Breetai looked out from his command bridge at the great ship that floated off in the distance, his expression grim as he looked at the most recent aerial battlefield. The last attack against the SDF-1 had been a viscous one, with a mysterious energy barrier system being deployed to protect the great vessel and later to destroy the attacking force "How much damage did the explosion do their population centers?" he asked his crew grimly, the silver helm that covered part of his face gleaming, the crystal eyepatch shining. He struck an imposing figure, even among the warriors of his people. "Complete devastation," was the simple answer, "the shock wave entirely destroyed the region for miles around. We never considered these Micronians could be so ruthless, especially against just a few cruisers and fighter wings." Breetai nodded grimly. Commander Khyron had pressed home his attack against Zor's ship ruthlessly, attempting to break through the ship's defenses without considering the immense power they faced. Instead much of his attack force had been utterly destroyed, and the Micronians had demonstrated yet another dangerous ability. "Send the report to Lord Dolza on what happened," Breetai ordered, "and maintain a safe distance between us and Zor's ship. We must consider this new ability and what it may mean to the war." As his men raced to obey he added, "Monitor their internal transmissions, we need to acquire any additional data we can." "We continue to have difficulty with their language," another officer added reluctantly, "ad some of our people have found the images... disturbing." "We are Zentradi warriors," Breetai answered firmly, "we will manage." Meanwhile, in a private meeting room in the SDF-1 Captain Misato Katsuragi looked tired, rubbing at her eyes from her seat at the head of the table. Beside her Maya Ibuki, Ritsuko Akagi and Gendo Ikari sat, looking at their leader worriedly. "How much did the barrier overload cost us?" Misato asked as the black haired woman looked at each of her officers. Ritsuko pushed blonde hair back, her uniform now uncharacteristically wrinkled. "The sector governor has withdrawn his permission to offload our civilians," she said grimly, "and their casualty reports are still coming in." "God." Misato sighed before looking over at Maya. The brown haired younger lady looked like she had been crying, Maya's eyes red rimmed and a bit bloodshot. "We were relatively lucky, I suppose," Maya said seriously, "we only lost a few pilots when the barrier went up." "The overload was completely unexpected," Gendo said without prompting, the black haired scientist grave, "it was designed to safely dissipate the attacks, but somehow it absorbed all the incoming energy until going critical." "I think we forget that this is still alien technology we're working with," Ritsuko looked bleak, "with unpredictable abilities." "And to think we raised the barrier to try to protect the people around us," Misato said bitterly, "the world government won't forgive this." "I'll order the cancellation of the Miss Macross pageant," Maya said quietly, "it's meant to start in a few days, after all..." "No," Misato said firmly after a moment's careful thought, "actually I think we should let them go ahead with it." "Huh?" Ritsuko looked at her in surprise. "The people of the city could use a morale boost right now," Misato said simply, "not to mention the crew." Maya looked a bit nervous as she asked them, "Are you still interested in having a member of the bridge crew competing?" "Yes," Ritsuko nodded before adding, "and it'll probably be you." "Eeep," Maya squeaked. Later that day in a larger compartment of the SDF-1 the ship's chaplain finished up his service, closing the bible as many of the pilots rose to quietly talk together. The fliers who had been caught up in the barrier explosion were being honored all together, a line of photos and names up near the front of the room wreathed in black ribbon. "Commander Akagi and Maya don't look too good," Asuka noted, the orange haired pilot standing with her two wingmen. "I think Maya is the type to take this sort of thing very personally," Shinji answered her quietly before revealing, "and I heard that Ritsuko has been running all over the ship trying to find out what exactly went wrong." "I just hope that Hikari doesn't run into Ritsuko," Rei said to them softly, "she's upset enough to do something rash." Asuka winced, her eyes seeking out Hikari Horaki in the crowd. The young pilot stood just a little apart from the others, her brown haired tied back in a ponytail, her uniform bearing the same black armband that all of them were wearing. Unlike most of them she had lost a wingman, and her grief nearly radiated off of her. "Does anyone know why Toji couldn't get clear?" Shinji asked quietly. "Don't tell Hikari but he was hot-dogging again," Asuka revealed, "he was fighting a group of battlepods and disregarded the evacuation order." "How's Aida taking it?" Rei asked. "He's more depressed that Hikari, in some ways," Shinji looked over at the blonde young man sitting near Hikari, "they were friends since they were kids." "I hate to admit that I'm happy we were off destroying that cruiser," Asuka said what all three of them were thinking, "or we might have been at ground zero, too." She nervously ran a hand through her hair, "We'd better go see if we can help." The three made their way to Hikari's side, the young woman seemingly lost in her own world. There was a awkward moment of silence then Rei surprised them by speaking up. "I'm sorry," she said softly, "I didn't know Toji that well, but I thought he was a good man." "He was an idiot," Hikari answered softly. "What?" Asuka blinked in surprise. Hikari wiped at her eyes weakly, "He took forever to ask me out, you know. Took him weeks and he nearly fainted once he managed it." "I didn't realize you two were..." Shinji blinked. A grim smile twisted Hikari's lips, "We were careful, at least as much as we could." She reached out to touch the photo of the young man, her hand shaking slightly, "Now he's gone and none of that matters anymore." Asuka reached out to squeeze Hikari's shoulder in a silent offering of support, "Was there anything you think he'd want done?" "I'm inviting the pilots out to get good and drunk in his honor," Hikari answered with a wry smile, "I think he'd have wanted it that way." Rei noticed a figure making her way through the crown and nudged Asuka as she softly warned, "Trouble, incoming." Ritsuko reached them before any of the pilots could do anything, standing in front of the visibly pale Hikari. "I... regret your loss, Horaki-san," she said seriously. Hikari met her eyes, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes as she softly growled, "Stuff your regrets, commander." 'Oh hell,' Asuka thought weakly. "Why did this happen, damn it?" Hikari demanded, "How the hell did ten of our pilots get killed by our own barrier system?" "I don't know," Ritsuko answered honestly, "but I intend to do everything in my power to find out, and to make sure it never happens again." Rei smoothly kept Hikari from striking the Commander, grabbing the other woman's had. "You might want to go," she looked at Ritsuko then over to Hikari, "that would not be a good idea." "Thanks," Ritsuko quietly left.
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