The 71st Long Distance Colony Fleet. The Macross Horizon. Aboard the main 16km long Island ship, the 8 other Island ships in this fleet and the vast number of military and auxiliary vessels live 10 million Humans and Zentradi as well as millions of plants and animals on course to settle a new planet which they will call home. Over the years since their launch in 2046, these 10 million souls had managed to settle in the ships themselves as a new normal set in during their 19 year voyage.
However, today, something not so normal is occurring...
"Attention all personnel, standby for Fold in." A voice rang through the Loudspeakers as the armoured covers of each of the island ships closed, including the massive shell-like cover of the main Island Ship, the Island Everest.
"Sir, Ma'am, all ships report ready for Fold." Said one of the officers in the Macross Horizon's main command Center to Lucan and the President of the Horizon's local government, Linda Sarmiento.
Lucan looked at Linda who gave him an approving nod, to which Lucan responded with a grunt.
"Macross Horizon, Fold in!" He ordered.
"Macross Horizon, Fold in!" Repeated one of his officers as the entire fleet began the process of Folding, the process through which every civilisation across the Galaxy performed Faster Than Light Travel.
It was only when they finally entered the Fold that Lucan felt something… odd. Something wasn't right. Before he could voice this to anyone, everything went to black.
Lucan opened his eyes and found himself waking up at the same time as everyone else.
"What happened?" The President asked.
"Status report." Requested Lucan to his now conscious officers.
"Long range sensors are down but close range ones are functional. Power is at 100% functionality." Reported one.
"Status of the Fleet?"
"All ships accounted for." Said another.
"Good." Lucan said. "Do we know where we are?"
"Negative, sir." Said another Officer. "The Navigation Computer can't pinpoint our location. In fact, it can't pinpoint any familiar interstellar bodies anywhere though sensors indicate we are near a dense asteroid belt."
"What? That's impossible." Said President Sarmiento. "Even if we couldn't identify where we were, we should be able to identify where Earth and the other Colonies are."
"That's the thing, ma'am. The Navigation Computer can't find Earth or the other Colonies."
Meanwhile, Lucan sat in his command chair, his hands clenched together close to his face as he thought of their next move.
"Launch the Alert Fighters and recon the surrounding Star System." He ordered. "If we can't find out where we are, we should at least figure out what's around us."
"Yes, sir!" Said the Comms officers as the orders were relayed to not only the Hangars of the Main Ship but also the escorting Guantanamo and Uraga-class Carriers.
Aboard one of the Carriers, a young man sat eagerly in the cockpit of his VF-171 Nightmare Plus Variable Fighter, his hands already at the controls.
"Adler 2, standby for launch." Said a voice in his Comms as the craft was raised out of the ship and onto the waiting launch deck. The deck lit up as the young man readied to go full throttle.
"Adler 2, clear for launch." Said the voice again.
"Adler 2, Launching!" The young man said as he pushed hard on the throttle, the craft speeding down the deck at near max speed.
He then slowed down and began circling the carrier as another craft of similar model formed up with him.
"Sergeant Iwamoto, I see you're with me on this mission." Said a voice in his comms.
"Aw C'mon, Aunt Elsa. I thought I was your 'favourite Godchild'."
"That's Major Richthofen to you, Tsubasa."
"Yes, ma'am." Tsubasa responded with a chuckle.
"Alright, let's get this over with." Said Elsa as the two of them formed up with a Recon plane and began speeding to one of the Planets located deeper within the system.
Meanwhile, on a base hidden beneath a frozen world, The leaders of the Alliance to Restore the Republic gather in the base's command Center as they detect several unknown craft approaching the planet as well as the other celestial bodies within the system from the asteroid belt.
"Is it the Empire?" Inquired one of the commanders.
"Unable to verify, sir, though their signatures do not match any known Imperial craft." Said one of the Sensor operators.
"I suggest we take them down before they find this base." Said Captain Dumkof, the commander of Echo Base's squadrons to Leia, the overall leader of the Base.
"No." She said to him. "For now, we'll observe them."
"I hope you know what you're doing." He said to her in reply.
A little while later, the 3 Variable Fighters entered the planet's atmosphere.
