Written By Lisa Grey
Developed by Lisa Grey and James R. Axelrad
Edited by James R. Axelrad and Johnny G
Chapter 9
February 2009...
"You okay, Mom?" Ursula asked over the Squadron frequency. "You've been pretty quiet up there."
"Yeah, Baby Bear," Ranma acknowledged. "I'm good. Just not looking forward to dealing with the situation when we get back."
"Just remember, whatever happens, we got your back," Ursula said. "Just don't shut down on us like you were before we left. We much prefer the Dragon Lady we had at El Centro to the one we got on Macross."
"Roger that," Marissa agreed. Ranma chuckled.
"I'll try not to," Ranma promised. "Speaking of, we ought to be about in detection ran..."
"Macross Control, inbound aircraft, please identify," came the ATC over the comm. Ranma was relieved it wasn't Lisa.
"Rose Lead, Macross Control, Rose Squadron inbound," Ranma replied.
"Macross Control, Rose Squadron, welcome home," the controller said. "We're clearing the pattern for you. You're clear all the way in to Runway 27 right."
"Rose Lead, Macross Control, Roger," Ranma replied. "Thanks for the express service." Ranma switched to the squadron channel. "Alright Rose, like we planned. Echelon Left and get in tight with you're wingman. We're going in low right over the city. Let's let'em know we're back."
Rose Squadron reformed into four pairs of aircraft, each pair trailing the one ahead of it at even spacing aft and to the left. They descended to a couple of hundred feet above rooftop level and passed over the city. When they reached two nautical miles past the end of the runway, each group made a perfectly choreographed simultaneous break turn, each group's turn radius a little larger, such that when they came out of the turn they were traveling on a reversed heading, perfectly lined up with the runway and each pair trailing line astern in their landing intervals. The wingmen came out of the turn in line abreast with the lead aircraft of their group, and landing right beside each other much as they had at El Centro.
They had tightened their landing interval such that when they began to taxi to their ramp, they formed a line of eight aircraft, line a stern with even spacing. When they reached the ramp, they each executed a simultaneous turn into their parking positions and began to shutdown.
(oOO/Oo)
After the Roses had used the facilities and changed out of their flight suits, Ranma sent everyone else home while she and Ursula went to report in to Roy. They reached Roy's office and knocked on the door. Roy bid them enter, so Ranma opened the door and stepped in followed by Ursula.
As soon as Ranma entered the room, Ursula saw her stiffen and hesitate for a half a heartbeat. Ursula immediately saw why Ranma's tension suddenly spiked. Sitting in the room with Roy was Commander Hayes and Lt. Commander Grant. She then came to rigid attention and issues a sharp salute, Ursula matching her from her side.
"Rose Squadron reporting in, Sir," Ranma said crisply.
"Welcome home, Lieutenants," Roy said warmly, issuing his own salute. "At ease. How was your flight?"
"It was fine, Sir," Ranma replied.
"How was El Centro?" he asked.
"Top shelf, Sir," Ranma answered.
"The Blues are a first class unit, Sir," Ursula added, not missing the pained looks the three were giving Ranma as she gave her stiff, concise replies.
"Are you and your people ready?" Roy asked.
"Yes, Sir," Ranma stated. "We will be spending the next week getting the local particulars and approaches mapped out, but our routine is solid and practiced."
"Outstanding," Roy said. "Lieutenant Kruger, if that's all, I would like to have a word with Lieutenant Saotome."
Ursula looked at Ranma who nodded imperceptibly.
"Sure thing, Commander," Ursula said, saluting, then grinned at Ranma. "I'll see you in the morning, Mom."
"Pleasant dreams, Baby Bear," Ranma gave her a small smile, acknowledging her support.
"Please have a seat, Lieutenant," Roy said as the door shut behind Ursula. Ranma stepped around in front of the chair before Roy's desk. The one flanked on either side by Claudia and Lisa. She sat with military precision, smoothing her skirt out as she did. Her back was ramrod straight, her knees together, and her hands where folded in her lap as she looked at Roy expectantly. "Oh for crying out loud, would you give it a rest, Ranma?"
"I wouldn't know what you're talking about, Sir," Ranma said. Roy threw his hands up in exasperation.
"Look, Ranma, I know you're upset with us," Roy sighed. "Lisa and Claudia are here to apologize to you. Just let them have their say, okay?"
