Super Robot Wars/Z2/Story Summary/Part 4

CHAPTER 30. Straight Fulcrum

Suzaku's going to have a pretty rough time integrating into the team, given how many of its members he ran into when they were under deep cover. He asks Hiiro if Rilina knows what his day job is, and Setsuna immediately comes to Hiiro's defense. He's been assigned to keep an eye on the new recruit, though there's really little need: all the pilots are eager to meet Euphemia's famous knight. The best advice Shinn has for Suzaku is to be himself and to not try to wall himself away from the rest of the team. This is a place where nationality and other factors are secondary to JUSTICE(tm). Suzaku starts to soften up under all the goodwill and asks for a round of introductions.

If there's anything on Hiiro's mind, he won't reveal it to most on the team... Setsuna is one of his only (pseudo-)confidants. At the top of the list right now is Crow, whose resilience may be his biggest asset. Certainly he's well enough to get up out of bed and run his mouth, but his busted-ass mech isn't so fortunate. Only its creator can fully repair the darn thing, and by some strange coincidence Zexis' course will take them near the Scott Lab. Maybe he can even get the thing up and running again in time for the strategy session Elgan will convene. Lockon asks about Crow's mysterious employer: is she good-looking? Good looking, yes; aggravating? Also yes...

That's enough to let Crow go meet Traia alone, and it's not 100% clear who she's been more worried about: Crow, or the Blaster. She gestures at the mostly vacant lab as proof of how much of a pariah she's become within Axion, which in turn is the target of a lot of the world's ire. "Anti-Trust" sentiment doesn't even begin to describe it, and most of the workers have been recalled for their own safety -- leaving the facilities to be defended by a "modest" array of bioengineered horrors, lethal antipersonell nanomachines, and other such trifles. Traia scowls and says that her former coworkers are better off finding work elsewhere; she's only here so she can finish work on the Blaster, solve the mystery of the VX, and stick the resulting report up Carlos' ass.

As for Esther, she's come out of her room and started working as Traia's assistant. Her rage has only grown with time, and she's in no mood to see Crow just now. Amazingly, Traia informs Crow that he's now repaid his full debt with interest, thanks to her diverting the salary for the lab folks to his account. Crow's seen enough in his life to know what this really means: despite her bravado, Traia is planning to shutter her lab. Neither her resolve nor Esther's vengeance mean much against a brute-force shortage of dough. Crow thinks a moment, and tells her to use the money she was going to pay him to pay for improvements to the Blaster instead. He's about to go say hi to Esther anyway, but Traia stops him and asks what's so special about her. Is he trying to make ammends for the Prometheus Experiment? Maaaaybe...

Esther is, as predicted, not happy to see him at first. But rather than make some lame excuse about why he hasn't defeated MD yet, Crow tells her that he still means to defeat both it, and the Imperium supporting it too. She despairs of this, thinking they're too big a target, so Crow tells her a little charm to ward off her doubts: "so what?" So what if the Imperium can burn whole countries to ash? So what if Crow is more impoverished than the entire third world combined? He still means to keep his promises, and Esther better not forget it. She yells at him to get lost, but just then the klaxons sound -- maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here alone after all...

Margret's seized the opportunity to attack Crow when he's lightly protected, and all Crow can fight back in is an Axion Scout SP VR Maxima. Traia's fast with her repairs on the Blaster, but Margret ensures that Crow can't get to the lab safely. Esther rushes out in the Blaster instead, determined to attack her tormenteres in his stead, but Crow yells at her that he won't let her throw her life away at something clearly beyond her skills. It's enough for Crow that she wants to win so badly.

Margret tells Crow that she'll actually wait till he gets aboard his proper mech before completing their duel: she _is_ a knight after all. She warns Crow not to interpret this as fraternization, and with Crow's instinctive fear of women there's little worry about that. Eim isn't going to let this transaction complete though: he pops up and berates Margret for doing her job wrong. Crow may be unworthy to be killed by Eim's hands, but he's still worth killing -- his death will save the world! Crow's sick of Eim's bullshit and can tell that Margret doesn't really want to fight him in the first place, so he tells her to step off and let him take on Eim directly.

Margret tells Crow to choose between committing suicide or forcing her to attack Esther, and Crow's choice is clear: instead of a call between saving his own life versus another's, it's all about pulverizing whoever forced such a choice on him. At his outburst, the Blaster's VX system suddenly springs to life and gives him the chance to switch mecha. Eim yells at Margret, who tries to get in the way of Crow's thrust at Eim. Well, she succeeds in getting in the way, but thanks to Traia's newly-developed "SPIGOT"s, her mech gets demolished in a single blow. Crow actually apologizes to her, saying that he only attacked her because she tried to protect Eim, and just then the MD moves to protect her from further harm.

Eim orders her to get her ass out of the way, gushing over the beautiful sight of a rain of light torn asunder, of flowers ripped to shreds and the ocean aflame. It is the night of the galaxy's lament, the pouring forth of billions of blue waters from within the box, the climax of a nightmare once dreamt. He somehow dismisses Margret and tells Crow that he's finally worth killing. Of course, after all that ranting Crow isn't alone either. Many among Zexis have a score to settle with Eim, especially Holland with his plans for recreating fairy tales or whatever it is he's up to. Traia tells Crow that the SPIGOT system will let him channel the VX's immense power directly into his weapons without anything (on his side) exploding. With Esther watching, Crow tells the irate Eim that he'll have to wait: Crow's principal target is the MD.

 Eim is a rather dangerous dude, but there's dangerous and then there's
 _dangerous_.  Of course, he's also not putting forth his full strength until
 he can be assured that Crow's awakening has begun.  Harvesting his life
 will come next, but that will wait for another occasion.  For now, Eim bids
 the "wavering fulcrum" goodbye.

Moby Dick goes down in a giant fountain of grue, ending Crow's immediate quest and leaving him with a vaguely lonely feeling inside. He heads back to the lab to hear Traia explain more about this SPIGOT contraption, and tells the rest of Zexis he may or may not be back. As he leaves the field, Asakim (lurking in the shadows) thinks that it will be he, not the False Black Sheep, to steal Crow's soul...

Traia herself is kind of at a loss to describe precisely why the VX system kicked in during the battle. Her best efforts to prod it into action externally with the SPIGOT system came to nought, and yet something about Crow's mental state seems to have gotten through to it. Crow joshes her that this isn't some episode of the X-Files, but she tells him that the HPL are _in_fact_ researching occult-drive mecha as they speak. It shouldn't surprise anyone if the VX turns out to be powered by Morale or crying babies or God knows what else. In any case, Traia knows that there are vastly more fearsome DBs yet waiting in the wings, and proclaims that the road to the Blaster's completion is still a long one. Oh, and since Crow seems so eager to continue as its test pilot, she's got some news for him: his debt has now ballooned to 1.99M thanks to the expense of fixing and powering up the Blaster. Crow is literally speechless, especially when he gets a whopping *10* G for defeating the MD itself. Esther then delivers a somewhat backhanded "thank you", and vows to keep helping Traia find a way to topple the Imperium once and for all. In fact, maybe she can serve as a test pilot! How hard can it be?

Back at the Imperium, Shubal is seriously taking Margret to task for returning with her tail between her legs when Eim appears and intervenes on her behalf. After all, she did a decent job in the past battle, _and_ had her younger brother killed off and all. Uhh, howsthatagain? Yup, MD was apparently her little brother, which Crow so thoughtfully splattered all over the countryside. Tastes like chicken? You betcha. Margret's normally paper-white complexion now turns an interesting shade of infra-green at the news, and Eim dismisses her so she can go be sick or whatever. His plan is pretty stereotypical: make her stronger by making her hate Crow, and see if Crow can fend her off. Zexis in general is to be allowed to live for a while: their existence will embolden other fools to attack the Imperium, who Gaiou will take great pleasure in slaughtering.

Margret is, in fact, crushed over her inability to protect her younger brother Shane, and over being now truly all alone in this world. And with comrades like hers, who needs enemies...?

CHAPTER 31. The Final Battle: Mars and Marg

Remember Marg? Kinda bishounen, kinda... captured by the forces of Evil? It's been a while. Evil works at a glacial speed in this world, as evidenced by the fact that Marg's only just now being prepared for some nefarious, ignominious purpose. He's actually insulting Zhul to his face and demanding to be executed, and in a way he will be: he's to be mind-wiped and converted into a loyal warrior to Zhul's cause -- and then sent to kill Mars. How you like me now! Not well, in point of fact...

He's in remarkably good spirits when he awakens, which might have something to do with the hot sci-fi babe who names himself as his second-in-command. She tells him that he's been assigned as Zhul's forward commander, and advises him not to fret over his erased memories. Time to go fight Mars and Zexis!

Zexis have turned up at Elgan's place, marveling along the way at how Crow seems to keep getting himself ever deeper into debt. The sight of Elgan, the grim-faced fabled Boatman, is strangely reassuring to the team. He's sort of down-to-earth, and has hearing radically better than his years would suggest. He says that he's got to get right to the point: he needs Zexis to chart the course of the world's future. That's what the CBs want to hear, as that's basically Ioria Schenberg had in mind -- though Sumeragi quickly concludes that Elgan doesn't have 100% total grip over the worlds' militaries. Apollo's instincts are making him twitchy about Elgan, but he doesn't think that Elgan's lying as such.

As Elgan is promising to forward any information he can find about the other Zeuth members who may have come to this world, word comes in from Ootsuka that Takeru's (Earth) mother has been kidnapped. Obviously this is an underhanded gambit to get their hands on Takeru himself, but he means to do whatever it takes to get his mother back from them. Show up alone, sans mech? Sure, why not? Rose is waiting there with some espers, apparently sent to psychic- power Mars into a quivering wreck.

Why this was a good idea I have no clue, as Takeru's powers far outstrip Zhul's garden-variety goons. Then again, Rose is playing a battle of attrition dreamt up by Marg himself, and as time wears on it seems to be working. But just then some sort of foe approaches the scene, and not one of Earth origin. The foe isn't a mech at all, but the possee from the Kurogane-ya! Yasu gleefully points out to Rose that anti-aircraft fire isn't the only way to take out missiles, and the contingent start demolishing the espers barehanded. Among them are the Getter team, who seem to have been really eating their Wheaties.

Rose frantically tells her forces to get to longer range, but the Zexis snipers aren't having any of that noise. Rose's next attempt to scatter the Zexis forces with her troops carrier goes disastrously awry when Kiriko shoots the damn thing down with a _handgun_ (the mighty-yet-fictional Bauhauser M571 "Armor Magnum"). Rose is terrified to see how well Zexis can fight without their mecha, but Marg is far from finished. He's got Takeru's mother in hand, and of course doesn't recognize his brother when Takeru rushes over to effect a rescue. Marg not rescognizing him is crushing, but Tsubasa talks some sense into him and the predictable mecha throwdown begins.

 In short order Ashura appears, demonstrating Dr. Hell's partnership with
 Zhul for all to see.  Ashura has an interesting plan: make Takeru half-dead,
 then toss him out into space so the Antiproton Bomb will explode harmlessly.
 Like _that_ will fly with the rest of Zexis around!  Rose resorts to tying
 Takeru's mom up and dangling her from the bridge, demanding that Marin
 surrender or forfeit her life.  The snipers are too far away to shoot out
 the rope holding her, which means it's time for another all-too-conveniently
 timed entrance: Bardios.  Yeah, the one with the teleportation and stuff.
 Oh, and good buddy God Sigma, with the Invulnerable ego^WGod Shield.
 Save the re-introductions for later and get on with the vengeance now!

 When Takeru approaches Marg, he realizes that something is out of place and
 should try to contact his brother.  Zhul's brainwashing becomes clear, but
 Marg is infuriated at having his thoughts invaded and won't immediately
 regain his lost past -- the only option is to shoot down his ship.  Do this
 with Takeru for an extra bonus goodie!

The two "newcomers" have actually been around in this world for some time, but they've deliberately been kept hidden by Tanaka as a sort of trump card just in case Zexis needed help. Well, help was needed and they're out of the closet now. We get the obligatory backstory on Marin and the others, including how a new home was found for the S-1'ians. Marin and co explain that they were still in deep space, heading back toward Earth, when a Quake broughtr them here: teleportation not just across worlds, but through space as well. Roger has the right idea: the Zeuth members' Singularity properties are inexhorably drawing everyone together. It was Dancougar who brought them to Dragons' Hive, and it's Zexis who'll now get the benefit of their added firepower.

If only Takeru could share in the joy. He tearfully asks his "mother" why she couldn't have given birth to him for real, desperately seeking some way in which he wouldn't have to fight his brother. Tsubasa gets sick of this in a major hurry and tells Takeru to grow a pair and stop the crying to mommy stuff. Kouji tries to come to Takeru's defense, but Takeru's mom agrees... sort of. She tells Takeru to fret as much as he needs to, but to also remember that he's a warrior sworn to defend the Earth. He'll have to decide for himself if he must fight Marg, but whatever he decides he'll always be her son(-ish, but who's counting?) The moment he loses this kindness is the moment all will be lost. Kouji gets his butt moving too, a sly taunt about his incomplete training from Tsubasa still ringing in his ears. As he walks off, Shizuko muses mournfully that perhaps the one thing she can do for her poor child is to support him with her love. The hardened Tsubasa has to smile ruefully at that -- as they say, "Women be weak, yet mothers be strong." Educational that, perhaps pertinent to the way Kouji is about the right age to be Tsubasa's own son. But let's not go there for now...

Back at Zhul's forward base things are in far sorrier shape. Zhul tells Rose that they lost the battle entirely because she let their hostage escape, and orders her back to Gishin to be executed. She quietly accedes, but Marg intervenes and says that the only way he'll be able to capture the Earth is with his vice-commander's help. Zhul agrees, warning that the next report he receives better be about their victory. After he hangs up, Marg can't fully explain to Rose why he acted to save her, just as he can't understand the strange sensation he gets when fighting the man who named himself his brother: the man who shares his face. Why are they fighting Earth again anyway? Well, _Zhul_ said it contains hidden dangers and needs to be either conquered or blown up. They why is Mars, a Gishinian, resisting? Things that make you go "Hmm..."

CHAPTER 32. Later, Buddy

Strange times make for strange bedfellows, and Elgan's shacked up with some very strange individuals indeed: Stinger and Corwen look like just about anything apart from baseline humans. That makes it more interesting that they'll be the ones presenting some results about Invader research at next week's exobiology hoe-down. The odd due hope that mankind will gain a better understanding of their enemy, and lament the fact that Saotome is unwilling to help them. Can't imagine why he'd do that!

As soon as they're out of earshot, the two start sniggering about how "the humans" are so worried about the "Invaders". They're more worried about the Beastmen, who seem so insistent on trying to stem the tide of Getter Rays. Stinger smirks that if the Beastmen insist on stopping their own evolution, they're not worth the trouble of getting rid of. Or put differently, those bent on killing the Beastmen are the highest priority targets. They're both agreed: the Spice^WEvolution must Flow!

Speaking of the Beastmen, Lowgenome is rather irate over Zhul's latest antics: nosing around in the Dark Continent and allying himself with the residents of the Ruins. He believe he can take on Zhul and friends on his own, but the real problem are those ten billion (give or take) Monkeys, should they awaken at some point. Lowgenome's dispatched Chimilf for a preemptive strike on those with the spiral power already at their disposal, and goes to prepare to battle those who seek the Earth's power for their own foul ends (that would be Zhul, for those keeping score back home).

While he's doing... whatever it is he's doing, Zexis has been busy running around in search of Beastmen to lynch. It sounds pretty harsh until you consider how much damage and misery they've been spreading, and Kamina is more than happy to lead the charge on behalf of the glorius Gurren Gang. With children and animals lining up behind his bravado, even Youko has to admit quietly that the guy is pretty bad-ass. Some of the more experienced womenfolk advise her that she'd better bust ass and keep pace with him if she doesn't want to get left behind. Elchi's learned that the hard way about her man Jiron, which interests Renton and Eureka immensely -- and Eureka in turn interests Lee Long immensely, though Renton tries to keep the guy from scaring her too badly.

The soap opera ends abruptly when Timp shows up, with Viral of all people trailing behind! After a bit of tense small-talk we meet the real threat: the hulking Chimilf, one of the Spiral Lord's four generals. He's come to throw down the gauntlet with Kamina, vowing to kick his ass at dawn tomorrow with his Dai-Gunzan. No sooner does he and his comrades walk off than Kamina starts yelling his head off about how he is SO accepting the challenge.

The rest of the team get ready for battle too, strategy and maintenance all in readiness for whatever teh hell the Dai-Gunzan turns out to be. Kitan angrily warns the other pilots not to underestimate the Beastmen, seemingly disagreeing with Kamina's stated plan to simply bum-rush the bad guys and break through directly. Then again, such tactics are what made Kamina the first human to ever successfully steal a Gunmen: he's a trailblazer of sorts for all those who would follow his footsteps.

And if Kamina is the tip of the spear, Simon's proven himself an able shaft for it: always help save Kamina's bacon when it matters most. The two are a superb team, and Youko tells Simon she's counting on him as much as she is counting on Kamina. Simon, who's been teased/encouraged to go find a girlfriend among the team's plentiful supply of women, seems like he's got something important to say to Youko, but the timing is all wrong as she wanders off to see where Kamina's gone. Ryouma of all people pops out and tells Simon he'd better get his love declaration off his chest before tomorrow's bloodshed. Simon of course gets mightily embarassed and runs off, leaving Ryouma to explain to Crow that he's not acting out of idle concern: better to get everything out in the open before a battle which there might be no return from. The Getter team all agree that expressing love, even unrequited with a partner out of one's league, is better than none at all.

Kamina meanwhile has been gazing at the moon, a sight beautiful enough to be worth coming to the Surface all on its own. He's adamant that the team must smash the Beastmen as often as it takes to make them give up their assaults, so all the kids have a safer, happier world to live in. His candor surprises Youko, who observes with some amazement that he's actually got more than two brain cells to rub together. He tells her he's counting on her to help protect the space behind him, the space where all their friends actually live and work. Youko is stirred to kiss him full on the lips, and after a moment of shock he promises her to return the favor tenfold when he gets back. Geef, you have to hope that's not one of those "IF-he-gets-back" bad omen kind of moments...

And of course, Simon saw the whole thing. SOAP OPERATIC!

As the team array for battle, even Zero agrees that Kamina's frontal assault plan has merit. If nothing else, Kamina's presence brings an ineffable morale boost to the team, something invaluable against an unknown but deadly enemy. Simon is going to have a hard time concentrating, but the rest of the team is uber fired up. They'll need to be: the Dai-Gunzan turns out to be a _battleship_-sized Gunmen. Kamina likes the sight so much he intends to have the team steal it and use it as the Gurenn Gang's new hideout. Unbelievably he's cooked up some kind of plan with Lee Long, which will begin once they immobilize the thing. Let the games begin!

 There are a few truths in this world, and this is one of them: wherever
 there's fighting, the Invaders can't be far behind.  Interestingly the
 Invaders are totally fixated on the humans (which might include Timp if he's
 not careful), and given their propensity for stabbing fleeing foes in the
 back the team's only option is to go forward with all available violence.
 It's not all bad news though: Lee Long has figured out how the team might
 steal the Daigunzan.  When the Gurren Lagann combines, what's actually
 happening is that the Lagann is taking over the Gurren's systems.  This is
 nifty, and will be even niftier if it can repeat the feat with the Daigunzan.
 Which in turn depends on Simon's spiritual fortitude...

 Viral can't do much to stem the tide, and Chimilf sends him home before he
 can get himself killed.  Timp meanwhile is practicing thespianical skills
 that the average footballer [that's Soccer to you Yanks] might envy,
 buggering off before his airbags can even deploy.

 Simon can't help but be daunted by the task before him, even when the rest
 of the team immobilize the supposedly mobile fortress.  Even he doesn't know
 what his mental block is, but fortunately for him he's got a staunch ally in
 Kamina.  The Gurren Gang leader will gladly smack some sense into him any
 time he finds himself sucking it up, and he orders Simon to believe in the
 self that Kamina believes in.  Umm.

 Bad news emerges from the Daigunzan: Chimilf isn't going to just hand the
 damn thing over without a fight.  Kamina takes the brunt of it, but after a
 couple anxious moments he rushes over and, once again, smacks sense into the
 anxious Simon.  Chimilf wants his battleship back, but that ain't happening
 as long as Gurren Lagann has anything to say about it.  Simon now grasps the
 true Power of the Drill, and Chimilf gets his pork ass broiled into some
 seriously unhealthy bacon.

One. Small. Point. Kamina was apparently less okay than he let on...

