Click to see the mission!
Here we are with the Minerva team. With a handful of our Supers up top, Iczer-1 and Goh are now tied as our top ace, with Reiji one kill beneath them.
I spend some of our cash giving Ichitaka some boosts in everything, plus a bit of HP to Shizuru and Tetsuya Kouji.
Our losses shuffled our teams around some. Here’s how we’re going:
Ichitaka/Miu
Jeeg/Kyo
Yagyuu
Yamashita/Tetsuya
Iczer-1/Shizuru
Goh/Mira
Reiji/Shizuna
Yagyuu can handle herself well enough to fly solo and the upcoming enemies aren’t that hardy.
Off we go.
The Minerva’s just entered the atmosphere and reached flight altitude, Meyrin unable to give Talia a read from the sensors – the falling debris’ generating too much interference.
Regardless, she asks them to run laser and heat sensors to try and find Shinn, Athrun and the LOTUS unit. Only thing we can do now is hope that they’re managing to descend safely.
Alarm!
: Hrk, did I take too much damage? I can’t move either of my feet!
: This isn’t good… I can’t even see where they went after that shockwave. And I don’t think I can make it to the ship with just my directional thrusters…
Beep!
: Athrun!
: Shinn?!
: Hang in there – we’re coming to get you!
: Don’t! Not even the Impulse’s thrusters are strong enough to handle two mechs entering the atmosphere together!
: Why do you always gotta be like that, huh?!
: What do you want me to say, then?
: “Get me outta here, dammit!” – or something like that!
: Hah… You’d really rather I said that?
: It was just an example, alright?
Zooom!
: Sorry I’m late! My subpilot came down with a bit of a fever…!
: I’m… sorry… I’m not quite… used to this…
: Don’t worry – just get some rest. I’ll handle everything.
: The three of us’re back together, so now you better quit grumbling, Athrun.
: I’m managing to keep the field stable enough. Everything’s good here, so let’s go!
Back to the Minerva, Meyrin pings them nearby – everyone’s still safe.
Talia tells Arthur to direct them with their signal lamp. We need to get them onto the Minerva lest they crash into the ocean.
And we make it, thankfully. Athrun’s in one piece, much to Cagalli’s relief – was she worried? “Worried, who? Not at… well, maybe a little… OK, a lot! What the hell were you thinking, taking an MS out there just like that, you huge idiot?!” Well, he’s very apologetic at least, as is Shinn for worrying Luna and Rey. Things got a bit dicey out there but the Impulse helped him make it through.
Just the Impulse, Rey pokes him? No, the LOTUS unit also helped a bunch. Speaking of, Ichitaka is off in a sectioned part of the hangar – even if the Minerva’s slated to work with the UN, the situation isn’t exactly one where he could walk freely around the ship. Hell, Lunamaria also points out that if the PLANTs are deemed enemies of Earth, they might end up having to fight us.
Shinn knows what she’s getting at: it was Coordinator hands behind the Junius Seven drop. The PLANTs were finally starting to be accepted by the rest of the world but that’s likely to mess things up a lot.
The rest of LOTUS soon meets up with Ichitaka and Yamashita was very worried – and appalled that he went against an order from Reiji. Not like he could’ve just turned the other cheek there but, more importantly, he wants to know if there isn’t anyone around here who could take a look at Alice. She pretty much crashed under the previous strain.
Athrun’s nearby and is rather surprised to find out that she’s an android. He thanks Ichitaka for the assist out there and thinks he might be able to help Alice out a bit – he may not look the part but he’s rather tech-savvy.
As the two of them leave for a bit, Goh ponders the son of Patrick Zala, the previous PLANT chairman who sought to destroy all of the Naturals with GENESIS (a colony-sized gamma ray). Kyo remembers the terrorists yelling how the guy was in the right and, indeed, Athrun being the son of said man would make it likely for others to tag him as an enemy now.
Cagalli will not stand for it – she saw how hard Athrun fought to stop this from happening and is willing to testify to sort this mess out. Shinn sighs at the Athha’s stupidity but Rey is quick to shush him. He sighs that he wanted to avoid our groups interacting with one another anymore than necessary but that’s obviously not flying now.
Following a quick introduction, he explains that what Shinn wanted to say is that while this might’ve been a terrorist act, the culprits were still Coordinators. Rey can already imagine what the ex-Earth Alliance folks may be bellowing about the PLANTs now. Thus, this isn’t merely Athrun’s problem.
Shizuru and Yagyuu understand, knowing that they’ll use this to try and remove the PLANTs from the UN and/or push the more hotheaded people, of which there are plenty, on a quest for payback. Worst comes to worst, Izuna fears another war might break out – despite the fact that humanity already has enough problems to deal with without us turning on each other.
Cagalli is sure that if she just explains everything, the people will understand what happened – she, Orb’s Representative, saw it all with her own eyes. It will NOT trigger another war. “You actually think the world’ll shift over just your idealistic bunk?!” Shinn yells and Cagalli counters right away: “Better than trying to shift it without any ideals whatsoever!”
