Chapter 25David craned his head backwards, peering intently into the nose landing gear compartment as he shown a flashlight beam into it. "Damned screwey hydraulics." he grumbled, pulling himself a little closer to the compartment. "What with all the techs busy someplace else, it would pick right now to spring a friggin' leak." He quickly spotted the culprit - a brake line connection was slowly dripping hydraulic fluid onto the hangar deck plates. He quickly checked to make sure all the lock-out tags were in place, then pulled a small wrench from his back pocket. He cautiously reached inside and began tightening the fitting. There was a sharp hiss and a gout of reddish-brown fluid spurted from the now-ruptured fitting, spattering David's head and shoulders in uncomfortably hot hydraulic fluid. "DAMN!!" he cried - more from shock than pain - tumbling backwards away from the Valkyrie. He landed hard on his backside, eliciting yet another yelp. Sitting on the deck, legs akimbo, with his hair plastered to his forehead, David wiped the fluid from his brow and sighed heavily. <Wonderful. Just wonderful. What next?> Two of Black Squadron's techs came running over, their frantic questions - and those of everyone else who had seen his accident - striking him as rather humorous. Coupled with his current predicament, David couldn't help but start laughing - a deep belly laugh that quickly infected everyone around, and soon the entire hangar was echoing with laughter. Lauren walked up to him with a rag. "My God, David. You're a mess." "Thanks." He took the rag from her and began wiping his face. "Thank God I bled the pressure out of that line." He paused, glancing at the puddle of fluid that was collecting underneath him. "Well, most of the pressure, at least." "You'd better get yourself cleaned up." Tony suggested. "Unless you WANT to sit in your Valk all day looking like a drowned rat." "I don't look that bad." David protested, glancing over at Lauren. "Do I?" She nodded, smiling. "Oh." One of the technical crew came over, a small brass fitting in her hands. "Here's the rascal. Stress cracked, probably would've come apart when you taxied out for launch." She smiled. "If you wouldn't have played with it first, that is." "How long to fix?" David asked, feeling his cheeks flush. <At least I found out BEFORE I taxied out.> "Oh, about five minutes." The tech replied, examining the broken fitting. "Another five or so to re-pressurize and test the line. Say about ten, fifteen minutes, tops." "Thanks." David muttered, shaking his head. "Wonderful way to start a day, eh?" "Only you, boss." Tony chuckled. "Only you - uh, oh." "Uh oh what?" David asked, looking up. Commander Landers was standing before him, a bemused expression playing across her face. "Uh oh." "I'm almost afraid to ask what happened." the Commander commented, her eyes travelling down his fluid-streaked uniform to the puddle at his feet, then back again. "Ah, well, you see..... ah...." David sighed. <Oh brother.> "It's a long story, sir." She nodded slightly. "I see. Well, we don't have a lot of time to spare, so you'll have to tell me about it later." "Yes, sir." David replied. <That aught to be an interesting discussion.> "You'd better go clean yourself up. We should be landing any time now. Since your flight's patrol slot is coming up, you'll be on the flight deck while the SDF is being loaded." "Is that wise, Commander?" Lauren asked, echoing David's own thoughts. "What if we have to scramble?" The Commander shrugged. "We're pretty far down on the launch schedule, so if he hauls ass, he should make it back in case of a scramble alert." She turned to face David. "So haul ass, Sergeant." David snapped to attention. "Yes, sir!" He snapped a salute, trying not to notice the spray of reddish droplets that flew from his hand. <Whoops.> He turned and tried to keep from running for the lavatory. "One more thing, David." The Commander added, stopping David in his tracks. "Sir?" She inclined her head towards his Valkyrie. "'Swiss Cheese'?" David couldn't help but grin. "Well..... the name fits. Always winds up full of holes." "Ah, I see. Carry on." "Yes, sir!" David paused. "I mean, Kay."
[Friday, 12 Apr 2010, Promtheus Hangar Deck, 1230 hours] "David! Hey, David!" David looked up from the diagnostics screen and saw Sergeant Nielsen approaching the 'Swiss Cheese.' "Ho, Luke! What's the word?" "The word is FUBAR. Our orders have been changed." David rolled his eyes and hauled himself out of the cockpit. "Changed to what, dare I ask?" Nielsen shrugged. "We've been assigned to close-in perimeter security." "What?! You've got to be kidding!" "Would I joke about something like that? All of Black Squadron's gonna be on the ground, except for Delta Flight. They got flight deck patrol." "Great. Just great." David growled. <Damn, of all the luck. And now my head's starting to itch. Damned hydraulic fluid!> "So what's the schedule?" Nielsen smiled. "Standard patrol, with position rotations at 1500 and 1700." "I see. Well, I better go tell my Wing. Thanks, Luke." "Any time, David. Any time."
