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Episode 8: The Trek

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In the last episode of Robotech II: Sentinels, Guardians of Earth, the
REF has set out upon the journey that will lead to Tirol. Tirol, home
of the Robotech Masters, but now under the rule of the Invid. Slowly,
the survivors of the Invid attack are banding together, forming
resistance groups to fight the invaders. Two members of such a group,
Jakila and Huko, have succeeded in bringing down a group of Invid
Scouts. It's a small victory, but many small ones can lead to a bigger
victory.

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The fold that takes the REF to Tirol will last several months. But for
the people and personnel aboard the many vessels, the voyage will last
a few days. Once they reach Tirol, the fleet will defold at the far
side of Fantoma, undetectable for Tirol's monitoring systems. From
there, the SDF-3 will travel to Tirol. It's intended that the Masters
see the vessel as a friendly ship, thus making it possible to near the
planet safely.

For the time being, until the fold is completed, the crews can do
little more then prepare themselves. One way to do that, is the
simulator. Many pilots take the controlls of the specially prepared
Veritechs and Alphas to test their skills, get experience and kill
time. "Ready the simulator for the next candidate." The metallic voice
came over the intercom. "That's me." Jack Baker pointed at himself. He
shook hands with Mike, and went to the Alpha. His briefing had made it
clear that in this simulated mission, several Zentraedi rebels had
stolen a small cruiser and were attacking a space-station of the
Robotech Defence Force. "Sergeant Baker reporting, ready for the
mission!" He engaged the engines. The craft roared and took off.
Closely observing his sensors and the data coming from several small
screens, Jack plotted the course. As teamleader, he was in charge of 5
Alphas. "All planes, turn to heading o-niner-seven. Expected Zentraedi
rebel presence. Engage long range active scanning."

In the control room, Commander Max Sterling studied the actions of the
pilot. The images of the 4 planes changed it's heading. The door slid
open and the first officer entered. "Commander Mary Wood reporting,
Sir." Max returned the salute. "Please, take a seat." He pointed to a
place to sit. Max still folowed the mission on the screen in front of
him. Mary had taken the seat next to him. She watched the make belief
sortie with interest. "I don't think that he should take up that
formation so soon." She remarked when Jack ordered his team to assume
an echelon right formation. "We'll just watch and see what happens."
Max folded his arms and sat back.

"Gamma-one, I've spotted enemy craft, vector two-five-five. They are
heading in our direction." a pilot notified. "This is sergeant Baker.
Take up a line abreast formation." His radar showed several blips
heading straight for his group. "Gamma four and five, break formation
and take relative position behind us." The two planes dropped away and
reappeared behind the three leading craft. "Missiles ready!" Jack
ordered. The Zentraedi fighters opened the skirmish. They launched a
barrage of missiles. "Fire!" Jack yelled. The three planes launched
their missiles, followed by the two aft of them. The screen showed the
groups of missiles racing to each other. Out in space, they met and
dozens of small blasts of fire emerged, as missile destroyed missile.
Not all were taken out, from both sides missiles penetrated the first
line. "All craft, break formation. Take out those missiles!" his voice
sounded. "Switch to Guardian-mode." His fingers pulled down the
button, and the plane changed to Guardian mode. The hand held gun
ready, Jack took aim at a group of five incoming missiles. Quickly
letting out small bursts, he destroyed all five. Then he scanned the
space surrounding him, and spotted his team. The missiles out, they
were ready to take on the fight against the enemy craft.

"Hmm, he got away with that very nicely." Max said to Mary. She
nodded. "But it was not the correct thing to do." "Maybe not, but in a
battle, the correct thing could kill you." Max turned to Mary. "A
pilot must adapt to the situation, make a decision in split seconds.
If he decides wrong, the whole team ends up in trouble. Don't take the
orders from the book too litterally when under fire. Unorthodox, yes,
incorrect, no." On the screen, blips were turning and maneuvering
around each other, trying to outrun the opponent. One blip lit up,
then dissolved to nothingness. "Scratch one." Max noted.

