Chapter Six – For Every Action…

Far from the unfolding events in South America, the men and women stationed at Macross Command went about their usual routine. Veritech fighters launched out on patrols while the land-based Destroids tromped around the perimeter of the base, keeping a watchful vigil over the city and the surrounding area. Inside the confines of the vast complex, the main buildings bustled with activity and the day-to-day routine of life in the RDF's nerve center. In one of the buildings closest to the hangars, a meeting was taking place in the office of the Commander Air Group between the current holder of that position and three of his most experienced pilots regarding some of the pressing issues on the current agenda.

Captain Rick Hunter sat at his desk, looking over the docket that was sitting in front of him. Just in front of the desk was a small table with a sofa and another chair positioned close to it. Occupying the sofa was Commander Max Stirling, who was the 2nd ranked officer in Skull Squadron behind Rick. However, as events had changed over the past months, Max was taking more of the day-to-day command role for the RDF's most famous air squadron as Rick found himself in a more of an administrative role. Sitting next to Max was Commander Tom Wilcox, who was in charge of Rapier Squadron, arguably the second most decorated squadron in the air wing behind their friends in the Skulls. The chair was occupied by Lieutenant Commander Ben Dixon, number 3 in the Skulls and primary simulation instructor for the Skulls and other squadrons stationed at Macross Command.

I can remember those days when I was sitting where Max or Tom or Ben are, waiting to see what sort of day Roy was going to dish out for us, Rick mused while leafing through the papers from the docket. Back then, it was more of a case of going out on patrol and trying not to get ambushed by the Zents out in the middle of space. Now, it's much quieter. And for that, I'm glad.

Finding his voice, Rick began what was an impromptu daily briefing.

"Morning, guys. Figure you'd want an idea of how today is going to go."

Wilcox nodded while taking a sip from the cup of coffee he had brought with him. Placing it on the table, he smiled. "Have a feeling it's going to be like it'll be a lot like the last few months have been. One squad's on patrol, the other's taking runs in the sim with Dixon and Nibs. Lather, rinse, repeat."

"Well, the quiet hasn't been a bad thing," Rick stated back with a smile. "I know it's boring as hell, but it could always be worse."

"True," Ben chimed in. "At least there aren't a bunch of Em Zees trying to raise a ruckus. They've kind of toned down a lot since the Last Ride."

Max nodded in agreement. "Only real issues that have cropped up were those protests back a few months ago after the mess in Buenos Aires. Thankfully we were able to talk the residents in The Frag down after that."

"At least they used signs and banners," Wilcox commented. "They could have used rocks and Molotov Cocktails among other things. Have to admit that we dodged a bullet here. It got much uglier in Monument."

Rick shuddered. Macross Command had been on full alert after the news of the rioting in South America broke. The assimilated Zentraedi in New Macross had been vocal in their anger over the incident the others had referred to, but had not resorted to violence. Smartest move we did was have the Admiral, Lisa, Miriya, and myself go to The Frag and talk to the residents. It seemed to calm a lot of things down. He looked up at the ceiling as he recalled events. However, Monument decided to do things their own way and it got pretty ugly. Decided to put down the protests with a heavy hand instead of actually listening. Didn't make the UEG look all that good, and us by association. Rick recalled the rioting among the Zentraedi in Monument had lasted for a day or two before it was put down by force. Also meant The Frag got quite a few more angry residents after that. We actually had to step up patrols a bit for a time even though we had talked to them.

"Sometimes the best weapon we have is the ability to listen," Rick stated calmly.

"Borrowing another one from the better half, Hunter?" Wilcox stated with a smile. Ben and Max also cracked smiles as they knew that was something that would have come from Commodore Lisa Hayes and not Rick.

Even Rick found himself trying to keep from laughing at the well-timed comment. "She's the smart one, remember?"

"Well, she is with you, Rick," Ben cracked. This in turn caused both Wilcox and Max to start laughing.

"Funny, Ben. I could say the same about Nibs too," Rick shot back with a smile and a chuckle. Looking back at the papers on his desk, Rick attempted to get the meeting back on track. "OK, now that we got that out, time for today's docket. Bison and Apache Squadrons have the point today. I already talked with O'Connor and Velasquez earlier and they're doing the usual circles over Macross keeping an eye out for anything," he stated evenly. He then looked over at Wilcox. "Tom, your guys are the stand-by."

