Robot 101 is essential curriculum - Let's Play Super Robot Wars L

[Mattman324]

I say Michael. Because of how secrets work in L, if you do that… Stella survives no matter what. Of the trinity of her, Michael, and Soubi, if you save the latter two, all three will survive. Otherwise, Michael will die. Which does lead to some neat stuff but you can show that off on NG+ or something.

Man, all these times SRW has had the main cast playing Soccer - and yes, “soccer”, that’s what Japan calls it so nyeh - you’d think they’d just get the professional robot soccer players in with their plot for once. But no, Neo treated that show like trash and no one else picks it up.

Also… be ready for the Linebarrel split. This is where the manga REALLY 100% diverges from the anime, and it’s unsurprisingly where the biggest bits of stupidity start shining through.

[Brunom1]

[details=Click to see the mission!]

Here we are at the Alliance Route, Kenji’s absence letting Hyouma take the spot of our 3rd top ace. Iczer-1’s far closer to Ichitaka, though.

Cash upgrades were given to Alto, Tetsuya and the Nagahama duo to boost their weapons overall.
As for Skill Parts, Kouji took Guard and Infight.

The Godannar officially has no one to pilot, and while we DO have the Cosmo Diver available, none of the other guys can actually be switched into it. Thus, we’re going like this:
Ichitaka/Anna
Voltes/Mira
Dancouga/Tetsuya Kouji
Iczer-1/Klan
Kouji/Jun
Tetsuya/Canaria
Combattler/Boss
Alto/Michel
Ozma/Luca

Initially thought to have Tetsuya Kouji go with Ichitaka, but only the Maser Eye’s an actual ranged attack.

Now, let’s see what we can do about those uppity Blue Cosmos.

Shinn’s just getting news that the Earth Alliance’s launched an attack at the Diokia base, destroying the place and other cities in west Eurasia. What about Stella? Is she safe?
We’ve no way of knowing, unfortunately, as it’s hard to get intel from Diokia with how chaotic things are right now. That’s not what Shinn wanted to hear.

And, as we knew, Stella was brought back to the Phantom Pain and Neo’s presenting her with her new mech. “You’ll need to fight again, or else some bad men will come and kill us,” Neo says and easily triggers the girl. “Kill us… Kill me? No… No, I don’t want to die!”
Then there’s only one thing to do: destroy all bad men. Stella mulls her orders and Neo tells her to get ready to sortie. As she goes, Neo notices that Trowa isn’t looking too happy with all this. “Her mental state is too unstable to pilot anything – much less a Destroy, and so soon after she’s made it back here,” he notes. “Though I understand that I, being the rookie, may be out of line saying that.”
Neo won’t chide him, though, as Trowa is still an ace and, as such, has a right to speak his mind… mind you, whether Neo will agree with him or not is a different matter. As Trowa glares, Neo turns to Sting and assigns him the other Destroy – he’s to watch her back just in case.

That’s fine with him, though he asks where she’s been all this time. Neo tells of her and the Gaia’s recover by the Minerva, and how they took her to the base at Diokia – they managed to take her back during the disturbance of the Alliance’s attack.
That’s a relief to Sting, who figures ZAFT would’ve used her as a guinea pig or something if she stayed there: “With Auel gone, I’m glad at least she made it back in one piece.” Off he goes with Trowa to prep for launch as well.
Neo, meanwhile, gets to do some soul searching: “Stella… Was bringing you back here really for the best?”

Back to the Quarter, our folks have analyzed the Alliance’s current vector and figured out where they’ll be attacking next: Berlin. A fuming Tetsuya Kouji sees that they’re not done tearing through the countryside – and that’s especially bad, adds Ichitaka, since there’re too many other threats for humans to waste time fighting one another.
Tetsuya agrees and that’s all for more reason why we need to put a speedy end to this war; as such, we’ll be linking up with the ZAFT forces and stopping the Alliance’s offensive.

Speaking of, Dearka’s just delivered Durandal’s orders to the Minerva: stop the Alliance’s attack at Berlin. And, yes, Dearka confirms that they’ve already petitioned LOTUS for help with this.
One thing that strikes Talia as odd, however, is why didn’t Durandal transmit these orders himself and, instead, used Dearka as a mailman? He doesn’t really know either, so Talia thanks and dismisses him.
Talia smells a bit of fish around all this, but that’ll have to wait until later – full speed ahead to Berlin!

Alarm!

: Yeesh… I just got here and I have to deploy already?
: Dearka, is that you?!
: Yo, Athrun. I heard you got dropped by some Unknown, but at least you’re looking alright. And the Freedom also got beat up pretty badly, right? What happened there?
: Kira’s group came to our rescue after we’d been cornered by Alliance and Orb troops. Cagalli was also with the Archangel. After that, some unknown mobile weapons showed up and went after her and Shinn…
: And you trashed the Savior protecting them, didn’t you? Psh, I see you and the Freedom guy still don’t know how to look before you leap.
: …?!
: But what’s important is that you’re alright. And, hey, is Heine around?
: Hm? Need something?
: The chairman’s sent you a new MS prototype. I got its manual here for you.
: You—…! Isn’t this the GOUF Ignited? I heard these just started being rolled out!
: Well, someone looks happy.
: Who wouldn’t be? This here’s no ZAKU, boy, no ZAKU! C’mon, we gotta get to the hangar!
: Alright, alright, I’m going.

Heine and Athrun leave.

: Um, Dearka… Do you know the Freedom’s pilot?
: Hmm, a little bit, yeah. Why, you got something on your mind?
: Can you tell me what kind of guy he is?
: I guess. His name’s Kira Yamato, and he’s an overall good guy, if a bit awkward… and kind of stupid.
: A good guy?
: You’d see it if you met him. He’s the sort that absolutely doesn’t enjoy fighting.
: Rather, he values human life above anything else… That’s the sort of guy he is.
: He values human life, hm…

At the Archangel…

: …
: What’re you doing here, Kira?
: Murrue…
: Are you alright? You look like you’ve got so much on your mind.
: I… I’m just trying to figure out how it all came to this. Things are happening out of our sight, and we’re chasing these shadows completely blind…
: Again and again we’ve fought an enemy we can’t identify, whose goals we don’t even know…
: Kira…
: What if what we’re doing is wrong? What if this is all nothing but nonsense?
: Trying to keep those that are dear to us safe is neither wrong nor nonsense. It never is, I say.
: Huh…?
: I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know everything that’s going on with the world… But since people we love call it their home, why not love this world as well? That’s what I think.
: Murrue…
: I’m sure that, someday, humanity will come together in peace.
: So don’t give up. We’ll just keep on doing whatever we can in this.
: Right!

Beep!

: Captain, Terminal just sent us an emergency transmission!
: What happened?!
: The Alliance army’s just reached Berlin! They’re opening fire on the entire city!
: What?! Can you get me a video feed?!
: Right away! Here it comes!

Beep!

: It’s…!
: Berlin… It’s ablaze!

Mission 15 (Alliance Route) – Our Path

: Really digging the new Destroys! We’ll have Berlin down to a smoldering crater in no time!
: How are you doing, Stella?
: I’m alright. I have to kill… kill all the bad men!

: It’s… the Archangel!
: A bit sooner than expected. Stay frosty, Stella – they’re pretty strong!
: That doesn’t matter. I’ll…!

: That’s quite the monster they have. Putting a stop to it by our lonesome won’t be easy.
: But we’ll have to manage! They can’t be allowed to take any more innocent lives!

: ?! The Minerva?!
: It’s the Archangel! What are they doing here?
: Voices cried out for help, and here they are. They’re living up to their fame as heroes, I suppose.
: And we cannot let them leave us in the dust. Deploy all troops!

: How’s the GOUF doing, Heine?
: Just swimmingly. Taking on those huge guys will still be a major headache, of course, but the bot’s fine…
: But we’ve no other choice. If we don’t, that’ll only mean more people suffering.
: Tsk, and now the Minerva’s here too… Still, we can’t back down today. Sting, Stella, Trowa, are you ready?!
: Always! We’ll go and throw in a few shots for Auel too!
: Captain, what do we do about the Archangel?
: I’ll try and get in touch with them in a bit. Just ignore them for the moment and carry out your mission.
: Roger that! We’ll start with that big guy up front!

Mission Objective: Bring Stella’s Destroy Gundam below 10% HP
Mission Failure: Any battleship, Shinn or Stella shot down

Our guys’ll be getting here soon, so don’t go too crazy. Just inch the Minerva crew forward to start weakening stuff – you can’t control the Archangel, but they’re not in any immediate danger.
Of note is that you should try and get Talia just in range to shoot at Stella at the start of the next turn.

And Heine’s got his slick GOUF Ignited to replace his old ZAKU. It’s pretty much a direct upgrade in everything and gives him flight, so it’ll work nicely.
On the flip side, Athrun is back in his crummy ZAKU!

With that, everyone moves onward and we wait.

Enemy Phase!

Of course. Now, make sure you DON’T counterhit Stella here; doing any damage triggers the plot, and you’ll have an easier time doing that on our turn.

All good.

The northern flanks starts heading after the Archangel team.

No need to worry about Cagalli or Waltfeld getting hit, FYI.
All of the Alliance mooks get their leader weakened.

Down south, the same happens but Luna and Rey do manage to bring one guy down.

Player Phase!

Let’s get this going.

: AAAH!!
: ?! That voice… Stella?!
: Who are you…?!
: Why… Why are you here?! You were supposed to be at getting help at Diokia’s hospital!
: I don’t want to do… I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!

: Stella! Damn it, why’re they doing this to her…?!

Shinn goes after Stella’s Destroy.

: ?! What’s he doing?!
: Stella! It’s me, Shinn!
: Get back, Shinn! You’re being targeted!
: Stella, don’t you recognize me?! I… I…!
: NOOOO!!

: Hrk! Can I make it?!

Kira: “Stop, ZAFT MS! That’s crazy!”

: WAAAAH!

: Stella?!
: Rrgh, Kira Yamato… What the hell do you think you’re doing!?

Shinn: “I promised Stella that I’d keep her safe!”

: Uurgh…!
: You don’t even got a clue about what’s going on! It’s… Stella’s inside that thing!
: Stop it, Shinn! The Freedom isn’t our enemy!
: Shut your mouth! He just tried to kill Stella!
: I can’t go down here – not now. If that’s the way you want it, then…!

Kira and Shinn fly to the northeast.

: All units, cover the Freedom!

So do Waltfeld, Murrue and Cagalli. The entire Archangel team turns neutral.

: ?! Captain Ramius…!

: Are they…?!
: The Freedom and Impulse are fighting each other…?!
: Cpt. Gladys, what’s going on here?!
: Both sides misunderstood what the other was doing. I’ll talk to the Archangel and explain everything once the battle’s over.
: But right now we need to focus on our mission: work together and push the enemy out of Berlin!
: Oh, brother… So now we need to get to work with the heroes of the Great War looking daggers at us?
: We’ve IDed the new ship: it’s the Macross Quarter!
: LOTUS? Those’re folk I’d rather not tangle with…
: There’s no reason for us to throw the first stone. Prioritize safeguarding Berlin!
: So you say, but what if they attack us?
: Then we’ll have no choice but to answer in kind…
: Copy that…
: The Archangel, the Minerva and now LOTUS… This battle’s getting worse by the minute…
: Psh, whatever! We’ve our Destroys, so everything’s still good! Follow me, rook!
: …

Trowa and Sting move way closer to our group.

: LOTUS, schmotus, whatever…! I’ll be blowing all of you to kingdom come!
: I… I’ll kill them all!
: Everyone listen to me! You can’t shoot down that big unit!
: Huh?! What’d you mean by that?!
: Please! It’s Stella… she’s in that thing!
: Is that someone you know?
: Troops, move to immobilize that large unit! Keep damage to the bare minimum and we’ll see if we can’t save the pilot’s life!
: We still owe the Minerva for helping us when Luca got captured, I guess.
: Then let’s get to it!

Ignore the Archangel and Freedom as, first, they’ll auto-cast Iron Wall and Focus, and, secondly, losing them’s a game over.
Now, we don’t want them jacking our money, so I’ll be sending some folks up top to clear out the mooks around there, while the rest will converge with the Minerva team and head for Stella.

Destroy Gundam (Sting Oakley/Stella Loussier)
Pilot Skills – Sting:
Extended L3 – Accuracy, evasion and crit % up.
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Shield Defense
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L2
Attack Combo L1
Pilot Skills – Stella:
Extended L3
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Shield Defense
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L2
Attack Combo L1

Both pilots bring pretty much the same to the table, though Sting’s a better pilot in pretty much all useful stats. Normally they wouldn’t be too hardy, but that goes out the window with the beefy Destroy Gundam.
The faux-Psyco comes with loooong range attacks and a wide MAPW all which pack a hefty punch – the Extended bonuses could give them better %s that you’d expect, but the Destroy’s weapons don’t have very good accuracy modifiers.
The Positron Reflector will nullify any damage below 2500, but that number isn’t really threatening when we’re hot off dealing with Angels – the lack of Prevail will hurt them plenty here, too.
All in all, just build morale, keep an eye on their MAPW and you’ll be fine. THAT SAID, do note that Stella has this:

Secret Alert!
You’ll want to have Shinn be the one to bring Stella under 10% HP.

First order of business, however, is thanking Trowa for rushing us down and promptly removing him from battle.

: (Ruining peace to bring peace about… It pains me to take part in this, even if it’s to close in on my target.)

There goes about half his HP.

And there’s the rest.

: I’ve taken too much damage… retreating.

On the Minerva side, Athrun and Rey’s team each take a couple of kills, with Heine moving in to finish this lone Windam.

Shinn’s still over by Kira, so we’ll need to wait a bit for him to move back into Stella’s range.

Enemy Phase!

Damn it, Sting.

: We’ve to do whatever’s within our power to at least mitigate the damage to Berlin! Don’t give them an inch!
: But, captain, that unit has firepower on par with a battleship! It’s too dangerous to take to the front!
: I’d like minimize attacks to the Minerva, too, of course; but we need to stand firm, dangerous though it might be!
: Look at that big ol’ ship, sitting right there… I’ll start with it, then!

Ow.

Up top, the enemies all take a look at Shinn and move in like a swarm. It should be noted that this game DOES have the “dodge decay” mechanic in place, so Shinn’s numbers quickly dip to the point where he barely survives the turn with 400 HP. Still, he got 3 kills out of that.
Down below, Luna takes a single kill but everything else survives.

Player Phase!

Couple of heals for Shinn and Talia, and we’re ready to move in.

That’s one for Tetsuya, Kouji and Kenichi.

Ichitaka’s coming in to harass the southern flank.

Carrying on with the clean-up.

Right on time. Back south, Iczer-1, Alto and Ozma take a kill each.

And that once large posse has now been reduced to two lone Daggers.

Make that one Dagger.

So now we simply wait a turn and set our sights on Stella and, then, Sting. I half expected one of them to MAPW us but, surprisingly, neither did.

: Our first concern here is stopping the Alliance’s offensive. We’ll keep Shinn’s wishes in mind, but we can’t afford to play it safe against this MS!
: Roger!

: Hyouma, the pilot seems to be under some sort of control!
: How can those Alliance bastards sink so low…?! We gotta save her, whatever it takes!

: You stupid doll!!
: Iczer-1, that girl’s in pain!
: I know, Nagisa. We’ll set her free from that which binds her!

: Slipping through an enemy volley’s exactly what I did with Luca and Ranka… Problem is, the person that needs rescuing is inside the cockpit this time!
: Stay away… STAY AWAY FROM ME!!

: You won’t kill me…! I don’t… I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!
: The enemy pilot’s extremely agitated! We need to do something, and soon, or she…!
: It all comes down that the mech of hers, and if we don’t trash it quick, Berlin’ll also be in big trouble! We’re bringing our A-game to this!

: So they rescued that girl, Stella, while attacking Diokia… or was the attack to rescue her in the first place?
: Whatever the case, she’s still a powerful Extended. I can’t let my guard down…!

–

: I need to draw her attention over as much as I can or Shinn will be in even more danger!
: That red one… it’s trying to kill me…!

: That’s the Dancouga… the evil robot that prolongs wars…!
: Looks like she’s been given out-of-date intel in order to stoke her fighting spirit.
: Wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened, but it still grinds my gears.
: Aoi, we’ve already tagged where the cockpit is. Now we just need…
: To fight and yank her outta there!

: Stella! It’s me, Shinn! You have to remember me, please!
: NO! I don’t want to die… I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!
: I can’t get through to her…! Then I have to use the Impulse and bring her out of there myself!

: Aah—… AAAAAH!!
: STELLA!!

Shinn moves towards her.

: Shinn, what are you doing?!
: I… I have to save her!
: Get back! That thing’s gonna explode and you’ll be caught in it!
: Stella, it’s dangerous in there! Come with me, quick!
: No… NOO!!

: Aargh…!
: Shinn!!
: The Impulse isn’t strong enough to match that thing…!
: I… I don’t want to die! Someone help me!!

: STELLAA!!
: …!

Kira and Shinn move after Stella!

: You! What’re you up to?!
: You’re trying to save that pilot, aren’t you?
: Kira…?!
: We aren’t fighting to take the lives of others. Rather, we are all just… fighting to protect those that are dear to us.
: …!

[quote]

: He’s the sort that absolutely doesn’t enjoy fighting.
: Rather, he values human life above anything else… That’s the sort of guy he is.
: He values human life, hm…[/quote]

: Kira Yamato… you’re…
: Now’s your chance! Hurry!
: Got it! Stella, come over here!

Both units pull away from the Destroy.

: Stella! Stay with me!
: Hm… ugh…
: Thank god… are you alright?!
: Shinn…?
: Stella…! You recognize me?! Yes, it’s Shinn Asuka!
: Yes… I do, Shinn…
: I… I wanted to see you again…
: Stella…!
: We’ll handle the rest, Shinn. Head into the Minerva with her!
: Alright, thanks!

: Whew, there we go… Least that’s one problem fixed.
: Yeah.
: But it’s still too soon to relax – we’ve the other enemies to deal with!
: Roger that!

And, in case you’re curious, no, saving Stella isn’t what that secret entails – she survives regardless in this game, because Kira and the others aren’t sanctimonious idiots this time. The secret is to eventually get her as an actual unit. If that changes things to you folks, feel free to edit your votes.
Next in line is Sting, and no one here cares enough to save that guy.

: Bring it on, Valkyrie! You won’t be bringing down my Destroy with your buzzing around!
: You got a big mouth, eh? Then you better not cry for mommy when you’re on the receiving end of an attack straight out of a snap-roll!

: Did you get all this power just to do crap like this?!
: Blah, blah, blah…! Weapons exist only to wreck stuff!
: Then I got a news flash for you…! That power is so you can protect what’s dear to you!

: You should’ve just kept fighting Mimetic Beasts, Combattler! Why the hell are you buddying up with those space monsters?!
: The Combattler’s a defender of peace, and we won’t just sit and watch as you run amuck!

Huh, I didn’t know they had these Zeong-like weapons.

: The Voltes is more than capable of tangling with this one! We’re not letting you go on with these atrocities!
: Let’s see you try, aliens!

: Urk! Damn it, I didn’t even get to do anything and I already gotta back off…?!

: This sensation… it’s…!
: It really is coming from the “white baldy”…! Feels like fate going out of its way to bind us together, but I think it’s about time to put a stop to that!

: Urk!
: If you still want to fight, then…!

: Hrm…! I can’t go on…!
: Huh? This presence… It can’t be!

Kira moves closer to Neo.

: What?!
: Open your cockpit! I’ll help you get out of there!
: You…!
: Hurry!

: A-Argh…
: I knew it… You’re…!

Kira moves back to the Archangel with Neo in his hands.

: What is it?! Did something happen?! (Murdoch)
: This man’s the pilot of that Windam – he needs to get to the infirmary!
: Huh?! W-Wait a minute…! Is he—!
: …
: We can’t be sure yet, but I think so, yes.
: Alright. Leave him to me, then.

: All enemies confirmed destroyed.
: Meyrin, open up a comm channel with the Archangel.

Beep, beep!

: Captain, the Minerva’s hailing us…
: Now is not the time for us to talk. Not yet, at least.
: Huh? But…
: Is it because of me?
: Hm. Granted, we’re not about to antagonize them either. But until we’ve clarified that matter, we can’t…
: I suppose so…
: Recall all troops. We’re leaving the area immediately!

: The Archangel’s withdrawn!
: ?! But why…?
: Oi, what’s their deal, giving us the silent treatment!
: Job done, they set out with nary a word… I guess that’s a pretty hero-y thing to do.
: Maybe, but they’re more like a guerilla group. We won’t be able to turn the other cheek forever, don’t you think?
: I’d be nice if we could bring them to our side, but I guess it’s too soon to tell either way…
: The Archangel, the heroes of Jachin Due…

And here are the convos we didn’t get today:

: I’m putting a stop to your rampage right the hell now, Alliance MS!
: I’d like to see you try! This Destroy’s awesome!

–

: What’s going on?! Neo! NEOO!
: Might have to get a bit rough here, but that guy from the Minerva’s counting on us! Just hurry up and get back to normal, damn it…!

–

: Hahah! The firepower on this thing’s just crazy! We got this whole city burning in the blink of an eye!
: The Alliance must be getting pretty antsy if they’re deploying weapons like this…!

–

: He’s coming for me…! I have to kill him…! I don’t want to die! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!
: This girl’s not herself, that’s for damn sure…! Then my only option is to stop her by force!

–

: That robot’s so powerful… Can we actually save the pilot inside it?
: … Still, I’m sure Shizuru would go for it! I need to work extra-hard for her, too!

–

: Have you all but lost your heart, your capacity to feel compassion or sorrow?!
: Yeah, I did! Any heart I had sunk deep into the ocean when Auel died!
: That’s not true! And I’ll make you remember the kindness you’ve thrown away!

–

: Now this one looks like a pretty exciting fight…! Not always we get to hunt game like this.
: Seriously, I’m even working up a sweat here.
: Let’s wrap this up quick and find a nice, cool room to chill out…!
: Not even you’ll be beating me, Dancouga!

–

: I’ve no time to waste on you! MOVE!
: He’s a very pure young man. Hopefully no one will try and take advantage of that…

–

: Why’d you make Stella pilot… She didn’t want to fight anyone! Don’t you see how scared she is?!
: That’s just what happens in war…! I, personally, didn’t want this to happen…!
: That’s bull, and it doesn’t justify any of this!

–

: You’ve been bugging us since Armory One, you combined prick!
: You were one of those guys, then?! If you hadn’t attacked back then, we wouldn’t have this war in our hands!

–

: A head-on assault with an MS like mine would be suicide… Then the only option left is…!
: Look at him, running all over the place… Gimme a sec and I’ll spray you all over this city!

–

: Weaker attacks won’t do anything against this MS…! Are we just gonna have to make it run out of energy?
: You up to something over there? Stopping to cook up a plan’s only making you an easy target!

–

: Seems some force keep bringing us and the ship together. But that ends today!
: All turrets, target the leading unit! Disrupting their chain of command should also impair the large MSs!

–

: That unit has the size and firepower of a Mimetic Beast…! But I still have faith in the Freedom’s own power!
: You really got in our way last time, Freedom! But not even you can stand up to this Destroy!

–

: I have to stop this MS… I can’t let them burn down our future!
: The Freedom… he’s a bad man…!

–

: Worst case, ignore the other enemy units and focus on the large MS! Give me all gun batteries set upon it!

–

: We don’t know how much our Laminated Armor’ll hold against that. Concentrate all firepower dead ahead and let’s end this before it drags on for too long!
: Yes, ma’am!

: This is what’s left of Berlin…?!
: It’s awful… How could they do something like this?
: How many people were killed because of their insane agenda…?!
: Is anyone alive out there?! Say something, please!
: Kch… What was the point of any of this?! What the hell did we come here for?!
: Tetsuya, Goh, can’t we just get out there and tear down the Alliance’s army?!
: I know how you feel… but that’s not possible.
: Why?!
: Because we’re not allowed to intervene in transnational conflicts.
: We’ve jurisdiction to stop indiscriminate attacks on civilians like today, but, as I’m sure you’re aware, cannot act beyond that.
: Plus, according to intel ZAFT sent us, it looks like even the Alliance army is being manipulated from the shadows by this organization called “Logos”.
: Logos? What’s that?
: Merchants of death, looking to fill their own pockets from war.
: “Merchants of death”…
: They’re even worse than terrorists. At least those guys are willing to dirty their own hands.
: So things’ll calm down if we take those guys out the picture?! Let’s get to it, then!
: Patience; Lady Une’s using all resources at her disposal to try and look into Logos. She’ll brief us on what to do after she’s uncovered enough.
: In the meantime, we’ll work with the Minerva’s crew and do whatever we can to help locals make it through this.
: Let’s get going, Ichitaka. Assisting this relief operation’s just as important as fighting.
: I know, I know…! But I’m just so pissed with the Alliance…!

: Hrm…hmm…!
: Stella! Stella!
: Her condition’s worse than I expected. Her blood pressure keeps on dropping…
: But you can save her, right?!
: To be frank, there’s too much we don’t know about the Extended. I don’t think she’ll last long if we keep her here…
: What can we do, then?!
: We’ll bring her to the Dannar Base and try to find a way to treat her. I can promise you that we’ll all try our best to save her life.
: The Dannar Base…
: Urk… Shinn…
: ?! Stella, you’re awake?!
: I’m sorry, Shinn… I…
: It’s fine, don’t worry… I promise I’ll keep you safe, Stella!
: Thank you… Shinn…

: Are we still unable to contact the Chairman?
: We are. I’ve been trying over and over, but so far nothing.
: Hmm… But he should have new orders for us…
: If that’s what you want, I got them written down right here.
: What…? You, again?
: I was told to pass them on to you after the Minerva got to Berlin.
: Why is the Chairman taking such a roundabout way to contact us? If he’d told us about Berlin via our satellite comms, we might have made it here in time.
: Well, this area is under the Alliance’s control. Maybe he was worried the call would be intercepted?
: From what I’ve heard, even the Macross Quarter’s external communications are being partially jammed.
: That may be it, yes…
: Anyway, what do our new orders say?
: ?! What…! “Operation Angel Down”?!
: Huh?! Does that mean…!
: Yes, it does… It’s an order to sink the Archangel![/details]

[Mattman324]

The Cosmo Diver situation really makes me sad. Spoiler alert - the only person in the game who can pilot it is Lou, and Lou may as well be locked to her default because it’s really important, but the Diver has amazing partner bonuses. Shizuru or Mira would LOVE that thing.

Also, congratulations Dearka, you just changed the ENTIRE COURSE OF THE COSMIC ERA. Finally you’re the main character they always wanted your MS to sell like.

[Brunom1]

[details=Click to see the mission!]

OK, back on the other side and Michel (mostly because people learned Stella survives regardless!) has won the vote, so we’ll be keeping this route. Still a tight race for the number one spot, but this mission’s flow will end up giving Ichitaka quite the boost. We’ll see how this chart’s faring afterwards…

Quick upgrades, the EVAs got a few boosts in HP and Armor, while Kouichi and Daiya got a new pip in weapons and some other stuff.

Aaand we have a ton of event units: all the JUDA Machinas, plus Ichitaka. As such, we rearrange a few things:
Kenji/Kyo
Daiya/Yanma
Quatre/Rei
Dick/Puria
Shinji/Yagyuu
Zechs/Noin

Puria’ll let Dick move around in the air without lowering his %s, while Shinji won’t be stuck with his dinky rifle against airborne enemies when his gatling gun runs empty.

Here we go.

We open up at the Dannar Base, and Reiji’s requesting that Lulu allow him and the folks whose units are already repaired to head over to JUDA. That’s fine, as the Daiku Maryu itself will be setting sail soon – they might as well move in first and start strengthening the place’s defenses.
It’s the Machinas and the Rushbird that are good to go, so they’ll be departing straight away. Cut to everything hopping in their cockpits and all those units are ready to move out; Kouichi does wonder if Emi isn’t a bit uncomfortable, squeezed in the cockpit. Wouldn’t she rather we called a car to pick her up or something?

She’s fine, insisting she come along for the ride – b-but it’s not because of him, mind. She’s just worried about the Linebarrel, what with her having piloted it originally, and, also, she can’t well trouble others to help her out. What, but troubling him’s A-OK?!
That’s enough chit-chat, though, as Reiji tells him to deploy.

And our group makes it over to JUDA; right in time, too, as Maki notes that they’d be pretty much defenseless if the enemy attacked. Shibakusa’s heard of what happened to Shizuru and is majorly bummed out at him outliving more and more younger folk, though Ichitaka tells him to keep his chin up. Shizuru’s not dead yet, and he’s sure she’ll pull through.
But we need to worry about our current problems – Morimoto and Touko know how strong the Jinrais are, so we’ll need to be careful out there. Kouichi laughs that they worry too much, as the Daiku Maryu’ll be here soon and then we’ll kick Kiriyama and his goons’ asses straight into jail.

First things first, Reiji ask Rachel to give one last check-up on the Machinas while he and the pilots head to the briefing room. The Dannar folks’ll handle the Rushbird, and Shibakusa warns the crew to not get sloppy just because some maintenance was done back at the Maryu. Starting off, they’ll backup and take some feedback from the data on the previous battle.

: Reiji’s taking a while to get here…
: He did say he had to report to the president, but…
: Alright, Yamashita, Ichitaka, let’s go and prod him to come over. It’ll be faster that way.
: What, me too? You need to learn some patience.
: You know what they say: make hay while the sun shines. Let’s just go now.

