




episode written by Michael Edens, Rolf Steiner, J.F. Sebastian and Mark
Lazarro
Quick summary:
ExoFleet jumptroops and e-frames land on the moon in an attempt to retake
it from the Neo sapiens. But when Phaeton sends nearly every e-frame on
Earth after the fleet itself, the e-frames invading the moon are
recalled. DeLeon receives permission from Marsh to stay on the moon with the
jumptroops to help them. Battles rage both on the moon and above it. DeLeon
and O'Reilly battle Typhonus and kill him, but Alec is mortally wounded
in the process. Before he dies he has O'Reilly help him use the black
box from Typhonus' e-frame to appear to be Typhonus in a transmission to
Phaeton, in which he tells him the Neo pilots are either surrendering or
retreating. As punishment for such betrayal, Phaeton activates the
self-destruct mechanism on all the Neo e-frames. The combination of this
and Alec, as Typhonus, telling the Neo troops on the moon to surrender
ends the battle. Afterwards, with Alec DeLeon dead, O'Reilly delivers
DeLeon's e-frame black box to Maggie Weston.
Significant events, revelations, and other
notes:- Alec DeLeon dies.
- Typhonus, who killed
Alec, is himself killed by Colleen O'Reilly.
- The ExoFleet succeeds in
retaking the moon.
- With the end of this battle a Neo sapien defeat is
all but a certainty. It is likely that in "pulling out all the stops"
Phaeton has left a terribly inadequate number of e-frames left guarding
Earth itself.
- Maggie Weston has been given the black box to Alec
DeLeon's e-frame.
- Nara Burns mentions that the war has lasted
three years to that point.
- During the battle Winfield seems to think
total defeat is a possibility, i.e. not only them losing the battle or their lives,
but that Phaeton could there turn the tide and still win the whole war.
Winfield has always been cautious (so much so that Marcus had led a
mutiny back in season 1), so it is strange that with momentum on the side of
the ExoFleet he would risk the outcome of the war by moving too quickly.
It may be that he wants to retake Earth before Phaeton can build an army
of Neo lords ("The
Perfect Warrior", "The
Price of Courage") or whatever was being worked on at Great Slave
Lake (which he believes was destroyed in "The
Art of War")
Great Quotes:- Avery Butler,
after Winfield orders all e-frames to return to the fleet and
Marsh tells Captain Butler his jumptroops will have to do
without e-frames:"Without your e-frames we might as well hang
targets on our backs!"
- Vince Pellegrino, under heavy fire
from Neosapien Y-wings and standing next to the Apollo 11 lunar
lander:"Tranquility Base, huh? Don't seem too tranquil to me."
- The last of Phaeton's great orations
"Of all the creatures who have occupied the earth, it is we,
the Neosapiens, who have proved most fit to rule. The door to
our future is opening, and beyond that door lies the road to
greatness. Life is a journey. Every action we take, every
decision we make, large or small, is a step on that journey.
Only when we take the last step is the final destination
revealed. But you have chosen your future! You will not take
your final step in darkness, but in the brilliant flash of
ultimate sacrifice. As your enemy crumbles before you, you will
know that your journey was not made in vain!"
Long Synopsis: provided by Adam Keith
(lk0001@jove.acs.unt.edu)
In the year 1969, a desolate lunar landscape is disturbed by a small
spacecraft and the footsteps of a human being. Stirring lunar dust around
his feet, Neil Armstrong turns to face the distant planet Earth and
states, "That's one small step for man...one giant leap for mankind."
Back in the 22nd century, the exocarrier Resolute II and the massed
forces of the Exofleet approach the Earth's moon at full speed. On the
jumpship Arnhem, Nara Burns and Marsala talk about the war and its
imminent end. Nara can't believe that the war is only three years old,
but Marsala comments that a lifetime can be lived in three years.
J.T. enters the Arnhem's hangar, where the rest of the squad is preparing
their E-frames. He calls out instructions, telling everyone to check
everything and stating, "This isn't the Earth, people, but it's right
next door." Meanwhile, Alec thanks Wolf for saving several works of art
while he was on Earth. Alec comments on Phaeton's lack of appreciation
for the "finer things in life," and briefly casts a glance at Maggie.
Elsewhere, Captain Butler runs his pre-jump harassment routine as the
jumptroops climb into their drop capsules. The troops laugh tensely and
Pellegrino states that the squad is ready. O'Reilly calls out, "Two
minutes to drop," and the Exofleet enters position in orbit of the moon.
