The Ultra-Menace Missile

The Ultra-Menace Missile

Don't go for the easy joke here.  DON'T DO IT.

Ganz (?) is watching footage of Yamato destroying their carrier.  Desslok tells him not to worry--an old wreck like that will never be a threat.  Nevertheless, Ganz convinces Desslok to allow the use of the Ultra-Menace Missile.  The silo opens.

On Earth, Avatar is briefing the Star Force volunteers on the mission to Iskandar.  He christens the Yamato the "Argo." 

The Ultra-Menace Missile countdown comes to an end and the massive weapon of mass destruction takes off from Pluto.

The Star Force parades through the underground cities.  Mark Venture gets a garland from his brother.  Then some people heckle them.  Nova's parents are worry-stricken.  I don't think Nova quite gets the gravity of the situation.

The Ultra-Menace Missile approaches the Earth.  Earth controllers track it and estimate it's striking position.  The Star Force, meanwhile, boards the Argo.  On the bridge, Venture worries about his family.  Wildstar is a bright ray of sunshine.  He really hasn't forgiven Avatar for Alex' death.  Conroy, Dash, Homer, and Eager suddenly arrive on the bridge to introduce themselves.  Amusingly, the subtitles with their names are massive text blocks to blot out the Japanese titles.

Avatar takes Wildstar and Venture on his inspection tour of the ship.  He shows them the massive firing gate of the wave motion gun.  It's a particle weapon that uses tachyons.  Huh.  The three stand in the bow, looking out at the scorched Earth.  No radiation suits?

The Ultra-Menace Missile grows closer, and the operators are still tracking it.

Avatar leads his subordinates into the radar and holography rooms, where they're led on tour by Nova.  And see IQ9 hula dancing.  That pain will linger . . .  Then they meet Sander (Crick's normal--complexioned analogue), the head mechanic, who shows them how they can fabricate stuff.  Finally, they see the hangar and the engine room.  Each new location is accompanied by a view of the ship on the map.  Huh.  This is kinda interesting.  Then Orion, the chief engineer, explains how the wave motion engine works.  Avatar leaves.  Then Wildstar grills Orion about Avatar, though Venture tries to drag him off before Alex Wildstar comes up again.  Orion basically says "war is Hell." 

The Ultra-Menace Missile grows closer.  This time, the Argo bridge crew are tracking it.  Wildstar goes to tell Avatar.  Avatar reacts calmly, and then he starts to say something, then leaves.  Wildstar sees a picture of Avatar with a young man and woman.

Venture is ready to start the engine, when Avatar arrives on the bridge and slows them down to start correctly.

The missile gets closer.  The Earth controllers are tracking it.

Avatar has each system started up in turn.  Venture goes to start the wave motion engine, and it fails--because Venture missed a switch.  They try again.  Um.  I can't tell if what happened is good or bad.  Oh.  Wildstar gets emo because it still doesn't start.  Avatar starts to loose his temper.  Then an engine noise starts and things light up.  I guess it just took a second.  The ship is moving.  Avatar calls for engine power.  The missile is three minutes away.  He orders the main gun to stand by, and the ship to launch.

The complete vessel pulls free of the Earth's surface.  I like the background score.  Very 70s, if by 70s I mean AWESOME.

The missile plummets toward the Earth.  The Argo evades, and the turrets range in.  They fire and . . . Yeah, the good guys win.  The explosion is huge, and obscures the Argo from the Earth controllers momentarily.  Ooh, the suspense!  (These kinds of ploys so early on seem cheap to me.  Maybe they weren't 40 years ago). 

The Argo emerges triumphantly from the obscuring smoke, and extends wings as it takes flight.  Wildstar relaxes his grip on the firing controls, as Venture and Orion relax.  Avatar thinks to himself that Wildstar has proven himself.  The mission begins.  There are only 363 days left.