Part Five Chapter Five

Index

Part Six Chapter One

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.

Lang rested his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers before him.

"Captain Saotome has played a pivotal role in this war. You are, of course, aware that his actions have time and again demonstrated his unswerving loyalty to our cause. His martial prowess has turned battle after battle in our favour. The loyalty he has inspired in his troops is remarkable.

"But none of you truly realize the true..." He struggled for the word. "The events that Saotome has shaped. His greatest import to the war effort, and to the Shaping."

* * * * *

"Web Lead, you’ve got a bandit on your six! Male Powered Armour!"

Ranma craned her neck wildly. "I can’t see him!"

"I’ve got him--" Clark fired a long burst into the back of the armour suit. "Crap! My gun can’t hurt him!"

"Use a Scorpion--"

"I’m all out!"

The powersuit twisted in mid-flight, bringing its plasma cannon to bear on the Rapier, and fired off a volley. The shot wasn’t powerful enough to destroy the fighter, but forced Clark to break off.

"Aw, hell!" Ranma closed her eyes, and wished herself behind the enemy powersuit.

* * * * *

"He has, in recent times, demonstrated considerably advanced techniques. The alpha- and delta-wave links he has with his mecha is simply astounding. His ability to perform a spacefold maneuver, to generate a pinpoint barrier, or to change gender at will, all are examples of how Reflex energy has enriched this young man’s life.

"To say nothing of the way events have been drawn around him, as though he was somehow meant to be the center of attention..."

* * * * *

Ranma thought the mecha through a backflip-kick, knocking the alien’s plasma cannon off its backpack and into deep space. But she was caught completely unaware when a second powersuit grabbed her from behind. The first suit turned, and leveled its energy pistol at her cockpit.

A Spartan mace slammed into the side of the suit, tearing it in half. Ranma gaped at the unmarked Amazon Powered Armour drawing the mace back from the ruined suit. Before she could react, the Amazon snapped through a turn, and fired her arm-mounted pulse laser directly into the head of the powersuit that had grappled her mecha.

The Queadllun-Rau paused long enough to throw her a quick thumbs-up, which Ranma grudgingly returned.

"I coulda gotten free...I was just about to fold outta there...but thanks."

* * * * *

"Main gun is fully charged, My Lady."

Azonia pursed her lips. "Status of enemy mecha fleet?"

"Fifty-five percent still operable."

"Can we fire on the Armour?"

"Yes, My Lady. But we will hit several Micronian mecha as well."

"We can’t risk that." She shook her head. "Now that the Alliance is dead in all but name..."

The projecbeam snapped to life, and Breetai glowered down at her. "Azonia!"

Azonia winced. "Greetings, Lord Breetai."

"Azonia, I must inform you that Khyron is not acting on my orders. The Fifth Botoru Battalion has not been ordered to attack. Nor would have I agreed to any plan that involved dealings with the Micrones."

She smirked; perhaps things were not as bad as she’d feared. "And why not?"

Breetai’s advisor, Exedore, shuffled into visual range of the projecbeam’s pickup. "My Lady, there are dire warnings in all the ancient texts, the ones that we both hold sacred. These warnings advise against any contact with Micronian culture. They warn that such contact can lead us away from the Imperative!"

"The Micrones have agreed to give the Meltraedi the secrets of the Protoculture Fortress," said Azonia. "Already we have learned much about their ways and their advantages. Under the terms of our Alliance, I shall, of course, share these discoveries with you."

Breetai hesitated. "In exchange for?"

"Just what was already agreed upon: Military aid. Help me destroy the Botoru Battalion."

"Azonia, your fleet and mecha are only marginally inferior to those we have to offer," said Exedore. "Why do you need our aid?"

"You misunderstand me." She stepped closer to the projecbeam. "I want them all wiped out. The entire Botoru Battalion, and their commander.

"I want Khyron, and all who follow him, dead."

* * * * *

Ranma dove towards the surface of the Armour cruiser.

Zentraedi mecha still swarmed the surface of the battle cruiser; Ranma pickled off his remaining Scorpions, hoping to plow a corridor. On her left wing was Web Twelve, Miriya, who was liberally hosing the alien mecha with laserfire. On her right wing, the unmarked Amazon powersuit, launching hordes of tiny rockets from shoulder and hip packs.

Ranma shifted to Gerwalk, hitting the deck and matter-surfing from obstacle to obstacle. With any luck, she’d be able to reach the mecha airlocks, and get inside...

Luck was not with her. An Officer’s Battle Pod slid out from behind a gun turret, and opened up on her mecha with its arm-mounted impact cannon.

