Disclaimer: This is nothing more than a fan-made work made for entertainment purposes. Robotech, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, and Megazone 23 are all owned by Harmony Gold, Tatsunoko Productions, Big West, Studio Nue, Carl Macek, Shoji Kawamori, Yasuo Hasegawa, Shinji Aramaki, Hideki Kakinuma, and Noboru Ishiguro. Please support the official release.
ROBOTECH ODYSSEY
Generations of Evolution
Introduction
DEDICATION: This project is dedicated to the tribute and loving memory of Carl Macek, the creator of ROBOTECH who sadly left us too soon. It was his vision and brilliance that brought the world of Japanese anime to prominence in the Western world in the first place and made ROBOTECH the cult-favorite worldwide phenomenon that it is now today.
BACKGROUND OF THE STORY: For those who don't know, ROBOTECH is a cult favorite American science fiction franchise that began with an 85-episode anime television show produced in 1985 by American film and TV production company Harmony Gold USA in association with Japan's Tatsunoko Productions. Originally, the series started as Harmony Gold given the right to market one of Tatsunoko's anime series, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, in America for weekday syndication television. However, syndicated TV shows at the time required a minimum of 65 episodes and Macross only had 36. So, to solve this problem, Harmony Gold had the bold idea to frankenstein Super Dimension Fortress Macross with two other unrelated anime with similar motifs, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, into one show with an overarching storyline that spanned three generations, with the now late Carl Macek as the show's main story editor.
Today, ROBOTECH has become a polarizing subject in the anime community. While many praise the series for its take on human issues such as love, drama, and death, some condemn the series, calling it a bastardization of the source material. Not only that but ROBOTECH's legacy has been tainted due to the harsh legal actions of Harmony Gold concerning the licensing of Macross content in the West that has lasted for years by this point, though things began to calm down back in 2021. But, that's not what we're here to talk about....
As I already said, this project will be a complete reboot of the original ROBOTECH series and its sequels/spin-offs, including Jack McKinney's Robotech novel series, Robotech: The Movie, Robotech II: The Sentinels, and Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, as part of my attempt to weave the three sagas together far more coherently than they were in the original TV show and give the story a proper ending.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Now I like to mention that I shall mix several elements of both the Robotech and Macross franchises, like the name of the SDF-1 will be the Macross even before the Zentraedi attack. Also, the original name of Macross Island, the island where the SDF-1 crash-landed, is South Atalia Island (a nod to South Ataria Island from the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross). I will also include the UN Wars of Unification Wars as I'm going to call it, which will stretch from about a year or so following the crash-landing of the SDF-1 onto the planet and roughly a year and a half before the outbreak of the First Robotech War. Thanks to this, Roy Fokker won't be famous for his time in the Global Civil War, but during his service in the Unification Wars instead. While Roy in this story had enlisted during the Civil War's waning months, it will be more of Captain Gloval's and Admiral Hayes' war instead. Speaking of the Global Civil War, I am going to have it replace the post-Cold War era of today's world, similar to the Second Cold War that's part of the lore of Battletech. Instead of a full-on World War III, it will basically be a series of proxy wars and regional conflicts where the three main factions (NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the Northeast Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere) will be involved in some way. The war begins in 1995 with the launch of Space Station New Frontier (just think of it as ROBOTECH's version of our real-life International Space Station) and ends in 1999 with the arrival of the SDF-1, thankfully before any nukes started flying.
Another thing changed, the term Robotech Defense Force (RDF) is going to mean something different than what it means in the original ROBOTECH series. Basically, it's the title of the elite formation of the United Nations Defense Forces (UNDF), the main enforcement arm of the United Earth Government, with it being centered around the SDF-1, its crew, and the use of Veritechs along with other Robotech mecha. Eventually, the regular UNDF will receive Veritechs and other mecha, basically making the RDF any force operating within the SDF-1. The UNDF comprises of the UN Army, the UN Navy, the UN Air Force, the UN Spacy (Spacy being short for "Space Command"), and the UN Marine Corps. The reason behind this is because I liked the idea of the RDF being a small elite force inside the larger UNDF and it kinda makes sense to me that the only people we see as part of the RDF are the crew and passengers of the SDF-1.
Since this story will be a chronological retelling of events, I am going to have a much larger cast than either Macross or even ROBOTECH, as I don't want the focus to be entirely on our main characters such as Rick and friends. I'll be introducing several characters from secondary canon material such as Jack Archer from the videogame Robotech Battlecry, along with some OCs and even characters from the extended world of Macross as well.
The timeline has been fudged a great deal for this story to be consistent. I have tried to keep things close to the official timeline as much as I can, but certain details had to be changed for this story to make sense. Most of the plot of this story was taken from the Jack McKinney novel adaptation of the ROBOTECH series.
Anyhow now that everything has been explained and laid down, it is time to get to the main event. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy ROBOTECH ODYSSEY: Generations of Evolution.
- Ezekiel D.
PLOT'S SUMMARY
Part I: The Macross Saga (1999(2009)-2012) - The Global Civil War was about to make humanity extinct when the stupendous Super Dimensional Fortress dispatched to Earth by a dying alien genius changed all that forever and altered the history of the universe. Humanity's only hope lay in a corps of untried, resolute young men and women: the Robotech Defense Force. They were entrusted with powers they didn't fully understand. Then, the warriors of the Zentraedi Armada, the most feared conquerors in the universe, determined to destroy them for no reason they could comprehend.
