"Know thy enemy and know thyself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." -Sun Tzu

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Elegy of Winners
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Tommy leveled his gun pod at the Super Renegade. He shut out the noise of the heavy missiles trying to break through the strange shielding on the Hammerhead base. All he wanted to focus on was the man in front of him.

"Anytime you're ready, murderer," snarled Tommy.

"Very well," chuckled Var. "Your funeral!"

"Your mama!" Tommy opened fire with his gun pod. Instantly, Var boosted away. The movement was so fast, Tommy had trouble following it. Kina had him covered there, though.

"Tommy, he's coming to our left!"

"Gotcha!" They both whirled around and fired. Again, no hits. Var bobbed and weaved, avoiding every incoming laser and bullet.

"I knew it. I've already taken down the only real pilot in your little group. You two are nothing but cannon fodder!!" Var opened up his chest-mounted missile launchers, and fired a swarm at Kina and Tommy.

"Scatter!" They quickly blazed in opposite directions, missiles trailing behind both of them. Tommy transformed into Fighter mode to get a clean shot at the incoming projectiles with his rear-facing laser. He shot down most of them, then dropped flares to throw off the ones he couldn't hit.

"Darn it!" Kina was trying to shoot down the missiles headed for her. "C'mon…c'mon…!" She kept shooting her rapid-fire lasers at the missiles, managing to get a few of them. As they closed in, she started to panic.

"Tommy, help me! I'm going to get hit!" Suddenly, just before they struck her, bursts of gunfire intercepted the warheads and destroyed them. Kina looked over, and saw Tommy's Thunderbolt, back in Soldier mode. "Thanks…" she said with a sigh.

"No problem. Where's Var-AAH!" Var's Super Renegade suddenly shoulder-checked the VF-11 from behind, sending the aircraft plummeting to the surface of the asteroid.

"Tommy!" cried Kina.

Tommy quickly took action, transforming the Thunderbolt to GERWALK mode. He kicked the machine's legs out to slow his fall, and brought it into a hover. He then whirled around, expecting Var to be right on him again. To his surprise, nothing was there.

"Damn it! Kina, you see him?"

Kina looked around. "No, I can't find him."

"Try the radar."

"Okay…there's this one little blip…and there's another one coming towards it really, really fast..."

"Oh, hell…!" Tommy quickly picked a direction and rocketed off in it. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one. Var seemed to materialize right in Tommy's path, blades primed for action. Tommy had no time to turn away, so he did the only thing he could think of: raise his bayonet in an attempt to block the strike. The blades met harshly.

"Not bad, rookie!" said Var. "Too bad you underestimated my Renegade's STRENGTH!" He shoved Tommy's VF-11 back, and then tried to run his blades through Tommy's cockpit.

"No, you don't!" Tommy sidestepped the charge, and fired at Var with his gun pod again. Var easily dodged the attack, and readied for another attempt.

"Say good-GOD!!!!!!" A swarm of missiles was headed right at it. Quickly, he boosted away and shot down the warheads, giving Tommy room to breathe for the moment.

"Shoot! I nearly had him," said Kina.

"Thanks, Kina!" Tommy tried to take advantage of Var's distraction by shooting at him with his gun pod, but the weapon's ammo was totally depleted. "Damn!" Tommy thought for a second, then transformed to Fighter mode and headed down to the surface.

"Tommy, where are you going?" said Kina.

"I need to get into a neutral corner, so to speak! Follow me!" Kina did so, quickly catching up to him as they reached the surface. Once there, Tommy changed to Soldier mode.

"Keep an eye out for their illustrious leader, would you?" said Tommy as he hurried behind a rock spire.

"Okay. He won't get past me." She aimed a forearm laser cluster towards the stars.

Tommy hurried behind a small rock spire. As he changed clips, he stared at his radar screen. Nothing. He growled to himself.

"Either we're back in the jamming field, or this guy is even BETTER than we thought…!" He looked around, and sighed. "Kina, talk to me."

"Let's see…oh, damn! He's disappeared again, Tommy. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Even that enhanced Renegade model he has shouldn't be able to carry anything bigger than short-range weapons. He's going to have to show himself again if he wants to attack."

"And believe me, I do," said Var with a laugh.

Tommy scowled. "Damn! Where is he?"

"…Above!!" cried Kina. But she was a bit late. Var streaked down at Tommy and slammed into his fighter again, sending it flying backwards.

"AAAHHH!!!" Tommy's VF-11 hit the ground hard. The Super Renegade quickly closed the distance, blades extended. Var loomed over Tommy.

"Only a rookie. Only a pathetic rookie…DIE!" He raised his right blade. Tommy closed his eyes and braced for the end. It did not come, to his shock. As he opened his eyes, he found Kina's Queadlunn-Rau standing there, with one of her own blades out. She had managed to cleave off Var's weapon.

