***​

The factory satellite was larger than some moons. It was truly impossible to conceive of how huge it was. New York (which had unaccountably been missed by the heaviest bombardment in the history of the zentraedi), would have been lost in the hundreds of thousands of cubic kilometers encompassed by the mega-structure. For that reason, taking a “lift” actually meant taking a pod that was moved through a network of passages at speeds at supersonic speeds. Gettingworking had been one of the great barriers to getting the factory units working and even today there were parts of the factory that were more or less off limits because the transport system hadn’t been repaired in that area and getting there at safe speeds on foot or by vehicle was a matter of days or weeks.So, they spent the time chatting about the typical minutia military officers spent their day with.That and Vara provided suggestions on what Lisa could say at the next UEEF meeting to make the vein in Leonard’s head throb. Vara didn’t hate him, not precisely, because most zentraedi were of the mind that genociding over 99 percent of a planetary population probably wasn’t something that could be glossed over with a “no really, we’re very sorry,” and in any case, Leonard had some very zentraedi traits that ironically made him more tolerable to many zentraedi then he was to his human compatriots.But once the doors opened as the pod stopped, 10 minutes and over 100 miles from the office, Vara was all business. She was about to see what she was going to get.When she looked out of the armorplast port, Vara stopped dead.“I have got to get you a present for Christmas,” was all she could say.Floating in the vast bay, there a number of capital warships floating, umbilicals connecting them to power and supply ports. Vara saw 16 Quiltra Queleual transports, with the minor modifications that marked them as refitted craft with micronian facilities. Above them were 12 Thuverl Salan Flight II ships, the outer hulls now more angular, reflecting the micronian rebuild job. More importantly for Vara’s eyes, they all had themounts for the heavy particle cannon, twice the number of the older zentraedi design.But the biggest gift that Vara could see was what had to be the flagship.The Nupetiet Vergnitzs had always been the apple of any up and coming officer’s eye. The humans had taken the hull and core systems and modified them until they were probably the most powerful single ships in the known galaxy.But they were expensive and having one in her fleet showed that they both intended the mission to succeed and expected it to be a long-duration mission.Of course, ships were often cheaper than crew…“My crew?” Vara asked.“Transferred from your flotilla. Those ships were overdue for refit or recycling anyway,” Lisa replied. “They can either be transferred to earth, other guard ships, or come along with you. We’ve also got a fair number of non-attached personnel who will be happy to join up for the mission. We won’t stint you on crew, don’t worry about that.”“And my command staff?”“All who want to come, and Commodore Jenkin’s has already agreed.”“You asked him first?”“He thought you would like the surprise,” Hayes replied. Vara shook her head in affectionate annoyance. Clarence Jenkins had been a British sub commander before the Rain of Death and not long after that, had been seconded to the Guard Fleet. Some people assumed that his dry British mannerisms meant he had no sense of humor. They would be wrong.“When do we leave?”“Three months, presuming you can get your fleet in order.”Vara gave a shark like smile. “Get ready for a mission into unknown space? We’ll have no trouble whatsoever…”Vara’s claim proved right, if only just. Working up a fleet was a complex operation, and while most of the commanders had worked together, they hadn’t worked onships, which led to some grumbling about “new ship smell”.Vara ignored that. There wasn’t a single zentraedi in the UEEF forces who wasn’t ecstatic about never having to deal with the continually growing catalog of minor (and not so minor) problems that appeared on a ship between refits. But they’d never admit that to anyone else.The mecha forces of the various ships spent their time training. The zentraedi had never liked the slow destroids and so used the zbr series micronian battlepods, both more survivable than their forebears, while being fast enough to not turn into a walking turret.Top cover would be provided mostly by VF-4 veritechs. Granted, they were better in space than on the ground, but the assumption was that they wouldn’t be doing much ground fighting and in any case, the battlepods should be more than adequate. In addition, when compared to the new model Alphas, the VF-4 was better armed for long range and anti-warship combat. The Alpha’s were more focused on close range combat, getting the name “infantry veritechs.” For those, they had their VA-3 variable close air support veritechs. Still, Vara was annoyed that the Guard Fleet high command had poached all of her quadrano units, arguing that they would be too much of a logistics burden for the far flung mission.They had munitions and repair factories in their fleet train. No, the Guard Fleet command was just angry that they were going to lose some of their best crews and so had made certain they were keeping the elite units. There was no enemy as dastardly as someone fighting for resources in your own chain of command. Not only that, but she bet some of the aces were hoping to stay on earth where there was a better chance of battle.And then there was the fact they were leaving quietly. Officially, it was due to the need for operational security, which didn’t make much sense. Unofficially, there were still enough people in the UEEF who didn’t like zentraedi, that keeping the fleet low key was very important to avoid ruffling feathers. Vara didn’t like it, but a soldier obeyed orders.Within reason.“Well, Admiral, we have the reports on our firing drills. 95+ across the board and the asteroid belt is a bit smaller now,” Jenkin’s said. He’d been a bit doubtful about the guard fleet uniform, which was a mix of zentraedi and RDF style, but it suited him. He’d also managed to fit in with the zentraedi, being fluent in their language. Vara didn’t know what she’d have done without him, especially when it came time to mix the human crews along with the zentraedi crews, given that there had been more than a few personal conflicts.“You know,” Jenkin’s said. “We may find out great mysteries on this trip!”“Such as?” Vara asked.Jenkin’s reply was dry. “Why the Robotech Masters liked to make all their commanders so tall. It certainly doesn’t help you in combat.”Vara thought. Besides, she was only 6’3, so it wasn’t as if she was thezentraedi commander out there.“Fleet ready?”“Prepared for your speech.”“Hmph. All ships,” Vara said, her voice being relayed the rest of the fleet. “Our mission is simple. Scout, and hopefully find something worthwhile. Earth is but one planet, and as the zentraedi proved, a single planet can all too quickly become a death trap. We will find other worlds, so that our micronian allies and we ourselves may spread ourselves beyond any danger of extermination by our enemies, no matter who they are. The fleet will commence its first fold in 10 minutes. That is all.”“Have I mentioned that the zentraedi tendency towards short speeches is truly a sign of a refined and civilized society?”“You do realize that in most cases, it was because the commanders were just as eager to get into the fight as anyone else. I believe Khyron held the record for shortest speech however.”“Oh?”“It was, quote:’GET THEM!’ unquote.”“Succinct.”Vara chuckled, and then turned to watch the screens, counting down as the ships prepared for their first fold.Note that this is a bit lighter in description than some of my other stories. 1. I'm banking on the fact that most people who have seen robotech/bsg are pretty informed about the setting and 2. this is a short, faster fic I'm writing while also doing a fair amount of professional work so I'm watching word count.Mechs that did not appear in robotech are here:VA-3 close air support:Note the rather large DAKKA gun it has-- in aircraft mode, it's on an articulated underslung mount. Can be replaced with a larger single-barrelled cannon or energy weapon, depending on the craft's mission.