Outpost Bases
The Outpost Bases were built early in the Reconstruction to serve as bases for the Robotech Defense Forces dealing with rogue Zentraedi thought to be hiding out in the jungles of Indochina. When the Malcontent Uprisings broke out the majority of the conflicts were centered in South America and Africa, so RDF resources were diverted there and the Outpost Bases were abandoned.
History
In mid-2026 a group of high-tech bandits operating in Indochina Quadrant discovered the buried wreckage of a crashed Zentraedi Quiltra Queleual class carrier some 20 km east of the southern edge of Tonle Sap. The wreck was the motherlode of Robotech salvage. While most of the main ships systems were damaged beyond repair, the mecha bays contained thousands of intact Zentraedi mechs. The find was much more than the small band could manage so they immediately reburied the exposed sections and did their best to conceal their find. Leaving behind a small squad of mercenary guards the group set out to find a suitable buyer who could help fund the extensive salvage operation.
In Shanghalla the group's leaders began putting out feelers, hinting at a major mecha salvage find. Their efforts caught the attention of Oracle Incorporated, a front company for organized crime figure Jacob Damballah. Damballah had the connections to find a proper buyer and, acting as middleman, put the bandits in touch with representatives of the New World Order (posing as EBSIS agents). With its resources the NWO quickly absorbed the bandit group and set out to verify the nature of the wreck. The initial survey was impeded by the arrival of the monsoon season but by the fall of 2026 the find had been confirmed.
The Carrier was exactly what the NWO was looking for. It would provide more than enough raw materials for the NWO to build their own mecha army. Working through intermediaries, mainly Damballah's organization, a salvage operation was set up. By all outward appearances the operation would appear to be a typical high-tech bandit ring, possibly secretly backed by the EBSIS. With their connections to the UEG and Southern Cross, the NWO gained access to the information on the abandoned Outpost Bases in the Indochina Quadrant. These locations would provide excellent base camps for the salvage operation and in 2027 the NWO began reclamation and refit operations on the bases, which had been left abandoned since the RDF's departure from the area after the Malcontent Uprisings.
Outpost Base One (OPB-1) was the most distant base and so was set up as an automated defense post. The anti-aircraft battery was reactivated, rearmed, and reprogrammed to shoot down any aircraft approaching the Outpost Bases too closely. The AA batteries were linked to the main control computer at OPB-3 so they could be reprogrammed as required. As an extra precaution the Mekong River between the Mekong Delta and OPB-1 was saturated with AM-1 and AM-2 anti-mecha mines to prevent any Southern Cross incursions up the river, and to take care of any full-sized rogue Zentraedi who might wander in (however unlikely).
OPB-2 and OPB-3 were set up as way stations. Both bases lie along the route between the Phnom-Penh ruins and the Ho-Chi Minh crater, stretch that sees a lot of vi llagers, mercenaries, and high-tech bandit traffic. These bases would serve as advance warning posts and as storage and supply depots for the salvage operation. OPB-3 would also serve as the operation's defensive command post and house the control computer for all the bases' anti-aircraft defense systems. OPB-4 became the salvage center. Mecha and equipment taken from the ship wreckage 120 km away would be brought to OPB-4 for processing. Eventually OPB-4 became a fully equipped mecha factory and the primary mech construction facility (and where the prototype NWO mecha were developed) until the NWO's Himalaya factory went online.
With the NWO's master plan moving forward the salvage operations have essentially stopped. The NWO then proceeded to eliminate the trail connecting the salvage operation to them. All mecha production operations moved to the Himalaya factory and essential NWO personnel were transferred out. The bases were then manned by high-tech bandit and mercenary crews who thought they were simply part of a salvage operation and had no idea of the existence of the NWO. The Oracle Incorporated angle had also been taken care of. The NWO were the ones who leaked information regarding Damballah's drug operations to the GMP. This led to a Southern Cross special forces team (Gryphon Squad) being assigned to take out Damballah and his organization in the summer of 2028. The NWO had covertly taken control of several of Oracle's assets that they had need of for their master plan.
With the NWO's efforts to increase tensions between the UEG and the EBSIS succeeding it was easy for NWO operatives within the government to convince the Southern Cross to reclaim the Outpost Bases to provide an extra line of defense against possible EBSIS incursions through Indochina (which would put the Soviets within striking distance of Australia Quadrant). This way the Southern Cross would take care of the group left behind to manage the salvage operation. As an extra precaution the NWO had also leaked the location of the Carrier wreckage to a faction of rogue Zentraedi operating in central Indochina. This kind of find was far too valuable for the Zentraedi to pass up so they would undoubtedly try to seize what was left after the NWO's operation (which would turn out to bevery little). With luck, the NWO hoped the Zentraedi would also help ensure that the bandit group left behind was eliminated and would also serve to distract the Southern Cross forces in the region.
When the Southern Cross did commit resources to reclaim the Outpost Bases, the NWO was also able to arrange that the 474th ATAC Squadron, whose members had stumbled across clues that implied that the UEG and EBSIS were being manipulated to increase tensions, would be assigned to the mission (and hopefully eliminated). The plan nearly succeeded, as the Southern Cross forces managed to remove the high tech bandits and they in turn fell under attack by the renegade Zentraedi faction seeking to claim the wreck. Only the timely arrival of the 21st ATAC Squadron prevented a complete massacre.
The Outpost Bases were eventually re-equipped, and served as support bases when the N.W.O. conflict erupted in earnest and Indochina became the location of several battles. Following World War IV, the bases remained operational and continued to support the Southern Cross forces as tensions between the UEG and the EBSIS threatened to turn into a full-blown war, with nearby China and Manchuria Quadrants being one of the hot spots.
During the Second Robotech War none of the major battles took place in Indochina Quadrant. As the war dragged on the Southern Cross forces in the area were slowly withdrawn and redeployed to the nearby major conflict zones in Japan and Australia. As a result the Outpost Bases were again abandoned.
