Episode 01: Dawn Patrol

Episode 01
Dawn Patrol






Command Bridge
Macross Trinity Command Carrier
Macross 27 Colony Fleet
Capricorn Sector
March 20, 2059





“Commander Hathaway, Platinum One and Sprite One has landed safely on the flight deck. The Star Mule is now disembarking passengers.”

Veronica looked up from her CIC station. “Thank you Rena. What’s the status for the next patrol?”

Rena Ellington swiveled her seat to face her senior officer, a cup of hot coffee in her hand. “Diamondbacks are spotted on the cats, and are on standby for launch. The deck is cleared and waiting for your go-code, Ma’am. Airspace is cleared around the carrier for the next launch.”

“Very well, I have launch control,” Veronica acknowledged, as he began the launch preparations this early in the morning. Dawn patrol was a time-honor tradition, the first airborne patrol of the day came at the break of dawn. In the infinite blackness of space, where no constant sunlight to tell the break of the morning, the fourth hour signified the start of the daylight sequence of the fleet’s colonies. It also signaled the awakening of the colonists to a brand new day. But for the crew of the command carrier Macross Trinity and the other ships of the fleet, it was the middle of the earliest shift, and thus the sleepy bridge crew and officers were reinforcing themselves with strong caffeine.

Veronica switched her communications to the flight operations net. “Macross Trinity CIC to Diamondback One – come in Diamondbacks One. Good morning to you guys. I hope you’re all looking well this dawn. As usual you’re the first one up to bat this morning. Give me your status check on the tacnet.”

“Telemetry and navigation data are being uploaded to your Super Thunderbolts, Diamondback One. Your mission for this morning is to patrol navpoint A, then proceed to the foldpoint at navpoint B. Await defold of the freighter Konohamaru coming in from Macross Frontier and escort her safely back to the fleet.”

“Confirm you orders, Diamondbacks.”



OOC:

All Diamondbacks post in and launch your Thunderbolts.

Aile was quietly drinking her hot morning coffee while reading the Macross Daily Newspaper. As soon as she finished her drink, she quickly stood up and headed straight to her locker to change to her flight suit. She fastened every button on her suit and grabbed her helmet as she walked briskly towards the launch bay. When she arrived the mechanics and technicians were conducting a last prep-up routine before launching. Aile climbed up her fighter and flipped on the switches to functions.

“Macross Trinity CIC to Diamondback One – come in Diamondbacks One. Good morning to you guys. I hope you’re all looking well this dawn. As usual you’re the first one up to bat this morning. Give me your status check on the tacnet.”

“Telemetry and navigation data are being uploaded to your Super Thunderbolts, Diamondback One. Your mission for this morning is to patrol navpoint A, then proceed to the foldpoint at navpoint B. Await defold of the freighter Konohamaru coming in from Macross Frontier and escort her safely back to the fleet.”

“Confirm you orders, Diamondbacks.”

Aile held her black headpiece into place and opened the link to the bridge, “This is Diamondbacks One - Major Aile Deparra Blanche to bridge – orders confirmed.” Aile said in a monotone voice with her straight emotionless stares in open space.

She flipped another switched, opening the lines to her squadron. “Diamondbacks, confirm orders then standby for launch.”

“Diamondbacks, confirm orders then standby for launch.”

"Roger. We are to patrol and wait for Konohomaru to defold, then to escort it back here. All systems are green. Waiting for clearance to launch."

He lined up his Super Thunderbolt with the catapult.

"CIC, no Fast Packs?"

He made another check of his systems while waiting for the other members of their squad to check in.

"I see no problem here." Balian murmured, then opened a line to their leader, "Yo, Fearless Leader... You still owe me a drink at the bar."

"CIC, no Fast Packs?"

“You’ll be equipped with standard loadout package bravo. The Super Thuderbolts will be augmented with a pair of NP-BP-19 FAST Packs, with thirty short ranged missiles per pod – that’ll give you an extra sixty SRMs each as punching power.”

Robotic arms automating work around the flight deck suddenly come to life, and transfer the cone-shaped Fuel and Sensor Tactical (FAST) Packs into the dorsal section of your fighters, just behind the cockpit fuselage. You hear the sealing hiss of the bolts securing the FAST Packs, and your tactical screens flash information about the weapon systems just added to your Super Thud.

