Professional and keeping her craft in line Jones acknowledges.

<TC>"Echo Four copies Alpha Alpha Tuw Tree.  Visual Confirmed."

She will follow the flight communications and land where and when directed.  It's all a little dance, and should be easier than a carrier landing for certain... though low G could be tricky too.  She dropped her 'tailhook' and gear for approach.

Having been almost entirely silent on the flight over, Hanako toggles her comms to acknowledge the receipt of the landing instructions.

"<TC>Echo Two, copy.  On approach."

She then starts a by-the-book approach to land, following the telemetry data provided.

The landings were uneventful, and as they taxied their planes to waiting berths, there was a corporal waiting for them.  As soon as they'd exited their planes and taken care of standard landing protocols, he stepped forward.  "If you'd all come with me, please..."  His manner was not practiced, polished, or impatient...more like star-struck.

"I know the UEDF envoy has been waiting...but I want you all to know that we consider it an honor to have you on our station."  He blushed slightly...for all that he'd earned his corporal's stripes, he was still very young, and obviously not very seasoned.

"I mean...our CO wanted to convey to you that he's honored to have you on-station.  Things have been pretty quiet here for a long time...and it's because the Ranger's been attracting all the enemy attention, from what we can tell."  His words were a little more composed...they were, after all, someone else's words, being relayed...but he was still visibly nervous.

Cain went through the motions landing post-flight protocols..the whole procedure on his own auto-pilot.  Uncertain of how this would go down he accepted that however 'it' went..there was little he could personally do to forestall it.

The 'green' Corporal envoy was ...unexpected.  Cain kept his peace trying to figure the Brass' tactic... it only took a few words from the young Corporal to reveal the Brass' angle...

Cain chuckled slightly {So its the appeal to our ego is it? Heap praise upon our 'DEFENSE' of Earth.. and not even acknowledge the SDF-01 is out there doing all the actual fighting.. and Dare us to contradict that narrative!  'sigh'...make us complicit to their lie. Sigh.. politics... dad would laugh too.}

Grimly smiling, "At ease Corporal, we don't walk on water... and with what's coming there will be plenty of opportunity for heroism and sacrifice to go around!"

Vance had been about to speak up when Cain sought...in his own way...to calm down the Corporal that was escorting them.  He grinned slightly...Cain's approach was a bit brusque, perhaps, but accurate.  "I assume the reports from the Ranger have been getting relayed to Earth through your comm stations, here...any news coming back from Earth in response?"  He shrugged, and added, "We haven't been getting much news...bits and pieces here and there, but we've also been trying to run quiet out there and avoid attracting unnecessary enemy attention.  That means high-gain antennas and other signal-boosting hardware is generally shut down, and our reports have all been tight-beam transmissions.  So, we hear just enough to reassure us that Earth is still there...but we don't get many specifics."

Walking along beside Vance, Hanako decided not to speak up for now.  Between Cain and Vance, plenty enough was being said.  Instead, she listened and noted the reactions of everyone they passed, as well as their guide.

At least she was able to stow her helmet before they left their Veritechs.  Carrying it around is always awkward for her.  The curse of being small.

The corporal grimaced at Hardy's question.  "Well...we pick up a lot of civilian news.  We get comm traffic from UEDF command about issues that relate specifically to us...but we haven't heard a whole lot back from them in response to the reports we've been relaying from you."  He paused, almost missing a step, and quickly added, "Well, I mean, that's the rumor mill, at least.  I don't work in Communications, so I'm not privy to all the comm traffic that comes through.  But keeping secrets out here is hard, most stuff gets into rumors at some point.  The fact that we haven't heard anything beyond "keep us apprised of the situation" and "Thank you for the update" has a lot of us a little edgy."

He looked around as he spoke, as if verifying that nobody from the base would overhear him, continuing to lead them away from the hangars.  "At least, it's got those of us who pretty much never see the bridge on edge.  The Captain doesn't seem too happy about it, either."

