Macross 1/2
Part 2
By Tailkinker
[email protected]

---

COMMAND

Ranma dropped the Valkyrie onto the deck of the Promotheus and taxied over to the lift lock. He pulled out his thermos--a specially designed one with a built-in heater--and changed back to male. When the lift lock had cycled, he hopped out of the cockpit and ran for the door.

"Hold it, Saotome."

He skidded to a stop and turned to face Commander Hayes.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I'm looking for a volunteer for an experimental project."

Ranma knew damn well that that meant he'd already volunteered.

"Ah, what project, ma'am?"

"We have a class of Valkyrie pilots graduating in a week. Seventeen of these are female. Two are new recruits; the rest are former RDF personnel who signed up to pilot Valkyries and were...disappointed. Lieutenant Grant and I want to form a new squadron. I'm authorized to give you command of that squadron."

Good, not as bad as he'd feared. "Okay, Commander, count me in. Who'll be replacing me in Green Squadron?"

"Captain Kramer, from Skull Squadron. Some of the graduating class are going into Skull to fill some holes anyway, including your buddy Hunter." She tossed him an envelope. "Here are your orders. Oh, and you've got a five-day leave, starting now. Enjoy it."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Dismissed."

~Why do I have a bad feeling about this?~

* * * * *

Ranma walked into the White Dragon and over to the Skull table. Granted, he had not flown as part of Skull Squadron in two months, but he was always welcomed by the long-time Skull pilots.

Currently only Roy and Mark Kramer were at the table.

"Hey, Kramer. Want some hot gossip?" Ranma sat down at the table.

"Sure." Kramer grinned. "Who's it about?"

"You."

"Really? Do tell."

"Word has it you're getting your own command again."

"What squadron?"

"Green."

Roy squinted. "Isn't that your squadron, kid?"

"Was. Apparently, I've been transferred to a new squadron full of trainees."

"Hey, that says a lot about the brass' opinion of you, kid. Normally, trainees are assigned a commander with a hell of a lot of experience. And to give you a squad of nothing but trainees..."

"Yeah, well..." Ranma shrugged.

The door opened, and Akane walked in, grinning from ear to ear.

"Excuse, me, Lieutenant." Ranma moved to allow Kramer to stand. Kramer walked around to the other side of the table and sat next to Roy, leaving a blank spot right next to Ranma. Akane scowled at all three of them, but took the spot.

"Well, I've officially graduated flight school and Valkyrie training. Graduation ceremony's tomorrow, then I get four days of leave. And I've already been posted to a new squadron."

"Really?" Ranma grinned a bit. "They told you who your commanding officer will be?"

"All Lieutenant Grant said is that she was a 'shit-hot pilot with more brass than a Flag Officer's Ward Room', end quote."

"Uh...she?"

"Yeah. Apparantly, it's an all-female squadron, right down to the CO."

"Kuso..." Ranma tore into the packet and pulled out his orders. Sure enough, it directed the formation of a new fighter squadron, all female, to be under the command of...

"Ranko Saotome?" Kramer frowned. "Hey, you got a sister, Lieutenant?"

"I hate my life...I hate my life..."

Akane laughed. "So THAT's who she meant!" She picked up a glass of water and dumped it on Ranma's head. "Captain, this is Saotome Ranko, Ranma's...ah...sister."

* * * * *

Ranma banged on Commander Hayes' Quarters' door.

"Can I help you, Captain?"

He whirled, to find himself face to face with the Commander. Apparantly, she'd been out, probably at the Gym, judging from her attire.

"Commander, is this some kind of sick joke?"

"What exactly do you mean, Saotome?"

"I've been posted to an all-female squadron! Hell, I've been put in command of an all-female squadron! I'm a guy, damnit!"

"Apparantly, you're not a guy one hundred percent of the time. Look, why don't you come in for a minute, and I'll try to explain this a little better."

Ranma scowled, and nodded. Commander Hayes unlocked her door, and ushered him in. Five minutes passed while Hayes made a pot of tea as Ranma fidgeted. Finally, the Commander sat down opposite Ranma and started to speak.

"The Angel Squadron concept began when I discovered that you could change genders basically at will. When I heard that you could interface with the Mecha better in female form. And when I heard from Major Fokker that females make better fighter pilots. You stated that you couldn't notice any difference in things like pain threshold, gee tolerance et cetera when you flew as a female. I've seen your dossier, Captain. As a martial artist, you would have trained above levels normally attainable by either male or female. In fact, I'm willing to bet that your tolerances are so high that any benefits gained in female form are simply coals to Newcastle.

"This concept of an all-female fighter squadron was furthered when I interviewed several women in the RDF. Mostly those who were showing dissatisfaction with their current duties. Many women did join the RDF expecting to pilot Mecha. Your fiancee is one of those.

"Of course, it stands to reason that in an all-female fighter squadron, the pilots would resent a male commander..."

"Did you forget that my fiancee knows about the curse?"

"No...but will your fiancee tell anyone about it?"

"Probably not...but did you forget that the ward room of a fighter squadron only has one change area?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Suppose that, in my female form, I were to walk into the ladies' room in a restaurant downtown...and you were in there."

"Mmm...Good point. And your fiancee is a lot better trained in hand to hand than I am. I'll talk to Construction, get them to put in a separate compartment for you."

"Won't work, Commander. All that'll do is reinforce negative feelings between me and the squadron." He considered for a moment. "I'm just gonna have to tell 'em. Make sure they know what's goin' on. Ya gotta keep the faith, y'know? Get that extra compartment put in anyway."

* * * * *

"Good morning."

The ward room was barely controlled chaos. Seventeen females of different sizes and appearances sat talking among themselves. When Ranma spoke, however, they fell silent.

"Before we start, I have something to tell you. I'm your commanding officer--"

One girl, only sixteen from the looks of her, jumped up. "Sir, I thought we were to be given a female CO?"

Ranma poured some water on his head. "As you can see, I'm a female part time."

There were immediate and loud complaints from at least half of the pilots. Ranma waited them out, then jerked a thumb towards a door behind him. "That's my change room. So you don't have to worry about me using my gender changing curse to peek on you or nothin'."

"Just our luck, we got a pervert for a CO," grumbled one girl.

"What's your name, girl?"

"HUH? Uh, Kanzaki Shoko, sir."

"Corporal Kanzaki, you can get this straight right now. It's a curse that makes me change gender. I'm not happy about it, and I'd get rid of it if I could. In this case, however, my bad fortune is your good fortune. Commander Hayes decided that I should lead this squadron and ensure that the pilots in it are the best in the whole damn fleet. She decided this because despite my curse, I have been flying fighters for two years now, and have over two hundred and fifty hours of combat. Need I remind you that bad pilots are weeded out in the first five minutes of combat?"

The room was completely silent. Not one of the girls present had seen combat at all.

"In a war, a unit needs to have complete confidence in their commander. I made sure all of you knew about this curse now, because it would sure as hell make you madder if you found out about it later.

"Now then. I still have to organize this Squadron." She turned to the whiteboard and started jotting down names, both in Roman script and Kanji. When she was done, the names were organized into three columns. "These are the flight assignments. They are based on your simulator scores. The two strongest pilots are lead for their respective flights. The five weakest pilots are under my lead."

"Uh, sir...ma'am..."

"Better make it ma'am, at least in public."

"Yes, ma'am...Why not have the five strongest pilots under your command?"

"What would they learn then? And who would the weakest learn from?"

"Oh...right."

"Good. Then the flight leaders, besides myself, are Tendo Akane and Kanzaki Shoko. You'll be breveted to Warrant as soon as possible. Kanzaki, I don't have your dossier yet...are you a martial artist?"

"Uh...yes sir. Aikido, First Rank."

"Ah. Martial artists tend to make better Valkyrie pilots. Now, as to our first mission. We've been given a simple one first off, and I intend to make the most of what's normally wasted time. We have close patrol duty today. That means we'll be within visual range of the SDF-1 at all times. That also means that we have no actual navigation do be done. We just fly around the damn ship. Suit up and report to the launch deck."

---

THUNDER

"The Macross is attempting to make use of Uranus' gravitation in a interference in the rings. The main reason we're not is that we're made up entirely of new graduates, so the powers that be don't think we've got enough experience. Personally, I think they're right."

"Nice to know you've got some confidence in us, ma'am."

"Hey, I've got every confidence in you. I just also realize that none of you has ever flown combat before. I, on the other hand, have seen far too much of it. I'd really rather not fly combat ever again."

The eighteen Valkyries of the newly-named Angel Squadron had drawn close patrol. As far as Ranma was concerned, this was the most boring job a fighter pilot could have. So, Ranma, secure in the knowledge that ANYTHING could become training, decided to put the girls to work.

As a result, the Valkyries were flying heel-and-toe follow the leader around the battlecruiser. Each Valkyrie was expected to keep a distance of two thousand meters, plus or minus two hundred, from the one before it. Radar and laser rangefinders were used to keep track of distances, and all the Valkyries uploaded their tracking data to Angel One.

"Yamagami, close it up. I've got a two point three klick gap showing there."

