Previous chapters are at http://templar.anifics.com/ (chapter 19 is not 
up yet, if you need it just ask)

Disclaimer: The characters within belong to Pioneer, Harmony Gold, and a 
couple to Palladium books.  No profit was made from this work of fiction

No Need For Protoculture
by Andrew Wilson

Chapter 20: Let Slip the Dogs of War

"We just past Hawaii," Miriya reported. "ETA is two hours, fifteen minutes."

"Right," Tenchi acknowledged.  He then turned his attention to the data 
pad in his lap. "Bloody hell, Rick."

"What was that?"

Tenchi gave a start.  He hadn't shut off the intercom. "Nothing, Miriya. 
  I was just reading the latest numbers for the Pioneer mission."

"Max mentioned those," Miriya replied. "But never gave any details."

"He will when we get back.  Looks like Rick and Lisa want me as CAG."

"CAG?" There was a hint of confusion in Miriya's voice.

"Commander, Air--or, I suppose, Aerospace--Group.  I'll be in charge of 
all the Veritech wings." Tenchi tried to contain his sense of dread.  He 
would be in command of close to a thousand pilots.  A comment one of 
Yosho's old friends about the weight of duty sprang to mind.

"Ah," Miriya observed, oblivious to Tenchi's unease, "I had a similar 
duty aboard Azonia's flagship.  But I've never heard of the Earth 
equivalent."

"That's because there hasn't been a carrier worth mentioning since the 
SDF-1." Tenchi paused.  Knowingly or not, Miriya had brought their 
conversation around to the topic he had been afraid to raise. "Was Zaria 
part of you command?"

"No," Miriya replied after a moment. "She was the equivalent officer on 
one of Azonia's secondary ships."

Tenchi nodded. "So I guess you knowing her mind set back then would be 
too much to hope for."

"Actually, I knew her well.  We were the aces of the fleet.  The elite 
of the Quadrono corps." A hint of pride crept into Miriya's otherwise 
neutral tone.

So he wasn't the only one going to kill a friend.  Then again, she had 
done so before.  Tenchi idly wondered how she felt, four years before, 
when the RDF had faced off against Dolza's Grand Fleet.  How many former 
comrades did Miriya kill then?  And give that the Zentradi were a race 
of clones, how many of those comrades were her own 'sisters'.  Tenchi 
looked out the Beta's limited viewport to the dark water below them and 
tried to suppress the equally dark thoughts.

*******

"Everything is in place?" T.R. Edwards asked.

"Of course," Leonard replied. "Are you sure that this doctor friend of 
yours is serious?"

"Anatoli," Edwards sighed, "surely even on such as you can take a few 
things on faith?  By the end of the month, every alien on Earth will be 
either dead or under our strict control."

"Control nothing," Leonard snarled. "Just kill all those monsters, 
Thomas.  What about abominations like the Sterling brat?"

"The Sterling family is too famous to hit, and Zand seems to have 
something special in mind for the brat.  We would have to satisfy 
ourselves with making sure that no more emerge."

"And you'll take care of that in space?"

Edwards nodded, and only then picked up his glass of whiskey from 
Leonard's desk. "The REF will not return until you have obtained 
complete control of Earth."

Leonard picked up his own glass and raised in a toast. "A shame the 
command structure took such a hit while fighting for humanity."

*******

The Hanoi crater stared at Tenchi like an accusing eye.  Eastern Asia, 
due to high population density, had been heavily targeted by the Rain of 
Death.  Where whole cities once stood, now only craters and ruins 
remain.  But there was still hope.  There was always hope.

Tenchi checked his scope, and did not like what he saw. "Outpost Four 
should have challenged us by now."

"Nothing," Miriya confirmed. "I'm going to have us swing down to OPB-1. 
  We can work our way up the chain in necessary."

"Good," Tenchi replied.

The Outpost Bases were the only ground-based presence between Tokyo and 
the Indian Ocean.  The Veritechs stationed at the bases were 
quick-response teams, able to respond to any problems in the area.  That 
was all they could put in some areas.  Unless it was a key area (like 
Monument or Yellowstone) or an area of heavy malcontent activity (like 
Brazil or the Congo), there just simply wasn't enough manpower to go around.

