Disclaimer: This story uses a fleet named Macross "Horizon", which is also in use by a Macross/Star Wars fanfiction that came out a few months ago. The only similarity between these two stories is the use of a Macross colony fleet called "Horizon"; everything else, such as characters and premise is completely different. I have been working on this since March, so I've grown pretty attached to the name myself, and do not intend to change it. Sorry for any inconvenience.
This is my first fanfiction in about 10 years! This work is a combination of two of my favorite things at the moment: Macross and ships. In particular, it uses AL and KC kansen/kanmusu/shipgirls as characters within a Macross story. I have found a way to work in Sirens and Abyssals, but that's a secret for later in this story. Anyways, I think I did well to write something this long, and I'm proud of all the work I've put into planning and eventually writing out this first chapter.
As this is a crossover that uses kanmusu/kansen characters in the Macross universe, I feel like here would be a good place to briefly explain the setting and define some terms for non-Macross fans. You can find a 'dictionary' of some terms I used in the ending author's note.
Anyways, Macross is a long-running mecha/space opera franchise that is known for three things: transforming fighter jets, music, and love triangles. Each series follows a trio (usually two women and a man) of people as they fight an enemy over some kind of cultural difference. Between action and war scenes, there is also a focus on slice of life, drama, and a love triangle between the three main characters. At the end of the day, the conflict is resolved through the power of music! If you liked any of Azur Lane's Polaris events, I'm sure you'd enjoy Macross.
As for Macross fans who don't know about Azur Lane/Kancolle... You should be good to read this without knowing anything since I am only using characters from these two series – they'll be properly introduced throughout these first few chapters. Characters aside, this story is simply my take on what life is like on an emigrant fleet.
The only thing I think is imperative to know is that I have designated the unnamed stealth cruiser from Frontier and Delta as the 'Osaka-class'.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
Prologue
Little more than half a century has passed since the apex of what humanity calls the First Interstellar War. On that day, February 11, 2010, when the 5 million ships of the 118th Zentradi Main Fleet appeared over Earth, humanity was threatened with extinction. Humans, animals, plants – billions died as the Zentradi fleet pointed their beam cannons and missiles down at the Earth and fired. While the battle was won through the actions of Lynn Minmay and the valiant crew of the SDF-1 Macross, the survivors knew that next time, humanity might not be so lucky. The future of mankind laid not on Earth, but among the stars, much like the Protoculture civilization before it – thus, the Humanity Seeding Project was born.
In the year 2012, with the launch of the 1st Super Long-Range Emigration Fleet led by the Megaroad-01, the Humanity Seeding Project was put into action. For the first time in history, humans set off into the vast reaches of space beyond the Solar System, searching for new frontiers to settle on and vowing to never again let an extinction-level event happen to humanity. Since the launch of the first Megaroad fleet, humanity has continued to launch both short and long-range colonization fleets from Earth, and eventually her colonies, at a rate of several per year.
In the year 2047, the 56th Super Long-Range Emigration Fleet Macross 26, more commonly known as the Macross Horizon, was launched from Earth. Its mission – to travel to the opposite end of the Milky Way, which had thus far remained uncharted, and find an Earth-like planet to settle on. Throughout its voyage, the Horizon fleet is to place large fold beacons, the backbone of long-range fold travel and the interstellar communications network. Given the vast range and importance of its mission, the Macross Horizon launched with a fleet of no less than 1,000 escorting vessels, a count that continues to grow to this day.
The United Nations sent numerous archeologists and experts in the Protoculture along with the Horizon to survey worlds previously inhabited by the precursor civilization responsible for creating all humanoid life in the galaxy. It is believed by experts that their home world may lie somewhere within the sector of the galaxy assigned to the Macross Horizon for exploration. The discovery of the home of the Protoculture may cause the greatest leap in science and technology since the crash of the battleship that is now known as the SDF-1 Macross in 1999.
The year is now 2063. The Macross Horizon has been sailing for 16 years and is roughly 80% of the way through its voyage to its designated colonization zone. So far, it has been smooth sailing for the Horizon fleet - it had fortunately avoided the Vajra threat of the 2050s and has thus far only dealt with medium-scale rogue Zentradi fleets and pirates. While the Protoculture home world has yet to be found, numerous artifacts found on former Protoculture colonies and bases seem to support the theory that their elusive home world may indeed lie ahead of the Horizon fleet.
While things have gone smoothly thus far for the Macross 26, who knows what challenges await this fleet of pioneers as they sail into the uncharted horizon?
United Nations Ship North Carolina (CS-1642)
Fold Space
The atmosphere of the bridge of the UNS North Carolina was heavier than usual. While the bridge of the Osaka -class stealth cruiser was normally alive with chatter and movement during fold travel, it was now dead silent as all personnel stared at their monitors.
Usually, the Horizon Fleet's 29th Squadron, consisting of the fleet's 4th Cruiser Division and 92nd Frigate Division, was assigned to do scouting missions – it wasn't that often that we be sent out on a combat mission - in the two years I had been on the North Carolina, we had been on 4 combat missions. Well, if scouting was the only purpose of our ship, it wouldn't be a 'warship' then, huh? While we had already been through a few combat operations, the chill of knowing that we may not return from the next mission was always there, and surely everyone on the bridge and throughout the ship was thinking of that dreadful 'what if?'.
I stared at my station's terminal, waiting for the ship's computer to confirm that the ship had returned exited fold-space back into normal space. Much like staring at a freshly painted wall, my mind began to wander, and expectedly, found itself on the topic of the battle ahead. Apparently, some reconnaissance drones of the scouting fleet had been lost, and the last footage from said drones identified its attackers as Zentradi Queadluun-Rau battle suits, signaling that a rogue Zentradi fleet was somewhere in the area. The billions of rogue and uncultured Zentradi that wandered the galaxy were unpredictable. Sometimes, entire fleets would succumb to culture shock, while other times, they would ignore it and fire back without mercy. What if the Zentradi fleet we were heading out to investigate-
I was torn out of my thoughts by a flashing light and text on my terminal – 'De-fold confirmed, entering normal space in the vicinity of the FT-12034 System'. The glowing aura surrounding the bridge faded away, and the vessel jerked forward slightly as it transitioned from fold space into normal space. I threw aside my previous thoughts and focused on the tasks at hand. I glanced quickly at the overviews of the various systems of the North Carolina. Weapons… Sensors… Life Support… Gravity… Everything seemed functioning and ready to go. The ship's sensor readouts began bursting with new contacts, and the number of blips on the screen was only increasing as more of the fleet exited fold space.
"Captain," I started, looking back at the ship's captain, Commander Caroline Baker, "de-fold successful. All systems are operational. From the looks of it, the rest of the fleet has made it safely as well." The Captain, who had previously been concentrating in some sort of meditative state, opened her eyes and nodded.
"Captain, no signs of any Zentradi on the sensors." Alice, the sensors operator sitting to my right reported, "I'm receiving confirmation from the Queen Victoria that the carriers are now launching reconnaissance drones and Valkyries."
Caroline flipped her flowing blonde hair towards her back and straightened her hat. "Lieutenant Nakajima, put me on the line with the rest of the squadron."
