A/N: Final chapter. Ending notes for Alight at the end. Please read um and drop a review. Thanks as always guys!

Epilogue

Unleashed

The two tone blare from the alert sirens woke her. Snorting, she glared at the infernal alarm before blinking her frustrations away and jumped from her bed, rushing to her wall locker and through the steel door open and yanking out the emerald green trimmed flight suit. Cursing softly, the young woman struggled to get the damned thing on and zipped it in a flash and hurrying out the door, her hands rapidly pulling back her long think sheets of dark blonde, almost brown, hair back and into a quick bun as pilots and crews rushed from their own rooms to muster for the alert that was flashing around them. She heard the approaching thud of combat boots and spared a glance as her life long friends were sprining toward her.

"Queen! Any idea what this is about?" The blonde huffed as they pulled even with the blue eyed woman. Queen gave a shake of her head.

"No idea Ice. Best guess, Invid had some reinforcements lurking around and they decided to stop by and say hi." Queen joked, though it was a very real possibility. The third young woman, her dark red hair cut close let her own light green eyes flash as a dark look crossed her delicate face.

"I hope not."

Queen gave a grim nod of agreement as the three entered the main hanger bay and headed toward their Alpha's. Ice Blonde gave a short wave before she continued on, heading for the Hovertanks firing to life along the opposite side of the bay. Queen gave an amused shake of her head as she hoped up the ladder to her dark green Alpha Fighter. "Still surprised she refuses to join the airwing."

The comm display kicked on to show the grinning face of Bowie Grant, call sign Shaker. "You know the ground is where the real fighting happens Queen."

Queen gave him an annoyed scowl as once more, the friendly rivalry between fighter jock and ground pounder came to life. The panel clicked to show Shaker and Ice Blonde grinning. "Shaker gets it Queen!"

"Just remember that when you need me to provide CAS for you Sterling." She joked back as her crew chief hurried up the ladder and checked on her. The young man gave a tight nod.

"Good hunting ma'am!"

Queen gave a thumbs up and her canopy sealed as the green fighter's engines rumbled to life, her start up complete as the display came back with green across the board. The ladder was pulled clear and she fed some power to her engines. The mighty Alpha slowly rolled forward as the hovertanks hurried from the bay. She took a calming breath as her fighter came to the correct runway. "Tower, Queen. Ready on the line and requesting permission to take off."

"Queen, Tower. You are cleared to launch. Good hunting!"

She smiled at the familiar voice before her face became serious, a professional mask slipping onto her delicate features she'd been told she'd gotten from her mother. Her Uncle once joked he was thankfully she had her mother's beauty of his brothers ugly mug. The engines roared as the Alpha seemed to leap forward as it always did and very soon, she was skyward and rapidly climbing to Earth Orbit. She really hoped it wasn't the Invid coming back for round two. It had taken damn near everything they had to kick them off the planet once and they only managed to get Earth back because the Invid left as they had launched the Neutron-S warheads. She felt her hope hope that maybe Captain Grant had found them. Her family had been left behind when he had been forced to retreat with a warning that had been too late, though the Invid seemed to have done them a favor and prevented the warheads from fully being used.

"All fighters form on my wing." She ordered in a cool voice.

The panel flashed on again and the face of Maia Sterling snapped on, her bright pink hair standing out clearly even with the flight helmet on. "Good to see you Queen. You and your pilots ready?"

"Affirmative Skull Leader." Queen replied, her blue eyes flashing with determination. "Ready to send any Invid packing."

"Good to hear ma'am." Maia smirked. "Should be intersting to fly off your wing. Dad always said no one was crazier in the air than a Hunter."

Captain Kaylee Hunter grinned in a way that normally had her Grandfather Henry reaching for the aspirin bottle. "And don't you forget it Sterling!"

Maia smirked and the panel cut off as the Alphas formed into a loose formation, ready to break should it be an Invid ship approaching. They loved to swarm their fighters around a target and the RDF and by extension, the REF had opted for a more openly spaced fighter formations to counter the tactic. Kaylee's com panel kicked on and the thoughtful face of Ashley appeared. "Why would the Invid come back? They already sapped us of Protoculture six months ago."

"Maybe they want to finish what they started Bubbles." Kaylee commented darkly. "You know how bad they were kicking our collective asses."

"Maybe Captain Grant found the SDF-3." Ashley offered. "He did head out after the Invid left to find them."

Kaylee sighed, and while hopeful knew it shouldn't have taken six months to return home. "Unless they had some kind of massive navigational error, it shouldn't have taken six months. Granted, we have no idea what kind of effects the Neutron-S created black hole could have, but the Arkangel did fold away from the area."

She'd never said it, but she was angry at Vince for leaving her family stranded over a black hole. She kept it in check though, as she knew logically, he had no choice at the time. Looking back, she knew he had time to retry his assisted fold jump. But at the time, no one could have predicted the Invid would actually save them from their own weapons. And knowing her father, Admiral Hunter would have made sure to stress the need for Vince to get back to Earth with the warning rather than waste time trying to save them. She was broken from her revere as space began to warp before them and readied herself. "All fighters, stand by. Do not engage until we have a clear target."

