Robotech Art Three by Carl Macek "The Liberation of Spheris"
Spheris.
The planet whose population is made of living crystal.
A world where Protoculture weapons will have a devastating effect on the planet's surface.
The next world in the Sentinel's campaign to liberate the Local Group from the Invid.
And that is what Teal and her son, Baldan II, tell the the rest of the Sentinels when they volunteer for a mission to the planet's surface for general recon and to attempt to gain support from the Spherian population.
Meanwhile on the moon the Robotech Masters abandoned, two rivals meet in Dr. Lang's Robotech Research Complex. General T.R. Edwards has arrived to meet with the good doctor. He seeks to convince Lang that he has the best interests of the Earth in mind.
But, Dr. Lang doesn't believe him, and he is attempting to record the meeting, despite measures that Edward's has implemented to prevent any recording.
The meeting goes well, until Lang asks Edwards to remain neutral during Col. Wolff's hearing and that he be allowed to examine whatever it is he and his Ghost Squadron are containing within the catacombs underneath the Tiresian Royal Hall.
Of course, Edwards is pissed, but not quite as pissed as he becomes when he is informed that another SDF-7 class vessel has been completed and sent to Earth under the command of Maj. John Carpenter.
Edwards attempts to strangle Lang, but is quickly stopped by Lang when his wrists are grabbed by the doctor, and he is forced to his knees.
Dr. Lang releases the General, and demands that Edwards serve his oath and give up his plans.
Edwards retort:
Edwards drew himself up, lips coming away from his locked teeth. He would perhaps never again have a chance to tell Lang off in private; this would be the only moment when the two stood alone together out of the spotlight, as it were.
"Here's the oath I'll serve," he said in a voice so low it was barely audible. But as he spoke it became louder. "I swear to kill Wolff. I swear to exterminate Rick and Lisa Hunter and Breetai, after I've made them suffer enough. The rest of you will either bow at my feet or die. I swear to have Obstat and Huxley and all the rest of them on the council as my personal slaves-"
It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he meant to subjugate Minmei, but that secret he managed to contain. "I swear to have the galaxy as my personal domain."
He backed away, flexing partially paralyzed fingers. "I swear revenge."
After a few more choice words, Edwards leaves, and as he is leaving the compound, he believes he sees someone on a building's rooftop, who quickly disappears.
And, to make matters worse, Dr. Lang's godchild, Scott Bernard, reports that the recording equipment was flux.
Back on the Ark Angel, Jack is in search of an invid who missed the previous planning meeting, the Regent's former chief scientist, Tesla. During his quest he rounds up Gnea, and they head for the storage compartment where he is being quartered, where they don't find him, but clues on where he might be.
The head towards the nearest power compartment where they find the evolved Invid, who now looks more and more like the Regis, and his Perytonian companion, Burak.
And Tesla quickly brings them under his control, and they become his slaves and spies amongst the Sentinels.
And other things are also changing when the young Baldan II interrupts a female only combat training class held by the Praxians. He asks for some training from Bela, but is refused.
According to Praxian custom, males aren't allowed to be trained in the Praxians' advanced hand to hand.
He reminds her that if it wasn't for her and Miriya, he would not be alive now, and according to Praxian custom, that makes him her god-child, and she cannot refuse him of anything.
She agrees to train him as a Praxian Warrior.
Things change.
And not just in orbit of Spheris.
On board the SDF-3, the trial of Commander Grant and Col. Wolff begins, and is being transmitted all throughout R.E.F. controlled space. And right off the bat, Edwards accuses them, and the Zentraedi of mutiny, and the General's little speech elicits applause from a good portion of the audience.
Then Dr. Lang presents some evidence in their defense.
Edwards thought he was blocking all of Lang's recording devices, but soon realizes that the preeminent Robotech scientist only let him think that.
The video of Dr. Lang's meeting with Edwards is played in front of the Plenipotentiary Council, throughout the SDF-3, all over Tirol and Fantoma, and even in Minmei's cell.
Of course, the stunned public is stunned, and the council orders Edwards be taken into custody.
Edwards flees, and Wolff gives chase.
A young Scott Bernard attempts to tackle the General, but Edwards pulls him off and attempts to break his neck.
Col Wolff saves the boy, but is quickly downed by Edwards.
