86 -Eighty Six- Ep. 6: Through to the End

On December 17, 2144, a young Shin pilots his Juggernaut into a library in an abandoned snowy city. Looking around, he senses something and heads outside as the sun breaks through the clouds and the snow lightens. Shin sees a Juggernaut sitting still and tosses his gun aside as he walks up to it. The Juggernaut displays a headless skeleton mark on it and inside sits his brother’s headless corpse. Back to the present, it is July 27, 2148 and the Spearhead squadron heads down a street, several complaining about how hot it is. Daiya recognizes the place and Anju says they came here to look at flowers in the past. He asks if she’d like to dance again and she says they’re about to start a battle. On April 5, 2148. Sakura blossoms adorn the trees. The newly assembled Spearhead squadron members have met many of their colleagues here for the first time. Kaie tells Kurena she is from Luskinia and Kurena responds that she was with Shin before. Haruto talks to Daiya, asking where he’s from. Daiya claims he’s from Claymore. Many of the members realize that most of them are in their fourth year of military service. It’s the one thing that is equal about them. Haruto and Daiya tease Kino about if there’s any girls he likes and tells him to not keep secrets. Haruto says Daiya does nothing but stare at Anju all day and it’s obvious he likes her. He chuckles as Daiya signals to keep quiet. Kujo and Theo join them, with Theo saying Daiya is embarrassing them. Theo shouts out that Daiya wants to talk to Anju and she walks up to him. Embarrassed, he makes up an excuse about it being a sausage fest around here. Kujo brings up that there’s some rich girl acting as a handler. Haruto claims she’s a really hot pig princess and they start joking about her. Theo pulls out a drawing of a pig princess, the one he uses in the present to represent Lena. Anju and other girls talk about how prim and proper she must talk. Theo says he’d snap at her within the first 30 seconds. Haruto, Lecca, Kino, Daiya and Kujo continue to joke around about her. Later, Daiya dances before Fido and Anju joins in. Watching, Kaie asks Shin if they are drunk. He says he doesn’t know, but there’s just water in their cups. Kaie brings up that originally people going off to battle hated the sakura cherry blossoms. The flowers have a short life span, blooming and falling around the same time, leaving their branches behind as if nothing’s holding them back. But she likes the way they’re so bold. Kaie points to her Juggernaut saying she made the sakura blossom her mark. Kaie asks Shin about his Juggernaut’s mark and he says it wasn’t his to begin with. Kujo calls the two of them lovebirds and says they need to enjoy themselves while they’ve got the chance. Kaie expresses relief that there wasn’t a Legion attack while they were here. Kurena walks up, saying Shin can always tell. Lecca, Mikuri and Maina join in. They’ve heard rumors about Shin, believing them to be true and call him the headless reaper of the Eastern front. Showing them the scar on his neck, they comment on that’s why his mark has no head. Lecca says they should make the next 6 months good ones. Shin is told by several squad members that they’re glad to have him and Raiden comments on how popular he is. Shin says that’s not like him at all. The girls see shooting stars and many of them head off to look at them, leaving Shin alone with Fido. Things return to the present. Spearhead squadron members talk about how it’s been four months since then and there’s a lot fewer of them now. They wish time could stop, but it won’t. Lena syncs in via her Para-RAID, apologizing and saying to begin coordinating the mission. She sounds nervous and several ask if she’s scared, why not quit? Shin says if it’s too much, she doesn’t have to participate, but Lena insists she do so. That evening, the Spearhead squadron battle Legion in the woods and a nearby clearing. Artillery fire from nearby Skorpions strike nearby and Theo believes they are from another unit. Daiya says they’ve learned that they can anticipate their routes and are ambushing them. He believes the Legion will blast every hiding spot with artillery and finish them off with the Lowes once they’re flushed out. Haruto says that’s a lot of effort for people in aluminum coffins like them. Lecca wishes they could use mortar. She aims at a nearby Lowe but smoke obscures her vision and her Juggernaut is knocked over into the nearby stream. Shin asks if someone from the sixth platoon can head over, but they’re currently unable to due to the artillery fire. Daiya says he’ll head over, telling Anju he’s fine when she tells him to wait. His Juggernaut is soon enveloped by a number of human shaped mines. Daiya says Anju’s name as his Juggernaut explodes. Kurena wants to head over, but Shin tells her they’ll just shoot back at her. Lecca shoots the Lowe approaching her disabled Juggernaut with a pistol. She says she won’t end up like a hunk of scrap metal and is counting on the reaper. She puts the pistol to her head and pulls the trigger. The Lowe turns around and heads off, but is blown up shortly afterwards. Shin tells Anju to take over command for Daiya, asking if she is able to do it. She says to leave it to her, although is clearly distraught.