'That was weird...' I thought. The Captain and I have been good friends for a while now, so she doesn't usually call me by my last name. Captain Caroline was probably a bit on edge right now as well. However, this isn't the time to be pondering over such unimportant business.
"Yes ma'am." I answered, getting my head back into the game. I opened an encrypted communication channel between the North Carolina and the 4 other vessels of the squadron on my terminal. I gave the Captain a thumbs up to signal her to start talking.
"I know everyone is anxious right now, but I want everyone to keep focused on the present and relax. There's no telling what could happen in battle if your mind isn't on the task at hand – I don't want to lose anyone due to such careless mistakes. Just follow my orders, and I guarantee we will get out of this alive." Captain Caroline's voice echoed through the PA systems of the 29th Squadron's 5 ships, reaching every officer, pilot, and sailor within. While the Captain was normally more relaxed, she now gave off an aura of confidence, determination, and even a sort of motherly protectiveness for those under her command. "That is all. We will await further orders from the fleet flagship."
Caroline nodded at me once more, signaling me to disconnect the channel. That same instant, I received a transmission from the flagship of the operation, the Hyperion-class battleship Sirius.
"Receiving transmission from the Sirius, Captain. Putting it on your monitor now." I reported to Caroline, accepting the transmission.
On both our monitors, a female officer now appeared, her face expressionless. She wore the standard New UN Spacy officer's uniform, the same as mine; she wore the badge of a Lieutenant Junior Grade on the left-side of her chest. She also appeared to be of Japanese ancestry; her skin was just slightly tanner than the jacket's stark white, and a single black ponytail flowed down from her head. Although she could only see Caroline, I felt as if her amber-colored eyes cut into me through the monitor, as if she was about to scold us. How scary...
She gave a brief salute before speaking in a stern voice.
"Squadron 29, your orders are to proceed to point A-1781, Z-2171. Follow standard procedure if you encounter the enemy and contact the rest of the fleet immediately. High Command has authorized the use of reaction weaponry for this operation. That is all." She gave a parting salute and ended the transmission.
"Put me on the line with the squadron's captains." Caroline ordered me. I once again opened a channel to the squadron's ships, but this time only to the captains, rather than the entire ship itself. I again signaled Caroline that she was clear to speak with a thumbs up. "Assume formation 15, the North Carolina will lead, frigates will be in the middle, and the Baltimore will bring up the rear. Each ship will maintain a 30 kilometer distance from the next. Once we've assumed formation, advance ahead on standard."
"Yes, Commander!" the 4 other captains of the 29th Squadron replied in unison. I took this as my cue to end the transmission between the ships.
The 5 warships of the 29th Squadron then assumed their formation, which resembled a "+" sign, with a cruiser on each horizontal end, while the frigates made up the vertical axis. Such a formation provided the formation's gunships, the cruisers, with good firing angles while allowing the frigates to provide supporting fire with their own cannons and Valkyrie squadrons. Once the fleet had moved to their designated positions, they accelerated in unison towards their designated point.
As the formation completed its initial acceleration towards its destination, I, along with the rest of the leading officers of the North Carolina gathered around the bridge's central computer to look at what we knew about the area around point A-1781, Z-2171, as well to discuss our strategy should we encounter the Zentradi fleet in the area. Other leading officers of the squadron were also connected to the meeting through fold communications.
"Well, to start with, we have about an hour to make some final plans before we get to our designated point, so let's make this short" Caroline said. She then pointed at a holographic image of point A-1781, Z-2171 and the asteroid field surrounding it now being displayed on top of the computer, "The area we're being sent to investigate is an asteroid field. We'll have to be careful, since our sensors won't be able to tell the difference between a ship and an asteroid. If the enemy is hiding in there, it'll be very easy to ambush us. Let's have all ships move closer – maybe 5 kilometers between ships."
The captains of the squadron's warships signaled for their helmsmen to tighten the formation. The bridge of the North Carolina nudged back a bit as the ship decelerated to close the gap between her and the center of the formation.
"It's true that it will be hard to track enemies in the asteroid field," Captain Marcel Belmont of the Jaeger, the squadron's light carrier, said, resuming the meeting. "I will have my Valkyrie squadrons patrol the area around us once we get close enough to the asteroid field, and a recon unit will be put on standby to relay any difficulties we may encounter."
"What else do we know of the enemy fleet, other than they are Meltrans?" Lieutenant Saori Ashigara, the executive officer of the Haguro, one of the squadron's frigates, asked. "How large is their fleet, and if we encounter them, can we even hold them off until the rest of our fleet can back us up?"
While New UN Spacy fleets were typically technologically superior to uncultured Zentradi fleets, they were at a huge disadvantage numbers-wise. The 29th Squadron was a scouting unit at its core, and thus had some of the smallest numbers in the entire fleet - anything more than 5 or 6 Zentradi ships would give us a rather difficult time; however, given the setting of our patrol, we could potentially use the asteroid field to our own advantage.
"Well," I replied, "I don't think they can be that large – after all, they did take out reconnaissance drones, which I think could mean that they're trying to conceal their location. If it were a larger fleet, then they would want to be challenged directly, given the aggressive nature of uncultured Zentradi. That being said, there's a pretty good chance we could hold our own against them – we just need to use the cover of the asteroids and play defensively while peppering the enemy fleet and waiting for our own to arrive."
Nods and various other forms of agreements could be seen and heard from the holograms of the officers in attendance. The strategy meeting continued on for a few more minutes, but eventually faded in its value as it seemed that everything worthy of note had already been said. After two minutes of idle chatter, Caroline decided to conclude the meeting, allowing the individual ships to decide on their individual strategies or do whatever final preparations they needed to do before entering the asteroid field.
As Caroline turned off the transmission between the North Carolina and the rest of the squadron's ships, I began to walk back to my station. However, it seemed that Caroline had other plans…
"Well said out there, Lieutenant!" Caroline said as she slapped me on the back. She then looked at me, her bright blue eyes sparkling, "As expected of my executive officer!"
"Ah, it was nothing, Captain." I said, reaching up to adjust my hair, brushing the dark strands that had been misplaced by Caroline's blow off to the side before continuing, "I just stated a common sense strategy for battling in an asteroid field". Sometimes Caroline just gave me too much credit – anyone could have thought of my response to the question posed by Lieutenant Ashigara. However, I did admire that aspect of her, as she truly made everyone around her feel important and useful, almost as if she were some kind of mother figure.
"Nonsense!" Caroline exclaimed, wagging her index finger at me, "While those tactics may have been common sense to you, it may not have been for the other captains or officers. What matters is that you said the right strategy at the right time; if everyone had rushed into battle without considering using the asteroids as cover as we wait for reinforcements, imagine what would happen? When you're in charge of your own ship, or even your own squadron one day, Hiroshi, you have to make sure that everyone else is on the same page as you. Remember that!"
"Of course, Carol. I'll try to keep that in mind."
She patted me on the head as a conclusion to her short lecture and began striding back to her seat. I took a second to re-adjust my hair and glasses before moving to my station directly in front of the captain to reassume my own duties. Carol sure is touchy sometimes… Well, at least she was calling me by my first name again, so she was probably less on edge than she was when we folded into the system.