Ranma, of course, was not giving them an easy ride. So far, the hectic parade had buzzed the tower of the Promotheus, flown between the barrels of the railguns mounted on the Macross' 'shoulder' joints, flown between the massive booms of the reflex cannon itself, and even buzzed the Fortress' bridge. So far, they had drawn six complaints from various personnel for dangerous flying.

Ranma knew damn well that none of those complaints would ever materialize on paper in front of him. After all, this was training. He had learned at Kadena that even top brass turned a blind eye to trainees buzzing automobiles, flying under bridges, and using ECM gear to annoy civilian police radar traps. Anyone who couldn't buzz a car, fly under a bridge, or spoof the dinky little cop radars couldn't be relied upon in real combat.

So far, the girls had proven really good. Compared even to him, they were doing better than any other first-time Valkyrie pilot. Of course, how well they'd do in combat was another story altogether, and remained to be seen.

Ranma had also thoughtfully arranged for each Valkyrie to be carrying a load of paint balls in the gun pods. Each fighter carried live ammo in the leg clips, but the initial load was training rounds. As extra incentive for avoiding fire, each pilot was expected to clean the paint, frozen in the depths of space, off of her fighter.

But that was for later.

"Captain. We have an audience."

Ranma glanced at the Flight Net. Angel Two, a Canadian girl named Amy Clark, had focused her imaging gear towards the bow of the Daedalus, where a Valkyrie hovered in Gerwalk. Its colours showed it to be part of the Blue Squadron.

"Hmmm...wonder what he wants?"

Ranma flicked the Tac Net to Blue's frequency.

"Angel One to Blue Fighter near Daedalus. Enjoying the show?"

"Of course, Angel One. When first I heard that an all female squadron was formed, I could not rest until I had feasted mine eyes upon the spectacle."

The Blue pilot spoke in antiquated Japanese. His image in the Tac Net screen showed only his eyes, the rest of his face being obscured by his helmet. And those eyes were incredibly arrogant.

"Ain't much to look at with all of us in armour."

"But is it not true that the beauteous Tendo Akane is part of this squadron?"

"Oh, Kami-sama, not him, not now..."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Corporal Tendo...Can you explain this guy?"

"Ah...personal problem, ma'am. Just ignore him."

"Right. Angels, let's get back to work."

"Hold, Angel One. You must not merely ignore the great Kuno Tatewaki, rising star of the U. N. Spacy, the Blue Thunder of Macross."

"Where does this guy get his lines? Look, pal, shove off. Now. You're buggin' my pilots."

"For so fair a lass, you seem quite fierce. Shall we spar?"

Ranma ground her teeth. This guy was REALLY pushing his luck.

"I promise, I shall go easy on you."

"That's it. Angel Two, give this guy your gun."

"Huh?"

"Kuno, that gun pod is loaded with paint balls. First tag is a loss."

"I accept thy challenge."

Kuno grabbed the gun pod from Angel Two, and shifted to Soldier mode. Ranma did the same, and the two titanic figures faced off with each other.

Kuno was the first to move. A snap of the wrist, and a short blast of paint balls leapt from his cannon.

And flew through empty air. Ranma had already flipped his Mecha around and was coming up on Kuno's back. Kuno rolled his fighter, shifted to Gerwalk and widened the gap.

The fight proceeded, Kuno snapping short bursts at Ranma, and failing to connect. Each time, Ranma succeeded in simply being elsewhere, and steadfastly refused to return fire.

In the cockpit of Angel Seven, Akane smirked. She'd sparred with Ranma some time back. Since both fought using the Anything Goes style, it had made sense to test their skills against one another. And much as was currently happening to Captain Kuno, she'd not managed to lay a finger on him. In fact, he'd won the match, with a single finger placed on the back of her head.

Eventually, Kuno's gun pod spooled on empty. He cursed, and reached for a replacement clip, forgetting that his own ammo was live.

Ranma thought his Mecha through a back flip kick that would have made Bruce Lee green with envy, knocking the replacement clip out of Kuno's grasp. He then proceeded to empty his own gun pod into Kuno's Mecha, painting a large Kanji across the chest of the Valkyrie. He jetted back, and admired his handiwork.

"INCOMPETENT"

"That was a nice little game, Kuno, but you better run along home now."

Laughter flooded the Tac Net as Kuno, shaking with rage, left the battlefield.

"Okay, kids, enough play time. Let's get back to work."

* * * * *

"I shall not tolerate it! The commander of the Angel Squadron - a mere female! - has mocked the name of Kuno Tatewaki! It cannot be allowed to pass!"

"Stow it, Kuno. And keep scraping that paint! Sounds to me like you got exactly what you deserved."

"Silence, knave! I must plot my revenge!"

* * * * *

"Officer on the deck!"

Angel Squadron, whose members had been chatting among themselves, snapped to attention as their commanding officer entered the briefing room. Beside Ranma was Lisa Hayes, first officer of the SDF-1. Ranma saluted the Commander, then stepped aside to allow her the floor.

"At ease. As you all know, it was my decision and my project to create this squadron. I have read Lieutenant Saotome's efficiency reports, and I have decided that this squadron was, overall, a good idea. Your squadron has consistently outperformed any other in your class, and even a few existing units such as Blue or Sepia."

Cheers rung throughout the briefing room. Commander Hayes waited until they died down. "Therefore it is my pleasure to announce that Angel Squadron will be the first fully operational Valkyrie Squadron composed entirely of female pilots. Congratulations; your assignment here is permanent. A new squadron, Firefly Squadron, will take over training of the next batch of female pilots, and the Captain has authorized the formation of further all-female squadrons.

"Furthermore, I am authorized to issue promotions to all of you to Sergeant, and to Tendo Akane and Kanzaki Shoko to the rank of Lieutenant, Second Class, and to Saotome Ranko to Captain. Increase in pay grade for all these ranks is immediate and permanent."

This time, the cheers were deafening. Hayes stepped away from the front, and Ranma took her place.

"So much for the good news. Now for the bad. Mayor Luan has announced a beauty pageant to choose a Miss Macross. Also, we've been ordered to take three days R-and-R. Oh, and need I remind you that we've got most of the female talent on this ship tied up in this room alone? It wouldn't break my heart if Angel Squadron also took that prize."

Chuckles.

"Get out of here. Enjoy your leave."

The pilots filed out of the room, and Lisa crumpled.

"Did that sound as insipid and stupid to you as it did to me?"

"Well, you were blowing your own horn a bit, but other than that..."

"Thanks." She grimaced. "I hate addressing crowds. Oh, and here." Commander Hayes handed Ranma an envelope. "Promotion for your male side as well."

"Thanks." She shook his head. "I'd hate to be the one having to deal with the paperwork on this one.

"Oh, as to dealing with things...You need to learn to think before you speak. If I were you, I'd expect some backlash on that line."

* * * * *

"Well, you heard what the Major said, right? She wants one of us to enter the beauty pageant, right?"

Akane frowned at Shoko. "You're not thinking of making me enter, are you?"

"No...Nothing that nice. I was thinking of entering Captain Saotome."

Akane grinned. "I like this plan..."

---

SERENDIPITY

The door to the White Dragon slammed open, and the bandannaed, backpack-carrying individual framed in the doorway bellowed, "WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW?"

Minmei looked up in surprise at the intruder. He was dressed in a yellow sweater and green pants, and carried a red bamboo umbrella. "Why, you're in the White Dragon Restaurant, home of the best Chinese cuisine in Macross City."

"Macross City? You mean this isn't Nerima?"

Minmei blinked.

"Where can I find Saotome Ranma?"

"Yo, you lookin' for me?"

The stranger turned towards Ranma, who was just standing up near the Skull Squadron table, and raised the umbrella.

"Ranma! Prepare to die!"

"Huh?"

Ranma jumped backwards as the stranger brought his umbrella down on the table, demolishing it completely. Fokker, Kramer and Hunter, who were sitting with Ranma, stared at the remains of their favourite table. As one, they turned their gaze to Ranma's attacker.

"Um...Sorry?"

* * * * *

Fokker dropped the badly beaten stranger into a chair, then passed a fifty dollar bill to Minmei. "Sorry about the other tables."

Ranma sat down opposite his erstwhile opponent. "Now. You wanna explain why it is that you attacked me?"

The stranger glared at him. "Curse you, Ranma. Because of your cowardice, I HAVE SEEN HELL!" He leaped forward, hands extended towards Ranma's throat.

Fokker interrupted the stranger's lunge, by simply pulling him back down into the chair. "You better have at least a halfway decent story, punk. Nobody accuses a Skull of cowardice. At least, not twice. Who the hell is this guy, kid?"

Ranma studied the stranger. "I'm not really sure. He seems familiar..."

"Just answer me this, Ranma. Why did you run out on our man to man fight?"

Ranma snapped his fingers. "Hibiki Ryouga! How're ya doin', man?"

"So you do know him."

"Yeah, Ryouga and I were in junior high school together for about a year before my father and I went off on another training trip. I used to help him find his way to school."

"Ah...Find his way...?"

"Yeah. Poor guy's got no sense of direction at all."

Roy nodded. "And what about this man to man fight?"

"Well, I waited three days at the appointed place..."

Ryouga snorted. "Oh, sure. But by the time I got there on the fourth day, you'd already turned tail and run!"

"Ryouga, why did it take you four days to get to the vacant lot behind your house?"

