Due of the fact Gallacci needed extra space to acommodate another, unrelated comic from other author, the Erma Felna EDF story of this issue is splitted into two parts: One that deals with Itzak Arrat and the other one to Erma and Toki.
Part One
The issue begins with Itzak Arrat being stranded on the planet Keptsuah, escaping from the previous EDF station in attempt to fend off against a falsely pychological report after the events from Chishata. He is currently on the top of a mountain waiting for someone, that "someone" is a Marsupial (possum) who identifies himself as an associate of a mutual acquaitance. Arrat, seriously disgusted by the Cryptic Conversation the Marsupial wanted to begin, warned him he's not in a position to help anyone.The Marsupial later identified himself as Alliusiz, a fellow friend of Kanoc Felna, Itzak Arrat's Honorary Uncle. Arrat cannot believe what he said, since he thought neither his father Joseph nor Kanoc had further friends than themselves, but Alliusiz explains both Itzak's father Joseph and the EDF lied about many things about the past, but despite this Alliusiz decided to reveal himself to Arrat to warning him about the inminent danger of many agencies who wants both of them dead. Arrat is still annoyed by the course of the conversation and he demands to Alliusiz what he really wants from him. The Marsupial explains to his Equine peer that he's familiar with Arrat's delicate situation and what the EDF tried to do with him by sending a negative psychological report so no one can believe him and his unsucessful attempt to evade that report. Shocked, Arrat furiously demands further explanations about how that mysterious person knew everything about his current dilemma. Alliusiz starts to explain about this:
It turns out Alliusiz has a "talent", albeit he needs a further explanation about few things on himself: He was a former comrade-of-arms and later his aide after Kanoc was repatriated from the ILR where he was their prisoner of war, and later explains he was able to read Kanoc's mind. Another of his powers are the manipulation of electronic devices, data or even monitoring devices, so he could hid his own existence from the public, and he later explains he is responsable of being the cause of an accident with an aerodyne when Kanoc returned home when Alliusiz was unable to control his powers. Even if he could explain he was the one who caused the accident, Alliusiz feared to reveal his powers to the EDF, not to mention the political storm caused by the whole situation could had make the situation even worse.
Arrat is surprised about hearing of the Talent powers, since he only heard them before on theory, but never in practice, much less on himself. He also demands what is the threat Alliusiz wanted to warn him and he explains that during his travels he noticed something unusual in the Net, as he noticed illegal information was being transmitted on it, along that information, Arrat's psychological report. Alliusiz has no idea how they managed to do that, but he suspects the Net itself could be doing all that by itself, a fact that is supposed to be impossible without a living person's intervention, and since Alliusiz legally doesn't exist he couldn't ask to help to anyone with authority. Arrat explains he cannot do anything else, and if he tries to denounce those hacking crimes, it's very likely the EDF will try to consider him as clinically insane.
In that moment, Alliusiz gives Arrat a data disk with the intercepted data he recollected so far, since Alliusiz thinks that Arrat has the contacts for help him to spread that information. He also adds he will try to help Arrat when he need it, and Alliusiz dissapears later on. Once that Alliusiz dissapears from Arrat's sight, he wants to speak with The Net, via a portable device. The Net states that Alliusiz already figured out The Net is hiding some kind of secret, and Arrats demands the Net to tell him about its plans, something that The Net refuses to do. Arrat blackmails it by refusing to help it if The Net doesn't tell him what it knows, and he also ask if Alliusiz is not trying to read his mind and The Net's "mind" as well along the way. The Net already took measures to prevent that and it explains The Net already know about the existence of the Talents from some time, but the Net is already worried of Alliusiz's suspicion about it due of his powers. The only thing it can do is leave Alliusiz to Arrat's hands, albeit The Net says Alliusiz could be valuable asset for it, or the "persons" behind it.
