MISSION OUTER SPACE SRUNGLE
MISSION 8: Confrontation! The Black Lightning (PART-1)
WRITTEN BY: Yuu Yamamoto
BROADCAST DATE: March 11, 1983
And, as always, this episode aired forty years ago today!
On a dark a stormy night, an old man is sitting in his plush home, waiting for his granddaughter to visit. Some soldiers arrive and break in, but can’t find him.
The granddaughter, Melissa (voiced by Michie Tomizawa, who also voiced Daisy a few episodes ago) arrives, and sees a signal that he’s set up, but she’s not sure what it means.
The soldiers think the man must have fled and go to search for him outside. Melissa comes in, and her grandfather emerges from a hidden door. He says that the blackmail group has come back for him, and they have to get away now.
The soldiers come back, and find the hidden door. The head soldier seems quite angry…
Magician comes to Gorillan Base, accompanied by Dr. Mundy. Chance is surprised that Mundy is visiting in person, and Mundy replies that he’s the one who funded its construction, so it’s natural that he’d want to see it for himself. Chance jokes that Mundy might by a spy from Crime.
In the next room, they run into Jet and Sexy, who are leaving to visit Garrick Town together, because Jet needs to pick up something.
In the hangar, Superstar watches as Babyface and Ai-Doll work on the Centrosuper, Babyface says he can fix it, but it’ll take a lot of work.
Sexy and Jet show up and invite everyone to come to Garrick Town, but they decline. Jet tells Ai-Doll that it should visit with the base’s important guest. Ai-Doll asks who that is, and Jet replies, “Your favorite boss.” So Ai-Doll rushes off to greet Mundy, and everyone laughs.
In the computer room, Mundy says it may take a while to defeat Crime. Chance again seems surprised since their computer’s data plus Magician’s secret intel seems definitive. Mundy says he wants to add his own data to the computer’s.
Once they add the info, Chance talks to his “Professor,” asking who the head of Crime is. The computer replies that the identity is unknown. At the top, there’s a corporation called “Bossbrain” that oversees the “Head Party,” but Crime Enterprise Systems is divided into so many sub-organizations that tracing them is virtually impossible. There’s a Crime Army as well, and also “Crime Force” (30 to 50 members) and “Crime Battler” (divided into groups of ten to twenty soldiers). It’s unknown how many troops they have.
Crime Battler has their own dedicated Trekkers, which the computer shows a diagram of, and Chance recognizes them as the type that ambushed Samson and Daisy a few episodes ago.
Mundy asks what the exact connection between the company and the army is, and of course the computer says it’s unknown. Magician says, “Well, they’re certainly very organized!”
Jet and Sexy are almost to their destination, when they see explosions inside the building and some guys running away.
After the commercial break, it turns out that the place attacked was a gun shop where Jet was picking up his gun after some modifications. The owner apologizes to Jet and then explains what happened:
An alien came in wanting to buy some guns. The owner said that he doesn’t deal with strangers, and the guy said, “I’m not a stranger. I’m Baud Leon, the Black Lightning.” And he’s clearly the soldier we saw from the beginning of the episode.
He reaches into the owner’s desk and pulls out a pistol, saying he likes it. The owner protests that Jet will be back for it soon, so Baud aims it at him and tells his men to take all they want.
The Baud gets a call saying that he’s been ordered to capture a Professor Jastrow, and the orders come from very high up. Baud muses that his luck is changing.
He tells the shop owner that he’ll pay for the merchandise, and pulls out a grenade. He throws it and he and his men run out.
Back in the present, Jet gets angry with the owner, saying he spent years modifying the pistol so that it’s perfect, but Sexy tells him to lay off, that it’s not the owner’s fault. They leave before the police arrive, saying that they’ll take this to Captain Chance.
Driving away, Jet says that he’ll keep an eye out for Baud Leon, the Black Lightning.
Chance, Mundy, and Magician are about to eat the meal that Ai-Doll has prepared for them, when Dorothy (Mundy’s secretary) calls them, saying Professor Jastrow is on the run and is currently in hiding on Landbase M-13 (designed as an animal sanctuary).
Chance asks if he’s the inventor of a new type of energy called “Jastrownium,” and Mundy confirms it. Mundy says to get the team together and go to Landbase M-13.
Jet’s still in the car grumbling about his stolen pistol, when Chance contacts them and says they’re to meet up on Landbase M-13. Jet asks what the mission is, and Chance says they have to rescue Professor Jastrow.
Sexy reminds Jet that Baud’s orders had been to get Jastrow, so Jet might be able to get his pistol back soon. Jet speeds up and Sexy’s skirt flies up, giving us a panty shot.
Everyone launches, and Mundy tells Chance that Jastrow is a nuclear physicist of the likes to come along only one in a century, and he will revolutionize nuclear energy. Chance says, “I see why Crime want to get their hands on him.” Then Mundy says that the order to get Jastrow definitely didn’t come from the lower echelons of Crime, but from the “Head Party,” so be extra cautious.
On Landbase M-13, Jastrow is burning his notes, saying he has to keep the bad guys from learning the secrets of Jastrownium. And now the secrets reside only his head.
We see and Jet and Sexy get to their Trekkers and hurry to catch up to the others.
Baud meets with a commander, sent by the Crime Army High Command. Baud is excited.
The commander says that if he’s successful in capturing Jastrow, he’ll be promoted from the Crime Battlers to the regular army. Baud and his men get ready to leave.
Chance and the others arrive at the Landbase, and Chance says that Jet and Sexy are late. Superstar jokes that maybe they were enjoying their date a little too much.
Jet and Sexy arrive, and then we see Baud in a tank, going to capture Jastrow.
Chance contacts Jastrow, saying they’re code-named Gorilla, and to wait for them to rescue him.
Melissa runs in, alarmed because there are lights on the horizon, heading toward them.
As the episode ends, Jet thinks to himself, “Black Lightning… I’ll find you!”
Okay, clearly the way Crime is organized is the important bit of exposition here, and I find it very confusing. The fact that it’s obviously MEANT to be confusing is small comfort…
DOES SEXY SHOW UP NAKED? No, but there’s a panty flash. Which, I think, counts.
AND TOTAL: Four times.
J9 Hard Serenade 