List of Macross Frontier Terminology - Other Terminology and Technology

Other Terminology and Technology

The following is a brief introduction to other technologies and terms shown during the Macross Frontier series.

• Macross Cannon - Also known as the "Main Cannon". This is the most powerful energy weapon devised by the humanoid civilizations of the Macross universe. The basis for this weapon is creating Super Dimension Energy to act as a beam weapon. This weapon has been known to destroy small fleets of large warships with a single volley. Originally the weapon was thought of as a kind of heavy particle beam gun by most audiences. The original Japanese name for this type of weapon (which is also used by the Zentradi) was "Heavy Converging Super Dimension Energy Beam Cannon".

• Pinpoint barrier - A type of force field using Super Dimensional energies which can be moved to especific parts of a defending ship or fighter. This energies can be used as physical protection should a ship come into contact with another minimizing the physical damage. It can also be used to increase the resistance and sharpness of melee mecha weapons. Seen on mecha sized blades as well as the "fists" of Super Dimensional Fortresses. The barrier system used during the time of Macross Frontier can also cover a larger portion of the ship than the original pin-point barrier system used by the SDF-1 Macross.

• Fold Waves - Fold Waves is a fictional interdimensional "sound wave" exclusive to the Macross universe. Though Macross Frontier first introduced the concept, the series has never clarified exactly what the nature of Fold Waves is. What is known about it, is that it's an interdimensional time/space reaction when something disrupts the boundaries of dimensions. Fold waves are created when starships are using their space-fold drive/Fold System or when Super Dimension space is manipulated for hyperspace communication, specially when using fold quartz cultivated by the Vajra. Fold wave physics with use of fold quartz makes it possible for the Vajra hive-mind to think in real-time. Also humans who have fold crystal implants or who are in near-fatal stages of the "V-Type" infection can create fold waves and interact with other individuals in real-time. Fold wave communication can be disrupted by singing depending on the quantity or broadcasting power of the source when fold quartz are used.

• Fold Crystals or Fold Quartz - Fold Crystals are minerals produced and harvested by the Vajra race. They are mined from nearby asteroids and even from elements gathered from stars and cultivated by them biologically. They are then infused into their newborn spawn to allow them become one with the hive mind of the Vajra. Humans have been shown through the course of the Frontier series to be able to manipulate the ability to communicate with each other using fold crystals crudely, when emotion is applied. The main Vajra queen and the lesser caste queens have an incredible quantity of these crystals in their bodies to allow them coordinate lesser drones of the hive, which allows the formation of the Vajra interdimensional fold communication network. The crystals are part of the structure of the "V-Type" infection microbes where they act as a conduit for this fold communication network if enough of them are connected. The crystals are also implanted in the intestine of the Vajra, which makes them act in coordination with the rest, resulting in a higher "Vajra" intelligence shared by their whole race.

• Space-fold Drive or Fold System - This is a Super Dimensional device which allows a spacecraft to "fold space" to travel Faster Than Light. It is one of the basic overtechnologies that the ancient Protoculture civilization left behind for the latter humanoid races to travel across the stars. Long distance "jumps" up to 800-1000 light years are highly power consuming.

• Macross Attack - Also known to audiences of the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross as "Daedalus Attack or "Daedalus Maneuver". The Macross Attack is when a large transformable warship, such as SDF-1 Macross or the SMS Macross Quarter goes into close quarter combat or melee combat. An example of this was the Macross Quarter "punch" against the Macross Galaxy gunship while activating the Pinpoint Barrier system on its "weapon arm" or "fist" in the final episode of Macross Frontier. Once penetrating the hull of the enemy ship deeply enough, large quantity of smaller mecha inside the punching arm would be allow to fire their weapons inside the enemy vessel, thus guaranteeing its destruction.

• Deculture - (De-kerlchuun) This is a one word description of the entire merged human/zentradi/meltrandi civilization/culture. The Zentradi expression is used extensively in the series. It is specially used when referring to certain musical themes that connect with people in large numbers. Most of the time is said by Zentradi as an expression of disbelief, amusement, awe, surprise or disgust.

• Holographic Technology - First seen in Macross '84: Do You Remember Love? during a Lynn Minmay concert and when Hikaru and Minmay were at an amusement park building which was using advanced holographic amusement machines that allowed them to try different outfits/clothes/costumes which were projected realistically on them as if they were worn. This technology is still the same in the Frontier series, where Sheryl Nomes does her concerts where she sings and dances with different outfits inside stage settings that are changed in seconds. She is briefly seen wearing a Virtual Reality skin suit when she is forced off stage during the first episodes.

