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Episode 6
Mechanics aboard the Albion race to tie down the Gundam. Monsha, Bate and Adel enter and Monsha comments on how Kou really totaled the Gundam. Adel says ‘at least they didn’t blow up the Albion’. Monsha doesn’t appear to want to credit Kou for that. Kou stands in the corner of hangar, looking dejected and Monsha calls him a gloomy SOB. Bate tells Monsha they finally got some shore leave. Monsha realizes it and yells to Nina for a date. Captain Synapse is informed that Jaburo’s top brass does not take the Delaz threat seriously. Admiral Kowen apologizes to Synapse for his inability to send anymore support and tells Synapse that he is their best hope against Delaz. Synapse sighs and receives clearance to dock at Von Braun’s space port 1. As they exit the Albion, Monsha comments on the fresh air and says if he only had Nina, it would be perfect. Chap asks if she turned him down again. Monsha insists that Nina is a busy girl. Nina walks up to the flatbed the Gundam is on and sees Keith trying to cheer up Kou. Some friends of Nina from Anaheim see her and run up to her. Keith is happy with what he sees and asks if they’re all friends of Nina’s. Anaheim’s director, Mr. O’Sullivan, walks up to Nina and is glad to see she is alive. Nina apologizes for the damage caused to the Gundam. O’Sullivan says that Synapse’s order is to get the Gundam repaired in 2 days.
In Von Braun City, the solar shutters are dropped as random citizens realize it is time for night. In a night club, the Albion crew seems to be enjoying themselves. One operator plugs away at a minovsky particle density problem and a female crew member tells him to put it away and then hugs him. Burning walks in with a blonde on his arm but turns and leaves when he sees the rest of his crew. Kou looks at his glass while a smashed Keith urges him to drink and be happy. Monsha who is no less inebriated tells a pair of women about how he tore the Delaz Fleet a new one in their last battle. They ask him if he is the Gundam’s pilot. He says the Gundam is wrecked because a newbie got stuck in it. Monsha continues to lambaste Uraki and puts his arm around him. Kou jumps up and throws his glass away. He takes off, running into several people on the way out. Kou runs outside and hits a sign. He finally stops when he trips on a cord. Kou gets up and pops his shoulder back in place and then kicks a trash can while people around wonder what his problem is. Kou begins to walk around aimlessly and bumps shoulders with several people. He runs into a man who asks if he is in a bad mood. This guy along with 2 others drags Kou into an alley and tells him that Feddies aren’t treated so well on the moon. They beat the holy hell out of him and pull the mobile suit pilot pin off his coat. They leave and Kou sees a tall, one armed, blonde man in front of him before blacking out.
While mechanics hammer away at the Gundam, Nina keeps hammering away at the GP01's data. One of her friends walks in and offers to get her a coffee. Nina accepts and her friend tells her that she needs to relax or she is going to burn out. Her friend asks if her past is still affecting her. She suggests that Nina fall in love again but balance it with her career.
Kou wakes up in a bed and wonders where he is. He walks outside to see he is in a junkyard. The one armed man he saw last night, Kelly Layzer, gets out of a crane and walks past Kou. He turns on an outdoor faucet and asks Kou if he is hungry. He throws Kou a towel and tells him to wash his hands and they’ll eat. Kou turns around to see Kelly’s girlfriend who does not seem to enjoy Kou’s presence at all. In the dock opposite the Albion’s, a well dressed Cima Garahau exits and talks to Mr O’Sullivan. Cima complains about being stuffed into the resource transport dock while the big spender Feddies get the high end dock. Cima says that if the Feddies spot their supply ships when they arrive, they’ll drop a colony on Luna. Kou tries to talk to Kelly but stutters. Kelly tells him that if he is a soldier then he should talk like a man. Kou says ‘yes sir!’ and then Kelly asks if he is a deserter. Kou is silent. Kelly stands up and tells his girlfriend, Lateura, that he will see her later tonight and leaves. Kou approaches Kelly in his garage and thanks him for his help. He introduces himself and Kelly asks why he deserted. Kou begins to say he is responsible for the Gundam’s destruction when Kelly cuts him off and tells him to resign. Kou spots something and runs into the garage. Kelly has apparently been keeping a Mobile Armor from the One Year War, the MA-06 Val Varo. Kelly grabs Kou by the face and slams him down, telling him to get away from it. Kelly quickly gets defensive and says it is a hobby and none of Kou’s business.
