A welcome home party was cut short for the retrieved Hikaru and his rescuers, Misa, Max, and Ben. As Hikaru drifted in space for a retrieval team, he was brought aboard an alien ship. On pursuit of his locating beacon were Misa and his two other allies who found themselves equally captured by these giant sized aliens. They had spent nearly a week on this ship and the Macross gambled on their safe return by remaining in Mars' orbit just a little longer. The tale of their escape was fantastic; aside from disgusting the aliens by showing that male and female can coexist, Max had managed to escape from his cell. He came across a storage space where the aliens were overlooking his Valkyrie. With no one in this space at the time he converted to battroid mode, found a guard, took him out and wore his uniform to sneak around the ship so that he could find Hikaru and the others and get out of here. But this wouldn't be a walk through the park, as soon as they found the hangar bay they were discovered by a group of guards. There was a shoot out and Max managed to hold them off long enough to sneak away in an alien escape pod which launched them out into space. Max signaled for help by activating his homing beacon on his Valkyrie and waited with his friends in the stillness of space when they were finally rescued.
That was this morning, and now, a very large fleet of alien vessels were coming into position. This fleet is enormous and it blocked out the sky.
Breetai was summoned to Dolza's flagship.
"How could you allow these microninas to escape," Dolza asked, obviously suppressing rage.
"My lord, these micronians are crafty, they had overwhelmed the guards," but Breetai was cut off.
"Why were they not terminated," Dolza asked.
"I see no point in that, my lord, we are beginning to learn a lot from these aliens. Our spies aboard the ship have been sending us information daily and we have managed to decipher most of their language. When we were interviewing the prisoners we learned so much more. I feel that we have only begun in learning about this species and I would like to find out more," Breetai stated.
"Impossible. You sound like you sympathize with your enemy. Explain yourself," Dolza demanded as he stared out into the distance where the single ship hung in orbit of this planet.
"I have plenty to go on here that might prove the existence to a life that existed before our own. We might have come across the Creators' first attempt at creation," Breetai spoke out at length, carefully choosing his words.
Dolza spun around to face his favorite High Commander who had averted his gaze from him. This had surprised Dolza greatly, he thought that he would never hear Breetai confess to such a thing.
"What you are saying is blasphemous," Dolza began, "you speak of heresy. I would never had thought our High Commander is a worshipper of Protoculture."
"I never said that these micronians are related to Protoculture, I just feel that the Creators' had made a life form to base our creation on. We are still pure, we have been made so. We are not savages like these aliens," Breetai stumbled.
"Breetai, I suggest that you say no more. If you want redemption than I suggest you prove yourself to me on the battlefield. The Creators were benevolent enough to send along with me the remainder of your fleet and your sister flagship, I suggest that we destroy that rogue ship once and for all," Dolza ordered as he leaned in with eyes alit with fire. Breetai remained still and stared back into his superior's gaze, unflinching.
"Destroy the ship, but we fought so long and hard to retrieve it," Breetai added.
"You, Breetai, have been responsible for allowing the ship to evade you four times already. We can not afford any more slip ups. Besides, we know now that these micronians are indeed dangerous and a threat to the Empire. It is by order of the Creators that we destroy the ship and thus destroying the impending threat of a micronian takeover," Dolza concluded.
"Very well, my lord," Breetai said and left.
In the gangway outside of Dolza's ready room was Breetai's counterpart, Exedore.
"Well, my lord, what's to be done," Exedore asked as the two moved along.
"The last of my fleet is here with Dolza's armada. I must lead my Zentran into battle and destroy the ship to redeem myself," Breetai said.
Exedore cocked his head up in a means to learn more, "Redemption, my lord?"
Breetai stood his grounds and looked around. He allowed an officer to walk by and then he bent over to Exedore and began whispering, "I am guilty of the crime of heresy."
"My lord, no," Exedore pleaded. He did not want to hear or believe such a thing.
"It's true, I do believe these micronians are a lot more than they appear to be. We may even find our origins through them, but we will never know if we are to destroy them," Breetai added.
"Do you believe in Protoculture, my lord," Exedore asked.
Breetai's silence answered Exedoe's question.
