Macross 1/2
Part 3
By Tailkinker
[email protected]

---

KUH LON

Ranma bowed to the Tendo patriarch, backing out onto the street, and waited for the Colonel to close the door. He sighed and crumpled a bit, then began meandering back to the Bachelor's Officer Quarters.

"Oh, man. I shoulda just stayed at the O-Club. Who woulda thought that Tendo-san was a two fisted drinker...an' pushin the sake on me...an' goin' on about me an' Akane gettin' married..."

He was a bit intoxicated, he decided. Not wasted, not really even drunk, but definitely under the influence.

"Azzif I'm gonna marry that tomboy, fambly honour or no. I mean, she's cute an' all, but I gotta career to keep up. Not to menshun, she don' wanna get married either..."

"Saotome Ranma?"

"Huh?"

Ranma swiveled a bit unsteadily, and tried to focus on the speaker.

~Man, I must be drunker than I thought. A three-foot high talkin' Troll doll? Maybe if I ignore it...~

-BOP-

"OW! What wazzat for?"

"You are Saotome Ranma?"

"Yeah, why?"

The Troll doll chuckled - or, at least, that was his guess as to what that sound was.

"Xian Pu has told me of your Jushenkyou curse, boy."

"Oh? So, what's this about Shampoo an' me bein' married, then?"

"It is the law of the Joketsuzoku, nearly three thousand years old."

"Oh. Well, I ain't from the Jokek...the Jokesu...your village. 'M from Nerima, Tokyo, Japan."

"This does not matter. It is the law, and you, being a male of the Joketsuzoku through marriage, must follow it."

"Man, am I wasted. Carryin' on a talk with a withered ol' troll 'bout useless laws..."

Kuh Lon narrowed her eyes. "Our laws are not useless. They are what kept the Joketsuzoku strong over three thousand years of history. They ensure the strength of the tribe, by bringing in the greatest soldiers and fighters, in order to breed the ultimate warriors."

"Ain't he a wrestler or somethin'?"

Kuh Lon blinked. "You're drunk."

"Oh, I dunno, mebbe a bit...not too much...only had six, or seven, or eight, or I dunno..."

"I think it would be best for us to continue this conversation at a later date."

"Yeah...good plan...talk when I ain't seein' no trolls..."

* * * * *

"So, Son-in-law. I trust you are in better shape to talk now?"

"Huh?"

Ranma glanced up from his food to see the old woman balanced on her walking stick at the table.

"Oh, man. You mean it wasn't a hallucination?"

"No. It was not."

"Fine, then. Look, I ain't marryin' Shampoo, okay? I'm already engaged."

"Your other engagements are of no concern."

"They are to me."

"What you want is also of no concern. In our tribe, males serve only one purpose."

"Besides, RDF military law says I need my superior officer's permission to marry a foreign national."

"RDF law is also of no concern."

Ranma carefully finished chewing his bite of egg roll, set down the unfinished portion, and glared at the crone.

"Let me see if I understand EXACTLY what you're saying here. RDF law is not important, but Chinese law - not even that, but the law of a nobody village in the middle of the Chinese jungle, so far out of reach of civilization that its citizens think 'space ship' means a really big boat - the laws of this village are important, even inside a Dimensional Fortress owned and operated by the United Earth Government, manned primarily by Japanese personnell, under martial law of the Robotech Defense Force."

"Yes, that's about right."

Ranma took another bite of his egg roll, chewed thoughtfully.

"Old bat, you're really something else."

Cologne raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I really didn't thing ANYONE was that brain dead."

-WHACK-

"Ow!"

"Son-in-law, you will learn respect for your elders."

"I don't respect elders with senile delusions of grandeur."

Cologne chuckled, then lashed out again with her stick. Ranma tried to dodge, but the stick caught him square in the chest with the point.

"Oh, don't worry, Son-in-law. When the time comes, you will be begging me to allow you to marry Xian Pu."

"Huh?"

Cologne turned and left the restaurant, leaving Ranma horribly confused.

* * * * *

Shoko was the first to notice Ranma entering the ready room. She snapped to attention and called out, "Officer on the deck!"

The room fell silent as Ranma picked up the glass of water on his desk and upended it over his head. There were gasps from the new pilots, but the older hands took it as their cue to sit down.

~Hm. That felt a bit warm. Still, it was cold enough to trigger the change...~

"Good afternoon. I trust you all slept well?"

There was a chorus of groans from the more hung-over pilots.

"Y'know, I really thought that a female squadron woulda done things different than a male squadron. But oh, no, you girls are just as hard drinkers as Skull..."

This comment elicited growls all around; Roy Fokker was the biggest drunkard in the RDF, and most of the Skull followed their Major's lead.

Ranma grinned. "Well, now for the good news. Firefly squadron has just graduated, and its members are bein' posted for repple-depple all through the fleet. Four of 'em came here. It's worth pointin' out that Skull and Sepia squadrons have both requested Fireflies. Seems you girls have made a lasting impression.

"Second, I've got some commendations to hand out. These aren't medals or anythin' like that, nor do they carry extra leave or bonus pay, but they WILL reflect on your promotion review. Lemme see here...Got two from Commander Hayes, one to Tendo Akane - outstanding use of tactics - and one for Kosuji Minako - courage under fire." He glanced up at the girl. "Minako, this commendation, along with your Purple Heart, will put you on the promotion schedule for Warrant Officer, second class.

"Finally, I got one other commendation. This one's from me, to Amy Clark. Courage under fire.

"Now, for today's mission briefing. We've punched through Zentraedi lines, and it appears that the majority of their fleet has folded for parts unknown. There's only about a hundred ships, ranging from scout corvette to cruiser, following us now. But now we got a lot of dead space to get through, and the sublimunal drive ain't really efficient through dead space. Has to do with a lack of hydrogen for the ramscoops. So we got maybe a two-month cruise before we reach Mars.

"During this time, six squadrons will be doing patrols, four up, four down, four more up, then twelve down. This will not be fun at all. The patrol order will be Skull, Green, Sepia, Blue, Angel and Rogue. So we ain't up for sixteen hours. But after that, we're up every day for eight hours a day for the next two months."

One of the new pilots raised her hand. "Uh, ma'am, there's thirty six squadrons on the Macross, right? So why only six being put on patrol?"

Ranma sighed; she had been dreading that question. "Well, the official line is that the six squadrons on patrol are the best squadrons, and are the most likely to survive a prolonged engagement with Zentraedi forces. The other thirty are being held back for reinforcement, or if needed to engage a capital ship. However, it is my belief that the reason these six squadrons have drawn onerous duty is because all six squadrons contain officers who've managed to irritate Colonel Maistroff."

Chuckles.

"Don't laugh, it ain't funny! Look, guys, you've never done heel-and-toe patrols before. Before these two months are out, you'll be cursing the very ground Maistroff walks on. I already am. Dismissed."

* * * * *

"Captain Ranma Saotome to the bridge."

Ranma cursed. Since it was him being paged and not "Ranko", she'd have to change. Granted, her uniform had been modified to allow for her change, but her flight suit - of neccesity - had not. She spent five minutes struggling out of the flight suit, then grabbed her thermos and upended it over her head.

"YEEOOOOOW!"

Akane turned at the howl of pain, to see Ranma - still in female form - curled up in a ball, screaming.

"Ranma! What's wrong?"

"HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT-"

Akane grabbed her helmet flask, ripping it from its moorings and pouring it over Ranma. She stared at the red welt rising on Ranma's face.

"What happened?"

Ranma shivered. "Musta been a short circuit in the thermos. The water was boiling hot."

Akane picked up the thermos and frowned. "You'd think the thermos itself would be hot..." She poured some of the water over her hand and frowned again. "Ranma, this water's barely warm at all!"

"Huh?"

"It's not hot. In fact, I don't think it's even warm enough to trigger the change."

Ranma frowned. "But it was boiling! It was way too hot to touch."

"Here, feel it." Alane poured the water over Ranma's hand.

"OW!" Ranma snatched her hand back like it'd been burned.

"What's going on?" Shoko and one of the new girls, Jane something-or-other, had wandered over.

"Ranma - I mean, Captain Saotome - is of the opinion that this water is too hot." Akane tossed the thermos to Shoko, who tested the water carefully.

"She's nuts. This water's only lukewarm."

"I'm nuts, am I?" Ranma raised his hand, showing the red weal. "Since when does lukewarm water cause first-degree scalds?"

The new girl scratched her head. "Does this have something to do with that sex-change she did in the briefing?"

"Yeah." Akane sat down. "Captain Saotome acquired an ancient Chinese curse--"

"She lives in interesting times?"

Ranma smirked. "That does about sum it up."

Akane glared at both of them. "The curse comes from a place called Jushenkyou. Cold water turns Ranma into a female, and hot water turns him male."

"So what is he - a guy or a girl?"

Ranma glared at her. "I'm a guy, got it? The only reason I fly as a girl is because girls can handle Valkyries better."

The bitch box clicked again. "Captain Ranma Saotome, report to the bridge immediately."

"Aw, crap. If I can't stand the water needed to change back to a guy, how am I supposed to go to the bridge?"

Shoko shrugged. "Just walk faster, I guess."

"No, you don't understand. Only about fifteen people outside of this squadron know about the curse. Normally, only one of them is on the bridge, but Lisa's not there right now..."

"So?"

"So it was my guy form summoned! I can't go there like this! Then EVERYONE will know!"

"So just get some hot water-"

Ranma smacked her head. "Don't you get it, Shoko? If I can't stand THAT water, which isn't hot enough to cause the change-"

"Oh! I see." Shoko shook her head. "Man, you're screwed."

"Thank you for your vote of confidence."

Akane spoke up. "Look, Ranma. You're just gonna have to risk it, it's not Gloval who wants to see you."

"Right." Ranma stood, resignedly, and headed for the hanger door.

* * * * *

The door to the bridge slid open, and Ranma hesitantly stepped out into the bridge. "Ah, Captain Saotome reporting as ordered, sir."

Gloval stood and walked around his chair, coming face to face with Ranma. "What on earth-"

Sammie Porter waved at Ranma. "Hi, Ranma-chan!"

"I had Ranma Saotome paged, not Ranko."

Sammie grinned. "You're gonna love this, Captain!"

"Indeed." Another man turned to face Ranma. He was tall, dark-haired and bulged with muscles. But the really disturbing part was his eyes. They were completely black. "This is the very reason I asked you to call him to the bridge."

"Very well...To the Briefing Room, please. Sammie, since you seem to know what this is all about, you are to come with us."

"Aye, sir!"

* * * * *

"Now then, Dr. Lang, would you kindly tell us what the hell is going on?"

"Certainly, sir. Major Fokker was being debriefed by myself when he mentioned something about Captain Saotome changing in the cockpit. He tried to cover it up, but I managed to pry out of him that Captain Saotome apparently suffers from an exotic Chinese curse."

"Yep." Sammie leaned forward. "And Lisa knew all about it, too! She told me, 'cause I've gotta run the Valkyrie teams when she's away."

"I see. So what exactly is this curse."

"Ahem-" Lang turned towards Sammie. "First off, your name and rank?"

"Eh? Samantha Porter, Ensign."

"Thank you. Please continue."

"Well, Ranma apparently changes gender when hit by water. Hot water renders her male, and cold water turns him female."

Gloval blinked at this interesting use of pronouns.

Lang sat down and leaned back in his chair. "Well, now, Captain Saotome. Would you care to come down to the medical lab?"

* * * * *

Five minutes later, Gloval, Sammie, Lang and Ranma were in the med lab. While Lang fussed over his equipment, Sammie chatted with Ranma.

"So tell me, Ranma-chan, why did you come to the bridge as Ranko?"

Ranma shrugged. "For some reason, I can't tolerate water hot enough for me to shift."

Lang frowned at this. "Why not?"

