Disclaimer - The Muv Luv and the Macross Franchises are the respective copyright of their creators, Kouki Uchiyama and Shouji Kawamori, and I do not own the characters, storyline or respective settings of either franchise in any shape or form. All other references to pop culture likewise belong to their respective copyright holders.

Special thanks to Wild_Goose_01, who again helped proofread my drafts and correct many errors to make this more enjoyable for everyone involved!

"Achieve your mission with all your might. Despair not till your last breath. Make your death count."

- Part of the creed of UN Special Task Force A-01 Valkyries Squadron

"I don't believe in the no-win scenario. I don't like to lose."

- James T. Kirk (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn), motto of SMS's SVF-118 Mobius Squadron

"So you reached Japan just fine?"

Captain Yui Takamura, development head and commanding officer of Project Valkyrie, successor to the XFJ Plan, propped the phone against her ear with her shoulder while she happily prepared a mug of hot English breakfast tea at her desk. It was a cold autumn night outside her window in Dover Castle, and Yui really needed her special pick-me-up after having to weather though the daily insanity that came with being in charge of her merry band of misfits. This was the only bright spot after a full day of dealing with the combined antics of Argos Flight and the Cerberus Battalion, and she wanted to savor it for all that it was worth.

"Yes, Captain. Landed in Chofu Base just an hour ago." Her youngest subordinate replied after a slight lag, caused by the international call. "I still cannot believe that I made the entire trip in four hours from Dover with no issues."

"Hm, looks like Lowell wasn't exaggerating about those new engines. I hope your arrival was without problems?"

"I was able to arrive without drawing too much attention. Your uncle discretely expedited my paperwork, but I have to speak to some Japanese engineers regarding the implementation of the EML-99-2 after this, as agreed."

"I see." Yui made a mental note to thank her uncle the next time they spoke. Sneaking one of her pilots into the island nation unnoticed was both a difficult and risky exercise, but they had little choice in the matter considering the sensitive nature of the mission. It could have been outright impossible if not for her Uncle, and she was now very much in his debt for this favor.

"I'll probably be spending the entirety of today with the engineers, but if all goes well I can begin my search for Tatsunami tomorrow."

"Good. Maintain a low profile, I want to keep this quiet if I can-" Yui ordered, before adding as an afterthought, "-and keep an eye out of any Allegiance elements while you're there. The agent Manadal captured in Inverness broke from interrogation. He revealed that some survivors from the Yukon attack have fled to Japan."

"Survivors? You don't mean… them?"

"Unfortunately." Yui had been surprised there had been any survivors from the Yukon attack at all. These fanatics and terrorists were like cockroaches. Just when you'd thought they were done and dusted, they popped up again somewhere else to cause more trouble. "Be careful. If it's really the same group then they might still have some of the TSFs they stole from Blue Flag."

"I hope you are wrong, Captain. Fighting that Raptor will not be easy."

"I know, but sooner or later, it's going to pop up somewhere." Yui sighed. "Besides, if we can retrieve or destroy Kuze's stolen Raptor, the Americans will owe us one."

"I understand, ma'am."

"Take care, Revenant, and good luck."

"Understood, Captain." There was a click, and Nastassja Ivanova, the 'Revenant' of the 211th Zhar Battalion, ended the call. Yui set the phone down back in its cradle and reached for her cup, taking a small sip to test her hot tea. The warm liquid's soothing yet bitter feeling slid down her throat and into her chest, and Yui smiled with pure contentment. It was perfec-

"DECULTURE SHOCK, MOTHERFUCKERS! YA-HOO!"

It was about then that a certain Ilfriede von Feulner decided to do a low pass over the castle in her brand new VTF-0(2) Valkyrie, bellowing over the external speakers like a banshee the entire way. The resulting shockwave from the low flying fighter knocked Yui's glorious cup of tea all over her immaculate uniform and sent the surprised young woman tumbling onto her behind.

For a moment, silence and stillness reigned where Yui sat there stunned, unable to comprehend the fact her nice relaxing evening cup of tea had been completely ruined. Then Yui, and just about everyone else in the bloody castle caught off guard by the stunt for that matter, erupted into a single cry that pretty much summed up her life since she had first met the man named Yuuya Bridges.

"GOD DAMN THESE VALKYRIE PILOTS!"

Muv Luv: Do You Remember Luv

-Valkyrie-

Part One

Hand in the air. Ring, middle and index fingers together. Thumb and pinky outstretched into a V.

That was the shape of the hand that Hibiki Tatsunami held up to the clear blue sky. The young boy then turned it sideways and moved it across his body like the point of his fingers were moving forward. Twisting his torso, the hand began to move again in several corkscrews as he allowed it to descend.

Just as it reached his waist, he angled it back up and allowed it to rise back into the air until his arm was completely outstretched. Tatsunami did this in complete silence, so deep was his concentration it was as if he was in a trance.

"What a weirdo."

"That's not a very nice thing to say." Sendou Yuzuka frowned at her friend and fellow Eishi, Isumi Akira, as the two of them crouched behind a small bush to conceal their presence.

The pair of Eishi cadets were watching Tatsunami do his weird dance with his hands from afar. They had heard of this strange boy from some of their fellow trainees, and the pair had come here out of curiosity to see if the rumors were true. It was common knowledge on the base that Tatsunami would come out into the open grass field in his free time for the sole purpose of watching the large cargo planes and recon drones taking off and landing from the nearby runway.

Sometimes when sky was clear and blue, such as a day like this one, he would sometimes do this odd dance with his hands.

"Well, he is!" Akira pointed at the boy in the distance accusingly. "I mean, look at him! Who knows what's going though that head of his?"

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Yuzuka defended, unable to take her eyes off the boy in the distance. He had started moving his hand about again, this time tilting it left, then right, then back again while inverting it palm skyward and allowing it to drop.

"If he has his reasons, they're probably stupid," Akira huffed. "He spent months in a mental ward sprouting nonsense, remember?"

"I know," Yukaza said.

Tatsunami's story was quite famous among their training cohort. Six months ago, Tatsunami Hibiki had been drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army when that he had hit the age of fifteen. It had seemed normal at first. Tatsunami enlisted without complaint, with a smile even, and had quickly proved his worth under the Eishi training program. Then everything got weird. There had been an accident over Tokyo airspace where he'd crashed his Type-97 Fubuki right into the bay and was knocked unconscious. When he was eventually fished out of the water, Tatsunami, one of the most promising trainees the IJA had seen in a while, started spouting ridiculous fantasies.

"I bet he did it just to get out of being an Eishi pilot. He probably lost his nerve at the last moment," Akira theorized. That was the prevalent theory surrounding Tatsunami. However, now that Yuzuka was seeing him in person, she had come to a startling realization.

"I don't know about that. I think, I think that there's nothing he would want more than to be an Eishi," Yuzuka whispered softly. The arrangement of his fingers was meant to resemble an airplane with forward swept wings. Those movements were meant to be the plane, soaring gracefully through the air.

This boy wanted to fly.

"If that's the case, then he'd made a terrible mistake by doing what he did," Akira said sharply, feeling no pity for the apparent 'draft dodger'. "Stripped of his Eishi status, sent to a mental hospital and then having his military specialty changed to a mechanic… yeah, if he really wanted to be an Eishi, that was the wrong way to go about it."

Yuzuka could only nod at Akira's words and look on at the boy in pity. Her friend was right. There was no way anyone would let Tatsunami pilot a TSF now. No wonder he looked so sad when watching those planes taking off and landing.

"Lunch break's almost over. We'd better get back. We have a briefing for the cross training exercises tomorrow with the IRG and that's way more important than some crazy kid," Akira said.

"You're right. We should leave," Yuzuka agreed.

Akira shuffled backwards out of the bush, and Yuzuka was just about to join her when her last involuntary glance to Tatsunami stopped her cold.

Two cold brown eyes looking keener than a hawk's looked right at her. Tastsunami's arms hung limply to his side, face impassive as he regarded Yuzuka ,the same way a bird of prey would regard a fleeing rabbit. Tatsunami was a predator, and somehow he had known they were watching him the entire time.

"Go," he mouthed to her.

Yuzuka fled so fast, in her haste to obey Tatsunami's unspoken command, that she knocked over Akira, who let out a squeal of surprise.

Special Task Force A-01, better known as the UN's Valkyrie Squadron, were the arms and legs of Professor Kouzuki Yuuko. They were a Special Forces unit in every sense of the word, comprised of only the elite of the elite and sent on only the most dangerous of tasks. Their sole mission: to assist Professor Kouzuki in completing the Alternative IV plan and to secure victory over the BETA at any cost.

Second Lieutenant Suzumiya Akane was proud to call herself a member of this unit. They were a small, close knit squadron, each member possessing the utmost faith and respect in their skills and each other. Being a Valkyrie proved she was among the best, and she could see and feel her impact on the ongoing war. Akane wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Her latest assignment though, quite frankly, did not make any sense whatsoever.

