Disclaimer: I do not own Babylon 5 or its characters, those belong to Warner Brothers. I do not own Robotech or its characters, those belong to Harmony Gold.

Author Note: So, here's chapter 3 and as I am writing this story it is scaring the hell out of me as to how big the story is becoming. The cast of characters is growing so much that I actually have to have a cast of characters sheet that I'm constantly updating and this is a first for me and as I said, it's scary. When I tried asking friends for help and they all ran away screaming! Sheesh, *shrug*. Well, here we go...chapter 3!

Earth vs Minbari – Robotech To the Rescue

Chapter 3

EarthForce Lunar Installation

Dark Side of the Moon

April 7, 2246

As Lieutenant Commander John Sheridan was on a shuttle down to EarthForce Command for a fateful meeting with General Lefcourt, another meeting was about to take place at the EarthForce military base located on the dark side of the moon.

The pilot's briefing room was filled with Starfury pilots from multiple squadrons just before 8am. There were Squadron leaders here as well as the men and women under their command. Everyone had received orders to get to this military base with no explanations. Someone had started a rumor that they were going to be launching an attack on the Minbari which was quickly shot down but everyone was curious as to why they had been pulled off of combat assignments and sent back to the Moon.

Suddenly the door to the briefing room opened and a woman that was five feet eight inches tall with shoulder length green hair and green eyes walked in wearing an EarthForce uniform with Admiral's insignia. Everyone did a double take as they could not believe their eyes as a living legend was walking into the room when finally someone snapped out of their shock and surprise and said, "Admiral on deck!"

Everyone quickly jumped out of their chairs and stood at attention and saluted the woman as she walked up to the podium. She looked at the room with a level gaze then said, "At ease, be seated."

Everyone sat down. No one was talking, afraid that if they did so the spell would be broken.

The woman continued to look at everyone in the room then said, "For those of you who have been living in a cave, I will introduce myself. My name is Miriya Parina Sterling." She paused. She took note that everyone recognized her. "I have served Earth longer than any of you have been alive. I have been a fighter pilot, I have commanded warships, I served as Admiral in the, REF, and EarthForce and as the Chairwoman in the Joint Chiefs of Staff before finally deciding to retire and enjoy the civilian life. Before this war, I was happily retired, living my life as a civilian. Then this war started, our casualties quickly became overwhelming and I was asked to come back. So I did. Then they asked me to help our Starfury pilots fight the Minbari and I went out to war for the first time in an extremely long time I flew a Starfury and I killed the Minbari."

She swept the room with her gaze. "I have shot down fifty five Minbari fighters, apparently it was so many that I received word from the Narn and the Centauri that the Minbari have placed a bounty on my head." She chuckled and the assembled pilots laughed as well. "As you can see, they haven't been able to collect it and I have taught the tactics I have used to beat them to many of you in this room and I can see that since you are still alive, you've taken my lessons to heart and have created your own techniques and tactics and have killed scores of Minbari fighters. I'm proud of each and every one of you."

She paused to take a drink of water then continued, "Now, the purpose of my being here and the reason you are all here is classified Top Secret. Divulge anything to anyone outside this room and you will be shot for treason. Am I clear?"

Everyone cried out, "Yes, ma'am!"

Nodding her head Miriya resumed, "As of late yesterday the President has decreed that the Special Clause of the Sentinels Treaty is to be invoked. An expedition to Pegasus is underway as we speak to retrieve our ships and weapons. I stress once more you are to speak of this to NO ONE. Now, my job is to get you ready," she pushed a button and the room darkened and multiple three dimensional holograms appeared of a fighter that everyone in the room had seen in history books, museums, and documentaries and films. "to fly these."

The holograms were of a VF-6 Alpha, VF/B-9 Beta Fighter/Bomber and a VF-5 Condor Bomber Veritechs. The holograms showed the three Veritechs engage the mechamorphosis as they switched to the different modes that each mecha could transform to.

"It has come to EarthForce Command's attention that the sensors of Robotech ships can see through Minbari stealth. How this works, I do not know nor do I care except for the matter that it does work. The Veritechs use the same sensors as Robotech warships and so, Command has retrieved several Alphas, Betas, and Condors from storage. Where they were being stored is not important, the important thing is that these mecha were found. As we speak the Veritechs are undergoing a thorough inspection and readied for flight and for combat."

She swept the room with her gaze again as she looked at all the pilots. "You will learn how to fly them and you will learn to be the best, but your job will not to go out in search of glory to kill enemy fighters and warships, your job will be to use these Veritechs as Cat's Eyes, to use the sensors of these Veritechs to identify, track, and transmit the precious targeting data that these fighters can see to our warships so that our warships can start fighting back and begin killing the enemy and start making the enemy bleed. This will be necessary until our Expedition returns from Pegasus with the Robotech warships that will truly even the odds and we take the fight to them." Miriya turned off the hologram and the lights returned to normal. "You will be allowed to defend yourselves of course, but these machines are extremely precious right now. We don't have many of them right now, the protoculture cells that they are loaded with is all the protoculture we have at this time so you will do everything you can to not just stay alive, but to bring these Veritechs back in one piece. Do you understand me?"

Everyone cried out, "Yes ma'am!"

She moved away from the podium to stand next to it, placing her left hand against the side and she glared at the men and women sitting down. "I don't have a lot of time to get you ready. But you will succeed dammit or by all that you hold dear I will make you regret disappointing me. After you have been trained, you may be asked and tasked to train those follow you. At any rate, while we are still working on getting everything working but we do have several simulator pods up and running. So, access your tablets and you will find that the flight manuals for the Alpha, Beta, and Condor have been installed onto your devices. Open up the flight manual for the VF-6 Alpha and we will begin."

