Chapter 9: Resistance and Acceptance
The platoons of men moved silently through the jungle. They had been doing sweeps like this for decades, searching first for drug cartel action, then for anti-UN forces, and now for the large beings that had attacked the whole planet. The irony was that these strange aliens had begun to cluster around an old UN base. The UN could not save the planet now. It was up to local forces to try and free Columbia, since the Gringos of the UN SPACY had once again promised much and delivered little. The commander of this little group watched patiently as the two heavy weapons squads got into position. They had found the hard way that whatever these craft or suits were, they could be stopped by a big enough armor piercing round from an anti-tank gun or an old fashioned bazooka.
"Anatole, Jorge and Armando have their squads in position," a grizzled NCO said to the commander.
"Excellent. Have them commence firing in thirty seconds. Fire two quick rounds then move and fire again. They are not to let the aliens have time to home in on their positions."
"I will pass the word, Sir."
Slowly ticking off the seconds in his head, the commander waits tensely for the initial shots. It was important that the first shots take out some of the aliens, mostly for the surprise factor but also to try and even the odds somewhat. Moments later, he hears the whooshing sound of two rounds leaving their launchers, followed by a pair of explosions. Two of the alien war machines were now fiery wrecks. Two more of the armored giants strode in to investigate and also ended up flaming hulks. Both of the commander's squads would then switch locations, each moving clockwise in relation to the base, staying under the cover of the surrounding jungle. The smoke from the smashed alien mecha would also help to hide the presence of the small force. Two more pairs of whooshes cut through the din and another warcraft is now destroyed. The second shot misses a mecha but collides with what looked like a drop ship or a supply shuttle. The commander smiled; his plan was working well.
Suddenly, he heard a second whoosh from the far side of the base and the mecha that had been missed was now reduced to scrap metal. What was Jorge's squad doing? They were only supposed to fire twice from the first position, when they still had the element of surprise. Firing twice now could get them discovered and killed. As if to illustrate his fears, a pair of enemy mecha, one a deadly looking red, came sailing inbound over the jungle, a returning patrol no doubt, and headed right towards Jorge's position, both launching a large salvo of missiles all arcing in towards Jorge and his men. Dozens of explosions ripped apart the ground and the commander thought he saw a small body flying through the air and land on the grounds of the base, a broken rag doll from this distance.
"Damn it, Jorge! You shouldn't have tried to be a hero!" the commander hissed. He looked to a corporal crouching nearby and barked a quick order.
"Tell Armando we're pulling out," he told the NCO, "the plan doesn't work if there is only one group shooting."
"Yes, Captain Leonard!" replied the young soldier, who then hurried off to locate the remaining squad.
At least those men didn't die in vain, thought the commander, we destroyed six of the enemy mecha! Another successful mission for the Southern Cross; He slipped back into the jungle, working to remain hidden from any searching aliens.
Although initially angry, Miriya conceded that Lord Breetai might actually have known what he was doing when he assigned this mission to Phantom Squadron. Every Earthling facility she had discovered had attempted to resist; it was glorious slaughter for her beloved Phantoms. Most engagements were done quickly, but there was rumor of strong resistance being put up in an area of the planet covered very heavily in jungle.
"Follow me, wing escort," Miriya said, "and we shall smash these upstarts. The rest of you Phantoms should keep searching for other bases. We cannot have found all of them!"
Flying low, only about a hundred feet above the tops of large pieces of vegetation, they arrive at the scene of yet another skirmish. Five suits of power armor had been destroyed and no effective counter attack had been attempted by the Zentraedi troops stationed to this sector. Suddenly Miriya sees a small flash, a trail of smoke, and a blinding explosion as another power suit is destroyed.
"Aim where I do, I have seen where the attackers were hidden!" Miriya shouts to the trailing mecha.
Both craft release a large salvo of missiles all of which found their mark. She thought she saw small bodies being flung in the air from the detonations of the ordinance.
"We will circle around the immediate area. That can't have been the only place attackers were shooting from."
