Episode 9: Shock Wave

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In the last episode of Robotech II: Sentinels, Guardians of Earth, The
Tirolian resistance is getting more and more organized. However,
Cabell has other worries that need his attention. Rem is getting his
visions more frequent and the old man thinks its only a matter of time
before Rem learns the truth about himself.

The Robotech Expeditionary Force is nearing it's defold position.
Enjoying the last days of rest, Mary Wood has paid a visit to the
Three Stars. Encouraged by her two friends Patricia Anderson and
Francis LaRue, she has overcome her nerves and has spent a pleasant
evening with Mike Fields. The young man that will become a very
special person in Mary's life.

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The streets were dark, lit only by the lampposts. A young man and a
young woman wander these streets. A few hours ago, both had not
imagined that they would walk to their homes together. Mary Wood, the
22 year old Commander and First Officer and Mike Fields, the 23 year
old Sergeant and Alpha pilot. Once they only knew each others faces
from the screen, and both fell in love with those images. Now, their
hands were holding each other. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow only
via the screen?" Mike thought about the following day. The day of the
defold. "Yes, I think we will." Mary said, wondering what would happen
after they entered the Valivarre System. Both stared at the tiles in
the sidewalk while they walked. "What time does your shift begin?"
Mike looked at Mary. "I have to report in at 8 O'clock." Mary sighed.
"Hmm, you need to get some sleep then, tomorrow is an important day.
You better not fall asleep behind your console." Mike tried to cheer
Mary up. Which it appeared to do. "Yeah, well, I spent one morning at
the bridge almost half asleep. I can tell you, that's not particularly
pleasing." Her way of talking reminded him of Admiral Hayes, whose
speeches he had heared on the Factory and the SDF-3. "Just curious.
Admiral Hayes and you, you two have some resemblance..." Mike
wondered. "That's because she's my aunt. My mother is her elder
sister. I'll tell you about her a bit. My Grandpa from her side was
all military. My mother just wasn't like that at all. She took more to
Grandma. She left home when she was 18. Lisa, Admiral Hayes, was 12
then. She doesn't talk about her much. Sometimes, when we are alone
together, she thinks about my mam." Mary reminisced of the past. "And
where's your mother now?" Mike asked. "When I was very young, about
three years old, my parents died in a car accident." Mary said, her
voice shaking a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry. Where did you grow up then?" Mike
wanted to know as much of Mary as he could. "At that time, Lisa
already had entered the Military. I was just a kid then, and Lisa
couldn't take care of me, though she wanted to. But her life was
already so filled up with the Service. Raising a child, she didn't
have the time to do that too." Mary looked into the sky, the
artificial stars flickered. "So, I spent the next 14 years with foster
parents. That's why my last name is Wood, and not Hayes. Or Alexander,
like it was until my parents died." Mike blinked his eyes. "When I was
17, I wanted to see Lisa, my only link with Mam, again. She had become
one of the leaders of the Robotech Defence Force by that time, so I
thought I'd never see her ever again. I sent her a letter and would
you beleive she responded and got me a seat on a shuttle to the
Factory Satelite?" Mary smiled. "Wow." Mike was perplexed. Mary
continued. "I never forget that trip ever again. My first contact with
space. I could see the Factory getting nearer. We landed in a bay.
When I got out of the Shuttle, and down the steps, aunt Lisa came to
me straightaway and embraced me. She even cried. I remember her words
exactly:'Oh, Mary, I've missed you so. I was so shocked when Casandra
died. If only I had had the time to take care of you, I would have,
beleive me I would.' And that's when I decided to enter the Service
myself. That's five years ago." Mike was intrigued. He had never
thought of Admiral Hayes like a human being. "Wow, Admiral Hayes, I
never imagined her like that." "Whatever you may think, aunt Lisa is a
very nice and very warm person. But she's just very disciplined when
it comes to protocol and such. Hey, I'll introduce you to her!" Mary
said it with joy. "Er, isn't that rushing things a little? I mean, she
is the closest you have to a mother, so..." Mike got a little nervous
now. "Hmm, maybe you're right." She whispered to him. They looked deep
into each others eyes. Hearts pounding, they got closer. Mary opened
her lips and they kissed. A long, passionate kiss. The power of love
flowed through their two bodies. "Hmm, I think I could fall for you
permanently." Mary spoke softly. Holding each other in their arms,
heads against each other, they stood there, relishing the moment, the
feelings. Mike let out a deep breath of air when he looked at his
watch. "Mary, I uhm I have to go. It's getting late, you know." Mary
just nodded, kept her eyes fixed on his. She had her arms around his
shoulders. "Oh Mike, it's been such a wonderfull evening. I love you."
Her eyes sparkled. She ran her fingers through his dark hair. "Hey,
girl, you go and get to bed now. Don't want to upset the Admiral."
Mike joked. Mary laughed. "Oh no, we can't do that, can we?" She took
her key, opened the lock, then turned to Mike. "Will you be carefull
tomorrow?" All of a sudden she sounded very serious. "I promise I
will." Mike pledged. He gave her a kiss on her cheeck, then said
goodbye. From the corner, he waved. Mary waved back, and then he went
out of her view. "Hmm, he's so sweet." She thought.

