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Episode 12: Worlds Apart.
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In the last episode of Robotech II: Sentinels, Guardians of Earth, Lisa and
Jack have found a network of tunnels beneath Tirol's surface. Seeking their
way out, Jack enters an opening in the wall, only to be knocked down.
Outside, Lisa stands frozen, not knowing what to do.

Rick Hunter has his plan turned down by the other officers in the chain of
command of the REF. Thinking it too risky, they rejected Rick's hope to
find Lisa.

On Tirol, the Regent becomes more and more frustrated by the actions of the
Tirolian resistance.
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They dared not look him in the eye. The enraged Regent, leader of the Invid
on Tirol, screamed acusations to just about every Invid that had evolved to
a higher stage and had a sentient of his own.

"Time and time again, my people acts against me. They disrespect any order
I give. They follow their own ideas, disregarding the negative effects they
have on the whole of our race. Larga, your groups have not been very
succesfull lately, have they? I've been told, they were beaten by small
bands of Tirolian terrorists. Hah! These puny insignificant Tirolians, do
they think they can regain their home? Never. I tell you all, and listen to
me very closely, I will die before I leave this planet."

Tesla, the only one still being trusted by the Regent, stepped forward. "My
Regent, our goal was to retrieve the Flower of Life. So far, we have not
had any results, or even an indication were to find it. We have searched
the entire planet, but there is no trace of the Flower. The Regis has..."

"The Regis? The REGIS? You dare speak about her in my presence? That idiot
of a woman has left the Flower of Life to be taken away from us. Her
weakness for Zor has been the cause of our present situation!" The Regent
clenched his fists, waving them in anger. "What has she done for our Invid
race? She has the Sensor Nebula search the universe for the Flower. So?
There are hundreds of millions of planets. Yet that stupid woman fails to
see the trail. The trail she laid out herself. Zor is the key to the
Flower. Once we know where he has hidden the Flower, we will become
invincible!"

Tesla wanted to remark that it were the forces of the Regent that had
killed Zor, but in this state of mind, it was better not to confront the
Regent with this. He kept his peace, but in his mind, Tesla boiled with
anger. Anger with the idiotic plans of the Regent, with his lust for war,
conquest, the invincible Invid Race. At the cost of the race, Tesla
thought.

"Ooouuch! What was that?" Jack rubbed his head, shook it, regained sight
and stared at what seemed to be a human. "Eh? This is a joke, right?"

"What does he say, Rem? I don't understand a thing of that babble." One
Tirolian faced the leader of this group of brave Tirolians.

"Maybe Cabell knows. Cabell, we need you here!" The young man yelled to his
teacher.

"What is this? Where did this one come from?" Cabell's surprise at seeing
what appeared to be a Tirolian was complete. "Judging by his clothing, he
is not one of us."

"Uhm, excuse me, but I need to go because there's a lady waiting to be
rescued, so if you nice people just let me get out of here, I won't tell
anyone you are down here and we all can continue our lives, okay?" The
answer was a chorus of astonishment. "Hah? So, they are impressed by what I
said, you shrimps."

"I think that it is me that seems to get them upset them." Lisa spoke, as
she entered throught he opening. Getting their minds together again, the
Tirolians took aim at Jack and Lisa. "Though they don't seem that impressed
any more." Lisa noticed.

"Hey, we crashed here. We just want to get back to our home." Jack said,
fending of one of the rifles pointed at them.

"They are not micronized Zentraedi. We understand the Zentraedi language."
Cabell pondered for a moment, putting one and one together. "They must be
from the fleet around Fantoma."

"Fantoma? Did anyone say Fantoma?" Lisa responded to the word, as it
sounded familiar. The Tirolians looked at her, puzzled, not knowing what
she was saying.

"Now what? What do we do with them? For all we know, they could be Invid."
One Tirolian remarked.

"Idiot, they're not Invid. What would an Invid do outside of his armour?
Hopeless pieces of jelly." Rem was angered, or angry. Of the Invid. For
invading his home. For the risks he had to take. "Hnnggh!"

