Part One Chapter Two

Index

Part One Chapter Four

Disclaimer

Macross is owned by or licensed to lots of people - Tatsunoko Studios, Harmony Gold, Studio Nue, Streamline Video...note that none of them are me.

The same can be said of Ranma 1/2 - Rumiko Takahashi, Kitty, Shonen Sunday Comics, Viz Video. Not me.

I didn’t create any of them, and I certainly do not own them. Please don’t sue me.

"Skull Alpha Flight, we are tracking three inbound bogeys at Angels three zero. Your vector for intercept is zero eight five for sixty. Do not fire unless fired upon. We are vectoring Bravo and Charlie flights your way."

"Affirm, base. Skull Flight, come to zero eight five and buster. Skull Six. Close it up. You’re drifting to right."

"Sorry, Skull Leader."

"Go active."

"I’ve got contact. They’re at Angels two five now, and I think they’re launching small craft."

"I see them, Four. Range is fifty three. Arm Jackhammers, but do not launch."

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Five." Ranma depressed the Master Arm ring, turned it one hundred and eighty degrees, and released it. The Master Arm light flicked on. He. grabbed his missile-arm control and armed stations one, two, eight and nine. The left-side VDU confirmed: twelve Jackhammer missiles armed and tracking.

"Six."

"RWR warning! Lead, the enemy are using active radar. Microwave radar, looks like J-band."

"Jammers on."

The A-type Valkyrie didn’t carry very powerful jammers, but with six aircraft in their formation - one of them the advanced S-type - enough white noise was pumped into J-band to shroud the entire Flight.

"Enemy have launched missiles, Lead."

"Roger that, Three. Skull, pop chaff and flare. Base, we have incoming missiles, request clearance to fire."

"Skull, you are cleared hot."

"Roger, Base. Skull. Range is forty six. Launch Jackhammers."

"Fox two!"

The six Valkyries emptied their pylons of the Jackhammer missiles. Each Valkyrie’s battle computer interfaced with Skull Leader’s, directing every launched missile to a unique target. The GR-30 Jackhammer was a semi-active radar homing missile, but instead of a conventional warhead, the missile carried four short-range heat-seeking rockets. Upon reaching a certain range from the target, or if a missile failed to guide properly, the Jackhammer would fire off its heat-seekers, each of which would seek out and target any heat source in the area.

Not a weapon for use in dogfighting; the Jackhammer was designed to be used en masse to render an entire block of the sky denied to enemy aircraft.

"Impact in twelve. Eleven. Ten..."

"Vee Tee One Oh Two. Why are you still grounded?" That was Lieutenant Commander Hayes, over the general Tac freak.

The voice that responded was unfamiliar to Ranma. "Huh? I, uh, I think there’s been some mistake. I’m not supposed to be here."

"You’re right, you’re supposed to be up there. Get airborne, now."

"Um, Okay, if you insist..."

"Five seconds. Oh, fuck. Ah, Saotome, take lead. I’ve gotta go help out a friend."

"Uh, Yes sir. Five has lead."

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Six."

Roy’s Valkyrie peeled off and headed back to the island. Saotome’s battle computer took up the missile load. The machine twitched at the extra load, but managed to keep up with the real-time data.

"Impact!"

"Confirmed. I have multiple detonations."

Ahead of them, the sky turned molten as over a hundred warheads detonated. Ranma checked his radar.

"Ah, there’s still lots of them. I estimate about sixty kills from that salvo. Three and Four. Shift to Gerwalk. The rest of you get ready to tango. Two lead Six."

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Six."

And the furball was on. There were literally hundreds of the alien fighter pods. Tactical computer had come up with nothing on them; they were fighting blind.

Ranma pulled the Valkyrie all over the sky, using high-powered lasers, laser turret and tri-barrelled cannon on pod after pod. The alien fighters were remarkably poorly armed and armoured. Although their nose guns could--and did--make hash out of the Valkyries.

"Four’s hit. I’ve gotta break off--"

"Four, punch out. Four! Dammit, Archer--"

"Skull Squadron Bravo and Charlie Flights are inbound."

"Affirm, Base."

Ranma’s gun ran dry, and he shifted to Gerwalk to jam another clip home. Without changing configuration, he spun and blasted six pods one after another.

Then one of the aliens got lucky and tagged his wing.

The left wing was sheared off at the halfway point. Ranma’s Valkyrie lost too much lift to remain at his current altitude. He shifted back to fighter mode, attempting to use raw thrust to compensate for the lost wing segment, but the fighter was listing badly to port. He could maintain altitude and be a target, or...

"Damn! Two, take lead, I have to break off."

"Two has lead."

Ranma allowed his Valkyrie to drop towards the island, reconfiguring again to Gerwalk mode. He saw the giant Super Dimensional Fortress struggling to lift off as he dropped into the city.