[Friday, 12 Apr 2010, close-in security perimeter, 1405 hours] "Man, this is really getting monotonous." Charles complained. David smiled to himself, turning his battloid slightly so that he could catch sight of Charles' grey Valkyrie. <It sure is.> He opened the comm line. "Would you rather be out there on the outer perimeter, Charles? Ten miles out, admiring that wonderful ridge-line?" "Anything would be better than sitting here idling our engines." "Hey, I kinda like sitting here idling my engines." Tony interjected. "Let Skull Squadron meet the baddies first." "Who says there's any aliens out there in the first place?" David asked. "We might be in for a quiet day." "I'll believe it when I see it." Lauren chuckled. "We're sitting ducks while the Macross is on the ground. They'd be crazy not to take a swipe at us." "Aw, let 'em come. We'll beat them like we always have." Charles rasped. David resisted the urge to point out that enemy had been holding back a lot of it's forces. "Well, I'm still hoping for a quiet day. Besides... I'm starting to itch from that damned hydraulic shower." And he was - all over his body. "I thought you got yourself cleaned up?" Charles snickered. "I DID." David groaned. "Even took a quick dip in the emergency shower." Lauren started laughing. "And it still itches? You must've missed a few spots." "Ah, it's nerves." Tony dead-panned. "He just doesn't want to be late for that date tonight." "Date? What date?" Lauren asked. "You been holding out on us?" David sighed. "Just because I'm going out with a friend of mine doesn't mean that we're going on a date." "Just a friend, eh? Right." Charles clucked. "Come on, give us some details." "There's no details to tell!" David sighed. "We're going out to talk. That's all. Honest." "Going out with a cute friend, of the opposite sex." Tony sighed. "Sounds like a date to me. And you say you just want to talk." "Who in the world would be so stupid?" Lauren commented. "What?" David asked, confused. <What did I do now?> "What? Oh, not you, David." Lauren said quickly. "Off the bow. Some idiot in an unarmed trainer's headed for the base." She sighed. "Why would you go out in an unarmed trainer? Especially now?" David watched as the unmarked trainer flew over the base, out of sight. "Who knows? Some VIP probably got a bug up his ass and wanted to see the base up close." "Besides, all those S&R people are in the same boat." Tony pointed out. "They're all out there in unarmed trucks and such." "They got guards." Charles noted. "That's what all the Destroids were deployed for, right?" David was about to reply when a female voice broke across the comm circuit. "Attention all perimeter defense squadrons - we're moving the SDF-1 closer to the base. Be prepared for emergency orders." "They're moving closer?" Tony wondered aloud. "What for?" "And how could we be more prepared than we are now?" Lauren muttered. "Sometimes I wonder about those people up in the bridge. I really do." " Lets them load the ship faster." David answered, wondering if Tamara was out on the base. Probably. "The supply trucks won't have to go so far." "Oh." Tony muttered. "Okay, sounds good." David smiled. "Okay, gang. Fun's fun, but keep the chatter down a bit. If there IS<\I> a scramble, we'll never hear it." "Yes, boss." Lauren drawled. "Now, about this date....."