OPB-1 was a ruin.  Miriya shifted the Legios over to hover as Tenchi's 
scanners played over the charred buildings.

"Definite weapons fire," he commented. "No radiation, so the heavy 
weapons weren't blown."

"Mecha destruction?" Miriya asked.

"No," Tenchi replied. "There would be some traces of Protoculture-based 
radiation if there had been any of those.  Someone hauled away the mecha."

"Scavengers."

Tenchi shrugged. "Probably.  But here's the kicker.  All the blast 
patterns are from Earth mecha.  No traces of Zentradi pods."

"Wait," Miriya said. "You're saying that the RDF soldiers were shooting 
at each other?"

Tenchi paused and looked over the sensor readings again, hoping that he 
was wrong, but knowing that he wasn't. "Yes."

"I think we'd better check the other three bases," Miriya said after a 
moment. "You have your NBC gear?"

Tenchi glanced at the small pack under the co-pilot's seat. "Yes, I do."

Miriya oriented the Legios north and threw the throttle open. "OPB-2 in 
fifty seconds."

Tenchi's eyes were glued to his sensors.  OPB-2 was in the same 
condition as OPB-1, but something was pinging his sensors. "Miriya, 
hover about half a klick out.  I'm getting something from the command 
center."

"I'm getting it, too.  Looks like an active transponder, but no 
transmissions."

"Lets separate," Tenchi said. "Go in there in Battleoid."

"Acknowledged." The Veritech shuddered as the Alpha disengaged and 
pulled away from the Beta.  Tenchi pulled the B lever on his consol and 
paused as his Veritech shifted forms from a boxy technically-an-aircraft 
to the broad-shouldered Battleoid. A few meters beyond his mecha, Miriya 
was doing the same with her Alpha fighter.

"Lets go," Tenchi said as he took the lead through the last of the jungle.

There had defiantly been more than just the RDF here.  Tenchi saw 
several wrecked vehicles and charred chunks of mecha armor, including 
Zentradi body armor.  A few bodies were also at this site.  Some looked 
like they had met violent ends, but others looked like they had simply 
collapsed in the street.

"This isn't right.  Something is--look out!" Tenchi brought one arm up, 
interposing the Beta's folded wing as a shield as a stream of charged 
particles lanced out from the mecha repair bay.

Miriya's gunpod came up as Tenchi hopped back.  A trio of armored 
Zentradi soldiers charged out of the hanger, to be cut down by Miriya's 
rifle and the arm-cannons on Tenchi's Beta.  An artillery pod took a few 
more hits to collapse, but was unable to get off a volley from its 
missile pods.

"There's two more," Miriya said.

Tenchi nodded. "They're running into the forest.  Neither mecha matches 
Zentradi types.  I guess these are those new models."

"Right...anything more on the radio transmissions?"

Tenchi turned and marched his Beta over to the command tower. "Come on 
out," he said through the loudspeakers. "I'm Captain Tenchi Masaki, 
Commanding Officer of Hurricane Squadron."

A stocky woman in a stained flight suit slowly emerged from the 
building, clutching a heavy laser rifle in her hands. "Lieutenant Anna 
Mitchels, XO of Corsair squadron."

Tenchi switched off the loudspeaker. "I'm going down," he told Miriya, 
"keep a look out."

Miriya acknowledged without fuss and Tenchi popped his cockpit.  He 
dropped down to the ground near the huddling woman. "Lieutenant, you 
served under Lieutenant-Commander Zaria, correct?"

Mitchels' eyes flared. "Yes, sir.  For a year now."

Tenchi nodded. "I was her commander for two years.  She ever mention me?"

Mitchels paused for a moment, studying Tenchi's face, then slowly 
nodded. "Yes, sir.  She always had respect for you, both as a teacher 
and a fighter."

"Never as a pilot, right?" Tenchi said with a smile.

Mitchels cracked a smile. "No, sir, she had some...odd things to say 
about your piloting abilities."

Tenchi turned and nodded to Miriya's Alpha.  The mecha fired it's leg 
thrusters and took up position on the roof.  Tenchi looked back to 
Mitchels. "What happened?"

"I don't know," the woman replied as she slid down to the ground. "I was 
on patrol and shot down by bandits.  By the time I got back...everyone 
was dead."

