Chapter Four - From Good To Bad To Worse
In one of the many conference rooms at Macross Command, as the important briefing by Lisa and Admiral Gloval was going on, another room nearby saw another important meeting taking place. For this meeting, Captain Rick Hunter was sitting at the large table surrounded by three of his top pilots, Commander Tom Wilcox, Commander Max Sterling, and Lieutenant Commander Ben Dixon. On the large screen in front of them was Dr. Koromatsu from the Proving Grounds and the head of the VF-4 Lightning project.
The meeting in of itself was pretty much a last minute affair that had come about after the latest batch of Macross Command's top pilots had made the trip to the Proving Grounds to test out the replacement craft for the venerable VF-1. Rick had only heard about what triggered the hastily assembled briefing about twenty minutes before. It was only by good fortune that the other three were in Rick's office going over some of the preliminary plans for the SDF-3.
The looks on the faces of the four pilots matched that of the engineer on the screen as the news was relayed as to what caused the meeting in the first place.
Rick was the first to speak. "OK, what exactly happened?"
Koromatsu sighed before continuing on. "Well, Captain, at about 0830 this morning, two of your pilots, Lieutenant Dan Helberg and Major Jason Wottler from Omega Squadron were testing out the VF-4, mostly the ordinance."
He then clicked on a hand-held remote. The screen changed from the picture of the engineer to a video of the two fighters coming in towards a target.
"As you can see," Koromatsu continued, "They were coming in at a decent angle and were preparing to fire one of the Banshee missiles, as you can see here on Lieutenant Helberg's craft." The video stopped for a brief second as the area around one of the wings was highlighted, then continued.
"It appears the missile in the second tube misfired right before it was supposed to launch, causing what we call in my line of work, a catastrophic structural failure of the right wing of the craft."
The video showed a brief flash, followed by a fireball erupting from the missile detonating in the tube. The four pilots watched in horror as the wing was completely sheared off the fighter, causing it to dip to the left rapidly. Just before the crippled fighter slammed into the dried lake bed, the pilots all saw another quick flash, followed by a blur rising upwards.
Thank God he punched out, Rick thought to himself as he watched the video.
On the screen, The video faded and was replaced by the vision of Doctor Koromatsu.
"The pilot from the affected fighter did eject and is undergoing a standard medical check. The other fighter was unaffected and returned immediately after the incident."
Rick looked up at the monitor and saw the look on the face of the engineer. I know that look, he thought. He just gave us the good news, now here comes the bad news.
Dr. Koromatsu cleared his throat and continued on. "My team already has run some diagnostics from the fighter that survived the crash and already compared it to the destroyed fighter. It appears that the misfire was due to something internal on the fighter itself and not the missile. We double checked the others we have here, including the ones you, Commander Wilcox, and the Sterlings flew yesterday. They had the same issue there as well."
"Good thing we decided not to play with the missiles," Wilcox muttered under his breath.
The look on the face of Dr. Koromatsu matched that of the assembled pilots. Rick was the first one to speak up after what seemed an eternity of silence.
"Might as well just cut to the chase, Doc. How long of a delay are we looking at?"
"At least three to four months, and that's if we fully pin down the bug. It could be a lot of variables involved. We're reviewing the code, and if we have to go through and re-write it for the primary weapons system, that could even push it back further."
A sense of frustration descended on the conference room. Rick shook his head and looked down, trying his best not to give voice to his anger. Ripping the Doc apart isn't going to get the fighters fixed, he thought. Besides, the Doc's just as pissed as you are about this situation. Taking a deep breath, Rick looked up at the viewscreen.
"Understood, Doc. I'll relay the bad news to Admiral Gloval. Keep us posted."
Koromatsu nodded and the screen went dark.
Rick turned to the others. A quick look around the room confirmed what Rick was thinking. They're just as pissed off as I am.
Ben was the first in the room to speak out. "Well, ain't that just a kick in the ass. And I spent all last night here with the Geek Squad to get the sims in order, only for the timetable to get pushed back again."
