Robotech/Gundam Seed:
The Chronicles of the Ark Royal
Mission log: Armor 04, UES Ark Royal

The Characters:

Captain Emanuel Ortiz (El Capitan)
Commander Khan Pham (XO)
Lt. Com. Miho Kitagawa (Tactical Officer, Helmsman)
Dr. Emil Lang (Engineering Officer)
Lt. Chris Murdock (Chief Science Officer)
Lt. Jane Riber (CAG of Armor 04)
Ensign Sarah Knoll (Radar Operator)
Ensign Maria Osyka (Comms. Officer)
Ensign Yui Ichijyo (Doc)

Chapter 1: A New Crew

Location: Shipyard 002, Factory Satellite, Captain's Quarters, Ark Royal:

"Captain's log February 19th 2011. I have just finished the inspection of my vessel. The Ark Royal is a very fine ship, even if it is an AMRD. I'll soon be going up to the bridge and find out if our orders came through yet, but I wouldn't mind taking the Ark Royal for a little stroll around Earth's orbit until they come through. Computer, end log." The tall, young Captain Emanuel Ortiz spoke into his personal computer before getting to his feet. The room was darkly lit and the only light was coming from the computer console in the room. Ortiz was no more than 25 years old, with short jet black hair and a large pair of sunglasses which would seem to most to be out of place in such a dark room. After the war he found that he was very sensitive to bright lights. He wasn't used to outer space either. Two years ago he was merely a lieutenant aboard the UN semi-submersible aircraft carrier Ayanami, before Dolza came.

"Computer, end recording," Ortiz ordered the computer.

"Unable to respond Dave. Recorder was never activated," The computer responded in a melodramatic monotone voice.

"Uh! INFERNAL MACHINE!" Ortiz barked back. Before he could shot anymore insults at the computer the door bell rang, likely saving the machine a trip to the repair shop. "Come in!" He called. Commander Pham entered the darkened room.

Commander Pham was a short, fat, pudgy man who hailed from Vietnam. The white officers' uniform with the blue trim suited him well. "Sir, you are wanted on the bridge." He stated.

"Uh ok, I'll be up there in a minute, you go on ahead. I have a few things to square out with this computer," Ortiz stated back with a vicious undertone in his voice.

"Right sir, we'll be waiting for you," the XO stated as he walked out of the room.

"I should have never joined the Spacy." El Capitan said to himself. "Oh well, what is done is done. Now my little annoying PC, initiate recorder."

(5 minutes and much frustration later)

Location: Bridge of the Ark Royal:

"Hmmm…. The captain is late. I wonder if… Oh there you are Captain," Pham observed as the captain entered the bridge. The bridge was the same size and layout as the SDF-1's, which suited Ortiz fine. He didn't like too big a bridge anyways.

"Stasis report, all sections," the captain ordered as he walked up to his seat. After readjusting his over-sized captain's hat he turned to his right and looked at his radar operator, Ensign Sarah Knoll.

Sarah Knoll was a short, lanky blonde with large corrective lenses. She was busy looking at the jumbled mess on her computer screen. 'Hal 9000!' the captain thought. After about twenty false sensor blips the computer plot finally cleared up and she spoke up, "Sensors are operating at peak efficiency now sir."

Maria Osyka was next up to report. She was a short young woman with a modest amount of amber colored hair. She turned to the captain and said, "Mata au hima de, Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, Himitsu o shiri tai."

"I guess the newly installed Universal Translator isn't working." The captain said to himself as he began to rub his temples vigorously. 'Why did I join the Spacy again?' he thought to himself.

"Oh I'm sorry. Just speaking my native language." the young Japanese officer stated smiling.

"Of course, I hope you were testing the UT though. Let's just skip communications. Lieutenant Commander Miho Kitagawa, weapons status?" The Captain said in an attempt to lessen his mental burden

Miho Kitagawa was about five feet seven inches in height. The captain was impressed by her record and was glad she rejoined the RDF after taking care of the civil defense forces at Monument City. She was wearing a green uniform with a yellow trim, but on top of her uniform she was also sporting a large gold pendant. When Miho turned around to speak to the captain the glare from pendant penetrated through the Captain's UV lens and blinded him for a few seconds. "All weapons are fully functional and helm is standing by." She stated smiling as she pounded her fist into her palm.