Thankfully, Alice walks in right then and apologizes for the worry she caused. She’s 100% back now – no problems at all! Thank goodness Athrun was around, as her thought processes were on the verge of shorting out for good. It was no trouble, of course, especially considering he owed them. Besides, he only helped cool her off and reboot her systems.
He soon notices Shinn and Cagalli glaring at each other, though Shinn won’t say what’s what; all he does is grunt that Athrun could do way better than being bodyguard to someone like her. Right then, Meyrin calls Cagalli over to the bridge as Talia wishes to speak with her. She sets off, but not before asking Athrun to come see her later.
Miu rather saddened that things are going south as she figured the Naturals and Coordinators had chosen to coexist. Unfortunately, says Yagyuu, there are also people who don’t wish for that to happen – probably a truckload of those on the Naturals’ side, too.
Indeed, Goh sighs that the status quo between the Earth and the Colonies might still be the same as it was after the incident three years ago. What incident? When some Colony-aligned Gundams destroyed a shuttle with the leader of UN’s pacifist faction aboard. With him gone, the UN was unable to stop the rise to power of the militaristic Earth Alliance.
While today the event is known to have been a tragic accident, back then it was taken as a declaration of war from the Colonies. The conflict was set fully in motion with the Bloody Valentine Incident – the nuclear attack on Junius Seven. That’s war, sighs Shizuru, with progressively worse events happening as both sides lose their sanity.
Still, Kenji remembers that both sides lost their kill-crazy leaders and, thanks to Relena, managed to settle their differences. What changed? Athrun says that the PLANTs’ entry into the new UN was mostly due to, one, the people being sick of war after witnessing the showdown at Libra and, two, the appearance of the Mechabeasts – new enemies to fight.
Nations across the world were broken in more ways than one after the conflict and no one could stand by themselves. That was then, though, and Tetsuya Kouji says, after the two years of military buildup, there are plenty of folks who wanna settle the score for good.
Shinn for one isn’t about to let that hell break loose again and Rey says Durandal is dealing with the UN precisely to avoid it coming to that. Ichitaka, for one, knows Cagalli saw what we did and figures she’ll help set things right.
Shinn sniffs at him putting any stock on an Athha – poor Ichitaka – and stomps away. And without even a word of thanks! Rey asks Ichitaka to forgive him as there’re some special circumstances at work here; you see, Shinn lost his parents and sister when the Earth Alliance attacked Orb in the previous war. That’s why he has such a problem with the Athhas.
A bit later, down by sea level, Meyrin STILL can’t get in touch with anyone, not even Orb or JUDA – Junius Seven’s debris have raised too thick a dust cloud. Nothing we can do about that but, if we can get close enough to Orb, Cagalli figures we’ll have other ways of getting in touch with them.
Sounds good to Talia and she orders the Minerva to set out towards Orb as soon as they’ve finished their checks. Cagalli apologizes for having to take a lift from us but Talia knows how important she is to her country – she’d best return ASAP. Reiji sees no issues with that, especially considering we need to take stock of our situation before deciding what to do.
If anything, Cagalli promises to make sure both the Minerva and LOTUS are well accommodated as a way of repaying our efforts in Earth’s defense.
By Djibril’s office, he’s on the phone with another Logos member and relaying some very interesting footage sent by the Phantom Pain (Neo and co.): what really happened with the fall on Junius Seven. More than enough to set the world in motion.
Djibril certainly didn’t expect such a card to land right in his lap but he’s more than willing to play it. No one who sees this footage will remain merciful and their indignation will forge an unbreakable bond between the people and Logos. “This time, we will slaughter them down to the very last – for our pure, blue world,” Djibril proclaims.
The other Logos guy’ll leave him to handle that but there’s still the matter of the Katou Organization, Kiriyama Heavy Industries and NERV. The Logos member on the phone has already called dibs on the Far East business; Djibril argues that they should leverage this opportunity to get rid of any opposition, especially since their work’ll soon be over.
And, truth be told, he thinks the Katou Organization should’ve been destroyed, like, yesterday but the Logos guy isn’t budging: he said he’ll take care of the Far East business and trusts Djibril knows what that means.
At length Djibril agrees, proclaiming he never once thought to oppose him. With that, they both leave to enjoy some upcoming fireworks.
Cut to Orb, Yuna Seiran’s being informed that the ship with Cagalli’ll be arriving soon. The brand new ZAFT model, yes? Quite the troubling ride she decided to return with. Still, they can’t well give the cold shoulder to the vessel that escorted their head of estate… for now.
For now? Oh, here she comes, so off goes the soldier to ready her reception.
At the Minerva’s briefing room, Isabelle is relaying news of the damage caused by Junius Seven (Tsubaki’s rather impressed with the hardworking reporter). Several cities across the globe were hit with fragments of the colony and the damage has been catastrophic – the entire planet is in a state of chaos, Izuna sees.
