Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

With all the Hideauze in the area killed, Pinion and his crew manage to salvage ancient technology not seen anywhere, but instead of sharing it with the rest of mankind as originally planned, Pinion says that they have the right to keep it to themselves, and sends a message to the other fleets warning them to keep out of their territory. As the message reaches the Gargantia, the fleet had just reorganized itself and there is the concern that other ships may leave to join Pinion's side as well. With the technology salvaged by them, Pinion's fleet defeats a hostile pirate crew who in return asks for a place among them, and he agrees. Meanwhile, Ledo hears from Chamber that the lightbugs that mankind use as a power source were also created by the Hideauze, which further proves their discovery. Ledo then questions if there is still a need to keep fighting the Hideauze after all they learned. The Machine Caliber replies that it came to the conclusion that the Galactic Alliance and the Hideauze are too different for them to coexist, as one side evolved and perfected their civilization while the other relinquished civilization altogether, thus their conflict is inevitable. Chamber then informs Ledo about a transmission from a Galactic Alliance vessel and as a huge fleet approaches them, Ledo sees Commander Kugel's Machine Caliber atop it and finds that he is alive.