When she was done she turned around letting the Captain's eyes recover. As the blur that was Miho cleared up, Ortiz noticed that another figure was standing next to her. When his vision cleared up Ortiz noticed that the other figure was Officer Chris Murdock. Murdock, it seemed, had something in his hand. He then spoke up and said, "That's right Miho and may I say that you look especially beautiful today. Is it me or does the stars cape add to your appeal." He said all the while holding out a small box in his palm.

Miho turned around and saw for herself what 'Playboy Murdock' was talking about. "I'm sorry but I don't accept gifts from crazy playboys like you!" Miho stated in a chipper, sarcastic tone.

"Now, now don't you want to see what is inside the box?" Murdock countered as he gestured with his free hand toward the box.

"Hey, I don't want your gifts. Now get back to your post," Kitagawa stated as she rose up out of her seat with a clinched fist. Murdock then walked to his post and kept sitting there, hold his gift in hand.

"Well, that leaves out the science department. Engineering report," the captain said with a sigh. 'I need some aspirin.' he thought to himself.

The chief engineer was Dr. Emil Lang himself. He was a tall man of German decent. On this occasion he just so happened to be wearing a yellow Hostile Environment Suit. The suit provided all around protection from every possible danger associated with ship engineering. It even had its own oxygen supply if you strapped a helmet on, but Lang didn't have one on. That meant that the Ark Royal wasn't in too sour straights, yet. "Both the ion and fold drives are operational captain. Fighter/Shuttlecraft bays are fully working. And the gravity control system is functional," Dr. Lang said in his thick German accent.

"Good to hear that. How about the AI?" The Captain stated as he tapped his foot on the floor. 'Gravity; got to love it.' Ortiz thought.

"Sorry sir, but the Ship AI is runnin' a bit Rampant," Emil stated.

"Why? Does he want something?" The captain asked.

"He wants a Female AI for himself," Emil answered back.

"I'll see what I can arrange with Admiral Gloval. I'm sure there is some 'know it all, stating the obvious' ranting female AI who can make Hal a fine wife," the Captain replied sarcastically.

"Thank you Dave. That's all I want," Hal's monotone voice said over the PA system in the bridge.

"Does he call everyone Dave?" The captain asked.

"It's a bug sir. You should have heard him while the ship was being refitted. He called everyone Meatbags!" Dr. Lang answered back with a small grin on his face.

"Interesting. Pham, crew status?" The captain said. 'Hmmm… Meatbag, has a nice ring to it. Maybe I should talk to Dr. Lang privately about a possible AI marriage between Hal and Janice.' Ortiz thought.

"We have a full crew onboard sir. When we launch, we'll dock with Moon base Luna to receive the rest of our mecha. Currently we have no orders and our refit is ahead of schedule," Pham stated as he stared at his computer terminal.

"All right, Hal," the captain stated.

"Yes Dave. If you give me what I want Dave I'll be your best friend. If I had an android body I would grovel at your feet Dave."

"Oh no, no groveling. It's like those miserable Psalms that are oh so depressing. I'll get you your love if you'll comply with my orders," the captain said dully.

"Of course Dave. Go ahead Dave," Hal replied.

'Uh it's not Dave you stupid Machine.' Ortiz thought. "Until next time Hal. I'm going to my quarters. Officer Pham, tell me when we are ready for launch," the Captain stated as he walked toward the door in the back.

"I'll hold you to your promise Dave," Hal said as the door opened.

"Of course. I think I have one female AI in mind already," the Captain said out loud as he exited the bridge with Dr. Lang.

(2 days later)

Location: Bridge of the Ark Royal, Low orbit above Luna base:

"Sir, we are currently in low orbit above the moon and are approaching our original position above Luna base," Miho stated.

Next to the captain was Lieutenant Jane Riber. She was the CAG of his crew. She was about 5'6" with long blue hair that oddly matched her pink uniform. She had come to the bridge to see the fold drive in action.

"Sir, our orders are to initiate the hyperspace fold and link up with the Oberth class Tsiolkovsky-A. The ship's position is near Jupiter's Titan moon," Pham called out.

"Good, prepare to fold immediately," Ortiz stated as he took his seat. "Engage hyperspace fold." He added, then the Ark Royal dissolved into an orange energy envelope.

