Knight of Xaos

by Deathzealot

Dominic Udette was quite content to continue his training at the Royal Aerial Knight Academy however he soon joins his best friend, Freyja Wion in following her dream of joining the idol group Walkure and the organization Xaos. This new journey soon sees Dominic fighting in a war against his own people... A Delta AU Story

1. Chapter One: The Oathsworn

Macross Delta: The Knight of Xaos

A Macross Delta Short Story

Written by,

William R. Woods
aka, "Deathzealot," or "deathzealotzero"

Brief Foreword

This story kind of came to me when I was watching the second half of Macross Delta to keep myself in a Macross Mood for the main stories of my National Novel Writing Month Project: Journey Along the Stars and Meeting Along the Stars. It then kind of grew from that earlier idea which kind of rewrites the series, for I agree with some that the first part (cour) of the series is great, the second part is not as good. Though I do not think it is a train wreck like some others believe, just that the first part is better than the second. I actually enjoyed watching the series, and outside of a few minor issues, the movie is quite awesome. I especially love the other two Macross Elysion Class ships showing up for the final battle, and the brief battle between the two remaining ships at the end was even more awesome than the double-Macross Attack in Macross Frontier. In my humble opinion. Though not as good as the Macross Quarter surfing through the air during the last Macross Frontier Movie.

First things first, I need to mention that I am going to be changing more than a few things about the background of the series. For one, the the political situation in the Bringsr Cluster is quite different with the Bringsr Alliance, a New United Government Member, being in between the Windermere Kingdom of the Starwind Sector and the aggressive Volder Empire of the Volor Sector. Secondly, the history of Windermere is different from what was shown in the series and the background information we were given in the novels. For example, the Windermere Kingdom is actually made up of a dozen or so smaller duchies and a large so-called badlands that takes up much of the Southern Continent of the planet, which is a haven for bandits. The various duchies fought one another for various reasons, and the Southern Bandits through the use of Aerial Knights who fought on large dragon-like creatures, which had been heavily implied in some of the background material. Also, the Volder would have already been in space for a couple of decades when they first meet up with the humans of the New United Nations when they arrived in the Globular Cluster. At the same time, the Windermere would remain as a late medieval timeframe when the Megaroad-04 misfolded above the Darwent Castle, which sent the Kingdom into a state of chaos, similar a bit to that of the aftermath of the crash of the SDF-1 on Earth. This would lead to the New United Nations Government moving in to take control of the Kingdom in an effort to stabilize it, and when the Windermere Government managed to finally stabilize itself, the NUNG refused to relinquish control which would be the start of the grief of the Windermere have against the NUNG. This would lead up to the First Windermere War of Independence, which saw the Windermere Kingdom becoming its own member-state of the New United Nations Government due to said war. Even the New United Nations Government would continue to exploit the Windermere because their planet is one of a few places where the valuable Fold Quartz can be mined outside of retrieving it from Protoculture Ruins. This, of course, leading up to the Second Windermere War of Independence, which ended when a Multi-Dimensional Bomb was dropped on the main New United Nations Spacy garrison for some strange reason.

Went a bit overboard there. Cough. Anyways. This story basically changes the overall story of the series with the introduction of a new character Dominic Udette, who in the canon is one of the four main characters in the Macross Delta Scramble, but here in this story, he is from a long line of Aerial Knights sworn to the service of the Duchy of Folkvangr, one of twelve duchies that make up the Kingdom of Windermere. The Folkvangr Duchy is ruled by the Wion Family, which takes us to another major change with the story is that Freyja Wion is the youngest child of the Folkvangr Duke who asks Dominic to accompany Freyja to Ragna as her bodyguard which does see him becoming a member of Delta Flight in place of Hayate. As for the Hayate, he will already be a member of Xaos, though in Alpha Squadron instead of Delta Flight like he was in the movie. Therefore, I will still be around and interacting with Freyja.

Since I am sure I will be asked the pairings for this story, they are pretty much going to remain canon, at least to the movie anyway. So Hayate will end up with Freyja like the movie, and Mirage will become closer to Dominic, though I will not reveal if they become a couple or not right now. Basically, I do not want to give you all any freebies of my future ideas for this story, after all. Also, who knows, my plans for the two may change as the story goes on. It has happened to my other stories, after all. However, the other canon pairings remain the same pretty much. What pairings there are anyways.

