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1. We find out that Ranka was infected by the v-type infection in the womb. That allowed the infection to be in her digestive tract, instead of the nervous system. Note that the V-type infection is actually the Vajra cells that give the race their group mind. If people get the infection in other ways, it will eventually migrate to the brain and kill them - and Cheryl was infected.

2. Ranka is the daughter of one of the three female scientists who studied the Vajra aboard the Macross-class ship, the Global. The other two scientists were Mao Nome (yes, the younger sister from Zero, and the character Ranka played), and... one Grace O'Connor. All were presumed dead when the young Ranka accidentally summoned the Vajra to the planet where the Global was located - Grace tried to cover this up by destroying that planet with a fold bomb. Note that while Grace adopted Cheryl on Galaxy, later on, she did so to add further insult to those that opposed her desire to use the Vajra to take over the galaxy - in fact, we really don't know if Cheryl really was infected naturally, or whether Grace deliberately infected her. Cheryl doesn't know it, BTW, but Mao was her Grandmother, and those really WERE earrings made of the Vajra-made fold quartz that Mao had given to her daughter - just being perverted for Grace's attempt to get access to the Vajra queen, since she thought that Ranka ("the little queen") was dead, until Ranka made her presence known on Frontier. And, yes, Brera is Ranka's real brother, but is mostly mind-controlled via his cyborg implants, by Grace.

3. We really don't know how many of Galaxy's people even survived - let alone how many were actually in on Grace's plan to take over known space. Nearly everything we see is automated, in the final battle.

4. Apparently, Ranka has the ability to interface with a person with a v-type infection - that's how we heard her AND Cheryl, via the earring that Alto took with him on the mission he first encountered Brera Stern. She can use that ability to "Cure" a v-type infection by ordering the infection to relocating to the digestive tract - and effectively make them like her.

















The last people to know who Grace really was were aboard Frontier - and after 10 years, they didn't recognize her at first (why would a top rank scientist be a music act manager?) - Ozma was pretty hard on himself for not recognizing her earlier. Part of her egging Leon into assassinating Cathy's father and seizing control of Frontier, was to make sure that anyone who might be able to put the pieces together before it was too late, would be the first killed by the Vajra. It almost worked.

About the time Ai-kun evolved into a second-stage Vajra (the ones we see early on are probably 3rd & 4th stage), something (probably Ranka singing, with some manipulation by Grace, since Grace has abandoned Cheryl and taken over Ranka's management) stirs up the Vajra hiding in the depths of Frontier (probably smuggled on board as larva by Grace, and later, the surviving ship from Galaxy that the Quarter "rescued"). This devastates the fleet, results in the destruction of Island 3 as a "roach motel" that was disposed of with a fold bomb, and the death of Michel and another SMS person (they found the latter dead, and Michel died protecting Klan as she was getting enlarged to get into her battle gear (after they'd finally admitted their feelings). Ranka's best friend is severely injured, and in a coma - right before Luca can confess his love for her, and right after he recognizes Ai-kun's picture, drawn by her, as a Vajra larva!

Leon assassinates the president in the confusion, stating the Vajra killed him (the first attempt actually failed from the assassin being killed by Vajra as the attack started, but the second was personally supervised by Leon). Cathy & Ozma, who had been confronting (and attempting to arrest) Leon during the first attempt, barely escaped from Leon's goons, and are presumed dead. After surviving in some ruins, they are eventually discovered by the Quarter's pilot.

When they tell the SMS people what really went down, they mutiny, leaving Alto (who won't leave Cheryl, who's dying and has been taken in by his foster brother - the brother is even dressing her in Alto's late mother's clothes!), and Luca (whom they don't really know if they can trust, given some of the connections to his family it seems that Leon has - plus he would want to stay by the side of the girl he loved as well).

Meanwhile, Ranka is starting to remember her past, and convinces Brera (who is also starting to remember, despite Grace's best efforts), to take her and the evolved Ai-kun to the Vajra homeworld. Alto finds out and is horrified by this seeming betrayal by Ranka. Of course, Grace is pretty PO'ed that Brera disobeyed her as well.

As Leon runs the colony into the ground, trying to make it survive long enough to reach the Vajra homeworld (at Grace's insistance) at the cost of it never being able to be self-sufficient as a space going fleet ever again, Alto & Luca get pressed into the NUNS service, not knowing what the rest of SMS knew, as does Klan (who does probably know, but chose to stay behind). The Quarter goes to the planet Grace pretty much destroyed (well, it's still there, but missing a moon-sized part of its crust and mantle, that got spread as debris in space as a result of the bomb), and find the wreckage of the Global - and start putting together all the pieces of the puzzle, when recovering Grace's old logs, and seeing her idea of taking control of the Vajra by learning their communications protocols, then merging with the queen using her artificial body. Everyone one else would be either infected or destroyed, and the Vajra protocols would prevent anyone from standing against her.

Grace catches up to Brera & Ranka at the Vajra homeworld, takes back control of Brera, and captures Ranka, using the data from Ranka's singing (which was being transmitted by her gut infection to the Vajra) to finally break the Vajra communications protocol. She sets up Ranka as a prisoner, to be used as a weapon against Frontier, then uses the protocol to gain access to the Queen. The Frontier fleet arrives, using Cheryl as a weapon (as she is near death, her music is broadcasting to the Vajra too, since the infection is in her brain - which is how Grace originally intended to get access before finding out Ranka lived). It is countered by what appears to be the Vajra using Ranka as a weapon - singing "DYRL", no less. Brera & Alto fight, Alto apparently dying and Brera being injured.

Now, the last episode; Quarter arrives at the nick of time, saving Battle Frontier from a Vajra battleship, and spills the beans on Grace and Leon (who apparently didn't fully realize what Grace had in mind). Ozma pulls Klan back in, her armor having been shot to pieces by the mind-controlled Brera. And, we find out Alto's alive - and is really, really pissed. Alto used that exoskeleton that is part of the survival & operations system (the VFs can be slaved to it), to bail out, and before he did, he saw through the giant projection of Ranka projected above the Vajra hive - IT'S THE BATTLE GALAXY (they ret-conned Galaxy & Frontier into being late-model New Macross class colonies like the Macross 7, half-way into the series, instead of Galaxy being a highly mechanized artificial environment, and Frontier one that tried for a contained biosphere). Frontier blows away the illusion, and Battle Galaxy launches Ghosts to intercept (see my later notes about the apparent lack of people involved in Grace's plot), and things get ugly - but not as ugly as they would have been if there had been a fully manned Battle there.

Grace launches most of the Vajra fleets to go and conquer mankind - we are shown Vajra fleets defolding over the Macross 11 fleet and Macross City.

Meanwhile, Luca uses his own Ghosts to counteract Galaxy's, and Klan tows Alto's VF-25 (he'd been flying an enhanced VF-171) out to where he can gain slave control of it (Klan's flying Michel's VF-25). The battle from there is best watched, not described, except that we end up with a REALLY close-range battle between Battles, a daring rescue by Alto & Brera (Alto's attack would have killed another pilot - but he managed to only damage Brera enough to break his connection to the net Grace was using to control him), a battle for control of the Vajra between Grace and the TWO little queens (Cheryl had collapsed and was dying, when Ranka managed to save her, using the fold net). Using Michel's sniper rifle, Alto gets his "Hikaru vs. Bodolza moment" from DYRL on Grace, and the fleet lands. We see the two girls on the planet, the fleet disembarking in the bay, and the relationships are left wide freaking open, and we find out that "Aimo" was the Vajra equivalent of the title song of DYRL.