Armored Trooper VOTOMS

Vanilla makes one final attempt to radio Fyana as he flies the others to safety away from Quent. She begs him simply to leave her behind. Only she can reach Chirico now. The Gilgamesh and Balarant landing forces descend in staggering numbers, but Chirico cuts right through them in his Rabidlydog with the Secret Society's Zwerg platoons backing him up. They quickly fall to the greater numbers, and when Chirico is down to only a few allies, he orders Gurran to begin the second phase of their plan. Gurran orders the Secret Society ship to descent into the battle. Fyana trails Chirico in secret, and just manages to attach herself to a landing craft as Chirico hijacks it. Chirico orders Gurran to prepare missiles, calling atention to himself and drawing the fire of the enemy. Gurran interposes his ship between Chirico and the combined army, taking devastating hits and striking back as best he can. As Chirico descends into the crevasse toward the underground labyrinth, the ship is overwhelmed and crashes to the ground. Gurran is mortally wounded, surviving just long enough to see an uninjured Rochina step out of hiding and slip away. He will find out once and for all if Chirico is a suitable successor to God. Pursued relentlessly by a few tenacious enemies in Scopedogs, Chirico and his last two Zwerg pilots plunge into the labyrinth. Exhausted and bereft of ammunition, Chirico is called ever deeper by Wiseman, who declares that his true successor should need no help reaching his final goal. Chirico pushes beyond his fatigue and fights on. "I'll have my vengeance on everyone in this galaxy! Unending war and chaos...I'll plunge them all into hell! To be the absolute ruler of this galaxy, that is what I desire! To become a living God!"

The Galactic Assembly of 7214 concludes with the declaration of an alliance between the Gilgamesh and the Balarant. Together, they will end the manipulation of 3,000 years and destroy the last god in existence. In Wiseman Station, Fyana, Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna find Chirico in the central core. Arron and Gurran explain that they are all meant to follow Chirico's orders from here; he speaks for Wiseman. To wit, Chirico summons guards and orders his former friends taken back into captivity. The clock is ticking and they will soon leave for Quent. Frightened by the magnitude of what they now face, Arron and Gurran carry out Chirico's orders, preparing a task force and observing that this is the very thing the Quentians threw away their civilization to prevent. Still on the lam, Rochina communicates with Chirico, asking what he has learned. Chirico pities him for having been abandoned by Wiseman after all this time, and explains that the Gilgamesh and Balarant are coming to destroy this place. Rochina suggests that he could talk their way out of this, but it is already too late - the combined fleet is approaching! The floater belt acts as a defensive mechanism against the attackers, but can only hold them back for a limited time - time which Chirico uses to his advantage. Escaping first in a breakaway portion of Wiseman station, then the Secret Society ship, then only the forward section of the ship, he leaves his enemis - and his friends - far behind. Now supported only by Arron, Gurran, and the remaining crew, he turns his back on the past and looks toward his final destiny... "I had been born as PS, destined for an existence beyond that of mere men. Whether it's true or not isn't the question. Wiseman had decided I was. I had only to accept the destiny assigned to me...to be the successor to the ruler of the Astragius Galaxy."

Furious over the turn of events, Lepard is bolstered by the fact that his force outnumbers Rochina's, and when the battle is over, the prize of Quent will go to the Gilgamesh. Rochina relizes Lepard's attempt to recover Fyana was only a ruse, and he pauses to receive visitors; Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna, who barely made their way through the battle to his ship. Even Chirico is hard-pressed to emerge alive from this conflict. He makes it back to Rochina's ship with little room to spare. And it is then that Quent makes its move; enormous streams of energy burst our of the Tower of Gomer and blast into space, destroying everything in their path! Both fleets are devastated, and the only survivors are Rochina, Chirico, Fyana, Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna, who manage to escape in a shuttle and power down to avoid being hit. They are soon picked up by the only other ship now in Quent orbit - that of the Secret Society. Killy gloats over his victory, with all of his enemies now under his control and the secrets of Quent ripe for the picking. But before he can act, his ship is seized by an invisible force and pulled away from the planet by the same superior intelligence that has manipulated everything leading to this moment. Chirico finally recognizes its identity. "Wiseman. The name of Quent's mysterious, ancient intelligence. As we proceeded into the unknown, toward our destinies, I felt as if the fate of everything we knew now rested with us."

Chirico shouts for Shako to power down his AT, and through Arron and Gurran are teleported away, Chirico and Shako remain standing inside the Tower of Gomor. Rochina's Balarant fleet approaches Quent and he receives news of Chirico's progress. Elsewhere, a Gilgamesh fleet under the command of Admiral Lepard moves toward the same destination...and within a prison cell in Lepard's ship are Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna. Rochina and Fyana descend into Gomor. When Rochina drives their vehicle into the tower, they are instantly teleported out of it, and into one of the tower's ancient chambers of high technology. Rochina recognizes them as the remains of Quent's abandoned culture. He also explains that the superior intelligence he has been following is the product of thousands of years of Quent technology. It was created by "Overmen," who was exiled from Quent and began to manipulate both the Gilgamesh and the Balarant. Chirico appears with Shako, having been shown images of Quent's past by the strange intelligence that lives in the Tower of Gomor. Rochina demands to know what Chirico has been told, but Chirico doesn't yet know what what it all means. The intelligence tells Rochina that the Gilgamesh fleet has arrived, but before Rochina can leave with Fyana, Chirico grabs her and teleports them away by touching an orb built into the wall. Chirico makes plans to escape into the desert with Shako and Fyana, but Gilgamesh Scopedogs suddenly appear, and they have no choice but to flee back into the tower, teleporting themselves onto its outer roof. The Scopedogs follow suite and the pursuit begins again. Chirico and the others attempt a desperate lunge for freedom - but are instead jumped right back into the hands of Rochina, who has begun to prepare for the Gilgames arrival. "At that moment, the mysterious intelligence's message reawakened in my mind. And I gradually began to understand its meaning."

