How could such a thing be possible? I mean, I read somewhere thata human who was fifty feet tal would not be able to even stand up. And yet, this fifty-foot tall human was right here. Whose idea was it to make humans fifty feet tall? Was this island going to be overrun with fifty-foot tall humans?
Then I saw one of our own fighters flying towards the hotel. I figured the pilot must have seen the giant human. The fighter was colored black, with a red stripe across the fuselage between the left and right sides.
Then I saw the thrusters detach from the body. I wondered if the fighter was damaged. Then I saw two arms emerge from the uhnderside of the fighter. The nose section and wings folded into the fuselage. When the plane touched down, it was no lionger a plane. It looked like a giant suit of armor. The rectangular head had two antennae and there were two green horizontal bars.
And this giant suit of armor was packing a huge gun, made for its size.
It aimed this weapon at the giant, and I heard the familiar sound of gunfire. The cartridges coming from the gun were as big as trash cans. I could see blood bits of brain matter blasting away from the giant's head, proving to me beyond a doubt that the giant was a living thing. The giant fell to the street with a hard thud. I wandered to the street to where the fallen giant lay, and I stared at the armor suit which was once a fighter plane.
"Are you all right?" asked a voice which apparently came from the plane/armor.
"Yes!" I shouted. What I noticed was that the voice from the armor sounded high pitched; the pilot must be a woman.
Then I saw the suit transform. The nose and wings folded out of the fuselage. I thought it was turning back into a fighter, but the transfomration stopped halfway. It looked like a plane with two arms and two legs, sort of like a bird or something. I could see the cockpit, and there was someone inside.
The canopy opened. "Hop in!" yelled the pilot.
So that was what I did. The pilot extended the left arm down to the ground, and I stepped onto the palm of the mechanical hand. The arm lifted me up and I was able to scramble into the back seat of the cockpit.
"Okay," said the pilot. "I'm gonna bring you to the shelter. Make sure to fasten your seatbelt."
"Okay," I said, fastening the seatbelt. I was going to ask that Commander Fokker person to give me a ride in that two-seater; I guess I didn't have to ask him after all. Soon we were flying a hundred feet above Macross City at a speed of about fifty miles an hour.
"Are you injured?" she asked. "Should I take you to the SDF-1 sick bay?"
"No, I'm fine," I said. "Thanks."
"It looks like the air assault is over."
"Maybe the danger's passed."
"I should still get you to the shelter. Everybody else is there, and someone might worry about you."
"I'm not from here; I traveled here on business. I'm a reporter."
"Well, you'll certainly have a story to tell."
"Knight Ten, do you have the civilian with you?" asked a male voice.
"Yes, Knight Leader," replied the pilot. "I'm only a few minutes to the shelter. Any word of a second attack wave?"
"Keep the comm line open."
"Yes, sir."
"What faction sent that giant creature?" I asked.
"We don't know yet," replied the pilot. "But the reason the battloids were built was to fight giants."
"What?"
"The alien spaceship that we rebuilt as the SDF-1. Sections of it were designed for fifty foot people."
"I wonder if that giant has anything to do with the spaceship."
"Don't know. Right now, I have to take you to the shelter. There it is, straight ahead. We'll be there in less than a minute. Yaaaaah!"
The pilot made a sharp turn. My glasses fell off my face. "What was that for?" I asked even as I searched for my glasses. When I put them on, I saw that the canopy was covered with some sort of shield, so I could not see through it. A monitor screen popped up, along me to see where we were going.
I could see buildings. And behind the buildings, I could see these globes standing on two legs. They clearly stood tall above the buildings; they look big enough for a UN fighter jet to fit inside.
"This is Knight Ten," said the piloty. "I'm surrounded by these, by these pods. I need cover so I can get my passenger to safety."
Then I felt us move. I saw explosions. I then saw the enemy pods trying to get us. They were firing these beams. I could see the arms of the armor aim the gun and fire it at the pods, pinching hpoles in them and downing them. But then more pods arrive. From what I can see on the monitor screen, we were taking cover in the buildings of Macross City while trying to avoid being shot to pieces by these enemy pods.
"I'm pinned down by enemy fire," said the pilot. "I'm running out of ammo and I need help."
We kept running through through streets, taking shots at the enemy pods. A building we were using for cover collpased. I could see several pods, including one with what appeared to be a missile array.
We turned and we were surrounded by enemy pods.
"it was nice knowing you," I said to the pilot.
Then I saw explosions, but it wasn't us that was exploding. I saw more fighters with their legs extended. They transformed into suits of armor.
"We got you covered, Knight Ten," said a male voice.
"Thanks Knight Leader," replies the pilot.
"Is the civilian okay?"
"I'm okay," I said.
"Knight Ten, you will take the civilian to the shelter and we will provide cover fire."
"copy that."
The canopy shield opened and I could see through it. We flew towards the shelter.
Then this pod jumped right in front of us. It looke different though, for it had arms as well as legs. The arms did not have hands; they had mean looking cannons. And on the head was another cannon. It must belong to one of the enemy leaders, I figured. The pilot truend to avoid the enemy pod.
"Oh shit I lost my gunpod!" she screamed. I looked at the monitor and I can see the gun lying on the ground. I also saw the other enemy pods were keeping her team busy.
