The SDF-1 orbits the Earth following its year-long struggle to return home amidst constant attacks by the relentless Zentraedi armada. "It's been a long time since I saw an Earthrise," one of the space battle fortress's passengers remarks to himself. "It's like a sapphire floating in an endless ebony sea. I never thought I'd see it again. The word from the grapevine is that we haven't been granted permission to land yet. And the orders are to stay aboard the SDF-1. No reason was given. I guess only the captain would know ... but he hasn't made any announcements yet. I fear that we've all been declared dead. It's not the first time that's happened in a war. It's surprising what 'dead' people will do to stay alive ..."

In one of the ship's Destroid hangar bays, brash young pilot Kenji Sato asks one of his more experienced teammates, Perry Forsberg, why he's replacing the servo arm on his Excalibur's torso-mounted missile launcher hatch. "It rarely gets hit," Ken remarks, "and the armor can easily stop a tank." Perry says that the rigors of constant battle will take their toll on every mecha regardless of armor. "The 12th Armored Tactical knows about it--they've lost 14 units already." Ken suggests that they were probably outnumbered or ambushed, since a lot of that seems to go on. Perry says that wasn't it. "The compartment door servos were ripping the arms right off." He points out that they can't make new ceramic hinges aboard the ship, so they're replaced with a standard ball-bearing type that's not as strong and requires more maintenance. Ken just shrugs it all off and says he prefers to let maintenance deal with it. "They're too busy making the big repairs," Perry tells him. "Besides, a pilot should know his mech inside and out." Ken still thinks he should leave it to the experts. "Even if you might die 'cause of it?" Perry asks. Ken says it's a possibility they all face, and besides, he's sure his luck will hold out. They leave the hangar and start towards Macross City. "Chris is buying today," Perry tells Ken, "so let's take advantage of this rare situation before he changes his mind."

Shortly, at a local pizzaria and bar, squad leader Chris Hillary is telling the guys about a woman he picked up last night, the tattoo she showed him, and where it was. As fellow veteran pilot John Evans pays the bill, asking Chris where his wallet wandered off to, Ken notices a lovely young thing sitting all alone and points her out to his buddies. One of his squadmates offers to break the ice for him, but Ken insists that he saw her first, and she's all his. A moment later, he's putting his beer down and pulling up a chair, despite her protests. "I saw you sitting here all by yourself and thought you could use a bit of company," he tells her. She insists she's not interested in his kind of "company" and asks him if there's some other table he could find himself some "company". Ken points out that the place is packed right to the doors, and plus he just lost his seat by the bar. "Fine," the woman tells him, sipping her drink, "then you can just sit there." They trade a couple of quips, none of Ken's particularly impressive, before the woman asks him if he's always this childish. "Only around a pretty lady," he says with a shaky grin. "You don't date much, do you?" she asks with an incredulous look. "You really want me to answer that?" Ken asks. He explains that he joined the RDF just after the SDF-1 landed on Earth and, as he puts it ever so tactfully, "I've been chasing skirts ever since." "Because you're still getting over puberty?" the woman shoots back. He shakily tells her she's pretty close and asks if she'll go out on a date with him if he answers. "It depends," she says. "I don't date mech pilots." Ken lies and tells her that he's a mechanic, then asks for her name. Her name is Helen, and while she's working tonight, they almost make a date for tomorrow night before a battle alert wails. He's gone before she realizes it.

Chris, John, Perry, and Ken rush to the hangar and suit up. The four units rise to the surface of the SDF-1's hull--Perry and Ken in Excaliburs, John in a Raidar X, and Chris in a Gladiator. "We won't have the long-range capabilities of the Mac this time," Chris tells his men, "so let's keep 'em as far back as possible. Fire at anything that doesn't return a proper I.D. tag!" He then tells Perry that's been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. "You're buying for us when we get back, right?" Ken asks. "And you're washing my mech today, Ken!" Perry quips back. Chris tells them to cut the wisecracks and asks John if he sees anything on his scopes. John and Perry both are only getting static, so John switches to the infrared and motion sensors. He spots three Battlepods incoming, then reads an incoming heat signature. It's too late. Those were missiles, and they hit John's Raidar X dead-center. Chris orders Ken to cover the rear and Perry to give them some cover fire. Perry notices that they're all alone--the Veritech squads all seem to be on the other side of the ship. "They probably decided to visit the other guys," Chris comments. "Ken, watch for any pods ambushing us over the rail cannon!" Chris asks Perry how his ammo is, and Perry says he's full, then notices an incoming Battlepod coming in fast. He launches his missiles, but misses. The damaged Battlepod guns its boosters and rams itself into Perry's Excalibur, toppling it and pinning him down. Another couple of Battlepods come in after, and Chris goes after them and orders Ken to fire at anything that moves within two kilometers. Chris nails them both. Meanwhile, Perry realizes he can't get upright and the ejection system is down. Thus, he overrides the weapons safeties and blows both himself and the Battlepod on top of him away.