: Eiji Kiriyama… what a stunt he pulled. I never thought he would conspire with the SDF to pull a coup.
: …
: Nor did I ever expect those Jinrais so simply be tools with which to carry out his own agenda. Your friend is quite the ambitious man…
: …
: Couldn’t you tell him to ease up a little? You have been his friend since school, no?
: No… What I am is his ally.

• *

: Well, now… pointing a gun at someone’s very dangerous business…

Door opens!

: Reiji, come on! Kiriyama’s gonna get here if we—

Bang!

: !!
: …
: …
: Mr. Ishigami…? Hey… Are you trying to mess with us? You had him play hitman or something?
: Reiji… This is all fake, right…? It’s one of the president’s games or something, right? Isn’t it…?!
: You… You shot him…?
: …

• *

: !! Watch out!

Kouichi pushes Ichitaka away! Bang, bang!

: R-Reiji… are you serious?!
: What… What are you doing?! Weren’t you supposed to be the Head of our Special Forces?! Aren’t you one of the leaders of LOTUS?!
: Yes… and this is my final mission as both.
: You will fight me now, Hayase…!

Crash!

: The Vardant?!
: …! What… What the hell…!
: Reiji!!

Mission 15 (JUDA Route) – Traitorous Blue

: A-Aah…
: Get a hold of yourself, Yamashita!
: Ms. Ogawa, come here quick! The president’s in really bad shape!
: Why, Reiji… Why the hell did you shoot him?! Tell me!
: Oh, the Linebarrel’s actually moving…? That Machina is special, alright.
: What just happened?! Where’d the Linebarrel and Vardant get teleported to, Goro?!
: Their destination was… What…? They’re right in front of JUDA HQ!
: I can’t see what’s going on from here! Let’s hurry to the president’s office!
: Right!

They run on over.

: … What?! Mr. Ishigami!
: Ready the ICU right away! We’re level S and need emergency treatment – maximum priority!
: Whuh?! What happened, Yamashita?!
: …
: You’re not going to explain anything…? That is how you’ll answer us?! In that case… COME ON!!

: Why… Why are they fighting?!
: We have to stop them…!
: You can’t. Your Machina’s motor systems have all been suppressed.
: He’s right – the Machinas are inoperable! The D-S.O.I.L. System’s been infected with some kind of suppressor!
: Then why’s the Linebarrel up and about?!
: You’re asking me?! It’s infected by the same suppressor too, even!
: Alice, we gotta hurry to the hangar! The Machinas might be down, but the Rushbird oughta work just fine!
: Right!

Well, frig. Losing Kouichi’s a game over, of course, but neither he nor Reiji have the firepower to overwhelm the other’s regen.

Just to be safe for the time being, cast Invincible with Kouichi and stand by.

Enemy Phase!

Here he comes.

: You’ve always relied too much on the Linebarrel’s superior specs… That may work against random worms, but nowhere else.
: Shut your mouth! Take your lecture and shove it – I’m done listening to you!
: That’s fine, because I’m also done talking… Come.

Reiji attacking: “Ramble about ‘justice’ as much as you’d like, it’s nothing but hot air if you can’t make it real.”
Kouichi: “Fine, then! Here I come, Reiji!”
Reiji taking little damage: “You’re no better now than you were during our last fight, Hayase.”

Player Phase!

: To all LOTUS troops: lay down your weapons and surrender!
: Fighting back right now would be pointless – if you do as told, we guarantee your safety.
: Domyoji?!
: Mr. Moritsugu, I’ve come to take control of JUDA as per His Excellency’s orders. There’s no need for you, yourself, to fight – the Linebarrel’s alone and my Jinrai is more than capable of dealing with it.
: Alright. You handle him, then.
: No, it’s not just the Linebarrel!

: Hm, that was sooner than expected. And in that case…!

: Domyoji, you…!
: I can’t let you get in the way of things. My men will keep you busy.
: And you’ll be dealing with me now, Kouichi! Come and see how an actual pro fights!
: The “Hayase Corps”, my foot… You won’t be running your mouth for long, you lying son of a bitch!
: Bring it, Kouichi!
: Alice, has our SOS to the Daiku Maryu gone out yet?!
: It’s not working… They’re jamming our communications!
: (Guys, please, get here quick… I really don’t think the two of us will last long. I’ve got a major bone to pick with those two liars, but we’re just not gonna make it by ourselves…!)
: Everyone’s stabbing us in the back today…! You’ll both pay for this!

[The Jinrais aren’t that TOO big a threat compared to other stuff we found, but the enemy still outnumbers us 4:1. We better start thinning down that difference.

They’ve strong enough to pop 1.1k damage per hit on Ichitaka, and that’s not even accounting for Domyoji or Reiji. Be very ready to heal with Alice.
Kouichi deals with both.

Enemy Phase!

Reiji will absolutely NOT leave Kouichi to Domyoji, but he thankfully misses. The new guy moves in next.

: All you do is rely on your strength and speed. Didn’t I tell you that you’re not beating me like that?
: Shut UP! Why are you with the SDF?! Hell, why are you one of Kiriyama’s goons?!
: Told you that, too: I’m all about having fun! And that’s enough questions. Here I come, Kouichi!

He’s sturdy-ish, but no more than the other Linebarrel midbosses we’ve had.
Ichitaka, meanwhile, is still punching and weakening the Jinrais.

Player Phase!

Beep, beep!

: Are they here?!

: The Katou Organization?!
: Having some fun, are you, Reiji?
: Oi, what gives? What’re Horns and his bigass friend doing out there?
: The Daiku Maryu hasn’t made it over yet, though.
: Perfect. We’ll take care of everything before they even get here.
: Oh, must we? It’s not always I have a chance to take my time and give the folks at JUDA a taste of Hell.
: Hmph…
: Now’s time to get some payback for Vladivostok… and for my wrecked Yaoyorozu!
: …
: We’ve the five commanders, the Gundam… and several MP Armas!
: Are you kidding me… The Katou Organization’s working with them, too?!
: I don’t think you got time to gape, Kouichi. Question is what’re you gonna do against all these enemies.
: I’ll destroy each and every one of you, is what!!

Don’t rush the Katous because you will not survive. Stick with the nearby Jinrais – Ichitaka takes two, Kouichi takes one.

Enemy Phase!

Oh, brother…

: Your skill is as middling as ever. But there’s no reason for you to die here, so why not surrender?
: Not happening…! I’d never throw in the towel to the president’s shooter!
: I took up a duty when I got the Rushbird, and I’m not turning my back on that now!
: Have it your way, then… Come on.

Domyoji connects a decent hit on Kouichi, but it’s nothing he can’t regen.
The Katou mooks are moving in, but not are close enough.

Player Phase!

: Is everyone alright?!
: The Daiku Maryu!
: Hrm, they got here a bit faster than I imagined.
: But they’re only packing half their usual forces – it’s all good.
: The Katou Organization’s involved with the coup… I didn’t expect that.

Looks at Reiji and Kouichi.

: What’s going on there? Why are Kouichi and Reiji fighting each other?
: Can you explain what the situation is, Mr. Moritsugu?
: Screw his explanations! He’s a traitor! He shot Ishigami!
: What?!
: It’s true…! The Vardant’s… and enemy unit and we must look at it as such…!
: Daiku Maryu, do you copy?! Our Machinas are inoperable and Mr. Ishigami’s in critical condition!
: … Understood. Troops, engage and destroy the Jinrai platoons, the Katou Organization… and the Vardant!
: But Lulu!
: … Our mission is still the same. Drive back the enemy troops right away and protect JUDA.
: I guess there’s nothing we can do about it; this is reality and we have to make peace with it.
: Reiji… I can’t believe it…
: Save being upset for later; the prez is doing real bad right now, so let’s finish this quick!
: Come and face me, LOTUS.

OK, now we got some more breathing room. Losing Kouichi or the Daiku Maryu’s a game over, and the Katou crew will reach our frontline units before our main group, but they can manage themselves.
This fight’s pretty much the same as the brawl in Vladivostok, so deal with the Katou guys accordingly. Mind, you might be tempted to get Reiji out your hair right away, but I advise against it because:

Secret Alert!
Continuing the mission 12 secret, you’ll want to have Kouichi destroy Soubi again. This must be done BEFORE you take out the Vardant.

Oh, and Riku’s also in there but he’s in a completely baseline Stealth Arma, meaning he has the consistency of plywood and a bunch of our guys can oneshot him.

No need to keep Domyoji around, though.

: You, too, Domyoji?! What’re you doing?!
: Surrender already! I promise I won’t shoot if you do!
: Meaning you’re not going to stop, are you…?! Goddamn it!

And Kouichi takes him out with a quick slice, while everyone’s heading over.

: You live up to your fame, LOTUS…
: I’m going to keep everyone safe! That’s… that’s what my JUSTICE is about!
: (Heh, damn… Guess I didn’t actually need to hold back here.)
: This is Domyoji speaking. I’m detecting abnormalities on m Jinrai’s systems. I’m unable to carry on with the assault – retreating.

: The SDF’s commander has pulled back? But…
: Right… His force is too small for a proper attack on JUDA…
: If Eiji Kiriyama’s the kind of man Ritsuko takes him for, then we’d best assume there’s more to this.

Enemy Phase!

And here come the mooks. Ichitaka and Kouichi both take a kill, leaving a buuunch of Armas in the red.
Reiji absolutely LOVES to chain attack folks, mind, so he cuts them a bit. The Katou bosses are starting to move in.

Player Phase!

Now we get to work.

Daiya also moves over for a oneshot kill.

Kouichi capitalizes on the mooks’ poorly thought out offensive, scoring a triple kill. Ichitaka, Dick and Zechs follow on the other weakened guys.

Enemy Phase!

Clever girl…

: I’ve no sympathy for those who shoot their friends in the back, Mister Vardant.
: Oh, I’m sorry. That’s your thing, isn’t it?
: Quiet, you…! I’ve never shot to kill any of my friends – not once…!

From what I’ve read in the wikis, Dick once ended up shooting Puria in the back in order to beat an enemy… he thought she could’ve dodged it (she didn’t, and has been miffed with him since).

Whew.

I’ve set up an Iron Walled Ichitaka to run defense and he manages to tangle with both Jack and Yulianne for some nice damage.

And here’s Soubi.

: How about I give you a taste of pain? Maybe with that you’ll start to see how the world’s actually like!

Away with you.

Oh, that’s not a good choice for you.

: Today’s the last day of your sorry lives, LOTUS! Now try and imagine how your deaths are gonna play out!

Bam. After that, Daiya and Zechs take, respectively, four and one Armas.

Player Phase!

Only the midbosses remain now and our morale’s looking good, so we’ll take half of them this turn, the other half later. Remember that, if you’re doing the secret, you need to have Kouichi destroy Soubi before you drop Reiji!

Here we go!

: Now that I think about it, we’ve been doing this song and dance for a while, huh? But it’s time for you to exit stage left!
: I’m not the rookie I was anymore, and you evildoers aren’t running loose on my watch!

: Rrrgh, these pests are really starting to get on my nerves!

: Kouichi Hayase… How does it feel to watch as your dear justice falls to pieces?
: That’s where you’re wrong…! Our justice isn’t beat just yet!

: Urgh…! Talk about violent… You’ve washed your hands of “justice”, and now you’re a full-on force of destruction, huh?
: SHUT UP!!
: !
: I’ve wrecked this city once, but never again! I won’t go down that path even if I’m betrayed by an ally, or if my friends are shot!
: My justice isn’t so cheap that I’d my throw it away that easy!
: (Hmph… So that violent thug matured into a violent man?)
: … Alright, alright. I’ll back down nice and easy this time.
: But sooner or later I know you’ll understand how foolish your justice is… and how wonderful the true justice advocated by the commander is.

: Why is a guy like him always going on about justice? But that’s not how someone who’s on the side of justice should be like… Isn’t that right, Mr. Ishigami?
: Kouichi…

: I care not for this…
: Now that Reiji Moritsugu’s joined this side, I’ll have to reconsider what to do with myself…

: Oh, how I loved seeing Reiji on this side after so long…
: Let’s get to it, then, boys! Now’s my turn to play with you!

: And that’s that… Now maybe I should find a place to see how strong “he” is?

: I trust you won’t let something like this destroy you, LOTUS…! Show me what you’ve got!

: I bet no one imagines that inside this common Arma is a captain…
: And that neglect’s just the opening I need to destroy them!

: Kch… They’ve got me cornered… But I still have some work to do.
: Keep on fighting to your heart’s content, LOTUS. Heheheheh…

: That Arma could have fought some more…
: I presume the pilot was the captain of the 8th Unit that we met in Vladivostok…
: Then we should keep our wits about us.

: I’ve nothing more to say to you, Wufei.
: Good, Quatre. Then all that remains is for us to pit our strength against one another! Prove to me that you’ve enough power to save the Earth Sphere!

: Reiji Moritsugu’s also joined us… Can it be that he…?

: Reiji…! You were always so severe, but I always thought you were the one who cared the most for all of us!
: Too bad you didn’t think to remember what I taught you about pointless chit-chat, hm?
: … Fine. Then, I’ll bash you into the dirt with everything I’ve got – just like you taught me!

: The situation’s wholly against you, LOTUS! None of you will leave here in one piece!

: The Linebarrel’s Factor must be very distressed after Reiji Moritsugu’s betrayal… This is our chance to claim his Machina!
: Did you say “distressed”…? I’m 200% PISSED, is what I am!

: Hrm! How could I let this opportunity slip through my fingers…!

: It was you who let me go on ahead of the pack, Captain. The fault of much of this falls on your shoulders.
: …!
: Trusting your crew isn’t necessarily bad, but you don’t seem to have an eye for risk management.
: I won’t make any excuses for what I did… I’ll just defeat the enemy that’s in front of me!

: You’re far too kind to be an agent, Quatre. That’s a major weakness of yours.
: But kindness is what keeps sadness from spreading throughout the world! And I thought you knew that!

: You… You really betrayed us…?!
: What do you hope to get by turning to another for answers?
: If you’re really a traitor… then I have to fight you…!

: I know that look… It’s very much like Zechs’ when he decided to take everything upon himself…
: …
: This pressure… I guess I don’t have the leeway to mull over this…!

: Why the hell are you doing any of this, Reiji?! It doesn’t make sense!
: It’s not like you to fret so, Kusanagi. Didn’t I tell you before that sitting still in the battlefield is asking to be killed?
: Yeah, you did… then I’m done thinking about this! Imma be fighting you for real now!

: You won’t be beating the Vardant like that…!

: He’s still going…!
: Guess he didn’t earn that “immortal” nickname for nothing…!
: What’s the matter, Hayase? I can still fight, so why aren’t you attacking?
: Why… Why are you doing this?! Was everything we went through just a huge lie?!
: The president, Yamashita, Miu, Ichitaka, Shinji… everyone trusted you!
: I… So did I!!
: 17…
: What?!
: That’s the number of opportunities I’ve had since this battle started to deal a fatal blow to the Linebarrel.
: Wha—
: You truly haven’t changed at all since we last fought. Will you cry again once you’re beaten today, I wonder?
: SHUT UP! God, you’ve always been like this!
: You’ve never given a shred of trust to any person here – everyone’s trash in your eyes! Do you get a kick out of treating people like dirt?! Does that make you happy?!
: …
: Kouichi…
: You really are scum – you’re completely unfeeling to the pain of others!
: What about you, then? Can you feel this one kind of pain I, who cannot feel physical pain, could experience?
: But even if you do feel the pain of others, if you cannot save them from that anguish, then there is absolutely no point!
: REIJIIII!!
: Your game of make-believe ends here!

: Re…i…ji…!
: The Linebarrel’s stopped transmitting any and all signals! The Factor’s gone into cardiopulmonary arrest…
: The D-S.O.I.L. isn’t working, either! He’s… Kouichi’s dying!
: Kouichi!!

: …
: Kouichi! … Hrk!

: (… I remember… my father’s last words… The Linebarrel… I’m the only one who can…!)
: Emi…?
: I’m…!
: Where’re you going, Emi?!

Back outside…

: …
: Reiji! You… you killed…!!
: Daiya, wait! Look!
: …
: Emi?! It’s too dangerous there – run!
: … LINEBARREL!!

: The Linebarrel… it teleported?!

: You’re piloting it now, Emi Kizaki?
: The Linebarrel’s reactivated?!
: Stabilize fields! Activate counter-nanomachines!
: Engage real-time teleportation in response to target’s movements at intervals 6, 7, 2, 3, 5, 8!
: Th-That’s!

: W-What the?! The Linebarrel’s turning black!
: Oh, no… Has it gone berserk?!

: HAAAAAAH!!

: …!
: Huh? Is Kouichi safe?!
: No, it’s not him…
: It’s teleporting in real-time with the Factor aboard?! But that’s… impossible!
: But, then, that means Emi was also the Linebarrel’s Factor?!
: She can’t be! There’s only one chosen Factor per Machina at any given time, no?!
: Oi, what is going on?!
: Haah… haah… haah…
: …

Snag!

: Ookay, that’s all the fun I’m letting you have!
: He really was just hiding…!
: Hrk…! I’m stuck…!
: He’s…!
: Everyone knows to keep an ace up the sleeve ‘til the last second! You’re not cutting yourself loose of these reinforced wires so easily!
: Get to it, Reiji Moritsugu! I don’t like it, but I’ll let you finish off the Linebarrel!
: Fool…
: You… you’re just like how Kouichi used to be! You’re convinced that you’re better than others… and it’ll be that hubris that destroys you!

: Whaat?!

: I… It can’t… COMMANDER KATOOOUUU!

: Hrm…
: Haah… haah…
: There’s no reason to continue this, hm…?

: Reiji, wait!!
: … We’ve lost his signal. He’s gone.
: Haah… haah…haah…
: Emi… are you alright?
: Yes… I can keep fighting… please let me… At least to fill in for Kouichi…!
: Just make sure you don’t push things too far, Emi! The D-S.O.I.L.’s still very unstable!
: (Is she really another Factor of the Linebarrel…?)

Linebarrel Mode B (Emi Kizaki)
Pilot Skills:
Factor
Sword Cut
Prevail L2
Support Attack L1
Support Attack L2
Attack Combo L1
Spirit Commands:
Accelerate
Alert
Focus
Mech Features:
Sword
Override (オーバーライド) – 50% chance to dodge any attack, allows teleportation movement on the field

Emi’s a pretty good pilot overall, having stats pretty much around Kouichi’s level – her evasion is WAY higher, though. The Linebarrels Mode B loses the Executor shots meaning its range sucks, but, in exchange, lets Emi use the massively powerful Override attack and skill.
… But we don’t actually get to play around with it because I killed everything before downing Reiji. You’ve already seen its two bigger weapons, though, so I reckon it’s cool!

There’s actually MORE to this mission, but I think we’ve gone on long enough (I’ll save the missed convos for later). Second half’ll be up in two days, I think.

See you all then![/details]

[Mattman324]

Aaand here we go. This is when the Anime goes from “these changes are annoying overall” to “this is just outright pissing on the manga now”.

So, in the manga, literally like none of this happens. Or rather, some of it does happen, but much, MUCH later, or a bit earlier, or all over the place. Emi piloting Linebarrel and Override - er, sorry, despite it being explicitly named they call it MODE B in the anime - happened already. Reiji does betray them for Eiji, but he does so for about half a volume before coming back (In UX, you lose him midway through a stage and start the next one with him, it’s funny). Ishigami doesn’t die until much later That whole “the machina are disabled” never happened. Domyouji shows up in a Jinrai a bit later on the allies side and is never an enemy, because Domyouji being a villain - or, well, a “villain” - is fucking wrong. And Katou most certainly wasn’t working with Eiji, he was a third party for the very short amount of time he was a villain and later joins the good guys side after becoming repentant.

Also there was an amazing shot of Linebarrel who got cut in fucking half by Vardant. We don’t get that here. That bothers me. It also bothers me that we miss out on the Yurianne stuff - see, she was a spy inserted into Katou for Eiji, but then it turns out she was a spy inserted into Eiji’s industry… by Ishigami! So she was good all along, and ends up joining at that point, although she loses the Tsubaki-Hime (Which both SRWs ignored because it’s cool)

Hilariously, though, the game changes a few events to be more like the manga here. In the anime, Riku dies without being able to say a word in space in an event that doesn’t happen in this game for some reason. In the manga, he died the one time Emi used Linebarrel Override, yelling Katou’s name (although he didn’t die to Emi. Sawatari killed him for… a few reasons, but Katou basically washed his hands of the guy.)

On the subject of Dick - yeah, that happened. She was ABSOLUTELY PISSED about it, too. Later, it looks like he’s doing it to Daiya, but he noticed in time and did get out of the way. Dick has the problem that he tends to assume other people are as good of pilots as he is, and he’s really good as a pilot - that, plus his attitude, causes Problems in combat, especially when he actually needs to work together. It’s why the person he works best with is Daiya, because Daiya’s a savant and by the time they met he was not only a pretty damn good pilot, but also in a machine capable of keeping up with Kill Jaguar (which was not only the strongest non-Giant or Maryu thing in the show, but by a rather fair margin. It’s the only thing not one of those to damage Dvorak, for instance.)

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

: We’ve repelled the first wave…
: Haah… haah…

The Linebarrel goes back to normal.

: … Kch… Hrgh… huh? What’s going on…?
: …
: Emi…? Why is she…? Emi, you alright?
: …
: Emi… did she wear herself out to help me? Everything’s kind of a blur…
: Kouichi?! You’re not injured?!
: I’m well enough, but Emi’s…
: Hey, what happened? I vividly remember fighting Reiji and… Wait, where is he?!
: We’ll explain later. You need to get her to the Daiku Maryu right now!
: Y-Yeah, you’re right.

Kouichi does so.

: We’re ready to take her in.
: Help her out, alright, Franklin?
: I’ll do all I can. We’ll know more after I’ve looked into why she fainted in the first place…
: Naoto, bring the Daiku Maryu towards JUDA.
: Aye, aye, ma’am!

Whoops, the ship’s moved too far away from Rei and that automatically cuts the Umbilical Cable!

: Is everyone safe?
: …Reiji…
: We’re fine, but Mr. Ishigami’s…
: …
: Ms. Ogawa! How is he…?
: sniffles H-He… the president’s…
: …!
: Yo… You don’t mean—!
: … He’s gone…
: N-No…!
No way, this is just another of his jokes, right?! Give it a few minutes and he’ll run in with that huge grin on his face, won’t he?!
: Pops… that’s not true right…? If this is a joke, it’s your worst one yet… This isn’t funny at all…
: Boss… It was just yesterday that I saw you laughing about… How can you be gone just like that…? Kch… aaahh…
: Damn… it…! Reiji, you…!
: Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have no time to grieve. The second wave’s incoming…!
: Let them come…! Bring in the Katous, the SDF, Kiriyama or whoever, I’ll destroy all of them!!

: You and your men didn’t even last until I got here? You disappoint me, Makoto Domyoji.
: Still, I suppose it was thanks to you that I’ve this prime opportunity for my grand entrance. I’ll have to thank you later.
: A transformable Machina…?
: Greetings, fellows of LOTUS. I believe this is the first time many of us are seeing one another, no? I am Eiji Kiriyama, leader of New Japan…
: And this bad boy here is my Machina… Pretender!
: Eiji Kiriyama… I’ve been hearing that name since the last Great War, though never actually met the man…
: Oh? Could that be…?
: …
: Ah, Milliardo Peacecraft. I thought your voice sounded familiar.
: You know, I was originally planning to make this huge announcement to the world, as you once did, but things took a slightly different turn.
: Why’re you doing this, Kiriyama…?!
: Now where are your manners? You’re talking to the leader of Japan, so would you mind addressing me as “Excellency”?
: Then, Your Excellency, could you tell us what your goal is?
: I knew you’d be mindful of social graces, Captain Lulu. My goal… is to free Japan from the incompetent worms that govern it, and make it a magnificent country.
: Under my rule, Japan will be transformed into a nation of JUSTICE!
: “Justice”?! What would a guy like you know about justice?!
: …Ms. Ogawa, gather all of JUDA and Shibakusa’s staff in the president’s office.
: Huh…?
: Quickly!
: O-OK!
: Captain Lulu, please have the Daiku Maryu make ready to receive her group.
: You’ve something on your mind, huh? Alright, the Daiku Maryu will hold position next to JUDA HQ.
: Looking at how confident Kiriyama is… it’s likely we’ll have a difficult decision to make.
: Come on, fellows of LOTUS… let’s have some fun!

I hope you didn’t spend ALL your SP with the first wave! Losing Kouichi or the Daiku Maryu’s a game over, and you need to destroy everything to continue.
The Daiku Maryu, as Lulu said, is stuck by JUDA HQ, which means Shinji and Rei’ll either need to hang somewhat close or risk running out of gas. The enemy outspeeds you and your units are likely to have already moved, so I suggest the former. If any EVA was unplugged during the cutscene, you’ll need to move them adjacent to the ship to plug it back in.

With all that in mind, Kouichi closes in a bit and Rei starts heading back – thankfully, Shinji did get his cable yanked off.

Enemy Phase!

We’ve a few Jinrais that manage to get in range.

That’s one for Shinji, Dick and Daiya.

Player Phase!

Pretender, a.k.a. Deceive IV (Eiji Kiriyama)
Pilot Skills:
Factor
Sword Cut
Prevail L3
Support Attack L2
Attack Combo L1

Kiriyama’s actually a dang good pilot (comes with the territory when you’re voiced by Sho Hayami, I suppose) – his stats are even slightly better than Masaki’s, meaning he’s VERY accurate. The Pretender itself is rather dodgy and offers decent range, though his best is only 1-3; mind you, his weak Missile Pods are carrying miniature wireless Nerve Crackers and will apply with Morale Down debuff!
Being evasion-focused, however, means the Pretender isn’t too bulky and will easily fall in a single round of concentrated fire – like I said, hopefully your guys still have enough SP for Focus or Strike.

We don’t need Kiriyama getting a chance to Support Attack any of these Jinrais while we’re moving in, so we start killing. Kenji and Zechs take on each, and Dick…

He and Puria down a pair.

Yanma, Shinji, Ichitaka, pop, pop, pop…

Enemy Phase!

Here he comes, getting an intimidating 94/50% spread against Zechs!

: Milliardo Peacecraft… I’m honored to finally meet you face-to-face.
: … Oh, right, you’re a nameless spy now, yes? I suppose eliminating you would be in national security’s best interest, as we’ve no idea when you might go rogue and try your hand at terrorism.
: Say whatever you’d like, I care not…! Your forces may have helped you take control of this country, but the people’s hearts and minds remain free. And you haven’t what it takes to rule over them!
: Well, you sure told me, prince. And you have what it takes, then?
: No, I’ve neither the desire nor the right to try… I am now Wind, the man who’ll strike you down!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptqQkgA5QCo
Ow.

Kenji, Shinji, Yagyuu and Daiya each nab easy kills against the rapidly dwindling Jinrais.

Player Phase!

And there go the last ones, courtesy of Rei and Dick. Now all that’s left is Kiriyama, so let’s jump right in.

: I’d never take a creep like you as leader of Japan!
: I’ll have you know that my approval rating is expected to be of 100%. I’m this nation’s chosen messiah!
: I’ve no idea where you’re running those polls, ‘cause there’re a bunch of people who think your government is crap sitting right here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtN2RIV2AoE
Damn, where are the Macross folk when I need them?!

: Your daddy’s a pretty secretive man, huh? I haven’t been able to find out much about the EVAs because of that.
: So this calls for an up-close and personal investigation about what your unit can do!
: I don’t know much about my dad either… but even I can tell how dangerous it’d be to leave power in the hands of someone like you…!

: Didn’t your parents teach you that it’s damn rude to come waltzing into other folks’ home like you own the place?!
: Oh, but JUDA is already mine. Not just JUDA, even…
: Your Jeeg and the Build Base are all within the jurisdiction of the Japanese government, meaning they belong to me!
: The Jeeg doesn’t belong to just one person – not even me! You got a terminal case of selfishness and an ass-kicking is just what the doctor ordered!

: First I’ll pummel you to a pulp, then the entire world’ll have to acknowledge me as their CHAMPION OF JUSTICE!
: You’re not snuffing out our flames just like that! I’m fighting for every single person on Earth, the PLANTs and the Darius World!
: Oh, I’ll eventually take all those people’s plight upon myself too. So, please, just relax and accept your defeat!

: I’ll show you the true power of justice, Kouichi! That is, the power of Eiji Kiriyama, leader of this nation of justice!
: Yeah, right! You don’t deserve to use the word “justice”!
: Are you giving me your “champion of justice” routine? Because you really shouldn’t. Reiji and I have been a duo of actual champions since you were but a baby, see.
: A crook like you isn’t anything of the sort, damn it! No way!

Kouichi: “I’ll stand against your justice with everything I’ve got!”

: Well, well, you’re pretty good, LOTUS. Your reputation as an unparalleled force is very deserved.
: That’s what you get! You shouldn’t have picked a fight with us to begin with!
: Yeah, we’re the best of the best!
: So just stop with this ‘cause it’s not going anywhere. Your coup’s DOA, even with the Katou Organization on your camp!
: My, look at how heroic you sound. But I’m afraid your opposition has run its course. Why don’t you shift your eyes over to your monitors?

Beep!

