A/N: Ah, I originally posted this chapter without putting this note on here... cuz I forgot about it. I make mention of an "Altair-class" carrier used by the Galaxy forces, but it's sort of non-canon. In the series, there was the green-colored Deneb-class cruisers, but there was also an orange-colored carrier that was never officially named. I decided to give it a name for the sake of the flow of the story. It'd sound pretty dumb if I said something like "orange-colored carrier" whenever I wrote about one in the story, right? I chose the name "Altair", because it's one of the three vertices of the Summer Triangle in astronomy. Deneb and Vega are the other two vertices... obviously, I chose this name because of the Deneb-class cruiser being named after the star. Okay, now that that's out of the way, it's about to get messy! -(07/22/10)
The soft glow from the LED's of various electronic devices lit Cal's and Will's quarters with a faint light while they soundly slept in their bunks. A perfect silence filled the room, allowing them to rest without distraction. With a violent and sudden arrival, the room began to vibrate uncontrollably from the effects of the Macross Cannon's discharge. Both pilots shot up from their reclined postures in reaction; Cal met the underside of Will's bunk with his head again. "Goddammit!" he yelled in pain. Suddenly, the speakers began to sound an alert. A klaxon blared while the voice of the ship's subsystems controller spoke, "Red alert! All squadrons, scramble! Scramble! Scramble! This is not a drill!"
Cal and Will both rolled out of their beds and dashed out the door, not even bothering to put on their uniforms... there's no time. Running too fast to properly turn the corner, both of them slammed into the wall and used their hands to grapple themselves forward again in the new direction. Several groups of crew had to stand aside to allow the pilots and essential personnel get to their battle stations without getting in their way. Cal and Will both eventually joined several other pilots who were barreling down the hallway towards the hangar locker room to change into their flightsuits. Most of them charged down the hall barefooted and wearing only their boxers and tanktops, just like Cal and Will.
Captain Wilder leaned against the wall of the elevator when he felt the vibrating effect of the Macross Cannon ripping through the ship's structure. "Oh shit! She didn't just fire...?" he said to himself. The triple-helix formation of energy tore its way past the capital ships in the fleet, nearly grazing a couple of them on the way to its target. Instead of hitting the large planetoid with its terrible destructive force, the Macross Cannon's energy passed through the surface and impacted something on the other side. Immediately, the asteroid's image dissipated to reveal one of Galaxy's Altair-class carriers hiding behind the illusion. The front side of the carrier received the brunt of the Quarter's Macross Cannon blast, destroying several recently-launched fighters and Ghosts, along with the fighter bays and launch catapults. The ensuing gravity wave caused by the Macross Cannon rippled outward from the blast, further twisting and warping the carrier's structure.
From the bridge, Monica watched the result of her orders. "Report!" she barked. "It's an Altair-class carrier! It's taken severe damage, but it looks like it is still not completely destroyed!" Without hesitation, Monica gave her next order. "Charge the Macross Cannon again! This time, we're going to finish that asshole off!" "Yes, Ma'am!" Before any other words could be exchanged, the door to the bridge flew open and Captain Wilder dashed in. "What happened?" he yelled. Monica turned from where she was standing and stood at attention with a salute. "Sir! A large Vajra fleet has emerged from hyperspace and we have opened fire on a Galaxy carrier that was using a hologram to hide itself from our sensors!"
Captain Wilder took his seat, but he was not happy with Monica having overstepped her bounds. "Why did you fire without authorization?" "Sir! I did what I thought was best, according to the situation. I had good reason to believe that we were coming under attack and gave the order to fire. Basic military strategy teaches us that the first attack is always the most important one!" Monica curtly replied. Wilder looked at her for a moment and smiled at the abundance of confidence in her decisions. "Very true... You can give me the details later. I need you to take your old post at the radar station for now!" "Yes, Sir!" Monica replied while saluting, "Captain, we've already begun recharging the Macross Cannon after our first shot. The ship is positioned to finish off the Altair-class carrier that we damaged!" Captain Wilder nodded at Monica, somewhat appreciative of her previous decisions and the thoroughness of her briefing.
Monica took her seat as the other radar operator got up to make room for her. He handed her the communication headset he was wearing and began to walk away from the station before Monica grabbed his uniform to keep him from leaving. "Wait. Just stay here and watch. I might need your help and you definitely need to be here to learn some of my tricks," she said with a smile. He found a non-imposing spot to stand while he watched the master do her magic.