It wasn't long before she required my services once more…
"Lieutenant Hiroshi!" she cried out.
"Yes, ma'am!" I responded, turning in my seat to face the Captain.
"I forgot to mention this during the meeting! What do you think we should treat the Meltrans with if we find them, Lieutenant?" Carol asked me with a bright smile on her face, as she clapped her hands together with excitement.
She was probably referring to New United Nations Spacy protocol for dealing with rogue Zentradi fleets. In order to minimalize casualties, warships deployed holograms and transmitted music on all radio frequencies to culture shock Zentradi, appropriately named the 'Minmay Attack'. This tactic was generally effective in getting the Zentradi to cease fire and open up to peace talks, but sometimes, they would continue to fire on NUNS vessels for a variety of reasons.
"Well, Captain," I responded, knowing there was only one clear answer for this scenario, "since we know we're facing female Zentradi, how about we hit them with some classic Fire Bomber? Remember that story of when Nekki Basara singlehandedly stopped an entire medium-sized Meltrandi fleet attacking the Macross 7 fleet with his song Totsugeki Love Heart? Such a powerful voice would probably stop the Meltrandi in their tracks instantly!"
"Aaah, that Basara, he's so dreamy!" Carol squealed in delight, looking towards the ceiling of the bridge as she daydreamed, "Mylene Jenius is a lucky lady to have such a fine man like him!"
I could almost see Carol's mental age reverting as she fangirled over the rock star. All around the bridge, heads turned towards the captain as she continued to blabber about Basara. Although I knew Carol to be one to ramble about her interests, she didn't usually do so in public... With more attention befalling her by the second, even I was getting second-hand embarrassment from the scene.
"Captain, he's nearing 40 now! He's too old for you, and besides, he's married! You'll never get married yourself at this rate!" Alice interrupted the rambling in a tone that was borderline scolding Carol.
"Mhm," I looked towards Carol, and then back towards Alice. We both began shaking our heads in disapproval towards our Captain.
She gave a long, drawn out sigh as her response to us.
"Jeez, I'm just joking with you guys…" Carol gave a slight chuckle as she looked at her monitor. After a few seconds, she spoke again, but in a more serious tone, "But I do think that we should stop messing around. We're getting closer to our designated area, so Lieutenant Hiroshi, please inform the rest of the fleet of our song choice and put the ship on level 2 battle stations."
"Aye, Captain. Informing the squadron of Minmay Attack and putting the ship on level 2 battle stations." I repeated the order, accessing the terminal to relay our song choice to the rest of the squadron. I then opened my microphone to the ship's PA system, "Attention all crew, move to level 2 battle stations. I repeat, move to level 2 battle stations."
As our formation of ships sailed into the asteroid field, swarms of drones and variable fighters zipped past the North Carolina in order to scout ahead of the main formation. With our sensors rendered unreliable because of the asteroids, we would have to rely on reports from the pilots.
I stared out the bridge as a group of VF-171 variable fighters flew past the ship and eventually disappeared behind a large asteroid, giving me the signal to return to the task at hand: final preparations for potential combat. Judging on the various reports coming onto my monitor and through the ship's communications channels, everything was going according to schedule. The cannons were charged, anti-ship missiles had completed fueling, and tests of the ship's targeting and defensive systems had been successful.
"Captain, reports indicate that combat preparations are moving along well. All offensive and defensive systems are ready for possible engagement." I turned back and reported to Carol.
Carol merely gave me a small smile and a nod acknowledging my statement.
At that moment, my monitor showed an incoming transmission request from a communications officer on one of the lower decks of the bridge. With a push of a button, I accepted the request, "This is Lieutenant Nakajima. What's the issue?"
"Lieutenant, we're receiving numerous reports from the reconnaissance fighters that they have sighted the enemy fleet."
Just as the officer on the other end of the line said this, several beam cannon rounds appeared on the horizon and just as quickly disappeared behind the formation, just barely grazing our ships. We had lost the element of surprise, and the guns of the Meltran fleet were now aimed at us. Their next volley would likely connect.
"Captain, this may already be obvious, but we have received reports of contact with the enemy fleet. They likely know of our position already, somehow." I reported as I navigated through my terminal to get a visual feed from one of the reconnaissance fighters. "Putting live feed of the enemy fleet on the main monitor now."
The live footage of the Meltran fleet was now projected onto the canopy of the bridge. From what I could see, their force seemed to consist mostly of smaller gunboats and destroyers, although they were still much larger than our own cruisers and frigates. In the middle of the formation, lay a behemoth of a warship, the unmistakable outline of a Nipetiet-Vergnitz-class battleship. As expected, they were aware of our position, and small figures of what were undeniably battle suits now emerged from the ships like angry wasps. The barrels of the fleet's turrets glowed orange, signaling that the second volley was being readied.
Meanwhile on my right, I could see out of the corner of my eye Alice frantically speaking through her headset to who I could only assume was someone on the Sirius, informing them of the engagement currently taking place.
"Captain, the Sirius says that it can provide support in 15 minutes!" Alice reported, to which Carol nodded in acknowledgment.
"I am aware of that, Lieutenant Nakajima." Carol now replied to me as the entirety of the bridge watched the live feed, "But we must hold them here until our reinforcements arrive. All ships and fighters are to activate electronic countermeasures, then concentrate pin-point barriers to the bow and commence a Minmay Attack!"
"Roger that, Captain. Activating electronic countermeasures, then concentrating pin-point barriers to the bow and commencing Minmay Attack with the rest of the squadron." I repeated her order as I accessed my terminal to give the orders to the weapons department and to the ships of the rest of the squadron respectively. With the squadron's electronic countermeasures (ECM) in place, it would now be a lot more difficult for the Meltran fleet to get a good firing solution on us for their third volley.
As soon as the orders had been given, the second volley of beam cannon rounds were upon us. Two of them suddenly appeared directly in front of the ship, but immediately impacted and exploded on the ship's pin-point barrier, rendering zero damage to the North Carolina itself. The entire bridge shook violently from the nearby explosion, however, with all activity stopping for a split second as the vibrations made concentration or movement impossible.
"Barriers are holding steady." I heard from one of the pin-point barrier operators.
My monitor flashed as it gave the confirmation that the rest of the squadron was ready to begin the Minmay Attack.
"Synchronization with the rest of the formation complete. Minmay Attack can be commenced at your command, Captain." I turned back to inform Carol.
"Begin the Minmay Attack!" She said without delay, leaning forward and pointing in the direction of the Meltran fleet.
"Commencing Minmay Attack." I confirmed, and then pressed the button now highlighted on my terminal to simultaneously activate the holographic projectors onboard the squadron's ships and begin the transmission of music on all frequencies.
The concealed holographic projectors emerged from their positions within the hulls of all the ships of the 29th Squadron and began to shoot out beams of light. At first, the holograms had no shape or pattern, but soon enough, the image of the iconic galactic rock star, Nekki Basara, stood in front of our formation.
With this, our ships began to transmit the recording of 'Totsugeki Love Heart' that went alongside the holograms on all radio frequencies.
"Listen to my song!" The recording of Basara said, while the hologram pushed up his glasses and began playing the instrumental opening to the song.
