by the fans for the fans

(This is a short fic I wrote up on a lark recently for my Alternate Robotech rpg universe. The idea is that the ship that was salvaged to create the SDF-01 and SDF-02 was not discovered until a Zentraedi Seran Thoun-class Strike Cruiser attached to Breetai's fleet defolded in the solar system in 2039. The EVE Artificial Intelligence was based on the Moon in a ruined base that was part of a secret colony established by Zor to where he sent the repository of his knowledge (the Reflex Factory and its Energy Matrix) and was later incorporated into Moon Base Luna.

The Zentraedi are all human-sized and their mecha are generally the same size as those of the Invid and Robotech Masters. The Lotzor Battlepod, the basic mecha unit, is only a little over 4m tall. The Zentraedi begin life with only a serial number, but can win a Warrior Name (first name) and Blood Name (surname). If they win their Warrior Name, it incorporates part of their Serial Number. Only when they win a Blood Name do they no longer have a Serial Number except in their files. Zentraedi with a Warrior Name only represent 10% of all clone forces. Those with a Blood Name, represent only 1% of all clone forces.

I recently fixed on the idea that the United Earth Forces of the 1st Robotech War do not represent a truly united force. Instead of basing them on the UN model, I chose something more akin to NATO and the Multi-National Forces moniker. Its only after the loss of the nation-state concept (with few exceptions) that the UEF and UEG represent a more united front.

The Corsair-class Corvette is based on the Corsair from Robotech 3000. The Triumph-class Cruiser is based on the Jupiter Base warship of the Mospeada preproduction M2-07 sketch from the Imai Files. The Churchill-class Carrier is based on the EFS Mountabaten preproduction sketch from Robotech 3000. The in-universe design answers are the Churchill became the design basis of most of the Mospeada ships while the Triumph became the design basis for the various Southern Cross ships.)

This document was prepared for and presented to the provisional Planetary Congress on November 3rd, 2051 at Moon Base Luna by Grand Admiral Henrik Glovalski. It is classified Top Secret.

It has been two months now since the Zentraedi Grand Fleet’s attack on the Earth (hereafter referred to as The Rain of Death) and the earliest damage assessment has finally been compiled. As of November 1st, 2051, winter conditions consistent with the theory of ice age climate shift is now almost eight weeks old across the vast majority of the planet. The planet remains shrouded in thick cloud cover that has obscured most direct observational data accumulation. No corner of the world escaped unscathed from the either the initial bombardment, invasion or after effects of detonations of numerous low-megaton yield reflex weapons. The report has concluded the following:

1.) At least one-third of all human and animal life has perished. Approximately two and a half billion human beings are believed to have died. Ninety-five percent the planet’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas have been completely destroyed.

2.) Over ninety percent of the Earth’s manufacturing and logistical infrastructure has been destroyed.

3.) Not a single nation-state that was once part of the United Earth Government now exists as the command and control elements of all Earth nations were among the first elements targeted by the Zentraedi bombardment.

4.) The United Earth Multi-National Forces have suffered an estimated loss of eighty-percent of all manpower, mecha, vehicles and other assets. There is only one reported force of the UEMNF planet-side of Field Army strength at the moment, located at Fort Esperanza in the Cordillera Occidental Andes mountain range in South America. All other such units are either off-line, destroyed or scattered.

5.) Of the estimated eight-hundred thousand Zentraedi warships that Ba’Dolza Kridanig assigned to target the Earth, at least fifty-thousand survived enough to re-enter the atmosphere and crash land mostly intact. Of the approximately twelve thousand ‘Crab Pot’ Dropships that were tracked reentering the atmosphere, less than ten percent have been accounted for as being destroyed at present. It is believed that more than twenty-five million demobilized hostile Zentraedi have invaded the Earth.

