In the year 2009, humanity faces extinction caught between two warring alien species—the towering Zentrans and their counterparts, the Meltlans—while the massive space fortress Macross makes its desperate journey home after an accidental fold that displaced it to the edge of the solar system. When young fighter pilot Hikaru Ichijyo rescues the beautiful idol singer Lynn Minmay during combat, the two form an unexpected bond while trapped together aboard the colossal ship, but their connection is shattered when Minmay falls into enemy hands. Stranded on Earth with military officer Misa Hayase, Hikaru witnesses the catastrophic ruin of civilization and must confront a devastating truth: the survival of the human race may depend not on military might, but on an ancient song and the singular voice of the woman he loves.