From behind me, I heard Carol relaying her next orders to the rest of the squadron's ships, "Withdraw all variable fighters to a two-kilometer radius around the North Carolina. We will first open up with a missile barrage. After that, we will use beam weaponry as normal - when the North Carolina opens fire, that will be your cue to fire at will. Best of luck hunting, everyone."
"We've been able to mark some of the larger warships in the enemy fleet on the sensors using data from the Valkyries, Captain." Alice reported as soon as Carol finished her order. She and the others working on the ship's sensors sure worked fast, especially at the task of separating ships from supposed asteroids on the sensor output.
On my terminal, I now saw masses of red circles where there were only asteroids before, showing the extensiveness of the enemy fleet – I estimated fifty or so vessels from what I saw on the screen, but there could be much more hiding elsewhere.
"Very good." Carol acknowledged before giving further orders, "Prepare the first barrage of reaction missiles!"
"Yes ma'am. Load anti-ship reaction missiles in all launch tubes!" I called into my headset toward the ship's weapons department while also relaying the order on my terminal to the rest of the ships and variable fighters.
"Loading anti-ship reaction missiles in all launch tubes, sir!" The weapons officer confirmed as my monitor showed the missile launch mechanisms as ready to fire.
At the same time, I received confirmation from the other ships and Valkyrie squadrons that their missiles were loaded, alongside their targeting data. I double checked the missiles' projected flight trajectory to make sure no ship was targeting the same sector of the enemy fleet. Everything seemed ready to go.
"All ships and fighters are ready to fire their missiles, Captain." I reported to Carol.
"Launch missiles!"
On her command, 8 missiles emerged from the North Carolina's launchers and began streaking towards the horizon. They were soon joined by dozens of more missiles from the other 4 ships and the variable fighters of the squadron.
Simultaneously, the hologram of Basara began to sing.
Let's go,
And break through to the dawn we dreamed of!
It's still far away but,
Maybe we can make it through,
As long as we have the power of love!
Seconds passed like minutes as the missiles flew towards their targets, who were now desperately attempting to shoot them down. My terminal reported losses of 30%, but as long as even a few missiles hit their mark, our chances of holding them here and surviving would be greatly improved. 45% missile loss now… Just a little bit more…
As long as you listen to my song,
It's so easy,
To cross our hearts together!
My heart of love soars through the dusk of night,
Riding on the wings of burning emotions,
Shooting down my sadness and anger!
A heart of love beats within your chest, too:
Charge your destiny head-on,
No matter how many millions of light years away it is,
Totsugeki love heart!
Suddenly, the dark horizon was filled with the illumination of a thousand suns as the missiles hit their targets and exploded into a ball of brilliant quantum energy - the trademark of reaction warheads.
"Approximately 20% of enemy fleet damaged or destroyed, Captain. It seems the asteroids might have shielded them from the reaction missiles." Alice reported.
"Captain, I don't think the Minmay Attack is working." I stated my thoughts, "Usually if a song has an effect on Zentradi warriors, their efficiency will go down; I just can't see them shooting down just under half our missiles if they were truly affected by the song."
"We can worry about that later, Lieutenant." Carol said before giving her next orders, "But for now, we must continue our assault! Focus beam cannon fire on the command battleship and other large vessels."
"Weapons," I called into my headset to the weapon's department once more. "Focus beam cannon fire on the command battleship and other large vessels."
"Roger that! Calibrating turrets now." The weapons officer on the other side confirmed. On my terminal, I saw the ship's turrets adjusting in their aim, with each barrel moving just centimeters to get the perfect shot on its target.
After a few seconds of waiting, the weapons officer continued, "Ready to fire at any time."
I glanced behind towards Carol to seek her confirmation, catching her as she opened her mouth to speak into her headset.
"Open fire!"
The insides of the barrels of the North Carolina's turrets sprung to life in a light-blue glow. A split second later, light blue bolts of energy exited the barrels and raced towards the enemy fleet. With the signal of the North Carolina firing its weapons, the other ships of the squadron followed suit, opening fire with their primary beam cannon turrets.
I looked down at the sensor data for our chosen targets and read them out to Carol, "Captain, confirming multiple hits on command battleship and several cruiser-class vessels. Preparing second volley now."
Let's dance!
Even the stars are singing along,
And we can make it last longer,
So take my hand and rock with me!
Baby, we can handle it,
So don't let go of my hand!
As Basara's singing continued, so too did our battle with the Meltran fleet. The Valkyries of the squadron were keeping the masses of battle suits at bay at the edge of our defensive perimeter with their superior missiles and avionics. Meanwhile, streaks of blue and orange illuminated the darkness of the asteroid field constantly with the sheer volume of fire from both fleets. Utilizing the asteroids as cover and our ships' pin-point barriers, damages were thankfully being kept to a minimum.
What truly concerned me at the moment was the fact that the song didn't seem to be working – as the Meltran fleet seemed to be fighting back normally, with no care in the world for Basara's song blasting on all their communications networks.
As this thought ran through my head, Alice spoke up.
"Captain, I'm receiving a transmission from the enemy command battleship. Shall I put it on the display?" She looked back and asked Carol.
She gave a nod in response, and with no further delay, the bridge's display hologram showed the upper body of a Meltran. She wore a large cape over an officer-style uniform; I could only assume that she must be the commander of the enemy fleet.
"You are speaking to Commander Caroline Baker of the New United Nations Spacy. What are your intentions?" Carol spoke in a lofty, formal tone to the enemy commander.
"Foolish miclones!" The Meltran's voice boomed, her insult echoing throughout the bridge. She continued in a deep, heavy laughter, "Your insignificant culture and music tricks will not work on us. Some of the warriors among us that have defected from your pitiful armies have already told us your tactics. To answer your question, I am here simply to laugh at you before your defeat!"
And with that, the Meltran commander cut off her transmission, leaving the bridge speechless.
Defectors? From the Horizon fleet? While it was known that some Zentradi, especially those from rogue-turned-cultured fleets, were unpleased with the relative peaceful life provided under the New UN and eventually defect back to the Zentradi fleets roaming the galaxy, I did not recall hearing about such events within the Horizon recently. The facts of the matter was, however, that somehow these Meltrans were aware of the tactics used against them, and had become resistant to them as a result.
"Captain, sensors are identifying several unknown contacts coming from some of the nearby asteroids." Alice reported, just seconds after the end of the transmission. I glanced at my own readout of the ship's sensors, and was greeted with exactly what Alice had described – new contacts were now coming from the asteroids around us.
"Get us visuals, stat!" Carol ordered.
"We're already on it, ma'am." Alice responded, rapidly typing into her terminal.
Seconds later, she brought up a visual feed of what appeared to be a dozen Meltran Queadluun-Rau battle suits closing in from the center of our formation. We had fallen right into their trap, encircled at close range by enemy battle suits while our own variable fighters were busy at the perimeter of our defenses. Even with ECM in place, if the battle suits fired from this close, they were sure to land a hit.
On seeing this, I immediately connected my communication channel to the weapons officer, "Bring up all point-defense and anti-mecha missiles!"
