Chapter 20[Reality Check - Friday Feb. 12 2010, 1409 hours, Mars Base Sara Airspace] "Tell me again why we are going down to this base in an unarmed plane? I seem to have forgotten." Sergeant Sam'di's voice had an edge to it as she surveyed the abandoned base. Behind them was the SDF-1, a few kilometres away from Mars Base. It had landed there as a precaution and was awaiting the result of the Cat's Eye's survey before advancing any closer. "Macross landed here to replenish our supplies, right? The thinking behind it is that when the base was evacuated, they had no time to take their belongings with them, much less the bulkier stuff which should still be in their stores." Thallin banked the VF-1D trainer around in a low, wide arc in an attempts to approach the base without being detected by the SDF's radars. "Now, if they didn't have time to take their food and the weapon stores, then they definitely didn't have the time to empty their electronics lab." "And what's that got to do with us?" "I need certain components for my project. Some of them are not available on the Macross and others... well, it'd take too long for the requests to be processed." "So you're gonna bypass S & R altogether and help yourself to the goodies before they get around to it. Is that it?" "On the nose." Thallin reached over to the left of the console and slid down a control marked "G" from the top of its slide to the bottom. Next to it, the square marked "F" slid from its position at the bottom to the top of its slide. "Your job," he continued as the plane changed configuration to Guardian mode, "is to get us in. The entry codes for the electronics bins should be the same in Mars Base Sara as they are for the Macross. Nobody's gone back to the base and reset them yet." The VF-1D descended to the ground and hovered over Mars' bleak landscape. "And what do I get in return?" "Anything you can carry out of there that I do not need. I'm sure someone with your contacts should be able to make a tidy profit from the Black Market." There was no response from the seat behind Thallin. Looking at the rear-view panels, he saw Tamara Sam'di in deep contemplation. "Do we have a deal?" There was a slight pause. "Yeah, we got a deal."
[Reality Check - Friday Feb. 12 2010, 1447 hours, Mars Base Sara] The door swung open into the desert that was Mars. From the doorway, two figures emerged, each carrying a package in their arms. Thallin, his baggage less cumbersome, reached over to the Valkyrie Trainer and unlocked the stowage compartment. "We'd better hurry. The supply teams can't be far behind us." Tamara looked over her shoulder to where the SDF-1 had eventually settled, just outside of the Base. From it, a new squadron of Veritech took off to provide air-support to the supply vehicles which were already making their way back-and-forth between the base and the Macross. Every hundred or so meter along the way, a Destroid stood watch, with MAC-II Monsters and their smaller escorts standing vigil at strategic points around the base. "Is it just me," she asked, her hand shielding her eyes through the helmet's face-plate, "or is the Cat's Eye spending an awful lot of time over that ridge?" Thallin glanced in the direction she was looking, found the plane and observed it for a minute. "I think you may be..." Thallin never got to finish his sentence. A bright lance of light arced between the ridge and the Cat's Eye Recon plane, skewering it dead centre, destroying it. The explosion had barely begun to die down that Thallin could see metallic objects coming down the ridge's side towards the Base. "er... Tamara? I think it may be bad for our health to stay here much longer." Tamara did not respond but merely stowed her loot into the Veritech and slammed the panel shut before unfolding the plane's internal ladder. Thallin wasted no time in following suit. Before long, both were locked into the safety harness of their seats and the Guardian was climbing into the sky. The Valkyrie Trainer did a long, slow turn, attempting to keep the bulk of Mars Base between it and the invading forces. Thallin glanced at the radar and realised it would not work - already, more Zentraedi pods were appearing from the other ridges around the base, effectively encircling the SDF-1. The Macross itself was still shuddering as the Valkyrie approached it. "Why haven't they taken off yet?" asked Tamara as Thallin made preparations for the landing. "I don't know, there's no reason for-" His sentence was cut short as the Valkyrie suddenly nose-dived towards the SDF-1's left shoulder. "WHAT THE F-?" Thallin screamed as he fought to retain control of the plane. He pulled at the stick, leveling the plane enough so that is grazed a few sensor antennas rather than becoming a large black smear of the exterior coating of the Macross. Punching in the after-burners, Thallin kicked the plane away from the ship. "What the Hell happened?" shouted Tamara, still trying to settle her helmet back on her head. "I thought you told me you could fly these things." "I don't know." answered and angry Thallin. "I was just making my approach when..." He stopped talking as he reviewed the data stored in the flight recorder. "Oh, bloody hell." "What, what?" "The gravity gradient's changed around the ship. Something's gone wrong. The Macross won't be able to lift using the gravity-engines." "Fine, so they'll just boost her out of there on main engines only." Thallin closed his eyes, remembering the explosion he had felt three days ago. "Somehow, I don't think the main engines are working." "WHAT?!" "I think they were disabled a little while ago - I don't believe Maintenance managed to repair them yet." <Oh, Izi.>Beams of light lanced the area around the Veritech. Both Thallin and Tamara looked in the direction they originated and swore. "Jeezus H Christ!" exclaimed Tamara. "We're really in for it this time." Pods were converging into their area, aiming their weapons at the Trainer, keeping it occupied so that the fighter pods now registering on the radar would have time to close-in. Thallin opened the comm circuit a started to broadcast an S.O.S. "Mayday, Mayday. This is VT-205 to any Veritech. We are under attack. I repeat, we are-" the radio squealed static as one of the approaching fighter pod fired his beam-cannons at the Veritech. "This is Black leader, we copy VT-205. Hang tough, we're coming." "Kay? Better hurry, I'm losing here." "What the...?" the voice on the comm circuit asked. "What are you doing out?" "No time to explain. I need help, NOW!" He banked hard, avoiding another incoming beam. Behind him, Tamara moaned at the G-forces. "Thallin?" Another voice came from the comm circuit, dazed, surprised. "Thallin!" Before he could identify it, a fighter pod strafed the Veritech, holing its nose and pulverising the radio. "Damn!" Thallin flipped the plane into a reverse dive as hard as he could. The fuselage of the jet shook and complained at the strain but somehow stayed together. Thallin righted himself scant meters above the ground and looked up in time to see three Zentraedi pods in front of him take aim at his rapidly approaching craft. "Oh, boy."
Forward to Chapter 21.
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