We were in dire straits.
We were trapped in a cargo corridor on one of the Robotech Masters' ships. They had apparently increased the gravity; I could feel myself being pressed down. And some sort of armed and armored vehicle was facing us; someone from the ship, maybe even from the vehicle, had ordered us to surrender. What could we do, aside from waiting for reinforcements to come to the rescue?
"I got one shot," said Lieutenant Michael Meyers.
He fired something, and for less than a second, I saw something fly towards the open door on the wall of the cargo corridor.
Suddenly, a huge fireball erupted from the door, followed by the sound of an explosion; I briefly wondered if Mike's shot struck a fuel tank or an ammo dump.
I suddenly felt myself flying. I looked around, and I could see the blue ball of Earth! Apparently, I had been blown out of the ship; I recalled we had gone through an airlock and into a pressurized section of the ship. I felt like I was in a roller coaster, tumbling every which way.
I saw the hole on the side of the enemy ship. The enemy ship was huge, at least five miles across. There was debris still flying away from the hole in the ship. Among the debris were several hovertanks.
I looked towards Earth. I could see central America and the Florida peninsula. Looking closely, I could see Jamaica, even making out Montego Bay. I continued spinning around.
"Everyone okay?" asked Mike.
"Yeah," I said. "What about you?"
"Ahhh, my air tank's gone," he answered. "I'm losing air. I…."
"Mike!" I yelled, as if my voice could somehow cross the vacuum of space and keep him in the physical realm.
"Are you all right?" asked Lieutenant Shelby Porter.
"Mike lost his air tank!" I yelled. "You have to get him to a ship now!"
"This is the Gloval," I heard a voice say. "Anyone all right?"
"I have a hovertank driver who ran out of air," said Shelby. "Vector me in for a quick landing."
"Copy," said the voice from the Gloval. "Anyone else okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," I said. "I was with the task force boarding the ship."
"We'll send some Logans to retrieve you."
I looked and I could see Shelby's VF-11 Thunderbolt in battloid mode carrying Mike's hovertank. She was flying towards a carrier orbiting Earth.
"Thanks," said Mike.
"Save your breath," said Shelby.
I looked at my HUD; I still had enough air for a couple of hours. I made sure to take a look at my surroundings- the Earth, the moon, the ships from both sides, some of which were trading fire with each other. In the midst of it all, I knew that each explosion that I saw meant a life lost, maybe multiple lives. I could only hope this was the last battle.
I saw some aircraft flying towards us; I recognized them as VF-8 Logans. They transformed into battloid mode.
"This is Nimbus Squadron," said a voice, probably that of the squadron commander. "We're taking you to the Gloval."
One of them battloids grabbed my hovertank with its hands. Using its thrusters, it stopped me from spinning; I was beginning to feel a little loopy from the spinning.
I saw more detail as we approached the ship. I could see in bold lettering- U.E.S. HENRY J. GLOVAL HSRCV-036. There was a huge opening which was probably a landing bay. On the hull of the ship were weapons turrets. Flanking the ship were two cruisers.
The Logan battloid carried me into the flight deck of the ship. I looked and saw a window with people behind it. People in space suits walked around the flight deck. An elevator took us down to the hangar deck, where there were VF-8 Logans and other spacecraft parked inside, along with equipment and personnel. I could also see Shelby's VF-11 Thunderbolt parked in guardian mode.
"Okay," said the pilot. "The airlock is there."
Indeed, I could see the door with two lamps mounted on a wall next to it; one of the lamps glowed red. I waited for a few others to arrive.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"We're a bit sore, sir," said Staff Sergeant Kominski. "Executive Sergeant Wing is still on the ship."
I had wondered what was happening back on the enemy ship. Had Jack and the others defeated the enemy and disabled the ship from within.
Or were they dead?
I pressed a button next to the airlock door and looked at the airlock pressure gauge as it decreased. Once the pressure was near zero, the red lamp shut off and the green lamp turned on, and I opened the door. The airlock was a fairly large room, not as big as a cargo airlock, but enough to fit ten people or so. We went in and shut the door behind us. A light next to the door behind us turned from green to red, and I watched the airlock pressure gauge rise. Then the light on the door of the other side turned green, and I opened the door.
I emerged into the hallway on the other side, and removed my helmet, taking a deep breath. It was great to breathe free of the suit, even though technically the air inside the ship was enclosed.
