SKULL LEADER'S DOWN!

CHAPTER 15

Rick was almost afraid to ask the airman what's the bad news is, but he knew he had to ask. Rick drew in a deep breath, and then blew it out in a big sigh.

"What's the bad news airman?"

'Military operations in the Amazon are not going as good as expected, sir. Some veritechs and destroid squadrons will have to be diverted to South America."

"Can someone give me a quick situational report?"

An air force major came up to Rick carrying a clipboard and giving the clipboard to Rick. "Sir, enemy resistance is stiffer than expected. The causality rate is high although exact causality numbers are unknown at this time. The jungle and the hot humid tropical conditions are taking a toll on personnel, munitions and equipment. Now that combat operations here in Germany for all intent and purposes over, General Leonard is asking Admiral Gloval to send combat and veritech squadrons to Brazil. Admiral Gloval is considering approving General Leonard's request. There's also a rumor that Admiral Gloval is thinking about replacing General Leonard with General Maistroff."

"That will go over well with General Leonard if that happens." Rick said but mostly to himself. "When is General Maistroff expected to be back here?"

"It should be sometime before afternoon, sir."

"Ok. Well, let's go about our business as usual. Let's not jump to any conclusions just because somebody heard a rumor until we hear something definitive from HQ and General Maistroff."

"Yes sir."

The major then walked away leaving Rick alone in his thoughts. Immediately Rick became concerned for Max Sterling. He knew Max is in the thick of it in the Amazon. He hasn't heard from Max since he received the e-mail message from Max the day after he first arrived in Germany. As Rick was thinking about Max, Miriya came running into the command center with tears in her eyes and with a fearful look on her face. Rick immediately assumed the worst because Miriya never shown a look of fear.

"Miriya, what's wrong?"

"It's Max, Rick! He's been reported missing!"

"Max's been reported MIA?"

"Yes!"

Rick knew that being in the middle of the command center was not a place for them to talk. He noticed an empty side room several meters away from where they were standing. He led Miriya to the vacant room and closed the door so they can talk in private.

"How did you find that out, Miriya?"

"I was in the other room listening to radio communications between headquarters and the control center in South America. I heard Max's voice over the loudspeakers. He was leading the Skull in combat over a deep part of the Amazon. Several flights of battle pods ambushed the flight Max was leading. There were too many battle pods for the flight to handle. Max shot down several battle pods when he was taken by surprise by a battle pod. His veritech was shot in both engines and like you, Max had to eject. I haven't heard anything about or from Max in long time! Rick, I am so scared for Max. I don't know if he's dead or alive, if he's injured or captured." Miriya said as she began to break down and cry on Rick's shoulder.

"It's ok, Miriya. It's ok." Rick managed to say he wrapped his arms around Miriya's shoulders and held her close to him.

After a while, Rick pulled Miriya away from him, put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Miriya, you need to stay calm. As you know, confusing things can happen in combat and Max may not be shot down. Let me call headquarters and see what they say. You stay in here and have a seat ok?"

Miriya nodded her head and sat down in a chair as Rick opened the door and walked out. Rick walked over to a table and picked up a red telephone. The red telephone is a hot line that goes directly to the combat operations center at Fokker Base. The phone only rang twice when Rick heard the sound of the telephone at the other end being picked up.

"Combat Operations Center Fokker Base…Lieutenant Mitchell speaking."

"Nikki, this Captain Hunter. Has Commander Sterling been shot down?"

"I'm afraid so, sir. He had to eject out of his VT when the flight he was commanding was ambushed by a large group of battle pods. He ejected down to the jungle floor and he is currently on the run and evading. We are trying to coordinate a rescue of Commander Sterling with a PJ team currently on standby at the forward base at Howard AFB but it is proving to be difficult because of the thick jungle cover. We are directing Commander Sterling north to a lesser dense area of the jungle so we can safely extract him."

"Does Commander Sterling have the usual issued survival backpack with him?"

"Yes sir, he is. He reports he is shaken but unharmed. He has no cuts, broken bones, bruises or serious injuries."

"That's good to hear. Ok Nikki. Thanks for telling me. Please keep me informed and let me know when Captain Hayes comes in."

"We'll do, sir."

Rick put the telephone receiver back in its cradle. He then blew out a deep breath of frustration and prayed a silent prayer for Max. He then walked back to the room where he found Miriya sitting shaking her legs nervously.

