Disclaimer: I do not own Robotech; wish I did, but I don't. Harmony Gold does.
Sentinels
These kids are an interesting breed, I'll give them that They spent the first half of their lives under the Invid occupation and the second half in this new age of peace and optimism. They're young and reckless; though Karen loves to remind me I was just like them when I was their age (still am she tells me).
- Collected Journals of Captain Jack Baker
John Grimm readjusted the flight helmet cradled under his left arm as he took in the row of VFA-7X Vipers in front of him on the flight line. Brand new state of the art birds of war, they were the first generation of non protoculture-based variable fighters and they were a thing of beauty; sleek and smaller than previous iterations, the Vipers were built for speed and agility.
He had flown several variants in the Academy, thought most were still in varying degrees of development. Their instructors hadn't exactly labeled them as prototypes, though most cadets would have sworn they were guinea pigs for the majority of flight school. To say the transition from protoculture-based veritechs had been rocky was an understatement. Yet in the end the Robotech Research Group wizards had prevailed and the end result was the Viper; outfitted with the latest in neural receptor technology the fighters practically mirrored the fine motor control and reaction time of their predecessors.
John turned his head to the right as his wingman let loose a low whistle. The young pilot had a huge grin plastered across his face as he stared at the fighters parked on the tarmac. "Well damn don't those birds look good," Jake Miller drawled, casually shifting the black flight helmet held between his hands.
John chucked and nodded in agreement with his wingman. "Definitely, heard from Trench he and Loki were pushing Mach 3 over Granite a few weeks back," he informed his overly enthusiastic wingman.
"At what, 30?" Jake asked.
"Think he said about 15 thousand," John answered, adjusting his flight helmet again.
"No shit, he say how they handled though?" the young pilot asked, hungry for more information about the capabilities of the new veritechs.
John understood his friend's desire for that information. They had learned over the last couple years that any number of RRG engineers could quote specs to them on the ground, only to be disappointed by the state of the neural response mechanics on the fighters once airborne. The previous iterations had felt sluggish, lagging in response time that lead to the feeling of an overly weighted down ship. He had once described it to a flight engineer that he felt like he was flying a cargo shuttle loaded with Fantoma rock when attempting a simple split-S.
"He said they were pretty tight, helluva lot better than the Widows," John replied, looking back at the fighters, anxious to get behind the stick of one.
He had been itching to do so since they had been informed the Vipers were headed to their squadron to replace the clunky VFA-7Ws. The irony of the Widowmaker name wasn't lost on the fleet either, given their subpar performance during some of the more intensive combat maneuvers the pilots often used when engaging space pirates.
"Better be bro, I'm really tired of flying commercial shuttles. I mean, I know you like to take things slow and all," Jake taunted.
John laughed out loud, a grin forming on his face. If that's how his friend wanted to play it, fine by him. He was hyper competitive, like so many others in his squadron, including Jake Miller.
"Well Nojo, there's only one thing left to do then," he fired back at Jake.
"Oh yeah Reaper, what's that?" Jake replied with an amused expression on his face, knowing full well what John was going to propose. The two had flown together in flight school and had been each other's wingman for the better part of four years; they were practically brothers, and knew each other better than anyone.
"Let's take these girls up for a spin so I can show you just how shitty of a jock you really are," John suggested, giving Jake a light shove in the left shoulder and starting to head towards the Vipers.
He had no more than taken a step towards the veritechs when he was stopped in his tracks at the sound of a woman clearing her throat. John turned over his shoulder to see a young female pilot walking towards them. It was their team lead, Maia Harper.
"So sorry to interrupt boys, but the Captain needs to see us," Maia informed them cheerfully.
"Now?" John asked, risking a glance back at the Vipers before refocusing his attention on Maia.
"Yes, now," she reconfirmed, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow in anticipation of a rebuttal though John remained silent. He had learned long ago that arguing with the half-Zentraedi, even when she was in a good mood, was useless. Unfortunately the pilot next to him had taken the bait.
"Like now, now?" Nojo prodded with a half smirk present on his face.
