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Illustrated by Tomotake Kinoshita

The Unification War
The struggle surrounding the Earth's unification.
Due to the fall of the ASS-1 in July 1997, there was proof of the existence of aliens with Over Technology and a large scale space war. It was guessed that the aliens possessed a quality and quantity of troops with exceedingly great fighting capabilities, and it was conceivable that it would be impossible for even one of the super powers at that time to oppose them. Accordingly, Earth's mankind moved toward the inauguration of the "Earth Unified Government", to obtain the Over Technology contained within the ASS-1, and to make a consolidated use of all the resources of the planet on a global scale.
However, the Earth unification under the main leadership of the large countries invited the opposition of each country, and it generated a dispute in the Middle East in July, 2000. This dispute prompted the formation of the Anti Unification Alliance, which opposed the Unified Government. Thus, in May 2001, disputes all over the world intensified. These military conflicts between the Unification Government and the Anti Unification Alliance were what later expanded into the "Unification War".*
The Unification War was mostly thought to be the confrontation between the Unified Government, which aimed at the unity of the Earth, and the Anti Unification Alliance, which opposed that unity. However, reality differed greatly. First of all, many of the participating nations in the Anti Unification Alliance didn't necessarily oppose the union of the Earth in order to oppose the aliens. Their problems were with such things as the seat of the leadership, the dissemination of the gains, and the particulars of the united constitution. In this way, it isn't an exaggeration to say that the Unification War was a war fought between the Unification Government and the Anti Unification Alliance to become the "true unified government".

* Translator's note: paragraph originally was: "However, the confrontations surrounding such things as the unification of the Earth under the leadership of the major powers, the unequal sharing of Over Technology, nationalism, humanity, and religion, prompted the formation of the Anti Unification Alliance; who were opposed to the Unified Government. Thus, in May 2001, disputes all over the world intensified. These military conflicts between the Unification Government and the Anti Unification Alliance were what later expanded into the "Unification War"."

Caption: The movement toward the establishment of the Earth Unified Government followed from the fall of the ASS-1. That movement could not help produce an opposition group. The military conflicts between the Unified Government and the Anti Unification Alliance regarding that movement expanded into the "Unification War".

Related Matter: South Ataria Island during the Unification War
South Ataria Island, where the ASS-1 fell, was designated as a region under United Nations jurisdiction in August, 1999. In February, 2002, the ASS-1 was restored and improved into the SDF-1, and the settlement of civilians for the repair of the SDF-1 began in July that same year. During the Unification War, the island appears to have been placed under the control of the Unified Government, and is assumed to have suffered Anti Unification Alliance attacks in July, 2002; January, 2005; and May, 2006.

Caption: South Ataria Island, where the ASS-1 fell, was initially placed under United Nations control. Later, control seems to have been transferred to the provisional Unified Government.

Caption: South Ataria Island in 2009. The end of the repairs to the Macross and the surrounding urban areas was drawing near.

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The Reality Of The Unification War
The precise time that the Unification War broke out isn't known. Even though there was an opportunity in May, 2001, when the war intensified all over the world, this doesn't mean that that was the outbreak of the Unification War. One might think of the Unification War as the generic name of the great number of local disputes that occurred around the world until December, 2008. Even though the Unification War was fought on a global scale, it isn't considered to have been a total war, like the former World Wars. However, this isn't saying that the damage of the Unification War was limited. The form of the war, which was a continuous series of local disputes, generated a lot of asymmetrical warfare. Moreover, the lengthening of the war exhausted the minds and bodies of both the military and civilians. As a result, there appears to have been an increase in such things as cases of civilians, who were under the suspicion of being guerrillas, suffering from acts of violence by servicemen, and pillaging and assaults due to servicemen with declining morale. This produced new hatreds that fostered the intensification and lengthening of the disputes.

Caption: Besides involving many civilians, the form of the war, which was a series of consecutive local disputes, seems to have led to the deterioration in the ability to command military personnel.

Caption: There are also people who, like Captain Nora Polyanski of the Anti Unification Alliance, participated in the war after such things as the killing of blood relatives and suffering personally assaults.

The Whole Story Of The Outbreak Of The Unification War
The big reasons for the formation of the Anti Unification Alliance, which became the beginning of the outbreak of the Unification War, was opposition to the unification ideology and dissatisfaction with the sharing of the Over Technology obtained from the ASS-1. The Unification Alliance came to be mixed with formerly Western countries, and the Anti Unification was mixed with formerly Eastern countries.

Opposition To The Unification Ideology
The unification ideology, which was also the hegemonic side of the later Unified Government, stimulated such things as religion, nationalist movements and nationalism, and was the main cause of small countries participating in the Anti Unification Alliance.

Caption: Due to the fall of the ASS-1, it's thought that a great amount of influence was given to religion from the proof of the existence of aliens. It seems that that gave birth to the opposition to the tendencies of the expedition principles of the Unified Government.

