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It is one century after mankind ventured into space. It has been no easy voyage, as nuclear warfare has redrawn the map of the world’s nations and conflict with Earth’s ancient nemesis the “Jama Kingdom” raised the specter of global famine. The colonies’ exploitation of their dominance over agricultural exports only served to heighten tensions between the two sides.
Conditions worsened greatly fifteen years ago, with the unprecedented calamity known as the “Second Impact”. The chaotic state of the world in its aftermath allowed such mysterious forces as the “Darius Army”, the “Katou Organization” and “Dancouga” to commence operations.
To counter this, the nations of the world embarked on a military buildup and changes in policies. However, this had the indirect effect of antagonizing the space colonists. Tensions between Earth and the Space Colonies rose greatly.
Five years ago marked the outbreak of the so-called “War of the Giants” with the massive life forms known as “Mimetic Beasts”. Sadly, mankind’s narrow victory did not result in a cessation of hostilities between fellow men, and, three years ago, terrorist acts by the colonies sparked an all-out war between the Space Colonies and Earth.
The war lasted a year and several months, Earth’s victory coming at the cost of depleting the defenses of all its nations. This presented an opening for the “Mechabeast Army” and the “Mycenae Empire”, and it would be another year before the ad-hoc establishment of the New UN, containing representatives of both Earth and the Colonies, managed to repulse them.
The resulting peace was short-lived, as the Darius Army started a full-blown invasion and the resurgent Jama Kingdom (free from its Seal) triggered a new round of militarization, precluding any chance of total peace for mankind.
And now, contact with visitors from parallel world has raised the curtain on a new era of warfare…
And now for something completely different: we open up in a classroom in Japan, Misaki Middle School, with Kouichi calling Ichitaka (orange shirt) to check this new Dancouga vid he found online.
Seems like the thing was last sighted north of the Republic of East Asia, where it intervened in an ongoing battle with the Darius Army and the government forces. As usual, it took the side of whoever was losing – meaning the government.
Kouichi figures that goes without saying, as everyone knows the Dancouga’s a CHAMPION OF JUSTICE. There’s no way in hell it’d buddy up with the Darius forces.
Yajima isn’t so sure, having heard rumors that it’s been fighting to prolong conflict prior even to the War of the Giants. Kouichi poo-poos at the story, saying those are obviously hoaxes but, more importantly, he and Ichitaka still wanna watch the vid.
Ichitaka at least is also a Dancouga fan, really digging its somewhat different style compared to the Godannar, Gaiking and Combattler. “Yeaaaah! And there’s the Dancouga’s deadly beam attack! Boom, oneshotted!” Kouchi raves beside him.
Ichitaka can’t help but be impressed at the fine work Isabelle Cronkite, the reporter who got this scoop, does.
Risako steps over and ask what’s gotten the boys so hyped, only to quickly lose interest when she’s told. Yesterday it was Jeeg, today it’s Dancouga – Kouichi does nothing but watch news on those bots and she’s at her breaking point with that.
Hey, now, it’s only because Japan’s got these champions around that the place has taken so little damage despite the ongoing war. Complaining about it is gonna bring her bad luck! That said, Yajima figures it goes to show how peaceful things are around here that we can take it for granted like that.
Kouichi and Ichitaka aren’t listening, cheering as the Arma Squadron in the video repels the Darius forces and scores a win for the government. Risako sighs, unable to understand why the boys like robots so much. “It’s a guy thing – you wouldn’t get it,” Kouichi proclaims and Ichitaka readily agrees, before realizing he’s late for meeting with “the professor”.
What, he’s gonna skip class? That’s not a very CHAMPION OF JUSTICE thing to do, Kouichi points out; Ichitaka concedes that but says keeping promises is even more important. The professor said he had something to show him, so it shouldn’t take too long to wrap it up and get back. Yajima will answer his name at rollcall, so he better return quick.
As he leaves, Yajima sees that the guy really likes Prof. Grife… though, Risako notes, the title’s actually self-appointed, as he’s just an old man who likes to invent stuff at home. Well, Yajima and co. don’t know enough about professor to question that.
Risako’s mom has deemed the guy a weirdo but if he’s really impressive enough to warrant that kind of admiration from Ichitaka, then maybe she’d like to meet him sometime. Kouichi groans at how she’s always sticking her nose in their business, but is interrupted when Furuya, an upperclassman, grabs one Shinji Ikari and drags him off.
Kouichi quickly says he needs to go to the bathroom and goes after.
And Furuya’s taken Shinji up to the roof, where the kid was supposed to have come ASAP after recess started. Is he shirking his responsibilities?! No, Shinji says he got called up by his teacher but that’s hardly any excuse for Furuya’s empty stomach. Shinji better hustle and get him some curry bread and none of that school store junk – Furuya wants some from Hama Bakery and it better be ready in ten minutes!
Shinji stammers that it’s impossible to make it there and back in that time but, before Furuya can get in his face, Kouichi steps in to help. Furuya’s surprised to see him here, as him “recruiting” Shinji would’ve meant Kouichi didn’t need to play gofer anymore.
Still, he’s not gonna sit by as they harass the new junior classman and offers to go and buy the damn curry bread in his stead. That is, until Risako steps in and orders everyone to stop right there – she figured something was up with Kouichi and, what do you know, it’s Furuya harassing him again.
Furuya sniffs that he was just asking him a favor but that’s hardly an excuse for her: “there’s nothing worse than those who pick on the weak!” That seems to have an impact with Kouichi; he tells her to let it go and heads out to buy the thing (again, ten minutes!). As he leaves, with Risako in pursuit, Shinji wonders why Kouichi covered for him.
Risako catches up to Kouichi by the bike area, warning that he’ll be late for class if he goes all the way to Hama Bakery. Maybe not, he oughta make it in time if he cuts through the forest by the Shinto shrine. But why does he care so much? Why is he playing Furuya’s gofer in that junior’s stead?
