Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Robotech: Beneath a steel sky ❯ Chapter 21 - The Void ( Chapter 21 )

Chapter 21 ---- The Void ----

Space...

A large carrier blazed through the sulfurous 'clouds' along with two Valkyries in close formation.

Inside the carrier, a group of young pilots were staring on a large thin screen as a young female officer gave a detailed explanation of the displays on the screen.

Sammie Porter pointed on the screen and spoke further: "... As you can see here, the scans show one unknown contact right here *pointing with her finger* -".

Rooks interrupted - his arms crossed and his face with a keen look," Weeell, what are we waiting for? Let's get on our Valk's and get moving!"...

The young officer shook her head. "I'm afraid that I'm not able to pinpoint that destination...", Sammie replied, "look, after I did this deep-scan, as you can see here, the beam makes it's way straight ahead..."

A green cone symbol, laying a beam behind itself as it moved, was moving fast across screen.

"Umm, what's the big deal?", Rooks asked.

"Just watch right after the beam hits the contact...", Sammie remarked, "Oh, by the way, it doesn't look like as if hostile units are around here either..."

Right after the beam 'touched' the contact, it sent back a dark green 'echo' signal, which should normally make the same way back to the sender of the carrier... Instead, it suddenly started making a curve, splitting itself and returning to the source from different angles or went into nowhere...

Rooks made an astonished face," ... But... but... What does that mean? Is the scanner messed up?"...

"I 'm afraid not... It's working perfectly. I would say that that 'fog' is somehow interfering with the signals. In other words, the contact could be what we're looking for, but it's definitely also going mislead us as well", she replied,"Besides that contact, I've even found many others, but those where mirror signals and contacts of our own... Some areas are so dense that it's like trying to pierce through a solid mass..."

Syrie turned around and saw Chris leaning against a wall, looking towards outside through a window. The usual darkness of space with stars was hardly visible, as the 'yellow fog' pulled over them...

Desireé "Syrie" Nueveux - RW co-pilot of "The Pres" - is a cunning and a charming person at the same time. Belonging to one of the very few women who possess the skill to know everything and see everything before anybody made her best suited for outnumbered combat situations. Ever since the Third World War, she used to fly a PY-7 "Ardvar Le'soule Reconaissé" Glider of the French D'Assault Militaire.

The "Ardvar", as it's full name says, is a high speed, weakly armored and elegant Recon-Glider for slipping past enemy lines - fitted with state-of-the-art countermeasures, high power turbines and various visualtronical devices - flying high above or skimming right over the treetops, from high flexibility dodging to outrunning engagements - Although sparingly armed, this special Glider was made for the bravest pilot.

Syrie's sharp skills in diving through enemy fire like a hawk striking it's prey and gathering information while almost getting hit without getting hit made her to the best of the best when it comes to evading enemy fire and surpressing her attackers.

Wearing a purple-red HEC-Suit and two badges - One with a purple eagle, it's wings spread wide across, in front of a frence nationality flag on her right armside and the other with the squadron symbol in front of the RDF symbol.

Although Syrie suffers under the "Edington-Aerospace-Syndrome" like the rest of the female squadron, she also belongs to those who can withstand for a long period...

Despite the "Syndrome", she is the 2nd in Command and also the best for keeping her team cool. Although she is no longer capable of piloting her Valkyrie, she shares all her experiances with "The Pres" -- Understanding quickly, he flies the Valkyrie in tough situations just as evasive as his co-pilot would -- 'Always stay optimistic in tough situations' is her motto for surviving - A lesson she learned from her past.

As "The Pres" would say, her charming french accent is music to his ears when she says, "Au revoir, mon ami", when her target feels her accuracy...

"Lt. Caldwell? Is ev'rything alright?", Syrie asked...

He turned around and crossed his arms.

"I'm fine, I was just... thinking...", he replied right after he snapped out of his short day-dream.

Cherry stood up from her chair. "Sir, what's the plan going to be?", she asked.

Chris took a short look outside again, then looked back towards the group.

Everyone was staring at him, awaiting his answer...

The 'cloud' was getting denser and denser and much time has gone by ever since they have reached their present position...

"Hmm, as a matter of fact - Now that you're asking, Syrie - I think we should disembark immediately - just like Rooks said", he replied,"- I almost forgot that we still have two of our people somewhere who might be exposed to that stuff out there!"

His words sounded alarming to their ears.

"They've been out there far to long - So we better get packing - Argo should bring us in a little closer, then we'll dispatch and head for our M.I.As", Chris added, " - Are there any questions?". Nobody said a word. "- Ok, then let's head to the bays, fast".

The crew of young rookie pilots ran ahead towards the carrier-bays, jump-climbing through each pressure-hatch and up and down short stairs.

Chris stood a few seconds, looking at Sammie. She seemed nervous, knowing that he was going to leave her - risking his life - again - It would have been selfish to demand him to stay... but there was no time to lose...

Both did not say a word. Chris ran off, Sammie looking behind...