"I'm supposed to find this Private Tatsunami and scope him out?" Akane questioned, her eyes scanning the report of the boy in question. "Isumi –taii, I'm sorry to question your judgment, but are you sure about this guy? His dossier makes him look like a total loser."

"That was my reaction as well, Suzumiya-shōi," Captain Isumi Michiru said from behind her desk, which had stacks and stacks of forms and loose papers sewn across the normally orderly workplace. "However, Kouzuki's orders were very explicit. You are to find him in Atsugi Base and bring him to Yokohama."

"I don't see how an Eishi trainee washout would be of interest to the professor. Does she really have to send one of us to fetch this guy?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to discuss it with you. Like I said, Kouzuki's instructions were very explicit," Isumi said, her face completely stressed with worry. "God damn this."

Akane felt a chill go down her back. "A-Are the budget numbers really that bad, Captain?"

"I wish I could tell you no," Isumi sighed morosely "But that would be a lie. If these reports are correct, we will have serious problem with repairing combat damage to our TSFs in the coming months. No point keeping it secret either since we'll all be feeling the cutbacks soon."

For the first time since their inception, the A-01 Valkyries would be operating with a budget. Although the original intent of their unit was a Special Forces unit with no financial restrictions so guarantee absolute success, the powers that be had decided to come down hard on them, and worse, Alternative IV in general. Citing their depleted numbers from attrition and the lack of progress towards the completion of Alternative IV, the UN council had decided to divert the funding that would normally be sent their way towards another program that was having much more success as of late; the research platform ironically named 'Project Valkyrie'.

"I really shouldn't fault Takamura for this since she's only been doing her job, but right now I really want to punch her in the face." Captain Isumi remarked.

"How does UN HQ expect us to do our duty if we don't have the support we need?" Akane said, her fists balled at her sides and shaking in anger. "Don't they know how much we've sacrificed?"

"We're all just numbers to them in the end, Akane," Isumi said morosely as she shook her head.

To say the resentment among the Valkyries towards the Project Valkyrie on this matter was fierce would be a gross understatement. The Valkyries had practically bled themselves dry for the sake of humanity, the list of their honored dead was a long and painful one that included many fallen friends and family, but now the very people they were protecting were 'honoring' their sacrifices by halving their funding and handing it over to some rear echelon research and development team, who were already receiving so much funding it was debatable if Takamura even needed what she was getting from A-01.

It did not help that Project Valkyrie's success was well earned. In the span of half a year, Captain Takamura Yui had turned a small program to modernize the Type-94 into a research powerhouse. A mass production line for the improved and field capable EML-99-2 was already in the works with the first batch of weapons slated to be issued to IJA units by December. Her relocation to Dover Base was rumored to have been to develop a TSF scale 'thermonuclear engine' that would have almost three times the power of existing turbofans with none the normal constraints of fossil fuels. The F-15E-OT Over Eagle, a beast of a machine that possessed the firepower two A-10s had seen a renaissance in interest in the F-15 platform around the globe, and the VTF series was a different matter altogether.

Takamura Yui was the woman who had promised to change the face of warfare, and she was making good on that promise in a very big way. The saddest part was that Takamura probably didn't even know the damage she was doing to the Valkyries, and might not have even been aware of their existence in the first place. Some called her a miracle worker. Others, like the Valkyries, called her the one who would sound death knell of Alternative IV… the only real way to win the war without abandoning Earth, a fact which all the Valkyries were now all very much aware of after Kouzuki had reluctantly informed them of the existence of the other Alternative Plan.

"Well, there isn't much we can do but grin and bear it. I'm trying to somehow come up with something so that we can remain operational without compromising safety," Isumi stated honestly. The alternatives were too dire to even imagine. "I can say this for you though, your mission is of the greatest importance to the success of Kouzuki's efforts. Tatsunami might actually have something to do with Project Valkyrie's unexpected success."

Akane had to pause and process that for a moment. "What? This loser? Really?"

"It's on a need to know basis, and I can't tell you even though you're the one tasked with it. It's that important," Captain Isumi said plainly. "If Kouzuki's right, this boy may be more important to Alternative IV than even A-01 when it was at its full strength."

Nastassja Ivanova stood at perfect attention in Lieutenant Colonel Iwaya Eiji's office, as the man quietly took in his niece's agent. Although she wore the uniform of a UN soldier, it was merely a means for young girl to move around unnoticed.

"It seems like you were right about Tatsunami being another 'visitor'," Eiji said plainly."Makabe-kun confirmed that he is stationed at Atsugi Base as a TSF technician. We didn't notice Tatsunami at first because he wasn't an Eishi, so he flew under the radar, so to speak."

"I see. I will go to Atsugi then. Will Makabe be there?"

"Unfortunately, First Lieutenant Makabe is overseeing the permanent transfer of his training unit to Europe, so he won't be able to back you up."

Officially, Makabe Seijyurou would be moving to Dover to help establish a more permanent cross training program between the EU's elite and the IRG. Unofficially, he would be moving there with some of Japan's top Eishi to protect Project Valkyrie, and Japan's interests, from any foul play. There was of course the fact that Makabe was one of the few people alive that could reign in a certain maverick fighter pilot, but that reason would never be in any official record.

God forbid if Feulner ever got impatient enough that she decided to move to Japan instead.

"I'll arrange transport for you to travel to Atsugi Base."

"If it's all the same to you, Sir, I'd much rather prefer if I flew there myself."

"It's going to be very hard to hide you moving around in that, Ivanova," Eiji folded his hands in front of his face. "The VTF aside, do not forget as far as the world is concerned you are dead. Officially, you no longer exist. If the wrong people find out otherwise-"

"With all due respect, sir, I do not need to be reminded of that," Nastassja said emotionlessly. "But I would like my fighter close at hand in case I have need of it."

"Are you expecting a fight? I know Yui believes Allegiance has elements in Japan, but surely our military can deal with a few rogue terrorists?"

"Sir, if Allegiance really is in Japan, standing military or no I will not be left out of the fight. They started it, we at Project Valkyrie must finish it," Ivanova stated resolutely. "But before that, I am a pilot. I refuse to be without my wings."

Ivanova's eyes were cold, firm and resolute, so much so that Eiji was actually taken aback from the intensity of it. He had once told Yui that his greatest regret as a soldier was allowing children from her generation into battle. The Soviet Union obviously had no such reservations, and this girl was the tragic result.

This pretty much was embodied in Nastassja's call sign, 'Revenant': a vengeful ghost that had returned from beyond the grave to extract vengeance upon the living.

"Very well. If you're so instant about flying there on your own power you can go ahead." Eiji decided. "Just be aware of the risks involved."

Much to Eiji's surprise, Ivanova's lips twitched upwards, a sign that she was resisting the urge to smile. "Thank you, sir. If that's the case, I will prepare a flight plan as soon as possible. Will that be all?"

"That will be all, Captain Ivanova."

Ivanova gave him a snappy salute, then pivoted on the ball of her foot and left the room.

Eiji sat there thinking about the encounter for a brief moment.

What happened to the Zhar Battalion was a tragedy. Comprised almost entirely of young teenage conscripts from former Eastern Bloc nations, they had been forcefully pressed into service by an uncaring country. Every one of those children had heroically died to a man defending Kamchatka from the BETA. At least that was the official story.

After what she had survived, Nastassja should have become either a shell shocked wreck of a human being or someone who was consumed by nothing but vengeance. But if that small smile was any indication, Nastassja could avoid that dire fate.

He could see why Yui and 'Yuuya Bridges' had taken the girl in.

"I guess you were right Yui. Hope's not quite dead yet."

"Tatakai tsuzukeru sora ni, oorora wa oritekuru~

uchi hishigareta yoru, omae wa hitoribotchi ja nai~

itsudatte…"

Yuzuka's paused in mid step when she heard the voice singing from somewhere inside her Type-97 Fubuki's hangar. It was well after last roll call and she should have been back in her bunk getting ready for bed, but Yuzuka decided come back to the hangar bay have a talk with her crew chief to make sure her Fubuki would be in tip-top shape the following morning.

"Who's that?" Yukaza asked turning her head about to figure out where the singing was coming from.

"Oh that? That's Private Tatsunami." Her crew chief, a well-built man well into his forties whose preferred to be known by his nickname 'Pops', noted offhandedly. "Hibiki does that sometimes when we're doing over time. He's in your Fubuki's cockpit doing some diagnostics."

"Tatta hitotsu no kotoba de, mirai wa kimaru no sa.

Oretachi no 'Beat-to' wa, kagayaku daiyamondo~"

"Would you mind if I went to talk to him? I've never heard that song before," Yuzuka said, her curiosity getting the better of her. She was slightly intimidated by Tatsunami of course, the memory of him looking dead into her eyes still fresh, but this was something new.

Besides, she had better make sure he wasn't laying any nasty surprises for her tomorrow as revenge for her peeking in on him earlier that day.