Rick nodded. "Not exactly how I expected my day to start off, that's for damn sure." An exasperated sigh followed. "The only good thing out of that is that Meeseeks and Weeble got out of that in one piece," he added, referring to the two pilots by their call-signs. "As for the sims, we still need them to get the others used to the update on the sub-orbital ops. Trust me, I didn't see this coming, Ben."
Max nodded. "Honestly, the missile firing system never gave me any problems. And, knowing how much time the Skunk Works put into this, they're going to be pretty damn thorough reviewing that code. There's a pretty good chance they may not roll the Lightning out until the end of the year."
"On top of the other delays," Wilcox mentioned. "This plane's just had nothing but bad luck since it was announced."
Rick nodded. The VF-4 Lightning was supposed to have rolled into service about three years ago, but was pushed back after the attack on Earth happened. That kind of made sense, seeing bringing out a new fighter was pretty trivial to rebuilding the world, Rick thought. Since then, delays and other issues had kept the VF-1's replacement from joining the fleet. This latest incident was just the latest to plague the fighter. We fighter jocks are a pretty superstitious lot, Rick mused. The more delays the Lightning has, the less likely it'll be accepted by the rank and file.
"All I can do right now is let the Admiral know and go from there," Rick continued. "At this point, we're still going with the VF-1's, but we need to keep the training up for the VF-4's as well."
"So, pretty much business as usual, Boss?" Ben asked.
"For now, Ben. Hopefully it'll change for the better in the next few weeks."
Rick looked up at the clock on the wall. Turning to the others, he got up. "Pretty good chance the Admiral and Commodore Hayes are going to be done with that little chat with Monument about the SDF-3. It might be a good idea if we break, grab a bite to eat, and meet up at my office at around, say, 1430."
"Also gives you a chance to figure out how you're going to tell them about this little setback," Wilcox added.
Rick sighed. "Yeah, that too."
As the group left the conference room, Rick had one thought on his mind as he walked back to his office.
Hopefully Lisa's having a better time of it than I am.
About thirty minutes later, Rick Hunter found himself sitting back in his office awaiting the others to return. Looking towards the ceiling, he was deep in thought over the events of earlier that morning.
Hopefully Dr. Koromatsu can find out what caused that to happen a lot sooner than later, otherwise I'm going to have a bunch of unhappy pilots on my hands. He sat back in his chair and sighed. Checking his MP3 player, he saw a particular song was starting. Turning up the volume on the speakers, he smiled a bit. Everyone's got that one song that puts you in a good mood. This one does it for me and it is kinda fitting for Lisa and myself as this was on when we finally cleared the air.
Rick's self-reflection came to an abrupt end with a knock at the door. Pausing the MP3 player, Rick sat up at his desk.
"It's open."
The door swung open and Rick found himself greeted by an extremely frustrated and angry Lisa Hayes. Not even bothering to say anything in greeting, Lisa walked over to the couch in the office, dropped the dossier folder she had been holding on the table and sat back, holding her head in her hands.
Rick stood up from his desk and moved towards the couch. Well, I think that gives me an indication on how well things went with Russo, he thought. And knowing her, if she's acting like this, she's not going to say a word until I say something. And if I ask one particular question, she's probably gonna tear my head off. Taking a deep breath, Rick realized what he had to do. Well, it's probably in the job description, so I guess I should just get it over with and take one for the team here.
"So, I'm guessing things didn't go too well."
Lisa looked up and started to laugh. "Understatement of the year, Flyboy. Knowing how Russo operates, our proposal is just going to sit in committee for the foreseeable future, that is if they just don't outright forget about it."
"Wasn't sold on there being a bigger threat out there?"
Lisa shook her head. "You know how that little bastard is. If he can't get any money out of it, why should he care if there's potentially more dangerous foes than the Zentraedi out there. Then again, all that money his uncle had sure did a hell of a job protecting him from that reflex beam that took out Chicago."
Rick sat down next to Lisa on the couch. She looked towards the ceiling and sighed.
"Why do I think he wasn't going to listen no matter what the Admiral or I said?"
Rick nodded. "It's probably a good thing I wasn't there after all. I probably would have said some things I would have maybe not regretted."
Lisa looked over and smiled. "You're not the only one. I know the Admiral had to step out of the room at one point after one particularly stupid comment. I heard 'yob tvu mat' a few times when that happened."