----

1st Officer Lisa Hayes was in front of her operation-console when she received an on-screen communication request. After pressing a few buttons, a familiar face was on screen.

A pilot, with a gray-black striped helmet, saluted towards her.

"Commander Fokker, at your service", he said, then winked with one eye and smiled, "What's the job, Ms. Hayes, hehe?".

"That's Commander Hayes to you, Mister", she grumbled.

"Haha, keep cool, you better keep that anger for someone else ", he chuckled. Lisa looked closer to the screen, "Who in particular do you mean with 'someone else' ?". she asked.

(Prometheus Deck)

Roy Fokker's squadrons was on the deck of the Prometheus, ready for take-off. Just like his flight-suit and helmet, his Valkyrie was colored grey-black as well, with a skull and crossbones symbol on the rear vertical rudder-wings. Next to his Valkyrie were others, colored white-blue-red, blue-white, yellow, and brown.

Roy's left screen suddenly showed Rick Hunter. "Hey kid, what's up?", Roy asked.

"Hey big brother, why is it so foggy out here? I can hardly see the bridge from here...", he returned, looking around.

"Don't worry about it, let Lisa here just brief us about our mission", he replied, then smiled.

(Bridge)

"That's Commander... oh forget it...", Lisa grumbled again, "Nevermind, just listen up: Lieutenant Caldwell and his group of rookie fighter pilots have flown off against all orders towards the center of the 'void' ahead of SDF-1. The 'void' seems to be a dense field of electromagnetic particles and a large harmless wave of a weak solar band - unleashed from a sun rupture... The 'void' is interfering with almost all types of sensors and communications.... Nevertheless, we do not know why Lt. Caldwell has flown off. He was in charge of Major Bronco's rookie squadron, during a patrol flight, nine hours ago..."

"Major Bronco's rookie squadron? Wasn't that the one with ...?", Roy asked, but did not finish his question as Lisa interrupted.

"Affirmative, Commander Fokker... Vasall Knights and Vallery Hunters... male pilots, female RW co-pilots, in modified VF-1D Valkyrie Prototypes. He departed from the "Oblivion" with seven other VF-1Ds and one 'Hawk Eye' recon carrier. Your mission is simple, retrieve the renegade pilots before they might get involded in an "Invid"-skirmish... Take your squadrons to navigation-waypoint Alpha and rendevous with another recon carrier, callsign "Eagle seven", then move into the 'void' , find the renegades and retrieve them. I think it would be wise to also figure why they've flown out... It would also be wise to avoid any hostilities as well... Who will be in charge of the other squadrons?"

"2nd Lt. Hunter will command the Vermillion squadron, 1st Lt. Argile the JupiterWings and Col. Quan the SunsetRiders - but don't worry, I'll take care of 'em - ", Roy replied, along with a self-consious nodd.

"Good luck and good hunt, Commander Fokker, all squadrons have clearance for take-off - Bridge Operations - out".

Lisa leaned back and sighed with slight anger.

Noticing Lisa after listening to her conversation, Claudia looked over towards her ,"Now now, girl, stay calm, he's always like that", she said and smiled. She knew what she meant. Both women looked towards the outside...

The denser part of the 'void' was slowly reaching the SDF-1. The yellow 'haze' was like the smoke from burning sulfur. Although the view was quite dense, they could see various pairs of very blue stars blazing ahead, which meant that the Valkyries have taken off...

"I just hope that he won't run into trouble", Claudia added in a worried tone...

----

Another hour passed.

Somewhere in the 'void' and far away from the SDF-1... The 'Hawk Eye' recon carrier, six Battleloids and another three Valkyries in fighter-mode were holding their position.

""Uhm... test test"", Sammies voice said over radio-communication, ""Erm Ok, this is Sammie Porter - Your... temporary... guidance officer - I've sent out a sensor-pulse from our position and am awaiting it's return. I'll do my best to decypher what I can...""

Chris spoke on all channels:

""Thanks Sammie - Alright boys and girls - Rixler, Helios, Monk, Sqype, Spencer, and Wiseguy - I want you six to stay in battleloid mode and guard the carrier. RW's, keep your eyes peeled on that close area scanner and have those main cannons lock-and-loaded for any supicious things out here... Before firing, I think it would be good to make a visual confirmation, if anything should show up - Same for the rest who are coming with me, communications will be bad so I might only have contact to the carrier... Got that, over?"

A few "roger" and "Yes sir" were replied, slightly garbled.

""Ok, great, now then: Rooks and Pres, stick to my wings and watch my tail-"", the wing-commander said.

"Show-time", Rooks snarled.

""- Cherry, while Sammie Porter tries to guide us through this mess, I want you to help her out descrambling the data along with the scanning as well. You seem to be pretty good in reading out contact images - and we'll be needing it"", Chris added, looking around towards the outside.

Cherry blushed slightly... "I only hope that Jester and Sparrow are still alive... It's been so long...", she said sorrowly.

"Just keep cool, we're close to 'em", Rooks said - trying to sound optimistic for once in his life - "They should be fine... I hope...", he added quietly to himself.