[Friday, 12 Apr 2010 - Mars Base Sara, close-in perimeter line, 1446 hours] "Aw, c'mon David." Tony chided. "There's no need to sulk about this. After all, we're all buddies, right?" "This is getting real monotonous, buddy." David commented dryly. "Can we PLEASE<\I> change the subject?" "But it's such a fun subject." Lauren giggled. "And you get so flustered trying to talk about it. It makes this whole damned wait more bearable." David sighed, trying hard not to smile. "So now I'm the comic relief? Do I get paid for this?" Tony laughed. "You've got to be kidding. This is all charity work!" David opened his mouth to comment, but was cut off by Sergeant Nielsen, whose voice blared across his cockpit speakers. "Theta Flight, there's some sort of disturbance along the perimeter. Stand ready in case it's something major." <Damn!> David cursed, running a quick visual check of his Valkyrie's status indicators. "You heard the man, guys. Double-check all systems and report status." "All systems green." Tony's voice declared. "Same here." Charles responded. Lauren chimed in. "Revved and rarin' to go, David." "Mother of God!" Someone - it sounded like Nielsen - shouted. "Did you see that?" "See what?" Charles inquired. "I didn't see anything." "I saw it." Tony replied. "Somebody just show down a Cat's Eye near the ridge-line." David groaned. "Shot down a Cat's Eye? Oh, hell." Commander Landers broke across the chatter. "Black squadron, prepare for an enemy attack. I repeat, prepare for an enemy attack." "David, look at the ridge!" Lauren cried. The sky was peppered with glowing specks. Nielsen made himself known again. "Black Leader, I see enemy units approaching from Twelve to six o'clock." <I wish I didn't.> David opened his comm line. "They're all over the other side too, Kay." The Commander muttered something under her breath. Then, louder, "All units, extend the perimeter. We can't let them get to the fortress. Move!" "You heard the lady, Gamma Wing." David reached out and yanked on the mode selector, switching to guardian mode. "Switch to guardian and follow me. Keep tight."
The next few minutes were a blur of frantic activity as mecha from both sides closed the distance between themselves. Sporadic long-range weapons' fire gave way to vicious fussilades at nearly point-blank ranges. Casualties rose quickly on both sides as the battle raged among the deserted buildings of Mars Base Sara itself.
[Friday Apr 12 2010 - Mars Base Sara, 1455 hours] "How you holding out, guys?" David asked as his battloid peered around the corner of an abandoned warehouse. The blackened husks of over thirty enemy pods littered the ground in front of the warehouse, remnants of three enemy assaults. Unfortunately, there was so much dust and smoke filling the thin Martian air on and around the base that it was impossible to see further than 100 yards in any direction without thermal imagers, and David's had been damaged during the second wave. "I'm okay, David, but I've only got two hundred rounds left." Tony replied, a slight edge to his voice. <Oh, wonderful.> "Lauren? Charles?" Charles sounded calm enough. "I've got a minor RM leak, David. Nothing serious. But I'm running low on ammo, too. One fifty." "One seventy seven here, David. And half my electronics are fried." Lauren's purple Valkyrie had taken several direct hits, and was leaking smoke. Her voice was shaky, but seemed to be holding up well enough. "But I think I'll live." David checked his own ammunition counter. <Ninety eight rounds left. Not enough to beat back another attack. Damn!> "Okay, we've got to pull outta here." "No kidding." Tony snarled. "But where to? The Macross is over a mile away!" "We'll have to take to the air." Lauren said flatly. "You're nuts!" Charles blurted. "You saw what happened to Blue Squadron when they tried to fly cover! They got cut to pieces!" "Which is exactly what's going to happen to us if we stay here on the ground!" David snapped. "I don't relish the idea of being a flying target for every alien on the base, but we don't have much choice. We were ordered to draw the enemy onto the base, and we've done that. Now we've got to get the hell out of here." There was movement at the limit of David's range of vision. After a moment's hesitation, David stepped away from the corner. "But let's stick to the ground for now. Head over that way, " he rasped, gesturing with the battloid's massive metal arm. "And try to keep as low as you can!" Something struck the warehouse with a bone-jarring "WHOOMPH", and the building erupted in a blazing ball of fire and smoke. Gamma Wing was sent sprawling. David and Charles were on their feet almost instantly, pouring fire into the veritable wall of pods that were pouring over the demolished warehouse. "Dammit!" David shouted. "Lauren, Tony, get airborne, now!" "But-" Tony began to protest. David cut him off. "No buts, dammit! MOVE! We'll be right behind you!" He glanced at