"Figured as much," Wilcox drawled. "Seeing it's been pretty quiet, I may have my guys swing over to the pods to keep 'em sharp. That is unless Baker's been messing with them again."

Ben shook his head and muttered something dire about one Jack Baker. "I've told him to keep away from the mainframe unless he wants to be used as a live target when Nibs shows the nuggets the Boomstick Maneuver," he stated with a somewhat evil grin. "You'll be happy to know we finally got the puke smell out of the pods."

"My guys will be happy about that," Wilcox responded with a smile.

Rick looked across and nodded, giving the signal that he wished to continue. "Well, I did get some good news late yesterday from Doctor Koromatsu at the Proving Grounds. It appears they have been able to finally get that missile launch bug under control." There was a bit more as to the why with the bug than Rick let on. Can't really reveal any Code Red level intel, even to these guys, Rick thought. Besides, if I said anything about what the actual cause was, it'd do a lot more harm than good.

"About damn time," Wilcox stated. "Only took seven months to get that ironed out. Guess that means the VF-4 is going live soon?"

Rick cracked a broad smile, masking what he knew. "Yep, well, outside of one final shakedown flight for some of the birds." He turned to Max. "Max, you and Miriya are heading the Proving Grounds to run the final tests on the Lightning. If things go off without a hitch, I'll be pushing the recommendation to Commodore Hayes and Admiral Gloval to bring them on-line."

Max smiled. "I'd rather they be thorough in checking things out, Tom," he stated. "Probably should bring a few others to be sure things are good."

Rick nodded in reply. "Sounds like a good idea, Max. Take Baker, Penn, Dazzler, Tintin, and Stitch with you."

"No Graham, Rick?" Wilcox asked. "She's usually part of Baker's Half Dozen." It was a semi-informal nickname given to the group of pilots in Skull that always flew together.

Ben shook his head. "She still hasn't passed the final check for the VF-4. It's been one thing or another. Even Nibs can't understand why."

"Sounds like she'd better hustle or else she can probably kiss her spot on Skull goodbye," Wilcox stated evenly. "All mine are finally checked out. Looper was the last one to get through for Rapier." He looked back at Rick. "Doesn't look good for Skull, Rick."

Rick frowned a bit. "No, it doesn't. Not one bit," he stated. Think it may be time I have a sit-down with Mystique, Rick thought.

"I know Miriya, Penn, Ben, and Nibs have talked to her, Rick," Max added. "Hell, even I have. Nothing seems to get through regarding the check."

Ben shook his head. "I just don't get it. One minute, she's on par with our best. The next, she's beyond hopeless."

"I think some 'tough love' may be in order here," Rick mused. "Not a decision I relish making, but it may be the only way we get through to her. Either she passes the check or she's finding a new home."

Max and Ben both nodded. She's a good pilot, there's no doubting that, Max thought. But Miriya is uneasy around her. Then again, I'm never too comfortable around her either. It's almost as if...no, it couldn't be that.

Ben was about to give some further thoughts to Rick's idea of a little talk with Graham when the assembled pilots heard a buzzing coming from Rick's desk.

Looking down, Rick saw that the intercom had been activated and the orderly outside his office was alerting him. Clicking the button, he shrugged to the others as he spoke out. "Yes?"

"Captain Hunter? I have Commodore Hayes here wondering if you're available," the tinny voice on the other end responded. Normally she'd call or text before swinging by, he thought. The voice on the other end continued on. "Sounds like it's pretty urgent. Should I send her in?"

Definitely not a social call, Rick thought. "Send her in. And let her know Commander Wilcox, Commander Stirling, and Lieutenant Commander Dixon are here with me. Have a feeling something came up."

A few seconds later the door unlatched and swung open as Commodore Lisa Hayes walked in to the office. The others stood up and saluted as Macross Command's second in command entered.

"I'm guessing you're not here just to say hi?" Rick asked with a smirk.

Lisa nodded. "You may want to turn on the TV, Rick. I think we're about to have a mess of trouble on our hands."

