Chapter 10: Chance Meeting
Their suspicions about the dark blue Valkyries ended up being proven sooner than the Gefion crew thought.
Leon, Alto, Roy and Mina had been out on a Hunter Guild mission, eliminating a band of Unified Forces deserters who had tried to organize themselves as a band of bandits called Golden Talon, and had just returned to the ship.
Leon had just finished his post-flight checks and had been arguing good-naturedly with Gerrol when he heard a long, admiring whistle from Roy.
"Now where did that gorgeous babe come from?" he said.
Leon turned to look at what had caught the elder pilot's attention and gasped.
"Hey, what the hell is the fighter that shot me down doing here?!"
A Few Minutes Earlier…
Aisha turned in her chair in the Gefion's small laboratory to face her guest. He was a tall man with long grey hair tucked behind his ears and had a cybernetic prosthetic that replaced his left eye. He wore a long white coat over a military uniform.
This man's name was Ushio Todo and he was the commander of the New Unified Forces task force, Havamal.
"I can't share all of the details but the information we needed came from the ruins, just as we thought," Todo said in a deep, stentorian voice. Unlike Aisha, he was standing across from her in the at-ease pose, although he made it seem like he was still at full attention.
"We've only just been able to do a thorough analysis ourselves," she replied.
"Though some of my staff questioned its use, we have managed to use what we've discovered to forcibly cross through the Aura faults. It's not a perfect approach and it has caused damage when the crossing is made."
"Still, it's impressive. I read the paper you published on subspace theory and its relation to fold faults. It's great that you've reached the testing phase so soon. Maybe Ouroboros' citizens won't have to be cut off from each other on their own planet any more."
"You deserve some of the credit as well, Colonel Blanchette. It's impressive what you've managed to achieve in the past three years."
"Which wouldn't have been possible if Havamal hadn't been excavating many of the ruins locations and set up research bases in the Julia Islands and Sierra Desert."
"Come now, you're too modest, Colonel."
"No, it's just that…"
"By the way, I've been curious about something," Todo's attitude, which had been fairly relaxed as far as he went, suddenly turned serious, "Records show that you're a pureblood Zentradi. Is that right?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?" replied Aisha, her lips curving into a slight frown.
"Hm… interesting." Todo stared off into space, seeming like he had figured out something he hadn't before. After a moment, just when the silence was becoming awkward, he snapped out of his reverie.
"Unfortunately I have business to attend to elsewhere. Please excuse…"
"Aisha! We're back!" Mina came bouncing into the room but halted in place when she realized that Aisha had a guest, "Oh! I'm sorry for interrupting!"
"It's fine, I was just about to leave, Miss…?"
"This is the daughter of a friend of mine who's helping as a part-timer. Mina, this is Commander Ushio Todo of the New Unified Forces,"
"Pleased to meet you, Commander Todo, I'm Mina Forte,"
"Specifically Commander of the Special Task Force Havamal and the honor is mine, Miss Forte. Colonel, I'll take my leave." And with that, Todo strode briskly out of the room. Aisha slumped a bit in her chair, conscious now of how tense she'd become when Mina had walked in.
"That was a bit close. For now I'd prefer if Commander Todo didn't know who you are, Mina," she said.
"You don't?"
"Commander Todo's task force is also investigating the ruins. I don't think he'd take you away from us but it's better to be careful."
"Take me away?! Why would he do that?"
"The Commander works for the military, which ultimately reports to the central government on Earth. Sometimes politics and bureaucracy don't always allow people to use their own judgement. If he was ordered to detain you because of your connection to the ruins and Protoculture… well, let's not dwell on that. Let's go check on Leon and the others."
Now…
Leon couldn't believe it. Sitting right there on the deck was the same dark blue YF-29B that had shot him down. Leon's breath hissed out through clenched teeth as he realized that the Percival was painted the same colors as the Valkyries from the other day.
"Hey, what the hell is the fighter that shot me down doing here?!"
