Summary[]
Takechi reports to Matoko and Bansai about what is happening on Earth: Utsuro has made Earth's Altana go berserk to destroy the stranded Liberation Army and to force its headquarters to retaliate by firing the Hinokagutsuchi. The planet's energy is gathering at its Dragon Hole to fire at the cannon. The Kiheitai strategist concludes that the potential clash may destroy far more than Earth and the Army. Matoko, Bansai and their men pause near a hallway where an Army battalion waits for them. The two realize that stopping the cannon won't mean anything if they don't stop the berserking gate and believes there was no way to do so. Another figure counters, as he drops down on the Army by coming through the ceiling to attack them, that the planet won't fall since he, Takasugi, and the Kiheitai would have ended things long ago. If it did happen, he will forcefully bring them down from heaven along with heaven itself.
Takasugi tells his men that during the war, when he despaired and looked to the heavens, what he saw wasn't heaven but his comrades, concluding that they will continue fighting despite the despairing world. Takechi adds that without a means of contacting their allies on Earth, the only means of reaching them was hope along with the Liberation Army's destruction. Takasugi, Matoko and Bansai fight through the army, surprised that Takechi spoke of hope instead of his usual lolicon tendencies. The strategist agrees and admits that he wishes he was fighting with them. A while later, Shoukaku and Batou contact the Kiheitai to report their successful infiltration. One of Batou's men connects a laptop to the ship containing Hankai's consciousness, irritated that he is helping the Earthlings that destroyed his body. Takechi reveals that they will use Hankai's abilities of controlling machines and his non-corporeal form to infiltrate the Amenotori's systems and stop the cannon. Hankai detects there were failed previous attempts by the Kiheitai to hack into the systems; Takechi counters that those twelve attempts were made by independent copies of Hankai which helped enabled the Kiheitai to continuously collect data and weaken the Amenotori's security.
Hankai starts his work but Batou wonders how many Hankai copies are needed to destroy the cannon. The strategist admits it may not be enough thanks to the Amenotori's complex system. But thanks to the knowledge of the cannon's control room location, their comrades may be able to overcome this. The two remaining Ominous Stars agree and start fighting through Enshou's faction. Suddenly an explosion behind Batou kills him and his men and Shoukaku tries to contact his fellow star before he and his faction too are caught in another explosion. In the bridge, Enshou orders his men to transfer all available energy to the cannon to further cut its charging time. A soldier warns that doing so will affect both ally and enemy units in other parts of the ship; Enshou counters that their enemy was doing the same on Earth and reorders them to cut the power specifically where the enemy was. Takechi, realizing what may have happened to the remnant Harusame, orders the invading Kiheitai group to flee. Their location suddenly explodes, killing some of the men and tripping Matoko right in front of the space vacuum.
Characters[]
- Kiheitai
- Harusame remnant
- Altana Liberation Army
- Sakamoto Tatsuma (cameo)
- Katsura Kotarou (cameo)
- Hitotsubashi Nobu Nobu (cameo)
- Sakata Gintoki (flashback)