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.