Fragments of Zero

by AileShogun

Shigeru F. Kudo is the captain of the Wolf Squadron in the NUNS Earth Branch Special Forces. Their mission was the prevent the Vajra from encountering and causing damage to the colony fleet in their assigned area. The mission quickly became complicated forcing the Illustria and its crew to attach themselves to the Frontier Fleet due to a certain fairy.

1. Chapter 1

I do not own Macross Frontier, or any of the characters. Some characters are from VF-X2, and others from Macross Ultimate/Trial Frontier with OCs mixed within. This fic will follow a mix of the Movie and Series, with a new perspective thrown into the mix. Enjoy the first chapter.

File # 1 Wolf meets Fairy

Shigeru F. Kudo, a young twenty four year old pilot with a disheveled mess of reddish brown air, and a set of complete heterochromatic red and blue eyes runs quickly across an expansive hanger bay. He tugged at the collar of his pilot sit, and stared briefly at the view window up head. There was a red alert sounding, and that only meant that he would be deployed on another sortie. There appeared to be something amiss in the air, causing the ace pilot to furrow his brow about this upcoming battle. Shigeru pulled his helmet over his head, and slowly approached the waiting Valkyrie.

"Kudo, I have her all fueled up and ready. We loaded up the craft with the Super equipment."

The crew chief gave him a thumbs up as Shigeru climbed up into the cockpit of a YF-25 Prophecy. Shigeru turned on the machine and quickly several gears start to come to life in the cockpit with the Extended Gear system latching onto the back plate, and various other parts of the pilot suit. A heads up display flashes across the monitor with a small laser flashing across Shigeru's eyes. The Valkyrie's thrust vectoring vents rotated while the flaps start to adjust to the pilot input. A small amount of Shigeru's breath fogged up the visor with his eyes focusing on the data flashing in the top left of the visor. "This is Kudo, did we get any intelligence from the Ghost drones?"

On the bridge of the Illustria the operator, Claire Stanford glanced up at the image of Shigeru and nodded. "It's the Vajra, they are on an intercept course to a civilian transit line, we can't let civilians get killed out here. The commander will now brief you..." She shut off the display, and turned to the commander standing behind her chair. "You're connected to Wolf Leader Ma'am."

The commander walked over to view window, and looked at the trio of Prophecy moving to the launch catapults. She activated the ear piece and firmly spoke into the receiver.

"This is Colonel Newtlet, you may have a lot of questions, but believe me you'll know in time. It's the same drill different place Kudo. I want all the Vajra wiped out. We can't allow any of them to escape."

Shigeru's voice filled the bridge. "Yes Ma'am…this is Wolf Leader ready for launch."

Shigeru could feel the rumble of the engine through the controls. The holographic lights illuminate the runway deck while a count time timer counts down to zero. The Prophecy's engines burned blue, as it quickly started to accelerate forward. The controls rumbled from the assisted acceleration from the catapult and quickly Shigeru's Prophecy took off with engines flaring off into the distance followed only by the two wingmen.

Wolf two, "These interventions are becoming a daily occurrence... luckily there has been no civilian's in this area for months."

Wolf three, "You're in the wrong profession Lieutenant if you don't want to fight..."

Shigeru gently tapped his finger against the throttle, and sighed. "You guys need to keep your focus, there they are…" His eyes quickly track the four red trails from the Vajra off into the distance. They were closing in, and quickly Shigeru's thumb flipped off the safety over the trigger. "This is Wolf One, we have four large types on approach! Engaging in Five Seconds!" He looked over his shoulders at his wingmen. "When they fire break off and engage!"

The bright flash from the lead Vajra fired a burst of its' bullet like spines at the Valkyrie formation. The group with synchronized timing split apart blasting off in different directions. The traces from the Vajra light up the darkness while the Prophecies do nothing but evade the fire from their aggressors quite easily. Their expert training was visible in their dog fighting techniques, the Vajra were firing blind at the highly maneuverable YF-25s.

Shigeru head jerked around from the shock of the high speed maneuvers while increasing the throttle with each passing second. Even with the inertia store convertor, not all of the thrust was dampened causing Shigeru to adjust his posture to compensate for the G-Forces. Wolf-One moved in a jagged pattern waiting for its moment to go on the offensive. Shigeru's eyes were rapidly moving while calculating every possible direction of the Vajra's movement. The laser designation system barely keeps up with the input while missile after missile was shot down by the overworked anti-air turret.