There was a rustle of noise as the gather pilots reached for their tablets and a voice called out. "We're starting now?"

Everyone stopped. Miriya had moved towards the back of the stage she was on to access the flat panel screens on the wall but she turned around halfway there and looked at the crowd. She tried to identify the pilot who spoke. She walked slowly back to the front of the room standing in front of the podium.

"What part of I don't have a lot of time do you not understand? Ladies and gentlemen, we are losing this war. The Minbari are killing us, our friends, our families." She looked around the room. "My daughter Dana died on Flinn fighting them as we made them bleed on the ground. They killed everyone on that colony to the last child. I have lost family members to the Minbari, not just my daughter Dana. I know all of you have lost someone. Time is running out for us. So, if any of you have made plans to be somewhere else, cancel them. All of you belong to me now. Are there any other questions?:"

She looked at everyone and the her expression in her face really showed that she did not want there to be any more questions. There was nothing but silence.

With a smile that was anything but pleasant Mirya ordered, "Now, let us begin. Piloting a Veritech may be like flying a plane when it is in Fighter Mode, but I can assure you that there are differences from a Starfury. You are all trained pilots, I will be teaching you the differences between a Veritech and a Starfury. Once we get past the manual for these mecha you will live and breathe in the simulator pods flying day and night as well as know the flight manuals for all three Vertechs backwards and forwards before I allow you flight time in a Veritech due to the fact Protoculture is so low. But, you will get as much flight time as we can spare when I believe you are ready. Squadron leaders, I am counting on you to know your people's limits and let me know if someone under your command is falling behind."

Returning to the flat panel screens she brought up images from the Alpha flight manual then turned to the assembled pilots. "Let us begin with…."

EarthDome

Geneva, Switzerland

President Elizabeth Levy's Office

It was late morning, almost noon when the intercom beeped in President Levy's office. The President set down the paperwork she was reading and answered it. "Yes?"

Her executive assistant said, "Ma'am, the Vice President is here to see you."

Elizabeth thought back to remember if she had a meeting scheduled with her Vice President but she knew she didn't.

The intercom beeped again and her executive assistant added, "He's asking for a few minutes of your time ma'am."

Setting the paperwork to the side of her desk she said, "Send him in, please."

"Yes, ma'am."

A few seconds later, the door to her office opened and the Vice President Luis Santiago entered the room closing the door behind him and walking forward to stand in front of the President's desk. Holding his hand out for a handshake the President stood up from her desk and the two shook hands.

Elizabeth gestured for Luis to take a seat as she sat back down. "We didn't have a meeting scheduled today, so please tell me what's on your mind."

"Madam President," he took a breath.

"Luis, we're alone here, call me Elizabeth." she said.

Luis took another breath, exhaled loudly, and nodded, "Elizabeth, you know that I still don't agree with this plan but I said it at the meeting and I wanted to say it again in private. You have my support."

Elizabeth smiled at hearing those words. "It means a lot to me that I have your support Luis. We cannot afford any divisions or distractions during this war even though there are people trying to divide us during this crisis."

With a sigh, Luis nodded again. "You mean people like Senator Clark and those of his camp."

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes."

Looking at President Levy with a serious expression the Vice President said, "Ma'am, I think it's smart that we plan for an evacuation. There is no guarantee that our Robotech ships will be our salvation except maybe to act as evacuation arks."

Elizabeth pursed her lips in thought for a moment then said, "Well, I did direct our military to begin looking into it. But, coming to my mind now is we need civilian oversight. You should take the point on this project, supervising, delegating the vetting, and determining who would be the best candidates to start our civilization over in the event we need to run and start over in a new galaxy."

With a smile on his face Luis said, "I would be honored ma'am."

Elizabeth smiled herself saying, "Well, that settles it. I will let you inform General Lefcourt that you will be taking oversight and offering assistance in finding the right people to start our civilization over. Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"

Vice President Santiago shook his head, "No ma'am, thank you for your time."

He stood up and offered his hand for another handshake. President Levy stood up and the two shook hands again. She smiled saying, "Knowing you're in charge of this project brings me peace of mind. I hope we don't have to evacuate, but in the event we do, I'm confident that the futue of our civilization is in good hands. Good luck, Luis."

"Thank you ma'am."

Luis turned and left the President's office and after taking a moment President Elizabeth Levy returned to the paperwork that required her attention in running the government of the Earth Alliance.

EAS Achilles

The senior officers of the newly reactivated and renamed from UES Achilles to EAS Achilles were gathered in the conference room of the Ikazuchi class cruiser awaiting the arrival of their commanding officer. They didn't have to wait for very long as the door slid open and the newly promoted Captain arrived.

Everyone stood up at attention and John quickly said, "At ease." Taking the seat at the head of the conference room John brought out a tablet and said, "Okay, everyone I know you all have questions about what we're doing on this old warship and I will answer those questions later on in this meeting but I had a question for all of you. How does it feel to be on a ship with artificial gravity?" He asked with a smile on his face.

There were some chuckles and chortles, as everyone gave their responses of "Amazing", "Awesome", "This is Incredible!" all at once.

Grinning himself Captain Sheridan smiled and said, "I thought you all would like it." John changed to a more level expression. "Now, I need a full run down. How close are we to being ready to depart? Doctor Lang, go ahead."

Everyone turned their heads to the middle aged man with dirty blonde hair and a goatee that was in charge of getting the Achilles ready. Standing up he walked over to a laptop on the other side of the conference table and pushed some keys.