“Gotta help those who are weak, right?” he answers. “That’s what’s just and you know I’m all about justice!” Risako sighs at him starting with that again but Kouichi’s 100% confident: “I know I got a whole lotta power in me… it’s just not awakened yet, ya know.”
Risako objects that his daydreaming won’t amount to anything – and he wasn’t like this when they were kids. Well, he doesn’t care about how he was or wasn’t way back when. Yajima shows up and asks what’s up. Risako explains, making note of Kouichi’s inane ranting on justice and how he’s willingly signed up for this, and asks Yajima to talk some sense into him.
Yajima points out that he’s gotta stand up to Furuya and if he can’t do it alone, then they’ll tackle it together. What, so Yajima’s trying to be the mighty champion now? No, Kouichi insists he can do this alone and runs off. Risako doesn’t understand why he’s pushing them away, especially when the three of them used to be such good friends before.
We cut to the JUDA Corporation, the president’s office, where Yui Ogawa (the secretary) is reporting the “Linebarrel’” flight – it’s descending pretty much as expected. When president Kunio Ishigami asks, Reiji Moritsugu, over the comm, reports that they’ve already evacuated the city that’s the first projected landing point.
Miu Kujo’s (brown hair) by the second landing point and it’s also clear. Finally, Satoru Yamashita reports that visual conditions are A-OK.
It’s T-minus five minutes until the Linebarrel breaks into the atmosphere… but a problem crops up. Yui reports that it’s being attacked by satellite weapons and that quickly causes it to divert from the projected descent course.
How strange, Ishigami thinks, as he’s sure they called every country out there to warn about what they were doing.
In a hidden area, it’s two folks who are behind this: “Satellite weapons hacked and under control. The target’s switched to the specified course.”
And, indeed, the Linebarrel is now going to land in a completely different place. Yui runs the numbers and says it’s headed for Miura, in the Kanagawa Prefecture.
That’s not too good, Ishigami sighs, but it beats it landing in Hakone. Meanwhile, the Linebarrel has just broken into the atmosphere.
Ichitaka arrives at Prof. Grife’s house, greeted at the door by Alice.
When he asks, she tells Ichitaka that the professor’s mood is the same as usual and points him over to the lab. Good to hear, because the guy’s hard to calm down once he gets cranky.
Inside the lab, both Prof. Grife and Yuu, his son, are waiting. Ichitaka’s surprised to see his “bro” here, asking when he came back; Yuu doesn’t answer, though his taciturn nature is hardly a surprise. Grife says that maybe it’d help if Ichitaka acted his age and stopped calling him “bro”, though the kid argues that, however old they are, Yuu will always be his big bro to him.
If anything, Alice is on Ichitaka’s side: “There are plenty of examples of people who aren’t blood-related referring to one another as ‘bro’. So I see no problems at all with that”. Fine, fine, Grife won’t beat on this dead horse further.
More important than that, Ichitaka’s a bit miffed that the professor didn’t give him a call to tell that Yuu was back in town; problem is, while he’s been here a week, they’ve spent most of their time working in the underground.
From what Ichitaka remembers, said underground is where the professor dumps his failed knick-knacks but details will have to wait. First and foremost, Grife wants him to check something out at this pod.
Inside is someone who Ichitaka recognizes, though he hasn’t seen in a while: HL-0 Haruno, a helper robot. She was originally Alice’s sister model, though Grife says he and Yuu have given her a new lot in life. When they activate Haruno, however, her speech is a bit wonky.
Grife figures her specialization into a combat AI has hampered her other thought processes; she won’t be able to function in maid mode like this. Alice argues that her odd pattern isn’t UNUSED nowadays – no problems at all there – but Grife isn’t having it. He figures it can be fixed if they reboot her AI straight into combat mode.
So, they push a few buttons and it’s done: Haruno greets Ichitaka with a more soldier-like manner (think Lamia, minus the bugs). He’s a bit surprised at the change in attitude but Grife explains that Haruno’s been reborn as a proper combat-oriented Android.
Why? What’s the professor going to be fighting against? Grife chuckles and asks if Ichitaka remembers his dream. Indeed, he does: “‘Course, you wanted to build a giant robot… wait, Haruno isn’t gonna grow thirty meters tall or something, right?”
Hardly. Remember what Grife said about him and Yuu being working at the underground? Well, there just might be something there besides trash. Yuu beckons Ichitaka over to a wall and, upon command, Alice flicks a switch and causes it to open. This here’s Grife secret elevator to his underground lab!
The thing can’t handle a lot of folks inside, though, so Alice will stay up top while they descend.
As the elevator goes, Ichitaka’s pretty surprised this house had something like this tucked away. He thought he knew every corner of it! Of course, it wouldn’t be Grife’s secret elevator if he knew about it.
The thing’s going reeaally deep but eventually they arrive. Grife tells Ichitaka to opens his eyes up real good and take a look at what’s ahead. But it’s pitch black…
As soon as the lights come on, however, the kid freaks out. Grife has a huge laugh: “WAHAHAHA! Surprised, are you? This is my greatest creation: the Rushbird!”
Ichitaka really is surprised – dumbstruck, he says – but this ain’t all Grife has to show. Pressing another button, stuff starts moving around in the underground hangar and brings out another mech, which Grife introduces as the Straybird. “Cool, don’tcha think? I’d also liken this one to being a masterpiece of mine.”
Ichitaka’s fanboyism is in overdrive now: “Whoooaaa! This is SO AWESOME! You got two mechs?!” Yuu doesn’t appreciate the yelling, though, pointing out that the difficult part is yet to come. Indeed, Grife says they’ll now be running start-up tests. If those are successful, Grife would like to…
Never mind that – the whole area starts shaking then and there. An earthquake? Haruno runs an analysis and says no: it’s an explosion. Alice runs over and she’s got bad news: someone’s bombarding the lab!
[b]Mission 1 – The Youth Drawn To Iron[/b]
: WAAAH!!
