"These rules we lay down to you, the Greatest Warriors of the galaxy are for your own survival. Do not disregard them, do not err from them. If you should, your race is surely doomed." From the Law Books of the Zentraedi written by the Modomilian


Azonia was sitting in her command chair her hands tented under her chin, her eyes thoughtful.

"Lady Azonia," one of the techs called from the communications board, "sensors indicate two small signatures heading for the loading bay of our ship."

Azonia sat up straight in surprise. "What?"

"They're not mecha, my Lady," the tech continued, looking closely at her screen. "They appear to be Zentraedi sized…"

Azonia furrowed her brow, wondering what could possibly be going on out there. Before she had a chance to demand an explanation, though, another tech spoke up.

"We're receiving a message from the Loading Bay…they've identified two Zentraedi, they appear to be male."

"Male? Why are male Zentraedi at our ship, Nala?" Azonia demanded.

Nala frowned, speaking into her console for a moment, then turned to look up at Azonia.

"It's Lord Khyron, my Lady, he is requesting permission to come aboard!"

Azonia heard Yiata gasp and turned to look over at her aide, who was wide-eyed.

"Male Zentraedi aboard our ship?" She spluttered. "My Lady, impossible! The Masters…" she trailed off.

Azonia frowned. She knew the laws as well as her aide did, but she wondered if there was any need to keep them anymore. After all, what sway did the Master have over them now? They were millions of light years away and the Zentraedi would not be leaving the micronian planet any time soon.

No, it's time we made the rules for ourselves, she decided, solemnly.

"Allow them to come aboard," she announced.

There were gasps of shock from Yiata and the techs.

"M-my Lady?" Nala stared up at her as if she had gone insane.

"Lord Khyron and I are now allies," Azonia declared, lifting her chin and daring any of them to continue objecting. "A meeting between us are necessary and why waste Protoculture over the comm. screen when they are only hundreds of feet away."

The techs continue to stare for a moment, but Azonia did not waiver and Nala turned back to her screen to relay her orders.

"Now, Yiata, let us go and meet our new allies," Azonia called to her aide, sweeping her cloak over one shoulder. The idea of being in the same room as a male was foreign and disturbing, but a small part of her was…expectant… wondering what it would be like.

From the look on her face, Azonia could tell Yiata didn't share that feeling, but that was too bad for her, she had been given an order.

Lowering her head, Yiata mumbled. "Yes, My Lady."

With that, Azonia marched from the Bridge towards the Loading Bay.


Lisa heaved a sigh, brushing back her thick fringe of hair and running a hand across her eyes, it had been a long day, over twelve hours, she had actually been willing to work longer, but the Captain had been stern in telling her to get some sleep and she had to agree with him.

Claudia and the Bridge Bunnies had left as soon as their duty time ended, while Lisa had gone to a view port to look out at the rain pouring down, the thunder rolling through the clouds and every so often lightning lighting up the sky.

Dr. Lang was of the opinion that the rain would probably continue for quite a while, which would make the reconstruction of Macross City difficult if not impossible. The citizens hadn't been too happy about it, but they had all been herded back into the SDF-1, but at least they'd be able to sleep in beds this time. Over the next few days, the engineers were going to rearrange things so that even if the gravity failed it wouldn't be any problem, though space would be extremely limited.

As the elevator doors opened on the corridor that lead to the Base and Lisa stepped out she was surprised to see someone waiting in the hall.

Not just anyone…it was Rick!

"There you are," he greeted her, "I was starting to worry!"

She gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the comp-…er that is Roy said you got off duty a half hour ago, I came to see how you're going."

"Oh," Lisa felt a blush rising in her cheeks and ducked her head. "Sorry, I was just…looking out the view port."

"No need to apologise," Rick reassured her. "You are OK, right?"

Fighting back the blush, Lisa looked up and managed a smile. "As well as anyone else on the ship."

"Have you had dinner or anything?" Rick asked.

Lisa was surprised by the question. "Uh…no, I haven't…have you?"

"Nah, the mess is still serving, though," Rick told her, "do you…uh… want to come along?"

