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couple to Palladium books.  No profit was made from this work of fiction

No Need For Protoculture: The Sentinels
by Andrew Wilson

Chapter 2: Through the Fire

[Hyperspace, launch +14 days]

Tenchi watched the numbers tick downward towards zero on the mission timer.  Two weeks in a hyperspace fold was longer than anyone except Breetai and Exodore had ever endured, and the effects were being felt all around.  At least he wasn't comatose this time.  Washu has allayed that fear early on, explaining that the original fold had been off in so many ways that it was amazing that the ship had survived.  The incapacitation of his family and friends as well as the bizarre destruction of the fold engines were a consequence of that.

"Six hours," Ryoko purred from her position beside Tenchi on the couch. "We can do a lot in that time.  And you'll still have time to get ready for battle."

Tenchi gave Ryoko a level look. "I've said it a thousand times, and I'll say it again: no."

Ryoko shifted around so Tenchi could see the pout on her face. "I know, I know."

Tenchi sighed and eyed the flight suit hanging near the room's hatch. "Plus, technically you're under my command, and regulations-"

"Didn't stop the Sterlings.  Or Hunter and Hayes, for that matter. Or the Moores, Thompkins, Schniders, Mbutus...."

"Enough," Tenchi groaned. "Don't bring a quarter of the strike group into this.  Is Ryo-Ohki ready for playing Ceaser?"

Ryoko nodded.  She had volunteered to help recover pilots that had lost their mecha in combat.  Rescuing 'downed' pilots was usually tricky, but Ryo-Ohki was able, willing, and eager to try.  The job itself made sure that the Combat Search and Rescue squadron - C-SAR, often pronounced 'ceaser' - were the only group in the REF that never had to buy its own drinks.

Tenchi sighed and glanced at the chrono. "Technically, two years have passed.  Did you ever think about that?"

"Nope," Ryoko replied. "It's strange, too.  I mean, hyperspace physics pretty much invalidate Terran schools of thought involving quantum physics and relativity.  But somehow a hyper-fold does what nothing else can and compress time."

"A good thing," Tenchi said. "I'd hate to be trapped on the ship for two or three years."

Ryoko chuckled. "I don't know, it might be interesting to see what your flyboys could come up with."

Tenchi's reply was interrupted by his wrist chrono beeping. "And that would be Lisa's last meeting."

"Have fun," Ryoko teased.

*******

[Hyperspace, defold -10 minutes]

Admiral Lisa Hayes watched the swirling colors of hyperspace through the flag bridge's observation bubble and tried to calm her nerves.  She wondered if other leaders had ever felt the same.  Her people were about to go to war with an enemy the knew far too little about.  At the same time, she was almost eager.  The malcontents had been persistent, but had been no real challenge for her forces.  Now they were going up against a foe even the Zentradi feared.  It was horrifying, yet it would be glorious in its own way.  She knew most of her friends wouldn't see it that way.  Her military background was most to blame.  She had grown up a military brat, and come of age listening to her father's stories.  The others, even her husband, lacked that outlook.

"Coming up on transition point," Ayeka said from the bridge.  The two command decks were linked by a collection of repeater displays.  Lisa nodded to Ayeka, then moved to her own tactical display.  Screens blazed to life as Rick joined her.  They were dropping out of hyperspace almost a light-hour from Fantoma's star.  From there the fleet would fall into formation and proceed towards Tirol at best speed.  More importantly, they would have time to regroup and recover from the long fold before they encountered the enemy.

The navigator's baritone rumbled over the PA system for the final countdown. "All hands brace for defold in sixty second.  Thirty seconds.  Ten.  Five seconds.  Three.  Two.  One.  Zero."

The world itself blurred and twisted.  The gut-wrenching nausea was an unavoidable side effect of folds.  Having normal space-time suddenly reassert itself did odd things to a person's equilibrium.  Luckily the equipment was calibrated so vital systems were not affected.  The holographic field soon filled with objects and information as sensors reported in.

"Looks like we're not that far from Tirol," Rick mused.

Lisa  nodded and turned to a communication's screen as a face appeared. "Good to see you made it through the fold, Commodore Forsyth.  Report."

Forsyth smiled. "All ships went to battle stations twenty minutes before defold.  Weapons are charging now.  We'll be at full readiness in ten minutes."

"Same for the wings," Tenchi added.  His transmission was audio-only, as his visual feed showed an empty Alpha cockpit. "Ghost Rider, Vampire, and Zombie squadrons were on the flight line and are launching now."

Lisa nodded. "We're plotting a course in-system now.  Looks like a flight time of three hours."

