I didn't recall this episode when I returned to Voltron as an adult. But the Dairugger version I really enjoyed. Maybe I'll explain why . . .
Planet Stop for Repairs
The Explorer is in space. On the bridge, Hawkins is looking over Sparks the red, who says there is nothing ahead. Then Hawkins gets uncharacteristically angry, saying the Drules are out there, waiting to pounce.
On a dark'n'stormy planet, a Drule fleet is on a lake, getting zapped by lightning. Repair pods hover to fix damage. One of Nerok's "robots" (I can't take this seriously) tells him that the rest of the "robot" crew want to go home. Nerok has a wager with Brak to destroy the Voltron force.
Back on the Explorer, Jeff, Crick, and Cliff all take turns trying to talk Hawkins into using Voltron to take a preemptive strike to the Drule home planet/ Hawkins, um, disagrees. And there's the awesome line where Crick's Michael Bell-provided accent makes "pack up and go home" sound like "fuck off and go home."
On the bridge, Newley is getting a distress call from planet Itlan. And then they discover their engines are jammed. They're caught in a centrifugal force field. Ooo-kay. They're going to be forced to make a landing for repairs.
Then we get the Voltron force in the lounge talkin' nonsense to sort of propel the plot but to basically fill the scene.
Newley and the chief engineer (?) look at the damaged engine. In Hawkins' voice, the chief engineer says they should send the Voltron force to investigate the planet.
Back in the lounge Hutch objects. And we get more filler dialogue.
On the bridge, they approach the planet and suddenly hear the distress call like they hadn't just discussed it a couple of scenes ago.
Jeff and the air team looks out the window at the planet.
Sparks figures out that the distress call is Drule. Hawkins starts to run off the bridge to stop the teams' launch, but the air team is already spaceborne. He calls Jeff to warn them that it's the Drules who are on the planet.
Nerok's XO tells him that a forward team has launched. Nerok decides to wait until the Explorer lands.
Jeff sees the ships and reports back.
Nerok says he'll let them look, and wait for the command ship to land.
Jeff somehow recognizes the ships as Nerok's.
Nerok orders the robeast to be prepared.
The air team lands, and Jeff tells them they should attack. Newley and Hawkins discuss what to do--are they really marooned? Is it a trap? Hey, let's use Voltron to force their hand!
The Explorer makes planetfall right across the bay from Nerok's ships.
Nerok's XO tells him that Hazar has ordered no hostilities. Nerok says he has a bet with Brack to uphold.
The Explorer splashes down, and Newley tells them to be ready for hostilities. We see footage of a repair team going to repair the engine, and Newley's voice orders some support team to fortify a forward bulkhead. Wha-?
Back in the Drule headquarters, all of the fleet commanders are gathered before Hazar/ Brack argues--and this is the first time we hear of th eplight of the Drule homeworld. Brack says the planet is "crumbling away" and due to explode. Guards take him away. Hazar takes a vote, and they're in favor of Nerok's plan. Hazar bows to the vote (I'm sure this causes his own parted to grumble and whine for being 'weak' and not somehow challenging the democratic process).
Nerok gasses about his plan some more. The Explorer can't raise them, and everyone is suspicious. We then see the repair team, and the dialogue weirdly now acknowledges that they're repairing the engines. Sort of. Hawkins goes to the observation hall to look at Nerok's ships. The team blathers about what's (not) going on. The repair team repairs. Hawkins watches.
Suddenly Nerok's fleet launches and a red alert is called. The teams launch. Nerok calls the Explorer and tries to goad them into attacking. Jeff orders Voltron formed. Nerok taunts them, then launches another Invid-designed robeast.
Voltron forms the blazing sword. Hawkins holds them back from attacking. The robeast approaches. Nerok's fleet hangs. Voltron stands there with his sword. It's a standoff.
Finally, the robeast just passes over Voltron, coming very close to him, and then flies away. The rest of Nerok's fleet also withdraws. Voltron and the Explorer crew
Still on the stormy planet surface, the Explorer is floating while they repair the engines. Or whatever they're doing.
The team leaders meet Hawkins in the observation corridor. He says the robeast was only programmed to attack if attacked himself. Then we get the "Votlron is great" speech.
The Enemy within the Mind
This is the episode where, when I was watching Voltron on DVD for the first time, I started to get the idea that maybe WEP didn't have access to translations. Making changes in the dialogue to establish a link with the other series, and to minimize/explain away violence--those changes usually make sense. Changes when the dialogue doesn't reflect the footage, and doesn't really do anything except fill time--that makes me think that WEP had no translations and no time. And too many damn writers.
We open on the surface of the planet dark'n'stormy, to see lighning damage a Galveston destroyer. Lafitte is standing in the gallery beneath the bridge. His XO appears and tells him that the frontline headquarters is order them to leave. Lafitte protests that a ship has been immobilized by the storm; the response is to abandon it. Lafitte is angry; the planet could turn out to be usuable. Outside, the damaged ship's fire is extenguished and they begin repairs. Lafitte receives word that the Earth survey force is coming their way.
On the Rugger Guard, the Rugger team leads all take turns trying to convince Ise that they should do something about Galveston. Ise listens, and then calmly tears all three of them new assholes--their job is the star map, not fighting.
An alarm sounds, and Ise arrives at the bridge. Their propulsion levels are dropping. They must stop the main engine to check it. In the engine room, we see engineers cut the mains and switch to auxiliary power.
Nagano rushes into the lounge, telling everyone that the ship is running on sub-engines. Nobody knows nothing.
Asimov is in the engine room, and the engineer tells him he wants to set down to examine the engines more fully. Aki, Keats, and Walter catch Asimov outside the engine room and he tells them that nothing's wrong and they should go about their business.
Nagano is mad. Aki broods. I sense a pattern.
The bridge crew detects an unmapped planet ahead. Asmiov decides that they can try to land. The Aki team is scrambled to explore the planet. Aki stares at the planet through the gallery and broods. The rest of the team convinces him to protest after they explore the planet. On the bridge, one of the crewmembers sees that the air team hasn't launched. Ise starts to charge off the bridge, but then the Air team mecha launch.
As they approach the planet, Patty says it's not like Aki to brood. What? He ALWAYS broods.
Lafitte gets word of the air team's approach and orders an alert.
The air team overflies the Galveston fleet. Lafitte countermands an order to fire. The team withdraws. Lafitte knows they'll be back in force. He is unsatisfied with the repair progress.
The team lands on the Rugger Guard. Asimov wants to set down on the planet to inspect the engines. Aki arrives on the bridge says there are 15 Galveston ships on the planet and they didn't react to the air team's flyover. Asimov is in favor of talks. And taking a change for repairs.
The Rugger Guard approaches the bay landing of Lafitte's fleet. Lafitte's XO tells him of their communique--they have no desire to fight, and are landing only to inspect their engines. Lafitte says to prepare for battle, but only to fight depending on what the Earth ship does.
The Rugger Guard lands and Asimov orders the repair crew.
At the Galveston frontline base, Barataria wants Teles to authorize them to back up Lafitte. Barataria is ushered out. Teles turns to his other captains. Drake is hopeful that new options will appear if they manage to avoid fighting. Gramont doesn't want the planet to go to the Earth's possession. Teles maintains his "wait and see" policy.
Lafitte's XO tells him that they've received recall orders. Lafitte is concerned that the men under his command will react badly to the nearness of the Earth fleet, and refuses to answer when they call.
Asimov and Ise debate the situation. Ise thinks the Galveston fleet is just waiting for them to leave.
The repair crew has found space dust in the engines and begin cleaning.
Ise wonders if they're maybe waiting for reinforcements.
The Rugger team wonders what's going on.
Ise watching the Galveston fleet from the observation corridor as the repair crew starts work. Then the fleet suddenly lifts off and the Rugger team is scrambled.
Lafitte sees the mecha launched, and he calls the Rugger Guard. He says they've completed their repairs and are leaving, and demands to know why they're being attacked. Ise is shocked.
Meanwhile, Aki'n'team forms Dairugger.
Lafitte is incensed. He tells Ise that they are withdrawing, but if they want a fight, they've got one. He launches the battle machine. Aki forms the Rugger sword and plunges into battle. Ise holds him back, and calls Lafitte, claiming this is all a misunderstanding. Aki pulls back, while Lafitte and his XO watch the situation. It's a standoff. Ise is adamant that Dairugger not attack.
Let me just break away here and point out that the scene direction in this series is far more sophisticated that in Golion. More experience? More time? Better budget? No idea. But I remarks during the episode with the 500 robeasts and their field trip to planet Nuclon that the scene changes were fast and furious. That's basically the lower limit for an average Dairugger episode.
Anyway. The Galveston fleet leaves. Ise is frustrated at how close he came to destroying the one chance with peace with Galveston. The three leaders of the teams seem to brood, and then we get a weird sequence of Aki running on the deck in the rain to the sound of strange, echoey heartbeats.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Wolo's Lost World/Legend of the Space Forest
Wolo's Lost World
The Explorer and two support ships are in orbit around a planet. Newley and Hawkins are watching the Voltron force flying over the surface. Hawkins regrets that the planet is not suitable for prolonged colonization. The Drule empire even passed it up. Hawkins agrees to broadcast their lift off time.
Jeff is also disappointed in the planet's unsuitability. Cliff takes the land team for a quick look at the far side. The air team lands. Rocky, Ginger, Chip, and Jeff all talk about the planet and its ruins. Wolo, on the other hand, thinks back to his childhood, and a time he and his older brother went into some woods, hunting monsters. Jeff breaks into Wolo's reverie. They teaase him a little (clearly GG training doesn't include cultural relativism),
Brack calls some guy who they name and treat as Mongo, but it's totally some other guy. Brack wants to attack the Explorer. The guy who's not Mongo goes and interrupts Hazar's shower. Hazar denies permission to attack, and is annoyed that Brack is so popular on the supreme council.
On the planet, Wolo sits by his mecha, thinking back to monster-hunting time. And his brother teasing him. And getting scared by a scary pair of scare-eyes. That turns out to be an alien chicking and a vine he gets his legs tangled in.
Wolo's daydream is broken by an earthquake that swallows him and his mecha. Hawkins tries to reach him from the Explorer.
Professor Page is giving a seminar on the environmental catastrophe that ruined the planet. The same thing almost happened on Earth. Hawkins contacts them and tells them to go see why Wolo's not responding.
Wolo's not responding because he's having flashbacks about the giant turkey dragon that grabbed him, then went after his brother. And then the source of the earthquakes reveals itself as a robeast. Which causes Wolo to scream "It's another monster." The robeast acts all menacing, and Wolo is determined to defeat it. He gets in his mecha and fires missiles at it. It catches him with rocket ropes, and Brak is pleased with himself. He also doesn't care if Hazar approves or not. The robeast starts using the rocket ropes to electrocute him.
Jeff flies over the chasm opened by the earthquake. He passes through the forest and see the robeast--with Wolo's ship. Jeff evades the rocket ropes and tries to raise Wolo. The robeast hits him with a beam weapon. Jeff calls Hawkins and requests the rest of the team. Hawkins sends them after him. Unfortunately, we see them launch in formation with Jeff and Wolo's mecha.
Jeff continues to fight, but gets ensared in the rocket ropes. Then we see a shot of the three subfighters. Jeff is getting electrocuted when Cliff cuts the ropes. We see a number of shots of the team with Wolo's ship present. The team decides they need to unite as Voltron, but Wolo's still . . .
. . . flashing back about the turkey dragon throwing his brother and, erm, knocking the wind out of him. He comes to as Hawkins calls him. Wolo launches.
Brack laughs to see the robeast fighting Voltron. Hazar calls him and yells had him for disobeying his orders. Brack says "If he calls again, tell him I've defected and joined the Voltron force.
The team is fighting when Wolo rejoins them and they form Voltron. They attack the robeast, and Wolo gets them out of the rocket ropes when he flashes back to getting snared by vines. The robeast blinds them with an energy flash and then tunnels to get away. It reemerges, fights, buries itself, and repeats. They catch it as it pops up out of the ground again, and it gets sworded. It explodes, and Wolo thinks about his brother. He and Jeff have a good laugh and the camera pulls back to the Explorer in orbit.
We get a shot of the dual planets that were home to the worms in the ghost fleet episode, then we get Wolo and Jeff discussing the planet against footage of the team in the lounge.
I will be honest. The last couple of Voltron episodes have been tough slogging. I don't know why, because I've always preferred vehicle to lion (though I still love Lion Voltron). Maybe it just hasn't hit its stride yet. Regardless, I'm realy enjoying the Dairugger episodes, so I can't really explain it. And speaking of Dairugger. . .
Legend of the Space Forest
The Rugger Guard is in orbit with two escort ships. Ise and Asimov are watching the Rugger team as they survey the planet. A bridge crewman gives Ise that atmospheric breakdown. They call the Rugger team back, and Ise has some regrets about time spent on this planet, though Asimov says all the data they collect is important.
Aki is having much the same experience. Walter and keats decide to break off and do more survey before the Rugger Guard's 3 P.M. departure.
The air team looks over the ruins, speculating on the fate of the people and how the planet got to be so barren. Kruez, on the other hand, is staring off into the forest, thinking of a time his brother led him into the forest. And his first name is Shota. Shota Kruez. Huh. He asks Aki permission to stay a little longer.
At the Galveston frontline base, Captain Barataria contacts Staff Officer Church and tells him that he has on opportunity to attack the Earth survey force. The staff officer (totally not Drake) doesn't like the idea, and goes and bothers Teles in the shower. Teles decides that leaving the Earth force there is to their advantage.
Kreuz remembers more of the time in the forest with his brother. And the bird. And the vines. Like in Voltron. Then the Galveston battle machine causes and earthquake and emerges from the ground. His mecha (Rugger three) and he both tumble into the crevasse.
Aboard the Rugger Guard, Ise is unable to raise Kreuz.
Dr. Search is explainin what happened on this planet, and that it almost happened on Earth 200 years ago. We then see forests being destroyed. Ise then calls Aki and tells him that they've lost Kreuz. Aki goes to check on him.
Kreuz is hallucinating about the monster in the woods, and HOW HIS BROTHER SACRIFICED HIMSELF to save his life. In a way that really doesn't make a lot of sense (why didn't they just run out together? They had time while the monster was blinded.
Then the goofy looking battle machine appears and totally screams like old-school GOJIRA. When we return from the commercial, that scream is no longer present, and Kreuz weirdly wants revenge. So the battle machine's tactics are to catch a mecha in its rocket ropes, disable it with electric charges, and Barataria wants the battle machine to bring Rugger 3 back for analysis. That was a neat little touch.
Then Aki comes upon the battle machine. He evades the rocket ropes while trying to awaken Kreuz, but gets hit by the beam weapon, and then calls Ise to call for help. The Rugger teams launch, but the Dairugger footage is edited to Aki's machine doesn't appear (unlike in Voltron. That's really weird. Why would the WEP staff create their own continuit errors). However, Kreuz' ship appears TWICE in the formation shots. There's some more footage of individual Rugger ships being tossed around by the battle machine Aki tries to raise Kreuz.
Kreuz is remember running away from the monster, and then heading back for his brother. He hits the monster in the other eye with a spear, and it throws his brother, who then dies.
Ise finally succeeds in awakening him to form Dairugger.
Barataria urges the battle machine to finish the job. Then Teles appears on the viewer and orders him back. Oh, and Barataria's XO is named Sazahki.
The battle against the battle machine doesn't go so well now that they've formed Dairugger. The beastie tries its usual tactic of trapping them with rocket ropes, but first Kreuz has Aki kick the machine, then they just cut through them with the Rugger sword. Then it tries to use its digging ability to some advantage--basically, this battle is a little more varied from the fomrula they've fallen into in the last couple episodes. Then Kreuz catches sight of the thing just as its emerging. Good for him, that he had this episode. 'Cuz this is pretty much the last we'll hear from him beyond some group scenes. Kreuz has a final moment dedicated to his brother, and he tells the rest of the story. Which is basically him wandering from forest to forest trying to find the monster that sort of killed his brother.
Aki wants to know why he's so broody. Aki lets it go, because that's one less battle machine for Galveston. Then the Rugger Guard and the two other ships are poised to leave.
The Explorer and two support ships are in orbit around a planet. Newley and Hawkins are watching the Voltron force flying over the surface. Hawkins regrets that the planet is not suitable for prolonged colonization. The Drule empire even passed it up. Hawkins agrees to broadcast their lift off time.
Jeff is also disappointed in the planet's unsuitability. Cliff takes the land team for a quick look at the far side. The air team lands. Rocky, Ginger, Chip, and Jeff all talk about the planet and its ruins. Wolo, on the other hand, thinks back to his childhood, and a time he and his older brother went into some woods, hunting monsters. Jeff breaks into Wolo's reverie. They teaase him a little (clearly GG training doesn't include cultural relativism),
Brack calls some guy who they name and treat as Mongo, but it's totally some other guy. Brack wants to attack the Explorer. The guy who's not Mongo goes and interrupts Hazar's shower. Hazar denies permission to attack, and is annoyed that Brack is so popular on the supreme council.
On the planet, Wolo sits by his mecha, thinking back to monster-hunting time. And his brother teasing him. And getting scared by a scary pair of scare-eyes. That turns out to be an alien chicking and a vine he gets his legs tangled in.
Wolo's daydream is broken by an earthquake that swallows him and his mecha. Hawkins tries to reach him from the Explorer.
Professor Page is giving a seminar on the environmental catastrophe that ruined the planet. The same thing almost happened on Earth. Hawkins contacts them and tells them to go see why Wolo's not responding.
Wolo's not responding because he's having flashbacks about the giant turkey dragon that grabbed him, then went after his brother. And then the source of the earthquakes reveals itself as a robeast. Which causes Wolo to scream "It's another monster." The robeast acts all menacing, and Wolo is determined to defeat it. He gets in his mecha and fires missiles at it. It catches him with rocket ropes, and Brak is pleased with himself. He also doesn't care if Hazar approves or not. The robeast starts using the rocket ropes to electrocute him.
Jeff flies over the chasm opened by the earthquake. He passes through the forest and see the robeast--with Wolo's ship. Jeff evades the rocket ropes and tries to raise Wolo. The robeast hits him with a beam weapon. Jeff calls Hawkins and requests the rest of the team. Hawkins sends them after him. Unfortunately, we see them launch in formation with Jeff and Wolo's mecha.
Jeff continues to fight, but gets ensared in the rocket ropes. Then we see a shot of the three subfighters. Jeff is getting electrocuted when Cliff cuts the ropes. We see a number of shots of the team with Wolo's ship present. The team decides they need to unite as Voltron, but Wolo's still . . .
. . . flashing back about the turkey dragon throwing his brother and, erm, knocking the wind out of him. He comes to as Hawkins calls him. Wolo launches.
Brack laughs to see the robeast fighting Voltron. Hazar calls him and yells had him for disobeying his orders. Brack says "If he calls again, tell him I've defected and joined the Voltron force.