6.) Zentraedi Command Warlord Breetai Tul’s Imperial-class Fleet of one million warships has been reduced to a strength less than the one thousand Aldo-class Fleet initially encountered by the SDF-01 Phoenix in the Tau Ceti star system. Of the more than two thousand captured ships of the Grand Fleet, some seventy percent are so badly damaged that they will have to be scrapped.

7.) Of the more than five million Zentraedi and human warships that engaged in the battle for Earth, all but a small percentage now litter space between the Earth and Moon. A dense ring of debris now circles the Earth near the equator and numerous other points such as the Earth-Moon Lagrange Points 1 & 2.

8.) The Earth space fleet suffered losses of all one hundred and twenty Corsair-class Corvettes, all twenty Triumph-class Light Cruisers and eight Churchill-class Fleet Carriers. The SDF-01 Phoenix and SDF-02 Odyssey both suffered severe damage and will be laid up in drydock for at least three years.

9.) Zentraedi Surpeme Warlord Ba’Dolza Kridanig’s Command Base (hereafter referred to as the Automated Factory Satellite) suffered severe damage to its hull, mecha fabrication facilities and zero-gee drydocks.

10.) Moon Base Luna suffered significant damage to its surface facilities and moderate damage to its subsurface areas. The subsurface berths and drydock areas suffered severe damage from multiple low-megaton yield detonations of reflex weapons.

Given these grim facts presented in this report, it would be easy to conclude that our situation is hopeless. However, there are a number of positive factors that show that our situation, while certainly perilous, is not quite as bad as it could have been.

a.) Fort Esperanza, commanded by US Army Colonel Elijah Anatole Leonard, has managed to clear the area around the base as far as Bogotá. At latest count, Colonel Leonard commands Army and Marine forces equal to one Army Group of approximately three mixed divisions and one US Air Force Wing composed of four Veritech squadrons. Though he and his forces had to abandon their post in Antarctica, securing Fort Esparanza has created a buffer zone that has prevented demobilized Zentraedi hostiles from moving from North America into South America and back.

Zentraedi Command Warlord Breetai Tul has dispatched a mixed mechanized force totaling some one hundred mecha under the command of Lord Khyron Kravshera to Fort Esperanza. A full Quadrono squadron under the command of Group Commander Miriya Parino is among the forces.

The newly formed 10th UEMNF Special Operations Group, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Wolfe (commander of The Wolfe Pack Veritech Squadron) has been assigned to Fort Esperanza. Skull Squadron, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Rick Hunter is being dispatched next month to bring the air component up to Reinforced Wing strength.

The securing of Fort Esperanza will likely turn out to be one of the most pivotal events in retaking our planet. The base itself was not yet fully operational or even staffed when Ba’Dolza’s forces targeted the Earth. It was to be the nerve center for all South and the lower half of Central America (SASTRAC - South American Strategic Command). The on-site Reflex Furnace was brought online for the first time mere minutes after the bombardment had reduced Bogotá to rubble. The Command and Control facilities on-site makes Fort Esperanza critical to securing the Americas, the Gulf of Mexico, Carribean and South Atlantic.

b.) UEMNF South East Asia area commander, Brigadier Marshall Zhu Lwen has managed to secure the entire sub-region. Lwen commands forces equal to one infantry division and an air wing located at Fort Sun-Tzu in the former nation-state of Laos.

A mixed mechanized force totaling some two hundred and fifty mecha under the command of Force Commander Zuriel-33759 has been dispatched to help secure the former People’s Republic of China. Three full Quadrono Squadrons under the command of Group Officer Zaria-1179 is among the forces that are detailed to aid Brigadier Marshall Lwen.

Firestorm Squadron, under the command of Group Lieutenant Anthony Rochelle, has been dispatched to bolster the air capabilities of Fort Sun-Tzu.

