"I love this place." "I can walk on my own two feet here!" "I command you in the name of royal Versian blood!" "Aldnoah, awaken!" "Not only have you survived, you have assumed command of our world." "I am most impressed." "I am proud of you, Asseylum." "Thank you, Grandfather." "You seem to have grown stronger." "I have been through much." "People tend to change as they gain experience." "From the red sands of our home, I pray for your success in battle." "You never change at all," "Grandfather." "Trident Base, this is Capt. Magbaredge of the Deucalion." "Requesting docking clearance." "Welcome to Trident, Deucalion." "You are cleared to dock." "Please berth at pier 12." "Deucalion, acknowledged." "Course, Trident Base docking bay, pier 12." "Begin deceleration." "Beginning deceleration." "So that's the ship with the Martian tech..." "I hear she's crewed by children who aren't even old enough for the reserves." "What's the world coming to?" "Wow, look at them all!" "They must have scrounged up every squad capable of making it here." "Because this is going to be a massive operation." "Deceleration complete in 5 seconds..." "Three, two, one." "Engines, all stop." "We are now at a stop relative to pier 12." "Power down engines." "Once mooring is complete, begin inspections and resupplying." "Ensign Kaizuka, are you in?" "It's open." "How are you feeling, Inaho?" "Not bad, I guess." "It still hurts a little, though." "Don't you have pills?" "I feel better when I take them, but it degrades the sensitivity of the neural link." "Oh, that makes sense..." "It must be rough." "It looks like an ordinary eye to me." "How well does it work?" "I get by with it." "It's a developmental prototype, so the code needs to be improved, but I can make out most things." "Catch." "Thanks." "Weight, 49.2kg. Have you gained a little weight?" "H-How could you know that?" "I used 3D measurements to calculate the change in momentum when you caught that 200g pack and worked out your total mass." "I subtracted the estimated weight of your uniform from that." "I'm not getting fat!" "I have more muscle mass from exercising, that's all." "That's a lie." "I can see stress in the formant analysis of your voice." "Are you sure it's not broken?" "It's working perfectly." "Now what?" "I can see identical stress patterns in her voice." "Especially here." "I, Vers Empire Princess Royal Asseylum Vers Allusia..." "Hang on!" "If that is a lie, it means... she isn't really the princess." "This part's waveform is definitely a lie." "Have you been stress eating?" "I haven't been stress eating!" "Your stress went up again." "I'm not talking to you ever again!" "Something wrong?" "Not really." "I thought it would be easy to read Inko." "That clinches it." "You really are an idiot, aren't you?" "You're telling the truth." "Milord Slaine." "Eddelrittuo, shouldn't you be with Princess Lemrina?" "It's all right." "I won't tell anyone." "I'm sorry..." "Oh, right." "We spotted that ship you told us about." "The Deucalion?" "It looks like they were secretly repairing it." "Reports say it defeated Baron Yacoym and came up into space." "We might be forced to fight them." "Do you suppose that would make Princess Asseylum sad?" "I wonder when she will wake up..." "What if she never..." "Don't worry." "We will see her smile again." "I know it." "Milady..." "I have asked Asseylum to do what you wanted." "Everything has been arranged." "You may rest assured." "I once lied to him that she had been assassinated, and now I am lying to him that she is alive..." "Slaine." "What is your opinion of Vers as it is now?" "It is not my place to offer an opinion on our sacred homeland." "It is all right." "You may speak freely." "I believe it is possible for our society, with its powerless, impoverished citizenry, to become prosperous by conquering Earth, making it a domain, and taking its resources." "However..." "That wealth is likely to find its way to only the upper classes and will not improve the lives of the citizens in the slightest." "What is your suggestion, then?" "Aldnoah..." "Those who possess Aldnoah control everything." "That is the problem in a nutshell." "Well put." "We owe much to His Imperial Majesty for unearthing Aldnoah." "But it was a grave sin to hoard that power and create a society where the powerful control all." "When we have achieved victory and seized the Earth, that red world will change." "Lend me your strength, Slaine." "I will, Count Saazbaum." "Is my beloved steed ready?" "We've finished its activation tests." "Once we've finished fine-tuning the sync between each unit, it will be combat-ready." "Do that on the island!" "Stygis Squadron, prepare to move out!" "Yes, sir!" "Tharsis, stand." "It's not powering up..." "Its Aldnoah Drive is offline..." "Why?" "Princess Lemrina." "Is something the matter, Slaine?" "Why have you deactivated the Tharsis?" "Whatever are you talking about?" "The only one here who can forcibly deactivate Aldnoah is Your Highness." "Possibly." "Please activate the Aldnoah." "No." "Please." "Perhaps you should ask my sister?" "It had always struck me as odd." "How could you, a Terran, operate the Tharsis?" "I'm sure she would be happy to know you still love her in spite of her condition." "Even though we share a father, no one pays me any heed simply because we have different mothers." "That is not true at all." "We all admire you, Princess Lemrina." "Liar." "It is no lie." "It is." "It's not me that you admire, it's my activation factor." "Isn't that exactly why you came to