• Gravity Control System - A creation of the Protoculture, this device allows for ships/spacestations to possess artificial gravity. In addition to providing internal gravity it allows large vessels to operate and fly within a planetary atmosphere. The technology also allows the use of entertainment and launch/recovery spacecraft. Variable fighters can be seen launched from flight decks of Battle Frontier through guided spacelanes created by a combination of artificial gravity generators and holographic projectors.

• Heavy Quantum Cannon - This is a new weapon introduced in Macross Frontier, which originally was thought to be another form of the older Macross Cannon. It is based on Quantum physics, which cause the beam itself to disrupt atoms like the Macross Cannon does but with a completely and more devastating method of destruction.

• Cybernetic Implants - Technology which enhances interaction with advanced equipments (for example the VF-27 Variable Fighter). It can be used to amplify ones physical body strength or to give a perfectly normal appearance to a person whose body has suffered severe damage regardless of age. Simple devices can be invisibly planted into people such as telephones or computer terminals. The technology allows users to be transported into virtual reality environments while interacting with computers. It can also be used to enslave an individual to the will of others such as the case of the servitude of Brera Sterne to Grace O'Connor. Cybernetic implants are banned in the Macross Frontier Colony Fleet for unspecified reasons. However, they are allowed in the Macross Galaxy Colony Fleet and most human/zentradi civilization.

• Vajra Hyperspace Communication Network - This constitutes the Vajra's hive mind itself, which allows all of its drones to collectively think as one entity. This network of real-time communication through long distances is possible though the use of fold quartz which are harvested and produced by the Vajra drones and implanted into newborn larvae. The network has a series of sub-nodes and ultimately the main Vajra Queen who is the central node and the controller of all Vajra as a whole. The network was not known to the humans except to Grace O'Connor only in theory. She used her knowledge of this to ultimately and briefly take over the Vajra Network using Ranka Lee as a bridge to connect to them by compromising the Queen's control. Grace ultimately wished this network to be duplicated by forcing humans to have fold crystals implanted into them to dominate the whole galaxy. However, ancestral music which Vajra used as part of their mating process was able to override O'Connor's control when sang by both Sheryl and Ranka. It was shown that when Sheryl and Ranka sang while pouring their emotions into their songs, it gave them the power to override the mundane control O'Connor had achieved while she briefly took over the primary Vajra Queen.

• Dimension Eater and MDE (Mini Dimension Eater) Missiles - This technology was shown first in a device originally created by Macross Frontier's LAI Industries and employed first by the secret organization that controls Macross Galaxy and who were behind the Vajra attacks. It is unclear how the device exactly works other than the fact that it employs Super Dimension energy similar to the Fold System used for FTL travel, but it consumes and destroys anything on its projected path up from 500 meters to 1000 kilometers. A large prototype device was used on Galia 4 to escalate the Vajra War between the Vajra and Macross Frontier Colony Fleet. This resulted in the destruction of a large portion of the planet and the loss of the N.U.N.S. 33rd Marine Battalion. Aftermath of use of the weapon was seen in episodes 14 and 23 as Galia 4 had lost its atmosphere and a quarter of the planet's mass. Grace O'Connor working with Chief of Staff Leon Mishima developed technology that ultimately lead to the MDE ("Mini-Dimension Eater") missiles for Macross Frontier defense forces to use against the Vajra. This development also resulted in a slightly smaller prototype of the Dimension Eater bomb which was created in the research labs of Island 3. This device had the range of 50 kilometer, an area larger than the entire Macross Frontier convoy/fleet. During the Vajra invasion of Island 1, Luca Angelloni explains to Ranka and Alto that MDE utilize micro-particles extracted from the remains of Vajra, which likely includes the fold crystals. Ranka Lee successfully lured Vajra which had infested Island 1 to Island 3. Then Island 3 was detached from the fleet and safely destroyed by the prototype Dimension Eater bomb. It should be noted that superficially, the MDE Missiles resemble the atomic bomb "Little Boy". The MDE ("Mini-Dimension Eater") missiles were deployed in the final battle of the Vajra/Human War. The military forces of Frontier gave the weapon the nickname "The Dimensional Cutter".