I return with the 2nd book to the SDVF series. I apologize not only for the long delay (I was suuuper lazy lol), but the last book's kinda… At times it felt bad lol.
But now I'm back with book two of five.
Also, New Macross movies pog.
It has been barely a few years since the universe's most bloody and long lasting conflicts ended. It has been barely a few years, and almost the entire universe has changed. For starters, the race that started the universal conflict, the Galra, have moved on from being an empire to a republic, the New Galran Republic, to be precise. The Alteans began rebuilding their civilization after the total genocide of Altea. The Olkarians have found a new home on a planet close to Earth's Solar System, and the Voltron Coalition has been spreading peace and love throughout the universe.
Earth had changed considerably since the end of the universal war as well. With the exposure of the Macross and its technologies to the Galaxy Garrison, as well as a complete database, the Garrison began reworking the defenses of Earth. Admiral Maximilian Holt began enlisting the Olkarians living on Earth to help in the process of creating and building new ships for the Earth Defense Fleet, an armada of battleships that anchor and defend Earth from all invaders, using pre-existing designs and weapons from his timeline, but adding in a few Altean, Galran and some of these Earth designed weapons as well. He also began the work of creating new ships to defend Earth and assist the Coalition. For Example, the Ashira class super battleship, armed to the teeth with anti ship guns, a powerful super dimensional energy cannon, and could carry more reactionary and dimensional missiles than any other ship in the fleet, besides the Macross itself. It was the perfect project, however, an itching feeling was settling in his mind, one that a similar, more legendary admiral 60 years ago in his world had felt before. Max could see the brewing storms on the horizon of time, and he was going to fight his hardest to make sure another genocide would never happen again…
Max shook off the thoughts in his head, as he turned to face the window next to him. Rays of light pierced into his room, exposing the beautiful city in his vision. He placed a small datapad on the table in front of him, then glanced at the object in the center of his vision, the massive, still under construction guns piercing the skies reflected in his eyes.
"I'll make sure that no more harm will come to the citizens of Earth… I promise…" he muttered to himself. He sighed, then looked at his wrist watch on his left arm. He read the time, "1:43… damn, better get going." He spoke as he grabbed his cap from the desk. He pressed it on his head and adjusted its fit on his head. He walked to the front door and opened it, then turned around to the construction in the window. "Time to start our next frontier…", he said before closing the door.
It was a beautiful afternoon, no clouds in sight and a bright blue sky dominated the horizons. In the skies, an object pierced the skies smoothly like a dart, unwavering in its path to its destination. A plane was high in the skies, a cloud of vapor trailed behind it. It wasn't any ordinary plane, it was a Vf-31C Siegfried, sporting no major modifications. It had a lion decal on its back, while sporting a silver paint job, with green as a secondary color. The pilot inside was wearing a uniform that was very unique to all. They had the green and white uniform of a Paladin of Voltron, for this plane belonged to the talented genius Katie Holt, Director of the Voltron Coalition's newest Defenders of the Universe. She held the throttle stick gently, but firmly to her side while surveying her surroundings. The lustrous grass fields and forests below seemed to blossom as she flew over them. She smiled to herself, then closed her eyes in relaxation for a moment. 'It really feels amazing to be home after all that fighting, and it's so calm and peaceful up here… I almost forgot what that feels like…', she thought to herself as she reopened her eyes to keep her focus on flying. The interface in front of her suddenly lit up with a transmission from someone from the Galaxy Garrison aviation section.
"Contact to target in 10,000 meters!" the voice shouted. Her mind readied itself as she took in a deep breath. She already forgot about what she really was here for. She gripped her controls, keeping her hands steady as she braced herself.
"5,000 meters!" She quickly looked around her to see if she could spot anything coming, but all she found was either the blue empty skies or the pastures of grass below. A drop of sweat rolled down her cheek. She almost wanted to wipe it off, but then remembered she was in her Paladin's uniform. She scoffed at herself about her idiocy at that moment.
"4,000 meters! Do not engage until you cross!" The voice shouted in her ear. She physically recoiled to her side, cringing at the volume of the voice. It almost sounded like that person was screaming in her ear. She shook her head to remain focused. She decided to turn down the volume of the speakers.
