Even though these things give you about as much legal coverage as a G-string on a stripper, I am going to include it anyways. Most of the characters in this story are the property of Harmony Gold, and a whole lot of other companies who's names escape me at the moment, and are used without their permission. However, since this is a not for profit undertaking, I dont think its neccecary to worry about it. At any rate, I'm so broke suing would be a waste of time. The few original charecters in here are mine, so please ask before using them in a fic of your own. Comments and Criticisms welcome: E-Mail Starrngr@aol.com. Flames will be promptly filed in file 13 and ignored. Previous parts of this story can be found at: Ranger HQ: HTTP://home.talkcity.com/TheSanitarium/Da_Muck/Libr/wndr/ AND at Sofaspud's Couch HTTP://www.sofaspud.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tales of the Wanderer: Book 2: Wandering Ace Chapter 13: "Hammer Time" The word had been passed; deep within the SDF-1 the first deliberate preparations for battle began. Red shirted ordnance men began the tricky business of arming the ships various weapon systems, from the huge ship mounted DECCA missiles that were larger than old time ICBM's to the hundreds of missiles and chain gun rounds needed for her fleet of Veritechs. Mechanics and plane captains worked feverishly to finish repairs to as many VT's and Destroids as possible in the short time remaining. Other technicians double-checked the battle fortress's on-board weapon and targeting systems. In the conference room, the marathon planning meeting that had evolved from what would have been a peace conference continued. At the moment, Exedore was standing before a large display that had been created with the help of the SDF-1 computers. "We Zentraedi are aware of the primitive reflex cannon buried in your Northern Hemisphere, but we considered it unimportant, at best. Dolza will certainly feel that way as well; since he believes that you have nothing that can stop him, he will divide the Grand Fleet and totally surround the planet, cutting off any hope of escape." Exedore gestured, and the display shifted, showing the appearance of a galaxy of Zentraedi ships blanketing the earth, seemingly thick enough to walk across. "In doing so, it gives us our one opportunity. With this sort of deployment, Dolza's command asteroid will appear roughly here." A single blip, much larger than the others, drew attention to it by turning red and beginning to blink. "And his fleet flagships will appear here, here, here and here..." Four more ships blinked red. "If we can take these ships out, the grand fleet will be thrown into confusion and may even turn upon itself as various factions attempt to claim command." "In short, we crush the head of the snake!" mused Col. Maistroff aloud. "Simple military strategy." "Actually, simple military strategy in the use of overwhelming numbers and straightforward attack are what have caused our tactics to stagnate," replied Exedore in a somewhat chilly tone, but it quickly warmed again with a wry humor. "That and the fact that we Zentraedi have never lost a war." Gloval glowered at the display for several minutes, then sat back in his seat and stoked up his pipe. For once, no one said a word. He drew a deep lungfull before leaning forward again with an observation. "I am concerned about this. Those flagships are too far apart to attack as we move in on the command ship. And if Breetai splits his forces, you will take prohibitive losses." Muck had been quiet since the return to the conference room, as the battle plan had slowly been hashed out. Now, however, he had something to contribute. "I can," he observed, then looked up to Gloval. "Captain, request permission to activate the Sledgehammers. We can take them out." Gloval took another long draw from his pipe before replying. "Are you certain they're ready for something like this, Thunders?" "Hell, they could use another two weeks worth of practice, but that would probably be true no matter when you turned us loose. But being able to compare notes with Minister Exedore about target locations will more than offset that". Gloval nodded, but remained silent. "What exactly IS this... Sledgehammer?" asked Exedore, jumping into the gap of the conversation. "A strike plan to take out one or more of your ships using our fighters, Minister," Muck explained. "So THAT'S what happened to the Meltrani!" Exedore exulted. "I thought it was a coincidence she lost power after your attack on her; I'd never considered that it was because of your attack." The whistling of the ship's comm cut off Exedore. Gloval touched a button, putting the conversation on speaker. "Captain, this is the bridge. Sensors are reporting high-energy readings between the earth and us. Intel is positive it's the start of the enemy's fold maneuver..." "Thank you, Claudia. I will be up shortly," Gloval sighed, and put out his pipe before closing the connection. "Thunders, Plan Sledgehammer is approved. This meeting is now adjourned. Minister, I don't think we'll have time to return you to your ship; but you are welcome to join me on the bridge." "Thank you, Captain," Exedore agreed. "However, one last request. Miss