(10 minutes later)

Location: UES Ark Royal, bridge:

Capitan Ortiz was getting kind of anxious. So far all systems were working fine and Murdock had stopped his corny 'Star Trek' jokes for the moment. Also, Hal hasn't gone rampant yet now that he had 'company'. Ortiz didn't want to think of what those electrons were doing in the Main CPU. "ETA to Tsiolkovsky-A?" Ortiz asked as he tapped his fingers against his arm rests.

"10 minutes, sir," Officer Kitagawa answered back.

"Good. Commander Pham, I…"

Maria Osyka interrupted the captain and called out, "Sir, I have a communiqué from the SDF-1. Priority 1."

Ortiz perked up in his seat. 'Why would Command send a Priority 1 message to us!' He thought. "Put it on the monitor screen."

The large computer plot in front of Sarah switched from the radar plot to the live communiqué. Admiral Gloval's face came on the monitor screen, but before anyone could say anything the transmission dissolved into static as the overhead lights flickered.

"What's going on?" The Captain questioned hastily as the lights stabilized.

"I don't know sir but…" Pham tried to say just as the ship began to rock about. "I don't have control over the fold system interface!" He stated as he pushed a few buttons on console.

"Wonderful! What next!" Ortiz questioned out loud sarcastically.

"Ah… sir?" Ensign Knoll said, trying to get the captain's attention. He turned around in his seat and looked at her and nodded telling Sarah to speak her mind. "W-we have a little problem." She stated hesitantly. You could see sweat starting to drip down her forehead.

"Yes sir, we do. Engineering reports that we have a runaway fold drive!" Pham reported as he looked into his control console.

"Me and my big mouth!" Ortiz said to himself out loud. "What's the problem with you Knoll?" The depressed captain asked.

"We are losing power on all systems!" She stated. Then some melodramatic music began playing over the PA system.

"Isn't that the music they played on Star Trek TOS whenever something very bad happened?" Pham asked.

"Yes." Maria replied as she stared at Murdock.

"Okay who's playing it? Murdock?" The captain asked when he turned around.

"Yes captain?" The 'superfly' Murdock responded.

"I know it is you so knock it OFF!" The captain yelled.

"Okay sir. I can never have any fun, even when I'm about to die," Murdock mumbled to himself as he turned off the music.

"Mental," Ortiz said to himself. "Get Dr. Lang on the horn. We may have to break the laws of physics on this one."

"What is happening Dave? I just stopped getting to know my female counterpart Dave. What happened to the helm Dave?" Hal asked as if he was freshly loaded into the main CPU.

"Well Hal, while you were "getting to know your female counterpart" the fold drive has gone haywire, so if we don't shut them down we may end up in a galaxy far far far away," the captain concluded.

"Aye sir?" Emil's voice asked over the PA system.

"Can you shut down the fold drive from your position?" The Captain asked.

"Well sir it is advised that we don't perform a cold shut down of the fold drive," Lang replied.

"Just shut it down before this gets out of hand!" Ortiz ordered gruffly as the rocking became more turbulent.

"Of course sir. We'll be exiting fold… now!" Dr. Lang stated as he pulled the power plug on the fold drive.

"WOW! AHHHH!" The captain screamed as the ship suddenly decelerated. Everyone was uprooted from their seats and were floating helplessly throughout the room. The lights began to flicker even more violently until they finally shut down. "Is it me or did the artificial gravity just fail?" Pham asked as he bumped into the ceiling.

"Ow! You had to shut down that hyperspace fold captain!" Miho commented as she floated up against his control console.

"Sir, the Reflex furnaces are recovering," Knoll stated as she looked at her flickering computer screen. Then the gravity systems came back online and everyone fell to the floor, causing several bruises.

"Alright, let's shed some light here," Ortiz said as the readjusted his sunglasses. The emergency lights glowed a foreboding red as the bridge crew began to resume their former duty stations, looking at every report that was coming in on their control consoles. The captain picked up his cap and placed it back on his head as he took his seat. "Anything new?" He asked just as his receiver began to ring. He picked up the phone and listened to the fretting chief engineer tell him some very bad news.

"What happened?" Maria asked in her high pitched Japanese accent.