Rem got to the floor, his eyes pressed firmly together, teeth clenched onto
each other, screaming of pain. His hands covered his head as he shouted out
of pain. The Tirolians stepped away from him.

"What the heck is going on? Admiral, we might make use of this to get out
of here." Jack's eyes searched for the hole they had gone through.

Lisa was staring at the man, crawling over the floor, in anguish. Every
attack seemed to be more violent, more painfull. After a while, Rem
recovered, the pain had stopped. As he looked at Cabell, the old man
stepped away, shocked. Rem's eyes had become completely black, no iris, no
pupil, only a watery black.

"Rem, are... are you all right?" Cabell approached him, at his guard, not
knowing wether it was Rem, or Zor he was speaking with.

Rem blinked his eyes, they sparkled in the dim light. "Yes, I'm all right."
He stroked his hair. "I'm all right, Cabell."

A breath of air went from Cabell's mouth. "He's still Rem." The old man
thought, while also thinking about how fast Rem was changing.

"Admiral, look, he's got the same eyes as Dr. Lang had. What gives?" Jack
whispered, though he could as easily speak out loud, since no one other
then Lisa understood what he said.

"Yes, I see, that means this man must also have had some contact with
ProtoCulture." Lisa hadn't said it, or all turned to their direction.

"ProtoCulture?" Rem's eerie eyes stared at them. "ProtoCulture?" Somehow,
he understood the term. "What do you know of ProtoCulture?"

"HUH? He... He speaks our language." Lisa's mouth dropped open. She
couldn't beleive her ears.

"Rem, what are you saying? How can you understand their language?" Cabell
was baffled. Rem's intelligence had made a major leap forward, lifting him
to the same level as Zor. "My boy, this is going much too fast." The
bearded man mumbled.

Rem addressed Lisa again. "What do you know of ProtoCulture? Do you have
it? Where?" Thinking for a moment. "You have the Matrix!" He exclaimed.

Jack took Lisa's arm. "Let's get out of here. I don't like this one little bit."

"No. Wait. Do not be affraid. I need to talk to you. Do you trust me?" Rem
asked, with his empty eyes, showing no emotion, just a black void.

"Do we have a choice?" Jack replied, but Lisa made him shut his mouth.

"If you can guarantee our safety." She looked at the men pointing rifles at
them.

Rem waved his hand, and all guns were lowered. "Now, do you trust me?"

"Well, again, do we have any choice? Getting back to those Invid isn't much
fun, Admiral. I guess we'd better follow him. He might get us back to the
SDF-3." Jack suggested.

"Rem, what are you doing? What have you said to those... humanoids?" Cabell
still was amazed at Rem's latest transmutation. The way Rem behaved now,
was proof for Cabell that soon, Rem would no longer be, and Zor would
return from the dead.

"These people can save us from the Invid. If I am correct, they are in
possession of the last Matrix. They have the ProtoCulture. The Masters have
taken the wrong path. So be it. May they rot in their dead motherships."
Rem answered.

"You come from the fleet behind Fantoma. Why are you here?" His straight to
the point approach appeared to be quite effective.

"Uhm, that's correct. We are here to make contact with the Robotech
Masters, to try and prevent a war between our two races." Lisa explained.

Rem laughed. "And what do you think the Masters would have done, if they
had been here when you arrived? Greet you with open arms? No, make no
mistake, they would have destroyed you the instant you made yourselves
visible. The Masters do not share knowledge, or extend arms. They take. And
give nothing in return. They perverted my creation. They perverted
Robotechnology!" His face was drawn with hatred, anger, disappointment.

"But, aren't they intelligent enough to see that that way won't bring them
any good? We understand the Zentraedi aren't willing to negotiate peace,
but the Masters..." Lisa tried to give her view.

Rem interrupted her. "And who have created the Zentraedi? The Masters have.
Hmmm. You know the Zentraedi? So, they did find my fortress. Have they
touched it, is it safe?"