Minmei, I now understand the power of your songs... they allowed you micronians to hope even when the odds were against you. Would you sing for us now? To help us hope for victory?" Minmei nodded and stood... * * * * * * * * * Max stopped Rick outside their quarters. "It's going to be OK, boss..." Rick just gave his XO a wan smile. "Yeah, sure." Max shook his head. "You know, if she can still do this to you, imagine what her songs could do to these guys who haven't heard her before," he sighed before ducking into his own quarters to climb into his flight gear, just missing the slight form of Minmei also hurrying towards Rick's quarters... * * * * * * * * * The pilots of the newly minted "Sledgehammer Squadron" were present and geared up as Muck strode in, still pulling on his last few bits of flight gear. The rumor and speculation that had been passing back and forth died instantly as the pilots realized just what was going on... "Ok Hammers, LISTEN UP. As of fifteen minutes ago, we are operational," Muck explained. "A vast enemy force just folded into the Sol system between us and earth." He couldn't help but pause before continuing. "They've already bombarded Earth, Gentlemen," the assembled pilots murmured at that, but quickly settled down under Muck's icy glare. "Our mission is going to be to take out four of their flagships and bollix their command and control network. This is our one shot at revenge, possibly even victory. We've got the last 12 supers that came off the line; the ordies are loading them now. We've had to change the weapons mix from the simulations; the ECM pod is back on the centerline. Just no way to work out the CG problems. However you have two ship-killers and a GU-11 under each wing, two HARMS in each arm, and heat seekers for dog fighting in the backpacks. Just like practice, we'll be in 3 ship teams..." Muck continued the briefing, his words drowning out the sound of the loaders and elevators lifting the first wave of VT's to the deck above... * * * * * * * * * The time spent with Exedore had been helpful, but the delay from having to brief his pilots in the changes meant Sledgehammer Squadron was the last to be shot off from Daedalus' catapults. Only the stragglers were left; planes that'd developed minor faults just before launch forcing last minute repairs. By the time the entire squadron was aloft and in formation, a 99-aircraft (All planes aloft) transmission came over the communication links, transmitted by Gloval himself. "Attention, all fighter planes. Once we enter the zone of engagement, It is imperative that all planes maintain radio silence. We will be transmitting Ms. Minmei's songs on all frequencies, and only her song. It is believed that this will distract the enemy and give us an advantage. We MUST make the most of this element of surprise." "Cap?" "You heard him. Once the girl starts, we shut up," Muck supplied, not breaking orders since the transmission hadn't started yet... He spied a lone Super moving up fast on his squad, the markings identifying it as the 00-bird (1) of CAG Rick Hunter. Minmei still hadn't started, so Muck flipped channels. "Skull one, Sledge one. Can you punch us a hole when the party starts?" "Sledge, Skull. Roger. Button it up, Muck," Rick's voice replied as the planes of Sledgehammer squadron formed up on their CAG. The central comm screen came to life, showing Minmei alone in a cone of light. Behind her the music swelled as she lifted the microphone. "99 Hammers, hand 'em the heavy end!" Muck snarled as Minmei's voice reached out into the darkness. The 24 planes of Skull and Sledgehammer squadrons surged at the enemy as one, accompanied by Minmei's plaintive call for victory. It seemed to be working, but its effects were clearly not complete. While the enemy ships seemed oblivious to the ships and mecha of the RDF and Zentraedi alliance, large numbers of enemy mecha seemed sufficiently immune and swarmed the approaching formation. Skull reacted like the well-trained team it was, blowing a hole through the enemy line with their missiles then breaking off by elements (2) to hit the enemy formation from the rear. Sledgehammer's planes fired their thrusters and screamed through this opening before it could close, their speed making pursuit impossible as the squadron split into 3 plane teams and headed for their targets. As they drew away from the immediate vicinity of the SDF-1, enemy fire tapered off dramatically, quickly stopping completely. Many enemy ships hadn't launched any mecha at all, and all the combat effective mecha were concentrating on the SDF-1 and her allies. The earth hung huge overhead as Muck and his wingmen streaked closer to their target; the lack of enemy fire gave them a long moment to gaze up at the once green planet that was home. Muck winced and forced his eyes back into his cockpit, but they were inevitably drawn back to the devastation writ large overhead. A layer of thick clouds were forming, a result of the portion of the energy barrage that had been directed into Earth's oceans; Between the breaks in those clouds, the overlapping craters of that terrible strike glowed a dull red, bleeding wounds still glowing from the bombardment. Intellectually, Muck had known this was coming