He stopped for just a moment, in a corner area out of sight of any surveillance cameras, and added, in a hushed voice, "Some of the crew think they might be setting up to just cut us loose...take as many people as they can, hunker down in below-ground shelters, and wait for the aliens to kill off the UEDF and RDF forces and leave, then come out and start over.  They wouldn't do that, would they?!"  There was genuine fear in his voice.

The newest member of.. well this little group at least... keeps her mouth shut once she exits her veritech, falling in behind her commander with a rather serious face.  Vance and Hanako several steps in front of her.

She surveys the hangar, her flight helmet dangling from her LEFT hand, and otherwise still buttoned up in her pressure suit.  If anything she is showing mild disapproval of the general state of affairs.  She liked to keep her helmet with her in places she didn't know... since a pressure suit wasn't very useful without one.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:34, Thu 13 Feb 2020.

Cain, internally felt that cold hand of doubt touch his heart, and Vance's own words came to him ~ 'do what's best for your men...the rest will take care of itself'... sometimes a half-truth is what's needed to keep a solider going.

Cain puts a hand on the Corporal's shoulder in Reassurance, "Not happening corporal. We are just here ahead of the RANGER as we could get here faster to give our reports priority over secure channels to Earth Gov.  The RANGER is on its way here now ~ No One is getting abandoned! On THAT you can be sure!"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:06, Thu 13 Feb 2020.

There was the barest moment of surprise on Vance's face at Cain's response...odd to hear the skeptic in the group being the one who was providing the encouraging words...but he schooled his expression almost immediately.

"Just contingency plans, I'm sure.  I mean, you've got fire procedures, right?" he asked, knowing full well what the answer was.  EVERY military post had fire procedures, especially in space where fire presented a whole unique set of problems in sealed, oxygen-rich environments.  "That doesn't mean you plan to set fire to the place.  They're just trying to plan for contingencies..."  There was a momentary flicker in his eyes that showed he wasn't quite sure what those contingencies would be...but he carried on as smoothly as if he'd just gotten the word direct from Command.

"There are still anti-Unification factions down there, after all, and the tighter you keep information limited on a need-to-know basis, the harder it is for any of them to exploit any new developments."  He gave a small nod to himself, as if satisfied that his words actually sounded convincing...but as he looked at the others in the flight, concern could be seen in his eyes...what the hell is going on down there?

There was no mistaking the relief that settled in the corporal's eyes, even if his expression still showed some signs of worry and concern.  It may have been that he'd had similar thoughts, and was glad to hear someone else express them.  It may have been that such thoughts hadn't even crossed his mind, and hearing a perfectly plausible explanation gave him a new direction to puzzle and ponder.

Which it was, however, would have to wait, as the corporal stepped up to a door and pulled it open.  "The Colonel is waiting for you inside, sirs," he said, gesturing for them to proceed into the room.  It appeared to be a standard conference room...not even a briefing room, as none of the boards typically used to lay out a military briefing were in evidence...just a few blank vid screens and a long table.

Sitting alone, on one side of the table, facing the door, was a colonel in UEDF uniform.  His chair was the only one on that side.  Facing him, backs to the the door, were four empty chairs.  The colonel appeared to be looking over a dossier or briefing folder...some kind of reading material.  Without looking up, he gestured to the empty chairs.  "Please, take a seat.  This shouldn't take too long and then you can go relax for a while and wait for the Ranger to catch up with you.  Earth Command does appreciate you flying ahead to take care of this, but it is somewhat time-sensitive and we needed to deal with it as quickly as we could.  Waiting an extra day for the Ranger to arrive was deemed...imprudent."

Still silent, Hanako followed the corporal along with the others, fighting the urge to salute upon reaching the colonel's office to keep that proud Bixby/Ranger tradition alive.  Having been strapped into a seat for several hours already, she was not looking forward to sitting down yet again, but she'd been offered a seat by a colonel in his office, and it would be rather rude not to accept it.

Despite everything going on, and all the worries they have had, she could not bring herself to fully ignore the fact that she has not eaten since breakfast and is a bit hungry now.

Kelly had kept a hat off her head, but helmet in left.  She executed a quick UK palm out salute to the officer, but kept moving.  Just a show of respect to rank.

