DISCOVERY

"Sir, I'm picking up large amounts of Reflex Energy discharge at zero two two azimuth zero three. Looks like a Fold operation."

Gloval pulled his pipe from his pocket and clamped it in his teeth. "On screen."

The visual came alive, displaying the area of space radiating the disturbance. Space lit up, as a huge globe three hundred kilometres across sprang into being. The globe faded, leaving a large fleet of warships in its wake.

"Damn, they've finally caught up with us. Well, we couldn't expect it to last. Kim, plot a course to slingshot us around Uranus. Maybe we can gain some speed as well as some cover." He dug into another pocket and pulled out a wooden kitchen match. "Lisa, order Valkyrie crews to ready five."

"Yes, sir."

"Sir!"

Gloval swivelled to face Sammie Porter. "What is it?"

"Regulations prohibit smoking on the bridge."

Claudia Grant shook her head in disgust.

Gloval pocketed the unlit pipe. "I wasn't going to smoke it...I was just holding it."


Lieutenant Hayes' voice echoed throughout the vessel.

"All Valkyrie crews report to briefing. Ready Five in effect."

Roy stubbed his cigarette. "Fuck. So much for time off. C'mon, kid, there's work to do."

"Sorry, Akane, duty calls." Ranma jumped up, dropping a thousand-yen note on the table, and followed Roy at a dead run.


"Twenty five minutes ago, Bridge reported four thousand alien vessels folding into this area. The SDF-1 will be attempting a slingshot manoeuvre around the planet Uranus in an attempt to slip past the alien fleet. However, we know for certain that the aliens are aware of our presence. For all the good it will do us. Lieutenant Saotome."

"Sir?"

"I know we haven't gotten you a proper billet yet. For this operation, you are in command of Green Squadron. You will patrol Quadrant One. Skull Squadron, Quadrant Two. Red Squadron, Quadrant Three. And Vermilion Squadron, Quadrant Four.

"The remaining eight squadrons will remain on Ready Five, except for Gold, which will be on Alert One."

Groans were heard throughout the briefing room.

"Stow it. This is not a pleasure cruise. We will rotate one Squadron per hour, the team on Alert One replacing one fielded team, which then goes to the back of the list to be fielded. Each of you will be up for four and down for eight hours. We do not know how much breathing room the aliens are going to give us, so this schedule will prevail until further notice."

"Colonel, you're a heartless prick."

"Blue Squadron will now replace Gold on the catapults."

More groans echoed throughout the briefing room.

"That's all. Deploy. And good luck."


"Macross, Green Leader. Reporting contacts, vector...oh seven five azimuth negative three three from your direction of travel. Oh, and they're closing. Request instructions."

"Green Squadron, Macross. Close and attack. Skull Squadron has reported contacts and is engaging, so we're vectoring Sepia to support you. What's wrong with your voice?"

"Uh, must be a change in the helium mix in the cockpit..."

"Get it fixed."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Green Leader, this is Sepia Leader. Mind if we mix it up?"

"Colonel?"

Ranma stared at the Tac Net Screen. Somehow, it had slipped her mind that Soun Tendo commanded Sepia Squadron.

"Ah, no, I don't mind at all."


Akane stood before the U.N. Spacy recruiting center, debating whether or not she should be there.

Doing this will not make Dad happy, and Kasumi will probably be very disappointed. And there's no guarantee that they'll let me do what I want to...And Ranma will probably be angry.

And since when do I care what Ranma thinks?

She set her jaw and walked in.


Quadrant One was one gigantic furball.

Ranma had her Valkyrie in Gerwalk Mode, and was ripping into fighter pods and battlepods with the GU-11 and head lasers. The aliens had fielded a small force by their standards, but Green Squadron was still outnumbered six to one. Sepia was still ninety seconds out, and Ranma knew that that might be too far out to save her own squadron.

As she watched, five Green Valkyries were ripped apart. Despite the U.N. Spacy's best training, and mecha more powerful and better armoured than the opposition, sheer numbers could still weigh them down. And just in case by some miracle they survived the furball, looming behind the enemy Mecha was a massive spacecraft, of the sort Intelligence had dubbed a cruiser.

"Green Twelve, go to Gerwalk! They can outmanoeuvre you in Fighter Mode."

"Roger, Green Leader."

Ranma brought the GU-11 around and hosed down another fighter pod, then paused to reload. She glanced at the Tac Display, and grinned. "Green Team, heads up! Incoming friendly missiles!"

Green Valkyries all through the furball disengaged and pulled away from the alien mecha as a hail of missiles descended into the furball.

"Sepia Squadron, break and attack!"