The lights darkened and a hologram of the Achilles appeared in the middle of the conference table.

"We are almost finished with the full workup on the Achilles. The yard workers have removed everything that was installed in the ship prior to being shut down for storage. All systems are still undergoing diagnostics and we have found some issues that are currently being addressed."

Captain Sheridan cut in, "What sorts of issues?"

Doctor Lang explained, "Well, it's mainly minor things, but it's a lot of them that has added to the workload. We're knocking them out quickly. The fold engine diagnostic has been run through twice both in full diagnostic and fast diagnostic modes and have passed with no faults. We are running another full diagnostic right now and it should be complete by tomorrow morning."

The captain nodded his head and made notes on his tablet then asked, "What is our Protoculture situation? Do we really have enough for the fold jump to Pegasus?"

Doctor Lang nodded his head, pushing his glasses back up his nose as they had slid off slightly. "Yes, Captain we have enough Protoculture to fold jump to Pegasus and supply our Veritech, Cyclones, and Destroid compliment."

John nodded his head then asked, "Do we have enough for a return trip if necessary?"

Again Doctor Lang nodded his head. "Yes, Captain, the Achilles has enough for a jump to the Pegasus and to return here if necessary. Logistics Command took some protoculture cells that we had for the Veritech, Destroids, and Cyclones off but we still have more than enough to supply what we had."

"Excellent." He looked over to his Chief Engineer a young looking woman with blue hair past the shoulders and an appearance that seemed to be way too young for her job but he knew that her looks were deceiving as she was over a hundred years old according to her personnel file. "Lieutenant Commander Sevina, thank you for accepting the call and coming to our assistance. I heard you were on a beach in the Bahamas enjoying the quiet life. We will need your expertise with these systems."

The Zentraedi Chief Engineer nodded her head. "I'm really happy to be here Captain. Retirement was very nice but it is nice working with Robotechnology once again."

With a ghost of a smile John said, "I'm sure. Doctor Lang seems to think everything is more or less acceptable. What do you think?"

Sevina nodded and looked at Doctor Lang. "I agree with the esteemed Doctor. His knowledge of Robotech systems is most impressive. The Reflex furnaces are in top shape even if they've been silent for so long. I would recommend a short cruise before we execute our fold jump just to work out any kinks sir."

John replied, "So noted. So, the systems appear to be checking out; that's good. Keep me appraised of any issues. Let's go down the line, Weapons?"

A man cleared his throat. He appeared to be in his late twenties with red hair and green eyes. He was short, just over five and half feet tall. The man started talking with a slight Scottish accent, "Guess that's me sir. Lieutenant Connor MacDonald, I've been assigned as your weapons officer. We've run diagnostics on the heavy particle beam cannon turrets and those have finally passed. There were some faults but the Chief Engineer and Doctor Lang along with a team of yard workers were able to take care of them after procuring replacement parts from the ship's stores. We had some more problems with the single barrel retractable particle cannon turrets that would not retract after being activated but those should be fixed by tomorrow late in the day. The Point Defense laser arrays are going through targeting realignment, that should be done in a day. We still need to run diagnostics on the interceptor missile launcher system. We'll start that late tomorrow afternoon. Finally the heavy missile VLS systems are still in the process of diagnostics, no faults have come up so far but the good news is we have received our supply of missiles for the heavy missile launchers as well as Veritechs and Starfuries from Logistics Command that also includes a batch RMS-2 Reflex Warheads that we can fire from the ship or load onto the Veritechs. However, we are still awaiting missiles for the interceptor missile system."

There was a low whistle from the man sitting at the far end of the conference table. He was older looked to be in his forties with dark skin and close cropped hair. His uniform clearly showed that he was from the GroPros part of EarthForce.

Captain Sheridan looked over to the man and said, "Something to add Colonel Jacobs?"

Colonel Mark Jacobs was an EarthForce Marine lifer. The dark skinned man was the man assigned to be in charge of the Achilles's Marine detachment.

The Colonel said in a deep voice that rumbled, "Just surprised to find out that we actually have some Reflex missiles still around is all, sir."

Captain Sheridan nodded his head, "Yes, it would seem that some of our Robotech weapons did not make it to the Pegasus storage facility. Lucky for us I'd say. Anything to add Mister MacDonald?"

The Lieutenant shook his head, "No sir, that completes my report."

Sheridan knocked on the conference table twice. "Excellent."

The Captain looked to the next person a young woman with purple hair. "So you're our pilot." Sheridan said with a smile. "Were you aboard when the Achilles was moved here?"

The young woman "Yes sir, I'm Lieutenant Aurora Cabell and I was aboard the Achilles and acting as the helmsman when she was moved to her current position."

Captain Sheridan asked, "Were there any problems?"

Lieutenant Aurora shook her head. "No sir. She handled like a dream."

"Well that's good. Are you by chance related to Lieutenant Commander Serina Cabell?"

Aurora smiled nodding her head as she said, "She's my older sister sir."

Captain Sheridan nodded, "Very well. Looking forward to working you Lieutenant."

Turning to look at the ship's communications officer he said, "Communications?"

The young blonde haired woman with green eyes in charge of communications spoke next, "Yes sir, I'm Lieutenant Lisa Livsey your Communications officer. All communication systems are online and operational. No problems to report sir."

Looking at his CAG Commander Wolfe, Captain Sheridan asked, "I spoke to you already, but any problems since then?"

With a shake of his head the CAG replied,"No sir, I need to go over with Lieutenant Davidson our missile ammunition for the Starfuries and the Veritechs."