"I dunno. Just for some reason, water feels warmer to me."

Lang scowled and began putting some of his equipment away. "Guess I won't get to use these..."

"So you've known about this curse all the time?"

"Yep." Sammie grinned. "Lisa told me about it when she was explaining the TOE."

"So you knew, even as you tried to arrange dates for me in female form?"

Sammie shrugged. "A girl can have some fun, can't she?"

"I'm gonna strangle you..."

"Not right now, Captain, if you please." Lang walked over with an armload of wires and probes. "Would you please strip to the waist and lie down?"

"Ah..." Ranma glanced at the Major, then back to Lang. Gloval took the hint.

"Sorry. I'll just go back to the bridge." He beat a hasty retreat from the room.

"Don't worry about me, Captain. Remember, I'm a doctor."

"Right." Ranma pulled off his uniform jacket, then unbuttoned and removed the shirt.

"...of Engineering. Boots too."

Ranma scowled at him, but removed her boots and leaned back into the medical bed. Lang proceeded to wire her up with several small sensors.

"I wanted to get some readings on you as you shifted, but I guess that's not going to be possible. So instead I'm going to scan you for radioactivity, Reflex energy and so forth. I'm also going to expose you to such - don't worry, I'll use low levels, too low to damage even the most sensitive cells - to see if this provokes some sort of response. Also, this device--" he gestured towards a machine "--will do a complete DNA workup of your system."

"Joy."

Lang grinned. "Not very enthusiastic?"

"Y'know, Doc, I spent three years hiding this curse so just this sort of thing wouldn't happen. Then Roy goes and tells you. I'm gonna kill him."

"Don't worry, Ranma. I'm not going to turn you into a full-time guinea pig. But if I can discover the cause of this transformation, then perhaps I can reverse it."

Ranma sat bolt upright, dislodging several of the sensors. "You mean you can cure the curse?"

"Perhaps. But not if you won't let me proceed."

"Oh. Sorry." Ranma lay down again, and Lang started replacing the dislodged sensors. "So, why are you here, Sammie?"

She grinned. "Well, mainly it's because I think your curse is fascinating. I mean, you're the only person in the world who truly understands both genders' points of view. So if Doc Lang can get more information on it..." She shrugged. "Also, I'm gonna need whatever information he finds, 'cause it might affect the TOE."

"How?"

"What happens if he can cure you? Who's gonna be in command of Angel Squadron?"

"Hm...Good point. I'd suggest Lieutenant Kanzaki."

"Oh? Not Lieutenant Tendo, your fiancee?"

Ranma scowled. "In the first place, nepotism is conduct unbecoming an RDF officer, right? Second, Kanzaki is the best leadership material in the squadron."

"Right. Right. Just pulling your chain."

Lang broke in. "All done!"

"What? Already?"

"Yes. These things don't take long. It actually takes longer to wire you up than it does to run the tests." He began removing the sensors. "Just as soon as I get these things off, you can get dressed." He removed the last of them and handed her a small facecloth. "You can use this to remove the adhesive."

"Thanks." Ranma quickly wiped herself down, then dressed. "So what's the verdict, Doc?"

"The computer's still running the analysis. It'll take about ten more minutes. Coffee?"

"Sure, thanks. Aw, crap, I just remembered something. Doc, I'll be back in half an hour. Sammie, c'mon. You gotta help me."

"Huh?"

* * * * *

"Okay, Ranma, what's going on? Where are we going?"

"Look, Sammie, you were wrong. I DON'T know about women's point of view. Okay? I'm just as clueless about this as any male."

"...Okay, sure. Just means you gotta work at it--"

"Maybe, but I ain't got the time. Tomorrow is Akane's birthday and I gotta get her a present."

"Right. So what does she want?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"Yeesh, you don't have to yell. Still, I guess you're right. You're not the first guy I've helped out this way. Now lemme think..."

* * * * *

Twenty minutes later, gift-wrapped package in hand, Ranma walked back into the lab.

"Hey, Doc, I'm back."

Dr. Lang glanced up from the computer. "Ah, good. Where's Sammie?"

"Called back to the bridge. I'm supposed to tell her what happens."

"Very well. It seems that this 'curse' is somehow tied into Robotechnology. Your body literally radiates Reflex energy, and bombarding you with Reflex energy causes your DNA to shift. How water is tied into the formula, I don't know, but I'd recommend you expose yourself to cold water sometime soon."

"Uh...why?"

"Because your DNA at the cellular level has transformed, and will slowly - and painfully - convert you back to your male form. Unless you act to reverse it..."

"So even if I did let it run its course, I'd still turn female again with cold water?"

"Yes."

"So I'm guessin' you didn't find a cure."

"Sadly, no." Lang handed Ranma a sheet of paper. "This is a work order for your personal Valkyrie. It's to be upgraded to an S-variant, and the engines to be replaced with Kustonov Reflex heat-pile reactors."

"Meaning?"

"You'll notice a loss of speed, due to the fact that Kustonov reactors are less efficient than fusion engines. However, due to your own personal reflex signature, it should make your fighter more nimble in combat. I'm not sure how, but these things do tend to happen."

"Yeah, and usually to me..."

* * * * *

"Angel Squadron, fall in."

The girls of the squadron leapt to their feet and fell into formation before the Captain.

"Stand easy. Okay folks, we've picked up a break for the moment. Captain Gloval has decided that Angel Squadron will be receiving four days' down time. No patrols or anything during that time." He paused to allow the light cheering to stop. "The bad news is, at the end of that time, we will be on Ready Five sixteen hours."

"Why the change of schedule?"

"Seems that the Chief Engineer, Doctor Lang, has decided that my fighter needs a refit. Then he suggested to Gloval that Angel be reserved for truly frightful messes. So, we get to sit around and be bored, and pray to God we get to stay bored."

---

CAT TONGUE

Ranma decided to get something to eat. Not that this was a hard decision for her - Akane had once accused her of eating like a Hoover, whatever that meant. No, the problem now was choice of restaurant. Previously, this would not have been a problem. Ranma's favourite food was Cantonese-style, and there was only the White Dragon. But now some other enterprising people had opened a restaurant.

"Hmmm...Should I just go to the White Dragon? Or try this new place?" Ranma glanced from one restaurant to the other, then made her decision.

"Right! The new place! Just wish they'd change the name..."

With that, she opened the door and walked in. The smell of freshly-cooked Cantonese food swept over her - sweet and sour sauce, pork, chicken, chow mein...She closed her eyes and just savoured the aroma.

"Nihao! Welcome to Cat Cafe!"

That voice...sounded disturbingly familiar. She opened her eyes again and looked at the waitress.

Purple hair.

Pony tails.

Patterned cheongsam.

Shampoo.

"Aw, man..."

"Aiyah! Ranma come to visit Xian Pu!. Xian Pu so happy! Come, Airen, sit here! Xian Pu get you too-too delicious noodle soup!" The purple-haired Amazon bounced off towards the kitchen.

"Great. And with my luck, the old ghoul's here too."

-WHACK-

"Ow!"

"And just who do you think you're calling a ghoul?"

"Aw, man! I just KNEW I shoulda gone to the White Dragon."

Kuh Lon grinned. "I believe that they have a lack of customers at this time. Something to do with the fact that Lin Minmei no longer works there. While I have a Miss Macross finalist as a waitress..."

"So you don't mind that you mostly get customers who want to ogle her?"

"It is only right to acknowledge the beauty of an Amazon warrior. Besides, to stay, they have to buy food. So tell me...why are you here in female guise?"

"Huh?" Ranma glanced up at her, then narrowed her eyes. "You did this to me, didn't you? When you poked me in the chest."

"True enough, son-in-law. When I touched your chest, I struck a shiatsu point. Your whole body is now as sensitive as a cat's tongue, and we all know how sensitive that is. With this affecting you, you cannot tolerate temperatures hot enough to shift back to your male body."

"Why'd you do it, old ghoul?"

"That should be obvious. Marry Xian Pu, and I will undo what I did. Refuse, and you will remain female for the rest of your life."

"I keep telling you, I ain't gonna marry Shampoo!"

"And I keep telling you that you have no choice. You're dealing with three thousand years of Amazon history. You can't win. So be a man, do the sensible thing, and marry the girl."

"No way."

"So be it. I shall be here, in case you change your mind." The old woman hopped back towards the kitchen.

"Man, I wish she'd get the picture." Ranma scowled down at the table.

Xian Pu bounced over and set a bowl of ramen in front of Ranma. "Here is ramen, airen. And Xian Pi give airen tip as well."

"Tip? I thought I was supposed to give the tip."

"That tip later. This tip now. Locket around Hiibachan's neck contain Phoenix Pill."

"Phoenix?" Ranma glanced up from her noodles. "As in the bird that rises from its own ashes?"

"Champion of heat resistance!"

"So if I take that pill, then I can stand the water needed to change back..." Ranma leaped from her chair and dove towards the old woman.

"Gimme that pill, old ghoul!"

-WHACK-

"Ow!"

Ranma hit the floor face first. Scowling, she peeled herself off the linoleum and gazed balefully at the Amazon Elder.

Kuh Lon, for her part, was grinning. "You have to be much faster than that, son-in-law, if you want to get the pill."

* * * * *

Ranma's Valkyrie was not the only one being refit. She stood in a service bay above the hangar floor and watched Angel Nine being torn down.

Due to Angel's new status as the squadron of choice for emergency situations, the brass had decided that they needed top-notch fighters. The J-variant of the Valkyrie had enhanced electronics, including a powerful long range camera with image enhancement and infra-red thermal imaging. It also had a faster battle computer, with more memory, as well as a special series of hard points designed for modular upgrade packages. Rick Hunter had flown the prototype of the Jaybird Valkyrie, on the night of the beauty pageant.

Angel One, on the other hand, was undergoing a far more extensive refit. Besides upgrades to the S-variant standard, which included a top-notch fire direction computer, four head lasers and a new 100mm smoothbore gun pod, his ship had also had its primary powerplants removed. In place of the two FF-2001 fusion turbines and the Reflex energy bank, two large ugly devices had been installed, one to each leg. The empty bay that used to hold the Reflex system was filled with four extra clips for the GU-12. Hard points for modular upgrades were installed on the back, arms and legs. The engineers that had designed the S-variant referred to it as a Super Valkyrie. Ranma decided that she'd form her own opinion once she'd flown it.

What she found most disturbing about the upgrades to her ship was the fact that at no time did she spot anything resembling a thruster port on the new powerplants.

~How the heck is it gonna fly?~

"How are you feeling, Captain?"

Ranma turned, to see Amy Clark's head sticking in through the door to the break room. "Not bad, Sergeant." She waved a hand towards the shop. "Just watchin' them rape my jet."

Amy's face darkened. "I would rather you rephrased that, Captain."

"Sorry." Ranma scratched her head.

Amy stepped up to the rail and looked down into the pit. "Which one is that?"

"Yamagami's. Number nine. They're halfway done."

"We have to fly a patrol in two days. The technicians will not be finished refitting our Valkyries before then."

"We've got seven operational Jaybirds now. Plus, Angel One will be back together by then. Our flight's gonna take the patrol, and we should have enough Jaybirds by then to have the Guardians on the cats."

Amy nodded. "I want to get some simulator time in before then. The new electronics are going to require practise."

"I'll clear you." Ranma paused. Amy was probably the quietest pilot in her squadron. She never raised her voice, never seemed to lose her temper, and her language was usually crisp and polite. But in battle, she was sudden death in all directions.

~Ya gotta watch the quiet ones.~

* * * * *

"So, Son-in-Law, have you yet come to your senses?"

"Yep."

Cologne blinked. "You mean that you intend to wed my great-granddaughter?"

"Not in the least." Ranma snapped to a ready position. "Saotome School of Anything Goes Desperation Strike!"