CHAPTER 33. Life That Pierces the Heavens

Making the Daigunzan habitable is a long task, all the grimmer for the abrupt loss of the Gurren Gang's bombastic leader. Everyone on the team will have to deal with it in their own way, and that means leaving Simon alone with his grief for now. Even the CBs are humbled by the fruits of war, and Lockon tells Kira that if someone had to be punished, he'd rather it have been Lockon himself. Not, as he tells Suzaku, that he regrets what he's done -- he expects to be judged and judged harshly, but preferably _after_ he's finished his work. Kira asks him not to lay down his life prematurely: he may yet get a chance to make ammends, and there's always someone who cries over the loss of another. Zero knows that a similar fate awaits him, though outwardly he merely recommends that the Black Knights, and Suzaku, join the rest of Zexis in mourning their fallen comrade.

Among those hit hardest is Felt -- all the bad memories of her parents' deaths resonate for her. She particularly doesn't want to lose Lockon in the same way, and in an amazing moment of tenderness he tells her to call him by his real name: Neil Dilandy. Sharing this secret with her will be proof of his vow to live through this mess.

The thought of their own mortality finally drives the Nova team to open up to each other. Johnny starts with his biggest reason for joining the team in the first place: two of its female members are exactly his type. That's right, equal 3P actionz with Aoi and Kurara. As for why Kamon voluntarily chose a life of homelessness, he muses that he was seeking some sense of being alive -- of sharing in the fundamental cycle of foraging for food, eating it, and sleeping as the beasts of the field do. Fulfilling his soul required something else though, and that's where Dancougar came in: it felt like a challenge to him from the world at large. Aoi's motives are similar: for all the cameraderie and pleasure she found in modeling and racing, it is Dancougar that promises to set her aflame, to take her to heights she couldn't reach on her own. Kurara plays coy: telling the entire team to survive if they want to hear her story later.

Sumeragi has been overhearing this a bit, and complements them on becoming a bit more like an actual team. Kurara sniffs that they're doing far better than the Gundam Meisters, and Sumeragi readily agrees. She does pass along a little something she heard from Rue and Seimy: the Nova folks will remain far from a true team so long as they keep their hearts walled away from each other. Kamina is a pretty good example of what one can accomplish by letting everything inside out. In any case, the elusive true commander of Dragons' Hive has invited everyone to a party, and that's not something to be easily ignored.

Holland and Talho expect that their long struggle is nearly at an end, and their dreams of fairytale-like bliss nearly at hand. "Holland" is just a pseudonym as it turns out: his proper designation -- not his real name -- is 350Z. His real name, and his proper future, have been stolen from him as they have from all his crew. They are all of them resolved to go through with their grand design, and Holland tells his comm officer to get in touch with "him" -- all that remains now is deciding when to pull the trigger.

The party is, as expected, a time for conflicted emotions. Harry says it best to Rolan: grief is fine, so long as one does not drown in it. That's a bit of wisdom from Queen Diana that Rolan would do well to ponder. Alto isn't feeling the love and is about to trudge off until the evening's entertainment is revealed: Sheryl and Ranka! That sounds great until it turns out they weren't told the reason for the party -- it will be a test of their professionalism to keep their sudden grief at Kamina's loss under wraps. Hopefully their new acquaintance and fellow idol Eiyda, tonight's opening act. She's cute but surprisingly savvy, and Sheryl tells Ranka she'll need her shit together to not get upstaged. As the pair head backstage, they run into a possee of folks they don't recognize and who are very much fans of their singing. Besides Sandman and Fudou, there's Diana and Lacus! Lacus loves the girls' blend of strength and joy, and tells Fudou that she doesn't want to meet her Zeuth comrades until she finds other songs to sing besides her former songs of war. Diana too intends to use this time apart from her comrades to consider the world as one of its mere residents, instead of as the Queen of the Moon. Sandman will help them with his friends in this world, the Fog Sweeper, as they all battle the forces of darkness in their own ways.

Away from the buffet and commotion downstairs, the Nova team finally meet the founder of Dragons' Hive: F.S. F.S. notes that the Nova team seems to be having trouble fighting the R-Daigun, a rival Dancougar type known as a Variable Beast Machine. He's actually happy that the R-Daigun's shown up, as a benchmark for whether the Nova can be considered a "real" Dancougar or not. F.S. admits that the Final Dancougar is part of his grand plan to fend off "enemies to come", but he won't say what that plan or those enemies are specifically. He's invited the team here for now because he's interested in them -- they're somehow different than the previous Dancougar team's he's hired. What he will tell them is that Dancougars have to become arbitrarily strong. Johnny asks F.S. where the term "Dancougar" comes from, and F.S. smiles and says it's the name of a divine warrior who transcended both man and beast. That warrior even had a catchphrase: "Your Ass is Mine!" or some such that F.S. surprisingly repeats for the team. After the invigorated members walk off, WILL asks F.S. -- that is, Fog Sweeper -- if these are the ones he's pinned his hopes on. They are, and with the little surprise WILL's prepared, surely Nova will beat the Daigun and truly become a Dancougar. WILL cautions that such optimistic plans are a bad habit of humanity but F.S. says that that bad habit has seemingly served mankind pretty well so far..

Back at the party, some Area Eleven folks happen to be on hand for political reasons: Louise (and her escort Shoji) and Rilina. Setsuna chats with them briefly without incient, and later tells Hiiro that Rilina's here. He tells Setsuna that Rilina dwells in a different world from him, and there's no reason for him to seek her out. Setsuna then asks if Hiiro was ever scared to self-destruct, and after regarding him a moment Hiiro observes that Setsuna seems to be afraid to die without fulfilling his mission.

Johnny is there too, furiously pondering who F.S. really is and how (and where) he got the technology to put Dancougar together. His reverie is broken by Eiyda, who's a sort of Internet stalker of his after his ad agency was involved with stealing a commercial Eiyda was supposed to star in. She means to press her romance, and Johnny isn't opposed to the prospect... Unfortunately, there's a bit of an interruption: a Gundam is headed towards the party site. It's the Trinities, and when they blast the building Eiyda does not fare well...

Back at the Daigunzan, a large gathering of hotshot Gunmen pilots have gathered in honor of Kamina. Lee Long says that the Daigunzan's new name will be the Daigurren, at Youko's insistence. The problem remains Simon, who hasn't yet come out of his room. Youko isn't rushing to try to cheer him up, admitting that she's fully occupied with keeping her own spirits from collapsing. After all, the last thing Kamina told her is that he'd return her kiss tenfold -- she's now left with a hole ten times wider in her heart. Just then, word comes in that Simon has boarded the Lagann and departed -- not so safe given all the Beastmen nearby.

Simon has gone nearly mad with grief and with his determination to make up for Kamina's loss. He initially trashes a few Beastmen, but then his Lagann grinds to a halt. Seeing no immediate danger, he dismounts and goes to investigate a box that the Beastmen dropped. Inside it is... a cheerful girl! She prances around barefoot, reveling in the sensation of being Outside, and then quizzically asks why Simon is just like her. He lacks all the fur and fangs and whatnot, and she seemingly has never heard the term "human" before. He struggles to explain that are other humans out here like him (but not _exactly_ like him, which would be weird). Soon more Beastmen arrive and Simon heards them into the Lagann, which still sits immobile. He tells Nia to run and hide while he holds the enemy Gunmen off, though how he means to do this Lagann has "forsaken"(?) him remains to be seen. He doesn't want to see anyone else die, and if someone MUST die, he wants it to be... him himself, as Nia makes him realize. She smiles and tells him he should run away if he's afraid: dying is _bad_. He tries to pretend he's not afraid, but she tells him that lying is bad too.

Kitan and Youko show up at this point, as do a bunch more Beastmen. Nia suddenly gets on the radio and orders them all to withdraw, in the name of the Spiral King Lowgenome's First Princess. The Beastmen all withdraw, and the team now have a lot more to think about.

Meanwhile, Ragna has given Johan quite a talking to about the Trinities' attack on that party. Mihael doesn't give a shit: he feels proud of dealing damage to a rival coroporation and for taking Zexis' warpower down a notch or two. And besides, it was Neina who started shooting like a goddamn lunatic. Ragna better not have been bitching about civilian casualties or whatnot, right? Right, but there's a _non_-civilian casualty: the R-Daigun's pilot. She's only been lightly wounded and will still participate in the next mission, which Mihael and Neina think is a major shame -- they're quite convinced they can do their job on their own. In any event, the team are being sent to strike the Overflags base next, and Neina wants to go level the place before the R-Daigun can even make it to the battlefield.

Simon's arrived back at Daigurren with his peculiar guest, who's been locked up till the team can figure out what to do with her. The party guests are also back and draped all over sickbay. Luckily no one got killed, but the shock to Simon is almost as bad: Lagann doesn't seem interested in helping someone who lacks the will to live. With no where else useful to go, Simon goes to chat with Nia some more. She's learned a lot from the other crewmembers about what harm her father's wreaked on the humans, but doubts he would do so without a reason. Simon of course hates Lowgenome's guts, but when Nia asks if he hates her too he says he's got no fucking idea. So, why's he fighting again? He _did_ fight because Kamina, who believed in him, was there. And just who is this "Kamina"?

A dude who lost his life fighting Lowgenome's people, which pretty much explains why people might dislike Nia. Simon says that nobody hates her... and come to think of it "hatred" never seemed to drive Kamina either. Kamina was the sort to laugh even under the direst of circumstances. He was like this... BOTTOMLESS IDIOT, Youko grouses not unkindly, and asks Simon to regale her too with more stories about Kamina. Simon relates an incident where the people of his village once tried to dig to the surface, only to be trapped in an earthquake. He was terrified that he'd die buried alive just like his parents, but Kamina was the one who kept encouraging everybody, the one who stopped Simon's hands from shaking. It was then when Simon heard the voice of the soil and rock speak to him, telling him to grasp this warm stone and make his way out.

Simon says that he's always been powerless without Kamina, but Nia points out that he rescued her quite well on his own. Why is he so obsessessed with taking Kamina's place? He tells her that she doesn't know what Kamina was like, but she counters that Simon can't count on what Kamina _was_ like either. Youko huffs that Nia couldn't possibly understand what Simon's going through with no idea of what Kamina was like, and Nia rightly asks why not. Simon's far from incapable, but so long as he remains fixated on someone now departed... Youko yells at Nia to knock off the lecture, especially given it was her father's men who cost Kamina his life in the first place. Cost... _Youko_ Kamina's life, if we're honest. Just then word comes in of Beastmen on the inbounds, and as the Daigurren can't move yet Zexis' forces mean to intercept them some distance away. Simon still looks like hell, and he still is trying to fill Kamina's shoes as he trudges toward the hangar...

When Zexis sends in reinforcements, the scope of the party injuries is clear: the team is substantially short on warm bodies. HOT bodies, on the other hand, are overflowing from a Nova team itching to measure up to F.S.' expectations. Johnny in particular wants to get this over fast so he can go check in on Eiyda. All eyes are on Simon, seemingly zombified by his unreasoning determination to fill Kamina's pointy sunglasses -- even good news about the low number of enemies actually makes him sink deeper into his funk. Watching him, Eureka wonders aloud why people go on living while shouldering such debilitating sadness.

Everyone gets worried when a Quake occurs, letting in a large batch of Emerges. Wait, they look an awful lot like the ferocious balloon animals that Eureka is descended from [that's the Coralians, for those keeping score at home], and if so, what's the deal with this world having a Eureka given how Zeuth's Eureka supposedly put paid to all that pan-dimensional mess a while ago. The Beastmen wisely leave the Emerges alone, and Eureka somehow knows that the Emerges are somehow seeking to understand the meaning of sorrow. Talho frantically calls to Holland, who agrees that the Emerges must not be allowed to get their hands on "it".

 [By the way, if you have 40+ kills for Suzaku, you'll get a Yggdrasil
 Drive at the end of this battle.  This is easier if you've been usig Suborder
 optimally, but you should still be able to make up some amount of deficit
 during the battle itself.]

 At a particular juncture in the battle, Holland orders Renton to follow him
 back to the Gekko.  Renton understandably wants to know what's going
 on, and Eureka says it's all her fault for not being human.  That's news to
 him, given how they like grew up together and all, but Eureka at long last
 tells him the truth.  The reason the military took her away and treated her
 as a top secret is that she's actually a spy robot sent by the Emerge to
 study humans.  It's probably her attempt to understand Simon's sorrow that
 made the Emerge react and show up.  Renton isn't sure he believes all this,
 and Eureka thanks him for always treating her like a regular girl.

 Holland intervenes at this point, having known Eureka's true nature all
 along.  Renton demands to know why Holland stole her from the military,
 and Holland has a question for Renton in turn before answering: how old
 does Renton think Holland is?  Renton retorts that he's got no fucking clue,
 and Holland tells him that he's all of seventeen... just like everyone
 else on the Gekko.  They are all children of Neverland -- yeah, the one
 from Peter Pan lore.  Holland says that the Tragedy of Dohar eight years ago
 was caused by humans trying to use the Emerge's power to produce artificial
 Quakes.  In that case, another humanoid Emerge spy robot was the focus,
 and the ship headed for the Emerge was packed with children like Holland.
 The only adults were a young soldier and a peach-haired girl, who were
 hugging each other as though they knew their end was nigh.

 Holland and the others passed out in a burst of rainbow-colored light,
 regaining consciousness as their ship disintegrated around them.  The
 adults who sent them on this mission probably suspected that the orphan
 children wouldn't be missed, but what they didn't suspect is what Holland's
 people saw at the other end of the tunnel: a blue-green planet whose moon
 bore some kind of inscription.  They realized that that's the world where
 they belonged, and for that if nothing else Holland is grateful to Renton's
 parents, employees at the Warusawa lab where the experiment took place.
 Apparently they discovered the technology that powered all this from an
 old fairytale: the Ageha Myth.

 The kids were the only ones dragged back to this world when the experiment
 ended, and the military scientists discovered that they were all aging at
 triple the normal human rate.  Holland believes that this is due to being in
 this world, and is bound and determined to leave lest the early grave he's
 been consigned to get even earlier.  Okay, got all that -- so how's Eureka
 fit in?

 The theory goes that the Emerge have the ability to manipulate dimensions,
 but can't initiate the process on their own.  On this theory, the Ageha
 Myth was penned by them as a sort of trigger mechanism, and Holland thinks
 he can use what they've learned, plus Eureka, to remake this world into one
 where he can actually survive.  This pisses Renton off something fierce:
 what makes Holland think anyone has the right to remake the world for their
 own personal benefit?!  Wouldn't using Eureka like that lower Holland to
 the same level the adults he hates so much inhabit?

 Holland yells at him to shut up, adding a punch for good measure.  Renton is
 not cowed in the slightest, yelling right back that Holland can go fuck his
 unfair self if that's how he insists on making his point.  Holland growls
 that it's not just Eureka who he means to use: it's Renton too!  Eureka
 springs into action and grabs Holland, yelling at Renton to escape while
 he still can and ordering Nirvash to _take_ him when Renton hesitates.

 Eureka radios(?) in to Renton, thanking him for all he's done and apologizing
 again for mixing him up in her problems.  She claims to have no regrets
 left, though she's reluctant to fulfill her proper mission.  If she lets
 Holland and the others use her as they want to, she won't have to make the
 decision.  Renton is furious at her "self-satisfaction", demanding to know
 if she ever stopped to consider his feelings.  The Gekko flies off with
 Eureka, and Nirvash refuses to let Renton follow.  Jeffrey orders his crew
 to recover Renton, and the rest of Zexis can only wonder what the hell is
 going on.

 Meanwhile, who should show up but the R-Daigun.  The Trinities are nowhere
 to be seen, and it seems the R-Daigun's pilot is determined to settle the
 score with the Nova.  She insists that it will be her who saves the world,
 though how defeating Nova would achieve that is far from clear.

 The R-Daigun is not easily cowed by the D Team's newfound bravado.  Its
 pilot fires back, damaging the Nova's generator and starting it running amok.
 The other Zexis folks urge them to break their combination lest they get
 themselves killed, but the D Team are adamant that they're still very much
 alive and very much committed to fighting for their own sake.  None of them
 want to lose to the R-Daigun, and the Final Dancougar appears and tells them
 to prove it!  Best believe that!  The R-Daigun's pilot has no choice but to
 retreat in a huff, leaving the Nova pilots reeling from the heat of a new
 sensation they feel welling up from within.

 Shinobu tells them that this is the power of "instinct", the fundamental
 force behind all life.  He tells Aoi and her teammates to master this new
 power they've discovered, and prove they're using their generator to the
 utmost via God Beast Mode.  Saying he'll report all he's seen to F.S.,
 Shinobu leaves his "underclassmen" to their battle.  As more Emerges join
 the fray, the question turns to Simon: can he overcome the wall in front of
 him as the D Team has done?

 Simon mutters that he simply can't become Kamina, and Nia says that that's
 just fine!  He doesn't have to be anyone but himself, the self that managed
 to save her.  He needn't try to make up for Kamina's absence all alone: he's
 got a whole team to help with that.  Simon needs to remember what Kamina
 taught him: to believe in the self that Kamina believed in.  Right then!
 Both Simon and Daigurren are now online, and Simon vows that he will keep
 drilling through whatever wall stands before him until the very end!

Net result: Simon grows a pair (and becomes the Gurren Gang's new leader) and the D-Team starts acting like the A-Team. I love it when a plan comes together. So does Shinobu, who reports Nova's exploits to F.S. after the battle finishes. Of course, Nova has lots of work to do before living up to their true potential, but they've taken a very important step forward. What's more, WILL has had this planned all along: F.S. knows very well that WILL deliberately leaked the plans for the R-Daigun. They've been working together quite a while, after all, and although F.S. doesn't agree with everything WILL has planned, they both _do_ agree that Nova and the R-Daigun must continue fighting until one of them surpasses beast, man and even God himself.

Elsewhere, Holland is hearing it from Hap of all people for letting Renton slip through his fingers. Why not just drug the damn kid and see their plan to fruition? Holland protests that he didn't want to force himself upon another kid, and is sure that he can still get Renton back with a little help from one of his friends. He assures his shipmates that his resolve is still firm as ever, and says that anyone not on the same page can leave now. OH AND GUESS WHAT, they're in league with Eim, who ordered them to bail on the last battle in the most disruptive way possible. In return, Eim promises to put in motion the recreation of their little fairytale...

CHAPTER 34. [Route Split]

Renton briefs the team on what Holland told him, and unsurprisingly the team find it tough to believe that an old myth holds the key to artificial quakes. What is obvious is that the mess at Warusawa lab has been kept under the strictest of secrecy, and even Veda has little information. It's agreed that the Gekkostate folks can be left free for now, as presumably they'll need to come (try to) get Renton sooner or later to complete their plan. Renton actually wanted to go off alone to find the Gekkostate first, but yielded to the argument that he was better off sticking with Zexis and relyign on Elgan's information services. As it's likely Elgan knew something about the Gekkostate's scheme -- perhaps including them into Zexis to keep an eye on them -- the commanders plan to insist that he do the dirty work of tracking the Gekkostate down.

The Imperium meanwhile continue their rampage of destruction unabated: they can now claim eleven nations as casualties. The Trinities also remain active in the shadow of this hideous parade, emboldened enough to even skirmish with Britannia's Overflags base (this time, for negligible damage). Sumeragi announces that the CBs are going to take a bit of a sabbatical from Zexis to hunt down their cousins, and try to persuade them to stop their military interventions so the world can get busy fighting the Imperium. She'll have a backup plan too, in case persuasion fails.

In the spirit of solving one's own problems, Zero decides to take the Black Knights back to Area Eleven, and the rest of the team rapidly draw up plans for a three-way split. Suzaku will be going back with Zero, though everyone expects him to return to the Britannian army once he gets there. Zero and Sumeragi both hope he can be persuaded to reconsider, as his combat skills trump most strategems and his mere existence is of value in uniting the hearts of the Japanese. Crow as usual will get to choose for himself.

 [For Japan, go to 34J.  To hang with the CBs, go to 34C.  To return to
 Area Eleven, go to 34E.]

In any case Esther and Traia do their best to get Crow pumped up for the next phase of his assignment, heavily indebted though he is. He's actually getting paid a decent amount for this stint, though Traia coyly rounds off the payout and then cuts off the call before explaining why.

Now, the Zexis pilots are made of stern stuff, but not so civilians like Shoji. He's been laid up in a hospital bed ever since the attack on the party, and while he's been out Louise has returned to Spain on account of her parents' death. It was arranged for her medical care to take place there, and an agonized Shoji cries out for his sister or anyone else to explain why the CBs' Gundams have started attacking non-combattants.

