| Sketchley's Translations Main Index | Macross Portal |
| By AARON SKETCHLEY (aaronsketch@HOTdelete_thisMAIL.com) | Ver 1.3 2014.08.31 |
| History M 01A: Fall of the ASS-1 |
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Caption: In July, 1999, a large mysterious object came flying from space and fell on South Ataria Island. The huge fallen object itself is an alien civilization's space battleship, had a large influence on Earth's mankind and was later commissioned as the SDF-1 Macross.
Fall of the ASS-1: The Chance Meeting with an Alien Civilization, which was Connected to a Decision on the Fate of the Earth
Approaching the end of the 20th century in July, 1999, a huge object came flying from space and fell on the Earth. Although the object was an exceedingly large one -said to have a total length of about 1,200 m and an estimated mass of about 22 million t-, fatal damage to the Earth was avoided because the spot that it fell was South Ataria Island, a solitary island in the Pacific Ocean, and just before settling, the object had a sudden, mysterious deceleration (of course, although there were regions that incurred enormous damage due to the shock at the time of the fall, when seen globally, it was smaller by far than the hypothesized damage due to an object of that size falling). Thus, although the event appeared to be concluded, the existence of the fallen object itself created large repercussions. At first, it seemed to be an asteroid and the United Nations, who set out on an investigation of it, also announced something like that. However, the fallen object's true identity was that of a space battleship that had been built by an alien technology.
Due to the investigation immediately following the fall, the object turned out to be an alien spaceship and came to be designated ASS-1 (Alien Starship 1). However, the governments of the various nations of the world didn't make this fact public in general, and in the following August, a detailed investigation was started by a United Nations Enquiry Commission. At the same time, South Ataria Island was designated a United Nations Controlled Region. Thus, in December of the same year, such things were established as the ASS-1 was an alien space battleship and its operators were aliens who have a height five times that of Earth's mankind, and the ASS-1 had continued with combat actions until recently.*
These facts implied that a space war was being carried out by intelligent life that had an advanced civilization. In addition, it also showed that mankind couldn't negate the possibility of the Earth being swallowed up into that space war. On the verge of this situation, all the countries of the world rapidly advanced the development of armaments that used technology obtained from the ASS-1. At the same time, the "Unification Ideology" was advocated in order to amass the Earth as a united country in preparation for the anti alien war. However, this Earth unification plan came to invoke the fires of a new war.
*Translator's note: was originally: "and the ASS-1 had performed combat actions until recently"
Column: The Course From The ASS-1's Fall To The Unification War
Starting with the fall of the ASS-1 in July, 1999, hostility and disputes broke out in every place due to the Earth Unification promoting faction and the Anti Unification Alliance, and within a short time the world situation collapsed into a previously unseen state of confusion.
Caption: The Unification War suddenly occurred without much passage of time after the fall of the ASS-1, and was intermittent until just before the Macross was placed into commission.
1999.07: An extra-large meteor fell on South Ataria Island. As a result of its investigation, it turns out that it is an alien spaceship. This alien spaceship is given the code name ASS-1.
1999.12: It turns out that the ASS-1 is an alien space battleship, and the stature of the aliens reaches up to 5 times that of Earth's mankind.
2000.04: The start of the development of combat armaments for anti giant alien combat armaments.
2000.06: The official announcement of the existence of aliens.*
* Translator's note originally was: "The official announcement of the existence of aliens. The announcement of the Earth Unified Government Establishment Plan."
2000.07: The outbreak of a dispute in the Middle East. Hereafter, disputes and civil wars frequently occur in every part of the world.*
* Translator's note: originally was: "The outbreak of a dispute in the Middle East. Hereafter, disputes and civil wars frequently occur in every part of the world.
2001.05: The disputes in every part of the world intensify. They develop into the Unification War.*
* Translator's note: added with the errata sticker.
Related Matter: The Development of OTM Using Armaments
The human race, who obtained OTM, in April, 2000 (one could also say March) started the development of anti giant-humanoid alien weapons that pro-actively used OTM technologies. These armaments were required to fight/communicate with giants, and the research and development on the later VF and Destroids advanced as humanoid weapons with an overall height in the 10 m class.
Right: VF-0
The Earth Unified Forces prototype VF. As the development of the thermonuclear turbine engines couldn't make it in time, the VF-0 is equipped with improved normal engines. Also, the transformation mechanism and forms of the equipment, which connect it to the VF-1, had been completed at the VF-0's point in time.