The team is fighting when Wolo rejoins them and they form Voltron. They attack the robeast, and Wolo gets them out of the rocket ropes when he flashes back to getting snared by vines. The robeast blinds them with an energy flash and then tunnels to get away. It reemerges, fights, buries itself, and repeats. They catch it as it pops up out of the ground again, and it gets sworded. It explodes, and Wolo thinks about his brother. He and Jeff have a good laugh and the camera pulls back to the Explorer in orbit.
We get a shot of the dual planets that were home to the worms in the ghost fleet episode, then we get Wolo and Jeff discussing the planet against footage of the team in the lounge.
I will be honest. The last couple of Voltron episodes have been tough slogging. I don't know why, because I've always preferred vehicle to lion (though I still love Lion Voltron). Maybe it just hasn't hit its stride yet. Regardless, I'm realy enjoying the Dairugger episodes, so I can't really explain it. And speaking of Dairugger. . .
Legend of the Space Forest
The Rugger Guard is in orbit with two escort ships. Ise and Asimov are watching the Rugger team as they survey the planet. A bridge crewman gives Ise that atmospheric breakdown. They call the Rugger team back, and Ise has some regrets about time spent on this planet, though Asimov says all the data they collect is important.
Aki is having much the same experience. Walter and keats decide to break off and do more survey before the Rugger Guard's 3 P.M. departure.
The air team looks over the ruins, speculating on the fate of the people and how the planet got to be so barren. Kruez, on the other hand, is staring off into the forest, thinking of a time his brother led him into the forest. And his first name is Shota. Shota Kruez. Huh. He asks Aki permission to stay a little longer.
At the Galveston frontline base, Captain Barataria contacts Staff Officer Church and tells him that he has on opportunity to attack the Earth survey force. The staff officer (totally not Drake) doesn't like the idea, and goes and bothers Teles in the shower. Teles decides that leaving the Earth force there is to their advantage.
Kreuz remembers more of the time in the forest with his brother. And the bird. And the vines. Like in Voltron. Then the Galveston battle machine causes and earthquake and emerges from the ground. His mecha (Rugger three) and he both tumble into the crevasse.
Aboard the Rugger Guard, Ise is unable to raise Kreuz.
Dr. Search is explainin what happened on this planet, and that it almost happened on Earth 200 years ago. We then see forests being destroyed. Ise then calls Aki and tells him that they've lost Kreuz. Aki goes to check on him.
Kreuz is hallucinating about the monster in the woods, and HOW HIS BROTHER SACRIFICED HIMSELF to save his life. In a way that really doesn't make a lot of sense (why didn't they just run out together? They had time while the monster was blinded.
Then the goofy looking battle machine appears and totally screams like old-school GOJIRA. When we return from the commercial, that scream is no longer present, and Kreuz weirdly wants revenge. So the battle machine's tactics are to catch a mecha in its rocket ropes, disable it with electric charges, and Barataria wants the battle machine to bring Rugger 3 back for analysis. That was a neat little touch.
Then Aki comes upon the battle machine. He evades the rocket ropes while trying to awaken Kreuz, but gets hit by the beam weapon, and then calls Ise to call for help. The Rugger teams launch, but the Dairugger footage is edited to Aki's machine doesn't appear (unlike in Voltron. That's really weird. Why would the WEP staff create their own continuit errors). However, Kreuz' ship appears TWICE in the formation shots. There's some more footage of individual Rugger ships being tossed around by the battle machine Aki tries to raise Kreuz.
Kreuz is remember running away from the monster, and then heading back for his brother. He hits the monster in the other eye with a spear, and it throws his brother, who then dies.
Ise finally succeeds in awakening him to form Dairugger.
Barataria urges the battle machine to finish the job. Then Teles appears on the viewer and orders him back. Oh, and Barataria's XO is named Sazahki.
The battle against the battle machine doesn't go so well now that they've formed Dairugger. The beastie tries its usual tactic of trapping them with rocket ropes, but first Kreuz has Aki kick the machine, then they just cut through them with the Rugger sword. Then it tries to use its digging ability to some advantage--basically, this battle is a little more varied from the fomrula they've fallen into in the last couple episodes. Then Kreuz catches sight of the thing just as its emerging. Good for him, that he had this episode. 'Cuz this is pretty much the last we'll hear from him beyond some group scenes. Kreuz has a final moment dedicated to his brother, and he tells the rest of the story. Which is basically him wandering from forest to forest trying to find the monster that sort of killed his brother.
Aki wants to know why he's so broody. Aki lets it go, because that's one less battle machine for Galveston. Then the Rugger Guard and the two other ships are poised to leave.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
A Temporary Truce/A Momentary Truce
A Temporary Truce
In a weird nebula, Drule forces are on a training exercise. Lenny Weinrib's Lotor voice is horribly pitch-shifted down to make him sound different. As Zabar, he criticises the pilot Sandu's ability. Then Sandu crashes into the two other fighters and spirals out of control.
The Explorer bridge crew detects the Drule fighter and warns the Voltron force where they're on the planet exploring things. The fighter crashes, and Ginger, Jeff and Cliff find the injured pilot and get him to sickbay.
In sickbay, Dr. Page, Debbie, and the three Voltron pilots are standing over the unconscious pilot and have some dumb dialogue.
At the Drule base, Hazar is dipleased that Zabar has lost a pilot. Brak enters with more missing pilot news; he's crabby because Zabar got command and he didn't. Hazar calls him a fool.
Professor Page and Hawkins look over the boy's chart when he regains consciousness and asks where he is in perfect English. Hawkis starts talking to him. He gets his name, Sandu, and find out that he crashed in a training exercise (after Hawkins insults him by suggesting that he ran away). Then he pours him hot chocolate (!?). Hawkins tells him he wants peace between the two sides. And then WEP realizes they have more footage than they have dialogue, and they create dumb filler nonsense about Sandu joining Voltron and Page blathers on about how awesome Voltron is. If he won't join Voltron, maybe he'll join them for lunch.
Hawkins takes him down to the lounge for more dumb dialogue, then Shannon has a freakout because his brother is a prisoner on planet Doom.
Then Zabar hears that Sandu is aboard the Explorer. He decides to get rid of the "captured" pilot by trickery.
Shannon is still freaking out. Then he and Sandu become friends. Um, after Hawkins punches him. He gets away with punching subordinates a lot. Oh, yeah, and Cliff, Crik, and Jeff all try to go make friends with him in the observation hallway.
Zabar tells his crew all the horrible things he's going to do to Sandu.
Hawkins informs the Galaxy Garrison that they have a member of the Drule empire. Commodore Steele decides to treat him as an envoy of peace.
Hawkins tells Newley that he has the authority now to make decisions about Sandu. They're both agreed to send him back to the Drules. Newley orders that his fighter be repaired. The repair crew refuses. Then the Voltron force volunteers to go. They try to fix the fighter. Hilarity ensues. But not before Hutch and Marvin teach Sandu how to play cards and Sandu makes friends with Shannon, who is sulking in the corner.
Zabar's fleet approaches and he contacts the Explorer. They agree that Sandu will be returned to his fleet. Sandu launches, Zabar's crew refuses to fire, so he does it him self. Sandu crashes, Shannon gets angsty, and then the dialogue tells us that Sandu totally didn't die.
A Momentary Truce
So did the ADV translator name this episode "momentary" instead of "temporary" just to make the names different?
We open on the same nebula as in Voltron. The battle sound effects are much more prominent. The Galveston commander is not impressed with the fighter pilots' skill. He says they've gotten rusty since the survey for new planets has begun. Then the ships crash and one spins off toward the Rugger Guard's survey planet.
The Rugger teams are studying the ruins somehow when the ship crashes. Aki, Walter and Patty find the pilot and bring him to sickbay. In sickbay they speculate somewhat about his origins.
Drake reports to Teles that the movements of the Earth fleet are at a standstill. Barataria comes to complain to Teles that Gramont is wasting time with training exercises. He wants them to attack the survey force. Teles says the planet is useless, and that as long as the survey force doesn't leave, they can keep them contained.
On the Rugger Guard, Ise interviews Shim. It doesn't go so well at first, but Shim can apparently speak Japanese. First Ise insults him by suggesting that he ran away. Then he embarasses him by asking him if he was in combat. Search actually has to pull him back somewhat. When Shim explains that he was in an accident, Ise comiserates--he had a similar experience in training. He pours Shim coffee. Then he tells Shim that they want to join forces for exploration. Ise asks him where the home planet is--Shim says he has fought in so many places since joining the fleet that he has no idea where the homeworld is. Search laughs and tells Ise that the kid got him. Then Shim asks him if he is to be executed. Ise is taken aback, and invites him to lunch.
Izumo has his freakout as in Voltron.
Gramont's troops have not found Shim's fighter. Gramont assumes that Shim has been picked up by the Earth survey force, and has spilled secrent--he must be killed.
Izumo insinuates that Shim may have killed some of their friends. Ise punches him and tells him that maybe he's killed some of Shim's friends. Then Shim grabs a knife and tries to stab himself, but Aki stops him. Shim runs, and Aki tells Izumo that it's all his fault. Out in the window corridor, Aki, eats and Walter make friendly overtures to him.
On Gramont's ship, all the bridge crew are sitting at their consoles, ruminating about the fact they have to go execute one of their own. Gramont seems to like this idea.
Asimov and Ise agree that Shim is to be sent back to the Galveston empire. They take responsibility for it in light of the communications disruption after the space fortress raid. The work crew assigned to repair Shim's fighter has refused to repair it.
In the lounge, Shim and Nagato are playing cards, while Izu (distinct from Ise and Izumo) is backseat driving. Shim sees Izumo sulking by himself, and he goes to shake hands. The crew cheers, and then they hear Ise clapping. He says he wishes the rest of the galaxy were like them. He turns to leave. Izumo asks him what's going to happen to Shim. Ise says they're sending him back, but the crew sent to repair Shim's fighter is refusing. Izumo convinces the team to help.
They work on the machine, and through their incompetence convince the repair crew to take over for them.
Gramont's fleet approaches the planet and the Rugger Guard. He hails the Earth Survey Force and requests the return of their pilot. Ise and Asimov try to compell him to show mercy to Shim and take news of a desire for peace to his superiors. Gramont agrees, but as soon as the call is over, he tells his crew to kill Shim.
On the planet, the repair crew is finishing up repairs. The Gramont fleet appears over the horizon. He gets in his ship to leave, and Izumo suddenly tells him not to leave.
The bridge crew of Gramont's ship refuse to fire.
Izumo starts running after Shim's fighter.
Gramont fires on him. He crashes. Izumo runs to the wreck. Shim is wounded but alive, but decides to stay with his fighter and die when its fuel explodes. because now he has no home and can't live with the survey force. Izumo cusses out Galveston for killing their own.
In a weird nebula, Drule forces are on a training exercise. Lenny Weinrib's Lotor voice is horribly pitch-shifted down to make him sound different. As Zabar, he criticises the pilot Sandu's ability. Then Sandu crashes into the two other fighters and spirals out of control.
The Explorer bridge crew detects the Drule fighter and warns the Voltron force where they're on the planet exploring things. The fighter crashes, and Ginger, Jeff and Cliff find the injured pilot and get him to sickbay.
In sickbay, Dr. Page, Debbie, and the three Voltron pilots are standing over the unconscious pilot and have some dumb dialogue.
At the Drule base, Hazar is dipleased that Zabar has lost a pilot. Brak enters with more missing pilot news; he's crabby because Zabar got command and he didn't. Hazar calls him a fool.
Professor Page and Hawkins look over the boy's chart when he regains consciousness and asks where he is in perfect English. Hawkis starts talking to him. He gets his name, Sandu, and find out that he crashed in a training exercise (after Hawkins insults him by suggesting that he ran away). Then he pours him hot chocolate (!?). Hawkins tells him he wants peace between the two sides. And then WEP realizes they have more footage than they have dialogue, and they create dumb filler nonsense about Sandu joining Voltron and Page blathers on about how awesome Voltron is. If he won't join Voltron, maybe he'll join them for lunch.
Hawkins takes him down to the lounge for more dumb dialogue, then Shannon has a freakout because his brother is a prisoner on planet Doom.
Then Zabar hears that Sandu is aboard the Explorer. He decides to get rid of the "captured" pilot by trickery.
Shannon is still freaking out. Then he and Sandu become friends. Um, after Hawkins punches him. He gets away with punching subordinates a lot. Oh, yeah, and Cliff, Crik, and Jeff all try to go make friends with him in the observation hallway.
Zabar tells his crew all the horrible things he's going to do to Sandu.
Hawkins informs the Galaxy Garrison that they have a member of the Drule empire. Commodore Steele decides to treat him as an envoy of peace.
Hawkins tells Newley that he has the authority now to make decisions about Sandu. They're both agreed to send him back to the Drules. Newley orders that his fighter be repaired. The repair crew refuses. Then the Voltron force volunteers to go. They try to fix the fighter. Hilarity ensues. But not before Hutch and Marvin teach Sandu how to play cards and Sandu makes friends with Shannon, who is sulking in the corner.
Zabar's fleet approaches and he contacts the Explorer. They agree that Sandu will be returned to his fleet. Sandu launches, Zabar's crew refuses to fire, so he does it him self. Sandu crashes, Shannon gets angsty, and then the dialogue tells us that Sandu totally didn't die.
A Momentary Truce
So did the ADV translator name this episode "momentary" instead of "temporary" just to make the names different?
We open on the same nebula as in Voltron. The battle sound effects are much more prominent. The Galveston commander is not impressed with the fighter pilots' skill. He says they've gotten rusty since the survey for new planets has begun. Then the ships crash and one spins off toward the Rugger Guard's survey planet.
The Rugger teams are studying the ruins somehow when the ship crashes. Aki, Walter and Patty find the pilot and bring him to sickbay. In sickbay they speculate somewhat about his origins.
Drake reports to Teles that the movements of the Earth fleet are at a standstill. Barataria comes to complain to Teles that Gramont is wasting time with training exercises. He wants them to attack the survey force. Teles says the planet is useless, and that as long as the survey force doesn't leave, they can keep them contained.
On the Rugger Guard, Ise interviews Shim. It doesn't go so well at first, but Shim can apparently speak Japanese. First Ise insults him by suggesting that he ran away. Then he embarasses him by asking him if he was in combat. Search actually has to pull him back somewhat. When Shim explains that he was in an accident, Ise comiserates--he had a similar experience in training. He pours Shim coffee. Then he tells Shim that they want to join forces for exploration. Ise asks him where the home planet is--Shim says he has fought in so many places since joining the fleet that he has no idea where the homeworld is. Search laughs and tells Ise that the kid got him. Then Shim asks him if he is to be executed. Ise is taken aback, and invites him to lunch.
Izumo has his freakout as in Voltron.
Gramont's troops have not found Shim's fighter. Gramont assumes that Shim has been picked up by the Earth survey force, and has spilled secrent--he must be killed.
Izumo insinuates that Shim may have killed some of their friends. Ise punches him and tells him that maybe he's killed some of Shim's friends. Then Shim grabs a knife and tries to stab himself, but Aki stops him. Shim runs, and Aki tells Izumo that it's all his fault. Out in the window corridor, Aki, eats and Walter make friendly overtures to him.
On Gramont's ship, all the bridge crew are sitting at their consoles, ruminating about the fact they have to go execute one of their own. Gramont seems to like this idea.
Asimov and Ise agree that Shim is to be sent back to the Galveston empire. They take responsibility for it in light of the communications disruption after the space fortress raid. The work crew assigned to repair Shim's fighter has refused to repair it.
In the lounge, Shim and Nagato are playing cards, while Izu (distinct from Ise and Izumo) is backseat driving. Shim sees Izumo sulking by himself, and he goes to shake hands. The crew cheers, and then they hear Ise clapping. He says he wishes the rest of the galaxy were like them. He turns to leave. Izumo asks him what's going to happen to Shim. Ise says they're sending him back, but the crew sent to repair Shim's fighter is refusing. Izumo convinces the team to help.
They work on the machine, and through their incompetence convince the repair crew to take over for them.
Gramont's fleet approaches the planet and the Rugger Guard. He hails the Earth Survey Force and requests the return of their pilot. Ise and Asimov try to compell him to show mercy to Shim and take news of a desire for peace to his superiors. Gramont agrees, but as soon as the call is over, he tells his crew to kill Shim.
On the planet, the repair crew is finishing up repairs. The Gramont fleet appears over the horizon. He gets in his ship to leave, and Izumo suddenly tells him not to leave.
The bridge crew of Gramont's ship refuse to fire.
Izumo starts running after Shim's fighter.
Gramont fires on him. He crashes. Izumo runs to the wreck. Shim is wounded but alive, but decides to stay with his fighter and die when its fuel explodes. because now he has no home and can't live with the survey force. Izumo cusses out Galveston for killing their own.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Planet of the Bats/Sneak Attack on the Space Fortress
Planet of the Bats
The Explorer moves through an asteroid belt. We hear Captain Newley order them to cut primary jets. We cut to the bridge with Sparks reporting that he gets no response from the planet. Newley and Hawkins decide to launch the Voltron Force.
Apparently not far from here, a Drule fleet is approaching. Captain Nerok is aboard his flagship and wants them monitored.
The Voltron force is flying over the surface of the planet. It has a breathable atmosphere and . . . a city that looks downright Mesoamerican. The different teams split up to take their assigned environments. The land team cruises through the city while Jeff sends information back to the Explorer. Hawkins decides to report back to Galaxy Garrison.
Hazar and Mongo are discussing what the Garrison will do with this planet. Hazar decides to send Mongo to the planet.
The land team, ever the professionals, are being a bunch of giggling dumbfracks wandering around the deserted city. Murdock tosses a humanoid skull at Hutch and Marvin. Then Cinda and Murdock continue up the stairs into a cave. Murdock enters the care without Cinda, and basically gets rabies from bats. Oh, did I ruin it for you? Sorry. The bats seem to have beaks, though. Scared out of the cave by the bats, Murdock goes running past Cinda and gets in his mecha, which he proceeds to drive recklessly. Finally Cliff tells him to put it on autopilot and it goes back to the Explorer.
Hawkins goes to check on Murdock while the bridge crew receives news that two support fleets are being sent (yeah, that'll end well). Debbie explains to Hawkins that there's no reason for Murdock to (RABIES!!!) suddenly be ill. *ahem-rabies-ahem*. The sickbay smocks look like fencing jackets.
Back on Galaxy Garrison, there's a lot of babbling that sounds like plot but is just filler since WEP didn't know what the hell was going on with the story. They're sending Major Flagg, on loan from G.I. Joe, with the support fleets. They lose contact with the space station.
Then we see jamming satellites. Mongo's fleet is attacking the support fleet ships on the space station. The Drule fighters and the robeast take out most of the Garrison ships. There are some cool imgaes of drifting, burning ships.
The Explorer bridge crew can't raise Major Flagg or the support fleet.
The land team is second-guessing Dr. Page in the sickbay. Page has figured out what's wrong with Murdock. Then he talks about archaeologists who were struck down by the curse of the pharoahs (which, um, was aspergillus, a fungal infection).
Mongo leaves the burning space station and the wreckage of the fleet.
The Voltron force launches and faces Nerok's (Invid designed) robeast.
Page injects Murdock with the anti . . . venom. Whatever.