Still, Rey says that it could’ve been a whole lot worse if Junius Seven fell without us breaking it down soon. Right then, Isabelle reports breaking news: Durandal has released a press statement.
“It is with tremendous sorrow that the PLANTs hear of this unprecedented event – I, myself, am left speechless face the disaster that struck the world over. I understand that you may feel these wounds to cut too deep, and the sorrow to be unending, but I beseech you, our friends from Earth: pull through and overcome this dreadful day. We, as always, stand ready to help in any way the unimaginable distress you face,” he says.
The hell? He didn’t even explain what happened up there or all the work we did! Kenji isn’t happy but Goh figures this was hardly the time to announce any of that.
Arthur runs in and reports that we’ve been given permission to land in Orb – LOTUS included. Kenji is especially happy since he’s hungry as no one’s business. What is Orb’s traditional dish, even? Tsubaki has no idea, but, whatever it is, Kenji’ll be all over it.
He runs off – Tsubaki going with to make sure he doesn’t do anything crazy – and don’t even listen when Arthur protests that he’s got more stuff to tell. Kyo’ll relay it to them later, but the gist is that we won’t be staying in Orb for long: just enough to repair the Minerva and LOTUS’ units. Afterwards, it’s straight to Japan.
Comms are still down, so we couldn’t get in touch with JUDA; from what Arthur’s heard, our heading towards Japan was Reiji’s call. Rey wonders if the Minerva can afford a detour like that but, apparently, this was Talia’s decision as well as Cagalli’s request.
Either way, that’s all for the briefing so Arthur suggests we enjoy our break to its fullest.
Cut to Orb’s governmental palace, Cagalli’s getting some distressing news: the other nations of Earth have decided to form a new alliance without the PLANTs. Right now. When huge chunks of the world are in dire need of an organized relief effort.
Yuna says now is precisely the time for that, as the new treaty includes a clause for everyone to help with that. Indeed, this is all being done in the interest of efficiency – to unite all of Earth’s nations in the interest of rebuilding the damage caused. Why exclude the PLANTs, then, especially since Cagalli saw them help break down Junius Seven.
Yuna knows but asks her if she could stand before the countless people who lost their homes, their loved ones, and tell them: “we know you’ve suffered much but we should still remain friends with the PLANTs”? Cagalli has no answer to that.
It won’t be long before word gets out that Coordinators were behind the colony drop. When it happens, Orb will need to decide which path it wishes to tread. Cagalli should think carefully on that.
By the coast of Onogoro Island…
: (Dad, mom, Mayu… I’ve come home.)
: Tweet, tweet!
: … (Kira)
: Hm…? That’s… it’s a memorial for the dead?
: By the looks of it, yeah. I don’t really know for sure, though…
: It’s my first time actually coming here, really…
: Are you a local?
: No… but I did lose many dear friends in that war.
: …
: The flowers are finally blooming…but they’ll wither away in the spray of the breaking waves…
: …Guess that means there’s no fooling them.
: Hm?
: No matter how beautiful the flowers bloom, people would just wipe them out again…
: Are you…?
: Sorry… for saying weird stuff like that.
: No, it’s not weird. People really should stop repeating the same mistakes – they should strive to create a world where these flowers could bloom forever.
: Yeah.
: … Well, I have to get going. Sorry if I bothered you.
: (What sad eyes he’s got… his heart must also have some deep scars…)
Back at Cagalli’s, she wants Athrun to head back to the PLANTs. She couldn’t persuade the other chiefs – they haven’t a whole lot of goodwill even for the Minerva. Orb is on the verge of forsaking its founding ideals and, if that happens, she wants at least him to be out there, fighting to protect the Earth Sphere.
In truth, Athrun had already given this idea some thought. He wants to meet with Durandal and see if he can do SOMETHING to help the world in any way. If things are allowed to continue unabated, humanity’ll lose sight of everything it’s done these past years.
Cagalli apologizes for putting him in this situation and Athrun’ll be leaving soon, having already done the paperwork to be replaced. Mind, there are still plenty of loose ends – some which he wants to tie up, some he doesn’t – but he needs to get going. Cagalli will only tell him to be careful and stay in touch, while Athrun wishes her to stay strong down here.
Cut to the Minerva’s briefing room, some time later, the talk on everyone’s mouths is the news of the Earth Alliance being reformed. One thing Saotome finds odd about all this is that movie showing that Coordinators were behind Junius Seven’s drop – where the hell did it come from?
Mira doesn’t know either, considering the only people who even knew about the terrorists doing their thing were us and the few ZAFT folk involved in the operation. Think there’s a traitor who leaked the intel? Who knows, but the fact is the video had a tremendous effect – Durandal’s attempted cover-up has backfired massively and the people are very angry.
