Captain Rick Hunter approached the main headquarters of UN Spacy with a bit of trepidation. He pressed the buzzer and waited. The door slid open and he walked in. He saluted Admiral Gloval and stood at attention. He noticed that Lisa Hayes, Claudia Grant, and the Sterlings were also in attendance.
"At ease, Captain Hunter. We're all friends here," Admiral Gloval said with some amusement. "You didn't show this much decorum after you found out that we were all still alive after Kryon's suicide attack."
Rick coughed a bit uncomfortably as he recalled how he acted when he thought he had lost Lisa and then finding out she was still alive.
"Um? I know how Lisa survived, but how did you and the others do it?" Rick asked a question that had long bothered him.
"The Macross was tough enough to crash into a planet and kept a few of its occupants alive originally. It was easily tough enough to stand up to Kyron's burning cruiser ramming it," Gloval explained, as he thought back to the attack. "Honestly, I was just as surprised as you when I found out that I was still alive."
Rick nodded and waited.
"You are probably wondering why I called you here, " Gloval said. "Just this, we don't really know anything about our neighboring stars. The few Meltran and Zentran worlds we have are pretty fair distances away, but we still don't know anything about Alpha Centauri or Polaris."
"Exploration?" Rick asked.
Gloval nodded. "That and to establish peaceful ties to any other races near us. Lang has been busy improving Fold drive technology and with what he have pulled from some of the Zentran and Meltran ships, we should have a powerful space fleet to defend Earth in case some of the other races prove hostile. I'm going to put you in command of the ship being sent out to establish diplomatic ties. Captain Max Sterling will be in charge of the operation to hunt for planets for us to colonize."
Rick turned to his former wingman. "Congratulations Max on your promotion in getting your first command."
"Thanks," Max said, while smiling. "It's a small fleet. It's a Command Carrier with several specialized ships. Scientific ships and terraforming ships are part of it."
Rick turned to Admiral Gloval. "So, what's my command?"
"At first we though of using the SDF-3 or a set-up similar to Captain Sterling's fleet, but considering how tough it is, we have refurbished the SDF-1 Macross."
"The Macross?" Rick asked in shock and scratched his throat. "Um, about its...um..."
Gloval waved it away. "Dr. Lang has replaced the Fold Drives and has completely rebuilt the inner mechanics of the ship itself. You won't have the headaches I did with the Macross. If the main gun is needed, it is still recommended that the ship transform, although it doesn't really need to. It's to save wear and tear on the energy conduits leading from the Fold Drive. Do you accept this command?"
"Yes, sir. I do," Rick Hinter said.
"Good. Now there is a couple things that you have to do before you take command," Gloval said with a bit of amusement.
"Uh? Like what, sir?"
"If I recall correctly, your wedding to Lisa Hayes is this Saturday. Is it not?" Gloval said.
"Yes."
"Well, I think that you should get the marriage out of the way first before you take command," Gloval said while smiling.
"Um. Well. Okay," Rick stammered.
Lisa gave an amused glance at her fiancée's predicament and just smiled at him.
"Good. I won't be presiding over the ceremony. Lisa asked me to act as her father in it. Since Max Sterling is a captain, we thought he could preside over it, but he's your Best Man. I've asked Captain Wolf to preside over the ceremony. His ship might be small, but it will do."
"I was actually hoping our marriage would be a quiet affair," Rick said.
Gloval laughed. "Rick. You and Lisa are heroes of Earth. You won't have a quiet ceremony, but we can keep the media presence down a bit. Besides, you were a stunt pilot for an airshow. You shouldn't be afraid of being in the spotlight."
"That's for entertainment. Our marriage shouldn't be entertainment, but I understand what you're saying," Rick said with a sigh.
"At any rate, you are dismissed "
Gloval pulled out a small box and opened it. He turned the box towards Rick and Rick's eyes widened."
Rick Hunter turned to leave, but stopped and looked at Admiral Gloval.
"Sir? Just in case, will I have a full complement of Valkyries on board?"
"Yes. You will be given five hundred super-veritech and some destroids."
"That's kind of a large force for a peace making mission." Rick said.
"There is a possibility that you will encounter Zentran and Meltran who are still hostile to us," Gloval said. "Oh. I almost forgot."
Gloval pulled out a small box and turned it towards Rick. Rick's eyes widened when he saw what was in the box.
"You have now been promoted to Commodore," Gloval said, as Rick reverently took the box from Gloval. "Now Rick, you have to get ready for your wedding."
Rick saluted and left with Lisa quickly following him.
"So Rick, what do you think of your new mission?" Lisa asked.
"Will you be going with me?"
Lisa smiled. "Yes. There is still a debate on whether or not to send a second ship out to explore as well. The SDF-2 Freedom and the SDF-3 Distant Fire are both being considered."
"I thought the Freedom was destroyed."
"It was rebuilt from the ground up. It's reconstruction and the construction of the Distant Fire helped him understand the tech on board the Macross."
"I'm surprise that UN Spacy is thinking about sending two ships of that classification out."
"Rick, the SDF's are designed for long distance travels. UN Spacy is building ships that will stay closer to home."
Lisa touched her ear and shook her head in disbelief. The micro radio she wore had just activated and she was told what had been decided.
"Well Rick, the debate has ended. All three SDF's are being sent on that exploration mission and headed in seperate directions. I'm being given the choice if I want to take back the command of the SDF-2 and it looks like Claudia is taking command of the SDF-3."
"The choice of taking it back the SDF-2?"
Lisa gave Rick a wry grin. "I'd rather not spend our honeymoon in separate ships in seperate parts of the galaxy and the Macross has been our home."
Rick nodded. "If you turn it down, who'll take over the Freedom?"
"The Sterlings and Exodore are the colonization mission. Bretai and Admiral Gloval are in charge of Earth's defenses. There's Thomas Edwards or Jonathan Wolf or even David Gina."
"David Gina would be the best choice. Gina did marry a Meltran and isn't prejudiced against the Zentran or Meltran," Rick said, pursing his lips. "He's already had his vengeance for the Rain of Fire. He figured out exactly which ship bombed his hometown and made sure it was destroyed. The ones directly responsible for his town's destruction are dead."
Lisa nodded. "I'll bring it up that Gina is your preferred choice."
"I don't trust Edwards and Wolf seems more at home with ground forces," Rick added.
"Commodore Hunter, we are on R&R until after the wedding. Let's not waste time worrying about the mission," Lisa said with laughter in her voice.
Rick put his arm around Lisa's shoulders, while Lisa put her arm around his waist. The two of them walked through the rebuild Macross City and enjoyed the sights of a recovering world.
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(Posted Mon, 12 Jun 2006 20:07)
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