SDF-2 Megaroad-01
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In the fictional setting of Macross, the SDF-2 Megaroad-01 was initially slated to be the second Macross-class Super Dimension Fortress space battleship, but went on to become the first long-distance Megaroad-class colony ship. It first featured in the OVA title: Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012, a 30-minute Music Video production released on June 21 in 1987 in Japan.
Construction began on the lunar surface at Apollo Base in November of 2003. Initial completion date set as 2013, with service launch date set as 2014. Construction continued even as Space War I with the Zentradi began in October of 2009. This went on till February 2010 when UN Earth forces suffered total annihilation, forcing all work on the ship to halt.
After the end of the Space War, construction on the half-complete SDF-2 resumed in June of 2010, this time as a colony vessel. Renamed the SDF-2 Megaroad-01, the ship launched in September of 2012 with a capacity for over 80,000 colonists. Construction on the second and third ships of this new class, Megaroad-02 and Megaroad-03 began in September 2012 to coincide with the launch.
A completely indigenous ship design based on feedback gleaned from 'Over-Technology' found on the "ASS-1"(later rechristened SDF-1 Macross) and the needs of Earth's forces, the completed SDF-2 Megaroad-01 is vastly different in size, hull design and capacity for war. Also, unlike the SDF-1 Macross, Megaroad-class colony ships lack modular transformation as its designers deemed it unnecessary after realising and overcoming the many problems that so plagued the SDF-1 following its launch.
Command of the Megaroad-01 was given to war hero Misa Hayase Ichijyo. Aboard the fleet were her husband, Hikaru Ichijyo, leading the entire Skull group*, and the famous idol singer Lynn Minmay.
The Megaroad-01 set out towards the center of the galaxy in 2012. However in July 2016, barely four years into its voyage toward the center of the Milky Way, all contact with the fleet abruptly ceased. This information was never made known to the general public for fear it would jeapordize all ongoing and subsequent colonization efforts. The many victories and momentous events involving Minmay and the Skull Team during the Space War have been played up over and again to the point of legend ever since, just so everyone not already in the know would believe Megaroad-01 and its fleet are still in active contact with Command. A direct result of this is the release of the film "Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love" in 2031 to remind the masses of the fragile peace they now enjoy with themes like the near extinction of humanity and some of the momentous events leading up to the end of War with the Zentradi and ending with 'Actual' footage of Minmay's Goodbye Concert Tour.*
In 2025, the Megaroad-13 fleet discovered a habitable planet near the center of the Milky Way. This planetary system was named the Varauta system. In total, 30 of these Megaroad class vessels were built and launched. Production ceased in the late 2020s with the introduction and launch of the first of the New Macross-class colonization ships in 2030. The Macross-7 fleet being the 37th Long Distance Colonization Fleet with Macross-7 being the 7th of the New Macross-class.*
(*)note: based on raw info from original Japanese pages of the same subject
[edit] Background
The name Megaroad originated in a pre-production name for the first Macross series, namely "Battle City Megaroad". This pre-production name was written as a deliberate wordplay on "Megaroad" (a long journey through space) and "Megaload" (a massive cargo in the form of a civilian city). After the first Macross series went into production, an additional wordplay, "Megalord," was considered for the second super dimension fortress before the name SDF-2 Megaroad-01 was finalized. Incidentally, neither the "SDF-2" nor "Megaroad-01" were specifically mentioned or ever featured in the original series, save some vague references to a new ship in the final episode.
