Chapter One: A Dream That Will Go Far!

"This is Talon 1. All units, proceed as planned," the Ensign communicated as his fighter crashed back into reality, the rest of his flight swiftly forming up around him in a v formation, Talon 2 on his left, 4 and 5 on his right, and 3 bringing up the rear behind him.

"Roger!" chorused his flight, their movements perfectly synchronised as they banked to their left and dived.

Sitting in his VF-17, the Ensign nodded to himself in satisfaction as the rest of Talon team kept pace effortlessly with him. "All Talons, today we prove Eternus' superiority," said the man emotionlessly, lining up the target in his sights, watching it grow ever larger as his squadron approached it.


"Goddammit!" swore Clyde, viciously kicking a can across the plaza. "I can't believe Professor Izashima had the nerve to make us do a hundred thousand word essay on Ancient Merica!" he ranted angrily, pacing back and forth in annoyance.

"Well what did you expect?" asked Jack, lying on the low wall decorating the upper tier of the plaza and staring at the blue sky. "He probably would have given us a fifty thousand word essay if you hadn't wrecked his car last week."

Flushing slightly, Clyde rounded on his friend. "For the last time, that wasn't my fault! Egare pulled in front of me out of nowhere!"

Sighing, Jack sat up rubbing his head, messing up his brown hair. "Fine, forget I said anything," he replied, jumping off the wall next to Clyde. "Might as well head home, we need to get started on that essay sooner or later," he added, laying a calming hand on his friend's shoulder. The blonde took a calming breath and held it, nodding before letting it all out in a wheezing sigh.

"Yeah, you're right. Might as well really," concurred Clyde as the two boys headed off, walking slowly into the crowds filling the streets. It was late afternoon, so everyone was heading back home after school or work.

"So how's your sister? Feeling better?" enquired Jack as the pair walked amidst the throngs of people, heading back towards the residential sector. They were currently in the commercial hub of the city, walking past advertisements and stores selling a wide variety of goods and services.

The blonde next to him stared at the sky as they walked along, seemingly lost in thought before answering. "She's fine. Still enthusiastic as ever though. Damn near landed me in hospital went I went to visit her," he replied, smiling slightly at the memory.

"Heh, still hugs like a bear does she? How many ribs did you break this time?" laughed Jack, knowing all to well the lethality of one of Claire's hugs.

"Hey! None!" Clyde snapped back. "I've grown used to them! It's not like the old days!"

"Back when you used to cry you mean?" replied Jack snidely, running ahead.

"You bastard!" swore Clyde, giving chase.


"Honestly Kat, you should try something else for a change," commented Lou suddenly serious, inspecting the other girl intently.

"Eh? What do you mean? My clothes are fine!" protested the girl with the blue hair. "Besides, all YOU ever seem to be wearing is that creepy gothic stuff!" she pointed out, indicating the blonde girl's choice of attire, which consisted of black shorts and a small black top with bat wings displayed on the back. And of course black gloves which went up to her elbows and matching boots which went all the way to her knees.

"Kat, black never goes out of style! Unlike your plain blue," countered Lou, putting her hands on her hips in exasperation.

"But it's my lucky colour…" Katsako said quietly, looking down in embarrassment as they continued to stand on the pavement outside of a clothes store. Lou sighed in defeat.

"Alright, what about shades of blue? That'll give you some variety whilst retaining the colour. How about that?" she suggested as a compromise.

"I suppose that would be ok…" ventured Katsako, looking up with a half smile at the closest thing she had to a friend. Lou grinned at her as she winked and latched onto her arm, pulling her towards the store.

"Perfect! Now we'll just-"

"Coming through ladies!" warned Jack as he sidestepped the pair before continuing his dash down the street. Katsako and Lou stared at the boy as he vanished from sight, before stepping away from each other to clear a path. Surely, a second later Clyde ran past in furious pursuit.

The girls watched him too vanish down the road, before turning to each other and sharing an exasperated sigh. The two most volatile guys in class were at it again from the looks of things.


"All units, scramble for takeoff! Clearance has been granted, so go as soon as you're ready!" buzzed the voice through the intercom, audible over the sounds of flurried activity as people ran around in the hangars, jumping into craft or finishing off maintenance.