"Good shot, corporal." Jack commented. Lasers shot through space. He
banked and turned to get a shot at the Zentraedi fighter. Working the
controls, his heart pounded. He had forgotten that it was a simulated
mission. "Gamma three, there's one coming at you from five O'clock
high." The fighter opened up with it's lasers. Responding to the
message, Gamma three rolled away from the incoming lasers, then
switched to Battloid mode. The Zentraedi shot past him, and was
riddled with fire from the battloid. It exploded in a fierce ball of
fire. "Thanks, Gamma one!" Gamma one engaged forward thrust, the two
pursuing fighters overtook him and Jack blasted them with his gun. The
two fighters disappeared in a fireball. One Zentraedi remained, and he
was swiftly taken care off.

Max got to his feet. "Very good flying, wouldn't you say?" Mary had to
aggree. "Yes, Sir, he showed a good analysis of the situation. His
orders were well chosen. I must give him my comments." Max smiled.
"Follow me." They crossed the hall and entered the debriefing room.
"Hey buddy, nice job." Mike shook Jack's hand. "Attention!" the group
captain said when Max entered. All pilots saluted. Jack saw the girl
behind him. "Hey, you lucky devil," he nudged Mike, "look who's
accompanying Commander Sterling." "Hmm?", Mike turned to look. His
eyes focussed on the girl, he saw the long curly blonde hair, the
clean spotless white uniform with blue lines, the deep-brown eyes. His
heart skipped a beat. Sure, he'd seen her all the time on his screens
in the Alpha, but in person, only once in the Three Stars. "Mind you,
it's not decent to stare at a girl." Jack joked. "Huh, oh yeah,
right." Mike got himself together. Mary's eyes went from one face to
the other. As her eyes landed at Mike's face, she recognized him. A
faint blush formed on her cheecks.

"You have all given us a demonstration of your skills and abilities. I
can only say that each and every one of you must be ready to act
likewise, should we face the possibility of having to fight the
Robotech Masters. Based on what you have shown us, I feel confident we
can stand up to face whatever opposition we might run into. That is
all." Max saluted and stepped down from the plateau. The assembled
pilots stood in immaculately formed lines. From his place, Mike saw
Mary walk to the door, then she turned her face and their eyes met.
Mike got this funny feeling in his stomach. Mary gave him a faint and
very shy smile. Then she disappeard from his view. Mike blinked his
eyes. "Was that meant for...me..?" he thought.

Shy smiles or faint glances wouldn't help Rem and Cabell. From their
hide-out in the tunnels, they continued to study the alien invader.
Collecting everything they could, be it reports of resistance-fighters
or the site of a fallen Invid craft, the two continued their search
for the weak spot in the alien's forces. The report of Jakila and Huko
got their attention. "You say, that you lured the Invid to a container
of Protoculture? And the Invid actually took that bait? This means
they can sense the presence of Protoculture somehow. How much was in
that container?" Cabell was intrigued by the tale of the two men. "It
was a simple container, a small class Protoculture cell." Huko
explained. Rem put in his opinion. "Yes, even if this is a way to
fight the Invid, we never have enough cells to make a difference.
There's just way too many of them." "Yes," a man of average age
added,"and most Protoculture reserves have fallen into their hands.
How do we get any Protoculture?" Huko laid a map on the table. "This
indicates all of the Protoculture storages in this area." The map had
two spots marked. All over Tirol, tiny amounts of Protoculture had
been stored to serve as energy source for the defences. It gave
evidence of the desperate situation Tirol was in at that very moment.

The reason the Masters had sent their Zentraedi after Zor's ship, and
the reason they left Tirol was an acute shortage of Protoculture.
Prior to their departure, they had accumulated a large supply of
Protoculture from the storages on Tirol. This would provide the energy
for their long journey to the location of Zor's fallen battlefortress.
But even that supply was exhausted. The Masters had to use their
conventional engines to continue their journey.

