Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of Megaroad -- Book One ❯ Chapter 1: Salvage Rights ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1: Salvage Rights

--January 9, 2016--
--07:35--

Planetary system HJ-95B has 6 planets and two suns. All of these planets are gas giants, the largest of which is slightly smaller than the planet Saturn. But 6 of these planets have a system of moons, some larger than the Earth itself. Near the 5th planet from the central star, a fleet of some 20 starships de-folded in orbit of one of the Lagrange points. Most of these ships were Zentradi in origin; a long time ago their commanders had pledged their allegiance to Bodolza, the supreme commander of the largest Zentran fleet. This particular fleet, with it's 6 cruisers and 12 destroyers and single command battleship, was now in the employ of an entirely new force for an entirely new purpose. This new force driving the Zentradi was represented in all it's grandeur as one last ship de-folded into the Lagrange point. It was the UN Spacey's pride and joy, the finest and largest ship ever assembled by the human race, and it even dwarfed the Zentradi warships around it. It was called the SDF-2 Megaroad-01.

On the bridge of this grand colony ship, crewmen swarmed over their controls and displays, surveying the surrounding space and seeing to the safety of the ship and it's crew after a long and difficult de-fold operation. After such a long distance transfer, the bridge was always a hotbed of activity. Over a hundred people moved with insatiable urgency in the command bridge, the navigation bridge beneath it, and the tactical bridge on the lower decks. But in the command bridge overlooking, the huge cauldron of adrenaline that filled the control tower, Lieutenant Commander Corina Matheson stood calmly at her consol, passing out orders to the first patrols of the day like a well programmed computer. "This is Delta calling Viper and Thor squadrons. Proceed to contact point as scheduled."

Hundreds of meters away, in the main fighter bays of the ship, several VF-1 "Valkyrie" fighters were extended from hangar facilities in the hull by docking arms. The fighters' hardpoints had been fitted with small but powerful nuclear reflex warheads, optimized for anti-warship combat. But these planes weren't exactly vulnerable to attack by hostile fighters either. Each one of them was fully equipped with missile carrying FAST packs which could enable a single Valkyrie to successfully engage an entire squadron Zentradi war machines. The leader's fighter differed from all the others in many respects, but the most obvious was the booster unit on it's back. One of those FAST packs was equipped with a double action beam cannon that could shred a battle pod with a single shot. "Viper 100 calling Delta. Course confirmed. Hope you guys can hold out until we get back!"

Corina smiled. "We can get along without you crazy jet-jockeys hangin' around. You guys just keep your eyes open."

"Roger." The docking arms released the fighters and the planes blasted their way into space toward their patrol stations, ready to battle anything that might come close enough to become a threat to the colony ship. Even if anything happened to break their lines of defense, the escort ships would have plenty of time to make the intercept.

Corina watched the fighters speed off into space, eventually vanishing into the blackness among so many stars. She checked over the data displayed on the massive transparent dome that enclosed the entire bridge section. Everything was secure, there was little else that she needed to do herself. When she thought about it, it was difficult to get used to being first officer on a ship this size. She had served as operations officer on ARMD-3 during the war, and she knew that it was about the only reason she had been assigned to this mission. ARMD-3, or "Enterprise" as she was known, was the only ship to survive the nuclear holocaust that accompanied the final battle with the Zentradi's Bodolza fleet, next to the Macross of course. For the last 3 years, Corina had served that same duty on the Megaroad-01, until 3 months ago a freak accident in Megaroad city had claimed the life of first officer Linda McCarthy. Corina was immediately promoted, and life resumed on the ship as if nothing had happened.

She decided to take a few moments to relax, leaning back against the padded bar next to her consol that was created for just such an occasion. She ran her fingers through her jet-black hair and tied it in a ponytail behind her head, the final solution to three irritating hours of brushing hair out of her face. She didn't know how long she had been resting when Captain Ichijo came to the command bridge and handed her a cup of coffee. "Morning Corina." She said tiredly.

Corina quickly straitened up and tried to look busy, until she noticed the offered coffee mug and relaxed a bit. "Good morning, Captain. We've just finished de-fold operations from LD-426."

"So I've noticed. Well, it looks like you've got everything under control here, so why don't you just relax for now." Misa leaned on the ledge next to Corina's station. She found she was actually bored some times, and she even wished Corina would be less competent and give her an excuse to fill in. But she knew that would never slide. Not only was Corina the most driven crewmen on the entire ship, but Misa was bound by regulations to assign someone else to replace her in time of need. She learned this from watching Captain Gloval, who she now knew must've felt the same way.

Corina sensed the Captain's wandering mind and decided to make conversation. "Captain, was the Macross anything like this? I mean, too many times I feel like there are things I'm supposed to do that I'm forgetting..."

