Robotech Rebels

"Look up! The Sky is falling!"

Yellow Dancer; Look Up!

Chris sat in the cockpit of her Condor destroid, nervous with anticipation. The 8 meter mecha stood within the bay of one of the fleet of ships that were at this moment in transit from the ALUCE moonbase, to Earth. This ship was part of a fleet that would take part in a full-frontal assault on the Invid's central base on Earth- a massive hive known as "Reflex Point".

She had ample reason to be nervous- there were too many ifs in the mission. It may succeed if the Invid's orbital defences are as strong as initial observations stated, if the forward scouting by the Earthbound resistance groups had been correct, if the remnants of the ASC that were leading the ground assault were as strong and coordinated as they claimed.

And if Steve had ever responded. She thought to herself. Steve had been sent to Earth to try and contact the European resistance bases that had been set up before the invasion. However, he hadn't replied, and all attempts at contacting the Euros had failed. It was now assumed that Either Steve had been killed, or the European Resistance had been destroyed. She hoped it had been some sort of a communication problem. She'd always meant to have that talk with him sometime, but...

And if this mission failed, that would be the end of the Southern Cross. Earth's only chance at freedom would be if the REF sent more troops back.

She tried to stop thinking about it. Of course this plan would work. They wouldn't commit this many troops if they thought it could fail. She waited patiently for the signal to go. All too quickly, it came.

The Condor blasted forwards out of the bay, with Shamus's Condor close behind. The two hunchbacked mecha took up positions in front of their ship, waiting for something to happen. Ahead of them loomed the Earth, looking strangely forlorn, large paches of brown and yellow wastelands covering much of its once green surface. And a huge, ugly red glow covering much of North America...

My God! Its Enormous! We're meant to destroy that? She thought. Be calm! Think mission. Think how much depends on your success. She took a few seconds to calm herself, then reported in. "White group reporting in position" she calmly stated. "Nothing to report" Which is just as well.

"All units remain on standby for any sign of enemy activity" Came the reply. She had a horrible feeling that any enemy activity was going to come very thick and furious.

"Thor to all units". A sudden message from the lead ship? What was happening? "Radar contact: Multiple satellites in orbit above the target. Type unknown, disposition unknown. configuration appears to be saucer-like. Over" A pause. "Confirmed. Satellites are Invid troop carriers. All wings commence attack!"

The Mecha blasted forwards on blue streams of superheated plasma, as behind them the main ships began their advance. Missiles leapt from silos and deadly blue beams crossed through the vacuum, finding their targets on the Invid ships. Spectacular explosions tore ships and their contents apart. However, for every ship destroyed, another one seemed to take its place. Then, the Invid ships responded to the attacks, now with energy beams and missiles, but by gaping open like immense clams, and unleashing hundreds of mecha.

"Multiple incoming! All units cover for main ships!" That was her queue. The fighter, VT and Condor squadrons charged forwards to meet their relentless foes. Corsair and Vampire fighters sprayed their opponents with long range missiles, tearing them to peices, but yet they still advanced. Then it was the Veritechs turn. Alphas, VF-1s and AJACS peppered their foes with long range weapons, and then charged in to deal with the relentless masses of alien mecha. Space lit up with hundreds, thousands, of explosions as human and Invid alike fought and died in the cold vacuum.

"OK White squad, here they come! Brace for it!" For the first time, she got a good look at them, and how ugly they were. Small, compact crab-like mecha with large claws, no apparent legs, and a large booster attached to the back. She launched a volley of missiles at the incoming flight of Invid.

The missiles tore through them, blasting them to pieces. A couple got through, but were dealt with by blasts from her massive energy rifle. So far, so good. It seemed the Invid numbers were thinning out. Shamus reported in that he was fine, but a bit short on missiles. Maybe this just may work after all. Then her radar started screaming at her. Another flight of Invid were coming at her position.

She and Shamus blasted forwards to meet them head on. More missiles leapt from launchers spread across the Condor's body, tearing through the oncoming Invid squad. But yet they advanced onwards. Their disregard for their own losses was staggering. One flew straight at her. For an instant, it was charging straight at her mecha, filling her veiwscreen with its full ugliness. Them, in a quick cannon burst, it was gone. A second one followed the first, tearing straight at her, and just as quickly removed.