"Uh, you mean the SDF-1? The ship that crashed on our planet?" Slowly, all
the pieces began to fall together for Lisa.

"Yes. Is it safe?" Rem repeated.

"The craft is destroyed. A Zentraedi has destroyed it." Lisa confessed,
feeling guilty for something she had tried to prevent for several years.

"Yes, the ship is not important. But the Matrix, is it safe?" Rem's heart
was racing in his chest. This was the moment that would reveal wether his
plan had succeeded or not.

"The Matrix? What do you mean by that?" Lisa asked.

Rem's world collapsed. The people who possessed his ship, who had the
ProtoCulture, they had no idea what the Matrix was. Rem had overestimated
the level of intelligence on the planet he had chosen to be a safe haven
for the Matrix. He had not recovered the Matrix, nor did he know if it was
safe. He only knew his fortress was destroyed, and possibly the Matrix too.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt this very informing chat, but, would you mind
telling us who you are?" Jack spoke from behind Lisa.

Rem stood straightbacked, looking at the two in front of him. "I am ZOR!"

The SDF-3 remained at it's position on the far side of Fantoma. The fleet
had held it's position there since it arrived. Repairs on the SDF-3 were
proceeding ahead of schedule.

The distinguished Dr. Lang, together with the Zentraedi Exedore and Dr.
Harry Penn, had been deliberating about what the next step of the Robotech
Expeditionary Force would be.

Exedore aired his view of the matter. "For as long as I know, the Invid
have been a race of aliens, obsessed with regaining the Flower of Life. So
far, without much result. Now, they have taken the home of the Robotech
Masters. Maybe the Masters themselves have left, but the Tirolians that
stayed behind are now living under the control of the Invid." He faced the
other two. "They are essentially the same beings as you are. I therefore
sugest we try and free the Tirolians of these Invid hordes."

"You must aggree," Lang responded, "that at first we also beleived humans
and Zentraedi were descended from the same ancestor. Later, we learned you
were genetically engineered. How can the two races of humans and Tirolians
be related, when they are divided by lightyears of space? That is very
unlikely."

"You are correct, yet the fact remains that the two races are very much
identicall in appearance. The Tirolian people are micronian as we are. But
outward appearances can be deceptive, as was the plan with the SDF-3, as
you all know." Harry Penn observed.

"The similarities between humans and the Tirolians aren't based on
deception. As said before, the chances of a similar evolution are very
small, nearly non existent." Exedore replied.

The small Zentraedi started a presentation on the viewscreen. "These are
craft used by the Invid. As you will aggree, they are not as threatening as
our BattlePods. The Invid tactics consist of outnumbering their oponents.
Firepower is not a strong point. They also do not have any capital ships.
The troopcarrier seems to be the only spaceworthy vessel in their arsenal.
A craft that is no match for even our Valkyries or Alphas."

The screen showed the development of Invid mecha. From the simple unarmed
Scout to the heavily armoured and armed Shock Trooper.

"Though we have not encoutered it, we beleive a third stage of evolution of
Invid mecha exists. Superior to the Shock Trooper."

Dr. Lang interrupted Exedore. "Don't you mean development instead of evolution?"

The Zentraedi smiled mysteriously. "Dr. Lang, Invid mecha does not develop,
it evolves. That's all the Masters told us."

"But how can this be? Surely you aren't implying that those Invid can
change shape or grow extra armour?" Dr. Penn asked.

"No, but the Masters hinted at an evolutionary process. They told us, any
new improved Invid mecha was a mutation of an older mecha, incorporating
it's experience and knowledge, as well as it's fighting skills." Exedore
explained. Behind him on the screen, a new Invid mecha appeared. For a
human, it resembled a cat-like creature.

"Ah, yes. This thing here is what we beleive to be a drone. Controlled from
a distance, incapable of independent actions. It's purpose is to survey any
new terrain before the Invid themselves enter it. They are usually released
in groups, packs of you wish. Of course, these are expendable." The screen
drew a new schematic. Now a two-legged piece of engineering appeared.
Ominous looking, with large hands, bearing long spiny fingers.

