Gundam GQuuuuuuX Ep. 4: The Witch’s War

In open space outside of the Izuma Colony, Machu’s GQuuuuuuX and Shuji’s Red Gundam engage in Clan Battle against Zakus from a clan called FATMAV.  The Zakus deploy dummy balloons and open fire with their machine guns, but Machu dodges and slices off both their heads in one swoop with her heat hawk. Challia watches the fight on his phone on the Sodon and is impressed by how the pilot has mastered the GQuuuuuuX. Comoli explains that they’ve been trying to find out the identities of the pilots through back channels but haven’t gotten anywhere yet. Challia thinks it would be convenient if they can grab both Gundams and the gang together, and Comoli mentions reports that two Psycommus resonating together could create a Zeknova. Challia isn’t too worried because it’s a system only a few people can operate, particularly the Omega Psycommu. Elsewhere, colony residents protest outside the government headquarters over the continued presence of the Sodon inside the colony. Ward and Chaichi talk about the situation and how with the war over, the next conflict will be Zeon’s internal squabbles between Gihren and Kycilia. Ward comments that one person stands in their way and Chaichi wonders if Char could really still be alive. At school, Machu is annoyed by a career interest form she has to fill out, but she’s interrupted when a friend shows off an online casino game on her phone. Machu recalls hanging out with Nyaan and Shuji, who said he wanted to earn 150,000 hytes. Machu asked if he wanted anything, and Conch responded by printing out a list of used space gliders for sale. Nyaan said that if Shuji wanted to go to Earth he could just get a flight for 1,000 hytes and he answered that the Gundam said it wanted to go to Earth. Machu enthusiastically said that she wanted to go to Earth too. Later, Tamaki angrily confronts Machu about having put “jellyfish” as her desired career. Machu flippantly answers that she was always told she could be whatever she wanted, and Tamaki admonishes her to take her future more seriously. Machu goes to her room and grumbles that Tamaki is too conventional. The next day, Machu tells Nyaan that it’s weird how Shuji has such a cool mobile suit but is always starving. When she says that he’s probably friends with Char, Nyaan asks if he ever said that, and Machu assumes that the Red Gundam had to have been gifted to him. Nyaan suggests that he could’ve stolen it, and Machu wonders what he wants to do on Earth. Nyaan mentions what he said about the Gundam wanting to go to Earth, and Machu explains that mobile suits don’t talk. Machu wonders if one can swim on Earth at any time and asks Nyaan what kind of swimsuit she’d wear if money were no object. Nyaan then meets with her delivery contact to ask for more work and he mentions that there’s a bounty for info on the Red Gundam. At the Pomeranians headquarters, Kaine wonders who the pilot of the Red Gundam is, since they only know of the pilot by the alias Hara Herimushi. Jezzi answers that Hara is the reason they keep winning Clan Battle fights, not Machu. Kaine wonders if it’s actually Char, but Nabu asks why Char would be involved in Clan Battle when he’s a wanted man. Kaine thinks it’s odd that the pilot’s identity is a secret even to them, but Annqi doesn’t care as long as they win. Jezzi leaves to walk the dog, and Machu runs into them as the dog barks at a young woman. The woman, Shiiko Sugai, is lost and looking for the entrance to Kaneban Co., which is the front for Clan Pomeranians. Inside, Annqi explains to the others that Shiiiko is a unicum who was known as “The Witch” during the One Year War. Machu asks what a “unicum” is and Jezzi answers that it’s a flying ace. Kaine pulls up Sugai’s record on his laptop and is shocked that she has over 100 confirmed kills. Annqi mentions hearing that Sugai got married and has kids now in Palda, and Sugai explains that her son is old enough now that she can have time to herself. Annqi asks if Sugai is here about the Red Gundam, and Sugai answers that since it was reported lost at Solomon, she thought she could forget about it. Now that it’s back, Sugai wants to be the one to defeat the Red Gundam even though the EFF lost the war. After Sugai leaves with Machu, Annqi explains to the others that Sugai lost her first Mav to Char. Machu asks Sugai why she’s doing this when she has a kid, and she answers that it’s absurd to have to give up on something to get something else. Sugai says that you could be so happy to obtain everything you ever wanted, and she thinks so-called Newtypes might be able to do that. Machu thinks to herself that Sugai is nothing like Tamaki, and Sugai asks what the pilot of the Red Gundam is like. Machu thinks back to when she found Shuji asleep in his cockpit and he told her that he was going to Earth because the Red Gundam was looking for a rose. Machu then thinks about how she knows nothing about Shuji either. Later, Sugai pilots a mobile suit simulator and comments that it’s better than the EFF’s Light Type Guncannon. She notes that it’s still just a mass production unit, and Dr. Mosk Han explains that her suit will use technology that even Zeon doesn’t have yet. Sugai asks if it can beat the Red Gundam, and when Mosk mentions that it has Newtype technology, she dismisses Newtypes as Zeon propaganda. Machu gets a text message on her phone that tomorrow’s opponent has changed and is now Sugai. 