"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO--"

Fokker pushed Ryouga back into his chair. "I'd advise you to calm down, sir. Now then. It seems to me that you defaulted on your little fight. As Saotome's commanding officer, I am hereby ordering him to accept victory in that fight. And I am ordering YOU to accept your loss."

"But you aren't my commanding officer. You can't order me to do anything."

"You wanna go another round?"

Ryouga looked at the four jet jockeys standing around him. Kramer cracked his knuckles in his palm and grinned at Ryouga.

It was not a nice grin.

"All right, fine. I accept my loss in that fight. But that's not all you have to pay for, Ranma. After you left, I followed you all the way to China!"

"Oh, no. Don't tell me you went to Jushenkyo."

"You mean he's got a curse like yours?" Fokker grinned. "Too bad, huh?"

"Maybe, but maybe not. I mean, Pop's cursed too, but he don't change into no girl. He changes into a panda."

Roy guffawed. "So what about you, little boy? What do you change into?"

Kramer grabbed a glass of water. "One way to find out, eh, Roy?"

Ryouga looked at the glass, then burst out of Roy's grip.

"Get him!"

Ryouga jumped over the counter and ran into the kitchen. The pilots followed him.

"Where the hell did he go?"

The kitchen was empty. Nobody noticed the yellow sweater and green pants in one corner.

Roy shrugged. "Well, his backpack and umbrella are still here. He'll be back."

* * * * *

"You're joking! Please, tell me you're kidding about this!"

Ranma, Akane and Shoko were seated in the Angel Squadron's off-duty lounge. Akane had just dropped the Miss Macross application on the coffee table in front of Ranma.

"Nope. Sorry, 'Ranko'. You wanted someone in our squadron to enter the contest. Looks like you got the tap."

"Forget it! I'm not doing it! I'm a guy, dammit!"

Akane poked one of Ranma's breasts. "You don't look much like a guy at the moment."

Ranma grabbed his thermos and upended it over his head.

"Hmm, your thermos seems to be empty." Shoko smirked. "I wonder how that could have happened?"

Ranma cursed and cast aside the thermos. "Just forget it. There ain't no way you're gonna make me do this. Why don't you sign up, Shoko? I know why Akane isn't."

"Oh? And why is that, Ranma?"

"Because there's no way you'd win-"

-THUMP-

Akane grinned as she set down the large mallet. "All right, I'll make you a deal. We both sign up. Whoever wins gets squadron lead for a week."

"Hmm...Not like it'd be a transfer of command, just lead in all exercises...You got a deal!"

"Hey, for that kind of deal, I'll sign up as well." Shoko grinned. "It'd be nice to give you orders for a switch."

"Then it's settled." Akane dropped two more applications on the table. "Let's get these filled out. By the way, Ranma, my father wants you to come over for dinner tonight. I already explained to him about the curse."

"Joy."

"Well, don't sound so enthusiastic."

"Look, Akane, your dad really doesn't like me."

"Nonsense. He likes you just fine. Nabiki likes you too."

"Huh? When did I meet your sisters?"

"In the shelter. Remember? Kasumi was the one bandaging your head, and Nabiki was the one selling you the painkillers..."

"Oh. Right. Memory's a bit fuzzy about that time; musta been the mallet upside the head."

"You want another? Keep begging for it!"

* * * * *

"Hold!"

Ranma stopped and looked over to the speaker. It was a tall man dressed in a blue gi jacket and black hakama. Slung over his back was a bokken.

"Something I can do for you?"

"You will address me as Captain."

"Sorry, sir. How may I help you, Captain?" Ranma avoided glancing down at his own rank insignia.

"I just noticed you leaving the Angel Squadron ready room."

Ranma glanced at the door he had just exited. "Yes, sir. There a problem with that?"

"Surely you know that the Angel Squadron is composed entirely of females?"

"Well, yes, that had crossed my mind..."

"Then why were you in there?"

"Why not?"

The man purpled. "Your insolence is completely unbecoming an officer. What is your name, knave?"

Ranma grinned. He was CERTAIN that he knew who this guy was. "Saotome Ranma. And you're Kuno Tatewaki, right?"

"You will address me as Captain!"

"Why?" This time Ranma did glace down to his own insignia.

Kuno did not notice. "It is my rank, and you must show respect to those of higher station than yourself!"

"And what does that have to do with you?"

Kuno finally took the time to take in Ranma's insignia. The rank bars. The two rows of chicken guts. And the Skull Squadron patch.

"I...apologize. Please deliver this to the CO of the Angel Squadron."

Kuno handed the letter to Ranma and beat a hasty retreat.

* * * * *

"Hi, Minmei!"

"Hi yourself, Saotome! The usual?"

"Nope, just a couple of egg rolls today."

"Coming up." Minmei bounced into the kitchen. Ranma dropped into a chair at the Skull Squadron's table.

"So. Did Ryouga ever turn up again?"

Roy shook his head. "No. His pack and stuff is still behind the counter. Minmei even found a change of his clothes in the kitchen."

"He's probably in Kyoto by now."

Roy looked at Ranma oddly. "Uh, that would be a good trick, considering that Kyoto is on Earth."

"That won't slow him down. After all, I last saw him in Juuban."

"...Right. So how's your squadron coming along?"

Minmei set the egg rolls in front of Ranma, then went to serve another customer.

"Seems you were right about female pilots. My crew is shaping up to be the best on the ship."

Roy snorted. "Not as long as the Skull is still around."

"Okay, the best except for Skull. But considering that they outflew Green on our last exercise, I'd say Kramer's napping."

"You don't wanna say that to his face. But yeah, I've seen your girls fly. They're shit hot."

The bell rang as the door to the restaurant opened, and Kuno, this time in a flight suit, swaggered in and sat down.

Roy glared at him. "This table is property of the Skull Squadron, little man. I suggest you move."

"Not once in my travels to this establishment have I ever noticed the Skull Squadron's name on this table. But never fear, Fokker. I am here for but a moment. Saotome, did you deliver my message?"

"Yeah, Kuno."

"Excellent. I was worried that one of your obvious low intellect might fail in that task."

Ranma ground his teeth.

"Kuno." Fokker motioned with his hand. "Move along. That seat is reserved for one Tendo Akane."

Kuno looked puzzled. "But Tendo Akane is a member of the illustrious Angel Squadron, not of your insignificant group."

Fokker scowled. "Move it or lose it, Kuno. Akane sits there because she's engaged to Ranma-"

"WHAT?!"

Kuno jumped up with an expression of shock on his face.

"The beauteous Tendo Akane, engaged to the likes of...him?! I shall never allow it! Saotome, you cur, you must be punished!"

With one motion, Kuno drew his bokken and swung at Ranma. Ranma leaped straight up, and Kuno's bokken slammed into the table.

"This is no place to fight, Kuno. Follow me."

"That I shall!"

Roy scowled down at wreckage of the table. "Fuck! That's twice in one week!"

Ranma stepped outside the restaurant, followed by Roy and Kuno, and assumed a fighting stance. Kuno stood opposite him, bokken raised. Roy leaned up against the wall.

"Before we begin, Saotome, allow me to state my name and abilities, so that you will fully realize who it is that has defeated you. I am Captain Kuno Tatewaki, newly appointed commander of the Blue Squadron, rising star of the Robotech Defense Force. My peers call me the Blue Thunder.

"And who are you?"

Ranma grinned. "I am a Saotome Ryuu of the Mutsabetsu Kakotu, Captain in the Robotech Defense Force. My name is Saotome Ranma."

"Begin!"

Ranma feinted forward in a lunge punch, then swept his hand in a knife edge, snapping Kuno's bokken cleanly. Kuno gaped at his demolished weapon.

"Blew it."

One good quick kick to the head laid the Captain out colder than a mackerel.

"Nice shot, Ranma." Roy was applauding from the sidelines. "The MPs will be here to pick him up any second now."

"Why call the MPs? It was a man to man fight."

"Yeah, but he attacked an officer. Meaning you. Chances are he'll get off light, but it might teach him to keep a handle on his temper."

"Hm." Ranma pulled a piece of paper from a pocket on his flight suit, glanced at it, then crumpled it. "I guess I don't need to worry about this, then."

"What's that?"

"A letter of challenge. Addressed to, 'The Fierce but Lovely Commander of the Angel Squadron', end quote."

Roy grinned. "Yeah, just ignore it. Come on, your egg rolls are getting cold."

"One second more..." Ranma flipped Kuno over, and quickly searched his pockets. He straightened, and tossed Roy a twenty. "This should cover the damage to the table."

---

SATURN

"Officer on the deck!"

The pilots in the wardroom fell silent and snapped to attention. Ranma picked up the glass of water from his desk and upended it over her head.

"The slingshot maneuver two weeks ago was successful enough that it shaved a month off of our overall travel time. The CO has decided that it's worth repeating.

"We are now approaching the planet Saturn. The Macross with attempt a slingshot of the planet. Since Saturn is much larger than Uranus, and has a correspondingly higher gravity, we should get a better boost from it. We will not be attempting this maneuver with Jupiter, as it is too far out of arc.

