"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."

"The armistice which finally ended the Hundred Years War was signed right around the time I deserted the Melkian army. That was six months ago. I had slipped away from the military's eyes...and lost myself in the crowds in the city of Uoodo." A Melkian satellite tracks the progress of Chirico (now called "Program K"), as he enters the sinister Uoodo City. Mere moments later, he is caught by a gang of bikers who toss him into a truck along with other victims, and roar away to evade the Uoodo Security Police. Taken to the bikers' fortress on the outskirts of the city, Chirico and the other slaves are forced to dig for jijirium in the ruins of a computer factory. Later that night, the police pay a call on the fortress. Uoodo's chief of police has come to inform the gangleader, Boone, that their arrangement must be dissolved - now that the war no longer serves as a distraction, he can no longer turn a blind eye to the slave raids. Boone attempts to bribe him with even more riches, but a sudden slave uprising takes all of them by surprise. Grabbing a motorcycle during the confusion, Chirico escapes back into Uoodo, chased by bikers. The Melkian spy network intervenes, and Chirico falls into a scrap yard. He climbs into the wreck of a Scopedog, the only shelter he can trust. "It was a place that held a familiar scent for me. With only the cold feel of metal on my hands, a once-dead warmth now glowed to new life inside me. And, feeling as safe as a child held to its mother's breast, before I knew it I was fast asleep."

"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."

"Since deserting the army, I'd come to the city of Uoodo. But this battleground city was like hell itself...and contained every level of depravity." The Melkian spy network notes Chirico's predicament and dispatch a rescue order. Firefighters leap into the fray, dousing Chirico's AT with foam, and just as quickly disappear. Gotho arrives, curious about who saved Chirico's life. Later, Gotho patches him up and makes a business proposition. Chirico's skills could be put to good use in one of Uoodo's Battling arenas, where AT pilots fight in mock combat. They go to an arena, where Chirico notices a mysterious cloaked woman who Gotho calls "The Phantom Lady." He introduces Chirico to the other Battling pilots, who take offense when Chirico berates their sport as "play fighting." One pilot challenges him to a match, and Chirico accepts. Afterward, though, another pilot steps in to take over - Lieutenant Conin, from the Lido operation. Now working for the Secret Society, Conin is determined to kill Chirico in the arena, but Chirico proves the better warrior. Gotho's joy in Chirico's victory is short-lived, however, when Iskui's police arrive to take Chirico into custody.

"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..."

"Since deserting the army, the war ended, and I found myself in the city of Uoodo. Now I have the city's police force trying to kill me. But why? I've done nothing to have earned these constant attacks." The police step up their assault on Chirico, and he abandons his now-damaged AT to escape with Gotho and the others. They hide out at Vanilla's home to plan their next move. Gotho tries to convince Chirico that his future is in Battling, but Chirico is too full of questions. He slips away, overpowers a street cop, and sneaks into the police tower wearing a stolen uniform. He makes it all the way to Iskui's office and holds the man at gunpoint, demanding to know why he has been hunted ever since Lido. Iskui agrees to take Chirico to a place where his questions will be answered, and the two leave in a private helicopter to the heliport outside Uoodo. Meanwhile, gotho and the others have found an abandoned underground subway, and are making their way to the same location in order to scout for information that can help Chirico. They make it inside just as Iskui springs a trap. Chirico is surrounded, but Gotho provides him with a diversion from the control room and he evades capture. meeting up with his rescuers again, Chirico blunders into another room deep inside the base - The Phantom Lady's living quarters. He boldly approaches her, recognizing her as the same woman he saw on Lido. She flees before Chirico can ask her any questions, and police troops pick up his trail again. Vanilla manages to hijack a helicopter, and flies his friends to freedom. "It was her. Was that really the Prototype? But what is she?"

"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..."

Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna are ecstatic about their new found riches. They have enough jijirium to live in luxury the rest of their lives. But Chirico shows no joy; he has other plans for their treasure. Elsewhere, Borough proposes to Iskui that the time has come to play their trump card against Chirico. Rochina, meanwhile, dispatches his operatives into Uoodo city to start observing Chirico directly. Coconna reports to Gotho and Vanilla that the police are active throughout the city, looking for the stolen jijirium. Gotho realizes they will probably never get out with their treasure and suggests they instead use it to buy their freedom. Vanilla is incredulous, but Chrico agrees with Gotho's plan; it will also serve his purposes. Shortly after Albert Killy gives Borough and Iskui permission to use the Prototype against Chrico, Gotho is brought into police headquarters. They strike a deal for the jijirium and let him go, seeing this as the perfect opportunity to nab Chrico. Gotho travels to a ruined coliseum where he is to meet Iskui. Coconna drives the jijirium truck up a policeman elsewhere in the city and runs off. The policeman reports to Iskui that the treasure has been recovered, and Iskui breaks the deal, refusing to pay Gotho anything for his trouble. Gotho slinks off and Chirico roars into action, bearing down on Iskui in a Scopedog. No the final trap is sprung. Another AT (a Brutishdog) appears and grapples with Chirico. For the first time, he is evenly matched...and for the first time, he is beaten! Police surround him as he gazes into the face of his mystery opponent - The phantom Lady! "Who are you? Near-perfect reflexes, almost supernatural intuition. Who are you...?"

