Seto Kaiba

There are a couple really good Klingon-centric story arcs in the relaunch novels continuity that touch on Klingon culture and the impact various galactic events had on it. J.G. Hertzler did a really good duology called The Left Hand of Destiny about a(nother) civil war in the Klingon Empire that started shortly after the Dominion War's end when the newly-installed Chancellor Martok started to address the rampant corruption that'd set in when less-than-honorable career politicians like Ja'rod, Duras, Kmpec, and Gowron took over most of the high council using underhanded methods like assassination and subterfuge. It's a very Klingon take on the Arthurian mythos, with Martok in the role of King Arthur, Kahless (II) as Merlin, Worf as Lancelot, Ezri as the Lady of the Lake, etc. It sets off a sort of Klingon Reformation that persists through the rest of the relaunch novels. There's also a really good follow-up to the Klingon Augments duology in the Enterprise relaunch that deals with the sociopolitical fallout of the Augment virus outbreak that created the TOS Klingons as a B-plot in Rise of the Federation. It revolves around how the High Council's efforts to exterminate or disenfranchise the virus's victims who had lost honor because of their deformity and become outcasts in Klingon society. (In so doing, it also explains why the TOS Klingons ended up being the only ones which the Federation had contact with in the TOS era... the Empire put them out on the border and the frontier where they wouldn't have to look at them on a daily basis.) There's also a three-parter I haven't read yet about Kruge's relatives, who held his house together after his death without a heir on the Genesis Planet in Star Trek III seeking revenge on the Federation.

He's what, 0 for 4 now... or is it 5? K'Ehleyr was stabbed and left for dead by Duras, Jadzia Dax was magicked to death by Pah-wraith!Dukat, Jasminder Choudhury was captured by the Breen and later painfully vaporized to motivate LaForge and Dr. Soong, the Vulcan councilor who'd replaced Troi was getting close to him before she helped lead a mutiny on the Enterprise-E and was killed by blast effects from the Borg's orbital bombardment of Vulcan while on leave there... and I could swear I'm missing one... They touched on that briefly in TNG and ENT, and more in-depth in the Relaunch novels. Klingon society has a caste system, apparently built on the expectation that a son would follow in his father's career. Dr. Antak in season four of Enterprise noted to Phlox that he was from a warrior caste house and that his father disowned him for defying the family tradition to become a healer instead. When Archer is arrested and tried in a Klingon court, his lawyer indicates to him that the warrior caste's rise to dominance in Klingon society was a relatively recent development that'd occurred during his lifetime. With the warrior caste largely running the show, the Klingon Empire's great and good are the Great Houses and nobility, who are apparently obligated to pursue military service in defense of the Empire. Pretty much every Klingon we've seen has belonged to either the head family of a Great House (e.g. Worf, Kurn, Martok, Gowron, Duras, Kmpec) or a noble family (e.g. Kor, Kang, Koloth).

It's a confidential settlement, so likely we'll have to wait a year or two for the next time that either BattleTech or MechWarrior screw up and get sued to find out precisely what they agreed to. What we know for a fact, from the non-confidential documentation is that: Catalyst and Piranha abandoned their argument that Harmony Gold's license was not valid and withdrew their demand for a letter rogatory. The terms of the confidential settlement permit them to continue using the disputed designs. Catalyst and Piranha are prohibited from discussing the terms of the settlement. What we can surmise based on the available facts is that Catalyst and Piranha were likely the ones who threw in the towel, given that they withdrew their challenge to the validity of Harmony Gold's exclusive license to those designs when negotiations began1. That the settlement permits them to carry on using the disputed designs - in a sharp contrast to the original binding settlement - would suggest that they've probably agreed to pay royalties to Harmony Gold over the designs allegedly being based on designs from Super Dimension Fortress Macross. It's probable that they ended up footing part of Harmony Gold's legal bills as well. It means sod-all to Macross... Harmony Gold's rights under license inevitably survived their latest legal challenge, meaning Harmony Gold have nominally prevented infringement of Big West's and Tatsunoko's copyrights. For BattleTech and MechWarrior, it means they can carry on using the new designs for the Unseen and don't have to design a new round of replacements. If it hadn't taken a year and cost both sides a significant sum of money, you could call it win-win... but it's more like a Phyrric victory for Catalyst/Piranha/HBS and a moral victory for Harmony Gold. The BattleTech/MechWarrior partnership technically won in that they can continue to use the new designs, but they're apparently under HG's thumb now and spent flipping great wodges of cash in court for over a year to get that far... a victory essentially as bitter as defeat. Harmony Gold didn't succeed in stopping the use of those designs, but they did manage to make sure those designs are used on their terms, also having spent rather a lot of money to reach that conclusion. 1. Given that Catalyst's predecessor FASA tried that same tactic when Harmony Gold first sued them back in '96 in Harmony Gold v. FASA with no success, it's highly doubtful they actually suspected it to work. My suspicion is that, as everyone knows Harmony Gold is on lousy terms with the owners of Macross, it was a calculated move intended to get Harmony Gold to back down by forcing them to repeatedly nag Tatsunoko and Big West for documentation.