Rick sighed as he stabbed at the red button on the remote sitting on the desk. The TV on the wall came to life on MBSNews24/7. The scene that was presented left the four pilots stunned. It was a shot of the Government District in Buenos Aires in a state of total devastation. What appeared to be a large building had been reduced to a smoking crater. Rescue personnel and RDF ground forces were swarming over the wreckage in a desperate attempt to find survivors. A graphic near the bottom of the screen summed up the situation. It read, "EXPLOSION IN BUENOS AIRES DESTROYS GOVERNMENT CENTER." For a minute or two, they all took in the footage and were assessing what was being presented.

The first to speak was Wilcox. "I think I'm taking a lucky guess and gonna say that wasn't caused by a gas leak, Commodore."

Lisa nodded. "My first thought when I saw this was that it was a bomb of some sort."

Ben whistled at the footage. "Man, whoever that was, they sure weren't messing around. That was like New Boise."

Max watched what was unfolding intently. "Yeah, no kidding Ben," he added. It was then that Max remembered something from earlier. Thought that Buenos Aires was just in the news this morning. The harsh realization hit him quickly. "Rick, Lisa. I think I have a reason as to why that building got reduced into a pile of rubble. Wasn't there some sort of conference of the Governors for the Southern and Central American Quadrants going on there this week?"

Another nod from Lisa came. "Yes it was," she stated while glancing at her watch. Seeing when this happened and keeping the time difference in mind..OH MY GOD! Lisa had a look of pure horror come across her face as her hand shot up and covered her mouth.

Rick caught this out of the corner of his eye and felt his stomach tumble downwards in dread. Forgot that was going on. That would also mean...Oh damn, that is really not good. He took a deep breath and exhaled. "That may also mean that our old friend Colonel Leonard may have been there too."

Ben nodded. "Not a huge fan of the Meatgrinder, but yeah, if he got iced in this, that's not good for us at all."

Wilcox looked at Rick and Lisa. "Should I get my sunscreen packed and brush up on my Spanish now or later?"

"Not yet," Rick stated. "We kind of need to get a better idea of what's going on. He then turned to Lisa. "I guess Admiral Gloval's already holed up in the Sit Room and you were sent to get us?"

Lisa nodded. "You've caught on pretty quick, Rick. He's expecting us shortly."

Rick took a deep sigh. And I was hoping it'd stay quiet for a while, he thought. Definitely have a bad feeling about what's going on down there. Something just tells me this is going to be just the start.

Keeping his dark thoughts about the current events to himself, Rick turned to the other pilots in the room. "For now, it's business as usual. Tom, gonna need ya to tag along with us to see the Admiral. However, send your guys over to the pods for a quick refresher. I'll be sending Skull over too. Might as well keep everyone sharp as we may be back in action a lot sooner rather than later." Wilcox nodded in acknowledgement, then moved towards a corner and pulled out his phone, going ahead with a quick conversation with his XO.

Rick then looked over at Ben. "Ben, may wanna head on back to the pods and get everyone going. Like I told Wilcox, gonna want to keep everyone sharp right now. Load up some of the standard Valkyrie programs. Might be better to run those than the ones for the Lightning."

"Gotcha, Boss," Ben said quickly. "I'll let Nibs know as well." A quick nod and a salute saw Ben make his way out the door with a bit more haste than usual.

He then looked at Max. "Might wanna get Miriya as well, Max, seeing we could use her insights. Your trip to the Proving Grounds is getting pushed back a bit."

Max snapped a quick salute. "Kinda had that feeling, Rick. I'll see you guys shortly." With that, he made his way out the door, pulling out his phone as he exited.

Rick then turned to Lisa, saluted and smiled. "Lead the way, Commodore."

Located a short distance away from Rick's office, the Situation Room at Macross Command was, for the most part, pretty standard by RDF base construction guidelines. Inside the building, however, it was a totally different story. The room, once slated as a giant conference room, became the hub of the day-to-day operations of the base with the destruction of the SDF-2 and the deactivation of the SDF-1 nearly a year prior.

Banks of monitors lined the walls of the main room, streaming in information from all sources available. Currently, most of the monitors had the live coverage of the events in Buenos Aires from varied perspectives. Front and center was the MBS News24/7 feed, showing the latest footage from what was being described as one of the worst attacks since Dolza's Rain.