"That's natural on a ship this size, you just have to get used to it." Misa looked out over the hull of the three kilometer "city in a bottle" section of the forward hull, that transparent compartment that housed over 80,000 humans and Zentradi in a crampt mini-metropolis. "It's always like that, even in my case. I have no purpose here except to pick which star systems to survey and when to land on planet nowhere, so really your job is easier than mine ever was." Misa sipped her coffee and grimaced. It needed sugar, and lots of it. "But poor Hikaru is in exactly the same situation he's been in for over 5 years. Squadron commander and public champion."

Corina knew the Misa/Hikaru story well. He had told it to her once at a party when she had asked him for advice about her personal life. Sometimes it amazed her that neither of them had resorted to violence. "You know, I've got another date with that guy from Viper squadron. He's taking me to Guacalas tonight."

Misa raised a brow. "You mean Lieutenant Broli? What DO you see in him anyway? He's so simple minded."

"Well what do you expect? He IS a Zentradi! Fighting is like… like what he does! But still, he's just adorable when you get on his good side."

Misa wondered about this. almost 6 years after the war, she had learned to find humor in the image of hundreds-of-millions of battle hardened Zentradi warriors, giggling like schoolboys in their battleships over the Minmei broadcast, while the Macross and Britai Fleet closed in around them to smite them all with a cloud of nuclear fireballs. Once again, Misa clawed her way back to reality. "Well, you two have a good time. Hikaru's taking me out to King Lou's tonight so I probably won't see you."

"It's alright." Corina sipped the coffee, and grimaced.

"Needs sugar?"

"Uh huh."

"I'll be right back." Misa said, leaving the command bridge for the navigation bridge where the coffee pots were brewing.


--11:22--

Broli's Valkyrie sailed through the rings of the gas giant, scanning the area for Zentradi fighters or ships that might pose a threat. His sensors were showing something metallic in the area, but he couldn't pin down it's location. For that matter, no one could. "Viper 100 to all sections, report contacts."

"No contact. Repeat, no contact. There's nothing here."

All of the other planes reported similarly. Whatever it was his sensors were trying to guide him to, they couldn't seem to see it. "Keep your eyes open people. There might be warships hiding in this debris. Some Zentradi are more patient than others."

"Roger," They answered.

For 30 more minutes, the flight continued to make their way through the rings. At length, something appeared through the cloud of dust and debris ahead. Broli couldn't make out it's shape, but it was definitely a ship of some kind. "Viper 100 calling Delta, we've located an unidentified vessel in Ring Sector Zeta. Request orders, over."

Corina's voice broke through over the static. "Viper squadron, this is Delta Control. I am authorizing the use of reflex weaponry. Proceed at your own discretion, over."

"Roger." Broli hit his afterburners and closed in on the ship. Once he was close enough, he shifted to gerwalk mode and reduced his relative speed while he looked the ship over from stem to stern. It was in terrible shape, probably badly damaged by some kind of battle. It didn't look Zentradi, but it there was something familiar about it. The rest of the squadron closed in along with him, and all of them switched to battleloid mode as they closed in. Suddenly, Broli recognized the ship. "Wait... hold position! All squadrons, hold position immediately!"

Broli's wingman sounded confused. "What gives skipper?" He said. "Are they Zentradi?"

"Worse. That's a gunboat of the Supervision Army. That means there's a very good chance that the ship's been booby trapped."

"Supervision army? Who's that?"

Broli checked his scanners. There was no sign of any energy reactions, and no life form readings from inside it. "It's a long story. Some of them are Zentradi, but most of their troops are micronian. This ship happens to belong to the Zentradi faction of their fleet." Nerves jumping, Broli put in a call to the Megaroad. "This is Viper 100 calling Delta, this is an emergency! Move the ship away from the rings as quickly as possible!"

Corina sounded confused. "Do you require reinforcements?"

"Negative, Delta! We've confirmed unidentified as an abandoned supervision army gunboat! I repeat, we have located an abandoned SDF! Get as much distance as you can!"

On the bridge of the Megaroad, Misa notices Corina becoming agitated. "What's going on out there?"

Corina started checking sensor readings. "There must be some mistake sir! Viper squadron reports contact with an unidentified Macross class ship in the ring zone!"

Suddenly, Misa couldn't feel her legs. "A-An SDF?! Oh my god! Move the fleet as far away from it as you can!"

Corina shrugged. "Jeez! What's the big deal? It's just a bombed out battleship..." she said under her breath.

Misa stepped up and leaned against the front window of the command bridge. "That ship is probably booby trapped, just like the Macross was when we found it! If we go anywhere NEAR that ship with a fleet of Zentradi escorts, it'll blow us out of the sky!"

Corina broke into cold sweat. "Ah.... Yes ma'am!" She said, passing orders to the other Zentradi ships. "Sir, do you think it's a good idea to have Broli flying so close to it?"

