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

[Mattman324]

So, Balba Jeeg wasn’t available until the second to last mission in K (or around there). K handled Jeeg’s plot fucking shittily - it did the first episode, the two combos were given in a Gaiking related event, there was a middle stage that was basically entirely made up involving the Jeeg characters, and then the finale.

Also I’m pretty sure Takeru was named after a Monster Of The Week from the original Jeeg, one who showed up and was recruitable in Alpha 2. This wouldn’t surprise me - a notable Gaiking episode got adapted into Alpha 2, and Gaiking LoDM came out after that, and it’s probably no shock that the the Devil Jaguar got modded into the Kill Jaguar. The timing of the Jeeg and Gaiking shows in the 2000s suggests they were trying to ride a wave of both nostalgia and capitalize on the Alpha series, though without actually being related to the old one (Jeeg is so AU it hurts despite seeming like a possible bad end sequel, Gaiking just occasionally nudges fans of the original and points out that this thing is pretty reminiscent of that thing from the show.)

Also, hoo boy the Minerva path. That entire path is a fucking pain in the ass, but the ending is the real topper. You’ll see about that later, though. YOU’LL SEE.

Wing Zero seems bad, but like most units in L, it’s designed as a pair unit. A lot of units in L get highly synergistic boosts, and while some of that is accidental (Boss Borot and Build Angel were not likely intended to be amazing partners to each other), it’s impossible not to see the synergy between Wing Zero and the Tallgeese. Plus, the basic Buster Rifle gives him an actual move that he can use at his good range without wasting shitloads of EN. Certianly this isn’t R, where Wing Zero was fucking bullshit ridiculous broken, but it’s not AP, where it was irredeemable shit that was impossible to make good. (And yes, Midorikawa didn’t burn Banpresto for how fucking terrible it was in AP. I’m as surprised as anyone else.)

Also, on the subject of partners: Evangelion 01 + Legend Gundam is a match made in heaven.

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.

It could be worse. One of the many, many reasons K is derided, after all, is the fact that they use the OMINOUS VILLAIN MUSIC for the very ominous and horrible topic of… Shinn, Rey, and Luna talking to each other. GASP.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Welcome to the Pursue Himika route, where Daiya’s really breathing down Ichitaka’s neck. The kid got a massive kill streak going in the Minerva path, but I’ll very likely be keeping this one, so he’ll have a tough race ahead. Iczer-1’s closing in on them, too, but the AI is less keen on going after her.

All the money I had went to excellent use: Alto got a pip in weapons, our Supers got a few boosts here and there, and I upped Gaiking’s stats as high as they’ll currently go.
Unfortunately, much to my disappointment, L doesn’t subscribe to the more recent games’ philosophy of counting weapons and stat upgrades separately. If you want the boosted Squad Bonus, you need to upgrade EVERYTHING to 50%, weapons included.

Iczer-1 and the Macross folk are auto-deploying, so we adapt accordingly:
Jack/Yagyuu (he needs someone to boost his space rating, or he’ll be going nowhere fast)
Daiya/Yanma
Kouichi/Yamashita
Ichitaka/Miu
Dick/Puria
Domyoji/Klan
Voltes/Shizuna

We’ve a much bigger mission here than on the other path, so let’s get to it.

Sheryl is STILL at Island 1’s hospital, with no indication of being discharged. She’s been getting plenty of “get well soon” gifts, but no one’s actually come to see her. She was pretty happy to get that video message from Ranka, Alto and everyone else, though. Speaking of Ranka, she’s up on TV right now – her career’s really taken off recently.
As the girl thanks all the fans who’ve come to her concert, Sheryl spots someone behind her: Grace.

Cut to the Cthulhu Fortress, Big Gold’s spawn is already up and about. She’s called Neos Gold, and has summoned forth her Four Generals: Golem (blue hair), Insect (blue skin), Bigro (red skin) and Fiber.
Big Gold, mother dearest, has fallen asleep after giving birth to Neos Gold, and plenty of time has passed since. Yet, she has yet to awaken once more. Neos Gold doesn’t know what the reason is, but isn’t about to sit on her hands: the five of them have a mission to look for a new partner for Iczer-2, destroying Iczer-1 along the way if possible.
As luck would have it, Neos Gold already has an idea of where they’ll find such a partner and commands Fiber and Insect to go after.

Back to the Quarter, Kenji asks if we managed to figure out where Himika went, but Ozma says not yet. She’s very likely using some unknown tech to camouflage herself and her group, and Emi figures they’re headed to where that ship, Langoon, is tucked away. Kenji fumes that that doesn’t really help us chase after, as we don’t know where the thing is either.
Shizuna tells him to calm down, remembering that the JUDA folk had to do plenty of waiting around when they were trying to capture the Linebarrel. Maybe all we can do now is also sit around until the Langoon pops out of hiding.

But, Ichitaka argues, that may be counterproductive, as Himika has the Bronze Bells and the huge power they have – if we take too long, it may be too late to stop them. True, true, there’s that…
Kenji also remembers what Kyo said about his and Tsubaki’s combined powers bringing forth a miracle – that’s got to be a clue for a way to beat Himika. Whatever the case, the fact remains that leaving the Bronze Bells in the Jama Kingdom’s hands means Hiroshi and Kenji are grounded, so our first priority should be getting them back.

While Kenji wrings his fists at Himika, Jeffrey calls in and says the Quarter and Daiku Maryu are going to head towards the Frontier. What for?! They’re going to be picking up some Reactive Weapons to use in their battle against the Jama Kingdom.
Michel’s very surprised to hear that the President’s Office has given them the go-ahead so quickly, but it IS just a matter of granting permission. Mishima himself, face the current crisis, moved to get things rolling ASAP – Ozma smells fish with how helpful Mushroom Head’s being.

Whatever the case, we’ll also be getting some help from Prof. Kentarou to figure out where Himika’s at; while the Valkyries are getting equipped with their new weapons, the pilots will get some time off in shifts.
Kenji isn’t too keen on taking it easy right now, though he knows we don’t have anything better to do. Hiroshi points out that being well-rested is also part of being a pilot, and the kid knows, figuring he’ll just look at it like he’s resting the day before a Grand Prix.

Out in Island 1, Nagisa’s very surprised to see a replica Japanese city inside a spaceship, but, as Luca explains, they wanted to recreate the Earth landscapes they’d left behind. Speaking of, Kouichi wonders if the sight of his helped Emi remember anything about what kind of town she lived in, but, no, unfortunately.
Yamashita suggests he just leave it at that, as we didn’t come here in hopes to restore her memories in the first place. Regardless, Nagisa thanks Alto for accompanying them, and it was no problem – he had to come this way to get to the SMS HQ anyway. The company’s owner called him over, and this’ll actually be Alto’s first time seeing the guy.

Maybe he wants to give him a raise for all his hard work, Nagisa wonders. That’d be fine with Alto, though he doesn’t see why he’d need to specifically summon him for that. Either way, it’s starting to rain, so Luca points out a restaurant for the group to chill out at.
Kouichi’s blown away that the Island even has artificial rain, but Yamashita tells him to quit gawking and get moving. Conventional Japanese wisdom says idiots don’t catch colds, but it’s best not to tempt fate, so he drags Kouichi away.

And at the SMS building, Alto is brought before Richard Birler: Zentran, huge train-set owner and his boss.
Birler congratulates him on his recently promotion, but what he is really interested in talking about is this: does Alto have a dream?

Alto’s convo with the guy took quite a long time: apparently the Vajra produce this ore, Fold Quartz, and with it one could establish a comm network unbound by Fold faults. While it’s obviously true that the Vajra can traverse between parallel worlds, this still sounds like a very farfetched dream… but, whatever the case, Alto’ll just keep on fighting as he has.
Also, damn, this rain isn’t letting up – he should’ve paid more attention to the weather forecast. He has it better than Sheryl, though, who stumbles out into his alleyway. What’s she doing here?!

She slowly grunts at him not to get any ideas – she didn’t come here to see him – and Alto figures she skipped out the hospital before she was fully healed. He wants to bring her back, but Sheryl begs him not to: “Don’t take me to the hospital, or to the hotel… I can’t stand being locked up like that anymore…”
The girl’s passing out, so, in that case, there’s only one option left…

Sheryl wakes up in Alto’s room, and immediately freaks out at him. What did he do to her?! Stop yelling and calm down, already – does she have any idea the pain it was to bring her here after she fainted?! Oh, dear, is that what happened? And here was Alto, all worried…
Sheryl’s slightly surprised to hear that he was worried for her, but how could he not?! Looking at her, Alto notices something: the earring she’s got looks just like the ore Birler showed him earlier. Is it Fold Quartz too?
Before Sheryl can question what he’s staring at, the door slides open: “You know, we might have some time off, but that doesn’t mean you’re free to bring chicks over to your room,” Michel enters and has a laugh. Alto stammers a denial – a woman like her?!

Sheryl doesn’t appreciate it: “‘a woman like her’, what, exactly?!” See? This is exactly what Alto meant. The levity is cut short by the alarm blaring: Vajra have been spotted close to the Frontier, so Cathy tells everyone to scramble. So much for resting.
Oh, and by the way, we’ll be escorting Ranka out there – they’ll be briefed in a bit. What the hell? Apparently, says Cathy, the Frontier Government wants to use this as an opportunity to test using her song as a new weapon against the buggers.
Well, Alto and Michel need to get going, but the former begs Sheryl to stay in – if folks find out she’s here, it’ll be a huge mess. “… Fine. Get to it, then. You call yourself a professional, right?” Sheryl huffs, Alto sighing at her sass and suggesting she get some rest.
As they leave, however, Sheryl sneaks right after – she’s worried about Ranka.

Ranka’s already arrived at the Quarter’s hangar (she hopes Ai-kun’s doing okay), and Grace asks if she’s not too keen on using her childhood memento song as a weapon against the Vajra. No, she says it’s fine – this is important work, right? Then Grace should go and get things ready; she’s sure everything’ll work just fine.
As the woman takes off, Brera asks why Ranka’s ill at ease. She’s surprised by this, but Brera says it’s his job as her bodyguard to pay attention to how she’s feeling. Sure, but what she wants to know is how he could tell she was ill at ease.

“I can tell after all the times I’ve listened to you sing. Your song makes me feel the universe around me,” Brera explains. “Usually I’m ripping through it, but when you sing, I feel cradled in the currents of the galaxy… and… Sorry, I can’t quite put it into words”.
But Ranka appreciates his insight nonetheless, and is inspired to go for it – this is what she can do to help everyone.

As you might expect, Ozma is not happy with this. Where’d they come up with this insane idea that Ranka’s song’ll work on the Vajra?! Mishima says it’s just a theory, which is why they’re going to put it to the test. Besides, his sister has already agreed to it, so his fuming won’t change anything.
Ozma sees that the only reason Mishima rushed our request to equip Reactive Weapons was to use us as part of this experiment, but the guy says more and more Vajra have been coming to this world. We’d do well to see them as a real threat, as while their numbers were initially few enough that the NUNS and ZAFT could deal with, the frequency of their spawns has been increasing daily. We cannot remain passive anymore.
Wishing us good luck escorting Ranka, Mishima signs off. The idea of driving off the Vajra through song sounds pretty crazy to Hiyoshi, and while Michel’s aware that many of the brass fancy the “Minmay Attack” strategy, he has to wonder if it’ll actually fly with these opponents.

Against the old Zentran and the Protodeviln, sure, but Klan isn’t even certain we’re dealing with intelligent life-forms here. Iczer-1 asks if this strategy worked in their old world, and Michel says it was less “driving off” and more like using song to bridge the gap between enemies.
There are plenty of videos about those battles, Ozma says, though events have obviously been dramatized some to make them more appealing to the general public. Daiya likes the idea of reconciliation through song – maybe this is proof that all people can reach an understanding with one another.
As for the Vajra, Luca figures, as living creatures, it stands to reason that they have SOME way of communicating. And if this experiment succeeds, it’ll make our battle against them much easier, too, so it’s well worth the effort. We’ll see, as Lulu tells everyone to deploy – we’re about to reach the Vajra flock.

Mission 20 (Himika Route) – Contact With the Unknown

The Vajra are right up ahead and Jeffrey’s surprised they had a warp point around here. Cathy says he shouldn’t, as the Vajra’s Folds aren’t limited by Fold Faults and gravitational fields like ours are.
It’s likely these are calling their friends from the other universe by way of some hitherto unknown means. When Bobby asks, Cathy says she knows that thanks to the newest research report handed by the President’s Office.
Now, Iczer-1 insisted on deploying by herself, and explains to Nagisa that she’s got a bad feeling (Daiya tells her not to say that or she’ll jinx us). Regardless, Monica pings the same Fold signal we saw at Diokia, and a bunch of Vajra warp right in – just like Cathy said.

Seems to Jeffrey that the Frontier’s research is on to something, so maybe it actually will be worth our while to give this experiment a chance. Ranka’s aboard Canaria’s Koenig Monster, and she’ll try her best to fly as gently as possible.
When Ozma asks, Ranka confirms that she wants to do this. Brera’s deployed for this as well, still acting as Ranka’s bodyguard, and going by his usual Antares 1 callsign. First order of business is to close the distance with the Vajra flock – initiate “Ranka Attack”!

Destroy everything, don’t lose Alto, Canaria, Iczer-1 or any ship. This one’s so much easier than the other path, I don’t even know what to say. While we don’t have Jeeg, we make up by having Brera on our side (who’s actually really dang strong) and, better still, there’s this:

The Valkyries have all received their special packs back now that we’re in space! Ozma, who’s pro, has his Armored Pack while everyone else has Super Packs. That’s a small stat boost, but, more importantly, they’ve all gained access to their Reactive Munitions: two shots (3 with B-Save) and it’ll hurt anything it touches.
Considering all the Valkyries have them, that’s another reason why they’re such great squaddies even if you don’t wanna lead with anyone.

Everyone moves forward.

: … Truth be told, I didn’t wanna let you come here. But if this is what you want…
: Ranka… I’ll protect both you and your dreams!!

Ozma’s the only one that gets in range, mind.

Enemy Phase!

I’m not sure if Brera’ll auto-heal if he dies, but he is very willing to charge head-first into the enemy. On the flip side, he auto-casts Focus and Accelerate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ehQnadDM8
Why does he get after-images, but not us?!
The Vajra don’t appreciate Brera getting in their face, though, and a bunch swarm him (no kills).

Ozma and Iczer-1 also get attacked, to no avail:

: If these creatures have something akin to intelligence, then…
: Iczer-1, focus! The Vajras are dead ahead!
: !! How could I let my mind wander while on the battlefield…! Here I go!

That’s one kill for her.

Player Phase!

: Who goes there?! Don’t you know it’s strictly forbidden to enter the bridge when it’s in Condition 1?
: …
: Sheryl Nome…! Why are you here?! And what is security doing?!
: I don’t recall giving you permission to come aboard, Ms. Sheryl. Care for an explanation?
: I heard about this secret test you’re doing – what it entails, and what you’re after.
: Are you going to blackmail us with that knowledge?
: No, I won’t. Please, Mr. Wilder, I need to see all this with my own two eyes.
: Your curiosity at work, is it?
: My pride, rather…!
: Hah… Get her a seat, people.
: Thank you.
: Time to begin, Ranka.
: Alright…!

: Aimo, Aimo…♪
: (Emotional index +4.33, Fold Wave level at 3.2. Very good…)

: The Vajras’ movement has grown irregular! They’ve stopped attacking…!
: …
: Yak Deculture…!
: It’s true…!
: They’re listening to her song…?
: Well, I’ll be damned…
: This is Antares 1, the test is a confirmed success. Proceeding to eliminate.
: A-All units, engage the Vajra!
: (Ranka, you’re…)

And there we have it. Ranka’s song has rendered the Vajra passive and they’ll simply move around, never attacking or counterattacking. Do note that moving Canaria in any way will end the effect, so let her sit still wherever she’s at.
Let’s spread out and clear the flock.

: Ranka…! I’ll destroy any and all Vajra that’ve come to this world…!
: That’s how we, humanity, will survive!

: (She’s managed to hinder the Vajra’s movement so much… Now if we can get the mass-production of the new warhead underway, then…!)

: Things are looking up already…! With this trick on our side, the NUNS and ZAFT alone could deal with the Vajras even if a whole bunch of them turn up!
: You’re awesome, Ranka!

: Her song really made them all docile… guess this is another one of those mysteries of space, huh?
: Either way, it shouldn’t take long to wrap up this battle now! Here I come, Vajra!

: Ranka Lee’s song… It’s even made me feel at peace.
: Maybe this is what our people felt when their hearts were taken with Lynn Minmay’s song during the First Space War…
: But we can’t just sit here and take in the tunes. Our job in all this is to exterminate any Vajra that came to this world!

: I can kinda understand how Ozma’s feeling… No big bro would like seeing his baby sister stepping out into a battle zone.
: Maybe it’s impossible to take out every single Vajra, but I’m still gonna at least try to end this fight quick-like!

: Don’t get tunnel vision with the enemy. Our main mission here is to defend Ranka.
: I’m keeping a close eye on everything. And you, Kenichi, don’t get so hung up on the Koenig that you let the Vajra run off!
: Yeah, I got it!

: The Cthulhu?! What are they doing here…!
: Hohohohoh… My name is Neos Gold, and I have been looking forward for the chance to do battle with you all.
: That evil presence… Are you Big Gold’s—?!
: Ah, Iczer-1, the beautiful warrior that repelled Iczer-2… Though I believe your face would look even more beautiful devoid of life.
: What is she, Iczer-1?!
: Big Gold’s spawn, I think… Meaning we must defeat her!
: We cannot interrupt the “Ranka Attack”. Troops, repel the Cthulhu on the double!
: Hohohohoh… You shouldn’t assume it’ll all be so simple…

Well, darn. The Cthulhu are still plenty far away, though, so we’ll keep focusing on the Vajra – once the buggers are gone, we’ll worry about the rest. Just pull whatever units are hanging back closer to keep them from getting mobbed (though you still cannot move Canaria).

: I’ve no idea what’s going on through your heads, but if you’re trying to have your way with our world, then I’m not cutting you any slack!

Kill enough of the Vajra, and…

: … I see. One of them is sapping the bugs’ fighting spirit.
: And, in that case…!

: Go, Dilos! Put a stop to these odd dimensional waves!

The Dilos charges after the Koenig Monster!

: Ranka?!
: Hrk…!

: A-Aah…!
: Are you alright, Ranka?

: That’s… Captain, the Vajra have turned hostile again!
: Hrm…!
: Damn, I knew it was too good to be true!
: (Her emotional index has… She needs more training, just as I thought.)

No more passive Vajra, but there shouldn’t be many of them left for that to be a big issue. Just remember the Knight-Class’ frontal MAPW and clear out the rest while the Cthulhu are still moving in. And, of course, you can move Canaria again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR8p47Dt9gg
And here’s Brera’s best attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ft-Ze3U8rE
And here are our shiny new Reactive Munitions. Anyone Macross savvy can clarify if these are straight-up nukes or something different?

: There were more hanging around?!
: Just one, though. Let’s wrap this up and make it snappy!
: (The battle’s still going… I… I have to sing…)
: Aimo, Aimo…♪
: …

The Vajra blasts off towards her!

: Ranka…! I’ll get it!
: Move, Skull 4!

: Brera…!
: Brera, you…!
: I said it before: you don’t deserve her. I’ll keep Ranka safe…!
: Yo, what’s your problem?! Why’d you cut Alto off like that?!
: This really ain’t the time for a pissing match, ya know!
: …

So now we gotta go aaaall the way to the other side of the map. Considering a handful of our guys don’t have accelerate or are just too far, I’ve to load them onto our ships to cut travel time.

That’s not the case with Brera, whose auto-Accelerate allows him to immediately intercept the Cthulhu and start shaving off about 60-70% of their HP. So, you’ve about two turns before he starts killing stuff and, by three, he’ll likely have killed at least over half the Dilos due to their counterattacks.
Hurry on over, or there’ll go a bunch of your cash for this mission!

Thankfully, with his Valkyrie’s low HP, we just need to start bringing folks close enough and the AI’ll switch focus to us.
The Dilos are the same as ever and Neos Gold is hanging back (for now), so on the next turn, when the rest of our group arrives, they’ll fall in droves.

Neos Gold
Pilot Skills:
Ignore Size Difference
Commander L3
Prevail L3
Support Attack L2
Attack Combo L2

Neos Gold is exactly what you’d expect from an Iczer boss: she’s got a ton of stats where it matters and dodges like a motherfucker due to that S size. Her attacks’ accuracy modifiers ain’t all that, so she won’t get TOO big %s against you, but they sure pack a good punch and have very good range. That Command aura’ll give the Dilos quite the hefty bonus, so that’s another reason to kill them all sooner rather than later.
No MAPW attacks to worry about, thankfully, but do note that her strongest attack is also the one she can chain-attack with. Watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZcstaI37js
Rare footage of the Daiku Maryu with its head on since Daiya’s currently hitching a ride towards his newest stomping grounds!

Kill enough of the Dilos and eventually the plot will pick up again.

: I’ll concede that your strength exceeds my expectations, foolish Earthlings.
: I won’t allow you to leave here alive, Neos Gold!
: However, it is precisely because you struggled so that you will experience even greater pain.
: What…?
: Just about now, my Four Generals should be in pursuit of Iczer-2’s new partner, cutting a swathe of destruction as they do.

Beep, beep!

: Captain, we’ve an emergency transmission from Island 1! Mihoshi Academy is under attack by some unknown bugs!
: What?!
: And at this hour… Nanase and the others are there!

: A-Aah…!
: Please, give Kawai back!
: That’s just not going to work, I’m afraid. You, alone, are the person we’re here for, Nagisa Kasumi.
: Meaning everyone else are simply pawns for me to toy with until they’re broken… and I’ll very much enjoy slowly tearing them apart.
: If… If only Alto and the others were around, you…
: It’d make absolutely no difference. Whoever may be here, they’d all end the same way: food for by adorable bug servants.
: And, so, I believe this girl can go first. Why don’t I start with this pretty face of hers…? Hmhmhm, hahahahah!
: STOP! Stay away from her!

Nagisa’s struck by Insect’s bugs!

: Urk… let Kawai… go…
: You can’t fight those monsters, Nagisa! It’s impossible!
: Heh… Look at you, risking your life to save your dear friends.
: You’re a funny girl… And, you know what, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll make her scream a bit before handing her over to Lady Neos!
: !!
: (God, please… save her…!)

: Argh?!
: Hee, hee…
: Huh… Wh-Who are you…?

: Heey Yo! I’m Iczer-3!
: Iczer-3…? I heard of Iczer-1, but…
: Oh, you know my big sis? What about granny there with the bugs?
: “Granny”…? You dare address the mightiest of Lady Neos’ warriors so? I’ll make you rue your impudence.
: And if she’s Iczer-1’s sister, then we must kill her…!
: Ah! You two wanna play?!
: Indeed. You should be honored to get the chance to fight me!
: Let’s go, then, grannies!

*Bzzt! Swoosh! Whiplash! Beam!

: Wow… that girl’s unbelievable…
: (Iczer… What’s going on…? I feel like I know her… Actually, didn’t I see this in a dream…?)

*Bzzt! Swoosh! Whiplash! Beam!

: Ooh, you grannies are strong! I like it!
: … Buut, I think you’re a bit too weak to play with my big sis.
: What did you say?!
: Iczer… BOOOOMB!

Craaaaaaash!

: Woo-hoo! I win!
: She’s… too strong…!
: Inconceivable… How could such a tiny girl hurt my beautiful body…?
: Insect…! We must report this… to Lady Neos…
: Hm, we’ve no choice…!

Warp!

: Aaw, they ran! Jerks!
: Iczer-3… who are you?
: Ah, Nagisa! I’m your partner!
: My partner…?
: Yep, that’s what Sister Gray said. So, Nagisa, lemme borrow a bit of your strength, okay? We’ll give those guys a whooping together!

Warp!

: Hm… ooh… Nanase? What happened…?
: Nagisa… vanished…!

: Ah…! What is the meaning of this, Fiber, Insect?
: A-A thousand apologies… We were attacked by this girl. She called herself Iczer-3 and said she was Iczer-1’s sister…
: Our attacks had no effect on her…
: I accept your apology… but I also have no use for incompetent warriors.

: LADY NEOS!!
: GWAAAAARGH!!

: Did she just destroy her own allies?!
: What’s the situation at the Frontier Fleet?!

: If you mean that big ol’ space ship, it’s all good! Both the bugs and the grannies got kicked out!
: What’s going on…? I’m floating in space…?!
: H-Hey, isn’t that the Nyan-Nyan Nagisa?!
: What’s she doing there…?
: Iczer-1, is that girl the one you escaped the Cthulhu with?
: No, she’s not… who in the world…
: Good to meet you, sis! I’m here to help you just like Sister Gray told me to!
: “Gray”? Then, you’ve the Iczelio…
: Yup, and I can also pilot the Iczer Robo. Take a look, too, Nagisa! This is my friend!
: Iczer… Robo!
: She’s…?

: What happened, Iczer-1?
: The Iczer Robo was called elsewhere.

: What…? …Wait, this sensation… I know this…
: Here we go, Nagisa!
: …
: What are you doing, Lulu? We still have a battle to deal with.
: Ah— I-I’m sorry. I was just a bit taken aback…
: Your targets haven’t changed, troops! Destroy the Cthulhu while carrying on with the Ranka Attack experiment!

