fanfic_name = Gotterdammerung

chapter = Chapter XIX

author = Cicerp Phelps

dedicate = Aiki, Jo, Carla...all my fans over the life of this saga

Rating = AP15

Type = Angst

fanfic = Chapter XIX

0400 - Henry looked at Lisa, who had rejoined him on the bridge. The cumulative results of nearly eight hours of continuous battle were beginning to wear at him; even some of the raids the SDF-1 endured on its trip back to Earth didn’t last nearly this long. “Captain, I want all our forces to fire a salvo at their radar and sensor tower. If they can’t see, they can’t fight.”

“Aye, Admiral. All remaining Phalanx units converge on the waterfront and fire at the coordinates I’m sending on the TAC channel. All VT’s and other units, target that spot and blow it out of the sky,” Lisa ordered.

The first salvo from the defending forces obliterated the radar tower on the Vercingetorix. Then, the VT wave came in low, dropping ordinance all around it, melting deck plates and sending guns overboard. The carrier’s crew ran to battle-stations, sending up fighters in reply. Rick checked his sensors; he saw that the fighters weren’t headed at his pilots, but straight back into Macross City. He converted his VT to Battloid mode and landed on the carrier deck, autocannon at the ready, feeling like he could take the whole ship apart rivet by rivet. Instead of going straight toward the trigger, though, he scanned and surveyed the ship, layer by layer, his rifle at the ready for uninvited company.

Back on the bridge, they were scanning the tactical screens and awaited the next step in destroying the carrier, when the enemy VT’s came back toward the city. “Admiral, should we recall the fighter squadrons to cover our defense line,” Lisa asked.

“Negative; they’re needed out there to destroy the carrier. We’ll rely on the barrier system for our defense, along with the AA batteries. It shouldn’t take long,” the Admiral responded.

Just as he finished speaking, a huge energy burst slammed into the barrier from behind them. “Tactical, what happened,” Lisa screamed as the sirens roared to life and the communication channels filled with damage reports.

“Scanners are picking up a portable field gun battery in the southwest quadrant, captain. They’re portable crew-served fieldpieces that fire what appear to be protoculture-laden shells,” Hawthorne responded.

“That would explain a few things, sir,” the engineering station chimed in. “For starters, the barrier system took a direct hit, and the generator is beginning to overload; it’s beginning to fail, sir.”

“Any way we can prevent that,” Admiral Gloval asked.

“None whatsoever, sir. After that goes down, we’ll have our normal reserve shielding, but it can’t withstand another blast like that. And if we attempt to raise the barrier system again, there’s a 65% probability that it’ll chain-react. Not the best of odds, sir.”

Admiral Gloval sat down in his chair, lost in thought. Rick and his VT wing could blast that carrier out of the sea at a moment’s notice, but Maistroff could counter by blowing his bridge away, and nothing would be decided. Lisa and Rick would counterattack, and whoever replaced Maistroff would reply in kind; the term “Mexican Standoff” came to mind. He thought about his options, how to end this fast and without additional loss of life. “Captain Hunter, is the carrier secured,” he asked.

“All surface defenses are cleared off, Admiral, but we’ve yet to get below decks. It could get ugly down there.”

“Is Maistroff still alive down there?”

“Hard to tell, but I think so, yes. At least, we haven’t confirmed that he’s dead.”

“Keep things just how they are, I’m coming over.”

His bridge crew gasped in shock. “Admiral, I strongly protest,” Lisa started saying, and Gloval cut her off.

“I’m going to go out there and arrest him. If he comes quietly, he stands trial. If he doesn’t, I’ll figure out what to do from there. But either way, this ends now, today, and not one day more.”

“You’re not going out there without a full squad,” Lisa said, trying to get the final word.

Henry held his hands up. “Okay, you win. But I don’t want you doing anything without my express order, Lisa. No backup, no rescue attempts, no interference without my say-so.”

“Aye, sir,” Lisa said, all the fight going out of her.

“Hunter, keep the zone secure. Lisa, take the conn. I’m suiting up, and I’ll be there in five.”

The wind over the deck was brisk and whipped Henry’s overcoat as he stepped off the chopper’s landing strut toward the remnants of the Vercingetorix’s superstructure; the six man squad followed behind him. Rick, by this time, had changed his VT to Gerwalk mode, landed, and exited the cockpit. He was mildly nervous; he only had his MOG, and the rest of the tactical team, including the admiral, was carrying Beryl rifles and wearing combat armor.