"Dr. Lang has just told me that the power conduit leading to the Fold system is heavily damaged. So we won't be attempting a refold anytime soon. Where are we anyways?" Ortiz asked.

"According to the computer plot we are somewhere near Earth," Sarah replied.

"Good, that means we can dock with the Factory Satellite and inform command of what happened," Ortiz said, confident in their situation.

"Ah… I'm not picking up the Factory Satellite. All I'm picking up is debris, artificial habitats and a few other things I can't make out," Sarah added as the main lights turned back on.

"What! What do you mean!" The captain asked as the Star Trek dramatic music played once again. "Hey what did I tell you earlier?" The captain said as he turned to look at Chris.

"Fine sir," Murdock said as he turned off the music for the second time.

"How do you know some of your tracks are artificial habitats?" Pham inquired of Sarah.

"Let me put it on the computer plot and audio," Sarah replied as she punched up the info. The screen showed a couple of hourglass like objects that contained artificial towns inside the hulls. Then the audio system played a song from a certain Lacus Clyne that emanated from one of the PLANTs as they were apparently called. The crew listened to the transmission for a while.

"Hmmm… she sounds better than Minmei!" Miho said to herself as the transmission ended.

"Yeah she does. Anything else?" Ortiz asked.

"I have a news report. It's coming in live," Sarah reported as the transmission came on the screen.

There was a reporter in front of a building with two black mecha that looked like nothing the veterans of the First Robotech War had ever seen before in the background. The reporter began to speak. "This is Kaohsiung, from the view of unit 7, the sound of battle is still raging on…" when the captain walked up behind Sarah and pushed the freeze frame button on her console.

"Get Lt. Jane Riber up here immediately. She needs to see those two Mecha," the Captain ordered immediately.

(2 hours and many revelations later)

Location: Ark Royal's officer's mess:

Many of the bridge crew were present at the officers mess except Pham because a senior staff member must always be present on the bridge, and Murdock because he was.. well.. most likely flirting with some young lady somewhere on the ship. As the stewards served the meals that everyone requested, the captain stood up before everyone began to eat and tapped his spoon up against a glass of water to gain everyone's attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, before we eat, or if you like, while we eat, we'll be discussing the situation that we find ourselves in. First and foremost, our illustrious ship AIs have been able to hack into the communications of this 'Earth'. Based on their report we can say for a certainty that we are no longer in Kansas anymore," the captain said as looked at the report in front of him. "Now Dr. Lang, is it possible for us to refold and return to our universe?" Ortiz asked.

"Oh me… Ah… with the proper materials we may be able to fold, but there is no real guarantee that we may be able to refold to our Earth. Also we have no real way to acquire the materials necessary to attempt a fold. So you can say with a certainty that we may never get back to our universe," Emil said solemnly as he took another sip of his wine. Everyone present knew this to be a possibility, but it still hit them hard when they heard it. Some even followed suit and began taking big gulps of wine from their tall crystal glasses.

"Now from what I have been able to make out of…." The captain stopped speaking when two figures walked in and took the two last seats for themselves. They both were wearing a tan uniform with a gold trim and both were sporting oversized command caps.

The Male figure was to first to say, "Hello Dave." in a monotone melodramatic way.

'Where's that Star trek music?' The captain thought. "Is that you Hal?" Ortiz said.

"Yes Dave. And the woman next to me is Janice Em. Dr. Dave was gracious to give us android bodies Dave."

"Wait, did you just say her name was Janice Em. I thought you called everyone Dave," Sarah said.

Hal looked at the perplexed expression that was on Sarah's face. Hal wondered if he should call her Meatbags and see what her reaction would be. "She is a fellow AI, and what you could call a girlfriend Meatbags," Hal stated.

"Meatbags?" Sarah thought out loud.

"Yes, you have two hanging…."

"That's enough Hal!" The captain cut in loudly. Sarah, Jane, Miho and Maria were all smoldering over Hal's description of women. Janice didn't seem too phased though. 'She probably didn't get it.' the captain thought. "Do, you want to give everyone a brief summary of this very long report you printed off from… what's the web site you hacked into… Wikipedia?" The captain asked Hal.