Already the Alliance is proclaiming the event to be an act of war from the PLANTs and Ichitaka wonders if the UN can’t step in to calm things down. Nope, since the UN’s power players are precisely the nations that joined the Earth Alliance – they don’t care about the parliament’s approval or not. And with the public opinion being the way it is… yeah.
Things are interrupted when the alarm starts blaring, Meyrin declaring yellow alert. Talia gets on the mic and says intel just came in that the newly reformed Earth Alliance has decided to execute a nuclear strike against the PLANTs!
Goh’s appalled at how sudden it is and Reiji agrees – this is moving too fast. Most likely these people were only waiting for an opportunity to start a war again (Shinn isn’t happy). Meyrin then reports an encoded message from a “tiger” and Talia takes it. The PLANTs are already mobilizing and, by the look of things, Orb will soon do the same.
Is that intel trustworthy? Well, things are a bit too crazy for Talia to be 100% sure of who’s actually trustworthy but she thinks it is. With that in mind, despite our lack of orders, she commands the Minerva t set sail immediately.
Reiji wants everyone to get ready for a very likely battle but Talia is loath to have a neutral force like LOTUS get involved in this conflict. So she wants us to make ready to leave the ship if things go south.
By the Orb Army’s HQ, Yuna’s getting reports of the Minerva’s departure. He was expecting it and figures a speedy ship like that won’t take long to reach the designated area.
The officer reports that they’ve already gotten in touch with a certain group and preparations are finished. Good, Yuna’s eager to see how this’ll play out.
Mission 7 (Rescue Route) – Chaotic World
The Minerva’s just about to leave Orb’s soil when Meyrin detects heat signals up ahead – Earth Alliance MSs, waiting for us smack-dab in the middle of Orb’s coastal waters. Worse, a bevy of Orb troops immediately flank us. Yuna tells the soldiers to relax and just do exactly as instructed.
The guys ain’t looking too happy but Yuna says that’s a ZAFT ship – an enemy of pretty much any Earth nation. Seems to Talia that Orb’s decided to make a small offering out of us and commands the ship’s MSs to get ready for combat. As for LOTUS, she wants us to get ready to launch and leave.
Talia tries getting in touch with the Alliance troops, saying the UN’s personal squadron is aboard and requesting that hostilities wait until we’ve left the ship… Or not – the Minerva gets blasted straight away.
Talking’s obviously not getting us anywhere, so Talia orders Shinn, Luna and Rey deployed. Shinn, of course, is pretty mad with what he’s seeing: “Is this how Orb does things now?! You let so many of us die in the last war just to uphold your ideals and now you’re going to throw those very ideals into the trash?!”
Trowa, with the Alliance, spots ZAFT’s prototype up ahead and figures this’ll make for a good opportunity to see what the new Mobile Armor’s capable of. Moreover, he needs to score some points with the army in order to close in on his target.
Luna recognizes Trowa’s unit as a Gundam and wonders what it’s doing with the Alliance. The thing’s loaded with a ton of guns and Rey knows it won’t be easy for them alone to break through the enemy line. Talia apologizes but we’ll have to make do with just these few troops.
Destroy everything, don’t lose the Mineva or Impulse. This one’s on the easier side because the Alliance is very much willing to hang back and let the Orb soldiers get wrecked by us first, so focus on the nearby troops.
As things pick up and the pincer attack breaks, start heading south and try to bunch your guys under command auras. Trowa and the new MA – the Zamza-Zah –are the bigger threats and, FYI, they’ve MAPW attacks so don’t keep your units bunched up. If anything, they’re not too accurate.
At the very least the standard Orb M1 Astrays and Murasames are kinda crappy.
: The hell is Orb thinking, siding with the Earth Alliance?!
: Can the Athhas not take care of anything?!
Shinn: ”You’ll get no mercy from me if you’re at the Alliance’s camp!”
Just keep your guys inside Talia’s command aura.
: They already had this many troops lying in wait… does this mean Orb intentionally leaked that intel?
: What’s wrong with you?! Are you really accusing us of being buddies with those terrorists?!
: Actually, they’re didn’t even give us time to get a word in edgewise…!
Rey falls just short of a kill but Luna brings it home.
Finally, Talia’ll finish what Shinn started.
: Our path of retreat is cut off, so we’ll need to break through their lines and then escape!
Bam.
Enemy Phase!
And, of course, Talia and her high HP make for a very tempting target: she gets jumped by a ton of things, scoring there kills and weakening many others. Luna manages to bag a kill, too.
Player Phase!
The ZAFT forces are getting overwhelmed and Kenji wants to get out there to help. Again, Talia says she won’t bring us into this battle but Kenji doesn’t want to sit on his hands when the other side started this. Plus, the Minerva crew tried their hardest to save Earth and Ichitaka really doesn’t care for how these guys attacked without even giving them a chance to explain what happened.
Shizuna is also plenty pissed with Orb for pulling this stunt – she’s very much as outraged as Shinn – and while Izuna doesn’t want to think that Cagalli went back on her word, Orb’s actions are certainly a departure from the norm.
