Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Robotech: Beneath a steel sky ❯ Chapter 28 - Escape from Qual-Dranna City ( Chapter 28 )

Chapter 28 ---- Escape from Qual-Dranna City ----

Flashback...

Remembering the past few hours during the "Invid raid" inside the captive Qual-Dranna-Ling Meltraedi Mothership, Robert thought back about the last few hours...

Firefights, explosions and other sounds of fierce battles could be heard throught the whole inner city. Following the demand of En'dinia, both Robert and the Meltraedi princess Na'mea fled from the streetfight.

Pulling Na'mea across the streets, they finally reached the Palast-Grounds... Finally, he thought - probably the best place to find safety, as En'dinia said. He bet those tough female sentinel guardians would be the best protection for Na'mea especially. Robert was already nervous about bodyguarding her. En'dinia set all her hopes into him although he happened to be just a civilian who was having bad carma running across his fate.

They both could hear various numbers of Meltraedi Mechas blasting across the velvet sky, shooting somewhere else. Another explosion could be heard ahead...

For a short second, Robert heard a frequency-scratch coming from his shoulder - only once, then nothing. Did somebody try to reach him? Maybe Sarah Capricorn. Nevertheless, there was no time to loose. He shook his head and pulled Na'mea further until they reached a rather safe position to look upon the Palast-Ground - One of the many gigantic heroic statues of Meltraedi heritage has been crushed . She said something as she hid behind him, but as usual, he did not understand a word.

Wiping sweat off his forehead as he slowly leaned himself around the corner trying to make a short observation across the fields of the Meltraedi Palast. Moving his head slowly past the edge, he could see that the Palast-Grounds was just not the way he expected it.

The once so peaceful area has formed itself into a raging battlefield. Between them and the Meltraedi Palast were many Meltraedi and "Invid" casualties scattered along the fields and there was still some shooting around. Beams and other energetic shots flew across the field - there were even Meltraedi Sentinels firing down upon aggressors.

He could also see a few "Invid creatures" running across the fields, trying to reach the Palast-Entry - without much luck.

Robert shook fearsomely as he suddenly felt Na'mea behind him, looking over his shoulder.

"For pete sake, Na'mea - You scared the hell out of me...", he said ironically.

"Nedesha Vi'lith -", she said - her voice sounding worried. She seemed frightened about seeing so many dead Meltraedis at once. It must have been a massacre trying to keep the raiding hordes of "Invids" away from the Palast.

"...Great... What now?", he asked her - already forgetting again that they could not understand each other, "...stay and get caught by those bugs or run across the field - hoping for the best?".

She tilted her head to the side slightly with a questioning face.

"Damn, I keep forgetting - without En'dinia's presence and her... erm, mindthing, you can't understand a word".

He looked upon the battlefield again. There was still some shooting around, but there were also areas that seemed safe - at least for the moment.

Robert observed the area...

The first portion of the area was an open field - a once beautiful garden of full wild plants, colorful orchid-looking flowers and other things he has never seen in his life was now shredded or torn into pieces.

The second area was full of bombed up holes and craters, dead creatures and Meltraedi soldiers and other Mechas that were shot down or even destroyed. This area was definately the area where all the fighting took place...

He could see some shooting around and some action going on - probably a chance to get help. They might be hostile at first upon Robert, but they would surely lower their guns when they see Na'mea.

The last area was the area in front of the Palast-Gates...

All in all, it would be like running across two football fields full of hurdles, obstacles, trap - and creatures.

Again, a few Mechas flew above their heads, firing somewhere into the sky.

He looked back down at Na'mea. Not saying a word, she looked back at him, staring with her usual colorful eyes.

Not even thinking twice, he grabbed her arm and pulled her.

"We better get moving, we're almost there!"

----

Back in space, inside the "Void" and at the vicinity of the SDF-1...

The "Hawk-Eye" carrier of the "Renegade Rookies" along with Lt. Chris Caldwell was pushed off course due to heavy anomalic forces of the "Void". Unable to get away from their position, the carrier was a sitting duck. All Veritechs dispatched from the carrier and held their positions very close to it, aiming into the dense clouds around them.

Hordes of deadly shard-fire flashed by from all sides, another small batch of them hitting the carrier itself. From now on, the situation was getting critical by the second - The "Invids" must have detected them somehow...

""Damn it, Argo! What the hell are we waiting for?!"", Wiseguy shouted angrily over the commline, ""Ya wanna get us killed out here?!"". As usual, the visibility was terrible and almost every pilot was getting nervous...

""-Scarlet here, I'm unable to retrace the source of attacks for returning fire - Anybody got some coordinates for an uplink?""

""No way, negative!"", Needles replied, ""Can't even target our own carrier - we're blind like hell!"". Indeed, nearly all visual displays on their cockpit screens were empty.

""Argo, Caldwell here - We surely would appreciate getting out of here - Go for that dock, asap, over!"", Chris ordered...

Argo looked around trying to figure out a way to navigate through the clouds. Although the SDF-1's profile was hardly visible, it would be too suicidal to charge to fullspeed without knowing which dock to approach. ""Lieutenant, although I've managed to stabilize the ship I'm unable to get us out of this mess! It would be impossible to get a clean landing without any guidance! Miss Porter, I could need some waypoints!""

Following the demand, Sammie tried to reactivate all active scanners, but none of the screens reacted at all - They were out of commision, a few panel-lights kept blinking "Avionic Subsystems Malfunction" constantly. ""To all units! My scanner systems seemed to have a failure! Those last hits must have affected their subsystems! Without them, I'm unable to plot a course without pinpointing the optimal guideline...""

""Ok, NOW we're screwed!"", Rooks shouted.

Anxiously looking around for solutions, Chris looked around and saw two Veritechs floating at his level. As the head of his Battleroid scanned both shortly, they revealed the names of the pilots and co-pilots inside.

""Triss - Cherry, can you guide us out of this mess, we need some kinda guidance here?!"", Chris transmitted.

""Dunno if 'guidance' is something I can bring up, sir"", Cherry replied, ""I can only try to retrace the attacks but it would be a waist of ammunition - actually, we're kinda short on ammo ourselves, over.""

""Triss responding... one moment"", a soft voice said. After taking a few seconds to think about an alternative solution, she reactivated her commline and said, ""... Cherry and I have the ability to receive direct laser guidance for guided weapons, sir. I'd advise Commander Fokker and his wing to transmit all types of active guidance systems from the open docking section. We might be able to pick up their transmission. Getting a clean landing will be very difficult though - over...""

Suddenly, another hailing rain of shard-fire appeared from no where, but this time doing more damage upon the carrier than the first time. One of the upper active turbines discharged and exploded as a few shards pierced themselves through it's hull.

""Argo! Maximum thrust and head for the SDF-1, NOW! Cherry, contact the Skull Squadron!"", Chris ordered, ""We're gonna have to make a run for it now! All, stick to the carrier and try to provide cover!""