Var snarled. "You…!" He quickly turned on Kina, and tried to stab her with his remaining blade.

"Ah!" She quickly boosted backwards to avoid Var. He chased after her as she did. Tommy quickly got back up.

"You're dead, you foolish girl!" Var caught up to her and grabbed the Queadlunn-Rau by the arms in an attempt to disable the armor. However, Kina's machine was much stronger than Tommy's Thunderbolt, so she was able to resist the attack. However, she was too panicked to try and fire her own weapons at him.

"Tommy! Get this psycho!"

"Got him!" Tommy took aim with his gun pod, and fired. This time, Var was too distracted to dodge and took several rounds in the side.

"AAH!" Var screamed with rage as bullets tore into his flank. "You piece of…you will NOT get that chance again!" He broke away from the two, attempting to set up another good firing position.

Meanwhile, aboard the California…

"We're here, sir."

"Excellent. What's the situation?"

"The Agincourt and Manchester have been attempting a pre-bombardment with their missiles, but they both have reported their attacks being deflected by a shield, sir."

"A pinpoint barrier set?"

"…Possibly. If it is so, it would be inadvisable to use our Macross Cannon until it is taken care of."

"Yes…because layered barriers can deflect it, and we'd have to wait five more minutes until we can fire again. Very well. Keep us back for now. Tell the controllers to let us know the moment that shield stops working."

"Very good, sir."

Back on the surface of the asteroid, Tommy was trying to figure out a plan of attack.

"I wasn't able to hit him until he was distracted…and he didn't lose focus until he got angry. That must be it!" He grinned. "Kina!"

"Yes?"

"I've got it! I know how we might be able to beat this guy!"

"You do? How?"

"We have to get him mad. REAL mad. That's his flaw; he loses his concentration when he's ticked! Kina, you knew his name when he first showed up…do you know anything else about him we can use?"

Kina thought for a second, and then smiled. "Oh, yes… Hey, Var!"

"What do you want now? It's too late for last requests!"

Kina scoffed. "Oh, I understand. You can't be out too late, or your MOMMY will worry!"

Var's expression darkened severely. "What did you say…?!"

"Oh, nothing. Just that I wonder if your MOM still asks if you have clean underwear!!"

Var scowled. "…Shut up…!"

Kina did no such thing. "Mama's boy! Mama's boy! Mama's boy! Var Bekran is a mama's boy!"

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Var spun around and came right at her. "I…am…not…a…MAMA'S BOY!!!!!!!"

Tommy moved in behind Var as he charged Kina. "It's working…his anger is only letting him see Kina!" He fired another burst from his gun pod, hitting Var's Super Renegade in the back of the left shoulder.

"Ole!" Kina boosted aside, avoiding Var completely. She then quickly spun around, and fired her own forearm laser clusters at the rear of Var's machine. She scored a couple of hits in the engine section, but not enough to cause the engine to fail. Var managed to make a coarse turn and avoid slamming into the ground.

Kina laughed. "Aw…poor baby! Do you need to call your mom?"

"Yeah, maybe she can put a band-aid on that boo-boo!" jeered Tommy.

"How…dare you!" snarled Var. "I am the greatest the Hammerheads have to offer! I am their undisputed leader! I will NOT BE MADE FUN OF!!!!!!!!!" He locked onto them with missiles.

"Uh…think we might've gone a little far?" asked Kina.

"Possibly," replied Tommy as they quickly dodged the incoming attack. Afterwards, Tommy found Var attempting to close the distance.

"You aren't catching me again, pal. Not with that many holes in your engine!" He hit the FAST booster and accelerated, actually pulling away from Var's damaged armor. Suddenly, a lock warning appeared on his screens.

"What? Who's shooting at me?" He looked around. A small missile emplacement was targeting him, and sent a barrage at him. Tommy took down the warheads with his rear laser, and whipped around. His sensors locked on both the emplacement and the small structure it seemed to be guarding. Shrugging it off, he fired several missiles from his FAST packs, destroying both targets. As he came off the kills, Var finally caught up to him.

"DIE!" Var fired his autocannons and chest lasers at Tommy's Thunderbolt. Tommy quickly dodged and transformed to Soldier mode.

"Wow. We've done enough-he's really lost most of his touch!" Tommy returned fire with his gun pod, mixing in a few shots from his head laser. Var dodged, but it wasn't as swift anymore. Tommy could now easily follow the Hammerhead commander's motions with his own eyes.

"Captain!"

"Yes?"

"Sir, new report. It would appear the shielding system the base was using has failed, sir."

"Great! Get the Macross Cannon warmed up now. We fire as soon as it is charged!"

Kina quickly flew up beside her companion.

"Tommy, are you okay? I saw a big explosion!"

"I'm fine, but Var's not. We're wearing him down."