Arron and Gurran have tracked Chirico's progress and speculate about following him themselves. Killy agrees to let them go, provide they use extreme caution. Chirico and Shako enter the Quentian village, but rather than talking with the chief, Shako instead gives Chirico a drink which causes him to pass out. That night, the women of Shako's tribe perform a strange ritual. Chirico wakes afterward, and Shako explains that they wanted to determine if he was "one who was changed," but says no more. Rochina prepares to leave the Sunsa system, and Fyana demands to know what he thinks Chirico will find on Quent. Rochina doesn't know precisely, but he does admit to having been following the orders of a higher mind...and has questions of his own to be answered on Quent. The next morning, Chirico questions Tedaya, the chief of Shako's tribe. Tedaya explains that Chirico might be "one who was changed," but says that he must speak with Meji to learn more. Venturing deep into an underground labyrinth, they find Meji, who appears more ancient than the very rocks around him. Meji explains something of Quent history, about beings who appeared 3,000 years ago and where driven away into darkness after they said all Quentians would be reborn by their hands. More confused than ever, Chirico later runs into Arron and Gurran, who chase Chirico and Shako deeper into the caverns...which give way to ancient underground technology. They corner Chirico and fire a tranquilizer dart at him. The air around them comes alive with power, and everything begins to fade away... "Even as consciousness faded from me, I saw it. Saw how they'd disappeared. What had happened? And what was going to happen to me? Was I still even alive?"

Chirico Cuvie wakes up in the Sandrunner of a curious little man named Gecko, who scolds him for trying to cross the Quent desert alone on foot. Chirico looks out the window of the vehicle in the desert traders' caravan; they are approaching the Tower of Gomor. In orbit around Quent, Albert Killy cautions Arron and Gurran, who are about to embark on an expedition. Chrico is not the only threat to them; the planet itself can take lives. Chirico parts with Gecko in Gomer and heads for the mercenary center, where he demands to speak with a Quentman. The workers in the center react with suspicion, and a chase erupts when Chirico becomes the target of security guards. He finds his way into a room that houses the emissary to the Quentmen. Chirico asks questions about Quent and the PS, but the emissary cannot provide answers, saying instead that he will get Chirico some help. Chirico flees the mercenary center into the hands of Hazegar, a thug-for-hire who insists that Chirico come to meet his master. Gecko intervenes, telling Chirico to surrender for moment. He resists being picked up, but is shot with a tranquilizer and taken to the spaceport where Arron and Gurran await to take custody. At the last moment, fate intervenes in the form of the Mayor of Gomor, who claims Chirico is the guest of a Quentman, whose authority must be obeyed. The Quentman turns out to be Ru Shako, recently returned from Kummen! Amazed, Chirico prepares to embark on his quent into the desert with his unexpected ally. "Our reunion on Quent could only be called miraculous. With uncertainty and anticipation mixing within me, I stepped forward into an unknown world. what awaited me at the end of this desert?"

On the Teltain, Futtor insists that they must leave Sunsa now that Ypsilon has been recovered. Arron and Gurran reply that their mission take precedent. Ypsilon must be allowed to fight Chirico again, and they must stay to observe. On Rochina's ship, Chirico fine-tunes a Scopedog and writes himself a new mission disc containing everything he knows about the maneuvers of a PS. Fyana speaks with Chirico, admitting she is afraid for him, but he counsels her to accept what must happen. Ypsilon is fighting out of loneliness, and will not stop until one of the tem is dead. Ypsilon, meanwhile, renews himself with a jijirium bath and launches for the surface in a new Strikedog. On the other side of the galaxy, Melkian General Karmeny meets with Battentain to discuss the implications of what has happened in the Nonaggression Zone. Battentain is shocked to learn of Rochina's defection, and admits he never quite knew how to read the man. Despite the risk to the peace treaty, a task force of Gilgamesh battleships must be sent to Sunsa with Rochina as their target. Chirico crosses the Sunsa desert to Siguray Crater, where Ypsilon's empty landing craft stands waiting. Chirico takes the bait, and the battle is joined! This time there are no distractions; the two clash with each other time and again. Chirico's mission disc works perfectly, allowing him to match Ypsilon move for move. Rochina takes notice and finally announces to Fyana what he has suspected all along: that Chirico is a true Perfect Soldier! And at long last, Chrico fires the fatal shot that takes Ypsilon down! Before he can finish Ypsilon off, however, Chirico is interrupted by Fyana, who gives him the shock of his life - that he is more than human. Chirico insists that his mission disc is what allowed him to win, but then notices that the disc burned itself out only a few minutes into the fight. From then on, it was his own ability. Ypsilon insists in his final moments that Chirico has to be a PS...Ypsilon's pride would not allow him to die at the hands of a normal man. Later, Chirico prepares to leave Sunsa, Rochina's words echoing through his mind: "You are a PS. You want proof? Then go to planet Quent. There you will learn everything." "What was it that lay hidden in my past? I'd fought Ypsilon and won. But I couldn't believe it. There was no way I could be a PS. The Planet Quent...what awaited me there?"