On the screen Tenchi dropped into view. "Right.  I've ordered all pilots to their mecha, in case we meet trouble on the way.  The training squadrons are staying with the fleet tenders, but the remainder of the wings are yours."

"Breetai reports ground forces are ready," Rick said from his own command consol. "We have two battalions of Spartans and Raiders at the deployment locks ready for close-in defense."

"Admiral," Ayeka said, "we're picking up some odd emissions ahead.  Readings from the planet are not consistant with the information Exodore and Breetai gave."

Exodore chose that moment to enter the flag bridge.  The diminutive Zentradi needed no prompting after hearing Ayeka's comment.  It took only seconds for him to make a pronouncement.

"The ships in orbit are Invid battle cruisers and carriers." He paused for a moment, then shook his head. "The number would indicate an occupation, rather than invasion, is their purpose."

"Can we negotiate with them?" Lisa asked. "We came to fight the Masters, not the Invid."

"I doubt that," Exodore replied glumly.  He suddenly smirked and looked up at Lisa. "But a decade ago I would have sworn that Lord Breetai would never betray Dolza."

Lisa returned the smirk. "Start sending out first contact transmissions.  All ships maintain formation.  All ahead two-thirds."

*******

Two hours had passed, with no reply from the Invid.  In fact, the ships in orbit around Fantoma and blockading Tirol had yet to react to their presence.

"Could this be a trap?" Rick asked. "They could have ships in the gas giant's shadow.  We get too close and we're dead."

"Unlikely," Exodore replied. "Invid transports and warships are more fragile and sluggish than Zentradi ships.  They prefer to use prescicion fold in place of high-speed manuvers."

"Incoming," Ayeka warned. "Thirty small mecha.  Veritechs are moving to engage."

"What?" Lisa looked to Tenchi's screen.  The CAG had cut the sound and was screaming into his headset.  Realization hit Lisa a moment later. "Edwards."

*******

Tenchi forced himself to be calm as he tried once again to bring those three squadrons back from the combat zone.  The squadron commanders had refused to even acknowledge his transmissions, so he needed to use a different tactic.

"This is Commodore Masaki to all pilots, return to SDF-3 at once.  You do not have authorization to engage.  Break off now!"

Silence.

Tenchi snarled and clicked the command circuit back on. "No reply from Edwards."

"Get out there," Hayes said. "We need to stop Edwards from starting another war."

Tenchi nodded and cut the link.  Wings One and Two were on the ready line, and he ordered all squadrons into space.

"Take over, Rick," Tenchi directed as he cleared the hanger.  Lieutenant Perez, his Beta pilot, smoothly took over flight control of the Legios.  Tenchi had one more task to perform before engaging.  He quickly brought up the Wing Six command frequency and was relieved when Captain Moore appeared in his flight suit. "Scramble the Wildcards and Jokers, Captain, I need you to take over interception duties."

Moore raised and eyebrow, but followed the order and got his people moving before turning back to Tenchi. "Is there a problem with Colonel Edwards' pilots, sir?"

"Yes," Tenchi replied. "All TASC squadrons are grounded.  If any attempt to launch, you are ordered to destroy them."

This did catch Moore by surprise, but he only nodded. "At once, sir."

Tenchi cut off all non-esential transmissions.  Hurricane sqadron was kept open, with the feed going to his headset.  The other frequencies were monitored by the communication's officer in the Beta with Perez.  While Perez was able to handle flying his fighter on his own, the fact that he was flying wing for the sqadron commander nessesitated the extra body to coordinate communications.

Edwards was almost to the enemy mecha.  Another few seconds and he would be able to launch his warheads.  Luckily, the warheads that the Betas' possessed had far longer ranges than Edwards' Alphas.  Tenchi took control of weapons from Perez and locked onto Ghost Rider Lead with a pair of mid-range plasma missiles.  There was no way Edwards could miss the tone of a missiile lock radiating in his cockpit.

"Colonel Edwards, heave to and return to the SDF-3 or you will be destroyed."

"No need for threats." Tenchi could hear the sneer in the voice coming over the radio. "Returning."

Tenchi didn't buy it for a second. "Do not deviate from a direct course."

"Commodore," Mitchels' voice interrupted, "alien ships are spreading out.  Looks like a combat formation."

Tenchi groaned. "All squadrons maintain formation.  Do not fire unless fired on."

The two clusters of ships came closer and closer to each other.  Tenchi could start to make out details of the Invid craft in his visual display.  The mecha were small, red, and with a decided insectoid look.  Two apertures protruded on the dorsal shell resembled cannons of some sort.  Those same cannons gave Tenchi an odd feeling, that increased as the mecha drew closer.

A second later Tenchi realized what that feeling was his danger sense.

"All fighters, break formation.  Evasive, NOW!"

