by the fans for the fans

The REF Fleet, like a massive school of deadly fish, maintained its Lagrangian orbit between Fantoma and Tirol. Heavily armed dreadnaughts, the more than two hundred and fifty combat capital starships included Izumo-class Command Battleships, Tokugawa-class Battleships, Jutland-class Battle Carriers, Churchill-class Fleet Carriers, Tristar-class Heavy Cruisers, Aegis-class Escort Carriers, Ardennes-class Battlecruisers, Nelson-class Destroyers and Swordfish-class Guided Missile Frigates. The Space Defense Fortresses One (Phoenix), Two (Odyssey), Three (Pioneer), Four (Liberator) and Five (Avenger) formed the core around which the armada itself rallied. Trailing behind, the Automated Robotech Repair Factory, Space Station Equality, remained the seat of power for the Colonial Plenipotentiary Council and the logistical heart of the Expedition in the Valivarre star system. In Geosynchronous orbit around Tirol, a second, far larger, military presence was seen in the form of Normandy-class Divisional Landing Ships, Gallipoli-class Brigade Combat Team Landing Ships, Garfish-class High Speed Troop Carriers, Cheyenne-class Multipurpose Transports and Horizon-class Dive Transatmospheric Troop Shuttles. Nearby orbited another fleet composed of the Zentraedi Sian Dereta-class Command Fortress Valivarre, commanded by Lord Breetai Tul and its attendant escort of Seron Thoun-class Battleships, Rineunadou Lojmeuean-class Cruisers, Tou Salaam-class Destroyers and Tou Redir-class Frigates which had formed Operation Trojan Horse initially utilized by the REF to approach the heavily defended Fantoma system.

Nearly four months had passed since the Expedition's arrival. Now, in the aftermath of combat operations, the dead and wounded were being tallied. The initial pitched space battle against a small ship flotilla supporting several hundred of the Regent's Grapplers, Stormtroopers and Executioner Command Units had resulted in the loss of four Earth warships: one Ardennes-class Battlecruiser, one Nelson-class Destroyers, two Swordfish-class Guided Missile Frigates and over two hundred dead. The second battle, pitting the entirety of the REF's Fleet against the single retrofitted and partly refueled Tirolian Nupars-Zytche City Fortress, two Starfish-type Space Stations and twelve Paguroidea-type Cruisers had resulted in the loss of some twenty additional warships including a Jutland-class Battle Carrier, two Tristar-class Heavy Cruiser as well as numerous Ardennes-class Battlecruisers and Nelson-class Destroyers. The dead stood at over three thousand from the one battle alone. In addition there was the unprecedented loss of all reserves of the precious Monopole Fuel Ore for spacefolding stored in numerous surface depots onboard Space Station Equality occurred when the Invid threw a swarm of mecha in a wedge that drove through the heart of the REF fleet.

The planet Tirol had to be pacified. An entrenched Invid presence numbering into the tens of thousands, many of them escaping from the losses in orbit, dug in and held the planet hostage. It was only a garbled plea for aid from the surface that had prevented the REF from turning to their Neutron-S Missiles in an effort to cut their losses and salvage what they could from the situation. Some twenty Divisions, fifteen of them provided by the former United Earth Government, three from the former Anti-Unification League and two from the Zentraedi Allied Command Group, landed en masse across the planet and began digging out the Invid. I Corps had the job of liberating Tiresia and its surrounding environs near the planet’s equator. II Corps spread out and engaged the Invid throughout the Southern Hemisphere, while the III & IV Corps divided the Northern Hemisphere between them. Finally the V Corps, composed of Russian AUF & Scandinavian UEF troops, had the completely unenviable job of slogging through the harsh and unforgiving Arctic Circle. Losses had been nearly four thousand dead and ten thousand wounded in total among the five Corps. Thankfully, most of the wounded would be able to be rehabilitated through cloning or cybernetics and return to active duty. Those few unlucky souls who could not would be given the choice of Demobilization or to enter Cryo-Suspension in hopes of one day being able to overcome the malady that prevented them from accepting normal medical treatment. Those that accepted the latter would join the more than two million Earthlings who had been captured by the Robotech Masters during the 2nd Robotech War and processed into BioHuman Androids.