Wolf-one twisted and pulled around the Vajra causing it to adjust to every maneuver with its larger body. The cannon mounted on the backside charges energy and fires a heated shell at Wolf-One. The shots pulls past over the top of the fighter causing a smile to flash on Shigeru's face. He quickly twists the sticks sending the Prophecy into a Gerwalk transformation. The Vajra passes by it and slowly tries to slow itself down. Wolf one aims its gun pod at the at Vajra, and fires a burst of automatic fire. The explosive rounds pierced deep into the Vajra's abdomen spilling out its insides to the vacuum of space. The creature's eyes let out a dim flash before exploding into bio-mechanical mess.

"Help! Help Captain!" Wolf Three twists and turns only for the Vajra to close in on the female pilot's Prophecy.

"Damn it, you're so careless Hoshimura!" Shigeru yells, and quickly brings the craft into a fighter mode transformation. "Hold on!"

"Always coming to the rescue, that our pack leader for us!" Wolf two quickly finishes her target, ands moves to the two Vajra hot on Wolf-Three's tail. "I'm going to help out this time!"

"Wolf Team! A fold window in opening!"

Shigeru's eyes widen while the window opens in front of Wolf Three's path. "Damn it! A shuttle isn't scheduled to be this far out!"

Wolf-Three pulls past the fold window along with the first of two Vajra. The second one however isn't fortunate enough to dodge the shuttle. The craft pulls out of fold only for the nose of the shuttle's cockpit to collapse inward as it met the Vajra's thick carapace. The shuttle's fuselage nearly broke apart from the unexpected impact, and the Vajra itself was lodged in the warped metal of the shuttle's cockpit.

"Belgen! Help Hoshimura with the last one! This one is mine!"

Wolf One shifted the course to the Vajra trapped in the shuttle, and charged forward. The Vajra lifted its arm and went to smash the fuselage of the craft only for a mechanical hand of a Battroid to stop it. Shigeru could feel the pressure in the controls, it wasn't a smart move to engage Vajra in close quarters, but it was necessary for this encounter. The Vajra tried to move its body, but the shuttle had most of its upper body mangled. A shimmer from the Prophecy's combat knife illuminated the short distance between the two mecha. The Vajra let out a high pitched screech that echoed through the weapon and into the cockpit. Shigeru's eyes let out a faint glow as he plunged the knife into the creature's abdomen, as it slowly went lifeless. 'This feeling...'

Seconds later, the fourth and final Vajra is quickly dispatched by Wolf Two and Three. Wolf One hovers slowly in Battroid mode beside the fuselage of the shuttle. It was heavily damaged, and at least a pair of fatalities from the collapsed cockpit. The windows inside show a small flickering while with a simple switch to thermal camera's show the survivors inside.

"This is Illustria...Wolf...Team come in! What happened to the shuttle!"

Shigeru opened his visor, and activated the com. "This is Wolf-Leader the shuttle impacted a Large Type, it's dead in the water...we need a retrieval team. The cockpit is smashed and the shuttle is leaking oxygen. There are a handful of survivors counting ten."

Colonel Newtlet listened to Shigeru's voice, and then looked over at the holographic map in the center of the CIC. "Request acknowledged, stay with the shuttle, and we'll send a rescue team." She deactivated the com-link, and slammed her hand against the armrest. "Tell me why were we not alerted of a shuttle diverting to this area?"

Claire quickly typed, and brought up several logs on screen. "It's a private shuttle ma'am and due to the person on board it wasn't announced on commercial channels." Her eyes went wide at the passenger list. "Colonel, the VIP on the shuttle is..."

Newtlet glanced at the holographic window, and quickly her eyes narrowed. "Sheryl Nome, the pop idol...Galaxy won't like it if she died in that shuttle incident..."

Several hours later, the shuttle is pulled into the hanger of the Illustria with the Vajra corpse removed from the front of the craft. It was by luck that the airlock wasn't punctured completely or it would have sucked everyone of out. The survivors were all unconscious from the impact, and were quickly transferred to sick bay for observation and treatment. It was stunning to the crew that the passenger on the shuttle was the Galactic Fairy Sheryl Nome. It would seem by some twist of fate that the songstress found herself blindly waltzing into a warzone.