Ken turns to see what just happened and tells Chris that since they're not attacking this point, he's pulling back to the bay. Chris tells him to just keep the Zents away until the fighters swing back around. He gets a look at the wreckage of Perry's Excalibur. "What a mess ... Buddy, I think you're going to have to do like me and let the crew fix that," he quips, not fully grasping what's happened. He notices something on the field and wonders what it is. Turns out it's John's battered helmet.

At that moment, three Battlepods begin approaching and Chris orders Ken to give him some cover fire. He demands to know where his Veritech Fighter support is, but Vanessa tells him his assigned support has been wiped out. She says she can send what's left of Beta wing in sixty seconds, and he says he'll take it. He then demands to know where his cover fire is. Unfortunately for him, Ken's busy freaking out over John's helmet. Chris decides to cut his losses and orders bay control to lower their platform. Control says they'll start the elevator when he gets there, but he wants it down NOW. "But, sir, that'll mean you'll have to jump. that will undoubtably damage the bay's platform!" they tell him. "I've got three bastards raining lasers on me out here, blast it! GET THAT BAY OPEN RIGHT--WHUNNGH!" Battlepod laser fire strikes his Gladiator. One fighter breaks from the Skull to help them out as Chris tackles Ken's Excalibur, knocking both battle machines down the bay back into the SDF-1.

Below deck, a hot-blooded and adrenaline-fueled Chris kicks the hatch of his Gladiator Destroid off and climbs otu to see a dejected-looking Ken standing below him. "There were enough Pods out there to make roaches look like an endangered species. We were five stinking seconds away from fighter support. What in the world got into you out there? Why the hell did you freeze out there?" Chris demands. Ken stammers out that he believed the pilot's compartment could withstand a full-scale assault. "Wh-when I saw John's helmet just ... floating out there, I guess it spooked me. The armor of the Raidars are a bit lighter than the Excaliburs ... aw, hell ... at least Perry's okay--"

Chris hits Ken in the jaw with a solid punch. "Now get this straight, you snot-nosed pre-schooler! Perry and John are dead!" Chris shouts. "I don't know what the bloody hell they teach in that so-called pilot's training school, but nobody--NOBODY has EVER survived after being hit by a missile like that!" Chris explains that the armor on these Destroids is near worthless, and tells Ken to get the hell out and let the crews get to work. "And be very glad that you don't have the glorious opportunity to tell Perry's widow what just happened out there!" An hour later, Chris sets about to do that very duty.

A little later, Chris finds Ken staring down at the Earth below. He tells Ken how he explained to Maggie what happened, "or at least a more honorable version of it," he says. "I've commanded more teams than I can remember. And I've lsot more under than command than I want to remember. It doesn't get any easier. Ever." Ken lets Chris's words sink in for a minute. "Sir ..." he hesitantly asks, "we're losing the war, aren't we?" Chris confirms it. He says that's why Ken and man like him have been reassigned from the Prometheus to the SDF-1's main forces. Ken asks if John has any family, and Chris says he does, but they're back on Earth. "That's also why they chose to draft the crews of the Prometheus and Daedalus and not the citizens of the city." Ken asks if it's because they're fully trained. "No next of kin," Chris corrects. "Expendible."

Just then, the siren signaling a battle alert rings again. Once again, the Destroids are deployed across the hull of the SDF-1. Chris and Ken are joined by a three-man Mac II crew led by Tom Wozniak and Wade Renquist in an Excalibur. Chris orders the Mac II to lock onto all incoming enemies, Renquist to fire on all hostiles within 2 kilos, and Ken to defend the Mac II. With the enemies taking a while to approach, Chris tells them that two of the other teams will be defending port and starboard, so Renquist is to take out all hostiles within 1000 meters while he holds down the point 200 meters out. The Mac is to make sure no formations get closer than a kilo and a half, and Ken is to clear his own path with cover fire. Chris rushes into battle and nails one Battlepod with his missiles, then smashes another with his Gladiator's fists.

