From what I understand, the mecha in the original anime that the Second Robotech War was based on (Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross) were powered by miniature nuclear fusion reactors. Most of the documentation that I have seen regarding the Second Robotech War copies-and-pastes a lot the technical specs over from the original source material so many of the Veritechs have ‘fusion’ listed as their power source. The problem the I have with this is that it would give the Armies of the Southern Cross a huge advantage over the Invid invaders at the start of the Third Robotech War. After all, the Invid sensors can lock on and track mecha that use protoculture and they are forced to rely on visual sighting for targeting non-protoculture enemies. That was the whole reason why the expeditionary forces used Shadow fighters (with their protoculture masking technology) to such great effect during the re-invasion of Earth. Why would the expeditionary forces even need to worry about powering their mecha with protoculture if there was a viable option in using fusion? TLDR: Many sources claim that Southern Cross mecha do not use protoculture but this undercuts the importance of protoculture in the entire storyline. Sarkari Result Pnr Status Showbox
