TV Episode 8
Abh no Ryuugi (The Way of Abh)
[The introduction in the Abh language] The servants adore the baron, almost to the point of worship. Spending time with him is something they fight for amongst themselves. But the baron misunderstands one thing; many of them don't place their faith in the baron himself. They were interested in the species of Abh. Even though they almost regard the Abh world as heaven, they know their master is a common man among the Abh nobles. So they are enchanted by the real princess of Abh.
OPLamhirh is heading to the communication boat when Sérnaïc calls her from behind. She hands over the gun Lamhirh gave her earlier so that it can be given to Ghintec. She can protect herself with one Kufaspia left behind. The princess takes the gun and asks one more favour. She wants to stay connected to Ghintec from the boat.
The baron is angry over the rebellion of some of his servants and asks one of those with him if they are loyal. They are his favourites and assure him they will stand by him, even against the Emperor. Then a message is broadcast from the servants' office. It explains that a conflict has developed in the mansion and blames the baron for unreasonably sabotaging the official mission of the princess. The baron tries to block the broadcast but access to the network from all mobile terminals, including his bracelet, has been disabled. The broadcast also urges the servants to help the princess; she has promised that anyone who helps her will be employed by the Clybh family [Lamhirh's family]. Having failed to connect to the net from the fixed terminal in the room the baron decides to leave. But a servant stops him to report that someone has again entered the communication boat.
As soon as she gets on board, Lamhirh tries to take off but the landing gear is firmly locked to the floor. As the port is still under the baron's control, she immediately detaches the landing gear and takes off into space. She calls Ghintec but he isn't wearing the bracelet yet [it isn't explained in the anime too well but to make communication possible, Sérnaïc offered her bracelet to be sent to Ghintec through the duct normally used to deliver food to the former baron]. Lamhirh decides to fill up on fuel first and heads for one of the fuel bases orbiting near the mansion [small baronies like his make their living by making antimatter from the energy of the star. This means there are many fuel plants and bases in the barony]. As she approaches the base, it suddenly explodes. It is not only this particular one but all the bases near the mansion explode one after another. Also the fuel tanks kept within the mansion are launched so that they can be destroyed safely. The baron's tactics impress her. She must also answer this very Abh-ish declaration of war in the way of Abh. "After saving Ghintec, I'll kill you Baron, at any cost!"
Then Sérnaïc reports that the bracelet has been delivered. Lamhirh tells Ghintec that the boat cannot connect to the hatch properly. He wonders what she means. She asks if there are any space suits in the retirement area and Ghintec has to tell her there aren't any. "All right then. You'll have to walk through the vacuum." Lamhirh explains her plan; she will bring the boat as close to the hatch as possible. Then she will put a wire down to lift them up. The former baron objects to this dangerous plan but knows at the same time his objection will be ignored by the other two.
The baron is informed that Lamhirh's boat is hovering over the retirement area. He is a little dismayed to know the princess hasn't given up. He tells the servants to follow him with firearms.
The former baron tells Ghintec that it is a great honor for his family to welcome a princess, as well as the son of an earl, and wishes his mother knew of it [it was his late mother who created this area as a bay for special guests but it was never used in her life time.] Lamhirh tells Ghintec that she is ready and to stay away from the area directly under the hatch. "Let me know when you fix yourself to the wire before all the air is gone. I'll pull you up." The former baron operates a cleaning robot to open the hatch.
As soon as the hatch is opened, the air leaks out to space like a storm and a wire is launched down into the retirement area. The two men rush to it as the pond in the room begins to boil due to the low pressure. Ghintec tells her to pull them up. They are lifted and go though space into the air-lock of the boat. The two men are barely alive when the hatch of the room is closed and fresh air comes into the room. The door to the cockpit opens and Lamhirh runs to Ghintec to hug him gently. Sadly, it's only his imagination. In reality, the princess remains seated and says, "You're my important cargo. If you get hurt, I'll be in trouble." Ghintec looks back at the former baron, "You now see how much the princess loves me."
The baron senses the air pressure within the mansion going down. When he contacts the servants' office at first all he gets is sound of a quarrel but soon Graidac answers his call. He asks if the air leak has happened in the retirement area and she confirms it. She has closed all the ventilation systems in the mansion. But this angers the baron, "What about the garbage system?" Graidac admits she didn't think of it but the system is not controlled through the computer. He shouts for her to send workers into space and seal the retirement area. He tells the servants following him to go to the landing bay to capture the princess if she comes back. He is going out to space, "This is a combat."
