Misa rides in an elevator with Claudia, and Claudia tells her to cheer up. She asks Misa if she's told Hikaru that she's leaving, and she says he'll find out soon enough. Max prepares for duty in the hangar and sees that FAST packs have been mounted on Hikaru's Skull One. Misa boards the Star Goose shuttle and calls Hikaru on the radio to say goodbye. He asks why he hasn't heard about her leaving, and she says that the citizens might riot if they knew someone was leaving for Earth. She tells him that she has to convince the High Command that the war needs to end. She tells Hikaru that they might not let her come back to the Macross, so she wanted to say goodbye to him. The Star Goose launches, followed by Max's escort squad. Soon after the shuttle launches, Quamzin and his Regult forces detect the shuttle and move to attack. Max deploys his Valkyries to fight off the Regults, and Global sees that the first wave were only decoys. Sixty Regults close in on the Star Goose, and Global sends out reinforcements that will take 20 minutes to intercept. He tells Shammy to have Hikaru pilot the "Booby Duck" and explains that the mechanics know what that means. Hikaru prepares to launch in his Super Valkyrie, and Shammy gives him new codes he doesn't understand. Claudia asks her why she didn't give him the codes, and she says it's because Hikaru had the day off. Hikaru launches and flies to the battlefield at breakneck speed thanks to the FAST packs. He fires loads of missiles at the remaining Regults and destroys them all. Max's squad pulls back so that Hikaru can escort the Star Goose to Earth. Misa thanks Hikaru, and he says he should be thanking her for the times she's saved his life. He sends her a message in Morse code wishing for her safe return. He then pulls away as the Star Goose begins re-entry. In an arcade, Milia practices in a Valkyrie simulator. In Alaska, Takashi prepares for Misa's arrival.
In Alaska, Takashi stands on the runway and is informed that the Star Goose will be delayed by 20 minutes. An officer offers to take him back to the tower, but he decides to wait outside. On the Macross, Max sees Hikaru looking depressed and tells him that Misa will be back soon. Hikaru says he's not thinking about Misa, and Max drags him to an arcade to have some fun. At the arcade, Milia racks up loads of tokens in the game Battroid Attack. In Alaska, the damaged Star Goose lands and Takashi runs over to greet Misa. Hikaru and Max play Battroid Attack as well, and Max naturally gets many more tokens than Hikaru. Misa shows Takashi the report on Zentradi DNA, and he agrees to talk to the rest of the High Command about beginning negotiations. As Max prepares to cash in his tokens, he stops when he sees how beautiful Milia is and how good she is at the game. He offers to play her, and she agrees on the condition that he bet his bucket of tokens. As they begin to play the game, she thinks to herself that their simulation seems much like her battle with the ship's ace. Max defeats her and wins the game, and she realizes he is the ace who defeated her. She gets up to leave, but he asks her to meet him the next day for a date at the Happiness Forest Park. She agrees to the date and runs out of the arcade in embarrassment. Misa and Takashi ride an elevator down the Grand Cannon's shaft, and he tells her how much she reminds him of her late mother. He asks her if she has a man in her life, and she says no. Takashi takes her to see the Grand Cannon and says that after firing it they will begin negotiations. Misa strongly objects and says the Grand Cannon is like a child's toy compared to Zentradi weaponry. On the Macross, a press conference is held at the hospital and reporters ask Kaifun and Minmay about marriage. Kaifun says it's a possibility, and when asked about Hikaru, Minmay says he's just a friend. Hikaru watches the interview and goes to sit by himself next to an observation window. Claudia sits with him and tells him that though he has Minmay, there's a better match for him that he might not have seen because she's too close with him and they fight often.
There's plenty of developments in this episode as well. Hikaru's actions would seem to indicate that he's starting to see Misa in a different light. Maybe he finally understands that Minmay is too far away from him now. Misa's father makes a surprising revelation when he announces that the Grand Cannon will be used on the Zentradi. Misa tries to tell him how pointless that is, but he and the other officers have obviously made up their minds and want to use their big toy. Max beats Milia in the video game and tries to hit on her, but he doesn't have the slightest clue who she really is. Also, Hikaru gets some none-too-subtle romantic advice from Claudia, but will he follow it or stay hopelessly fixated on Minmay?
click here to see where to watch or .
Ready to Watch Macross, Season 1, Episode 24?