Moretsu Space Pirates – 11: Gurnhilde’s Flagship Operation

I am all for boarding actions but I sure as hell hope those armored suits are for more than just show.

Well not much shooting going on this week although I am glad that Grunhilde, brought a flagship into the mix. I only wish she brought in a few Talbot-class cruisers and not just six Corbacks. I like flagship operations I just want the attendant fleet to go along with it. Still while there just hasn’t been the knock out, drag out, ships blowing up fight in this series it is reassuring that they are doing more to establish the context. Clearly though at this point it seems that there is a crisis at court right now with Grunhilde being part of the war faction and Gruier belonging to the peace faction. I am not sure how much clout Grunhilde has but certainly if she is able to take the flagship out for a spell then Gruier seems to be losing influence with the Serenity Defense Forces.

Much was made about finding the ship and when it was finally found I am glad that Marika realized that a fire fight was a losing proposition and that going into the Ghost Ship was the right call. I guess ponderous warships forming battle lines is out given how deftly Kane was able to back up the Bentenmaru into dock. Gurnhilde may have more firepower but she can’t just blow the Ghost Ship to hell so all that firepower is moot until she gets a good firing arc at the Bentenmaru. Grunhilde would then need the resolve to shoot her sister to realize her goals. I guess in the end though that Grunhilde might have been manipulated though the presence of the butler and maid from last week either indicates that they infiltrated Grunhilde’s group or are the ones pushing for war. Perhaps they got Gruier to leave the palace so that they could deal with her far from home where no one knows where she is given that Gruier is supposed to be on a training cruise with Jenny’s Yacht Club. I’ll say this much for Grunhilde though, she is either really dull or believes so passionately about her cause that she is willing to take the Queen Serenity off the order of battle for her quest. It must be important, that or the Serenity Navy has more than one battleship or at least plenty of Talbots and Corbacks to make up the bulk of their fleet.

Hopefully next week will have more answers because they did show a few hints about some guidestone that should give us some background into the origins of the royal family. If nothing else I hope that the boarding action will have some excitement to go along with it. They have guns I hope that they use them for more than just show. I have to say though it was less fun without Chiaki, I hope she comes back sooner rather than later.

I wonder if the nostalgia for pirates is really making us gloss over the fact that they are a PMC. Even if the women wear pink...

One battleship, six escorts, and sadly no Talbot-class cruisers. I am all for flagship operations but bring Death Squadron next time.

You would have thought that a flagship sortie wouldn't go unnoticed.

Well I am glad that it wasn't, even if Marika has to face a sizable flotilla.

Well it's here because of Ghost Ship is of prime importance to the War Faction's goals.

But not impossible...

Oh so they are trying for a version of an Interdictor...

I guess they didn't have time to use inertial dampers, you still have to do this on smaller ships if you need to do sharp maneuvers.

Misa was watching the whole time...

The odds of survival...

They say it has been to hell...her name used to be the Event Horizon...

I wonder if the Maracot-class carries fighters...

So feel like spilling the beans on what this is all about?

She was almost named after Kaiser Reinhard's flagship...

So what happened to princesses 1-6?

She must want it bad...

At least they dispensed with the ceremonial sword.

She wants to be Kaiser?

I see Grunhilde has delusions of being a Galactic Hero.

I guess Grunhilde has more pull than Gruier if she has the flagship.

Finally! Gruier GOT MAD.

That remains to be seen...

I just hope you feel that way when the guns start doing all the talking.

If nothing else Grunhilde has more ships and a battleship...

DAWWWWW Grunhilde is trying to make threats.

I guess that is going to be about as much Z-Axis as we are going to get.

OH SHI- there still people on that ship...dead people...

Dang so it's gold because of the lighting not because it is made of gold...or is gold plated.

The only way into a girl's heart.

I see the Royal Family were originally merchants...

There is a story written in stone, but not just any stone a Guidestone...

Maybe one day you will have a battleship named after you, Princess Gruier the Seventh.

Better than getting shot in the butt...

This was not how she planned it.

It's the latter...

....Who initiated the jump?

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES ME 'EARTIES!

Marika likes haunted ships...

Nope.

Besides it's been a while since we last had a boarding action, in fact it is the first time we are having a real boarding action.

You in love yet?

Behold the power of you hearts...

I guess we aren't going space marines yet...

MAID VS.

...CYBORG. WHO WILL WIN?

A Message From Your XO, EO

A very cool episode, though I wish they would have at least boarded the ghost ship before the episode ended. I’m normally fine with slower pacing, but in this instance it felt like they spent a little too much time on the space-time quakes stuff that they could have used to move things just a tad farther. That said, still very enjoyable. I liked the fleet maneuvers that showed how outgunned the Bentenmaru was compared to the fleet arrayed against them. Having the flagship of the fleet there was definitely interesting. It goes to show how much and what kind of support Grunhilde has, as well as offering a clue as to the size and capabilities of the Serenity Defense Forces. If that ship, which looks like a cruiser compared to the destroyer or destroyer-escort sized Corback class, is the flagship, then the SDF are only a small to medium-sized navy using modern day standards. Comrade Crusader said he wished that they had deployed a full battle group, but if we don’t compare the SDF to a large force like the modern U.S. Navy or People’s Liberation Army Navy and instead compare it to a European navy or the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces, then a well-equipped command cruiser would make sense as the flagship. Judging by the Queen Serendipity and the forces that came with it, I’m thinking that the SDF is a small-ish navy. While we haven’t seen them yet, I imagine that the Empire is the only force out there with larger battleship, carrier, and/or dreadnought type ships.

Lots of cool shots this episode, with good camera angles, including the one I used to start off my section of the post above.

I appreciate all the little details in this show, tying down loose items like this being yet another example. Additionally, when Misa opened the door after the ship’s systems went down. Rather than simply having the door open, she’s shown using a manual crank to open the normally powered door.

This week’s Mandatory Misa.