The sound of an electrocardiogram filled the medical bay where Sheryl lie under the sheets of a medical bed. She felt weak while she could feel bandages wrapped around her forehead. Her piercing blue eyes quickly looked around at the blurry medical bay, and quickly focused on the doctor looking down at her.

"Where am I?" Sheryl weakly spoke, while trying to focus her eyes on the doctor's obscured features.

"You are on the NUNS Warship Illustria, you were in a shuttle accident."

Sheryl's eyes went wide with the memory of the situation replaying in her mind. "I can't remember anything...the shuttle shook, and I lost consciousness...a shuttle accident?"

The doctor let out a small nod, and looked over at a woman wearing a business suit with a few bandages on her face. "Yes, a shuttle accident, luckily you only have a mild concussion."

Grace pushed up her glasses, and smiled at Sheryl. "I'm glad that it's just a mild concussion. Your hard head saved you from something for a change."

Sheryl turned her face away from Grace, and let out a pout. "I'm not in a mood to be made fun of."

Grace turned to the doctor, and smiled. "Thank you for rescuing us, but your uniform is different from standard military forces."

The doctor looked at her black and gold variant uniform, and let out a small nod. "I'm not at liberty to tell you the specifics, but you are onboard a warship. You accidentally folded into a combat operation against rogue Zentradi, and now you are here."

Grace feigned another smile, and looked over at the shocked Sheryl. "I see..." She turned her eyes away from the doctor, and activated her implant. 'Static...they have a jammer in place to prevent me from accessing my network...this isn't good."

The doctor moved to the intercom and pressed it. "This is sick bay, can you get me the Colonel please our VIP has regained consciousness..."

In the mess hall, Shigeru walked quietly with tray in hand and moved over to the usual table near the middle. At the table his wingmen were already waiting for him to arrive.

"You look completely rested Shigeru, how do you do it?" First Lieutenant, Hilda Belgen a woman in her early twenties with a playful yet shaggy head of blonde hair, and piercing royal blue eyes takes a sip from her cup of coffee.

Shigeru placed his tray down at the empty spot, and pulled the chair to take a seat. He grabbed hold of his cup of coffee, and took a sip. "I don't know...maybe it's because I'm used to it already... It was nice getting some rest after what we went through the past week."

Warrant Officer Yui Hoshimura, a lively girl of only seventeen years old with short cropped green hair, and a set of oddly matching jade green eyes lets out a loud yawn. "You're always so nonchalant about everything Captain, you guys really saved me today."

Shigeru lowered the cup of coffee, and nodded. "Yeah, and you're going to pay for that sluggish performance by spending the next few days training in the simulator. This is the big leagues Hoshi, it's not the academy anymore. Those YF-25s cost a whole lot more than what you make at your pay grade."

Yui lowered her head, and saluted. "Yes..."

"You don't need to be hard on her Shigeru, remember when you were a fledgling?" Hilda smiled while taking a bite from her French Toast.

Shigeru lowered his head thinking about his early days, and chuckled. "I guess so...but we really need to get you caught up to speed Hoshi. I need you to fill Miyuki's position as quickly as possible."

Hilda turned over, and let out a small nod. "Speaking of Miyuki, how is she doing with Colonel Focker?"

Shigeru shrugged his shoulders, and started to pour Tabasco sauce on his eggs. "I heard that she's doing well, but they're patrolling another area. I heard it's near the Galaxy."

Yui put down her fork, and leaned backwards. "Speaking of Galaxy, did you hear anything about the survivors? I heard that there is some super famous person on board"

Shigeru let out a small nod, and started to eat some of his breakfast. "I heard the Colonel was called over to the medical bay, but like everyone else we're in the dark about who is on that shuttle."

Hilda leaned forward and poked her finger at Shigeru. "What if it is some famous person, and we get well known for rescuing them from harm?"

Shigeru chuckled for a moment, and sighed. "That would be cool, but you remember at the debriefing the Colonel wanted us to keep it hushed about the.." He pauses and quickly holds his fingers making quote marks. "Victor-3."

Yui lowered her head again, and sighed. "This is such a drag, why do we get to hide in the shadows while privateers like SMS get to be in the limelight."

Shigeru smiled for a moment at Yui's words, and put his fork down. "Yeah, they also get paid way more than we do, but unlike them we're not dogs waiting for the next big score."