"Angel Squadron will be running interference for the slingshot. We'll be flying through the rings of Saturn. That means a lot of rocks. Yeah, they look real pretty from a distance, but up close, it's not gonna be pleasant. So look sharp out there. We'll be working in conjunction with Skull Squadron, Green Squadron and Blue Squadron-"

-SNAP-

"Something you want to add to this briefing, Lieutenant?"

Tendo Akane dropped the two pieces of her pencil. "No, sir."

Saotome grinned. "Don't worry, last I heard, Kuno's in the clink."

A chuckle went around the room. Most of the women present had had to fend off Kuno at one point or another.

"Right. Suit up and get ready to launch."

* * * * *

Sergeant Amy Clark, Angel Two, finished her pre-flight, and began taxiing her fighter towards the catapults. Her suit was environmentally sealed, of course, which meant that there was no way for her to wipe the sweat off the palms of her hands. The Flight Net visual flickered, and the CO's helmeted face appeared in the monitor.

"Ready to party, Clark?"

"Uh...yeah. I mean, yes, ma'am."

"Nervous?"

"Ah...yes, ma'am."

"Good. This is your first real battle. Stay nervous; it'll help keep you alive. Just remember, though: Your best friend is your jet. Trust in your bird, and it will not let you down." The CO chuckled. "Don't worry, Clark. The odds are really against our running into bad guys. Skull has a further perimeter to patrol than us, so any aliens that want to party will hit their pickets first."

"Ah...thank you, ma'am."

"Oh, and by the way. Your simulator scores showed a lot of improvement, and your handling of the bird has come a long way. Of the entire team, you've shown the most improvement overall. So I've put myself on your wing for this sortie."

"Ma'am, do you mean I'm wing commander for this sortie?"

"Yep. I'm retaining flight and squadron leader, but I am on your wing, and not the other way around. So don't disappoint me, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Ranma clicked off the Tac Net and grinned to herself. What she hadn't told Clark - and wouldn't, not now and not ever - was that the wingman took the majority of the beating in a real firefight. Clark had improved, but was nowhere near as good as Akane or even Kanzaki. But Ranma recognized that she could improve still further, especially after being blooded.

~I just gotta give her a chance to keep on improvin'.~

The Tac Net squawked on audio. "Angel One, Macross. Your flight has been demoted to Alert Five Status. Clear the catapults."

Ranma scowled. The voice was that of Lieutenant Grant, commo officer and second officer of the Macross. Ranma slapped open the Tac Net command channel. "Macross, Angel One. What the hell is going on?"

"Angel One, Macross. Skull Squadron has reported contact with alien battle pods in the rings of Saturn. Blue is now scrambling to intercept, on orders of Colonel Maistroff."

Ranma growled. Maistroff was a Ground Forces Colonel, not actually part of RDF Chain of Command at all. "And where the hell is Commander Hayes? Why is a GooF officer directing this operation?"

"Angel One, Macross. Commo protocol, Angel One. Commander Hayes is not available at this time."

Ranma cursed, then opened the net. "Macross, Angel One. Angel Squadron confirms Alert Five. Blue Leader, this is Angel One. Good Hunting."

"Angel One, Blue Leader. My thanks to thee, pigtailed goddess."

"HUH? Kuno, thought you were off the flight list."

"Nay, though the evil Saotome thought to place me in an incriminating situation, the forces of law and order saw through his vile scheme and, recognizing my virtuous nature and skill in battle, returned me to active duty. Didst not that vile cur, Saotome Ranma of the thrice-cursed Skull Squadron, deliver my missive to thee? Thou didst not appear at the appointed time and place."

"Blue Leader, Macross. Get off the net and get airborne."

"Macross, Blue Leader. Hai."

* * * * *

Ranma jumped out of the Valkyrie's cockpit the moment she finished taxiing. She pulled off her helmet and stormed out of the hangar.

Commander Hayes met up with her at the hangar's hatch. "Captain Saotome! Please, I need to tell you-"

"What the hell just happened, Commander? Why were we pulled off the cats? And who the hell does Colonel Maistroff think he is? He violated chain of command! Why was he giving orders to Valkyrie pilots? Why was he even on the bridge? What could a Ground Forces Colonel possibly-"

"Atten-SHUN!"

Ranma involuntarily snapped to attention, and just as involuntarily shut up.

"Now then. I am not prepared to tell you why Maistroff was in command during your flight's duty. Sorry, but that information is classified. I will tell you, however, that it makes me sick. A mud-mover, commanding a ship of the line! Second, I don't know why he scrubbed your launch, so I can't tell you that either."

"Can't or won't?"

"I swear to you, Ranma, that if I knew, I would tell you, classified or no. But Maistroff did not give any reason for scrubbing your team."

"Damnit, Commander, my girls need the experience! They need combat time!"

Hayes scowled. "Are you that anxious to have your people killed?"

Ranma flushed. "No. But look. These girls have been trained and polished. They are a fighting team now, a damned good one. I'd put them up against Skull any day of the week. But you can only learn so much, can only get so good during peacetime operations. You know and I know that the only way we're gonna win this one, the only chance we have of getting home, is the Valkyrie pilots. You need every one you can get. And you got eighteen of them sittin' here doin' nothin'."

"Ranma, this bothers me as much as it does you, okay? Don't razz me on this one."

"Look, we were scrubbed. And that Uranus mission, we were slated for deep recon, and we got close patrol. This time, we got to be lawn ornaments. You scrub us again, and my girls are gonna get real mad. You tell this to whoever it is who puts these flight schedules together. You do this to us again, and your little project here is toast."

"I'm on your side, Captain. Believe me." Commander Hayes sighed. "We're all trying to do our best. Keep the faith, okay?"

Ranma sighed, and nodded.

* * * * *

Ranma walked into the White Dragon, still in his female guise. She dropped into a chair at the Skull Squadron table. Skull was still out there, mopping up bandits and paving the road for the Macross, so for the moment, she had the table to himself.

Minmei walked over with a small teapot and set it down in front of Ranma.

"Huh? I didn't order tea."

"It's just hot water."

"Oh, thanks."

"No problem. Mind if I sit with you?"

"Go ahead."

Minmei sat down opposite him as she poured the contents of the teapot over her - now his - head.

"Whatcha doin'?"

Minmei had a pen in hand and a sheet of paper in front of her, and was scratching something out. "I'm writing a song. I've gotta have a talent to show off for the beauty pageant, and I always loved to sing."

"Yeah? I don't really sing much...used to a bit, though. Wait - you mean you're in this Miss Macross pageant?"

"Yes! I'm sure I can win!" Minmei beamed.

Ranma cracked a grin. "The girls in my squadron got funny on me. They signed me up in my female form."

"Well, don't worry. You aren't going to win."

"Gee, thanks."

The bells rang as the door to the restaurant opened. Ranma glanced up to see Kasumi, Akane's older sister, coming into the restaurant.

"Hi, Kasumi!"

"Hello, Ranma! I'm glad I found you here." Minmei hopped up and Kasumi took the seat across from Ranma. "I need to talk to you about your father."

"Oh, no. What's he done now?"

"Well, it seems he's insisting on moving into our house. We have a spare room now, since when the house was rebuilt, Akane got her own room. But now she stays at the barracks, and your father insists that he should get that room."

"Stupid old man. Let me deal with him."

"Thank you, Ranma."

"RANMA! Prepare to die!"

Ranma's head swiveled fast enough to give him whiplash, to see Hibiki Ryouga approaching, umbrella on high. He jumped up and kicked the umbrella out of Ryouga's hand.

"Damnit, Ryouga, Kasumi's not a martial artist. You got a problem with me, we can take it outside."

"Fine! Your days of running are over, Ranma!"

* * * * *

The two combatants faced each other in the middle of the street outside the White Dragon. Minmei and Kasumi stood at the door of the restaurant.

"Now, Ranma, you'll pay for making my life a living hell!"

"Yeah, whatever, Ryouga. Let's go."

Ryouga launched himself into the air, aiming the tip of the umbrella at Ranma's head. Ranma dodged the attack, then launched a series of snap-kicks at Ryouga's torso. Ryouga blocked most of them, but Ranma felt at least two solid hits connect. He followed up with two snap-punches to the head.

Ryouga collapsed backward, falling onto the road. Ranma dusted off his hands.

"That's that."

"Not so fast, Ranma."

"Huh?"

Ranma watched in amazement as the Lost Boy staggered back to his feet. "I am not yet defeated." Ryouga pulled off his bandanna - revealing another underneath - and snapped it in his hand. The bandanna stiffened, becoming a cloth blade. Ryouga threw the bandanna, spinning, at Ranma's head.

"Yow!" Ranma dodged the bandanna, then felt another wrap around his wrist. He looked down, and saw that the second bandanna had a rope attached. Ryouga was just finishing tying the rope to his own wrist.

"Now you won't be running anymore."

"Are you nuts?" Ranma jumped towards Ryouga, foot extended. Ryouga parried, then swung his massive umbrella at Ranma. Ranma dodged, and was amazed to see the umbrella smash through a concrete lamppost. He kicked the umbrella, and watched it go flying across the road.

Ryouga pulled off three more bandannas, and sent them whirling towards Ranma. Ranma dodged them, then to his horror realized that Minmei and Kasumi lay in their path.

"You two! Move, quick!"