Taking several slow orbits around the captured base, neither Miriya nor her wingman could see any other hostile forces. Deciding to land to investigate closer, the two pilots gather more evidence that this planet was indeed populated by Micronians. It would make the conquest that much easier.
The London bunker was operating until the last possible minute. They did not want to lose any data that could help plan any counter offensive or give a clue as to what these aliens wanted. As such, Admiral Hayes was still there when news of yet another raid by the Southern Cross resistance cell arrived. It bothered Hayes that this group wasn't under his direct control, but he could not argue the success they had been having.
"Do we know anything about this group or even who's commanding it?" asked the Admiral.
"From what we can gather, it is being led by Captain Anatole Leonard, former leader of Columbia's national security forces and it is comprised of whoever of those forces was willing to follow him," said the Admiral's aide. "He holds a very strong grudge against our UN forces as well. Don't hold out too much hope of him coming in under your umbrella."
"Have we been able to figure out any of his tactics? We might be able to use them as well."
"Our analysts are still wading through the data, Sir. We hope to have an answer by next week. Luckily, all the attacks this Leonard has been pulling off have drawn the entire attention of the aliens to the southern hemisphere. We've been able to move quickly to camouflage the Grand Cannon. With a little luck we'll be able to smuggle enough construction materials into the facility to complete that project."
"We need a few more miracles like that," the Admiral said. "Are the preparations for transferring command functions out of this bunker been completed?"
"Almost, Sir, we're still on schedule."
"Good. We won't have as much access to the satellite data, but we won't be trapped like rats down here either. We need all surviving forces to disperse away from all our bases. The aliens have started targeting them; any forces still there when the enemy mecha show up get wiped out."
"I will relay those orders, Admiral."
"The reports are encouraging, Lord Breetai."
"They are indeed, Exedore. We shall have this planet under our control soon."
"And it seems you were correct in your assessment of young Parina. She and her Phantoms have gained air superiority over the planet."
"A warrior, as much as any weapon, must be well aimed to inflict the most damage, Exedore, and the Phantom Leader is now aimed at the correct enemy."
"I have been noticing a trend in the engagements, my Lord. It appears that the Micronian's defense forces are gradually abandoning all their military bases. Phantom Squadron is finding more and more of these bases deserted when they discover them."
"Indeed. That is what made me suspect that these Micronians were saving their mecha for one last major offensive."
"I do not think that is the case now, Lord Breetai. It does not even appear that these skirmishes are coordinated; they seem to be the work of disparate groups."
"Then we have shattered this planet's central government, Exedore! I will be able to announce a complete victory to Emperor Dolza in less than a lon (1)."
Looking out of the forward viewport, Captain Gloval stares out into the void over what had been the eastern mountains of Macross Island. They were now just a portion of this pile of rocks now floating through deep space. The island had been sucked along in the fold bubble with its namesake ship and now stood wrecked and ruined. They crew had been working around the clock for several days to salvage very possible piece of the city and they were nearly finished. Gloval would have been happy to recover just the supplies from the survival shelters but Dr. Lang had discover that the equipment left on the ship by the original owners could move entire shelters intact and were able to do the same for civilian houses and other structures of the now wrecked city.
"Dr. Lang reports the last of the salvageable materials will be aboard at the end of the current duty shift, Captain."
"Excellent, Cmdr. Grant. Begin making preparations to lift off and set a course for home. We have been here far too long for my taste."
"Aye, Captain."
"Lt. Hayes, what is the status of our fighter patrol."
"Skull squadron is currently up and orbiting twelve kilometers out from our current position, Sir. They report nothing usual at this time."
"Very good, Lieutenant; keep me posted if anything changes."
"Aye, Sir," Lt. Hayes said to the Captain. To Skull Leader she said, "Okay, Skull, you boys can take one more track around the Macross, then Wolf Squadron will relieve you."
"Roger that, Macross," came Roy's voice over the TACNET. "Maintaining twelve kilometer patrol radius, Skull out;"
Switching to the squadron channel, Major Fokker checks in with the rest of Skull flight.
"You heard the lady; once more around the block," Roy said.
"Geez, Roy," Ensign Hunter said, "Do we really need to be out here?"