Iczer Robo (Iczer-3, Nagisa Kasumi)
Pilot Skills:
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Prevail L4
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Attack Combo L2
Spirit Commands – Iczer-3:
Daunt
Focus
Spirit
Spirit Commands – Nagisa:
Trust
Attune
Iron Wall
Bless
Squad Bonus: exp earned +10%, mobility +5

Iczer-1, bulky edition. Iczer-3 has SLIGHTLY worse stats than her sisters, but she does have them beat in defenses and her attacks have lower EN costs.
On the other hand, on offense, Iczer-3 is straight-up worse than 1: in both forms, her weapons are varying degrees of weaker (from just 100 points less on the melee and beam attacks, to a full 500 less between 3’s strongest and Iczer-1/Robo Full Power).

And that’s an issue because, as you saw, there’s only ONE Iczer Robo to go around – you need to choose who uses it at a given time. Mind, you could make the point that, since Iczer-1’s stronger by herself, 3 needs the Robo more.
And, in case you’re wondering, Nagisa Kasumi is an exact mirror image of Nagisa Kanou down to the spirit command list, so don’t let that stop you from choosing one or the other.

Now, we’ve only a handful of Dilos left alive, so we’ll make quick work of those and converge upon Neos Gold.

While that’s going on, Iczer-3 has a chance to pull a nice chain attack with her melee attack:

: Game on! Let’s see which is stronger: you or the Iczer Robo!
: Wh-What am I supposed to do here…? Gimme some sort of explanation, Iczer-3!
: Here goes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lim-xQnmrhU

Oh, and Neos Gold decided to start moving when she saw an opportunity of her own to chain attack.

: Damn that Big Gold! So she had another trick up her sleeve other than those monsters and giant robots?!
: My mother is all-powerful… she far exceeds your feeble imagination. And, of course, so do I!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KR6q_IpN7M

And now we go deal with her properly!

: You may be young, but you are also an Iczer… Fine, I’ll deal with you in person.
: You’ve got a lotta nerve sending people after Nagisa, Neos Gold!
: Haah… Haah… Iczer-3… wait up…! I’m feeling… kind of…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_byhzX-N6w

: You had your goons attack Mihoshi Academy while it was completely defenseless?! There’s sordid and then there’s that, Neos Gold!
: Hohohoho… I care not to comply with the standards of humans, foolish Earthling.
: Well, you better! Because the Voltes is going to pay back the horror you put our friends through twice over!

: D’you really want to kill us and Iczer-1 so bad that you’d pull crap like that?!
: Ohoho… No different from you and your unwillingness to coexist with the Vajra.
: …! Then that’s what we are in your eyes, huh…? Then, I’ll…!

: Neos Gold… You’re 100% evil, no question about it! And our justice’s gonna put you down!
: Your “justice”… I see. Then I believe I’ll kill you first.

: You Cthulhu are really running short on people by the looks of it.
: Your insolent tongue won’t be wagging for long. Observe how weak you truly are.

: Disappear, Neos Gold! And take your evil power with you!
: I’ll bring your head as a gift to my mother. Here is where you die, Iczer-1!

: Urgh…! Not bad, though this is hardly enough to best me.
: Her energy signal’s growing fainter! She’s going to…!
: Ooh, no! This spawn’s mom messed with my sis and her friends so much, so she’s going down right here, right now!
: Stop! Don’t rush—

Iczer-3 rushes Neos Gold down.

: Yaah!

“See how you like my Iczelio Bomber!”

“Urgh… I… can’t…”

“Take this!”

“Rrrgh! Curse you… Iczer-3!!”

: Jeez, she’s tough!

Power doooown.

: Eh?! Wh-What’s with the Iczer Robo?!
: Think it’s same thing that happened to our Nagisa?!
: If the partner’s unable to synchronize herself, the Iczer Robo grows weak…!
: Did something happen to her partner, then…?!
: …
: Nagisa?! What is it, Nagisa?! Talk to me, please!
: Fool… In your bid to claim victory, you’ve left yourself exposed.

: Huh?! Why’d the Iczer Robo leave?!
: I’ve taken the liberty of seizing the Iczelio, source of you Iczers’ power. Rest assured that I’ll put it to very good use…
: All that remains now is to capture Nagisa Kasumi…
: Not on my watch!
: Worry not, Iczer-3. I’ll also take the time to give you your just deserts.
: (But if I fight here, Nagisa’ll be in danger… What do I do…?!)
: Die!

: Watch out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejJD4fTDNrg

: You OK, Iczer-1?!
: Yes… as are the two of them… Urk…!
: Very impressive, Iczer-1… I now see why Iczer-2’s been wounded so by your hand.
: But, unfortunately, I, like you, no longer have any strength with which to fight. Much as I am loath to leave without Nagisa Kasumi, the Iczelio is a fine prize in itself. Once I’ve recovered my power, we shall meet again…!

: Stop… Neos Gold…

Faint.

: Oh, no! Someone bring Iczer-1 and Nagisa to the Macross!
: I’ll do it! I have to get them to that ship there, right?

That’s all the Vajra and Cthulhu taken care of, and Bobby’s very impressed with the amazing show Ranka put today. She was like the legendary Minmay herself, Mina thinks, but the singer’s too passé for Bobby. Basara’s a much better comparison… though he’s also old news in Lam’s eye.
Alto also praises her for the good work, but Ranka’s more worried about Nagisa and Iczer-1. We don’t know how they’re doing, but will check now; Ranka can’t come with, though, as she has exams to undergo…
Inwardly, though, she wonders to Alto and Ozma: “Is… Is this right?”

Couple of convos we missed today:

: (It’s true that, if this works, we’ll see a major dip in KIA cases. We’ll also have a way of regaining our footing and dealing with the Vajra… This is quite the conundrum for Ozma, hm?)

–

: Oh, different bugs! Nagisa, can I play with them for just a bit? I bet they’re strong!
: Th-Those are the Vajra, aren’t they?! No! Stay away from them!
: Naah, don’t worry about it! I’m pretty strong too, you know!

Iczer-3 hurries to the Quarter’s infirmary in search of Nagisa and Iczer-1, and Alice has to tell her to keep her voice down – Nagisa’s still very weak. She’s not at risk, Canaria points out, and will recover with some rest.
Miu points out that the same happened with Nagisa Kanou during her first battle, where she exhausted herself due to controlling the Iczer Robo. Iczer-1 starts getting off her gurney, and Iczer-3 immediately apologizes for putting her here.

Alice protests that she’s still hurt and shouldn’t move around, but Iczer-1 says, regardless, she’ll soon be unable to move. Before that, though, she has something to do and looks at the asleep Nagisa Kasumi.
Canaria tells who she is, and since this Nagisa from another world is Iczer-3’s partner, she has a favor to ask.

: You’re leaving, Iczer-1…?
: Yes. I must return to my ally’s side in order to heal my wounds.
: Nagisa… I’m entrusting your protection, as well as that of the other Nagisa, to Iczer-3.
: …
: Are we gonna see each other again?
: My battles will continue until Neos Gold… and Big Gold are destroyed, and Earth is saved. So I promise to you all that I’ll return.
: We’ll be looking forward to the day where we’ll fight side-by-side again, Iczer-1.
: As will I. Take care of them, Iczer-3. And, Nagisa… farewell for now.
: Bye, Iczer-1… and please come back to us.
: Absolutely…!

Warp!

: Iczer-3. I’m sure Iczer-1 and Canaria already said this to you, but…
: If you’re going to be fighting with us, then you’ll need to listen to what we say and not act as rashly as you did.
: I just screwed up when controlling the Iczer Robo, that’s it! I’ll do it right next time…!

Off she goes.

: Oof, she’s quite the handful. What do we do? Just give her free rein?
: Is she the kind of kid that’d listen to us, even?
: Nagisa Kasumi… we might just have to depend on her for this.

And BOTH Alto and Michel had to run a ton of laps around the hangar as punishment for bringing Sheryl over, and the latter is not happy that he wound up getting caught in that. Alto’s already apologized for it, damn it! Well, now that that’s done, Michel has to take off: this is their first time back in the Frontier in who knows how long, so he has a date!
As he leaves, Alto gets a call from Ranka: she wants to thank him for today, and apologizing for taking this long. She had to wait for Brera and the others to leave the room. Alto doesn’t blame her, since the guy has been assigned to her.
Either way, Ranka wants his opinion on the experiment. Well, everyone’s stoked over what happened, saying how this’ll make our fight with the Vajra way simpler, how it could be key to uncovering so much more, etc… And what does Alto, himself, think?

Well, wanting to expand and gain prosperity is a fundamental desire for any living beings, and when two groups have that same desire, that’s when conflict is born. This is what we have on our hands, and it seems survival comes down to either us or them… or maybe some other group, even.
Alto thinks we might be at a major crossroads here, and, in that case, he’s ready to do whatever’s necessary. Is it really okay, then? That’s what Alto thinks, at least, and that’s all the validation Ranka needs: if her song can help us even a little, then she’ll sing her heart out for Alto, his friends and Nagisa!
Speaking of, the doctors expect the girl to be awake tomorrow – he’ll let Ranka know if it happens, so he tells her to keep up the good work. With much gratitude, she hangs up, and while Alto’s glad that there wasn’t anything major wrong with Nagisa, he does have to wonder what might be up with Sheryl after they took her back to the hospital…

Cut to the President’s Office, Cathy’s investigation has born some fruit: she thinks Brera’s getting his orders from people connected to the Macross Galaxy, still believed to be in their original world, while the approval for today’s operation has Mishima’s fingerprints all over it. See, while Howard was very happy with the experiment’s results, he apparently wasn’t too keen on having it take place.
Ozma wonders if Cathy’s really fine with leading this investigation, what with her fiancée being involved, and she sighs that Mishima’s a very ambitious man. She used to think that was a good point of his… unlike someone else’s lack of ambition?
Cathy falls silent, so Ozma apologizes for crossing the line.

Speak of the devil, Luca’s been brought to Mishima’s office, and asks the man if both today’s experiment and the covert recovery of Fold Quartz from the Vajra corpses are being done in accordance to Birler’s wishes. What makes him think that? Well, the guy has an obvious reason to want the mineral: to create with it a network spanning even parallel worlds. A monopoly like that would essentially give the man dominion over the world.
Mishima praises the insight of L.A.I.’s heir, but he’s not quite right: Mishima’s no longer acting in accordance to Birler’s agenda. G, stepping out of the shadows, says they’re setting their sights way higher than Luca’s hypothesis.

But Mishima says they still need L.A.I. to continue its excellent work. They all want to get back to their original world, you see, meaning they need to stay alive until that can happen. Thus, he wants them to make good on the development of the new warhead.
That’s fine with Luca, but he does ask them to quite using their prototypes for unscheduled experiments. With that, he leaves, and G is very impressed with the kid. Well, he didn’t earn his position of technical advisor in L.A.I. by being charming – he’s a prodigy through and through.

But more important than him, Mishima wants to know how things’ll proceed with the Ranka Lee Experiment.
“Training requires both carrot and stick, you know,” G says… and takes away his disguise, revealing himself to be Grace! “So how about we give the ‘carrot’ some priority for now?” she says. Scary, scary woman.

Turns out Michel’s date was with Klan. Did she wait long? N-No, who would waste their time waiting for HIM? She’s clearly just got here! And, whoops, Alice is also around, apologizing for running late – not that Michel’ll complain, since he was late himself after running with Alto. “I thought this’d be my big chance and you brought someone else along…” Klan fumes silently.
Either way, Michel’s sorry for calling them over while they were off-duty, but he asks if they’ve found out anything about that mysterious medicine Sheryl was taking. Klan hasn’t anything yet, but she did call in a favor from a college friend to analyze it. Once the results are in, they’ll be sent over with an encryption only she can unlock.

Great, though Michel apologizes to her for all the work-talk during their first break in ages. Well, if that’s what he thinks, then maybe— “OK, now that that’s done, let’s go have some nice tea, Alice!,” Michel quips.
Whuh? B-But she’s an android, so drinking tea wouldn’t really do anything for her. Oh, don’t worry about that – the whole thing is about enjoying the ambiance, having fun and what not. As she drags her away, Klan’s disappointed in him: “You’re still running away, Michel…?”

: Hmhmhm… Thanks to the Cthulhu and those insects drawing the humans’ attention, I’ve managed to complete my preparations without any intrusions.
: Oh, Bronze Bells, reveal the path that leads to the Iwato.

: Oooh…?!
: Space-time is… splitting apart!
: The Iwato is appearing before us!
: Hmhmhm… HAHAHAHA! At long last! The time has come to bring our ancient desire to fruition!

[nekomajokko]

Anyone Macross savvy can clarify if these are straight-up nukes or something different?

originally they were going to be but the whole nuclear taboo thing, and “the good guys would never use nukes”. they’re an antimatter explosion that’s functionally the same

[Mattman324]

L, UX, and BX all ascribe to the “need everything boosted to get partner bonus upgrades” because they came well before the 50% “FUB” and in fact pioneered it. 50% upgrades is all you need in all three of those games though, it’s more than enough, so that’s fine. (Really, in any of the three, the only stat I’d consider boosting above 50% on a first run is EN, and that only to make things a little faster.)

Reaction Weaponry WAS nuclear in the past. It’s not anymore. See, during SDF, they realized that Japan still had a massive nuclear taboo, so they decided not to fully go that route, and it was never really explained - just that they were similar power and came from Overtechnology from the SDF. Eventually the name came to mean pair-annihilation weapons, which, as Kawamori noted, are much stronger than nuclear weapons but don’t yet exist in real life, and thus have no taboo. With that said, it is true that in older Macross stuff, it was nuclear - Macross Zero references that, the only “reaction weaponry” is outright stated to be nuclear, because Zero was a prequel.

Oh, shit, didn’t realize L actually made reference to Iczelion. Huh.

(Pretty sure you do eventually get two Iczer Robos to pass around between 1 and 3, though I can’t really remember.)

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Back again in the WATER! Route, goddamn, look at that lead Ichitaka has. The Alliance mooks really liked going after him in the previous mission, and he liked just as much punching them into oblivion.

Upgrade tally: Shinji took a bunch if Gunfights, and random upgrades went to everyone. Special care was given to the Godannar units since they’re all deploying today. Jun also got a boost in HP and Armor in hopes of preventing another death.

Quick shuffle around, and this is how we’re going:
Shinji/Rey (their weapon spread and range is pretty dang similar and, better yet, Shinji gives him an A on land.)
Athrun/Luna
Combattler/Rei
Ichitaka
Kouji/Quatre
Tetsuya/Jun
Dancouga/Boss
Zechs/Noin
Shinn/Heine

Forward!

We open up at the Dannar Base, where Goh’s test results have just come in. Kiriko relates that his condition is extremely delicate, and if he triggers the Rabid Syndrome now, there’s a good chance he’ll never recover.
This is certainly not how Aoi expected things to turn out for him, but Misato tells her and Anna not to give up hope yet. The PLANTs and JUDA are making progress, so Chizuru is certain they’ll have a cure soon, and then Goh’ll be fine.

Shibakusa then walks in, saying he’s finished getting “that” ready to roll. As for why he’s here and not at JUDA, he explains to Kouji that he had to come over for a rather important job. Yotsuya helped him out with it, and they should be ready for a trial run.
So, they turn to Tetsuya Kouji and ask him to come with to the underground hangar – there’s a surprise waiting for him. As he and Shibakusa leave, Yotsuya tells Hyouma that they’ve put together something of a secret weapon. With Shizuru in a coma and Goh still out, they had to do SOMETHING to make up for our lost firepower.

At the hangar, Shinn pulls Rey over for some real talk: how much progress has the PLANTs actually made in finding a cure for Goh? Rey doesn’t know, but it’s not like we’ve any other options other than trusting in Durandal and the scientists. “And if a cure isn’t found… then I suppose it was just his destiny,” Rey sighs.
“Destiny…? I don’t really like the idea of something like that deciding how people live and die,” Shinn ponders, Rey staring in silence. At length, he tells Shinn that there’s only one thing they can do: fight for as long as their hearts are beating. Shinn agrees, more than ready to fight for the PLANTs and Earth: “even if it’s our destiny to be beaten, I’ll find a way to cut a path through it.”

Yo, what’s with all this depressing talk, Heine steps in. “You two think you’re gonna come down with something, too?” Rey slowly say no, so then they should lighten up some. There’re already too many dark clouds hanging over the Dannar Base.
… And just as Shinn agrees, the alarm starts blaring. Guess there’s just no lightening up around here. To the command room!

Konami reports bad news throughout the world: Mimetic Beasts are going berserk, and a huge posse of them is headed towards Japan… more specifically, here! Momoko puts it up on screen, and our folks see a SWARM of the things. But why are all of those converging here, Juzo asks.
Because we’ve killed tons of them all this time, so the answer is clear to Kiriko: they’ve tagged us as their greatest threat. They shouldn’t be smart enough to make that sort of correlation, Kagemaru objects, but a heightened instinct isn’t all that different from intellect. And in some cases, instincts are even superior to intellect. By the looks of it, they’ve looked over their kind’s past experiences and decided we’re the ones to beat.

Goh runs on over, having heard of the incoming mob of Mimetic Beasts. Him getting excited in any way is very ill advised, so Kagemaru orders him back to the infirmary right now. But if the Dannar Base gets wrecked they’ll lose everything!
Not on Anna’s watch, it won’t, and she’ll fight for the two of them! Yotsuya’s with her, saying Goh should be focusing on getting better – leave this battle to us. Then can they at least let him stay here until the team deploys?
Kiriko allows it, but he’ll have to get to the infirmary once the battle starts. As Goh thanks her, the radar pings the Mimetic Beast swarm. They’ll be breaking into our airspace soon, so Misato orders everyone out to intercept.

Mission 21 – The Dannar Base, Hanging By a Thread

: There are a ton of them… Even more than when that transmission was taken, I think…!
: It really does look like Mimetic Beasts from across the whole world are gathering here.
: An all-out assault by them, huh?
: Meaning we just need to win this one and that’ll be game over for the Mimetic Beasts! Psyche yourselves up, people!
: The Mimetic Beasts are likely planning to destroy both LOTUS and the Dannar Base! Do whatever it takes to keep all of them away!

: Aye, aye! Let’s go and make ‘em regret trying to pull this stunt! Come here, beasties!

Destroy everything without losing the Minerva or the Neo Okusaer, or letting any enemy enter the marked area. This one isn’t TOO hard, provided you follow a few guidelines:

• Stay, landed, within the Dannar Base terrain (the walkways count) as much as can be done because they provide excellent terrain bonuses, including HP and EN regen. The movements a bit impaired, but the boosts are tremendously helpful.
• Let the enemy come to you. They’ll move in waves, and you’re much better served dealing with them as such. The little mooks’ EN drain won’t hurt much if you’re regenning it.
• When you’re dealing with the bulkier groups, ALWAYS prioritize killing the flying Mimetic Beasts first. The water’ll slow the enemy considerably, but those fliers will readily blow way past your group – let enough of them airborne, and you’ll be in trouble. If possible,
• There’ll be more coming to the west, way across the water, so have at least one flying (preferably with Accel) unit ready to run over to slow down and thin their numbers. This is another reason why you don’t want to send your guys too far forward – you’ll want them to be ready to intercept those when they get close.

Because of the defensive strat, this mission will proceed a bit slowly. I don’t do anything different from what’s written above, so let’s fast forward a bit.

: I have to fight… for myself and for Goh! That’s my mission, both as a pilot and as a wife!

: It’s time…! We win this, we put a legit end to the battle with the Mimetic Beasts!

: Are the Mimetic Beasts more sluggish than usual…? I mean, that’s good for us, but what’s going on with them…?!

: We must be a pretty big deal if even Mimetic Beasts are singling us out…!
: Bring it on, then! Booking a private tango with us comes with a hefty price tag, ya know…!

: Even if humans managed to stop fighting each other, we’d never be able to throw away our weapons while the Mimetic Beasts are around…
: And this battle will be a major step towards changing that!

: We gotta work extra-hard to cover for Daiya and Kenichi taking off. Keep the generator running smooth, Johnny.
: Everything’s A-OK on my end. We’ll give even the biggest of them a run for their money in raw strength!
: Well, look at you being all reliable…! How about we get this mission started, then!

: Mimetic Beasts or not, if we cut the head of the snake, then the body will follow… We’re putting an end to this today!

: Our friends up in space are also fighting the Jama Kingdom right now…! So we all have to do everything we can!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_2r_e04pUQ
And here’s Rey’s second-best weapon, which actually gets a DK!

Kill enough things, and…

: I-It’s…! More Mimetic Beasts surfaced from the sea by Dannar base! They’re right by us!
: Hrm…! They approached from underwater while we were distracted by their first wave?! Ms. Katsuragi, we’ve an ambush! Have some troops divert to engage them ASAP!

: I’m detecting a powerful energy reading from that Mimetic Beast in front of the Base!
: Stop!

: Urgh…!

: MIRA!
: Damage report!
: The Neo Okusaer blocked the brunt of the attack, but it seems the medical block still took damage!
: The medical block?! What about Goh and Shizuru?!

: cough, cough…! What the hell was that blast…?!
: That’s…?! The Neo Okusaer?! Mira shielded the Base…?!
: Shizuru… Is Shizuru alright?!

Beep!

: Goh, are you there?!
: Yes, and I’m fine! But Shizuru’s life-support system was!
: What?!
: Shizuru! SHIZURU! Damn it, what do I do…?!

The Okusaer’s cockpit opens.

: Sh-Shizuru…?
: Mira…!

: …
: Mira…! Your body’s glowing…

: Shizuru… You can’t… die…

: What am I doing here? …Oh, right… I covered Anna and ate that attack…
: Goh, Mira… Thank you for the tears you shed for me…
: Shizuru…
: Mira…?
: You cannot die yet… Goh, Anna, myself… all of LOTUS is in need of your strength.
: My…
: This energy I was given – the energy of life… I now pass it on to you…!
: So, please… open your eyes again, Shizuru!
: Mira…!

: Hm…
: ?!
: Goh…
: Mira?! You…!

Back outside…

: The Mimetic Beast closing in on Dannar Base! Our defense system can’t stop it!

The Mimetic Beasts gets right next to the base.

: No, the Dannar Base’s—!

: Energy reading from the Mimetic Beast is spiking rapidly!
: Is it going to self-destruct?!
: All hands, take shelter!
: There’s no time!
: I-Is this the end?!

The Mimetic Beast takes 5k damage and is blasted far away.

: What?!
: It’s too soon to give up, Kiriko!
: Th-That voice…!
: There’s someone up on the roof!
: Stars for heaven, flowers for earth, love for humans… No person is capable of living by himself. That is what makes humans willing to fight for those they love, and why humans are more beautiful than any flower or any star! (Tatsuya)
: Th-That’s… It can’t be!
: Shizuru, Tetsuya! Rise now and crush the Mimetic Beasts!

: Sorry to keep you in suspense! The G-Zero Gunner finally makes its grand debut!
: And I’m just itching to go crazy and make up for all the time I spent asleep!
: Shizuru?!
: I-Is that really you, Shizuru?!
: Who do you think I am, huh? I’ve come back from the depths of hell to hunt and kill these monsters again!
: Shizuru… thank god, you’re alright…!
: You ready to rock, Shizuru? Let’s go and tear through whatever beasts are still standing!
: Aye, aye! Here we go, Tetsuya!

Any extra help is good on this mission, especially Tetsuya. The G-Zero Gunner is a direct upgrade to everything the regular G-Gunner had and, better yet, it works just fine in water!
Keep Tetsuya and Shizuru parked where they are, taking the terrain bonus, and snipe down whatever gets close.
The new group is made of jacked MSs (only two Zamza-Zah groups, thankfully, and they’re the last to get moving), and they’ll also make a beeline for the Dannar Base. Letting them come in close is dangerous since they’re flying and can move plenty, so this is when you should send one or two flying groups out there. I’ll be going with the Combattler and Rei since they both know Iron Wall, and Hyouma hits like a truck.

In the meantime, the southern group of Mimetic Beasts is dwindling, but their bigger forces are still back there. So, I’ll keep our more hard-hitting folks there to deal with them (don’t be afraid to bust out some Fighting Spirits) while already having our speedier troops retreat to where Shizuru and Tetsuya are standing.
By the time the western enemies get in range, the plan is for Hyouma to have oneshotted a bunch of guys in counterattacks and the southern group to be mostly cleared out. A nice wall of units along the western side of the Dannar Base should buy you an extra turn.
Finally, the Trojan Horse Mimetic Beast will always attack if there’s stuff in range, so ignore it until the end. The thing is always underwater, has 50k HP and regens, so you’ll want to focus fire.

: This here’s our ace in the hole! Come take a look at the G-Zero Gunner’s full power!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CplLM-guHkQ

: I’m trying my best not to be a negative Nancy today, Hyouma. So step on the gas and throw everything we got at ‘em!
: That’s the plan – we’re bringing our A-game right from the start! Gotta kick some ass for Goh too, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQr0g8n9eS4

: OK, let’s see if I can’t find someone to help me get back up to speed.
: I may have just gotten better, but underestimate me and you’ll be sorry!

: Bring in however big a swarm you want, “retreat” isn’t part of our dictionary today! We swear it by our name as LOTUS!

: We can end this without any more bloodshed if we just clear out the Mimetic Beasts right here. Whatever happens, we’re closing the book on them today…!
: That’s how we’ll make up for letting Djibril escape!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOdH1J1mATQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HejZwyJLvw
Here’s the Trojan Horse’s best attack. Look at that little guy!