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."

Sleep in Vanilla's home is broken by the sound of thunder. Police units have begun to literally take the city apart to find them, and before they know it they are boxed in with no escape! Vanilla, Gotho and Coconna despair for their lives until Chirico snaps them back to attention and leads them through an impossible route to safety. Having lost everything, they refuse to go on, but Chirico does not expect them to, in any case. Iskui and Borough receives reports from their assault units, who report that Chirico's hideout has been destroyed, and now they ponder wheat to do with their troubled "Prototype." On the streets below, Chirico makes his way into the AT hanger of a Battling arena and goes to work on a Scopedog. Gotho and his companions prepare to leave Uoodo through the underground tunnels when Coconna demands that they turn back to help Chrico. Gotho and Vanilla are typically reluctant, so she turns back on her own. She follows Chirico's trail to the arena, and Vanilla appears in the nick of time to save her from being caught by a guard. Reunited once again, the three find Chirico inside, building a Scopedog into a heavily augmented Red Shoulder style AT. This is when Gotho makes the connection - Chirico was once a Red Shoulder, one of the deadliest AT pilots in the war. No sooner have they agreed to aid him in his continuing battle, that the police arrive and prepare to move in. Chirico takes cover, ready to return their brutality in kind. "They could never understand the pain of being a Red Shoulder. Thinking that, I prepared to meet the advancing energy. Only by fighting could I forget the horrors I'd seen. I fought on only so I wouldn't remember. But someday..."

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."

Proto-One tells Chirico what she knows, but is unable to answer most of his questions about the conspiracy they are both caught up in. When their discussion is interrupted by attacking police, she vows that this time she will fight with him, not against him. Together, they charge into battle. Iskui is desperate to end this debacle, and Borough gives him the idean to fight fire with fire; they will send in Battling pilots to attack Chirico. While they arrange for this, Chirico makes contact with Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna. He suggests a rendezvous point and moves out with Proto-One. Seeing the forces arrayed against them, Vanilla tries to back out, but Coconna holds him up with his own pistol. This does the trick. Inside the tower, Chirico and Proto-One are attacked by the Battling pilots and quickly outnumbered. Proto-One is knocked out of her AT, and Chirico rushes to her rescue, calling a name out of the blue: "Fyana!" He scoops her up and rushes her to safety. She is puzzled by the name, but is glad to accept it as her own. They attempt to escape the tower, but are finally overpowered and separated. Chirico falls to safety just in time to meet up with Gotho and the others, but Fyana is take away by police. The skies above Uoodo rumble with the sound of approaching airplanes. Scopedog platoons parachute down toward the city. The Melkian army has arrived. But Chirico is concerned only with the woman he has been parted from. "Fyana...but why did I call her by that name?"

"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?"

"Oppressive heart and dampness. Jungle disease and deadly insects. It may have been painted in tones of green, but this was definitely another province of hell. But to me, after dodging death and my pursuers for the three months since I left Uoodo, the war-torn Kingdom of Kummen seemed like heaven." Rochina and Battentain continue to monitor Chirico via the homing beacon implanted in him. They watch with interest as he enters Kummen and the civil war that is raging between the mercenary forces and the Holy Kingdom. Chirico signs on at the mercenary base Assemble EX-10, and is reunited with Gotho, who has been waiting for him since the fall of Uoodo. Chirico is then approached by Kan Yu, and interrogated about the beacon they have discovered in his x-rays. Queestioned by Gon Nu about his purpose here, Chirico answers that he has seen the Perfect Soldier, and is searching for it in Kummen. Gon Nu knows of the PS and lets Chirico off the hook, but Kan Yu remains suspicious of his motives. That night, Gotho drives Chirico into Niitan, a nearby town, where he has bought a nightclub called "The Fantom Club." Vanilla and Coconna are overjoyed to see Chirico again. Kan Yu enters the club and begins to taunt Chirico, but they are interrupted by explosions outside - the last artillery attack by the fearsome Veela Guerrillas! Chirico joins other mercenaries as they scramble for their ATs and pluge into the jungle. The Guerrillas have deployed Turtle-series ATs against the mercenaries, and the two forces seen evenly matched except for one wild card: a deadly blue Turtle nicknamed the "Blue AT." Chirico faces off against it in his Marshydog, and is positive he knows who the enemy pilot is. "In that instant, I knew for certain. Its reaction time was too fast to be a normal human. The one I was fighting had to be her. The woman I'd lost at Uoodo. My Fyana."

"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?"