CHAPTER 34J. The Father Inside One's Memories

For the daughter of the Gurren Gang's arch-enemy, Nia cuts a superbly nonthreatening (and endearingly naive) figure. Kitan is doing his best to "question" her amidst the hurly-burly of the mess hall, but it seems he's answering more questions than he's asking. If Zero and Sumeragi combined couldn't get anything useful out of her, there's little hope for any of the other team members (as Julie knows all too well). The team tries to imagine what the lord of the Beastmen might be like, eventually concluding that he must, like Nia, at least look human. Many on the team have fathers formidable in their own ways, with Crow possibly the only product of a losing family. That's not to say that there aren't family issues to go around though: many on the team have had to come to terms with battling their fathers' killers, as Takeru himself must before long.

The talk of family has Ibuki in a bit of a funk, and as she stalks off Akagi makes the lamest attempt in history to cover for her. Fortunately for him the team gets distracted by a little surprise waiting for them in Japan... which turns out to be a mountain of expense reports and other paperwork. While all that's being hammered out, Crow takes part in a little cash-for-info swap with Domeki, that mad scientist girl with glasses. Who, as it happens, also has business with Ibuki.

Domeki slyly fills Ibuki in on the fact that she's following in Ibuki's father's footsteps research-wise. Domeki is a self-proclaimed genius, and the Heterodynes are the first subject she's ever encountered she couldn't comprehend on sight -- this of course will _not_ do. She asks Ibuki why she changed her surname, and Ibuki says that her mother remarried after her father's death. Her father actually named the unit of energy in Fractal Knot theory the "Breath", after the translation of Ibuki's name. Ibuki admits to having something of a father complex, and is piloting Dai Guard in part to get revenge for his death. If only the world had been quicker to believe his results, maybe he woudln't have felt compelled to run the experiment that cost him his life. Maybe more of the world's people could have been saved.

Domeki finds Ibuki's take on her father rather funny, and asks if she ever read his famous book. After considerable jargon, she explains that her father, the consummate scientist, must have been an inveterate problem solver. And to an inveterate problem solver, the Heterodynes would not have represented an enemy so much as the final piece in the puzzle he was trying to construct with his theory: seeing them in person would have been the ultimate validation. Ibuki protests that her father was certainly trying to protect mankind, but Domeki counters that all scientists are children at heart.

As proof, she shows Ibuki footage of the actual incident when the Heterodynes appeared. Pictured is her father, grinning like a kid who just got 100% on a math test. For him, the Heterodynes were nothing more and nothing less than a fascinating object to study. He was _not_ a hero, and Ibuki's known it damn well ever since reading his book. Domeki tells Ibuki that she's been repressing that knowledge ever since, blaming the Heterodynes for everything that's wrong with the world. The alternative, accepting the truth, would also mean knocking her father off the pedestal she'd built inside for him.

Despite all the incisive lunacy, Domeki knows when to stop pushing. As she goes to fetch her a cup of coffee though, she does warn that unless Ibuki can rid herself of her hangups, she'll never truly wear the "Momoi" surname at all. No sooner does Domeki walk off than Eim shows up! He tells Ibuki that her father was indeed a hero, and it's her father's work that led him to his ability to produce Quakes. That is, it's her father's fault that the Lord of Destruction is here. Ibuki's cries of despair bring Crow and her teammates running, and Crow demands to know what Eim's trying to accomplish by traumatizing Ibuki. OF COURSE, knocking Crow himself for a loop!

When the Daigurren shows up, Nia's been installed on the bridge as a full- fledged member of the Gurren Gang. Trider's updates have finished too with some help from Lee Long, and that's a good thing because Dai Guard doesn't seem to be in any hurry to show up. Kokubougar will have to help pick up the slack as Ibuki works through her demoralization, just like Eim drew it up. He wants to see what Crow looks like when he decides death is preferable to watching his friends get fucked over, and has even brought the newly-embittered Margret to help. Eim cautions that her heart is black and full of hate, so instead of letting her rule the universe with it, Crow vows to simply kick her ass, and hard.

 Ibuki does get her shit together and prevails upon her teammates to launch,
 but Eim's got a nasty surprise waiting for her: the same kind of Heterodyne
 that killed her father 12 years ago.  Ibuki loses all track of the little
 chat she and Domeki just had, and vows to destroy the thing and let her
 father rest in peace.  Or something.

 When Margret gets ousted, her final words before fleeing are regrets that
 she couldn't avenge her brother.  But who would that be, when her forces only
 seem to have beasts?  The signature Heterodyne offers no words, preferring
 instead to dish out vicious beatings to anyone unwise enough to get near.
 That would include Dai Guard, given that Ibuki is all distracted by the
 thought that her whole war with the Heterodynes will be uesless if she lets
 herself believe that her father himself wasn't at war with them.

 With Ibuki flailing, Akagi has no choice but to withdraw.  Eim is very
 happy with this debacle, and promises to do the same to every one of Crow's
 comrades until Crow begs for mercy.  Does this guy really think people are
 that easy to manipulate?  If so, he's in for a serious lesson as the
 21st Century staff scramble to repair and refurbish their damaged mech.

 The damage to Ibuki's psyche, however, won't yield to legions of mechanics,
 or well-meaning officemates.  Back comes Domeki to talk more facts: even if
 Eim's claims are true that he turned Ibuki's dad's research to evil ends,
 it is the USER that's evil, not the research itself.  She's proud of herself
 for showing Ibuki what her father really was, and uncowed when the rest
 of the team are horrified at her callousness.  But that's the psychological
 stuff.

 The physical stuff comes when Akagi grabs Aoyamai and drags Ibuki back into
 battle.  He tells her that he's not going to pretend to understand what she's
 going through, but if there's one thing he's certain of it's that she is her
 own person.  Better she fights for her own sake than for her father's,
 and better yet to fight on behalf of the team and of mankind as a whole.
 That's what Simon learned, after all.  Eim is unthrilled by this turn of
 events, but Crow and friends tell him no uncertain terms to go fuck himself
 if he doesn't like it.

Eim sounds conflicted when his final pawn goes down: even if the scales of Crow's soul are swaying, the stand supporting them is rock-solid. Something to ponder until later. For now, Watta has a final word of wisdom for Ibuki: if her scientist father was anything like his, he'd have had no regrets about dying in the midst of his work. Ibuki agrees, and vows to keep up the fight with Zexis until she discovers a new purpose for her life. She tells Crow that she's really not all that disappointed about her dad, and to her surprise he admits he's not that down on his father -- deadbeat though he was -- either. Is that why Crow opted to shoulder his father's debts? No commento!

The love-fest doesn't last long though: word comes in that Ashura has just declared war on all of Japan. Ashura's been ordered to commence an all-out attack on Japan in just 24 hours, unless both the Japanese government and Zexis unconditionally surrender. Think that's happening?

CHAPTER 34C. Memorial Debut

Tracking down the Trinities is going to be hard work, since even Veda hasn't figured out what they're up to. Sumeragi thinks there's hope though: the marrauding trio seem to have a far more personal agenda than is usual for the CBs. It's as though someone party to the CBs' technology is using the Trinities for his own ends... which is a pretty terrifying thought in fact.

As the Zexis commanders deliberate, Ranka is having issues of her own off in Rome. It's eating her up that she's been saved by Alto so many times and yet has never been able to return the favor. Her new companion Eiyda tells her to cheer up -- she is after all on the brink of becoming the world's top idol star with the release of Bird-Human. After all, how can an idol star lift everyone's dreams if she herself is weighed down? Eiyda does confide to Ranka that she's got her own lovelorn moments, but she's not going to say who it is she loves lest it cause some major scandal.

When her date shows up, no further words are needed: it's Johnny, with Alto in tow. Eiyda's figured out who it is Ranka loves, and had Johnny drag him out here for a date of his own. NOT THAT HE AND RANKA ARE DATING, we hasten to add. Ranka starts to mope and apologize, but Alto tells her she needn't. He's seen an advance copy of Bird-Human, and assures her that while her acting could be better, the emotional content was spot-on. The theme song rocked too, but that won't be Ranka's debut single.

Before she can say what will, a fellow member of the Saotome acting clan appears: Yajirou. This is clearly an awkward reunion for Alto, and it gets worse when Yajirou tries to insist that Alto will be an actor for life, piloting-play aside. He adds that their teacher Ranzou is in poor health, and tells Alto to stop by if he can bring himself under control enough. Yajirou strolls off, leaving a fuming Alto to answer a call from Michelle: Sheryl needs a bodyguard. Is that going to kibosh his "date" with Ranka?

Yup, but at least it's for a good reason: Sheryl is still concerned about his emotional wellbeing. She manages to both encourage him and remind him that there is at least one person who will really suffer if he gets himself killed (at least two in fact, between Ranka and herself). He's supposed to take her to the Galia base so she can give a "comfort" concert, though as she walks with him toward their mech she seems to suffer a moment of dizziness...

The Galia base has a considerable Frontier army presence as part of the fleet's cooperation with the UN, most notably the infamous 33rd Marine corps. This is mostly made up of Zentraedi, and Klan scowls that they're just the sort of ruffians who'd request a "comfort" event. She explains that she and Nene hail from a part of the Zentraedi empire that readily joined forces with mankind after the First Interstellar War. However, other parts of the Zentraedi treated the collaboration like a forced occupation, and the 33rd turns out to be an ineffectual force comprised of members from both factions. In fact, the whole crew probably demanded the concert under threat of just quitting wholesale. What, precisely, was the Frontier government thinking by sending such a band of misfits to the Earth? And does it have anything to do with the mess in Limonecia, which may have used stolen Fold tech?

One thing Ozuma won't be checking out is Ranka's new movie, including as it does Ranka's big kiss scene. Several of the pilots know how he feels, and the banter quickly turns to Ozuma's relationship with Cathy. Kei has one hell of a nose for women, and correctly determines that Cathy and Ozuma are _former_ lovers. And there's nothing better, in Kei's view, than romantic drama on the bridge! The real question is how Alto's love polygon... thing... will pan out. How's it going in Galia?

Off to a good start, it seems. Major Ogotai thanks Alto for bringing escorting the "comfort" folks, and hopes that the concert will get his men to shut up for a while. Some of his malcontents have openly challenged him to defeat them with the power of the Protoculture, that is, music -- which is the real reason for this concert. Ogotai sighs and says that most of his men were duly impressed with their direct infusion of Earth's culture, but the rise of the Imperium has stirred their old warlike instincts.

As Sheryl is being introduced to the troops (including an unimpressed Temjin), she once again feels dizzy and complains to Grace of a sudden headache. She collapses at the worst possible time, and led by Temjin some of the Zentraedi start to riot. Alto and the other humans are quickly taken hostage...

The demand a ship from the Frontier fleet, and as the Zexis pilots digest the news they all agree that the timing was too perfect: there has to be some kind of mole behind Sheryl's (im)perfectly timed collapse. The problem for now is how to end the crisis, and a solution comes from a very unlikely source: Ranka! She's heard Alto so many times that it's better to run headlong into one's problems than to sit and regret, and has finally found a possible way of paying Alto back for all he's done for her.

It turns out Sheryl's been in bad shape for several days, but has quietly insisted on trying to go on singing. Alto furiously tells her that it's part of her job as a pro to look out for herself, and for once Sheryl can do nothing but feebly agree. She says that she has nothing _but_ singing, just like Alto has nothing but his flying. Fine then: time for Alto to do some of that flying, while Grace watches Sheryl to make sure she doesn't try anything stupid.

Ogotai demands to know what Temjin and friends want with a spaceship, and Temjin slyly says that he wants a way to satisfy his boiling Zentraedi blood. A way like joining the Imperium folks, for instance. He preaches to his men that partaking of the Imperium's orgy of theft and bloodshed will help restore the glory the Miclones [the humans, that is] stole from the Zentraedi. His men in a frenzy, he smirks to Ogotai that the "producer" should be satisfied now. It seems Grace is the mole in league with him, and has let him know in advance that Alto is coming. That sucks for Alto, but he's still got to try to face down these goons.

 Alto is up to the task of downing a few of the rebels, but he's certainly
 in no shape to take them _all_ on.  Temjin mockingly recommends he try
 singing -- maybe that would work!  Well why the hell not, especially when
 Alto has a little backup in the form of Ranka, special delivery from
 Michelle?  Lo and behold, the better half of the rebels throw down their
 arms at once and join the audience for this impromptu concert, a repeat of
 the legendary Lynn Minmei for all to see.  Even Ozuma has to hand it to his
 little sister for suddenly becoming a full-grown woman, just as Bobby figured
 she would.

 Faced with the prospect of his men defecting to watch the birth of a new
 legendary idol star, Temjin reminds them why he's known as the Ally-Killer.
 Anyone who tries to flee will have to deal with him first.  Seeing Temjin
 won't surrender, the rest of the team wades in and leaves Michelle to
 guard Ranka's concert.

 Temjin maintains that his actions are all his blood's fault, and that he
 was Born This Way.  He thinks space isn't big enough for both humans and
 Zentraedi, which is pretty foolish if you think about just how big space
 is.  Doubly foolish when it appears that he doesn't have his ejection seat
 turned on...

After the rebels all surrender, Alto flies over to Ranka. He's angry with worry for how dangerous it is to come onto the battlefield sans mech, but Ranka happily tells him that that was the only way for everyone to see her. She's glad he heard her song, and Michelle tells Alto with a smirk to consider just how much guts Ranka displayed by insisting on throwing this impromptu concert. Even Sheryl is up out of bed to join Alto in thanking her, and Grace has to hand it to Ranka... for SCREWING UP HER SCRIPT!

Explosions ensue, thanks to -- who else -- the Trinities. It turns out that the Zentraedi revolt was supposed to be _theirs_ to suppress, as an odd sort of balance for the mess at Overflags before. It appears that Grace is now in cahoots with them and Ragna Harvey, and the Trinities don't much like being used for other people's plans. Neina decides to take her frustrations out on Sheryl and Ranka, but before Ozuma or Alto can intervene, the R-Daigun itself swoops in and shields them. Its pilot manages to tell Ranka to run, just before... even more explosions!

This time it's the Vajra, and Tifa can tell that these space monsters' hearts are somehow all united. The Trinities wisely pull out, with promises of mayhem for the R-Daigun's pilot when they return to base. On the way though, the pilot commends Ranka on her singing -- and Ranka suspects who that pilot might be...

As the team prepare to take on the Vajra, Alto has to take either Ranka or Sheryl on board for safety; the other will ride with Michelle. Quite a quandry in fact; either one will work fine for collecting the hidden item [seekritz!] later. In any case, the Vajra force doesn't stand a chance against this group of bad-asses. The bigger question is what brought them to the Earth, and how many more might be waiting in the wings. Is there no way but for mankind to fight them till one of the other is extinct? Off on the sidelines, Grace laughs with glee: the "Little Queen" has awakened, and from now on the Vajra will swarm around her. This is, sort of, what Grace had planned, and in thanks she vows to make the Little Queen's dreams come true: she'll spread her songs throughout the world.

Alto gets a bit of recreational flying in with whichever girl he chose, after the obligatory pep talk of course. Afterwards, the other pilots pester him to find out which girl is actually his main squeeze. He protests vociferously that it's _neither_ of them: they and he have just been thrown together by circumstance. If his collosal display of denseness about love is just an act, it's a _damn_ good one.

Just then Luka runs in with big news: someone managed to make a pirate video of Ranka's concert, and has spread it all over the net. Who had the camera, the Trinities? If so, why'd they put the thing on FrouTube? In any case, this is about the best free promotion Ranka could hope for for her debut album...

Speaking of Ranka, she's either elated or depressed over Alto's treatment of her, and has a lot to think about in advane of her formal debut tomorrow. Her manager isn't 100% thrilled about what he think was a publicity stunt of hers, but tells her it turned out okay and to not sweat it too much. As Ranka gets left alone, she finds a cute little critter stowed away in her stuff. ...We see where THAT is going...

CHAPTER 34E. Captive Heart

Suzaku is dead-set against joining Zero's band of outlaws, and before parting ways requests that Zero disband the Black Knights and use his leadership skills to make Area Eleven easier for Britannia to govern. Zero isn't interested in that kind of peace, believing instead that change is needed. Alas, cooperation seems like a bare impossibility, though in recognition of their time together on Zexis the two agree not to spread each others' secrets too outside forces. Lloyd rather wishes he'd had more opportunity to work with Zexis' mecha, and it starts to dawn on Suzaku that it's not just Zero he has to fight -- it's all the other pilots as well. Crow and Katou both tell Suzaku that if he truly has conviction about his version of the truth, he needs to fight for it to the best of his ability. Karen is less magnanimous even when Suzaku promises to tell the other Ashford Council members that she's out sick: she wants him to get his ass out of here already. As Zero gets briefed on the state of Area Eleven in his absence, it becomes clear that Euphie wasn't able to effect any major changes. It also seems that the Black Knights may have a traitor in their midst...

Suzaku may not be inclined to aid the Black Knights, but Roger Smith is a different story. He tells a skeptical Dorothy that the state of the Elevens reminds him of Paradigm City; Dorothy replies archly that he should consider keeping his "romantic" notions to himself more often. Robert isn't out to force anyone to share his views, but as he's accepted a contract with Zero he means to learn all he can about the state of this Japan's people.

Amazingly, the two run into... Mao! Mao's captivated by Dorothy's empty heart, saying that she seems almost like a doll, and Roger tells him to desist any and all insults at once. Mao easily reads Roger's thoughts, and tells the Negotiator that he has no interest in him -- it's other prey he's after. Mao walks off, leaving Roger uncharacteristically stunned in his wake.

Back at Ashford Academy, Lelouch and Suzaku greet each other warmly, both back from their extended absenses. Rilina explains that the Council has been down by several members, most notably the badly injured Louise, now back in Spain. Shoji's gone to Spain too to look in on her, leaving the remaining members to set up for the school festival. Even Milly is busy entertaining a noble from Britannia -- the rumor is that he and she may be contemplating marriage.

Shirley of course still doesn't remember Lelouch, and the person who made him Geass away her memories turns out to be unaccounted for. Maybe that has to do with the Black Knights' difficulties? If so, Lelouch is hoping to lure the culprit out by openingly returning to school -- and sure enough Mao phones him up in short notice. Lelouch isn't interested in chatting with the psychopath, but when Mao says he wants to discuss Lelouch's sister, Lelouch scowls furiously and rushes off to somewhere private.

As he does, several other Zexis members turn up, assuring Suzaku that the resistance are on vacation today. Instead, they're here as "bodyguards" for Karen, who they've more or less forced back to school. With Zero nowhere to be seen, Suzaku asks the group why they're helping the Black Knights: do they think Zero's in the right? Duo thinks hard and answers that the Colonial Gundams' job is liberating the colonies, necessitating jolting Britannia a bit. Strategically, liberating Area Eleven would set off a chain reaction of resistance in the other Areas -- and in fact such resistance is already beginning to grow thanks to news of the Black Knights' exploits. Having said all that to explain why Duo's helping Zero, he then adds that he does NOT think Zero is in the "right". Then again, neither is Britannia... if the terms "right" and "wrong" even apply to combattants in a bona fide war. Crow agrees and tells Suzaku to spend more energy worrying about his own ideals and less about the perceived shortcomings of his opponents. And heck, Suzaku's time in Zexis showed that he and Zero's approaches could be complementary.

That seems to turn a lightbulb on, and Suzaku runs off to "help a friend", leaving Karen the task of helping set up the school festival. Hiiro, ever the cautious one, hurries off after Suzaku en route to an "errand" he has on campus. Karen is reluctant to fraternize with Britannians, but Crow tells her to be more honest with herself -- and her hand is forced when Shirley and Rilina run into the group. She finally smiles in spite of herself and heads off to help with the party, leaving Crow pleased at helping her make a little peace with her inner demons. He may have an aversion for women, but a) he does not have an aversion to his fellow humans, and b) despite Karen's unavoidable proportions Crow sees Karen as very un-womanly.

Lelouch withdraws to the library to phone Mao back, and learns two things. First, Mao's kidnapped Nanaly and is holding her somewhere on Ashford's campus (since he can apparently read Lelouch's thoughts). Second, the reason he's still alive is Astrageus medical tech: he's used his Geass to convince the peacekeeping forces that he's a high-ranking deep-cover agent of theirs. Mao tells Lelouch that he should have ordered them to "kill" and not just to "shoot", and says that he's planning to take everything from Lelouch. Not only must Lelouch find and save his sister within five hours, Mao's also ordered the peacekeepers to burn the Ghetto to the ground.

What a dilemma: without Zero at the helm the Black Knights could easily lose; yet if Nanaly dies the Black Knights themselves would hold no further meaning for Lelouch. Enter Suzaku, who guessed from Lelouch's haste that something must have happened to Nanaly. Lelouch tells him that Nanaly's been kidnapped by a lunatic with no direct connections to the Emperor -- though their identities could well be spilled to the police if Lelouch tried to involve them. Suzaku resolves to handle the mess just the two of them, but it will be at least three when Hiiro (and Rilina) overhear the conversation. Rilina joins Suzaku in asking for Hiiro's help, and he reluctantly agrees. The sound of running water Lelouch heard on the phone suggests the sewers beneath the school, so the trio split up and start searching.