"Understood.", replied the Captain.

"Colonel Jacobs, sorry for making you wait but at last it's your turn."

Colonel Jacobs began, "My marines are all aboard and I must say we were surprised to find Destroids and Cyclones aboard. Logistics Command took the majority of them off of the ship but we have two squads of Destroids and Cyclones aboard. We are currently inspecting them and checking to see if they are in good order and so I need more time before I can tell you if they are ready for deployment. As far as my men are concerned, we are being deployed with less than what I'd like we're ready."

Arching an eyebrow Captain Sheridan asked, "Your men are ready to pilot the Destroids?"

Colonel Jacobs shook his head, "I'm sorry sir, what I meant is that my men are ready to deploy as a regular Marine detachment. The Destroids and Cyclones are still being inspected as I said, and my men will need lots of simulator time before I'm comfortable putting any of my men in a Cyclone or a Destroid."

With a nod in acknowledgment the Captain said, "I see. Well, I doubt we'll need to send any of your men out in Destroids or Cyclones for this mission but it is good to get them ready. Also, I'm sorry you don't have your full roster of people but Command is going to pack this ship with as many naval crew personnel it can support."

Looking to his Chief Engineer again Captain Sheridan asked, "Lieutenant Commander Sevina, how is our life support system looking? We will be testing it's...robustness in the coming days."

The blue haired woman consulted her tablet. "All systems are good sir."

The Captain looked to his Executive Officer. "Delinda, when can we expect the last of the personnel to arrive?"

The new Executive Officer replied, "We will be receiving more personnel through the day today and into tomorrow. According to my last schedule update from Command, we should be receiving the last group of people by 1200 tomorrow."

"When will the Diplomatic team arrive?", asked the Captain.

Lieutenant Commander Lamiz replied, "Tomorrow morning sir by 1000 hours. I've already taken care of their quarters and have arranged for a conference room to be at their disposal."

Captain Sheridan knocked on the table while saying, "Good." He paused. "Alright everyone, I will now inform you all the reason you all have been transferred to this old warship and why so many people are being transferred here. This information is Top Secret, you are to keep it to yourselves. I will inform the crew once the last shuttle bringing the assigned personnel aboard arrives and they've settled in."

Captain Sheridan looked at everyone in the room then resumed, "The President has invoked the Special Clause of the Sentinels Treaty. We are going to the Pegasus Galaxy, taking the Hyperion Cruisers Aegis, Daedalus, and the Maxwell with us. Once there, we will access the Robotech Factory and the mothball storage facility and retrieve as many Robotech Warships as we can and return back here with our old technology."

Everyone looked surprised with the exception of Captain Sheridan and Lieutenant Commander Lamiz.

"We are being loaded with as many people as this ship can support safely, but we are going to have a lot of people that will need to be trained in Robotech systems. So here's what I want: As we get more and more people aboard, I want them to start shadowing the on duty people to learn and train with them so that they can get up to speed."

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding.

Captain Sheridan took a breath then continued, "This next part will be hard but it can't be helped. As I said, this is a Top Secret mission we are on so I'm ordering a communication black out for the crew. We can't tell family and friends where we're going so Lisa," John looked at the young blonde officer who was now looking at him. "I'm going to need you and the people under your command to make sure that these protocols are followed."

The young blonde communication officer Lisa Livsey nodded her head and acknowledged the order. "I understand sir, I'll see to it."

Captain Sheridan asked, "Doctor Lang, how many of the people you brought aboard are staying and coming with us?"

Doctor Lang adjusted his glasses again and replied, "Uh my team will be remaining aboard sir. Command feels that you will need us when we reach Pegasus and begin bringing the Factory and the other ships online."

That was a surprise. John smiled, "Well, we are glad you and your team will be staying. We are going to be relying on your expertise as we move forward."

Doctor Lang nodded. "Happy to be here sir."

"Alright," Captain Sheridan began, "I want your final 'we must have this' list from each of you no later than tomorrow at 1600. This way I can get it to Logistics Command and have the best chance of getting what we need before we depart for Pegasus. Now if there's nothing else, let's get to work. Dismissed."

The assembled officers stood up and left the conference room so that they could return to their duties. Remaining behind was Doctor Lang, the Executive Officer, and the Captain. The doors to the conference room closed and the Captain made sure they were locked again.

Captain Sheridan gestured to the scientist/historian, "Doctor Lang, you said you needed to speak with the Lieutenant Commander and I after the meeting so, go ahead."

The man pushed his glasses back up to the top of his nose with his index finger and started, "Captain, did General Lefcourt brief you on the Protocols for accessing the Robotech Factory?"

Shaking his head in the negative the Captain replied, "No, he did not. I have a meeting with General Lefcourt the day after tomorrow to give him a final briefing before we depart. Hopefully by then any and all issues we have with the Achilles will be taken care of by then."

Nodding his head, Doctor Lang stood up from his chair and went to his laptop There was a bit of typing and the lights darkened and a hologram appeared of a dead moon and two structures in orbit at different points around the moon.

Doctor Lang started talking, "I will give you a brief rundown of what is to happen sir." I have the coordinates for where we must fold into the system. Upon our arrival near the Robotech Factory, we will be scanned and a coded transmission will be sent to our ship. We must reply with a specific coded message back to the Factory. Once the Factory receives that message, we should be given permission to approach the Factory and dock within as it will open one of the bays for us to dock. The accompanying Hyperions must remain in position until we complete the repossession and reclamation protocol."

As Doctor Lang was talking the hologram was showing an animation of what was to take place, and currenlty it showed the CG representation of the Achilles moving into one of the bays of the Robotech Factory.