In front of these monitors, members of the Signals and Scanning Services monitored chatter from all over. Normally, the focus was on the area closer to New Macross and Macross Command. However, on this day, the attention was a bit more south. Constant relays came in from bases near the area of attack, all in an attempt to give the RDF a bit of a better feel as to what the situation entailed and what would be their next steps going forward.

Sitting towards the back of the room, Admiral Henry Gloval took in the images of the aftermath of the attack on Buenos Aires and sighed. It had been too quiet lately, he thought. Just when Anatole reported that things were looking to be in good shape, this happens. Gloval ruefully thought back to one of the most recent reports from Colonel Leonard that had just been sent in not even 48 hours prior. "So far, the Zentraedi elements in a great majority of the South American quadrants seem to have quieted down since the new measures were put in place a little over six months ago," Gloval recited to himself silently. Somehow, Anatole, I do not think they are very silent right now. I warned you about being heavy handed down there. They're not that much different from us. You push them enough, they will strike back. Looking at one of the monitors, Gloval saw some of the recovery work being done on the now destroyed main building of the Government Center and sighed again.

It seems the cycle never ends, he thought to himself as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his pipe. He lit the bowl of the pipe and took a long puff, expelling the smoke with a sigh. Will this world ever know a moment of peace? It seemed before we were good at killing each other, then the Zentraedi showed up and put us to shame. Now, just as it seemed we turned a corner, we're about to stumble backwards towards darkness again.

It was then that Lisa, Rick, and Wilcox entered the room and made their way over towards the Admiral's location. A quick salute came up from the officers entering and was matched by one from the imposing figure in front of them.

"I'm sure Commodore Hayes filled you in about this little situation we have in the Argentine Quadrant?" Gloval stated evenly, with a hint of sarcasm when describing the issue at hand.

"She did, Admiral," Rick responded. "Right now, I gather we know as much as MBS News does currently?"

Both Lisa and the Admiral nodded. "That would be about right," Gloval surmised. "We still have yet to hear from Colonel Leonard at this point. If he was lost in this madness, then the situation is that much more grave."

"Admiral, from what the news reports are stating, the situation is still pretty fluid right now," Lisa added quickly. "It appears that the attack took place less than thirty minutes ago. The main government building in the city center was completely destroyed. Right now, it appears we're looking at heavy casualties, both civilian and military. I have Signals trying to pin down anyone on Leonard's staff. Colonel Emerson is also trying to reach out on his end as well. So far, not a word from anyone with any sort of official title."

Lisa continued on. "Also, we've yet to confirm it fully, but there was a meeting of the quadrant governors for South and Central America going on at the Government House at the time the explosion took place. Nobody's sure if they were there or not, but if they were..." Her voice trailed off as she was comprehending the full nature of what had happened. She took a deep breath before continuing on. "Admiral, we may have to deal with the possibility that every quadrant from Mexico south is now effectively leaderless."

"Thundering asteroids! This situation is beginning to get worse and worse by the minute," Gloval raged. Turning towards one of the ensigns on the Signals team, he gave a sharp look. "Still nothing from their command down there? I don't care if it's some poor ublyudok corporal in charge of holding Leonard's khuy while he takes a piss! Keep trying until we get anyone on his staff. Understood?"

The ensign saluted quickly and ran back to his post even faster. Gloval sat back in his chair, massaging his temples with his hands.

Rick looked back over at Lisa with a look of concern before he raised his next question. Well, might as well see if a trip down south is on the horizon, he thought. This is something that I don't see ending well, no matter how we go about things. And I'm exactly relishing any time away from you, Lisa. Lisa took note of Rick's look of concern and found herself matching it in turn. I don't like having to possibly send you down there either, Rick, she thought. I can tell you're worried about this as much as I am. Too much can go sideways on this kind of situation.

Rick took a deep breath and went ahead with the big question. "Admiral, what sort of stance should we take here? And, are we going to need to send some of ours down there to help out?"

The Admiral looked over at his CAG and XO, also taking note of their concerned looks. I can see you both have some hesitations about how these events can go. I share them as well. "For now, Captain, our forces will remain here until we get a better feel for what the situation is and how Colonel Leonard's forces are positioned. As for around Macross, we go to a heightened alert status for the time being. I want us ready to act if needed, but not to the point that The Frag is alarmed needlessly."