As Chirico and his friends go to work patching up derelict vehicles, a familiar face looks down on Sunsa from orbit: Rochina. Now in command of a Leslion-class Balarant Battleship, he has crossed both the nonagresssion zone and his allegiance to Melkia in order to find Chirico again. Rochina's ship descend on the abandoned supply station, and Chirico's group is quickly overwhelmed and taken captive. Chirico is taken directly to Rochina, who offers the release of his friends if Chirico will consent to face Ypsilon again. Chirico questions Rochina about who he really is. Rochina's only answer is that he is a man from the kingdom of heaven. Captain Futtor discusses the situation with Arron and Gurran aboard the Teltain. They have not heard from Ypsilon since the raid on Zophie's fortress, but they are sure he will go after Chirico despite the Balarant presence. When that happens, the Secret Society must be ready to recover him. Chirico agrees to Rochina's terms, and is freed to prepare for the battle. He doesn't have long to wait - Ypsilon and his small platoon launch an attack on the Balarant landing party and fight their way quickly inside the perimeter. Rochina orders all ships to launch, and Chirico is left behind in a Fatty to face his enemy. In short order, they find each other in an empty chamber deep inside the supply station. Once again, they draw their weapons and prepare to engage. Rochina arrives to watch with Fyana in tow, but there is nothing that can be done to stop the fight now. "His will to fight was practically a madness. But, as opposed to him, my heart didn't burn. the thing that drove me on was an almost pitiful craving for battle that raged within me."

Before Chirico and Ypsilon can renew their battle, a new force enters the fray: the Balarant! As Balarant spaceships fire on the Teltain in orbit, fighters streak by over Zophie's fortress and bombard it with explosives. Everyone is forced to flee as best they can. Gotho and the others escape into underground tunnels, Chirico and Fyana drive off in a transport, and Ypsilon's unit slips away into the desert. Fyana feels herself beginning to weaken, the first sign that her last jijirium bath is beginning to wear off. She leans on Chirico, hoping for the best. Later, their truck gets stuck in a sand dune, and when Chirico investigates the area for tools, he comes across a dead Balarant soldier clutching a map which shows the location of a supply base that may have some jijirium. Suddenly, Zophie appears and fires on them, determined to revenge herself on Chirico. He manages to overpower her, and leaves her alive and furious. That night, as Chirico helps Fyana through her growing unease, Zophie radios their position to a Balarant AT patrol. The two drive frantically away, but their truck is demolished by Zophie, leaving them vulnerable to the Balarant. Reduced only to their Scopedogs, Chirico and Fyana fight back - but she has now weakened even more, and Chirico barely manages to take out the last enemy AT after Fyana's Scopedog is damaged. He steps out of his own AT to get her aid, but Zophie has hijacked one of the Fatties, and destroys Chirico's Scopedog! Now on foot, he evades her as best he can, but she finally gets the drop on him. A blast rings out...and Zophie's AT explodes! Fyana has managed one more shot, but now her strength fails her completely and she collapses. Chirico has no choice but to travel on foot to the Balarant supply station, carrying Fyana on his back as their air supply dwindles. Zophie keeps pace, her fury driving her past the point of self-preservation. Content to let her follow, Chirico begins a long march across the burning Sunsa desert...

Arron and Gurran monitor Ypsilon's emotional index from the Teltain. Now that he faces Chirico, his readings have levelled out to those of a proper killing machine. ypsilon and Chirico lunge at each other, and Fyana holds off the Tortoises, admonishing Chirico to rember that they're both fighting to live. He instructs her to get back inside and stand ready in the control room. Carefully, Chirico lures Ypsilon and his troops toward the engines of the crashed ship and leaps off the edge. Ypsilon follows - and Fyana activates the thrusters! Caught in the backblast, Ypsilon's Strikedog is smashed, and the invaders retreat. Now convinced that a third, more aggressive party has joined the fight in the nonagression zone, Zanjeny and his staff order a task force into the area in support of their patrol fleet. On board Teltain, Ypsilon recovers from his injuries and thinks of his next battle with Chirico. Knowing Ypsilon will be back, Chirico tampers with the verniers on the now-silent hull of Battleship X and finally realizes what planet he is on: Sunsa, the site of the bloodiest battle of the Hundred Years War...a battle he himself has remembered in nightmares. An AT landing craft appears, and Chirico and Fyana rush to the control room as it lands on the hull. Out steps Ypsilon in another Strikedog, with more Tortoises backing him up. One by one, the verniers blast away at them. Ypsilon reports this setback to Futtor on the Teltain, who suddenly has to face a problem of his own - Balarant ships approach, and he has no AT platoon to fight them off! Forced to tip his hand, Futtor goes on the offensive, and a devastating battle erupts in space! Having found their way inside Battleship X, Ypsilon and his remaining men reach the empty control room, and discover that Chirico has set the entire ship to self-destruct! They escape just in time, and launch as the vessel rips itself apart. chirico and Fyana has also gotten away, loading a transport truck with ATs and driving deep into the Sunsa desert. There, others await them... "Would we ever have any peace? I felt like screaming. If there was a God on this world, he was a cruel one. Too cruel. This planet's name is Sunsa. And I know it holds no welcome for me at all..."