These guys are incredible. They just keep coming. Don't they ever get the picture? Ahead of her, the fighter squadrons seemed to have cleared away many of the initial wave, but seemingly at a great cost to their own numbers.

Earth loomed bigger before them. The radio crackled to life. "Thor to all ships. Prepare for assault run on Earth. All escorts keep close, and prepare for re-entry." This was it. The most dangerous phase of the plan. The ships would make one high speed run on Earth, with the hopes of making it through the Invid defences quickly, and then deploying their troops. The worst part of it was re-entry. If the Invid attack then... No. It didn't even bear thinking about.

The ships surged forwards, their escorts staying close and preparing for the worst. And then, it happened. Invid ships surged upwards from the planet, deploying their deadly cargoes. Once again, mecha locked in deadly combat. Mecha tore through space, the Invid hurling themselves at their foes. Everywhere she looked, the fighting was intense. A Logan ahead of her blasted at an Invid, tearing it apart. A VF ahead of her was literally torn to pieces by a pair of Invid charging at it with their claws. An Alpha loosed a huge flight of missiles, decimating the oncoming horde, but they still advanced. A small Pirate fighter disintegrated under a hair of energy beams. A crippled Vampire fell to the Earth below. A Space Hargun that had been separated from its ship flailed about trying to get back, but to no avail. She loosed another volley of missiles at an oncoming squad, and blasted at the survivors with her cannon. And they kept coming.

Several Invid had broken through, and were now running at the ships. Many fell victim to the AA defences and interceptors, but some broke through, physically hurling themselves into their targets. A crude, but effective method of assault. An Invid went straight through a damaged transport, blasting itself and the ship to pieces.

Chris emptied her last few missiles into another oncoming squad. Only one of them came through, blasting like crazy at her Condor. One shot grazed the mecha's armour, the rest passed her by. She holed it with her cannon. The damaged mecha rolled, and began to fall towards the Earth, glowing red as it went.

The Atmosphere! This is it. Just a little longer.... The last stage that would be the longest part of the mission. Shamus reported that all systems were check, and that he was clear for re-entry. Here we go into the mouth of hell. The hull of the Condor began to heat up. The computer bleeped constant temperature updates, but nothing worrying. Behind Shamus she could see one of the ships commencing re-entry. Then the worst thing that could have happened did. More Invid came streaming up from the planet.

She began firing madly with her cannon. Blasts tore apart the small mecha, but more kept coming. The other fighters and mecha began to open fire, tearing into the Invid ranks. Many of the small red ships were destroyed, exploding or falling back to Earth in burning wrecks. Many more made it through, firing their beamguns like crazy, or flying straight into their opponents. The lead ranks were decimated, and yet the Invid kept coming. They've got us like fish in a barrel! Not now... We can't fail like this! An Invid ship lunged at her, filling the screen before it was blasted to pieces. Another one flew past her, narrowly missing her shoulder, but going straight into Shamus's Condor. Both mecha were blown to pieces in an instant.

Must keep going.... Not too much further.... Another Invid attacked. She blasted at it, but this one seemed better than most of the others. Its shots tore into the Condor's hull, tearing through vital systems. Warning lights glowed angry red inside the cockpit. Sparks flew, warning sirens blared out. Must keep going! She managed to bring the gun around, firing at it as it came around for another pass. She took one of its arms off, but it kept coming. Its shots tore through the Condors massive thruster pack, blasting apart the engines, sending parts flying out.

"Warning! Main Engine Failure!" The computer yelled at her. She tried to stabilise the mecha, and blast back at the Invid. But to no avail. Her shots did some damage, but not enough. All around her, the mecha of the attack force were fighting and dying in droves.

"Warning! Life Support Failure!" The computer yelled out again. She tried to blast at the Invid again. The arm responded sluggishly, the gun being too slow to come around. The small craft raked the Condor with fire. She fired back, taking a chunk out of its engine. It still continued on its path. Behind her, the Invid's work on the main ships was nearing its completion. Some of them broke up, some just exploded. She blasted at the small ship again, but apparently to no avail.

I'm sorry Steve. We failed. The Invid mecha flew at the Condor head on. The cannon refused to fire. Chris wasn't surprised. The Invid mecha hit the Condor head on. Both machines and their pilots were destroyed instantly.