Sammie was constantly reconfiguring and sending out scanning beams, trying to filter out as much as she could. Aside from all interferances and other fuzzing contacts, she kept receiving various types of echos, fake contacts and other misleading readings...

"Hmpf, We should've taken Vanessa with us... She surely would've known what to get out this mess...", she said to herself. The whole carrier moved around shortly.

Argo's voice suddenly spoke from her headsets, "Hey, are ya fine back there, Officer Porter? I'm trying to keep this thing stable, but somehow it seems like as if we're in a very weak 'turbulance' in this 'fog'... How crazy it might sound like...".

"I'm ok, right now, I guess... but I am also having a hard time trying to get something clear on this screen...", she replied, "I just hope I'll make it..."

She lied - She was actually very nervous, but she knew that she was needed...

The cockpit of the carrier had two seats, one for the pilot, another for the co-pilot. Argo was the only pilot at the moment since the others carrier-pilots were caught from the "Oblivion Security". Most of his avionic systems were showing the same garbled mess of readings.

He ignored it and kept his hands on his controls, constantly correcting the position.

Back at the sensor-control section of the ship, Sammie verified three of seventeen scanning readings as real signals. Although all three signals were not on the same spot, they did show a very slow moving object, from 11.72 km to 14.34 km away and with the appropiate size.

Sammie resetted her headset to all communition channels:

""'Hawk eye' carrier - Sammie Porter here - Flight group, I've managed to pick up three contacts which just might be what we're looking for. All contacts are slightly splitted from each other and I can not tell which one is true, but nevertheless, it a start. I've plotted three nav-point ...""

As she spoke, she transmitted the three nav-points to all Valkyries and explained each:

""Nav-Alpha, 11.7 km, 10 o'clock, angle 37° high ... A rather open area, cloud density is rather weak - Nav-Beta, 12.1km away, 1 o'clock, angle -7° low... a little more dense, so it will be tough seeing anything out there - And the last point, Nav-gamma, 14.3km away, 11 o'clock, angle 3° high... This area is very dense, so if the object is there, you better use the best scan sweep you have. I am sure Co-Pilot Cherry will be your best assistant, 'Hawk-eye' over"".

Chris received coordinates-transmission from Sammie.

""Got it and ready to go - Pres, Rooks - Stick to my wings"", Chris said and flew ahead with the two other Valkyries to the designated position.

The group, consisting of one light-blue VF-1J and two VF-1D specials, flew with cruising speed ahead. The flight was rather slow, so that they could react quickly, if they were to be ambushed.

"Man, I can hardly see a thing...", Pres said, when he shortly saw something dark past by above. It happened too fast to say if it was something or his imagination.

"Huh? Hey Syrie, did you see that? Something just went by -around 11 o'clock, high", he said.

Syrie looked around, seeing nothing but the yellow haze outside, her screen also was not showing anything suspicious - besides various signals of messed up colors and dots. Her helmet glass did not show any targetable moving object either - besides the same garbled fuzz.

"I don't see a thing", she replied with her charming french accent, "Are you sure that you 'ave seen something out d'ere?".

"I could have sworn something went by, but it's just too damn cloudy".

Already ten minutes have passed by.

Chris was constantly looking ahead - but something was not right with him. Although he was 'aware', he seemed troubled... He was daydreaming again in the middle of the flight - Half 'aware' and half in a dream...

His mind flashed back to the time he was together with Sammie, both in bed - both souls together... Never in his life he has felt so secure and blessed by such being... Chris loves her, there was no doubt on this fact. During this time, they hugged each other a long time... Both did not know why, but there was an essencial bind between them...

The view of the pilot slowly disappeared and formed into a open park area.

Chris has seen this once before.

He was in normal civil clothes and looked ahead, seeing Sammie far away... then a flash...

Again, strange creatures appeared - another flash - Sammie is being blood-sucked...

Another flash...

Chris suddenly 'awoke' from his daydream, nervously looking around. His Valkyrie shortly shook back and forth, as the result for his sudden jolt. He came back to normal, remembering where he was and what he was doing...

"That dream again...", he said to himself. A sweat pearl slowly ran down the side of his face... This dream repeated the same and it's result was very troublesome...

A few minutes went by and Rixler seemed bored, holding the position next to the carrier.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, today we've got yellow cloudy sky and nothing to do for you... Have a nice day", he said to himself ironically.

"Take it easy - Just have patience", Genesis said to him.

"Man, just hope they'll hurry up...", he grumbled, then looked over, seeing one Battleloids floating next to carrier.

""Hey Spence, how did you manage to ..."", Rixler said, when he saw multiple dark blue lines coming from nowhere, zinging through the 'cloud', leaving many trails, slamming into the Battleloid of Spencer.

""What the - ?!"", Rixler shouted. The Battleloid received damage and had many shards stuck on the front side of the hull.