: Hurry, all of you! Get in the elevator!
: We can’t! The safety lock isn’t working due to the tremors!
: Gwaargh!
: G-Gramps?!
: Target has been silenced. Moving to capture via pattern G.
: Initiating descent.
The three units land.
: Target secured. We’ve also found two units, about forty meters tall.
: Disregard those. The “new potential” is all that matters.
: Roger.
: The Linebarrel hasn’t come down yet… (Dmitri)
: Hey, boss! There’s something over there! (Sawatari)
: Hm? But the radar is clear…
: Are your eyes just a piece of décor? Use them. (Wufei)
: Hmph. I don’t recall asking your opinion, newbie.
: Analyzing visual data… no known matches.
: What’re those things, then?!
: Target recovery confirmed. Retreating.
: …
All three units leave.
: You ain’t going anywhere!
Ring, ring!
: Do you copy, Sawatari?
: Cmdr. Katou?!
: You can let those small units go.
: What the hell for, Hisataka?!
: Because they are not the enemy. Your imagination is a bit lacking, Sawatari.
: Oh, come on. You didn’t say anything about that before—
: …
: Hey, now, we got a newcomer coming in!
: All within the scope of my imagination. If he’ll be a nuisance, then feel free to play with him; if not…
: Then we let him go?
: Correct.
: Roger that. Our primary objective is still the Linebarrel, of course.
: Hold up, bro! Lemme come with!
: No, I’ll go and save gramps.
: I wanna help him too, you know!
: You’re an outsider and this is none of your business. Back off!
: “O-Outsider”…?
: …The link’s looking good. We’re leaving, Haruno!
: Ready when you are.
Gone.
: Bro! Yuu!
: And there it goes…
: Got a hit on radar! SDF Armas!
: That’s where we detected the explosions? (Igarashi)
: Yes, sir. But we’re receiving intel that it wasn’t the Katou Organization Armas who did it…
: We’ll handle the Irregulars later. First off, we’ll beat the snot outta these guys and drive them outta town!
: Roger!
Machine gun fire!
: Hah, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Let’s get to it, boss, newbie!
: I suppose we must. Imagine! O, powerless people!
: Yeah, imagine good! Imagine what’s gonna be left of your corpses after I’m done!
: …
: Hrrrm! Don’t give ‘em an inch! Keep firing!
: “None of my business”… What an awful thing to say, bro…
: Ichitaka…
: Hey, Alice. Think you can get this thing moving like Haruno did?
: I’m sorry, Ichitaka… I haven’t either combat-oriented thought patterns or the necessary functionalities to work as a copilot.
: Hey, that’s nothing to apologize for. Blah… That’s how it’s gonna be, huh? Screw it, then!
*Ichitaka jumps into the Rushbird.
: If you can’t get it moving, then I’ll do it! Hop aboard, Alice!
: Huuh?! You can actually operate it?!
: No idea but I figure it’s safer inside this cockpit than sitting here, waiting to be rescued! Come on!
: O-OK!
In she goes.
: H-Hey… this kinda looks like that simulator the professor made…! Alright, I think I can manage this!
Wiiiirrrrrr! Stomp!
: And we’re moving! So next would be…
: Alice, you see that panel over there? Press all buttons from left to right, would you? After that, pull the lever overhead and bring out that control panel under your seat – that’ll shift our mode!
: A-Alright!
: I think we’re good. Trust me on this one!
: Here goes!!
: WAAAAA!!
: Another one?!
: Ooow… The sim sure didn’t pull Gs like this thing…!
: Yo, who’re you?! You friends with that guy from before?!
: Alice, think you can get a bead on Yuu’s mech?
: Um… Maybe if I press a few buttons here and there we might get something?
: … Ah, no, never mind. We’re good.
: Who the hell are you? Civs?
: You’re with the SDF? The name’s Ichitaka Nagumo, 3rd year student of Misaki Middle School!
: And who’re those guys? They’re making a mess of our town!
: I can’t tell you that. If you’re a civ, then get outta here!
: Hey, I’ve got my own reasons for being here, alright? I can’t just go ‘Yeah, OK!’ and back off!
: …
: Are you done talking?
: Then, die!
: Urgh!
: Work that imagination and figure out if this’ll hit or not!
: Gyaaaaaaargh!!
: And you’re next in line, moron.
: Tch, no way we’re going down here! Back me up, Alice!
: I’ll do whatever I can!
And we finally have our originals, having to take on a bevy of Katou units. Gotta take them all down, so we’ll want to take it nice and easy.
Rushbird (Ichitaka Nagumo, AL-3 Alice)
Pilot Skills:
Shield Defense
Prevail L1
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Attack Combo L1
Spirit Commands – Ichitaka:
Invincible
Accelerate
Spirit Commands – Alice:
Gain
Trust
Mech Features:
Shield
Laplace Wall – Damage from Beam and Energy-type weapons reduced by 2000. If Laplace Wall reduces the damage to 0, Rushbird will regenerate 15 EN.
Squad Bonus: Armor +150, HP+1000, Land terrain rating: A
The Rushbird may kinda look like a Real but it’s very much a Super Robot. It won’t be dodging anything but it can take a good hit – especially against stuff that’s got energy weapons. And while it also packs a hefty punch, you’ll find its current weapon selection to be lacking in range – the best he has for a post-movement attack is 1-2! The range in its other weapons make it a good Support Attacker, though, and Ichitaka’s a good enough pilot.
All in all, you can easily fit it in any group.
The Katou mooks can be decently dodgy (though Wufei is by far the dodgiest) and accurate, so setting Ichitaka on a positive terrain for some defense/evasion bonus will help.
: We’re gonna have to wreck these guys before we can go after the professor and my bro!
: I dunno how much that sim experience’ll help here but I’ll go with whatever works! Alice, you do as I tell you, alright?
: OK!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AC8y1CcbtY
Ichitaka: “While I’m off doing this, my bro and the professor are…!”