since his acceptance of the fact he was stuck here for a while... coming face to face with the reality of it was worse. Even his knowledge that Earth would be a green verdant world again in time wavered in the face of the devastation hanging above him. It was the trilling of his Navigation system that finally broke the spell, bringing his attention back into the cockpit. "IP Inbound, boys. As briefed..." he warned, finally breaking radio silence. Four clicks came back in reply as the three planes slid into position for the first attack run. The target point Exedore had pointed out was vulnerable, but it would still need more than one attack run to finish the big ship off. Accordingly, Muck had assigned his worst pilot to the first hopefully easiest run with the enemy still distracted; while Muck played wild weasel and took out any AAA defenses that they did manage to bring up. The sleeping giant that was their target stirred in its sleep, as if sensing the enemy was near. A few radars came up on the rear half of the flagship, probably under control of a Zentraedi officer who didn't have a musical bone in his body. Not that it mattered to Muck... at this point he was thinking only in terms of threats and counters. The jamming pod under the centerline sprang to life, stirring up a response as if jabbing a hornet's nest with a stick. Now the real threat radars appeared, trying to guide in the flagship's self-defense guns and missiles. Muck rode his VT through the change to Guardian mode and the HARM missiles blasted from his forearm launchers to silence the first quartet; sending the enemy fire blind just as Bulldog released his strike weapons and tore across the stern of the ship at the speed of heat. The heavy anti ship weapons plowed into the flagship's armor, leaving several small, vital components exposed. The giant was awake now, aware of its attackers, but not yet aware of how much danger it really was in. A single squadron of battle-pods launched to counter this minor threat, only to run into a hailstorm of missiles from Bulldog at point blank range. Aft, Muck dove in on the target on what he'd judged was the most dangerous of the attack runs as his wingman flew Wild Weasel cover. Bulldog pulled up and away from their target, loosing his own quartet of anti-radar missiles before falling victim to a blindly fired plasma gun. "Stay close, Snake..." Muck warned. "One pass, all missiles." A grunt was the only reply as the two VT's drove through the hail of fire to the release point, sending their missiles streaking in on the now exposed target points as the two fighters broke 'up' and away. The giant realized the real threat now, as the few remaining radars left the fighters alone and concentrated on the incoming missiles, only to be blotted out seconds later by Snake-eye's aft-launched HARMS. The two fighters streaked away as eight heavy missiles tore into the guts of the engine assemblies. The warheads set of a chain reaction of explosions that slowly moved forward along the length of the great flagship until it reached a magazine of some sort, obliterating it and several other ships in an orgy of mutual distruction. This got the attention of the other ships in the area; some that tried to break free of the coming disaster, others who tried to fire on the bacterial-like invaders who had done this. By now, though, Muck and Snake-eye were moving far to fast for the guns of the other ships to track as they raced clear of the enemy fleet. Muck heard the voice of Claudia Grant warning all other ships to break off as their recovery vessel, a pod carrier on loan from Breetai's fleet, came into view. As the two VT's transformed to Battleoid mode and boarded the pod, Muck could see the SDF-1 making its final attack dive into the moon that was Dolza's command center... It was about to get very unhealthy to be in space. The two VT's secured themselves to racks designed to hold battle-pods as the recovery pod piled on its best speed for the safety of the dark side of the moon... * * * * * * * * * "Come," Rick called in response to the door chime. Muck entered, to Rick's relief. It had been a long five weeks since that climatic battle; five weeks in which Rick had to lead the surviving pilots of the war through the changes from fighting a war to securing a peace... as he adjusted to those same changes himself. At least all his planes were in one place again; up until a week ago half of his survivors had been stuck on the far side of the moon with the remains of Breetai's fleet. Muck Thunders had stayed till the last shuttle flight, organizing that end of the transfer while Max Sterling had worked the RDF end. Muck's presence aboard meant that phase of 'the impossibly long list of thing that just HAVE to have been completed yesterday' was over at least; One down, dozens more to go. This train of thought was unpleasantly interrupted by Muck dropping a white envelope on his desk, followed by his wings. "Sir, I am formally submitting my resignation, Sir," Muck informed him, rather redundantly. Rick rolled his eyes at this statement before grabbing the envelope, unceremoniously tearing it in two. He dropped the remains in his wastebasket and pushed the wings back across the desk to