Nerok's flagship fires on the Explorer while the team is taking fire from the Invid tripod. In individual ships they're not strong enough, and the Explorer is taking heavy fire from Nerok.
In sickbay, Murdock regains consciousness. He figures out that they're under attack, and staggers out of sickbay to his mecha. He rejoins the team and they form Voltron. After taking a shot at the robeast himself.
As Voltron, they dodge laserfire from the robeast, then kick it. In the head. If that is the head. Then it gets back up and grabs Voltron and electrocutes everyone. Then they get loose, destroy one set of weapons with the wing beam, and another with the spinning laser blades. Then they form blazing sword and it gets all blowed up.
For the second episode in a row, the Drule ship sees the robeast defeated and flees Voltron. In their defense, they only had one ship. Then there's the usual "Voltron is awesome" speech at the end, and Voltron poses. Awww.
Sneak Attack on the Space Fortress
You can tell just from the titles that Toei and WEP had two totally different sets of priorities for this episode. The important thing for Voltron was what happened to and affected the Voltron force; in Dairugger, it's the fact that the space fortress, central to GG's policy of exploration, is attacked.
The Rugger Guard flies through space. The main engine is shut down as it approaches a new, unresponsive planet. The Rugger team is lost.
A Galveston flagship, surrounded by fighters, is also moving toward the planet. It is the fleet commanded by Lafitte. They will not reach the planet for some time.
The teams make their initial survey. The air is breathable. Then they come upon the ruins of a city. Aki divides the teams into their environments. Walter Team moves through the city, disturbing alien bats. Again, the background artist did a magnificent job. I'd almost want prints of this stuff.
Ise is impressed with the discovery of a ruined city. He and Asimov send the information to Galaxy Garrison.
In Teles' classically-decorated office, he and Drake discuss the possibility of a more extensive support fleet to come.
On the planet, Chukker suddenly tears past Walter in his mecha, then crashes. He tells Walter his going to collapse, and Walter has him set for autopilot and return to the Rugger Guard. On the Guard, Ise goes to see Chukker in sickbay, and they receive word from the space fortress that two full fleets are available to be sent for support.
On Earth, the council discusses the discovery of the new, inhabitable planet. The civilian administrators are apparently now more prepared to send a support fleet. Director Dewa arrives, and he contacts Date at the Space Fortress. Date regrets the loss of the Miran and Salan fleets and then he is cut off by interference. They try to reestablish contact from Earth, but a swarm of jamming satellites has been launched by Drake's fleet. Drake sends his fighters after the assembled fleets, and a battle machine after the base itself.
At the space fortress, they struggle to contact anyone through the jamming. They find the jamming satellites just as the Galveston fighters enter attack range. Date is unable to launch fighters because the support fleet ships are blocking the fortress' launch ports. The battle rages, and the docked fleet ships are destroyed. The fortress is engulfed in flames.
The Rugger Guard is concerned about the lack of contact with the space fortress so close to a support fleet launch. They are also concerned about Chukker.
Kirigas tells Dr. Search what happened when they landed on the planet. The Walter team got out of their ships and explored the city. Kirigas, Chukker, and Nagato desecrate some native remains. Chukker and Kirigas scale the stairs up to a cave. Chukker decides to go cave exploring. Kirigas protests, but it's too late. Chukker is exploring the cave when he awakens and frightens more bats. The bats make him drop his flashlight, and he starts coughing and his eyes turn red. He rushes out of the cave and tears past Kirigas, jumps into his mecha and starts driving recklessly.
Kirigas speculates that it has to do with the cave. Dr. Search talks about King Tut and aspergillis. And bats.
Drakes forces leave the space fortress damaged and he two support fleets wiped out. He communicates to Teles that the raid is successful.
The Rugger Guard gets word of the attack on the space fortress just as they detect Laffite's fleet coming into attack range. Dr. Search injects Chukker just as they launch. The battle ranges with the Rugger team fighting in their individual mecha. The battle machine appears, and Aki has the team lure it to the planet's surface. Lafitte orders his fleet to attack the Rugger Guard.
Chukker is out of his fever. Aki asks about Chukker's status--Search says it's improved, but he's in no condition to fight. Then Lafitte's flagship bombards the Rugger Guard.
On the planet, the team is not making any impression on the battle machine, and Ise and Asimov debate withdrawal. Asimov decides that they'll take the fight to the planet alongside the Rugger team.
Chukker awakens, hears then sounds of battle, then staggers out of bed to rejoin the team. He launches as Laffite's ship pounds the Rugger Guard. Chukker rejoins the team and they form Dairugger.
The battle follows what's becoming the Dairugger formula--D dodges lasers, kicks mecha, mecha gets up, electrocutes/microwaves/traps with rocket ropes, they break free, destroy armament with beam weapons, form Rugger sword, battle machine makes last charge, explodes.
The Rugger Guard and Lafitte's ship arrive just as the battle machine explodes. Laffitte decides that they ca't face both the alien battle machine and the survey ship, so he withdraws. Chukker admires the sunset.
The Explorer moves through an asteroid belt. We hear Captain Newley order them to cut primary jets. We cut to the bridge with Sparks reporting that he gets no response from the planet. Newley and Hawkins decide to launch the Voltron Force.
Apparently not far from here, a Drule fleet is approaching. Captain Nerok is aboard his flagship and wants them monitored.
The Voltron force is flying over the surface of the planet. It has a breathable atmosphere and . . . a city that looks downright Mesoamerican. The different teams split up to take their assigned environments. The land team cruises through the city while Jeff sends information back to the Explorer. Hawkins decides to report back to Galaxy Garrison.
Hazar and Mongo are discussing what the Garrison will do with this planet. Hazar decides to send Mongo to the planet.
The land team, ever the professionals, are being a bunch of giggling dumbfracks wandering around the deserted city. Murdock tosses a humanoid skull at Hutch and Marvin. Then Cinda and Murdock continue up the stairs into a cave. Murdock enters the care without Cinda, and basically gets rabies from bats. Oh, did I ruin it for you? Sorry. The bats seem to have beaks, though. Scared out of the cave by the bats, Murdock goes running past Cinda and gets in his mecha, which he proceeds to drive recklessly. Finally Cliff tells him to put it on autopilot and it goes back to the Explorer.
Hawkins goes to check on Murdock while the bridge crew receives news that two support fleets are being sent (yeah, that'll end well). Debbie explains to Hawkins that there's no reason for Murdock to (RABIES!!!) suddenly be ill. *ahem-rabies-ahem*. The sickbay smocks look like fencing jackets.
Back on Galaxy Garrison, there's a lot of babbling that sounds like plot but is just filler since WEP didn't know what the hell was going on with the story. They're sending Major Flagg, on loan from G.I. Joe, with the support fleets. They lose contact with the space station.
Then we see jamming satellites. Mongo's fleet is attacking the support fleet ships on the space station. The Drule fighters and the robeast take out most of the Garrison ships. There are some cool imgaes of drifting, burning ships.
The Explorer bridge crew can't raise Major Flagg or the support fleet.
The land team is second-guessing Dr. Page in the sickbay. Page has figured out what's wrong with Murdock. Then he talks about archaeologists who were struck down by the curse of the pharoahs (which, um, was aspergillus, a fungal infection).
Mongo leaves the burning space station and the wreckage of the fleet.
The Voltron force launches and faces Nerok's (Invid designed) robeast.
Page injects Murdock with the anti . . . venom. Whatever.
Nerok's flagship fires on the Explorer while the team is taking fire from the Invid tripod. In individual ships they're not strong enough, and the Explorer is taking heavy fire from Nerok.
In sickbay, Murdock regains consciousness. He figures out that they're under attack, and staggers out of sickbay to his mecha. He rejoins the team and they form Voltron. After taking a shot at the robeast himself.
As Voltron, they dodge laserfire from the robeast, then kick it. In the head. If that is the head. Then it gets back up and grabs Voltron and electrocutes everyone. Then they get loose, destroy one set of weapons with the wing beam, and another with the spinning laser blades. Then they form blazing sword and it gets all blowed up.
For the second episode in a row, the Drule ship sees the robeast defeated and flees Voltron. In their defense, they only had one ship. Then there's the usual "Voltron is awesome" speech at the end, and Voltron poses. Awww.
Sneak Attack on the Space Fortress
You can tell just from the titles that Toei and WEP had two totally different sets of priorities for this episode. The important thing for Voltron was what happened to and affected the Voltron force; in Dairugger, it's the fact that the space fortress, central to GG's policy of exploration, is attacked.
The Rugger Guard flies through space. The main engine is shut down as it approaches a new, unresponsive planet. The Rugger team is lost.
A Galveston flagship, surrounded by fighters, is also moving toward the planet. It is the fleet commanded by Lafitte. They will not reach the planet for some time.
The teams make their initial survey. The air is breathable. Then they come upon the ruins of a city. Aki divides the teams into their environments. Walter Team moves through the city, disturbing alien bats. Again, the background artist did a magnificent job. I'd almost want prints of this stuff.
Ise is impressed with the discovery of a ruined city. He and Asimov send the information to Galaxy Garrison.
In Teles' classically-decorated office, he and Drake discuss the possibility of a more extensive support fleet to come.
On the planet, Chukker suddenly tears past Walter in his mecha, then crashes. He tells Walter his going to collapse, and Walter has him set for autopilot and return to the Rugger Guard. On the Guard, Ise goes to see Chukker in sickbay, and they receive word from the space fortress that two full fleets are available to be sent for support.
On Earth, the council discusses the discovery of the new, inhabitable planet. The civilian administrators are apparently now more prepared to send a support fleet. Director Dewa arrives, and he contacts Date at the Space Fortress. Date regrets the loss of the Miran and Salan fleets and then he is cut off by interference. They try to reestablish contact from Earth, but a swarm of jamming satellites has been launched by Drake's fleet. Drake sends his fighters after the assembled fleets, and a battle machine after the base itself.
At the space fortress, they struggle to contact anyone through the jamming. They find the jamming satellites just as the Galveston fighters enter attack range. Date is unable to launch fighters because the support fleet ships are blocking the fortress' launch ports. The battle rages, and the docked fleet ships are destroyed. The fortress is engulfed in flames.
The Rugger Guard is concerned about the lack of contact with the space fortress so close to a support fleet launch. They are also concerned about Chukker.
Kirigas tells Dr. Search what happened when they landed on the planet. The Walter team got out of their ships and explored the city. Kirigas, Chukker, and Nagato desecrate some native remains. Chukker and Kirigas scale the stairs up to a cave. Chukker decides to go cave exploring. Kirigas protests, but it's too late. Chukker is exploring the cave when he awakens and frightens more bats. The bats make him drop his flashlight, and he starts coughing and his eyes turn red. He rushes out of the cave and tears past Kirigas, jumps into his mecha and starts driving recklessly.
Kirigas speculates that it has to do with the cave. Dr. Search talks about King Tut and aspergillis. And bats.
Drakes forces leave the space fortress damaged and he two support fleets wiped out. He communicates to Teles that the raid is successful.
The Rugger Guard gets word of the attack on the space fortress just as they detect Laffite's fleet coming into attack range. Dr. Search injects Chukker just as they launch. The battle ranges with the Rugger team fighting in their individual mecha. The battle machine appears, and Aki has the team lure it to the planet's surface. Lafitte orders his fleet to attack the Rugger Guard.
Chukker is out of his fever. Aki asks about Chukker's status--Search says it's improved, but he's in no condition to fight. Then Lafitte's flagship bombards the Rugger Guard.
On the planet, the team is not making any impression on the battle machine, and Ise and Asimov debate withdrawal. Asimov decides that they'll take the fight to the planet alongside the Rugger team.
Chukker awakens, hears then sounds of battle, then staggers out of bed to rejoin the team. He launches as Laffite's ship pounds the Rugger Guard. Chukker rejoins the team and they form Dairugger.
The battle follows what's becoming the Dairugger formula--D dodges lasers, kicks mecha, mecha gets up, electrocutes/microwaves/traps with rocket ropes, they break free, destroy armament with beam weapons, form Rugger sword, battle machine makes last charge, explodes.
The Rugger Guard and Lafitte's ship arrive just as the battle machine explodes. Laffitte decides that they ca't face both the alien battle machine and the survey ship, so he withdraws. Chukker admires the sunset.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
A Very Short Vacation/The Glorious Suicide Corps
A Very Short Vacation
The Explorer is traveling through deep space. On the lounge, Hardware comes upon Lisa and Ginger dozing. And then walks past the rest of the Voltron force (including Lisa and Ginger) also restingon the lounge. In Newley's office, Jeff, Page, Hawkins, and Newley are discussing the exhaustion that's incapacitated the crew. Jeff wants leave on the next planet, Hawkins wants them to wait until the resupply fleet arrive. Newley takes Jeff's side, which is good because another crewmember has collapsed.
Hawkins tells him to scout planet Nanos.
The supply convoy is traveling through deep space. At the space station, they are concerned that there is no armed escort for the supply convoy. The space station administrator calls up some dude on the phone who answers at a pool that the committee in charge of such things is on a "field trip." At Galaxy Garrison, they discuss the fact that . . . they messed up. They'll be forced to recall the supply convoy despite the fact that it's depriving the Explorer of supplies. Commander Kahn of the space station calls Galaxy Garrison, and Commander Steele tells him to recall the supply convoy. Kahn is indignant, and says he'll take responsibility for the unescorted convoy.
The Air Team is surveying planet Nanos. Ginger sends a message back to the Explorer that, um, focuses on the planet's usefulness for R & R. They fly right over Zabar's fleet. Zabar sounds exactly like Lotor. And looks vaguely like him. Hmm. Was WEP going to try to make him the same guy? Dunno.
The Air Team is flying at night. Apparently Pidge was here (y'know, the main dude from the other Voltron) and said night lasted 60 days. Ginger sees reflected light. Like, y'know, off of the hull of a Drule ship. Jeff convinces her that it was nothing. Zabar gloats.
The Explorer lands. R & R begins immediately. The Voltron force rushes out to the flight deck. Jeff makes some lame joke about guard duty. In the next shot, they're already in the water. I hope they checked for micro-worms.
Commander Kahn is talking to blue leader, commander of the supply convoy. He tells him to rendezvous with the Explorer on planet Nanos. The next shot is of a Drule charioteer hovering, watching the fleet go by. Zabar contacts Mongo and warns him of the approach of a new enemy fleet. Mongo determines to stop the supply convoy.
The space station monitors the progress of the convoy. Then the convoy picks up something on radar. Blue leader tells them to steer directly through the center of the enemy forces. A swarm of fighters dives in at them. And the supply convoy is being destroyed ship by ship.
We then cut to . . . Cinda's blue legs. Apparently the Voltron force has no sexual harassment policy. Hawkins and Newley are on the bridge, looking out over the crew that is apparently nothing more than a bunch of frat boys.
Zabar plans to attack the Explorer. On the bridge, they get notice that the convoy is under attack, then they get a radar signal from the north. Hawkins recalls the Voltron force, and we get weird moment between Jeff and Ginger. Then we get the launch sequence.
Zabar's XO tells him that fighters have been launched. He launches the robeast. The team sees it coming. They form Voltron immediately. There are some preliminary fire exchanges, then the robeast ensnares Voltron with rocket ropes.
The Explorer bridge crew is watching the battle, and then they see Zabar's fleet approaching. Voltron, caught in the rocket rope, dives into the ocean, dragging the beast afer him. Zabar's fleet gets closer to the Explorer. Crik directs Jeff to a cliff. Voltron release some kind of mines that collapes the cliff on top of the robeast and evere the rocket rope. Then Voltron forms blazing sword and ends the robeast.
Zabar is aaalmost in range of the Explorer. Then they see Voltron and. Just. Leave. Huh.
The Explorer is back in space. Hawkins is pissed 'cuz Jeff missed Zabar's fleet. Then he goes to get some rest. Then the Explorer is back on the planet, and the radar operator sees that two supply ships have made it. The Voltron froce runs around in corridors as the two ships approach. Then we get another weird moment with Jeff and Ginger. Then the Explorer is back in space and Jeff treats us to the ice cream and vega sauce scene with different dialogue (that I'm not going to write down).
The Glorious Suicide Corps
Another suicide corps title. Is this like standard Toei policy, to have one episode title with "suicide corps" in each series.
The Rugger Guard crew is exhausted. Ise and Search unfairly gang up on Aki, but Asimov agrees. Taking care of the steel eating worms was hard work. A crewmember is hauled off on a gurney somewhere after collapsing from overwork. Ise agrees to let Aki perform a survey of the next planet, preparing it for R & R.
The Salan/Miran Alliance fleet arrives at the space fortress. The Galaxy Garrison contingent has not lifted off. Apparently, all the administrators are off for the weekend. The Galxay Garrison council is upset that they don't have the authority to make the decision in the administration's absence. The space fortress commander Date calls. He's going to send the Mirans and Salans without the Garrison forces. (That's Date with an audible -e at the end).
The air team has surveyed the southern hemisphere of the planet. As they cross the terminator into night, Patty sends a report back to the Rugger Guard. The crew is pretty much slumping in the hallways.
The air teem flies right over Gramont's Galveston fleet. He thinks the Earth fleet has simply found the planet by mistake. He says he'll wait until the support fleet arrives--his own, or the Earth one.
The air team discusses the drastic temperature changes between night and day. Patty is about to send the northen hemisphere when she sees something by the lake. But they've been by the lake and hadn't found anything. So they leave the Gramont fleet hidden. He orders the supply fleet's arrival to be sped up, and that they'll attack the Earth ship here. Yeah . . . his dialogue is confusing me here.
As the team rushes to the flight deck, Aki stops them and puts them on shifts--it's Walter team's turn first.
Commander Date briefs Negure, the supply convoy's commander. A lone space charioteer sights the fleet and contacts Drake. Drake prepares to attack in order to prevent the rendezvous on the fourth planet.
Negure prepares his ships for attack. Date is notified that the Miran/Salan fleet is in the alert zone. Negure's radar operator detects a flight of enemy fighters. Negure orders the fleet to drive through them. The Miran and Salan escort ships don't fare so well. Then the fighters attack the transports. Negure's face is super-imposed over flames to the sound of screaming.
Then we get the same sexual harassment scene. And Ise seems miffed that Aki was right about the need for rest. On the planet's nightside, three destroyers arrive. Oh. That's the Galveston resupply fleet. They discuss Drake's battle with the earth resupply fleet.
Galaxy Garrison contacts the Rugger Guard, advising them of the battle, and then they get a radar signal from the north. The rugger teams are deployed, and Aki gets sulky about being open to a surprise attack being his fault. They launch.
The three ships of Gramont's fleet see the Rugger launch. He responds by launching his own battle machine. Aki sulks for a moment, then gives the order to form Dairugger. The fight goes about the same way as in Voltron, with no real cut footage.
When the Rugger Guard sights Gramont's fleet, they deploy weapon turrets. Some of them rise up out of the flight deck, which is a strange place for weapon turrets.
Keats is pretty much guiding the course of this battle. And apparenly Keats team can launch depth charges--out of the radar dish plate on Walter's mecha. Huh. Then they form the rugby sword and the battle machine is over.