: D-Did we do it…?
: All nearby Mimetic Beast signals are gone!
: Hell, yeah! That’ll learn ya!
: Looks like the battle’s over Well done, folks!
: It was an honor to see you fight, LOTUS. The rumors didn’t do justice to your strength!
: Prof. Aoi, is he…
: … Tatsuya Aoi.
: “Aoi”… You don’t mean…
: Yes. He’s my husband.
: H-He’s my dad?!
: Whaaaaaa?!

Tatsuya thanks Yotsuya for all the help he provided during his lengthy absence, but it was no bother. Working to help Earth is what he does. Kiriko formally introduces Tatsuya as the creator of the Dannar Base, and someone who also worked tirelessly to help LOTUS come to be.
He wanted to meet up with us sooner, but had been busily travelling around in search of ways to fight the Mimetic Beasts. He got here just as Shizuru was deploying, so he decided to take it upon himself to spruce up her comeback… though she told him she didn’t like making grand entrances. Maybe, but Tetsuya laughs she still had no problem with playing along.
Whatever the case, Alice and Ichitaka are so very glad that she’s recovered, but the question remains: how? Shizuru had told Goh that Mira gave her life anew, or at least that’s what she heard – she couldn’t see Mira when it all happened, but the voice was unmistakably hers.

Kiriko has an hypothesis that, in the five years Mira spent absorbed into a Mimetic Beast, she took in some sort of unique vital energy. Kosuke remembers that the Beasts survive by absorbing other people and feeding off their vital energy, so maybe what Mira developed the ability to do something similar? She likely used that ability to restore life to Shizuru, but it’s all conjecture until test results come in.
As for Mira herself, she’s alive but exhausted and is currently resting.

Kiriko has a question for Tatsuya, though: he’s been gone for so long, so what made him come back to the Dannar Base so suddenly? Was it because he heard of what was going on, Kurara wonders? Not quite, and Tatsuya has a video to show us. It’s a gigantic Mimetic Beast!
See, the beasts, having once faced extinction, had found a way to survive: the weak ones fuse together, sharing strength with one another. Throughout this process, one of them stood above the rest by absorbing more and more beasts, eventually growing to be the strongest of them all – the leader of their pack, the Super Mimetic Beast!
The thing seems to be done growing in hiding, however, and is currently headed straight for Japan, absorbing any other surviving Mimetic Beasts along the way. Looks like our battle with the things is still ongoing, and the big one we just beat was no more than an antenna for the leader’s signal – shows how strong that one must be.

Still, Rey sees a silver-lining in this: we’ve plenty of data on the Mimetic Beasts, so he doubts, even with all their evolution, they’ll bring anything to the table that we can’t manage. Plus, thinks Tetsuya, if all the Mimetic Beasts across the world are no fusing into a single being, then it’s also the perfect opportunity for us to truly eradicate them in one go.
Tatsuya agrees somewhat. While we can’t say FOR SURE that they’ll be gone forever, as there’s still plenty we don’t know about the Mimetic Beasts, destroying this leader’ll mean that it’d take years – decades, even – for humanity to be threatened by them again.

Sounds like a great deal to Juzo and Boss, who tells Kouji he better not chicken out on this one. Hell, no, he’s been through too many battles to flinch over something like this. Shinji’s ready too, though not as confident as the others. Still, he’s made a decision to keep fighting.
Aoi and Sakuya are also pumped to tangle with this big enemy, so Tatsuya tells everyone to get ready for the Super Mimetic Beast’s arrival – it’ll be here soon. As Misato orders all units serviced, Ichitaka’s a wee bit doubtful of whether he could win this when he couldn’t even beat Yuu… but, no, this is about “can or cannot”. We HAVE to win this one.

Anna and Tatsuya finally meet face-to-face. He’s been gone since she was a little girl, so none of this feels quite real yet for her. “Anna, I was never there to actually be a father to you. I’d like to beg your forgiveness for that,” Tatsuya says.
Anna isn’t mad, though, as she remembers hearing his voice before – a voice that was always so encouraging to her. Tatsuya’s also heard of Goh and can’t imagine how difficult it all must be for Anna. Not as difficult as what Goh’s going through, of course.
Regardless, he tells her to never lose faith in the man she’s chosen as her husband.

: Godannar… I really can never pilot you again…?
: Shizuru’s just come out of a coma, and even she’s out there fighting, while I…!

[Mattman324]

Just like to take a moment to chuckle at the fact that the G-Zero Gunner was a secret in Scramble Commander 2, Godannar’s first appearance.

Also: Rey had no DKs in K. He’s one of an extraordinarily small number of units that didn’t, even, there’s like five things and one of them is conspicuously Legend Gundam. That’s also why that DK is notably minimalistic.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

We’re back at the Himika Route, and Ichitaka’s actually been overtaken! Daiya’s huge HP pool just draws in too many enemies and, slightly unlike the Rushbird, the Gaiking can oneshot Super Robot mooks with pretty much anything. Iczer-1 taking off has allowed Kenichi to take third place, though.

And I’ve fulfilled my vow! The Gaiking becomes our first unit to clear the 50% mark, gaining a boosted Squad Bonus: Armor +200, Crit +20. Pretty much everything he needs since Armor is the sole stat that boosts barrier damage mitigation, and more crit means more oneshots.
The Rushbird takes a boost in mobility and accuracy, also reaching 50% stats (not weapons). Elsewhere, Iczer-3 joins with 3 pips in everything, unlike Iczer-1’s four, so she EN, mobility and accuracy. Alto and Voltes take a few things here and there.

Yagyuu’s deploying as an event, making fielding Jack inadvisable. Overall, we’re still pretty much the same:
Ozma/Luca
Gaiking/Yanma
Kouichi/Yamashita
Ichitaka/Miu
Dick/Puria
Domyoji/Klan
Voltes/Canaria
Alto/Michel
Iczer-3/Deceive (not great, but it’ll do for now).

On we go!

: Kenji…
: You feeling better?
: I am, thanks. I’ve gotten more than enough rest. But, you know, while I was doing that, I had a lot to think about…
: …
: That was pretty cold of Kyo, huh? He decided to take all this onto his shoulders, and left us just like that. Seriously, talk about unfair…
: … You shouldn’t be acting tough like that, you know.
: …! I’m not acting tough…! Kch…! sniffles
: See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. You don’t need drive yourself so hard.
: I’m here for you. Now and always.

Tweeep!

: Ah—!
: Wh-What is it?!
: I… I just felt the energy of the Bronze Bells!

What she felt was Himika using said Bronze Bells to take control of the enormous power that lay asleep within the Langoon. And with this power, nothing is beyond her grasp! Mwahaha!

Elsewhere, aboard a Cthulhu emigration ship, Iczer-1’s already recovering within Sister Gray’s pod. Just a bit of rest has already healed her considerably. Gray figures she must’ve been shocked with how suddenly her sister was sent over, though Iczer-1 doesn’t mind. Rather, it was only with Iczer-3’s timely arrival that Nagisa Kasumi’s priceless life was kept safe.
“In due time, you could rise to lead us, the Cthulhu people,” Gray notes. “I created that girl in hopes that she could take your place on the battlefield.” Indeed, Iczer-1 sees that 3 is very much like her and Iczer-2… “Rather, I saw that she hides even greater potential than us… but…”

Hm, Gray’ll concede that she is still very young, but it WAS her fate to eventually join the fight. Iczer-1’s concern is understandable, but she is certain that fighting alongside the people of Earth will be an invaluable learning experience to the girl.
“I’ll have to sleep for a small while, Iczer-3… Take care of LOTUS, and Nagisa, for me…” Iczer-1 ponders, as she continues to recover.

Speaking of, Ozma’s accosted the girl to ask: she does understand that it was her fault that Nagisa (Kasumi) was driven to that point of exhaustion, right? She does. Then, Ozma wants her to understand that when you’re fighting as a group, doing whatever you feel like only causes trouble to those at her flank. She needs to remember that, or they won’t allow her to deploy with us.
Iczer-3 apologizes and says she’ll be careful next time. She should since, as Yagyuu notes, our next battle will be with Himika herself; the Jama Kingdom’s leader is incredibly powerful, so, is the girl really ready for something like this?
“I am, I am! Besides, if you’re gonna be fighting someone THAT strong, then you have to let me come along too!” Iczer-3 proclaims loudly. Hmhmm, so she’s one of those people that love fighting, Dick ponders.

Not quite, Iczer-3 merely figures that if enemies that strong are left around, it’ll mean danger for Nagisa (Kanou). And since Iczer-1 left both girls and the rest of us in her care, that means she has to fight!
Ozma can see that her heart is set, and in the right place, so he gives her the go-ahead to launch with us when the time comes. “You’ll really let me, gramps?!” Iczer-3 gasps, immediately stunning the guy.
Mido suggest she address him as Lt. Ozma Lee, not gramps. And since he’s in shock right now, she’ll officially confirm the girl’s permission to deploy. W-Who’s shocked?! Ozma isn’t shocked! Pfft!

: This isn’t the Frontier… Is it Earth…?
: What… What am I doing here? Who are those two…?

: You are the only one in this world who can unite with the Iczer Robo! Do you not wish to defend your own planet?!
: Absolutely not!
: Then you leave me no choice. You will fight, even if I must force you to! Taaah!
: Huh?! Waaah!!
: Wh-What’s going on?!
: You’re inside the Iczer Robo. Synchronize yourself with me, Nagisa.
: Y-You can’t do this to me! Lemme go!

: What… was that dream?

Door opens!

: I see you’ve regained consciousness, Nagisa.
: Thank goodness…
: Ah…! You’re…!
: I’m Nagisa – Nagisa Kanou.
: I-I’m…
: Nagisa Kasumi, right? I saw you on that video letter you sent. Boy, was I surprised – so were Alto and Michel.
: I… I saw you in a dream just now…
: Huh…? Me…?
: Um, but why am I here…?
: You fainted inside that robot you were aboard. We had to bring you to the Macross Quarter to keep you safe from the enemy.
: Really…? So this is inside the Macross…?
: Do you not remember anything? Oh, and I’m AL-3 Alice. I’m something of a military physician.
: Hmm… I remember there being a mess at Mihoshi and… Hrm… Oww…
: Aah, never mind! Don’t force yourself to remember if it’s that painful!
: Maybe your strength hasn’t returned yet? You should keep getting plenty of rest, then. I’ll prescribe you some sedatives to help.
: Mind you, while this ship’s headed into a battlefield, it should actually be safer than at the Frontier. So relax.
: OK…Thank you…

Some time later…

: Nagisa woke up?!
: Hey, this is the infirmary! Quit yelling!
: That goes for you too, Lt.
: Hrm…
: She came to for a moment, yes, but she was much more exhausted than we expected, so we told her to sleep some more.
: “Plenty of rest”, that was mine and Canaria’s professional recommendation.
: Hm… First the Iczelio gets stolen, then I get Nagisa like this…
: …
: Nevertheless, the Iczer Robo won’t move with that Iczelio gone… Best to just let her take it slow and recover.
: Get well soon, Nagisa. ‘Til then, I promise I’ll keep you safe…!
: Will you really be alright by yourself, Iczer-3?
: I’ll be fine, Nagisa-1! You saw how strong I was, no? Iczelio or no, I can fight just fine!
: Hey, don’t talk like nothing can touch you! Iczer-1 never acted like that – not once!
: How’s she supposed to rest easy if you’re still going like that?!
: Ah—…
: Now you’re the one who’s yelling, Nagisa.
: O-Oh. Sorry…
: I’m not my big sis, so maybe I can’t protect you as well as she did…
: But I still have to do this, and I will!

*Iczer-3 runs off.

: Don’t you think you went at her too hard, Nagisa? The girl feels responsible for all this.
: …
: Actually, Lt. Ozma also gave her a talking-to. Said that Nagisa’s like this because of how she fought. And Iczer-3 promised to think things over and change how she behaves in battle.
: Ah?! I had no idea…! And I said those awful things to her…
: You’re the only one who can support her while Nagisa Kasumi’s hospitalized, Nagisa.
: Yes… I’ll go talk to her.

Alarm!

: What is it?!
: We’ve an emergency! All pilots are to assemble at the briefing room immediately!

So, Jeffrey has good news in that we’ve found Himika and co. Great! Where are they? Tsubaki already has an idea: the moon. Rosa’s surprised that she knows, but, yes, we picked up the Bronze Bells’ signal coming from the far side of the moon. Tsubaki says she’s been feeling a great power coming from there, something like the Bronze Bells but far stronger!
Kenichi figures she can sense them due to her being the Priestess of the bells, but that’s not what’s important right now. Shiba calls in and says that that power is what Himika is after. Ichitaka asks what it is, figuring it’ll be bad news if it’s even stronger than the Bronze Bells.
Indeed, it is: what Himika is after is the enormous power that rests within the Langoon, the Great Bronze Bell! See, the Himika and her peers draw their magical powers from the negative emotions of humans, and the Great Bronze Bell will amplify that power tenfold. Himika’s already very powerful on her own, so let her get a power boost and our chances of victory might as well be nil.

Kenji tells Luca to man up: “The hell do I care that they got bigass Bronze Bell?! I’ll just go and tear their whole show down myself!” And how will he fight when he can’t turn into Jeeg, Shiba asks. Well, Kenji says there’s only one way around that: we break inside the Langoon and get both his and Hiroshi’s bells back!
Hiyoshi likes that idea, as it’d not only weaken Himika’s powers, but also enable the Jeegs to fight again. But nothing’s ever simple, and Tsubaki feels that enormous power drawing closer to us!

Shiba confirms that she’s saying, pinging that powerful Bronze Bell signal we’re getting heading towards the Frontier Fleet. Monica hooks us up with a video feed of the Langoon, and it’s goddamn huge, but Kouichi likes that it’s coming this way. It’ll save us time!
That’s be great, but, as Yamashita points outs, we still have no idea how we’re actually going to beat Himika. Have Kenji and Tsubaki manage to think something up from Kyo’s previous words? “Absolutely nothing!”

Maybe our best shot is just to fire a bunch of Reactive Munitions at the ship from long range, Domyoji wonders. Whatever the case, Jeffrey knows we can’t let them close in on the Frontier or the PLANTs, so he orders everyone ready to deploy.
Kenji’ll be heading out in the Big Shooter, and Tsubaki insists on coming with as the heiress of that ancient power. Jeffrey’ll allow it, but asks them not to bite off more than they can chew. Kenji promises to be careful, having learned from Ichitaka and Iczer-3 what happens when you’re not.
Hiroshi’ll also be aboard the Big Shooter, handling the piloting until they reach the Langoon. “And you fight in whatever way you think is right, Kenji.” Sounds great; and with Shiba wishing us good luck, we set off.

Mission 21 (Himika Route) – Langoon’s Revival! Reclaim the Bronze Bells!

: Foolish humans… you’ve willingly come to greet your deaths?
: But there shall be none who’ll dare oppose me once they lay eyes upon my new power…! They, and their fleet, shall all be ashes!
: Are we all clear on the plan? Kenji, Tsubaki and Hiroshi will enter the Langoon and get the Bronze Bells back from them!

: And that’s where they’ll be breaking in from, yeah?
: Right. But, of course, the enemy isn’t going to make this easy, so everyone’ll be covering the Big Shooter ‘til it gets there!
: Yes, sir!
: Go for it and make it good, Kenji!
: I got your backs, too! I Not like I can just pooh-pooh someone else’s stolen power source!
: You finally have your hot date with Tsubaki, Kenji. Be nice with her, you hear!
: Heh… at least they’re lightening the tension some.
: Hmhm… Is everyone good to go?
: Hell, yeah! We’re gonna be winning this, even without the Jeegs! And I’ll keep you safe, Tsubaki, don’t worry about a thing!
: OK!
: Engage!

Get the Big Shooter into the marked spot without losing either ship or the Big Shooter. This is pretty much a retread of our battle in Aso, except Ikima, Amaso and Mimashi are deployed right from the start.
Our forces are more limited than before, but the strategy is still the same: build on morale on the front Boya Kaengus, watch out for the Dai Kaengus and their SP draining attack, and just go to town. Make good use of all the command auras you’ve available while jumping right into the fray, and look for opportunities to use Jeffrey and Canaria’s MAPWs since the enemy’s so numerous.
Killing everything will automatically bring the Big Shooter into position, but things’ll actually progress faster if you actively bring it in yourself.

Oh, and Hiroshi is a great pilot who can take very good care of himself, even if the Big Shooter remains rather weak.

Here we go!

: Hiroshi, the enemy’s dead ahead…!
: Relax, Tsubaki! I’ve no problems taking the line all the way to the finish!
: “Taking the line”… Are you a racer too?
: I’ll tell you about it later! Our priority now is breaking through their defenses!

: I didn’t expect there to be this many enemies… The Jama Kingdom is really laying out the red carpet for us, huh?
: Even just covering Kenji’s crew’s gonna be tough like this!
: Mido, Saotome, this is the decisive battle of the war with the Jama Kingdom!
: So focus and let’s jump into the fireworks one more time!
: Aye, aye!

: Open your eyes, and take a look…! Whatever you decide to throw at us, we’re still gonna find a way through this!

: You still fight even when there’s no chance of victory? You humans truly are fools!

–

: We’re gonna escort you guys all the way to the Langoon! And once you’re there, nab the Bronze Bells and get back to fighting ASAP!

: Ghosts and evil spirits all around… I’d really love if the Laplace Wall could also absorb occult stuff like this, I tell ya…!

While all that’s going down, know that the AI REALLY fancies Daiya’s boosted HP pool. He’s taking no damage, and oneshotting everything.
With that, Iczer-3 has some chances to show off her tricks:

: My sis must be so sad now… I gotta work hard!
: Wait a minute, Iczer-3! I’ve to apologize to you!
: Huh…?
: I’d no idea how you really felt, and I was so mean to you. I’m so sorry, Iczer-3…!
: No, the truth is I really did screw up. Still, I’m really happy that you forgive me, Nagisa-1!
: Now I just have to be patient and wait ‘til Nagisa’s back with us!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7omRPeruQwg
All in one video for your convenience.

: This is what Himika’s power is like now that it’s been boosted…?!
: We better hurry, Kenichi! The Big Shooter needs to make it, or there’ll be no recovering from this!
: Right! Our main job here is to clear out any enemies directly in their path!

: Hihihihahaa! I’ll be painting this sector red with the blood of all you humans!

: All your heads will roll today, and then I’ll present them all before Her Majesty!

: Bunch up as many mooks as you want, you’re still not stopping us!
: Everyone knows CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE are at their strongest when facing adversity!

: Kenji, Tsubaki! You’ll have to go with the Raikouba from here!
: Alright!

: Hold on tight, Tsubaki! Ooooryaaaaa!

: Show your face, HIMIKAA!
: Kenji, I’m feeling a huge power nearby!
: …?!
: Hmhmhmhm…!
: Himika!

: You came here despite your defeat being all but certain? I’d call you foolish, but that would be an understatement! I’ve already laid claim to the tremendous power of the Great Bronze Bell with the two Bronze Bells!

: Behold! Your Bronze Bells have completed their task and are disappearing. Hahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHA!
: Oi, cut it with that stupid laugh!
: …Excuse me?!
: The odds were often against us before, and we still fought!
: Yeah, and we sure as hell ain’t losing now…! That’s why were right here, gunning for you!
: We will beat you, Himika! We have to!
: Neither of us are just gonna let you do your thing!
: The gall… Here is the very gateway to the underworld, and it already bows to my will. Do tell, what could you possibly accomplish?!

: Gwaargh!
: Kenji!
: You will die without ever knowing the true significance of the Bronze Bells!
: No… we’re not! You’re not beating us! We’ll kick your ass, and then Tsubaki and I’ll go back to Earth together!
: That’s right, we can’t lose to you! I’m sure our path’ll be clear so long as that wish is in our hearts!
: Nonsense! The only path you’ll trail is the one towards Hell!

: Rrrgh! We… We’re gonna protect Earth! NO WAY WE’RE DYING LIKE THIS!!
: You won’t… beat us…! The power to give form to emotions… That’s the power I inherited!

: Ggh! Wh-What?!

Heartbeat!

: …! The… The Bronze Bell’s back in the Raikouba! I can turn into Jeeg, then!
: We did it…!
: Impossible…! My accursed energy… This entire area is awash in hatred, resentment and negative emotions…How?!

Beep!

: Kenji, my Bronze Bell’s also back! Hurry back out!
: Damn you all to Hell! You won’t escape!
: Hahah, just try and catch us, ya witch! Come on, Tsubaki!
: OK!

Vrooom!

Back outside…

: Kenji and Tsubaki are safe, guys!
: And we got the Bronze Bells with us, ‘course!
: Whew… I was on pins and needles the whole time!
: Hehehe! Now it’s our turn to go to town!

: Multiple enemy reinforces have appeared!
: But I don’t feel Himika’s presence…
: We’ll worry about her later! First order of business is getting rid of her mooks!
: I’m going out there too! Open the hatch!
: Huuh?! But we’re in space!
: Hatch, open!

: CHAAANGE CYBOOOOOORG!

: Here I go!
: Y-You! Hiroshi Shiba!
: Yoooo, that’s sick!
: Micchi!
: “Micchi”…?
: Okay, Hiroshi!

: Grandma?!
: Baruba!
: Jeeg parts, set up! SHOOT!!

BUILD UP! BANBANBANBAN!

: Whaa?! He doesn’t even need a bike to do it?!
: You can still fly your Big Shooter, grandma?!

Micchi flies over to them.

: Sorry for the late arrival.
: Kenji, Tsubaki, are you two alright?!
: Kyo?! That’s my line! You’re OK?!
: Prof. Shiba and Baruba saved me. I can’t revert back to my Takeru form, but I’ll carry on fighting as Kyo Misumi!
: Kyo… thank goodness!
: Damn, you coulda at least have called us!
: Seems I had you all worried. I’m very sorry!

: We’re going too, Tsubaki!
: Okay!

: Woow! We got the old and new Jeegs together!
: Oooh, that’s so AWESOME!
: You guys’re finished now that I can transform again! Gimme a hand, Baruba!
: Grooowrr!

: The wind’s turned in our favor, captain!
: Yes, it has! Let’s rout the enemy troops and go after Himika within the Langoon!
: You’re getting far too excited for your own good!
: You might’ve reclaimed the Bronze Bells, but it’s already too late! Her Majesty is already headed there!
: Not that it’s any of your concern, since we’ll erase the lot of you from the face of the universe!
: You took the words out of my mouth! This is the end of the road for you, Jama Kingdom!

KIIIILL!

Jeeg
Pilot Skills:
Predict
Prevail L6
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Strike
Invincible
Squad Bonus: Accuracy +5, melee weapons’ power +100

Old Big Shooter (Miwa Tamashiro)
Pilot Skills:
Commander L1
Prevail L3
Support Attack L2
Support Defense L2
Attack Combo L1
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Accelerate
Alert
Squad Bonus: Experience earned +10%, EN+50

By himself, Hiroshi is Kenji, but better. All stats are higher and his weapons are stronger than the new Jeeg. On the flip side, he doesn’t have as much flexibility as Kenji: he lacks his Jeeg Bazooka for cheap and powerful long-range attacks, and even his rocket punch costs 10 EN. In other words, you need to be way more mindful of his EN supply than you are with Kenji (though his Mach Drills with Micchi is still ammo-based).
That said, Hiroshi is a tremendous big mook/boss killer, having both the Bronze Bell cheat code and, best of all, a combined attack with Kenji! It’s very expensive at 60 EN, but it’ll tear a huge chunk of health off anything it touches.

Micchi herself is a slightly worse Kyo, but she’s still good at what she does, which is stick with Hiroshi and refuel his EN tank. Like with the new Big Shooter, you’ll want to keep her as his sub for both the resupply and easier access to the combined attack.
Do note that the years have made Micchi inch away from the standard support-oriented spirit list, so all you’re getting from here is Hope (at 36). But we already have plenty of full support subpilots, so that’s not a big deal.

Now, where was I?

: Fifty… or even a hundred years may pass, but I’ll never stop hounding you! I’m ending this here and now, Jama Kingdom!

: Blast! I’m not dying yet!

: Is he going to gear up for a rematch…?
: I don’t think that’s what it was… Is he just gonna watch everything go down from the Langoon or something?

: I’ll give you ample proof that my teamwork with Hiroshi’s going strong even after all this time…!

: Curse you, humans! I’ve no choice… I must retreat to the Langoon!

: Dang, we let him escape…!
: But he ran off into the Langoon. We’ll be facing him again soon, I bet…!

: Hmph… There’ll be no victory for you while the Langoon remains under our grasp!

: What’s with that guy? Why’s he acting so smug when we got him running?
: Maybe they’ve something else up their sleeve.

: You were injured, weren’t you, Kyo? You can’t be pushing your body so hard right now! I’ll pilot for you!
: No, I could never rest while everyone else is fighting…!
: Don’t worry about my health, Tsubaki! Let’s just go at this like we always do!
: … Alright. But if it gets too difficult, I want you to tell me right away! I’m ready to take over whenever!

: Ya got any idea how worthless I felt having to watch my friends in trouble, and not being able to do anything about it? Well, I’m gonna take it all out on you guys now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfIYCVuJ0Zg
And here’s the rocking DK for Baruba Jeeg. Seriously, that looks like a Heavy Metal album cover.

Cha-ching!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UKzOqi3GXk
And here’s the crazy powerful combined attack between the Jeegs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjgJtIJhSqI
Oh, what the hey, have Hiroshi’s Jeeg Breaker too!
In both cases: “WHO’S NEXT?!”

: We’ve confirmed that all Haniwa Phantoms have been destroyed!
: Tell all troops that we’re moving into the Langoon before they’ve a chance to send more reinforcements! Any units that need to resupply are to return to the ships at once!
: Hell, yeah! I’m coming to give you what for, Himika!