"Yeah, Major." Ben added in, "I'll bet the enemy is still back on Earth."
"This is not up for a vote," Roy said. "We've been ordered to fly patrol and that's what we're doing. Anyone who wants to keep complaining can be off flight duty for a week."
Roy shook his head and cut the connection. He knew that the action on Earth had been the first battle for just about everyone in Skull squadron besides himself, he was the only true veteran, and they had come through that engagement blooded but unbowed. But he also couldn't imagine them being so amateur about a standard patrol. They were officially in an alert situation and any duty was an important duty. Roy was so frustrated about everyone in Skull whining like little kids about any duty that wasn't actual combat that he almost didn't see the call light on his HUD. Someone was requesting a private channel.
"This is Skull Leader," Roy said, opening the TACNET channel.
"This is Flight Control, Maj. Fokker. Can you quiet down the chatter between your flight elements?" It was Lt. Hayes.
"Already taken care of, Lieutenant;"
"Roger that, Skull Leader," Lisa replied. Her voiced sounded hesitant.
"Is there something else wrong, Flight Control?"
"Roy, I have some, well, off the record questions I'd like to ask you about Ensign Hunter. Please find me after Skull Squadron returns to base, at your convenience, after we're both off duty. Flight Control out;" Lisa then cut the TACNET connection.
That was odd, thought Roy. Lt. Hayes almost never asked directly about any one pilot, especially one of the junior officers, and certainly not anything off the record. He began to wonder if Claudia might know something, since she and Lisa were friends. He was about to set up a private channel with Cmdr Grant when another incoming request for private communication popped up on his HUD.
"Fokker here," Roy said.
"Hey Big Brother," Ensign Hunter said.
"Geez, Rick, the TACNET isn't for personal calls."
"Sorry, Roy, but I need to ask you something important and you're always busy whenever we're back at base."
"Okay, okay, just make it quick."
"Thanks, Roy. That day I found out about Pops being XO, I ran into Lt. Hayes at the Officer's Club and wound up being kind of rude to her. Any suggestions on how I can apologize to her? You know something special."
"I'll talk to you about it when we get back to the Macross. Right now, you need to get off this channel and pay attention to your patrol sector. I'm not running a dating service here!"
"Okay, Roy, but you better not ditch out on me when it's time to talk."
"I promise Little Brother. By the way, while you're asking about Lt Hayes, what's going on with you and that cousin of the stowaway? She seemed very happy to meet you."
"You know, Roy, it really is time to shut down this channel. We can talk a different day about Minmei." Rick's voice had a tone of embarrassment.
Roy starts to chuckle as Rick quickly shut the TACNET channel down. He had never thought Rick would be a player, but here the kid was, trying to get cozy with two women.
Cmdr. Grant looked out of the corner of her eye at her friend and fellow bridge officer, surprised at what she had overheard.
"Did you just make a date with my boyfriend, Lieutenant?" she asked softly.
"It's not a date, Claudia," Lisa whispered back. "I'm merely consulting a commanding officer about one of his subordinates."
"Oh? And does this subordinate happen to have messy black hair and stunning blue eyes?" Claudia asked. Lisa said nothing but the slight blush that crept in her cheeks told Claudia everything. Flashing a knowing smile, Claudia said, "Fine. When you see Roy remind him I'm making that pineapple salad he likes for dinner tonight."
The two women laugh quietly, friends sharing a joke. Then they heard giggling from behind them. Turning to look, they saw the three younger bridge officers also sharing a joke, albeit a different one.
"It's not that funny you two," Lt. Young said to her friends. "I haven't seen Eddie since the mis-fold."
"I haven't seen Ben either," Lt. Leeds said. "All the Veritech squadrons have been on around the clock alert for over a week."
"At least you two have someone," Lt. Porter said. "Who am I going to date now that we're stuck in outer space? And I thought Ensign LaSalle hated being called 'Eddie'?"
Kim stuck out her tongue at Sammy.
"What about Ensign Shin?" Vanessa said. "He seems like a nice guy."
"I don't know," Sammy said. "He seems a little too quiet for me."