"I'm picking up some sort of structure on the surface." Said the pilot of the Recon plane, designated Shikaku 1. His craft differed from Elsa and Tsubasa's by the large spinning dish mounted on top and the large antenna mounted on the bottom.
"Copy that. We'll fly over the area and check it out." Said Elsa as she and Tsubasa broke away from the Recon plane and quickly moved to check out the location.
"That definitely doesn't look natural." Said Tsubasa as they flew over the structure: a weird spherical object that had what looked like a spire sticking out of it.
"I don't think it's inhabited though." Elsa chimed in. "I doubt anyone would be willing to live on this planet."
"Then why build it in the first place?" Asked Tsubasa as he went back to looking at the various displays within his cockpit.
Suddenly, two blips appeared on their sensor screens.
"Um… Adler 1, I have two blips coming from the surface and coming up us fast." Said Tsubasa.
Meanwhile, a pair of T-47 Airspeeders launched from the Northern entrance of Echo Base and quickly moved to intercept the unknown crafts.
"Echo Station, this is Rogue 3, we're closing in for intercept." Said the pilot of one of the Airspeeders.
"Who gave those two orders to launch?" Said Leia. "I specifically said to stay put and observe."
"Alright, let's bug out of here." Said Elsa as the unknown craft rapidly climbed to the altitude of the Valkyries. She began pushing down on her throttle to speed up and try to outrun the unknowns.
"Negative, Major." Said Tsubasa. "I Wanna have some fun with these guys." He then did the opposite of what Elsa was doing and banked to the right before diving towards the mountains below.
"What the- Jesus Christ."
Elsa, while angry and disappointed in Tsubasa now, knew she couldn't just leave him and thus followed him as they dove for the deck.
"Echo Station, the unknowns just dived. We're in pursuit."
The T-47s quickly followed them, beginning a chase that would quickly see both pairs weaving in between the mountains surrounding the base, with Elsa and Tsubasa being chased by one T-47 each.
Tsubasa found himself banking left and banking right as he constantly checked to see if his opponent was still following him.
The T-47, of course, was hot on his tail and, although with some difficulty, was almost matching him move for move.
"Damn, this guy is good." Tsubasa said as he rose over the mountain peak before diving down again to hug the ground.
"Alright, time to pull out the stops."
With that, Tsubasa pulled hard on the controls as he quickly transitioned his Valkyrie to GERWALK mode. Legs and arms sprouted from the craft with its engines attached to its new feet.
He pointed the engines forward, allowing him to arrest his momentum as the T-47 passed by his left side.
Time seemingly slowed as Tsubasa looked at his opponent, a shocked look appearing on their face as they unintentionally overtook him.
As fast as he transitioned into GERWALK mode, Tsubasa transitioned the craft again back into conventional fighter mode.
In the blink of an eye, the hunter became the hunted.
Now it was the T-47's turn to buck and weave as the VF-171 Nightmare Plus matched it move for move.
"Rogue 4 is defensive." Said the T-47's pilot into his comms. His voice filled the command Center of Echo Base.
"This is Rogue 3. I have no clue how but the thing grew legs and managed to get behind me."
There was a mixture of shock and a growing panic in their voices as the sensor operators tracked the T-47s and their former prey as they danced across the frigid skies of Hoth.
Meanwhile, aboard the Horizon, Lucan was getting the reports from their recon flights in his office.
"No word yet from the flight sent to the ice planet?" Inquired Lucan after his aide finished his report of the other recon flights.
"None yet, sir." Said his aide as the admiral's phone rang. He picked it up to answer it.
"This is the Admiral. What? Tell them to disengage and return to the fleet, I'm on my way."
With that, he put down the phone and hurriedly got up.
"What is it, sir?" Asked his aide.
"We just got word from the flight we sent to the Frozen planet."
Meanwhile, the ballet between Variable Fighters and Snowspeeders continued as both Tsubasa and Elsa were pretty much toying with the two unknowns.
"Adler 1 and 2, we have been ordered to disengage and return to the Horizon." Said the pilot of Shikaku 1 to both Elsa and Tsubasa.
"Alright, fun's over. Let's get out of here." Said Elsa as she pointed her craft in the direction of Shikaku 1 and went at full atmospheric speed, leaving her opponent in the dust as a sonic boom filled the valley.