Chirico recovers after all and join Fyana in another attempt to hold off the enemy. The battle is fierce, but this time Chirico is not up to it. He is hit again, and Fyana pulls him inside as the Balarant Fatties swarm the ship. Their disappearance is reported to the Balarant patrol fleet captain, who orders his men inside to capture their mysterious opponents. Fyana evades the Fatties as they comb the inside of the ship for her and Chirico. She finds her way to the infirmary for medication, and Battleship X makes a move of its own, firing its engines and moving off in a new direction. While some of the invading Balarant ATs attempt to disable the engines, Fyana returns to Chirico and revives him with the medicine she obtained. He laments his own helplessness, saying that Ypsilon would never fail her...and he slips back into unconsciousness as she prepares to face the approaching enemy. Fyana now fights alone, both on foot and in a Scopedog, pausing only to wonder again who placed her in this situation. Not far away, the Secret Society follows the battle in their own ship, the Teltain. Captain Futtor keeps watch as Arron and Gurran put Ypsilon through a battery of emotional tests and discuss the prospect of a rematch between him and Chirico. Far ahead, a planet looms in the distance, and Fyana cares for a sleeping Chirico. They have faced much already, but the worst is yet to come. "I've wandered the depths of hell. Its hot, suffocating depths. And in the distance, a light. Our ship, as though following a beckoning beacon in the night, drew us ever closer to the planet that lay before us."

"Fyana...the last thing I remember was escaping the jungles of Kummen with Fyana. There's no doubt about that. But afterward, something took us..." Chirico and Fyana wake up in the shuttle they used to escape Melkia. It has inexplicably come to rest inside the hanger deck of some large facility. They investigate their whereabouts and discover themselves to be on a gigantic space battleship, heading toward an unknown destination on auto-pilot. Left with no way of stopping it, the two finally have a quiet moment, in which Fyana is amused to learn that Chirico has never tasted alcohol before. The peace is interrupted by blasting music, which comes from a self-playing video that depicts Chirico's notorious Red Shoulder Battalion slaughtering civilians during the war. Like the ship they are on, it is automatic - and try as he might, Chirico is unable to stop the nightmarish pictures. This drives a new and unexpected wedge between Chirico and Fyana. The shame he feels for his past is matched by her forgiveness and understanding... but neither of them knows how to give voice to their feelings. Suddenly, an alarm sounds - their ship approaches a Balarant patrol fleet, and a platoon of Balarant ATs rockets toward them from the distance. Chirico rushes to one of the ship's Scopedogs and plunges into battle, desperate for a diversion from his inner turmoil. "What else could I do? I knew what would happen if the Balarant captured a PS. Besides, I'm a Red Shoulder, a man born to fight. The only place I feel at home is in battle. Fyana and I had escaped the jungle to find a new world. And here I was, forced to confront old wounds. Trapped in an unknown ship, headed God knows where, having to fight the Balarant. And the woman I loved, who I was fighting to protect, seemed to be drifting farther away with each passing second."

High above planet Melkia, Albert Killy listens to Arron and Gurran, two scientists studying the PS, speculating on what must be happening in the civil war below. Holding Borough at gunpoint, Chirico questions him. Ypsilon arrives, but cannot intervene. Borough explains that the Secret Society brought the PSs here to try and perfect them; their emotions have proven too erratic, and have constantly interfered with their efficiency as killing machines. What's more, they can never be remade into normal human beings. Kiderra attempts to attack Ypsilon from behind, but fails at the cost of his own life. His move disrupts the scene, giving Ypsilon the chance to attack Chirico. Fyana can only watch from her AT as the two grapple and fall from level to level down into the bottomless mineshaft. Outside the palace, Gon Nu gives the order to move in. Behind them, a third party prepares to enter the fray: the Melkian army. Lead by Rochina, their orders are to overwhelm the palace and destroy everyone in their way. Only the PS Prototype is need alive. Unaware of this new development, Vanilla finds Potaria, who passes along the key given to him by Kanjelman. Chirico and Ypsilon land at the bottom of the mineshaft, which is full of oil and priceless jijirium. Both their ATs have been damaged, so Ypsilon leaps out and challenges Chirico to a hand-to-hand fight. Fyana appears in her Brutishdog, and when Ypsilon refuses to stop, she fires on him. He is furious at her final betrayal, but the scene is broken by the laughter of Gon Nu. Peering down from above, he proclaims victory. Now that Chirico is of no further use. Gon Nu will destroy him along with everything else. Rochina, however, has already begun bombing the palace from outside. Suddenly, Gon Nu himself has become expendable! Chirico and Fyana escape as the palace begins to crumble, and Ypsilon is left standing alone as Borough dies in the fire. Chirico and Fyana find Vanilla, who gives them Potaria's key. It will activate an escape shuttle, and Vanilla wants them to flee in it. At the last moment, however, the insufferable Kan Yu appears and prepares to finish Chirico off once and for all. Shako intervenes, having finally decided his commanding officer isn't worth following any more. Their enemies now dealt with, Chirico and Fyana launch in the shuttle, just in time to evade Melkian Scopedogs. They burst out of the palace and into the open air, their future opening up before them. "My journey through Kummen was at an end. For my own sake, I had chosen to enter hell. For Fyana's sake, I was now leaving it behind. Love? could it be even I was capable of fighting for love?"