Sitting in his blue fighter craft, easily distinguishable from the chequered pattern on its tail fins, Warrant Officer Peten Falson ran his hands over the controls fondly before glancing down at the technicians below. "Got her ready yet?" he shouted to be heard over the rising din of engine noise. The lead technician looked up at him and waved the all clear as he and his crew scattered in all directions to give Peten room to start.

"Jester, clear for launch!" reported Peten, flipping the ignition switches in his SF-16, feeling the machine vibrate as energy flooded its engines. Humming a piece of classical music to himself, he increased the output of his engine to minimum, his craft moving forwards towards the catapults lined up all down one half of the hanger.

"Jester, catapult one is green lighted, proceed with launch," a voice over his helmet speaker informed him.

"Understood," he replied, steering his fighter to the designated catapult, feeling it locking in place as his fighter sagged slightly as he retracted the wheels. A hiss marked the raising of the catapult into the airlock. With a clang it disengaged from the elevator, and the air was pumped out. Peten tightened his grip on the control sticks, steeling himself for what was to come. Slowly, the pristine white of the airlock fell away around him, his machine floating in space before the catapult locked in place, leaving him staring at a runway stretching away down the hull of the carrier.

With a warning buzz, the hazard lights lining the strip switched from yellow to green, and Peten hit the afterburners, throwing his engine output into maximum. With a silent roar, he was thrown forward as the catapult released him, blasting into space, behind him the airlock already closing in preparation of launching another fighter.

"This is Jester, I'm out," he reported, swinging his fighter around and flying back over the launch area protectively. "Taking up guarding position at the launch pads."

"Roger that Jester. Hades and Orion are heading up as well to provide support," communicated back the operations room. The voice began to say something else but was drowned out by a wash of static.

"Shit!" swore Peten, recognizing the interference for what it was. He glanced about in all directions, trying to find the source as he boosted his engine power and veered away from the launchers. "This is Jester ! All fighters using launch pads three and four, disengage immediately! Enemy attack incoming!" he shouted into his communicator, twisting in his pilot's seat to look back at the rapidly dwindling runways.

A fighter was already out and powering its engines. With a flash of flame, it shot off down the runway, building up speed to escape the gravitational hold of the vessel's mass. A violet beam of energy spat past Peten's craft, striking the still exposed catapult. The entire launcher was engulfed in a vicious blast, tearing open the airlock and exposing the hangar to the void.

Riding the shock wave with almost preternatural ease, the fighter that had just launched rose gently and took up position next to Peten, the star symbol on its fuselage denoting it as Orion.

"Damn it Masayoshi, that was too close!" snapped the red haired man, his hands clutching the controls tightly.

"Perhaps. But that is hardly of any importance right now, right?" asked his wingman, flipping his craft over so his cockpit was right above Peten's. The older pilot looked up and frowned at the smirking youth above him, his uniform a mirror of Peten's own, only missing the distinctive bars of Warrant Officer.

"Cut the chatter you two!" barked their superior, a captain everyone called Barry on account his proper name, Bartholomew, was too damn long to be used during emergency situations. "Catapult one is out of action, and Hades' status is unknown. We're cycling over to catapult four, but that will take time. Until we can put more fighters out, you're our fighter screen, got that?"

"Yessir!" chorused both pilots as they performed a flawless helix manoeuvre to avoid another stab of purple light. "Permission to engage targets!" added Masayoshi, glancing at his sensor screen. Five small contacts closing fast, probably a squadron of fighters.

"Denied at this time," came Captain Barry's reply, crystal clear.

"Sorry, what was that? Permission granted?" queried Masayoshi with a grin, tinkering with his contact equipment, rewarded with random bursts of static, a weather report, and several beeps and clicks.

In the fighter next to him, Peten facepalmed. Typical Orion. With a flare of light the star marked craft sped ahead of him, and he rapidly increased his own speed to catch up. "Dammit. Jester, providing support."

He could almost imagine the younger pilot's face as a reply came through. "Nice of you to join me Scotsman. Let's have some fun!"

"Damn kids," sighed Peten.