“Admiral, sir,” Rick said. “The stairwell has been secured, and we stand ready to escort you below.”

“Any idea how many people are below deck?”

“We’ve discovered that most of the remaining crew has abandoned ship. Scans of the armory show that it’s empty; it’s possible that the crew abandoned their posts and came ashore with that last wave of infantry. Those still left have spaced themselves out among a cluster of rooms between the main hanger and main Engineering. We figure on between a dozen and two dozen men, total,” Rick said, consulting the scans his XO performed.

“And can we get a definite fix on Maistroff?”

“Nothing precise, but I figure he’s going to be an a room that he can use to his advantage.”

“Then let’s go for it, before he can use that advantage. Rick, you and I will finish this. The squad can stay at the bottom of the landing as reinforcements. I’ll take the high road, you’ll take the low road.”

“And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye,” Rick finished.

“Neither one of us is cut out to be “Macross Idol,” Rick,” Henry quipped, motioning with his head to head down the darkened stairs, between the scrapped metal of what used to be the doorframe and surrounding walls.

Rick holstered his MOG and took the Beryl that one of the security troopers offered him, swinging it up into a ready position. He lead Henry down the stairs, sweeping the barrel-mounted flashlight left and right in measured search quadrants. Henry followed behind, his rifle at the ready and looking for possible entrances to peek through. At the bottom of the stairs, Rick fanned out to the right and Henry continued straight ahead, through the heavy watertight door onto the secondary deck.

Lisa paced the bridge, feeling useless. She triple-checked each bridge station, called Engineering a half dozen times, and fumed silently. Admiral Gloval and Rick were over on the enemy command ship, and her friends from the bridge were all off on a mission in Washington State. Petty complaints, she knew, but the tension, while a normal part of battle, was not something she preferred to face alone. It’d always helped her, before, when Claudia and the girls were on the bridge, muttering off-the-cuff quips to release the pent-up tension they all felt.

Now, it was all she could do to refrain from snapping anyone’s head off by the neck. The true love of her life, and the surrogate father she’d always wanted were both engaged in a mortal duel with a psychopathic renegade. “Communications, try raising the Midway, again. We may need their reinforcements, if the rebels renew their attack.”

“Perfect timing, captain; they’re hailing us.”

“UEG Midway, this is SDF-1 Bridge, we are receiving.”

Ragged breathing and the sound of a voice trying to choke tears away came over the intercom. “Lisa…it’s Max. Can we go private?”

Lisa signaled the communications officer, then walked into Admiral Gloval’s ready room. “Go ahead, Max. It’s secure.”

“This mission was bad, Lisa; sixty percent casualty rate. Vanessa and Claudia were both shot in the back, and are undergoing surgeries at the moment. They’re on the razor’s edge,” Max said, his voice shaking perceptibly.

“How are the others,” Lisa asked.

“Sammie and Kim are good; a few bruises and contusions, but otherwise fine No apparent broken bones.” She heard the hesitation, the fear, and the loss in his voice before he even spoke his next words. “Miriya is missing and feared dead.”

Lisa felt as if the world collapsed on her shoulders; she staggered against the deck as if a physical blow had hit her. “And their main base?”

“Destroyed.”

She paused, trying to let it all sink in. “I wish there were words to say, Max, that could help you out at this moment. Right now, I have no idea what they would possibly be.”

“I appreciate that, Lisa.”

“Just get your ass back here. We need you and your buddies on that ship.”

“Aye, Captain,” he chuckled mirthlessly. “We’ve got a 30 minute ETA on New Macross City. I’ll see you then.”

“Great. And, Max?”

“Yes, Lisa?”

“ Take care of yourself. Rick and I, hell, the whole crew, are here, if you need us.”

“Thank you, Lisa. I love you all. I’ll see you soon,” he said, then cut the transmission.

Henry poked his head around the corner into Main Engineering, looking for his target, and was greeted by a gunshot ricocheting off the bulkhead above him. He looked in the direction of the shot, and saw Maistroff aiming his MOG at him. “You never learn, do you, Henry? This isn’t personal between you and me; it’s between the Zentraedi and me. Back off.”

