Macross 30: Voices Across The Galaxy

Chapter 3: The Ouroboros Incident

Aisha was still grumbling when they climbed back into their Valkyries.

"That Leilong... question my genius... oh I'll remember this..."

"Uh Aisha, now that we got the license, do you want to head back to the Gefion?" asked Rion.

Aisha blinked back at him and then shook her head rapidly, as if trying to clear out all the negative thoughts.

"No, not just yet, I want to show you around the islands a little bit first. You ready to go on a Flight Date?" she said, winking at him. Rion was a little taken aback by her sudden flirtatiousness.

"Um, sure, that sounds good. Seems odd to call it a flight date..."

"Oh? What would you call it when a beautiful young woman invites you to go somewhere in a Valkyrie, hmm?" she said with a grin.

"Just wondering why you're emphasizing the 'date' part of it..."

"Alright! Let's go!" she cried happily.

---

Later, they were flying high above and between the islands. As Aisha showed him the various landmarks, Rion had asked her about the Hunter Guild and why the SMS needed to get licenses since they were their own organization. Aisha had said that it was largely a matter of who had been there first. SMS was a recent arrival to Ouroboros and in order to generate good will, and therefore work, they had to make nice with the locals. Also that the SMS Ouroboros branch was still fairly small so having the locals on their side meant they could call in backup if needed.

"You and Leilong don't seem to get along much though."

"Oh that? Oh that was nothing! Leilong and I argue about stuff all the time. Leilong's one of my best friends; she helped me through a... well, she's been an enormous help since we got to this planet."

"So besides taking on assignments from the Guild, what else does SMS do around here for fun?"

"Currently one of my main projects is studying the ancient ruins all over the planet."

"What kinds of ruins?"

"The best kind!" Aisha, smiling widely from his monitor, "Protoculture ruins!"

That hit deep for Rion. The Protoculture was the universal term for the ancient Stellar Republic that had existed thousands of years ago. It was their warriors, the Zentradi, whom humanity first encountered when they'd dared to venture out into the stars and through that conflict had learned that humans and Zentradi were more connected to the history of the galaxy than they knew. Ever since that time and as humanity expanded out into the galaxy, they searched for signs of where the Protoculture had been.

"Given how extensive the ruins here are, I'd say that this planet was of great importance to the Protoculture once. But since the arrival of the Aura, it's been harder to get work done, especially with the Gefion running on a skeleton crew."

After flying to a few more landmarks, Rion suddenly thought of something he'd meant to ask Aisha earlier.

"Hey, Aisha, what did the Ouroboros branch want that YF-25 AI for anyway?"

"Well... I guess I could tell you a bit about it. I'm building a prototype VF and needed it for the control system."
"So that's what you meant about a secret project."

"Unfortunately the work has been pretty slow. There have been problems with the power systems and engines and the test pilot was hurt in an accident so i don't have anyone that can fly it right now except myself."

"Maybe I could fly it for you?" asked Rion, excitement creeping into his voice at the thought of getting to fly a new Valkyrie.

"That would be a big help..." began Aisha but just then an alert beeped at them from the comm. Rion brought it up and saw that it was Leilong, who was smiling brightly again.