"Miriya, I'm afraid what you have heard is true. The good news is Max is alive, he is not hurt and he is running. A PJ team is standing by waiting to rescue him. However, the thick jungle cover is making things difficult for a rescue. HQ is directing Max north to a lesser dense area where they will try to do a rescue. In the meantime Miriya, you need to be focused and you need to stay positive. That's how Lisa was able to cope when I was shot down and I had to eject. She'll be the first person to tell you that. For now, there's nothing we can do except to wait and hope for the best."

"But…but Rick…I can't stay here and do nothing. Max needs me, I know it. Combat here is over. The rebel Zentraedi has surrendered. Rick, let me take the Skull to South America. If I can't help the search for Max, at least I can fly and try to put an end to the battle."

"I can't Miriya. Until I get official word from General Maistroff that the rebel Zentraedi here has surrendered and combat operations are over, I can't let you leave for South America when you haven't been briefed on operations. Besides, it will take us several days to pack everything up and fly to South America. The logistics of this will be daunting to say the least.

"Then Captain Hunter," Miriya said as she was standing up and went to attention. "I request permission to fly advance to South America."

"Permission denied. The hangars and flight line are patrolled. If you try to get into your VT without me knowing, I'll throw you in the brig. It doesn't matter that you are a friend."

"Yes sir."

"I'm sorry that I threatened you like that, Miriya. But you will have to understand the position I'm in. I can't let you go flying off trying to rescue Max. You're not trained for something like that. I've known Max longer than you. Max is a calm, cool, level headed guy. He's alive and he's running He is falling back on his SERE training like I have. Max will make it I know he will. You need to stay positive for him."

Miriya didn't say anything and she kept a blank look on her face.

"Miriya, Lisa will come into the COC in a few hours. Why don't you talk to her? She was in the same situation you're in. Sometimes, it's good to talk to someone who has been though what you're going through. It won't help Max get back to you any sooner, but talking to her will help."

Miriya thought it over for a while. She then had a look of resignation on her face, sighed and slowly nodded her head. "Very well, Rick. I'll talk to Lisa."

"Good, in the meantime, try to remain calm and stay focused. But most of all stay positive."

"Yes sir."

Several hours later, General Maistroff came into the command center from Munich. The surviving rebel Zentraedi signed the surrender treaty without much complaint or fanfare. Maistroff didn't told Rick or the others much details about the surrender terms only to say that the only concession he gave was the rebel Zentraedi will not be prosecuted for what they did. As for withdrawing the RDF from Germany, it will have to be gradual. It will take days even weeks for forces to depart Europe. Equipment has to be packed up and stowed away ready for transport to the Amazon or back to Macross. Damaged veritechs will either have to be repaired or replaced. Pilots will have to be debriefed. Everyone will need time to rest and recuperate after a long campaign. Some squadrons will have to be diverted to the Amazon and it will have to done immediately.

"Rick, I need for you to start deciding which squadrons will be diverted to South America and which to send back to Macross and have on stand by."

"Yes sir." Rick said nodding his head.

General Maistroff noticed Miriya sitting in a chair nearby with a sad look on her face. "Why is Lieutenant Sterling here in the command center?"

Rick went on to tell General Maistroff about Max being shot down and on the run from being captured. General Maistroff reared back his head and groaned when Rick told him the news.

"This is just great."

Rick knew what General Maistroff meant. General Leonard will most certainly call General Maistroff asking him to send several veritech squadrons including the Skull to South America. Rick won't be surprised if Leonard asks General Maistroff to send Rick to the Amazon and replace the now missing Max as Leonard's air commander. As if on queue, an enlisted aide walked up to General Maistroff.

"Sir, General Leonard is on the phone and he wants to speak to you right now."

"Well, it didn't take him long for him to call. I'll take the call in my office, sergeant."

"Yes sir."

General Maistroff walked away to take the telephone call from General Leonard. General Maistroff came back to the command center after several minutes and walked up to Rick.

"Rick, start deciding on which veritech squadrons to send to the Amazon. Leonard wants at least 3 squadrons not including our contingent of the Skull. I've managed to convince him to let you stay with me for now. I think it will best if you stay here to be by Lieutenant's Sterling's side. Send Captain Lacey in your place and put him in temporary charge of the Skull."

"Yes sir."

Rick then walked over to where Miriya was sitting. He grabbed a chair from nearby and sat down next to Miriya.

"Miriya, there is really not much you can do here so there's no use being here in the command center. Look, General Leonard called General Maistroff and he wants at least 3 squadrons and the Skull in South America. Why don't you help me decide which squadrons to send? To at least try to keep your mind occupied. I know you want to stay here so you can at least keep track on how Max is doing, so you're not going. I'm sending Captain Lacey on General Maistroff's orders."