"Aaahhah!" Rem sat straight up in his bed. His whole body convulsed.
He swallowed several times, breathing heavily. Cabell rushed to him.
"Having a nightmare again?" he said. Rem, getting some control over
his body. "Much worse. These aren't just nightmares. They scare me to
death." Cabell's mind ran in circles. He couldn't tell Rem the truth,
not yet. The young man hadn't matured enough yet. To be faced with his
true origin now would be disastrous. But to see his apprentice in this
state of mind was equally painfull to him. It became clear to Cabell
that the presence of the Invid started to bring back memories in Rem's
mind, memories that once belonged to someone else, someone very
special, very inteligent. Someone named... ZOR. Zor, who had
discovered the power of ProtoCulture, had created Robotechnology, had
stolen the Flower of Life from the Invid, and paid for this with his
life. Zor, who held the key to the future of the universe. A key, now
hidden in the mind of this scared young man.

Slowly, Pioneer City awoke. Today would be a day to remember for
centuries to come. In a couple of hours, the Robotech Expeditionary
Force would end it's jump through hyperspace. Sussanna Hill worked her
controls and dispatched several messages. Patricia monitored all
communications, while Francis checked the proceedings of several
deck-crews. Julie had her computer station working. Rick was talking
to Francis. The bridge door slid open and Mary entered the bridge. She
had a very confident look on her face. Patricia winked to Francis. At
her console, Mary stretched herself. "Hmmmm." she murmurred. "What's
with her?" Julie wondered, surprised by Mary's self reliance. Mary
began to run over her controls, punching up data, and meanwhile hummed
a song. From the back of the bridge, two faces stared at Mary. "Wow,
she must have had a very nice evening." Francis spoke out loud. "You
can say that again. I haven't seen her like this in a long while."
Patricia remarked. "Ladies, we have our job to do, so, keep your
concentration on your work." Rick went over to Mary. "Well, Commander,
seems you are having a good time, right?" "Oh, Sir, yes, Sir." Mary
fumbled with her hair. "Carry on, then." "Will do, General." Francis
turned her seat to Julie. "Looks like you need to find someone else to
sit upon, hmmm?" Julie responded. "Oh yeah? Well, let me tell you,
LaRue, this hasn't ended yet." Francis shrugged, and shook her head,
then went back to work her console. "What's the use, anyway?" Julie
thought.

