Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt vol. 8

The focus of this series shifts back to Darryl Lorenz and his squad for this volume as the Zeon forces pursue their own efforts to recapture the tech behind the Psycho Zaku from the Nanyang Alliance.  Well, with a side of pillaging to go with the hunting as it’s revealed in the opening chapters that some of the officers overseeing this operation see it as nothing more than a chance to line their own pockets.  I’m not sure if this is going to be a recurring plot thread or just a nod to the fact that there will always be bad apples in Zeon in spite of the allegedly honorable ideals they seek to pursue. Nevertheless, the story quickly moves to The Rig, an abandoned oil platform that serves as the black market for the local area.  It turns out that a number of disabled veterans have gone missing after arriving at this place, which is an interesting coincidence since the Psycho Zaku requires pilots who have lost several limbs (willingly or otherwise) like Darryl in order to pilot it. The squad’s lead becomes a lot more credible when none other than Claudia Peer shows up on a recruiting mission for Nanyang’s leader, Sojo Levan Fu, and her path finally crosses with that of Darryl’s.

After the revelation that Claudia was still alive and a willing member of the Nanyang Alliance that last development shouldn’t surprise anyone.  Much of the volume up to that point is busy laying groundwork by introducing us to The Rig and its culture as well as the other members of Darryl’s squad who are an interesting mix of affable, calculating, surly, and ruthless.  It isn’t until late in the volume that things get interesting; specifically, when Claudia acts as a medium for Sojo and realizes who Darryl actually is. The tension ratchets up, in the real world and astral plane, from there as the Nanyang troops move in and Sojo makes his pitch to get Darryl on his side.  While the real-world action is skillfully handled, it’s the astral plane meeting that’s the most interesting to observe. That’s because what Sojo is preaching makes a lot of sense and you can tell that Darryl acknowledges this on some level. Then the volume wraps up with a development that somehow manages to bring the drama to a whole new level and sets the stage for an explosive battle in vol. 9.