"Sah."

She did as ordered, taking a seat close to the Field Grade Officer, but making certain there was one closer for her commander.

She was staying professional, cool.  She set her helmet on the table in front of her, visor facing from her.

Vance reacted with confusion, for a moment.  He was used to a lack of formality from the command staff of the Ranger, but this was different...  Tentatively, he took a seat, setting his helmet on the table in front of him (subconsciously setting it directly between himself and the Colonel, as if it would somehow shield him).

"We, uh...we wish we could have made it sooner.  Left as soon as the orders were passed along to us."  He paused, obviously struggling with sorting out what else he wanted to say, if anything, until finally...

"If I may ask, Colonel...is there some particular reason we're meeting here, rather than on Earth?"

Cain dropped into measured silence as they made their way to the ... conference room?

Honestly, Cain had been expecting more of a tribunal set up that would have three senior staff with a single chair for each of them to be ... questioned individually but, this was not even a commander's office and only a single senior staff officer was there to interview them all at once!

Rather out of the ordinary from the usual 'formal' way the military did things... unless... this was 'off the books'.  And instantly Cain began pondering, 'why that would be?'  Was the base commander doing this on his own prerogative?

But Cain remained silent... as there was no clear warning of guards waiting at attention but his severe clearly closely controlled neutral expression tinged with wariness it was recognizable to those familiar with him that the informality of the situation had set of his Red Flag warnings of threat.

He gave a slow very precise salute, "Sir!", before taking his seat next to the 1st Lt Moriya, placing his helmet on the table before him facing him in mimicry of the other pilots.

The LC's question received an almost imperceptible nod of agreement from Cain and his gaze narrowed to tight scrutiny of the Commander's response ~ searching his posture and expression for any evidence of a duplicitous answer...
This message was last edited by the player at 10:45, Thu 09 July 2020.

At Vance's question, the Colonel looked up, discomfort on his face for the barest instant before he replaced the expression with a carefully schooled neutral expression.  He hardly seemed to notice Bixby taking a seat, although the Chief definitely had a scowl that said he also wanted to know why the meeting was happening on the Moon.

"There are...security issues, in play, here.  Matters which are beyond the scope of Veritech pilots, even the Ranger's Chief of Flight Operations.  So, there are reasons, but you don't need to know them."  He glanced down at his dossier, then looked around the table again.

"There were four of you that reported visual contact with the SDF-1, yes?  But I see seven pilots here.  Which four were on that Mars mission?"  His tone intimated that he was well-versed in the situation...possibly even to the point of being able to identify the pilots he was asking about...
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:07, Thu 09 July 2020.

Knowing that there's no purpose in lying, Hanako finally spoke for the first time since they landed.

"The flight was myself, 2nd Lt. Edwards, Lt. Cdr. Hardy, and Chief Bixby, sir," she says in a professional tone, her helmet still in her lap.  Her ability to remain fully professional and formal, she hoped, would help them out in case the Colonel was looking for something that was not on the official report.  She had, after all, mastered the ability to answer a question factually and accurately without actually providing any information.  It was quite useful when filling out paperwork.

Cain's expression made clear the Colonel's answer to LC Hardy's question was NOT satisfactory ... NOT BY FAR!

And then he got angry...

His tone coldly precise, "Excuse me Sir some clarification... please.  Are we to infer that we are Not to inform Earth Gov of the SDF-01 sitting?  Does that extend to talking to other RDF or UEG personnel?  Just what is the extent of this 'need to know' blackout on our testimony?  We would not want to be in violation of RDF Orders... or is the RDF no longer in charge of Moon Operations?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:50, Thu 09 July 2020.

Vance opened his mouth to answer when Hanako piped up...cool, calm, professional.  He half-grinned, enjoying the notion of presenting a unified front...it would add legitimacy to what was, doubtless, a report that strained credibility.  After all, with the prevailing theories swirling around, had he not seen the SDF-1 himself, he would have doubted.  He would have come around, of course, with the constant stream of corroborating stories that had followed in its wake.  Not all of those stories had been sent on to Earth, yet, most likely...constantly streaming communications would be like lighting a beacon for enemy forces to home in on...