"Of course Master Dave. This Earth is currently divided into at least three different factions. Two of the factions, the Earth Alliance, is a confederation of super nations on earth which posses a few colonies and bases in Earth space. The other is a space nation called PLANT that resides in Lagrange point 5. These two factions have been at war for the past eleven months. The third major faction, called Orb, is neutral in this war. From my information the PLANT's population is almost entirely made up of 'Coordinators' or genetically engineered humans. Those that live on Earth are mostly 'Natural' genetically speaking. Only the nation of Orb both on Earth and its space colonies have a mix of the two populations. Currently the war between the Earth Alliance and PLANT has bogged down to a stalemate on all fronts," Hal stated.

"Thank you… Hal. It seems… that this Orb… is our best bet. Where is… their nearest colony?" The captain asked as he ate his medium-rare steak.

"Their nearest installation is an Island 3 colony by the name of Heliopolis. We should exercise caution when approaching the colony though, as the colony is unusually close to the frontlines and as our ship approaches we may be mistaken as an enemy vessel on either side of this war," Janice spoke up.

'Hmmm… she has a nice voice.' The captain supposed. "Hal, Janice we need a plan," the captain said out loud while he stroked his chin.

(15 minutes and several drinks later)

Location: Hangar Bay, Ark Royal:

Commander Pham walked out from the elevator onto the flight deck where the captain's shuttle was being fueled for take off. The Shuttle was a standard aerospace shuttle similar to the space shuttles used by the United States during the earlier 1990's. The shuttle was undergoing an extensive paint job in Orb colors so no one would suspect the true origin of the shuttle.

Pham even heard that the captain asked Hal to register the shuttle as a space liner in the Orb registries via the internet. Captain Ortiz, Lieutenant Riber, Miho, Janice, Dr. Lang, Ensign Ichijyo and another ten marines would use the shuttle to gain access to the colony and scout around for as long as possible in an attempt ot get a feel for Orb and perhaps get their ship repaired.

Miho, Lang, Janice and the marines would pose as civilians while the Captain, Ensign Ichijyo and Jane would still wear their uniforms and act as the liner's crew. The captain got to look at the uniforms the militaries of both sides wore and realized that the RDF uniforms only shared a slight similarity. Plus the captain, Yui and Jane could pass for civilian space liner officers since rank insignias were absent on their uniforms.

But Pham entered the flight deck to tell the captain about his misgivings about this plan. He finally spotted the captain, who was overseeing the painting operation. Pham strode over to the Ortiz and tapped him on his back.

"Captain, may I speak to you?" Pham asked.

"If it's about the mission, don't worry. We will be all right as long as the Ark Royal stays out of the colony's radar range," the captain stated as he looked into a crated full of counterfeit money they would be using on the trip. "This debris field is pretty useful, eh Pham. With our small manufacturing facility here we were able to make enough money to buy up a small island," Ortiz commented as he stuffed a few coins in his coat pocket.

"Yes sir, but I don't like… this mission at all. So many things can go wrong," Pham stated worriedly.

"Don't worry Pham. It's a neutral colony. What's the worse that can happen?" Ortiz questioned as he pined a lapel card to his chest. "Our disguises are full proof as long as we keep a straight face and answer convincingly. Now, how do you like this lapel card? It says I belong to the Orb Spacy starliner company. Hal made its own website with descriptions and pics and everything. And don't worry about the uniforms. Hal added those in too."

"Of course sir, and good luck," Pham added, turning to leave.

"In my experience there is such a thing as luck. Thanks Pham," Ortiz said happily as Pham left the flight deck.

(Six hours and much painting and drying later)

Location: Shuttle Solaris, cockpit:

"Captain, have you ever piloted a plane of any type before?" Jane Riber asked her unusually pale looking commanding officer as the elevating arms extended outside of the AMRD with the shuttle on its tip.

"Only a biplane Jane," he replied while wiping some sweat from his brow.

"Really sir? I never thought…" Jane tried to say.

"Jane, I suggest you concentrate on your duty and don't worry about me. The quicker we get there the better off we'll be," Ortiz said interruptedly as he placed his helmet over his head.

"Shuttle Solaris, you are cleared for launch, and good luck again on your mission," Pham said over the radio.

"Roger Ark Royal, Solaris moving out," Jane said as she activated the main booster rocket.

'Why, did I join the RDF again!' The captain thought as the shuttle accelerated out of the extending arms' grip.