Part II: The Malcontent Uprisings (2012-2015) - It was a time of recovery and renewal. Two years had passed since the end of the First Robotech War, at the cost of over 90% of Earth's population and the devastation of three-quarters of the planet's surface. As mankind and the Zentraedi work together to rebuild their fallen homeworld, forces that threaten the tenuous peace begin to emerge. The Robotech Defense Force and the newly-formed Army of the Southern Cross compete for dominance as they join the struggle to quell growing malcontent elements in their rebuilt society, ranging from rogue nations refusing to cooperate with the United Earth Government to Anti-Unification League terrorists, from mercenary armies to the scattered remnants of the Zentraedi Armada.
Part III: The Crystal War (2019-2020) - After the defeat of the last Malcontent Zentraedi forces, a new United Earth government was inaugurated and humans began to follow the path of coexistence with the alien Zentraedi. However, as the people of the world begin to acclimate to this era of peace, a new threat has emerged in the form of the mysterious Crystal Fleet, a rogue fleet of Zentraedi who've turned against their creators and now wish to harvest Earth of its supply of Protoculture. Earth forces struggle to unite and to repel this new threat.
Part IV: The Sentinels (2022(2027)-2043) - Humanity was bound for the stars. In the wake of Earth's near-annihilation, the Robotech Expeditionary Forces set out to find new worlds to colonize so that humanity would never face total extinction again. When the location of the Robotech Masters' homeworld was found, the REF Pioneer Mission was sent to negotiate a lasting peace between the Robotech Masters and Earth, but when they arrived, it was discovered that the Robotech Masters had already left for Earth. However, before they have the chance to return to warn Earth of the coming threat, the forces of the REF become preoccupied with the liberation of worlds under the control of the Robotech Masters' most hated enemies, the Invid.
Part V: The Untold Story (2027) - Following the Robotech Expeditionary Forces' departure from Earth, the planet has entered a new golden age with much of the world having recovered from the Zentraedi Grand Fleet's Rain of Death. The general populace goes about their lives in peace, under the watchful eyes of the military computer defense program, the E.V.E. (Enhanced Video Emulation), unbeknownst to them. However, the life of an ordinary civilian in this new era changes when his friend shows him a top-secret project: the "MODAT-5," an advanced motorcycle that can transform into a robot. Suddenly ambushed by the military, the boy hijacks the MODAT-5 and escapes into the city of Mega-Tokyo, Japan. Evading the military with the help of his friends and E.V.E., he gradually discovers that their idyllic society may soon crumble in a matter of days.
Part VI: The Masters (2029-2030) - It has been nineteen years since the end of the First Robotech War nearly wiped out humanity, and seven years since the Robotech Expeditionary Forces left Earth to ensure it never happens again, but all is not well on the homefront. After years of searching, the Robotech Masters have finally arrived on Earth to seek what turns out to be the sole means in the universe of producing Protoculture. Through a combination of mistrust and arrogance, their attempts at retrieving this meet with opposition from the humans and unleash a war that leaves the Masters defeated and Earth awash in the spores of a plant called the Flower of Life--the source of Protoculture itself and a beacon to the ravenous Invid who scour the galaxy for its presence.
Part VII: The New World Order (2030-2031) - The prosperous interplanetary hegemony that mankind has spent years of reconstruction since the Rain of Death is now in pieces since the end of the Second Robotech War. The fragile New United Earth Government is fracturing, a new Soviet Empire is rising in Eurasia, more and more independent nation-states and rebel factions are appearing every day, and a new threat looms near as the Invid come closer and closer to Earth with their endless fleets of war machines so they can feast the planet's supply of Protoculture. The only things standing in the path of total anarchy are the brave men and women of the Army of the Southern Cross.
Part VIII: The Invid Invasion (2031-2042) - A besieged Earth has fallen to the alien Invid horde. The planet's scattered and war-wearing defenders must band together and fight as never before if their home is ever to be free again, but the enemy is not always alien. Many people are so tired of war that they will take peace at any price, even if it means betraying their fellow men and women to the Invid occupiers. What hope do Earth's freedom fighters have when they cannot tell friend from foe, and what unlikely allies will they turn to in their hour of need?
Part IX: The New Generation (2038(2042)-2044) - Two generations have passed since humankind took its first great steps on the road to the stars, and a new generation has taken up the torch. These are the children of the stars, the first generation born not on Earth but on colony worlds and deep space vessels far from their ancestral home. Occupied with ongoing tensions between the colony worlds and spacefaring Invid hive fleets, the Robotech Expeditionary Forces has formed an elite division of troops equipped with brand-new high-tech weapons, ships, and armor--the Earth Reclamation Forces--to liberate the Earth from the Invid Regency. These young freedom fighters must work their way to free their ancestral homeworld, a planet that's entirely alien to them and full of many surprises.
Part X: The Shadow Chronicles (2044-2045) - It has been a few months since the mysterious departure of the Invid in the final battle of the Third Robotech War. Even though the liberation of Earth has been a success, things are not over just yet as all contact with the SDF-3 Pioneer, the mighty flagship of the Robotech Expeditionary Forces, abruptly ceased, followed by the sudden destruction of the heavily guarded Space Station Liberty. These are all signs pointing to the arrival of a far more insidious enemy than all who came before, one that has lain dormant for millennia, and it threatens not just the Earth but the entire galaxy...