Even as he yelled, the girls were scattering. The bandannas embedded themselves into the front of the restaurant.

"All right! That's it!"

Ranma closed quickly, and lashed out with fist, elbow and knee. Ryouga staggered back, gasping for air, and collapsed. Ranma untied the rope at his wrist, then walked over and picked up Ryouga, slamming him against the restaurant wall.

"You get this straight, Lost Boy. You can attack me, or any member of the RDF. We can take care of ourselves. Roy and Kramer proved that on your carcass, but good. But don't EVER attack those girls, or anyone like them, as long as I'm around. And I wouldn't recommend doin' it if there's any other soldiers around. Got it, numbskull?"

Ryouga nodded, hate smouldering in his eyes.

"Fine." Ranma dropped him, then turned back towards the restaurant door. "I'm starved. You girls want anything?"

---

PAGEANT

"Oi, oyaji!" Ranma banged on the door of the apartment. "We gotta talk!"

The door opened, and Genma looked out. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"Hey, what's eatin' you?"

"What's eating me is that you have not come to visit me, have in fact ignored me and missed a great deal of practice, ever since you joined the RDF. And I know that the only reason you have for being here at this time is that Kasumi asked you to interfere on her behalf."

Ranma darked. "Look, oyaji, you got a place here, okay? RDF gives it to you, free of charge, even gives you meal tickets. I know that the twenty hours of community service has gotta really hurt you, since it means work, but-"

"Ranma! You have gone against your father's wishes in every way! You have abandoned the Art, betrayed your family, joined the army, and refused to honour your family's commitments!"

"Look! I have NOT abandoned the Art! I still practice every day, and I've been in a few battles and won handily every time! I have NOT betrayed my family! I'm just tryin' to help out the Tendos. They have enough problems without you. You yourself said that joinin' U.N. Spacy was okay. And what commitments exactly am I not honouring?"

"When do you intend to wed Tendo Akane?"

"Once both of us finish our tour of duty! Now that I've answered all your stinkin' questions, I gotta go."

"You going to the beauty pageant?"

"Yeah, and I only got another hour to register."

"...Register? Surely you are not entering the contest?"

"Well, yeah. Bit of a challenge, between me and my flight leaders."

"Ranma. Come inside for a moment. This is very important."

"Huh? Okay..."

Ranma walked into the apartment. He looked around - this was the first time he'd ever been in his father's apartment. The room held a futon, a low table, and a few odds and ends. His father rummaged around in his old backpack, eventually producing a small wooden box. He opened the box, pulled out a scroll, and handed it to Ranma.

"Read this."

Ranma unrolled the scroll - it was fairly yellowed, but not particularly old. "'I, Saotome Genma, being of sound mind and body' - yeah, right - 'do hereby take solemn oath to raise my son, Saotome Ranma, to be a true master of the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Grappling, and a man among men, to be judged by Saotome Nodoka, and also swear that should I fail, both myself and Ranma shall give our lives in apology for our failure.'"

The scroll was signed by Genma, and also held a small handprint.

"Who's Saotome Nodoka? An Elder of the Clan?"

"Not exactly. She's your mother."

"...my mother? My MOTHER? You told me she was dead!"

"Well, she's not. Now you think about this. If you enter this contest - as a girl! - and your mother hears about it, what's she gonna think?"

* * * * *

"Now what if none of us win this? How do we determine who won the bet?"

"Don't worry, Akane. One of us is gonna win for sure."

"There! I'm signed in. Ranko, your turn."

Ranma scrawled in her name, date of birth and age, then signed the disclaimer.

"But if one of us doesn't?"

"Look, Akane, there'll be five finalists, and there's only thirty contestants. All five finalists are rated by the end of this thing. If by some disaster none of us make it into the finals, then we'll have a problem. And as long as you didn't choose cooking for the talent portion-"

-WHAM-

"Beg pardon, Ranko?"

"Never mind. Uncute tomboy-"

-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-

"Boy," mused Shoko. "It's a good thing she heals fast."

* * * * *

The pageant was rather small compared to similar earth-bound events. This was not only because of the small population of Macross, and the correspondingly small number of contestants, but also because of the lower available resources. Mayor Luan had pulled out most of the stops for this event, however, and there was a good-sized amphitheatre - known as the Star Bowl - built for the contest, capable of seating twenty thousand people. And almost certainly, the forty thousand that couldn't fit were watching the event at home on their television sets.

There were five events. The first was evening wear. Each girl was required to pick out an evening gown and would be judged by that as much as by her appearance. Ranma had little to no clue how to proceed, but in exchange for getting Genma off of the Tendo's backs, Kasumi had helped him out a bit. Lessons on appropriate clothing, use of makeup and so on...Ranma shuddered as he considered his discussion with his father. If his mother EVER heard about this...

The girls had a common dressing room, but each girl had her own cubicle to change in. Ranma looked over the competition as he entered. Among them were some familiar faces: Lin Minmei, of course, and an American woman named Jan Arden. Jan did the morning television news show, "Good Morning, Macross!" He had to admit, she was quite good looking, even though she was in her thirties. And of course, Shoko and Akane were there, as well as Tendo Nabiki.

"Yo, Nabiki, why are you in this thing?"

She smiled coyly. "What's the matter, Ranko? Don't think I have what it takes to win?"

"Well...I just thought it wouldn't be your style, y'know?"

"Well, just think of the prize money..."

"Right, I understand."

Among those that he didn't recognize were a tall, auburn-haired woman, a woman whose spiky hair was dyed cyan, and whose eyes looked disturbingly feline, a teenaged japanese girl he remembered seeing at the temple - very beautiful, with red highlights in her long black hair - and another girl in U. N. Spacy uniform - very cute, freckle-faced and bespectacled, though she was just unpacking her contacts. Could be a contender...

"Could you possibly leer at them any more, Ranko?"

"Huh?" Ranma glanced at Akane, who was looking at him smoulderingly. "Whaddaya mean, leering? I'm just sizing up the competition."

"I don't see you sizing me and Shoko up."

"I see you guys every day. Get a grip, willya?"

Then Ranma spotted another girl he recognized. Long hair, with two balls on either side, a red silk cheongsam..."Oh, no..."

"You! Outsider girl! You die!"

The chinese girl lunged towards Ranma, hands raised to strike. Ranma dodged, grabbed an arm, and slammed her to the ground.

"Look, Shampoo, you're never gonna beat me, got it? Quit tryin'."

"One day, I catch you not looking, then you die." She blinked. "You in contest?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

Shampoo smirked. "Then I win here, you die. You win, I stop trying to kill. Is fair?"

"I guess, if you really want it that way..."

"Fine. Xian Pu need get ready now."

She bounced back through the crowd of girls.

"Who was that?"

Ranma sighed. "As best I can say it, her name is Shampoo. Pop and I went through her village after we left Jushenkyou, and I ended up fighting against her. Since then, she's been chasing me all over the world. I thought she'd lost me when I joined U.N. Spacy. At least, I haven't seen her since then."

"She sure is cute. You better hope you don't lose, Ranko."

"Cute? She's trying to kill me!"

"Well, I gotta go get ready for the contest." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "You peek at ANY of us while we're changing, and you won't have to worry about Shampoo killing you, got it, pervert?"

"H-Hai."

* * * * *

"Next is Saotome Ranko, age nineteen. Born in Nerima and raised to a life of martial arts, Ranko joined the U. N. Spacy at age sixteen and rose through the ranks until she became commander of the newly formed Angel Squadron."

~Thank the Kami for my balance training,~ mused Ranma as she made her entrance. She was wearing a grey strapless gown, a little more severe than most of the other contestants. As she had been coached, she walked the length of the runway, turned around a complete 360, then walked back up the runway. ~Damn high heels - How the heck do girls walk in these things anyway?~ She flashed a big smile across the crowds as she took her place next to Arden in the line-up at the end of the stage. The announcer - Vance Hasslewood - walked up to her, microphone in hand.

"Ranko, can you tell the panel of judges about your views of women in the military?"

Ranma paused. "Well, I think that some of the most skilled people in the RDF are female. I mean, only about ten percent of the RDF is female, but those ten percent are all in the top twenty five percent in their fields. The best soldier I know is female. I'm not gonna name names, though - she might be my CO. Or worse yet, she might not."

A laugh ran through the crowd at that.

* * * * *

Lisa Hayes, watching the show from the bridge, chuckled at the screen. "Either way, Saotome, you're toast."

* * * * *

After the first two events, the line of girls filed off the stage. Ranma sighed in relief as he pulled off the heels. Fifteen girls had gotten dropped from the competition, between the evening wear and the vocal event. Among those dropped were the cyan-haired woman with the disturbing eyes, the auburn-haired woman - an excellent voice, he wasn't sure why she'd been dropped - and the U.N. Spacy Ensign, Sammie Porter. Shoko and Minmei were still in, as were both Tendo sisters.

"Hey, Ranko! I didn't know you could sing that well!" Minmei bounced over and hugged Ranma quickly. Ranma glanced nervously at Akane, but luckily she was looking elsewhere.

"Yeah...I kinda spent a lot of time singing on the road. Makes the day shorter, y'know?"

"Yep! Gotta get ready for the next event!" She bounced off again.