"Yikes!" Ranma banked the Gerwalk, dodging the cannonfire, and fired a round back at the enemy pod from her GU-12. The enemy pod merely shifted its stance, and the round bounced harmlessly off the pod’s armour. Ranma clicked open his mike.

"Web Twelve, can you hit this guy?"

"I think so, Captain."

His Tac Net opened, and a familiar face sneered out at Ranma.

"So, it is the Micronian she-devil, back to torment me, eh?"

"Hey, I remember you...You were on Mars."

"Indeed."

"Captain." Miriya broke in, over the audio net. "That is Khyron, the commander of the Botoru Battalion. You cannot beat him."

"Ah, Miriya. The famed Meltraedi ace, a traitor." Khyron smirked. "No surprise."

Miriya popped up and loosed two Stingers at the Battle Pod. "Captain, request permission to destroy Khyron personally."

"No."

Ranma blinked; the response had come, according to his directional gear, from the unmarked Amazon Armour. And it seemed quite familiar.

Apparently, Miriya also recognized the voice. "Sister, I am glad to hear you are well."

"Lady Azonia say, any Quadrano find Khyron, she kill."

"I understand. Captain, I suggest we leave this battle to my Sister."

"You go. I cover."

"Understood." Ranma gritted her teeth; she did not like the idea of running from a fight. And who the hell was that Amazon? She tapped the encryption controls, waited for the low chime that signalled secure communications. "Seven has lead. Miriya, I’m gonna make a run for the mecha hangar. Plow the road."

"Yes, my Captain."

Ranma shifted to Gerwalk, and jetted across the surface of the battleship. She glanced up at the rear-view mirror, saw the Officer’s Battle Pod engaged in combat with the Amazon. Above her, Web Twelve had its autocannon in the right fist, and was hosing down the area ahead of her. But there were still far too many Zentraedi.

* * * * *

"We cannot give you aid in this battle."

Azonia sighed. "I shouldn’t have expected it. Your Imperative is as strong as ours."

Breetai nodded. "I simply cannot allow my troops to attack their own kind. But I shall order them to avoid contact with the Botoru Battalion, and to not render them aid in combat."

"Fair enough." Azonia decided not to tell him that her troops already had standing orders to kill Khyron on sight.

* * * * *

The Armour Unit’s mecha hangar was mostly empty; a few Valkyries floated here and there, having broken free of their moorings. Ranma dropped down towards the deck, reconfiguring to Soldier Mode as she did. She checked her ammo counter, then slammed in a new clip. The bugs in the GU-12 had been mostly worked out, but jamming still was an occasional issue. She just hoped it wouldn’t jam today.

"Macross, Web Lead, I’m inside the hangar."

Lisa’s face popped up on the left-side communication screen. "Ferryboat will deposit your third platoon around the mecha hangar, and try to keep you from being bothered. Your target is the engine room, down one level and astern. There are no mecha-scale entrances to the engine room, so you will have to dismount your fighter."

"Understood, Macross." Ranma grabbed her portable radio and sealed her environment suit. She shifted the mecha to Gerwalk, knelt down, and popped the canopy.

* * * * *

"Web Seven, this is Blue Lead."

"Reinforcements! About time." Janos Hendrikksen grinned. "Sure, come on in and play."

The firefight had intensified; the Botoru Battalion had joined in force, with the better part of one hundred and fifty mecha present. The Quadrano Battalion’s fifty fighting suits had committed to the battle as well, plus the ten remaining Web mecha. Blue’s eighteen would clearly shift the battle in the favour of the Terran/Meltraedi alliance.

On the surface of the Armour, a vicious duel was being fought. The six Destroids of Web’s third platoon - calling it a Flight seemed wrong - kept the Zentraedi from interfering with the duel, and from entering the hangar.

The Queaddlun-Rau Powered Armour raked the target area with bolts of coherent energy from the wrist-mounted pulse laser cannons. Khyron’s Glaug Combat System had more than sufficient maneuverability to avoid the laser fire, but could not find the time needed to launch an effective counterattack. He fired a missile, hoping to gain a free second or two, and watched glumly as it was shot down.

"You are a fierce one, aren’t you?" He smiled. "Killing you will be a distinct pleasure."

He volleyed his remaining missiles, and used their explosions as cover to duck behind a support pillar. From cover, he opened up with particle cannons, and managed to get a solid hit on the Powered Armour.