Gramont is about to fire all weapons when he sees Dairugger approaching and just leaves. Well, in his defense, he does seem to have only three ships.
Oh, Ise punches Ake. That was cut out of Voltron. Ise tells them that the entire support fleet was lost. Except that it wasn't. Two supply ships make it. Which makes Ise sort of a dick.
The Explorer is traveling through deep space. On the lounge, Hardware comes upon Lisa and Ginger dozing. And then walks past the rest of the Voltron force (including Lisa and Ginger) also restingon the lounge. In Newley's office, Jeff, Page, Hawkins, and Newley are discussing the exhaustion that's incapacitated the crew. Jeff wants leave on the next planet, Hawkins wants them to wait until the resupply fleet arrive. Newley takes Jeff's side, which is good because another crewmember has collapsed.
Hawkins tells him to scout planet Nanos.
The supply convoy is traveling through deep space. At the space station, they are concerned that there is no armed escort for the supply convoy. The space station administrator calls up some dude on the phone who answers at a pool that the committee in charge of such things is on a "field trip." At Galaxy Garrison, they discuss the fact that . . . they messed up. They'll be forced to recall the supply convoy despite the fact that it's depriving the Explorer of supplies. Commander Kahn of the space station calls Galaxy Garrison, and Commander Steele tells him to recall the supply convoy. Kahn is indignant, and says he'll take responsibility for the unescorted convoy.
The Air Team is surveying planet Nanos. Ginger sends a message back to the Explorer that, um, focuses on the planet's usefulness for R & R. They fly right over Zabar's fleet. Zabar sounds exactly like Lotor. And looks vaguely like him. Hmm. Was WEP going to try to make him the same guy? Dunno.
The Air Team is flying at night. Apparently Pidge was here (y'know, the main dude from the other Voltron) and said night lasted 60 days. Ginger sees reflected light. Like, y'know, off of the hull of a Drule ship. Jeff convinces her that it was nothing. Zabar gloats.
The Explorer lands. R & R begins immediately. The Voltron force rushes out to the flight deck. Jeff makes some lame joke about guard duty. In the next shot, they're already in the water. I hope they checked for micro-worms.
Commander Kahn is talking to blue leader, commander of the supply convoy. He tells him to rendezvous with the Explorer on planet Nanos. The next shot is of a Drule charioteer hovering, watching the fleet go by. Zabar contacts Mongo and warns him of the approach of a new enemy fleet. Mongo determines to stop the supply convoy.
The space station monitors the progress of the convoy. Then the convoy picks up something on radar. Blue leader tells them to steer directly through the center of the enemy forces. A swarm of fighters dives in at them. And the supply convoy is being destroyed ship by ship.
We then cut to . . . Cinda's blue legs. Apparently the Voltron force has no sexual harassment policy. Hawkins and Newley are on the bridge, looking out over the crew that is apparently nothing more than a bunch of frat boys.
Zabar plans to attack the Explorer. On the bridge, they get notice that the convoy is under attack, then they get a radar signal from the north. Hawkins recalls the Voltron force, and we get weird moment between Jeff and Ginger. Then we get the launch sequence.
Zabar's XO tells him that fighters have been launched. He launches the robeast. The team sees it coming. They form Voltron immediately. There are some preliminary fire exchanges, then the robeast ensnares Voltron with rocket ropes.
The Explorer bridge crew is watching the battle, and then they see Zabar's fleet approaching. Voltron, caught in the rocket rope, dives into the ocean, dragging the beast afer him. Zabar's fleet gets closer to the Explorer. Crik directs Jeff to a cliff. Voltron release some kind of mines that collapes the cliff on top of the robeast and evere the rocket rope. Then Voltron forms blazing sword and ends the robeast.
Zabar is aaalmost in range of the Explorer. Then they see Voltron and. Just. Leave. Huh.
The Explorer is back in space. Hawkins is pissed 'cuz Jeff missed Zabar's fleet. Then he goes to get some rest. Then the Explorer is back on the planet, and the radar operator sees that two supply ships have made it. The Voltron froce runs around in corridors as the two ships approach. Then we get another weird moment with Jeff and Ginger. Then the Explorer is back in space and Jeff treats us to the ice cream and vega sauce scene with different dialogue (that I'm not going to write down).
The Glorious Suicide Corps
Another suicide corps title. Is this like standard Toei policy, to have one episode title with "suicide corps" in each series.
The Rugger Guard crew is exhausted. Ise and Search unfairly gang up on Aki, but Asimov agrees. Taking care of the steel eating worms was hard work. A crewmember is hauled off on a gurney somewhere after collapsing from overwork. Ise agrees to let Aki perform a survey of the next planet, preparing it for R & R.
The Salan/Miran Alliance fleet arrives at the space fortress. The Galaxy Garrison contingent has not lifted off. Apparently, all the administrators are off for the weekend. The Galxay Garrison council is upset that they don't have the authority to make the decision in the administration's absence. The space fortress commander Date calls. He's going to send the Mirans and Salans without the Garrison forces. (That's Date with an audible -e at the end).
The air team has surveyed the southern hemisphere of the planet. As they cross the terminator into night, Patty sends a report back to the Rugger Guard. The crew is pretty much slumping in the hallways.
The air teem flies right over Gramont's Galveston fleet. He thinks the Earth fleet has simply found the planet by mistake. He says he'll wait until the support fleet arrives--his own, or the Earth one.
The air team discusses the drastic temperature changes between night and day. Patty is about to send the northen hemisphere when she sees something by the lake. But they've been by the lake and hadn't found anything. So they leave the Gramont fleet hidden. He orders the supply fleet's arrival to be sped up, and that they'll attack the Earth ship here. Yeah . . . his dialogue is confusing me here.
As the team rushes to the flight deck, Aki stops them and puts them on shifts--it's Walter team's turn first.
Commander Date briefs Negure, the supply convoy's commander. A lone space charioteer sights the fleet and contacts Drake. Drake prepares to attack in order to prevent the rendezvous on the fourth planet.
Negure prepares his ships for attack. Date is notified that the Miran/Salan fleet is in the alert zone. Negure's radar operator detects a flight of enemy fighters. Negure orders the fleet to drive through them. The Miran and Salan escort ships don't fare so well. Then the fighters attack the transports. Negure's face is super-imposed over flames to the sound of screaming.
Then we get the same sexual harassment scene. And Ise seems miffed that Aki was right about the need for rest. On the planet's nightside, three destroyers arrive. Oh. That's the Galveston resupply fleet. They discuss Drake's battle with the earth resupply fleet.
Galaxy Garrison contacts the Rugger Guard, advising them of the battle, and then they get a radar signal from the north. The rugger teams are deployed, and Aki gets sulky about being open to a surprise attack being his fault. They launch.
The three ships of Gramont's fleet see the Rugger launch. He responds by launching his own battle machine. Aki sulks for a moment, then gives the order to form Dairugger. The fight goes about the same way as in Voltron, with no real cut footage.
When the Rugger Guard sights Gramont's fleet, they deploy weapon turrets. Some of them rise up out of the flight deck, which is a strange place for weapon turrets.
Keats is pretty much guiding the course of this battle. And apparenly Keats team can launch depth charges--out of the radar dish plate on Walter's mecha. Huh. Then they form the rugby sword and the battle machine is over.
Gramont is about to fire all weapons when he sees Dairugger approaching and just leaves. Well, in his defense, he does seem to have only three ships.
Oh, Ise punches Ake. That was cut out of Voltron. Ise tells them that the entire support fleet was lost. Except that it wasn't. Two supply ships make it. Which makes Ise sort of a dick.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Ghost Fleet from another Planet/Spectres of the Binary System
Ghost Fleet from Another Planet
The Explorer approaches a binary planet system, a blue and green earthlike planet, and a large, red, lifeless planet. On the lounge, the Voltron force watches the planetary approach.
And then strange burning ships drift into an intersecting orbit. The radio operator gets no response from them on the bridge. Hawkins orders the Voltron force to investigate. They launch. The burning ships drift for a few moments. The teams separate and encircle the ships. The ghost fleet responds by breaking off and leaving. Jeff wants to go after them, but then Hawkins sends them down to investigate the planet(s). We get more stock footage as they form the Stratofighter, the Turboterrain fighter, and the Aquafighter.
Here the WEP dialogue diverges from the footage. Jeff sends the various subfighters to their environments on the blue planet, but the aquafighter and turboterrain fighters are shown fliying to the other planet. Professor Page is clearing looking at slides of the ghost ships, but they discuss the environment of the strange, deserted planet.
The sea and land teams explore the dead planet, and find nothing--desert and empty oceans.
The air team flies over the quiet other planet, and locates a landing position for the Explorer in a harbor. The Explorer bridge crew prepare for the landing, but the ghost fleet reappears. The fleet breaks off as the Voltron subteams land on the Explorer, and then it makes harborfall.
At the Drule frontline base, Hazar watches the Explorer land. Captain Rogar contacts Hazar--he's commander of the ghost fleet. Hazar orders him to keep the explorer in the water.
On the Explorer, crewmembers are hanging out on the deck. The three Voltron women are in the lounge. Jeff, Cliff, and Crik are watching Dr. Page read slides of the water. This planet is dying due to something in the water.
Chip sits in the lounge playing cards with Hardware. Cliff, Crik, and Jeff continue discussing, and then Cinda shows them that "automatic subs" (ones with clearly visible crews) are exploring the water.
Crewmembers on the deck see the ghost fleet return. Then the camera does a cool, ominous pull back away from the harbor and waaay out into orbit as Mongo's fleet enters orbit. He tells Rogar to blockade the Explorer in. The Explorer sees the Drule ships arrive, and Hawkins orders a launch. The Drules pound the Explorer back into the harbor. Then the ghost fleet splashes down, trapping the Explorer in the harbor.
Hawkins and Newley discuss strategy. We see a shot of the Drule headquarters, and then Rogar laughs maniacally and launches fighters.
In the lab, Page is still examining.
The explorer tries to launch again.
Page: still examining.
Explorer: still fighting.
Page: Still examining--he has discovered microworms that live on both planets. They killed the red planet, and are working on the current one. Page tells Hawkins that these worms can eat through the hull. Then Hawkins decides to launch the Voltron force. They launch and approach Mongo's fleet. Mongo's XO tells him that they can't let them form Voltron. Mongo goes all Bond villain and explains about the microworms. Meanwhile, the Voltron force is taking out the Drule destroyers one by one. Rogar's fleet tries to block the Explorer in, but we see that they red thing on the front of the Ex is a pretty decent battering ram.
Mongo broods, then launches the robeast--a giant electrobeast that was clearly designed by the Invid Regiss. Seriously. Look at the thing.
The electrobeast lands on the Explorers flight deck as it lifts off again, but they try to drive it away with cannon fire. It clutches onto the bow, then climbs back on board as the Explorer plunges toward the lake. Jeff sees the fighting and they break away from Mongo's fleet and form Voltron.
Just as the electrobeast is about to smash the Explorer's bridge (and the bridge crew reacts terrifiedly), Voltron pounces on it. The beast takes off with Voltron in pursuit. The Explorer lifts off again, and Mongo orders a final bombardment. Voltron plunges past the fleet, grappling with the electrobeast. They fight on the ground. This beast lasts a little longer than usual, showing a cool energy cannon and some rudimentary transformation capability. But it doesn't last. And then Voltron rejoins the Explorer. Mongo watches his ships fall. Then he withdraws while his XO says nonsense about not running.
The Explorer leaves the planet. They must repair the damage done by the microworms. Hawkins makes a speech as sections of armor plate break off from the hull. Crew members go EVA to clean off them pesky worms.
Spectres of the Binary System
Two planets, one blue, one red and desertlike. The Rugger guard approaches, and the bridge crew admire the beauty. Asimov orders them to send a signal, in case of intelligent life. The Rugger teams admire it, also--and then ghost ships appear.
Title card.
The ghost ships drift slowly toward the Rugger Guard. The radio operator is frustrated by the non-response to hails. Ise deploys the Rugger teams. They launch and Aki wonders if they're really ghosts. The ships break off when the Rugger teams flank them. Then Ise orders them to investigate the planets, and they form their subunits. Aki takes the nearer, more livelyl planet. He sends the other two to check out the other planet, since that's where the ghosts seemed to originate from.
Dr. Search and Ise analyze the images of the ghost ships. They're not in any ship recognition database. The damage doesn't look like battle damage, however.
Keats and Walter investigate the dead planet. And it's dead--empty desert, empty oceans. And, again, goegeous backgrounds. Aki on the other hand, is luxuriating on the living planet. He points out a harbor where the Rugger Guard can splash down. The ghost fleet reappears, and Asimov decides to set down. The Rugger teams pass the ghost fleet as it breaks off again. The Rugger Guard lands.
At the Galveston frontline base, Teles watches the Rugger land. Laurent, the captain of the ghost fleet, apparently has experience with the waters of these planets.
The Rugger Guard crew is sitting out in the sun on the flight deck. The Rugger women are admiring the undersea view. Dr. Search, Ise, and the team leadeers are looking at slides of the dead planet. They can't figure out why this binary system is dying.
Mutsu and the robot play chess. Keats is uneasy that they drove off the ghost ships. They speculate that it belongs to Galveston, while a collection team sent by Dr.Search collects seawater and seabed samples.
Then the ghost fleet approaches again. Ise decides to leave them alone--for the time being. Then the awesome camera pullback to the approach of Drake's fleet in orbit. Drake contacts Laurent and orders him to splashdown and blockade the Rugger Guard. The Guard crew sees Drakes fleet and tries to lift off, but they're driven back into the harbor. They try to evade them by going out to see, but the ghost fleet splashes down and holds them in.
They realize that the ghost ships were Galveston ships after all. Asimov decides to save using the Rugger team, and charges the ghost ships. Damaged as they are, the ghost ships still have artillery and fighters. Asimov orders return fire. Then comes the quick cutting between the battle and Dr. Search's analysis. And Search discovers steel-eating microbes. The both planets are doomed, as is the Rugger Guard if it doesn't escape. And that is what has damaged the ghost fleet. The fight intensifies, and Ise deploys the Rugger teams to fight through the fleet above them. They make a pretty big dent as Roche reports their attack to Drake. And Drake is not pleased.
Laurent charges through the water and turns his flagship perpendicular to the Rugger Guard. Presumably, he dies as the Guard rams his ships aside. This is what prompts Drake to send out the battlemachine. It lands on the flight deck. They drive it off, but it clings to the bow and sends the Guard back into the sea. It climbs onto the flight deck.
The Rugger teams see the Guard's plight and form Dairugger. The battle machine menaces the bridge, but Dairugger tackles it. It flees and Dairugger pursues it right through the enemy fleet. Drake sees them pass, and orders the bombardment of the Rugger Guard intensified. Dairugger and the battle machine fall past them. The battle rages on the ground, and Dairugger ultimately defeats the battle machine.
The direction of the action sequences is pretty spectacular in this episode. The transitions between the various actors is pretty slick--from Dairugger to Drake to the Rugger Guard crew, and the fast cuts between the battle and Dr. Search. This has always been one of my favorites.
Dairugger turns to the fleet and uses the Dairugger powerful attack, which was cut from Voltron. This takes out more of Drakes destroyers, and he decides to withdraw, leaving the microbes to finish off the Rugger Guard. However, the Guard launches, and the team clears the ship and begins repairs.
The Explorer approaches a binary planet system, a blue and green earthlike planet, and a large, red, lifeless planet. On the lounge, the Voltron force watches the planetary approach.
And then strange burning ships drift into an intersecting orbit. The radio operator gets no response from them on the bridge. Hawkins orders the Voltron force to investigate. They launch. The burning ships drift for a few moments. The teams separate and encircle the ships. The ghost fleet responds by breaking off and leaving. Jeff wants to go after them, but then Hawkins sends them down to investigate the planet(s). We get more stock footage as they form the Stratofighter, the Turboterrain fighter, and the Aquafighter.
Here the WEP dialogue diverges from the footage. Jeff sends the various subfighters to their environments on the blue planet, but the aquafighter and turboterrain fighters are shown fliying to the other planet. Professor Page is clearing looking at slides of the ghost ships, but they discuss the environment of the strange, deserted planet.
The sea and land teams explore the dead planet, and find nothing--desert and empty oceans.
The air team flies over the quiet other planet, and locates a landing position for the Explorer in a harbor. The Explorer bridge crew prepare for the landing, but the ghost fleet reappears. The fleet breaks off as the Voltron subteams land on the Explorer, and then it makes harborfall.
At the Drule frontline base, Hazar watches the Explorer land. Captain Rogar contacts Hazar--he's commander of the ghost fleet. Hazar orders him to keep the explorer in the water.
On the Explorer, crewmembers are hanging out on the deck. The three Voltron women are in the lounge. Jeff, Cliff, and Crik are watching Dr. Page read slides of the water. This planet is dying due to something in the water.
Chip sits in the lounge playing cards with Hardware. Cliff, Crik, and Jeff continue discussing, and then Cinda shows them that "automatic subs" (ones with clearly visible crews) are exploring the water.
Crewmembers on the deck see the ghost fleet return. Then the camera does a cool, ominous pull back away from the harbor and waaay out into orbit as Mongo's fleet enters orbit. He tells Rogar to blockade the Explorer in. The Explorer sees the Drule ships arrive, and Hawkins orders a launch. The Drules pound the Explorer back into the harbor. Then the ghost fleet splashes down, trapping the Explorer in the harbor.
Hawkins and Newley discuss strategy. We see a shot of the Drule headquarters, and then Rogar laughs maniacally and launches fighters.
In the lab, Page is still examining.
The explorer tries to launch again.
Page: still examining.
Explorer: still fighting.
Page: Still examining--he has discovered microworms that live on both planets. They killed the red planet, and are working on the current one. Page tells Hawkins that these worms can eat through the hull. Then Hawkins decides to launch the Voltron force. They launch and approach Mongo's fleet. Mongo's XO tells him that they can't let them form Voltron. Mongo goes all Bond villain and explains about the microworms. Meanwhile, the Voltron force is taking out the Drule destroyers one by one. Rogar's fleet tries to block the Explorer in, but we see that they red thing on the front of the Ex is a pretty decent battering ram.
Mongo broods, then launches the robeast--a giant electrobeast that was clearly designed by the Invid Regiss. Seriously. Look at the thing.
The electrobeast lands on the Explorers flight deck as it lifts off again, but they try to drive it away with cannon fire. It clutches onto the bow, then climbs back on board as the Explorer plunges toward the lake. Jeff sees the fighting and they break away from Mongo's fleet and form Voltron.
Just as the electrobeast is about to smash the Explorer's bridge (and the bridge crew reacts terrifiedly), Voltron pounces on it. The beast takes off with Voltron in pursuit. The Explorer lifts off again, and Mongo orders a final bombardment. Voltron plunges past the fleet, grappling with the electrobeast. They fight on the ground. This beast lasts a little longer than usual, showing a cool energy cannon and some rudimentary transformation capability. But it doesn't last. And then Voltron rejoins the Explorer. Mongo watches his ships fall. Then he withdraws while his XO says nonsense about not running.
The Explorer leaves the planet. They must repair the damage done by the microworms. Hawkins makes a speech as sections of armor plate break off from the hull. Crew members go EVA to clean off them pesky worms.