"Suit yourself. I don't know what you see with that boy but you're the Eishi and it's your Fubuki," Pops shrugged, pointing to the access elevator. "Poor guy never gets any visitors except for MPs, and most of the other technicians won't even talk to him."

"Hontou no sora he, hontou no sora he. Inochi kagayaku sora he…"

"He doesn't get any visitors?" Yuzuka gaped in surprise, shock and horror on her features.

"He doesn't even have any friends," Pops explained, looking far, far older than he really was.

"That's terrible!" Yuzuka exclaimed. No friends? In a day and age like this, friends and comrades were all one had in this kind of life. How could anyone stand to be alone?

"I wish I could do more for the kid, I really do, but I can't relate to half the things he ways." Pops sighed, sadly. "Tatsunami operates on an entirely different wavelength from most of us. It's gotten to the point the poor kid's stopped caring about everything outside of this hangar and simply works his shift."

"We'll see about that!" Yuzuka stated, determination in her step as she stormed up to the elevator.

"FLY AWAY-FLY AWAY~
nobotte yukou!
TRY AGAIN-TRY AGAIN~
kinou ni te wo futte!
FLY AWAY-FLY AWAY~
shinjiru kagiri~
TRY AGAIN-TRY AGAIN~
ashita wo aiseru sa~"

"Hey there!" Yuzuka greeted awkwardly, prompting the boy to stop singing.

It didn't take long to find Tatsunami, who was dressed in glaring orange coveralls with a mechanic's jockey cap sitting on his head. He was sitting comfortably on the seat of her Fubuki typing away at a notebook computer that was hooked up the TSF interface.

"Ah, you must be the pilot," He slowly looked up from what he was doing to her with a friendly smile. "Us gearheads don't really get visitors fro-it's you!" He practically jumped out of seat in surprise and recoiled from her. His eyes went straight to her bars and shrunk into pinpricks.

"You're an officer?!"

"Uh, hi?" Yuzuka said perplexed.

"You-you-you followed me? Oh, shit! Oh, Shit!" Tatsunami quickly shoved his laptop to one side and scrambled out of the Fubuki post haste. He then began bowing repeatedly to her. "Sorry, ma'am! I didn't mean to mouth off at you! Please forgive me!"

It took Yuzuka a moment to realize the poor guy was genuinely scared of her. In that moment, the humor of the situation caught up with her and Yuzuka started giggling. He? Scared of her? Just half a day ago he'd given her the fright of her life!

"Uh. I take it that this means you're not mad?" Tatsunami asked hopefully, as Yuzuka allowed the fit of humor to run its course.

"No, no, no! I was just coming up here to check on my Fubuki and I heard you singing. I decided to investigate," Yuzuka explained with a happy smile on her face. "I was actually worried about meeting you. You seemed so fierce just this afternoon."

Tatsunami rubbed the back of his neck abashedly. "Sorry. It's just that I've been getting so many peepers as of late. It's starting to get really old."

"Really?"

"Well everyone wants to take a look at the pilot washout who was stuck in the loony bin for a few months." Tatsunami grumbled and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, but you were the last person in a long line of people who've cut into my privacy and I was really not happy about that."

"Well doing that 'plane thing' out in the open wasn't very private." Yuzuka giggled at the thought. Tatsunami suddenly jerked involuntarily in surprise at her simple statement.

"You could tell it was a plane?"

"Well, if a plane had forward swept wings, yes. But I don't think any of those exist in real life outside of the few performance demonstrators and drones. Forward swept wings are too impractical for use in the actual air force bombers," Yuzuka said. "Besides, real life airplanes are not very useful against the BETA."

Except for that VTF thing Yuzuka had heard about. She was in training and wasn't really on the ball with the news, but apparently Captain Takamura Yui of the IRG had showcased some sort of transformable jet fighter that she claimed her test pilot had used to destroy BETA Laser formations. Although she was a rising star and pretty much their Japan's golden girl at this point, with the audio recording of Takamura's declaration of war hailed as one of the greatest motivational speeches ever made, not many people in Japan had actually seen this supposed miracle jet yet. Even photographs of it were scarce.

"Yeah, so I've been told," Tatsunami sighed, then straightening his back and giving her a formal salute. "Private Hibiki Tatsunami, pleased to meet your acquaintance, ma'am."

"Officer Cadet Sendou Yuzuka, the pleasure is mine, Tatsunami-san." Yuzuka returned his salute, noting that he had said his given name before his family name, as was the way the westerners did it.

"Please, just Hibiki," Hibiki said as they dropped their salutes. "I get tired of the constant formality everyone insists with around here, and you're the first person who hasn't chewed my ass for some small infringement of the dress code."

"I'm not sure I can do that in public since I am an Eishi of Japan, but I can call you Hibiki while we're in private like this, 'Hibiki'," Yuzuka said. "In exchange, you can call me Yuzuka."

"Cool!" Hibiki said, climbing back into the cockpit and sitting his computer back on his lap. "Well, I could give you a rundown of what's being happening to your Fubuki if you want."

"I actually want to know more about that song you were singing actually."

"The song? You mean 'Try Again'?"

"Is that what it's called?" Yuzuka said in wonder. "I've never heard it before, and there aren't too many new songs like that in our language, especially ones as upbeat as that one."

Even since the invasion and sacking to the former Imperial Capital of Kyoto, and perhaps long before even that, Japan had been shifting further and further towards its current total war footing. Things like arts, literature and music had fallen to the wayside in the desperate push to defend their home. It had gotten to the point where the only pictures and music that had been composed in the last few years had been from government sponsored projects in attempts to boost nationalistic pride and morale among the armed forces.

What Hibiki had been singing was refreshing. It was a simple song that spoke of hope and possibility that existed for all without discrimination or prejudice, not like the cadences she had to sing when at morning runs or the pro-Japanese songs that had been provided by the government. And above all, he had been singing because he liked doing it, not because he was forced to.

"The song is 'Try Again' by Fire Bomber. A rock band from… far away."

"Far away? I wasn't aware there were any rock bands outside Japan that sang in, well, Japanese. And most American bands are all singing pro-American songs, or at least the ones that I've been aware of," Yuzuku noted. Hibiki looked at her like she'd grown a second head, then burst out laughing. "Hey! What did I say now?"

"Sorry, but you're the first person who I've talked to around here who actually knows what a rock band is!" Hibiki replied happily.

"Well I lived with my father down in Hawaii for a few years. He had a few friends in the US Navy who would come over to the house once in a while. And you know how Americans are about their rock music. Father loved it."

"Cool. So where is your father now?"

Yuzuka averted her eyes and looked away. Hibiki stopped laughing.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. He was a doctor who was helping people throughout the battle of Kyoto. He did everything he could to save lives up until the very last moment. I hope to do him proud now that I'm training to be an Eishi," Yuzuka said with a strained smile. Hibiki didn't return it. "Anyway, before he passed away, he told me the Americans had a better appreciation of 'unconventional' arts than we did. Like rock and roll."

"You must hate my guts," Hibiki suddenly said.

"W-Where did that come from?" Yuzuka stuttered out from the sudden change. Hibiki looked absolutely forlorn and despondent, his shoulders drooping and eyes downcast.

Hadn't they just been talking about rock and roll?

"Well, everyone I've met so far has given me pity or has looked down on me for being a 'coward'." Hibiki admitted with melancholy. "I'm the draft dodger, right? The one who faked a mental sickness so he could get out of being a front line pilot? Scum of the ear-"

He was cut off when Yuzuka slapped him across the face.

"Don't make assumptions on your own so presumptuously!" Yuzuka said angrily. Hibiki was completely awestruck, a hand coming up to his face where she had slapped him. "I don't care what everyone else say. When I saw you earlier, saw someone who wanted more than anything else to fly. Whatever happened to strip you of your wings hurt you very much!"

Hibiki was silent for a moment as he tried to form the words as Yuzuka stood beside the open cockpit, hands on her hips as she puffed her cheeks angrily at him.

When he did, it was with a smile.

"You're different."

Yuzuka blinked. "Is that supposed to be compliment or an insult?"

"Compliment," Hibiki affirmed. "Every Tom, Dick and Harry I've met so far has been 'Yamato Damashii' and 'Nippon, Banzai'. You, you're different. I can talk to you." His smile grew so large, it was radiant.

At that moment Yuzuka realized just how hard Hibiki was having it. The sheer relief on his features about someone he could just talk to spoke volumes about how he had been adjusting to life here. In fact, it was this that caused her to serious question what exactly happened to him. 'Tom, Dick and Harry' was a phrase used by English speaking countries, something a Japanese person would not use in casual speech. His interest in rock music was also something very non-Japanese, as was his habit of introducing himself with his given name first.

"What really happened to you, Tatsunami-san? Why did you get admitted to the mental hospital and had your military specialty changed?" Yuzuka asked, now really looking at him for what he was.

Whatever he was, Hibiki Tatsunami was definitely not Japanese, and that was exactly the problem.

