Welcome to chapter 3 my wonderful viewer!
Enjoy the continuation of the show!
Also, my heart goes for the Ukrainian people!
The first thing that she felt when she regained consciousness was her heavy head. It felt like someone had placed a tank on top of her head, and her skull was barely able to hold together. Her ears were annoyingly ringing, breaking any sort of concentration in her mind, not that she could with the head ache she had anyway. She gave a soft groan as she opened her heavy eyelids. Her eyes stung when she saw the blurry world around her. She blinked a couple times so she could adjust her eyes to her surroundings. The ringing in her ears began to die down as she became familiar with her surroundings. She was in her shared room that she would sleep with Max in. She looked over to the closed curtains to her right. She could see gold and light blue rays piercing the veil.
"Judging by the angle of the light rays, it looks like it's about one P.M…" She muttered as she lossed over her covers. She threw up a confused expression as she noticed she was in her director's uniform. "Why am I in my uniform asleep?" Without even realizing it, a fresh tear rolled down her cheek and fell off her chin, and before she could feel what caused that sensation, the tear slammed into the bed sheets below. Instantly, her mind flooded with the events of the previous day. She remembered the burning ship defolding, the news of the Macross and its fleet going missing, her emotions overwhelming her everything. Another fresh tear dropping from her opposite eye brought her back into reality.
"O-Oh… right…" she muttered to herself as she pulled her knees to her chest. She hunched over as she closed her eyes, her mind adrift. She remained in that position for what felt like hours, not even thinking, just sitting there.
Something began to tickle her nose, a smell of something fresh. She perked her head up as she sniffled and began smelling the unusual aroma in the air. It smelled like someone was brewing something. She slowly shuffled out of the bed, her legs a little shaky, causing her to lean on the bed for support as she left the bedroom. She followed the smell as it grew stronger in her nose. The sounds of quiet voices soon reached her ears… wait… voices? She turned the corner to enter the kitchen, and was surprised to see Shiro, Lance, Keith, and Coran in her living room and kitchen, quietly having a conversation. She was about to say something to grab their attention when another voice followed by loud, heavy footsteps ran over to her.
"Oh my God, Pidge!" The voice shouted as she was suddenly picked up by a massive man in a tight hug. She didn't need her eyes or ears to know that Hunk had pulled her into one of his spine crushing hugs. She gawked as she sputtered to speak, but air was leaving her lungs about as fast as the tiredness was escaping her.
"Hunk… DOWN!" She gasped as Hunk let her go with a 'sorry…'. Everyone soon stopped their conversation and turned to the two. Pidge gasped as she hunched over in pain, but if she wasn't awake before, she surely was now.
"I'm sorry about that, Pidge, but when I heard that you collapsed, I had to come see you!" Hunk spoke, while Lance and Coran nodded simultaneously in agreement.
"Sorry for worrying you…" Pidge spoke in a low voice, rubbing her shoulders as she looked away.
"It's alright… I'm glad to see you're okay," Lance spoke as he sighed with some relief.
Pidge looked back at the mass of friends, "how long have I been out?"
Keith leaned on a nearby wall, his arms crossed in his usual emo-ness, "about a day, give or take a couple hours." Katie muttered 'jesus…' as Shiro walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder. His face ripe with concern, just like his usual space-dad self.
"How are you feeling," Shiro asked softly. His voice seemed to soothe her, but only slightly.
"Like shit," she spoke, not holding anything back. Keith smirked at her use of language. Max had been a bad influence on her vocabulary it seems, everyone else though looked less impressed by the young adult's language.
Hunk had walked behind the counter and poured a cup of something from a kettle nearby, then offered it to the girl, "would you like a cup of jasmine tea?" She nodded as she shakily took the cup from the gentle giant. She took a sip from the cup. A sweet taste filled her taste buds, earning a small smile from the young girl.
"This is fantastic!" Pidge remarked in a quiet voice. She then looked up at them and glanced upon their facial expressions, then a sudden feeling sank into her heart, "I'm going to assume that you bringing me tea and a surprise visit is the only reason for being here, I assume?" She was correct as Shiro shook his head.
"We wanted to talk about yesterday, and what we're going to do about the fleet," Shiro spoke as he sat down on a nearby sofa.
"I ALREADY KNOW what I'M going to do," Katie spat as she slammed her cup down on a counter, a clang shattered what remnant of silence remained in the household. Tea sprang up from the cup and rose in the air for a moment, then splashed back down into the cup. Everyone cringed at the sound that the cup made, but was extremely worried about the face Katie was making. Her eyes were filled with darkness, yet her eyes in general were normal. Her teeth were showing in a way that exposed the canine on her left side in a very menacing way. Her breathing was deep and guttural, even Keith thought this was far beyond what the girl was capable of. She continued, "I'M going up there to that colony and finding my husband! I'M NOT LEAVING HIM AND EVERYONE ELSE UP THERE, AND I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR PROTESTS, SHIRO."
