Macross II
By Chris Flaherty
"That's forty-eight so far!" screamed Rick. "Huh?" he caught another enemy in the corner of his eye. "You aren't getting away!" He spun his veritech around to fire at the ship, destroying it. "Incoming missiles at two-o- clock!" warned his radar. "Better go to fighter mode!" He flipped a switch, and the robot went from a humanoid form to the form of a fighter jet. "Now I can really maneuver!" he screamed.
VROOOOOM! "Thirty missiles! This is gonna be a tough one!" He clenched his teeth and throttled it, going against the missiles at an angle.
WHOOOSH-WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!!
He rushed past the missiles, twisting and spinning to dodge them as they came his way. He transformed back into his battloid mode and flew down as soon as he saw fire coming at him. He quickly maneuvered between the bullets, then boosted higher into the air, in front of the sun. While his enemy was blinded by the glare, he launched his micro missiles at the enemy ship, finishing it off. "And that makes fifty!" Rick laughed.
"Nice job lieutenant, the simulation is over." Said the simulator operator. "Please wait one minute while the computer processes your results." She smiled and started punching things into the computer.
"That wasn't too bad," commented Rick. "Next time give me one with a few more enemies, alright?" Asked Rick.
"Yes sir, if that is what you request." She replied "Oh look at this it says you just made the record on this level sir. Congratulations. Here are the readouts on the mission with your performance statistics." She handed him a sheet of paper filled with numbers and percentages.
"Thanks," said Rick. "But I'm supposed to meet the Colonel in the mess hall in ten minutes, so I'll have to be going now. I'll see you later." Rick walked out the door and down the hall towards the mess hall. He stopped in front of the window to look into outer space. "Wow. What a sight." he said. "I never thought I would be this close to Mars." He watched the huge mass of red rock and dust sit there, motionless. Rick Hunter was a twenty-two year old man with exceptional piloting abilities. He had been in the military for eight years now, and was the top pilot on the Dimensional Fortress Macross. He was a handsome man with brown eyes and brown hair.
"Lieutenant Hunter!" a voice boomed from the P.A. "What's taking you so long?! You were supposed to be in the mess hall ten minutes ago!" Rick looked at his watch. He had been watching Mars for twenty minutes and lost track of the time. He got up and ran down the hall, running into the mess hall.
"What on Earth. Er. In space," he corrected himself, "were you doing all this time?" Questioned Colonel Brite. "We won't tolerate your incompetence, Hunter." "I'm sorry sir! I was walking here but I stopped to look at Mars and I didn't realize what time it was!" Apologized Rick. "Alright, just sit down." Said the Colonel. "Now what I called you here to talk about is a very serious matter. Our intelligence has picked up several ships in the orbit of Mars, and when we sent a pilot to investigate, the pilot was shot down." said the Colonel calmly.
The other man at the table spoke up, "And now they are saying that there is a fleet of ships approaching us." His name was Max Sterling, Rick's dear friend and ace pilot, who had married Miriya, the Zentraedi warrior, years ago. He never seemed capable of getting angry, so he never lost his temper. He was a fairly skinny man with blue hair who wore glasses, and was always smiling. "We're gonna have to attack them to protect the Macross." He commented.
"We're here to form our attack squadrons, since this mission will require the best pilots on this Ship." Added Miriya. Miriya was Max's wife, and she, too, was a pilot on the Macross. She had a military-oriented mind, and was a master of strategy during battle. Her skills were renowned among the Macross and the Earth. She was a beautiful woman with green hair, and had a serious look on her face. After all, she was a Zentraedi, who only cared about fighting, so it made sense that she was ready for battle. "I think we should each command a squadron, since we have the highest skills on the ship."
"Yeah I'd have to agree with her, Rick, it seems like the best thing to do." said Max. "Right, I agree, too. Well let's get started on it. We probably don't have too much time, do we?" Asked Rick. "Well they will reach our ship in approximately 14 hours, so we will have to work quickly. Rick I'd like you to lead the Skull Squadron." Ordered the Colonel. "Yes sir, I'll do that. I've had quite a bit of experience with them so it shouldn't be too hard to work with." Replied Rick. "They're a good bunch of pilots."
"Good to hear that, lieutenant. Max, I would like you to command the Bushido Squadron. I think they are familiar with your tactics." Said the Colonel. "Yeah, I've taught them most of the stuff I know, so they will be a good team for me. Thanks, Colonel." said Max. "And you, Miriya, will lead the Light Speed Squadron." said Colonel Brite. "Yes sir, I will do that." Replied Miriya. "Alright so now what do we do?" Asked Rick. "I mean there aren't any enemy strategies to study, so should we just sleep or something?" Asked Rick. "I encourage you to do something productive that will help you on this mission. My suggestion would be either to work on your veritech fighters or to do some simulations. But before all this you need to gather your squad together and inform them of everything. How does all that sound, Rick?" Asked the Colonel.
"Great. I'll get on it immediately." said Rick "May we leave now, sir?"
"Yes, you are all dismissed. I would like you to meet back here in 6 hours." "Yes sir!" they all replied enthusiastically. They all walked off and headed over to find the pilots they would be commanding. The squads were all briefed on the situation, and most of them headed into the repair bay to work on their veritechs.
"Hey Max!" said Rick as he entered the bay. "Oh hi Rick. What have you been up to?" Asked Max as he worked on his veritech.
"Nothing really, I did some simulations, but those are way too easy. All the drones are so predictable, and their strategies are pathetic. Someone really needs to change them." Complained Rick as he came over to Max.