Edwards bolts as the MP's close in. He kills two MP's using one of their own guns, and signal's the Ghost Squadron, and they make good their escape to the Catacombs beneath the Royal Hall, as one man watches, and continues on his mission to save his cousin.
Upon reaching the chamber containing the Invid Brain, Edward's contacts the Regent and asks for the Invid's assistance.
The Regent reminds him of the Invid Brain, and how he can use it for himself.
The Regent signs off, and Edwards mobilizes the Inorganics against the R.E.F.
The mission to Spheris is launched from the Ark Angel using a new drop capsule using newly devised "Shadow" technology to prevent it from being detected by the Invid's protoculture sensors. Eventually it is hoped they can miniaturize the technology to be used within the Alpha's.
Teal and Baldan II return to his home world, and they meld with the surface of the planet and enter the Crystal Highways which will take them to the others of their kind.
Before we go any further, a quick update on the Sentinels left on Haydon II.
Miriya's pregnancy is a very unusual one. She's only 2 months pregnant, but it is already difficult. She almost falls into a coma, but it is Max's words about their other daughter, Dana, that keeps her with him.
She is only 2 months pregnant, but she is almost ready to give birth.
Now, back to Baldan II and Teal.
They arrive at their first destination, and are greeted by Tiffa, Baldan's mother.
She is impressed by the changes wrought within the formally vain Teal when Teal speaks to the Spherians about the Sentinels need of help in freeing their world.
Most of the Spherians object. They are still alive, and can hide indefinitely within their world, away from the Invid.
Then Baldan II speaks in the voice, and with the memories of his father.
But there were voices from the crowd now. "Leave us in peace and go!" "We want no war!" "We're not fighters!"
"Yes, you are."
Teal had been about to try to shout the doubters down, but Baldan spoke first. Now he took three steps forward, so that they could all get a good look at him.
"Yes, you are," he repeated. "The memories that Baldan gave me tell me that. These nice safe strongholds in the planetary womb are no protection anymore; the Invid will crack this world apart with their Protoculture devices if it comes to that.
"Spherisians have fought before, long in our past. Now it's time to fight again-that, or kneel and wait for the hammer to fall on our naked necks."
He walked a few steps to one side, to where a spar of shimmering agate stood out from the wall of the sanctuary. "I mean to raise rebellion. I mean to rally every Spherian who remembers how to fight or is willing to learn. I mean to throw the Invid off this world or die trying."
Teal went over to stand by her son proudly. A wisecrack of Jack Baker's came back to her, and she decided this was a good time to use it. Putting her arm around her son's strong young shoulders, she fixed Tiffa with her gaze.
"Maybe we're not much to look at, but we're all you've got."
"From here we go to the Great Geode, to ask for aid there," Baldan announced. "Follow us, any who are willing, or carry the word to other sanctuaries." He hesitated, unsure if the last thing he wanted to say was fair, but the impulse was too strong to deny.
His voice dropped an octave and became the voice of Baldan I; a different look came into his eyes. Through him, his father said, "It is good to see you this one last time. I love you all."
Baldan II vibrated a little, coming back to himself, then turned to merge with the spar of agate. A moment later, Teal was gone too.
The Spherisians looked at one another, the sanctuary resonating with the hurrahs of some, the doubts of others. There were troubled glances everywhere.
That was when Tiffa stepped to the outcropping where her grandson and daughter-in-law had disappeared. She spread her arms like a high-diver, leaned slowly, and melded with the stuff of Spheris.
In another few seconds, people were thronging to the walls of the place, or lying flat to dissolve into the very floor. Those who doubted or had other reservations found themselves in a dwindling minority. Many remained behind, but now the sanctuary was a hollow-sounding, mostly deserted place of more silence than sound, more emptiness than life.
Back on Tirol, a Lt. Lincoln Isle, known as Linc Isle, has failed to report for duty, and has disappeared from his quarters leaving only the remnants of his beard behind.
He is watching Edwards official Headquarters as the Ghost Squadron decamp from the SDF-3 and head towards a new SDF-7 class vessel that is near completion in orbit, and the Inorganics reek havoc on Tirol.
Jumping onto the back of a Scrim Inorganic as it makes a door where there wasn't one before, and leaps back off when he's inside, and begins his search for Minmei.