Lost and exhausted, Kan Yu stumbles through the Kummen jungle from one pitfall to another. He runs right into a Veela platoon and very nearly loses his life...until Shako appears out of nowhere and saves him. Later, he wakes up in the EX-10 hospital to seek Gon Nu standing over him. He will soon be back in action; the Melkian army is nearly ready to launch their attack on the prince's palace. With Potaria's knowledge of the area, Chirico's group hijacks a Veela AT truck bound for the palace and takes it over, sacrificing Kiderra's and Potaria's mercenary ATs in favor of Veela Turtles. On the Palace ground, Monica wanders aimlessly, confused by Kanjelman's orders to abandon guerrilla warfare. Others speculate that he is giving up the fight, so she decides to find out for himself. She arrives just in time to overhear a conversation between Boorough and the prince, who states his belief that his kingdom is doomed, and that he has called all the guerrillas back to die with him. Shocked, Monica can only run. Chirico's group smashes their way into the place grounds. Potaria leaps out of his AT and dashes into the palace on a mission of his own. Ypsilon is anxious to go and fight Chirico, but Borough orders him to wait until his new AT arrives. Tearing through palace corridors in search of Kanjelman, Potaria runs into Monica, who gets caught in a crossfire. Potaria drags her to safety, and she tells him of the prince's treachery...just before she dies in his arms. In the skies above the palace, countless enemies appear; the entire fleet of mercenary ATs from EX-10 is preparing to attack. The battle begins in earnest, and Chirico looks up to see yet another object approaching from on high. "There was no way of my knowing at the time...that the light I saw was a new custom AT made for Ypsilon..."

Surviving the helicopter crash, Borough crawls free in time to watch Fyana rise and flee into the jungle. Underwater, Chirico swims free of his sunken Marshdog and fires handgun rounds into the air tanks of Ypsilon's snapping Turtle. Ypsilon has no choice but to abandon the fight and loses himself on shore as the rest of Kan Yu's task force finishes off their remaining enemies. Injured and angry, Borough is flown back to the palace, where he asks Kanjelman to order his men to hunt down the treacherous Proto-One and shoot her on sight. Both Perfect Soldiers have failed him, so Kanjelman declares that this is the last favor he will grant. Back at the lake, Chirico repairs his Marshydog and sets off to find Fyana, defying Kan Yu's orders to stop. The others die with Chirico, and their mission to find the Prototype PS gets underway again. Not far away, Fyana picks her way across a mountainside, when suddenly she runs into the Blue AT. She tries to run, but Ypsilon stops her. She grabs his pistol and threatens to shoot, but he doesn't believe she can. They are interrupted by gunfire from another Turtle, who declares that he has orders to kill her. Ypsilon mounts up and leaps to Fyana's defense - but cannot bring himself to fire on his own allies. Chirico notices the firing from nearby and leads his companions to Fyana's aid, just as Ypsilon's AT is disabled by the other Turtle pilots. After rescuing Fyana, Chirico frees Ypsilon from the wreckage of his AT, and Ypsilon slinks away in defeat. But when Chirico turns around, Fyana is gone - and so is Kan Yu. Kan Yu chases down and captures her, determined to take her back alone and abandon the others in the jungle. Chirico tracks Kan Yu down and fights him hand to hand for Fyana's life. They wrestle each other into a raging river and Kan Yu is swept away. Fyana pulls Chirico free of the raging water and saves his life. the next morning, the two finally share a quiet moment together in the sun. But their peace cannot last while their enemies still live...and Chirico is determined to bring this fight to an end. "I'd finally found Fyana again. Why did I still need to fight? Was there any point to my trying to stop Borough and his group?"

