By At the Amano Peace Labs, Yoshiko is shown the Space Police vehicles in the underground hangar. Kenta accidentally knocks down the contents of a closet and Katori finds an old ocarina that belonged to Hiroshi. Katori uses it to play a beautiful tune from his home planet. Just then, they intercept a S.O.S by NASA space shuttle Hercules. The shuttle was hit by a meteor and is drifting away from Earth with crew trapped outside. Hiroshi doesn’t think NASA’s rescue shuttle will reach the Hercules in time and orders Katori and Kenta to head out in the Fire Shuttle. Up in space, Hercules crew member Albert is trapped outside with only five minutes of air left. The Fire Shuttle arrives and Katori informs the crew that he will return the Hercules to Earth. He attaches to the Hercules and pulls Albert inside the Fire Shuttle. Albert is perplexed by the presence of Kenta on the shuttle and the fact that Katori can survive in space without air. Back on Earth, a news report reveals that a NASA base in the United States has been taken over by unknown forces. Haruka notes that that’s where the Fire Shuttle will be landing and Hiroshi is unable to contact them because they’re currently entering the atmosphere. At the base overrun by Teshitas, Shura and Zol order the crew to launch a shuttle when one of them reports another one approaching. Katori safely drops the Hercules and lands, but immediately senses that something isn’t right. They spot Teshitas running towards the shuttles and Hiroshi’s warning reaches them too late. Shura orders them to come out but is surprised to see Katori emerge. Katori attacks the Teshitas while Kenta evacuates Albert and the rest of the Hercules’ crew. Albert stumbles and allows the Teshitas to catch up to them, but Kenta disables them with the Flame Shot. Katori chases Shura but Draias appears and tells the former not to mess with them.
Draias combines into robot mode and tries to step on Katori, but the Baron team arrives and gangs up on him. Katori uses the distraction to combine into Granbird and join the fight. Draias fires his chest blaster but Granbird counters with his own and tells the Baron team to free the rest of the base. Shura bursts out of a building in a giant mechanical monster and pelts Granbird with missiles. Meanwhile, Zol overseas the loading of Teshitas into a space shuttle and orders the crew to speed up the preparations. Ace Baron punches through the wall and buries Zol under the rubble, freeing the hostages. Kenta informs Granbird about the Teshitas boarding the shuttle but the latter is too busy fighting and asks Kenta to try aborting the launch. Albert suggests using the shuttle’s self-destruct function and Zol frees himself from the debris. Kenta and Albert fight their way up to the shuttle’s cockpit and use Wrister to open the hatch. Albert sets the countdown to five minutes but Zol initiates the launch sequence and traps them inside. The Baron team combines into Thunder Baron and tries to stop the shuttle but Draias knocks him down. Granbird tosses Shura aside and flies after the shuttle with Draias giving chase. Up in space, Albert tries to initiate the escape sequence but the external electronic lock is still engaged and the Teshitas are trying to burst into the cockpit. Granbird arrives but is intercepted by Draias. Granbird summons the Breaster Jet to fire missiles at Draias, but Shura arrives in a spaceship and blocks his path. Hiroshi contacts Kenta and tells him that he needs to splice the wires in order to dislodge the cockpit. Granbird slashes Shura with his Wing Slicer but is still unable to rescue Kenta. Hiroshi instructs Albert to connect two wires according to a schematic, but Albert says that there are actually four wires, which if connected incorrectly might break the lock. Albert concentrates and manages to trace the correct two wires, successfully dislodging the cockpit. Draias tries to make a grab for them but Granbird blasts him with missiles. Albert engages the cockpit’s reverse thrusters and allows Granbird to slam the shuttle into Draias. Draias is caught in a large explosion and flung down to Earth. Granbird then destroys Shura’s monster with the Gran Cannon. On the way back, Kenta commends Albert on his bravery and Katori wonders what Draias was planning to do with all those Teshitas in space.
This episode is pretty fast-paced and full of non-stop action. We’re introduced to scaredy-cat astronaut Albert, who looks like he’s in the wrong job, and the official debut of the new and effective Flame Shot. Although the mystery of what Draias was doing with the NASA base goes unexplained, it and several elements like Albert and the ocarina are actually build-ups toward the events of later episodes.
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