VOTOMS Ep. 23: Complications

Potaria and Kiderra fight off the last of the Standing Turtles and wonder where Chirico is. Nearby, Fyana runs into the woods alone. Borough is airlifted back to the palace and is informed that Ypsilon is going after Fyana. Kanjelman comments that Borough’s ultimate weapon is still just a creature of emotions. Borough asks Kanjelman to have Fyana killed, and Kanjelman says he doesn’t murder women. Borough says that Fyana is a weapon, not a woman, who has betrayed them for Chirico. Borough says it’s all for the sake of Kummen, and Kanjelman says he knows Borough is only using the civil war to test his experiments. He agrees to grant Borough the one favor of killing Fyana and tells him that his safety can only be assured for as long as he benefits the Veela. Chirico wants to find Fyana, but Kan Yu objects. Kan Yu orders everyone to go after Chirico when he leaves, but they instead ignore him and get in their ATs to block him from leaving. Kiderra says they should follow Chirico this time, and Kan Yu very reluctantly agrees. As storm clouds roll in, Fyana climbs up a mountainous area and hides when she hears an AT walking nearby. She runs into Ypsilon, who hugs her. She pulls away from him and grabs his gun. He says she won’t shoot him, and she agrees. She puts the gun to her own head and is knocked aside by a weapons blast from a Standing Turtle. Ypsilon asks them what they’re doing, and they say they have orders to kill Fyana. Ypsilon jumps into his Snapping Turtle and targets the Standing Turtles, but he’s unable to fire. Borough explains to Kanjelman that Ypsilon has been subconsciously conditioned to not attack allied forces. The Standing Turtles attack Fyana again, but Ypsilon jumps in front of her and takes the damage himself. Fyana’s escape is blocked, but Chirico arrives in time to destroy the Standing Turtles. Ypsilon tries to get out of his cockpit, but his leg is stuck under the seat. Chirico comes over and rips the cockpit open so he can get out. Ypsilon pulls out his gun to finish things, but Chirico tells him he’s in no condition to fight. Kiderra radios Chirico and tells him that Kan Yu isn’t with them.

Kan Yu shoots at Fyana and chases her to a cliff. She falls off the side and lands on a lower edge a bit farther down. Front line troops report to Borough that Fyana escaped and that Ypsilon was injured. Kanjelman tells Borough he won’t ever spare any more of his troops to do this. He says that with the rainy season beginning they need to end the war as soon as possible. Chirico searches the mountainous area by himself. Elsewhere, Kan Yu ties up Fyana and radios Gon Nu. He says that he captured the PS by himself and is pinned down by enemy forces. Gon Nu asks him for his coordinates and says he will send reinforcements. Kan Yu pulls out his knife to interrogate Fyana an doesn’t realize that Chirico is creeping up behind him. Kan Yu asks Fyana what Chirico means to her and turns around when he sees a look in her eyes. Kan Yu quickly reacts and stabs Chirico in his gut with the knife. Chirico punches Kan Yu and knocks him to the ground. As the two scuffle on the ground, Chirico grabs the handcuff keys and tosses them to Fyana. Kan Yu gets on top of Chirico, but Chirico flips them both into the muddy river. Kan Yu is swept away in the fast moving water, and Fyana grabs Chirico and saves him. Later, Assemble troops search the area and report to Gon Nu that there’s no sign of Kan Yu. Helicopters fly over the river and report no sign of the rest of Kan Yu’s team. Chirico wakes up under a makeshift tent built by Fyana and tries to get up. She tells him he’s too weak, and he quickly falls asleep. He wakes up later and finds Fyana washing things by the riverbed. He tells her he’s hungry, and she laughs at him and prepares rations. He asks her if survival techniques are part of her PS programming, and she tells him she’s learned plenty of things on her own. He asks her how to get to Kanjelman’s palace, and they climb up the mountain so she can point it out. Fyana asks Chirico to run away with her, and he tells her that’s what he asked her to do three months earlier. She asks him why he feels the need to fight Kanjelman’s forces, and he answers that she knows why.