And then Cain had his outburst...and while Vance didn't disagree with any of his points, he cringed, inwardly.  Mental note...don't try and teach him to play poker...

He got a slight grin a moment later as the thought dawned on him that maybe playing poker with Cain might be a good idea...or, at least, a lucrative one...

Kelly didn't look away from the new Colonel, despite reports and outbursts.

Her hands were in her lap, and she remained focused on that officer's apparent squirming. She was pretty good at reading people, and trained in interrogation.  She waits, thinking that just the right few words placed correctly could get this man to spill the beans.

She was also, coincidentally, thinking about poker.  She had a feeling this Colonel would not fare too well at it, not at all.

The Colonel raised an eyebrow at Cain's questions.  "Earth government HAS been informed of the SDF-1 sighting, Lieutenant.  Word was sent by your commanding officer.  And I don't believe I said anything about who you may or may not discuss it with.  My comments were limited to Lt Commander Hardy's question about why we're meeting at the Moon Base."  If he was rattled at all by the questions, he didn't show it.  If anything, he looked like fielding questions of that sort had become tiresomely repetitive.

"However, since you seem to be in a talkative mood, perhaps you'd like to describe to me...again..." and he tapped the dossier significantly as he said the word, "what, exactly, you saw at Mars, in as much detail as possible...?"

Cain did not miss a beat and his eyes narrowed in dark amusement as he crossed a leg at his seat leaning back casually and replied in an almost... impertinent tone in its informality, "Well... I'm glad you asked Colonel.  We had just finished our approach to the Phobian Lunar Body using the radiation belts to cover our slipping into the martian orbit, and Chief Bixby gave us the go to drop to the Phobian Lunar surface to begin our sensor sweep of the Martian surface ~ the LC toward the North Pole and Echo 2 and 5, myself and 1st Lt Moriya, to descend at 120 and 240 degrees ~ respectively off that around Phobos' circumference."

"I fired my verniers adjusting my course and 'dead-sticked' the 3G dive with engines cold to avoid any sensor trace on my exhaust and got to the surface rapidly switching to Guardian Mode for increased maneuverability.  Flared my engines at 2 klicks above surface to level out and came in hot ready for any hostiles, GU-11 in hand weapons hot, head laser set on Aegis-Fire mode."

"Mars rotated far below the Phobian lunar body and Chief Bixby began his expanded sensor sweep linked to all our bird's telemetry.  Wasn't long before Mars Base Sera came into view along with the deep crevasse a few klicks North East of the base.  That's when our hostile alerts starting flashing like a haywire Christmas tree, as the Chiefs sensors picked up artificial metallic craft firing thrusters leaving out of the crevasse near Mar Base and in motion on the Martian Surface moving onto the plain surrounding Sera Base.  Our planes picked up nothing near us all the action was on the Martian surface."

"But what got Everyone's attention, cause it was too damned big for even our planes limited sensors to miss, was the SDF-01 settled right next to Mars Base Sera!  No question ~ Alien battlepods were attacking; engaged by RDF Destroids from the battle-fortress.  And in spite of being way outnumbered the SDF-01 did not move but fought back!  It was weird the battlepods way outnumbered the Destroids but they did not rush the battle-fortress and any shots at the SDF-01 appeared incidental.. no direct attempt to damage it.  Maybe they knew something not obvious to our sensors?"

"We watched as long as we could with the distance and orbital speed of Phobos sped the battle away from out of position quickly but the Chief reported his sensors indicated some massive power build up either near or within the battle-fortress unrecognizable and we were rapidly getting out of optimal sensor position."

"As the curve of the martian surface obscured the direct line of sight there was a brilliant flash, and a seismic shockwave from the blast pattern on the martian surface! That willy ole' Russki ~ Captain Gloval had detonated the reactor pile beneath Mars Base Sera! I'm sure it made for a very bad day for all those attacking battlepods!  Doubt the SDF-01 felt anything more then a few tremors."