Spectres of the Binary System
Two planets, one blue, one red and desertlike. The Rugger guard approaches, and the bridge crew admire the beauty. Asimov orders them to send a signal, in case of intelligent life. The Rugger teams admire it, also--and then ghost ships appear.
Title card.
The ghost ships drift slowly toward the Rugger Guard. The radio operator is frustrated by the non-response to hails. Ise deploys the Rugger teams. They launch and Aki wonders if they're really ghosts. The ships break off when the Rugger teams flank them. Then Ise orders them to investigate the planets, and they form their subunits. Aki takes the nearer, more livelyl planet. He sends the other two to check out the other planet, since that's where the ghosts seemed to originate from.
Dr. Search and Ise analyze the images of the ghost ships. They're not in any ship recognition database. The damage doesn't look like battle damage, however.
Keats and Walter investigate the dead planet. And it's dead--empty desert, empty oceans. And, again, goegeous backgrounds. Aki on the other hand, is luxuriating on the living planet. He points out a harbor where the Rugger Guard can splash down. The ghost fleet reappears, and Asimov decides to set down. The Rugger teams pass the ghost fleet as it breaks off again. The Rugger Guard lands.
At the Galveston frontline base, Teles watches the Rugger land. Laurent, the captain of the ghost fleet, apparently has experience with the waters of these planets.
The Rugger Guard crew is sitting out in the sun on the flight deck. The Rugger women are admiring the undersea view. Dr. Search, Ise, and the team leadeers are looking at slides of the dead planet. They can't figure out why this binary system is dying.
Mutsu and the robot play chess. Keats is uneasy that they drove off the ghost ships. They speculate that it belongs to Galveston, while a collection team sent by Dr.Search collects seawater and seabed samples.
Then the ghost fleet approaches again. Ise decides to leave them alone--for the time being. Then the awesome camera pullback to the approach of Drake's fleet in orbit. Drake contacts Laurent and orders him to splashdown and blockade the Rugger Guard. The Guard crew sees Drakes fleet and tries to lift off, but they're driven back into the harbor. They try to evade them by going out to see, but the ghost fleet splashes down and holds them in.
They realize that the ghost ships were Galveston ships after all. Asimov decides to save using the Rugger team, and charges the ghost ships. Damaged as they are, the ghost ships still have artillery and fighters. Asimov orders return fire. Then comes the quick cutting between the battle and Dr. Search's analysis. And Search discovers steel-eating microbes. The both planets are doomed, as is the Rugger Guard if it doesn't escape. And that is what has damaged the ghost fleet. The fight intensifies, and Ise deploys the Rugger teams to fight through the fleet above them. They make a pretty big dent as Roche reports their attack to Drake. And Drake is not pleased.
Laurent charges through the water and turns his flagship perpendicular to the Rugger Guard. Presumably, he dies as the Guard rams his ships aside. This is what prompts Drake to send out the battlemachine. It lands on the flight deck. They drive it off, but it clings to the bow and sends the Guard back into the sea. It climbs onto the flight deck.
The Rugger teams see the Guard's plight and form Dairugger. The battle machine menaces the bridge, but Dairugger tackles it. It flees and Dairugger pursues it right through the enemy fleet. Drake sees them pass, and orders the bombardment of the Rugger Guard intensified. Dairugger and the battle machine fall past them. The battle rages on the ground, and Dairugger ultimately defeats the battle machine.
The direction of the action sequences is pretty spectacular in this episode. The transitions between the various actors is pretty slick--from Dairugger to Drake to the Rugger Guard crew, and the fast cuts between the battle and Dr. Search. This has always been one of my favorites.
Dairugger turns to the fleet and uses the Dairugger powerful attack, which was cut from Voltron. This takes out more of Drakes destroyers, and he decides to withdraw, leaving the microbes to finish off the Rugger Guard. However, the Guard launches, and the team clears the ship and begins repairs.
Help Not Wanted/Annihilation of the Reinforcement Fleet
Help not Wanted
In space, various fleets of the Drule Empire are receiving orders to report on the Voltron force from Hazar. Hazar and Mongo are told by an operator at headquarters that they've lost track of the Explorer. Viceroy Throk returns Hazar's call, and Hazar tells hm they've promised not to use Voltron. Throk simply orders them destroyed. He's been pulled from a meeting with the Imperial Emperor. (What else are "Emperors" if not "Imperial"). There's some nonsensical dialogue about Mongo being in charge now and Hazar being in charge of a tug ship. Blah blah blah filling scenes blah blah blah.
The Explorer is entering Drule space. Newley wonders about their orders, and Hawkins leaves the bridge for lunch. The radar operator picks up weird signals--either the enemy or a backup squadron.
Jeff, Cliff and Crik sample high protein vega sauce with ice cream. They see Hawkins, and Jeff goes to talk to him--but is mistaken for Sammy the cook at first. Jeff voices his concern that they're not allowed to use Voltron on this mission (this is the first of a dozen weird invented subplots that they must have come up with to 1) fill dialogue space and 2) make things make sense when they didn't have access to the series' larger continuity).
The support fleet is detected, and they are approaching the Explorer through an asteroid belt. Then Captain Keyo, the support fleet captain, detects Drule ships. The Voltron force launches. Mongo launches "gyro rockets" which are their normal fighters. The support fleet bridge crew discuss things like it's all happening to the Explorer, when the footage implies that the Drule fleet is attacking THEM. Keyo launches proton torpedoes, which are actually the normal fighters.
Keyo contacts the Voltron force and tells them to leave the area. Jeff decides to disobey orders, and leaves the Sea team to protect the Explorer.
Mongo and his XO discuss the fact they're not using Voltron.
The Air team approaches the battle and forms the Stratofighter (first time we see this subunit). Keyo's crew see the the Voltron Force, and Keyo is angered, and says "Leave the area" about 45 more times. The Air team ignores orders and drives off a contingent of fighters. Then they encounter Mongo's capital ships. Mongo bombards the Stratofighter. Keyo's ships prepare to return fire, but heistate because Jeff's in the way. Then they fire anyway. The Stratofighter separates and withdraws.
Mongo launches the robeast to destroy the backup squadron. Keyo sends a transmission to Hawkins, reporting that the robeast is making a mess of them, but they will hold it off for the Explorer to escape. Hawkins is troubled, but orders the Explorer to withdraw as they complete repairs. And then the Voltron force launches again. They ignore Hawkins' orders to return.
The battle is raging, and not going well for the backup squadron. They're down to three remaining ships when Hazar tells him he's coming back on the next shuttle. Then the Voltron force appears. Hazar convinces Mongo to withdraw and leave the robeast to destroy the last remaining ships.
This is the only acknowledged time that a named character dies. The robeast destroys Captian Keyo's ship just as the Voltron force arrives and they see the robeast. An angry Jeff orders them to form Voltron. They form blazing sword, but take a couple missiles to the midriff and get hit with a space flamethrower. Crik turns on the air conditioning, and then they finish off the robeast. Jeff dedicates the victory to Captain Keyo.
The Voltron force waits in the lounge to see how Hawkins will punish Jeff, Cliff and Crik. They tell him they have no regrets in going to rescue the support fleet. And then Hawkins sentences them to ice cream with vega-sauce. Except it's real butterscotch this time.
Annihilation of the Reinforcement Fleet
The Galveston Lafitte, Laurent, Morgan, Gramont and Doorn fleets are all investigating various sectors in space. After the title card, the Barataria fleet is mentioned. Teles asked about the status of the alien survey ship. He wants to contact the home planet, but the general staff is in meetings. Then, Supreme Commander Caponero calls. Teles explains to him that there is a powerful new enemy entering their space. Caponero isn't impressed. He tells Teles he should just destory the ship and go on with searching for new planets. Teles starts to suggest they form a joint expedition, but Caponero cuts him off.
Drake and Teles discuss their plans. Drake suggests Teles devote all his energy to finding a new planet, while he works on destroying the enemy ship.
Aboard the Rugger Guard, they's approaching an asteroid belt and a rendezvous with the support fleet. Ise goes to have lunch. In the lounge, Aki is a wimp when he can't eat spicy curry. Then Ise arrives and Aki asks him about the Galveston situation. Ise basically tells him to basically be patient and be pleased that they've discovered a new, advanced civilization. Then the intercom interupts them to tell them that the support fleet will arrive.
Captain Kehl, leader of the support fleet, is setting the final course for the rugger guard when they detect the Galveston fleet heading for the Rugger Guard. Kehl moves to intercept.
The Rugger Guard takes up a defensive position inside the asteroid belt. The Rugger teams deploy to screen out the enemy.
The Galveston fleet sees the support fleet and launches fighters. Captain Kehl likewise launches fighters. Lotsa shootin' ensues.
Back on the Rugger Guard, repair crews are trying to finish. Captain Kehl calls Aki from the Salan/Miran support fleet. Kehl tells them to evacuate and rendezvous later. Aki takes the Air team to cover the support fleet.
On his flagship, Roche tells Drake that the support fleet doesn't seem to carry battle machines. Drake orders the fleet to move in.
The air team is approaching the battle and Aki forms the Air Rugger.
Captain Kehl's bridge crew, observing the battle, sees that they are not doing so well--then they detect the main fleet approaching. They also see the Air Rugger approaching. Kehl tries to warn Aki back, but does he listen? 'Course not. Kehl is annoyed. The Galveston fighters begin retreating and Aki turns to following, ignoring Kehl's warnings. They see the Galvestion fleet. Drake sees them coming, and orders the entire fleet to fire on them. The support fleet prepares to open fire. They hesitate, due to the Air Rugger's presence, but start taking heavy fire from the Galveston ships. They fire. The Air Rugger avoids fire from both sides, and then withdraws. Drake sees the battle machine team leave, and so deploys his own battle machine.
The Rugger Guard's repairs are 98% complete. The Air team returns. Kehl contacts Ise and reiterates the need for the Rugger Guard to leave. Ise isn't happy about leaving the fleet behind. The Rugger team echoes his sentiments by launching to aid the support fleet.
The Miran and Salan ships are no match for the Galveston capital ships--pr the battle machine. Kehl's XO urges him to withdraw, but Kehl refuses. Roche tells Drake on the Galveston flagship bridge that there are three enemy ships left. Teles calls him; Drake tells him the situation--and that they have lost 15 ships themselves. The Rugger team arrives, and Teles orders him to withdraw. He leaves the battle machine behind to finish the Miran/Salan fleet and to face Dairugger.
Kehl sees the enemy fleet withdraw, the Rugger team arrive--and then the battle machine destroys the other two ships. Kehl points out that the ship is incapable of making sharp turns, which is a liability in close combat--apparently close combat is what makes battle machines the menace they are.
Aki, Walter, and Keats see the destruction of Kehl's ship, and they form Dairugger. The fight against the battle machine doesn't take long. The space-flamethrower holds them back for a minute, but they all consolidate power stores and put an end to the enemy machine.
Aki has a moment of silence in Commander Kehl's memory.
The three heads of the Rugger teams meet Ise in the lounge. Ise has them sit, and then asks them if they regret disregarding orders. They don't/ He has them eat the super spicy curry. Except the chef had put tons of sugar in it.
In space, various fleets of the Drule Empire are receiving orders to report on the Voltron force from Hazar. Hazar and Mongo are told by an operator at headquarters that they've lost track of the Explorer. Viceroy Throk returns Hazar's call, and Hazar tells hm they've promised not to use Voltron. Throk simply orders them destroyed. He's been pulled from a meeting with the Imperial Emperor. (What else are "Emperors" if not "Imperial"). There's some nonsensical dialogue about Mongo being in charge now and Hazar being in charge of a tug ship. Blah blah blah filling scenes blah blah blah.
The Explorer is entering Drule space. Newley wonders about their orders, and Hawkins leaves the bridge for lunch. The radar operator picks up weird signals--either the enemy or a backup squadron.
Jeff, Cliff and Crik sample high protein vega sauce with ice cream. They see Hawkins, and Jeff goes to talk to him--but is mistaken for Sammy the cook at first. Jeff voices his concern that they're not allowed to use Voltron on this mission (this is the first of a dozen weird invented subplots that they must have come up with to 1) fill dialogue space and 2) make things make sense when they didn't have access to the series' larger continuity).
The support fleet is detected, and they are approaching the Explorer through an asteroid belt. Then Captain Keyo, the support fleet captain, detects Drule ships. The Voltron force launches. Mongo launches "gyro rockets" which are their normal fighters. The support fleet bridge crew discuss things like it's all happening to the Explorer, when the footage implies that the Drule fleet is attacking THEM. Keyo launches proton torpedoes, which are actually the normal fighters.
Keyo contacts the Voltron force and tells them to leave the area. Jeff decides to disobey orders, and leaves the Sea team to protect the Explorer.
Mongo and his XO discuss the fact they're not using Voltron.
The Air team approaches the battle and forms the Stratofighter (first time we see this subunit). Keyo's crew see the the Voltron Force, and Keyo is angered, and says "Leave the area" about 45 more times. The Air team ignores orders and drives off a contingent of fighters. Then they encounter Mongo's capital ships. Mongo bombards the Stratofighter. Keyo's ships prepare to return fire, but heistate because Jeff's in the way. Then they fire anyway. The Stratofighter separates and withdraws.
Mongo launches the robeast to destroy the backup squadron. Keyo sends a transmission to Hawkins, reporting that the robeast is making a mess of them, but they will hold it off for the Explorer to escape. Hawkins is troubled, but orders the Explorer to withdraw as they complete repairs. And then the Voltron force launches again. They ignore Hawkins' orders to return.
The battle is raging, and not going well for the backup squadron. They're down to three remaining ships when Hazar tells him he's coming back on the next shuttle. Then the Voltron force appears. Hazar convinces Mongo to withdraw and leave the robeast to destroy the last remaining ships.
This is the only acknowledged time that a named character dies. The robeast destroys Captian Keyo's ship just as the Voltron force arrives and they see the robeast. An angry Jeff orders them to form Voltron. They form blazing sword, but take a couple missiles to the midriff and get hit with a space flamethrower. Crik turns on the air conditioning, and then they finish off the robeast. Jeff dedicates the victory to Captain Keyo.
The Voltron force waits in the lounge to see how Hawkins will punish Jeff, Cliff and Crik. They tell him they have no regrets in going to rescue the support fleet. And then Hawkins sentences them to ice cream with vega-sauce. Except it's real butterscotch this time.
Annihilation of the Reinforcement Fleet
The Galveston Lafitte, Laurent, Morgan, Gramont and Doorn fleets are all investigating various sectors in space. After the title card, the Barataria fleet is mentioned. Teles asked about the status of the alien survey ship. He wants to contact the home planet, but the general staff is in meetings. Then, Supreme Commander Caponero calls. Teles explains to him that there is a powerful new enemy entering their space. Caponero isn't impressed. He tells Teles he should just destory the ship and go on with searching for new planets. Teles starts to suggest they form a joint expedition, but Caponero cuts him off.
Drake and Teles discuss their plans. Drake suggests Teles devote all his energy to finding a new planet, while he works on destroying the enemy ship.
Aboard the Rugger Guard, they's approaching an asteroid belt and a rendezvous with the support fleet. Ise goes to have lunch. In the lounge, Aki is a wimp when he can't eat spicy curry. Then Ise arrives and Aki asks him about the Galveston situation. Ise basically tells him to basically be patient and be pleased that they've discovered a new, advanced civilization. Then the intercom interupts them to tell them that the support fleet will arrive.
Captain Kehl, leader of the support fleet, is setting the final course for the rugger guard when they detect the Galveston fleet heading for the Rugger Guard. Kehl moves to intercept.
The Rugger Guard takes up a defensive position inside the asteroid belt. The Rugger teams deploy to screen out the enemy.
The Galveston fleet sees the support fleet and launches fighters. Captain Kehl likewise launches fighters. Lotsa shootin' ensues.
Back on the Rugger Guard, repair crews are trying to finish. Captain Kehl calls Aki from the Salan/Miran support fleet. Kehl tells them to evacuate and rendezvous later. Aki takes the Air team to cover the support fleet.
On his flagship, Roche tells Drake that the support fleet doesn't seem to carry battle machines. Drake orders the fleet to move in.
The air team is approaching the battle and Aki forms the Air Rugger.
Captain Kehl's bridge crew, observing the battle, sees that they are not doing so well--then they detect the main fleet approaching. They also see the Air Rugger approaching. Kehl tries to warn Aki back, but does he listen? 'Course not. Kehl is annoyed. The Galveston fighters begin retreating and Aki turns to following, ignoring Kehl's warnings. They see the Galvestion fleet. Drake sees them coming, and orders the entire fleet to fire on them. The support fleet prepares to open fire. They hesitate, due to the Air Rugger's presence, but start taking heavy fire from the Galveston ships. They fire. The Air Rugger avoids fire from both sides, and then withdraws. Drake sees the battle machine team leave, and so deploys his own battle machine.
The Rugger Guard's repairs are 98% complete. The Air team returns. Kehl contacts Ise and reiterates the need for the Rugger Guard to leave. Ise isn't happy about leaving the fleet behind. The Rugger team echoes his sentiments by launching to aid the support fleet.
The Miran and Salan ships are no match for the Galveston capital ships--pr the battle machine. Kehl's XO urges him to withdraw, but Kehl refuses. Roche tells Drake on the Galveston flagship bridge that there are three enemy ships left. Teles calls him; Drake tells him the situation--and that they have lost 15 ships themselves. The Rugger team arrives, and Teles orders him to withdraw. He leaves the battle machine behind to finish the Miran/Salan fleet and to face Dairugger.
Kehl sees the enemy fleet withdraw, the Rugger team arrive--and then the battle machine destroys the other two ships. Kehl points out that the ship is incapable of making sharp turns, which is a liability in close combat--apparently close combat is what makes battle machines the menace they are.
Aki, Walter, and Keats see the destruction of Kehl's ship, and they form Dairugger. The fight against the battle machine doesn't take long. The space-flamethrower holds them back for a minute, but they all consolidate power stores and put an end to the enemy machine.
Aki has a moment of silence in Commander Kehl's memory.
The three heads of the Rugger teams meet Ise in the lounge. Ise has them sit, and then asks them if they regret disregarding orders. They don't/ He has them eat the super spicy curry. Except the chef had put tons of sugar in it.
Monday, August 22, 2011
A Storm of Meteors/Fall to the Meteor Shower
This episode was always a favorite when I was a kid. A couple of friends, a gathering of all of the neighborhood beach balls, whiffle balls, and everything else we could think of, and a t-ball bat as the blazing sword--that closing scene got replicated a lot.
A Storm of Meteors
Mongo--Malvor, but now with his usual voice and name, has a dream that his flagship is destroyed by meteors. He arrives on the bridge, and his XO indicated that the Explorer is caught in the same meteor storm that had caught them previously. Monog grits his teeth, considering, then decides to trap the Explorer.
On the bridge, Sparks is calling out the damage as they lose the radar. Jeff hears the meteor impacts and thinks it's an enemy attack. He gets part of the Voltron force riled up and running through the corridors until another officer explains that it's just meteors.