On the outskirts of EX-10, a small force of guerrillas knocks out the guards and ambushes the sleeping base. The mercenaries respond quickly, and Potaria arrives just in time to spot a woman fleeing into the jungle. Potaria broods about it later in the Fantom Club. The woman's name is Monica, and they were childhood friends. The next day, Kan Yu chooses a task force to join him in an attempt to locate the guerrillas, who are believed to be hiding in Zonmu village. The task force includes Chirico, Kiderra, Potaria, and Shako. They arrive at Zonmu some time later, and Kan Yu orders all the villagers brought forward for questioning. The villagers deny any connection with the guerrillas, but Kan Yu orders the village searched. The search turns up Monica. she refuses to reveal anything about her fellow guerrillas, even when forced by Kan Yu to play a cruel game of Russian Roulette. Chirico intervenes, and Turtles erupt for hiding! A firefight ensures which carries into the nearby mountains. Once again, the Blue At appears and Chirico attempts to communicate with the pilot. Separated from the battle, Chirico gets out of his AT and approaches his opponent on foot. The Blue AT opens its cockpit, revealing that the pilot is not Fyana after all - it is another Perfect Soldier altogether, a wiry young man who knows Chirico's name!

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."

An air patrol from EX-10 locates Chirico and brings him in to the EX-10 hospital. Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna stand vigil over Chirico as a doctor explains to Gon Nu and Kan Yu that Chirico suffers from exhaustion and cannot answer their questions. It is actually a ruse, and the doctor is bribed to maintain it. Chirico tells the others that he has located Fyana, and Coconna fumes with jealousy. At the Holy Palace, Kanjelman fights Ypsilon in a Balancing match. This time, Ypsilon is beaten, and Kanjelman cautions him against excess pride. Ypsilon confronts Fyana about her treachery in allowing Chirico to escape, and Kanjelman conducts a meeting with his advisors to plan a new assault on EX-10. At the base, Gon Nu takes a leave of absence, and Kan Yu is left in charge. Observing this, Gotho promises to dig up more information and contact Chirico later. That night, Chirico sneakes out of the hospital to Gotho's house and receives a phone call. Gotho tells him that Gon Nu has gone to set up an alliance with the Melkian army, which can only escalate the civil war. As Chirico hangs up the phone, Kan Yu and his troops barge in to take him captive. Learning of this, Kiderra and Potaria force their way into Kan Yu's office, where he is attempting to interrogate Chirico. No sooner have they freed him when an alert sounds; Veela Guerrillas are launching an attack! In the Fantom Club, Vanilla and Coconna also take notice of the attack - missiles are streaking right into Niitan! Kan Yu scrambles his AT platoons to the base perimeter, but no enemy is in sight. Chirico realizes the truth of what is happening; the guerrillas are concentrating their attack on Niitan instead of the base. Defying Kan Yu's orders, he and his companions race to the aid of the town, hoping it isn't already too late. "With a roar, everything began to move. I couldn't see what was ahead, but everything right now was connected into one thing. And then I knew this was all just a prelude to an approaching hell."

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."

This episode recounts events form Stage 1: Uoodo City. "An agreement to end the Hundred Years War was finally reached around the time I deserted the Melkian army. Six months passed. My pursuit of the men who had lead me into a trap had brought me to the city of Uoodo... Battling Mock AT combat by ruffians who longed for the battlefield. But the gamblers were willing to pay even more for the real battles I became involved in. Battles with live ammo in our rifles. Despite the winnings, I wasn't doing it for the money. I thought by fighting in these real battles, I might encounter HEr again... Fyana...without even thinking about it, I called her Fyana. Fyana...are you now somewhere in this green hell? Will I ever meet you again?"

"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."

No longer able to travel the river route to Kanjelman's palace, Kan Yu's task force is airlifted to nearby Crescent Moon lake, from which they will travel by land. A Veela spy watches the airlift and reports to Kanjelman. The news quickly passes to Borough, who informs Ypsilon that Chirico is on his way...and he plans to take advantage of their next battle in a way that will end the confusion in Proto-One's mind. The airlift of Kan Yu's task force is interrupted by Veela artillery. Vanilla plays the unwilling bait in his helicopter while the ATs drop into the jungle and eliminate their attackers. Word of this also reaches Kanjelman's palace, confirming the whereabouts of the task force. Borough and Ypsilon contact Albert Killy to propose their plan: Proto-One will be made to watch as Ypsilon kills Chirico in an ambush, thus ending her distraction. Some time later, Kan Yu's men cross Crescent Moon lake with a gunboat escort. Abruptly, one of the gunboats is struck from beneath; Ypsilon and a platoon f Turtles launches an ambush from their hiding place under the water! Chirico and the others engage the Turtles in their own ATs, and Ypsilon singles out Chirico immediately. As they face off, a helicopter flies overhead. Inside is Borough, who forces Fyana to watch the scene below. She tries in vain to avert her eyes as Chirico's Marshydog takes heavy damage...and when it is finally too much for her, she lunges for the helicopter's flight stick, spinning it out of control! The careening helicopter knocks Ypsilon aside and crashes headlong into the shoreline. Chirico watches the crash from his slowly sinking AT. "In Ypsilon, I had seen an almost bottomless hatred for me. And yet, I saw something else, she'd risked her life for me. Fyana. An indescribable warmth filled my body..."

