As the Wau villagers
shelter in their temple cave from the onslaught by Tarant Shunk's
troops,
the elder tells Seina the story of the idol they worship. It is prophesied,
the old Wau tells Seina, that in times of need a great warrior will
come and revive their "god", the huge and ancient robot they
worship. The Wau child quickly debunks the old Wau's prophecy, insisting
the village hasn't even been there that long. Suddenly, a villager
rushes in to warn everyone that the pirates' tanks have reached the
entrance
to the cave.
Under
house arrest in Misao's castle, Kiriko and Ryoko work feverishly
at
investigating the disappearance of the Kamidake and its escort ship.
Neiju and Amane watch, unable to help. Just then, Amane spots some
data
flash past on Kiriko's screen and, on a gut feeling about it, asks her
to investigate further. They discover the data indicates a deliberate
change to the Kamidake's planned route, meaning the ship wasn't attacked
and Seina had nothing to do with its disappearance. In fact, all
the
data points to a plot by some other party to capture the Kamidake,
and Amane suspects that Lady Seto is behind it. Neiju, however,
observes
that it looks more like the work of the Good Luck Fleet. Just then,
the girls receive a call from pirate captain Komachi. She has also
been
trying to clear Seina's name (in repayment for him saving her life
in
episode 9), and has discovered that a guild of
space pirates is indeed involved. Komachi ends her call just as Airi
enters, and she congratulates the girls on managing to locate Seina.
Meanwhile, the Wau
temple is under heavy assault from Tarant's troops, who have been ordered
to capture Seina alive at all costs. The artillery barrage causes the
cave roof to collapse, injuring and killing several villagers. Seina
is enraged to see the devastation the pirates are causing. Suddenly,
the crystal set in the chest of the idol glows with a burning light,
the same angry light that blazes in Seina's eyes. The villagers are
delighted that their legend is true. And as the legend also says, they
must sacrifice the "chosen one" to their god and it will come
to their rescue! Fortunately, the "sacrifice" is not of the
bloody and brutal variety — they simply toss Seina into the glowing
heart of the robot. Seina finds himself inside the cockpit of the enormous
mechanoid. A bright light guides him to sit in the pilot's seat, and
as he does so the walls of the cockpit fade to display his surroundings.
He lays his hands on the machine's controls and the robot begins to
move.
Outside
the cave, the pirates tire of waiting for Seina to surrender and their
commander sends three of the tanks in to flush him out. However, no
sooner do they enter the cave than they come crashing out again in pieces.
Piloting the ancient mechanoid, Seina bursts out of the cave. The terrified
pirates open fire on him, but the shells glance harmlessly off the mechanoid's
armour. In such a powerful fighting robot, the pirate tanks are no match
for Seina and he crushes them under foot and fist. With a smirk he muses
that while spaceships are all well and good, real men should pilot giant
mecha!
For saving them
from the attacking pirates, the Wau villagers bow gratefully to
their
"god". Seina asks if he can borrow the mechanoid to go and
help Fuku. The village elder quickly glosses over some obvious discrepancies
in the legend as he told it, insisting that the chosen one and their
god are one and the same! Seina thanks the villagers and takes flight
in the mechanoid to search for Fuku. He has no idea where to begin
searching, but the mechanoid's sensors pick up the distant howl of
a cabbit in
distress. Spotting the base, Seina and the mechanoid teleport straight
there and crash in through the roof. He tears the base apart
looking
for
Fuku, and soon
comes across a terrified member of Tarant's science team, who points
Seina to where the cabbit is being held.
Meanwhile, aboard
the Mikagami, Lady Seto's servants bring her news that Amane, Kiriko,
Ryoko and Neiju have broken out of Misao's castle and taken the Mizuki's
core module. Seto decides to follow them aboard her own ship.
At Tarant's base,
Seina exits the mechanoid and breaks into the lab to rescue Fuku.
He quickly frees her from the energy field where she is imprisoned
and
turns
to
leave. Fuku cries out to draw Seina's attention to the glass chamber
across the lab which still contains her clones. 
Seina
is distressed to see these helpless animals imprisoned and mistreated.
