Transformation

In order to evade a sudden alien attack, the space battleship Macross executed a hyperspace fold, catapulting the surrounding city, the island and even some of the nearby ocean far into space. They arrived, according to the crew’s calculations, just inside the orbital path of the planet Pluto. For the 56,000 rescued civilians aboard the Macross, the slow passing of days has brought only despair. However, while unable to shake themselves of their anxieties, the refugees have begun to pick up the pieces and a sense of calm has returned to the city.

Lynn Minmay hums Cinderella while cleaning the tables and chairs at the Nyan-Nyan Chinese Restaurant. Her uncle comes in, complaining about the size of their rations they waited for. Her aunt thought she would be in bed (due to the incident). Hikaru is currently asleep upstairs. Minmay believes they should reopen the restaurant because they managed to keep it open during the Unification Wars. They decide to give it a shot. Minmay changes into a Qi Pao and helps a chef bring a sign outside. They encounter the Mayor and his wife. At first they are surprised that there’s a Chinese restaurant on a battleship but when Minmay says that this is still their town and that they should do the same things they’ve always have, the Mayor think she is right. The first patrons of their Chinese restaurant in outer space a three U.N. Spacy soldiers. Minmay gets angry when they make jokes about her getting stranded with Hikaru Ichijyo for two weeks. Hikaru himself is currently walking down the stairs and overhears Minmay saying that “he is just a friend”. As Minmay gets the soldiers three orders of Ramen, Hikaru goes back to his bedroom to contemplate what he heard. Captain Global goes the engine room to ask the Chief Engineer the status of the main gun. The Chief explains that the main reactor and the energy converter for the main gun were initially connected to the fold system via energy conduits. But the connection was severed when the fold system mysteriously disappeared and they don’t have the resources to repair that amount of conduit, as the Captain adds. The Chief's solution is to replace it with a similar conduit found elsewhere on the ship but the ship would have to transform for them to connect. The Captain hesitates because of the major disruptions that would occur. As Nyan-Nyan fills up with UN Spacy soldiers, Minmay sees Hikaru walking out of the restaurant. Hikaru goes to see his damaged racer. His Senpai, Roy Focker, finds him and asks him to go on a walk as Hikaru gets mad over his racer. He does not take kindly to it being called a “scrap heap”. Looking out an observation window, Roy shows Hikaru VF-1A Valkyries being launched off the 101 Aircraft carrier that has been docked with the Macross. Hikaru is amazed to see that the fighters can also fly in space but when Roy asks if he would like to fly one again, he realizes that Roy is trying to enlist him into the military. Hikaru asks Roy if a girl can change overnight or as he then puts in piloting terms, “do a 180 inversion” to which Roy laughs hysterically. Hikaru laughs forcibly when asked if he’s fallen for Minmay. Roy tells him to relax as it was Minmay who said he was feeling down and asked Roy to check up on him. Roy thinks that girls like Minmay are fickle and tells Hikaru to make sure that he doesn’t lose her to another man. Meanwhile, on Vrlitwhai Kridanik’s battleship, Exsedol Folmo shows him footage of Earth taken from a Reconnaissance Type Regult . They learn that the aliens they are facing are “miiclones”. Exsedol brings up a saying in old Zentradi military records, which he believes applies to their current situation, “Avoid the worlds of the miiclones.” And so Vrlitwhai turns his attention away from Earth itself and decides to pursue their battleship, the SDF-1 Macross.

Hikaru is back the restaurant and hesitates to knock on Minmay’s bedroom. He then encounters Minmay herself in the hallway and she invites him in. As he sits on the windowsill and apologizes for a vase he broke when he was in the Battroid. Minmay tells him to open a letter, the thing she risked her life to go back to the house for. Hikaru thinks it’s a letter from a boyfriend but as he reads it, it is in fact a letter from Olion Record Co. She has won the first round for the singing audition. Minmay asks Hikaru if he’s ever had a dream, he replies that his dream is now a scrap heap as his dream was his airplane.

The engineers detect a D-fold signature at starboard six o'clock. First Lieutenant Laird confirms to Captain Global that radars reports a massive D-fold signature as well as several unidentified objects that have appeared behind them and are closing rapidly. First Lieutenant Hayase confirms their hostile status. The other bridge members gather around First Lieutenant Hayase's console and Captain Global orders her to take them to full battle readiness. She radios everyone on the ship to tell them that there is an enemy attack with hostile units approaching. She orders all Valkyrie squadrons to scramble all of their units. Among the units are at least two VF-1A SFV-26 Cavaliers. Major Focker puts on his helmet ready to launch in his VF-1S. Finally all Variable Fighters launch from the CVS-101 Prometheus.

As Minmay and Hikaru go to see around the town rebuilt inside the Macross, Misa broadcasts an air-raid alert. Minmay asks if they’ll be okay to which Hikaru believes that his Senpai and his team will take care of it. Minmay asks why he always talks about his Senpai and says that Hikaru is a great pilot himself. Regult units wreak havoc on the Macross. As Vrlitwhai is informed by a subordinate that a lead Zentradi detachment moves into firing range, Exesdol considers that it is strange that the enemy ship hasn’t fired their main gun. He suggests to hit them a little harder and see how they react. And so Vrlitwhai gives the order for the lead detachment to open fire. He wants them hurt but not destroyed. Fire fighters control the burning sub-control section hit by Zentradi fire. Regult units move in to fire on the bridge on the super-structure. They are hit so hard, the Captain’s hat falls off his head. Receiving heavy casualties, Captain Global has no choice but to use the main gun. Misa broadcasts the announcement of the transformation to the civilians. Wondering what the announcement is about, Minmay guesses that Roy and the others are in battle right now. From this Hikaru thinks that Minmay is asking him to join the military. Minmay didn’t mean that entirely, but Minmay knows that airplanes are Hikaru’s dream. Hikaru believes he won’t see much of Minmay if he joins the military but Minmay retorts as they are both on the same ship and they can see each other in their time off because the soldiers mainly go to the restaurant when they are off duty, Hikaru’s schedule would be no different. The Macrossoperators initiate and control the transformation process. The ground that Hikaru and Minmay are standing on begins to split apart and Minmay barely holds on to the platform, luckily Hikaru pulls her up. Buildings and cars are crushed and tossed and more are sucked out of holes in the ship. Roy sees the transformed Macross from his VF-1S. Captain Global orders the main gun to be fired and massive group of Zentradi vessels and Regult are wiped out in a matter seconds, much to the shock of Vrlitwhai and Exsedol. Misa broadcasts a message to the civilians regarding the incident, thanking those who cooperated and details on what to do if their property was damaged during transformation. After seeing the destruction to the city caused by the battle. Hikaru vows to join the military so he do his part in the war instead of doing nothing. All Valkyrie squadrons then return to the Macross.