Behind Fantoma, out of view of the Tirolian Monitoring System, space
exploded, forming a great ball of light. From this ball of light, a
shape emerged, the shape got sharper and formed a space-ship. Again, a
blast took place, then another one, and another. Soon, the far side of
Fantoma was lit up by the defold of thousands of vessels. The Robotech
Expeditionary Force had reached it's destination! "Get me a status
report from all groupcommanders as soon as possible!" Lisa Hayes
ordered. Outside, the defold reaction still spread as the final
hundreds of vessels exited hyperspace. "Any damages?" Mary checked the
status of the SDF-3 to give an answer to Rick's request. "All systems
are functioning properly. No damages reported from any section." She
replied. "Good." "General Hunter, Dr. Lang has requested your presence
at a meeting in the conference room." Sussanna notified. "I'll be
there. Signal Colonel Reinhardt to take bridgecommand."

"Now that we have arrived at our destination, we must make clear how
to proceed. All craft, except the SDF-3, shall remain at the present
position, relative to Fantoma. This way, the fleet will not be
detected by Tirolian Monitors. However, should the need arise, all
must be ready to assist the SDF-3 the instant such a request is given.
Using the code from General Breetai, we will start sending a message
to the people of Tirol, informing them of our presence. It is our
greatest concern not to let this situation escalate." Lang paused a
moment. "All personel must be prepared. Ambassador Exedore will
accompany us to Tirol. That is all." Lang stepped down. He felt exited
like he had when he first entered the crashed alien starship in 1999.
Today, his knowledge of Robotechnology would be pitted against that of
the Robotech Masters. How much he could learn of them. Lang looked
forward to exchanging ideas.

Exedore took the floor. "Once the SDF-3 enters space around Tirol, it
will be detected by the Monitoring Stations. Given our outward
appearance, they will grant us a free entrance to any of the orbiting
space stations. Once this is granted, we must take care not to provoke
any unneccesary responces. It will come as quite a shock to the
personell, that we are not Zentraedi, but Micronian. It is therefore
imperative, to act as carefull as is possible." "And what if they
don't think we're Zentraedi right from the first sight?" Colonel Wolff
got up from his chair. "The possibility is not so unlikely." He added
as Rick intervened. "That, we will see when we reach Tirol. For now,
that's our primary task." In his mind, the possible detection at an
early stage troubled him.

Back on the bridge, Rick ordered the SDF-3 to leave it's position and
head for Tirol. "Lieutenant Hill, put all personnel on a yellow alert
status. Have all Veritechs and Alphas standing by. We're moving out!"
The engines came to life, and the great ship moved away from the
fleet. On board the Tirpitz, Colonel Edwards oversaw the departure of
the SDF-3. "Well, General Hunter, here's to you." He raised a glass of
wine. "And may you have a safe voyage." He emptied the glass in one
sip. "After all, I would be very upset if anything serious would
happen to you, anything serious not caused by me that is." His
laughter filled his quarters.

The alerted pilots were rushed to their bases. The Veritechs, Alphas
and Betas prepared so they could be launched almost immediately, the
baydoors opened, and the surface of Fantoma slid past. In their jeep,
Jack Baker and Mike Fields raced to the base. "So, Mike old buddy,
what happened? Anything interesting? Hmm, tell Jack all about it." He
shifted to fourth gear. "Yeah, well,.... Look out!" Jack quickly and
swiftly evaded the truck. The driver stuck his head out. "You moron,
look where you're going! Idiot!" Jack waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah, and
say hello to your mother!" Mike opened his eyes. "So, you were
saying?" "We have spent a nice evening together, that's all. Nothing
special." Mike looked at the streetsigns. Jack watched Mike from the
rearview mirror. "Oh, sure. 'Nothing special'. Mikey, we know each
other much too well. I know that look. You are one happy man, so don't
tell me it was 'nothing special'." "Okay, we kissed. So...?" Mike
confessed. "Yay, man. Kissing the Commander. Whew, how are you going
to keep your head together in the Alpha...?" Jack let his jeep roar
over the streets. "What's that? Jack, what do you mean?" Mike braced
himself in his seat. "What I mean is, Mary is our Bridge officer.
Everything from the bridge goes through her. So, every time, her face
pops up on your screen. Now, if you go all mushy over her, how are you
going to keep your concentration?" "Hah, and you and Karen? You're a
pilot, she's a pilot, 'Ooh, honey, look out, enemy on your tail.'"
Mike faced Jack. "That's not funny, Mike." "But isn't that what can
happen? To both of us?" He sighed. "Ooh, why her? And why not some
girl you see in the city, selling cookies or something. No, the
Commander of all people." Mike put his hands behind his head. "Break
up with her then, if it's such a problem." Jack suggested. "I love
her." Mike said, eyes closed. "And she loves me. I can't let her
down." "Ain't it the truth, buddy." The jeep screeched to a stop.
"Oomph." Mike almost slammed his head against the windshield.