"Okay, what about Ensign Hunter or Ensign Sterling," Kim said.
"Hunter is a 'no-go' Kim," Vanessa said, "Didn't you just hear Cmdr Grant and Lt Hayes talking about him? It sounded like Lt Hayes is developing a thing for Rick."
"And Max sounds too brainy," Sammy said. "He'd never be interested in someone like me."
"Then maybe we need to start thinking of pilots in the other Squadrons. All the hot bachelors can't be only in Skull Squadron!" Kim said.
The three women shared another quick laugh.
It had been a long slow climb up the emergency stairs of the bunker. The elevator cables had been severed when then initial blast had destroyed a large chunk of London. At least the exit hadn't been totally buried. Admiral Hayes was breathing hard; he had lost a little bit of fitness since attaining flag rank. He hadn't gone totally soft and flabby, like some high ranking admirals and generals he knew, but age and a desk job had taken their toll; this climb would have barely challenged him when he was in his twenties or thirties.
"How are you holding up, Admiral?" asked one of his Royal Marine escorts.
"Give me a couple of minutes to catch my breath then we can move on, Sergeant."
"Yes, Sir;"
After a short rest, the last bit of stairs took little time and soon the group was standing at the exit, looking across that vast debris field that had once been a major city. This was the first of many legs planned to get the Admiral all the way to Alaska Base.
"How far is it to the transport, Sergeant?"
"Two kilometers to the south-west on foot, Sir, but over extremely rough terrain and debris and we'll need to keep watching for enemy patrols. They've mostly been fly-overs, but they land and search sometimes, not that anyone on our side has a clue on what they'd be searching for."
"They're probably searching for evidence of military facilities. Sergeant, maybe even some information about us, the inhabitants."
"Then let's hope they don't spot us, Sir" he said to the Admiral. To his squad the Sergeant said, "Move out."
The Admiral checked his sidearm and moved in line behind the scouts. The sooner they got to that transport, the sooner he could get to the coast and rendezvous with a submarine for the trip to Alaska Base. It was pure luck the aliens hadn't detected any naval forces outside of the large port facilities yet, but who knew when that would change. Changed into fatigues, the officer blended into the rocks and remnants of buildings. The streets were a disaster; completely clogged with debris and no way to get it cleared. They were still within the radius of devastation. Only people underground would have survived.
A few, questionably lucky people;
"Flight Leader, we will need to return to the ship to rearm and refuel soon," said Seloy Deparra, the XO for Phantom Squadron.
"Very well, Seloy. Take the rest of the squadron back to Breetai's ship. That is, however distasteful, our home for the near future."
"And what will you be doing, Miriya?"
"My wing escort and I still have a good amount of fuel, my friend. We shall make one more pass over a destroyed city before returning. I mean to catch a live specimen of these Micronians and your leaving may draw them out of hiding."
"A sound plan, my Leader; I will see you on your return to the ship."
The power suits of Phantom squadron begin jetting upward, gradually gaining escape velocity. Miriya watched them until they were out of sight before taking off. There was one ruined city that had barely been investigated, probably because it was on an island, although it was quite close to at least one other smashed settlement on the nearest Landmass. The Energy Hammer was a very effective weapon against ground targets and most of those selected for the initial bombardment had been not military but government centers.
"Come wing escort. Let us go tend to this last sector. I believe the briefings said it was called 'London' in the Micronian language."
Two hours had passed and the small party had not even made it a full kilometer as the crow flies yet. Some of the smashed buildings had been turned into canyons by the blast wave of the alien weapon, forming many dead ends that had to be back tracked around. Some of the debris piles were impassible; they were unable to be climbed without ropes or other special equipment. So although they had not even made it half way to their goal, they had hiked close to three kilometers to this point. Slowly trudging in single file through a relatively clear street, the lead scout holds up his hand and motions for the party to take cover. Moments later, Admiral Hayes heard a low whistling sound that gradually got louder. It was an alien air patrol.
The Sergeant waved and pointed to a mostly intact building. If they hurried, the group could find cover there. Moving as fast as possible each man ducked quickly through the damaged doorway and made their way as far as possible into the first room, leaving just the Sergeant to keep watch at the door.
