86 -Eighty Six- Ep. 13: It’s Too Late

On December 18, 2148, Frederica watches a television broadcast about the Festival of the Holy Birth. The former Spearhead Squadron members participate in normal civilian day-to-day life. Raiden sits in a truck with two colleagues discussing a tough delivery to a building without an elevator. Kurena walks down a street and imagines herself in a skirt she sees in a store window. Theo sits on a bench drawing and is complimented by a nearby old man. Anju participates in a cooking class and reacts with surprise when some fellow students ask her about cooking something other than dessert when she has children. At the library, Shin meets a young girl with Alba features when he comes across a book of hers. Her older brother soon approaches telling her she was rude, and she should thank him. The girl, named Nina does so and runs off. The brother says he sees Shin here a lot this time of day and asks if he has school to attend. Shin asks him the same and he says his family can’t afford it. He introduces himself as Eugene Rantz. Frederica shows up and claims she read the book to Nina and that she took a liking to her. Shin apologizes for Frederica and Eugene mistakes her for Shin’s little sister. After leaving, Shin brings Frederica through a market, and she guilt trips him into buying her a blue teddy bear. Ernst chuckles as he arrives home that night, finding a snowman by the entrance. The next day he talks to his attendants at his office and talks about Shin and the others who have been here a month. Raiden joins his colleagues at a bar. Kurena looks at some clothes in a mirror. Theo draws in Ernst’s manner. Anju reads text messages on a cell phone while waiting at a bus stop. Ernst claims they’ll be fine and will have to find a real path to take in life once spring comes along. Shin lays on his bed and falls asleep. He dreams of himself in a dark landscape, Sakura blossoms falling into his hands. His dead colleagues appear around him. Kaie says he’s gone as far as he can go and should be able to forget about him, even if it hurts. She and the others appear with their heads in their hands and Legion appear behind them. Shin is woken up in the library by Eugene who tells him he’ll get in trouble for napping. He asks Shin about the military’s Holy Birth Festival Parade where they’ll be able to see new Vanagandr units. Shin isn’t interested and thinks Eugene isn’t someone who would care for something like that. Eugene tells Shin he’s joining the Mechanized Infantry and thought Shin would feel the same as he’s been looking at military documents lately. While it’s peaceful here, there’s fighting at the border, and they don’t know when war will come. If there’s something he can do to protect his little sister, he wants to do so. He wants to show her the ocean after the war is over. Nina appears and Eugene leaves, telling Shin to come if he’s curious.

As the parade is about to begin Kurena walks down the street and finds herself before the same storefront, the attending inside waving her in. Anju finds Theo sitting in a gazebo and asks him to help her carry some things. They talk about cell phone technology and how they require a lot more effort than the Para-RAID implants. Anju thinks its weird that the Federacy wants the technology and that its something they know nothing about despite using them a long time. Theo gets frustrated when Shin refuses to answer his call. He talks about how Ernst returned Shin’s scarf, but not his pistol, the one he used to end everyone else’s lives. Anju wonders if the goal of killing his brother is what kept him with them and what he’ll do without that. They wonder if it’s too late for them. The parade starts and various Vanagandr units walk down the street, impressing Raidne’s colleagues. Kurena stares at them from inside the store and decides against buying the clothes she came in for. Raiden returns to Ernst’s manor, finding Frederica there by herself. After she tells him she’s hungry he cooks her an omelet and tells her about how he cancelled his plans with his work friends. She’s happy he got here early as it’d be different with Shin, who only cares about fighting. She says Shin sounds like he dedicated everything to killing his brother and Raiden asks her how he knows that. Shin, Theo, Anju and Theresa arrive carrying groceries. Kurena walks in, holding her ear where the Para-RAID used to be and says she’s seen everything she needs to see. The others smile upon hearing this. Later after Ernst comes home the five of them tell him that they’ll be returning to the battlefield. He asks why and Shin claims they were simply lucky. If they use that as an excuse to stay here, what can they say to those who died fighting to the end? They don’t want to pretend to be at peace when they’re not. If they die, at least they chose to fight to the end. Ernst says they made it here due to fighting to the end and have the right to enjoy their reward. Frederica claims he’s trapping them in a cage of pity and that would make him the same as those in the Republic. If they want to go, he should let them go. Ernst reluctantly accepts but says it’s on condition of them going through Special Officers School. This will enable them to have more opportunities after the war. Anju says she never thought about the war being over. Federica tells them her real name is Augusta Frederica Adel-Adler and she’s the last empress of the Empire of Giad, the nation that ordered the Legion to invade the rest of the continent 10 years ago. She claims to be among those who took their family and home and if there’s anything they want to say to her. Raiden says it’s the Republic that took everything from them and asks her how old she was 10 years ago. She apologizes and says she admires their pride. She asks them to take her with them and for them to destroy her knight’s ghost, Kiriya, who was taken by the Legion. He attacked just before they reached this country and through the blood she inherited she can see glimpses of the present and past of those she meets. Just like how Shin saved his brother she wants him to save her knight. On January 7, 2149, Shin puts on his new uniform and goes outside where the others are waiting for him.