----

Reaching the second area just barely out of breath, Robert slowed down from sprinting and made himself fall down to the ground. Surprised by his reaction, Na'mea ran over to him and tried to help him up. Looking with a worried face, she said, "Ro'bel! Vi'en scathis?".

He looked up at her and got to his knees. "Yeesh, you don't seem to be tired *gasps* This gear is damn heavy, y'know!", he said back to her, not even thinking about his alien companion not understanding a single word.

Starting to hear a constant roaring sound coming closer, both looked up and saw one of the Meltraedi Mechas coming in for a landing. As it's shadow moved passed them, the Mecha started to receive multiple hits from shard-fire coming from all sides. Already damaged from previous fights, it made a not-so-clean landing somewhere between the second and third area of the Palast-Grounds.

Unable to see what was going on now, Na'mea helped Robert get back to his feet and they moved along, hiding in one of the many craters in the field. As they lifted their heads over the edge, they could see that the female pilot was wounded and desperately tried to defend herself with a handheld beamgun.

The Meltraedi pilot immediately dived down as another rain of shards flew towards her. Taking a short look at her aggressors, Robert counted two "Invid-Shardlings" and two of those "Invid-Scavengers" he once met a long time ago at that abandoned station. For sure, that pilot was going to need some help somehow.

The civilian mechanic who happened to be looking like some guerilla soldier pulled out one of the rifle attached to his backpack. Taking a look on it, the rifle had a scope attached on it - In fact, it was the sniper rifle he took with him when he was at the armory. Having practically no experiance with this rifle, he looked around trying to find an area where to put ammunition rounds. He found a slot and pushed in a few bullets as fast as he could. A few of them fell aside as he nervously fought pushing in the bullets. Again, they both could hear beamshots cutting through the air... One beam even flew over their heads.

Robert quickly picked up the bullets from the ground along with dirt and pushed them into his pockets. Slowly lifting himself, he laid the rifle on the edge of the crater and laid himself down on the ground, having the rifle's end against his right shoulder. Na'mea watch him as he tried to concentrate on what he was doing. Closing one eye, he looked through the scope and aimed at the creatures constantly firing upon the crashed Mecha.

His aim was shaky and his finger nervously shook as he focused right on the "head" - "...there!" - Now he focused his aim on the red-rubin eye of the "Invid-Shardling"... Holding his breath for a few seconds, he managed to keep the aim steady since his breathing kept making his aim go up and down. Not wasting another second, he pulled the trigger...

The sudden recoil was not as weak as he expected...

The click of the trigger followed by a very loud *BANG* launched the bullet straight at it's target eye. Robert did not have the chance to even see if hit landed a hit due to the unnecessary fact that the recoil of the rifle pushed him towards the back. Loosing his balance, he fell onto his back - along with a dreaded pain in his left shoulder, even though he was wearing a medium BPA-Vest.

Even Na'mea fell to her back by such an unexpected surprise.

"Damn ... What is this thing - An artillery cannon?!", he said and pulled the bolt, making the empty bullet jacket jump out of the chamber... Getting up again, Robert gave his hand towards Na'mea, wanting to help her up - when she suddenly shouted something and pointed behind him. Hearing a crawling sounds behind him, he knew there was something dangerous nearby - Making a swift movement, he dropped the sniper rifle and pulled out the handgun from his right holster.

As he turned around, there was indeed something dangerous right behind them. One of the "Invid-Scavengers" must have immediately responded to the area where the big bang came from. Snapshooting like an insane cowboy, Robert luckily landed a few hits upon that creature - when suddenly, the second one leaped straight at him - jumping from the same spot.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of the second creature, Robert was not able to aim correctly and fell to back - grabbing both limbs of the "Invid-Scavanger" trying to shred him into pieces. He fought trying to keep it's claws away from him... Althought the creature was small, it did have quite a strength. Robert fought around, constantly rolling around trying to get that thing off him. It's mighty claws stabbed into the ground a few times as Robert barely managed to move his head aside.

Pushing his feet between the frontal area of his attacker, he kicked the creature away slightly and threw his fist as hard as he could... His punch smacked against the "head" but did not seem to do as much pain as it did for his fist... Just as the creature jumped back on him again, he was forced to the ground again, having the beast right over him. But this time, the creature had a slight upper-hand. Unable to get up, the creature lifted both of it's deadly bladed claws and was about to make a fatal swing towards Robert...

Robert threw his arms in front of his face, expecting the worse...

When suddenly - another loud *BANG* thundered just a few meters next to him... The creature was violently thrown to the back by a sudden impact - Most of it's left side merely destructed and bleeding some sort of fluid. It only took a matter of seconds until it fell to the ground, it's eye degenerating from red to black.

Being out of breath, Robert slowly turned his head with a surprised face...

Slowly recognizing what has just happened, he could see a very angry looking Meltraedi princess looking at the creature, holding a military sniper rifle next the right side of her hip. Although she was holding the rifle totally wrong, it did not seem as if she was so inaccurate. Anger was written over her face, probably the same when Robert stood the first time in front of her. For another few seconds, Na'mea's red eyes started to calm down... slowly turning from red to a soft purple color.

Robert looked back at the creature - "One reason why I'm glad we're on the same side, Nameah". Getting up once again, Robert picked up his handgun, ejected the clip and pushed in a new one. Na'mea suddenly looked up when she heard a crying yell not far away. Frightened by the sound of the voice, she got up as well and started to hasted to climb out of the crater, carrying the rifle with her.

"H-Hey Na -", Robert wondered, "Nameah - damn it!", he started to climb after her as fast as he could. She was definately faster than him, since he was still carrying his gear on his back. "Nameah, wait up, you're gonna get yourself killed if you don't -"

He stopped talking when he managed to reach the edge.

The remaining "Invid-Shardling" was dead on the ground not far away, but with many black-burnt marks upon it's think skin. The pilot must have managed to shoot down the last one. Again, he heard a yell coming from other side of the down Mecha. Na'mea just dissappeared around it's corner... "Man, she's fast", he said and finally climbed out of the crater. Making a run for it, he ran around the corner, aiming everywhere - making sure that no surprises were around.

Robert could hear Na'mea speaking in her language...

Looking around, Robert discovered Na'mea holding a severly wounded Meltraedi pilot in her hands. She bled as Na'mea held her on her lap... but it was too late - the pilot's arms fell to the ground, livelessly - along with her handheld beamgun. Robert could feel Na'mea's sorrow as she held her in her arms, but there was just no time to loose. He could still hear firefights getting louder and they were just barely lucky to be almost in safety. Many beam and energetic weapons could be heard as well.

"Com'on Nameah, we can't stay here - We've gotta get to that Palast!", he shouted and grabbed her arm. Although she was forced to leave, she kept looking back, pointing her arm at the liveless body of the pilot. From what Robert has noticed so far, Meltraedis do react with sorrowness upon every single loss of their own kind. It must be a terrifying feeling for loosing their precious souls. Both Robert and Na'mea continued ahead, crossing the last area towards the gates of the Meltraedi Palast.