Edwards has also made his way into his former headquarters, also heading for Minmei, and he reaches her first.
She shrieks as the General makes his way into her cell . . .
Edwards pounced on her as Adams and two lesser officers brought up the rear, guarding the door. The general cuffed her face, back and forth. "Shut up, shut up!"
Then he had her shoulders, shaking her, as she shuddered with long, wracking sobs. "Minmei, you're coming with me! Do you hear? You're mine!" He slapped her again. "Not Hunter's! Not Wolff's! Mine!
Somehow she stopped crying. Minmei raised her eyes to Edwards with a look he had never seen from her before. She wiped away the tears and saliva and mucous with the back of her hand.
She looked her foe in the eye. "If you don't leave me alone you'd better kill me, T. R. Or else I am going to kill you."
He felt such sudden misgiving that he raised his hand to hit her again, expecting her to flinch. But she kept her eyes fixed on him. "I'm going to make you beg me to forget what you just said," he whispered.
Minmei drew a deep breath. "No, you're not."
A hand closed around Edwards' upraised wrist from behind; a voice told him, "No, you're not."
Edwards was pulled aside, his wrist nearly broken. He was spun at the cell wall like a child's top, his burnished face-mask ringing against it, his nose banged so that he smelled metal and blood. He clawed for purchase but found himself sliding down the cold alloy, leaving a red stain. A foot pressed his head to the deck, nearly crushed it, then relented. Then the foot was abruptly gone.
The general shook his head to clear it, glancing about drunkenly. Adams lay sprawled in the doorway, perhaps unconscious, perhaps dead. Edwards could see the upturned toes of one downed guard's boots in the corridor beyond. Minmei was on her feet with a look on her face that Edwards had always longed to force her to direct at him. But it was for the man in the REF flight suit who had appeared out of nowhere.
Edwards felt numbed in certain ways, super-alert in others. The light danced in Minmei's eyes as she slowly raised her hands to her rescuer.
"Lynn-Kyle! Oh, Lynn-Kyle..."
Edwards continues to fight one of the best, if not the best, martial artist in recent memory, but is quickly defeated by the man formally known as Lt. Linc Isle, and Kyle gets ready for the kill.
Minmei convinces her cousin to spare Edwards, and is quickly grabbed when Adams awakens.
Kyle attempts to save her, killing Adams in the process, and is shot twice by General Edwards.
Kyle spun on Edwards, but the general already had his derringer in his hand. It didn't make any difference; Kyle leapt at him anyway.
The gun was small, only good for two rounds, but graphically effective at short range. Edwards shot Kyle twice while he was in the air; the body that landed on the general was almost dead.
Edwards pushed Kyle off, while Minmei came to her cousin's side, knelt, and brushed his raven's-wing forelock out of his eyes. She took his head into her lap tenderly, as Edwards labored to regain his breath and get to his feet.
Kyle's eyelids fluttered. "Minmei..."
"Shhh."
There was no saving him; she kept her trembling hand at his chin, so he couldn't see the melted fabric and bloody mess that was his chest. Kyle coughed, "The war was almost over. We'd won."
"We'd won." She nodded. "You won it for us, Kyle." She was about to faint, holding a human body that was half blown open, but she found reserves of courage from someplace she had never delved into before, and smiled down at him instead.
There was a final, galvanic bit of life to him. "Tell me you love me, Minmei. Let it be the last thing I hear. Please."
Once, she would have hung back from conceding that, but she had suffered so much since joining the Sentinels...it seemed that last words were all she knew anymore.
"I love you, Lynn-Kyle. Now and forever."
Minmei locked her mouth to his, and felt Kyle go cold and lifeless. She held him close, rocking as she embraced his head, crooning a little children's song he had taught her a thousand eons ago.
There was the sudden grip of bloody hands, and Edwards dragged her away from Lynn-Kyle's corpse. He was speaking into a rover commo unit through his smashed face. "Rally here! Rally here! Make pickup at this location at once!"
There was a burst of static as someone acknowledged from the assault units. Minmei knew she was still a captive and that Edwards might still win the day, but all of that was unimportant to her now.
I'm not a prisoner anymore. I have my own part to play now.