The Expedition found itself in both a frenzy of activity and the relaxed atmosphere after a long time of work, depending upon where one looked. Pegasus-class Assault Shuttles roamed across the night sky, their ion engines flaring as they moved from one sector to another, patrolling and listening lest Invid reinforcements arrive from deep space. Elements and whole squadrons of conventional space-fighters and reconfigurable Veritechs flitted about the various starships of the Fleet, providing Combat Aerospace Patrol. Planetside, squads of Salamander and Unicorn Destroids inspected the ruined, lonely and mostly deserted Tirolian streets, backed up by Army and GMP Cyclone, Typhoon and Hurricane Anti-Armor platoons. Mixed formations of Spartan and Myrmidon Veritech Hovertanks raced across the lonely terrain between cities, ready to turn tail and bring their awesome destructive power to bear at a moment’s notice. Base perimeters were the domain of the Zentraedi Lotzor Tactical Battlepods and towering Mk I-series Destroids, whose modular weapons packages could include heavy particle beam cannons, 30mm chain-guns, double-barreled AAA railguns or 250mm medium range missiles to defend their comrades.

Elsewhere soldiers, airmen, marines, spacers and military police alike were sitting down to chow in temperature controlled mess halls. Those unfortunate enough to be on guard duty sneaked a cigarette or gossiped quietly with one another. Patients in medical wards pushed themselves almost to the brink of exhaustion in hopes of getting through with physical therapy to prove their replacement limbs were fully functional. Bunks were slept in, usually by a single person, though couples were not uncommon. Correspondences with loved ones back in the Colonies were logged. The every day hum of a military force encamped in foreign territory went on.

Unnoticed in all this a small Zentraedi personnel shuttle approached the mammoth Repair Factory, Space Station Equality. At the controls in the pilot’s seat sat Lieutenant Commander Miriya Parino Sterling, second-in-command of the famous Skull Squadron and former Quadrono, Ace-among-Aces of the Zentraedi Air Forces. Her co-pilot, 16 year-old Air Force Flight Lieutenant Jack Baker of Wolf Squadron, showed his consummate skill in handling the alien shuttle. Seated in the passenger compartment just aft of the flight deck was 15-year old Army Field Lieutenant Karen Penn, daughter of the Robotech Research Group’s Harry Penn, and commanding officer of the newly formed Veritech Hovertank Squadron Grey Ghosts, part of the infamous 15th Armoured Cavalry Regiment that had once been the pride and joy of Eli Anatole Westphal Leonard’s Southern Cross Group. Across from her sat the kindly, bearded Tirolian scientist Cabell and his boyishly handsome student Rem, clone of the original Robotech Master Zor. The final passenger aboard the shuttle was the former Argentinian Air Force Major Derrick Benson, now aide-de-camp of Air Force General Thomas Riley Edwards. Breaching SSE’s mag-con field, Lt. Commander Sterling settled the shuttle onto the landing dock as requested by Air Traffic Control.

Disembarking first, Benson nodded his head in respect to Miriya Sterling. Unlike many of his fellow countrymen, he wasn’t predisposed to the Zentraedi in one way or another. He didn’t withhold his respect from the former Quadrono, though it had most certainly been the guns of her fellow Quadrono’s that had ended the lives of Roy Fokker and Jack Kramer, the CO and XO of Skull Squadron during most of the 1st Robotech War. Benson had grown up idolizing the two aces and had requested his current position since both had flown under TR Edward’s command during the First Anti-Unification War. Benson himself had become a fighter pilot, dreaming of one day surpassing the famed Fokker. He had come very close during the dark days of the 2nd Anti-Unification War, flying against the hottest pilots the UEF had in the skies over Kiev. Later, his former enemies were his allies as he flew to defend his young wife and two daughters from the ravages of The Robotech Masters during the 2nd Robotech War. His family, marooned on Earth by thoughtless AUL bureaucrats, were on his mind as he hoped to one day be reunited with them. In the briefcase he was carrying were plans to present to the Colonial Plenipotentiary Council drawn up by General Edwards, co-signed by Field Marshall Gunther Reinhardt, Grand Admiral Lisa Hunter, General Richard Hunter, Marshall of the Anti-Unification Forces Viktor Kolesnikov and Zentraedi Supreme Commander Breetai Tul, to take the war to the Invid in this sector of space in an effort to deprive those occupying Earth of reinforcement or logistical support.