----

Abandoned "Daedalus" docking station...

Commander Roy Fokker and his groups held their positions in Battleroid mode, waiting for the second recon carrier to land. Indeed, the docking area was still open, but almost dark as the night. Only the emergency lights brigthened certain sections. Many of the pilots were very anxious since that last "shockwave" just blew away two of their own as they were just about to land.

While Roy kept his eyes upon the yellow clouds of the "Void" Corperal Max Sterling appeared upon one of his secondary screens.

""Commander, Sterling here - They're taking awfully long, aren't they, sir? Should we head out again and find out what's going on?""

The Commander looked over towards Max.

""Good question, gettin' kinda worried about 'em as well"", he replied, ""- but we can't head out there. Remember that we just got onboard with stealth, if we blast off again we might risk their own safety."" Roy's face remained firm, ""Maybe we should -""

Interrupted by Ben's voice, the frenzy pilot said, ""- Hey - Sorry to bud in, pals, but I'm gettin' in something over a high frequency channel.""

""H-F? Who is it?"", Roy asked.

Listening shortly, Ben replied, ""Sounds... sounds like one of the ladies of that other squadron of ours, but the signal is messy. If ya focus your commline to auto-wideband H-F, ya might pick it up, Boss.""

""Hold on a sec"", the commander said and did as Ben said, ""Ok... Changing in... Now, got it.""

As the commline automatically tried to pick up the signal, they could hear the fast voice of a woman speaking. Although garbled, they understood the message partially:

""Cherry to ... Squadron. Skulll fsshht-dron, please respond. Eagle-Sev... recon group speaking. *garbled* Eagle-Seven group compromised... Receiving *garbled for a few seconds* Sensory offline- Remain at docks. Under all circumstances, remain at docks and transmit direct laser guidance into space ...fffsssht... I repeat, remain at docks at all costs and transmit direct laser guidance - This task is critical *garbled* - Carrier is unable to find guideline for landing!""

""Didn't get much"", Max added, ""... but it sounds like they're into some trouble!""

""You bet"", another member of the Skull Squadron said, ""Commander, I think they said they got some trouble finding the right docking zone - We should aim our laser guided weapons into space, hoping they'll pick up the link, over""

""Ok everybody"", Roy replied, gaining attention over all commlines, ""Do as they said, but keep that trigger disabled - Last thing they could need are friendly missles coming for them. I want everybody to clear that runway and hold positions on the outer areas of the dock, over and out!""

Many Battleroid hulks started to move, walking towards the sides of the docks as Commander Fokker ordered. Aiming down the runway towards the open gateway of the dock, they held their positions, waiting for the other group to appear finally.

Meanwhile, the second carrier of the Rookie Squadron was in deep trouble. Burning wildly, another turbine has received too much damage and also began to leave a long stream of black smoke. The carrier's hull was full of long blue shards raging like acupunture needles. Flying at cruise speed towards the SDF-1, the ship was just too bulky to perform any evasive manuevers.

As if they did not have enough problems, another batch of shards struck upon them. Argo felt the impact as he tried to compensate the loss of those two engines. It was practically impossible to detect from where the firing was coming from...

""Guys, this thing's gonna blow if we don't get any protection here - Shards and Proto-charged turbines just don't mix !"", Argo shouted, requesting support ironically. His cockpit controls were already starting not to respond to his movements that well.

""Just hold on another sec, Argo!"", Piranjha shouted. Not even thinking about preserving ammunition, she activated her helmet-guided system and their main cannon-rifle. "No time for taking those hits without retailation, Wiseguy - Fire at will!", she shouted down to him. Their Battleroid started fire a blaze of rounds into the dense clouds around them. The whole Valkyrie shook as it hurled a constant stream wildly.

Vinshesca also has decided to return fire and blast a volley of missles into nowhere...

""Anybody got a link to that dock yet?!"", Argo snarled, ""About to pass optimal cruise speed for landing and this baby's gettin' sluggish!""

Rooks logged into the commline and said, ""Stop blabberin', Argo, and get that thing movin'!""

Rooks' RW co-pilot kept a lookout for that certain laser uplink. Constantly sweeping the area with her head, she tried to find it. The special "googles" between the eyes and helmet-glass for RW co-pilots is a remarkable yet simple tool. Any transmitted light could be detected with ease - however only in clear space.

""I'm getting nothing in"", Cherry reported to all, ""This could get tight...""

""Sherry -", a female french voice said, ""Are you asure they 'ave received your transmission?""

""Did the best I could, Syrie - Hope they got it... or else we're a goner..."", she replied. Cherry did not sound as optimistic as she usually was.

The damaged carrier and it's escort of Valkyries dashed along into the region of the SDF-1, closing in on the abandoned "Daedalus" super-carrier. Still under a constant bombard of deadly shards, they made their way towards the Battlefortress. Noticing a strange mass over the certain areas, it has seemed as if the organical armor of the "Exodus-Bioship" has expanded itself onto the hull.

----

Meanwhile, a sudden explosion shook Robert awake...

Slowly getting back to conciousness, he got up and looked around hysterically, swinging his handgun aimlessly around as well. He must have had some type of daydream - half asleep and half awake as he remembered about the flashback he just had.

Looking around, he slowly recognized groups of Meltraedis around him in the same room he was. The light was dimmed and energetic gunfire and explosions could be heard from the outside. The alien women were in a poor shape. Many over them were either laying on the floor or sitting against the walls, wounded or totally out of comission. Treated by another group of Meltraedis, it seemed as this whole large room was remade to a sickbay. Generally, the wounded consisted of Meltraedi soldiers, "civilians" and those strange "shady" ones. Almost every pair of eyes Robert could see throughout the whole room was nearly glowing a light blue...

Robert turned his head as he noticed Na'mea aiming with his sniper rifle out of the window. Surprised by her appearance, he immediatly got to his feet and slowly pushed her away from the rifle, packing it back into his backpack. "Hey hey hey, easy - be careful with that thing!", he said towards her. A group of armed Meltraedi soldiers rushed into the room...

"What the - geez, what's wrong now?", he asked himself.

A "highly ranked" looking soldier with a body armor full of shards and scratches took another step and bowed herself shortly before Na'mea. "Na'mea Xio - Vol Ma'desha", the female soldier said towards the Meltraedi princess with an honorable voice, "Ik Nedia Zaus A'Yil!"...

"Crap, what are you two talkin' about now?"

Na'mea suddenly looked at Robert.

"Erm, was it something I said?", asking with a surprised face.

They suddenly heard hundreds of footsteps coming from the same entrance. A large number of Meltraedis of all "kinds" ran into the room, helping the others get up and started carrying them towards another entry which opened and revealed another large hallway. Robert had absolutely no idea what was going on, but they surely were in a big rush. After the large numbers of Meltraedis stopped entering the room, the soldiers armed their energy-rifles and sealed the main entry. Slowly walking backwards, they constantly aimed at the doors as the last Meltraedis carried away the wounded down the halls.

