After the first full day of fleet operations in the Kihnes Asteroid Belt, progress was being made in setting up the mining operations to get some resources flowing back to the colony on Aimo. Only the most mineral-rich asteroids are chosen for mining, so as to reduce the environmental impact on the natural state of the asteroid belt. Intense reduction in the mass of the planetoids could cause rogue asteroids to leave their natural orbits and fly loosely around the system, controlled only by the gravity of the Coral star and its planets. Careful planning and restoration measures are executed, so as to leave as little of a mark as possible. The first automated mining stations are being deployed as the fleet prepares to move to the next staging area. Only a handful of cruisers will remain with the mining stations to maintain a semblance of security for the incoming and outgoing shuttlecraft that have the job of transporting the raw materials back to Aimo.
Team Pixie stands ready to deploy, if called upon, to support the expeditionary fighters that have moved forward from the fleet to secure the new section of the asteroid belt. Ozma and his team are at the lead of the formation and are the first to spot several Vajra drones, who are cruising their territory looking for intruders.
Special efforts have been made to try to avoid contact with the Vajra nests, after some protest from sympathetic NUNS personnel. The command officers agreed that the Vajra, although hive-minded, deserve the right to live and have their own territory. However, rules of engagement have been disseminated amongst the fleet to give the soldiers the ability to defend themselves and their motherships. Hives that demonstrate aggressive territorial behavior are to be eradicated, much like the Africanized honeybees of Earth.
Luca watches several Vajra on his radar readout with apprehension. "Commander, should we engage them?" he asks. "Only if we're attacked, Luca. Remember the new rules of engagement. We want to avoid contact with the Vajra, if possible. The last thing we need to deal with is another fight and more lost lives. The standard radius of 500km around an established hive should leave plenty of room for the fleet to move about the asteroid belt without too many scrapes into Vajra territory."
Ozma needed to identify the position of the nearby Vajra nest, in order to set the boundaries for the rules of engagement. "Luca, give me a vectoring of where the bugs are coming from," Ozma ordered. Luca punched up the calculations, based on the pathing of the Vajra drones he had been tracking for some time. Upon receiving the results, Ozma ordered his team into the proposed Vajra territory to find the nest.
"Remember team, avoid engaging any drones in combat. If you do, only act in self-defense. Use your countermeasures to disable and distract, but not to destroy. Only I can authorize the termination of any enemy craft, got it?" he barked over the comm lines. "Yes, Sir!" The four VFs dove into the uncharted area in tight formation.
As was expected, a local group of patrolling drones moved in to intercept the intruding Valkyries. Luca alerted the team of the incoming, "Commander, we have 4 drones moving to intercept at 4 o'clock!" Ozma opened his throttle to full power and ordered his team to follow closely behind. The super packs equipped on the VFs gave them the extra speed they needed to get in and get the job done with as little contact as possible.
Luca's eyes frantically shot from his console to in front of his RVF, looking for drones and the nest and trying not to run into any asteroids that happen to be in the way. Incoming Vajra fire forced him to break his formation and take a slightly different trajectory. Having maxed out their throttles, the rest of Luca's team had to double back to protect him. "Hang in there, Luca!" Ozma yelled as he pulled a sharp turn around one of the asteroids. The group of Vajra was quickly descending onto Luca's position and opened fire with everything they had. Luckily, Luca had managed to avoid getting hit by the projectile fire, but there was a large cluster of missiles headed his way.
Desperate to defend himself, Luca changed his VF into battroid and opened fire on the missiles with his gunpod. Several of the missiles were shot down, but the rest charged towards him with merciless zeal. Luca switched back to fighter mode to try to outrun the missiles and to use his chaff to distract them. The chaff dispersed in a metallic cloud behind him, causing the missiles to impact on the false targets. Unfortunately, one missile did not detect the chaff and continued towards Luca. Too close to afford to lose speed by transforming, Luca could only depend on his teammates, or a miracle, to save him. Ozma helplessly watched as Luca stayed out of his effective weapons range while trying to outrun the missile. "Luca!" Ozma yelled.
The missile crept closer and closer and finally exploded upon impact. Luca was jarred in his cockpit by the concussion blow from the explosion. Looking back up to his console to see if he was hit, the readouts only informed him of the destruction of one of his Ghost fighters. "Simon!!!" he yelled, realizing one of his precious drones had been annihilated by the Vajra missile. Programmed to protect Luca, the drone sacrificed itself to achieve its specified purpose.