The collected fighter squadrons of wings One and Two scattered at Tenchi's command.  The space where they had been filled with disk-shaped plasma projectiles.  Capital ships resembling nightmarish insects defolded around the REF fleet and immediately opened fire.

"All available squadrons launch!" Tenchi ordered  More mecha swarmed in, accompanied by five ships that resembled metal clams.  Tenchi identified them as carriers, though he wasn't sure why. "Wing Two, clear out these mecha.  Wing One form by squadron.  Perez, designate one of those carriers for each squadron."

Tenchi's hands found the stick again and a familiar calm came over him.  The carriers ahead were opening the two shell-like plates that made up their dorsal and ventral hulls.  Tenchi could see rows of red and purple mecha awaiting launch.  Around him the squadron formed up into a loose X, with the Legios units moving further forward the further they were from the center.  Tenchi was at the center of the 'claw' and directed where it would strike.

"All Betas," Tenchi said over Hurricane's frequency, "lock target and fire on my mark.  Mark!"

The 'bomb bays' of twelve Beta Veritechs slid open.  Two heavy missiles dropped from each and streaked through space towards the Invid ships.  The twenty-four reflex missiles went uncontested to their targets.  Tenchi noted that the carriers had no weapons, which was confirmed as several mecha launched haphazardly to intercept the ship-killers.  Instead the mecha were consumed in a wave of destruction as the missiles turned the carrier into a miniature sun for the briefest of moments.

Tenchi hauled his craft around as the cloud of plasma licked at his squadron.  Wing One reformed intact and raced back to the fleet.  Just in time, he noted, as more Invid ships folded into space around the Earth Fleet.

"Fleet Command, this is Strike Lead.  We are incoming with weapons hot."

*******

"About time, Strike Lead," Rick replied. "Fleet requests assistance with enemy battle wagons at zero six thee by three four eight, relative."

"Acknowledged," Tenchi replied then dropped out of the fleet circuit.  Rick saw the two wings shift formation again as Wing Two was designated for the attack run.  Max had a different tactical style than Tenchi, and it showed as the Veritechs lined up into a sort of spear shape, with Skull One at the point to drive into the crab-like cruiser.

"Lexington is bleeding air," the operations officer reported.  Rick looked up from his own plot as the battlecruiser's light code flashed with damage reports.  Lisa's jaw clenched as the ship vanished from the plot.  Outside the observation bubble, a distant flare told the story all too well.

"Tighten up formation," Lisa ordered. "Order Roosevelt and Dixon to close up that hole.  Formation pattern Fire Lance."

Ships shifted again.  This time there was a very large hole in the formation.  The Invid took advantage of the hole and charged in with mecha.

"Charging main gun," Ayeka reported. "All ships: fire in the hole."

There was no way that the Invid could miss the crackling of energy at the SDF-3's bow.  But they continued their charge, and were annihilated as a wave of destructive energy met them head on.

Rick noted that the Invid had experience fighting the Zentradi, and knew the weakness of reflex cannons.  While they had tremendous destructive force, they also had slow recycle times.  Once fired, it would be close to a quarter hour before the components had recharged enough to handle the stress.  And the Invid were not going to give the REF time to fire again.  This time more than mecha entered the uncovered portion of the formation, clawing their way toward the now-helpless flagship.

"Bandits entering optimal range," Ayeka calmly reported. "Firing."

Of course, that design flaw was the reason the SDF-3's split bow contained *two* such weapons, not one.

It was not clear if the Invid could feel surprise.  If they could then their main force being consumed by a weapon they thought was inert would inspire such feelings.

*******

The plot quickly cleared of hostile readings as the survivors of the Invid fleet were destroyed.  None of the mecha or ships attempted to retreat, nor was there any attempt at communication.  The last mecha died in useless suicidal charges against the SDF-3's shields.

"Report," Lisa ordered.  She had barely moved from her command chair.  The sheen of sweat on her face was the only indication of stress.

Ops tapped his screen as the last numbers came in. "We're getting beacons from Lexington's escape pods,.  Not many, though.  Five percent of the crew at the most."

Rick shared the pain in Lisa's eyes as she nodded. "And the rest?"

"Intrepid, John Paul Jones, and Gloval are reporting damage to major systems, but repairs are already underway.  Minor damage to other ships."

Rick glanced at his boards again before speaking. "Ten Veritechs and twenty Destroids destroyed or irreparably damaged.  Search and Rescue is attempting to recover the crews."

Lisa nodded. "What do we know about Tirol?"

Rick was forced to shrug. "Nothing new.  I've sent a scout ship ahead, though.  We should have something in a few minutes."

