Disclaimer: Tenchi characters belong to Pioneer, Robotech to Harmony 
Gold.  One character was created by Palladium books for their RPG in the 
supplement Strike Force, so those familiar with the source material 
might spot a plot point in development.

No Need For Protoculture

Chapter 14: Reconstruction Blues

August, 2013

The mecha was officially known as the VF-1V (though a few scattered 
documents refer to it also as a VAF-1, whatever that meant), but like 
any other mecha that was not what it was called.  Instead, it was simply 
known as the Vindicator.  It was comparable in size to the older 
Veritech models (which were being refereed to as 'Valkyries' to avoid 
confusion), but that was where all resemblance ended.  The Vindicator 
had a much more compact design, owning to break-off mecha design was 
having with conventional vehicle design (the original VF-1 having been 
patterned after the old F-14 Tomcat).  Air-breathing turbines and a 
small gravitational drive gave it exceptional speed both in and out of 
Earth's atmosphere.

Of course, no combat machine would be complete without it's armaments. 
The main gun was an energy version of the quickly-becoming-antiquated 
GU-11.  Since it was an energy weapon, it  could be mounted on the 
Vindicator's wing without recoil causing problems in flight.  An 
alternative is mounting the weapon on the rear fuselage, above the main 
engines.  The built-in weapons included a pair of laser cannons mounted 
on either side of the nose, and a second, weaker pair mounted on the 
battleoid's head for close-defense and anti-missile tasks.  The greatest 
achievement, though, was the multi-missile system.  Seventy short-ranged 
missiles were crammed into launchers throughout the mecha's body.  This 
was many times the twelve that the original Valkyries were able to carry 
wing-mounted, and almost twice the amount that FAST pack equipped 
Valkyries carried in their boosters.

And the mecha was so responsive that Tenchi almost forgot it was a 
weapon of war.  For a moment, he was almost able to just float on the 
winds at ten thousand meters.  Part of his mind was glued to the sensor 
readings as his squadron returned from a scouting patrol near the 
Alaskan wastelands.  The rest of him was soaring about the clouds along 
with everyone else in his squadron.

*His* squadron.  That still seemed foreign to Tenchi.  Hurricane 
Squadron was formed during the reorganization of forces two years ago, 
after Dolza's bombardment eliminated any form of organization the world 
had.  A few areas had recovered enough to form things that resembled 
governments.  The rest still relied upon the REF for structure, and 
protection from the bands of hostile Zentradi that managed to survive 
the battle.  Hence the reason for his long-range patrol, and for Tenchi 
receiving his own squadron.  He would have been perfectly happy to stay 
in Skull as Rick's second, but given the structure of the RDF, he was 
one of the few living individuals with both the experience, ability, and 
seniority to command a squadron of Veritechs.

But seniority was only part of it.  Max was a better pilot and had 
almost as much experience as Tenchi, but Tenchi had something more 
important: he could teach.  Max and Rick took to Veritechs like fish to 
water, but Tenchi had been required to learn how to swim.  While his 
combat abilities were largely a combination of inborn ability and 
lifelong training, his piloting skills had taken a long time to develop.

Which was why he was twenty-one, with a captain's gold bars on his 
uniform and eleven pilots for whom he was the Old Man--a role that was 
both an object of quiet ridicule and the Right Hand of God.  His two 
immediate subordinates, and leaders of the second and third flight 
groups, were the only veterans in the group.  The other nine pilots were 
fresh out of the academy, and about as green as a Zentradi capital ship. 
  This was actually his second 'class' of trainees since Hurricane was 
formed.

"Got movement at oh-three-thirteen, lead," 1st Lieutenant Zaria reported 
over the tac channel.

"That's pretty vague, five," Tenchi replied as he directed his own 
sensors and attention to the right of their flight path.

"Cleaning it up now, lead." There was a short pause while Zaria refined 
her data. "Looks like a single biological, humanoid, under two meters. 
No threat."

"Try not to sound disappointed," Hurricane nine laughed.  Lieutenant 
Ernest Montoya was a joker, and a good counterpoint to the fierce 
determination that a former Quadrono like Zaria radiated.

"We're ahead of schedule," Tenchi said. "Let's check it out.  One 
flight, on me.  Two flight, hang back and switch to Guardian after One 
buzzes it.  Three, stay up here and watch for trouble."