"Ranma, I'm really sorry," Claudia said sincerely. "I was just trying to help you relax. I thought it was all in fun. I didn't realize what our pushing was doing to you. You're my friend and if I had thought for a minute that I was going too far, I would have stopped immediately. I screwed up and I'm truly sorry."
"As am I, Ranma," Lisa said. "You're the most important person in the world to me, my best friend, maybe more than that, and I'm very fond of you. I never meant to hurt you. I just didn't realize...you never showed how much pain you were in. I let you down. I should have known, should have seen. Please. I don't want to lose you. Please forgive me."
"Is that an order, Commander Hayes?" Ranma said.
"Ranma, please?" Lisa said, her eyes welling up with tears. She gave a small sniffle and wiped under her eyes with the back of her hand. The hand was shaking.
Ranma took all this in. Finally, her expression softened and she slumped.
"Look, I'll forgive you both," Ranma said, "but you've got to stop pushing me. I've got too much other stuff to deal with without feeling like my best friends are systematically destroying who I am. No more games, no more throwing my gender in my face."
"Oh thank you," Lisa let out a sob of relief and glomped Ranma. Claudia hugged both of them.
"You have no idea how happy I am to have you back, Ranma," Claudia smiled. "If for nothing else, this one here," she patted Lisa, "has been inconsolable."
"Yeah, the whole damn base will thank you for this, Ranma," Roy grinned. "The warm happy Commander Hayes was much easier to deal with than the emotionless martinet you left in her place when you went to El Centro. She's been driving everyone nuts."
"Oh stop," Lisa said. "I wasn't that bad." Roy just looked at her with half lidded eyes. Finally, Lisa gave a half sob, half laugh. "Okay, so maybe I was a little hard to get along with, but I was beside myself with guilt. Give me a break."
"We did make allowances," Roy told her. "Why else do you think you didn't end up hanging from the highest antenna array after the mutiny? On second thought, would it be a mutiny if Captain Gloval was leading the mob? You'll probably get a medal out of this, Ranma, but the Captain will probably court martial you for destroying morale if you ever shut Lisa out again."
Lisa rolled her eyes, still clinging to Ranma.
"So did you have a good time in El Centro while the rest of us were stuck back here tiptoeing around Little Miss Tyrant?" Claudia asked.
"Yeah, I did," Ranma smiled stroking Lisa's back. "The Blues were great. They really know their stuff and helped a lot. I think we impressed the hell out of them too. The squadron is really coming together. Wait until you see the routine we cooked up. It's gonna blow your minds."
"Why did Lieutenant Kruger call you 'Mom'?" Lisa asked. Ranma chuckled.
"It was a little thing they cooked up to bring me out of my brooding on the way there," Ranma explained. "They had heard the CO of the Blues was called 'Boss' so they thought their CO needed a name too. They're a real bunch of comedians too, let me tell you. Half way there they started and almost all the way back. 'Are we there yet, Mom?' Mom, I have to go potty.' 'Mom, I'm thirsty.' Sheesh, not a moment's peace, I tell you. Never, ever, have seven daughters and take them on a road trip."
Everyone laughed and it was clear that the tension had dissipated. They were all thankful that things were back to normal.
(oOO/Oo)
The week went by and Rose had gotten all their landmarks fixed and were ready for the show. It was Friday about noon when they finished up a final practice session in the simulators. As they emerged they found Roy standing there grinning like the cat that ate the canary.
"Ladies," he greeted, if anything his grin broadened.
"Something we can do for you, Commander?" Ranma asked.
"Well, not for me exactly," Roy chuckled. "It seems you have some gentlemen callers to see you. They say they're here to collect on a date you promised them. They said you promised to show them a real good time."
By now the Roses were all looking at each other, confused.
"Alright, Commander, spill it," Ranma demanded. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Nope, you'll just have to go see for yourselves," Roy smirked. "They're waiting for you in your ready room."
Ranma and the rest of the Roses looked at each other again. They shrugged and head to their ready room. Ranma was going absolutely nuts trying to figure out what was going on. She recognized that Roy was baiting her, but she was still perplexed about who would want to see them. It crossed her mind that maybe it was some high level politicos that the brass had arranged for them to meet, though she dismissed that. Roy would have been pissed if they used one of his squadrons as an escort service. Especially if it was Ranma, knowing that she would most likely be homicidal if they told her she had to be some crusty old politician's date for the evening. Instead, Roy seemed amused and happy, but before she could think of why that would be, they reached the Roses' ready room, which one of the girls had made a sign that announced it as the Rose Garden. "Where else would you find Roses?" she had asked.
