Damn strategy games. How many can there /be/?
Anyway, in comics this week, our most notable event is "Sins of Youth", in which DC Comics manages to produce a (practically) company-wide crossover that... doesn't suck. The DC Universe's older heroes (the JLA, the JSA, even Catwoman, for crying out loud) get age-reversed with the younger sidekick types (Young Justice, Star Spangled Kid, even Lagoon Boy, for crying out loud) as a result of a slightly botched prank by one of the irritating powerful magical villain types, with the added oops of someone firing off a de-aging gun at the same moment. So the surly, irritable big hero types are now stuck as kids (briefly) and the sidekicks are now beefy adults. Ah, the joy and rapture of seeing the JLA subjected to the kind of Monday Afternoon Special lesson that the kids are normally subjected to (and complaining "Ooo, yeah, look, guys, a lesson in morals. We KNOW! Get ON with it!" and suchlike). Besides, you get to see a de-aged (but still surly and extremely competant) Batman muttering "Uh huh. Who's the Batman." after pulling off one of his typically mighty feats.
And, over in Marvel, Deadpool gets some interns. No, really.
Zechs runs a test of the Talgese against Victoria base's anti-aircraft defenses, and almost casually destroys a whopping great quantity of missiles before deciding he's finally beaten the mighty suit. Later, he talks with his minions, remarking on the speed of the Talgese's verniers, and then getting the latest on his minions explorations of Gundam 01. Their battle data, inexplicably, seems to indicate that Heero is more than human (duh), which leads Zechs to wonder if Heero really is better than him.
Elsewhere, some OZ troops lay waste to an Alliance base. These are some of Noin's old students, and they show no mercy at all to the Alliance forces, exterminating the enemy troops even after they've surrendered. Cheerful that their mission is complete, they head off to Victoria base to re-fuel.
At the base, the OZ troopers demand reinforcements, which the Victoria base commander can't provide. But, since these fellows are going after the most powerful Alliance forces in the area, the fortress of Mogadishu, they request the assistance of the base's best pilot... good ol' Zechs. They go and pester him about this, making fun of the Talgese a bit for being an antique, until Zechs agrees to come and help.
And, he promptly gets used as a decoy, which he doesn't seem to mind at all. Zechs attacks to draw the Alliance's fire while the weaker OZ suits sneak up and lay waste to the place in a surprise assault. Soon enough, the Alliance base is mostly rubble, and Zechs insists they surrender. His associates, however, will have nothing of it, insisting that these 'relics' be cleared away to make room for the new order. Zechs gets progressively more pissed off, and insults them for a bit, but finally they seize upon a chance to start shooting at him when one of the OZ troopers who actually stops to listen gets wasted by a surviving Alliance defender. Zechs gets really annoyed, now, at kills off the rest of the OZ troops, remarking that jerks like these should never be allowed to have power.
Later, he sends a report off to Noin about all this, remarking that it's rather foolish to only teach technique, and not honor, to soldiers.
Elsewhere, the circus arrives at an OZ base, where shuttles are being loaded with fuel to take into orbit. Trowa notices this, deciding that this means OZ is finally going to move against the colonies directly, if they're moving supplies into orbit.
The circus starts up, the ringmaster announces Trowa, and people notice that whopping great Gundam sitting in the back of the ring...
Oh, sorry, that was the sound of my suspension of disbelief falling to the floor and burrowing down into the center of the Earth. Pay it no mind.
Okay, wait, I'm sorry, but you're going to tell me that you snuck a GUNDAM, a three story GIANT ROBOT, into the middle of a military base, then stood it up IN PLAIN SIGHT and NOBODY NOTICED because it wasn't spotlighted?! It's a GIANT ROBOT for Elvis' sake!
Okay, I'm all better now.
Anyway, everyone is a bit baffled by this, but they're still inclined to think of it as part of the act, until Trowa fires off his gun and starts blowing up the supply shuttles. Catherine, who's there, stares up at the Gundam and wonders what Trowa's up to... then remembers when she was throwing knives at him as part of the act - he's keen to die. Trowa, meanwhile, lays waste to the base's defense troops, but stops when Catherine runs up and starts yelling at him. He protects her from a few errant shots with the Gundam, then lets her into the cockpit, whereupon she promptly hits him (to the cheers of the audience) and goes off onto a long schpiel about how much of an idiot he's being. Trowa, dissuaded, retreats. You moron. So much for not using your Gundam in battle. Hello? Earth to pretty boy? Sheesh!
