Random Curiosity

Summary:

The Katharon forces face not just a Memento Mori that can shoot space-ward, but also a rebuilt Gadessa piloted by Hiling Care plus the rest of the A-LAWS fleet. Their mobile suits end up being no match for their opponents, and the missile barrage they fire is largely ineffective. Fortunately, the 00 Raiser comes to their rescue, and Setsuna tells the Katharon commander that Celestial Being will be taking over the satellite weapon destruction mission, so Katharon sends him their data on the satellite. Celestial Being’s appearance is not surprising to Lindt who is commanding the A-LAWS defense, and he lets Hiling Care take care of the Gundam while the rest of the A-LAWS fleet prepares for the Ptolemaios. He’s also not too concerned when Hiling takes off after the 00 Raiser because she has a license to do what she wants. While this is going on, at a nearby orbital station, Wang Liu Mei returns to Hong Long, and he notices the red mark on her face. This leads her to comment on how the jealousy of a man is ugly, and - listening in on the conversation from her shuttle - Nena notes that the jealousy of a woman is also ugly.

Over on the Ptolemaios, they receive the data on the Memento Mori, and from it, they conclude that there are limits to the firing angle of the weapon. They also get the weapon’s internal structure data from someone they assume to be Wang Liu Mei at around the same time, and Feldt notices that the location of the electromagnetic field optical resonance area is the weak point. Given this, Sumeragi decides that they’ll approach and attack from the Memento Mori’s blind spot, though they’ll need the precise coordination of Tieria and Lockon. Elsewhere on the ship, Marie confirms to Saji that Louise is indeed an A-LAWS pilot, but their conversation is interrupted by Sumeragi requesting Marie’s help. With everything now in place, Sumeragi informs Setsuna of the start of the mission, so Setsuna draws the attention of Hiling Care, and the Ptolemaios is able to race past the two mobile suits. However, the ship then takes heavy fire from the rest of the defenses, and that forces it onto a rightward trajectory, right into the Memento Mori’s firing angle. Sumeragi waits until Marie gives her the go-ahead to order Allelujah to activate the Arios’ Trans-Am, and this gives the Ptolemaios the necessary boost to avoid the Memento Mori’s massive blast.

The next part of Sumeragi’s plan involves the Cherudim protecting the Ptolemaios with its Shield Bits, and the 00 Raiser is able to destroy the rebuilt Gadessa’s GN Mega Launcher to prevent it from being fired at the ship. The Ptolemaios is thus able to blitz past the main elements of the defense fleet, but the Shield Bits are getting destroyed one by one, and the Arios’ Trans-Am soon reaches its limit. Determined to do this, Sumeragi eventually orders Tieria to activate the Seravee’s Trans-Am and fire the Hyper Burst, and that blast followed by a wave of GN missiles slams into the side of the Memento Mori. Although these aren’t enough to destroy their target, it does create an opening for Lyle to fire a shot at the electromagnetic field optical resonance area. With everything on the line, he hits the target, and the Ptolemaios races past the satellite weapon right before it explodes. The explosion causes chunks of the structure to fly in several directions, and some of them crash into Lindt’s command ship, destroying it. Sumeragi then orders a withdrawal from the area, but before Setsuna follows suit, he gets some help in distracting Hiling, and the 00 Raiser is able to cut off one of the rebuilt Gadessa’s arms. As he flies away, Setsuna identifies the red beam fire that helped him as that from a unit with a pseudo-GN Drive, and it turns out that it was actually from Nena’s shuttle.

Back on Earth, Klaus and the other Katharon survivors watch as the debris burns up in the atmosphere. The children are impressed by the sight of this, but Klaus calls it the lights of battle which cannot be allowed to remain in the children’s time. Also watching these lights is Sergei from his military office, and he realizes what has happened. His thoughts are interrupted though by the arrival of a Colonel Pang Hercule who knows Sergei as the Wild Bear of Russia.

Preview

Gundam 00 sure has been exciting lately, hasn’t it? It’s clear that Lindt’s planning is no match for Sumeragi’s, and it was fun watching her outwit him. Actually, while the Celestial Being crew was looking at that diagram of the Memento Mori, I half expected someone to start talking about having to maneuver down a trench and shoot a target area two meters wide (a la the attack on the Death Star in Star Wars). In all seriousness though, a lot of credit goes to Sumeragi for knowing what to do and to the Gundam pilots - especially Lyle who both protected the ship and got in the winning shot - for their roles. I’m also glad that Lindt is finally dead so that he won’t be around to screw up anything Kati may eventually do (I can see her possibly turning against A-LAWS). Come to think of it, it would have been nice it Kati had gotten to kill Lindt after what happened in episode six, but oh well.

It was nice too - and somewhat unexpected - to see Nena get back into the action and help Setsuna during the battle. Her involvement and opposition to Wang Liu Mei contributed to the Celestial Being victory here, and I suspect this won’t be the last time she helps them. It would be something like poetic justice if she could help Setsuna take down Ali Al Saachez. Speaking of which, I’m curious to see if she eventually gets a new Gundam that’ll (hopefully) be better than the Arche Gundam. I’m sure Wang Liu Mei has the money to do it, someone just has to convince her to. In any case, Nena appearing to get back into the thick of things is only one part of what’s made these past 13 episodes so good, and at this halfway point, I have to say that I’ve been very pleased with the series. And now we’re really getting close to the endgame. I wonder what role the new Hercule guy will play, but we won’t find out until January 11th, 2009 because there is no new episode next week. There’s only going to be a Gundam 00 special featuring some Japanese celebrities and comedians (Tsuchida Teruyuki, Chihara Seiji, Handa Kento).

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