"You won't believe me even if I told you."

"Try me." She challenged.

"…Maybe tomorrow." Hibiki said turning away from Yuzuka and turning his attention back to the laptop. "You have a big day ahead of you. From what I know, those IRG bastards are good. You'll have to rest up if you want to want to keep up with them in whatever they're going to throw at you, and I need to finish making sure your targeting computer is working properly."

"But you will tell me, right?"

Hibiki turned to flash Yuzuka another smile.

"We'll see."

Hibiki's words were still turning in Yuzuka's head the following morning.

Yuzuka stood at parade, along with forty nine other members of her cohort. It was a chilly that November morning, and even through the additional clothing she was wearing, Yuzuka felt uncomfortably cold. Behind the Eishi trainees stood the other soldiers from the support specialities, such as maintenance and logistics, also on parade. As was tradition, they stood behind the Eishi to symbolically guard their back, just as they supported the Eishi from the rear in real combat.

Right next to her cohort were fifty cadets from the Imperial Japanese Army's sister service, the Imperial Royal Guards. Tasked with protecting the Shogunate and upholding the Samurai spirit of Japan, the IRG were considered to be the best of the best. Possessing logistical support, weaponry and training that the IJA could only dream of, Yuzuka couldn't help but feel a bit of envy.

At the podium, a smartly dressed, handsome man addressed the assembly. He was General Ikaruga Takasugu, and he was as charismatic and noble as leaders came.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Today marks the first day of our four day inter-service exercises between the Eishi trainees from the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Royal Guard." Ikaruga spoke clearly, with such charisma that it was impossible to look away. "Although we wear different uniforms and serve our nation differently, remember, the same blood, the same spirit runs through our veins. This exercise is meant to remind us of that.

"Our nation is under siege from foreign enemies. In the last three years alone, our motherland has been attacked on a scale never before seen in history. Even as we speak, our foes occupy our lands, make constant probing attacks against our defenses and seek to subvert and destroy everything we hold dear. It is this time, now more than ever, Japan must come together to repel this foreign enemy from our borders and show the world the true strength of our people."

Around her, Yuzuka could see nods of approval from cadets as they drank in Ikaruga's speech. It was in dark times like this that a nation under siege needed something to bind itself together. For the Japanese, this normally would be their traditions and warrior culture, something Ikaruga was appealing to.

"For many of you cadets in the Imperial Japanese Army, this will be the final event before your graduation and posting to the front lines. For you in the Imperial Royal Guards, this will just be another training exercise on your road to becoming true guardians of the Shogun. But make no mistake: regardless of the uniform that you wear, you are the future Eishi of Japan. You are the best of the best in all the world. You are tomorrow's warriors, the instruments of our victory over the enemy. Tomorrow's Samurai."

Yuzuka wondered just what Hibiki thought about all this, for he was listening to it too from somewhere behind her with the maintenance crews. Last night, Hibiki had made it clear what he thought about the overzealous nationalism that many of her comrades held. It was only because Yuzuka had grown up in Hawaii that she had a more open mind.

"This may be training, but fight with all your might. Show your comrades, show the world, and show yourself the inner strength you all possess. Remember one day we will push the enemy from our shores. Japan will rise from the ashes like a Phoenix to become the power it once was, and it will be you who will pave the way. Nippon, Banzai!"

The deafening cheer from the assembly of cadets could be heard for miles around.

So focused were the base personnel on Ikaruga's speech that no one noticed the arrival of a sleek white and blue fighter jet as it landed on the runway and taxied into a waiting aircraft hangar, nor did were they aware of a young redheaded girl in a UN uniform stepping past the security checkpoint of the base.

"You actually talked to that weirdo?" Akira balked as she Yuzuka suited up in for the day's exercises. It was mostly empty, mainly because everyone else in their squadron had already changed and Akira and Yuzuka were running a just little behind schedule.

It wasn't their fault. Their CO had pulled them aside after their briefing and quickly informed them that IRG Colonels had politely invited Yuzuka and Akira to a meeting tomorrow. They were at the top of their class, and it seemed that it had attracted someone's attention. Still, that short diversion had made them late enough that the two girls were rushing to catch up with the rest of their squadron.

"Yeah. He's actually a pretty okay guy," Yuzuka said as she pulled the inner layer of the fortified suit up and around her shoulders. "Did you know that he's a fan of American rock music?"

"Yankee stuff? Great ,now they're brainwashing us with their stupid rock music. As if the Yanks were bad enough for all the crap they've pulled so far."

"Americans aren't that bad."

"Yuzuka, I know you grew up around some of them and all, but with all the recent shit the Americans have pulled, you have to see how selfish they really are!" Akira rolled her eyes as she reached over for the metal components of her fortified suit.

Sadly, Akira's views were shared by most of the Japanese. It was hard to blame them though, for resentment wasn't exactly unfounded. The United States of America's foreign policy had always put the superpower's own interests before anyone else. Their actions in the BETA Invasion of Japan three years ago, and their actions since, had made many among the populace bitter against them and foreigners in general. The recent debacle of the 'Red Shift' incident, where Alaska was almost blown sky high with nuclear weapons, was simply the latest in a long line of public relations disasters.

It did not help Japanese perceptions that Takamura Yui, Japan's golden girl, was the one step in and solve the incident herself when she had no obligation to. Project Valkyrie had been in the process of relocating to Dover Base in England, an entire ocean away, but Yui still has sent her men back to Yukon handle the situation. While Takamura was in fact one of the world's foremost advocates for a unified front against the BETA, Japan's propaganda machine had sadly focused construed Yui's deeds a distinctly nationalistic slant, something even Yuzuka was able to see from a mile away.

"I'm sure you're right in the average American soldier being an 'okay person', but their leadership sucks and that's pretty much what counts." Akira finished, pressing the button on the back of her neck to get her suit to compress and become skin tight. "Anyway, back to Tatsunami. Rock music. Yeah, I can totally see that happening."

Yuzuka sighed as she thumped the button on her own suit. "Odd thing though. The rock music he was singing was entirely in Japanese."

"What?" Akira paused. "Since when does Japan have rock bands?"

"I know, right? It sounded really nice too. I tried getting it out of him but-"

"Ah, excuse me." An unfamiliar voice interrupted the pair from the door leading to the hangar. "This changing room five, yes?"

Yuzuka and Akria turned to face the newcomer. Much to their surprise, it was a short young girl about their age, maybe even younger. Her facial features were definitely non-Japanese, and her brown hair was worn in a short ponytail. But what was most surprising was what the girl was wearing.

"Is that a pilot suit?" Yuzuka asked curiously

What the stranger was wearing was decidedly not a standard issue fortified suit, or at least one that Yuzuka had seen before. It looked more like the G-Suits bomber pilots wore, except it was much bulkier around the chest area and thighs. It had UN markings on its shoulder pads, and an unfamiliar yellow and black logo with the letters 'SVF-118' was emblazoned over her left breast and the flag of the Czech Republic was worn proudly on her left shoulder. The stranger carried a large helmet under one arm, one that had a huge visor in the front and looked like it could be vacuum sealed from the external environment, and a travel bag bearing the UN logo in the other.

"Yes, this is pilot suit. This changing room five, yes?" The stranger said.

"Oh. Yes it is, Ma'am!" Akira quickly replied while saluting smartly and discretely pointing out to Yuzuka the bars on the stranger's shoulder. Yuzuka quickly snapped off a salute. The girl in front of them held the rank of a Captain and was apparently a foreign officer.

"Ah. Many thanks. I am Captain Nastasha Latrova. I am UN army fighter pilot," The girl walked over to one of the benches near them and deposited her effects, picking out one of the unoccupied lockers for herself. "No need to salute. This is changing room, not corridor."

"Thank you, Ma'am!" Akira dropped her salute post haste, Yuzuka following soon after. "I am Cadet Isumi, and this is Cadet Sendou. It is an honor to meet you ma'am!"

"No familiarity. Did I not just say? Apologies, my Japanese not so good. Can speak English, yes?"

"English can eat shit," Akira mumbled under her breadth before catching herself. "Sorry ma'am, I'm not proficient in that language. Cadet Sendou may be though."

"Then we speak in Japanese. I do not wish to impose." Latrova said, rummaging around the inside of her travel bag, eventually she produced out a towel and a UN dress uniform.

"Pardon me if I am being presumptuous, ma'am. What beings you to Atsugi?" Yuzuka asked.

"Ah, that is classified," Captain Latrova started to disrobe, beginning by pulling down the zipper on her neck. It became apparent that despite the bulk she was wearing a jumpsuit of some kind, one that was an actually a very heavily modified fortified suit under some kind of sealed environment G-suit from the looks of it.

"I telling you, but then I have to kill you." She paused. "Sorry, joke. Is not as funny as when Yuuya did it."

