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Phase
35: The Descending Sword
Review by Chris August 8, 2003 As the battle continues, the Alliance fights back with its inferior planes and tanks against ZAFT mobile suits. DINNs destroy fighter planes in the air, while on the ground ZuOOTs and BuCUEs destroy tanks. Over the water, the Archangel is attacked by DINNs, which blow large hole in the ship's starboard deck. Yzak flies around bored by the inferior enemy, so he helps a disabled BuCUE by destroying some armored jeeps. Mu speeds through the abandoned underground city in a motorcycle until he reaches an elevator. The ships surrounding the Archangel are destroyed as more DINNs attack. Sai asks about reinforcements from Panama, but they're too far away to make any difference in the current battle. Nearby, Rau watches the battle with binoculars and sees that the Archangel and the Eurasian fleet will be the sacrificial lambs for the Cyclops System. He gets back into his DINN cockpit where Flay is unconscious and takes off. Mu reaches a hangar filled with wounded soldiers that is in a state of chaos. He asks someone where the commanders are, but he stops when an attacking CGUE and several DINNs land nearby and run by them to the interior of the base. Mu runs over to another man and tells him everyone has to get at least 10 km away, but the man runs away screaming. Mu gets into the cockpit of a Spearhead plane and fires missiles at a GINN to destroy it before taking off. From the safety of his submarine, Sutherland informs the other officers that ZAFT has started to penetrate the interior of the base. He hopes to lure in as many of them as possible. On her sub, Natarle overhears two men saying that everyone left in Alaska will die. The Archangel continues to receive more damage from ZAFT's attacking mobile suits. Mu spots the Archangel, but his Spearhead is damaged by a CGUE. He tries to contact the ship, but he gets no response. He circles around and tries to enter the large whole to crash land. He crashes into the hangar and runs up to the bridge. Murrue is shocked to see him, and he tells her she has to leave immediately. He says that the Alliance set up the Cyclops System underneath the base, which will detonate and disintegrate everything within a radius of 10 km. Murrue can't believe it, and he explains that the Alliance's plan was to lure in ZAFT and destroy them there, regardless of their own casualties. Mu tells everyone that they were ordered to keep up the defenses as a distraction to let the commanding officers escape unnoticed. Murrue decides that since they are just decoys, there is no need for them to stay on the battlefield. She orders everyone to begin a full withdrawal from the combat zone to escape the range of Cyclops. Mu goes out in the Sky Grasper with Launcher parts to cover the ship. Rau returns to his sub and finds Yzak there waiting while the Duel Gundam and its Guul are resupplied. Yzak says he broke through two gates already and plans to make it inside when he sorties. Rau says that the main gate is holding because the Archangel is there, and Yzak enthusiastically accepts Rau's orders to destroy it. Flay wakes up and tries to escape, but she panics and gets back into the DINN's cockpit. As the Archangel tries to escape, Yzak moves in from the rear and attacks. Mu attacks Yzak, but Yzak damages the Launcher parts and forces Mu to eject them. The Archangel is hit by more fire from ZAFT mobile suits and begins to lose altitude. A GINN pulls up close and prepares to destroy the bridge, but its machine gun is destroyed from above by Kira. He pulls in front of the Archangel and tells Murrue he will cover them while they escape. Murrue tells Kira that the Alliance wants to use Cyclops to destroy everything. Kira opens a channel to Alliance and ZAFT forces and tells them to retreat before Cyclops detonates. Yzak thinks it's a bluff and attacks Kira. They fight in midair until Kira slices off the Duel Gundam's legs and kicks it away. Kira tells Yzak to escape, and a DINN rescues Yzak as he falls. More GINNs close in, so Kira goes into SEED mode and fires his plasma and rail cannons to blow off their heads and arms. On his sub, Sutherland activates the Cyclops System, which sends out waves of energy that causes people and mobile suits to explode. The wave of destruction spreads and destroys everything in the surrounding area. A damaged GINN falls behind, but Kira rescues it. After landing, the GINN pilot asks Kira why he rescued him before dying. In a PLANT, Athrun hears from Commander Ray Yuki that Spit Break was a total failure and nearly all their forces were destroyed. He also tells Athrun that Lacus helped someone steal the Freedom Gundam, but Athrun can't believe it. The Battle of Alaska continues here, and it ends in a most gruesome manner. It seems quite obvious now that the Earth Alliance is just as bad as ZAFT, if not worse. They don't care about their own soldiers and let many of them die in an attempt to cripple ZAFT, which ultimately works. Sutherland is able to safely escape, and I'm sure that as part of Blue Cosmos he was happy to kill so many Coordinators. Kira gets to use the Freedom Gundam in battle, but he's decided that he won't kill anyone anymore. That's kind of ironic, especially considering that he has one of the most powerful and destructive mobile suits ever. The Freedom Gundam makes even the Gundam Double X or Wing Gundam Zero seem like nothing by comparison with so many armaments. Finally, what's up with Rau and his strange behavior? It's clear that he set Yzak up to die by mentioning that the Archangel was nearby. Why would he want one of his dedicated subordinates to die? Also, why does he smile after the Cyclops detonates and kills so many ZAFT soldiers? Something is definitely up with him. Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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