The big gas giant Fantoma. And in orbit around it Tirol. The SDF-3 was
close to clearing Fantoma, and that meant the vessel could be
detected. "General Hunter, I've activated the longe range radar."
Julie informed Rick. "Get Exedore to the bridge. And tell Dr. Lang I
want to see him as well." Sussana sent the message to the two in
question. Rick looked worried. "General, is something wrong? You
aren't looking too confident. Do you expect any problems?" Rick
frowned even more after Mary's remark. "No, Commander Wood, I don't
expect any problems. I don't know what to expect. That's why I want
Exedore and Dr. Lang here." Mary faced her console again. "I'm sorry."
She whispered.

"You wanted to see me, General?" Exedore approached Rick. "That's
right. We're about to clear Fantoma. Now, what actions do I take that
aren't going to cause any suspicion with the Masters?" "We should
continue our course, untill we receive a message from Tirol,
requesting our identity. Then, we follow their directions." Exedore
put it simply. "General, ah, ambassador." Lang entered the bridge.
"And then what?" Rick asked Exedore. "At some point we will have to
unveill our real identity. If we can get into contact with some
Tirolians on a space-station, that would make it all a lot easier." He
opted. "Yes, it would. If we can contact some lower placed Tirolian
people, we can convince them of our intentions, and through them,
start talks with the Masters themselves." Lang hypothesized. "General
Hunter, you requested to be informed when we have cleared Fantoma."
Mary said. "Well, gentlemen, I think the time of theory is behind us."
The scientist Lang walked to a windows to take a look at Tirol.

All of a sudden, Julie's voice sounded. "General, I have detected
several craft coming our way! There's dozens of them!" She sounded
terrified. "Exedore, what is this?" Rick hurried to Julie's station.
"I don't know, General. This is very unexpected." The Zentraedi
responded. "They're still closing in on us, Sir." Julie followed the
blips. "Can you get any identification?" Rick asked "They don't match
any of the craft in the computer." Julie turned back to the
radar-screen. "This is impossible, we've installed a complete database
of all Tirolian craft." Exedore was stun. Rick observed the craft on
the monitor. "Lang, you got any ideas?" He bit his lip. "I...I don't
know."

"Craft are within visual range." Exedore ran to the viewscreen. "This
cannot be....!!" He exclaimed. "What?!" Rick got very worried now.
"What is not possible? Exedore!" "The... The Invid, the Invid are
here..." Exedore stammered. "They...are...here?" He was sweating. "You
must turn the ship arround." He got himself together again. But it was
too late. The Invid troopcarriers had neared the SDF-3 close enough.
The upper deck opened and hundreds of Invid scouts poured out. "Sound
the alarm!" Rick yelled. "Get the Fighters out. This is a combat
alert." All through the SDF-3, the alarm sounded. Patricia's voice
could be heard everywhere in the ship. "This vessel is under attack.
Please go to the nearest shelter." On the streets of Pioneer City,
people looked up, surprised, shocked, then scattered all over the
place. All searching for a shelter. In the fighterbays, the crews
worked like a horse to get the planes launched. Then the attack began.