""Crap, it looks like we've got an 'Invid' here"", Spencer shouted - His Battleloid firied burst shots aimlessly into nowhere. Spence ceased fire and looked everywhere. A few alarm sounds were still buzzing. Triss, his RW co-pilot, kept quiet - though her mind was focused to the situation.

All Battleloids were looking around, but the visibility was terrible.

""Damn, where'd they go?!"", Sqype shouted. Needles shook her head, "" I can't find them, it's impossible to find anything!"", she replied. Needles tackled her visual readings through various scans - Infrared, radar, focused sweep, radiation detection, guideline, Beta-Beams, along with Eye-to-Target guidance and similiar modes - No target.

""This is Argo here, what the hell is going on out there? Are we in trouble?"".

""Hell yeah"", Rixler replied,""Spence just received a few hits from 'Invid' fire"".

More shards suddenly blazed past the Battleloids, again zinging through the 'clouds', leaving traces, hitting the carrier's lower right side.

Argo kept the carrier steady as he heard a few sounds. One screen showed up, showing the areas where the carrier-hull was hit.

""Guys, this carrier ain't got that tough armor!"", Agro said loudly, ""We're a sitting duck - if we move a muscle, Lt. Caldwell might not find our position - We can not keep the guideline trail on his track if we would move!""

He clutched his hands around the controls of the carrier, making sure that it would stay put.

""Incoming, 8 o'clock high!"", Needles shouted, as she tried to target the inbound bogey . Sqype did not have enough time to aim, instead he flew aside, as an "Invid-Shardling" flew past in a remarkable speed.

""One Invid-Shardie, confirmed!"" Needles added.

The hideous creature dived down, disappearing into the 'haze' again.

""Damn it"", Sqype shouted again, ""I keep losing him!""

All targetting signals and signs on her screen went crazy, spreading out to all sides, as they followed misleading echos.

Wiseguy floated sideways, moving past the side of the carrier, being aware of the surroundings. Hornet's helmet glass suddenly targetted several echo-targets ahead. She immediately grabbed her Valkyrie controls, clipped up all weapon-triggers and launched missle, along with a blazing stream of rounds fired off from the main canon.

All missiles flew blindly into the 'haze', their white streams slowly disappeared... then many explosions.

"Hornet, hold fire! We don't got that many of those 'swarmlings'", Wiseguy shouted.

"Damn it! I want that sonuva gun!", she replied angrily... Her finger was hot for another blast...

Again, more shards flew past by - this time from the bottom, leaving many streams - but they missed Rixler's Valkyrie. ""Make that two of them!"", Rixler added.

He turned the mecha, making it spin in a managable rate for Genesis to lock-on a target... But nothing was there...

""Negative - Unable to target - They've got a better visual or scanning range than we do"", Genesis said,""They are firing before we can even see them...""

""Sammie, tell the Lieutenant that we've got two or three "Invids" back here and that he should hurry up with that search. Sqype, Pres, stick to evasive manuevers! Dodge what you can and defend the carrier! Over!"", Rixler ordered.

Somewhere else in the 'void' and not knowing what was happening at the same time, the group of three Valkyries flew by. Cherry noticed a contact on her scanner.

""Hey... Hey, I think I've found something - and it doesn't seem like an echo!"", she said,""Sammie, can you confirm my contact?""

The radio remained silent.

""Argo? Sammie? Hey - Can you two hear me?""

Sqype and Rixler's Battleloids were firing blindly into their yellow surroundings.

Needles' helmet visor suddenly blinked two red lines.

""Incoming!"", Needles shouted, as all the sudden shards came inbound, from the bottom side - damaging Sqype's Battleloid severely. Smoke and sparks were coming out of the lower side of the legs and torso of the mecha. More alert sounds.

""Sqype - Needles! Crap, you two fine?!"", Wiseguy yelled, flying over to their battered up Battleroid.

""We're aw-right, but our Valk' caught a couple of darts! Those darts are slicing our armor-platings like a hot knife through butter!"", Sqype shouted.

""I can't see a thing - Where's that bastard!"", Hornet shouted angrily... "Where...are...you", she repeated to herself again. Her fingers kept openning and closing softly on the triggers of her Valkyrie weapon controls - Ready to unleash another hoard after their enemies.

Triss was still quiet... Not concentrating on targetting - Instead, she kept her mind focused on the current situation, such as the attack angles and the timed frequency of their attacks... First low, then high, then low, high and low...

She suddenly looked upwards - She could sense that the next attack could 'Invid' be a 'death from above' move.

""Triss to all units"", Triss said in her soft and weak voice, ""Focus your passive guideline systems on our Valkyrie"".

Spencer lifted his head and seemed confused, "Erm, Triss, you want them to what?!"

"Trust me, Spencer", she replied quietly. "Keep yourself keen on the 70° high angle and be ready

for a full thrust..."

He looked back ahead, "Dang, Sugar, what makes you so sure...", he added as he looked upwards.

Spencer was looking around, when he saw a shadow moving fast past by, above them.