"The remains of the battle were out of sight at that point... but we were still picking up comm traffic from battle-fortress so we know they were still active."

"That's what I remember and saw...its all in the same reports already filed and my submitted sensor logs... being here... on the moon... away from the fight against the aliens is rather perplexing... Sir."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:39, Thu 09 July 2020.

If the Colonel was at all perturbed by Cain's tone, it didn't show.  In fact, if anything, he appeared amused by it.  Nor did he appear at all fazed by the pilot jargon thrown into the middle of the report.  "Anyone have anything they wish to add to that?" he asked, an inscrutable hint of a grin creeping into his features...not triumphant...if anything, there seemed to be some degree of admiration behind the expression.

Bixby spoke up.  "Colonel, sir, as we were departing our recon position, I was able to pick up sensor readings that indicating the SDF-1 had left the Martian surface, and was engaged in what appeared to be a pitched battle with alien forces as she left Mars orbit.  I say 'appeared to be', because the alien forces were massed in enough numbers that they should easily have been able to envelope and destroy the SDF-1, but they never attacked with their full might.  It could have something to do with the energy blast from the SDF-1 on Macross Island..."

The Colonel's attention snapped sharply to Bixby at that point.  "What do you know about that?" he demanded sharply.

Bixby was as unfazed by the question as the Colonel had been by Cain.  "I was in orbital combat above Macross Island when it happened, Sir.  The only one here who was...the LC had just barely gotten his first bird and was still waiting to launch when it happened.  I heard the rumors...that it was a power overload, or that the aliens bombed Macross and the SDF-1 out of existence...but I saw that energy beam, Colonel, and it did NOT come from the alien fleet."

The Colonel scowled slightly.  "Very well..." he said, reluctantly.  "You ARE aware that information has been compartmentalized, yes?"  He looked at the faces, and then gave a tired sigh, and shrug.  "Of course you don't...why would you?  I don't think they ever thought to pass those orders to combat units that were active at the time...there were few enough of you left that I'm not sure anyone in Command ever considered the possibility that it might need to be passed along."  He frowned a bit at himself, realizing he had expressed a potentially negative opinion about his superiors, then gave the minutest of shrugs and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment as he shook his head.

"Okay.  On the record: all information regarding the combat capabilities and status of the SDF-1 are compartmentalized.  If it's not specific to your assignment, you're not even supposed to talk about it, no matter who you're with.  Off the record: thank you, Chief Bixby.  We still hadn't heard an official confirmation of that, even after all this time...the prevailing opinion was that the SDF-1 had fired the blast, but we've had a really hard time finding anyone who actually saw it happen.  Most of the people who would have been good witnesses went missing that day, either with the SDF-1 or they were KIA."

He flipped open the dossier, scribbling a quick note inside.  "Any other details you can bring to light about the current status of the SDF-1?  Right now, it IS specific to your assignment, so speak freely..."

Hanako managed to keep a straight face during the entire exchange, although she was rather interested in what Bixby had mentioned.  She had flying then as well (it actually her first combat flight after graduating), but whatever happened had forced her to focus on a forced landing in the ocean, so she hadn't really been able to properly witness what happened.

When the Colonel asked for additional details, she remembered what she discussed with Bixby before they were called to fly to the lunar base.  She looked over at him with a curious expression, seeming to ask if she should mention it or if he will.  After all, he had much more information than she did relating to civilian activity on the SDF-1.

Vance spoke up.  "Since the Mars sighting, we've been intercepting bits and pieces of comm traffic.  It all seems to be short-range stuff, usually traffic control for fighter patrols and combat chatter.  Based on the lack of anything in the long-range bands, I'm guessing their long-range array has been damaged or destroyed."

He paused for the briefest moment, then added, "But...well, Chief Bixby would know more about this than I do, Sir, but there's been plenty of traffic to indicate the presence of a sizable civilian population aboard the ship."  He shrugged, leaving the Colonel to make of that what he would...and Bixby to explain just what that traffic was.  He wasn't about to try and explain a beauty pageant aboard a warship in almost daily combat...