Huko unfolded a daring plan. "The Invid follow a strict routine with
their patrolls. Every day, at the same time, groups of Invid leave and
groups of Invid return. Me and Jakila have observed one of those Invid
bases..." "A hive." Cabell added. "A hive, thank you, and we know that
at a certain moment, the defences are much lower then is usually the
case." Cabell ran his fingers through his long white beard. "And youto infiltrate that hive to get the Protoculture, right?" "Oh, you
can't be serious." Rem looked around at the men at the table. "The
chances that we even can find any are practically nil." "Says who?",
Huko replied to Rem. "Yes." Rem thought, "Why do I think that?" Again,
images wandered through his mind, visions formed of fields full of
flowers. But he couldn't recognize them. He saw creatures, faces of
people. Rem started to tremble, his hands were shaking and sweat ran
from his face. "Rem, what's wrong?!?" Cabell assisted his aprentice
when he sat down. All others looked at the young man, puzzled and
frightened. "I don't know." Rem was breathing heavily. "I've been
getting these visions that I can't place. People I've never seen,
places I've never been. But it all seems so familiar, as if I was
there every time." Cabell looked at the young man. "This started after
the Invid showed up on Tirol." He thought.

Pioneer City was having a beautifull day. There was a faint breeze and
the sun shone. Rick Hunter closed the door of his home behind him and
went on his way. As far as the trip to Tirol was concerned, it all
went as planned. But for now, Rick had planned to go to the park of
Pioneer City. To get away from it all, even if it was only for an
hour. Lisa had promised she'd join him there. He turned a corner and
looked at Minmei's face. She looked at him, clearly a bit shocked of
his sudden appearance. "Minmei!", he said it with a sense of
amazement. Minmei reacted not very differently. "Rick..?", she blinked
her eyes. It was a situation with which both didn't know what to do.
Lovers once, but now Rick was married to Lisa Hayes. "How are you?"
Rick said with a soft voice. This seemed to comfort Minmei. "I'm fine,
thank you. And you?" She knew the answer. "Same here, but I'm so busy
lately, I don't have any time for myself. But I shouldn't complain,
it's my own decision." "How's Lisa?" Minmei asked, to Rick's surprise.
"Uh, she's fine too." He felt a little uncomfortable. Rick knew Minmei
well enough to understand that, deep in her heart, she hated Lisa. It
was Lisa who ended her dream of living together with Rick. But he also
realized Minmei wasn't going to give in to those feelings. The two of
them entered the park, not knowing what to say. "I'm very gratefull
that you sang at our wedding. I know it can't have been easy for you."
Rick tried not to hurt Minmei's feelings. "It's all right, Rick. I've
accepted it. You love Lisa, I can't change that." Minmei looked at the
ground. "You know, I've met someone." "Oh," Rick was surprised.
"That's nice. Do I know him?" "I think so, he's from the military. His
name is Jonathan Wolff." "Him I know all right." Rick imagined the two
together. "But, I thought you didn't want to get involved with someone
from the service any more?" Minmei looked at Rick. "When you said you
were in love with Lisa, I didn't understand why you wanted to be with
someone from the army. But I've grown up now. What you said then,
makes sense to me now. I know we're here on this ship to try to
prevent a new war." This was a revelation for Rick. This wasn't the
live-now, worry-tomorow Minmei he used to know. This was a mature
woman, who knew life well, and her optimism had given way for her
thoughts of the future. "I understand you're a soldier not because you
like to fight, but you want to protect the ones you love, the ones you
care for." Rick couldn't beleive his ears. "Minmei, how come you talk
like this now?" "I'm not stupid, Rick. I lived through a war before. I
don't want our children to have to live through a new one." She took
Rick by his shoulders. "Promise me, our children will live in peace."
Rick saw her eyes, and thought:"Minmei, what has happened to you?"

"Hmmm, what a beautifull day." Lisa Hayes walked through Pioneer City.
She had left her uniform at home and wore a blouse and skirt. "Rick
was right to go to the park and forget it all for a while." She passed
the gates. "Minmei?" she thought, when she saw her. "And Rick?" With a
few steps she reached them. "Oh, you're here." Rick stepped over to
Lisa. "Like we had agreed to, Rick." Rick took Lisa's face in his
hands and gave her a kiss. "How are you?" Minmei interrupted. She
wanted to leave, but also didn't want to give in. "Fine, thank you.
And thanks for the beautifull song. I really appreciate it." Lisa
meant what she said. Rick's eyes went from Lisa to Minmei and back
again. "Uhm, it's not that I don't want to talk to you, but Lisa and
me already made plans, so..." Rick put his arm around Lisa's waist.
Lisa got closer to him, somehow she felt so safe and secure, Rick let
her know that she really was the only one for him. Minmei would never
come between them again. "Oh, go ahead, I won't get in your way. I
guess I'll see you again some day?" And she walked away. "You aren't
upset, are you?" Rick asked. Lisa put her face on his shoulder and let
out a deep breath. "No, Rick, I'm not upset, not upset at all." Her
eyes followed Minmei untill she left the park.

