A/N: Alrighty, then... it's vacation time for me, so here is this week's submission. I will be out of town from the 19th through the 25th to attend my father's wedding. I might be able to get some writing done while I'm there, but I will be noticeably distracted by the goings-on of the whole ceremony and all. Plus, I want to go visit some old friends while I'm in town. I am done writing Chapter 32, but I don't know how long it will take me to write 33, since I will not be in my "cave" for a week. That just means that I probably won't be posting until well after I return from vacation. I am slowly, but surely, cleaning up the first few chapters to correct the tense problem I mentioned last chapter. That will also slow down my progress in writing the new chapter, but it shouldn't take me too long to finish it.

Concerning this and every chapter before it, I wanted to point out the fact that I put effort into kinda... "mimicking" little events and happenings from the other series. This is something that's practiced a LOT in the Frontier series, and I thought it would be kind of neat to also do so in this fanfic. I'm not copying or plagiarizing, I'm sort of paying an homage. It really helps connect the different series to each other, reminding the viewer or reader that it's all one universe (except for Macross II, lol). You, as the reader, may or may not have picked up on most of these little easter eggs I put in, but just to show you what I mean, I snagged a portion of the fight scene from the beginning of Macross Plus and loosely put it in the beginning of this chapter. There are other minor quips and phrases I throw in to various conversations that are lines from other Macross works. Keep an eye out for them and if you need to, go back to the old chapters and see if you can find 'em! (06/18/10)


Countless projectiles sequentially impacted on the surface of a particularly large planetoid as two combatants engaged each other in a fight to the death. Nene remained on the six of a rather pesky and agile Vajra drone while she tried to place several rounds into its body to finish it off. Before she could open fire one more time for the killing blow, she was cut off by an RVF-25, who charged in and did the work for her. The drone lifelessly floated away for a moment before igniting in an explosion. "Goddammit Cal, that was my target!" Nene yelled over the comm lines. Cal scoffed as he flew off to find another drone to kill. She gritted her teeth at his lack of response; he obviously didn't care about stealing her kills.

A replacement pilot flying a VF-171EX had been assigned to help Pixie Team wipe out the Vajra menace in the area. The other three pilots from Pixie Team were doing all of the work as he frantically tried to keep up with the elite pilots. Finally, an opportunity for a kill arose as his aspect-locking reticule tracked a drone. "Come on, come on, come on... YES!" he said as it locked on. Before he could fire, his line of sight was blocked by Cal's RVF zooming in and unloading a burst of gunpod fire into his target. The pilot was shocked at what happened in front of him and before he could start to complain, Cal's RVF transformed into battroid form and turned around to fire in his direction.

Cal's gunfire barely missed the 171EX and connected with a drone, who was moving up behind the unsuspecting pilot. "What the... Are you trying to kill me?" the pilot yelled. Cal simply floated his battroid over the 171EX and casually responded, "Here's a tip for ya, newbie... don't take too long with the small fries or they'll get behind you." The pilot growled into the comm lines while Cal flew off in fighter form.

Again, Nene sees this sudden burst of negative behavior coming from Cal and she thinks to herself how she's going to have to confront him over this issue. He's supposed to be covering Will, but he's out and about, dancing around and doing whatever he wants to. Will's voice boomed over the radio before Nene could say anything, "Cal, where the hell are you! I need your help!" Will was being manhandled by a mecha-drone on the surface of the asteroid upon which he had been perched to snipe. As the drone slammed Will's battroid into the ground, Cal opened up his radio to inform his wingmate of his impending rescue, "Don't move, Will!" The drone looked up at Cal, who was in battroid form and falling rapidly to their position. Cal opened fire with his gunpod and rained a column of hot metal death onto the drone. Will's battroid rolled backwards away from the drone, who had let him go after being pumped full of gunpod fire.

The drone exploded where it stood and Cal zoomed off to find more prey. "Cal, get back here! You're supposed to be covering me!" Will's pleas were ignored and Nene had no choice but to take position near Will to protect him. She opened up communications with her wily wingmate, "Cal, your orders were to cover Will. Return to your post at once!" Cal was busy toying with the Vajra drones in front of him and casually responded, "I can't make that order out, Nene. I think there's some kind of interference going on out here..." He continued to chase his targets and increased the distance between himself and the rest of his teammates. Nene could plainly make out what he was saying to her over the radio; she knew that he was full of shit...