Alice: “Aah? We’re jumping right in there?!"
Ichitaka: “We gotta or we’re dead meat!”
Alice: “Oh, wow! You hit him!”
Ichitaka: “And here’s the follow-up!”
Enemy Phase!
Named folks are hanging back but not the mooks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHFw-bqw4yM
Ichitaka: “Alice, know that thing in the sim? We’re gonna try that!
Alice: “But I wasn’t allowed near any of that research!”
Ichitaka: “What’s the enemy up to, Alice?”
Alice: “He’s rushing us down!”
Ichitaka: “Ah, craaap!”
The one we weakened before gets wrecked.
Player Phase!
By the Shinto shrine to the NW
: Damn, a buncha Armas pop up outta nowhere, the place turns into a warzone… what’s going on here?! I-I gotta get back right the hell now!
: Huh? What’s that noise…? A-Ack! Something’s falling this way!!
: It’s here! Commander, we’ve confirmed of the Linebarrel’s landing!
: So did we. A shame that it didn’t crash right on top of JUDA but this will do. Execute the plan right away.
: Roger. Sawatari, keep the Irregular busy.
: You got it, boss!
As Sawatari starts heading for Ichitaka, we cut back to Kouichi.
: Hrm…? Why am I…? Aah, right… there was something falling and…
: Oh, crap, the bread! Aah! It’s all smooshed up! Noooo…
: What?! And my cell broke too?! This day just keeps getting worse… huh? What the…?
: …
: A girl? Why’s she right next to me?
Looks at the Linebarrel.
: A-Aah! An Arma?! Where’d that come from?!
: …Hm…
: Hey, come on, get up! We gotta book it – this is getting real dangerous!
: Huh…? What… Why am I here…?
: You’re awake, yeah? Good, good.
: Listen, can you run? We need to get out of here right now!
: Did you… help me? Thanks.
: I guess I did, huh? Heheheh… Wait, this ain’t the time for that! Come on – we gotta get going!
: What’s your name, even?
: …I don’t know.
: Huh?
: Kouichi!
: Yajima?!
: Thank god, you’re safe. Risako went, like, white as a sheet when she couldn’t call your cell.
: Yeah, the thing’s busted… But why’re you here?
: Well, she told me to come look for you, so I did. You really shouldn’t make her worry so much, you know.
: …And, also, who’s the girl? And what’s that Arma, even?
: Don’t ask me, ‘cause I’ve no clue.
: Alright, alright; you can save the story for later. Right now we need to get back to school and find shelter!
: Right…
: And you can relax, too – it’s all good now. Come on!
: Y-Yes…
They start going down the path into town.
: This way, Kouichi! Hurry!
: Go and surround the Linebarrel!
: Yes, sir!
: Aah! They’re coming this way!
: Those are…
: Hey, you! We gotta hide!
: Those are… my enemy…
: Huh?!
The Katou mooks start stomping over.
: Waaah!!
: Aaah!
: This ain’t looking good… Kouichi, I’ll draw their attention! Take the girl and run!
: But you’ll—
: It’s no biggie. Same ol’ song and dance between us, eh?
: But…
: Get outta here already!
: Why…
: Huh?!
: I… I don’t need your help anymore! I can take care of myself, damn it!
Kouichi punches a tree and it falls right over!
: !!
: Th-The hell?! I knocked this huge tree down… with my bare hands…?
: Ko-Kouichi… When did you get so strong…?
: I remembered… my name… It’s Kizaki… Emi Kizaki!
: Emi Kizaki…
: You… Will you fight with me?
: Huh?
: If you’ve the will to fight, the call out the Linebarrel…!
: Line… barrel?
: Put your hand on my chest.
: Wait, what?!
: Hurry up…!
: A-Alright, then. Come here, Linebarrel!!
: It’s… that Arma from before?! It flew here in the blink of an eye… What’s going on?!
: This is the Linebarrel…! I can fight with it?
: Yes.
: Alright, Yajima, find someplace to hide out!
: What?!
: I’ll handle this mess! Let’s do this, Emi!
: Do you know what to do?
: Hmhmm. Linebarrel… Yeah, I can handle this guy! Haaaaaaah!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEEIvUJzPlM
Katou mook: “The Linebarrel belongs to us!”
: Is that the Arma that fell back there? It can move?!
: Looks like it, yes!
: It can’t be… How is the Linebarrel active?!
: I thought it didn’t have a Factor?
: Are you seeing this, Commander? Looks like the thing’s already picked up a Factor.
: Hm. The Factor may be a newbie but you’re still up against an original Machina. Don’t let your guard down.
: Whoa… And this power’s mine now?
: Yes.
: Heheheh…! Well, things are looking up already!
Dmitri moves up to him.
: I am Dmitri Magarov, Captain of the Katou Organization’s 3rd Unit. Are you one of JUDA’s Factors?
: JUDA? Factors? Hell if I know, man! I’m Kouichi Hayase – a CHAMPION OF JUSTICE!
: D-Did he says Kouichi Hayase?! Why would he—?!
: And if you’re picking a fight with a champion of justice that makes you the bad guy! Meaning you’re all going down!
: Heh, we’ve got a real loudmouth crashing our party now! Come on, boss – get rid of him quick!
: I’m on it!
: Kouichi… It’s you…?
: Ichitaka, you must focus on the Armas!
: Y-Yeah, you’re right!
: Ah? The target Machina’s up and about. Things are a bit different from advertised – what do we do, Tanaka? (Aoi)
Bing!
: Sorry; give me a minute on this one. I didn’t think this would happen.
Looks at the Rushbird.
: And there’s that guy, too. He’s about as big as the Dancouga. (Sakuya)
: That’s not any mech I’ve seen in “Men’s Super Robots Monthly”. (Johnny)
: But how reliable is that magazine exactly? (Kurara)
: Yo… Isn’t that the Dancouga?!
