An Attack Beyond Tears - Part Two
X Bomber learns to stop worrying and love the Mon-Mon
As the X Bomber crew fret over how best to deal with first encounters with alien life forms,1 Commander Makara and Orion are approaching slowly. “Must avoid detection,” Makara says robotically, as if trying to speak in a voice the drone-like termoids can understand.
Captain Orion reports that X Bomber has made contact with the creatures (whom he earlier referred to as hideous monsters) but how he knows this isn’t explained. Perhaps the Imperial Alliance have sophisticated long range sensors.
The mon-mons, not content to remain in their corner, are now approaching the ship. I’m sure this can’t possibly go wrong.
Lamia is off in her quarters, praying to Professor Hagen. He’s just a dude, not a deity, Lamia. Of course, many Star Fleet characters seem to offer prayers to each other in times of distress.
Despite the firmness of her resolve, Lamia seems to be facing some doubt now. “Am I so wrong?” she wonders, before quickly retreating to looking at the situation from the Mon-mons point of view. The beast was shot without any warning.
Shiro, for his part, felt like he had no choice but to open fire. Sensing Lamia was in danger, he acted for her own protection. He is surprised by her anger.
Hercules falls back on his academy training, which apparently was not very nuanced on this particular issue. “When faced with an alien danger, you simply shoot.”
Shiro tries to get Lee into the discussion, but Lee deflects by saying that he doesn’t ever think about the issue. Sure, John Lee, sure.
Dr. Benn enters with Lamia. Surely, as the moral center of their universe, he will be able to shed some light on this ethical problem.
Taking his seat, Dr. Benn tells the crew that they have a chance to relax now. More deflection.
Surprisingly, it is Lee who demands the Doctor provide answers. “Having come all this way, I want to know,” he says, “What kinda creature is this mon-mon?” In other words, are we justified in shooting it?
The Doctor is startled. “What are you talking about?” Apparently, no one thought to inform him.
Lamia explains that it’s a native life form and she named it. “It’s nothing like a monster,” she says in exactly the tone of voice one uses when trying to hide the fact that something is a monster.
Dr. Benn displays a healthy scientific curiosity about the creatures, but regrets that he has no time to waste with them. They have to resume their search for the skull.
Kirara, according to a translation from PPA,2 explains that the creatures are now visible from the window of the X Bomber conference room. Isn’t that ducky?
Lee finds their appearance amusing and Hercules jokes that they look like the ginger crewman.
As Shiro gets up to have a look with them, Lamia pulls him aside. “I do hope that underneath all this violence you show, you have a gentle heart.” Before Shiro can respond, she brings up what must be a painful subject– his father.
A flashback to Lamia’s youth immediately ensues. She builds an argument that she was just like a mon-mon– alien and strange– and only Professor Hagen’s compassion saved her. “That is what I want you to have Shiro. A tender heart.”
It’s hard to imagine this kind of sermonizing in a Gerry Anderson show, which had a strong military feeling. X Bomber is headed into unexplored territory here, though perhaps not in the world of Japanese television where such issues tend to play a bit more front and center.
But unlike the discussion in the field, this is no longer a debate. Shiro doesn’t get to respond to Lamia’s call for tenderness. The plot moves on.
Dr. Benn calls the mon-mons “interesting”– about as non-descript a descriptor as could be used. Lee doesn’t want to go anywhere near them, to which the Doctor adds the adjective “harmless” to the conversation.
Hercules, bizarrely, reckons they’re about to attack. Perhaps because they’re forming up en masse? Lamia calls this out as prejudice.
Dr. Benn wants to leave them alone. He still seems blissfully unaware of the moral discussion surrounding Shiro’s slaughter of one of the animals. PPA informs him that “the time factor is crucial”3 and Benn gathers the crew to prepare for launch.
But there is a new problem arising. The mon-mons, bereaved of one of their own, are rising from the surface onto the X Bomber hull. Whether curious cuddly creatures or vengeful demons, they are definitely converging aboard X Bomber.
As Benn and Shiro prepare to take off, Lee raises a red flag. The ship is now covered in mon-mons. “What the–” Dr. Benn exclaims.
Right on cue, Makara appears. Having entered the atmosphere without detection, she orders Orion to hide behind a volcano.
