Macross 2012: Insurrection
When you're through with life and all hope is lost
Hold out your hand 'cause friends will be friends
right till the end
- Queen
Prologue: Ah, how nice is the air outside BattleTech universe!
This is officially my fourth attempt to write Macross fanfic, but the idea was not new at all. I toyed around the premise of my first Macross fanfic and turned it into a more efficient storyline. On the first attempt, I tried to make Hikaru - Misa relationship a little complicated, and that didn't work very well. I guess I'm not good at romance fanfic at all. So there will be no romance in this story. This story is all about friendship. It is set in 2012 (as the title suggested) as a "could-have-been" kind of story. There are several versions of Macross Timeline regarding the lives of Hikaru, Misa, Max and Milia, and I'm following Macross Compendium. If there are some discrepancies with the "official" timeline, please let me know.
Macross and all its components are copyright of Shoji Kawamori, Big West, Studio Nue, and Bandai Entertainment. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
UN Spacy Research Facility, Moon,
July 1, 2012.
Lieutenant Milia Jenius gazed at the beautiful blue Earth through the window. With her family at Earth, this procession had become her ritual every morning, before she went to work. Her squadron had been transferred to guard UN Spacy Research Facility at Moon for 6 months, and although she didn't like it, Max urged her to accept the job. It would be good to earn sympathy from the brass, Max always said.
"What are you doing today, Max?" Milia hummed, watching the big blue orb turned slowly. She imagined her husband working on his Valkyrie, or perhaps working behind a computer, or possibly just staying at home, waiting for her return. She missed him. She couldn't wait to smell his hair, touch his hands, and kiss his lips.
Suddenly the warning sound blasted. Blinding flash blitzed from the corner of the cafe, and technicians joined the guard's stampede, filling the corridors with frantic runs. Milia quickly ran to the command center, her breath catching up with her legs. Arriving at the command center, a frenzied scene greeted her. Dozens of tactical officers screamed and chattered over the comlinks, switching from infra-red to visual imaging. Milia caught a glimpse of what was going on, but she thought she would ask for more information before she made her move.
"What is going on?" she asked one of the tactical officers.
"We spotted intruders, el-tee," he answered. "Several wings of unidentified fighters are heading this way in attack formation. They won't answer our call."
Milia inspected the screen, showing several fighters that looked like VF-1S, but with slightly different modification. They were all painted in black. Through her career at UN Spacy Milia never knew if there was a squadron with black camo. Pirates, maybe? Perhaps Max would know, but there was no time for asking.
"All available pilots, man your battlestations!" Milia spoke through the PA. "This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill! We are under attack!"
Milia sprinted to the hangar, where technicians and pilots mounted weapons on her red VF-1J. She grabbed her helmet, climbed into the cockpit and started her engine. A soft tremor enveloped the cockpit as the turbine blasted, spitting fire from the nozzles. Milia gave a clear sign to the techs, then throttled up. Her fighter jetted in the short runway, then soared to the sky.
"Unidentified squadron, this is Lieutenant Milia Jenius, UN Spacy," Milia hailed the intruders. "Disengage and state your intention, or we will open fire!" When the attacking force didn't reply, Milia readied her guns and called for her wingmen, "Rally on me! Delta-attack formation! Keep them out of the research facility!"
The unidentified attackers broke formations and fired their missiles at the facility. Traces of white smoke zipped in the dark void, raining down on the facility. Three missiles hit the main dome, ripping the hull, exposing million-dollar research material to void. Fireballs blossomed, tossing concrete bits and metal splinters into the blackness. Two missiles fell on an oxygen tank, creating a giant bonfire that illuminated the dark environment.
"They're going for the research facility!" Milia broadcast her distress call. "Fire at will! Fire at will!" She turned her Valkyrie and fired her missile on a black fighter. Her missile slammed into the fighter's nozzle, and the black fighter disintegrated into a fireball.
Two black fighters lined up behind her, showering her with lasers. Milia yanked her joystick backward, making her Valkyrie turned in a half loop. The black fighters quickly spread out, but Milia lined up with one of them. The fighter crisscrossed its path, trying to throw Milia off her firing arc, but Milia stayed on. Somehow she recognized the flying pattern of the black fighter, and the realization made her stomach churn.
"These guys are Zentradi!" Milia screamed. "Mayday, mayday, Moon Research Facility is being attacked by a renegade Zentradi squadron!" She mashed the trigger, and a long stream of ballistics and laser beams clobbered the black fighter in front of her. The engine erupted, and the fighter spun uncontrollably before plunged to Moon's surface.
Nevertheless, the Zentradi black fighters managed to fire their missiles at the power generator. The box-like generator blasted in colorful fire. Pieces of burning metal rained down on Moon surface, some floated to the space. With the generator knocked out, lights went out on the entire facility. Back-up batteries kicked in, but they were only good to power up radars and living supports.
"Eat this!" Milia fired her missile on yet another black fighter. The Zentradi fighter burst flares to deflect Millia's missile, but Milia fired her lasers. The brilliant beams incised the black fighter's right wing. Smoke billowed from the cut, and the fighter staggered to stay afloat. Milia lined up behind the fighter and fired her last missile. The missile cleaved the fighter and exploded, ripping the fighter apart.
Milia's squadron fought hard and managed to shoot down the rest of the Zentradi black fighters. Milia switched to Gerwalk mode and inspected the research facility. The damage was severe, and Milia knew the techs, guards, and scientists had to be evacuated. She sent message through general frequency, "This is Lieutenant Milia Jenius. Moon Research Facility had been damaged, and total evacuation is imminent. Nearby units, please assist."
"Stand by, Lieutenant, this is UNS Nelson, we are 10 hours away from Moon. We can assist."
"Thank you Nelson," Milia replied. She leaned on her cockpit and thought, "Who are those guys? What did they want?"
UN Spacy HQ, Macross City,
July 5, 2012
Bruno Global sat in his chair, reviewing the report about the attack on the research facility. Two Intelligence Bureau officers sat in front of him, waiting him to finish reading their report. Global sighed as he came to their conclusion. "So the attackers were Zentradi," Global said. "What do they want?"
"That is still under investigation," one of the intelligence officers replied. "But we believe that Lieutenant Milia Jenius is collaborating with them. She is a Zentradi, and from her flying record it is clear that she let several attackers slip away so they could bomb the research facility. UN Spacy lost millions of dollars."
"That is absurd!" Global snapped. "Milia Jenius killed five Zentradi attackers, the highest number of all her squadron! Are you telling me that she killed her own friends?"
"That will be included in the investigation," the intelligence officer replied. "But we demand that you arrest Lieutenant Jenius. If you refuse, we will find someone who will, and it will look bad on your resume."
Global stared at the intelligence officers, frustrated at the situation they put him in. But in all honesty, he thought that Milia was best put under his custody than theirs. Nobody knew what inside the intelligence's mind, and he wouldn't risk Milia's safety. He pressed a button, and when the face of his adjutant sprung on the small screen on his desk, he spoke with a heavy voice, "Captain Vito, recall Lieutenant Milia Jenius and put her under custody."