For a moment Lisa wanted to laugh, she bet they both looked ridiculous, but she was also touched that Rick had come to see how she was.

"Sure, why not, you're all right company, Hunter," she grinned at him, slyly.

Rick blinked in surprise. "Er…thanks, I think…"

Giving a laugh, and surprising herself at her boldness in doing so, she reached out she took his arm and started towards the mess.


"You haven't interviewed him, I suppose?"

Dr. Hassen shook his head. "He lost a lot of blood when we brought him in, and there was definitely a chance of infection in the eye socket, so we saw to that as soon as possible."

Captain Gloval gave a nod, stroking his moustache thoughtfully. "Hmmm…"

"I have to say I was stunned when he was brought in," Dr. Hassen commented. "Who would have thought anyone would survive at Alaska Base."

"Hmpf," Gloval grunted. "According to Commander Fokker, Edwards admitted to abandoning his post."

Dr. Hassen raised an eyebrow at the Captain's tone. "Have you meet Colonel Edwards before?"

"Indeed I have, he was among the team that first investigated the SDF-1 when it crashed. He was a representive of the military group he was currently with at the time."

"I take it that the Colonel isn't a loyal man?"

"He wouldn't know the meaning of the term, Doctor," Gloval replied, shaking his head.

"Well, he won't really be in any fit shape to answer questions for a couple of days or so," Hassen informed him. "So, we won't be able to hear his story for a while yet."

"No great loss, I'm sure, no doubt it will be self-serving and not bearing much semblance to the truth." Gloval paused for a moment, then changed the subject. "What of our Veritech and Destroid pilots?"

"All have been examined, there were a few serious injuries to a seven Destroid pilots, a number of suspected concussions among a few of the Veritech pilots. None of them are in critical condition, however. The mortality rate of the battle was around forty percent for Veritech pilots and fifty percent for Destroid pilots, extraordinarily low all things considered."

The Captain shook his head. "That won't be much comfort to those who have lost loved ones."

Hassen had to agree.

"And survivors found on Earth?" Gloval moved the conversation on.

"There's not many…those who have survived however, are mostly unhurt. It seems the Zentraedi Bombardment destructive power was limited to two or three metres below the surface. All of those who have survived so far were underground for one reason or another."

"Hmm…"

"As for numbers, two hundred so far."

Gloval shook his head. "Bohze moi," was all he said.

Hassen had to agree, considering the population of the US just a day ago, to have only two hundred survivors…

"Further searches will need to be done," Hassen spoke up with some hope, "there's no telling how many might still be out there, hiding. I have to say if I'd been on Earth when all this happened I wouldn't be walking outside any time soon."

Gloval gave a nod. "We also need to send search parties further out, who knows how many survivors are in the rest of the world. We need to offer food and supplies, or at least help locate food and supply stocks that may have survived the bombardment."

"There are a number of underground military facilities," Hassen agreed, "they probably came through this intact."

Gloval agreed. "I think I'll allow our pilots a few hours rest at least, though."

"They'll definitely need it. And if you don't mind me saying so, you do too, Captain."

Gloval gave a weary smile. "I have to meet with Dr. Lang, but rest assured Doctor, once that's done I'll be getting some well needed rest."


"This place is amazing," Jean's eyes were wide as she took everything in.

Vince had to agree, while it was true that he had been stationed on Macross Island, he had never actually been inside the SDF-1, it had basically been off-limits for anyone not above the rank of Lieutenant.

Jean, of course, had never actually seen the ship.

Then there was the fact it had transformed since he'd seen it, it was humanoid in its shape now, which was rather unsettling.

It had been some hours until a shuttle had arrived to pick Jean and him up and aside from the two pilots there had been only fifty others aboard. The only survivors found in the Deep South…at least for now.

It had been a short flight to where the SDF-1 was located, but on the way Vince and Jean had heard various stories from the fifty about how they had survived. All of them had been underground, mostly in parking stations at the time of bombardment.

"If that's the only way to survive this then no wonder there's not many who got through," Jean had said quietly. "The water table's so high there's hardly any underground complexes."