Y'know what would be badass? Since Master File only really glosses over starships in the most vague, general way... get Circle FANKY in there and have them collaborate with GAGraphic on a Master File for starships in Macross.

AFAIK they stopped after four volumes... the history book, and three "Battleships of the Galaxy" volumes. They've done LOADS for other series, like Space Battleship Yamato though.

Wouldn't an explanation of the principles of its operation (how the beam is formed) by definition be "how the weapon functions"? In principle, it functions no differently from any other heavy quantum reaction beam weapon... it's just a LOT bigger. I'm not aware of any explicit technical description of the effects of preparing to fire (and firing) a heavy quantum reaction beam cannon on that scale. Based on the animation itself, there may not actually be any... apart from the power requirements involved in charging the weapon, compensating for the recoil of the beam's discharge, and cooling the barrel after firing. We've seen in SDF Macross, DYRL?, and a few other titles that ships can continue firing their other, smaller dimensional beam weapons while a main gun-class system charges, so the ships that stop firing may simply be trying to charge their biggest guns at top speed. The recoil's been shown on several ships to be pretty intense, enough to push a Macross-class or Battle-class ship backwards, which presumably requires engine output to increase to compensate for. The need to cool off the weapon's barrel is kind of understandable considering it's containing and focusing a heavy element fusion plasma beam.

Those are 100% fanmade, but fun nonetheless... esp. since they take the time to cover a couple of variant designs that officially exist, but have never been drawn like the Northampton-class's radar picket, air defense, and enhanced armaments types. I've been using them partly to refine stats in my homebrew Macross RPG.

That'd be more interesting than what the rumors are about... as long as they stay away from the same shenanigans the Relaunch got into. Worf's girlfriend getting killed is almost as common as "O'Brien must suffer" plots.

Maybe one of them will buy the other out and change its name to Weyland-Yutani just to get the point across. I think I may well be the only Comcast customer who doesn't have one of their own. Everyone else I know who uses them, as @Roy Focker said, because they're either the only real ISP in the area or at least the only one capable of feigning competence has had a pretty frustrating time of it. Me? Somehow I've escaped ALL of the Comcast customer service stereotypes except getting accidentally disconnected a few times by new-hire level-1 support techs. It's a bit like having Lord Voldemort leave you a plate of fresh scones in the morning just because he knows nobody'll ever believe you if you tell them about it. If anything, it's gotten slightly worse since Disney is actively digging in its heels over the subject of paying its employees a living wage instead of having them live on food stamps... and is not happy about being called a leech on the welfare system.

There really isn't a lesser evil here... that's kind of the problem. On the one side you've got a faceless megacorporation that treats its customers like garbage and is actively trying to destroy consumer protections, and on the other side you've got a faceless megacorporation that treats its employees like garbage and is actively trying to destroy employee protections. It's like the tagline from Alien vs. Predator... "Whoever wins, we lose". Maybe if it were a corporation that is actually doing something worthwhile and beneficial for the human race, like SpaceX... this is more like deciding to root for one of two competing serial killers.

Marginally. They self-disclaim as "not official setting material", but with Masahiro Chiba and Shoji Kawamori chipping in here and there, cross-pollination between this and "canon" official setting material is basically inevitable on at least a small scale. It's already happened a few times, amusingly even crossing over into explanations that originate in Macross II's setting materials. The remarks on fuel system endurance are one area where Master File is just expanding on what more official materials have had to say, so I'm rolling with it for the sake of satisfying my inner engineer... especially since it largely jives with what Masahiro Chiba set down back before DYRL?.