"After the survey-drone, this piece of machinery is deployed. A two-legged
drone, capable of taking out light resistance. Don't be fooled by these,
they are very hard to stop, and virtually indestructable. Unless fired upon
with a cannon." The screen went blank.

Dr. Lang folded his hands together and sighed. "This has been a very clear
presentation of what we are up against. I am not a military mind. Dr.
Penn?"

Harry Penn scratched his forehead. "I see a way to stop the Invid, but that
would call for an all out attack. Since they use great numbers in their
tactics, we need to overcome those odds by utilizing our superior weaponry.
In order to counter them, a concentrated hail of fire would be the best
option. The first strike would take out as many of the troopcarriers as
possible. Then the Valkyries and Alphas can eliminate the surviving Invid
mecha, while Super-Valkyries engage the remaining carriers."

He paused. "But the ground-assault, that is a totally different thing.
Breaking through the Invid's defences and deploying the Destroids and
Hovertanks, thus forming a beach-head, that is going to be very tricky. We
have no experience with these craft in air to ground warfare."

"I'd like to end this meeting now. Tomorrow we will meet again. I'll call
for some of the officers to join us then. Gentlemen, goodnight." Lang
walked away from the screen to the exit, followed by Exedore.

"Dr. Lang, it might be advisable to ask Lord Breetai to join us tomorrow.
His military experience is needed if we want to set up a campaign to
liberate Tirol." Exedore urged.

"Good point. I'll inform him that his presence is requested. Goodnight."
Dr. Lang took the elevator, and left Exedore behind.

A group of young humans sat in the Three Stars. Four women and two men.
They enjoyed the music. Minmei's "We Will Win" was playing. Once a warsong,
today an inspiration for the people on board the SDF-3.

Mary and Mike sat next to Sussanna and Robert. Accompanying them were
Francis and Patricia.

"What do you think we're going to do around here?" Patricia wondered. "It's
not like we're going any place any soon, so they must have some plans."

Mary put her glass on the table. "I attended a meeting and there it was
said that no rescue actions will be attempted because the present
circumstances are too dangerous. But I have no idea what's on their minds
now. General Hunter however thinks about a rescue-mission, but he hasn't
been able to convince the other officers."

"That's obvious. I mean, you can't jump into an area to rescue a person,
when you know nothing of that area. For all we know, this whole planet
could be swarming with those Invid." Robert Hill took a little snack. "I
aggree with their decision. And beleive me, I really would like to see some
action. Us Destroid jockeys have been sitting out all the action so far.
That's not really good for moral, you know."

"Oh, come on. You really want to go out and fight? Let me tell you, those
craft are fast and there's a lot of them. For every single one you take
out, three or four others appear to fill it's spot. Our team already has
lost a pilot. Now that is not good for moral."
Mike responded. Robert listened, and aggreed.

"OH, are we going to sit here and talk about fighting?" Francis complained.
"We're off duty, you know. Let's enjoy it. So, Mary, tell me, how are
things between you and Mike?"

"Huh?" Mary's face turned red. "Wha... we are fine. Uh.. Hmm. I've never
been so happy before." She carressed Mike.

Francis and Patricia giggled. "Well, you deserve it, you're a nice girl,
Mary." Patricia said.

"Yep, it's hard to imagine you're related to Admiral Hayes." Francis
blurted, and immediately closed her mouth, realising what a mistake she
made. "Oooh, I'm sorry."

Mary went silent, her hands trembled. She closed her eyes, sniffed, then
looked up. "It's all right. I can handle it. Let's put it behind us, and
talk about other things okay? Oh, and Admiral Hayes is a much nicer person
when you get to know her better." She had to defend her last relative.

"So, uh, anybody seen the new Gym?" Mike tried. "I uh, I hear it's got very
good equipment. Excellent to work out with."