Fort Sun-Tzu, like Fort Esperanza, was a brand new base at the time of Ba’Dolza’s attack. It had only come on-line two weeks before the attack and suffered only modest damage to its surface facilities and none to its subsurface locations. Though not built with the Command and Control capabilities of Fort Esperanza, it nevertheless is likely to be the key to securing all of eastern Asia.

c.) UEMNF Australia, based out of Sydney, has an operational strength of a single Brigade Combat Team under the command of Royal Australian Air Force Squadron Leader Rolf Emerson. The entirety of the ruins of Sydney has been secured and Emerson’s men have managed to get thousands of refugees to safety.

A mixed mechanized force totaling some one hundred mecha under the command of Lady Azonia Laplamis has been dispatched to reinforce the forces in Sydney. A Quadrono squadron under the command of Group Officer Ilan Tinari is among those forces that are detailed for Sydney.

d.) All fifteen Leviathan-class Ballistic Missile Submersible Carriers are operational and spread across the globe. Seven are on station in the Atlantic Ocean: SS Leviathan, SS Charybdis, SS Kraken, SS Jörmungandr, SS Scylla, SS Yacumama, SS Hydra. Five are on station in the Indian Ocean: SS Tiamat, SS Siren, SS Umibo-zu, SS Curruid and SS Capricorn. Three are on station in the Pacific: SS Iku-Turso, SS Aspidochelone and SS Proteus. Current operations are centering on locating submerged Zentraedi cruisers and providing air support for various humanitarian relief projects.

e.) Off-planet UEMNF forces have a strength of somewhere around fifty percent of the pre-Rain of Death total. Of the twelve Churchill-class Fleet Carriers engaged, four remain fully operational. Moon Base Luna, Mars Base Ares and the Ceres Fleet Depot remain operational. Repairs to Moon Base Luna’s subsurface areas are proceeding on schedule and the base should be back to full operational status by years end. Self-sufficiency was a goal reached some four years ago for all off-Earth facilities in the Solar System and are now capable of sending increasing amounts of materiel and foodstuffs for humanitarian aid orbital drops to numerous locations across the Earth.

f.) The Enhanced Virtual Emulation AI (hereafter referred to as EVE) is fully online and is aiding us in integrating the Zentraedi forces into our military. EVE has assumed full control of the Automated Factory Satellite’s HyperIntellect Computer (HyperComp) and assures us that the massive starbase will be repaired as quickly as possible. The mecha fabrication facilities have already resumed Lotzor Tactical Battlepod production at approximately twenty percent capacity. Earth mecha are already in the pipeline for production and facilities for such should be nearing completion by year’s end. Initial production should be approximately ten percent capacity for most of 2052.

g.) Commander Lisa Hayes has been placed in command of a re-colonization mission that will land and secure an area near Thunder Bay on Lake Superior in North America. This is being done so as to bring the Lake Superior Orbital Elevator back online. Hundreds of pre-fabricated structures are being loaded into the two Elohim-class Modular Colony Ships. The mission will launch before the start of the new year. It is hoped that the new city, called Monument, will be the capital of a new United Earth Government.

h.) Six hundred Zentraedi Cruisers, all so heavily damaged to not make full repair a wise use of resources, are being stripped of all useful materials and prepared to serve as atmospheric processing plants to terraform Venus, Mars and Europa. Venus will be expected to be terraformed in a little over a decade. Mars, on the other hand, will be terraformed in a little over twenty years. Europa will require the better part of three decades to be considered terraformed.

i.) Among the assets seized from the Zentraedi Grand Fleet are Reflex Energy Cells in excess of one trillion units, monopole fuel ore for space folding in excess of ten thousand tons, mecha, munitions and vehicles enough to keep our forces supplied for many years.

In summation, while the situation we face is certainly dire, these are not insurmountable problems. Already several additional exo-solar colonization missions are nearing their launch windows. They will join the fifteen other exo-solar colonies established before The Rain of Death. The Automated Factory Satellite has proven a boon, even in its damaged condition, and will help us recover our arsenal strength in a few years. Already, a number of prototype mecha are being fielded by forces at Force Esperanza and numerous designs that will revolutionize our defensive capabilities.

GREAT. WILL READ LATER.