"Oh, the Phoenix Pill again?" Cologne raised her staff.

"Yep! I'm gonna get that thing if--Hey! You gotta grease fire goin' in there!"

Cologne turned towards the kitchen in alarm...and Ranma snagged the locket.

"Blew it!" She tore open the locket and downed the pill. And frowned.

"Hey! That tasted just like a lemon drop."

"It was a lemon drop."

Ranma scowled at her. "So there's no such thing as a Phoenix Pill?"

"Oh, there is. And all you have to do to get it is--"

"Save it, ghoul. I've heard it."

* * * * *

Carrier ops had not changed too much; certain changes had to be made to catapult procedure due to the zero-gee and airless environment. Technically, fighters in zero-gee didn't need a cat shot at all, but the crews had been trained for catapult, and it didn't make any sense at all to muck with a working system just because whatever replaced it might be better.

"Angel Flight One, Macross. Taxi for cat launch."

"Angel One, aye." Ranma eased forward the throttle on the Super Valkyrie and held her breath. Much to her surprise, the Valkyrie did not instantly fly apart at the seams, but instead began to roll smoothly down the taxiway.

~Well, whaddaya know? I guess thrusters are optional after all.~

She glanced at the rear view mirror, and saw that Angel Two had fallen into place behind him. The Jaybird's advanced sensor systems were currently shut down; the new radar was powerful enough to cook a TV dinner at a range of over a thousand meters; Ranma was quite happy that they were not switched on, forty meters from her back.

A crewman in a purple spacesuit - all crewmembers were colour-coded by job - ran forward and attached the cat chock to the Super Valkyrie's nose gear, then tossed a salute to the Captain. Ranma returned the salute, and lowered her visor.

"Angel Flight One, Macross. Cat in thirty."

"Aye." Ranma ran her eyes over the instrument cluster, noted the Reflex levels in the heat-piles, set her wheel brakes, then checked the rear view mirror again, this time to ensure the jet blast deflectors were in place. She smiled slightly; it was a reflexive check. This bird wouldn't have any jet blast.

The purple-suited cat chief gave a windup signal, and Ranma advanced both throttles. The Reflex levels spiked, and the jet hunched forward. The cat chief dropped to one knee, hand thrust forward. Ranma disengaged the wheel brakes, and was slammed back into her seat as the jet was hurled into the void.

Ranma instantly found herself in an alpha state; totally at one with the Mecha. The speed at which it happened alarmed her; normally, it took a bit of effort to reach alpha. But this new bird seemed to hunger for it; it pulled the pilot into itself. Once she got past the initial shock, she had to admit that she liked it. She "looked" back with the rear sensors, and saw Angel Two dropping into formation, with Angel Three and Four back on the Promotheus being prepped for launch.

"How ya doin', Amy?"

"Not bad. I am not going to be at my best for some time to come. I need more practise."

"Well, we'll get lots of chance for that."

"Angel One, squawk one seven four one."

Ranma tapped the transponder, setting it to return 1741. The rest of the flight would be issued similar numbers. She checked Angel Two's transponder, and confirmed its return number as 1742. Next, she checked her nav points.

"Right. We've got a nice long-range patrol. As soon as Five and Six are up, we'll head out."

* * * * *

"Skull Flight Three, Macross. We are registering a defold operation. Your bearing zero three five mark thirty-five for forty thousand."

Captain Lee Jackson checked his radar. "Macross, Skull Lead. I have nothing on radar, but that would be outside our detection radius." He bit his lip. "We'll check it out. Request you put Skull Flight Two up."

"We'll take that under consideration, Skull Lead."

Jackson pushed the throttle forward. "Skull, we got a recon to do."

* * * * *

"Angel Lead, Macross. Defold in progress; we're launching Angel Flight Three."

"Great." Ranma scowled. "Base, Angel Lead. Affirm that."

Amy Clark's visored face popped up on the left side of Ranma's display. "What--"

"Base thinks we got an incoming strike." Ranma tapped the Tac Net, and scowled. "Skull's doin' recon, an' if they don't like what they find, odds are we're gonna be sent in. I want you to take wing lead."

"Yes, ma'am."

Space ahead of them glimmered with fire. The Tac Net cleared, and Jackson's face appeared. "Base, Skull Lead. We have hostiles of an unidentified type present. Request immediate backup!"

"Skull Lead, hang tight. Reinforcements are en route. Angel Lead, Macross. Skull is engaged by Zentraedi forces. Your vector for intercept three three seven mark minus niner for sixty five. Buster."

"Base, affirm. Skull, Angel, we are inbound." Ranma slammed the throttle all the way forward, and the fighter started gaining speed. She cursed; as per Lang's predictions, the bird was handling sluggish under the throttle. "Three through Six, buster."

"Three."

"Four."

"Five."

"Six."

The four Jaybirds leaped forward, passing Ranma and Amy like they were standing still. Ranma cursed again.

"Contact!"

"Multiple warhead detonation!"

"Jesus, it just flew through the--"

"Fifteen, break off. You can't--"

Explosions. Three Skulls dropped right off the scope.

"Breakaway. Skull, incoming friendly missiles."

"Can't hold him--"

"Angel One, Guardian Lead. We are inbound, ETA five point one."

"Impact in ten, nine, eight..."

"Microwave jamming, Kilo band."

"Switch to FLIR."

Ranma cursed, swore, kicked the console, cursed some more, and finally settled down to merely fuming. Nothing she could do could squeeze any more speed out of the Valkyrie. She checked the Nav Comp; twelve minutes to contact at this speed...

"I'm hit!"

"Got one. Angel, use lasers. These things are too fast for missiles."

"Eject, eject--"

Ranma squeezed her eyes shut. The Valkyries were being massacred, and there was nothing she could do.

~Be there.~

Of course, that's what she needed. To get there *now*, before anyone else died--

~Death is an ending. It is a sadness.~

She opened her eyes.

The Valkyrie was gone. She was standing in a field of flowers.

~When your kind came, there was much death. And to think that the one I trusted, that I loved, would be the one to betray me.~

Ranma turned, to see a woman standing next to her. The woman was very tall, and rather beautiful, though in an artificial way.

~But you are not like him. And more; you are two in one, and mutable.~

"Who are you?"

~One who leads.~ The woman looked down at her. ~Much like you, though you were chosen to lead by others, and I exist only to lead.~

Ranma looked around. "Where am I? What is this place?"

~This place no longer exists, save in my memories. And now yours as well. Though these memories would be but a burden to you, and I will remove them from you before you leave.~

Ranma looked back to the women. "I was in a battle--"

~You struggle to preserve life. Perhaps I can help you in this. And though you are mutable, you choose not to be.~

Ranma shrugged. "Not my choice."

~Though it is. You allow it to be.~ The woman turned, and placed a hand on Ranma's head. ~Go now. Be there. Quickly--behind you!~

She whirled about, bringing up the massive gun pod, and haloed the Zentraedi mecha. Rather than a stream of shells, the GU-12 coughed up a single massive tungsten-core penetrator, that smashed through the target. Ranma blinked; the enemy Mecha were more humanoid in form, resembling a giant Powered Armour suit with a jet pack. She whirled on her heel, firing off three more rounds, blowing three more enemy Mecha to scrap.

Ranma shook her head. "What the--"

"Angel One, glad to see you."

"Skull, Macross. We are picking up a second Reflex wave--"

Ranma turned the jet end for end, dropping true and launching a spread of missiles towards a cloud of battle pods. She whirled and snap-kicked another suit of Powered Armour, then turned and drilled another battle pod.

"Jesus, lookit her go!"

On the outskirts of the battle, Assault Leader Miriya Parino watched, stupefied, as the Super Valkyrie made hash of the elite of the Quadrano Battalion.

*This Micronian is a devil!* She scowled. *Leave his termination to me.*

She cut in the suit's thrusters, and dived into the battle.

Ranma saw her coming, and realized with a start that the pilot was female. ~Makes sense, I guess...where else are little Giants supposed to come from?~ She brought the rifle up, and pulled the trigger.

Much to her surprise, the rifle exploded.

"What the hell?"

No time to shift; the enemy was already on top of her, firing streams of energy from cannons mounted in the Armour's wrist. Ranma dodged the incoming fire, and salvoed all four Scorpion missiles, only to see them shot down before impact.

~That thing can really move!~

She faked left, then threw the Soldier into a spin kick that connected with the enemy Mecha, knocking it flying. She righted the Valkyrie, and armed her head laser, only to realize that the enemy had launched a swarm of missiles, and there was no way she could shoot them all down in time--

* * * * *

"Breakaway, breakaway! Skull, Angel Flight Three. Incoming friendly missiles. Impact in three, two--"

"Detonation!"

"That definitely hurt them. The enemy is falling back."

Lieutenant Tendo scanned the wreckage of the battlefield. Skull Flight One had managed to make it into the fight, and had gotten mauled for their troubles, and Angel had lost two pilots. Disabled mecha floated in place, most of them spinning in place. Akane noted one battle pod that was still operational, its legs kicking helplessly. She grinned; Intelligence had wanted a live captive for some time now.

Then she spotted Angel One.

Ranma's fighter was mostly intact, though thoroughly disabled, and its cockpit was still sealed. Akane nosed her fighter up, and peered through Angel One's canopy. The form inside was still, but Akane could see her still breathing. She reconfigured to Gerwalk, and gently caught the other fighter, stopping its spin.

"Guardian Lead to Base. I've found Captain Saotome; her fighter's out of it."

"Base. You are required to recover the whole fighter."

Akane blinked. Standard operating procedure was to detach the nose section. Moving the entire ship would take up almost all of her reaction mass. "Angel Two, Angel Six. Gimme a hand."

The other two fighters slipped up, each one taking hold of the disabled ship, and they gently bore it home.

---

MUTABLE

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

Ranma groaned. Her mouth tasted like the inside of a Valkyrie technician's glove. The inside of her head felt like Akane and her mallet had taken up permanent residence. And every time that stupid machine went *BEEP*, she'd thump him a good one. From inside, where she couldn't dodge.

"How is she, Doctor?"

Speak of the devil.

"She's fine. Bit of a concussion, and for some reason, her blood sugar count is fairly low. Probably too much time in an adrenaline rush."

"Good. I mean, it's good to hear. That she's okay, that is."

"Hey, Akane, don't worry." A new voice. "I told you, she's unkillable."

"Actually, you told me she's a fast healer."

"All the same. Oh, excuse me, Commander."

"Still, I wish she'd wake up. She's been out of it for three days."

Ranma decided that that was her cue. She opened her eyes. Then clamped them shut again.

"Ow! Oh, damn, that hurt..."

"Ranma?"

"Please...turn off that light."

"Um..."

Ranma tried opening her eyes again, more slowly this time. A fuzzy Akane-shaped person was leaning over him, a worried expression on her face. Ranma blinked, and the person came into focus, allowing her to confirm that yes, it was Akane.

"You dummy. You've had us all worried!"

"Hey..." She tried to say more, but the sound of her own voice was very painful. She looked around, and spotted Shoko and Commander Lisa Hayes. "Lisa! When did you get back?"

"Well...Rick and I managed to hijack an enemy battle pod when the Zentraedi ship jumped back to Earth space." She grinned. "We got to see all the excitement up close and personal."

"Great. Glad you're okay. Akane?"

"Yes, Ranma?"

"When can I get out of here?"

Lisa answered for Akane. "Your squadron isn't due for another patrol any time soon."

"Oh..." Ranma tried to sit up, but was firmly pushed back down by Akane.

"Forget it. The doc says you can leave tomorrow, provided you behave."

"Okay..." She was really too tired to argue at the moment. In fact, another nap seemed like just the ticket...

* * * * *

Ranma hit the rewind button, then the play button. Did it again. And again. Every time, the screen showed the same thing: Angel One simply appearing, in a brief flash of light, in the middle of the furball.