While walking across the hangar towards the lockers, Cal felt pretty good about his effectiveness during Pixie Team's recent sortie. As if to try and burst his bubble, Will had to run from his bird to catch up with him. "Hey! What the hell's your problem? You're supposed to stay with me and cover me out there!" he said while aggressively pushing Cal's shoulder. Despite Will's obvious frustration towards him, Cal remained confident in his decisions during their flight time.

"Oh, come on... Do you really need me to babysit you all of the time, while you get all of the credit for your kills? My talents are being underutilized when I have to cover you and I don't like to sit on the sidelines while everyone else gets to play the game," Cal responded. Will stopped in his tracks while Cal continued on to the exit. He couldn't believe that Cal would be so audacious towards him. What's going on inside of his head right now?

Before he could exit the hangar, he was stopped once again. Nene stood over him in her Meltran form while she looked down towards him. "Don't go anywhere; we need to talk," she said with a stern tone. She continued into the next room where the micloning tanks were. Cal didn't like being talked to like that and he expressed his frustration at her by clicking his tongue and crossing his arms as he leaned against the hangar wall. He certainly seemed smug while Will continued to stare him down on his way into the locker room.

Klan patiently waited alone at a meeting table on the Zentraedi battleship. A paper notepad and pencil lay in front of her while she propped her head up with one hand. She seemed to be in deep thought; considering the possibilities of the opportunity that had been laid before her. Her mind replayed the events that had happened several hours ago in the ship's hangar...

The airlock doors opened to reveal the quarantined area contained within the segregated area of the hangar. Jormun and Klan walked inside, where there were countless technicians scurrying about while they worked on their projects. The amalgamation of their efforts seemed to be focused on a single power armor unit that was being held in place by high-tech riggings. The two watched a handful of technicians hooking up their diagnostics equipment to the power armor unit before Jormun finally broke the silence between them.

"Here she is... fresh from the factory..." Jormun said as he smiled at the sight of Klan's facial expressions. He could see her eyes lighting up as if she was looking at the many facets of light passing through a perfectly-cut gem. "This... is the newest prototype model Queadluun; the Rasa. Your job will not only be as the squadron leader of Charon Squadron, but you will also be tasked with the performance evaluations of this new model. You're the perfect pilot candidate for this job, since you have been in a testing environment within SMS's Skull Squadron for the last few years. Now, it's your turn to test out the latest and greatest in Zentraedi innovation."

Klan was pretty much speechless as she ran her eyes over every meter of the Rasa's exterior. Jormun gave her a few moments to take in everything she could before he asked her the prime question, "So, can we count on you to lead this squadron and the project?" Klan tried to take her time to think about her answer, but her mind was already sure of what decision to make. "I just have one question..." she sulkingly asked. Jormun turned to her with an inquisitive look on his face. Klan smiled before continuing, "Does it come in red?" He laughed at her response and began to walk closer to the Queadluun while beckoning for her to follow...

Her mind returned to the present and she looked to the side of the room to check the time. There were still a few minutes left before the meeting was due to start, but she'd expected at least one or two people to show up early. Either the Zentrans on this ship are ridiculously prompt, or they have a tendency to show up late to important appointments. She returned to her previous posture to think things over a bit more before she dives headfirst into this endeavor.

Over the last few hours, her mind began to overcome the initial feeling of euphoria when she first saw the Queadluun Rasa and the enormous opportunity this was going to become for her. Although she had started to expect a transfer soon, it was as if it might have been a bit too soon. There were loose ends that she had to tie up before she was truly ready to move on. She desperately sought to partake of the advice from her most trusted compatriots before making a huge decision such as this. Ozma, Nene, and... Cal. How is Cal going to handle this situation when he finds out that she wants to leave him behind to further her own career? A worrisome look overtook her face as she started to think about how she was going to get through it and save face at the same time.

Before she could dive any deeper into the quandary, the doors to the meeting room opened and several Zentraedi officers entered the room. Klan stood up to greet the incoming soldiers and noticed Jormun entering alongside the ship's captain. She saluted and stood at attention to greet the captain. Jormun introduced her before she could say anything, "This is Lieutenant Commander Klang. She's my choice to be our new Charon Squadron leader." The captain's eyes lit up at the sight of her. "Ah, we are lucky to be able to have such a beautiful Meltran amongst us here. We are looking forward to having you work with us on this project," he said.