"Breetai," Exedore said, using his superior's name for the first time, "we must get to my chamber aboard Azonia's ship, I have some things you might want to look over," the twisted hunchback sounded like a clone of his age finally. Instead of being obedient and submissive, this elderly clone used his voice with some authority.
Breetai did not question the elder Zentran and made their way to the hangar bay to take their shuttle back to Azonia's ship.
Dave stood in attention with all of the other pilots. Gloval had been making a speech and its groundwork was very grim.
"Men, as I look out upon all of you I see the most courageous and equally cursed lot ever," he began, "none of us knew that we would be going to war with an alien race. None of use expected to be tossed out to the ends of our solar system, and none of use expected Sara to be destroyed. As we stand here now we are reminded of our past battles. Friends and family members have died. Some of you will die as well. But it is in knowing your own mortality that you see your own worth and I will entrust each and every one of you to be so courageous enough, so bold enough, so damn good enough to look down the barrel of the enemy's cannon and feel no fear and say to yourself that you had died performing the best that you could or you will die knowing that you had lied to yourself if you went out there today a coward on this, our last mission together as we all enter oblivion. So take a good look at one another and remember and cherish this last moment together for in a short while I will ask everyone to man their appropriate station and give these aliens a taste of what we as human beings can do in our finest hour."
And with that said and done, Captain Bruno J. Gloval walked away towards the bridge to leave his crew behind to do as he said. The all looked around and they all saw dead men staring back at each other. In this final moment before the glorious storm all past fouls to one another had diminished. These men were all brother to one another in that final moment of mortality.
Exedore allowed Breetai into his small chamber aboard Azonia's ship. Here he removed a pannel from the floor and reached under. With some minor difficulty he managed to retrieve something from its hiding place. It was a small and simple looking box. Breetai watched as his partner sat it on a desk and opened it.
"This is my entire life's work," Exedore added as he stepped aside for Breetai.
The larger cycloptic giant stepped up to the desk and looked into the box and found parchment within it. Lots of parchment, old parchment.
"What is this," Breetai asked as he removed a sheet and read it to himself, "Cycle two thousand. These our my findings on the Protoculture mythology. Today I have seen another Zentran be put to death for heresy. I have reason to believe that the Marduk is trying to hide something of their past from us. A very small lot of us free thinkers among the Empire have questioned our predecessors. Where did the first gene come from which we were then cloned off of?"
"These are collections of heretical essays I have collected over the years. I too am a believer in Protoculture. However, I am not overly zealous or a religious fanatic, I still believe in our Creators', I just feel that we had to have start from somewhere. After all, you can trace your cloning number to your forefather, Breetai one. What came before one? Where did our genetic code come from? Are we the descendants of Protoculture and are these micronians the answers we are looking for," Exedore posed.
"The micronians do share a very close similarity with us. They have Zentran and Meltran among their ranks. They are more savage. They are chaotic. They coexist. It is unbelievable. And that gesture the two had perform for us, this 'kiss.' This is all too much to pass off as unimportant," Breetai added.
"And yet we are suppose to destroy what may very well be our answers to where we started from," Exedore added, "very convenient that our Creators would order such an attack."
"You are accusing our Creators of conspiracy," Breetai asked.
"Indeed I am, what better way to keep us in line than to separate us from them. Could you imagine it, Breetai, we could have been just like these micronians. We could be savage and undisciplined and not have known about the Empire our any of what we know today," Exedore concluded.
Breetai furrowed his brow and thought hard for what seemed like an eternity. His entire belief system has been exposed for what it is, a means to control the Zentraedi masses. They weren't just warriors, they were mindless pawns to the Creators. The Zentraedi have always done the dirty work of their Creators; they have gone to war, they have conquered entire solar systems, they have been called on to retrieve a single vessel that was one the prize of the Empire, and now they are being called on their services once more to destroy the ship and thus destroy the only link they have to their origins.
"Come Exedore, my fleet awaits," Breetai finally said with some authority behind his voice. Exedore's face showed a look of loss.
The armada remained still and surrounded the Macross. Every man and woman in service waited there for their number to be up. The final showdown has come. How unfair this was, Earth is not that far away. If they really tried they could be home in less than a week. But now the entire crew of the SDF Macross remain deathly silent as they face their opponent for their last time.