Hilda crossed her arms over her chest, and looked at the nearby news feed. "Hey look...I think we just found out who our guest was."

The trio turned to the galactic news feed, and focused on the reporter.

This is GNN, we just received a report from the Earth Military concerning Galactic Fairy Sheryl Nome's shuttle that went missing twelve hours ago. The shuttle was attacked by rogue Zentradi, and was almost taken in hopes to extort galaxy into paying ransom for the famed idol. This plan however was foiled by the Independent Special Command's 728th Deep Space Reconnaissance Group, and currently the pop idol is onboard the Battle Class carrier Illustria, which was launched six months ago as part of the re-armament program that was highly securitized."

"When asked to give a statement, Admiral Alexia Ivanov simply stated..."

"Our reports are that the songstress is alive and well, and will make the deadline for her concert on Frontier."

Shigeru looked at the image of Sheryl Nome and whistled at the stock image used of her from a previous concert. The outfit she wore was a little risqué, but he didn't mind it one bit with a grin forming on his face. "To think this girl is roughly eighteen years old?"

Hilda looked at the outfit, and then turned to catch Shigeru's wandering eyes. "Yeah, but I highly doubt you ever having a chance to meet a beautiful girl like her in your life. Even with the connections your family has."

Yui looked over with a confused look, "What connections? Are you related to space pirates? or a classic group like the Yakuza?"

Shigeru smacked his forehead at Yui's boneheaded speculation, and sighed. "You got to be kidding me..."

Hilda poured milk into her coffee and gave it a stir. "It's not as glorious, but you know that Kudo's middle initial is just his last name shortened right? The F stands for Falkheim, as in Falkheim Medical Technologies. If you're too dense to remember, they're one of the most recognized medical conglomerates in the galaxy."

Yui gasped loudly, and pointed her finger at Shigeru. "No, you're a young master of such a large conglomerate..."

Shigeru nodded slowly, and leaned back in the chair. "I guess there is only one way to show you and that is if we head to Frontier."

Hilda chuckled for a moment, and leaned forward elbowing Yui. "Prepare to be shocked young Hoshimura. Our captain is quite the popular guy on Frontier."

Yui blankly stared at Hilda and shook her head. "Popular because of being the heir of a fortune? Or..."

Shigeru lowered his head again, and sighed. "I'm going to head to the hanger first..." He got up from his chair, and pushed it in before turning his tray to the mess chief. "Remember we have patrol in thirty."

Hilda looked over at her captain, and then towards the slightly interested Yui. She leaned over, and whispered into Yui's ear.

Yui's eyes went wide, and gasped again. "Now that you mention it..."

Down the corridor, Shigeru made his way to the central elevator. It was a nice brisk walk, something that gave the young captain time to clear his head before a sortie, or a daily patrol run. Today seemed to be something of an exception, and he would run into someone that would change his own fate.

There were images of Sheryl all over the galactic network, with fan pages everywhere, and one had to be completely brain dead not to know who she was. There were fans from all walks of life that would give up anything for a chance to meet the fairy, and the only one that would find this chance was completely disinterested in the famed songstress from Galaxy.

"Ms. Nome you can't be wandering the halls alone..." A member of the security forces quietly walked up behind the exploratory songstress, and looked down the hall at the young captain of the Wolf Team.

Sheryl held her head up, and let out a loud groan. "I'm searching for inspiration, and that mind you is one the stipulations that the Colonel agreed to..."

The S.F. groaned loudly, and rubbed the back of his head. "The Colonel didn't allow you to go completely unescorted. Please Ms. Sheryl there's nothing here, you wanted to go to the observatory deck right? Let's go there."

Sheryl crossed her arms over her chest, and held her head high. "No, I want to see how your military people operate. I want to sing a song about something like this..." She opened her eyes slightly and spotted Shigeru walking towards the pair. "Who is..."

Shigeru lowered his head, and blankly looked down at the Fairy. He pulled on hand out of his pocket, and held up his hand for a simply hello. "Morning..."

Sheryl paused for a moment with Shigeru walking past both her and the S.F. She turned around quickly to see the S.F. salute Shigeru as he passed by.

"Captain Kudo."

"As ease sergeant, you look like you have your hands full."

Sheryl let out a small pout, and took in a deep breath before yelling. "Are you implying that I'm a troublemaker?"