"Jeez! Beat the hell out of me - It's one of them 'Vids'!", he shouted and pushed both thruster-pedals. His Battleloid flew high and above, slowly disappearing into the 'cloud' - Getting very close to the creature, his mecha grabbed the "Invid-Shardling" from the top side and hung.

""Welcome to my rodeo show, sucker!"" - The "Invid" creature tried to shake the mecha off it's back, rolling itself and swinging around - but the metallic hulk remained stuck on it's hull.

Triss recalibrated all avionics to full active mode, causing them to scan wildly throughout the vicinity...

On Genesis left pad-screen, she could see that one, although slightly fuzzy, blip showed up, along with another larger one... One targetting symbol started marking both targets, since they were unable to distinguish friend or foe.

""Rix' !"", Genesis said, ""I managed to target the bogey! It looks like their Battleloid signal is helping out to pinpoint the target!""

A triangle showed up on Rixler's front screen, along with arrows pointing upwards, which meant that the target was above. The visiblity was beyond zero and they both were looking blindly onto the triangle moving across the main screen ahead in the cockpit. His Battleloid aimed it's primary cannon towards the designated area and followed the movement of the target along.

""Their Valk's like an independance day sky - No way we're gonna miss this time!"", Hornet added with a devilish smile.

""Now I got the gig!"", Rixler noticed, ""With the help of our passive systems and Triss' active ones, we can get a lock-on on that buster!""

"Semi-Passive missiles ready for the party, too", Genesis said towards her pilot.

Rotating slowly, the triangle was covered by a red circle and started blinking - Target lock-on and pre-aimed -.

""Ok, Spencer! I got a lock-on that target - When I say 'NOW', you'll drop off - Got it?!""

""Gotcha!"" Spencer replied, as their Valkyrie shook around again. He had his hands ready for detaching...

Rixler clipped the missle trigger up...

""NOW!"", he shouted.

The Battleloid untatched itself from the "Shardling" hull and swung aside - Moving at first uncontrolable towards the side. Triss quickly turned off all all avionics - including the mecha itself - making sure they would not end up as Rixler's target. The Battleloid kept rotating at an uncontrolable rate and both pilots could feel the pressure, as the cockpit gravity-harnesser went offline.

"Eat this...", Rixler said to himself and held the trigger.

His mecha started firing in full auto. Beams of shots flew into the yellow haze above - along with a few missile-streams...

The stream of shots flew closely past Spencer's Battleroid - even the missles ignored them - and he surely was happy that Triss shut down their systems.

Afterwards, crackling explosions and a blue-purple fluid splattered into all directions.

Sammie constantly did a scanning sweep across the area until she finally managed to pinpoint a fast unidentified target...

""Sammie here! I've got the last bogey targetted - if you can, fire passive guided missiles towards the 4 o'clock position of the carrier!""

They did as she said. Every RW armed the missles - manually setting their recurve trim to the position said - and their pilot immediately fired...

A volley of missile flew at first in all directions, then started flying in a curve towards one specific point... After a few seconds, multiple explosions occured...

As they could see explosions, one explosion revealed a shadowy structure and profile of the creature... and again, a few missile exploded. The "Invid-shardling" had no chance to evade the missiles...

""Target eliminated..."", Sammie said - reliefed...

""Argo?! Rixler?! Anybody - !"", a very garbled voice said, ""What's going on back there? Are you guys ok?!"", - It was Rooks voice speaking, ""...You guys won't believe it, but we've found Jester and Sparrow in their damaged Valk' - We can't tell if they're ok, though - Thanks to Cherry, she was able to identify the profile - She held it for a good idea to stop where we are, so that we could get the carrier over, before loosing the contact again. I think they would really appreciate it if you guys would move the carrier over here and pick us up, too - over!""

""Syrié 'ere"", a slightly garbled french accent said, ""Our posicion is 3.2kilometré away from navigacion poin' Gamma. Le carrier scanneurs should find us easily, Syrié over.""

""Carrier here, this is Sammie. We've just had a small skirmish with two "Invid" units, but all is clear now - I'll navigate Argo towards your designated position, over"", she replied and immediately sent the data to Argo's navigation system.

Argo's frontal screen displayed a slightly curved path.

""Carrier here, Argo - Got the Nav. Comin' in for ya guys! Rix', get your team closer to the carrier - Carrier out"", Argo transmitted and presetted the course and nav-target. He slowly pushed the thrust-handle, making the boosters start to thrust themselves.

""Hey Spencer - Triss"", Monk asked, ""Man, you two alright?""

Their Battleroid came floating down, smoking and sparkling on a few damaged spots. A few long shards were still sticking out...

""Guess we're fine so far..."", Spencer replied, ""How 'bout you, Triss?""

""I'm fine"", a rather quiet voice said...

His RW co-pilot reactivated all systems, causing various screens to go back online.

Triss, Spencer's co-pilot, is known as a very quiet person - and as a very well-trained RW co-pilot indeed.

Besides being one of the youngest RDF pilot - aged 18 - She does not speak often , rarely orientates herself with other people and passively avoids any type of conversations. Many of her squadron-mates knows her as a quiet mouse, however, she does know her job and she has become more confident in her new group.

