Save the Space Station
One of my favorites!
Chip asks Jeff if he ever gets bored when there's nothing to do. Jeff tells him that the Drules are always watching. Elsewhere on the planet, the fleet is splashed down near the abandoned Drule base for repairs. Hawkins is concerned that the Drules are planning something bad. Colonel Carver, um, tells Hawkins that the support fleet (that is ALREADY THERE) is delayed.
Meanwhile, Nerok's fleet nears the defensive zone of the Galaxy Garrison space station. He plans to use the robeast in an innovative way. It's the purple invid robeast again.
At the space station, they detect something coming their way. Commodore Steele is at the station for some reason. The defense fleet and the magna-laser weapon are deployed and they encounter Drule sensor satellites. The fleet clears the satellites. Then the Drule fighters engage the GG capital ships. The Drule captial ships are armed with what appear to be heavy torpedoes. The GG fleet (the ROBOT fleet) takes heavy losses.
Keezor gets word of Nerok's attack. He deploys Zayvar to attack the Explorer and her fleet.
Jeff and Ginger discuss the attack on the space station. He splits up the Stratofighter for patrol.
The battle, as usual, rages on. The Drule fleet breaks through the fleet cordon. Nerok deploys the robeast. Commodore Steele launches defense fighter (robotic defense fighters). We still see human pilots in the fighters as they engage Drule fighters. We get a pretty good look at a Drule gunship. There's also a moment where I THINK the animators had etched in little star-shaped place holders that were supposed to be animated as fighters, but they forgot.
The heavy artillery magna-laser misses the robeast when it separates into two halves. It then reaches the space station, and Nerok's fleet moves to encircle it. The robeast lands in front of the magna-laser, reconnects its two haves, and then destroys the weapon. Steele does some angsting about his impending doom.
The Explorer has completed repairs, and Hawkins launches the other two Voltron teams. Jeff asks about the status off the space station, but it's not good. The other teams launch. The Explorer and her fleet lift off. They form Voltron.
The robeast is pounding the space station, and comes into range of the other magna-laser before blasting its way into the launch area. Infantry forces fire missiles at it, but it destroys some docked ships as well as the troops. The robeast makes its way for the power room. Steele orders all doorways secured. The robeast doesn't use doors and just blasts through walls, ceilings, and infantry. The station goes to standby energy. One of Steele's aids proposes a NONSENSE tactic, and Steele calls ahead to plan it. The robeast shoots its way into the reactor chamber.
Jeff and Hawkins fret over the fate of the space station.
Nerok's fleet moves in to occupy the space station. He demands unconditional surrender from Steele. Steele vows to find until the end. The reactor is power up to maximum level. The robeast approaches the reactor. The technicians on station vent something at the robeast. The robeast fires at the techs' station, but whatever is being vented at it causes it to go red hot, and then the cockpit is destroyed. The blast sends the robeast out of the space station and into Nerok's flagship. He orders the mole robeast launched, and then his crew into the escape pods as Steele launches cruise missiles and destroy Nerok's ship and wipe out the rest of the enemy fleet.
Voltron is ordered to find the other robeast (I won't even go into how silly this whole thing is). The goofiest looking robeast ever exploded out of an asteroid and fires missiles at Voltron. Voltron lands on the planetoid and hits it with the electro-thermo blasters. It tunnels underground and pops up behind Voltron. Y'know, this is not the first robeast to use these tactics. They hit it with solar spears and laser blades to soften it up, and then season it with the blazing sword. And by season, I mean BLOW UP. Hawkins informs them that the space station has pulled through. We get the awesome Hawkins line "No, (the Drules leaving them alone) isn't too much to wish, just to much to hope for."
Storming the Space Fortress
Mutsu is bored being on patrol. Aki tells him someone's probably watching them right now. This is weirdly echoed in Voltron.
We hear an interesting take on the score that I haven't heard in the series before, and it makes me think of much of the Macross score. We pan across the wreckage and the repairs of the Rugger Guard and her fleet. Date calls and says they're on their own when it comes to reinforcements and finding the Galveston base. They're about 2/3's of the way to the point they estimated as the frontline base from planet K.
