Your hands spread out the vast and empty sky
when you played with the seashells from the sea of reason
Our tears welled up and fell
Our words of love were half in jest
So I
play a song now
Our eyes slowly meet
A system of pure shape
A magic spell without power
We both detest shyness
The times do not mean well with your dreams
Eternity is signaling the end of all beginnings
Neither men nor angels can accept it
They are children before infinity
fighting against the inevitable
May I ask a question?
Queen to F3.
Shoot.
King to G7.
Is it a good idea to send me into battle?
Rook to E4.
If I die, the Deucalion's Aldnoah will shut down.
I'm aware of that.
Rook to D8.
But we'll worry about that when we have to.
Do you want to be removed from the front lines, Ensign Kaizuka?
No.
I'll go into battle.
Queen to F6, check.
King to F6, king takes queen.
We're in agreement, then.
Bishop to E5,
Check.
I'll put it on the monitor.
Did you come up with that move yourself?
Or is it something that analytical engine of yours cooked up?
It's mine, about 70-30.
About 70-30?
I'm assigning tasks to unused brain cells to try to optimize its processing.
So it's both the device's suggestion and my own idea at the same time.
This ship and her crew both owe you our lives.
If you want to fight, I think we should support that.
I don't deserve any special treatment.
Did you hear that Aldnoah activation tests were conducted
using blood samples that had been drawn from the princess?
King to G5.
Result, failure. Blood alone was not sufficient for Aldnoah activation.
So you could be considered a special case indeed, Ensign.
When you resuscitated the princess, the activation factor transferred to...
no, infected you.
Then it was fully activated when you came into contact with royal blood.
Over the past ten months or so,
we've obtained plenty of intel on Aldnoah and their Cataphracts.
But they still have the overwhelming edge in military strength.
There's no guarantee that we'll win if we keep on fighting.
But if we do, Ensign Kaizuka... I'll put my money on you.
Bishop to G7.
Do you resign?
Was that move yours? Or your left eye's?
I'll leave that to your imagination.
I suppose not even the Tharsis can see that far into the future.
See to it.
Yes, sir.
Welcome back, Milord Slaine.
I clustered my shots in the region that you calculated, Mr. Harklight.
Let us pray that they won't be influenced by some unexpected wind.
Ah, I thought I smelled something.
A dog has snuck aboard.
A rather grubby one, at that.
What are you doing here?
Good day, Count Barouhcruz. Count Marylcian.
I rushed here so that I might join in the battle as well.
Terran dog...
Mind your tongue!
Count Saazbaum!
Slaine Troyard here is my vassal.
If he has given some offense, I offer my apologies.
However, if this treatment is unwarranted,
Count Marylcian,
it will not go well for you.
If this Terran were merely your pet, it would be eccentric, but tolerable.
But to appoint him a knight?
Is that not taking your game too far?
Count Barouhcruz, it is not your place to offer opinions regarding my vassals.
Perhaps, but him fighting alongside us is another matter entirely!
One cannot take to the field of battle with someone who might turn traitor at any moment!
If that is your concern, please strike me down right here.
You are entirely correct.
If I go into battle with you,
it might very well be me who is attacked from behind.
How dare you!
Men!
Hear me, all of you!
By the grace of the emperor of Vers,
I name Slaine Troyard my son right here and now.
All of you here are my witnesses!
Milord Count...
Stand, Slaine.
From this day forth, you are my son.
Will you raise a hand to him even now, Count Marylcian?
If you are prepared to go to such lengths, so be it.
But if his behavior is the least bit suspicious,
I will put him down without mercy.
Forgive me.
I have put you in an awkward position.
It is fine. I had decided to do this long ago.
I, too, take to the field of battle.
I must have a successor just in case.
From now on, think of me as your father.
Congratulations, Milord Slaine!
The count's heir...
This puts you one step closer to your dream.
That's enough, Mr. Harklight.
I don't have any dreams.
It's almost time.