Behind me, I could hear an equally distressed Carol informing the rest of the squadron's captains of the dire situation we found ourselves in, if they didn't know it themselves at this point. Outside, I could see the now activated CIWS turrets rapidly firing their light, cyan-colored shots at targets in the distance, while the squadron continued to be bombarded by the enemy fleet.
Boom!
Suddenly, a large explosion could be heard from the lower decks, and the ship rumbled violently, throwing anyone who was unfortunate enough to be standing straight to the floor.
I opened a communications channel to my subordinate officers located throughout the ship, in addition to Carol, so that she could get the information quickly as well. "Get me a damage report!"
"Primary turrets 1 and 3 are down! Working on getting it back up."
"Reactor output down to 75%!"
"Gravity control system is rapidly losing power!"
"At least 10 wounded, 3 dead on deck 5!"
As these reports came in, my monitor of the ship's systems began showing what the reports had already told me – several systems were now limited in function or downright unavailable. There were also several fires and hull breaches on the lower decks, where the attack had struck. However, as long as the main reactor was still up, we still had a chance.
"Damage control, get down to deck 5! Sending detailed damage report to you now." I ordered into my headset while simultaneously sending the damage report down to the lower decks on my terminal. Hopefully the repairs wouldn't take too long, lest the ship be put into even more danger.
As I relayed the damage report down, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed several light objects – pens, clipboards, even mugs – begin to rise off their platforms. I glanced back to my monitor, and surely enough, the gravity control systems were now highlighted in red – they were offline.
"Everyone strap in now!" Carol ordered.
On her command, the seats around the bridge gave a metallic 'clack' noise as compartments on the back of the seats opened up in order to automatically attach a harness to our backs. This would prevent us from getting knocked out of our seats while the gravity generation was still offline.
"Damn it!" I heard Carol exclaim as my own harness locked in place. "Crappy machi-"
Boom!
The ship shook once more as a new attack struck the bottom of the ship. But this strike was the least of my concerns now.
"Ahh!" A voice screamed out, followed by a thud as something hit the ceiling.
I now turned back towards Carol, and was met with an empty captain's seat. I turned my head upwards slowly with dread; deep inside, I knew what was waiting for me, but I didn't want it to be true… I forced my eyes to keep moving upward, and milliseconds later, I was greeted with the sight of Carol's now motionless body, floating high above her seat.
The surrounding crew were silent as well, many of them now aware of the situation we now found ourselves in. The chaos of battle continued to surround us, the ship, and the rest of the squadron, but these paled in comparison to the loss of our captain.
"Carol!" I screamed, now finding the courage to speak, as I unfastened my harness and pushed myself towards her. I drifted towards her in excruciatingly slow motion as my mind panicked. Was she dead? If our leader had fallen, what could we do to survive? This is impossible…
Finally, I was able to reach out and grab Carol. I pulled her close and put my hand to her neck, checking for a pulse. Faintly, I could feel the beat of her heart, which sent a wave of relief over my body.
"She's alright!" I reported to the other officers and crew watching from below. I could almost see the sense of relief washing over the bridge as my words hit their ears. It would have been most unfortunate indeed if we had lost the captain here.
'It's a captain's duty to stay composed even in the hardest of times…' Carol's voice echoed in my head. Even though she was out cold, my recollections of her advice continued to guide me. With Carol out, responsibility of the ship now fell onto me, the second in command. I had to act cool, even if I was not, to give the rest of the crew courage to keep fighting.
As Carol's words came into my mind, I spotted her captain's hat floating in the corner of my vision. She always took pride in the symbolism of that hat and the authority it granted to its wearer. If Carol were awake right now, she would definitely want me to take it.
I grabbed the hat, and with Carol still in my arms, I pushed myself against the ceiling of the bridge and back towards the floor. With a push of my legs forward, I reoriented myself to face feet-down, and landed lightly on the floor of the bridge.
Two lower-ranking officers immediately took off from their seats as I landed, reaching my side just seconds later.
"We'll take her from here." One said, while outstretching his arms towards me, gesturing to hand over Carol.
"Thank you." I obliged, placing the motionless captain in his arms, in an almost princess-hold position. Oh, she was in for it after this battle….
"With Captain Baker out of action, I will now be assuming command of this vessel. Lieutenant Margaret is now second-in-command." I proclaimed for all those around me to hear as I took the hat and positioned it onto my head. I briefly locked eyes with Alice, who merely nodded in affirmation in response to her being named second-in-command.
"First order of business, everyone," I began by stating what I thought was our most important piece in keeping us alive in this battle, "Please try to keep the information of the Captain being injured from spreading as much as possible. If we do not, that will kill the morale of not only our ship, but the rest of the squadron as well. Now, with that being said, get back to work! We have to survive until reinforcements arrive!"
"Yes, Captain!" The various crew of the bridge said in unison, before scrambling back to work, the battle still raging around us.
"Medical personnel will be up here soon, Acting Captain. The secondary operations officer should be up here momentarily to take over your station, as well." Alice turned from her station to report to me as I maneuvered myself into the captain's seat.
I acknowledged her with a nod, before turning my attention back to the seat I now found myself in. Knowing that the automatic harness was incapable of working from Carol's earlier incident, I took hold of the old-fashioned seatbelt-style straps to lock myself into the seat. They weren't nearly as high-tech as the harnesses, but they should do the job.
With the last few moments being as hectic as they were, I was now unaware of the situation of the battle. For all I knew, the other ships could be sunk, with the North Carolina as the sole survivor. Hopefully, we were not, and I would be able to transfer command over the squadron to Commander Bailey Moore, the captain of the Baltimore.
"Alice, what is the status of the battle?" I asked firmly. Stay calm… That's what Carol would do.
"The ambush squadron of battle suits from earlier has been dispatched of by our fighters. From our squadron, no ships have been sunk, but all have suffered major damages. The enemy has lost several cruiser and gunboat-class warships, but the command battleship remains active." Alice began after a few seconds, starting with good news, but then taking a grim turn into the damages, "All ships report that their pin-point barrier systems have been overloaded. The Baltimore reports failure of sensor and communications arrays in addition to reactor troubles – their most recent message came in the form of morse code. The Haguro reports damage to primary turrets and life support. The Jaeger reports engine trouble and failure of catapults. The Fubuki reports damage to missile launchers and damage to the bridge. Valkyrie losses are estimated at 15% and drone losses are estimated at 50%."
Well, it looked like informing Bailey of Carol's injury and transferring command to her was out the question since they could not effectively communicate with the rest of the squadron. While Northampton -class frigates were able to do such a task, cruisers like the North Carolina had much more effective equipment and facilities for commanding other ships. It would be most effective for the North Carolina to remain the flagship for the squadron and for orders to be given from here. This would also keep morale from dropping even lower should the other ships know that our leader was injured. While I had not been directly in charge of a squadron before, I had been Carol's right hand for my duration as a member of her ship; she often told me that I could become a capable fleet commander in due time – she truly believed in my abilities. Now was not the time to let her down – I would take over the position as both the captain and lead of the squadron.
"Alice, get someone who is fluent in morse-code and have them focus on communications with the Baltimore. Additionally, please relay my commands to the other ships when I give them the order. Remember – be careful not to disclose the fact that the captain is currently unconscious. Also, please stop the broadcast of Basara's song; it is clearly not working."