Mongo's XO tells him that the meteor shower is over. Mongo is ready for is attack, but does a little daydreaming about becoming Drule Emperor, first.
The Explorer is stopped in space. Repair crews are all over the ship. Commodore Steele calls Newley and Hawkins on the utra-wave. They discuss meteors, the Drules, and luck. Steele suggests they just repair real fast, because he can't send help.
The Voltron force is hanging out in the lounge in a series of scenes from a previous episode. On the bridge, they see the repair teams are behind schedule. They decide to send the Voltron force out to assist in repairs. We see Chip, Murdock and Rocky going the wrong way in footage from the first episode, and then we see a montage of the Voltron force helping (mostly) with repairs. The camera pulls back and the Explorer dwindles until it is just a blip on Mongo's viewscreen. He decides to chase them to the planet of meteors.
Newley watches the clock and is dissatisfied with the speed of repairs. Then a radar operator sees something--the Drule attack fleet. They call the repair crew back to battle stations. The crews rush to finish and get inside as the Drules approach. The Drule fleet opens fire. Newley orders the engines run at full power.
On Mongo's bridge, we get a cool shot of the bombardment from his point of view. He orders them to pursue the Explorer to the planet of meteors, and launches the robeast.
The Explorer's engines are overheating. They see the robeast, and rather than risk further damage, they launch the voltron force. As soon as they're launched, they form Voltron. The robeast wastes new time in firing. The trade shots while the Explorer escapes.
Mongo watches the development. It's all going as he's foreseen it.
Then the Explorer sees that they're approaching an unknown planet. Newley and Hawkins decide to land there for repairs. They splashdown in a lake and the repair teams are sent out again.
Meanwhile, Voltron is still fighting the robeast. It launches rocket ropes and begins electrocuting Voltron, dragging him through space (to the ends of the universe, Wolo actually says). With Voltron occupied, Mongo sends the fleet to trap the Explorer on the planet. Voltron disassmbles to escape the rocket ropes, then reassembles. They form the blazing sword as the robeast launches the rocket ropes again. With its main weapon disabled, the robeast flees. They hit it with the eyebeams, and it turns for one last attack. Then the blazing sword does its work. Voltron takes off to the planet of meteors.
The Explorer's repair work is almost done. Voltron joins them. They see no sign of the enemy. They suddenly hear laughter over the ultrawave. It's Mongo, mocking them. He demands them to surrender. The fleet appears over the horizon, and Jeff takes Voltron to attack--but Hawkins holds him back, trying to communicate longer. He offers the chance to explore the universe together. Mongo calls him a coward. Mongo relents and leaves. But it's because the meteor storm is about to hit the planet.
Voltron covers the Explorer's retreat in that awesome scene I referenced above. They get clear of the meteors and again recommence repairs.
Fall to the Meteor Shower
We open on the Galveston fleet being destroyed by meteors. It turns out to just be a nightmare of Drake's--that is revealed AFTER the title card. Drake arrives on the bridge. Roche shows him that the survey ship is caught in the same meteor storm they experienced earlier.
On the Rugger Guard, things go about the same as in Voltron--they take damage, Aki starts a panic.
On the Galveston flagship, Drake and Roche discuss what to do with the mysterious ship. Drake decides it's dangerous and they won't rescue them, but destroy them.
Galaxy Garrison HQ calls the Rugger Guard--they've just moved to send supplies and reinforcements via the space fortress. Asimov and Ise are pleased by this development. But repairs are 3% behind schedule, and the Rugger Teams are sent to assist. It goes mostly well.
The Galveston fleet moves to intercept the Rugger Guard.
The radar antenna repair work is falling behind. The radar operator can't make out a contact he's getting--he switches to visual, and it's the enemy. They recall the repair crews. Keats has a premonition. Then the Galveston fleet begins bombarding them.
Drake is herding the Rugger Gaurd to the Meteor planet. He orders Roche to deploy a battle machine (implying they have several).
The battle machine approaches the Rugger Guard as they see their engines won't hold up. They launch the Rugger teams. They complain about the constant fighting as they launch. They form Dairugger. Patty actually plays a role in some of the fighting, something we didn't see with Ginger in Voltron. 'Ruggs holds off the battle machine while the Rugger Guard escapes to a planet with a rudimentary atmosphere and lakes. And craters. They land to make repairs.
The battle goes much as in Voltorn. Dairugger defeats the battle machine, and the Rugger Guard begins repairs. Aki complains to Ise about the constant fighting, and Ise agrees to attempt negotiations. Then Drake breaks in on communications. This is the first face-to-face (over radio) meeting of the two sides. Asimov urges an end to the fighting and a face to face meeting. He says "okay," and the enemy ships appear over the horizon. Aki lunges for them, but Ise holds them back.
The discussion doesn't go well. Ise proposes joint exploration. The Galveston empire claims rule over the galaxy and Drake refuses a joint effort. He says they can make repairs now without fear of attack, and his fleet withdraws. Then the meteors return and Ruggs covers the Rugger Guard's escape. Then they're back to repairs.
A Storm of Meteors
Mongo--Malvor, but now with his usual voice and name, has a dream that his flagship is destroyed by meteors. He arrives on the bridge, and his XO indicated that the Explorer is caught in the same meteor storm that had caught them previously. Monog grits his teeth, considering, then decides to trap the Explorer.
On the bridge, Sparks is calling out the damage as they lose the radar. Jeff hears the meteor impacts and thinks it's an enemy attack. He gets part of the Voltron force riled up and running through the corridors until another officer explains that it's just meteors.
Mongo's XO tells him that the meteor shower is over. Mongo is ready for is attack, but does a little daydreaming about becoming Drule Emperor, first.
The Explorer is stopped in space. Repair crews are all over the ship. Commodore Steele calls Newley and Hawkins on the utra-wave. They discuss meteors, the Drules, and luck. Steele suggests they just repair real fast, because he can't send help.
The Voltron force is hanging out in the lounge in a series of scenes from a previous episode. On the bridge, they see the repair teams are behind schedule. They decide to send the Voltron force out to assist in repairs. We see Chip, Murdock and Rocky going the wrong way in footage from the first episode, and then we see a montage of the Voltron force helping (mostly) with repairs. The camera pulls back and the Explorer dwindles until it is just a blip on Mongo's viewscreen. He decides to chase them to the planet of meteors.
Newley watches the clock and is dissatisfied with the speed of repairs. Then a radar operator sees something--the Drule attack fleet. They call the repair crew back to battle stations. The crews rush to finish and get inside as the Drules approach. The Drule fleet opens fire. Newley orders the engines run at full power.
On Mongo's bridge, we get a cool shot of the bombardment from his point of view. He orders them to pursue the Explorer to the planet of meteors, and launches the robeast.
The Explorer's engines are overheating. They see the robeast, and rather than risk further damage, they launch the voltron force. As soon as they're launched, they form Voltron. The robeast wastes new time in firing. The trade shots while the Explorer escapes.
Mongo watches the development. It's all going as he's foreseen it.
Then the Explorer sees that they're approaching an unknown planet. Newley and Hawkins decide to land there for repairs. They splashdown in a lake and the repair teams are sent out again.
Meanwhile, Voltron is still fighting the robeast. It launches rocket ropes and begins electrocuting Voltron, dragging him through space (to the ends of the universe, Wolo actually says). With Voltron occupied, Mongo sends the fleet to trap the Explorer on the planet. Voltron disassmbles to escape the rocket ropes, then reassembles. They form the blazing sword as the robeast launches the rocket ropes again. With its main weapon disabled, the robeast flees. They hit it with the eyebeams, and it turns for one last attack. Then the blazing sword does its work. Voltron takes off to the planet of meteors.
The Explorer's repair work is almost done. Voltron joins them. They see no sign of the enemy. They suddenly hear laughter over the ultrawave. It's Mongo, mocking them. He demands them to surrender. The fleet appears over the horizon, and Jeff takes Voltron to attack--but Hawkins holds him back, trying to communicate longer. He offers the chance to explore the universe together. Mongo calls him a coward. Mongo relents and leaves. But it's because the meteor storm is about to hit the planet.
Voltron covers the Explorer's retreat in that awesome scene I referenced above. They get clear of the meteors and again recommence repairs.
Fall to the Meteor Shower
We open on the Galveston fleet being destroyed by meteors. It turns out to just be a nightmare of Drake's--that is revealed AFTER the title card. Drake arrives on the bridge. Roche shows him that the survey ship is caught in the same meteor storm they experienced earlier.
On the Rugger Guard, things go about the same as in Voltron--they take damage, Aki starts a panic.
On the Galveston flagship, Drake and Roche discuss what to do with the mysterious ship. Drake decides it's dangerous and they won't rescue them, but destroy them.
Galaxy Garrison HQ calls the Rugger Guard--they've just moved to send supplies and reinforcements via the space fortress. Asimov and Ise are pleased by this development. But repairs are 3% behind schedule, and the Rugger Teams are sent to assist. It goes mostly well.
The Galveston fleet moves to intercept the Rugger Guard.
The radar antenna repair work is falling behind. The radar operator can't make out a contact he's getting--he switches to visual, and it's the enemy. They recall the repair crews. Keats has a premonition. Then the Galveston fleet begins bombarding them.
Drake is herding the Rugger Gaurd to the Meteor planet. He orders Roche to deploy a battle machine (implying they have several).
The battle machine approaches the Rugger Guard as they see their engines won't hold up. They launch the Rugger teams. They complain about the constant fighting as they launch. They form Dairugger. Patty actually plays a role in some of the fighting, something we didn't see with Ginger in Voltron. 'Ruggs holds off the battle machine while the Rugger Guard escapes to a planet with a rudimentary atmosphere and lakes. And craters. They land to make repairs.
The battle goes much as in Voltorn. Dairugger defeats the battle machine, and the Rugger Guard begins repairs. Aki complains to Ise about the constant fighting, and Ise agrees to attempt negotiations. Then Drake breaks in on communications. This is the first face-to-face (over radio) meeting of the two sides. Asimov urges an end to the fighting and a face to face meeting. He says "okay," and the enemy ships appear over the horizon. Aki lunges for them, but Ise holds them back.
The discussion doesn't go well. Ise proposes joint exploration. The Galveston empire claims rule over the galaxy and Drake refuses a joint effort. He says they can make repairs now without fear of attack, and his fleet withdraws. Then the meteors return and Ruggs covers the Rugger Guard's escape. Then they're back to repairs.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Try This World on for Size/Battlefield of the Experimental Planet
Try This World on for Size
We open in space, with a view on the planet they found past the sea of black holes at the end of last episode. Hawkins says this planet is promsing, but Captain Newley is looking at the wrong planet.
Malvor's flagship is waiting on the surface of a moon. He vows to prevent the Galaxy Garrison from taking their planet.
Hawkins and Newley continue debating the planet. Hutch, Marvin and Tagor are hanging out in the lounge. Lisa is reading a book <3<3<3. The Land Team is ordered to deploy.
Malvor watches the land team approach the planet. He launches the primary interceptor force. The dogfight quickly develops. Cliff has the Land team regroup to preven them from being cut off from the Explorer. Newley and Hawkins watch the battle from the bridge, and hope the Drule captain in charge of this attack isn't Malvor--he's the woist!! They launch the rest of the Voltron Force to back up the Land team.
In the observation corridor, Dr. Page and Debbie are watching the battle, an Page laments the fighting over a dead planet.
The three teams manage to route the Drule fighters with the same battle footage as the first episode. Sparks tells Hawkins that all the enemy forces are accounted for. Newley and Hawkins send the Land team back to the planet and the others return to the Explorer.
Malvor's XO tells him what's developing on the planet, but he knows all this. He decides not to strike unless it looks like the Voltron force is going to stick around.
The Air and Sea teams all rush back to the lounge to eat. Professor Page reminds them that they're out there to explore, not to fight Hazar. He calls the planet worthless. Jeff protests. They argue. Jeff gets whiny.
The land team is just now entering the atmosphere. They get rained and lightninged on, then land on a desert looking planet. Again, the backgrounds look like a good chuck of the budget went into them. The land team lands among these amazing backgrounds and drives around for a while. Marvin says it's just like Death Valley--Hutch chimes in "without the cactus." Then Cinda and Murdock find vegetation. Cliff orders them to take a sample back to the Explorer, and they use a nifty robot arm. They drive around some more, and Murdock detects metal--then he finds a rocket. Cliff joins him (even though the animation shows him already there). They send the image back to the Explorer, and Hawkins wonders who else has been studying there--Hazar?
Professor Page is looking at microbes when Jeff enters the lab. Debbie says something in a terrible Cockney accent. The plant is a species of bamboo or something. Basically, someone is terraforming the planet using the plants to replace carbon dioxide with oxygen over the course of several thousand years. Jeff gets whining again. Commander Hawkins appears and tells the professor that there's an old rocket in each pocket of plant life. Page says the terraforming must be intentional.
Hawkins orders the Land team to examine the rockets--are they recent, or is it something that was abandoned long ago?
Malvor watches them poking around the rockets, and decides it's time to drive them off. His single ship approaches the Explorer. Sparks warns Hawkins and Newley.
On the planet, a platoon of tanks explodes out of the ground, firing on the land team. They return fire. Cliff tell Hawkins that Hazar's forces have appeared. Newley tells Hawkins to launch the other two teams. So they launch.
Swarms of Drule fighters swoop down on the Explorer as the Land team holds off the tanks. As the fighters are destroyed, Malvor's flagship fires on the Explorer. Newley orders full jets. Hawkins wants to withdraw. Professor Page comes up to the bridge and tells them that Hazar is clearly improving the planet, and has a prior claim. Hawkins choses to withdraw.
Malvor's XO gloats, but Malvor is unsure as the Galaxy Garrison runs from the fight.
Hawkins orders the Voltron force back, but a robeast bursts out of the ground and fires on the land team. The other two teams arrive, strafe the beast for a bit, then form Voltron. The robeast shoots at Voltron with lasers on its shoulders, but he kicks it and knocks it over. As Volts approaches, the robeast grabs him by the face and stands back up. It starts electrocuting Voltron with one claw. Jeff orders Rocky to cut through the energy beam (yeah, I dunno either). They throw the robeast, Then destroy its shoulder cannon with the wing beam and cut off its electro-claw with the spinning laser blades. Then they form blazing sword and destroy the robeast entirely.
Hawkins orders Jeff to withdraw just as the Drule flagship descends through the clouds.
Malvor's XO blathers and Malvor explains that they withdrew because they chose to respect the Drule claim to the plan.
Jeff gets annoying some more, and Professor Page tells him they made the right decision.
Battlefield of the Experimental Planet
We see the new planet found at the end of last episode. The camera passes it to focus on the moon. Drake's command ship is on the moon's surface. Roche urges him to attack, but Drake takes a wait and see approach.
Ise and Asimov discuss the planet's similarity to Venus. Ise reveals that their full mission is to map the Galaxy.
Nagano and his cronies are being all chauvenistic about the planet and Kaga simultaneously. Then the call goes out for them to deploy.
Drake watches the survey force approach the planet and scrambles the air force that is stationed on the planet. Walter realizes it's the same aliens as before, and they join battle. Ise surmizes that the enemy only pretended to retreat; he decides to launch the other teams since they've come so far, they must complete the survey, enemy or no.
Dr. Search watches the launch and says "It's futile."
The three teams together route the planet's defenders. Ise recalls the two reinforcing teams and has the land team continue on. Drake decides to see what happens.
The teams run back to the lounge and order drinks. Dr. Search, drinking coffee in the corner, reminds them that their main goal is to complete the star map. Rather than fighting, they should just change course. Aki is angry at that. Izumo doesn't like it either. After Search leaves, they complain about the sciences department guys.
Walter's team is entering the atmosphere. The upper atmosphere is cold, but it begins raining as the pass through the cloud layer. They descend to find the temperature at 500 degrees at 1000 meters above the surface. They begin their survey. They find plants. Kirigas takes a sample back to the Rugger Guard and they continue the survey. Chukker finds a rocket.
Dr. Search is analyzing the plant sample Kirigas brought back when Aki comes barging into the lab. It's a variety of blue-green algae that also grows on Earth. Aki wants Search to take back his words about the worthlessness of the planet. Dr. Search explains how the algae will eventually change the atmosphere into an Earthlike one, but it will take too long. Search also doesn't think the algae is native. Ise enters the lab as well. Ise tells Search that there is a rocket embedded in the ground amidst the algae in every pocket in which it appears. Someone is clearly attempting to terraform the planet, much as Earth experimented with Venus.
Ise orders Walter to continue his survey and the Rugger Guard moves toward the planet. Drake sees the move, and decides that, in the end, they're just more hungry rats. He orders the attack.
Tanks burst out of the ground and chase the land team. Walter advises Ise that the enemy has already occupied the planet. After some minor arguing, Ise and Asimov agree to send the remaining Rugger team members to support the Walter team. The Rugger Guard fends off the first wave of fighters, but the flagship enters range and fires. Asimov is in favor of a frontal assault. Search appears on the bridge and explains that the mysterious enemy has a valid claim to the planet. Ise convinces Asimov to withdraw.
Drake is surprised at their withdrawal. Roche is pleased, but Drake is suspicious. They were always more than equals in battle, but now they're pulling back.
On the planet, a battle machine emerges from the ground just as Aki leads the rest of the team to rendezvous with Walter. They form the big rugby player to some awesome funk-inspired music.
Just as Dairugger knocks the battle machine down, Ise orders him to withdraw. Aki is distracted by the order as the battle machine gets back up on its feet and gains the upper hand. Aki realizes they can't withdraw without defeating the battle machine. The battle plays out the same as in Voltron, and then Ise urges them to retreat as the enemy flagship approaches. Dairugger flees. Roche is all for pressing the advantage, but Drake shows he's pretty canny strategist, and surmises that they didn't leave because they were defeated, but because they understood the prior claim to this planet.
Aki wonders at the wisdom of leaving them a base for galactic conquest, but Search assures him that it was the right decision.
We open in space, with a view on the planet they found past the sea of black holes at the end of last episode. Hawkins says this planet is promsing, but Captain Newley is looking at the wrong planet.
Malvor's flagship is waiting on the surface of a moon. He vows to prevent the Galaxy Garrison from taking their planet.
Hawkins and Newley continue debating the planet. Hutch, Marvin and Tagor are hanging out in the lounge. Lisa is reading a book <3<3<3. The Land Team is ordered to deploy.
Malvor watches the land team approach the planet. He launches the primary interceptor force. The dogfight quickly develops. Cliff has the Land team regroup to preven them from being cut off from the Explorer. Newley and Hawkins watch the battle from the bridge, and hope the Drule captain in charge of this attack isn't Malvor--he's the woist!! They launch the rest of the Voltron Force to back up the Land team.
In the observation corridor, Dr. Page and Debbie are watching the battle, an Page laments the fighting over a dead planet.
The three teams manage to route the Drule fighters with the same battle footage as the first episode. Sparks tells Hawkins that all the enemy forces are accounted for. Newley and Hawkins send the Land team back to the planet and the others return to the Explorer.
Malvor's XO tells him what's developing on the planet, but he knows all this. He decides not to strike unless it looks like the Voltron force is going to stick around.
