Homeland Burning (故国燃ゆ Kokoku Moyu?) is the 30th episode of Mobile Suit Gundam 00.
Plot
At a news conference, reporters ask a Federation spokeswoman if the Gundam attacks mark the return of Celestial Being, and she answers that the Federation is deploying A-Laws to confront the terrorist threat. Regene watches the new conference on TV and asks Ribbons if using Celestial Being's return to maximize A-Laws' power was his own idea or Veda's. Ribbons dodges the question, and Revive Revival says it'll be their turn soon. He says the Gadessa is ready to rollout, but Ribbons answers that instead of an Innovator, he's assigned the task to a human: Ali. Elsewhere, Ali suits up and smiles as he looks over his Arche Gundam. Under the sea, Mileina complains about having to stay in one spot, but Feldt points out that they have to repair the ship and analyze the new A-Laws mobile suits. In the Rub' al Khali desert, Setsuna, Tieria, Sumeragi, Saji and Marina fly in a shuttle toward the Katharon base with Lockon and Allelujah as escorts. Tieria is surprised that the Federation hasn't found the Katharon base, and Lockon explains that the Federation is using a GN particle dispersion system to disrupt the economic activities of non-member nations, but its had the unintended side effect of keeping the Katharon base hidden. The hatch to the Katharon base opens, and the Celestial Being delegation lands inside. Katharon members happily greet the Gundam pilots, and Lockon ignores Tieria's complaint and takes off his helmet. Shirin thanks Sumeragi for taking care of Marina and asks her if she wants to stay with Celestial Being. Setsuna asks Klaus to take care of Saji too because the Federation wrongly suspects him of being a Katharon member. Several children run into the room, and reminded of his past, Setsuna asks if they're being trained as soldiers. Shirin explains that they're orphans, and Klaus says they can only help a few children with their limited funds. The children are amazed when they see Marina, so Shirin asks her to keep them company. Sumeragi tells Klaus that Celestial Being doesn't fight on political ideology like Katharon, and Klaus says they both oppose the Federation. Setsuna points out that their enemy is A-Laws, and Sumeragi adds that their mobile suits are no match for suits with GN Drives. Despite that, Klaus says Katharon wants to help them somehow. In a video conference, Goodman berates Lindt for his failure and places Kati back in charge. Kati tells Graham that he's going to follow her orders too, but he refuses and says he has permission to act independently. On the deck, Soma speaks over video to Sergei, who is flying through the desert. Sergei asks how Andrei is doing, and Soma says he's doing his job. Sergei comments that Andrei hates him and says that even though he was a soldier, he was never around as a parent to Andrei. Soma decides to accept Sergei's offer to become his adopted daughter. At the Katharon base, Marina plays with the children and reaches out to a kid who's a loner. Setsuna watches and is reminded of his own mother. Saji says those kids are Celestial Being's victims too, and Setsuna agrees. Marina chases after Setsuna and asks him something. Shirin is disappointed by how things went, but Klaus thinks they'll join forces soon. Back in the shuttle, Setsuna tells everyone he's going to take Marina home. Saji doesn't want to stick around and goes outside. He tells a guard he wants to find his friends in the city, so the guard gives him keys to a jeep. Shirin wants to talk to Marina, but the shuttle has already taken off. Saji drives through the desert and is spotted by a Federation airship.
Saji is taken into custody and interrogated as to why he's in the desert. An officer walks in and says that Saji is with Katharon, and when Saji denies that, he gets punched in the face. Sergei then walks in and takes charge of the interrogation. He says Saji doesn't have the eyes of a fighter and doesn't look like a Katharon member. Looking over Saji's record, he asks if Saji is with Celestial Being. Saji says he isn't with either of them, and Sergei promises to treat him well if he talks. Outside, a young officer eavesdrops on their conversation. Saji asks if Sergei can get the charges against him dropped, and Sergei promises to do his best. Elsewhere, Zinin's squad reports to Homer for duty. Goodman announces that they've discovered Katharon's military base and that Celestial Being might be nearby. Zinin offers to fight them, but Homer tells him to get rest. Kati is shocked to read the orders about using automatons in kill mode, but Lindt points out that orders are orders. Soma says to herself that she understands now why Sergei disapproved of her transfer, and Andrei comments that Sergei is a man who can abandon his family for a mission. Soma doesn't understand, and Andrei accuses Sergei of doing nothing and causing his mother's death. Nena reports to Wang that A-Laws has discovered the Katharon base, so she decides to tell Tieria. On the airship, Sergei punches the officer who reported Saji's information to A-Laws. Sergei then tells Saji he has to escape immediately because he has no authority to protect him when A-Laws are around. Saji then drives off in his jeep and sees the GN particle trail from A-Laws mobile suits in the distance. The Ptolemaios 2 picks up the A-Laws suits, so Sumeragi orders the Gundams to launch. A battle alert is sounded at the Katharon base, and some members wonder if Celestial Being sold them out. Some members want to strike first, but Klaus wants to wait for Celestial Being support. Katharon's Tierens and Realdos attack, but Soma and Andrei take them out. An Ahead flies over the base and drops its automaton containers. The automatons deploy and immediately start mowing down Katharon members. Lockon, Tieria and Allelujah arrive, and Soma chases after Lockon. Graham breaks off and says he doesn't feel like fighting. Soma chases Lockon and stops when she sees the automatons killing people, and Lockon shoots them with his beam pistol. Allelujah destroys a GN-XIII, and Tieria destroys another with his Double Bazooka Burst Mode. Lockon finishes off the automatons and turns his attention to Soma, forcing her to fall back. Later, the Ptolemaios 2 arrives, and Sumeragi is horrified by the carnage. Soma thinks to herself that she exists to fight, but she's tried to be happy like normal people. She wonders if this is her punishment for that. Saji sees the smoking ruin of the Katharon base and realizes it was all his fault. Elsewhere, Setsuna and Marina fly through the clouds and are shocked to see Azadistan's capital in flames. Realizing that no mere terrorist could do that much destruction, Setsuna spots the Arche Gundam and wonders if it's Ali who's piloting it.