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

3. Chapter Three: Recovery

Chapter Three: Recovery

The Private Military Organization, Known as Xaos, had been initially formed as a dedicated communication service company that provided direct fold communication services across the Brisingr Cluster and provided services for various channels of content on the local Galaxy Network. It later expanded to include a dedicated Fold Courier Service transporting low-weight cargo across the Cluster. This simple Courier Service started to expand into private military services after pirates attacked its Courier Ships from the nearby Badlands Cluster. After the local New United Nations Spacy Garrison Forces refused to provide needed escorts for their ships, the Board of Directors of Xaos expanded their operations into private military services to further protect their own assets from pirate attacks. Since then, Xaos has grown from these humble beginnings into a full-on private military mainly due to the support and funds of the mysterious figure known only as Lady M, who somehow became a vital leader of the organization in the years since it started to expand itself into private military services. This also saw its original communication and courier services spun off into its own Discord Communication and Courier Services company. It would be due to Lady M that Xaos would start to form a Music and Entertainment Division which expanded on their earlier roots as a communication service company and would see the introduction of the Tactical Sound Unit known as Walkure.

Currently, Xaos sports three main branches plus the small fourth sub-branch of the organization's Music and Entertainment Division, or better known more simply as the M Division, which was formed to combat the rising threat of the phenomenon known as Var Syndrome across the Cluster. The three other main branches are the Xaos Patrol Force, which provides anti-piracy patrols across the Cluster, the Xaos Guard Force, which was formed as a means for the handful of independent planets in the Cluster to sport a needed military garrison force if they did not have the means to develop their own, and finally, the Xaos Pathfinder Force, which was formed to explore the little-understood Badlands Cluster along with its various Fold Faults that dominate that cluster which it made it so worthwhile as a hiding place to pirates. All together, Xaos possesses a large combat force of ships, fighters, and troops to fulfill its mission of protecting the Brisingr Cluster from those who want to harm the people of the Cluster.

Due to this level of military power, many inside the inner circles of the Brisingr Alliance government are notable as being quite nervous about the organization, for it could be said that it alongside the Voldor Imperial Military Xaos is one of the most vital forces in the entire cluster. Still, officially the New United Nation Spacy Brisingr Cluster Garrison Forces are pretty friendly with Xaos. For this reason, Xaos is currently in the process of field testing the new Surya Aerospace VF-31 Kairos Variable Fighter for the later total adoption by NUNS Brisingr Cluster Garrison Force to replace their aging locally produced VF-171 Bloc II/BA Nightmare Plus Fighters.

- Taken from The Hired Guns: A Look in the Emerging Private Militaries entry on Xaos, Circa, August, 2066AD

Operations Room
XS Aether
Orbit of Al Shahal
Shahal System, Brisingr Star Cluster
April 19, 2067 AD

In the Xaos Ship Aether main operations room, several figures were gathered around the central combined holo-imaging tank and table. Above the table where various holographic screens being studied by these figures. Many of these screens were focused on strange, mysterious fighters that had shown up during their last anti-Var Syndrome operation. A couple of other screens were focused on the readings taken of both the remaining Var infected NUNS pilots and Zentradi soldiers from the planet itself. Even then, most of the attention was on the holo-screens showing the images and limited data they had on these new mysterious fighters. The gathered figures in the room attention shifted away from these holo-screens to a new figure that entered the room.

"Do we know anything else about these new fighters?" the figure of Captain Henrietta "Hetty" Hunter, current commander of the Aether and the deputy field commander of the Xaos Division M Taskforce, asked from the lofty height of four feet eleven inches, barely able to look over the "table" portion of the holographic imaging tank.

"No ma'am," the figure of Wing Commander Arad Molders, the leader of Xaos Delta Flight and overall commander of the Xaos Third Fighter Wing, which is currently seconded to that of the Division M Taskforce, replied with a frown on his face, not even phased at all by his superior's short height.