Zero shows up late to the battle, furiously telling the troops that he can't tell them the plan yet except to say that he's attempting to smoke out a traitor. Karen is grateful to Crow for insisting she spend some time with the Council members, though she still struggles to admit it openly. Hiiro won't be joining the battle at all, off on a civilian rescue mission with Zero's approval. Mao phones up Zero to gloat a bit, vowing to kill all of Zero's friends on the battlefield if he insists on entrusting them with Nanaly's rescue. C.C. demands to know why Zero didn't mention Mao's return to her, and Zero growls that there's no telling what Mao would do if she entered the equation -- Mao might even just kill Nanaly summarily. C.C. accepts this, telling Zero to let her know if there's anything she can do to help.

The Astrageus troops are still mostly convinced that Mao is a real secret agent. They've sortied Proto One again, ordering her to capture Kiriko without fail. Kiriko for his part is more than happy enough to face her again. As Mao must have come close enough to observe (and direct) the battle, Zero announces that smoking the traitor out demands that he not give any orders, except to commence the attack now.

 Hiiro and the others find Nanaly in short order, and Zero rushes to the
 scene.  He asks his teammates to believe in what he'd doing and puts C.C.
 in charge of the Gawain, and when he reaches Nanaly he finds her tied to a
 bomb.  Every second he spends here is a second where Mao is helping his goons
 dismantle the Black Knights, so time is _definitely_ of the essence.  The
 bomb is a pendulum, kept in motion by a solenoid counteracting its frictional
 loss.  Hiiro will figure out where the detonator linkage is, and Suzaku
 will use his exceptional athletic skill to sever the line without disrupting
 the bomb's motion.  Rilina refuses to get to a safe distance, on the theory
 that her departure would make Mao expect she's gone for help.

 Hiiro tells Lelouch somewhat bemusedly that he doesn't precisely know why
 he's helping Lelouch out.  He recommends Zero get moving and try to track
 down where the cameras in this room are connected to.  Wherever "there" is,
 will be where Mao's hiding.  Opting to believe in his friends, Lelouch
 rushes off to face Mao.  Mao's set up a hideous chess game, which will
 detonate the bomb if Lelouch loses.

 As the Black Knights struggle to hang on, it seems like everything Lelouch
 tries fails.  As checkmate nears, Lelouch breaks down and begs Mao for
 mercy, which of course doesn't come.  However, the bomb blast doesn't come
 either, and before Mao knows it Suzaku rushes in and kicks his ass.  Seems
 Mao was concentrating a bit too hard on the game, but even then he should
 have known to expect an ambush by reading Lelouch's thoughts.  AHH, but
 Lelouch did something sneaky: he Geassed himself to forget the whole
 operation!  Desperate to escape, Mao accuses Suzaku of murdering his own
 father in the childish hope that it would stop the fighting.  Good thing the
 adults all around lied about it, huh?  The whole business about commiting
 suicide was just a sham, and one thing Mao doesn't want to hear is some
 post-facto excuse from Suzaku -- especially given how much Suzaku seems to
 want to die.

 In fact, Suzaku's whole bent for saving people amounts to an ongoing
 attempt to throw himself into as much danger as possible.  What he wants is
 to be punished, and punished with death -- and here Zero went and bound his
 heart with that directive to "Live".  As Suzaku shudders, Mao worms free and
 runs off.  Now Zero is _pissed_, and he and Hiiro return to the battlefield.
 Hiiro is beginning to suspect Zero's true identity now, but that will have
 to wait till later to pursue.  Though Mao thinks he can win easily by reading
 Zero's thoughts, Zero is far from defeatest now.

 Zero's strategies rapidly turn the tide, to Mao's immense consternation.
 Zero explains to him that unlike the turn-based strategy of chess, a battle
 is a _realtime_ affair... and Mao is a rank amateur as a front-line
 commander.  Zero will always be at least one step ahead of him, and the
 harder Mao tries to keep up, the more confusion it will sow in his ranks.
 Zero doesn't need a Geass to have Mao's heart in the palm of his hand now.
 He drives Mao into a frenzy by driving the difference in experience, and in
 the quality of his troops, home at every turn.

 Oh, and remember Kiriko?  He's decided to free "Proto One" from her masters
 by defeating her mech in battle.  He at least knocks her out of control, and
 rushes off toward the crash site with Zero's blessing.  As the last of the
 peacekeepers buy the farm, Kiriko radios in that he's got the red A.T.'s
 pilot in custody.  That just leaves one loose end: Mao.

It is C.C. who reaches him first, finding him nearly incoherent with rage over his inability to defeat Lelouch... and retake her for himself. Instead of a warm embrace, he gets a gun pointed at his head. C.C. tells him she loved him, and tells him to go and wait for her in the "C" World. Lelouch runs over just after she pulls the trigger, and she tells him that now she -- like him -- has no choice but to move forward. As the two soak in Mao's death, Lelouch ponders what he's learned of Suzaku's past: he and his Geass have stolen from Suzaku the one wish in his life. Lelouch can do nothing to make ammends for now, and despite all that's happened he still wants to bring Suzaku to his side, to help ensure a better world for Nanaly.

Imagine Isukui and Boro's surprise when it turns out that Mao was in fact totally unrelated to their organization! Even worse, they've figured out that Proto One has fallen into Kiriko's hands, which in their book marks Kiriko as a member of Proto One's creators, the PS Army. In panic, they decide to mobilize the entire peacekeeping force to eliminate the hapless guy...

CHAPTER 35J. Sortie! The Great Mecha-Beast Operation...

Things are bad in Atami, with all tourism slowed to a standstill due to Ashura's ongoing barrage. Tsubasa has some secret collaborators with a countermeasure in the works, for which they expect to be compensated in all-they-can-eat food and beverages. Whatever the item is, Tsubasa wants it ready in time for the next battle -- and though the item itself may be ready, the launcher for it ain't gonna make it. That means more work for Tsubasa's nearby charges...

Ashura is prepared to stake his/her life on Dr. Hell's next operation, which involves simultaneously attacking the entire Japanese island chain. (S)he'd better be, since Dr. Hell will reward failure with a most unpleasant execution. Dr. Hell orders Ashura to demolish Zexis and capture Mazinger Z, eager to return to more pressing concerns. Data from Zaghoul about the Imperium's actions has just arrived, confirming Dr. Hell's worst fears: what the Imperium is doing is merely prologue to what will follow. He's got to hasten his own plans, and unless he captures Mazainger Z this planet and its inhabitants are toast. Does that deserve an exclamation point? Maaaaybe.

The region-wide attack is fully expected by Zexis, who is divvying up its forces in an attempt to be everywhere at once. Kouji seems somehow out of sorts, almost too eager for a showdown with the (wo)man who killed his grandfather. Gainer senses his wavering and tries to volunteer to shore up Kouji's squad, but Shiroda has to keep him busy elsewhere to avoid opening a hole in the defensive strategy -- and Kouji bristles at the notion that he should somehow need help. He of course will need plenty of help, which is why Shiroda has wisely paired Crow up with Kouji and Sayaka -- Crow assures her that they'll have Kouji's back if his enthusiasm gets the better of him.

Unfortunately, the plan isn't to target Kouji directly: instead, Ashura is gunning for Sayaka. (S)he takes her hostage as a way to try to force Kouji to surrender Mazinger without a fight. Kouji surely doesn't want to hand over his grandfather's robot, but he also realizes that sacrificing Sayaka, even if he can eventually beat Ashura, is too steep a price to pay. He ultimately decides to accept Ashura's invitation to Dr. Hell's hidden base, apologizing to Crow for his hot-headedness and promising that he isn't going to let this stand. Neither, for that matter, are the rest of Zexis...

For losing his cool, Kouji gets to fester in a cell, taunted by Ashura with visions of all his comrades already slaughtered on the battlefield. Ashura will _not_ release Sayaka, and there seems to be no chance of informing Zexis of this base's whereabouts. Fortunately for Kouji, help has already arrived in the form of, of all people, Boss and friends!

Back on the surface, Crow informs the rest of Zexis what's transpired. To the team's delight, he thought to put a tracking device on Mazinger, which should allow the team to pinpoint Dr. Hell's base's location. As for the hostage problem, Crow counsels the team to trust that Kouji can make good his escape, and to concentrate on attacking Dr. Hell. If he's to pull this off, as Gainer did with the Overdevil, he'll have to come to the realization that he's not the only one fighting.

The strategy session is interrupted by the arrival of a bunch of identical beautiful girls, the killer androids known as Gamya-Q. This might be menacing to your average yokel, but Zexis is overflowing with combat veterans with axes to grind. Evidence rapidly mounts that four Gamya's is NOWHERE NEAR enough.

Meanwhile, Ashura has discovered that the Pilder is nearly impossible to control. (S)he stalks off in a huff, vowing to dismantle the damn thing once Dr. Hell officially takes ownership of Mazinger Z. That leaves the fugitives a clear path to the Pilder, to make good their escape. It seems Tsubasa figured out long ago what Dr. Hell was up to, and sent her three new lackeys ahead to infiltrate. They've been doing every menial task in the book in return for their meal chits, and they're overjoyed to be out and about again. Kouji's gratitude knows no bounds, and to even accounts Boss wants Kouji to finish their long-interrupted duel fair and square when they all make it out alive. One of the Gamya-Q's is here to make that harder, but Kouji's one heck of a shot with the Photon Power laser pistol Tsubasa's sent him.

There's still the problem of escaping from the ocean's depths, and Kouji sends Sayaka on ahead to get help while he holds Ashura's goons off. This is a pretty tall order, but Kouji doesn't have to hang on too long till the rest of Zexis show up in response to Crow's homing beacon. Gainer springs into action, reminding Kouji that he's got teammates to help and using his Overskill to make a pillar of ice for Kouji to climb back to the surface. Waiting for him there is Tsubasa's little present, a ginormous pair of red wings that Daigurren physically tosses in Kouji's direction. This is the Jet Scrander, and with it Mazinger Z can _fly_. The three scientists introduce themselves as longtime research assistants of Juuzou's, and Tsubasa proclaims that with the Jet Scrander, Mazinger Z is truly unbeatable. Ashura panics and sorties all the remaining mecha that were assailing Japan, the better for Zexis as a team to take them all out at once. So get to it!

 What Ashura doesn't realize is just how much he's managed to piss off the
 world's most dangerous fighting force.  The hostages, the would-be
 assassin robots, the far-flung mayhem... all made even more unforgivable
 by the fact that even Crow couldn't prevent it.  All the more reason that
 Ashura isn't walking out of this in one piece.  Ashura tries to ram Mazinger
 as a last resort, but in his/her moment of deepest crisis all Ashura's
 powers fail.  Dr. Hell is far from angry though: Ashura had Mazinger long
 enough to gather plenty of data to fuel a future victory.  Ashura
 gratefully ejects and begins the journey home.

Commendably, Kouji recommends _not_ pursuing Ashura: as a member of Zexis, he knows that his job is to win in battle, not pursue his personal grudges. The next big step to becoming a true bad-ass will be learning to think more strategically, and he'll have his choice of teachers with folks like Hayato around. The first order of business though is a victory banquet, and given the proximity to the hot springs all the usual jokes about peeping and washing each others' backs get made. The three scientists even get their dinner and a "show", which features the ancient Okiku -- quite a beauty in the days when she and the scientists were young.

The Getter Team aren't doing much celebrating though: Saotome has called them back to base to help test a new powered-up Getter. After all, the Invaders are still, um, invading. Ryouma promises Kouji to continue his training with air-to-air lessons when the team get back. Kouji knows he needs to go on getting stronger... _though_, he's already plenty strong enough to have laid Boss and his lackeys out at the conclusion of their duel.

Tsubasa is not among the revelers, conferring instead with Professor Yumi. They've examined the remains of the killer androids, and their design would be beyond all but two men in this world -- one of whom died before Tsubasa's eyes. That means that Tsubasa has a bit of an errand to run in Germany once things settle down: an errand to see Stroheim Heinrich. What will the ties between Tsubasa, Juuzou and Dr. Hell do to influence the battle to come?

Dr. Hell meanwhile has realized that the Super Alloy Z that Juuzou took from Bardos Island is in and of itself half the secret to Mazinger's power, the other half being the Photon Power it emits. He's calculated that Mazinger didn't require the full quantity of the alloy though, and he declares that his men's objective must be to recover the rest of it. And they'd better hurry, as the countdown to the world's destruction has just begun.

Zhul then stops in for a chat, havnig figured out the significance of Bardos Island itself. Zhul names himself as one of "Those Who Know the End", and gives Dr. Hell a phrase to ponder: "Black Wisdom". The day Dr. Hell fathoms its meaning is the day he will be a true equal of Zhuls. This stirs some forgotten memory within Ashura, but Dr. Hell has no idea for now what Zhul meant. The implication is that it's time to get his ass in gear though, and he means to undertake the dangerous inspection of the deepest unplumbed depths of this island. It's a task dangerous enough that he's got to suspend the world invasion for the duration -- though if he can find the "Arm of Zeus" that Juuzou's hidden, the world will easily be his. He's got no other choice if he wants to consolidate the world before "they" return...

CHAPTER 35C. The Brunt of Malice

Shoji makes it to Louise's bedside, bearing the rings he's worked so long and hard at the pizza store to afford. One problem. Remember how Louise was so badly injured she had to be shipped home to Spain? It seems she no longer has a left hand to put an engagement ring onto. After a moment of grief, she pulls herself together and encourages Shoji to return to Area Eleven and resume school: he'll only regret it if his dreams of becoming an astronaut get ruined by staying at her bedisde. In return, she asks him to fulfill a dream of hers...

Elsewhere in Paris, Kinue has phoned Isabelle with her latest report. She's realized the Gundams that attacked the party were of a different lineage than the ones acting as part of Zexis. Kinue means to track down whoever is really pulling the CBs' strings by following the three rogues, figuring that the Zexis CBs have adapted their mission too much to be of direct use. She's gotten some clues from the Britannian soldiers who tangled with the Gundams, but still needs more proof. Isabelle warns her twice not to press her luck, especially since her brother's injury may have her not thinking straight. Kinue is prepared to take the risk to figure out if Ragna Harway is really the one behind the CBs, and get some revenge with her pen for all those like Louise.

Alejandro issues Sarches new orders, having decided that Ragna is suddenly expendable. Alejandro avers that Ragna is too wedded to personal profits, and hence unsuitable as a leader of the new world order. So much for the "plus-alpha" effect of having the R-Daigun on the force. But hey, as long as Alejandro keeps the paychecks flowing and keeps Sarches busy killing other people, he'll have no complaint. He describes himself as the lowest form of primitive humankind, but Alejandro still has uses for people like him. Sarches has apparently noticed Kinue sniffing around, and Alejandro tells him to handle her "however he sees fit". Yikes.

After he hangs up, Alejandro checks to see if Ribbons will defriend him for relying on lowlifes like Sarches. Course not: every feudal lord needs hunting dogs now and again. Ribbons is a bit more skeptical about giving Ragna the old heave-ho, but Alejandro says its part of preparations for stage three of the master plan -- preparations that the Imperium has forced him to accelerate. He means to share the quasi-Solar Reactor tech with all the world's nations in preparation for the Federation's army to crush mankind's common enemies. It's only after the chaos is quelled that Alejandro means to sit in the president's chair; not Schneizer, not Treize... Alejandro himself. To further assure his position, Alejandro means to use Grace (who Ribbons has enabled him to contact) and the Frontier fleet, despite the big question marks hanging over Grace's head. The final piece of Alejandro's puzzle will be getting his hands on the CB's Veda system, and Ribbons sounds confident he can make it happen. Assuming, that is, that Ribbons isn't playing games of his own...

Tielia's access to Veda has been basically unfettered... until now. Somebody's been tampering with some very high level data, and that can't be good for the CBs' mission. Neither can the mystery surrounding these "Throne"-type Gundams: they still use Solar Reactors, but not the TD Blanket that goes along with it. This means limited runtime, and makes the whole thing more or less worthy of the name "pseudo-Solar Reactor". And it's notable that this pseudo-Solar Reactor drive system emits radiation toxic to human cells: the pilots are receiving irreversible, full-body doses with every mission... and everyone nearby is getting the same.

Even if the plans for the Solar Reactor were stolen from Veda (their only repository), it would still take a long time to actually build the drives: hence, there must be a traitor within the CBs. And if Veda has been compromised, the CBs will have no choice but to carry out their plans without its aid. Crow comes into the meeting at this point with an idea on how to track down the Trinities. His mech is made for hunting the DBs, and comes equipped with tracer munitions -- one of which Crow successfully planted on the Trinities' mecha during the last battle.

To the CBs' astonishment, Crow offers up the current location for free... provided they let him and the rest of Zeuth go along to kick some ass. Let it suffice to say that Crow isn't inclined to go easy on those who mix civilians up in their warmaking. Sumeragi wants a little time to consider Crow's proposal, and the stress is enough on Setsuna that he has to go outside for some air.

In fact, Setsuna goes all the way back to his apartment at Ashford Academy, where he runs into Shoji. Shoji tells him of Louise's sad fate, and by this point some of the sci-fi-ists in the audience may have been wondering about regeneration therapy. No can do in this case: seems something about the rogue Gundams' weaponry has greatly lessened the doctors' ability to treat serious wounds.

...AND as if that wasn't enough bad news for one day, Shoji then receives a phone call, informing him that his sister's been killed. Shoji knows that she was following the CBs and that she claims she'd gotten very close in the aftermath of the party. What the fuck is these "Gundams" problem, anyway: aren't they only supposed to kill the bad people who are making war?!? Setsuna shouts out that these aren't real Gundams at all!

The Trinities meanwhile are getting antsy awaiting orders for the next mission. Neina and Mihael would love a chance to crush the R-Daigun, but Johann is trying to keep some semblance of his wits about him. He'll need them, as Setsuna arrives and rapidly designates them as an attackable cause of warfare. Neina protests that they're on the same side, but Setsuna yells back that they aren't Gundams at all! Tielia then joins in the fray, and Lockon stops him just long enough to help organize the three of them into a more effective formation. He tells Johann that Sumeragi's orders are to try to stop the Trinities from fighting if he can, but to value his on-the-spot judgement above all else. And he judges the Trinities in need of a LOT more lead in their diets!

 Tielia and Setsuna are kicking ass by doing something they never thought
 they'd do: formation fighting with Lockon.  Alarmed, the Trinities try to
 pull off their big combo attack... only to have Tielia pull out her mech's
 trump card: he can control all mecha linked to Veda!  No wonder Gundam Nadare
 and its "Trial System" were kept top secret.  Tielia is about to execute the
 three as unsuitable Gundam Meisters, but Nadare's control abruptly cuts out,
 maybe something to do with that altered data deep within Veda.  Johann
 manages to convince his charges to retreat, telling Lockon that he's got
 bigger fish to fry than the Trinities.

 He calls Lockon by his real name, adding that he got the personal data
 straight from Veda.  According to Tielia, that should be among the deepest
 of deep dark secrets.  Johann adds that one of Lockon's comrades became a
 Meister in the name of revenge -- a former anti-Kursis Union guerilla named
 Solan Ibrahim.  That would be... Setsuna!  This is awkward, as that group
 of guerillas are the ones who killed Lockon's family.  As Lockon demands to
 know if this is true, the Trinities bugger off safely.

 Setsuna refuses to answer Lockon's question, and he gets a reprieve of sorts
 in the form of a batallion of mobile suits from the PMC Trust.  Setsuna
 recognizes Sarches' mech, and Sarches is spoiling for a chance to pay Setsuna
 back for the previous fiasco.  Lockon warns Setsuna that he expects an answer
 after this battle, and will shoot Setsuna from behind if he attempts to flee.

 The CBs are in a "state" when the rest of the team arrives, and all they can
 do is help fend off the PMC forces for now.  Sarches is smart enough to
 recognize when he's outgunned, and intends to bug out as soon as things go
 south for him.  Even so, he barely escapes with enough power to keep his
 original mission -- which seems to be pursuing the Trinities -- on track.

With the enemies gone, Lockon turns to his grim discussion with Setsuna, which he warns may result in his leaving Zexis and indeed the CBs entirely. That sounds dire, but Sumeragi tells the rest of the team to let him and Setsuna have it out. Lockon asks Allelujah and Tielia to be witnesses, and tells Crow that he may have to take his place as a CB depending on how this all turns out.

After Setsuna confirms that he was indeed the boy guerilla in the KPSA, Lockon tells the tale of his parents' death. They were researchers into solar power, trying to free the world from the grip of fossil fuel shortage and the geopolitics that causes. The Middle Eastern potentates had the most to lose, and touched off what they called a "holy war" in the Holy Land. Lockon knows full well that this twisted state of affairs isn't God's fault, or the Church's, or Setsuna's for getting swept up in events beyond his control or comprehension. The fact remains however that Lockon's family now rest in peaces thanks to a terrorist's bomb.