Orion gleefully derides the Earthlings as “animal loving fools” and reasons that they will never be able to take off now. Care for the local wildlife will be their undoing! Makara wants to wait to strike. Orion insists there will be a perfect window in 10 parsecs for an attack. How he knows this and what exactly he is measuring (time? speed? space?) with the term “parsec” is anyone’s guess.
Makara seems to agree with this tactical assessment, but then orders a “laser missile” fired.4
This has the effect of activating the previously dormant volcano, which explodes in spectacular tokusatsu fashion.
Shrapnel from the explosion rains down on X Bomber. The occupants are still unaware of the presence of the Imperial Alliance.
Not one to hang around when lava is involved, Hercules is instantly ready for departure. Shiro, perhaps attempting to prove that he has a heart after all, asks the Doctor what to do about the mon-mons.
Looking out for numero uno, Hercules prefers to just forget them and takeoff. Consequences be damned.
Lee counters that if they start the engines “those little guys will be sucked right up into the main engine cooling shaft and that’ll wreck all our circuits.”5 Yikes.
Dr. Benn concludes that the most logical course of action is to scare the beasts away. Being a morally centered sort of guy, he gives the assignment to the indifferent Hercules, who would happily kill them all to get them on their way five minutes sooner.
But now that he’s confronted with reality, Hercules realizes he can’t avoid scaring them off without killing some of them and this has softened him considerably. He does have a conscience! Apparently, the X Bomber doesn’t have a horn. Nobody thinks to beep or even make a loud, scary noise over the PA.
When Hercules hesitates, Dr. Benn swings into commanding officer mode. If they don’t take off, they will be destroyed by lava. If they take off with mon-mons aboard, the creatures will be sucked up. Benn firmly orders Hercules to the guns and the soldier complies.
Lamia chooses this moment to walk in. Her gentle, vegan spirit is horrified at the notion of killing animals.
Dr. Benn reckons it is not possible to save the creatures. It is the lives of the mon-mons or the lives of the crew. Lamia insists she can communicate with the creatures and warn them off, but Dr. Benn points out that they have no more time. “We have a duty which must be performed.”
Now, Shiro raises an objection. Running over to stop the larger man, he is faced with a regret-filled friend. “I don’t like this any better than you do,” Hercules insists, having fully pivoted away from his earlier position of “forget ‘em.”
Dr. Benn says that Shiro has allowed his emotions to override his judgement and it’s hard to disagree. But Shiro still holds Hercules back.
Benn hopes the death of one or two mon-mons, will lead to a full dispersal– an idea which Lamia obviously finds repulsive.
The volcanic eruption continues to gain momentum as Shiro pulls Hercules out of the way. “I’ll do the shooting,” he says.
It’s quite a tense moment as Shiro swivels the canon around to the mon-mons clustered at the mid-section of the ship. The filmmakers have expertly set up this scenario, with only a few lapses in logic and a slightly uneven tone throwing off the audience.
What will Shiro do? Will he open fire on the defenseless mons?
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This lack of policy concerning indigenous life adds credence to the notion that Earth has never previously encountered alien life.
It isn’t totally clear to me if Kirara communicates with a language, is sentient, or is a guard dog. Obviously there was a lot of influence from Star Wars’ Chewbacca, who similarly fulfills all three roles depending on what is convenient from a script point of view.
In case you forgot, the Skull leaves behind a trace in space, but it fades with time. This is the only possible explanation I can come up with for the urgent need to leave. Makara, defeated by X Impulse, could still be out of commission as far as Dr. Benn knows.
Note: not a laser torpedo.
This dialogue, although thrown in haphazardly like most of the translated script, is a fascinating insight into how X Bomber’s engines function. They clearly have air scoops, which would be useless in space, but apparently their function is not to fuel a turbine but to provide cooling for whatever mechanism actually provides the power. Does this mean that X Bomber can’t take off in a place without atmosphere? There is a lot of evidence that contradicts this. Surely the X Bomber could merely take off using vertical thrusters, shake the mon-mons loose at a safe altitude, and then speed off back to space?
Also worth noting here is that Lee is concerned for the ship’s “circuits” rather than engine parts, which perhaps suggests that X Bomber is an EV.