Dave felt his mortal coil slough off as soon as his Valkyrie was launched into space along with the rest of Vermillion squad. There is no turning back now.
Dave remembered the good times he had while in the service of the UN Spacy. He remembered boot camp, Max and Ben. His friends Luke and Kelly. His one love, Mimi. And his new friendship with the talented and young Minmei. He felt a heaviness fall over his chest as he felt that Minmei's end has come. She will not be able to sing her sweet songs to anybody ever again. This had forced Dave to choke up a little but he would not let a tear spill from his eyes. Instead he turned all of this sorrow and loss into the fuel he would need to go to war one last time.
The com lines were silent, except for the few orders and responses that followed. Other than that, no one said a thing to each other. The squadrons of Valkyries hung in space like ghosts.
"So, this is how it ends," Dave said to himself, "dying in space, thousands of miles away from home."
"Okay men, here they come," the wing commander said over the com lines.
Up ahead a black cloud of alien fighters swarmed out from the fleets. There are so many of them and that overwhelmed many of the Macross' pilots.
Dave forced his mind to go silent as he charged his Valkyrie up into the fray. He gave a cry and over the com lines every other pilot joined him in a battle cry. Everyone yelled until they could yell no more.
Breetai sat on his captains chair aboard his other flagship. Exedore remained silently by his side, refusing to watch the massacre. The only thing that kept Exedore from saying a word is that Breetai had yet to order his pilots to attack. His warriors remained in the hangars of his large ship and he just sat there, looking at the view screen.
"Helms, bring our ship up, I want to be in position with the ship," Breetai ordered.
The gigantic vessel lurched its way from the rest of the armada and drew itself closer to the Macross.
The com line came to life and Breetai insisted on putting its speaker on the view screen, it was Kamjin.
"Lord Breetai, why have you not sent any of your fighters out," he asked with slight rage behind his voice.
"Warlord, you too belong to my fleet, I do not want anyone to attack the ship," Breetai said.
Exedore was alarmed by this news and he found himself smiling.
"Retrieve your fighters or so help me I will recall them for you," Breetai said.
"This is madness, I will inform Lord Dolza of your insubordinance," Kamjin cried out.
"You have your orders, Warlord, recall your fighters," Breetai said once more.
"Never," Kamjin shouted and his image faded away from the screen as he broke of communications.
Breetai looked over his panels and found his finger on the recall button. Once he presses on this every fighter in his fleet will automatically return to their hangars. He thought this over and thought of the consequences of opposing the Empire and then he decided that it was for the best and pushed the button. Kamjin and his fellow fighters were brought back to their appropriate ships as well as Azonia's fighters.
"Lord Breetai," Azonia said over the com screen, "check your ship for malfunctions, my fighters an I are being recalled to our ships."
"Azonia, be silent," Breetai ordered and ended his communications. He then blocked all incoming messages from the rest of the armada.
At this time his bridge crew was nearly up in arms.
"I am High Commander of this fleet, if anyone dare opposes me I will send them to their resting places early, if you do not then you shall live to see another day," Breetai began, "I oppose Dolza's orders to destroy that vessel, instead I want this bloodshed to end. We have lost to these micronians too many times because of the power they possess, not only with that ship, but in their ferocity. I will not open fire on these micronians for they are Protoculture."
At this time the entire bridge was awhisper with the talk of Protoculture. Many closet believers found themselves siding with Breetai where as those who did not believe spoke ill against their High Commander's decision.
"Zentran, what say you, are you with me," Breetai asked of his bridge crew.
One by one the officers showed their support. Then all of them were won over. And soon the entire flagship.
"Good, now open a com line with the ship. Our micronized spies have informed me that they have broken into the ships communications," Breetai ordered.
"This is Cadet Monroe of Vermillion squadron of the SDF Macross, over," came over the Macross' bridge.
"Cadet Monroe, what is it," Misa asked.
The recording ended and there was some silence.
"Cadet Monroe, are you there," she asked once more.
"Greetings, this is High Commander Breetai," Breetai's voice came over the com line. Misa was agasped as she recognized the voice of the giant sized alien with the cybernetic eye. He was like a nightmare, so inquisitive, so prodding.