The rest of the first shift began to show up one by one to take their positions on the bridge. Jen stood next to the on-duty FCO, listening to the radio chatter going on with the pilots as they were being launched from the Quarter's flight deck. She patiently listened until she could find a good point to jump in and take over her position full-time. Bobby quickly took his position from the helmsman, following a brief summary of the ship's current orientation and status. Mena and Lam did pretty much the same, taking over their duties without skipping a beat.
"Lam!" Captain Wilder barked, "Open a channel to the fleet!" "Yes, Sir!" Wilder punched in a few keys on his console before turning his gaze outwards to the massive battle raging on in the distance. "To all ships, This is Fleet Captain Wilder! It seems that the scoundrels of Macross Galaxy have managed to maintain control over the Vajra swarm. They seek to destroy us and disrupt our precious colony on Aimo. For what reason, we may never know, but I don't intend to wait around and find out! All squadrons are hereby authorized to use MDE bombs to soften the attack! We will hit them hard and fast, before they are able to inflict too much damage on this fleet! To all Zentraedi gunboats, we are depending on you to decimate the fleet of capital ships with your beam cannons. Here is your chance to contribute to the success of the colony. Make us proud, brothers!"
Captain Wilder was not about to pull any punches. He was determined to do whatever it takes to save the lives of his soldiers. Without hesitation, the Zentraedi gunboats repostured their ships into firing positions with zeal. Simultaneously, each gunboat divided its hull in two to expose the booms of their beam cannons, as if the ships were baring their sharp teeth. Super-dimensional energy began to collimate and ascend the booms in the form of a Jacob's ladder. After several seconds of charging, the gunboats discharged their fury onto the Vajra cruisers. Each ship recoiled from the sudden and violent release of energy towards their targets. The Vajra cruisers hurriedly returned fire before the barrage of Zentraedi artillery hit them. The exchange was devastating for both sides, and it was hard to tell which side took the most damage. There were multiple capital ship casualties as the two groups tore through each other with their energy-based lances, much like the spearmen of ancient Earth.
...
Even though Aimo was several astronomical units away, certain hard-to-explain forces exerted their influences over various individuals living in and around Frontier City. Ranka stood out on the balcony of her apartment, looking up at the twilight sky. Behind her sat an empty bed with disturbed blankets and a clock on the nightstand that read the current time, 3:21 AM. A look of consternation and worry covered her face while she gently gripped her abdomen with one hand. Undoubtedly, the Vajra microbes that inhabited her intestinal tract were resonating the feelings of nearby drones to her. "Nearby", being an operative word; to the Vajra, a few astronomical units were a mere pittance when compared to the expanse of their influence in the galaxy.
Just as Ranka's eyes began to water, she was startled by her cell phone coming alive at the reaction of an incoming call. She didn't have to look at it to see who was calling, she just put it up to her ear and opened the line. "Sheryl?" A moment of silence followed before the voice on the other side finally spoke. "I feel it too..." it said. Sheryl's condition was similar to Ranka's and even though her connection to the Vajra was not as profound, it was still enough to resonate those feelings within her as well.
Ranka looked down towards the sleeping city below her. "It's not just 'them'... it's something else," Ranka said into the phone. She was feeling something other than what was physically being transmitted through her body by the microbes in her intestines. Again, dead air occupied the telephone connection between the two songstresses. Sheryl's voice cut through the silence once more, "Alto." Ranka nodded, even though she knew that Sheryl could not see her agreeing gesture.
Both women tried desperately to explain to themselves the 'other' feeling that was now resonating through their bodies. The Vajra microbes were better understood by their hosts, making it easy to come to the conclusion that Vajra drones were dying at that moment. However, they couldn't explain how they were feeling the sense of urgency and desperation from whatever source it was coming from. Deep inside of their subconsciousness, the profound connection they held with certain individuals in the fleet was being disturbed by a supernatural force.
Suddenly, Ranka could hear Sheryl softly singing into the phone; most likely because it was the best way she knew how to deal with the sensations going through her body at the time. Ranka smiled at the phone and joined in the singing. A lovely duet emanated from the balcony and seemed to cover the city in a thin blanket of emotion. Their desire was most likely meant to save those individuals who were now fighting for their survival in outer space; Human, Zentraedi, and Vajra.