"Where's Higgins?" one of the Royal Marine scouts asked.
A quick head count confirmed that Pvt. Higgins was indeed missing. The Sergeant was about to step out and search when the two alien warcraft came into view, one a standard military green and the other painted a wicked red. And they did not fly over, instead landing within throwing distance of the men's' hiding place, making an earthquake like rumble as they touched down. Admiral Hayes noticed that they were about two, maybe two and a half meters taller than a Valkyrie in Battloid mode and much bulkier. But how much of that bulk was due to engines and how much to weapons systems? The two craft had the appearance of scanning for something on the ground, staying still except for movement of the head area. It was definitely a deliberate search pattern.
Hayes saw what they were looking for: Higgins. He caught a glimpse of the Private still scurrying toward a hiding spot; unfortunately, so did the aliens. The green one took two quick strides, reached down and picked Higgins up by his field pack, lifting him up even with the head, as if observing him. Going on reaction and training, Higgins fired a full clip from his L85 assault rifle, spraying the windshield and head area of the alien craft. It had no discernible effect. This caused a loud string of unintelligible sounds to emanate from the craft. Was that the alien's language? The string of sounds was repeated, louder than before. It was clearly their speech. Now there was a change in the tone and the sounds; it sounded like the two beings were communicating with each other. Hayes silently praised the young Marine, who was still hanging in mid air; he was remaining as calm as possible in the face of a terrifying enemy. The situation became more terrifying. The visor slowly opened on the green craft revealing what looked like a female head and this female was nearly ten or eleven meters tall. Showing herself may have been psychological, to induce fear in her captive. She spoke again and it sent a shiver of fear through the Admiral: the alien spoke in UN Common.
"Drop your weapon!" she thundered, with an odd accent. Her expression held anger.
Being out of standard ammo and unable to reach a fresh clip, Higgins began to lower his rifle. As the expression of the alien began to relax, he whipped up his weapon and launched a large projectile through the open visor at the exposed head. Hayes could now see that Higgins' rifle had an under barrel grenade launcher and the shot went true, almost reaching one of the alien's large eyes before detonating. The alien screamed in pain and brought both hands up to her injured face. Unfortunately, in the process she had also flung Higgins down at the ground, a reaction to the pain. He didn't even have a chance to scream; the Admiral could see Higgins' neck at a wrong angle where his crumpled body lay. There was more talking between the aliens in their own tongue before the injured one closed her visor. The red one then grabbed its companion and began to carry it up into the sky, eventually disappearing out of sight.
"I don't know if that was his intention, but Higgins just saved all of us," the Sergeant said.
"I will personally put his name in for the Victoria Cross and any other bloody medal you think he deserves, Sergeant," Admiral Hayes said. "Now let's get on our way. We need to meet up with that transport or his sacrifice will have been in vain."
Again, things seemed too easy. Reaching the coast of the island, Miriya and her wing escort made best speed towards the area of devastation, searching for movement within the rubble. It appeared there was nowhere for anyone to hide amid the mess, but the Micronians' size would allow them access to hiding spots a Zentraedi could not enter, burrowing like the vermin they were.
"Flight Leader, I have spotted movement, heading Alpha 1, Beta 1, near that section clear of debris."
"Excellent! We shall land and flank him. If we get this Micronian between us he will not be able to evade us."
The two power suits drop rapidly to the ground, kicking up large clouds of dust. Then the two pilots began to scan the section of wasteland between them, searching for a sign of movement. A few moments passed before the wing escort let out an exclamation.
"I see him Flight Leader!"
She took two quick steps and picked up the Micronian, bringing it up to her face for closer examination. It was dressed in some sort of uniform and she had snared it by what appeared to be some sort of cargo carrying unit attached to its back. As the wing escort observed the captive, it began spraying the head area of her power suit with small arms fire. She heard a staccato pinging, much like a series of meteorite strikes, and saw frustration in the captive's eyes when his ammunition ran out.
"Put down your weapon!" she said. The captive did not comply.