Ozma saw that Luca was still okay, but Luca was shaken emotionally. His attachment to his creations bordered on fatherhood for him. Luca gritted his teeth as he fought back the tears he wanted to shed for his fallen "child". Ozma did not want to take any chances on any of his pilots getting shot down. "Guys, we have to destroy these drones. You're authorized to use deadly force, so let's give it to 'em." He turned his attention back towards Luca as he and the rest of the team moved to engage the group of drones. "Luca, have you found that nest yet??" Luca put himself back together to do his job. He scanned the immediate vicinity for any signs of the nest. "I found it, Commander. I am sending you its coordinates."
Ozma worked with the rest of the team to destroy the Vajra drones, finishing off the last one with a missile kill. "Okay, team let's tag that nest and get the hell out of here." They formed back up on Ozma's wing and remained on the lookout for more defensive drones.
Upon approaching the nest, Luca readied himself to fire a marker beacon into the rocky formations on the outside of the planetoid. Several Vajra who were defending the entrance engaged the team of VFs once more. "Fire, Luca!" Ozma ordered; in a hurry to escape before the Vajra could fully engage them. The harpoon-like missile shot away from the underside of Luca's wing and sped towards its target at high speed. Meeting the solid rock of the hollowed-out asteroid, the harpoon dug itself in and deployed. Four claw-like appendages peeled away from the transmitter module like a banana rind and grappled the rocky surface. The now-exposed transmitter telescoped an antenna outward and began to send the beacon signal.
"Beacon A-3 has deployed successfully. Now receiving the transmission with 98% clarity," Luca announced. "Now that the nest has been lit up like a Christmas tree, we shouldn't have any problems staying out of their territory. Return to the defensive perimeter quickly!" Ozma ordered. The other pilots had no problem following that order, as they turned a 180 and made for the safety of the supporting craft waiting outside of the 500km limit.
The pursuing Vajra were not about to let the intruders escape unharmed. They followed each VF closely, opening fire on them at every opportunity. The skill of the pilots helped them evade any hits initially, as they approached the 500km line. Layers of chaff clouds left behind in the escape helped to keep the missiles at bay.
At the defense perimeter, Alto and his team lay in wait for Ozma's team to pass them by. Any Vajra that pass the 500km mark were to be destroyed. As each fighter exited the designated Vajra territory, the pilots breathed a sigh of relief. Luca was the last to make the escape and took a hit on his radome by Vajra projectile fire. The sensor readouts on Luca's bird went haywire and eventually displayed damage readouts of the hit that was taken on the sensor array. Several Vajra peeled off of their attack paths to return to the nest and resume guard duty. Only a couple of them exceeded the 500km limit and were summarily destroyed by Alto's team.
Luca was relieved to still be alive, given that he almost got shot down a couple of times during this little sortie. "Commander, why are these Vajra so predictable and docile? The ones that attacked us near Coral-5 were far more aggressive and worked very well as a group to achieve their mission. It's like we're fighting mere pests right now." Ozma didn't really have an explanation for Luca's observations. "That's a good question. All I can say right now is 'they're working on that'," he replied. "Luca, head back to the Quarter and get yourself fixed up. The RVF in Alto's team can fill in for you while we continue to secure the area." Ozma ordered.
Teary-eyed over the loss of his Ghost drone, Luca acknowledged and returned to the Quarter for repairs. In his mind, he sought to come up with a way to defend himself without putting him or his Ghost fighters in too much danger. These nest-tagging runs are extremely dangerous... especially for an RVF pilot. There was one person who he thought might be able to help, though.
The Quarter's hangar was fairly empty, as most of the fighters were out on active duty. Two Queadluuns stood against the back wall and a VF-25 and RVF-25 were parked in loading positions, ready to get into space at a moment's notice. Aside from a couple of mechanics tossing a ball back and forth to each other in the expansive open spaces, there was no activity going on.