Given what Variety's supposed "anonymous sources" said, it's more like CBS is revisiting the same tired list of bad ideas, parts of which have been doing the rounds since at least the late 90's: The multiply-rejected fan un-favorite Star Trek: Starfleet Academy proposal - which started back in 1991 as one of several proposals for what eventually became Star Trek VI under a working title Star Trek: the First Adventure (meant to be a Kirk-Spock-McCoy prequel) and ultimately cannibalized into the first quarter hour or so of Jar-Jar Abrams' Star Trek. (The other attempts to do Starfleet Academy-centric series were unsuccessful as well, the best lasting only 19 issues at Marvel comics before being canceled.) CBS's own self-rejected proposal for a grimdark Star Trek cartoon - initially developed under the working title Star Trek: Final Frontier in 2006, and set in the 26th century after someone rendered vast swaths of the galaxy impassible with omega particle weapons during a major war between the Federation and Romulan Empire, leading to the Federation splitting in two, the Romulans conquering the Klingons, the destruction of Andoria, and the Vulcans quitting the Federation to reunify with the Romulans. The idea was so terrible that CBS pulled the plug after paying for just five story treatments and a few pieces of concept art. The Eugenics Wars miniseries proposal - another idea that just won't die, despite constantly getting rejected for the fairly basic reason that it's not really Star Trek anymore if there's no space travel (no "star trekking"), it's set entirely on Earth, and everybody is awful. Having occurred between 1992 and 1996 doesn't help matters, nor does Voyager having gone back to 1996 and shown things really weren't as bad as Kirk and co. made out. "TNG 2.0" - really self-explanatory. The network has wanted to make the TNG lightning strike twice since TNG went off the air, hence all the executive meddling in Voyager that changed its format from a gritty slog back to the Alpha quadrant (ala DS9's last three seasons) to a rather inexplicably fluffy episodic high adventure series. The skeptic in me is not at all inclined to believe that CBS is seriously pursuing any of these series concepts from the Isle of Misfit Story Treatments. I think this is just some noise intended to draw attention away from Star Trek: Discovery's ongoing woes. Between the fan backlash against just about every part of the series (made worse by Jason Isaacs taunting fans by saying the new Star Trek didn't need them and that they shouldn't watch), the reviewers tearing the latter half of the first season several new orifices of indeterminate purpose, Netflix allegedly being unhappy about their return-on-investment for Season One, a budget crunch caused by overspending on Season Two's premiere, and the recent departures of three of Star Trek: Discovery's executive producer-showrunners under allegations that the working relationship between the production and writing staffs had reportedly deteriorated to the point of shouting matches, namecalling, and even overt threats, leaving Kurzman and Fuller to run the show alone, things are pretty frigging awful for the series. That Discovery is a deeply troubled production is beyond dispute... and lately, it seems like it may well be on course for a premature ending as the shortest Star Trek live action series. This stuff about other proposed series is, I think, an attempt to say "Nothing to see here folks, move along" when it comes to Discovery's issues. Discovery boomeranged from "we don't need the fans" to "Baby I'm sorry, please come back" so fast it was actually pretty funny... the appearance of the classic Enterprise was a pretty blatant attempt to bring back some of the fans who'd stopped watching (or in some cases never started), and this feels like another one. Maybe a time travel cameo, or something like Brent Spiner's role in Star Trek: Enterprise playing an identical ancestor.1 (Maybe that's their Out at the end of Season 2... Star Trek: Discovery is all just a holoprogram that Picard was running, just like Enterprise's final episode was a holoprogram of Riker's.) Certainly not Goldsman, Halberts, or Berg... they've all left CBS. 1. Background material created for Star Trek: Generations indicates one of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's ancestors, Georges E. Picard, was a senior officer in the United Earth Space Probe Agency during the Earth-Romulan War and an aide to the first Federation President... maybe one of his kids, I guess.

As long as SoftBank and GAGraphic can deliver this VF-1 battroid book on a level of quality comparable to what they did with the first two VF-1 books, I'll be giddy. I'm STILL finding amazing stuff in those first two books and they've been out for years. (Enough hard data to actually go crunching the numbers on propulsion system efficiency!)

