By A battle alert is sounded aboard the John Paul Jones. Neo argues over the phone with the commander of the Alliance’s new Indian Ocean frontline base. Neo wants the base to send all of its Windam units to attack the Minerva and Nyiragongo, but the base commander objects because construction on the base hasn’t been completed yet. Neo makes his request an official order and offers to leave the Gaia Gundam behind to guard the base. Stella isn’t happy about not being able to fight with Neo and the others, so Sting tells her to calm down and look at the ocean. Neo tells Stella he regrets her not being able to join the battle, but he needs her to stay behind. At the Alliance base, enslaved workers watch as dozens of Windams take off. On the John Paul Jones, Sting launches in his Chaos Gundam, followed by Auel in the Abyss Gundam and Neo in a Jet Windam. As Neo launches, he hopes that he’ll be able to finish his fight with Rey. Aboard the Minerva, radar officer Burt Heim informs Talia that 30 Windams along with the Chaos Gundam are approaching. Talia issues a battle alert and orders Shinn to launch with Lunamaria and Rey on standby. Athrun informs Talia that he’s going to launch as well, and she asks him to command the mobile suit forces in battle. Shinn then launches in the Core Splendor, followed by Athrun in the Saviour Gundam. The Core Splendor docks with the Chest Flyer, Leg Flyer and Force Silhouette pack to form the Force Impulse. Sting decides to go against the new enemy unit and goes after Athrun, whereas Neo decides to take on the more familiar Force Impulse. Shinn destroys several Windams with one shot apiece and isn’t impressed by their skills. Neo attacks Shinn and dodges Shinn’s counterattacks by hiding in the clouds. Athrun flies around Sting and is unable to get away from him. Neo orders the other Windams to converge on Shinn and surround him. Shinn is placed on the defense when several Windams attack at once, and Athrun tells him he’s heading too far out. On the Minerva, Talia speaks with the captain of the Nyiragongo and asks where the Windams came from. He tells her they can’t pick up any base or ship nearby. He is interrupted when one of his officers picks up the Abyss Gundam on sonar.
Talia orders Lunamaria and Rey to launch for underwater combat. As they prepare to launch, the Nyiragongo sends out three GOOhNs. Shinn destroys more Windams and tries to close in on Neo, but Neo dodges his attacks again. The GOOhNs fire torpedoes at Auel, but he easily dodges them and destroys the GOOhNs. Lunamaria and Rey launch with bazookas and head underwater to fight Auel. Athrun asks Talia what’s happening, and she tells him Auel is attacking. She asks him if he’s spotted the enemy base yet, but he tells her he doesn’t see anything. Shinn destroys more Windams and continues to chase after Neo. Neo sees that Shinn has gotten much better than he expected and wonders what he should do. Elsewhere, Auel easily avoids Lunamaria and Rey’s attacks. Shinn chases Neo and is attacked by Stella near the base. She knocks him into the water and pulls out a beam saber. Athrun orders Shinn to pull back because he’s falling into a trap, but Shinn tells him to shut up. Shinn attacks Stella with his beam saber, and their battle moves from the water onto the island base. Neo teams up with Sting against Athrun, but Athrun manages to dodge their attacks. On the island, Shinn comes under attacks from tanks and anti-air guns. He sees the base under construction and watches as the enslaved workers run through a trench to reach their families. Alliance soldiers gun down the escaping slaves, and Shinn thinks about the death of his family. He goes on a rampage and destroys the tanks and anti-air guns. He then walks through the base and fires everywhere, killing many escaping soldiers. Neo orders everyone to retreat because all the Windams have been destroyed, and Auel calls him a fool. Neo tells Auel he didn’t get any big kills himself, and Auel decides to get one. He does a quick run by the Nyiragongo and destroys it. Athrun orders Shinn to stop because the base poses no threat to them anymore. Shinn ignores him and destroys the two fences separating the slaves from their families. Afterwards, Athrun slaps Shinn. Shinn says he didn’t do anything wrong and saved the people. Athrun slaps him again and tells him war isn’t about acting like a hero. He tells Shinn not to make those decisions on his own and to understand how to use his power.
The enemy Gundams finally return to battle after being absent for 10 episodes. Athrun’s Saviour Gundam makes its real debut in combat, and he does well against both Neo and Sting. Shinn’s skills in destroying the Windams is impressive, but he has problems of his own. Although he is one of Gundam‘s few enlisted military pilots, he’s more insubordinate than accidental pilots like Amuro Ray or Kamille Bidan. I don’t ever even recall Kira telling Mu La Flaga to shut up while ignoring orders. Whatever dislike he has for Orb, he’s definitely making a mistake by defying Athrun. It’s a shame that they sort of bonded during the battle at Junius Seven and now are back where they started. This episode feels a little short, and I have to wonder why we needed to see the long version of the Impulse Gundam’s launch sequence along with Saviour Gundam too. It’s a bit unnecessary.
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