Maetel Legend
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Maetel Legend was written by Leiji Matsumoto and produced by Vega Entertainment. It is an OVA released in 2000 as a prequel to Galaxy Express 999 on how planet La Maetelle became the planet Andromeda, and the events that started the whole meachanization process. It is divided into two parts called the "First Movement" and "Second Movement" like a symphony.
Plot
La Maetalle was a propserous planet, but suddenly its orbit was disrupted and it spiraled away from the sun plunging the planet into an eternal winter. It only grew colder and colder. Some of the inhabitants thought this was devine retribution for their sins, because as they passed the earth, as they do once every thousand years they did so in an attempt to take over the planet.
The Queen La Andromeda Promethium has twin daughters, Maetel and Emeraldas. The story opens with Jam rushing in with dinner for the princesses. They try the food and almost gag, Jam cries about how serving such terrible food to royalty and the girls are just thankful they have anything to eat at all. Food has been scarce and there isn't much left on the planet.
Queen La Andromeda Promethium decides the only way to survive is for everyone on the planet to submit themselves to mechanization and get machine bodies, she volunteers herself to be the first. Hardgear, the best engineer on the planet, facilitates the mechanization that he himself has been apart of. Hardgear is a machine himself. After the queen is done with the implimentation of the machine core, Cast, Hardgears assistant, offers Maetel and Emeraldas to be next. Both girls adamently refuse to undergo the process, Cast becomes aggressive, and Hardgear steps in to smooth over the situation.
Later Dagar presents a rapier to Emeraldas, who asks him if it could kill a man covered in steel. She fires the weapon pierceing many metallic targets. Dagar tells her that it could, but be accurate, its not a rapid fire weapon. Emeraldas says she'll adjust it later and Dagar gives her the blueprints to the gun. Dagar then prsents Maetel with a smaller pistol.
While sitting at the dinner table Dagar, Emeraldas and Maetel discuss Queen La Andromeda Promethium's decision to get a machine body. They wonder what it will do to the human heart. Jam, Dagars son, enters and Dagar comments on his weight. Jams stomach grumbles and he goes to run off and make dinner for the princesses. They both decline, stating they are not hungry, and say instead of wasting it, Jam and Dagar should eat it.
Queen La Andromeda Promethium appears before her subjects and orders them all to mechanization surgery, without exceptions. Hardgear tells them that a machine body is the only way to survive, a machine body can withstand the cold as it gets colder and colder, and it doesn't need food as the food is becoming more and more scarce. Queen La Andromeda Promethium orders her daughters to be meachanized. They refuse, they care more for having a human heart and soul. They talk to the queen about what it is like to be human. The queen grabs her shoulder revealing that her mechanization has started, parts are beginning to break through her skin. At dinner that night Jam proudly informs Emeraldas and Maetel tht he is going for his mechanization surgery. Emeraldas says that she will never let anyone mechanize her.
Brant tells Hardgear that Maetel and Emeraldas, though refusing to be mechanized, have been "taken care of". The door to Maetel's room opens and Cast attackes a sleeping Maetel to inject her with something from a syringe. Maetel struggles for a bit then passes out. In Emeraldas's room a man enters and attempts to kill her in her sleep. Emeraldas is able to jump out of bed and kill the man first. Sensing her twin is in trouble she takes off down the hall to find Maetel. Finding Cast carrying Maetel she attacks. She fires on Cast only managing to destroy her arm. Cast then turns on Emeraldas landing on top of her. Cast begins to strangle Emeraldas. Maetel shoots with the pistol that Dagar gave her and kills Cast. The gun turns out to be an EMP gun. The two of them decide that they will fight against the mechanoids together. They approach their mother to see her gaining more and more machine parts. After speaking they come to the conclusion that Hardgear was responsible for the accident that cause their father's mind to be sealed away in a pendent.
Hardgear plans to take over La Metalle through mechanization of the people. Brant tells him that they have about exhausted the resources on La Metalle, Hardgear plans to attack ships from earth and take the supplies from them, and make the humans into mechanized parts to run La Metalle. Parts with living wills.
The artificial sun that was built to help La Metalle survive finally gives out. Emeraldas and Maetel raid the mechanoids core. Dagar shows up to help them and brings a drill ship to drill straight to Hardgears Layer. Hardgear orders them to kill Emeraldas and bring Maetel to him alive, because of her beauty. Maetel will live so that she will age and her beauty will fade to dispair and he lives on in immortality.