Just then, Tarant Shunk enters and challenges Seina, but Seina is too
enraged to even face him. He asks Tarant how he could be so cruel,
but
Tarant scoffs, telling Seina they have not suffered as much as he himself
has. Seina faces him at last, the blaze of anger glowing in his
eyes
once again. The mechanoid responds to Seina's rage and moves on its
own, smashing its enormous fist through the wall of lab. Tarant
barely
manages to jump clear, and he flees in the face of Seina and his fury.
Back aboard the
mechanoid, Seina (having taken the Fuku clones with him) leaves the
base to find dozens of pirate ships awaiting him. They all attack at
once, and the barrage of laser fire begins to crack the mechanoid's
armour. Seina thinks they are done for, but Fuku and her clones all
cry out at once to summon the Kamidake, which blasts its way out of
the hangar in the pirate base. The ship then dissolves into many glowing
balls of energy which surround Seina's mechanoid, reforming into extra
armour. The pirates open fire again, but the Kamidake's shields deflect
every blast. Seina retaliates, using the Kamidake's gravity wave attack
to crush one of the pirate ships into a ball of scrap, which he throws
at another ship. The mechanoid then unfurls a set of Light Hawk Wings.
Tarant and another pirate who have escaped from the base watch in disbelief.
Tarant knows that without the Mizuki's core, the Kamidake should not
be able to summon Light Hawk Wings. The other pirate points out that
the mechanoid is an unknown technology, and that it would be prudent
to retreat, but Tarant wants to finish it now. He decides to take the
battle into space...
Meanwhile, the girls
head for Seina's last known location aboard the Mizuki core unit. Seto
follows close behind aboard the Mikagami. Both Kiriko and Seto receive
a strange feeling from their royal trees — they have sensed Seina using
the Light Hawk Wings.
Tarant's
fleet head into orbit above the planet, Tarant himself aboard a new
version of the Daidalos (the original was destroyed in episode
16). They meet a fleet of Galaxy Army ships, their co-conspirators
in the theft of the Kamidake, and Tarant hails the admiral aboard their
flagship. He suggests that both fleets fire on Seina, and the GA captain
agrees. The hundreds of massed ships face the spot above the pirate's
base where Seina's mechanoid hovers, and on Tarant's command they fire
all at once. On the planet below, Seina raises the mechanoid's hands
to the oncoming barrage and creates an energy void between its palms,
absorbing the laser fire. In orbit, the fleet notice the mechanoid vanish
from their scopes, but a moment later it reappears right in front of
them. Seina unleashes another gravity wave attack, paralysing many of
the ships. Knowing they are no match for Seina now, Tarant orders his
crew to perform a hyperspace jump. Seina chases the Daidalos to try
and stop Tarant escaping, but it enters hyperspace just as the mechanoid
reaches it. Thinking he has made a clean getaway, Tarant breathes a
sigh of relief and swears to have revenge on Seina some day. However,
his relief is short lived. The Daidalos shudders to a halt as a huge
metal hand grasps it — Seina has made the mechanoid actually reach into
hyperspace and pull the ship out again! The crews of the watching Galaxy
Army ships are in a state of disbelief at this mechanoid that is able
to break the laws of physics. Knowing they would stand no chance against
the might of this mechanoid, the crew of the flagship mutiny against
the admiral and order all the other ships to stand down. Seina pulls
the Daidalos completely back into normal space and crushes it into a
ball. The gravity waves compress the wreckage further and further until
it disappears completely.
The girls arrive
aboard the Mizuki just in time to see the end of the battle. They are
all relieved to see that Seina is okay, but Seina is surprised to see
them all. Relief soon gives way to anger as the girls berate him for
running off alone and making them all worry about him!
Some
time later, the group of GA officers discuss Tarant Shunk's failure
to carry out their plan. The are concerned about whether Lady Seto can
get at them, but most of the officers agree that even the "devil
princess" has nothing on them, so they are essentially in the clear.
Just then, Misao turns up under the pretence of reporting the escape
of Kiriko and the others, but when the GA officers open the door they
discover he has brought principal Mikami and a group of soldiers with
him to arrest them. Seto herself watches the arrest, and also listens
with amusement to Seina as he recounts his adventures with the girls.
Finally, she takes a look at Seina's discovery, the fusion of this ancient
mechanoid and the Kamidake, and examines it thoughtfully.
