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    Captain Henry J. Gloval

    Character » Captain Henry J. Gloval appears in 120 issues.

    Henry Joseph Gloval aka Henryk Jozef Glovalsky, captain of the SDF-1 during the First Robotech War. Serialized in the Comico series Macross Saga.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Captain Henry J. Gloval last edited by downinthesewer on 11/01/23 09:27PM View full history

    Origins

     
    Henry Joseph Gloval (or Henryk Jozef Glovalsky) was born to a Russian father and Lithuanian mother.  He joined the Navy at a young age and worked his way up through the ranks, becoming a decorated hero to his nation during the Global Civil War.  His brilliant strategies commanding surface vessels soon led him to becoming a well known man to be reckoned with, both within his own forces and in the forces of the enemy.  Eventually he was given command of a nuclear powered submarine, where he rose to great prominence, recognized by his superiors as an effective, if unconventional captain. 
     
    When the  SDF-1 crashed to Earth in 1999, Gloval was the first to arrive on scene with his submarine.  After cursory investigation, he risked court martial and even prison when he defied his superiors and allowed an international team access to the alien ship.  Gloval was unrepentant of his actions, convinced that the  SDF-1 was a discovery that should not be controlled by a single government, not even his.  Luckily for him, the realization that there were aliens out there capable of creating such warships led to the end of the Global Civil War and the creation of a worldwide government.  Still facing censure from his government, Gloval was saved by his one-time enemy, United States Navy Admiral Donald Hayes, who had gained a healthy respect for the Russian captain over the course of the war.  Hayes requested Gloval as acting captain of the  SDF-1, to become actual captain when the ship was once again operational.  Bowing to international politics, Gloval's government acquiesced and amidst much hoopla and press, cheerfully (in public, anyway) handed Gloval over to the international committee in charge of the  SDF-1.  
     
    Gloval is credited with being the one who set the precedent for the peace talks which led to international government and the end of the Global Civil War.
     

    First Robotech War

     
    On that fateful day when the  SDF-1 was ready to launch, little did humanity realize as they celebrated that their enemies were nearly on top of them.  While humanity did not realize it, the  SDF-1 did, and autonomously detecting the incoming enemy, fired its main gun on its own.  Gloval quickly realized what was happening, that the creator of the ship had left a booby trap on board for his foes.  While the main gun had done significant damage to the incoming enemy fleet, however, it hadn't done nearly enough, and soon  Macross City, home of the  SDF-1, was under attack. 
     
    Gloval scrambled the units under his command, at the same time realizing that the ship was the main target, and trying to get it off planet and away from civilian targets.  During the battle, he attempted to use the human technology installed on the ship to take off.  It was not a success.  Desperate, he called for the use of the untested Space Fold System, alien technology that was only partially understood.  Despite protests from his crew and superiors, the Fold System was utilized. 
     
    It sort of worked.  Instead of ending up near the moon, they ended up 5.7 billion miles away, near the ice dwarf Pluto.  Also, due to the fact that he had not been able to attain orbit, and was still only a couple of hundred meters above the ground, he also folded most of   Macross City along with them.  If that wasn't bad enough, the Space Fold System itself completely vanished, making a quick return trip impossible.  Despite the unbelievable chaos and shocking events, Gloval kept it together, calmly rescuing the 70,000 stranded civilians and ordering damage control and recommendations.   
     
    The civilians were soon integrated on board, and he allowed them to autonomously govern themselves so long as they did not interfere with the operations of the ship or the duties of the crew.  Eventually, he heavily relied on the city within the ship to provide much needed morale and recreation for his beleaguered crew and military.  Militarily, he had their veritech fighters equipped with the special requirements they would need for space combat, and organized shipwide defenses.  He knew their enemy would eventually find them, and that the long journey home would be a fight every step of the way. 
     
    He was right.  The enemy, discovered to be the giant sized  Zentraedi hounded them mercilessly through the system.  Gloval not only managed to keep the ship and the civilians on board safe, he took the initiative, sending out intelligence gathering missions and constantly adapting the technologies and strategies being used.  Not only did he keep the ship from being overwhelmed by superior numbers, he made headway in learning about the  Zentraedi, and developed a plan to try and negotiate with them. 
     
    Upon finally reaching Earth, he was stunned when the global government not only refused to allow the ship to land, but refused any military support whatsoever.  No relief crew, no new mecha, no additional troops.  Furious, but accepting, he then asked where he could put the tens of thousands civilian refugees.  The answer was clear and definite; nowhere.    
    Gloval refused to give up without a fight.  Placing himself and his crew in harms way was one thing, they were military, that was their job, but asking the hapless civilians to continue their encapsulated, war-torn existence was completely unacceptable.  He ignored orders for him to immediately leave Earth's atmosphere and general vicinity, broadcasting his pleas for somewhere the refugees could go.  He held the world hostage, knowing the  Zentraedi would bring battle to Earth itself to get to the  SDF-1, using that threat to apply pressure to try and get the refugees out of danger before leaving Earth for parts unknown, unsupported and completely on their own. 
     
    Finally, the North American Ontario Quadrant agreed to take the refugees.  As preparations were being made to transplant the civilians, the  Zentraedi launched a massive attack.  Trying to buy time, Gloval ordered the use of the new Omnidirectional Barrier Defense System.  It was catastrophic.  Massive energy backlash of the untested system destroyed a 25 mile radius of the Earth.  The North American Ontario Quadrant withdrew its offer to take the refugees.  Heartsick at the devastation, Gloval admitted defeat and readied the  SDF-1 to leave Earth. 
     
    However, the battle on Earth was there to stay, and Gloval was forced back not only to defend the ship, but the Earth as well.  Between his strategy and knowledge of the enemy, he coordinated with the government to both open peaceful negotiations and continue to do battle simultaneously.  It was largely due to his efforts that the  Zentraedi Commander Breetai and his advisor Exedor were willing not only to sit down and talk peace, but actually allowed themselves to become "micronized", or shrunk down to human size, in order to better facilitate talks. 
     
    At the same time, Supreme Commander Dolza and the insane Khyron were still hammering Earth's forces with unrelenting attacks.  Between Gloval and Admiral Donald Hayes, however, they survived the nearly genocidal storm and retaliated, destroying the bulk of the  Zentraedi Armada, and killing Khyron.  The battle crippled the  SDF-1 and SDF-2, and the crash site of the  SDF-1 became the new global headquarters. 
     
    Captain Henry J. Gloval lost his life in the final battle with Supreme Commander Dolza and Khyron, never abandoning his post, giving his life for what he believed in.
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