Humanities Chance
Robotech/BSG Crossover
Author's Foreword: I have read a few stories of this type and would like to put out my own version. However, with my story it is mostly going to be AU other than the base idea of each universe. If you don't like idea of this then don't read it. One of the things I have done, is increased the timeframe from the crash of SDF-1 to the arrival of the Zentraedi. There are other changes as well, such as timeframes, names, places and ships to both universes.
A/N - Updates to spelling and format issues. Tech notes added at end.
It almost felt like it was yesterday, that fateful day 15 years ago when the visitor crash-landed on what was to become Macross Island in the Pacific ocean.
The middle of the Global war saw the arrival of the Visitor; this was not just an asteroid that crashed upon Macross Island but an alien ship from a warrior race some 18meters in height. This brought a stoppage to the war and a younger Captain Gloval his first encounter with the aliens that were to dominate his life in preparation for their arrival to reclaim this ship.
The world came together over this ship, instead of continuing the insanity and reasoning of the Global war brought the best and brightest to go over each and every centimeter of the ship. When the first inspection teams examined the alien ship, they discovered massive rents in its armor and a warping of the lower keel, which appeared to take the brunt of impact. It was decided to cut away the sections of the ship that were too badly damaged and expand the vessel to almost double its original length. The examination of the materials and the equipment found inside helped Humanity advance in leaps and bounds.
Construction, material science, computers, and other sciences were advanced faster than one could believe. Even the once far-fetched ideas of faster than light travel, fusion power and shields were brought to light from the technologies gleamed inside.
One of the things that was created was the fantastic birth of Robotechnology; a science that melded man and machine in miraculous ways and created a way of possibly defending Earth from the aliens. The creator of this technology Dr. Lang speculated of how operators would be able to pull off maneuvers of incredible feats that would put current fighters to shame.
Military weaponry went from chemical propulsion to using magnetic rail tech, and the first practical laser weaponry that could damage material samples of the ship were now standard for all branches of the world military. Armor for troops went from Kevlar vests and ceramic plates to powered suits that could absorb the equivalent of a 120mm round of force and still keep the soldier alive, a little worse for wear, but still alive. Armored tanks soon became incredibly more massive 500-ton tanks and Destroids that were created, having five times the fire rate of a M1A2 and power equivalent to the power of 25kilotons per shot.
The world governments considered covering up the true size and threat of the unknown aliens, but a group of dissenters to this agenda fought back and won the right to tell the world. Stating that it would cause the world to unite even further and speed up repairs and the reverse engineering of technologies found in the Visitor. By late 2000 the beginnings of the United World Government started, ensuring that all would have a fair say in how to use the ship, and the steps to take in protecting the Earth.
By 2003, the four-year anniversary of the crash landing Earth began the deployment of the first capable SSTO's launchers and spaceships. With the Protoculture power plants that were deciphered from the wreck, they were able to travel the solar system in months vice years, bringing a boom in the lifestyle and resources to the planet even further accelerating the advancement.
Late 2003 early spring of 2004 saw the beginning of the massive space dry dock and space station in orbit of Earth, the first permanent Lunar and Mars bases. Each first crewed with the top scientists and engineers to ensure that Humanity would not be entirely destroyed if an attack came. Then the Jupiter and Saturn gas mines and early warning stations came online. Giving Humanity at least a few hours warning of the Aliens arrived, along with the added bonus of detecting any asteroids or comets heading towards the Earth.
2005 through 2008 saw further development of Earth and the solar system with the completion of the asteroid miners' fleet of 100 vessels bringing in materials for the ever-expanding fleet, bases, defenses, and the on-going repairs of the Visitor. With the completion of the space station, they were able to increase the build rate from three ships to 15 ships a year. Over sixty million people now lived and worked in space by the end of 2008, with the UEG thinking of creating massive orbital bases and colonies out of Nickel-Iron asteroids some expected to be over 10 kilometers in diameter.
In the end of 2009 saw the launch of the first fully human built starship, using an example of the fold drive it first traveled from Earth to the Dwarf Planet Pluto. Once the testing was complete, the UEG planned a two-year trip to map and examine the 50 closest stars. This was a twofold mission; first to gain knowledge and experience operating away from earth's resource base; and second to deploy the second-generation sensor probes in the off chance of detecting the aliens prior to arrival at earth.
