By At the Izuma Colony’s Military Police headquarters, detectives Ward and Chaichi interrogate a roughed up Xavier, and Ward comments that it’s commendable how a Loum refugee has risen through the ranks as a Zeon officer. On the Sodon, Comoli tells Rassit that Xavier was caught red-handed so the status of forces agreement (SOFA) is inapplicable in this situation. Rassit asks about the GQuuuuuuX and Kowal explains that after destroying a Police Zaku they lost its signal. Osillo asks if they should report this to the Supreme Commander’s office but Rassit doesn’t want to attract the attention of the Special Service. He then suggests talking to Side 6 authorities, but Rassit notes that the Principality will still end up hearing about it. Amidst the arguing, Comoli asks if anyone is concerned with Xavier’s wellbeing. Challia asks what the colony’s weather is today and is told “sunny” so he decides to proceed. Inside the colony, Amate eats dinner and lies to her mother Tamaki about what caused her to get home late. Tamaki asks if she’s bothered by her cram school being so far away, and Amate answers that she feels like it’s a waste of money. Amate mentions that some of her friends are working part-time but Tamaki notes that she should be concentrating on her studies. Earlier, at the Pomeranians headquarters Amate watched Kaine and Nabu poring over data on the GQuuuuuuX. Nabu asked how to say the name and Kaine explained that “GQuuuuuuX” was a placeholder in the system so its real name was something else. Kaine encountered an error message and decided to stop digging because he didn’t want to accidentally trigger a self-destruct system. Nabu complained to Annqi that they couldn’t make any money out of this suit and that keeping it around was a risk, so they should get rid of it. Jezzi objected and asked what they would do about tomorrow’s Clan Battle, noting that if they backed out the cancellation fee would ruin them. Annqi praised Amate for doing well her first time out and Amate responded that she didn’t know how, but the suit just moved the way she wanted. Annqi then asked Amate if she was interested in Clan Battle. While taking a bath, Amate thinks back to Annqi mentioning that their Zaku got trashed, but now they have the GQuuuuuuX to take its place. She says that if Nabu lends his Zaku to Jezzi and Amate forms a Mav with him they could compete and split the winnings. Jezzi objects and says they can’t use a kid with a curfew and Nabu complains that an amateur will just get killed, but Annqi thinks Amate will be back. In the bath, Amate wonders if Annqi would report her to the authorities if she backed out of the battle. But Amate wants to see that “kira-kira” shininess that she experienced earlier. Tamaki enters the bathroom and says she’s gotta head into the office for a work issue. Amate then opens the bathroom window and sticks her head out when she hears an air raid siren go off. Elsewhere, the Sodon forces its way into the colony’s interior and Rassit orders the crew to ensure they don’t disperse Minovsky particles. News outlets across the colony report on the development, and Nyaan meets a contact under a highway overpass to collect her next package from a man in a van. He tells her that if she screws this up again that she’s done. At school, Amate wonders what she should do and searches Foolypedia for the RX-78, which has a section about Char. She then has a Newtype reaction and runs out of class. She runs to the bridge where she saw graffiti yesterday because she realizes it’s the same as the “kira-kira” she saw in the GQuuuuuuX. A boy named Shuji Ito grabs her by the head and asks if she’s also seen the other side. She then awkwardly introduces herself with “Machu,” her childhood nickname. Before she can say anything else, Nyaan pulls up in a bicycle and says the passphrase, which Shuji responds to. Nyaan questions if he can pay her 5,000 hytes and he pulls out a coin to pay her. Machu steps in and tells Nyaan not to interrupt, but she accidentally knocks into Shuji and causes him to drop the coin in the river. Now he doesn’t have any money to pay Nyaan and asks his robot Conch what he should do. Machu suggests that he join her in Clan Battle to get money, but he mentions that he broke his key yesterday. Machu notes that Nyaan is in a tough spot and still hasn’t paid Machu back for causing her phone to be broken. Nyaan counters that there’s only prize money if you win, but Machu is confident that she will. Nyaan thinks to herself that Machu is an amateur and that Shuji is so poor he must have a bad mobile suit. Shuji sniffs Nyaan’s hair and asks her to follow him underground. The three walk along a tunnel to an abandoned chamber filled with Shuji’s graffiti and the Red Gundam. Machu asks Shuji if he’ll do Clan Battle with her and he answers that the Gundam is saying to fight.