This ain’t the range, he reminded himself. People have to live here when we’re done.

"Skull Flight, one of the enemy drop-shuttles has gotten past you." Instead of Hayes, it was Lieutenant Grant on the Tac Freak. Ranma had worked with the young woman on several drills, and was impressed with her professionalism. "It appears to have landed in the water. Break off and prepare to defend the city."

"Roger that, Lieutenant." Roy was back on the Tac Net. "All right, ladies, you heard the Lieutenant. Let’s go play, shall we?"

Ranma watched as the remainder of Skull Squadron dropped into the city and reconfigured to Soldier Mode. Ranma kept one eye on his scopes and one on the Tac Display.

The small craft, whatever it was, had hit the water to the west of Macross Island. The SDF-1 had dispatched a Comanche attack helicopter to recon the site. In addition, the Sixth Cavalry had been rushed to the beach, in case the enemy decided to come ashore. Sixth was a light unit, consisting of four Spartan close-combat Destroids, two Tomahawk support Destroids, and six Defender anti-aircraft Destroids.

Ranma tapped the Tac Net, and dialled for the Comanche’s freak.

"We’re approaching the drop zone...No sign of the intruder."

"Keep your eyes peeled." Lieutenant Commander Hayes, again.

"Ah, roger that. Ah, something’s breaking the surface. Looks like some kind of pod. Ah...Oh hell. Base, we are under att--"

"Eyes Front, come in. Come in, Eyes Front!"

Ranma’s Tac Display lit up.

"Base to Skull Squadron. Expect company. Western edge of the island."

No response from Roy.

"Skull Leader, report in."

"Ah, Skull Leader. I’ve got a bit of a problem here. Five, do you still have lead?"

"Passed it to Two when I was forced to break off."

"Don’t do that. Five, take Lead."

"Ah, Roger. Five has Lead."

"Two."

"Three."

"Six."

"Kramer, how’s your flight?"

"We’ve been better, Roy. And Jackson’s still upstairs. They’re latched but good."

"Damn. Ranma. Go play hide and seek."

"Yes sir. Skull, move out."

Ranma glanced at the Tac Net. A total of eight Soldier Mode Valkyries, from both Fokker’s flight and Kramer’s flight, made up the portion of the Skull under his command. The group made their way further into the city.

"Vampire! Vampire!"

"Whose call was that?"

"Base, this is Sixth Lead. We’re at the beach, and the enemy is coming ashore. They’ve launched multiple vampires." Vampire was the call-sign for surface-attack guided missiles. "We’ve engaged them, and the Defenders are doin’ a number on them, but we’re gonna have some leakers."

"Roger that. Skull, state your position."

Ranma clicked his mike. "Base, we are two miles east of Sixth."

"Roger that. Be advised there are vampires inbound on your position."

"Base, roger that. Skull, keep your eyes peeled. Go to FLIR if you’ve got it."

"Two."

"Three."

"Six."

"Vampire!"

Ranma trained the gun pod up and snapped off a short burst, destroying the missile. He glanced down at his FLIR display. "I read eleven more missiles over our position. Engage and destroy." He triggered his head laser, and slagged down another missile. Around him, the Skull pilots were opening up on the missile flight, one yelling "Pull!" before blasting a missile. Ranma grinned, then clicked his mike. "Base, we knocked down seven more for you."

"Roger that, Skull. Fourth Cavalry, stand by for intercept."

Not that Fourth could do much about missiles. It was mostly composed of Phalanx and Tomahawk Destroids.

"Saotome. I’m passing what’s left of my command over to you."

"Roger that, Kramer. You’re Five. Fill in my gaps."

"Roger. Four, Seven and Eight are yours."

"Bogey! Bogey at eleven--"

Ranma pivoted and haloed the pod. The alien Mecha looked remarkably like a headless ostrich, except for the two large cannons on the carapace that tracked towards his Mecha...

Ranma ducked the Valkyrie as the guns unleashed twin blasts of glowing blue energy, then hosed the target down with his GU-11. The alien proved to be as flimsy as the fighter pods, and went down in seconds. The gun pod spun on empty, and Ranma ejected the clip.

"Thanks, Three. Confirm unidentified pod-type mecha as hostile bandits. Move ahead."

"Roger."

Ranma dug out his last clip and jammed it home. "I’m on my last. How are y’all doing?"

"Two’s got one left."

"Three’s empty."

"Four’s got two."

"Five’s got one, and four Scorpions."

"Six has two."

"Seven has one."

"Eight has one."

"Damn." At least the Scorpions were good news. The nasty little short-range missiles were carried in packs of two, one pack on each arm. They were still being beta-tested, but already the techs were talking about making them standard-issue. "Six, toss one of your spare clips to Three. Base. What are the odds of us getting some heavy metal in here?"

"Roger that, Skull Leader. Fourth Cavalry will be dispatched to your location."

