A Fleet Protected by God

[prismphantom]

[1] (not really something needing comments )

[In spite of Selena's improved mood around others, the massacring of Team Jelba's members is still heavy on her mind.]

Scan again, Elma.

[... Heavy enough that she's been volunteering for scouting and ranging missions for the Macross every chance she can get.  Scouting and scanning and searching and doing everything she can to try to track down those Balmarians responsible for the death of Captain Symphonia and everyone close to her.  The Soleares's Prism Phantom and jamming mechanisms made it ideal for this sort of thing anyways.]



Selena, we've been at it for hours now!  This section's clea-

[Beep beep.  Something's suddenly come up.]



... I stand corrected.

[A few seconds later and suddenly massive explosions erupt across the distance in a wide swath.  A battle.  No ESUN bases in this area of space though, or at least not any more.  Who was fighting was still anyone's guess though.]



I'm taking us in, but keep scanning.  If something important happens, I want to know.

[Thus the red machine hurtles through empty space as fast as its engines can carry it... which isn't very fast considering how much power's been regulated to Elma's sensors.  But at least the little subot can offer some commentary along the way.]



The fleets... they're huge!  And I'm still picking up more and more forces by the second!  Zentradi for sure, and... Aerogators!  They're converging on an Aerogator detachment... and there's something huge!  It's... it's like a mobile space colony or something!  Calculating size now... but it's at least 25 km! 



Twenty five-

[Something that big...]

I'm putting more power to the Tesla Drive.  If it's that big and it's mobile, it could very well be their flagship.



Hurry then!  The other Aerogator vessels are being massacred... and if the Zentradi turn all their guns towards it then-

[Too late.  Suddenly there's an even larger explosion, the kind Selena thought you'd need mass colony drops to achieve.  The blinding light and the force of the blast -even so far away that all she was starting to see was Zentradi warships!- sent the Assault Scouter reeling, subot and pilot crying out as they tried to get the machine back under control.  But before Selena can even ask what happened, Elma has the answer.]

They're... gone...



I-I'll say... The Zentradi certainly know how to end it with a bang.



No!  Not them!  I mean, yes, the Zentradi!  They're gone!  Something happened... there was some other Balmarian machine being launched from the flagship and then... then they all...



You're saying that one Balmarian machine... was able to turn the tide that quickly?  That... decisively?

... Hold on Elma... and pray to any maker you might have.  If it's still out there, we need to know about this thing.
[2]

[Some time later after the Soleares returns...]



We may have a situation on our hands.  The good news is... Elma and I managed to acquire footage of what might just be the Aerogators' flagship.

[Cue image.  Thank God Elma's sensors were able to snap that before the Balmarians were alerted.]

The bad news is... all of that scrap you see around it?  That's what's left of a Zentradi attack force that had been mopping the floor with the Balmarians before all those underdogs pulled something out of that ship that ended the battle and those Zentradi all in an instant.  Last we detected, it wasn't heading towards Eath, thank God.

General Hetepheres, Optimus Prime... if you've any knowledge about whatever could've ended such an outmatched fight so abruptly, I'm sure everyone would love to hear it.

[She sighs.  It'd been a long ranging, and even longer getting back to the SDF.  And then debriefing and now this.  If she were sane she would've been in bed by now.]

I guess this explains why Ingram wasn't worried about us growing too strong for him to handle.

Comments

2)

[tillallareone]

[Optimus looked quite pensive, his optics dimming as he pressed a finger to the top of his head and pondered in his makeshift quarters in Autobot city.]

I have never confronted the Balamarians personally or seen anything like that. I am sorry Selena.

[Optimus pauses.]

However. I know two Autobots who might have. As well as someone who can retrieve the archive data that had been kept for it. One moment.

[In a few moments Kup, Ironhide and Rewind turn up on the screen as well.]

Kup, Ironhide. Answer anything Miss Recital needs to know as much as you can. Rewind will pull up the relevant data from the archives for reference.

[prismphantom]

Hello there gentlemen.

I heard you might be able to provide some answers about a certain ace in the hole the Aerogators seem to have. I don't know if you're familiar with Balmarian superweapons... but at this point in time all I know is that one exists and no lead is too small or inconsequential.

1/2

[tillallareone]

[Both Autobots nodded, Kup looked a little disconcerted though.]



Ah think ah remember somethin' like this. One of the few times me an' Kup worked t'gether. Zehex four?

