A HISTORY OF ALIEN RACES AND THE PLANET EARTH
by Adam Schiller
"Born from blood" has long been the descriptive phrase used by the Marduk to describe themselves, and while the race has a bloody history, like so many others, their exposure to culture has revealed a specie of alien keen to kindness and peace--perhaps more so than any other.
There are those that argue that the Marduk are not a separate race from the Robotech Masters due to the fact that they share a common past. In response, however, it must be noted, first and foremost, that the events that most shaped this race of bio-engineers were not experienced by their Tirolian brethren, and that comparison today is stretched at best.
Prior to the maturation of the Zentraedi and Meltrandi as warriors, the people of the Marduk were members of the Robotech Masters' race--together they lived, grew, and developed the cloning technologies that we know today; they were simply the Masters. However, as the specie developed the mining Zentraedi into warriors for interstellar conquest, there were those Masters who too, desired to travel the galaxy fighting wars and conquering worlds.
It was, at this time, that these "battling Masters" took their technologies and Zentraedi warriors from the orbit of Fantoma. Separate from the others, they developed ways to utilise Robotechnology in order to maximise their victories, and with sufficient Protoculture energy in hand, they could create enough Zentraedi to mine ore on other planets or participate in battles without chance of defeat.
It must be mentioned that the Marduk took with them no Meltrandi, for they found the females' need for victory and freer ways of thinking retroactive to their bloodthirsty causes. They did however, have female Masters, with whom they realised that no culture could succeed.
And it was these females that drove the Marduk way of war into its greatest strength, for through their constant and diligent scientific research, the Marduk were able to manipulate Robotechnology to use the singing of females to control the Zentraedi. These 'emulators' served as high priestesses for the Marduk people, essentially the flag-bearers for each battle, controlling the minds of the warriors to be completely dedicated to the enemy's destruction.
With each enemy's fall came more strength for the Marduk, as they built their fleets and, sometimes, captured groups of rogue Zentraedi from the Robotech Masters for their own uses. But while their growth was tremendous, the Marduk also seemed to lack a development of a value of life, for even though many Zentraedi would die to win each war, the only thing that mattered was the end result, and so there was no care developed for their people, as more Zentraedi clones could always be amassed in their empire.
When the Marduk decided to declare war on Earth, the feeling was no different--only destruction would suffice to end the battle. However, in their lacks of love, they were met with a new foe that matched their own.--The Marduk were never without love or care for each other, as their race was indeed very powerful and beautiful in their mind.--So the culture shock that had defeated Zentraedi before failed for the humans due to the influx (due to the emulator's singing) of the Marduk's own culture, the Marduk were easily overpowering the humans.
However, it was only when a Marduk emulator decided to 'feed' human culture through singing into the Zentraedi's brains that all within their fleet--Marduk and Zentraedi--realised that there was no need to kill each other or others, and that each life had a value. With a new mindset, this new Marduk race set off for a new home where they could develop as a culture that cared for each other through-and-through.
There is one home planet, the blue planet of Ishtarsis, that serves as home for the Marduk today. However, many Zentraedi and Marduk alike have set out on their own journies, searching, finding, and joining cultures in the galaxy. And when many fear of their violent pasts, they often gasp, for the Marduk today are frequently the kindest, most warm-hearted people that one can know, their smiles indeed being those of a race that forever loves life.