The man was continuing to talk. "Once inside, you Captain Sheridan along with Secretary Sheridan and myself will enter the Factory and proceed to the control center Once there all three of us will need to enter the final codes that will activate the Factory and bring it back into our possession."

Lieutenant Commander Lamiz asked, "You have codes needed to reactivate the Factory?"

Nodding his head Doctor Lang confirmed, "I do. The Lang family considers Robotechnology part of its legacy. We've continued approved studies and we've kept our names out of the media and public limelight." He paused and took a drink of water. "When our predecessors decided to lock everything down but keep open the possibility that there may come a time that humanity would need Robotechnology again, our family was entrusted with one of the codes needed for such purpose. The Defense Department took charge of one code and the Executive branch has the other. Secretary Sheridan will no doubt be given the codes necessary for our task as he will be acting on behalf of the Executive branch. You, Captain Sheridan will be the Defense representative and I will be representing the Lang family."

The hologram finished playing the animation of the Robotech Factory coming online and the mothball storage yard became active then it turned off and the lights came back on.

Lieutenant Commander Lamiz asked, "Are there any extra steps to follow for being able to access the mothball yard?"

Doctor Lang shook his head. "No, once the final code is entered, access to the mothball yard will be immediately granted."

"One last question Doctor Lang.", Lieutenant Commander Lamiz began. "What would happen if we didn't have the codes needed?"

Looking directly at the Executive Officer and the Captain Doctor Lang replied, "Quite simply, the guardian system we left in place would blow us out of the stars."

Captain Sheridan asked, "Guardian system? What kind of Guardian system?"

Shrugging his shoulders Doctor Lang replied, "I'm afraid I do not know. Most likely an automated defense system of some sort. The Factory complex is not unarmed and the mothball yard is similarly equipped as well."

Letting out an explosive breath Captain Sheridan said, "Well, thank you for the information Doctor Lang." He deactivated the lock to the conference room and stood up then Doctor Lang and Delinda Lamiz stood up as well as Captain Sheridan continued, "It's time for us to get to work. We've got a lot to do and not much time to do it. Thank you, both of you for your hard work."

"Sir.", Delinda saluted her captain and left the room.

Doctor Lang closed his laptop and disconnected and left the room behind the Executive Officer. John Sheridan, Captain of the Achilles walked over to the wall at the far end and pushed a button for a video screen to show the outside of the ship. Floating in space right in front of him was the Daedalus, the Hyperion cruiser that his wife was serving on as the Executive Officer.

He saw a couple shuttles moving into final approach with the Daedalus for a landing, watching one of them do just that. Turning the screen off, Captain Sheridan left the conference room to return to his ready room and go over the growing mountain of paperwork that needed his attention before their departure and to prepare for a meeting with all the Captains that were making the trip to the Pegasus Galaxy.

EarthForce Lunar Installation

Dark Side of the Moon

Formerly retired Admiral Miriya Parina Sterling was in the room that she'd taken over as her office. The pilots she was training were having a late lunch as she had spent the entire morning as well as past noon in lecturing the pilots on the advanced capabilities of the VF-5 Condor, VF-6 Alpha and theVF/B-9 Beta Veritechs. Currently she was reviewing the files of the many pilots that she had to get up to speed while managing to eat her own lunch.

There as a knock on her door. Turning her head from the computer she was working on she looked at the door and barked, "Enter!"

The door opened and a young tall woman entered the office, closing the door behind her. She appeared to be in her twenties with long green hair and green eyes. There was no mistaking the familial resemblance between Miriya and the young woman.

The young woman walked to face the Admiral across from her desk, snapped a salute and said, "Lieutenant Mylene Sterling reporting as ordered ma'am!"

Returning the salute Miriya said, "At ease, Lieutenant." The young woman shifted to a more relaxed position and Miriya resumed, "I've been reviewing your file and your combat record is impressive, seventeen confirmed Minbari kills and six unconfirmed. Well done Lieutenant."

The young Lieutenant replied, "Thank you ma'am."

"What I am not impressed with is your out of combat record. You've been on report twice, and you got into a bar fight on Earth while you were on liberty." She glared at the young woman. "Entirely unacceptable and I will not tolerate such behavior while you are under my command. Is that clear?"

Lieutenant Sterling replied with a salute and replied, "Yes, ma'am!"

Then a smile appeared on the Admiral's face as she said, "Off the record, I'm proud of you. You did what you had to do against that bigot. I have a few minutes so sit down Mylene and tell your great great grandmother how you've been doing. Then perhaps you'll tell me some war stories. I'm especially interested in your story of how you shot down the Minbari's top ace."

There was more lecture and instruction led by Miriya after lunch as she continued to go over the different Veritechs and how they handled differently from a Starfury that went into early evening. After dinner break she assembled the pilots in front of a large room.

Miriya looked them over then said, "We are still installing all the simulator pods and while I've been instructing you on the differences, technicians have been working hard to install the simulators and have managed to finish fifteen installing fifteen of them. I know it is not enough for a full squadron to use at one time but the technicians are working hard on getting the remaining simulators up and running. For now, this will have to do."

She looked the commander of one of the squadrons and said, "Commander Sinclair, select fifteen pilots from your Skull Squadron including yourself and proceed inside and each pilot take a pod."

Commander Jeffrey Sinclair, the squadron leader of Skull Squadron called out various flights from the twenty five people under his command and they all entered the simulator room a very large room that had stand alone pods set up in the room. All the pilots could see which pods were active and ready for a pilot to sit in and use and they could also see technicians working on setting up additional simulator pods.