He's decided that the world needs to be changed at its deepest firmament, and to do that he's willed himself to do much the same violent things as those same terrorists did, becoming a CB as a result. He fully intends to take his punishment for perpetuating the cycle of killing, but only after the world is altered. For now, he wants to shoot Setsuna in the worst way, his only chance at even an iota of closure for what his family suffered.

Setsuna says that he used to believe in God, or rather was made to believe in Him. He was also forcibly shown that God doesn't exist. A single man was responsible for both: Ali al Sarches, the leader of the KPSA and now killer for hire. This warfare addict and Setsuna met in Asadistan, when Setsuna tried to figure out one last time where Sarches' God was. Tried to figure out what the point of everything he's done is if Sarches wasn't God's emissary after all.

Lockon demands to know one thing: what is Setsuna gonna do with his Gundam. Put an end to the causes of warfare, unless of course Lockon pulls the trigger. That would be fine with Setsuna so long as Lockon makes good on his intent to change the world for the better in Setsuna's stead. But if he's allowed to live, he means to fight... as a Gundam. Lockon grimaces, growling that he can't bring himself to shoot a Gundam-fool like Setsuna, and when Setsuna says that's the best compliment he's ever received, Lockon breaks down laughing.

That pretty much breaks the spell, and brings the rest of Zexis over to breathe a collective sigh of relief. They won't get a full accounting of what passed between the CBs, but the general consensus is that cameraderie and the good of All Mankind(tm) has won the day. Crow of course did hear the whole thing, eavesdropping on Lockon's past just as Lockon snooped into Crow's past. Lockon notes that Crow's old unit, the Firebugs, have quite a lot to answer for too. Crow asks if Lockon means to shoot him too, and Lockon smiles and says he's not in the habit of shooting fools of any stripe. That's the worst compliment Crow's ever received, for sure.

Graham and his men go to visit the grave of Howard Mason, an admirer of Graham's test piloting prowess. Now the poor guy can truly fly the skies, using the skills he learned in his beloved captain's shadow. Graham observes that the guy loved the Flag squad even more than Graham himself, and swears to the fallen soldier to use the Flag force to srike the Gundams down. He'll have his men to help, but first there's some big news: someone in one of the Great Nations is about to leak the CBs' most cherished technical secrets! That's what most of the "football" fans of the world refer to as "The Equalizer".

CHAPTER 35E. Flames

The charade continues at Ougi's house, where Viletta remains amnesiac and has settled into a happy life as Ougi's surrogate wife. She loves her new name "Chigusa", and seems willing to overlook Ougi's strange nervousness as regards her past. Ougi for his part has grown quite attached to her too, no longer caring about the fact that she might still know Zero's true identity beneath the amnesia.

Suzaku seems to be in reasonable shape, all things considered. His physical indicates a certain lack of sleep and symptoms of stress, and given what he's been up to lately that's little wonder. Lloyd knows Suzaku was absent during the School Festival, mainly because he was there as Milly's mystery suitor. Lloyd's never made a big deal of his noble title, too busy thinking about SCIENCE and his team for petty politicking. For example, he noticed that Milly's little bespectacled friend is working on something quite interesting; maybe Suzaku could formally introduce them sometime? In any event, Suzaku hesitates to talk about whatever stressful event kept him from the festival, earning him a reminder that he's a key ingredient in the Lancelot's success.

Euphie shows up around this point, and Cecil drags Lloyd away to give them some privacy. Suzaku gets down to business pretty quickly: he's been forced to remember the patricide in his dreadful past, and feels unworthy to live, much less be Euphie's knight. Euphie digests this for a moment, then commands him to fall in love with her. In return, _she_ will will love him with all her heart, even with all his awkwardness and lack of self-confidence and tendency to get bitten by cats. Suzaku can do nothing but smile at this point: Euphie's genius for spur-of-the-momentness would melt just about anybody's heart. She's realized while he was on dispatch to Zexis that she can't approach things from a big-picture "better world" standpoint. What she can do is get people to smile, and he is more than happy to help.

Suzaku heads to Lelouch's place to pass on the news, and as Lelouch is initially out he fills in Nanaly first. Lelouch arrives and notices that the shock of Suzaku's ordeal seems gone. His takeaway from learning of Suzaku's past is that both he and Nanaly need Suzaku: if he can get Suzaku to leave the army and guard Nanaly instead, everybody wins! Hmm, that may be harder given that Euphie has decided that they're more than friends...

Elsewhere, Kiriko's brought Phantom Lady to the Black Knights' hideout. When she comes to, he tells her that she is at long last free. She relates what she remembers of her past, starting with the first memory she ever made: him. He tells her that he was part of an army unit assigned to attack the base she was in: he was merely a soldier following orders. She's lived a similar life till now, as the prototype for the Perfect Soldier program.

As they speak, Kiriko's opponents are getting a tongue-lashing from their boss. He wants Proto One recovered and sent to HQ _pronto_, and has sent some help to deal with the Black Knights. Above all else, he wants Kiriko dead before he causes any further trouble. Borou has heard that their boss was the very one who originally sent Kiriko on the mission to Proto One -- clearly there's something special about Kiriko in his boss's eyes.

The rest of Zexis has noticed the positive effect a SO has on Kiriko, and before long the banter turns to who else could benefit from a little quality relationship stuff. Ougi is a bit too hasty in his confirmation of his bachelorhood, but fortunately for him Phantom Lady is a far more interesting subject. Wufei has realized just how superlative her combat abilities are, and Crow figures she must have come from some of the rumored experiments at creating super-soldiers that keep swirling around. Certainly this isn't good news for Kokona, who had a hard enough time winning Kiriko's heart versus a normal girl.

Kiriko at length emerges and joins the conversation, and both Roger and Zero ask Kiriko what's so special about him that the peacekeeping forces would focus all their efforts on him in particular. (Zero is doing a good job of hiding his disappointment at losing Suzaku to Euphie completely.) Kiriko eventually relents, and takes up the tale of how he saw Something He Shouldn't Have(tm) back before coming to Earth. The Perfect Soldier program, the last- second betrayal after Proto One was taken into custody, his captivity by the Gilgamesh army and subsequent failed interrogation, his flight to the ghetto... all of it comes out. The PS program probably feels like the Astrageus refugees' ace-in-the-hole for securing and even improving their lot on Earth.

The consensus is that the PS program is an egregious violation of human rights, and more than one person on the team can relate to the theme of spiritual bondage and the quest for redemption. Having said his piece, Kiriko announces that he's taking Phantom Lady and leaving this town, even if it means parting from the Black Knights. He tells Banira and the others that they're welcome to come along and begins to leave, but before he does Zero produces the money to have Phantom Lady's mech to be repaired. As time for this escape is obviously running short, the rest of the team decide to pitch in and help with preparations -- including Zero, who's a fair hand with software. C.C. knows that her pertner-in-crime is seeing much of himself in Kiriko, and Roger goes so far is to give Kiriko a small (unseen) token of their time together along with wishes for his success. This is the first time Kirko's heart has been warm in who-knows how long.

The two move warily towards the edge of the city, and as expected the peace keepers turn up to stop them -- not many this time, perhaps due to the losses they suffered in the last battle. Kiriko sends PL (that's her moniker from now on) coordinates for where they need to break through to, and the battle is on!

 The enemy suck, so our heros make it to the designated spot quickly.  There
 is of course an ambush, and as Kiriko rushes to his ladyfriend's aid he
 inadvertently shouts out the name "Fiana".  Is that the name he's chosen
 for her?  Explanations will have to wait as the Red Shoulders arrive, and
 once again capture PL.  Riemann blames Kiriko for screwing everything up
 with the PS program, and recognizes Kiriko's latest custom mech setup as
 something Gregor Galosh once drew up for fun.  It's got a red shoulder flare,
 and Riemann won't stand for Kiriko bearing it.

 ...AND the Black Knights won't stand for Riemann not standing for it.
 Kokona and friends in particular aren't willing to just cut ties with Kiriko
 so easily, and with a bit of the money Zero's procured they've made a few
 preparations of their own .  Riemann is quite sure that Zero's men are too
 far away to intervene, but intervene they do despite deep misgivings and
 borderline cowardice from Kokona's copilots.  Zero's planned it all out:
 the military action has drawn a crowd of curious spectators, and Kokona
 pitches 300,000 bucks out the window in a fly by, the crowd starts to riot.
 For this lot, money means even more than life!

 At the sight of it, Crow goes a bit bonkers himself, zooming over to help
 throw money in all directions.  This provides the distraction they need to
 get Kiriko back on sounder footing even as the Red Shoulders muster for a
 counterattack.  They represent the last impediment to Kiriko, and Fiana(?),
 making a clean break with the past, and insofar as they're allied with the
 peacekeeping forces, they're on the Black Knights' shitlist too.

 Wouldn't you know it, interlopers from Britannia show up.  The rather sorry
 state of the ghetto gives Dalton the excuse he's been looking for for finally
 firing the peacekeeping forces, though he's not as quick to simply strike
 down the Red Shoulders as well.  It seems that having dealt with the pet
 dog, the Black Knights will have to deal with the owner next.

 Dalton is often hailed as Cornelia's right arm, and seeing him here doing
 this kind of dirty work raises hopes that Cornelia herself might appear soon.
 Zero definitely wants to meet her, due to her possible connection to his
 mother's death.  As Dalton's forces are driven back, an even bigger problem
 occurs though...

Euphemia has teken the mic at the unveiling ceremony for the Clovis Memorial Library. She gets right to the point, making good on the promise she made back in Mt. Fuji and announcing that heneforth: the Elevens will regain their right to call themselves Japanese, and the Britannians will enjoy no more special privileges over the Japanese. She calls upon Zero to help her build and nourish this new approach to Japan, regardless of his past or true identity, and to help forge a new future _within_ the Britannia Union. She thinks inwardly to Lelouch that this is the answer she's reached, meaning to reward his faith in her (and Nina's love for her(!!)) to the best of her abilities.

This amounts to, if not an admission of defeat, at least an agreement to disagree and let the Japanese get back to their lives. Or... not, in Zero's view. He shouts that no special privileges Britannia might grant mean a thing; or, has the team forgotten the humiliation of the "honorary Britannian" system? Inwardly, Zero knows that whether he complies with or fights against Euphie's new regime, the Black Knights are finished -- disbandable, at best. And most of the common people will probably take Tamashiro's view that the announcement is a victory in practice if not in principle. And any opposition he shows will just sap him of his supporter. How could this happen so easily??

If this is how Euphie means to take everything from him, she's seen nothing. _Understood_ nothing. There's no way the two of them can go back to the way things uesd to be, not with him, a masked terrorist! GWAAARGH!

Gwarg. As Zero stalks off, mind in tormented overdrive, the rest of the team mull what will happen next. They too know that the Black Knights are soon to be disbanded, and ponder the possibility that they'll have to fight Britannia on their own. It's also not clear that all the ghetto-dwellers' problems are over -- though Euphemia mentioned rights for the Japanese, she said nothing about the Astrageus folks. They seem likely to remain ghettoised for the forseeable future. And then there's Kiriko, who breaks his habitual silence to thank his friends for saving his bacon. He even manages about 10% of a smile for about a tenth of a second. The question in his mind is why he called PL "Fiana", just before she vanished into the flames. He knows now that instead of running from the past, he's got to face it head on. That means taking out the Red Shoulders, and their founder Yoran Perzen.

CHAPTER 36J. What Lies At the End of a Life

Adeene has volunteered to get revenge for Chimilf, seemingly uncowed by the old addage that "even a cornered armadillo can bite back". Armadillos can just get squashed underfoot, right? Gwarm finds this hopeless, and Sitmandra tries to curry favor with Lowgenome by taking the mission himself. Adeene insists though, saying that Chimilf shared a bond with her that transcended gender. Um, is that as in the old in-out-in-out? Gwar as much as calls her a slut, but what interests Lowgenome is that these beings -- all creations of his -- should have developed feelings for each other beyond what he originally designed. He gives Adeene the assignment but with an additional condition: she is to kill Nia in whatever way she can. Lowgenome senses a bit of dissatisfaction from his other lieutenants, but none of them dare contradict their creator openly. He dismisses them and muses over the sorry fate of humanity, who bring themselves closer to destruction with every step they take toward the light.

The Getter team are warmly received back at base. Benkei's been busting his ass and could well fill in for Musashi any time he has to. Genki (not looking terribly happy, in fact) Michiru and Shikishima are on hand too, all eager to get cracking at testing the new Getter. A taller order than Ryouma might think, in Saotome's mind. He kindly sends Genki off to his rom so that he can yell at his team in peace, and after the ruckus dies down he tells them that what they'll be testing today is not the true next-gen Getter, but rather a stepping stone. Getter Rays contain infinite possibilities, and it's up to the pilots whether they can keep up with Getter Robo's evolution.

Musashi might have a bit of trouble staying atop the food chain, given how much of it he gobbled down at the farewell banquet. Benkei's piloting is too erratic to yield useful data, so Michiru gets to pilot Poseidon for the combining test. Saotome knows that the best way to motivate his crew is to talk massive amounts of trash, and maybe it really is best that Genki not be around to see it.

Nia is doing her best to help around the ship by learning to cook -- a rather un-princessly thing to do. She announces happily that she's no longer a princess, and tells the team that her father isn't likely to come to get her after she made him mad. What did she do, exactly? Asked why she was born. Clearly this beast lord guy has some issues. The pilots mull that over as they dig into breakfast, still chatting about Ranka Lee's Lin Minmei impression. It's a big mystery who taped her "first live concert", given it was happening during an attempted coup d'etat. It seems many fans have already started turning their back on Sheryl, who it seems isn't permitted even a single day's tummy troubles or anything lest she get thrown to the wolves.

They say wolves will eat anything if they're hungry. So will the Zexis pilots, up to a point. Nia in her guileless way has moved past that point, creating a dish so outlandish, so traumatic, that even the iron-stomached Jiron can't begin to describe. Roshuu couldn't bring himself to warn the others after seeing how happy Nia was at the stove, and it seems Nia has only one sincere fan of her cooking: Simon! Either this is a miracle of love, or Simon has no tastebuds left at all, but in either case it's good to see Nia integrated with the team.

Except... maybe for Youko. Though she brushes off questions if she's alright, Gain's seen her look at Nia with a sniper's eye more than once. Crow's noticed the same, and figures that Youko is still going to need more time to accept the girl as part of her extended family. Gain, frankly, is glad that Crow's fear of women isn't part of a larger misanthropy. Awww.

But enough with the mushy stuff: Invaders have, um, invaded Tokyo and need their asses dismantled. Roshuu is feeling sick as a dog, and Simon tells Buuta to do his thing... that thing being offering his tail to Roshuu to eat. Bizarre? Yes. Delicious? Also, yes. The usual words of encouragement are said by the battleship pilots, and Youko just can't abide Nia's plain old "good luck". Something's got to give...

 A bit into the battle, Getter shows up -- and immediately it becomes clear
 that something is wrong.  VERY wrong from how upset Ryouma is.  The immediate
 problem is Adeene, who appears in her ginormous Daigunkai as soon as the
 first wave of cannon fodder are toast.  Adeene seems to know something about
 the "naked ravagers" (i.e. the Invaders), but she certainly won't divulge
 her lord's knowledge so easily.  Nia wants to go and try to talk Adeene
 into stopping, and Youko testily tells Kitan to do it: maybe they can all
 finally figure out what's _raelly_ going on inside Nia's head.  This sounds
 hostile, but Gain and Crow advise going through with it.  Simon gives his
 okay, and Youko warns Nia that her rifle is aimed squarely at her back.
 Should Nia try anything funny, Youko won't hesitate to pull her trigger.

 Adette confirms to Nia that her people's mission is the slaughter of all
 humans on the surface -- at Nia's father's orders.  Nia demands to know if
 Adeene in any way questions this order, and Adeene sounds almost puzzled as
 she replies that she would no more doubt orders to kill humans than she
 would orders to kill any other form of worm.  Adette then informs Nia in no
 uncertain terms that she's been thrown out by Lowgenome, and is to be cut to
 ribbons just like all the other pathetic humans -- and no she doesn't get to
 talk to the guy and appeal.

 At least this explains what Nia was doing locked in that box that Simon
 saved her from... as well as why they haven't tried to mount a rescue.  Nia
 can't believe her father would order her death, and asks if Adeene hates her
 too.  Adeene sniffs that her own hatreds have nothing to do with it: she's
 doing no more and no less than carrying out the Spiral Lord's orders.  Oh,
 izzat so?

 If Lowgenome ordered Adeene to die on the spot, would she?  How can Adeene
 just blindly follow orders like that, when those orders mean the deaths of
 zillions of innocents whose only crime is wanting to live on the Surface?
 Adeene starts getting into it now, saying that Chimilf's death is certainly
 crime enough -- but again Nia counters that the humans lost Kamina too.
 And that loss was _deeply_ painful.  Can't Adette see the fault in their two
 sides causing each other such heartache?

 As it turns out, no!  Adeene says that she now understands why the Spiral
 Lord cast Nia away.  Nia's friends rally to her cause, and Nia won't brook
 Adeene insulting them.  Adeene therefore grabs Nia to use as a hostage, and
 there are only two options for snipers that might be able to set her free.
 Gain's been wounded in the previous battle [actually no he hasn't with me at
 the controls, but whatever], so the job falls to Youko.  She doesn't want to
 help Nia out, but Crow tells her sternly that it's either that, or put Nia
 out of her misery.  Youko protests that he's not being fair, and Crow tells
 her that that's the kind of guy he is.  If she wants to hate him for it, so
 be it.

 That flips a switch for Youko, and as she takes aim Nia is actually the one
 that calls for her to fire.  She blasts the arm holding Nia perfectly, and
 Nia jumps to safety with a little help from her friends.  Once she's safely
 back on board the flagship, Youko asks why Nia told her to fire, and Nia
 says happily that she knew Youko the genius sniper would hit Adette.  That
 is, she believes in Youko, even if the feeling hasn't been exactly mutual.

 Right, that's got the making-friends part out of the way, and wonder of
 wonders Gain isn't quite as wounded as he made out.  Time for Adeene to see
 if she'll be any more successful at smiting all these annoying humans than
 her paramour was.

 A new wrinkle shows up in short order: the three pieces of the new Getter
 Robo, zooming around shooting anything and everything in sight.  Is this
 Saotome's doing, maybe due to Michiru's (accidental) death?  Ryouma blames
 himself for screwing up and costing her her life, and the normally-placid
 Hayato is stunned at the thought that the good doctor is trying to take his
 life.  Ryouma yells at him to calm down -- that even if Saotome is out for
 blood, it sure as hell won't be his.  Even though the new Getters are more
 powerful, they don't have the three united pilots aiding them.

Fighting the rogue Getter mecha is a major shock to the system, even if they aren't so hard to fend off. After the battle Saotome phones up to explain what's going on: he did _not_ sic them on the Getter team because of Michiru's death. That was a _small_ thing compared to the looming threat of the end of the world. He's turned them on the Getter team because of their incompetence, and shouts that he needs neither them nor even Zexis to fix this rotten world. Let all who here prepare for the END TIMES!!!

That doesn't sound at all ominous or anything. Back in the hangar, Ryouma and the others relate what happened during the combination tests. Though the two of them berate themselves, especially Hayato, Musashi repeats that Michiru's death was an accident: Shikishima looked at the data and proclaimed that Ryouma and Hayato piloted perfectly. That might make it Michiru's fault that she got killed. Or it might be Musashi's fault for not being at his usual post. In either case, it's Ryouma who points out in agony that nothing will bring Michiru back -- and that's something ALL of them will have to bear. Saotome has shut off communications with his lab, and it's beginning to look like he really does mean to start a Getter War with the world.

As though that wasn't bad enough news, worse comes in from Area Eleven. A large crowd of people had gathered for the official enactment of Euphemia's Japan-permitted zone... only to be all executed, apparently on Euphemia's orders!! The Black Knights burst in to try to stem the tide, but after the Imperium further muddied the waters the whole scene ended indecisively. Britannia itself has issued no statement regarding Euphemia's actions, and one can certainly expect resistance to Britannia to get stronger in all its occupied territories.

Calling this debacle hard to believe would be the understatement of the year. Terrorist activity in Britannia's territories is escalating even as the pilots jaws drop, and from what Elgan's found out, the Imperium is stoking the chaos by inserting its forces into the war zones. Elgan has summoned Zexis back together to combat this new fiasco, leaving the peacekeeping army's watchful eyes on the Saotome lab. Ryouma is adamant that Saotome isn't going to do anything to bring the world's armies down on him: he made Getter Robo to _save_ the world! He and his teammates will join the convocation at Dragon's Hive, and Ryouma really hopes that he doesn't have to fight his mentor.