"Yes, Captain." Alice affirmed, as she began typing into her terminal. Seconds later, the recording of Nekki Basara was ceased, and the holographic projectors lowered back into the hulls of the various ships of our squadron.
As this occurred, a new figure floated past me and into operations officer's station, which had been left empty since I had taken over Carol's position as captain. It was the officer that took over the position when I was off-duty, Lieutenant Junior Grade Jeremy Simon.
"Reporting for duty, Captain." Jeremy said, swiveling his seat around giving a salute.
I nodded in response, signaling him to end the salute, before giving my first order to him. "Give me a damage report of the ship; put it on my monitor as well."
"Sir, as you know, gravity generation is down. Reactor output is down, and our sensor arrays are damaged. Three of our primary turrets are currently offline, and so are pin-point barriers. On the bright side, all hull breaches have been secured and fires have been put out."
The thing that stuck out to me about these reports was that across the entire squadron, all pin-point barrier systems were offline. We needed to find more cover, and soon, lest one of our ships get hit and sink.
Almost as if on cue, a stray beam cannon shot from the Meltran fleet struck a small, nearby asteroid. Upon contact, it immediately vaporized, leaving only a wisping smoke of dust that soon dissipated into the vacuum of space.
"Alice, I know the sensors aren't working to their fullest capabilities, but can you identify the closest, largest asteroid? Preferably something that the entire squadron can take cover behind." I asked the sensors officer.
"I can certainly try, Captain." She confidently responded, now typing into her terminal. "Hm… If I can use the sensor data from the Valkyries… And then… Got it! Marking candidates on the sensor readings now."
Soon, a holographic projection of the nearby asteroids was projected from my monitor. The ones that were too small to provide cover were quickly removed from the display, until only large asteroids, colored red by the sensors, were displayed on the map.
Scanning through the holographic map with my eyes, I quickly identified one such asteroid that could shield the squadron from the enemy fleet – an asteroid marked simply as 'Object 23' on the sensors, located some 100 kilometers behind our current location. The asteroid itself was around 10 kilometers in diameter; it would do well in helping us hide while we waited for reinforcements to come our way.
"Alice," I began my order, "The entire squadron is to move behind the asteroid marked as 'Object 23' on our sensors. From there, we will wait out the storm until the Sirius arrives."
"Yes, Captain." Alice responded, typing up the orders into her console. Seconds later, she continued, "Forgive me for asking, but what of the command battleship? If we're gathered in one location, won't we be easy pickings for their heavy quantum beam cannon?"
Alice was right. The biggest threat in any fleet battle was the ship with the heavy quantum beam cannon, commonly found on both New UN and Zentradi capital ships. It was a common tactic for such a weapon is to be used at the start of the battle to inflict the most damage to the enemy. However, the Meltran fleet's Nipetiet-Vergnitz-class battleship had not fired its heavy quantum beam cannon even once, meaning that there was surely something wrong on their end. If I was wrong, though…
'Trust your intuition…' Carol's voice told me.
"Well, Alice, the command battleship has not fired their primary heavy quantum weapon yet, when they should have at the start of the battle. I believe that signals that for some reason or another, they are unable to fire it at all."
"I see. I will put my trust in your decision, Captain." She nodded, before changing the topic back to the movements of the squadron. "The other ships have begun to move towards the rendezvous point. Shall we follow?"
On my display of the immediate area surrounding the North Carolina, the other ships were now slowly but surely retreating to the marked asteroid. However, they were a bit too slow due to battle damages. We had to cover for them, or else they would be no different than sitting ducks.
"Yes, but we have to do something first. Load reaction missiles in all launch tubes."
After the detonation of a reaction weapon, the heavy quantum dragged from fold space that is dragged down into our dimension lingers for quite some time in the form of a fiery ball of energy before dissipating. If the blast radii of the reaction warheads were lined up just right, they could create an effect not too dissimilar to a smokescreen that would impair the vision of the enemy Meltrans on our movements.
"Aye, sir, but- " Jeremy started.
"Save the questions for later, Lieutenant." I interrupted. I needed this information sooner rather than later. "What is the blast radius for our reaction missiles?"
"Yes, sir…" He responded, before relaying my question to presumably the weapons department. A few seconds later, Jeremy answered, "Approximately 500 meters, sir."
"Thank you. Set all missiles to detonate within 1 kilometer of each other and after they have gotten 50 kilometers away from us. Immediately after firing those missiles, the ship is to turn 180 degrees and immediately move to the rendezvous point."
"Yes, Captain." He acknowledged, before relaying my orders to their respective destinations.
Soon, my monitor displayed that the reaction missiles were ready to be launched. The only thing left to do was to give the order.
"Launch missiles."
The surrounding area was lit up as the missiles were released from their tubes and began burning their fuel to reach their destination. Almost immediately afterwards, the North Carolina's port vernier thrusters activated to reorient the ship. After hitting 180 degrees of rotation, the ship then activated its starboard thrusters, to cancel the horizontal momentum and began accelerating to catch up with the rest of the squadron.
"Putting up image of missiles on main monitor now." Alice said as a video feed from one of the ship's cameras was displayed on the canopy. Beam cannon rounds from the Meltran fleet sailed past the missiles, likely meant for us rather than the missiles themselves. Thankfully, these rounds struck asteroids before they were ever able to find their mark on the North Carolina.
"Detonation in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"
The camera feed turned into an all-white glow for a split second, flooding the bridge with light and causing several people to shield their eyes briefly.
"Prepare a second barrage." I ordered. While we were still under the screen of quantum energy, it would be best to lay down the next layer while the enemy wasn't aware of our exact actions. "This time, use them more like mines; do not detonate them until the quantum energy from the previous barrage has faded."
"Load second barrage. Use them as mines, and do not detonate until ordered to by the Captain!" Jeremy relayed my order. Seconds later, he signaled that the missiles were ready.
"Launch!"
The bow of the ship was briefly illuminated as the missiles propelled themselves out of their launch tubes. However, the engines soon cut off, and the reaction missiles began to drift among the asteroids, awaiting their time to be used.
On the rear-facing video feed, small specs could now be coming around over the top of the now dissipating quantum energy from the reaction warheads...
"Captain, visual scanners are confirming that these are Meltran battle suits. Valkyries are moving in to engage now. Distance to contact with battle suits – 100 kilometers." Alice reported.
"Wait! Tell them not to engage just yet. Have them lure the battle suits to our mine setup." I quickly countered. Might as well take down two birds with one stone – destroying the Meltran battle suits while providing more cover for us.
"I see. Excellent idea, Captain." Alice responded with a smirking smile as she learned of my intentions, before relaying my order to the Valkyrie squadrons.
"Jeremy, keep an eye on those battle suits and the reaction missiles. Alice what is the current status of the Sirius?" I ordered my two subordinates, who nodded in acknowledgement soon afterwards.
"Contacting the Sirius now, Captain." Alice said before typing something into her terminal. Seconds later, she turned back to me to report, "Captain, we're receiving a transmission from the Sirius. Shall I put it on your monitor?"