"Yeah, I know. Even when you put it on to 50 enemies it's too easy!" said Max laughing. "Well I've just been here touching up my fighter. I added some more missiles and re-calibrated my targeting system. I'm about to change the barrel of my laser rifle." Said Max, still working. "Wow you're really working hard! I was going to work on a problem with my veritech's left leg and add in two Vulcan chain guns on its shoulders." Said Rick. "Wow! Vulcans?! That's pretty impressive Rick! Where did you get your hands on two Vulcan cannons?" Asked Max excitedly. "Jeez I've had those things for over three years now. I got them when we were on Earth, and I've fixed them up a bit so they are more powerful. I think they were on Khyron's ship when he charged it into the first Macross, back on Earth." said Rick "Oh yeah that's right! Well I'm sure those will help you out in battle." said Max. "That's what I'm hoping for. But as you know, a good pilot can beat virtually any opponent regardless of weapon strength. This is just in case I get in a tight spot, and besides, the ammunition is really limited." Said Rick, feeling the hull of Max's veritech. "I guess so. How much time do we have until we have to meet up in the mess hall?" Asked Max. Rick looked at his watch then back at Max. "About two hours. I might as well get working on my veritech or else I'll run out of time!" said Rick. "I'll see you in two hours." he said as he walked past Max's veritech and down the hangar to his. "Alright. This is going to take a lot of work." he said as he started his upgrades. After about an hour and a half, he finished his work and went in to the mess hall to get some water. As he was getting his water, he overheard the Colonel talking with an intelligence officer around the corner. "Well we just got a transmission from the enemy, sir. They call themselves the Mentrandi, descendents of the Zentraedi race. And they are saying that unless we hand over the Macross to them, they will unleash their entire fleet and destroy us." said the intelligence officer. "Oh my God. Descendents of the Zentraedi. Miriya swore she would never fight the Zentraedi again, and I'm sure that if she knew these were their descendants, she would never fight them." said Colonel Brite. "We better keep this a secret." "Alright, sir, my lips are sealed." Said the officer. "I'll call you when I need you again. You are dismissed." Said the Colonel. The officer walked off, and Rick hid behind one of the soda machines. When both the Colonel and the officer had left, Rick ran out of the cafeteria and into his quarters to get a pen and paper to take notes during the official briefing of the mission. "Zentraedi." he said to himself. "I thought our fight with them was over." "This is a five minute warning. All personnel must report to the mess hall in five minutes." The speaker said. Rick got up and walked back into the mess hall. He met up with his squadron and sat down. "Alright it looks like everyone is here now," said the Colonel. "Let's begin. Miriya, you and your Light Speed Squadron will lead in this mission. You will take off from flight deck G. When you reach waypoint alpha, you will change into battloid form and attack the enemy. If something goes wrong, retreat to waypoint beta and wait for further orders. Max, you and your Bushido Squadron will take off from flight deck A, and will fly to waypoint alpha. Once the Light Speed Squadron has engaged the enemy, you will fly to waypoint beta, where you will transform into battloid mode, then engage the enemy at waypoint gamma. Rick, you and your Skull Squadron will do the same as Max's squad, but you will take off from flight deck Y, and will have different waypoints. Your mission will commence in 7 and a half hours, so be in your veritechs by then. I recommend getting some sleep. Oh and please don't forget to set your alarm. That means you, Rick." "Yes sir!" replied everyone. "Alright, you are all dismissed!" said the Colonel. Everyone left the room and went to their quarters to sleep. After about six hours, everyone woke up and suited up for the battle. Rick met up with Max and Miriya in the hangar. "Oh hi Rick! Are you ready for the battle?" asked Miriya "It looks like it'll be a tough one!" "Yeah I'm ready. I don't think it will be too hard, though. You and your squad should do just fine." Said Rick. "Thanks Rick, so will yours. You're a really good pilot!" said Miriya. "Well I'll see you two!" said Rick. "Good luck to both of you." "You too, Rick," said Max. "I'll back you up if you need any help. Well I have to get ready too so I'll see you later. I'll see you sweetheart." He kissed Miriya and walked off to his veritech. "Well good luck to you Rick! I'll see you too." She walked off to get into her cockpit. Rick walked to his veritech and climbed in. He cracked his knuckles and put on his helmet. He flipped some switches and the cockpit controls turned on. "Attention all pilots!" said the loudspeaker. "The mission will commence in five minutes! All pilots are ordered to turn on their cockpit controls and standby for takeoff!" All of the pilots closed their cockpits and got ready, and it was time to take off. "All pilots start your jets! Good luck!" Everyone began to take off, and the pilots were on their way to their waypoints. "I have encountered the enemy!" called Miriya. She transformed into battloid form and locked her missiles on to her first target. As soon as she locked onto it, every enemy fighter turned and seemed to head towards Miriya. "Miriya! Be careful!! All of the enemy forces have locked on to you and are heading your way!" warned the Colonel on the radio. "All units perform evasive maneuvers!" screamed Miriya as she charged at nearly a hundred Mentrandi fighters. She fired her missiles, but they dodged them and flew right past her without attacking. "What the-?!" said Miriya. "They didn't even shoot me!!" She turned around and chased after them, but they all attacked her squadron at once, and the Light Speed Squadron was gone in an instant. "Oh No!!!!" "Skull and Bushido Squadrons back up Miriya immediately" called the Colonel on the radio. "Hold on Miriya I'm coming." said Max as he went full throttle in her direction. Once the Light Speed Squadron was destroyed, all of the forces turned around again and began to fly at Miriya. "What?!" screamed Miriya. "I can't fight that many!!" She flew at them head on and began to shoot at them. The enemy was coming at her but using evasive maneuvers, and nobody could make any sense of it. "They aren't attacking me, Colonel!!" She kept launching missiles and firing her gun, destroying enemies by the second, but they still would not fire. "They're closing in on me!!!!!" Max and Rick appeared, and their squadrons began to attack the enemy. "Max, Rick! I can't take this many! You'll have to help me out here!" "No problem, Miriya!" said Max. "Take this!" Max fired ten multiple warhead missiles, and they split up and locked on to separate targets. They chased their targets until they hit, and there was now a hole in the enemy's flight formation. "Yeah! 32 at once! These guys are easier than they are in the simulations!" The enemies still kept coming, though, and they had all begun to circle around Miriya. "What's going on?!" Miriya yelled. "Max! Help me!!" All of a sudden, ten of them broke from the circle and flew at her. "I'm finished!!" They grabbed her veritech and put it in a hold so it couldn't escape. Two more knocked the guns out of her hands and covered up her cockpit so she couldn't eject. "On no!! Max, Rick!! Somebody!!! Please help me!!!" she cried at the top of her lungs. "Miriya!!" screamed Max. Max and Rick closed in on them and launched all their missiles at once, but before the missiles could hit, they had disappeared. "No!!!! Miriya!!!" He stopped in space and floated there for a minute. A voice came up on the radio. It was the Colonel. "All units return to base! Your mission was a success." he said. Immediately there was conversation all over the control room and on the radios. Everyone wondered why he called it a success if there was such a heavy loss. "We were able to stop the enemy from destroying the ship, and that was your mission! Your mission was successful!" he yelled. He left the bridge of the ship and went to his quarters. Everyone docked their veritechs. The pilots got out of their cockpits and Max and Rick met up in the hangar. "Max. I'm really sorry," said Rick. "I know how much she meant to you." He put his hand on Max's shoulder. Max pushed his hand off. "Huh?" "What do you mean, 'meant'? This isn't over!" said Max. Rick could see a burning anger in his eyes. For the first time, Max was truly angry, and Rick couldn't believe it. "I'm gonna get her back and nobody's gonna get in my way!" He walked out of the hangar and walked to his quarters. "Max." Rick said. He put his helmet in his cockpit and walked back to his room. He changed out of his flight suit and started to walk towards the Colonel's room. He knocked on his door. "Come in." said the Colonel. Rick opened the door and entered the room. The Colonel was sitting on his bed, and seemed to be deep in thought.