Okay. I really do not want to give up any more of my story here; therefore, I think this Foreword is pretty much finished. Oh. One last thing. While this story will be decent in size, it will be a gathering of different scenes that kind of jump around a bit. It is something that I have seen with other authors and one I have not done. Hence. Be warned these scenes will jump all around the story. Though they will still be arranged in chronological order, at least I hope they will. Sigh. Alright. That is about it. Enjoy the story!

Chapter One: Oathsworn

The Kingdom of Windermere, while it had been a kingdom for as long as its inhabitants remember it had in actuality been split into a dozen large duchies who constantly feuded with one another through the use of Aerial Knights, soldiers who astride their Dragon Mounts, who fought in the name of their Duke. The King of the Kingdom served mainly as a neutral mediator between the Dukes and the titular head of state of the overall larger Kingdom. All of the Dukes are sworn to the King, who can call on the Dukes if the Kingdom itself is in any sort of danger from outside control like the so-called bandit lands that took up much of the second southern continent of the planet. For centuries, such a state of things till the accidental arrival of the Megaroad-04 Colony Ship in the air space over the capital city of the planet, which would start dragging the Kingdom of Windermere and its people to the modern age. Due to the outside threats of the New United Nation Government and the nearby Volder Empire, the King managed to secure himself as overall in charge of the Dukes. The Aerial Knights then became the Kingdom's elite Valkyrie Pilots, and a new combined military force was gathered to defend the kingdom from an outside threat.

- Taken from A Brief Look Into the Kingdom of Windermere, written by Toshizo Nemoto, published on Galaxy Network's Great Library

-o-o-o-

Sessrumnir Castle
Duchy of Folkvangr, Windermere IV
Starwind Sector, Bringsr Star Cluster
April 7, 2067 AD (Earth Reckoning)

Like all the castles spread out throughout the Kingdom of Windermere, the towering castle of Sessrumnir was both ancient and majestic, raising over the nearby village of Ravengrass. The main hall of said castle sport numerous tapestries that displayed the proud history of the Wion Dukes, who had ruled over the Duchy of Folkvangr for nearly seven centuries. Every tapestry displays key parts of said history, including battles against other duchies, bandits from the south, and personal triumphs of the Dukes of Folkvangr. Standing in front of one such tapestry was the figure of an older man wearing finery and such of a Duke of Windermere. The figure stood with his hands clasped behind his back as he looked up the large tapestry with a small, sad smile on his lips, for this particular tapestry showed his own rise to Duke at the tender age of thirteen after the tragic death of his Father. Then, with a soft glow, his rune started to glow in response to something, which was when he heard the soft footsteps of an approaching second figure, making him turn slightly to observe a vastly younger man approaching him through the darkened hall.

"You called for me, Your Grace, and I have come," the figure said, taking a knee and bowed head next to the older man. This figure was dressed in the dark gray uniform of an Apprentice of the Windermere Royal Aerial Knights, the Kingdom's elite fighter pilots. His short shaggy-looking green hair hiding his own twin runes while his youthful face was set into a serious look.

"Ah Dominic," Duke Njord Wion said, turning to look down at the young man at his side before sighing and looking back up at the tapestry with a saddened look as he placed a hand on the fine quality silk of the tapestry.

"I have a favor to ask of you, my young friend," he mentioned with a sigh making the young Knight look up at his duke with a confused expression on his face.

"As you know, Dominic, my health is rapidly failing, and it is a custom within my family to grant boons to members of my family before the death of a sitting Duke," he continued looking at his hand, which was nearly covered in white crystal-like scales which was a sign of his failing health. Dominic, still on one knee, remained quiet but remained a bit confused where this was going, for he was quite aware of the failing health of his Duke, much to his own sadness.

"One such member of my family, my youngest child Freyja, asked to allow her to fulfill her dream of being a singer and not just any singer. For I would have loved to have her join the Royal Wind Singers at the Capital, but no she wants to become an idol with the human group Walkure," the Duke explained with a fond expression on his face as he mentioned his daughter while Dominic nearly planted his face into the ground in some exasperation though he too had a bit of fond expression.

"So, you are actually going to let Lady Freyja fulfill her childhood dream?" Dominic asked now back with a more serious tone of voice, making the Duke look down at him in some amusement.