Yes...
Who do you think will win, Eddelrittuo?
Th-The glorious Vers Imperial Forces will emerge victorious, of course!
Oh? Doesn't that trouble you?
You have friends aboard a United Earth Forces ship, don't you?
Perish the thought! Friends on Earth?
Of course. Let's have a wager, then.
A wager?
If the Vers Empire wins, I bet...
Let me think...
My sister's life, perhaps?
I'm joking.
What are you dreaming of right now, sister?
Have you seen Inko?
The electromagnetic catapult, I think?
She's probably with Rayet.
Thanks.
Don't get lost.
I'll try.
Sweats?!
You're too greedy, Yutaro.
Tharsis. Details of its abilities, unknown.
High rate of attack evasion reported.
Confirmed pilot...
...Slaine Troyard.
A good luck charm given to me by a dear Terran friend when we arrived on Earth.
Animals that fly through the air...
It is just as you said, Slaine!
Is he equipped with a neuro-linked analytical engine too?
Indeed. But I don't have enough data.
It dodged my attacks as though it could see the future.
If that's true...
it could be a problem.
You monologuing?
I was talking to myself.
That's what monologuing is.
The warrior god Odin, rider of the mythological, eight-legged Sleipnir,
drank of the waters of Mímisbrunnr and was granted vast wisdom.
But the price he paid for that wisdom was his left eye.
Norse mythology.
Know-it-all.
Don't make fun of me!
After the battle in Russia,
I wanted off the ship.
I was terrified.
But then it hit me that if I did, I'd never be able to look Okojo in the eye when I do die.
If your steed is ever acting up, come see me day or night.
I'll fix it up in a flash.
I'll hold you to that.
Okay, why don't we grab a bite before the battle?
There's still some time.
I'll pass.
When I was shot, my stomach was empty, apparently.
They say I would've died if my organs had been contaminated by stomach contents.
Oh. Sure.
But I might not get another chance, so maybe some tea.
What are his reel selections?
He's got a type 1 through type 3, a type 10 for emergencies,
and one on the left and right.
It's specced out for high-G pivots.
Long, thin wires aren't cut out for that.
Found you!
Hey, it's Team Deucalion.
So you're the Aldnoah unit that everybody's talking about, huh?
I hear one of you is a Martian.
Don't get in our way on the battlefield, little ladies.
What was their problem? Bunch of jerks!
They're not wrong, though.
All Martians are the enemy.
I know that better than anyone.
You're so adorable, Rayet.
You've got the "cold" part down.
Huh?
I wish you'd show a little more "hot," though.
What are you talking about?
Want some candy?
I'm gonna deck you.
We will enter defense airspace in 30 minutes.
Please launch.
Good hunting!
Is my steed ready?
The fine-tuning has been completed!
Good!
Dioscuria II, launching!
Slaine Troyard, launching in the Tharsis.
Stygis Squadron, launching!
Martian Cataphract squadron approaching!
Calling all forces! Commence operation!
Message from HQ! Commence operation!
Deucalion, launch!
We will provide support for the attack platoons as a guerrilla force.
All hands to battle stations.
Our shipboard Cataphracts are launching from Trident Base.
Mustang 11, cleared for launch!
Roger. Mustang 11, cleared for launch!
Blastoff!
Blastoff.
Target merge. Commencing attack.
Attack incoming!
Hold your fire! They can't hit us in this wind, anyway!
Hit them when they get in close!
Hit them when they get in close... Hit them when they get in close...
My umbrella's been hit!
Mustang 11!
I'm fine, but there's too much debris!
I can't get a clear shot with all this shaking!
Mustang 00, moving to assist.
Inaho!
Hey, what about your umbrella?!
It's just a drizzle. I don't need it.
Stop pulling crazy stunts, darn it!
I wouldn't be able to use it in a dogfight anyway.
Inferring gravitational shifts. Data compensation, ready.
Fire.
Commence attack!
Why you!
