Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Underground Down Under ❯ Notes ( One-Shot )

Robotech: Underground Down Under

Notes

Chapter 1

This chapter especially relies on Spangler's Robotech: Invid War interpretation for its starting point. Here's a run-down of the characters for those not entirely fluent in Robotech:

Colonel Jonathan Wolff: Robotech Expeditionary Force leader seen in the New Generation episode "Eulogy" (also appears in Robotech II: The Sentinels) as the man who protected Soldiertown (Valhalla) by selling out soldiers willing to fight to the Invid. At this time, he's still a good man, albeit one demoralized by his failure to protect his family and prepare a feudal Earth for the Invid invasion.

Major John Carpenter: REFer who returns to Earth in the Southern Cross episode "Outsiders". His attack wing unsuccessfully attacked the Robotech Masters' fleet. In Invid War, he is Wolff's friend and subordinate at Soldiertown until the Colonel pulls out of the planned strike on Reflex Point to pursue a hunch about his family's whereabouts. Together with Bekka Cade and other soldiers incensed with Wolff's actions, he forms a resistance group called the "Splinters" and continues the fight against the Invid.

Lt. Bekka Cade: She's only in the Invid War comics…A headstrong pilot, she volunteers for a dangerous dash to Soldiertown from Moon base ALUCE-2 to make contact with Wolff. She helps arrange for ALUCE to use its Alphas for an assault on Reflex Point in concert with Earth's resistance groups. The attack was a dismal failure.

Louie Nichols: Formerly a corporal in the Army of the Southern Cross (seen in every episode of the Southern Cross saga), Louie is a well known technical genius. In the Invid War comics (and McKinney novels), though the rest of the 15th Squadron escaped with Wolff's ship to Tirol, Louie stayed beyond in Japan. Carpenter retrieved him to help Wolff upgrade his communications system. After monitoring an REF transmission from Mars Division following the failed assault on Reflex Point, Nichols returned to Japan for the duration of the Third Robotech War.

The Invid War comics have the Invid arrive in February 2033, and the resistance/ALUCE strike on Reflex Point occur in March 2033. The latter helps explain the apparent absence of large concentrations of resistance in the Robotech: New Generation series; ~80% of the resistance was wiped out in the failed strike. I do accept for purposes of the story the date of March 2033 for the resistance strike. However, I seriously question the time frame of less than two months from the invasion to so comprehensive an assault on Reflex Point, so I have omitted any reference to either the date of the Invid arrival on Earth or a timeframe of how long they'd been there.

Regardless of timeframe, what is important is that the Invid have established a presence on all major landmasses (to their purposes) and fortified quite a few (like Australia, the gateway to Asia) with the goal of restricting intercontinental resistance movements.

…UEG's Rocky Mountain headquarters, Pinnacle Base…is literally a hole in the ground…

The Invid destroyed the UEG's HQ during their invasion in the Invid War, though Carpenters' "Splinters" later rehabilitated the remnants into a forward base.

"With any luck, we're only talking about 17 or 18 hours of actual flight time at cruising speeds,"…

This is an estimate based on the Alpha's speeds at various altitudes posted on Robotech.com. Certainly, the higher altitude and arced stretch of the journey (Robinson Crusoe Island to New Zealand) will be faster than the low altitude dash to Australia.

All the geography in this story is accurate. Really!

Chapter 2

Holding due course for Harfleur. Follow, follow!

It's from Shakespeare's Henry V. Probably the real reason I used it was thinking of the way the words were presented in Branagh's film. The Chorus recited the words quietly to evocative music, as the screen pans across a map of the sea between England and France. It gave me the same feeling as when I thought about Sabol's transpacific flight.

…one of the people called out with what sounded like a British accent…

I've actually been to New Zealand, and am really fond of the people there. Which is probably why they ended up in the story. I was always surprised at how British the Kiwis sounded in relation to other English speakers around the world in Australia, Canada, the US, ect.

…what did they used to be called- Kiwis…

In addition to being a type of fruit, the Kiwi is a fuzzy flightless nocturnal bird native to New Zealand. I'm not sure why NZ humans came to be called Kiwis, but they are. J

…as he pulled out of a high-speed hammerhead turn…

A hammerhead turn starts when a fighter points the nose of his fighter straight up. This of course results in a very rapid trade of speed for altitude. When the aircraft reaches its apex, the pilot jukes turns hard to one side and resumes level flight. It is a defensive maneuver which can be used to lose a pursuer, but if they're still hot behind you when you're at your slowest (at the height of the climb)…

…a Pyrrhic victory for certain if he never lived to boast about it.