Following Benson out was Cabell, who had come to the space station at the request of Miriya Sterling. Waiting for him at the foot of the debarkation ramp was the Tirolian Science Master Acquel, saved from certain death by an angry lynch mob when the 15th ACR Sqn, Hell’s Horsemen commanded by Brigade Captain Dana Sterling, had arrived. Cabell was the Ambassador to the Expedition on behalf of Tirol and had been instrumental in freeing his adopted homeworld from the Invid. Though none now knew it except for the absent Robotech Elders, Cabell was in fact a member of The Disciples of Zor, whose homeworld was far off in the Andromeda Galaxy, presently being fought over by more than four factions of the various interstellar races that had once been either party to or enslaved by Zor’s ancient Robotech Republic. He had no intention of sharing this information with his new allies, least of all the intelligent and ambitious heads of The Robotech Research Group, Dr.’s. Emil Lang and Lazlo Zand, who might very well cook up some plot to travel across the void between galaxies to entangle Earth in the policies of the DoZ.

Coming closely behind Cabell, the young Rem aided his mentor and cloner in negotiating the steps downward. Though certainly not a doddering old fool, Cabell was nonetheless sometimes accident prone as Rem had discovered during their more than year and a half long period of hiding in the catacombs beneath Tiresia’s ancient Royal Hall from the rapacious troops of the Invid Regent. They had been discovered and were only minutes from being captured and killed when they were rescued by the most unlikely of pairs: Jack Baker and Karen Penn. It had only been recently that Rem had been informed that his clone twin, Zor Prime, had been killed on Earth during the 2nd Robotech War. Though he did not remember it, there was a third clone, Zorama, sister to Zor Prime and Rem, who traveled with The Robotech Elders in their quest to end the millenia long wars with the Disciples of Zor. The three were the last to be resurrected from the remains of the original Zor.

Karen Penn, following the two Tirolians, had her mind on her Squadron. She had been placed in temporary command a little over two weeks ago when Field Commander Tracy Laredo had been killed when his Spartan’s holographic armoured driver’s station took a direct hit from an Invid Stormtrooper’s heavy particle beam. Now on leave for R&R, she came to the Factory to speak with her father about fast-tracking the improved Heads-Up Display and Fire Control software pioneered by former Hovertanker, and now Dr. of Robotech Engineering, Louis Nichols. Though competitive with the lovesick Jack Baker, Karen never-the-less had a soft spot for the somewhat driven fighter pilot.

For his part, Jack Baker had merely volunteered to fly second seat for Miriya Sterling when asked. He needed the stick time to keep up his qualifications on shuttlecraft. He had thought maybe to spend some time with Karen, but could see she was in no mood to be messed with. He himself knew the burden of burying comrades as he had witnessed Wolf Squadron lose 70% of its pilots in the pitched battles over Tiresia, including his wingman Flight Lt. Vo Nguyen. Though he didn’t know it yet, he had the respect of his squadron commander Group Lieutenant Melissa Yates as well as the other surviving pilots. Stepping off the debarkation ramp, he moved to the side and stretched to get the kinks out. Karen waved him over to where she was talking with one of her father’s assistants. Their close companions in the Academy, Air Force Flight Lieutenant Scott Bernard, Air Force Flight Lieutenant Daryl Taylor, Space Force 3rd Lieutenant Abraham ‘Fish’ Fishlowitz and Army Field Officer Donald Bradley were all still on various assignments and would not be able to make the Christmas get-together as they had originally planned. ‘The needs of the service’ outweighed all other concerns. Unknown at that time, none of the six friends would ever get together again as one group. ‘Fish’ would be killed on the bridge of the Missile Destroyer Atlanta in ten months during an operation in the Monna Sector with Battlegroup Europa. Bradley, having earned his Airborne and Recon tabs, would die in a year’s time in a firefight on the planet Threxus while trying to save his men who were pinned down under murderous enemy fire in house-to-house urban combat as part of Task Force Vanguard.