Later, the battle has ended and the sun starts rising. Shin asks Lena if he asked her to cut her Para-RAID if she’d do so. He believes she’s never seen a person get shot. He tells her he can’t let Daiya become a Legion. Daiya reaches his hand out of the remains of his cockpit. Shin tells Lena if she can’t handle it, to just cut the link. She declines, saying this is all she can do but it’s her responsibility as a handler. Shin shoots Daiya, then suddenly has a reaction to something and turns around in surprise. Later in the dining hall, Theo and Haruto ask Anju if she needs help cleaning up and she declines, walking off silently. Kurena, Mikuri and Maina look off silently at first and Kurena tells the other two to play darts. Shin and Raiden walk down the hall and Raiden brings up how they’ve lost Daiya and Lecca. Shin says here it’s just a matter of when it happens. Raiden says he knows Shin will still fight, even if the last one left, until he makes a grave for his brother. Shin says it’s all he can do; his brother hasn’t forgiven him and still blames him. After Shin heads off, Raiden talks to himself about how Shin’s still obsessed with his brother’s headless corpse. He really is a reaper in search of a missing head. Shin returns to his room, pulling out the memento remains from Daiya and Lecca’s Juggernauts. He looks at a small memento from another one. Things flash back to when Shin was surprised earlier that day, revealing that he heard his brother’s voice. Shin sees a vision of his present self in the past when he came across his brother’s Juggernaut in the snow. He hears his brother saying it’s his fault and the Juggernaut charges at him. Shin flashes back to when as a younger child, his brother strangled him, blaming him for their parent’s death and the fact that he was going to die. Shin sees a hooded figure rising in the snow and raises his gun. Meanwhile in the research ward, Lena eats some dessert Annette has made for her birthday. She claims the egg used for it is fake, but the strawberries are real. She takes out a present for Lena, surprising her as she already received a present the day before, a rocking chair. Annette says Nicolaus, her latest prospective fiance gave it to her and she’s not going to use it. A photo on the wall reveals Nicolaus to be an old man. Lena says Annette always ends up with guys in the wrong age range. Annette claims the guys her age are too childish. She asks Lena why she came over. Lena asks, hypothetically, if the Para-RAID has some kind of effect on a person’s mind. Annette says no, and if it did they’d open up the processor’s skull and do an exam of their brain. When done, they’d simply throw it away. If it happened to a handler, they’d transfer them to another unit after giving them an exam. Lena gets a signal and says she needs to go. She heads to her room. Lena has pieces of paper on a board where she’s drawn what she believes the faces of each of the Spearhead squadron members look like. She starts to pull one off and thinks to what Shin was saying when he mercy killed Daiya. Lena tears off her drawings of Daiya and Lecca. She continues to hold them in her hands when she meets in her uncle Jerome’s office the next day. Lena tells him two processors died in the last battle. She says they have 16 people left in the unit. As the mortars they possess have a range similar to the Skorpion’s howitzers, she wants to use them to provide support to the front lines and save their lives. She rephrases it, saying they can lessen attrition and defend the nation more efficiently. Jerome says it’s not worth it. The mortars need to be reloaded and have to be set up too close to the front line. He asks if she’s telling them to take that risk for Eighty Six. He claims the Eighty Six can be replaced but Republic soldiers cannot and he can’t authorize the use of the mortars. Both the military and the people want a homeland defense that’s technologically advanced and ethical without casualties. The military’s job is to obey the will of the people. He asks Lena how many times he has to tell her to stop siding with the Eighty Six. She says they’re human and must be suffering. Jerome brings up a new mission for the Spearhead squadron. A new Legion base has been confirmed to be under construction nearby. As soon as they are ready, the squadron is to head out and destroy it. Lena asks if this is before they get replacements and ask why the squadron doesn’t receive them like others. Jerome says the base exists to support the Legion in their advance, if it’s not taken out now, it’s the Spearhead squadron who will suffer. He asks if she wants to save them, or if he’s wrong. Lena reluctantly says understood. Later, Lena finishes briefing the Spearhead squadron on the mission. A box of the crumbled up paper representing the fallen Spearhead squadron members lies next to her. Lena apologizes for sending them on another mission without reinforcements. Shin says it’s fine, and that they’re already aware of the Legion base. He knows this is a trap but will attack anyway; it’s more dangerous to leave it there. Lena says she wishes they could have used the mortars to provide support, but she couldn’t get authorization. Theo buts in, saying he’s never seen them used and would be surprised if they worked. He and Raiden tell her to not worry as they weren’t counting on it to begin with. Lena says that’s all and to get some rest. Lena is about to deactivate her Para-RAID but Shin asks her if she’s okay. He says her voice sounds a little on edge and she should make sure she gets some rest tonight. He tells her to eat some sweets and get a break. Lena chuckles, saying he sounds just like his brother, who gave her chocolate when things were bad. She says he must like sweets too and he says yes. Lena unwraps some chocolate. Shin asks what his brother’s expression was when he talked to her about him and if he was smiling. Lena says yes and about how he had such kind eyes. She claims it is an important memory of hers and she’ll never forget it. She tells Shin the time she spends talking with him is very important as well. Realizing what she just said, Lena gets embarrassed and immediately tells Shin goodnight, ending the synchronization. She calms down and says she won’t forget.