Macross 1/2
Part 4, Section 4
By Tailkinker
[email protected]

TORONTO

Ranma stumbled as the deck of the Macross shuddered under his feet. His eyes widened; though he'd never been on board during a launch, he recognized it for what it was.

The Macross was taking off.

He managed to make it to the briefing room without further incident, and dropped himself into his seat. Clark, Mototada and Akane were already present, as were Rick Hunter and Max Sterling. At the head of the briefing room was Lisa Hayes.

That got Ranma's attention. With the Macross launching, Lisa would be most needed on the bridge. The only reason she might be here, delivering a briefing, was if the mission was frightfully important.

Ranma started to worry.

Commander Hayes glanced over at Ranma. "Captain Saotome. What is the current status of your squadron?"

"Seven Valkyries and one Rapier fully operational. One Destroid fully operational, but needing a driver--nobody's trained in it but Hendrikksen, and he's assigned to a Valk. And one fully operational, but again pilotless, Zentraedi Officer's Battle Pod."

"What about your other Rapiers?"

Ranma shrugged. "We were supposed to be assigned a tech to finish the retrofit, but nobody ever showed up."

* * * * *

Deep in the bowels of the ship, an angry voice was heard to bellow, "Where the hell am I now?"

* * * * *

Hayes glanced through her notes. "The six Rapiers are still operational, Captain. And we only need them for atmospheric duty."

"No, ma'am, they ain't." Ranma shook his head. "I got a squadron full of mecha pilots, and these things ain't mecha. At least, not yet. I ain't gonna field 'em."

"We need every functional mecha and every available pilot in the air for this mission."

"And I'm tellin' ya, ma'am, that if you force me to field those Rapiers, every one of them is gonna get shot down. Even if our mission is escorting the Goodyear Blimp." His scowl deepened. "And I will refuse to follow even a direct order to field them."

Commander Hayes bit her lip. "Fine." She turned to Mototada. "Captain, the Irregulars will reinforce your unit during this mission.

"The situation is this. Captain Gloval has been under orders to stay in the Pacific Ocean long enough to take on supplies, then launch and perform a diversionary attack on the Zentraedi forces in order to draw them away from Earth. He was also ordered not to allow anyone to leave the ship. He protested these orders, and was ignored."

There was a knock at the door, and Ensign Leeds stepped in long enough to hand the Commander a note. Hayes glanced down at the note, then returned to her briefing.

"At 0800 this morning, the Captain informed the bridge crew that he intended to launch the Macross, and simply fly over cities, broadcasting his request to disembark the ship's civilian population, until the United Earth Government caved in." She smirked. "He informed us of this, giving us eight hours to act to stop him. Of course, nobody did a thing.

"We have just been contacted by the Governor of the Ontario Quadrant, who has given us permission to disembark our civilian population at Toronto. We are now en route.

"Skull Squadron will be on Ready Five. In the event of a Zentraedi attack, you will launch to defend the ship.

"Blue Squadron will be escorting the ship to Toronto. We have reason to believe that the RDF elements under the command of the UEG will be taking action to try and stop us from reaching Toronto. Since you're still down a full flight, Captain Saotome will reinforce you."

Captain Mototada threw a thumbs-up towards Ranma. "Glad to have you, pal."

Commander Hayes continued. "Let me remind you that Blue will be under Condition Two Rules of Engagement. Do not fire without orders, even if fired upon. We've got an ugly enough war going against the aliens, without picking a fight with our own people, too."

* * * * *

The flight deck was a buzz of activity. Blue Flight One was already away, and Flight Two was taxiing for the cats now. Ranma watched in satisfaction as his S-Type Valkyrie, brand-new paint job gleaming in the setting sun, was elevated to the deck. A technician, dressed in the dark green coveralls of his type, was sealing an access panel. Nearby, six orange-clad ordnance specialists waited to begin their work.

The green-suited tech finished his work, and turned to face Ranma.

Ranma's jaw dropped. "Ryouga!"