"Yes, you are good friends with my daughter becoming that needed older brother figure she desperately needed with my own sons looking down at her for her dreams," the Duke mentioned with a twist of his lips at the mention of his three sons who remained pretty much separate from their younger sister when she grew up. When she started to mention her dream, they started to look down at her in annoyance.

"That leads to my mentioned favor from you, Young Dominic," the Duke said, turning back to stare up at the tapestry.

"I want you to become her bodyguard and guardian when she travels to the independent planet Ragna where the latest auditions for Walkure are going to take place," he continued, making the young knight lookup in some shock.

"I know that you have been currently attending the Royal Aerial Knight Academy and have been guaranteed a spot in the elite Knightly Order of the Wind when you graduate sometime next month. However, I am calling you to serve my daughter not just as your Duke but as a worried father," the Duke finished making the younger man sigh before shaking his head and look up at him.

"What does my father think of this, Your Grace?" he asked after a moment of thought, making the Duke chuckle slightly, knowing that the young man's father is his own long-time personal Aerial Knight of Honor and bodyguard, Ito Udette.

"He thinks I am crazy for going through with this boon of my daughter, but he does agree you will be the best person to make sure she is protected," the Duke replied, making Dominic chuckle as well, for that does sound like his father. A moment later, Dominic drew the short sword he was allowed to carry as an Aerial Knight Apprentice and stabbed it into the aging stones that made up the main hall floor.

"My Duke and Lord, I Dominic Udette, an Aerial Knight of the Wind, henceforth swear my life, my honor, and my blade to serve as the sword and shield of your daughter, the Lady Freyja Wion. This I so swear," he said solemnly, bowing his head over his sword, making the Duke nod and place his hand on his bowed head.

"I, Duke Njord Wion, accept your solemn pledge, as a Knight of the Wind, in the name of my daughter Freyja Wion. Now rise as a sworn Knight of my House," he replied, completing the age-old ritual. The younger man sighed and rose from his kneeling position returning his sword to his sheath. As he did, he looked up in some thought, making the old Duke raise an eyebrow in some interest.

"I believe my lord, it would be best if I also give my oath to Lady Freyja, for if I don't, then your son will be able to recall me when he rises to become Duke," the young Knight mentioned making Duke Wion nod in agreement with the younger man.

"That could happen, yes," he replied with a musing tone before nodding and turning to look over at the Knight.

"Very well," the Duke mentioned nodding off towards another distant part of the castle, "My daughter, I believe, is currently in her favorite spot avoiding her tutors once more." The older man mentioned with a short, almost rusty-sounding chuckle while Dominic only sighed and shook his head. For it was not something he was surprised about since Freyja was always trying to duck out of her lessons. It was something that both frustrated and amused her father, along with Dominic as her close friend.

"Understood, My Lord, with your permission," the young pilot said with a short bow to the older man, who only nodded at him in dismissal before turning his attention back to the large tapestry he had been inspecting before his arrival. At that, Dominic left the older Windermere man behind and headed for the Castle's gardens where he was sure he could find his friend and liege lady. As he left the hall, Duke sighed and wondered if he was doing the right thing.

-o-o-o-

Castle Gardens, Central Square
Sessrumnir Castle

It did not take the young knight Dominic Udette long to find his wayward charge due to the soft singing that could be heard throughout the large gardens that were spread out across much of the large castle's central square. Dominic blinked in some surprise when he noticed that the singing was being done in both English and Japanese, the main languages of the New United Nation Government, instead of Norrent, the main language of the Windermere people. Following the singing, he soon arrives near a batch of the Garden's famous Folkvangr Apple trees, which was quite unlike the more general Windermere Apple Trees. The Folkvangr variety where quite rare due to how hard the trees were to grow and the short time its apples were able to be harvested. The apples that came from these trees were quite sweet and a bit sour as well, making them quite a tasty treat though in short supply due to their rarity. The Sessrumnir Castle Gardens was one of the few places these trees could grow, and their apples could be safely harvested.

Sitting underneath one of these trees was his charge softy singing to herself while staring up through the branches of the trees towards the white sky of a Windermere Spring. Like almost every time he saw her later, she wore a long white skirt, pink leggings, and a light blue long-sleeve top. It was her way of rebelling against her caretakers, who often tried to put her into traditional Windermere Noble wear, which she hated with a fiery passion. As he approached her, he noticed her rune glowing a slight pink in time with her singing which made him smile softly, for that was something the Wion Family had always sported along with their runes, shifting colors with their moods. It had been theorized that like the Windermere Royal Family, the Wion Family were descended from the Ancient Star Singers of the Protoculture thanks in part to this difference in their runes. He then soon found himself standing upon her, looking down at her as she finished her current song, which saw her blinking her eyes open, which soon widened in some surprise when they looked up at his form towering above her.