: …
: G-Grandma?!
: …
: And Prof. Yotsuya, of the Nanbara Connection!
: And it’s not just the Build Base and Nanbara Connection. NEX’s Japan office and Neo Tokyo 3 are also completely surrounded by my Jinrais.
: So I think it’d be in your best interest to surrender JUDA nice and easy. If you don’t… well, things might get a bit ugly and no one wants that.
: Of all the foul tactics… The past really does repeat itself. (It’s a good thing Une isn’t here or this might’ve been awkward…)
: And you went on and on about justice, huh… I knew it, there really isn’t anything just about you!
: Your sour grapes need work, Kouichi – I’ve heard way better in my life. But the question is what you will do now, my friends…

Beep, boop!

: The Dannar Base… is still safe…
: I’m sending some coordinates… there’s an opening in the Jinrais’ perimeter… Take care of yourself and the Corps, chief…
: Who was that…?
: XO, the coordinates just came in. And it really is looking like the Jinrais aren’t too numerous!
: Ms. Ogawa, bring everyone in the president’s office onto the Daiku Maryu. Much as I regret to say it, we’ve no choice but to back down.
: Hey, hold on! We’re gonna do as he says?!
: Kouichi… the moment we do anything hostile, Kiriyama’ll order his troops to attack. We absolutely can’t let it come to that.
: Urk… goddamn it…!
: I’m still waiting. Your silence is making me a bit antsy, you know.
: Wait! We’ll do as you say – all of JUDA’s facilities and the Machinas therein are yours.
: Oh…? Does that mean you surrender?
: We’ve surrendered our HQ… but you will allow LOTUS to withdraw. I repeat, LOTUS will be leaving here!
: Fine, fine, I’ll allow it. I’m nothing if not merciful and, plus, putting you down right now would make for a later headache… But there is a catch.
: What is it…?
: You’ll have to entertain me on your way out. Let’s see if you can slip through my Jinrai squadrons!

: He still had so many…?!
: Go on, LOTUS. Run along… if you can.
: And this might go without saying, but you better not fire back. I’m sure the great and powerful LOTUS can manage something like this, right?
: How vile can someone get…? Shame on you!
: Zechs, everyone’s aboard the Daiku Maryu!
: Good. Captain!
: Forward, full throttle! We’re leaving the battleground and heading towards the Dannar Base!

: We should manage to lose the Jinrai pursuers if we head that way.
: We’ve no choice but to take a chance with that… I don’t think that transmission we got was a lie…
: All troops, whatever happens, do not attack the enemy!
: The more defensive units will need to cover the others! Can we count on you for that, Kouichi?
: Yeah, the Linebarrel can shrug off some random shots just fine with its regen.
: Sorry to put you in that position. I know this is particularly difficult for you, but…
: It’s fine… I’ll get back at him later…!
: We’ll need to bait the intercepting Jinrais away from the Daiku Maryu’s path – nothing else will work. Be careful and let’s go…!
: Ahahahaha…! Dance, LOTUS! Dance for me!

Yeeaaah, now this is different. The Daiku Maryu has a long trek ahead of it and the Jinrais will be able to set upon it in at most two turns – if you haven’t used Rosa’s SP at all, you’ll have enough Accel casts to reach your destination in about five turns. That’s a long period of time where you’ll need to have your guys keep the enemy away.
So, how do we do it since we can’t even attack? You’ll need to make a literal wall around the Daiku Maryu to keep the enemies from getting too close, because the biggest threat here is not the Jinrais getting a few shots in – the ship can handle that – but the Daiku Maryu getting surrounded. If it gets surrounded, you’ve lost because there’ll be no way to draw the Jinrais out.

The ship’s high HP means the AI’ll always prioritize it if the range allows it, and you cannot outrun them with Accel, either, so never let your formation crumble.

Here’s how I did it throughout these five turns:

There are Jinrais to the north and east, so try your best to run the ship down the middle – the longer the more distant units have to move to get to you, the easier it’ll be to avoid getting surrounded.

Whatever units are still free after your battle with Kiriyama should be sent towards the enemies to goad whatever you can into attacking them.

Like so. The second turn is critical, as that’s where the enemy’ll likely be the closest to the Daiku Maryu. If you do it right, it all gets easier from here.

Your primary concerns in regards to positioning is to make sure that you NEVER have both the Daiku Maryu’s 12 and 3 o’clock squares blocked by the enemy because even if you can still move, that’ll slow you down considerably.
The AI isn’t clever enough to go around your wall of units – they only know how to go forward – so set things up in a way to cut off their direct access.

Next turn, things are much safer now. Your Supers will likely get more and more attention as the AI shifts priority away from the distancing ship. That’s good as the Jinrais simply lack the power to pop an A.T. Field, so have either Shinji or Rei hang slightly back to tank everything.

Fourth turn. Q.E.D.

Fifth turn – victory!

: Your way’s clear, Lulu!
: All units, return immediately! The Daiku Maryu’s leaving the area!

: Wait for us, Deceive… We’ll be back!

: Very well done, LOTUS. I had a lot of fun.
: And now, starting on this glorious day, this shall be my castle! AHAHAHAHAHA!

Here are the battle convos we didn’t get, especially with Emi since everything was gone:

: Hey, new guy. I’m just following His Excellency’s orders, alright? No hard feelings.
: (Domyoji… he was a SDF pilot…?!)
: (But I’m not feeling any malice coming from him… Is he…?)

–

: Looks like you’re in quite the pickle, Horns! I’ll make all that go away!
: That blue Arma again?! None of us would get dropped by a mook like you!

–

: JUDA’ll be ours by the end of the day, Linebarrel boy!
: Throw whatever you have at us, I’ll still turn every single one of you into scrap!

–

: ?! This Arma’s moves are different from the others!
: I’d taken this guy to be a complete idiot, but he’s actually getting better and better at fighting…
: We really need to kill this Factor and soon…!

–

: It’s the Gundam that’s always ranting about justice! But if you’re with the Katou Organization, then you don’t get to use the word!!
: Come, Kouichi Hayase… let’s see how far you’ve come!

–

: Domyoji… are you serious about this…?
: I’m always serious, girl. Let’s do this…!
: I see… Domyoji, you’re despicable…!

–

: Horns has turned black now?!
: I… I’ll protect Kouichi…!

–

: I never thought the Linebarrel had power like this hidden away… Is that why the commander’s so focused on it?

–

: Even the Tsubaki-hime’s speed can’t stand up to that real-time teleportation… I better think carefully of how I’ll deal with this one…!
: (I can’t overuse the teleport function… But I also need to keep Kouichi safe…!)

–

: Haah… haah… I… I’ve to manage the Linebarrel…
: You look like you’re in pain… Let’s supersize that and see how pretty your screams sound!

–

: A false awakening by the looks of it… then I have but to suppress it!
: Wufei Chang… what is it that you know…? Hrm… I can’t remember…!

We’re headed towards the Dannar Base and it doesn’t look like we’re being followed. Misato figures he’s enjoying his victory, cozily sitting in his new office – Ishigami’s office.

By the Dannar Base, Kiriko welcomes everyone and knows we must have much on our minds between Reiji’s betrayal (who’s clearly in cahoots with Kiriyama and, by proxy, the Katou Organization), Ishigami’s death and the loss of JUDA.
At the very least we should count our blessings in that this place is still safe, though Kagemaru doesn’t know why Jinrais weren’t dispatched over. Regardless, now’s the time to reorganize and consider what to do. External communication is being blocked, so we’ll need to deal with this ourselves.

Ichitaka’s reeling over Reiji’s betrayal, but Puria says wallowing in it won’t change what happened. Moreover, Dick says what we should be worried about is how we’ll fight the guy… and how much of our own intel he’d leaked to the Katou Organization.
Kouichi comes in, telling Ichitaka that Emi’s awake, and she told of how she piloted the Linebarrel while he was passed out. Kouichi doesn’t understand what’s going on, but it seems that she IS another Factor of the Linebarrel. Either way, he figures it’s very likely he would’ve died if she hadn’t done as she did.
And then some, Rachel says, as the only reason Kouichi managed to avoid death is because Emi energized the D-S.O.I.L. Without that, the regen wouldn’t have healed him fast enough to save his life. As for turning the Linebarrel black – called Mode B – it seems that feature is kind of locked to Emi.

Naoto hopes she’s OK, and we also have the NERV and Build Base folks to worry about. Tsubaki expects our leaders’ strategy meeting to be over soon, so they might have new info for us… but never mind that for now, our monitors just lit up by themselves!
And it’s Katou himself speaking, sending out a message to the entire world! “I am Hisataka Katou, the commander of the Katou Organization. I apologize for my rather sudden message, but I’d like to take this moment to officially proclaim our conquest of the entire world.”
Well, shit.

NERV’s also watching, and Makoto can’t believe the guy would try to pull that off with all mankind already has on its plate. Shigeru thinks he’s serious, though, as proven by the bevy of Jinrais keeping Neo Tokyo 3 under siege. NERV itself can’t really stop them as not only they haven’t the EVAs, they’re not really equipped to deal with blitz attacks by humans.
Maya fears they might end up having to fight their fellow men, but Gendou tells her not to panic. Everyone’s to hold at yellow alert, but it won’t be NERV who’ll shoot first. Shigeru seems ill at ease, but confirms.
Fuyutsuki, meanwhile, can see that it’s not SEELE behind this. “Hm. In which case, this coup… and Katou’s conquest of the world are bound to end in failure,” Gendou nods. Granted, whether or not that prediction comes true depends entirely on LOTUS.

Back to us, Katou carries on while Kouichi fumes:
“We are going to draw a clear line down this world: an impassable barrier, a new balance, separating good and evil, friend and foe, some and none, those with imagination and those without, those who will live and those who will die. To put it in simpler terms, this is the conquest of the world I spoke of just now.
The takeover of Japan was but the first step towards that. As of this very moment, Japan has ceased to exist as a sovereign nation, and has been born anew as the unsinkable vessel of the Katou Organization!

And cut to JUDA, for the rest of it: “If you wish to be among the survivors, then imagine. Imagine what the future might hold, and what you should all do…!” Kiriyama sighs at Katou hogging all the spotlight, while Reiji comes in to report that despite their and the Katou Organization’s joint analysis, they haven’t been able to make sense of the Linebarrel’s Mode B yet.
The other JUDA Machinas are still unusable with their Factors out there – if Kiriyama wants a quick solution, then Reiji says his best option would be to kill them and find new ones. No, that’d be FAR too boorish for him. What they’ll do is either use their technological prowess to circumvent this issue, OR get the current Factors to submit.

Still, Kiriyama’s is happy to just have the Machinas for himself – they look so cool even if they’re just standing there! But having taken JUDA, Japan and the Machinas isn’t the end as LOTUS and the folks up in space are still around.
First things first, Kiriyama has something else he wants to make his own: the Katou Organization itself. Reiji himself has to sigh at the guy’s boundless greed.

Over by Palace Djibril, the man has just seen Katou’s transmission and is rather surprised Logos Guy allowed him and Kiriyama to pull this stunt. Surely the Far East couldn’t afford that to happen.
Actually, Logos Guy isn’t worried about Kiriyama whatsoever and tells Djibril to carry on the extermination of the Coordinators as normal. What, are they going to do nothing about the Katou Organization? Djibril figures they can’t stay silent after such a major proclamation, but Logos guy says it’s nothing they need to crush personally. They’ll just be on the lookout for the right time and then take action.
“If the Schedule proceeds as expected, their ‘world conquest’ will mean absolutely nothing,” Logos Guy ponders inwardly. Well, alright, Djibril will do as he says – Berlin’s up next, and it’ll soon be a sea of flame.

Checking in at Shangri-la, the Katou folks are in pretty good mood. Sawatari’s checking his hair out in the mirror – it’s perfect – though Masaki takes it to be a waste of time. It’s not like he’ll look any different however much he stares in that mirror. Hey, Sawatari’s just enjoying the view, so shush!
Soubi seems moody, though, and Yulianne asks what’s up. If he’s sad about Riku, he really shouldn’t be – death is a regular occurrence in the battlefield, and the guy was aware of that. It’s not, though, and Soubi has a question for her: why did she join the Katou Organization?
An odd thing to ask at this point, but Yulianne says he ought to know the answer to that: it’s because she approved of Katou’s ideals. Of course, there are other things that piqued her interest, too.

And is it the same for Dmitri? The guy harrumphs that Soubi shouldn’t even need to ask, and wonders why he’s been acting a bit off since they returned. Sawatari figures that if he’s got time to worry about nonsense like that, then he oughta take a bit of incense for Riku’s grave. Katou himself, busy as he is with his proclamation and whatnot, took the time to go, so Sawatari and Dmitri don’t see any reason why Soubi can’t.
“You’re right… the commander really does care a lot for his subordinates, huh?” Soubi seems happy, but Wufei inwardly sees that he’s wavering. Regardless, Reiji should be heading this way soon, so Wufei’ll need to ascertain what he is truly after.
Jack is also quietly pondering the guy: “Reiji Moritsugu… he’s allied himself not just with the Kiriyama Heavy Industries, but also with our Organization?”

By Riku’s grave, Wufei’s reporting that Kouichi actually followed his commanders’ orders to retreat; that’s a shift in attitude, as the boy they’d been fighting with ‘til today would’ve likely snapped into a frenzy face what happened… he’s not a simple champion of justice anymore.
His power is still lacking, says Wufei, but Katou thinks that’ll sort itself out with time. After all, he’s not the heir of Ishigami’s will for nothing – the boy very much exceeded Katou’s imagination.

And, finally, back to the Dannar Base, the leaders have just gathered our folks. We’ve managed to get in touch with Sally, who tapped the Preventer’s network to get us some intel on what’s going on throughout Japan, and, in essence, every single region is under strict surveillance.
Sally relates that Kiriyama has a lot more Jinrais out in the field than she expected, so a frontal assault is out of the question lest the hostages pay for it. Are we screwed, then? Not quite. From what Sally’s found, it seems the Jinrais dispatched to hold those areas are all drones, meaning they’ll have plenty of weaknesses Maki and the others can exploit.

Indeed, Zechs remembers lessons everyone learned in the past war of the inherent vulnerabilities of machines. Now, it’ll take make some preparations, but Kiriko figures we’ll have everything ready to deactivate all the Jinrai drones by tomorrow morning.
Once that happens, we won’t have to worry about the hostages’ safety, and, Kouichi sees, will be free to take JUDA back! That’s the plan, so it’ll be tomorrow at 5am where we’ll execute Operation JUDA Reclamation!

[Mattman324]

Fortunately, I can say that this section of the game is not nearly as long as the anime version. See, in the anime, the section where Kiriyama had control over Japan took quite a few episodes before the first major shift happened (that being a few things, but most importantly and non-spoilery JUDA getting its Machina back). In L… well, they cut out almost all of that shit, because it is dumb and unimportant. They also cut out a filler episode which was a beach episode in which, amongst other things, Yamashita turns out to be a girl (he was a guy in the manga), and a literal giant squid comes around to do tentacle-y things to all the girls on the beach. And I’d say “goddamnit Japan not this shit”, but no, there’s absolutely nothing in the manga like that, not even in the silly joke chapters. They made that all up for the anime. And it is the most fucking dumb fanservice episode too, especially because there’s actual important plot bits that are supposed to be totally serious going on at various points that get interspersed with “LOOK AT THESE GIRLS WEARING BEACH OUTFITS! NOW THERE’S TENTACLE SOFTCORE!” Only good bit of that episode was Jack getting a chance to be a badass, but they ruin that too unfortunately with the dumbest plot point the anime ever did.

That said, something I said there should be brought up in depth. See, the anime’s greatest… well, one of its great failings is the fact that the pacing between scenes is absolutely fucking shit. And I’m not talking about things like how Shin Mazinger does one night over the course of like eight episodes and nothing else at nearly that slow pace, but instead how within episodes, you’ll have extremely jokey scenes that are meant to be taken for comedy (usually not that great comedy, too, unless it was directly manga stuff like parts of the Rachel episode) and then within a minute it’ll switch to something totally serious, and then within a few minutes of that starting it’s back to comedy. The manga switches between those things between chapters - usually there’s at least one jokey chapter before the end of the volume, barring ones that were absolutely super serious, but there’s always a divide between the two sections. In the anime there isn’t, and it can be really jarring. The beach episode and Reiji shooting Ishigami are the two biggest problem bits as I recall, but it’s all throughout.

(And that’s when the bad animation, the poor choreography, or certain specific choices that make no sense - like the ENTIRE FINAL FIGHT, but we’ll get there - don’t turn the thing’s mood on its head as well. There’s a particular scene I know this game replicates that I’m waiting for, because it’s a great comparison of how the manga and anime are twisted reflections of each other - the manga had a really important, emotional fight, which drastically affects certain characters from that point on, and the anime… not only completely changes the fight, making it much less impactful, but also changes a really well choreographed - if short - fight into something that looks like garbage, the sort that would make you laugh if it doesn’t make you cry instead.)

This section of the game is right in the nadir of the anime. There was a lot of really shitty stuff around this point, but the entire section where JUDA has no Machina outside of Linebarrel was the absolute worst section. It gets slightly better towards the end. A little. Outside of the absolute very end of the “last episode” (actually 24), the first half of the joke episode (25, taken directly from the manga), and the last half of the epilogue (26, notable for being an anime exclusive plot thing that’s actually really cool and I wouldn’t mind seeing it one day reused) it still never even reaches “good”.

[Brunom1]

Click to see mission!

Our current top aces, though this is merely academic since we won’t be keeping the path. On that note, let’s just jump straight into the squads.

Ichitaka
Voltes/Mira
Dancouga/Tetsuya Kouji
Anna/Klan
Kouji/Jun
Tetsuya/Canaria
Combattler/Boss
Alto/Michel
Ozma/Luca

Iczer-1’s deploying as an event unit, so Ichitaka’ll be flying solo today. Better him than any of the others.

On we go!

The Cthulhu have successfully made contact with the Jama Kingdom, Himika telling that she’ll easily let them keep Earth so long as she has the Bronze Bell. Indeed, hatred is the mightiest force in the universe – however strong their dreaded Iczer-1 and partner may be, they are nothing face the Jama Kingdom’s malice.
Sir Violet warns against underestimating them and ends the call, leaving Himika to ponder that the power she feels emanating from Big Gold is quite similar to their own. Seems to Mimashi that fate’s brought them together, and he asks if they’ll be allying with the Cthulhu.
Yes, because Himika sees this as a win-win: if they’re struck down, at least they’ll wear out Jeeg and his allies, and if they survive, the Jama can easily dispatch them. Brilliant! Now, Ikima’s expected to return soon, so they’ll let the Cthulhu do their thing until then.

Over by the Cthulhu Fortress, Iczer-2 has recovered from her last battle and is already raring to put an end to Iczer-1’s life.
Sir Violet tells her to get to it, as the future of their kind depends on it. Iczer-2 seems confident: “You may have found your partner, but she’s no more than an earthling girl… Just you wait, Iczer-1. You’re not long for this world!”

: The PLANTs ordered you to sink the Archangel?!
: They did, yes. And we’re about to set out after them.
: That’s ridiculous! Anyone can see that the Archangel isn’t an enemy!
: … It is not our place to decide who the enemies and allies are. I hope you’ll understand.
: … Then at least let us accompany you.
: Accompany us?
: I don’t think they’re enemies either. So at least give us a chance to talk to them before you attack!
: The Archangel intervened in several battles in order to bring the last Great War to an end. I’m sure we can find common ground if we manage to speak to one another!
: What you’re getting at is that you want to invite the Archangel to join LOTUS, then?
: Yes. If they joined us and clarified where they stand, then ZAFT would have no reason to order this attack.
: … Well, I suppose it’d be possible to avoid some unnecessary conflict if they can be persuaded.
: I’m glad you agree.
: Very well, you may accompany us. We’ll be starting our pursuit at once.

Call ends.

: What do you think?
: It’s clear that Cpt. Gladys doesn’t like this either. The Archangel’s given ZAFT no reason to see them as a threat thus far, so these orders are coming completely out of the blue.
: I agree. And if they came from the PLANTs’ themselves… does that mean it was Chairman Durandal who ordered it?
: But why are they doing that? It’s already bad enough that we’re wasting our time with the Alliance!
: Seriously. Humans really shouldn’t be fighting each other with the Jama Kingdom, the aliens and whatnot hanging around.
: To say nothing of how much of a boost it’d be for us if we managed to add the Archangel’s forces to our team.

Ping!

: …?! This presence is…!
: What, Iczer-1?
: It’s her… Iczer-2 is coming after us!
: Speak of the devil… That broad’s got the worst sense of timing in the world!

: Captain, why are we going to attack the Archangel?! These orders are insane!
: … They’re also from the Supreme Council. We have to comply.
: But why so suddenly? What’s the Chairman thinking?
: The Federation’s violence is pushing the radicals in the Supreme Council to become progressively louder. I’m sure the Chairman is trying to contain them, but there’s only so much he can do.
: But that doesn’t justify fighting the Archangel!
: Then who is it that you want to fight?
: …!
: We are soldiers and this is war – that’s the way things are. If you can’t make your peace with it… then you’ll die.
: We may not need to fight them depending on how LOTUS’ negotiations go… but, first, we’ve to at least catch up to the Archangel.
: And if LOTUS can’t convince them?
: Then… we’ll follow our orders.
: Captain…!
: (I have to fight the guy who helped me save Stella…? Can I actually do that…?)

Speaking of the Archangel, Neo’s still asleep. He’d woken up for a bit earlier and IDed himself as Neo Roanoke of the Earth Alliance, but his medical data is a complete match to their old crewmate Mu La Flaga. They guy was tagged KIA after his MS was destroyed while shielding the Archangel a Jachin Due, but it is what it is.
Neo wakes up and doesn’t appreciate them referring to him as lieutenant commander – he may be a POW, but that doesn’t give them the right to demote him like that. “Hm, why are you looking at me like that, beautiful? Love at first sight, maybe?” he says to Murrue, but corrects her when she addresses him as Mu. He’s Neo Roanoke.

Seems like he’s lost his memories, but that’ll have to wait as Waltfeld gets in touch. The Minerva and Macross Quarter are headed this way! They haven’t gotten in touch yet, but he has a bad feeling.
As Murrue rushes to the bridge, Kira wonders what the two ships are after.

Mission 16 (Alliance Route) – Intervention

: This is Murrue Ramius, captain of the Archangel, speaking. What is the meaning of all this, Cpt. Gladys?
: Cpt. Ramius, the Minerva has been ordered to bring down your vessel.
: What did you say?!
: Hold, Cpt. Ramius. I am Goh Saruwatari of LOTUS.
: The hero of the War of Giants… I’ve heard of you.
: We are here to parley, and to ask if your group would be willing to join LOTUS. If you cease to be a wild card, and make your affiliations clearly defined, then we could avoid many a pointless battles.
: I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ve the sinking feeling that your orders to shoot us down have more to do with killing two of our crew members.
: What do you mean? Which people are those?
: The first would be Kira Yamato, the “Super Coordinator”. The other…
: Would likely be me…
: Whuh?! Why is Ms. Lacus with them? I thought she was at the PLANTs!
: You mean the girl with Durandal? I’ve no idea who she is, but I can assure you that this one is the real Lacus Clyne.
: And you should know that, when we were at Orb, Coordinator assassins came after us… We have reason to suspect that someone, manipulating the PLANTs from the shadows, tried to kill Lacus.
: And that’s the reason for these sudden orders to destroy you, huh…?
: (But who from the PLANTs would want to kill… Chairman Durandal…? No, that can’t be!)
: Cpt. Gladys, I understand your position. As a soldier, you can’t go against the orders you’re given… but the current situation compels us to try our damnedest to stay alive.
: And, so, if you insist on doing this…

: Then we are ready to fight to the end…!
: …! Shift us to code red! Deploy all mobile squadrons!

: I really didn’t want to fight the Freedom… Isn’t there any way around this?!
: …

Kira blasts towards Shinn!

: What?!

Kira: “Unknown attackers?! Watch out!”

Kira: “Hrk…! Is the Impulse…?!”

: The Freedom… saved me?!

Alert!

: Captain, we’ve a group of unknown units inbound! They appeared out of nowhere!
: What?!

: It’s the Cthulhu! Why’d they have to turn up now?!
: Cpt. Ramius, Cpt. Gladys, those are the Cthulhu. They’re a group of aliens who’re targeting the Earth!
: I’ve seen reports on them. It seems our battle has been postponed for us.
: Troops, your targets are the Cthulhu forces! Open fire!
: That’s our cue to deploy, too! No need to hold anything back against those!

: It’s been too long, dear sister! But what say you we put a definitive end to this today?
: I will not, Iczer-2! I cannot afford to fall here!
: What do we do, Captain? Do we use this opening to run off?
: No, we’ll assist them – an alien invasion is not something we can turn the other cheek to. All units, move to intercept!

So, here’s Operation Angel Down… and our only issue is the Cthulhu. This mission is really more of a breather after the big Berlin battle (or mission 15 at JUDA route), and there are no tricks.
It’s just a bevy of Dilos Thetas and Iczer-2, and while she’s still massively strong, her range remains quite limited. Build up morale, come packing Strike for her and wrap it all up quick (do make sure the Archangel team doesn’t steal your cash, as they’re neutral).

I’m just going to speed through this because, honestly, it is a very simple fight – if you’ve gotten to this point in the game, you know exactly how to approach it. Losing Iczer-1, or any ships (Archangel Included), is a game over but you need to screw up massively for that to happen.
Kira himself will auto-cast focus, so he’s nigh unkillable, and I am all but certain he’ll regen to full if that happens.

: My wounds have healed in full… making this the final day of your life, Iczer-1!
: I have my allies standing here with me – I shall not be defeated!

Iczer-2: “I was created solely to kill you! No more, no less!”
Iczer-1: “Well, I guess you are not a worthy opponent…”

That’s a generic line for Iczer-1, so I completely skimmed over it, but I had to include it after the juxtaposition was pointed out to me!

: Ichitaka, I’m all ready to provide support! Just say the word!
: I-I’m getting by on my end, too! Bring it on, Iczer-1’s sis!
: Indeed, partnering people with one another is nothing but detrimental!

: She’s insanely fast…! Can I even keep up with her?!
: I’ve no time to waste with you. My one and only foe is my sister!
: But I’m still not letting you get away from me…! My foes are all those who spread the fires of war!

: Iczer-1’s little sister… she sure looks strong, alright!
: You’ve a knack for sizing up your opponents, Earthling. Then you should already know that you cannot best me.
: Maybe if I was alone, but I’ve got a ton of friends here with me! And we’ll come out on top against whatever steps up to the plate!

: Hmph. If you think victory is yours, think again. Come, Iczer- Σ!

: I’ve no bindings around my feet today, Iczer-1… I’ll destroy you with my own strength!
: Nagisa, we must summon the Iczer Robo as well!
: Right! Let’s go, Iczer-1!

: Iczer-2… I will be victorious!

: I’ve a message for your boss, Big Gold: she’ll never get her claws on Earth while we’re still around!
: How very brave you are… but you’d best save your bombast for after I’m defeated!

: You dare attack me…? Someone needs a lesson of where they stand.
: You might be Iczer-1’s sis and strong as all hell, but the Combattler’ll always be ready to stare you down if you gun for Earth!

: If your people want a new home, then go find another planet! Our world also sent colony fleets out into space, and we never tried destroying other civilizations!
: War always follows whenever different cultures meet one another… the strong survive, while the weak perish. Such is the quintessential law of the universe!
: That’s just a rationalization for your bull! So I’ll stand and fight for our lives!

: I’ll make you pay for all the pain you put Nagisa through!
: Friendship is simply the weak giving succor to one another… A worm like that will never defeat me!

: Luck was not with you when your partners were chosen, it seems. You hamper one another, and that is how you’ll leave this mortal coil.
: Ouch. Still, I guess it’s true that we lost to the R-Daigun because our teamwork wasn’t up to snuff…
: None of us wanted to be part of a quartet to begin with, really.
: But that’s not who we are anymore… we’ve started to learn what teamwork is about, bit by bit.
: Hmph… such things are pointless is battle. All one needs are puppets who’ll obey without question or hesitation!
: That’s how you see it, eh…? Then this calls for Team D to show you what it’s capable of!

: I only sense Iczer-2’s presence within the Iczer- Σ… she’s fighting us alone?
: My “partner” was dead-weight from the very beginning. And once you’re beaten, I’ll have proven the folly of relying on others!
: That’s not true! I’ve grown strong only because I have Iczer-1 with me! And we’ll protect humanity and Earth together!
: Come, Iczer-2! Behold our combined strength!

: How?! My combat abilities far surpass that of Iczer-1…!
: Is this her partner’s… Is this the power of that earthling girl?!
: Victory is ours, Iczer-2!
: Urk…!

: Iczer-2… If you say you are my sister, then it is my duty to stop you…!
: OUR duty, right? You shouldn’t try to tackle this all by yourself. After all, you chose me as your partner, right?
: Thank you, Nagisa…

: All the Cthulhu forces have been destroyed.
: Coming under attack by these invaders comes as quite the reality shock…
: And it proves beyond a shadow of doubt that this is absolutely not the time for the Naturals and Coordinators to be killing one another.
: …
: Which is precisely why we should band together. Can’t the Archangel crew consider joining LOTUS?
: We’re sorry, but could you give us some time?
: We still don’t know who is trying to kill Lacus, or how much power that person holds. We can’t go on fighting completely blind…
: Then it seems this negotiation has broken down. Captain, we should engage the Archangel as per our orders.
: Weren’t you listening, Rey?! They aren’t the PLANTs enemies!
: That’s not our call to make. We must obey the Supreme Council’s command.
: … Ready the Tannhäuser!
: Captain!
: Look! The Minerva’s readying its main gun!

