Macross 30: Voices Across The Galaxy

Chapter 3: The Ouroboros Incident

"Hello there you two! I was wondering if you could do me a little favor?"

"Sure Leilong, what is it?" asked Aisha.

"Out at the World Tree, Point Y24, there seems to be some rampaging Zentradi!"

"Rampaging Zentradi? Are you sure?" asked Aisha, clearly surprised.

"There's very little information, just that some zentran are going wild in the caves beneath the World Tree."

Aisha seemed lost in thought so Rion replied, "Alright then, Leilong, we'll check it out."

"Be careful," she replied before signing off.

"Rampaging Zentradi..." murmured Aisha.

"Aisha, something wrong?"

"It's just that it's weird. The Zentradi on Ouroboros have always been well adjusted, for the most part. I've never heard of anything like this before."

Rion could see that this was bothering her so decided to project some of his usual bravado.

"If you want I can go by myself. I know how hard it can be to have to point a gun at your own people," he said.

"No, I'll go as well. It's because they're fellow Zentradi that I should be there. Now follow me, it's time to head to the World Tree!"

---

A little while later, they arrived at their destination. Leilong and Aisha hadn't been kidding when they called it the World Tree. An absolutely massive trunk split out into a tangle of roots, like a demented crown, which plunged into the island below, completely covering it. The tree itself rose impossibly high, blossoming out into a glorious bloom of green.

"Wow! Now that is awesome!" exclaimed Rion as they flew towards it.

"Never seen a mile high tree before huh?" said Aisha, with a grin.

"No way!"

"It's one of Ourboros's wonders. They named it the World Tree after the old Norse legends of the tree that supported the nine worlds of the universe."

"Yeah, looks like you could park a whole fleet in the branches up there!" said Rion, which made Aisha laugh at the idea.

They circled around the base of the tree once before Rion spotted the entrance. Aisha confirmed it.

"That's definitely Ratatoskr Cave down there. Let's go!"

They swooped in, transforming to battroid as they touched the Fold Stone that teleported them down into the cave. They spent a couple of minutes marching through tunnels but suddenly they saw movement in the shadows, a large figure crouching in the pooled water at a fork in the cave.

"Is there someone there?" Rion asked cautiously, moving his battroid slowly forward, his voice projected out of an external speaker in the battroid's head.

"I think it might be the zentradi we're here to look for," replied Aisha.

The lights from their battroids slowly traced up the water and illuminated the figure; it was indeed a zentran, or male zentradi, and his head whipped around towards them, eyes wild and unfocused.

"Yakk?" he said, "Yakk... de zentran... Gadoras! Gadoras!!"

"Whoah, Leilong was right, he definitely doesn't seem too friendly!" Rion said. He wasn't very familiar with Zentradi and consequently with their language. And contrary to the movies, not everyone went around with a Universal Translator in their ear.

"Wait! Before you do anything, let me try talking him down," said Aisha. She began to speak back to him in the Zentran language.

"Hol udanan! Merukesu Meltran! Fol deskeslaas?"