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?"

Chirico and Fyana travel the jungle together in his Marshydog, and when the two are ambushed by Veela ATs, three unexpected allies come to the rescue: Kiderra, Potaria, and Shako. Afterward, Chirico tells them what happened to Kan Yu and introduces Fyana, the PS they have been tracking all this time. Potaria and Kiderra agree to accompany them on their mission to assault Kanjelman's palace, but Shako dissents; he is bound by his contract with EX-10 and cannot bring himself to violate orders. A short while later, an EX-10 helicopter passes overhead and spots the rogue mercenaries. Gon Nu relays the news to Rochina, who orders him to keep Chirico under observation. His actions could give them the opportunity they need to launch an all-out attack on the palace. with Fyana's help, Chirico and the others destroy another platoon of Turtles and make their way closer to their objective. At the palace, Albert Killy informs Borough and Ypsilon that he is sending a new AT for Ypsilon to fight in now that his Snapping Turtle is gone. Chirico's group reaches one of Kanjelman's arsenals. Fyana makes her way up to it alone and finds herself a Brutishdog. The others make short work of the installation. Fyana informs them of something she has overheard on the radio; that Kanjelman has ordered all Veela Guerrilla units back to the palace. Potaria is confused by this news, unable to figure out why the prince is abandoning his tactics after all this time. Heading back into the jungle, Chrico and the others are spotted by another helicopter from EX-10, which is piloted by Vanilla. He reports that he has found Chirico, but is ordered to return to base. Chirico watches him leave and realizes that many eyes are now on him. His next move must be a decisive one. "Go Nu wasn't going to let me go. As the enemy closed in from both sides, my excitement built. But in the palace beneath the gathering storm clouds, a deep whirlpool of suspicions was also building..."

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..."

Far away at his home near EX-10, Gotho receives a radio message for Vanilla, who is about to join the attack on the palace. Gotho and Coconna can do little more that wish him luck as all hell breaks loose. Under the cover of air-to-ground fire, Kan Yu leads an AT platoon as they drop to the ground. Vanilla's helicopter is hit, and he bails out, intent on finding Chirico somewhere in this madness. Inside the palace, Ypsilon's new AT has finally arrived: the Strikedog. He jumps in immediately and peels out. He runs right into Kan Yu's platoon, and demolishes even Shako's AT with ease...but Chirico is nowhere to be found. Elsewhere, Chirico, Fyana and Kiderra stand waiting for Potaria to return. Instead, Vanilla emerges from the palace with the news that Potaria has gone after Kangelman himslef. Chirico decides he must now go after Borough. Deep within the palace, Kanjelman retires to his quarters, content to wait for the inevitable conclusion of the battle raging outside. But Potaria appears and threatens to kill him for all he had done to their nation. Kanjelman faces him down - but then agrees to a Balancing duel. Ypsilon is alerted that the prince is in danger, but there is little he can do now that mercenary ATs are beginning to overrun the palace. Kanjelman fights Potaria with grace and skill, but Potaria is a Balancing expert as well, having practiced against kanjelman many times in their younger days - and it is Potaria that finally gets the upper hand, piercing kanjelman through the chest in one quick motion! Elsewhere inside the palace, Chirico finally locates Borough and bears down on him with full fury. Again, the call goes out for Ypsilon, who charges back into the palace, leaving the grounds undefended. Kanjelman lies dying in Potaria's arms, finally admitting his reasons for doing all of this; he decided long ago that the only way for Kummen to be born into a new age was to test fate itself. If the old ways were destined to survive, Kanjelman's guerrilla war would have succeeded. Now that it has failed, he will allow himself and his followers to be swept away as symbols of the old order. Before he dies, he hands Potaria a small metal key. Chirico finally corners Borough and holds him at gunpoint above a deep mineshaft. The time has come for questions to be answered. "Of course I knew he wasn't the man responsible for all this...but he'd used Kummen's war and manipulated the two Perfect Soldiers all for some purpose. And that purpose...was what?"

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?"

Recap episode. "After escaping the military, I was ensnared into working the jijirium mine at the city of Uoodo. I thought I'd escaped hell...but this was hell, too...It was in Uoodo that I finally found him...Major Iskui. He and the others on the decommissioned ship Teltain had thrown my life into chaos. It's been a long six months. "Before I knew it, we were in an underground armory, fighting each other in our ATs. The clanging of steel and the smell of gunpowder were both familiar and disquieting to me. I understood. This girl was that strange life form I saw. She was called a PS, and was the military's deepest secret. "When I deserted the army, I picked up a bloodhound who was after the Secret Society that stole the PS. Always floating in the back of my mind was the mocking laughter of Captain Jean Paul Rochina. To maintain this secret, they destroyed a city. But all the death and destruction was merely a prelude to the destiny I was burdened with."