"I see you're as undisciplined as ever."
Neither Leon nor Roy had noticed the pilot in a dark grey and blue-striped pilot suit until he had spoken. It seemed as if he had materialized out of nowhere like a ghost. It certainly felt like Leon had seen a ghost when he whipped around to face the pilot and his eyes widened in shocked recognition.
"Rod?! What are you doing here?" he gasped.
The white-haired, blue-eyed pilot didn't acknowledge Leon, instead turning to walk over to the YF-29.
"Hey! Don't turn your back on me! Answer me!"
"I have nothing to say to you," Rod replied, brusquely.
"You're the one who shot me down in orbit! I thought I recognized those moves," Leon said, stridently. Rod finally stopped and turned back to face Leon, a slight smirk curving his lips.
"After all these years, you still haven't changed that rough flying style."
"What'd you say?!"
"Captain Baltmer, we're heading out." Commander Todo had walked into the hangar and was regarding the developing confrontation with detached interest.
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Leon strode forward and clapped hand on Rod's shoulder.
"Is there a problem?" Todo asked, cocking the eyebrow over his good eye. Rod shrugged off Leon's hand and turned his back to him again.
"No problem at all," he said, coldly. Rod and Commander Todo climbed into the YF-29B as Leon stood rooted to the deck, hands clenched into fists. If the power of Leon's glare could have been made manifest, he would have burned a hole clear through Rod's Valkyrie. Leon hadn't even noticed that Aisha and Mina had also come into the hangar just in time to catch the last part of his confrontation with Rod. Both of them looked wide-eyed at Leon; The only time Aisha had seen Leon this angry was during the fight with Ganeth but Mina had never seen him like this before. And it kind of scared her.
"That was close. I almost thought you were going to hit that pilot, Leon," she said, sighing in relief.
"I wouldn't do something that dumb," Leon replied, tersely.
"Leon…" Mina said, shakily. Leon almost sounded like a completely different person to her, his tone hard and sharp.
After a moment or two, Leon sighed and his hands finally unclenched.
"Hey Aisha, who was that guy that Rod was with?" he asked.
"Commander Ushio Todo of Havamal. They've been investigating the ruins as well and we've been exchanging information."
"So that means that Rod is with them now?" Leon said, mostly to himself. He continued to stare in the direction that the YF-29 had departed in.
"It seems like you know him from somewhere?" Aisha said, tentatively.
"He is… was my best friend. Dammit! Next time we meet, Rod, I'm gonna get some answers!" he said, one hand clenching back into a fist and smacking into the opposite palm. Without another word, he turned and strode out of the hangar. Mina immediately followed after him but Aisha stayed behind. She felt that she probably should've stopped Mina; Leon clearly wanted to be alone for a little bit. She started slightly as Roy walked over to stand next to her.
"I'm sure you noticed that Valkyrie they were using had the same paint job as the fighters that attacked us?"
"Yes. And now the Commander of Havamal himself arrives to conveniently tell me that they have a way of breaking through the faults that have cut off areas of the planet? Can't be a coincidence."
"Maybe we just happened to run into some trigger-happy idiots in their ranks?" Roy asked. As much as he knew that the brass could be a pain in the butt, he wasn't enthusiastic about going up against even the future version of the military.
"Maybe… but we can't worry about them for now. We'll have to concentrate on our own plans."
"By the way, if you don't hurry after Leon, little Mina might steal him out from under you," said Roy, grinning from ear to ear.
Aisha's cheeks turned bright pink.
"I… I don't know what you're talking about, Major! Keep your weird theories to yourself!" she said with a huff. She turned and stomped off after Leon and Mina.
Roy sighed, still grinning.
"Ah, young love."
A/N: Fortunately, this chapter and the following one will be on the short side. After that there will be one more chapter and that will close out Part 2!
NEXT TIME ON MACROSS 30: Leon meets another legendary singer. It'll be a RADICAL FIRE!