"Dominic! When did you get back?" she cried out in some surprise as she came to a sitting position to stare up at him with a large smile on her face. Shaking his head with a short chuckle, Dominic took a knee next to his charge.

"Just a few hours ago when your father called me back from the Capital and the Academy," he replied to her question, making her stare at him in some surprise before her eyes suddenly narrowed in some suspicion at him.

"Oh, is there a particular reason for Father calling you back?" she questioned with a frown on her face and a hint of wariness. However, she was soon surprised when Dominic just chuckled at this and drew his short sword once more before using it to make a short, shallow cut on the palm of his hand before closing the hand into a fist which soon slammed into his chest over his heart while his blade stabbed into the ground. Frejya's eyes almost literally popped out of her head when she saw this, and before she could say anything, Dominic looked up right into her eyes with a serious look in his own eyes.

"Lady Frejya Wion, I Dominic Udette, an Aerial Knight of the Wind, henceforth swear my life, my blood, my honor, and my blade to serve as your sword and shield to the day that I pass from this world and enter the halls of Halla with my ancestors. This I so swear," he said the more ancient and more binding oath of a personal Aerial Knight of Honor than the more general one he had earlier sworn to Duke Wion. Frejya only stares down at him in shock at what he had just done and said before she shook herself a bit.

"Why Dominic? What in the world is going on here," she barely manages to ask, shaking her head in denial, making Dominic chuckle slightly at her confused-looking face. Frejya really couldn't deal with surprises like this all that well.

"Your father recalled me from the Academy for one purpose, My Lady, to serve as your caretaker and bodyguard for your journey to become a member of the human idol group, Walkure. To do so, I need to pledge myself to you, alone, or your brothers may try to recall me when your father finally passes," Dominic explained, making Frejya once more look at him in some surprise.

"You mean Father is actually going to let me join Walkure?" she almost squeaked out in question, shaking her head.

"Of course, not only did you ask him for this boon from him, but he also loves you greatly, My Lady," Dominic mentioned with a nod of his head making tears starting to leak out of Frejya's eyes before she once again seems to shake herself into some action. She took a deep breath before she seriously looked down at him and placing her hand on his head.

"I, Frejya Wion, of own will, accept your solemn pledge to be my sword and shield. Now rise as my Knight of Honor," she seriously said before taking off her hand from his head. With that done, Dominic once more sheathed his sword before standing up and his rune shining almost proudly while he quickly wrapped his injured hand in a bandage. However, that did not last as he watched in some bemusement and a slight bit of annoyance as Frejya started to hop around the Apple Tree like a manic chanting the name of Walkure her Rune pulsing at her excitement. He really should have expected this before shaking his head and leaning against the tree to wait for his friend and now liege lady to calm down.

-o-o-o-

A couple of days later found the two walking out of the castle with each of them wrapped in almost anomalous-looking brown-colored traveling cloaks. Both carried a large bag over their shoulders, carrying what they would need for their journey. Watching the pair of them leaving from a large opened window of one of the castle's numerous defensive barbettes was the figure of the Duke himself along with the figure of his own Knight of Honor, Dominic's own father, Ito Udette.

"Are you sure about this, My Lord?" Ito mentioned staring down at the cloaked form of his son through the window with an almost forlorn expression on his face. Duke Njord could only sigh and turn away from the window as the two figures disappeared in the snowstorm that had moved into the region the day beforehand. Ito looked almost like an older version of his son though his hair was black, with some gray now threading through the black.

"I am quite sure, Ito. While I really do not want to see my daughter leaving our planet, but in the days and weeks that will follow, things will be quite hard. Therefore, I am quite glad to see her gone and not witness what will be happening to her home after my death," the Duke solemnly mentioned as he started to walk away from the window. His loyal knight and friend following a step behind.

"I understand," Ito mentioned in a pained voice as the pair walked further into the Castle, letting the wind of the snowstorm fruitlessly slam against the aged castle walls.