Lafitte's fleet is coming up on the space fortress. His XO sounds a lot like Daibazaal. Since Church's fleet is lost, Lafitte figures victory is a matter of destroying the Earth's frontline base first.
The space fortress detects something coming towards them. They deploy ships and ready their defenses. The ships encounter and destroy jamming satellites, and then they engage the Galveston fighers. We get some sweet shots of Alliance gunners and some deaths. The Galveston ships are using big green cruise missiles in addition to beam weapons.
At the Galveston frontline base, Luciano is notified that Lafitte is breaking through the space fortress' vangaurd. He sends Doorn to keep the survey force anchored on Planet O occupied.
Aki and Patty discuss what they should do--worry about the space fortress, or find the Galveston base.
Lafitte's fleet and their cruise missiles make short work of the defense fleet. He launches the assault force and the battle machine against the space fortress' defenses. We get another new track for the score that TOTALLY sounds like a rough draft of Fate's Arrow from Macross, complete with noodling funk guitar solo. We also get some sweet interior shots of the two-man fighter cockpits, some just as the pilots and RIOs are killed. There is also none of the annoying voiceover, but there are the weird animation glitches where it looks like things just weren't inserted.
The battle machine gets through to the fortress without much trouble. The fortress' main guns are interesting--they seem to be loaded with shells, but look like beam weapons. The battle machine splits in two and reaches the fortress. Lafitte orders his fleet to flank the base and surround them. The battle machine reconnects and destroys the main gun emplacement. Dewa watches from the C&C or whatever they call it.
The Rugger Guard has completed repairs. Ise orders Keats to join the Air team with the Sea and Land teams and form Dairugger. Aki is stunned to hear that the space fortress ain't doing so well, but they have to trust to Dewa to handle the situation. Then the Rugger Guard launches, and it's escort fleet follows. The Rugger teams link up into Dairugger. I think this is another new track, too for the soundtrack, too. The fleet leaves the planet with Dairugger in the lead. Aki broods on the fate of the space fortress, which is where they were trainined by Commander Date.
At the fortress, the battle machine is systematically destroying the defenses, and then it breaches the hull. Some infantry try to hold it back in the hangar, but they take even heavier casualties than in Voltron. Dewa sees that the battle machine is heading for the main reactor room. He orders all doors sealed, but it doesn't even slow down as it fights through the doors and more infantry.
Dewa's adjutant suggests using the reactor itself as a weapon. Dewa calls the reactor controk techs. The battle machine works through more obstacles as Dewa convinces the techs to give opening the energy conduits a try. They evacuate the nearby stations and prepare.
In Dairugger, Aki asks how things are at the space fortress. Ise says it can't get much worse without being a total loss.
Lafitte's ships are surrounding and preparing to occupy the fortress. Lafitte offers them a chance to surrender. Dewa defies him, and Lafitte laughs and orders the battle machine to destroy the reactor. The reactor techs are sinished with their preparations as the battle machine commander celebrates his success at reaching the reactor. The tech opens the conduit. Plasma belches out and hits the battle machine, but not before it can destroy the techs' station, killing them. The blast of plasma breaches the cockpit and blows the battle machine out and crashes it into Lafitte's ship/
Dewa finishes off Lafitte's limping ship and finally the fat bastard dies in agony. The defense fleet is rallied and the main guns and unmanned sniper missiles mop up the rest of Lafitte's fleet.
Ise tells Aki that the station is hanging on and victory is at hand. Then a goofy looking battle machine bursts out of an asteroid and hits Dairugger with a missile barrage. Dairugger pulls out of his flat spin, lands on the asteroid, and hits the tunneling machine with the miracle beam just before it disappears and pops up again behind them. It starts electrocuting Dairugger, but gets thrown. Dairugger disables its weapons with the shot arrows and spin cutters, and then forms the sword and manages to hit it before it can burrow to safety. Ise congratulates Aki, and tells him that the fortress has pulled through. We have some views of the devastated space station as Ise and Aki discuss their resolve to find and defeat Galveston. Dairugger then leads the fleet farther on toward the frontline base's location.
No comments:
Post a Comment