fanfic_name = Gotterdammerung

chapter = 1

author = Cicero Phelps

dedicate = All my new friends on this site

Rating = O18

Type = Angst

fanfic = Gotterdammerung
The Third Chapter in the RDF Civil War Saga

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters; may the rightful owners remember that if they want to take all of my debts for themselves.

Central Cast:

Robotech Defense Forces

Admiral Henry J. Gloval - Human male from Russian Consortium, Commanding Officer, Robotech Defense Force, SDF-1

Captain Elizabeth Juliet "Lisa" Hayes ? Human female from New York Sector, Commanding Officer, Rogue VT Squadron, First Officer, SDF-1

Captain Richard Sinclair Hunter - Human male from the New England Sector, Commanding Officer, Skull VT Squadron, Wing Commander, SDF-1

Captain Maximillian Rudolph Sterling ? Human male from the European Hegemony, Commanding Officer, Wraith VT Squadron

Captain Miriya Parino Sterling ? Zentraedi female from Tirol, Commanding Officer, Hawkeye VT Squadron

Lt. Commander Claudia Elayne Grant ? Human female from the African Congress, Military Liaison/Combat Controller, SDF-1

Lt. Commander Vanessa Erin Leeds ? Human female from the Canadian Commonwealth, SDF-1 Radar/First Contact Specialist

Lieutenant Kimberly Anne Young ? Human female from American Heartland Sector, SDF-1 Ship's Operations Officer

Lieutenant j.g. Samantha Cole Porter ? Human female from American Midwestern Sector, SDF-1 Communications Specialist

Anti-RDF Rebels

General Vaclav Maistroff ? Human male from European Hegemony, Commander in Chief, Anti-RDF rebellion

Colonel William Howe ? Human male from United Kingdom, Infantry Commander, Anti-RDF rebellion
Chapter I

Admiral Henry J. Gloval wasn't the type to panic easily.
True, the elevator car was hanging precariously inside a twenty-story shaft, and he was starting to feel a twinge of claustrophobia coming on. But his entire bridge crew surrounded him inside that car, and even though the air was getting stale and the temperature was rising, he still had to maintain an air of command confidence. He'd survived worse things than this; far and away the worst thing he'd endured in the recent past was piloting the SDF-1 through 60 layers of Zentraedi mothership to deploy reflex warheads and survive the combined destructive powers of 100 reflex furnaces banging down the ship's shields.
"Admiral?"
That was Lisa. "Yes, Lisa?"
"How do you suggest we try to get out of here?"
"I'm open for suggestions; electrical engineering isn't really my speed."
"Sir, I have an idea," Vanessa said.
"What's that, Vanessa?"
"We could try to use the circuit panel to hotwire the door controls and get us out of here."
"We could be stuck between floors, though," Claudia pointed out.
"Well, if we don't try anything, we'll suffocate, in time," Kim countered.
"Go for it," the Admiral said.
Vanessa got out the miniature tool kit that Rick had taken with him when he assaulted the battle fortress, and had subsequently abandoned during the mission. She unscrewed the outer plate and took a look at the wires. "Sammie, before I cannibalize these wires, could you try to reach the bridge through the emergency phone?"
"Roger that, Vanessa," came the cheerful response.
"Bridge, this is elevator car number THX-1138. We're stuck inside the main elevator shaft. Can you offer assistance?"
"Elevator, this is the bridge. We'd love to help, but we're up to our elbows in another mess at the moment."
"Bridge, what appears to be the problem?"
"Elevator, some sick bastard hit the self destruct sequence and is trying to send us to Kingdom come."
"Bridge, this is Admiral Gloval speaking. Are you certain that someone set the reactor into overdrive?"
"Absolutely, Admiral. I've got three captured techs up here trying to override the command, but they're making slow progress," Rick replied.
"Understood, Bridge. We'll see what we can do on our end. Elevator out."
"What's wrong, Admiral," Claudia asked.
"Maistroff pulled a 'poison pill' maneuver on us," he grumbled.
"What's that?"
"He deliberately abandoned the vessel to us after rendering it unpleasant, thus making it unsuitable. And now he's hit the self-destruct mechanism to try to win against us."
The girls in the car shrieked in horror. "Ladies, please. Let us focus on the task at hand and get out of here. I'm sure that Captain Hunter will need our help as soon as possible, so please focus."
Vanessa stripped the wires with the edge of a folding knife and got the fraying ends to tie together. Sweat beaded on her forehead and threatened to fog her glasses, but she forced herself to relax. The wires sparked, and threw the doors into life. The exhausted crew clambered out onto the nearest rungs, which were the access ladders in the elevator shafts.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Kim groaned. They were on the secondary bridge, fifteen levels below the main bridge.
"Battle stations, ladies," Gloval ordered. "Let's work on getting that reactor back under control."
Lisa, Kim, and Sammie ran towards their keyboards. "Vanessa, how much time do we have," Gloval continued.
"Approximately two and one half hours, Admiral."
"Claudia, tactical situation?"
"Not good, sir. Our missile batteries are inoperative, the lasers are below minimal firing power, shields are nil, and the rebels are regrouping twenty-five miles to the south. They seem to have acquired long range Surface to Surface missiles, and are aiming them at us."
"Bridge, this is Admiral Gloval speaking."
"Bridge here, Admiral. Where are you guys?"
"Captain Hunter, we have gained access to the auxiliary bridge. We have no external communications from here, and our resources are being put into stopping the reactor. I'm putting you temporarily in charge of the safety of the whole ship."
"Roger, Admiral. Bridge out."
Admiral Gloval looked around his command, the only true love of his life. True, he'd been married before, in his twenties, to a woman three years younger than him, but that marriage had ended when she died in childbirth, along with their child, when a suicide bomber hit the hospital in Tel Aviv. He had loved no other woman since then, and, indeed, it was in her memory that he'd enlisted in the Self Defense Forces.
Then came the rapid global upheaval of the 80's; a new Soviet premier died every week, and the Eastern European governments fell like dominoes one after the other. Tensions were running high in Jerusalem, and the government was dithering like a schoolgirl on her prom night. The UN incident came into the picture, hitting like a sledgehammer against a man's forehead, and he had to decide what to do next. The American military made him a lucrative offer to train and lead a brand-new Special Operations force, and he'd agreed.
"Admiral?"
The omnipresent voice of subordinates. They dictated every moment of his waking life. "Yes, Lisa?"
"I think it may be possible to avert a reactor overload if we can shunt excess energy from the reactor to the Omni Directional Barrier System."
"Make it so. How much time do we have?"
"An hour and forty-five minutes, Sir."
"Work fast, ladies. We don't have much time."
"Vanessa, Kim, it's a triple-encoded firewall I'm up against," Lisa said. "Tie your modules into my station and let's have at it."
Triple threat. The Admiral smiled to himself as he watched his crew, no, his surrogate family, start cracking the barriers that protected the treat to their home. This ship was still alive due to their creativity, their courage, their spirit. He was the captain of the vessel, but they were the saviors. He merely commanded them.
"Admiral?"
"Yes, Captain Hunter?"
"We've got three squads of enemy VT's coming in from the southwest. Miriya and Max are deploying to face them, but they're outnumbered. We're gonna need our guns, and we're gonna need them soon."

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