I thought I’d post a little teaser of a Robotech game I ran back in my college days. The original notes have been lost but the story and success of the game has stayed with me. 

This is an alternate version of the Robotech Macross Saga. In the Palladium RPG players were able to play characters in the Robotech Defense Force (RDF). I wrote this series of adventures to give the players a chance to write their own legacies and become legends in their own ways.

Our story will follow one character in particular. He was played by Nexeh and stood out in the series of adventures. He started as little more than a raw recruit but grew to become a hero. This is his story:

Gunnery Sergeant Carl Forest sat in the relative comfort of the mighty MAC II Monster. It would have been nice to open a window and let the fresh sea air in but there weren’t any windows in the 378 ton behemoth. The air had a tinny taste to it but the gentle, constant hum of the fusion generators eased his discomfort.

Forest looked out over the western coast of Macross Island as the resupply fleet sailed casually away. With the fleet leaving the responsibility of defending the SDF-1 fell to the Destroids and Super Carriers assigned to Macross Island. The Super Carriers Daedalus and Prometheus didn’t need the escort ships of course, not with two full compliments of Veritech fighters onboard. The Veritechs provided more firepower than an entire conventional carrier battlegroup.

Forest gently moved the MAC II around to face the city of Macross. Not that anything could be done gently in a MAC II Monster, it left gaping holes in the ground were ever it walked. The RDF handled dozens of calls from irritated civilians anytime one the giant mecha came anywhere near the city.

“Sir.” It was Corporal John Tyben, the mecha’s navigator speaking. “The squad is ready to begin patrols.”

Forest queued up the comlink and spoke. “All Bravo Squad members. Begin standard patrol routes. Be advised that with the pre-launch ceremonies we can expect increased civilian traffic along all major roads. Please don’t step on anyone, there is too much paperwork to fill out.”

“Not that we’re going anywhere gentleman.” Forest said this to his two crewmen. The MAC II was so large it required a crew of three to operate. Forest was the pilot. Tyben navigated and Corporal Wilson Herndon was the gunner. Between the three of them, they commanded the most powerful mecha currently available, besides the Veritech fighters of course.

Since all of his weapons were designed for long range use the MAC II would wait while the three Tomahawks patroled the western part of Macross Island. Forest was backed up by two Raider X anti-aircraft mecha. It was the job of the Raider X’s, with their heavy duty 78mm autocannons, to make sure nothing got too close to the MAC II.

“Another day, another dollar sir.” Herndon said with false enthusiasm.

The laughter was cut short when Tyben put his hand to his headset and turned to look at his threat board. “Sir, we have emergency traffic from RDF HQ. Something is up!”

Forest looked over his shoulder at Tyben’s threat board as it received an emergency broadcast from the RDF sensor network. Blips began to appear by the dozens.

Over the intercom came the cold, emotionless voice of the RDF emergency operations commander. “Attention all units. Attention all units. An unidentified alien fleet is folding into orbital positions around the Earth. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. All units are to…” The transmission broke off into static as a blinding light filled the cockpit.

Forest struggle to see what happened. His first thought was a nuclear device had been detonated. But as the glare faded he saw a huge pulse of light surge in front of an then shot from the forward portion of the SDF-1. Lightning formed as charged particles shot through the sky.

Herndon excitedly asked “What was that? I’ve never seen a laser or particle weapon that massive before!”

Then it was all business. Forest fired up the fusion generators and got the Monster on the move. His Raider X escort had thier guns tried to the sky in case of an aerial attack.

“We just lost the satelite feed sir!” Tyben’s threat board went black and then came to life again as he tied into the datafeed from the Raider X’s. They had better sensor packages than the MAC II. The range was limited and not as accurate but it gave Tyben everything he needed to know. “We have incoming fighters!” He screamed just as the Raider X’s opened up with their autocannons.

“I’m on it!” Herndon called out. “Sir bring us around 40 degrees port to line me up!”

Forest pulled hard on the control yoke and foot pedals. The MAC II practically hopped up into the air as it swung around.

“Steady, just a few more second and they’ll be in range.” Herndon brought both arms of the MAC II to bear on the incoming formation of enemy fighters. Each “arm” consisted of 3 missle tubes. The four 406mm cannons wouldn’t be very effective against aircraft. This was the only weakness of the MAC II. It wasn’t good in a fight against small, nimble aircraft or mecha. Then Herndon fired a volley of 3 missles from each arm.

Forest started adjusting the stance of the MAC II for another shot as several blips disappeared from radar. The volley of missles alone destroyed a dozen fighters. The Raider X’s were blasting fighter after fighter out of the sky as the enemy formation approached.

“They aren’t very well armored or piloted.This might not be as hard as I thought.” Forest said to himself.

The MAC II had a small payload of missles. Only 6 of the large missles could be stored in each arm and reloading required heavy machinery, not something that could be done in the middle of a battle. Based on the earlier success Herndon decided to use a volley of two missles this time.

“60 degrees starboard and 47 degrees elevation!” Herndon barked the command and peeled off the next volley. The ranged closed fast and destroyed 7 enemy aircraft that were flying in a tight formation. One emerged though, apparently unscathed. That worried Herndon.

Tyben spoke up then. “Sir, something isn’t right here. Those aren’t conventional space fighters or atmospheric fighters. They’re mecha!”

“What?” Forest glanced down to his threat board, a smaller less complex version of Tyben’s, and saw the confirmation. The Raider X’s sensors were able to resolve the shape and configuration of the enemy. They were ostrichlike mecha that had two large cannons sticking out of the top. Forest had never seen that model of mecha before.

All at once the formation of enemy pods opened fire. The massive barrage destroyed one of the Raider X’s instantly. The pilots agonized scream cut off by the fireball that errupted from his mecha.

With no time to spare. Forest spun the MAC II around to face the onslaught and place his heavier mecha in front of the remaining damaged Raider X and barked “Fire!”

Herndon, without bothering with a firing solution, opened up with all four of the massive top mounted 406mm cannons. The MAC II shuddered from the force of the recoil and close to a dozen more enemy pods blew apart from direct damage or shrapnel from their comrades exploding pods.

“Sir, enemy closing rapidly at 10 O’clock!:” Tyben shouted.

Forest twisted the MAC II back around, saw the target. A pod that had arm cannons and a single top mounted cannon similar in configuration to the MAC II only much smaller. Forest screamed “Fire!” just as the enemy’s cannon lit up with a particle charge…