Muck. "Request denied, Muck. We still need you here." Now it was Muck's turn to be surprised, gapeing like a fish out of water at this, but picked back up his wings. "Rather surprising attitude from the original reluctant pilot, Rick." "That was two years and a lot of fighting ago. Hell, in a very real way that kid was KIA the same time Roy... When I wound up with this job. Besides, didn't you mention that you were stuck because you couldn't replace a part or something?" "Yup, but I think I found an equivalent replacement." "Well, FRED beat you to it. Lang's got FRED in his lab, so the two of them are probably already working on the problem. Either way, you're not going anywhere till FREDs fixed, right?" "Right..." "Good. Here's the problem. Only 20% of our pilots have any experience flying in actual atmosphere; half of them from our re-supply visit a year ago. And only the survivors from Sledge have ANY attack experience," Rick finished in a grim tone. "You can't be serious, Rick! I lost half my squadron on that attack; I'd expect training new pilots in ground attack is the last thing you'd want me doing." "You're wrong. I had 'Griff' (3) run us through the attack sim you worked up. Only 3 of US survived, Max, Miriya, and myself; and *WE* weren't able take down ANY of our targets." Rick paused for a moment before continuing, "And in case you didn't notice, we all took 50 percent losses, Muck." Muck grimaced; he wasn't certain which was worse, that Rick was right, or that he'd forgotten military discipline enough for Rick TO lecture him! Either way... "When do I start, Skipper?" "Tomorrow. Get the rest of your angst out of your system by then." "Aye aye, skipper." * * * * * * * * * * Observation lounges aboard the SDF-1 were common, and often the perfect place for private conversations or just deep thought; a fact Muck should have remembered before heading into this particular lounge. That was because not only did he like the view from it, so did most of the senior staff... two of whom were already present and discussing something when he'd arrived. It also did NOT help that he'd been so engrossed in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed them until they'd addressed him! Net result was a mental train wreck; he pulled his gaze from the outside to the inside while his brain furiously attempted a warm-boot. Two pairs of eyes: One brown, one Blue. Short curly brown hair Vs. Long mostly straight light brown hair. Persons identified... "Urk... Commander, Commander. My apologies, I didn't see you there. Please excuse the interruption; I'll be leaving now..." Muck had rather expected to be blasted into a grease stain on the spot, figuratively speaking. To have Commander Hayes and Lt. Commander Grant break up into laughter over it was not; he must have rolled a metaphoric 20 on a save vs. command's ire. Lt. Commander Grant made an aside comment about sledgehammers to Commander Hayes before addressing him directly. "That's quite all right, Muck. I was just pointing out certain peculiarities of the male of our species." "Like our inability to notice things right under our respective noses?" "Exactly." Muck nodded at this observation, turning his gaze back out the viewport before replying. "In all fairness to the CAG," he observed, having figured out just what sort of conversation he'd walked in on, "He's still young; I don't think he's realized what love really is yet." "And you base that on the what you saw in that cartoon show about us," Lisa interjected snippily. "Nope; I never got to see the end of the series, they canceled it mid-season. The last episode I saw was the attack on Dolza's command ship. I'm operating as much in the dark as you are in that respect. I'm basing this on actual experience and observation." Now it was Lisa's turn to gaze pensively out the observation window. "I still don't see how I can compete with her." "Think about it, Commander. He's a pilot, she's a big star. They move in different circles now. At the end of the day he's gonna be back here trying to do his job while she's off basking in people's admiration. I bet you'd find him in his cabin right now, putting off dinner to concentrate on his job just the way you do." Lisa gave Muck a thoroughly unconvinced look. "Go on down there... you'll see I'm right." Lisa gave Muck a final thoughtful look before turning and leaving the observation deck; Claudia waited until the hatch had closed behind Lisa to break into a chuckle. "You just came from there, didn't you? That's how you know." "Guilty as charged, Ma'am. I throw myself on the mercies of the court." Claudia took a turn at gazing out the window. "You remind me a lot of Roy. I wish you could have met him; you two would have gotten along like gangbusters." "I wish I could have too... I knew a Roy Folkker back in my home dimension; I used to kid him about his destiny. We were both pilots in the Gulf War; we were flying a mission together when he got shot down and killed." (4) There was something about this last statement that had caused Claudia to fixate him with a strange look for a moment before she turned back to the wide expanse of the window. "What happened to bring you up here?" "Rick gave me a new assignment and told me to loose my angst