OOC:

VF-11G Super Thunderbolt

Mission Loadout:

MDC
Head Laser 30
Head 75
Hands (2) 50/50
Arms (2) 100/100
Legs & Thrusters (2) 225/225
Main Body 300
Canard Forward Wings (2) 30/30
Main Wings (2) 120/120
Tails (2) 50/50
Multipurpose Gun Pod 100
Anti-Projectile Shield 150
Reinforced Pilot Compartment/Escape Pod 150
Pin Point Barrier 100/round

Weapons
• Head Laser x 1
• Multipurpose Gun Pod with Bayonet x 1 (400 round clips x 3)
• Bifors High-Maneuverability Mini-Missiles (Internal Loaded – Legs) x 42 (21 HMMMs per leg) (fired in volleys of 1, 2, 3, 7, 14 or 21 missiles per volley)
• Anti-Projectile Shield with Pin Point Barrier System x 1
• NP-BP-19 FAST Packs x 2 (30 Short Ranged Missles per FAST Pack, total 60 SRMs) (fired in volleys of 1-3 missiles each)

Note:
All the missiles in the loadout (both SRMs and HMMMs) are internal loaded – the Super Thunderbolt can transform without needing to fire off any wing-mounted missiles beforehand for this mission)


Combat Training
• 3 attacks per melee (plus those of the pilot).
• Add one additional action/attack at levels three, six, eleven, and fifteen.
• +2 on initiative.
• +2 to strike
• +3 to parry
• +3 to dodge in solder mode, +5 in gerwalk, +7 in jet mode.(includes bonus from Virtual Environment Cockpit)
• +3 to roll with a punch or fall with an impact, reducing damage by half.
• +2 to leap dodge. A leap dodge is an automatic dodge which causes no loss of attacks per melee.
• Critical strike same as pilot's hand-to-hand.
• Body block/tackle/ram - 1D6 M.D. plus a 50% chance of knocking an opponent down, causing him to loose initiative and one attack that melee round.

The sudden orders were too early for Adrian. He just sat up and grabbed a sandwich when the orders for launch was announced. I'm late... He quickly rushed and changed into his piloting suit, gobbling up the sandwich while doing so, and then rushed to the Super Thunderbolt he was going to use. He climbed into it in record time and placed his helmet on his head.

"Sorry I'm late, I'm not used to patrols. First Lieutenant Adrian Speers, reporting for duty."

"Thanks, CIC." Balian immediately responded. Once the catapults were locked, he made a third check on the systems to make sure everything was working properly.

"This is the Nighthawk. I'm ready to go."

"Launch pattern is clear. Flight perimeter around the Macross Trinity is clear," the radar officer said.

"Thank you Madison," Veronica replied. "All Diamonbacks, your launch pattern is clear. Launch your fighters. Catapult crew prepare to fire Super Thuds off the deck."

"Diamondbacks, you are go!"

"Diamondbacks, you are go!"

"Roger," Balian tested his ailerons and elevators one last time, then giving his vernier thrusters a few bursts, "the Nighthawk is taking flight."

He pushed on the throttle to maximum and braced himself. The catapult shot him out of the ship and into the sea of stars. Once freed from the ship, he rolled the Thunderbolt a couple of times before looping and easing up on the throttle just a few meters ahead of the catapult.

"I see no problem here." Balian murmured, then opened a line to their leader, "Yo, Fearless Leader... You still owe me a drink at the bar."

“Zip it, Dnoces.” Snapped Aile in her monotonic voice.


"Sorry I'm late, I'm not used to patrols. First Lieutenant Adrian Speers, reporting for duty."

“Hurry up, Speers. When we get back, I’m setting your alarm earlier than usual.”

"Launch pattern is clear. Flight perimeter around the Macross Trinity is clear," the radar officer said.

"All Diamonbacks, your launch pattern is clear. Launch your fighters. Catapult crew prepare to fire Super Thuds off the deck."

"Diamondbacks, you are go!"

“Roger that CIC.”

Aile clutched her controls hard and adjusted her wings for the flight. “This is Lady Hawk to CIC, I’m taking off.” Aile’s Super Thud fired her engines as her boosters gave a fast impulse of speed. She took off from the hangar and all is seen now is the glistening stars of the deep dark space.

In seconds your three VF-11G Super Thunderbolts clear the flight deck of Macross Trinity, and join up in squadron formation in the clear airspace to the port side of the battle carrier. You form a V, with the squadron leader at the point of the V, with the two wingmen on each end.

A new face appears on your main MFD. “Diamondbacks, this Macross Trinity CIC, Ensign Hitomi Minamoto speaking,” a black haired young woman in her late teens speak out clearly. “I’ll be taking over for Commander Hathaway, whose shift just ended.”

“Your course is clear to the foldpoint. Your flight’s callsign is Echo. I’m uploading navigation and communications now to your avionics computers.”

