- "Yeah. Just because we can’t see them on our scopes doesn’t mean we can’t hit them!"
- ―Marcus Rush to Maia Sterling and the rest of Skull Squadron.[src]
Marcus Rush was a Veritech pilot, born in deep space during the 22-year-long Pioneer Expedition, who was a key individual near the end of the Third Robotech War and the beginning of the Fourth. He was the sibling to Marlene Rush, and was very close with both her and her boyfriend, Scott Bernard. The supposed death of both of them left him bitter at the Invid, filled with wishes of revenge for his lost family. Marcus served in Wolf Squadron, until the death of their commander meant a merge with Skull Squadron, under the Command of Maia Sterling.
History[]
Early Life[]
Marcus Rush was born during the Pioneer Expedition to the Local Group of Fantoma. He joined the Robotech Academy on Tirol with his friend Alex Romero after the failure of the Second Earth Reclamation Force in 2042, where his older sister Marlene and her boyfriend Scott Bernard were among those presumed K.I.A in their attempt to free Earth from the Invid led by the Regess, leading to him developing a huge hatred for all aliens.
By 2044, both him and his best friend Alex Romero had become members of Wolf Squadron under Jack Baker, and most likely saw action against the Invid during the final stages of the Sentinels War.
Third Robotech War[]
Following the REF Civil War, Marcus and Romero and a part of Wolf Squadron were assigned to the Third Earth Reclamation Force with them now under the command of Daryl Taylor. Upon arriving near Earth's Solar System, they were stationed in Space Station Liberty.
Just before the Battle of Reflex Point, he and Alex were sent on a scouting mission near the debris of the failed Earth Reclamation Forces. During the mission, Marcus thought on the events that led to the Third Robotech War and the death of his sister and her boyfriend. Upon returning to Moon Base ALUCE, Marcus saw Maia Sterling doing maintenance on her custom Alpha Fighter, Alex immediately noticed that he found the girl attractive which led to him to joke about only joining the REF to get the attention of girls.
On the day of the Battle of Reflex Point, Marcus attempted to flirt with Maia, only to be intimidated by her overconfident attitude.
Marcus was part of the first wave of Alpha Fighters during the final attempt to reclaim Earth from the Invid where he would manage to shot down many Invid fighters, however, because of his carelessness, he would be nearly killed when an Invid transport deployed all of its fighters behind him only to be saved by Maia Sterling. When the battle tide turned against the REF, he would witness the death of Wolf Leader Daryl Taylor, which led to him to lose all composture and attack the Invid in a rage.
When General Reinhardt announced the deployment of the highly-destructive Neutron-S missiles, Romero was shocked and disagreed with the decision while Marcus felt that using the missiles was justified in order to stop the Invid. However, the missiles would destroyed by the Regess when she departed Earth alongside all of her Invid to find a new home. The retreat of the Invid in the middle of the battle left Marcus feeling that the battle was too easily won, something that Romero and Sterling disagreed due to the REF's high casualty rate.
Following the debriefing of the battle, what was left of Wolf Squadron was merged with the legendary Skull Squadron, which to the surprise of both Marcus and Alex, was led by Maia Sterling, daughter of legendary pilot Max Sterling. (Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles)
Fourth Robotech War[]
When the Icarus returned to Moon Base ALUCE with news that the SDF-3 was attacked by an unknown faction, Marcus was reunited with Scott Bernard, who had survived the destruction of the Second Reclamation fleet and spent a year leading a small group of rebels on Earth. However, their happy reunion turned sour when Bernard informed Marcus that Marlene died along the Second Reclamation fleet. When Ariel travelled to the base to warn Scott of the "Children of the Shadows", she met Marcus and felt his genuine hatred of aliens simply by being in his presence, causing her heavy discomfort, leading to Scott and Ariel to leave for the dorms. In a room, Ariel used her Invid abilities to show Scott images of what the Children of the Shadows did to the Invid's original homeworld. However, Marcus would enter the room and immediately identify Ariel as an Invid with him attempting to kill her only to be stopped by Scott. Angered by Scott's betrayal, he immediately reported him to the authorities, leading to Scott's arrest and interrogation by Vince Grant and General Reinhardt.
Skull Squadron during The Battle of Space Station Liberty. (Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles)
When communications with Space Station Liberty were severed, Skull Squadron was assigned to the Icarus and sent to investigate the situation and confirm if the "Children of the Shadow" were really their allies the Haydonites.
Skull Squadron Super Shadow Fighters Immediately jettisoning Synchro Cannon Modules.(Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles)
He fought during the Battle of the Space Station Liberty against the Haydonites, where he saw his best friend Alex sacrifice himself during the battle. Later he and Skull Squadron fought off hordes of Haydonites fighters until Maia's Fighter was damaged by a direct hit. He attempted to sacrifice himself to save Maia and sent her inside the Ark Angel's space fold as he fought off the Haydonites attacking the ship. When his Alpha was heavily damaged and on the brink of exploding, he saw a vision of his late-sister Marlene who told him to let go of his hatreds and to live, only for him to beg her to not leave him. Just as his Alpha exploded, Ariel transported him inside the Ark Angel's Bridge, saving him, something which confused him as he asked Ariel why she would save a human that hated aliens so much, only for her to respond that hate only breeds more hate and that it was time mend bridges.
Following the battle, he decided to stay in the Ark Angel in their quest to find the missing SDF-3. (Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles)
Gallery[]
Notes[]
Marcus Rush and Alex Romero’s Shadow Fighters
Marcus’s veritech was a similar color to the other VFA-6X Shadow Fighters in the REF including the beta it was docked with during the Battle of Space Station Liberty before Alex Romero’s Death.
