By The Iron Gear makes its way through the winter landscape. Various members of the crew work on covering up parts of the ship with white tarps or shoveling snow. Despite trying to disguise itself, the Iron Gear is spotted by a man on skis. Rag wants to head back. Jiron starts getting angry and shedding tears over the fact that Timp is alive. Blume and Dyke say he has his own group now and they need to be careful. Suddenly an avalanche starts coming down a nearby mountain. Kotsett and Fatman quickly work on getting the Iron Gear out of the way but it isn’t enough and the snow strikes it, grinding the ship to a halt. A variety of men on skis as well as a few in small crafts and Walker Machines start heading towards them from the mountain. Jiron heads to the Gallier while Rag gets in the Xabungle and they both head out. Jiron has trouble walking in the snow and ask for Rag to get him skis. The Iron Gear fires upon the approaching enemy, who also start launching bazookas and firing rifles at the Iron Gear. Rag tosses skis near the Gallier and Jiron requests more ammunition. Jiron knocks down an enemy Walker Machine, but while on the ground it kicks the Gallier away, knocking him out of it. The pilot walks over to Jiron and upon being called an ally of Timp gets angry, saying he is fighting against Timp and the Innocent. Jiron realizes that the forces belong to Salt and he reveals him knowing Toron and Collins. Later, the members of Salt, including leader Katakam Zushim come aboard the Iron Gear and claim to be fighting to overthrow the Innocent. Katakam says they decided to start fighting upon hearing of Toron’s death. He speaks of how humans used to be free, but now are under the watch of the Innocent and can’t get their hands on a Walker Machine without their influence. He wants to fight back against the Innocent so humanity can have its freedom again. Katakam thinks if they can get hold of the Ascension of Light they should be able to defeat the Innocent. Rag grows embarrassed and the group laughs when Katakam calls her Miss Rag. He asks about if she’s eaten boar and invites her to eat it with him, which she accepts. Meanwhile within an Innocent dome, Elchi comes to see Dr. Manet and she uses a device to try and see into Elchi’s dreams. Manet also claims they need to break her from the civilian lifestyle she is used to.
The Gallier makes its way down a hill on skis and Jiron wonders why Rag has interest in Katakam. Blume tells Jiron he is showing off too much and they continue to talk about Rag. Jiron thinks he can both save Elchi and take out Timp and hasn’t brought Chill along as he plans on attacking the enemy in the middle of the night. Elchi dreams of running through a flower filled field that suddenly grows dark as the Iron Gear attacks it. Dr. Manet is impressed with Elchi, who is strapped to a device that is monitoring her dreams. She orders more drugs to be used on Elchi. The Gallier and Xabungle duck on the ground to avoid the Innocent’s surveillance as they approach the dome, then continue on when the spot light passes. Meanwhile Katakam and Rag travel on a vehicle and she comments on how his hideout isn’t as fascinating as she thought it would be. He thinks it will get better as they gather more people and weapons. Dr. Manet comes out to talk to Dowas and Biram, claiming Elchi’s deep spirit is fighting against the hypnosis they are using on her. Dowas thinks they are properly equipped to defend against the approaching Iron Gear. The Xabungle and Gallier slowly continue their way on, using a chain to try and spot any land mines. Blume accidentally knocks over the Gallier as a result. Eventually they strike one of the land mines causing Timp to notice they are coming. He wants to wait before attacking them though. We soon see why as a number of hidden Walker Machines burst out of the snow around the Gallier and Xabungle and immediately attack. They quickly fight back, knocking out many of the enemy Walker Machines. Suddenly a giant net is shot out, wrapping around both Walker Machines. The approaching landship grabs a hold of the net and pulls it with it as it pulls back to Timp’s landship. Timp starts talking to them, revealing he is going to attack the Iron Gear while they are held here. He then orders his landships to fire upon them, although the Gallier and Xabungle start fleeing despite the net and snow around them. The Iron Gear soon arrives from a nearby hill, also being supported by Katakam’s forces. Timp realizes the Iron Gear followed the footprints of their allies to make it here. Timp is told by one of his subordinates that much of their forces which had left elsewhere earlier hasn’t come back yet. The Xabungle and Gallier work on trying to make it out of the net so they can rejoin the battle. Rag tells Kotsett to transform the Iron Gear into Walker Machine mode, which it does. The Iron Gear takes off the white tarp head cloth from its head once Jiron calls out for them to do it. In the Innocent dome, Biram is told by Manet that Elchi is no ordinary human and they’re only 50 percent of the way there. She says humanity is changing, like Biel claimed they were. Later, the Iron Gear works on repairs. Rag and Katakam talk on the deck. Jiron wonders what is going on and falls on Katakam.
This seems like a bit of a “moving the chess pieces” type episode as we see some slow movement of the plot, but nothing major. Most notable is the introduction of Katakam, another member of the Salt organization. He immediately takes a liking to Rag, so it looks like we may be seeing another romantic relationship form between the two. Seeing Walker Machines battle on skis was interesting, although it was a type of battle strategy we also kind of saw in the earlier Mud Sea episodes. Meanwhile the Innocent continue to work on trying to brainwash/hypnotize Elchi although are having a hard time with it, showing that Biel’s claims of humanity advancing may be more right than the other Innocent want to admit.
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