Orguss 02 Ep. 4: Searcher

In Geran, several soldiers use binoculars to watch a conversation outside between Manning and Toria. They see Toria slap him in the face and assume that he’s breaking up with her. Toria tells Manning she hates him and runs away. At night, Lean and Nataruma travel on a train, and he gets blankets for them to sleep. She confronts him about seeing her antennae and angrily asks if he has any questions about what she is. Instead, Lean asks if she has some place in Rivilia where she can hide and be safe. The next day, Toria is putting up clothes to dry and is shocked to see Lean. Inside, Lean tells Toria and Shil that he can’t say much about Nataruma, but he wants her to stay there. He offers to pay for expenses, but Shil says she’ll be glad to have someone else in the house since Zante died. Elsewhere, new seekers are brought in to help control Verifer. Several Rivilian Armors drop bombs from above, but they cause no damage. An injured officer reports to Kerachi and Siplay that nothing they do can stop Verifer, and pretty soon it’ll break through the second and third division defense lines. Kerachi asks how fast it travels, and the officer estimates that it’ll reach Geran in three weeks. Miran demands to know what’s happening and yells at Kerachi that she only agreed to the war because he guaranteed they’d win it. When a servant wipes the drool off Perion’s face, he slips the man a note. The man delivers the note to Manning, which instructs him to meet tomorrow. Lean seethes with anger while remembering how Manning abandoned him. Manning bangs his head against the wall and puts saliva on his face so that he’s crying when he greets Lean and congratulates him on his return. Elsewhere, a bound Zafrin spy is tortured by having hot coals poured on his feet. In Siplay’s room, Miran asks Kerachi if he’s not worried about Verifer, but he doesn’t answer and instead kisses her. Miran is concerned about Siplay waking up while they’re having sex, but Kerachi doesn’t care since he’s their son. Later, Kerachi shows Manning pictures of Verifer breaking past their defenses at the Wisteria River. Kerachi mentions that from torturing the spy they learned that the Zafrin haven’t arrested Nataruma yet because she evaded them around Frowrick. Kerachi wants to create wanted posters of her, but Manning anticipated that and is already printing them. Toria shops at the market and sees a crowd of people discussing the high reward on Nataruma’s wanted poster.

Manning comments on the beautiful weather, but Lean notes that it’s going to rain. Lean wonders what the people being hauled off to jail did, and Manning says they’re spies, revolutionaries and terrorists. Lean asks Manning if he cares that people are dying, and Manning answers that soldiers are supposed to fight in war. Lean asks about the deaths of innocent civilians like children, but Manning thinks there’s no point in worrying about that since the past can’t be changed. Manning is summoned by Kerachi, and Lean runs off when he spots Nataruma’s wanted poster. He reaches Toria’s house and finds that Nataruma is gone. Toria tells him that Nataruma was arrested by the secret police, so he can’t save her. Lean accuses Toria of turning Nataruma in, and she admits that she did. Lean slaps her, and she yells that he’ll try to rescue Nataruma and get himself killed, which she couldn’t bear. She heard that anyone concealing a spy would get the death penalty, so she took Nataruma to the center of town and left her there. Lean declares that he has to save Nataruma because he owes her his life. Toria states that Nataruma won’t betray her love for Lean and give him up. Lean walks out of the room and tells Shil that he hit Toria, but she understands his anger. He says that he’ll rescue Nataruma and doesn’t care about ending his career because joining the army was a stupid way to try and make money. Shil gives him Zante’s rifle, and Lean says he only ever wanted to be a great mechanic like Zante. Lean goes into the dungeon and knocks out a guard. Manning speaks to Nataruma and tries the good cop/bad cop routine, but Kerachi is impatient and wants to torture her. Lean calls out from the other side of the cell that there’s an emergency and knocks out Kerachi. Manning doesn’t think that Lean will shoot, but Lean says this is is his private war. Manning puts himself into a torture chair while Nataruma changes into a guard uniform. Manning asks Lean to knock him out so that it looks better and tells him he loaded the gun wrong. Lean asks why he didn’t do anything, and Manning answers that he’s a whimsical person. Lean and Nataruma run for the gate after the first guard trips the alarm. Toria attacks a guard, and Lean pushes Nataruma through the gate before it closes. The guard fires again and hits Lean in the face, blinding him. Several Armors are deployed to capture Nataruma, and Lean calls out for Toria. Nataruma uses her power to force the gate open and kill the guard, which leaves her drained. The old man appears and is shot by the guards, but he grabs both Lean and Nataruma and escapes in his white Armor. The Armor transforms into flight mode and outruns the pursuing Armors. Kerachi throws a glass at Manning and yells at him about his subordinate being a traitor. Manning notes that subordinates can be a problem and pulls out a gun. Kerachi thinks he’s nuts, but Manning notes that he’s not the one who had an affair with Miran and helped kill Mendez. The old man reveals that he’s the Mu robot Captain and flies toward the ruins of the space elevator.