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Seto Kaiba

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  1. Seto Kaiba
    No, that's just the peyote talking. Nothing like that ever happened. Ever.
  2. Seto Kaiba
    Fleets are mostly designed to be self-sufficient but trade in natural resources, processed materials, technology, luxury goods, food, and various cultural exports (movies, music, etc.)... and some fleets like Frontier also have tourist industries. Frontier ended up as one of the wealthier emigrant fleets thanks to its tech sector and tourism. It's a fleet sponsored by one of the biggest interstellar shipping firms in the galaxy (Bilra Transport), it has major presences from Shinsei Industry and LAI (the latter of which has a presence not just in the defense industry but also in consumer electronics), and it's a bit of a tourist trap thanks to the fleet being a 5th Generation bioplant ship designed to resemble a mixture of several different prewar Earth cities including SF. The Macross Frontier novelizations and Master File both imply that the Macross Frontier fleet made serious bank on exporting the VF-25 to its allies as well... and sitting on the former Vajra planet they're going to get even wealthier thanks to possessing a huge cache of the rare and currently impossible-to-synthesize fold quartz. Macross-29, a fleet that adopted a policy of total pacifism and conflict avoidance, ended up in a state of economic collapse thanks to becoming a doormat in trade negotiations with neighboring fleets and planets. At the end of Macross the Musiculture, the fleet's leaders decided to attempt to revive the fleet's economy through cultural exports (entertainment). The YF-29's design requires some extremely sophisticated technology and, most importantly, rare natural resources which cannot be synthesized (fold quartz). The design is so massively overengineered that it's significantly more expensive than a regular VF in that respect alone... but it also requires four super-high purity fold quartz (1000ct class) chunks of fold quartz for its fold wave system and more super-high purity fold quartz for its fold wave amplifiers. Some are... fold navigation has only gotten "faster" and more reliable as time has gone on, so a "neighboring" fleet might be 500ly away and still involved in regular trade via cargo flights. Macross Frontier, Macross Galaxy, and Macross Olympia were partners in codevelopment of 5th Generation VFs (if you don't count Macross Galaxy's bad faith participation for espionage purposes), due to their close proximity to each other. Variable Fighter Master File had it that the VF-25 had some parts manufactured by Macross Olympia due to their ability to provide higher quality fold carbon composites for armor and structural material.
  3. Seto Kaiba
    Only because jumping out of a moving plane into a warzone full of rampaging insane giant aliens is a completely ordinary day for Walkure.
  4. Seto Kaiba
    Working there. Beyond that, we cannot say... because we don't know. He left the NUNS for SMS because he wanted to fly rather than let his rank chain him to a desk (a trajectory that was his "reward" for his one-man assault on Earth) SMS doesn't really handle development of new fighters... the Frontier fleet used them as test pilots for the VF-25's OPEVAL process because they were, legally speaking, expendable. (As civilian contractors, any fatalities - including combat fatalities - were legally accidental deaths and thus they weren't eligible for any kind of compensation.) As much of a loose cannon as he is, I'd expect he was probably allowed to go it alone.
  5. Seto Kaiba
    Well, specs-wise, it's the kind of aircraft that would only really be a credible threat in the hands of a completely insane adrenaline junkie like Isamu Alva Dyson. By gutting the limiters, rolling back the airframe control AI to the YF-19-3 prototype build without the stabilization that Shinsei spent almost twenty years refining, and generally doing everything he could to make it as unstable and uncontrollable as possible, it's INSANELY maneuverable. It's also so cruelly unforgiving that he's about the only one who could ever fly it safely. He'd probably be pretty terrifying in a YF-24 Evolution or a YF-29 (he sure was in Macross 30)... but I'd expect he'd probably find the VF-25 or VF-31 pretty boring, since they're heavily stabilized, insulated against high g-forces, and generally as safe as Shinsei or LAI can make them. Thus far, the (and this is multiple guess) - VF-19 (SMS Ver.) VF-19ADVANCE Excalibur Advance VF-19EF/A Excalibur (Isamu Sp.) - has only been covered in the Official Complete Book for the film, Macross Chronicle, and the movie novelization. Frustratingly, each one chose a different name for it, though the EF/A one seems to be the explanation that stuck for merchandising purposes.