Vince felt cold just thinking about it…

On the SDF-1, however, all that seemed part of another world, another life, especially as they and the fifty others were led from the landing hanger into the main hold of the ship.

Craning his neck, Vince looked up…and up…and up, the top of the Battle fortress almost a mile above couldn't be seen. And what looked to be a city took up most of the hold, but the buildings were arranged in crazy angles.

"The artificial gravity in this place must be something," Vince muttered.

One of the pilots heard him and looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, this is Battle Configuration, they usually keep the SDF-1 in Cruiser mode, if they can though, it's easier in the city that way," he explained. "Not that that's gonna happen again."

Vince gave a small nod, assuming Cruiser mode was the way the SDF-1 had looked when it first crashed to Earth. He looked around again wondering what it would have been like to have been aboard the fortress, to have known the truth about the aliens – the Zentraedi.

But mostly he was wondering when he'd finally see his sister again, until he did he couldn't quite accept she was alive.

Eventually they arrived at a shelter, which was milling with people, all working together in setting up beds.

"You'll be here until the rain lets up outside," the pilot informed them. "There's enough food and bedding to go around, just jump right in."

The fifty, moving with the sluggishness of shell-shock walked through the doors, Vince and Jean hung back.

"Excuse me," Vince called as the two pilots prepared to leave.

"I'm Sergeant Vince Grant, my sister is part of the Bridge Crew," he began.

"Oh hey, yeah, that's right," the pilot snapped his fingers, as if he now remembered something. "I've been told to take you to see your sister. Sorry about that, slipped my mind."

Vince shrugged. "No biggie."

"And you ma'am?" The pilot turned a questioning look to Jean.

"I'm…uh…" Jean seemed uncertain.

"This is my fiancée Jean," Vince said, putting an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

"Right," the pilot nodded, he turned and spoke to the second pilot for a second. "Let's get going."

It was quite a walk, and despite his good sense of direction Vince had no idea where he was, he got the feeling that there the artificial gravity on the ship was still functioning and they were probably walking on the 'walls'. He decided not to think too much about it.

Finally, they arrived at a set of large double doors with the RDF Insignia on it.

They slid open and not far beyond Vince saw her, Claudia, his sister, looking the same as ever.

She was not looking his way, but as if sensing he was there, she turned and her eyes widened. "Vince!"

She rushed over and wrapped him up in a big hug. "Vince! I can't believe it! You're alive! You're really here!"

"So are you," Vince replied, tears stinging his eyes as he returned the hug.

Stepping back Claudia looked up at him. "You really thought we had all died?"

"That's what the Government told us," Vince confirmed, anger bubbling up at the memory. He let go of Claudia and clenched his fists. "The sons of bitches! How could they cover up such a big thing? Can you imagine all those people who went to their deaths thinking that at least they were going to join their loved ones?"

Claudia shook her head. "It's pretty disgusting."

It was only then that Vince realised there was someone else in the room.

"Fokker, you still trailing around after my sister?" He called to the man with a sly grin.

Fokker came over and put his arm around Claudia's shoulders. "Hey, there, I'd watch it if I was you, Grant. You're talking to your new brother-in-law."

Vince's eyes widened and he was pretty sure his jaw dropped. "What?!"

"Don't look so shocked," Claudia told him with a laugh.

"Yeah, we would have waited, but once I brought it up there was just no stopping her," Fokker drawled.

"Hmpf!" Claudia rolled her eyes and made a show of elbowing Fokker in the ribs. "As you can see, Vince, he's just as modest as ever."

Vince smiled, but then gave Fokker a serious look. "You better be treating her well, if you break her heart, I'll have to break your legs."

Claudia looked stunned, but Fokker just scratched the back of his head. "Haven't we had this conversation before?"

"Yeah," Vince grinned, "I just thought I should remind you."

"Vince, I can take care of myself you know," Claudia chided, hands on hips. "I don't need you to go around threatening my boyfriends."

"It's a brother thing," Vince shrugged, then he looked over his shoulder wondering where Jean was. He caught sight of her lingering by the open doors and smiled. Always trying not to intrude. "Give me a sec," he excused himself and went over to her and took her hand, pulling her into the room.

