Lisa walked calmly off the bridge, breaking into a run, only once the bridge door closed behind her. She turned left from the bridge and accessing a concealed elevator hidden behind a maintenance panel, she took the elevator down to a secret flight deck.
Dr. Lang and his team was already there prepping their secret weapon, the only thing they needed was it's pilot. Captain Gloval had informed Dr. Lang to expect Lt. Commander Hayes once he had given the orders to her.
Lisa ran into the room, quickly changing into a flight suit behind a screened area. The flight suit she pulled on was similar to the normal flight suits wore by the pilots, but this suit had some small modifications, it was capable of reading the wearer's vital signs as well as provided feedback back to the Veritech. As the technicians surrounded Lisa checking that everything was working correctly, Dr. Lang gave Lisa some last minute advice.
"I know we were all hoping for a little more time to test out the new Veritech, Lt. Cmdr. Hayes. Please be careful out there and try and not to go overboard. While you have tested as much as you could, there are so many things we still don't know about how their technology works."
Lisa nodded her head in understanding. She was anxious to get out there to provide much needed support and relief to those in battle. Even though she was only one pilot and one additional machine, she knew that based on the preliminary results, the firepower, speed and response by this new Veritech could turn the battle for them.
Lisa climbed up to the cockpit and quickly clicked into the harness that held the pilot in place. Dr. Lang had followed her up the stair ladder and handed her helmet to her as she settled into the seat. With a nod and a thumbs up from Lisa, Dr. Lang and the ladder were pulled away while Lisa completed the final step. Taking a deep breath, she put her helmet on and connected it to the Veritech fighter through a special cable. Once the connection was made, she clicked a button on the side of the helmet and felt two sharp pinches to the sides of her neck where two extremely thin but virtually unbreakable needles entered her skin marking Lisa's final connection to the Veritech.
Once connected, the instrument panels lit up and the fighter's engine activated. Lisa quickly confirmed to Dr. Lang and the team below that all was in range. The teams had already cleared the space where the fighter was located and entered a mini command center. Giving Lisa the all clear signal and coordinates of the battle outside, the large bay doors opened and they watched as the Veritech roared out into space.
"Watch out Rick, there's two pods flanking you!". Max yelled a warning to Rick and hurried after the two pods that were after him. He was able to take out one, when Rick evaded and transformed into Battaloid mode to blow the other pod of the air.
"Thanks Max, I don't know what I would do without you." said Rick, taking a quick breather to assess the situation. They had barely taken out the last group of pods and could already see another group of pods coming into attack. Rick wondered why they didn't just send them all out at once but wasn't going to question their battle tactics. As if reading his mind, he could see another squad of pods being deployed quickly after the first.
"Shit. Max it looks Iike we need to get back in there."
As they flew back toward the main battle they could hear Sammie giving new coordinates and orders to the squadrons. Rick wondered where Lisa was as it was not like her to give up her post for any reason during a battle. Rick didn't have time to think about this as they reached the fray and Rick and Max worked to lure the pods away from the main attack group so that they could take them out.
Just then from the direction of the SDF-1, a powerful beam cut through a swath of the oncoming pods obliterating many of them into pieces.
"Woah, did you see that Rick? What do you think it was?" asked Max in awe.
Rick had no response but did not have to. Visuals showed an incoming Veritech, but one with coloring no one was familiar with. Gold with an emerald green tail, Rick and Max watched as the newcomer came into battle with guns blazing taking out the enemy as it linked up with the Skull Squadron.
Roy called out to the pilots in the TacNet, "change in plans everyone, take defensive position behind the Emerald Knight and shoot anything down that gets past him towards the SDF-1. We need to do our best to protect the SDF-1."
Rick didn't know what to think but followed directions and cues from Roy. As the next wave of pods came through, they watched in awe as the Skull Squadron and the Emerald Knight raced to meet the incoming pods and watched as the Knight transformed into Battaloid mode. It was no Battaloid they have ever seen before, with it's right arm handling a saber that was capable of cutting down the pods and the left arm carried the automatic gun capable of firing rounds at incredible speeds and accuracy.
There was still much to do by the other squads and soon the air was filled with pods and fighters battling for survival. The enemy cruisers, seeing that the new weapon was decimating their numbers, sent out a fresh wave of pods and some Quadrono fighters which surpassed the pods in skill and agility.
The pilots and the Emerald Knight fought the battle fiercely hoping to turn the tide. Lisa, let her training and instincts take over, her link to the Veritech was both mental and physical, transmitting her movements and thoughts almost instantaneously to the fighter, allowing for quicker response from the machine.
Captain Gloval was worried about the new additions to the fight. The ememy cruisers had also started firing on the SDF-1 hoping to weaken its defenses. Knowing that the pilots could not hold out much longer, Captain Gloval gave the order to fire the main gun, hoping that would cause the Zentraedi to turn tail.
As the squadrons cleared the blast area, the SDF-1 fired on the enemy ships, destroying one of the cruisers and eliminating many of the pods. The Zentraedi seeing one of the cruisers destroyed, called a retreat. Gloval watched from the bridge as the enemy pods started to return to the remaining cruiser, and had Sammie call the squadrons to return to base.
As the squadrons flew back towards the SDF-1, a sense of loss permeated the air. Almost every squadron had lost a teammate and chances of recovery were not high.