: The D-Dancouga?! And what’re those things there?!
: Oh, thank goodness! The Linebarrel’s safe!
: I’d no idea what we were gonna do when the thing changed its drop point but we still managed to make it in time.
: It finding a Factor already wasn’t in the plans, though.
: Psh, now the Dancouga and JUDA’s Machinas decided to turn up.
: Can you hear us, Kouichi Hayase? We’re here to pick you up!
: Yeah, come with us to JUDA!
: The hell… how do you two know my name?!
: Weren’t you the one yelling your name just a minute ago? You were pretty dang loud, too.
: O-Oh, I was?
: Are you stupid or something?
: Don’t call me that! I’m a CHAMPION OF JUSTICE, OK?!
: Everyone here except me and the Dancouga is evil, so my justice’ll trash you all good!
: ?! You’re…!
: Huh… Is that really Kouichi in there?
: Oi, where’d he get the idea we’re his buddies…?
: What, then, Tanaka? Figured out how we’ll deal with this?
: I have: stick to the original plan and move to capture the Linebarrel. Way its pilot’s looking, we’d be risking even more unnecessary damage by letting him be.
: And the unknown unit?
: You should be alright to ignore it – it doesn’t seem hostile, I think.
: The Dancouga… didn’t think it’d intrude on this battle.
: Hrm…! It’s on the move!
: Sorry, “Champ”!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtVXd2s9vjE
Kurara: “Who goes and proclaims himself a Champion of Justice? What a sad kid…”
Johnny: “Middle schoolers, you know how they are.”
Sakuya: “What’d you mean…?”
Aoi: “Never mind that – let’s bring this guy in quick!”
: Whaa?! Why’d the Dancouga attack me?!
: I’m justice incarnate! A champion! A CHAMPION OF JUSTICE!
: Why… why doesn’t anyone get my justice?!
: Fine, then…
: You’re evil, too, Dancouga! You’re my enemy!!
: Oh, dear… We’ve gone and poked the bear.
: Tanaka?!
: Sorry, kids. I’ll go and write an apology to JUDA.
: Sawatari, Dmitri, Wufei. The mission may have failed but carry on fighting.
: Not to the death, of course – wait for an opportunity and pull back.
: Chill out, Hisataka. Barring the Dancouga, the others ain’t all that.
: That was an order.
: Psh, fine. We’ll get ready to back off.
: You there. Can you fight?
: Kinda, I think!
: The two of us and the Dancouga are on your side. First order of business is to deal with the enemy Armas, alright?
: I don’t really know what’s going on, but OK!
: Let’s get to it, then…!
Still can’t lose anyone but we’re not in a whole lot of danger: everyone we’ve got can take care of themselves.
Dancouga Nova (Aoi Hidaka, Kurara Tachibana, Sakuya Kamon, Johnny Burnette)
Pilot Skills:
Sword Cut
Prevail L2
Spirit Commands – Aoi:
Alert
Fighting Spirit
Spirit Commands – Kurara:
Strike
Gain
Spirit Commands – Sakuya:
Accelerate
Guts (ド根性) – fully restores unit’s HP
Spirit Commands – Johnny:
Focus
Iron Wall (鉄壁) – reduces all incoming damage to 1/4 for the next turn.
Squad Bonus: Crit Ratio +10, Armor +100, Accuracy Rate +5
The Dancouga’s often known as a glass cannon but maybe they decided, since it was its debut, to skip the glass part. In truth, the thing has a fine amount of defenses and packs a hefty punch – it’s by far our strongest unit on the field.
And, as you might expect, having four pilots’ worth of spirit commands will only make it better.
Hind-Kind (Satoru Yamashita)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L1
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Spirit Commands:
Scan
Invincible
Squad Bonus: Armor +100, Accuracy Rate+5
Yamashita knows what he wants to be and that’s an artillery wall. He’s pretty tough and has a lot of range in his attacks, his skills also making him a very nice support unit. He’ll very likely be relegated to being a squaddie but he’ll do the job well.
Oh and if you’re facing a particularly dodgy enemy, his Reflector Cores will apply the Mobility Down debuff to make things easier.
Painkiller (Miu Kujo)
Pilot Skills:
Prevail L1
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Spirit Commands:
Cheer
Focus
Mech Features:
Repair Module
Squad Bonus: Money Earned +10%, EN +50, 1000 Barrier
Even more of a squaddie than Yamashita, Miu would kinda make a good fit for a long-range robot like the Rushbird (especially with that extra Barrier). She only has two attacks, her better one being pre-movement, so she won’t be hitting too nicely for now.
But with that Repair module, she’s pretty much our main source of healing right now (without having to spend Alice’s SP) and Focus means she’s one of the more accurate folks here.
By the by, Kouichi’s a neutral unit. You could attack him but I’m all but sure he’d just heal up like he did with Aoi’s punch.
Off to work we go.
: Reiji’s not around today, so I better bring my A-game! Come on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTR-y5FEroo
Not bad.
Small help from Ichitaka and Miu’s got a kill in sight.
: The town’ll end up in ruins if this doesn’t stop…! We have to give this one 110%!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yFUCuCod5Q
Attagirl.
And since attacking Kouichi isn’t on the menu today, Aoi’ll finish off some of Ichitaka’s previous buddies.
: Three commander-class mechs, huh? Today’s gonna be a good one, folks.
: Takurou Sawatari, Dmitri Magarov and Wufei Chang with his Altron Gundam… All of them are certified tough cookies.
: Well, aren’t we well-informed.
: “Men’s Underworld Monthly” had an article on the Katou Organization, you see.
: Whatever, we eat tough cookies for breakfast! Let’s go wild!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaIuMF_wR_c
Shame we can’t hear Sakuya yelling.
Enemy Phase!
Stuff is still coming in, with this Arma just barely surviving his bout with Yamashita.
Sawatari and Wufei are going after Kouichi.
Player Phase!