Tsubasa reluctantly did the same and disengaged from his pursuit.
"Both craft are speeding away from the base." Reported the sensor operator.
"Tell Rogue 3 and Rogue 4 to pursue." Ordered Captain Dumkof.
"Sir, at the speed they're going, Rogue 3 and Rogue 4 can't catch up to them. If the analysis is correct, those unknowns are speeding away at 3 times the speed of sound."
Echo Base's senior personnel gave a collective look of shock. 3 Times the speed of sound in atmosphere means they can easily outrun even the A-wing in speed.
"Scramble a pair of X-wings to shadow them." Ordered General Dumkof. "They're likely going to leave the planet. Once that happens, we may have a chance to destroy them."
Meanwhile, Tsubasa and Elsa linked up with Shinkaku 1 and had already set a course for the Horizon.
A few minutes later, however, a pair of X-wings left the planet's atmosphere.
"Renegade 2, do you have them on your sensors?" Said the pilot of the lead craft.
"Yep. They're right on the edge though. We'll have to hurry if we want to catch them."
"Alright, maximum speed."
With that, the two X-wings blasted off to catch up to the unknowns.
It wasn't long, however, until both they and their prey reached the asteroid belt, with the unknowns entering the belt with seemingly almost no hesitation.
The two X-wings, devoted to their mission, pursued them through the belt.
While it was undoubtedly difficult to maneuver through the belt, the Rebel pilots, hardened by years of combat against their Imperial counterparts, did so with precision.
"This is Renegade 2, I made it through the belt." Said the X-wing pilot as he exited the Asteroid belt.
"This is Renegade 1, I made it through too." Said the other as another X-wing formed up on his left side.
Looking ahead, the two pilots eyes then widened, their jaws almost dropping to the floors of their respective fighters.
Before them was a large fleet with a large number of both Frigate and Cruiser sized vessels, with the centre of it all being what appeared to them as a massive tear drop shaped ship with a section opened up like a clam, revealing a massive transparent dome with what appeared to be a city within the dome itself. Connected to this ship were several smaller cylindrical ships, their designs similar to the massive one with a transparent top revealing an entire ecosystem existing within them.
"Hey, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Yup."
Meanwhile, aboard the Battle Horizon, the command Center was an a bit of a frenzy.
"Unidentified craft detected coming out of the asteroid belt."
"Launching alert fighters."
Aboard several of the fleet's carriers and even the Horizon itself, fighters were moving to launch positions to intercept the unknown craft.
Meanwhile, as the two Rebel pilots looked upon the sight in awe, they failed to notice another group exiting the asteroid belt: the 3 craft they were hunting.
Elsa and Tsubasa knew they were being followed, so they used the asteroid belt as an opportunity to hide before popping up behind their pursuers. Sure enough, their plan worked and they found themselves right on the enemy's six o'clock.
"Alright, let's make our presence known." Said Elsa as she and Shikaku 1 flanked the pair of X-wings on both sides while Tsubasa stayed behind them in a perfect shot to take them down if necessary.
It was only when the two fighters were alongside the X-wings that the rebel pilots realised that, like their counterparts in Rogue squadron a little while earlier, the predator had become the prey.
Elsa looked out of her cockpit at her counterpart and waved at him. The Rebel Pilot responded in kind and waved back.
Elsa then pointed at him before tapping her shoulder, telling him, she hoped, to follow her and stay on her wing.
The pilot nodded, confirming, to Elsa at least, that he understood.
"Alright, they're cooperating." Said Elsa to Shikaku 1.
"This isn't a good idea." He said to Elsa before switching Comm channels to speak to the Macross Horizon.
"Macross Horizon, this is Shikaku 1. We have intercepted the unknown craft and are coming in with them."
"Shikaku 1, say again, you're coming with them?"
"Affirmative."
A brief pause followed as the 3 Variable Fighters awaited further instructions.
"Shikaku 1, you have been ordered to take them directly to Island Everest." Said the operator to the Shikaku 1.
"Copy."
With that, the 5 craft made their way to the massive Island Everest, unaware that over the next few days, the 10 Million souls aboard the Macross Horizon fleet would get swept up in the conflict known as the Galactic Civil War.