"Put down your weapon!" she said again, much louder. The captive still refused to comply.
"He does not understand the Zentraedi tongue. You must use the base words of the native language. I'll send that information to your HUD."
"Including pronunciation?"
"You believe me to be incompetent, wing escort?" Miriya asked with a dangerous tone.
"I think no such thing, Flight Leader. I do know that my speaking their language incorrectly will be as effective as continuing to shout at him in Zentraedi."
"Then there is hope for you yet, sending the information now. I would also suggest opening your visor before speaking. It will cause much fear in this pathetic worm."
"Understood, Flight Leader;"
After taking a short time to practice the words, the wing escort opens the visor of her suit and utters the phrase in the vile Micronian dialect. The captive's expression pales, but he shows no outward fear as he slowly lowers his arms. The wing escort's expression changes from anger to elation at the apparent capitulation. Suddenly, the prisoner raises his weapon and fires one last projectile. Before the woman can react, the round is in her helmet and explodes near her right eye, sending shards of shrapnel and a large amount of concussive force at the eye. She flings the prisoner away before grabbing at her wounded face. The wound was painful and there was certainly damage to the eye, but it did not appear to be a mortal wound.
"Status, wing escort!" screamed Miriya.
"I have sustained injury to my vision, but am otherwise unharmed. I apologize for letting the prisoner escape."
Miriya looks down at where the prisoner landed. He would not be trying to escape. He was clearly dead.
"We shall have other opportunities to capture a specimen. Are you able to take off?"
"My suit does not appear to be damaged, Flight Leader; however, I do not believe I will be able to see well enough to fly and navigate until I can tend to this wound."
"Acknowledged, wing escort; I will connect the remote umbilical to your suit so that I may control your thrusters. Prepare for liftoff."
"Understood." the injured woman said.
Attaching the appropriate power and data links between the two suits, Miriya signals the other woman's visor to close. She grabs the wing escort's suit by the cargo loops, engages the liftoff procedure and soon the two women are sailing into the sky and heading back to Breetai's ship.
These Micronians may turn out to be worthy opponents after all, she thought.
"Wolf Squadron assuming patrol in Sector 14A, Skull," Major Archer said.
"Roger that Wolf," Major Fokker said. "Enjoy the scenery. You guys will most likely have the last patrol before Macross lifts off."
"They saved the best for last," Major Randall said.
"You Wolfies keep telling yourself that, Red," Roy said.
"And you keep telling yourself you're funny, Fokker," Izzy said.
Roy lets out a hearty laugh. "Okay you two, Skull Squadron is heading back to the barn."
"Roger that, Skull," Jack said. "Save a few beers for us, okay?"
"You got it!" Roy said.
Skull Squadron peels off the patrol heading and turns toward to the Macross as Wolf Squadron slides in to the now vacant path. Minutes later, Skull lands in their bay and the fighter's taxi ferry the vehicles to their assigned spots. Jumping out of his plane, Rick runs over to head Roy off, before he can slip out of the Skull hangar area.
"You promised we could talk, Roy," Rick said.
"You're right. Let's go to my office so we can talk privately."
Rick followed Roy through the door and took the seat in front of Roy's desk. Roy settles into his own chair and kicks back before talking to Rick.
"So, you need to get out of Hayes' doghouse, do you?"
"I guess you can say that Roy. I feel bad that I took out my anger over Pops on her. I said a couple of uncomplimentary things to her."
"Like what?"
"I called her a 'sourpuss' and a know-it-all. I also said she couldn't possibly know how bad having Pops above me in the chain of command was going to be."
Roy couldn't help chuckling. Drunk or sober, Rick always seemed to run his mouth without thinking. At least he hadn't said anything vulgar to Hayes.
"Well, even I have to admit she's a know-it-all, but that's because she's the best, Rick. And Lt. Hayes can come across as gruff due to her command style, although I'm not sure I would agree with your sourpuss comment."
"The worst was when I found out her Dad was an Admiral. That has to be twenty times worse than Pops being a Colonel."
"It could be, if Lisa wasn't so good at her job."
"So what can I do for her or give to her as an apology, Roy?"