Beep, beep!

: Wait! This is…!
: What’s wrong? Did something happen?!
: I’m pinging a gigantic Bronze Bell signal! It’s coming from the Langoon!
: What?!

: A-A shockwave…!
: Hey, what gives?! We’re in space!
: The energy flowing out the Bronze Bell is making space itself tremble, I think… This could be very bad.
: The hell?! Is something happening there, then?!
: It… it can’t be…!

RUUUUMBLE!

: Look at that huge bell…!
: I feel a chill down my spine… What’s going on?!
: That’s the Great Bronze Bell! I’m seeing it on my monitors too!
: The Great Bronze Bell…!
: Its energy readings are off every conceivable chart… Nothing we’ve seen even comes close!
: Psh, whatever! That don’t mean jack!
: Kenji…
: They can get any power they want, we’re still not losing this!
: Same goes for any other enemy we gotta fight, right, Jeff?
: Well said… we’ve got the Earth right at our backs. The PLANTs and the Frontier Fleet too!
: We’ve a ton of things we need to keep safe…!
: Tsubaki, Kenji… This will be our final battle with the Jama Kingdom. And you two are our trump cards. We’re counting on you!
: You got it! We’ll pry the path to our victory wide open!
: Hold on a lil’ bit more, Himika! We’ll be there real soon…!

[Mattman324]

I really do love Iczer 3’s animations. So energetic.

I do love this part of Kotetsushin Jeeg’s plot, and so it’s nice that this stage is so good at showing it off for the most part. Plus, we finally get the original Jeeg! Now, fun fact about that - in K, as I’ve brought up, Balba shows up for the first time near the ass end of the game. Thing is, Old Jeeg’s equivalent attack to that is the Panzeroid… and it starts with that. In the midgame. New Jeeg is thus horribly underpowered for most of the game, which isn’t helped by K’s particular blend of Dodge Decay being fucking awful and making purely dodge based units much worse. Jeeg’s still usable as a glass cannon who burns way too much fucking EN off a way too small base, but that’s basically it.

…on a happier note, the DKs for both Jeegs that have a background in space change by location. If you’re in atmosphere it’ll be the sky, if you’re in space, it’ll be that. A nice touch, really.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Welcome back to the Minerva route split, last time (and today, especially): pic related.

Ichitaka still has a massive lead, but we won’t be keeping this path, so it doesn’t matter.
Any cash earned last mission goes to upping our guys’ EN and weapons.

This was actually Take 2 of the mission, because I forgot to start recording while running through it the first time. Only noticed it like 1/3 of the way through it.
So, I had to redo it… only to forget to set up Tetsuya Kouji and Shizuru since they AREN’T event deployments. Only Shinji, Rei, Mira and Anna are. Again, I noticed it way into the mission and I was not about to redo it again. So, we’ll be going like this:

Rey/Quatre
Athrun/Luna
Shinn
Ichitaka
Kouji/Heine
Tetsuya/Jun
Dancouga/Boss
Zechs/Noin

Let’s get this done with.

We open up with Shibakusa having a heart-to-heart with the Dannar: “We’ve got a major showdown coming and you’ll be stuck here. I’m sure that’s the last thing you want, too. Shizuru said she’d be using the Core Gunner, and Goh can’t fight… but we at least made sure you’re in tip-top shape. That way you can help us out in future battles.”
Morimoto comes on over and says their work is finished, annoying Shibakusa. He told them to find shelter! Nanae and Touko didn’t like the sound of that either, as, one, running off would shame their mechanic spirit and, two, they can’t leave the elderly behind.
Shibakusa is NOT ELDERLY!

Shinobu’s also supposed to have evacuated, but he explains to an angry Hyouma that he can’t find Goh anywhere. Alice says he’s likely at the command room since the infirmary is currently unusable, and Shinobu hopes she’s right. As he leaves, Juzo chides Hyouma for snapping at the guy – the approaching battle has even him uncharacteristically on edge.
Ropett warns him to be careful, as mental stability will affect their ability to combine. Their bot falling apart in the middle of the final battle would only mean trouble for everyone else, Chizuru adds.

“Fine, fine, I get it! …Erm, but I guess that doesn’t sound too believable if I’m still yelling, huh…” Hyouma groans. Kouji adds another reason for him to calm down: we don’t want Hyouma to also trigger the Rabid Syndrome. Everyone’s working to keep each other calm when they get too incensed.
Mind, Alice says we’ve no confirmed infections on anyone outside of Goh, but that’s no reason to let our guard down. In essence, Tetsuya surmises, Hyouma doesn’t need to be all serene about it, but he’d do well not to get too agitated about things – just do it like Rei.

Speaking of, Misato has new orders for her: she’ll be playing defense again. Misato apologizes for always foisting that on her, but she couldn’t think of any strategy that didn’t rely on the A.T. Field, so it’ll have to be her. Shinji comes in right then, having heard that the #00 will be shielding the Minerva.
Misato confirms, adding that the #01’ll be attacking in tandem with our other units. She’s not happy with it, but Shinji’ll need to carry on fighting as he has. With that, it’s almost time for the mission to start, so they leave for the command room.

: As I previously said, the Super Mimetic Beast is currently headed towards the Dannar Base, absorbing the remaining beasts as it goes.
: Here’s a more recent image of it.

Beep.

: It’s grown even more gigantic in this short span of time… What a troublesome creature.
: My friends, this will likely be the last battle we’ll have with the Mimetic Beasts. Will it be us who’ll survive, or them?
: Your actions will determine the fate of mankind! I ask that you carve that thought into your hearts and give this mission your all!
: Aye, aye! We’ll be ending things with you today, Mimetic Beasts!
: We… We have to put an end to this battle as quickly as possible.
: Oho? I’d tagged you as a quiet sort, but you’re actually manlier than that. Got a bit of a fighter in you, eh?
: D-Don’t make cracks about me, please. All I’m thinking of is doing whatever I can, the best way I can…
: Hah… Now that you mention it, Shinji did grow into a real man over this.
: Not you too, Kouji.
: And, with that, you’re dismissed. Head to your respective units and prepare to deploy!
: Our long battle with the Mimetic Beasts will end today…
: Yes, it will. Wait for me, Goh – I’ll fight hard for you too.
: Please do. And, above all, come back safe…!
: Absolutely. I’d never die with you watching… I promise!

Mission 22 (Minerva Route) – Heart Break

: The enemy group has just broken past the Dannar Base’s last defensive line!
: We’re expecting the Super Mimetic Beast to have regenerative abilities beyond any other we faced. Don’t let your guard down for an instant!
: You got it. It can regen all day, we’re still gonna pound it into the dirt!
: Here it is: the climax of our battle with the beasties…!
: Let’s do this, everyone!

Mission Objective: Destroy the Super Mimetic Beast
Mission Failure: The Minerva, Goh Okusaer, Combattler, EVA-01 or 00 shot down.

Come one, come all, to the grand opening of the Mimetic Waterpark!
I wouldn’t classify this mission as being hard, but it is VERY annoying. There are a metric fuckton of enemies you’ll have to fight (more coming), plenty of Land Type and Type #13 beasts to slow you down with their large HP pools and, of course, water. Water, everywhere.
Do not send your guys out to meet the enemy. Just don’t. There’s no skill point rushing you and spreading out your troops is a recipe to either get bitten by evasion decay or lose EN to the smaller beasts. This is a mission where energy and SP conservation is the name of the game – coming into the end stretch on fumes will likely mean a hefty repair bill.

With all that in mind, I’ll say “screw you” to all that water and simply have my guys plant their feet on this plot of land. We’ll only leave here once it’s time to engage the Super Mimetic Beast, so the enemy’ll be forced to come in in waves and meet me on my terms.
Play very conservatively here, be patient, and you might have things done by turn 14-15. As always, prioritize the smaller beasts to stop them from draining your EN. Had I not forgotten to set the G-Zero Gunner here, I’d at least have a unit that could reliably hit underwater targets, but no…

Super Mimetic Beast
Pilot Skills:
Break Morale Limit
Commander L3
Prevail L6
Support Attack L2
Attack Combo L2
Mech Features:
10% HP Regen
30% EN Regen

Big huge enemy with a ton of HP and packs a mighty punch. It’s got a MAPW that hits anything in a 6x6 area around it, and that Command Aura is another big reason why you wanna let the enemies come to you. Also, its strongest attack is range 3-8, so it’ll absolutely be sniping at you on approach – docking everyone inside the Minerva’ll make things easier for you.
Now, you might be able to kill it in one round if everyone’s in position to use their best attacks, but it’ll be a tight squeeze. Best approach, I think, is to assume you won’t make it and do it in two turns.

First things first, though, we’ve a ton of enemies to deal with, so let’s get to it. Fast forward!

Enemy Phase!

The EVAs are your best friends this mission because anything outside the boss is very unlikely to pop the A.T. Field. Set them up front.

Most beasts are still on approach.

Player Phase!

Get the little guys!

The first wave of them gets killed by Rei, Anna and Aoi.

Enemy Phase!

Fat Boys still like to snipe.

Quatre’s got the range to counter, though. Two to him and Hyouma

Player Phase!

Shinn’s Arondite hits well enough underwater, mind, so you want him to get that morale quick.
That’s all the Fat Boys down.

Enemy Phase!

Crap, I got greedy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LvA6pAO0CY
Rey can take beams, though.

As the Land/Flying combo come in, our team brings down the fliers and focuses on the bulkier Land Types.

Barely enough, but we’re good. Once you kill enough…

Alarm!

: What is it?!
: Energy spike coming from the Super Mimetic Beast! It’s… A space-time shockwave!
: Hrm?! My meters are…!
: Something’s wrong with my controls…!

RUMBLE!

: All hands, brace for impact!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-qdagREH3Q

: What happened?! Move, G-Zero Gunner!
: The Plasma Drive’s level is…!
: Nothing is working – the nuclear fission engines are also faltering! Not even our super-electromagnetic energy can handle this…!
: No one can move…?!
: All deployed troops have been immobilized!
: What?!
: … The #00 can still move.
: Yes, it looks like only the EVAs haven’t been immobilized! How…?!
: My guess is the enemy did something to mess with our units’ drive systems.
: Then why haven’t the EVAs…?
: I get it… it’s because they aren’t actually robots, but man-made humanoids…!
: How’re we looking, Kosuke? Can the mechs bounce back from that?!
: Yes, but it’ll take them several minutes at worst. On the other hand, if we’re hit with another of those attacks before then…
: And it ain’t like the Mimetic Beasts are just gonna sit there. Things just went south in a big way…!
: Our EVAs are still moving, so we’ll try and draw their attention…!
: That’s crazy, Shinji! Even the EVAs and their barriers can’t take these many guys!
: Still, this is what we can do… what we have to do… We’re the only ones who can keep you all safe!
: Shinji…

Another reason you keep your guys back and bunched up is this: let them get immobilized in a bad spot and it’ll be all that much harder to keep them alive if they’re swarmed.
There isn’t anything we can do to speed things up, so we hold back and wait. Your guys can still attack, but most of them are stuck where they are. As before, try to keep Shinji and Rei up front to draw in the enemies.

Player Phase!

: Damn it, more of them! Are we still down, Kosuke?!
: Still nothing! We need more time!

A Type-13 Mimetic Beast rushes Rei down!

: !! Ayanami!

: …!
: Hrk! This time I’ll protect her…!

: UWAAH!
: Ikari!
: We gotta do something, or he’ll…!
: I’m still up…! We’re the only ones who can move! And I’m the only one who can protect both Ayanami and the Minerva… So that’s what I’ll do…!
: Well said, Shinji!

: Are you hurt, Shinji?
: Goh! Mira!
: Goh?!
: The Godannar and Neo Okusaer?! Who’re piloting them?!
: It’s me and Mira!
: You idiot! If you deploy now, you’ll—!
: I know, but I can’t just watch this and not do anything!
: The future of mankind’s on the line here, and Shinji has it right! I got to do whatever it is that I can do here!
: Heh, I figured he’d turn up eventually if I waited by the Godannar.
: Whatever the case, we’ve to keep our friends and the Dannar Base safe!

: Here we go, Shinji!
: Alright!

[i]Shinji, Rei and the Combattler aren’t essential anymore, but now you need to keep Goh safe (he can move just fine). Proceed as you have, and let the new wave of Mimetic Beasts come across the map.

And make sure you heal Shinji up.

That’s the first batch of enemies down.

Enemy Phase!

Cut a few down to size.

Player Phase!

: I have found you at last, the king of the Mimetic Beasts…
: Blade Gainer! And Lou! You here to start trouble with us again?!
: I haven’t the leeway to bother on you. In fact, surely you realize that we’re both living on borrowed time…
: …! You too…?
: I’ve only a few remnants of life remaining, but I’ll gladly burn them all away here if it lets me crush this beast!

Ken and Lou cast focus.

: Hmph… Have it your way. I guess we’ll see whether it’s our lives or his that run out first!
: Come on, Mimetic Beasts! None of us fear death, and now you’ll get an eyeful of the power that gives us!
: Goh, we’re detecting another energy spike within the Super Mimetic Beast! If it fires off that attack again, the Godannar’ll also be immobilized and then it’ll be all over!
: We estimate another three minutes before it fires! You’ll have to destroy it by then!
: Yes, ma’am!

Hahahahaha, no. You’re not on an actual timer, so ignore what the game says and hold your ground. Not like you actually could kill the Super Mimetic Beast with just Goh, Mira, the EVAs and Ken’s group (barring massive upgrades).

Oh, and keep this in mind:

Secret Alert!
Do not let either Ken or Lou to get shot down. If you had Goh or Anna destroy Lou in mission 10 (rescue route), you can skip this.

It’s not really difficult, actually, because both have boss HP still. Better still, many of the beasts up there will gang up on Ken, and he can easily carve them up (I suppose that’s bad if you’re keeping this route and want cash).
Just make sure you keep a few Trust casts at the ready, because the Super Beast WILL hurt them, and Lou’s tendency to support defend means she’ll take a lot of punishment.

Carrying on.

: Two minutes until the second space-time shockwave!
: We have to beat the Super Mimetic Beast quickly…!

Annoyingly, the beasts seem to prefer Rei to Shinji.

: None will stop me… I do this for Lou’s sake, as well as my own…!

–

: The king Mimetic Beast, the one that killed my dad…! I finally have you…!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nWcDW85xd0

: We’ve less than a minute until it fires another space-time shockwave! Hurry!
: Copy that! I’ll do whatever it takes!

Player Phase!

: Damn! Lou, we’re combining!
: Roger, Ken!

: Are you—?!
: Remember always, this heinous sight… These are the final moments of someone who’s lived for vengeance!

“My vengeance… ends here…”

*The Blade Gainer’s absorbed into the Super Mimetic Beast!

: No…! LOOOOUUU!
: The Super Mimetic Beast’s stopped attacking! It looks like the organ that generated that space-time shockwave’s been damaged!
: All of our units are recovering their controls as we speak!
: It’s great that we can move again, but…
: Lou is…!
: Raaaargh! LOU!! You… you monster! GAAAAAAAAH!!

: Goh!
: Compose yourself, Goh!
: DIIIIIEEEEE!!

: Insania ratio’s jumped past 170! He can’t…! Goh… he’s triggered the Rabid Syndrome!
: GRAAAAAARGH!!

The Godannar turns hostile!

: It… it’s happened…
: But… Goh! Please, calm down!
: Goh! Come on!
: UGAAAAAAAH!
: It ain’t working! He’s gone completely crazy!
: Anna, do you think you could get through to him?!
: If we were combined and I could talk to him face-to-face, I’m sure I could…!
: Still, combining with him like that is…
: Wait just a second, professor. We’re putting together a program that should let us override the Godannar’s controls!
: Right, we’ll give Anna the chance she needs!
: OK, then step one is to immobilize the Godannar. In the meantime, we’ll make the necessary changes to the combination routine.
: You all heard him! Cover the Goh Okusaer and immobilize the Godannar!
: GWAAAAAAARGH!
: Urk…! That’s the hero of the War of Giants, for you… His fighting spirit alone hits like a hammer!
: Hrm… And we’re supposed to stop him just by ourselves…?!
: The hell’re you cowering like that for?! Haaaaah! Come and fight me… GOOH!!
: Now it’s my time to help you, Goh. I’ll put a stop to you… but as your friend!
: I swear I’ll save you…! Wait just a bit, Goh!

Still going, our objective now is to reduce the Godannar below 5000 HP.
Goh, like Ken before him, has Prevail L9 now, so you absolutely don’t want to deal with him in the water. Pull back, let him cross the pond and then engage. Do note that he now has a 2-6 range attack, so you’ll need to give him a wider berth.

Fast forward a couple more turns, and Goh’s in position. The last beasts are tagging along, and will support defend him if given the chance – don’t.
With the way clear, we’re ready to go.

: Kch… uurk…
: I’ve learned so much from you and our friends…
: If I can pay you back just a bit, then I will…! I might be so afraid, but it doesn’t matter! I want to save you, Goh!

Shinji: “I’ll… stop the Godannar!”

: Watch our stance, Sakuya. Mess up and he’s going to send us flying…!
: I’m doing the best I can here…! No promises when we’re up against the Godannar jacked up on some Mimetic Beasts, though!
: Hrrgh… UWAAAAA!
: Incoming, Aoi!
: We gotta pin him down…! I wanna see my favorite Beauty and the Beast couple back together!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4YRSm5Stdc
Here’s the new attack, with the Mimetic Beasts Sakuya was talking about.
Aoi: “We’ve to take on the Godannar…”
Johnny: “That’s about as tough as this can get!”

: (Dying was never what truly scared Goh…)
: (No, it was losing his humanity and becoming an enemy of those who fight for our future… That’s what scared him above all…)
: (Then there’s only one thing I can do for him…)

Mira: “Goh, I…”

: Never thought we’d ever be scuffling like this… This is someone I never wanted to fight if I could’ve helped it.
: GRAAAAAARGH!
: Let’s do this, Goh! I’m stopping you with every drop of strength I got!

Kouji: “We’re never giving up on you, Goh!”

When Goh’s under 25k HP:

Beep, beep!

: That’s… We’re detecting new Mimetic Beasts signals!
: What, more are incoming?!

: That’s a Destroy! They hijacked even that thing?!
: Your main objective is still the same. Keep an eye on the new hostiles, but focus on immobilizing the Godannar!

: NGAAAAH!
: His presence is overwhelming… But we can’t fail here! We’ll stop him, just like we did with Kouichi!

Quatre: “I’ve to stop the Godannar, whatever it takes!”

: You can’t just up and die on us! Even I was looking forward to seeing your comeback!
: RAAAAAAAARGH!
: So I’m coming in to bail you out! I’ll put a stop to the Godannar!

Shinn: “The hero of the War of Giants… can we really stop him?”

: Goh… You’ve taught me so much about how to fight. And I’ll be saving with you all of that!
: Let’s do it, Ichitaka!

Ichitaka: “We might be up against the Godannar, but this is no time to be chicken!”

: Wasn’t a world free of the Mimetic Beasts your dream, Goh?! We’re so close to making that real!
: Oorgh…GAAAAAAH!
: Hang in there, Combattler! We can’t get broken down before the Dannar’s immobile!

Chizuru: “We’ve got to bring Anna’s feelings to him!”
Hyouma: “Yeah, here we go!”

: Goh Saruwatari… What’ll become of LOTUS if we lose even you?
: Guuooorgh…UWOOOOO!
: No, we just cannot let that happen! You’re the leader of our troops… and our comrade in arms!

Zechs: “What a crushing spirit… your reputation is well deserved, Godannar!”

: It’s not every day I get the chance to fight someone of your skill, Goh… !
: Hrrmm… AAAAAAH!!
: Hah… Even I, Tetsuya Tsurugi, am intimidated… You’re an amazing man, Goh Saruwatari…!

Tetsuya: “The Godannar… Never did I expect it to turn into such a terrifying enemy!”

: Goh, listen to me! Goh!
: UOOOOOOH!
: It’s really not going to work unless we combine…? You pigheaded moron!
: (I’ll be seeing you soon… Hold on, Goh…!)

Anna: “Hang in there, Goh! I’m going to save you, I promise!”

: K-K-Kch…

: He’s still going?!

Mira turns neutral!

: Mira?!
: I made a promise to him. That if he ever turned into our enemy… then I’d kill him…!
: Mira! Are you going to use that?!
: I won’t just let you have him, Anna! I’ll kill him, and then I’ll also die!
: STOOOOP!!

: Did she do it…?!
: No, the Godannar wasn’t destroyed!
: And now he can’t move at all…
: Huh…?!

Mira switches back.

: It was you who took him from me during my five years of sleep, Anna…
: So show me the bond you two share… so that I might give up… so that I might move on!
: … Okay! Take a look!
: We’re all done programming! The Godannar can Drive Change!
: I’m coming right now, Goh! Drive Change – GO!

: Godannar, Twin Drive!

: I’m here, Goh!
: Anna… Don’t… Don’t look… at me…
: There’s nothing to be afraid of… It’s only the two of us in here.
: Goh… I love you…!

: That’s!
: She really did it…!
: Goh…
: Thanks, Anna… If you’re here with me… then I can fight!!
: It is by gaining a human soul that the Steel Giant, that which is equal to God, becomes a true ENVOY OF JUSTICE!
: This is the marriage of God and soul! Forward, everyone! Now is the time to bring this battle to a close!

OH MY GOD, WE ARE ALMOST FINISHED!
Except that there are still a ton of MS beasts down south, but they’re on land and are very easily dispatched.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5CWHG8Ob0
And here’s the video of Mira’s new attack, complete with the DK.

Fast forward another couple of turns for me to kill everything, get everyone aboard the Minerva and sail the over to Boss Island.
Now we can finally bring this drag of a mission to a close!

: This is it! We just need to take you out, and then no one’ll have to live in fear of the Mimetic Beasts…
: Step up, beasties! Today’s the last day of your lives!

–

: This one sure has power on a wholly different level from the Trojan Horse…
: Too bad for you, the Great Hero’s been an old hand at monster hunting for years now. Super Mimetic Beast or no, you’ll go down just the same!

: Can we actually beat this giant of a Mimetic Beast…?
: No, I can’t let it intimidate me… I made a decision to answer the Chairman’s resolve in kind. So, whatever enemy comes my way, I’ll fight!

: Think it’s really gonna be over this time?
: Judging by what Prof. Tatsuya said, I’m sure everything’ll be A-OK.
: And they can come back a many times as they want, we’ll just drive them out. Again and again, all in the name of peace… sounds good?
: What he said. But, with luck, we’ll also have some time to put our feet up…
: So come on! We’ll take on all comers until peace is back in this world!

: Do keep calm, Hyouma. Let yourself get too incensed and you’d be playing right into the Mimetic Beasts’ hand.
: Relax, Kosuke… I’m as cool as can be here…
: I’m Hyouma Aoi of LOTUS. We’re carrying the future of everyone on Earth on our backs, and I’m not screwing up right at the moment of truth!
: Hyouma…
: Today’s the day…! We’re putting an end to the battle with the Mimetic Beasts right now! Let’s do this, guys!

Once its HP is under 50%…

: We’ve done so much damage to it, and it hasn’t even flinched yet…!
: That’s why it’s the king. It’s way tougher than all of its mooks…!

: Look! The Celleblader came out the Super Mimetic Beast!
: Lou…! You’re alive?!
: And I can still fight as well, Goh! Ken… he showed me where the Super Mimetic Beast’s regeneration organ’s at! Over there!
: Meaning, if we can destroy that…!
: Then we’ve a good chance of yanking the carpet out from under ‘em!
: Good…! Just a bit more… and we can win this…!

: This is where my history with you beasts comes to a close…! I’ll bring an end to everything with this battle…!

: I don’t know how far I can go with this, but I made up my mind…! I’ve enough strength to protect others, and I will protect them…!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g65A0zUFxLA

: It could be said that the Mimetic Beasts wouldn’t have evolved this much if we hadn’t driven them into a corner…
: But, from the beasts’ POV, any powerless human is an easy mark. And, so, I cannot hesitate to turn my blade against them!

: OK, this is the real final showdown! And we’re here to bring peace to the spirits of all those you monsters hurt!

: I understand… you’re also just trying your hardest to survive. Still, we cannot just allow that. Because we know it’d only mean more sorrow spreading through the world!

: Goh! We’ll finish it off together!
: Yeah…!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOCj58SpbUQ

: The Super Mimetic Beast’s core is confirmed destroyed!
: Take THAT!

: Y-YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
: The Mimetic Beasts… are finished!
: Rrgh…
: Goh… Goh?!
: I know well the pain of those left behind. I won’t die and do that to you…!
: Goh…!

And there we have it… Here are the convos we missed:

: (This thing is terrifying… Just looking at it has got me shivering.)
: (But even more than that is my desire to fight against it. I can’t deny that. Mira, if the worst comes to happen… do what you must.)
: … I am Goh Saruwatari, beast! And this’ll be our final battle!

–

: GRAAAAAARGH!
: This can’t be how it ends… the man I loved deserves better…!
: … I’ll make you a deal, Goh. Come back to us and I’ll treat you to some world-class wine and steak!

–

: This has been a long time coming… And you’ll get an ample taste of how powerful a woman can be after she’s been kept waiting all this time!

–

: Goh Saruwatari! If you’ve really turned into a bad guy, then it’s my job to take you down!
: Hrk… uuurgh…!
: But I know you’re a big hero, not an enemy! So I… WE will stop you!