In the briefing room next to Ozma's office, Cal and Will sat wearing their flightsuits and watching TV to pass the time during their 'on-call' status. Once again, Cal was subjecting someone to his love of watching documentaries. "Can we watch something that doesn't put me to sleep, please?" Will begged of him. "Oh come on, this stuff is very informative. Where else are you going to get so much insight into history and how things work? Like this show, for example... It gives you an insight to how the Zentrans and Humans learned to live on Earth as a single society. You just take that stuff for granted, don't you?" Cal inquired. "Um, yeah... having lived on the same colony ship as Zentrans all your life... It's hard not to take it for granted."
Cal shook his head at the seemingly simple-mindedness of Will's statements. "If you only tried to imagine humanity before the Space War 50 years ago. Although we were nearly wiped out, it set us in motion to conquer the stars. If not for our indomitable spirit and the Zentrans, none of this would be possible. I bet you could ask any Zentran and they'd say pretty much the same thing I just did." "I'll take that bet. Let's go ask," Will quickly responded as he got up and headed to the door. Cal hesitantly followed Will, knowing he was gonna go look for Klan and/or Nene.
As was expected, the two sisters were patiently waiting near the micloning chambers, already in their natural sizes. The process does take some time, so it was more prudent to have them ready to hop into their Queadluuns if Pixie Team was called out to reinforce the fleet defenses. The two Meltrans sat quietly at a huge table set, apparently playing a card game with each other.
Will poked his head into the enormous room. "Knock! Knock!" he said as he checked to make sure it was okay to go in. He saw the two Meltrans at the table and casually strolled in, with Cal following behind him rolling his eyes. "What is it?" Klan asked. "We have a question for you two. Do you ever consider what the Zentraedi race was like before the Space War a long time ago?" Confused at the question, Klan and Nene looked at each other, trying to figure out where this came from.
"Before the Zentraedi met Humanity, we were a race that aimlessly patrolled the stars in search of a fight and nothing more. At no point would I desire such a life and I think I can speak for all Zentrans in our colony when I say that we're grateful that our ancestors chose to coexist with Humans, rather than destroy them. That one decision has led us to where we are here. In no way would we have found the happiness and the desire to live freely according to our own choosing without the help of Humans," Klan replied. Nene nodded in complete agreement as she looked back down to Cal and Will standing near the door to the hangar.
Cal turned to Will and punched him in the shoulder. "See, I told you! Your ignorance will not go unpunished!" Cal said as he dragged Will out of the room by his arm. Klan and Nene were even more confused than before while they watched the two leave. "What was that about?" they both simultaneously asked each other. "Today, we start your education," Cal said as the two re-entered the briefing room. Looking for some more educational programming to torture Will with, Cal searched the television directories for some good starter material.
Before he could find a suitable choice, the PA system in the hangar warned the maintenance crew of an incoming craft that had taken some damage. Cal and Will ran out of the briefing room to see several mechanics rushing to their positions as Luca's RVF-25 descended the deck elevator in fighter form. The radome had taken severe damage from Vajra fire, but the rest of the VF was otherwise fairly unscathed. Certain that Luca was physically okay, Cal and Will casually strolled up to the docking area to greet Luca as he emerged from the cockpit. Klan and Nene looked on from the doorway to make sure everything was okay.
Descending from his cockpit, Luca noticed Cal and Will waiting for him. The two pilots saluted and greeted him, "Battle scars, eh Lieutenant?" Luca was still a bit distraught about losing Simon. "Lieutenant Wagner, I wanted to ask you a favor..." Luca said, turning his gaze at Will, "...in private." Will got the message and excused himself. Luca led Cal over to the corner of the hangar between the entrance to the briefing room and the path leading to the micloning tanks. Klan did her best to remain unseen on the other side of the wall and listened to their conversation through the opening in the doorway.
"Yes, sir?" Cal asked of Luca. Still uncomfortable with the formal titles, Luca felt it necessary to correct Cal. "Please don't call me 'Sir'. We're the same rank and you're a few years older than me." "That may be so, but you're the senior reconnaissance officer, so that means I salute you," Cal responded. Luca sighed at the truth of Cal's response, "Look, just do me that favor. All of us who have been in Skull Squadron for awhile are on a first-name basis. Since we're all on the same side, I can consider you all to be my friends. Just call me 'Luca', okay?" Cal straightened up with a bit of a surprised look, but saw no problem with fulfilling Luca's request.