Many accept her as a full grown adult, although she was merely orphaned during the failed Hyperjump of SDF-1.

Nevertheless, ever since she has been Spencer's co-pilot, she never really left his side. Getting along with other people was never her strength - but being with Spencer, she never has ever been with a person so long together. Their in-cockpit conversation are seldomly long, but they do admire each other and they do know what needs to be done. Strange to many throughout both squadrons, she even curls her arm around his when they are together - and even slightly hides behind him when he is talking with someone else.

Triss is also the roommate of Syrie, to whom she appeals as the big sister she never had.

As for her team, she is just as vital as any other member, since she also belongs to the seldom number of pilots, who can resist the "Edington-Aerospace-Syndrome" and who possess a focused mind in understanding the pure sense of tactics.

While having no doubt in her targetting skills, understanding the enemy, pursuing it's plan and finally chessmating it like no one else makes her unique.

A skill not to be ignored...

""Our Valk's got a few scratches, but we're still ready to throw our saddle on the next bull"", Spencer added and chuckled happily.

Rixler chuckled, ""Heh-heh, darn it, you two, just use laser guidance next time - Alright, all revert to fighter-mode and escort the 'Hawk-eye' - over.""

""Laser was in our case the rather worse option, wing leader"", Triss low voice said, ""Lightbeams, especially laserbeams, are bent proportional to the density of the area, Triss over"".

""Oh... Whew, you do know the tools...""

The remaining Valkyries changed their mode and returned to the side of the carrier.

----

Not far away, a group of 24 Valkyries and one recon carrier were entering the denser vicinity of the 'void'...

Max Sterling's voice spoke over radio,""Wow, it's getting denser and denser..."".

""Don't panic, Sterling, as long as we got that recon carrier with us, we'll see anything coming before, hahah"", Ben Dixon said, laughing out loudly.

----

Sixteen minutes passed by, the recon carrier of the rookie pilots has slowly reached it's destination. Six Valkyries were holding their position next to the carrier...

Argo pulled both controls back, causing the retro-boosters to shortly ignite.

""New destination reached and holding position - Argo over"", he transmitted.

""I can see the Valkyrie now... It looks pretty messed up... Hmm, what a total wreckage..."", Rooks said, ""As far as I can see, I don't think anyone's moving around either - the cockpit glass is also gone...""

"What a punishment", his co-pilot added...

Chris zoomed-in with the head-camera of his Valkyrie and said, ""Yes, the glass must have shattered into pieces - It was a violent head-to-head impact...""

Syrie voice clicked into the channel, "" Try to detachê the cockpit, then we could load them into the carrier, would be mon suggescion"".

Rooks' and Chris' Valkyrie changed into Battleloid-mode and moved closer towards the wrecked fighter. As they closed in, they could see that the wrecked Valkyrie had taken quite a punishment, more than suspected...

Rooks' Battleloid grabbed the wreckage, stopping it from rotating, while Chris tried to detach the cockpit. ""Don't worry you two, we'll get you both out of this mess soon"".

----

Roy Fokker's main display started showing multiple signals, nine kilometers away from their position - ""Commander Fokker, Eagle Seven here - We've just picked up several signals ahead, 9.27km dead-ahead and transmitted the coordinates to all units of our group, over""-

""Thanks, Eagle Seven. Ok, SunsetRiders, JupiterWings - both combat groups should stay next to Eagle Seven, while Skull and Vermillion squadrons stick on my wing!"", Roy commanded.

He received confirmation from the squadron leaders.

----

One bay of the carrier was open as Chris and Rooks slowly laid the cockpit of Jester and Sparrow inside. ""Ok, Argo, you can recall the bay now - Sammie, please check them out and see if they're still alive"", Chris said.

Inside the carrier, Sammie walked towards the rear part of the carrier. She felt slightly dizzy as she moved. Entering the bay, she saw the damaged cockpit far above her.

The bay which carries the Valkyries is based on a large ring, carrying it's subjects in special bay-capsules. This area is the largest of the ship. Before bringing in it's object, it first equals the air-pressure in the bay-capsule, then opens it into the inner part of the carrier.

Thanks to the flexible technology, Sammie activated a control switch, making the ring rotate, carrying the damaged cockpit bay downwards - counter-clockwise.

When the bay was about her level, she stopped the rotation, climbed up stairs and ladders and pressed a few keys to open up the bay-compartment.

She saw two pilots that were not moving.

""Sammie? How are they? Are they still alive?"", Chris asked, but he still did not receive any answer. "I hope they're fine...", Cherry said.

A few seconds passed by... then Sammie's voice suddenly spoke over radio, ""I'm proud to announce that both pilots are alive - but they need immediate medical attention... Um, Jester seems to be unconcious... and... Sparrow... Sparrow is at conciousness... but she does not seem to react to me, nor is she moving... Her eyes are open, but she seems not to be ok either...""

