Admiral Gloval shook his head in amusement, as he watched Flashback 2012 in his office with Exodore. Logically, he agreed with the reasoning behind the making of the movie. It was shown as a triumph of humanity against overwhelming odds and a warning of what was still out there that humanity still had to deal with. Exodore had raised his eyebrow when he saw what his counterpart in the movie looked like.
"My brain is not that big. Breetai and I both have hair," Exodore said. "Dolza was not a head in a glass jar. That was so filled with mistakes that it was worthless."
"Hollywood. They don't let facts get in the way of telling a good story. A combination of morale boosting, warning, and information dissemination wrapped up in a story loosely based on the facts. I have no idea how the Hunters are going to react to it. Minmei warned me about how inaccurate it was," Admiral Gloval said with a grimace.
"Hollywood? I thought that city was destroyed as well. How could that movie give information," Exodore said.
"The word Hollywood is used as a slang term for the group of humans called movie makers. As to the information, we found a chamber underneath where the Sphinx in Egypt used to stand that showed that had plaques detailing the Protoculture did come to Earth to start over without the mistakes that the Zentran, Meltran, or Marduk had. There was also mention of some race dropping from the stars to wreck that civilization, since it didn't fit into their view of how the universe worked," Gloval replied. "I wonder what Humanity would have been like if that race hadn't bothered us."
Gloval picked up a photograph and looked at it. He shook his head and handed the picture to Exodore. The picture was of a very detailed painting on stone that showed a being that had some kind of crystalline wing structure and facial features that were definitely not human.
"What is it?" Exodore asked, as he looked at the picture.
"From a distance, it could be mistaken for an angel or a demon. Up close, it looks like it came from the mind of the writer H.P. Lovecraft. Now with the new Firebird class starship and what was set aside for it, we need to brainstorm a bit more. Lollipop," Gloval said.
"There is one. How about Thunderbolt?"
"There is one as well. Maybe, Jogger?"
At this point, Max Sterling walked into the room and saluted the two men. The two saluted back, and Exodore answered Gloval's question.
"No, that one was taken a coupe months ago. Toilet Paper?"
"I'd say no, but I know for a fact there is one as well as a Diaper and Toilet."
Max blinked at the strange conversation he had walked into. Admiral Gloval noticed that Max was holding a comic book against the back of the clipboard he was carrying.
"Max? Could I see that comic for a second?" Gloval asked. "You're not in trouble about it. I took a book with me while I was waiting for the Macross to initially launch."
Max handed Admiral Gloval the book.
"Exodore, do we have an Ambush Bug, Inflatable Dakseid, or Continuity Cop yet?" Gloval asked, as he flipped through the comic.
Exodore tapped some keys on a computer and shook his head. "No. All three are untaken. We can quickly assign them."
"We'll have to look through comics to get some more," Gloval said, as he handed the comic back to Max.
Max, despite his curiosity, kept quiet about what he was hearing. Gloval chuckled when he saw Max's expression.
"Let me guess, you are wonder what the Hell we are talking about? We are having problems coming up with different names for all of the ships. It's a problem when you have to come up with more than a million different names. Firebird, Phoenix, Ho-oh, and other names for that bird as well as words detailing rebirth have been set aside for the new Firebird class ship," Gloval explained. "At ease and speak freely."
Max nodded and relaxed a bit, satisfied that Gloval and Exodore weren't going insane.
"My ship is the UNS Toilet? I can just imagine the strange looks that person would get," Max said, shaking his head. "I came here to find out what my ship will be and when I'm leaving to colonize."
Gloval nodded. "We have quite a few places where we can set up our first colony outside the solar system. We have been getting information from the SDF's of some nearby planets of where we could set up. Thanks to our stealing of the first factory satellite, we also have knowledge of places in Andromeda we could set up."
"We haven't explored the Milky Way and we are thinking about putting our first colony in the Andromeda Galaxy?" Max asked.
"We have more detailed maps of Andromeda than we do of the Milky Way, Captain Sterling. The maps that the Zentran used had to be quite accurate," Exodore said. "As to your ship, it hasn't been finished yet."
"Uh. We have a factory satellite; it should have been finished by now," Max stated.
Exodore nodded at Max's statement. "If it was modified Command Carrier, I'd agree with you. However, there have been changes to the plan. Your ship is of the Starflower class and is named Spaceseed. Your ship is one of the new factory satellites."
"What sort of changes require moving me from a Command Carrier with a small fleet to a factory satellite?" Max asked.
"Defense," Gloval bluntly replied. "A new colony is weak against attacks from hostile forces. A factory satellite with ships already built inside it will act as a nice defensive screen for a new colony and prevents the 'eggs in one basket' scenario. The Spaceseed will have full Space Fold capabilities. It's an extreme version of my own stance of the SDF-1 versus the Grand Cannon debate."
Max shifted a bit. "I've heard rumors that the Grand Cannon is being rebuilt."
"Repairing it was easier than stripping the stuff out of the area," Gloval said. "I still don't like it, but it's there."
"I see. How long will it be before I can leave?" Max said.
"Starseed will be finished three days from now," Gloval said.
==========
Out in Jupiter's atmosphere, the Shadows were pondering the movie they just saw.
"That was interesting," the female Shadow said. "There was a lot of information in that show."
The Shadow leader nodded. "Zentran, Meltran, and where humans came from. At least we now know what happened here. This was just one fight and it looks like Earth won it. We are right. Our experiment with the Vorlons has been proven with this disaster."
"But in one of the transmissions I picked up, they seek to establish peaceful relations with the nearby races," the female Shadow said.
"They are still in a state of war. They are preparing for their next conflict with one of the other fleets. There were three sides in this fight. The Zentran and Meltran each had a huge fleet and Earth only had one ship. With more than a thousand other fleets roaming around, Earth really has no need or desire to get into any more conflicts. It seems we have had a flaw in our argument. The Zentran and Meltran are embodiments of our philosophy of strength through conflict; but when exposed to something like songs of love, they weakened and saw that there was something worthwhile," The Shadow leader replied.
"Does what happened with the Macross fit in with the Vorlon philosophy?" the female Shadow asked.
"No. That runs counter to the Vorlon's philosophy as well. We will have to meditate on what we just found out. Now, open a channel to our missing ship."
The female Shadow complied and waited.
"Greetings humans. We are called the Shadows. We came here when this ship sent out its distress signal after being uncovered. The ship you found was one of ours and we thought that one of our enemies had found it and was going to use it against us. We are hated by a lot of races near you, so I suggest you not show this ship to anyone. Your recent reenactment of the past war has proven very valuable to us. Consider this ship payment in helping us refine our philosophy. We wish you well."
The female Shadow cut the communications and the Shadow leader nodded.
"Let's get out of here and get ready to watch the children of the Vorlon's scramble when Earth's forces shows up. It should be quite amusing."
==========
Dr. Lang jumped a meter into the air when the spider craft's communicator activated and projected the message from some beings called the Shadows. The first thing he did was call a halt to the examinations and live recordings on the ship and had the message sent to UN Spacy High Command as top priority.
"Consider this ship payment in helping to refine their philosophy? Strange. I wonder what that meant. I'm more worried about the enemies of these Shadows," Dr. Lang muttered to himself.
Van asked. "Reenactment of the war just past? They thought Flashback 2012 is what actually happened."
"It's not the first time something like that has happened. Remember Little White Dragon and what the Zentran thought of it?"
"Well, yes. Okay, another battle won without actual shooting," Van said. "So, do we continue examining the ship?"
"No. We wait for orders. The situation changed with that message."
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(Posted Thu, 15 Jun 2006 04:59)
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