However, unbeknownst to the humans, Glorie is also the ancestral home of the Zor, a highly advanced race of nomadic humanoid aliens who have returned to reclaim their world.
Her frequent disregard for protocol, orders, and regulations continually lands her in solitary confinement, often placed there by Lt. Lana Isavia.
Her military training eventually conflicts with her passionate emotions, and she is forced to choose between her duty to the Southern Cross and her friendship with the 15th Squad.
Andrzej Sławski (アンジェイ・スラウスキー, Anjei Surausukī) (Yūichi Meguro): He is the dutiful sergeant of the 15th Squad, occasionally acting as leader in the absence of a superior officer.
Seifriet Weiße (サイフリート・ヴァイス, Saifurīto Vaisu) (Yoshikazu Hirano): He is a human pilot who was captured and brainwashed by the Zor, and later becomes an informant for them.
Musica (ムジカ, Mujika), Musiere (ムジエ, Mujie), Muselle (ムゼル, Muzeru) (Noriko Hidaka): The triplet sirens whose music inspires the Zor people.
Musica begins doubting her people's ways and, after meeting Bowie, escapes the mother ship and defects to Glorie.
Relay stations have been established at Mars and Jupiter, and as a result the planet "Liberté" located in the Proxima solar system was colonized.
Each suit is equipped to serve different functions and can be altered depending on the mission requirements and needs of each division and rank.
Their advances in biotechnology surpass that of humanity, and the weapons they employ called "Bioroids" serve as a formidable enemy to the units of the Southern Cross.
Characteristically, the Zor are human in appearance, tall and slender with violet eyes, silvery hair and pale skin.
Like the troops of the Southern Cross, the Zor rely on large humanoid mecha to spearhead military operations.
Because of this interface, Bioroids are effectively "alive", with the pilots acting as their "brains"; this increases the response promptness and makes their movements much more agile that those of the Southern Cross mecha.
Since the Zor are not a race suited for combat, they abduct personnel from the armies of the Southern Cross and Liberté forces, brainwash them, and use them as "biohuman" pilots for the bioroids.
Southern Cross troops adapt slowly to the tactical imbalance they have versus bioroid forces but become ensnared as they start to gain ground in combat by the psychological deterrent of knowing that they are fighting their own kind.
Even late in the war, Southern Cross troops demonstrate conflicting emotions over advances in weaponry, knowing that increases in their own kill rates paradoxically still mean greater death for humanity as a whole.
During the time of the conflict, many variations of the Bioroid are implemented by the Zor in order to adapt to the ever-changing battle conditions experienced on the field.
The final version of the Bioroid embodies the Zor's own triplet model of operation, with each triple set representing thought, action, and reaction.
The show was the third mecha anime series released under the Super Dimension moniker by the sponsor Big West in 1984.
This science fiction series followed two other series created by Studio Nue with Artland: Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982–1983), sponsored by Big West and animated by Tatsunoko Production, and Super Dimension Century Orguss (1983–1984), sponsored by Big West and animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha.
Unlike the previous two series, Southern Cross was created and produced almost entirely by Tatsunoko Production, with mechanical designs by its sister studio Ammonite.
The toy sponsor, Popy, pulled out of its sponsorship before the series premiered which did not help selling it as lack of merchandise was often detrimental to such mecha franchises.