Indeed, back at the Saotome lab the good doctor is grieving over his daughter. He vows to Genki that he will not let him die too. Benkei gently leads Genki somewhere to rest, and Saotome's howls of anguish are interrupted by Corwen and Stinger phoning up. Hardly the bearers of sympathy, they observe that he's about to become like them. Won't it be nice to research stuff together once more, just like old times? The remind him of his mission: creating the ultimate Getter as a signpost toward their comrades. Yes, that is the truth, that is his legacy, his life's work, his ultimate mission, etc. etc. Whatever's really going on, you have to feel for the poor guy...

CHAPTER 36C. Tested Resolve

Sumeeragi is really getting worried, enough to request an OS upgrade for the CBs mecha from other members of Zexis. Kira and the others know that Tielia doesn't much like outsiders fiddling with his gear, but Tielia says that he's trusted them all this far -- it's a bit late to start distrusting them now. With prompting from Aslan, it seems even Tielia is beginning to come out of his shell. Meanwhile the other pilots are musing over the CBs' modus operandi: is taking all mankind's weapons away really going to stop all the infighting? And if it did, what about protection from external foes like those Imperium yarbos? Who knows. All Shinn knows for certain is that the look in the CBs' eyes when they talk about wanting peace is genuine.

Harry buys that, but what he can't get past is how reckless the CBs' strategy seems. Surely they realize that their powerful mecha aren't unrivaled, right? Unless Sumeragi and whoever she reports to are total idiots, the only conclusion can be that the CBs' plans for world peace actually revolve around something _other_ than stirring up trouble militarily.

Tielia meanwhile is most worried about whoever the CB's traitor is, and what the consequences for the world would be if this person gained unfettered access to Veda. He admits his anxiety to Lockon, and wonders if the CBs are up to battling their fellow mecha without Veda's aid. Well, they still have their Gundams, and they still have Sumeragi. Crow's never known her to be wrong, but apparently she's made one, very major, mistake in her past. The sort of mistake that can turn one into an alcoholic to ease one's broken heart. Lockon knows that it's hard times like this when team unity is most important, and though he doesn't see it immediately, Crow assures him that even Setsuna has learned something about that. Not that they should expect the guy to suddenly turn into Duo or whatnot...

So, about Veda... it's got visitors in the form of Ribbons and Alejandro. The time has now come for the Conner Clan's long-cherished dream to come true, and Alejandro refers repeatedly to Ribbons as his guardian angel for locating the CB's base... on the moon of all places! Alejandro's waited 200 years for this moment, and is prepared to wait a little longer while Ribbons makes the necessary preparations for what's about to come next.

Orumi is in an interesting position as an intelligence agent, neutral regarding the squabble between the two factions in the "implementation" part of the Celestial Beings. She's not siding with Johann and friends as such, but she is willing to give them some of the help they desperately need. She pledges to make preparations to send them and their mecha to space, and will phone back when all is ready. In the meanthile, they'll need to keep moving and try to avoid getting themselves killed.

Right about then is when Sarches of all people wanders up to their camp, sent by his employer to take care of them. Mind you, the last several people he "took care of" are now six feet under, including the famous Ragna. Sarches does something somewhat unexpected: he simply shoots Mihael dead! Johann tries to fight back bare-handed, and manages only to demonstrate that he does _not_ know kung-fu. Sarches orders them into their mecha so he can have the satisfaction of killing them properly. Even more astonishing, he hops in Mihael's own mecha -- whose biometric locks are all inoperative -- and starts blasting. Johann protests that the Trintiies are Gundam Meisters: they're supposed to change the world! How could Veda cast them aside?!

Sarches gets sick of this in a hurry and demolishes Johann and his mech in one fell swoop. Sarches finds GN particle-fuelled explosions particularly pretty, and is about to finish Neina off too when the cavalry arrive. They quickly figure out that Sarches has stolen Throne Zwei, and as Sarches' friends arrive Neina vows revenge... and then wisely buggers off. Lockon warns the rest of the team that Sarches is a bloodthirsty animal, impervious to any rational arguments to stay his hand. Sumeragi orders everyone to attack the PMC forces, with special attention paid to blowing Sarches away. This is just fine with Setsuna, who won't stand for a Gundam falling into the hands of evil.

 Even the ferocious Sarches can only do so much when piloting a strange mech
 for the first time.  Luckily for him, Veda's assistance to the CB's Gundams
 cuts out right before they can strike the final blow -- just like that
 fateful day in Cursis.  Setsuna is stunned by the fact that even though he's
 piloting a Gundam, he doesn't get to _be_ a Gundam!  He then gets unstunned
 when his teammates point out that a) he's still alive, and b) he's got help
 this time around, and c) he needs to get his head out of his ass already.

 And let's not forget d) the Veda-like combat OS that Kira and friends
 whipped up, which entirely makes up for the abrupt loss of everyone's
 favorite quantum computer.  Lockon and Setsuna are with the program, but
 Tielia is a quivering wreck at the thought of being cast out by Veda.  And
 wouldn't you know it, Eim's shown up to rub more than a little salt in his
 wounds.  Sarches seizes the opportunity to attack the defenseless pilot,
 and only a very valiant move by Lockon saves him from being cut entirely
 in half.

Setsuna is next on the menu, and though he's hanging in there like a trooper Alejandro is confident that Sarches will prove the victor. Meanwhile Ribbons has breached level 7 of Veda, meaning the whole system is now his. That means it's time for Alejandro to have a face-to-face meeting with... Ioria Schenberg! The guy put himself into cold sleep while believing that his successors would revolutionize the world... which is a lot of risk to undertake. Alejandro gloats that Ioria's plans for a unified world and his Celestial Being minions won't cut it, and that Iorio himself won't live long enough to see the sort of unification Alejandro has in mind.

What neither he nor Ribbons seems to have considered is that someone might have planned for a breakin. A voiceover laments how foolish mankind is still clinging to its warmongering ways and driving the world toward ruin. Going all multidimensional isn't going to help either -- a 200-year old prophecy that sounds eerily true. Even so, Ioria's faith in mankind remains, and he means to ensure that it has the tools it needs to answer.

As Sarches finally corners Setsuna, Setsuna vows that neither he nor his Gundam will lose to the likes of this jackwagon. Suddenly the Exia begins to glow, and Setsuna goes to ludicrous speed as it slices Sarches' mech to bits. Ioria's voice then comes to the Gundam pilots, hoping that they're friendly to his cause and telling them that the full power of GN Drive is now theirs to use to further root out the causes of all warfare... not as Celestial Beings, but for their own sake and by their own will.

In short, the "Trans-Am" System, installed only in those Gundams with the original Solar Reactors. Tifa realizes that Ioria must also be the one responsible for beaming energy to Garode's mech. Eim isn't so thrilled, and since he didn't manage to crush the heart of any of Crow's comrades, he resorts to brute force. Imperium forces flood the area, and Lockon isn't in very good shape to do anything about it. Tielia takes him off the battlefield before he gets killed, and Eim does his usual gloating about wanting to see Crow wish he was dead. Fat fucking chance, even with Margret as part of the forces Eim's arraying against him. Margret seems serious this time, and that is just fine with Crow.

Margret is bent on revenge for her brother. She's also fighting _totally_ the wrong people to wreak vengeance _on_, and once again gets sent packing without so much as a souvenir. Just who this brother of hers is is a mystery to the team, given that as far as they know the Imperium's only ever fielded Dimensional Beast troops except for her, Eim, and the Lord of Destruction(tm). In any case, Crow's scales may still be swaying, but his base is rock-solid... which means that Eim will just have to go sulk and dream up some even more sadistic plan for next time.

There's no time to celebrate the victory, as bad things (see 36J) are brewing in Area Eleven. Watching from his study, Treize can't help but furl his impressively aristocratic brow. The trigger Euphemia pulled will exponentially escalate the violence that the Imperium and other common enemies of mankind has started. Amuro tells him that he should have the power to stop it, but Treize smiles ruefully and says the only power he's got is to ride in the slipstream of world events. Amuro demands to know if Treize prefers the world this way, and Treize answers that as one of the people who helped get things to their present state, he it would be rather illogical to be otherwise. Amuro figured Treize for a smarter individual than that, and though he himself lacks a master plan to restore order, he does have something he can do: join Zexis and take out the trash as a pilot. Treize means to honor his promise to let Amuro depart freely, and when Amuro says he wanted to believe in Treize's way of doing things, Treize says that he will believe in Amuro... that he become one of the Defeated. Now, what about Quatro?

As the pilots deliberate Euphemia's unbelievable act, the commanders inform the troops that Zexis is being reconstituted again. The CBs will go with a heavy heart, certain now that they've got a traitor in their midst and that Veda must be considered thoroughly compromised. Fortunately Zexis will be their support structure now, and the CB's enemy is surely an enemy of mankind at large. Lockon sounds like he'll pull through okay, which is very good as the CBs are in desperate need of an elder-brother figure. As the meetup will be back at Dragons' Hive, the Nova team look forward to forcibly extracting some answers from F.S. about what's really going on with the R-Daigun and the whole True Dancougar business.

And let's not be too hasty about Lockon, who as they say is (barely) living proof that things have moved past the "all fun and games" stage. He insists that with Haro at his side, his fabled sniping will outlast the loss of one eye. The problem is Tielia, who feels that he's lost the only reason he was made a Meister now that he can't direct-link with Veda. That comes as a major surprise to Felt, even as it explains why Tielia's funk caused the new OS to crash on his mech. How the hell can a living human directly access a computer? In any case, Lockon points out to Tielia that they can still carry out their mission, even if it got a bit harder without Veda's help -- just look at all the people they've got around them to help? And anyway, about the eye: to err is human, after all. It's a computer what's needed to _really_ fuck things up.

Yet even with the computer Veda at his disposal, Alejandro won't be able to overturn Ioria's carefully-laid plans so easily. All data about the GN Drive's true capabilities is absent from Veda's records... and now so is all data regarding the CBs' identities. Alejandro rages that he won't be undone by some 200 year-old idealistic fuckhead playing God, but Ribbons thinks that Ioria may be more than just _playing_ at godhood. However, the information about Ioria's good friend that Ribbons found in Veda may yet provide the key they need. Trying to catch his breath, Alejandro growls that his plans have entered their final phase: now they just need to eliminate those few people left standing in the way. He means to take out the CBs and the rest of Zexis with his own hands, which sounds like a great way to ensure that they get blown off -- but what do I know?

CHAPTER 36E. Bloody Euphie

Schneizer and Cornelia hold a teleconference over Euphemia's incredible coup, and opinions are sharply divided. Cornelia doesn't like how Euphie dreamt the whole thing up herself, but that apparently didn't stop her sending her top lieutenant Dalton to help. Then again, Cornelia maintains that Dalton's presence constitutes a standard security measure such as anyone would take for an announcement with such wide-reaching implications. Schneizer tells Cornelia that he wants to believe that Euphie's gambit will pay off -- mankind has far too many external enemies to be fighting among themselves. Cornelia blanches but holds her tongue, managing to hang up without emitting a squawk.

Schmeizer does sympathize with Cornelia's mixed feelings, but he's mostly relieved that he won't have to send the experimental Combination into Area Eleven. Instead, he and the experimental gear will be sent to the Rosenburg lab. The time has come to focus on getting rid of the Imperium; the Kaminejima incident and all other matters can wait till stability is restored to the land.

"Chigusa" wants to go participate in Euphie's Japan Free Zone, and Oogi knows that he and she will be able to live there without regard for their ethnicity. He promises to go with her after taking care of just a bit more business. He's not the only one thinking along those lines: most of the civilians and even several of the Black Knights are finding Euphemia's propsition far more appealing than Zero's brand of liberation. Even the Kyouto organization are rumored to be in favor of the Free Zone, which is only natural if their goal is to restore the Japanese way of life. And who can really blame the public for wanting the shortest route to a safe, secure society?

The real question is, should the Black Knights sign up to help? Wufei asks Roger's opinion, and it's very true that freedom, equality and promises all sound very nice. It's precisely that pleasant sound that should inspire distrust of the speaker... unless that speaker is of impeachable character. In his estimation, Euphemia fits the profile. Tamashiro demands to know who's side Roger's on, and Roger smiles and replies that he's on the side of the truth. If the Black Knights participate, they'll be forced to disarm and relinquish their independence. If they resist, they'll become enemies of freedom and equality by default. So what's Zero's verdict?

He'll tell them when they all arrive at Mt. Fuji, the site of the Free Zone. Zero arrives in full regalia and takes to the stage to address Euphemia. He requests a private conference for the two of them before making a public statement. Suzaku doesn't like this idea, but Zero tells him he hopes for Suzaku's trust -- after all, Suzaku is in large measure responsible for all the (would-be) Japanese gathered here. Zero inwardly blames himself in part for Suzaku being someone else's standard- bearer. Euphie agrees and the two retreat to the bridge of her flagship.

Zero is slow to remove his helmet, accustomed to a life of paranoia thanks to a certain empire's good offices. He's managed to smuggle in a needle-gun, made of ceramic and bamboo, and does _not_ mean to shoot Euphie with it. Rather, he wants _her_ to shoot _him_, in public. Both know what that would cause: Zero would be a martyr, and Euphie's plan would devolve into chaos. Euphie, alarmed and perplexed, repeats that she wants him to help her build a proper Japan, but he counters that a Japan-by-fiat would be no different from what Clovis tried. He tells her that all the conditions are ripe for the public to kowtow to a miracle -- the miracle of his resurrection after three days in the Cave.

As she hesitates, Lelouch feels his Geass powers swelling. He turns away from her, shouting that he wants no more of her pity. He IS going to achieve his goals with his own hands, and he WILL see the princess defiled to make it happen! His rage is frozen in its tracks, though, when she tells him she's renounced her title -- the least she could do for getting him to buy into what she's trying to sell. Scowling, he asks if she did it for his sake, and she smiles at his self-confidence. Not for his sake, but for Nanaly's!

She relates a conversation she had with Nanaly in secret, while Zero was off with Zexis. Nanaly told her that she wants nothing more than to be with her brother, and that made her mind up. After all her agonizing and consulting Marina and Rilina, she's come up with the best way to restore everyone's smile.

After all that, Lelouch has to smile. Ever since they were kids, her guileless optimism has always stood her in good stead, even in the face of Lelouch's strategic brilliance. That never changed, even after she became a public figure and vice-governor. He tells her that she's the most vicious opponent he's ever faced, and graciously admits defeat. He'll do everything in his power to help make this Free Zone succeed, though he cautions that he isn't going to become her subordinate. She teases him for thinking that she'd actually shoot him, and he tells her that if he'd genuinely ordered her to do it, she'd have had no choice. Hell, he could order her to kill all the Japanese, for example, and she'd have no choice.

Um. Remember how Mao eventually lost the ability to shut his Geass off? Ever heard of Shakespearian-grade tragedy? Well, the ante has just been upped, as Lelouch accidentally Geasses Euphie and, after a brief yet agonizing struggle with herself, she sets about the project of slaughtering the Japanese. She reemerges onto the stage, and tells all those calling themselves Japanese that she has a favor to ask: for them to die. Seeing that they don't commit suicide on the spot, she orders her soldiers to fire. Zero is powerless to stop her as she fires the first shot, and mass chaos erupts as the gunfire begins.

All this time the Black Knights have been parked nearby, waiting to see what the Britannians are really up to. Toujou thinks Zero has already guessed what they're really up to, and has a plan ready to stop it. Roger says they're all about to find out if Zero prefers independence within a box, or independence at the end of war. With Diethart and his cameras at the ready, is it possible that Zero means to actually do Euphie in? Zero certainly is one difficult man to read... as are all those who tread the King's Path, as Eim would have it!

Eim claims to be here to help celebrate the Black Knights' involvement in the Japan Free Zone, and figures that it's just about time for the main event to start. And whaddya know, Ougi gets word from Diethart that Euphemia has just ordered the wholesale slaughter of the Japanese! In fact, what Diethart is seeing is beyond his wildest dreams, and all thanks somehow or other to Zero. More eye-catching, anyway, than Euphie shooting Zero as he told his people might happen. Lakshata can't see how this much carnage strikes Diethart as fun, and he gushes that now the whole world will turn against Britannia and rally around Zero. To him, Britannia is just grist for his camera -- and that grist is now well past its expiration date. Lakshata originally signed on to this outfit to gather experimental data, but she isn't inclined to back out now... and besides, Zero's a pretty interesting guy.

As for Zero, he knows full well that he and (or) his Geass are responsible for this hellish turn of events, and that there's nothing he can do to turn back the clock. Therefore, it's time to make the best of a very bad situation. Dalton runs over to Zero and demands to know what he's done to Euphie, but Zero vanishes in a flash of pyrotechnics. Meanwhile, Suzaku is frantically searching for Euphie without success. He tells Lloyd and Cecil to search for the two of them while he tries to lead the people out of the arena, but just then an unfamiliar voice tells _him_ to go find Euphie and get her to reverse her orders. The speaker will lead the remaining people to safety...

Eim intimates that this whole mess is somehow Zero's fault, which of course Karen and the others are not ready to believe at first blush. In fact, he admits openly that he's trying to make the Black Knights falter -- as usual, he finds it ever so much more fun to debase Crow's friends before taking Crow himself out. He makes no move to stop Crow as he and the others rush to the the battlefield, knowing that the aftermath of this tragedy will affect them all deeply.

Toujou orders the troops to breach the walls of the stadium so the people inside can escape. That means going through the Imperial soldiers, who are bent on obeying Euphemia's orders. Fortunately they've got an ally: Banjou of all people, who easily breaches the stadium walls and begins the evacuation. He gives his "circle of the sun" speech to the Imperials, which of course means mayhem. He knows as well as anyone that the chains of hatred and rage will only lead to more fighting, but he also knows that the immediate chaos must be stemmed before anyone could listen to reason.

 Many among Zexis are quite stymied by Euphemia's out-of-character act.
 Roger in particular vows to get to the bottom of it.

As for Zero, he's found Euphie still babblingly happily about killing the Japanese. When she sees him, she confusedly proposes working with him to create a Free Japan Zone, and he murmers that he had hoped to do just that. Instead, he shoots her, crying beneath his mask over the lost of what was probably his first love. Suzaku and C.C. arrive at around this point, and as Suzaku screams out Euphie's name, Zero and C.C. wisely withdraw. Euphie seems to regain some of her senses as she recognizes Suzaku's face.

Back in the Gawain, C.C. tells Lelouch that she never expected he'd go _this_ far. He tells her that he didn't _mean_ to Geass Euphie, and she realizes that his Geass has begun to elude his control. Lelouch genuinely thought he was prepared for how dangerous this power would be, and can probably be forgiven for things getting _this_ far out of hand. He asks for a sitrep, and Diethart proclaims that he's shown the whole world what happened here today.

Crow asks if this was part of Zero's plan, and Zero carefully replies that he never anticipated Euphemia to take leave of her senses like this. Crow asks again: did Zero induce Euphemia to do this? No, is his reply. Zero forestalls any ranting at Euphemia's expense when he states flatly that he killed her himself. Eim, still watching from the sidelines, says that this accumulation of sins is every inch befitting the Devil himself. He sends out his shock troops to cause Crow more misery, and among them is a newly-enraged Margret. Zero orders the troops to thwart the Imperium forces and show the Japanese gathered here at least one ray of hope.

See the other paths for Eim whining as he leaves. Zero says that he's going back to the ghetto to plan his next move, and asks if the Zexis folks will accompany him. Banjou's with it, and says he's got several things he wants to check out along the way. Zero knows that there is truly no way but forward from now on.

Somewhere... else, Charles is somehow aware of what's been going on, and cackles with glee that his son Lelouch, aka Zero, has finally gone and done "it". He proclaims that Lelouch bears the Power of the King, and it's entirely up to Lelouch what result that will lead to. He must dance, and fight, to the utmost of his ability, till the day the world is unified!

Impressively, Euphemia did _not_ die immediately from her wounds: Suzaku has gotten her to an Imperial hospital. She seems stable enough that Lloyd can leave her alone with Suzaku while they all wait for Cornelia to arrive. Suzaku asks why she gave the order she did, and Euphie says she doesn't know what he's talking about. She asks if he too is Japanese, and when he agrees she gets a gleam in her eye and seems to wrestle with herself over whether she should kill him too. She settles on "not", and asks Suzaku how the event went -- were the Japanese people pleased? Did she do a good job? Suzaku hesitates a moment, then tells her she did just great, and that Japan is grateful to her.

