An EFF APC and its motorcycle escorts are stopped on the road by LeSean’s Zaku. Solari and her people commandeer the APC and she tells LeSean that she’ll see him at the rendezvous. As he drives, Zydos comments that it feels nice to leave the recycling center, even if it means going so deep into EFF territory. Solari apologizes for dragging him into the operation, but Zydos is happy to steal an EFF mobile suit and learn how it works. The APC suddenly comes under fire from the Midnighters’ Gouf Customs, and Solari tries to call them over the radio but gets no response. Zydos goes offroad in an attempt to evade the Midnighters, and Solari wonders if they’ll make it to the EFF base. Zydos crashes into a tree and everyone goes quiet as one of the Gouf Customs hovers overhead and then leaves. Zydos tries to turn on the engine, but it’s completely shot. Solari, Zydos, Heaton and Arhun all then change into EFF uniforms, and Solari cautions them to speak at a minimum because of their Zeon accents. Marching through the dark night, Arhun mentions that she used to steal ele-cars on Tigerbaum, but she never thought she’d be stealing mobile suits. Heaton wonders if piloting the suits will be difficult, and Zydos doesn’t think so, but none of them can do what Solari can with her Newtype ability. Solari dismisses the notion, and when Heaton asks what a Newtype is, Zydos explains it’s the theory that Spacenoids are evolving beyond humans. Solari adds that it was Zeon Deikun’s theory that because humanity expanded into space, it acquired new abilities it didn’t need before. Zydos believes that Solari’s clairvoyance is a Newtype ability, and Heaton realizes that’s why she could sense the Gundam EX attacks early. Solari states that Newtypes aren’t magic and that her abilities are the result of extensive training. Upon reaching the base, Solari uses night vision binoculars and spots three GMs, one of which is being used to hold up a damaged bridge. She also spots a mobile suit trailer and says they can just steal that if they can’t get the GMs started. Arhun wonders if they’ll just be able to sneak around the base in these uniforms, and Solari answers that after getting past the wall, they need to act confident. She hands out flares to use in the event of a problem. The team uses a rubber mat to help them jump over a wall lined with barbed wire. They then casually stroll through the base. In one room, several men play chess while a boy named Phoenix plays his video game. He looks up when Solari and the others walk by. Zydos and Heaton interact with an EFF soldier and head for the trailer truck, which Zydos climbs onto. Heaton opens the door to the cab and is surprised to see a soldier asleep in there. He quickly makes up a story that the soldier is needed in Ops, which gets him to leave.Â
Zydos climbs into the GM’s cockpit and inserts the command key to boot up its systems. Heaton searches for keys to the truck but is interrupted when three soldiers approach him with guns drawn and demand to know who he is. Machine gun fire and an alarm indicate to Solari that the mission has gone south. Solari runs and bumps into Phoenix and the three men. She barks orders at them and Phoenix returns her pocket watch that she dropped. Solari touches Phoenix’s hand when taking the watch and sees images of the Gundam. Solari decides to head for the GM holding up the bridge. Heaton screams as the truck is bombarded with machine gun fire, which is interrupted when Zydos gets the GM to stand up. Heaton uses the opportunity to get out of the truck, while Zydos struggles with the auto balancers. He then uses his beam spray gun to blast one of the idle GMs before its pilot can get to it. An M61A5 Tank then moves into position to attack Zydos. Solari and Arhun break past a line of soldiers and she climbs into the cockpit of the GM holding up the bridge. The tank opens fire at Solari, but she tosses bridge debris at the tank and destroys it. Solari lets Arhun down to the ground, and Zydos comments that she’s getting the hang of piloting the GM. Just then, the Gundam EX emerges from a hangar and shoots Zydos’ GM from behind. The Gundam EX draws its beam saber and Solari responds by attacking with her own. She knows that Phoenix is the pilot and holds him off while Zydos ejects from his GM. A soldier aims a gun at him but is then hit by falling debris from the mobile suit battle. The Gundam EX slices off the GM’s right arm, and Heaton grabs Zydos so they can run away. Heaton fires his flare into the air as they fall back. The Gundam EX fires its Gatling cannon and then slices off the GM’s other arm and head. It then pulls out its beam rifle to blast Solari, but LeSean attacks with his Zaku. The Gundam EX pushes him back and then fires its beam rifle through the cockpit, killing LeSean. Solari escapes by jumping in the water and swimming away. She emerges on the shore and cries at the sight of LeSean’s flaming Zaku. Nearby, EFF soldiers search the forest and Solari plunges back into the water.
Solari’s team initiates their daring infiltration mission, and it goes wrong right from the start when they face friendly fire from the Midnighters team. They manage to sneak into the base, and Solari has a fateful encounter with Phoenix, the young pilot of the Gundam EX. Seeing Phoenix with a realistic character design really demonstrates the ridiculousness of child soldiers in a way you don’t really get watching Amuro Ray and other characters in traditional animation. The mission goes from bad to worse when Heaton’s cover is blown, setting off a desperate attempt to steal the GMs quickly. However, Phoenix puts an end to those plans by taking out both GMs and killing LeSean after he arrives as backup. LeSean’s death hits a bit more than his teammates in the first episode, but not too much given that we never really learned anything about him. Heading into the series finale, Solari has literally lost everything and fallen into darkness.
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