By Bask orders ships to depart from the Gate of Zedan in advance of the arrival of Axis. Jamitov asks for an update and Bask reports that they have one hour until Axis reaches their position. Jamitov wonders if Haman is serious about ramming Axis into the Gate of Zedan, and Bask notes that they’ve observed lights from ships departing Axis. He thinks things would even out if they emptied out the Gate of Zedan before Axis crashes into it. Bask then receives an update and passes word to Jamitov that the AEUG fleet is approaching. At a strategy briefing on the Argama, Bright explains that their goal is to stop the Titans fleet from escaping before Axis rams into the Gate of Zedan. Kamille arrives late to the meeting and tells Fa that he can’t find Katz. After being informed that the AEUG fleet is approaching, Scirocco orders Reccoa to launch and rescue Sarah. Reccoa asks if that’s necessary, and Scirocco explains that he wants Sarah and the information she’s obtained, adding that their roles were reversed, he’d ask the same of Sarah. Reccoa is pleased to hear that and Scirocco tells her that the Palace-Athene is ready for deployment. Kamille and Fa find Katz in a security room watching Sarah through the surveillance cameras. Kamille grabs Katz by the arm and slaps him when he resists. Kamille asks Katz if he realizes what their situation is, and Katz asks how he can fight when he feels this way. Kamille yells at Katz that if he can’t focus on the battle he’ll get killed. Katz angrily states that he’ll fight and leaves the security room. The AEUG fleet opens fire on the Gate of Zedan, and Bask asks Jamitov to evacuate to the Dogosse Giar. Kamille prepares to launch in the Zeta Gundam and tells himself that Katz can never become a good pilot if he can’t overcome this hurdle. Quattro launches in the Hyaku-Shiki, followed by Emma in the Gundam Mk-II, Katz in the G-Defenser and Kamille in the Zeta Gundam. Bask is informed that Gates and Rosamia want to launch, but he orders them to remain on standby. The Dogosse Giar launches after Jamitov boards, and Quattro orders everyone to ignore enemy suits and focus on sinking ships. Haman asks for an update and is told that two Gaza-C squads are heading for Gryps 2. Reccoa’s Palace-Athene emerges from behind a small asteroid and approaches the Argama from behind. As she targets the engines, Kamille feels a Newtype sensation and yells at her to stop, which causes her to miss. Fa’s Methuss returns to the area and she attacks Reccoa with a beam saber. In the confusion caused by the blast, Sarah escapes from confinement and dons a normal suit. She then sneaks down to the mobile suit hangar and escapes in the Bolinoak-Sammahn. Katz turns around when she senses Sarah, and Emma warns that he’ll be hit by friendly fire. Fa struggles to fight and is shocked when she hears Reccoa’s voice. Fa gives chase and grabs onto the Palace-Athene, sending both suits on a collision course with the Gate of Zedan. Reccoa blasts two Barzams before the Palace-Athene and Methuss fly through a space gate and crash inside. Reccoa exits her cockpit and comments that Fa looks well.
Fa asks why Reccoa betrayed them, and Reccoa wonders if that’s the only way she can look at it. Reccoa explains that she’s not ideological and has been looking to restore the affections she lost to war. Fa asks why Reccoa didn’t shoot her out of pity, and Reccoa answers that although she feels confident and stable now, she still remembers the past. Fa accuses Reccoa of being selfish and says that her betrayal hurt everyone, but particularly Kamille. Reccoa thinks that Kamille would be suffering since he’s a man, but Fa says that hasn’t anything to do with it. Reccoa counters that everyone in the world is male or female, but ideologies and beliefs are a different story. Reccoa says that the men of the Argama only thought of themselves, and Fa asks if she means Quattro. An explosion rocks the area and Kamille searches the base’s interior for Fa. Reccoa silently floats back up to her cockpit and Fa pulls out her pistol to shoot Reccoa in the back, but she’s unable to fire. Kamille gives chase as Reccoa escapes, and in space Katz opens fire on Sarah. He asks why she reappeared before him and if she wants to get back to Scirocco that badly. She answers that she does and grabs onto the G-Defenser from below. Sarah tells Katz that she met Scirocco before him, but he rejects that and says it’s not an explanation. Sarah then breaks off and tells Katz to shoot her, but he says he wants to see and talk with her. Sarah thinks it’s unmanly to say such a thing, which is why she can’t love Katz. Emma approaches and orders Katz to fire, but he gets in the way to block her from shooting Sarah. He blames Scirocco for everything, but Sarah says it’s too late and escapes. Katz cries and says he can’t shoot at Sarah. Axis breaks off its residential block as it approaches the Gate of Zedan. Jerid deploys in his Byarlant and senses something just before Kamille emerges from inside the fortress. He jumps into the middle of Kamille and Reccoa facing off and rejects Reccoa’s help in fighting Kamille. Reccoa ignores Jerid, and when Kamille grabs onto her, she reminds him that she’d said the next time they met it would be as enemies. Before Jerid can respond, Fa rams into him with the Methuss. Apolly’s Rick Dias moves in to help Fa and he orders Botty to help Kamille. Jerid shoots at Fa, but Apolly gets in the way and is killed. Filled with rage over Apolly’s death, Kamille angrily attacks Jerid and forces him to escape. Bright is informed that Axis will crash in three minutes, so he orders all suits and ships to retreat. Kamille continues to fight Jerid but breaks off when he gets the retreat order. Axis then rams into the Gate of Zedan and splits the space fortress in half. The wide spread of debris destroys multiple Titans Salamis ships. Jerid keeps attacking Kamille in the debris field, which Kamille realizes is both helping and hindering him. Quattro opens fire on Jerid and tells Kamille to ignore Jerid. The two then pull away and retreat to the Argama. Quattro reports to Bright that Apolly was killed in action, and Bright notes that he was a great pilot. Fa laments not being able to kill Reccoa, and Emma says that it’s because she’s kind and wanted Reccoa to choose her own path. Fa counters that she can’t be kind like that. With the Titans’ main space base destroyed, Melanie and Quattro meet with Haman to open negotiations on their future plans.
The battle against the Titans escalates in a major way as Haman makes good on her threat to ram Axis into the Gate of Zedan. Axis itself emerges unscathed in what is a major loss for the Titans. The AEUG fleet participates in this major battle, which for Bright and Quattro marks a return to the space fortress formerly known as A Baoa Qu. In this case they’re both attackers, which is a contrast for Quattro since he previously was defending the base in the One Year War. Sarah escapes for the second time during a battle, which really says something about the Argama’s poor level of security. Fa and Katz confront Reccoa and Sarah separately, but neither is able to pull the trigger. Katz ends up on the receiving end of a slap from Kamille, and he’s incredibly insufferable the entire episode. Fa, on the other hand, gets into a weird conversation with Reccoa that strays into some outdated ideas about sex and gender. Apolly becomes the next named character to die, and while it is a loss for the AEUG, at the same time it’s not like he was a particularly deeply developed character. He was always just there, and now he’s not. It does, however, mark another instance of Jerid killing someone and making Kamille very angry. The series is winding towards a bloody finale that we all know will leave more bodies in its wake.
Original Review: November 3, 2002
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