"Welcome aboard the Henry J. Gloval, sir," said a sergeant in a crisp blue outfit, flanked by crewmen.
"Is Lieutenant Meyers, the man brought in here earlier, is he okay?" I asked.
"He was taken to the Emergency Medical Bay Five, sir."
"Can someone take us there, Sergeant?"
"Crewman, escort these soldiers to Medical Bay Five."
"Yes, Sergeant," replied one of the crewmen, a man with short-cropped blond hair a little younger than I was. "This way, sir," he said to me.
The crewman led us through a series of corridors. The corridors were bare of any furniture, with pipes and conduits overhead. Most of the people we passed through the corridor were dressed in a blue outfit similar to the one the crewman was wearing, and a few of them were wearing Spacy service khakis- a collared khaki shirt and khaki pants. I figured they were officers or the Spacy equivalent of sergeants major.
After taking an elevator, we went through another part of the ship that looked less industrial, with plaster walls and a tiled floor. We finally reached a glass door reading "MEDICAL BAY 5". Through the door I could see a small room serving as a lobby, with chairs, a wooden table, and a receptionist desk staffed by an orderly in blue overalls.
I entered the room and spoke to the orderly.
"Is Lieutenant Michael Meyers in?" I asked, introducing myself.
"Who?" asked the orderly.
"He was one of the people rescued by this ship; he was taken here."
"Yes, he is here, sir."
"Okay. Kominski, you're with me."
Another orderly, who was probably a junior Spacy corpsman, led us down a narrow hall. We entered one of the rooms, which looked like a miniature version of a hospital room, with white walls, a bed with a curtain, some chairs, and a television mounted on the wall.
Mike was laying on one of the beds, being attended to by another orderly in blue. He had a bandage on his head.
"Lieutenant," he said to me.
"How are you feeling, sir?" I asked.
"I feel lucky just to breathe." He took a deep breath. "Those few minutes after the air ran out."
I wondered what it must have been like, to inhale and feel that no air is coming in. It had some similarity to sucking on a straw after the cup is empty, but then again, breathing is a need for human life.
"Good thing we managed to get him here in time," I heard Shelby say. I looked and saw her sitting in a chair next to the door.
"Thank you," I said. A doctor in a white lab coat entered. I noticed the brass oak leaves on his collar, indicating that he was a lieutenant commander.
"Will he be all right, sir?" I asked.
"He looks as if he will make a full recovery in a day or two," replied the doctor. "We will need to keep him under observation overnight. We've been busy here this past day. If you can excuse me, Lieutenant."
"I'll probably be out of this bed before sunrise tomorrow morning," said Mike, smiling.
"That depends on how fast this ship is orbiting the Earth," answered Shelby.
"What do we do now, sir?" asked Staff Sergeant Kominski.
"Why are you asking me, Staff Sergeant?" I asked.
"You're the troop captain now, sir."
I was, with Mike now in bed, recuperating from his close encounter with death by suffocation. I felt nervous. I had been placed in charge of the troop, but in those past times I could hand the situation over to Mike if it was really serious. This time, I had to take care of whatever situation came.
"All right," I said. "Our first thing is to gather the troops for roll call, find out who is here and who is still on board the enemy ship. And one other thing, Staff Sergeant Kominski. Since Executive Sergeant Wing isn't here…" and might be dead, I didn't want to admit, "…you will act in his stead and stand by my side."
"Yes, sir," replied the staff sergeant.
"Then our first order of business is to secure temporary billeting for our troops. Staff Sergeant, take care of that."
"Yes, sir."
Oooooooo
An officer from the captain's staff had led us to this cargo room where our people could stay. The most obvious thing that I noticed was that the hovertanks were inside this room; it was apparently a vehicle garage. The room was bare of any furniture, and it was illuminated by lamps attached to the ceiling. I could smell this musty smell. Just down the hall from the room was a latrine, or what Spacy crewmen called a head.
All of the troops stood at attention. Twenty-three of us were here, including me and Staff Sergeant Kominski, while excluding Mike.
"All right then," I said. "Watch over the troops, Staff Sergeant. I will make contact with Mission Command. The rest of you can have some R&R. Don't cause any trouble."
"Yes, sir," replied the others.