Tenchi locked onto the spot that Zaria had painted on the scope as the 
squadron broke formation.  Fifteen kilometers out and three kilometers 
up from the target a bit of inspiration struck him.  He leveled out and 
opened out the throttle despite the confused sounds coming through his 
ear piece.

"One flight, on my mark, cut forward trust and switch to Battleoid.  Do 
not engage braking thrusters until second mark."  Acknowledgments came 
through instantly, though the entire flight sounded confused.  He could 
imagine Montoya smiling as he figured out what Tenchi was doing, and 
Zaria most likely had an expression of satisfaction (there was a running 
pool among the squadrons stationed at Macross that if Zaria cracked a 
smile, her face would shatter).

"Mark!" Tenchi followed his own command and cut thrust to nothing as the 
Vindicator's components shifted to a new configuration.  Four Battleoids 
dropped from the sky like stones, their forward momentum bleeding off 
even as they accelerated toward the slowly-moving ground target.

Twenty-two second later, when the Vindicators had little over five 
hundred meters of air under them, Tenchi called out the second mark. 
Instantly, the flight slowed as the battleoids oriented to a standing 
position and fired their thrusters.  They all lit off on time and hit 
the right amount of deceleration to place them in formation 
horizontally, with less than ten meters of vertical separation between 
the highest (2nd Lieutenant Richter) and the lowest (Tenchi himself).

"Right, target is five clicks north of here.  Stay alert." Tenchi 
quickly shifted his mecha to Guardian and shot over the treetops.  This 
portion of North America had been spared from the Rain of Death because 
there was nothing to shoot.  Those devastatingly accurate beams had been 
aimed at population centers, identifiable military and industrial 
targets, and anything else that might have been a threat.  Dense areas 
like the coastal areas of North America and the islands of Japan had 
been leveled.  Aside from a few lucky ones like Tenchi's father, the 
entire population of such areas had been wiped out.

Which made this single human wandering around such a mystery.  But 
Admiral Gloval, Captain Hayes, and Commodore Fokker had planned for such 
an eventuality.  The procedures could largely be summed up as 'identify 
individuals and call in a transport', but they were procedures.

In this case the target appeared to be waiting calmly in a clearing 
large enough for Tenchi to set his Veritech down.  He was a tall man, 
with long hair and an unkempt beard that spoke of a long time in the 
wilderness.  As Tenchi popped the hatch and hopped down to the ground, 
he noticed that the left side of the man's face was a mass of ugly scar 
tissue surrounding a shattered socket that might have once contained an eye.

"I'm Captain Tenchi Masaki of the RDF," Tenchi said as he removed his 
flight helmet.

The man looked Tenchi up and down before answering. "Thomas Riley 
Edwards.  Colonel, RDF, attached to the United Earth Government Central 
Command."

Tenchi's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "Have you been wandering around 
since the Rain of Death?"

"Is that what they're calling it?" Edwards shook his head. "I was holed 
up in an abandoned based that managed to survive the bombardment for who 
knows how long.  What year is it, by the way?"

"2013," Tenchi replied. "Excuse me a minute."

Tenchi turned and activated his wrist com. "Nine, radio headquarters. 
Check for a Colonel Thomas Edwards in the RDF records, and request a 
pickup at our coordinates if they check out."

"So you're here to lead me back to civilization?" Edwards asked. "Should 
I be grateful that you stumbled over me?"

Something in the man's voice twitched Tenchi's senses.  Tenchi might 
have answered if it hadn't been for the com screen in his Veritech 
chirping, instead of the relay on his wrist.  Tenchi climbed back into 
the cockpit and was surprised when Commodore Fokker's face appeared on 
the screen.

"Captain," Fokker began before Tenchi could acknowledge the call, "do 
not, I repeat, do not let Edwards out of your sight.  A fast transport 
has been dispatched and should arrive at your position within an hour. 
Your group will escort it in and await further instructions.  Understood?"

"Understood, sir." Tenchi didn't, but Fokker was a good leader, who 
eventually explained what was going on to his subordinates.

*******

Edwards had been given time after arriving in New Macross to clean up 
before he was escorted to Gloval's office.  Tenchi had been asked 
(translation: ordered) to attend by Fokker himself.  Captain Hayes, 
Admiral Gloval, and Commodore Fokker were the other officers in the 
room.  Edwards was escorted in by a pair of burley NCOs whose 
appearances screamed 'Marines' even though that particular designation 
didn't officially exist.