the ammo counter. It was down to thirty five rounds. "Dammit! Charles, bug out!" "You got it, bos-AAAAAIIIIEE!" Charles' Valkyrie blossomed into a blazingly brilliant pillar of fire, his screams mercifully cut short. "Charles!" David shouted, already kicking in his engines, leaping high into the air. He fought the queasy sensation that filled his gut, switching over to guardian mode as soon as he was airborne. He heard Lauren shouting. "David, look out! Fighter pods bearing down on you!" "What!? Where?" he yelled, already yanking the f-mode selector and slamming the throttle forward. He felt the 'Swiss Cheese' shudder slightly, then four sickly-green alien fighters screamed past, guns blazing. "That was too close." "You're trailing smoke, David!" Tony informed him. "From your starboard engine!" David checked his status board. Sure enough, readings from the starboard engine were climbing through the yellow zone. He began throttling that engine down. "Where are those pods?" Lauren answered him. "Swinging around for another pass. And we're taking ground fire." David could see the bolts rising up from the base below them. He began swinging his Valkyrie around. "Okay, head back to the Macr-" The 'Swiss Cheese' bucked violently and began yawing to the right as David fought the suddenly sluggish controls. There was a series of bright flashes as several circuits shorted out in the cockpit, which began filling with smoke. "Oh, hell." The system status board was awash with red indicators. "David! DAVID!" Lauren was screaming. "David, can you hear me?" "I hear you Lauren." David replied more calmly than he felt. He closed his helmet's visor. "I've got a slight problem here...controls are sluggish, and the throttle's stuck - wide open. Cockpit's filling with smoke, too." "Can you get back to the ship?" Tony asked, his voice concerned. He glanced over his shoulder at the SDF-1. He was now well past the ship, and the base. "Negative, Tony. I can barely keep her level, much less turn around. I'm losing her." "Bail out, David!" Lauren pleaded. "We'll pick you up!" David hesitated. He didn't like the idea of being on the ground without some sort of protection, but he didn't see where he had any other choice. "Alright, I'm punching out!" He reached down and grasped the yellow-and-black striped handle. Taking a deep breath, he pulled on it, hard. Nothing happened. <What the...?> David yanked on the handle again, even harder. Still nothing. "Aw, nuts!" "David, punch out already!" Tony sounded really concerned. "Those fighters are gaining!" "I tried! The ejection seat's malfuntioning!" David rasped. "I'm going to have to ride this sucker down!" "What?!" Lauren protested. "Are you out of your mind?" "Do you have a better idea?" David spat as he struggled to keep the 'Swiss Cheese' from tilting to starboard. "Besides, there's not much I can do about it... this damned plane has a mind of it's own, now. And where the hell are those damned pods?" "Lining up behind you, David!" Tony answered. "You're outdistancing them, tho. What the... LOOK OUT!" There was a brilliant flash of light off to David's right, and the 'Swiss Cheese' promptly began nosing towards the ground. "No! No! Not that way, dammit!" he grunted, pulling back on the control stick with all his might. He could hear Tony and Lauren shouting at him, but ignored their cries as he fought to keep his plane from diving into the Martian soil. Somehow, he managed to do it. "That was too close. Lauren? Tony?" Tony responded first. "Thank God, David! I thought you were gonna crash back there!" David sighed. "So did I, Tony. Where are you two?" "We're three klicks behind those fighter pods, David. And they're about two klicks behind you. You're still within their missile range, but you're out-running them." Tony paused. "And I see at least three more squadrons of pods closing in on your position." <And yours, buddy. Damn.> "Can you get past them and lend me a hand?" Tony hesitated. "I don't think so, boss. I'm down to forty-eight rounds of ammo, and those pods have a damned good head start on us. By the time we close to cannon distance with the bandits behind you, the reinforcements will be all over us." "There has to be something we can do, Tony!" Lauren whispered. "We can't... we can't just let him... we have to do something!" <Have to do something. Yes, we do. But what? Think, David! Think!> There was another explosion near the 'Swiss Cheese', and several more circuits shorted out. <Outnumbered, out-gunned. Damn. Only one thing we can do.