"All we have currently are these blurry images taken from the gun cameras of our fighters during the mission and some limited data from our sensor packages," the second figure at the table spoke up at the heels of the Wing Commander, one Master Technical Sergeant Harry Takasugi, the chief fighter mechanic and tech of the Aether. The experienced tech scratched his chin in thought as he stared at the holo-screens with a thoughtful look on his aged and rugged face.

"Some sort of super-advanced ECM and Jamming of some sort better than what we have seen before now," the Wing Commander chimed in as well to the Captain, who nodded at these statements as she too eyed the holo-images showing the blurry fighters.

"Do we know if whoever was piloting those fighters were affected by the Var?" the last figure, one Shimi Annika, a bridge officer of the Aether, in the room, asked in return, turning to look over the more data dominated holo-screens. This question made the Wing Commander snort in some disbelief at that question which drew a betty eye of the Captain towards him in some disapproval before she turned to look over at her young-looking officer.

"While we cannot put the whole idea of Var controlled pilots being somewhat controlled and working in tandem like those pilots out of hand. We as of this moment do not have any sort of proof that is possible, so I doubt Officer Annika that they are affected by the Var," the Captain replied softly before turning once more to look at one of the clearer images they had of the unknown fighter with yet another frown.

"Still, I do not think I have ever seen a variable fighter that sports one engine like this particular design sports," she managed to say in some concern as she eyed the image. The others looked surprised at her comment before the Master Technical Sergeant brought up the image onto a larger screen and studied it a bit himself with a more experienced eye. After a few moments, he sighed as he leaned back from his study.

"I cannot see if it is actually a single-engine design or it sports two engines right next to one another like a General Galaxy prototype design I have heard about in the past," he mused out loud with a shake of his head.

"Unless these unknowns had some sort of super-advanced engine that is more powerful than anything so far, I kind of doubt that it is actually a single-engine design," the Wing Commander replied with a shake of his head, "For it clearly was on par and if not better in some ways then our Siegfrieds."

He finished with a sigh eying the images and the little data they did have on the unknown fighters in some further concern. The others could only nod in some agreement with the pilot as they all stared at the blurry images themselves in some shared concern and a bit of fear of the unknown.

"Still nothing we cannot do anything right now besides seeing if any of my contacts in Spacy Intelligence Operations known anything when we get back to Ragna," the captain mentioned before the Captain shook her head and turned away from the holographic imaging tank and looked over at the Wing Commander.

"Commander Moulders, the original reason I came down here was to inquire about the pair of civilians you had brought aboard from that civilian transport that had its crew get infected by the Var?" she inquired in some worry making the Commander blink at her in some surprise before he chuckled lightly and nodded to Fleet Officer Anikka at his side who blinked herself at this before nodding bringing up holographic screens, replacing the images of the unknown fighters, showing what information they had managed to gather on the two civilians.

"Pretty much, the girl, Freyja Wion, looked to have the needed Bio-Fold Receptors to become a member of Walkure. From the data that Sergeant Immelmann managed to gather during the battle and that she managed to single-handedly calm down several Var-infected members of the transport's crew, I had her brought onboard to talk to Miss Buccaneer. Meanwhile, the boy, Dominic Udette, appears to be the son of an old enemy I had from the days of the Windermere's Second War of Independence when I was stationed at Windermere IV. I brought him onboard to see about if he would be willing to join Delta Flight since I needed a fifth member anyways if we are going to be adding a fifth member of Walkure after all," the Wing Commander explained, allowing the captain to inspect the data that they had gathered about the two on the screens. The captain looked quite interested in this idea after looking through the data on the screens.

"They are a bit young, but I shall trust you know what you are doing, Commander. Anyways I am needed on the bridge for we are about to Fold Out from Al Shahal and back to Ragna," the woman mentioned before exchanging nods with the others and leaving the Operations Room for the bridge.