On the bridge of the Resolute, Admiral Winfield tells Simbacca of his
misgivings towards ordering others into battle when he would much rather
risk his own life. Simbacca says that is the reason that they are willing
to follow his orders. Winfield then orders all squadrons to launch the
assault.
Dozens of jumpships and transports fly just above the moon's surface and
begin releasing hundreds of E-frames and jumptroops. The jumptroops hit
the ground just as several Neosapien laser batteries break through the
lunar surface and open fire on the fleet of transports, catching several
E-frames and drop capsules as they emerge from their ships. The batteries
focus their fire on one transport, blasting away until it comes apart and
explodes. J.T. spots a set of gun installations on a nearby ledge and
silences them with a pair of missiles.
In one of three massive pyramids nearby, Typhonus orders his officers to
fight to the death and declares that the moon must not fall. When one of
the officers says that the lunar garrison isn't equipped to deal with a
full-scale invasion, Typhonus shouts, "The moon is a dagger pointed at
the Earth. It will give them the base they need for an invasion. Now go!"
His officers stand mute for a moment, but then turn and leave.
In his secret bunker underneath Phaeton City, Phaeton receives Typhonus'
report of massive Terran forces overpowering his lunar defenses. "You are
a simpleton, Typhonus," Phaeton declares, and compares him to his
incompetent predecessors. However, Phaeton states that he will have to
save Typhonus in order to save the Neosapien cause, and promises that the
Exofleet will be utterly destroyed in a few hours. "We may not have
hours!" Typhonus barks, to which Phaeton replies, "Do not disappoint me,
Typhonus. Everything we have fought for hangs in the balance."
Meanwhile, as Terran E-frames try to suppress the Neosapien ground
defenses, Butler's squad drops a few meters away from the Apollo 11
historical site and the Eagle lander. O'Reilly spots two Neosapien
batteries hidden behind the crest of a mountain and fires off a cluster
of missiles at them. One of the missiles is destroyed on its way, but the
other five find their targets and rip holes into the mountainside as they
explode. Pellegrino blasts pasts the Eagle lander and takes cover behind
a "Tranquility Base" sign as a Neosapien Y-wing opens fire on the
jumptroops. Pellegrino drops the fighter with a few blasts and then joins
up with the rest of the squadron. Longfeather reports only minor
casualties and the troops follow Butler away from the lunar lander.
Nearby, Alec comments on the absence of Neosapien E-frames while the
squad approaches the three pyramids, each of which features a massive
laser cannon. Takagi blasts past the rest of the squad and targets one of
the pyramids, reducing it to a twisted heap of metal with full blasters.
Torres targets one of the remaining two and destroys it, and Weston pulls
into position above the third. Before she can open fire, however, dozens
of Neosapien E-frames emerge from the ground and begin firing. Alec calls
out, "It's an ambush!" and one of the Neosapiens shoots the arm off of
Maggie's E-frame. When she shouts that she's hit, Alec lays down covering
fire and asks her if she's alright. Weston says yes, and Alec tells her
to be careful. Maggie looks at him and says coyly, "Why, Mr. DeLeon, I
didn't know you cared," before blasting away.
We hear Phaeton's voice speaking to his men about the glory of sacrifice
and the destiny of the Neosapien race as the battle continues to rage on
the moon. Longfeather takes to the sky and blasts in the side of the last
remaining pyramid before landing and fires five mines at its main door.
Butler motions his troops to follow him into the pyramid, and he and
O'Reilly drop a Neosapien soldier that leaps out from behind a corner.
Meanwhile, as Phaeton's speech reaches its climax, thousands of Neosapien
E-frames blast toward the moon and the Exofleet.
Resolute II and the other capital ships shower laser blasts on to the
moon's surface, but Simbacca and Winfield are disturbed by the sensor
reports of thousands of enemy E-frames approaching the fleet's position.
Winfield orders all remaining E-frames to scramble at once to keep the
Neosapiens away from the fleet and the ground forces. Throughout the
ship, pilots run to the hangar bays as the Resolute tries to muster a
fleet defense.