Her sight begins to fail, and she tells him to be sure to finish school, which she failed to do. Tears streaming down his face, he tells her that they can go to Ashford right now, where a fun party will be waiting. She repeats that he has to do what she could not. She slips away, and the heartbroken guy cries out to no one in particular, asking why she had to die. A child then walks into this presumably maximum-security hospital ward, offering to explain. The child names himself V.V., and says that Zero is to blame for Euphemia going crazy. He'll tell Suzaku all about himself, and about Zero, one day soon. For now, suffice it to say that Zero is someone Suzaku knows well -- and if Suzaku wants to know more, he'd better go on fighting to change the world...

As expected, all of Britannia's territories are in revolt after what they've seen. The Imperium has sent in dimensional beasts to intensify the fighting, satisfying their lust for bloodshed and mayhem as Banjou knows well. He's been roaming the world on a mission from F.S. ever since arriving, and was pursuing Eim when the two arrived in Area Eleven. Eim is a menace that grows daily, and must be stopped before he truly sends this world to hell.

Diethart has the gall to confront Banjou over saving most of the spectators: he was trying to get a picture of utter carnage and instead got some kind of humanitarian aid crap. So he what, wanted loads of Japanese to die? He sniffs that all those gathered for Euphemia's farce are weak-minded fools unsuitable for the new Japan Zero is trying to build. The least they could have done is lay down their lives for the Black Knights' cause. Banjou asks if Zero concurs, and Zero definitely does _not_: Banjou is to be commended for his swift efforts to save lives. He cuts off Diethart's protest by pointing out that they're not shooting a fucking soap opera here: the last thing this world needs is pointless bloodshed!

As Diethart clams up, a visitor to the compound commends Zero on his thinking. It is none other than Kagura, first daughter of the highest of the Six Houses of Kyouto. She is in a sense the highest ranking Japan-ist in the land, and she's come here, as it were, as Zero's biggest fan. He's taller than she pictured [thanks to Mokona's character design style] but she promises she can catch up to him quickly enough. She states that when Zero takes over Japan, he'll need a wife... one who doesn't mind that he can't reveal himself to the masses. She, self-proclaimed Goddess of Victory, has every confidence that he'll win.

Zero tells her that while he appreciates the offer, he's already sruck a bargain with the devil -- he can't see himself making nice with a goddess too. In fact, he's about to head back to Zexis, expecting a call from Elgan to reassemble the full team. He tells an incredulous Diethart that there's no way Japan, or any corner of the Earth, can hope for peace so long as the Imperium remains. He now has _zero_ doubt in his mind that unless the Black Knights exercise their mandate for Justice for the good of all, Japan can never be free.

That sounds great to Crow and the G-boys. Duo reckons that if the Black Knights were to take on Britannia head-on right now, the result would only be Japan getting ruined the rest of the way. Zero is glad the Zexis folks and he are on the same page, and orders Diethart to make preparations for proper resistance against Britannia when the time comes -- and to NOT use the massacre in the propaganda. Any panic engendered in the public can only work to the Imperium's advantage. Diethart reluctantly agrees, whereas Kagura is very enthused about being Zero's liason to Kyouto. Diethart does tell Zero that he's going to regret passing up the greatest chance he's gotten at striking Britannia, and Zero inwardly fumes that "regret" is a luxury he gave up long ago. His decision to confront the Imperium is in large part an efforto to make it up to Euphie for ruining her dream -- whether or not she forgives him, he damn well intends to see at least one part of that dream come true.

Lelouch does return briefly to Ashford Academy, setting up another long bout of "study abroad". Suzaku asks if this has anything to do with Euphemia's death, and Lelouch replies that the death of his childhood playmate is the last thing he wants to think about just now. Suzaku ponders a moment, and asks Lelouch if there's anyone he hates enough to want them dead. Lelouch allows that there is, and Suzaku says that he used to believe that kind of thinking was wrong. That not fighting according to the rules was nothing but murder. He now finds himself driven by a murderous rage, and both of them know that "Zero" is the target. Lelouch, to Suzaku's surprise, tells him to go ahead and hate Zero, especially if it's for Euphie's sake. He himself decided long ago never to turn back, and Suzaku thanks him for being his friend these past seven years. He doubts he'll be able to see Lelouch off, as he too is preparing to travel into battle. He bids Lelouch what sounds like a very final "farewell", and Lelouch realizes that Suzaku is starting to suspect him. So be it -- Lelouch has nothing left to lose now [unless you count Nanaly, which is a pretty dreadful thought given how things are already].

Lelouch is now good and willing to fight his old friend if need be, far too immersed in his path of destruction and loss to let his sentiments get in the way: this destruction is what's necessary for new creation to flourish. C.C. is waiting for him, inwardly mourning that the Lelouch too is willing to make himself a victim of this unfolding tragedy.

[I kept the "C" route because I want Alto's upgrade later; I went with Sheryl in terms of who to save.]

CHAPTER 37. Heroically, and Beautifully

The world is clearly in a sorry state after recent events, and it seems that the Great Nations have finally decided to take drastic measures. According to news reports, they've just forged a military alliance and will deploy their forces under the joint command of the Security Council. This marks the birth of the greatest army in history, which you might imagine would be a good thing. But you'd be wrong. The alliance is supported not by an interest in the common good, but rather by the sharing of the CBs' stolen technology. The three Nations are mainly interested in preventing each other from getting a leg up in the arms race... and in ensuring that none of the lesser nations get to share. Marina would like to believe that the union is still a partial step forward, but forward into what?

At least four of the Areas have had their local governments collapse in the wake of the terrorism and Imperium involvement touched off by the debacle in Area Eleven. Marina would never in her wildest dreams have guessed that Euphemia would do anything like that, and still finds it very hard to accept. The great irony is that the Imperium seemingly has done what the CBs did not: united the world. Xielin believes that the CBs' armed intervention was ultimately supposed to force everybody together against the common threat they pose -- as the ZEUTH Earth evidently did. The main question is, with an "Earth Federation" now underway, will Zexis still have a role?

They will in fact, if the "putting the paths back together debriefing" ever ends. Just read the above prose if you want to know what's being blathered on about. In the conference room with the top brass, the first piece of good news is that the Ptolemeios has received a care package from space: armaments both for its mecha and for itself -- maybe enough to fill the gap left by Lockon's wounds a bit. The CBs are feeling just a tad disenfranchised by the fact that the Imperium, not they, have united the world... and Zero views the newfound sense of global unity with profound distrust. Whoever betrayed the CBs and disseminated their technology is in the driver's seat of the new world order, and that is a very bad prospect.

Sumeragi recommends leaving it up to Elgan to keep that entity's plans in check -- for now at least -- and focusing instead of Moralia and the PMC Trust. Signs point to the CBs' traitor using them for their personal gain, and taking them out might lead to a few clues about who this "Mr. X" really is. On the other hand, it could also turn public opinion against Zexis, tying their hands for futurre housecleaning in the new Earth Federation. Tanaka seems not to grasp this, so the commanders turn to F.S. for an explanation of what he's really got in mind. "You'll find out later" is not going to cut it this time. "For the future of mankind" sounds too abstract, or perhaps large-scale, but that's precisely the magnitude of threat F.S. believes the world faces. "It" isn't going to stand idly by with the world in the state it's in.

Before we find out what "it" is, word comes in that Dragon's Hive has a few visitors: a befy of idol stars! Eiyda has somehow tracked the place down, which even Grace proved unable to do. Sheryl wonders if they should have at least gotten an appointment, but Eiyda says that this is their big chance to live a little without fear of the press or their fans reacting badly. Plus, she and Ranka have the power of love on their side! Sheryl is trying to focus on recreation, having brought her manager along for bad^Wgood measure and fully intending to make up for all the concerts she's had to cancel.

Nia comes into the waiting room at this point, lost as usual in the Dragons' Hive's twisty corridors. Eiyda immediately takes a liking to her and asks if she's ever thought about becoming an idol singer. Certainly Nia likes to sing, humming the song that Ranka sang as the theme to Bird-Human. Weirdly though, Nia says that her father sang that song to her when she was little... and even more weirdly, Ranka affirms that that song is the only memory she has of her otherwise lost past. The mystery only deepens when Nia says that her father is none other than the king of the Beastmen, the Spiral Lord. So what does _that_ mean??

We'll find out later. For now, Alto gets to take both Sheryl and Ranka out for a bit of joy-flying. The Valkyrie's cockpit is a _snug_ fit for three to say the least, but none of them mind. Ranka wasn't originally supposed to be on vacation just now, but her joint concert with Eiyda in Area Sixteen has been postponed due to "regional instability". In fact, Ozuma was the one who suggested this flight, understanding more keenly than Alto how much the sorry state of the world must be impacting the singers. Also, Ozuma trusts Alto not to get too hot'n'heavy with the guests... which is more than he could say for Kouji or the other starstruck pilots. Sheryl teases Alto a bit about being insensitive to all the womanly charms crammed into close quarters with him, and Ranka realizes that Sheryl's actually being more serious than she's letting on.

Now, the VF-25 doesn't have a sound system, but with two of the foremost singers in the world, it doesn't need one: Alto is about to get his own private concert from the finest. You can pick whose song to hear, and if you're smart you'll pick the same singer who you chose before on the CB path. In either case, Ranka hopes she can grow to be as forceful as Eiyda, grateful to her for tracking down Dragons' Hive. Eiyda didn't tell Ranka just how she knew where the Hive is, and Alto imagines that Johnny will be sure to grill Eiyda on that when they meet.

In the meantime, the pleasure flight runs into a bit of a snag when a group of Beastmen attack. Zexis forces will be on the scene shortly, but Alto will have to hold the fort himself in the meantime. Apparently the Spiral Lord wants to take the singers captive, which will happen over Alto's dead body. This, he figures, is his chance to pay them back for all the times they've helped him out.

 Reinforcements arrive soon after, and all the menfolk loudly proclaim how
 much they're going to pound the bad guys -- presumably in a bid to curry
 favor with their famous guests.  This will be the first battle with the
 GN Arms, which Setsuna and Lockon will need to be close to the Ptolemy to
 use.  Grace muses that the Beastmen seem to have grasped how powerful songs
 can be...

 After the Beastmen are dealt with, Invaders show up next and make a beeline
 for Alto.  The R-Daigun suddenly shows up at that point and zooms in to
 protect, not Alto, but his passengers.  This has happened before back in
 Galia, and Ranka finally voices her suspicion: is the R-Daigun's pilot Eiyda?
 Eiyda confesses, and confirms that Johnny is one of Dancougar Nova's pilots
 too.  Ryouma cuts them off however, saying that the Invaders come first.
 Even Grace is worried that the Little Queen's awakening is causing more
 problems than she feared... unless Sheryl's power is to blame.  Nova and the
 R-Daigun declare a truce for now...

 And a good thing too, since in short order a new foe appears.  These new
 mecha are clearly not of Earth origin, and do not answer to hailing
 frequencies.  Only Banjou, who thinks of them as the long-awaited "lunar
 emissaries", and Eiyda seem to know who or what they are.  Eiyda is intent
 on fending these new foes off, though they seem to have her outgunned, and
 she tells the Nova taem that she simply can't afford to lose.  Neither can
 they for that matter, and they steel themselves to charge into the fray and
 help her.

 That's what Shinobu likes to hear.  Final Dancougar appears, and its pilots
 explain that the feeling the Nova pilots are savoring is the power of
 Instinct that all Beast pilots share.  It's time for them to enter the fray
 for real: F.S.'s inspiration for Nova, and his hope for the future.
 Explanations will have to wait, but for now Shinobu gives Aoi a little lesson
 in how to yell properly: from the bottom of your guts!

When the last enemies fall, Eiyda reconfirms to Johnny that it's really her, apologizes, and flies off. The Final Dancougar folks say there's no need to chase her: if she and Johnny truly walk the same path, they'll surely see each other again soon enough. F.S. has told the FD team to stick around this time, and finish telling their comrades what F.S. began. The "enemies to come" have, well, come at last.

Eiyda's returned to Zolbrain HQ, where Urajimiel is ready to admit defeat. Ragna's been assassinated and the Trinities are demolished, and that's not counting how Eiyda hasn't exactly been 100% faithful to her orders. Then again, insofar as she managed to get the Nova team to discover God Beast Mode, Eiyda and her R-Daigun have actually fulfilled their mission. And heck, even Eiyda's cover as an idol star seems to have benefitted her more than expected. All this is according to WILL's master plan. Unfortuantely, the PMC Trust have no use for losers, and have sent some soldiers to tie up loose ends. Urajimiel s ready to sacrifice her life to let Eiyda flee and fight another day, but luckily that won't be needed: Sandman is on hand to incapacitate the soldiers and open a path to safety. He tells the ladies that WILL is waiting.

Back at Dragons' Hive, the Final Dancougar folks introduce themselves. They too came to this world thanks to a Quake, but in their case they've been in this world for several years. F.S. is the person they first met, still in tatters after their war with Muge Zolbados, and he spent the intervening time repairing their machine and caring for their wounds. They actually had to remain in medically-induced comas, and F.S. used the technology from the Beast Machines to make the next generation of super robot to prepare for the next Muge-like menace to come to the Earth.

There's a deeper method to F.S.' madness though, which explains why he's had Nova always side with the loser in every battle. Nova is tantamount to the life force of the Earth itself, created by fusing data from countless organisms the world over. It can, if the need arises, revive every species on Earth... though there were some gaps in the records of the most complex organism: man. F.S. has been seeking pilots for Nova to learn mankind's ways from, as well as ones capable of invoking its ultimate form of God Beast Mode.

Above all, Earth and its many life forms need more than just a conservancy: they need a guardian, and that's why F.S. needed Nova to practice combat as seriously as possible. _That_ is why he's had the team aiding the losing side in all those battles. Having said all that, even at its best Nova can't hope to protect the entire Earth against the worst conceivable foe. It has therefore been designed as a sort of fortified Noah's Ark, capable of fleeing to space when the Earth finally becomes well and truly untenable. In that respect, it fulfills the same role as the far-flung Macross fleets.

Now what about the R-Daigun? F.S. didn't make it; rather, a "comrade" of his did. It's mission is like Nova's, and the two were destined to fight and improve each other, as iron sharpens iron. F.S. neither knows nor cares about its pilot, and says matter-of-factly that Nova has learned enough from Team D by now to have human-level autopilot. Team D are of course unamused by being told this, but F.S. gets to the point: the Earth has a hell of a lot of foes at present. Nova is the only hope that Earth's life forms have for survival.

Aoi tells F.S. to take that rationale and shove it, but Shinobu cuts her off with an even more impressive rant. He's helped F.S. till now out of gratitude for saving the team, but that's over now that F.S. has revealed that he basically expects to lose. The entire Beast Team agree, and transfer their allegiance from F.S. to Zexis itself. F.S. tells the two Dancougars to do whatever they want, and as they leave he asks Tanaka if he's now disappointed. Tanaka would never think of criticizing someone higher in the chain of command... and besides, he rather doubts F.S. was being entirely forthright just now. WILL weighs in at this point, noting that Team D's toughness also makes them prone to inflexible thinking. Mankind _can_ be destroyed. Humans _have_ not only failed to abrogate warfare over their entire history, their hubris has created menaces like the Imperium. On the other hand, counters F.S., there's much cause for hope -- including the power of Song. The trouble is that WILL's counterpart on the moon has evidently swung into action.

The CB's traitor has offered the new Earth Alliance 30 of the GN Drives, which have been distributed evenly between the Great Nations. That's not to say that the _users_ will be the usual suspects; for instance, Zechs' Tallgeese doesn't need the GN Drive to compete. Graham is high ranking enough that he could be in line for a new mech, but what he wants instead is to modify one of his existing Flag mecha with the new GN Drive -- he's promised Howard Mason that he'll see this war through with the basic deisgn the Mason made.

CHAPTER 38. A Promise Kept

Elgan is facing a grilling from Corda Ravel about the true identities of the 303rd batallion. She's been doing some research into the UN's anti-Emerge efforts, Dewey Sorenstam's work with orphans. Dewey himself was assassinated in the aftermath of the Tragedy of Dohar, but Corda's learned all about his use of those orphans as guinea pigs anyway. Things got messy when she learned that the Holland and company that made up the original 303rd, and who are the acknowledged assassins of Dewey, aren't the same Holland and co. that are currently out running loose. Somehow this batch managed to trade places with the 303rd, and Elgan's policy is to keep them where he can see them to avoid any further complications. That's all fine with Corda: what she wants to know is what's really going on.

In a word, "Neverland". Riddle me this: how can people aging at several times the proper rate hope to stay alive? By traveling to a land where kids remain kids forever: a land of frozen time. This Neverland is what Holland and friends glimpsed during the Tragedy of Dohar, one of the possible outcomes of the Dimensional Healing process that remakes worlds. It was Dimensional Healing that led the Emerge to this world, and Holland's party is trying to resurrect the Emerge's creation myth [as it were] to save themselves. Of course, the Dohar unpleasantness has already established that improperly done Dimensional Healing can result in entire worlds being destroyed. Elgun reckons that Holland and friends don't care of this world is destroyed, since they can't exactly live in it in peace anyway. By now they must have joined forces with the Imperium, in the hopes of using them as a stepping stone to the power of Myth.

Deep underground in the Vodala Shrine, the shrine maiden has received a visitor. It is Asakim, who won't give a straight answer to the question of whether he is a hopeful or hopeless man. She tells him that she knows of him, or rather _knew_ of him and his suffering in a dream. That makes sense, given that she was born from "their" lost memories. She suggests that he rest now: surely it is peace he craves, not rage? Just so, yet no matter what world he visits, he cannot find peace. He tells her to name his tormentor, the one who plunged him into this Infinite Prison, so he can go kick their ass. The maiden's little companion, (non!-)innocuously named The End, doesn't like that much, yet the maiden says that everyone has a right to the pursuit of happiness. She takes up the tail of the angel who helped forge this world, the lost memory of the Emerge...

Back at the Dragons' Hive, the crew are crestfallen to learn that Sheryl has gone home. Some seem terribly torn between then, and Bobby tells them the best they can do is to be true to their feelings. Athena still hasn't come to terms with a man with a woman's heart, even though she's seen the reverse at fairly close range. Kei warns Michelle nicely not to exploit Athena's naivete, and after a little banter the time comes to decide who gets to take Ranka home. You might think that job would naturally fall to Alto, but without Sheryl present that would be dangerously close to a "date" or something. Klan certainly doesn't have any free space in her mech, and Ozuma can't just skip out on his strategy meetings. Ozuma doesn't trust Crow to not sell Ranka off to pay his debts, and doesn't trust the long list of bishounen on the team not to hit on her either. Maybe Ranka should have some say herself? That sounds like a good idea, if she could be found -- at present, she's running around in search of her pet. ...Pet??

Said pet is now named Ai-kun, and it's taken an interest of some kind in Nirvash. After accidentally startling Ranka, Renton explains that Nirvash is actually alive, and that he and Eureka can converse with it in their hearts. Maybe Ai-kun can too? The other pilots arrive at this point, and Renton's blatant innocence convinces Ozuma that he's a safe choice for ferrying Ranka back to the nearest town. Ranka is hoping Renton can tell her along the way more about this "Eureka" and how he hopes to get her back.

Upon arriving, Renton thanks Ranka for asking about Eureka. Talking about her helps keep his confidence up that he might actually be able to rescue her at some point. Ranka says that Eureka is lucky to have such a devoted guy as a boyfriend. She can only hope that someone will come to her rescue like that if she ever needs it. Which, again, is like TOTALLY non-ominous and whatnot. In any case, Nirvash tells Renton to tell her good luck, and off she goes.

The first thing that happens when Renton is left alone is Holland attacking and knocking him unconscious. The second thing that happens is Crow showing up to stop Holland, the plan all along being to use Renton as an unwitting decoy to lure Holland out of hiding. The _third_ thing that happens is Holland calling in his own backup to keep Crow busy while he spirits Renton away. Margret insists that Crow call her by her proper name instead of "sister", and tells him that she's out for revenge. Revenge for... what exactly? Of course Crow isn't just going to let her kill him, and even Margret acknowledges that her grudge is misplaced -- still, Crow inadvertently killed the only little brother she's ever known.

Asakim shows up then, telling the Knight of Insalaum to stay her hand. Killing Crow here certainly wouldn't make Eim happy, as Eim has no doubt made it clear that he and he alone is allowed to fight Crow directly. Margret marvels at this man whose presence has even her cowering in fear. He tells her to run along with a message for Eim: Asakim _will_ claim his soul sooner or later. He even tells her his identity: the Accursed Wanderer, who now knows the identity of his cursor.