Ranma sighed. The next event was the talent portion. She knew Minmei would be singing again - this time a song that she had written herself. Akane would also be singing, Shoko would be dancing - a good choice for the energetic pilot - and she had no idea at all what Nabiki had planned. Ranma reached for her gi.

* * * * *

The gi was all red silk, and billowed at the cuffs of both arms and legs. Ranma doubted she'd ever wear something so...flamboyant...in a real fight, but she had to admit that it allowed her considerably more freedom of movement than her usual heavy cotton gi. The jacket of the gi reached almost to her knees, and was belted with a wide black obi. On her feet were dark red slippers, specially made with treaded rubber soles for traction.

Vance Hasslewood was hassling her again. "Ranko, why don't you tell us what you have planned for us?"

"Well, most of my life has been spent practicing martial arts. I've studied aikido, kempo, ta'i chi, goju and shotokan karate and jiu jitsu, as well as my family's style of Musabetsa Kakotou, or as I call it, Anything Goes. Most people think of martial arts as violent. But I've found that it can be an art beyond the martial. A well-executed kata is a thing of beauty. So I've put together a kata, involving elements of jiu jutsu, aikido and the Musabetsa Kakotou, set to music."

"Martial arts dancing?"

"Yeah...I guess you could call it that."

"Great! The stage is yours!"

Hasslewood moved quickly out of her way, and Ranma grinned. Did he really think she was going to pound him or something?

She assumed a ready position - not an easy one, but she held it - then reached to her center and found her inner balance. The music she had chosen began - a rearrangement of Pink Floyd's "Echoes", purely instrumental. She held the ready position all through the opening bars, then began to move.

If performed at full speed, this kata would take approximately three minutes to complete. She did it extremely slowly - she had twenty minutes of song to fill. Her movements were graceful, even and measured, one flowing into another. Her feet rarely left the ground, and most of the kata was carried by her hands.

The music picked up in tempo, entering a guitar solo, and her kata flowed into a jiu jitsu routine. Now it included punches and kicks, delivered with precision and panache. Her eyes were completely closed, and she lost herself to the rhythm of the kata.

The solo faded out, and Ranma allowed her rhythm to slow, then stop. The next part of the song was mostly synth and whalesong. Her kata shifted back to a slow pattern again, drawing on aikido and ta'i chi. This portion, the Art was at its slowest - maneuvers that could be performed in under a second, stretched out as long as half a minute in spaces. It was also the portion requiring the most concentration and stamina, as holding the positions could be quite painful.

The final part of the song began, similar to the first, and Ranma switched back to the Musabetsa Kakotou. The finale was thunderous, and faded swiftly to silence, leaving Ranma in the ready stance she had started in.

Then the applause from the audience was thunderous. Ranma straightened, then bowed towards them before exiting the stage.

* * * * *

Again Ranma was strutting her stuff up and down the runway. Her bathing suit was a pink one-piece, cut high at the legs and low at the neck, with flower-like lacework along the front. She and Kasumi had spent almost three hours arguing about this one. Even though the final choice was a compromise, it still gave her cavities just to look at the damned thing.

She glanced at the other contestants. Only ten girls were left, five additional (including Nabiki) having been dropped during the talent portion of the contest. She doubted that Shoko would last another round, and guessing how...modest...Minmei's bathing suit was, she'd probably be disappearing right soon.

Akane's suit was equally modest...but she filled it out quite nicely...

* * * * *

"And now, our five finalists, in alphabetic order...

"Jan Arden, anchorwoman on 'Good Morning, Macross!'"

Considerable cheers greeted Jan as she crossed over and sat in the first seat in Finalist's Row. Jan was quite popular on the Macross, and tuning into her show was often the first thing that most people did upon waking up in the morning. For Ranma, "Good Morning, Macross!" was second only to that first cup of coffee.

"Lin Minmei, of the famous White Dragon Restaurant!"

The cheers were deafening; the White Dragon was, quite literally, the heart of the rebuilt Macross City, and Minmei was already sweetheart of the ship. She bounced out to Finalist's Row, blowing kisses to the crowd.

"Saotome Ranko, commanding officer of the Angel Squadron!"

She grinned as she made her way out to her seat. Her own cheering section was quite vocal, including the entire fighter complement of the Macross.

"Tendo Akane, also from the Angel Squadron!"

Akane's cheering section was the same as Ranma's. Akane beamed at the crowd, and walked down to her seat. Ranma leaned over.

"Gonna lose points on your entrance. Y'know this, right?"

"Shut up. Shoko's out of it."

"Yep. Wonder who's left?"

"And finally, Xian Pu, of the Niuchezu Tribe of China!"

Shampoo bounced across the stage, waved to the crowd, then dropped into her seat. Ranma was seriously worried about the amount of cheers she was receiving; Shampoo was a cipher. All of the other girls had something backing them up, either in the RDF or in Macross City. Shampoo had made it this far on innate ability.

"As explained in the rules of the contest, the panel of judges will now ask each finalist a question. Each question will be different for each finalist, and each finalist will have no more than five minutes to deliver her answer. Then you, the audience, both here in the stadium and watching from your homes, will lock in your votes. Are the judges ready?"

Th panel of judges was made up of five people: Thomas Luan, mayor of Macross City; Henry Gloval, who looked like he'd really rather be somewhere else; Mark Kramer; and two other people Ranma didn't recognize. One of those rose and addressed Hasslewood.

"We are ready. The first question goes to Jan Arden. In your mind, what problems do the youth of Macross City face above and beyond those faced by young people growing up on Earth?"

Jan stood and picked up her microphone. "I think that the problems faced by the young people of the Macross community are no different from those faced by children of Earth. While our situation is precarious, so are those of countless children in, say, the old Soviet Union, in Thailand or any other third world country.

"We have developed here a complete community, a microcosm of Earth. We have malls, we have restaurants, we have television and radio stations and we are even preparing to begin filming movies. Our culture has remained the same, even through all our trials. All that is different is the scale."

Jan sat back down, looking mightily pleased with herself. Ranma shook her head absently. ~Blew it.~

The second panelist stood. "This question is for Lin Minmei. Would you please tell us your views on competition?"

Minmei looked thoughtful. "I think that competition is what spurs us on to accomplish bigger and better things. It gives us drive, and pushes us on. I mean, if you're competing against someone else, like for instance the talent portion of this contest, you know that you have to give it your all, because if you don't deliver your best, someone else may deliver just one step better.

"Now I know that too much competition is a bad thing. I mean, if you let it control your life, you can get very bitter, because too often, there IS someone better than you. But if you keep a healthy attitude, and keep your perspective intact, you can easily make your competitive spirit a good thing."

Ranma grinned. ~Girl's deeper than she acts at times. Still, that wasn't really well thought out. She better have some points saved up from earlier on...~

Mark Kramer stood, with an evil grin on his face. "This question's for Ranko Saotome. Why don't you tell us about your views on love?"

~You're a dead man, Kramer.~

Ranko nervously stood and picked up the microphone. She could feel Akane's eyes burning into her.

"Personally, I think love is the most important thing anyone can have. It's a catalyst. Any bad situation can be improved upon with a generous dose of it, and any good situation made that much nicer.

"But it's a give and take situation as well. If neglected, it can wither. If stressed, it can break. But if nurtured and returned, it can grow."

She sat back down and shook her head slightly. ~Man, was that lame!~

Henry Gloval stood. "This question is for Tendo Akane. We have already asked your commanding officer her views on women in the military. Can you tell us of your view of the future of women on the battlefield?"

Akane grinned. "I think that women can be just as good in the battlefield as men, and I think we're going to see a lot more women going to combat positions. The Angel Squadron proved that many of the women in non-combat positions were unhappy with these postings, and not only had the desire, but the ability to serve in a combat position. Personally, I think that the Angel Squadron, which has consistently out-performed almost every other squadron on this ship, proves that we have what it takes."

Akane's answer was the only one so far to provoke any applause from the crowd. It was light and scattered, but it was there.

Tommy Luan stood. "This last question is for Shampoo." Ranma grinned at the man's mispronounciation. "Can you tell us your views on happiness?"

Xian Pu stood and picked up her microphone carefully. "Xian Pu know that happiness is something not always there. When it there, must enjoy to fullest. When not there, must work to make it. Can always make happiness if know how; but must want it." She set down the microphone and took her seat.

Vance Hasslewood stepped forward. "Now comes the voting. For those of you in the audience, you'll find a small box with five numbered buttons. Press the button corresponding to the finalist you wish to vote for. For you folks at home, dial the number on your screen, enter your ID code, then press the number of the finalist you vote for. You have five minutes to vote."

Ranma snickered. She leaned over to Akane. "We had five minutes to speak, and I don't think this'll take any longer than any one of us took. Bets?"

"Nope."

Sure enough, the technicians announced fifty thousand returns - this being the cutoff threshold - within two minutes. The head technician delivered the results to Hasslewood in a sealed envelope. Vance made a great production out of opening the envelope and removing the results.

"Here we go! In the number four position...Tendo Akane."

There was light applause, mostly from the RDF contingent. Akane sulked. "Guess you get to go on being Squadron Commander."

"Guess so."

"In the number three position...Xian Pu."