Cathy laid sleeping on her desk at home; several tablets and notebooks were sprawled about the surface. A desk lamp shone onto her face, but the light was not what was disturbing her sleep. She sleepily opened her eyes and blinked several times, before sitting up and yawning. She began to wonder why there was a strange feeling overcoming her body. She sat up at her desk and blankly stared forward, focusing her mind on interpreting the sensation overpowering her emotions.
Even Nanase laid awake in bed, curled up and embracing a plush doll in her arms. For reasons she couldn't explain, she was not able to fall back to sleep, no matter what position she laid in. The comfort and security the plush doll was meant to give to her was not enough to put her mind at ease. She unfurled her arms and held up the doll to get a good look at it. Modeled after her dear Luca, it wore a goofy smile and rosy cheeks, along with a replica of his NUNS uniform. The sight of this effigy of Luca was enough to stoke her desire to hold the real thing in her arms, once again.
The silhouette of a man lying on his back with his arms behind his head occupied the space in front of a dimly-lit window. Little more than the reflective shine of his moistened eyes could be seen from the right perspective. A faint knock sounded on his door and it slowly opened. "Dad...?" a child's voice said. The man turned to the door and responded, "Eddie, what's the matter?" The child stood at the door, rubbing his eyes with one hand and dragging a blanket behind him with the other hand. "I can't sleep." His father turned down the blanket on the unoccupied side of his bed, inviting his son to hop in. Without hesitation, the child climbed up to the bed and curled up next to his father's warm body. Putting his arm around his son, he spoke again, "Neither can I, Eddie..."
Somewhere on the Eksidos, Klan was busily punching keys on the console in front of her when her mind was hit with a feeling of sudden alertness. The sensation was akin to a jolt of electricity coursing through her body, causing her to stop what she was doing and gasp in reaction. Her instincts could not deny that there was a meaning to this sudden feeling of danger. Even though she had no way of knowing exactly what it was, it was more than enough to cause her to put more focus into her work. She finished her typing and pounded the enter key on the keyboard. Klan immediately got up from her chair and dashed away after she grabbed a duffel bag that was sitting on the floor next to her.
Ranka rested her phone on the bannister with one of her hands, while she continued to hold her stomach with the other. She continued to sing with Sheryl over the phone when she heard a knock at her door. "Ranka? Are you alright? I heard voices coming from your room..." She picked up her phone and spoke to the individual on the other side, "Sheryl, I'll call you right back." "Okay..." Ranka walked over to the door and opened it to reveal Brera, who was wearing his pajamas. The door across the hallway was opened and his bed could be seen with disturbed covers, just like Ranka's bed.
Brera could tell that Ranka was upset about something and it was his duty as her loving brother to find out what it is so he can make her feel better about it. "You've been singing, haven't you? Why?" he asked. "I don't know. Something horrible is happening out there and I guess I just feel like I have to try to do something about it. I know that when I sing, incredible things happen, so it seems like the logical thing to do in this case, right?" Brera looked into Ranka's bedroom towards the open balcony door. "Is it the fleet?" he inquired. Ranka hesitantly nodded; she wasn't one-hundred percent sure, but it was most likely the correct assumption.
Brera gently gripped her shoulder and nudged her to turn around and head back out to the balcony. "Then don't let me stop you. Sing. Let 'them' know how you feel, whoever it is that deserves your love." Ranka reached up and touched his hand and smiled, "Brera..." The two siblings walked out onto the balcony as Ranka dialed Sheryl up again. Just moments later, Brera stood leaning forward against the bannister looking up into space with a satisfied smile as he listened to his sister singing. Ranka had placed her phone on the bannister and continued to sing with Sheryl over the phone. She stood looking up into space with her hands clenched together in front of her chest. She and Sheryl broadcast their every desire in all directions, hoping that their emotions could touch the hearts of those whom they cared about the most.
...
Out in the extremities of the fleet, Alto and his Vermillion Team had their hands full helping to repel the Vajra attack. Having already been deployed on escort duty at the time, they were witness to the beginning of the battle from a front-row seat. In fact, their position was almost compromised by the Quarter's firing of the Macross Cannon in their direction. This meant that they were very close to the now-crippled Galaxy carrier and only one thing was on Alto's mind, to finish it off before it causes the fleet any damage.
After clearing the immediate vicinity of hostile drones, Alto transformed his VF into fighter mode and took off towards the carrier. "Let's go, pilots!" he said, "We need to strike that carrier fast!" He didn't get very far when Jen's voice crackled over the comm lines. "Vermillion Team, hold your positions until the rest of the squadron has been launched! The Quarter will take care of the carrier as soon as the Macross Cannon finishes recharging!" Alto clicked his tongue in disappointment, "Acknowledged, Quarter."