Caption: The Unified Army put effort into the development of Destroids, which can be called humanoid battle tanks.
Caption: The ASS-1 was also remodelled and made into a battle strength as the SDF-1 Macross.
The Fall of the ASS-1 and the World That Proceeded to Change
1 The ASS-1 Falls to South Ataria Island
In July, 1999, the largest mass object since the dawn of history fell to Earth. It was said to have an overall length of about 1,200 m and an estimated mass of about 22 million t. This object, while producing damage in every place on the Earth due to the shock-wave, settled on South Ataria Island, a solitary island in the Pacific Ocean.
Caption: The diagram above is based on the investigation of the warship and military satellite images, and is presumed to be the form of the ASS-1 before it fell to Earth. Although it is guessed that such things as gun turrets were installed in various places, it seems that most of them were lost in combat and the impact when it fell.
2 The Investigation of the ASS-1 and Confirmation of the Existence of Giants
Within the same month, the investigation of the island starts, and it turns out that the fallen object is an alien spaceship. An investigation of the spaceship that was called the ASS-1 is carried out under the main leadership of the United Nations. As a result, the crew of the ASS-1 turn out to be huge space aliens with an overall height of more than 10 m.
Caption: In 2009, 10 years after the fall of the ASS-1, the human race encountered the giant alien "Zentraadi".
3 The Proposal for the Unified Government Plan
The possibility that the Earth would be dragged into an interstellar war was suggested through the investigation of the ASS-1. Each country in Europe and America proposed the establishment of the Earth Unified Government in the United Nations in order to consolidate the power of Earth's mankind in an anti-alien war.
Caption: The armies of each nation were integrated and reorganized under the Earth Unified Government and became the Earth Unified Forces.
South Ataria Island and the Damage of the Fall
South Ataria Island is a solitary island on the Pacific Ocean, and at present its accurate position is treated as an absolute secret due to information control. In the Pacific War, a fierce battle between Japan and the USA unfolded on the island. Even though it became American territory after the war, it didn't pass out of American control precisely because a small-scale communications base and a satellite observation facility were put on the island, due to the inability to construct airfields as there was insufficient level ground.
When the ASS-1 settled on the island, the equivalent of as much as 670 megatons of energy were generated, and a crater with a 3 km diameter appeared. On this occasion, the base that troops were stationed at vanished, and 16 US Armed Forces officers, soldiers and technicians died. In addition, dust from the impact reached as high as 10 km, and the surrounding 100 km2 is considered to have been cut down by the shock and blast waves. Although the damage to the island was great, through the investigation of the ASS-1 and the remodelling of the SDF-1, the island came to have more than 50,000 people residing on it.
Caption: Even though the ASS-1's speed when it began rushing into the atmosphere was more than 10 km per second, it's said that it had decelerated down to 1 km per second immediately before settling on South Ataria Island. This seems to have been an intentional braking on the part of the ASS-1.
Caption: Due to the intentional deceleration when the ASS-1 settled on the island, the main systems of the ASS-1 didn't suffer any damage. When the ASS-1 was discovered, it was partly buried in South Ataria Island.
Map Captions: South Ataria Island, Crater, ASS-1's Entry Direction
Left: South Ataria Island After the ASS-1's Fall
The area of South Ataria Island decreased to 16.9 km2 with the settling of the ASS-1. Although a crater 3 km in diameter was generated from the center of the island to the East part, a hilly area and greenery remain on the West side, and one can infer that there's been a mitigation of the impact when the ASS-1 settled on the island.
The Journey to the Unification War
The former Western countries, which considered the unification of the entire Earth to be indispensable in preparation for the predicted interstellar war, promoted the establishment of the Earth Unified Government. Against this movement, the former Eastern Bloc countries formed the Anti Unification Alliance. This subsequently developed into the military conflict between the Unification side and the Anti Unification side.
Captions: The hostility between the Earth Unification faction and the Anti Unification power developed into a military conflict. The conflict rushed the world toward the Unification War.
The Anti Unification Power
The former Eastern Bloc countries and the anti Europe and America countries formed the Anti Unification Alliance, and were hostile to the Earth Unification countries. However, the Anti Unification Alliance also didn't ignore the anti-alien war, and carried out development of original anti-giant armaments, centring on such agencies as the Russian Design Bureaus.
Caption: The Anti Unification Alliance's Variable Fighter SV-51. By using OTM, it demonstrated a combat ability equal to that of the VF-0.