"Jean," Claudia greeted her warmly. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Same here," Jean returned, "Vince never did give up hope."

"He's a good brother."

"Actually, sis, you're not the only one who's had a change in status…Jean is now my fiancée."

Claudia's eyes widened. "Fiancée? Congratulations!" She gave him another hug and then bestowed one on Jean. "I know you'll make my brother very happy."

"And if she doesn't, you'll kick her ass?" Fokker asked, with a wink.

Claudia gave him a look.

"What?" Fokker made a show of looking innocent.

Shaking her head, Claudia took Vince's arm and Jean's arm. "You two must be starving, let's go to mess and catch up on things, hmm?"

"Don't let the name put you off," Fokker told Jean reassuringly. "The food's only in slight disarray. Better then you'll get at a hospital at any rate."


Sammie, Vanessa and Kim were rather tired, but the three had decided to seek out Rico, Konda and Bron, to make sure they were all right after everything that had happened.

It had taken a bit of work, but Vanessa had found out which shelter they'd been assigned too. With that information in hand, the Bridge Bunnies had headed through a labyrinth of corridors to their destination.

The large hall, though, was extremely full and it took a good five minutes of looking until Sammie spotted Rico's pale skin and unruly hair. "Rico!" Sammie called, waving her arm.

She was rewarded when he turned her way and then tapped Bron and Konda on their shoulders and the three spies hurried to greet them.

"Kim," Konda smiled.

"Hey you," Kim returned the smile and took his arm.

"Vanessa!" Bron surprised them all by taking her hands in his.

"It's so good to see you," Vanessa told him, her cheeks slightly red.

Rico went so far as to kiss her on the cheek. "Sammie! How'd you find us?"

"We have our ways, don't we girls?" Sammie drawled, winking at Vanessa and Kim, who nodded in agreement.

"How have you three been?" Vanessa asked. "There hasn't been any…" she paused for a moment, looking about the crowded hall, "trouble?"

"Nope," Rico shook his head.

"It's pretty amazing actually," Konda agreed, "we thought as Zentraedi we were sure to get in trouble, but nobody's said anything."

"Why should they?" Kim demanded, then frowned. "You and the rest of the defectors don't fight against us anymore."

"Yeah, but we used to," Bron pointed out, "and it's really terrible out there. I can't believe our own race did that to your planet." He shook his head.

"I wouldn't blame 'em if they did want to take it out on us," Rico frowned.

"We'll rebuild," Sammie assured them, optimistically, she squeezed Rico's arm. "You'll see."

"But wasn't your planet filled with plants and animals?' Rico pressed the subject. "There's nothing out there anymore, how can you fix all that?"

Sammie turned to her friends, not knowing what to say. All that was true, but she certainly didn't want to make the three dear men feel any worse. It's not their fault anyway.

She decided to change the subject instead. "Hey, I bet you guys are hungry?"

"Hmmm," the three ex-spies turned to each other. "Sure am!" They said in unison.

"Let's go to the mess then," Sammie suggested.

"Yeah!" Kim and Vanessa agreed, each reaching out to take the arm of Konda and Bron respectively.

With that three couples headed out of the hall and towards the mess.


Dr. Lang looked up from his calculations to see Captain Gloval, who entered the room, suppressing a yawn.

"Captain," Lang saluted. "If you don't mind me saying, sir, you look dead on your feet."

Gloval gave a small chuckle. "If I had it my way I'd be in my quarters all ready, but a captain's work is never really done, especially not now."

"Hmmm," Lang had to agree. "Vhat duty calls you to me, sir?"

"I need your opinion of the likelihood that rebuilding Macross City outside around the ship will be successful. I imagine that climate patterns have completely changed after the bombardment. Right now it is raining so heavily out there this crater will probably fill with water before it ends. How are we to know that a nuclear winter isn't around the corner?"

Lang rubbed his chin thoughtfully, the Captain brought up a good point. He had been working on some models on the likely weather patterns of Earth, but other things were also demanding his attention, so he hadn't got too far with that.