Alto's lust for a good fight did not go unquenched for long, though. A new flight of Vajra drones headed straight for the group of cruisers that he was tasked with defending on his escort shift. "Oh, no you don't..." he said while he maneuvered his team into an attack posture. Vermillion Team split up into two groups of two to engage the attackers head-on. Their combined gunpod fire struck several drones, but only one of them died. The rest of the drones broke their formation and scattered every which way, in order to make defense of the cruisers a bit more difficult.
The anti-aircraft fire from the cruisers filled the immediate space around them, but the Vajra drones were adept at avoiding the projectile fire. Still, the occasional drone would fall to the AA fire and make the pilots' jobs a bit easier. As would be expected of one of the heroes of the previous Vajra conflict before Aimo's colonization, Alto effortlessly shredded through the ranks of the Vajra drones. Even the pilots in his team held their own, when it came to shooting down drones. Unfortunately, not all of the fighter teams in the fleet were faring as well as Vermillion Team.
From the Quarter's flight deck, Ozma could see the devastation taking place in the distance. Each of the fleet's carriers and cruisers were furiously defending themselves from the onslaught of Vajra drones and artillery fire. Hostile beam cannons cut swaths of destruction through the fleet's formation, but their fire was being returned in kind by the newly-added Zentraedi gunboats and battleships. If it was one thing that the miclones lacked in the designs of their own cruisers, it was the inclusion of beam cannons to dish out the pain. They only focused their design on defense from fighter-sized enemies. The Zentraedi focused their cruiser design on packing a big punch. Their beam cannons were the very reason that NUNS Command ordered their deployment into the fleet. Perhaps the disparity in design philosophy was part of what make Humans and Zentrans so symbiotic.
Finally, Jen's voice sounded over his radio. "Commander, you're clear for takeoff! I'm sending your team's rendezvous coordinates now. Good luck!" "Thank you!" he said as he opened his throttle. The catapult assisted in thrusting his armored VF-25S off of the flight deck and into space alongside one of his team's VF's from the other catapult. Far behind the catapult's starting point, the third deck elevator began to ascend, bringing Kanaria's VB-6 into deployment position.
The hangar was still bustling with activity. Crews struggled to make ready all of the VFs in the hangar, but they were doing a good job of keeping up with the deck elevators. Each time the elevator would descend, a new VF was ready to taxi onto it to be lifted up to the flight deck and into launching position on the catapults. Cal and Will were among several pilots and personnel who were running across the hangar towards the locker rooms. The crew members maintained disciplined behavior by remaining within the safety lines on the hangar deck, so as to avoid getting in the way of any machinery or VFs. The other reason for the necessity of this disciplined behavior made her way out of the micloning tanks.
Nene was already in her Meltran form and had to step over the miclone crew that was scrambling across the deck below her. Cal and Will instinctively ducked a bit as she passed overhead, but once she was gone, they continued to the lockers to hop into their flightsuits as fast as humanly possible. Within moments, Nene had already closed the hatch on her Queadluun and walked it over to the same elevator that Kanaria's VB-6 was already using. She patiently waited for it to descend, seeing as how her two pilots were not yet ready to launch anyways.
...
Contrary to the sense of urgency and alertness saturating the deployed fleet that was under attack, the Zentraedi starport on Aimo remained at peace in the silent twilight. Guards stood at their posts, with nothing to oppose the completion of their duties. As if to satisfy their latent desire for a little bit of action, a distant explosion could be heard from the direction of the Eksidos, which was docked on the edge of the starport. Jormun shot up from his bed upon hearing the commotion from another part of the ship. "No way...! She wouldn't even dream of..." he said to himself as he got up and grabbed his uniform.
Jormun dashed through the halls of the ship on his way to the command deck, struggling to make himself look decent. Another explosion rocked the ship and he fell against the wall to stop himself from tumbling to the ground. He stood straight back up and dashed through the bridge's doors. "What's going on?" he exclaimed. One of the bridge operators turned to give his report. "There's been an explosion in the hangar! Security teams are converging there right now!" Jormun gritted his teeth in response.