Now we’re off to get rid of the little guys. Miu takes one and Yamashita will slap this one into oblivion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h89nuGSGyMk
The last one’ll fall eventually – he’s still healthy.
Meanwhile, Aoi’s helping Kouichi with Dmitri. We won’t let the kid have this kill, of course.
Enemy Phase!
Along the way, Sawatari decides to take a swing at Yamashita.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH05NGWJozk
He’s a good candidate to having his mobility debuffed.
Over here, Dmitri’s gotten close enough for Kouichi to bust out his better attack.
: If you think an amateur can win against the captain of the Katou Organization’s 3rd Unit, think again!
: Justice always wins, even kids know that!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-zWSoSdd8E
Dmitri: “We, the Katou Organization, will be taking the Linebarrel!”
And taking damage:
Emi: “Our regeneration will take care of that very soon.”
Kouichi: “Yow, Linebarrel! You’re pretty awesome!”
Emi: “Go, counterattack…!”
Kouichi: “Yup, I was JUST thinking about that!”
And Miu almost oneshotted the last Arma.
Player Phase!
Alright, let’s take out Dmitri after Kouichi was kind enough to leave him in the red.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC6ofRi-HFs
Boom.
: And here’s the order to withdraw. Pulling back!
Over by Sawatari, Yamashita gets parried so only Miu gets any damage done. We’re not killing him this turn, so Ichitaka takes out the last Arma mook.
With that, it’s only a matter of taking one miniboss out per turn.
: I don’t pull my punches even against rookies! Why don’t ya go and imagine the miserable death you’re gonna get?!
: No way, no how! If I’m gonna be imagining anything, it’ll be my teary reunion with the professor and my bro!
Alice: “S-Something just lit up!”
Ichitaka: “That can be good or bad! What color is it?!”
Ichitaka: “Alright, the book says getting closer makes it easier to hit stuff!”
Alice: “U-Um, some gauge is rising!”
Ichitaka: “Let’s try out this ‘Lightning Fist’!”
Ichitaka: “Hey, it worked?! In that case!”
: I’m justice incarnate! Anyone who fights me is evil!
: Fine. If you’d paint justice as your own, then show me what you’ve got!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-YeTIHCN2U
: I reckon this is good enough. Next time, though, you’re dead!
: Katou Hisataka… You say all of this is in the name of true justice, hm?
: That’s right.
: Very well. I’ll trust your vision one more time.
: …
: (I have to figure out what, exactly, the world needs right now…)
Damn it!
: A righteous man needs to be strong. Do you understand what that means?
: I don’t and I’ve no time to think about it! I’ve already got my hands full here!
: Then it’s up to me to educate you. But this lesson’ll come at the tip of Nataku’s fangs!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkS4QdFxm3g
And here’s Ichitaka’s strongest attack.
: A Champion of Justice, huh…? Then, I’ll…!
That’s all of the Katou enemies down, so the battle might be over but there’s still the matter of Kouichi. He’s a bit woozy, so Ichitaka, Aoi, Yamashita and Miu move in to try and pin him down.
It doesn’t work and Kouichi starts flying away but not before busting out a speech: “I’ll give you folks some time to think things over! Power isn’t just, alright? Justice is power! And if you guys decide to accept my justice, then we’re good! But if you don’t… then, next time, I’ll be playing for keeps! (Nailed it…!)”
And off he goes, immediately vanishing from Miu’s sensors; seems to her the thing shifted inside a warp field. Ishigami phones in right then and tells them to come back – and to bring the mystery robot along for the ride.
Ichitaka’s a bit surprised but Yamashita asks that he follow them to JUDA as they’ve some questions to ask. Wait, isn’t JUDA supposed to be this company that makes medical equipment and the sort? Why do they have combat Armas?
Alice, ever informative, argues that even the civilian-owned Photon Lab has the Mazinger Z, so she sees no problems at all with JUDA having some Armas tucked away. Ichitaka sees plenty of problems but, regardless, Miu and Yamashita say their group’ll want to know about his bot and what happened here.
Ichitaka concedes and tells them to lead the way. He tells Alice that, with the Rushbird being unable to fly, they’re gonna have a real hard time catching up to the Straybird; and if they ran into Darius monsters or Haniwas along the way, that’d be it.
With that said, Ichitaka’s happy to be working with Alice and hopes she’s keep helping – he’s nowhere good enough to fly this thing without her as his subpilot. She’s rather startled by his suggestion: “No, no, no, no! I’m just a basic helper model! I haven’t any of the knowledge or thought processes required for combat!”
Sure but didn’t he show her to what to do to HELP him pilot? She just needs to keep that in mind. Alice isn’t sure she can pull that off but, if he insists, she’ll give it a try.
As for the Dancouga, they’ve another mission waiting so they gotta bolt. Aoi hopes the kids’ll have grown stronger the next time we meet. Ichitaka’s a bit sad that he couldn’t thank them or shake their hands but Yamashita’s sure they’ll run into each other again.
Before that, though, they’re off to JUDA.
And here are all the convos we didn’t get. Most are with Kouichi since I didn’t waste time and resources going after him:
: Stop, Kouichi! What’re you even doing inside that Arma?!
: I dunno who you think you are but you’re light years away from being able to tangle with this Super Robot of Justice!
: I’m a Champion of Justice and I’ll protect peace in this town!
: It’s me! Ichitaka!
: Yeah, right! You’re gonna have to think of a better lie than that, dude!
: Crap, he’s not leaving me any choice here!
–
: You’re going a bit too crazy here, pal!
: You wanna take me on? Then the Dancouga really isn’t a robot of JUSTICE!
: Welp, so much for that heroic streak we’ve been having…
: I’m kind of bummed out now…
: Save that for later, Kurara! We’re busy!
–
: That total rookie went and got a whole lot stronger like it ain’t no thing!
: I tell ya, Factors are a royal pain-in-the-ass!
: Damn straight, I got stronger – this here’s the power of justice! Take a look!