"3,000 meters!" 'That's much better…' Pidge thought to herself as she adjusted herself in her seat.
"2,000 meters!" She could see the target approaching, growing larger in size as it approached her. She looked her eyes on it, getting ready to open fire the first chance she had.
"1,000!" The voice shouted. There was a deafening silence that filled the air before the announcer shouted again, "START!" At which moment, her target flew above her in a similar fighter. She looked up to see a black fighter, and it's pilot staring down at her, though she could only see their lower face. They seemed to smirk at her as they flew past her. She scoffed and looked over her right shoulder to try to track that pilot's movements, but to her surprise, she never saw the fighter making a pass on her right flank. Her eyes widened in fear as she quickly, yet painfully, looked over her left shoulder. To her horror, the enemy fighter had alright turned around in GERWALK mode and aimed it's twin cannons at her.
Seemingly out of reflex, she pulled up on the throttle and pushed hard on the pedals below her. Her fighter barely managed to roll out of the way of an incoming barrage of bullets. Taking this time to recover. She quickly threw her fighter into GERWALK mode and swung around to counter, but the enemy was one step ahead of her as they went back to fighter mode and took off when she fired, missing her barrage entirely.
"Oh NO you don't!" She scowled as she locked the fighter in her sights and pressed a button on the throttle stick. Instantaneously, dozens of missiles launched from her fighter, viciously making their approach to their intended target. However, the pilot managed to either avoid the oncoming onslaught or shot them down, exploding in bright colors. Katie used this window that the missiles had bought her to close the distance, tailing the fighter and getting it in her gun sights. The enemy fighter attempted to shake her off with fancy flying, but she managed to keep herself stable and on target, albeit with some difficulty.
"Almost… gotcha!" She shouted as she got her crosshairs lined up with the enemy fighter's body and tail. "I WIN THIS TI-!" She screamed with joy as she pulled the trigger. Bullets escaped her gun and flew out of the muzzle and into the air. Her face lit up as they approached the fighter in front of her… only for the enemy fighter to transform into GERWALK mode and at the last second pull up and flip over the bullets. Her face dropped to horror and shock as she looked up to see two barrels looking down on her, the pilot's face on the other side radiating with a smirk of victory.
"Checkmate…" she heard the pilot's voice as bullets rain down on her. She closed her eyes, only to be greeted with the sound of something liquid splashing itself above and behind her. She looked up to see blue paint covering the top of the canopy, but her vision in front of her remained clear. She slumped over in defeat as she calmed down.
"Simulation over. Winner: Admiral Maximellion Holt!" Another voice chimed in to the comms. A laugh of excitement soon caught her ears, she looked over her right shoulder to see that the fighter had looped over her and had come up to her side, close enough to see it's full details, while still far away to not cause alarm.
"Phew! Looks like you still can't beat me one-on-one, even with my training, but you're getting better at this, babe!" Max's voice called through the comms. He sounded somewhat tired, but she could tell he was trying to lighten her by feigning it.
"It's not really that fair. I'm going up against a seasoned pilot, and I only just started piloting this thing less than a year ago," she pouted as gripped her controls.
"Even so, you did put me on the ropes there by chasing me, I won't lie," Max replied, "but here's where I gotta go full mentor roll and explain something to you." She listened, if only to get her mind over losing for what felt like the thousandth time, "the VF-31C is actually at a disadvantage when it comes to fighting in a planet's atmosphere and sky."
"How so?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's the wings, they're forward swept and thus increase drag. Not only that, but these types of fighters require a special set of wings to help accommodate the fighter. Without it, the fighter would crash upon turning," Max explained.
"Right…" she muttered as she leaned back in her seat.
"Hey… can we change the topic for a moment," Max suddenly caught her attention again. Something seemed to be on his mind, and by the sounds of it, something big.
"What's on your mind?" Katie asked, looking over to the fighter to her right.