"Sir, I would like to talk to you." Said Rick. "Go ahead, I'm listening, Rick." Said the Colonel. He didn't change his position or even look at Rick. He still seemed to be troubled. "I would like to know why you didn't tell Miriya that the warriors she was fighting were descendents of the Zentraedi." He said. Colonel Brite quickly faced to turn him. "What?! How did you know that?! Who told you that?! That is top secret information!" He yelled defensively. Rick shrugged and laughed. "Well I was in the mess hall getting a drink and you talked a little too loud, that's all. You really should discuss top secret matters in a safer place." Said Rick. "Grrr." The Colonel clenched his teeth. "Well I don't suppose there is any point in hiding it from you anymore is there. I didn't want her to know because if she did, she wouldn't fight! And without her, there would be no chance of our winning the battle! If I knew she would be kidnapped I would never have sent her into battle, though!! I would send a squadron to rescue her but it would be suicide, you know that!" He looked at the ground. "I am going to issue orders for nobody to leave this base without my permission in an hour, and I expect you and Max to obey my orders." "Sir! We can't just leave her there! She is Max's wife, my great friend, and your best pilot! You know we have to rescue her!" Rick yelled. The Colonel stood up and clenched his fists. "That's enough Hunter!! Return to your quarters immediately!" He sat down and turned away. Rick turned around and left the room. He went back to his room and laid down on his bed. The lights in the Macross had all turned off, but Rick couldn't sleep. "I have a feeling Max can't get to sleep either." Rick said. He got up and walked out of his room. He walked until he came to Max's room. He pushed the door open. "Max? Are you awake?" He saw a figure stand up. "Yeah. I guess you couldn't sleep either, huh Rick?" He brought him inside then turned on the light. "Why are you here? And why are you carrying your flight suit? Oh no, you aren't thinking that are you?" "Yeah I am. And we have to get going right now if we're gonna get past security. They are changing shifts right now. Get your flight suit, we're going to leave!" "But Rick, the colonel said we could get court-martialed if we tried anything!" Max said. "That won't happen I have everything under control! Now hurry before they are on duty again!" he yelled. "A-Alright!" he said. He put on his flight suit and ran to the hangar with Rick. When they reached their veritechs, Rick pulled out a controller. "Hey Rick, what's that?" he asked. "It's a remote for opening the bay door. Now get in and turn on your cockpit controls!" said Rick. Max got in and started up his veritech. Rick did the same, and then pushed the button to open the bay door. "Alright let's go!" They started up their jets and took off into space, heading towards Mars. "Hey Rick where exactly are we going?" he asked. "When we were fighting by Mars today I saw their base on its surface, so I punched in the coordinates on my console. I'll transfer them to you." He punched in some commands and Max received the coordinates on his computer. "So we'll just head there, alright?" "Rick. Thanks." said Max. "I could never do this without you." "No problem Max, I know how much she means to you," said Rick. I'll do everything I can to get her back. But before we get to their base I have to tell you something that I heard the colonel talking about before our briefing. I heard him say that the enemies are descendents of the Zentraedi, and are called the Mentrandi. I think they took Miriya because she is a Zentraedi." "What?! Why didn't the Colonel tell us about it?! If she knew that, she wouldn't be in this situation right now!" screamed Max. "I can't believe this!!" "Well the Colonel knew about Miriya's promise not to fight any Zentraedi, and he knew that she would never fight their descendants. If she didn't fight, we would have no chance of victory. He feels just as bad as we do." "No way!" screamed Max. "He can't understand what it's like to lose someone like her!" He paused. "We need to focus on this fight. This might be a real challenge for us Rick. We really have to be careful this time, Rick." he said sadly. "Yes, I know. But don't act like we're gonna lose! We'll rescue Miriya and get out of there!" Rick said cheerily. "Yeah, you're right," Max said. "So what are we waiting for?" He put his jets up to full throttle and dove into the atmosphere of Mars. "Let's go!" Rick followed him, and they stayed in fighter mode until they cleared the atmosphere. When they hit the ground they went to battloid mode. "Alright let's fly in stealth mode so they won't be able to pick us up for a while." He flipped a switch and a silver film covered his veritech, which absorbed all radar waves instead of reflecting them. Rick did the same, and they continued to fly towards the base. "We should be about forty miles from the base now, so we'll probably start to show up on their sonar by now. There's no use in keeping our stealth film on." Said Rick. They flipped their switches back and red flames surrounded their veritechs for a moment and burnt away their stealth films. "Let's go into guardian mode so we'll be more maneuverable but still be able to use our guns!" "Alright!" called Max. They transformed into guardian mode, which is a form where the veritech has the shape of a fighter jet, but its legs and arms are out on the bottom and sides, allowing the use of more weapons. "Now get ready, they'll be closing in on us any minute now." said Rick. After a few minutes they began to see a mass of black dots appear on the horizon. "Whoa that's got to be close to three-hundred fighters! Be careful, and remember to use your ammo sparingly, cuz' we'll need it to last us at least 300 of those guys!" "Gotcha!" said Max. They split up and came at the enemy from different angles. The enemy began to unleash a volley of lasers at Max and Rick, but they were dodging and weaving between them without effort. They flew through the middle of the mass to break them up, and then took on 150 each. Max started to circle them and bunch up as many as he could, then launched his multiple warhead missiles while firing his rifle at them. The Mentrandi fighters were being chased by missiles and shot at, at the same time. They tried to dodge them, but they couldn't dodge the two at once, and eventually got hit one way or another. He had managed to destroy 125 in one attack. "Yeah!!! Take that! Haha!" he laughed. He kept fighting them until he finished off the last twenty-five. As Rick came at his group, the fighters launched missiles at Rick, but Rick wove between them and came up from beneath the fighters. He spun around and hit them with his gun, tearing through their armor and destroying them. They kept attacking him but he was too good at dodging for them to touch him. He led the missiles following him into other enemies, and caused them to fire at