In the year 1999, an abandoned alien battle fortress crash-lands on the planet Earth. Our most brilliant scientists and engineers spend the next ten years reconstructing the damaged ship, and studying its highly advanced technology, known as Robotech! A race of warriors from deep space, the Zentraedi, enter the scene, bent on recovering the lost ship and destroying Earth's civilization. A battle for our planet's survival is on, and young Rick Hunter finds himself caught up in the war, piloting an unfamiliar fighter plane, with sophisticated engineering he can't begin to understand!
The aliens strike in full force, and the desperate battle for the planet Earth reaches the very streets of Macross City. Human courage and skill are tested to the limit, against the superior weapons of the Zentraedi. A heroic rescue attempt (by Rick Hunter, to save Lynn Minmei) turns into a nightmare experience.
The Zentraedi invaders continue to close in, and the battle for planet Earth becomes even more intense. Attempting to escape the superior alien forces, Rick & Minmei become stranded in space, while trying to rejoin the others. Captain Gloval makes a desperate decision to execute a hyperspace jump, which may take his ship to safety, or which might mean the end for everyone!
Rick & Minmei learn they have landed in a closed-off and forgotten section of the SDF-1. Try as they may, they can find no way out, and no one aboard the ship has any idea where they are! Time passes slowly and cruelly for the imprisoned pair, as what started out to be a fun adventure, turns into a deadly nightmare of hunger and exhaustion, driving them to the edge of hysteria.
The citizens of Macross Island attempt to normalize their life aboard the giant battle fortress. Human drama is played out against the backdrop of interplanetary war, as the Zentraedi forces follow after the SDF-1, and continue the war begun back on Earth. Captain Gloval must make a life-or-death decision, which will determine the fate of nearly 70,000 refugees!
Rick is secretly ordered to fly Minmei to Japan to visit her family. The reunion is cut short, when Minmei says she will not leave the SDF-1! Meanwhile, Captain Gloval & Lisa Hayes try to convince the United Earth Government that continued fighting with the Zentraedi will lead to the total destruction of the Earth.
Captain Gloval begins a journey, which he believes will end with the resettlement of the nearly 70,000 refugees stranded on the SDF-1. Meanwhile, Khyron's flotilla responds to the developments with an attack on the battle fortress. Captain Gloval is torn between saving the citizens of Macross City, and his oath to protect the Earth.
The Zentraedi campaign to capture the SDF-1 escalates out of proportion, as Khyron leads a direct attack against the space battle fortress. Yet, through all the fighting and confusion, Minmei still manages to sing for the bewildered citizens of Macross City, giving them a small ray of hope in their darkest hour.
A new threat has surfaced, for the next generation of Robotech Defenders, who have grown up in the wake of Earth's first victory over their alien invaders. Calling themselves the 'Robotech Masters', this ancient race of techno-voyagers has come to the Earth to claim the mysterious substance known as Protoculture.
The United Earth Defense forces plan a daring mission which could decide the fate of the entire world! Answering a call for volunteers, Dana Sterling offers the services of the 15th Tactical Armored Division in an operation to reestablish communications with Earth's triple satellite com-link, Space Station Liberty. The assignment throws Lt. Sterling & her squad into the lap of Marie Crystal, Dana's friendly rival. The action is heavy as this band of Robotech Defenders work together toward a common goal.
The war against the Robotech Masters has escalated into a serious military confrontation, with neither side willing to make even the smallest concession to avoid turning the planet Earth into a living battleground. The United Earth Defense Forces plan to take the battle into space, to protect their homeworld and challenge their alien foes. Using the main bulk of their Tactical Armored Space Corp, the Robotech Defenders plan to test the mettle of their mysterious enemies.
The war returns to the Earth, as the Robotech Masters press the attack. The control of Protoculture is essential, if the Robotech Masters are to maintain their hold on the interplanetary syndicate that they've created. And so, a battle which starts out with regimented discipline, and high hopes for victory on both sides, degenerates into a brutal and undefendable, high tech brawl.
Dana Sterling leads her 15th Tactical Armored Corp, into the fallen flagship of the Robotech Masters, in daring recon mission ordered by the supreme leaders of the United Earth Defense forces. This military tactic was anticipated by the Robotech Masters, who relish the opportunity to capture a few human specimens, dead or alive!
Dana Sterling tries to keep her mind on business, while she struggles to shake off the aftereffects of a near fatal meeting with the warriors of the Robotech Masters. Her mind fills with haunting memories, which lead her to believe that she is related in some strange way to the mysterious aliens who have come to Earth to claim their lost Protoculture Matrix.
The Robotech Masters subject human prisoners to a series of mental probes, to determine the extent of their knowledge of Protoculture. Their concern is twofold: without Protoculture, their civilization will crumble; and eventually their archenemies, the Invid, will sense the presence of Protoculture on Earth... and come looking for it!
An advanced recon vessel blasts into the vicinity of Earth from hyperspace, only to find their home planet surrounded by an armada of gigantic alien warships! Unable to make contact with Earth, and remembering what happened to their planet in the past when it was invaded by the Zentraedi, the crew of this heavily armed starship make a desperate decision, to meet the alien armada with a surprise attack. The outcome of their effort is uncertain.
Lt. Nova Satori begins a complex psychological profile on a captured alien Bioroid pilot, identified only as Zor. The Supreme Command of the Army of the Southern Cross believes that the debriefing of this particular alien, might provide them with the key to unlock the riddle of this new interstellar war. Meanwhile, Dana practices on a battle simulator hoping to explain her empathy for this captured alien, and to end any doubts about her ability to defend the planet.
The Earth is invaded by a race of aliens calling themselves the Invid. They have come to the Earth to cultivate its vast supplies of Protoculture, a multipurpose energy source & foodstuff, which is of prime importance to their race. Without Protoculture, the Invid Colony could wither and die. With enough, their race could grow and become the most powerful in the universe. Their invasion & conquest of the Earth is swift and complete. A huge interstellar fleet is sent to Earth by Admiral Rick Hunter to appraise the situation and test the strengths of this new alien threat. The test ends in failure, as the Invid meets the challenge of these new Robotech Defenders with swift and conclusive action! Few of these defenders survive the Invid attack. One survivor, Scott Bernard, decides that, even if it means his own destruction, he must carry out his orders to find and destroy the Invid's main base, a complex hive known as Reflex Point. Luckily, Scott finds that he is not alone!