"Hold up a sec," Max suddenly changed the comms frequency to the Galaxy Garrison HQ, "Admiral Holt to Garrison Aviations, Director Holt and I won't be back for some time. Do not interrupt us unless something catastrophic occurs."
"Understood, sir! Have a safe trip you two!" The person on the other end of the comms returned before hanging up. Max then came back to the previous channel before continuing
"There we go. Now, about what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to show you the development of the next battlefortress, as well as talk to you about the future of it. We're going to Overture City, so we're gonna pass by Macross City," Max spoke as they turned to the East and began flying low. As the two slowly made their way to Macross City, the pastures and desert underneath them changed to a rapidly industrializing city. She looked up to see the SDF-1 sitting in the lake, with many small ships still hovering around it. Even though it's been almost 3 years since the Battle of Earth, and yet the Macross is still under repairs from that encounter. As they passed over the battleworn ship, she noticed flashing colors on a harbor near the lake. There was some sort of concert taking place near the Macross.
"What's going on down there?" She asked herself out loud.
"It's a Yang and Cherry Concert," Max's voice startled her slightly. She forgot that she was on a comms channel for a moment there.
"A… Yang and Cherry Concert? Who are Yang and Cherry?" She asked as they passed over the concert.
"Ichika Yang and Abigail Cherry. They are Japanese women who were born in America. They are bilingual and speak VERY fluent English and Japanese. They also started speaking in German recently, but that's not going very well from what I heard on the streets. They rose to fame because they're playing songs that were created from my time, singing almost the same lyrics and radically changing the instrumentals while adding their own flare to it," Max spoke, then fell silent. After a brief moment, the pilot gave a soft, but sad sigh through the comms. "Frankly… this is the closest thing I can get to my home… my earth and culture…" He seemed to force out a chuckle, "I guess this is what happens when you're one half Zentraedi… you get culture shocked a little too hard at times."
Pidge didn't really know what to say. She really didn't know what it felt like to be shuttled across time and space to an alternate universe. Well… she did, but… this was entirely different from the Alternate Altean Timeline fiasco several years ago.
"Hey… let's not think about that now, it'll only ruin your day," Pidge tried to change the subject. Max gave a sigh in agreement, then passed over the city. For a couple of minutes, there was an uncomfortable silence that enveloped the two as they flew. They then approached the borders of Overture City, where Katie saw first hand what Max was talking about, but before she had time to say anything, Max motioned her to touch down. Katie nodded then followed him down to a cliffside nearby, the two changed their fighters to GERWALK mode and landed on the cliff, before jumping down from the canopy. Katie followed Max to the edge before he sat down, his feet dangling over the edge. She looked up in front of her to see the looming construction of another Macross class ship. A golden haze of a sun that was beginning to set on the horizon. It was beautiful, but she doubted this scenery was what he wanted to show and talk about.
"This is it Pidge… this is the future of space exploration and of the Earth Defensive Fleet. The SDF-2, Macross Overture," Max spoke as he gave a soft smile, "she's a new generation of Macross class vessels, which will be dubbed the Overture Subclass. 1,600 meters tall and armed with thousands of missile ports, anti-air guns from Altea, Earth, my Earth, Galra, and even Olkarian weapons and a new generational Super Dimensional Energy Wave Gun. She's a beauty! This new ship will take Humanity to the stars and far beyond!"
Katie turned and looked up slightly at him (she had grown a lot, and they were almost as tall as each other, but Max was still taller by a few inches), "so, why did you want me to see this? I already know of the Overture's production. There's something else you want to say?"
He glanced down on her, his gaze serious, but still calm, "you also are aware of Earth's new Colony ship, are you not?"
She nodded, "the IGF Megaroad, right? It's a heavily modified variant of the original Megaroad class of ships, armed with many more weapons while still retaining its original looks."
He nodded, "correct…". He rocked his legs back and forth as he pointed to the Overture, "but I bet you weren't aware that the Overture is the SDF-1's replacement for the defense of Earth."
She perked up slightly, "huh?"