It did not take long until they started to hear strange sounds slithering behind the metallic doors - breaking the silence of the room...

It was a very threatening sound that hollowed throughout the room...

Hearing more weapons charging up, Robert looked towards his left and right. Na'mea hid behind herself behind him. Hearing even more slithering sounds, they could already count that they outnumbered. "Hoo boy...", he said and pulled out the energetic rifle from his backpack.

"Core chamber activated...", his once forgotten female computer voice said from his shoulder-radio, "Core chamber charged and ready..."

"Long time, no hear, missy", Robert whispered to himself.

Everybody besides Na'mea was aiming at the doors, determined to opened fire if the doors should be opened.

Something was not right...

Robert swiftly looked towards his sides again. The eyes of the once so determined Meltraedi soldiers started to change slowly. Their eyes slowly changed from that certain aggressive red color to a deep blue. He looked ahead again, as they started to hear multiple slamming sounds coming from the doors... then a pause... then again. In a matter of seconds, they could slowly see the door getting damaged, slowly receiving large inversed dents.

One of the soldiers took a step back... In fact, the soldier was a young lady in a very large armor. She did not seem to be a full soldier either. Her moment made others do the same. For sure, they are a determined troop, but their reaction showed Robert that they are just as human as he is.

"Ladies...", he said slowly, "I think..."

Repeatingly being slammed, the door's inversed dents slowly bent more inside.

"I think we better get out of here!", he shouted. Waving his arm towards the open hallway, he tried to signal them to leave the room immediately. "Com' on - no time for playing hero, let's get out of here - Quick!" Although they hesitated shortly, they lifted themselves and made their way out, along with Na'mea and Robert...

They ran down the halls as fast as they could. Reaching the end of the hall, they met up with other wounded Meltraedis again. As Robert walked through the entrance, he was overwhelmed by the groups of Meltraedi Mechas standing within the gigantic hall of the Palast. The ceiling was so high that the violet haze of the atmosphere onboard the Mothership could be seen.

"...My goodness...", he said to himself as Na'mea grabbed his arm and pulled him further.

"Qi Vaned, Ro'bel!", she replied in a soft voice towards him as they all hurried through - as usual, he did not understand what she said.

"Where are we goin', Na'mea?", he asked her, slowly getting out of breath, "Where are we - huh". Looking up again, Robert heard sounds of breaching doors - along with a dread howling sound... A group of "Invid-Shardlings" and "Invid-Scavengers" entered the gigantic hall way, either jumping or crawling down the walls. All Mechas started to open fire upon the creatures... Loud beam fire struck high above their heads and hailing sounds of nails could be heard as they ran away, trying to get through the sudden chaos.

Robert used himself to cover Na'mea from the attacks if something dangerous should fall as they made their way with the group across the vast field of the gigantic hall. More Meltraedi Mechas have entered the area. The gigantic hulks made big and loud stomps as their metallic feet moved along the ground. A few shards smacked into the ground just a few feet away from them like darts.

Many Meltraedis shouted fearfully as they ran through.

----

Still under heavy shard-fire, the flight group flew it's way towards the "Daedalus" carrier, hoping they would find the designated docking area. Three "Invid-Arc-Shardlings" dashed by like a group of vultures circling their prey. As Cherry kept a look out, a red line suddenly swooped past her sights. Feeling slightly optimistic in this tough situation, she immediately threw her hands of the touchpads, tried to pick the signal and grab as much information as she could. Datalines and other guiding information started to run down her screens.

Cherry repeated the information she read over the commline:

""Attention fleet! I've got an uplink - Transmitting it to everybody now. Argo, Triss, could you calculate the ideal angle for landing? Our avionics seem to be malfunctioning, over!""

""Whew, finally!"", Trovski shouted loudly.

""Hey, let's not get to cocky -"", Rixler added, ""We've still got badguys on our tails!""

""Triss here..."", Triss said, responding to Cherry's demand, ""Coordinates received..."" It did not take even ten seconds until she finished the calculations, ""Done, transfering data to Argo's nav. Over and out...""

As Argo followed the data, he and Sammie felt another disturbing explosion coming from the lower rear side of the ship. Looking towards a certain screen to his right, he could see another turbine blinking red, along with icons showing "caution: fire". Indeed, the carrier left three trails of black smoke coming from the heavily damaged turbines.

""Ok, I've got the docking coordinates - I dunno know how the hell they did it but those bugs just blew another turbine! Only got one main turbine left and a couple of manuevering thrusters. If we loose that last turbine, we're a goner!"", he shouted over radio, ""Already flying above cruise speed, dunno if we'll have enough reverse thrusting power or even the brakes to stop this hulk, over!""

""We're almost there - just hold tight, Argo!"", Chris shouted back, ""Ok everybody, this could be a waste of ammo, but this is getting crutial - Dispatch all missles! We must protect that carrier at all costs!"" He did the same. Setting his remaining missles to 'sporadic targetting', all missles icons on his left display blinked green shortly. All RW co-pilot's besides Piranja gave confirmation of having their missiles ready for the volley.

His thumb was ready, floating over the missle trigger.

""... fire...""

----

"Watch out!", Robert shouted as he dashed ahead and quickly pushed another Meltraedi to the side who was nearly crushed by a dead "Invid" body which fell from the wall. Running across the open area, he grabbed Na'mea's arm once again and pulled her along, guiding themselves through the chaos. The battle was getting more and more intense by the second. Not far above them, beams, energetic shots and shards flew back and forth - along with voices of screaming women, beast cries and loud Mechas moving along the field.

Not only that the Meltraedi Palast was under attack, but it seemed to Robert as if the "Invids" have focused their attacks on this area. He knew the Meltraedi High Priestess once said that "Invid-raids" were common, but they were definately up to something - and this time these dreaded invaders seemed determined. As one horde after another of "Invids" made their ways from different entry points, they were held back just enough by the Meltraedi Palast-Guardians. Close combat played another major factor as hundreds of "Invids" tried to fight their way through the same amount of Meltraedi Sentinels with energetic wrist-blades.

Although there was not much time to observe everything, Robert did take note of what was going on. Nearly every Meltraedi at the frontline was fighting for the lives of their race and existance, that was for sure. Each one of them had eyes red as blood and their slashes were just as aggressive - For a few seconds, he wondered what who was more dangerous, a ferocious "Invid-Scavenger" or a beserk Meltraedi Sentinel... Upon all fighters he could also recognize certain Meltradies that wore different things than the others. A few possessed capes and seemed to have a very high leadership factor as they fought against their enemies.

Finding a safespot for the second, Robert pulled Na'mea behind this certain area and started to look upon the "battlefield" inside the gigantic halls of the Meltraedi Palast. For civilian, it was just pure insanity to be watching such a battle go on - especially when you are right inside of one...

Robert suddenly felt something piercing into his mind - once again.

It was familiar feeling, though. He shook his head twice... Something was happening right now...