Akira quietly leaned over to Yuzuka and whispered. "Oh no, not another weirdo. She's as bad as Tatsunami." Then she turned to the good Captain. "Apologies Captain, I and Sendou have to get going. We have exercises with the IRG to get to."

"Ah, do not let me keep you from your duties," Latrova replied, as she pulled off the top of her suit, revealing a sleeveless inner shirt underneath. Yuzuka and Akira quickly saluted one last time and then made to leave.

It was only because she was a second slower than Akira that Yuzuka heard it. From behind her, a soft wound drifted from the changing room she had just exited.

"Oboete imasu ka, me to me ga atta toki wo~

Oboete imasu ka, te to te ga fureatta toki~

Sore wa hajimete no, ai no tabidachi deshita…"

Yuzuka paused in mid-step and turned around, wondering if she was hearing things right. That was Japanese, wasn't it? But didn't the Captain just say her Japanese wasn't that good?

"I love you so…"

"Yuzuka, hurry up or we're doing to be late!"

Yuzuka snapped to her senses. "Coming!"

Was that… singing?

"What do you mean you can't transfer him out?" Akane asked furiously, her palms slamming down on the desk of the officer before her. He may have outranked Akane, but she would be damned if she let that stop her from completing her mission!

"Tatsunami-nittohei is a crucial part of these exercises between the IRG and the IJA," Captain Yamato, CO of Tatsunami's unit, stated clearly and concisely. "These exercises are crucial for the training of our Eishi. Surely, even you in the UN Amy realize that."

"I understand. However, Private Tatsunami is but one soldier. Surely you can spare him?"

"Normally I would, Suzumiya-shōi. However, you are asking this on very short notice when there is a major exercise going on. Furthermore, you want this without even telling me just why you want him?" Yamato shook his head in disgust. "Don't make me laugh, Second Lieutenant."

In spite of his disrespect, there wasn't much Akane could do since Yamato was completely right. She'd shown up on his doorstep in the middle of an important exercise and was making unreasonable demands with seemingly no valid reason. Even with her UN mandate, getting what she wanted from him was going to be very difficult.

"Look, Second Lieutenant, I am not an unreasonable man," Yamato continued, fingers drumming on the printed UN mandate that she had given him. "You do have actual orders and I get that. However, it only specifies that I give you Tatsunami, not where and when."

Akane brightened. "So does that mean-"

"We will discuss this again when exercise is over," Yamato conceded. "Like you said, Tatsunami is but a single soldier. My only issue is that you have not supplied a reason why I should release him to you right away while we have these exercises on. Once they are over, I will gladly assist you to the best of my ability."

Akane couldn't help but smile. The exercise was just four days. She could wait four days.

"Thank you, Sir!"

"I don't get why you want him of all people though," Yamato grumbled as he handed the orders back to Akane. "Private Tatsunami is a great mechanic, but his oddities are well known. What could you possibly want with him?"

"Oddities, Captain?" Akane frowned. She was aware Tatsunami was a Eishi wash out, but this was the first she was hearing about this. Perhaps this was why Kouzuki wanted him?

"Well, Second Lieutenant Suzumiya, about Tatsunami," Yamato shook his head . "Poor bastard thinks he's from outer space…"

So this was what War felt like.

"Geisha-9, Sendou, fall back, there are too many of them!"

"Roger!"

Yuzuka gripped the control yokes tightly as her Type-97 Fubiki backpedaled from the advancing BETA. Around her hundreds, if not thousands, of Grappler forms were storming up the fortified hill she and the remenants of her wing were defending. She was fighting back to back with Type-82 Zuikakus from the IRG, and despite being backed up against the wall they were making a magnificent showing.

"Shit, there's too many of them!" One of the IRG cadets screamed in terror.

In the back of her mind, Yuzuka remembered she was fighting in JIVES, and that those BETA weren't actually there. Even so, this was as real as it got. She felt sweat on her brow as she swept both her assault cannons across the advancing horde, keeping an eye on the rapidly descending ammo counters as she did so. She had been one of Geisha Squadron's Gun Sweepers today, a change from her usual position of Storm Vanguard that she had relinquished to another. They'd run headlong into a rampaging horde of Destroyer class and had been forced to break formation into a fighting retreat.

'Total victory' wasn't the objective here. In fact, the scenario had been explicitly designed so that the overwhelming numbers of the BETA would eventually overrun them. Today's exercise was meant to see how long they could hold a battle line against an insurmountable foe. All things considered Yuzuka felt that they were doing well so far.

That is until a nasty surprise was unveiled.

"This is Kurogane-4. I have visual on twelve, no, thirteen Fort Class BETA advancing on Ronin Flight. They're engaged with Destroyer-class and are about to be flanked! "

"Geisha copies," Yuzuka's flight lead declared. "Okay people, Ronin needs help. Focus your fire on the Fort-class!" Yuzuka complied turning her Fubuki to face her targets and began raining down hell on the Fort-class with all cannons. 120mm depleted uranium tipped shells from every member of her flight smashed into the titanic beasts over and over with enough force to blow apart buildings and shatter tank armor like it was paper. Yet the BETA refused to fall.

"Pick your shots carefully!" Geisha-1 roared.

"We can't, they're too fast and too far away!" Yuzuka replied, just as her guns ran dry. Cursing, she quickly ejected the spent magazine and was in the middle of loading a fresh one when Ronin's final transmission came in.

"This is Ronin, they're about to overwhelm us! We-"

The panicked call was abruptly cut short as the Fort Class overran Ronin's position. Eighteen meter tall TSFs did not fare well against a sixty six meter tall alien monstrosity in close combat. Within seconds, all six surviving members of Ronin flight we brought down. Although the pilots and TSFs were in fact still alive and undamaged, to simulate death the Type-82 Zuikakus powered down.

And then, as one, the twelve Fort Class turned to face Yuzuka.

"Uh, oh." Yuzuka gulped.

Yuzuka sat in the darkness of her cockpit and gave a small sigh.

"Well, I'm done, I guess."

She had sacrificed herself in an attempt to buy time for the rest of Geisha to evacuate from their position and link up with the rest of the trainees at the third defensive line. She had ended up taking out nine of the Fort-class before a Destroyer-class, which had slipped her notice in the action, blindsided her and ended her run in half a second.

It was odd. In the heat of battle, she had forgotten it was just a simulation. To her, this was it: the final moments of her short life. Yuzuka was screaming and bellowing like a madwoman as she tried to starve off the inevitable, screaming in defiance of the inevitable and fighting tooth and nail like she could actually beat the odds and make it home alive.

To make her death mean something.

Then it was all over, and she was left staring blankly at her darkened cockpit, suddenly hit with the reminder that this was just a training simulation and she hadn't actually perished. Now came the tough part, waiting for the operation to end so she could get moving again.

Considering how well they were doing, it probably wasn't any time soon.

"This is going to be so boring." Yuzuka sighed.

"Hey there, Yuzuka!"

"H-Hibiki?" Yukuka jumped in her seat, and looked around in confusion. It was the odd mechanic's voice all right, although she couldn't see where it as coming from. Did he hack her radio? If he did, he could be in so much trouble!

"If you're hearing this recording, then you've uh… died." Yuzuka sighed with relief. Oh, a recording. Still, that left the question as to what he had left for her in the cockpit.

"Well, I'm sure you gave a good showing. And no, I'm not trying to kick you while you're down." Hibiki explained, his voice cheery and upbeat. "You're probably stuck in a semi-powered down state until the exercise resets, so I've taken the liberty to put something in here that could keep you entertained."

Yuzuka's face lit up like it was Christmas. And yes, she knew what Christmas was. "Oh, Hibiki, you shouldn't have!"

"I hope my singing is not too bad. If it is, feel free to punch me later after hours. This one's 'Totsugeki Love Heart'. Enjoy."

"Let's Go! Tsukinukeyou ze, yume de mita yoake e~

Mada mada tooi kedo.

Maybe dou ni ka naru no sa, ai ga areba itsu date~"

"Ore no uta wo kikeba .

Kantan na koto sa.

Futatsu no 'Heart-to' wo 'Cross-su' saseru nante!"

"yozora wo kakeru 'Love Heart'!

moeru omoi wo nosete~

kanashimi to, nikushimi wo, uchiotoshite yuke!

omae no mune ni mo 'Love Heart'!

massugu uketomete, destiny~

nan-oku-kousen no kanata e mo, TOTSUGEKI LUV HEART!~"

Akane stopped in mid stride as she saw something that caught her interest. The young Eishi had been walking around looking for Tatsunami when she had taken a wrong turn and gotten lost, eventually ending up far, far from the TSF hangar bays. It was then, in a hangar in the far corner of the base meant to store the air craft used by the Japanese Army, when she saw it.

It was a fighter jet of some sort, although not one that Akane had seen before. The angled lines of its silhouette, thrust vectoring engine nozzles and trapezoidal wing made it appear fast, stealthy and agile. It didn't seem to have any missiles or bombs, only a single dorsal mounted gunpod. Painted in a blue and white camo scheme, it stood out amongst the grey of the Hanger interior.