"The IGF Megaroad will be leading the first colony expedition to a far away system. It will be accompanied by 42 of our latest ships. We're going to call this fleet the 'HCEF', it's short for the first 'Human Colonization and Exploration Fleet.' The original SDFN class of ships were designed and tasked specifically to pave the way for the Megaroad ships, and provide protection for them. The SDF-1 will be launching with the fleet… and I will be leaving with them."
Katie's heart stopped for a moment as her face went white in shock. She quickly swiveled her head at the young admiral, gripping his shirt and shaking him slightly, but firmly, "W-WHAT?!"
"I said I will be leaving with this fleet to supervise the construction of Humanity's first deep space colony," Max replied calmly, slightly dizzy from her shaking, which didn't help the fact they were on a cliffside.
"YOU CAN'T LEAVE! YOU'RE NEEDED HERE! YOU CAN JUST AS EASILY OVERSEE IT FROM HERE!" She screeched in his face, tears threatening to rush down her face.
Max's face grew much more serious as he gripped her arms firmly, but still gently, "Katie, listen to me." She gulped as she slowly nodded, a tear escaping her eyes. He sighed as he let go of her, but still kept his eyes fixated on her, "Katie, Humanity just got out of a universal conflict and were just recently exposed to the concept of alien life. Not to mention, Humanity nearly face GENOCIDE…" Katie heard a monstrous growl with that last word, making her shake in fear. He calmed down as he continued, "I don't want another genocide to occur… It's time that Humanity stakes its claims in the stars beyond! That's why I must take the SDF-1! To defend the Megaroad as it travels through the galaxy! We have no idea what's out there, and Galran war factions are still out there, destroying everything they see like pirates!"
"B-But…" her face fell to the ground as tears escaped her eyes, her breathing grew heavy, "we're family…" She suddenly felt a soft, warm embrace around her.
"I promise I will return shortly. Once I make sure that the colony is secured, I'll come back…" He whispered as she gripped him tightly. He fought off the urge to ask her to let him go for air. Thankfully, fate had his back as the two perked up to a sound coming from Max's cockpit. The two broke apart and walked up the canopy and looked into it to see a message had come through. Max hopped into the canopy and pressed the screen. A man came through on the other side, a headset on his head. "What is it?"
"Sorry to bother you sir, but you wanted me to let you know when the Atlas and Captain Shirogane returned from their mission," the man responded. Katie looked up at Max in confusion.
"Oh, right, I forgot about that. Thank you, Ensign," he replied before he cut off the comms. He then looked back at a still teary-eyed Pidge, "you uh… wanna join me in seeing Shiro and the Atlas crew?"
"N-No thanks…" she muttered before getting back into her plane, "I… I think I'm going to go back home for the night…"
Max nodded, "okay… I'll… I'll see you later tonight, then what do you say we stay home tomorrow, just the two of us?" She nodded slightly, before waving and closing the canopy. Her fighter took to the skies, leaving Max just watching her fly off in the distance. He sighed… "that… could've gone better… but I guess it could've gone much worse as well…" he hopped into his fighter and took off into the sky. His fighter penetrated the atmosphere, revealing the starry void beyond. Ahead of him, he could see the familiar shape and color of the Atlas coming up ahead of him. He opened his comms to the Altas, and was greeted by an unfriendly voice.
"Unidentified fighter, state your name and business immediately!" Max rolled his eyes, quite the welcoming committee.
"This is Admiral Maximellian Holt, I'm making a surprise visit to the Atlas. Open the hangar bay door on the Starboard side," Max ordered as his fighter landed on the hangar pad.
"U-UH. O-OF COURSE SIR!" The manly voice wavered in fear as the hangar bay launch pad descended below the hull. Max chuckled to himself, 'that never gets old.'
When his fighter reached the hangar, he hopped out of the canopy and dusted himself off, only to notice everyone had dropped what they were doing to form a line and salute him to the door. Max pressed his finger between his eyes, "I'm not a president, just an admiral… at ease everyone and get back to your duties, please…" Everyone in the room dropped their salute and returned to duty, the clang of tools resumed. He muttered to himself something unintelligible before walking out of the hangar. As he walked through the hallway to the bridge, he noticed that he was approaching the cafeteria, and decided to see if Hunk was inside, and sure enough, he was. Hunk had his back to him, working on some food, so he thought we would have some fun with him. Max casually leaned on the wall with his arms crossed and spoke, "nice place you got here."