Iczer-1 has an idea what happened: “I can feel Cagalli’s sorrow… I think things moved past the point where she could contain them by herself.” Goh is more pragmatic, saying there’ll be no one to stop this insane war if we all get dropped here.
If everyone’s on the same page, then Reiji already knows what to do and makes a loud announcement through all channels: “The Minerva’s crew is deemed by us to be material witnesses to the recent terrorist attack. And, as such, we’ll now take it upon ourselves to deploy and keep them safe!”
It’s a bit of a stretch but it’ll work; and with that, the ship’s officially under LOTUS’ protection. Reiji does ask that we try to minimize hostilities as much as can be (to make it easier to justify this) – the priority is escaping the area.
With that in mind, as our guys deploy (to Shinn’s slight surprise), Talia points out the escape route. Ichitaka’s ready to clear out anyone who tries getting in the way – if that don’t sound too good, they better run off!
Now that’s much better. You should know that Ichitaka and his Laplace Wall are the Gundam mooks’ worst nightmare because so many of their weapons are energy-based, so you oughta let him lead the charge.
Reiji too, with his command aura.
Easy money.
Yagyuu and Iczer-1’s team stay up top to help clear the Orb guys – their MSs are very easily twoshoted by everyone.
Kenji nabs an easy kill and Goh moves for the survivor.
Meanwhile, Talia hangs up here to oneshot mooks.
She learns Trust and Support Defense L2 while at it.
Shinn and Rey are on clean-up duty for everything the Minerva weakened previous turn.
Enemy Phase!
And here they come.
Ichitaka: “This isn’t gonna fly… That guy’s way faster than us!”
Alice: “Fight on, Ichitaka! Make up for that difference with your spirit!”
She’s learning how to Super Robot, indeed. 
And, by the by, this was the most recurring battle scene in the entire mission: the AI was fixated on Ichitaka, kept on attacking (recharging the Rushbird’s EN) and he’d either oneshot on the counter or leave the mook so weak that Miu would finish it off.
Just on this first turn Ichitaka scored 4 kills and Miu got 2, boosting her Prevail and Support Defense.
Up top, the Orb troops are dropping like flies. Shinn got one, Talia got two, can Luna get one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hlueK8Tp88
Aaay!
Player Phase!
Alright, last couple of Murasames.
Last one falls to Rey.
With Ichitaka having cut the enemy’s vanguard down to size, we now go to town.
Shizuru gets it. Following that: two to Reiji/Shizuna, two to Goh/Mira, one to Yamashita/Tetsuya…
Only reason I’m holding back a bit is to draw in Trowa.
: How can you go and call a nuclear strike just like that…?! Do you want a war this badly?!
Ichitaka keeps ahead, though, to torment the second wave of Daggers and Windams.
Here goes the last one of the first wave.
Yup.
Enemy Phase!
Here comes Trowa!
: (Things have gotten really hectic with the Alliance as well. Still, the least I can do is try and check what ZAFT’s new battleship can do.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Ez0fP_tNg
Ichitaka: “Set our thrusters and left hand output to 80% and 70%, respectively!”
Alice: “U-Understood… more or less!”
The Heavyarms is meant to be tanky but it’s still an MS. Also, Ichitaka nabs another 2 kills.
Player Phase!
Let’s get rid of Trowa now before he MAPWs us.
: The pilot of this unit is Trowa Barton. Then you’re a Preven—
: You’ve the wrong man. I’m not Trowa.
: Why’s a Gundam with the Earth Alliance?! You’re supposed to be a symbol of colonial freedom, so shouldn’t you be on the PLANTs’ side?!
: Sorry but I’m just a nameless soldier who got picked up by the Alliance. As for the Gundam, I found it.
And done.
Oh, cool.
Trowa now sees why “that man” is wary of us; he figures he needs to hurry or “she” might be in danger.
He leaves and Talia stops Shinn before he can run down the Gundam – we can’t pursue right now. Shinn doesn’t understand why Orb and the Gundam sided with the Alliance.
I know Reiji said to prioritize escaping, but screw it – let’s just spread out and clean house as there are only a handful of mooks left. Like Trowa, let the Zamza-Zah come to you and swarm it.
Here’s the rundown:
: The Minerva’ll be a sitting duck if we let this monster get its claws on it! I can’t let it through – no matter what!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbx7KbwNyUQ
: Nagisa… I’ll stand and fight, in the defense of both your home, Japan, and of this planet!
: Good or bad, I always get even, ya hear?! So grit your teeth ‘cause it’s payback time!
: This battle’s the Zamza-Zah’s showcase! I can’t let things get any worse!
The Zamza-Zah charges after Shinn!
: Urk! What the—?!
: That’s an anti-Darius unit, huh? So what! We’ll see how this overhyped MS handles the Zamza-Zah!