"Hear that, guys? Let’s keep ’em busy until the Destroids get here."

The Valkyries began to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with the alien Battle Pods. Valkyries would pop out of alleys, step around corners or fire from hiding places in buildings. Ranma’s GU-11 ran dry quickly, and he was forced to go hand to hand.

Luckily, his martial arts translated very well into Mecha combat. A well-placed punch, right through the viewport of a Battle Pod, knocked it right out of the fight. A second Pod spotted the take-down and stampeded in his direction. He ducked behind a building, waited until the Battle Pod rounded the corner, and clotheslined it. It flipped end for end comically, legs flailing, and he worked it with the Valkyrie’s steel boots.

More were approaching, six of them at once; he shifted to Gerwalk and jetted around behind a building, riding a carpet of plasma as the thrusters burned straight into the pavement. He dropped down, reconfigured again to Soldier mode, and glanced around for his next target.

He never even saw the Battle Pod that got the drop on him, blasting away most of his left leg. The crippled Valkyrie dropped to its side, and Ranma panicked. He reached overhead for the eject handle, but paused when he realized that punching out would put him through the building behind his head. He watched as the pod closed in for the kill...

And was demolished by a long-range particle cannon blast.

Ranma whooped, and patched into the Tac Net. "Fourth Lead, this is Skull Leader. Welcome to the front line. Skull Five, my Valkyrie is toast and I am out of this fight. You’ve got lead. And the Cavalry has arrived."

"Amen, brother."

Ranma popped the cockpit and dragged himself out of the Valkyrie. He looked at it sadly and shook his head. The fighter would never fly again.

There was a sound of metal on metal, and the blasted Battle Pod began to stir.

Ranma panicked again. He backed away from the pod.

The pod’s main hatch opened, and the occupant emerged. He looked remarkably human, save for the bluish tinge on his skin, and the fact that he was thirty feet tall.

Ranma had been on board the Macross. He’d seen the skeletons, and the powered armour suits. He’d seen the living quarters, twin to his own, but ten times larger in scale. He knew exactly why the Valkyrie had been given its twenty meter tall Soldier Mode.

He knew about the Giants.

But all of this had not prepared him for the sheer emotional shock. It’s one thing to stand before an elephant or a rhino, and know that the creature was strong, that it could crush the life from you with little or no effort. It’s emotionally acceptable, to see an orca or a blue whale, and to know that humankind is puny and weak compared to such as these.

It’s another thing entirely to see a creature, equally the size of an elephant, but standing on two legs, eyes mirroring the intelligence behind them. A creature that cannot be ’it’.

Ranma swallowed, and reached for his sidearm. For all the good it’ll do me, he mused.

The Giant seemed not to notice him, however. Instead, he simply staggered up to the fallen Valkyrie and gave it a good swift kick.

"Hey! That’s my plane!"

Ranma realized a bit late that it was a bad idea to get a Giant’s attention. The alien turned and drew a sidearm.

Kramer’s head laser blew the Giant’s chest out from the back. It fell, a shocked look on its face, and Ranma had to jump to avoid being crushed.

Kramer dropped his spent GU-11, and picked the Giant’s sidearm up in one metal fist. His voice boomed out over the Valkyrie’s external speakers. "Good, I was running on empty. You owe me, Saotome. Get your ass to a bomb shelter now."

* * * * *

"Take us down! Right to the deck!"

"Aye sir!"

The Super Dimensional Fortress had launched in an attempt to battle the alien armada that had encircled Earth. However, a salvo from one of the alien battlewagons had crippled her, and she was forced to break off. Now she was attempting to put the bulk of the planet between her and the fleet.

"Sir, I read one alien ship, medium sized, probably a cruiser. It is closing on this location. Bearing Three Forty Nine, Azimuth Twelve."

"Damn! Program a Fold from here to Lagrange Two."

"Sir, the Fold system is untested."

"Get ready to test it. We need altitude for this. Helm. Positive Z, fifty meters per second."

"I can give you thirty..."

"Good enough."

"Sir, alien cruiser is firing."

The dimensional fortress shook as it was struck by the enemy vessel’s guns.

"Fire main gun."

"Sir, the Reflex Cannon is still off-line."

"Engage the Fold system. Now!"

"Sir, Macross Island is in range of--"

"Now, dammit! While we still have time!"

Space warped around the ship.

* * * * *

"He’s insane!"

The Commander of the alien fleet gaped at the view-screen before him.

"He’s attempting a space fold while in atmosphere!"

* * * * *

A massive bubble of space/time distortion rippled across the Macross, and the massive Dimensional Fortress vanished.

"Fold Operation complete."

Gloval sat back in his seat. "Bozhe Moi."

"Sir." Sammy Porter adjusted her glasses, staring at the screen above her. "I am detecting a large mass directly below us."

"Were we followed?"

"No, sir. It’s Macross Island..."