Maia narrowed her eyes before letting out an exasperated sigh. "Let's go," she grumbled, her southern accent more audible this time, muttering something about children as she spun on her heels.
John looked over at Nojo who just smiled and shrugged his broad shoulders as if to say he couldn't help it. The two pilots jogged to catch up with Maia who was quickly making her way towards the hanger closest to them. They entered the large hanger and made their way through a set of open double doors on the western side, skirting around countless vehicles and maintenance equipment used to service the veritechs.
As they rounded a corner into the hallway that lead to their squadron leader's office John asked, "So what'd we do this time Light?"
Maia smirked, "Like the two of you ever end up in trouble."
He chuckled and nudged Jake's shoulder, "Hear that Nojo? Told you she loves us."
"How many times do I have to tell you, Lightning is super into you," Jake jumped in. Maia's only response was a generous rolling of her hazel-blue eyes. "Though I can't for the life of me figure out why, considering you're the ugly one. Must be that Zentraedi blood, bro," Jake finished, slapping him on the back.
"You do realize I'm right here guys?" Maia chimed in; her voice filled with annoyance, though John knew her well enough to know the ribbing wasn't really bothering her. Still, the sharp elbow jab he received from her was a nice reminder that she could pack a punch if she needed to.
"Hey, the hell did you hit me for?" he asked, rubbing the left side of his sore rib cage.
Maia smiled sweetly at him, her voice filled with honey as she responded, "First, because you encourage him, and second, you were closer." Jake let loose a loud laugh, causing several staffers to poke their heads out of office doors along the corridor. All John could do was grin in defeat; she certainly had him there.
At the next intersection in the maze-like building they turned left, away from the direction of their CO's office. "Thought you said the Captain wanted to see us?" John jerked his thumb behind them in the direction they should have gone.
Maia nodded and motioned with her head in the direction they were currently going. "He does. All hands though." John nodded in understanding, and the trio continued on in silence until they stopped in front of a closed wooden door at the end of the hallway on their right. John pushed the door open and stepped into the well lit meeting room with Jake and Maia in tow.
The room was already packed with other pilots from his squadron. John surveyed the room and found a few open seats up front. He casually walked around the edge of the room, exchanging juvenile greetings with several of his squad mates.
A few minutes after they had settled in he heard the door to the meeting room open again. Suddenly the call to attention rang out loudly from the back of the room. He jumped out of his chair awkwardly, no longer accustomed to standing at attention; it had been a long time since a high-ranking officer had come to Archer Field. From out of the corner of his eye he glanced over at Maia and mouthed, "Who is it?" She responded by slightly shrugging her shoulders, letting him know she was just as much in the dark as he was.
A moment later he saw Captain Baker and an Admiral walk past. Once the pair had reached the front of the meeting room the Admiral turned and faced the pilots. John instantly recognized who it was, and the rest of the pilots had as well by the audible buzz of whispers taking over the room.
"At ease Skull," Admiral Hunter casually waved for them to sit as he tossed his cap on the table nearest to him. John sat back down, wondering why the Admiral had decided to pay them a visit. Admiral Hunter leaned over and whispered something to Captain Baker. The Captain nodded and said "Sure thing, be right back sir," before walking out of the room. John shifted slightly in his chair to watch as his CO left before turning back to give Admiral Hunter his attention.
"Well, from what Captain Baker tells me, you're the best there is," Admiral Hunter began as he surveyed the room. John noticed the Admiral briefly grin as the room erupted in approval, before his expression turned serious. "You better be, because as of this moment you've been reassigned to the Odyssey."
Two sharp knocks on the door caused Karen Penn to look up from the mountain of paperwork collected on her desk. She let out an exasperated sigh, frustrated at yet another interruption to the least favorite part of her job. Another pirate attack, another pile of pilot paperwork that needed processed and turned into some kind of cohesive report for her superiors. She inwardly laughed at how thrilled she had been at the promotion to flight officer aboard the Versailles.
"What?" she annoyingly barked out in her most authoritative voice.