The Air and Sea teams all rush back to the lounge to eat. Professor Page reminds them that they're out there to explore, not to fight Hazar. He calls the planet worthless. Jeff protests. They argue. Jeff gets whiny.
The land team is just now entering the atmosphere. They get rained and lightninged on, then land on a desert looking planet. Again, the backgrounds look like a good chuck of the budget went into them. The land team lands among these amazing backgrounds and drives around for a while. Marvin says it's just like Death Valley--Hutch chimes in "without the cactus." Then Cinda and Murdock find vegetation. Cliff orders them to take a sample back to the Explorer, and they use a nifty robot arm. They drive around some more, and Murdock detects metal--then he finds a rocket. Cliff joins him (even though the animation shows him already there). They send the image back to the Explorer, and Hawkins wonders who else has been studying there--Hazar?
Professor Page is looking at microbes when Jeff enters the lab. Debbie says something in a terrible Cockney accent. The plant is a species of bamboo or something. Basically, someone is terraforming the planet using the plants to replace carbon dioxide with oxygen over the course of several thousand years. Jeff gets whining again. Commander Hawkins appears and tells the professor that there's an old rocket in each pocket of plant life. Page says the terraforming must be intentional.
Hawkins orders the Land team to examine the rockets--are they recent, or is it something that was abandoned long ago?
Malvor watches them poking around the rockets, and decides it's time to drive them off. His single ship approaches the Explorer. Sparks warns Hawkins and Newley.
On the planet, a platoon of tanks explodes out of the ground, firing on the land team. They return fire. Cliff tell Hawkins that Hazar's forces have appeared. Newley tells Hawkins to launch the other two teams. So they launch.
Swarms of Drule fighters swoop down on the Explorer as the Land team holds off the tanks. As the fighters are destroyed, Malvor's flagship fires on the Explorer. Newley orders full jets. Hawkins wants to withdraw. Professor Page comes up to the bridge and tells them that Hazar is clearly improving the planet, and has a prior claim. Hawkins choses to withdraw.
Malvor's XO gloats, but Malvor is unsure as the Galaxy Garrison runs from the fight.
Hawkins orders the Voltron force back, but a robeast bursts out of the ground and fires on the land team. The other two teams arrive, strafe the beast for a bit, then form Voltron. The robeast shoots at Voltron with lasers on its shoulders, but he kicks it and knocks it over. As Volts approaches, the robeast grabs him by the face and stands back up. It starts electrocuting Voltron with one claw. Jeff orders Rocky to cut through the energy beam (yeah, I dunno either). They throw the robeast, Then destroy its shoulder cannon with the wing beam and cut off its electro-claw with the spinning laser blades. Then they form blazing sword and destroy the robeast entirely.
Hawkins orders Jeff to withdraw just as the Drule flagship descends through the clouds.
Malvor's XO blathers and Malvor explains that they withdrew because they chose to respect the Drule claim to the plan.
Jeff gets annoying some more, and Professor Page tells him they made the right decision.
Battlefield of the Experimental Planet
We see the new planet found at the end of last episode. The camera passes it to focus on the moon. Drake's command ship is on the moon's surface. Roche urges him to attack, but Drake takes a wait and see approach.
Ise and Asimov discuss the planet's similarity to Venus. Ise reveals that their full mission is to map the Galaxy.
Nagano and his cronies are being all chauvenistic about the planet and Kaga simultaneously. Then the call goes out for them to deploy.
Drake watches the survey force approach the planet and scrambles the air force that is stationed on the planet. Walter realizes it's the same aliens as before, and they join battle. Ise surmizes that the enemy only pretended to retreat; he decides to launch the other teams since they've come so far, they must complete the survey, enemy or no.
Dr. Search watches the launch and says "It's futile."
The three teams together route the planet's defenders. Ise recalls the two reinforcing teams and has the land team continue on. Drake decides to see what happens.
The teams run back to the lounge and order drinks. Dr. Search, drinking coffee in the corner, reminds them that their main goal is to complete the star map. Rather than fighting, they should just change course. Aki is angry at that. Izumo doesn't like it either. After Search leaves, they complain about the sciences department guys.
Walter's team is entering the atmosphere. The upper atmosphere is cold, but it begins raining as the pass through the cloud layer. They descend to find the temperature at 500 degrees at 1000 meters above the surface. They begin their survey. They find plants. Kirigas takes a sample back to the Rugger Guard and they continue the survey. Chukker finds a rocket.
Dr. Search is analyzing the plant sample Kirigas brought back when Aki comes barging into the lab. It's a variety of blue-green algae that also grows on Earth. Aki wants Search to take back his words about the worthlessness of the planet. Dr. Search explains how the algae will eventually change the atmosphere into an Earthlike one, but it will take too long. Search also doesn't think the algae is native. Ise enters the lab as well. Ise tells Search that there is a rocket embedded in the ground amidst the algae in every pocket in which it appears. Someone is clearly attempting to terraform the planet, much as Earth experimented with Venus.
Ise orders Walter to continue his survey and the Rugger Guard moves toward the planet. Drake sees the move, and decides that, in the end, they're just more hungry rats. He orders the attack.
Tanks burst out of the ground and chase the land team. Walter advises Ise that the enemy has already occupied the planet. After some minor arguing, Ise and Asimov agree to send the remaining Rugger team members to support the Walter team. The Rugger Guard fends off the first wave of fighters, but the flagship enters range and fires. Asimov is in favor of a frontal assault. Search appears on the bridge and explains that the mysterious enemy has a valid claim to the planet. Ise convinces Asimov to withdraw.
Drake is surprised at their withdrawal. Roche is pleased, but Drake is suspicious. They were always more than equals in battle, but now they're pulling back.
On the planet, a battle machine emerges from the ground just as Aki leads the rest of the team to rendezvous with Walter. They form the big rugby player to some awesome funk-inspired music.
Just as Dairugger knocks the battle machine down, Ise orders him to withdraw. Aki is distracted by the order as the battle machine gets back up on its feet and gains the upper hand. Aki realizes they can't withdraw without defeating the battle machine. The battle plays out the same as in Voltron, and then Ise urges them to retreat as the enemy flagship approaches. Dairugger flees. Roche is all for pressing the advantage, but Drake shows he's pretty canny strategist, and surmises that they didn't leave because they were defeated, but because they understood the prior claim to this planet.
Aki wonders at the wisdom of leaving them a base for galactic conquest, but Search assures him that it was the right decision.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Goodbye, New World/Rescue Mission to Hell
WEP didn't pay very close attention to the episodes they were naming. Since the planet blew up last episode and it doesn't appear even ion flashbacks in this one, they named this episode "Goodbye, New World."
Goodbye, New World
In the Drule headquarters, Hazar is complaining that the supreme commond wants too much from him. Vicero Throk calls and yells at Hazar for blowing up the planet. Hazar says spies aboard the Explorer (?!) tell him the Voltron force are hanging out and listening to music. Maybe they'll get bored and go home.
On the Explorer, the team is listening to Sammy the cook play guitar.
We then cut back to Hazar and Malvor (who's actually Mongo in later episodes). Malvor demands to be put in charge.
Cliff tells the chef that he should go into show business. Jeff wonders where Crik is. He and Cinda wandered off earlier.
Crik and Cinda are on the bridge, while Sparks is doing . . . things. Newley is sure Hazar won't tangle with them after the last time.
Now Malvor gets his big entrance. After we've already met him. His chin is a little less prominent than when they remember to call him Mongo. Malvor has a plot to draw the Voltron Force into a sea of black holes with a false distress signal. This pleases Hazar, as he doesn't want a fair fight. The Galaxy Alliance always wins when the fight is fair.
Aboard the Explorer, Crik is standing in the lounge looking out the window. Jeff tells him he needs to chill out. Cliff laughs at this reversal. The rest of the team is looking out the window. Lisa points something out. <3<3<3 Then a crazy looking nebula thing which is apparently the sea of black holes appears.
Hawkins and Newley discuss this thing that may be concealing a planet. Then they receive a mayday from the black hole cluster. Hawkins deploys the Sea team. We get a truncated version of the launch sequence. Hawkins warns them to be alert (we need more lerts) and to stay in contact. They enter the crazy black hole and Shannon express doubts. Crik orders them to form the Aquafighter. This is the first of the subteam super ships we get to see.
On the Explorer, they keep losing track of the Sea Team on the radar. Hawkins is concerned. Crik can't find anything on the radar either, but he says they'll look as long as their fuel holds out. Suddenly, small points of light start following the Aquafighter. Apparently, they're making the Sea team accelerate. Hawkins orders them out of there.
Jeff is pacing and driving Cliff nuts. He's worried because they've never been up against a black hole before. Cliff assures him that coming up against firsts is sort of the nature of being explorers.
The Sea team discusses their fate. They were looking for a ship in distress--they found one, and they're in it. Electrical charges engulf the aquafighter, and their velocity drops off. Crik realizes the only way to get out is by going forward. The points of light reappear, then Zandi sees something up ahead. Crik advises Hawkins, but the reception is lost. Hawkins suspects a trap.
Crik thinks this is all like a nightmare he's had before. Then they see an asteroid at the end of the tunnel. The Aquafighter starts to orbit it, then a robeast rises from behind it. Malvor watches all of this on his screen. He orders the attack. The robeast opens the fighter and then points of light become fighters. Crik separates the team into their individual craft to present smaller targets.
Hawkins and Newley launch the rest of the Voltron force. The air and land teams fly through the black hole complex. The Sea team is evading the fighters. Crik tells Shannon to send an SOS, but the electrical interference is too much. Jeff and Cliff think they're nearing the Sea Team, while Zandi is taking fire and the team is trapped between the fighters and the robeast. Then the rest of the team sees and joins them.
Crik is fleeing the heavy weapons of the robeast, hemmed in by the fighters, when suddenly the fighters started exploding. The rest of the team has arrived. They form Voltron.
The robeast fires his earbeams. Voltron dodges and kicks him in the face. As its falling, the robeast throws him with go-go Gadget arms. Crik suggests they try to get out of the end of the funnel and lure the robeast away. As they approach the asteroid, they recognize one of Hazar's ships.
On his bridge, Malvor and his XO have some nonsensical dialogue that doesn't match what's happening in the footage, and then they see the Explorer on the screen.
Voltron is about to flee when the robeast catches him with rocket ropes. It starts to drag him back. Voltron does a flip and cuts the ropes with wing beam. The robeast launches its arms again, then latches on to Voltron and starts roasting him with microwaves. Crik tells Jeff to reverse the polarity. Whatever that means. Then they form blazing sword, cut the Gadget arms, and dispose of the robeast.
Jeff and Crik discuss Crik's sixth sense, then Hawkins calls them and tells them to meet at the planet ahead. Voltron and the Explorer approach the planet together.
Rescue Mission to Hell
None of the weird intercutting that happens in Voltron is in the beginning of this episode. Oh, no. We go right to the Rugger Guard and the team hanging out in the lounge while the ship's cook plays the show's themesong in a bizarre-as-hell- Hawaian yukeleli arangement. Keats and Kirigas trade meaningful looks. Keats goes out into the corridor to look out the observation window. Kirigas joins him and they talk about premonitions Keats has been having. The song ends, the team applauds, and then Aki wonders what's up with the two Miran team members.
Keats and Kirigas are on the bridge, and they, Asimov, and Ise are standing over the radar operator, who sees nothing at the coordinates they suggested.
In the Galveston frontline base, our new aggressor captain makes his grand entrance (it works better here, when his entrance against the brilliant background is THE FIRST WE SEE OF HIM). Teles shows him the image of the ship that destroyed the Rackal fleet. The captain, Drake, is amazed that just one ship could do it. Teles tells him that their strength is the battle machines the ship carries. Drake assures him that he has a cunning plan that cannot fail. In the past, interaction between black holes created a tempestuous area that he will lure the invader ship into.
Aboard the Rugger Guard, Keats is gazing out the lounge windows again. Aki tells him to calm down, and Walter makes fun of them. The rest of the team team is also looking out the windows. Kagas sees something, and then it appears again. The radar operator says planet four of their target system is on the other end of the disturbance. Asimov suggests they go around--they shouldn't risk Dairugger. The radio operator picks up a distress signal. Asimov debates with himself whether they should respond, though it may be the mysterious attackers, and he and Ise finall agree to send the Sea Rugger team.
Keats orders them to link up into Sea Rugger for safety. The radar on the Rugger Guard bridge fails. Ise contacts the Sea Rugger, and Keats tells them that successive energy shocks are causing power loss. Cruz sees shining objects behind them that are visible in moments of stability.
Aki's anxiety is making Walter nuts. He tells Aki that this job would have been too delicate for him. Kaga and Karateya notice that the path in the anomaly is getting narrower as they continue forward. Then they drift off center and are hit by a destructive shockwave. They're down by 20% of their energy reserves. One more severe shock wave, and they seem to lessen. Keats contacts the Rugger Gaurd and tells them that they're near the end, but they don't see the distressed ship. Keats suddenly sees that their power is down to 68%. Keats detects a disturbance in space. They near the entrance, and find the source of the distress signal behind a meteroid. Then a battle machine appears. Keats tries to pull back, but enemy fighters are behind them.
Drake and his XO Roche discuss the gullibility of this new foe, dispite their advanced technology. Then Drake orders the attack.
Keats has the Sea rugger disengage. Ise deploys the Aki and Walter teams. The Sea team is hard pressed by being surrounded and outnumbered. Keats has them try to ram it. Aki is telling the Rugger Guard that he's seen nothing that resembles the see team, when they see the fight ahead. It looks like the end for the sea team, and then the rest of the Ruggers show up.
They form Dairugger, and the fight goes mostly as in Voltron. Aki is about to form Rugger sword, but Keats tells him to get out of range of the energy-draining anomaly. They see Drake's flagship ahead. Drake and Roche are watching the fight, and see the Rugger Guard approaching. They chose to withdraw. The battle machine snares Dairugger as he chases Drake. Then the microwaves happen, and then the good guys win.
Today's pirate notes: Drake is named for Francis Drake, who you've probably at least heard of. He was a British privateer who was knighted for his sanctioned piracy in 1581. Roche, Drake's XO, is named after Roche Braziliano, a Dutch pirate who disappeared in 1671.
Goodbye, New World
In the Drule headquarters, Hazar is complaining that the supreme commond wants too much from him. Vicero Throk calls and yells at Hazar for blowing up the planet. Hazar says spies aboard the Explorer (?!) tell him the Voltron force are hanging out and listening to music. Maybe they'll get bored and go home.
On the Explorer, the team is listening to Sammy the cook play guitar.
We then cut back to Hazar and Malvor (who's actually Mongo in later episodes). Malvor demands to be put in charge.
Cliff tells the chef that he should go into show business. Jeff wonders where Crik is. He and Cinda wandered off earlier.
Crik and Cinda are on the bridge, while Sparks is doing . . . things. Newley is sure Hazar won't tangle with them after the last time.
Now Malvor gets his big entrance. After we've already met him. His chin is a little less prominent than when they remember to call him Mongo. Malvor has a plot to draw the Voltron Force into a sea of black holes with a false distress signal. This pleases Hazar, as he doesn't want a fair fight. The Galaxy Alliance always wins when the fight is fair.
Aboard the Explorer, Crik is standing in the lounge looking out the window. Jeff tells him he needs to chill out. Cliff laughs at this reversal. The rest of the team is looking out the window. Lisa points something out. <3<3<3 Then a crazy looking nebula thing which is apparently the sea of black holes appears.
Hawkins and Newley discuss this thing that may be concealing a planet. Then they receive a mayday from the black hole cluster. Hawkins deploys the Sea team. We get a truncated version of the launch sequence. Hawkins warns them to be alert (we need more lerts) and to stay in contact. They enter the crazy black hole and Shannon express doubts. Crik orders them to form the Aquafighter. This is the first of the subteam super ships we get to see.
On the Explorer, they keep losing track of the Sea Team on the radar. Hawkins is concerned. Crik can't find anything on the radar either, but he says they'll look as long as their fuel holds out. Suddenly, small points of light start following the Aquafighter. Apparently, they're making the Sea team accelerate. Hawkins orders them out of there.
Jeff is pacing and driving Cliff nuts. He's worried because they've never been up against a black hole before. Cliff assures him that coming up against firsts is sort of the nature of being explorers.
The Sea team discusses their fate. They were looking for a ship in distress--they found one, and they're in it. Electrical charges engulf the aquafighter, and their velocity drops off. Crik realizes the only way to get out is by going forward. The points of light reappear, then Zandi sees something up ahead. Crik advises Hawkins, but the reception is lost. Hawkins suspects a trap.
Crik thinks this is all like a nightmare he's had before. Then they see an asteroid at the end of the tunnel. The Aquafighter starts to orbit it, then a robeast rises from behind it. Malvor watches all of this on his screen. He orders the attack. The robeast opens the fighter and then points of light become fighters. Crik separates the team into their individual craft to present smaller targets.
Hawkins and Newley launch the rest of the Voltron force. The air and land teams fly through the black hole complex. The Sea team is evading the fighters. Crik tells Shannon to send an SOS, but the electrical interference is too much. Jeff and Cliff think they're nearing the Sea Team, while Zandi is taking fire and the team is trapped between the fighters and the robeast. Then the rest of the team sees and joins them.
Crik is fleeing the heavy weapons of the robeast, hemmed in by the fighters, when suddenly the fighters started exploding. The rest of the team has arrived. They form Voltron.
The robeast fires his earbeams. Voltron dodges and kicks him in the face. As its falling, the robeast throws him with go-go Gadget arms. Crik suggests they try to get out of the end of the funnel and lure the robeast away. As they approach the asteroid, they recognize one of Hazar's ships.
On his bridge, Malvor and his XO have some nonsensical dialogue that doesn't match what's happening in the footage, and then they see the Explorer on the screen.
Voltron is about to flee when the robeast catches him with rocket ropes. It starts to drag him back. Voltron does a flip and cuts the ropes with wing beam. The robeast launches its arms again, then latches on to Voltron and starts roasting him with microwaves. Crik tells Jeff to reverse the polarity. Whatever that means. Then they form blazing sword, cut the Gadget arms, and dispose of the robeast.
Jeff and Crik discuss Crik's sixth sense, then Hawkins calls them and tells them to meet at the planet ahead. Voltron and the Explorer approach the planet together.
Rescue Mission to Hell
None of the weird intercutting that happens in Voltron is in the beginning of this episode. Oh, no. We go right to the Rugger Guard and the team hanging out in the lounge while the ship's cook plays the show's themesong in a bizarre-as-hell- Hawaian yukeleli arangement. Keats and Kirigas trade meaningful looks. Keats goes out into the corridor to look out the observation window. Kirigas joins him and they talk about premonitions Keats has been having. The song ends, the team applauds, and then Aki wonders what's up with the two Miran team members.
Keats and Kirigas are on the bridge, and they, Asimov, and Ise are standing over the radar operator, who sees nothing at the coordinates they suggested.