Part Two
Meanwhile, in the Ish-tako solar system, we see Erma and Toki practicing target shooting with some rifles. Erma first practices with the regular sight and she later switchs to laser sight. In any case, she manages to hit the target almost perfectly, but Erma looks incredibly angry, as the whole thing brings back the painful memories from the Battle of Derzon and from the events in Ekosiak, and she's not enjoying having to grab a gun even again. She and Toki are congratulated by their instructor, but Erma just want to end all of this. After finishing with the rifles and handguns, they went to practice with long-ranged weaponry. The instructor explains the Ish-tako Home Guard uses Panzerfaust-like rocket grenades, and Toki points it out to Erma how the weapons and the grenades reminds something "erotic" to Erma for Toki, a fact that the Toki's Feline friend doesn't find funny at all. After finishing with the grenade launchers, Toki tries to invite the instructor to lunch with them, but he refuses, as he has things to do.Later, we see Erma and Toki again return home in a Shinkansen-like high-speed train. Toki is trying to speak with Erma, since she was looking too groomy since many days ago. Erma replies she is seriously depressed, likely for the amount of personal and physical pain she endured from the incident with the passenger spaceship (and also the whole deal with the human corpse) she had months ago and she points out Ish-Tako is such a beautiful planet to have a war on it. Toki reminds her she shouldn't worry about the conflict because everyone simply gave up after that unfortunate attack. Erma replies why Toki is armed and she answer that a woman had a right to defend herself, albeit she admits she's worried that a terrorist attack could happen at any moment, but it's more likely she have to deal with a jaywalker rather than some loony out there.
While in downtown, both girls decided to go shopping, so Erma could find some peace with herself and relaxing a bit and, with Toki's coaxing, enters to a store so Toki could help her to buy new clothes. Erma's Rodent friend choose the clothes for her, as Erma doesn't have too much experience on buying feminine clothes, and one of the dresses Toki picked for her was too sexy for her taste, and that without going the dresses Toki chose for herself. Despite all this, Erma seems to enjoy being the center of attention with her newer clothes, along Toki, and both girls went to eat at a restaurant.
Once there, Toki realized that, while they were both in the restaurant, Erma did not have the slightest idea how to order food from the menu, so she tells Erma she could ask the Net (or the one used in the restaurant) for food in her place. She also noticed that Erma still remains depressed, as PTSD is starting to take a toll on Erma's health, as the life of living at the edge of danger due of her job as a soldier is extremely wearing for her. Toki tries to reassure her with asking Erma of taking the life with more optimism and relax more. Erma replies she could go to psychological treatment, but that could damage her profile within the EDF (just like what happens right now with Itzak Arrat), but Toki thinks she doesn't need that, as she is doing fine in her job and Erma just needs to be more sociable. She ask what was the last time Erma went into a party since Derzon, and Erma replies she only went into some reunions in Ekosiak many months ago, something that irks Toki to no end, albeit she warns Erma she shouldn't do the opposite and go into parties everyday but trying to find the way how to balance Erma's professional life with some distractions, and she doesn't need psychological help, but she will not be happy if she doesn't change her lifestyle.
After they finished eating and trying to return to base, they went to downtown again to take a walk, and Toki keeps talking with Erma about what they were talking about in the restaurant. Toki finishes with warning Erma about she should not to go finding a "significant other" lightly and she should simply let other men find her instead. Also, Toki cannot avoid throwing a potshot against Erma's homeland Dornthant, something that Erma answers with groping Toki while replying her that Toki's Danet isn't so innocent either. Toki doesn't seem to like Erma's out-of-place attitude in that moment. Later, a Vulpine man tries to take out something that looked like a gun from his jacket, but Erma draws her gun on the man, and both girls stop him. Toki checks the man, but she noticed that the "gun"... turns to be a camera.
The whole situation became extremely embarrassing for Erma, as she pointed her gun on an innocent man and she was mortified for such grave mistake. Toki tries to cheer her up, saying it was a reasonable call from Erma, but she couldn't forgive herself on drawing a gun on a civilian, and in public, no less, and for a good reason: Erma still had very nasty nightmares of the Battle of Derzon, something that Toki doesn't know, as she wasn't there at the time. She also adds how the civilians blamed her and the EDF for all the whole mess, even if it was it ILR's fault, causing Erma to get distraught during a mop-sweep operation and getting shot. Erma finalize her flashback explaining Toki that she's afraid something like that would happen again to her in a critical situation. The only thing Toki can recommend to her Feline friend is she should take a good vacations while the things are calm right now in Ish-tako. Meanwhile Erma went to the hygiene unit (aka bathroom), leaving Toki alone.