Miriya let go a sigh of resignation. She can't argue with Rick's logic. "Very well Rick. I'll do what you say."

"Good. Let's go to my office. I'm sure if something happens to Max, someone in the command center will let us know. Why don't you go to Personnel and get the CASREPs and I'll go to J-4 and get the maintenance and damage reports? Meet me in my office and we'll go from there."

"Yes sir."

RDF Combat Operations Center – Fokker Base

Lisa walked into the Operations Center after eating breakfast in the officer's mess. She came to work in a relatively good mood considering the circumstances that she is in of being in the middle of another battle. It was the first time in days she spent the night at home and not had to worry about Rick. Rick is on terra firma where he belongs. Lisa doesn't have to worry about Rick being shot at by missiles or bullets, getting shot down and chased by the enemy, or try to land his veritech after it being all shot up. She came to work fully rested and relaxed and ready to face whatever the day threw at her now that she knew that Rick was safe and wasn't going to flying much anymore.

"Nikki, can you give me a quick situational report?"

"Yes ma'am. Combat operations in Germany for all intent and purposes have ceased. The rebel Zentraedi in the Black Forest has surrendered after we destroyed the cloning facility.

"That's good to know." 'Good. That means Rick will be home soon.' Lisa said mostly to herself in a gleeful tone of voice..

"However, combat operations in the Amazon are not going well as expected ma'am. Enemy resistance is stiffer than anticipated and we are taking heavy casualties. And also…" Nikki stopped with her SITREP not wanting to tell Lisa about Max being shot down.

Lisa sensing Lieutenant's Mitchell's hesitation ordered to continue. "'And also' what? Spit it out lieutenant."

Nikki took in a deep breath. "Commander Sterling has been shot down. The flight he was leading was ambushed by a large group of battle pods. The good news is he is alive and running. We are trying to coordinate a rescue with a PJ team currently on stand-by at Howard but the thick jungle cover is proving extraction to be difficult. We are directing Commander Sterling north to a less dense part of the jungle, most likely near the Amazon River to affect a rescue."

Immediately Lisa's thoughts turned to Miriya and what she is going through. 'Oh no, I hope Miriya didn't find out. If she did, she must be in a state of panic right about now.' "Does Lieutenant Sterling know about her husband being shot down?"

"Yes ma'am. Somehow or the other, Lieutenant Sterling found out her husband being shot down and Captain Hunter called asking about the commander's situation."

'Oh no Miriya did found out.' Lisa said to herself. "I assume that Admiral Gloval was told about Commander Sterling being shot down?"

"Yes ma'am. He was told earlier this morning."

'I need to talk Mirirya right now. She needs to hear from someone who has been in same situation as her.' Lisa said to herself. "Thank you for the update Nikki. I need to place a telephone call."

"Yes ma'am. Oh, and one more bit of information to pass along to you ma'am. General Leonard tried to get General Maistroff to send Captain Hunter to South America to replace Commander Sterling but General Maistroff convinced General Leonard to hold off on ordering Captain Hunter to Brazil. I've been told if push comes to shove Admiral Gloval will order Captain Hunter back to Macross."

Lisa instantly panicked but relaxed when Nikki told her about General Maistroff's intervention. "Thank you General Maistroff. I owe you one."

"I need to place a telephone call in my office. You're in charge until Commander Grant comes in. You're doing a good job Nikki. Keep up the good work."

"Thank you ma'am, I will."

Lisa walked down to her office, closed the door and picked up the telephone.

"Put me through to the command center in Stuttgart."

Seconds later her phone call was picked up by an enlisted person in the command center clear across the Atlantic Ocean in Stuttgart, Germany.

"Command center…Sergeant Oliver speaking. Can I help you sir or ma'am?"

"Sergeant, this is Captain Hayes at Fokker Base. Is Lieutenant Sterling there?"

"She was ma'am but she is no longer here in the command center. I've been told she is in Captain Hunter's office."

"Transfer my call to Captain Hunter's office."

"Yes ma'am. Just hold for a minute while I transfer the call."

In Rick's office, Rick and Miriya were going over reports on causalities, VT damages and personnel strength to help them decide which squadrons to send to South America.

"Ok Miriya, Skull has only lost less then a third of strength so you're basically at full strength. Vermillion, Magenta and Ghost squadrons suffered the least amount of pilot causalities so they can start leaving for Brazil once we give them a short rest. Polaris, Galaxy and Wolf each lost a little less than half of total pilot strength, so we send them back to Macross but put them on stand-by alert status. The rest we'll send back to home base and have them demobilized. What do you think?"