As the pilots were climbing into the simulator pods Miriya led the remaining group to an observation room. There was a large hologram display in the center of the room and there were many computers and people in front of them. This was also acting as the simulator control center.

Mirya addressed the pilots in the observation room. "This is a training flight. As much as I love throwing my trainees into the deep end of the pool, that will not happen yet but it will happen soon enough. Watch and learn ladies and gentlemen."

Then she put on a headset and addressed the pilots in the simulator room. "Skull Squadron, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta flights this is a training exercise. You will take your simulated VF-6 Alphas and be launched out of a simulated Robotech warship, in this case a simulated Ikazuchi class cruiser. Once deployed you will proceed with a standard training flight. Listen to the commands from control and follow their instructions to the letter. During this mission, Guardian and Battloid modes are unavailable to you. Your training flight will begin in three, two, one, now."

The central hologram showed the fifteen Alpha Veritechs launch out of an Ikazuchi class cruiser and there were exclamations from several pilots over the launch sequence as they were deployed from the warship.

From there it was a standard training flight as the pilots were instructed on various flight courses and manuevers. Three of the pilots had some troubles with flight controls and one simulator pod crashed during the mission forcing the pilot to exit the pod so a technician could work on it and get it working again but was unable to do so.

Miriya would give out new orders to see how the pilots handled the Veritechs and was pleased with what she saw for the most part. Once the mission was complete she had the other half of Skull Squadron take over the simulator pods and repeated the mission.

Late into the evening the different squadrons were given simulator time on the simulators to start getting familiar in piloting a VF-6 Alpha. Skull was first, next was Viking Squadron, followed by Lightning Squadron, then Gray Wolves, and finally Grim Reapers. All of the pilots had a turn in a simulator pod and took part in the training flight. Most had no problems handling the simulated Veritech but there was a small minority that would need additional time to work things out.

Miriya was confident that she'd get everyone up to her standards and if not, she'd send them off to be reintegrated into another Starfury unit after having them sign a very strong NDA and impress that they were to reveal nothing of what they had been doing to anyone.

All the pilots were in their newly assigned quarters, resting or reading the flight manuals as the work was only going to start getting harder and Miriya was looking over her training plan for tomorrow when there was a knock on her office door.

Without looking she cried out, "Enter!"

The door opened and a woman entered and closed the door. Looking up, Miriya's eyes went wide in shock and surprise.

Miriya was looking at a woman who looked exactly like her with some slight differences in the hair style which was longer than Miriya's going all the way to the small of her back and a faded scar on her chin and right cheek.

Surprise faded from Miriya's face and she asked the smirking woman, "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Miriya stood up and walked around her desk.

The smirk changed to a full smile. "Ha! You know if they killed me I'd just be thrown back down here because I'd cause too much trouble up there. How've you been Miriya?"

The woman opened her arms out for a hug and the two women hugged briefly.

Emotions flashed across Miriya's face. A tear fell and Miriya wiped it off. "Komira, I...I thought they killed you at the battle of Sestus."

The Zentraedi woman called Komira smiled and placed her hand on Miriya's shoulder. "I made it to an escaping cruiser, the Apollo right before she jumped out. Took out six of those bastards before I had to run for it, they shot up my Starfury into pieces and I ended up in the hospital for a while. But, I lived and let me tell you that being declared dead is not fun. I had to argue and fight with so many people telling them that I was alive, then prove to the idiots that I WAS alive. I really don't recommend it."

Miriya punched Komira in the shoulder. "You should have called me!"

Komira rubbed her shoulder. "Ow! You don't need to hit me that hard! I just got out of the hospital, what are you trying to do, send me back?!"

Miriya threatened, "Don't tempt me! I'm glad you're here though, I am going to need your assistance."

Komria stepped backwards and brought up both hands, waving in a "nope, no way" gesture. "Sorry Admiral, this former Admiral got assigned a different task."

With an inquisitive look Miriya asked, "What do you mean? I'm just getting started getting these pilots trained in how to fly Veritechs, I'm supposed to be getting some help! What are you here for, what task are they having you do?"

Komria moved and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Miriya's desk and Miriya sat in the other. With a sigh Komria explained, "Well Admiral, this old Admiral got herself a job teaching ship crews the workings of a Robotech warship. I'm using the other half of this base that you're not using. I've been spending the day today getting a simulator ready to simulate an Ikazuchi class cruiser. It works...sort of. Damn thing keeps crashing after twenty minutes. I need to set up more of those Ikazuchi class simulators and then I have to set up simulators for an Eisenhower class battleship!"

Miriya looked at her clone counterpart with an arched eyebrow. "You're going to be teaching Robotech warship operaations and combat?" Miriya chuckled. "Better you than me, I prefer mecha combat."

Glaring at Miriya, Komira growled. "So do I! You got lucky, they almost picked you to do this job and give me the Veritech training." Miriya displayed an expression of "No Way!" on her face.

Nodding, Komira continued, "Yeah, I almost had your job but they saw that I was in command of the Eisenhower class battleship Agamemnon and Command gave me the job." She sighed and looked up at the ceiling and sighed again.

Miriya patted Komira on the shoulder. "Better you than me, I hated commanding a warship. You're much better at it than I am."

Komira looked at Miriya with a smirk again, "Seems that was one thing I was better at than you. You are the superior combat pilot Miriya, I admit it. Only took me a several centuries to do it."