"So many villagers killed. caught in the midst of the war. The stench I smelled seemed full of the anguish of the dead." Travelling by boat toward the inner reaches of Kummen, Chirico and the others try to keep a low profile; no easy task with the hot-tempered Kan Yu in charge. Against Chirico's batter judgment, Kan Yu stops another boat that passes by, insisting it must be searched for Veela weapons. The search turns up nothing...but when kan Yu fires a cannon at the boat, explosives hidden within it rip across the water. Kan Yu gloats that Veela Guerrillas cannot be underestimated. Later, the boat reaches Ramoh Temple, a religious colony that is supposed to be neutral. Again, Kan Yu insists that the platoon march in with their ATs to look for enemies. Exasperated, Chirico agrees, and reluctantly follows the others into the huge compound. Nothing turns up until Kan Yu spots a boat similar to the one he blew up earlier. he repeats his action, and gets the same result - it also carries Veela weaponry. Their cover blown, Veela Guerrillas burst out of hiding and open fire on Kan Yu's task force. The battle is joined and quickly ends...but now the secrecy of the mission has been compromised, and they must ask for new orders from EX-10. Those orders are delivered a short time later by a helicopter pilot new to the EX-10 ranks: Vanilla! Chirico wanders the wreckage of the temple, pondering this turn of events. "What is it that leads men to the battlefield? For some, they pull the trigger to earn their daily bread. For others, the chance to fight for their ideals. For me, I can't live without the scent of gunpowder and death. This was no longer a house of God. It was now merely a pile of rubble."

At a Melkian army base, Gon Nu prepares to return to EX-10. With him is Rochina, who is looking forward to seeing Chirico again. Meanwhile, Chirico and his companions rush into Nitan and launch their counterattack on the invading Turtles. Chirico looks around for Ypsilon, but the PS is not participating in this fight. He is insted watching from the palace as reports roll in. He protects when Kanjelman orders a retreat, but is overruled. Ypsilon complains to Fyana, who admits that she has become afraid to fight in any further battles. At Niitan, Chirico's group takes out a few more enemies, and Kan Yu finally appears with the rest of the mercenaries to drive the invaders back into the jungle. The next morning, Niitan lies in ruins. Vanilla broods over the loss of the Fantom Club, depressed over losing his purpose in life. Gotho approaches to announce winds of change. Chirico reports to Gon Nu on the events of the previous evening and receives a full pardon, even though he defied Kan Yu. Bitter and humiliated, kan Yu leaves...and Chirico is introduced to Rochina. He has come to discuss the Perfect Soldier situation. Back at Kanjelman's palace, Fyana has undergone an examination to determine why she has developed a fear of fighting. To Ypsilon's outrage, Borough declares that the interference of Chirico is what has poisoned her mind. Rochina describes how Proto-One was created, but is shocked to learn that a second PS is in action. Since Chirico has more experience than anyone,he will be sent into darkest Kummen to recover Proto-One. A short time later, a special task force under Kan Yu prepares to depart into the jungle. Once again, it includes Potaria, Kiderra, and Shako. Chirico is along as a specialist. having decided to sign up with the army, Vanilla desperately wants to join them...but arrives too late to leave with Chirico. Coconna sits sadly on the dock as Chirico's boat disappears into the distance, and she sings her love song one last time... "It's okay baby. I guess I'm just used to it now. you never used to say much, but we have time 'til dawn. You never really treated me that well, but I could see a little bit of the real you inside. So long, baby. I loved you once upon a time."

Chirico demands to knwo where Fyana is, but the PS refuses to tell him anything, and their battle resumes. As Kan Yu watches from hiding, Chirico's Marshydog is wrecked, and Chirico barely escapes into the jungle on foot. Kan Yu returns to Zonmu Village, which is now being leveled. The others insist on searching for Chirico, but he orders them back to base. Later, another type of combat is taking place at the palace of Prince Kanjelman. The prince duels Fyana in a round of Balancing. She does well, but is beaten by the more experienced Prince. The Prince's other student, Ypsilon, returns from the jungle ad reports to Borough that he had fought Chirico again. Out in the jungle, Chirico is caught by robotic sentries and brought to the palace. Everyone gathers to watch, including Fyana, who recommends that he be imprisoned. Instead, Ypsilon offers to duel him in a round of Balancing. Chirico is completely out of his league, and is quickly beaten. Fyana herself delivers the final blow, which draws blood and finishes the match. That night, Fyana goes to Chirico in his cell and apologizes. This was the only way she could think of to save his life. She helps him to escape, but once again refuses to go with him. Saddened, Chirico nevertheless slips away. Monica lends aid as well, asking Chirico to tell Potaria that she remembers their childhood together. Agreeing to do so, Chrico vanishes into the Kummen night. "Fyana hadn't forgotten about me. Knowing that was good enough for now."

"Months have passed since Uoodo was consumed in fire. I've now wandered into civil war-torn Kummen. Mercenaries. Front lines. How appropriate for me. But now I know that she is here as well. It has to be her. But why?" Chirico attempts to communicate with the pilot of the Blue AT, but his Marshdog is demolished and he is thrown clear. Kan Yu and his troops arrive, and the Blue At vanishes. later, Chirico reports his findings to Gon Nu - the pilot of the Blue AT is definitely a Perfect Soldier. At the Fan tom Club, Coconna sings Chrico a love song she has written while Vanilla introduces some of the other mercenaries to him, Bully Kiderra and Pol Potaria. Quick action from Chirico saves the club from a guerrilla's attempt to plant a bomb, earning him the respect of the other men. That night, Chirico works on Gotho's personal computer to write a mission disc for his AT that will positively identify the maneuvers of a perfect Soldier. The next morning, Chirico joins Potaria and Kiderra on a mission under Kan Yu's command; a supply boat needs an AT escort through guerrilla territory. Also joining them is the imposing Quentman, Ru Shako. They don't have to wait long for action - enemy Turtles launch an attack from the banks of the river, and Kan Yu's group quickly engages them. Chirico spots the Blue AT again and puts the mission disc to work. Their battle is short, but reveals much. "My anti-PS program had worked. A little more work, and we'd be evenly matched. She must know it's me. But then why is she doing this?"