[The older veteran shook his head grimly.]



No. That wasn't it. Zehex Four was something else from this...

[Kup leans on his screen, looking old. Older than before.]



Kup?

2/2

[tillallareone]

It was the second battle for Hell's Point. About a few years before Iacon fell and Optimus took on the reins. Me and Ironhide were sent in by Prowl along with the 51st Battalion to investigate reports that the Decepticons cleaned out a world and were using it to build a super-destroyer. A Hell's Point.

[Ironhide was thinking back as well, then his face went into a somewhat alarmed expression as he remembered the exact battle.]

It was a massacre. That ship was already online and didn't just have escorts. Three whole enemy divisions. From our optics was like the entire Decepticon army was coming crashing down on us.

We were down to three squads... about half of us were injured. Badly. One poor lad spent the entire time...

...Cut in half. Optics were burst and his audios were fried. He got hit by a sonic destructor.

... Selena was your name right? Let me tell you this girl... imagine you were seeing your death by some of the worst kinds of beings coming towards you. Imagine they turned around because they found something else moving around behind them and wanted to show you that they were going to slaughter them and that you were next...

Then every single last one of them gets wiped just when they were chewing three quarters through the fleet they thought was easy pickings.

[Rewind pulled up data from the battle. In addition to a large number of Decepticons, several ships could be seen as well. Jagged, sinister and brimming with weapons. There were more than a few that looked like massive Decepticon insignias, deploying massive Cybernaughts - robots within heavily armed robots. And with them was a ship that almost blocked out the sun.

All of the Decepticon troops were battling against a Balmarian fleet not unlike the one Selena saw. Then something left the main Balmarian ship. It looked similar to the Cybertronians, but was as large as a Gestalt - similar to the one tearing through Balmarian lines.]

...It was over in seconds...

[Explosions. Massive amounts of them. Everything that sword met was cut apart. At times the machine even seperated into numerous smaller machines, mimicking the Cybertronians as they swiftly weaved through the Decepticon lines and methodically wiped them out. A hand blocked out the recording as a blinding explosion occurred. The last sight was the Balmarian fleet leaving and the remains of the Decepticon fleet falling through the Planet's atmosphere, including the gigantic superdestroyer.]

[prismphantom]

Another Balmarian fleet losing, practically being routed... and then a single machine turns the tide in an instant.

Though it was certainly more hands-on than whatever annihilated the Zentradi. For better or for worse.

[tillallareone]

An ace in the hole. And given the Balmarians have taken an interest in humanity...

[Optimus sounds not too happy about these revelations. No. It was more determination.]

We need to find a way to counter it. There is no reason not to believe we may eventually encounter such a foe.

This thread is just one big massive Alpha 1 reference

[prismphantom]

It's times like these I wish Shu were still around, even at the expense of Albhard's good mood. Knowing how the good professor worked, he'd... probably figure out some way of trapping them all in a pocket dimension or something.

[tillallareone]

Is there any way to get into contact with him?

[prismphantom]

Wish there was. But La Gias seems to just be entirely cut off from us now... and Shu had his own agenda too... "killing a god" and all that.

We're going to be on our own.

2

[abugslife]

I would not be able to say. Geb was never attacked by the main Balmarian force, just their remote drones and automated scouts. We have rarely seen anything more than the units you, until recently, referred to as Aerogator bugs.

Certainly nothing that could bring this kind of firepower to a fight.

[prismphantom]

... Almost makes you wonder why they haven't just used it to clear through the other alien fleets in the solar system then. They're here for us, after all... and heaven forbid the Wulgaru or Zentradi destroy their precious samples.

[abugslife]

You heard what Major Ingram had to say on this topic. The Balmarians want Earthlings to prove their worth as warriors; if you are destroyed by any of the invading races, then you are most likely deemed not worthy by them.

[prismphantom]

... And considering he's already got some fancy new machine out of that, I'm sure he wouldn't mind one bit.

[abugslife]

Just the fact that we know about this new Balmarian weapon helps. This way, we will not be thrown completely off-guard when it is finally used against us.

But this is not enough. We need to know more.

[prismphantom]

Believe me, this is all the more reason to keep up with the scouting runs. This is what the Soleares was made for, and I'm tired of the Balmarian presence here.

[abugslife]

We are in agreement. Keep going.

...But stay cautious. If you run into this superweapon alone, and the Balmarians detect your presence, I do not see your odds favorably.