Entering the room there were 8 sighs of relief. Apparently the other girls feared the same thing Ranma had, but when they saw who was there, their apprehension turned to pleasure.
"Someone promised if we came to Macross that we would be shown the time of our lives by some really hot women," Brett Kingsley said with a grin. "Well, we couldn't exactly turn down an offer like that, now could we?"
"You came," Ranma said with a smile. "Welcome to Macross guys."
Greetings and pleasantries were exchanged between the two teams.
"I believe the gentlemen were promised a ride in the Valkyries," Roy mentioned. "It just so happened that we have 8 VF-1D's prepped and ready."
Ranma took Roy aside.
"How much can we show them?" Ranma asked.
"Pretty much anything you want in fighter mode, no alternate configs," Roy replied.
"How about ceiling?" Ranma asked.
"Keep it in the atmosphere, but as high as you want until then," Roy said. "Plan on showing them the stars?"
"I thought I might. It's a pretty impressive view once you're out of the atmospheric murk," Ranma said. "So I can take them up to about Angels 160 then? That should wow them a bit and give them bragging rights that they've been out of the stratosphere."
"Sounds good," Roy said.
(oOO/Oo)
"You all strapped in and ready to go, Boss?" Ranma said from the rear seat of the VF-1D as they taxied out onto the runway.
"Roger that, Mom," Brett chuckled into the intercom from the front seat. "Wow me."
"Oh I think we can manage that," Ranma said.
Ranma brought the throttles smoothly to full power and released the brakes. The VF-1D leaped forward forcing them hard back in their seats. By the time they reached the halfway point of the runway, Ranma was holding the Valkyrie twenty feet off the deck and the gear and flaps were retracted. As they reached the end of the runway, Ranma pitched the nose up sharply, going pure vertical and climbing out fast.
"I thought you might like to experience the tail stand and pirouette move," Ranma explained as they continued to climb. "We'll climb out to about angels 40 and I'll cut the power back until we're hovering. I don't want to do it any lower because I'd like to surprise them at the airshow tomorrow."
"Roger," Brett said from the front seat, the grin evident in his voice.
As they transitioned through 35,000 feet, Ranma began to back off on the power, slowing their ascent until finally just as the altimeter read 40,000, they hung suspended in midair. Slowly the VF-1D began to rotate clockwise. It made two and a half rotations and then Ranma brought the throttles back up to full power while pushing the nose over into level inverted flight at 40,000 feet. She quickly rolled the plane upright and began speaking again.
"Now, the way we can do these things has a lot to do with the control systems," she explained. "The interface is calibrated to the pilot in our helmets and flight suits, so someone without the equipment won't have access to all the controls. However, the VF-1 can be flown without them. Would you like to give it a shot?"
"Sure, why not?" Brett said, placing his hands on the controls. "Ready."
"Okay, Front seat's airplane," Ranma announced. "Feel free to get jiggy with it. It's virtually impossible to put the VF-1 in an unrecoverable situation. Automated systems will automatically stabilize the aircraft if you let go of the controls."
Brett made a few experimental maneuvers. "Wow, it's responsive," he commented.
"You have no idea," Ranma grinned. "During manual flying, the computer uses the thrusters to assist the flight controls. With the full controls available the pilot can control the thrusters independently."
Bret spent the next half hour testing the limits of the VF-1 and while he couldn't appreciate its full capabilities, he found it a superior aircraft to anything he had flown. Meanwhile, in the sky around them the rest of the Blues were experiencing the Valkyrie.
"Are you ready to see something truly awesome?" Ranma asked.
"More awesome than what you've already shown me? Sure," Brett said.
"Okay, I have to take back the airplane," Ranma said.
"Rear seat's airplane," Brett announced.
"Rose Lead, Rose Squadron," Ranma said over the squadron channel. "It's time. Form up on me, vee formation."
There was a chorus of acknowledgements and soon Rose Squadron was formed up. Ranma pitched the nose up into a steep climb, though not vertical. Brett watched the altimeter scroll up through 50...60...70...80,000 feet. The sky began to darken and still they climbed. As the approached 90,000 feet the engine noise began to change from a whine to a roar.