"If I were you, I would take her out to dinner, or least for coffee. I'd say cook her dinner, but it might take the quartermaster up to a week to get everything we've salvaged inventoried. Who knows if they'll even be groceries available for private consumption?"
"Why wouldn't there be food to buy? What happened to the hydroponics bays?"
"Those bays are functioning fine, Rick but I don't know if we had any seed stock loaded on board before all hell broke loose back on Earth. That was only a week and a half ago yet it feels like it happened thirty years ago."
"Okay, Roy, I'll see if I can treat her to dinner at the Officer's Club."
"Glad I could help. And this kind of explains why she wanted to talk to me about you and off the record too. I was wondering what you could have possibly done to get on her bad side. Don't you dare mention that I told you she was asking about you, or I'm going to make you scrub every Valkyrie with a toothbrush before our next patrol! Got it?"
"Yeah, Roy, I get it."
"Captain Gloval's people have pulled off a miracle folks!" the Mayor said. "They've gotten every one of our houses that was on that chunk of island into some of the larger cargo bays of the Macross. We can actually rebuild our city inside the ship!"
"When will we be able to move back in?" asked one of the older citizens.
"From what the Engineering staff has told me, everything should be fully hooked up to utilities and ready for occupancy in less than a week from today. I was also told by the Captain's people that you will all have a chance to go into your houses and gather some fresh clothes tomorrow, once the structures have been stabilized."
"It will be good to get out of these duty uniforms," Minmei said to Amanda. "I'm glad the crew let us borrow some, but it's not the same as your own clothes. Right?"
"Indeed. We are all getting a bit fragrant."
"Hey, Minmei!" Jason said.
"What's wrong Jason?"
"Nothing I was just curious why you kissed the pilot with the black hair when they brought me to you? It was the other one I was flying with."
"Because I knew from the coffee shop that Major Fokker already had a girlfriend, silly," Minmei said with a bubbly tone. "Besides, I thought Ensign Hunter was cuter."
"So when are you going on a date?" Amanda asked.
"I'll have to ask him out next time I see him," Minmei said. "He seems too shy to ask me first."
The three young people had a good laugh at that last statement.
A quick shower and fresh duty uniform later and Roy made the trip to the main mess hall. That was where he agreed to meet up with Lt. Hayes after they were both off their shifts. Roy spotted her already at a table, not a surprise for Miss Punctuality. The tall pilot strode up and spun a chair around, leaning his arms on the backrest when he sat down.
"Okay, Hayes. Why is one of my pilots in your proverbial doghouse?"
"Doghouse? What gave you that idea?"
"After we got back from patrol he was asking me how he could apologize to you. So I ask you again: What did Hunter do to that he needs to apologize to you?"
"Besides breathing? He was a bit rude to me a few days ago, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about tonight, Roy. What happened between Rick and his father to cause him to be so angry with life now that Col. Hunter is back on active duty?"
Roy motioned for a steward to bring him a coffee before he answered Lisa.
"It's a good thing this place has free refills, because that is going to be a long story Hayes."
'That bad?" Lisa asked.
"It's complicated. You see how stubborn Rick can be now, right? Well he was twenty times worse as a teenager. When you get down to it, it all started when Rick was eleven, just before his Mom passed away and before I had left to join the service."
"How did his Mom die?"
"Stage IV ovarian cancer. Not a pleasant way to go."
"No doubt," Lisa said. It looked like she and Rick had another unlikely connection; her mother had also died from ovarian cancer when Lisa was young.
"Anyway, Pops was around for most of his Mom's illness, except he got called away for active duty and a special mission in the Gulf. Rick never knew it, but Pops really was trying to get a leave of absence to be there at the end, but Uncle Sam had other ideas."
"That's so terrible and sad. So that's why Rick hates his father so much?"
"That's only the start, Hayes. It was a big part of what colored Rick's feelings towards Pops but it wasn't the only thing. Rick really started taking a hard attitude against life when I left to join the service myself and Pops still stayed on active duty. Rick's Uncle Lou came to look after him but Lou, bless his heart, didn't know anything about raising boys. All Rick's cousins were girls."