Once Toki is alone, she thinks what she could do to help Erma, and the first thing she thinks is Erma should need to get laid, but before she could end to think on that and by mere coincidence, a good old bed-buddy of her, a Feline named Alfon (or alternatively, "Afon") Voga appears, greeting Toki in a cheerful way. Alfon asks for the current situation, and Toki explains him Erma's woes. Alfon is surprised to hear Erma is in Ish-tako, since both of them attended the EDF academy back in Danet years ago. Alfon tries to understand the whole mess Erma is involved, since she still suffers of PTSD, and she drawed her gun on accident on a civilian with a camera with a gun-shaped grip. Later on, and after Erma returns from the bathroom, Toki introduces Alfon to her, which surprises Erma a lot, since she hasn't seen Alfon from years, albeit she struggles to recognize him. While returning to the base with him, Toki asks Alfon what he was doing the last years. He explains he is working right now as an instructor, and as such, he was walking to almost all known space teaching than living in a fixed place. Before going to separate ways, Alfon gives some information to Erma, in the case she could be interested in having a date with him.
After Alfon was out of their sight, Toki pointed out Erma seems to be infatuated with him, as not only he is cute, a Feline like Erma, and also not being from Dornthant like her. Erma was annoyed with Toki's attitude because she quickly figured her intentions, and Erma answered she barely know him when they attended the academy back in Danet, despite Toki pointed out Erma was around him all the time there, even if she tries to deny it. Erma replies that was years ago and while she did knew him before, their relationship wasn't that intense. Toki doesn't buy that, as Alfon was Erma's object of desire before she could meet Tavas Ikalik beforehand. Erma doesn't even want to talk about Tavas ever again and she suddenly finished the conversation, going to her room instead once she and Toki are inside the base.
But Erma cannot avoid feeling bad once she's in bed and it's more than obvious she needs something else in her life, other than fighting. At the next day in her job, she calls Alfon by videophone and she asks for a date at night, something that he quickly accepts. Toki quickly appears teasing Erma after she caught her red-handed, much for her annoyance, finishing the issue.
Tropes:
- Breather Episode: Compared with the action-oriented episodes from the last thirteen issues, this issue deals more with the personal woes of Erma and her friends rather than fighting or dealing with politics.
- The Cameo: Beatrix Farmer from The Tales of Beatrix Farmer, another comic Gallacci worked previously, appears along the audience watching the clothes of the store with Erma and Toki.
- Cryptic Conversation: Discussed between Arrat and Alliusiz, as the former doesn't like the mysterious way Alliusiz was speaking regarding his father, Kanoc and how the latter knew about his current situation.
- Psychic Powers: Alliusiz is the first character in the Albedo universe with psychic powers, allowing her to read the mind of both people and computers alike, and he can also manipulate data with his mind.
- Shellshocked Veteran: All the previous events that happened to Erma during her tour of duty in Derzon, the whole Ekosiaki Uprising and the rebel attack against her spaceship have left in her a severe psychological damage, to the grade Erma was ready to shoot against an innocent civilian who was ready to take out his camera from his jacket, a painful sequel from the same incident that happened to her when a man working for Aito Kho was spying to her in Ekosiak and she killed him.
- Shipper on Deck: Toki uses Alfon to ship him with Erma, taking into account Toki already knew him before and the fact Erma was in love with him at the academy.
- Shoot Him, He Has a Wallet!: Erma, as a result of her PTSD, almost shoots her gun against a cameraman, who was trying to using it in the street. This also mortified Erma to no end, since she almost got an innocent civilian killed due to a mistake in her judgment.
- You Need to Get Laid: Basically, most of Erma's problems with both depression and PTSD are related with her lack of sexual life to release stress, something that Toki quickly deduces.