Ranma watched in amazement as Colonel Tendo dived into the firefight. Although he remained in Fighter Mode, he was pulling stunts that Ranma knew she could never emulate. He mostly ignored the battlepods, but fighter pod after fighter pod fell before him.

Ranma grinned. Maybe they'd get out of this after all.

Her Tac Net flickered, and Roy came on. "Ranma, we've discovered that reconfiguration tends to confuse the aliens. If you switch modes often enough, you'll keep them off their edge. Oh, you're using your own secret weapon, huh?"

"Shut up, ah, Major."

"Yep, reconfiguration can really throw them off."

"You're a dead man, Fokker."

He laughed. "Later, later."

"Okay, Green, listen up. A bit of advice just came through from Skull. Reconfiguration can throw them off. So let's get wild."

Ranma reached over to her console and pulled the S lever. The Valkyrie reconfigured around her, and she spun to fire the GU-11 at the battlepod on his tail. She allowed the Valkyrie's wings to remain extended in order to improve manoeuvrability; the wingtip-mounted thrusters allowed the reconfigured Mecha more control in space. She fired the leg thrusters and rammed a pod, punching through its thin armour and depressurizing the pilot's compartment. Then a quick shift to Fighter Mode to close on the next target.


"We have to fire the main gun! It's our only way out. Prepare to execute Dr. Lang's modular transformation sequence."

"Sir! The city will be destroyed!"

"I know, Kim, but better that than the entire ship. Lisa, warn the people to the shelters."

"Aye sir. Modular transformation will begin in forty-five seconds."


"What the hell?"

Ranma watched as the Macross began its transformation sequence. The two supercarriers attached to the side began to swing outwards, and the twin booms of the Main Gun slid back along the fuselage. The overall effect was similar to the Valkyrie's reconfiguration. And the result was the same. The Macross was becoming a massive Battloid. The supercarriers were held before it like arms, and the massive engine thrusters protruded downward like legs and feet.

The alien Mecha broke off and began to retreat. Shouts of victory rose from the remains of Green and Sepia Squadrons.

"Good work, team. Let's head for home."

The Macross' main gun fired, the beam stabbing through the approaching enemy cruiser. In the silence of space, it exploded, sending debris flying in all directions.


Green and Sepia Squadrons, less than a full squadron in Valkyries between them, landed on the Prometheus. As soon as Ranma touched down, she removed her helmet, pulled out the thermos and poured some of the water inside over her head.

It was lukewarm. Even a thermos can keep water hot for only so long. She groaned, then donned her helmet and taxied to the liftlock.

Ranma climbed out of the fighter as a tractor rolled up to pull it to its berth. Yo, next thing to do is get back to my quarters and take a hot shower.

"Lieutenant Saotome?"

She grimaced, and turned to see Lisa Hayes looking at her. Hayes was a Lieutenant Commander, equivalent rank to a Major for the Valkyrie pilots, and was the Flight Operations Officer for the entire Dimensional Fortress. Ranma was very glad that she was wearing her body armour. As bulky as it was, it hid her body's more obvious features.

"You reported a gas imbalance in your cockpit."

"Ah, no ma'am, I think I mentioned that maybe a helium increase in my cockpit was responsible for my voice..."

"Remote monitoring of environmental conditions is built into every Valkyrie. I checked your fighter's gas mix. No increase in helium was indicated. Furthermore, there was your exchange with Captain Fokker. What was this 'secret weapon' he mentioned, hmm?"

"Ahh...I'd rather not say at this time."

"Dammit, take off the helmet. It's muffling your voice."

Ranma cursed inwardly. She unclasped the helmet and removed it.

"I thought we had an impostor. Who the hell--"

"Lieutenant Saotome, ma'am." Ranma fidgeted. "Tell you what, Commander. Why don't I explain this over a cup of tea."


Much of Macross City had been damaged severely by the modular transformation. Even now, teams of Destroids were working to rebuild the ravaged community. The White Dragon had survived untouched, as had several other buildings. Word was that the buildings would be replaced on segments that were stable during transformation.

At the moment, the Dragon was empty, save for Lin Max and Minmei. Max glanced up as Saotome and Hayes entered.

"Hi, Ranma. Lemme guess: You want some hot water."

"Good guess, Max. Hi, Minmei."

Minmei stared at her.

Lisa also stared. "So you really are Saotome."

"Yeah." Ranma sat down in his usual seat. Lisa sat down opposite him. "Lemme tell you all about Jushenkyo."

"Hey, Ranma! Thought you took a thermos into the cockpit with you?"

Ranma glanced up to see Roy Fokker walk in.

"Jackass! This is all your fault!"

