"..I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Dana Sterling had been waiting for this moment for years.
Her heart beat rapidly under her chest, which was under a white wedding down.
It was about to happen.
She looked at the man in the tuxedo before her, with black hair on top of his head and a short-cropped black beard.
That man had just become her husband.
Georgious Katsulas kissed her for the first time as her husband. Dana savored every moment of that kiss.
They walked down together at the aisle. Many of the fine-clad guests took pictures from cameras and smart phones.
Dana briefly looked at George's father and stepmother.
Dana glanced at some of the guests she had known for a long time- Bowie, Musica, Marie, Sean, Louis, Angelo. They all look happy to see their longtime friend married. They had been through so much together.
Then after the ceremony was the reception, with food and drink served by people in white coats and black bowties, polished black shoes covering their feet. There was so much joy and merriment.
The newest Mrs. Katsulas raised a toast.
"And one more toast to those who could not be with us," she said. While there were many people who could not be here, Dana thinks of her younger brother, Steven Michael Sterling, whose evacuation shuttle had been shot down during the Evacuation.
For three seconds, sadness filled her.
She smiled. "And so we must celebrate as much as we can today, for them."
"A toast to them," said Bowie, clad in his crisply-pressed tuxedo. raising his glass of champagne.
The others follow.
ooooooooo
"We are ready to assemble our pieces for our next move," says General Gunther Reinhardt of the United Nations Air Force, speaking via an encrypted channel to the SDF-3 Pioneer, his image being slightly pixelated as is common with these type of transmissions. "We can move within twelve hours."
"We discussed this down on Tirol, Reinhardt," answers Admiral Rick Hunter, standing inside one of the Pioneer's conference room. "We need to test Neutron-S."
"I've reviewed troop and fleet strength as you have," replies the Air Force general. "Our intel all but confirms the Regency does not have any reserves out there, unlike six years ago. They have had two weeks to prepare, only because we needed two weeks."
"The test should not take more than half a day. The Deukalion is already folding towards the test site with Neutron-S. Take the SDF-4 and fold to our fallback in the Sol system. We will only need twelve hours. If you do not hear anything from us by then, make the first move without us."
"Yes, sir."
"We still need our advisory group here," says Hunter. He had been informed that weather has delayed the flight ferrying the others."
A device mounted on the wall beeps. The admiral presses a button on the touch screen. "Admiral Hunter here."
"Sir, the shuttle ferrying our other guests is expected to dock in twenty minutes," says Third Lieutenant Ernest Johnson, who is assigned to the bridge.
"Understood."
Colonel Dana Sterling listens intently. She knows that Dr. Emil Lang, humanity's premier robotechnologist, is among those on the shuttle. She had worked with the man on more than one occasion ever since the Evacuation of Earth thirteen years ago.
Ooooooooo
Once again, Captain Rodrigo Ramirez is down at the flight deck to greet his newest very important guests aboard the Pioneer. Standing aside him is Chief Master Space Sergeant Bryan Hart, a man whom he had worked with occasionally over the past ten years.
"You are permitted to come aboard," says the captain.
He looks at Dr. Emil Lang, a man appearing in his early seventies, yet has the carriage of a man in his youth. Thin white hair covers the old man's head.
"Thank you, Captain," he answers. He had met the current SDF-3 captain before, a man with black hair and olive-complected skin, appearing to be in his mid-thirties.
He glances at the others who had come with him, who would observe the testing of the new weapon.
"Admiral Hunter is waiting," says Ramirez. "I shall escort you to him."
And so he does, walking through corridors and riding people movers and elevators. It takes but a few minutes for them to reach the conference room where Hunter and his advisors await.
"Hello, Dr. Lang," says the admiral. The rest of his advisors also look at the robotechnologist
Colonel Dana Sterling looks at one of the people who had accompanied Dr. Lang. The woman wears a gray jacket, white blouse, and gray skirt. She has shoulder-length green hair.
She is Miriya Parino Sterling, her mother.
The Army colonel frowns.
"all right," says Admiral Hunter. "Our endgame with the Invid Regency is fast approaching. As some of you may know, the bulk of the Regency's forces are on Earth. We need to strike at them before the Invid manages to establish supply bases far from the Sol system.
"Our contingency plan, in case the Invid manage to repel the counter-invasion, is to deploy the Neutron-S missile, based upon a long-lost technology called the Shadow."
Lang nods. He had examined some of the Shadow artifacts that the Haydonites had recovered.