: Captain, the Minerva has us in its sights!
: Cpt. Gladys, are you…?!
: FIRE!

The Archangel flies a bit farther away!

: The Minerva shot down the Archangel?!
: Why?! We all knew they weren’t enemies!
: No. The way Archangel was moving was…

And Kira could’ve attacked Iczer-2:

: Kch…! How can I shoot her…?!
: My appearance makes you falter, hm? You are a fool to step onto a battlefield with such meager resolve!
: My resolve is…!

Back at the Cthulhu’s base, Iczer-2 is back in her maintenance pod. Why is it that she can’t beat Iczer-1? She’ll concede that the Earthlings are powerful, but that doesn’t explain why she’s suffered defeat a second time.
“Where does the Iczer Robo draw its power from…? Can it be from that Earthling, Nagisa Kanou…? Nagisa… you’ll be mine. I can defeat Iczer-1 by herself at any given time, but the only way I’ll wipe the slate clean of this humiliation is…”

Elsewhere, Violet is begging Big Gold for forgiveness – she didn’t expect things to end as they did. They’re now out of monsters and it’ll be a while until Iczer-2’s repaired once again – she needs more time.
Big Gold seems to have run out of patience, however, and zaps Sir Violet, finally speaking up and telling she’s done enough.

As Violet’s life starts to fate, she returns to normal and remembers all she’d done: “This evil spirit crept into the corners of my heart and controlled me… Or… perhaps it was I who gave it sentience in the first place…? Forgive me, my fellow Cthulhu… it was never my wish for this to happen…”
Big Gold, now up and about, confesses to her “mother”, Sir Violet, that she does not understand these humans. The Iczer- Σ’s victory was supposed to have been a foregone conclusion, yet it was defeated.
“There are too many unknowns for me to head to Earth yet,” Big Gold ponders. “And if I cannot use Iczer-2, then I have but to use the stored energy to create a spawn of my own… Hmhmhmm…”

: The previous operation has left a bad taste in your mouth, hasn’t it?
: No. If it’s the Supreme Council’s will, then…
: The Council, indeed… there have always been parts of it that saw the Archangel as an enemy, but they’ve been unusually galvanized lately.
: Someone is prodding them on, but I haven’t been able to figure out who yet… until that question has been answered, we’ll all have to proceed with care.
: But you’re the Chairman. Not even you can stymie these people…?
: Yes, though figuring out how to deal with them is precisely my job. Can I ask you to, at least outwardly, abide the Council’s decisions?
: Yes, sir… I’ll do as you ask.
: (Is he telling the truth? He knew about Lacus, so why…?)
: And onto another matter, I would like the Minerva to accompany LOTUS for a while.
: Are you telling us to affiliate ourselves with them?
: No, you wouldn’t be officially joining – it’d be a temporary transfer in the interest of fighting the various groups that threaten mankind as a whole.
: I have already contacted them about this, and they’ve agreed to it. So, I’d like you to accompany the Macross Quarter towards Japan.
: Roger that, sir.

Call ends.

: Is this really for the best, Captain?
: …

At the Quarter, Ozma explains what happened with the Archangel: the ship merely feigned being shot down, and with Talia’s help even. See, the Minerva not only had their weapon set at a low output, but it also purposefully missed its mark. Quite the sleight of hand, but, hey, they’ve fulfilled their orders.
And Tetsuya figures Murrue realized what Talia was doing, as she join in on the charade by cutting the power of the Archangel’s engines to simulate it sinking. Hyouma’s a bit miffed that he got all worried for nothing, but Alice finds it all to have been a very educational experience. She didn’t know ploys like this were possible!
Hiyoshi comforts Hyouma that it’d be hard for anyone to notice the trick – you’d have to look VERY closely to see what was up. But, as Tetsuya points out, the question now remains whether Durandal will fall for it.

And that’s a no, as Rey realized what happened and told the guy that the Archangel is still around. Durandal thanks him for telling, but isn’t actually concerned. “I had accounted for the possibility that they’d get away,” he says.
Rey’s confused, but Durandal simply tells him to keep an ear to the ground and let him know if anything happens. As he confirms and ends the call, Durandal is deep in thought: “The Archangel will now have to lay low for a while… Hopefully this will be enough to fool their eyes as well.”

The Quarter’s folks have just heard that the Minerva’ll be tagging along, and it’s already been officially cleared with Lady Une. Michel is all up for it as it’s been so long since he’s seen Meyrin and the other Minerva girls – Luca suggests he not let Klan hear about that. H-Hey, now, what’s any of this got to do with her?!
Regardless, now that we’re finally heading back to Japan, Kenichi wonders how things are going there. Settling down, from what Jun’s heard, and it seems that communications are open again. Nagisa figures Ishigami’ll be waiting for them with a ton of sushi, and Ippei wouldn’t put it past him to throw a “welcome aboard” party for the Minerva.

Nagisa isn’t looking forward to it, and asks if Iczer-1 would be willing to scarf down her batch of sushi… though the android is silent. Was she hurt during the battle with Iczer-2? No, she just has a really bad feeling about something. Ichitaka hopes she’s not prophesizing that their bowls of sushi are going to be supersized or something.
Actually, no, Kosuke runs in yelling that they just managed to hear from the Daiku Maryu: Ishigami’s been killed by Reiji.

[Mattman324]

You know, it’s really worth asking if this is the best adaptation of SEED Destiny or not.

I mean, on one hand, your only comparisons are SC2 (which had a funny ending to SEED Destiny but was overall basically just the show), K (which was just the show and also fucking terrible), and Z, and the only competition of those is pretty much Z, so there’s wiggle room to ask the question… but on the other hand this is so far away from the show it’s hard to really compare. It basically wandered off to do its own thing.

That said, UX is by far the best post plot. Alex Dino being Quattro Bajeena even more than usual and making his most infamous speech, Shinn being the mentor to the Fafner kids and having literally every piece of shit he ever did thrown back at him, pioneering the Shinn/Luna combo… it was great stuff. Also the Mark Destiny, piloted by Tsubaki Minashiro, is the greatest of the Fafners.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Alright, time to close up the JUDA Route. Ichitaka’s still got a hefty lead, though Quatre is starting to fall behind (as he should, really).

We got a bunch of cash last mission, so Ichitaka, Daiya and Kenji each get a boost in weapons and assorted stats; Shinji and Lulu get a boost in HP, EN and whatnot.

Kouichi’s still deploying as an event unit, so only Ichitaka’s free again. No need to switch things up from what we previously went through:
Kenji/Kyo
Daiya/Yanma
Quatre/Rei
Dick/Puria
Shinji/Yagyuu
Zechs/Noin
Ichitaka

Off we go.

We open up at JUDA, with Kiriyama asking if Reiji managed to figure out what LOTUS is up to. Is he worried? Not very, more like wondering where we might’ve run off to when he controls pretty much all facilities that’d be of use to us in Japan.
Doesn’t look like we’ve left the country or fled to the PLANTs… or maybe we have a secret base somewhere? He knows we’ll try something eventually, and is looking to make quite the spectacle out of it.
Well, Reiji tells him that he HAS, indeed, got a bead on us. Apparently we’ve taken shelter in the Dannar Base, which is odd as it was supposed to have been taken over by Domyoji’s men. Guess they had some more deserters.

How hard it is to find good people, huh? Kiriyama does remember hearing very good things about NEX’s Kurata and Orb’s Soga and Amagi… Does he want them scouted? Kiriyama sees Reiji glaring and says he was just pulling his leg – he is all the help he needs.
And, regardless, even if LOTUS has the Dannar Base, it doesn’t change the fact that we’re at a major disadvantage.

(Those names were an Ultra Seven reference – all, including Kiriyama, were members of the Ultra Garrison.)

With that in mind, the next step of his plan is to use the media to win the masses. LOTUS is bound to try and stage a “rebellion” against his new government soon, so he’s requested/forced Isabelle Cronkite to come over and report it all when it goes down.

Back to us, Misato’s taken over strategic command now that Reiji’s gone; normally they’d have to clear this with Une, but we still can’t get in touch with the world outside, so we’ll have to make an exception. No one’s complaining, so we’ll move on to lay out the details of Operation JUDA Reclamation.
First, Maki and Rachel make note that this Op isn’t just about recovering a building. See, JUDA’s main computer houses a TON of sensitive intel and technological data, including on our whole group; mind you, the thing has some powerful safeguards that the two of them personally designed, so they won’t be tapping into it easily… but these aren’t your run-of-the-mill foes either, and we certainly don’t want folks like them tinkering with the Machinas.
All in all, we need to get JUDA back immediately lest Kiriyama’s group have a chance to mess around in there, which is why Misato and the others rushed to put this operation together. We’ll be moving to disable all of the Jinrai drones throughout Japan and rescue the hostages tomorrow at 5am.

So, what are we going to do, Shinji asks. What we do best: shoot the place up and draw the enemy’s attention. Considering Kiriyama’s towering hubris and “showmanship”, he’ll keep the hostages as a final play to use against us – until then, we should have free rein to fight at will.
So we’ll be a diversion, Kyo surmises, and Sally confirms. We want Kiriyama and his peers’ eyes fixated on Misaki while our techs get ready to hack and disable the Jinrai drones. In the meantime, Yui will sneak into JUDA with a group via a secret entrance.
Kouichi didn’t expect the place to have secret entrances, but Yamashita explains that Ishigami had it set up precisely for a situation like this. Yui and the others will move to regain control of the Machinas and JUDA’s systems – once that’s done, they’ll have access to the building’s defenses, with which they’ll use to deal with Kiriyama’s underlings.

Izuna raises the point that their Machinas should still be under the effects of Reiji’s suppressor, but Rachel’s already developed a counter for that: the Drexler Soil Activator, or D.S.A. for short! It’ll neutralize the suppressor’s effects and energize the Machina’s D-S.O.I.L. See, it is based on the Bristol Interpretation of space-time tunneling by way of an engineering application of a pseudo-Tyndall Effect via quantum criticality, and…
The what in the where now? Ichitaka and Kouichi didn’t get any of that, while Kenji’s already been knocked asleep. Rachel isn’t amused, but Kyo says the gist of it is that the D.S.A. will nullify the suppressor. Does Kenji get it now?! “Eh? Yawn… Well, whatever, we just gotta get in there and tear stuff up, yeah?”
Maybe it’s best we leave it at that for him, Daiya shrugs. MOVING ON, Rachel says that the Machinas should be able to make a mess of the enemy from inside out, so Yamashita, Shizuna, Izuna and “Miu-Miu” will also be going in with the infiltration team.

Now, Misato expects a not-insignificant number of Jinrais to have been deployed at JUDA, and it’s all but certain that Kiriyama will come out with his own Machina eventually. The diversionary team will have a difficult battle ahead, but Kouichi’s all for it: we pull this off and we’ll both rescue the hostages and give Kiriyama a whooping, which sounds great to him!
Shizuna huffs that talking’s easy, but Kouichi notes that he won’t be doing it all alone – he’ll have the whole crew there to help, so he has a good feel for it. Rather, he wants Shizuna and her crew to be careful in their infiltration. She harrumphs a confirmation, grumbling that here she was getting worried for him… and Izuna has to stifle a laugh at her beet red face.
Regardless, we all know what our job will be, so Misato dismisses everyone to rest until the mission. Daiya already hustles Puria and Naoto to catch some forty winks, and while Puria grunts at what a mother hen he is, she’s not against it.

: Tomorrow… or, rather, a few hours later today, we’ll be kicking off Operation JUDA Reclamation…
: They told us to get some sleep, but my eyes don’t wanna stay shut… What to do…?
: Kouichi…
: Oh, Emi… Can’t sleep either?
: I… I want to fight. I have to fight alongside you and the Linebarrel!
: Huh…?! Are you crying, Emi…?
: I still don’t remember anything… but I came into this world to keep it safe… I want it to be safe, but…
: Mr. Ishigami’s death… and everyone’s friends and families being kidnapped… Not only can I not protect a single thing, it was my coming here that set it all in motion…
: But if I can at least pilot with you and activate the Mode B, then I’ll do it…! I have to help the others in any way I can…!
: No way, it’s too dangerous! Remember how that went last time? Who knows what’d happen to you if you used it again!
: Besides, you already got stuff to do: infiltrate JUDA and get its systems out of Kiriyama’s hands! That’s a way to help the others, no?
: But what if things take a turn for the worse again? You’ll—!
: I’ll be alright… I won’t put you in a position where you have to burn yourself out like that again.
: Huh…?
: I’m gonna get a whole lot stronger – stronger than anyone else…! I’ll learn to handle the Linebarrel better than even you…! And then… I’ll keep you safe!

: Hm… I’ve been left behind.

: …
: So this is where you were, Yamashita… Alice and Misato are looking for you.
: Hahah… there they go again. I bet they’re worried I might be all kinds of depressed, huh?
: Well…
: Tell them to quit worrying… is what I’d say, but it wouldn’t feel right to ask that of you. Alright, let’s go after them.
: Are you really okay…? I mean, being betrayed by someone you trusted so much is…
: None of this makes sense to me… What was Reiji thinking? Why would he do something like that…? Is that really the world he wants? The only way I’ll have answers is to ask him directly, so that’s what I’ll do.
: Yamashita…

Mission 16 (JUDA Route) – Operation JUDA Reclamation

: And Hisataka was right on the money. They’re coming to retake the place in a hurry.
: Then we have but to nip their ambitions in the bud. This’ll be payback for Riku, too.
: Welcome home, LOTUS…!

: Eiji Kiriyama! We’re taking JUDA back here and now!
: There you are, LOTUS… Reiji said you’d try something like this. So how about I take the time to show you reactionary hounds on whose side true justice lies?
: Reiji, you stay out of this. I’ll personally lay them all six feet under with my Pretender – it’ll be prime time material right there.
: Yes, sir.
: And everything’s ready with the TV crew, yes? Now to wait for the perfect moment to make my grand entrance.
: The entire world will watch, live and uncut, as I mete out justice!
: (I can’t stand this man…)
: Everyone’s in position, Misato.
: And we’re all ready to go crazy around here!
: Time to repo our home from these creeps, people!
: Off we go, then! Begin Operation JUDA Reclamation!
: (Take care, Emi…)

By JUDA’s secret entrance…

: They’ve started… How are the locks, Prof. Sakon?
: Just a little bit longer. Emi, could you help parse these codes?
: Of course… The system is a bit old, but it’s pretty much identical to the one JUDA currently uses…

Blip.

: And… there. This should be good.
: Wow, you’re amazing, Emi.
: Not at all, Miu. You’re the one who’s always out there fighting with the Painkiller…
: Please, no need for modesty… Hm? That’s odd. The door should be unlocked, but it’s not opening…
: Lemme see… Ah, this bit here’s a bit rusty… Hup!

Break!

: Okey-dokey… Lead the way, Ms. Ogawa.
: Um… According to the map, it’s this way.
: Good thing we brought Shizuka along.
: Let’s get to work then! We need to get JUDA back in order hands before Kouichi’s group gets in any trouble!

This one’s a bit of a test of endurance as not only are you down a decent number of units, staring at a hefty group of midbosses, but Kiriyama also has a LOT of mooks to send your way and will, eventually, come over himself.
Losing either Kouichi and the Daiku Maryu’s a game over, but what can really give you a hard time here is managing your resources – especially your SP since you’ll need it to connect reliably against the boss man. Try to lead with the likes of Kenji, Kouichi and Shinji as they’re rather untouchable by mooks even without any casts, saving most of your SP for the bosses proper.

Make note of the structures and forests around for the terrain bonus, too.

Kenji takes it while everyone else moves forward.

Enemy Phase!

Kouichi’s in a forest, so he’ll have no issues against the Jinrai.

: (Our job’s just to buy time…! This Op will succeed, and then JUDA and Japan’ll be free! I’ll make it so!)
: (No way I could ever look Ishigami in the eye if I screwed this up!)

Alright.

Daiya and Yanma go to town, the enemies’ attacks hitting them with the consistency of spitballs. That’s six kills for them, Daiya getting further invincible with an extra level to his Flame.

Player Phase!

Kouichi taunts the Katous and Kiriyama over how wimpy they are – we’ll rout them real easy! When Yulianne asks, however, Kiriyama tells them to let the kid ramble on, as it’ll be him who’ll be laughing when this is over. Rather, our glibness will make our eventual defeat all the sweeter to him.
We’re already raising some good hell, so Misato tells us to keep at it. Lulu, however, is worried: assuming nothing went wrong, it shouldn’t take too long to get JUDA’s systems under our control with Sakon and Shizuka helping… so why is she so ill at ease?

She’s brought back to reality when Rosa pokes her – she understands that she’s worried for our people, but she must carry on commanding. She apologizes and refocuses herself, right in time for Dick to challenge the Katous to try their hand on him.
Sawatari doesn’t appreciate our sass, and vows to bestow us with terror beyond anything we could imagine.

: OK, if we go through here, we should come out right at the HQ’s underground…
: What door is this? An elevator?
: Don’t matter. We just gotta push this button, yeah?

Press. Blip!

: …
: M-Mr. Ishigami!
: By the time you see this, I’ll likely be dead.
: It’s a hologram…
: But don’t worry. Even now, I’ll continue to support you with every ounce of my strength.
: That said, just as a precaution, I must confirm that you truly are members of LOTUS.
: Confirm? How?
: Please stand before the microphone and state your name, height, weight…
: And your three sizes.
: Wh-What the…?!
: That’s some real private info he wants…
: I guess it’s to check our voice print?
: Bah… Fine, I guess we must. I am Yui Ogawa. I’m 1m 68cm tall, and I weight… whisper, whisper
: My three sizes are… whisper, whisper

BZZZZT!

: I’m sorry.
: Huh?!
: There is a significant discrepancy between stated and measured data. As such, you are deemed to be posing as Yui Ogawa!

Ka-chunk!

: WAAH!!
: A trapdoor?!
: YOU HUGE IDIOOOOoooooo…

Faaaalliiiiiiiiing.

: MS. OGAWA!!
: Ms. Ogawa… your sacrifice will not be in vain…
: Seems we won’t be making it to HQ that easily…
: I can’t believe he’d pull one of his jokes even as part of a security check… I mean, I actually can believe it, but…

Carrying on…

Two kills, and the last three Jinrais falling to Kouichi and Zech.

Shinji’s still leading the charge, and he learns both Accel and Support Attack L2 upon weakening a couple of Stealth Armas.

Enemy Phase!

Soubi was the only Katou midboss that comes in to attack from the get-go.

: Your people have been taken hostage, but you’ll carry on fighting…? Still, true justice knows no defeat…It’s pointless to oppose it…!

If your Linebarrels’ secret points are low, however, you get this:

: What a nice surprise, this. I didn’t think I’d get another chance to torture you so soon after the last… Oh, I’m just bursting with joy!

The midbosses can’t pop an A.T. Field without running Prevail first, though.

And again!

: Riku… Let the sight of the enemies I kill comfort you in the afterlife!

Try again.
After that it’s one kill for Lulu and Rei, four for Shinji.

Player Phase!

Kiriyama’s a bit surprised at how hard a fight they’re having his side not pulling any punches, but Reiji says he should be well aware of how strong LOTUS is. Well, whatever – the still have their trump card to play if things go south.
In the meantime, he tells Isabelle to get to “reporting”: “JUDA, once a den of evil and now under control by His Excellency Eiji Kiriyama, is currently under attack by villains seeking to claim it back…”

Daiya fumes at all that bullcrap, but Tsubaki can see that Isabelle’s hurting over having to do away with her journalistic integrity – she was supposed to report the truth, not this. That’s another person that needs our mission to succeed, Ichitaka figures, so we carry on.
Meanwhile, back in JUDA…

: By the time you see this, I’ll likely be dead.
: But don’t worry. Even now, I’ll continue to support you with every ounce of my strength.
: That’s the fifth time…
: The door read “Stage 5”, even… How many of these do you figure there are?
: Wouldn’t be as much of a pain in the ass if he didn’t say the same damn thing every time!
: I’m starting to feel kind of stupid for how sad I got over his death…
: Is this an actual security device…?
: Now I will confirm whether or not you are members of LOTUS.

Toot, toot!

: What is that…?!
: A synchro-game set up as an old-school party game by the looks of it… (Yes, this is THAT game Shinji and Asuka had to work with to sync-up. Someone call him and Rei over!)
: Now we begin the thrilling Stage 5!

Let’s get rid of Soubi while the other midbosses are hanging back.

Couple more hits and he’s down in the red.

While that’s going down, I kill a couple more mooks and that reduces their squad numbers under 10.

: Jinrais?!
: Hahaha…! All of Japan belongs to me now, remember? Struggle as you might, I’ve allies from across the nation answering my call.
: You bastard…!
: (… But things I still going according to our plan. I gotta keep calm…)
: We cannot pull back. Carry on the offensive!
: Is this the end?! The Katou Organization forces, which has pledged support to His Excellency’s political reform, are having difficulties facing LOTUS, those major cohorts of the former, incompetent government! Let us all pray for these brave souls…
: …Kch!
: Something the matter? Keep at it. You need to get the crowd hyped all the way ‘til the end…
: Weird… the infiltration team’s taking longer than expected.
: But our only choice now is to have faith in them.

: Congratulations, you’ve beaten Stage 5! You may proceed!
: Haah… haah…
: I couldn’t feel my legs for a second there…
: The president’s traps are very serious business, huh…
: … I don’t seem to have a lot of opportunities to be useful here.
: Don’t be so sure – we’ve no idea what kind of traps are waiting for us and time’s short. We gotta hurry up!

Secret Alert!
Have Kouichi destroy Soubi AGAIN.

Bam.

: Kouichi Hayase… Your feelings towards justice are very clear to me.
: Wh-Why’re you bringing that up now…?
: (Still, it is far too late for me to accept your justice… If I did, I…!)

: The Factor of that Machina… Soubi Nakajima, wasn’t it…? What’s up with him…?

And we’ve officially broken the enemies’ defenses; they just don’t know it yet. The enemy reinforcements will come in four waves whenever you reduce their numbers to nine, but they’re not really a threat. See, the new Jinrais aren’t actually squads but solo-flying units – that means any of our guys can easily oneshot them with our good morale.

Sawatari and Yulianne should start moving in by now, but Wufei actually takes a bit longer because he’s a jerk like that. They allowed us to build morale, though, so their 15k-ish HP pools won’t last long. Get rid of them quick – better yet if you pull it off before the Jinrais close the distance.
With all that said, let’s fast forward!

: Damn it all… I’ve retreat. Forgive me, Riku, I couldn’t avenge you…!

: What kind of cards are you hiding from us, I wonder…? Don’t disappoint me now, boys!

: Whatever mission Hisataka gives out, I’ll just trust in him and do my job! Here I come, LOTUS!

: We’ve received a message over the Preventers’ secret line. Everything’s in place to deactivate the Jinrai drones throughout the country.
: Now we just need to recover the Machinas and JUDA’s main systems, but…!
: Do you think something happened to the infiltration team…?!

Beep!

: You’ve no need to worry about any of that…!
: ?!

: By the time you see this, I’ll likely be dead.
: Mr. Ishigami… I wasn’t expecting you to actually have more than ten Stages set up…
: Now I will confirm whether or not you are members of LOTUS. Stage 12… let the battle begin!
: Battle…?

Door opens!

: Hippo?!
: A-A hippo monster?
: Psh, are ya kidding me? We gotta fight this stupid-looking thing? This’ll be easy as pie.
: … Ooh, no, on the contrary.
: Ah?
: Hippopotami are some of the more ferocious mammals on Earth. For instance, they are widely known to kill even crocodiles with their powerful bites.
: Whaa?!
: HIPPOOO!!
: W-We gotta get out of here!
: Hippopotami’s top speed can also reach upwards of 40 km/h. Running will do us no good.
: Your grim trivia is about the last thing we needed to hear right now…!
: … Hang back a minute, folks.
: Shizuka… Do you have something in mind?
: I’m just gonna give this bugger here a taste of how scary humans can be…!
: HIPPOOO!!
: TORYAAAAAA!!

Punch!

: Hipoooo…!

Faint.

: W-Wow… she knocked it out in just one punch…!
: Alright, next!
: Stage 12, clear! You may proceed!

: Hrm… what a crap mission this was. Bye, LOTUS.

: Hmph… Well, I guess this is about how I imagined things would turn out…

: If you cannot rise above a situation like this, then your dreams of saving mankind will be just that: dreams… Show me how strong you are!

: Our Jinrais and the Katou Organization are in an increasingly direr situation! Will His Excellency be capable of overcoming this crisis?!
: … Aren’t you deploying, Eiji?
: I guess I will. I’d rather not annoy the commander by letting this show run on for too long.
: Or would you be willing to help me break down the Katou Organization right tomorrow?
: Heh… That’d be taking things too fast, Eiji.
: It would, wouldn’t it? We need to get a solid foundation first. I’ll go get the Pretender ready to deploy – you handle the rest, Reiji.

Leaves.

: …
: Um… Are you…
: Carry on with your transmission. Whatever happens, don’t stop.

Leaves.

: He left… What is that guy up to…?
: So, Ishigami’s security system’s giving us a lot more trouble than expected…?
: Right. I was, much to my regret, separated from the group halfway through, but I’d wager he had even craftier traps in place…
: They must be incredibly ingenious if even you fell for them.
: (Ooh… how am I going to tell them that I got cut right at the start over trying to keep up with the Joneses? I can’t…)
: And what’s going on with Yamashita and the others?
: We don’t know that yet. Let’s just keep believing in them for now.

: By the time you see this, I’ll likely be dead.
: Stage 67… This is still going?
: We might’ve had a rough start, but things are picking up for us. We’re managing to clear these ones nice and easy.
: Now I will confirm whether or not you are members of LOTUS. Here is Stage 67!

*Lights on!

: It’s… karaoke?!
: You will need to score over 90 points to proceed, so give it your best shot. Duet performances are also OK. Oh, and the song catalogue and remotes are over there.
: Singing… Blah, this would’ve been easy as pie if we had Rosa around…
: Vice-Captain Rosa’s a good singer?
: I’ve only heard that the Captain’s told me, but apparently she’s a professional, even.
: Whining about should haves ain’t getting us anywhere! We’re outta time, so who’s singing?!
: I can sing… kind of…
: I’m afraid I’m also not very sure of myself in regards to that.
: … I’ll do it. My father taught me this ballad, and I’m pretty confident I can sing it well. Kouichi and the others are working so hard outside, so I also need to do the same…!
: (!! She’s doing it for Kouichi…)
: I-I’ll sing too!

: This outcome was to be expected. We’ll meet again, LOTUS.

Alright, we’ve all midbosses down, so I think this is a good point to stop. I’ll have the rest of the mission up in a day or two.

See you all then!

[Mattman324]

Aaaaand yes, Ishigami decided to put one hundred fucking security doors, most of them with extremely time consuming answers or solutions, between the secret entrance and JUDA. Note that while this was going on in the anime, the only other rebels were all FUCKING DEAD and Kouichi was very slowly dying alone against Kiriyama. Fucking anime Ishigami. On that note I think Dimitri was dead at this point in the anime, so keep that in mind.

The hippo, oddly enough, was asset reuse - K used Gaiking LoDM’s “pink hippo” two parter (which was the low point of the show, notably) and L is reusing one of the portraits. L actually does use something from that episode… mostly because it’s also the only time Vestaanu had a subordinate, so they use her as the subpilot to the thing Vestaanu helms.

Rosa being a singer isn’t strictly a VA thing, that’s from Gaiking as well. I would imagine Miu being “sort of” good is partly in reference to her being an idol in the manga and not the anime (where she is instead a generic moeblob who’s face was slapped with Hirai).

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

: LtCol. Katsuragi, how are things on your end?
: The infiltration team is having a hard time getting inside. It’s just as difficult for the diversion team…
: This isn’t good… Fatigue and stress will be reaching dangerous levels among the pilots as this battle continues.
: We’re not equipped to hand a war of attrition against them…!
: Stand firm, everyone! Just a little bit more!

: Finally, Stage 100…
: I’d like to think this is the last one… it’s a nice, round number.
: That karaoke round was pretty fun, though! You’re a great singer Miu-miu!
: Eheheh…
: Is everyone ready? I’m pressing the switch.

Flip.

: … I could say with confidence that you are, indeed, my dear comrades… but it’s best to be safe than sorry. I will verify your identities one final time.
: You pigheaded sonuva…
: So let’s begin right away! Your last test will be… Strip Rock-Paper-Scissors!
: I’VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH THIS GUY!!

: … Why? What did I do to deserve this…?
: Well, we can’t have these young girls walking around butt-naked, right? Bear with it, OK? (The girls get towels, but Izuna isn’t as lucky, see.)
: Just think of this as a random accident and put it behind you, yes?
: I can’t believe that moron of a president’s messing with us even beyond the grave…!
: Very good…
: Ah?!
: D-Does that mean…
: Congratulations… you’ve won!

: Finally… Finally, we’re done! We’ve won! Oh, YEAH!!
: Now that you’ve cleared all of my one hundred traps, it is proven beyond any shadow of doubt that you are members of LOTUS! The final lock has been opened, and I bid you all welcome!
: Oh, what great games we had today. It was certainly worth all the effort it took to put them together!
: Them’s some big words when we were the ones actually having to go through all that!
: … Now you must hurry. You are the only ones in position to do something about this predicament.
: Huh…?
: Hm, he’s right – time is short. We need to go right away.
: Hmhmm. Let’s hurry!

Everyone runs off.