Francis looked at him surprised, but continued the conversation. "Mais oui.
I've been there already. There's also some saunas. Hmmm. Maybe you and Mary
can go there..." She gave Mike a wink. Mary raised her eyebrows, as a blush
formed.

"What about that cinema? They've got the latest movies. Man, that is neat
entertainment. Just love that movie about Valkyrie Academy." Robert was all
enthused about the mecha. Though he loved the Destroid he piloted, flying
an Alpha was his dream.

"Or the new movie with Ben Hardings. Oooh, he's so cute." Francis mesmorized.

Patricia let out a sigh. "Imagine waking up next to a guy like that, wow!"
She blinked her eyes rapidly, and all others laughed.

"Anybody wanna drink?" Mike rose from his chair, ready to order.

"Red wine for me." Mary said.

"Two Margaritas for me and Francis." Patricia followed, then Sussanna and
Robert. "A beer and a Martini."

"Coming right up." Mike went to the bar.

"Here's to us!" Robert toasted. "May we have a safe and victorious mission."

"Amen to that." Mike took a drink from his glass of Vodka. Nobody noticed
the glance Patricia cast at Francis.

Tirol seemed desolate. Not a single living soul could be seen where streets
used to be. Most of the urban areas had been hit by the Invid attack. The
plains of Tirol had been left untouched by the relentless Invid strike. The
skies were patrolled by Invid Scouts, while on the ground, Shock Troopers
ruled.

A squad of Shock Troopers landed. The leader quickly surveyed the
surroundings for any activity. Dominant as they were, the continued attacks
by the Tirolian resistance was beginning to annoy the Invid quite severely.
The Regent ordered all of his forces to hunt down and eliminate any members
of the resistance.

To distinguish a Tirolian from one that was a member of the resistance was
easy. Those that were not captured or killed, were a threat.

Advancing through the streets, past the ruins of a once proud civilization,
the Invids scanned the area carefully.

"Right, they haven't detected us. Get the launchers ready. Jakila, you and
your group, get over to that building and go to the second floor. Aim for
the sensors, that's their weak spot." Huko gave the order, and Jakila
signalled his men to follow him.

Quickly, they crossed the street and hurried to the indicated positions.
Huko peered out of the windows, just as an Invid turned the corner. "Good,
right on time."

With a low voice, Huko informed Jakila over the communicator of the Shock
Trooper.

"Yeah, I saw it, but those others? If I take this one out, they know where
we are. Then what?" Jakila said.

The sound of the Invid nearing got louder. Each tremor of the impact from
it's feet heavier. Then it stopped.

"Huko, it's not moving anymore." Jakila leaned over to spot the Invid on
the street. In the distance, he could see the ominous shape. The claws, the
cannons, the body of the craft. Seemingly frozen.

"What's going on?" Huko wondered. The Invid stood close to the room he and
his group were hiding in. No sound. Then the silent thunder of other feet
tramping. "They're coming!" Huko thought. "Jakila, get your men ready,
they're coming." His voice trembled with excitement.

Behind the purple colored Shock Trooper, three others appeared. For a
moment there was no movement, then the group advanced down the street.

His eye focussed as Huko aimed. The crosshairs drifted in front of the
Invid's sensor. "I just hope Jakila fires at the same moment." Picking up
the communicator. "Jakila, at the count of three."

"One, two, three!"

Out of the ruins, a barrage of six rockets hailed down on the Invids.
Raising their claws in defence and scattering over the place, the invid
were cornered. The ruins alongside the street blocked swift evasive moves.

The lead Invid was struck in his sensor. The body exploded, and the giant
fell. Behind him, another Invid was hit, tearing of part of the
body-armour, igniting an internal explosion. Smoke poured out of the hole,
then it crashed into a building.

The last two Invid, halting at the explosions to their front and sides,
charged their cannons and strafed the buildings.

"Get down!" Huko screamed, as he saw the discs heading their way. Above,
explosions ripped the walls apart.