Ken informs Chris of a large formation coming from port--apparently they took out the squad that was supposed to be defending that position. Chris calls for backup, but Veritech support can't make it for two minutes. Renquist then tells Chris that the Mac II's been hit. With their big guns little more than a smoking ruin, Chris orders Renquist to face port-side and fire everything, but his Excalibur is soon little more than a smoking ruin as well. "DAMMIT!" Chris shouts. "Ken! I'm going to take out the middle one!" Ken asks why they don't fall back and wait for fighter support, but Chris says there's nowhere to fall back to. Ken asks about the elevator platform, but Chris says it'll take too long to lower and demands his cover fire immediately. Chris's Gladiator leaps into battle, firing its central gun cluster, when the center unit--a Zentraedi Officer's Pod--speeds ahead and blows the Gladiator away with its right arm cannon at point-blank range.

That's all it takes for Ken to snap. With his entire squad fallen around him, he decides they're not going to get him. "Is that what being a Destroid pilot is all about? The glory of dying in battle???" he asks himself. "Dying out here for what? For whom? I didn't sign up to die like this! I'm here to save us all from those ... those aliens! I won't let John, Perry, and Chris die in vain! ... and neither will I!"

Ken fires off every weapon the Excalibur has, blowing away the Officer's Pod and its team. As he screams, firing his guns, the hatches on his missile launchers give way, and the missiles explode ...

Hours later, at the pizzaria and bar, Helen is on the phone demanding people for what she refers to as "the ceramic project". She calls the bartender over and asks about the man she met the other day. The bartender says he comes in every afternoon, and agrees to hand him her card the next time he sees him. "And tell him I have to postpone the date tonight. The meeting with Dr. Lang might take a while ..."

ARTWORK

Despite sometimes crude linework and iffy shading on the Destroid mecha themselves, the artwork in this book is top notch. Jang's character designs are exquisite, very realistic but with a subtle manga-style touch that's just barely there--I think it's something in the eyes or in the facial shading, but I can't quite put my finger on it. In any case, it's very remeniscent of the character stylings of Sanctuary and Crying Freeman artist Ryoichi Ikegami, only on a shoestring artistic budget (that is, no complex shading here) and with a much less Asian look overall. I just love Ken's expressions as he tries to worm his way into a date with Helen--all these cocky yet shaky looks he gives are just great.

When we get into the heat of battle, the Destroid art really starts to shine. Jang knows his Destroids, and also manages to give them a sense of weight. When the Battlepod careens into Perry's Excalibur, the awkward positioning of the Destroid and the speedlines and lax detail on the Battlepod's remaining leg give a real sense of the severity of the collision.

Also worth pointing out is the level of detail in the backgrounds. In later books, for whatever reason Jang starts skimping on the backgrounds, but here you always get a real sense of place, from the high ceilings and sparse layout of the hangars, to the cramped high-rise living of Macross City. He even manages a few amusing name plays, like the "Starboards Coffee House" across from the pizzaria. Cute.

My last major compliment goes to the computer-generated tactical displays that pop up all throughout the book during sequences inside the Destroids' cockpits. Systems checks, targeting displays, warning readouts--all are handled very slickly, and give the best approximation I've ever seen as to how a real Robotech mecha might operate in any ROBOTECH comic.

Now for the complaints. They're all just nitpicks, and they all seem to stem from Jang's limited access to source material. The Destroid pilot's uniforms are all wrong--everyone's wearing Veritech pilot uniforms from the Macross movie Do You Remember Love?, which is a major no-no in a ROBOTECH work. (As a side note, my familiarity with Jang's Destroid one-shots caused me to be rather astonished when I saw the CORRECT Destroid uniforms in use in the ROBOTECH video game Battlecry for the PS2/Gamecube/X-Box.) The big monitor on page one right in front of the bridge is also a DYRL thingamajig, as is (and now I'm getting REAL nitpicky) Lisa's hairstyle . Outside of all that, however, Jang makes it through the book scot-free, which is amazing for a one-shot cranked out in a month, especially back in '95 when ROBOTECH sources weren't so readily available.