Hunk physically jumped about 6 inches off the ground, earning a low chuckle from the admiral as the man turned around to see him leaning on the wall. He suddenly dropped his spices as he saluted, "admiral, sir!"
Max sighed with a smile on his face, "good grief, Hunk, I told you you don't have to use that around here. Now, how about something a little less formal and give me a hug for old time sakes!" Max immediately regretted that option as he soon found himself squished by a Hunk Hug, as he called him. "-ACK! Regret! REGRET!" Hunk apologized as he let the admiral go, who hunched over with one hand on his back in pain. "I might need a chiropractor after that," he joked.
Hunk suddenly decided to change the subject, yet still in his cheery voice as always, "so what brings you to the Altas?"
Max stood straight up, albeit with some pain, and looked up at the chef, "I'm looking for Shiro and Olia, do you know where they are?"
Hunk placed a hand under his chin for a moment before speaking, "I think they are both on the bridge, or at least I know Shiro is."
"Gotcha! Thanks, bud!" He waved as he left the cafe and made his way to the bridge, stopping for a moment to take a turbolift to the top deck. When he entered the bridge, he was greeted by the sight of Olia and Shiro talking to each other, their backs to him. He was about to nonchalantly tap their shoulders when the surprise was ruined by an ensign shouting, "ADMIRAL ON THE BRIDGE!" Everyone, but Olia and Shiro (as they both took their time turning around as they were more confused than alarmed), rapidly stood up and saluted.
Max slumped forward, waving his hand dismissively with a defeated expression written on his face, "thanks for ruining my surprise, ensign. At ease, everyone…" he spoke with a slightly joking attitude. The crew laughed as they returned to duty, while the ensign blushed with a pout on her face before sitting down back at her post. Shiro and Olia meanwhile smiled as they nodded to the admiral, knowing of his lax policies.
"Welcome aboard, Admiral," Shiro spoke as he raised his hand.
Max shook it before replying, "thank you, Captain. I'm sorry about the unannounced visit, I just had news to deliver. Speaking of which, will you two walk with me for a moment?" The two looked at each other in confusion for a moment before nodding to him. They exited the bridge and down a hall until they stopped at a window. The window was entirely covered by the image of Earth's cloudy atmosphere and blue seas below. He sighed as he leaned forward into the window.
"Is something wrong, Max?" Shiro asked as they watched him almost mope as he stared at the window.
He was quiet for a moment, then looked down at the floor, "I told her…" Shiro immediately understood what he meant by that and placed his good hand on Max's shoulder. Olia knew what he was referring to as well, but she didn't want to say anything, not wanting to risk making the admiral more upset.
"How'd she take it?" He asked.
"Surprisingly better than we expected, but not that great," Max spoke as he looked at the reflection of his friends.
"You… you had no choice. She was going to know eventually," Shiro spoke as Max sighed.
"Yeah…" he muttered as he stood back up, then looked at Olia. He remembered another thing he was here for, "hey, Olia, mind if I ask you something?"
Olia gave him a puzzled look, "yes, sir."
"What was your favorite thing about being a commander and leading your forces while fighting the Galra?" Max suddenly asked.
Olia was a bit stunned by the question, but quickly responded, "I didn't enjoy it most of the time… but it was nice to fly in space during missions. It's a nice stress reliever at times, ironically."
Max nodded, "I see…" he looked down at Earth for a moment before abruptly turning around and facing the canine, " Pop quiz: What do you know about the up and coming SDF-2? GO!"
Olia suddenly got into a soldier's attention pose as she responded, "Sir! One Super Dimension Type 3 Cannon on the bow of the ship! Four 180cm Magnetic Anti Ship guns! Crew of 10,000. Has numerous anti ship, anti fighter and Destroid ports all over the ship. Two ARMD Carriers capable of holding nearly 500 aircraft and Destroids!"
Max nodded in approvement, "you've done your homework."