He leaned forward and placed his hand on Luca's shoulder. "Okay, Luca, what can I do for you?" Smiling at the more personal formality from Cal, Luca made his request. "I need your help on becoming a more effective RVF pilot. I've heard that you fly your bird well and I think I can use some pointers." Luca became more discreet with his voice, leaning forward to continue with his request. "I know you're testing out some new countermeasures for Bell-Casse Dynamics. I want to know if you think they're worth using to help me defend myself out there."
Cal was very surprised that one of the Skull pilots was asking him for combat advice. "I'd be more than happy to show you a few tricks, Luca. The countermeasures testing part... well, I can't really divulge too much information on that since it's still classified information. However, I think we can talk to Commander Lee about it and see what he thinks." Luca's face shone with excitement as he had found a bit of an opportunity to connect with a fellow wingmate. Cal's enthusiasm was obvious as he put his arm around Luca's shoulders and walked him back to where the RVF's were parked at. "Okay, the most important thing to remember is to always plan your next moves ahead of time. It's like playing pool. Set yourself up for the next shot before you've even made your first one. This way, you will always have time to plan an escape should things not go the way you planned them to..."
Klan had poked her head out just enough to see the two walking away. Cal was showing excitement as he made gestures with his free hand to demonstrate what he was saying to Luca. Yet again, one of her chicklings is showing signs of growing strong enough to fly the coop some day. She made a mental note to herself on how easily Cal opened up to Luca after they removed the formality barrier from in between them.
Several minutes passed until one of the mechanics approached Luca about the condition of his RVF. "Lieutenant, the radome needs to be replaced, but it won't be easy. The roots that connect the tower to the fuselage have been burned up inside. We need to rewire it before you can get back out there." Luca didn't seem to be surprised. "How long is it going to take?" "At least a couple of hours..."
Klan approached the three to ascertain the situation. "What's going on?" Luca turned to respond, "The mechanics say it will take a couple of hours to repair my bird. Ozma is out there without an RVF in his team while I'm in here." Klan thought about this predicament for a moment before Cal began to try to get her attention. "Ooh! Ooh! Pick me!" he said, raising his hand and hopping in place like a child waiting to be selected to a dodgeball team in school.
Klan raised her eyebrow at the peculiar behavior coming from Cal, but made her decision. "Wagner, get on out there and fill in for Luca." "Yessss..." he said, turning towards his RVF. "Wagner!" Klan barked. Cal turned around to find out what else she wanted. "You be good out there. I don't need Commander Lee coming down on me because one of my chicklings can't behave while on duty," she said with a smirk. Cal straightened up and saluted, "Yes'm!" Luca watched the exchange with a puzzled look on his face.
Just as Ozma was beginning to wonder what was taking Luca so long, Cal's voice crackled over his radio. "Lieutenant Wagner here. I'm replacing Lieutenant Angelloni for the remainder of his shift," Cal said as he approached Ozma's position and saluted in battroid form. "What's the deal with Luca?" Ozma asked. "The mechanics said his bird wouldn't be fixed for a couple of hours. Commander Klang ordered me to reinforce your team for the remainder of your shift." Seems like Ozma didn't have much of a choice in the matter, since Cal seemed so eager to pick up some extra flying time. "Okay, Wagner. We're depending on you as our eyes out here." Ozma's team broke formation away from Alto's team, now that he had an RVF to guide them once again.
The command deck on the Macross Quarter had a certain feeling of apprehension hanging in the air. Captain Wilder had entered his office to conduct a fleet-wide meeting of ship captains with representatives of the Joint Chiefs and Frontier Government. The large viewscreen on the wall of his office was broken into multiple frames, concurrently showing the live video feed each of the individuals in the meeting. Monica Lang was standing in the background behind Captain Wilder, who was sitting in his chair. She held numerous notes and tablets in her arms, ready to assist Wilder, should the need arise for her to have to pull up some numbers or other information related to the meeting.
Wilder spoke to begin the conversation, acknowledging the participants. "Now that everyone is here, I'd like to get to the point as quickly as possible." Monica administered the visual aids of the presentation by transmitting charts and graphs digitally, alongside Wilder's image. "Phase 2 of the operation is proceeding on schedule. Several autonomous mining stations have been established and put into operation. The first shipments of ores and minerals will be ready for pickup within 24-48 hours and we have stationed a garrison of ships to keep the area secure from any pesky Vajra who happen to come across our operations."
