Mission Log 049 - Homeland Security
The 21st have at last reached New Zealand. Not knowing exactly the state of the local government, military or other infrastructure the team opts to make for Punchout's home town first. Leaving the Darwin off-shore, the group uses an old rail line to move the hovertanks and refugees. Punchout is elated to find that his family are alive and at home. They too are overjoyed that their son is alive and soon the 21st and the refugees have shelter and warm food at the Richards farm. The Richards' explain that New Zealand was spared the worst of the war, with a few Bioroid raids on the major cities representing most of the activity they saw. The local government and Civil Defense Unit are still intact, and the local Sea Squad contingent still patrols the shoreline. The government has maintained an alert status and rationing is in place but other than that things are fairly calm.
The 21st explains how they are afraid to tell any authorities about the Tirolian refugees for fear that people would want to punish them for the war, even though they are civilians. Punchout's father brings in the local preacher who believes that the Tirolians are innocent as well and would not want to see them hurt. In the end the people of the small town band together and decide to take in the refugees and help hide them. With the safety of the refugees taken care of the 21st decides its time to head to the city of Wellington and announce their presence to the local authorities.
The government is shocked by the sudden appearance of the 21st, but believes their story of what happened to them at the end of the war and how they got to New Zealand (the team omitting anything about the Tirolians). The Sea Squad retrieve the Darwin and set about properly refitting her for naval use. The 21st represents the first real news the local government has received about what has happened. They immediately set about trying to find a means to contact any other Southern Cross survivors who might be out there.
Mission Log 050 - The Global Frequency
Attempts at making radio contact with any other Southern Cross forces fails. Local scientists eventually discover that the massive space battle at the end of the war has resulted in massive atmospheric ionization which is preventing radio signals from travelling long ranges. After some research, the members of the 21st discover that there was once a signals monitoring intelligence gathering base on New Zealand but that it had been decommissioned. They are able to get one of the signal interception dishes operational and though they cannot send they can receive transmissions. They are thrilled when they pick up a transmission from space indicating that there are survivors at Moon Base ALuCE-1. They immediately set about devising a means of contacting the Moon. Two methods are developed, both involving sending high-power transmitters up to high altitude where a burst transmission can be sent that will reach the Moon. Brains initially works out a means to build small rockets to launch the transmitters, but a later more reliable method is developed using high altitude weather balloons. Soon a crude but effective two-way communications link is working between New Zealand and the Moon.
The sensor dish does not pick up any other Southern Cross transmissions, but after a few months begins to pick up faint echoes of Soviet propaganda broadcasts claiming that the Robotech Masters were defeated but the Southern Cross and UEG are no more. The broadcasts further encourage all surviving Southern Cross forces to join the EBSIS. Fearing that if the UEG has truly fallen then the Soviets will begin expanding work begins on building up defenses around New Zealand should the EBSIS attempt to invade.
Mission Log 051 - Under the Sea
New Zealand naval patrols encounter a fishing trawler from Norfolk Island, located north of New Zealand. The trawler has been attempting to contact New Zealand, which was rumored to still have a functional government and infrastructure. The fishermen tell the navy that recently bodies have been washing up on the shore of Norfolk Island. New Zealand sends investigators who discover that the bodies are of refugees who have been shot and dumped into the sea. One of the dead refugees had time to write a brief message before he died and it is found on his body. The message tells of a group of pirates promising to take refugees to safe harbor. The refugees pay everything they own and are piled onto a cargo ship. However, instead of being taken to a new home the refugees are taken out to sea, shot, and dumped overboard.
The 21st helps the military to reactivate an old air base on Norfolk Island and it becomes a forward air base for New Zealand. From there the military starts launching air patrols to try and locate the pirate vessel. It is Tank Girl and Shark who locate the vessel, but are shot down by old-style Veritech fighters painted in the colors of the Black Legionnaires mercenary company. When the pair fail to return from their air patrol, Bullseye takes the rest of the 21st out in the hovertanks to the last known position of the planes.