: …

: And there’s the cue for my grand entrance. The entire world will watch as I ply my justice!
: Eiji Kiriyama has finally come out…!
: More like we finally forced him out here…!
: My dear fellows of LOTUS, what business brings you to my JUDA?
: JUDA belongs to Ishigami and we’re yanking it off your hands right here, right now!
: (He isn’t playing the hostage card until the very last second, just as we figured he would.)
: (Things are mostly going according to plan so far.)
: Oh, dear… And here I was just wondering if I didn’t have it in me to compensate you guys a wee bit for that.
: Have it your way, then. I’ll give you all an eyeful of my slick moves!
: Hah, you underestimate what a bunch of middle-schoolers can do!

: The EVA has its A.T. Field, so if I can just stall him a bit…!
: What’s the matter, Evangelion? Put up more of a fight than this, why don’t you… This is our climatic showdown, you know!

: So Milliardo, the big bad rebel, is set on opposing my coup, huh?
: An illegitimate government will bring nothing but suffering… and I will not tolerate that!

: I ain’t putting up with you calling the shots, or with your slimy face! Come here!
: Did you already forget the ace up my sleeve? Or are you too kill-crazy to care? My, the role of villain fits you like a glove.
: (Yeah, just you wait… You’re gonna be bawling your eyes out real soon!)

Get Kiriyama under 50% HP to trigger the plot. It’s very possible to get an extra kill here, but I didn’t care enough to do it.

: Hmhmhm… not bad at all, LOTUS. But our battle’s just getting started.
: He’s really not going to make this easy on us…
: Now open your eyes and I’ll show you the power of my justice – the justice of New Japan’s ruler!

: Go right ahead… I’ll fight your “justice” with everything I got!
: Hmph… We’ll see for how long you’ll be giving me sass.

*Kiriyama blasts towards Kouichi and grabs him!

: Ah, crap!
: Kouichi!
: Stop! He’s got him immobilized…!
: Not even you can dodge a point-blank shot, I bet. And your buddies won’t risk firing either!
: You coward…!
: This is your very last chance, Kouichi, my boy. Would you kindly wield the Linebarrel’s power in my name? We can rule the entire world, you and I.
: I’ll only use this power for good! That’s the promise I made to Yajima, and why I refuse to let you beat me!
: Really now? Oh, well. You’ll have plenty of time to rue your integrity in the next world!
: Hrk…!

: …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGbqi69RxJ4

: Gwargh! Wh-What the?! Where’d that come from?!

: Thanks a bunch, whoever that was! You’re done now, Kiriyama! JUDA’ll be ours again!
: Tch!

Back at JUDA…

: TORYAAAA! And that’s the last of them!
: We’re set to activate D.S.A.!
: Copy that! And now…!
: OK, D.S.A. installation is all green. Let’s get our Machinas back…!

Beep. Power up!

: It’s working! The Deceive’s back online!
: Same for the Painkiller!
: Kickass! Now there’s just the main system at the prez’ office left! You’re up, Emi, Prof!
: Alright, let’s hustle on over there!
: While we’ll get outside and help close off this whole thing, Izuna, Shizuna, Miu!

: Yeah! They pulled it off!
: Here come the star players! Ya better grit your teeth for a whooping, Kiriyama!
: I-Impossible! All of JUDA’s Machinas should’ve been offline due to the suppressor!
: Oh, you really shouldn’t count on those crummy tricks to always work against Girl Genius Rachel Calvin!
: Hmph… Fine. Making a miraculous comeback is the mark of a Champion of Justice, as you’ll see very soon!
: Took the words right out of my mouth! Come on!

The Machinas are a bit too far away and I wanna get Kiriyama off my hair right now, so…

: Your tricks are as dirty as the Darius’, and I’m not putting up with any of that!
: I’ve heard stories of the Darian Crown Princess, but, FYI, I do not subscribe to Monarchy. So, please, don’t tar me with the same brush as those villains.
: What I am is a righteous hero fighting in the name of the people. Those people will revere and be guided by me!
: And who the hell said that’s OK?! You are just like Proist in how you ignore what everyone else wants!

: Oh, I have the perfect headline for this one: “His Excellency educates a misguided youth on what true justice entails!”
: God, you just can’t stop twisting the facts to suit you, huh? But I’m putting an end to that today!

: You better give it up, Kouichi. If not, you’ll not only lose, but do so as a minion of evil.
: Laugh while you still can, ‘cause it won’t last long…! Here I come, Eiji Kiriyama!

: How… How dare you do this to me!
: Keep at it! He’s almost down!
: This calls for some retribution…! I’ll destroy that which is so dear to you!
: Watch out! He’s taking aim at JUDA HQ!
: You’ll rue the day you opposed me, KOUICHIIII!!

: !!

Missiles!

: Bwahahaa! Serves you right!!

Boom! Boom!

: What?! JUDA’s intact?!
: Emi, you alright?! Is everyone OK?!
: Yes…! Yes, we are!
: We’ve also restored the system in the president’s office!
: And don’t worry about the TV crew that got left behind in here. They’re fine too.
: Kouichi…
: He wanted to protect them.
: Heh, he left us all in the dust there.
: Kiriyama, you really are one twisted guy!
: Hmhmhm… I’d prefer you use the term “creative”, Kouichi. In fact, my creativity will literally blow everything sky high!
: “Blow everything”…?!
: What’re you up to, creep…?
: Oh, don’t tell me all this excitement addled your memory. I’m staring at one pretty little switch, and with one press, I can command all the Jinrais throughout Japan to open fire.
: S-STOP!!
: Nah, I won’t, moron! And I did hope you’d protect the world in my name… Too bad.
: Bye-byyyeee!!

Press!

: Eh…? What’s going on?!

Press again! Alarms!

: Why isn’t the attack order going through?!

: In your own words, Eiji Kiriyama, “too bad”.
: All the deployed Jinrai drones have been deactivated.
: I-It can’t be… Then you were, from the start…!
: What kind of Champions of Justice would just ignore hostages?!
: How’d ya like our acting? Pretty dang good, huh?
: And now it’s curtains for you, Kiriyama!
: It’d be best if you surrendered. There is nothing you can do to turn this around.
: “Nothing I can do”…? Don’t be ridiculous, boy!
: Did you honestly think the Jinrais were the only card up my sleeve? Not! At! All! This entire city is already surrounded by my tank platoons!
: Oh, no…! They’re using the Katou Organization’s stealth tech!
: Then… Misaki itself is his ultimate hostage…?!
: Yes, and it’ll all come crashing down! Let’s try this again: bye-byyyeee!!

Press!

: Whaa?! Those blasts are…!

: Sucks to be you, guy!
: It’s that guy from the SDF…?!
: Domyoji!
: Yo, Quatre… Sorry for being late to the party!
: Yeah… I did find it weird when I didn’t see you around…!
: I took care of all his troops, Kouichi. Get in there and wreck that no-good sonuvagun!
: You’re betraying me?!
: Sorry, “Your Excellency”, but I’ve been rolling with the Hayase Corps since the get-go!
: Domyoji… you…!
: So I’m here and ready to get to work! Your orders, my beautiful commander?
: Um… Makoto Domyoji, is that right? Okay, you’re more than welcome!
: Do you see this, people of Japan? Eiji Kiriyama, leader of New Japan, apparently tried to destroy not only the city of Misaki but also several urban areas and laboratories throughout the country!
: You can’t…! Didn’t we have a deal that you’d only show my good side?!
: Oh? But weren’t your exact words to “keep the crowd hyped all the way ‘til the end”?
: Sorry. I’m an investigative journalist, so I’m not too familiar with the way variety TV works.
: And now the whole country got a real clear shot of what a bad egg you are!
: You’re finished, Excellency!
: H-How did this happen… does that mean…
: That I’m now the VILLAIN?!

Kouichi moves back in after him.

: Damn straight! Your “justice” is 100% wrong!

Kouichi: “There isn’t a shred of justice in anything you’re doing!”

: No… my… justice was…

: Mistaken, is what… Just like I once did…
: Kouichi…

And now it’s just a matter of cleaning up the surviving Jinrais – I’m guessing sunken cost fallacy stops them from calling it quits? Now, for a quick look at the new addition to our crew:

HFX-19 Jinrai (Makoto Domyoji)
Pilot Skills:
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Predict
Prevail L2
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Attack Combo L1
Spirit Commands:
Sense
Focus
Mercy
Squad Bonus: Melee AND Ranged weapons’ attack power +100, Terrain rating in Air: A

Dude, this guy’s the real deal. Enables flight and boosts all weapon types? He might just be the best offensive squaddie we have. Domyoji, as you might expect, is a great pilot (stats just a small step below Reiji) and will make a good fit with pretty much anyone.
His sole weakness is that the Jinrai is severely limited in ranged options: everything is point-blank, barring his weakest attack which is 1-3. Treat him as you would Iczer-1 or the Vardant.

Of note, here’s Domyoji’s strongest weapon and the Dynamic Finish for Lulu’s Killer Bite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEWvZWQWjxQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDvwyU5vdWA

And Kiriyama had words for the other JUDA Factors if we managed to get them over to him:

: You might have retaken your Machinas, but that won’t affect my victory in the slightest!
: And, actually, it is the perfect opportunity to force you all to submit to me!
: Yeah? Well, it’s really not gonna be easy for you!
: None of us would ever waste all the hard work our friends put into this!
: And we’ll be freeing this country for your clutches!
: So ya better get ready for what’s headed your way, Eiji Kiriyama!
: That’s enough of your nonsense, fellows of JUDA! My Pretender will give you all a harsh dose of reality!

: And that’s the end of our operation. Great work, everyone! The captured facilities are also sending their thanks.
: (So that’s LOTUS… the elite force of the UN that has even that Dancouga in its ranks…)
: You also went through a lot today, eh? Catching Kiriyama’s attention is never a good time.
: Not at all… I managed to eventually get the truth out, so I’m happy.
: Um… If it’s not too much of a bother, I’ve a few questions I’d like to ask.
: Oh, an interview already? No wonder you’re so well-known as an on-the-scene reporter, Ms. Isabelle Cronkite.
: Very well, we’ll pass your request along to LtCol. Katsuragi.
: There’s still plenty for us to do in the aftermath of our operation, though, so I trust you won’t mind waiting a bit?
: Not at all, and I’m grateful you’d arrange this meeting in the first place. I’ll be right over there…

Leaves.

: She also helped us plenty today.
: Yup. Not only by clearing up what was actually happening throughout Japan, but also getting the people on our side.
: Alright, folks, there’s still plenty to do before things are back to normal. Let’s return to JUDA.
: Wait a minute! This is…!

: Damn! He’s boarded the Daiku Maryu…!
: Lulu!
: The ease with which the Katou Organization retreated was just so we’d lower our guard?!
: I presume you are the commander of LOTUS?
: Temporarily, at least. Misato Katsuragi of NERV’s operational department.
: … I have a small request to make.
: Huh?

As it turns out, Jack has quit the Katou Organization and wants to join LOTUS. Misato argues that he was our enemy not too long ago – we can’t well trust him just like that. Jack says he only joined Katou to train himself, and the boss man himself promised he could leave, no questions asked, whenever he found another path he’d rather trail.
Dick can’t help but be impressed that the guy even foresaw his underling’s eventual betrayal, but Jack says he is not betraying anyone: this is all so he can have his duel with Reiji. It is not BUSHIDO to strike down one’s ally, and since Reiji is working with the Katou Organization now, then Jack will throw his lot with the opposition.

Yagyuu applauds his conviction, and Jack himself is pleased to see that LOTUS has plenty of men and women blessed with the samurai spirit. In normal circumstances, he’d look forward to facing us in battle, but Reiji takes priority.
Well, Lulu doesn’t take him to be a bad man, and Yagyuu herself doubts he’s the type to lie. If they say so, the Misato figures it’s OK to let him join… maybe. With that done, there’s an incoming call from Lady Une.

Cut to a little bit later, and Misato’s already cleared Jack’s position with Une. He’s good to go, and appreciative of our generosity. He’ll stand ready to lay his life on the line when it comes time to fight Reiji. Shizuna’s a bit dumbfounded, but alright…
As for the Macross, Misato says they’re doing fine and headed our way now that their mission’s complete. She’s also heard that the Minerva will be cooperating with us – details will have to wait until we’re back together, though. And, so, Misato relays command back to Lulu, so that she can handle things, and takes off.
Shinji can see that she was pretty tired, and Alice isn’t surprised. She hasn’t slept at all since she started working on today’s operation. Still, she didn’t let herself waver in front of everyone else; Rosa says both she and Lulu will have to hold strong in their work, despite the hardships.

When Rachel asks, Jack says that there wouldn’t be any point in him passing along whatever intel he has on the Katou Organization. He’s certain that any bases he knew of have been relocated, and data banks erased. “Furthermore, I’m not about to be so dishonorable to my old comrades,” he notes.
Fine… can he at least tell Sakon what that black “Sphere” from the other day is about? Only Katou and Masaki know that, unfortunately, so he can’t help us there. Seems like the Organization’s grand scheme is kept confidential from even their captains, so Sakon’ll have some thinking to do.
Yamashita wants to ask what is Reiji’s relationship with Katou and, from what Jack’s seen, the two men are old friends. Crap.

And Kouichi is finally back in his room, exhausted after the battle and having to do an interview with Isabelle. There’s just one the bothering him, though: he’s sure that whoever sniped down Kiriyama wasn’t with LOTUS, so who the hell was it?

Finally, by Shangri-La’s bridge, Yulianne sighs how unexpectedly quick Kiriyama was defeated. That was all his twisted justice amounted to, unfortunately, Katou shrugs. Reiji himself has just arrived, and Katou bids him a warm welcome to the team… and, as it turns out, the mystery shooter is also there!
Katou praises his fine work, and while normally he’d already be given a new assignment, there are some preparations that must be done first. So, Katou gives him leave to take some time off and visit home.

But what comes next, Sawatar wonders – hopefully not a huge farce like today was. Farce or not, they needed Kiriyama to buy them time, so it needed to happen. Regardless, they’ll be working in secret for a bit, and not even Wufei has issue with that. It’ll be a good opportunity to see what is truly going on in Reiji’s head.
Masaki himself is to carry on with the plan, taking every step to keep LOTUS in the dark.

[Mattman324]

I’m reminded of the shit the anime put Apparition through… it was, uh, never on Katou’s side in the manga, because that makes literally no sense at all when the events end up coming out later.

Eiji also kind of got the shit end, and that won’t really show until later, but in the manga, Reiji helped break Kouichi out of captivity (he helped Eiji capture the kid because JUSTICE) and then Kouichi beat up Eiji, and that whole bit where Eiji broke down and realized he was the bad guy happened. In the anime, a bunch of shit happened, and we’ll see that later. In the manga, he left the scene for a while, but resolved that if he was in the wrong, then goddamnit he’d go soul searching. (And he’s one of the better bits later in the manga, too.)

But hey, we get Jack earlier than canon! Which… uh… yay? Would be nicer if it didn’t come saddled with the anime’s tentacle episode, which is half of why he joined in the anime, so in that regard L handles this better.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Our crew’s back together, plus the addition of the Minerva crew to go with Jack and Domyoji. Kenji’s getting dangerously close to Ichitaka, with Daiya at a distant third. The latter’s bigger mook magnetism, however, may help bridge the gap faster than expected, though.

The Destiny units all come with three updates, so they’re all set and ready to go. Stella’s Gaia Gundam was just sitting empty, so Athrun took it – better than keeping him in that dinky ZAKU Warrior.
Cash upgrades went into the Nagahamas and Aoi weapons, along with some extra survivability boosts of the Valkyries and Daiya.

On the Skill Parts’ front, Aoi took EN Save and Kenji took another level of Infight, reaching L3.

The EVAs are deploying as event units, so here’s how our new team’s going:

Jeeg/Kyo
Daiya/Yanma
Kouichi/Quatre
Ichitaka/Miu
Kouji/Yagyuu
Iczer-1/Iczer-4 (I just felt like I had to)
Ozma/Luca
Alto/Michel
Tetsuya/Canaria
Domyoji/Athrun (the Gaia’s a rather up-close attacker, and Athrun’s accelerate makes him a good-enough fit).
Shinn/Klan
Heine/Anna
Zechs/Noin
Rey/Luna
Voltes/Mira
Combattler/Deceive
Dancouga/Yamashita
Dick/Puria

EVAs auto-deploying can only mean one thing, so let’s get to it.

Time to catch up on what happened in the other routes. Of note:

• Our people ponder Kiriyama’s coup and how quiet the Katou Organization’s been since it failed, despite their worldwide message. Maybe they were hoping to use it as a starting point for something else? Who knows.
• The ZAFT folks also heard of Reiji’s betrayal, or, as Rey puts it, of how Reiji was a spy for the Katou Organization. Luna chides his lack of tact with Yamashita right there, but Rey says he was just stating facts – likely his willingness to help at Junius Seven was just an act as well. Heine steps in, asking him to stop and consider Yamashita’s feelings, though the boy knows he can’t brood over it forever. Rather, he’ll confront Reiji directly, and Kouji, Hyouma, Goh – everyone – will be there to give the guy a piece of our mind.
• Michel’s rather doubtful of us bringing in Jack aboard, and the guy isn’t about to ask him to understand. If he does anything odd, Michel is more than welcome to shoot him in the back. Iczer-1 can tell that he is not being deceitful with us.
• Our folks also ponder the discovery of the fact that the real Lacus is aboard the Archangel, not the one with Durandal. Rey shrugs at this, saying it’s only natural he’d get a double as Lacus being AWOL during such a time of crisis would only elevate the peoples’ anxiety. As of Dearka, he’s ran off back to the PLANTs (he’s not too good with farewells, so he just left) – at least what he told Shinn about Kira made quite an impact.

And, at the end, Alice runs in looking for Shinn: she’s just received confirmation that Stella’s condition has stabilized. While it’s still too early to outright heal the damage done by the Extended modifications, JUDA and the Dannar Base will keep at it, so she’s confident the girl’ll make a full recovery eventually.
Shinn’s equal amounts relieved and amazed that we could potentially even managed to cure an Extended. That’s some big-shot philanthropy right there, though Ichitaka says we just try our best to be CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE. Mind you, he and Alice point out that he needn’t refer to use in the third person, as he’ll also be part of the crew now!
Shinn likes the sound of that: “Stella isn’t someone who should be fighting. I’ll go and do everything I can to make sure she can live as a normal girl when she wakes up.” That’s the spirit. And, one last thing, Alice turns to Ichitaka and says Maki was calling him. Seems their digging into GreAT has yielded some results.

Ichitaka’s rushed on over, Kouichi, Miu and Yamashita tagging along since they’re also curious about anything Maki and Rachel have found. So, is it good news or bad? Bad, Rachel shrugs, and Maki moves to explain.
JUDA’s intelligence department reported some mighty interesting information regarding GreAT the other day. See, the famous, huge multinational has a VERY centralized management, with only some ten-ish people running the whole show. Said people are a cabal of young, elite power players, and it’s all kept very hush-hush. In truth, a big chunk of the company employees don’t even know what they’re creating at any given point – they simply obey the commands given.
Yamashita thinks that sectionalism isn’t too uncommon in big companies like that, but what’s especially weird is that, by the time Kiriyama’s coup was over, GreAT’s CEO and the entire leadership simply vanished. JUDA tried to get in touch with their security department, but those guys also vanished. The only ones that remained were the rank-and-file workers and those guys were very much panicking.

Kouichi wonders if they were in with Kiriyama or the Katou Organization, though Maki can’t confirm that one way or another. It could simply be that they knew of the impeding coup and simply made a run for the hills?
All in all, though, this still isn’t anything conclusive on Grife’s kidnapping, and Maki does apologize (the investigation is still ongoing). Ichitaka’s satisfied with the knowledge that something’s up with the upper echelons of GreAT; they’ve just became the top suspects in all this. And while Ichitaka’s rather certain that Yuu knows something, he’ll stay his course and try to find Grife in his own way!

By the president’s office, Yui’s showing the rest of our team all that’s left of Ishigami: a characterized AI that functions solely as the GUI in JUDA’s control systems. As everyone, especially Nagisa, reel from this, Une reports that she’s officially appointing Misato as Reiji’s replacement as tactical command.
Misato thanks her for the confidence, and while she’ll admit that the crisis bearing down on Earth is unlike anything seen before and won’t be easily averted, she’s confident we can overcome it if we all take one another’s hands and stand together.

This talk turns Anna’s thoughts to Lou, and she wonders if she, Goh and the girl will ever be together again… but never mind that, the alarm rings! Yui relates an SOS from NERV: an unidentified object has emerged by the Odawara defensive line. Pattern is blue, meaning it’s an Angel, and they want LOTUS and the EVAs to intercept.
That’s the 6th Angel turning up, so Misato gives the order to deploy and head to Neo Tokyo 3.

: … ([Screams geometrically])

: All SDF Armas have been disintegrated!
: Target’s moving across Lake Ashi.
: This is bad… Misato, what are you doing…?

: We made it just in time by the looks of things. The #01’ll lead the charge against the Angel – are you good to go, Shinji?
: Yes.
: You’re up, then. EVA-01, launch!
: …! We’re a detecting a high energy reading within the target!
: What?!
: Is it—…!

: Get outta there!
: Wha—

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3JfRgklIWg0

: Shinji!
: Abort the attack! Recover the #01 immediately!
: We can’t! That blast melted the catapult – it’s not working!

: UWAAAAAAAH!!
: Stop! STOP! I want out! Get me out of here!!
: Forget the operation – focus only on rescuing the pilot! Force-eject the Plug!
: Belay that.
: Why?! Don’t you care that your son might die?!
: Take away the pilot and the EVA’s A.T. Field will disappear completely. You’d make a bad situation ten times worse.
: And if the Field disappears…
: The EVA-01 will be obliterated by the Angel’s beam the second that happens… and there’ll be no way to save the pilot…!
: But doesn’t pilot feel all damage the EVA takes himself?! He’s still gonna die if we don’t do anything…!
: There’s got to be something that’d work… Oh! What about our own barrier, Alice?!
: Impossible! The Angel’s beam is far too strong for the Rushbird to absorb!

: GAAAAAAH…!
: … We’ve no other choice. Emergency recovery! Ignite the blast bolts!
: Roger that…!

: They withdrew the #01 by caving in part of the Geofront’s ceiling?!
: A last-ditch effort, that’s for sure…
: …
: The target’s stopped its attack!
: … All troops, full retreat! We need to reassess our situation!

: … The same ceiling again… One way or another, I always end back here when I pilot the EVA…
: …
: Ayanami… You’ve been there all this time?
: I’m here to brief you on the timetable for Operation Yashima, set to be executed tomorrow at midnight. The pilots Ikari and Ayanami are to…

Fade out, fade in.

: … They’re telling me to pilot again?
: Yes.
: No, enough is enough… I never want to go through anything like that again…! I’m always so scared… it haunts me, but I still can never run from any of it…
: …
: I hate piloting the EVA… I only came here because I figured something might change, or that there might be something good in all this. I didn’t come here to suffer…
: Is that how you’ll live your life? Running away from anything that’s difficult or unpleasant?
: …
: I’ll pilot the #01. You can stay here and rest.
: Ayanami…!
: Goodbye.

She leaves.

: …
: I’m just not strong like everyone in LOTUS… Alive or not, I’m worthless. No one needs me… They don’t need me if I won’t pilot…

OK, here’s the rundown: the Angel is currently right above NERV HQ, drilling a hole into the Geofront. It’s looking to Tetsuya (Kouji) that it wants to attack HQ head-on. Now, from what we’ve seen of the previous battle, NERV has posited that the Angel spots and snipes down any enemy that enters within a certain radius.
And, Mira notes, long-range attacks still won’t fly too good as we’d still have to contend with its A.T. Field. Sounds like tough work for an MS, Athrun sighs, and Heine takes it to be more like impossible – even if our MSs broke through the barrier, they simply doesn’t have the firepower to beat the Angel.

Kouji wishes that Field worked like those barrier where you can shatter them like glass (The Angels do not use Photon Barriers, unfortunately) but Prof. Shiba stomps in and says nothing that does that can be called a barrier!
What’s he doing here? Kiriko also walks in, telling Anna that she and the other scientists were called by Misato to help with Operation Yashima. Goh wonders what it could be that’d require the help of this much brain power, so Misato continues.

In essence, since we can’t both pop the A.T. Field and destroy the Angel in the small opening that follows, we’ll have to do it all in one go by firing a ton of energy at it. Is that why these scientists at here? Indeed, Yotsuya and Sakon explain that we’ll be taking in all the labs’ special kinds of energies (Photon, Super Electromagnetic, Plasma, etc), plus ALL of Japan’s electricity, loading it onto a bigass, experimental, positron rifle and shoot the Angel.
According to the simulations Rachel and the others ran, that blast should have enough force to destroy the thing in a single go. But nothing’s ever simple, and Kiriko notes that the gun is incomplete – that is to say, we can’t have it auto-fire. The only way it’ll work is for the #01 to actively snipe the target down. Our job will be to keep the Angel distracted until the gun is ready to fire.

Ichitaka’s worried about it having to be the #01 – does that mean we’ll be forcing Shinji to do it? Tetsuya agrees that it’s complicated: Shinji’s spirit as a warrior took a heavy blow last battle. He’s not too sure if the kid’ll pilot again. Nagisa thinks he’s being too harsh: “Remember how abruptly he was forced to get in the EVA and start fighting. I mean, even I still get scared when I have to fight.”
The difference is, Tetsuya counters, that Nagisa has the RESOLVE to step into the battlefield. The will to do so, despite one’s fear, is what resolve is all about. Goh doesn’t like the idea of forcing Shinji, either, and wonders if we couldn’t have someone else take his place.
Nope, NERV’s MAGI computers ran the numbers and Shinji + EVA-01 was what gave us the best odds of success. Still, Misato is certain he’ll pilot once more.

Mission 17 – Entrusted Hope

It’s almost time for Operation Yashima to begin, the positron rifle already in position. Before we even get started, though, Shigeru pings a bevy of MSs entering the area; odd, since Misato warned all relevant organizations to stay away, but our scans quickly show that we’re dealing with Mimetic Beasts-jacked units.
While Tetsuya Kouji fumes at their penchant for showing up at the worst possible moment, Ritsuko finds it odd: this is the second time the Mimetic Beasts appeared in tandem with an Angel’s attack. What reason is there for this?
But she’ll have to ponder that later, as it’s almost go-time. Misato wants the beasties gone on the double, and both Kouichi and Ichitaka would love if we could beat the Angel while at it – would spare Shinji from the crazy Operation.

Misato speaks against it, telling them to just limit themselves to distracting the thing; push beyond that and all we’ll get is damage we could’ve avoided. Michel sees the admonition for us not to play with fire… though being told NOT to do something only makes Kenji wanna do it more.
Goh will be handling tactical command for a minute, though, as Misato has something she needs to do first. That would be picking up Shinji, he sees, and is fine with it – especially with the experience he has against Mimetic Beasts. While Misato takes off, Shinji’s watching from afar, deep in thought: “Why…? Battles are so horrible, painful… Why do they all fight so hard for others…?”

Ken, whose Insania Virus seems to have calmed down, is watching the battle with Lou. Is he going to keep fighting until all Mimetic Beasts are gone? Probably, he sighs, but Lou has a question: what will he do when that eventually happens? What’ll happen to him once his reason for fighting disappears? “When that happens… I’ll die,” Ken answers.
What he means is that when all this comes to an end, the man he is today will cease to exist. He doesn’t know what he’ll do afterwards – nor does he know any other way to live. “And Lou… If something happens to me before we fulfill our goal—” he starts, but Lou interrupts him.

He’s not going to die, so he shouldn’t even think of talking like that. Ken’s living his life the way he feels he should, and so is Lou. “Right or wrong makes no difference – I don’t regret for one second the choices I made.”
As Ken nods in agreement, Goh sends everyone forward – we need to buy time until Operation Yashima can begin.

Wreck everything, don’t lose a ship. Ramiel won’t ever move from its spot, though the Mimetic Beasts will happily converge to attack him – spread out to maximize your cash and morale gains.
Mind you, don’t have your two groups move TOO far away from the SE and SW corners of the map, because the game has a surprise waiting: on turn four, mooks will spawn in both those corners and you’ll likely need to down most of them in two turns under penalty of a Game Over.

I’d forgotten about this and the ensuing mad dash made me not have the necessary firepower to down Ramiel (which you should try for the extra money and a Break Morale Limit part). Way I see it… I’d consider maybe sending Daiya, the Zingers, Jeeg, Iczer-1, Ichitaka and/or Aoi to try and kill the thing, while the rest is ready to intercept the later arrivals.
If you can do it on turn three, all the better as you can have the Ramiel group join the interceptors.

Ramiel, the 6th Angel
Mech Features:
A.T. Field (Strong)
30% HP and EN Regen

As you might expect, Ramiel’s got a bajillion points in its Range stat, along with some huge… everything else. It’s as bulky as you’d expect from an Angel, but the flying crystal is also accurate as fuck and will likely get great numbers against pretty much all our guys.
Its Shinji-blasting Beam will put the hurt on anyone within 10 spaces of it, but it also has a MAPW version with a nice +30 accuracy modifier to blast a whole 5x5 area around it. Therein lies a bit of a problem with sending folks to kill the thing: it’s obviously gonna cutscene-regen once dead, so the attackers will all but certainly get blasted unless they’re one of the few units whose strongest weapons hit at range 6 or higher. Risky business, but your Supers should be fine – if they’ve Iron Wall, pop it.

All that said, we start spreading folks out. No one’s in range.

Enemy Phase!

And off it goes.