In the Galveston frontline base, our new aggressor captain makes his grand entrance (it works better here, when his entrance against the brilliant background is THE FIRST WE SEE OF HIM). Teles shows him the image of the ship that destroyed the Rackal fleet. The captain, Drake, is amazed that just one ship could do it. Teles tells him that their strength is the battle machines the ship carries. Drake assures him that he has a cunning plan that cannot fail. In the past, interaction between black holes created a tempestuous area that he will lure the invader ship into.
Aboard the Rugger Guard, Keats is gazing out the lounge windows again. Aki tells him to calm down, and Walter makes fun of them. The rest of the team team is also looking out the windows. Kagas sees something, and then it appears again. The radar operator says planet four of their target system is on the other end of the disturbance. Asimov suggests they go around--they shouldn't risk Dairugger. The radio operator picks up a distress signal. Asimov debates with himself whether they should respond, though it may be the mysterious attackers, and he and Ise finall agree to send the Sea Rugger team.
Keats orders them to link up into Sea Rugger for safety. The radar on the Rugger Guard bridge fails. Ise contacts the Sea Rugger, and Keats tells them that successive energy shocks are causing power loss. Cruz sees shining objects behind them that are visible in moments of stability.
Aki's anxiety is making Walter nuts. He tells Aki that this job would have been too delicate for him. Kaga and Karateya notice that the path in the anomaly is getting narrower as they continue forward. Then they drift off center and are hit by a destructive shockwave. They're down by 20% of their energy reserves. One more severe shock wave, and they seem to lessen. Keats contacts the Rugger Gaurd and tells them that they're near the end, but they don't see the distressed ship. Keats suddenly sees that their power is down to 68%. Keats detects a disturbance in space. They near the entrance, and find the source of the distress signal behind a meteroid. Then a battle machine appears. Keats tries to pull back, but enemy fighters are behind them.
Drake and his XO Roche discuss the gullibility of this new foe, dispite their advanced technology. Then Drake orders the attack.
Keats has the Sea rugger disengage. Ise deploys the Aki and Walter teams. The Sea team is hard pressed by being surrounded and outnumbered. Keats has them try to ram it. Aki is telling the Rugger Guard that he's seen nothing that resembles the see team, when they see the fight ahead. It looks like the end for the sea team, and then the rest of the Ruggers show up.
They form Dairugger, and the fight goes mostly as in Voltron. Aki is about to form Rugger sword, but Keats tells him to get out of range of the energy-draining anomaly. They see Drake's flagship ahead. Drake and Roche are watching the fight, and see the Rugger Guard approaching. They chose to withdraw. The battle machine snares Dairugger as he chases Drake. Then the microwaves happen, and then the good guys win.
Today's pirate notes: Drake is named for Francis Drake, who you've probably at least heard of. He was a British privateer who was knighted for his sanctioned piracy in 1581. Roche, Drake's XO, is named after Roche Braziliano, a Dutch pirate who disappeared in 1671.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Building a New World/Farewell, Achilles
This episode of Voltron and the "Force of Arms" episode of Macross are the two times I realized that there was something different about anima (once I understood that they were imports and not American shows). In Transformers or G.I. Joe, the threat is always world annihilation or domination. But that big shiny red reset button always gets slapped at the end of the episode, and the next one starts out as if the last had never happened. Here, as the new world is disintegrating or, in Robotech, the Earth is now just a desert planet still flickering with the flames of entire cities burning, I had been wondering "How are our heroes going to get out of this one?" and they didn't. That's when I saw that these shows were something different.
Building New Worlds
The support fleet ships are grounded on the new planet for repairs. The Explorer hovers overhead as Hawkins explains it should be a good place for colonizatio. They're just waiting for the construction crews--and getting bored.
Chip and Rocky are walking across the Explorer's flight dock when a guy who sounds like Wolfman Jack almost runs them down. Chip starts a fight, but gets knocked down. Then Jeff joins in. Crik and Cliff try to break it up, but that results in Jeff getting blindsided with a black eye. Then he and Wolfman settle their differences over, um, grape juice. Jeff and Cliff argue some more and Jeff lunges for him--to be stopped by Ginger. Then there's more arguing, and it ends with Jeff walking off to get back to work.
At the Drule base, Quark oversees the loading of giant missles (for firing at space explorers). Hazar asks Quark if he should expect another fiasco. The WEP writers like the word fiasco. Hazar is going to issue an ultimatum that Galaxy Garrison is to leave the planet--and all their improvements to it--behind, or they will blow it up.
The Voltron force sits on the Explorer flight deck, and admire that absolutely gorgeous background painting (seriously, the backgrounds in these episodes are amazing). Jeff is pouring a glass of whiskey--er, "orange juice" and drops the glass when they see the cargo ships arriving. There is much rejoicing.
On the bridge, Newley and Hawkins are hopeful, but Sparks patches a transmission from Hazar--it's the ultimatum. The Radar operator see no sign of him, just the transmission.
The Galaxy Garrison is debating. They risk losing the new planet *and* the Voltron force. Space Marshall Graham says the time for debate is over.
The Explorer is lifting off, giving the message that all personal must be evacuated. Sparks tells Hawkins that Space Marshal Graham is not sending reinforcements; there's no time.
Commodore Steele communicates with Hazar, trying to persuade him not to attack. Hazar refuses, and tells Quark to be ready.
On the Explorer, bridge officers detect a real big ship.
Quark launches the missiles. Hazar is glad. He orders Quark to launch the robot attack fleet. The ships launch from the frontline base.
Light gleams off the giant missiles as they fly through space. The Explorer detects them and raise the, um, electro-shields. Newley is alarmed, but Hawkins finds a clear channel among the missiles they can pass through. Jeff orders the Voltron force to their ships. They go through the crazy musical chairs launch sequence. The teams fly among the missiles, shooting down as many as they can. There are too many that get away ans begin striking the planet. The ships of the support fleet and the construction ships begin lifting off, but the missiles are destroying the ships on the ground. Some support fleet ships in orbit are making a stand against the missiles. Newley asks the fleet commander when Voltron will be ready (Why is he asking him?!) Not for a hour, he says.
Hazar tells Quark to end the planet. We get a montage of missiles detonating and ships crashing. The Drule fleet is engaging the support fleet. There are some cool "Spanish Galleons broadsiding each other in space" shots that Lucas must have stolen for Revenge of the Sith. A contingent of the chariot suicide ships drops down to the planet and destroys the remains of the base. They're joined by the red ships as the air team starts fighting them using the same footage as the first episode. Then the planet reacts to the bombardment with earthquakes and volcanoes.
We see the bridge crew of the support fleet flagship, and one officer asks in Hawkins voice if Voltron is ready yet. The other officer answers with Spark's voice that they're not ready yet. There are some shots of the fleet ships exploding, and then the Drule fleet enters the atmosphere. The Voltron force strafes the landing Drule ships as the planet clearly is going to Hell.
Voltron's power turbos are recharged, so Jeff forms Voltron. He forms the Blazing Sword amidst erupting volcanoes and earthquakes. Quark gloats as his fighters flee the volcanos. Voltron reaches orbit and looks back at the dying planet. Quark's ship is hovering amidst flames. A bridge crewman says the engines are burning up. Quark orders them to use full power, then the ship explodes as he cries "I'll be back!"
The Explorer and the survivors of the support fleet are watching the planet in its final throes. The team watches from observation windows. They lament Hazar's greed and the planet goes through a pretty impressively animated destruction sequence. Newley gives them a pep talk over the intercom as the planet finally disipates. Then the Explorer leaves, and the surviving fleet ships actually look like wrecks. Hmm.
Farewell Achilles
The fleet ships are repairing themselves on the surface as Asimov and Ise discuss the motives and origins of the mysterious enemy who has attacked them twice.
Same brawling goes on on the flight deck. Mutsu is short, blah, blah, blah. However, there's some tension between the Rugger teams and the regular crew members--Wolfman Jack says there would be no survey if he wasn't helping to fly the ship. And it goes on in the lounge over whiskey. Patty delivers a message from Ise that they Rugger team is to go scrub the flight deck. Kaga agrees. <3<3<3
The camera does a neat pull back from the surface, to the planet, to stars, and then to the Galveston frontline base. A radio-broadcast voice orders the photon missiles placed. Teles and Rackal are discussing the enemy--Rackal vows to obtain the planet if it costs him his life. Teles reminds him that the order is to destroy the planet if the enemy refuses to leave.
The Rugger team is resting on the flight deck after scrubbing it. Aki gets a little philosophical over warring over this planet. Walter even mentions a joint development effort. Ise appears behind them and looks stern. Then we cut to Aki pouring himself bourbon, regulations be damned. He drops it when he sees the construction crews arrive. Asimov and Ise are ready to take off. Arihatai, the communications officer, receives a broadcast from the enemy, telling them to evacuate by 1 P.M. Space Time. The radar operator pinpoints the source as 20 space kilometers away.
The Galaxy Garrison bureaucrats debate. Director Dewas says the Rugger Guard is still to seek an audience with the mysterious aliens.
The Rugger Guard takes off, heading towards the mysterious broadcast source. The support fleet captain wishes them luck.
At the frontline base, the missiles are readied whule Teles admires the nude art in his office. An officer tells him that the intruders keep seeking an audience. Teles is firm that they must leave before anyone does any talking. He orders Rackal to begin the operation.
The Rugger Guard crew are trying to pinpoint their base, and then read the missile launch and go to battle stations. Rackal launches his fleet.
The missiles come out of the depths of space. The radar operator detects them and predicts that their target is the planet. The missiles fly over and past the Rugger Guard as Ise and Asimov realize the lengths their enemy will go to just to drive them away. They launch the Rugger team.
They strafe the missiles, but many get by them. The animation here is pretty cool. Ise and Asimov fret as the missiles pass the Rugger team and hit the planet. Lots of destruction follows. The ships of the support fleet try to hold off the missiles. Asimov contacts Akagi, the support fleet captain, and apologized that they were unable to contact the enemy.
Rackal's XO tells him the missile barrage will be complete in 10 minutes.
The Garrison ships crash to the surface and explode as earthquakes and volcanoes destroy the planet's surface.
Akagi sees the Galveston ships approaching and orders the battle to begin. As the Galveston destroyers lock up the support fleet, the chariot fighters land. There's a lot of footage of the base crew getting slaughtered, then the Rugger team joins the battle. And the music is very slow-moving and sad, since this isn't a triumphant battle.
Akagi's fleet is getting pounded. He orders his remaining ships to withdraw. Rackal gloats as his ships make a landing. Aki sees the ships arriving and tells the team to go after the capital ships. They make a big dent in the invading force. Then the volcanos intensify . . .
From orbit Ise sees the planet begin to go . . .
Aki orders them into the Dairugger Fighting Formation and to form the Dairugger sword. The planet is exploding all around them. Rackal laughs and accuses them of losing their nerve. Dairugger leaves the surface and turns back to watch the planet.
One of Rackal's bridge crew warns him tha tthe planet is collapsing. He orders the ship away, but to late--it explodes.
The Rugger Guard ists in far orbit as the planet dies. Asimov's speech is really cool, as far as this sort of thing in cartoons goes--he says the responsibility for the planet's destruction lies with them as much as with the enemy. He names the planet Achilles, and swears in this planet's name that they will never let this happen again.
And--those ships look pretty wrecked at the end. Maybe they just picked up their surviving crews on the Rugger Guard and left the hulks? It's just the Rugger Guard in the next episode.
Building New Worlds
The support fleet ships are grounded on the new planet for repairs. The Explorer hovers overhead as Hawkins explains it should be a good place for colonizatio. They're just waiting for the construction crews--and getting bored.
Chip and Rocky are walking across the Explorer's flight dock when a guy who sounds like Wolfman Jack almost runs them down. Chip starts a fight, but gets knocked down. Then Jeff joins in. Crik and Cliff try to break it up, but that results in Jeff getting blindsided with a black eye. Then he and Wolfman settle their differences over, um, grape juice. Jeff and Cliff argue some more and Jeff lunges for him--to be stopped by Ginger. Then there's more arguing, and it ends with Jeff walking off to get back to work.
At the Drule base, Quark oversees the loading of giant missles (for firing at space explorers). Hazar asks Quark if he should expect another fiasco. The WEP writers like the word fiasco. Hazar is going to issue an ultimatum that Galaxy Garrison is to leave the planet--and all their improvements to it--behind, or they will blow it up.
The Voltron force sits on the Explorer flight deck, and admire that absolutely gorgeous background painting (seriously, the backgrounds in these episodes are amazing). Jeff is pouring a glass of whiskey--er, "orange juice" and drops the glass when they see the cargo ships arriving. There is much rejoicing.
On the bridge, Newley and Hawkins are hopeful, but Sparks patches a transmission from Hazar--it's the ultimatum. The Radar operator see no sign of him, just the transmission.
The Galaxy Garrison is debating. They risk losing the new planet *and* the Voltron force. Space Marshall Graham says the time for debate is over.
The Explorer is lifting off, giving the message that all personal must be evacuated. Sparks tells Hawkins that Space Marshal Graham is not sending reinforcements; there's no time.
Commodore Steele communicates with Hazar, trying to persuade him not to attack. Hazar refuses, and tells Quark to be ready.
On the Explorer, bridge officers detect a real big ship.
Quark launches the missiles. Hazar is glad. He orders Quark to launch the robot attack fleet. The ships launch from the frontline base.
Light gleams off the giant missiles as they fly through space. The Explorer detects them and raise the, um, electro-shields. Newley is alarmed, but Hawkins finds a clear channel among the missiles they can pass through. Jeff orders the Voltron force to their ships. They go through the crazy musical chairs launch sequence. The teams fly among the missiles, shooting down as many as they can. There are too many that get away ans begin striking the planet. The ships of the support fleet and the construction ships begin lifting off, but the missiles are destroying the ships on the ground. Some support fleet ships in orbit are making a stand against the missiles. Newley asks the fleet commander when Voltron will be ready (Why is he asking him?!) Not for a hour, he says.
Hazar tells Quark to end the planet. We get a montage of missiles detonating and ships crashing. The Drule fleet is engaging the support fleet. There are some cool "Spanish Galleons broadsiding each other in space" shots that Lucas must have stolen for Revenge of the Sith. A contingent of the chariot suicide ships drops down to the planet and destroys the remains of the base. They're joined by the red ships as the air team starts fighting them using the same footage as the first episode. Then the planet reacts to the bombardment with earthquakes and volcanoes.
We see the bridge crew of the support fleet flagship, and one officer asks in Hawkins voice if Voltron is ready yet. The other officer answers with Spark's voice that they're not ready yet. There are some shots of the fleet ships exploding, and then the Drule fleet enters the atmosphere. The Voltron force strafes the landing Drule ships as the planet clearly is going to Hell.
Voltron's power turbos are recharged, so Jeff forms Voltron. He forms the Blazing Sword amidst erupting volcanoes and earthquakes. Quark gloats as his fighters flee the volcanos. Voltron reaches orbit and looks back at the dying planet. Quark's ship is hovering amidst flames. A bridge crewman says the engines are burning up. Quark orders them to use full power, then the ship explodes as he cries "I'll be back!"
The Explorer and the survivors of the support fleet are watching the planet in its final throes. The team watches from observation windows. They lament Hazar's greed and the planet goes through a pretty impressively animated destruction sequence. Newley gives them a pep talk over the intercom as the planet finally disipates. Then the Explorer leaves, and the surviving fleet ships actually look like wrecks. Hmm.
Farewell Achilles
The fleet ships are repairing themselves on the surface as Asimov and Ise discuss the motives and origins of the mysterious enemy who has attacked them twice.
Same brawling goes on on the flight deck. Mutsu is short, blah, blah, blah. However, there's some tension between the Rugger teams and the regular crew members--Wolfman Jack says there would be no survey if he wasn't helping to fly the ship. And it goes on in the lounge over whiskey. Patty delivers a message from Ise that they Rugger team is to go scrub the flight deck. Kaga agrees. <3<3<3
The camera does a neat pull back from the surface, to the planet, to stars, and then to the Galveston frontline base. A radio-broadcast voice orders the photon missiles placed. Teles and Rackal are discussing the enemy--Rackal vows to obtain the planet if it costs him his life. Teles reminds him that the order is to destroy the planet if the enemy refuses to leave.
The Rugger team is resting on the flight deck after scrubbing it. Aki gets a little philosophical over warring over this planet. Walter even mentions a joint development effort. Ise appears behind them and looks stern. Then we cut to Aki pouring himself bourbon, regulations be damned. He drops it when he sees the construction crews arrive. Asimov and Ise are ready to take off. Arihatai, the communications officer, receives a broadcast from the enemy, telling them to evacuate by 1 P.M. Space Time. The radar operator pinpoints the source as 20 space kilometers away.
The Galaxy Garrison bureaucrats debate. Director Dewas says the Rugger Guard is still to seek an audience with the mysterious aliens.
The Rugger Guard takes off, heading towards the mysterious broadcast source. The support fleet captain wishes them luck.
At the frontline base, the missiles are readied whule Teles admires the nude art in his office. An officer tells him that the intruders keep seeking an audience. Teles is firm that they must leave before anyone does any talking. He orders Rackal to begin the operation.
The Rugger Guard crew are trying to pinpoint their base, and then read the missile launch and go to battle stations. Rackal launches his fleet.
The missiles come out of the depths of space. The radar operator detects them and predicts that their target is the planet. The missiles fly over and past the Rugger Guard as Ise and Asimov realize the lengths their enemy will go to just to drive them away. They launch the Rugger team.
They strafe the missiles, but many get by them. The animation here is pretty cool. Ise and Asimov fret as the missiles pass the Rugger team and hit the planet. Lots of destruction follows. The ships of the support fleet try to hold off the missiles. Asimov contacts Akagi, the support fleet captain, and apologized that they were unable to contact the enemy.
Rackal's XO tells him the missile barrage will be complete in 10 minutes.
The Garrison ships crash to the surface and explode as earthquakes and volcanoes destroy the planet's surface.
Akagi sees the Galveston ships approaching and orders the battle to begin. As the Galveston destroyers lock up the support fleet, the chariot fighters land. There's a lot of footage of the base crew getting slaughtered, then the Rugger team joins the battle. And the music is very slow-moving and sad, since this isn't a triumphant battle.
Akagi's fleet is getting pounded. He orders his remaining ships to withdraw. Rackal gloats as his ships make a landing. Aki sees the ships arriving and tells the team to go after the capital ships. They make a big dent in the invading force. Then the volcanos intensify . . .
From orbit Ise sees the planet begin to go . . .
Aki orders them into the Dairugger Fighting Formation and to form the Dairugger sword. The planet is exploding all around them. Rackal laughs and accuses them of losing their nerve. Dairugger leaves the surface and turns back to watch the planet.
One of Rackal's bridge crew warns him tha tthe planet is collapsing. He orders the ship away, but to late--it explodes.
The Rugger Guard ists in far orbit as the planet dies. Asimov's speech is really cool, as far as this sort of thing in cartoons goes--he says the responsibility for the planet's destruction lies with them as much as with the enemy. He names the planet Achilles, and swears in this planet's name that they will never let this happen again.
And--those ships look pretty wrecked at the end. Maybe they just picked up their surviving crews on the Rugger Guard and left the hulks? It's just the Rugger Guard in the next episode.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