In the servants' office, the quarrel between Sérnaïc and another servant is continuing. The former is loyal to the princess while the latter is sceptical about her intentions. Graidac shouts at them. The senior servant, who has been thought of as feeble-minded by her colleagues, has assumed control under this emergency. She announces to all the staff in the mansion that the air is being lost and the dust shoots are not to be used. She tells Sérnaïc that the princess opened the hatch in the retirement area and left without closing it. This encourages the servant who was quarreling with Sérnaïc but Graidac has no intention of listening to her either. She orders Sérnaïc, who is licensed to work in vacuum, to repair the hatch and the other servants to help her.
In the communication boat, the former baron apologises to Lamhirh for what his son has done and asks her to help him punish his son. The princess turns him down; *she* will kill him. The baron has made her mission impossible by destroying all the fuel bases. She and Ghintec are stranded here. Ghintec's half-hearted "That's a problem" infuriates her. He tries to make excuses, "You know, I'm tired now. I'll get angry properly later.", which doesn't help. The former baron suggests they use the fuel temporarily kept within the fuel plants. It should be enough for the small boat [the antimatter is manufactured at the plants and stored in the fuel bases for safety]. They have to take control of the network to operate the plant. However it should be easy for the former baron, who designed the mansion, to break into the system now under his son's control. He makes conditions; if he successfully helps her leave the barony, the fate of baron is left to him. Lamhirh accepts it but adds one thing, "If the baron gets in the way, I'll kill him."
The baron, now in a small transport ship, finds out the princess is heading to Plant No.11 and asks the control room if it still has control of the plant. The operator reports back that the functions of the room have somehow been disrupted and she can do nothing. The baron knows who did it, his father.
The former baron informs Lamhirh of the bad news. His son is on the small ship and the ship is armed with laser guns. The ship's computer is independent from the mansion and he cannot hack into it. Lamhirh gives him notice in advance; she might kill his son after all. Ghintec cannot understand why she is so confident when their boat is not armed. She doesn't understand what he means. The former baron, who understands how both Abh and grounder feel, laughs and explains to Ghintec. "This is the typical Abh's way of thinking." It doesn't mean that the princess is confident but that she knows it is no use talking about things after their death. She thinks about what will happen when they survive. Then he explains Ghintec's idea to Lamhirh; the boy thought she didn't take the possibility of the boat being destroyed into account. She looks a little hurt, "Do you think I'm an idiot? The possibility of our winning is less than 10%!" The former baron laughs again and tell Ghintec that this is also typical of the Abh; they prefer take the risk on a 10% chance of success than surrender. Lamhirh asks if the old man is against her decision. He says, as an Abh, he knows when to fight. She asks the same question to Ghintec but he is not so determined, "I'm your cargo, right? A cargo doesn't have any opinion."
The baron's ship approaches the boat and he is determined to settle everything with the princess... and his father.
The battle commences. The baron is confident of victory, how can he [a reserve Deca-Commander of Space Navy] lose to a Flyer trainee? Lamhirh manages to avoid the baron's shots by randomly moving the boat. She knows there is only one chance and waits for it. When she thinks the baron's ship has approached close enough, she puts the boat into reverse at full speed. The boat goes back, as if trying to ram itself against the baron's ship. Then she ignites the main engine again to fly away. The baron cannot understand what she is thinking. The mere propellant exhaust cannot do any harm to his ship. But he was wrong. As soon as his ship goes into the exhaust, its surface starts boiling and the cockpit is flooded with fatal radiation. She used antimatter as propellant [Usually Abh's ships use antimatter-matter reactor to produce a blow propellant (normally water) for thrust. But here Lamhirh uses antimatter instead of water. In practice, it was small and very inefficient anti-proton cannon.] In his dying moments, the baron's heart is filled with respect and adoration for the princess.
Lamhirh declares the battle is over. Ghintec wants to know if she has killed the baron. She affirms it and expresses her condolence to the former baron, who does not blame her at all, "It was combat." But Ghintec is upset. How can she remain so calm after killing someone? The old man calms him down, "You didn't want to see the princess kill someone, right?" Lamhirh queries this and Ghintec admits the former baron is right. She wants to know why but he cannot give a clear answer. Instead he says, "I'm sorry. Thank you for saving me." Lamhirh decides to accept his apology and does not ask any further questions.
The former baron begins to put the entire mansion under his control. Although he remains in relatively good mood, one word he whispers in a low voice reveals his true feelings, "You idiot, my son..."
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