Pivoting via wire swing-by. Returning to combat airspace.
Type 3, shoot.
Pivot complete in four, three, two, one...
Release.
Inaho Kaizuka...
Slaine Troyard...
Marineros Base will make next approach in 30 seconds!
Main guns ready to fire.
Attention, all platoons! Get clear of our line of fire!
Rayet!
This is Rhinelander 22!
Crap, I've got one on my six!
Roger. Mustang 22, moving to assist.
The Martian!
Marineros Base now in firing range.
No friendly units in line of fire!
Main guns, fire!
Marineros Base beginning to move away.
Issue disengage order to attack platoons and guerrilla unit!
Put them on defense!
Inaho, we've been ordered to disengage! Come back!
Inaho!
That's some accurate shooting.
I knew it, he's using predictions, too.
Type 1, pivot.
I'll wait until the instant he comes out of the rocks.
He'll attack the instant I come out from the rocks.
Coordinates confirmed. Two minutes to impact.
Let's do this.
Fire.
I hit him?
That's—
Are you all right, Slaine? Fall back.
No, I can still fight!
Don't overdo it.
The orange Cataphract... I owe him some payback!
Looking for the gap in my barrier?
I took the liberty of changing its location.
Fly, my servants!
Energy joints, linked.
Blade field, engaged.
Sword drawn.
There's no escape.
Inaho!
I'll cover you! Get away, Inaho!
Stay back, Inko!
No!
Stay there!
Right at that position!
Prepare to meet your maker, Terran!
Right kick thruster jettisoned.
Fire!
The flames aren't being sucked in!
The barrier gap!
You won't get away! Slaine!
What's that?
A high-speed debris cluster.
I picked up a debris cloud closing in at high speed on my 3D Doppler radar.
Thanks, Inko. A split second later,
and I'd have been caught in it, too.
Impossible!
My Dioscuria, brought low by mere debris?!
That wasn't debris.
It was bullets.
I fired them off before the battle began.
They were aimed so that they would swing around the Earth
and land at that spot right now.
Slaine?
I had originally meant it as a trap to defeat Kaizuka Inaho.
The trick was to disable your dimensional barrier,
but I thought that if anyone could manage it, it was him.
Slaine...
Shut up!
Did you honestly believe
that I would swear fealty to you?
To the man who pulled the trigger against Princess Asseylum?!
Did you think I would forgive you?!
My second volley will arrive soon.
Goodbye...
...Father.
Not too shabby.
On this day, I have lost my second father.
He was also a great man who devoted his life
to the prosperity of the Vers Empire.
I hereby announce my resolve to carry on both my fathers' legacy
and fight for the even greater prosperity of the Vers Empire.
Lords of the Vers Orbital Knights.
This is no time to be squabbling amongst each other.
As knights of the noble Vers Empire,
should we not work hand in hand to eradicate Earth's resistance forces?
In the name of Her Imperial Highness Asseylum Vers Allusia!
Let us punish the Terrans who dare defy the Vers Empire!
He isn't lying...
Her Highness Asseylum is biding her time at our lunar base!
I knew it... She's alive.
In hopes that she may remain—
Milord, you must be exhausted.
Mr. Harklight, you were born into the third class, weren't you?
I was.
Though they were poor and of a low class,
my father and mother worked hard to raise me
and used every means at their disposal so that I could serve the Orbital Knights.
Milord Slaine, it is for that reason that I have the utmost respect for you.
You, who have attained the rank of count even though you are a Terran.
This new era will be for people like us.
Let's begin, Harklight.
Yes...
...Count Slaine Saazbaum Troyard.
We are a future of dubious likelihood
We look to the oppressive sky
in search of light
Our trembling hands are powerless
Our screams reach no one
But we will never be afraid
of flying
We don't need eternity
We don't need perfection
We live in two related
but wildly different world
No matter the wounds we receive
and the mistakes we make,
we will overcome fate
Until the skies above us end
we will believe in a better life