Chap drives South and South asks if he’s heard anything from Kou yet. Chap says no and Burning says Kou is a pain in the ass. Keith and Mora conduct their own search. Keith says that if Kou went to the bottom, it’ll be really hard to find him. Mora asks why he would go down there since there are only factories and junkyards that low. Kelly again hollers at Kou to get away from the Val Varo. He grabs Kou by the shirt but Kou holds up a circuit board and says it is burnt out. Kelly says he doesn’t have the money to hire someone to do that. Kou says that if Kelly lets him stay, he’ll work on it. Kelly asks if Kou will go back to his ship. Kou says he didn’t realize he deserted until Kelly mentioned it. Kelly sighs and then gets tough and tells Kou to do what he wants. Kou apologizes for being sudden and hands Kelly a list of parts that could get the Val Varo moving again. It may have been a joke from the animators but one of the parts on Kou’s list is “som anker”.
The Gundam’s repairs are well underway when Nina calls the Albion to see if they’ve found Kou. While Kou tests the conductivity on a circuit, Lateura pulls the plug on Kou. She asks why Kou is helping the enemy. She says that when Kelly lost his arm in the One Year War, his life was over and the fact that he can’t pilot tears him up inside. Lateura runs out of the house, crying while Kou realizes Kelly was a Zeon. Lateura runs to a payphone and contacts the Albion. While Kou stands at a bus stop, he hears Delaz’s broadcast being played by some window TVs. He walks across the street to see and notices Gato standing next to Delaz. He looks to his side and sees Kelly Layzer talking to Cima Garahau though he probably wouldn’t recognize her.
In her office, Nina plugs away at the Gundam’s code but keeps getting error messages. She gets frustrated, stands up and pounds her desk, startling everyone else in the room. She thinks about Kou and wonders if he is really so weak when she gets a phone call. In Kelly’s garage, Cima marvels at the fact that the Val Varo was hidden in a place like that. She asks if he can still use it despite his handicap. He says he modified it and can operate it at 90% of its full potential. She says that having it for Operation Stardust will come in handy, all the while Kou eavesdrops from outside. Cima tells him that if he isn’t done by tomorrow, he’ll be out of the operation. Kelly says he will do his best. Kou approaches Kelly as Kelly enters his house. Kou says he knows that the people Kelly spoke to that day were Delaz Fleet and that Kelly used to be a Zeek pilot. Kou tells him that Lateura is worried about him. Kelly says that a coward like Kou has no right to lecture. Kou goes off on Kelly and punches him in the stomach several times. As Lateura runs in, yelling at Kelly to stop, Kelly decks Kou, knocking him over. Lateura stands between them and tells Kelly to let it go. Kou tells Kelly he can’t do it but Kelly says he won’t be some beaten down dog.
As Kou is leaving, Nina is speeding by. She stops and goes to him. Nina says that she heard from Mora that he could be down there. Kou asks if she has work with Anaheim but Nina quotes her friend saying that she’ll burn out if she doesn’t relax once in awhile. She hopes Kou worked things out and wants to bring him back to the Albion. Kou says he will not go back yet but promises he will once he is done doing something he has to do. He promises that he will come back and asks her to tell Captain that. He thanks her as he runs away and she yells to him that the Gundam’s trial run will be tomorrow at 10. Kou enters Kelly’s garage and sits down next to him and begins working on the Val Varo. Kou says he will go back to his ship but wants to finish this first. Kelly asks if it is out of pity but Kou says he thought about what he would do if he quit piloting. Though he could be a mechanic or something, he would feel unfulfilled without mobile suits. Kelly agrees and reminds Kou that they’ll be enemies next time they meet. Kou tells him he has a mean punch. The two of them set out to work and we see them doing various things to the Val Varo as some loving music plays. The next morning, Kou salutes Kelly and begins to leave. Kelly tells him he forgot something and throws him the pilot’s wings that were taken from him before. Soon, Kou is inside the upgraded GP01 Full Vernian. With the Albion crew watching, he takes off and maneuvers effortlessly in space. After testing his retro thrusters, he flies toward the Earth, out of our sight.
Paul Jr’s Thoughts:
Though we got nothing for mobile suit action, a lot happened in this episode. First off, Anaheim is showing its true colors by helping both sides. Also, what is Nina’s ‘past’? Kelly seems to have incited a little discipline in Kou which could probably take him a long way. Cima threatening a Colony Drop on Luna? That is some serious stuff, what exactly is Operation Stardust? When Kou finally meets Kelly in battle, will he be able to shoot?