The Invid came in waves. In a matter of seconds, they were all over
the SDF-3. Hundres of red coloured craft skimmed over the SDF-3.
Recovering from the initial shock, gun-batteries opened fire on the
attacking craft. "Signal the fleet. We need help." It became painfully
clear to Rick that in this situation, without help, the SDF-3 wouldn't
last long. Reports of damages came in, cassualties were reported at
just about every section. Sussanna quickly contacted the fleet,
informing the commanders of the desperate situation the SDF-3 was in.
"How are the fighters doing?" Rick's heart pounded. This was not what
he had expected, not at all. "The first groups are ready for launch."
Mary notified the General. From both sides of the SDF-3, Veritechs,
Alphas and Betas were launched. Space was swarming with Invid Scouts.
Rick sat in his seat. He bit the nail of his thumb. His eyes flashed
from left to right, as he watched the Scouts coming at the SDF-3. He
hit the arm of his chair. "Dammit!" he said it without thinking. Mary
turned and they looked at each other. Both understood the situation
they were in. Getting out of his chair, Rick ordered the Fighters to
be launched. He put a hand under his chin and kept silent. A small
drop of sweat ran down his face. "All this preparation, for nothing."
He could not beleive the crisis they had run into.

"This is squadronleader Sterling. All craft, break formation. Engage
the enemy!" Max changed his fighter to Battloid mode. All around him,
craft exploded. For every destroyed Scout, it seemed that five
appeared to fill it's spot. "We're outnumbered here. Bridge, we need
help." Max took a shot at a Scout, it evaded the burst, then opened
fire on him. "Aah." Max moved away from the incoming lasers. It had
been a long time ago that he actually fought a real enemy. Slowly, his
reflexes returned. His wife, Miriya, knew the Invid. Being a
Zentraedi, she had fought against these creatures many times. She gave
evidence of this, by destroying one Invid after the other. Her
Zentraedi background gave her the skills she needed, the nerves to
face even the greatest odds, to be prepared to sacrifice her life in
order to save her ship. Making split-second decisions, she engaged the
Invid fighters without regard of her own safety. "You insignificant
creatures, prepare to face Miriya Paarino!" She shouted. In the heat
of battle, her Zentraedi origin prevailed. She was a warrior. Bred for
conquest. Loyal to... Miriya hesitated. "Max!", the thought shot
through her mind. "Max, where are you?" she yelled. "Miriya, I'm all
right." Max replied. "Is something wrong?" "No, it's nothing." An
incoming Invid distracted her from further conversation. The red
Battloid raised it's gun, let out a short burst of cannon-fire, and
the Scout vanished into a red and yellow cloud, bits and pieces flew
in all directions. "There's heavy traffic here." Max's voice sounded
over the intercom. "Watch your rear, and keep each other covered!" The
Veritechs twisted and turned to out-manoeuvre the Invid.

In his Alpha, Mike worked the controls to evade the fire of a group of
Invids coming his way. "Gamma one, this is Gamma four, I need some
assistance here!" To his left, an Alpha got hit, then blew up. "My
God!", Mike thought. "This is Gamma one!" Jack's face appeared on the
little screen. "Team up, and engage the enemy." The remaining four
Alphas of Gamma group got into formation, then confronted several
Invid. Concentrating their fire, Gamma group knocked out the Invid.
"Man, what do we have to do to stop these things?" Jack spotted
another group of red craft pouring out of the carrier. "Mike, John,
Charlie, you all okay?" The three acknowledged they were. Then they
engaged the throttle again, and sped towards the attackers.