It's probably less a "need" to dedicate entire books to specific configurations and more than doing the VF-1 is writing Master Files on easy mode. The VF-1 Squadrons book was padded like a menstruating firehose. The VF-11 and VF-17 were both covered in brief in Variable Fighter Master File: VF-19 Excalibur. The SV-51 was covered at some length in Variable Fighter Master File: VF-0 Phoenix, and like every other Macross title to talk about the SV-51 it left things rather ambiguous as to whether Sukhoi had ever completed a SV-52. The VF-0's Master File book has a moderately sized blurb about the Anti-Unification Alliance's slow collapse after the Mayan Island incident and the Russian separatists backing out. In that blurb, it seems to indicate that Sukhoi was never able to complete the SV-52 because the Alliance's loss of influence and sponsorship prevented them from obtaining thermonuclear reaction turbine engines and other key components. It describes the incomplete SV-52s as having been retrofitted with an improved version of the SV-51's conventional turbofan jet engines and redesignated SV-51Ω, then promptly thrown into the fray with the UN Forces to get cut to ribbons by upgraded VF-0 Phoenix units equipped with thermonuclear reaction turbine engines. THAT merits a book... especially since everything between the foundation of the SV Works and the Windermerean war of independence is a huge blank. That's been squeezed into two books already... VF-1 Vol.2 and VF-4, IIRC. That'd be so wildly inaccurate you'd see me running 'round with sharp objects shouting about Blood for the Blood God. After what they did to my poor VF-4, they can keep their grubby mitts off my VF-2SS.

They had the VF-4 drawn up in the second volume of the VF-1 book, YEARS before they ever did the (admittedly awful) VF-4 book... both the VF-11 and VF-171 have been featured in other books, so it wouldn't be out of the question.

Nah, they usually turn out a book or two a year... and they'll need something to fill the first 2/3 of 2019, since it's looking like the new series will follow the established pattern of having the teaser version of Ep1 air the last week in December and then start its broadcast run the following April.

The VF-11 definitely deserves one to itself... especially after Macross the Ride not only put the VF-11 front and center, but made a fair amount of noise out of the New UN Forces still having loads of 'em being phased out of service more than a decade after their replacement was introduced. With the VF-17's in-universe production volume not even breaking quadruple digits, I'd expect they would combine the VF-17 and VF-171 into a single book and focus mainly on the 171 (which is just freaking EVERYWHERE).

Variable Fighter Master File: VF-0 Phoenix. According to the history in Master File, "SV-51Ω" was the designation the Anti-Unification Alliance applied to incomplete SV-52s it had hastily converted to use conventional (OTM-enhanced) turbofan jet engines in the closing days of the Unification Wars after it became apparent they weren't going to receive the production-intent thermonuclear reaction turbine engines. They didn't fare that well against the UN Forces' VF-0+ Phoenix Plus, which WAS equipped with thermonuclear reaction turbine engines. Colonel Ushio Todo had a cyborg spec VF-22 Sturmvogel II in the novelization of Macross 30: Voices Across the Galaxy. From the description, it sounds like it was based on the "cyber grunt" VF-22 Sturmvogel II "Manfred" from the novelization of the Macross Frontier movies, which based on its description was probably based on the VF-22HG Schwalbe Zwei. The Manfred in question isn't Manfred Brando... he'd been dead for eight years at the time the VF-22 "Manfred" type appeared. The novelization of the Macross Frontier movies indicates that Manfred Brando was not only responsible for the early breakthroughs in research of fold quartz and its practical applications, he was also a pioneer of Ghost in the Shell-style digitization of the mind. The Macross Galaxy fleet's "Manfred" AI is implied to be based on a digitized copy of Manfred Brando's consciousness recorded before his biological death at the hands of the 727th Independent Squadron VF-X Ravens.