The next day, Machu prepares to launch in the GQuuuuuuX and is briefed over radio that she’ll be fighting a Light Type Guncannon belonging to CRS, a promotional clan for a military security company. Jezzi warns Machu that this is a pro clan with serious gear and Sugai as a pilot. Machu heads into space and thinks about how Sugai figured out that she was Shuji’s Mav. Shuji arrives and tells Machu that the Red Gundam is saying to focus on the battle. Jezzi and Kaine are both shocked to see their opponents are using Gelgoogs – mass production suits that Zeon reverse engineered from the captured Gundam. On the Sodon, Xavier notes that the Gelgoog is still in active military service and has not been handed down to civilians yet, and Comoli wonders if they were smuggled out. Sugai feels overcome with joy over the pressure she feels regarding the impending battle. Sugai and her Mav Bocata rush in and open fire with their beam rifles. Sugai closes the distance with Machu and quickly maneuvers around her multiple times. Xavier wonders what’s going on and Challia surmises that Sugai’s Gelgoog has a friction-cancellation technology for its drive systems. Crewmember Sepha notes they have no report of any such technology, but Challia starts to think of a former EFF technical officer. Elsewhere, Mosk and his crew watch the battle and are pleased at how output levels have exceeded the expected values. Sugai uses the GQuuuuuuX as a launchpad to chase after the Red Gundam. Shuji uses his Gundam Hammer to knock Bocata aside while simultaneously pulling out a beam saber to engage Sugai. She then starts moving at high speed and puts Shuji on the defensive as he barely dodges her attacks. Challia explains to Xavier that Sugai is doing her “Stigma Attack” that allowed her to score so many kills even in an inferior Light Type Guncannon. Xavier asks if she’s able to move like that through AMBAC, but Challia doesn’t think so because the “stigma” name originated from unexplained scars left on the suits she destroyed. Challia thinks that she’s using a small, hook-like device to change her trajectory, which he thinks is impressive. Sugai uses her wire hook to maneuver around Shuji, and he’s forced to sacrifice his Gundam Hammer to block a beam rifle blast. Machu watches helplessly from the sidelines and thinks again about how she doesn’t know anything about Shuji. Bocata tells Sugai to stop because the Red Gundam’s pilot isn’t her enemy, but Sugai answers that the pressure coming from the pilot is crazy. Sugai thinks about how she hoped her Mav was a Newtype, but Char took that away from her with the Zeknova. Sugai yells at Shuji that she’ll prove he’s not the chosen one, and when Bocata says she’s not making any sense, Sugai blasts her. Jezzi and Kaine wonder what’s going on and Annqi explains that Sugai is just obsessed. Sugai wants Shuji to die, but she then feels a Newtype sensation and hears him telling her that the Red Gundam said he won’t die yet. Sugai starts to see the kira-kira vision and many people hear the “La-La Sound” that Challia recalls last hearing at Solomon. Sugai declares that there’s no such thing as a Newtype and tries to attack Shuji again, but he’s able to narrow dodge her two rifles. Sugai pushes her Gelgoog to the limit, causing its left arm to break into pieces. She moves in for the killing blow, but Shuji maneuvers behind her and stabs through the cockpit with his beam saber. Machu sees Sugai and Shuji in the kira-kira space and Shuji says he only has one wish. Sugai thinks about her young son as her Gelgoog explodes. Xavier wonders why the Red Gundam destroyed the Gelgoog when it’s not a match to the death, and Challia comments that Newtypes have killed too many people and that maybe they get possessed by hatred. Machu is shocked and thinks about how Shuji killed her even though she had a family waiting for her.