"Jack McKinney - Robotech 02 - Battle cry" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKinney Jack)

Zachary Fox, Jr., VT: the Men and the Mecha



Gloval met frequently with Dr. Lang during the development phase of what was being called the
pinpoint barrier system. The lambent energy that once filled the spacefold generators' chamber had
been harnessed and redirected. Such was the nature of this antielectron energy, however, that a
photon shield for the entire fortress would have further destabilized an already weakened gravity
control system. The best that Lang and his Robotechnicians had been able to come up with was a
cluster of movable barriers capable of deflecting incoming bolts. An area aft of the ship's bridge
had been retrofitted with three manually operated universal gyros, each tied to one of the
cluster's photon discs.

With the barrier system now operational, Captain Gloval was confident that his
"Blitzkrieg" attack plan would prove viable. The strategy was simple enough: When the SDF-1 was in
close proximity to Saturn's rings, electronic countermeasures would be activated to jam the
enemy's radar scanners. The fortress would hide within the rings to take full advantage of their
intrinsic radio "noise," while at the same time, squadrons of Veritech fighters would be deployed
in a simulated attack mission to act as decoys. When the enemy moved in to engage the VTs, the SDF-
1's main gun would take them out. Orbital dynamics would make the timing critical: If the fortress


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reentered orbit too early, it would be catapulted back toward the outer planets; too late, and the
launch window to Mars and the inner planets would be closed.

The VT fighter pilots would receive most of this information at the scheduled briefing,
and it was to this briefing that Rick and Roy were headed after they left the restaurant.

Roy had been doing his best to cheer up the newly graduated cadet. Rick was one of five
cadets chosen; it was really an honor, an endorsement of his flying skills. He would be able to
move out of the dormitory barracks into his own room. There would be more free time, special
privileges.

They were walking along the tall chain-link fence that surrounded the barracks compound
now. Fifty-foot-tall Battloid sentries patrolled the perimeter, their gatlings shouldered like
proper soldiers. Defense Force personnel were moving quickly in response to new orders which had
been delivered to each unit.

But Rick's morale was low; his hands were in his pockets, and his shoulders drooped. Roy,
however, succeeded in bringing him around with a sharp, "Ten-shun!"

Rick responded expertly to his conditioning: His head came up, he squared his shoulders,
brought his back straight, hand at his forehead. His eyes searched for a superior's uniform, but
the only people in his field of vision were four young women in civilian dress. The oldest among
them, not more than twenty-three or twenty-four herself, was the one who returned his salute. She
had thick brown hair coiled at her shoulders, small, attractive features, and an athletic body