Episode 17 - That Day, Riot Force Six (Part 2)
As they continue their face-off, Vita and Rein notice that Zest and Agito's Unison is slightly off compared to their own, implying poor compatibility. Zest realizes the same thing and suggests to Agito that they cancel the Unison so he can use his "Full Drive" attack. Agito rejects this idea, saying it would damage Zest's body too much. She repeats her promise to protect him, and they press the attack.
At Ground Forces HQ, the Forwards manage to give Nove and Wendi the slip, thanks to Teana's illusions. The pair are about to give chase when Number 5, Cinque, contacts them, saying that she's fighting another "Type Zero" and needs their assistance. As the scene changes to Cinque's perspective, it's revealed that her opponent is Ginga.
Nanoha and Fate reach the emergency rendezvous point in the lower levels of HQ. They meet Sister Schach, who has managed to escape from the conference chamber. Schach reports that Hayate and Carim have remained behind to explain the situation. Just then, the Forwards arrive; they make a quick report and return the captains' Devices. However, Subaru suddenly realizes that she can't contact Ginga, and worries that she might have encountered other combat cyborgs. Fate, meanwhile, tries to contact Long Arch; the transmission is barely intelligible, but Griffith reports that Riot Force Six is under attack. They decide to split up — the Lightning members will return to base, while Stars will locate Ginga and look out for any more combat cyborgs. Schach heads back to the conference room with Hayate and Signum's Devices.
Back at Riot Force Six, the situation is dire. Otto and Deed are attacking the base with an army of Gadgets, with only Shamal and Zafira standing in their way. In the end, the two Knights are overpowered and the attackers break through. Hayate immediately senses through her connection as Mistress of the Night Sky that Shamal and Zafira are badly injured or worse.
Fate, Erio, and Caro head back towards the base as fast as they can, but they are intercepted by Tre and Sette. Fate sends the two Forwards ahead with Friedrich while she faces off against the two Numbers.
High above, Vita and Zest continue their fight. TSAB reinforcements are finally on the way, and Zest realizes that he won't make it through to HQ. He cancels the Unison with Agito and launches his Full Drive attack, smashing Graf Eisen and sending Vita crashing to the ground. Rein is badly hurt, and Vita frantically contacts Signum for support. Signum now has her Device and is just coming out of HQ when she sees Zest and Agito retreating. She seems to recognize Zest, but they are too fast for her to pursue.
Down in the lower levels, the Stars members are heading towards Ginga's last known location at full speed. Subaru, who is faster than the others inside the tunnels, gets ahead of them and finds herself in a room bearing the signs of a tremendous fight. In the middle of this room, Wendi, Nove, and Cinque are standing over the bloodied and lifeless body of Ginga Nakajima.
As soon as she processes what she's seeing, Subaru goes utterly berserk. Her eyes change color from green to gold, then she screams in rage and launches herself at the Numbers. Nove is seriously damaged in the first charge, and the cyborgs realize that Subaru is using a dangerous Inherent Skill. Cinque, who has just finished packing Ginga into a container, orders Nove and Wendi to take it and retreat while she holds Subaru off. They do so, reluctantly, but Nove contacts Sein and asks for her help. Subaru and Cinque both inflict severe damage on each other, but the Number eventually falls to Subaru's enraged attacks. Subaru is about to deliver a finishing blow when Sein arrives and rescues Cinque with her phasing ability. Subaru collapses to the floor in anguished sobs, bleeding from multiple wounds and with the flesh burned off her left arm to reveal cybernetic components underneath...
Meanwhile, the Riot Force Six base is in flames. Only Griffith and Lucino are left in the control room; all systems and defences are completely down. Shario and Alto are sheltering with the staff and civilians, including Vivio; outside, Vice is single-handedly trying to hold off the attacking Gadgets with a rifle. He succeeds in doing so until Lutecia appears; at which point, Vice has a Flashback to an incident in which he accidentally shot a young girl he was trying to rescue. He freezes up, unable to fire at Lutecia; she blasts him aside with magic and continues into the base unimpeded.
Erio and Caro reach the base and are just in time to witness Lutecia and Garyuu leaving with Vivio in their possession. Erio has a Flashback to his own childhood: he was forcibly taken away from the people he thought were his parents, only to learn that he was an illegally cloned copy of their son. He goes after Lutecia and Garyuu, but Deed suddenly appears and strikes him out of the air. Otto likewise takes out Friedrich, sending the dragon and Caro crashing down.
Still fighting Tre and Sette, Fate demands to know where Scaglietti is. They mockingly reply that if she wants to join them, they'll happily take her to him. Moments later the Numbers retreat, telling Fate they'll be sure to meet again.