"What's this?" She asked one of the nearby technicians who was working on a C-130 Hercules transport plane nearby.

"Oh this? It's some weird machine that came in with that UN girl. Some kind of fighter jet." He replied. "I was hoping you'd tell me since I've been doing this job for twenty years and never seen anything like it. Wasn't she with you? You're both UN Army right?"

"No, I don't know anything about this." Akane frowned as she began to pace around the fighter, taking in the machine from every angle.

This bothered her. She wasn't aware that there were other UN Army personnel visiting Atsugi, at least one possessing such a unique fighter. Not to mention she was a member of the A-01 Valkyries and would probably be privy to more information than someone her rank would normally have. There was also the fact that jet planes weren't very effective against the BETA due to the Laser-class antiaircraft defense, so something like this would be completely impractical.

But there was also something familiar about it, something in the back of Akane's mind warning her that this strange machine was very important and could jeopardize her mission. Regrettably she couldn't place it no matter how much she racked her mind.

"I'm not much of an airplane person." Akane said, frustrated at her inability to put the pieces together.

"Well, I was actually supposed to throw a drape over it. The owner didn't want any gawkers," The technician admitted with a shrug. "Its camo could make it hard to see in the clouds, but down here it sticks out like a sore thumb."

"So why didn't you?"

"Haven't gotten around to it." He said jerking a thumb at the C-130 he'd been working on.

Akane, with the technician in tow, continued to pace about the strange jet in awe, curiosity getting the better of them. It was clearly factory built, the nuts and bolts too professionally done to have been anything else. Credence to the theory was added when she noticed the 'Boening/Stonewell' emblem on the side of the fuselage, although the markings on the engine which said 'Bellcom R.I. Engines: SW/BC-2001-TNE' did raise more questions than answers.

"I don't recall Boening making something like this." Akane said, her feeling of unease growing stronger with each discovery.

"You and me both kid-" The technician paused, his eyes widening "Wait a sec. This… This is from an F-15!" He rushed over to the dorsal part on the engine nacelle, is eyes wide with disbelief.

"Someone's taken a torch to it and the modification has been done very well but, there's no mistake: this is the leg of an Eagle right here!" He said, running and hand down the side.

"I thought you maintained C-130s, not TSFs," Akane said. "Furthermore, the Eagle is an American machine."

"I used to work on TSFs, the Type-77 Gekishin and the Type-89 Kagerou, to be exact," The technician explained, poking his head about the machine with renewed interest. "Eagles are basically the bread and butter of the UN Army worldwide, but I'd never thought I'd see parts of it in a fighter je-"

He stopped talking and stared at another part of the freighter, his mouth opening visibly. Akane followed his gaze as well and was taken aback from what she was seeing. On the fighter's undercarriage, hidden right between the two engine nacelles, retracted into its own partially concealed compartment, was something she never thought she'd ever see on an air plane.

"Is that a hand from a TSF?" Akane asked, already knowing the answer.

The technician nodded. "Yes it is. Two hands in fact. Not sure what model though, because it's not one familiar to me." He walked over to the component and crouched down to inspect it better. "There's a markings here which says it's from an F-18E."

And so they continued checking the fighter, occasionally finding a strange unidentified component of interest somewhere on it that they would lean in to inspect in closer detail. Despite the professional nature of its construction, the entire machine had been built from parts of parts of different TSFs and other vehicles, from the mighty F-15E to the humble B-1B Lancer bomber.

Even if it was a prototype developmental machine, as indicated by the marking 'Mark II', it was still a Frankenstein machine of epic proportions.

"And now we have the butchered head from a Euro Fightas Typhoon of all things." Akane grumbled climbing out from under the fighter where she had found it. "Who in their right minds builds a fighter jet out of TSF parts? It's not as if an airplane needs hands." Now those alarm bells were really ringing. Something about all this was terribly wrong, and it wasn't just this weird machine before her.

"Perhaps you should ask her," The technician said from the fuselage. "The print around the cockpit says it belongs to a 'CAPT N. IVANOVA'."

"Never heard of her."

"Oh hey! I think I know which unit the Captain it belongs to come from!" The technician said, waving Akane over. The redhead walked up to him and looked at where he was pointing, only for her heart to skip a beat. She admonished herself for not noticing the three letters, painted proudly in red on the side of the fighter, that pretty much told her everything she needed to know about it.

'X.F.J.'. Experimental Fighter, Japan. Project Valkyrie. The bane of Alternative IV's existence.

Suddenly all these pieces fell into place. This was a VTF-0(2), the transforming fighter jet Takamura's people were using. The 'Valkyrie'. The implications of this being here were not good, not when Takamura had apparently sent a Captain to carry out her will.

"It figures this thing belongs to one of Takamura's people. Heaven knows the crazy things she comes up with." The technician laughed. "No wonder it has TSF parts, this must be that Variable Tactical Fighter I heard she had her man Bridges use to ice those Lasers down in Kamchatka. I gotta tell the boys about this!"

Akane knew her mission had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.

As agreed, Yuzuka dropped by the Hanger after final roll call. The smart, responsible thing to do would have been to go back to her room and rest up since the exercises were hardly over yet, but Hibiki was just too much of a mystery for her to ignore. She also felt obligated to let him know how nice it was that he'd gone out of his way to record those songs to try and cheer her up whenever she'd been defeated in the exercises.

As with the previous night, Hibiki was sitting in her cockpit module, typing away at his computer while she lounged around on the edge, watching him do his work as they talked.

"General Ikaruga just rubs me the wrong way," Hibiki confided in her. As she had expected, Hibiki was not amused by the speech at all, not in the very least. "That speech has some serious implications, you know."

"How so?" Yuzuka asked, wondering just what his rationale was. It was a great speech, and everyone she'd talked to liked it, but unlike her classmates who would be offended by Hibiki's blunt condemnation of Ikaruga's stirring speech, Yuzuka too felt a bit unsettled by it as well. Although for the life of her she couldn't figure out why.

"Foreign enemies, that's the term he used," Hibiki growled. "Not BETA, not aliens, 'foreign enemies'. That, Yuzuka, is a very dangerous term when presented in the way it was."

Yuzuka caught on almost instantly.

"You think he was trying to incite the cadets against the Americans?"

"If it were the Americans alone, I wouldn't worry so much," Hibiki explained darkly, his brow furrowed in thought. "He deliberately left the term vague so that each cadet would substitute whatever they thought was a foreign enemy into his speech. For some, it's the BETA."

"And for others, it could be the foreign powers in general," Yuzuka nodded in understanding at the danger at hand. Without properly giving any definition of the term, Ikaruga had allowed his listeners to choose what his words meant. In a broad definition of 'foreign', even the UN army would be viewed as 'the enemy' who sought to destroy Japan's autonomy.

This speech was practically engineered to cause a rift between Japan and the outside world.

"Ikaruga doesn't seem as straightforward as he tries to paint himself. He reminds me of another politician once knew. I'd only trust him as far as I could throw him. " Hibiki affirmed gravely. Yuzuka had to sadly agree with him there, as much as her loyalty to Japan told her he was speaking rubbish. "Okay, enough talk about these things. Let's talk about your exercise."

"Okay," Yuzuka agreed happy to move away from such a dreary subject.

"I saw they gave you a Kobayashi Maru." Hibiki rolled his eyes in annoyance, his fingers still typing away as he did so. "What a drag. I hate those things."

"A Kobayashi what?" The named sounded Japanese, but Yuzuka couldn't place it anywhere.

"The Kobayashi Maru was an infamous training scenario in a fictional sci-fi TV show. It was specifically designed to be unwinnable by the trainee," Hibiki explained. "No matter how good the trainee was, the scenario would always adjust itself until they lost."

"You don't sound like you approve," Yuzuka said, wondering what his objections were this time. Tests like this emulated real life scenarios that happened all the time around the world. The BETA were relentless enemies, and it was a hard fact of reality that everyone was just a pawn on the larger chessboard. Tests like the one they were discussing served to remind them of that. Any objectives that were given were just window dressing for the true lesson that was to be imparted.

'Make your death count'. Such was the lesson that every Eishi carried with them into battle, the knowledge their next sortie might very well be their last.

"I know why they give them out, but I don't like the idea on principle," Hibiki conceded. "Like the hero of said TV show, I don't believe in no-win scenarios."

"Really? Why do you say that?" Yuzuka leaned in curiously, wondering how he would explain his differing worldview this time.

"Yeah, you may fail. Yeah, sometimes you lose. But that's life. If you think that winning is impossible in the first place then you've already lost. Sometimes, when defeat seems all but certain, there is a way to take total victory instead that's sitting just right at your feet. You just have to look."

"But you've got to sacrifice things you value to get what you want." Yuzuka countered.

"That all depends on what you sacrifice and what you define as winning," Hibiki laughed. "For me, I believe wholeheartedly that there is always a way out. A way to have your cake and eat it."