He saluted her in return and placed his hand out to shake hers. Klan hesitated for a moment once again, like she had done with Jormun. She wasn't sure if his comment was chauvinistic, but she recognized his posture as professional and dismissed the comment as a mere compliment. She shook his hand in return as she responded, "Thank you, Sir. I'm glad to be here on this fine ship." His handshake was firm, indicating that he did not intend to treat her lightly just because she was a woman. She recognized this as a sign that she was in good company. Gender differences were merely cosmetic; all Zentrans were expected to perform their duties, regardless of whether or not they had a Y chromosome.

The Zentraedi officers took their seats while they chattered with each other about various subjects. Shortly thereafter, a group of technicians wearing labcoats entered the room. Both groups greeted each other with nods and short sentences. The captain checked his watch to make sure everyone was here on time. He calmly put his arm back down on the table and looked to the front of the room while the technicians set up their presentation materials.

Nene, who was now in her miclone form, emerged from the neighboring chamber and back into the hangar, where Cal stood waiting for her as ordered. She led him into the squadron briefing room, which was devoid of any crew members at the time. After she heard Cal shut the door behind him, she turned around with a look of concern on her face. "What's the matter, Cal? You're definitely not being yourself lately." Cal crossed his arms because he could sense the lecture coming on from Nene. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm just fine. What are you talking about?" he asked. "I'm talking about earlier in the mess hall and then out there during our sortie. You're really starting to become a bit of a jerk. I started to notice it in you after Will shot down that VF-27. I could see the jealousy in your eyes as you watched him being congratulated by the other pilots."

Subconsciously, Cal knew she was right on the money with her diagnosis. However, his ego would not allow the truth to surface. "Jealous? What do I have to be jealous about? I'm a better pilot than he is. What's goading me is that you keep sticking me with him so he can flourish as a pilot and I get suppressed. That's not at all fair, Nene!" he said as he threw his hand to the side in anger. In her mind, Nene had to cleave Cal's answer in half; separating the good point he made from the stink of his conceit.

She nodded before her rebuttal, "Your point is well-taken, but you need to take a good look at yourself right now. You're throwing away everything you've worked hard for to get into this squadron and to gain my sister's approval. We're all on the same team here and if you can't learn to work in that team, you're going to find yourself very alone." Cal did not like what he was hearing; the mentioning of Klan sparked more animosity from within him. "Don't bring her into this conversation. She's got nothing to do with it!"

Nene could see through his facade. He may say that Klan doesn't mean anything in the conversation, but that's probably what is causing him to behave this way. Nene started to feel bad about her attempts to get his hopes up, only to have them dashed away recently. "Look, Cal... I'm sorry about all that business with Klan. You were right and I should have listened to you. I'd like to say that I'm glad that you didn't get your hopes up, but I am sure that there is a part of you that is upset over her potential transfer."

Cal took a step forward to get closer to Nene's face, even though she was a couple of inches taller than him. Looking slightly upward, he unleashed more of his hidden frustrations on her, "I hope that you will use better judgment than that while we're in combat. I can't afford to have a bad decision hamper my performance out there." At this point, Nene was about to break. Already, Cal's attitude and statements were hurting her feelings and she tried hard to not let it affect her demeanor.

Nene gasped at his disrespectful words. "Cal! You stow that shit! You can't talk to me like that!" Sensing her weakness, Cal continued with his tirade, "You think it's a good idea to shine your favor on Will just because you two are in love, don't you? Well, I will not allow your feelings for him to affect my performance... it's bullshit; that's what it is." Nene was becoming more and more upset inside, but she didn't want to have to put Cal back in his place. "Cal, I consider us to be friends, but please don't make me pull rank on you," she said with a slight inflection in her voice.

Cal stopped talking for a moment before he turned away and headed for the door. "I don't have to listen to this..." he said. "Cal, stop!" Nene ordered. He continued to open the door, ignoring her words. She quickly turned up the volume several notches, "Lieutenant Wagner, you will stand at attention!" He stopped mid-stride, sighed, and turned around at attention. Nene stormed up to him and got into his face, "Your attitude is unacceptable. I have no choice but to confine you to your quarters until further notice. Is that understood?" Her face was beet-red, but there was a glimmer of light refracting through the moisture forming in her eyes.

