The catastrophes of war have reduced the civilian population of Macross City to 56,000. Captain Gloval is desperate to have the survivors relocated on Earth before anyone else is killed. He broadcasts his request over open airspace, realizing that he will be refused again but hoping that someone in the government will hear and do something about the impossible situation. Gloval will not rest until his orders are changed. His persistence pays off. The North American Ontario quadrant agrees to accept as residents any civilians from the SDF-1 who whish to return to the planet. The catastrophes of war have reduced the civilian population of Macross City to 56,000. Captain Gloval is desperate to have the survivors relocated on Earth before anyone else is killed. He broadcasts his request over open airspace, realizing that he will be refused again but hoping that someone in the government will hear and do something about the impossible situation. Gloval will not rest until his orders are changed. His persistence pays off. The North American Ontario quadrant agrees to accept as residents any civilians from the SDF-1 who whish to return to the planet.

Azonia and Khyron are quarreling again when Miriya requests permission to be reduced to Micronian size so she can become spy for the Zentraedi. Azonia is puzzled but grants the pilot’s wish. Miriya has an ulterior motive. She wants to find and eliminate the Micronian who defeated her in battle.

The Zentraedi proceed with a new attack plan which quickly goes awry. Khyron takes matters into his hands, and Azonia ends up having to fight a two-front battle trying to keep the warlord from destroying the Micronians while she attempts to capture the vessel herself.

Captain Gloval decides to test a new barrier-shield system. It protects the ship but renders the weapon system inoperable. Khyron blasts the shield with all he’s got and eventually, the system overloads. Rick Hunter, now the leader of Fokker’s famed Skull Squadron, is ordered to evacuate the surrounding area as the barrier control begins an explosive chain reaction. Not all of the squad is able to pull out in time. Ben Dixon is killed. By the end of the debacle, they learn that the attacking Zentraedi fleet has been wiped out and, because of the proximity to the planet, the Earth’s surface has been leveled over a radius of twenty-five miles.

On board the SDF-1, Lynn Kyle holds a press conference for his cousin. Lynn Minmei has collapsed from stress, and her public is anxious to hear how she’s doing. Kyle chides the newsmen on their priorities: “I don’t understand how, with all that’s been going on, you people can be chasing after a star who passed out from a little overwork! Now forget that and let’s find a way to make these military leaders to stop this war. This fighting is totally non-productive… There are no winners, only losers. We must get out of this destructive, inhumane, no-win situation at once.”

While the crew of the SDF-1 is alarmed at Kyle’s underlying suggestion of total surrender to the Zentraedi, the three spies – Bron, Rico, and Konda – are astonished at their gut reaction to these ideas. An end to fighting would negate the Zentraedi reason for existence, yet the thought of life without constant warfare is somehow appealing.