Shigeru's brow quickly raised with him staring at the girl as if she were crazed. "Excuse me?"

Sheryl rushed over to him, and placed her hands against her hips while attempting to stare him down. "You know who I am right?"

Shigeru turned his head to the side, and yawned. "Yeah, you're Sheryl Nome, a big shot idol. Anyway I have a job to get to." He turned his back, and started to continue down the hallway.

Sheryl was fuming at his attitude, and stomped her feet while storming after him. "I'm talking to you! I'm not going to stop following you until you talk to me like a normal person."

Shigeru kept quiet for a majority of the hallway, and stopped at the elevator. He moved his hand to the center of his forehead, and sighed. "Listen, I don't have time to chat with you. I have important work to attend to..."

Sheryl scoffed, and leaned against the side of the wall. "Are all Zentrans like this? You're very rude you know!"

Shigeru turned to her wide eyed, and smiled for a second. "I'm a rude person? You're the first one to say that to me. I guess on Galaxy they teach the reverse on what not to say during conversations. You're being very childish for a guest that we saved from harm. Also for the record not all Zentrans are the same, and for my case I'm half."

Sheryl let out a devious smile, and held her hands out making an aperture. She focused on Shigeru's eyes, and smiled. "A half breed? I never met one up close before, you look different from most of the other Zentran men I've met on Galaxy..."

Shigeru looked at the S.F. motioning for him to step in, and pushed the elevator call button again. "Man Galaxy must be in the boonies, if you never have seen a hybrid. We're practically everywhere, and the exception with me is I'm half Meltran, not Zentran to be specific."

Sheryl's eyes went wide, and she gasped loudly. "You have a Zent...or I mean Meltrandi mother? Is that how you got those striking eyes?"

Shigeru rubbed his temple again, and narrowed his gaze at the slow elevator display. "What do you find amazing about my eyes, it's a genetic anomaly..."

Sheryl put her hands against her hips, and chuckled. "I thought Zentradi usually use genetic therapy to correct things like that. Is your vision different in each eye?"

The elevator doors slowly open up, and Shigeru turned to Sheryl with an annoyed look. "My vision is perfect..." His eyes move down to Sheryl's chest, causing her to look at him with a stern look.

Sheryl turned away from him, and looked over her shoulder with a playful look. "Oh my are you curious about me? I'm all natural, despite Galaxy being the Mecca for implants and body mods."

Shigeru sighed for a moment, and walked into the elevator. "I think we've had enough to talk about Ms. Sheryl. I need to report for duty."

Sheryl held up her hand and waved as the doors closed. "Bye-Bye, Captain Kudo." She smiled to herself for a moment, while reaching into her pocket to remove a pad of paper. "Now It's time to write some lyrics!"

Shigeru stood in the elevator with arms tucked into his jumpsuit pockets, and leaned against the wall staring at the ceiling. There was a small grin stretched on his face due to his choice encounter with the overbearing songstress. It was probably the first unorthodox conversation he's had with a woman that wasn't a member of his squad. It was a nice feeling, but would that girl even remember him once they arrive at Frontier. The thought of that didn't disturb Shigeru, but with the ship on course to rendezvous with Frontier the thought of talking with his family crossed his mind again.

Sheryl had spent hours exploring the ship with her escort, and eventually arrived at the observatory. It was a nice place filled with calm old era styled bar for the hard working crew of this warship. The lighting, and calming jazz music created an atmosphere that called out to the artist inside. She sat alone at a table writing down lyrics, and various other interesting things about the decor. With pen in hand, Sheryl looked more like a journalist than some idol who had already sold billions of records galaxy-wide. She hummed one of her songs and turned to the small cup of tea sitting next to a half eaten piece of toast. "I'm getting so much inspiration, but the food here is a little to be desired..."

"You'll have to deal with eating the food here for another day Sheryl..." Grace walked over from the nearby bar with a martini glass in hand, and took the empty seat across from Sheryl in the booth. She had been doing public relations work with Colonel Newtlet, as well as organizing a thank you event for the pilot that rescued the shuttle from the supposed Zentradi attack. Grace looked at Sheryl with a caring smile while trying to break the jammer afflicting her various implants. 'This is getting annoying, all these security measures are very complex. It's natural for a new ship to have more measures than necessary, but these are far too excessive.'