Miriya was shocked. Never, ever since the two had emerged from the Robotech Masters's cloning chambers had Komira ever acknowledged that Miriya's piloting and combat skills were superior when piloting a mecha. The edge was very narrow, but Miriya always won when the two fought each other or were on the same task. This led to the two Zentraedi women having a long, long rivalry while they had been fighting under Azonia's command which continued well after the Rain of Death after Komira had undergone micronization so she could serve as an RDF pilot. The rivalry continued from there as they competed over kill streaks, number of kills and victories in battle against insurmountable odds. Eventually Komira was pulled out of a mecha pilot cockpit and was placed on the warship command track which she passed with flying colors and received command of her first warship, a Garfish light cruiser. Then she was promoted to an Ikazuchi cruiser command and finally an Eisenhower class battleship just before the war against the Haydonites. A war between man and machine that tore a galaxy apart.

Komira looked at her clone counterpart. "Shocked, eh? Good. I just wish I had a camera to take your picture right now."

Miriya shook her head. "Wait a second, you finally admit that I'm the better pilot? Who are you and what have you done with Komira?"

There was silence as the two Zentraedi women looked at each other then both women started laughing.

As the laughter subsided into giggling and finally chuckles Miriya gave a sad smile. "Took you long enough."

With a matching sad smile on her face Komira said, "I'm stubborn, what can I say. I think its a flaw in our genetic line."

"Mmmmm. Maybe.", Miriya acknowledged.

There was silence then Miriya asked, "So, have you received your first trainee crews yet?"

Komira shook her head, "No, not yet. I'm expecting my first group tomorrow. Hopefully by then my Ikazuchi simulator won't crash after twenty minutes of run time."

"Are you doing this alone?", asked Miriya.

"No, I'm supposed to get a couple other Zentraedi to help as well. They are on their way. What about you? Are you getting assistance?"

Nodding, Miriya replied, "Yes, they should be here in the morning."

"What have you heard about the mission to Pegasus?", asked Komira.

Miriya replied, "I know everything. The Achilles left the storage yard and right now they're working on getting her ready for the fold jump to Pegasus. The Aegis, Daedalus, and Maxwell are tagging along when the Achilles makes her fold jump."

Komira made a sound of "Mmmm." She looked up at the ceiling then looked at Miriya again and said, "Incredible isn't it? The war with the Minbari has caused us to resort to breaking out our Robotech ships and weapons again."

With a growl Miriya snarled, "We never should have locked them away to begin with. I argued against it, now look where we are. If we hadn't locked them away, the Dilgar War would have been much shorter and I can damn well guarantee that the Minbari would probably wanting to talk peace or we'd be on the offensive within their star systems instead of killing us all wholesale."

There was silence between the two women. Komira could see the pain and fury in Miriya's eyes.

Komira quietly said, "I'm sorry to hear about Dana, Miriya. She was a strong woman, a good mother, and a great warrior, even though she preferred fighting on the ground and not in the stars."

Miriya was silent. She wrestled with her emotions, getting them under control and nodded her head. "Thank you."

Komira reached out, took Miriya's hand and squeezed it, "Has there been any news of Maia?"

Miriya closed her eyes for couple seconds then opened them. "No, no news. She's still listed as 'Missing.' I'm hoping she made it off world or that she's somehow still alive on the colony but we can't spare to send a ship over there to see."

Komira nodded, "I see."

Miriya stood up and went to a drawer on her desk and pulled out a bottle along with two rocks glasses. She poured the fine liquor into each glass and passed one to Komira.

Raising her glass to Komira, Miriya said, "To absent family and friends."

Komira raised her glass and the two women brought their glasses together then the two women drank.

Gesturing with the glass in her hand she asked, "How did it go today?"

Miriya sat down in the chair again and tirled her hed left and right. "Mostly good, all the pilots that were picked have multiple kills against the Minbari. There were some pilots that had some issues in the simulator controlling the Alpha. I'll work it out of them, they're thinking the Veritech is the same as a Starfury." Miriya paused then added, "Mylene is among them."

Arching an eyebrow Komira looked intrigued. "Oh? I heard she has thirteen kills."

Miriya corrected her. "Seventeen. She took out that Ace of theirs over in Sector 94 and three of his wingmen."

Komira whistled. "Nice. She really is a chip off the old block."

Miriya stared into her now empty glass and stated, "Well, she's extremely motivated. They killed her boyfriend and his family as well as killing some of our family."

Komira growled, "Yes, yes they have. Are you going to return to the front lines when they return with the Factory and the fleet?"

Miriya nodded. "I've got a proposal that I want implemented when the Factory is operational." She reached over to her desk and picked up her tablet. She accessed it, opened a file then passed the tablet over to Komira who took it and looked at the file.

"Miriya, you want to rebuild the Queadlunn-Rau?!"

Shaking her head Miriya said, "No, I want to build a new improved model, one where a human sized pilot fits in it. I call it the Mark 2 but it's really more like the Mark 5 with all the changes I've made to the design. I've been working on it off and on over the last few decades just as a dream design project but with the Pegasus mission underway I have been more focused on my redesign efforts. Look it over, let me know what you think."

Komira looked at the design specs and the schematics that Miriya had worked on. Scrolling through the schematics, zooming in on certain parts of the mecha. She gave the tablet back to Miriya, looked at her and said, "I want to fly it. Right now."

With a feral smile Miriya said, "Me too. I'll cash in as many favors I need to in order to make this happen, but it will happen. A new, faster, deadlier, more powerful Queadlunn-Rau that will bring death to the Minbari and any future enemies. They will learn to fear us for once."

Matching Miriya's feral grin Komira said, "Hell, I'll take a reduction in rank to fly one of these. Better yet, get these built, then you and I form a new Quadranno squadron."