She glanced around the room, and everything she saw seemed to be an edged weapon or a bludgeon. Edwards, still trying to arrange for a rendezvous, was suddenly troubled when he saw Minmei's slow smile.
Back on the Ark Angel, Tesla's slave, Jack Baker, is making preparations for Tesla's grand address to the Sentinels, when he is confronted by Karen Penn.
Of course, she is quite put off by his current subservient attitude, and readies herself to clobber him, only to kiss him, passionately, Jack pressing her to the wall as his will begins to assert itself.
Tesla quickly regains control over his slave, and he leaves her to continue his preparations for his address.
When Tesla finally arrives before the Sentinels, he offers to use his more evolved nature to take control of the Invid garrison on Spheris and order them to lay down their arms.
The Sentinels command don't trust him, but the rest of the Sentinels do. They are forced to agree with his plan, and they contact Baldan II and Teal.
The Spherians, other than Baldan II and Teal, believe that this is the best plan, and agree. They don't want to fight, and Teal is wary.
Tesla is once again with fitted with the explosive collar, and Jack is given a firing switch (while a second is secreted into the control console of the Ark Angel),
Jack, Gnea, Burak, and Tesla are then taken down to the planet by Veidt in a Haydonite flyer to the Invid Hive where Tesla quickly takes control of some of the Invid in the hive.
Tesla orders that the Invid Fruit be secured, while Veidt objects and attempts to contact the Ark Angel. Gnea is ordered by her Master to deal with him, and she blasts the console of the flyer.
Like I said, Tesla was only able to take command of some of the Invid. The rest remain under the control of the Invid Brain, and it orders in an Invid Dropship to deal with the traitors.
Tesla orders the ones under his command to combat the ones loyal to the Brain, Jack and Burak to secure the Fruit, and Gnea to keep watch on the Haydonite.
Invid fight Invid in the capitol city of Beroth, ravaging it in the process.
During the combat, the R.E.F. Sentinels order Karen Penn to perform some recon, and see if she can determine which Invid are Tesla's and which aren't. She makes contact with Gnea, and is told that Tesla's Invid will blink their sensors, and requests a pick up for Jack and Tesla.
She arrives at the location of Jack and Burak, and Jack signals her for assistance. He says that Burak has been hit, and he needs her help.
She lands, and exits the Alpha to assist, and is ambushed by Burak, who knocks her out.
Within the surface of Spheris, Baldan II attempts to rally his people again, but fails. Their spirit for fighting is now gone, for the moment.
Karen awakens, and discovers that she has been tied up.
She tries to talk some sense into Jack and Burak, but they are ordered by their master to kill her.
Jack begins to fight the spell, and as he approaches Karen, she makes her move, kissing him deeply, and breaks Tesla's hold over him.
Burak notices this, and goes after the humans.
Jack fights the horned Perytonian as Tesla attempts to re-exert his control, which only manages to knock Jack off balance. It gives Burak the advantage that he needs, and he gores Jack with his horns.
During the fight, Karen managed to grab a weapon, and fires it at Burak, causing the young bull to flee in Karen's Alpha, leaving her to tend to a dying Jack Baker.
She can't get him back to the Ark Angel, and can't contact them because her helmet was destroyed during the fight.
Tesla orders some Inorganics to deal with the human couple.
As the Sentinels join in the fight, Tesla pulls back his troops so save them for the eventual battle with the Regent.
Upon Burak's return, Tesla informs him that he is planning to go to Optera, and Burak refuses, his finger on the collar's detonation switch. Tesla unlocks it with his mind, and tosses it aside, then regains mental control over Burak, while Veidt escapes.
Tesla, Burak, and Gnea depart the hive with the fruit, and head to the Invid Troop Carriers on the other side of Beroth, followed by his troops.
Unable to convince his people of their need to fight back against the Invid, Baldan II and Teal enter the Invid's armory via the Fiber Optic cabling which connects it to the hive.
They both grab Protoculture powered weapons, and make their way to the Invid Brain.
The two Spherian Sentinels fire Protoculture weaponry on the surface of Spheris.
Three Hellcats have been assigned the task to deal with Karen and a wounded Jack, but only one has arrived, the others having been destroyed by the Brain's Invid.
As it prepares to pounce, it is pulled back by two Odeon's under the Brain's control, and is quickly pulled apart. The two Odeons are about to have their fun with the humans, when they are destroyed by Bela in her Alpha.