Cal stood motionless and speechless for a moment. Nene repeated herself again, "I said, 'Is that understood?'" Cal whipped his hand up to salute her and nearly grazed her face. Nene flinched backwards in reaction to his sudden movement. "Yes, Ma'am!" Cal yelled in response. With a robot-like series of movements, Cal lowered his arm, pivoted himself on one foot to turn around, and marched out into the hangar. Nene was left standing in the doorway, looking on as Cal's self-destruction continued. She was very hurt that he was willing to throw away their friendship so easily and that she had to use her rank superiority to get her point across. There was only one person she could think of for the support that she needed right now.

Klan sat in her seat, twirling her pencil in her hand, while she listened to the introductions from the members of the team involved in the Queadluun Rasa project. The lead technician finished introducing his team and moved on to introduce the notable Zentraedi officers in the room, "On this side of the table, we have Captain Geraum. He commands this ship, the Eksidos, and will supervise the project from a purely military standpoint." Captain Geraum nodded in response as sparse applause could be heard from a few attendees.

The lead technician then turned his gaze towards Klan. "Our test pilot, pending approval from NUNS command, will be Lieutenant Commander Klan Klang. Congratulations on your upcoming promotion, Commander. We had a chance to read up on your performance profile and we're really happy about the level of experience you have while working in a test environment. Your skills as an ace will definitely be a boon to our project." The other technicians nodded and smiled in agreement. Klan tried very hard not to blush at the intensity of the compliments that were being thrown her way. She steeled her demeanor and nodded with a smile in return.

The group of technicians scattered a bit; some to their seats, others to work on the notes and presentation materials set up in the front of the room. The lead technician turned the projector on and started with his demonstration. "And now... on with the show!" he said while holding a laser pointer in his hand. He clicked a button on the pointer and the projection changed. Klan smiled a bit at the humorous display from the technician; even Zentrans can be a little goofy at times, just like their miclone allies.

The technician started his monologue with the backdrop of various clips of combat footage taken during Macross Frontier's conflict with the Vajra swarm and Galaxy's forces. "During the war with the Vajra and Galaxy, it became glaringly clear that the Queadluun series was past due for an update. The Rhea was a good machine, but it did not match up well against the VF-25 nor the VF-27. Both machines sported obvious superiority over the colony's complement of Queadluun Rheas. The Rasa is the Zentraedi answer to both the 25 and the 27. Our hope is that we have designed a machine that truly puts us a step above the competition."

Several clips of Brera Sterne's purple VF-27 popped up at various points in the montage, causing Klan to grit her teeth at the frustration brought upon her by that little pest. Twice, she fell to him; but she realized that it wasn't just the pilot, it was his superior machine that gave him the upper-hand. Still, her pride as a Zentraedi pilot would not allow her to dismiss her past failures as mere excuses. She would continue to improve herself until she was considered "the best", hands down. For a moment, she remembered how Cal used to complain about the 171EX as a hindrance. Once he was in the seat of a 25, he was allowed to show his true colors and really began to flourish as a pilot. Flying the Rasa would be her chance to show her true skills as a pilot, no longer encumbered by the obsolescence of the Rhea.

"After mining countless sources of input from both Zentraedi and miclone pilots, we incorporated numerous advances into the new design. However, the biggest change is not in its weaponry, but its armor. We were lucky to come upon several kopalite deposits in the Kihnes Asteroid Belt and with it, we forged it as the basis for the Rasa's new armor. Stronger and much, much lighter, this armor allowed us to add a couple of new systems, while at the same time reducing its overall weight. The lighter weight, coupled with stronger engines and increased vernier output, means that the Rasa is much faster and more agile than the Rhea."

Already, Klan was starting to figuratively salivate at the initial introductions. She hungrily waited for more specs to come her way. "'What new systems' you may ask? I have three words for you, ladies and gentlemen: 'Pin... Point... Barrier'," the technician said as he counted three of his fingers down to none with each word of his answer. Some murmurs started to sound from various points in the room while technical specifications displayed on the projection. "This lovely gem is just like the one found on each variable fighter developed since the YF-19 and YF-21 prototype models. In the right hands, it can be used as both an offensive and defensive weapon." The projection showed footage of examples of pin-point barrier usage in combat by NUNS VFs and the earth-shattering Macross attack performed by both the Quarter and Battle Frontier against Battle Galaxy several months earlier.