Clyde bent over double, panting heavily. In front of him, supporting himself on a lamppost, was a panting, but grinning, Jack.

"Damn...track...club...mascot..." wheezed Clyde in between gasps for air, leaving Jack to laugh weakly.

"Hey...it's your...own fault for...being out of shape, you know? Shouldn't have spent so much time in the...agricultural club!" countered the brown haired boy in good humour, only to receive a mock punch to the face. "Awww, Clyde that hurt!" moaned the boy, tearing up.

Clyde bit back a groan at his friend's behaviour. They had known each other since primary school, an even back then they already conformed to certain types of student. Jack was the polite, impetuous flirter, and he was the quiet, soft spoken bookworm with an interest in plants. They really had little in common, and barely spoke to one another. Indeed, Jack was one of the boys who used to tease Clyde a lot. But then one day he came up to him with a request.

"What?" he remembered asking, stupefied by the playboys request.

The brown haired child had been glowing red in embarrassment back then, he remembered clearly. Hell, it was one of the memories he was going to treasure until his dying days. "I said, what kind of flowers are truly romantic?"

Biting his lip, the chibi Clyde had pondered that question for a while (no, he had no idea why all his memories of his younger days made him and those he knew back then appear as chibis either). Eventually he bent down an plucked a flower from the little box that was resting next to him, in awaiting to be handed in to Mrs Lorelei Whitehall, their teacher. "Here, try this," he suggested, handing it over.

Jack took the flower and inspected it closely. It was a faint purple, with a blueish tinge, and had five petals around a dark heart. "What is it he asked?"

"A Forget-Me-Not," explained the blonde. "It's said that whoever possess it will never forget their lover." Jack eyed it curiously, and Clyde mustered up the courage to ask. "But...why ask me? Couldn't you get some roses or something?"

His classmate blinked and looked up at him. "Well yeah but those are too cliché, right?" he answered, without any hostility or mocking tone. That took the blonde by surprise, and he quickly nodded to mask his reaction. "Well, thanks for the help, owe you one!" said Jack with his trademark grin, patting him on the shoulder and running towards the school building.

"Hey, who you going to give it to?" he remembered shouting at the last moment.

"Oh, Reina!" was his answer.

Clyde blinked, coming back to the present, finding Jack waving his arms in front of his face in an attempt to gain his attention. "Sorry what?"

The brown haired students arms came to a stop as he frowned. "You zoned out there for a minute, I was wondering if you were ok," he explained, the concern evident in his voice.

"Heh, yeah, I was just reminiscing about that Forget-Me-Not," responded Clyde, smiling at his friend. "And how that turned out."

Jack blushed red at the memories associated with that incident. "H-how was I supposed to know she was allergic?" he spluttered, as Clyde dissolved into laughter.


"Oh come on out!" snapped Lou in irritation.

"B-but its embarrassing!" wailed Katsako, her head poking out of the curtains leading to the changing room.

Lou snorted as she stood up from the small steel stool, walked up to her friend and wrenched aside the curtains, causing the other girl to squeal in surprise. The blonde clapped her hands together and nodded approvingly. "Now that's more like it!" she complimented.

Katsako stood in front of her, flushing red in embarrassment. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a sky blue tank top, which Lou made sure would expose her midriff. "T-this is so indecent!" exclaimed the taller girl, hugging herself. "Plus I'd freeze in this!"

Her blonde friend threw her hands up in exasperation. "Honestly! Do you not want to get a boyfriend or something? You dress sense makes our uniforms seem risque!"

The blue haired girl flinched at that comment.

"Fine, fine! Try this instead then! It's more conservative so you ought to like it!" huffed Lou, throwing something into Katsako's arms before drawing the curtains shut again. She stood there for a while, her foot tapping out the tune playing over the store speakers until Katsako was ready and came out, still blushing slightly. This time she was wearing a simply blue dress that matched her hair.

"What do you think?" she asked, turning on the spot to let her friend see from all angles.

Lou grinned and flicked her a thumbs up. "Perfect!"


"This is Talon 4. There's two of 'em," reported one of his wingmen.