"Oh, Hi grace...getting tipsy early again? What kind of manager are you if you're drunk around your client?" Sheryl turned back to the project she had been working on. Some were the lyrics for a new single, while the others were small doodles of various things that she saw around the ship.

Grace leaned back in the chair, and ran her finger around the rip of the glass. "This is non-alcoholic, and I could manage you being drunk or sober...what are you working on?"

Sheryl closed the pad of paper, and clicked her pen shut. "It's a s-e-c-r-et."

Grace sighed deeply, and quietly took a sip from her martini. "You're being childish again Sheryl...I'll let you be this once, but when we arrive on Frontier we'll have to work harder."

Meanwhile on the bridge, Newtlet stands overhead a holographic map of the area with hands resting on the sides. She had been waiting in the CIC for the past few hours wondering if the Vajra would attack again. She had most of the ships Valkyrie squadrons on alert, but due to orders from headquarters the hive from where the Vajra originated from was off-limits. The hive was somewhere nearby, but even with the exact location they couldn't attack.

"Any luck?" Admiral Erin Cross walked up behind the much younger Newtlet and glanced down at the area the ship was currently in. There were several areas covered with static, and others with ghost units patrolling ahead of the ship.

Newtlet shook her head, and sighed. "Nothing yet Captain..." She turned to the news feed being played on the nearby view monitor. "What about our guest? Does headquarters really want us to abandon our mission and drop her off at Frontier?"

Cross shrugged her shoulders, and walked past the holo-table while biting down on the tip of her Kiseru pipe. "Command was very explicit that we fold to Frontier as soon as possible. Ms. Nome's manager was very adamant in telling me that the concert date wasn't able to be rescheduled, and to say the least I'm looking forward to breathing actual air."

Newtlet chuckled, "Getting irritated that you're not able to smoke on duty?"

Cross turned over with a grin on her face. "One of many..." She glanced over to the bridge crew and cleared her throat. "I want a ship wide line open."

"Attention all crew...the Illustria will be performing a fold to the Frontier Colony Fleet in twelve hours. We will be delivering our guest Sheryl Nome, and her entourage to Frontier ahead of schedule. I repeat a fold will commence in twelve hours, all hands are to report to your deck officer when preparations are complete."

Cross put own the intercom, and walked back over to the tactical map placing her hands on the edge. "I can take care of this Newtlet, go ahead and get some sleep."

Newtlet had been running herself ragged since Sheryl arrived on the ship, and with the counter-Vajra operations she had barely gotten enough rest. She glanced over at the Admiral, and nodded slightly. "Thank you, ma'am. I'll leave this in your hands until then."

Cross chuckled, "Good night Newtlet...Just remember to set your clock to Frontier General Time." She turned to the com operator. "I want Wolf Leader to the ready room immediately."

Shigeru had been supervising simulations for the lesser skilled crew members, but mainly this was for Yui who had the least amount of combat experience. He looked over most of the data, the Illustria's crew was mostly from the best of what NUNS had to offer, but some green pilots managed to slip through the cracks. It was up to the senior staff that these pilots made it back safely, but also were modeled into the next generation of pilot.

In the interconnected waiting room, Yui stood hunched over with a towel on her shoulders. The training regiment was more strict than any she had encountered previously. She had managed to get through most of the objectives, and finished most of them despite the efforts of Shigeru raising the difficulty manually. "You deliberately raised the difficulty level didn't you?"

Shigeru grabbed two bottles from the nearby dispenser, and tossed one over to Yui. "I might have done a little, but you managed to make it through with little to no harm to your fighter." He twisted the top off his water, and took a small sip. "I'm impressed, you even learned a few tips that I usually see Hilda run."

Yui sat down on the nearby couch, and sighed. "She gave me a few pointers, but even those maneuvers were hard to handle."

Shigeru smiled for a moment, and started off towards the door. "Keep at it, we'll need you at your best. So go ahead and take the rest of the day off, and get some rest. Knowing you, you'll want to see Frontier and all its scenery when we arrive tomorrow."

Yui looked over with a smile on her face. "Thank you Captain! I can't wait for you to tell me all about Frontier!"

Shigeru looked out the window at the simulation units lining the interconnecting bay, a few of them were still conducting training tests with their combat feeds being displayed overhead on a series of monitors. "Frontier...how many years has it been since I left everything behind..."

"Attention Wolf Leader, please report to the Captains' ready room. I repeat Wolf Leader report to the Captains' ready room."

