EMISSARIES WEEK - Macross II: Lost Voices of the Galaxy

Macross II
Lost Voices of the Galaxy

by James Pickens
chapter one: an ancient sound

The warm winds of the Atlantic Ocean washed over her, her light sea green hair gently drifting in the wind. The U.N. aircraft carrier was almost an antique, yet it served its purpose, as they drew closer to the ruins of the Protoculture city on Earth. The young Lady Liana stood in her Emulator robes, watching as the island and its towers came into view. Much of the great city was destroyed by its sinking, followed by the Zentraedi attack and then the Meltrandi attack upon the Macross before the final battle. It was here that the love song was found and it was here that helped give rise to the people of Earth, much like the Protoculture helped raise the Marduk so very long ago.

It was believed by many that the Marduk legends, much like the Zentraedi fleets such as Boldolza's, all had beliefs that descended from the Protoculture. Yet no one clearly knew what happened to the Protoculture, only that its effects on the various worlds of the known galaxy could be seen.

Lady Liana closed her eyes, and let the sound of the wrld tell her Earth's story. She could, even at this distance, hear the wind whistling thorugh the ancient ruins of the Protoculture. She hoped that song would be the key to finding the answers ... of the Zentraedi, the Meltrandi, the Marduk, the humans, and how it all tied together.

"Lady Liana." Her concentration was disrupted by the Marduk commander walking up behind her. "Are you sure you are ready to do this?"

"Yes, Lord Rylen, I'm ready to go."

Behind the young woman stood the impressive figure of one of the Marduk Commanders, Lord Rylen. Rylen was large and well built, in full uniform with a grim look on his face. His long silver hair was parted down the center and flowed down his back; his face wasn't too worn from combat, being younger than most commanders. He looked to be in his late twenties in human reckoning. His dark red eyes were focused upon the storms brewing behind them. "They say that storm will overtake us in about three hours. They'd prefer us to be back in two hours, if at all possible, so we'll need to make today's operation just a quick reconnaissance."

Lady Liana turned to Rylen. "This isn't a military operation ..."

"I understand, my lady. We cannot take any risks, however. I do not feel comfortable without any sort of Marduk support with us."

"Lord Rylen, you mustn't worry so much. The U.N. Spacy will take good care of us. They will not try to break the peace treaty signed by Grand Lord Feff."

Lord Rylen smirked, and Liana knew she had spoken the right words to calm the commander. Of course, a Marduk commander would not be as trusting of human society, but it was the Emulators who could feel the truth of this planet. It was the Emulators who were so moved by Ishtar's song.

"Well then, my lady, our shuttle awaits us."

Continued in Emissaries Vol. 2 Issue 2 ...

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Yeah, I know, the first selection I pulled to promote the ROBOTECH fanzine isn't even a ROBOTECH story -- you want to make something of it?

Seriously, James told me that his ROBOTECH fanfic idea -- a reimagining of an old Zentraedi tale he's had knocking around his noggin for years and years -- was falling flat, and he was putting some folks through a game of the old Palladium Macross II RPG, so that's kind of where his head was at the time this story was concieved. I hope his head's still there, because I honestly can't wait to see where he's going with this.

I'm still kind of fond of Macross II -- I still think it's the best adaptation of Haruhiko Mikimoto's art to animation ever -- though I'm nowhere near as fond of it as I was when I first saw it, nor am I anywhere near as fond of it as James is. I swear, when I first encountered him years and years ago on the old Robotech Message Board, you couldn't find a bigger Macross II fanboy than he was, and honestly it amazes me to see that he's still taken with it enough that he'd want to go back there in such a major way. I mean, when I watch it now, all I see is another fun but ultimately undercooked early 90's mecha OVA; as anyone who makes it through the first chapter of Lost Voices of the Galaxy will see, James obviously sees something more.

Fun fact: Because it was something like four in the morning when I finished assembling and editing the new issue of Emissaries, there are more typos in the printed copy than there are in the above (retyped from a printout I had handy) excerpt. Whoops!