> "Tony?" "Yes, boss?" "I..." David's voice broke, but he recovered quickly. "I want you and Lauren to haul ass back to the Macross." "WHAT?!" both of them shouted, almost in unison. "David, we're not going to leave you!" Lauren cried. "That's not a request, dammit!" David shouted, trying to sound as confident as he could. "That's an order! You two can't do any good back there!" "But-" Tony began. A wave of icy calm washed over him, and David sighed. "Tony, it's the only way. What good would it do if we were all killed, eh? You two are almost out of ammunition, and there's a horde of aliens closing in. You two don't stand a chance!" "And neither do you!" Lauren pointed out. "We can't leave you to die!" David peered out through the smoke-stained canopy. He was rapidly approaching he ridge-line north of the base. <Oh, boy.> "Lauren, I think I'm going to die anyway. I'm going to reach that ridge-line in about a minute or so, and if I don't smack into the side of a mountain, the pods will nail me when I run out of reaction mass. I'd rather not have you two see me scattered across the landscape." "You could go over the ridges, David!" Lauren insisted. "You can gain as much altitude as you can and go over the ridges!" David shook his head. "Lauren, it won't make any difference! Those pods are almost on top of us, now go!" In a softer tone, he added, "Please." Tony cursed. "Dammit, David! No!" "Tony, I'm transferring command of the Wing over to you. Please... please obey my last order." He paused, fighting back a wave of emotion. "It's been fun, buddy." "Aw, dammit David.... no." Lauren muttered weakly. Something smacked into the side of the 'Swiss Cheese', and there was a ear-splitting SNAP as the cockpit's atmosphere was vented. <At least the smoke's gone. Now I can see where I'm going to crash. Wonderful.> "Tony, Lauren? I just want to tell you.... well...." There was no response. "Lauren?" He checked the radio. It was dead. "Damn." <So this is how it ends, eh?> David wondered, staring at the ridges that now dominated his field of vision. <Splattered across the side of a Martian mountain.> David suddenly became aware of a change in the pitch of the Valkyrie's engines. <What the...? It sounds like it's losing power!> He quickly began checking the cockpit indicators, looking for something that still worked. The only one he found that still functioned was the Reaction Mass guage, and it was showing a nearly empty reserve tank. He hissed through clenched teeth. "I'm losing reaction mass! They must've punctured the tanks!" David craned his neck around, trying to see behind him. Sure enough, he was leaving a vaprous white trail behind him. "That means.... I'm going to slow down!" Turning his attention back to the ridge-line, David sighed. <Maybe I was a bit hasty is telling Tony and Lauren to head back to the SDF-1? No, no, I did what had to be done. And now I gotta do what I gotta do - but what?> A quick glance to both sides revealed perhaps a dozen enemy mecha closing in on him from both sides. "Hmmmm...." he muttered to himself. "That cuts down on my options a bit." He stared at the wall of rock before him. "And that cuts down on them a lot. Damn." David watched the approaching wall of stone with growing apprehension. "I'm not quite ready to be a martyr just yet." he murmured, and hauled back hard the control yoke. The 'Swiss Cheese' shuddered dangerously, it's nose grudgingly inching upwards. "C'mon, c'mon! I need more altitude than that! I'll never clear if I don't get more altitude!" He pulled so hard he was certain the control yoke would snap from it's connections. "C'MON!" It became immediately apparent that he wasn't high enough to clear the shortest of the peaks before him, much less the taller ones. As the gap between him and the cliffs dwindled David moaned softly, the icy calm he felt before began melting into an intense desire to stay alive. His gaze fell upon a narrow ravine off to his left. He didn't hesitate, immediately twisting the controls, wrestling the 'Swiss Cheese' to port. <Only gonna get one shot at this.> David had barely managed to get his Valkyrie straightened out when the ravine was upon him. It looked to be marginally wider than the 'Swiss Cheese' itself. He rocketted throught the mouth of the ravine, trying hard not to dwell upon how dangerously close the sides of the ravine were to the carbon-scored wings of the Valkyrie. David's arms were aching from the effort required to keep the 'Swiss Cheese' from spinning out of control, and he couldn't help but notice that the controls were becoming more and more unresponsive. There was a glimmer of light on metal, and something flashed past the canopy. "What the..?" He saw three missiles flash past him, fired from behind him. "Aw, NUTS" The ravine in front of him erupted in flame and shattered stone. Chucks of Martian rock rapped off of the Valkyrie's hull, and one split the canopy with a thundrous CRACK. The cockpit was filled with a piercing whistle as Martian atmosphere whipped past the cracked canopy. David flinched, and the 'Swiss Cheese' skidded sideways into the ravine wall. The right wing scraped against the ravine wall, and the 'Swiss Cheese' spun around, out of control. Forced back into his seat by the gee forces, David fought to keep conscious as the world spun around him. He blacked out.