"I had managed to escape the police...but hadn't been able to take the Prototype with me. I didn't even notice the airborne AT units drifting down like snow." Iskui and Borough watch helplessly as the police tower is surrounded by Melkian Scopedogs. Rochina leads the assaul force, demanding that they give themselves up. Instead, they call Albert Killy, who orders Iskui to wait for the backup he is sending. Borough is to escape to the heliport with Proto-One. Rochina barks the orders to move in, and all hell breaks loose. Chirico and his companions discover this, and Chirico explains to them what he has learned, namely that all these events have centered around the Prototype, who is an experimental Perfect Soldier created by the Melkian army. Chrico was just a pawn in the Lido raid, and it has made him a fugitive. Iskui is killed as Rochina's men enter the police tower, but the Prototype is nowhere to be found. Overhearing their radio transmissions, Chirico deduces that she has gone to the heliport and he intends to follow her there via the abandoned subway. He locates her, and asks her to escape with him. She cannot, claiming that if she tries to leave her captors, she will die. Finally, time runs out. Rochina's army attacks the heliport and are met by a new enemy: Tortoise-type ATs sent by the Secret Society to cover the escape of Borough and the Prototype. The entire base, like Uoodo itself, collapses in flames. Chirico walks through the inferno alone, cut off from everyone he now holds dear. "The city of Uoodo was disappearing. Vanilla...Gotho...Coconna...Fyana...please don't leave me to be alone. Where are you? Where have you all gone?"

The Phantom Lady meditates in police HQ and is approached by Borough, who demands that she prepare to go into battle once more. She refuses. Borough angrily overrides her, freezing her with the name "Proto-One." The police roll into the Battlig AT hanger, and a Scopedog appears to challenge them. The exchange is devastating, but brief - and the AT is demolished. The police open it up, but Chirico is not inside. Behind them, another Scopedog emerges; and this time it's the real thing! Chirico lets them have it full force, blowing them to bits and escaping into the streets to do more damage. His companions follow with still another Scopedog for later use. In police HQ, The Phantom Lady is subjected to a mind probe to investigate her erratic behavior. Borough and Iskui are shocked at what they find. Her initial memory from awakening on Lido reveals that Chirico was the very first human being she ever saw. Iskui presumes that she had been contaminated and will no longer follow orders - but Borough insists that she must be made to kill Chirico in order to break the mental connection. Iskui reluctantly agrees. Rochina and his spy network watch with interest as Chirico makes his way toward police HQ. He burns out his Red Shoulder Custom and moves to his other Scopedog, which takes him directly into the police tower. There, The Phantom Lady waits for him in her Brutishdog...but this time Chirico gets the upper hand and takes her captive. Rochina learns of this and dispatches the news to Battentain. Now that Chirico has made contact with the Prototype, it is time for the Melkian army to move in. As the police regroup outside the tower, Chirico finally speaks to The Phantom Lady. She admits that she does not want to kill him, and he asks her - her name. "Proto-One" is all she can answer. "The woman who had changed my destiny was not longer an enemy. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was sinking deeper and deeper into quicksand. But at the same time, I felt something amazing. Never before in my life had I wanted so much to keep on living."

During the battle, Gotho managed to make off with the payment Iskui originally promised him, but he didn't hang around to see if Chirico made it out. Having rejoined Vanilla and Coconna, he gleefully counts his money. But they all grow uneasy as more time passes without Chirico returning. Later, they learn that he won't be coming back; he is now a police prisoner. Coconna is adamant that they have to go to Chirico's rescue. They make an attempt to disrupt the police caravan that is taking Chirico to headquarters, but their first flyover in the stolen helicopter is unsuccessful. Gotho and Vanilla are ready to take their money and run - and Coconna realizes the money is what will give them the means to help Chrico after all. Sometime later, they fly over the caravan again...but this time instead of attacking, they dump their money out the window. Predictably, the Uoodo streets fill with people, stopping the caravan dead in its tracks. This time it works - Chirico breaks free and escapes back to Vanilla's home with the others. Acknowledging their sacrifice, he finally begins to feel trust and friendship. "Friends. I was almost embarrassed to feel it. But a long dead warmth had begun to rekindle somewhere in my heart."