Talon 1 nodded, his dispassionate face looking down at his own sensors to confirm the reading. He glanced at his fuel reserves. Enough for another twenty minutes at peak performance before he'd have to head back. It would do. "Maintain formation," he ordered.

"Roger," his squadron answered.

With a flick of his wrist, his craft spun about and dived towards the enemy. "Enforcer, engaging," he said, flicking the safeties of his weapons off. There was a ping and his missile screen turned green, an automated cross-hair already seeking out the targets. "Fate weaver, General, you have the flanks."


Masayoshi managed to get a lock first. "Missiles away!" he declared, slapping the row of buttons lining the right edge of his cockpit. The entire craft seemed to shudder in space as it unleashed its entire stock of missiles at the targets. The projectiles streaked away, curving in their path to soar straight into the enemy formation. The lead three fighters spun and weaved their way through, but the two trailing them had explosions clip their wings, sending them spiralling towards each other to perish in a sudden explosion as they collided.

Peten groaned at his wing mates shameless lack of any sense of ammunition conservation. A warning chime made him reflexively spin his SF, avoiding a stream of laser bolts that streaked down from above. Pulling back on the controls the vista of space spun around him, and he craned his neck to catch a glimpse of his attacker. A gold SF flashed past, leaving Peten with a sense of glitz and tacky decorating. Another chime made him manipulate the controls to switch his SF into battleroid form, spinning in place and firing his rifle at the opponent behind him. Sparks on the golden form proved his aim true, and the fighter spiralled past, tumbling in the void. He smiled in victory as Masayoshi flashed past, being chased by another craft. Switching back into fighter mode, Peten gave chase.


"What's taking so long?" asked the Captain, removing his cap to wipe the sweat off his brow.

The bridge of the Melody was tense, the few staff present doing their duties to the best of their abilities.

"There was a fuel spill at Catapult 4, they had to clear it up. Angel is ready to launch, but it'll take her another two minutes before she can launch!" reported the an at the console overseeing flight operations.

"What about the enemy?"

"Two fighters are confirmed destroyed, and one has been forced to disengage. Jester and Orion are currently dealing with the other," was his reply.

"That still leaves one unaccounted for," pointed out the Captain, his eyes narrowing as the tactical situation played out over in his mind. If it wasn't dealing with the fighters that meant...

As if on cue, the golden mech appeared in front of the bridge, rifle levelled.

Cries of panic and alarm erupted as people dived for cover, but the Captain knew it was hopeless. He merely gritted his teeth and glared at the machine in front of him, watching its metallic fingers tighten on the trigger.

And then Hades came out of nowhere and tackled the other mech, slamming it into the deck of the Melody. Gripping his opponents head in his hand, the machine slammed it into the ship's hull again and again, chunks of metal and glass floating away from the wreck, glittering like tears.

The bridge erupted in cheers as the VF continued to pound its enemy into the ship itself. Then it was flying away, kicked off by the golden machine as it pushed itself away from the small cruiser, flipping into fighter mode and boosting off, in full retreat.

Barry silently let out the breath he had been holding as he watched Hades stand in front of the bridge protectively, watching his opponent fly away. It turned to the bridge and nodded.

"Convey our thanks to Hades for the support," ordered the Captain, smiling slightly as he too nodded. "And what about the other ships?"

"They're all disengaging now."

He leaned back and sighed. "Recall our fighters. I want catapult 1 repaired in eight hours, understood? And get intel down here to work out what the hell just happened!"


"Hey, get back here you cowardly dog!" shouted Masayoshi after the retreating craft.

"Let them go. Small fighters like that are carrier based. They were probably just pirates testing us to see if we were a valid target," said Peten, plotting a course back to the Melody.

"A hit and run?"

"Don't worry about it," advised the elder pilot, watching his wing mate fall in behind him as they flew back to their carrier. Pirates were rare, but not unheard of. They tended to employ VFs as their tactical flexibility suited their preferred methods of engagement. Now that their noses had been bloodied they wouldn't come close again. Though the fleet would have to employ a tighter formation to ensure now stragglers were picked off. "Ah damn," he sighed to himself. Brief bouts of excitement punctuating long voyages always got him jumpy. He wouldn't be able to sleep soundly for a week now.