–

: If the enemy’s strong, then you burn even stronger… That’s what being a man’s all about…!
: You look like the real deal, Super Mimetic Beast! Let’s do this and see who’ll be leaving here with the gold!

: Okay, Goh! Open wide!
: P-Please, Anna. I can eat just fine by myself…
: No, no, I wanna help you! Again, open wide! How does it taste?
: It’s rice porridge, it doesn’t taste good or bad…
: Oh, don’t be like that. You know how hard it was to make this?
: All it takes is Anna being around for your Badass Ace shtick to come crashing down, eh, Goh?
: Still, I’m so glad things ended fine for hm.
: Absolutely. Even with a successful vaccine being made, the fact that Goh managed to recover from that state tells of how amazing he is.
: Hell, yeah. Refusing to die until the very end is a must for heroes!
: “A must for heroes”, huh… Right, you’re all amazing.
: Hey, now, what’re you talking about there? You’re also one of the day’s heroes, Shinji.
: Yeah, you and Rei.
: O-Oh, no… We were just lucky that we were piloting the EVAs…
: We just did as we had to.
: Standing your ground, and doing as you have to; a simple thing in theory, but very hard to put into practice. What you did today is very much worthy of praise, Shinji.
: You were brave and you did real good, that’s what we think. Always knew you had it in ya, Shinji.
: …
: Nevertheless, we also owe some major thanks to the PLANTs scientists.
: Yeah, I still can’t believe how fast they managed to cook up a vaccine for the Insania Virus, especially with how no one knew that much about the thing until recently.
: Wasn’t just our folks that made it happen, you know. It was a joint effort between them, JUDA and the Dannar Base.
: Hm, developing a countermeasure for the Insania Virus was a worldwide matter. You don’t need to thank us specifically.
: But still, we both want to do it regardless!
: A-Alright…
: The people of the PLANTs, JUDA, at the Dannar Base…
: And all of our friends in LOTUS, who’ve always had our backs… You all deserve our deepest gratitude…

Misato’s talked to Lady Une and she’s left it up to her to decide what to do with Lou. So, does the girl seriously want to fight with us? She is: “Both Ken and I lost people we loved to the Mimetic Beasts, and that made us choose the path of battle. I don’t want there to be other people like me, so I want to fight for that.”
Goh walks in and likes what he hears: if she’s now fighting now for vengeance, but the for the sake of others, then it’s a good sign of how much she’s grown as a warrior. Both he and Anna aren’t going to stop her from doing this – rather, they’ll be together now not just as family, but as fellow teammates.
Lou is very thankful, and very apologetic for everything she did. But there’s someone else, and Kiriko asks if he shares in Lou’s new agenda.

It’s Ken, and having already forsaken his life once, he figures it’s his turn to support the girl’s wishes. The hostile codenamed Menage Zero died fighting the Super Mimetic Beast, Kiriko declares and suggests he carry on his new life as a warrior.
Misato seems satisfied and welcomes them both the crew – they’ll all be working together in the name of world peace!

You probably already guessed it, but you only get Ken if you did either of the secret steps in this stage or the previous split.

Speaking of, ending the battle with the Mimetic Beasts puts us one step closer towards that. There’s still much to be done, Misato knows, but it’s certainly a step forward. And now that Hyouma takes a look at the command room, he realizes: where’s Tatsuya? The guy isn’t around anywhere.
Kiriko says he left not too long ago, off to look into some other enemy factions prowling about the world. The guy keeps as busy as Lady Une herself, she sighs. Still, Anna’s sure she’ll see her father again once the world is truly at peace.

Now, Lulu’s just called over to report on the fight with the Jama Kingdom and is en route to JUDA to rendezvous with us. Kiriko thanks us again for all our hard work, but, of course, our battles are far from over. It’ll be a while to get there while there still are other groups threatening the world, but she wishes us to keep our chins up.
Tetsuya thanks her back for all the help she and her team’s provided, and Misato orders everyone back to JUDA – there’ll likely be much to discuss.

[Mattman324]

Why is it SRW always has these stupidly annoying water based stages whenever Getter Robo isn’t around to profit from them? That bugs the fuck out of me.

EDIT: Saw the post you made on SA about Jeeg in K, so let me explain the situation.

In K, Jeeg starts from its Episode 1/2 plot on Stage… 3, I think, mixed with a tiny bit of SEED Destiny stuff with Athrun being Alex Dino (he rides an Orb MS for that stage and then joins your extended do-nothing cast for like ten stages before getting to pilot again). Then Stage 4 has a bit of Jeeg enemies, as I recall, but it’s immediately lost as your cast gets flung to another universe, which starts four of the most assholish stages in SRW history. That’s the end of the Jeeg cast being notable until Stage 17, where you get the Mach Drill and Bazooka during a weird stage where Himika does something and then you fight some Jeeg enemies and then Hiroshi joins you. Notably, this gives you Double Spin Storm, but NOT the other combo, and you still have no Balba even though Hiroshi has the Panzeroid. You then have no Jeeg plot until Stage 33 or so, where Balba joins you (you never FOUGHT it) and you fight and kill Himika and get the final comboattack.

In L, you start on about Episode 6 on the plot. You skip getting the various Parts (Marine, Sky, and Earth) because K didn’t have them, and the events surrounding them aren’t there, and you also skip a weird dream sequence episode, but Balba shows up like he did in one of those episodes. Then you get the big battle underground where Kyou shows up as Takeru (didn’t even happen in K as far as I recall) and Balba joins you, and then you get the big space battle in multiple parts. This only gives you the latter half of the show, unlike K, but it DOES give you much more of the show in general.

…of course, all of Jeeg is restricted to the first half of L, like Godannar and Gaiking LoDM, but eh, I can understand them wanting to let the newer shows (and SEED Destiny, which was fucking horribly handled in K) have a chance. Probably also why Mazinkaiser, Combattler, and Voltes only are really background characters outside of a certain few events coming up. Though, in that case, I really wish Combattler had plot, since it’s been a long damn time since that happened (ALPHA 3! Same with Voltes, though that did have J). And I wish Voltes let you keep the Big Falcon as a battleship, since this is the first time it’s as much as a map sprite and not just a thing on the map.

[Brunom1]

Yeah, that sounds like awful pacing… I wish they at least made the other Jeeg parts attack-only, like the Gaiking forms and Impulse packs. But, then again, maybe they figured Jeeg already had enough tricks.

And, speaking of Mazinkaiser, Yumi STILL hasn’t fixed the thing. Someone needs to kick down the door on his space station to ask what’s the holdup.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

We’re back at the Himika route – the actually fun route – and Daiya’s sprint shows no sign of stopping. Ichitaka’s actually been caught up by Kenji now, likely due to the former’s attack power starting to lag behind the other protags.

Still, I help him and his buddy out. The Rushbird’s squad bonus is now Armor +200, HP+1500, A in Land, Movement +1; Linebarrel’s is melee weapons’ power +200, mobility +15.
Our Jeegs max out their EN, Alto, Iczer-3 and Kenichi take random stuff here and there.

As for our squads, every Jeeg unit is still auto-deploying, so we’re the same as before:
Ozma/Luca
Gaiking/Yanma
Kouichi/Yamashita
Ichitaka/Miu
Dick/Puria
Domyoji/Klan
Voltes/Canaria
Alto/Michel
Iczer-3/Deceive

Onward!

Evil is swerving all around our people, and Lulu feels it all gathering into the Great Bronze Bell. Iczer-3 feels it too – it’s just as bad as Neos Gold – and Kyo explains that the Jama Kingdom is crystallizing and converting hatred, resentment, and all kinds of negative emotions into power for them to use.
That’s some appropriately dark fuel they use there, Kenji sniffs, but Tsubaki is certain we can counter it by materializing our own wishes for peace and happiness. “You two managed to reclaim the Bronze Bells, so I’m sure you can seal away the Great Bronze Bell,” Hiroshi adds.

In the meantime, Daiya says we’ll stoke the flames in our hearts and help them out all the way; none of us will be broken by some negative emotions, says Alice! That goes double for Kouichi, who’s not willing to let hatred control him again.
Sounds great to Kenji – charge!

Mission 22 (Himika Route) – The Blade of the Soul, Piercing Through Evil

Himika’s rather amused that we’d dare face the might of the Great Bronze Bell – ample proof that we’re idiots to Amaso. Kenji and Ichitaka don’t care, of course: even if they got a power-up from the Bronze Bell, that still won’t make us give in! Things won’t be going their way while we’re around to fight!
Himika scoffs at our sass: we are nothing more than cosmic trash, and we know not our place! Indeed, having gained the power of the Great Bronze Bell, Amaso proclaims themselves to be invincible; Mimashi and Ikima are more than willing to get rid of us themselves, even if it costs them their lives, saving Himika the trouble of having to deal with us. CRY IN TERROR!
Jeffrey and Lulu ignore them, tagging the Great Bronze Bell as our primary target – that antique has to go. “Here we come, Himika! Your gang’s gonna be smoke by the time we’re done!” Kenji yells.

Kill everything, don’t lose any ship or Jeeg units.
Now this is far less of a hassle than the Godannar finale, in that what you see is what you get. There’s a big mob of Haniwas up ahead, with Himika’s three goons right in the middle. In other words, it’s the exact fight you had in the previous mission.
There’s more to it, of course, but this first part of our offensive has no surprises. Only thing I’d suggest is that, like on the other path, you try your best to conserve especially your SP – you’ve two ships and several units with command auras, so you should manage to only pop spirits for the bosses. Oh, and there are some bigger meteors around the area that’ll give +20% to evasion and defense, so keep an eye out for them.
The plot’ll kick in once all enemies are down, so let’s fast fooorwaaard!

And I don’t know if I never took this attack on someone vulnerable to debuffs, but it was only NOW that I realized it turns the range of all your attacks to shit. Might wanna prioritize these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl8deEQgETQ
And here’s Classic Jeeg’s Mach Drills, complete with Micchi showing that she’s nowhere as hotblooded as Tsubaki when shooting parts.

: How could I let myself be defeated here…! Your Majesty, I leave everything in your hands!!

: That was Mimashi, right…? I probably wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t attacked Misaki back then…
: I guess that’s one thing I’m grateful to him…

: Gwargh! You kicked me?! Not even Her Majesty kicks me! YOUR MAJESTYYYYYY!!

: What a weirdo… but he was still pretty strong.

: Heheheh! HAHAHAHA! Sacrificing myself is nothing if it’ll benefit Her Majesty!
: I’ll be awaiting your arrival in the underworld, HUMAAAANSS!

: So loyal until the end… he sure was worthy of being one of her three generals.
: Well, he won’t be away from her long. Himika’ll be following real soon!

Once everything’s dead…

: Hmhmhm… AHAHAHAHA!
: The hell are ya laughing at, Himika?!
: I’m simply amused at how quickly Ikima and the others perished! Ahahahaha!
: And that’s funny to you?! They were your allies…!
: You’re telling me your kind really doesn’t know love, companionship or anything?!
: No matter, I’ll give you ample display of my might. Rise, evil spirits! I command you to gather and take up form before me!
: What’s she doing?! Something’s off – I can feel it!

BOOM!

: What was that?!
: That wasn’t just malice… those were ghosts!

: A mass of pure evil… is it pouring through from Hell itself…?!
: Anyone have a magic sword to cut these down? Because I think we’ll need one…!

BOOM!

: HAHAHAHA! Can you still prattle about love in a universe that produced so much enduring hatred? Hell is awash with these souls!
: Why don’t you take a closer look? You might even spot some familiar faces in there! Hahahahaha…!

: Uuuuuuuuuh!
: The hell?!
: I can feel it… hatred from all around the universe is massing inside him!
: So it’s an amalgamation of evil spirits…?
: Hahahaha! Every last one of you’ll die here!
: The Susano-o’s grows as it devours grieving, hateful spirits, and your planet is a treasure trove of those! Its strength shall be limitless!
: Uuuuuuuuh!
: That guy’s scary…!
: Seriously, even I’m getting chills down my spine…!
: Hrm…!
: Don’t let ‘em push you around, people!

: ! Kenji…!
: Even if we gotta tangle with all the evil and bad juju in the universe, so what?! We’ll fight back with enough positive vibes to kick its ass! That’s how we’ll keep Earth safe!
: … He’s right. We’ll be going nowhere fast by feeling blue.
: Muster your resolve once more, troops. We’ve an exorcism to see to!
: I said it once, and I’ll say it again: bring it! Your evil ain’t breaking my spirit!

Susano-o
Pilot Skills:
Break Morale Limit
Prevail L7
Support Attack L2
Attack Combo L2
Mech Features:
10% HP Regen
30% EN Regen

The Susano-o is the strongest enemy we’ve had to deal with by a mile: it’s got massive stats everywhere, good skills, armor, accuracy, 100k HP, power, etc, etc.
It’s also jampacked with stuff you need to be wary of: first and foremost, it, like the Super Mimetic Beast, has a MAPW that hits in a 6x6 area around it (thankfully it takes 130 morale, and it’s unlikely to get there); its weakest attack (3-8 range) drains SP and second strongest (2-6 range) decreases your attack power. So, attacking it at point blank is best if your guy can’t dodge.
The big Prevail, HP Regen and MAPW (with a +30 accuracy modifier) means you really wanna try to beat it in one round, and your guys are certainly capable of doing that – just make sure everyone’s in range to use their best tricks. Do that, make sure everyone’s protected, and you’ll be fine.

Also…

It’s invincible!

: Surely that’s not all you’re capable of! Your struggles won’t amount to anything if attacks like that are your best!
: Hate to say it, but that thing’s strong…!
: It’s pretty much a being of pure, inexhaustible energy, so conventional weapons won’t help…!
: … I’ll find us a way!
: Tsubaki?!
: Find us… What’re you up to?!
: It’s being fed energy from the Great Bronze Bell! If we can cut that stream, then…!

Tsubaki flies towards the Great Bronze Bell!

: Tsubaki, that’s crazy! What’re you doing, Kyo?!
: Don’t worry, Kenji… Whatever may happen, I’ll keep her safe.
: It might really be crazy… but it’s something only I can do!
: But!
: Kenji… I’ve already died once at Aso. My life span is also reaching its end – that’s why I entrusted the Bronze Bells to you and Hiroshi.
: …! Are you…?!
: Get ready, Himika! I’m going to tear your secret weapon, that lump of evil, to pieces!
: The audacity… There is nothing a child like you can do!
: Takeru may have eluded death before, but Hell now beckons the two of you!!

: Aa—
: N-No…
: Kyo… Tsubaki…
: You son of a bitch…! AAAAAAAAAAARGH!!

: Gwooooooh!
: Kenji, stop! Calm down!
: They’ll pay! THEY’RE ALL GONNA PAY!!

: Get away from it, Kenji!
: SHUT UUUP!!

: HAAHAHAHA! Ultimately, humans are nothing but fools! For all your proclamations about justice, you are quick to lose yourselves to anger and hatred!
: That’s bull! Being considerate to one another, doing what’s right – that’s what it means to be human!
: I’ll concede that your emotions are powerful, indeed. However, it is when those are transformed into hatred that their full power is manifested!

: GRAAAAAARGH!

: Kenji…!
: Do you understand now? Hatred is the mightiest force in the universe! Hahahahah!
: There’s no way hatred’s the strongest! Absolutely not! Humans are much better than that!
: Nonsense. It was precisely by the idiocy of humans that my warrior has taken form! Behold the depths of their sins, and know them to be true!
: Go, Jeeg! Consign your very being to boundless hatred and be reborn as a demon!
: GAAAAAWAAAAARGH!

: Kenji’s temperature, blood pressure and heartrate are increasing rapidly! He’s…!
: Don’t let anger lead you on, Kenji! Control yourself!
: UoooOOoOOOoOOOOO!

: Urgh…! Kenji…!
: Are you alright, Hiroshi?!
: Kenji, you gotta pull yourself together!
: He can barely remember his own name, I’d wager! Such is a human: no more than a dimwitted animal!
: Do you see it now? At your core, there is no difference between your kind and ours!
: What do we do…?! Only Kenji and Tsubaki could seal away the Great Bronze Bell…!
: If Kenji won’t stop, then there’s only one option left for us!
: We’ll have to… fight Jeeg!
: Huuh!?
: You’re telling us to beat him?!
: I can’t do it! That’s still Kenji!
: I want you to trust me here! If anything, we need to first pummel him into submission!

: UOOOOOOOH!
: Back when I’d hit rock bottom, everyone helped pull me back up!
: So now I’ll be there to help pull you off that vortex of hatred, Kenji!

: UoooOOoOOOoOOOOO!
: Kenji, please! Wake up!
: This is the worst possible moment for you to let those evil spirits get the better of you!
: Hahahah! You waste your breath! If you care for your friend so, why not put him out of his misery and end his life?
: We won’t play your games, Himika! We will bring Kenji back to normal…!
: Everyone attack! If we can immobilize him, then maybe…!
: Guess we can’t afford to hesitate…! All troops, move to engage Jeeg!

This route gets in on that action, too, though Kenji actually has way more HP than Goh – 8000 is a pretty big leeway, though, and his armor’s not that high. This is where you start spending that SP you’ve been hoarding, as Kenji’s got a lot of Prevail, hits hard and is quite dodgy if you’re not packing some spirits.
Don’t go too crazy, though, because we’ll still need a healthy amount of EN and SP for after he’s weakened!

: I know all about how humans hold both good and evil in their hearts!
: So show us that you can beat that hate into submission, Kenji! Don’t let your bad side take over for good!

: Even if we’ve to tangle with all the evil in the universe, we’ll fight back with our positive vibes and keep Earth safe! Those were your words, Kenji!
: So how can you just let yourself be consumed by those negative emotions?! I know you’re man enough to soldier through that! Get to it!
: Gwuurgh…!

: Curse you, Himika… She turned Kenji’s feelings against him…!
: But there’s still a little perv somewhere in there, so maybe we could work that angle? He might surprise us and get back to normal!
: I wouldn’t be completely against that if it looked like it’d actually work…

: Uooooh…! UUAAAAAAAA!
: We really gotta fight Jeeg… Holding back against him would only get us dead!
: I know, I know! We’ll have to fight seriously… but only so we can save him!

: UOOOOOOOH!!
: Damn, what kind of creepy flame is that?! It’s so different from ours and Proist’s… Is that also ‘cause of his hatred…?!

: What’re you doing, letting some evil spirits put a leash on you, Kenji?! I know you’re not a wimp like that!
: Ichitaka, we should just trust in Hiroshi for now! I know we’ll find a way around this if we do!
: Uurgh… Do I really have to fight him…?!

: UOOOOoooOOO!
: Don’t let those spirits control you, Kenji! You are still alive, and that life is your own!

–

: OOOOOOORGH!
: Kenji, I know how much you cared for Tsubaki and Kyo!
: But think of how sad they’d be to see those feelings turn you into Himika’s puppet!

: Grrgh…! Uoooooh…!

Kenji twitches about.

: How…?! He’s on his last legs, but he’s not stopping…!
: UOOOOOoooOoOOoooo!

: Kenji… Is there really no way to save you…?!
: Hmhm…HAHAHA! Oh, how do I enjoy the sight of you killing one another! Please, do finish him off!
: UGWAAAAAAAH!
: STOOOP!!
: …!

: I’m so sorry for worrying you guys!
: Tsubaki!
: Captain, we’ve visual on both the Big Shooter and Baruba!
: They’re alive…!
: Kenji, I’m here and I’m safe! Baruba saved us!
: Grrrrr!
: We’re all safe…! So go back to being the Kenji I know!
: Tsuba… ki…
: Wake up from your nightmare, Kenji!
: Please, come back! KENJIIII!!

: HAAAAAAAAAAAH!

: GWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!
: Kenji!
: Tsubaki… I heard your heart loud and clear! Same goes for all you guys’… Tsubaki relayed all your feelings to me!
: Hahah… He’s himself again.
: You’re gonna have to work hard to pay us back for that, Kenji.
: I’m really, really sorry! And I will repay ya – with interest, even!
: Are you good to go, Kenji?
: Yeah, absolutely!
: You’ll still continue with this exercise in futility?! Surely you’ve grasped the gulf between our powers!
: I didn’t, and I won’t! Let’s do this, Tsubaki!
: OK! Jeeg Parts – Shoot!
: Build UUUUUUP!!

: Steel! JEEEEEEEG!!
: Grooowr!

: Hahahaha! However many times you rise to oppose me, nothing will change! The negative emotions under my control will swallow you whole!

The Big Shooter moves into Kenji’s team.

: Kenji, I’ve to get there too! We’ll fight together!
: Alright! We’ll show them how strong our spirits are!

And now we’re in the home stretch: wait a turn to recover your moves and throw everything you’ve left at Susano-o to kill him in one round!

Before we cue the music, here’s his two best attacks:

: Anger, hatred, evil… You actually think some piece of crap made outta that can take us down?!
: Eat this, monster: the power of a positive middle-schooler!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNxQGwX7PEM

: If you’re taking strength from all hatred in the universe, then we’ll take ours from the trust we feel in each other!
: And the Voltes will not be beaten while those feelings hold steady!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGz2Uuw3Bvk

And now we go!

Stormbringer is 100% uncut hotblood and you should listen to it!

: You might have all the hatred in the universe inside you, but we’re not letting that break us!
: There isn’t anything we can’t wreck by bringing our hearts together!

: I feel them… Ikima, Mimashi and Amaso are inside this monster!
: We’re overflowing with power…! Power with which to fight in Her Majesty’s name!
: And with it, nothing can stop us! Even Jeeg’s just another worm!
: Hiroshi Shiba! This is where your life comes to an end!
: Hmph… I’ll admit that you’re persistent, if nothing else. Come on, then! I’ll send you to where you belong!

We’ll see the Jeeg Panzeroid later, when I can kill with it – I was too scared of its EN cost to use it on a mook!

: Gotta fight a vengeful ghost, huh? Well, the theater taught me exactly how to deal with these!
: Monsters in the wings - Your approach will end in tears - Just as fallen leaves - Crumble to motes of dust - So too will you disappear!

: Ichitaka, that monster’s what the Jama Kingdom used the Great Bronze Bell for! It’s pretty much the ace up their sleeve!
: Meaning, if we kick its ass, they’ll have zip left!

: I can’t let this blob of bad juju, or whatever it is, scare me…! My big sis left Earth and Nagisa-1 in my care!

: Himika… you’ve taken full control of the Great Bronze Bell’s power…?!
: But we know of a power that’s a lot greater than that!
: That’s right, Tsubaki! And that’s how we can stand up to this overwhelming evil without any hesitation!

–

: I’ve no idea how much hate you got inside, but it doesn’t matter ‘cause all of it’s about to go up in smoke!
: It’s useless! The malice within humans is endless… The more you struggle, the more negative emotions you’ll birth! You’d best accept this fact!
: Pfft, you ain’t scaring me with that! We got the Priestess of the Bronze Bells on our side! So your Ghost of Baddies Past here is about to get a one-stop ticket back to Hell!

: Oh, YEAH! We got ‘im! How’dya like them apples, Himika?!
: Hrrrmm! This isn’t over yet! IT IS NOT OVER!!
: What is she doing…?!
: Susano-o! Feast upon the malice that pervades this world! Take in all that evil will!

: GWOOOOOOOOOOH!
: What?!
: How the… Is that thing immortal?!
: The Susano-o is an embodiment of malice and hatred! So long as those exist within the hearts of men, it will endure!
: You might’ve gathered up all those emotions, but your plans’ll still fall through!
: Idiocy! Whatever ideas you lot might have, hatred shall always be the mightiest force of all!
: You’re wrong! It is our heart, the love we feel for one another, that’s made humans who they are! It’ll never be beaten by malice!
: And now you’ll see the power of that human heart! Let’s go, Kenji!
: Yeah!

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

: Th-That was!
: He looked like a proper God of Steel! The Steel God Jeeg!
: W-Wooooow…!
: How did you muster such power, brat…?!
: Because I’m not alone – I surrounded by people I love, and who love me! Let’s get in there, Tsubaki!
: Yeah!

: Good luck, Kenji, Tsubaki…

: Not once did I expect you to make it so far! But now my patience has run out! DIE!!

BOOM!

: Gaaah!
: Aaaah!

Beep!

: Kenji, do you hear me?! Pool yours and Tsubaki’s strength together again!
: Kyo? Okay…!

: Wh-What the…?! This sword just showed up outta thin air…!
: It is Sakahoko, the blade of the soul! Only an heir to a Bronze Bell may have it!
: “Blade of the soul”?!
: Kenji, Tsubaki! Let your heart unleash its power and seal away both Himika and the Great Bronze Bell!
: You wouldn’t dare! If you do so while inside the Great Bronze Bell, you shall be sealed away yourselves!
: Ahahaha! This is it, Himika! That’s game over for you!
: What…?!
: I ain’t got a problem with getting sealed away! What about you, Tsubaki?
: Same! I came here ready to carry out my duty!
: Your words ring hollow! Could you truly sacrifice yourselves so readily?!
: Hell, yeah, we can! Grab my hand, Tsubaki! We’ll show her what our hearts are all about!
: Okay! Let’s unleash Sakahoko’s power!

: Wh-Why…?! How can you give up on your own lives…?!
: Because there’re a whole lot more emotions in a human heart than just anger and hatred!
: There’s also so much kindness, friendship and love! Those are always there, even when they’ve no reason to be!
: Hrk…! It’s inconceivable that anger and hatred would be bested by such nonsense…!
: The hell do we care about what you think?! Time to end this, Tsubaki!
: … We’ll see each other again, right, Kenji?
: Yeah! Absolutely!
: Okay!
: Oh, lost soul! Sleep here forever!