their own men. "I'll beat them all without using any ammo!" screamed Rick as he continued to tear up their forces. He grabbed an enemy fighter and used it as a shield while all the others shot at him, only hitting the shield. He approached the last little bunch and threw the enemy fighter into them, which exploded and destroyed the rest of the enemy forces. "Yeah!!" he shouted. "Wow where did you learn to do that, Rick?" asked Max. They joined up again and had now reached the outer perimeter of the enemy base. "In the simulators! The opponents were too easy so I gave them a handicap!" he said. It was clear to Max that Rick was a real pilot, and he respected it greatly. "Now let's get into that base! Go to battloid mode and turn on your bio-sensors so we can find where they're keeping Miriya." They crashed through the outer wall and were in a long corridor. "Alright start looking for Miriya!" Rick yelled. The visors of their veritechs turned blue and they began to search for Miriya through the walls. "Rick! I think I might have found her veritech!" said Max through the radio. He motioned towards a covered robot in the room next to them. They walked over and pulled off the cover, and it was Miriya's veritech, perfectly intact and fixed up for battle. "Huh? Why would they fix it up for a fight? Do you think they were planning on using it? Or maybe." said Rick. "Maybe they were planning on making Miriya fight for them. But I don't think they could force somebody as strong-willed as her to fight for them." "Hmm. Well maybe she'll know when we find her." said Max. "Anyway, we've searched the entire west wing of the base and found nothing, so let's start on the east." They turned and /walked through the halls until they came across a reading on their sensors. "Hey! It's a female human! It must be Miriya!" They smashed down the wall and walked in. Miriya was sitting on a bed crying. She looked up at Max's veritech. "Max is that you?!" she yelled up to him. Max opened his cockpit and jumped out. "Miriya!!" cried Max. Miriya ran over to Max and hugged him. "Miriya. Are you alright?" he asked. "Yeah I'm fine!!" She wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Max, please. Can you take us back to the Macross?" she asked. Max held her hand and took her to his cockpit. "Yeah we were gonna get out of here right now!" said Max. He closed the cockpit and kissed Miriya. "Let's go get you into your veritech! We found it in the west wing." He started to run towards her veritech when a large explosion in the middle of the hall stopped them in their tracks. BANG! A shadowy figure stepped out of the smoke. It was a Mentrandi fighter. "Max! Get Miriya out of here! I'll hold him off!" screamed Rick. He motioned for Max to take the other path to the room with Miriya's veritech. "But Rick. Are you sure you can take him on your own? He's no normal pilot!" said Max. "I know. But I can do it. Now go before he attacks you!" Rick said. Max nodded and ran off with Miriya. "You're the one who wanted Miriya captured. Aren't you?" He waited for an answer. "Yes. She is a Zentraedi." The pilot said coldly. "True. Why did you capture her? To fight?" Rick said as he clenched his fist. "Yes, that's right. You see, Zentraedi minds are easily manipulated, since all they know how to do is fight!" "You're wrong! She has one of the strongest wills I have ever seen! She isn't like the drone Zentraedi warriors that you know!" screamed Rick. "HAHA!!!" the pilot laughed. "You think I don't know the Zentraedi?! You are looking at the top Mentrandi pilot! The product of many years of genetic experiments on Zentraedi blood!! I am a Zentraedi!" He lifted his rifle and aimed at Rick's veritech.
"Grrrrrrr." Rick jumped out of the way as the Mentrandi pilot fired his gun. They jumped up through the ceiling of the base and into the air, outside. "Die Earthling scum!!" The pilot launched a streak of missiles towards Rick. "Those are Miriya's missiles!! He must have taken them from her veritech. Oh man." Rick transformed into fighter mode and boosted between missiles while shooting any in his way. He burst through the smoke and came at the Mentrandi at full speed while going into his battloid form. "Take this!!" Rick screamed as he pulled up on the joystick and flew up into the air. He floated there for a second, then launched twenty missiles down at the Mentrandi. He charged down at him, shooting his rifle behind the missiles, but the enemy pilot tore through his missile and bullet barrage and brought his fist into Rick's veritech's chest with amazing force. A shockwave blew out around the two fighters, and Rick's hull began to crack. "AAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Rick screamed as he took the blow head on. "HAHA!!! I told you!! I am a Zentraedi!! The warrior race!! Why did you think I was taking the girl from your ship?! I'll tell you why!! To give birth to an invincible army!!" screamed the Mentrandi warrior. "Now I'll finish you off!!" The pilot flew down at Rick's veritech with his fist extended, ready to pummel his veritech into the ground. There was no hope left for him. BOOOM!!!
A green veritech came flying in and smashed the Mentrandi ace to the ground. "Miriya! Thank goodness." Rick gasped. "Take this and die!!!" screamed Rick. He opened his Vulcan chambers and missile chambers and unleashed an alpha strike on the crazed pilot. While the bullets tore apart his hull, the missiles blew away the armor plating on his fighter until he was gone. Rick had finally come out on top. "Miriya! Where's Max?!" screamed Rick. "He went into space to tell the Colonel what happened! The Colonel said they are going to fire the Macross Cannon! Come on, this whole planet will go up in smoke!" screamed Miriya. They transformed into fighter mode and boosted through the atmosphere towards the Macross. They finally reached the Macross and docked their veritechs. Rick got out and ran to the bridge as fast as he could. He ran into the room screaming. "Colonel!! Hurry and fire the cannon! There's thousands of Mentrandi fighters heading towards the ship!!" screamed Rick. The captain nodded and gave the order to destroy the planet. "Fire the Macross Cannon!!!" yelled Colonel Brite. A man sitting at the controls pounded a button, and the ship began to rumble. The ship jerked back in a quick motion and shot a gigantic energy beam towards the planet. Just the beam itself was twice the size of the Macross. It crashed down into Mars, and when the beam dissipated, there was a huge whole right through the planet. "Activate force fields!!!" he screamed. A giant green sphere of energy enclosed the Macross as the planet exploded.
Minutes later, the Macross came bursting through the rubble back into space. The incredible skill of the pilots had crippled the Mentrandi army, and the incredible power of the Macross had finished it off. Rick leaned against the window watching the destroyed planet in the corner of his eye. "I never liked Mars, anyway." He said.