Edwards looked more human with a shave and clean clothes.  His remaining 
eye narrowed as he saw the officers in the room.  The scarred portion of 
his face was frozen, which made it even more horrifying.

"Colonel Edwards," Gloval began once Edwards had come to something 
resembling attention, "last we had heard, you had been assigned to 
Alaska base.  Given that the base was completely destroyed following the 
Rain of Death, you should be dead."

Edwards' gaze was an ugly thing as it swept over Hayes and Fokker. "I 
wasn't at the base during the assault.  When the Zentradi appear in the 
skies, my squadron was scrambled to intercept any bombers that might try 
to attack the Grand Cannon."

"And then?" Gloval asked. "It has been two years, Colonel."

"I was wounded in the bombardment," Edwards continued. "My squad mates 
were killed.  I managed to find a functioning underground bunker and 
used the supplies there to stay alive.  I don't know how long I was out 
during some of the worse months.  Is there anything else, Admiral?  I 
would like to see if I can return to duty."

"You will be given a complete medical examination," Gloval explained. 
"If that checks out, we will try to find an assignment that befits your 
skill and experience."

Edwards nodded and after saluting was escorted out of the room.  The 
tension level dropped noticeably after the door slid shut.

"Of all the people to survive," Fokker lamented softly, "why did it have 
to be him?"

"Do you know him?" Tenchi blurted, and immediately regretted doing as 
two glares pinned him to his seat.

Fokker's gaze softened. "Yeah, I knew him.  He was a mercenary during 
the Global War, worked for the Chinese.  They didn't have an air force 
worth spit, so they bought a better one."

"He was part of the original investigation team of the SDF-1," Gloval 
continued. "Along with myself, Doctor Lang, and then Lieutenant Fokker. 
  He was also involved with the development of the Veritech fighters."

Tenchi nodded.  The war experience certainly wasn't going to make any 
friends among most of the RDF.  But there was an underlying hostility 
among the people in the office that went beyond fourteen-year-old grudges.

"Captain Masaki," Captain Hayes said slowly. "I don't need to say that 
what is mentioned in this office is confidential.  I will say that 
Colonel Edwards was associated with my father and Senator Russo.  We 
believe that he performed several covert operations under their 
direction in order to bring several nation blocks under tighter control 
of the Council."

"That will be all, Captain Masaki," Gloval rumbled. "Dismissed.  And 
please be sure to brief Major Hunter on this subject when he returns 
from his patrol."

"Yes, sir." Tenchi saluted and left.  As he left the SDF-1, he took the 
opportunity to glance at the ship under construction behind the elder 
battle fortress.  The SDF-2 probably could have been constructed more 
efficiently in a real shipyard, rather than the improvised facilities in 
Lake Macross.  Doctor Lang insisted on the current conditions, since the 
final stage before the new fortress' launch next year would be the 
transfer of several components from the SDF-1.  Why they would have to 
be transferred like that he wouldn't say.

*At least he makes more sense than Zand,* Tenchi thought with a shiver. 
  Lazlo Zand was Lang's chief assistant, and many in the RDF thought he 
made Khyron look sane and friendly.

There were many threats left in the world, and Tenchi hoped that he 
didn't just unleash another.

*******

"So what do we do with him?" Fokker asked. "I doubt we can shoot him 
without evidence, and I don't want to see him anywhere near my squadrons."

Gloval leaned back. "The commanding officer of Ghost squadron was killed 
recently, wasn't he?"

"Bernard, yeah.  We were looking for a new CO, but there's no one with 
the seniority to command that group."

"You can't be thinking of giving Ghost to Edwards," Hayes exclaimed. 
"Several of the officers served with him before Macross Island."

"Yes, and they have troubling blank spots on their records," Gloval 
replied. "It would keep the trouble makers in one spot, and Leonard has 
been whining about air cover for that 'army' of his."

Hayes stared at the admiral in disbelief, then chuckled slowly. "Yes, 
that would certainly keep all of them in one spot."

"What about Masaki?" Fokker asked. "You still want to send him on that 
wild goose chase?"

"Arranging for those supplies is hardly a 'wild goose chase'," Hayes 
replied.

"I guess so," Fokker conceded. "From the reports, this class of 
Hurricanes is about ready for transfer.  You going to send just him and 
his officers?"

"I doubt we have room for a larger escort," Gloval said. "Now, what's 
the latest on Lang's newest toys?"

End chapter 14


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