"Hear the change in the engine noise?" Ranma asked. "We just transitioned from the atmospheric turbines to the non-atmospheric thrust system."
"That smoothly? I'm impressed," Brett said as he gawked at the view outside the canopy.
The sky was now black and the stars seemed endless. He had never seen so many stars, even on a clear night in the blackness of the desert. He could also see the curvature of the earth below them. Still they climbed.
"Take a look at the altimeter," Ranma said after a few minutes, leveling the plane out and cutting back the power. Brett looked down and saw that the altimeter read 160,000 feet. "Now you can tell your drinking buddy's that you've officially been out of the stratosphere."
"Outstanding," Brett said enthusiastically.
They stayed up there for about fifteen minutes as the Blues got to enjoy the view that was very similar to how it would look from orbit.
"Rose Two, Rose Lead," Ursula called, "Hate to break this up, but don't forget you have a dinner date to get ready for."
"Rose Lead, Rose Two, Roger," Ranma chuckled, looking at the clock and seeing it was just after 4 pm. "Alright people, let's take it to the barn."
There were more than a few groans of disappointment and someone muttered "lucky stiff" under their breath as Ranma began their descent.
(oOO/Oo)
"Remember, Children, we have a 10 am flight time tomorrow," Ranma said to her gathered team. "Don't stay up too late."
"You either, Mom," Ursula smirked and winked suggestively. "Enjoy yourself with Commander Hayes." There were a couple of snickers from the Roses and Ranma blushed.
"Um...Commnader Hayes, as in..." Brett began after Ranma had left to get ready for her diner date.
"The SDF-1's XO, yes," Ursula grinned.
"But isn't she a...well...she?" Brett asked, confused.
"Rumor has it," Ursula laughed. Then she saw some of the Blues with looks of consternation. "Look, guys, don't judge Mom, okay? She's had a pretty rough and bizarre life. In spite of all that, she's a fantastic pilot and a good CO, maybe a great CO one day. She cares about us all, so if Commander Hayes makes her happy then I'm thrilled for her."
"Damn straight...er...well, you know what I mean," Marissa grinned sheepishly. The other Roses giggled, but agreed. "So boys, not all of us play for the other team, care to take us to dinner?" Freddy snorted in laughter.
"Well, I guess we could afford that since Mom is otherwise engaged," the Blues XO laughed and offered his arm to Marissa. "You know this berg, where should we go?"
"Everyone like Chinese?" Ursula asked, taking the arm of Jeff Gains, who had offered it to her. There was a general chorus of assents. "We go to the White Dragon then."
(oOO/Oo)
Ranma knocked on the door to Lisa's quarters. She stood in the hall wearing a black skirt that fell to her mid-thigh and a sleeveless red silk blouse. She had on make-up and jewelry, and her fiery red hair hung loosely to below her shoulder blades. Underneath, she wore the lingerie that Lisa had picked out for her before the Thanksgiving party.
Her choices in apparel somewhat mystified even her. She supposed that she wanted to show Lisa that everything was okay now, that Ranma hadn’t rejected everything they had tried to do for her. She shifted a little in her black sandals as she waited for Lisa to answer the door.
Lisa answered the door in a casual powder blue dress that was long enough to be modest but short enough to show off her long beautiful legs. Ranma couldn't help but think of how attractive this woman looked to her, from her white strappy sandals to her long rich auburn hair. She couldn't help but blush as she recalled how that tall lithe body felt held close to her, and how it felt under her massaging hands.
"You look wonderful, Ranma," Lisa said. "I'm so glad you came." She reached out and took Ranma's hands in hers and leaned in to apply a light kiss to Ranma's cheek.
"You look great too, Lisa," Ranma said with a smile as the taller girl pulled her inside.
"Would you like a glass of wine?" Lisa asked. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."
"I have to fly tomorrow but I suppose one glass won't hurt," Ranma answered.
She took in Lisa's suite. The artificial lighting had been subdued and most of the lighting came from flickering candle light. The scent of potpourri filled the room and gave it a distinctly feminine atmosphere. The mood of the suite was very intimate and romantic causing Ranma to wonder just what Lisa had planned for tonight as she remembered the talk she had with Roy right before the blow out.
Lisa returned to the room with two wine glasses filled with red wine. She handed Ranma one of them and smiled warmly, guiding the smaller girl over to the couch. They sat turned slightly toward each other, their knees touching. Lisa held up her glass.