"Guess that means Rapier's back in action as of right now, Rick?" Wilcox deadpanned.

"Yeah, you guys are off standby and on regular patrols for the time being," Rick stated quickly. Turning towards Lisa and Gloval, he continued. "Skull is bumped up to standby. If anything or anyone wants to get frisky because of events, I want us to have enough around here to remind them that it would be a really bad idea to go ahead." Without any hesitation, Wilcox shot a quick salute to Rick and the others, and departed towards the hangar area.

Both Lisa and Gloval nodded in approval as the commander of Rapier Squadron left. Lisa spoke up next. "I'll be sure to bring that up to Colonel Emerson when he gets over here. Right now, we have a few platoons of Destroids on patrol around the perimeter of the base. We may want to extend outwards a little more in light of current events."

"Agreed, Lisa," Gloval remarked. "We may also want to get in touch with Macross Metro and make them aware of the situation too. However, none of our forces are to go into The Frag unless asked by the city. You may want to emphasize that with Emerson as well. We do not need for him to potentially repeat the mistakes of his benefactor."

Lisa nodded in agreement. It was just then that both Max and Miriya Sterling came into the Sit Room and joined the others by the Admiral's position. The two newcomers took a look at the scenes unfolding on the monitors and could only shake their heads. Miriya was the first to speak after a few moments. "It seems the Malcontents in that quadrant decided on using an old tactic. To cripple one's enemy, cut off the head."

"That is if it was them," Max stated. Rick was about to argue the point before Lisa cut him off.

"True, Max," she responded. "Right now, all signs point to it, but we don't have any concrete proof as of yet. For all we know, it could have been remnants of the Anti Unification League as much as Malcontents."

Rick nodded. "But the AUL's been really quiet for years now." Dolza's Rain may have had a lot to do with that, he thought darkly. Seeing most of the Anti-Unification strongholds were among the first to get hit. Hard to really cause a problem when you're dead.

"There's a bit of sentiment towards their beliefs in that part of South America," Lisa responded. "They feel as if they're the forgotten ones since everything that's happened. Plus, seeing Khyron's ship that he used for the Last Ride was in their neighborhood, they also feel like they're getting blamed unfairly for overlooking that." Lisa remembered one conversation with Colonel Goncalves in the immediate aftermath. How did he put it? 'You damned Gringos always like to blame us for everything that goes wrong.' Shaking her head at this thought, she continued. "It's something we may have to potentially consider as well, Rick."

Miriya kept an eye on the video stream. "Yes, it is something to think about, Commodore. However, from my experience and knowing some of the craft that ended up in that area, I would tend to think the Malcontents may be our prime suspects. A good number of Khyron's and Azonia's ships ended up there. And it was pretty well recorded what they thought of the Micronians."

It was at this point that one of the techs from the Signals post came over to the group around the Admiral.

"What is it, Ensign?" Gloval stated evenly.

"Sir, I have Colonel Emerson on the line. He reports he has some insights as to what's going on in Buenos Aires."

"Patch him through."

The ensign nodded, saluted, and ran back to his post. A few seconds later, the main screen shifted from the live feed from MBS to another communications room on the base. Taking up the majority of the screen was an image of Colonel Rolf Emerson, who had become the head of the RDF Ground Forces contingent at Macross Command a few months prior. Some had thought he had gotten this job due to being one of Leonard's closest advisors, but in his short time in charge at Macross, he had proven himself to be capable and not a puppet as some had thought. He smiled briefly and snapped off a quick salute to the Admiral and the others assembled.

"Colonel," Gloval stated. "I'm going to, how you say, cut to the chase here. What's the current situation in Buenos Aires and have you heard from Anatole yet?"

"Right now, the local authorities have the city on lockdown as they have their police forces fanned out towards the barrios the Zentraedi call home there. They've effectively sealed them off pending further orders. It's quiet for the most part as the civilians are sheltering in place. As for our response, we don't really have one as of yet as we're waiting to hear from Anatole. I did pin down one of the guys on his staff, a Major Luis Alejandro Giminez. He did say that Leonard was not there when the bomb went off."

