By Makanai speaks with Kudelia and tells her that there will be a commencement ceremony for Arbrau’s new defense force. He wants to invite her, but she explains that she’s too busy with things on Mars and wishes she was making better progress. Makanai urges caution and tells her that taking shortcuts to success will create regrets later on. At the Tekkadan Earth Branch, one of the boys asks Takaki if they’re going back to Mars now, but he doesn’t know. They talk about how they don’t like Radice since he’s from Teiwaz, so they don’t consider him part of Tekkadan. Takaki and Aston find Chad dressing in a suit for the ceremony, and he thinks he looks weird. Radice shows up to discuss ceremony details, and Takaki offers to handle things. Radice notes that Arbrau will be handling security inside the building, and he doesn’t want Tekkadan causing trouble. Later on, Aston asks Takaki if Chad was also human debris, and Takaki answers that he was. Takaki invites Aston over for dinner, but he declines because he knows Fuka has a test to study for. Takaki gets home and finds that Fuka fell asleep while studying, so he starts cooking dinner. She wakes up and tells Takaki how much she likes studying on Earth and making friends. On Mars, Shino and Akihiro prepare three Shidens for delivery to the Earth Branch. Hush wonders if Mikazuki is coming to Earth with them, and he wants to go along if there’s the chance of battle. Atra prepares food late at night for Orga, and Mikazuki sits down and stares at him. He comments that Orga seems to have lost weight and sprinkles nutrients on his food. On Rustal’s flagship, Iok apologizes for allowing McGillis to win. Rustal isn’t worried because he has a plan for Earth and has asked a certain man for help. Julieta goes down to the mobile suit hangar and asks Vidar why Rustal chose him over so many others in Gjallarhorn. She says Rustal is picking favorites, and Vidar laughs because others have said the same about her. In Edmonton, Chad gives final orders to the Tekkadan boys and puts Takaki in charge while he’s gone. Takaki asks Aston why he’s acting weird, and Aston explains that he feels proud of seeing Chad dressed up. Chad meets privately with Makanai before his speech, and an aide notices a strange vase in the room. Chad rushes over to shield Makanai just before the vase explodes. Aston wants to head inside, but Takaki reminds him that Arbrau is handling interior security. Aston asks a man about Chad and is told that Makanai and some security people were injured. Radice meets Galan Mossa in a bar and asks about his payment. Galan asks Radice if he feels guilty over what he’s doing, but Radice answers that they’re just uneducated animals.
McGillis is informed of the bombing and wonders if it’s the result of the economic blocs drifting away from Gjallarhorn. At the Tekkadan base, the boys demand to know what happened to Chad and want to call Mars, but Takaki explains that Radice is handling everything. Takaki speaks with Radice and asks to talk to Orga directly, but Radice refuses. Takaki tells Aston that even though Chad put him in charge, he doesn’t want to make reckless decisions that endanger everyone. Eugene is frustrated at the lack of news and tells Orga and Akihiro that they just keep getting the same message from Earth. Orga thinks that something is wrong and wants them to rush the Shiden delivery to Earth and go there themselves. The boys on Earth hear talk of war, and Takaki asks Radice if the SAU was responsible for the bombing. Radice answers that it’s possible and dodges a question about what Orga said. Radice says that they’ll have to act on their own, and it’s up to Takaki to take care of things. Nadi supervises the loading of the Hotarubi, and Mikazuki is surprised to see that Kudelia is coming along. Aston asks Takaki if he trusts Radice, and Takaki answers that he’s a member of Tekkadan, which makes him family. Aston comments that he’ll do what he can to protect Takaki’s happiness, even though all he can do is die. Takaki is angered and tells him not to talk about death so lightly. The SAU sends Gjallarhorn a request for arbitration, which McGillis accepts. He sees that certain groups will try to take advantage of the situation. Orga calls Eugene and tells him that the situation on Earth is worsening, and Eugene notes that it’ll take them three weeks to get to Earth. Radice introduces Takaki to Galan, the new commander of the Arbrau Defense Force.
Tekkadan (and by extension McGillis) emerged victorious in the battle against the Dawn Horizon Corps, but Rustal already has set his next plan in motion. The Arbrau Defense Force is ready for duty, but the commencement ceremony is sabotaged with a bombing that injures both Chad and Makanai. At the same time, Radice is selling out Tekkadan to help Rustal. This raises a question – was he always a mole at Teiwaz, or did he just hate his job with Tekkadan so much that he decided to betray them? Either way, he capitalizes on the confusion to keep headquarters in the dark, but Orga knows that something isn’t right. Much of this episode focuses on Takaki and Aston and their growing friendship. That, combined with Fuka talking about how happy she is on Earth, suggests some major death flags for Takaki. Rustal’s man Galan is now in place with Arbrau, and he’ll be making a volatile situation worse, particularly since McGillis now has to assist the SAU. With a deteriorating political situation, how much will change by the time the Mars group arrives? While this episode lacks mobile suit combat, it does a good job in creating a tense situation that you know will lead to full scale war.
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