Gundam Seed/Recap/Ep 06 The Vanishing Gundam

At Artemis, Eurasian soldiers board the Archangel and detain its crew and refugee passengers at gunpoint. An Artemis officer informs Natarle and Murrue that he's locking down the ship's controls as part of standard security measures, as the ship does not appear in their records. Most of the crew is herded into the cafeteria, while Murrue, Natarle, and Mu are brought to Artemis' commander's office. The bridge crew says that it's not a problem of friction between the Atlantic Federation and Eurasia, but rather that the Archangel doesn't have proper ID codes; the head mechanic, however, believes that that's just an excuse. Artemis' commander speaks with Mu, remarking on his record during a lunar campaign, where although the Earth Alliance was eventually defeated, Mu received the nickname "the Hawk of Endymion" for managing to destroy five GINNs in his Mobius Zero. Murrue requests that the Archangel be resupplied so that they can proceed to the Atlantic Federation's lunar HQ as soon as possible. The commander informs them that even if they were resupplied, they would not be able to leave, as the Gamow is waiting outside the Umbrella of Artemis, Artemis' protective lightwave barrier. Mu suggests that they leave quickly before Artemis is damaged, but the commander tells him that ZAFT is powerless to breech the umbrella, and the Gamow will leave eventually.

On the Gamow, Dearka, Yzak, and Nichol discuss their options with the ship's captain. Nichol notes that Artemis shuts down the Umbrella when there are no enemy units in the vicinity, and suggests that his captured machine, the Blitz, will be able to take advantage of that. In addition to the phase shift armor shared by all of the Gundams, it has an additional feature -- Mirage Colloid, which renders the Blitz invisible, though Nichol notes that the system is limited to 80 minutes of activation. The Gamow withdraws from Artemis in order to provoke them into dropping the Umbrella.

In Artemis, the Eurasian soldiers discover the lock on Strike's OS. Artemis' commander approaches the Archangel's crew, still being detained, and demand that the Strike's pilot and mechanic reveal themselves. Kira begins to speak up, but the chief mechanic stops him before anyone notices. One of the crew tells them that it was Mu piloting the Strike, but the commander tells them that they've reviewed data on the previous battles the Archangel has fought and they know that the Mobius Zero, with its distinctive gun barrels, were used -- and Mu is the only one capable of handling them. The commander grabs Miriallia, roughly enough to make her cry out, and speculates whether a woman would be assigned as pilot or not. Kira, ignoring further attempts to quiet him, stands up and announces that he's Strike's pilot.

In the Archangel, Artemis' commander says that doesn't believe Kira's confession, insisting that Kira is too young to be the pilot, and attempts to punch Kira for lying to him. Kira dodges the blow and counters, throwing the commander to the ground. Other soldiers present rush to his aid; the chief mechanic tells Kira not to resist, and Sai tries to speak to them, but a soldier backhands him out of the way before focusing on Kira. Flay, supporting Sai, tells them that Kira really is the pilot, because he's a Coordinator. Kira is taken away by the Eurasian soldiers, while Tolle harasses Flay for telling them.

The commander brings Kira to Archangel's hanger, planning to have him unlock Strike's OS. He speculates that as a Coordinator, Kira could be extremely useful -- doing things like designing additional mobile suits, or even more effective weapons. Kira protests that he's simply a civilian student, not a soldier or a military engineer, so he has no reason to do that. The commander insists that there should be no problem, as Kira is already a traitor to the Coordinators -- this makes him a very valuable resource to the Earth Alliance, and he would be treated very well if he agreed to aid them. While Kira is working on the Strike, Blitz attacks. The commander believes it to be a long-range bombardment and orders the Umbrella activated, but when its projectors come online, the Blitz destroys them. The Archangel crew uses the distraction to overpower their guards and take control of the ship; inside Artemis proper, Mu, Murrue, and Natarle manage to convince their guards that battle damage has caused the room they're being held in to leak air, prompting them to investigate, which allows Mu to knock them out and give them the opportunity to escape. Meanwhile, Kira (literally) kicks his own guards out of the Strike's cockpit and activates it, launching with the Sword Striker.

The Blitz enters Artemis' harbor, destroying Eurasian warships as he searches for the Archangel and the Strike. The Blitz and the Strike begin to fight, Kira insisting that he's not a traitor to the Coordinators, as the Duel and the Buster launch to aid in the attack. Murrue, Mu, and Natarle make it back to the Archangel and the ship launches. Artemis' commander struggles to repel the ZAFT Gundams, but a damaged Eurasian Mobius crashes into the control room, killing him and his senior staff. The Archangel has Kira withdraw as they escape; he returns to the ship, but blows off the congratulations offered by Mu and the chief mechanic after he lands. He returns to lay alone in his dark bunk, beginning to cry as he's joined by his pet robotic bird, insisting that he's not a traitor.

Tropes used in this episode:

 * Cute Machines: Kira's robotic bird, which was clearly programmed for maximum adorableness.
 * Deflector Shields: Artemis' lightwave barrier.
 * The Guards Must Be Crazy: How Murrue, Natarle, and Mu escape. Especially odd in that, if the room was leaking air, you'd want to seal it to prevent the damage from spreading, rather than opening the door and risking Explosive Decompression.
 * Interservice Rivalry: Though in this case it's between military allies the Atlantic Federation and the Eurasian Federation, rather than two branches of the same government.
 * Invisibility Cloak: The Blitz's mirage colloid technology.
 * Red Baron: Mu's Badass Nickname is first mentioned in this episode.
 * We ARE Struggling Together!: You'd think that the Earth Alliance forces would be more worried about ZAFT than about each other, wouldn't you?