The door swung open and she cursed under her breath as Admiral Lisa Hunter walked into the room. Great, just when my day can't get any worse, add shouting at an Admiral to the list! She quickly recovered and stood up sharply, her desk chair flying behind her and crashing loudly against the wall of her small office. She snapped Admiral Hunter a crisp salute, trying to ignore the bemused look on the older woman's face as she inspected the disheveled state of Karen's office.
Admiral Hunter returned her salute with a sharp one of her own before waving for her to sit down. Karen collected her chair from the wall and wheeled it back to her desk before sitting down and attempting to organize the haphazard pile of reports.
"Sorry ma'am. Didn't realize—" Karen began before Admiral Hunter cut her off.
"It's good to see you again too Karen. I apologize for interrupting your work. I still have nightmares about after action reports," Lisa motioned to the scattered piles of reports and gave her a sympathetic smile. Karen returned her gesture with a light smile and let out a breath that she hadn't realize she had been holding since Lisa had entered the room.
"How the hell did you manage all of this paperwork on the SDF-1 ma'am?"
Lisa smirked and shook her head; lost in a memory for a moment from what Karen could tell. "Patience, and a lot of coffee," she finally replied.
"Don't get me wrong, I love my job, I just…didn't think I was signing up for this," she waved her hands over the mess on top of her desk, letting out another exasperated sigh.
Lisa didn't respond, causing Karen to follow her gaze out the window to a set of veritechs taking off in the distance. Upon further inspection she noticed Lisa's eyes looked tired, like she hadn't slept in days. Karen decided something was definitely up. Trouble in paradise maybe?
"Is everything OK ma'am?" she asked, feeling compelled to say what was on her mind.
"What? Sorry…yes, well, sort of. Actually that's why I'm here Karen."
Bingo, wonder what the Admiral did this time?
"Rick?"
Lisa gave her a peculiar expression, evidently not expecting Karen to jump to that sort of conclusion. "No no, not this time," Lisa waved a dismissive hand. She recovered a moment later and elaborated. "It's Roy, actually. Rick and I are going to be on extended assignment and well, I'm not overly thrilled about leaving my boy behind," she explained. Karen nodded in understanding, well aware of how close mother and son were.
"I'm sure it'll be alright. Though I hope you're not asking me to babysit…me and kids, well, we don't exactly mix."
Lisa chuckled and shook her head. "Karen, I love you, but I'm not letting you or Baker anywhere near my very influential child." Karen smirked at Lisa's response, bobbing her head in understanding. She and Jack weren't exactly the type of couple an Admiral would want around their child for too long, though she was sure they weren't any worse than Rick had been at their age.
"So what can I do for you ma'am?"
"Guess I better get to it then," Lisa began. "I'm here to inform you that you've been reassigned to the Odyssey."
Karen's stomach sank and she sat back in her chair. Why the hell am I being demoted to a scout ship? She was the flight officer for an entire fighter wing aboard a carrier, not a rinky-dink scout vessel that could barely hold a squadron of veritechs.
"With all due respect ma'am, why the hell would you reassign me? I'd like to know exactly what I did to—" she shot off, unable to control her temper.
"I'm not demoting you, Captain," Lisa interrupted. "Quite the opposite, in fact." Karen gave Lisa a confused look, not sure what was happening. Lisa continued, "You see, the Odyssey needs a captain. So, we've chosen you."
Karen was floored. "I don't think I heard you right ma'am, did you just give me my own command?" she managed to ask, still in shock over the change in direction her day had taken.
"You heard correctly," Lisa answered, tossing her a small black velvet box which she barely managed to catch. She ran her fingers over the smooth exterior before snapping the box open to reveal a pair of golden oak leaves inside. Looking back up she was happy to see Lisa beaming proudly at her.
"Major, Admiral Hunter and I need people we can trust and rely on. And given the nature of this expedition, we felt it was right in your wheel house."
Karen raised her eyebrows, wondering why Lisa was being so cryptic. "And just what kind of expedition are we talking about?"
Lisa stared at her intensely for a few moments before leaning forward. "The kind where we jump to somewhere we've never been before."
"You mean a deep space jump, like out past the frontier?" Karen asked, her interest piqued by the prospect of an expedition to an uncharted system.
Lisa chuckled and shook her head from side to side. "Try the next galaxy over."