She wove her hand in front of Sparrow's face... Sparrow was still breathing,but her eyes just did not react to anything - Her hands were holding the cockpit controls. She seemed like to be in a totally different world...

Rooks leaned back and sighed, "BOY, am I glad they're fine... Those two sure did survive this stuff good - I wonder how Jester did that - that ol' hotshot".

Cherry suddenly noticed that her radar screen, although showing unusual things and fuzzes, started showing various contacts, blinking and moving towards their direction.

""Lt. Caldwell!"", she shouted, ""Incoming bogeys! I can not tell how many, but they are coming fast - from 7 o'clock... no wait - 2 o'clock low - now 11 o'clock high... The contacts are jumping around - It's impossible to tell from where their coming"".

""Damn it, not now, we've just managed to find our M.I.As, now where surrounded!"", Sqype shouted.

"" Sir, although we still got ammunition, I don't think our Valk's in combat capability, our Valk' is battered up - We better get out of here, Sir!"", Spencer suggested.

The situation was tight and Chris had to make a quick decision...

""Argo here, I'm ready to blast off anywhere, Sir! Just tell my a direction and we'll make a run for it"". The carrier-pilot charged the boosters, making them ready for maximum thrust.

-Not good.Not good.-

""... Even if we would be on the run, the carrier would be an easy target! Sammie, I suggest you get back to your station and tell us the way back where we came from - so we can get out of here... All Valkyries, switch to Battleloid mode and take round-formation around the carrier, we must protect it at all costs - and no blind firing! We'll be needing every round of ammunition..."", Chris ordered.

His scanner also received the contacts transmitted to all from Cherry's scan.

Indeed, many blinking arrows and blips were closing in on them, about three or four groups were closing in on their position, from nearly all angles - making a retreat as good as impossible... This reminded Chris of the same tactic the 'Invid' used, when he was alone against them...

""They're... They're far too many! We'll never get through!"", Needles said loudly...

""Just bring 'em on, I'll do what I can!"", Hornet replied and gave her devilish smile again - Her pulse was beating a winning beat, anxious for combat and there was a thrill inside her, a pure lust for a fight.

"Great, I've got a damaged Valk and a loose canon tied on my back", Wiseguy groaned.

""Mes ami"", Syrie's voice said over comm, ""Remember that the carrieur is our only ticket out of the this merde - If the carrieur loses it's scanneur capability, we could all become M.I.A...""

""She's right, team..."", Genesis remarked.

""Flight group"", a soft voice said, with a slight fuzzing sound in the background, ""Triss here, due to the bulk formation of the oppossers, I recommend full spread angle with our swarm rockets and seperate dual-arc firing setting to maximize the area of effect - Triss over""

The rest of the flight group did as Triss advised.

Spencer turned himself around slighty, "Don't worry, Triss - We'll get out of here - Those 'Invids' got quite a number - but we've got Hornet", he added ironically.

"I trust the group - and I trust you as well, Spence...", she replied quietly again.

Spence did not answer back - but he did smile and felt more confident.

""Sammie here, I've made it back to the main sensor console and just told Argo the coordinates for retreat - but we've got one major group of the bogeys in the way - We'll definately run into them...""

""Four kilometers away... around one klick, we should have visual contact - but they would rather start firing from a distance, like they did last time"", Needles added.

""Remember, team, do not fire anything until you've got a clean shot!"", Chris repeated. He looked over to the carrier - shortly thinking about Sammie...

""Three point six kilometers away, closing in fast!"", Cherry added as well.

""This is Sammie here, again, the 7 o'clock bogeys seems to be a shadow contact! I repeat, 7 o'clock bogeys are fake!""

Chris did not waste another second to regroup the defense, "" Rooks, Spencer - move to our position! If Sammie is right, they should be coming from the front... The rest should take care of the other vunerable arcs - over". Both confirmed and moved ahead towards their position...

""Sammie here again, 11 o'clock bogeys are also false! Echo signals coming from the 7 o'clock bogeys!""

""What's this game?! Those are still too many for us... Darn bugs surely know how to fool us..."", Rooks said.

""Two point three klicks away"", Needles remarked, ""They are almost in visual range, about 2 o'clock -"". All Battleloids were aiming towards that direction, floating in front of the recon carrier...

""Ready to fire!"", Rixler said. Both, Monk and Rixler changed into Guardian-mode, in order to use the full capability of their swarm-missiles...

A few seconds passed by again... ahead they could see shadows coming - The yellow 'fog' started moving...

""DON'T FIRE!"", Cherry shouted, "" DO NOT FIRE! Bogeys are friendly targets! Profiles match those of Valkyrie chassiss!""

""Huh?!"", said Rooks confused... ""Valk's?!""

Most of them had their fingers right on the trigger, just about to pull... especially Hornet.

They could now see that the large group of signals were a large formation of Valkyrie fighters, being led by a familiar grey Valkyrie...

""A grey Valkyrie...? That must be the Commandeur of the Skull Squadron..."", Syrie proposed.

""Uh-oh"", Monk said, ""The Commander of the Skull Squadron - Personally here - Betcha a million that the RDFgave out a bounty for our heads...""