And so they bantered on, discussing their differing worldviews and beliefs regarding this one point. Hibiki's boundless optimism and the belief that 'impossible' was just a word amazed her. Some might have called him naïve, but she found that part of him to be very endearing, especially in the face of all the rhetoric she had been hearing as of late.

Strangely, his never say die attitude reminded Yuzuka of another person she'd heard recently. Takamura Yui's now legendary speech at the inauguration of Project Valkyrie echoed many of the same sentiments Hibiki was espousing, so much so the similarities between his outlook and Takamura's rhetoric was scary. Even so, she continued to play the devil's advocate, curious if all this was just talk or if he truly had something to back this up.

"The true purpose of the Kobayashi Maru was to test a person's character. 'How we deal with death and failure is as important as how we deal with life and success', that was the real reason for the test." Hibiki said. "In the movie, only one person ever passed it."

"So they presented the trainee with an unwinnable situation to see how they would react," Yuzuka finished, understanding the theory and reasoning behind it.

"You acquitted yourself pretty well actually." Hibiki grinned. He turned the computer screen to face her, and much to Yuzuka's surprise it was playing a muted video recording of the internal camera feed of her battle that day. "You're one of those 'Go not quietly into the night' people, huh?"

"Hibiki, stop! This is embarrassing!" Yuzuka squawked. Much to her embarrassment, she really did look like a madwoman, from that recording. Shaking his head with a grin, Hibiki complied nonetheless.

"No, I'm serious. When faced with certain death, you did your duty up right until the very end, and bought your teammates a full half hour to regroup. You even made the BETA pay for it dearly, even with low ammo and prior battle damage." He gave a nod of approval. "You figured out a way to win; for a given definition of 'win' anyway."

"And how would you have dealt with it, Mister 'I want my Cake'?" Yuzuka challenged.

His answer flat out surprised her.

"I'd have cheated once it became apparent the game was rigged." Hibiki supplied.

"What." Yuzka responded. "You cheat? That's your solution?"

"If the rules aren't in your favor, you change the game." Hibiki answered with complete honesty. "Jim Kirk, the hero, took the test three times. He failed twice. On the third try, he got fed up and reprogrammed the simulation so he could win."

Yuzuka palmed her face and sighed. Of all the crazy things to say, this had to be the first truly mad thing she'd heard come out of his mouth. "You can't cheat in real life, Hibiki."

"It's not cheating in real life, Yuzuka. It's called thinking outside the box," Hibiki said seriously. "What if you appealed to the Americans for help? A few extra F-15Es from Guam would have seriously changed things."

"We would never appeal to the Americans for help, you know that!"

"Hence what I mean by changing the game. That was just an example," Hibiki noted before supplying another one, rewinding the recording and pointing to the mini-map to emphasize his point. "A squadron of Orbital Divers dropping in behind the BETA could have neutralized the Lasers while they were preoccupied with suppressing Hattori Squadron an hour into the exercise. This would have saved Hattori and removed a major threat from the battlefield. Your simulation didn't even factor in the Japanese Navy who likely have battleships parked off the coast. I'd also recommend rigging that little farming village you fell back across the third defensive line with mines..."

"Alright, alright, I get the point," Yuzuka conceded. "But that's just the simulation. What if there's something different, or on a larger scale? How do you plan to cheat then?"

"Well, I know people who've gotten out of worse situations than the one we're in right now," Hibiki said, before realizing what he'd just said and losing his high spirits. "Well, people in my 'dreams' in any rate. Whole damn planet gets blown to hell and they still bounce back…"

Yuzuka's eyes winded. This was it. It had completely slipped her mind the entire time she had been talking to Hibiki to ask him what got him kicked out of the Eishi program. "Your 'dreams', is that why you were removed from the Eishi program?"

"Right in one," Hibiki sighed. "The shrinks have been trying to convince me I have around fifteen years' worth of phony memories from one bump in the head."

"It doesn't sound like they succeeded."

"Nope. They needed the manpower, so once it was established that I wasn't joking about my 'fantasy', they decided to pull me out of the Eishi program and put me to use somewhere else instead," Hibiki grumbled, a dark look crossing his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Yuzuka wondered if she should continue the line of questioning now that Hibiki looked like this. Eventually she decided against it. She had only just met him yesterday, and this was obviously a more sensitive topic than she had expected. Yuzuka decided to leave it be for now. "By way, I met another person who was singing today a song that I've never heard before."

"Really?" The dark look left Hibiki's face at the mention of a new song, and Yuzka was sure she had made the right choice.

"A Captain from the UN Army. She was really young too, like, our age or younger. It was Japanese too, which is weird because she looked like she was Eastern European," Yuzuka explained brightly. "I was hoping since you were the song expert you'd tell me if you'd hear it before."

"I'm hardly a song expert, but I'll do my best. So what was she singing? Do you remember any of it?"

"It was some ballad. How'd it go?"

Yuzka tired remembering the song, and strangely she found that recollection came easy. Much like the other songs Hibiki had sung, this one was new and upbeat. Unlike Hibiki's songs, this one seemed to have such gravity to its words a single hearing from that short words left them engraved in Yuzka's memory. And so, she began to sing.

"Oboete imasu ka, me to me ga atta toki wo~

Oboete imasu ka, te to te ga fureatta toki~

Sore wa hajimete no, ai no tabidachi deshita…"

Hibiki had frozen still as a statue his fingers hovering just over the keyboard, his eyes wide with shock. Paying him no mind, Yuzuka finished the last line with final four English words she had heard.

"I Love You So…"

"'Do You Remember Love', Lynn Minmei." Hibiki identified the piece in a dead voice.

"So you've heard of it? That's great! Can you tell me more about it?" Yuzuka chirped happily. But when she noticed her friend hadn't responded, she looked at him and saw he had gone pale as a ghost. "Hibiki? Are you okay? Are you listening to me, Hibiki?"

"Do You Remember Love…? Do you Remember-Yuzuka, who did you hear this from?" Hibiki suddenly sprang up from the seat and roughly seized Yuzuka by her shoulders, his notebook clattering to the floor in the sudden movement. Yuzka looked into his eyes and saw desperation and madness. Her gut clenched in fear.

Just what had she unleashed in her new friend?

"Yuzuka, Tell me! I need to know!"

"It-It was a UN Army officer. A Captain!" Yuzuka was initially too startled to move, but when she felt Hibiki's grip begin to painfully tighten around her shoulders he fought to get free.

She couldn't. He was too strong! Where did this strength in his small frame come from?

"Where can I find her? Yuzuka, this is important!" Hibiki continued, his voice quivering and deranged like a madman. "That song! That song is Do You Remember-"

"Hibiki stop! You're hurting me!" Yuzuka exclaimed.

As if coming to his senses, Hibiki abruptly let go of her and they both tumbled back in shock, with Yuzuka landing on her behind. Yuzuka massaged her shoulders, the after effects of Hibiki's outbursts still smarting. When she gathered the courage, she picked herself up and peered into the open cockpit module of her Fubuki.

Hibiki was still there, except he was now sitting with his back against the side of the cockpit with his knees drawn up to himself and his head buried between them. He was rocking quietly to himself.

"I'm sorry. D-Don't come near. I lost control of myself. Please," He said in a small voice. "Sick an MP on me, court martial me, but don't come near. I'm sorry."

Yuzuka could have left. She should have. He'd just assaulted a superior officer without provocation. By all rights Yuzuka should have left the hangar and gone straight to the nearest MP she could find.

But she didn't.

Climbing into the module, Yuzuka sat herself down right next to him mirroring his sitting position, shoulder to shoulder. "I'll let you off the hook if you tell me why you reacted like that." She said quietly.

At first, it didn't look like Hibiki was going to answer. But eventually, he spoke.

"That song was the first real proof I've had since I've come here that I'm not crazy"

He managed to get himself back under control, looking up and turning to face her as he did. Yuzuka met his eyes, and saw he was completely serious.

"I think it's about time that you told me what happened to you, Hibiki."

"Six months ago in May, I was involved in an accident. When I woke up, I had become mentally unsound with fantastical delusions. That's what the doctors will tell you." Hibiki said, looking up at the ceiling. No, from the way he was staring Hibiki was looking up at something beyond the ceiling, and it was just in the way. "But I know who I am, and it's not the person that everyone here wants me to be."

"And who are you, Hibiki?" Yuzuka asked, wondering just how crazy his reply could be.

"My name is Hibiki Tatsunami. I am fifteen years old. I was born on the 25th New Macross Long Distance Colony Fleet 'Macross Frontier'. I had two loving parents Daisuke and Mayuri Tatsunami. I lost them both in the Vajra War due to a conspiracy from our sister colony, Macross Galaxy, to seize control of the Vajra's Fold Network. It was their deaths that moved me to become a soldier just under a year ago," Hibiki replied. "I lied on my enlistment papers to get past the minimum age of enlistment. As far as I can tell, none of my co-workers have figured it out yet."