"Do you hear me," he asked once more. The entire bridge looked around and then looked for the captain for directions.
"This is Captain Bruno J. Gloval of the SDF Macross, we hear you," the captain said.
"Captain Bruno J. Gloval, I am done fighting but I do not speak for the rest of the armada. I have recalled my fleet's fighters and I am willing to let you return home," Breetai answered.
Gloval was stunned. The rest of the bridge was frozen as they heard the alien set them free from battle. But there had to be a catch. Perhaps this is a trap.
"High Commander," Gloval began, "why are you allowing this. Why let us go?"
"You are Protoculture," Breetai answered.
Protoculture, those words made little sense as to why the aliens would allow the Macross to evade them once more. Gloval was unsure at the alien's angle. What is Protoculture.
"Protoculture, High Commander, can you expand on that," Gloval asked.
"You are us. You are the first. You are Protoculture," Breetai answered.
This still brought little explanation to Gloval but this didn't sound too important to him. What was important to him was waht assurance does the crew have that they can return home without any harm or future attack.
"I don't like this, sir," Misa added.
"Neither do I Lieutenant," Gloval added.
"You do not believe me," Breetai asked after moments of silence.
"It's not that we don't believe you, High Commander, we seek proof. We have spent all this time at war with one another, why stop now," Gloval asked.
"You are Protoculture," Breetai answered once more.
"What is Protoculture, we don't understand," Gloval asked once more.
There was silence over the com line and then there was a sweet sound. It was singing, Minmei's singing. The aliens had recorded Minmei's performance at the Miss Macross pageant somehow. The sweet song filled the entire bridge and her words were soothing, comforting.
"Protoculture," Breetai added, "you have what we do not. You are the first. You are Protoculture."
Gloval looked towards Misa for help on this subject. He still could not figure out this miscommunication. This could be a legitimate armistice but then again this could be a trick. This word Protoculture made little sense to Gloval. From his understanding of the word, proto is Latin for first and culture means just that. Are these aliens trying to identify humans as being the first life forms?
"Lieutenant, can you come up with anything," Gloval asked Misa.
"It seems as if they think we're something important. This Protoculture must be a reflection of humanity somehow. When I was abaord their ship they were astonished that men and women coexist and need each other. It's possible that we have something that they do not. Protoculture, maybe," Misa said.
Gloval nodded his head. He had the same suspicions.
"Breetai, we will take your offer, but what assurance do we have that we will not be harmed once we leave," Gloval asked.
There was silence at first.
"I will protect Protoculture," Breetai said.
That was this morning, and now, a very large fleet of alien vessels were coming into position. This fleet is enormous and it blocked out the sky.
Breetai was summoned to Dolza's flagship.
"How could you allow these microninas to escape," Dolza asked, obviously suppressing rage.
"My lord, these micronians are crafty, they had overwhelmed the guards," but Breetai was cut off.
"Why were they not terminated," Dolza asked.
"I see no point in that, my lord, we are beginning to learn a lot from these aliens. Our spies aboard the ship have been sending us information daily and we have managed to decipher most of their language. When we were interviewing the prisoners we learned so much more. I feel that we have only begun in learning about this species and I would like to find out more," Breetai stated.
"Impossible. You sound like you sympathize with your enemy. Explain yourself," Dolza demanded as he stared out into the distance where the single ship hung in orbit of this planet.
"I have plenty to go on here that might prove the existence to a life that existed before our own. We might have come across the Creators' first attempt at creation," Breetai spoke out at length, carefully choosing his words.
Dolza spun around to face his favorite High Commander who had averted his gaze from him. This had surprised Dolza greatly, he thought that he would never hear Breetai confess to such a thing.
"What you are saying is blasphemous," Dolza began, "you speak of heresy. I would never had thought our High Commander is a worshipper of Protoculture."
"I never said that these micronians are related to Protoculture, I just feel that the Creators' had made a life form to base our creation on. We are still pure, we have been made so. We are not savages like these aliens," Breetai stumbled.