Elsewhere, Challia meets with Presidential Aide Cameron Bloom and rides in his car. Cameron asks if Challia is still chasing Char and Challia responds that that’s outside the scope of the SOFA. Challia notes that Zeon has priority rights and Cameron responds that they don’t want a repeat of the Colony 17 incident. Cameron is surprised that the Sodon is still in service and Challia notes that even Zeon has tight pockets. Challia then gets out of the car and leaves behind a printed immigration card for Xavier that’s backdated to yesterday. He also asks Cameron if there’s a drugstore nearby. Later, Xavier is released from police custody and finds Challia waiting for him. They ride the subway and Xavier apologizes for losing the GQuuuuuuX due to his carelessness. Xavier explains what happened and Challia is glad that at least the suit didn’t fall into the hands of the police or hostile forces. Machu shows up at the Pomeranians headquarters and tells them she has a Mav and he’ll join her later. Annqi gives her a pilot suit and tells her to hide her face as well. She explains to Machu that Clan Battles are two-on-two fights and that you win by destroying the opponent’s head. Nabu and Jezzi add that Minovsky particles will be dispersed at the battle site but that MPs will show up as soon as the livestream starts, so she has about five minutes to win. Kaine opens the airlock quickly so that Machu can slip out in the GQuuuuuuX. Annqi tells the others that Machu understands timing and might be the real deal. Xavier sits in a bar with Challia and explains that the girl who stole the GQuuuuuuX was able to activate the Omega Psycommu. Challia receives a notification that the suit is on the move and asks the bartender to turn on the TV. A livestream is about to begin of a Clan Battle between Clan Pomeranians and Clan Four Snake Eyes, and Xavier is shocked to see the GQuuuuuuX and Red Gundam on the Pomeranians side. The match begins and Machu panics and starts moving around too much, which makes her a target of Zaku machine gun battle. Xavier wonders why Char would fight amateurs and Challia explains that it can’t be him out there. He explains that Char would never let a Mav be his vanguard, and Xavier mentions hearing that Char and Challia came up with the Mav tactic during the war. Challia explains that battles with Minovsky particles take place in visual range and that the person who first spots their opponent has the absolute advantage, but only until they fire the first shot. You have to reveal yourself to attack, so if you miss that first shot, your advantage is gone. But pairing up two mobile suits to make up for that lost advantage was named M.A.V. Machu chases after one Zaku and comes under fire from the other. Challia comments that they’re following Mav tactics closely and Xavier wonders if the pilots are former Zeon soldiers. Machu flies around wildly, and Jezzi complains that she’s being targeted because they know she’s an amateur. Challia notes that the GQuuuuuuX is hard to use but the pilot is controlling it well, and Xavier wonders if another Zeknova could be triggered. Machu loses her heat hawk and starts to panic, but she sees the “kira-kira” and hears Shuji saying he’s beside her. Shuji swings Machu out of the way and is attacked by the Zakus in her place. Machu wonders what to do and chases after her heat hawk, with the Zakus chasing her from the front and rear. The rear Zaku tosses its heat hawk at Machu, but she times her dodging so that the heat hawk instead slams into the head of the other Zaku. She then struggles to yank the heat hawk out of the Zaku’s head and Shuji attacks the other Zaku with his mace. Machu is able to rip the heat hawk free and behead the other Zaku, winning the match. Jezzi and the others cheer over their victory and tell Machu to get out of there before the police show up. Shuji tells Machu that the Gundam is saying to leave.
This episode brings us back to events in UC 0085 and thus everything that was covered in the Beginning compilation movie. Challia knows how to use diplomatic maneuvering to secure the release of Xavier, who was roughed by the cops. As if their methods weren’t questionable enough already last time. It’s interesting that they chose to bring Cameron Bloom back and have him interact with Challia. He’s also not a major character, but I guess visiting Side 6 you can’t avoid the possibility of running into him. He makes mention of an incident at Colony 17, and that has vibes of Zeta Gundam and is something I’m sure we’ll hear more of at some point. Machu now has a mission to chase that “kira-kira” Newtype light experience, which forms the basis of Shuji’s graffiti. He makes several references about the Gundam saying things to him, which is definitely mysterious. Perhaps its learning computer has advanced from all the combat data it collected. Or maybe the Zeknova caused Char to be absorbed into the Red Gundam and his soul is trapped inside, as we’ve seen in Gundam Narrative and Evangelion. Whatever happened to Char, there’s still the unanswered questions of who Shuji is and how he got his hands on the Red Gundam to begin with. I’m eager to see where things go from now as we move into new territory.
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