Orion laughed all of a sudden. "Hey look its Howell! Damn that guy made it through that blast like it was nothing after all!"

Peten peered through his cockpit at the Melody, the third member of his flight clearly visible, standing on the Melody as if he owned the damn thing. He laughed as well. "Well they do say he's got the luck to make it through hell itself!"


Clyde slammed the door shut. "I'm home," he said, scratching the back of his neck as he kicked off his shoes and headed for the stairs leading to his room.

"Yo!" called his father from the kitchen, which was currently issuing black smoke. "The cooker broke down again so mind if we have Chinese today?" he asked, his soot covered head emerging from around the doorway, grinning sheepishly.

"Yeah sure," his soon replied, dragging himself wearily upstairs, opening the door to his room and hurling his school bag onto the floor before slamming the door shut and collapsing onto his bed and groaning. A hundred thousand word essay. That was going to take all of the weekend. He turned his head to look at his desk, the silly little alarm clock decorate din vines his father had got him denoting it to be early evening in glowing green numbers. He rolled over onto his back, uncaring he was creasing his school blazer.

It was going to take him a long time to pay off the damages to Professor Izashima's car as well, even if he was splitting it with Egare. Groaning again, Clyde facepalmed as he sat up, taking off his navy blazer and hanging it off his swivel chair as he got changed into some more mundane clothes.

After a moment of glancing about at what was available, he threw on his trusted standard clothing – white buttoned shirt and black trousers. The blonde took a single look at his school bag before resolving to begin the essay tomorrow, and instead lay down on his bed and flicked his TV on, surfing the channels to get his mind of the depressing weekend coming up.


"Hahaha, today was fun don't you think so?" laughed Lou as the pair walked back home, each carrying a shopping bag with their purchases.

"Yeah," agreed Katsako, a once her friend has given up on trying to make a spectacle of her, she had enjoyed hanging out with her.

They were walking along the line of residential blocks were most of the populace of the Macross lived. They were ugly but practical buildings, tall grey slabs of concrete. Still here and their she could make out some greenery left out on terraces as somebody tried to brighten up the atmosphere around their home. And on in particular drew her eye, as always. The terrace seemingly bursting with greener, as if a jungle was waiting within. Clyde's. Neither of them understood the boys obsession with vegetation, but he did provide a regular supply of any kind of flower they would require for special occasions.

"Oh right did you hear? They're holding a singing contest!" said Lou gleefully, apparently the sight of Clyde's house reminding her of it for some inscrutable reason. "We should go and try out for that!"

Katsako looked at her friend as if she'd lost all reason and suggested they go dance naked in a cementary. "No!"

"Aw come on, this will be the best way for you to get over that damn shyness! Seriously, its getting on my nerves!" declared Lou boldly, firmly set on the idea.

"I'm not shy, just reserved!" yelled Katsako.

Lou grinned a feline grin as she turned to her friend. "Ohohohoho, just you wait! I'll make sure you enter, and sing too!"

"Louuu!" whined the taller girl, chasing after her cackling friend down the street.


Back in fold space, Talon 1, aka Enforcer, cursed silently as he removed his helmet, revealing short black hair and cold, dispassionate eyes.

"Prove the superiority of the Eternus my ass," snarled a voice over his communicator, that of General, Zegar. "Serac, when we get back, I'll make sure you pay for your overconfidence today!"

"At least he didn't chicken out after getting his paintwork damaged," interrupted Darkside, callsign Fate weaver. There was no emotion in the voice, but Serac could just see the mocking grin on his brothers face as Zegar exploded.

"WHAT? You accusing me of cowardice you little-"

Serac sighed and cut the link, unwilling to listen to another of Zegar's ego fuelled rants. He leaned back in his seat and stared out at fold space, watching the numerous pretty colours fly by, making his golden fighter seem to shimmer.


AN: Well this is my first foray into Macross, so please don't be too harsh with me! Whilst the series all provide good stories, they do only follow the stories of a select number of characters in what is, to be frank, a galaxy spanning period of history. This story is simply an imagining of what another colonisation fleet may have experienced. Special thanks to the Negima TS for allowing me to reinvent their characters. Reviews are as always, appreciated.