The Cosmo Zero noses straight down in a precipitous drop toward Iscandar. Flying in stealth mode, it dives past a phalanx of pillar-shaped defense ships hanging in the sky like sleeping statues. After clearing them without incident, Kodai powers up and accelerates toward a huge crater ringed by enemy guns. He quickly acquires their position data and sends it back to Yamato. The guns train on him and he prays for Shima to do his part as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, Yamato itself roars past Kodai, nose down and dropping like a bullet. With astonishing precision, the main guns pound the Gamilas defenses to dust and Yamato warps just seconds before it can smash into the surface. In its wake is a squadron of Black Tigers and a dropship, all hot on Kodai’s tail and ready for action.

The task force angles into the crater, a gigantic underground cavern leading deep into Iscandar. Gamilas fighters appear all at once, and a dogfight fills the tunnels with explosions. The Black Tigers give as good as they get, but go down quickly in this unforgiving environment. A missile bores in at the dropship and Yamamoto moves to block it. Kodai watches helplessly as his Tiger takes the hit and plunges groundward. Yamamoto salutes him bravely all the way to impact.

With the fighter escort now down to just Kodai, Yuki, and Kato, they guide the dropship into a new cavern. The ceiling around them is covered in giant, hanging structures of blue crystal.

The dropship releases its cargo–a ground assault vehicle carrying Sanada, Saito, and the marines. The pilots ditch their fighters and leap on board…but then the cavern itself seems to come alive. Gamilasborgs surge at them by the hundreds, their eerie blue lights glowing with menace.

They are not the only threat; positioned above them are larger creatures with heavy gun-arms that open fire on the encircled landing force. There is only one way out. Completely surrounded, Kodai picks up his tranceiver and orders Analyzer into “standalone” mode to give them cover.

Acknowledging the order, a red machine bursts out of Kodai’s Cosmo Tiger, a humanoid shape with a domed head. Bristling with guns, Analyzer acquires targets and sprays fire in all directions. Surprised, the Gamilasborgs take their eyes off the landing vehicle. The driver guns the engine and breaks free of the mass. Kodai watches as Analyzer recedes into the distance, emptying its guns into a relentless sea of Gamilasborgs. Its red body is quickly smothered in swarming blue light.

The vehicle drives deeper into the caverns, closing in on the coordinates that have brought them so far. This attract more unwelcome attention, and the group takes a heavy blow that throws them all to the ground. The hordes move in. Kato raises his rifle, vowing to hold them off so Kodai, Yuki, Saito, and Sanada can keep going. They all know it’s a death sentence, but Kato is already mortally wounded. This is his last, defiant gesture. They leave him behind with the echoes of his gunfire.

In short order, Sanada makes an announcement: they’ve arrived at the coordinates. This cavern is their destination. There are no machines of any kind, just a glowing blue crystal hovering inside a rocky structure.

Yuki reaches out for it and its energy pours into her, shredding her flight gear and filling her body. As the others watch, she turns to face them, her eyes glowing blue. She speaks in another voice, this one female and benevolent. (Note: it’s the original voice actress for both Starsha and Teresa!) The voice explains that there are two sides to the race they call “Gamilas;” the aggressive, conquering side and this opposite number, “Iscandar,” which wants only to preserve life. But there is no sign of an anti-radiation device.

Kodai takes this moment to share with them what Okita revealed to him: there is no such device. There never was. It was all a fiction to give the people of Earth a shred of hope to keep them going in their final days. The message capsule only delivered the engine plan and the coordinates they have now reached. The one tiny promise of anything more was Kodai’s survival on Earth’s surface. It is the source of his own faith, and all this mission had to cling to.

In response to this, “Iscandar” emits a pulse that neutralizes all the radiation in the cavern and fills it with breathable air. Kodai peels off his helmet and takes a breath. The others follow suit. They ask the voice if the same thing can be done for the Planet Earth. It can. And through Yuki, it will. Yuki’s eyes close and she drops to the ground.

She recovers quickly, and now the rest of the mission is clear. She must be returned to Earth. She is now “Iscandar.”

Making their way back toward the crashed vehicle, the tiny group still faces the prospect of escaping through untold numbers of Gamilasborgs. As they advance cautiously, they find what looks like a huge generator, another brilliant blue light glowing inside. Sanada takes some readings and deduces that it must be the source of all Gamilas energy. If they destroy it, there is a chance for escape.

They come under fire again, cling to the walls and fire back. Sanada and Saito prepare to make a break across a catwalk leading to the power generator, and Sanada insists that Kodai and Yuki must leave them behind. Sanada confides in Kodai that he has come to think of him as a younger brother. But there is no more time for talk; the two men rush out into the open. Kodai does his best to cover them, and they successfully reach the other side. Sanada shouts for him to run. Take Yuki and save Earth!

Tearing themselves away, they head back toward the landing point while Sanada plants explosives and Saito makes his stand. He pulls out his “lucky charm,” the protective pendant, and unleashes double rifles into the approaching hordes. He takes one hit after another, not giving an inch.

Finding neither help nor opposition, Kodai and Yuki reach the landing point. Analyzer lies in scraps near the demolished Cosmo Zero. Only Yuki’s Black Tiger is still in one piece.

Back at the power center, Sanada finishes rigging his bombs. He turns to Saito, now standing silent and immobile. He tips backward and crumples to the ground, his hands still tightly fastened around his guns. Gamilasborgs now rush unopposed across the catwalk, blasting Sanada backward. He raises his detonator and smiles.

A single Black Tiger blasts free of the cavern just as an enormous explosion ripples through the hanging crystal city and shatters it like glass. Kodai and Yuki cling to each other in the cockpit as they make their way back to the surface and safety.

 

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