"Breetai, I suggest that you say no more. If you want redemption than I suggest you prove yourself to me on the battlefield. The Creators were benevolent enough to send along with me the remainder of your fleet and your sister flagship, I suggest that we destroy that rogue ship once and for all," Dolza ordered as he leaned in with eyes alit with fire. Breetai remained still and stared back into his superior's gaze, unflinching.
"Destroy the ship, but we fought so long and hard to retrieve it," Breetai added.
"You, Breetai, have been responsible for allowing the ship to evade you four times already. We can not afford any more slip ups. Besides, we know now that these micronians are indeed dangerous and a threat to the Empire. It is by order of the Creators that we destroy the ship and thus destroying the impending threat of a micronian takeover," Dolza concluded.
"Very well, my lord," Breetai said and left.
In the gangway outside of Dolza's ready room was Breetai's counterpart, Exedore.
"Well, my lord, what's to be done," Exedore asked as the two moved along.
"The last of my fleet is here with Dolza's armada. I must lead my Zentran into battle and destroy the ship to redeem myself," Breetai said.
Exedore cocked his head up in a means to learn more, "Redemption, my lord?"
Breetai stood his grounds and looked around. He allowed an officer to walk by and then he bent over to Exedore and began whispering, "I am guilty of the crime of heresy."
"My lord, no," Exedore pleaded. He did not want to hear or believe such a thing.
"It's true, I do believe these micronians are a lot more than they appear to be. We may even find our origins through them, but we will never know if we are to destroy them," Breetai added.
"Do you believe in Protoculture, my lord," Exedore asked.
Breetai's silence answered Exedoe's question.
"Breetai," Exedore said, using his superior's name for the first time, "we must get to my chamber aboard Azonia's ship, I have some things you might want to look over," the twisted hunchback sounded like a clone of his age finally. Instead of being obedient and submissive, this elderly clone used his voice with some authority.
Breetai did not question the elder Zentran and made their way to the hangar bay to take their shuttle back to Azonia's ship.
Dave stood in attention with all of the other pilots. Gloval had been making a speech and its groundwork was very grim.
"Men, as I look out upon all of you I see the most courageous and equally cursed lot ever," he began, "none of us knew that we would be going to war with an alien race. None of use expected to be tossed out to the ends of our solar system, and none of use expected Sara to be destroyed. As we stand here now we are reminded of our past battles. Friends and family members have died. Some of you will die as well. But it is in knowing your own mortality that you see your own worth and I will entrust each and every one of you to be so courageous enough, so bold enough, so damn good enough to look down the barrel of the enemy's cannon and feel no fear and say to yourself that you had died performing the best that you could or you will die knowing that you had lied to yourself if you went out there today a coward on this, our last mission together as we all enter oblivion. So take a good look at one another and remember and cherish this last moment together for in a short while I will ask everyone to man their appropriate station and give these aliens a taste of what we as human beings can do in our finest hour."
And with that said and done, Captain Bruno J. Gloval walked away towards the bridge to leave his crew behind to do as he said. The all looked around and they all saw dead men staring back at each other. In this final moment before the glorious storm all past fouls to one another had diminished. These men were all brother to one another in that final moment of mortality.
Exedore allowed Breetai into his small chamber aboard Azonia's ship. Here he removed a pannel from the floor and reached under. With some minor difficulty he managed to retrieve something from its hiding place. It was a small and simple looking box. Breetai watched as his partner sat it on a desk and opened it.
"This is my entire life's work," Exedore added as he stepped aside for Breetai.
The larger cycloptic giant stepped up to the desk and looked into the box and found parchment within it. Lots of parchment, old parchment.
"What is this," Breetai asked as he removed a sheet and read it to himself, "Cycle two thousand. These our my findings on the Protoculture mythology. Today I have seen another Zentran be put to death for heresy. I have reason to believe that the Marduk is trying to hide something of their past from us. A very small lot of us free thinkers among the Empire have questioned our predecessors. Where did the first gene come from which we were then cloned off of?"
"These are collections of heretical essays I have collected over the years. I too am a believer in Protoculture. However, I am not overly zealous or a religious fanatic, I still believe in our Creators', I just feel that we had to have start from somewhere. After all, you can trace your cloning number to your forefather, Breetai one. What came before one? Where did our genetic code come from? Are we the descendants of Protoculture and are these micronians the answers we are looking for," Exedore posed.