"To tomorrow, when we will see the results of all our hard work," Lisa said, but continued after a brief pause. "And to the person that returned the joy to my life." She looked meaningfully at Ranma, causing her to blush.
"Kanpai," Ranma said. They clinked glasses and sipped the wine.
"So are you nervous about tomorrow's show?" Lisa asked, smiling sweetly at Ranma.
"Heh, not in the least," Ranma replied. "The girls have got the routine nailed. We're ready and we're gonna knock their socks off."
"I like to see you confident," Lisa said. "It's very sexy."
Ranma nearly choked on the sip of wine she had just taken. Lisa laughed musically. Just then the buzzer on the oven chimed. Lisa stood and handed her glass of wine to Ranma.
"If you could take those over to the table and have a seat, I'll bring our dinner out," Lisa suggested.
(oOO/Oo)
An hour later, after the best Chicken Parmesan that Ranma had ever tasted, they were once again sitting on the couch. Ranma had decided to chance a second glass of wine to steady her nerves. Lisa had flirted with her heavily through out dinner and it was effecting her, making her feel...needy.
They were making small talk about her squadron, Lisa's duties, and the plans for tomorrow when Lisa turned serious.
"Ranma, I...when we pushed you too far and you...I thought you hated me," Lisa said. Ranma saw tears well up in her eyes and begin to over dribble down her face in large drops. "When you left for California, and wouldn't speak to me, I just didn't know what to do. I felt so desolate, so hopeless. Oh Ranma, I'm so sorry for hurting you. I felt like such a monster for hurting someone I cared so much about." The sobs began to escape her and Ranma took her in her arms, holding her as she cried with her head pillowed on Ranma's breasts. Lisa put her arms around Ranma and held on as if her life depended on it.
"It's okay, Lisa," Ranma whisper soothingly to her. "You didn't know. I never said anything." The redhead stroked the sobbing woman's hair gently. "I forgive you. I know you didn't do it on purpose and I shouldn't have gone off on you guys like I did. I lost control."
Ranma just continued to hold her and stroke her tenderly as Lisa cried out the guilt and pain she felt. Eventually she wound down to the odd sniffle, but they continued to hold each other. Ranma handed her a tissue as Lisa's crying subsided and Lisa wiped her face off, never moving from her position in Ranma's arms.
"Thank you," Lisa said softly. It was unclear whether she meant the tissue or for Ranma holding her while she let it all out.
Lisa slowly turned her head up to look deeply into Ranma's ocean blue eyes. She smiled a little and moved her face a little closer.
"Lisa, I..." Ranma started but was silenced by Lisa's fingertip over her lips.
"Shhh," Lisa shushed her gently.
The brunette moved her hand behind Ranma's head and pulled the redhead in for a deep passionate kiss. When Ranma began to respond Lisa let her hand trail down and began to stroke the redhead's well formed breast. Ranma stiffened at first, but the feeling of being touched so intimately, and with so much tender desire, overwhelmed her. She moaned softly into Lisa's hungry mouth.
After a few blissful minutes, Lisa moved her hand from Ranma's now hard tipped flesh and traced it sensually up along Ranma's arm until she reached the girls hand. Taking the hand, she guided it to her own smaller breast and let Ranma know that she wanted to be touched too. Once sure the redhead got the idea, Lisa's hand moved on and began to stroke the creamy flesh of Ranma's exposed thigh, traveling ever upward beneath the redhead's skirt toward the building heat at the top of her legs.
Lisa moaned softly as Ranma's hand stoked and gently pinched her distending nipples. Ranma was too distracted by the fiery need that was welling up inside her to think, much less protest. In truth she didn't want to protest. She was awash in her desire for the brunette.
Ranma whimpered slightly as Lisa moved away to stand, the loss of the warmth of her soft body pressed against Ranma's and the loss of the sensations Lisa's hands were eliciting, nearly painful. Lisa smiled down at the redhead whose eyes looked up at her, glazed and dark with need. She pulled Ranma up and leaned down to briefly kiss her, gently tugging her toward the bedroom.
When the reached the bedroom, Lisa, again, stepped away. She pulled her thin dress up over her head and let it fall to the floor. She was standing before Ranma in a white, lacy and very sexy thong, her breasts cupped in a matching white lace bra. Ranma's mouth was dry as she gulped, taking in Lisa's lithe form, sexily showcased by the lingerie.