-o-o-o-

"So how are we getting to Ragna Dominic?" questioned the cloaked figure of Frejya as they entered the weathered gates of the Yggdrasil Spaceport Facility. Yggdrasil was the smallest of the planet's five Spaceports and was set aside for general merchant traffic over that of passenger or military traffic that the other spaceports catered to. Therefore, the facility was packed with the cube-like forms of Stein Class Container Transports and smaller rectangular-like forms of Caravel Class Transports. There was even a couple of aging train-like Mule Class Container Transports with its train of large containers.

"Well, I have made some arrangements to have us temporally serve as crew on board the MV Giraffe Blues, a Stein Class Container Transport. You will be serving in the Mess on board the ship. At the same time, I shall use my training in Variable Fighters to pilot their Workroid units as a supercargo," Dominic explained to his lady as he led her towards one of the many Stein Class transports that was docked at the Spaceport. At the ship's boarding ramp, a burly Zentradi man stood almost unconcerned with the biting cold of the rolling snowstorm that was blowing through the spaceport.

"You Udette?" the Zentradi asked in English, making Dominic look up at the towering man with a nod of his head.

"Yes sir, I am Dominic Udette. This is my friend Frigga Won," he replied with a wave at Freyja, making her blink some surprise at the change in her name, but a quick glare from Dominic cut her off from saying anything in protest of that change. After a moment, Freyja figured out the reason behind her name change and could only blush in some embarrassment, thankfully hidden by the hood of her cloak.

"Good. Well, hurry up and board. We shall be launching once we get you two settled in," the Zentradi mentioned before turning to walk up the boarding ramp and back into the ship. The two cloaked figures of Dominic and Freyja followed behind him.

"So Dominic, this ship will take us all the way to Ragna?" Freyja quickly whispered in question behind Dominic after recovering from her earlier embarrassment. However, she was surprised by the shake of her friend's head.

"No. This ship goes only as far as Al Shalal before moving toward Alfheim and repeating their route. We shall take a regular short-range commerce shuttle from Al Shalal to Ragna when we arrive," Dominic replied in his own whisper back to her, making Frejya puff her cheeks out in some irritation.

"Will we make it in time for the Walkure Auditions?" Freyja asked with a frown staring at the back of her friend and now personal vassal. Dominic paused at this question before sighing and turning to stare at her with a frown.

"It will be tight, but we will make it. Of that, I assure you, my lady," he whispered to her as they entered the ship. Freyja nodded at this, a bit more excited at Dominic's promise.

About fifteen minutes later, the cube-like form of the MV Giraffe Blues started to ascend from its dock and started to move into orbit of Windermere IV. Freyja could only stare inside the ship in some amazement as for the first time she saw her homeworld from space. A few moments later, the ship started its first Fold of several Folds to get them out of the so-called Starwind Aurora, a large Fold Anomaly that prevented the direct Fold to and from the Windermere System. Thus, it would be the last time for a long time that either Freyja or Dominic would see their homeworld.

-o-End-o-

Post Chapter Notes

Okay. Here is the first chapter of this new Macross story of mine. Well, not really new for the majority of this chapter had originally been written sometime early last year along with the next chapter or two. It has been straightened up a bit and some minor changes made to some areas due to some new ideas that I had since I first wrote this story. Outside of a very large Grammarly check and what had changed from the original version. These changes are quite minor in this first chapter, and will only be seen in the coming chapters from my original vision of this story. This is mainly seen the Oath Dominic made to Freyja which was pretty much the same oath he had given to the Duke a few paragraphs before therefore I kind of changed it to make it more interesting. Another very minor change from the original was changing the squadron designation for the squad led by the White Knight in canon. It was originally called a squadron but I thought Order was far better for such a knight-like organization that is the Aerial Knights.

One minor background bit I wanted to expand upon is that the three transport ships mentioned at the end of this chapter. The Stein Class is the unnamed Container Transport we see in the first episode of Delta and a couple of times later on in the series. The Caravel Class is the blink and you miss it transport we see Skull Team saving from the Vajra during one episode of Frontier. While finally, the Mule Class isn't actually a canon transport design but basically an older design I had used in another story of mine. I pretty much explained it quite correctly. That said, I kind of liked the whole idea of naming the transport after one of the songs sung by Walkure. I think it is quite interesting to do that in my opinion.

Alright. That is it for these end notes. I shall have the next chapter up over the next couple of days. I hope you all liked this story and follow it for the rest of the story. Till then my friends!