"Other than the enhancements to the vernier system and a couple of other minor improvements, the legs have pretty much remained the same. The arms are where we made some significant changes. We recessed the tri-barrel pulse laser guns back a bit, much like the antiquated Queadluun Rau from the first Interstellar Space War. We heard numerous complaints from Rhea pilots about the guns protruding from the arms too much, hindering the melee combat capabilities of the model. In doing this, accuracy has to be sacrificed a bit. We compensated for this loss by making minor improvements on the barrel rifling and firing mechanisms. We hope that this change won't be noticeable, but let us know if you see anything," the technician said as he nodded at Klan.

"Now, comes the good part. I already mentioned the inclusion of a PPB system, and what can that possibly lead to...? You guessed it! Ta-da! Melee weapons!" The projection changed to show a detail of the Queadluun's forearms. "We've installed retractable blades on both arms to improve combat effectiveness at super-close ranges. With the pulse laser guns retracted by design, they will no longer be an issue when using these new blades." Already, Klan was imagining the possibilities of this improvement. She was beginning to notice a bit of a trend in the listing of changes being made to the Queadluun line of power armor suits.

"Also due to popular demand, we reinforced and widened the forearms so they could be used as extremely effective anti-munitions shields. When supported by the PPB system, they should be nearly impenetrable, save for a direct hit from a Macross Cannon... ha ha ha..." Several other people in the room chuckled at his joke; everyone knows that not even the most powerful defenses can stop the massive collimation of super-dimensional energy being emitted from a capital starship.

"Okay, and onto the final major change in regards to the arms... We replaced the three-digit manipulators with five-digit manipulators seen on the VFs. This will also assist your effectiveness in melee combat, while also giving you the ability to use standard-issue gunpods and other related weapons that were designed for VF use. Hopefully, you won't have to resort to using someone's lost gunpod, but the option is there in case the situation arises." With this item of improvement, Klan began to chuckle in her seat.

The room grew a bit silent as they waited for her to say something. "What's the matter, Commander?" the technician asked. "I'm sorry, it's just that... All of these improvements are features already seen on the 25 and 27. I'm just waiting for you to start talking about a variable configuration that's been incorporated into the design of the Rasa... heh," Klan sheepishly replied. The lead technician turned to one of his co-workers and pointed to the side at Klan with his thumb, "She's a sharp one... I guess we won't be able to get anything by her, huh?" The other technician just smiled and nodded.

"Indeed, it seems as though we're infusing a lot of known weapons systems into the Queadluun, but it still remains unique enough to set it aside from the rest of the armaments on the battlefield. We are just negating the strengths of the VFs by including them into the Queadluun's design. Those miclones are quite intuitive and the concept of a variable fighter has dominated the battlefield for six decades. It's not much in terms of time when compared to the domination of the Queadluun for so many eons of our race's history, but it's enough to reevaluate where we stand from a technological point of view." The room momentarily filled with sounds of approval over the lead technician's words. These Zentrans were ready to do what it takes to get back into the saddle, when it comes to their effectiveness on the battlefield. It was a sense of competition that ignited a fire of burning determination within Klan and everyone else in the room.

"Moving on... one of the systems that gives us a bit of uniqueness from at least the 25 is the Brain-Direct Image System, or BDI, already seen on the Rhea model. This guy will obviously make a return in the Rasa. No, we will not put the Brain-Direct Interface System, or BDS, into it. Even though the technology has made leaps and bounds in the past few years, it's still prohibitively expensive. Rhea pilots have had nothing but good things to say about the BDI, so we're gonna keep it in there and give it a few minor cosmetic enhancements. We know that the 27 has the BDS and that's partially what makes it such a damn good fighter, but that's also why you don't see too many of them; they're expensive as hell. We are confident that the design of the Rasa will allow our pilots to overcome the advantages that the BDS gives the 27."