Never let Ramiel get a clean hit on you.

That’s three kills for Aoi, two for Hyouma. Annoyingly, the more distant Mimetic Beasts squads rush Ramiel – two die outright, the rest will follow VERY soon.

The enemy AI continues its quest to push Daiya into the Top Ace spot.

Three kills for him, one for Ichitaka.

Player Phase!

: The Blade Gainer!
: The lot of you should stand down and observe. I’ll dispatch this bunch…!
: Menage Zero… it’s because of you that Shizuru—!

: Stay out of his way…!
: Lou?!
: Lou, Shizuru’s in a coma because of him! How can you…?!
: … I’ll still fight at Ken’s side. That’s the path I chose…! Let’s go, Ken.

: Blade Gainer, Twin Drive…!
: Lou, why…?!
: Ignore them, Anna.
: Professor…?
: I understand how you two feel, but the priority right now is destroying the Mimetic Beasts.
: Hrm… Yes, ma’am…!

: Even the Menage Zero is out there… They don’t need me in the EVA…
: You’ve missed the rendezvous time by quite a lot, Shinji.
: …
: You made your own choice to stay, remember? Now you have a job to do, and you have to do it right.
: But I’m so scared of piloting again…
: You and the other staff have it so easy: all you do is bark orders from a safe distance. How unfair is that? None of you have to go through the horror I do…!
: … Walk with me for a bit.
: …?

: … Fifteen years ago, an enormous amount of lives were lost due to the Second Impact. If an Angel triggered a Third Impact today, it’d wipe out all humans down to the last.
: I’ve heard that story plenty of times already…
: If an Angel is allowed to make it all the way to the HQ’s level EEE, the whole place is set to automatically self-destruct.
: We’ll prevent the Third Impact from being triggered even if we must die to pull it off. That’s the kind of commitment everyone here has.
: And the same applies to Cmdr. Tamashiro, Prof. Yotsuya, Lady Une… they’re all willing to stake their lives for the sake of their mission.

: …?! Is that… an EVA…?!
: No. What you see is the original of all life in this world, as well as the key to its end: Lilith, the 2nd Angel.
: Lilith…?
: Yes, and it’s the trigger to the Third Impact. The EVA was made to fight in order to protect Lilith, and that is something only you can do.
: …
: We’ve entrusted mankind’s very future to you and the EVA…
: You ask for so much… Why me?
: There isn’t a clear-cut reason – it’s just the cards life dealt you. But I want you to understand that you’re not risking your life alone. We’re all in the same boat as you.
: You’re all…
: … Alright. I’ll try and pilot again.

Carrying on, let’s finally give the Gaia a chance to fight stuff for the first time since the start of the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlriJjsxt4g
This is its strongest weapon in MS mode, though it’s got stronger stuff transformed.

While Alto and Michel clear out a squad of Fat Boys, Heine takes one of the Taurus that lost its partner against Aoi.

Forward, Iczers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yduYuiA8Ps

Lulu claims a weakened mook, while Kenji leads the charge with his superior mobility.

Tetsuya’ll take the survivor.

Bam. Southern targets fall to Kouichi and Kouji, Ichitaka and Daiya join up north for a couple of easy kills too.

Can’t send our guys up willy-nilly, lest they get caught in Ramiel’s inevitable MAPW or in the Zamza-Zahs’. Rey and Dick wipe out the nearby Daggers, everyone else moving up slightly.

Enemy Phase!

So there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU60YyVv2h8
They hang by with just 500-ish HP, but all six will die when they try (and fail) to damage it on their move. Blah.

On the eastern wing, Jeffrey and Hyouma get blasted by the Zamza-Zahs but hit back with varying degrees of oomph. On the western wing, it’s up to Kenichi.

That’s a surprising amount of damage for some piddly beam guns, but our bot answers even harder. The second Zamza-Zah and Fat Boy gun for Ichitaka, with predictable results for bringing beam weapons against the Rushbird.

: Sure enough, these Mimetic Beasts are faster on their feet than the regular ones…!
: They may change their forms, but that will not keep me from ending their kind! Such is my lot in life!

Ken also gets sniped, but he still has boss stats.

Player Phase!

: Why do you pilot an EVA, Ayanami?
: … Because I’ve a bond.
: A bond…? With my father?
: With everyone.
: You’re so strong…
: Because I have nothing else.
: I don’t even have any bond, so you’re at least doing better than me.
: … But regardless, we’ll be going out there together… and could both end up dead.
: No, you won’t die.
: Huh…?
: I’ll keep you safe.
: … How do you figure I’m even worth being kept safe…?

: I’ll go and find a way through this for you. Then you won’t need to do any of this scary business. That OK with you, NERV?

: Hey, what’re you up to? Don’t just sit there in a corner – come hang out with us!

: They’re all very good people. I’m sure you’ll be fast friends with everyone.

: Y-You were so awesome back there.

Beep!

: A voice mail…?
: Hey, it’s Suzuhara. Ikari… actually, I’m gonna just call ya Shinji. We’re all countin’ on ya, Shinji!
: Um, it’s Kensuke Aida here. Good luck, Ikari… Touji and his baby sis are also rooting for you. We’ll see you around!
: …
: It’s time for us to go… Goodbye.
: Ayanami…

Back to work and this is now just cleanup: our folks will move up on each side and tear down whatever is still left.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp8zkEv5S9g
And here’s the Gaia’s strongest attack.

And when turn 4 rolls around…

: It’s time for the Operation to begin.

: Only the #00 deployed…
: Shinji…

: The EVA-01! Is Shinji manning it?
: …
: You alright, Shinji?
: If there’s something I can do… then I’ll try my very best to pull it off.
: Well said, Shinji. And don’t worry: you’ve got us covering your back, front, right and left!
: Shinji… If anything you’ve my gratitude for just being willing to pilot the EVA.
: Misato…
: Now, as we said in the briefing, the #01 will man the rifle while the #00 will run defense.
: Yes, ma’am…!
: … Initiate Operation Yashima! Prepare to fire the positron rifle!
: Initiate the countdown! All units stand clear of the firing range!
: Bring it home, Shinji!
: No issues up to the stage four connections.
: Final safety device, released!
: Cock the rifle!
: Auto-tracking target. Sight calibration complete. Positrons accelerating, will be at firing threshold in 0.2… 0.1….!
: Shift to stage five. Activate the final connections!
: Directing all energy into the ultra-high voltage discharge system! Positron acceleration is at max! Pulse is stable! Everything’s green!
: Aim it good, Shinji! Don’t rush it! We’re all here with you!
: Our victory…
: And all of Japan’s electricity are now in your hands!
: We’re counting on you, Shinji!
: (I don’t have anywhere as much resolve as Ayanami… I don’t even think I’m decent as a pilot for the EVA… I didn’t even know what was going on – I just got it to move…)
: (“Protect humanity”…? I can’t even wrap my head around something so major, so I don’t understand why I was chosen…)
: (… And, yet, everyone still has so much faith in someone like me… So I’ll give this another try… I want to live up to their trust…!)
: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
: FIRE!

: He-He missed…?!
: But the targeting was right on the money…!

: High energy reading coming from the target!
: Watch out!
: Shinji! Brace for impact!

: Shinji, are you OK?!
: Haah… haah…
: Status on the energy system?!
: Still active! It’s already reloading!
: And the rifle?
: Also operational and cooling down. We don’t know if it can manage another shot, though…
: Don’t worry about that – we’ll go for it anyway.
: Shinji, do you hear me? You have to get the #01 back to its perch right away!
: Haah… haah… kch…!
: Shinji?!
: He can’t handle it…?
: I’m relieving the #01’s pilot of his duty, effective immediately. The #00’s pilot will man the rifle.
: Ikari…!
: If he’s useless, then we’ve to cut him loose.
: You…! Do you not care anything about Shinji?!
: Please, sir! He could’ve ran from all this but he decided to pilot the EVA! He’s not giving up, so we should trust in him!

: Hrk… rrgh…
: Have faith in your son, in the #01’s pilot! I know he’ll see this through!

: …
: A-Again… just… one more…

: Ikari…
: … Fine, I’ll allow it. Do as you wish.
: Thank you very much!
: Shinji, let’s try this again. All the energy in Japan, our hopes, the future of mankind, and all life on Earth… everything is in your hands. You can do it!
: OK…!

: We’ve new Mimetic Beast signals entering the area! They’re MS-parasite types!
: Are they gunning for the wounded #01?!
: Hrm…!
: Leave them to us, Ikari. Everyone here saw the extent of your resolve, so we won’t let any of them get a single claw on you!
: A sniper’s gotta trust the attackers to keep the enemy off his back.
: Yeah! So you trust me— trust us, even!
: Guys…
: Troops, it’ll take another two minutes for the positron rifle to recharge! Keep the #01 safe from the Mimetic Beasts until then!

Mission Objective: Destroy all enemies, protect the EVA-01 for two turns.
Mission Failure: Any allied ship or the EVA-00 shot down, OR if any enemy attacks the EVA-01.

And here’s the problem: the new Mimetic Beasts are special in that they don’t have to follow the standard AI-guidelines of “attack whatever is close and has decent HP”. Rather, they’ll actively make a beeline for Shinji and you have, at best, by the second enemy turn before they reach him.
My original plan was to send a couple of folks to keep them busy while I downed Ramiel for the Skill Part, which promptly went south when I realized the AI didn’t play ball. As a result, I had to dump everything, bring our guys into the ships and RUSH them over because there are quite a bunch of them that you need to down in a turn and half (and they’ll prioritize moving over attacking).
I could have restarted the mission and kept the Quarter and Minerva in position to MAPW the crap out of them when they arrived, but I’d caught some demonic strain of the Spanish Flu at the time of the recording and couldn’t be arsed to do it.

Fast forward a turn of desperate scrambling and the Daiku Maryu pulls over with my western team in range to engage both flanks.

The Windams all either need to be downed by this turn or walled off because they WILL reach Shinji if they get a clear move on their second turn. As for the Daggers, it can go one of two ways: if the squad is within 7 squares of Shinji, you’ll need to kill both because even with the flying leader gone, the squaddie will be in range to artillery strike the kid; if it’s outside of that range, then just taking out the leader will ground the Dagger and it won’t be in range yet.
Keep that in mind when prioritizing which enemy to kill.

Forward!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICoN0KEKUzw
And here’s the DK for Iczer-4 Full Power. Slick!

: The target’s drill has reached ground zero! It’s right above HQ!
: Ready the second shot! Hurry!
: New firing solution has been entered! Any further adjustments and compensations will have to be done manually by the pilot!
: Detecting another high energy spike within the target!
: No! We’re not ready—!!

: !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yGS__WRNuk

: You did it!

The #00 powers down.

: Oh, no…! Rei…!
: Ayanami…!

Shinji gets off the #01 and after her.

: Hrrgh… Aya…nami…

: Ayanami! Are you alright…?!

: Urk…
: Oh, thank god… you’re alive…

: Don’t say… don’t say that you’ve nothing else…
: And don’t say goodbye when you’re leaving on a mission. It’s too sad… Gck… aah…
: Why are you crying?
: … I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do at a time like this.
: … Why don’t you try smiling?
: !
: …
: We’ve confirmation that Rei’s safe!
: Whew… That was a bit too much excitement even for my taste.
: Recover both the #01 and #00, and bring the pilots along too.
: Roger!

: As for the remaining Mimetic Beasts, all troops—

: They ran off…?!
: Say what? The things didn’t get all scared ‘cause of Shinji’s rifle, right?
: They fled right after the Angel was destroyed… Thoughts, Ritsuko?
: We know far too little for me to give you a conclusive answer. Still, it’s possible that the Mimetic Beasts saw the Angel as a threat on an instinctual level?
: …
: Our business here is done… Let’s leave!
: OK!
: Lou, wait!

: Lou…
: Why do you let nothing but that thirst for revenge lead you, Lou…?
: I was really worried we were screwed today, but we actually managed to pull it off.
: Hm. We all live to fight another day…
: All thanks to Shinji and Rei’s hard work.
: Every one of you did an amazing job today. Why don’t you return to base and get some rest?

Here are all the convos we missed due to the AI’s sass:

: Ichitaka, all we’re doing is trying to buy time!
: I know, I know! Now’s our turn to show how strong our barrier is! Come on, Rushbird!

–

: Don’t run from this, Shinji… If you do, you’ll be running and regretting for the rest of your life…!

–

: Hey, ya big marble! Come and get me!
: Hold on, Hyouma! You’re going a bit too crazy with this!
: Nah, he’s gotta make some noise or the thing ain’t caring! Let’s put all our chips on Hyouma and let him handle it!

–

: Watch it, Kenichi! You’re in the thing’s shooting range!
: I understand that, but the success of the operation hangs on the line! So I’m stepping forward, and I’m not letting a shred of fear hold me back!

–

: Look at this crazy crystal, camping out right in the middle of our turf! Well, you’re not welcome here – piss off!

–

: This thing is like a gun turret…!
: Then I oughta close the distance and draw its attention over to me!

–

: Will we kill you first, or will you make it to the Geofront first…?
: This battle’s gonna come down to the wire…!

–

: They just need a bit more time to get things set up for their Op!
: ‘Til then, you’re gonna find me and the Gaiking all up in your crystal grill!

–

: Will you be alright, Iczer-1?!
: Don’t worry, Nagisa. This Angel changes its shape as it attacks.
: I need only pay attention to its tells, and I’ll manage to react accordingly…!

–

: Blah… Playing bait’s so boring.
: Still, this is pretty exciting, don’t you think?
: Eeh… But, you know, the thing looks beatable, so no one would care if we gave it a shot, right?
: I like the way you think. Let’s step out into the spotlight and run wild on this pebble!

–

: Keep your distance from the Angel, Kouichi! You’re inside its firing range!
: Shinji went and took this thing’s blast on the chin! What kinda man would I be if I hanged from a safe distance and plinked away at it?! No, what I gotta do is to draw its attention away from them!

: I hope Ayanami’s doing alright…

: … Why don’t you try smiling?
: !
: …

: That was the first time I saw her smile…

Biff!

: Wha—
: Attaboy, Shinji!
: Ichitaka?!
: You slick sumbitch, you! That was damn good today!
: Absolutely. You stood your ground and pulled through – you’re the MVP today!
: N-not at all… I’m nothing compared to you guys…
: Chill, man. Getting a pat on the back every now and then never hurt anyone, right?
: Yup… You’ve really gotten strong, Shinji.
: No need for modesty, Ikari. Today’s victory was only possible because you mustered your courage, so stand proud.
: Um… Thank you… very much.
: You were also going to check up on Rei at the infirmary, right? Let’s get to it, then – the other MVP is waiting.
: OK…!

By the operation center, Ritsuko ponders if Shinji’s turned a new leaf today. Misato doesn’t think people change that quickly, BUT she does think today marks a major point in his life. Perhaps, perhaps.
Misato inwardly tells Shinji to keep up the good work, but is interrupted when a call from Gendou summons her to his office. Whatever could he want? Misato already has so much to worry about…

The techs have taken a look on the EVAs and they both, especially the #00, took significant damage. It’ll take a few days to get it all repaired. Misato apologizes, but Fuyutsuki tells her not to: they were the ones who gave her the green light for today’s operation. “You needn’t take responsibility for this, Colonel Katsuragi,” Gendou adds.
Colonel? Indeed, she’s been promoted. Misato’s a bit surprised, but Gendou’s already moved on: he’s heard that she apparently told the #01’s pilot about Lilith. Fuyutsuki says they’ll inform the LOTUS leadership themselves about both it and NERV HQ’s true purpose as its defender. As for the squad proper, Gendou’ll leave it to her to tell us, but asks that that knowledge is kept limited to our group.

As Misato sets off, Fuyutsuki wonders if this is really fine. Gendou is sure: “The distortion is having major effects. It wouldn’t be any exaggeration to say that things are already going off the rails.”
Still, they’ll carry on with the Schedule as is… even if they’ve no idea what’ll happen.

: I understand. That child has awakened, and we’ve entered the summation phase, hm? (Kaworu.)
: That’s correct. The Dead Sea Scrolls Apocrypha has been fulfilled up to the Book of Law. The time of the covenant is close at hand.
: (Is it…? I feel that things are a little bit off.)
: Still, it’s the Third again… You sure haven’t changed, huh…? Shinji Ikari…

[Mattman324]

The Angel’s beam is far too strong for the Rushbird to absorb!

Bullshit.

Killing Ramiel in a first run is actually really easy, as the thing is basically a pile of HP and not all that much else - its armor is surprisingly low. Ichitaka can tank any of its attacks with his barrier, instantly stopping them, so what you want to do is have him start slapping the thing with whoever his partner is (probably someone who can dodge well, though of course it falls to spirits just as easily) while most of your units take on the reinforcements. Most of the second spawn units aren’t that big of a deal outside of Ken, so on turn 4, have only a few people ready for it and have everyone else converge on the Angel. Breaking 4000 is NOT difficult in L, and Ramiel has no other major tricks.

You can actually kill it twice, and it gives you money and a different part both times. That’s… less feasible on a first run if you intend on killing everything else, but still theoretically possible if you place your units like a god.

And hey, this is the first series finale in L! Of course, it’s just the finale to Evangelion 1.0, so that’s not impressive given Evangelion 2.2 is still up, but eh.

Also woo Kaworu’s here being strange again. Too bad that was basically all he ever did until the mobages and Z3/V let him actually fucking do things… and even then, only Card Chronicle and Cross Omega have given him his actual goddamn Evangelion. It was in Rebuild 2 guys, if you’re going to use Rebuild give us that and Provisional Eva!

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Welcome back, folks. I went back and redid the previous mission to pull off a kill on Ramiel before Shinji blasted it, so all’s well in the world now.
Ichitaka’s made it to 70 kills, becoming our first de facto Ace, while Kenji and Daiya continue to hang behind. The latter got 6 kills last mission, so if he keeps that pace, he’ll eventually overtake the competition.

As for upgrades, random pips went to many of our protags. More importantly, Kenji got that Break Morale Limit that Ramiel dropped since I like Jeeg. Shinji got Hit & Away and B-Save because both his Gatling Gun and Positron Rifle are ammo based.

Speaking off, all Jeeg units are auto-deploying, so we change a few things:
Shinji/Quatre
Daiya/Yanma
Kouichi/Rei
Ichtiaka/Mil
Kouji/Puria
Iczer-1
Ozma/Luca
Alto/Michel
Tetsuya/Canaria
Domyoji/Athrun
Shinn/Klan
Heine/Anna
Zechs/Noin
Rey/Luna
Voltes/Mira
Combattler/Deceive
Dancouga/Yamashita
Dick/Jack

Forward!

Ikima has finally returned from the Zone and he’s brought the original Jeeg’s head back with him! As he basks in Himika’s praise, Amaso sniffs that he could’ve brought the thing back AT LEAST a day sooner.
Ikima reminds him that time flows way slower inside the Zone than it does outside… and Amaso had actually forgotten about that. Mimashi smacks his forehead, but what’s important is that it’s here.
So, Himika begins her ritual to extract the other Bronze Bell from within.

Tsubaki suddenly wakes up in her bedroom: “A dream? It didn’t look like a normal one, though… That woman was trying to get something… What was that…?”

Emi and Nagisa have woken up uncharacteristically late today, Aoi telling them that even Shinji and Kouichi have already left for their morning training. Klan isn’t too surprised, what with all the data that needed processing after Operation Yashima – Sakon and Kosuke were helping Emi, but it was still a lot of work to do.
What about Nagisa? Was she also helping? No… she just stayed up late watching TV. Ichitaka prods her that Shizuru once warned that not getting enough sleep is bad for the skin, but Nagisa moans that it’s just as important to relax and have fun when outside of battle. Besides, it was just yesterday and they, as students, are entitled to take a day off once in a while!

That would be the case weren’t Ichitaka and co taking something of an extended leave with all that’s going on. Domyoji figures if anyone needs to take a break, it’s Shinji and Rei and Klan agrees: those two had a lot riding on their shoulders with Operation Yashima.
Indeed, not only does Tetsuya say Shinji performed admirably, everything would’ve ended in failure had Rei not been ready to shield him so selflessly. It takes someone with a heart of iron to be willing to do that for a comrade, that’s for sure – bonds so strong that they make one ready to sacrifice oneself.

Hell, Ichitaka remembers Shinji burning his hands in order to rescue Rei from the melted #00 – he oughta learn from the kid’s example – and Kurara approves of their youthful ardor. “Hey, Johnny, if Kurara and I were in danger, would you come to our rescue?” Aoi snickers. “I would, but I plead the fifth on any implications that might have regarding our ‘bonds’,” Johnny fires back.
That’s a boringly noncommittal answers in Aoi’s opinion, though Kenji concedes that he’d readily risk his life if Tsubaki was in danger. She’s not listening, though, staring out into the distance. When Kenji pokes her, she tells of the weird dream she’s had.

Cut to some time later, Tsubaki’s told Shiba about her dream and he doesn’t think it was just that – rather, it was a vision of the present. When he asks, she confirms that, indeed, the woman in her dream mentioned wanting to get this “Bronze Bell”. The Jama guys have been very vocal of how they’re after that thing, and Boss wants to know what it is.
Well, everyone’s here, so Kyo figures it’s a good time as any to explain what’s what. The Bronze Bell is something indispensable to us, a power source that channels an ancient energy and lies within Kenji’s Raikouba (his bike, which turns into Jeeg’s head).

Furthermore, the Bronze Bell’s energy is also the power that sealed Himika and her goons away in a previous battle. Come again? You see, the Jama Kingdom first tried to invade our world fifty years ago, which eventually culminated with the old UN forces leading an assault on the Jama Kingdom’s fortress in Aso.
During that battle, Hiroshi Shiba, the original Jeeg, used his own Bronze Bell to seal away Himika and the rest of the Jamas. But they managed to return, and now Himika seeks the Bronze Bell as a way to attain even greater power.
Last time it took a concentrated effort of worldwide military for us to prevail, and they’ll only get way stronger if Himika is successful. Not a good prospect.

Back to Himika, despite her efforts, she can’t draw out the Bronze Bell from the old Jeeg. She doesn’t understand why, but soon feels Tsubaki’s presence – observing her – and something clicks in her head.
They need that girl. She’s the key to extract the Bronze Bell! Amaso’s confused, but Ikima seems to understand as well, and has an idea.

Back to us! Micchi, judging from Tsubaki’s vision, wagers that Himika’s gotten her hands on Jeeg’s head – the original Jeeg’s head. Hiroshi Shiba is said head himself, and it is within him that the other Bronze Bell is located. Goh remembers hearing of what Hiroshi is, but Yanma doesn’t understand how Himika found it: he and Haccho remember heading that the old Jeeg vanished during the battle fifty years ago.
Shiba figures he was inside the Zone all this time, and, since Alto and co aren’t from here, Micchi’ll explain what that is: the entire region of Kyushu has been isolated behind a barrier since the battle with the Jama Kingdom fifty years ago. It was speculated that Hiroshi was sealed inside all this time after sealing Himika and co away.
What Kenji wants to know, though, is how they figure Tsubaki’s dream was real, and Micchi tells that the girl’s had this sort of power from the moment she was born: her power as Priestess of the Bronze Bells.

Tsubaki’s worried, asking about what that means, but Micchi tells her it’s nothing to be afraid of; rather, it could be her gateway to greater strength. Tsubaki doesn’t quite know what to make of this, but if it’s her mission, then she’s willing to fight with this power she has.
And she’ll get her chance, as the alarms start blaring: a large Jama Kingdom force is headed straight for Build Base! Rey smells a trap, with Shinn and Luca figuring they’re luring us in a bid to nab the other Bronze Bell we have.
Trap or not, Athrun says we can’t ignore that posse of enemies, and Misato agrees: LOTUS is to move out and protect Build Base.

Mission 18 – Hoping for Retrieval

The Jama folks just rolled on over and started blasting the Build Base. Ikima taunts Jeeg to come and face his death, and LOTUS readily obliges. As we deploy, Ozma and Kouji spot the three Dai Kaengus with the enemy leaders atop, showing that they’re getting serious.
While Ikima and Amaso proclaim that THIS TIME they’ll get our Bronze Bell, Misato sends everyone forward with an admonition to keep Kenji in one piece. Seems like he can’t go too crazy now, but just regular crazy’ll work fine for him.

Kill everything don’t lose any ship, Jeeg or the Big Shooter. A simple mission to relax after Operation Yashima, Ikima, Amaso and Mimashi are the only real threats here (especially since they can drain SP), but that doesn’t mean much considering the plot’ll kick in once one of them is dead. In hindsight, you could potentially kill all three of them with Canaria’s MAPW if you position her well.
All in all, you really need to try to lose anyone this mission: the enemies will be coming in waves, so you’ll have ample time to build morale and stomp over everything in your way.

With that said, let’s send everyone forward and rush through this.

: Hey, hey, the Bronze Bell’s waiting right here! You ain’t getting it, but you might as well come on over and save us all some time!

Kill three enemies:

: The way those enemies are moving… They really are focused on getting the second Bronze Bell, just as we thought.
: Then we just need to mount our formation around Kenji and there should be no surprises.
: Probably… but…
: Something wrong, Col. Katsuragi?
: … No, don’t worry about it. We should stick to the original plan.
: Alright. Relay that to all other ships!
: (My gut’s telling me that I’m overlooking something important, but…)

: We’ve the home field advantage today, Mido, Saotome. Let’s make this quick.
: Roger that!
: Been a long time since we were back here. Now we clean house!

: Tsubaki, our job is to support Kenji. Don’t overextend yourself, alright?
: O-OK!
: Forget about your powers as Priestess of the Bronze Bells for the time being. You’ll know everything soon enough.
: Kyo… You’re right. What I’ve to worry about right now is fighting!

: Boom! You jerks see how strong we are yet?!
: Hmhmhm… What of it?

: Yaah!
: Wh-What’s he doing?!

: He took the Big Shooter!
: Tsubaki! Kyo!
: The girl is ours! Her capture is far more important to Her Majesty than the other Bronze Bell!
: So they weren’t after our Bronze Bell at all…?!
: HEY! This is the first we’ve heard about that!
: Your plan was to claim all the glory for yourself, wasn’t it?!
: I needed you to attack Jeeg to create an opening for me to act. If you’ve any complaints, you’re free to vent them later. We’re retreating!
: Hrm…!

The three leaders head to the edge of the map.

: KENJII!!

: Stop! Give Tsubaki and Kyo back!

: It’s… that thing that showed up in Misaki!
: Baruba, the Animal God, wasn’t that its name?
: Outta my way, Baruba!
: Grrrr…! Grrowr!

: Hrk…! Quit bugging me! I gotta go save Tsubaki and Kyo!
: ROWR!
: It’s like Kyo told you before, Kenji. He won’t let you through unless you prove your strength.
: Guess so… Then all I have to do is kick his ass some!

: (Hold on, Tsubaki, Kyo. I’ll show this cat how strong I am, and then I’m off to save you two!)
: Grrrr!

: So this is that monster that cropped up while we were out in space, eh…?
: …
: You might not be an outright bad guy, but I’m not pulling my punches if you’ll be a problem!

: …
: I see… you’ve a mission as well. But I also cannot step aside.
: You can tell what its thinking, Iczer-1?
: Only somewhat… But, regardless, we must end this battle with haste!

Kenji attacking: “Get it in your thick skull that I’m way stronger than you!”

: Grrr…
: Kitty’s still a real tough cookie!
: Baruba, I gotta take you down and get a move on! I’m gonna keep Tsubaki safe, whatever it takes!
: Even if I’m hurt, or if I gotta die for it, I’LL KEEP HER SAFE!!

: … Grrr.
: He still wants to keep fighting even after a blow like that?!
: No, he doesn’t…!

: …
: Baruba, you…
: Looks like he figured out we’re not enemies.
: He acknowledged our power, then?
: Apparently so. I don’t feel any more hostility coming from him.
: You wanna come with us, then, Baruba?
: Rowr.

: All enemies confirmed destroyed!
: And there doesn’t seem to be any troops lying in ambush, Captain.
: Col. Katsuragi, we should return to Build Base and put together a plan to rescue the captives.
: You’re right…
: What, you’re telling me to sit on my ass? No way! Hold on, Tsubaki, Kyo! I’m coming after you right now!

: Wh— Kenji, wait!
: Oi, that dum-dum! He wants to go look for the Jama Kingdom by himself?!
: Lemme handle it! I’ll make him call this off!
: Hm, get to it. Bring him back even if you have to knock him out!
: Yes, sir!

And here are the convos we missed today:

: Too bad for you, Ikima, another loss is all you’re leaving with!
: That won’t happen! Today is the day we’ll claim the Bronze Bell!
: (Yes… Jeeg’s head is our target today. The Jeeg’s head, indeed…!)

–

: You’ve got some nerve attacking Build Base while we weren’t around!
: It’s all to claim your Bronze Bell, and I am not about to let this new opportunity elude me!

–

: This won’t end as it did before! I’ll now fulfill my mission and present the Bronze Bell to Her Majesty! She’s going to be so happy with me!
: Psh. With that look of yours I reckoned you’d be a pretty sharp guy, not someone who’d be chasing rainbows.
: Rainbows? Where?!
: Inside your crazy head, is where! You got a whole different thing coming if you think things are gonna be following your script!

–

: We’d be wrapping this up a whole lot quicker if we could tame him with some food…
: No way, this cat looks way too proud to fall for that.
: Besides, we’ve got no kibble around!
: …
: That’s enough playing around. This guy… He’s really not going to cut us any slack.