Pain. All he knew was pain. Everything hurt. Everything. Infused with a dull ache that screamed for attention. David opened his eyes, blinking against the light. "What the.... I'm still alive? Damn...." He wiggled his hands and feet. "Everything still works, too. Damn." He glanced around, whistling softly. The 'Swiss Cheese' was sprawled on a small hill of Martian soil, lying sideways to the direction of the ravine. David could see bits and pieces of his Valkyrie resting all around him. Chunks of armor, unidentifiable pieces of electronic equipment, the remains of the shattered canopy, and some other miscellaneous things that he couldn't immediately identify were scattered randomly as far as his eyes could see. A thin waft of smoke was rising from both engines, mingling into one slightly thicker column that rose above the wrecked plane. "Maybe I shoulda named you 'Jigsaw Puzzle', baby." he mumbled, patting the instrument panel. He became aware of a "thumping" sensation, and it was getting stronger. "What the...? Uh, oh... company." David struggled against his harness, hitting the quick-release and jumping to his feet. A shadow fell across him, and he turned to see an alien Heavy Missile Pod standing behind the 'Swiss Cheese'. "Aw, hell." He jumped from the cockpit as the pod fired. Mars' lesser gravity, accompanied by the concussive force of the Valkyrie's explosion, helped to hurl David almost twenty meters down the slope. He hit the ground hard, but the loose and sandy soil helped to lessen the impact. He rolled down the slope, coming to rest under a stone ledge with a thud. He hit a protruding stone hard, knocking the wind out of him, and his chest screamed in pain. As he rolled back from the stone, he saw a wisp of vapor escaping from a tear in his suit. Reacting quickly, he pulled a self-adhesive patch from his suit pocket and slapped it over the hole, eliciting a sharp stab of pain. <Oh, wonderful. Probably cracked a rib. Just great.> He rolled onto his stomach - ignoring the ache in his left side - and peered out from under the ledge. The alien missile pod was stomping the remains of the 'Swiss Cheese', crushing it beyond recognition. <Damn.... so much for salvaging the radio.> The pod abruptly stopped, turned slightly, then stomped off to David's right, vanishing back the way it had come. <Now where the hell's he going?> A glimmer of reflected sunlight traced a path across the cliff face opposite where he was hiding, and David crawled forward, risking a look. He didn't see anything right away, but when he looked up he saw two Valkyries hanging there, above the 'Swiss Cheese's remains. One with yellow trim, and one with purple trim. "Tony? Lauren? Why, you disobedient...." Just then, the missile pod that had stomped the 'Swiss Cheese' into dust stepped back around the corner and fired on the two Valkyries. David blinked. "NO!" There was a violent explosion and David looked up to see a large object tumbling down the wall of the ravine towards him. "Oh, HELL!" he shouted, scrambling as far back under the overhang as he could. No sooner had he done so than there was a thundrous crash, and the tiny space under the ledge was deluged in a cloud of dust. After a few minutes had passed without event, David cautiously peered out from his shelter. A wrecked battloid was crumpled no more than 5 meters to the side of the ledge David had taken shelter under. A purple-trimmed battloid. "Lauren. Oh, Lauren." He crawled out from his hiding place and walked over to the still-smoking mecha, shaking his head slowly as he did so. "God, why did you come back? Why didn't you do as I asked? Why?" Leaning his head against the battloid's chest-plate, David fought back the tears that threatened to overwhelm him. "I hope at least you got away, Tony." he prayed, smashing his fist into the wrinkled metal that covered the pilot's compartment. "Damned aliens!" David nearly screamed when something inside the Valkyrie thumped against the mecha's chest armor - a feeble thump, but still a thump. Calming his nerves, David laid a hand on the metal. "What the...?" He hit it again. Against there was a corresponding thump. He hit it twice. Two return thumps. Realization dawned. "Jesus! Hang on, Lauren! I'm coming!"
[Friday, 12 April 2010 - Ravine north of Mars Base Sara, 1310 hours] David leaned back from the strut he was using to pry on the head of Lauren's wrecked battloid. Sweat was running down his face, and his chest was aching fiercely. The ground had been vibrating lightly for over a minute now, and he glanced up, wondering. What he saw made him gasp. The Macross was high above him, and climbing higher, headed for orbit, an enormous cloud of reddish dust billowing up underneath it. David blinked several times, awed by the sight, before the reality of his situation sunk in. <I'm here on Mars.> He glanced at the wrecked battloid. <WE'RE here on Mars. The Macross is up there. Oh, hell.> "We're stranded." he whispered.
Forward to Chapter 26.
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