"So, what's the game plan now?"
Lisa laughed. "There is no 'game plan', Rick. We're pretty much screwed when it comes to the SDF-3 right now. As long as Russo sits on it, we can't do a thing to progress on construction. Nothing short of a miracle or a large infusion of cash will change his mind."
"And seeing we actually have these things called morals, we'd better hope for the miracle," Rick added. "Either that or a major backlash at the polls next election that sees Russo and his cronies swept out of office."
"From your lips to God's ears, Flyboy. But that could be wishful thinking."
"Never hurts to be an optimist, Forever Girl," Rick added with a smile.
Lisa smiled back. "Well, here's hoping that was the lone bad news of the day."
A dark expression came over Rick's face after that statement. Lisa looked over and sighed. "Well, so much for optimism. Dare I ask what happened that has you looking like that, Rick?"
"Well, I got a call earlier this morning from the Proving Grounds. Long story short, one of the VF-4's had a weapons malfunction while on a test flight. One of the missile tubes misfired and sheared off the wing it was on in the process. Pilot got clear, but there wasn't too much left of it after it hit the lake bed. They checked the readouts from the other fighter that was out with it with the one that crashed and the same anomaly came up. They're now checking all of the VF-4's to see if it's an issue with the code. So far, it's not looking good."
"So, that means?"
"The VF-4 is gonna be delayed. Koromatsu thinks at least three or four months at the very least. It could be longer if they have to re-write the primary weapons system codes."
"Wonderful," Lisa added with some sarcasm. "And seeing Admiral Gloval and I were in the meeting with Russo, he doesn't have any idea about this yet."
Rick nodded. "Guess I should go up to his office and give him the latest round of bad news."
They both got up and made their way out of the office and the wing where it was located. Before leaving, Rick left instructions with the orderly to let the other pilots in Skull know he would be briefing them on some things later that day. Almost forgetting, he also instructed the orderly to let Wilcox, Ben, and Max know he wouldn't be back for a while.
As Rick and Lisa made their way across the office complex, both were thinking that this was the last of the bad news to come through on this day.
Usually, this kind of stuff happens in threes, Lisa thought. Here's hoping there's no third.
The small wing of Macross Command's sprawling complex that Skull Squadron called home was a hive of activity. As the squadron was on an enforced down time after the events of the previous weeks, the group in of itself was itching to get back into action. So, it was with great excitement that the pilots received the news of a possible briefing from Captain Rick Hunter to be scheduled for later in the day.
As the time was approaching, different members of the squadron met up to check if what was rumored to be the subject of the big briefing was what they had been hearing.
"Bet you even money it's about the Three," Major Fred "Screech" Malikowski stated to a few of the pilots sitting in the lounge area. "The Boss was supposed to be sitting in on some sort of briefing about that today with some of the suits in Monument."
"Could be, Screech," Major Jack "Plankton" Baker responded. "I think it's more about the new VF-4s rolling out. You know the Boss, Nightwing, and Deadpool all were at the Proving Grounds for a good chunk of the day." He sat back and smiled. "Can't wait to actually fly one for real instead of on the sims. They kinda get boring."
"That is if you don't reprogram them, Jack," Sergeant David "Stitch" Rivers deadpanned. "Ya know, some of those pods still stink like puke, man."
"Not my fault that the sim computer couldn't handle what I had in mind. I had copied what the Boss did a few years before and tweaked it a bit."
"A good programmer never blames his code, Jack," Screech added. "Besides, I saw the code afterwords. You used the wrong code language! No wonder the sim computer went insane."
Baker blinked. "I did?"
Stitch was trying not to burst out laughing. "Did you ever think in your never-ending quest to be just like the Boss, you would have realized they updated everything last year? I mean, it was kinda big news when they installed the new sim mainframes and all."
Screech shook his head. "They re-wrote everything. That's why Commander Sterling was running the show for nearly a month when we first joined up. The Boss and Sloth were re-programming everything with the Geek Squad. I mean, we were in the same class and all, Plankton."
Baker, by this point, was looking down, muttering to himself for overlooking one simple thing.
