Bright Future
A Star Wars/Robotech fanfic
By ManxoChu
Disclaimer: Star Wars and its characters are property of Lucasfilms. Robotech and its characters are property of Harmony Gold. Idea for this fic is strictly owned by ManxoChu.
-=Prologue=-
Jack Archer felt it. He felt it time and time again. During the global war, when he flew with--and sometimes against--the legendary pilot Roy Fokker. During the conflicts of the Robotech War, where he fought against the Zentraedi. He felt it. As best as Jack figured, it was some sort of 'pilot sixth sense' that allowed him and some of his comrades to live.
Looks like my sense... and luck... has finally run out, Jack thought. I don't even know why I opted for the Super Veritech Armor. It's not like I knew this would happen. I don't even know how I convinced Commander Chase to let me use the SVA on the ground. His solo mission was to infiltrate Zen City, a rather fortified Zentraedi encampment, and "take care" of Zeraal, the maniacal leader of the Earthbound Zentraedi miscreants. Upon nearing the ruins of a Zentraedi cruiser, Zeraal activated the SpaceFold engine, hurtling them far beyond any means of rescue.
If I'd known Zeraal wanted a battle like this in space, I woulda worn my spacesuit. At least he's gone, and that's what matters. He couldn't help but draw the logo of the RDF on his now-frosted cockpit canopy. His red and white VF-1S was roughed up pretty bad. The port wing was torn in half in between the fuselage and the RDF logo, with the remainder of the wing about ten meters away. Main systems were failing before he'd gotten the final shot that killed Zeraal. All missile racks were depleted, and maybe a few rounds left in the GU-11 gunpod. My first mission as Wolf Leader is gonna be my last. Well, looks like this Wolf's gonna be put down. But with the major Zentraedi threat gone, the future's gonna be bright... even if I'm not there to--wha?
It might had been the lack of oxygen, but as if to cue in on his thoughts, the canopy did indeed start to brighten from an outside source. With what little strength he had left, he wiped as much frost off to see the source. A ship? Here? He felt the sudden shifting of his craft in an upwards and backwards direction, at least based on how he was seated. The jarring motion didn't help him much in his condition. Knowing he was on his last legs of conscious thought, he noticed the large ship was neither RDF or Zentraedi in design. Great... MORE aliens... Can't let them take me or the ship... His intention was to activate the self-destruct device, in order to protect the secrets of the RDF's elite fighting machine. To his dismay, the SD device was knocked out as well.
All Jack Archer could do was clutch his laser rifle to his chest with the safety off before he finally succumbed to the oxygen-deprived void, but not before his craft hit a metallic deck and heard his slowly-opening canopy.