"That's forty-eight so far!" screamed Rick. "Huh?" he caught another enemy in the corner of his eye. "You aren't getting away!" He spun his veritech around to fire at the ship, destroying it. "Incoming missiles at two-o- clock!" warned his radar. "Better go to fighter mode!" He flipped a switch, and the robot went from a humanoid form to the form of a fighter jet. "Now I can really maneuver!" he screamed.
VROOOOOM! "Thirty missiles! This is gonna be a tough one!" He clenched his teeth and throttled it, going against the missiles at an angle.
WHOOOSH-WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!!
He rushed past the missiles, twisting and spinning to dodge them as they came his way. He transformed back into his battloid mode and flew down as soon as he saw fire coming at him. He quickly maneuvered between the bullets, then boosted higher into the air, in front of the sun. While his enemy was blinded by the glare, he launched his micro missiles at the enemy ship, finishing it off. "And that makes fifty!" Rick laughed.
"Nice job lieutenant, the simulation is over." Said the simulator operator. "Please wait one minute while the computer processes your results." She smiled and started punching things into the computer.
"That wasn't too bad," commented Rick. "Next time give me one with a few more enemies, alright?" Asked Rick.
"Yes sir, if that is what you request." She replied "Oh look at this it says you just made the record on this level sir. Congratulations. Here are the readouts on the mission with your performance statistics." She handed him a sheet of paper filled with numbers and percentages.
"Thanks," said Rick. "But I'm supposed to meet the Colonel in the mess hall in ten minutes, so I'll have to be going now. I'll see you later." Rick walked out the door and down the hall towards the mess hall. He stopped in front of the window to look into outer space. "Wow. What a sight." he said. "I never thought I would be this close to Mars." He watched the huge mass of red rock and dust sit there, motionless. Rick Hunter was a twenty-two year old man with exceptional piloting abilities. He had been in the military for eight years now, and was the top pilot on the Dimensional Fortress Macross. He was a handsome man with brown eyes and brown hair.
"Lieutenant Hunter!" a voice boomed from the P.A. "What's taking you so long?! You were supposed to be in the mess hall ten minutes ago!" Rick looked at his watch. He had been watching Mars for twenty minutes and lost track of the time. He got up and ran down the hall, running into the mess hall.
"What on Earth. Er. In space," he corrected himself, "were you doing all this time?" Questioned Colonel Brite. "We won't tolerate your incompetence, Hunter." "I'm sorry sir! I was walking here but I stopped to look at Mars and I didn't realize what time it was!" Apologized Rick. "Alright, just sit down." Said the Colonel. "Now what I called you here to talk about is a very serious matter. Our intelligence has picked up several ships in the orbit of Mars, and when we sent a pilot to investigate, the pilot was shot down." said the Colonel calmly.
The other man at the table spoke up, "And now they are saying that there is a fleet of ships approaching us." His name was Max Sterling, Rick's dear friend and ace pilot, who had married Miriya, the Zentraedi warrior, years ago. He never seemed capable of getting angry, so he never lost his temper. He was a fairly skinny man with blue hair who wore glasses, and was always smiling. "We're gonna have to attack them to protect the Macross." He commented.
"We're here to form our attack squadrons, since this mission will require the best pilots on this Ship." Added Miriya. Miriya was Max's wife, and she, too, was a pilot on the Macross. She had a military-oriented mind, and was a master of strategy during battle. Her skills were renowned among the Macross and the Earth. She was a beautiful woman with green hair, and had a serious look on her face. After all, she was a Zentraedi, who only cared about fighting, so it made sense that she was ready for battle. "I think we should each command a squadron, since we have the highest skills on the ship."
"Yeah I'd have to agree with her, Rick, it seems like the best thing to do." said Max. "Right, I agree, too. Well let's get started on it. We probably don't have too much time, do we?" Asked Rick. "Well they will reach our ship in approximately 14 hours, so we will have to work quickly. Rick I'd like you to lead the Skull Squadron." Ordered the Colonel. "Yes sir, I'll do that. I've had quite a bit of experience with them so it shouldn't be too hard to work with." Replied Rick. "They're a good bunch of pilots."
"Good to hear that, lieutenant. Max, I would like you to command the Bushido Squadron. I think they are familiar with your tactics." Said the Colonel. "Yeah, I've taught them most of the stuff I know, so they will be a good team for me. Thanks, Colonel." said Max. "And you, Miriya, will lead the Light Speed Squadron." said Colonel Brite. "Yes sir, I will do that." Replied Miriya. "Alright so now what do we do?" Asked Rick. "I mean there aren't any enemy strategies to study, so should we just sleep or something?" Asked Rick. "I encourage you to do something productive that will help you on this mission. My suggestion would be either to work on your veritech fighters or to do some simulations. But before all this you need to gather your squad together and inform them of everything. How does all that sound, Rick?" Asked the Colonel.
"Great. I'll get on it immediately." said Rick "May we leave now, sir?"
"Yes, you are all dismissed. I would like you to meet back here in 6 hours." "Yes sir!" they all replied enthusiastically. They all walked off and headed over to find the pilots they would be commanding. The squads were all briefed on the situation, and most of them headed into the repair bay to work on their veritechs.
"Hey Max!" said Rick as he entered the bay. "Oh hi Rick. What have you been up to?" Asked Max as he worked on his veritech.
"Nothing really, I did some simulations, but those are way too easy. All the drones are so predictable, and their strategies are pathetic. Someone really needs to change them." Complained Rick as he came over to Max.