OOC:

Echo Flight

Echo One – Aile Deparra
Echo Two – Adrian Speers
Echo Three – Balian Dnoces





BIC:

“Proceed with caution to the foldpoint and rendevous with the Konohamaru. Report any unknown sightings to me before warranting further investigations. Good luck, Echo.”

Twelve quiet minutes later, your flight arrives at the foldpoint. The location is empty – the freighter hasn’t arrived yet. You settle on a figure-eight patrol holding pattern around the perimeter of the foldpoint.

“Proceed with caution to the foldpoint and rendevous with the Konohamaru. Report any unknown sightings to me before warranting further investigations. Good luck, Echo.”

“Roger that, Echo out.” Aile immediately took out her line off the CIC, annoyed by the mere presence of the black haired girl Hitomi.

Averting her attention back to their patrol, she scanned the surrounding area beneath her visor for any signs of Konohamaru, but to no avail.

“Where is it? It’s supposed to be here by now.”

“Where is it? It’s supposed to be here by now.”

"Maybe they ran into trouble." Balian, who remained silent for most of the trip, finally spoke up, "Or maybe they were simply delayed for some reason."

Once again, he rolled the Thunderbolt to a hundred-eighty degrees, putting him in an upside-down position with respect to his teammates.

"It'd be troublesome if they defolded at the exact location where we are."

"Maybe they ran into trouble." Balian, who remained silent for most of the trip, finally spoke up, "Or maybe they were simply delayed for some reason."

“Either way, keep your eyes on the lookout.” She sighed in boredom. Doing the rounds was the her least favorite routine in her entire pilot’s life. Nothing to see but the vast lifeless space, filled with stars that she couldn’t reach.

“It seems so close, yet so far away.”, she thought.

Once again, he rolled the Thunderbolt to a hundred-eighty degrees, putting him in an upside-down position with respect to his teammates.

"It'd be troublesome if they defolded at the exact location where we are."

“Quit goofing around, Dnoces.” Aile snapped upon seeing his wingman upside down.

Adirian sighed and toggled through the multiple sensory and optical equipment mounted on his Super Thunderbolt, in an attempt to pick up fold energy that may have or was being released in the current perimeter. His Super Thunderbolt seemed to be moving at a lower velocity compared to his squad mates as well in an attempt to thoroughly scan the area.

Several minutes pass as Echo Flight continued flying figure-eights around the foldpoint, when alarms activated on your Super Thunderbolt’s consoles. The words WARNING: SPACEFOLD EVENT HORIZON flashed across the screens, and a CGI manifestation of the size and scope of the event indicated the magnitude of new arrivals to this space.

The stillness of space around the foldpoint was broken, as large and blinding flashes erupted to the stern of Echo Flight. Two small spacefold event horizons, flanking a much larger one, grew from points in space in that direction, looking like small supernovas exploding to infinity.

Bursting out of the two smaller horizons, flashed a pair of VF-171 Nightmare IIs, bearing the green and white colors of the SVF-118 Green Archers squadron from the carrier CV-1018 La Salle, currently assigned to the Macross Frontier Fleet. Both sped out to flanking position, placing themselves right in between your flight and the larger event horizon. Both Nightmares jettisoned their foldpacks and went into Battroid mode and waited in guard position.

The large horizon flashed like a sun, as a monstrous starship, the size of one of Guantanamo-class escort carriers, lumbered out of the nether dimension of the spacefold. The starship was a rust-red bulk freighter, with two large cigar-shaped cargo holds stretching 400 meters across the entire ship, connect by one equally long rectangular crew bay, with a small triangular section at the bow for the bridge, and four super-thrusters flaring at the stern. The name “KONOHAMARU” was painted on each cargo section near the bow.

"Good morning Macross Trinity patrol, we are SMS Konohamaru from Macross Frontier. How y'all doing this bright and early mornin? Hope we didn't wake you up just to escort us in." A gruff male voice with a Southern drawl spoke on the comnet.

"Sorry we're late - ran into one of those damn fold dislocations off Gallia IV. Had to jump out and jump back in - y'don't know the headache I'm havin right about now. It's a doozy!"

The alarms rand inside his cockpit and the lights of the fold appeared behind them, too close for comfort.

"Heads up!" Balian shouted, pulling on his controls to steer clear of the incoming vessel.

"Good morning Macross Trinity patrol, we are SMS Konohamaru from Macross Frontier. How y'all doing this bright and early mornin? Hope we didn't wake you up just to escort us in."