“This is not just between you and the Zentraedi. In your blind hatred of the Zentraedi, you concocted a biological weapon that could have wiped out every living thing on Earth. I know why you hate them, Vaclav. And believe me, I miss Sylvia and your children, as well…”

Maistroff fired again, a little closer to Henry’s head. “Don’t you dare speak about them that way! You speak their names, you mention their memories, but they are not the demons you see when you go to sleep every night!”

Henry raised his arms in mock surrender. “I know, Vaclav; I’m your friend, remember? The one who took you to see the counselor, the one who stopped you from putting a bullet through your head all those years ago?”

“You didn’t care, Henry. Not you, not that stupid, pathetic counselor, not my superiors…nobody,” he screamed, firing blindly in Henry’s direction…

Lisa greeted Max on the flight deck as the chopper landed, and the full medical team stood ready to receive the casualties. Max struggled to stand up, but he pulled himself to his feet and assisted in getting Vanessa’s stretcher off the chopper and into the welcoming arms of the medical team.

Lisa took Max’s hand and led him off the chopper. She saw that he was just going into shock over Miriya’s death, that his adrenaline high was just starting to wear off, and he was going to crash soon - hard. “Max, I know this isn’t the best time, but I want you to know that we’re all going to be here for you, to support you, help you get through this.”

“Thanks, Lisa, I know that,” he replied. “It may take me a while, though, because it doesn’t seem all that real to me yet, you know?”

“I know.” She gave him a tight, sympathetic hug. “C’mon, let’s get you to the medical center for a checkup, now.”

“Captain, I wish to return to flight status,” Max said.

“Request denied, Captain Sterling. You’re on the edge of breaking down, and I won’t let you endanger your life, or the lives of my pilots, by letting you pursue a selfish course of action.”

“But, Lisa…”

“Do I have to sedate you?”

“Oh, okay,” he grumbled reluctantly, and allowed Lisa to guide him to the doctor’s office, away from combat, and, momentarily, from the demons that were sure to follow him when he went to sleep later that day.

Rick went from room to room, flashing a light and checking every nook and cranny to make certain that the ship was neutralized. He arrived at the entrance to the sixth room, opened the door, and heard a noise. He flashed his light and saw a Gunner’s Mate aiming an M-60 at him. Rick fired two quick bursts, downing his assailant. The rest of the room was deserted, barely lit, but a sounding chamber; noises were amplified tenfold. He heard gunfire going off behind him, down the hall at the intersection, so he ran towards the sounds.

“Admiral Gloval, are you okay,” he called on his radio. He got no reply, so he ran even faster towards the Engineering section.

The three shots Maistroff fired seemed to slow, almost stopping in midair, as they rotated on their path towards Henry. Fortunately for the Admiral, his body armor was able to stop them more fully. Henry looked at Vaclav, stunned. “You’re so consumed by your hatred that you would try to kill me, personally, Vaclav?”

“You stand between me and avenging the wrongs of the Zentraedi military might, their crashing into our planet, the indiscriminate massacre of our civilians. If you’re not going to help me, you’re just as bad as they are, condoning their actions and abetting their schemes,” he railed, his eyes wild and bloodshot.

Gloval looked briefly over Vaclav’s shoulder, spotted Rick stealthily entering the room through a second doorway. He didn’t dwell on it, unwilling to give Maistroff a second target to shoot at. “The Visitor didn’t intentionally hit Macross Island, Vaclav, it was hurtling wildly through space…”

The bullet went between Henry’s legs this time. “Stop trying to placate me. I don’t want to shoot you, Henry. But I will, if you refuse to stand down.”

Henry aimed his pistol reluctantly at Vaclav’s forehead, and Vaclav mirrored his friend’s stance. “I don’t want to kill you, my old friend. But if that is what I have to do, then I will,” he said, giving Rick a fast nod to indicate that they should attack him now.

Rick rammed himself fast into Maistroff’s back, tackling the older man to the floor and grabbing him into a headlock. Henry stood over his defeated comrade and offered a look of pity as he aimed his pistol at him. “You were once an honorable man, Vaclav. You were a friend, a comrade, a husband and a father. And now, you are none of those things any longer, for you have made yourself into what you despised most, a traitor to the human race,” Henry said with regret.