"Nope. Sorry. I have no idea what happened."

She was seated at a table, the projector in front of her. To her left was Roy Fokker; to the right, Captain Henry Gloval, Doctor Emil Lang, Colonel Edward Maistroff, and Commander Lisa Hayes.

Doctor Lang leaned forward. "Nonetheless, the instruments in your Valkyrie confirm what the Macross' sensors and those of the other Valkyries in the area detected; somehow, you executed a very short range Space Fold. Furthermore, you did so with a Valkyrie. Fold engines are not standard equipment on a variable fighter, and probably never will be."

"Hey, Doc, look. I'm tellin' the truth, okay? I got no idea how it happened. I was twelve minutes out of the fight, and then I was right in the middle of the fight. Like, poof. I don't remember how I got there. An' the next thing I knew after that was, that alien Amazon slammed me with about a hundred missiles."

"Eighty five, to be exact, not counting the ones you managed to shoot down before impact."

"Yeah, whatever. Look, how many times I gotta tell you that?"

"It is sufficient." Dr. Lang made a note on his datapad. "Perhaps the Kustonov Heat-Piles had something to do with it. Next: How is it you knew that the enemy pilot you faced was female?"

Ranma shrugged. "I dunno."

"Commander Hayes stated during her debriefing that the enemy forces included absolutely no females, that they were disgusted and appalled by the thought of dealing with females."

"I dunno. All I know is, the one that shot me down was a chick."

Someone at the table cleared their throat; Ranma didn't notice who, but figured she could make a good guess. ~Memo to me: Don't use the word 'chick' during a debriefing.~

Roy was fiddling with his own computer pad. "You stated that your rifle suffered a malfunction during the battle."

"Yep. If you can call blowing itself to fragments a 'malfunction.'"

"Is there any chance that the weapon had been damaged, either in combat or during the Space Fold?"

Ranma shrugged. "Yep, it is possible. I can't prove it any which way; the gun's floating off towards Neptune at the moment."

Doctor Lang shook his head. "We've had some problems with jamming on the GU-12. Since the rifle/cannon is still experimental, we haven't got all the bugs worked out yet. Most likely, the weapon simply misfired. After all, it still functioned after the Space Fold, yes?" Lang picked up the remote and pushed the play button. "There is also the matter of your fighter's increased maneuverability."

"Yeah, it did seem to respond better, though its speed and accelleration were--woah!" Ranma gaped at the screen. "No way. That can't be right."

Commander Hayes glanced down at her notes. "This tape was taken from Angel Fourteen's gun camera."

Ranma shook her head. "I don't get it. That's not how I remember the fight at all. Far as I could tell, I was mostly stationary." She waved a hand at the screen. "According to this, I was all over the sky. There's no way that coulda happened. I'd never have hit anything."

"Distances and speeds in a zero-gee environment can be difficult to judge."

Doctor Lang nodded. "It appears that converting your fighter to use the Heat Pile engines was a good plan. The new enemy Mecha encountered--" The screen changed, to show a still of one of the Powered Armour suits. "Clearly, this Mecha is one of their best. It is better armoured than anything we've encountered yet, and has a far greater payload. Not to mention more maneuverable." He tapped a button, and the screen began playing video again, showing one of the alien Powered Armour zipping through a formation of Valkyries. It didn't fire any weapons, just dodged some thirty missiles, causing several of them to hit each other, and one to actually strike the Valkyrie that had launched it. Next, it dove down towards the Macross, where a formation of Destroids was rushing to intercept it. It launched a swarm of missiles, blowing Destroids around like leaves, then paused to carve up the hull itself with a laser cannon.

Ranma twitched. As the gun camera footage stabilized, he managed to make out the markings on the enemy Mecha.

"That's her."

"Hmm?" Lang paused the tape, and turned to Ranma.

"That's the...the enemy pilot who shot me down. I recognize the markings." Ranma stood up and walked up to the screen. She pointed out two insignia on the image. "See this? And this? None of the others had anything like these markings. We've seen this one before. Occasionally, it turns up on the Officer's Battle Pod. I think we can assume it's a rank marking." She tapped the other marking. "And this one...I dunno."

Commander Hayes leaned forward. "Captain. Are you certain that this unit is the one that damaged your Valkyrie?"

"Yeah. That's her. No question."

Hayes turned to the rest of the board. "Gentlemen, I think it's safe to assume that this pilot is one of the elite."

"I think we've established that this new--"

"No, I mean elite even for this group." She stood and walked up to the image. "This pilot managed to fly right past the entire Blue Squadron, made them look like racing pylons. Did the same for their missiles. Engaged a company of Destroids, and defeated them all. And performed some sort of insertion mission against the fortress. And after that, flew back out past our pickets, to engage Captain Saotome." She walked back to the tabkle, picked up the remote and tapped a button. The image changed, back to Angel One. "Need I remind the board that Captain Saotome had engaged and destroyed six of these elite Mecha troops before their ace intervened, and singlehandedly defeated her in under twelve seconds?"

Ranma fumed. "She cheated. I was out of missiles."

Maistroff spoke for the first time. "Commander, while no-one hear is disputing your operational qualifications, I must remind you that you are not trained in intelligence analysis. In light of Captain Saotome's report, I think it's safe to say that this marking most likely denotes a female pilot."

Ranma blinked. ~That made little sense. Especially compared to what Lisa pointed out...~

Commander Hayes wasn't having any of it. "Colonel, you will recall from my debrief, that when I was aboard the enemy flagship, I learned that the aliens are rigidly segregated. To the point that males and females, if they do come into contact with each other, invariably fight to the death. Hell, the aliens don't even believe that males and females are members of the same species. Why would such a force have a specific marking to denote a female pilot? Heck, why would *any* force--"

Colonel Maistroff half-rose from his seat. "Look, just because you've been to--"

Captain Gloval cleared his throat. "I think that this shall conclude the debriefing. Gentlemen, and ladies, do bear in mind that the details of Commander Hayes' mission are still classified. Captain Saotome, thank you for your patience."

"Not a problem, Captain."

"Dismissed."

* * * * *

Minmei was in her glory.

Ranma was not one of the four officers on the stage. Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes, as well as the two Vermillion pilots who had been on Hunter's wing when they were captured, were being presented with big fancy decorations. The award ceremony was obviously meant to lift morale. Lin Minmei herself had presented the medals, giving each officer some kind words as she did so, and now sang to the crowd, "in honour of their brave exploits." Ranma rather doubted that Minmei had even the faintest clue what the foursome had done to warrant such a fuss; nor would she care, if she did know.

To her, it was just a chance to make people happy.

Ranma had found the Purple Heart pinned to her pillow when she awoke the second time. She was of two minds about it; while she had been shot down and injured in combat, it seemed rather a minor injury. She'd hurt herself worse in practise. But one could hardly turn down a decoration. And at least it moved her further up the promotion schedule.

For the moment, Angel was standing down. They were due to go on patrol again in two more days, and the last of their fighters had been completed. Now, only the Super Valkyrie was under the torch, being rebuilt after its ordeal. Two replacement pilots were being posted from Firefly.

~You choose not to be.~

"Huh?"

Ranma sat up, and looked around her cabin.

"Someone there?"

No answer.

Ranma shrugged, and hopped out of bed. Her stomach was rubbing against her spine; time for some chow. And while she was at it, she'd try for that Phoenix pill again.

* * * * *

-RING-

Shampoo turned at the sound of the bell over the door. "Nihao! Welcome to--Airen!" She launched herself towards Ranma.

Ranma neatly side-stepped the Amazon. "Sorry. No. Not in the mood."

"Airen take Xian Pu on date, is okay?"

"No, it's not. Where's the ghoul?"

"You should show more respect to your elders, Son-in-law."

Ranma turned towards the old woman. "I ain't got any respect for you at all. It's your fault I'm stuck like this."

Across the room, a certain Major's ears perked up. Roy rarely wore a communicator, but in a pinch, the computer padd he was currently jotting on could access the Com Net.

"No, Son-in-law. It is your fault. If you'd just do the sensible thing--"

"Like pound you into a crepe?" Ranma launched herself forward, leading with a fist.

And was promptly smacked down into the ground for her trouble.

"Really, Son-in-law. You're a hundred years too early to defeat me."

At this point, Roy stood up and walked towards the fracas. "Attention on deck."

Ranma jumped to her feet and snapped to attention.

Roy turned towards Cologne. "So, you're the person responsible for locking Captain Saotome in her cursed form?"

"Yes, I am."

"Are you able to reverse the effect?"

"Yes."

"Do it. Now."

Cologne smirked. "I'm not one of your soldiers, Lieutenant."

"That's Major."

"Whatever." She shrugged. "Captain Saotome is in violation of our tribal laws, and must serve penance until she recants. Have you no repect for our laws?"

"No."

Roy scowled at Cologne. This old...he found it hard to refer to the figure before him as a woman. The word that leapt to mind was 'mummy'.

"Our laws--"

"Mean nothing to me. You have two choices. You give Captain Saotome the cure..."

Cologne smirked. As though this outsider male could--

"Or I have you spaced."

Cologne blinked. "What do you mean, spaced?"

"I mean you get put out an airlock into vacuum. You are endangering a U.N. Spacy officer, the Macross, and probably the Earth. And we happen to be at war."

"But our law--"

"Means nothing to me. Or anyone else on Macross."

"Bah. Stronger men than you have tried to bend an Amazon to their will. Over three thousand years of history, not one of them has succeeded." She chuckled. "You better have a lot of friends, sonny, if you want to carry out your threat."

Roy jerked his thumb towards the entrance. "Skull Squadron should be arriving any second now." He raised the padd. "While you and Saotome here were dancing, I whistled up a squadron of Valkyrie fighters. Would you care to bet that these three thousand years of Amazon history will stand up to Robotechnology?"

Cologne sagged. "Very well. You win." She turned, and poked Ranma with her staff. "You are cured, Son-in-law. And I will abjure the law. But know this: Both of you today have made a mistake." She turned back to Roy. "You would not object, of course, to Shampoo courting Ranma, would you?"

"That's up to him."

Cologne smiled. "That will be enough."

Roy collared Ranma. "If you're quite done here...The White Dragon awaits us. We'll get some hot water for you there."

"Thanks, Roy. I owe you one."

"Deduct it from the three I owe you."

* * * * *

Ranma dumped the hot water over her head, and promptly became a him. He stretched, and grinned. "About freakin' time."

Roy scowled. "That old ghoul seemed rather confident in herself. I wonder what mistake it is you supposedly made?"

"I dunno. Not marryin' Shampoo, maybe?"

"How did you get yourself into that mess, anyway?"

"Well...if ya beat an Amazon in combat, ya gotta marry her."

Roy thought back to Ranma's debriefing, the previous day. "Maybe it's just as well that Zentraedi chick shot you down, rather than the other way around?"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"You really want two Amazons chasing you? Especially if one of them's fifty feet tall?"

Ranma gulped.

---

MARS

The Mockingbird fanjet was not originally part of U.N. Spacy's inventory, but once Macross had set up to produce them, they had rapidly become the jet of choice for recon work. Tagged with the call sign Raptor, they were fast, maneuverable, and easy to handle. The original Mockingbird, Rick Hunter's private jet, had also featured twin solid rocket boosters. The Macross design teams had removed them in favour of the two small video cameras, environmental support and avionics, then, in a fit of engineer-type logic, had put them back on.

A Mockingbird, painted a sandy red, roared across the sky, mere feet above the surface of the Red Planet. Lisa adjusted the trim on the stick, glanced at her instruments to confirm her heading. Ahead of her, Mars Base Sara glimmered in the weak sunlight.

She toggled her radio. "Base, this is Raptor Two Six. I have Mars Base in sight. Looks like no movement so far."