Nearby, Sergeant Susan "Mystique" Graham leaned over towards her counterpart, Sergeant Karen "Elsa" Penn and whispered, "What the hell did Screech mean by that?"
"Simple. It'd be like having to write something in French, but you ended up writing something in Korean. They're languages, but nothing even remotely close to one another."
"Ah, I gotcha," Graham looked back at Baker and shook her head. I have no idea what you see in him, Karen, she thought. He's a clown. Besides, calling him "Rick Hunter, Jr" is an insult to Captain Hunter. Graham smiled a bit at the thought of her commanding officer. Someday, I'll get the nerve to say something to Rick. Maybe show him how...appreciative I am of the chance to fly with the Skulls.
A tap on the shoulder brought Graham back to the present. She looked up and saw a brunette standing behind her with a semi-lopsided grin.
"Hey Mystique," Major Amelia "Nibbler" Niebauer said with a smile. "Did you get through the final sim check-out yet? I know you've been busting your ass on that."
"Um, not yet, Nibs," Graham stammered. "Been having a tougher than expected time with the sub-orbital portion. Not getting the reaction time I need for that one portion. Every time I go through it, I'm eating a particle beam or worse." An exasperated sigh followed.
A reassuring pat on the shoulder followed. "I wouldn't sweat it, Mystique. It looks like there may have been a potential flaw we missed when we put the sim together."
As all the pilots needed to pass the final check-out on the sims to be cleared to fly the new fighter, Captain Hunter had originally tasked the training duties to Ben Dixon. However, as Amelia had been one of the first to pass the check-out, she naturally assumed some of the training duties and was considered to be a valuable resource by her squadmates as to what would be needed to pass.
Amelia smiled as she relayed some news that might make her counterpart feel a bit better. "Ben talked to Max, Miriya, and the Boss when they got back from the Proving Grounds yesterday. It turns out the guys at the Skunk Works added something between when we rolled the sim out until now. Something that would definitely help."
"Wonder what it was that the nerds missed," Baker snorted. This earned him a sharp look from the three women nearby.
"They added a third engine that's only used in sub-orbit," Amelia explained. "It's improved the handling on the fighters in sub-orbit tremendously. We're adding that in to the sim."
"Just don't have Baker program it," Penn added. "I'm afraid it'd probably cause the sim to explode or something if he 'fixed' the code." All the pilots save one started to laugh after the pinpoint delivery of the barb.
"Hey, I'm right here, ya know?" Baker shot back.
"Your point?"
Baker grumbled something under his breath about rethinking some things. He also thought of a withering comment he could direct at Penn, but opted against it as he was currently outnumbered. As he looked up he saw something on the TV in the room. As was usual, the TV was set to a 24 news channel, but the report on the news was something that grabbed Baker's attention. It was a report from South America about Zentraedi rioting in Buenos Aires.
"As you can see, the scene here in the main avenue of Buenos Aires is not good at this hour," the reporter stated. "The Zentraedi that call this city home are up in arms tonight after one of their own was shot during a routine traffic stop. Right now all across the South American quadrants, Zentraedi are protesting this event. Currently, there are riot police on the streets of not only Buenos Aires, as you can see, but also in other municipalities across the Argentine Quadrant. These riots look to have been caused by ongoing tensions between the Zentraedi and Human populations that were recently escalated by the attempted attack on New Macross by Khyron. The recent incident in Buenos Aires looks to be a potential spark that may cause the entire continent to lurch into anarchy. Governor General Jose Cosseger of the Argentine Quadrant has declared martial law and has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew..."
Damn. That's not good, he thought as he saw the report. It was just then he noticed some of the others were starting to watch the events unfolding on the TV.
Baker whistled while watching one particular scene of a Zentraedi hurling a flaming bottle towards a line of riot police. "Good arm on that guy," he deadpanned, drawing a few stares.
Amelia shook her head. "Remember how the Boss said New Detroit could have deteriorated?" Both Baker and Screech nodded. "This is what I think he meant by that. That's pretty ugly."
Penn nodded. "Reminds me of some of the anti-UEG riots in Seattle growing up. I can remember being stuck in my house for a week because of it. Also, you never forget the scent of tear gas."