I nodded in response. While the rest of the squadron would do better without knowing of Carol being out of the fight, I doubt that would affect the morale of whatever officer sitting on the Sirius was on the other end, much less the rest of the fleet.
On my monitor appeared a familiar face – the same female officer from earlier. Our eyes made contact, and I found myself staring into her amber eyes while her stoic impression turned slightly quizzical, as if wondering 'who the hell is this guy?'.
"You're not Commander Baker." She simply said, her eyebrows now raised.
"I am aware of that. Captain Baker is currently out of action from an injury sustained toward the start of our battle. I am her executive officer and have thus been overseeing the ship since then."
Before the Sirius officer could respond, Jeremy spoke up. "Captain, enemy battle suits are now within reaction missile blast radius."
"Detonate them now!"
Once more, the video feed from behind the North Carolina shone in a brilliant, white that covered the entire screen, before fading away and leaving behind orange-colored balls of quantum energy.
"Visual scanners indicate that all battle suits were wiped out." Alice reported.
"Now entering final approach to rendezvous point." Jeremy reported. A quick glance towards my sensor readings showed that we were some 4 kilometers out from the rest of the squadron. The vernier thrusters began reorienting the ship so that we could decelerate with the main engines to come to a stop nearby the rest of the squadron.
"Very good." I breathed a short sigh of relief before turning my attention back to the Sirius officer. Her head tilted slightly as I looked upon her once more but was otherwise as emotionless as she had been earlier.
"When will the Sirius be able to provide support for us?"
"The Sirius will be conducting a short-range fold to get the enemy fleet into firing range." The Sirius officer stated. "However, we would like you to transmit the positions of the enemy fleet so we can de-fold at an optimal firing angle."
As this order came in, the North Carolina began its deceleration burn, causing me jerk forward in my seat slightly. Through the canopy of the bridge, I could now see the rest of the ships of the squadron – each ship looked heavily damaged, with scorches and holes all over each vessel. It was a miracle that all of the ships had gotten out of the engagement alive.
"Alice," I began relaying the request from the Sirius, "What is the current position and status of the Meltran fleet? What are they doing now?"
"On it, Captain."
She began typing something into her terminal, and soon brought up video feed from one of the electronic warfare Valkyries onto the main display; the camera began panning over the large Meltran fleet some few thousand kilometers ahead of us. As Alice continued putting inputs into her terminal, markers soon appeared on the hostile ships. After a minute, she turned around to me to begin her report.
"Matching up visual sensor data information from the recon Valkyries with our own sensor information from earlier, it doesn't appear that the enemy fleet has moved significantly. They are still firing in our general direction, but because of the distance combined with our active stealth systems, they cannot fire at us with much precision, meaning that they are effectively shooting blind. Relaying sensor data to the Sirius now, Captain."
"Targeting information received." The Sirius officer confirmed, a few seconds later. She continued, "North Carolina, I will double check with the weapons department, and then we will execute our fold."
"Lieutenant Seto," She called out, this time looking blankly into the distance instead of at me as she spoke into her headset, "Have you locked in the firing solution?"
Wait, a weapons officer named 'Seto' on the Sirius? Without a doubt, that had to be Kirishima-chan! I pictured my friend since high-school in my head, thinking about what she was probably doing right now - pushing her glasses up, and entering the sensor data into the targeting computer of the Sirius. I would need to thank her heavily for her part in saving the squadron's asses today once we saw each other again.
"Macross Cannon firing solution locked in, ma'am." A familiar, feminine voice responded to the question. She was definitely Kirishima-chan.
With that, the Sirius officer nodded; her gaze towards me intensified and a slight smirk emerged on her face. "North Carolina, we will be folding shortly. Remain vigilant and we shall handle the rest, I assure you."
So even she could show a smile on that stoic face… Her confidence here assured me that we could get it through these next few moments alive – all we needed was determination.
"Fold in!" I heard from somewhere in the background.
And with that, the transmission was cut off as the battleship entered fold space.
"Captain," I heard Alice begin. She turned back towards me as I turned my head towards her station, our eyes meeting at the same time. "The enemy fleet has ceased firing."
That's odd. Usually, Zentradi will fight until the very end, no matter how bleak the odds. And the Meltrans on the other side of the asteroid field certainly had the upper hand on us at the moment, not the other way around.
"Are you sure?" I asked, bewildered at this turn in events. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen any beam cannon rounds strike any of the surrounding asteroids right now...
"Wait, I'm detecting a large surge of super-dimensional energy building somewhere deeper into the asteroid field. It's coming from within the enemy formation!" She reported. Soon, the video feed displayed on the primary monitor showed the bow of the enemy command battleship opening up, which then began to violently spark as it gathered more energy to fire its main cannon.
As my brain processed Alice's latest report and the video feed in front of my eyes, I could feel my heart sink into my chest. A build-up of super-dimensional energy could only mean one thing – a ship was readying a shot of a heavy quantum beam cannon round. I had made the wrong decision by assuming that the command battleship's main weapon was down, and now we might have to pay the ultimate price for my incorrect decision.
"Tell all ships to scramble! I don't care where they go, just get them out of here!" I spurted out; we had no time to spare, and every millisecond counted.
"Captain, detecting multiple de-fold reactions from above the asteroid belt!"
The video feed on the main monitor oriented itself upward and zoomed as far as it could. Through the screen of asteroids, I could vaguely see the distinct pinkish-purple, circular outline of exit points from fold space. From within the largest of these circles, a forked bow of a ship slowly emerged, energy briming from within it. It was the Sirius!
In that instant, a single large, rainbow-colored beam materialized in front of the Sirius. As it travelled down, deeper into the asteroid belt, heavy quantum reactions began occurring in the area around the beam; asteroids caught within the beam or its accompanying heavy quantum reactions were immediately vaporized, leaving a clear path towards the Meltran fleet.
From a video feed via one of the squadron's Valkyries, I continued watching as the Sirius' attack found its mark – dead center of the enemy fleet, striking the command battleship and annihilating it and its nearby allies immediately. What remained of the Meltran fleet was now in disarray due to the loss of the command battleship, with each vessel randomly moving to engage the Sirius and its escorting carriers, cruisers, and frigates.
As the energy from the Sirius' Macross Cannon faded, an angry swarm of Valkyries and drones dove into the path once occupied by the beam weapon. As these fighters released their hordes of missiles onto the Meltran fleet, it was clear to me that the battle was won.
I took a deep breath and sighed, as I began sliding down my seat, the stress of the past 30 minutes leaving my body in an instant. At this point, I just wanted to head back to my apartment on the Horizon and sleep, but that was impossible at the moment. However, these thoughts were quickly interrupted by Alice's voice…
"Captain, forgive me for interruption, but we're receiving an audio transmission from the Sirius."
"Put it through." I mustered up the energy to say.
"Lieutenant Nakajima," A familiar, cool voice now said through my headset. It was the same officer from last time. "It seems you and the rest of your squadron have made it through. Good work out there."
How did she even know my name now? Did she look through a crew list or something?
"It was all thanks to you and the crew of the Sirius, Lieutenant…" I began but trailed off - I didn't even know her name!
"Takanashi."
Two days later...