Last out, as she had been first in, Miriya Sterling strode purposefully towards the three Tirolian scientists. In her right hand she clutched a silver holo-locket given to her by a somber Master Sergeant Angelo Dante just a few days before. She nodded to Benson as he departed and returned the salute proffered by Lt. Baker. She smiled to herself to think of the hotshot pilot and his mooning over the beautiful Karen Penn, not for the first time thinking about her own love affair with her husband, the Ace REF pilot Commander Maximillian Sterling. Penn clearly shared the same feelings for Baker, though she also obviously kept them hidden lest anyone see through her tough facade.

Acquel, seeing Miriya’s approach, said ‘Its time, Commander. All has been made ready as requested. You will have a few minutes. She is in the med-bay on level 3.’

‘Thank you, Acquel.’

Turning towards the elevators, the four of them boarded a lift and headed up to level 3. Jack, having said what it was he wanted to Karen, left to find the mess hall and relax. Karen followed the assistant towards the labs being overseen by her father. Lastly, Benson boarded an elevator for Level 12 to present General Edward’s plan to the Council.

Arriving at the med-bay, Miriya walked over to talk to her friend, Dr. Jean Grant. A study in contrasts, the beautiful, youthful and small boned Grant was a confirmed pacifist committed to healing the world whereas statuesque Miriya, herself an exotic beauty among both Earthlings and Zentraedi, was a clone warrior bred for combat through more than a thousand generations. Grant had the skin tone of dark honey, a luxuriant mane of slightly curly lustrous raven black hair shorn about her shoulders that would have made even the most beautiful model envious and deep blue eyes that were almost violet in their intensity. Parino was pale skinned with the deep indigo Zentraedi genetic tattooing in whorls, swirls and other patterns across her cheekbones, forehead and much of her body. Straight, nearly waist length, lambent hair the color of jet as Miriya had turned more than a few heads.

‘Miriya! Good, you’re here. We took her out of cryo and I’ve set her up in Private Room 4. She’s still unconscious and we don’t want to revive her before the surgery. Go ahead and go see her,’ said Grant. Gently, she squeezed the warrior woman’s shoulder when she saw the stricken look briefly pass across her features. Miriya, returned the gesture by clasping Jean’s hand and nodding.

Entering the room, all that could be heard was the gentle thrum and beep of equipment designed to keep her eldest daughter, Army of the Southern Cross Brigade Major Dana Parino Sterling, in suspended animation. That had been necessary after Dana had been captured on Earth by rogue forces under the command of Robotech Master Dalmeric Khane, who, unknown to any now but the Robotech Elders and Cabell, was not Tirolian but a Disciple of Zor who had ‘gone native’ after being captured by the Masters several centuries ago. The various cybernetics, Bioroid control diodes and positronic brainwave cyberware had been cruelly implanted and used to control Dana in an effort to destroy those forces arrayed against Khane. Though she had been rescued by her comrades, they could not bring her out of her catatonic state. It had been at the urging of the Tirolian Musica, once a member of the Clone Master caste, that Dana and the others like her be placed in cryo to save their lives.

Various tubes and electrode patches covering her body, Dana lay upon a hospital bed. Coming to her daughter’s side, Miriya leaned down and kissed Dana on the forehead, her body convulsing as the first spasms of grief overtook her. Tears streamed from her eyes and dropped upon the coverlet beneath Dana’s head. A medically induced coma is what it was called, but living death was likely closer to the truth.

‘Oh my God, my poor baby! You’re so cold.’

Straightening up, Miriya gently ran her fingers through Dana’s golden hair. The last time she had spoken with her had been via hyper-light comm vid, merely a week after her daughter’s graduation from the United Earth Forces Military Academy. Dana’s hair then had been worn in a short and simple pageboy. Now, after more than a year and a half in cryogenic suspension and three years in total since she had spoken to her daughter, it had grown to fall lightly upon her shoulders. Naturally pale due to her Zentraedi DNA, Dana’s skin looked to be almost bleach white. The intricate tattoos covering her body, another gift of her Zentraedi genes, had dulled to a pale blue where they were once a vibrant indigo.