"How long ago were you shot down?"

"Two weeks, Sir.  It took me six days to get back here.  I've been holed 
up in the Command Center ever since.  Some weird transmissions were 
going back and forth on the standard channels, but they stopped a few 
days ago."

Tenchi did some calculations in his head. "What about the six weeks before?"

Mitchels cocked her head to the side. "The Commander was acting a little 
weird, I guess.  She would take solo patrols a lot, and left a lot of 
squadron responsibilities with me.  But that doesn't mean-"

"I don't know what it means," Tenchi interrupted. "What Veritechs are 
you qualified on?"

Mitchels gave a start. "VAF-1 and -6."

Tenchi blew out a breath. "Right.  Come on, I need someone in the 
co-pilot's seat.  And you can tell me what you meant by 'weird'."

*******

An hour later, Tenchi was nowhere closer to answers.  Mitchels had 
painted a grim picture of madness creeping down the chain of OPBs. 
Fortune had smiled on her, since her patrol had taken her out of the 
area when OPB-2 was hit.  Her fellow squad members had vanished, the 
other base personnel were either dead or raving lunatics, and of Zaria 
there was no sign, except in odd transmissions mentioning her as someone 
of power within the Zentradi bands.

"About time we headed to OPB-3, Miriya," Tenchi said. "Lets stick to 
treetop level, though.  And Guardian mode."

"Are you sure?" Miriya asked. "At those speeds we'll be targeted by any 
bandits in the area."

"I'm counting on it," Tenchi replied.

*******

Trouble happened halfway between the two bases.  Tenchi's threat sensor 
started screaming a moment before a cloud of missiles swarmed up from 
the trees.

Miriya didn't waste any words, an instead released a cloud of 
countermeasures and shot her Jet mode Veritech into the sky.  Tenchi was 
a second behind her, but a touch faster in the climb.  Below, a 
bulked-up Quadrono suit and two stream-lined Officer Pods launched from 
the forest and opened fire with cannons.

"Evasive!" Tenchi ordered redundantly. "Mitchels, take over the radio, 
try to get a transmission off.  We are under heavy fire."

Mitchels fired up her panel instantly, and her fingers danced over the 
board despite Tenchi's aerobics.  Miriya was dancing in the air, too 
concerned with dodging the incoming fire to counter.  Tenchi weaved 
between two particle blasts and slamed the Beta into a pivot.  The two 
Officer Pods were taking aim as Tenchi fired off his medium-warhead 
missiles from their chest launchers.  Each Officer Pod ate ten plasma 
missiles, more than enough to blow them to hell, but Tenchi wanted to be 
sure.

The power armor, however, was not near the Pods.  Tenchi checked his 
radar, and grunted as only Miriya's Alpha appeared on the scope.

"Where'd she go?" Tenchi asked.

"Unknown," Miriya replied. "I lost track after that second volley."

Tenchi cut his Beta into hover and searched the skies. "Mitchels?"

Mitchels shook her head. "Nothing, Captain.  It's either gone to ground 
or has a stealth system of some sort."

"We don't have stealth systems that compact," Miriya replied.

"Incoming!" Mitchels called.

Tenchi sent his mecha into a dive as a swarm of missiles flew past him. 
  He armed his light missiles the instant he saw the armor suit skimming 
along the treetops.

"I'm hit!" Miriya's Alpha almost vanished inside a cluster of 
explosions.  The scorched mecha dropped from the sky like a rock as the 
armor ahead of Tenchi turned.

Both mecha fired at the same time.  Tenchi fired his own swarm of 
missiles, as the power armor unleashed a volley of laser beams from its 
arm cannons.  The Beta shuddered from the hits, and Tenchi struggled 
with his controls as one wing was sheered off.  Mitchels grunted, and 
Tenchi looked up to see the power armor launch its own volley of 
missiles, which intercepted and halted his own attack twenty meters 
short of its target.

A second laser volley destroyed the other wing, and Tenchi's last 
moments were spent in futility trying to regain control as his Beta 
plunged into the jungle.