Vaclav kicked Rick between the legs and snapped out of the headlock, sprinting out the door. Rick looked at Henry, eyes full of innovation, necessity, and pain. Henry nodded reluctantly, and Rick, grimacing in pain, radioed, “Skull group, security group, and all allied craft in the area, prepare an emergency cordon of five hundred yards around this beacon. We’re gonna rig this ship for some fireworks. Clear the airspace.”

“Rick, go back to your fighter. You don’t need to do this. This is my fight,” Henry said, looking at Rick as he walked over to the furnace.

“Henry, they targeted us all; you, me, Lisa, Claudia, Max, Miriya, and the Trio. We’re all in this together. And if this is the last act, there’s no one I’d rather face the final curtain with than you.”

Henry’s eyes welled slightly at that last remark, then swallowed them back and said, “Rig the furnace for five minutes, then run to your fighter. I have to take Maistroff alone.”

“How will you get out?”

“I don’t know, Rick,” Henry said seriously. “But he must be stopped, and I will be the one that stops him.”

Rick watched as his commanding officer, and a true friend, walked away, out the door and slowly up the stairs towards his ultimate destiny.

Henry walked out onto the deck slowly, each leg feeling as if it had been encased in concrete. The wind had picked up slightly, and the dawn was breaking slowly across the horizon, each scarlet stream of light playing across the sky like fiery rain. The rain from the previous night had ceased, yet the air was still chilly, heavy with the lingering weight of precipitation and sea spray. He walked toward the rear of the superstructure, or, rather, what was left of it. “I know what you’ve come to do, Henry,” came a soft voice from the stern of the ship.

Henry looked in that general direction, saying, “And you know why I have to do it, as well.”

“I will never surrender, you know that.”

“As I expected. To the death, then?”

“If you wish to see St. Peter so prematurely, then so be it.”

Henry rushed forward, swinging both fists into Vaclav’s midsection with tremendous force. He followed it up with a quick roundhouse kick, sending his adversary to the floor. Vaclav rose, sending his fist sharply and harshly at the underside of Henry’s jaw, snapping his head back harshly. Henry saw stars, but recovered quickly, throwing Vaclav across the deck as he tried to choke Henry in an arm lock. Vaclav slid across the rain-slicked deck, stopping just at the edge.

Henry drew his pistol again, caught his breath, and advanced across the deck. His step felt light, as it hadn’t been in years; he knew something irrevocable was about to happen, and yet this odd, typically unsettling feeling of finality was like a balm to him. He couldn’t turn back the clock, but he could put an end to the latest travesty, and make sure that nothing like that ever happened again.

Henry stepped over the downed body of his former friend, Vaclav, putting his pistol to the man’s temple. “Prepare to meet your maker, if that is what you believe in,” he said gently.

Vaclav snarled, “Only if we meet him together,” and stabbed Henry as he pulled the trigger. Henry gasped in pain and shock, then fell to the deck, blood gushing from his guts. Odd, he thought, that only at the end of his life could he put things in perspective.

His had never been the perfect life; he loved too greatly, felt too deeply, and could not stop three major wars from happening. He blamed himself for the war with the Zentraedi; if they had been able to decipher their language and customs sooner, then maybe the Earth wouldn’t have been destroyed. He blamed himself for Maistroff’s insurrection; if he had nipped it in the bud sooner, then more needless deaths would have been averted. But mostly, he regretted taking his wife to the hospital that night. Her parents had insisted on hiring a midwife to assist in the delivery, but he refused, not willing to believe in such an ancient practice in the modern era. So when the suicide bomber had killed Irina, Henry had wished that he had been in her place instead of her and their child. Too many regrets, he told himself.

The darkness started filling his eyes as his breathing slowed, and he slumped against the deck, the sunlight filling his eyes and flooding his mind. Irina, wait for me. I’m coming home.

Rick ran up onto the deck, searching for Henry. He saw the bodies slumped on the far edge of the deck, and ran over. He found Henry, the pulse was slow but present, and there was a lot of blood on the deck. He lifted the body up in his arms, checked his watch, and ran towards his fighter; he only had a minute and a half left. He buckled himself in, laid Henry across his lap gently and carefully, and lifted off as the burning Vercingetorix detonated underneath them.

AN: I can't believe it's taken 2 years or so to get to this point. There will be a small coda coming up, cuz I wanna deal with the funerals, etc. Drop me a line and let me know what you think. :)

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = Lightsaber01ATHotmail.com