Later, Trowa and Heero drive off with the Gundam. Trowa remarks that if it'd been Heero in there, Heero probably would have gone through with it. Heero just shrugs, and says the important thing is to follow your emotions. In deference to his friend, he doesn't add "You moron" at the end of it.
Catherine, meanwhile, pines.
Next episode, Heero and Trowa are in a library. Heero looks up the location of a girl (not Relena) by using his Mighty Hacking Abilities. Oh, wait, it's the grand-daughter of the Alliance Grand Marshall that Heero whacked by accident. Hmm.
Elsewhere, Relena and Noin are going to a party. The narrator helpfully supplies that this is a meeting of the Romafella Foundation, the financial backers for OZ. Relena and Noin are both dressed up for the event, having gotten their hands on garb that looks almost Napoleonic (but which Relena has tied her hair back for, causing her to look distinctly tomboyish and giving her what most watchers agree is an very impressive cuteness factor). They even have cravats, for crying out loud. Cravats! Anyway, Noin gives Relena a bit of a run-down on the Foundation, whose weird ideas are responsible for all these giant robots running around. They like big, humanoid battle machines for some reason. This time, Noin is smart enough to frisk Relena, to make sure she isn't going to try and assassinate anyone. No, no. Relena promises to be good. Snicker.
The head of the Foundation, and then Treize, give speeches on how they're going to rejuvinate the world after the misrule of the Alliance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Noin meanwhile comments to Relena that OZ has to continue winning battles if they're to keep the backing of all these rich folks. Relena points out that the Gundams have laid waste to OZ every time the two sides have met, but Noin counters that the Gundams are merely a menace, and besides, OZ has stopped them in their tracks by threatening the colonies. She goes on for a bit before realizing that Relena has snuck off. D'oh!
Relena seizes the microphone and starts going off on a rant, only to be stifled by Noin before she can really get going. Everyone wonders what the heck is up, but Treize merely mentions that Relena is related to a friend of his. The Foundation has bigger problems, anyway, as they insist that Treize have Zechs destroy the Gundam which he's captured and is rebuilding. Treize shrugs. Anything for the financial backers.
Noin, of course, promptly phones Zechs and gives him a heads up, and also chides him for not telling Relena the truth about who he is. For shame, for shame!
Elsewhere, the grand-daughter of the Grand Marshall, Sylvia Noventa, is urged to leave Marseilles by the garrison there, since they're certain OZ will attack. She waffles a bit, until, sure enough, the city gets attacked by OZ. Heero and Trowa, who're in the area, get their hands on a downed OZ mecha and use it to listen in on what's going on. Heero heads after Sylvia while Trowa goes for his Gundam. The garrison fights back bravely but is finally pushed back by OZ into an underground tunnel thingy, where they discover the hidden Gundam. They resolve to keep fighting until the pilot returns, which is almost exactly how long they last. Trowa lays waste to the OZ forces before they can even call for help, leaving everyone else wondering what the heck just happened.
Heero nearly runs over Sylvia. Way to say hello, guy.
Heero and Trowa, later, visit Marshall Noventa's grave with Sylvia. Heero promptly offers Sylvia a gun, and insists that she kill him for his mistake in killing the Marshall. Sylvia seems to consider this for a bit, but decides against it, yelling at Heero that he's just a coward, since instead of trying to fix the problem he made, he's just trying to get someone to kill him so he can stop feeling guilty. Fine, Heero says, and heads off to the next family member on his list, leaving a baffled and surly Sylvia behind.
Elsewhere, Zechs and his minions set up a fake demolition for the benefit of a Foundation inspector. Actually, they've just blown up a bunch of Talgese spare parts in a mock-up shell, although they had enough warning to do it rather convincingly. The inspector knows whats up, but knows he'll never be able to prove it... yet. Meanwhile, a completely repaired Unit 01 rests at the bottom of a nearby lake...
Hmm... Zechs is finally deciding to thumb his nose at OZ's backers? Hmm...
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