Some time later, Quatre tells we’ve yet to hear of Ichitaka, so Kenji’s location is still unknown. Dick ponders that Kenji might’ve gotten himself jumped, but Kouichi tells him to quit with that. It’s only making us worry.
Rey sees his point, though, as Kenji ran off towards the Jama Kingdom’s own sphere of influence, so there’s a decent chance things’ll go bad if he’s not brought back quick. Alto’s thinking he should’ve gone after him, but it’s then that Kouji runs in and tells everyone to turn on the TV.
Why? Durandal’s making a statement to the entire planet!

So he says: “Attention. I am Gilbert Durandal, Chairman of the PLANT High Council. I come to you today because I have something I want you all to know: the reason why the war will not cease…why we were ever at war to begin with.”
He asks everyone to watch a certain footage, which Anna immediately recognizes as the battle of Berlin: “This video depicts the events of a few days ago, where Alliance forces, led by their newest weapons, raided a city in western Central Eurasia. These weapons of mass-destruction attacked unprovoked, giving no chance for the populace to escape, resulting in the destruction of three cities and the deaths of civilians beyond counting.”

Talia inwardly wonders if Durandal took such roundabout ways to send them their orders in order to delay the Minerva’s departure and make sure events unfolded like that. No… that can’t be true!
Durandal carries on: “Why? Why did this happen? Why do they use weapons instead of words? ‘We will have no peace! We must fight!’ Who would say that first?”

By the Archangel, they’re also watching the speech: “I know that we, humans, could and must join together and rebuild our world as one abounding with kindness and light. However, some of us work against that dream – and they have been doing so since time immemorial!”
What is he getting at, Cagalli wonders, while Lacus watches in silence.

Back to us: “They are an amalgam of defense contractors, seeking to foster hostility, to plunge this world into conflict… They are called Logos, merchants of death, and are the nemeses of all of us who dream of peace!”
Rey ponders that Gil’s finally revealed the existence of Logos to the world.

Djibril is NOT happy that they’ve been outed, and Logos Guy asks how he’s going to fix this. It’s his responsibility that Durandal could pull this stunt. No, no, it’ll be fine and Djibril has just the card to play: he knows that Durandal’s been buddying up with people from another world, despite his speeches of wanting to help all of humanity. Surely Logos Guy is aware of that too.
So, what Djibril wants to do is expose that for the world to see, and the people will all turn against the Coordinators! “But there is yet another matter that I wish to convey to you,” Durandal continues his speech. What now? “The Macross Frontier, the migrant fleet which I’m certain you’ve all heard of… they are actually visitors from a different world. The Frontier Fleet arrived on this Earth seeking mutual support with all of us. But despite their friendly intentions, Logos sought to eradicate them all solely for their own benefit!”
Oooh, shit, Djibril can feel the entire world turning against THEM right as this goes down, and Durandal seals the deal: “I hereby swear an oath to fight and destroy Logos, enemies of our world!”
CURSE YOU, DURANDAAAAAL! :argh:

Cut to the Frontier, Mishima was a bit surprised by Durandal’s announcement, but figures a man like him has decent odds of emerging victorious. More importantly, though, a NUNS officer walks in and says Ranka has arrived. The girl’s a bit intimidated, but Mishima is honored to finally meet the famous Super Dimensional Cinderella.
Now, what does such an important member of their government want with her? Well, they’ve reviewed data on her kidnapping by the Vajra and their scientists have theorized that her song might just be our ultimate weapon against the Vajra.
Ranka’s very surprised, but while this matter is still under investigation, Mishima says the government is putting together a special project to verify things before long. They’d like her help with that. Ranka doesn’t know what she’d have to do, but that’s fine as Mishima’s found her something of specialist manager to help with that.

And it’s Grace. She’ll be taking over as Ranka’s manager starting today, though that raises the question from the girl: what about Elmo? He won’t fly, as this’ll require a coordinated effort with the government, so it’d be too complicated to bring in someone else. And Elmo himself consented to this when they explained what a major opportunity this was for Ranka. Really.
Well, but what about Sheryl? Isn’t Grace her manager? Sure, but she’ll be in the hospital for a bit longer – and even when she eventually gets out, Grace is more than capable of handling the two of them. She’s certain Sheryl is happy to pass the torch on to Ranka and have her bring joy to the Frontier’s people in her absence.
Alright, Ranka’s up for it, so Mishima’ll get to work and see that everything’s ready for her (including assigning a bodyguard).

: Damn, I can’t find any sign of them! Where’d they go?!

: Kenji, hold up!

Ichitaka moves closer.

: Ichitaka…! Wait, you’re not here to stop me, are ya?!
: Listen, even if you manage to run those guys down, you can’t take them all alone! Why don’t we all go back to Build Base for a sec and work something out together?!
: Besides, Baruba hasn’t recovered from the last battle either!
: No way, no how! I… I gotta save Tsubaki right the hell now!
: We all want to save her! And if you’re gonna be stubborn about this, I’m gonna have to make you come back to base…!
: Tch! I ain’t got time to go at it with you! Baruba!
: Grrowr!

Baruba charges after the Rushbird!

: Wah?!

: Kenji!

: Wh-What the?! But the radars clear…!

: … I guess that really is all you amount to.
: The Straybird?!
: Yuu, why are you—
: There’s nothing for us to talk about. And you haven’t the right to stop Jeeg, either. He’s forging on ahead, alone, just to achieve his own personal goal – like I am.
: Yuu, stealing the Rushbird is stage one of our plan. We cannot waste much time on this.
: Understood. We’ll set out in t minus 8, alright, Haruno?

: (He’s doing that again…! But how am I gonna catch up to him without Kouichi or anyone else around…?!)
: I won’t let you take another step. Rather, I won’t let you fight any more!

: Gwargh!!
: Ichitaka! Are you bleeding?!
: Do you see it now? This is all you amount to when you don’t have a swarm of allies to bail you out.
: You’re stuck in the present, blind to what you should be doing. You’re not fit to be with that squadron, much less capable of saving gramps.
: You shouldn’t throw your life away for nothing.
: What…?!
: This has gone on for too long, Ichitaka. You will be leaving the Rushbird here and now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn_6FIiC8CA
Haruno: “Do not fight back, Alice!”
Yuu: “We’ll be taking the Rushbird!”
Haruno: “None of your friends are here to help today. You’ve no chance of winning!”

: GAAAAAAH!!
: Hang in there, Ichitaka!
: … Has he given up?
: AL-3 Alice, there’s nothing you can do by yourself. Take Ichitaka and leave your unit.
: …Damn… Isn’t there anything… we can do…?
: We know everything about the Rushbird’s abilities. Whatever you may try to scrounge up, it won’t work.
: (The Rushbird’s abilities… That’s the Maser Eye, the energy emission device and the energy absorption device that generates the Laplace Wall… What can we do with just those…?)
: Hah, I guess reality ain’t like TV… No hero’s showing up to save us when we need one…
: (! “Hero”…? Actually, this is rather similar to that show Ichitaka and the Professor liked… Maybe if…!)

Beep, beep!

: (I knew it…! If I use both energy devices like this, then…!)

Tchunk!

: …

Beep, beep!

: Are you overheating again?! Stop! I dunno what you’re thinking, but we can’t turn this around!
: It is no problem at all…! Rather, it’s with you giving up so easily that I see plenty of problems!
: !
: Leave this to me. If my hypothesis is correct, then there’s a way to make it through this!
: Ichitaka, I’ll need you to move the unit exactly as I say. I’ll manage the flow of energy!
: Alright…! Just tell me what to do, Alice!

The Rushbird stands back up.

: They’re still at it? I’m surprised his spirit wasn’t crushed after that.
: They might be planning to use the Laplace Wall and Lightning Fist in tandem for a rushdown attack.
: No, wait. Are they…?!
: Hrrrm!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIMZohbrlW8
Alice: “Here we go, Ichitaka!”
Ichitaka: “Alright, everything’s in your hands!”
Ichitaka: “Th-That’s…?!”
Alice: “Deploying Laplace Wall. Initiating absorption of subspace energy efflux…!”
Alice: “Control established! Ichitaka, position the Rushbird’s arms like so…!”
Ichitaka: “OK. Like this?!”
Alice: “And now the dimensional energy will…!”
Yuu: “Kch…! I-It’s…?!”
Haruno: “How… How could Alice perform a procedure of this level…?!”

: Wh-What…?!
: It twisted time and space to draw out a direct flow of energy from subspace…?! That unit’s capable of something like that…?!
: It… worked…
: Alice, you…

: Damage has exceeded all acceptable parameters. Yuu, we cannot continue…
: … We’re retreating. We cannot afford to lose the Straybird.

: Alice, what was that just now…? And what happened to your hair…
: …
: … Alice? Something up?

Power down.

: …
: What’s wrong?! Hey, talk to me! ALICE!!

[Mattman324]

And so, Rushbird takes its first step towards being Bird Zeorymer SKL.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Back again, and Kenji’s previous event deployment really helped him close the gap with Ichitaka.

Few more HP, Armor, EN and Accuracy upgrades to our Supers like the Nagahamas, Daiya, Shinji, etc.
As for Skill Parts, Kenji gets Ignore Size Difference, Daiya starts building up on Infight and Iczer-1 takes Counter to take advantage of her massive Skill stat.

And the Jeeg units are all still event deployments, so our teams haven’t changed:
Shinji/Quatre
Daiya/Yanma
Kouichi/Rei
Ichtiaka/Mil
Kouji/Puria
Iczer-1
Ozma/Luca
Alto/Michel
Tetsuya/Canaria
Domyoji/Athrun
Shinn/Klan
Heine/Anna
Zechs/Noin
Rey/Luna
Voltes/Mira
Combattler/Deceive
Dancouga/Yamashita
Dick/Jack

Forward![/i]

We open up by Aso, with Kenji feeling Himika nearby. He and Baruba are still on the hunt.

At Build Base, Une is relating the far-reaching effects of Durandal’s speech. The people are, indeed, very cross with Logos for triggering this war and nations the world over are setting their forces to hunt them down. From reports Une’s receiving, members of Logos are being arrested as we speak and the organization is rapidly losing power.
The same can be said for the Earth Alliance which is crumbling – all nations that joined in, willingly or not, are leaving. That’s good news for us, Goh figures, but there’s still a problem in that we haven’t been able to find Djibril. And he still has Relena, who we’ll need to go rescue eventually. That said, Une wants us to focus on rescuing Kyo and Tsubaki right now.

Misato and Shiba both figure Himika took Tsubaki in order to use her powers as Priestess to extract the Bronze Bell from the old Jeeg’s head. Letting the Jama Kingdom gain access to that kind of power’ll have us facing a repeat of the battle fifty years ago, so Une wants it handled pronto.
As she ends the call, Zechs ponders that it’ll apparently be left to us to personally bury Lord Djibril.

By the infirmary, Ichitaka’s being told that we’ve no idea what happened with Alice. The staff simply doesn’t have enough data or time to figure it out, even with Kosuke and the others helping. Way Canaria sees it, we’re better off waiting until we’re back in JUDA to get Rachel and Maki in on this.
Alice has recovered from her crash, apologizing that she couldn’t come up with anything else back then. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. You wouldn’t have needed to pull that crazy stunt if I’d been stronger,” Ichitaka immediately says.
As for why she overheated and blacked out, she just couldn’t handle the strain of both controlling the flow of energy and doing the math to create a localized dimensional distortion. But it was only thanks to Ichitaka and Grife that the idea ever came to her, so she thanks him for it.

From what Kosuke’s seen, what she did was set the Rushbird’s input-output devices to operate at a very specific balance. Since they work by interacting with energy in subspace, she was able to trigger a temporary breakdown of the dimensional boundary.
In essence, she explains, it was like uniting plus and minus, fire and ice. This show Grife used to watch saw a similar event happen, where opposing forces were used in conjunction to create a brand new phenomenon. So, she figured the Rushbird would be capable of doing something to that effect. The calculations to make it happen were too much, of course.
A call comes in right then, and it seems we’re all deploying. Alice tells Canaria that she’s good to go – no problems at all – and Ichitaka wants to make up for letting Kenji run off on his own. We WILL be bringing both Tsubaki and Kyo home safely!

Kouji and the others got a pin on Kenji and found him headed into Aso’s underground. That’s gotta be where we’ll find Himika along with our friends.
Shiba gives us the go-ahead to deploy, as we both need to rescue the captives and make sure Himika doesn’t get her hands on the Bronze Bell.

Mission 19 – Assault at Aso

: Jama jamal dara jamal dara, meki mekimi dara mekimi dara…! Before long, your powers will be at my disposal!
: Kch…!

: Found you, Himika!
: These rats dare enter my domain… Ikima!
: By your will!

: Outta my way! I ain’t playing around today!
: Your bravado won’t help, Steel Jeeg! Come and behold the might of the Jama Kingdom!
: Zip it! Give me Tsubaki and Kyo back!
: Kenji…!
: Tsubaki, you OK?! I’ll be there in a sec!
: Huh…? Kyo ain’t there?! What’d you do with him?!
: Who knows? But that’s hardly any concern for someone who’ll be a rotting carcass soon!
: You’re not getting rid of me just like that! Let’s do this, Baruba!
: Grrooowwr!

Don’t lose Kenji or it’s game over. Evasion decay means that even with his massive evasiveness, he WILL get destroyed if you let the enemy swarm him, so let’s not do that.
Just pull him back a few to draw the enemy in and get a few shots while at it.

Enemy Phase!

Oh, that was actually right at the edge of Ikima’s range… blah.[/i]

: Kyo, where are you?! KYO!
: Damn it, just hold on! I promise I’ll find you, and then all three of us’ll go home together!

That’s fine. As the Boya Kaengus start coming in, Kenji kills three.

Player Phase!

: Kenji, are you alright?!
: G-Guys!
: Hey, you got any idea how worried you had us?!
: I’m just glad we got here in time!
: Alright, then listen up. I still dunno where Kyo’s at, so let’s go and at least get Tsubaki to safety!
: …! Kyo’s…
: Got it. Then we’ll wreck these Haniwas real quick and look around for him!
: We’ll begin our rescue operation immediately! Good luck, troops!

Can’t lose the ships or Yagyuu either. This mission’s pretty much a repeat of the last one, only with more enemies to deal with. The amount of stuff means you’re recommended to watch your SP more than you usually do, so command auras are at a premium (remember that Jack and Yagyuu have it, too, so it’s not just Ozma and the ships).
The quantity of enemies also mean that you should keep a closer eye on any Super not packing a barrier or Iron Wall, as a mob of Haniwas can be rather dangerous if you head in too far. And, of course, you ought to be mindful of the Dai Kaengus draining your SP at point blank range.
Ikima’s closest, so you might as well get rid of him ASAP once your morale is going. After that, just spread out. And, FYI, try to move your crew up north as a group since folks lagging behind may be in a spot of trouble once Ikima is down.

With all that said, let’s fast forward since I play rather safely to conserve SP.

: Jeeg’s head is right around the corner. We do this right, and we might have a shot at it as well!

: What’s up? Use that barrier you had before, why don’t you! I feel like wrecking that thing!
: A very transparent taunt. Are you trying to distract me?
: Psh, he didn’t fall for it. Fine…
: But I gotta make up for the trouble I caused the others, so I’ll tangle with you some!

: You guys’ve been making a mess of things for decades now, and it’s time to pay the piper!
: If we leave folks like you around, that’ll only mean more families getting broken up!
: I’ll take that as a compliment. There is no greater joy to me than carrying out Her Majesty’s cause!

: The Giant of Flames, enemy of the Darius… I think you’ll be a bit of an amusing match.
: Sorry, gramps. I’m here to rescue my friends, so I’m wrapping this up lickety-split!

: We’ve been doing this for WAY too long, Ikima! Haniwas oughta stay where they belong: six feet under!
: I think not, Kouji Kabuto, for it is today, on this very land, where both Bronze Bells shall be ours!

: You only waste your time fighting us. We have the girl and the Bronze Bell squarely under our control. There will be no victory for you!
: And you think that’s gonna convince me to ditch my friends? I’m fighting to the bitter end, and will be leaving with both Kyo and Tsubaki safe!

: Curse you, humans! CURSE YOU ALL!!
: Defeat is the only way this is ending for you! Accept it!
: I refuse to sully Her Majesty’s sight with such disgrace! Uoooh!!

: Whaat?!
: That’s quite the tenacity he has.
: What, he put his ship back together with just “tenacity”?!
: DIIIEE, JEEEEEG!!

: Uurgh!
: All of Jeeg’s energy readings are dropping!
: Kenji, you OK?!
: BWAHAHAHA! Do you see it now, Jeeg! This is the power bestowed unto us by Her Majesty!
: Hrm! I ain’t losing this…! I… I’m gonna protect Tsubaki even if it takes my life!!
: GROOOWR!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06fnctLxJxI
Kenji: “Outta my way, Ikima! I’m gonna save Tsubaki!!”

: Is he down now?!
: How’dya like that, Ikima!
: I-Impossible…!
: Retreat at once, Ikima!
: Urk…! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!

: The enemy carrier has retreated!

: The barrier surrounding Tsubaki is disappearing!

Kenji runs towards Himika’s altar.

: And you’re next, Himika! We’re taking Tsubaki back with us!

: Hmhmhm… Surely you jest! My spell has already bound her!
: What?!
: And now, girl, I shall put your powers to great use!
: …!
: Tsubaki! Pull yourself together, Tsubaki!
: This time, Hiroshi Shiba’s Bronze Bell will be mine! Haaaah!

: Hey! The Bronze Bell’s!

: What happened?!
: …
: Look, there’s a man on the ground!
: Hiroshi Shiba?!
: AHAHA! At long last, it is mine! And, with it, the lot of you are as mere infants before me! Haaah!!

: Wh-What the?!
: What is it, Kenji?!
: I… I can’t move Jeeg!
: I shall rip out your own Bronze Bell as well, Steel Jeeg!
: We gotta do something or Kenji’ll be in big trouble! Cover him, folks!
: You shall not interfere…! Rise, soldiers of the Underworld!

Aay, Kenji got a swanky new move: Baruba Jeeg is VERY strong, beating out the Mach Drill by a huge 800 points. It’s costly at 50 EN and only usable at point blank, but it’ll tear through everything.
… Or he would, but Kenji’s immobilized, weakened, with a bunch of angry mooks right there. I hope you have some Supers available to draw their attention or you might be in trouble! Just keep on killing in the meantime.

: Jama jamal dara jamal dara, meki mekimi dara mekimi dara…!
: …

: Grraaaargh!
: Kenji!

: UWAAAAH!!

: Jeeg’s reverted back into the Raikouba?!
: Does that mean… she took his Bronze Bell?!

RUMBLE!

: What’s going on?!
: Hmhmhm…HAHAHAHAHA!

: What just happened?! I can’t move the Voltes!
: Come on, move, Linebarrel!
: The Daiku Maryu too…!
: Shizuka!
: The flame’s burning just fine, but our output’s stunted!
: What in blazes…! Is that the Bronze Bells at work?!
: Hmhmhm! AHAHAHA! And now I finally have both Bronze Bells!
: I’ve no longer any use for this girl! I’ll obliterate her, along with Hiroshi Shiba and the Jeeg brat! And humanity will soon follow! AHAHAHAHAHA!!
: Damn it…! Tsubaki! Open your eyes!
: …
: DIE!
: That’s enough!

: …?!
: It’s been a very long time, Himika!
: Kyo!
: You’re alright!
: Hmph… all makes sense now. You were leading them from the shadows, I see. However, your reappearance comes far too late!
: As I said before, that’s enough out of you!

: What?!
: Kyo’s turned into a giant?!
: Kyo… you’ve finally…
: I apologize for keeping you all in the dark. This is my real form.
: I am an alien, one that arrived on Earth during ancient times. My real name is Takeru…
: Whaat?! The hell’s going on?!
: There were other aliens who traveled to Earth besides the Darius…?!
: But, unfortunately, we’ve little time to speak. Kenji, now is the time for you and Tsubaki to take each other’s hands!
: Wait, hold up there! I’m not getting anything you’re saying!
: Tsubaki’s the priestess of Azabu’s Tamashiro Shrine, which has long safeguarded our bloodline. Of all the people in this world, she is the one true heiress to our will.
: While you are the one who’s inherited the power to safeguard that will itself… And when both your powers are combined, a miracle will occur!
: Slow down there! Are you—?!
: “What is the Bronze Bell”… The way will open once you all understand its real significance!
: Hmph! You waste your time! The Bronze Bells are both squarely in the palm of my hand!
: Kenji, let me handle this! Go and take Tsubaki! … Take care of them, my friends.

: That’s… Captain! Our controls have been restored!
: Because of Kyo’s powers…?!
: Yak Deculture…!
: This is all I can do for you. Come, Himika! Face me!
: You mean to challenge me? Fool! I shall summon the Langoon forth and reduce this planet to dust! This shall be your communal grave! Haaah!!

Rumble!

: What?!

Beep, beep!

: It’s… a dimensional distortion just popped up!
: And the cave is falling apart due to the tremor! We’re going to be buried alive at this rate!
: Damn you, Himika… You couldn’t immobilize us, so now you’ll just try to crush us all?!
: Ahahaha! See to it that they meet their end here, Amaso, Mimashi!

: Wait! Himika!!

: Kenji, get Tsubaki and Hiroshi aboard the Raikouba! I’m coming to pick you up!
: Alright!

: Build Angel here! All friendlies successfully recovered!
: OK, now we need to get out ASAP…
: Oh, no, you don’t!

: Crap, our way out!
: You won’t be getting away, humans!
: Himika’s ordered us to bury you all here!
: Hrm! Then our only option is to force our way through them! Hurry!
: A desperate escape from a collapsing cave… Now that’s exciting!
: We’re sending you the coordinates to our escape route, troops! You’ll have to escort our ships over there!

: Skull Leader to all units! We only need to have one of our motherships to escape and victory’ll be ours! Focus all your fire on clearing the road for them!
: We dunno when this place’ll come crashing down, so we better move quick!
: (Only reason I’m still alive is because of you, Kyo… Don’t die on me, man…!)

I really don’t know if there’s an actual time limit, but the game says there isn’t. So, while you COULD wrap this up by driving any ship to the escape point, there are also plenty of enemies around and they’d make for a hefty payout.
They’ll all blocking our way, too, so you might as well take them all out. It’ll be slow-ish, but worth it.

: We cannot let Kyo’s resolve go to waste! Lend me your strength, Nagisa!
: Y-You got it!

: Stay frosty, Mido, Saotome! Our mission’s to get Hiroshi and the rest to safety!
: Yes, ma’am! I’ll drop anything that gets too close!
: Hey, what’dya mean “And the rest”?! What am I, cargo?!
: She didn’t mean it like that, idiot, so shut your noise hole!
: Glad you’re at least doing okay… And we’ll make sure everyone gets out of here like that!

Even more Haniwas crop out the woodwork – a small courtesy, to make sure we’ve company once we’re all buried. Mimashi hopes that’ll keep us satisfied.
Not. Zechs tells us to ignore whatever enemies we can and make for the exit, lest we exhaust ourselves.

I was hoping this would be one of them “endless reinforcements” situations, but it actually isn’t. No more enemies will show up, so just kill these and carry on.

: Kyo, you better come back…! I don’t buy for one second that you’d leave us like that!

: Remember what Ozma said: if we can just have our flagships make it out, the rest’ll fall in place!
: Yup! So all we gotta do is wreck the enemy blockade!

: I’m not one to run away, but getting buried alive’d be game over for everyone!
: And Kyo also asked us to help Kenji and Tsubaki make it out safe!

: Quickly, Aoi. The Dancouga and its firepower should be more than capable of plowing through the enemy’s lines.
: Folks in my family always said: “he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day”.
: I don’t like it, but I guess we’ll stick to your family’s maxim just for today.

: If you’re hoping for an easy escape, think again. Face my full might and let the memory of it follow you to the grave!

: Rrrgh! Way the wind is blowing, I…!

: Heheheh… Dealing with the other humans will be so easy if we just kill you all right here.
: And, then, the world will be our oyster! DIIEE!!

: Geeeh! Why’d this have to happen?!

: Notify our troops that we’ve broken through the enemy lines. Tell them to either return to the ships or escape by themselves!

: Barely made it… Is everyone in one piece?
: They are. We’ve confirmed that all units made it out safely.
: And Kyo?
: We… cannot reach him.
: …
: Hm… ooh…
: Tsubaki! You alright?!
: I-I am, somehow…
: Really?! Aah, that’s so good to hear! Seriously!
: Thanks, Kenji. I kind of remember what happened… How you tried to save me…
: Don’t worry about any of that right now. Just get some rest.
: Okay…
: Let’s head back to Build Base for now. Better to be safe and have Tsubaki and Hiroshi get examined.

Beep!

: Are you all safe, my friends?
: Commander, we’ve news for you. The original Steel Jeeg, who’d been MIA for fifty years, is with us… We’ve rescued Hiroshi Shiba.
: …!

: …
: …
: You’re safe now. Your vision might be blurry at the moment, but don’t worry. You’ll be seeing just fine soon.
: You haven’t changed at all, huh, dad.
: Hey, now, it’s been fifty years. I’ve changed plenty.
: Did you? The way I see it… you’re the same as ever… You too, Micchi…
: …! Hiroshi, I…
: You look well.
: Hiroshi…
: I’m back, Micchi…
: I’ve waited for so long… to finally see you again…

: Kenji…
: Heh… shame on me, huh? I managed to leave you behind just fine, but couldn’t actually do jack by myself. I saved Tsubaki and that guy, Hiroshi, and that’s fine and all… but I needed Kyo to bail me out.
: Sorry, Ichitaka…. I don’t even know what to say about all that crap I gave you.
: Don’t worry about it. I was in way over my head thinking I could’ve dragged you back by myself.
: I kinda felt a bit worthless, too, after the whooping my bro gave me, so I know what you’re on about.
: Well, the Bronze Bell getting stolen was real lame too. There’s a whole lot of big stuff’s going down, and the Raikouba ain’t turning into Jeeg…!

Door opens.

: And it won’t turn, no matter how much you try.
: You…! You’re the old…
: Hiroshi Shiba. They’ve told me what happened during my fifty years of sleep… and about LOTUS, too.
: That’s great, but what did you mean with “it won’t turn”?! Why can’t I transform into Jeeg?!
: The Jeeg transformation is based around the Bronze Bell’s energy. It is the core, and without it, you’re going nowhere fast.
: Whaat?! Then I can never transform again?!
: Hm. And since Himika also stole my Bronze Bell, that applies to me too.
: Aw, man…! What the hell are we gonna do, then?! The Jama Kingdom alone are growing a whole lot stronger and we’ve got our hands tied ‘round our backs?!
: I didn’t know what to do back when I fought Himika either…
: You…
: “I’ve to beat her even if the price is my life…” All I remember from that battle was that that was fixated on my mind.
: So I’ll try and think of a way to carry on fighting. You, yourself, should do the same.
: Myself, huh…

So, later on, Shiba’s decided to call everyone around to explain what’s what with Kyo and Himika. Kenji has a bunch of questions, especially with the sudden reveal, and Micchi has another bomb to drop on him: the boy’s mom, Miya Kusanagi, was originally called Miyazu.
Yes, she was Kyo/Takeru’s sister, and an alien that’d arrived on Earth while humans had barely started to populate the planet – she and Kyo were responsible for first sealing away Himika and her peers, who would have brought ruin to Earth. After that, they both embarked on a deep sleep, until Shiba eventually uncovered them.
Tetsuya Kouji wonders if they went to sleep because they knew Himika and the others would eventually come back and wanted to settle things themselves. If that’s the case, Nagisa is blown away that they’d go to such lengths for a planet that wasn’t their own.

Shiba says it was due to a sense of responsibility, as it was their kind who gave life to Himika in the first place. Say what now? Iczer-1 explains: apparently, Kyo and Miyazu’s civilization at one point created them as warriors of destruction. They were sent to invade several other planets in the distant past.
Iczer-1 apologizes for keeping quiet about this, but Kyo only told her the truth as a safeguard in case he couldn’t tell us in person.

Whatever the case, Canaria sees the glaring similarity between the Himika’s group and the Zentradi, but, Luca notes, unlike the Protoculture, Kyo and Miyazu’s group apparently decided to keep their intervention with Earth’s own civilization to a bare minimum.
Shiba explains that they decided they couldn’t take over this beautiful world, instead choosing to live alongside the humans. Himika knew nothing but destruction, though, so she obviously wasn’t on board with that. They were left with no choice but to seal her away.
As for the Bronze Bells, one of which they’d entrusted to Hiroshi, Micchi says they are the control units for the spaceship Langoon that first brought Takeru, Miyazu and Himika here. Kenji remembers Himika mentioning that name, and the thing is very much a problem for us: so long as it exists, Himika and co. cannot die.

So, Ichitaka and Anna see, Himika stealing the Bronze Bells isn’t just a problem in that they can power themselves up: if they take control of the ship, they could turn themselves pretty much invincible.
Seems to Misato we need to find Kyo and go after Himika ASAP… which makes it very poor timing on Durandal’s part to call in with an emergency transmission right now. What could it be about, Talia wonders…

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

New route split today, so let’s get right to it. I’d suggest you keep the cash earned in the last mission to be spent after the split is underway. It’ll help you!