Meanwhile, Tank Girl and Shark have been taken aboard the pirate cargo ship. They lie about where they are from and while the Legionnaires recognize the unit insignia on their uniforms as being the 21st ATAC, the pirates believe the pair's story that they are the only survivors and that the planes they were using were salvaged from Australia. Tank Girl and Shark even manage to hint that they might be willing to join the pirates, knowing that the Black Legionnaires are always on the lookout for new skilled mecha pilots. The pair are locked in a crew cabin and promptly break out. While they are sneaking about the deck they realize they are not alone when a group of Sea Squad marines appears on board as well, together the tankers and the marines set about seizing control of the boat and its cargo hold full of refugees.
Elsewhere, the rest of the 21st have found the wreckage of the planes but also can see that Tank Girl and Shark had bailed out and someone had picked them up. They detect the pirate ship and move in, taking heavy fire from a converted RDF Raidar X that has been mounted to the fore deck of the cargo ship. Bullseye's tank is destroyed but Punchout reaches the boat and jumps aboard, transforming into Battloid mode and leveling his main cannon right at the cockpit of the Raidar X, ordering it to surrender. Meanwhile Tank Girl, Shark and the Sea Squad marines have taken the bridge and engineering sections of the ship. The Legionnaire Veritechs launch and begin firing at Punchout and at the bridge. Suddenly, out at sea beneath a floating and very surprised Bullseye, a barrage of missiles launch and take out the Veritechs. The home base of the marines is revealed as the Daedalus class submersible SLV Ulysses surfaces and soon they have total control of the pirate vessel.
The Ulysses escorts the captured pirate vessel back to New Zealand and tells its story. After taking damage at the end of the war, the Ulysses reached India Quadrant, which had fallen into chaos. The ship was able to evacuate many surviving Southern Cross forces and was able to limp to deep sea base Oceanus, which had escaped attack during the war but was now cut off. The Ulysses stayed at Oceanus undergoing repairs and had just got underway again and was exploring the region when they got word of the pirates and went looking for them. Now the Ulysses wants to establish communications between New Zealand and Oceanus, them being the two surviving UEG centers in the area.
Crews from both Oceanus and New Zealand start making scavenging runs into Australia, which has also fallen into complete anarchy. The crews' main goal is to retrieve the communications cabling used to create the underground communications network used during the war so they can use it to lay an undersea communications cable from Oceanus to New Zealand. The 21st accompanies some of the salvage runs and uses one of the times to make a quick run to the ruins of Dundee Base where they lay a small monument to their fallen comrades.
Once the communications link between the base is online the Ulysses attacks the pirate base on Tasmania, driving away the pirates and establishing a forward observation base there. This helps secure the seaway between New Zealand and Oceanus so that cargo can move between the two using the Legionnaires' cargo ship captured earlier. During this period the 21st enjoys a nice Christmas at the Richards' family farm. Punchout has been spending a great deal of time visiting his family, and visiting the muse Celesta, who has been taken in by Geoff's family. During the holidays Geoff and Celesta finally admit their feelings for each other.
Once the links between New Zealand and Oceanus are secure, and the regional government operational, the captain of the Ulysses announces that he plans on taking his ship out on a long term mission to determine the fate of the other major Southern Cross and UEG centers after the war. After some consideration the 21st A.T.A.C. decides to accompany them. The squadron has one less member though, as Lost Boy has decided he has had enough of combat and wants to concentrate on being a doctor. He will stay behind in New Zealand and gives his hovertank to Bullseye, whose tank had been destroyed. The new military leader in New Zealand makes the changes to the squadron formal and promotes Bullseye to 2nd Lieutenant and gives him command of the 21st. Bullseye makes Shark his Sergeant and Punchout a Corporal. He also requests that the rest of the squadron all be made Private First Class so they outrank most of the crewmen on the Ulysses.
Next: World Tour