"It's all set, sir. Try not to wreck it again, okay?" He grinned. "And don't get yourself killed."

"Uh..." Ranma shrugged. "Okay. Didn't expect good wishes from you, though."

"It's not that. If you're gonna die...I want to be the one to kill you."

Ranma grinned. "Fair enough." He walked over to the jet, looking it over. "You done a hell of a job on this bird."

"It's as good a jet as we can still put together. But those heat-pile engines still make my teeth sweat just to look at them." He shuddered. "Bioactive reactors and gravitic generators. Ugh."

"The world's biggest Reflex batteries. One each per side." Ranma climbed up the service ladder, dropped into his seat, and began plugging in his helmet and gloves. Ryouga folded the ladder, stepped back, and watched as the ordnance boys swarmed the plane.

Ranma tapped his battle computer, and yelled out as each weapon was loaded. Only one missile was down-checked, and had to be replaced. Finally, the ordnance crew removed the tags from the jet, and Ranma began the startup sequence for the jet. "Down canopy!" He pulled a lever, and the canopy descended until it met the fuselage, sealing him into the cockpit. There was a sharp hiss, as the cabin pressurized to one point four atmospheres, the optimum for Robotech combat. He yelled, "Clear!", and threw the switches to power up the reactors.

~You choose to be~

"Huh?" Ranma shook his head, then tapped the earpiece of his intercom. He shrugged, then glanced down at the engine readouts. Everything was well in the green, so he increased the throttle and began rolling towards the staging area.

The remainder of the temporary Blue Third Flight was forming up behind him. He tapped a computer control, pulling up his tactical display. Kosuji, Goldstein and Clark, in J-Type Valkyries. Hendrikksen in a B-Type, and Dobbins in an A-Type.

The cat crewmen were dressed in purple. They rushed forward, and began fitting the Valkyries for launch. This mostly involved attaching small compressed-gas cylinders and nosewheel lugs. Second Flight was just clearing the catapults; cats one and two were already reset, and Ranma and Dobbins were waved forward to launch position.

The cat chief, a young woman, ran forward to the shooter's position and raised three fingers. Ranma set his wheel brakes, then checked his rear view mirror to ensure the jet blast deflectors were in place behind his plane. Not that he needed them, but it was habit. The cat chief waved her hand in a circle, then turned her back to the plane. Ranma advanced the throttles to maximum, and the plane strained at its brakes.

The cat chief threw her hand forward, finger extended in a shooting motion. The catapult roared, and Ranma was smacked back into his seat as the jet accelerated to three hundred knots in under three seconds. The cat chief had dropped to her stomach, to avoid decapitation by Ranma's right wing, as the plane shot past her.

Ranma pulled back on the stick lightly, climbing the jet slowly. He checked his three, pleased to see that Dobbins was right on his wing. The other four jets would be in the air in less than two minutes. He clicked his mike. "Dobbins, let's slow to two fifty klicks at Angles Ten, wait for the rest of the outfit, shall we?"

"Fine by me, boss."

* * * * *

"Sir." Lieutenant Grant turned to face the captain. "We are receiving a message from the United Earth Government."

Captain Gloval chewed his pipe stem. "All right, Lieutenant. Let's hear what they have to say."

Grant flipped a toggle.

"UEG to Macross. You are ordered to immediately attain orbit and carry out your mission. Your flight corridor to Toronto is denied. Do not allow any civilians to depart your craft. Fighter aircraft have been launched to intercept--"

Gloval waved a hand. "Enough of that." Grant obediently closed the channel. Gloval leaned back, scowling. "The cossacks!" He considered, then looked back up. "Inform our vanguard to expect company. Maintain Condition Two."

"Aye, sir."

* * * * *

"Blue Lead, this is Cat's Eyes Two. We have multiple inbound aircraft. Your bearing one one five for two forty, Angels twelve. They are inbound on the Macross, burning for four fifty knots."

Mototada clicked his mike. "Cat's Eyes Two, Blue Lead. Roger on that. Please give us a steer for intercept."