"Yes, I noticed that too. Let's take him down together!"

Tommy smiled. "Right!" He looked around, spotting Var's Renegade above their position. "Hey, Var! I can't help but admit, you WERE a hell of a pilot. Too bad you're going down!"

Var growled. "Never!" He fired more missiles at Kina and Tommy. Again, they dodged the attack with relative ease. "Grr…curse you!" He closed in as Kina and Tommy pulled away from each other.

"You may not surrender, but you're still a mama's boy!" shouted Kina.

"Shut up!" Var charged at her. Tommy quickly rushed into position and fired his gun pod, damaging Var's armor further.

"Over here, murderer!" called Tommy.

"I'll…I'll kill you!!" He now faced Tommy. As he turned, Kina backed away from Var and put several laser blasts into the back of the armor again.

"Yoo-hoo! Var! Come and get me!"

"What the hell is this, Monkey in the Middle?!" snapped Var as he turned on Kina once again.

"Well, sort of, but THIS doesn't usually happen to the monkey!" Var turned towards Tommy again, expecting to find a missile barrage or incoming bullets. Instead, he got a nasty surprise. Tommy's VF-11 performed a full-on flying kick, landing the blow right on the Super Renegade's upper torso.

"OOF!" Var's machine went flying backwards. Tommy transformed his Thunderbolt into Fighter mode.

"It's time to finish this once and for all!" He took aim with his missiles.

"No…this isn't happening!" cried Var as he tried to boost away. His flight controls were not working correctly anymore, and he was only able to fly a straight line away from Tommy.

"Believe me. It's happening. This is for John!" The lock-on indicator slipped over the outline of the Renegade, and the lock tone sounded. There was no way he was going to miss this one. "You go straight to hell!!!" He fired. The missiles struck the entire bottom section and lower torso of Var's machine, sending it spiraling down towards the asteroid's surface.

"I got him!" cried Tommy.

"You got him!" cried Kina.

"…WE GOT HIM!!!!!!! WHOO-HOO!" cried both in unison

Var's armor crashed into the rock, sliding along the ground. For some reason, it did not explode, only skid to a stop. Its momentum carried it very close to the Hammerhead base.

Var opened his eyes. "Oh…hell!" He could tell that he was on his back. He also could tell that he was heavily injured. Looking up, he saw a large, humanoid object floating above him. Not a powered armor or variable fighter, he realized. No, it was far too large for that…

"We're charged, sir! Ready to fire on your command!"

"Very well. Macross Cannon…FIRE!"

The gigantic particle beam sliced through the stars towards its target. Tommy and Kina saw it immediately.

"Oh, God…it's the Macross Cannon! RUN!!!" They both boosted away from ground zero as fast as their vehicles could take them.

Var watched as the bright red energy beam approached. He could only form one word from his mouth before it struck.

"…Mommy…!"

The Macross Cannon's beam devastated the Hammerhead base, vaporizing every last level and room. The crater it formed extended far from the site of the base, with a circumference tens of miles long.

"Kina…? Are you okay?"

"…Yes. I'm fine, Tommy." They looked back at the devastation.

Kina whistled. "Yikes. Now that's what I call taking care of business!"

"You should see what happens when it's used against ships." Tommy sighed heavily.

"What's wrong, Tommy?"

Tommy bit his lip. "John. I…really thought he'd make it out with us."

"I did!"

"I'm so sorry about what happened, Tommy."

Tommy sighed again. "It wasn't your fault. If anything, it's mine. I was his wingman; I should have been there for him. But I wasn't…and he paid the ultimate price."

"They refunded it!"

Kina floated over to him. "I'll always be here for you, Tommy."

Tommy barely managed a small smile. "Thanks, Kina."

"So will I, because I'm not dead, damn it!"

"Kina, did you hear that? Sounds like John…"

"Oh, for the love of…"

"Hey, you're right…oh, God. Tommy, over there! Look!!" Tommy looked. Not too far away, an escape pod floated over the asteroid's surface…a U.N. Spacy pod.

"John?"

"Bingo!" They immediately flew over to the pod.

Tommy gasped. "It's really you! But…how? We saw your VF-11 go up!"

John groaned. "Ugh…don't remind me. The computer got its act together at the last minute and auto-ejected the pod. However, because it was so late, it wasn't the smoothest ejection. My leg's broken, and I distinct remember my head having a comfortable rendezvous with the side of the canopy."

Kina barely held back tears. "I'm so happy…!"

"So am I. Looks like your pod drifted far enough to keep you from getting hit by the California's Macross Cannon. You don't have too much pride to be towed back, do you?"

John laughed. "Tommy, I have no pride after what happened. I assume you killed the jerk."

"Yeah. We did."

John chuckled. "Well done. Well done! Now, please get my butt home…!"