"Just to be thorough, the BDI is the system that allows the computer to beam a 360 degree omnipositional image of the Queadluun's immediate surroundings directly into the pilot's brain. Obviously, this serves as a significant advantage, since it gives the pilot massively-increased positional awareness while in combat. The BDS is the system that allows the vehicle to be controlled merely by thought. It was initially hampered by buggy and unpredictable performance during its introduction in Project Supernova back in 2040 on the planet Eden. It's far more reliable now, but still costs too much to include in mass-production numbers. The 27 uses both the BDI and BDS systems to enhance pilot performance." Klan began to shift in her chair as she prepared to make another statement.

"I think I can speak for most Zentraedi pilots when I say that we would rather not enslave our minds to a computer in the pursuit of a bit of a leg-up on the competition. I, for one, would rather leave control of my Queadluun to the precision and reliability of my own body. I despise the use of any kind of cybernetic implantation or enhancement and would rather rely on my natural piloting instincts to push me to the next level. The BDI is as far as I'm willing to go in that area, so at least there, you won't hear any complaints from me," Klan confidently stated. Captain Geraum nodded at her words, "Spoken like a true Zentraedi warrior." She was surprised at his aggressive display of approval and felt pretty good about herself for stepping forward to say what she had on her mind about the issue.

The group of technicians in front also nodded. The lead technician continued with his presentation, "Yeah, we heard a lot of the same opinions from many pilots. It helped us justify not including the BDS, so thank you. Anyway, the final improvement we implemented was the replacement of the mounting rack on the back of the Queadluun. You know, the one that usually holds the anti-ship particle cannon and the thrust pods? Well, we changed it up so it will be able to mount a wider variety of weapons, giving the pilot the ability to customize his or her loadout. We're working on a couple of new weapons to use, but I can't divulge any details on them at this time."

The lead technician turned the projector off and the lights in the room returned to normal levels. "Are there any questions?" he asked. Immediately, Klan was worried about one thing. "I am concerned about your comments on the reduction in accuracy with the pulse cannons on the arms. I know you said that the rifling and enhancements to the firing mechanisms would compensate for this somewhat, but I know that the previous design of the Rhea allowed me to better see where I was shooting. From the point of view of the cockpit, having the barrels of the gun mounted farther away allowed me to use them as a tool in aiming. I won't be able to see where I am shooting as easily without using the computer to tell me, somehow. Have you done anything to compensate for that?" she asked.

The technicians all looked at each other with a bit of frustration in their faces. A few seconds of silent glances at each other yielded only a concerned response from the lead technician. "Um... that's actually a damn good question. We didn't anticipate such a need from the pilots. Since the Rasa still has not yet made its maiden flight, we haven't had that kind of input to make improvements with. Do you really think this will become an issue? If so, I think we can jury-rig something onto the current prototype until something more permanent can be used." Everyone in the room was already impressed by Klan's foresight and piloting prowess. Even without taking a seat in the Queadluun, she had already made note of a design flaw to the technicians. Needless to say, they became a bit sheepish at the realization of their oversight.

Back on the Quarter, Cal smugly reclined on his bunk while he passed the time watching a program on TV. He was obviously upset that he was being punished for his behavior, but something inside of him told him that he was somehow in the right. For once, though, the reality of the situation was not in agreement with his subconscious.

The door to his quarters opened and Will stormed in. "Hey, Asshole..." he said as he stood near Cal's bunk. Cal turned his head to see the consternation on Will's face. He muted the television to confront Will, since it was obvious Will was looking for an argument. "What the problem?" Cal asked. "You are, jackass. I just got done talking to Nene and she was not happy with you at all. She tried to stop me from coming in here to deal with you, but I wouldn't let her. So, here I am..."

Cal slowly got up from his bed and stood in front of Will with a casual demeanor. "...and?" he asked again. "I don't know what's going on with you, but you really need to get your shit together. Nene was extremely hurt that you forced her to pull rank on you. I can't stand by and watch someone hurt her feelings; not even a friend... if that's what you are at all." Cal was getting his fur rubbed the wrong way once again, due to the conniption that Will was throwing his way.

"My 'friends' were the ones who tried to get my hopes up over something so impossible, despite my obvious disapproval over the matter. Who was it who hounded me for hours until I admitted the truth to them?" Will looked away for a moment upon hearing Cal's answer. He, too, felt bad for egging Cal on for so long. "Well, I'm sorry about that. I was only doing what I thought was right. Sometimes, you need a kick in the pants to get you moving in the right direction again," he said with a slightly insincere tone in his voice. Will's anger over Nene's hurt feelings were changing the inflections in his voice to sound different than he intended.

