Anime Episode 1
Shinryaku (Invasion)
[The opening sequence is done in the Abh language. Those who do not have prior knowledge of the story, even amongst the Japanese audience, will not understand it very well]
In the year 952 of the Empire Calendar, a battleship is involved in a fierce fight in the planar space. The battleship discharges homing mines but some of the enemy destroyers manage to fuse their space-time bubble with her own. Now the battleship tries to destroy them with nuclear fusion missiles...
[Introduction, again in the Abh language] A long time ago, when humans were still limited to the Solar System, an elementary particle that emits enormous amounts of energy, seemingly from nowhere, was found. Although people didn't understand what it was, they managed to find a way of using it, which in turn enabled them to expand their territory all over the galaxy. The Leif Ericsson, an interstellar immigration ship with such a particle as it's energy source, suddenly explodes near a planet.
OPMartin is the name of the planet and it is 57th day of the First Season in the Year 172 by their calendar. In the control room of the space defense system, the staff are almost in a panic at the sudden appearance of a small spaceship, which does not respond to their identification signal. They decide to attack it with a laser cannon from a satellite but the attack is blocked by a barrier from the spaceship. Instead, it destroys the satellite easily with an unknown weapon.
The ship disappears soon and the news is sent to the Prime Minister, Rock Lynn, over the phone. He gives an order to summon all the members [of the cabinet] and keep secret the fact that their satellite was destroyed.
A young boy, Jint Lynn, is looking out over the streets at night from a window of his house. A woman [Lina Corint, who has been looking after him for his late mother] tells him to close it but he is not listening to her because he can see something happening in the dim light in the sky [which used to be the Leif Ericsson]. Numerous spaceships, much larger and far more dangerous in appearance than the previous one, emerge from it. The commander of the fleet is a young man with blue hair. It is more than obvious that he does not find the job of conquering this small planet very attractive. The date is the 81st of the same Season.
The people are in a state of panic and rush to the underground shelters. But Lina is desperately looking for Jint. A woman news caster is reporting the situation on the TV. She reports that the invaders are the Empire of Mankind by Abh and an offer for peaceful talks by Martin's government has been refused by them.
Till Corint, Rock's secretary, arrives at the official residence of the Prime Minister. Some members of the staff are already there and have been evaluating the situation. One of them tells Till the commander of the fleet is not only a military commander but a diplomat and the Crown Prince of the Empire as well. Another says they are like fairies in a fairy-tale; they do not become old in appearance and both men and women are very beautiful. They are descendants of Earthians like the people of Martin, but with modified genes.
The commander of the fleet explains to the people over the TV what the Empire wants. The planet will be governed by a noble but he won't interfere with the day to day life of Martin "because we consider governing a planet to be far from elegant." This angers both Rock and Till.
The top politicians discuss the situation while the planet's planetary defense system is put on stand-by. [Although some missiles are shown to be fired here, I think it is only a possibility and no battle ever takes place in reality.] Some think they should fight while others say it is stupid to go to war with so little weaponry. Rock, the only one who knows their defense satellite was no more than an ant before an elephant, remains silent.
Jint manages to get outside with only a few difficulties and is enchanted with what he sees; numerous spaceships fly across the sky like shooting stars [this is one of the biggest differences between the anime and novel. In the novel, almost nothing is told about Jint in Martin but here it is clear he is a boy who adores space like many others].
Six days later the government of Martin surrenders to the Empire.
Seven years later, Jint, now an Abh noble called Ghintec, is at the orbital tower of the planet Derctu [from here two timelines, seven years apart, appear in turn]. People stare at him because of his costume; a formal one for an Abh noble. It is seven years since the last time he came to the tower. He doesn't remember much because the situation was too much for a young boy to cope with.
Jint, the young boy, is watching the ships cross the sky when Till comes to catch him. He says they are going to the Official Residence immediately. His curt attitude convinces the boy that he is angry. On their way to a car park, Till tells Jint that the Government has decided to surrender, "No, your father has sold our planet off!!" Till was against the idea of going to war, but Rock's "deal" with the Empire is something he didn't expect. He knows he is acting unfairly towards the boy but it seems the only way to keep him sane.
In the car Till explains a little more. Rock has done something which will no doubt infuriate the people, so he is taking Jint to a safe place. He refuses to tell Jint what this "deal" is but tells him to switch the TV on instead.
A tiny spaceship arrives at the Derctu orbital tower and a young girl with long blue hair jumps out of it.
A spokesman for the government issues the statement. Martin has surrendered to the Empire. The prime minister has asked the Empire to choose the noble to Martin from amongst the people of the planet in return for disabling the planetary defense system and the Empire has agreed. Till is a little surprised to hear that the invaders were afraid of the system and thinks they could have fought against them fairly well [Till doesn't know about the satellite and the decision was a pure whim of the commander, Dusanh]. The people want to know who their new master is, although they already suspect the answer. The spokesman admits the master is Rock and he has left for the capital of the Empire to receive his title formally. Till suspects and hopes Rock himself is deceived by the invaders and will be arrested. Jint cannot do anything but cry.
It was the day when Ghintec lost his home country... perhaps his family as well.
Ghintec originally came to Derctu to enter a school to learn about Abh. Now he is heading to the capital to join a Space Navy school. He has never seen a real Abh but will soon today.
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