The Sentinels realize that they have been double crossed, and the Ark Angel begins to make planet fall just as Baldan and Teal are firing at the Brain.
The planet cries out in torment, and begins to tremble
Baldan and Teal then flee, having failed in destroying the brain, and escape back into the crystal highways when a quake causes the armory to be punctured by a piece of the planet's surface.
The Brain orders the use of Protoculture weaponry, and Invid gun turrets unleash waves of annihilation discs upon Tesla's soldiers and the Sentinels alike.
As Tesla bolts for the Troop Carriers, Veidt assists Gnea in breaking free from Tesla's grasp, and they escape, knocking Burak out, and taking him with them.
As they return to the Ark Angel, two Spherians, Teal and her son, emerge from the planet in front of the hive, to close to it to be fired upon by the Invid.
They are soon joined by more and more until they surround the Invid Hive.
They link hands, and as if it were being commanded, the planet Spheris itself swallows the hive, trapping the still living Invid within the bowels of the planet.
Tesla takes complete control of the remaining Invid, and escapes with three Invid Troop Carriers full of soldiers, and plots a course for Optera.
The Ghost Squadron make their way to the new SDF-7, and hijack it.
Edwards orders his men to pull back, and rendezvous with the SDF-7.
Col. Wolff, who has been giving Edwards chase with the Wolff Pack, makes contact with Edwards and is shocked when he sees that Edwards has a hostage. Lynn Minmei.
Edwards makes it to the SDF-7, and orders a course for Optera.
The Valivarre, loaded with loyal R.E.F. soldiers, is ordered in pursuit of Edwards vessel, but can't catch up to Edwards faster ship. Wolff once again attempts contact with Edwards, and is once again shocked by the scene before him.
He was about to give up in despair, the SDF widening its lead on the Zentraedi ship. But to everyone's surprise Edwards's contemptuous smile appeared on the main screen.
"Jonathan, old man! Sorry I can't dawdle, but tempus fugit, and so must I. You understand."
"I challenge you," Wolff said again. "One on one. VTs, Hovertanks, bare hands-name it."
The Zentraedi on duty on the bridge grunted a certain grudging respect for Wolff then, even though he had shown certain weaknesses; this was a challenge worthy of a Zentraedi!
But Edwards shook his head in mock exasperation. "Still the romantic, eh, Jonathan? Well, I'm afraid I haven't got time to play black knight to your Galahad. I've other things to do, as you can see."
The camera angle shifted to a long shot, and Wolff moaned.
He and the others in Valivarre were staring at the most outlandish wedding scene conceivable. Inorganics formed a guard of honor. Ghost Riders stood in ranks in a "chapel" that was a vacant hold. The altar appeared to be the unadorned spacefold mountings, presided over by Benson, one of Edwards's aides.
The pickup followed Edwards as he went to the altar. Waiting for him there was Minmei, still wearing the clothes she had worn in her cell but with the addition of a veil improvised from gossamer antivermin netting.
The pickup zoomed in on Minmei. She seemed a little pale, but her eyes were bright and adoring as she took the general's hand. She turned to the camera for a moment.
"Good-bye, Jonathan. I've found happiness at last. I do really think it's time you go home to the family you deserted and try to make amends to them, don't you?"
Then she and Edwards knelt before Benson, as he raised his arms to the crowd and intoned, "My fellow Edwardsian warriors, we are gathered here-"
The commo link was broken at the SDF's end.
Wolff was sobbing and shaking his head. "It's a trick! It's a phony tape, or he's got her drugged!"
"Intel officer?" Breetai snapped crisply, turning to his staff.
"Voice-stress and imagery-interpretation computers confirm authenticity," a giant tech officer answered. "No indications of coercion or chemical manipulation."
"That can't be!" Wolff howled, then put his face in his hands. Some of the other Humans got him off the bridge.
Breetai's eyes stayed with his instruments in the vain hope that a power failure or a change of mind would put Edwards back within his grasp. He castigated himself for not giving in to one of his hundred impulses to kill the man, despite his Zentraedi oath of fealty to the REF.
And he felt a pang of sorrow for Wolff. Breetai, as much as anybody, knew what hurt the love of Minmei could inflict.