"The micronians do share a very close similarity with us. They have Zentran and Meltran among their ranks. They are more savage. They are chaotic. They coexist. It is unbelievable. And that gesture the two had perform for us, this 'kiss.' This is all too much to pass off as unimportant," Breetai added.
"And yet we are suppose to destroy what may very well be our answers to where we started from," Exedore added, "very convenient that our Creators would order such an attack."
"You are accusing our Creators of conspiracy," Breetai asked.
"Indeed I am, what better way to keep us in line than to separate us from them. Could you imagine it, Breetai, we could have been just like these micronians. We could be savage and undisciplined and not have known about the Empire our any of what we know today," Exedore concluded.
Breetai furrowed his brow and thought hard for what seemed like an eternity. His entire belief system has been exposed for what it is, a means to control the Zentraedi masses. They weren't just warriors, they were mindless pawns to the Creators. The Zentraedi have always done the dirty work of their Creators; they have gone to war, they have conquered entire solar systems, they have been called on to retrieve a single vessel that was one the prize of the Empire, and now they are being called on their services once more to destroy the ship and thus destroy the only link they have to their origins.
"Come Exedore, my fleet awaits," Breetai finally said with some authority behind his voice. Exedore's face showed a look of loss.
The armada remained still and surrounded the Macross. Every man and woman in service waited there for their number to be up. The final showdown has come. How unfair this was, Earth is not that far away. If they really tried they could be home in less than a week. But now the entire crew of the SDF Macross remain deathly silent as they face their opponent for their last time.
Dave felt his mortal coil slough off as soon as his Valkyrie was launched into space along with the rest of Vermillion squad. There is no turning back now.
Dave remembered the good times he had while in the service of the UN Spacy. He remembered boot camp, Max and Ben. His friends Luke and Kelly. His one love, Mimi. And his new friendship with the talented and young Minmei. He felt a heaviness fall over his chest as he felt that Minmei's end has come. She will not be able to sing her sweet songs to anybody ever again. This had forced Dave to choke up a little but he would not let a tear spill from his eyes. Instead he turned all of this sorrow and loss into the fuel he would need to go to war one last time.
The com lines were silent, except for the few orders and responses that followed. Other than that, no one said a thing to each other. The squadrons of Valkyries hung in space like ghosts.
"So, this is how it ends," Dave said to himself, "dying in space, thousands of miles away from home."
"Okay men, here they come," the wing commander said over the com lines.
Up ahead a black cloud of alien fighters swarmed out from the fleets. There are so many of them and that overwhelmed many of the Macross' pilots.
Dave forced his mind to go silent as he charged his Valkyrie up into the fray. He gave a cry and over the com lines every other pilot joined him in a battle cry. Everyone yelled until they could yell no more.
Breetai sat on his captains chair aboard his other flagship. Exedore remained silently by his side, refusing to watch the massacre. The only thing that kept Exedore from saying a word is that Breetai had yet to order his pilots to attack. His warriors remained in the hangars of his large ship and he just sat there, looking at the view screen.
"Helms, bring our ship up, I want to be in position with the ship," Breetai ordered.
The gigantic vessel lurched its way from the rest of the armada and drew itself closer to the Macross.
The com line came to life and Breetai insisted on putting its speaker on the view screen, it was Kamjin.
"Lord Breetai, why have you not sent any of your fighters out," he asked with slight rage behind his voice.
"Warlord, you too belong to my fleet, I do not want anyone to attack the ship," Breetai said.
Exedore was alarmed by this news and he found himself smiling.
"Retrieve your fighters or so help me I will recall them for you," Breetai said.
"This is madness, I will inform Lord Dolza of your insubordinance," Kamjin cried out.
"You have your orders, Warlord, recall your fighters," Breetai said once more.
"Never," Kamjin shouted and his image faded away from the screen as he broke of communications.
Breetai looked over his panels and found his finger on the recall button. Once he presses on this every fighter in his fleet will automatically return to their hangars. He thought this over and thought of the consequences of opposing the Empire and then he decided that it was for the best and pushed the button. Kamjin and his fellow fighters were brought back to their appropriate ships as well as Azonia's fighters.