"Pidge…" Shiro calmly spoke, trying to ease the tension in the girl's heart.
"SHIRO! I SAID, I DON'T want to hear your prot-"
"I wasn't going to argue with you, infact, I agree with you to the letter," Shiro's words immediately caught her attention. She darted her eyes up to the man in front of her, who had placed a hand on her shoulder. "After you went unconscious, one of Max's contingency plans came into effect. Should he go missing or be… killed," Shiro and Katie softly cringed when he said that word, "he made a command to go into full effect that all ships, units and everything that he had control over would immediately go to me, and I would be promoted to the rank of Admiral."
Pidge scoffed, "he always likes a backup plan, or at least making one up on the go…"
"Right, and since I have this position, I'm going to send a task force that we will lead in the Atlas. I've also taken the liberty of asking Olia to go off in the SDF-2 to accompany us. She's going to take a small detachment of ships to lead to the Apollo System. They will leave in a couple of hours, but we will need more time to load the Atlas with the necessary equipment. If whatever took out the Macross' fleet is still out there, then we're going to need all the firepower we can get our hands on. Destroids, VF Fighters, even those new generational Dimensional and Reactionary weapons," Shiro spoke. Katie shuttered a little when he mentioned the newer missiles, but she knew he was right. They needed powerful weapons and allies to save the remainder of the fleet.
A sound brought Shiro's attention away. He looked down at his wrist to see he was getting a communication on his wrist communicator. He smiled as he removed his hand from her shoulder and turned away to answer the call, "Admiral Shirogane."
"Sorry to bother you sir, but four ships have entered the solar system via Fold near the Saturn Defensive line. We've identified them as ships from the Expeditionary Fleet, sir. They are badly damaged, and I doubt they would've survived another week!" someone on the other side hurriedly spoke, sending everyone on alert.
"What ships are they?!" Shiro asked, his tone was filled with different emotions.
"3 Stealth Cruisers and 1 Guantanamo class carrier ship, all of them are carrying civilians. They are requesting to see you and the other Paladins, sir!" the person on the other side replied.
"On my way! Send a hospital ship out to take the civilians out of the ships and have them sent to drydock for repairs. Question the crews about what they encountered!" Shiro barked as the line went dead, he then looked at everyone in the room, "we need to get to the Atlas, immediately."
"I'll meet up with you since I still have my fighter in the back. I'll quickly clean myself up, so I won't look like a zombie there," Katie said as she finished her tea and quickly placed it in the sink.
Shiro nodded, "don't worry about being late. Take as much time as you need, I can fill you in later if need be. Everyone else, let's go!" Shiro waved them out of the house, giving Katie one more glance before rushing out, closing the door behind him. She chuckled to herself, remarking how he's still too much like the Space Dad he was before stepping into the bathroom to take a shower.
On the bridge of the Altas…
The Paladins rushed through the door into the battleship's bridge, the crew looking back at them for a moment before returning to work. Veronica was standing at attention waiting for them to arrive.
"Not a moment too soon. The Captain of the IGF Tokugawa is hailing us," Veronica said as she turned to the windows in front of her.
"Put them up," Shiro said as he stood next to the captain's chair. A viewscreen soon pulled up, showing a weary looking Olkarian in his chair, fear ripe across his face. The Bridge behind him was a complete mess, as a bulkhead had fallen behind him and damaged some equipment behind him. He didn't look great either with scars and burns all across his face, body and clothes.
"Oh thank God we made it back!" The Captain shouted with much relief as spoke.
"Captain Tallwurn, what happened out there?" Shiro asked.
"We aren't really sure ourselves. One moment, we were just unloading cargo in Colony Allura's ports, the next, all HELL breaks loose! The Admiral ordered us to evacuate as many civilians as we could take in our ships and leave. When we got into the planet's orbit, the place was a mess. Shiro, there were THOUSANDS of them, maybe TENS of THOUSANDS! About half of our ships were destroyed, with the rest of which were trying to ferry as many civilians as we could. Most of the ships were shot down trying to escape the battleground. I only know of the four of us that managed to escape," Captain Tallwurn explained, his voice was wavering.
"What happened to the Macross and the IGF Megaroad?" Lance asked. It was then Shiro realized he forgot to tell him about the fate of the Megaroad.