"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."

Chirico finishes off the first platoon of Balarant Fatties, but a second quickly approaches after a brief exchange of gunfire between Battleship X and the Balarant patrol fleet. Chirico is thrown back into battle, but he is finally overwhelmed and Fyana barely manages to get him back inside after he is wounded. News of the battle travels quickly to the Balarant HQ Command Satellite. Admiral Zanjeny and his staff review an audio record of the battle, in which Chirico's voice mentions the term "PS." Knowing this to mean Perfect Soldier, Zanjeny orders his patrol fleet to keep close pursuit. On planet Melkia, Rochina reviews puzzling data collected immediately after the battle in Kummen...data which reveals a single ship escaping the palace and being picked up by a larger one. Reports come in of a battle in the nonaggression zone, and Rochina meets with General Battentain for new orders. To Rochina's surprise, Battentain orders him to stand down from the pursuit of the PS; he has taken too long and gotten insufficient results. Rochina turns the table when he drops a hint about the battle going on in the nonaggression zone...and walks away to follow an agenda of his own. The Balarant now keep their distance from Battleship X, but this gives little comfort to Fyana, who nurses a wounded Chirico and is continuously assaulted by the Red Shoulder video. A seemingly delirious Chirico wanders the flight deck and speaks to an unseen entity, demanding to know why he is being called and where he is to go. Mercifully, he passes out. But no sooner has Fyana gotten him into a cot than the Balarant decide to renew their attack. She prepares to face them alone and Chirico is left behind, unable to get to her aid. "Fyana...why are you fighting? To protect yourself? To protect me, someone who despises himself? I've been a thoughtless, miserable fool. Why have I been fighting up until now? Who do I go on fighting? Fyana had finally begun to pry open my heart...and I'd slammed it shut again. And once more, almost unconsciously, my heart sought comfort in battle."

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."

Zanjeny and his crew debate the continuing situation. Space Battleship X cannot be identified as a Gilgamesh ship, but the Balarant still cannot risk starting an incident in the nonaggression zone. All they can do is wait for their opponent to make the first move. On the ship, Fyana has come to a decision - she will surrender herself to the Balarant in exchange for medical treatment for Chirico. Her attempt to do so is observed by Futtor's men, and just as Fyana seems to have won, the Balarant ship is destroyed by the Teltain. She makes it back safely to Battleship X, and as the unknown planet looms closer, the Teltain launches another attack. Fyana attempts to radio Ypsilon, begging him to stop the assault, but communication is knocked out before anything can come of it. The ship begins to descent into the atmosphere of the planet, and a platoon of MKII Tortoises is launched against Fyana. Ypsilon joins the attack in his Strikedog, but when he faces off against her directly, his emotions begin to cloud his judgment. Despite this, he manages to capture her, and as his men haul her away, Teltain launches another barrage of missiles at the descending battleship. Horrified, Fyana tears herself away and plummets to Chirico's aid once again. She dives inside, followed by more Tortoises, but everyone is thrown into chaos when the giant ship finally smashes into the surface of the planet and comes to rest. Just as Fyana is finally cornered, Chirico rushes to her aid in a Scopedog of his own, and fights his way out to the surface of the smoking ship...where Ypsilon awaits. The sun of the unknown planet rises as they level their weapons at each other. "My strength had returned to me. But, as strong as Ypsilon's murderous rage was, the smell of blood from this planet's past was even stronger."

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..."

Huge vehicles watch the approaching transport truck and prepare to launch an attack. But they are unprepared for a skilled AT pilot in a Scopedog, who swiftly disables one of their vehicles. The struggle is interrupted by a voice from above; a ship passes overhead and calls out to the AT pilot. An astonished Chirico realizes it is Bouleuse Gotho! In orbit around Sunsa, the Teltain has escaped its battle with the Balarant, and Futtor makes plans to continue the pursuit of Chirico and Proto-One. Meanwhile, Ypsilon examines data from Battleship X. To his disbelief, Chirico seems to have recovered from his earlier injuries three times faster than any normal human... Gotho's vessel drifts over Sunsa. Inside, Chirico and Fyana are introduced to their attackers: Zophie and her gang, who salvage weapons from the desert for Gotho to sell off world. They travel to Zophie's fortress, within the airtight ruins of a damaged building. Vanilla and Coconna are there, and react to their arrival with mixed emotions. Vanilla is ecstatic, but Coconna is furious when she sees Fyana for the first time. Chirico says nothing. Later, Zophie approaches a weeping Coconna, who reveals that as a Red Shoulder, Chirico has always been cold and unemotional. Meanwhile, Gotho berates Chirico for acting this way toward Coconna. Fyana argues for Chirico's sake, but stops herself before she can say too much. The scene is broken by the arrival of Ypsilon and a platoon of Tortoises from the Teltain. Setting up a perimeter around the fortress, they demand that Chirico be surrendered. Gotho prepares to answer with gunfire, but Zophie stops him - Chirico, after all, is one of the Red Shoulder devils who destroyed their planet, and she is more than willing to throw him to the wolves. Chirico prepares to face Ypsilon alone, refusing even Fyana's help. She begins to wonder if he really is as cold and unfeeling as Gotho said. "I know best how I should fight. Gotho had called me a war machine. A murder machine. And now so had my beloved Fyana. If I really was a machine, I doubt their words would hurt me as much as they did. But I'm just a man, and my battle is this hell continues...as does my crushed existence."