A consortium of representatives from Frontier Government and the NUNS Joint Chiefs occupied a single box on the screen and most of what Wilder was saying was directed at them. A few of the most-tenured ship captains occupied the rest of the boxes on the screen. The consortium replied to Wilder's first statements. "You mentioned to us the significant Vajra presence in the asteroid belt. What is your overall impression of the dangers that their presence brings?"
Thoughts of the loss of lives from the Vajra attack near Coral-5 immediately entered into Captain Wilder's mind. He dipped his head for a moment to think about the situation before answering. "The Vajra have caused undeniable losses to the fleet. However, their behavior and attack strategies have been difficult to predict. There seems to be a distinction between each nest's behavior. One set that we've seen show the Vajra are a territorial, yet somewhat docile social structure. The other set exhibits extreme aggressiveness and have been the main source of our defensive focus."
The members of the consortium began to show some concern over the reports of Vajra attacks. "Have you formed any facts or opinions on the difference in their behavior from nest to nest?" Wilder shook his head, "We don't have any definitive evidence or clues, except for a single photo that was taken by one of my RVF pilots." Monica punched into her tablet to show the picture to all those in the meeting. A couple of the Joint Chiefs officers began to murmur to each other as they discussed the picture they were being shown. Wilder continued his report, "I've heard about pilots occasionally reporting 'ghost-like' images nearby the aggressive nests and we all agree that this can't be just coincidence."
Most of the ship captains and NUNS officers nodded in agreement. One of the Joint Chiefs officers took the opportunity to respond, after discussing the image with another officer. "It's a VF-27," he simply said. Some of the captains and officers reeled back in their chairs in surprise. "Are you sure?" one government official asked. The Joint Chiefs officer nodded. "Then if this is true, it confirms that Macross Galaxy is somewhere nearby; either in this system, or within a few light years," Wilder said. He drew a heavy sigh as he began to understand that his job was getting harder by the day.
The Joint Chiefs officer continued with his opinion, "Given Galaxy's extensive knowledge of cybernetics and Vajra social structures and anatomy, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that they are somehow controlling the swarm. These developments confirm that the mere existence of Galaxy is a threat to the security and safety of this colony and our forces." The rest of the officers nodded in agreement.
Wilder responded to the officer's statement, "We haven't forgotten our mission objectives, Sir. The fleet stands ready to respond to any threats brought upon us by either the Vajra or Galaxy. The influence of Galaxy would explain the sudden improvement in the assault tactics by the Vajra. I also agree to that statement that Galaxy must be behind this erratic behavior. We will remain vigilant as we continue this operation."
Another admiral began to punch something into his tablet in front of him. "Captain, we're concerned about the readiness of your ship. I would like for you to take on at least two command-level officers to help support you on your ship. I don't feel that you're able to fully conduct your duties as Fleet Captain and be in charge of your ship at all times." Wilder didn't like what he was hearing. "But, Sir, I--" "Captain, this is an order. Either follow it, or relinquish your temporary rank as Fleet Captain and I can find someone who's more willing to comply." Wilder gritted his teeth and begrudgingly accepted his orders, "Yes, Sir." "I'm sending you a list of recommendations for you to choose from. These people are more than competent to support you on whatever you need help with." Wilder noted the incoming information on his console.
Monica changed the visual aid on a gesture from Wilder. He continued, "Here is a brief summary of the mining conditions in the asteroid belt. As you can see, the M-class asteroids are plentiful, allowing us enormous opportunity to harvest the abundant metals and ores contained within them. Good news, indeed, but that's not the best news. Our geologists have discovered trace amounts of the mineral kopalite on some of the S-type asteroids. As you all probably know, kopalite is an extremely rare mineral that can be processed and combined with space metal to form a super-hard alloy that matches the strength and durability of standard battleship and VF armor, with half of the weight. The next few days will give us a better indication of the density of kopalite in this belt."
Just about everyone in the meeting was surprised to hear the good news. Several officers and government officials began to murmur to each other; probably about how they'd like to implement the new alloy into their own pet projects. The meeting continued as they covered procedural and trivial items on the agenda.