"I agree with you Rick. But I think we should get replacement pilots for Polaris, Galaxy and Wolf squadrons. If combat keeps going the way it is, they will be severely under manned by the time it's all over."

"You're right, Miriya. Let's do this. Let's go ahead and transfer some of the pilots out of squadrons that are being demobilized and we'll put them in the squadrons that are stand-by alert. That should put them back up to full strength or close to it. They will also have experienced pilots and that should ease the burden on the young pilots that just got out of flight school. I'm going to need your help again on this. We need to take a look at which positions needs to be filled and we'll go from there."

"I'm here to help Rick."

Just then, there was a knock on his closed door.

"Come in."

Opening the door was CPL Okumba. She poked her head in the open doorway.

"Excuse me for bothering you sir but Captain Hayes from Fokker Base is on the phone and she wants to speak to you and Lieutenant Sterling."

"Thank you, Mary. Hi Lisa."

"Hi yourself. Rick, is Miriya there? I've been told she is with you in your office."

Instantly Rick knew why Lisa called.

"Yes she is, Lisa. Hold on for a minute."

Rick then handed the phone over to Miriya. "Go ahead and talk to Lisa, Miriya. She understands what you're going through." Rick said quietly.

Miriya nodded and gently took the phone from Rick's hand and slowly put the phone to her ear.

"Hello Lisa." Miriya said hesitantly.

"Hello Miriya. I've heard what happened to Max. I'm so sorry."

Miriya immediately broke down and started crying. "Oh Lisa! I am so scared and concerned for Max! Nothing like this has ever happened to Max. He has always been so good in flying and not getting hit."

"I know what you're going through Miriya. Believe me, I know. I just went through the same thing with Rick. There were times, especially after he ejected and after he hit the ground that I was so scared for Rick. There were times when I was so scared when I didn't heard a word from him and I thought he would be captured or God forbid, even killed, I couldn't sleep at night or eat. Don't do what I did. You need to stay strong for Max. Right now more than ever, he needs you to be strong for him. That's the psychological edge every downed pilot needs to know they have, that their loved ones are being strong for them. If you don't believe me you could ask Rick."

"I know Lisa. But I wanted to go over to Brazil to help rescue Max but Rick wouldn't let me. He even threatened to have me thrown in the brig if I took off in my veritech."

"And Rick was right to threaten you. You wouldn't have done Max any good if you've flown to South America. You're not trained for situations like that, the Para-rescue men are. They train day in and day out, in all types of weather and environments for situations just like what Max is in right now. If you would have flown over to Brazil, you would have made a bad situation worse or even worse, you could have been shot down yourself."

"I know Lisa. It's just that…I…I feel so helpless not being able to do anything to help Max,"

"I understand that Miriya. Like I said earlier I went through the same thing with Rick. I know that helpless feeling so I understand what you're going through. But Max is not completely helpless. He has been trained to survive in situations like what he is going through right now. You should know that. You, Rick and every other pilot went through the same SERE training Max did. Even I had some SERE training. Miriya, listen to me. I know it's hard not to worry. It's only natural to be worried when someone you love is running for their life and there's nothing you could do about it. But the best thing you could do for Max is to stay strong for him."

"I understand Lisa. Thanks for talking with me."

"You're welcome Miriya. That's what friends are for. We need to encourage each other because in the end we only have each other to depend upon. Try not to worry too much Miriya. We're keeping track of him here at Fokker Base and are directing him to a more desirable area so we can pick him up. We'll keep you informed."

"Thank you Lisa."

"You're welcome Mirya. If you need to talk to me, just call the base. If I'm out just leave a message and I'll call you back."

"I will Lisa. Good-bye."

"Good-bye Miriya."

Miriya then hung up the phone. She then looked around to find out she was alone. Rick walked out while she was talking with Lisa. 'Thank you Rick.' Miriya said to herself.

Whether at the time she realized it or not, Miriya needed to talk with Lisa and it would have been awkward for her to fully open up to Lisa if Rick was in the room. Miriya took the time to recollect herself and her wits.

"You're right Lisa. I need to stay strong for Max. I need to stay strong for Max." Miriya muttered to herself, psyching herself up.

She then took in a deep breath and blew it out. She then stood up straight and walked towards the closed office. She opened the door to see Rick sitting in a chair relaxing.

"All right Rick. Let's start working on that list."

Rick then got up on his feet. "All right, let's get to work then."

Miriya closed the door behind her. "You're right, Rick. I did need to talk with Lisa. Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome Miriya."