"Roger that, Raptor. Be advised we are tracking low-level seismic disturbances in the area." Reception was lousy, but the Macross was below the horizon, and the Layer around this rock sucked.

"Affirm, Base."

A different voice crackled in her ear. "Remember, Lisa, your primary mission is to locate extra consumables. Especially food; we're rather low."

Lisa grinned. "Tell me about it. Roy sure is ticked that we're out of pineapple." She advanced the throttle, picked up some altitude, and began looking for a place to land.

Consumables may have been Base's primary reason for letting her run this recon, but her own, private reason remained the same. Upon coming within radio range of Mars, the Macross had detected an open commo link. Gloval was of the opinion that it was a simple computer glitch, but was willing to investigate.

Lisa hoped very much that it wasn't.

Eight years ago, Lisa had been very much in love with a man named Karl Riber. He was everything she'd ever seen that was good in a man - friendly, gentle, optimistic, dedicated to peace. She had often asked herself what it was that he saw in her - belligerent, antagonistic, a military brat, and quite plain to the bargain.

Objectivity was never one of Lisa's strong points.

Karl Riber had signed up with the U.N. Spacy, because he believed in their mission of peace. He'd volunteered for the mission to establish Mars Base Sara, even though it would take him away from Lisa for five long years. It was his dream to reach the stars.

Two years after he'd left, terrorists associated with anti-unification groups detonated a neutron device near Mars Base Sara. Though the base itself was mostly unharmed, the radiation from the blast would surely have vaporized everyone in the base.

Lisa had been devastated; even more so, because she'd had nobody to turn to for support. Her father hadn't approved of Karl, and it would be two more years before she'd meet Claudia Grant.

So when an open communication link mysteriously appeared on a base that had been dead to the universe for six years...a base where the man she'd loved had supposedly died...well, once again, she'd been unable to look at the situation objectively.

* * * * *

"Captain Saotome, Lieutenant Hunter. Please report to Promotheus Briefing room."

Ranma cursed, and hopped up off of his chair. "Always when I'm eating."

Roy laughed. "When are you ever not eating?"

"You shut up. You're no better." Ranma dropped a forty-cred note on the table and turned for the door.

And was stopped, as someone grabbed his collar.

"Ranma! Prepare to die!"

He turned, to see Hibiki Ryouga, eternal lost boy and sometime adversary. "Hey, Ryouga! Long time no see!"

Ryouga snarled, and drew back a fist.

"You sure you want to do that?" Roy stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Last time you tried it, it didn't work out well for you."

Ryouga hesitated, then lowered his hand. "Ranma, you've still got a lot to answer for!"

"I don't see how." Ranma scowled. "I didn't make you follow me to China. Wasn't my fault at all that you couldn't find your way to the duel. An' as for you gettin' pulped last time we met, that was your own damn fault."

"Dammit, I'm not blind!"

Ranma blinked.

"Did you think I'd never figure it out? That you and that red-haired girl are one and the same?"

Ranma shrugged. "I was kinda hopin' that nobody'd ever figure it out."

"You're the one that pushed me into the spring!"

"What spring?"

"At Jushenkyo!"

Ranma nodded slowly. "Okay, at least now I know what the heck you're talkin' about. I never pushed anyone into one of them. Would'nt wish it on my worst enemy. Not even on you."

"None the less. It was you, Ranma. The last thing I remember before my life changed forever, was being hit by a panda, then by a red-haired girl. And the girl pushed me off the cliff, as she chased the panda."

Ranma sighed, and shook his head. "It mighta been me. Hell, probably was."

"Then you admit your guilt!"

"Nope."

Roy scratched his head. "You're saying it was Ranma's fault you got cursed, because he pushed you in?" He turned to Ranma. "Why would you do that, Ranma?"

Ranma shrugged. "I was awful steamed at Pop at the time. I mean, I'd just gotten cursed, and a real nasty one, too. So I was chasin' him around the pools, tryin' to clobber him. But I was so mad that I couldn't see jack. I mighta hit Ryouga, might never have even realized he was there."

The bitch box crackled to life again. "Captain Saotome, Promotheus Briefing Room."

"Hell, I gotta go."

"Not so fast!" Ryouga moved again to block Ranma's exit. Roy rolled his eyes, and pulled the Lost Boy out of Ranma's path.

"Ranma, better hurry. I'll keep this clown busy while you're gone."

* * * * *

Miriya Parino, First Assault Group Leader of the Second Quadrano Battalion, hesitated at her commanding officer's door. Her hand was raised to touch the annunciator, but she held back.

~By the Protoculture, how I hate this woman!~

To Miriya, her skill at battle was all that mattered. Nothing existed beyond that. Excellence was her goal, and she took any step to ensure that she was the best in the Quadrano Battalion.

To her, her commanding officer's disregard for her own skill at arms was incomprehensible. To study tactics and strategy, that was one thing; it could only add to one's skills. But to forsake combat altogether--!

The Commander was rarely seen in the practise hall, still more rarely in the simulator room. In battle, the rare times one saw her there, she flew a Glaug. The Glaug had been developed by the Zentraedi, as an advanced form of the Regult used by both Zentraedi and Meltraedi alike. It was vastly inferior to the Queadlunn-Rau, and certainly not fit for a Meltraedi to even sit within.

Further, the Commander had spent great amounts of time with Exedore - that weak, insipid excuse for a Zentraedi! So what if he had been around long enough to remember the Protoculture? So what if he was some great font of information? Battle was the true test, of both Zentraedi and Meltraedi. He wouldn't last ten seconds in battle, even against one of his own. And yet the Zentraedi allowed him to live!

~Just more proof that the Meltraedi are inherently superior to the Zentraedi.~

But her Commander had spent many hours in conference with the gnomish, ugly little man. And when she had emerged, had announced this...this disgusting, incomprehensible agreement.

~Cease-fire.~

Even the thought of it brought a bad taste to her mouth. Though the next word, Alliance, had all but made her violently ill.

She stabbed at the annunciator with one extended finger.

*Come.*

The doors parted before her, and she stepped into the Commander's presence. *My Lady. Mission successful.*

The Commander turned away from the viewport and nodded slightly.

*Excellent work, Miriya. We shall now wait for the retrieval signal. Do not approach the Micrones before then. The risk is too great.*

Miriya sneered. *Micrones! I saw how dangerous they were. I must have killed fifty of them in one mission!*

*And twelve of your own troops were slain. Six of them by one pilot alone.*

*I killed him.*

*Not so.* The Commander turned back to the viewport. *The Micrones recovered his Mecha. They would not have done that unless he lived.*

Miriya scowled. *It is irrelevant. He was defeated.*

*Do not let your ego get in the way of your mission again. Dismissed.*

In the reflection of the viewport, Azonia, Commander of the Second Botoru Battalion, watched Miriya salute and stalk out of the room. Only when the door was firmly closed behind her did she sigh, and massage her temples with her fingertips.

~By the Protoculture, how I hate that woman!~

* * * * *

"Surely, the Micrones are all insane."

Three men were gathered around a small fire, warming their hands. The shortest of the three was only four and a half feet tall, with spiky black hair and pasty skin. His companions were somewhat taller; the redhead was six foot, and powerfully built, and the one with the blue hair was five foot nine, though slender as a reed.

All three of them had, just a short while ago, been considerably larger.

All of them were dressed in clothes that were not much above rags. The fortress was rather chilly in most areas, and the threesome were used to much warmer environments. Scattered about them were an odd collection of items: a portable CD player, a Minmei doll, a bowl with strange markings on the side, some sort of framework covered in beads, and around thirty batteries.

"No marching. Nobody in step at all. Not enough uniforms."

The burly one sighed. "How can any society exist with so little structure? It's purely chaotic. We can't even requisition meals."

"At least they didn't find the entry capsule."

"Hey. You three."

The threesome turned, to see a woman standing at the end of the alley. She was wearing a uniform that they recognized: U.N. Spacy.

The short one stood up. "Yeah?"

"What the heck are you guys doing out here?" The Lieutenant shook her head. "Thought they'd billeted everyone by now."

haven't been billeted at all, nor have we managed to figure out requisitioning procedure."

"Ah, well, I can take care of that." The Lieutenant flipped open a notepad. "Names?"

"Um...I'm Rico." The short guy jerked a thumb back towards his partners. "Those're Bron and Konda."

"Last names?"

"Umm..." Rico considered. They'd managed to figure out that each Microne had two names. Now just to pick a common one..."Mary."

The woman blinked, then jotted something down. "Okay. Why not? What about those two?"

"They're also Mary."

Another blink. "All three of you have the last name Mary. Okay. You brothers?"

"Of course!" Rico was offended. As if this...this female could dare to suggest otherwise!

Apparently, it was the right thing to say; the woman relaxed. "Fine." She tore the page out of the notebook, and handed it to Rico. "Take this to the location listed at the top of the page. They'll set you up."

"Thank you." One of those meaningless Microne phrases. He turned to his brothers. "C'mon, let's go. On the bounce!"

Akane watched the three run off, and shrugged. Apparently, there were still people in the world stupid enough that not even the Macross' safety net could help them. She turned, and continued on to the briefing room.

It would be several months before she discovered that she'd just aided and abetted an enemy espionage unit.

* * * * *

"Angel Flight One, Macross. You are clear for takeoff. Squawk one one three five."

Ranma tapped her mike. "Macross, aye. Taxiing now." She dialed her transponder, then waved the go to the deck chief. She advanced the throttle, and her Gerwalk-mode Valkyrie slowly lifted off into the air.

It felt good to fly in atmosphere again, even if the atmosphere was thin and toxic. There was just something about air, biting into her wings and control surfaces. Her link to her Mecha was closer than ever, thanks to the wierd engines that Dr. Lang had ordered installed in her Valkyrie. So she could *feel* the air, the pressure against the elevons and ailerons.

It beat vacuum, any day of the week.

The other five Valkyries were also taking off, though somewhat slower than hers. While the S-model seemed less suitable for space, here in atmosphere she could tell she was gonna leave her wingmates in the dust.

"Angel Lead, your vector two two seven for intercept. There are friendlies in that area, so watch your targets."

"Aye." She flipped over to Angel's freak. "Okay, gang. Let's go check it out. Remember, there's a Cat's Eye and a Mockingbird out there, but no Mecha. And so far, it's just seismic activity. But keep

* * * * *

*All mines are in place, my Lord.*

Khyron nodded. His handsome face was twisted into a sneer, and his high-necked cloak was pulled in close to his frame, to cut the chill. The air here was thin, but there was enough for a Zentraedi officer to survive. His troops were buttoned up inside their Mecha; exposure to this atmosphere would likely kill them. But he was not built so weakly as they.

*Excellent, Grel. Gerao. Signal the Meltraedi, and tell that Azonia person that the trap is laid. Tight beam only; if you give away our position, you'll not have to worry about the Micrones killing you.*

*Understood, my Lord.*

* * * * *

Lisa slowly walked down the corridor, glancing at name plates on each door. Her primary mission had been completed, though she wasn't happy with the results; a search of the food storage compartments quickly proved that the base's supplies had decayed past usefulness.

~So much for the century-long shelf life.~

Similarly, the communications uplink had suffered some odd short circuit, bringing it on-line for no apparent reason. She'd shut down the link, then informed Macross of the situation. They'd requested her immediate return, but she'd argued in favour of a visual search of the compound. And since she was the officer on site...

She stopped, and her gloved hand traced along the plate on the door before her.

Riber

She opened the door and stepped into the cabin. It was small, even smaller than her own cabin aboard the ship. A bunk, doubling as a desk when the mattress was flipped up. A chair, currently lying on its side. A small shelf, containing various bits of memorabilia...She picked up a picture frame, lying face down on the top shelf. It was half buried in red sand, as the window had shattered long ago, but the picture itself was still intact. It showed her and Karl, just before he'd had to leave.

She fell to her knees, dropping the picture.