"Macross Frontier? Fold Network? Long Distance Colony Fleet?" Yuzuka's mind whirred. "You're talking about outer space." Hibiki nodded, causing Yuzuka to shake her head in denial.

So this was why they called him crazy.

"We went up there after a war with the Zentradi, an alien race of Giants, devastated the Earth. Billions died from the orbital bombardment and the planet was made almost inhospitable. We only won by the skin of our teeth."

She could see where this was going. Earth devastated, long distance colony fleet… it sounded like his people were sending colony fleets to space like a last act of desperation. Abandoning Earth. Never. Yuzuka knew mankind rather would die fighting before they'd allow the BETA to take their planet.

"So you abandoned Earth?"

At this, Hbiki turned and gave her a goofy smile.

"Hardly. Earth is the capital of New United Nations Space. We have colony worlds throughout the entire galaxy from the rim to the galactic core. As for Earth, it took years for terraforming to repair the biosphere, but it's now the shining gem it used to be. Better even, because we reversed air pollution to pre-industrial revolution levels." Hibiki looked back up, up at the heavens that lay beyond the ceiling, stretching an arm out as he did so. "We went to the stars because we could. When we made peace with the Zentradi we realized Earth was just too small for us. We had to go further. The first Megaroads were acts of desperations for sure, but by the time Macross Frontier was launched, we were simply going out there because we could."

There were so many things she could have asked that point. For instance, didn't he say the Zentraedi were their enemies? Ones that had almost wiped them out, from orbit no less, and killed billions? She couldn't even conceive of coexistence with the BETA. It was even in their name: 'Beings of the Extra-Terrestrial Origin which is Adversary of the Human Race'. Co-existence with aliens was impossible.

Or this 'New United Nations', a civilisation he said spanned the stars. After having almost been destroyed on Earth, how could anyone conceivably bounce back from that and go on to conquer the cosmos? How many colonies did they have? Logically such a thing was impossible, for if, when humanity ever triumphed over the BETA, the first thing they would do would be to fortify Earth as never before.

She could have asked any of those. She didn't. Instead, she asked another, more simple question.

"Wasn't it dangerous?"

"It was. As I told you, our own sister colony Galaxy had a conspiracy going that almost destroyed Frontier. And it wasn't just them. Colony fleets go missing all the time, Megaroad-1 being the first. And we did have wars, terrible ones, with other alien races we met. The Protodeviln, the Vajra, and even the odd rogue Zentradi fleet that crosses our path," Hibiki clenched his fist. "But we always won in the end."

"So you beat them?" Yuzuka closed her eyes in wonder. Zentradi, Protodeviln, Vajra. Three alien races that he'd claimed his people had met and bested. If this was a fantasy delusion of humanity finally beating the BETA, it was a comforting one indeed.

"No, we didn't beat them. We befriended them. 'Do you not defeat your enemies when you make friends of them?' So said Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America," Hibiki nodded. "Although, I don't think that was quite what he meant when Basara Nekki rammed a speaker into the flagship of a Meltradi battle group and hit them with rock music."

Safe to say, Yuzuka just stared.

"You go around making friend with aliens." Yuzuka paused, then added, "With rock music."

"There are some enemies no amount of force of arms can defeat."

"I think I'm going to need some context here," Yuzuka sighed in exasperation.

"And I have one for you. In the First Space War, we had one ship: the SDF-1 Macross. The Zentradi had five hundred thousand, each as powerful as ours. They encircled the earth and started blowing everything away from orbit. Billions died."

Yuzuka stared, the sudden turnaround from his idealistic picture of this description of horror leaving her speechless. He may have mentioned it to her earlier, but she hadn't expected him to use the near extinction of mankind as his perfect example.

"Ninety percent of all life on the planet was wiped out in the span of an hour. The ecosystem was wrecked. And our ship was horribly, horribly outgunned," Hibiki elaborated.

"A Kobayashi Maru. You were faced with an unwinnable situation," Yuzuka nodded, understanding just what he had meant earlier. However as grim as the situation he described was, one thing was clear. "Someone found another way."

Hibiki nodded.

"Lynn Minmei did. The Zentradi have a warlike culture, I'll spare you the details, but safe to say they knew nothing outside fighting and killing. Friendship, compassion, love… I'm not sure they even had words for those until we came along. Minmei showed them there was more to life than that."

"How?"

"She stood on the bridge of the Macross and basically sang her lungs out on every radio channel the Macross could broadcast. The culture shock caused huge chunk of the Zentradi fleet to defect on the spot and gave the Macross an opening to take out the Zentradi flagship. With that, we staved off extinction while simultaneously laying the foundation for our future alliance."

"She-She sang? She sung and pacified the aliens. I'm finding that a little hard to believe!" Yuzuka just couldn't picture it. Her mind rebelled at the thought, the logic, that a single girl could somehow end a war by herself just by standing on the deck of a battleship and start singing. This was the talk of a crazy person!

Yet looking at Hibiki's serene expression now, Yuzuka couldn't help but believe. It never occurred to Yuzuka she had long forgotten he was delusional. His every action was that of a man who had lived years in this supposed 'fantasy world', a world that a small part of her was beginning to believe, just a little bit, actually existed.

"And that's why I said change the game. No one in their right minds would try that unless they were really desperate. And 'desperate' did not describe the Macross at that point. Billions dead, all our weapons useless, and we still found a way out," Hibiki closed his eyes at the memory. "The song she sang was 'Ai Oboete Imasuka'. 'Do You Remember Love'. It is the most beloved song in the galaxy."

"It sounds like a fairy tale a world where we could find peace with the BETA and live in harmony." Yuzuka sighed. A world that was impossible in real life. How could humanity hope to coexist with the BETA if they couldn't even co-exist with each other?

It must have been nice, growing up in such an environment. Knowing despite any difficulty, there was always the proverbial 'third option' that would resolve the situation perfectly. Much like the songs Hibiki had given her it sound just too good to be true.

"It's not a fairy tale world, Yuzuka. As I said, battles still happen all the time. While miracles like that happen, they are few and far between. Sometimes we still have to stand and fight for what we hold dear. We still have a standing military, and the organization I belonged to was in fact a mercenary company."

"You were a mercenary?" Yuzuka said in shock. She had heard of mercenaries before. Popular Japanese perceptions held that mercenaries were bloodthirsty, honor-less savages who fought for the highest bidder and held no loyalty to anyone but the coin. Rare as they were, even in this desperate world, such scoundrels existed.

Hibiki, with all his talk of hope, compassion and love, matched none of that stereotype.

"I am the newest member of Strategic Military Services' SVF-118 aboard the carrier Saratoga. We were tasked with Special Operations in protecting Colony worlds near the Galactic Core, although my squadron was recently requisitioned to test a new FTL drive that would have reinvented space travel." Hibiki explained. "SMS isn't the usual outfit of mercs. We fulfill the function of a small quick deployment expeditionary force that isn't bound by the usual red tape. Kind of like how the United States tend to portray their Marines. Our PMC status also lets us conduct operations without waiting for NUNS approval, like deploying to rescue refugees even while higher ups are still playing the political game. In 2059, SMS were the ones who foiled the Galaxy plot and ended the war with the Vajra without any further bloodshed at great cost to themselves."

"That… is a very weird business model," Yuzka said. From the sounds of it, these so called mercenaries were less 'soldiers of fortune' and more like the wandering knights-errant of old.

"Well, Richard Biller isn't a normal businessman, and SMS soldiers aren't your usual breed of mercs."

"What did you do for them? What's an SVF Squadron do?"

Hibiki raised his hand. Ring, middle and index fingers together. Thumb and pinky outstretched into a V.

From the darkness in different parts of the Hanger, two other young ladies listened to his final words. The first was redheaded girl who crouched inside the service elevator, now convinced more than ever that her assignment had just entered the world of crazy talk. The second was a small teenage girl who watched them from the shadows cast under the Fubuki's form, her sharp hearing now confirming what she had suspected all along.

But neither would interrupt Yuzuka and Hibiki in that one, magical moment.

As he raised his hand to the ceiling, and the stars beyond that, Yuzuka completely forgot the rumors of his insanity and allowed herself, just for that brief moment, to be lost in his dream.

"I am one who flew on the wings of the Valkyries."

Authors Afterword:

There really isn't much to say this time. This is the first part of a short multi-chapter fic dealing with the first encounter between the A-01 Valkyries and Project Valkyrie. As I noted in -Try Again- my muse is going to jump around quite a bit to whatever time period seems interesting to me, so don't expect me to write stuff out chronological order.

This is set a few months after -Try Again-, and much has happened since Yui's historic speech, some of which will be elaborated on in the next chapter. The most glaring thing of course would be Project Valkyrie's unwitting detrimental effect on Alternative IV and how despite their best intentions, their ignorance of the Alternative Plans is about to impact the story in a big way.

I hope you as readers will enjoy this short release.