More applause. Xian Pu visibly wilted, then glanced sadly over to Ranma.

"In the number two position...Saotome Ranko."

Ranma shrugged and grinned. At least he beat out Xian Pu. Heck, she never wanted to win this thing anyway. She eyeballed the remaining two contestants.

"And the winner of the Miss Macross Beauty Pageant..."

Ranma noted Jan Arden, half rising, ready to take the prize...

"Lin Minmei!"

Minmei squealed and launched herself from her chair, running forward to hug Hasslewood. Ranma grinned, watching her, then glanced back over to Jan.

Her eyes were following Minmei, smouldering with rage.

* * * * *

Ranma and Akane had just left the Star Bowl when Xian Pu dropped down in front of them. She fell at Ranma's feet.

"Xian Pu fail. Outsider female defeat mightiest Niuchezu warrior again. Xian Pu have no honour left. No can return to tribe again.

"Please...kill Xian Pu."

Ranma sighed. "I'm not gonna kill you, Shampoo."

"Then Xian Pu take own life in apology."

"I can't let you do that either, Shampoo. Please, can you tell me why you're doing all this?"

"Is Amazon Law. If outsider female defeat Niuchezu warrior, that female must die."

"And if that outsider is a male?"

Ranma lifted her thermos, and dumped it over her head, transforming into a male.

Xian Pu looked up with shock in her eyes.

"Is true? Ranko really man?"

"Yeah, and the name's Ranma, not Ranko. You gonna stop trying to kill me now? And you're not gonna kill yourself? ACK!"

Xian Pu had launched herself in a full Amazon Glomp (tm).

"Niuchezu Law say if outsider male beat Niuchezu warrior, he marry her!"

"WHAT?!"

Akane grabbed Ranma's collar. "Ranma! You better explain this right away!"

"I don't know anything about it, okay?"

Xian Pu released Ranma. "Xian Pu go tell Hibachan we married. Is okay?"

"No! It's not! We're not married, Shampoo!"

But the Amazon was already bouncing off. Ranma wilted.

"I hate my life...I hate my life..."

---

QUESTIONS

Within the bowels of the alien flagship, a scientist entered the fleet commander's ready room. The alien commander, a massive individual whose face was partially covered with a metal plate, glanced up at the scientist.

*My Lord, our recon ship has returned with recordings of the Micronian transmissions. From this, we have managed to reprogram our translation devices. We will now be able to address them in one of their own languages.*

*How prevalent is this language you have deciphered?*

The gnomish alien scratched his chin. *We have cause to believe that it is the dominant language not only of the Micronians within the Battle Fortress, but of the majority of those on the planet's surface.*

*Excellent work, Exedore. We can now convince them of the folly of resisting our might. Call up the Fifth Botoru Battalion.*

*Excellency, are you sure this is wise? The commander of the Fifth is quite unstable...*

*Immediately.*

The scientist bowed. *Yes, My Lord.*

* * * * *

Ranma dropped into his seat at the White Dragon. The table was not actually Skull property anymore; it had sort of converted into "their table." While Roy was still CO of Skull, and the other three pilots normally at the table - Kramer, Saotome and Hunter - were all ex-Skull members, the latter three all had their own commands. Ranma commanded the Angel Squadron, reporting directly to Commander Hayes; Kramer still had command of Green; Rick had just been promoted to command of Vermilion. Never mind that Vermilion had been completely mangled in the attack near Saturn; Rick had two brand new pilots under his command, and was expected to rebuild the unit.

~Pretty tall orders for a Lieutenant, even one who's as shit-hot a pilot as Rick.~

Commander Hayes, two orders envelopes in hand, walked up to the table. "Hi, boys. Mind if I join you?"

Roy shrugged. "You outrank all of us, ma'am."

"True." She pulled up a chair, then tossed the envelopes on the table. "One for you, Roy, and one for Mark."

Roy pulled out his orders, scanned them, and started chewing his lip. "Hey, Kramer. What did you pull?"

Kramer was frowning. "Command of Skull. How 'bout you?"

"Oh, nothin' much. Just a promotion to Major, as well as CAG for Promotheus."

"HUH?"

"My sentiments exactly." Roy dropped the envelope on the table. "Ma'am, want to explain this? Since when did Promotheus rate its own CAG?"

"There are now twelve squadrons operating solely off of the Promotheus, as well as six off of the Daedalus and eighteen off of the Macross itself. It was the decision of Colonel Maistroff that one CAG was insufficient to manage thirty-six squadrons. So he's divided the RDF Air Division into three commands. Colonel Tendo will be taking the Daedalus command. You're getting the Promotheus command."

"And who gets the Macross Command?"

She sighed heavily. "Colonel Maistroff." She produced a third envelope and tossed it to Ranma. "This is your squadron's orders."

"You got a squadron, Ranma?"

"Yeah, Rick, it's a long story. And I think he needs to know, Commander. I'll fill him in later." Ranma tore open his orders packet and glanced through them.

"Hey, Roy."

"Yeah?"

"My squadron's been transferred to your command, and you're losing Sepia to Tendo."

"Really?" Roy grinned. "You won't be getting away with any of that crap you could pull under Commander Hayes."

The ship tilted weirdly, and the lights flickered. Ranma was jolted right out of his seat. He wasn't alone in this; both Fokker and Kramer looked less than comfortable in the angles they found themselves bent into, and Rick was nearly knocked cold. Lisa was also knocked sprawling, but she recovered and ran from the room.

Roy struggled to his feet. "Damn, that was a really solid hit. Wonder what it was?"

"Dunno." Ranma seated himself, then glanced at his now-unrecoverable dinner. "But two gets you five we'll be paged in the next five minutes."

"Commander Hayes to the bridge. Colonel Tendo, Major Fokker and Captain Saotome to the briefing room. Lieutenants Hunter, Kanzaki and Tendo to the briefing room."

"No bet, Saotome. Let's go."

* * * * *

"Five minutes ago, the aliens attacked the ship. A single mecha, of a type previously uncatalogued, came in fast and hard and struck the primary radar boom and the sensor array. This has left the Macross blind in the middle of transiting the asteroid field.

"Two minutes after hitting the sensor array, the enemy transmitted the following message."

Gloval pressed the play button on the tape recorder.

"This is the commander of the Zentraedi Fifth Botoru Battallion. The last attack was a warning. We have sufficient firepower to destroy your ship and your home planet. Surrender the battle fortress and we shall allow you to survive. You have one hour to comply."

Roy leaned back. "So now we know what they call themselves."

"Yes. It is my decision to send a Cat's Eye Recon jet forward to find us a safe way out of the asteroid field. I am detailing Vermilion Squadron for escort, and Angel Squadron for backup. You'll be on the cats, six at a time. Understood?"

"Sir!"

"Good! Dismissed."

Roy hopped to his feet. "Come on, ladies. Time to rumble. Ranma, better change."

"Yes, Sir!" Ranma grabbed a glass of water from the table and dumped it over his head, giving Rick a very bad case of bug eyes. "Angel, suit up. Flight One will go on cats first, followed by Three."

Roy glanced over. "Why not Two up second?"

"Two had last patrol on our last duty cycle."

"Ah."

Rick was babbling. "How...what...He's a girl!"

"Later, Hunter. Right now, you've got a job to do."

* * * * *

"This is Eyes Front. We are under attack by approximately fifty Zentraedi mecha. Please assist."

Ranma shot forward. "Lisa! What the hell is she doin' in that recon bird?"

"As you were, Angel Lead. Angel Flight One, Macross. Launch and intercept Zentraedi mecha."

"Macross, Angel Flight One, Wilco. Flight One, Lead. Go!"

Ranma pushed the throttle all the way open on the fighter, then flagged the cat chief. She was smashed back into her seat by the force of the catapult accelerating her fighter from zero to four hundred klicks in three seconds. When her vision cleared, she thought the jet through a turn and formed up with the other five units of her flight.

Ranma growled as she lit her bird's afterburners.

~No-one's gettin' their claws on the CO!~

But they didn't get there on time. Ranma saw a flash of light ahead, then the Cat's Eye's transponder dropped right off his scope.

"Crap! Macross, Angel Lead. Eyes Front has vanished. Repeat, I have no returns from Eyes Front's transponder. And I ain't gettin' returns on any of Vermilion either."

"Angel Lead, Macross. Affirm. We think we picked up a fold operation on scope."

"Lead, Three! I got bogeys closing on us!"

"Three, go evasive! Wings break. Two, you're wingleader. Let's get em!"

"Two."

Clark snapped her fighter around on a dime and thoroughly waxed a fighter pod, then shifted to Gerwalk. Her rifle barked three times, and three Zentraedi Battle Pods went up in smoke.

Ranma blinked. ~Woah! Where did that come from?!~

Clark was all over the sky, shifting back and forth from Soldier to Gerwalk, and occasionally back to Fighter, bringing the autocannon, the head lasers or the forward lasers to bear on anything that moved. Ranma was hard pressed just to stay on her wing, and it was quickly becoming apparent that she didn't really need the assist.

"Angel Flight Three is up and inbound, Lead. ETA five minutes."

"Roger, Flight Two."

And a damned good thing, too. Between Clark and Saotome, the Zentraedi were taking a shit-kicking, but the humans were still outnumbered by four to one at best.