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...

"I was searching for any oxygen canisters left in the wreckage. I'd realized that I had miscalculated. My oxygen was running out. My initial calculations had let me to believe that I could just reach that unmanned supply situation. But I'd sacrificed one more canister than I'd counted on. Zophie's presence was the reason." Chirico has made the magnanimous gesture of giving Zophie one of his own air tanks, but now regrets it as his own nears its limit. Evading Balarant patrols, Chirico eventually finds an underground supply depot, and sets Fyana down to investigate it. Inside, he finds more air tanks, but gives up his bazooka to carry them. He returns to Fyana and resumes his walk...but Zophie intervenes, having grabbed and armed the bazooka! Before she can end it all, however, other come to Chirico's rescue - Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna charge over the dunes in a salvaged buggy, and scoop everyone up just in time to avoid another Balarant patrol. The patrol chases them into the very supply station Chirico was bound for, and he takes over the buggy to face off against the single Fatty AT that pursues them. Destroying the Fatty, he rushes to Fyana, and prepares a liquid jijirium bath to save her from the edge of death. As he does this, Gotho and the others deal with Zophie...and Coconna emerges as the unlikely victor. Unleashing the pent-up anger of a lifetime, she pummels Zophie with everything she has, including the heart-rending truth that she, too, lost her family in the war. As Fyana's life is restored, Gotho and Vanilla inform Chirico that Zophie has gone...but she left no forgiveness behind. " I never answered her charges. Even if I had told her the truth, that my unit wasn't on this world when her family was killed, I still would have only been making meaningless excuses. Because I'd done the same thing in other places. Even if she knew the truth, she wouldn't forgive me. And in my heart, I felt the same way."

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."

Chirico and Ypsilon unleash heavy fire, with Ypsilon pausing only to eliminate anyone who threatens to interfere in their battle. Suddenly the entire room starts to shake, and the floor drops out from under their ATs - their battle has ignited the ammo dump! Plummeting helplessly, they disappear into a deep shaft, and Rochina managed to escape with Fyana as the entire building crumbles. Landing relatively intact, Chirico gets the upper hand against Ypsilon, but does not choose to kill his foe. Instead, he begins to dig himself out and suggests they work together to survive. On the surface, Rochina orders his men to begin an excavation and recover Chirico. He discusses the situation with Fyana, who suspects that he is hiding the answer to a key question: how has Chirico, an ordinary human, lasted so long against Ypsilon, a Perfect Soldier? Similar questions burn through Ypsilon's mind as he and Chirico make their way toward the surface. The PS angrily declares himself a superior being, and that he belongs with Proto-One. Chirico corrects him on the name, and Ypsilon demands to know why he calls her Fyana - a question Chirico is unable to answer. Finally, when they reach the upper limits of the shaft, Ypsilon admits that they are alike in one respect; Chirico can fight as well as he can...but Ypsilon will eventually kill him. On that note, the Balarant excavation team finally breaks through from above and rescues Chirico. Ypsilon slips away just in time to join up with a rescue team from the Teltain, and they fight their way free. Chirico is taken to Rochina, who demands that he be ready to fight Ypsilon again. In return, Rochina orders Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna flown out of danger. "It seemed Rochina had kept his promise. My final battle with Ypsilon. The time was fast approaching. Will I survive it, or will he? And if I do survive, what then?"

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?"

This episode recounts events from Stage 3: Deadworld Sunsa. "The last thing I rember is escaping the jungles of Kummen with Fyana. There's no doubt about that. But right after that, something grabbed us. Where am I? Why am I here? When I cam to, I discovered we were on board a warship. Just the two of us. "Who was trying to rip open the old wounds I'd finally closed? It was horrible. We didn't know the true intentions of whoever had brought us here. But it was clear they held no good will toward me. "The sudden Balarant attack was what saved my soul. But then, I always ended up running away into a battle like this. Only in battle...the only place I feel at home...is in battle. "We abandoned the ship. I think our mysterious overseer had forecast that as well. I wondered what else he had scripted for us. "Yes, Ypsilon. I guess I really can call you a soulmate of mine. You and I are both killing machines."

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?"

