Sort of Like a Fateful Decision

The Nadesico has made it to Mars, and the Jovians are waiting. It is up to Ryoko, Hikaru, Izumi, and Akito to take on the massive fleet. Weaving in and out of Grasshoppers, a stream of fire is left in their wake. As the girls joke and kid, showing off, it is up to Akito to get the majority of the work done.

Aboard the Nadesico, Admiral Fukube worries about the battle. Prospector has no fears whatsoever. His faith is fully in Nergal technology.

Taking on a capital ship, the three female pilots stop short of smashing against a rapidly-increasing force field. Akito makes it his point to try to get through. He fails.

Collecting himself, Akito pulls a knife from his Aestivalis's side and jets across the Jovian battleship. Getting the speed and angles just right, he manages to evade the force field, his knife cutting a deep gash the length of the hull. Then, with a single punch, he takes out the vessel. Exploding, it destroys nearly 80 percent of the fleet with it in a chain reaction.

The path clear, the ND-001 can begin its descent to the Martian surface. In the hangar bay, Ryoko buys Akito a drink, impressed by his handling of the mecha in battle.

PT engines decreasing, the Nadesico enters Mars's thermosphere, encountering the nanomachine collectives giving Mars an atmosphere. With the tiny robots covering the ship, there is fear of malfunctions or failures. Yurika insists they are harmless, recalling her childhood on the red planet. Colonists swallowed nanomachines all the time.

The captain orders Minato to ready the gravity blast cannon. The helmswoman inquires as to why it wasn't used in the fight in orbit. Yurika tells that she does not believe that they've encountered the bulk of the Jovian forces yet. Anticipating an attack from the planet's surface, she orders Minato to lower the bow toward the ground and fire the main gun. Just above the red dust, a massive buildup of Jovian craft is destroyed.

Hovering above the surface, the Nadesico prepares a landing party. Prospector's first order of business is to search the Nergal research facility at Mt. Olympus. Akito requests an Aestivalis to go to his former home. After some argument with Prospector and Hory, Fukube steps in and allows Akito to go.

Ryoko and Hikaru pilot a shuttle toward Olympus as Akito takes a battle frame out to the Utopia Colony. Megumi chases after him, wanting to accompany the pilot. After some complaining from Seiya, Megumi hops on board. Yurika sits on the bridge, angered by the excursion. She plots a way to to get to the Utopia Colony to separate Megumi from Akito. Jun refuses to take command of the ND-001 without a good reason. Yurika then sits a stuffed Gekiganger doll in the captain's chair.

At Mt. Olympus, things are gloomy. Ryoko, Hikaru, Prospector, and Hory search through the broken ruins. Ryoko asks about what Nergal was doing on Mars. Prospector's answer is that it was discovering the Nadesico. He leads the others deep into the compound. Down a massive shaft and through heavy doors, the battered and broken remains of a ship sits, twisted and deformed. It was discovered nearly 30 years ago, and since then, Nergal's research teams have spent all this time trying to understand its secrets.

In the meantime, Akito and Megumi have made it to the remains of the Utopia Colony. Megumi asks about Akito's relationship with Yurika on Mars. Akito remembers playing with the little girl. He remembers Yurika playing in a tractor, the machine out of control. Akito tried to stop it but was blamed for the damage. He wanted to control it. That was why he received the nanomachine injection treatment.

Megumi asks Akito why he became a cook if he has the IFS inside him. Picking up a handful of dirt, he shows Megumi wormlike nanomachines, repairing the soil. This is why they can breathe. Still, the soil is far from rich. Fruits and vegetables taste off. It takes a talented cook to make them taste good. It's something magical.

The two converse. Akito shies away as Megumi pushes closer. Then, the two fall through the red earth to a tunnel far beneath. Megumi looks about in the darkness, unharmed. Luckily, Akito was there to break her fall.