A wave of slight relief went through the group assembled at the Admiral's location.

"Where exactly is he?" Lisa asked.

"Commodore, the Major reported that Colonel Leonard was at a high level meeting at Fort Centenario in the Uruguayan Quadrant. That's a good 300 kilometers from Buenos Aires. From what the Major told me, he's well aware of the situation and was meeting with some of the key military leaders there to get a plan in place going forward."

"The first bit of good news today," Gloval sighed.

Rick nodded in agreement before broaching another critical question. "Any timeframe on when we'll here from the Colonel?"

"None yet, Captain. I figure he wants to have his guys all set first before reaching out to us. I'd expect him to be asking for some help when the time comes."

Rick nodded again at that bit of information. I'm not going to be very shocked if he does, Rolf. Guess maybe Wilcox was right. It may time to brush up on my Spanish and get some sunscreen.

Gloval got the conversation back on track quickly. "On to the next topic. What are we looking at? Malcontent strike or something else?"

"Still not totally sure, Admiral. The boots on the ground are still trying to confirm what happened. Also, our main Intel liaison, Lieutenant Ortega, is missing and presumed KIA in that mess. It's pretty bad though, no matter who did this."

Lisa stepped forward with the next, and more difficult question. "We heard rumors that there was a governor's conference going on at the time of the explosion. Do we have any confirmation that this was the case?"

Emerson nodded sadly. "Yes, Giminez was able to verify that it was the case. At last check before the blast, they were in the main conference room. Nobody saw any of them among the survivors. He also related that the medical staff there made a call up here to get the DNA samples and dental records for the governors believed to be in attendance. That tells you what kind of carnage we're looking at."

The Admiral spoke again. "Slava Bogu! To say this is a disaster is an understatement, Colonel. We may be facing a situation bordering on total anarchy if we're not careful."

"It appears that way, Admiral," Emerson added sadly.

Almost a world away, the unfolding chaos in Buenos Aires was being acutely felt just 300 miles away at Fort Centenario in the Uruguayan Quadrant. Significantly smaller than Macross Command or even Fort Maracana in the Brazilian Quadrant, this complex served as the nerve center for the RDF in the southern part of South America.

Inside of the base, a conference was going on in one of the main buildings. Much like the earlier conference that was suddenly and swiftly interrupted, the room had twelve of the highest ranking RDF officers at a large table facing a view screen. On the screen was the visage of one Colonel Anatole Leonard.

"Gentlemen," Leonard spoke evenly. "No doubt you've heard the reports of what happened over in Buenos Aires. The preliminary report is that the La Casa del Sol Naciente is for all intents and purposes gone. Also, I can confirm that the governors were in there when the blast went off. From what one of my aides that's observing things tells me, out of about fifteen hundred people in there at the time of the blast, only about two hundred got out, if that. And none of them were any of the governors either."

A wave of gasps came over the assembled officers.

One, wearing a uniform similar to that of Leonard, stood up.

"So, where do we go from here? Without the governors..."

A smile came over Leonard's face. "Simple solution, Enrique. We step into the void for the time being."

Another shook his head. "Anatole, what you propose is outright madness and is patently illegal. The UEG Constitution clearly states that there is a clear separation of powers between the civilian government and the military."

"In times of major crisis and emergency, the rules can be slightly bent, Carlos," Leonard explained. "Yes, I'm aware of that separation of powers. However, it doesn't take into account if there is a potential insurrection at hand."

Carlos had a quizzical look. "You mean...?"

Leonard scowled as he held up a piece of paper. "I have in my hands solid intel from Lieutenant Ortega, my resident RDF Intelligence Service agent here. In this brief, he detailed a plot by the Zentraedi in Buenos Aires to 'send a message' to the residents of the city and the planet in general. Unfortunately, the Lieutenant paid the ultimate price for getting me this information as he was the target of said message. There is a copy of this in front of you for review."

Looks of consternation came over the faces of the men as the read over the information supplied to them.

Carlos stood up with a dire look. "¡Madre a Dios! You're saying the Em Zees directly targeted us? And you knew about it and didn't say a word?"

"We couldn't let the Xeroxes know we were on to them," Leonard shot back. "If we tipped our hand..."