At Riot Force Six, Lutecia and the Numbers have departed, but the fleet of Gadgets remains, preparing to destroy what's left of the base and everyone still inside. Caro, who has managed to climb to her feet next to the unconscious Erio and Friedrich, summons Voltaire, the ancient dragon guardian of her homeworld, to blast the Gadgets from the sky.
At Ground Forces HQ, Jail Scaglietti sends a video message to the TSAB, saying he has demonstrated the true power of technology on behalf of all scientists who were condemned for pursuing so-called 'forbidden' research. Hayate tells Carim that they may not have been able to prevent the first part of the prophecy, but the fight is not finished... and neither is Riot Force Six.
Tropes
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Riot Force Six's base is attacked by the Numbers and left in ruins.
- Batman Gambit: On the heels of the last episode, Scaglietti pulls off another one. While the attack on Ground Forces HQ did further his goals on its own, its real purpose was to draw away Riot Force Six's defenders, leaving their base open to attack by his second force. As a result, he ends up accomplishing basically everything he wanted, leaving the Ground Forces in disarray and Riot Force Six severely damaged.
- Berserker Tears: Tears are streaming down Subaru's face throughout her attack on the Numbers.
- Chunky Updraft: When Subaru activates her cyborg powers, it briefly has this effect.
- Downer Ending: Ground Forces HQ has been badly damaged and Scaglietti has played them all for fools, Riot Force Six's base is destroyed and most of its members are injured or worse, Vivio has been kidnapped, Ginga is either dead or critically injured and captured by the enemy, and it looks as though Carim's prophecy is coming true in spite of everyone's best efforts to prevent it.
- Flashback: From both Vice's and Erio's perspectives, finally answering some questions about their respective backgrounds.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Subaru launches her attack against Nove, the energy circle that momentarily appears around her fist is identical to the ones used by the Numbers.
- From Bad to Worse: Basically everything that happens from midway through the previous episode until the end of this one involves the situation just getting worse and worse.
- Robotic Reveal: Subaru (and by extension Ginga) is finally revealed to be a combat cyborg. First, Cinque refers to Ginga as a "Type Zero" and says she must be one of the first produced. Next, when Subaru goes into her Unstoppable Rage, her irises turn gold just like those of the Numbers, and attentive viewers may notice that her attacks are using the combat cyborg power signature instead of her usual Belkan magic circle. Finally, part of the skin gets burnt off her arm by Cinque's last attack, revealing cybernetics underneath.
- Self-Destructive Charge: Subaru is completely unconcerned with her own safety as she attacks the Numbers, and pays no heed to the fact that both she and Mach Caliber are taking massive damage. Teana calls her out on this next episode.
- Skyward Scream: Caro doesn't bother with her typical incantation to summon Voltaire note . She simply activates her summoning circle and then screams Voltaire's name into the sky.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Subaru, when she goes into combat cyborg mode. Even if you haven't yet realized exactly what it means, seeing Subaru's friendly green eyes suddenly turn an eerie gold is rather disturbing.
- Trauma Button: Lutecia, quite by coincidence, triggers Vice's, causing him to freeze up and allowing her to blast him out of the way.
- Unstoppable Rage: Subaru. It's especially shocking to see the perpetually sweet and cheerful Subaru go completely berserk.
- Wham Episode: Possibly the biggest one in the entire franchise.
- Wham Shot: Take your pick:
- The Numbers standing over Ginga's limp and bloodied body. Punctuated by the eyecatch immediately afterward, which shows Ginga's Revolver Knuckle and Blitz Caliber arranged as if lying in state, whilst dirge-like music plays.
- The Robotic Reveal of Subaru's cybernetic arm.
- The episode's final shot: Vivio's stuffed rabbit, torn and burning amidst the wreckage of Riot Force Six.
- Watching Troy Burn: Caro and Erio reach Riot Force Six to find the entire base engulfed in flames. Caro in particular is almost broken by the sight.
- Weapons Breaking Weapons: During Subaru's Unstoppable Rage moment, she breaks not only Nove's Gun Knuckle but also the latter's arm and weaponised roller skates. Fittingly, this is used to show that Subaru's Inherent Skill, Oscillating Breaker, is especially dangerous to cyborgs like Nove and the rest of the Numbers.
- Wrecked Weapon: Mach Caliber visibly buckles under the sheer force of Subaru's Self-Destructive Charge. By the time the dust settles, her gem has cracked, two of her wheels have been ripped off, and she suffers a system crash.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: In spite of the TSAB and the heroes' best efforts, Scaglietti successfully pulverizes Ground Forces HQ, captures Vivio and Ginga, and leaves Riot Force Six weakened and homeless. True, he fails to capture Subaru, but that was always more of a bonus objective (and since he has Ginga, he doesn't really need Subaru as well). Thanks to Caro, he also doesn't manage to cripple Riot Force Six completely, but their base is gone and many of their members are now badly injured, traumatized, or both. More to the point, Scaglietti now has everything he needs to complete his plans.