""Be serious, they wouldn't attack us, would they?"", Chessna replied to his comment. ""We can't attack our own guys...""

""Rooks here, Sir, what'll we do now? Should we make our move now? I don't think these guys are gonna be so friendly"".

Chris, at first, felt relieved, but then remembered that they have stolen the Valkyries - along with a recon carrier...

The large formation of Valkyries came to a stop and held their position in front of Chris' group...

""Team, I guess we're busted - Hold your fire and let me do the talking"", he ordered.

Commander Fokker's face showed up on all screens of Chris' group, slightly fuzzy, and said,

""Lt. Caldwell, disarm all weapons and surrender. Com' on kid, it's better you come with us... We don't want any trouble"".

""Lt. Caldwell here, we've completed what we were looking for, Sir - We don't want any trouble either - "", he replied.

""Completed what you were looking for? In this mess?"", Commander Fokker asked.

""It's... a long story, sir...", Chris said.

Fokker paused... then smiled and said, ""Look, we're not here to have a fight, how about all of you just put down your guns? You're making me nervous - We better get moving, this gigantic 'cloud' is not the right place for having a chit-chat"".

All of Chris' Valkyries disarmed their weapons.

""To make it short, Sir"", he continued, ""I've lost contact to two pilots under my wing, during the last combat fight, Commander... During the flight, I was outnumbered - but both of them rescued me and sacraficed their Valkyrie to deflect an attacking 'Invid' - They were proposed MIA after rescueing me - My request for a search and rescue mission was denied - I was sure that they were not killed, Sir. I had to do something...""

""You said you found them?"", Fokker asked.

""Affirmative, Sir. Their Valkyrie was a total wreckage, but they survived. They surely could need medical attention asap... As for protocol, I take full responsibilty of this 'operation' - The rookie pilots have nothing to do with this, Sir, nor does SDF-1 Operative Sammie Porter - We all shall surrender, over"".

Commander Fokker smiled again, "" Don't take it too hard, kid, I'm not the court-martial judge, just a Veritech Commander. Close in on my group and let's get out of here, don't cha think? I'm sure we don't want to have a tea party with any "Invids" here, do you?""

Chris felt relieved again and replied back with a smile, ""No, Sir, I'm just glad to see friendly units - this 'fog' thing has fooled us - My group already has had a close combat against two stealthy hostile units using this 'cloudstuff' as cover - Even your group looked like hostile units and was coming in from all sides, too...""

""We had the luck that our recons had their sensors focused enough to find all of you"", Fokker said, ""Listen, Lt. Caldwell, I don't think you've done such a bad thing - Of course, you've stolen RDF vehicles, disobeyed orders - even those of the "Oblivion" commander, as well AWOL - but I think we could arrange a few things when we get back - You did it for the sake of rescuing those who rescued you -...""

""Thank you, Commander"", Chris replied with gracefulness. He sunk slightly into his cockpit seat.

""Argo here, course laid in, Sir. Ready to follow you - We should hurry - As the Lieutenant said, Si,. The pilots really need immediate medical help""

""If you all want to make it out of this mess, then we better make sure that those two stay alive, so let's get moving"", the Commander said, ""Our recon has a standard crew, along with three medics on board - I'm sure they'll help out, Fokker over"".

All Valkyries gathered around the recon carrier and started flying back to a designated rendevous point with the other flight group... As they flew back, Chris held his Valkyrie next to recon carrier and told Argo to establish a two-way communcation frequency with Sammie, so no one could hear their conversation.

""Sammie? Do you hear me?"", Chris asked.

He could see a woman in a slightly large flightsuit - ""Yes, I can - and I can see you"", she replied, waving her hand from one of the windows of the recon ship...

""I ... I just wanted to thank you for coming with me - taking part on this dangerous mission... I just also wanted to say that I love you - I thought I should say that to you..."", he continued.

Her hand was flat on the window, then slid down... ""I love you, too, Chris..."", she said, ""... Will all this end when we get back?""...

""I don't think so... besides all what has happened so far... We still must fight against the "Invid"... and I'm afraid I can't stop until the fight has come to an end..."", he replied back to her...

His words made her shiver... She did not like the thought of this ongoing war...

""Will it ever stop?", she asked him, "Will we ever be able to be together in a more peaceful time, my dearest?""

Chris looked straight ahead, seeing the many Valkyries, their fusion-thrusters leaving a blue shimmering trails of light, streaming through the 'cloud', their wings spread out like those of a gliding eagles...

He looked downwards at one of the VF-1D Special of the Rookies, looking first at the pilot - then at the RW co-pilot... They were talking, then they started to laugh... These were the people he could count on, if his life should ever be on the edge...

He looked back at Sammie, who was still staring at him and his valiant Valkyrie... still having one hand on the window...

""No matter what... I am going to fight to the bitter end..."", he replied, ""Too many lives rely on us and our hands... We can win... We will win...""- he paused shortly - ""... some day, Sammie... some day "".

----