"This is beyond madness, Colonel," Enrique added. "This is going down the road of outright treason! I cannot be a party to this!"

"I agree with my esteemed colleague, Coronel. I'm not, how you say, wet behind the ears. I know a coup when I smell one." Carlos stated with an edge to his tone. "I will not betray the oath I took when I joined the UEG's military."

Leonard glared back before softening his tone. "Well, gentlemen. If you feel this way, I completely understand. However, if you cannot agree to what I have proposed, I will have to ask you to leave as the rest of this meeting will cover some more sensitive materiel." He glanced at his watch. "How about we adjourn for about a half hour and then continue. I will make arrangements to have a shuttle ready to get you back to your posts."

The two opposing officers nodded and joined in saluting the viewscreen as it went to black.

As the screen went to black, Colonel Leonard fished out another cigarette and lit it up, glaring back at the now dark screen. "Stupide nemernici," he muttered to himself as he glanced at another screen and punched a button on his console. A familiar vision arose.

"I guess by that look they didn't buy into our plan, Colonel?" Raven remarked with a hint of mirth.

"Most of them did, Raven. The brief did the trick. However, we have two that sadly have a case of severe myopia," Leonard responded. "We need to make arrangements for Colonels Enrique Garcia and Carlos Avaratello. They will be leaving via shuttle shortly from Fort Centenario."

Raven nodded as he caught on to what was being insinuated by the officer on the other side of the viewscreen. "Totally understood. Should it be accidental or otherwise?"

"The time for subtlety has passed. A stronger and more direct example must be made. And it will also erase the doubts from the others. My father always said fear is a great motivational tool."

A dark smile came over Raven's face. "I think we can arrange something suitable, Anatole."

Leonard responded in kind with an evil smile. "I knew I could count on you. Go ahead and do what you need to do."

Raven smiled and nodded as the screen went black.

Sitting back in his chair, Leonard took another drag and blew the smoke upwards towards the ceiling. The last little parts are coming together. It will not be long before I can show what I'm really capable of. I fear greatly for those that doubt or oppose me, for I shall not have any mercy upon them.

Just as the half hour break was to come to an end, Colonels Garcia and Avaratello made their way across the tarmac towards a waiting shuttle. A sense of purpose radiated from the two as they prepared to make their full break.

"Have you been able to reach Monument yet?" Carlos asked as they walked briskly towards the aircraft.

Enrique shook his head. "No. Not yet. Something tells me if I tried to do so here, it would not be beneficial to our safety."

"So we wait?"

"For now, yes. Once we're safely back at Fort Orinoco, we should be in better position to get the word out." Enrique sighed. "It should have never come to this, hermano."

"On that, I agree, Enrique," Carlos added. "Leonard's making like an old school junta leader. Guess someone had some affection for the group of Colonels that ran things across the river about 40 years ago."

"You do not have to remind me of that," Enrique said sharply. "I can remember those hijos de puta sending me and my friends down to the Malvinas for no good reason other to freeze and have the Brits shoot our collected culos off."

"We may want to let Macross know as well," Carlos pondered. "I've worked with Gloval before and he may be able to reign Leonard in a bit."

"Agreed, but first, let us get as far away from this place as possible."

As the two officers boarded the shuttle, they failed to notice a few of the security detail talking among themselves and observing what was going on.

One of the detail nodded to the others.

"Our quarry is arriving. Remember, both the Colonel and the Boss don't want either of them among the living for much longer."

One of the others smiled. "They won't have to worry. This is rather foolproof. We initiate everything once I give the signal."

The member of the security detail nodded and smiled. As the shuttle taxied down the runway, he made a slight adjustment on his watch and then tapped at his ear again.

"The clay pigeons are just leaving now. Everything is set."

"Good. I'll alert our contacts. This will definitely be...illuminating."

"Cu onoare, fratele meu."

"Da, întotdeauna cu onoare!"

With that the communication went dead. The security detail watched as the shuttle rose into the mid-afternoon sky and peeled off towards the north.

As the other officers came back in after the impromptu break, they were greeted by two rather unfamiliar fellow officers and a smiling, more relaxed Colonel Leonard on the viewscreen.

