Despite their uniforms, the officers who force their way into Jinto and Lafiel's hotel room aren't from the police department. They're actually anti-empire revolutionaries looking for a ship of their own, and an Abh princess would make the perfect bargaining chip to get one. The anti-empire revolutionaries fail to take into account just how fierce a fight with an enraged Abh can be, and their dreams of commerce and exploration without constraint quickly evaporate. Jinto and Lafiel do, however, agree to act as hostages, but any plan to engage the empire in negotiations will be put on hold, thanks to a United Mankind roadblock. An explosive thrown by Lafiel buys the group some time, but also leads the enemy to believe the anti-Abh revolutionaries are sympathizers of the empire. Nothing could be further from the truth, but Lafiel has little time to be angry about the deception because United Mankind continues the chase, whether above ground or down a hidden passage to a series of caves. A

• Hiroyuki Morioka

• Kazuhiko Inoue
• Kaneto Shiozawa
• Mitsuki Saiga