"That still doesn't mean you can treat us like crap," Will continued, "Especially Nene... she's more important to me than anything, including a friendship with you. Don't make me choose, Cal. Get your act together." "So, rather than confronting me herself, she sends her lapdog to do the dirty work?" Cal said. His insult was more than enough to push Will over the edge. His left cross met the right side of Cal's face with surprising speed.

After a moment, Cal stood straight up again and wiped the newly-discharged blood from the cut on his lip. A smirk returned to his face, beckoning Will to hit him again, if he dared. Will instead pointed his finger into Cal's face as he answered Cal's question. "I'm nobody's lapdog, you hear? I am here against Nene's will because I don't like to see her hurt by someone else. You'd understand if you actually knew how to love someone other than yourself!" This time, Will's barbed words were enough to give Cal an excuse to return fire. A similar right cross connected with its target.

Instead of calmly taking his shot, Will stood back up and charged Cal against the wall before unloading several shots to his body. By now, diplomacy by words was completely out the window and the two pilots engaged each other in full-blown fisticuffs. Cal used his elbow to hit Will on the back while he was leaned forward punching at Cal's body. Another shot to the face with a knee caused Will to reel back from the blow, freeing Cal up from against the wall. Cal doubled forward and held his battered abdomen while Will stopped his backwards momentum and positioned himself for another attack.

"I'm not going to stand idly by while I watch you deteriorate into a total piece of shit!" Will yelled as he followed through with a strong right. Cal quickly dodged the punch and delivered a counterattack to Will's stomach. He grabbed Will's arm and turned to his left, using his own body as a fulcrum point to flip Will overhead and onto the ground. "You're just jealous that I am a better pilot! I can't help it if you need someone to constantly cover your ass just so you will stay alive!" Cal said. He followed up his remark with a crushing blow directed at Will's face while he still laid on the ground.

Will crossed his arms just below the wrists to deflect the blow. After catching Cal's arm between his own, he flexed his wrists inwards and yanked Cal downwards by his arm. The applied force caused Cal to stumble forwards and down, while his weight made it easy for Will to throw his legs upwards and grab Cal's body. He flipped Cal over and caused him to land on the ground, still caught between his own legs and his arm still being held upwards by Will. Cal's neck was conveniently placed between Will's thighs and he sought to cut off the air and blood flow until Cal finally calmed down.

In a straining voice, Will continued to berate Cal over his behavior, "You're out of control, Cal. You've given me no choice but to have to kick your ass!" Cal refused to yield and after struggling to free himself for a bit, he resorted to a bit of a cheap move. A bite to his inner thigh caused Will to yelp in pain and he flinched, releasing Cal from his hold. Without even fully standing, Cal scampered on all fours to charge Will again before he could get off of the ground. The two slid on the ground a couple of feet from the momentum of Cal's attack. They came to rest after Will's head and neck bumped up against the wall.

Cal began to angrily swipe at Will's face with his fists. Will blocked most of the blows with his arms and hands, but an occasional punch would land somewhere on his head. Since he was busy defending himself with his arms, Will tried a verbal attack, in the hopes that it might curb Cal's assault. "If she ever comes back, I don't think Klan is going to be happy to see you becoming this. Are you prepared to hurt her feelings too?" Will fervently asked.

Suddenly, Cal stopped swinging and looked up a bit from his current point of view. Her image momentarily appeared in his mind. He made the connection that Will had described and realized that this was not the kind of person that Klan had grown fond of. The very thought of hurting the feelings of someone he cared deeply about was enough to cause his psyche to snap back into a more normal state. He realized Will's motives in protecting Nene from getting her feelings hurt and stopped swinging.

The pause in attacks gave Will the opportunity to free himself. He slowly lowered his arms and delivered an uppercut that sent Cal sailing from on top of him. Will quickly got up and cocked his arm back to deliver another blow to the now-incapacitated Cal. Just as his fist started to move forward, Cal yelled out, "Stop! Stop!" Cal had put his arms up to protect himself while he had turned his head to the side and winced his face. Will stumbled backwards and thrust his torso up against the wall to catch his breath. Cal put his arms down when he realized that the fight was over. Both pilots remained motionless, panting and grunting while they tried to overcome the sensations of pain throbbing in various places on their bodies.