The cruiser Tirpitz was one of the many vessels traveling the fabric
of hyperspace. It's commander sat in his chair on the bridge. Thomas
Edwards went over the details for the defold operation and deployment
of the fleet on the far side of Tirol. His single eye searched the
document for anything that could indicate he was being positioned in a
location with a greater risk potential. "Ha, he doesn't even dare to
act against me." he concluded as he folded the document together.
"Well, General Hunter, we will see what the future brings for you and
me." He swiveled his chair around a few times. "Johnson, get me a
report of all Veritech and Alpha pilots. Single out any who fly with
either the Skull or Red Hearts squadron." Hank Johnson acknowledged
the request, but added:"Don't you think such an inquiry gets their
attention?" Edwards raised his eyebrow. "Not if you see to it that
it's not obvious." His mouth formed an evil grin. "And then, General
Hunter, YOU will be hurt very very hard, I promise you that."

The doorbell rang at Mike Fields home. "I'm coming." he shouted, as he
rushed to get the door. "Hey buddy." Jack Baker entered the door.
"Hi." Mike said, following Jack into the livingroom. "So, got any
plans tonight?" Jack sat down in a chair and took a magazine. "Well, I
was planning to go to the Three Stars. What, you have something else
on your mind?" "Oooh, look at that baby, wow!" Jack whistled, then
addressed Mike:"Nope, Three Stars is excellent." "Not to put my nose
in your bussiness, but aren't you seeing Karen anymore?" Mike put the
key in his pocket, and walked up to Jack. "Hmm, well, you've got to
keep them interested, you know what I mean?"

Elsewhere in Pioneer City, a similar doorbell rang also. "Who can that
be?" Mary Wood asked herself. She opened the door and there were
Patricia and Francis. "Got any plans?" Francis stuck her head around
the doorpost to see if Mary had a visitor. "Uhm, not really." Patricia
took a look at Mary's clothes. She wore a short skirt and a nice blue
blouse. "Then what's with the clothes?" She asked. Mary studied
herself:"They're my favorite, why'd you ask?" Francis had picked
Mary's coat from the coat hook. "No particular reason, Mary. So, get
your coat." Francis handed the coat to Mary. "Oh, all right." Mary
gave in. She put on her coat. Francis moved close to Patricia:"Do you
think she even wants to SEE another guy?" "Off course, but sitting at
home, they're not coming at your door." Patricia said. "Well, I'm
ready." Mary said. The trio went on their way. Three young women, all
single, all looking for someone to comfort them in these tense days.

Rick put the report on his desk. He tapped his finger on the desk.
"Max, first you give me the impression you're pretty sure that this
accident was the result of someone tempering with the Beta, and now I
read that it's very well possible it WAS an error in the design. If I
didn't know you so well, I'd think you were trying to put Colonel
Edwards in a bad daylight." Max looked up. "I never accused Edwards."
"Uh, no, not explicit, but you hinted in his direction. And you know
what happened during that last meeting." Rick corrected himself. "So,
what am I to do now? Have a check-up of all Alphas and Betas of the
fleet? Put Edwards under close observation? Cancel the mission? Tell
me, Max, what am I to do?" Max took a sharp look at Rick. "You don't
need to go and bite my head off. You asked for a report of the
incident and I handed it to you. Now, if you can't take a decision
about this, how are you going to command this vessel properly?" "I
don't have to take that from you, Max!" Rick said in anger. "Rick,
don't get me wrong. Who knows what we'll run into. Fact is, as far as
the Beta is concerned, something indeed was wrong with it, and it's
not clear what caused it. And as far as Edwards concerns, he's been in
your hair ever since he got assigned to the mission. These two
situations are dangerous for the succes of the mission. You need to
act decisively. Either you or Lisa." Max defended himself. Rick looked
over his shoulder at Max. "You're my best friend, Max, but I'm also
your superior." Max stepped over to Rick. "I know, Rick, just don't
take the wrong decision."