"Wha- what's going on", he said towards Na'mea. She only looked back at him with her typical questioning face. Looking back at the battlefield, something seemed to happen. Strange to him, beams started to slow down - even the movement of everything or person started to slow down. It did not take long until nearly everything froze at their spot. At the same time, his suroundings started to zoom away from him.

A familiar distant voice spoke in his mind and kept repeating, <Fear.Not.Of.My.Presence.Honored.One>

***bright flash***

Robert was floating once again in an area full of darkness... He has been here once before.

Suddenly, the High Priestess of the Meltraedi Keh'tals appeared before him once again, floating within the same emptyness in the same elegant and beautiful dress. Her eyes were pure green like those of the emerald mines he was visited back on Macross Island.

Without moving her lips, her voice spoke:

<Fear.Not.Of.My.Presence.Honored.One... Essence.Of.Meltraedi... Essence.Of.Keh'tal... Essence.Of.Jackson... Essence.Of.Na'mea.Xio.Is.Of.Great.Danger...>

He knew what she meant...

<The.Purging.Ends.Essence.Of.Meltraedi... The.End.Must.Cease... The.End.Is.Fear.Of.Meltraedi... The.End.Must.Not.Prevail...>

"""The end...?"""

<Essence.Of.Jackson.Must.Know... Na'mea.Xio.Is.Of.Great.Danger... Na'mea.Xio.Is.Key.Of.Essence... Essence.Of.Meltraedi.Begins.Of.Na'mea... If.The.End.Of.Na'mea.Xio.Prevails.The.End.Prevails.Of.Meltraedi.Keh'tals... >

She repeated the same words she once said to him before...

<Essence.Of.Jackson.Must.Know... What.Equals.Jackson.And.Hu'mans.Of.Invid -Equals.For.Meltraedi.Keh'Tals.As.The.Purging... The.Purging.Is.Threat.Among.All - Threat.Among.All.Zentraedi... Threat.Among.All.Meltraedi... Essence.Of.Na'mea.Xio.Must.Prevail...>

Robert lowered his head... He seemed worried... somewhat mistrusted to his abilities.

<Essence.Of.Jackons.Must.Not.Fear... Essence.Of.Jackson.Endeavors.Valor... Meltraedi.Keh'tals.Endeavors.Valor...>

A strange feeling made him lift his eyes upon the Meltraedi High-Priestess again...

<The.High.Priestess.Trust.Valor... The.High.Priestess.Endeavors.Essence.Of.Jackson.To.Prevail.Essence.Of.Na'me a.Xio...>

"""... but... but how can I protect her? We and many others are surrounded by the "Invids", your highness...""", he said towards her, speaking as polite and respectful as possible.

<Meltraedi.Sentinels.Prevail.Nor.Long... Essence.Of.Jackson.... Essence.Of.Na'mea.Xio.Must.Escape... Essence.Of.Both.Must.Flee... Essence.Of.Both.Must.Flee.Of.Qual-Dranna-Ling... Essence.Of.Jackson.Must.Seek.Assistance.Of.Jackson's.Warriors... Na'mea.Xio.Is.Key.Of.Essence... If.Na'mea.Xio.Is.Of.The.End... The.Purging.Is.Of.Victory... If.Essence.Of.Na'mea.Is.Of.Captive.Of.The.Purging... All.Essences.Is.Of.The.End The.Purging.Must.Cease... The.End.Must.Cease...>

The words of the Meltraedi High-Priestess shot through his mind like a bullet...

"Escape"... was the word... Escape from the Qual-Dranna-Ling Mothership and seek help among... Among what? The RDF troops? The Police? Robert was more than confused. The odds were against him at the moment. How could he ever get the anybody to believe what he was going through right now.

But none the less, there was only one way to go - and that was going forth.

"Escape"... was the word...

<Essence.Of..High.Priestess.Of.Meltraedi.Keh'Tals.Must.Gu ide.Essence.Of.Jackson.As.Much.As.Possible... Seek.Escape.Of.Qual.Dranna.Ling...>

"""Escape..."""

<Essence.Of.Jackson.Must.Know... Essence.Of.Na'mea.Xio.Is.The.Key...>

***bright flash***

The darkness slowly started to disappear and his former surrounding slowly started to reappear... As this happened, the last words of the High-Priestess repeated a few times within his mind, before and after the bright flash. Robert had so many questions, but he guessed there was not enough time. The shooting around started to continue - many female voices screaming around, shouting either victoriously or in outrageness.

Again, another volley of shards zinged by and even more crushed into the floor around them. Making a desperate move, Robert pushed Na'mea down, covering her with whole body, hoping if anything should come their way would be stopped by his heavy backpack. As he protected Na'mea the best he could, he could see a large number of Meltraedi ground troops running past his group, along with a special person wearing clothes, other than those heavy Meltraedi battle-armor.

Recognizing the beutiful design of her elegant dress, Robert remembered En'dinia wearing a similiar one.

"""That woman over there must be one of those Meltradi... Empaths or however they call them""", he thought. Supporting the troops, she started to concentrate herself on her special abilities. Even Robert could feel a calmness going through his mind as well as a feeling of strong courage and braveness. Taking a sharper look at the soldiers, they seemed more focused on their job and a lot more efficient than before. As she supported the groups of soldiers, more Meltraedi guardians rushed into the battlefield.

For that certain moment, Robert felt slightly optimistic...

When suddenly... From the middle of nowhere... unexpecting the worse.

As the Meltraedi Empath stood within the rows of the Meltraedi soldiers, a very thick and deadly shard struck right through her. A cloud of her blood emergered from both sides... Frightened by the sudden hit, Robert's face was filled with pain - Even Na'mea shouted like never before. For that certain second he could feel exactly the same she just felt - and he was not the only one. Suffering from the painful hit through her torso, she fell towards the ground. Many Meltraedis started to become disorientated or even fell to the ground - They seemed lost and empty minded. Na'mea shouted once again in full sorrowness as she felt the Empath's soul slowly fading away. Beyond all expectations, Robert would have never expected the tide of the battle to change from good to the worse ever. From now on, he understood the pure importance of those Empaths.

He looked back at the liveless body. The shard that flew right through her was a lot diferrent than those he has seen. While the former shards were dark blue, this object was a lot more threatening, especially longer and was nearly transperant. Something told him that there must be another type of beast lurking around the area besides all the others.

-----

A gigantic volley of missiles dispatched from nearly every Valkyrie surrounding the damaged carrier. Several missiles dispatched from all angles like a net, then blasted ahead at full speed. Hundreds of missile exhaust-trails flew randomly into all directions like snakes looking for their pray, disappearing into the Nebula around them. It did not take long until they felt numerous shockwaves coming from all sides...

""Did we get 'em?"", Wiseguy asked as he looked around.

Unexpecting the worse, another rain of shards hurled upon them from different angles - but this time, the carrier did not seem to be the target. Needles was surprised from a bright flash on her right side. The Valkyrie of Rixler and Genesis must have received critical hits upon it's left thruster. Torn and pulled out of formation due to the intense impact, their Valkyrie barrel-rolled away, almost uncontrollable. They were lucky that they just missed the carrier itself.