over my losses." "I see..." Claudia mused, and the room fell silent for a timeless moment, filled only by the golden glow of a setting sun, before she spoke again. "Have you had dinner yet, Captain?" "No... Why?" "I'd like you to join me for dinner. There are some things I'd like to show you..." * * * * * * * * * Three months after the end of the war, Captain Henry Gloval formally dedicated the RDF's Roy Folkker memorial airbase, generating another press event. While not the over the top blowout that the marriage of Max and Miriya Sterling had been, it was enough to attract the attention of the still rebuilding Macross City; something a very small and select group of people were counting on. Their absence from the main event was noted, but believed to be duty related. The press was almost right on that account. Said group consisted of Captain-select Lisa Hayes, the newly designated commander of the SDF-2, the keel of which had just been laid down a week previous. Commanders Rick Hunter and Claudia Grant, Lt. Commanders Max and Miriya Sterling of Skull Squadron; and 3 enlisted persons, Elsa Bibat, Adam Jury and John Bailesu. They had gathered at the other end of Folkker airbase to say good-bye to a departing Muck Thunders, the location chosen to avoid the press. "Max, Miriya; you two take care. And congratulations on your daughter," Muck observed; setting a convoluted gag in place that wouldn't pay off for another month, when the Sterlings found out Miriya had, in fact, conceived the night before Muck left; and would, in fact, give birth to a daughter 9 months later to the day. Rick and Lisa were next as they received a sharp salute as Muck formally resigned his RDF commission. The fact that Muck was defiantly NOT in uniform and was wearing a rather loud Hawaiian print shirt over a pair of jeans lent an air of comedy to the act. That he'd somehow slipped a pair of 'Groucho glasses' on while no one was looking didn't help either. The pair somehow managed to avoid laughing as they returned his salute and accepted his resignation. That left Claudia Grant; Muck removed the gag glasses and gave her a deep hug. "You take care of yourself now," he advised her in a voice full of friendship, "You'll be with him again when the time is right." Claudia wiped a tear from her eye and kissed him gently on the cheek. "I know," she whispered softly. "It's just so hard, though." Muck nodded at that and gave her another hug. Finally, though, she straightened up and motioned the three enlisted that Muck had already said goodbye too over. "Before you go, though, I want to give these too you." Muck was then presented with 3 of the storage containers that were normally kept in the back of his vehicle FRED. "Aren't these Roy's?" Muck asked, examining the contents as he stowed the containers. "Yes... but I want you to have them. Roy would have wanted you to have them if he'd known you... and their memory is just too painful for me to keep them around," Claudia admitted with a wan smile. Muck simply accepted this with a nod of his head. As he walked around to Fred's driver side door, though, Lisa had one final surprise. "Detail, Attention!" She snapped, and everyone did. "Bronx, Salute!" came next, and the small group gave Muck the Hairy eye in unison, causing Muck to break out laughing. With a final wave, he and Fred accelerated down the deserted Taxiway, and vanished in a flash of light... ------ 1) Naval tradition reserves one plane from the wing strictly for the CAG's use. This plane's number always ends in 00. Technically, every squadron should have a 00 bird reserved for the CAG, but this was one of the first casualties of the ongoing losses of the first Robotech war. 2) Naval squadrons are organized into 2 plane elements. 2 elements form a flight of 4, and 3 flights of 4 are a squadron. A traditional air group has 2 fighter squadrons, 2 attack squadrons, and other associated elements such as Early Warning, Electronic Warfare, SAR choppers, and ASW aircraft, and is the largest official naval aviation unit. As you can guess, the SDF-1 by this time has only VT fighter squadrons and only a few remaining Cats-eyes for Electronic Warfare/Early warning work. 3) SSGT Ben 'Griff' Hutchins appears briefly at the end of TotW 2-5. 4) I also refer you back to TotW 2-2 and 2-3. In an interesting twist of fate it just so happens that the Roy Muck knew at home died the same day as the Muck Thunders Roy knew. Another interesting bit of symmetry that I was never able to work into the story proper. Well, it's the end of another book of this. Some thank-yous are in order, of course. SkyFire@aol and the others who provided much needed C&C, you've provided invaluable assistance in seeing around my personal blind spots, especially about punctuation. Elsa Bibat and the others who lent their names to the characters in my head. Ah, yes. Character names. I have to confess, for some reason I didn't come up with a single name of my own this time. EVERY single 'named' character had their name borrowed from somewhere else. I suppose if you're ever really bored you could re-read it and try and figure out just who came from were. You might even be right too... I have a very wide range of tastes and a warped sense of humor.