"Blue Lead, Cat's Eyes Two. Your vector for intercept is one nine three at four hundred, intercept at one fifteen."

"Roger that. Blue, come right to one nine three, and accelerate to four hundred knots. Blue Thirteen, go J-band and holler the moment they come in range."

"Roger." Ranma flipped his radar set to active. The Valkyrie-S had potent electronics, including a long-range doppler radar system. Though its range was not nearly as good as the Cat's Eyes system, it could gather a lot more data even at long range. At one hundred and fifty miles, he could read a target's speed, bearing, altitude, direction and several other useless bits of data. At fifty miles, he could get a skin paint and ID the target within a very small margin of error.

Add to that the same complex countermeasures and receiving gear that was normally found in the G-type, and you had one hell of an electronic warfare platform.

Within minutes, he had multiple targets. He waited until the computer was satisfied with the numbers, then opened his mike. "Lead, Thirteen. I got twelve targets. Bearing and velocity are consistent with Cat's Eyes bogeys. IFF reads UF-14 Falcon Jets."

"When you care enough to send the very best." Mototada had spent a fair amount of time in the Falcon, as had Ranma. "Flights break; Second go twenty miles to starboard, Third twenty miles to port."

"Seven."

"Thirteen." Ranma clicked over to his Flight's frequency. "Elements break, five second intervals, thirty degrees right." He double-checked his Nav Comp; it agreed with him. "Mark." He pulled the stick over, and noted on the radar that Dobbins had split off less than a second after he had. Five seconds later, Goldstein and Clark split off, followed by Hendrikksen and Kosuji.

His RWR started beeping wildly; Ranma's eyes widened. "Lead, Thirteen, I show guidance radar, K-band."

"Roger that. Confirm weapons safe."

Ranma glanced down at the heavy Master Arm switch. "Third, confirm weapons safe."

"Two, confirmed."

"Three, weapons are safe."

"Four, confirmed."

"Five, yes."

"Six, hai."

Ranma clicked back to the Squadron freak. "Lead, Thirteen. Third Flight confirms all weapons safe."

"Second Flight confirms weapons safe."

"All right. Standard encirclement, accelerate to six hundred. Orders from home base are to fire a warning shot if they break one fifty miles. If they break fifty, splash 'em."

Twelve Valkyries swept up and around the flight of Falcons. Ranma was of two minds about the older, larger jet. At one time, he'd considered them the most powerful thing in the air. Since transferring to Valkyries, he'd changed that opinion, but that didn't mean the Falcon could be discounted.

Flight One had climbed, and was now dropping in behind the Falcons; Flights Two and Three were to either side of the formation. Ranma's RWR pinged; Blue Lead had gone active, and was painting the Falcon Jets.

Akane's voice rang out on the Squadron frequency. "Lead, Seven. I'm getting an aspect change on the three outside fighters."

"Noted. Thirteen"

Ranma checked his Nav Comp. "One hundred seventy, sir."

"Roger that. Three. Master Arm on, select one Swordfish and slave to my paint."

"Roger that."

Ranma clicked his mike. "One fifty,sir."

"Three, weapons free."

"Fox two!"

The GH-37 Swordfish was a short-range air-to-air missile, typically heat-seeking. The missiles carried by Three were equipped for laser guidance, and were now following Blue Lead's laser paint. He led the missile up and over the lead Falcon, missing it by six feet.

The response was instantaneous. The Falcons broke, dropping airspeed and gaining altitude.

"Stay on them!" Mototada's jet leaped forward, afterburners blazing. Ranma cursed; Blue Lead was going to overshoot his target, and more than half of Blue Squadron was following their leader's example.

Including Blue Seven.

The lead Falcon rolled his jet inverted, and launched a missile. Ranma instantly slapped his jamming controls, flooding K-band with electromagnetic noise, but the missile started homing regardless. "Heat seeker, Lead!"

Mototada throttled back and broke left, as hard as he could, but there was no way he could out-turn the missile. The missile slammed into the Valkyrie, blowing it apart.

