VOTOMS Ep. 26: Closing In

Gon Nu orders his men to provide cover for Kan Yu’s team as they descend and infiltrate the palace. Vanilla asks if they will be the only unit going into the palace, and Gon Nu tells him Kan Yu’s team will be supporting Chirico. Vanilla lands and gets out of his helicopter just before it is hit by missiles. Elsewhere, a cargo container is opened, revealing the new PS use custom AT Strike Dog. Potaria attacks a royal guard and asks him where Kanjelman is. The royal guard struggles and begins fighting with Potaria. Kanjelman’s advisors tell him that the enemy forces are stationed outside the palace, and they think half of them will be destroyed by the anti-AT guns and land mines. Kanjelman decides to retreat to his royal villa and make them appear weaker than they really are. The royal guard bashes Potaria’s head into the floor, but Vanilla knocks the guard out. They hear on the guard’s radio that Kanjelman is retreating to the royal villa. As Ypsilon climbs into the Strike Dog’s cockpit, Borough tells him not to fail again. Ypsilon takes off and begins searching for Chirico. He runs into Kan Yu’s team and attacks them. He fights with Shako, believing that he might be Chirico. Shako attacks Ypsilon with his pile driver, but Ypsilon dodges and counterattacks. Shako jumps out of his damaged Berserga just before it explodes. Ypsilon attacks and destroys two Diving Beetles, but they aren’t Chirico either. He then spots Kan Yu and chases him. Chirico, Fyana and Kiderra destroy several Standing Turtles in an old chamber. Fyana assumes that Borough and the others must have gone deeper into the palace. Vanilla walks into the chamber and tells Chirico that Potaria is heading to the royal villa to take on Kanjelman with just a handgun. Chirico figures that Borough must be there too.

Veela officers inform Borough that Ypsilon has destroyed three ATs so far, but at the moment it isn’t known if Chirico was one of the kills. Borough asks where Kanjelman is and the officers tell him that Kanjelman went to his bedroom for some brief sleep. Kanjelman asks his men to wake him in 30 minutes, and they tell him the underground escape shuttle is there if he needs it. Chirico, Fyana and Kiderra destroy several Standing Turtles in a palace corridor. Kiderra says they’re too a big a target bunched up together, so he splits off with Vanilla and heads to another part of the palace. Disguised as a royal guard, Potaria enters Kanjelman’s room and points a gun at him. Kanjelman recognizes him as his old friend Pota, but Potaria insists on being formal so that he can express his hatred of Kanjelman. Kanjelman recalls that long ago they crossed the lines of class and age to talk and share their dreams of the future. Potaria asks Kanjelman if the whole war was just a useless experiment. He tosses the gun aside in frustration and tells Kanjelman to get the balancing lances. Kanjelman closes the door on several guards and lowers a metal shutter door. He tells Potaria that they should fight to the death and not hold back. Potaria lunges, but Kanjelman dodges by jumping on the bed’s frame and swinging off the chandelier. Borough tells Ypsilon to return to the palace to protect Kanjelman. Ypsilon destroys Kan Yu’s Diving Beetle and attacks a squadron of Diving Beetles as they drop into the palace. Kanjelman says they must give up the old ways to move forward, but as long as people have nostalgia for the past that won’t happen. Kanjelman stabs Potaria in the shoulder, and Potaria runs Kanjelman through the gut with his lance. Chirico and Fyana infiltrate the palace and run into Borough. Ypsilon is ordered to return and help Borough. Kanjelman tells Potaria that he took up the mantle of reactionism and the old ways so that they could all be destroyed with him and allow Kummen to be reborn. As he dies, Kanjelman gives Potaria the key to the shuttle and tells him he’s his dearest friend. Several guards break in and shoot Potaria in the shoulder, but they are immediately killed by Kiderra. In an underground expanse, Chirico shoots the stairs that Borough is on and causes them to collapse.