"That said, I shall see about meeting with Mister Udette. Officer Anikka, I want you and Sergeant Takasugi to gather what we know about these fighters and what we think about them into an intelligence packet to hand to the intel people once we are back on Ragna," the man directed, looking over the other two remaining people in the room.

"Yes, sir," the two chorused, making the man nod and leaving the room behind, leaving the two to follow through with his orders.

-o-o-o-

Auxiliary Medical Bay
XS Aether

About an hour after being brought onboard the Xaos Ship, Dominic finally met with the figure of Wing Commander Arad Molders. He had finally allowed a medic to treat him after managing to get Freyja to calm down and get her minor wounds treated. Therefore, he was pretty surprised when a tall, middle-aged human man entered the ship's medical bay.

"So, you are the son of Ito Udette?" the man himself asked as he strolled over towards Dominic, where he was sitting on one of the medical beds being looked over by a Xaos medic. He looked up at the innocent-sounding question before narrowing his eyes at the man after quickly recognizing him.

"And you are Arad Molders. Father had mentioned you to me when he was talking about the Second War of Independence," he replied with a respectful nod of his head to the older man who winced at the reminder of that war. The Windermere's Second War of Independence was when the Windermere Kingdom tried to become all-out independent from the New United Nations Government. This was mainly thanks to the New United Nations Government still controlling the Fold Quartz Mines and the various Protoculture ruins on the planet. The war ended when a Multi-Dimensional Bomb was dropped on the planet, destroying a NUNS base along with numerous civilians, both Windermere and human, that lived near the base. After the end of the war, the Windermere government took possession of all the Protoculture ruins on the planet, along with the Fold Quartz Mines. The kingdom also retained its membership in the New United Nations Government as a result.

"I'm sure he did mention me," Moulders mentioned before shaking his head with a sigh before giving the medic a look and a jerk of his head towards the door of the med bay. After finishing looking over the young Windermere man, the medic nodded to the Commander and left the two to talk in some privacy.

"However, I heard that you are accompanying the young Freyja Wion as her bodyguard and guardian?" he asked as he leaned against the med-bay's wall next to the medical bed. Dominic eyed the man before nodding.

"That is correct, Commander. Her father, Duke Wion, asked me to look after her," he replied, making the older man nod in answer to that, though he was surprised to hear that the young Windermere singer was nobility on her planet.

"Well, if she ends up in Walkure like I heard may happen due to her abilities she showed on the Giraffe Blues, then I have an opening in Delta Flight due to our mission of being the protectors and such of the group. We work in conjunction with Walkure," the Commander explained to the young Windermere, who looked quite interested.

"Normally I would look for new pilots in the other squadrons of my wing, the other Fighter Wings of Xaos or the local NUNS Garrison Forces, but if you are already the bodyguard of Freyja, then I am sure I can use you in Delta Flight instead," he continued to explain with a smirk at the look of interest on the face of the youth.

"Yes, I would be very interested in joining Delta Flight Commander if it would allow me to keep my lady out of danger," Dominic replied with a nod of his own, making his rune glow slightly in response to his thoughts.

"That said, I need to ask if you have any flight experience?" Molders asked with an inquiring stare which made Dominic snort in response to that question.

"Commander, let me put your doubts to rest. Before Duke Wion asked me to take care of his daughter, I was top of my class at the Royal Aerial Knight Academy with a guaranteed spot in the Order of the Wind when I would have graduated in a few days from now," he explained, making the Commander raise an eyebrow in some interest, for he had been stationed on Windermere before the Second War of Independence, therefore, had a good idea on what the younger man was saying.

"At the academy, I managed to get around fifty live flight hours in an Sv-152Tb Svard Trainer, twice that in simulations. I also managed to get ten flight hours in a regular Sv-152As in my own time. That said, at the time of my admission to the academy, I already a half-dozen flight hours in a Svard, thanks to my father, and I also had about four to five hours of flight time in a VF-22 Sturmvogel II. Finally, thanks to my father and Duke Wion's connection with LAI, I also managed to get five flight hours in a VF-25 Messiah simulation," Dominic continued to explain, making the Commander looked at him in some surprise for the VF-22 series of Variable Fighter was a rare unit that was almost entirely used by New United Nations Spacy Special Operations Units.