So... it's about time to update this lovely chart based on some new and speculative data: What Changed: Sv-51 Replica and VF-0 Phoenix Replica moved from Generation 0.5 to Generation 1.5 based on uncovered info that suggests the VF-0 Phoenix replica was made using parts from both the Generation 1.5 VF-1C Valkyrie and the Generation 2 VF-5000 Star Mirage. Sv-51Ω has been moved to Generation 0.5 based on its status as a detuned/downgraded incomplete Sv-52 retrofitted for conventional engines. VF-1X++ Valkyrie Double Plus added to Generation 1.5, indicated to be an improved VF-1X+ rather than a full tear-up as originally believed. Added VF-1C Civilian Valkyrie from the Macross Frontier novelization, the VF-1EX Valkyrie EX from Macross Delta, and Master File VF-1P Freyja Valkyrie to Generation 1.5. Added VF-22 Sturmvogel II "Manfred" to Generation 4.5, a Macross Galaxy fleet custom VF-22 based on the VF-22S that incorporates implant tech and ISC. Added VF-22 Sturmvogel II "Ushio Todo Custom" to Generation 4.5, a derivative of the Macross Galaxy VF-22 Sturmvogel II "Manfred". Added VF/B-22 Jagdvogel II to Generation 4. Generation 5.5 added based on extra features in the Macross Delta Blu-ray release (a GO! AERIAL KNIGHTS! segment). Moved VF-31 Siegfried (Xaos Custom) to Generation 5.5. YF-28, YF-29 Durandal, YF-29B Percival, YF-30 Chronos, and YF-30B Chronos (NUNS Ver.) speculatively copied to Generation 5.5 pending new data. Added VF-30. For the sake of convenience, the following rant will be color-coded! VFs that officially exist and have appeared in a Macross official setting work VFs that officially exist and have NOT appeared in a Macross official setting work. VFs that exist solely in non-official works like Variable Fighter Master File VFs whose placement is speculative. Generation 0 - "Prototype Generation" This generation is purely speculative and exists mainly to segregate designs that do not fully comply with the design qualifications for the First Generation Variable Fighter (e.g. thermonuclear reaction turbine engines) and were built principally for evaluation purposes rather than mass produced for actual combat service. YVF-X-0 VF-0 Phoenix (YVF-X-0B) VF-0-NF Sv-50 Sv-51 Sv-51Σ (Unmanned Sv-51) Generation 0.5 - "Upgraded Prototype Generation" This generation contains designs that exist only in Variable Fighter Master File. These VF designs are upgrades of the 0th Generation prototypes that were upgraded with technology from 1st Generation VFs or otherwise modernized to make them viable for long-duration operation. VF-0+ Phoenix Plus Sv-51Ω (Repurposed incomplete Sv-52 with conventional engines) Generation 1 - "First Generation" The defining traits of this generation are the adoption of Overtechnology, including thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, laser weaponry, energy converting armor, etc. in a production variable fighter. Sv-52 VF-1 Valkyrie VF-X-2 Generation 1.5 - "Upgraded First Generation" First Generation designs upgraded with Second Generation hardware drawn from the VF-4. Sv-51 Replica (Macross 30) VF-0 Phoenix Replica (Macross 30) VF-1 Valkyrie Plus (Blocks 6 and later, incl. VF-1X) VF-1P Freyja Valkyrie VF-1X++ Valkyrie Double Plus VF-1C Civilian Valkyrie VF-1EX Valkyrie EX VF-3000S Crusader VF-3000B Generation 2 - "Specialization for Emigrant Fleets" The hallmarks of the Second Generation designs include the adoption of Zentradi overtechnology, refinements for regime-optimized performance in either atmosphere or space, "lessons learned" from the First Space War, and optionally the adoption of particle beam weaponry. Most were intended for use by emigrant fleets, with low cost, simplified manufacturing, and parts-sharing. VF-X-3 VF-4 Lightning III VF-3000S Crusader VF-3000B Bomber Valkyrie VF-5000 Star Mirage VF-5 VF-6 VF-7 VF-9 Cutlass VF-X-10 V-BR-2 VA-X-3 Generation 2.5 - "Upgraded Second Generation" Second Generation VFs that were modernized to keep them in service alongside Third Generation VFs. VF-4G Lightning III VF-5000G Star Mirage VF-9E Cutlass Generation 3 - "Project Nova and Diversification" The Third Generation VFs are defined chiefly by the Project Nova design contest that decided