Graham sighed, then asked the question that everyone was thinking. "Wonder if we're gonna end up getting sent down there to help clean up that mess."
"Here's hoping we don't," Stitch stated flatly.
It was a position the assembled pilots shared.
At almost the same time, in another part of the base, Rick and Lisa were sitting in Admiral Gloval's office going over the two bits of bad news the RDF had received in the past few hours.
The Admiral was seated at his desk, looking downwards and trying not to give flight to his rage at the entire situation that had developed in the past few hours. Nothing but bad news today, he thought as he collected himself. Lisa sat through that travesty of a briefing with that pig Russo. The nerve of that man to even insinuate that we would need to 'provide' for his constituents if we went ahead with the SDF-3. However, the news of the problems with the VF-4 that Rick provided is just as troubling, if not more so. Rubbing his temples, the Admiral raised his head and looked over at two of his most senior officers on base.
"So, Rick, you are telling me that the VF-4 is not going to be deployed on schedule?"
"Yes, sir," Rick responded. "Dr. Koromatsu thinks it may be something with the programming on the primary weapons system that may need to be either repaired or completely overhauled. It's still early, but he was of the opinion that the rollout of the VF-4 is going to be delayed by at least three to four months at the least, maybe more if they have to overhaul everything. As soon as he has something, he'll be in touch with me."
The Admiral shook his head. "Wonderful news. This on top of the issues with convincing Monument to go ahead with the SDF-3 is making today into a mess. I can only imagine what else can happen this day."
It was just then that the Admiral's intercom buzzed. He grumbled as he tapped the button. "Go ahead."
"Admiral, I have Colonel Leonard on the line. Something about a potential situation in South America."
"Patch it through."
Lisa looked over at Rick and winced. "Remember how bad news comes in threes?" she said softly. "I think we're about to see the third bit of bad news today."
"If Anatole's calling, it can't be good," Rick said back softly.
The intercom came alive with the gruff voice of Colonel Anatole Leonard. "Henry? You may want to turn on MacrossNews right now. It looks like things in the South American quadrants are going a little sideways."
The Admiral nodded to Lisa, who turned on the TV to the 24/7 news channel based in the city. On the screen was the image of a burning car and what appeared to be Micronized Zentraedi running through the streets, throwing rocks and other debris towards a line of riot police. Underneath the footage was a graphic describing the situation: "RIOTS IN BUENOS AIRES - ZENTRAEDI PROTEST SHOOTING", with an information crawler running below.
Rick and Lisa could only shake their heads at the scenes unfolding on the screen. New Detroit could have ended up like this, Rick thought darkly.
"Thundering asteroids! What did those fools in Buenos Aires do now?" Gloval shouted out.
"Some of the local police pulled over a Zent driver, something happened during the stop, and they shot the poor bastard," Leonard stated matter of factly. "Unfortunately, there was a crowd of other Zents nearby and they killed the cops. It's gone downhill from there as you can see. Governor Cosseger's made a call in to Monument about activating the RDF forces nearby in Rosario and also over in Montevideo and Rio. I'm inclined to do so and, given the gravity of the situation, also head down there to make sure it's not bungled."
"We need to appeal for calm, Anatole," Gloval responded. "Bringing in our forces in full is only going to make a bad situation worse, plus it may touch off more riots. You know South America's been on edge for the last few months."
"Somebody needs to put these Zents straight. They won't listen to reason. There's only one thing they understand, Henry. Raw power. We showed them that more than once and they've backed off around Macross and Monument, haven't they?"
Both Rick and Lisa had a sense of dread at the prospect of using RDF troops on the Zentraedi rioters. Admiral Gloval is right, Lisa thought. We put boots on the ground down there and it'll probably make a bad situation worse.
Great, the Ol' Meatgrinder's spoiling for a fight, Rick thought. Which probably means he'll be begging me to release some of our squadrons to assist in the 'pacification' process. Most likely, he'll want Skull down there. I'm not relishing this at all and to be honest, I'd rather not go unless absolutely necessary.
"Anatole," Admiral Gloval responded. "I'm sure Colonel Goncalves can handle things appropriately down there. Tell the Governor that we need to appeal for calm first before we decide to go to that next step."