"Yeah, I know. Even when you put it on to 50 enemies it's too easy!" said Max laughing. "Well I've just been here touching up my fighter. I added some more missiles and re-calibrated my targeting system. I'm about to change the barrel of my laser rifle." Said Max, still working. "Wow you're really working hard! I was going to work on a problem with my veritech's left leg and add in two Vulcan chain guns on its shoulders." Said Rick. "Wow! Vulcans?! That's pretty impressive Rick! Where did you get your hands on two Vulcan cannons?" Asked Max excitedly. "Jeez I've had those things for over three years now. I got them when we were on Earth, and I've fixed them up a bit so they are more powerful. I think they were on Khyron's ship when he charged it into the first Macross, back on Earth." said Rick "Oh yeah that's right! Well I'm sure those will help you out in battle." said Max. "That's what I'm hoping for. But as you know, a good pilot can beat virtually any opponent regardless of weapon strength. This is just in case I get in a tight spot, and besides, the ammunition is really limited." Said Rick, feeling the hull of Max's veritech. "I guess so. How much time do we have until we have to meet up in the mess hall?" Asked Max. Rick looked at his watch then back at Max. "About two hours. I might as well get working on my veritech or else I'll run out of time!" said Rick. "I'll see you in two hours." he said as he walked past Max's veritech and down the hangar to his. "Alright. This is going to take a lot of work." he said as he started his upgrades. After about an hour and a half, he finished his work and went in to the mess hall to get some water. As he was getting his water, he overheard the Colonel talking with an intelligence officer around the corner. "Well we just got a transmission from the enemy, sir. They call themselves the Mentrandi, descendents of the Zentraedi race. And they are saying that unless we hand over the Macross to them, they will unleash their entire fleet and destroy us." said the intelligence officer. "Oh my God. Descendents of the Zentraedi. Miriya swore she would never fight the Zentraedi again, and I'm sure that if she knew these were their descendants, she would never fight them." said Colonel Brite. "We better keep this a secret." "Alright, sir, my lips are sealed." Said the officer. "I'll call you when I need you again. You are dismissed." Said the Colonel. The officer walked off, and Rick hid behind one of the soda machines. When both the Colonel and the officer had left, Rick ran out of the cafeteria and into his quarters to get a pen and paper to take notes during the official briefing of the mission. "Zentraedi." he said to himself. "I thought our fight with them was over." "This is a five minute warning. All personnel must report to the mess hall in five minutes." The speaker said. Rick got up and walked back into the mess hall. He met up with his squadron and sat down. "Alright it looks like everyone is here now," said the Colonel. "Let's begin. Miriya, you and your Light Speed Squadron will lead in this mission. You will take off from flight deck G. When you reach waypoint alpha, you will change into battloid form and attack the enemy. If something goes wrong, retreat to waypoint beta and wait for further orders. Max, you and your Bushido Squadron will take off from flight deck A, and will fly to waypoint alpha. Once the Light Speed Squadron has engaged the enemy, you will fly to waypoint beta, where you will transform into battloid mode, then engage the enemy at waypoint gamma. Rick, you and your Skull Squadron will do the same as Max's squad, but you will take off from flight deck Y, and will have different waypoints. Your mission will commence in 7 and a half hours, so be in your veritechs by then. I recommend getting some sleep. Oh and please don't forget to set your alarm. That means you, Rick." "Yes sir!" replied everyone. "Alright, you are all dismissed!" said the Colonel. Everyone left the room and went to their quarters to sleep. After about six hours, everyone woke up and suited up for the battle. Rick met up with Max and Miriya in the hangar. "Oh hi Rick! Are you ready for the battle?" asked Miriya "It looks like it'll be a tough one!" "Yeah I'm ready. I don't think it will be too hard, though. You and your squad should do just fine." Said Rick. "Thanks Rick, so will yours. You're a really good pilot!" said Miriya. "Well I'll see you two!" said Rick. "Good luck to both of you." "You too, Rick," said Max. "I'll back you up if you need any help. Well I have to get ready too so I'll see you later. I'll see you sweetheart." He kissed Miriya and walked off to his veritech. "Well good luck to you Rick! I'll see you too." She walked off to get into her cockpit. Rick walked to his veritech and climbed in. He cracked his knuckles and put on his helmet. He flipped some switches and the cockpit controls turned on. "Attention all pilots!" said the loudspeaker. "The mission will commence in five minutes! All pilots are ordered to turn on their cockpit controls and standby for takeoff!" All of the pilots closed their cockpits and got ready, and it was time to take off. "All pilots start your jets! Good luck!" Everyone began to take off, and the pilots were on their way to their waypoints. "I have encountered the enemy!" called Miriya. She transformed into battloid form and locked her missiles on to her first target. As soon as she locked onto it, every enemy fighter turned and seemed to head towards Miriya. "Miriya! Be careful!! All of the enemy forces have locked on to you and are heading your way!" warned the Colonel on the radio. "All units perform evasive maneuvers!" screamed Miriya as she charged at nearly a hundred Mentrandi fighters. She fired her missiles, but they dodged them and flew right past her without attacking. "What the-?!" said Miriya. "They didn't even shoot me!!" She turned around and chased after them, but they all attacked her squadron at once, and the Light Speed Squadron was gone in an instant. "Oh No!!!!" "Skull and Bushido Squadrons back up Miriya immediately" called the Colonel on the radio. "Hold on Miriya I'm coming." said Max as he went full throttle in her direction. Once the Light Speed Squadron was destroyed, all of the forces turned around again and began to fly at Miriya. "What?!" screamed Miriya. "I can't fight that many!!" She flew at them head on and began to shoot at them. The enemy was coming at her but using evasive maneuvers, and nobody could make any sense of it. "They aren't attacking me, Colonel!!" She kept launching missiles and firing her gun, destroying enemies by the second, but they still would not fire. "They're closing in on me!!!!!" Max and Rick appeared, and their squadrons began to attack the enemy. "Max, Rick! I can't take this many! You'll have to help me out here!" "No problem, Miriya!" said Max. "Take this!" Max fired ten multiple warhead missiles, and they split up and locked on to separate targets. They chased their targets until they hit, and there was now a hole in the enemy's flight formation. "Yeah! 32 at once! These guys are easier than they are in the simulations!" The enemies still kept coming, though, and they had all begun to circle around Miriya. "What's going on?!" Miriya yelled. "Max! Help me!!" All of a sudden, ten of them broke from the circle and flew at her. "I'm finished!!" They grabbed her veritech and put it in a hold so it couldn't escape. Two more knocked the guns out of her hands and covered up her cockpit so she couldn't eject. "On no!! Max, Rick!! Somebody!!! Please help me!!!" she cried at the top of her lungs. "Miriya!!" screamed Max. Max and Rick closed in on them and launched all their missiles at once, but before the missiles could hit, they had disappeared. "No!!!! Miriya!!!" He stopped in space and floated there for a minute. A voice came up on the radio. It was the Colonel. "All units return to base! Your mission was a success." he said. Immediately there was conversation all over the control room and on the radios. Everyone wondered why he called it a success if there was such a heavy loss. "We were able to stop the enemy from destroying the ship, and that was your mission! Your mission was successful!" he yelled. He left the bridge of the ship and went to his quarters. Everyone docked their veritechs. The pilots got out of their cockpits and Max and Rick met up in the hangar. "Max. I'm really sorry," said Rick. "I know how much she meant to you." He put his hand on Max's shoulder. Max pushed his hand off. "Huh?" "What do you mean, 'meant'? This isn't over!" said Max. Rick could see a burning anger in his eyes. For the first time, Max was truly angry, and Rick couldn't believe it. "I'm gonna get her back and nobody's gonna get in my way!" He walked out of the hangar and walked to his quarters. "Max." Rick said. He put his helmet in his cockpit and walked back to his room. He changed out of his flight suit and started to walk towards the Colonel's room. He knocked on his door. "Come in." said the Colonel. Rick opened the door and entered the room. The Colonel was sitting on his bed, and seemed to be deep in thought.