"Hey, is that any way to greet your superior officer?" Roy grinned and wagged a finger at Ranma. He dropped into the seat next to Hayes.

Ranma scowled. "It was my second patrol. After fifteen hours, the water in the thermos was nice and cold."

"Okay! Someone tell me what's going on?" Commander Hayes looked very confused and very upset.

"Trying to. Uh, Minmei, I don't think you know about this yet either. You might as well sit down and listen in."

Max returned with a teakettle. Minmei sat down next to Ranma.

"Okay, Roy already knows this story, but...About three years ago, when I was still training in martial arts, my father and I went to a place called Jushenkyo to train. Jushenkyo is full of one thousand small pools, and each one has a curse."

"Curse?" Hayes looked at Ranma oddly. "Are you feeling okay?"

Roy grabbed the teakettle and poured water over Ranma. Hayes stared at Ranma in disbelief.

Ranma looked down at his folded hands. "Believe me now?"

"Captain Fokker, how long have you known about this?"

"Oh, about a week now."

"And you didn't report it?"

"Would you have believed me?"

Hayes paused. "Well...no." She turned back to Ranma. "So what causes you to turn into a female?"

"Cold water."

"And you deliberately used cold water to transform before entering combat?"

"Uh...before launching, actually."

"Why?"

Roy spoke up. "Actually, Lieutenant, it's my fault. During the Global Civil War, we found that women actually make better fighter pilots than men. It's just the social stigma attached, the idea that only a man can be a warrior, that kept it from becoming practise."

Hayes thought about this for a moment. Then she addressed Fokker. "Do you believe that only a man can be a warrior?"

Roy grinned. "'Warrior' conjures to mind someone dressed in armour and waving a sword. Men do tend to be stronger than women, so they can wear heavier armour and wave bigger swords. I think what you mean to say here is, can a woman be a better soldier or fighter pilot. Personally, I think so. Women have higher pain thresholds, can pull more gees and have a better grasp of spatial perceptions."

Hayes turned back to Ranma. "Saotome, you're the only one here who's been in both positions. What do you think?"

Ranma considered. "Well, I'm not sure. What Roy's talking about isn't really something I can pick up on. But I do know that I was interfacing with the Valkyrie better as a female."

The door opened, and Rick and Akane walked in. Both were wearing ROTP cadet uniforms, and Akane's hair had been cut to regulation length. Roy glanced up in surprise.

"Rick! What happened?"

He grinned a bit unsteadily. "I figured that maybe you were right. And at least, it's better than moping about here."

Ranma was equally surprised. "A-Akane? Are you crazy?"

Akane frowned at him. "Oh, you disapprove of my joining up?"

"People get killed out there! Why are you so anxious to put your neck on the line?"

Akane clenched her fists. "For the same reasons you do! My sisters are here, and I'm gonna do whatever I can to protect them. Why are you so concerned anyway?" She stopped, and grinned suddenly. "Are you actually worried about me?"

"No way!"

Akane noticed Commander Hayes suddenly. "And while I was off joining up, you're sitting here collecting more girlfriends?"

Roy guffawed.

"Huh? Lieutenant Hayes is my commanding officer!"

"Well, that's one way to get promotions!"

Lisa was blushing furiously. "Excuse me, Major, I need to get back to the bridge."

Roy stood to allow her to escape.

Rick grinned at the still arguing Ranma and Akane. "Boy, you can tell they're really in love."

Ranma and Akane whirled on Rick. "Stay out of this, Hunter."

Lisa paused and glanced at Rick. "Hunter? Rick Hunter?"

Rick seemed surprised. "Uh, yeah, that's me. Oh, no..."

Roy grinned. "Oh, yeah, you two have spoken before, haven't you?"

"Don't remind me," chorused Lisa and Rick. They glared at each other, then Lisa poked Rick in the chest. "You owe me a beer."

Roy laughed again. "Well, little brother, I know you're going into Valkyries. What did you sign up for, Tendo?"

Akane seemed to deflate. "Well, I wanted to fly Valkyries as well, but they pushed me into Communications."

"Really?" Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Well, it just so happens that I've recieved some information that suggests that women make good Mecha pilots. This information warrants investigation. So we'll need to train some female Valkyrie pilots to investigate. Care to volunteer?"

"You bet!" Akane glanced at Ranma. "She knows...?"

"Yeah...Um, Commander? I'd appreciate it if word doesn't get around about my curse. You, too, Minmei."

"No problem, Captain."

"Okay, Ranma."

Rick looked confused. "Curse? What are you talking about?"

Lisa grinned. "Sorry, Cadet. That information is on a need to know basis. And you don't need to know."