The vast numbers of E-frames make for quick casualties as entire squads
of Terran and Neosapien frames are quickly destroyed in the first waves
of blasts and missiles. An Exofleet cruiser picks off three Phaeton-style
E-frames, but a missile cluster from one of their wingmates severely
damages the cruiser and shortly afterwards blows it apart. Resolute then
comes flying through the cruiser's debris with guns blazing and
devastates the incoming Neosapiens. A stray Neosapien missile makes it
through the carrier's defenses and destroys a gun port, shaking the ship.
On the bridge, Winfield declares, "Phaeton's pulled out all the stops!"
to which Simbacca replies, "Then we will all go up in a glorious blaze,
brighter than a new sun." Winfield doesn't share Simbacca's desire for a
glorious death, however, and says that it can't be the end.
[You can watch
the battle in .avi format (6426k) thanks to Chris Carswell]
Captain Butler and his jumptroops wait outside the pyramid's entrance for
Able Squad to lend them a hand in getting through the Neosapien-infested
halls of the complex. Before the troopers can get moving, the Admiral
orders all E-frames to defend the fleet from the attacking Neosapiens.
J.T. apologizes for not being able to help the jumptroops, and Butler
protests, saying that, "Without your E-frames, we might as well hang
targets on our backs!" Alec volunteers to stay, observing that one more
E-frame wouldn't help the fleet but might make a difference for the
jumptroops. J.T. gives him permission to go with Captain Butler and tells
him to be careful. Maggie is visibly worried about Alec going with the
jumptroops, telling him, "Hey, don't get cocky, Alec." DeLeon, of course,
responds by saying, "Why, Weston, I didn't know you cared." Maggie
retorts, "In your dreams, DeLeon!" The squad blasts off and Alec takes
point as the jumptroops enter the pyramid.
From a distance, the squad sees the looming bulk of the Resolute II
surrounded by flashes and explosions as the thousands of Neosapiens
attempt to destroy it and the fleet. Bronski winces and says, "I knew I
wasn't gonna like this one," as the squad closes in. On the Resolute's
bridge, Simbacca comments on the bravery and skill of the attacking enemy
and states that he can almost respect them.
The space around the Resolute is thick with Neosapien E-frames, giving
Marsh no trouble in finding two and blowing them up. J.T. quickly gets
picked up by another enemy frame, though, and is unable to shake it until
Wolf comes from behind and rips into it, pausing for a moment afterwards
to give a triumphant belch.
Meanwhile, in the corridors of the command pyramid, DeLeon's radar spots
three Neosapien E- frames coming around the corner. Pellegrino fires off
two plasma grenades, and the hall in front of them is soon filled with
flame and melted E-frame debris. As Alec and the jumptroops round the
corner, though, Typhonus and several other officers in E-frames emerge
and open fire. Alec and the jumptroops step back and return fire,
destroying two of the E-frames before one chases O'Reilly into another
hall. A shot fired at Typhonus is blocked by one of his men, which allows
Typhonus to escape. Alec calls out his name and heads after him.
O'Reilly dodges blasts from her pursuer and fires off a small rearward
missile at him, knocking him to the ground momentarily and allowing her
to dart into another room. Her pursuer gets back on his feet and catches
up to O'Reilly, dropping her with one direct hit. As the Neosapien steps
down into the room and prepares to blast his fallen target, O'Reilly
struggles to regain consciousness. Just as the Neosapien fires again,
O'Reilly blasts off the floor and launches a missile directly into her
pursuer's cockpit, slamming his broken E-frame first to the wall and then
to the ground. O'Reilly stands and continues into the next room, where
she finds a control center and a screen showing an irate Phaeton
demanding a report from the absent Typhonus. As she turns away, O'Reilly
is shot again, this time by Typhonus, and falls to the floor. Typhonus
raises the massive foot of his E-frame above her fallen form and states,
"The Exofleet may retake the moon, but for you, the battle is finished."
Typhonus is interrupted by the sudden appearance of an electric field
around his E-frame, and Alec DeLeon says, "Checkmate, Typhonus! I'm
disengaging all your systems." But Typhonus' E-frame is only affected by
the field for a few brief seconds, after which he faces Alec and blasts
him against the wall. "This is a specially modified E-frame, Terran,"
Typhonus announces as he lifts Alec into the air and repeatedly crushes
his E-frame. Alec cries out in pain just as O'Reilly fires a missile into
Typhonus' back, killing him and forcing him to drop DeLeon to the ground.