So, Durandal’s called over Build Base and quickly explains why: they’ve located where Djibril’s at. While taking him out won’t do anything to put an end to humanity’s history of war, it’ll certainly be a big step. The guy’s at Heaven’s Base, shacked up with several Logos members at Heaven’s Base.
Shinn recognizes the name of the now-defunct Earth Alliance’s HQ; the UN has sent the Blue Cosmos faction a call for the group’s dissolution, but rather than complying, they’ve holed up inside the place. Durandal would rather end this without hostilities, but that’s obviously not going to fly with these people – he expects fierce resistance.
And that, Misato presumes, means he wants us to help with that? Not exactly, as he’s aware of our situation and knows the entire world’ll be in grave danger if Himika’s ignored. Thus, he simply wants the Minerva to attack Heaven’s Base.

Considering that the ship never officially joined our ranks, Misato can’t well turn him down. Durandal’s sorry for imposing on us, but we don’t know when another opportunity like this’ll present itself if it is not seized upon.
… And the klaxons start blaring then and there. The Base’s operator just detected the Bronze Bells’ signal and it’s headed into space. He can’t confirm if it’s Himika, but it seems likely – the signal vanishes right when it reaches Earth’s orbit. Tetsuya figures she’s using some magic to hide herself.
What about Kyo? The operator’s tried calling him when the signal showed up, but so far nothing. Kenji’s worried something might’ve happened to him, but Daiya and Kouji remind that we’ve no time to stay down. Rather, we need to go after her right now!

So we call Lady Une and tell her what’s up. Considering we don’t have a full grasp of where Himika’s at, it’d be unwise to commit all our forces to this. On the flip side, considering it’s Djibril we’re talking about, it’s possible he’ll pull something the Minerva team won’t be able to manage by themselves.
Meaning this calls for us to split up: Misato and Talia will command the offensive against Heaven’s Base, while Jeffrey and Lulu will manage the Himika group. The Rushbird, as always, can go with both:

Help the Minerva Route:
Gundam Wing
SEED Destiny
Evangelion
Mazinkaiser OAV
Combattler
Dancouga
Godannar

Pursue Himika
Macross F
Gaiking
Voltes
Iczer-1
Linebarrel
Jeeg[/i]

Choose the Minerva and Misato argues that the bot is better suited to fight on land. Une confirms and wishes her good luck. Choose Himika, and she’ll figure it’s best to keep all friends together in the interest of calming their mood. A very motherly thought, and, with that, it’s all in Jeffrey and Lulu’s hands.
Whatever you choose, Misato tells everyone to split up accordingly; both will be major battles with the fate of the world on the line. As for Tsubaki, Canaria says she’s sleeping but will be back with us real soon. Shiba would prefer to not ship her out to battle again so soon, but this is probably destiny at work.

Now, Talia has been told to make a pit stop at JUDA as, Misato explains, Durandal said he wanted to rendezvous with the ship and hand them some supplies before the battle starts. Durandal wanting to meet up has Talia worry that he might’ve found out we faked the Archangel’s destruction.
When Rey asks why the frown, she tells him not to worry – she was just taken by surprised by how abrupt his descent to Earth was (Rey doesn’t buy it, but stays mum). Inwardly, Talia ponders that even if Durandal DID find out, the fact is he was opposed to the ship’s destruction all along… but that doesn’t excuse insubordination. What’ll happen now?

Ichitaka’s eager to catch Djibril and put an end to the war, but Athrun shoots him down: taking that guy out won’t mean peace instantly returns. Mira and Noin agree, adding that all we’d be doing would be bringing in the people FANNING the flames of war. It won’t be easy to snuff out those flames, even if we succeed in taking Logos out of the picture.
Plus, Aoi sighs, we might even have other Logos-like groups prowling about, looking to further push war. Johnny sees her point: taking out Logos won’t bring a definitive end to all war since it all comes down to humans’ combative nature.
BUT, doing this will still bring us closer to peace, Quatre and Hyouma think. Humans are rational creatures and, moreover, they’re capable of learning from their mistakes. Hell, if things like the Mimetic Beasts are capable of evolving, Juzo sees no reason why we couldn’t do it too. And above all, Alice figures if you’ve a goal in mind, doing something is always better than doing nothing.

Goh moves in, telling everyone to board the Minerva – we’ll be leaving for JUDA soon. “Yes, sir!” Ichitaka salutes. “… You know, I might’ve gotten used to taking orders from Misato, but nowhere as much as having you in charge, Goh.” The guy’s glad to hear that, but, of course, he’d sooner be out there leading us from the front lines.
Hyouma figures the Godannar misses him, too… and, on that subject, he turns to Alice and asks if there’s been any change with Shizuru. Still nothing, unfortunately – waiting for a miracle might be all we have left. On the flip side, Stella has been improving steadily with JUDA’s treatment.
But that’s a conversation for later, as Shinn walks over and says Shinji and Kouji’s crew are already getting ready to deploy. Goh gasps that this wasn’t the time for chit-chat, though Shinn reminds that the guy was the one who came here to call us over. Whoops.

Wishing good luck to Lulu, the Daiku Maryu and Macross Quarter fly off. The Minerva has to get going too. Forward!

Had you chosen the Himika route, Nagisa’s a bit nervous over setting out into space, and Iczer-1 has some advice: “Space is incredibly vast and full of mysteries… but it is also a terrifying place. We should all keep our wits about us, Nagisa.” When Ichitaka asks, Ozma says we’ve yet to get any new intel on Himika after the signal was lost – hopefully that’ll change once we’re up there.
But we’ll at least have Tsubaki around, and she apologizes for all the worry she caused us. Her head still hurts a bit, but she’s fine enough to fight as soon as we find Himika’s group. Hiroshi and Kenji tell her not to push herself too hard, though: with Kyo and the Jeegs gone, she doesn’t need to head out there with the Big Shooter by her lonesome.

In fact, Ozma makes it easier and orders her to get some rest. Moreover, Klan reminds her of what Kyo said before: it’s likely will soon need her powers as Priestess. And Kouichi figures not being able to fight isn’t reason to get bummed out: we’re going to space! That’s huge!
“We’re not asking you to be as simple as him, Tsubaki, but do keep your chin up some, yeah?” Yamashita asks. If anything, Tsubaki’s grateful for their concern.

Lam’s sad to be leaving Earth, but Bobby points out that we’re not exactly leaving the star system. No need to be that dramatic about things… but Mina harrumphs that he only says that because he’d gotten assignments that took him OUTSIDE the ship. The Bridge Bunnies have been stuck in the bridge since they got here!
No time for grumbling, though, as Jeffrey comes in and has them get ready for launch. Everything’s green and ready to go, so the Quarter sets sail.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Here we are at the Minerva path. Quatre has returned to the Top Aces list, but I’m surprised to see Zechs here.

Had nearly 300k after the last battle, so that went straight into boosting all our Supers with more of everything (they’ll need it for this next mission). Don’t forget to give the lesser-used squaddies some love if you’re going to field them.

Ignore the picture above because Rey and Luna are going to be deploying as event units along with Shinn – the game just doesn’t tell you, see. So, we’ll be going like this:
Shinji/Quatre
Athrun/Jun
Combattler/Rei
Ichitaka
Kouji/Mira
Tetsuya/Tetsuya (I had to)
Dancouga/Boss
Zechs/Noin
Heine/Anna

Wasn’t expecting much from this mission since Z1’s version of it was a cakewalk, but, oh, boy…

Off we go.

: Hm… hmm…?
: Stella! You’re awake!
: Th-This is…
: The hospital. You were very hurt, so we brought you here.
: Hurt…?
: You really don’t remember…? Sorry, Stella… You went through so many awful things…
: A-Aah… I was… No…! I don’t… I don’t want to die!
: You’re safe, Stella! There’s nothing here to hurt you! And you won’t die, because… because I’ll protect you!
: Protect… me…?
: Yeah, I promise! I won’t let anything scare you again! I swear I’ll protect you!
: You’ll protect… me… Shinn…
: You remembered me, Stella?!
: U-Urgh… my head hurts…
: S-Sorry! Don’t worry about any of that right now! You’re safe here, so just rest and get better…
: Will I… see you again…?
: Of course! I’ll come visit you later, absolutely!
: … Shinn…

By the mess hall, Shinn relates that Stella’s in the process of getting better – bit by bit. That’s a relief to Chizuru, who hopes she’ll be getting off JUDA’s hospital soon enough. From what the doctor’s told Shinn (that he could understand), her cardio-pulmonary function is dependent on a drug to work properly, but they think they’ll find a way around that before long. “Thank you all a ton - I mean it,” Shinn says. “You guys have done so much for us since the battle of Berlin.”
Speaking of Berlin, Jun wonders what the Archangel could be up to right now. Kosuke figures they might be immobile as, ruse or not, they took quite a bit of damage during Angel Down. That they’re safe is good enough, but Shinn hopes to see them later: he never even got the chance to thank(!) Kira for what he did.
Shinn’s conversion to Christianity aside, Rey comes in looking for him. No, it’s not time to set off just yet; rather, Durandal is set to arrive real soon, having apparently sped up his timetable to see him and Shinn.

Kurara’s rather jealous that they’ve a boss that’s so in touch with his subordinates (unlike Team D), and it all shows Kouji how serious Durandal is about this. It might be a bit excessive for someone in his station, but it tells that he wants to bring an end to this Logos business today.
Zechs can understand why: Logos has been tormenting the Colonies from the shadows since before OZ’s creation, so Durandal likely has a long list of grievances with them. Whatever the case, his arrival means we need to start getting ready for battle, so Tetsuya tells everyone to get their game faces on. Shinn’s already there, thinking about Stella: “I’ll give this everything I got, and create a world where people can live in peace…!”

Shift to Heaven’s Base, Djibril is fuming that Durandal has the BALLS to send a message demanding the base’s immediate surrender and the extradition of all Logos people. HAH! An Alliance officer asks what to do, since ZAFT has already surrounded the place. They’re waiting for a response, apparently.
What kind of idiotic question is that? Why in blazes would Djibril even think of talking to those people?! Have the troops attack and destroy ZAFT now, now, now! What, are they going to fight to the death, then?!
Yes! They must fight! FOR OUR PURE, BLUE WORLD!

: Hello there, Captain. I’m so sorry to impose on you so suddenly – and on the verge of battle, no less.
: It has been a long while since we met face-to-face, Chairman. But don’t you think it’s rather careless of you to come to Earth in person?
: Perhaps. But the truth is I have something I wanted to give Rey and Shinn myself.
: You have?
: Our latest models, the ZGMF-X42S Destiny and ZGMF-X666S Legend. These units could well be said to have been made especially for you two.
: For us…?!
: Both are state-of-the-art pieces of weaponry, each far and away superior to the standard Mobile Suits. But I am certain the two of you will be capable of making excellent use of them.
: Yes, sir. Thank you very much.
: …
: What is it, Athrun? Is something wrong?
: Chairman, isn’t the development of new models forbidden by the Junius Treaty?
: I am well aware that this goes against it, yes.
: Then why? What do you have in mind that you’d do that?
: Our current enemies extend beyond the Darius. There are foes, like Logos, that threaten the world as a whole and we will need to fight them.
: Our current situation shifts by the hour, so, if we’re to safeguard the lives of every human, I’m afraid this is not the moment to hesitate to act. All this is done in the name of those who desire peace.
: And, truth be told, I wanted a new unit made for you as well, but we hadn’t the funds to make it happen. I hope you’ll understand.
: Very well…
: Besides that, I’ d also like you two to take this. From this day onward, Shinn Asuka, Rey Za Burrel, you are members of FAITH.
: We’re… FAITH?!
: Wow! That’s amazing, you guys!
: So now the Minerva, alone, has five FAITH members aboard… That’s something, alright.
: Stand tall, Shinn, Rey… You defeated the Archangel and Kira Yamato, and deserve every praise.
: …
: What’s the matter, Shinn? Seeing you with that face saddens me too.
: B-But, it wasn’t just the two of us who…
: Of course, of course. But you should consider this appointment to also be due to your various achievements thus far.
: You’ve faced hardships far beyond the scope of your original mission, and I’m certain there will be more to come. I have high hopes for both of you.
: You honor us. And we swear we’ll answer your trust in kind…!

Door opens!

: Excuse me, Chairman, but we’ve an emergency!
: Did something happen?
: The Heaven’s Base forces launched a preemptive strike against our troops!
: What?!

Goh’s pissed with the Alliance – what the hell are they trying to pull with this attack?! They’re gonna PAY FOR THIS! We’re going to attack Heaven’s Base right this goddamn minute!
Anna understands that he’s mad, but maybe he should calm down a little? How could he be calm?! If they aren’t open to dialogue, then pulling our punches won’t get us anywhere! Ichitaka sees his point but… OUR ALLIES ARE DYING! WE CAN’T AND WON’T LET THEM RUN AMUCK ANYMORE!
So, Goh gets on the mic and yells to Talia that we need to launch now, screw the timetable. Ichitaka doesn’t understand why he suddenly started going ballistic like this…

Mission 20 (Minerva Route) – Descending Angels

: GWAAAAAARGH!!

: Hmhmhmm, did you seriously expect to conquer Heaven’s Base with a force like that?!

Alarm!

: ?! That Mobile Suit… it can’t be!
: …
: Heero… you’re here!
: I-It’s the Wing Zero…! What’s that Gundam doing here…?!
: Hrk…! Any enemy gets destroyed – it’s as simple as that! After him!
: Y-Yes, sir! Troops, engage and destroy the Wing Zero! Don’t let him near Heaven’s Base!
: (He got my info, it seems… but I still have my own mission to carry out. Sorry, but I can’t afford to hold back.)
: … Hand over Relena!

Kill everything, don’t lose Heero. Like with the previous mission, evasion decay will seriously bite him in the ass if you send him into the enemies, so just hang back and let them come to you.

Wing Gundam Zero (Heero Yui)
Pilot Skills:
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Prevail L5
Attack Combo L1
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Alert
Strike
Fury/Direct Hit
Mech Features:
Sword
Gun
Zero System (Activates over 130 morale, grants +20 to evasion an accuracy, +10 to everything else)
Squad Bonus: Accuracy +5, A rank in Air

Heero’s a Gundam protagonist, so you know he’s good (though it is hardly Heero’s strongest outing). The Wing Zero hits hard, is dodgy/accurate and has great range, but its chugs quite a lot of EN. The lack of Hit & Away is less than ideal, mind, so save him one of those.
As a bonus, the Wing Zero also comes with a MAPW attack, but it has a rather awkward AoE – certainly not as easy to use as the regular spin-to-win MAPW he usually gets. All in all, Heero’s as reliable as ever (Midorikawa would likely burn Banpresto to the ground if he was ever bad), but he’s certainly not our best Real.

So, we pull him back a bit and wait.

Enemy Phase!

First wave of Windams and Daggers move in, though most stay put.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7YIs1fb4c
Nothing else gets in range.

Player Phase!

Our people come in, Talia and Arthur very confused to see that the battle is still ongoing. How, when intel said all ZAFT troops had been destroyed? Then we catch sight of the Wing Zero and Zechs knows what’s up: Heero, as usual, decided to face the enemy by himself (rash as it might be) to save Relena.
Indeed, Ichitaka recognizes the Wing from the videos of the battle at Libra, but Luna is more focused on that “trying to take on Heaven’s Base by himself” bit. This goes way past being rash, and straight into madness!
“Meaning we’re all like peas in a pod here! I like this guy!” Hyouma proclaims. Quatre also quietly spots Trowa up ahead, still risking his life for his mission – we’ll need to deal with him appropriately.

Shinn’s shocked to also find the pilot of the Wing Zero fighting here, but Luna reminds him to keep moving. He’ll be a sitting duck if he stands still like that. Shinn nods and says he’s fine – more importantly, since she’s picked up the flying Impulse Gundam, she’ll need to keep an eye out for attacks from below as well.
Now, forward!

Don’t let Shinn and the Minerva get shot down either. Now, this game hasn’t really been a challenge thus far, but I definitely felt a spike in the difficulty curve here. For one, you’re missing about 40% of your team (including some of your strongest guys), there’s a decent amount of water in this stage and the AI is particularly fond of taking a dip, and, lastly, Djibril is sending out a cavalcade of bulky mooks with huge MAPW attacks.
All in all, it means things are going to be slow and actually a bit dangerous to your people. The difference in numbers makes it a lot easier for the AI to swarm and beat your guys either by evasion decay or by sheer attrition, so you’ll want to be careful as you advance.
Prioritize any MAPW unit that’s close by to get them off your hair, be very mindful of your SP and EN usage, and, again, advance slowly and steadily.
And, by the by, Dearka is actually available for deployment – I just didn’t notice it until it was too late. You can set him into a squad before launching your guys.

Destiny Gundam (Shinn Asuka)
Mech Features:
Sword
Gun
Anti-Beam Shield
VPS Armor
Double Image
Hyper Deuterion Engine – restore 25% of max EN every turn
Squad Bonus: Crit rate +10, mobility +5, A rank in Air

Legend Gundam (Rey Za Burrel)
Sword
Gun
Anti-Beam Shield
VPS Armor
Hyper Deuterion Engine
Squad Bonus: Armor +100, ranged weapons power +100, A rank in Space

And here we have two excellent additions to our team. Shinn’s Destiny is pretty much a direct upgrade to everything the Impulse had (especially since, in this game, the other packs were attacks), while Rey’s a straight-up ranged attacker.
The Destiny’s about one of the outright strongest Reals in the game (mostly Alto, if you don’t consider Iczer-1 solo as a Real), and the addition of Double Image makes an already pretty hard to kill pilot essentially invincible. It’s got good range, power and the EN Regen makes everything it has very spammable.

The Legend Gundam is an odd one. You could make a case for it being THE best mook sweeper in the game… provided you’re in space. You see, its DRAGOON weapons (regular and MAPW) can ONLY be used in that terrain, so it is a bit limited when you’re on land. You can get around that on ONE terrain by assigning him someone with a terrain rank-boosting Squad Bonus, but covering both land and air at the same time won’t fly, unfortunately.
Mind you, its second strongest weapon is only 200 points weaker than the DRAGOON (cheaper too), so you’re not losing much by way of attack power… but you only really use Rey in L to go crazy with his Zeorymer-esque MAPW and blast away dozens of mooks. The weapon is very expensive at 120 EN, but the EN regen and squaddies can mitigate that nicely.

First order of business is getting our folks to shore, meaning we’ve to cut through the first wave. Remember to save your SP, so hug Heine’s command aura and have Shinji/Ichitaka take point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2EF6L3vgCo
Oh, yes, the non-flying Daggers will likely all be underwater. Because fuck you.

Laplace Wall and A.T. Fields still roll all over Alliance mooks. Do be careful with the Zamza-Zahs as their claws WILL go right through them, though.

Ichitaka and Shinji have both taken a kill, so let’s see if Aoi can keep that up.

She can!
Kouji, Hyouma and Athrun each take a surviving squaddie, while the Tetsuyas finish Heine’s work.

Following up on Zechs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSyfghnsfik
And Heero cuts down the one Dagger that survived Rei.

Enemy Phase!

Hyouma, as always, is very attractive to the AI. He takes three kills, while Ichitaka takes two.

And this one decides to tangle with Aoi.

Better for her.

Player Phase!

Ichitaka pops a nice chain attack by our southern flank, cutting three mooks down to half HP.

Up top, while Kouji and Athrun each one shot a leader, Shinji takes aim at the latter’s leftovers.

Bam. Aoi and Talia clear up rest of the north flank’s first wave.

Shinn and Luna can clear up after Ichitaka.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUirO0HZreM
I really enjoy how K and L decided that, for Shinn’s Destiny Gundam cut-ins, they’d just make him ALL MAD, ALL THE TIME.
The Tetsuyas and Rey nab a couple of weakened Daggers nearby.

Enemy Phase!

Go away, Trowa!
The back row starts coming in, with the front Zamza-Zahs trading blows with Shinji and Shinn. In the meantime, whatever was still alive down south dies to Ichitaka and Hyouma – when the enemy’s down to fifteen squads, the plot kicks in.

It’s ANOTHER batch of Alliance Troops complete with something Shinn recognizes from Berlin: 5 Destroy Gundams, led by a crazy-as-hell Sting. If anything, he’s having the time of his life and calls out to everyone for a fight.
Trowa silently looks on at the fate of the Extended, those born to fight: made to lose their memories, addicted to drugs, and forced out into the battlefield without so much as time to be sad for the friends they’ve lost. “In a way, they are no different from how we used to be,” he sighs.

Misato warns those who haven’t fought them before of the superlative firepower the Destroys have, but Shinji sees a silver-lining: these are clearly the enemy’s ace in the hole, so if we can stand up to them, victory’ll be ours.
This whole battle comes down to this, so Goh tells everyone to SEND THOSE WHO SIDED WITH LOGOS STRAIGHT TO HELL! Talia slowly confirms, and Durandal, seeing Goh’s condition, has an idea of what’s going on and dreads the thought.

Shinn and Luna get pestered a bit, weakening three mooks, while Ichitaka and Shinji take, respectively, one and three Daggers/Windams that try to be clever.

Player Phase!

Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Seven Swells and Meioh’s, but the game really isn’t playing ball with MAPW setups for me.

At least that’s some damage on Trowa, plus a dead mook.

Couple kills for Heine and Anna here; up top, Kouji and Mira do the same.

Get rid of these things ASAP or they’ll all blast you.

: I’m sure the Chairman’s plan is to pave the way towards peace with this assault…
: So why am I so ill at ease? Am I the only one feeling that something’s off…?

Aoi finishes it off, and Ichitaka bags one himself below.

Setting an Iron Wall’d Hyouma and Rei over here to try and bait the enemies’ attention.
Back south, Tetsuya and Shinn hunt Daggers.

Enemy Phase!

This would probably be a bad time to mention that I forgot Trowa had a MAPW.

Most people here can take it, but not Jun/Boss.

While we slooooowly start chipping away at the incoming mob of Zamza-Zahs, Ichitaka does his job as a distraction perfectly – that’s four kills for him.

Not enough to save Jun from getting dropped, though. Oh, well. Athrun can handle himself.

I don’t understand why it didn’t go for Hyouma when he’s right there, but this Dagger’s choice wasn’t really any better.

Very dead.

Player Phase!

We’re now at the eye of the hurricane, and Trowa needs to go. We’ll converge on him and work our way out, prioritizing Sting and the Zamza-Zahs since they have the morale to MAPW us – the Destroys don’t (yet). When dealing with the latter, follow the same focus-fire strat as we did back in Berlin.
The Daggers and Windams themselves are either down to flying solo or weakened, but there’re still plenty of them. You should be careful when sending folks forward because they’ll be all too happy to converge on Talia if given the chance. Do note that Sting has Support Defend L3 and will happily cover Trowa if he’s nearby (like he is now), so plan on only your squaddie’s attack hitting him.

The strategy here isn’t really any different what we’ve been doing, so let me spare you the tedium and fast forward!

: Come, Gundam. I can’t allow anyone to know about me.
: Have it your way, “nameless soldier”…! I’ll face you with all I have!

: (There’s no point in prolonging this…)

Click!

: I’m detecting several issues across all systems, likely due to faulty maintenance. Unable to continue fighting… retreating.

: (That explosion was self-inflicted… Heh, ever the meticulous man.)

: This is your base and you’re still blasting the whole damn area?!
: Letting these guys go on would just give us Berlin 2, and I’m not taking it!

: So you had mass-produced these things and kept them tucked away, eh…? You probably shot first ‘cause you figured winning would be easy, but you thought wrong! We’re not getting dropped by these!

: Hrgh! GODDAMN IIIIT! I swear I’m killing all of you next time!

: Uurgh, that useless worm! Are we ready to leave yet?!
: Yes, sir! We’ve just finished our preparations!
: Good, because I cannot allow myself to be captured here! We’ll have to abandon Heaven’s Base!
: You’re wasting everyone’s time carrying on this fight – and I use the word loosely. Try as you might, your plans will fail!
: Hmph, say whatever you want, but you’ll be coming along with us, Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian!
: (Heero…)
: The enemy’s ranks are confused…? Did something happen?

Beep, beep!

: A coded message? “Djibril’s escaped with Relena… from ‘Nameless Clown’”
: Heero, this is…!
: Hm. Only the five of us know this transmission code. It has to be from Trowa.
: Then it’s clear what we should do. Go! We’ll handle this!
: Alright. Take care of it.

Heero starts flying out the area.

: The winged Gundam… Earth’s enemy… Die…!

: …!
: GET AWAY FROM HIM!!

We’ll see this attack properly in a sec.

: …
: Pilot of ZAFT…
: Get going! You’re also trying to save someone, right? Then you better make it happen!
: … Apologies, and thank you. I’ll go on ahead.

: Shinn…
: Alright, now the rest of us just gotta keep pushing through this!
: Right on!

: Round two with these things. I’d rather not pit power against power with ‘em, though…
: Don’t worry about it – I’ve got our generator 100% wrapped around my fingers. We can handle a head-on approach.
: If you say so, I’m game. We’ll take them as we always do – up close and personal!

:argh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaJxS8hEDFs
Behold Shinn’s MY FAMILY IS DEAAAAAAD attack!

: The EVA might just be able to hold against an attack like that…! And, in that case, what I can do is…!

: Radar is clear of enemy troops!
: Has Djibril been found yet?
: Our forces are searching the adjacent area, but his whereabouts – and that of Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian – are unknown.
: As for the Logos members left within the base, they are currently being arrested.
: So they snuck out the base right under our noses? I’ve to give them props for pulling that off.
: Not the time to be impressed, Kurara!
: So we’ve brought the base down, but this is all far from over…
: Still, now that we’ve arrested several of Logos’ leadership, their capacity to act as they have has been severely undercut. I’d say we’ve made some major progress today.
: But the fact remains that Djibril escaped. We must figure out where he’s scurried off to…
: Yes, you’re right…

Couple of convos we missed here:

: We’re finally taking the fight to Logos, and giving the world Gil dreams of a chance to be born…!
: And I’ll readily do anything within my power to make it so!

–

: Heheheh… A new model, eh? Here’s hoping you’ll be fun to kill!
: That unit… They did to all of you what they did to Stella?! Stop this! They’re messing with your memories to manipulate you!
: Cut with your bull, man! Who gives a damn about memories?!
: !!
: I only need one thing to win: the Destroy! You LOTUS might be strong, but it won’t save you!!
: How… How can you do this…? Logos…! You’re gonna pay!!

–

: I’m a proud ZAFT Red, too…! So I’ll stand and fight even against this awful MS!

–

: Alice, I’m taking in as much of their beam attacks as we can! Keep an eye on how much damage we’re getting, alright?
: Roger that! … Though I wish I could use that technique again today. I’d make fighting them at least a bit easier…
: Don’t even think about that! We can do just fine with our current bag of tricks!

–

: Life was busy enough being the Chairman’s messenger boy/bodyguard, and now I have to take part in sieges too….?
: Yeesh, I bet things would’ve been a whole lot simpler if I was still working with Yzak!

Cut to the Archangel, they’ve gotten word of the Alliance’s defeat and Djibril’s escape. Having lost Heaven’s Base, Lacus and Waltfeld see only one place for the guy to take shelter: Orb. From there, he’ll likely set out towards place – and they figure ZAFT is aware of this.
Miriallia sees that war is about to return to that country, and while Murrue wants to do something about it, the Archangel still needs some time to complete its repairs. Lacus seems to have an idea, though, and asks Kira to accompany her into space.
You see, she has some new strength to give him – though she understands how he’d be loath to take it. Kira, however, says it’s fine: “If it’s that strength that’d help me keep everyone safe, then I…”

While Ichitaka’s fuming over Djibril slipping through our fingers, Mira sighs at how disgraceful the guy’s showing himself to be for someone who’s been manipulating the world into war for all this time. Anna had hoped this would’ve put an end to the conflict, but it looks like we’ll have more to do still.
On the flip side, Hyouma’s impressed with how Shinn helped the Wing Zero’s pilot today. That was some real quick thinking, Sakuya nods. “That guy was fighting to save someone, just like I did,” Shinn mulls. “When I thought of that, I realized I wanted to help him… just like Kira Yamato helped me save Stella.”

Tetsuya Kouji laughs at how much Shinn’s changed over this – he was a whole lot more standoffish, difficult to approach, before. Way Quatre sees it, he wasn’t the only one to change for the better: every single one have been changing, bit by bit, as we’ve come to open up and understand one another.
Now if only mankind as a whole could change like this, Mira ponders…

Shinn’s taken the time to approach Zechs and asks if he’s fine with not going with the Wing Zero’s pilot when he had the chance. Why does Shinn think that? Well, Relena is his sister, no? And someone like Zechs obviously has some amount of freedom to act however he wants to.
“Relena has long since drifted out of my reach,” Zechs answers. “Right now, I’ve dedicated myself to simply putting out the fires of war.” Noin says the best we could do is leave Relena to Heero and focus on our own mission. Moreover, being able to act with freedom doesn’t mean doing whatever you feel like doing – that’d be quite the mistake, Noin figures.
“You’re FAITH now, so you’ve also been given a lot of freedom to exercise. But keep in mind: that status is to be used responsibly, lest imprudence make it backfire,” Zechs warns him, and Shinn understands what he’s getting at. He’ll try and be mindful of how he acts with his newly given leeway.
As for Relena, Zechs is of course worried about her. But he still trusts that Heero will rescue her.

Finally, Kiriko’s put in a call to the Minerva: she’d like Goh to come back to Dannar Base on the double. Goh protests that this is hardly the time for him to run back home, but Kiriko shushes him, saying that we’re racing against the clock here.
JUDA’s just sent over the report for his periodic exams and it’s not good: Goh’s Insania Virus infection has taken a turn for the worst. The results show that he could have a full-on Rabid Syndrome outbreak at any second!