[BOOK 1] Macross: Voltron || Super Dimensional Voltron Force

Chapter 22: SDF-1, Defender of the Earth

"Well, come on! It's about to start!" She pulled him into the room and closed the door as Mathias sat on the bed. Katie flopped on the bed next to him, popcorn in hand as Bae Bae jumped up and laid her head on Mathias lap. The show began and Mathias immediately noticed that the show was just... horrible. The inaccuracies were enormous, a Shiro that speaks... differently. Also, the Pidge voice was down right god awful.

"I don't sound like that... do I?" Katie asked, looking up at him. Mathias shook his head as the two resumed watching the show.

When the episode finished, the two stared at the TV for a moment before Mathias kicked back on the bed.

"That was singlehandedly one of the weirdest shows I've watched... sure, the storytelling is okay, but the direction and accuracy is garbage," he remarked.

Katie laughed, "yeah, that could've been so much better," she paused for a moment, then looked back up at him, "you ready for the meeting tomorrow?"

"The final meeting before the Atlas leaves the Earth? Yeah... I guess..." Mathias shrugged.

"What's wrong?" Katie asked, looking confused.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, just exhausted. ...anyway, I'm going back to my bunk to rest... night," he spoke as he sat up and walked out of the room.

"O-oh.. okay, uh... g'night!" Katie called out. He waved before closing the door behind him. Katie seemed to keep her look of confusion on her face as he left.

"Something's not right..." she muttered to herself as he picked up the empty popcorn bag.

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The next day, during the meeting.

"So far from intel we've gathered from the alien forces that have come to Earth, there appear to be no other Galra Ships in the galaxy. Seems Earth was the only target Sendak had in mind. The Variable FIghter Units report no Galra Activity since the end of the battle 6 months ago," Veronica addressed as she stepped forward.

Shiro nodded, "good. Mathias, how goes the defence of Earth and the Macross?"

Mathias stood up from his chair and straightened his uniform, "would you like the bad news or the really bad news?"

Shiro frowned, but kept his composure, "let's start with the good news if available..."

Mathias stood put and walked to the board in the front of the room, then cleared his throat. "So far, thanks to my VF team's efforts, we have scouted the surface of the planet. Only 20% of the surface still hold vegetation, while 17% of the surface, namely around these areas here, are uninhabitable. Even with the Destroids we sent over to the other Garrison bases, they still wouldn't be enough to defend Earth from another long scale engagement like last time."

"I see... What about the progress with the ships you were overseeing and the VF Pilots?" Shiro asked.

Mathias shook his head, "so far, we only have 5 ships completed. 1 Stealth Cruiser, 1 Guantanamo class carrier and 2 Northampton stealth frigates. I'll explain the 5th in a moment. However, I must point out that they are not even trial proven yet! Only one of the Northampton frigates, the Aegis, has been space tested, but nowhere even close to field tested! Even with the recent Olkarian arrivals, development has grinded to a standstill. As for the VF Pilots, they still need extensive training before they can go through combat," He sighed for a moment, "the one offer of good news is this. Using resources taken from downed Galran ships and using the Macross Database, we were able to construct this." He pressed a button which displayed a much smaller Macross on the screen, raising everyone's attention. It sat in a small body of water up to its waist, with 2 arms floating on top of the water's surface. He continued, "this ship is based off the Macross Quarter class of ships, and we managed to replicate everything to perfection, all but the cannon. See, the Quarter originally had a Heavy Quantum beam cannon, but we don't have the technology for that here... so, the next best thing was using the Fusion Cannons from the Garrison, and with some modifications, we were successful! Ladies, Gentlemen and those of other genders, I present to you the SDF-0!" Everyone seemed to murmur with each other for a moment in praise. "This ship will be able to launch, if we are lucky, in about 2 months!" His face dropped from slight happiness to a deep frown.