me?" "Lord Slaine?" "Do you want me that badly?" "Is Aldnoah so important to you?" "Am I my sister's replacement?" "I knew it, I am." "I hate you." "I was born on Earth." "When my scientist father died, I lost my one protector." "I became a servant of the Vers Orbital Knights." "I will not say that I understand your hardships." "But I, too, have known cruel treatment due to my birth." "I can understand your suffering, if only some small portion of it." "You do have my heartfelt admiration, Princess Lemrina." "Lift your eyes, Slaine." "Now, activate it once yourself." "You have my thanks." "Good hunting, Sir Slaine Troyard." "Milord Slaine." "I apologize for the delay." "That display was touching." "I am proud that you are my master." "You saw that?" "How embarrassing." "All units, launch!" "Destination, Marineros Island!" "Everything that was yours, I will take on as my own." "So rest easy, dear sister." "We will soon enter Earth orbit." "We will perform an aerobrake maneuver, slingshot around, and enter the Satellite Belt." "We will then make for Marineros Island." "Milord Slaine, it is time." "Right." "As you are aware, the countless rocks that comprise the Satellite Belt travel in an elliptical orbit around the Earth." "Trident Base is one of those rocks." "Now, this is the orbit of Marineros, the frontline base of the Mars Army." "The two will make a close approach in 72 hours' time." "The distance between them will be a mere 7km." "That's close enough to be seen with the naked eye." "For that reason, a large-scale battle is expected between our two bases." "Operating under that assumption, we have gathered you here from both orbit and the surface to assemble a powerful fighting force." "It is thought that the Mars Army will also amass their forces for an all-out offensive." "Exercise caution while attacking." "The mission is as follows." "We've never fought a space battle of this scale since the war began." "We predict an increase in high-density rocks in the area at the time of the operation." "Do you think we can handle it?" "As a result, long-range fire will be thrown off course." "Who knows?" "But considering that it'll be a first for the enemy, too," "Your chances of landing a hit will be low." "It's probably nothing to be scared about." "But this will hold true for the enemy, as well." "Be that as it may, it is still a subject for concern." "Judging from the Mars Army's fighting style to date, they have a tendency to put more emphasis on offense than defense." "What a shame." "Ma'am?" "As such, there is a high probability of them mobilizing their base's mechanized units." "If you let that endearing side show every day, you'd be sure to get a date." "And engaging us in close-quarter combat." "Deceleration complete in five seconds." "Three, two, one, clear." "A little something for the ride." "Stygis Platoon, show me what you are made of." "Stygis 1, by your command." "Stygis 2, by your command." "Stygis 3, by your command." "Intense heat signatures closing in from LEO at high speed!" "Not reading an IFF signal!" "From below?" "!" "They will pass within 2km of this base on a trajectory that will take them to the Mars Army's Marineros Base!" "Orders from HQ to intercept, ma'am!" "Ships closing in at high speed." "7 mid-sized ships, and 3 small units." "They intend to launch a surprise attack prior to the all-out offensive." "Scramble all operational shipboard Kataphrakts!" "And prep the ship for emergency launch!" "Calm." "Is mine ready?" "Repairs are complete." "It's also fully kitted out with a space loadout." "Thanks." "Are you sure you want to keep this gaudy color?" "Give the word, and I'll paint it." "It's okay." "It's supposed to attract attention." "Huh?" "Don't worry about it." "Ghanaati Platoon, in position." "Harroway Platoon, in position." "Mustang 11, in position!" "Mustang 22, in position!" "Relative velocity with enemy units is 3kps." "They'll pass by in a flash." "Meaning that their chances of attacking are slim." "Stygis 1, commencing attack." "Stygis 2, commencing attack." "Stygis 3, commencing attack." "Fire incoming!" "Bastard!" "The wind is complicated." "Neither one of us will land a hit at this range." "Someone's shots landed?" "At this range?" "Mustang 00, commencing attack." "Inaho!" "Compensating for gravity gradient resulting from dense satellite clusters." "Ready." "Target set..." "Fire." "Next!" "Next!" "The Stygis Platoon, it's–." "Inaho!" "Are you all right, Count?" "Slaine!" "I will act as a decoy to draw their fire." "Mr. Harklight, take evasive action." "Understood!" "They're going to hit!" "He dodged it?" "How did it move like that?" "That's pinpoint accuracy!" "How are shots landing in this wind?" "Speed?" "No, that's not it." "It's anticipating the rounds' trajectory." "But how?" "Who is this person?" "It's him." "An orange Kataphrakt..." "It can't be!" "I've been looking for you, Bat..." "No, I guess you did a class change and are Gull now." "Enemy convoy is almost in effective firing range!" "Fire at will!" "Inaho!" "Enemy convoy has passed." "Now breaking away." "Continue firing until enemy is out of range!" "Give me a damage report." "Tharsis..." "The personal Kataphrakt of Orbital Knight Count Cruhteo." "Later owned by Count Saazbaum and piloted by a knight under his command." "The pilot's name..." "The orange Kataphrakt..." "It's a trainer." "A trainer?" "Yes, that boy prefers to only pilot trainers." "That boy?" "Yes." "His name is..." "Inaho Kaizuka..." "So you're alive." "I've found you, Slaine Troyard."