"Yeah... You just scared the living daylights out of me. You nearly run us over!" Balian complained, then sighed, "Well, if there is such a thing as being run over in space, seeing that there's no ground and all."

"Good morning Macross Trinity patrol, we are SMS Konohamaru from Macross Frontier. How y'all doing this bright and early mornin? Hope we didn't wake you up just to escort us in." A gruff male voice with a Southern drawl spoke on the comnet.

"Yeah... You just scared the living daylights out of me. You nearly run us over!" Balian complained, then sighed, "Well, if there is such a thing as being run over in space, seeing that there's no ground and all."

"Sorry we're late - ran into one of those damn fold dislocations off Gallia IV. Had to jump out and jump back in - y'don't know the headache I'm havin right about now. It's a doozy!"

Aile rolled her eyes hearing the guys’ pointless blabbing on the line. An annoyed sigh escaped her mouth as she felt her nerves twitching.

“This is Echo 1 Major Aile Deparra of Macross Trinity patrol, g’morning Konohamaru.” She greeted with her usual monotonic tone.

“Save the chit-chat for later when we get you guys over Trinity.” She added, turning her valkyrie back.

Adrian managed to detect and veer away from the Konohamaru's fold location. He then went back into formation.

"Echo 3 to Echo 1. I'd suggest we inspect the ship first. They might be carrying smuggled goods, timed explosives, or even rebel troops."

"Yeah... You just scared the living daylights out of me. You nearly run us over!" Balian complained.

“Well pardon me,” The man on the comnet replied sarcastically. “Yah really can’t see a lone fighter dumb enough to loiter in front of a foldpoint when we’re coming thru the horizon in a big shebang.”

“This is Echo 1 Major Aile Deparra of Macross Trinity patrol, g’morning Konohamaru.” She greeted with her usual monotonic tone.

“Save the chit-chat for later when we get you guys over Trinity.” She added, turning her valkyrie back.

“We gots ourselves a pretty lady out here!” The man said, as catcalls and whistles were heard on the background.

“Hello there pretty lady. To show our gratitude fer spending time to see us arrive, we’re dedicating this little song we SMS folks like to sing fer friends – hope you like it. Hit it boys!”

A weird marching song began blaring on the comnet.

Suzume, suzume, SMS!
Tonga, tonga do konde!


OOC:

If you’re wondering how probably annoying this song really is, go look for the song SMS Shoutai no Uta Ano by the SMS from the Macross Frontier OST on the ‘Net.



BIC:

"Echo 3 to Echo 1. I'd suggest we inspect the ship first. They might be carrying smuggled goods, timed explosives, or even rebel troops."

“Well bless your soul fer being a responsible young man, sonny. We’re not pirates or Johnnie Rebs, if you’re afraid we are. And to be neighborly we’re sending over our manifest.”

SMS Konohamaru
Cargo Manifest

Seven colored Zentraedi carrots – 3,245 tons
Consumer electronics – 2,307 tons
Consumer goods – 5,900 tons
Honda Hovercars – 822 tons
Foodstuffs – 2,100 tons
Agricultural Equipment (Zentraedi scale) – 900 tons
Livestock - Hippocows – 510 tons
Military equipment (UN Spacy) – 148 tons
Military equipment (Classified - SMS) – 38 tons

Crew Manifest
Officers – 26
Crew – 112
Passengers – 16

“I hope that’ll help smooth things a little. Tell yah what sonny – we’ve got some new holovids of the Sheryl Nome concert we had a week ago over at Frontier. Since we’re friends I’ll give you guys some as gifts.”

“Yah really can’t see a lone fighter dumb enough to loiter in front of a foldpoint when we’re coming thru the horizon in a big shebang.”

"And that's because we were flying around since a certain someone arrived late." Balian's eyebrow twitched.

Once he heard the music, Balian's eyes widened and his expression shifted from annoyed to exasperated, his jaw dropping out of utter disbelief.

"Gasp."

“Well bless your soul fer being a responsible young man, sonny. We’re not pirates or Johnnie Rebs, if you’re afraid we are. And to be neighborly we’re sending over our manifest.”

"I see your men do their job well." Adrian said through the radio. "But the fold dislocation makes me suspicious. Unless you have a record of what happened during the time of departure until now, it can be assumed that the cargo may have been changed between the jumps. Not to mention I'm still suspicious of the cargo.

“I hope that’ll help smooth things a little. Tell yah what sonny – we’ve got some new holovids of the Sheryl Nome concert we had a week ago over at Frontier. Since we’re friends I’ll give you guys some as gifts.”