"For a man like me, who knows only how to fight, combat in Uoodo was something I could not avoid. And within the battle, I met her once more. Now all I can do is try to pursue here. She's tied deeply to my destiny. But what sort of destiny is it?" Police helicopters comb the edges of the city, firing randomly in search of Chirico and his companions, who now complain that their continued association with him has gotten them into more trouble than they bargained for. Tired of their bickering, he wanders off into the city. Overhearing gossip about a outgoing shipment of jijirium, Chirico ambushes a cop to get more specific information. Coconna, who has been following him, is caught by a rogue member of the Boone Family, who carries her off to the bikers' fortress. Elsewhere on the planet, Rochina is ordered by Battentain to take a personal role in the tracking of "Program One." Rochina is to take up residence in Uoodo and report directly for there as he obtains information about the secret society and the Prototype. In Uoodo, Chirico has developed a plan with Vanilla and Gotho to hijack the jijirium shipment. As they make ready, Coconna returns. Frazzled and beaten, she wails that the only way she could escape the bikers with her life was to tell them about the jijirium shipment. Chrico is encourage by this; their involvement should only make things easier for him. And he is proven right - the bikers attack the airfield from which the shipment is to be taken, throwing the entire place into chaos. Using a rebuilt AT with Vanilla providing covering fire from the stolen helicopter, Chirico swiftly makes off with the very truck that was hauling the prize. "Everything had worked out perfectly. I cared nothing for the jijirium we now had. But if I was right, and it was tied to the Prototype, then perhaps she would come to get it back. Perhaps..."

"Chirico! Chirico Cuvie! Answer me! From where dost thou come? Who ordered you to come to Uoodo? Why are you in this city?" Chirico thinks he hears the voice of God, but it is instead Serge Borough, who is working with Iskui for the Secret Society. Chirico is now their captive in the impregnable police tower. Outside, Vanilla plans to bust Chirico out. Later, Vanilla bribes a cop for the blueprints to the tower, and Coconna brings Gotho to meet with him. Together, the three pool their resources and tunnel through the city's sewer system using an industrial laser from Gotho's arsenal. Just as Chirico is taken from his cell for another round of interrogation, his rescuers arrive and whisk him to safety. They recover at Gotho's scrap yard, and a call comes in - for Chirico. He is offered another chance to fight a Battling match, this time against an unknown opponent for big money. Chirico accepts, and the opponent turns out to be Captain Oriya, another commander from Lido. Borough and Iskui watch from the shadows, determined to see Chirico die. Chrico wins again, but just as Oriya agrees to reveal the secrets of the mission, Iskui orders his troops to open fire. Chrico barely escapes, and spots a limousine driving away, carrying The Phantom Lady in its back seat. Her presence here cannot be a coincidence. "As I saw the limousine speed away through the flames, I couldn't help thinking how incongruous it looked amidst the battle..."

"My endless wandering since deserting the army had brought me to the city of Uoodo. And I was now in trouble with the Boone Family, a gang of thugs who ran the city." The next morning, as the Bone Family begins to scour the city for Chirico, he awakes and meets Bouleuse Gotho, the owner of the scrap yard. Gotho serves him breakfast and discusses his plans to salvage some of the ATs he has found. Coconna drops by, hoping to buy a meal with gossip from the streets. Elsewhere, a new chief of police takes residence in the city's central tower: Gimual Iskui, a member of the Secret Society. Iskui immediately hatches a plan to deal with the troublesome biker gang. Chirico goes to work repairing one of Gotho's salvaged Scopedogs. Vanilla Vartla arrives, wanting to buy guns now that the city is crawling with hostile bikers. Intrigued by Chirico's expertise with the Scopedog, Vanilla starts to ask questions. Coconna returns with news of the bikers, and Chirico brings the Scopedog to life. He marches out to confront the Boone Famil - and proves more than a match for them in his AT. Just as they rally to destroy him, the police spring a trap of their own, ambushing the gang and turning the street into an inferno. "The flying bullets, the flames. Before my eyes lay a scene so familiar to me. I was back on the battlefield...I and my VOTOM."

"Gilgamesh and Balarant. For one hundred years now, these two star systems have been locked in a war whose cause was long ago forgotten. At first they managed to contain the hostilities. But by the time I joined up, the front had enlarged...and 200 worlds belonging to them had been caught in the flames of war. I fought. At first I fought sincerely, to defend my home world of Melkia. But the war just dragged on and on, with no end in sight. I'm so tired now. Everyone is so tired." On the edge of the Astragius Galaxy, the decommissioned Gilgamesh battleship Teltain approaches asteroid Lido. It deploys a platoon of Scopedogs, which attack and infiltrate the base. Chirico Cuvie, an AT pilot newly-transferred to the Teltain, protests that they are attacking one of their own bases, but his platoon leader orders him to be silent while they begin looking for their objectives. Left on his own, Chirico discovers one of the objectives himself - the body of a woman, lying suspended in a tube of swirling energy. She wakes and sees him. Shocked and bewildered, he closes the tube. His mind racing with questions, he is nevertheless ordered outside - and barely escapes an explosion meant to end his life. Lost and adrift in his damaged Scopedog, Chirico is picked up by the Melkian battleship Bauntaunt and questioned about his involvement in the Lido raid. the intelligence officer who question him, Captain Jean-Paul Rochina, is convinced that Chirico knows what happened to "the Prototype," and takes him back to Melkia for further questioning. There, Chirico escapes and flees into the vast outback. Unaware that Rochina's commanding officer, Battentain, has ordered a homing beacon planted in his body, Chirico is determined to find out what sort of mess he's been caught up in - and who exactly that woman on Lido was. "That day, the accursed war which had so disrupted my destiny ended. But its end was ultimately meaningless for me. The moment I saw her, my own private war has begun...a war for which there would be no end."