"I had a feeling you'd drag your feet," came the response. "That's why I already reached out to Monument and got the clearance from the Council to go down and supervise things."
The three officers were stunned by the statement from the voice on the other side of the line. Rick looked skyward and muttered something about how he saw this move coming. Lisa could only shake her head, thinking the same thing Rick was at that moment. Not surprised by this at all. This is only going to potentially get worse.
However, Admiral Gloval was the one in the room that decided to give voice to his concerns.
"You did what? Are you mad, Anatole?"
"I'm already on my way down there, Henry. I just wanted to at least give you a courtesy call. The paperwork is already in place and was sent over about twenty minutes ago. Lieutenant Emerson is more than capable of keeping things in order here in Macross while I'm gone. I have some work to do down there. I'll be in touch later once I have a full scope of the situation."
"Now listen here, Anatole!"
The intercom went dead. Rick and Lisa were in shock at what had just transpired. Admiral Gloval sat at his desk, seething.
"Well, that explains why he wasn't at the briefing with Monument," Lisa deadpanned. She shook her head. "Do you want me to scramble some fighters and intercept him, sir?
"Say the word and Skull will be in the air in fifteen minutes," Rick added.
The Admiral shook his head. "No, it wouldn't do any good." Reaching over, the Admiral grabbed his pipe and lit it. Taking a satisfying puff from the pipe, Gloval sat back and looked at the two officers in the room with him. "I did get his message just now on my e-mail. I also saw it was approved by the Council. My guess is that this little incident in Buenos Aires is not going to be tolerated."
"I don't see this ending very well," Lisa stated. "Like you said, putting forces out in force may cause an already tense situation to explode. And that's the last thing we need right now."
Rick nodded. "We're still down a bit from Khyron's last attack. A full on Malcontent uprising would be tough to handle, especially if they knew we're having issues with the VF-4's deployment. Not that the VF-1 is a step down, far from it as it's proven it can handle Zentraedi pods. But, the nature of this, well, I know how sideways urban unrest can go," he added, alluding to the New Detroit incident from a few months prior.
"Rick," Gloval stated. "You may want to let your pilots know what's going on and there may be a chance they may be called in."
"Understood, sir. Permission to speak freely?"
"Granted."
"I don't like this at all. I'm getting a bad vibe from all of this, especially with how Leonard decided to bypass you and go straight to the Council."
"I don't either, Rick. Something about this is not right."
"It's like he's trying something," Lisa added. "I say we watch what goes on and if he reaches out to us about reinforcements, we go from there."
"Agreed. We're not committing to anything as of yet. Besides, the Colonel has more than enough forces down there." The Admiral looked at Rick and Lisa. "I think that will be all for now. I need to talk to Monument about this development."
The two officers saluted and left the office, making their way back towards their respective wings.
"I'm going to talk to the kids and let them know what's going on," Rick stated as they walked down the hallway. Stopping right before the hallways split, Rick turned towards Lisa and drew in close to her.
"I should be about another hour. Then, I want to go home, fall asleep with you, and forget today ever happened."
Lisa smiled. "I'm in agreement on that, Flyboy. Let me know when you get done." She leaned over and kissed him as she turned the hallway towards her office.
Rick smiled as he watched her head down the hallway. Even if things go off the rails, at least I have her to rely on.
Aboard an RDF transport somewhere over the Caribbean, Colonel Anatole Leonard turned towards a fellow passenger on the flight and smiled.
"Everything is all set. Operation Southern Cross is slated to begin as soon as we arrive. The Council, as you know, gave its full approval this afternoon."
"Works for me," the passenger stated. "Kind of fortunate that the Zents decided to get a bit frisky right as we left."
"That was something I didn't expect to happen," Leonard added. "However, if the Xeroxes want to start the fight, I'll be more than happy to finish it for them," punctuating his comment with a term that had evolved into a slur towards Zentraedis.
"And the other aspects of the operation?"
"Those will be implemented in due time, my friend. Right now, our biggest concern is getting our forces in order." Leonard picked up a file and leafed through it, smiling. "I think we have ample down there to teach them some respect. They just need some better motivation. I'm sure you can help with that, Raven."
