By The airship docks outside of Guin’s home, and Sochie disembarks. Kihel asks how their mother is doing, and Sochie says maybe she is better the way she is instead of knowing that her daughter is negotiating with her father’s killers. Kihel says she wants peace, and Sochie yells at her and says she will do things her own way in the Militia. Sochie gives a battle report to Guin, and he orders Loran to move out with the Turn A and patrol outside of Vicinity. Loran says no one is fighting now because they’re looking for assassins, but Guin says he wants Loran to defend their territory from activists. Loran and Sochie leave, and Guin wonders about Dianna. Kihel says that despite their looking alike, she thinks Dianna is probably a good person. He asks what she thinks about Loran, and she says he is an honest kid. Guin says that for someone hiding a secret he tries to be very honest. Sochie wants Loran to teach her how to use the Turn A, but he says he doesn’t know enough himself to teach her. He says he doesn’t want her fighting, and she yells at him and says he doesn’t understand anything about what happened to her father. Nearby, farmers try to fight off a Jet Stream that is building a fence around a Moonrace civilian area. A Moonrace civilian named Khuen Morad tries to convince both sides to stop, and he gets butted with a rifle. Loran shows up with the Turn A and pushes the Jet Stream away. Fran sees him and starts taking pictures. Civilians approach her and ask her to explain the truth to people, and she says she’ll report everything for the Nocis Chronicle. Keith delivers bread and gets more orders. He sees Khuen arguing with soldiers and get butted again with a rifle. Loran, Sochie, Fran and Keith sit down for lunch, and Sochie thinks they are being secretive. She accuses them of being spies for the Moonrace, but Fran says she just wants to take pictures, and Keith points out that Loran is fighting for the Militia. On the Soleil, Pou thinks Guin is suspicious and asks Phil for permission to take some Wads out. Later, Loran asks Sochie to help Khuen’s sick wife Leche with her baby Renee, and she says she doesn’t care if Renee starves to death. She hates the Moonrace and doesn’t want to help any of them. Loran and Khuen ride on a bicycle so they can get food since the Moonrace army won’t give him any.
At an abandoned farm, Sochie catches some chickens while Fran gets a little piglet. Keith explores a barn and is attacked by bees. Sochie asks Fran where they came from, and she explains that they moved to the area two years ago from Erizona. Sochie asks about Loran and says he is too secretive and won’t tell her anything. Fran says that he and Keith both have a crush on a certain girl. A big mother pig shows up and starts slamming into the truck because Fran has the piglet. Loran and Khuen explore an abandoned farm and find some corn. Khuen wonders why the place is empty, and Loran tells him people are frightened from attacks by the Dianna Counter forces. Khuen says that on the Moon he was so excited about coming down to the Earth and just wants to survive. Khuen spots a big cow and wants to get it, but he and Loran alone are not enough. Loran then decides to move the cow with the Turn A. He sees that Sochie and Fran are in trouble and grabs the pig. Once everything is in order, the truck and the Turn A head back to the camp. Pou’s Wads spot them and move in to attack. The truck speeds off, and Loran knocks away the Wads trying to get to the truck. Pou manages to grab the truck and says she will let it go if Loran surrenders. Loran knows if he surrenders that Pou will discover Sochie is a Militia soldier. Harry drives up in a car and tells Pou to stop fighting. He says Dianna has ordered no one to fight while the search is on for the assassins. Pou leaves, and Khuen thanks Harry for his help. Harry promises to report to Dianna about their food shortage. When they return to the camp, Loran sees a group of locals protesting. They accuse the Moonrace civilians of stealing their food and tell them to go back where they came froml. Loran is frustrated and says that everyone is a human and they should work for the sake of their children. They accuse him of being a spy, and he becomes angry. Keith suspects he is about to say something and tells him not to say it. Loran admits that he is of the Moonrace and shocks everyone. He says he will fight anyone who doesn’t cherish human life. Fran’s photos of Loran and the Turn A are used for a newspaper story about how Loran is acting as a bridge between Earth people and the Moonrace. Afterwards, Sochie slaps him and calls him a liar.
While this episode could be constituted as filler, it has quite a bit of important character developments. We see that Sochie’s mind is clouded by the death of Diran, so she sees things very subjectively. She accuses Kihel of helping the Moonrace, and her hatred is very evident when she is with Khuen’s baby. She is so blinded that she says such a horrible thing about hoping that Khuen’s baby dies. That’s some deep hatred. With Khuen and his family we get to see the human side of the Moonrace, but it’s clear that Earth locals don’t care about his struggles and blame him along with the soldiers from their problems. Sadly, this is always the case in any human struggle where people are reduced down to simply to “friend” or “enemy.” This is why Loran feels helpless and reveals his identity to make people understand each other. Too bad it doesn’t work in Sochie’s case.
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