"Yes I did, sir," Olia eased herself up from her position as Max turned back to the window facing Earth.
"Then I'm sure you are also aware we are recruiting senior staff and are looking for the next commander of the ship, correct?" Max spoke, not diverting his eyes.
"Umm, yes sir? I'm confused, what does this have to do with me and that pop quiz?" Olia raised a canine eyebrow in confusion. Max suddenly chuckled to himself, then turned back to her.
"Captain Olia. It is my privilege as an Admiral of the Galaxy Garrison to offer you the position and title as the Captain of the SDF-2 Macross Overture," Max suddenly outstretched his arm in front of him in a handshake. Olia was stunned by the offer as sweat poured from her fur. Max noticed this and backtracked slightly, "I know this is out of the blue, but we need capable leaders to lead the next generation of exploratory and combat vessels for Earth's defense, Universal peace and the exploration of space. And from being with you in the fight against the Galra a couple years ago, I know you are a very talented leader." She still seemed to be thinking in her head. Max sighed, "Sorry again… if you need a moment to think, then I'll give you 24 hours to decide." Before he could even lower his hand, he felt a strong grip around his hands, as well as the feeling of something fluffy touching his fingers. He glanced back down to see an eager, but still calm Olia gripping tightly around his hand.
"I accept the position. Thank you, sir!" Olia smiled as she shook his hand. Max nodded with a smirk as the two let go, dropping their arms to their sides.
"Excellent. Report to the Galaxy Garrison HQ in North America. Colonel Iverson will be expecting you. And don't worry about Hunk, he already knows about me asking you for this, and he's happy for you whatever decision you make," Max said as he placed his hands in his pocket.
"Yes, sir!" Olia saluted as she walked away and out of the hallway, getting a thumbs up and a smile from Shiro as she left. Shiro approached his side and looked out the window.
"You made the right call," Shiro replied as he placed a hand on Max's shoulder. Max laughed to himself.
"Yeah…" he looked over his shoulder to see Shiro in his peripheral vision.
Shiro's face grew more serious as he looked down to Earth, "so when are you leaving with the fleet?"
"Three days. The final preparations are commencing as we speak. I'm hoping everything will go smoothly, but knowing my luck… eh…" Max shrugged, "I just hope the Overture and the Ashira class will be enough to deter anything while we're away."
"Why do you say that?" Shiro asked, a ponderous expression plastered across his face as he looked down at the blue haired admiral.
Max was silent for a brief moment before taking in a deep breath, "lately, I've been getting a feeling that something's… something's about to happen. Something SO BIG, the fate of humanity will be at stake again."
"You're probably just paranoid about Earth while you're gonna be gone. I promise I'll keep Earth safe. After all, it is much better defended than it was a few years ago," Shiro tried to reassure him, which seemed to work as Max's expression softened.
"Yeah… Yeah, maybe you're right. All this Admiral stress is getting to me," Max stood up from the window, then turned to face the door, "I'ma go home and clear my head. Take care, Shiro!" Max waved as he left the hallway. Shiro gave him a wave as he turned around and walked out the door. As he made his way back to his fighter, he grew more concerned in his heart as multiple thoughts clouded his mind, "yeah… just stressed out, I guess…"
When Max opened the door to his and Katie's home, he was greeted by a darkened living room. When He turned on the lights, he noticed that Katie was sleeping on the couch, her face in the cushions of the sofa. A soft snore escaped her muffled voice. Max chuckled as he set down his belongings on a counter nearby, then approached the sleeping director. He gently picked her up, trying not to grunt as he did so. She had not only grown in height, but she was heavier now as well, and it took nearly all his strength to carry her at times. After a few moments, he brought her to their bedroom and laid her on the mattress. He brought the covers over her body as he turned for the door. He looked back and closed the door, but not before muttering "Goodnight, Katie," through a cracked door. He quickly brushed his teeth and changed out of his uniform into something way more comfortable before turning off the lights to the living room and crashing on the couch. Sleep quickly enveloping his weary mind.
Dear God this took way too long to make IMO
I hope you enjoyed the sequel's opening chapter!
Have a good day everyone!