"We're not sure what happened with the Macross. The last we saw, it was in the front lines trying to keep the transports safe. It didn't look pretty though…" he sighed, "as for the Megaroad, she was ferrying civilians out along with about 7 ships as escorts. The damn bastards fired some sort of main cannon and wiped the Megaroad and four ships in ONE SHOT. The explosion caused the other ships that survived the cannon strike to explode as well." Pidge suddenly burst through the bridge door, her hair a mess, then looked at the screen in front of her. Tallwurn showed a video that he took of the whole event. The Megaroad was slowly leaving the atmosphere, along with seven other ships, which were firing it's anti-aircraft and main armaments towards an enemy that wasn't on screen. All of a sudden, a massive blue laser shot through the hull of the IGF Megaroad and four ships at once. Everyone's mouth was agape, even Pidge who had just arrived. Seeing the four ships immediately combust was one thing, but watching the inner city of the Megaroad first be incinerated instantaneously as the hull was breached just sent a dark shiver up everyone's spine. The hull of the IGF Megaroad exploded, followed by spontaneous explosions of the aft sections and the bridge of the carrier. It released a cataclysmic explosion that rivaled the explosion created by a reactionary missile, the ARMD carriers shooting out and exploding into large debris of their own. One of the ARMD Carriers slammed into the hull of the remaining two ships, causing them to immediately explode. The last ship was engulfed in the Megaroad's explosion and combusted as well. The playback soon ended, returning to a grim looking Olkarian. The Atlas crew was murmuring in fear and shock. Katie's lips were quivering, while Lance and Keith's hands were shaking, out of anger for the most part. Shiro's face hardened with anger. So many innocent civilians were massacred in a matter of minutes. This made the Galrans look merciful with their actions of capturing civilians for labor. Shiro clenched his fist as his voice darkened.
"This is pure evil, and is unacceptable…" Shiro nearly slammed his fist on the chair, but he took a couple of breaths, letting the hate escape him with each breath, but only enough to where he wouldn't randomly snap at people. He looked back up to the Olkarian, "Tallwurn, we're sending a hospital ship to come collect the civilians off your ships. Once they are out of your care, go do the space docks and get some rest. You all earned it…" the Olkarian nodded as the comms channel died out. Shiro watched as the four battle-scarred ships passed by the Atlas, and he could first hand see the damage on the hulls of each ship. The little ember of hatred slowly reignited in his heart for the people who could do this. He turned to Veronica, "get me Olia." Veronica nodded and dashed to a console, typing in some command before a new communications opened, and a familiar Canine appeared on the bridge of the SDF-2.
"Admiral Shirogane, sir!" Olia saluted. Shiro waved for her so she could be at ease.
"Olia, we just spoke to the survivors of the Expedition fleet, and they gave us some insight to what we might be going up against. Apparently, from Captain Tallwurn, over thousands of ships engaged the fleet at the colony. The enemy ships also appear to have weaponry that can rival the power of the Macross' main gun," Shiro spoke solemnly.
"I see…" Olia faltered slightly.
"Still, you have permission to launch the Overture and begin the investigation. We'll join you once we load in some more cargo. To save some time, we will open up a Wormhole so you can make it to the Apollo System sooner, but we'll place you outside the system so you won't open up directly over the planet," Shiro continued.
"Yes sir," Olia spoke, then looked to someone ahead of her that wasn't viewable through the Altas' side, "prepare the Overture for launch!"
"...Olia…" Shiro caught her attention again, "I sincerely hope that you will tread with extreme caution and care. We still have no idea what we're going up against. For all we know, the enemy could still be out there." Olia nodded as the comms ended. Shiro leaned forward and let out a sigh, "I wish the Lions were still here…" He turned to his friends, who all held an expression similar to what he was feeling. "I know that some of you have moved on from the military and the conflicts of war, and that's perfectly fine… so, if you want to leave, I'm not going to stop you…" They all looked at each other, everyone except for Katie, who had a scowl on her face. She stepped forward, raising her fist towards him.
"Shiro, you know DAMN well why I'm going out there, and you know you can't stop me any time soon," the Director spoke with a tone of anger and hate in her voice.
Hunk soon stepped forward, "people we care for and someone we know is in trouble. That's more than enough reason for us to go." Keith only just nodded, but Shiro knew that he was coming along.
"You're going to need someone to help with Altean systems around here, guess I'm up for the job," Coran spoke with his general Altean charm and quirkiness.
Shiro nodded with a smile, then looked at Lance, who seemed a little unsure of what to do, "Lance..?" Everyone looked at the Cuban, who shrugged.
"As much as I want to go back to my family and New Altea… a member of our own Space Family just went missing. That's more than enough reason to go," Lance smiled softly. Shiro nodded with his own soft smile before a voice called for him.
"Sir, the Overture is leaving Earth's atmosphere and is coming into visual range," an officer shouted.
"Show us," Shiro responded. The viewscreen then pulled up a Macross ship in cruiser mode flying upward at an angle out of Earth's Orbit. For some of them, it was the first time seeing the massive battlecruiser, so seeing it made them marvel at the vessel. The bridge design was much different from the first Macross. Not to mention the design of the ship was longer and much more sleeque from its predecessor. Several Stealth Cruisers, carriers, frigates and Galran Battlecruisers escorted the behemoth as they flew deeper into space.