"All well and good, sir," Raven stated with a smile. "I don't think the Admiral took your news about going over his head very well."
Leonard laughed. "No, he did not. At least Monument stands with me on this particular issue. They felt it was too risky of a situation to wait things out and then react. A decisive move was needed. Besides, if we do well on this operation, it will make a better case for returning to Macross, this time as the commander of the base."
"Sir, you do remember you're about third or fourth on the command chain there. There will be Hunter and Hayes to deal with as well."
"They are of no concern. They'll either play ball or be swept aside."
"And knowing those two, they'll remain loyal to the Admiral."
"Well, it looks like Macross Command will probably need a new XO and CAG, then." Leonard lit up a cigarette and smiled. "Henry's time has passed and it's about to be my time."
"That is, if things go well in South America," Raven added with a dark smile.
"Of that, my friend, I have no doubts."
Back in New Macross, the Dezanchaates section of the city located just south of the Downtown district was well known as the area of the city where most Micronized Zentraedi had settled over the past few years. In turn, the neighborhood took on the Tirolian term for "fragment," which led the Micronians nearby to call it "The Frag." In one non-descript house in the middle of the section, three Zentraedi were watching the events unfolding in Buenos Aires with a mix of concern, anger, and puzzlement.
"What in the blazes was Nadtal thinking getting our people incited like that?" Xamdar watched with growing anger as the situation airing live on the TV set looked to be deteriorating further. "The Micronians are bound to react and it's going to throw things off."
"I don't think he had anything to do with this," Pyoto shot back. "This is concerning to say the least, but I don't think he told our kind to rise in this manner. This looks to be organically occurring."
"He's what the Micronians call a loose cannon, Pyoto."
"Maybe, but this doesn't seem like something we would do in this manner. If he was to be orchestrating this, he would be mounting a number of attacks in the style we learned going over the archives. Not this mindless protesting."
Quazmin had been taking in the scenes and thinking over what the other two were discussing. Tiring of the back and forth between Xamdar and Pyoto, he decided to speak.
"Wouldn't contacting Nadtal be the best course of action here? I'm sure he would be able to clear this up. If he did initiate this, we can take the proper measures. If not, we can work together on what to do next and maybe exploit the situation to our advantage."
The other two nodded. Pyoto swiftly took out a communicator and tapped in a code. On the screen, an image of Nadtal came up.
"I was wondering when you would contact me, Pyoto," Nadtal answered. "As the information blasts are reporting, the situation here is evolving by the second. Our people are rising on their own."
"So you didn't orchestrate this?"
Nadtal shook his head. "No, I just arrived in the settlement the Micronians call 'Sao Paulo' last week. This is going on quite a distance away in another settlement. Buenos Aires, to be exact. It's in a totally different quadrant and I've yet to talk to our assets down there."
"What is the current disposition of our kind in the quadrant you are in?"
"Right now, it's tense. Nothing is happening as of yet. Our warriors are definitely concerned and more than a few have expressed interest in joining our brothers in Buenos Aires. For now, I am instructing caution and seeing what may happen next there. I may have to make my way there at some point to get a better feel of the situation."
"If I heard correctly," Xamdar interjected. "The Micronians are sending one of their top commanders, a Colonel Leonard, down there. You may want to have the warriors get ready if the rumors of how Leonard feels about Zentraedis are true."
Nadtal paused for a second. "That is a cause of concern. He is a formidable foe and fights like a Zentraedi."
"It could also mean potential problems for our kind down there as we don't know what he's capable of," Pyoto added.
Quazmin looked over and smiled. "I would advise caution, Nadtal. Our foes are liable to make a mistake. Once they do, pounce on it. But, until then, hold back and keep up your intel. Also, you may want to go to this 'Buenos Aires' a bit sooner than planned." He looked to the other two and got a nod back from Pyoto. Xamdar didn't react, something that Quazmin took note of. Don't like my ideas? Too bad. You're also not running the operation.
"As you command. Should we reach out to the Asteroid and alert them?"
"Not yet. The situation appears to be fluid right now. Once we have an idea of what is going on, we will inform them that we are going ahead and as to why we are."
Nadtal nodded and the screen went blank.