"Where in the world did you get a chance to fly a VF-22?" the Commander almost demanded after recovering from his surprise. Dominic chuckled a bit darkly at that question.

"As you know, Commander the Bomb that ended the war was dropped from a VF-22. What you do not know is that my father was the one who had shot it down soon afterward. Thanks to that, he was allowed to keep the damaged fighter by the King. It was then repaired and disarmed to serve as a demonstration and aggressor unit for the newly formed Aerial Knight Orders. My first solo flight was in that craft," he replied, making the Commander blink at that before shaking his head with an impressed whistle.

"Well, I say you are more than qualified, a lot more than a couple of my pilots in the other squadrons of the Third Wing," the man mentioned with a thoughtful look on his face making Dominic smirk a bit cocky at that statement. However, the smirk disappeared from his face when the Wing Commander shot him a deep glare.

"That said, I need to see your skills in action for myself before I let you join Delta," the older man mentioned after a moment of glaring at the younger pilot, who had flinched back from the human man's glare. A brief shudder went through the ship, symbolizing the start of the ship's fold to Ragna.

"We have a Simulator set up for our Siegfrieds onboard and since we are still a few hours from Ragna, so let's see how well you do in them before we arrive," he continued with a smirk that sported a small bit of malice, making Dominic worry slightly for right now the man reminded him of Senior Knight Carl Godwin, the Academy's Master of the Sword, a rough and almost crazy Aerial Knight who was reasonable for training the Academy's senior Apprentices in wielding a sword as required by ancient Windermere law. Thanks to his role, he was also reasonable for the physical fitness of the senior apprentices, which saw him leading them all in various runs through the countryside, different hand-to-hand combat exercises, and various physical exercises in an effort to get the Apprentices in shape.

"Very well, Wing Commander, but I would like to check on my lady before we do so if that is all right," Dominic managed to say after a brief moment losing his composure to the older man's glare.

"We can swing by the Guest Quarters on the way to the hangar," the man mentioned with an almost amused look on his face as he pushed off from the wall walking towards the door, making Dominic briefly wonder what his wayward charge and liege lady had done now. After a moment, he sighed and got up to follow the human out of the med bay.

-o-o-o-

Guest Quarters
XS Aether
In-Route to Ragna

It did not take long for the two to reach the ship's single decent-sized guest quarters, which is where Freyja had been led to after undergoing a brief medical check-up by the ship's medical personnel. As the door opened, Dominic could hear the distinct chiming laugh of Freyja along with the slightly familiar voice of a young human man. This saw Dominic narrow his eyes a bit as he entered the quarters behind the taller figure of Wing Commander Molders.

"Wing Commander!" that same familiar voice said in surprise at their entrance which had Dominic sidestep around the tall human and finally look at the main room of the quarters to see Freyja sitting at a small table attached to the room's tiny kitchenette. In contrast, a young human man wearing a hooded version of the standard Xaos uniform jacket with a pair of dark gray uniform pants stood at attention next to the table where he had obviously been leaning against the wall next to the table before their entrance.

"Flight Sergeant Immelman, I see you are keeping our guest entertained," the Wing Commander mentioned with a short smirk on his face while Dominic crossed his arms in some annoyance at the young man talking with his liege lady and friend. However, he was not annoyed for long as his peach-haired charge pretty much attacked him.

"Dominic! You look far better," Freyja managed to say after almost tackling him in some relief, making him flinch slightly before shooting a small smile at her before turning his attention to the young man still standing at attention before him. Dominic knew that this young man Hayate Immelman had helped to save the two of them from the last few Var-infected members of the Giraffe Blues along with Freyja's own singing. That said, he really did not like how the young man become so friendly with Freyja in a couple of hours since they were rescued. Still, he did admit that it was mostly his own protection instincts acting up; therefore briefly decided to give the young man a chance.