–
: I’m not that guy who could only cry! I’m not worthless anymore!
: From this glorious day onwards, I’m a CHAMPION OF JUSTICE! And I’m not letting anyone get the better of me – not today, not ever!
: …
–
: Kouichi Hayase! Quit wasting our time and do as we ask!
: Zip it! You think I’m gonna listen to anyone who calls people stupid?!
: I called you stupid because you’re being stupid as hell, stupid!
: Alright, that does it! You’re going down!
–
: Stop attacking, Kouichi, and come with us to JUDA!
: Don’t tell me what to do! I won’t go easy on you just ‘cause you’re a girl, you hear?!
By JUDA, Ichitaka’s just told Ishigami about the Rushbird and Alice (she’s not a robot but it’s simpler to just leave it at that). And Ishigami confirms that, like Ichitaka said, JUDA is known as a medical equipment company but that’s just a front – in truth, they can actually be dubbed a group of champions of justice. Really.
Well, Ichitaka thinks Ishigami’s trustworthy enough to tell the story of what happened. Fast forward a nondescript time later and he’s done; despite Yuu telling him to keep off, Ichitaka’s still determined to go and save Grife.
Ishigami’s a bit amazed that the mysterious assailants managed to hit the lab right under JUDA’s nose. Alice’s got a bunch of pictures of the guys stored in her memory banks and, with Ishigami’s permission, finds a terminal and starts uploading them. She’s quite handy but, then again, it’s her purpose to make everyone’s life easier.
As the finishes, Yui runs a check and comes up empty – whatever group those guys work for, JUDA has nothing on them. Ishigami ponders that they might be connected to the Katou Organization and Yui explains to Ichitaka that they’re one of the foes JUDA fights against.
In that case, Ichitaka asks if he and Alice could join JUDA. If they go on waltzing about in the Rushbird, folks might mistake them for criminals and try to arrest them; and he can’t ditch the bot as, then, he’d have no way of pursuing the professor and Yuu.
Alice asks the same but, unfortunately, Ishigami says no. What’re they supposed to do, then? Well, here’s a thought: do they feel like being CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE?! See, Ishigami can’t get them into JUDA but there’s this new team, LOTUS, that’ll be put together soon.
Join that and Ichitaka and Alice’ll be covered in all their basic, maintenance and intel gathering necessities. Plus, JUDA will also be helping those guys. Something about this gives Ichitaka a bad feeling but it’s not like they’ve got any choice.
Both him and Alice agree to it – not problems at all! A call comes in right then, Yui IDing it as Lady Une from the Preventers. Ishigami has her put through, telling Ichitaka that he’s free to listen in.
Une’s glad to see Ishigami well, and he’s always happy to see her ever beautiful face (Yui tells him to stop before he gets a harassment suit). Une’s in a hurry, so she ignores him and goes straight to the point: she’s heard JUDA failed to secure the Linebarrel.
Unfortunately, yes; and things were going swimmingly until the Katou Organization messed everything up. The Preventers have also gotten intel on the Rushbird and the unknown attackers but, unfortunately, they weren’t quick enough on the take to track their escape. Sounds like some mighty folks, indeed, to evade both them and JUDA.
As for the Linebarrel, Ishigami says they’re having folks keep an eye out for the Factor (the pilot) but JUDA’s rather understaffed. Much as it shames him to ask, could Une send some Preventer agents to help? Sure, especially since Quatre and Sally are relatively close – she’ll set things up quick.
Ishigami’s very thankful that she’s lending one of their Gundam pilots but she doesn’t see why not, since they’ll all be working on the same team soon. She means LOTUS, yes, an elite squadron answering directly to the UN secretariat – the UN itself has just given the green light for its creation.
There are so many groups out there who were forced to act by their lonesome and, with LOTUS, they’ll now be capable of consolidating those into an united, independent fighting force. Ishigami promises that while JUDA’s forces aren’t too vast, they’ll all work their hardest to assist. And, with that, Une excuses herself.
Well, looks like the elite team’s ready to get to work and Ishigami is hyped – JUDA’ll answer this call-to-arms in defense of world peace with their absolute best! Miu and Yamashita are ready to go, too, eager to give Reiji the news as he was looking forward to the start of LOTUS.
Ishigami, all giddy, quickly turns to Ichitaka and congratulates him on his perfect timing with cozying up with JUDA: “You, too, are now a CHAMPION OF JUSTICE – a defender of the world!”
That’s cool, sure, but what will that actually entail? Simply put: fight anything that’s a threat to peace and mankind. That means evil terrorist groups like the Katou Organization and assorted baddies like the Haniwa Phantoms and monsters from the Darius Army.
Alice and Ichitaka find this a bit odd: we’ve always had folks around to fight those enemies and they’ve never shunned from cooperating with each other (like in the War of the Giants). Why’d they feel the need to bring them all into a single group now?
Blame politics for that as, from what Ishigami heard, some of those righteous bots ran the risk of falling into the hands of some rather evil politicians if left unchecked. So Une, from her position inside the UN, worked to create the new group as a way to keep those bots free and safe.
Ichitaka understands now and is happy to be aboard, working with Ishigami’s team to help the world. In return, he just asks for help in searching for Grife.
Cut to Shangri-La, the commander’s room, and Sawatari wants to know why Katou had them back off like that. Katou asks him to calm down and as to why he did it… “You’re gonna tell me to ‘imagine it’, aren’t ya? Fine, fine. I’ll understand eventually, is what you’re getting at,” Sawatari groans.
In exchange for all this, though, he wants permission to deploy the next time they go after the Linebarrel. Dmitri makes the same request and, in that case, Katou tells them to bring Wufei along for the ride.
Katou asks Masaki if they’ve the troops available for another attack and the guy says it should be fine, considering they couldn’t get a bead on the Daiku Maryu or the Gaiking.