O'Reilly rushes over to Alec, trapped in his mangled E-frame, and asks
him how badly he's hurt. "Bad," he manages to say, "I'm not going to make
it...my E-frame knows...it told me." O'Reilly dismisses this as delirium
and says that she's going to call for an evacuation shuttle, but Alec
refuses and insists that she do something first. He tells Colleen to
remove Typhonus' black box from his E-frame and to hook up his own
E-frame to the communications console. Then, he tells O'Reilly to replace
his E-frame's black box with that from Typhonus' E-frame. O'Reilly
figures it out and says, "I get it! You're going to process your
communications through his black box so you'll appear to be him." Alec
grins painfully and adds, "I can do more than that."
In his secret bunker, Phaeton rants about the incompetence of his
generals, remembering the past failures of Typhonus, Draconis, Shiva, and
"now Typhonus again!" Livia quails at his tirade and, with a burst of
utterly false hope, announces an incoming message from Typhonus,
suggesting that it might be good news of the battle. Phaeton barks,
"Typhonus! Is the battle ours?" but Typhonus responds that the E-frame
squadrons have betrayed him and are surrendering en masse to the Terrans.
Inside the communications room on the moon, Alec continues posing as
Typhonus and informing Phaeton of the poor progress of the battle, adding
that he has been mortally wounded by Exofleet forces.
Phaeton becomes enraged, cursing the cowardice and treachery of his
underlings. "I am taking command of the E-frames!" he bellows, adding
menacingly, "They will receive one last order." He then grabs hold of a
lever and slams it down.
In orbit above the moon, the battle continues to rage as the Neosapien
E-frames swarm over the Exofleet. The pilots of Able Squad continue
destroying the enemy frames, but the Neosapiens clearly outnumber the
Terran E-frames. Two pairs of E-frames get behind J.T., who fights hard
to dodge their fire, but suddenly his pursuers explode. "Good hit,
Bronski," J.T. says, but Wolf didn't shoot them. "It just went kablooie,"
Bronski states. Torres notices that all of the enemy E-frames are going
up in flames, allowing the squad to return to the moon.
O'Reilly disconnects Alec's communication with Phaeton and says that
she's calling an evac shuttle, but DeLeon insists that he still has one
more thing to take care of.
Outside the comm room, Butler's jumptroops continue their losing battle
against the Neosapien E- frames. Pellegrino's section withdraws from
their current position to a safer one, but soon the Neosapien E-frames
stop firing as they receive a message from Typhonus stating that Phaeton
has surrendered to the Terrans and that the war is over. The Neosapiens
pursuing Pellegrino and Longfeather glance at each other, then climb out
of their E-frames, hands raised into the air. "Guess somebody forgot to
tell them they were winning," Pellegrino says.
His deception complete and having saved the Exofleet and the jumptroops
from possible destruction, Alec finally lets O'Reilly call for a medical
shuttle. He gives her his black box, telling her to give it to Maggie.
"You give it to Weston yourself," she insists. Alec asks, "You never
answered my question...you do care about J.T., don't you?" Colleen again
ignores his question, telling him to not talk and to rest. "Tell him,"
Alec says. "I never told Maggie." He taps the black box and whispers,
"Remember..." Moments later, with tears running down his face, Alec
DeLeon quietly dies. O'Reilly falls to her knees and cries.
Outside, amidst the wreckage of the pyramid cannon and Tranquility Base,
Able Squad lands and finds Colleen O'Reilly walking out of the pyramid.
She approaches J.T. and says that the medtechs arrived too late to help
him, never mentioning Alec's name. Maggie comes up to O'Reilly, seeing
her holding the flight recorder, and says, "Alec?" O'Reilly looks up at
her and says, "Maybe if he had let me call them sooner," then hands
Weston the black box and says that he wanted her to have it. The squad is
completely silent until Bronski says solemnly, "I never thought it would
be him." J.T. asks Maggie if she'll be alright, but she only nods and
walks away. Maggie cries for some time, and O'Reilly collapses at the
base of the Eagle lander. "When is this stupid war going to end?" she
cries out. J.T. says, "No one knows...but it'll be sooner because of
Alec." "We came in peace for all mankind," she reads from the lander. "We
can always hope," J.T. says. Rita picks up the American flag, brought to
the moon centuries ago and knocked over by the fighting, and plants it
back into the ground. As Maggie returns to the squad, Torres stands back
and gives the flag a long salute.
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