"And it sounds as if that all happened right around when Hunter hit his teens," Lisa said.
"Yup, Now Rick was never a total juvenile delinquent but he never applied himself fully to school either. Lou tried being ** discipline but Rick really needed a softer touch and a little reassurance back then. The harder you told Rick 'No' the more he would want to do the thing you just forbid."
"I think we've both seen that famed Hunter stubborn streak, Roy. It makes me truly wonder why Rick joined the military in the first place, if he hates taking orders so much."
"Can't you guess? Pops forbid Rick from joining. I think he genuinely wanted to protect Rick from the horrors of war, but he went about it the wrong way, especially since Rick
was hoping to follow in Pops' footsteps and be a fighter pilot. He started talking to Rick as if he was a subordinate and practically made it an order. I think Pops would have been more successful if he had sat Rick down and had a man to man chat but I really think Pops didn't know how to relate to Rick as a man. He only remembered Rick being a young boy."
"Well I can see how Rick would have dug in his heels, but I don't see why he would still be holding a grudge against Pops all this time."
"You don't understand Hayes. This wasn't just a shouting match. It turned into a fist fight; a real knock-down-drag-out brawl between the two of them all over the front lawn. Rick tried his best and he even got a few good licks in, but Pops pretty much mopped the floor with him. Rick was fighting to get Pops to stop seeing him as a little kid but Pops was treating Rick like he was already in the service and needed a good butt kicking. I happened to be home on leave then and it would have been a far worse beating if I hadn't come out of the house when I did. I barely got them separated. After that, as soon as he was old enough, Rick left home and joined the UN SPACY so he could still fly but be as far away from Pops as possible. Rick has never spoken to Pops or forgiven him since that day."
"I can't imagine my father doing that to anyone, never mind his own child, although a lot of my more ardent suitors were scared away just by his being a flag officer. My father had a quiet way of expressing disapproval and anger. He never raised his voice but it was obvious when he was angry. And I never, ever saw father strike anyone. He was gone a lot for work though, so I can understand Rick's feelings on that topic."
"Well that's pretty much the whole story of the feud as I know it, Hayes. Is there anything else you wanted to know about Rick?"
"I don't think so, Roy. It explains quite a bit. Thank you."
"Don't mention it. I thought you should know what you were getting in to before you started dating him," Roy said as he rose from his chair. "Catch you later, sourpuss."
Lisa's head snapped up and she was ready with an angry retort when she saw the impish gleam in Roy's eyes and silly grin on his face. Roy was only teasing. She was starting to understand what Claudia saw in this loveable rogue of a pilot and couldn't help smiling.
"See you later, Roy," Lisa said. "Don't forget that Claudia is making her famous pineapple salad tonight."
"Cool! That is my absolute favorite! I better get going."
Lisa sipped her coffee and chuckled as the fighter ace hurried off to Claudia's quarters.
"Ah, Flight Leader Parina, your report on your most recent action was intriguing," Exedore said. "These Micronians are a surprising enemy, to say the least."
"Truly, Vice Admiral. I have never encountered an enemy willing to actually fight to the death. On the vast majority of planets we have conquered, the native inhabitants had all realized their fate eventually. None before had ever fought on in hopeless situations. That is why I thought there was no risk in my wing escort raising her suit visor."
"That was a very nasty trick your captive played. Even Breetai or I might have been fooled by his apparent surrender. It is difficult to determine when a combatant will believe they have nothing left to lose. That is when they are most dangerous."
"I accept full responsibility for my failures, Vice Admiral, and will accept any punishment you deem proper."
"If there were failures, Flight Leader, they belong to me or Breetai. Neither of us could tell from the old reports just how these Micronians would fight. If you still feel you require punishment, then let that punishment be this: prepare your squadron to expect any treachery possible from the inhabitants of this planet. Learn from your mistakes, young Parina, and lead us to final victory."
"It shall be as you command, Exedore!" Saluting, Miriya turns and leaves the Command Pod, wondering how she should begin training her Phantoms.
(1) A lon is approximately equal to one Earth week.