She couldn't lie to herself any longer.

* * * * *

Ranma creeped the Mecha up to the edge of the crevice. The Cat's Eye had reported a seismic disturbance here about half an hour ago, and on its last pass, about five minutes ago, had registered a sizeable magnetic anomaly. Ranma hadn't spotted the Mockingbird yet, but commo traffic from Base had clarified that; it had landed, and its pilot was carrying out a leg recon on the old Mars Base.

She pulled the Mecha another five feet, just high enough to get a sensor boom over the edge. And gasped.

Down in the crevice were some forty or fifty Zentraedi Battle Pods. Mostly the Trooper type, but she also noticed a fre Artillery Pods. Those were definitely bad news. Also, she spotted one of the over-powered Officer Pods. Its hatch was standing open, and the pilot, a tall, arrogant scoundrel from the looks of him, was waving a hand at the pods. His lips were moving, but the distortion was too strong for Ranma to be able to read his lips.

~Not like I speak Zentraedi anyway. And at least there's no Amazons.~

She backed the Mecha off, then touched a control to activate her laser communications. The coherent beam was impossible to detect by electronic intercept gear, but relied on a line-of-sight to operate. She centered Amy's Valkyrie in her gunsights, recorded a brief assessment of the situation, and tapped the SEND button.

* * * * *

"Captain Saotome reports enemy Mecha, approximately battalion strength, including command and support elements. Assets on site include six Valkyries, one Cat's Eye, and two Destroids within missile range."

Gloval was not a happy man. He'd landed on Mars, after a heated argument with his exec, on the off chance of finding more supplies. Not only was that a bust, but now it seemed that the Zentraedi had been here waiting for them.

"Ignore them. Sound recall, all units. Sammie, warm up the gravitic drive; time to see if the repairs will hold. Vanessa, start the reactors, in case they don't. And Kim, activate the pin-point barrier system."

A chorus of "Aye, Captain", and the bridge crew sprang to work like a well-oiled machine. Gloval leaned back in his seat and scowled.

* * * * *

*My Lord, the Dimensional Fortress is starting her engines.*

Khyron whirled to face his aide. *Status of mines?*

*Ninety-five percent charged.*

*It'll have to do. Activate them.*

* * * * *

"Captain! Local gravity has increased forty-seven percent!"

"Grav drive off-line; it's overloaded."

"Thrusters aren't responding."

"Incoming vessels. Twenty-two ships are entering atmosphere, Captain. Configuration unknown. Oh, and they're launching fighters."

Gloval nearly bit through the stem of his pipe.

"A trap!"

---

ACES

The Macross shuddered under the enemy's cannon fire.

"Sector Twelve reports mild damage, mostly to environmental systems."

"Daedalus reports catapult failure, Captain. They're launching fighters by VTOL at this time."

"Pinpoint Barrier System is low on power, Captain. Doctor Lang is requesting time to power it down, get it back to full strength."

"Tell him to ask the Zentraedi if they'd mind giving us some more time," snarled the Captain.

"Sir, Angel Squadron reports contact with enemy forces."

* * * * *

"Contact, Angel Lead. Seismics spiking high."

"Roger. Angel Two, shift to Soldier. The rest of you, stay in Gerwalk." Ranma shifted her own Valkyrie to Soldier Mode, and readied the gun pod.

There was a few seconds' wait, and then they came boiling out of the chasm like a swarm of angry insects. Luckily, they were about as easy to swat.

Angel Two pressed the trigger on her gun pod, and the GU-11 spat a carefully-measured fifty-round burst of depleted-uranium slugs. The burst tore straight through a pod, blowing it in half. Before the pod had time to collapse, she'd shifted target to a powered armour suit - not one of the Amazon suits, Ranma was glad to see - and dropped the next fifty rounds right through the helmet visor.

~Ouch.~

Ranma sighted on the Officer's Pod. So far, they'd only discovered one weakness on that style of pod, and that was the sensor port right in the front. A shot there would leave the pod blind. Though it would not kill the pilot, it would effectively remove the target from the battle.

Her gun pod was the new GU-12 type. Doctor Lang had assured her that the pod would not jam when reloaded, as the last one would. Ranma had already discarded the second clip of ammo; her left leg socket held a captured Zentraedi laser pistol. She pulled the trigger, and the massive 100mm cannon barked. To her dismay, the Officer's Pod simply jetted sideways to avoid the round.

Elsewhere, her girls were mixing it up. Angel Three and Four had taken to the skies, and had launched all of their missiles in one salvo. The Artillery Pods were but memories, and several Battle Pods were also out of commission.

Ranma pulled the trigger again, and again the rifle/cannon heaved a massive tungsten penetrator. The Officer's Pod sidestepped nimbly, and the round slammed into a Battle Pod behind it.

~This guy's good.~

The Pod jumped into the air, and kicked in its jets; it roared over her head and dropped into the melee.

"Angel Three, clear your six, that Officer's Pod is getting too close."

"Roger, Captain." Kosuji snapped the fighter around, reconfiguring to Soldier mode, and snapped off a burst from the GU-11 rifle/cannon. The shot blew the carapace off of a Battle Pod, exposing the Zentraedi inside to the low pressure and insufficient oxygen. Next, she turned, and loosed a sustained burst on the Battle Pod. The rounds battered the enemy pod, and it broke off, but not before launching a volley of missiles at Angel Three. The missiles slammed into the Valkyrie, and Ranma screamed in rage.

Things were happening too fast. The conventional battle pods were dropping like flies, but that officer was showing far too much skill for Ranma's liking. So far, nobody had scored a solid hit on it. She tapped her mike button. "Angel Lead to Base. We need fire support."

"Roger, Angel. Elements of the Fifth Cavalry are within missile range of your position, and are loading laser guided rounds. Paint them a target."

"Affirm, Base." Her S-variant Valkyrie had an integral ground laser designator; She flipped it on and haloed the enemy Battle Pod. "Fifth, the music is playing."

A new voice crackled over the Tac Net. "Aye, Angel, and it sounds just fine. Firing two missiles; ETA thirty-four seconds."

Ranma gritted her teeth; The Angels were keeping the Officer's Pod busy, but there were a few Artillery and Recon Pods still moving, not to mention a Power Suit. She couldn't use her targeting systems; they were tied up in painting the Officer's Pod. She pulled the rifle around, holding it at arm's length, and started pulling the trigger. It was tricky, since the electronics wanted to make the gun fire at the Officer's Pod, and it took her three tries to kill the Artillery Pod. The Power Suit and the surviving Battle Pods took to the air, and she turned back to the Officer.

The missiles were now visible on radar, as well as Kosuji's rescue beacon; At least she'd managed to punch out. The Officer's Pod obviously had a good radar set; it pivoted momentarily towards the missiles, then leaped into the air and followed its surviving troops out of the combat.

A whoop went up over the Tac Net, and Ranma sighed in relief. One of their number was down, but had survived, and everyone else was intact. It could have gone an awful lot worse.

* * * * *

"Angel Lead reports enemy Mecha have been routed, but they can't get at the gravity devices."

"Very well." Gloval leaned back in his seat and pulled the brim of his cap down. "Contact Eyes Front and see what they've learned."

* * * * *

"Raptor Two Six, Eyes Front."

Lisa wanted to ignore the radio, but knew she couldn't. ~Stupid sense of duty.~ She struggled to her feet and tapped the radio. "Raptor Two Six. Go ahead, Eyes Front."

"Two Six, the area around the Macross has been mined. Some sort of gravity-enhancing device. They're being powered by the base's fusion reactor. We need that reactor taken down."

"Got it. I'm proceeding to the control room." She jumped to her feet and ran from the room.

* * * * *

Ranma acknowledged the report from Eyes Front, then turned to the rest of her flight. "Angels, word from Eyes Front. We got some bandits moving in on Mars Base Sara. We gotta stop them from reaching it." Ranma didn't know much more than that, but didn't really need to. Orders were enough. "Flight two is on the cats, and Guardian's being called up. But we're gonna be there first. Move out!"

She shifted to Gerwalk and lifted into the air, then shifted again, to Fighter, and moved the throttle all the way up.

* * * * *

The door to Central Control was pneumatically powered, but the circuitry to activate it wasn't functioning. Lisa wrenched open an access panel, and pulled on the manual release. Nothing. She checked the pressure gauge next to the manual release, and realized that the system was still under pressure. She opened a valve. A faint hiss reached her through the suit's external microphone; the door's cylinder was being depressurized. When the hiss faded, she started cranking open the door.

Inside, the control room was a mess. She crossed to the fusion reactor's controls, and brought them on-line. Next, she tapped out the codes required to power down the reactor.

ERROR

PLEASE RE-ENTER

She blinked. The codes were standardized all through this sort of machinery. She tapped her communicators. "Eyes Front, contact Macross and have them pull the command codes for Mars Base Sara." While she waited, she re-typed the codes.

ERROR

PLEASE RE-ENTER

"Raptor Two Six, Macross reports, fusion shutdown codes are alpha whiskey bravo three three niner."

Well, that matched what she'd typed. She frowned, and pulled the logs. To her surprise, the codes had been changed only a few hours ago. And no telling what the new codes were. She clicked her communicator.

"Eyes Front, this is Raptor Two Six. Advise Macross that the control computers for the fusion powerplant have been altered. I have to go down to the engineering section."

"Understood, Two Six."

She stood up, and ran from the computer room. She had a very bad feeling about the whole situation.

~We know the Zentraedi can change their size. They must have set this up. Including the communications gear. And there might still be some in here...~

She suddenly found herself wishing she'd brought a sidearm.

* * * * *

"Angel Flight Two to Angel Lead. How're y'all doing?"

Ranma grinned. "Not too bad, Angel Seven."

"Good. That means I get to wreck your day. We got sixteen incoming Mecha, launched from the capital ship that's firing on the Macross."

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Lemme guess: Powered Suits."

"You got it."

"This is not good. Status of Flight Three?"

"Just buttoning up as we speak. They'll be on station in three minutes."

"Right. Let's get moving."

* * * * *

Miriya smiled. She recognized the custom Valkyrie, flying in the lead. She had a score to settle with this Microne. She clicked on her transmitter, and selected the Microne's battle channel. She'd taken the time to learn to speak the Micronian language; it would be a pleasure to greet this one in his own language.

"We meet again, small one. This time things will not go in your favour."

"Go suck eggs!"

The taunt was crude, but this was to be expected from a Microne. What was surprising, was the fact that the voice that replied had been female. She raised an eyebrow. "Well, now. I shall enjoy this." She clicked over to the primary frequency. "Their leader is mine. But as for the rest: Smite them from the skies!"

* * * * *

Lisa had to manually open the airlock as well. The weather had turned nasty; a dust storm was starting to come up. And to make matters worse, it seemed that there was a dogfight directly above her. She glanced towards the engineering building; twenty meters away, right underneath that battle.

She sighed; there was no other way. The reactor itself was deeply buried; none of the Valkyries could possibly get it. She braced herself, then ran.

* * * * *

Ranma was badly latched; she couldn't see the small figure dashing across the desert. But Angel Thirteen did.

"Hey, that's Commander Hayes!" She clicked her radio. "Guardians, Raptor Two Six is below us. Let's make sure she gets to the generator."

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Five."

"Six."

Already, Akane could see several of the Powered Armour vectoring in on the Commander. She tapped her controls, bringing the main laser cannons on line, and sliced one clean through.

"Wow! I like this variant!"

* * * * *

It was quickly becoming apparent to Miriya that she was up against a vastly superior force. Though she had a significant numerical advantage, her forces were being mown down like grass. The Microne pilots were obviously an elite unit; she quickly concluded that, like their leader, they must all be female.

She herself was finding her adversary far more ready for her this time. They had been dancing now for forty-seven pulses, and neither had managed to score a hit. She spared a quarter-pulse to glance at her tactical display; less than ten Quadranos remained alive.