Another Valkyrie received hits, Chris looked to his side and saw that the cockpit glass from Helios and Vinshesca has collapsed due to direct hits along the whole fight. He could tell what happened precisely, but a visible gush just bursted the glass into millions of pieces. Overwhelmed by what was going, he was unable to say a word just as another Valkyrie of his group received critical hits as well. His hands shook as he saw three of his units leaving a trail of smoke just like the carrier - Now things were getting out of control and there was really nothing he could do.

"Uh-oh...", Rooks said surprised as he saw a smoking Valkyrie fighter coming in from the right side high. "Cherry - Hold on!", he shouted as he slammed the control stick hard to the left and pulled the throttle towards the back as far as it could go. Their Valkyrie responded with a hard barrel-roll along with a powerful retro-thrust, just barely getting out of the way of the incoming.

""Sir, we gotta pull outta here -!"", he reported to Chris as they broke fromation.

As Rooks managed to get out of the way, Rixler and Genesis were in deep trouble. Multiple alert warnings could be heard all around them. Genesis tried to keep calm, but every display was throwing total non-sense and flashed snowy images. Even her helmet visor had interferances that forced her to deactivate them manually. Still by swung by the high rotation speed, she managed to at both sides, trying to see where they were hit.

"Starboard side -", she said as she looked to her right side, "- clear! Checking Port side -", and looked over to her left side... Her eyes widened as she saw the whole left turbine throwing sparks, fire and a long stream of black smoke leaving an irregular trail. She also could recognize a row of large blue shards stuck all around their Valkyrie like a bunch arrows. "Oh my god - Port side on fire! Looks like we got hits all over our left half, Rixler!", she reported.

"Blast it! I'm unable to get this thing back under control", he replied as he fought to compensate their fighter.

"Shutting down port side turbines before they blow - Our main core has suffered some hits too, I'm trying to get them back online now!", his RW co-pilot replied and did as she said.

"Ok - make it fast, Gen'!"

"I'm on it - I'm on it!"

Noticing a total shutdown right after the recent hits, Monk suddenly was not able unable to control the Valkyrie. Main screens, illuminating lights coming from every panel, control stick and throttle, practically every system went dead.

"Man, what was that?!", Monk asked - nothting responded to his control.

Quickly overviewing a secondary independantly powered status screen, Chessna discovered that there was a hole torn right through the center area, exactly where the protoculture core of the Veritech was. Indeed, those "Invidshots" just busted right through their main power source.

""We've got a problem, flight group - They just wasted our primary powercore - We've lost thrusting systems as well!", she replied back to him, "I could try to bring up some back-up juice for those manuevering systems, but we're practically not much different than a drifting rock now!" Nervously trying to get systems back on line, she pushed away all touchpad-panals above her and tried to start all possible auxilliary system.

It was a very tough situation for Chris for the very moment - He did not know how Sammie was doing. Looking at outside again, the carrier itself is burning like hell, three of his wingmen are under serious trouble and they still must perform a landing while being under fire from hideous "Invids".The situation was getting intense by the minute as they approached the docking zone and they were running out of precious time.

----

Robert rose himself from their safespot once again and fired a constant stream of shots from his energetic rifle. Due to the fact that there were so many "Invids" streaming out, a miss was almost impossible. Just before gaining too much attention, he threw himself back down into cover - A few shards slammed against the edges but did not cause any real trouble.

Looking back at Na'mea, he noticed that she was rather disorientated. Not only that, Her eyes shimmered an unusual gray color. He did not know exactly what happened to her, but judging her reaction, the Meltraedi Empath who was just killed a while ago must have really had a strong mental connection to her...

Suddenly, a distant voice of a woman spoke within Robert mind. The voice was familiar... He could even feel the same presence of a certain person the last time he was mind-controlled. The first time, he did not know who it exactly was, but this time he recognized the telepath:

"Endinia - is that you?!", Robert shouted as he looked around.

<Jackson.Must.Protect.Essence.Of.Na'mea.Xio... Essence.Of.Jackson.Must.Seek.Escape... Both.Must.Hurry>

He suddenly felt a feeling of familiarity... as if he has once been in this hall before. Robert slowly started to recognize the whole area as a place he used to be in many times, although it was very first time being here. Thanks to En'dinia's abilities, she seemed to be able to transmit a part of her memory... Mentally guiding his mind, he could see the next large area virtually. The area seemed to be some type of shipyard, having many Meltraedi troops running along.

En'dinia's presence started to fade away along with her voice...

<Essence.Of.Jackson.Must.Hurry...>

Not even thinking twice, he strapped the rifle on his back and lifted the absent-minded Meltraedi Princess up with ease. Making a head moving, he tried to signal the group of wounded women to move on with him. As they moved swiftly, the strange feeling went through his mind again. It was a very unusual feeling for him to be at a place where he has never been before in life and then again had a trusted feeling of knowing every corner. For short moments, he felt En'dinia's presence a few times aiding him with her telepathic guidance. They met up with more and more Meltraedis - For sure, this whole situation was starting to escalate to a full scale evacuation operation.

Already panting for a break, Robert was in need to take a short rest. Just managing to find a spot, he leaned himself against a wall along one of the corridors as the large stream of Meltraedis continued past them. Na'mea seemed still lost - She laid over his lap like a person who was asleep, just like that... with the only differance that her eyes open kept open.

"""She has been like this for almost twenty minutes...""", he thought silently. He tried to wake her up by shaking her side softly, but she did not react. His gasping started to slow down as they rested. Looking from left to right, he saw a countless stream of Meltraedis running along the large corridor. Many of them frightened as they felt the strong vibrations of explosions moving along the ground. Among the frighened voices, Robert listened closely shortly and heard many crying voices of young Meltraedis. Among all the women, a large number of young Meltraedis ran along the mass. Although they were Meltraedi Keh'tals, he could feel that they were just as lost as he was. Just remembering about the past, they must belong to the youngest generation of the Meltraedi's Bio-Generation chamber...

----

As the situation in space was already out hand, another situation was just bound to happen. Already ignoring all the alert sounds within the cockpit of the carrier, Argo tried to keep control of the ship the best he could. Once again, the carrier was taken under shard-fire - and this time, the damage done was more severe than before. A destructive amount of shards bypassed the hull's armor and crushed through several areas of the ship. Among all alert sounds, two more sounded up - louder than all the others. Sammie, who still kept strapped in her seat was very nervous as she started to feel a very intense draft moving beyond her. Her hair blew to the right as she looked towards her sides.

A computer voice spoke among the cockpit speakers:

"Warning - Decompression - in Primary Bay Area detected... Warning - Decompression - in the Stern Section detected. Enviromental Levels decreasing - Hazardous Enviroment increasing..."

Indeed, he could see the cabin pressure of certain areas in the carrier dropping down. Frightened by the situation, Argo grabbed his headset and transmitted, ""Officer Porter - Officer Porter, please respond! Porter, do you copy me?!""