Mirya's smile didn't fade. "I'm tempted. There are six of us from the same cloning batch left. When I get them built, I'll ask them if they want to fly with me once more. If they do, I'll call you and we will do it."

Nodding her head Komira said, "Excellent, I look forward to your call." Komira stood up and stretched. "Well, I thank you for the drink Admiral but I need to get back and see if the technicians have got my simulator working properly."

Miriya stood up as well. "I have work of my own to return to. I'm glad you're here. Now I have more motivation to train my people to be better than you." Miriya was smirking at Komira.

Komira glared at Miriya and punched Miriya in the shoulder. "You're such a bitch." Miriya didn't react.

Miriya looked around the room saying, "What was that? Was that a punch?"

Scowling, Komira growled, "Har, har." She started walking out of the room and stopped at the door and turned around to look at Miriya. "Good luck Miriya."

Miriya responded, "Good luck to you as well Komira."

Komria left the office, closing the door behind her and Miriya returned to her desk to continue her planning for the future days and weeks ahead.

EAS Achilles

Captain Sheridan's Ready Room

It was late in the afternoon when Captain John Sheridan returned to his ready room after being on the bridge for the last few hours so he could get ready for a video conference with the Captains of the Aegis, Daedalus, and Maxwell to discuss how they and their ships were doing in making the preparations for the journey to the Pegasus galaxy.

The old computer that had been in his ready room when he first arrived had now been replaced with a modern machine. Now he was using it to set up his video conference. He had a few minutes so he took advantage of going to the ship's mess and grabbing a cup of coffee. He made sure to wave or to say a few words to those he encountered on the way to the ship's mess and on his way back. Checking his watch he sat down at his desk and activated his video comm and waited for the other captains to join him.

He didn't have to wait very long as each Captain soon joined into the conference link and soon he was looking at the three Captains that would be going with him to the Pegasus galaxy.

John got right to business. "My fellow Captains, I won't be wasting your time. I need to know how your ships are looking, if you've received all the personnel that are being assigned to your ships or expecting more. Do you have all your supplies? Are there any issues I need to know about?"

The Captain of the Aegis, Kania Jiina a Zentraedi woman that was just over six feet tall with violet hair just above the shoulder was first to speak. My ship is still receiving people and I've been informed that the last arrivals will be tomorrow after 1200 hours. As for my ship, the Aegis is ready. All systems are green sir but we are still receiving supplies from Logistics Command. According to my XO, the last supply shuttle should arrive tomorrow by 1800 hours."

Captain Ben Richards, a tall thin human man with brown hair and brown eyes was the Captain of the Maxwell. He began his report. "My ship is ready sir as far as her systems go. We are still receiving people and supplies as well. We should be receiving the last group of people by 0800 hours tomorrow and our last supply shuttle should be by 1500 hours tomorrow sir."

Captain Thar of the Hyperion cruiser Daedalus was a very tall bulky Zentraedi man with close cropped blue hair and blue eyes. The man's voice was very deep and low, and rumbled as he talked. "All systems are green. We expect our last arrivals of personnel by 1100 hours and our last supply shuttle by 1600 hours."

Captain Sheridan was making notes of the Captain's estimates then he asked, "Are there any issues?"

The Captains were quiet for a few seconds before Captain Jiina cleared her throat and said, "I think I can speak for my fellow Captains that the main issue we're having is where to put all the people we're getting. While we have had our Marine detachments cut by two thirds and that helps for finding some room for the extra people, we're still having problems with that and all the extra people are wondering what is going on."

Captain Sheridan leaned backwards into his chair then leaned forward and tapped the desk. "I'm having the same problem with finding room for everyone just like you. This journey is going to be a quick one, the hard part is the preparations. I don't care if we have to resort to having people sleeping on the ceilings when off duty, or having the crew share their bunks with the extra people. We're just going to have to endure."

Taking a breath and letting it out, Captain Sheridan continued, "It's good that your ships are in good order and ready, mine is another story. We're still getting all of our weapons online. Engineering systems are good, the fold system has checked out, and life support system is fully functional. My people have told me that everything should be ready for a test cruise by the day after tomorrow at the latest but I'm hoping for sooner. Once our test cruise is complete we will make the fold jump to Pegasus and get this mission under way."

Taking a brief pause to drink from his coffee cup John continued, "Now, given the nature of this mission and the Top Secret status I was planning on informing my crew some time after the final load of crew personnel arrives some time tomorrow. After giving it some thought, I think I will make it an address to this entire task force and so I'll make that announcement just before our departure to the Pegasus galaxy. In the meantime, do not inform your crews and I'm ordering a black out on crew messages back home temporarily due to the importance of this mission."

Captain Richards chimed in, "They won't like not being able to call home sir."

Captain Sheridan sighed, "Can't be helped. This mission is from the President of the Earth Alliance. We can't have the people finding out about it until the President makes the announcement and that announcement will not happen until our return from Pegasus with the Factory and the fleet."

He looked at the three Captains and they nodded their heads. "After you receive your last supplies, go over everything and make sure you have everything you need. I will need that final list of what's needed no later than 1600 tomorrow."

All the Captains responded, "Aye sir."

John clapped his hands once. "Alright, if there's nothing else, let's get back to work, if you need me for anything, you contact me."

The Captains disconnected from the video conference and John did as well. Now he looked at the pile of paperwork that had magically appeared while he had been on the bridge. With a sigh he grabbed the top of the pile and started on the administrative side of getting his mission going.

Author Note: Here, have some more of this Robotech/Babylon 5 crossover. Hope you all like it.