Seating herself in a chair next to the hospital bed, Miriya clasped Dana’s right hand while turning her attention to the silver holo-locket. She had read the engraving on the back more times than she could remember in the last few days, but she did so again. In simple letters, it said ‘Ben’. She had resisted playing the message until now, an act of supreme self-will. Steeling herself, she activated the mechanism. The locket split open and from the red gemstone in the center a holographic likeness some 10-inches tall formed. It was a young man in the close-fitting dark blue and white uniform of the United Earth Air/Space Force. The message, still as yet unplayed, showed the man whom Miriya would never meet, his close cropped jet black hair and strikingly handsome face favoring her instead of his father. The elaborate genetic tattoos showing his Zentraedi heritage were flame red. Seventeen year old Flight Lieutenant Benjamin Parino Sterling stared back at her, now missing in action and presumed dead on Earth for more than a year and a half.

‘Mom, Dad, I want to tell you both how much I love you. I also want to apologize for not having been in touch, but comm traffic now is reserved for emergency military use only. When I was still at the Academy I rarely had time to send a vid since we were on an accelerated schedule and I had to do my pilot training. Then the war started and comm was completely blocked on our end. I want you to know that I graduated with honors, fifth in my class, same as Dana. I’ve been assigned to the 506th Veritech Squadron, Tigersharks and will be based out of Kramer Field in New Denver. I’m going to be flying a VF-4C Viper, which is what I’ve wanted.’

‘I promise that I will try and get through to you once the emergency is over. As you know, I entrusted this locket to Dana’s friend, Sergeant Dante. She and I parted on bad terms several months ago and I said some things I regret. The docs tell me that putting her in cryo is the best possible chance for her to be cured. If you see her before I do, tell her I love her and want to take back the hurtful things I said.’

‘These lockets can’t hold messages that are too long, so I need to hurry up and close. Again, I want to tell you how much I love you. Give my love to Aurora and Maia and tell them that I’m looking forward to finally meeting them when this is all over.’

The image froze and then the holo-locket shut down and closed. Miriya took several quick gulping breaths as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. One child was possibly lost to her forever and another was currently beyond her ability to help. In all her years, from her first steps beyond the cloning chamber to where she proved her mettle in battle, Miriya Parino Sterling never felt despair until now.

Standing back up, Miriya leaned over Dana and again kissed her forehead.

‘I love you, Dana.’

Stepping back outside the room, Miriya sagged against the bulkhead. Her black hair obscured her face, hiding her tears from her friends. Though they would understand, some part of Miriya’s pride still shown through making her want to turn her face away. Sympathy and love was something Miriya desperately craved but was unwilling at the moment to give in to those feelings.

Cabell cleared his throat and softly spoke to Miriya ‘The procedure should have no chance of failure. You know yourself that our bio-technology is more than capable. She should be in no trouble at all.’

‘How long?,’ Miriya managed to croak.

Jean Grant said, ‘Optimally, fifteen hours. The nanites have to be flushed from her system first and the positronic threads removed from her brain. Then it’s a matter of de-linking the various control diodes. I’ve spoken with Dr. Zand and he agrees that the endo-skeletal modifications should not be removed as they will stand her in good if she returns to active combat status.’

‘Will there be any long term affects?,’ asked Miriya.

Cabell answered, ‘Thankfully for Dana, her memory was not erased by Khane. It has merely been suppressed by the cyberware. However, I must caution you that its likely she will not regain her long term memory for some weeks after this procedure. She will, naturally, function normally with regards to certain skills. Those will mostly relate to combat, especially where Muscle Memory plays a part. She will also quickly regain any such training knowledge of how to operate the Spartan and Myrmidon hovertanks and so on and so forth. She will not, on the other hand, remember you, Max nor any of her close friends at first. That should one day re-manifest itself. She will remember her first name, but unlikely to know her last name or any association with it until the breakthrough. You must be patient. I cannot emphasize that enough.’