: This cannot be happening! I cannot be defeated by something as feeble as the heart! GRWAAAAAAAAAARGH!!

Back outside…

: Kenji! Tsubaki!
: They…!
: Did they do it…?!

: The Great Bronze Bell’s signal has completely vanished! It’s been sealed away successfully!
: What about Kenji and Tsubaki?! I don’t see them on my sensors!
: There’s… no sign of them.
: No…! Kenji, Tsubaki, Kyo…!
: Are they… not coming back?

Bloop.

: What…?!
: We’ve a ping on radar! It’s the Raikouba!

: Kenji! Tsubaki! You’re safe!
: Yup! Made it by the skin of our teeth!
: Welcome back, all of you. And very well done!
: The threat of the Jama Kingdom is now finally over. Let’s head home – to Earth!
: Sure thing! But… you mind giving us a minute before that?
: A minute?
: I just wanna take a look at the stars with Tsubaki before we head back. That cool with you?
: Kenji…
: Go for it, I’ll tell the captains. This peaceful night sky is only here because you’ve made it real.

: We made this night sky real, huh…?
: Through our hearts and all that we feel for our friends… and one another…
: What say you? Wanna fly around a bit?
: Sure… and do you think we could take our time heading back…?
: … Yeah, that’d be just fine.

Vrooom!

[Mattman324]

: Anyone have a magic sword to cut these down? Because I think we’ll need one…!

First, Dancouga’s on the other route. Second, wrong Dancouga.

Someone in the thread asked about Jeeg, and incase you’re curious: Kotetsushin Jeeg is literally absolutely nothing like the original show. Much like how Gaiking LoDM is a totally different show that occasionally nods at the original, Kotetsushin Jeeg is the same way - I mean, jeez, Himika was the midboss of the original Jeeg. And Hiroshi was voiced by Amuro before he was Amuro.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Our team’s back together, Daiya still resting cozily at #1 while Kenji and Ichitaka compete with one another. The Jeeg path gave a total of about 120k more money than the other, so that’s what I kept.

Random upgrades everywhere, with Hyouma taking an extra pip in weapons since he was still at two.

The EVAs and Iczer-3 are deploying as event units, so we make a few changes. Do note that we’re not finally starting to run low on deployment slots – the next mission only allows 16 – so a few good people’ll need to start getting benched.
Ozma/Luca
Daiya/Yanma
Kouichi/Quatre
Ichitaka/Mil
Kenji/Kyo
Jeeg/Micchi
Voltes/Dick
Alto/Michel
Combatler/Deceive
Shinn/Luna
Goh/Anna
Tetsuya/Canaria
Rey/Domyoji
Kouji/Yagyuu
Dancouga/Yamashita
Ken/Lou

Off we go.

: You’re not getting away from me! TAAAH! (Mari)
: !!

: Urgh… Damn, this hurts so bad…!
: But… it’s so much fun!
: Sorry we couldn’t get you one of the newer suits in time. (Kaji)
: Yeah, I can barely breathe with how tight this is.
: To say nothing of the fact that we had to send you off into combat with the Provisional Unit, right? Apologies for that too.
: Forget about it. I’m just happy to finally be piloting.
: That’s all on you, little firebrand. But good luck out there.

Bloop.

: …Field, redeployed…! Oohoho, I’m getting all tingly here!

: Yeesh, this thing moves like a rock…! Then we’re just gonna have to brute-force it!

: Time’s running out… and the unit’s not holding either. The spare arms weren’t synced right, so they’re not strong enough…!

: Hrrgh, fine! You want this arm so bad, take it!

: Now hurry up and…DIIIIIEEEEEEE!!

: Well, the #05’s self-destruct program worked like a dream…
: Still, it’s a shame we need to have these kids do our dirty work. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth…

Nearby…

: Owowowow…. Syncing with an EVA was even more brutal than advertised.
: But I’m alive, so that’s all that matters. Bon voyage, EVA-05. It was a real honor working with you…

Time for the usual catch-up after a route split, but this one doesn’t really have any amusing bits. Both sides end with Ichitaka asking where Iczer-3’s at, and Nagisa says she’s always waiting by the sleeping Nagisa’s side. Also, it feels really awkward for her to refer to someone with the same name as her.
Quatre surmises that Nagisa Kasumi was exhausted from piloting the Iczer Robo, and she confirms. Mind, Canaria said her condition was nowhere as bad as the first Nagisa’s, so she should be waking up soon.

: Haah, Haah… Where… Where am I…?!

: 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!

: That’s… the Iczer Robo? And me…?
: No, it’s that girl… Nagisa Kanou? And they’re fighting together…

Beam! Craaaaash!

: WAAAAAAAH!

: Ah…?!
: A dream…? No… those memories were…
: Ah, Sleeping Beauty’s back with us?
: Nagisaaa!
: Michel… and Iczer-3. Oh, that’s right… I was asleep…
: Looks like your fatigue’s fully gone. Now… we’re sorry to spring this on you so soon after you’re awake, but we’ve something to talk with you about.
: Though I’m not sure how to begin…
: Do you mean how Alto and Michel have been fighting the Cthulhu? How they’re working with JUDA?
: It figures you would’ve put two and two together, I guess. We wanted to come clean some time… but we still apologize for keeping quiet, Nagisa.
: The fact is Alto, Luca and I have teamed up with the ZAFT folk. We’re mercenary pilots, a separate force from the NUNS.
: No, no, it’s fine… I understand that you didn’t want us to worry.
: Good to hear… wait a minute, no, something’s off here! Aren’t you taking this way too well for someone who’s been asleep all this time?!
: I… suppose that’s true. We were all expecting you to be dumbfounded and lash out over this bombastic revelation.
: I saw it in a dream… How all of you, and Nagisa Kanou, were fighting these robots and monsters…
: That’s far too detailed for a dream, I think.
: I don’t really get what’s going on, but maybe I’ve been seeing parts of Nagisa’s memories as dreams…?
: Come to think of it, you did mention way back that you’d been having those strangely real-looking dreams, right?
: Yeah. I wasn’t sure what to make of them, but it kind of makes sense when I look at it that way.
: And here I thought I’d seen so much occult business that nothing would surprise me again…

: … And with all that said, I’m happy to be officially working with you guys.
: Listen, things may be calm now, but we’ll likely get dragged into battle again. Aren’t you scared of that?
: I’ve made up my mind on this… I know it’s my destiny to fight with Iczer-3.
: You’re so strong… unlike me.
: Not really; you’re the only reason I managed to get strong in the first place. The pain you had to bear, how you feel for Iczer-1… all of it came to me.
: This is so weird… How could my memories and experiences appear in your dreams?
: Woo-hoo! Nagisa’s all better, and Nagisa-1’s doing good too! I’m gonna keep this streak rolling in the next battle too!
: Hey, Iczer-3. You said the two of us are partners, right?
: Yup!
: Then I want you to make me a promise. That you’ll be more careful, and stop fighting so recklessly.
: Whaa?! But how am I gonna protect you, then?! Besides, fighting’s so much fun!
: And do you know how badly I’d feel if you got hurt doing that?
: Being partners means being friends. And here on Earth, being friends means trusting and looking after each other.
: That’s right, Iczer-3. You’d feel bad if our LOTUS friends got hurt, wouldn’t you?
: Sister Gray told me to listen to the Nagisas but… Ooh, this is a toughie…
: It might be tough for a kid to wrap her head around it, but you’ll get there.

Time for Alice to check in with the JUDA techs again. Have they figured out what happened to her body during the Straybird attack? From what Rachel imagines, having to personally control the Rushbird’s energy flow overheated both the regular and combat-oriented sectors of her AI. The radical increase in irradiation and throughput lead to her organic parts being transformed temporarily.
Whatever the case, Maki chides them for doing something so crazy – the Rushbird’s dimensional interference capabilities haven’t even been thoroughly tested, haven’t they? Ichitaka apologizes, saying they weren’t really thinking of the dangers back then, and Rachel concedes that they were out of options.
HOWEVER, she now wants them to defer to Misato’s judgement on whether or not to use that trick again – if they screw it up, the out-of-control energy could level everything around them. Granted, seeing how Ichitaka absolutely can’t handle that, and Alice has her own difficulties, he figures we can’t really try it anyway.

With that in mind, Ichitaka asks Kosuke if there isn’t any way he could make things easier for his partner, and the kid figures there is. Ichitaka can just take over some of the energy management responsibilities. Not something he could learn on the fly, of course, but Yamashita figures he could familiarize himself with it over the sim.
Ichitaka apologizes for having to impose on him again, having realized during the showdown with Himika/Mimetic Beasts that he still has a long way to go. Yamashita sas it’s all good, and he just needs to use that realization as motivation.

Kosuke and the group set out to reproduce the Rushbird’s systems inside the simulator, leaving Rachel to ponder how much Ichitaka’s grown despite his young age. Yamashita himself seems to be getting over his dependency on Reiji, and she only wishes Kouichi could do the same. Maki disagrees: “he’s also growing. Little by little, sure, but it’s happening.”
Truth enough. Rachel’s seen that Kouichi’s been, for instance, slowly acting more responsible as he tries to be THE SENIOR for Shinji. Speaking of, where is the kid? He’s supposed to be running some of his usual tests soon.
From what Maki’s heard, he’s visiting his mother’s grave.

Cut to the Cthulhu Fortress, Neos Gold is getting to work with the Iczelio. By using it, she’ll be capable of creating a new, powerful warrior to replace the still-recovering Iczer-2 in battle (and the disposed of Fiber and Insect, too). With a lightshow, Neos Gold commands the warrior born from the stolen Iczelio – Atross – to awaken!

Elsewhere, Golem passes the news along to Bigro. Neos isn’t about to underestimate LOTUS again, and is ready to send in this new warrior if Bigro isn’t confident in her ability to seize Nagisa Kasumi.
Bigro, of course, is insulted by that: she can get the job done without taking help from either Golem or this Atross. Fair enough, Golem tells her to remember that vow and leaves. Bigro’s heading out, too, sniffing at the thought of the new warrior. If the girl even so much as troubles her slightly, she’ll tear her to shreds!

: It’s been three years since we came here together.
: I remember that I ran back then… and I hadn’t come since. It still doesn’t feel real that mom’s buried here. I can’t even picture her face anymore…
: It’s by forgetting that people live on. That said, there are some memories that must never be forgotten.
: Yui taught me so much – things I could never replace if I tried. I come here precisely to remind myself of it all.
: Do you have no pictures of her?
: There are none left – even this grave’s just a piece of décor. Nothing of her remains.
: You got rid of everything, huh? My teacher said you would.
: I still have it all, safely within my heart. That will do for now.

Helicopter!

: …It’s time. I’ll be heading back.
: … Dad!
: …
: Um… Thank you for today. I’m glad we could talk…
: … I see.

Helicopter away!

: …
: See, Shinji? You were so worried about this, but you two spoke and nothing bad happened.
: Despite your reservations, it was good that you came here with him, right? I mean, this is your mother’s grave.
: I only came here because you pretty much forced me to.
: Only because I knew that, deep down, you wanted to do this. You should be a bit more honest about how you feel.
: … If I did, I’d probably just be miserable.
: Come, now. You rose above and beyond everyone’s expectations during both Operation Yashima and the battle with the Mimetic Beasts.
: So believe in yourself. I’m sure your father does.
: …

Beep!

: Katsuragi speaking.
: The 7th Angel has appeared at Sagami Bay! LOTUS has been asked to deploy right away!
: What?!
: The SDF troops are trying to keep it pinned down, but conventional weapons are pretty much useless against it.
: Copy that. I’m heading back to HQ with the #01’s pilot. Can the #00 deploy?
: Neither can, actually: both units are still undergoing repairs. We’ll be finished soon, but they won’t be deploying until then…
: Trying to repair both at once to save time blew up on our faces… Speed things up as much as you can. We’ll be there in a few!
: As you say. We’ll prioritize finishing up the #01 as quick as can be done.

Boop.

: Of all the worst possible moments… We’ve to hurry, Shinji!
: OK!

Mission 23 – The Warriors’ Encounter

: We’ve reconfirmed the Angel’s route: it’s headed directly towards NERV HQ in Neo Tokyo 3!
: Its shape might be different, but this one’s still after the same as the others…
: Are they being commanded by someone, or are they simply following an instinct…? There’s so much we don’t know about them.
: Whatever the case, we can’t let it get any further.
: All we can do is keep the thing stuck here. We gotta wait ‘til Shinji and Rei make it over.
: …
: Iczer-3?

: !! Iczer-3 deployed?!
: Iczer-3! The captains haven’t given the green-light to deploy yet!
: I’m getting a very bad feeling… As in “the Nagisas are gonna be in big danger” kind of bad!
: Please, Uncle Arthur! Lemme deploy on this one!
: U-Uncle…
: I ask the same. Something’s been bothering me for a bit, too.
: (Does she have some sort of precognitive abilities like Iczer-1 and Lulu…?)
: Alright. If you say so, I’ll allow it.
: Thanks, Lulu!
: And deploy the rest of our units too!

Kill the Angel, don’t lose any ships or Iczer-3. No, really, you need to do this without any mooks to help your guys build up morale.
Good news is that most of your Supers should be more than well-equipped to pop the A.T. Field even at base morale; bad news is that the target hits HARD. Don’t go too crazy with SP, as there’s more coming, only prioritizing defensive spirits. Support Attacks from your bigger hitters will also really help.

Clockiel, The Seventh Angel
Mech Features:
A.T. Field (Strong)
30% HP and EN regen

What, they replaced the cool Israfel fight with THIS? Please…
Same deal as the other Angels: it hurts, it’s somewhat resilient but will fall quickly if you can reliably pop its barrier, and has a MAPW centered on himself.
Spend a turn to get your folks close enough, and swarm for a one-turn kill. Its strongest attack is range 1-3, so if you can outrange that, all the better.

: That clock-like bit… it’s like it’s taunting us to attack.
: Oh, boy, look at him wanting us to rush the thing down. Way he’s focusing on that red thing, he oughta be piloting an ox mech.
: It’s all good, I say. Humanity’s on the line here, so I say we psych ourselves up and sink our teeth into that Angel!
: Letting our instincts run loose has been feeling more and more natural nowadays, huh? And with that in mind…
: Let’s go wild!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPOo4BP6Ehg
Here’s its best attack.

: Didja hear? I got possessed by this evil spirit and saw Hell with my own two eyes! Now it’s your turn, and Jeeg’ll dunk you straight down there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-oJLKXtBD4

: We managed to get rid of even the Mimetic Beasts. Should only be a matter of time before the Angels go the same way…
: And I’ll carry on fighting until that day arrives! Me and all my teammates!

: This is the fourth time we’ve fought the Angels… You gotta admire enemies that always cook up a different gimmick for every attack!
: Still, there’s absolutely not gonna be a Third Impact while I’m here to say anything about it!

: Hrk… I can’t even anticipate how it’s gonna attack by looking at it. What a pain in the ass…
: Guess that leaves only closing in and shooting ‘til it stops moving…!

: How is this dippy bird-looking thing as dangerous as it is?! But, alright, here I come to toss you into the trash!

Iczer-3: “Found a baddiiee!”

: It’s up to the seniors to make sure our undergrads have a bit of an easier time! Here we go, Linebarrel!

Get the Angel below 28k, and…

: Look at how fast it regens…!
: Why does it always feel like there’s no way for us to beat these things?!
: Now what’s going on there…? Guess the EVAs really are the only ones that can take on an Angel.

: Bah, missed the core…! (Asuka)
: A red Evangelion…?

: You’re not going to last long if you go at it like that, Asuka. Go and reconnect your cable! (Hilde)
: That’s the Death Scythe and a Taurus!
: Hey there, Quatre. We just came back from Germany – and we brought gifts, too.
: Duo! What a relief to see you well!
: So you two were assigned to back up the EVA-02’s tests, huh?
: A Preventer agent’s work is never done, ya know how it is. But never mind that now; can you folks handle the #02’s cable?
: Of course. Pilot of the #02, step by the Daiku Maryu please!
: No need. I can easily drop that Angel before the battery runs out!
: Hey, now, don’t be so full of yourself. It’s not good for you! This is a real battle, so you know anything can happen, right, miss?
: …! You’re preaching to the choir, kid!

Asuka moves by the Daiku Maryu.

: There. Happy now?
: Very!
: Whew… that girl didn’t even give Asuka’s crusty shtick a chance.
: She’s being a bit more watchful of her teammates, isn’t she?
: Seems Nagisa’s words got through to her.
: We’ve a way to dispatch the Angel now. Troops, support the EVA-02 and eliminate the target!
: Alright, let’s get back to it! I’ll show everyone the power of a real Evangelion!

Evangelion Unit #02 (Asuka Langley Shikinami)
Pilot Skills:
Sync Rate
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Counter
Support Attack L2
Attack Combo L1
Mech Features:
Sword
Gun
A.T. Field
Umbilical Cable
Spirit Commands:
Sense
Focus
Fury
Faith
Squad Bonus: Melee weapons’ power +100, Crit ratio +10, exp gained +10%, Land terrain rating: A

Why’d they feel the need to change her surname? I liked Souryu better… Also, is her hair darker?
Regardless, Asuka’s built pretty much the opposite of Shinji: she’s melee-focused in attacks and stats, though her defenses aren’t as good, she’s way more likely to crit, but her range is mediocre. The #02 IS somewhat weaker than the #01 as far as raw weapon power is concerned, but its morale and EN requirements are significantly lower.
All in all, the EVA-02 is still a fine unit and, as with MX, you can absolutely deploy Asuka for the rest of the game.

Gundam Death Scythe Hell (Duo Maxwell)
Pilot Skills:
Sword Cut
Shoot Down
Counter
Support Attack L2
Attack Combo L2
Spirit Commands:
Invincible
Focus
Accelerate
Fighting Spirit
Mech Features:
Sword
Gun
Active Cloak – reduces beam damage by 1000
Hyper Jammer – over 130 morale, 40% chance to outright evade an incoming attack (mitigated by Skill difference)
Squad Bonus: crit rate +10, melee weapons’ power +100, Water terrain rating: A

Sure would have loved to have you WAY earlier in the game, Duo. As in, when I was drowning in water stages!
Duo, as always, is a reliable unit simply due to the Death Scythe knowing exactly what it’s supposed to do and being tailored towards it. Mind you, he’s not as powerful as he was in W due to L’s penchant for giving melee attacks piddly range: his Beam Scissors only reaches up to 1-2, which isn’t that great.
You can compare Duo against Quatre, only he’s completely offense and dodge oriented, in contrast to the latter’s support spec. Quatre has the Magnac guys to give him a lot more reach, though. On the flip side, Duo DOES have a rather accurate MAPW that hits everything in a 1-3 range… problem is, like in W, it is not post movement and will hit your guys as well. Sending him into a big group for set-up can be dangerous with L’s evasion decay, so watch it.
Still, he’s got accelerate, water terrain and a melee boost, so we can certainly field him as someone’s squaddie.

Taurus (Hilde Schbeiker)
Pilot Skills:
Shoot Down
Support Attack L2
Support Defense L2
Attack Combo L1
Spirit Commands:
Cheer
Focus
Alert
Lucky
Mech Features:
Gun
Transform
Resupply Module
Squad Bonus: Money earned +10%, armor +10%, 1000 Barrier, HP+500

If Rei’s the likely best defensive support, I’ll say Hilde is the best pure supporter we have right now (I won’t say forever, as later entries might change that). You mean Noin could be rocking THIS Taurus all along if she hadn’t painted hers the Cinq Kingdom’s colors?! Sheesh.
I’m guessing someone at Banpresto really likes Hilde, because they pretty much gave her everything needed to secure a permanent spot as any Super’s squadmade for the rest of the game. I am even seriously considering upgrading her straight to 50% to further boost that bonus. Having a Resupply Module for a constant 10% EN regen is just the cherry on top.
As a pilot, though, Hilde is pretty dang middling. Her stats are the worst of any Gundam Wing units, and if I could have Noin take her place in this Taurus, I would (why can’t I, Banpresto?!). Still, you really should try to make it work simply due to how amazing the unit itself is.

Now, back to work.

: I gotta hit a slim target like that…? But, still, we can’t let it push us back!

: Only thing that’ll work for us is bashing that guy with the biggest hit we can manage. Pick us an easy-to-tag spot, Hyouma!
: You got it! We’re going straight for its “head”!

: Is this really a living creature? Its whole body’s hollow…!
: Common sense doesn’t really apply to these… They’re like the Vajra in that way!

: I can handle Angels just fine by myself! Everyone’ll see that we don’t need LOTUS for this!

: That’s gotta be its weak spot – its core – right up there!
: I see no problems with that assessment. The first two Angels we fought always had their cores exposed, so this one’s likely the same.
: I dunno how much of this guy’s punishment the Rushbird can take, but we’ll at least try and keep it stuck here!

: This sensation is… Iczer-3, something’s coming!
: Let them! We’ll see what’s been bugging us!

: I am Bigro, one of Neos Gold’s four generals, and I am here to claim Nagisa Kasumi!
: Damn it, not now!
: Iczer-3… We’ll see how much of your power remains once you’re taken far from this battlefield. There’ll be no one left to protect the girl after I’m done.

: Wah?!
: Monica!
: We’re detecting an energy distortion around Iczer-3 and the Cthulhu!
: I see… By doing that, they’ll be able to fight to the death and no one’ll be able to do anything about it. It’s something of a death match arena.
: No way out of this for me, huh, granny?
: That’s right. Come!

: Iczer-3 and the Cthulhu have both vanished from our sensors!
: Iczer-3…! Luca, do we know where she went?!
: I’ve got nothing…! It looked like she was warped somewhere else…!
: Maybe it’s like when Nagisa and I were kidnapped…?
: But Iczer-1 came and saved us back then…
: Oh, no…! Is there nothing I can do for her, then…?!

: What’s wrong, Iczer-3? Is that all you have?
: U-Urgh… Why… Why am I feeling so weak…?
: Accept your defeat. The source of your strength, your partner, is still in regular space, forever out of reach. And now you’ll die without so much as a parting word from her!

: Nagisa… help…! NAGISAAA!

Back in the real world.

: (Nagisa… help…! NAGISAAA!)
: Iczer-3?!
: What is it?
: She… Iczer-3’s calling me! She’s begging me for help… and I can’t do anything…
: … Yes, you can. Focus, and call out to her.
: Huh?
: Distance means nothing to the bonds between partners. If you really want to help Iczer-3, then I know that wish will reach her.
: …Alright. I’ll try.
: (Stay strong, Iczer-3! I’m there with you…!)

: Die!
: (Stay strong, Iczer-3! I’m there with you…!)
: …Nagisa?!

: Okay, Nagisa! I’ll be strong!

: Curse you…! You still stand?!
: I’ve Nagisa with me, and no one’ll beat me while she’s there! Ever! Iczeeer… BOOOMB!!

: Captain! There’s Iczer-3!
: Ooorgh…! It can’t be…!
: How’d you like THAT!
: Oh, thank god you’re safe, Iczer-3!
: …Kill me, then! Death is all that awaits me now that I’ve failed…!
: If you say so… Consider it your punishment for trying to hurt my friends.

Energy charge!

: Iczer-3, stop!
: Why, Nagisa? She’d make you and Nagisa-1 suffer so much if I hadn’t beaten her!
: I know that. But she can’t fight anymore, right?
: …
: Please, Iczer-3.
: Fiiine… I guess I can forgive you, granny.
: And listen… maybe you don’t need to go back to Neos Gold? I’m sure you could find a nice, quiet place to live somewhere.
: You… You mean to dishonor me further?!
: N-No, I… I can still fight! Come and face me, Iczer-3! You and your humans!

: Hahahaha! Oh, I can’t watch anymore! How can you call yourself one of Lady Neos’ warriors after that?
: ?!
: If you want to die fighting this much, I can make that happen. Lady Neos told me that the weak had to be made an example of!

: GAAAAAAAH?!

: She’s with the Cthulhu?! They killed their own friends again?!
: …
: Who are you?! You look like me…
: I am Atross, and I am here to kill you in Lady Neos’ name!
: Atross…? And why’d you have to go and kill Bigro?!
: Didn’t she say she wanted to die? You were taking too long, so I decided to do it myself… Actually, shouldn’t you be thanking me for that?
: All units form up around the EVA-02 and prioritize destroying the Angel!
: We don’t know how strong the new Cthulhu android is, though, so you’ll have to also back Iczer-3 up!
: Aah, come on! We’re busy enough already!
: Just leave the Cthulhu to us, Asuka. You worry about the Angel!
: You say, like ignoring them would be that easy…!
: Good luck, Iczer-3…!

And it’s dead!

: What the hell?! Didn’t we get the core?!
: That was just a fake, by the looks of it!
: A biological decoy… The Angels really are a mystery.
: Save the admiration for later, Johnny! Where is the real core, then?!
: We’ll just be shooting blind if we can’t get a bead on it!
: … I figured out where it was after my attack. Back off and let me handle this.
: Alright, please do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI0WOcRsLGI

: OK, next!

And that’s that. Now we just need to wipe out the Cthulhu and we’ve done this plenty before. As far as stats go, Atross, like Iczer-3, is a slightly worse fighter than her elder sisters. Treat her accordingly, same for the regular Dilos, as this fight’s pretty much a redo of Angel Down.
Even if you’ve already moved Iczer-3 this round, most, if not all, of the Dilos should be too far away to reach her yet. Don’t send her, or the Preventers, too far ahead before your main group comes in, though, or evasion decay might get her shot down – which is a game over.
Finally, there’s a big river right through the middle of the map, so your land-bound units (which is about half of them) will have to make do with the main bridge available. Liberal use of Accel is encouraged – nobody wants giant robots jamming their morning commute.