Suddenly, one of the monitors caught a blast of engine exhaust moving away from the ship and into the atmosphere. Jormun saw it out of the corner of his eye and his fears were confirmed. "That better not be the Rasa prototype!" One of the operators confirmed its IFF signal and hesitantly nodded. Jormun slammed his hand down onto the console, which was meant to open a hailing frequency to the delinquent pilot. "Klan! I know that's you! What the hell are you doing?"
The comm lines remained silent as the Queadluun passed the out of sight of the naked eye. After a moment, the radio responded, "I'm just taking it out to test the fold booster. I figured I'd get a leg up on our testing schedule, since we're under such tight time constraints. I'll bring it back in a bit, I promise!" Jormun was not about to accept this turn of events without a fight. "That's bullshit and you know it! You are ordered to return to the ship now!"
Again, a moment of silence followed his demand. "What was that? I couldn't make out your orders! I am just now exiting the atmosphere, so the ionized particles out here are probably interfering with the radio. I will proceed with my test as planned. See you when I get back!" the radio crackled onto the bridge. "Klan, goddammit!" Jormun exclaimed. He turned to the communications officer and gave his order, "Get the Captain on the line!" "But, Sir! He's not on the ship right now...!" "Find him, then!"
Klan cut her radio and charged out of the stratosphere. As the color of the pre-dawn sky changed from navy blue to pitch black, she prepared her Queadluun Rasa for its first fold jump using the booster attached to its back. "I hope my calculations are right. Based on the last-known position of the fleet and its average speed, I should be able to guess at its current position," she thought to herself. A confirmation message popped up on her viewscreen, waiting for approval before executing the space fold. She closed her eyes and instructed the computer to proceed. The hum of the fold booster began to vibrate the Queadluun and she sighed in anticipation of the jump to hyperspace. A hole tore its way open into standard space, revealing the pink glow of hyperspace inside. The Queadluun confidently flew into the portal and disappeared from view, allowing the hole to snap shut behind it.
...
The severely-wounded Altair-class carrier suddenly fired up its engines and began to move directly towards the Frontier's fleet. Its posture reflected a sensation of malice as it neared the positions of the closest battlegroup. Alto began to get a little nervous, seeing as how his team of fighters, along with the rest of the nearby escorts may not be able to do anything about the gargantuan carrier barreling towards their position. "Quarter, the carrier appears to be on a collision course with these ships! What are your orders?" The radio remained silent while he waited for a response. "Quarter?" More silence followed, as if his pleas were being ignored.
Alto clicked his tongue and turned his fighter in the direction of the incoming carrier. There was no way he was going to stand by and do nothing, while thousands of crew members were set to perish from the ensuing collision and explosion. "Vermillion Team, clear the area immediately!" the radio sounded. Alto switched to battroid mode to turn and see what the Quarter was doing. He could see that the ship was quickly approaching the area with a very menacing stance. Its Macross Cannon coursed with super-dimensional energy, indicating that it was ready to fire once again.
"Fire!" Captain Wilder exclaimed to his bridge crew. Bobby confidently squeezed the trigger; a feeling that he will never get tired of experiencing. "Ram this!" he yelled. The Macross Cannon discharged its second shot directly into the remaining hull of the Altair-class carrier. It punched a hole right through the center of the ship and passed through to continue through space unabated. Alto and his team barely managed to avoid being in the line of fire, but the gravity wave rippled through their VFs, violently jarring the pilots in their seats.
The gaping hole in the center of the ship began to increase in size, as the molecular structure of the ship dissolved at the subatomic level. Before the ship's reactors reached critical, a large-scale dimension-eater bomb detonated from within its hull. "Oh shit! It's a dimension-eater! Get the hell out of there!" Alto exclaimed to his team and all of the nearby escort VFs. The dimensional rift quickly expanded to massive proportions, consuming everything that it touched. All of the planetoids nearby were the first to go, but the distance that once separated the carrier from the Frontier fleet was also quickly compromised. The cruisers and carriers nearby burned their thrusters at full power to list away from the incoming rift. Their slow acceleration was heart-wrenching to all of the witnesses of this display of awful destruction.
Alto's radio began to fill with the screams of pilots who were either being consumed by the bomb, or were on the verge of being destroyed. On the bridge of the Quarter, the same screams could be heard over the comm lines. Everyone on the bridge focused their will into the hope that those poor souls will somehow escape unharmed. The dimensional rift continued to expand and draw closer to the fleet. Behind him, Alto could see each fighter fall into the bomb's destructive radius and even witnessed many Vajra drones get consumed by it. Suddenly, two of his own pilots yelled out in terror and he turned just in time to see them disappear behind the rift. "No!" he exclaimed. Their disappearance fed his anger towards the attacking force, but all he could focus on was making sure that he survived.