: Claws, deployed! Your weak frame’ll be scrap metal by the time I’m done!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a13RNmX9jxg
: GAAAAH!!
: Aw, crap, he got him good!
: Shinn!
: I’m… I’m not…!!
: Haaaaaaah!!
Shinn: “I’m not dying like this!!”
: Wh-What?! Gwaaaaaargh!!
: Shinn, are you alright?!
: Yeah, don’t worry about me. Keep opening a path to the Minerva!
And so we did, Ichitaka nabbing another couple of kills. Here are the convos we missed against the Zamza-Zah:
: Just gonna keep this thing at bay and the Minerva’ll have a way easier time making a run for it! Pinning tactics, Alice!
: Right, let’s go and grapple it into submission! Our strength should be plenty to match it!
–
: This unit’s dependency on its defensive gear is as clear as day. And pilots of this caliber cannot stand up to my Vardant!
–
: I might not be able to take this thing on with raw power but I can with mobility!
The ship reaches the evac point, so Talia recalls everyone and orders full speed ahead.
Luna wants to know what happened to Shinn that he’d pull ace-level moves like that; even Kenji’s impressed, having thought he was really screwed when the enemy grabbed him. In truth, Shinn doesn’t really understand what happened there. One second he was desperately trying to find a way to survive that and, then, his mind suddenly cleared up.
Did he just flip out completely and connect with a desperate hit, Luna and Shizuna wonder. Shinn doesn’t think so but, regardless, Rey was very impressed with what he did today. Yamashita hopes this’ll dissuade the Alliance from coming after us and Ichitaka wonders what we’ll be doing now. Despite this victory, we still have plenty of problems all around.
Reiji figures the reason we were STILL unable to get in touch with JUDA was due to the Alliance’s warmongers jamming our calls. That said, he has an idea to turn this in our favor.
That’d be via Lady Une, who asks that we send all comm records available. In the meantime, she’s arranged for a carrier to come and give us a ride back to JUDA. Talia’s also gotten word that the other half of LOTUS helped stop the Alliance’s nuclear strike against the PLANTs. Was it really alright for us to do that?
Une tells her not to worry as the use of nuclear weapons was a clear violation of the Junius Treaty – we were well within our rights to intervene. That’s a relief to hear. Mind, while Une will be doing her best to assist the Minerva, she doubts she’ll be able to actually hold back the Earth Alliance.
Talia understands her situation and is nonetheless grateful for her help. And while Une can’t help us overtly right now, they need only ask if they need anything. Well, at the moment, Talia would only like Une to send her regards to the SMS folks if she stops by the Frontier Fleet – she didn’t like how abruptly she left them with all that went down.
Lady Une’ll handle it and, with that, signs off. Reiji thanks Talia for the help she’s given us – short-lived as this might’ve been – and she’ll only asks us to stand firm in our defense of world peace. An odd thing to ask when war’s breaking out, yes, but still.
: Sucks that you need to take off – we barely just met.
: Yeah… I would’ve liked to talk with Athrun again, too.
: And what’re you going to do once you’re back in Japan?
: We’ll just keep an eye out, hoping our glaring’ll stop folks from trying to take advantage of this mess.
: And I do got a bunch of personal stuff to take care of, like helping Alice with her adjustments or getting in touch with a missing friend of mine.
: Well, there’s a lot riding on LOTUS’ shoulders, so you keep up the good work, Ichitaka.
: I-I will. Thanks.
: Yo, Ichitaka, why’re you getting all red for?
: W-What’dya mean “why”?! Wouldn’t you get a bit bashful if a girl like Lunamaria cheered you on some?!
: Psh, a legit cool guy will never, ever, lose his poker face.
: Really, now? Show me how it’s done, then, sensei!
: “Sensei”? … Well, whatever works. Now let’s see…
: I’m counting on you, Yamashita.
: …
: Well, dang. He didn’t even flinch.
: Hrm, that’s kinda annoying, actually! What about you, Shinn? Feel anything?
: How should I know?!
: Heh, you see what I meant now?
: Wow, you really weren’t kidding…
: Yamashita, we’re getting ready to leave. I need your help with a few things.
: Y-Yes, sir! Gladly!
: Look at that huge smile…
: Didn’t think he had it in him, getting all giddy like that…
: Ichitaka! Yamashita’s displaying symptoms of—
: Don’t say it… though I can’t really say you’re wrong on this one.
Cut to Aprillius One, the PLANTs capital colony, Durandal is on the phone with someone and working to set up a formal meeting. But calls will have to wait, as he’s got a visitor: the recently arrived Athrun.
He apologizes for taking the chairman’s time and Durandal wonders what he’d like to talk about. Junius Seven? The war? Both or, better put, about the Earth Sphere as a whole. A nondescript time later, Durandal understands how Athrun feels but the fact remains that the PLANTs were on the receiving end of a nuclear strike.
