By In the secret supply base, Gotho and Vanilla repair a van as part of their plan to escape. Coconna wonders if they’ll ever run into Zophie and her men again or if Zophie will attack Chirico. Gotho doesn’t think so because what Coconna said earlier seemed to take the fire out of Zophie’s quest for vengeance. Vanilla tells Coconna that she should let Fyana worry about Chirico and reminds her that she lost that battle. Coconna yells at him for having to state what’s obvious, and says he has too because she’s so dense. The two take of their oxygen masks to yell at each other and quickly begin to suffocate. Coconna then begins to load food on a truck, and Chirico works on repairing a Fatty. Vanilla and Gotho talk about leaving, and Chirico reveals that he’s going to stay behind. Vanilla thinks he’s crazy because a large Balarant force is heading their way. Gotho asks Chirico why he’s so obsessed with revenge and has to be so gloomy all the time. Chirico says he’s going to stay because the Balarant are after Fyana. Vanilla wants to leave, but Gotho says that after coming this far they can’t just leave Chirico. They tell Coconna to stop loading the truck, and she’s happy that they’re staying with Chirico. Chirico checks on Fyana, and she asks him again to leave her. He refuses and says he’ll take care of everything. In space, Rochina examines the situation on a Balarant ship. He believes the Teltain has its own PS to be able to fight Chirico and Fyana. Rochina orders the attack to commence, and the Balarant ships fire missiles down onto the supply station. AT dropships enter the atmosphere and drop a squad of Fattys over the supply station. Vanilla fires a gun turret and destroys several Fattys before he and Gotho are overwhelmed and run away. Chirico attacks the Fattys and destroys several of them. He then breaks into the room where Fyana and Coconna are hiding and asks them to follow him. Vanilla destroys more Fattys with a bazooka, and Gotho thinks they should get some ATs to cause more damage. They run around the corner and find themselves surrounded by Fattys. Chirico enters the truck garage and finds it is full of Fattys. Several Balarant officers hold Vanilla and Gotho hostage and threaten to kill them if Chirico attacks.
Chirico is taken prisoner aboard a Balarant ship and is shocked to see Rochina. Rochina asks Chirico if he thinks it’s dishonorable of him to have switched sides. Chirico asks Rochina who he really is, and Rochina answers that he is a man from the kingdom of Heaven. Chirico sees that Rochina was never after only Fyana, and Rochina says his interests run deeper than that. Chirico asks Rochina to release Gotho, Vanilla and Coconna because they have nothing to do with anything. Rochina agrees to set them free on the condition that Chirico has a showdown with Ypsilon. Rochina then has several soldiers escort Chirico to the bridge where everyone else is. Gotho tells Chirico that he has a plan to escape, which involves Chirico creating a distraction with an AT while they steal a spaceship. Coconna says they have to move quickly before the Balarant do something to Fyana, but Chirico says nothing. In space, the Teltain hides in a debris field to avoid detection by the Balarant. The returning scout ship crew report that the Balarant have taken control of the supply station and captured Chirico. Unfortunately, Ypsilon and his AT team were already heading for the supply station before the Balarant’s arrival. Futtor decides to send the scout ship out again to retrieve Ypsilon, but the Schmitel twins don’t think Ypsilon will be pleased by that. Futtor says that’s irrelevant because Ypsilon is nothing more than a weapon. Rochina goes down to the brig and asks Chirico for his decision. Chirico agrees, and Rochina says he will provide Vanilla, Coconna and Gotho with a small ship. Ypsilon approaches and orders his Standing Tortoises to attack. Rochina orders the fleet to takeoff while the Fattys defend the ground. Several ships are destroyed during takeoff, and Chirico heads out into battle in a Fatty. He destroys several Standing Tortoises and heads for the interior of the supply station. Inside, Ypsilon destroys several Fattys while searching for Chirico. The Strike Dog enters the truck garage and finds Chirico waiting there. Rochina, Fyana and several soldiers watch them from one of the catwalks above. Ypsilon destroys a Standing Tortoise so that there won’t be any interruptions in their final fight.
There’s a few things going on here. The Balarant close in on Chirico, led by Rochina of all people. I guess he wasn’t kidding when he told Battentain that their association was over. He’s been dogging Chirico since the beginning of the series, and his interest obviously goes beyond capturing Fyana. Chirico is put into a tough situation, but deep down he wants to end his rivalry with Ypsilon. Ypsilon is also determined to end things and is even willing to kill his own men to clear the battlefield for their last duel. We’ll see how that goes soon enough.
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