Cal shook his head from left to right a couple of times, trying to jostle the wiring in his brain to a better-working condition again. "Will..." he grunted, "You're right. You're absolutely right. I've been a complete dick to you guys and I'm sorry. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, but when I started to think that I was being left only to myself again, I started to lash out." They both struggled to get up and find a suitable seat to sit on. The table and chairs had been knocked to various places in their quarters.

Before anything else could be said, a knock sounded at the door. Will suddenly became afraid of who might be standing on the other side. He looked at the door and then quickly looked at Cal, who invited the visitor in without much thought. "It's open," Cal casually said with a slight pant. The doors opened to reveal a demure Nene, who stood holding her hands together below her waist. She noticed several spots of blood on the floor, along with the table and chairs scattered around. Both pilots sat in opposite corners of the quarters, like two boxers in between rounds of a title bout. Upon seeing their numerous cuts and bruises, she gasped and dashed inside towards Will.

"What the shit? What happened?" she demanded as she began to coddle Will's head in her arms. Will casually and rhetorically responded to her question, "What does it look like, Nene?" She let go of his head and used her hand to forcefully turn Will's face towards hers. She began to use her hand to wipe away some of his blood and inspected his face for a bit of a damage report. Seeing Will's face in the condition that it was, she angrily turned towards Cal and was about to unload on him.

"No! Nene, it's fine. Just leave him be," Will sternly stated. She quickly cooled her jets and walked into the bathroom to grab some wet towels. Will and Cal looked at each other and met each others eyes with a mutual understanding of the issues at hand. Nene emerged from the bathroom and angrily tossed a towel onto Cal's lap while she walked back to Will and began to dab at his face with the other towel in her hand. Will kept recoiling in pain and she reached behind his head to hold it in place.

Cal looked down at the towel now beginning to soak its wetness into his uniform. He picked it up and stared at it in his hand for a moment before speaking. "All of my life, I've had to deal with the most important people in my life being taken away from me for various reasons. When I realized that I probably was not going to see Klan again for a long time, I lost sight of everything else around me." Nene stopped tending to Will's wounds for a moment to look at Cal, indicating that she was listening to his words.

"I forgot how important good friends are and I tried to alienate you guys because I couldn't deal with being alone again," Cal said. A smile ran across his face and he chuckled as he continued, "The way I see it is that fake friends will see your faults and won't say or do anything to help you fix them. They'd just rather fade away than deal with it. Real friends are those who will do whatever it takes to guide you in the right direction. Sometimes, it just takes a simple intervention of sorts to fix things, but sometimes, it takes something... more."

Will laughed as he realized what Cal was getting to. Cal got up from his chair and began to slowly make his way towards Will and Nene, while holding the wet towel up to his bleeding lip and nose. "Some people you just can't get to with mere words. With stubborn people like me, the only thing that works is a good ass-kicking. I should be lucky to have you two as friends; people who aren't afraid to confront me about their problems with me and deliver said ass-kicking when it's called for. You guys are real friends, in my opinion. Call me crazy for condoning physical violence between friends, but I guess we're all a little nuts, huh?"

Will and Nene smiled at Cal's words. They knew that he understood what they had been trying to tell him all day and they also felt better for having to use such unorthodox methods to get their point across. Cal sheepishly stared at the ground as he continued, "Nene, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. For what it's worth, I think that you are a solid team leader and I hope that you'll continue to excel in that position for as long as you hold it." He gave Nene a hug as a gesture of sincerity and she gladly accepted.

Cal then turned his gaze towards Will, who was still seated. "You're turning into a hell of a sniper pilot and I couldn't help but feel a little threatened by your burgeoning skills. It was selfish of me to think that I was entitled to more adulation when you were the one who deserved it. I'm happy for you and Nene and I wish you both good times together." He put his hand out for a shake and Will firmly returned the gesture.

Nene stood by while she watched them reconcile with each other. She began to shake her head at what she was seeing and smirked at the situation. "Men... They always seem to quickly resort to physical violence to solve their problems. It's just one of the many facets of the male psyche that I will probably never come to understand." Cal and Will laughed in response and Cal answered her statement, "Oh, I don't know, Nene... I can think of a couple of women I know who can throw a punch or two." Cal rolled his eyes while he made a vague reference to Nene's sister. She knew exactly who he was talking about and smiled back.