Lisa stood and began slowly pacing the flag bridge. "This was pretty large for a garrison force, Exedore.  There were at least twenty cruisers and hundreds of mecha."

The diminutive Zentradi rubbed his chin. "Invid tactical doctrine is relatively simple, but effective."

"Hundred-to-one swarms often are." Rick shivered as memories of the Robotech War came unbidden.

"Precisely, Admiral," a rumbling voice announced the entrance of Rick's second in command and Tenchi's counterpart in the ground forces.  Breetai strode onto the flag bridge with a surprisingly light step. The Zentradi commander had reluctantly been micronized shortly before the wedding.  He remained a giant, though, with over two hundred forty centimeters separating the bottoms of his boots from the top of his head.  He even wore a duplicate of his old faceplate, despite offers of reconstructive surgery. "We should expect heavier units to be stationed on the planet itself."

"What about civilians?" Rick Asked.

Exodore shrugged. "We have no idea how many inhabit the planet in times of peace, much less times of conflict."

"So no heavy bombardment," Lisa mused. "Have the Veritechs docked?"

Rick nodded. "Right now, actually."

"I want the division commands gathered in the flag briefing room in one hour.  Have the fleet maintain position until further notice."

*******

The costomary sneer was still on Edwards' face, even with a pair of armed Marines standing just behind him.  No weapons were drawn, but Tenchi recognized both soldiers.  Each had served in the RDF since the end of the Robotech War.  Corporal Chinaque was a survivor of the rain of death whose father had been shot down by Edwards in the Global War.  Having downed his enemy had not stopped Edwards from riddling the pilot's parachute with shells and sending the man tumbling to the Siberian tundra.  Corporal Rividdik was one of the first Zentradi defectors to the RDF during the war.  He had adapted well to Earth life, until his wife and infant son were killed by Army of the Southern Cross during the Malcontent Uprising.  Both men were probably hoping Tenchi would have Edwards summarily shot.

Which was very tempting in Tenchi's mind.  On the other hand, that would bring up questions about the rest of Edwards' wing that he did not wish to address in the middle of a combat situation.

"Colonel Edwards," Tenchi slowly stated, "you are hearby confined to your quarters until the JAG has competed a full investigation into todays events.  Given that Colonel Grant has personally selected your guards, I would suggest you do not give them trouble.  Is that understood."

"Permission to speak freely, Commodore?" Edwards ground out.

"Denied.  Get this slime out of my sight."

The guards drew their sidearms and prodded Edwards out the door.  Once the blond man was out of his office, Tenchi let out a huge sigh.  He proceeded to flop down into his chair and stare at the ceiling.

The sound of applause diected his attention back to the space across his desk.  Jon Wolfe, Max Sterling, Anna Mitchels, and Ichiro Moore wore grim smiles as their clapping ceased.

"Please tell me their flight recorders say something," Tenchi groaned as he waved to the chairs in the office.

"Probably," Moore dropped onto the room's sole couch as he spoke. "When you ordered the wing grounded Jon and I yanked the ASC crews out of the wing hanger.  Most of the recrders had been wiped anyway."

That got Tenchi's attention. "Wiped how?"

"Power surge fried the ROM," Wolfe replied.  The flamboyant pilot propped his feet up on Tenchi's desk, but Tenchi was too weary to care. "Looks induced, especially happening on seventy-two Alphas at more or less the same time."

"Wing Four is grounded,"Mitchels reported. "All pilots and crew are in lockdown.  We've stretched the MPs with all this, but they're not that busy after all."

"You think they're all crooked?" Max asked.

Tenchi shrugged, and returned his attention to the paneling along the upper bulkheads. "The entire ASC?  No, especially with Rolf where he is.  But the pilots and crew were hand picked by Edwards."

Heads nodded at his statement. "Now get out of here.  I want all of you, plus Archer, ready for the Admiral's conference in," Tenchi paused and looked at the wall-mounted clock, "thirty minutes."

Tenchi's XO and wing commanders filed out quickly.  Max stayed behind and slid over to Tenchi's side. "So what's really bothering you, besides Edwards being a mutinous asshole?"

Tenchi shook his head. "Time.  I'm becoming more and more like my grandfather.  I think I understand why he wanted to get away from it all.  What happened to us, Max?"

"Life happened," Max replied.

"Yeah, and I've got a lot more of it to go than anyone else."

Max smiled. "Don't be so sure, boss.  Didn't those Galactic medical treatments extend our lifespans by about three centuries?  Five for kids like Dana."

Tenchi noted the sad look in Max's eye as his daughter was mentioned. "I've got a bit more than that ahead of me.  And I doubt any of it will be peaceful." He shook his head. "Now I'm getting morbid.  Get out of here, you!"

End Chapter 2



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