Explosions lit up the night as Breetai winced, the giant Zentradi sitting on the bridge of his flagship. "They spotted our troops sooner than we thought," the big man rumbled, the half helmet that covered part of his face gleaming. Exedore nodded thoughtfully, "We knew they used more patrol craft than most of our enemies... it was a calculated risk." "Hmm," Breetai murmured, watching the battle unfold on a screen set beside his chair. In the middle of the flight of battlepods several fighters spun and danced in the explosions of their deadly weaponry. All of the enemy craft fought well, but a blue trimmed fighter fought even better than most. "That's one of the three our warriors are most concerned about," Exedore said diplomatically as he recognized the vehicle's markings, "they have a remarkable kill rate for our battlepods." Mentally he added, 'Concerned sounds better than terrified.' A technician who was monitoring the battle called out respectfully, "Zor's ship is transforming again!" "I often wonder why they've done that," Exedore murmured, watching as the great ship changed form, eventually resembling a standing humanoid warrior. "They may have unlocked some new power of Protoculture," Breetai mused. "Sir, Quamzin is requesting permission to launch an attack," another warrior reported as more battlepods were destroyed on the view screen. "Have all the battlepods been spotted?" Breetai asked thoughtfully as the battle waged hotter on the screen, reinforcements sweeping in to aid Earth's defenders. "Yes, Lord Breetai," another bridge member noted regretfully, "once the first wing was spotted, the scouts on the other approach vectors were able to detect the other wings, too." Breetai rose, frowning. "If even one of our covert groups had broken through, it might have been worthwhile to follow up with a full assault," he said seriously, "but without at least one, it would be simply a waste of vessels." Meanwhile, on the bridge of a smaller vessel a hand smashed at a innocent control panel, the slim officer nearly shaking with rage. "Cowardly fool!" Quamzin yelped as he returned to his seat, "Why will he not find his nerve!?" "My lord," a officer replied tentatively, "the gambit failed. The hidden ships were spotted too soon to carry out the plan." "Shut up!" Quamzin nearly leapt from his seat as he backhanded the Zentradi, his strength shocking from such a small man. "Ooof," the officer flew across the bridge, slamming against the far wall painfully. "Do not question me," Quamzin stalked back to his chair, turning to study the image in front of them. In a much more normal tone of voice he noted, "See those discharges? They're going to fire the main gun again." Indeed even as he spoke flashes of lighting danced between the massive twin booms which normally were on the front of the ship. A light welled up between then as forces built, then suddenly it was released as a scythe of destructive energy cut through the ships of the great Zentradi fleet. Each ship the bolt touched died in a burst of destructive energy, the attack too sudden to be countered and too powerful to stop. "Why do they change their ship that way?" Quamzin wondered as they watched the wreckage of their ships fall from Earth's orbit to the planet below. Another officer, braver than most, offered, "Maybe it's a symbol to them?" "They are a irrational breed," Quamzin conceded reluctantly, "but I sense there is something more to it...." Out in the dogfight a Evangelion fighter exploded in flames and Shinji Ikari cursed softly, the brown haired pilot too far away to help. Wheeling around he raced in to reinforce the wing even as a green decorated fighter joined him. His eyes widened as they swept through the enemy in a blaze of fireballs, the other pilot keeping up with him as they tore into the enemy. Noting the fighter's number Shinji punched it into the radio as he shifted to Guardian mode, the fighter hovering in mid air as it fired lethally. The face that appeared on his screen was that of a black haired man, his expression oddly pleasant as he destroyed battlepods left and right. "Lieutenant Ikari," Lynn Kyle said with a smile, "hope you don't mind the assist." "Thanks," Shinji smiled back as they fired, driving back a concentrated push even as more fighters arrived to support them, "it was getting a little tense." Kyle waved that aside, "You were handling things, sir. I just sped things up a bit." "Ikari, Lynn," the bridge hailed them as Maya said, "we're getting steady fire from several cruisers in the left quadrant. Can you do something about it?" "Let's go," Ikari said with a feral grin as they shifted back to fighter mode, rocketing off towards the Zentradi cruisers. Bobbing and weaving through streams of enemy fire the two pilots reached the dark green skin of the alien craft, skimming along the surface as they fired on the exposed weapons mounts. They went up in brightly colored bursts of flame as the twin fighters swiftly pruned away the cruiser's offensive capability, then soared on to strike another one. Kyle shook his head slightly as he and Shinji soared down at another cruiser as the first limped away. 'Incredible,' he thought as he dodged a beam that would have pulped his Evangelion, 'Ikari has no wasted movement at all... he'd be a natural martial artist.' Fire blossomed on the surface of the cruiser as Shinji unleashed a flight of missiles, then they soared in through the smoke to wreak havoc. "Watch for fire from the left," Shinji warned as several battlepods tried to interfere. "I see them," Kyle flipped his Evangelion around in a move that looked more difficult than it was and opened fire, picking them off before returning to his strafing run. "Nice," Shinji smiled, then both were too preoccupied with battle to talk. Within the SDF-1 there was both a sense of tension and a oddly relaxed feeling, the people within the ship having grown a bit complacent under the constant attacks. In the stadium where the Miss Macross contest was being held the biggest reaction seemed annoyance at the inconvenience of the modular transformation. Kaworu pushed his white hair back as the young man smiled wryly, "I wonder if this'll happen during the show?" The group of contestants were all stuck in the stadium's safe zone as they waited for the ship to revert to normal and free them. "It better not!" Satsuki Ooi growled, the lovely blonde pacing about as they waited for the battle to end. "Damn it, couldn't they have waited till after we rehearse?!" "I don't think the Zentradi book their battles based on your schedule," Asuka Langley said dryly from where she waited by Rei. "Are you being smart?!" Satsuki demanded. "Damn right," Asuka said dryly, seemingly entirely un-bothered by the actress' famous temper tantrums. "Ah...," Something in Asuka's eyes caused the actress to stop her advance, making a humph sound before stalking back to her seat. "Well done," Rei Ayanami murmured, sitting close to her. "Indeed," Maya Ibuki agreed, the boyish officer leaning up against a wall nearby, "I swear, she's a bigger pain than a hung over Misato." "You shouldn't talk about the Captain that way," Mana Kirishima said, blushing faintly. ASuka looked over at the test pilot with a wry smile, "You and I both know it's the truth. Rumors about her drinking have spread all through the military." "Still," Mana looked over at the civilians meaningfully. "Point," Asuka conceded, glad they had all mostly kept their voices down. "Anyone got any good jokes about modular transformations?" Kaworu wondered casually, "I could work that into my routine." "You could always joke about needing a modular transformation to get into that suit," Satsuki said wryly. "It is tight," Kaworu conceded as he plucked at the tight white tuxedo he wore. "Looks good on you, though," Satsuki had to concede. Asuka thumped her hand against the bulkhead in frustration, "Damn it, I wish I was out there in my Evangelion." "Me too," Rei squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. Minmei and Miriya sat nearby, the exhausted younger woman snoozing against Miriya's shoulder. Seeing the pilots' questioning look Miriya softly explained, "She was up late last night practicing a new song." 'Ah," Asuka nodded in understanding. She smiled slightly as she wrapped a arm around Rei's shoulder, "I'm glad you're here taking care of her." Miriya blushed, looking down as she said quietly, "I'm glad to be here too." 'Isn't that interesting,' Satsuki thought, mentally connecting different things she had seen between the two women, 'I wonder if I could use this...?'
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