Shigeru turned to the intercom, and let out a small sigh. "What could it be this time?" He shook his head, and walked off towards the nearby exit.

Moments later, inside the captains' ready room, Cross sat behind a stack of report flipping through them while typing with her off hand on a nearby computer terminal. She sifts through the paperwork effortlessly due to the years of practice that earn her the rank of Admiral. She looked across the office to spot the other guest she had invited to this impromptu meeting. "You know you could sit down...Captain Kudo likes to take his time getting here."

Sheryl glanced over from the bookshelf of expensive books that were 'paper' replicas of old Earth classics. The care taken to make the books vintage sparked a latent hint of inspiration in the young songstress. "I'm fine, but I do admire your book collection. It seems that great care has been placed upon them."

Cross gave Sheryl a blank stare while signing the last document in the stack. "Thank you..." She turned away for a moment neatly stacking the files, and placing them on the opposite side of the desk. "Anyway, why do you have such an interest in Captain Kudo?"

Sheryl's cheeks flashed a hint of red, before she regained her composure at the direct question. "I um, what do you mean? I just want to thank the man who saved me from harm."

Cross's eyes narrowed and a smirk flashed across her face. "It seems that it's more than a simple thank you...I hear that you've been asking a lot about the Captain in the past few days..."

Sheryl could barely contain her embarrassment, and held her head up high. "I always like to gather information about those I owe a debt to. I asked you to call him here because I have an offer I would like to make to him."

The door let out a beep, and quickly Shigeru's voice filled the ready room. "Captain Shigeru F Kudo reporting as ordered ma'am."

Cross pushed the intercom and groaned. "Just come in already, you took your sweet time."

The doors opened up, and Shigeru walked in with hands lazily tucked into his flight suit pockets. He paused for a moment and glanced at Sheryl with eyes wide. "Um...why are you here?"

Sheryl's gaze narrowed while she pouted her lips at him. "Why am I here? You should be thankful to be in my presence!"

Cross held up her hands, "Behave you two, Ms. Nome would like to ask you something..." She grabbed her hat off the nearby rack, and placed it firmly on her head. "I'll give you two some privacy, but I don't want any funny business."

Shigeru leaned back slightly, and shook his head. "Who do you take me for Cross?" He glanced at Sheryl, and lazily glanced into her eyes. "So what did you want to ask me?"

Sheryl was at a loss for words for a moment, but quickly turned away grabbing the first thing off the shelf. She skimmed through the first few pages, and let out a small sigh. "I want to adequately thank you for saving my staff, and I from harm. I'm going to treat you to a night you'll never forget. You'll be my escort for the day once we arrive on Frontier!"

Shigeru rubbed the back of his head, and chuckled. "You're quite a forceful woman...and why should I be your escort for a day? Surely an idol like you could get anyone to escort you. Probably a famous celebrity."

Sheryl slammed the book shut, and groaned. "I don't want to do anything like that, and also this wasn't my decision. My manager Grace put up the idea, and I okayed it. That's that...I'll send word shortly after we arrive. So keep your schedule open..." She replaced the book back onto the shelf, and walked to the doorway.

Shigeru stood paralyzed for a moment, and looked at the exiting songstress wide eyed as she passed through the exit. He was wrapped in confusion for a moment until spotting the grin covered face of Cross re-entering her office. "Cross, why do I get a hint that you're plotting something?"

Cross rolled her eyes, and passed by Shigeru moving towards her desk. "I only passed on an idea to Ms. O'Connor and it seems that both Sheryl and her agreed on that." She kept the smug look on her face while keeping her back facing Shigeru. "Also, I think it would be a perfect headline, wayward son returns with Songstress as an escort. That's headline news right?"

Shigeru slowly placed his hand against his face sighing deeply. "You've been chatting with my mother again have you?"

Cross shrugged her shoulders, and took her seat. "That information is above your pay grade Captain. Now don't you have simulations you need to run with the rest of the Valkyrie teams? I believe that blue and yellow teams need your expertise during their training session."

Shigeru groaned loudly, and pulled his hand out of his pockets, and stood at attention. He pulled up his hand and saluted the Admiral. "Very well Admiral, I will return to duty. Excuse me." He turned to the doorway and slowly walked out with a grin on his face. "It looks like I'm in for an interesting period of days."