216 Macross 

—Greece, Aegean Sea, Rhodes Island.

There are two places in the world named Rhodes Island.

One is Rhode Island, located in the northeastern United States near New York.

The other is Rhodes Island in the eastern Aegean Sea, covering an area of over 1,300 square kilometers—the second-largest island in the Aegean.

When establishing "Rhodes Island Industries," Kagura made it clear that the name referred to the Aegean Rhodes Island, not the American Rhode Island, which she considered a cheap imitation.

After acquiring sufficient financial resources, she gradually purchased most of the island's infrastructure.

Eventually, in exchange for highly cost-effective military procurement services, she negotiated with the Greek government to place the entire island under the jurisdiction and autonomy of Rhodes Island Industries.

There was a reason for this decision.

If a project—or rather, a weapon—was meant to serve as the last bastion of planetary defense, or, in the worst-case scenario, as humanity's ark, its existence must remain hidden.

It couldn't be allowed to fall into the hands of organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. or the U.S. military.

Just as NERV remained a highly classified entity researching autonomous AI robots, the true headquarters of Rhodes Island Industries, the culmination of Kagura's years of effort was concealed within Rhodes Island in the Aegean Sea.

Originally a renowned tourist destination, Rhodes Island began shutting down its tourism industry in 2009.

Fences sprang up in various areas, and local residents were gradually relocated, some intentionally, some coincidentally.

At some point, the city of Rhodes came under the full control of Rhodes Island Industries.

Tourism plummeted, while industrial and scientific research boomed. Engineers and workers labored day and night on unknown projects.

Once she secured full control of the island, Kagura relocated her most ambitious project here. In this seemingly unremarkable yet picturesque island, massive machines were quietly constructed—destined to strike a lethal blow to those self-righteous adversaries while guiding human civilization toward the stars.

It's widely acknowledged that infrastructure obsession is a valuable talent...

After two years of relentless "clang-clang" construction, Rhodes Island had transformed beyond recognition.

The once tourism-centric island now bore no resemblance to its former self.

Starting from the economic hub of Rhodes City, an extensive underground drainage network was expanded and modified, reaching every corner of the island.

This network laid the foundation for an enormous subterranean complex.

Burying important assets underground is always a wise decision.

This underground infrastructure included research centers, laboratories, industrial hubs, raw material processing facilities, and armed security institutions.

At the heart of it all was a superstructure.

Kagura gave this ambitious engineering project a name as grand as its scale: Macross.

By 2011, while the island's surface appeared unchanged, the land beneath had been thoroughly hollowed out.

The original bedrock and continental shelf had been replaced with composite materials and metal structures.

Serving as the central hub for all underground facilities, a colossal "dry dock"—approximately 60 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide—was completed by the end of 2011.

Following this, the plan to construct a planetary-class deep-space defense fortress was naturally put into motion.

Two more years passed, bringing the timeline to 2014.

The population of Rhodes Island grew, while tourism continued to dwindle until it disappeared entirely.

Once reliant on tourism, the island had now become Greece's most advanced technological and industrial hub, supplying cutting-edge products across Europe.

Clothing, home appliances, electronics, automobiles, industrial components, raw materials—

Of course, these were merely the byproducts of the Macross project.

The construction of the big guns proceeded methodically. Meanwhile, Kagura's Phase Four Global Defense System—codenamed Operation Anti-Purple Titan—finally began taking shape.

Everyone has their hobbies.

Tony Stark's passion is building Iron Man suits. Kagura's passion? Crafting bizarre high-tech marvels and designing outrageous weaponry.

———————————————————————

Aegean Sea – 1,600 meters beneath Rhodes Island – Macross Core Command Center: "Queen"

Yes, the "Queen" Command Center wasn't merely an intelligence collection and processing hub.

It was the bridge of the first-ever planetary-class deep-space defense fortress under the Macross project.

Did you think Hydra was the only faction constructing space warships?

This one's even bigger!

However, Kagura faced a significant problem.

The unnamed first ship of the planetary-class deep-space defense fortress...

Wasn't finished yet.

"Main engine ignition confirmed." Following Kagura's command, Cortana activated the warship's main engine.

"Communication system failure. Defense systems unresponsive. Propulsion and attitude stabilization malfunction. Weapon systems online."

"Life support overloaded due to unknown causes. Twenty-seven minor fires detected in the dry dock."

"Tsk..."

Kagura clicked her tongue. "This unreliable?!"

"Master, this warship isn't even complete yet. The fact that it hasn't exploded upon ignition is already a miracle."

"Ugh..."

The girl frowned. "Well, it's an emergency!"

Hydra had brought out their sword-shaped space battleship, built using the Chitauri mothership as a foundation.

Alexander Pierce, the mastermind behind this crisis was aboard.

Meanwhile, Earth's Halo orbital defense station was proving ineffective against it.

The Avengers? Their current forces on Earth weren't strong enough to reach that far into space.

Captain Marvel—the ultimate warship killer? Missing. Thor? Probably busy flirting with Loki in Asgard.

Among the remaining Avengers, Scarlet Witch and Vision hadn't even debuted yet.

To make matters worse, Hydra had learned from the Chitauri's defeat. Their battleship remained outside the maximum range of Stark Tower's microwave emitter.

Which meant that the only hope of stopping Hydra from taking over the world... was this unfinished space battleship in Kagura's hands.

"Stay calm, Cortana. Listen to me."

Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself. "Yes, the ship isn't complete, but we don't need it to fly right now. This warship was designed for battles spanning hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Its main cannon is fully capable of hitting Hydra's ship!"

"You mean... firing the main cannon master?"

Cortana hesitated. "Master, according to initial calculations, firing the main cannon now could severely damage the dry dock, with a 62% chance of Rhodes Island's destruction... and only a 5% chance of coming out unscathed."

"Aha, but there's still 5%! Like drawing an SR from a single pull!"

Kagura grinned. "Relax! Sometimes, taking risks is necessary. Besides, I can increase that probability—I'm not reckless enough to die here."

Switching "Queen" to full ship-control mode, she remained calm, showing neither nervousness nor excitement.

This wasn't like the Extremis crisis, which had clear personal rewards.

But protecting this world—the one where she could live peacefully—was her responsibility.

She had no intention of becoming Nick Fury's pawn, nor did she wish to play saint or god.

She had zero interest in ruling the world or political power struggles.

She just wanted to play her games without some idiot pointing a gun at her from orbit.

Freedom is the right to choose how one lives.

And as a part of this world, she would fight to defend that right.