The gush of air pulling along was picking up on speed inside the area as Sammie heard his voice.

""Sammie here - I hear you, Argo - What's going on? It's getting windy over here!"", she asked - nearly shouting as the wind started to become more intense. It was only a matter of seconds as Sammies started to breathe slightly harder. Something was not right at all.

""Porter, listen!"", Argo shouted, trying to make sure he had her attention, ""Those damn bugs busted some area of the bay - We've got a nasty leak in our armor - But listen! You need to get a helmet and strap it over your before your section's oxygen supply is depleted! Did you hear me - Get a helmet, strap it over your head and get it sealed before it's too late! You can find a set of those HEC suit gear within those tall lockers! Hurry!""

Chris looked down at carrier as he heard Argo's transmission...

Shocked by the situation, Sammie had already noticed that she was fighting against time. The air was getting thiner by the second and each time she exhaled, she felt a weak force pulling the air out of her lungs slightly. Unbuckling as fast as she could, the young officer in her tight HEC suit got up from her seat and looked around, trying to find the mentioned locker.

""I... I can't see it... Where is it?"", she shouted into her headset, ""Oh my... I can't find it..."" - Everybody could understand her fear. Keeping calm in such a situation was more than difficult, especially without the proper training.

""S-Sammie, calm down"", Argo replied, trying to keep her calm, ""Look around, there must be a HEC Locker with a very reflective silver layer- head towards the bow of the ship - and make it quick!""

She did as he said - now the air was blowing like a strong October Wind.

""Wha- What about Jester and Sparrow - are they safe from this?!"", she asked as she made her way to the frontal area of the navigation-sector. She cover her face as a few things flew past.

""Don't worry about 'em"", the carrier pilot replied, ""The sickbay is a sealed area with it's own enviromental system - I've also sealed the section as well! But before I seal all sections, I need you to get that helmet, ASAP!""

At last, Sammie spotted a large silver and green striped locker reflecting the light slightly into her eyes - just as he said. She ran over towards as she knew she was running out of time. Fighting to get it open, she managed to open it's complicated mechanism and discovered a row of HEC suits, helmets and other gear. Not wasting a second, she pulled out one of the helmets - a few of them fell out of the compartment due to her hectic manor. Throwing her hair around her neck, into the suit and around her forehead, she laid the helmet over head and pushed it downwards. Sliding it down until her head was fitted all the way inside, she did not know how to seal it.

""Argo - How ..."", she said and suddenly took a deep gasp. The cabin pressure became dangerously low and the remaining oxygen in her section was rather depleted. Fighting to breathe, she gasped, ""Argo - I have - the helmet, but... How... How do I... Seal the helmet...?""

A few seconds went by before his voice was reheard, ""Porter - push those integrated buttons on your wrist, they'll seal the helmet automatically!""

""Oh... *gasp* Oh-kay..."", she said weakly. Her voice was so weak that there was a moment of her breathing seizing.

"""Button...""", she thought slowly... Just as she pressed the button, she felt her tight suit tighten up a bit, along with helmet's lower sides closing within seconds. At the same time she started to hear a "shhhhh" sound of air inflating her suit, her view started to black-out. Nearly suffocated, Sammie fell to the floor - The short moment of insufficient oxygen and her excitement, her body became too weak...

Constantly calling for her, Argo kept shouting, ""Officer Porter, do you hear me?!"". He heard her deep and difficult inhalation a few seconds ago and became worried about her safety. Having no other choice, he pressed the emergency button to seal all internal areas of the carrier avoid further decompression. Automatically shutting down, each section sealed with thick sliding doors within seconds. It was only a matter of a few seconds until Argo read the screen showing all door symbols in blinking red color.

""Caldwell to Argo - Caldwell to Argo!"", Chris shouted, ""How's Sammie?! Is she alright, over?!""

""I dunno, sir! She not responding to us...""

Chris expected the worse...

Time seemed to have stopped for the moment as Argo's transmission faded away from his mind. He could not believe that she was... He did not dare to think about it - Already feeling guilty for taking her on this dangerous mission, his mind started wander off elsewhere. Chris still had his hands on his Veritech controls, but he seemed to ignore the distant voices of his wingmen speaking and shouting...

His Nightmare ran before him once again...

As Chris was once again lost in his mind, Argo was surprised by another row unnecessary malfuntions. Just as he setted his helmet over his head, many display lights started to fade and blink rapidly... then faded out.

"What the -"

One of the status screens which displayed the internal symbols and other systems blinking from blue to red. The red areas started to spread along the ships layout like a disease... Due to the certain circumstances, practically all of his navigational systems collasped, leaving the pilot totally blind.

"Aw no!", he shouted towards himself and tried to adjust the flight path with his controls. The ship hardly responded to his movement controls...

""Um... guys..."", Argo said, ""We've got a SERIOUS problem! Nav-systems have just failed and although we're flying towards the right dock, I'm unable to perform course or angle corrections any longer! Damn it, we're flying beyond optimal speed and if we don't do something, we're toast! Sir, what should we do, over?!"

*frequency scratch*

Caldwell heard his words... but he did not respond...

""Sir - what are your orders?! What should we do?!"", Argo repeated, hoping to find some advice.

""Lieutenant Caldwell"", Cherry called, ""Sir, are you alright - please respond, over!""

There was no answer to her demand as well. The commline remained silent besides the constant fuzz.

"Aw heck, what the hell's wrong with him, he got shot down or something?", Rooks snarled angrily.

Cherry shook her head, "I dunno - he's still flying his Valk' but he's just not answering"...

----

"Holy...", Robert said towards himself as he entered the gigantic hangar of the Meltraedi Palast, "I had this picture in mind... but I didn't expect it to be THAT large". A standing army of Meltraedi elite soldiers and Mechas stood beyond them, holding their weapons in honor like one of those heroic statues he has once seen.

<Do.not.fear.Essence.Of.Meltraedi...Jackson.>

Looking over to his side, he spotted En'dinia, standing not far away from an unfamiliar ship. A large mass of Meltraedis were boarding the ship as he carried Na'mea over towards the Empath. The ship itself had a row of slots with enough space for holding four Meltraedi Mechas, a few boarding entries and had a very elegant design. The hull shimmered pink-purple as the light fell upon it...

Meeting up with En'dinia, Robert kneeled down and laid Na'mea on the ground, holding her upper self up with his arms.

"I got no idea what happened... One of your kind - Telepa - No, Empaths, was killed by one of the 'Invids'", he began, trying to explain Na'mea's unconciousness.

<Essence.Of.Jackson.Must.Remember... Meltraedi.Empaths.Focus.Upon.Na'mea.Xio... Essence.Of.Na'mea.Xio.Focus.Upon.Meltraedi.Empaths...>

Laying her hand upon the side of Na'mea's head, En'dinia smiled shortly, reveiling her sharp corner teeth. Robert started to feel a small force of mental energy streaming through his hands as she held her. It was only a matter of moments until Na'mea's eyes slowly changed from gray to a soft purple... Looking up upon a worried-looking Robert Jackson, she tilted her head slightly and whispered, "Ro'bel".