*All forces, fall back. I shall cover your advancement.* She toggled her missile launchers, and fired sixteen missiles from each launcher. To her shock, the enemy pilot executed a micro-spacefold maneuver - ~in atmosphere, no less!~ - and evaded the volley.

But the fold, if that's truly what it was, seemed to disorient the Microne. Miriya smiled, and switched over to impact cannon. She hammered the Valkyrie with several bursts from the cannon, and watched it slam into the ground.

She was about to close in for the kill, when she realized that the other Valkyries had turned towards her, cannons raised. She snorted; Micrones posed no threat. And then reconsidered; these were an elite force, of females!, and fought like demons besides. And during her duel with their leader, had done nothing. Even now, as she hovered, it seemed that they merely waited for her to leave the field.

Which she did. Grinding her teeth, growling in discontentment, but intact.

~Next time, Microne.~

* * * * *

Akane lowered the cannon and breathed a sigh of relief.

~For a second there, I thought she was gonna go for it anyway.~

* * * * *

Lisa pulled the access panel off of the reactor's control systems, and cursed. Sure enough, the Zentraedi had been here; the controls were wrecked. She'd seen, while on board the Zentraedi cruiser, that the Zentraedi couldn't really fix or modify anything. No subtle sabotague here; wires had been ripped out and circuit boards smashed.

No matter. She had one further option. She reached for the fission reactor control system. Its computer was still online, and when she entered the control codes, responded cheerfully. She grinned; the fusion reactor was a marvellous thing, but it needed a small fission reaction to start it going. Six fuel bundles would last the reactor from now until the last trump; they'd also make a hell of a bang, and bring down the fusion reaction with them. First, she turned off the auto-scram function, then removed the software neccessary to cause a manual scram, just in case the Zentraedi removed. Next, she programmed a ten minute delay, to be followed by the machine ejecting its control rods.

"Eyes Front, Raptor Two Six. Advise you get everyone out of here, pronto. This area is gonna go boom."

* * * * *

Ranma was okay, but was mad enough to chew nails. Akane listened to her rant for a few seconds, then flicked off the radio and waved Angel Two over. The two of them lifted Ranma's fighter, then flew back towards the Macross. Akane looked around the squadron; there were only five of them left, plus Ranma.

* * * * *

Lisa had followed the most expedient route back to the ship, which had led her back through the Mars Base proper. And she paused, at the door.

~Karl...~

Had he been here, when the neutron bomb went up? Perhaps asleep, so he never felt a thing? Or had he perhaps been on duty when it happened. It would be like him; once he'd decided that something needed doing, he'd next to kill himself making it happen. Duty had been an important thing to him.

~Duty. Hah! All it's ever gotten me is a load of stress...~

She picked up the picture again. Still intact, after all these years, without even a crack in the glass. The frame was a bit tarnished, but a bit of polish would fix that up.

"Raptor Two Six, Eyes Front."

She ignored it. To hell with duty. It had gotten Karl killed, at a time when she'd needed him the most.

"Raptor Two Six, Eyes Front."

She clicked the radio. "Eyes Front...Best get back to the Macross. This place is going to be a radioactive dust cloud in about five minutes."

"Raptor Two Six--"

She pulled the radio off of her suit, and tossed it aside. There was a certain symmetry to it. Karl had died here, by radiation, due to a hostile force...

* * * * *

Ranma fought her way through the crowd of pilots and crew, till she was face to face with Colonel Maistroff. "Sir! Commander Hayes is still out in the desert, and there's a nuke gonna go off right next to her. Request permission to rescue her."

"Denied."

"WHAT!?"

"Your command is shot to hell, Saotome. Five effectives. Plus, your own aircraft is in for repairs. Again. I can't risk sending an incompetent on a mission this important."

Ranma lunged forward, but was intercepted by Amy and Akane. "Forget it, Captain," growled Akane. "He's not worth it."

"You're just gonna leave the Commander out to die? You son of a--"

"I said nothing of the sort." He turned to Roy. "Get me Lieutenant Hunter."

Roy scowled at Maistroff, then snapped to attention and threw him a salute. "Yes, sir."

* * * * *

"Captain, power to the gravitic mines has been cut. And Lieutenant Hunter reports Commander Hayes returned to the ship safely."

Gloval nodded. "Give me Zed minus fifty, please."

"Zed minus fifty, aye. Captain, the Zentraedi ship is breaking off its attack. Should I program the main gun?"

"No, let them go." Gloval pulled his pipe from his pocket and began to pack it. "We can't afford to waste the energy. If they're going to let us leave without a fight, so be it."

* * * * *

"Captain Ranma Saotome." Gloval read from the paper. "You have been found charged with the following: Section Fifteen Oh Five, insubordination; Section Twenty Thirteen, assaulting or attempting to assault a superior officer, the United Nations Space Administration having been on wartime footing; Section Fifteen Forty-Seven, gross incompetence unbefitting an officer; Section Fifteen Fifty-Nine, conduct unbecoming an officer." He looked up from the paper. "This board has considered the evidence brought against you.

"It is the finding of this board that you are guilty of insubordination and assault of a superior officer. You are found innocent of the other two charges.

"Therefore, it has been further decided by this board that you shall be reduced twenty points in the promotion schedule; this will place you behind all other Captains, and even some of your own Lieutenants may make Major before you. Furthermore, you are sentenced to thirty days in the brig.

"Remove the prisoner."

Ranma allowed himself to be led from the boardroom. The taste of it all was bad in his mouth. Angel Squadron had been disbanded, its colours struck, and his pilots scattered throughout the squadrons. Kanzaki Shoko was among those who had died in battle. And it seemed likely that he'd never have a command again. Not that he wanted one.

"Ranma."

He looked up, to see Commander Hayes. The guard that was escorting him raised a hand, and she stopped some distance away.

"Ranma...I heard from Akane that you volunteered to go pull me out."

He nodded. "Wasn't nothin', really. Anyone woulda."

"Nobody else did. Rick was ordered in, remember. I doubt he would have volunteered."

Ranma grinned a bit. "Give the guy credit, willya?"

She smiled and nodded. "All right. I shall." She sobered. "I'll see you when you get out. And trust me. You'll still have a squadron to command."

"Yeah, right."

"You're not through with me yet."

* * * * *

Miriya stared out at the stars through the porthole.

~Second time lucky, Microne. The third time, the victory shall go to me. There shall be a reckoning.~

She waved a fist towards the Macross.

*Microne! You're not through with me yet!*

---

BLOCKADE

"Before the misfold, we had an unusual situation. Far more airplanes than pilots." Tech Sergeant Jameson gestured down the hall, then turned to the recruit next to him. "See these bays? We had one hundred and sixty Valkyries, ninety-six Destroids of various types, and six experimental or prototype mecha."

"And how many do we have now?"

"Well, the Valks have taken the brunt of the battle, and we're down to less than seventy of them. The Destroids have only seen three major engagements, and we still have eighty or so. The experimental jobs?" Jameson waved a hand towards the bay at the end of the deck. "Just two."

"Where are the rest of the experimentals?"

Jameson sighed. "All of 'em were fielded. The Valkyrie-J can be fitted with external modules, and three of the experimental sets were armour and missile pod combos. Lieutenant Hunter took two of them out, the Space Augmentation Package and the Armour Valkyrie Package. Scrapped 'em both. The Valkyrie-S was issued to Captain Saotome, and he smashed it up some, but it's almost done being repaired. But then back it goes to the front lines. The Training Augmentation Package just never worked, and was broken up for parts. As was the Micro-Valk."

"The what?"

"Oh, some dimwit figured it'd be a good idea to make a Veritech that stood only twelve feet tall. The pilot was crammed into a tiny little cockpit, could barely move. And the thing didn't even have a Soldier Mode. We broke it up for parts; all that's left of her is the engines. So the last one we have is the Rapier."

The recruit walked down the length of the bay, and looked up at the Rapier. It was small, something like two-thirds the overall size of a Valkyrie. Her carriage was somewhat higher, and her control planes rose more closely to the vertical, but other than those details, she could easily have been mistaken for the larger Valkyrie.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Oh, we stripped out the avionics and life support a while back. Took the engines out, too. Nothing else in her'd fit any other jet in the hangar."

The recruit walked up to the Rapier, and pulled himself up the service ladder. He looked around the cockpit of the fighter, noting that it was somewhat smaller than that of the Valkyrie. Gaping holes showed in the instrument panels where electronics had been removed.

"I think I'll take this one."

Jameson scratched his head. "You sure? I mean, any of the Valks would be a lot easier to scratch up parts for."

"Hey, it's supposed to be a challenge, right? And we need every jet we can get, right?" The recruit hopped down. "If I get this thing flying, then not even Commandant Stevens will refuse my qualification."

"True." Jameson shook his head. "I just hope you aren't in over your head." He started walking towards his office, then turned back to the recruit. "You sure you can find your way back?"

Recruit Third Grade Hibiki Ryouga, U. N. Spacy, laughed unsteadily. "I'm not that bad..."

* * * * *

Tendo Akane stepped into the Blue Squadron's ready room.

"Officer on the deck!"

The squadron snapped to attention, all save one rather gangly dark-haired youth who was sprawled on the CO's desk. Akane stepped up to him, double-checked his rank insignia, then handed him her orders.

"Ah, fresh meat for the grinder." The Captain sat up straight, and flipped through her orders. "Hey, it says here you're my new XO."

"Yes, sir."

"A Fallen Angel, at that."

"Silence, knave! You cannot speak of the beauteous Tendo Akane in such--"

"Shut up, *Lieutenant* Kuno. She's your replacement."

"But--"

"You're bucking for Sergeant real quick here, Kuno." The CO scowled down at the Samurai wannabe, then turned back to Akane. "I'm Captain Mototada, CO of Blue." He hopped to his feet and bowed to her. "We welcome you here."

Akane relaxed for the first time since she'd recieved her orders. "Thank you, Captain." She bowed. "I'll try not to embarrass your Squadron."

"You know what our next orders are to be?"

"No, sir."

"We'll be screening the Macross from enemy action while she shapes orbit for re-entry. We'll be closely co-ordinating with Vermillion on this job; I want you to go chat with their CO, get a copy of their TOE. Vermillion's equipment is a little more modern than ours."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and Lieutenant?" The Captain grinned. "If Kuno gets on your nerves, you have my full permission to beat the hell out of him."

Akane smiled. "Why, thank you, Captain. I'll be looking forward to it."

* * * * *

Her welcome at Blue was surprisingly warm; at Vermillion's ready room, she got rather a different surprise.

"Why the hell did they send you?"

Akane blinked. "Excuse me, Lieutenant?"

"Why couldn't Mototada come himself to get this?" Hunter dropped the folder in front of Tendo. "Or even sent that jerk Kuno down to pick it up?"

Akane began to darken. "Is there a problem, Lieutenant?"

One of Hunter's Sergeants, a geeky-looking guy with glasses and blue hair, sat up. "Hey, Rick. Be easy, okay? I mean, she's an Ace."

Hunter grumbled something under his breath, then looked back to Akane. "Vermillion's got fifteen C-type Valkyries, two J-type, and one S-type at its disposal. Both the Jaybirds and the Super are fitted to carry the Scorpion missile. The S-type carries a GU-12."

Akane flipped through the folder, and her eyes widened. "That Super Valkyrie is Captain Saotome's jet."

"Yeah, but he's in the brig, so Doctor Lang assigned it to Max, here."

Max spread his hands. "Hey, it wasn't my idea. Lang said he needed a volunteer, and you know what that means in anybody's army."

Akane nodded. "Well, I suppose they weren't likely to just let it sit idle. We're awfully short on fighters."

Hunter muttered, "Yeah, especially with twelve being lost by Angel--"

Akane slammed the folder down on Hunter's desk and grabbed the front of his jacket. "Look, pal, you are within ten seconds of the worst beating of your life!"