  6. Seto Kaiba
    Really, the only point where Harmony Gold would probably have been willing to let go of the Macross/Robotech license would've been at that brief period between the disastrous first screening of the Robotech 3000 trailer at FAnimeCon 2000 and the announcement that Robotech 3000 had been cancelled at the 2000 San Diego Comic Con. Macek's refusal to let Robotech 3000 go, and his fool's errand of trying to negotiate its production as a traditionally animated series after his folly drove Netter Digital to bankruptcy, was what convinced Harmony Gold that Macek's "vision" was unworkable and led to the decision to chuck it all (him included) and start over. An enterprising soul could've stepped in at the point between the failure of Robotech 3000 at FAnimeCon and the decision to bring in a new staff to reboot the franchise to buy it from them instead since, at that point, it was deader than dead.
  7. Seto Kaiba
    The VF-31 straight up divided it into a "hero" version (the Siegfried) and a "everyone else" version (the Kairos). Personally, I feel the time has come for Macross to get back to where it was with SDF Macross, DYRL?, and Macross II, where the only difference between the ace pilots and everyone else is a paintjob. The excuses for the protagonists having better mecha than everyone else are getting a little careworn and reusing the idea of PMCs having better gear than the military is not sweetening it.
  8. Seto Kaiba
    I got nothin' from my sources... the only hits I'm coming up with for Macross Delta-relevant games are Macross Delta Scramble, an android app I've never heard of with a limited time collaboration, and Super Robot Wars X-Ω.
  9. Seto Kaiba
    That's up to the individual discretion of the New UN Government's members. Even before the New UN Government decentralized to grant more autonomy to the individual member governments, the local governments had a great deal of autonomy in deciding how to equip their defense forces. For instance, the VF-14 was widely adopted despite having lost the Project Nova design competition to the VF-11. The Varauta colony was one government that opted for the VF-14 over the VF-11, before being taken over by the Protodeviln who improved its VF-14s into the Fz-109 and Az-130. Windermere IV passed on the VF-171 Nightmare Plus in favor of an alternate aircraft that better fit its combat ethos (the Sv-154 Svard). Some emigrant governments are noted to have adopted all-Ghost air forces. Macross-29's government opted to abolish its armed forces entirely and adopt a policy of total pacifism. The matter of the VF-171's replacement will be no different in that regard. Earth's government opted to adopt the VF-24 as its 5th Generation main VF. Some governments will adopt "monkey model" export specifications of the VF-24 as their next main fighter. Others will adopt the Macross Frontier fleet's VF-25. Still others may adopt the Brisingr Alliance's VF-31. There may be other, as of yet unknown 5th Generation concepts floating around unseen as competitors to those designs the way the Sv-262 was. Unmanned air forces will likely stay an option that some pursue. Then, of course, Macross-29 will continue to plod towards economic self-destruction with its policy of total pacifism. Some may attempt to bridge the gaps with Generation 4.5 VFs like the VF-19EF Caliburn and VF-171EX Nightmare Plus and skip the 5th Generation entirely.
  10. Seto Kaiba
    The YF-29 is so expensive that only the wealthiest emigrant fleets could afford to build ONE... so they generally built none because who can justify blowing their entire GDP on just one aircraft? It's not clear how anyone got their hands on a VF-27 outside of the Macross Galaxy fleet. Macross Galaxy pursued the development of its YF-27 in secret, trotting out undercapable faux prototypes like the YF-27-5 Shahar ♀ to distract from the real YF-27 program that was forging ahead using development data illicitly obtained from the Macross Frontier fleet's YF-29 program. They never disclosed the existence and the specifications of the completed fighter as required by interstellar law either, so the New UN Government and New UN Forces consider the VF-27 to be the YF-27 and the only known operators of the damned thing were the soldiers of the Macross Galaxy Corporate Army. Since the specifications were never divulged, it isn't clear how certain influential individuals as far as half a galaxy away from the Macross Galaxy fleet came into possession of VF-27s. Mei Leeron, the head of the Uroboros Hunters Guild, had somehow obtained a VF-27γ for her own personal use despite the Uroboros New UN Forces still operating the old VF-171-II Nightmare Plus and it having been less than a year since the Macross Galaxy fleet's defeat. Likewise, Zelgar Heavy Industries researcher Ivan Polyvanov (alias Ivan Tsari) somehow possessed a VF-27γ on Pipure in 2062 when the local New UN Forces and Xaos branch were still using the VF-171.