"You've got to promise me one thing. You aren't going to get tipsy
again." Patricia said to Mary. "No, I won't. I don't want to have to
stand at the bridge feeling miserable like that again." They put their
coats away and entered the Three Stars. It was a popular cafe and
restaurant with the military personnel. "Three red wines, please."
Patricia said. "I observed a mission on the simulator today. That
pilot really showed a good handling of his plane and near perfect
judgement." Mary took her glass. "Oh, who was flying?" Francis wanted
to know. "A Jack Baker." Mary told, "I saw him during the debriefing."
A face appeared in her mind. Mary felt a blush form. She put a hand on
her cheeck. "Oh, l'amour!" Francis said. "What?" Mary felt a little
ashamed that she let her feelings show. "Oh, honey, you needn't be
ashamed of it." Patricia smiled. "Let me see, I don't beleive it was
that 'A Jack Baker' you were thinking of, I'm right?" Mary stared at
the table. "No, it's not him. Someone else."

The door opened. "...And then I took out that second one, wow, that
baby never saw me coming." Jack boosted to his friend Mike. "You don't
have to tell me that, I know your flying skills." Two stools at the
bar provided a place to sit. Jack put his hand on the bar. "Two beer,
please." His eyes ran around the room. "You never know who I just
saw." he said to Mike. Mike turned around to see if he saw any
familiar face. "Buddy, someone up there really likes you, don't you
aggree? I mean, here she is again." Jack joked. "Oh, let her be." Mike
took a drink. "She's not here to meet anyone. See, there's two other
from the bridge with her." Jack put his glass down. "So, who's gonna
stop you?" Mike shook his head and took a drink.

"Pardonnez moi, but isn't that Sergeant Baker sitting there?" Francis
said, pointing with her glass. Patricia and Mary turned their heads to
see who she meant. "That's him all right." Patricia looked back again.
"So that's your brilliant fighter-pilot, Mary?" But Mary was still
facing in Jack's direction, or better said, Mike's direction. His
face, the almost dark brown eyes, the hair combed back, oh, how she
wanted to go over to him, but her shyness prevented that. Slowly, she
turned her face back, to see two girls staring at her. "Baby, if
you're so hung up on him, why don't you go over to him?" Patricia
tried to give Mary some courage. "Oh, but I couldn't." "Oh, Mary,
you're in love with him. Or am I mistaken?" It was true. Mary only
knew him by sight. But for her, that sight had unleashed such strong
feelings, it even overpowered her hurting about losing David. "I don't
know anything about him. Only his name. What am I to say to him?" "You
could say that his friend is a good pilot." Francis suggested. "So
what's that going to get her closer to.., to... what's his name?"wondered. "Mike, Mike Fields." Mary said. "I know, you're
going over there and pretend like you're ordering some drinks for us.
And then you just happen to see him." Mary went over it for a minute.
"I suppose I could." "That's my girl." Patricia encouraged her. Mary
picked up the empty glasses and went to the bar. "Three red wine,
please." She said it softly, but Mike heard her voice and recognized
it. "Hi, Commander." Jack broke the silence. "Uhm, hello." Her nerves
nearly went to pieces. Almost affraid to see her, Mike looked at her
from the corner of his eye. "I'll leave you two alone, so you can get
to know each other just that tiny bit better." Jack excused himself
and offered Mary a seat. She took the stool. "Well, at least they sit
next to each other." Francis observed. "Well, here's to Mary!"
Patricia raised her glass. Francis raised her's too. "Ooh, oh, excuse
me Patricia, I need to know that one." Francis quickly left the bench,
leaving a surprised Patricia behind. "Oh great, now I'm the one
sitting here all alone. Well, sometimes you win 'em, sometimes you
don't." She glanced in Mary and Mike's direction. Their initial
nervousness had gone away and the two were chatting. Patricia smiled.
"Go get him, Mary."

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Next on Robotech II: Sentinels, Guardians of Earth. After one week of
traveling through hyperspace, the Robotech Expeditionary Force enters
space around Fantoma. Here, the fleet takes up it's position behind
the gas-giant. The SDF-3 leaves the fleet and continues the journey to
Tirol. Unaware that in a couple of hours, the crew has to fight for
it's survival.

Be watching for Shock Wave, the next thrill packed episode in the
continuing saga of Robotech II: Sentinels, Guardians of Earth.
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