"Gentlemen," he intoned. "As you know, Colonels Garcia and Avaratello decided against embarking with us on this little adventure. I have invited two of my more trusted Lieutenants, Lieutenant Ramirez and Lieutenant Uglivade to take their places on our council." The two stood up and saluted the screen and their fellow officers. Among the others that had just returned, looks of concern and confusion took hold.

It was just then that Colonel Leonard caught sight of another monitor coming to life. As he took a drag off of his cigarette, he smiled again. On the monitor in question was a drone flight capturing the flight of a shuttle over the dense rain forests north of their location. Shouldn't be too much longer now, he thought to himself. Really should have played ball, guys. Oh well, nothing like an object lesson to get one's point across. The Colonel tapped a button on the console in front of him.

In the conference room, the screen shifted from that of Colonel Leonard to that of the shuttle. However, the Colonel's voice came in over the speakers.

"Gentlemen, I wish to show you how traitors to the cause will be treated."

A split second later, a smaller object streaked up from the jungle below and towards the shuttle at rapid speed. Within seconds, the object made contact with the shuttle, blasting it apart in a spectacular explosion. Fragments from the shattered shuttle began to rain down on the dense vegetation.

Inside of the conference room, all were quiet, with the exception of the two newcomers, who had dark smiles on their faces.

"So," Leonard intoned with a bit more malice, "Does anyone else want to leave?"

To a man, all were silent.

Leonard's visage came back on the screen. "Good. Orders are as follows. Go back to your quadrants and declare martial law. You are the authority now. Once everything is all set, we initiate the first part of Operation Southern Cross."

One of the officers stood up meekly. "Sir, I fully wish to be of service on this, but what about Monument? I doubt.."

Leonard cut off the man quickly. "Can your doubts, coward! I already have assurances from my friends at Monument that this will not be a problem. There are more than enough on the Council that agree with the course of action we are to take! So, do not worry yourself with such trifling details." A wicked smile came across Leonard's face as he continued. "Unless you want to end up like the late Colonel Garcia and Colonel Avaratello."

The officer slid back into his seat.

"Do I make myself clear?" Leonard added.

Silence filled the room.

"With that, we are adjourned for the time being. Do not act until shortly before I go ahead and address the quadrants. Once we are in place, act swiftly and act ruthlessly. The Zents need to be put down and this is the start. They started this war, and in the name of God, we shall finish this."

Leonard cracked a smile as he continued on. "Also, as a bit of insurance, I will be having some of my personal security detachment accompany you all back to your quadrants. They're quite good at their job and will keep you safe." They're also my eyes and ears as well. They'll be more than happy to kill any of you if I so much as order it. Call it my insurance policy, he added silently.

With that, the screen went to black. Inside of the room, a detachment of men in black uniforms walked in. The man at the head smiled as he motioned towards the now cowed officers towards the doors. "Señores," the man intoned with a wry grin. "Follow us please."

As the assembled officers left, the man that had led the detachment in hung back in the room. Seeing that the coast was clear, he pulled out a cell phone and tapped on the screen.

"Colonel, I think our demonstration worked," the man said with an evil grin.

"Yes, Raven. That it did. The others won't as much raise a fuss now after that," Leonard added. "However, that one spineless coward did raise a good point. There will be some up North that will not be happy once this news breaks."

Raven nodded. "We may have to go ahead with that earlier idea I presented a few weeks ago."

"Yes, we may have to. However, the way have to go about this. It's rather distasteful."

"But, if it works," Raven said with a smile, "It will keep prying eyes away from here for quite a while. And who knows? If enough success comes through, you may get a call home, if you catch my drift."

"Indeed, Raven, indeed," Leonard responded. "Go ahead with your plan."

"Yes, sir. I'll contact my resources." With that, the call went dead.

Well, Henry, events may be about to pass you by, Leonard thought as he took a final drag off of the cigarette. And the best part about it is, neither you or any of those snot-nosed kids you call your Executive Officers will see it coming until it's far too late.

A/N - So, we're back in the saddle after a longer than expected layoff. Some juicy advancement of the story here, but there's more to come. Leonard has a bit of a speech to make and there will be reaction from a great many parties.

Reviews please! Would like to hear how I'm doing on this one.