Horizon Fleet Hospital Ship Marianne (AH-109)
Carol sat in bed onboard the Horizon fleet's dedicated hospital ship, the UNSS Marianne. She had sustained a slight concussion and a bit of bruising during the encounter with the Meltran fleet, but after a day of rest and a bit of medication, she felt perfectly fine and ready to return to her own home and take some time off.
However, the medical staff wanted her to stay for a bit longer so they could monitor her health. While she didn't want to stay, she couldn't really argue with the doctors. Thus, Carol was currently idly passing by the time by watching whatever was on TV. Unfortunately, one could only watch so many reruns of 'My Dear Minmay' before becoming bored out of their mind…
"Ne, Hikaru, kiss me!" She copied the Lynn Minmay actress on the screen while simultaneously rolling her eyes. This had to be the third time she'd seen this episode since getting into the hospital. Next, Hikaru would proclaim his love for his commanding officer, Misa Hayase, and rush off into his Valkyrie.
"…Minmay… I'm sorry, but I love Mi-" She began reciting Hikaru's line, but immediately choked on her words as she heard a knock! on the door.
"C-Come in!" Carol said, still choking on her words from the sudden surprise, as she lowered the volume of the television.
The door opened, revealing a woman in her early 30s. Despite her age, she was quite short, standing at roughly 25 centimeters below Carol in height. Like Carol, she too had blonde hair, although it was much curlier and shorter, compared Carol's straight, long hair. She wore a New UN Spacy officer's uniform, the badge on the left-side of her chest signaling that she was of the rank Commodore.
This woman was Nicole Kennedy, or as she was known by Carol, Collie.
"Carol!" She yelped, her cerulean eyes widening as she saw her friend lying in bed. She quickly ran over to the bedside and embraced her.
"I ain't dead just yet, Collie." Carol chuckled, pulling herself away from the embrace. She lifted her arm up such that it now rested on Collie's head. "Aww~, even when I'm sitting down, you're still a bit shorter than me, Collie!"
The shorter woman began to turn red as she pouted at Carol. "Jeez, Carol! If you weren't injured, I'd seriously be angry with you!"
At this, Carol continued laughing. "Thanks for coming, Collie."
"Hmph." Collie pouted once more before turning around back towards the door to hide her face from Carol. "I was only here to check and see how my dear friend Carol was doing. Now that I know you're fine, I'll be heading back to the Scorpion now."
"Hold up, Collie. I have a favor to ask of you." Carol said before she could even take a step towards the door.
She turned her head around back towards Carol, "And what might that be?"
"It's about Lieutenant Nakajima, my XO. I feel that he's ready to command a ship after his actions in that last battle."
A/N:
First of all, that was pretty long chapter. I originally envisioned this as taking no less than 6,000 words, but here we are… This was also the first battle scene that I've written, (unless you count poorly written Pokemon battle scenes from when I was like 12, lmao) and no less a space battle, so hopefully that was executed well enough. The next few chapters won't be battle-oriented, so they'll be a bit shorter, I promise.
For clarification, the kansen/kanmusu characters introduced/mentioned in this chapter were:
AL North Carolina = Caroline Baker
KC Ashigara = Saori Ashigara
AL Baltimore = Bailey Moore
KC Kirishima = Kirishima Seto
KC Colorado = Nicole Kennedy
AL mystery character! It's probably an easy guess, though... I may have been a bit obvious...
And by the way, I have taken a few liberties with North Carolina's (henceforth referred to as 'Carol', since I like the name, and it's shorter to type) character. I wanted her to be like a 'mentor' character, as they are usually prevalent in Macross stories. As such, I've depicted her a bit more playful than usual.
Anyways, Macross is pretty niche with Western anime fans (hopefully the release of Delta Zettai Live in the West will change that), and so are shipgirls (to a lesser extent, of course), so I don't really expect too many people to read this, but whatever – this is a for-fun project.
Just to give some background on why I even chose to write this, I wanted to write an AL/KC fanfiction using my favorite characters a few years back, but I couldn't really figure out an overall plot for it. Now, flashback to last year, I started watching the Uchuu Senkan Yamato remake alongside SDF Macross (and eventually all of its sequels). With Yamato's focus on the bridge crew, I began imagining how AL/KC girls as bridge crew themselves, rather than individual ships. Once I got into the Macross sequels, I took a liking towards grunt ships, especially during the Operation Stargazer episode of Macross 7. At this point, I combined my thoughts originating from Yamato, with shipgirls as space warship crew members, alongside my interest in Macross grunt ships. Anyways, once I thought of using the Macross universe with AL/KC characters, I was able to come up with a really rough plot, so I decided to attempt writing this. Hopefully I can reach the end sooner or later.
Terms:
Macross – The name of the titular space battleship in the 1982 anime Super Dimension Fortress Macross. In modern series, this is a blanket term for colony fleets and transforming capital ships.
New United Nations – Human government in the Macross universe. Also referred to as "New UN" or "NUN"
New UN Spacy – Space warfare branch of the New United Nations military. This term comes from the combination of Space + Navy. Also referred to as "NUNS".
Zentradi/Zentran – A race of giants bred exclusively for war. They are similarly sized to Eren's titan in Shingeki no Kyojin if you are familiar with that series. These giants did not possess any sort of culture before contact with humans, even going as far as being gender segregated. Female Zentradi can be interchangeably referred to as Meltrandi/Meltran.
Miclone – Insult used by Zentradi to describe normal-sized people.
Protoculture – The first humanoid civilization in the galaxy. Creators of the Zentradi. The Protoculture were obsessed with genetic engineering; they were responsible for influencing evolution of pre-sapient beings all over the galaxy to create the galaxy's humanoid species (including humans from Earth). The Protoculture have since gone extinct.
Vajra – An intergalactic hive-mind insectoid race that has colonized the universe. Most Protoculture technology, such as folds and beam weapons, are imitations of Vajra bio-technology. They have recently departed the Milky Way for other galaxies after the events of Macross Frontier.
Fold – Standard faster-than-light travel method in the Macross universe. Works by sending a spacecraft into a higher dimension (fold space), and then pushing it out when its position in fold space correlates to a target location in real space. If you're familiar with Minecraft, I think this is similar to how one might travel large distances in the overworld through the Nether, since 8 blocks in the overworld = 1 block in the Nether.
Valkyrie/Variable Fighter – Basically, a transforming fighter jet. Think Starscream from Transformers, but with a pilot. 'Valkyrie' was the pet name for the first mass-production variable fighter, the VF-1 Valkyrie. This term was so iconic, it is still used as a generic term for variable fighters. This is kind of like how 'Gundam' is a generic term for 'mobile suit'.
Pin-Point Barrier – Macross universe equivalent to other science-fiction shields. Pin-point barriers do not cover the entire ship, however. Instead, they are a hand-full of circular-sized shields that can be moved across a ship.
Reaction Weapons – Essentially, upgraded nuclear weapons. They produce no nuclear fallout, and work through dragging a substance known as 'heavy quantum' down from fold space into real space, which produces a violent reaction.
Heavy Quantum Reaction Beam – A beam weapon that generates heavy quantum reactions along its firing path. Very destructive. Also referred to as a Macross Cannon, after the main armament of the titular Macross.