"Ve have landed rather high up, zat is for sure…had ve landed the SDF-1 closer to the equator…" he trailed off. "But zere is no use complaining about it now. It is true zat zere is a high likelihood ve haff a rough winter in store for us. However, a nuclear winter scenario is only possible vhen there is smoke or soot in ze atmosphere blocking out ze sun. The Zentraedi weaponry did not destroy ze Earth with thermal energy, ze energy given off by Protoculture derived veapons resembles beta radiation."

Gloval blinked a few times and Lang wondered if perhaps in his state it had all gone over the Captain's head.

"Simply put, ze surface structures of earth vere vaporised to ze point vere only hydrogen particles remain. That is vhy it is safe to leave ze SDF-1. The effects it vill have on weather patterns are of course harder to determine, but I don't believe vill be in any great danger of an ice age."

Gloval looked relieved, and ran his hand across his eyes. "Thank heavens for small favours, I suppose?"

"Indeed," Lang nodded in agreement. "The rain vill probably last quite a vhile, but perhaps not. Either way, we know that ze SDF-1 vill float in any case if this crater does fill up."

Gloval nodded again, before suppressing another yawn. "Well... thank you for your report, Doctor. But now if you'll excuse me…"

The two saluted one another and with that the Captain left.

Lang turned back to his computer, thoughtful. In the short time since the last battle, there had not been a lot of time for his main research – the Masters and their connection to the SDF-1.

He had wanted to meet with Advisor Exedore, but there hadn't been any time for that sort of thing in the aftermath. With the rain though, there wasn't much that could be done on the relocation and rebuilding of Macross City and with all but a skeleton crew off duty there wasn't any pressing need to build survival models.

Rolling his chair over to a phone near his computer, Lang picked up the receiver and dialled.

"I vould like to be connected through to Advisor Exedore," he spoke to the operator who picked up. "He's in zee Ambassador Quarters, I believe."

"You mean the alien, right?" The operator asked, brusquely.

Lang suppressed a sigh of annoyance. "Yes, Advisor Exedore," he repeated.

"Just a sec…"

It took a lot longer than that, Lang tapped his fingers impatiently, finally the operator returned.

"Patching you through now, Doc."

"Err…greetings?" Advisor Exedore's tentative voice came over the line.

Lang smiled. "I take it Zentraedi's don't use phones as ve do?"

"Dr. Lang," the advisor replied, sounding surprised, "an intriguing device, you're free to call anyone, regardless of rank."

"Indeed, although it's not a given zey vill respond." Lang remarked with a laugh.

"I see…" Advisor Exedore sounded somewhat bemused.

Lang decided to leave the explanations for a face to face conversation. "Ze reason for my call, Advisor, is I'm hoping to be able to discuss ze Masters and ze nature of Protoculture vith you further. I believe such information is imperative to both our races future survival."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Hmmm…I agree… however, I'm not sure what information I can offer you. The Masters were not ones to divulge much information to us, I have told you basically all I know."

For a moment, Lang's hopes were dashed, but almost immediately he came up with another idea.

"Perhaps zat is so, but zere are many things aboard zis ship I was never able to discover…perhaps with your help, Advisor?"

There was excitement in the Advisor's voice as he responded. "Yes, very good idea, Dr. Lang. We may not have been able to find the Protoculture Matrix, but who's to say there aren't other secrets aboard this vessel? One's that may almost be as important."

"If you are not too tired then, Advisor, perhaps you vould like to come to ze Science Centre and we can begin our search."

"Indeed, Doctor, give me a few…er…that is half an hour." Advisor Exedore tripped over his words.

"Certainly, I shall send details of how to get to ze Science Centre to your room, I vouldn't vant you to get lost in ze labyrinth of corridors."

There was a moment's pause on the other end of the line. "Perhaps getting lost in the fortress would not be such a bad idea, Doctor," the Advisor replied.

Lang thought about it for a second…

"You raise a good point, Advisor…I shall meet you at your quarters zen and ve can begin exploring ze SDF-1."

Hanging up the phone, Lang got to his feet, grabbed his pocket PC and headed out the door.