  11. Seto Kaiba
    Second plan. Macek's original project was to simply dub Macross, which went awry after production had already started thanks to Revell. They finished about three episodes, IIRC, before being forced to shift their efforts to what eventually became Robotech. Macek and HG variously claimed over the years that it was either Revell or the network that insisted that an anthology series (ala Force Five) was not workable. I believe Revell was the one they more often blamed, usually citing Revell's desire to have a cohesive story to prop up the sales of its own failed Robotech toy/model line. Had Macek stood his ground, he would've been let go... which would probably have made the ensuing Robotech series less of a massive clusterf*ck anyway, given that his arrogance and incompetence were major factors in the failures of all three serious attempts to continue Robotech's story. As to the anthology series picking up other mecha shows, that's rather unlikely. Licensing was expensive enough as it was, and Tatsunoko Production didn't do much in the way of mecha after its two Macross mockbuster efforts (MOSPEADA and Southern Cross) failed to set the world on fire. Their only other SF/mecha project in the 80's was Red Photon Bullet Zillion, and the only mecha-esque title in the 90's was Space Knight Tekkaman Blade. If Artland's Super Dimension Century Orguss was a bridge too far when they were putting their series together in the first place, it's doubtful they would've gotten it later. They probably wouldn't have been able to get their mitts on anything from Nippon Sunrise. And the anime industry as a whole would've been a LOT better off without that lying blowhard... Kinda sucks knowing we live in the Bad Future.
  12. Seto Kaiba
    Like this one? I want to know how and why Mei Leeron, the head of the Uroboros Hunter's Guild, had her own VF-27γ in 2060. It's not like Macross Galaxy let the specs for that one out into the wild... she must be seriously connected.
  13. Seto Kaiba
    Not really, no... neither was a commercial success in Japan. Southern Cross was a start-to-finish disasterpiece and MOSPEADA got so-so ratings and didn't really move much merch. Yeah, sales were slack enough that to divest themselves of the remaining inventory ADV Films bundled Southern Cross and MOSPEADA together and sold two shows for the price of one. The set is actually quite nice... though I have to wonder how much harm they did to its prospects by advertising it on the basis of its relationship to Robotech.
  14. Seto Kaiba
    lol, didn't realize that showed up while I was pondering replacement avatars. More Kaiba Kravshera now... Yeah, I got suckered by Star Trek: Discovery season two's promises that it'd changed and enticements of a familiar and famous Starfleet captain... and it turned out to be swill just as bad as the first season, if not slightly worse since Mary Sue Burnham's plot-devouring self-obsession became a matter of universal law. Star Trek won't be worth anyone's time or money until Kurtzman's cronies and Bad Reboot are gone from it forevermore. CBS never learned to not cling to a mistake just because you spent a long time making it. So you'll never watch it? The off button on the TV is better than Discovery. ... I'm starting to feel like FedNet. "Would you like to know more?" Yeah, that's Riker's job.
  15. Seto Kaiba
    Brave of them... I wonder when the Cease and Desist will land.
  16. Seto Kaiba
    I feel like we missed the obvious pun of "Placross". ... couldn't we just show them Hellraiser? Hey, some people blow off steam by playing tennis... others do it by eroding the human soul.
  17. Seto Kaiba
    In the nose, it's where the avionics live.
  18. Seto Kaiba
    Officially, no... the VF-25G's avionics bay contains a fire control booster to enhance the precision of the SSL-9B railgun, and the camera system in the monitor turret (head) has been adjusted for long-range precision shooting. Master File takes it one step further by suggesting the actual camera system in the VF-25G's head is different from the one in the VF-25A's, though everything else about the heads is the same. Any VF-25 can, in theory, wield the SSL-9B Dragunov railgun... Alto uses it in the finale of Macross Frontier in his VF-25F. They just can't wield it as precisely as the VF-25G could, with its specially modified optics and fire control booster.
  19. Seto Kaiba
    Officially it's unconfirmed. Master File indicates that there was a dedicated sniper variant VF-171 called the VF-171AS.