And so I did. I asked the Spacy lieutenant in charge to have someone assist me in sending a message to mission command, and a corporal did just that, setting me up before an Internet terminal where I sent message to mission command.
Now all we could do is wait. We might have to go back to the enemy ship, or we might have to return to Moon Base ALuCE.
Oooooooooo
I woke up in a yet unfamiliar environment. It took a few seconds to remember that I was on the Spacy vessel Gloval.
"Everyone all right?" I asked.
"We're fine, sir," said Private First Class Philip Ducasse.
"Good," I said. "We will wait for breakfast."
I then heard a voice call out my name. I recognized that voice.
"Lieutenant Meyers," I said, facing Mike, who was dressed in his MARPAT camouflage. Everyone else in the room snapped at attention.
"All right, people," said Mike. "I got a message from the ship's captain."
"What is it, sir?" I asked.
"The enemy ship had unconditionally surrendered. The Gloval will dock with the enemy ship, and we shall board to join the rest of the battalion. Also, Major Emerson has sent a message to us. He is alive and well, as are Master Sergeant Avital and Executive Sergeant Wing. We will take these hovertanks and go through the cargo docking port and into the enemy ship."
"So there will be no hostiles?" asked Kominski.
"They laid down their arms and troops already occupy the ship. We will meet with Major Emerson."
And so we did. We all suited up and got into the hovertanks, making sure they were all working. Then we went out into the Gloval's cargo corridor. A Jeep led the way to the cargo docking port.
After passing through, we were once again on board the ship. A few more hivertanks were awaiting us.
"Executive Sergeant Wing," said Mike.
"Major Emerson told me to greet you, sir," said Executive Sergeant Wing, sitting in the cockpit of his hovertank. "I am to escort you to the core of this ship."
"They all surrendered?" I asked.
"Yes, sir. I was surprised as Major Emerson was."
We all followed Sergeant Wing as he led us through the wide cargo corridors of the enemy ship. After a few minutes, we emerged into what appeared to be a cityscape. There were these buildings rising high, some apparently made from concrete, others apparently made from glass and steel. Footbridges several stories high connected some of the buildings, supported by arches. Lampposts lined the streets, which appeared to be paved with concrete. Small trees grew from out of the sidewalks.
"Wow," said Private Ducasse. "It's almost like what Macross City was."
"This is where the crew lived?" asked another soldier.
I also noticed people in strange clothes standing on the street. None of them appeared to be armed, and they looked at us but did not interfere. Any of them who wanted to interfere were most likely dissuaded by armored troops bearing rifles, who stood at street corners and other strategic locations.
"Here we are," said Wing. We stopped at what appeared to be a city park, with grass and trees. For a moment I realized the plants here would be of alien species.
We all stood before Major Jack Emerson, who was clad in MARPAT camouflage. He was flanked by Lieutenant Chalmers and Master Sergeant Rebekah Avital.
"Good to have you join us," said Jack.
"Some of us were hurt, but we're fine now, sir," answered Mike.
"Good," said Jack. "Right now, we are in control of this enemy ship. They had surrendered; there are no reports of any pockets of resistance on board this vessel. Lieutenant Meyers, I expect a debriefing of what happened since you were separated."
"We saw interesting things, sir," said Mike. "There was some sort of flower being grown somewhere in the ship, outside of the city."
"I am sure you and your XO can submit fully detailed reports to me in writing."
I heard the rumbling sound of an approaching engine, rumb and saw a Jeep approach. Many of the soldiers and Space Marines stood and saluted. I did too, upon seeing who was in the Jeep.
Supreme Commander Anatole Leonard himself was in the Jeep, dressed in MARPAT camouflage and with a hat covering his bald head. With him were a few other military personnel, including General Rolf Emerson, the commander of the Robotech Defense Forces Command. Leonard and Emerson returned our salutes.
"We certainly got the attention of the real big shots," said Mike.
I nodded in agreement. I also noticed how huge Leonard was, compared to the others. Another officer joined Leonard and his escort, and they walked away.
"Okay, people," said Jack. "Back to work."
We had accomplished a major victory in capturing one of the enemy's largest vessels. But even as we set up watch details and conducted routine duties in holding this ship, we knew that the enemy had not been beaten into space dust. What was our next move?
What was their next move?
And what would happen if our moves were to collide?