‘She must be careful in the future if we ever engage The Robotech Elders in combat. They could easily regain control of her. As it is, she will be able to intuitively operate any Bioroid mecha including the Neue Gister’Dohl Commander and T’Sien Redohl Bioroid Veritech even without the aid of the positronic brainwave cybernetics. That alone will make her a high priority target as well as whatever knowledge she carries about our forces.

Acquel turned to Miriya and said, ‘Do not worry Commander. Dana is strong and she will come through this, I promise. That is why we are starting with her, because her half-Zentraedi DNA gives her immune system a much greater ability to overcome what we’re going to have to do. What we learn from her procedure will allow us to begin treating the others who are in a similar predicament.’

‘Doctor Gilles Vaudell will be performing most of the procedure. He is one of the best nano-medicine doctors we have and will be assisted by a Mk II-Med Cyborg in addition to myself. Cabell and Acquel will be nearby if necessary. Trust us, Miriya.’

Major Benson stepped off the elevator and briskly made his way towards the council chambers where the various representatives of the Earth and her colonies sat assembled. Entering, he noted that only the ten person Supreme Council was in attendance at the moment. The other members, some fifty total, would likely be called in later. Stepping forward, the Sergeant of the Guard motioned him to the center of the ring around which the council sat.

Clearing his throat, Benson began, ‘Members of the Colonial Plenipotentiary Council, I am appearing before you today at the behest of General Edwards. In my possession at the moment is a plan authored by the General and co-signed by the heads of Expeditionary Command. It is General Edwards’ wish that you read this plan carefully and weigh it and its implications before summoning the rest of the Council to vote upon it.’

Justine Huxley, former UEG Superior Court Judge, now representing the New Earth colony of Tau Ceti and Head of the Council, broke the silence after Benson stopped speaking. ‘Major, we have read the preliminary report and would like to ask you a number of questions. Are you well versed enough on the mission parameters to be capable of speaking on behalf of General Edwards?’

‘I believe so, madam. General Edwards called upon my expertise a number of times when he drafted the plan. I also presented this to Field Marshall Reinhardt, Grand Admiral Hunter, General Hunter, Marshall Kolesnikov and Lord Breetai for their approval.’

Niles Obstat, formerly of UEG Intelligence and once Mayor of Monument City, now representing Mars Colony, lead off with the first question. ‘About splitting the fleet, why should we not mass the fleet and simply go after each stronghold? Multiple task forces and battle groups seems like it would leave our ships open to being taken piecemeal.’

‘I believe sir, that with the intelligence uncovered during the fight for Tirol, we now know that the Invid Regent’s forces are stretched considerably thin. All of the systems he conquered within a one hundred light year radius from Tirol were done so with, at most, two Starfish-type Space Stations per system. Since our initial battle in this system months ago showed that the Invid’s forces in this sector are outnumbered, we need not do that to take each system. Dividing our forces is logical since we can more rapidly envelope the Regent’s troops. There is also the fact that if we mass our fleet, it will drain considerably more Monopole Fuel Ore for space folding. As our supplies are dangerously low as it is, its rather foolish to take so many ships.’

‘Furthermore, as our forces are still in the process of recovering from the losses incurred during our war with The Robotech Masters, we should be very careful how many of our combat capital starships are assigned away from the job of protecting our Robotech Repair Factories. Most of the requirements for engaging the various Invid orbital bases should be able to be accomplished with but one full Attack Squadron for each task force if the standard breakdown is followed. That is: one Tokugawa-class Battleship, one Jutland-class Battlecarrier, two Churchill-class Fleet Carriers, two Tristar-class Heavy Cruisers, four Aegis-class Escort Carriers, four Ardennes-class Battlecruisers, eight Nelson-class Destroyers and eight Swordfish-class Guided Missile Frigates. They would each be backed up by a Zentraedi Assault Squadron: one Seron Thoun-class Battleship, two Rineunadou Lojmeuean-class Cruisers, four Tou Salaam-class Destroyers and eight Tou Redir-class Frigates. If Task Force Sentinel and Task Force Vanguard were each formed around this nucleus, that would leave more than enough ships to guard Tirol, Space Station Equality and leave us a ready reserve force in case needed. Grand Admiral Hunter herself made these recommendations as well as stating that the SDF-03 Pioneer would lead Task Force Sentinel and the SDF-05 Avenger would lead Task Force Vanguard.’