"We will need to test these weapons. We're taking the SDF-3 to the Omicron Sector. There is an uninhabited ice giant planet there which can serve as our testing ground. Intel indicates that the Robotech Masters of old once used that planet as an orbital bombing range. The science vessel Deukalion will meet us there. We depart now."
Hunter walks to a panel on the bulkhead of the conference room. "Bridge, this is Hunter," he says. "Let us fold to the test site right now."
"Aye aye, sir," says Captain Ramirez.
The bridge crew all look at the instruments, making sure the hyperspace fold drive is ready.
"Fold coordinates entered," says Lieutenant Johnson.
"fold drive ready," says a staff sergeant.
"Initiate hyperspace fold," says the captain.
Everything on board seems to divide into two, an artifact of hyperspace folding.
The robotech battle fortress is surrounded by a glow.
And it disappears from the regular four-dimensional spacetime.
"Everyone is dismissed," says Hunter. "We will reconvene in the fleet command center once we make contact with the Deukalion."
"Aye aye, sir," reply the uniformed military personnel.
Miriya looks at her daughter. "Oh, hi Dana," she says.
"While on this mission, I expect to be addressed as Colonel Sterling," she replies.
"I understand."
"Let us focus on the upcoming test."
ooooooooo
In orbit around an ice giant planet in the Omicron Sector, spacetime ripples. There is a glow, and the SDF-3 Pioneer defolds from hyperspace. Inside the crew on the nav bridge look at their instruments to confirm their position.
"We are in orbit around the projected coordinates," says Lieutenant Johnson. "Conducting preliminary scans of the planet below."
"Understood," says Captain Ramirez.
"We are being hailed, Captain," says another lieutenant. "It's the Deukalion, sir."
"This is the Pioneer," says the captain. "The admiral is aboard and we will notify him. Please standby." He then looks around. "We're about to witness a weapons test. Yellow alert."
Ramirez sits in the leather chair at his console. Every fiber of his being, every heartbeat, is focused on this weapons test.
Not long afterward, Admiral Hunter and his staff gather in the Pioneer's fleet command center. From its beginnings nearly a quarter century ago, a fleet- or even a war- can be commanded from here via sophisticated electronics communication equipment.
"Deukalion to Pioneer," says Captain Wang. "we are ready for the test."All scanners working perfectly."
Dana's heart races. She had seen the warheads developed from this Shadow technology, though she left it to those like Dr. Lang to fully understand it. It would be a dreadful weapon to use.
Is Steve still alive, down there on Earth?
And yet, letting the Invid Regency keep Earth is not an option.
"We are ready to conduct the test," says Ramirez. "Distance from target fourteen thousand klicks. Orbital period twenty-five days"
There is so much tension in the room.
The speaker is on.
"Begin the test now," says Admiral Hunter.
Commands are relayed to the missile crew, and they flip switches and press buttons while looking at instruments.
"Target selected," says the enlisted woman who is in charge of the team.
"Open fire," says Ramirez.
She lifts a plastic lid and presses a red button.
An object emerges from a narrow tube embedded in the Pioneer's hull. It is sort of shaped like a mushroom cap. Thrusters propel it to the giant ball of water, hydrocarbon, and ammonia ice below.
The captain stays alert as he sits in his leather seat. His heart races.
"Engage omnidirectional barrier system," he says.
A green translucent glowing sphere appears around the robotech battle fortress. A similar sphere also appears around the four hundred meter long Deukalion.
"We have a communication from Moon Base AluCE for Admiral Hunter," says a sergeant.
"I'll take it," replies the admiral. He walks to a corner.
Colonel Sterling continues to listen along with the others as the test warhead descends into the hydrogen atmosphere of the ice giant.
The command staff of the Deukalion also listen in, making sure to scan everything with their instruments.
They all know once the test is successful, they will fold to the Sol system to start the final battle to liberate Earth.
The "top" of the "mushroom" cap separates. It descends into the hydrogen atmosphere blanketing the planet.
The test warhead code-named Neutron-S continues to plummet. The special coating protects it from the heat of the re-entry friction.
The computer systems inside the warhead start the detonation sequence.
The warhead is soon disintegrated by powerful, incredible energies that transcend four dimensional spacetime.
There is a bright flash.
And then both the Pioneer and the Deukalion are struck by a cloud of debris! Their barrier systems collapse in microseconds.
Everyone on both ships know something had just gone terribly wrong.