The Invid Invasion

The Invid did not arrive with a fleet of ships like the Zentraedi or Robotech Masters had, neither presenting an imposing fleet nor sneaking in quietly. Rather, they emerged from out of hyperspace as a powerful energy beam, one made up of half their species, transmuted into pure energy by the sheer willpower of the Regis. The remnants of the Southern Cross had precious little warning of what was about to happen, let alone time to prepare for it. Even their worst-case scenarios had not predicted something so overwhelming.

Arriving in Earth orbit, the colossal energy beam obliterated the remnants of the Southern Cross' space fleet before splintering into numerous smaller ones that surrounded the Earth. These beams then lanced down, obliterating entire cities and military bases in moments before anyone had time to react. In their wake emerged Invid Hives, which began spewing forth seemingly endless streams of Mecha to directly confront those that had survived the first strike. There were no efforts to communicate, no demands for surrender. Just total, overwhelming force.

What was left of the Southern Cross, along with those factional militaries that had emerged over the last six months, tried to fight back. However, their forces were tired, fragmented and scattered, lacking in coordination and planning. Furthermore, the Invid's numbers were seemingly endless, with nothing that anyone did being able to stop them or even make a dent in their strength. Fighting back only seemed to further enrage the Invid, who took to attacking anything that even remotely smacked of resistance. The Invaders were utterly merciless towards those who tried to stand against them, usually destroying them down to the last man.

On the ground, panic set in among the populace. Those cities that had survived the initial bombardment soon turned into chaotic battlegrounds as whatever defenders remained tried to hold back the Invid tide, all the while dealing with panicking and fleeing civilians. While some cities, such as Denver, had organised evacuation plans, most simply had no idea what to do, or watched as those plans collapsed under the brutal realities of the situation. Roads were gridlocked as people tried to escape the fighting, although there was always the question of where they were going to run to.

The answer was space. Those remaining spaceports were flooded with desperate refugees trying to get away from the Invid swarm and had become a focus point for remaining ASC forces. Every effort was made to maintain some order while getting as many people way as possible, but the harsh truth was that they only had the capacity to evacuate a tiny fraction of the population. Even then, priority was being given to a select few, such as UEG officials or ranking Southern Cross officers. Not that all of those made it off-world, as a number of UEG officials were killed not by Invid forces, but by vengeful mobs who blamed them for all that was happening.

As the mass evacuation got underway, the last organised resistance began to collapse. Spearheaded by the Black Lion squadron, the last of the TASC punched through the Invid, clearing the way for a motley collection of commercial and military shuttles, OTVs and a handful of warships, each packed with refugees. This force, lead by Dana Sterling, included the majority of the surviving Tirolians that had been left behind on Earth following the collapse of their empire. One way or another, many veteran Southern Cross soldiers also found their way into this escape force, although there was no real plan for continuity of command.

Most of those ships were not capable of hyperspace travel, and instead headed to the moon or Mars to land at the colonies there. While those settlements were stretched to capacity by the new arrivals, they also did what they could to absorb the survivors, although living conditions on those bases would be crowded and rough for years to come. Major-General Desmond Nobutu, the commander of Moon Base ALuCE and the highest-ranking survivor of the TASC, proved to be a vital stabilising element at this point, helping to bring together the population and keep them calm in the face of an unimaginable situation. On the other side, Sterling led those ships that were capable of folding back to Tirol to rendezvous with the expeditionary force and inform them of what had happened to Earth.

There was never any formal ceasefire or surrender, nor did the Invid even make any offers of such. From all available historical records, the last organised resistance to the invasion collapsed a week after the Invasion, as the last units of the Southern Cross were either destroyed or lost cohesion. Fragmented radio messages would continue to sputter out over the next few days, serving only to further underscore the harsh reality of the situation. The war was over, and the Invid had won.