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Episode 2 - Power For You?
Episode 2 picks up right where number 1 left off. Garrod and Tifa are in a standoff with Gundam Airmaster and Gundam Leopard. Garrod searches Gundam X for weapons and comes up with a beam rifle but drops it when fired upon by Gundam Airmaster. Gundam Leopard and Airmaster fire at Garrod and Garrod retreats behind a rock. Garrod thinks about what to do in this situation before deciding to pull a bluff. He jumps on top of the rock and tells the others that his Gundam has a secret weapon and they’ll be sorry if they attack. Both pilots are stunned that anyone would try that and Leopard’s pilot tells him it is bad to lie. Gundam X retreats and is followed until Freeden’s Captain, Jamil Neet, sends them an order not to aim at the cockpit since recovering Tifa is paramount. Garrod also got this message and puts Tifa in the Gundam’s hand. He dares Airmaster and Leopard to shoot but they, of course, don’t. Gundam X flies away and Airmaster briefly follows but turns back. Garrod brings Tifa back into the cockpit and apologizes and asks if she was scared. She replies that she had faith in him.
All the while, a man had been watching. He is a man who makes money by getting information on mobile suits and sells it to Vultures. Tifa and Garrod make camp in a forest and have a fire going while Garrod devours his food. Tifa gives hers to him and he wolfs that too, only to choke for eating too fast. The information broker who was watching the Gundam battle goes to a female vulture named Vedba Morute. She owns a Slash Bull Jenice Custom. He tells her that if she captures the Gundam X, she’ll be the strongest mobile suit pilot and if she damages it, she can turn the parts into money. Naturally, she jumps at the idea and sets out for her prey. We then get switched over to the Freeden where Jamil is looking at a picture of Garrod and Tifa with contempt. The pilots of Airmaster and Leopard are talking about Tifa’s power and how it could be good business when two female operators say they heard everything. One says she’ll report it to the captain but stops when Leopard’s pilot pleads with her and tells her she’s cute.
Now Garrod is asking questions about Tifa but she doesn’t answer him. She says she’d rather know about him. He says he was born shortly after the war ended and how his father was a military mechanic. Garrod stares at the fire as he talks about it being like a long winter and never seeing the sun. Then when spring came, he chose to be a mechanic. One day his town was ransacked by mobile suits. He was captured and later released and that’s when he decided to disable mobile suits and sell them. Tifa puts her hands on top of his hand and in a moment, tackles Garrod to avoid an explosion. The Slash Bull Jenice had arrived to claim the Gundam when her “allies” shoot the gun out of her hand. She says that she won’t let the other vultures have the Gundam and attacks the now manned Gundam with a heat saber. The Gundam parries her attacks with its arm and some Daughtress' with shoulder cannons prevent her from attacking X. X draws its beam saber and cuts off the Jenice’s leg. The other vultures move in and one decides to finish off their fallen “comrade” via smashing their rifle’s stock into the cockpit. Garrod defeats a few vultures but as one falls, other vultures go to take the parts. Soon, they’re fighting amongst themselves. The information brokers are watching the fight while the man from before is insisting that information on a Gundam is money.
A group of Vultures close in on Garrod and Tifa. Garrod slashes a few while yelling about refusing to let them hurt him or Tifa. The Freeden closes in and Airmaster and Leopard are launched. Fire from the Freeden and its allies destroy several of Garrod’s attackers but still more come. Tifa says “Garrod...power for you” and focuses. Suddenly up on the moon, a solar panel lights up. A computer screen turns on displaying “UNE Satellite System” along with the names of the director, writer, designers and producer of the show. Some numbers scroll on the screen, probably code. Jamil Neet says “No it can’t be” before pleading with Tifa mentally to stop. The cockpit of the Gundam X begins to glow as the satellite system confirms the Gundam X’s location and displays its model number, GX-9900. Garrod sees “Satellite System” on his screen and asks Tifa if this is the power. A beam of light comes down from the moon and enters the X’s cockpit. Jamil continues to mentally plead with Tifa and his ears begin to bleed. Garrod raises the X’s gun as the large X on the suit’s back begins to glow. Jamil screams “Don’t Fire” and to no avail for Garrod fires and the blast obliterates all the Vultures, information brokers and a few of Freeden’s allied ships. Airmaster and Leopard are lucky to move at the last second to avoid being baked themselves. One of the Freeden’s operators asks what that was to which Jamil responds “a nightmare, a fifteen year old nightmare”. As the sun rises over the mountains, we see the entire forest has been turned into smoldering ash. Garrod looks around in shock for a moment and then reminds himself and Tifa that they’re still alive. Tifa stares blankly for a moment before clasping her ears and screaming. We’re left with X looking into the rising sun while Tifa’s scream fills the background.
Paul Jr’s Thoughts:
To start off, I’m convinced Tifa is a newtype. She has saved Garrod from incoming fire too many times to be a fluke. Since the Gundam X was a newtype weapon during the space war, it would explain why Tifa can mentally activate its Satellite System. Now with Vulture “Allies” attacking each other over scrap metal, one wonders why they bother with enemies. This episode certainly explains why Tifa is such a popular gal though the Freeden crew doesn’t really strike me as the villainous type. My question for now is what will Garrod and Tifa do, now that they’re temporarily safe?