The squadrons had just started to reach the SDF-1, when a squad of pods and two Quadrano fighters appeared out of the debris field, attacking the Veritechs. Surprised and scrambling to react, Roy called for the other squads to continue to return to the ship while the Skull and Vermilion squadron stayed back to protect the retreating Veritechs. Rick was not surprised that the Knight stayed back as well and they continued to cut down and destroy the enemy pods. It did not take long for them to dispatch the remaining pods and soon they were all heading back to the safety of the SDF-1. The Knight trailed the two squadrons still in Battlaloid mode when they were once again surprised by what they had thought was an inactive Quadrano fighter.
As the Quadrano fighter took its shots towards the retreating Skull and Vermilion squadrons, the Emerald Knight immediately raised its wings in order to take the hit and protect the returning Veritechs. Roy urged them the other pilots back to the ship, while turning the Skull to help the Knight defeat the remaining foe.
Roy fired on the remaining Zentraedi fighter and both the Skull and the Knight fought the wily fighter. The Skull took the final shot that disabled the Quadrano fighter and seeing no further activity from the fighter, they both headed back to the ship and to the landing bays. Right as they were reaching the ship, the supposedly disabled fighter took one last shot at the retreating Veritechs and hit the Knight directly in the back hitting one of the vital components usually hidden under the wings of the Veritech.
Lisa screamed in pain as her Veritech was hit. She had never experienced pain like this and felt that her whole body was on fire. She could feel that she was losing consiousness and stayed hard to stay awake, at least enough to land the Veritech and not crash against the SDF-1. Switching to Guardian mode, Lisa struggled to maintain control as another blast from the Quadrano fighter clipped her left wing and sent another shock wave of pain through her body.
The opening to the landing bay swam in front of her eyes and Lisa said a prayer as she cut the engines to the Veritech and aimed the fighter towards the landing bay doors.
The pilots and maintenance crew watched in horror as they watched the Knight take that final hit. Realizing that a crash was inevitable, the maintenance crew quickly activated the electromagnetic net that was capable of catching and slowing down a runaway Veritech.
They watched as the Veritech tumbled into the bay, the net successfully caught the fighter and as the net deactivated, the Veritech collapsed with it's nose down.
Rick watched the fighter collapse and hoped that the pilot would be alright. They were not yet able to exit their ships as gravity had not yet been restored to the bay and Rick slowly became conscious of Roy trying to communicate with the Emerald Knight over an open channel on the TacNet. He wasn't sure why communications with the fighter was disabled, but realized that Roy was able to communicate with the pilot of that ship. Realizing that Roy must have known abut the secret Veritech fighter, he wondered what else Roy knew and couldn't share.
The green light had barely changed color indicating that the airlock was sealed and that gravity was restored, when Rick saw that Roy already had his canopy open and was descending from the Skull, running towards the fallen Veritech.
Concerned for his brother as he had never seen him act this way, Rick scrambled out of his fighter and ran after Roy.
A side door burst open and a flurry of activity occurred on the floor, medics were brought in to help treat the wounded, but it was the sight of Dr. Lang and his team running towards the Knight that caused Rick to realize the severity of the situation. The team quickly erected a fabric barrier between the Veritech and the remaining view of those on the floor. Rick was close enough to the gold and green Veritech that the medics had no choice but to ignore him.
Rick watched as Roy and the maintenance crew reached the fighter and released the latch to the canopy. As the canopy opened, Roy was already reaching in to pull the pilot out. Rick was still unable to see who the pilot was but could hear one of the medics from Dr. Lang's team, "Sir, we are losing her, her vitals signs are dangerously low and she stopped breathing, we need to get her to the medical bay as soon as possible."
Just then Roy reappeared carrying a body out of the plane. Rick watched as Roy fumbled with something on the sides of the helmet and pulled the helmet off the pilot's head. Realization of the pilot's identity hit Rick as a swath of wheat colored hair cascaded down Roy's arm. With a "no, it can't be.." Rick stood rooted in his spot as he watched Roy hand Lisa down to the medics who started to perform CPR on Lisa. Seeing her laying so still on the gurney, Rick came too, running over to where Lisa was being treated.
Roy quickly stopped Rick from getting too close and said, "She's badly hurt, you need to let them help her, you will just be in the way."
Rick struggled against Roy and watched as a respirator was pulled over Lisa's head and over her mouth and nose. The medics started to cut away Lisa's flight suit. Rick wanted to protest but realized that there were wounds Lisa had under her suit that needed to be tended to. He wanted to look away but couldn't and could see she was suffering from burns on her arms and legs. She was still unconscious and Rick watched as a light shift was put on Lisa to protect her modesty and gasped as Lisa was placed into a large glass case, almost like a coffin, filled with blue viscous liquid.
"What are they doing to her, " Rick demanded of Roy, but Roy had no time for Rick at that moment and impatiently shushed him.
Dr. Lang covered the tank with a large white sheet and the team quickly rushed Lisa out of the landing bay. Roy ran after them, turning once to say to Rick, "Gloval will want an update, tell him what happened and tell Claudia I won't leave her alone. "
Author's note: As you know battle scene's are not my stong point. Thank you for continuing to read my story and for the reviews. I am sorry my chapters are so short :). Doing the best I can. Thanks!