A task force of Zwerg Ats detaches from Killy's ship and descends toward Quent. Arron and Gurran try to reason their that he was nothing to worry about, but this does little to put Killy at ease. Chirico catches up on recent history with Shako, who explains that Quentians gave up their technological civilization thousands of years ago to live in the desert crevasses. Suddenly, Zwergs appear to give chase. Shako outmaneuvers them and escapes, but damages the radiator in his sandrunner, and must push the vehicle by hand. He enters a deep crevasse in the desert in hopes of finding a village of Quentians, but the Zwergs require their target and open fire on the ailing sandrunner. Chirico manages to commandeer one of their attackers' ATs and launches a counterstrike while Shako destroys another by ramming it. They continue their journey and word of their victory reaches Albert Killy. Furious that his men were brash enough to start a firefight in the vicinity of a Quentian village, he berates Arron and Gurran for their carelessness. On the surface, Chirico and shako approach another crevasse, within which lies Shako's own village. "The Quentian village lay in the depths of the ground. But was the mystery of the PS, of my own origins, hidden here? A race which had abandoned civilization and destroyed itself. Wasn't Quent, in the end, simply a graveyard?"

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 is left alive with Shako in the tunnels, but Arron and Gurran inexplicably re-materialize 800 km away in the streets of Gomor. They report this to Killy, who is amazed to finally learn one of the secrets of ancients Quent: teleportation. Chirico and Shako return to Meji for an explanation of what happened, but he cannot answer. Chirico asks where a power generator might be found, and Meji says the upper portion of the Tower of Gomor is one of many forbidden places. Albert Killy is faced with a decision. Fleets are approaching Quent from both the Gilgamesh and the Balarant, and he has to act now if he wants to seize the planet before they arrive. He deploys a contingent of Zwergs to the surface under Arron and Gurran's supervision. They land in Gomor and begin a march across the city, alarming the citizens and defying the city's small security force. From his chamber in the mercenary center, the emissary touches his stone monolith and sends out an emergency signal which is noticed by Chirico and Shako in the deep desert. Shako laments that they cannot reach Gomor in time to be of help. but Chirico has an idea; they turn the stolen Zwerg around and head back into the underground labyrinth. As Arron and Gurran lead their army toward the upper section of the tower, Chirico and Shako enter the caverns. Chirico fires a random shot into the darkness - and instantly teleports them to Gomor! They strike immediately at the Zwerg army and a firefight begins, which carries inside the tower itself. Again, the air crackles with energy and lashes out at the battling ATs... "Again! It was happening just as I'd predicted. Where would it transport us to this time? And what had we set into motion?"

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."

Killy watches from his ship as the Gilgamesh fleet approaches Quent, where Rochina's Balarant fleet awaits them. Arron and Gurran report from the surface that they are safe, but their entire AT army was destroyed. Killy is content to wait and watch history repeat itself now that the power of Quent is reawakening. Admiral Lepard speaks with General Battentain, who warns him about what he is walking into. Someone has been tampering with the secrets of this planet, perhaps even the lost Perfect Soldier. Arron and Gurran watch as Lepard lands and is greeted by Rochina. The two officers begin their verbal fencing, Lepard demanding that the Prototype be returned. Rochina attempts subterfuge, but when Gotho, Vanilla, and Coconna appear, his lies about losing contact with Chirico and the Prototype are revealed. Recovering, he offers to rendezvous in orbit and bring the Prototype with him. Everyone who watches the proceedings know what a risk this will be...especially with Chirico involved. Chirico infiltrates Rochina's AT platoon, and the Balarant fleet lifts off into space to play its part in the deadly game. Rochina's landing party docks with Lepard's ship, and he produces Fyana, insisting that the Gilgamesh now leave Quent. Lepard refuses, but as a Scopedog steps forward to seize Fyana, Chirico makes his move, striking out from inside a Balarant Fatty. Rochina escapes with Fyana, and the Battle quickly escalates into an all-out bloodbath! Chirico takes a moment to free Gotho and the others, then escapes outside into the escalating firefight. "The battling had turned more intense than I expected. And then somewhere in my body, I felt it. A premonition. Yes, one from the darkness, for only me to know. And that's when the whole horrible thing happened..."

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."

"It seemed that Killy, Rochina, and I were three of a kind. The ship we were on, under Wiseman's control traveled on through the darkness of space, its destination still unknown to us." Killy's ship proceeds through a belt of sinister floating tubes and toward a gigantic artificial planet, which he calls the technology of God. Drawn inside, the ship is set down and a silent command is spoken to Killy; to bring Chirico to Wiseman. Rochina admits to having received the same commands in the past, and Killy orders him imprisoned. As Killy leaves with Chirico, the time of execution has finally come for the other prisoners. Ever the trickster, Vanilla manages to overcome his would-be executioner and frees the others. Rochina is allowed to escape with them, but is not trusted with a weapon. On planet Melkia, a report of the disaster at Quent reaches Battentain. One Gilgamesh ship avoided destruction, and sighted the Secret Society ship leaving intact. Battentain postulates that since the Gilgamesh and Balarant both lost ships in the conflict, they now have the basis for an alliance against the mysterious enemy on Quent. While Killy and Chirico march closer to Wiseman, Rochina fills in his fellow escapees on what brought him this far, and warns them that Chirico is far more than they imagined him to be. The group is sudenly caught between two groups of Killy's guards, and a running battle begins, from which Rochina manages to slip away. Finally, Killy and Chirico reach the center of the complex, and Chirico is levitate into the core shaft. There, the truth is finally revealed; he is a natural-born PS, a new "Overman," for whom Wiseman has been waiting all this time. Chirico is to be his successor, the master of the entire Astrigius Galaxy. Offered this blessing, Chirico accepts it. An incredulous Albert Killy is told that his mission is over - and he is killed by Wiseman without a second thought. "I was Wiseman's successor. His will had determined this forme. I could finally se my destiny unfolding before me. Because I was a child of 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."