As Dagar, Emeraldas, and Maetel arrive at the core they are met by guards led by Jam. He lies to convince Maetel to come to Hardgear. They all question Jam's loyalty and Jam fires on Emeraldas, but Dagar jumps infront of the beam saving her. Jam grabs Maetel and runs as Emeraldas pursues them. Maetel tries to talk sense into Jam, that he doesn't have to do this, and that he is still human yet. Realizing that he cannot resist the mechanization he grabs Maetels pistol and commits suicide, saying that at least he can die while he's still human. Maetel and Emeraldas continue on to Hardgear. Emeraldas takes aim at Hardgear but the ship they're on tips causing her to lose aim and miss. The crash into the ground and Maetel supports Emeraldas as she takes aim again and kills Hardgear. They take the chip that emerges from Hardgear and smash it. After they both leave another chip emerges and Brant takes it, inserts it into himself and becomes Hardgear.
The mechanization process continues as the mechanoids pull a mother from her children. Their cries cause Queen La Andromeda Promethium to pause, but the machine parts take over and they take the children away to be mechanized. Queen La Andromeda Promethium continuously fights with herself to reject the hold the machine parts have over her. Hardgear is seen having a new servent while Queen La Andromeda Promethium has nightmares abhoring her newly mechanized subjects. The queen runs to Maetel for help.
Maetel and Emeraldas scan their mother trying to find away to reverse the mechanization process. Realizing that there is no way to reverse it she lunges and grabs Maetels pistol and shoots herself. It does nothing, Queen La Andromeda Promethium goes mad at her own immortality and the fact that she is a machine. She turns on her children pointing the gun at them and threatening to kill them. Before she is able to get a shot off Maetel lunges at her mother knocking her over and to the ground. Queen La Andromeda Promethium realizes what she has done and knows the only way to keep her children safe is to send them off the planet.
The twins head to an escape pod to flee the planet. Once they reach the escape pod they are attacked by a mechanoid Dagar. Maetel tries to shoot him, but finds that she is unable to actually pull the trigger, seeing Maetels inability to save herself, Emeraldas fires at Dagar as he tries to kill Maetel, killing him. Hardgear destroys the escape pod leaving their only hope of escape the Galaxy Express 999. After realizing that Hardgear survived their attacks they try to run. They are surrounded by guards and Hardgear, but their mother comes by and resuces them escaping to the other side of the planet. Queen La Andromeda Promethium sends out a distress call to the Galaxy Express 999 and tells the girls that they must head to earth and warn them about what Hardgear is doing. They must warn them of the coming danger so that they can prepare and fight.
Hardgear tracks them down, finding where they are. He shuts down the building and Emeraldas and Maetel begin to pass out from the cold. Queen La Andromeda Promethium's mind is retaken over by the machine parts and she kidnapps Maetel to bring back to Hardgear and leaves Emeraldas to die. Emeraldas finds a suit and ventures into the cold to rescue her sister. Hardgear commands the queen to kill Maetel to complete her mechanization and abandon all emotional connections.
Emeraldas crawls through a cave to be greeted by wolves, abandoned and left to fend for themselves by the mechanoids. Her suits batteries run low as the wolves are fired upon by a machanoid. Emeraldas fights back and blows his arm off. The mechanoid still stays and threatens them, so Emeraldas takes aim again this time missing him and hitting his hat. This frightens him and he runs off leaving them safe for the time being. Her batteries in the suit die and she passes out, the wolves gather around Emeraldas and lay on her to keep her warm. She awakes to the wolves barking and howling, they have brought her a new energy belt and she is able to continue on to save her sister.
Queen La Andromeda Promethium is strangling Maetel, and suddenly stops herself. The queen fights the mechanization and refuses to kill her own daughter, so Hardgear orders them both killed. Emeraldas then jumps in and saves them both and they flee to an abandoned underground city. The city was built when the cold first started setting in for the people to try to escape it by going underground. The project failed and the city was now abandoned.
Hardgear pursues them, Queen La Andromeda Promethium says her final goodbyes to her daughters and sends them away to esacape while she tries to delay Hardgear and his guards. Just as Hardgear gets to them the queen fully transforms into a machine. Even Emeraldas sheds a tear for her mothers death. Queen La Andromeda Promethium leads the guards on their pursuit of Maetel and Emeraldas through the city. Hardgear then attempts to assimilate Queen La Andromeda Promethium, but she turns on him and absorbs his powers instead. Hardgear is destroyed as the queen absorbs him fully into herself. The queen then orders the extermination of all humans, and Emeraldas and Maetel run for their lives as the mechanoids come after them. Just then the Galaxy Express 999 arrives, the mechanoids begin to fire on the train. It glides through the station and Emeraldas and Maetel barely make it on board.
Aboard the Galaxy Express 999 Maetel opens the suitcase that Queen La Andromeda Promethium gave her. They realize that the clothes are black for mourning and that it also contains the pendent their father's mind is trapped in. They understand that it is their destiny to destroy the mechanoid that was once their mother and to destroy the planet La Maetelle.