Sawatari isn’t too keen on working with “forehead” again and Dmitri somewhat agrees. All of them have sworn loyalty to Katou and his ideals, but they don’t think Wufei’s on the same page as them. Plus, the guy joined way too suddenly.
Katou, however is certain that Wufei’s the same as them and won’t turn. If he says so…
Speaking of, he’s now wandering Shangri-La deep in thought: “The endless waltz… must we all dance this dance of lies?”
Some time later, Quatre’s already made it to Japan and informs Sally that he’s investigating the Linebarrel’s crash site. Mind, he’s feeling a bit uneasy for this new assignment: how is he supposed to pass as a middle schooler?
Sally figures his boyish good looks will work well enough, though he’s sure Heero or Duo would’ve been the better picks – they’re old hands at this sort of thing. Too late for that now, though, so Sally sends him a picture of his target: the Linebarrel’s Factor.
Kouichi strikes him as quite the commonplace teenager but, regardless, his orders are to look into him, check whether or not he’s the makings of a proper Factor and how he’s reacting after his run-in with the Linebarrel.
And if he needs help with anything, Sally wants him to call JUDA’s Ishigami right away. They’ll need the Linebarrel’s power in LOTUS, so this must succeed. Quatre’s hoping things with Kouichi can go without any unpleasantries… and why is there some smooshed curry break lying around here?
: You are already dead.
: What…?
: I’m sorry. The Linebarrel and I… we landed on you.
: Wait, hold on there! But I’m alive! I’m breathing just fine, my heart’s beating and—
: That’s because the Linebarrel’s D-S.O.I.L. restored you…
: The Linebarrel…? That Arma restored me?
: It’s not an Arma. The Linebarrel’s a Machina.
: A Machina? OK, so it’s different from an Arma. And you say it restored me?
: I asked the Linebarrel to save you… and, so, you were reborn – as Factor, sharing your life with it.
: …
: So, the reason why I could control it and those superpowers I got…
: Yes. While you stay with the Linebarrel, you’ll have inhuman strength and any wounds you take will heal pretty much instantly…
: You now function as the Factor, the element needed to engage the Linebarrel.
: “Inhuman strength”, eh…? Hey, that sounds good to me if it got me stronger!
: …
: Heeey! TSUBAKIIIIII!!
: Kenji? Why’re you in that much of a hurry?
: Hah, didn’t I tell ya?
: It was. I’ll stick to my word.
: Yo, Kenji, what kinda promise is that between you and the captain?
: He’s really fired up for this, huh?
: I wanna know what the promise was even more…
: Heheheh, now things are getting fun! We’ll toy with the idiot until he croaks!
: Sounds like fun, alright…!
: Then, Kenji, we’ll start your training by trying to shorten the time it takes for you to Build Up. While you’re very talented as a pilot, there’s still plenty of room to grow. Your reaction speed—
: 
: It’s me!
: We’ve got a Haniwa Phantom on radar! It’s headed your way!
: Jeeg! Today’s the day I’ll claim your Bronze Bell as our own!
: You ready, Izuna? Can’t let any of those folks one-up us, so we’re gonna go ballistic here!
: “One-up”… but this isn’t a competition.
: (…Where are you, my partner…?)
: …Hey, Nagisa.
: Hm?
: Are you Nagisa Kanou?
: Get away from Nagisa!
: Wh-What’s going on?!
: Gyaaaaaaaaah!
: Goh, are you sure you’re ready for this? The four of us could—
: I know. But if I don’t fight, Anna’ll never…!
: Yo, what’s going on here? The radars are completely blank… Think the Mimetic Beasts are behind this?
: I cannot determine the cause but I’m detecting some abnormal EM Waves throughout the area. Our sensors won’t work in this environment.
: Watch where you’re walking, Hyouma. We don’t know if there are civs around here somewhere!
: I’m on it, Daisaku. I can manage that, no prob!
: And look over there, Hyouma! There are some different robots up there, not just the Mimetic Beasts!
: I’ve never seen anything like those before… and they’re not in our data banks, either.
: Dannar Base here! Exercise extreme caution: it’s very likely that Mimetic Beast is the source of the EM interference!
: They couldn’t, at least not thus far… I’d wager it’s evolved.
: And it sent the Godannar flying like it was nothing! This one’s gonna be real tough!
: I couldn’t help but overhear that. If you don’t mind, JUDA is ready to help her recover.
: I must say, I am impressed. (
: But you still have NO CHANCE IN HELL against my Chou Maryu Dvorak!
: The Chou Maryu… that thing’s a monster! (
: I-It can’t be… a Death Cross Point?! (
: What the hell… how can its flames trigger a Death Cross by themselves…?! (
: Damn, that’s a real major card she kept on her sleeve. (
: Psh. Now that ain’t something I’m gonna let happen, Chou Maryu or not! (
: However big the enemy we face, if all our hearts are united, then we 
: Daiya Tsuwabuki, I am no longer Proist’s puppet. If it takes my life to defeat her, then so be it! (
: I’m also ready to fight by your side. I’ve a debt to repay to Lee Jian-xing! (
: Sis! (
: My lady Proist, we’ve come to rescue you.
: Those are… ah, I get it! That LOTUS group Lulu talked about is finally open for business!
: These arms and legs got a whole lotta flame in them! You’ll be all set to go crazy after you’ve combined!
: The Dancouga.
: So that the Earth may be saved…
: Cmdr., give the order to carry on the offensive, please.
: Aaah!
: That’s… Wufei?!
: Hold on, now. Kouichi’s just a bit too hyped up with his newfound strength.
: The president’s right. All things said, he honestly just wants to protect the weak.
: And these readings show it’s got the same generator as the Dancouga? How is that possible…?
: Hmph…
: Judging by the data we’ve gathered, the Linebarrel’s regenerative abilities are a lot better than the other JUDA Machinas. Its output’s seemingly dropped since the start of the battle, but you should still be very careful!
: …You’re going too easy on him.
: The hesitation in your attacks is as clear as day.
