By The tripod carrier prepares to land on the Moon, and Rohan tells Elizabeth that he can’t get any response from the lunar bases. David eats and decides to check afterward on Eiji, who is still holed up in Layzner‘s cockpit. Anna thinks about how Eiji was deeply affected by what happened to Gale, and she wishes she could comfort him. Eiji wonders how he could shoot when he didn’t intend to, and he recalls that this happened earlier when he was fighting Gostello. Eiji calls up the video of the battle record with the Grimekaisar, which suddenly cuts out. Eiji asks about the large energy consumption near the end of the battle, but Rei has no information and states that energy consumption was normal. Eiji realizes that Layzner might have some secret that’s hidden from him. David calls from the Baybull‘s cockpit and suggests that Eiji eat with them and get his mind off things. Eiji thanks David for his concern and asks Rei to pull up the battle record with Gostello. On the Grados shuttle, Karla reports Gale’s death to Zuhl and asks for a chance at revenge, but he orders her to instead rendezvous with the flagship. He explains that another squad is carrying out an operation on the Moon, so he doesn’t want Karla to get in the way. Karla then asks for time to carry out Gale’s last rites, but Zuhl refuses and tells her to not waste time. Arthur can’t get any response from the Soviet base, so Elizabeth addresses the American and Soviet bases on an open channel, stating that they’ll be landing at the UN base. Anna thinks that the silence from the Moon is unbearable after having traveled so far. Everyone wonders what’s happened, and Simone tries to lighten the mood by noting that the Moon has 30,000 inhabitants, compared to the small population on Mars. Elizabeth and Rohan become more positive, and everyone discusses what they want to do when they reach the Moon. Eiji reviews the battle with Gostello, which also cuts out at a critical moment. When Eiji comes up to the cabin, Elizabeth tells him that some things in life can’t be predicted. Rohan comments that he feels safer with Eiji sitting next to him. The tripod carrier lands at the UN base, which shows signs of having been attacked. Rohan presumes that the American and Soviet bases were also destroyed by Grados. Arthur thinks they should just leave and go to Earth, but Elizabeth wants to search for survivors. Eiji asks Rohan to defend the tripod carrier while he and David search the area.
Layzner and Baybull take off, and David takes point as they head underground. The tripod carrier lifts off and moves into a hangar for safety. David and Eiji ride an elevator down to the underground habitat and are watched by various people in spacesuits. They reach an open plaza and find signs of devastation, but no bodies. David advances to the area where he stayed while on the Moon, but it’s been destroyed. Anna wonders if the places they stayed in have been destroyed. Eiji and David round a corner and come under fire from a space fighter‘s Gatling cannon. The Baybull gets knocked down, and Eiji tells David not to fight back because it’s Earthlings. Several children with machine guns shoot at David despite him saying that he’s an Earthling. The children drop their guns and run away, leaving a blinded American soldier by himself. He wildly fires in random directions, and David announces that he’s coming down. David calls the tripod carrier to report that they’ve found an injured soldier and some other people, and Elizabeth decides to head over there. The soldier keeps firing and asks a girl to bring him a fresh gun. David explains that he’s an American and that he’s coming down. The girl informs the soldier that David is coming down alone and unarmed. David explains that he’s from the Cosmic Culture Club and came from Mars. A bunch of children run out and surround the soldier. David and Eiji explain the situation, and the soldier reports that he was injured during the attack and has no idea what happened to other soldiers. The children with him were separated from their school. Elizabeth arrives and recognizes the soldier as John Clayton. He tells her that he tried to call her many times, but she says this isn’t the time for that. On the surface, unmanned Skull Gunner terror strikers arrive and start scanning the area. After the Skull Gunners blast their way underground, the children recognize their distinctive humming sound. Elizabeth asks Clayton why he has kids fighting, and he answers that they know that sound very well now. The tripod carrier’s radar picks up the Skull Gunners.
The group finally reaches the Moon, but they’re too late and find devastation. Once again, whatever hope they had of rescue has been dashed. The human habitats have been devastated, but there’s an odd lack of bodies. David and Eiji’s search only turns up injured soldier Clayton and a couple of young kids. Based on his interaction with Elizabeth, Clayton sounds like he’s an ex. Unmanned Skull Gunners debut here, and their humming is definitely an unsettling sound. On another point, Eiji is starting to put the pieces together about Layzner’s secrets when he recalls what happened earlier with Gostello. It’s clear that some system takes over to defend Eiji’s life and leaves no information that’s detectable by Rei. That mystery has to go on the back burner since there’s a more pressing concern.
Comments