"Now!" Jakila yelled. Another pushed a button, and underneath a building, a
charge blew up.

On the street, the Invids that were left looked at the ruin as it slowly
began to give way, then ravaged down on them, crushing them under the
weight. Huge dustclouds obscured the scene.

A pile of rubble now blocked the street. The claw of one of the Invid stuck
out of it. It didn't move anymore. Smoke curled from the Invid hanging in a
ruin.

Two eyes looked at the street, then more eyes watched the scene. "Huko, are
you all right?" Jakila said into the communicator.

Only static could be heard. Cracking static.

"Huko?" Still crackling. "HUKO?!"

"Scrcchch...What?" Followed by several coughs. "We're all right." More
coughs, sounds of men patting their clothes. Some throats being cleared
were audible.

"Don't do that again." Jakila said, letting out a breath of air. Once more
they had beaten the Invid.

The young man ran his hand over his chin. "You have come here to start
talks with the Masters. But you found the Invid here. So, now you have no
idea what to do. Correct?"

Lisa, still not used to the strange eyes, even though she had seen them
before, answered. "Yes, you are right. But to be frank, I can't tell you
what the people in the fleet have decided. They might just be preparing to
leave and return to Earth."

Zor turned to face Lisa. "Then we have to inform them to stay here."

Jack spoke. "And how are you going to do that?" He looked around. "I don't
see any transmitter capable of getting into contact with the fleet."

In the background, Cabell and the other Tirolians observed Zor and the two
humans. "Cabell, why does Rem trust those humans? They could just be
leading him into a trap." One Tirolian said.

Cabell studied Zor. "Mind you, that's not Rem anymore. You have no idea
what level of knowledge that man has at this moment. It would be quite a
task to try and fool him now."

Zor's voice sounded. "There are several interplanetary relay stations
placed over Tirol. I've instructed some groups to create deversions to lure
the Invid away. Not very far from here is a relay-centre. But the Invid
have taken control of it. Therefore, we need to get them away, then we need
to get in. You two will help us contact your fleet. Let me make this very
clear to you: you and your people are our only hope of driving the Invid
off of Tirol."

Lisa doubted wether or not the REF could make any difference. So far, they
had not been able to counter the Invid effectively. At least, not as far as
Lisa knew. "Let's consider we can contact our fleet, then what? How are we
going to act against the Invid? We have no idea what their ground tactics
are. Where are their commandposts? Their bases?"

Zor's black eyes turned to Cabell. "We know where the Invid are." Then in
Tirolian language. "Cabell, my friend, my tutor. The time has come to act
more decisively. To stand up against the Invid oppressor. Are you ready to
follow me?"

Cabell approached Zor, put his hands on the man's shoulders. "Yes, I see it
now. You will save us, and save the universe. We all will follow Zor!"
Turning to face the other Tirolians. "All of you present, are you ready to
follow Zor?"

Like a storm, a chorus of voices pledged their allegiance. If this man,
Zor, could save them from the Invid, they were prepared to die for him.

"Admiral, is this a good thing?" Jack looked on, not sure he was seeing a
way out or the beginning of their doom.

The room was filled with people of all high ranks in the Robotech
Expeditionary Force. Mary wondered if she ever had seen so many uniforms in
one chamber. This mornings meeting would be a crucial one. The decision to
make, would set the future for the REF. After today, whatever would be
decided, there would be no way back. There could be no margin for
uncertainty in the decision.

The first speaker was a man, aged, with a long coat draped over his
shoulders. "Distinguished members of the REF. We all are aware of the
tragedy that has struck at Admiral Hayes. Though she is officially missing,
there is little chance that she will ever return to active duty. Therefore,
I propose to promote Major General Richard Hunter to the rank of Admiral,
and give him command of the fleet. Are there any objections?" Lang looked
at the prominents in front of him. One hand rose into the air. "Yes?"