The situation’s currently calm since things ended with no harm done but the people are understandably angry. Still, considering what LOTUS did today, will the PLANTs agree to support them? Durandal is more than willing to make it happen, but, first, they must restore order in the homeland – if not, they’re risking other incidents like Junius Seven.
The PLANTs need to rise above the present hardships and, with that in mind, Durandal’s cooked a little something up.
He flips a switch and shows a video of “Lacus Clyne”, proclaiming her sorrow over the Junius Seven drop and the Earth Alliance’s attack. She shares in the people’s shock and indignation over, once again, being the target of nuclear weapons but she begs them to control their flaring spirits. If they lose control to their hatred, they’ll only beckon a new war.
Athrun’s gobsmacked but Durandal’s having this message transmitted across the colonies in the interest of calming the people’s anger. Of course, he figures Athrun, of all people, can see what’s up. Indeed, this isn’t Lacus. Durandal confesses to be a bit embarrassed over doing this but he needed the major strength of Lacus’ presence – just as he needs Athrun’s strength.
Back at Onogoro Island, Kira’s just returned to his home. He reports to Murrue that things are very busy throughout Orb now that they’ve officially joined up with the Earth Alliance. He didn’t expect this to come from the Junius Seven drop.
Waltfeld (with the scar) sees the world entering a state of flux and figures they made the right call to reassemble the Archangel crew.
Kira’s surprised to hear that but Lacus, the real one, says the whole crew was irked by the current state of things. Worse, Murrue says they’ve just received a letter from the Cagalli: she’s getting married.
Waltfeld doesn’t think something like this’ll do anything to appease the worrying populace but Lacus isn’t so sure. Cagalli’s marrying Yuna and the people will likely rally behind this union.
But that’ll have to wait, as the alarms go off – they’ve got some visitors, it seems.
In the waters near Orb, Haruno’s keeping the Straybird camouflaged while she and Yuu ponder their investigation in Orb. They couldn’t find anything significant, so where should they go next?
Yuu isn’t sure yet and, as the alarm sounds, Haruno pings several heat sources ahead.
: We’ve reached Lacus Clyne’s home. Remember: the orders are to eliminate her, no matter the cost! Open fire!
: Their on-foot crew didn’t fly, so now they’re attacking with mobile weapons…? The underground bunker can’t take this for long.
: They’re coming after me, I think…
: But why now? (Chandra)
: It’s not that strange, when you consider all the terrorist groups the world over. (Newman)
: Word around the grapevine is that those terrorists are laying low for now, though…! (Miriallia)
: … I might not have a choice…
: These are the seeds of peace. You will not burn them away.
: It’s… a Gundam?!
: Stealth disengaged. Shifting to combat mode.
The distinctively not-Mobile Suit unit blasts away.
: Locked on target.
: We’ve found one at last…!
: Damn, we’ve interceptors! Shift to plan B!
The MSs start closing in on the orphanage but the Gundam stops them.
: Zero predicted you’d do that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ3Bf6fRynY
Heero: “I won’t turn the other cheek to those who’d deny peace.”
Mook: “Wh-What’s the Wing Zero doing here?! Gwaaaaaargh!”
Heero: “Mission Accomplished…”
: Rrgh, fire! Fire! Destroy them all!
: Aah!
: Lacus!
The Straybird intercepts the other group.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuupjwkN0xc
Yuu: “That unit is working with ZAFT…?!”
Haruno: “We can make sense of this later, Yuu.”
: Your party’s come to an end.
: Data collection complete… and, unfortunately, the enemy’s looking like a drone. Should I move to at least recover the wreck after it is downed?
: That’s your call. First order of business is dealing with the other MSs.
: Do you copy, Gundam pilot? We are not your enemy. Repeat, we are not your enemy.
: Understood – neither am I.
: Grr… Bring out the backup troops!
: They’re going all-out… this might take a while.
: The future won’t turn out as you expect.
: What?
: That’s…!
: Th-The Freedom?!
: …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7qdwvKKTnE
“I’ll fight with the Freedom again… to protect Lacus and our peace!”
All enemies get blasted and sink into the ocean.
: Damn it…! Just as we’d finally found a clue—!
: No, he missed any and all vital parts. If that was actually intentional, then it was nothing short of amazing.
: This is the future he chose, hm?
: This battle’s over. Please surrender.
: We… we can’t carry on… But we won’t lose what’s left of our honor!
Everything blows up – the different unit included.
: They self-destructed?!
: Urk… why?
: …
Beep.
: This is…! Relena’s…?
: Is something wrong? Um… Heero Yui, wasn’t it?
: Kira Yamato… You’ve someone you want to rescue, don’t you? Then do it. I won’t stand in the way of you living true to your heart.
: He’s gone…
: Wow, who would’ve expected the Wing Zero to come around here…?
: And you, pilot of the black unit. Do you hear us?
: Our thanks for saving us. If you’re willing to tell what you’re after, we could help you in return.
: There was an unknown unit in that MS group – we were chasing after it.