"Sir, we're in trouble. The fleet has acknowledged the message. But
they can't be here sooner then in half an hour." Sussanna sounded
nervous. "Sergeant Michaels, what is the position of the first craft
we detected?" Rick said with determination. Julie checked their
position. "They're holding position. I can give you the coordinates."
"Good." Rick got an idea. "Give those coordinates to Commander Wood.
We're firing the Main Gun!" The two women looked at each other. The
glances they exchanged said more then words. Fear, anxiety, hatred,
but foremost, uncertainty. "Yes, Sir." Julie sent the coordinates to
Mary's console. "All fighters, clear the area. Repeat, all fighters
clear the area." Mary notified the pilots. Her hands trembled. "Mike,
are you all right?" She thought, then checked the coordinates she
received. "I have the coordinates. Reset Main Gun to 20 up, relative
O-8." She shivered as the vessel banked. "Targetzone pinpointed!" All
present at the bridge were looking at Mary. Her hand trembled as it
was ready to unleash the energy of the Main Gun. "All fighters have
cleared the area." "Fire!!" Rick yelled. Mary slammed the fire-button.
Outside, the front of the SDF-3 split, then moved sideways. Energy
started to flash between the booms, forming a vast field of power. The
powerlevels rose, then the blast was unleashed forth from the craft.
The beam raced towards the Invid carriers, vaporizing Scouts that got
cought in it. The small carriers didn't stand a chance. They got
pulverized by the immense power of the Main Gun. One carrier cracked
open, another burst into a ball of fire, others were there, and then
no more. Within seconds, the blips started to disappear from Julie's
radarscreen. Julie's eyes were fixed at the screen. Those Invid that
survived, only a handfull, were engaged by the fighters from the SDF-3
and quickly taken out. "Recall all fighters." Rick sat in his seat.
"We're returning to the fleet. We need to rethink our strategy." Rick
put a hand under his head and went over what had happened. This was
not what any of them had anticipated. The shock Exedore had, when he
saw the Invid on the screen, convinced Rick that they were facing a
totally different situation. And an enemy that even scared the
Zentraedi.

The crews in the bays were taking in the fighters. Some were severely
damaged, and ready to be scrapped. But quite a number hadn't even made
it back. On the bridge, the casualty reports came in. "Sir, I have the
casualty report here, shall I put it through to you?" Francis said.
"Yes." Rick said it, not showing his emotions. Young men had died. Men
that he commanded. "Mike's not on the list, Mary." The First officer
heard Francis over the headphone. "Thank you." A small tear formed,
and for a moment, Mary closed her eyes. The SDF-3 left the planet
behind. At full speed, the damaged vessel flew towards the fleet. The
Invid had won the first battle. They had repelled the unsuspecting
crew of the SDF-3. A crew, shocked by the unexpected battle that had
raged around them. The next days, a lot had to be considered. Would
the mission continue, now that it was clear the Masters had left
Tirol? Exedore, the Zentraedi scientist, as wel as Dr. Lang had to
come up with a new strategy. Neither of them knew that far away,
others had observed the battle as well. And they too were plotting a
new strategy. For the arrival of the Robotech Expeditionary Force,
gave them a glimpse of hope. Hope to claim the Tirolian Empire, and
rid the Universe of the influence of the Robotech Masters, as well as
the Invid, a race of aliens that now held Tirol in their grasp.

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Next on Robotech II: Sentinels, Guardians of Earth. Shocked by the
events around Tirol, the REF has retreated to the far side of Fantoma.
On Tirol, the Regent has become aware of the appearance of the fleet.
He plots to engage the invading forces. However, the forces of the
Invid can not form a strong enough fist to confront the fleet.

Deep beneath the surface, Cabell has monitored the battle as well. His
idea is to get a message through to the Zentraedi. Unknown to him, the
ship he saw is not of Zentraedi origin.

Tragedy strikes at the Robotech Expeditionary Force as the Invid
ambush a shuttle on it's way to the Ark Royal.

Be watching for Defiance, the next dramatic chapter in the continuing
saga of Robotech II: Sentinels, Guardians of Earth.