The Crann, Scrim, and Odeon watching the wedding service hadn't the vaguest idea what it meant, so they weren't surprised when the bride went berserk, just as the soft music began to play.
The Humans did understand, but tried to ignore her rising shriek as she leapt up from her kneeling position and turned on Edwards, trying to claw out his good eye. Edwards hissed out a few perfunctory vulgar words as he fended her off. The two Hellcats flanking the altar backed away, spitting.
He had come so close. Experimenting with the power of the Invid Brain he now controlled, he had learned how to bend Minmei to him. The effort had taken the major part of his will-to the point where the Inorganics were little more than awkward puppets-because somewhere deep inside, Minmei was fighting him every inch of the way.
Edwards knocks Minmei out, and she awakens chained to a crude wooden "X" on the ships bridge, and silently swears to kill Edwards when she has the chance.
The third battle for Tirol is over, and the R.E.F. is licking it's wounds.
Dr. Lang surprises the R.E.F. once again by revealing that he has many completed fold drives, including those that were meant for the ship that Edwards stole.
Planning for a second mission to Earth begins, and Wolff is offered the command.
Differences from Art Three and the Novels
Future story plans from Robotech II: The Sentinels Book Four #0
Synopsis of Robotech II: The Sentinels Book Four Halloween Special
The Sentinels arrive at Spheris and enter low orbit, where they detect an astroid in low orbit
They decide to use it as cover and have power redirected to repairing ship from damage sustained by Black Death Destroyers
Lron objects.
"I have heard stories from Karbarran Belt Miners about such things. Asteroids that appear out of nowhere, follow no regular orbit, moving independently of all gravity fields, defying all known laws of astrophysics and then . . . . disappear without a trace."
"And strange things always happen when one is close by. I beg of you Admiral, don't go near it."
Crysta objects to Lron's objection, and they use the asteroid as cover
Upon failing to detect the underground shelters on Spheris, they detect cavities filled with gas inside the asteroid, and Rick is anxious to test out the Haydonite Disk Armor and explore the asteroid.
Rick sets the armor for EVA mode, and along with Jack, Karen, Bela, and Gnea, they set out to explore the asteroid, leaving a very miffed Lisa behind.
The EVA group can't determine what the gas is made up of from the surface, so they enter a fissure, and gather a sample from deep within.
During the journey, Jack is up to his old tricks of tormenting Karen (pic).
As they journey deeper, they are surrounded by the gas, and it enters their suits, alarming those on the bridge of the Ark Angel.
As Lisa prepares to mount a rescue, the gas dissipates, and they depart the asteroid, samples in hand.
They are taken to the bio-lab where they are analyzed (and word bubbles are misplaced [pic]), and no foreign substances are detected.
As the crew of the Ark Angel sleeps, and Janice and Veidt analyze the gas samples, some gas leaks from Rick's and Karen's disks, taking over the minds of Lisa and Karen.
As a hypnotized Karen walks down a corridor, Jack encounters her, and begins rambling at her, even confessing his love.
He kisses her, but she is a complete blank, and runs.
Lisa is at the computer terminal in her and Rick's quarters, going over all the data contained within the ships computers. She copies the data onto a Haydonite sphere, and knocks Rick out with it as Karen enters the bio-lab, taking the gas samples with her.
Bela and Gnea, also under the control of the gas from their discs, join Karen and take the analysis of the gas with them.
Janice and Veidt contact a just awakening Rick, and notifies him about Karen, Bela, and Gnea's strange behavior.
Jack and Rick are both alright, but the gas has taken control of some of the female crew while they were asleep, and they head towards the airlock.
The girls activate the EVA mode of their disks, but are stopped by Veidt's locking of the airlock.
Just as Lron arrives, Bela activates her Haydonite Sword, and slices through the airlock, sucking Rick, Jack, Janice, and Lron into space. They barely activate their disks in time.
They follow the girls to the asteroid, where the samples have been released, and the girls awaken, the data spheres gone.
A gaseous creature escapes from Jack's disk, and returns to a vent in the asteroid.
The asteroid begins to tremble, and the Sentinels barely escape from within before it flies away.
The asteroid was a ship, and now they have all of the data from the Haydonite ship and the R.E.F. SDF-7.