*******

Ayeka sighed as her cruiser slid into it's assigned patrol area.  It was 
so different, to direct people in the operation of a vessel, instead of 
mentally commanding the central control.  She would be doing a bit of 
both on the SDF-3, she knew.  And it was a mightier ship than Ryu-oh 
ever was.  Her personal vessel had been a cross between a gun ship and a 
personal yacht.  Tristar was a heavy cruiser, over four hundred fifty 
meters of pure destructive power.

Of course, the Tokugawa-class battle cruisers were even more 
destructive, but even the first was still six months from being 
commissioned.

Ayeka was pulled out of her thoughts by a shrill tone at her senor 
officer's panel.

"Liutenant?"

The slim man shook his head. "I'm not sure, Skipper.  I'm getting a 
strange reading from that battleship wreck up ahead."

Ayeka straightened in her chair and glanced at her repeater display.  He 
was right, those were strange readings.  Plus, that wreck was in 
unusually good condition.  Almost as if-

"Shields up!" Ayeka called. "Full power to defensive grid!"

Her crew was new, but they were competent.  Defensive systems pulsed to 
life just in time, as the Zentradi ship opened up with it's broadside.

"Send an alert the RDF command," Ayeka ordered. "Evasive action.  All 
batteries fire as they bear."

Tristar spun like a dervish through the hail of energy flashing through 
space.  The maneuver weren't to avoid damage--no ship that size could 
dodge well--but to deflect the shots favorably.  The shield's flared as 
energy was absorbed and diverted, but held.

Then Tristar shot back.

Missiles the size of 20th century ICBMs shot from their launchers, 
framed by lasers and particle beams that would atomize a Veritech 
without losing any of their deadly force.  The Zentradi battleship 
shuddered as armor melted and internal systems were ravaged.  A second 
broadside lanced out and explosions danced across the Zentradi ship's 
flanks.

There was no need for a third.

"They're signaling surrender, Ma'am," the communications officer 
reported. "Jamming has ceased."

"Send a report to Command," Ayeka said. "And alert the Marines.  We need 
a boarding crew."

Ayeka smiled.  Colonel Deitrich thought he was getting a free ride.  But 
suddenly his troops and their Destroids because much more useful.

*******

Rick Hunter stared at the report on the table, then looked over at his 
counterpart.

"How many?"

Lisa Hayes shrugged. "We can't tell, but at least a hundred ships have 
suddenly turned on us.  Whole sections of Earth's orbit are cut off, and 
ground reports from South America and Africa are attacking anything that 
looks connected to the RDF."

Rick swore and leaned back in his chair. "What's the percentage?"

Lisa looked over at her chief of staff, Captain Thomas Forsythe. 
"Unsure," Forsythe admitted, "but it looks like less than three percent 
of the Zentradi population."

"That's still enough to kill any hope of integration," Lisa said.

"What's Breetai say?" Rick asked.

Exedore spoke up for the first time. "Lord Breetai is currently massing 
a strike force among the loyal ships coming in from the outer system. 
We should be ready to strike back in thirty hours"

"By that time, Brazillia could be overrun," Forsythe replied. "Skull's 
holding their own for now, but even with reinforcements, they won't be 
able to stand up against orbital bombardment."

"The ships that have rebelled aren't configured for such strikes," 
Exedore pointed out. "They are simply there to deny us the ability to 
strike in such a fashion."

Rick's consol beeped with an incoming message.  He read it quickly, and 
a chill passed through his spine as the blood drained from his face.

"What is it?" Lisa asked.

"It's Leonard," Rick rasped. "He's moving his strike group into South 
America...and killing any Zentradi he encounters.  Non-combatants are 
being slaughtered along with the malcontents."

*******

Awareness returned slowly for Tenchi.  First came that he was, in fact, 
alive.  Next, he felt an unmoving form on either side of him.  Probably 
Miriya and Mitchels, part of him identified.  Binders around his wrists 
and ankles registered at last.

The last thing to come to him was that he was being watched.  His eyes 
snapped open, to see a haggard face that was oh so familiar to him.

"Hello, Captain," Zaria said. "It's been a while."

End Chapter 20


Note: the Beta Veritech's armament might be a bit different from what 
some Robotech fans are accustomed to.  In this case, I deferred to the 
judgement of one Stan Bundy, and his revisions to Robotech Mecha for the 
RPG.  His site is located at http://www.users.kih.net/~sbundy/


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