"Sir, I would like to talk to you." Said Rick. "Go ahead, I'm listening, Rick." Said the Colonel. He didn't change his position or even look at Rick. He still seemed to be troubled. "I would like to know why you didn't tell Miriya that the warriors she was fighting were descendents of the Zentraedi." He said. Colonel Brite quickly faced to turn him. "What?! How did you know that?! Who told you that?! That is top secret information!" He yelled defensively. Rick shrugged and laughed. "Well I was in the mess hall getting a drink and you talked a little too loud, that's all. You really should discuss top secret matters in a safer place." Said Rick. "Grrr." The Colonel clenched his teeth. "Well I don't suppose there is any point in hiding it from you anymore is there. I didn't want her to know because if she did, she wouldn't fight! And without her, there would be no chance of our winning the battle! If I knew she would be kidnapped I would never have sent her into battle, though!! I would send a squadron to rescue her but it would be suicide, you know that!" He looked at the ground. "I am going to issue orders for nobody to leave this base without my permission in an hour, and I expect you and Max to obey my orders." "Sir! We can't just leave her there! She is Max's wife, my great friend, and your best pilot! You know we have to rescue her!" Rick yelled. The Colonel stood up and clenched his fists. "That's enough Hunter!! Return to your quarters immediately!" He sat down and turned away. Rick turned around and left the room. He went back to his room and laid down on his bed. The lights in the Macross had all turned off, but Rick couldn't sleep. "I have a feeling Max can't get to sleep either." Rick said. He got up and walked out of his room. He walked until he came to Max's room. He pushed the door open. "Max? Are you awake?" He saw a figure stand up. "Yeah. I guess you couldn't sleep either, huh Rick?" He brought him inside then turned on the light. "Why are you here? And why are you carrying your flight suit? Oh no, you aren't thinking that are you?" "Yeah I am. And we have to get going right now if we're gonna get past security. They are changing shifts right now. Get your flight suit, we're going to leave!" "But Rick, the colonel said we could get court-martialed if we tried anything!" Max said. "That won't happen I have everything under control! Now hurry before they are on duty again!" he yelled. "A-Alright!" he said. He put on his flight suit and ran to the hangar with Rick. When they reached their veritechs, Rick pulled out a controller. "Hey Rick, what's that?" he asked. "It's a remote for opening the bay door. Now get in and turn on your cockpit controls!" said Rick. Max got in and started up his veritech. Rick did the same, and then pushed the button to open the bay door. "Alright let's go!" They started up their jets and took off into space, heading towards Mars. "Hey Rick where exactly are we going?" he asked. "When we were fighting by Mars today I saw their base on its surface, so I punched in the coordinates on my console. I'll transfer them to you." He punched in some commands and Max received the coordinates on his computer. "So we'll just head there, alright?" "Rick. Thanks." said Max. "I could never do this without you." "No problem Max, I know how much she means to you," said Rick. I'll do everything I can to get her back. But before we get to their base I have to tell you something that I heard the colonel talking about before our briefing. I heard him say that the enemies are descendents of the Zentraedi, and are called the Mentrandi. I think they took Miriya because she is a Zentraedi." "What?! Why didn't the Colonel tell us about it?! If she knew that, she wouldn't be in this situation right now!" screamed Max. "I can't believe this!!" "Well the Colonel knew about Miriya's promise not to fight any Zentraedi, and he knew that she would never fight their descendants. If she didn't fight, we would have no chance of victory. He feels just as bad as we do." "No way!" screamed Max. "He can't understand what it's like to lose someone like her!" He paused. "We need to focus on this fight. This might be a real challenge for us Rick. We really have to be careful this time, Rick." he said sadly. "Yes, I know. But don't act like we're gonna lose! We'll rescue Miriya and get out of there!" Rick said cheerily. "Yeah, you're right," Max said. "So what are we waiting for?" He put his jets up to full throttle and dove into the atmosphere of Mars. "Let's go!" Rick followed him, and they stayed in fighter mode until they cleared the atmosphere. When they hit the ground they went to battloid mode. "Alright let's fly in stealth mode so they won't be able to pick us up for a while." He flipped a switch and a silver film covered his veritech, which absorbed all radar waves instead of reflecting them. Rick did the same, and they continued to fly towards the base. "We should be about forty miles from the base now, so we'll probably start to show up on their sonar by now. There's no use in keeping our stealth film on." Said Rick. They flipped their switches back and red flames surrounded their veritechs for a moment and burnt away their stealth films. "Let's go into guardian mode so we'll be more maneuverable but still be able to use our guns!" "Alright!" called Max. They transformed into guardian mode, which is a form where the veritech has the shape of a fighter jet, but its legs and arms are out on the bottom and sides, allowing the use of more weapons. "Now get ready, they'll be closing in on us any minute now." said Rick. After a few minutes they began to see a mass of black dots appear on the horizon. "Whoa that's got to be close to three-hundred fighters! Be careful, and remember to use your ammo sparingly, cuz' we'll need it to last us at least 300 of those guys!" "Gotcha!" said Max. They split up and came at the enemy from different angles. The enemy began to unleash a volley of lasers at Max and Rick, but they were dodging and weaving between them without effort. They flew through the middle of the mass to break them up, and then took on 150 each. Max started to circle them and bunch up as many as he could, then launched his multiple warhead missiles while firing his rifle at them. The Mentrandi fighters were being chased by missiles and shot at, at the same time. They tried to dodge them, but they couldn't dodge the two at once, and eventually got hit one way or another. He had managed to destroy 125 in one attack. "Yeah!!! Take that! Haha!" he laughed. He kept fighting them until he finished off the last twenty-five. As Rick came at his group, the fighters launched missiles at Rick, but Rick wove between them and came up from beneath the fighters. He spun around and hit them with his gun, tearing through their armor and destroying them. They kept attacking him but he was too good at dodging for them to touch him. He led the missiles following him into other enemies, and caused them to fire at