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A bewildered Rick Hunter sits in the transformed fighter plane, while nearby residents watch in awe, afraid that it might be an alien invader. Rick introduces himself to residents Lynn Minmei and her younger brother Jason, reassuring them that he's not an invader as he tries to make sense of the robot's controls. Meanwhile, the senator orders Captain Gloval to launch SDF-1 despite his misgivings -- and the anti-gravity generators fail, crashing SDF-1 to the ground. After beating the enemy fighters back, Roy manages to find Rick and shows him how to change his fighter from Battloid (giant robot) to Guardian (plane/robot hybrid) mode, while the city's civilians are evacuated to shelters. The Zentraedi aliens renew their assault, decimating the city and taking the fight to street level. As battle pods are pitted against Earth's fighters, Roy and Rick find Minmei near her home and rescue her from certain death. Roy manages to keep Rick and Minmei from being killed, but not before Rick discovers the reason for the Battloids' existence: the alien Zentraedi warriors may look human, but they're 50 feet tall.