January 2010, Space
“Skull 10!” an unfamiliar voice sounded through the tac channel, followed by a series of almost gibberish commands.
“Say again, Control!” Marissa replied tersely, “Can’t understand you!”
The voice repeated the commands, then broke down into a tearful moan that was quickly cut off.
Marissa sighed. One of the Bridge Bunnies must be taking over for Commander Hayase again. Was it Vanessa or Kim? No, probably Shammy, the poor thing.
Now that Marissa thought about it, she hadn’t seen or heard from Commander Hayase in several days. Word on the ship said that she wasn’t on the ship anymore, but was in Alaska to see her father, Admiral Hayase. And Ichijyo had escorted her down to Earth secretly to prevent the populace from rioting over someone getting to return to Earth.
Marissa snorted. Not much of a secret if the whole ship knew about it already.
But this wasn’t any ordinary visit to Alaska Base. If things went well, it could mean a peaceful end to the war between humans and the Zentradi.
An end to the war. Marissa hoped it would happen, sooner more than later. She was tired of the nightmares, of losing friends and comrades. She wanted to fly without having to shoot at an enemy. To build machines without using them to kill. The appeal of working with the Macross’ alien technology was what drew her to become a Valkyrie pilot in the first place. To be able to do it peacefully side by side with the Zentradi seemed like an impossible dream.
Marissa soon finished her patrol and landed. As she climbed out of her Valkyrie and took off her helmet, Max approached her.
“Hey,” Marissa said, smiling.
“Sorry if I caught you at a bad time,” Max answered, “but I just couldn’t wait to tell you.” He wore a brilliant smile and his eyes twinkled. “I’m getting married!”
Marissa tilted her head to the side. “Oh.”
There was silence between them for a moment as Max kept on smiling.
“Wait, what?”
It turned out Max’s bride-to-be was a micronized Zentradi spy sent to assassinate him, but who ultimately failed. Marissa thought the whole situation was insane at first. But when she finally met Millia Fallyna, Marissa found her to be sweet and kind, if a bit socially awkward – not at all like an enemy spy!
Max and Millia’s marriage ceremony was resplendent, with a squadron of Valkyries standing guard as the couple flew through in their brilliant blue VF-1D, Max wearing a handsome white suit and Millia wearing a beautiful wedding gown.
The wedding reception was equally as splendid. From where she was sitting in the audience, Marissa could see that all of Skull Squadron was in attendance, as well as a handful of people who were identified as micronized Zentradi “spies” who had decided to stay aboard the Macross. Lynn Minmay, of course, was also in attendance, and sang a new song to commemorate the event.
Unfortunately, the festivities were cut short at the sound of the scramble alert.
An enemy attack? At a time like this?
Marissa sighed and followed the other pilots who were in attendance as they ran toward the hangars and prepared to deploy. From the corner of her eye, she saw that even Max and Millia were heading the same way.
Once they were in space, Marissa noticed Max’s Valkyrie as it engaged the enemy. He shot at a Regult at point-blank range, not in the cockpit, but in the leg.
Marissa blinked. Max couldn’t have missed that shot by accident! She was even more puzzled when he did it again, shooting another Regult in the kneecap.
Then, Ichijyo’s voice came across the tac channel.
“All right, everyone, we’re doing things a little differently this time. Instead of shooting to kill, we’re going to disable the enemy fighters. Let’s show them we’re serious about peace between us!”
An incredulous smile spread across Marissa’s face. “Roger that!” she said, shooting at a couple of far-off Regults without needing to target them exactly. With her godawful aim, she didn’t have much to worry about.
In what seemed to be no time at all, the enemy retreated.
Days later, a peace treaty was forged between the Macross and Britai’s Fleet.