I felt the armor jump and from what I can tell, we jumped right on top of the enemy pod. I could hear the armor's fists pondung on the enemy pod. The pod's canopy opened, revealing yet another giant. She pulled the giant out of the pod and started pummeling it with the armor's fists. The giant struck back, and I could hear and feel the impact. The pilot then pointed the leg at the giant;'s head, and then burned the giant with the hot engine exhaust.
"Change of orders, Knight Ten," said Knight Leader. "We are to go dock with the SDF-1."
"I still have the civilian on board," said Knight Ten.
"He'll be safe on board the ship. It's taking off now. You go there first; the rest of us will cover you."
Once again, the cnopy shield was withdrawn as the armor turned back into a fighter jet. We flew upwards, and I can see the SDF-1 Macross rising in the air.
"Knight Ten to SDF-1 Control," said the pilot. "I am requesting permission to land and I have a civilian on board."
"You are cleared to land in Landing Bay Five Zero Four," said the control officer. The image of the control officer appeared on the screen, a woman with brown hair.
I saw the SDF-1 get closer and closer. Soon I can see ther landing bay where the fighters are parked. We soon entered the landing bay at it was huge. I saw a huge door open ahead, and the pilot taxied the plane into the next room. The next room was huge, and there were several fighters in here already, accompanied by support vehicles and personnel. I saw the numerals "504" stenciled on the wall. I figured this was a hangar bay.
The cockpit canopy was opened. A man wearing a cap and overalls told me to climb down, so I did. Once I was safely on the floor of the hangar bay, the pilot came down. She removed her helmet.
I looked at her and she had long blond hair coming from her head. I gazed into her eyes which were as blue as the ocean surrounding Macross City. She extended her hand to me and I introduced myself as a reporter from the Associated Press.
"I am First Lieutenant Jenna Murphy of the United Nations Space Marines' Knight Squadron," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
We shook hands. "I want to thank you for the rescue."
"We'd better have a Spacy corpsman look at you."
Soon, another fighter entered the hangar bay. The pilot was amna with black hair and a moustache. He was young.
"so this is the guy you rescued, eh?" said the pilot.
"That's right," I said. I introduced myself to him.
"Second Lieutenant Jonathan Wolfe," he said. "That's Wolfe with an "e" at the end. I want you to makje sure my name is spelled correctly when you write about all of this."
"Sure," I said.
More fighters docked in the bay. I saw Jenna stand at attention to one of the pilots, which I figured was the commander.
"Lieutenant Colonel Angus Beckett," said the pilot, a man with brown hair in his early forties. "I am the commander of Knight Squadron and I report to Colonel Maistroff who is the commander of the Marine detachment to SDF-1."
"I'm Major Dan Colmes," said a red-haired man. "Second in command of the squadron."
"When can I return to Macross City?" I asked.
"When we hear the civilians are being let out of the shelters," said Colonel Beckett. "How about we take you to our office?"
The colonel and Jenna Murphy led me through some corrdors to the office. One thing I noticed was a lot of cardboard boxes lying about.
"We're still settling in here," said Beckett. "Don't mind the mess. Besides, once we chase the aliens away from Macross City, I'll have Murphy fly you back."
"The ride going home won't be as bumpy," said Jenna Murphy.
I heard a telephone ring and Beckett went inside one of the inner offices. He then wen tback to the main office.
"You'll have to fly a little farther when you take him back to Earth," said the colonel.
"What's going on, sir?" asked Jenna Murphy, who was cofnused by the statement.
"Attention all hands. Priority! Fold system standby! Readying energy at maximum-green at all power sources," said a female voice. "All hands to emergency stations. All hands, emergency stations. This is not a drill, I say again: This is not a drill. Prepare for fold operation in T minus five minutes and counting-mark."
"What's a fold operation?" I asked.
"A really fast way to travel," said Jenna Murphy. "Stay put here. I have to go to my emergency station."
She and Colonel Beckett ran off. I sat on chair, looking at all the cardboard boxes lying about.
"We will execute fold in ten seconds. Nine... eight... seven..Six... five... four..." the ship, though massive, was shaken like a child's toy by the sheer power of the fold generators. "Three... two... one..." Time seemed to stop forever. "Zero."
And then I saw all these bright colors, like an acid trip or something. Everything starrted to blur. I looked at my hands, and they looked like they were splitting. This would be a cool effect at a concert in Madison Square Garden.
And then it stopped. I decided to wait for Knight Squadron. There was nothing in this office to look at, no bulletins, no posters, no nothing.
And then I saw Lieutenant Jenna Murphy come into the office.
"The colonel thought I should be the one to tell you," she said. "I can't take you back to Earth now."
"Why?" I asked.
"I don't have enough fuel in my Veritech. You see, the ship is now in orbit around the sun near the planet Pluto."
I squinted. "Did I hear you right?" I asked. "Pluto?"
"Yes."
"Well, if we can get from Earth to Pluto in a few hours, then it should only take a few hours to get back. I doubt there's traffic."
"You don't understand. The fold system is sort of broken now. We can't fold back to Earth."
"How long will it take to get back?" I asked.
"At conventional speeds, about a year."
"A year in space?" I asked. "I never flew in outer space before. There was a guy in my office who was killed on Mars when one of the anti-UN factions blew up Sara Base."
"You're the lucky one," she said. "You see, when we folded to Pluto, we also took Macross City with it. You are the only confirmed civilian survivor."