Out of the shadow, a cloaked figure appears. She helps Akito up and brings the two down twisting corridors to a network of subterranean chambers. Small pockets of cloaked people stand and sit, weak and tired. They are all that is left of the Martian colonists. They have all come together under what was the Utopia Colony.

After a moment of silence, Akito is overcome with joy. There are survivors. There are human survivors on Mars. He tells them that they can go back to Earth. He'll call the Nadesico to pick them up.

The cloaked figure that brought Akito here tells him that they will not leave. They have a chance of survival if they remain buried under the Martian dust, but if they try to leave, they'll be shot down.

Megumi shouts about the strength of the Nadesico.

The cloaked figure tells that she knows all about the Nadesico's strength. Removing her hood, she introduces herself as Inez Fressange, the Nergal scientist who designed the Nadesico's PT engines and distortion field.

Suddenly, from above, the Nadesico appears. Yurika has sent the whole ship out to find the pilot.

Inez tells the Nadesico to go away. The colonists will not board the ship. They will not leave the underground chambers. Mr. Hory insists. Inez shouts. She designed this ship. She knows what it can and cannot do. It will not make it back to Earth. As for the Jovians, the Nadesico crew has no idea how strong they are. She tells them that any victories the Nadesico has experienced so far have been but a part of a larger Jovian plan.

With Inez's words, a Jovian fleet seems to appear on the horizon. Yurika shouts for the readying of the gravity blast cannon. It fires a single deadly blast. As the beam fades, the Jovian vessels remain.

Inez spits, stating that the enemy has their own distortion fields, neutralizing the Nadesico's main gun. Farther away, a Chulip adds more ships to the alien fleet. Minato doesn't understand how so man vessels can be contained inside a Chulip. Inez reveals that they are portals, holes from Jovian space that allow a infinite number of ships to pass through.

Yurika calls for another firing of the gravity cannon, but she is rudely reminded that the main gun is powered by the PT engines. The PT engines can only function sufficiently in a vacuum. There isn't enough power for another blast.

The captain stares out, defenseless. She calls for the raising of the distortion field. Megumi shouts that it cannot be done. If the shield is raised, it will crush the ground beneath them... And all the Martian colonists down below.

Yurika spits. She orders the Nadesico lifted to a height where the distortion field can be raised without crushing the ground. There isn't enough power. It would take twenty minutes to siphon enough thrust.

All over the bridge, voices shout. Raise the shields? Release the Aestivalis? Is Yurika competent to make such a decision?

Megumi screams that she and Akito promised the colonists that they'd protect them. They'd save them. If the shield is raised, they will all die!

Mr. Hory shouts, ordering automatic defenses to be engaged.

Ruri waits for her captain's order.

Megumi screams.

Akito is silent.

Inez waits.

The Jovians maneuver atop the Nadesico and begin charging their graviton cannons.

Yurika mouths three words...

"Raise the shields."

The Nadesico's distortion field is activated. The ground is crushed. The colonists are killed.

The Jovians barrage the ship with a heavy rain of fire.

Inez divorces herself from her emotions. If the Nadesico had not raised its shield, the thousands of Jovian blasts would have struck the subterranean shelter. The distortion field killed the colonists quickly. It was merciful. The colonists' fates were sealed the moment the first Chulips appeared. Inez never believed that Yurika would save Mars. Yurika collapses.

Hours pass. Yurika is in her quarters running water down her face. She cries. Akito comes to her. The captain questions her judgment. She questions ever coming to Mars. She questions all she has done.

Akito consoles her.

Yurika turns to him and asks for a kiss. Akito backs away. Yurika tells Akito that she does not want him to kiss her like he kissed Megumi, but just a simple sign of hope. She wants something pure. She wants something genuine.

Akito doesn't know what to do. He leaves. Yurika takes a breath and enters into the hall after the boy. She finds Megumi, crossed. Megumi tells Yurika that Akito is hers. She will win.

Yurika says that they both will.