The battlegroup of cruisers and carriers desperately tried to outrun the expanding rift, but eventually, the first cruiser fell into it. Hundreds of lives instantly perished, and the destruction was not yet over. More screams of terror filled the fleet's comm lines while another cruiser was slowly consumed. When it seemed like the destruction would not end, the bomb's effects wore out and the rift quickly retracted back into a singularity; its point of origin. With a final glimmer, the singularity disappeared from space, leaving behind a spherical swath of space sanitized of all matter. One of the cruisers, which had been partially consumed, was snapped back towards the contracting singularity before it slowed its speed and then exploded. The remaining capital ships continued their charge towards safer space, ignoring their proximity to each other. Several ships collided in their desperation for survival, sending debris flying in all directions.
A witness to the destruction and terror caused by such a terrible device, Alto turned his fury towards the bulk of the attacking force and began to charge blindly into the thick of the battle. "Alto! Get your ass back here and form on my wing! We're going in to unload some hurt onto those Galaxy bastards!" Ozma barked over the radio. Ozma and his team charged through space; each ship carried a pair of MDE bombs. Alto clicked his tongue and turned his VF towards their direction. Within moments, he and the remaining pilot in his team formed up on Ozma's wing to make sure their packages were delivered successfully.
Not far behind them was Kanaria's Rabbit Team. They flew in formation around her VB-6 Monster; one RVF-25 with a super pack, and two VF's with armored packs. One 25F and one 25G were armed to the teeth, ready to unload their salvos onto the first pack of hostile forces they could find. Rabbit Team's job was to provide the heavy fire support that was needed to break the backs of hostile defenses. Therefore, Captain Wilder had authorized the use of armored packs on her team. Unfortunately for the RVF pilot, his bird was not compatible with the armored pack, so he was fine with the next best thing, a super pack.
Rabbit team allowed several Vajra drones to pass behind them before they picked out their spot to camp out and support the fleet's attacking forces. "Alright, guys... Let's show them some terror of our own!" Kanaria barked to her team. "Roger that!" they all exclaimed. Her VB began to transform into its GERWALK form in preparation for the firing of its main guns. As she impacted on the surface of a large asteroid, her pilots took equidistant positions around their team leader. All three transformed to battroid mode and each pilot's eyes began to lock their complement of missiles onto the hundreds of targets surrounding them. After several seconds, each of the hatches on the armored pack opened up to reveal the countless missiles stored inside. Like a grand fireworks display, the missiles hurled in all directions and left their smoke trails behind.
Kanaria's VB fortified itself onto the asteroid's surface and reared upwards to fire. With the backdrop of hundreds of smoke trails from her team's missile salvo, the rail guns fired and caused the Monster to recoil from the sudden propulsion of its artillery into space. The shells quietly traveled through space, only propelled by their inertia, until they neared their targets. The verniers on the shells then fired, causing the salvo to split up before detonating. It was a maneuver designed to maximize the effect of the Monster's artillery strikes.
Each missile fired from Rabbit Team's VFs began to find their targets. The nearby space was instantly filled with the combined destructive force of those missiles and the artillery shells fired by the VB. Before the light show was over, the 25G landed onto the asteroid near Kanaria and took his sniping position. The RVF and 25F began to work on sanitizing the rest of the vicinity of hostile targets to allow the sniper and Monster to continue their barrage.
Not far away, Ozma and Alto led their teams into the heart of the battle with vengeance written all over their motives. Luca remained in formation behind Ozma, monitoring the positions of hostile and friendly forces. "Squad Leader, we have multiple incoming! There are some Ghost V-9s heading straight for us, among the many Vajra drones!" "Acknowledged," Ozma replied. It was now time to unload their vengeance upon the incoming targets. Only a large group of Vajra drones and Galaxy fighters stood in between the attacking Frontier forces and the remaining Galaxy and Vajra cruisers in the distance.
Ozma flipped the switch on his control stick and pressed the firing button. The MDE bombs detached themselves from the sides of his VF and their engines fired up to separate themselves from their former carrier. Upon seeing this action from their leader, the rest of Ozma's team fired their complement of MDE bombs. The pilots watched their furious answers to the kamikaze carrier hurl through space until they finally detonated. A brief sensation of satisfaction filled their bodies as they watched the attacking forces get decimated by the tactical bombs.