A Pyrrhic victory is one so costly as to be hardly better than defeat. An example would be the defeat of the Robotech Masters; it was a victory for the Army of Southern Cross, but one that left them impotent at the feet of the Invid. The term originates with an ancient Greek general who remarked after a battle that another such victory would ruin him.

Chapter 3

Then again, the Robotech Defense Forces were never big on hats.

Anyone else notice that? Other than a few officers' caps (ie on Gloval) & berets in Macross, nobody in the Robotech militaries wear headgear. And it would have really done people like Leonard good, too… J

…their tarnished old hat badges labeled "Australia" or "Australian Military Forces"…

The Australian military has long had the coolest badges for their headgear. The message keeps changing, though I figured enough badges would be around from the latest two editions to keep the ACIF well supplied.

"Why, Australian Counter Imperial Forces," Barker answered with a chuckle.

There's a bit of a story behind this name… When World War I broke out and Australia pledged its support, Major General Bridges, in charge of training the new troops (& KIA at Gallipoli) decided they needed a new kick-butt name (and acronym…I'm not making it up, that's what he wanted): "Australian Imperial Force", or AIF. The name lasted through World War II. Facing the challenge of the fact that the Invid Empire included Australia, is it any surprise that someone else looking to inspire his men chose such a homage to the past?

Chapter 4

The names…Ok, if you follow Australian military history, you'll probably see a lot of the (last) names. Barker was the name of an ANZAC who made an often seen sketch of an Australian at Gallipoli. Chuavel was the name of a leader of the Commonwealth Desert Mounted Corps at the end of World War I. Wheatley was the name of an Australian who won a Victoria Cross during the Vietnam War for giving up his own life in battle rather than abandon a dying friend. Owens is…a submachine gun of Australian manufacture. Actually even appears in Robotech II: The Sentinels as an upgraded weapon known as the Owens Mark IX.

"No, not unless you have a little head. We've got about a half dozen size 6s left…Damn things wouldn't fit a ten-year old."

Personal joke. I've got an Australian military slouch hat that's a size 6¾. Well, nobody has a head that small. Sorry. And whenever there's an auction on eBay or something, somebody always snatches the size 7s and larger. Bah. So I assumed that when those hats were in rare supply after the Invid invasion, the comfortable sizes would be taken, and the smaller ones left over!

"Anyway, he brought back the designs for prototypical equipment, like the Cyclone stored onboard my Alpha."

This is pure conjecture on my part based on the Robotech: Invid War cue that the Robotech Factory Satellite started manufacturing REF equipment. I mean, they couldn't have done it without the plans, and Wolff was the last man to arrive from the REF.

Well, anyway, the older generation was seasoned enough from service in the Citizens Military Force when we were invaded during the Global Civil War.

The CMF was (still is, I think) a sort of militia force in Australia. The Robotech novels indicate Australia was invaded twice during the Global Civil War, and I can only assume that the CMF would have done its best to resist. Helps explain why these newer generations of Aussies latch on to guerilla warfare so quickly.

Emblazoned on the wings and fuselage in place of an RDF or TASC insignia were a gold starburst pattern much like those on the group's hat badges.

Another example of the ACIF using the lovely Australian military starburst pattern. There's a long and intricate story about how it came about, which I won't relate here. Something about it originally being a trophy case design for an Australian officer in the early 20th century.

"This uniform actually was designed for the ALUCE-2 personnel, though I'm told that it is very similar to the one the REF is about to adopt. It allows you to put on the newer Cyclone CVR armor without having to remove any clothing first."

You know those earlier looking REF-style uniforms seen among some of the soldiers in Robotech: New Generation? In the original Mospeada, these were soldiers from a prior Earth Recapture Mission. Well, in one of its more clever (and not elaborated on decisions), Invid War made the ALUCE-2 pilots wear this jumpsuit. I decided I liked the argument that the suit made putting on the new CVR armor easier. Thus, those we seen in NG might be from the REF, but also could be survivors of the ALUCE-2 pilots who struck Reflex Point or Southern Crossers who received REF equipment like Sabol.

"This has to be the first time I've seen an Armored Gyro Assault Copter since the invasion."

After discussions on Robotech.com, I decided that the AGACs, though bulky and never seen in the atmosphere, would be capable of atmospheric flight assisted at low level by their rotors. The cluster missiles would be a significant help against ground targets, which is just as well because its bulky shape probably means it's no dogfighter. No AGACs appear in Invid War, or any other secondary source I know of during the Third Invid War, which probably means that its presence is rare indeed.

It ah, didn't come with a manual.

The first thing the Army of the Southern Cross ran out of wasn't Protoculture. It was paper. J