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Phase
9: The Fading Light
Review by Chris February 25, 2003 On the Archangel, Miriallia heads for the public bathroom to take a shower. She finds Flay there applying cream to her face, and Flay explains that she has to look good when she meets her father since he is the Vice Minister of the Atlantic Federation. On the bridge, Murrue receives a hail from the advance escort ship Montgomery. The captain tells Murrue that the Archangel will be under their command after the rendezvous. George Allster tells Murrue that he's glad she rescued civilians, and he says he looks forward to seeing Flay. In the hangar, Murdoch finds Kira working on the Strike Gundam. Kira tells Murdoch that he's adjusting the calibration of various parts, but he wonders if it will be necessary anymore after they meet with the Alliance fleet. Murdoch tells him to keep doing it until the rendezvous because it's still his job. Elsewhere, Lacus sings with Haro in her quarters. On the Vesalius, Rau informs Athrun that they will be attacking the Alliance escort fleet before the Archangel meets up with them. He knows that the mission to find Lacus is important, but he thinks this is the more immediate concern. On the Archangel, Pal informs Murrue that they've picked up the Montgomery, Bernard and Law on radar, but the radar is suddenly jammed. On the Vesalius, three GINNs launch from the hangar, followed by Athrun's Aegis Gundam. The GINNs then sneak up on the Montgomery and begin their attack run. Athrun dodges fire from the ships and destroys several Moebiuses. The Montgomery's captain launches his Moebiuses and sends a message to Murrue to cancel the rendezvous, but she decides to help him because there's no guarantee the Archangel can escape. The battle alert is sounded, and Kira finds Lacus outside her room again. He asks her to stay inside and not come out during the battle. Kira runs into Flay, and she asks him what's going on. He tells her he doesn't know any details about the battle, and she worries about her father. He promises her that nothing bad will happen because he's going out to fight as well. The GINNs continue their attack and destroy the Bernard. George thinks that it's a sick joke that they are being shot down by one of their own units. Mu launches in his Moebius Zero and heads for the battlefield. As the Aile parts are loaded onto the Strike Gundam, Sai reminds Kira that Flay's father is on the Montgomery. Athrun transforms to mobile armor mode and uses his Scylla cannon to blast a hole through the Law. He then transforms again when Kira attacks. They both fire their beam rifles, but each dodges the other's attack. They then switch to beam sabers for close combat as the fighting continues around them. Mu destroys a GINN, but another one damages his Moebius Zero and forces him to return to the Archangel. Flay runs up to the bridge and asks if her father is okay. Murrue tells her that they are in the middle of a battle and orders her off the bridge. The Law explodes in front of them, and Flay panics. Sai escorts her off the bridge, and Flay wonders where Kira is. She tells Sai that Kira promised her he'd save her father. Sai grabs her as the ship rocks from an explosion, but she screams at him to let go of her. She then hears Lacus singing and runs into her quarters. Kira continues to fight Athrun while the GINNs cause more damage to the Montgomery. The ship's captain pleads with George to get off the ship on an escape pod. Flay drags Lacus to the bridge and tells Murrue to pass along the message that she will kill Lacus if ZAFT attacks her father's ship. The Vesalius fires at the Montgomery and destroys it. Flay begins to scream wildly, and Murrue is distracted. Natarle contacts the Vesalius and explains that they are holding Lacus hostage but can no longer guarantee her safety if ZAFT continues to attack. Rau thinks such a move was made in poor taste, but he orders his forces to withdraw. Before leaving, Athrun asks Kira if his righteousness can stand alongside the cowards of the Alliance. Sai watches over a catatonic Flay while Lacus is escorted back to her quarters. It of course would be no fun if the Archangel met up with some friendly ships without having some trouble along the way. Here we get to briefly see Flay's father George, and one can easily see from a mile away that he was doomed to die. But what effect will it have on Flay to have seen her father die with her own eyes? She went a bit too far in threatening to kill Lacus, and Natarle certainly must have violated some military formality in what she did. For someone who's such a robot that goes by the books, that was a surprising thing of her to do. Kira again fights Athrun, but it's a rather uninteresting fight that is staged rather like Gundam Wing's: cool poses and little actual fighting. Also, Kira clearly didn't understand the point of the battle was to protect the ships. Seeing as how there were only three GINNs, he could have destroyed them all if he hadn't let himself get so distracted by fighting Athrun. So to a certain extent it is his fault for not saving George because he didn't think clearly in the battle. Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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