Kaylee spotted the foldsphere forming before them and watched in awe as the very fabric of space seemed to bubble and twist as the form of two familiar ships began to take shape inside the sphere. Her breath caught in her chest as her eyes went wide. Her heart seemed to be trying to beat its way out of her chest in a painful rhythm With an almost profound flash of light, the sphere vanished and sitting in space was the ArkAngel, Captain Grant's ship. But her eyes weren't looking to the rather graceful looking ship. Instead her eyes were locked on the mighty vessel that began to move from it's place under her, the massive form of a ship she hadn't seen in near twenty-five years drifted before her.

"They're home." She breathed, tears stinging her eyes. "They're finally home."

She watched, joyfully, as the massive fortress made it's way to settle into low Earth orbit. Her eyes took in every detail of the hull that she could make out and almost missed the beeping of the communications system at her. She pressed the required button and the grinning face of Vince Grant appeared. "Captain Hunter. I found something you might like."

She smiled at Vince's joke, his deep voice tinged with humor as she wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Captain Grant. It's just what I've always wanted."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Kaylee was literally a blur after her Alpha touched down on hanger deck of the SDF-3, a ship that had been gone for a very long time. She growled, impatient as the canopy raised, annoyed that it seemed to be moving slower than usual. Once it did, she leapt clear from her fighter, the ground crews eyeing her in amusement as they knew just who it was now sprinting across the flight deck towards the three people at the main entrance. The Crew Chief shrugged and went about his duty to tie the bird down until it was ready to depart again. Kaylee didn't see anyone but the three people at the hanger entrance, the tall man smiling brightly at her as the woman beside him took off towards the incoming young Captain. Kaylee smiled through her tears as the woman opened her arms, emerald ords swimming in emotions as Kaylee reached her. Both women embraced each other, sobbing as the two men, one looking like a young version of the gray haired man beside him. The older woman held her tightly, whispering she was sorry they had to leave her on Earth.

"Mom." Kaylee choked out, her own tears running down her cheeks. "It's okay. I understood then and I still do. "

"I know." Lisa said, her voice thick with regret, pride, and happiness as she held her eldest tightly. "I know you do. We wanted you to be safe."

"Yeah, but we left her in Roy's care so that may have been a questionable choice for safety." Rick Hunter pointed out with a grin as his blue eyes landed on his daughter, his own eyes stinging with hot tears as he opened his arms. "You been good for your Uncle there Sparky?"

Kaylee gave a teary laugh and launched herself at her father, not caring that she was a twenty-eight year old woman behaving like a ten year old. Anyone laughed, she'd deal with them. She grinned up at her father, her grin so similar to his. "Of course Dad! The perfect angel."

Rick snorted.

"Yeah, I'll buy that." He remarked with sarcasm. "Your mother likes to point out how you act like I did. I heard all about your stunts while we were away Kaylee."

Letting out a giddy laugh, Kaylee turned her attention to the nine year old standing next to them, looking at her with curious eyes that were the same shade of green as their mothers. The little boy watched as the young woman knelled in front of him, a bright smile on her face. "So you're my little brother huh?"

The boy nodded and looked at her shyly.

"I'm Mitch. It nice to meet you big sister."

He squeaked with Kaylee pulled him into a tight hug and gave a nervous laugh as the young woman pulled away before she ruffled his hair. The boy frowned and his hands went up to try to tame the mess of hair he called his much to the adults amusement. Kaylee wore a wide smile as she rose back to her feet, fighting to keep her ragging emotions in check as Rick chuckled and looked at his children while Lisa seemed to melt into his side, her own emotions all over the place. Kaylee was the first to speak. "So...does this mean you are back for good?"

Rick heard her hopeful tone and nodded, his heart stabbed with regret at having split his family years ago. Now, he had a chance to make up for lost time. A chance to make things right. They'd say in the history books that this mission was a success with acceptable loss. To Rick Hunter, he'd never say the loss they had suffered had been acceptable. The Military Commander reminded him it was a necessary sacrifice. But the father in him knew it was the worst ever asked of him. But now he could fix his mistake. Lisa, sensing what was going through his mind ran her thumb over the back of his hand. "We did what we had to."

"You did." Kaylee stated, watching the flashes in her father's eyes. "You did what was right Dad. I never hated you for it. You taught me that family is important. And you did what you need to to keep that family safe."

Rick's eyes softened as his daughter took a breath and returned the dazzling one she gave him before she hugged him once more, tears finally falling from Rick's eyes. "I am so very proud to be your daughter. And that will never change."