Hunter's eyes widened.

Max hopped up and laid a hand on Akane's wrist. "Easy, Lieutenant. He ain't worth it." He smiled. "Trust me. I work with him!"

"Max!"

Another Sergeant walked forward, a giant of a man, and dropped a huge hand on Akane's shoulder. "Tell ya what, Lieutenant. Why don't Max and I buy you a pint, to apologize on behalf of the Looie, and we'll go over this TOE with ya." He glowered down at Hunter. "We'll leave Lieutenant Hunter here."

Akane smiled slightly. "Thank you, Sergeant. I'd like that."

* * * * *

*Your arrogance will yet be the undoing of you, Miriya.* Khyron scowled at the Meltraedi Ace's image. *Twice you have faced this Micronian devil, and twice you have lost! Even I have fallen before his prowess.*

*You presume too much, Khyron.* Miriya sneered. *The pilot that you speak of is in fact a female of their species.*

*Impossible. I have seen several of their pilots; they are male.*

*I have spoken with the pilot; she is definitely female* Miriya leaned forward, filling the projecbeam's field of view. *The entire unit that she leads is female; it is obvious from their superior fighting skills.*

*Superior, yes.* Khyron nodded. *Superior even to your own skills.*

*The Microne has never defeated me! Twice I have disabled her combat mecha, and was prevented from finishing her off!*

*Twice you have nearly lost your own life in the process.* Khyron smiled patronizingly; time to drive the needle home. *Perhaps you should admit defeat. Obviously this Microne is more than you can handle.* He looked away. *Best if you simply avoid her.*

Miriya bared her teeth, and disabled the projecbeam.

*Think she'll take the bait, My Lord?*

Khyron nodded. *Oh, yes, Grel. As I said...her arrogance will be her undoing.*

* * * * *

Thirty-six Valkyries, the combined might of Blue and Vermillion Squadron, roared from the catapults and quickly formed up. Vermillion had been designated lead for this sortie. Long range radar had detected twelve incoming bogies. Gloval had wasted no time; the Valkyries had been launched well before any identification could be made.

Roy Fokker had taken command of Blue's third Flight, due to its flight leader having taken ill. Blue Twelve was the only G-type Valkyrie in either Squadron. Optimized for electronic warfare, the G was only lightly armed compared to a conventional Valkyrie, but carried a powerful jamming suite and radar system. Her advanced targeting computer could handle the load for an entire battalion of fighters.

"Vermillion Lead, this is Blue Twelve. Be advised that I am detecting heavy use of K-band radar sets ahead. This is consistent with either the Zentraedi recon pod, or that new powered armour that's been turning up."

"Affirm, Blue Twelve. Can you confirm which type?"

"No problem, Little Brother." It somewhat irked Roy that he had to take orders from Rick Hunter - not only did he outrank the Vermillion commander, but he'd diapered him at one point. "I'm showing four thermal blooms per unit; not consistent with battle pods. Probably armour."

"Great."

"No kidding. Getting some communication stuff; it sounds like the mothership is yelling their head off at the armour."

"Jam 'em."

"You got it."

"By threes, break and attack."

* * * * *

Ahead of them, Miriya smiled as Azonia's face vanished from her comm screens in a blur of Micronian jamming static. She smiled slightly. It would save her the trouble of fabricating an equipment failure. And her short range communications were unaffected.

*To all Quadranos: There is one enemy ace ahead, who will demonstrate superior fighting skill. You are to leave the execution of that one to me. But for the rest: Smite them from the sky!*

* * * * *

The Valkyries didn't even have time to blink before they found themselves in the rat race.

"Blue Twelve. I need some help here. Jenkins and Yoshi are down."

"Roger, Twelve. Seven, can you assist?"

Akane clicked her mike. "Negative, Lead. I'm latched."

"Vermillion Lead. I can assist Blue Twelve."

"Thanks, Little Brother."

Vermillion Lead wheeled about, shifting to Soldier and unlimbering its rifle/cannon. The Quadrano that was chasing Blue Twelve never even realized that it was in Hunter's gun sights until the first shells rattled off its armour.

"Oh, hell. These things can bounce our guns."

But the Quadrano had been rattled by the attack, and broke off its pursuit. Roy took advantage of the situation, dropping true and launching two Stiletto missiles at the powered armour. The Quadrano exploded in a silent fireball.

* * * * *

Miriya smirked. *There you are...* She hit her thrusters and roared into the fray.

* * * * *

"Blue Twelve! Watch your back!"

Roy whirled, still in Gerwalk, and sprayed the incoming mecha. To his surprise, the suit jinked right out of his gunsight and peppered his mecha with its own chest cannons. He bit back a yell of pain as he felt shrapnel cut into him.

"Roy!"

"I'm okay, Rick." He fired two more Stilettos, but the enemy armour shot them down, and hammered him again.

Vermillion Seven haloed the fighting machine that was tearing into the Skull Commander's unit and pulled the trigger. A single 100mm teflon-coated round slammed into the suit, knocking it off course.

"Blue Twelve, bug out. I can cover your retreat."

"Affirm, Sergeant." Roy's voice sounded weak and strained, as though he were fighting back pain. "She's all yours."

* * * * *

Miriya ignored the damaged fighter that was now limping away from the battle; she had mistakenly assumed, due to the skill demonstrated by its pilot, that it had been her quarry. But now she recognized the fighter ahead of her; it was of a slightly different construction than the others, and would surely prove a test of her skill.

She smirked. *Third time's the charm, Microne...*

* * * * *

"Uh, oh..." Max hauled back on the stick as the enemy mecha disgorged a cloud of missiles. His battle computer quickly overloaded, which meant that the enemy had launched at least fifty missiles. He ignored it, and switched over to manual targeting.

This Zentraedi pilot - a female, if Captain Saotome was to be believed - was definitely skilled. She'd been harassing Fokker quite badly, and was now attacking him with the same ferocity. The other Zentraedi mecha seemed to have backed off, as though they wanted to watch their boss work; he realized that his own teammates were doing the same.

"Showdown, eh?" He pickled the head laser's trigger, blasting down missile after missile; a lucky shot caused a chain reaction that exploded most of the volley. "That's just fine, lady."

* * * * *

Miriya gaped as the enemy fighter shot down her entire missile volley, then sailed through the debris to engage her in close quarters. She quickly found herself on the defensive, stressing the inertial thrust system of her Queadlunn-Rau as she darted about, avoiding transuranic slugs, laser blasts, and the occasional guided missile. She realized that again, this was not her quarry; however, she was a far more dangerous adversary than Miriya had expected to face. Truly a worthy opponent.

It suddenly occurred to Miriya that she might not survive this engagement.

* * * * *

"Captain Fokker has recovered aboard Daedalus; he's been injured."

"Roy!" Claudia turned to Sammie. "Is he okay?"

"They're not sure yet; he's lost a lot of blood. He's being rushed to surgery."

Claudia forced herself to concentrate on her instruments; she couldn't afford to be distracted right now. "It appears that for some reason, Sergeant Sterling has been singled out by the enemy pilot."

Gloval nodded. "Recall Sterling. If the enemy pursues, we'll route some backup in for him."

"Aye, sir." She gritted her teeth. ~Roy'll be okay...he's gotta be!~

* * * * *

"Fall back?" Max was puzzled.

"The Captain believes that that bandit is trying too hard. He wants you to fall back, so we can figure out what his game is."

Max shrugged. "You got it."

* * * * *

*Oh, no you don't.* Miriya rammed her reactor controls well into the red zone and rocketed after the retreating Microne. Her opponent's mecha was returning to the Protoculture Fortress; Miriya could not allow it to reach its destination. She triggered a second volley of missiles.

Again, the enemy mecha destroyed the volley; apparently, the anti-missile laser on the underside of the reconfigurable mecha could be aimed to the rear. The mecha dropped in towards the Fortress, but rather than entering an airlock, it shifted to its hybrid form and began matter-surfing along the surface.

Miriya checked her radar display; her forces were holding back, as ordered. Curiously, the Micronian mecha were also holding back, as though they too wanted to observe the outcome. ~We are more alike than we thought...~

* * * * *

Max shifted to Soldier Mode, did a quick snap-turn, and brought the gun-pod up to his shoulder. He haloed the enemy Mecha, and pulled the trigger.

And was rewarded with a flash as the gun jammed.

"Aw, hell." He discarded the gun - it dropped down to the deck, thanks to Macross' internal gravity web - and drew the Zentraedi laser sidearm fromt he left leg. "At least now I know why Saotome carried this."

The Zentraedi mecha dropped onto the surface, falling into a half crouch. Max centered it in his gunsights, and waited.

* * * * *

*What is she waiting for?*

Miriya considered her opponent. The enemy mecha had been performing with the same dizzying speed she was used to seeing from it, but also showed a crisp, precise, economical nature to its movements. It spoke well of the pilot's talents. But now, the Microne merely waited, a pistol held at arms' length.

Miriya slowly drew her own pistol. Her missiles were expended, and her impact cannons empty, but she still had her pulse lasers and her pistol. She resolved not to use the lasers unless her opponent showed some other weapon in backup.

The Microne snapped into motion, squeezing off several blasts from the pistol. Miriya dodged, relying solely on instinct and her bond with the mecha, and returned fire. The Microne simply ducked around a hull protrusion, and her shots went wide.

She glanced back at her radar; no sign of the Micronian ace. Though most of her teammates were still hovering above. Next, she clicked her communicator, setting it to the Microne frequency.

"Give yourself up; the end will be the same, regardless of what you do."

Her only answer was a burst of laser fire from the Microne; she ducked back under cover to avoid being hit, then put a few blasts of her own into the area from which the laser fire had originated. She waited, but there was no movement, either on visuals or on sensors.

She thought the mecha into a run, slipping from cover to cover. Stopped again, and checked her radar.

She was certain that the enemy mecha did not register on radar as it stepped out and blasted her from behind. Luckily, her suit's armour absorbed the blast, though telltales indicated that it couldn't do it again. She jumped back and whirled about, only to discover that the Microne had again vanished.

"Very tricky, Microne. You won't catch me that way again." She glanced to her left; was that movement? She stepped in that direction, raising her pistol. "You are good; perhaps even my equal. This is why you must die."

"Sorry, lady. Dyin' ain't on my agenda."

Her eyes widened in shock. "A male!" She began to shake in rage. "Microne! You die now!" She leaped forward, raking the structure ahead with laser fire.

The blast came from the other direction, knocking her mecha away from the Fortress. She glanced quickly down to her engineering panel, and realized that her thrusters were offline. As was her life support systems.

~Defeated! By a Microne! A Micronian male has defeated me!~

* * * * *

Max watched the crippled enemy mecha float away from the Macross. He shook his head. ~What a waste!~

The enemy mecha gathered up their fallen leader, and boosted away from the Fortress. Max tapped his tactical controls. "Macross, this is Vermillion Seven. Enemy forces are in retreat; your path seems to be clear."

"Roger that, Vermillion Seven. Be advised that we will begin planetfall operations in three hours."

* * * * *

The alien armada fell back as the Macross, escorted by its squadrons of Valkyries, dropped into recovery orbit around the Earth. No further attempt to impede the massive Dimensional Fortress was made, and shortly after entering orbit, the Macross began its slow fall down to the Pacific Ocean.

After more than a year in deep space, being chased by an alien fleet, the Macross had returned home. Sixty thousand people raised their voices in celebration. All but four.

Miriya raged, slamming her fist over and over again into the carapace of her almost completely destroyed Queadlunn-Rau.

Azonia cursed her subordinate's actions; Miriya's disobedience had cost her the opportunity to capture the Fortress.

And Rick Hunter and Claudia Grant wept, mourning the death of Roy Fokker.

---

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