid mode doing his best to stay alive. The kid learned quick.
He opened the channel,"Hey Rick, how you doing little brother?"

"Not too bad Roy, after I figured out the controls. I'm just getting used to the idea that
this used to be a jet. So now what?"

"Well, first you need to get up here. The space fortress is leaving and we need to catch
up."

The batteloid switched first to guardian and increased thrust to maximum before changing
to fighter mode and falling in behind skull one. They headed into orbit and landed in the ship.

The SDF-1 was readying for docking when a massive laser attack raked the area around
them. Their companion vessels were reduced to burning rubble in a matter of seconds,
leaving the fortress untouched. They decided to try a fold jump, heading down into the
atmosphere to try to fool their attackers. The fold drive activated at two thousand feet
above Macross Island. The energy from the fold system was designed to dissipate harmlessly
into space, but inside the gravity well of Earth the energy formed a resonating bubble,
trapping everything within twenty-five hundred feet of the epicenter. The world within the
bubble went white and disappeared.

Well here it is, SDF Nadesco. I tried not to repeat cannon to much in this chapter, just pointing out some of the important moments and attitudes. Hope you enjoy it and review.

Thanks to my wife for proofing it for me.