Lisa stepped forward and pressed herself against Ranma again. She kissed the redhead passionately before her fingers began to unbutton the redhead's silk blouse. Ranma felt an electric thrill travel through her as her bare skin came into contact with Lisa's. Lisa pushed the blouse off Ranma's shoulders and down her arms to pool on the carpet. Ranma felt the elastic waistband of her skirt begin tugged over her hips to join the blouse on the floor around her feet.
Lisa took Ranma's hands and stepped back slightly, still kissing the redhead as if reluctant to let go. Releasing the smaller girl's lips, she panted as she looked at the girl before her. She saw Ranma had worn the sexy black lace thong and bra that Lisa had picked out for her and grinned. It looked every bit as good on her as it had in Lisa's fantasies. She smiled, kicking off her sandals and watched as Ranma did the same.
She pulled Ranma to the bed and gave her a little shove, sending her down on it, before sensually crawling up over Ranma's body on her hands and knees. She paused to look down into Ranma's dark searching eyes.
"Lisa," Ranma said, her voice raw with her desire, "are you sure? I thought you just wanted to be friends."
"Have you ever heard the term 'friends with benefits'?" Lisa asked in a husky voice. At Ranma's look of confusion, she continued, "Ranma when friends are close and trust each other, sometimes they will respond to each other's needs. I need you, Ranma. I need to be touched. I need to feel desired. I need to feel intimate pleasure. I need release for the passion I feel for you. I know you need these things too. I can see it in your eyes, feel it in your touch, smell it in the air." Lisa paused and inhaled deeply. "The scent of your need is driving me crazy. I love you, Ranma, as my best friend, and each moment I spend with you, that feeling grows and changes into something more. Each day, it gets a little easier to think of letting Karl go.
"Right now at this moment, I want you Ranma. I want to caress you. I want to taste you. I want to make you feel wonderful in a way that you've never felt before. I want nothing more and nothing less than to make beautiful sweet love to you. Will you let me make beautiful sweet love to you, Ranma? Will you let me worship your body with my touch and caress?"
"But shouldn't you save that for the person you marry?" Ranma asked weakly, wanting to give in, but wanting to give Lisa a way out. Lisa giggled softly and caressed Ranma's breasts, teasingly sliding her fingers beneath the lacy edge of the cups.
"I'm not a virgin, Love," Lisa said. "I gave that to Karl long ago. Saving yourself for marriage is such an outdated concept. I believe it's okay to enjoy your body and share it with someone special. I've only ever been with Karl, but you are very special to me, Ranma, and I want to give myself to you now. Do you think poorly of me for that?"
"I think you're beautiful, Lisa," Ranma said, running her hands up the soft flesh Lisa's smooth flanks to cup and knead her breasts. "Please...make love to me," Ranma said softly and blushed darkly.
Lisa smiled and descended on the redhead. The pair proceeded to make slow tender love, fulfilling the need that had continued to grow since that first day at by the pool. When they finally collapsed, spent, they were lightly coated with their sweet lover's sweat. The warm musky scent of woman filled the room as they lay basking in the warm afterglow of their lovemaking. Soon after, they fell asleep, cuddled closely in each others arms.
(oOO/Oo)
Dictionary of Acronyms and other Jargon
(As requested by Lerris)
2IC--Second In Command
AMRAAM--Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile
APU--Auxiliary Power Unit
ATC--Air Traffic Control
AWACS--Airborne Warning And Control System
BDU--Battle Dress Uniform (fatigues)
BOQ--Bachelor Officer's Quarters
CAG--Commander, Air Group
CAP--Combat Air Patrol
CAS--Close Air Support
CBU--Cluster Bomb Unit
CO--Commanding Officer
ETA--Estimated Time of Arrival
GBU--Guided Bomb Unit
HARM--High speed Anti-Radiation Missile
JSDF-- Japanese Self Defense Force
LAV--Light Armored Vehicle
SAM--Surface to Air Missile
SDF--Super Dimensional Fortress
UNEDF--United Nations of Earth Defense Force
UNEDC--Untied Nations of Earth Defense Command
RDF--Robotech Defense Force
XO--Executive Officer (second in command)
Angels in reference to altitude is a navy thing, and is a way of saying flight level, which basically means adding three zeros on the number for the altitude reference. (JRA)
Port--left
Starboard--right