End of Book One

Well, here we are guys. This is the final chapter to Mars Alight. Now, this epilogue takes place six months after The Shadow Chronicles. However, the sequel will take place one year prior to the SDF-3's launch and show the Crystal War that was covered in one comic book. That should be fun to write. It will continue onto the Masters Arc and to the Invid arrivial. That one will be possibly as long as Alight is which at over 215K words, I have some work ahead of me! The working title for it is RoboTech Unleashed. Not sure if I'll keep that title. Hmmm...the third and final one will deal with part of the SDF-3's mission and her meeting the Haydonites, the truly greatest threat to humanity and the Sentinel Races. That book with cross the gap between RoboTech: Sentinels and up to the ending of the Shadow Chronicles. I'm considering one for the inevitable counter attack on the haydonites and the war that would follow that one will be truly the toughest to write as I'm not aware of much material out there on the Haydonites or as the Invid call them...The Children of the Shadows. It'll be awhile before I post the next one thought guys! Oh boy, each should be around 200K words or more so that will be fun. Now, onto my shout outs!

andrewjameswilliams: When you first dropped a review, I was stunned! It was your fine work on Second Chances that brought me to post my little (well, maybe not little) RoboTech AU on here. I'm pleased you have enjoyed this story as much as you have and I am really looking forward to your next chapter, and I understand about the muse thing. It happens to all of us! As I said, you gave the push for me to post this and I'm very proud of what I have done with it. Thank you for reading and I hope you'll enjoy the sequel, when I write it! You actually posted the first review for this tale so you've been with us since the start!

jag389: Just like with andrew, you've been with this tale since it's early days. You've been a loyal reader and I am glad you've enjoyed what I have written. I think you'll enjoy the sequels I have in mind for our favorite power couple and such so just keep checking for it! Maybe sometime around next month I post the sequel, just need to get my lore straight is all!

Giulio the Roman: Ah...what can I say but thank you for following through to the end my friend! You're reviews are always a riot! Still waiting on Lisa to show up at my house lol! You promised man! Anyway, you've been a very loyal reader and I am glad you've stuck with us to the end...of the beginning! As I said, I have a sequel in mind, but need time to get it up and running. Just keep your eyes out!

CaptMacca: Not sure what happened to ya buddy! Hope you've managed to keep up and get the rest read. And I hope all is well.

Fer82: A man who needs to introduction! First off, thank you for all your reviews. Second, thanks for the lore fix! You know what I am talking about. Anyway, Loved your review to the big fight finish! I hadn't even thought of that M.K. reference lol. When I wrote it, I had been watching DooM (yeah love the game, tolerate the movie, barely) and kinda just rolled with it from there. Besides, you gotta admit that Rick melting Khyron's head from his body was pretty cool! And believable. Don't worry, that'll play into the next book! Looking forward to your review on it once I have it up and ready!

sscaldwe: Thank you very much for following me on this journey! I'm not going to lie, your review on Chapter 24 made me laugh and yeah, I was giving props to Mad Dog. I'm a jarhead and I highly approve of him as SecDef. And yeah, I pulled the Joker line. I've always loved that line and too be honest, I'm still not sure why it popped into my head to use. Guess I was channeling my Inner Rick! Anyway, thanks and keep your eyes wide for the sequel. I'm sure most of you will freak when you read it! In the good way lol!

Cjusa1234: To answer your question, yes. Yes I will be. I took like the idea of a Mecha with big guns clamping down on a hull and going knock knock as it fires it's guns into the enemy ship from point blank range! It makes me cackle evilly! And yes that will indeed come into play! I need to so some research including watching the ASC arc, but expect a few more battles and such. Glad you've liked the tale so far.

JayDog75: You my friend are very much welcome! This story, despite it's size, took me just shy of three months to write. Posted Dec 8, 2016 and have ended the first arc today, Feb 5, 2017 at 1630 EST from my little home in Dayton Ohio. Really enjoyed your reviews and glade I could inspire chapter 19. I'm curious how it will turn out with how Khyron has decided to put a bullseye on his head. Anyway, glad you liked the tale and all the fight scenes, escpecially the final battle. Don't think I've ever seen a battle that lived up to and blew away all expectations and hype. But glad I could do it! I've a fairly decent battle writer. Anyway, same as the others, keep an eye out for the sequel. May have you look over um as a beta reader maybe. And sscaldwe is itching for a full colab but don't know yet. Would need a story line anyway. And I'm working on a script for the Abirdged thing we were talking about the other day.

Just a Crazy-Man: Well, your reviews are always straight to the point. Thank you for following along and I'm considering the information you sent me, so give me some time to think about it lol. As for An SDF-1 the size of manhatton...eh, that's a little too big lol! Anway, keep a look out for the next arc!

Alright guys, been a fun and wild ride. But as with all good things...Mars Alight is now officially complete! Pop over to the oneshot folder for a few new tales and I plan to put up a small oneshot, the second draft idea for this epilogue. May even have a good full fledge one that shows the darker side of Rick when some one royally pisses him off...well, on par with how he killed Khyron but without Skull One! Hope you enjoyed Alight. See you out there!

~theGhostflyer~