After concluding the meeting, Wilder reclined back in his chair and lowered his cap over his eyes to think for a moment. Monica put down her tablet and notes and started to rub his shoulders. "Are you going to be okay?" Wilder sighed before answering, "We need to confirm Galaxy's influence over the Vajra. Only by establishing that certainty, can we formulate a plan of action. Until then, we have to continue our operations as planned and wait for them to make the first move. I don't like waiting..." Monica felt like she had to do something to make him feel better. "We're ready to do whatever it takes. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask."
In Captain Wilder's mind, he had to recognize that Monica has been showing the desire and knowledge needed to command a starship. He may have to do what it takes to draw out those traits from her so she can begin to grow into an officer soon. He will definitely need her help in the coming weeks, in order to ensure the success of the operation.
Ozma waited in his office after returning from his escort duties. Cal had requested to speak with him regarding Luca's request earlier. Before either pilot arrived, Klan entered the office in her miclone form. Ozma looked up from his paperwork to see who it was. "Oh, good... I was considering having you sit in for this one." Klan was confused as to what Ozma was talking about. "'This one'? I just came in to drop off these pilot rosters for our next set of shifts." "Wagner told me about his conversation with Luca about proliferating some of the countermeasures he's been testing. By the way, that was a good call having him go out there to substitute for Luca."
Klan was still confused. "He volunteered to go." "He told me you ordered him to go. I wonder why he'd--" Ozma stopped as the door opened. Cal and Luca entered the office, shutting the door behind them, and saluting. "Have a seat, you two," Ozma invited. Cal and Luca sat in the two chairs in front of Ozma's desk. Klan chose to stand next to Ozma with her hands behind her back.
Ozma sat back in his chair and started the conversation, "Luca, Lieutenant Wagner here tells me you approached him about using some of the countermeasures he's been testing out." Luca nodded and responded, "Yes, Sir. After nearly getting shot down earlier today, I thought that I might need something to help me stay alive longer if we have to avoid using lethal force when tagging the docile nests." Ozma turned his attention to Cal. "How do you think that the countermeasures are working out? Do you see them as being worth the loadout?"
Cal had a lot of good things to say about the results so far. "Yes, Sir. The flashbangs have been quite a success," he said as he smiled at Klan, "But they only seem to be effective against human pilots. I've only gotten a single chance to use the fold-magnetic chaff and it worked out great against the Vajra. The EM and fold masking module is also showing a lot of promise, as it has been proven to reduce the signatures of the RVF and any nearby VFs. I'd recommend proliferating them to Lieutenant Angelloni, but it's not my decision. Bell-Casse will need to give permission before we do it."
Turning back to Luca, Ozma continued, "I think your experience in doing the testing for a lot of LAI's newest technologies will give Bell-Casse something to chew on while they consider our request." Cal was surprised to hear that Luca was involved in testing as well. "You work with LAI?" Cal asked. Klan, Ozma, and Luca smiled at the question. Ozma answered Cal's question, "You're looking one of the heirs to the LAI corporation." Cal turned to Luca and grabbed his shoulder, giving a gentle shake, "I thought your last name was awfully familiar. Well, I am in the presence of a celebrity in this field, huh?"
The words of appreciation embarrassed Luca a little bit. "I think that Bell-Casse will be willing to make some arrangements for me. We've worked with them in the past on some of their projects. It shouldn't be too hard to ask that favor of them."
Feeling obligated to mention the other part of his request, Luca leaned forward in his chair to speak. "I also asked Lieutenant Wagner to show me some of the techniques he uses to fight. I've become too dependent on using my Ghost drones to do the fighting for me. I think it would be best if he and I work together to implement the systems on my RVF and get me up to speed on how to use them effectively."
Ozma looked at Klan, who had her arms crossed at this point. She simply nodded, signifying her approval. He leaned forward to speak. "Okay, I will go ahead and make the request. Until we've gotten approval, I want you two to keep this to yourselves. As far as helping Luca out with some techniques, I see no issues with it. You guys can spend some of your spare time working something out. For now, though, the squadron has the day off tomorrow. I expect you guys to catch up on some R&R before going back into the full swing of things."
Cal and Luca left the hangar area continuing to discuss combat techniques and seemingly enjoying the conversation with each other. Ozma and Klan were pleased to see one of their new pilots starting to fit in just fine. It seems that Luca has found himself something of a new friend too.