"You know you're violating Khyron's orders by giving him the okay to proceed," Xamdar said with a bit of an edge.
"Please, Xamdar, knowing Khyron as I do, he would give the go ahead to proceed if events presented themselves."
Pyoto nodded. "I think our friend here has a good handle on the situation."
"As for around here," Xamdar opined. "What are we to do, sit back?"
Quazmin shot Xamdar a look. "Yes. On that point, we're not going against Khyron's wishes. It's quiet here, so why, as our guests say, make waves and draw attention to ourselves without a good reason?" However, if you want to go off on a fool's errand, feel free to do so, Xamdar, he added silently. If the Micronians were to end you again, I wouldn't be all that upset. No wonder Lord Khyron questioned even bringing you back in the first place.
"Maybe to stand up for our kind," Xamdar muttered.
"Quazmin's right, Xamdar," Pyoto shot back. "We all want revenge, but drawing attention to ourselves and bringing down the RDF upon our heads for no reason is not a way to go about this. We wait."
The three Zentraedi went back to monitoring the ongoing crisis in South America on the news feed, taking in whatever information they could from the images and from the reporting by the Micronian information services.
Xamdar brooded over the course of action that appeared to be taken. Khyron's orders or not, I will not be denied my revenge. The sooner we can go ahead and get the operations started here, the sooner I can eradicate Hunter and Hayes. And unlike me, there's no chance they can come back. He then looked over at Quazmin. A clone of Khyron or not, you should know your place. If something were to happen and you were damaged, I would not shed very many tears.
Pyoto looked over at Xamdar and frowned. It's rather ironic that you called Nadtal a 'loose cannon,' old friend. I cannot allow for this. Khyron gave me specific orders to end your life if you strayed off the path. I do not relish carrying out those orders, but I will if I have to. And somehow, I don't think Lord Khyron would be too upset if that did occur.
Back at the house they shared, Rick and Lisa prepared for bed after what had been a very interesting day. The TV in the bedroom was on the news channel as both were getting the latest about the ongoing situation in South America.
"It looks like things aren't getting much better," Rick stated. The pictures on the screen told the story as more cars and shops were on fire and Zentraedi were in pitched battles with riot police. "Leonard is going to see this and call out a few divisions to sweep the streets."
Lisa nodded. "And that could make the situation worse. It would be a bloodbath, not to mention it may cause flare ups in other cities. I heard that most of the quadrant capitals are on high alert down there."
"Anatole would be right at home in that," Rick joked darkly. "Think we'll get shipped down there? I mean, he's got about fifteen squadrons of fighters down there based between Maracana, La Plata, and Murumbi."
"You probably shouldn't," Lisa reassured Rick. "I'm guessing it got brought up at the Skull briefing?"
Rick nodded. "Yeah, it did. They understand it may happen, but nobody is looking forward to it. Mostly because of Leonard. I don't look forward to it either, mostly because I remember how well New Detroit went."
Lisa curled up next to Rick, using his shoulder as a pillow. "I doubt the Admiral would send you guys there. I wouldn't send you there either, not because you're living with me, but because it makes no sense. Why strip assets here and have things flare up in New Macross or Monument?"
"True," Rick said. "Just another case of waiting and seeing."
He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV, then turned towards Lisa.
"Good night, Forever Girl," he said as he kissed her on the forehead.
"Good night, Flyboy," she responded as she returned the favor.
As he drifted off to sleep, Rick replayed some of the day's events, stopping at the conversation between Admiral Gloval and Colonel Leonard.
You're up to something, Anatole. I don't trust you, and I doubt Lisa or Admiral Gloval do either.
A/N - So, this marks the end of the opening "set-up" chapters for our little saga. Next chapter will get us into the thick of things as events begin to evolve in a way nobody expects. Lets just say that one tiny spark can start a huge fire.
Also, as an aside, the song referenced is "Come A Little Closer" by Cage The Elephant. It was the song that was on in the background when I wrote the chapter in DBTD when Rick finally decided to man-up and let Lisa know how he felt. If I were to do a soundtrack for the fic, it would have made the cut as it's become the "Rick & Lisa" song.
New Author's Note (3/18/18) - Made some changes within the story as to a character reference. Makes sense going forward.