After finding out that AGI is rescinding its support and kicking the Amaterasu out, Ciska gives the crew their last chance to resign and disembark at the space station. Only Sei comes forward and accepts the offer. However, she’s not doing so out of cowardice – she’s planning to act as a middleman so that the Amaterasu can still receive supplies from someone.
Meanwhile, back in the dank and greenish-cast war room, Shinon and company devise a strategy to ward off certain death. Once again, the ship’s technology is their only hope, as Shinon devises a clever way to utilize its gravity wave emitter to facilitate high-speed rotation. If I understand correctly, the idea was to cancel out the potentially destructive centripetal forces associated with fast spinning (you know, like when you’re plastered against the wall in that crazy carnival cyclotron) by creating an gravitational force centered on the ship. However, the two forces must be delicately balanced, or else one will dominate and either tear the ship outwards or compress it inwards. Assuming everything goes well, this will enable the Amaterasu to aim at each enemy ship quickly, without the associated slow turning times.
That’s not the only ace up their sleeve – they’re also planning to have Dita run a live broadcast of the upcoming battle. Those of you who have watched Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid will know what’s up with this confusion tactic- say one thing, but do another. This confusion tactic worked initially, since the enemy was unaware of the Amaterasu’s ability to quickly change its bearings. After the first surprise attack they quickly realized they had been deceived. However, this gave the Amaterasu a window of opportunity, which was all it needed to start laying the smackdown with its short term maneuvering bonus.
The Dragonfly apparently got a new pulse laser warping drone to replace the one they lost in the last encounter, but the Amaterau’s plasma cannon quickly silences the mothership. Immediately afterward, the Amaterasu rotates on its axis to target the Marianna and the Lisa in quick succession, making short work of the blindsided behemoths. The cloaked Actium, which first appeared in an early episode, was easily located due to the crew’s familiarity with its EM signature, and it bit the dust as well. The plasma cannon is at its limits though, and has its last breath saved for the Conquistador. Unfortunately, it merely grazes the enemy ship, causing unknown damage. At this point, the Amaterasu’s reactors are exhausted, and the majority of its systems and sensors have burned out due to the enemy attacks and the strain caused by the gravity manipulation. It’s pretty much a toothless ship floating in space, and the condition of the Conquistador is unknown. Is it a stalemate, or is the Amaterasu about to receive a faceful of hot plasma love?
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… and now, on to the finish. Especially, the awesome full ED song. *sniff*
Even though a couple of minor logical holes can’t be denied, SSO mixes great technical merits (the space animations and the background of this show have been exemplary) with an unconventional story and a great soundtrack. I enjoyed every minute ^_^
Jaw hits the floor!! (O_o)
I’ve seen battle strategies in my life but this one takes the biscuit and the cake!!
Honestly, the Amaterasu super computer should be jealous of shinon’s superior mental abilities. That woman makes Napoleon hide in shame!! She is in effect the “Joan of Arc” of planet Kibi!!
Starship Operators continues to be an epic of epic proportions. Judging from the end of the episode, it seems the situation now is basically two blind men looking for each other (Amaterasu and the Conquistador). We’ll just have to wait and see who bumps into the other first. There’s also the Elroy factor. It’s obvious that Elroy doesn’t have much loyalty for the kingdom (probably because the kingdom annexed his planet by force). This factor may play an essential role in the last 2 episodes. Who knows?! Surprises can and always did happen in Starship Opeartors.
The other cloaked ship from ;episode 4 was the Abkiel (or however it’s actually spelled), and was destroyed after the Amaterasu crew used a torpedo salvo to illuminate her– note that she wasn’t visibly “cloaked” a la Star Trek, but she was more of a stealth warship. The Actium probably used the same technology. I thought it was a nice touch to see Admiral Elroy mutter, “They’ve already got the Actium in their sights,” as he’d already seen how the Amaterasu sank the other stealth ship.
The name of the ship is Abu Kir (or Abu Qeer as it is pronounced in Arabic). It’s named after a bay that lies north east of Alexandria city in Egypt. That bay was the site of two famous naval battles. The first was where the English fleet under admiral Horatio Nelson managed to defeat the French fleet under François-Paul D’Aigalliers during the Napoleonic wars. The second was when the French fleet under Napoleon himself managed to defeat the Turkish fleet under Murad bey and Ibraheem Bey during the period of French occupation of Egypt.
Figuring out the mangled pronunciation/spellings of names is practically half the fun! My favorite is still “Freasha”
If only you guys know how many engrish signs we have corrected ^_^;
Like “Brige” or “Weiting Room”, or the famous “Emagency Studio” from the last eps. It was impossible to correct only a fourth of everything, but still… my my.
Compared to that, naming issues are really only trivial.
While misspellings certainly aren’t welcome in a serious show like Starship Ops, you gotta admit that Suzuka just wouldn’t be the same without all those nonsensical T-shirts!
I’ll agree with that (^_^)