However, Ozma noticed that the Ghost V-9 fighters had made their way into their immediate space. He transformed his VF into battroid mode in preparation to defend himself from the vicious robots. Instead of engaging the VF's, the Ghosts passed right by Ozma's and Alto's teams. Ozma's eyes were quick enough to see that they were each carrying an MDE bomb, ventrally attached to their bodies. "Shit! They have MDE bombs! Everyone get the hell away from them!"
Just in time, the entire formation of VF-25s scattered in the right directions to clear the effective radii of the bombs before they detonated. Several flights of VF-171EXs and Nousjadeul-Gers were unaware of the approaching weapons of mass-destruction and they had little to no time to react. The dimensional rifts swallowed whole squadrons, sending more screams of terror coursing through the fleet's comm lines. This fight was quickly turning into a very bloody battle, with countless casualties racking up on both sides.
With each casualty they witnessed, the remaining pilots strengthened their resolve to avenge their fallen comrades. Human and Zentraedi soldiers fought side by side to furiously drive back the relentless attacks from the combined Galaxy and Vajra forces. All around them, the terrifying destruction being dealt out from both factions raged on with no end in sight. Unknown to them, they were being bathed by fold waves of a familiar source. Only those in tune with the fold spectrum would know of their existence.
On the Quarter, Captain Wilder continued to administrate the fleet's defense from his chair. Commanders Ortiz and Choi focused their efforts on commanding the ship itself so Wilder could do his job as Fleet Captain. "Commander, move this ship behind the first defensive line. From there, we will provide support to the attacking forces," the Captain ordered. "Yes, Sir," Ortiz acknowledged and turned towards Bobby to relay the orders.
Lam began to lean forward in her chair, as she focused her hearing on something that was coming through her headset. She turned around to announce her findings to the bridge. "Commander! There's a faint fold wave resonating through the fleet!" Commander Choi approached Lam's station. "What's the source?" "It's coming from Aimo, Ma'am!" Captain Wilder stood up from his chair in surprise. "It can't be... Is it... Ranka and Sheryl?" "It appears so, Sir! The wave spectrum analysis output matches their pattern."
Captain Wilder sighed in relief and sat back down in his chair with a smile. "Is there any effect on the attacking Vajra forces?" Monica took a moment to analyze the bug movements before reporting her findings. "No, the attack has not let up one bit," she dejectedly said. Captain Wilder adjusted his hat and continued to smile. "That's okay. It's amazing that their song is reaching this far. Perhaps it doesn't affect the Vajra when they're too far away, but that doesn't mean that it can't help us. Open up a channel to the fleet for me, please."
Lam nodded at Wilder to indicate that he had open air to speak. "To all ships, do not let the terrors of battle sway your resolve! Despite the fleet's losses, we continue to fight for our survival and for the survival of our colony! As unbelievable as it sounds, the songs of Ranka Mei Lee and Sheryl Nome are reaching us at this very moment and at this very point in space!" The RVF pilots in the fleet were also privy to this before Wilder's announcement. Luca's face filled with surprise as he heard the confirmation from the Fleet Captain. Even Cal shut his eyes and smiled while he listened to their song through the fold wave modulator on his RVF. Ozma perked up upon hearing that his darling sister was causing an effect on their forces, despite the massive distance between herself and the fleet. "Ranka?"
Captain Wilder continued with his motivational announcement, "Even though their song does not seem to affect the Galaxy-controlled Vajra swarm, we must allow it to become the harbinger of our victory! They sing for us! Let us use this as a means to increase our strength and resolve; enough to break the back of the assault being waged against us! Fight on, and fight hard! Bring us victory, so that we can ensure peace for our colony!" He turned back to Lam and slashed at his throat with his hand to instruct her to cut the channel off. Immediately, the exhausted and war-weary atmosphere of the Quarter was transformed to one filled with hope and resolve.
...
An unknown distance away from the fleet, a single fighter-sized defold reaction formed. Klan's red Queadluun emerged from the portal just as it snapped shut behind her. The fold booster's incandescent glow began to fade, beginning its cooldown and recharge procedure. The Queadluun spun around a couple of times in each direction, looking for the fleet. Inside of the cockpit, Klan's eyes scanned over her display monitor in front of her face, looking for signs of the fleet. Unfortunately, there was nothing around her, but the sub-planetary bodies of the asteroid belt.