‘The same basic breakdown would be necessary Battlegroups Isis, Ares, Europa, Titan and Nereid, though Grand Admiral Hunter proposed adding one Izumo-class Command Battleship, two Battlecruisers and four Destroyers to each Attack Squadron. The SDF-01 Phoenix would lead Battlegroup Ares. The SDF-02 Odyssey would lead Battlegroup Europa and the SDF-04 Liberator would lead Battlegroup Titan. The SDF-06 Conqueror and SDF-07 Challenger, which are set to undergo shakedown cruises soon, will lead Battlegroup Isis and Nereid respectively. She also recommends that only two Battlegroups be deployed away from Tirol at any one time.’

‘Finally, Lord Breetai would retain his command of the Valivarre and her immediate escort flotilla which would be in charge of mining Fantoma for whatever veins of monopole ore are left to extract. Once exhausted, and the Tirolian Scientist Cabell assures me it won’t be too long, Lord Breetai’s command will fold to find the next most available supply for mining. Lord Breetai assured both General Edwards and Hunter that his forces would be capable of responding to any aid request if called upon.’

‘Just as an aside I would point out that in our initial battle with the Invid, it was the fact that our forces were surprised as they fanned out around Fantoma that lead to the loss of most of the ships in the Recon Two Fast Squadron. Unlike that incident, there are standing orders for Reconnaissance in Force to be employed at all times. No picket line will extend further than three hundred thousand kilometers from the outer perimeter of the main body when part of the fleet is assembled.’

‘In addition to combat capital starships, both Task Forces are supposed to be formed around a Southern Cross-style Combined Arms Field Army of ten divisions each. That requires a planetary assault force of at least ten Normandy-class Divisional Dropships, twenty Gallipoli-class Brigade Dropships, forty Garfish-class High Speed Troop Carriers and at least one hundred Cheyenne Medium Transports and Horizon-class Troop Shuttles for each Task Force. Field Marshal Reinhardt feels that with this level of forces each planet can be rather speedily liberated while leaving more than enough reserve forces here to deal with any eventuality.

Phillipe Longchamps, formerly a UEG Senator of New Denver, now representing the Gaia colony of Delta Pavonis, began not a moment after Benson. ‘Major, with the forces we have here why is it necessary to expend them fighting the Invid in this quadrant of the galaxy instead of taking the war back the Earth and liberating it? Since the Robotech Elders are gone our diplomatic mission is over and we should not be sidetracked. What possible rationale could there for undertaking this sort of risk?’

‘That is a perfectly legitimate question Senator and I can state plainly, with conviction, that this is the best course of action we can undertake to liberate the Earth. Although it appears to be roundabout at best, there are actually several good reasons for this strategem. As I stated earlier, this will deny the Invid Regess on Earth any form of logistical or manpower support from the Regent’s forces. Furthermore, both Cabell and the Science Master Acquel have assured Expeditionary Command that all the settled worlds within one hundred light years of Tirol were colonized either by the ancient Zentraedi in the time of Zor or The Robotech Masters later. We will find humans on these planets and several, such as Praxis, could well prove to be a manpower source to call upon when we move to liberate Earth.

The rest of the council sat silent. After a few moments Justine Huxley cleared her throat and asked no one in particular ‘I take it that is all the questions the Supreme Council wishes to ask of Major Benson?’

No one spoke while Benson stared straight ahead. After a few more moments, he started again.

‘Then I take it this plan will be presented to the full Council for consideration?’

‘It will, Major. You are dismissed,’ said Huxley.

When Benson had been escorted from the chambers, Longchamps burst out ‘This is insanity! We don’t need to be gallivanting around this sector, dividing our forces. We’ve gotten more than enough grief here as it is. We should go back to Earth and use our forces to remove the Invid Regess now, not at some ill-defined later.’

