FLAG Ep. 7: Reactivation

Shirasu falls asleep in Olowakandi’s helicopter on the flight back to the base. After landing, she gets some photos of mechanics inspecting the helicopter. The transport heli drops off Nikkanen’s HAVWC before landing nearby. Beroqui and his mechanics immediately begin working on the HAVWC. Su-Ming reports to Eversalt that she’s already put in a request with the UN to verify the source of their intel, but Eversalt also wants to know how the flag’s signal was decrypted. Ichiyanagi bows in apology to Beroqui for losing his HAVWC in combat. Ichiyanagi and Nikkanen sit in an ambulance and are examined by medics. In Subasci, the UN maintained the cordon around the areas that were hit by airstrikes the night before. Akagi doesn’t believe that this is in the name of law and order, but rather to keep the world from seeing the truth. He takes pictures around the city and thinks about the notion that bombs can’t destroy the human will to survive. In an interview, Aqbal tells Shirasu that Eversalt’s decision in the heat of battle was correct because they all operate on mutual trust. For example, she says that Ichiyanagi and Nikkanen have faith in Beroqui like an F1 racer and his mechanic. She explains that in modern warfare, situations change constantly and that warfighters who just follow orders aren’t good enough. At the daily UN press conference, North tries to minimize reports of collateral damage from their airstrikes. Lisa interrupts with a question about how innocent civilians had their homes destroyed in one ward, which North dismisses as a rumor. Lisa presses her question, but North refuses to answer and abruptly ends the press conference. Shirasu visits the infirmary and talks to a doctor who tells her that the HAVWC pilots getting proper rest is as important as any other mission. Shirasu visits the command center, where Eversalt and Su-Ming are working on the issue of the flag’s signal. Su-Ming explains that quantum cryptography is the ultimate encryption and was used in the flag’s signal, so it should’ve been impossible to crack. Eversalt mentions that UN headquarters is running their own analysis on how the signal was decrypted, but until they get those results, she’s ordered staff to get rest. She tells Shirasu that she should also get some rest. Shirasu returns the helmet and protective vest to Beroqui and asks how the remaining HAVWC is. He answers that 40 percent of the main frame and the legs’ shock absorbers need to be replaced. He’s already put together a list of parts that he expects to arrive with the replacement HAVWC for Ichiyanagi. Shirasu asks if it’s coming from Subasci, but Beroqui tells her it’s Seattle, which is also where the sniper cannon came from. Beroqui whips out his phone to get a photo of Shirasu’s face and the bags under her eyes. He goes back to explaining that the HAVWC will be good as new once they swap out the damaged parts, but people don’t work the same way so she should get some rest. Feeling exhausted, Shirasu finally decides to get some rest.

Akagi heads back to the bar and finds the journalists back to work as usual. He sits down with the hacker and says he wants information about the UN’s activities at the time of the airstrike. He doesn’t explain why he wants it, but the hacker agrees to help. Aqbal runs into Shirasu at a vending machine and is surprised she’s awake. In the command center, Eversalt and Su-Ming discuss how the flag signal they detected was a fake. Although 36 hours have passed since the start of the operation, Eversalt has remained at her post the entire time. She thinks there are several things that don’t hold up about this whole situation, like why the group that stole the flag never announced that to the public, why they haven’t made any demands or why they even stole it in the first place. If their objective was to derail the peace roadmap, they could’ve just incinerated it right when they stole it. Eversalt thinks the people who stole the flag might have an objective other than stopping the ceasefire, but at least now they know Ru Pou is involved. Because the flag’s signal was cracked, they don’t have any reliable way now to track it, but they still need to find it. Shirasu notes that not only did they not get the flag, but Ichiyanagi had to abandon his HAVWC. Eversalt responds that everyone did what they were supposed to do, so not achieving the mission objective is solely her own fault. At the vending machine, Aqbal tells Shirasu that she thinks they got off lucky by only losing the HAVWC because the fact that Ichiyanagi escaped was a miracle. She notes that they can always get a replacement HAVWC, but they can’t replace a pilot like Ichiyanagi. Shirasu snaps more pictures around the bus and films Ichiyanagi doing laps around the perimeter again. Beroqui comments that Ichiyanagi can’t stop feeling bad about losing the HAWC, and he feels bad about it too. In the mess hall, Aqbal watches the UN press conference, and Shirasu is surprised to hear this news. At the bar, the hacker tells Akagi that his hunch was correct and that at the same time as the bombing, the UN sent a request for weapons to Seattle. He also mentions finding info that suggests a battle between the UN and the insurgents at the Metazone Temple. Akagi finds it suspicious that the UN made no announcements about a battle. At the SDC base, Shirasu asks Ichiyanagi what he thinks about what happened and where he thinks the flag is. Instead of answering, he grabs her camera and turns around her questions on her. He asks her how it feels to be on camera and what they mean to her and what she feels as she waves cameras around. She doesn’t answer and snatches back the camera at the sound of the approaching plane carrying the new HAVWC.