During 2011, some of the final touches were placed on the newly expanded visitor and testing of the integrated systems began. Which during one of the inspections, Dr. Lang's team discovered the program conversion between the two systems was generating random errors preventing accurate, repeatable results for reliable operation. The UEG and Dr. Lang's team determined that only a full rewrite with double redundancy in the computer systems coding and equipment were the only way to ensure everything would work right. They would end up taking another full two years in coding and testing getting it just right.
In the winter of 2013 the Earth and the United Earth Government compiled a report of the amount resources, personnel, and military equipment readily available to call upon incase the aliens arrived. There were over 100 million living in space among the various habitats, asteroids, the Moon, Mars and the outer planets stations. A total of 35 habitats, or orbital fortresses in and around the Moon and Earth, each had two copies of the main guns from the SDF along with thousands of the combat lasers on their surface. The grand fortress placed halfway between the Earth and Moon was a staggering 15km in diameter. It had its own factories, farms, and two UN Space bases, with the ability to repair a ship the size of the SDF or 10 of the ARMD carriers that was nearing completion.
The final touches was put in place and the SDF-1 was finally fully crewed and stocked with weapons, supplies and materials to repair the ship to a minimal extent. Some of the top military personnel in their fields vied for the chance to command the ship. The honor finally went to Captain Gloval, the man that was first on station when the visitor landed. The planned commissioning date and launch was to be the 5th of February 2014.
Commissioning day was also that fateful day the Aliens finally arrived in the solar system. An initial probe folded into high orbit of Earth that surprised the military in the operation of said drive. Surprisingly, even after all the modifications and repairs to SDF-1, the ships original programming took over, charging the main gun and firing at the scouts. Thus, beginning what was to be called the First Space War.
After the initial battle, ordering the civilians of Macross Island into their shelters, and initial bombardment of the island. SDF-1 took off, losing half of its anti-gravity drives. They used traditional rockets to lift off. Without the gravity drives they were unable to completely leave the atmosphere. Leading to that fateful order of using the Fold drive within the atmosphere; only four kilometers above the island.
"JUMP!" As the bright light of Fold drive enveloped SDF-1, Macross Island the surrounding vessels, and half of a light destroyer that was coming to drop more assault pods to capture Zor's former ship.
SSTO - Single stage to Orbit launch vehicles. A dream of many was finally brought to fruition from technology discovered onboard the visitor. It enabled lighter and stronger materials that could handled the stresses and heat from launches and landings safely. Allowing the UEG to move mass amounts of materials into space and built first Space station Freedom and then others until they were experienced enough and started construction of Space Station Liberty.
Asteroid Miners Fleet - The backbone of the Solar systems economy, some two thousand modified SSTO's. Since the opening of the solar system due to SSTO's, fusion power systems and gravity induction drives, they have mined and moved millions of tones of materials from asteroid belt to the inner system, helping to switch the planet from a planetary-based manufacturing to a spaced based one. Allowing habitats and stations throughout the system to be constructed. The most recent project they have been involved with the moving and construction of the Asteroid habitats; which have been used to house and supply the growing UN Space Fleet and the ever-growing amount of people that have chosen to move off the planet and into space.
Human FTL ships - The first of which was commissioned in 2009, named the Icarus. It was the first of many ships that was used to explore the areas surrounding Sol space. Capable of making a maximum five light year fold jump due to the limitations in supplying a large enough power supply and the rough amalgamation of the Fold drive matrix. It is expected with data results from the testing of SDF-1's fold drive after commissioning that scientist can improve upon the purely human built version, expanding the range capabilities.
Fold Sensor Buoys - A derivative of the Fold drive and modern AEGIS sensors, it was accidentally discovered when testing and construction of the first human built fold drives in 2006-07 time-frame. Instrumentation from the tests showed a distinct echo in the drive harmonics. This was extrapolated that was a return of real space and fold space in real time up to 2AU for the setup. Further experimentation allowed an increase of range giving operators the ability to see the whole solar system with the first generation buoys. By the time of Icarus launch, the second-generation buoys were ready with an increased range of two light years and a vector discrimination of 0.002 arc seconds at that range.