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.	Episode Description: The Space Knights approach a ruined European village on the shores of a wide lake (Somewhere in Europe I think. It has the visual ‘feel’ of either southern Spain or France...) Noal looks grimly at the shattered buildings, concentrating so hard on them that he barely notices the bumps in the damaged road beneath their vehicle’s tires. They park, and Noal, Aki and Miri get in the jeep. Aki reminds D-Boy, who with Rebin will be searching the ruins in the other direction on foot, that Tekkaman Axe is probably still around; he’d best keep Pegas fairly close on his heels. As Noal guns the motor and the jeep races off, D-Boy wonders aloud what’s eating at the young pilot - “he seems so grim, so pre-occupied,” he says. Noal drives on, and Aki realizes he has a definite destination in mind. Shortly they arrive at what once was a spacious manor house located on a hillside above the town, its gate overgrown with vines. Leaving the two ladies outside, Noal enters and it is quickly apparent that he’s been here before. He begins remembering things, and we realize that he’s come home. Scion of a wealthy European family, Noal’s father was of the old, macho “real men don’t cry” school, even when his mother died while the pilot was quite young. He also made his son realize that only things he achieved on his own were really worthy of recognition. The place Noal earned on his school soccer team was won through hard work and real skill, not because his family had connections. Noal is looking at some of his old soccer trophies as he wonders where the family retainers have gone. Looking out of the window, he sees the dry pool - and remembers there was a bomb shelter built under it. He leaps through the window, not noticing that there’s a man with a shotgun coming into the room after him. He kneels by the diving board and fumbles to open the cover over a panel of buttons - and the old man with the gun interrupts him. Noal easily disarms him, then realizes it’s the family butler, Christobal, trying to defend the manor. The old man recognizes him, too. “Master Noal!” he exclaims. They open the entrance to the bomb shelter, as Christobal explains that there have been some nasty ruffians running around terrorizing those who have survived the Radamu attacks. “But, where’s father?” Noal asks as the rest of the servants and their families emerge. “I’m sorry, Master Noal; he’s dead,” Christobal tells him. “The Radamu killed him, the damned monsters!” They go to the old man’s grave, where Noal grieves that he never got to see his father after he went into service. Sophia, Christobal’s granddaughter, tells him they have been trying to raise up the children the way his father would have wanted; she has been their teacher since the Radamu destroyed the school and drove off most of the town’s population. Noal introduces them to Aki and Miri. Below, Rebin, D-Boy and Pegas are walking slowly through the runs of the town. They find a young man in hiding, who tells them the human vermin are on a rampage. (The gang in question reminds me a lot of some of the nasty types Scott/Stick Bernard’s ‘freedom fighters’ ran into during MOSPEADA (the “New Generation” section of ROBOTECH)). Without goals or discipline, they’ve turned into a pack of human wolves, destroying what remains of civilization and killing other humans just for the fun of it. Sophia takes them down into the village to the old church, where she’s been holding classes. Several of the youngsters are trying to play soccer with a bag; Sophia challenges Noal to teach the children how to play a real game of soccer. The children - especially the boys - are excited about the idea. “But we don’t have a real ball,” Noal says. “I think I know where I can find one,” Sophia says. Noal and the children start clearing a field big enough to play in. Sophia returns to town where she finds an old soccer ball. She is then captured by the gang. The next thing Noal and the children know, the manor is being fired upon - by fellow humans! Sophia, the soccer ball hanging in front of her, is tied to the barrel of one of the huge mobile guns. (Gee...shall I start making snide comments about how come even these slobs are wasting precious ammunition on such an undefended target? Or...never mind, you get the idea that there are a certain amount of holes in the plotline here!*) Noal, remembering his father’s words that you never back down to a bully, marches straight at the gang, and gets himself shot at, several bullets cutting him up. (Stupid, stupid, stupid - why walk into gunfire like that when he has the Sol Tekkaman body armor with him? Bravery can get to the point where it becomes stupidity!) Before the gang members decide to shot to kill Noal, they are interrupted by the arrival of the Radamu. The aliens, apparently attracted by the weapons fire, make short work of the gang and their tanks as Noal hobbles back to his Sol Tekkaman armor, which is being drawn in a cart behind their jeep. Sol Tekkaman is soon in the middle of the battle as Noal strives to protect his ancestral home and his childhood friends from the aliens. He cuts Sophia down from the tank’s gun barrel. Aki helps her away from the scene of battle, as her grandfather tries shooting the Radamu with his shotgun (obviously to no great effect, neh?) Aki gives Christobal the unconscious Sophia as she calls for help. Sol Tekkaman is badly outnumbered, but fights on - and just when it looks like he’s had it, Tekkaman Blade shows up to help out. (Cavalry as usual arriving just in the nick of time, hmm?) The two Tekkamen manage to drive off the Radamu swarm. Later, Noal and the other Space Knights watch the children play soccer, and then Noal decides it’s time to leave. His responsibilities as a Space Knight prevent him from staying here when the Radamu still control his homeworld. After the Radamu arrive, we see no more of the gang. Having served their purpose as plot device they drop out of the storyline as if they never were there. I don’t think I’d want to have seen them apologizing to Noal at the end of the episode, but it would have been nice to have a scene or two showing them fleeing like rats deserting a sinking ship. As is, one gets the impression that the writers forgot they were even around after their stereotypical gangster bully-turns-coward-in-the-face-of-greater-power reaction to the arrival of the Radamu. In all, despite the fact it gives us some insight into Noal’s character and past, this is a pretty weak, predictable episode, with a plot far too reminiscent of far too many other Tatsunoko shows in the past...MOSPEADA is the most obvious example, but is NOT the only one! I wish they’d varied the formula a bit more here. As is, this episode feels like filler, and does very little to advance the overall storyline of the series.	.
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