"I'm a Sharon Apple fan." Adrian said in a serious tone.

"I'm a Sharon Apple fan." Adrian said in a serious tone.

"Well, some of us has to be Sheryl critics," the voice on the Konohamaru grumbled. "Nevertheless, I'm sure customs and the SMS office over at Macross-27 can clear me cargo once we get there. Per regulations we'll send the customs report over to your squad boss when the time comes. We'll send navdata packets of our trip as well. But for now I just wanna dock this little lady and a get me some grub and sleep..."

Suddenly, energy sensor alarms klaxons erupted in high-decibel blaring, as energy readings spiked dramatically on your sensors. The readings are coming a point to your aft, about 40,000 kilometers to that distance. The readings indicate another fold horizon anomaly, this time much smaller than that of the Konohamaru, but bigger than that of a variable fighter.

The single fold horizon was coming in via a pirate foldpoint – a foldpoint not indicated in normal navigation computers shared between ships of the various colony fleets, to allow safe entry into space, away from other spatial hazards such as asteroids, comets, meteors or the gravity wells of stars and planets. Such entry points were favorites of those who wish a discreet entrance or exit, like pirates or smugglers – thus being tagged with that name. It was also likely places to jump in and out of a system in a dire emergency.

This particular pirate foldpoint was close to the edge of an asteroid field, thus making whoever it was attempting it either a daring pirate, or running away for dear life.

The flash from the event horizon flared briefly, as the vessel emerging from it exited quickly. Your sensors immediately picked up an ID of the vessel, tagging it as a large, 400-seat passenger transport shuttle, registered to a shipping company from the Macross Galaxy Fleet. Their frantic message that boomed on the comnet confirmed this fact.

“Mayday, mayday. We are Galaxy General transport GGS Sanctuary 14, carrying civilians from the Macross Galaxy Fleet. We have just escaped from the Fleet, which is currently under attack by unknown alien forces. We fear that most of the Fleet has been destroyed. Repeat: Mayday, mayday. We are Galaxy General transport GGS…”

Six small fold horizons began popping into existence, about 12,000 kilometers to the stern of the beleaguered shuttle. The vessels that appeared out of the horizons were about the size bigger and smaller than your variable fighters, and about as fast, as evidenced when they started bearing down on the shuttle, which was now flaring its engines and heading to the direction of the Macross-27 Fleet. The six new arrivals were faster than the shuttle, which could well seal the fate of the civilian survivors it’s carrying.

Before you can cipher this startling new event, the voice on the Konohamaru spoke again.

“Looks like we’ve got trouble, Echo Flight. What are your intentions?”

“Looks like we’ve got trouble, Echo Flight. What are your intentions?”

"I vote for intercept. If we've got civilians in there, we have to save them. However, there's a chance that this may also be a decoy... Something to lure us away from Konohamaru and leave it in the open. I'll follow fearless leader's decision." Balian carefully looked at the bogeys.

"We should've brought some insecticides."

“Mayday, mayday. We are Galaxy General transport GGS Sanctuary 14, carrying civilians from the Macross Galaxy Fleet. We have just escaped from the Fleet, which is currently under attack by unknown alien forces. We fear that most of the Fleet has been destroyed. Repeat: Mayday, mayday. We are Galaxy General transport GGS…”
“Looks like we’ve got trouble, Echo Flight. What are your intentions?”

“We can’t just leave them there now, can’t we? You guys head back to Frontier, we’ll take care of this.” Aile immediately flipped her channels on and contacted their base back. “Macross Trinity CIC, this is Echo 1 to CIC. We’ve encountered a hostile contact with unknown enemy forces along with Macross Galaxy civilian transport. Engaging offensive countermeasures against enemies.”

She then turned to her wing mates and said, “Diamondbacks, attack formation till we get to the enemies. Prioritize civilian transport’s safety.”

“Speers, do a quick analysis on the enemies. Dnoces, back me up. Lock ‘em up and shoot ‘em down!” she barked, kicking on her fighter’s thrusters hard.

She looked down on her sensors, trying to aim on their foes. Her eyes tired to follow the fast movements of those unknown creatures of space, they were too fast for her to shoot.

“Diamondbacks, attack formation till we get to the enemies. Prioritize civilian transport’s safety.”

“Speers, do a quick analysis on the enemies. Dnoces, back me up. Lock ‘em up and shoot ‘em down!”

"Roger." Adrian said blankly, as he advanced towards the enemy close enough to get a visual as stealthily as possible. Once he had sight, he kept his Super Thunderbolt's body behind an asteroid and analyzed the enemy, checking it on the database.