Ten years after an alien warship crashes on Earth, the rebuilt vessel SDF-1 Macross launches in 2009, and it fires on its own when a fleet of giant humanoid aliens, the Zentradi, arrives and takes it for an enemy ship. A botched space fold flings the Macross and a chunk of its island to the edge of the solar system, stranding crew and civilians together. Among them, rookie pilot Hikaru Ichijo flies the new VF-1 Valkyrie and crosses paths with aspiring idol singer Lynn Minmay as the war follows them home.