Two days later

Choosing the replacement pilots was the easy part. The hard part was the waiting for the veriteches to be repaired. Also, the pilots, maintenance people and support people needed to rest after a long campaign. Transfer orders for the pilots needed to be typed up and distributed to the pilots. Tools, equipment and office equipment needed to be packed up and moved to cargo planes for the flight back to Macross or to South America.

It has been proven to be difficult to find a place in the Amazon jungle to safely get Max out. The thick jungle cover and the terrain were real obstacles for the Para-rescue team in finding a way to extract Max. Trying to survive in the jungle was difficult for Max. Trying to dodge the enemy while at the same time trying to survive being killed by dangerous animals such as jaguars, piranhas, snakes and spiders proved to very taxing to Max. The humidity and almost constant rain also proved to be obstacles that Max and the Para-rescue team had to deal with. But the end to Max's living nightmare might be at an end. It had taken some doing on the part of Para-rescue team because of the humid jungle conditions and almost constant rain but there was a break in the weather and Max was approaching the bank of the Amazon River.

Rick was outside on the flight line overseeing the loading and taking off of the cargo planes and veritechs when an air force technical sergeant came running up to Rick. He stopped a couple of inches away from Rick and saluted. Rick returned the salute.

"Sir, we just received word that the Para-rescue team is close to extracting Commander Sterling."

"Has Lieutenant Sterling been notified?"

"I believe so sir. I think a female navy petty officer is currently looking for her. If you can follow me to the command center, sir."

The sergeant began running back to the command center with Rick close behind. Inside the command center, an audio feed was piped into the center on the overhead speakers. A marine captain gave Rick a quick rundown on what was happening. On the HD video screens was a hybrid satellite-topographical map of the area of the Amazon where Max is. Miriya came running into the command center a minute after Rick arrived. Rick saw her running in, motioned Miriya to come to where he's at with a wave of his hand. Miriya came to where Rick was standing. Rick put his arm around her shoulder and spoke to her softly.

"Okay Miriya, here the situation as it stands right now. The circled red X on the video screen is Max's current position, the circled blue X is the UH-60. He's about two kilometers away from the rendezvous point. He should be clearing the tree line very soon. Max is doing okay. Far as we know, he is not being chased. I think we can thank the thick jungle terrain for that."

"Thank you Rick." Miriya said as she folded her hands.

"You're welcome. Just remember to stay strong for Max, Miriya. It should all be over in a couple of minutes. It shouldn't be too hard for the pick-up team to get Max out. You can hold on to me or lean on me for support if you want. Max's call sign is Skull 2; the UH-60's call sign is 'Anaconda." Rick winced at the call sign. 'Anaconda? Who's the genius that came up with that call sign? Why couldn't they come up with a better call sign like "Angel", "Condor", "Sky raider", "Linebacker" or even "Short stop"? Why did it have to be "Anaconda"?'

"Skull 2, this is Anaconda. We show your current GPS position as being less than 2 kilometers away from the pick-up point. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine Anaconda. Cover is still very thick but I should be seeing the tree line very soon"

":Skull 2, we're about less than 6 kilometers away from the rendezvous point. By the time you clear the tree line, we should be right on top of you."

"Roger Anaconda. I should be clearing the tree line within a couple of minutes."

The video screen showed Max making slow but steady progress through the thick jungle cover. Rick was getting nervous.

'Now I know what Lisa went through. You're doing good Max; you're doing a good job. Just a couple more meters and you're out.'

"Anaconda, this is Skull 2. I'm outside the tree line now."

"Roger Skull 2, we have a visual on you. Skull 2, there are just too many trees along the bank and there is not enough solid ground along the bank. We're dropping a rescue line and a basket down to you. Get ready to be hoisted up."

"Roger Anaconda. I'm standing by."

The voice of crew chief came over the speakers. "I am opening the door…attaching the basket to the line…pushing the basket outside….basket is outside, activate the winch…basket is dropping…steady…steady…steady…basket is on the ground…stop the winch…Skull 2 is getting in the basket…Skull 2 is the basket….start lifting…hold…hold…hold."

In the command center in Stuttgart Rick was listening to the rescue with bated breath while at the same time whispering encouragement to Miriya. "Hang on Miriya, hang on. Max is almost in the helicopter. He's almost safe."

Suddenly, sounds of bullets firing, zipping and zinging by and frightened voices shouting made everyone in the command center flinch.

"We're taking ground fire! I'm opening up with the 60!"

The helicopter pilot began shouting; "Where the Hell is our air cover? Where's the veritechs at?!"

"Hang on commander! Hang on! Just a few more feet! You're almost there!"

"Battle pods high above us on our 2 and closing in fast!"