the generation's main variable fighter as a true all-purpose successor to the VF-1 Valkyrie, but also by the continuing diversification of variable craft design into dedicated Attacker and Bomber roles. VF-11A/B/C/D Thunderbolt VF-14 Vampire VF-15 VF-17A/B/C Nightmare VA-14 VAB-2 VA-3 VA-110 Variable Glaug VB-6 Generation 3.5 - "Upgraded Third Generation" Third Generation VFs that've been modernized or upgraded with technology drawn from Fourth Generation VFs to keep them viable or evaluate technologies meant for Fourth Generation implementation. VF-11MAXL Thunderbolt VF-11C Thunderbolt Interceptor VF-16 VF-17D/F/S/T Nightmare XVF-19 (a modified VF-11) Fz-109 Elgersoln Az-130 Panzersoln FBz-99 Zaubergern Generation 4 - "Project Super Nova: the Advanced Variable Fighter" The Fourth Generation's distinctive design traits are among the best known in Macross. The adoption of the next-gen ARIEL airframe control AI, thermonuclear reaction burst turbine engines, fighter-scale pinpoint barrier systems, and native compatibility for fold boosters. This generation was largely defined by Project Super Nova, the ultimately futile contest between the YF-19 and YF-21 at Eden's New Edwards Test Flight Center. The insurmountable technological and performance complications of the two designs led to a third design, the VF-171, becoming this generation's main variable fighter. VF-19 Excalibur YF-21 VF-22 Sturmvogel II VF/B-22 Jagdvogel II VF-171 Nightmare Plus (Blocks I and II) VB-171 Nightmare Plus (Blocks I and II) RVF-171 Nightmare Plus (Blocks I and II) Sv-154 Svard Feios Valkyrie Fz-109G Elgersoln Gustaf Generation 4.5 - "Upgraded Fourth Generation" The Generation 4.5 designs are few, and consist mostly of VF designs that were either upgraded to evaluate tech for eventual adoption by Generation 5 designs, or ones that were upgraded in extremis to make them more effective in combat against the Vajra. VF-19ACTIVE Nothung VF-19EF Caliburn RVF-19EF Caliburn VF-19EF/A Excalibur ADVANCE VF-22HG Schwalbe Zwei VF-22 Sturmvogel II "Manfred" VF-22 Sturmvogel II "Ushio Todo Custom" VF-171 Nightmare Plus (Block III and IIIF) VF-171EX Nightmare Plus EX VF-171EX Nightmare Plus EX Throne RVF-171EX Nightmare Plus EX Queadluun Alma Generation 5 - "Project Evolution and Decentralized Development" The Fifth Generation of Variable Fighters started development as a response to the disastrous first contact with the insectoid alien race known as the Vajra. Existing VF designs proved utterly inadequate to rival the performance of Vajra drones, and new programs were launched to develop countermeasures for the high-g forces and other major problems with the newly finalized Fourth Generation. The design hallmarks of Fifth Generation Variable Fighters include the adoption of Inertia Store Converter technology to insulate the cockpit against high g-forces, Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, contactless Linear Actuator technology for transformation, the ARIEL II airframe control AI, Extender Gear (EX-Gear) user interfaces, Advanced Energy Conversion Armor (ASWAG), and heavy quantum beam weaponry. YF-24 YF-24 Evolution VF-24 YF-25 Prophecy VF-25 Messiah YF-26 YF-27 Shahar VF-27 Lucifer YF-28 YF-29 Durandal YF-29B Percival (NUNS Ver.) YF-30 Chronos YF-30B Chronos (NUNS Ver.) VF-30 VF-31 Kairos Sv-262 Draken III Queadluun Alma Generation 5.5 - "Fold Wave Performance Enhancement" The precise criteria for considering a design to belong to Generation 5.5 are unclear at the present time, but remarks by Tactical Sound Unit Walkure leader Kaname Buccaneer and team mechanic Makina Nakajima suggest that a Fifth Generation VF which has been upgraded with a fold wave-based performance enhancement system may technically qualify as Generation 5.5. The only craft explicitly identified as belonging to this VF Generation is the Xaos Valkyrie Works VF-31 Siegfried, which may indicate Generation 5.5 is an informal classification used only by Xaos. Previous media have suggested the VF-31 Siegfried and others are considered Fifth Generation VFs. YF-28 YF-29 Durandal YF-29B Percival YF-30 Chronos YF-30B Chronos (NUNS Ver.) VF-30 VF-31 Siegfried (Xaos Custom) Sv-262 Draken III