"Flight Sergeant," he said with a nod to him before turning his attention to Freyja.

"Mister Udette," the Flight Sergeant replied with his own nod before looking over at his overall Commander seeing the amused look on the older man's face. This made the younger Xaos pilot shoot the closest figure he had to an uncle and a positive male role model in his life a look of annoyance.

"So I heard you managed to meet with a couple of members of Walkure soon after we boarded the ship?" Dominic, meanwhile, was starting to look after his lady. This question had Freyja remove herself from his personal space and nodded excitedly at him.

"Yuppy! It looks like I have a shoo-in for becoming the newest member of Walkure thanks to my singing calming those men on the Giraffe Blues," Freyja managed to say with a look of awe and excitement on her face. However, a cough from Hayate interrupted the two of them, making Dominic frown over at him.

"You will still have to go through with the auditions back on Ragna Miss Freyja so the leader of Walkure Kaname Buccaneer can get a better measure of your abilities, but yes, you are guaranteed a spot in Walkure if you pass the auditions," the young man mentioned with a slight smirk on his face and a shake of his head. This made Freyja narrow her eyes at him in annoyance while Dominic sighs and shakes his head with a fond air.

"Alright, you can see your charge is okay, Udette, so let us get you to the hangar and start on your own test," the Wing Commander finally spoke up in a more commanding tone than he had used previously, making Freyja turn to him in some confusion.

"With you becoming a member of Walkure, I am going to be joining Delta Flight in an effort to protect you," Dominic explained, seeing her confusion, making Freyja gasp in some surprise before hugging him again. After a moment, she let him go and gave him her best noble look.

"Then Dominic Udette, as my knight of honor, I command that you do not fail this test," she directed him, making stiffen to attention before giving her a formal half-bow.

"As you command, my lady," he replied in all seriousness before turning and starting to leave the quarters, which saw Commander Molders follow behind him with a short chuckle.

"What in the world was that about?" the two heard Hayate question Freyja and Freyja's own groan in response before the door slid shut. The two men then exchanged amused looks before the two started towards the ship's hangar.

-o-End-o-

Post Chapter Notes

Alright, here we go, another chapter of this story now done and ready to be read! I am on a roll with this story. Though, honestly, the vast majority of this was already written since I managed to write somewhere around fifteen thousand words for this story over the past couple of years since I started it. The only real part I added to this chapter was the first scene which I believed was actually needed after recently rewatching the second episode of the series where Arad and Messer are going over what little they know about the "unknown" fighters.

Speaking of which, I introduced my first major original character of this story in the form of Captain Henrietta Hunter, who is the person in charge of the Aether when it is being independently deployed and serving as Ernest's XO when the entire Macross Elysion is being deployed. That is something I always wondered about when watching the series. We never saw anyone really commanding the Aether during the early battles of the series, where it served as the main ship for Xaos. There was also no one serving as second to that of Ernest outside of Arad later on in the series. Since I have been a fan of Hetty Lang from NCIS: LA for a while, I named and based this character after her. The only difference is that my Hetty is younger and does not wear glasses. She is also a bit taller than Hetty Lang herself. This is mainly because I found it amusing to have a Xaos Officer who is the opposite of Ernest in size.

Something else I need to mention is that I am kind of making up my own rank structure for Xaos after I wanted to do something different with Xaos, then say my version of SMS, who had Army/US Air Force Ranks in my other Macross story. Hence, I am kind of merging regular Navy ranks with that of the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom. I shall see about writing up a sort of information section describing it all in the near future.

Finally, in the preface, I kind of tried to incorporate some bits of canon Xaos history into my own version of the organization for this story. I only recently found some bits about it all in my reading of the Macross World forums. Still, I had some fun with the entire preface, which explains why it is some long compared to others so far.

Alright, with that said, I do believe that I am now done with this chapter. I hope I get some further feedback with this chapter. Till next time everyone!