  20. Seto Kaiba
    Well, he is writing for general audiences... one of the bigger problems with the situation, and a source of entirely too much misinformation from the Robotech side of things, is when the situation gets oversimplified and people start drawing conclusions based on the oversimplification. (Especially when that oversimplification is couched in truthful but typically weasel-y language the way some Harmony Gold statements are.) Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing Macross plamodels (Macrosspla?) in bookstores the way gunpla can currently be found.
  21. Seto Kaiba
    Hm... as unpopular an opinion as it may be, I'm actually going to argue in favor of the VF-31 Kairos on two specific points: Better overall cost-performance on the VF-31's part, as the VF-31 can swap roles with a simple change of a modular equipment package rather than needing dedicated variants for particular operational roles the way the VF-25 does. Logistics are simplified by having one variant to rule them all, instead of having to build specialist variants for roles like ELINT/AWACS, Command, etc. Better passive stealth design: the VF-31's going to age a little more gracefully than the VF-25 is in the long run. The VF-25 Messiah has some concessions to passive stealth like heat sequestration systems and radar-absorbent material, but most of its stealthiness is derived from its 3rd Generation active stealth system. As radar tech improves, its active stealth system is going to gradually diminish in effectiveness. The VF-31's emphasis on internally-carried weapons and better overall passive stealth design focus means that it isn't going to be impacted as much by the same degradation in the effectiveness of its 3rd Generation active stealth system. For a fleet with money to burn that's looking for the most advanced 5th Generation VF, the VF-25 is the obvious choice. For a fleet that's not flush with cash and that's looking to get maximum long-term value from its investment, the VF-31 is probably the way to go. I'm a guy who likes to get maximum value for money, so I'd go for the VF-31s. By the time the VF-31 is finally adopted by the Brisingr Alliance New UN Forces c.2069-2070, the VF-25 will be over ten years old. It'll doubtless have had some block updates which improved its performance in various areas and ironed out some bugs that've come up in routine operation of large fleets. It'll also probably have almost as many fleet-specific VF-25 specifications as there are operators of it. Thanks. Quamzin's expression there just perfectly captures the last few days I've had at work.
  22. Seto Kaiba
    Yeah, the original one from Macross Ace almost looks like something from a Miyazaki film.
  23. Seto Kaiba
    Well, it looks like Star Trek: Picard might be headed into some more trouble. CBS has announced at a separate event after the Las Vegas Star Trek convention that Star Trek: Picard is going to follow the narrative style and format of Star Trek: Discovery over that of the Star Trek: the Next Generation series. They've also revealed that they learned nothing from the commercial failure of the Bad Reboot Star Trek film trilogy or Star Trek: Nemesis. CBS has revealed that most of Star Trek: Picard's backstory is not going to be in the actual show. Instead, all that plot-essential backstory is going to be dumped into a 3 issue limited comic and a prequel novel... the same cockup they made with Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek: Into Darkness, where everything explaining how we ended up here and why was offloaded onto a limited comic series nobody read, leaving the plot surprisingly free of context. Brent Spiner has confirmed his appearance in the series as Data is a glorified cameo that he described as being more a plot point than a character, Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis have confirmed their appearances are a bit part in one episode, and Jeri Ryan has indicated Seven of Nine's involvement is going to be quite limited too. Unhelpfully, it sounds like they're going to be tying into the Star Trek: Countdown comic nobody read that set up the Bad Reboot trilogy as well... with the Romulan Empire studying the Borg for their technology, which was what led to the Narada going from a mining ship to a visual clusterf*ck. There's been a token change of showrunner but it seems that Star Trek still has untreated and near-terminal Kurtzmanitis...
  24. Seto Kaiba
    Oh, probably... but the Wyvern was designed for a not-terribly-serious running column in Macross Ace magazine. It was not really intended to be taken completely seriously. The Wyvern 2 is that ill-advised attempt to take a joke machine seriously.
  25. Seto Kaiba
    I've just had a run-in with a bug @pengbuzz commented on the other day. Posts seem to occasionally disappear and reappear, causing people to post the same post again. The Newbie and Short Questions thread's recent posts from this morning/last night have an example of this. I've also noticed, on occasion, that on hitting the Submit Reply button the contents of the message are posted but also remain in the editor.
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