their own men. "I'll beat them all without using any ammo!" screamed Rick as he continued to tear up their forces. He grabbed an enemy fighter and used it as a shield while all the others shot at him, only hitting the shield. He approached the last little bunch and threw the enemy fighter into them, which exploded and destroyed the rest of the enemy forces. "Yeah!!" he shouted. "Wow where did you learn to do that, Rick?" asked Max. They joined up again and had now reached the outer perimeter of the enemy base. "In the simulators! The opponents were too easy so I gave them a handicap!" he said. It was clear to Max that Rick was a real pilot, and he respected it greatly. "Now let's get into that base! Go to battloid mode and turn on your bio-sensors so we can find where they're keeping Miriya." They crashed through the outer wall and were in a long corridor. "Alright start looking for Miriya!" Rick yelled. The visors of their veritechs turned blue and they began to search for Miriya through the walls. "Rick! I think I might have found her veritech!" said Max through the radio. He motioned towards a covered robot in the room next to them. They walked over and pulled off the cover, and it was Miriya's veritech, perfectly intact and fixed up for battle. "Huh? Why would they fix it up for a fight? Do you think they were planning on using it? Or maybe." said Rick. "Maybe they were planning on making Miriya fight for them. But I don't think they could force somebody as strong-willed as her to fight for them." "Hmm. Well maybe she'll know when we find her." said Max. "Anyway, we've searched the entire west wing of the base and found nothing, so let's start on the east." They turned and /walked through the halls until they came across a reading on their sensors. "Hey! It's a female human! It must be Miriya!" They smashed down the wall and walked in. Miriya was sitting on a bed crying. She looked up at Max's veritech. "Max is that you?!" she yelled up to him. Max opened his cockpit and jumped out. "Miriya!!" cried Max. Miriya ran over to Max and hugged him. "Miriya. Are you alright?" he asked. "Yeah I'm fine!!" She wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Max, please. Can you take us back to the Macross?" she asked. Max held her hand and took her to his cockpit. "Yeah we were gonna get out of here right now!" said Max. He closed the cockpit and kissed Miriya. "Let's go get you into your veritech! We found it in the west wing." He started to run towards her veritech when a large explosion in the middle of the hall stopped them in their tracks. BANG! A shadowy figure stepped out of the smoke. It was a Mentrandi fighter. "Max! Get Miriya out of here! I'll hold him off!" screamed Rick. He motioned for Max to take the other path to the room with Miriya's veritech. "But Rick. Are you sure you can take him on your own? He's no normal pilot!" said Max. "I know. But I can do it. Now go before he attacks you!" Rick said. Max nodded and ran off with Miriya. "You're the one who wanted Miriya captured. Aren't you?" He waited for an answer. "Yes. She is a Zentraedi." The pilot said coldly. "True. Why did you capture her? To fight?" Rick said as he clenched his fist. "Yes, that's right. You see, Zentraedi minds are easily manipulated, since all they know how to do is fight!" "You're wrong! She has one of the strongest wills I have ever seen! She isn't like the drone Zentraedi warriors that you know!" screamed Rick. "HAHA!!!" the pilot laughed. "You think I don't know the Zentraedi?! You are looking at the top Mentrandi pilot! The product of many years of genetic experiments on Zentraedi blood!! I am a Zentraedi!" He lifted his rifle and aimed at Rick's veritech.
"Grrrrrrr." Rick jumped out of the way as the Mentrandi pilot fired his gun. They jumped up through the ceiling of the base and into the air, outside. "Die Earthling scum!!" The pilot launched a streak of missiles towards Rick. "Those are Miriya's missiles!! He must have taken them from her veritech. Oh man." Rick transformed into fighter mode and boosted between missiles while shooting any in his way. He burst through the smoke and came at the Mentrandi at full speed while going into his battloid form. "Take this!!" Rick screamed as he pulled up on the joystick and flew up into the air. He floated there for a second, then launched twenty missiles down at the Mentrandi. He charged down at him, shooting his rifle behind the missiles, but the enemy pilot tore through his missile and bullet barrage and brought his fist into Rick's veritech's chest with amazing force. A shockwave blew out around the two fighters, and Rick's hull began to crack. "AAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Rick screamed as he took the blow head on. "HAHA!!! I told you!! I am a Zentraedi!! The warrior race!! Why did you think I was taking the girl from your ship?! I'll tell you why!! To give birth to an invincible army!!" screamed the Mentrandi warrior. "Now I'll finish you off!!" The pilot flew down at Rick's veritech with his fist extended, ready to pummel his veritech into the ground. There was no hope left for him. BOOOM!!!
A green veritech came flying in and smashed the Mentrandi ace to the ground. "Miriya! Thank goodness." Rick gasped. "Take this and die!!!" screamed Rick. He opened his Vulcan chambers and missile chambers and unleashed an alpha strike on the crazed pilot. While the bullets tore apart his hull, the missiles blew away the armor plating on his fighter until he was gone. Rick had finally come out on top. "Miriya! Where's Max?!" screamed Rick. "He went into space to tell the Colonel what happened! The Colonel said they are going to fire the Macross Cannon! Come on, this whole planet will go up in smoke!" screamed Miriya. They transformed into fighter mode and boosted through the atmosphere towards the Macross. They finally reached the Macross and docked their veritechs. Rick got out and ran to the bridge as fast as he could. He ran into the room screaming. "Colonel!! Hurry and fire the cannon! There's thousands of Mentrandi fighters heading towards the ship!!" screamed Rick. The captain nodded and gave the order to destroy the planet. "Fire the Macross Cannon!!!" yelled Colonel Brite. A man sitting at the controls pounded a button, and the ship began to rumble. The ship jerked back in a quick motion and shot a gigantic energy beam towards the planet. Just the beam itself was twice the size of the Macross. It crashed down into Mars, and when the beam dissipated, there was a huge whole right through the planet. "Activate force fields!!!" he screamed. A giant green sphere of energy enclosed the Macross as the planet exploded.
Minutes later, the Macross came bursting through the rubble back into space. The incredible skill of the pilots had crippled the Mentrandi army, and the incredible power of the Macross had finished it off. Rick leaned against the window watching the destroyed planet in the corner of his eye. "I never liked Mars, anyway." He said.