"He'll be fine. That ship will be looking for Zentradi warships, not micronized warriors in variable fighters. Tell Viper squadron to move into that vessel and secure it's engineering section. We'll have to disconnect the power conduit before we can get close to the planet."

"Yes ma'am!" Now she passed on the orders to the fighters, while the Megaroad and it's escort fleet began to change orbits, rising away from the planet in a wide arch. "Sir, if that ship is anything like the Macross, it'll take us the better part of the day to finish this."

Misa shrugged. "We're on a mission of exploration. No need to rush things."

Far away, in deep space, Broli scanned the ship one more time for activity. It was completely dead, no movement or energy readings of any kind. Even so, he was very nervous. "Viper 100 to all planes, we've got a job to do so let's get it done!" The 12 fighters of Viper Squadron swarmed to the huge ship. Broli entered the hull through a small breach he found in it's hull. The others entered in a similar fashion. Broil walked along in the passages of the vessel, passing floating bodies on the way in. There was no power on, and most of the surfaces were covered with asteroidal dust that had apparently been collecting for many years. "This place is a tomb." He said gravely.

"Then let's rob it!" Shouted Broil's wingman from behind him. "That energy conduit should be up ahead. I say we open up the casket alittle!"

--18:31--

24 fighters worked to repair a ship designed to carry over 400. With it's reflex furnaces not functioning, there was no power in any part of the ship, and the Valkyrie pilots' first order of duty was to pry open all the doors. Their second task was to collect the frozen bodies of dead Zentradi and stash them in the cargo hold for future autopsy.

It had been a long days work. Not the usual work for a fighter pilot, but lots of manipulator work safeguarding all of the ship's weapons in case the Supervision Army left any unpleasant surprises behind. A few hours ago, Viper and Thor Squadrons were relieved by the Skull and Iron Chiefs Squadrons with their new VF-4 "Lightning" fighters. These new planes somewhat resembled the older Valkyrie fighters used by the other squadrons, especially when equipped with the same dorsal FAST packs. 4 of these fighters were crouched down in the equipment bay where the fold system was stored, sealing the energy conduit that supplied power to the main cannon. "That's the last connection sir! The main cannon should be out of action now."

Hikaru let himself breath easily again. "Good work. You three go down to the engine room to help with the repairs. I'm heading for the bridge." Hikaru left this section of the ship and proceeded to the main bridge where part of Iron Chiefs squadron awaited him. It was unusual to be moving around in this way, but most of the ship was designed for use by full sized Zentradi, so there wasn't a more practical way to get around than marching along in battleoid mode. Before long he reached the command bridge and greeted Lieutenant Harper of the Iron Chiefs squadron. "Got it working yet?"

"Mostly sir. The fold system and two of the reflex furnaces are damaged, but we can still make sub-light.. We could probably repair it if only we could dock with the Megaroad for a few days, but then we would have to delay the survey mission of the system."

"What's your hurry? It's not like there's anywhere in particular we're supposed to be going. We might as well repair the fold system so we can bring her with us on our next jump. Who knows? This old crate might come in handy."

Harper looked around the bridge. "Is this anything like the Macross?"

"Kinda, yeah." Hikaru said. "But when the Macross came down before, it was nothing but a charred hulk. This thing's pretty much intact." He moved to the front of the bridge, where a transparent bubble divided the vacuum on the bridge from the vacuum of space. The bubble just cleared the top of his fighter's head, and he noticed that it was exactly the same as both the Macross and the Megaroad. He turned around and put his back to the dome. He could image where the command bridge would be situated, just about chest high to the fighter. The navigation bridge would be just below it, and the tactical center would be spread out over most of floor. It wouldn't be an especially difficult overhaul; a couple hundred technicians from the Megaroad could do it in two or three months. But if any of the civilian construction companies wanted to help out, and Hikaru was certain they would, they might be able to overhaul the entire ship in just two or three weeks.

Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered on, and air began to fill the huge chamber. Someone in the engine room called up, but much to Hikaru's surprise he was using the ship's internal communication system. As a result, the image of a Lightning's head appeared on the transparent dome in the front of the bridge. "Commander Ichijo, we've restored power to the secondary reflex furnace. Main engines are available, but I can't promises anything better than 40% thurst."

"That'll be plenty. Just as long as we can join up with the escort fleet." Hikaru changed frequencies to the two Lightings he had sent to the ship's navigation bridge. "Set course to rendezvous with the Megaroad and tell them we'll be needing a construction crew and several full sized Zentradi. It seems we have ourselves a new battle fortress." And then, Hikaru remembered something. "This is Skull leader calling Delta, the ship is secured we're on our way to join you. And please tell the captain that I won't be able to make dinner tonight."