Macross Frontier Ep. 24: Last Frontier

On a planet, Ranka, Brera and Ranshe watch as Vajra de-fold above them. Later, the heavily damaged Global crashes on Gallia 4, and Grace curses the Vajra. Ozma fights outside in his Nightmare Plus, and Brera sticks Ranka in an escape pod, telling her not to reveal to anyone that her singing called the Vajra. In the present, Ranka believes that everything that has happened is her fault, and Grace reinforces that. She tells Ranka that she can atone by completely opening her body and soul. Elsewhere, the Macross Quarter 25 investigates the wreckage of the Global in orbit of the dead Gallia 4. Inside the Global, Ozma comments to Cathy that this ship was the beginning of everything. He curses himself for not realizing earlier that Grace was on the Macross Frontier and using her real name. On the Macross Quarter 25 bridge, Mena asks about Mao, and Lam explains that she’s the pioneer of Protoculture research, with Monica adding that Ranka played her in Bird Human. Cathy finds a thesis draft written by Grace about creating a hyper-dimensional network with fold quartz and implant technology. In the infirmary, Canaria finds data indicating that Ranshe was the first person infected with the V-type disease and passed it along to Ranka without knowing it. The bridge crew of the Macross Quarter 25 examines a real time illustration of Grace’s theory, which would remove time lag across the galaxy and create a hyper-parallel thought network. Bobby comments that he doesn’t want others to see his thoughts, and Ozma says there must be a catch to the theory. Lam explains that the network isn’t completely parallel, and terminals serving as main hubs will be superior to lesser nodes, potentially giving the root node supreme control. Cathy comments that the problem is implanting all of humanity, so Jeffrey realizes that Grace chose the Vajra because she could use them as enforcers to crush opposition and subjugate the rest of the population. Canaria adds that Ranka is the key to everything because she’s the only human who can communicate with the Vajra. Ranka begins to sing “Aimo,” and Brera informs Grace that they’ve almost finished analyzing the Vajra network’s quantum protocols. Grace says that soon she’ll prove to Ranshe and Mao that she was right and make humanity surpass the Protoculture. Monica tells Jeffrey that she’s sent all their data to NUNS headquarters, but between communication lag and parliamentary decisions, reinforcements won’t arrive on time. Cathy tells Ozma that there’s a letter for Mao they found on the Global, revealing that she has a granddaughter: Sheryl. Elsewhere, the entire Macross Frontier fleet de-folds near the Vajra homeworld. Perry addresses the soldiers and states that the fleet is in a desperate situation, but because they’ve found the Vajra homeworld, they must exterminate them. He then outlines the battle plan, which is to break past the Vajra defenses, kill the Vajra Queen and land Island 1 on the planet to colonize it. Wearing Michael’s glasses as a necklace, Klan thinks to herself that he might not be happy with what she’s doing, but as a Zentradi she can’t stand by after losing him. In the hospital, Luca kisses Nanase on the lips before leaving. Perry comments that Leon’s plan is risky, but Leon says there’s no future for them if they lose. In his train room, Birla looks at a picture in his fold quartz ring and says he’ll soon be able to meet that person. On Battle Frontier, Sheryl gets a visit from Alto as she prepares to sing. He tells her he’ll survive the battle and that one can’t fly alone. She then tells him they should end their lover’s game and kisses him. She asks him not to say anything because if he does, she won’t be able to sing. She asks him to save Ranka and puts her fold quartz earring on him.

The fleet continues to approach the planet, and Sheryl jumps down onto the stage below Battle Frontier’s bridge. She begins singing “Sagittarius at 9 p.m. – Don’t be Late,” and Ranzo watches as the NUNS Valkyries take off. The NUNS forces engage the Vajra, and Perry is informed that the Vajra aren’t showing coordination, so he thinks Sheryl’s singing is working. Super Nightmare Pluses fire MDE warheads at the Vajra, and battleships move closer to the planet. Alto tells his wingmen to follow him, Nene fights alongside Klan and Luca sends his Ghosts out to fight. As he fights the Vajra, Alto realizes that the upgraded Nightmare Plus is really just a makeshift machine. Grace tells Ranka that people have come to attack the Vajra homeworld, and Brera tells her to protect it by singing. He tells her that if she sings it’ll be her redemption, and Ranshe would approve. Leon orders Island 1 to land on the planet, so it moves closer to the atmosphere. As more Vajra launch, Luca, Klan and Alto hear Ranka singing “Do You Remember Love?” A giant image of Ranka appears in space, and the Vajra begin to regain their coordination. Sheryl continues to sing and wonders if this is Ranka’s real power. Luca realizes that the Vajra fold wave network is amplifying Ranka’s song, and the tide of battle quickly turns in favor of the Vajra. Some of the abandoned Islands surrounding Island 1 are hit. Grace comments that there’s no more appropriate song for the guardian of the planet. She opens a path down to where the body of the Vajra Queen lies. As he dodges fire, Alto flies into the hologram of Ranka and spots Battle Galaxy, but just then Brera appears in his Lucifer and tells Alto to get away from his sister. Alto dodges some of Brera’s attack, but his weaker machine is no match and he’s eventually hit. Brera chases Alto, and Alto asks him why he’s making Ranka do this. Brera answers that it’s their duty as siblings to protect the Vajra’s planet from aggressors. Brera hits the Nightmare Plus’ wing, and Klan counters that the Vajra attacked first. Brera says humans were the first aggressors, and he heavily damages her Queadluun-Rhea. Alto rushes in after her, but Brera shoots right through the Nightmare Plus’ hull. The Valkyrie flies around out of control before exploding. Seeing the explosion on a monitor, Sheryl screams out Alto’s name.