"SDF-2 to Garrison HQ, ready for the Wormhole jump to the Apollo sector," Olia spoke in the open comms channel.
"Stand by, Captain…" a voice responded. There was a brief pause before the voice returned, "you're clear for departure, stay safe out there." A massive Altean Wormhole opened up before the fleet. All the ships soon began to press forward into the wormhole, disappearing in the massive swirling vortex of Altean magic before it closed, leaving empty space.
Shiro then looked down at the officers below him, "Helm, set a course for the Garrison Ports, we got supplies to load."
The Atlas slowly began to descend down to Earth, breaching the atmosphere in a small but controlled ball of fire. Slowly, it descended to a massive landing port on the ground near the massive Galaxy Garrison HQ building, where thousands of trucks, Destroids and Fighters were waiting for them. When the Atlas soon landed on the ground and opened the cargo bay doors, thousands of people and hundreds of machines soon began to pour into the ship. Filling its cargo holds, taking mecha to their hangars and resupplying the armories.
Katie watched several men unload a large black missile onto a rack, then leave to fetch another one. She slowly approached it, then placed her hand on it. She read the plate that stared at her face, "DM014325." She knew what this was, and sighed, praying that these weapons wouldn't have to be used. Knowing her luck, however, that wasn't going to happen.
One day later…
Katie stood on the bridge of the Atlas, her arms folded in front of her. She held a serious expression as she looked out at the desert in front of her. She wasn't really thinking, she just stared blankly at the planet as the door the bridge opened behind her. She looked back to see her friends entering the room.
"Are we ready?" Katie asked, her voice was a little hoarse.
Shiro nodded, "everything is loaded. Contact the Garrison and let them know we're ready for takeoff."
"Aye, sir!" an officer saluted as she pulled up the Garrison HQ. On the holo screen, Colonel Iverson soon appeared.
"Atlas, you have been cleared for take off. Good luck up there… and stay safe," Iverson spoke before the comms channel ended.
Alright! Helm, take us up!" Shiro ordered.
"Aye!" Coran shouted as he input some commands into the ship. The ship slowly shook as it began to rise in the sky. The Atlas slowly began to move forward in the sky, penetrating the cloudy layers of the planet until they entered the atmosphere. "We've entered Earth's atmosphere."
"The Second Rescue Fleet is standing in Earth's orbit, they're waiting for us." Veronica spoke. As they exited Earth's orbit and approached the small fleet, they all noticed that a hospital ship was among one of the ships going with.
"I'm surprised that a hospital ship is joining us, aren't they minimally armed?" Keith asked as he pointed to the ship.
"They're armed with only smaller anti-aircraft and a few high caliber weapons, that's it," Katie replied.
"We're in position, ready for a wormhole jump. Captain Olia has given us a signal that the system is clear, and they are waiting for us," Veronica spoke as she aggressively typed on the console.
"Good, all ships, prepare to wormhole to the Apollo System!" Shiro shouted as the Altean portal opened up. The Atlas first shot through the wormhole, followed by the rest of the ships before none of the fleet remained and the wormhole closed behind them.
?
The room was dark, and the air was stale. Machines buzzed with energy around the encapsulated room, dulling out the conversations that happened far below the room. Two men stood around a holodesk that displayed loads of data and images of burning ships and buildings. They wore an olive green military uniform of high ranking status.
"The colony has been destroyed, and the fleet guarding it has been exterminated, however the Protoculture vessel and a handful of their ships managed to escape," one voice echoed in the room. An image on the table showed a Macross class ship, battered and heavily damaged, escaping via a Fold Jump.
"Have we been able to triangulate the jump's end point?" another gruff voice asked, a growl escaped his mouth as he stared at the battered battleship.
"Negative, sir, we haven't been able to identify their location yet," replied the first voice, but we have analyzed the recordings our soldiers have provided and their testimonies, and we were correct on our assumptions." A video began to play showing several humans running away from something before a cyan blast engulfed them entirely, leaving nothing behind.
"Microns…" the second voice growled, then he noticed something, "wait… enhance the image 20 fold on grid 293 and pause the feed." The image zoomed in on two humans that were running away, holding hands as they ran, but the thing that caught him was that one of them was male, while the other was a female. His eyes widened, "MALES AND FEMALES? TOGETHER?!"
"Yes, sir. We were baffled by this discovery. So, what should we do, then?" the first voice replied, looking at the second man with a look of puzzlement.
The second man didn't respond, placing a hand on his chin. He stood there for a moment before lowering his hand to his side, "send all of the information to Supreme Leader Demmuld. He must be informed of this discovery at once… If the remnants of the Protoculture are here… then we now have a new foe to deal with."
Chapter three, everyone!
I hope you enjoyed it.
Take care everyone!