The Sharing of Over Technology
The Over Technology of the ASS-1 was analyzed under the main leadership of such organizations as the United Nations and the Otec Company. Yet, it wasn't evenly granted to all nations, which invited dissatisfaction.

Caption: Even though the provisional Unified Government leaked Over Technology to the Anti Unification Alliance under a veil of secrecy, officially it was a monopolistic situation for the Unified Government.

The Flow of the Unification War
The war lasted about 8 years until December, 2008, if the starting point is the May, 2001 intensification of the war. It was a war that didn't have a clear front line, and was in the form of concurrent, repeatedly occurring and progressing local wars. The war dragged on endlessly, and while the power of both sides was continuously exhausted, the Anti Unification Alliance was weakening as their integrated national powers fell behind. Thus, it is thought that they faced the end with the "Bird Man Incident".

Caption: Even during the Unification War, the Unified Forces' development of anti-alien weapons progressed, and such things as the improvement of the SDF-1 Macross and the construction of the Grand Cannons took place.

1999.07: The ASS-1 falls on South Ataria Island. It's identified as an alien space ship as a result of a United Nations investigation.

2000.12: The Unified Government ideology is announced by the United Nations. Thereafter, the United Nations is considered to be the provisional Unified Government.

2001.01: The Anti Unification Alliance is established by uniting groups that oppose the Unified Government idea.

2001.02: The Earth Unified Government is officially founded. The Earth Unified Forces are established.

2001.05: Disputes all over the world intensify and expand into the subsequent Unification War.

2006: Both forces pour in new armaments, and the battles in each area intensify all the more.

2008.02: A relic of the aliens is discovered and recovered from the bottom of the coastal waters of Mayan Island.

2008.07: The Battle of the Mayan Island's Coastal Waters (the Bird Man Incident) occurs between the Unified Forces' carrier Asuka, and an Anti Unification Alliance force.

2008.09: From the Bird Man Incident, the participating nations successively declare their withdrawal from the Anti Unification Alliance.

2008.12: The end of the Unification War. The rule of the the Unified Government is set.

Related Matter: The Unification War Military Personnel Who Fought In The First Interstellar War
Among the military personnel that survived the Unification War, there are persons who also participated in the First Interstellar War. Admiral Hayase and Commodore Bruno J. Global are especially famous, and they influenced the outcome of the interstellar war. Also, Roy Fokker participated in the development of Variable Fighters from the dawn of the VF. Even though he was killed in action during the interstellar war, he went down in history with medals of distinguished service.

Right: Bruno J. Global
Global served as the captain of the attack submarine Prince Marco, and after the Unification War, he became the captain of the SDF-1 Macross.

* Translator's note: originally was: "Global served as the captain of the attack submarine Prince Marco, and after the war, he became the captain of the SDF-1 Macross.".

Left: Roy Fokker
He served as the initial VF test pilot and as the commanding officer of the VF-0 test unit. After the Unification War, Fokker became the commander of the carrier Prometheus's Skull squadron.

The New Armaments That Were Cast Into The Unification War
Representative of the new weapons that both sides invested into the Unification War are Variable Fighters (hereafter VF) and Destroids. Both the VFs and Destroids are required to be for combat and communication with the aliens of a 10 m height class. Their development began in March, 2000. Even though the VF's were at an experimental stage, they demonstrated an overwhelming fighting strength.

Right: Variable Fighters
During the Unification War, the Variable Fighters were at an experimental stage. The Unified Forces released the VF-0, and the Anti Unification Alliance released the SV-51.

Up: VF-0S*

Right: Destroids
Humanoid land warfare armaments with a height in the 10 m class. Several types were developed, such as a combat model, an anti-aircraft model, and a heavy attack model.

Right: Destroid Cheyenne*

* Translator's note: VF and Destroid captions added in the revised edition.

The Bird Man Incident And The End Of The War
Compared to the Unified Government that had secured the ASS-1, disadvantages were forced onto the Anti-Unification Alliance's military side, and they were cornered with numerical inferiority. Then, when the Anti Unification Alliance learnt in February, 2008 that the Unification Forces had recovered the "Bird Man" (codenamed "Eifos"), an alien relic, they planned to seize it in July of the same year from the Unified Forces' mobile fleet that was in the midst of expanding into the open seas of Mayan Island. This is the "Bird Man Incident". However, the Anti Unification Alliance failed to seize the relic. In the immediately following September, the countries that participated in the Anti Unification Alliance successively declared their withdrawal from it. In December, the Unification War ended.

Caption: Although the Anti Unification Alliance's VF unit were sent in to raiding the Unification Forces' carrier Asuka, they failed to seize the torso section of the "Bird Man".

Caption: The Anti Unification Alliance secured the head of the "Bird Man". However, the awakened "Bird Man" rampaged, and after the battle, it space folded to somewhere.

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© Aaron Sketchley