The one-eyed Colonel approached the bench. "I do not consider Major General
Hunter fit to command the fleet. He nearly lost his ship in the opening
phase of our mission here. Furthermore, he's in an unstable state of mind
because of the death of his wife, Admiral Hayes. We can have no assurance
he won't put the whole fleet at risk to try and pursue the ghosts haunting
him in his mind." A sneer formed on Edwards' face. "Who's to say his
actions aren't going to be controlled by his emotions instead of his
rational thinking?"

Rick jumped up from his chair. "Now you listen to me! I lost my wife here!
That's true. And that is still hurting me. But you are acusing me of trying
to push on to try and find her. You must be out of your mind to even
consider that. I am fully aware of what is a stake here. I doubt that you
are. If anyone aggrees with Colonel Edwards, uhm, concerns, they'd better
speak up now." The determination on Rick's face surprised Edwards.

Lang stepped between the two rivals. "General, please. There is no need for
this. Colonel, you are out of line here! Attacks like these will not be
tolerated in the future. Take your seat!"

"Stupid German arse." Edwards mumbled to his aide Benson.

"Now then, for your votes. Who are in favour of promoting General Hunter to
the rank of Admiral of the fleet?" Lang saw all arms except two raised. An
irritated looking Edwards reluctantly raised his arm, after Lang's eyes had
penetrated his. Benson followed suit.

"Congratulations, Admiral Hunter." Lang stepped down. Now it was Exedore's
turn to address the command of the REF.

"As is clear, we are facing a crisis other then what we had set out for.
What needs to be done, is for us to decide what actions to take. There are
a only a few options. We can choose to abandon this system and return to
Earth. Another option is to stay here, and fight the Invid in order to
liberate Tirol. Or we can try and find the trail of the Robotech Masters,
to search them out and then enter talks with them." The Zentraedi cleared
his throat, then resumed. "As far as the SDF-3 is concerned, the craft is
still not repaired completely. All other craft could be deployed to Earth's
solar system, leaving the SDF-3 to follow in later."

Colonel Wolff interrupted. "But that would put the SDF-3 at a great risk.
We know the Invid attack in large numbers, outnumbering our own forces. I
don't think the SDF-3 will survive continued attacks."

Then a large man walked to the front of the room. Exedore only reached
about the chest of the imposing figure. The man bowed to say something to
Exedore. The small Zentraedi nodded a few times.

"Lord Breetai would like to speak to the command. My Lord." Exedore stepped
aside.

"All of you present here must not underestimate the oponents forces. We
know, we have waged war against the Invid for many years, long before we
even had heard of Earth. The tactics they use, consist of small
concentrated attacks at specific targets. We are very sure the first
attacks were to test our strength and to gather as much information as they
could, before their forces were destroyed. Battling the Invid requires a
new strategy. When you fought against our forces in the Robotech War, both
sides based their tactics on the same principle: superiority through better
weaponry. Later we combined our tactics with your culture to defeat Dolza's
Main Fleet."

Breetai paused. "But for you to decide wether or not to fight the Invid,
remember this. Our forces, the Zentraedi, have not succeeded in stopping
the Invid, nor have we ever been in the position to act decisively against
them. They have several outposts from which they strike at unsuspecting
craft or groups of craft. To liberate Tirol, we need to focus our entire
effort on that task."

The words of the Zentraedi leaders had their impact on the command. Their
decision would be influenced by these words. Whatever the result, it would
bear great consequences for the future of the people of the REF, as well as
the humans back on Earth.
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Next on Robotech II: Sentinels, Guardians of Earth. A decision is taken by
the command of the REF. A long time dedication will be required.

On Tirol, Zor and his men, together with Lisa and Jack, plan to take over
an Invid relaycentre. The dangerous mission must succeed, or all is lost
for Tirol, as well as end any chances for Lisa and Jack to ever be reunited
with their loved ones.

Disrupting the plans of the REF, the Invid attack again, this time however,
their goal is a specific target.

Be sure to watch for Breakthrough, the next action packed chapter in the
ever expanding drama of Robotech II: Sentinels, Guardians of Earth.
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