Gotho, Vanilla, Coconna, and Fyana trek across the Quent desert. Coconna screams at Vanilla for not landing their escape shuttle closer to Gomor, and he insists that only an expert pilot could have gotten them this far. Shako appears, and though they are overjoyed to see him, he is not reassured. He explains that a child of God will soon descend to Quent and decide the fate of the Universe. On the Secret Society ship, Chirico has uncovered treachery; Arron sabotaged their trajectory in order to delay the arival at Quent. Chirico kills him, leaving Gurran in despair. Rochina, who has stowed away on the ship, watches and waits. Later, Chirico descends alone to the Quent surface witha a new AT. Gurran resists the urge to shoot him down in cold blood, resigned that Wiseman is now in control of all their fates. Gotho and the other assemble an old Berserga AT for Fyana and discuss what is to come next. Shako spots Chirico's ship descending and goes to meet him in Gomor. Chirico disembarks in his own AT, the Rabidlydog, and is greeted by Shako. Chirico explains that he will need the destructive power of Gomor to meet the approaching fleet, and Shako offers to take him to the control center. There, they examine the machinery and Chirico explains to Shako the cold truth behind what is happening; although the ancient Quentians tried to exile the Overmen, their final creation now lies beneath the very feet of the modern Quentians. It has used war to manipulate history for 3,000 years. Now Chirico, the ultimate product of that war, will take control of it from here on. Shako tries to stop him and succeeds in damaging the equipment, but is overpowered and shot by Chirico. Gotho and the others, having trailed after them, burst in and open fire. Chirico slips away and plunges into the desert in the Rabidly dog. Furious, the others watch him disappear, and Fyana prepares to give chase. Chirico radios Gurran, ordering him to assemble their AT troops near the site of the Quentian villge now that the Tower of Gomor is out of commission. Fyana calls to Chirico to stop, but he rejects her and insists that she leave this planet far behind. "My final battle was beginning. Would I be blown to atoms...or would I inherit the throne of God?"

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!"

Having lost all contact with the Scopedogs chasing Chirico, the combined fleet consider their final option; that of destroying Quent itself. Chirico smashes the last of his pursuers and nearly collapses from the effort. Finally, Fyana appears in her Berserga and asks him one last time to turn back. He refuses, firing on her and throwing her backward into a teleport field. She is gone. Wiseman congratulates him, and beckons him on by foot. Chirico struggles to reach the final goal, the central core of the Wiseman bio-computer, the collective consciousness of the Overmen. Chirico lies unable to move, and Wiseman lowers a large machine toward him, one that will complete the bond between God and successor. All Chirico has to do now is stand up...but instead he plays his final gambit, firing a bulled directly into the machine! At last, Chirico's subterfuge is revealed - having come this far and lead all of his enemies into their own death, he now sets about the work of destroying Wiseman itself. Wiseman pleads with him to stop, explaining that it was he who brought Chirico together with Fyana, and provided her name. This gave Chirico something further to live for, and with life came the desire for strength and power. Wiseman also explains that Chirico need not regret the death and violence he has dealt in the battlefield, saying that "God does not sin when he kills." Chirico ignores every word, continuing to disable the computer core. As Wiseman's consciousness begins to disintegrate, it lashes out one last time, throwing Chirico to the ground with an electric shock. He rises to see Rochina standing over him. Rochina tries to stop Chirico's sabotage, but Fyana leaps in to overpower him. She recognized his true intentions when he fired only to damage her AT. Together, the two complete the work of killing God and flee to safety as Rochina screams in anger and dispair and what he has lost. The combined fleets of the Gilgamesh and the Balarant stand witness as Quent explodes with the fury of a sun. Epilogue: One Year Later A stolen shuttlecraft soars away from a Gilgamesh planet as a new war dawns on the horizon. Sometime later, a tiny capsule is released into space. Inside this capsule, preparing to disappear into history, Chirico holds Fyana dnd bids farewell to his Friends as they drift off in search of a world untouched by war. "Coconna. Gotho. Vanilla. Shako. I'm glad I was able to meet all of you. And you, Fyana..."