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The evacuation is on! Lafiel is trying to co-ordinate a mass evacuation while the Grand Duchess runs interference above planet.

Episode 08: Things To Protect

The Grand Duchess tries to buy some time for Lafiel by negotiating a timed withdrawal with the enemy fleet. The sheer amusement of watching royalty trying to negotiate from a position of weakness is practically worth the cost of the disc. The Duchess manages to annoy her opponents enough by deliberately plodding negotiations to waste and hour in addition to the hour she is given. Unfortunately, the additional time won’t be enough for the evacuation and so she is forced to engage the enemy fleet to buy some more time.

Earning her title as an Admiral, she splits her forces to try to keep the enemy fleet under constant pressure as well as destroying their supply group. But despite the clever tactics, the sheer numbers cannot be overcome and the Abh forces are withered down to 7 ships so she orders a complete withdrawal. Believing that the enemy won’t bother now that they have access to the gate, she is surprised to see the enemy fleet continue to hunt down her flagship.

Back on the planet, Lafiel is joined on board her ship by the new governor of the planet who gives her Jinto’s communicator. Explaining to her, he ordered a last ditch 

search for Jinto by coordinating with the fleet in orbit by homing in on his communicator. Unable to find him, they brought the communicator as evidence. Now with the evacuation as complete as it will get, the transports take off and get under way to the gate.

Awaking from unconsciousness, Jinto witnesses the final takeoff from the planet of the transports (especially the one carrying Lafiel) and 

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he promises that he will see her again. However, the violent take-off causes a tsunami into the nearby office that he is watching from and it appears to immobilize both him and his captors (who were in a rage over their inability to stop the females from escaping the planet). Now launched, the fleet is re-grouping and heading at full speed towards the gate only to come against the enemy fleet which has arrived in system.

Episode 09: The Lay Down The Bow

Now back to the Grand Duchess, she has ordered a full retreat of the battle group by having them pass out the back side of the enemy formation, thinking that they will be more interested in getting through the gate than continuing the pointless battle. Although the enemy manages to level a few more heavy shots at the Abh fleet, they eventually let them retreat and enter the gate.

Lafiel’s group heads at full speed towards the gate which is being filled with the enemy fleet as it passes in system. To everyone’s surprise, the enemy fleet does not fire on them and they are able to pass into the main system and link up with the remnants of the forward fleet led by the Grand Duchess. The remaining group is now in tatters, of the seven ships that survived the battle all have received damage, four of them severe.

With the worst of the battle over, we now get to see the advancements that have been going on in the greater “Operation Hunter." For the most part, the operation has been successful and the enemy forces have been generally routed with most forces choosing to surrender rather than being crushed under the power of greater numbers. Also of note was the surrender of the fleet that fought against the Grand Duchess.

With a meeting between the 4^th and 1^st fleets at the location of the flashpoint for the war, we are told that Lafiel has requested leave from duties and has headed out to Lobnas II. Now back on Lobnas II, Jinto is hurt and trying to scrounge for food on the planet surface.

Episode 10: An Abriel’s Tears

The episode picks up where the last one ended, with an alone Jinto scouring the surface of the planet for sustenance. Jinto spends his time trying to compose poetry, but as he describes it, he’s not much of an artist. The hunger that consumes him slowly eats away his strength until he collapses from weakness apparently dead.

Lafiel leads an assault team onto the surface of Lobnas II trying to find Jinto. The team is comprised of former guards from the facility who want to repay Lafiel for helping them escape. Almost immediately, the team comes across a woman who is carrying Jinto’s headband; a deal is worked out where the woman agrees to bring the team to the body where she got it from. The body is that of the woman’s husband, and the sight of it causes her to break down into tears again, and she relays who they got the headband from. Now trading food for information, the team heads to the man who traded the headband for food – but Lafiel cannot bring herself to go with the team.

After a few minutes of being trapped in a waiting car for news, Lafiel cannot wait any longer and bursts into the building and is greeted by the sight of the team placing Jinto onto a stretcher. He is barely lucid, but is able to identify Lafiel and tell her that he’s happy to see her. The sight of her friend is enough to finally bring the stoic princess to tears.

Bonus Episode

The included bonus episode on the Extras of this disc is a self contained story about Lafiel’s parents. The 25 minute OVA is more of a spoken dialogue than action per se, with the parents running across an abandoned ship while traveling on a honeymoon. The episode provides an interesting look at Lafiel’s family especially considering that little of show has been spent on that up to this point.

With this disc, Banner of the Stars II ends and I must admit that I’m disappointed that there isn’t any more. Excellent storytelling and amazing visuals make this series one of the better ones that I’ve watched.

- Tazman

(March 6, 2004)

“Teeth are gay, 'cuz that's why fairies come get them.”

- Master Shake (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)

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