"Lord Breetai," Azonia said over the com screen, "check your ship for malfunctions, my fighters an I are being recalled to our ships."
"Azonia, be silent," Breetai ordered and ended his communications. He then blocked all incoming messages from the rest of the armada.
At this time his bridge crew was nearly up in arms.
"I am High Commander of this fleet, if anyone dare opposes me I will send them to their resting places early, if you do not then you shall live to see another day," Breetai began, "I oppose Dolza's orders to destroy that vessel, instead I want this bloodshed to end. We have lost to these micronians too many times because of the power they possess, not only with that ship, but in their ferocity. I will not open fire on these micronians for they are Protoculture."
At this time the entire bridge was awhisper with the talk of Protoculture. Many closet believers found themselves siding with Breetai where as those who did not believe spoke ill against their High Commander's decision.
"Zentran, what say you, are you with me," Breetai asked of his bridge crew.
One by one the officers showed their support. Then all of them were won over. And soon the entire flagship.
"Good, now open a com line with the ship. Our micronized spies have informed me that they have broken into the ships communications," Breetai ordered.
"This is Cadet Monroe of Vermillion squadron of the SDF Macross, over," came over the Macross' bridge.
"Cadet Monroe, what is it," Misa asked.
The recording ended and there was some silence.
"Cadet Monroe, are you there," she asked once more.
"Greetings, this is High Commander Breetai," Breetai's voice came over the com line. Misa was agasped as she recognized the voice of the giant sized alien with the cybernetic eye. He was like a nightmare, so inquisitive, so prodding.
"Do you hear me," he asked once more. The entire bridge looked around and then looked for the captain for directions.
"This is Captain Bruno J. Gloval of the SDF Macross, we hear you," the captain said.
"Captain Bruno J. Gloval, I am done fighting but I do not speak for the rest of the armada. I have recalled my fleet's fighters and I am willing to let you return home," Breetai answered.
Gloval was stunned. The rest of the bridge was frozen as they heard the alien set them free from battle. But there had to be a catch. Perhaps this is a trap.
"High Commander," Gloval began, "why are you allowing this. Why let us go?"
"You are Protoculture," Breetai answered.
Protoculture, those words made little sense as to why the aliens would allow the Macross to evade them once more. Gloval was unsure at the alien's angle. What is Protoculture.
"Protoculture, High Commander, can you expand on that," Gloval asked.
"You are us. You are the first. You are Protoculture," Breetai answered.
This still brought little explanation to Gloval but this didn't sound too important to him. What was important to him was waht assurance does the crew have that they can return home without any harm or future attack.
"I don't like this, sir," Misa added.
"Neither do I Lieutenant," Gloval added.
"You do not believe me," Breetai asked after moments of silence.
"It's not that we don't believe you, High Commander, we seek proof. We have spent all this time at war with one another, why stop now," Gloval asked.
"You are Protoculture," Breetai answered once more.
"What is Protoculture, we don't understand," Gloval asked once more.
There was silence over the com line and then there was a sweet sound. It was singing, Minmei's singing. The aliens had recorded Minmei's performance at the Miss Macross pageant somehow. The sweet song filled the entire bridge and her words were soothing, comforting.
"Protoculture," Breetai added, "you have what we do not. You are the first. You are Protoculture."
Gloval looked towards Misa for help on this subject. He still could not figure out this miscommunication. This could be a legitimate armistice but then again this could be a trick. This word Protoculture made little sense to Gloval. From his understanding of the word, proto is Latin for first and culture means just that. Are these aliens trying to identify humans as being the first life forms?
"Lieutenant, can you come up with anything," Gloval asked Misa.
"It seems as if they think we're something important. This Protoculture must be a reflection of humanity somehow. When I was abaord their ship they were astonished that men and women coexist and need each other. It's possible that we have something that they do not. Protoculture, maybe," Misa said.
Gloval nodded his head. He had the same suspicions.
"Breetai, we will take your offer, but what assurance do we have that we will not be harmed once we leave," Gloval asked.
There was silence at first.
"I will protect Protoculture," Breetai said.