Most of our troops are either spent or still moving thatta way.

Enemy Phase!

And, yeah, only one in the upper group of Dilos gets to attack anything.

But, when that’s Tetsuya, it’s no big deal.

Player Phase!

The Celleblader also boosts water terrains, so Ken has no problems with going swimming.

: Let us see whether or not you are worthy of my blade…

–

: My revenge is over. Starting today, I’ll be fighting for everyone else… Watch over me, dad…!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP4CsHzfVio
Here’s Ken and Lou’s combined attack. “… Wait for me in Hell!”
Following that, Iczer-3, Shinn and Tetsuya take a kill each while the rest of our group spreads evenly between north and south.

Oh, what the hey.

: Our debut battle as part of LOTUS sure is a tough one. Guess I drew the short straw again…
: Well, whatever. We gotta make up for being late to this party. Here we go, buddy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf_UHrY1w54
This reminds me that I still need to redo W… blah.

Enemy Phase!

Iczer-3, Hiroshi, Jeffrey and Duo get pestered by the incoming mob. Only the latter two score kills.

Player Phase!

And now we go to town on the weakened mooks.

All but, like, five Dilos survive the oncoming slaughter.

Make that four.

: I’m not sure how useful I’ll be with this Taurus, but if we’re fighting for peace, then you’ll get no complaints from me!

Bam.

Enemy Phase!

I don’t really have anything special to say here.

These things have long since stopped being a problem, and they’re getting oneshotted left and right.

Player Phase!

Whatever’s still left of the Dilos is dealt with, and Hiroshi gets to show off his Panzeroid pants!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AdTTesDOG4

Now we set our sights on Atross, who’s only just starting to move after Iczer-3 (though she didn’t attack anyone).

: How do you want do this? Maybe figure out which of us is the fastest?
: You got it!!
: You’re playing right in her hands, Iczer-3! Are you listening?! Iczer-3!
: She’s too incensed, I think… My voice isn’t even reaching her.

: Guess Iczer-3 also “lucked out” in the stalker department.
: You say that, but aren’t you feeling a bit lonely with how long it’s been since the R-Daigun showed up?
: Don’t be silly, you. Now, we better do something about this kid and get her to stop bullying Iczer-3.
: Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I plan on making this my first and last battle with her!

: Hey, aren’t you like Iczer-3’s baby sister or something? Then quit trying to kill her!
: I’m a warrior built by Lady Neos. While she may be a Battle Type like me, that hardly makes us sisters!
: She doesn’t even care…! Guess she took after Iczer-2, then!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2efgntVWJA

: Not bad, humans. You too, Iczer-3, though that’s what I’d expect from another Battle Type!
: Huh…?
: You’re the same as me, no? You were born to fight!
: No way, that’s not who I am!
: You don’t even know what you are, do you? Take a look. Aren’t we so like each other?
: I saw that, but then I realized something: outside of our looks, we’re very different!
: And on this subject, Lady Neos had plenty to say about you guys. Some of you were given life just to fight too.
: Kch…!
: And wasn’t it the same for the Jama Kingdom? They were born to do battle, and now they’re gone – both times by the hands of humans.
: Urgh, enough with your blah, blah, blah! What’re you getting at?!
: That we’re all the same: us, the Jama Kingdom… and you folks.
: Sure, the Zentradi were originally created to fight, but I don’t really care for you labeling them all just because of that.
: Our ancestors eventually met with other civilizations, and managed to find a different path than war!
: Right! You’re suggesting everyone’s life is decided at the moment they’re born, and that’s a load of bull!
: Hmph… I guess you really are idiots. We’re warriors and, as such, the only thing that matters is who’s stronger!
: Quit talking crazy at my friends! Now you’ve made me mad… I’m gonna mess you up!

: Someone born to fight… You’re letting your birth define who you are, and that’s what’s pushing you to this…
: I don’t remember ever asking for your pity. I fight because I like to fight.

: On the outside, she doesn’t look all that different from Lou… But she really is as strong as Iczer-3.
: You’re right, Goh. Her appearance may be of a kid, but inside she’s a weapon!
: Hey! You’re being mean to Iczer-3!
: Ah… I-I didn’t mean it like that! What I wanted to say is that you can’t underestimate her…!
: What are they thinking, bickering with a battle raging around them…? Well, I don’t mind, so long as they make for a good match!

: Iczer-2 and Iczer-1, Atross and Iczer-3… Is pitting look-alikes against each other part of someone’s plan or something?!
: I don’t really care if it is or isn’t. Just being able to fight Iczer-3’s enough for me!

: My targets are only Iczer-3 and Nagisa Kasumi. I don’t care about you.
: Maybe you don’t, but I do! I’m not just gonna hang back when someone’s gunning for my friends!
: “Friends”? Psh, what nonsense… With the exception of Lady Neos and Big Gold, all others are just enemies in my eyes.
: That tells me you just don’t know how important friends are… I’d never have gotten as strong as I did if I didn’t have my friends and my teammates…!
: Come on, then. Show me that strength of yours!

: Way these things usually go, I figured we’d be getting an Iczer-4 or Iczer-0 after 3… Guess I was wrong.
: We’ll see how long your chatter lasts against me.

: Damn it, think… How was it that I fought that Cthulhu during Angel Down…?
: Looking a bit frustrated, aren’t we…? But thinking won’t do you any good against me, so let’s get right to it.

: I can tell they’re fearless just by looking at them. That’s quite the steely resolve they have.
: Whatever you might look like, you’re with the heartless mob that attacked Mihoshi. I don’t hold back against people like you!
: And I wouldn’t want you to! We duel!

: Can’t you just keep out of this? I finally have my chance to fight another Battle Type and I want to enjoy it!
: I can kinda get where you’re coming from… but that don’t mean I’ll leave Iczer-3 hanging in the wind!

: I’ve no idea how strong you are, but I know for a fact you’re not good enough to take on the #02!
: Well, look at you, being all hard working. Still, you really should have a better grasp on your own limits!

: Sorry, kid, but I don’t hold back on my slaps! Brace yourself, ‘cause your butt’s gonna be deep red by the time I’m done teaching ya a lesson!
: “Brace myself”? I’ve no reason to do that against you.

: I’m a Battle Type! I am not being beaten like this!

: That girl… she really thinks fighting is her only purpose in life…
: The way of the warrior… rather, of destruction, was instilled in her since the moment she was born.
: An adept of Shurado… I did not expect this young girl to hold such a spirit.
: But she only thinks like because they filled her mind with bad stuff…!
: Those two shouldn’t be fighting each other…! I have to stop this!

Open door!

: Huh?! Wait! Where’re you going?!
: There is always only one winner! Come and face me!

: (She really is strong… What’s going on with me? My heart’s racing.)
: How do you like it? There’s nothing better than fighting for your life, is there?
: Ah…!
: Hah, I knew it. You are a Battle Type like me.
: I told you I’m not like that!
: That’s enough, both of you!
: What? Who dares try to stop our battle?!
: Nagisa?! There’s a battle going on! Why’s she standing on the ship’s deck?!
: Hmph… So that’s Nagisa, Iczer-2’s potential partner…
: And if she does become her partner, I won’t be needed anymore… Nagisa… you rotten human!
: She’s not rotten! She’s someone very dear to me! Someone who makes me so much stronger!
: Oh, really? Then I’ll take the time to make sure this “very dear someone” can never get in the way of my battles again!

: !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la7Sw6wsxUI

: You alright, Iczer-3?!
: I’m fine… What about Nagisa…?
: I’m here, Iczer-3! I’m okay!
: AHAHAHAHA…! What a moron you are! What were you thinking, jumping in front of that beam?!
: I’m not like you, that’s why…!
: You’re still going with that…?
: Because… Because I’ve Nagisa with me!
: How many times do I have to tell you before it sinks into your thick skull? We are Battle Types… we fight, and that’s it!
: Atross… Please, listen to me.
: Excuse me…?
: What’re you still doing there, Nagisa?! It’s too dangerous!
: It’s fine, Michel… I need to talk to her.
: Atross. You were also born from the Iczelio, like Iczer-3 was, weren’t you?
: I know nothing about that. I am the daughter of Lady Neos – she gave me life!
: Wrong! I can feel the warm light inside your heart… It’s the same light Iczer-3 has!
: Silence! I’ll just kill… you and… Wh-What? My body… I can’t move…!
: What… Why am I feeling so weird… ?
: Atross…
: The Icze…lio…? S-Stop…!

: Gaaaaaaaaaah!!

: Oh, wow! You beat her, Nagisa!
: No, no… Actually, I think we might be friends someday.
: What, with her? No way!
: Hahah… But never mind me. Are you really alright?
: Hmm, I’m actually kinda tired… and my body really hurts… I think I need… a bit of sleep… Night-night, Nagisa…

: Iczer-3…?!
: Get her to the infirmary, quick!
: We’ll handle the rest of the battle!
: Okay!

The battle’s already over!

: All enemy forces, including the Angel, have been confirmed destroyed.

: Huh…? The battle’s…?
: Guess we took a bit too long.
: And that’s mission complete. Returning to ship.
: …

I forgot to have Shinn attack the Angel, so here’s his line:

: The destruction left throughout this coast is all because we couldn’t stop the Junius Seven drop…!
: And I’m not about to let more tears be shed because of me!

Duo finally catches up with Quatre after so long – he’d no idea they were coming to meet up with our squad. In truth, their transfer was expected to happen tomorrow, but they caught wind of the Angel’s appearance while transporting the #02 and decided to do something about it.
And there are plenty of folks around they don’t know, so Duo asks Quatre to introduce them to everyone. Nearby, Shinji’s apologizing for their late arrival, but Yamashita says it was just bad luck things went down when they did. Kouichi’s way more focused in the EVA-02, loving its boss-like color – red really is the manliest of colors!
Ichitaka ponders that that the pilot’s way of fighting was also very different from the other EVA pilots. Shinji figures the pilot must have received some intensive training, but Rei hasn’t heard anything about it.

Asuka struts on over, liking that they can see how the difference between them extends beyond their units’ coloring. For one, the #00 and #01 are, respectively the prototype and test models – not the #02, though! It’s the first true-to-form, combat-oriented EVA in the world!
Yamashita recognizes her voice from the battle and Misato officially introduces her as the #02’s pilot. She’ll also be working part of LOTUS from now on. Goh thanks her for the assist with the Angel, but Asuka says she didn’t do it after their praise: “I was just carrying out my duty as one of the elite few.”
Seems to Misato that her personality hasn’t mellowed over since they last saw each other.

Now, Asuka takes a look at the chosen #00 and #01 pilots – Wonder Girl and Daddy’s Boy, as she dubs them – and Shinji bids her a “how do you do”. “Are you stupid,” the girl harrumphs, “Right when you were needed the most, you weren’t even there! ‘How do you do’, he says! Aren’t you even a little be ashamed you couldn’t fight the Angel with your EVA?!”
Shinji’s a bit dazed, and Asuka shoos him away. She doesn’t wanna talk with him, only with the other Pros of LOTUS that she heard so much about. And speaking of, where’s the girl that gave her sass during battle? The infirmary? Asuka asks Emi to show he where it is, and off they go, Misato sighing that the girl’ll take some getting used to.

Hilde and Duo had asked her to try and play nice, but that obviously went in one ear and out the other. Quick round of introductions from them, and Dick has heard of Duo, the God of Death. “I think we’ll get along swimmingly, you and I,” he says. Hopefully, but Duo hopes LOTUS can be retired as soon as can be – there’s just too much war going around the world these days.
When Goh asks if Asuka’s always like that, Hilde nods right away. See, the girl’s huge amounts of both dutiful and prideful, so she’s always very, shall we say, severe with everyone else. She might be fated for some very tough battles, but can see that, in the girl’s eyes, fighting and beating the enemy gives her life. She revels in it.
Shinji’s a bit surprised that there are people who actually enjoy piloting an EVA.

: …
: So, that girl, Atross, was born from the Iczelio they stole…?
: That’s what I think, yes. I could feel it.
: We should ask Iczer-3 about it when she wakes up.
: Um… Will she be alright?
: There isn’t really anything we can do right now.
: Oh, no…!
: Easy. What she meant is that she doesn’t need any treatment. She fell asleep to try and recover quicker – she’ll be back to normal soon.
: Iczer-1 also did that. I guess we’ll have to remember to let her rest after she’s tired herself fighting.

Door opens!

: Hmph… taking a nap right after a battle? Someone’s not taking this seriously.
: Don’t be like that, Asuka. She’s still a little girl, and she needs to recover—
: Doesn’t change the fact that what that Atross said was right. Iczer-3’s a warrior – a weapon!
: You’re out of line, Asuka!
: I am not. If you’re a warrior, then you must behave like a warrior and always be ready to fight!
: Okay, stop!
: !!
: You’re right that she’s a lot stronger than most of us… But she’s also a kind, gentle girl…
: And? Kindness won’t do anything for you during battle.
: Wrong! And if you ever met Iczer-1, you’d know. She was a warrior through and through, and so strong… but she was also a very kind person.
: Ken also told me once… that it’s possible for strength and kindness to coexist.
: Jack Smith’s also a kind man… and he is also very strong.
: So I don’t ever want to see you looking down on Iczer-3 again!
: Oh, brother… so many strong, actually living, people, and they’re all these devil-may-care types.
: That’s not what they were trying to say, Asuka.
: I can tell. Still, that doesn’t mean I’m fine with this daycare you’re running.
: But I’m assigned to LOTUS now – the so-called defenders of the Earth Sphere – and I really don’t care to see weak-kneed folks here… That’s all I wanted to say.

Out she goes.

: Asuka… she keeps such a wall around her heart. I wonder if she’ll open up someday…
: The same could be said for that Cthulhu, Atross. I hope so, if she really does have that light inside her heart, if we really can become friends, like Nagisa said…
: …
: That’s one question I’ve no answer for.

: (They’re not like me… I’m special…)
: (You’re gonna have to go it alone, Asuka…!)

Back at the Cthulhu Fortress, Neos is annoyed at Atross’ failure. The girl cries out that she’s feeling weird and asks what’s going on, but Neos first wants to know why she didn’t destroy Iczer-3. “I couldn’t do it! When I saw that human, Nagisa, I…” she starts, but is cut short. Is she going against Neos’ command? A warrior fleeing from war… absolutely disgraceful!
Atross asks what the Iczelio is, as Nagisa said it gave her life, but Neos tells her to get lost and not to show her face again until Iczer-3’s gone. As she goes, Atross is very confused: “Why… Why couldn’t I bring myself to fight? Nagisa… the Iczelio… I don’t understand anything!”

Golem smirks at the failure – not only did she not steal Nagisa, she also fell victim to the humans’ influence. Neos doesn’t appreciate that, as they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place if her Four Generals could actually do their job. Golem promises to take responsibility for her peers’ failures, killing Iczer-3 and returning with Nagisa Kasumi. Good, but she ought to remember the price she’ll pay for a failure.
She leaves, Neos fuming at how she’s surrounded by incompetent worms. She wouldn’t have to rely on them if she could only recover the strength she lost fighting Iczer-1… Whatever the case, it’s clear the Iczelio is rejecting her command (though she doesn’t know why), so she might have no other choice but to wait until Iczer-2’s fully healed.

Kaji’s finally made it back to NERV after that crazy job they put him to. The 3rd Angel and the EVA-05 have been disposed of as planned, and the Marduk Plan at Bethany Base has been set back indefinitely. Seems like everything’s mostly going according to the script, huh?
And, in regards to the newest files on SEELE, Fuyutsuki says that construction of the #06 has been delayed – the 13th variable is likely the source of the distortion, indeed. Whatever, the case Kaji’s also brought what Gendou asked, the twining between God and soul… though he doesn’t know how useful the thing will be at this juncture. God only knows if this “key” can open the Doors, Gendouu figures.
Before Kaji goes, though, he asks him to pass on a message to Lady Une: “Send me Ishigami’s reports.” Hmm, well, in the eventuality that Kaji runs into her, he’ll let her know. With him gone, Fuyutsuki ponders Chief Inspector Ryoji Kaji – can he be trusted? Gendou thinks so, taking him to be the same as them: someone who’s worried for this world.

Some time later, we’re back at JUDA and Misato asks if Asuka’s getting along with the LOTUS crew. The girl, of course, doesn’t really care for any of that – fighting’s more than enough – and why does Misato care in the first place? Um, because she’s our commanding officer, so of course she cares, Ichitaka says.
Well, Asuka tells “Birdboy” that a whole squad getting along doesn’t automatically mean stuff’ll be better, but Shinji begs to disagree. For one, he figures he’s changed for the better from who he was before, and it’s thanks to his LOTUS friends.
What, he’s still here? Asuka figures he and Wonder Girl’ll be getting the boot soon – don’t need any other EVAs in both this team and in defending NERV HQ. Actually, no, Misato says both Shinji and Rei are still going to be working here. Why?! Because Gendou figures that’s for the best, because we don’t want to be short on hands, because those are Lady Une’s orders… there are plenty of reasons why. Asuka seems annoyed.

Right then, our folks come in: Kouji invites Asuka to come eat something with our crew, and Daiya points out Ishigami’s old policy that sharing a meal’s the best way for folks to know one another (a policy he agrees).
Maybe getting some food’ll put her in a better mood, Kenji figures; there HAS been scientific evidence showing a correlation between hunger and irritation, Rachel points out. Asuka passes, saying she wants to be alone, but Misato vetoes it: team harmony is always important, so she tells her to go.
Is that an order? She can take it like that, as Misato figures, for all her merits, Asuka’s communication skills are kind of lacking. She’s going to be fighting beside all these people, so she should try to make friends with them.

Fine, fine, she’ll go. Daiya spots Lulu nearby and invites her to come with; she’s a bit busy, though, but says she’ll catch up in a bit. What’s she up to? Well, she broke this cup her father really liked, so now she’s cleaning up the mess and picking up the pieces.
Well, if we’re talking about cleaning, Alice is more than ready to help out. So is Daiya, figuring the three of them’ll have this sorted out real quick. Thanking them, all this camaraderie reminds Lulu of her friends back in the Dairus World. It’s said that no news is good news, so she hopes everything’s going fine down there.

And, with this, the game has enabled us to upgrade units to 100%. On the flip side, it costs an extraordinary amount of cash to fully upgrade anything; remember, the weapons count, so we’re looking at about 800k to 1.1mil for any of our decently upgraded guys. I’d likely have to save for, like, three or four missions to do that right now.

[Mattman324]

And now we take a moment to despair for our poor, forgotten Provisional Evangelion 05, which has thus far only really been used in this map event and in fucking Card Chronicle. And when you’re so left behind, the only thing to use you is a goddamn mobage… There’s literally no reason why it isn’t playable in this one, either.

(We also don’t get Kaworu’s Eva from 2.0 in this one. Again, only in mobages. The real problem with Rebuild in SRW isn’t that it’s worse than the show… before Q, at least - it’s that they never give us the actually fucking interesting new stuff.)

Cloquiel or whatever the fuck the Seventh is isn’t the replacement for Israfel… who has been in annoyingly few SRWs, come to think of it… it’s the replacement for Gaghiel, aka “that fucker from F who takes stages of preplanning to kill and who is a total fucking pussy in Alpha 1”.

Banpresto probably made Hilde such a good supporter to make up for the fact that they keep fucking forgetting to put her in the games.

Honestly, them opening up 100% upgrades is a sham. You never, ever need that in a new game. It’s pointless. Focus instead on maxing everyone you intend on fielding in the endgame to 50%, which you have money for, as that will get you everything you need. This policy also holds for UX and BX, though UX is a bit tighter with money if you intend on using earlygame units (which you probably will.)

[nekomajokko]

Why’d they feel the need to change her surname? I liked Souryu better… Also, is her hair darker?

to fit in with mari and rei’s names being ayanami class detroyers mostly, and the bit where her character in the rebuilds diverges from soryu’s. as for the second thing, yes.

[Brunom1]

Cloquiel or whatever the fuck the Seventh is isn’t the replacement for Israfel… who has been in annoyingly few SRWs, come to think of it… it’s the replacement for Gaghiel, aka “that fucker from F who takes stages of preplanning to kill and who is a total fucking pussy in Alpha 1”.

I meant replacement more in Angel Number, really, not in the “gets trounced by Asuka in her debut scene” way. At least it says here that Israfel was the 7th in the anime.

to fit in with mari and rei’s names being ayanami class detroyers mostly, and the bit where her character in the rebuilds diverges from soryu’s. as for the second thing, yes.

I suppose that’s a fair, if odd, reason to change that.

[Mattman324]

Going by Angel Number is silly because all the angels that are direct from the source are shifted in number. By that logic, Sachiel replaces Shamshel, Shamshel replaces Ramiel, and Ramiel replaces Gaghiel amongst many others.

[Brunom1]

Click to see the mission!

Welcome back, folks, and things aren’t a whole lot different here. All top aces made exactly one kill last mission, so their positions haven’t shifted at all.

Money wasn’t all that plentiful, either, but it was just enough to bump Kenji up to 50%. His Squad Bonus is now mobility +15, melee weapons’ power +200.

Daiya and Ichitaka are deploying as events, so we switch things up accordingly:
Ozma/Luca
Asuka/Yanma
Kouichi/Quatre
Iczer-3/Zechs (I wanted her to have Accel, and fiddling more with the squads would’ve taken effort)
Kenji/Kyo
Jeeg/Micchi
Voltes/Dick
Alto/Michel
Combattler/Deceive
Shinn/Luna
Goh/Anna
Tetsuya/Canaria
Shinn/Rey
Kouji/Yagyuu
Dancouga/Hilde (though she would’ve also been a great fit to EN-hungry bots like the Nagahamas)
Ken/Lou

Forward!

By the Dairus World…

: They’ve us surrounded…! Have we managed to get in touch with the Daiku Maryu yet?!
: No, we can’t get through to them! (Rebecca)
: It won’t be long before Operation FD makes Her Highness’ world real – a world belonging only to those chosen by her…
: As for the inferior beings found wanting, death is all that awaits!
: The idiocy coming from these puppets…! Out of our way!
: We won’t allow you to sacrifice the innocent Darian people…!

: Blast you all…!
: These damned rebels!
: We’ll be cutting your ambitions right at the root, whatever it takes!
: Allow me to handle this.

You wouldn’t expect a mech with that name to have any other BGM, would you?

: The Dvorak! Proist’s come here in person?!
: Garis… I’m afraid I haven’t the time to indulge you anymore. I shall now head towards the surface, putting into practice the final step in Operation FD.
: What…!

RUUUUMBLE! Explosions!

: What’s going on, Kain?!
: We’ve volcanic eruptions happening throughout the Darius World!
: Not just that: there are distortions cropping up across the entire sky!
: Proist, you didn’t…! You took the Darius Core?!
: You are, indeed, very knowledgeable, Garis. Impressive.
: And, yeah, I took the Darius Core! And with its power, everything’ll be MINE!
: My victory’ll be complete! My rule’ll be absolute! AHAHAHAHAHA!
: Proist, you’re insane…!
: The second the Final Death Cross is finished, that’ll be game over! So I think I’ll leave you alive for a bit longer, and enjoy slowly tearing you apart later! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

: Damn it, they used a Death Cross to warp away!
: We’ve to stop the Dvorak and Proist! Troops, we’re going after her!
: Y-Yes, sir!

Cut to Arkholand, Darius XVII has just been informed of Proist’s theft of the Darius Core and is appalled. Doctor Two reports that their world is already starting to come undone without the thing, and the King realizes that his words did not dissuade Proist from her plan.
This isn’t the time to lament, though: they must call for the immediate suspension of Operation FD’s offensive against the people and start migrating into space via the Ark Project. The King isn’t opposed, but they’ll need the Darius Core back to do that. Proist isn’t willing to listen to him, so the only option left will be to borrow the Daiku Maryu’s strength to do it.
Doctor Two’s mulls at the suggestion, and Darius knows why: the boy, Daiya Tsuwabuki, being Two’s son, after all! Regardless, Darius proclaims he’ll also be headed into the surface to cooperate with the Daiku Maryu, and Two’s coming with to help prove that he and his people no longer have any plans to invade us.

Back at JUDA, Ichitaka’s started training to work with Alice to replicate their big attack from before… and it’s not going too well. He can’t get the barrier output to stay on level, which’d result in the dimensional boundary growing unstable. CRAAAAAASH!
That’s Ichitaka’s 10th failure in a row and Noin suggests he take some time off the sim, which he readily accepts. Plus, there are other folks wanting to train, Tetsuya points out. Alice thinks the failure’s on her for raising the barrier’s output too quickly, but Tsubaki points out that it’s not easy to get so in sync with your partner.

Any tips from Kenji, maybe? He can’t give him much, saying it’s probably because he and Tsubaki have been friends since they were little kids. Or, more likely, it’s his perverted nature that helps him pull this stuff off, Shizuna objects, pointing at the Booby Drills incident.
“Th-Then I just gotta let my man’s instinct help me with the control gauges… Hmm, what should I visualize them as?” Ichitaka wonders aloud, and Kyo suggests he give up on that idea. That only works for Kenji because he is who he is. Oh, well.

Micchi also steps out of a nearby sim, surprising Kenji that she’s also training. Isn’t that pushing it at her age? Still, she can’t well let the kids leave her in the dust. She’s worked up quite the sweat, though, so she and Tsubaki head off to the bath… and Kenji better not peek, OR ELSE. He won’t, not wanting to get dunked in boiling water again.
Ichitaka figures hitting the shower to cool off his head might help, too, and Noin agrees: he’s bound to just repeat the same mistakes if he doesn’t take a breather every now and then. She suggests Alice do the same, seeing that she’s drawing closer to “overheating” status.