The rest of the wing were definitely making up for lost time as well. Ranma noted that Four - a quiet, mousy type named Hikaru - was performing particularly well, though spending most of her time in Gerwalk.

Then he noticed the cruiser bearing down on them.

"Where the hell do they keep getting these things? Macross, Angel Lead. There is a Zentraedi battlecruiser closing on your position, ETA three minutes. We can't hold that thing off, Macross!"

"Understood, Angel Lead. Just try to keep their Mecha busy. Angel Flight Three has just left the cats and is inbound on your location."

"Roger that, Macross."

"Three's hit! It's not too bad, but I can't shift."

"Understood, Three." Ranma checked the Tac Net. Three was stuck in Soldier Mode. "Can you extend your wings?"

"What control is that?"

"None - just visualize it."

"O-okay..."

As Ranma watched, Angel Three slowly cranked out her wings. They deployed jerkily, as if Kosuji was having trouble interfacing with the Mecha.

"Three, are you hurt?"

"Bit of shrapnel in the leg, nothing serious."

"Bug out, Three."

"Aye."

It left her understrength, but Third Flight was just arriving. And she also realized that it had become quiet. Could they actually have beaten the Zentraedi off?

"Hey, Captain! Can we play?"

"Sure thing, Kanzaki. All right, listen up, First. That ship is ninety seconds outside of firing range of the Macross, and we've managed to mop up their Mecha screen. But you can bet they have more. But for now, we're gonna try to take out that cruiser. Lieutenant Tendo."

"Aye?" Angel Flight Two was still sixty seconds out.

"Meet us in the middle."

"Aye, ma'am!"

"Flight One, let's go!"

First and Third Flight, Angel Squadron, spun and began bearing down on the enemy battlecruiser. Most shifted to Gerwalk and began to matter-surf along the enemy ship's hull. Ranma tapped six targets into his battle computer - gun turrets, radar booms, whatever - and sent a cloud of missiles after them. To his left, Clark, still in Soldier Mode, but flying with wings extended, turned the rifle pod on target after target.

Ahead of them, Zentraedi in powered armour began to appear.

~Rat race? You want a rat race?~

"Targets ahead. Powered armour. Angel, shift to Soldier."

It was the same game Ranma had fought in Macross City, save that this time, it was fought among the alien projections and gun turrets of the Zentraedi battlecruiser. And this time, there were a lot more enemies. Three of Ranma's squadron disappeared from his scope as their mecha went up in fireballs.

And then Angel Two arrived on high, raining death on the Zentraedi with missiles, laser fire and depleted transuranic slugs. Ranma whooped, then patched into the Tac Net.

"Welcome to the front line! And just in time, too."

Claudia Grant clicked onto the Net. "Angel Squadron, disengage and move away from the target. We are beginning our attack run."

Ranma thought of the Macross' main gun. "Yes, ma'am!"

* * * * *

"Sir, we cannot complete modular transformation in the time remaining, and we can't fire the main gun if we don't!"

"I doubt we can fire the main gun anyway, Kim. Lisa and the Vermilions could be inside that thing. Signal all ahead full."

"WHAT? Uh, Aye, sir!"

Gloval sat back and watched the viewport as the enemy cruiser swelled in it.

~At least it's clearing the asteroids from our path!~

* * * * *

Ranma watched in amazement as the SDF-1 leapt forward at the enemy cruiser.

"He's gonna broadside it!"

The SDF-1 slipped below the Zentraedi battlewagon and began running down her length. Her secondary batteries, normally of too short a range to be bothered with, began hammering into the underbelly of the enemy ship. Massive steel slugs from the rail guns and bolts of energy from the converging-beam reflex cannons, as well as firepower from the MAC II Destroids on the ship's surface and long range missiles from its anti-aircraft batteries, all of it tearing into the mammoth five-kilometer-long cruiser.

The Zentraedi ship had no weaponry on the underside; all she could do was take the pounding. Macross slid out from under her, and began a slow turn. Ranma glanced at the Tac Net, and saw the assault shuttles leaving the Macross.

"Angel Squadron, let's give them some cover. Angel Lead to assault shuttle group. Suggest you hit the hangar deck."

"Angel, this is Ferryboat Lead. Care to give us an escort?"

"No problem."

The enemy cruiser was still reeling from the hammering that Macross had given her. It was launching no fighters or mecha, and Ferryboat was able to make an uncontested entry. The six shuttles opened up, and disgorged their cargo of Tomahawk and Spartan Destroids.

"Angel, form up around the shuttle. We're gonna do guard duty."

"Flight Two, Aye."

"Angel Flight Three. Aye."

Ranma shifted to Soldier Mode, and dropped down next to a shuttle, cannon pod at the ready.

"How are y'all doin' for ammo?"

"Two's got one clip and six missiles."

"Four's got one clip."

"Five's empty."

"Angel Flight Two has all pilots, two clips left, and no missiles. We used them all pulling your asses out of the fire."

"Angel Flight Three has all pilots, one clip left, and eleven missiles among us."

"Right. Flight Two, can you loan us a clip?"

Akane hooked one out of her Mecha's leg and tossed it across to Five. "Now you owe us two."

"Yeah, right. We'll settle it later. But for now, your Flight's name is Guardian. Eyes sharp, people."

But it proved unneccesary. The Destroid raid kept the enemy busy, and the Destroids themselves returned unhindered, though with a few holes in their ranks. The shuttles blasted off, and Angel formed up to escort them back to the Macross.

"Angel Lead, Ferryboat. Suggest we put on the gas. We left them a present behind there..."

* * * * *

Three Zentran clustered around the small barnacle-shaped device in the engine room. One of them activated his personal comm.

*My Lord. The Micronians appear to have...lost something. What should we do about it?*

The Zentraedi Commander frowned. *What is it?*

*We're not entirely certain. It is small, grey and round, and has a black patch with red marks on it. The marks keep changing.*

Another Zentran spoke up. *One of the sets of red marks has disappeared.*

The Zentran stared at the device, trying to make sense out of the markings.

4...

3...

2...

1...

* * * * *

Behind the Valkyrie flight, the cruiser suddenly erupted into a massive fireball.

"Yikes! Brace for shockwave!"

And then the mecha were tossed around like leaves on a summer hurricane. The shuttles fared worse, and as Ranma watched, one of them crumpled and exploded.

Then they were out of it, and it was smooth sailing all the way back home.

* * * * *

The noise level in the O-Club was rapidly approaching lethal levels. Most of the pilots on the Macross were nowhere near the fight - only Angel had been on the cats - but it was the first real victory won by Mecha. And the fourteen remaining pilots of Angel Squadron had rapidly discovered that they would not be permitted to buy their own beer. Period.

But Ranma wasn't in a celebratory mood. Shortly after the party began, she slipped out and headed for the White Dragon.

It was fairly late, and the White Dragon was mostly empty. In one corner, Ranma noticed Colonel Tendo and his eldest daughter, Kasumi. She shrugged, then went over.

"Hi. Can I join you?"

Kasumi beamed. "Of course, Ranma! Nabiki will be here soon, but there's still one seat."

"Thanks." Ranma dropped into the seat. "Hi, Colonel. How come you aren't at the party?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Captain."

Max brought over a small kettle, and Ranma poured the hot water over herself, triggering the change. "Well, I didn't really see a point in celebrating. Angel is down four pilots, and we failed our mission." Too late, Ranma remembered Kasumi's presence. Tendo noticed his worried glance, and made a negative motion with his hand.

"Don't worry - you've not said anything that won't be on the news tomorrow. And since we're both off duty, let us treat each other not as officers, but as family."

"Yeah, okay."

Tendo grinned. "Much better. So tell me, when are you and Akane getting married?"

"Oh, man..."

Luckily for Ranma, Kasumi stepped in. "Now, Father, I don't think you should rush them into this. I mean, both of them have careers to think of. Oh, my! I never thought that Akane would join the army!"

"Hey, she's kickin' butt, Kasumi. She's one of my best pilots."

Tendo nodded. "And after this last battle, I imagine she'll be pushed to the top of the promotion list. She may make First Lieutenant in a month."

Kasumi tilted her head. "Does this mean I'll have to salute her?"

Ranma grinned. "Ah...no, Kasumi."

"Hey, Saotome." Nabiki walked up to the table. "You joining us for dinner?"

Ranma shrugged. "Why not?"

Nabiki sat down across from him. "I have some information you may want."

"Really? Do tell."

"Not so fast, Saotome. This information is kind of important and, as such, is going to set you back some cash. But seems how you're almost family, I'll let you have a discount. Two thousand yen, up front."

"What could be THAT important?"

"Do you want the information or not?"

"All right, all right! Here!" Ranma slid two bills across the table to Nabiki. "Now what's the information?"

"Four days from now is Akane's birthday."

"Gimme back my money, I coulda got that from her personnell dossier."

"True, but would you have even thought to look if I hadn't reminded you?" Nabiki slipped the cash into her pocket. "I figure that just telling you it was coming up was worth the two thousand. I threw in the exact day as a freebie."

"Yeah, whatever..."

"For an extra five thousand, I'll tell you what she wants."

"Forget it, I'll just guess."

---

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