"Dammit! I must have miscalculated!" she thought to herself with a frustrated look on her face. Several seconds passed before her sensors picked up multiple high-energy sources far off in the distance. She reacted by turning the Queadluun in the direction of the blips on her radar, only to see the massive battle raging on in the distance. At that range, it was impossible to visually identify the combatants, but it was easy to assume that one of the factions was the Frontier fleet that she so desperately sought to rejoin and protect. "Holy shit!" she said as her heart sunk into her stomach. She realized that the fleet was, in fact, in extreme danger of being wiped out.
"They're so far away, but the fold booster will not be ready to use again for quite awhile..." Without another moment's hesitation, the Queadluun jettisoned its fold booster and opened up its engines to full throttle. There was quite a distance to cover with conventional engines, but Klan had no choice but to take that route. "Oh, God... Hang in there, guys. I'll be there to protect you all very soon!" she thought to herself. A quick look above her monitor towards the picture and hat and she remembered what was really important to her. "Dammit, Cal... you'd better still be alive when I get there!" she said as she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. The Queadluun relentlessly charged through the asteroid field, desperately trying to make it through the vast expanse that divided Klan and the Frontier fleet.
...
The newly-emboldened members of the fleet continued their furious fight against the unyielding assault from the Galaxy forces. Empowered by the songs of Ranka and Sheryl, the brave soldiers began to turn the tide of the battle in their favor. They were certainly wearing down the numbers of hostile targets at a geometrically-increasing rate. The Macross Quarter steadily moved into its new position in the fleet to provide supporting fire to the front lines and hasten the process. Pixie Team patiently defended the ship, according to their orders. Ozma had decided at the last moment to place Pixie Team into that position, seeing as how they were short one pilot. This decision, of course, was made before he learned of Alto's loss of two of his pilots due to the kamikaze carrier attack on part of the fleet.
From the bridge, the effectiveness of Pixie Team was fairly evident. Even though the anti-aircraft fire from the Cheyenne Destroids and the fixed emplacements drove off some of the attacking Vajra drones, it was not enough to get rid of them all. Every once in awhile, Pixie Team would leave their positions from in front of the ship to engage pesky drones that had managed to weave their way through the AA fire, destroy them, then return to their previous positions. Cal and Nene would team up, while Will remained perched on the ship's hull to provide long-range fire support.
Jen felt proud that she was being personally protected by Cal and his teammates, but she was quick to assuage any latent feelings for him. She hastily convinced herself that he was just doing his job, not necessarily protecting her from harm. However, after returning from one of his brief skirmishes, he flew his RVF close to the bridge, transformed to battroid mode, and turned around to reverse thrust to match the Quarter's speed. A quick glance into the bridge from the battroid's head was aimed directly at her. She was a bit shocked that he really was thinking about her in a time like this. A bit of a blush was enough to tell a whole story to Bobby, who was still standing at his station next to her. She turned to Bobby just as he looked at her reaction. A brief smile and slight laugh was all he had to say to her before he turned his gaze forward again. Even though they were just friends, Cal made it known that he still cared about Jen's well-being.
Suddenly, Monica's radar station began to warn her of more incoming ships. "Captain! There are more defold reactions forming to port and starboard! Range is 500 kilometers on both sides!" Captain Wilder stood up from his chair again. "Friend or foe?" he demanded. "Unknown!" Monica glared at her station's projection while she waited for an IFF return. From the defold reactions outside of the extremities of the fleet, a mixture of more Galaxy and Vajra forces began to emerge. Each side yielded a single Altair-class carrier, a few Deneb-class and Vajra Knight-class cruisers, and many escort fighters.
Captain Wilder learned of their identity and slowly sat back down in his seat. "Goddammit! This fight will not end!" he thought to himself as he began to move his head towards his hand in a gesture of frustration. He quickly reminded himself that now was not a time to show his crew any doubt and worry. After reconstructing his demeanor, he continued working from his console to reposition the fleet in response to the enemy reinforcements. In reaction to his orders, groups of Frontier cruisers and carriers moved into position to rebuff the new attacking forces. More barrages of beam cannon fire began to cut through both fleets, further incurring massive casualties. Once again, the fleet was fighting with its back against the wall. Perhaps even Sheryl's and Ranka's songs may not be enough to turn the tide this time.