Niles Obstat nodded, ‘I agree. We should not be involving ourselves in the policies of the Tirolian Imperium and the Invid Regent, however noble or wise it may seem. The Regess is our problem and we need to deal with her troops.’

Justine Huxley turned and regarded the one member of the Supreme Council she had expected to object the most vehemently to Edwards’ plan, former Prime Minister of the UEG Wyatt ‘Patty’ Moran, who still represented the Earth on the Council. ‘Wyatt, you haven’t said a word and that’s not like you.’

Moran turned to Huxley and sadly inclined his head ‘Do you really think my stating the obvious is necessary. This entire expedition was a fool’s errand to begin with. You should not have listened to Lang, Zand, Reinhardt, Kholesnikov and Edwards about coming to this quadrant but should have focused on liberating the Earth as the Hunters, Lord Breetai and myself advised. Even if we leave tomorrow, it will still take a year’s worth of space-fold jumps across the galaxy to get home.’

‘Well,’ stated Huxley ‘we still need to vote on this measure. Given the gravity of this decision a secret ballot is necessary.’

After a few moments the measure was carried, six-to-four in favour. The likelihood of the Council itself not voting along the lines of the Supreme Council was minimal at best. The remaining vote was a mere formality and already Expeditionary Command was being instructed to begin the process of organizing Task Force Sentinel & Vanguard.

Task Force Sentinel
Military Personnel as follows:
Hunter, Lisa - Grand Admiral (O-11) United Earth Air/Space Force
Hunter, Richard - General (O-10) United Earth Air/Space Force
Fredricks, Alan - Provost Colonel (O-7) Global & Military Police
Grant, Vincent - Gunnery Colonel (O-6) United Earth Space Marines
Grant, Jeanne - Lieutenant Commander (O-4) United Earth Air/Space Force: Medical Corps
Sterling, Maximilian - Commander (O-5) United Earth Air/Space Force: Skull Squadron
Sterling, Miriya - Lieutenant Commander (O-4) United Earth Air/Space Force: Skull Squadron
Crystal, Marie - Group Lieutenant (O-3) United Earth Air/Space Force: Black Lion Squadron
Baker, Jack - Flight Lieutenant (O-1) United Earth Air/Space Force: Wolf Squadron
Penn, Karen - Field Lieutenant (O-1) United Earth Army of the Southern Cross: Grey Ghosts
Valdez, Henry - Flight Lieutenant (O-1) United Earth Air/Space Force: Skull Squadron
Valdez, Eliana - Flight Lieutenant (O-1) United Earth Air/Space Force: Skull Squadron
Dante, Angelo - Master Sergeant (E-7) United Earth Army of the Southern Cross: Hell’s Horsemen

Additional Personnel as follows:
Cabell - Tirolian Scientist
Rem - Tirolian Scientist
Janice Em - Robotech Research Group


Task Force Vanguard
Military Personnel as follows:
Edwards, Thomas Riley - General (O-10) United Earth Air/Space Force
Renquist, Theodore - Brigadier General (O-9) Air Force of The Merchant Republic of Argentina
Adams, David - Brigadier Colonel (O-5) United Earth Army of the Southern Cross: 1st Airborne Corps
Benson, Derrick - Major (O-4) Air Force of The Merchant Republic of Argentina: Ghost Squadron
Valerio, Enrique - Patrol Captain (O-3) Global & Military Police
Powers, Amy - Field Commander (O-2) United Earth Army of the Southern Cross: Royal Blackwatch (Destroid’s)
Bradley, Donald - Field Lieutenant (O-1) United Earth Army of the Southern Cross: 1st Airborne Corps
Riber, Kyle - Chief Warrant Officer (W-5) United Earth Army of the Southern Cross: Medical Corps
Vada Prime - Centurion (E-9): Tirolian Allied Forces: Bioroid Corps
Konda-88275 - Platoon Leader (E-5): Zentraedi Allied Forces: Signals Corps
Bron-2599 - Platoon Leader (E-5) Zentraedi Allied Forces: Signals Corps

Additional Personnel as follows:
Acquel - Tirolian Scientist
Allegra - Tirolian Clone Master/Muse Caste
Dr. Oliver Chang Yi - Proteus Group