Got my preorder in... but after the dismal quality of the last few volumes (Squadrons, VF-4, VF-22, VF-31), my hopes are not high. SoftBank seems to be slipping a bit, the last few Master Archive Mobile Suit books were pretty bad as well. The MS-06 Zaku II one was more a Zaku variant gallery than an actual book, and there's almost no actual material in the Victory Gundam one.

Unfortunately we don't know. Probably not very large, considering the Macross Cannon-class ships were designed and built as dedicated anti-fleet gunboats rather than the fleet flagship supercarrier-battleship hybrid that the older Macross-class and main continuity's Battle-class were. They're the space warship version of an A-10 Thunderbolt... a set of engines and support systems built around an unreasonably massive gun as a way of getting that gun into range of whomever the brass have decided needs to have their sh*t wrecked.

At least the 50-some pages on the VF-1 in Macross Chronicle were accurate and of consistently high quality. The last few installments in the Variable Fighter Master File series (Squadrons, VF-22, VF-4, VF-31) have been so blatantly half-assed that it's almost painful to look at them. The first two volumes of the VF-1 Master File were some of Master File's best work, so I'm hoping they'll live up to the very high standard set by those first two books with this third volume.

Each Macross Cannon-class gunboat is made by modifying four Zentradi Nupetiet Vergnitzs-class fleet command battleships to massively uprate their heavy converging beam cannons, then tying them to a scratch-built central body. Each Nupetiet Vergnitzs-class ship forms one of the barrels that make up the Macross Cannon-class's anti-fleet heavy converging beam cannon battery. Dialog in the Macross II: Lovers Again OVA indicated that the UN Spacy forces in the Sol system had at least six Macross Cannon-class gunboats for system defense c.2092. Four were deployed to stop the Mardook fleet's big push and were subsequently lost in combat when the fleet's defenses ended up overwhelmed. Two more were held back as a mobile reserve, and participated in destroying the Mardook mobile fortress at the end of the OVA. Securing the necessary Nupetiet Vergnitzs-class ships to build Macross Cannon-class gunboats was probably not an issue, since the UN Government in Macross II: Lovers Again's timeline possessed at least two Zentradi factory satellites and had defeated five Zentradi Army main fleets and two Meltrandi Army main fleets by that point in time. Other dialog from their first appearance suggests that each Macross Cannon-class ship had roughly enough firepower to one-shot a Zentradi Army branch fleet.

According to Scorched Earth Toys, the Bandai DX Chogokin SMS Macross Quarter stands about 36cm (~14") tall in Storming Attack mode... making it about 1/878 scale. The one official figure we've had for the Macross Elysion puts its height at approximately 830m in-universe (cited as being roughly the same height as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai) in Storming Attack mode. That would mean a toy Macross Elysion in the same scale would be 94.55cm (37") tall... just a hair over three feet. The only way you're getting a 1/878 scale Macross Cannon-class gunboat from Macross II: Lovers Again into your house is by demolishing a wall. Quite possibly several walls. To put the size here into perspective, this hypothetical toy would have roughly the same length and width as the RAM 4500 or 5500 heavy duty work truck (which are 668cm long) and significantly larger than a typical six-seater minivan (the Chrysler Pacifica is 517cm long). At that scale, the Macross Cannon-class toy would be 683.5cm long (22'5") in Fortress mode, and would stand 455.7cm (14'11.5") tall and long in Storming Attack mode. I don't even want to think what a toy that big would weigh, quite possibly similar to a small car. (The Macross Cannon-class gunboats in Macross II: Lovers Again are canonically 6,000m long in Warship mode and 4,000m long/tall in Storming Attack mode... fitting, as they're made from four DYRL-type Zentradi Nupetiet Vergnitzs-class fleet command battleships.)

Sort of. The Macross Frontier fleet's VF-19ACTIVE and Macross Galaxy fleet's VF-22HG were both test units used in the development of their respective fleets next-generation main fighters. Where they differ is in their intended use. The VF-19ACTIVE was a heavily-modified technology demonstrator meant for data collection purposes. The VF-22HG was a mostly-stock aircraft with reworked controls that was meant to realize the YF-21's goal of "a fusion of man and machine"... which you could argue made it a testbed for improvements to the pilot.