Episode 10: To Earth
Pulling back from an empty starfield, the silhouette of a helmeted man emerges; gazing silently at the dark expanse. Another silhouette approaches the man; this one a young woman with shoulder-length hair. She leans on the man's shoulder and whispers a few short words into his ear. The girl than leaves, and the helmeted man exits after pausing to stare into starfield a bit more.
Stars swirl by at abruptly-changing speeds and angles. Up, down, left, right--diagonal. Amidst the flowing maelstrom of darkness and tiny swirling pinpricks of light, a small spacecraft emerges; painted entirely black. It is similar in design to an atmospheric fighter plane: it has an elongated, pointed hull braced on either side with large triangular wings slanted downward. The rear of the craft slopes upward to house a large rocket-like propellant nozzle. Dotted around the rear of the craft in a haphazard pattern are five barbed gold antennae protruding at various degrees. The large blister at the top-front of the craft houses a distinctive mono-eye optical sensor shining green amidst the unforgiving blackness of space. The green eye swivels quickly from left to right before re-aligning itself as do a handful of smaller mono-eye sensors located all over the craft; the thrust-nozzle flares blue and the craft speeds ahead. Two more identical craft appear and the three of them fly toward a small comet, using a myriad of tiny thruster located throughout the respective fuselages to avoid the chunks of ice and dust particles flying out in twin streams from the comet's main body.
The three craft easily approach the comet and then fly in front of it, quickly maneuvering themselves so that each one is pointed directly at the comet's main body. Bright flashes of green light blast out from the "nose" of each craft, similar to the discharge of a typical beam rifle but far less controlled. The beam-discharge melts the nose of one craft to slag, and it falls back into the comet's upper tail and is quickly destroyed. The second is destroyed by the explosion of the comet itself, but the third emerges unharmed, and flies away as the comet becomes nothing more than a very, very fast cloud of dust. The third craft sets itself on a straight course and heads toward a pair of blinking red-and-blue lights in the distance.
Inside the autonomous colony Delphi, Meere Campbell hums to herself as she sweeps the stone steps leading up to Kreuze monument. A man wearing a black suit and sunglasses approaches her quietly and whispers something into her ear before stepping aside. Meere turns and smiles and asks the man if it's "that time already?" and the two leave.
A trio of ZAFT Nazca-class warships lower themselves into a shallow orbit, holding position just above the Earth's gravity well. The captain of one of the Nazca's asks if there has been any word from Earth yet, but is told that there is still no communication. The captain sighs and says he doesn't like it. An officer standing behind the captain asks him if something might have happened to the Chairman. Before the captain can respond, an crewman at the front of the bridge announces that an ORB space shuttle is approaching the Nazcas from the Earth broadcasting a PLANT identification code.
Inside the hangar of a ZAFT Nazca-class high-speed carrier, Supreme Chairman Gilbert Durandel disembarks from the ORB Union's shuttle. The ZAFT captain and his crew snap salutes at Durandel as he walks toward the hangar-exit. The captain falls into step beside the chairman. Durandel orders the captain to establish a laser-link with Aprillius immediately; he is going to call an emergency meeting of the High Council.
Walking through a metropolitan area in Delphi, Shinn groans and asks Rey why he had to waste their leave going to such a boring place. Rey laughs and apologizes. A private black ele-car drives past the two ZAFT pilots with Meere sitting in the rear staring passively out the window. Rey and Meere make eye contact for a moment, and the car drives away. A stand of clothing and other assorted goods crashes to the ground nearby and Shinn turns to see Lunamaria Hawke helping her sister up from the wreckage. Meyrin Hawke bows deeply to the vendor and apologizes sincerely three times; lifting an impressive array of bags from the sidewalk.
Luna presses her hands against her head and complains that it's because Meyrin always buys way too much. Meyrin laughs her sister's complaints aside as she struggles to see through the colorful boxes and bags wrapped around her head. The two of them then notice Rey and Shinn watching them, amused. Lunamaria chastises Shinn and Rey for laughing at her instead of helping out, and Meyrin collapses under the weight of her many purchases a second time. Shinn bursts out laughing, much louder than before, but then rushes to help Meyrin after she doesn't get back up.
Meere Campbell escorts Talia and Arthur into a large windowed room of a large, modern building located high on Delphi's "mountain." Meere asks the two ZAFT officers to have a seat and a large flexible screen descends on one of the bare walls. A ZAFT admiral appears on the screen; dozens of officials, officers and adjutants rush to and fro behind the admiral with great haste. Talia, amazed at the flurry of activity asks the admiral why it's so hectic. The admiral explains that the PLANT supreme council just finished an emergency meeting and sighs. The admiral comments that it's going to be a lot of work, and before Talia can ask him what he is referring to the Admiral straightens up and states that the Minerva has new orders.
The admiral explains that the Minerva is to depart immediately for Earth, and upon entry into the planets atmosphere they are to proceed post-haste to the nation of ORB in preparation for the arrival of relief-supplies and aid workers from PLANT. The admiral tells Talia that in order to increase her influence on the planet she has been promoted to FAITH. Talia is stunned at the news and before she can react the admiral wishes her Godspeed and ends the communication. Meere smiles and greets Talia once more, this time escorting her out of the room. The two women shake hands and Talia tells Meere that it was an honor to meet her; Meere thanks Talia and informs her that the Minerva is already prepared for launch.
Shinn, Rey, Luna and Meyrin rush aboard the Minerva. Lunamaria asks why their leave was canceled so suddenly and Shinn complains that he didn't have time to do anything fun. Rey apologizes to Shinn again and helps Meyrin carry her things into the ship. As the Minerva departs from the Delphi colony, Meere observes. Meere says to herself that she's heard that the Earth is a very beautiful place and smiles; her smile then disappears and she wonders if the Minerva will be all right.
On the Minerva's bridge Talia orders the Minerva to set course for Earth at best-possible speed. Arthur grins and says that he's excited to see what the fastest ship in the fleet is capable of doing and Meyrin takes the time to congratulate Talia on her promotion before heading to her station. The Minerva clears Delphi's port and sets sail for the distant Earth.
Episode 10 - END
Next Episode: Forest Of Doubt