The Armour reeled, then launched its own volley of missiles. Unlike Khyron’s mecha, the Queaddlun-Rau carried over a hundred and twenty missiles, and could launch a spread of sixteen as a mere distraction. Dodging was not an option, with missiles coming in all directions; Khyron spun, engaging the missiles with machine guns and impact cannons, and almost managed to destroy them all.

One missile slammed into the side of his mecha, the thermal plasma warhead burning a small hole in the hull and exposing the pilot’s compartment to hard vacuum. Khyron’s suit was environmentally sealed, of course, but the next volley was almost certain to kill him. He snarled, and pushed his unit off the surface of the battle cruiser.

"The weapon will detonate in point-five pulses! All units evacuate the surface of the cruiser!"

The Valkyrie’s computer had been programmed to translate Zentraedi comm chatter; Akane gasped as the Zentraedi Warlord’s words reached her. "Ranma’s still inside that thing."

The unmarked Queaddlun-Rau came to rest near her. "No worry, Akane. Ranma very skilled. Ranma no lose."

Akane gaped at the Powered Armour. "Who are you?"

* * * * *

Ranma gasped at the sight of the Fold Generator.

She had never seen the original device, the one that had malfunctioned and deposited the Macross so far from her intended destination. It was a massive machine, two long oval bands interlocking and rotating like the electron paths of an atom. And she could feel the amount of Reflex energy pouring out of the device.

"It’s already started..." She glanced around, but could spot no console that promised an easy shutdown of the device. To tell the truth, she had no idea what any of the consoles in the room did.

She tapped her communicator. "Macross, Web Lead. I’ve found it; how do I stop it?"

"Ranma, get out of there!" Commander Hayes’ voice was fraying, like she was fighting off panic. "The Fold Generator’s on buildup to jump; you can’t stop it now. You’ve got twenty seconds to get out of there. Can you fold yourself back to the ship?"

"I’m not in my fighter--"

Doctor Lang broke into the channel. "Captain Saotome, there should be enough free Reflex energy in that chamber for you to fold; tap it, as though you were in the fighter!"

"Free energy...yeah." She grinned. "I can fold the Generator itself!"

"No--"

She clicked off the commlink and ran forward. Both hands touched the giant machine, and she wished herself as far away as possible.

* * * * *

There was a flash, and Armour Six drifted slowly towards the Meltraedi fleet.

* * * * *

"Massive Reflex energy spike registered, Captain, but the space fold did not occur. Armour Six and the Amazon warship are still present."

"Understood, Claudia." Captain Global turned to his first officer. "Lisa."

She stared in shock at the communications console.

"Lisa--"

She shook herself. "Captain, as far as I can tell...Captain Saotome has folded the Generator away from the ship."

"I understand that. Have you re-established contact with Captain Saotome?"

"No, sir...there’s nothing but static on his channel."

Global sighed. "I understand. Sound recall, and send a message to the Amazon commander that we wish to meet with her."

* * * * *

Blue Lead smashed into the deck, barely catching the four wire, and Akane was out of the jet as soon as it had stopped rolling. Two technicians had to hustle to catch the bird before it floated off into space.

She charged over to the nearest airlock, waited impatiently for it to cycle, then ran through and grabbed the nearest maintenance tech. "Tracer! There’s a tracer on the plane! Where’s Ranma?"

"Uh--Lieutenant, the Captain had dismounted the plane; it’s still in Armour Six."

"What about his commlink?"

"Nothing, ma’am."

Akane dropped him, and stepped back, gasping for breath.

"Ma’am, I’m real sorry...we all liked the Captain."

Akane shook her head. "I can’t believe...can’t believe he’s gone..." She turned, and stumbled towards her quarters.

* * * * *

Lisa Hayes let herself into her quarters, took two steps towards her bed, then dropped to the floor.

First Karl, then Ranma. I must be cursed.

She cried silently, tears running down her face, but would not allow herself to make a noise.

Sobbing uncontrollably was not proper behaviour for a U.N. Spacy officer.

* * * * *

"These reasons, and many others too numerous to count, lead me to believe that Captain Saotome’s disappearance, and probable death, can only signal a serious downturn for the war. The proceeding peace talks between Earth and the Zentraedi/Meltraedi forces are a good sign, but Breetai and Azonia command less than a twentieth part of their respective nations’ fleet. We can be certain that, sooner or later, the remainder of that fleet will arrive, looking for defectors.

"Thank you for attending this meeting. If anyone wishes to speak with me further on this subject, they may do so after Captain Saotome’s wake.

"Dismissed."

Lang stood, closed the folder marked simply Saotome, turned, and walked out of the room.