<Essence.Of.Both.Must.Recover... Both.Must.Escape.Qual-Dranna-Ling.Of.The.Purging...>

----

Within a second, Chris lifted his head suddenly, getting back to conciousness. He knew he just lost a few vital moments of the intense situation, but there was no time to loose. There was no chance in telling if Sammie was alright or... - He did not even want to prononce the feared word in his mind. He looked ahead and noticed that the landing must be done - somehow.

Getting an overview of the tough situation, he combined the facts: The burning carrier was flying at high speed and is not able to alter speed nor perform landing correction. The Valkyrie of Rixler and Genesis went out of control, Monk and Chessna were like as a drifting rock just like the carrier itself and Helios and Vinshesca have not reported after their cockpit glass collapsed...

Taking a deep breath, he gathered all the strength he had and said, ""Caldwell responding - All pilots, we're almost there and I'm not in the mood to see us get killed out here although we're so close towards our goal. Pres, Syrie - You two must head for Rixler's Valkyrie and get it back on course. Try to get a hold on their Valk' - I'll do the same for Monk! Got it, over?""

As they confirmed their orders, their Valkyrie broke formation and dove downwards.

Chris continued with possible solutions for their problems, ""Ok, Sqype, Rooks, Wiseguy, Troski - you four must dock and attach yourselves upon the upper and lower bays of the carrier. Using Guardian-mode,you'll take care of the course corrections for the ship, got that? Chessna and Cherry, you two gotta guide them somehow - I know you can do it. Over...""

""Wilco, Rooks over""

""You got it, Sir - On our way!""

""Hey Caldwell, sir"", Argo's voice spoke, ""Sounds great, but how the hell are we suppossed to get clean correction-guidance? Over""

Chris did not think about that problem and for sure, he already ran out of good ideas. He remained speechless, looking for an answer, but found no suitible solution. It was a small wonder how he managed to come up with something that fast, but now he was clueless.

""Lieutenant Caldwell..."", Triss' soft voice called over radio, ""I believe to have a possible solution for the last difficulty, sir. Technically, we have lost our 'eyes' for landing - With your permission, I would contact the Skull Squadron and ask them for immediate assistance for our imminent landing procedure. We should be within optimal communication range... over....""

""Go for it!"", Chris replied. She did as ordered.

The Valkyrie of Pres and Syrie dove downwards like a dolphin into the clouds hoping to catch up on Rixler and Genesis. As they flew, they could see streams of shards cutting through the yellow 'fog' - luckily not hitting them. Jamming the control-stick back and forth, he tried to dodge the fire as best as he could, even if did not have a real chance.

"Hey sugar, we flyin' the right way?", Pres shouted towards the back, "Ya got a hint where they could be - 'cause I don't have a clue..."

At first, Syrie was about to activate her systems, when she spotted a small clue just outside...

"We should not be far away", his french co-pilot said, "Can you see the trail, mes ami? Look to your righ..."

Indeed, there was a thick black stream of smoke slowly disappating away... "Alright, goin' for it!", he replied back to her and flew towards the smoke, trying to follow the source.

Meanwhile, Rick Hunter's communication systems started to pick up a direct link transmission. Pressing a few buttons near his left side making sure that everybody could receive it. A short tone was heard as a confirmation for the link. After hearing the sound, he asked, ""Rick Hunter, 2nd-in-Command, reporting in, over?""

The responding voice was slightly disorted and garbled, but still understandable for all:

""Attention Skull Squadron - Carrier group II, Eagle-Seven, Callsign 'Triss' responding. We have a code-red situation. I repeat, we have code-red situation. Carrier and three other Veritech units have received critical hits... The carrier has lost all required landing systems and has no chance of landing independantly. We are able to alter it's course but we require active guidance - Do you copy, Skull Squadron, over?""

Commander Fokker immediately linked himself into to the commline and replied, ""Roger, Eagle-Seven - Don't worry, we'll get you back home. Sterling, Baker - You two heard the lady, activate both of your guidance systems again and aim straight at the carrier. It's profile is slightly visible, just dead ahead!""

As the others took care of what they needed to do, Pres and Syrie managed to catch up with the damaged Valkyrie of Rixler and Genesis. Rixler had trouble trying to get it back under control since it did not react fully to his control. Compensating it's constant rolls, Pres flew right under their Valkyrie and pulled up, hoping to ram it gently in order to stop it from rolling. Both Valkyries rumbled as they roughly bumped against each other.

""Hey! There better not be a scratch on our hull, pal!"", Rixler snarled as a joke.

""Hehe, we can talk about that later - Gimme a sec, Rix'"", Pres replied and activated Guardian-mode. Having Rixler's Valkyrie above them, Pres used the arms to attach themselves, holding the other Valkyrie right above them.

""Aw-right, thanks for grabbing us - Just get us out of here!""

Pushing both pedals and pulling the control-stick towards the back, the Valkyrie in Guardian-Mode pulled up, blasting both thrusters at maximum. The pure power was visible as the clouds under them were blown away. Unforetunately, the mass of both Valkyries caused Pres trouble as he tried to keep them undercontrol.

""Whoooa!"", he shouted as their ships flew strange loops, ""Not as easy as I expected""

""Jesus, Pres - Ya wanna get us killed?!"", Genesis shouted over the commline.

""Relax, peeps - I got the hang of it, almost!""

Meanwhile, Chris did the same attachment-procedure for the Valkyrie of Helios and Vinshesca. There was no time to tell if they were alright, but the first job was to get them land safely. All other ships connected themselves to the bays of the burning carrier...

""Syrie 'ere -"", a french female voice said, ""Commandeur Caldwell, we 'ave found Rixleur and Genesis and are returning to yeur position... Oveur...""

""Roger, check your landing position, the runway is wide enough for all of us"", Chris replied.

Reseting her visor, Triss was able to see the laser guidance of the Skull Squadrons units aiming on them.

""Triss responding"", she said quietly, ""Argo, we must alter your course, deactivate all controls and leave it to the others. Everybody else must use their thrusters in Guardian-mode as retro-boosters to slowdown the ship, over.""

Doing as she said, the ship started to slow down, but also started to lean towards the right side.

""Whoa whoa whoa, somebody on the other side"", Rooks shouted as the whole ship rotated. It took a few seconds until they managed to get things under control...

-----

Meltaedi Palast, inside the Qual-Dranna-Ling Mothership...

Running out of time, the battle seemed to already have reached the hangar of the Meltraedi Palast. Luckily, Robert, Na'mea, En'dinia and at least another two hundred of Meltraedis boarded their ship. The ship had many seats and other high-tech stuff he has only seen in science-fiction movies. Feeling the ship's engines starting, Robert looked outside through one of the windows. Other similiar ships started to hover over the ground.