: Yuu, there might still be something we can use. Let’s go and pick up the wreckage.
The Straybird dives where the unknown bot blew up.
: I don’t suppose you know anything about that mech?
: Sorry, but we’d never seen anything like it before today
: I don’t think it’s a ZAFT model, though… Some secret force, maybe?
: I don’t know. But whoever they are, they’re very good at covering their tracks.
: What will you be doing now, then?
: I also have someone I want to rescue. So I’ll just be following my own path.
The Straybird pops its camo and vanishes.
: Sorry, Murrue… I need to get going as well. Cagalli’s waiting for me.
: Kira?!
Kira’s business is over by the wedding, which is already underway. And, by the by, Cagalli’s tears are of happiness. Of course, of course. But the whole ceremony goes to hell when the Freedom flies over and quickly nabs Cagalli.
The panicking Yuna demands the thing shot down and his wife rescued, but the troops can’t well start blasting lest they hit the girl. Kira brings Cagalli into the cockpit (nice dress!) and, despite her protests, tells her to hang on.
They fly out into the ocean and dock inside the surfacing Archangel. Kira suggests Murrue that we book it – we’ll need some time to figure out what’s distorting this world. That was quite the crazy stunt he pulled there but Kira couldn’t just sit back and let Cagalli cry.
But she’s a head of state – do they not see the problem with them kidnapping her? Still, Cagalli’ll have to save this talk for after their escape. Off goes the Archangel.
Over by Casa de Djibril, Lady Une’s just called and does take the time to thank him for speaking with her. It’s their first time chatting, even. But, regardless, what does the head of the UN’s own intelligence agency want with him? She’ll get straight to the point: what does Djibril have to say regarding not only the Alliance’s attack on LOTUS but, also, the attempted nuclear strike against the PLANTs – a clear violation of the Junius Treaty?
Djibril has “no idea” what she’s talking about, and begs she not take such an inimical stance towards Blue Cosmos that it extends beyond the confines of the parliament. Une sniffs that she’s well aware of how far Djibril’s influence reaches and figures he’s also aware that the Preventers are VERY good at their intelligence-gathering job.
Is she siding with the PLANTs? Because that’d be a bad idea. Djibril tells her to look at the current state of the world and, furthermore, the PLANTs broke the Junius Treaty first when they developed unsanctioned anti-Darius weapons. Or did she think he wouldn’t notice that?
Moreover, it was thanks to LOTUS’ intervention that the Minerva managed to evade capture. Way Djibril sees it, not only does Une not have a right to bitch at him about that, she should be the one facing an inquiry and being held accountable.
Sadly for him, no, that won’t be happening. LOTUS was acting well within our authority to protect the Minerva as key witnesses towards the Junius Seven drop. They what now? Maybe Djibril didn’t get the memo due to the MYSTERIOUS jamming that’s been going on but we have all that on record. Should she fax him a copy, maybe?
The Minerva’s crew has agreed to testify before the UN parliament… but, obviously, that’s depending on everyone, Blue Cosmos included, actually wanting to figure out the whole truth about the Junius Seven incident.
Djibril fumes, dropping his pretense of cordiality: “you’ll rue the day you turned against us.” Pipe down, lipstick boy, the lady’s talking. There’s a bill currently making rounds in the parliament to tolerate the Frontier Fleet’s presence – under surveillance, of course (ours, as we’ll see in the other path).
If the bill passes without any issue, Une will not only let the attack on LOTUS slide as an unfortunate accident due to the comm interference, she’ll also deem the failed nuclear strike as the reckless actions of the on-site commander, based solely on unconfirmed intel.
“I sincerely hope you’ll strive to make wise, pondered decisions regarding not only this matter but also any future endeavors. And, with that, I believe our business is done. Good day,” Lady Une signs off (likely dropping a mic over by her office).
Djibril, almost certainly making this face, growls at the phone but quickly recomposes himself. Once the old men have been forced off stage, and both the offworlders and monsters are dealt with, he’ll put her in her place.
Back at Aprillius, Durandal presents Athrun with a FAITH badge. It wouldn’t do to have him operate within the regular chain of command, right? With this, he’ll have the authority to act solely by his own beliefs.
Durandal takes him to be the kind of man who’ll stand by his convictions and fight when needed. Athrun hopes to be like that and Durandal is sure he can. Athrun’s to make use of the power he’s been given whenever he deems it proper – not in the name of ZAFT or the PLANTs, but of a peaceful world for everyone.
Durandal knows that sounds very grandiloquent but Athrun’s willing to take him on the offer. Now, he’ll first be rendezvousing with the Minerva as he has high hopes for both him and the ship. He thinks it might come to play a similar role to the Archangel’s in the previous war, and Athrun’s to give them a hand with that.
Meer thinks Athrun looks good in ZAFT’s traditional red coat and he, himself, is hoping she’ll do a fine job as Lacus’ replacement.
With that, Athrun boards his new Savior Gundam and flies off.