Margret wisely runs off, and Crow tries to offer thanks to Asakim. Asakim says such things are unnecessary, as he too has his reasons for wanting Crow kept alive. He knows that Margret's talk of revenge has set Crow's "scales" swaying, and doesn't care if Crow is stung by hearing it pointed out to his face. Asakim names himself as Crow's enemy, assuring him he won't attack Crow now as it would serve no purpose. Asakim has plans to break the eternal Cycle, and tells Crow that he wants Crow's soul as part of the plan. He tells Crow his comrades are headed to the Vodala Shrine, sharing the information to make it easier to hunt both Crow and Eim at once. Asakim's path is illuniated, and now he just has to walk it. Can Crow do likewise? Asakim walks off, leaving Crow furious at himself for being unable to move a muscle. Just what the hell is at the Vodala Shrine that Eim and Asakim, Holland and Renton would be all caught up in it?

Renton has been lefto the none-too-tender mercies of Happ while Holland is out doing God knows what, and to his credit the little guy is not rolling over easily. The others caution Happ not to get too carried away, as "Wendy" and "Peter" have to be intact for things to work properly. Renton demands to know why he and Eureka are so essential to whatever Holland is planning, and Stoner overrides Happ's brutality to offer him a straight answer. The Gekkostate's goal is to reach the Neverland they glimpsed back when, as the only way to extend their foreshortened lifespans. To do that, they mean to reenact the experiment that led to the Tragedy of Dohar, but not the version they all suffered through. Instead, they're using the improved version the Warusawa folks came up with: the Mk. 7.e Ammended Myth Recreation Plan, aka "Eureka 7".

Eureka, the Emerge spy robot, has embedded in her a crystal with the password for accessing the Emerge embedded in it. If Eureka can be fused with, the door to all that pan-dimensional energy can be opened... and Renton is the means to do it. Stoner adds that Renton and Eureka are in the same boat as the Gekkostaters: they've got no choice but to go to Neverland if they want to spend their lives together. He won't say more unless Renton agrees to help. Neverland, by the way, is a world where time is stopped, where "now" lasts forever. Stoner gives Renton 30 minutes to think, and Happ promises more torture and mind-control drugs if Renton won't help voluntarily. The hell with Wendy and Peter, Renton fumes once alone. Why the hell can't he and Eureka be together?

He gets an unexpected visitor just then: Nirvash in baby form! Nirvash tells him it's time to go kick some serious ass, which sounds like a tall order without a full-sized mech to pilot. Maybe he'll have some help though, as The End shows up as well.

The Vodala Shrine itself is actually a surface building, beneath which is a VERY deep base. It's a mausoleum for #6, the peach-haired girl, and the sheer scale of the facility shows how much the powers that be feared #6's powers. Speaking of whom, the shrine maiden appears, whose hair is still perceptibly peach-colored beneath the gray. She is indeed Dominic's fiancee, Eureka's kin which the humans call #6. Her proper name is Anemone, and she's here fulfilling her promise to Dominic, to keep the door sealed against any who would come to her hopelessly, and to open it gladly for those with hope whose arrival betides the advent of the holy white one. She asks Eureka if she's summoned her courage, and tells Eureka why it is that their kind cannot dream.

They themselves are dreams, fictions created by the Emerge's reaction to what happens inside humans when they sleep. Dominic is the one who stopped the experiment back then, fearing to lose his beloved. Even she doesn't know where the Emerge came from or what they're up to... but what she does know is that dreams will always remain dreams, and reality always reality, whether or not human and Emerge can meet. She offers Eureka no explanation for why she, or the Emerge, exist as part of this fearful, hateful world. But it's true that they live with this world, and die with it.

Anemone reminds Eureka that Eureka has already decided to dream a dream of her own, and at this point Holland interrupts to demand answers for how to control the Emerge. He won't get to finish his question though, as the Emerge have discovered Eureka's location and sent in troops to get her back. Holland intends to shoot down all the ones near the Vodala Shrine, ordering Talho back to the Gekkoin case she has to evacuate. He doesn't give a damn about anything other than carving out a world for Talho to be safe.

 Zexis shows up in short order, and Holland certainly isn't forthcoming about
 Renton's whereabouts.  The Beast Team are inclined toward doing Holland in
 first, but the commanders insist that the Emerge must be dealt with first.
 And beware the Imperium, who might show up at any moment.

 And show up they do!  Before fighting Margret, Crow asks how she thinks he
 killed her younger brother.  Eim says that Crow's old unit the Firebugs are
 responsible, and Crow doesn't attempt to deny it.  Eim's loving his reaction,
 and strikes as the light of the Seventh Maiden is about to pierce the sky.
 Before Eim can strike Crow, Asakim strikes Eim instead, not quite killing
 him.  Asakim smirks that the False Black Sheep seems to be a bit more Awake
 than the Swaying Scales, and Eim furiously makes to withdraw.  He orders
 Margret to cover his retreat, but instead she yells out to Crow that Eim is
 lying to him: her brother challenged Crow fair and square... and lost fair
 and square too.  She tells the infuriated Eim that she won't have her
 brother's death used as an instrument of foul play, willing to be punished
 for it later.

 The two withdraw, leaving a passel of DBs behind for the team to grapple
 with.  It's starting to dawn on the team that Eim and Crow are similar in
 some way, but the top priority must be capturing Asakim.  Ah, but not if
 Asakim claims Crow's soul first!  Asakim is about to strike the fatal blow
 when, out of left field, Amuro and his Fin Funnels intervene.  Quatro's
 with him too, and the two rally the troops to face the new DB menace.
 Asakim makes good his escape, telling Crow only that his soul is about to
 become worth Asakim's time to hunt.  The ZEUTH people tell Crow there's no
 need for him to pursue -- they know all too well what Asakim is after.
 Amuro knows it must be hard for Quatro/Char to take his eyes off the leaders
 and step onto the battlefield, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

One of the Emerges makes an end run around the team, blasting the Vodala Shrine and interrupting the argument going on between Nirvash and The End in Renton's cell. Renton maybe gets knocked on the head by some debris, and he finds himself dreaming and talking to... Dominic. He apologizes to his former taecher for not being able to keep his promise about protecting Eureka and going to see the snow flowers -- it seems all he can do is keep running away. Is that what he learned these past eight years -- to think only with his head? Dominic tells Renton that humans are stupid, and their world is the result of their severely limited imaginations. What the Emerge are is a mirror, one that reveals the true form of whoever stands in front of it. Renton knows what he must do with his heart, even if not with his head just yet. As Dominic vanishes, he leaves Renton with one final word to help support him and his lovably awkward way of life.

Renton emerges from the rubble, shouting out that to him who asks, shall it be given. He's coming for Eureka, Emerge be damned, and Nirvash abruptly returns to its full-grown form to help. Reaching her, he proclaims his love for her at the top of his lungs, and says he wants to win their future together. Hard to turn that sort of proposal down, right? Anemone observes that the two of them are about to surpass the laws governing the world, and in the meeting of their eyes shall the white holy one be born. Holland is furious, pointing out that unless he can recreate the Myth he's going to die, and Anemone tells him to stop being such a whining bitch. Maybe he can, I dunno, invent his _own_ goddamn myth for a change? That's what Renton and Eureka are doing at any rate.

This seems beyond Holland's comprehension, and the only option he sees left is to go beg Eim for help. At least Renton and Eureka are safely beck together, and never to be parted again! With a bit of power of love stuff, the remaining horde of bad guys don't stand a chance, and that paves the way for the obligatory "why'd you risk yourself for me?? 'cause I'm an idiot and I'm in love" reunion speeches. Renton may be a dunce, but he's _Eureka_'s dunce.

Eureka then fills the team in on her real mission as a Emerge spybot. Within her, or so she's heard, is a crystal that's been recording everything she's seen and experienced in this world. The people in the lab said that the Emerge crave this data, presumably to help pinpoint humanity's weak spots and facilitate their ultimate downfall. Eureka is _not_ interested in seeing mankind obliterated, and only went along with Holland in the hopes that Zexis' counterattack would result in her death. That would eliminate the Emerge threat to humanity, and the Gekkostate threat to Renton. Of course, she's with the stalwarts of Zexis now, and the whole team pledge to fight to keep the two safe and sound. Anemone too gives them her and her beloved's blessing, and the ZEUTH folks are tickled pink that the little spitfire they know is going to grow up to be such an adorable grandmotherly type.

With the lovey-dovey stuff out of the way, the question turns to just what these "Firebugs" did to become so notorious. The Firebugs were a special unit composed of the scum of the Brittania Union, and Crow would rather not remember all the bad stuff he was mixed up in as one of them. Rather, he wants to know what it is the ZEUTH members know about why Asakim is after him. Roger asks first whether Crow's noticed any physical anomalies of late, and upon finding out that all is normal muses that there's still time to turn back.

The "VX" in Crow's mech must actually be what the ZEUTH know as a Sphere, a mysterious generator of vast capacity. Asakim has a history of seeking the lives of those capable of activating Spheres, which Crow hasn't yet completely managed. That _potential_ is why Asakim has kept him alive till now, biding his time till conditions are right. The Spheres ZEUTH has encountered to date were keyed off "Sorrow" and "Wounds", belonging respectively to the Maiden of Sorrows (Setsuko) and the Wounded Lion (Rand). Since Eim and Asakim keep calling Crow the Swaying Scales, it's rational believe that something about "Swaying" is the key to Crow's Sphere... though exactly what is anyone's guess.

It all fits for Crow now: he's being fattened for the slaughter by Crow, and targeted for mayhem by fellow Sphere-owner Eim. Nobody has been able to work out just why Asakim needs to kill active Sphere users, but in the "smarter than he looks" category, Kouji has just noticed a pattern in the noun portion of all these sobriquets: they're all constellations of the Zodiac!

Roger tells Crow that every Sphere-user seems to undergo various sorts of physiological change as their powers begin to active: loss of their five senses, heightened pain sensitivity, or other oddities. Crow clearly hasn't awakened fully yet, but like the other Sphere-users, he has no intention of dismounting from his mech now. Granted, his insistence on repaying his debts is the oddest reason yet for risking Asakim's tender mercies, but that also speaks well of Crow's faithful character. He does promise that he's going to leave the Blaster behind once his debts are repaid and the Imperium overthrown.

Then there's Amuro and friends, who've been hanging out with the AEU's mastermind Treize. The G boys figured out that Treize and Schneider have been planning all sorts of stuff in secret, with backing from the Romfellar Conglomerate. Treize wanted their input on world events, as neutral observers from another world, and is in Amuro's estimation a "complicated" individual. He does seem sincerely interested in guiding the world to a better place, and especially in taking down the Imperium.

The G boys flat out don't trust Treize, or Schneider for that matter, suspecting them of colluding in secret while pitting their armies against each other in the open. Treize even has ties to the PMC Trust, whose status as a civilian defense contractor makes an outright assault hard to justify to the public. Duo thinks it's worth risking a bit of public indignation to avoid the PMC gaining a dangerous advantage, and wouldn't you know it, an old friend of Kiriko has just phoned in with the location of the Red Shoulders' secret base. This sounds like the perfect link to finally bring the PMC down, especially if the "secret base" is sold to the public as a "terrorist hideout". As the team marshalls for launch, Quatro excuses himself to go rest up. What must he be thinking after his time with Treize?

This comrade-in-arms of Kiriko's must be a former Red Shoulder himself, and he's offered to join up with the team for the assault. There's every hope that the Perfect Soldier lady will be at this base, Kiriko's would-be girlfriend and seemingly the Astrageus folks' trump card. The base itself is a logistical nightmare, and only M-class and below mecha will fit. Having to face the Red Shoulders head-on with only the small mecha sounds dangerous...

CHAPTER 39. The Last Red Shoulder

The mission has received official UN clearance as an armed negotiation, but of course there's about a 274% chance of combat erupting. On the eve of the mission to save his girlfriend, Kiriko is as inscrutible as ever on the surface. Beneath it though, he's thinking back to his sordid past and the Battle of Sasan -- a past he must confront if he, Fiana and his old war buddies are to have any future at all. Those buddies are Gregor, Murza and Beimann, and the first thing Beimann does is try to hit on Karen (bad move). Zero and Gregor get their folks to calm down, and it becomes quickly clear that these guys have a serious bone to pick with the remaining Red Shoulders.

The men explain that they were considered misfits even within the Red Shoulders, and given a variety of menial tasks as punishment from their superiors. Kiriko's tasks ultimately took him to that fateful day on Reed, Gregor's got him filled full of lead, and Murza came back from one mission to find his whole family killed (on the pretext that he divulged detais of the operation to the enemy). Beimann is coy about his own mistreatment, but the point is that all of them have axes to grind. And the prime target of that axe is Yoran Perzen, the Red Shoulder's founder.

Perzen's role in Kiriko's life came up when he was assigned to the Barkoff detachment, named for its captain and his rumored history of cowardice in the face of the enemy. There was Godan "Grim Reaper" Shirasco, Kochack the Coward, Zaki the Lunatic, and Kiriko -- a seemingly random group of lame-asses who were actually put together according to Perzen's master plan. It was them on the frontmost lines of the invasion of Monad, a planetessimal outfitted as one enormous fortress, shortly before the Quake that ferried Kiriko here.

Kiriko's past assignment to the infamous Red Shoulders came up as the Barkoff forces reached the very core of the enemy fortress. Kiriko protested that he didn't enter the Red Shoulders because he wanted to; rather, he was put there for observation as part of Perzen's research into "Abnormal Survivors": beings with the one in 25 billion genetics needed to live through damn near anything. Just _how_ an Abnormal Survivor survives isn't important; they can be super tough or super good at running from trouble, or whatever -- and isn't it interesting that the lowly Barkoff squad's members have all managed to live through some pretty harrowing stuff?

The Barkoff folks' initial skepticism gave way to belief, but as enemy forces approached Kiriko warned them not to get cocky: even Abnormal Survivors bleed if pricked. That said, you should have every Bargoff squad member kill at least one opponent to set a flag for later use.

 Sure enough, the squad got overconfident after downing the first wave of
 bad guys, and succumbed in short order to the second wave.  As Barkoff's mech
 sustained fatal damage, he ordered Kiriko and Zaki to flee if they're able.
 He grinned that apparently neither he nor the first two casualties were
 Abnormal Survivors after all, and said that this operation is a total
 failure.  Kiriko and Zaki made it to the space dock even as the "Quent"
 technology powering the base begins to tear it apart.

Zaki wasn't in a good way by this point, having grappled with an inexplicable desire to kill Kiriko ever since he first saw him. Kiriko guessed that someone did something to Zaki's brain, and urged the guy to fight against the instinct making him pull the trigger. Zaki pleads with Kiriko to live on, and to take care of whoever did this -- whoever it is who wants Kiriko dead -- in Zaki's stead. Zaki took his own life instead of Kiriko's, and though Kiriko couldn't know directly who was responsible, there's pretty strong circumstantial evidence that Perzen was behind it all.

If you got the flag set, Kiriko will get his mech tuned up by his mates. They warn Zero that the Red Shoulders are likely to call in reinforcements once they're cornered, and those reinforcements are rumored to include some Gundams. BINGO: this is the proof needee to link the Red Shoulders to the CBs' traitor. Gregor and friends don't care who's backing their targets, so eager to fight that they start fighting each other... before, that is, the reason for Beimann's grudge becomes clear. He lost an arm to the Red Shoulder's treachery and hid it from the others, but Kiriko's keen eyes can't be deceived so easily. Beimann professes that he's still more than healthy enough to help take his hated foes down. Kiriko knows that joining his old comrades and reentering the hell of his memories is the only way to save Fiana.

Elsewhere, Fiana (aka Proto One) welcomes Upsilon into the world. She's been given care of the new PS by Aaron and Gran, who are confident that this time they've gotten Upsilon's combat programming perfected. What's needed to complete his training is socialization and decision-makign skills, which are best learned from interactions with a female. Whatever Proto One's faults may be, she's perfect for this task in their view. Perzen himself shows up to insist on Proto One's involvement, but just then Fiana approaches them with a concern of her own.

Since the PS's are born to be soldiers, wouldn't it be better for them to remain apart from human contact? Isn't human interaction, such as she experienced from her contact with Kiriko, only going to make them sad down the road? Perzen tells Fiana to stop lying to herself, and says he's curious to see whether love, that most fickle of emotions, can make a human transcend human limitations. He's spent half his life honing his Red Shoulders into the mightiest humans he could, and yet somehow Kiriko slipped through the cracks in his system. Always suspicious, always resistant to others' leadership, Kirko displayed all the classic human weaknesses and yet has proven the strongest human of all. And though Perzen hates to admit it, all his resentment of Kiriko and all his schemes to have him killed have come to nought.

His conclusion is that ideal soldiers cannot come from ordinary men. He hopes that if Upsilon can learn to act on judgement, not instinct, as Fiana can, he'll become an even greater warrior than Kiriko. Perzen wants Upsilon to fight and kill Kiriko, saying that Kiriko must die by human hands or not at all. Riemann reports that Perzen's bait has led Zexis to them, and Sarches won't complain about having his prey come to him. Perzen goes to spectate on the battle, intending to see his sponsor's wishes for Zexis' destruction fulfilled. He will keep Upsilon out of this battle, preparing for the unlikely possibility that Kiriko actually lives through this.

 Upsilon is close to going berserk at the sight of the battle, and Fiana
 tells him that he'll have to come to terms with this sooner or later.  But
 before actualizing his programmed battle instincts, he needs to know about
 something else first: love!  That doesn't compute for him, and it's all Fiana
 can do to restrain the kid from running off and joining the battle.

 The death of Riemann is more than Upsilon can stand, and he dashes onto the
 battlefield.  He doesn't respond to hailing frequencies, and his motions
 are clearly those of a PS.  Kiriko is sent to deal with him, and he wonder
 if it is Fiana at the controls -- if so, does she not recognize him?

 Kiriko realizes quickly that it's not Fiana, but another being like her.
 Upsilon can do no better than getting his ass kicked, and he flees before
 sustaining fatal damage.  Kiriko starts to follow, then becomes aware that
 Perzen himself is watching.  It is to be a battle between Kiriko and Perzen's
 ideals, and for a change both sides are actually talkative with each other
 (trash talk to be sure, but hey).  Upsilon unexpectedly charges back onto
 the field, swayed by his instincts to try to kill Kiriko.

 He doesn't finish the job at once, and as Perzen yells at him to fire,
 Fiana emerges and yells at him to stop.  She'll give her own life to save
 Kiriko's if she has to, which is what Love is all about.  Maybe, just _maybe_
 Perzen made an error in entrusting Upsilon to her tutelage, and Upsilon
 is frozen in agony between the two conflicting orders.  Perzen decides to
 kill Kiriko himself at this point, but Kiriko's mates are having none of
 that.  They fill Perzen full of lead, and with him dies the last of the
 Red Shoulders as a coherent unit.

What sucks is how Upsilon grabs Fiana and runs off, leaving Kiriko to go back into power-save mode till a new plan can be hatched. Meanwhile Perzen's follower Rocchina laments Perzen's death, and thinks of the new god he's found -- a mind even greater than Perzen's capable of altering even the fate of an Abnormal Survivor such as Kiriko. He pledges to use the full resources of this new secret society to ensure that this time, Kiriko's fate will be sealed.

The base has been pretty well sanitized of useful clues about the CB's traitor, but the nature of the battle itself revealed much. This person, this TRAITOR, is more dangerous than a hundred legions of Sardukar. In league with the UN, in cahoots with arms merchants and rogue mercenaries, and with access to all the CBs' secrets, the world would seem to be this person's oyster. What little data Zero is able to resurrect shows that Perzen and his men were merely instruments of a larger conspiracy, the same one that stole the PS's from the Gilgamesh army and used the Shinjuku Ghetto as a laboratory for gathering combat data via the "peacekeeping" forces.

The conspiracy is called, literally enough, the Secret Society. No, really. Perzen's liason seems to be someone well-connected with the UN, and if it really is the same person as the CB's traitor, really is someone capable of uniting the Three Nationa in this new Earth Federation, could it possibly be... Elgan himself?

Back at the Secret Society's base, Gregor and friends are a bit amazed to still be alive. They were prepared to die, but as Beimann so aply puts it, those most concerned for their own life are those most likely to lose it. The three guys intend to head to Area Eleven and make names for themselve as Battlers in Goat's stable, and ask if Kiriko wants to come along. Nothing doing: he's still got to fight for Fiana. They part ways with a minimum of goodbyes, which is what Crow describes to Karen as the "male" way. In fact, Kiriko is feeling pretty lonely with his comrades taking off and his woman in the hands of Perzen's sponsors. His path through fire and war looks likely to continue for some time.

Asakim has come back for another chat with Elgan, in a pretty good mood due to the discovery of two Sphere-bearers in this world. Elgan proclaims that he won't tell Asakim what to do, but both of them know that Elgan really wants Asakim's power for his cause. Asakim gives him a little tip that there's about to be a major upheaval, and Elgan knows right away that he's talking about the Saotome lab. Asakim feels the heartbeat of one there who will summon the end of this world...

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