But before she can leave to cool down, Duo comes in: since Alice’s still in charge of managing the team’s health care, she needs to compile his personal data as well. Frig, off to the infirmary she goes. Duo wasn’t even in a hurry, but Alice’s too much of a workaholic. At least Rachel doesn’t think health care duties’ll impede the combat side of her AI from cooling down (though it’d be better if she were taking it slow).
Seems to Duo that he came at a bad time, but Noin tells him not to worry about it. Rather, hurry over to Alice before his delay stresses her out.

By the lounge, Goh explains to the worried Ru why Ichitaka and Alice looked so worn out when she passed by them – they’re working even harder than usual. Daiya’s got his training, too… though he can only do basic fitness work-out nowadays. When Shinji asks, he explains it’s to help strengthen his flame.
What the kid really wants, though, is to be learning from Lee. You see, the guy’s a master of the Shinryuken kenpo and was teaching Daiya before all this went down. He’s still fighting down in the Darius World, of course, which is all the more reason why Daiya can’t ease up now.

Or, rather, he was in the Darius World, because Misato gets on the mic and says we’ve pinged the Daichi Maryu and Tenku Maryu’s distress call – a large mob of Darius troops have appeared on the surface! Now that’s a surprise for Daiya. Proist’s also been spotted up here, so we’re moving to intercept right away.

Mission 24 – When the Great Power Cleaves the Sky…

: Where… Where is this?
: The surface; somewhere close to the North Pole, by the looks of it.
: Excellent. This frozen land shall serve as your communal grave, right as my dark flames burn all to cinders.
: Hmhmhahaha! Her Highness’ conquest of the surface has begun at long last!
: Daichi and Tenku Maryu! This is where all your lives come to a screeching halt!
: Silence! Vermin like you aren’t good enough to beat me! Come!

Losing anyone’s a game over and there are plenty of units. Our guys’ll come in next turn, so simply hang back and let the enemy come in both to save time. All of our current guys are massively tough, of course, but there’s no reason to rush them ahead (especially since that’d mean risking Proist or her goons deciding to attack sooner, rather than later).

Daichi Maryu (Vestanu)
Pilot Skills:
Flame L5
Commander L2
Prevail L5
Support Attack L2
Support Defense L2
Spirit Commands - Vestanu:
Invincible
Accelerate
Strike
Iron Wall
Spirit Commands – Rebecca:
Scan
Trust
Assail
Squad Bonus: Accuracy +5

Tenku Maryu
Pilot Skills:
Flame L3
Support Attack L2
Support Defense L2
Spirit Commands:
Accelerate
Invincible
Trust
Strike
Squad Bonus: Mobility +5

Big, bulky, hard-hitting ships which also have combined attacks with Norza (Tenku) and Lee (Daichi). The Daichi’s a more ranged-oriented ship, though its strongest attacks are post-movement. Bread and butter weapons are pre, though.
The Tenku doesn’t really have a preference, carrying one pre-movement and one post-movement attack – slightly stronger than the Daichi too. Each carries and S in their respective terrains, so accuracy isn’t bad at all.
As far as functionality goes, the Daichi Maryu is better due to have two pilots with better spirit commands (Vestanu is a flat-out better pilot than Kain, too), but the Tenku Maryu has it beat in raw attack power. FYI, the ships are big EN guzzlers, so don’t go too crazy there, but if you’re deploying Norza and/or Lee, you might as well deploy their respective ships for the combined attack.

Vulking (Lee Jian-xing)
Pilot Skills:
Flame L5
Sword Cut
Predict
Prevail L3
Support Attack L1
Support Defense L1
Attack Combo L2
Spirit Commands:
Focus
Invincible
Strike
Iron Wall
Squad Bonus: HP+1000, 1000 Barrier

Raiking (Norza)
Pilot Skills:
Flame L6
Sword Cut
Commander L2
Prevail L5
Support Attack L1
Attack Combo L1
Spirit Commands:
Strike
Alert
Fighting Spirit
Drive
Squad Bonus: Mobility +5, 15% chance to auto-dodge an attack

Not only are Norza and Lee very fine pilots, their units are also great. Lee’s Vulking is very hardly (serious, it’s got more HP than the Gaiking and it’s at 30% upgrades), while Norza’s Raiking is surprisingly dodgy for an L-sized robot. Both, like their ships, carry S ranks in their respective terrains to help with those %s.
Their attack types are pretty much the same, each bot having mostly pre-movement weapons outside of one spammable melee weapon and a combined attack. Like their ships, they will quickly run out of EN if you don’t watch it.

Of note is how both units carry a debuff attack: Norza’s will drop the target’s mobility, which isn’t too hot, but Lee’s Corona Blast has that lovely attack-down debuff. Since we’re starting to meet with big bosses, it’s always good to have this handy in a pinch.
Considering their similar ranges and whatnot, I’d say both men could work very nicely if paired up, but you can easily fit the Vulking and Raiking with, respectively, anything tanky or dodgy.

Now, let’s fast forward to the next turn since, like I said, I had them all stay put to let the enemy come in.[/i]

: The Daiku Maryu…! They’re here!
: Father, are you all right?!
: I am, yes!
: Lee, Norza, we’ve come to back you up!
: Psh… I wanted to end this before you arrived, but I suppose what’s done is done.
: Daiya Tsuwabuki! I figured you’d dropped dead ages ago, and here you are still kicking!
: So that’s Proist, the head of the Darius Army?
: Oh? I presume these troops are the protectors of the surface, yes?
: That’s good, ‘cause my Dvorak’ll crush EVERYONE who dares mess with me!
: Proist’s taken the Darius Core for herself, and if nothing’s done, both the Darius World and the surface’ll be in great danger! We’ve to defeat her and pry the Core out her hands!
: Roger that. Run interference on the enemy and bring down their forces, people!
: Skull Leader to all units! That “Dvorak” mech’s a whole lot more powerful than the rest, so keep your heads on a swivel around it!
: We’re gonna close the book on this fight today, Proist!

Now you just gotta keep your ships, Daiya and Ichitaka alive. Your guys on the other side of a river and at a rather hefty distance away, though, so keep the Maryu teams hanging back. Next turn, we’ll converge and start dealing with them. Playing defensively is recommended since there are plenty of them and they’ll already be coming in waves – the rough terrain slows your forward push down, too. Once the way is clearer, then you move after the bosses.
Furthermore, on top of the usual mooks we’ve fought before, the Darius are deploying a couple of Zelgaia ships and some new Giant units. They’re among the hardest-hitting mooks we’ve fought so far, so be careful around them; focus fire quickly once they’re in range, and get them off your hair.

Proist’s generals are the standard midbosses in terms of tricks and stats (though they’ve an annoyingly high level of Support Defense, so be ready with Fury casts), but they are also worth 15k bucks each. That’s an easy 120k if you get Luck/Bless casts for each, so keep that in mind (if you can squeeze some for the bigger mooks, so much the better – save one for Proist, naturally).
But, of course, your biggest worry here by a mile is the boss lady herself:

Dvorak (Proist, the Crown Princess)
Pilot Skills:
Flame L9 (!)
Break Morale Limit
Commander L4
Prevail L7
Support Attack L3
Attack Combo L3
Mech Features:
20% HP Regen
30% EN Regen

Proist is a monster of a pilot. Not only are her stats the highest we’ve seen so far, the combination of Prevail L7 and Flame L9 also makes her VERY tough. Thankfully, the Dvorak only has 60k HP, which offsets that a bit.
Special notice should be given to just how absurdly accurate this girl is with pretty much anything: everything sans her strongest attack has +30 and +20 modifiers, which paired with her huge Accuracy state, Flame and Prevail means your Real’ WILL need Alert or she’ll very likely connect (and possibly oneshot them, because she’s also very crit-happy).

The Dvorak, of course, comes with a directional MAPW which is both very accurate and will tag everyone in a 3x7 area with the Attack Down debuff. Do your best to approach her diagonally. Finally, her hardest hitting attack is point-blank range – keep that in mind.
Good thing is that she’s way back and is one of the last units to start moving, so build up morale, let her come to you, and then swarm for a one-turn kill. Don’t let her get a move with Prevail running or bad things could happen.

Considering the bevy of bulky mooks we’ll have to contend with, and my defensive approach to this, let’s fast forward some.
Mind you, we’re still waiting for the enemy to get in range, so when turn 3 comes around…[/i]

: Yuu, they’re…
: Fighting the Darius Army apparently.
: Do we engage?
: …No, this is actually a good opportunity for us. We’ll see whether the Rushbird displaying that power before was just a fluke, or…

And now we can get to work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd0DFlSGdkU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FeWGPQ1qmw
It’s only now that I’m starting to realize how much damage drops off in longer chain attacks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkixSc0MuqQ
These Giant mooks have some slick attacks, too. I’ll have to try and get the Valeon’s to connect sometime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmk3o1j2hwM
Something about how the DK is the enemy apparently spontaneously combusting just tickles my funny bone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HUAD3NH1LU
Small fuckup here, not seeing that Micchi was about to defend him. But at least we managed to get one of the strongest mooks’ attack on tape as well.

: Her Highness…
: Is under our protection, her four new generals!
: Bid this world farewell!
: And plummet into the abyss!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbOd2oFNtO8
Why are their bots themselves a Sentai team…? Regrettably, they’ve no combined attack.
All four of them make a beeline for Kain, who takes some not-insignificant damage, but nothing to worry about. Proist is heading in, farther back still, so the best plan is to have all four down this turn, so that we can bumrush her on the next one.
If you can bypass the generals’ support defense net, they fall easily enough.

: A direct hit? Inconceivable! I humbly beg your forgiveness, Your Highness. Retreating!

: I’ve taken too much damage… I humbly beg your forgiveness, Your Highness. Retreating!

: Curses, my controls are failing! I humbly beg your forgiveness, Your Highness. Retreating!

: M-My Galean can’t take much more…! I humbly beg your forgiveness, Your Highness. Retreating!

Yes, they all say the exact same thing other than the first part. But that’s all of them down and with just a handful of units to spare, so we wait one turn (Proist tries MAPWing, but I was ready for it) and get to work.

: You’ll pay for all you’ve done with your life, Proist!
: Spare parts like you dares give me crap?! Say my name with the honor it deserves, maggot!
: Bitch…! I’ll spread your ashes across the surface, Proist!

–

: You’re an even crazier boss than advertised! Do you seriously think it’s OK to kill anyone just to get what you want?!
: You’re too stupid to get it, aren’t you? There’re two kinds people out there: those chosen by me, and trash! And I don’t give a damn if trash drops dead!
: You…! You won’t get away with this!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEipd733rqY
Norza: “I’ll cut your sickening laugh short…!”
Proist: “You’re not worthy of being my spare parts anymore!”

: My dear father is a naïve fool. Had we unleashed the Final Death Cross and invaded in earnest, we would have long since brought this to a close.
: Sorry to say, but the Earthlings aren’t as stupid as you might think!
: Now, I’ve a beef with your group from even before the War of Giants, and it’s high time you answered for it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-s9XcfraIY
Here’s her strongest attack.

: My friends and family live up here, and I’m not about to let a monster like you run amuck!
: Those are fine words, Daiya Tsuwabuki…
: But what the hell do I care about the cries of worms?! It’s time to cut you down, Gaiking!
: My flame can’t be put out, Proist! Get here and take a look!

–

: The fate of both the surface and the Darius World will be decided with this battle. Daiku Maryu – forward!
: Aye, aye, ma’am!
: Garis’ pest of a daughter… You and your ship’ll be a pilot of slag by the time I’m done!
: You might burn my body to ash, but all our souls have been poured into the Daiku Maryu! And you’re not strong enough to break those!
: Proist… this ends now!

: You’ll oppose me as well…? It’s only logical for the powerless to simply yield and follow… surely you are aware of that, no?
: I am… or, rather, I might’ve tricked myself into thinking that way because it was easier.
: But I was wrong…! Because even if you’re powerless… you can’t run away!

: I know this is your first trip to the surface, but I don’t care to let you see the sights. We’re putting a stop to you here and now!
: What foul tunes this little bird sings…
: Death is all a canary that’s forgotten how to sing deserves! And I’ll snap your neck with my own two hands!
: You won’t be getting any songs from me! Rather, all you’ll be hearing are our cheers of victory!

: Be very careful, Hyouma! By my analysis, the Dvorak’s comprised of over 500 parts!
: They may not be too powerful individually, but we’ll be in big trouble if we get mobbed by the lot!
: And it’s also got some major regen as a bonus. We can’t take ‘em bit-by-bit!
: That don’t mean it can regen forever, though. Find me anything that looks like a core, Kosuke, and what’s what we’ll go for…!
: Hmhmhm. You poor moron… You poor moron… Do you honestly believe you have the leeway to succeed at that…?

: I’ve read plenty about elitist blue-bloods in history books, but I don’t think even they had anything on her.
: I’m above your puny standards! It’s my destiny to rule the world – me and my father!
: I really don’t like folks who force others to dance to their tune…
: Say, Aoi, there’re big parties whenever princesses take the throne, right? How about we give this nasty piece-of-work our gifts right now?
: Sounds great. One full-course of everything the Dancouga’s got, coming right up!

: That fire there… It’s giving me vibes as bad as the Jama Kingdom’s big demon-thing…!
: Cower in fear, insect! Run from my flame like the beast you are!
: Bzzt, wrong guess. See, I’m the kind that gets stoked the more dangerous it gets!

: The Darius World’ll turn to nothing unless you’re stopped… to say nothing of all the damage the surface would suffer. More than enough reason to end you no matter the cost!
: And you think I give a damn about the Darius World, when all that’s left there is garbage?
: The elite have already come to the surface with me. And there’s no room here for anyone I didn’t pick!
: No one who’d say such things has a right to rule others!

Vestanu: “Just what do you take the Darian people for?!”
Proist: “Vestanu… you always were a beautiful woman… BUT! You’ve betrayed me too!”

: However many Giants of Flame you may gather, they are all but powerless face the Dvorak…
: And as hard as a lackey like you might try, you’re still just wasting your breath!
: I think not, Proist! We’ll see how you like when I blow away those black flames surrounding you!

: Your tyranny brings nothing but pain to your people! You’re the worst kind of stateswoman there is, Proist!
: Please, you are so very mistaken. My chosen people will survive, and theirs will be the Heaven I’ll create.
: So there’ll be no one in pain! Because all others will be DEAD!
: That’s another reason why I can’t let it happen, then! I’ll free the innocent Darian people from you!

: I’d like to say I’ve seen plenty of what the dark side of the world’s hiding…
: But I’ve still never met anyone as insane as you before!
: I beg your pardon…? Did you just call me “insane”…?
: Looks like I’m gonna have to teach you where you stand in all this!
: I know exactly where I stand, Proist! It’s you who doesn’t, but I can fix that!

: How can you be so mean? You got even this forest crying!
: An artificial human, I presume? Well, beings like you…
: Oughta take both your opinion and that sentimental bunk, and shove it!
: Hey! Iczer-3’s our friend, so don’t talk to her like that!
: And? That tincan and all her buddies are just trash that didn’t deserve to come with me! But we’ll see how sassy you’re feeling after I’ve ripped out your tongues!
: Like I’d ever let a crazy monster like you beat me up! I’ve got a whooping with your name written on it!

: The Tenku Maryu’s too good for a mook like you to use!
: But I am nothing if not merciful, so I’ll give you a choice: surrender to me, or hand the ship over to me. Choose!
: I choose neither! I am a proud warrior, sworn to serve Lord Norza…
: And I’ll readily take a Maryu as part of me if it’ll help his cause!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb3K6S2PWMo
As I found out, Proist’ll only use this attack at range 2 unless her morale’s really low.

: Oh, yeah, that’s a proper “boss of the Darius Army” face you got going there.
: By which you mean that the ruler looks appropriately ruler-esque? I see even that’s within your grasp, yes?
: Close, but no cigar. What is meant is that you got the look of someone who CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE gotta run into the ground!

: I’ll create a new world with my Dvorak. You trash need to just accept it and bow down to me!
: Who do you think you are, a goddess or something? I won’t let someone like that do their thing!
: You won’t “let” me?! Do you actually think an impudent, worthless maggot like you has the right to say what goes?!
: Alright, I’m done talking! Here’s where you Darius’ plans get ripped to shreds!

: If you think the Dvorak’s going down from that, think again! HAAAAAAAH!!

: Damn, look at that thing regen…! What’re we gonna do now?!
: Think back, Daiya! Remember what I taught you about the Shinryuken… the Dragon Stance!
: !!
: Ooh, right, the Dragon Stance! I can compress the Hydro Blazer energy if I get it right …!

: Like hell you will!!

: Uwaaah!
: I’ll keep her at bay, Daiya! You do that Dragon thing meanwhile!
: A-Alright! Take care!
: What’re you up to?!
: I’ll cover the Gaiking from those black flames and try to create an opening for him! I’m sure the Rushbird can pull it off!
: But, Ichitaka, we’re not strong enough to be capable of…!
: … Wait, are you considering that attack?! Absolutely not! There are so, so many problems with that idea!
: Back during one of our fights with Yuu, you associated barrier control with cooking, right?
: That got me thinking, and I had an idea. Do you remember what happened last year, when we were going home after the Professor’s birthday party?
: Ah…?! Um… At that time, I’m quite sure the Professor…
: Yeah, yeah. Just try and remember that feeling, and I’m sure we’ll pull this off!
: …! … Alright. Converging energy into the Laplace Wall!
: Give us the green-light, Misato! I know this wasn’t the plan… but we know we can do it!
: … If you say so. We’ll bet our chips on you two.
: (Those movements…! You’re going for it, Ichitaka…?)
: (If you’re actually set on fighting with that bot all the way to the end, then show me… Show me how strong you are!)
: You’re pushing your luck, WOOORM!!

: Now!
: Your flames burn too hot for your own good, Proist!!

Ichitaka: “Alice, we’ve got to keep Daiya safe!”
Alice: “Right! We’ll be successful this time!”

Alice: “Initiating distortion…!”

Ichitaka: “HERE IT IS!!”

Alice: “The energy’s fully secured!”

Alice: “We’re ready!”

Ichitaka: “Take some of this dimensional energy! I call it: DIMENSION STORM!”

: Whaaat?!

: The Dvorak’s regeneration’s faltered!
: Well, damn, he actually did it!
: Now, Daiya! GOO!
: Alright! Open your eyes and take a look! This is the technique Lee taught me! HAAAAAAH!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE6wFMU6N_U

: He used kenpo with the Hydro Blazer?!
: Yow, he handled that huuuge flame like it was nothing…! Now that’s a real deathblow!
: Attaboy, Daiya!
: Impossible…! How could the Dvorak be defeated?!
: How’s the world look from down there, Proist?! You and your plans are done now!
: Heheheh… Don’t get so high on yourself over this tiny victory. I’ve the Darius Core, and so long as I do, I’m invincible! HAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
: What?!

: Stop right there! Proist!
: Her signal’s vanished from radar! We can’t pursue.
: We came so far, only to have our prey slip between our fingers…!

: Ichitaka… Your strength’s as clear as day…
: Voice file found.
: Apparently, one time when the Professor was drunk off his feet, they both had to support him on their shoulders in tandem. They drew upon that past experience and applied it to their joint-control of the dimensional distortion… Not a feat a combat-specialized unit like me could pull.
: …

: Well, we may have lost her, but at least we can now catch our breath.
: No, it’s still too soon to relax. Countless Darius Army troops have come to the surface.
: All due to that massive Death Cross she caused, right.
: The Final Death Cross, she called it.
: And did you see how confident she was? I get the feel she’s got another trick up her sleeve.
: Something even worse than the Dvorak…? Damn you, Proist…!

Beep, boop!

: Captain, an urgent transmission’s come in.
: Urgent…? Put it through.
: I am Emperor Darius XVII, and I wish to speak with the captain of the Daiku Maryu.
: ?! Th-The Emperor…?!

: Ichitaka… how much you’ve grown. I thought you were just messing about, but it seems I was very wrong.
: What’ll we do, then, Yuu…?
: We won’t be trying to get him to stop anymore. I doubt his life’s at risk with all that power at his disposal, either…
: But what about the Professor? The Straybird isn’t enough…
: … Look at how much he’s grown. We should also stop trying to cut corners, and simply do what we can with what we have.
: I know what I must do… and that’s start over.
: Roger that. I’ll be with you whatever you decide…
: (Go and follow your path, Ichitaka… Unwavering, as you’ve been all along…)

So, what does the Emperor want? He wants us to stop his daughter. What she’s doing is not in either of their world’s best interest, but he lacks the strength to do anything himself. Lee isn’t amused by this guy coming in to ask OUR help after all how much the people of Earth have been hurt by the Darius, and Shinn agrees. Wasn’t the Emperor the one who signed off on the invasion way back when?!
Darius takes their censure on the chin, but the fact remains that his world is now facing destruction, and he confirms to Sakon that it’s due to the Darius Core theft. They’re running the risk of all of the Darian people perishing because of it That’s not what anyone here wants, Garis notes, but the question remains: what will the Emperor do once the Core’s returned?
If we can stop Proist, then he swears to permanently suspend the invasion of the surface – especially due to how they’re now planning on setting off into space aboard their arks. As Lulu gapes, Alto realizes that those would be the ships they used to get to Earth in the first place.
Whatever the case, Darius is headed towards the surface right now, and he’d like to confer with us in person. Kurara’s a bit antsy, wondering if this could be a trap, but Darius has a way of proving his bona fides: Daiya’s own dad can vouch for him!
The hell? What’s the guy even doing with him?

It’s the truth, though, and the aptly named Daiya’s Dad steps in front of the screen. He doesn’t say much, only relaying us data of their expected warp point and requesting that we rendezvous with them. Before signing off, Darius proclaims that he does not wish for a continuation of hostilities and hopes that, if anything, we’ll believe him on that.
When Tetsuya asks, Misato thinks we actually should take them up on their offer to meet. Aoi protests that this is the guy behind an offensive that’s been running for DECADES, and while Misato agrees it could potentially be a trap, she kind of doubts it. Sakon feels the same way: with the Darius World being at the risk of coming undone, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to believe that the Emperor’s wish to recover the Core is genuine.
And what does Garis think? Well, as another Darian, he can’t bring himself to turn the other cheek while even one of his innocent compatriots dies. Then, as far as Kouichi’s concerned, this is a no-brainer: “Saying no to this isn’t what CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE do!”

Granted, Nagisa (Kanou) sees no reason why we couldn’t also keep ourselves ready in case it IS a trap, and Sakon’ll see that we’re as well covered as can be. One thing that worries Goh is the Emperor having Daiya’s Dad along with him – what’s going on there?
Daiya confirms to Norza that that REALLY was his dad, and Micchi ponders that the guy might be a hostage. If so, we should go with the meeting if only to look for a way to set him free. Whatever the case, Kenichi adds that both sides have much to lose, so that levels the bargaining table; if the guy is a hostage, that’s our best shot at freeing him.
Misato decides to go with it, then. It might finally be time to put an end to our battle with the Darius for good, Kouji hopes. Meanwhile, Daiya’s deep in thought: “Dad… Have you actually been helping Emperor Darius…?”

[Mattman324]

The second two Maryus are actually fucking useless, unfortunately. Tenku especially, because Kain is an AWFUL pilot (which fits him in the show, but he’s got some serious problems - his Will type means he’s unsuited to a Super, and he pilots a BATTLESHIP, which makes it worse, and he has pathetic Flame powers compared to everyone else) and it only has two moves, but the Daichi isn’t much better. And as battleships, they take up an entire pair on their own. Fun fact about the Daichi Maryu, though - the subpilot, Rebecca, was only in two episodes, midway through the show, and those episodes are… probably the worst of the run. (They were covered by K as opposed to more interesting plots, because of course, why not.) She’s here because she’s the only subordinate Vestaanu had that had a name and face. Kain, similarly, is the only surviving subordinate of Nouza, because he had a bad habit of killing his subordinates off before he got massive character development shoved down his throat - but he had an actual important role late in the show and did help pilot the Tenku.

Raiking and Vulking are really good though. Which is actually great, because although we all know The Great is coming and it’s outright the strongest thing L has overall, you can get more damage from the three Kings assembled - so The Great tends to be used as a finisher after you burn through EN stocks, making them better.

And yes, Chain damage falls off really rapidly. This is intentional. In K, it was possible to get someone Multicombo Level 3 and go to fucking town on enemies because Chains were absolutely broken to the point where solo units were almost entirely better (though that was also because the pair system was flat out fucking useless). UX, as it tended to do with L mechanics, rehauled the entire system and made it much better, giving Solo units a boost while making pairs the general way to go anyway (mostly to help force deploys and battleships)

The four evil generals in this mission are all so samey because they’re literally just a bunch of clones of Proist that she gave the same basic personalities - they’re all the same outside of color because that’s why they are. Compare to Nouza, who was also a clone, but was much older had a personality before Proist decided to run roughshod over him, was incredibly over-proud until that point, and was in general different despite looking similar. And, yes, Proist considers them spare parts, which is as literal as it gets - she nearly dies at one point and reconstructs her body using bits of them.

Dvorak’s toaster face is the same as the original Gaiking’s and this is funny. It even has the “nose” missiles and the fire bits.

…and hey, we got the Shinyru Hydro Blazer. Woo. Man, it’s so nice to get that move which has been a part of the regular Hydro Blazer’s DK since day one. So impressive.