Ranma stared in shock, then clicked the Tactical freak. "Base, Blue, we are under attack. Lead is down. I need permission to shoot!"

The Falcons were maneuvering hard, and Ranma cursed as he realized that they could handily out-maneuver a Valkyrie down here in the goo. Two dropped in on his six, and he pulled up hard, but they stayed right behind him. His RWR howled at him, as the bandit's guidance radar locked him up.

Lieutenant Grant answered him. "Blue, negative, weapons safe until fifty."

"Are you nuts?" Ranma reconfigured to Gerwalk, and jetted backwards, causing the two Falcons tailing him to overshoot. "They ain't gonna reach fifty until they kill us!"

"Blue, hold fire."

"Freakin--!" He pulled the bird over, and drew his gun pod. His counter read twenty rounds for the GU-12. He glanced over the Squadron. "Blue Seven, you got two on your six."

"I know." Akane was pulling her jet all over the sky. "I'm latched solid. My wingman is--"

"Your wingman can't shoot!"

The Falcon launched a missile. Ranma roared with anger, and reached for the Master Arm switch.

~You cannot.~

"Huh?" He turned. The jet was gone; the furball was gone. He stood in a field of coral flowers.

A shadowy form stood before him; he knew that the form was female. In fact, he knew whoever it was, he was sure of it. But he couldn't remember...

~Of course not. I wiped that memory. I will wipe this one, too, though it will not work as well as last time.~

"Who are you?"

~I am one who leads.~

"Yeah...I remember that."

~You are mutable.~

"Huh?"

~You are mutable. Your machines are mutable. Everything about you is change. Like my children, you can adapt, and be whatever you want. The secret is the flower.~

"The flower. Okay."

~The flower adapts...changes...protects. Be there!~

Ranma blinked. His Valkyrie had jumped, and he was now halfway between Akane's bird and the oncoming missile. He reconfigured to Battloid, and threw his ship into the missile's path.

~Protect!~

He threw up his arms, and the missile slammed into them. The impact knocked him flying, and he spent the next few seconds frantically pulling the machine back into position. He glanced down at his Valkyrie's arms, and was surprised to see them undamaged.

The sight of his Valkyrie performing a space-fold, then shrugging off a missile hit, was obviously too much for the Falcon pilot. He peeled off and bugged out. The remainder of the fighters followed suit.

The Tac freak clicked open. "Blue Squadron, you have clearance to defend yourself until and unless the bandits retreat. Condition Three Rules of Engagement."

"Thanks. Thanks a bunch." He clicked over the the Squadron frequency. "Seven, Thirteen. What the heck just happened there?"

Akane's voice was unsteady. "You space-folded between me and the missile, and raised a point-defense field."

"Okay. Just so I know." He closed the mike, and sighed.

~The secret is the flower.~

* * * * *

The mission had failed.

The Macross had been attacked while hovering over Toronto; by then, Blue had recovered, and Skull was out defending the ship. The Macross had erected an energy barrier to block the incoming attacks. The barrier had overloaded and exploded catastrophically.

Toronto was laid waste.

Ontario had hastily reversed its offer of sanctuary to the SDF-1's civilian refugees. Captain Gloval had ordered to shape for a departure orbit.

* * * * *

Ranma lay on his bunk, feet on the crossbar, a Reflex power cell in his hand.

"The secret is the flower." He tossed the cell lightly in his hands, feeling the sudden jolt of...something...every time it touched his skin.

"Two in one, and mutable." Toss. "You choose to be." Toss. He dropped the cell on his chest, closed his eyes, and thought back. A field of pink flowers, and that woman, or whatever she was. Pink flowers...he'd seen those flowers before. In an earlier vision?

No...he'd seen several of them growing in the Valley of Jushenkyou.

"You choose to be..."

The change washed through him, and she opened her eyes, to see the cell nestled between her breasts. She sat up, grabbing the cell as it fell, and considered it.

"What the heck is going on with me?"